Trelawney's Vision

She slumped against the desk, running her long fingernails through her hair, staring wildly into the familiar, misty depths of the orb.

She was sick of being a fraud, so SICK of it she could just scream. TWO real predictions in, what, THIRTY years now?? This was getting really ridiculous.

She shook her head miserably, hating the jangle of her long silver earrings, hating the ridiculously floaty material that she insisted on clothing herself in constantly. Hating what a goddamn FAILURE she was.

Maybe her students were right to laugh at her. But she would never forget the thrill of her very first vision, and she had no doubt as to the fact that THAT one had been real. It had given her such a rush, made goose bumps pop up all over her, and it had made her feel so POWERFUL. Like she held the whole world in the palm of her hand. Just for those few moments. It had been such an INCREDIBLE feeling…

Trelawney, the make-up encrusted lids of her eyes slowing closing to the darkness of depair, suddenly jumped. She had seen something out of the corner of her eye…or had she?

Trembling, she opened her huge eyes and peered at the crystal ball…

She had to whap herself with a sharp, fake fingernail to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

It wasn't just mist. There was something THERE.

Heart beating wildly, she widened her eyes and concentrated on the moving image. It was vivid and colorful, and the little tendrils of white mist only gently licked the edges of it on the circular face of the orb.

She saw five young children there. They sat in a patch of soft green grass, on a gorgeous summer's day, and they were so beautiful she felt tears prick in the back of her eyes…the first real tears she had shod since she could remember.

Two precious little children, a girl and a boy, lay side by side on the ground, staring wide-eyed up at the sky, pointing with their chubby little fingers at the clouds. He had brilliant red hair and freckles, she raven-black hair and a delightful little grin. They gazed up with soft brown eyes, full of innocence and great wonder, and the little boy told the girl the names of the different types of clouds, and in return she told him what animals she thought they looked like.

And there were two little red-headed girls, identical to the last freckle, grinning mischieviously, one girl trying to catch a colorful butterfly with jerky little grabs of her fingers. The butterfly fluttered away and the two girls burst into giggles that were like music to Trelawney's tired old ears.

And there was a curious shy child, who sat cross-legged on the grass, red-headed like the rest but with large, green eyes that drew her in, making her believe that this small boy possessed a wisdom far beyond his years. He looked intently down at a chain of daisies, touching the soft petals and smiling.

Sybill drank it all in, every last drop, and its effect was reminiscent of butterbeer. Her whole heart warmed up, and she knew, she recognized those soft brown eyes, that knack for facts, those freckles, those mischevious grins, that intent look. She KNEW whose children these were, playing together so happily. She knew, and it filled her with such delight that she almost forgot to feel satisfied about her own success with her first real vision in years.

She watched the children play, took it all in hungrily, held onto it as long as she could. But as night fell, she felt the image slipping away gently, and slowly the white mist engulfed the vivid colors of her vision- the bright blue of the sky, the green of grass, and the flaming red heads of hair. She reached out a trembling hand, not wanting it to leave her, but it was gone.

She cried long and without restraint, unable to forget the pure, unbridled beauty of what she had seen that day.