Summary:The Slytherin girls have a sleepover. Pansy nicks a crystal ball. It doesn't go quite as planned.
"It is time, my simple, unworthy souls, to peer into the mystique of our futures. Let us see what horrors await you, for everyone knows that if I just pretend to predict scary shite everyone will be too scared to realize I'm a fraud," Pansy's voice was certainly not meant to be in that deep of a register. Daphne and Tracey cracked up as Millicent rolled her eyes.
The third-year Slytherin girls had decided on a proper sleepover that weekend. Rather, Pansy had planned an entire shebang and all of the other girls were expected to go along with it. Not that they minded, as it was certain to be fun, but Pansy could be a bit of a harpy when she decided something was happening.
So here they were, doing impressions of their least favorite Professors. Pansy had insisted it become a competition, with the best one awarded the stash of sweets the girls had brought in from Hogsmeade that same day. Again, the other girls just went along with it, knowing full well that Pansy would have only suggested a thing is she had something spectacular planned and was destined to win. And again, they didn't complain because it was bound to be entertaining - Pansy letting loose was always a treat - and they were willing to lose a bit of sweets to witness such a thing.
As the thick, sweet scent of perfume and rum came wafting out from Pansy's body, Tracey let out a whoop of appreciation. She really never did things halfway. As if to prove the point, Pansy's face broke into a wicked grin as she pulled out a crystal ball. Professor Trelawney's crystal ball.
"You did not nick that," Daphne gasped as Tracey cackled wildly. Even Millicent looked impressed at this point.
"Oh, please, as if that drunken nightmare would notice if anything went missing in the hoarder's paradise she calls a classroom. No, I nicked it Friday and I'm planning on putting it back tomorrow afternoon and she'll never know any different," this last bit was said with a glare in their direction and a clear warning of consequences for anyone who might snitch.
She plopped down between Millicent and Daphne, placing the (admittedly beautiful) crystal ball and its stand in the middle of their newly formed circle. It truly was a piece of art, the metalwork in the stand of almost goblin-made quality. As they watched the smoke swirl within their snarky comments were forgotten and they became lights in the room almost seemed to dim with the glow that was coming off of the ball.
Millicent's eyes bugged out as she noticed the form of a rat scurrying through the smoke. She could almost hear it chittering. Tracey let out a soft noise when she saw a large dog (could it be the Grim?) poking its nose around, his paws seemingly walking on air. Daphne actually shrieked when the top of the ball glowed even brighter, showering light upon the obvious form of a werewolf, howling up at the apparent moon. Even Pansy went pale as a stag crept into her vision, its antlers bowing low in her direction before it faded away.
As quickly as it had started, the aura emanating from the ball shut off like a switch. The fog inside became dull and moved almost lazily around, hardly swirling at all anymore. The girls shared a look, each of their foreheads glistening a bit with sweat, before Pansy abruptly grabbed the ball and shoved it into her school bag.
"Right then, we want to just pretend like that was a perfume and rum induced dream and get back to our schedule?" Pansy tried to keep her voice light, but everyone could hear the nervous pitch.
"Well, I'd say you definitely won the candy, Pans," Daphne joked, and a bit of the tension was broken as Pansy flipped her hair and Tracey began to sing her praises.
As the night wore on, however, the images were never far from the girls minds. They wondered if Trelawney had some kind of spell woven into the ball, creating some kind of illusion, or if it really was just girl-ish excitement and imagination getting the best of them. The thought in all of their heads, however, the one that kept a pit in each of their stomachs, was if they had seen a true revelation for what was to come. And, if so, what in Merlin's name those images could possibly mean.
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