The next morning was a stark contrast from the previous day. Rain pounded against the school's ancient stone walls and the sky was painted a dismal grey. The Quartet walked off to their classes, chattering jokingly about nothing in particular, before Thomas had to split from the group to go to his next class. Atlas and the twins had their next class, Divination, together, and so they continued their trek up to one of Hogwarts's stoic towers where the class was held. On their way up, the twins sensed that something was amiss.
"Hey, Trip," Robin asked, "You okay? You seem…"
"Quiet," Carol said. And, together, the boys chimed, "Too quiet."
Atlas shook his head, "I'm fine, just…distracted. I mean, I guess."
The twins looked skeptically at each other, then back at Atlas. "Distracted by what?" Carol asked.
"N-nothing. It's nothing." He avoided their gaze. "So, uh…that…that girl, from last night. Are you all friends? Or something…?"
A twinkle sparked in Robin's eye, "Oh…Oh, no way." He looked over at Carol, who had a similarly mischievous look on his face.
"I know," Carol said, "I can't believe…bloody hell!"
"W-what? What's going on?" Atlas inquired worriedly, "What are you guys-?"
"You've got a crush on Rosie!" The twins whispered, quietly laughing, not wanting to draw any suspicion.
Atlas blushed, but tried to conceal it by itching at his face. "I don't! I'm just- I mean…" He sighed. Despite not wanting to give into stereotypes, "I'm a Ravenclaw, and we're inquisitive! I'm just curious, that's all. Nothing…nothing more to it."
The twins didn't seem to buy the act, but shrugged off their previous suspicions anyway. "Fine, whatever you say, Trip." Carol said.
"So, what exactly are you inquiring about, anyway?" Robin asked.
"Just, y'know, are you guys friends?...And why do you keep calling her Rosie? That-that isn't her name, if you were wondering."
"Yeah, we know," Robin smiled, "Rose is her middle name. We just call her that to get her a little riled up. I guess you could say that we're friends…"
"More like acquaintances," Carol added, "Just with more joking around, yeah?"
Atlas nodded as the boys walked into class. Professor Trelawney was getting on in years, so a few students had shown up early to help her set up for class. Tea cups were set in groups of four on every table. They'd studied tea leaf reading last year, but Trelawney's mind had never been in the right place to begin with, and time certainly hadn't been kind to her, so none of the students mentioned it.
The boys sat down at a table as the rest of the students filed in. Atlas spotted Devvy immediately as she walked in with a small cluster of other Gryffindor girls. He wondered how he'd never noticed her before, seeing as he couldn't help from noticing her now. She was just as gorgeous as she'd been last night, disproving any of Atlas's theories that their encounter might have been a dream. She spotted him right away, too, a small smile growing on her face. Atlas looked down at his lap, not wanting to meet her eye.
Atlas heard the remaining chair at their table shuffle, moving out from the table itself.
"D'you mind?" He could practically hear the bright smirk in her voice as she spoke.
"You know there's always room in the inn for you, Miss Rosie." Robin replied. Atlas could see the twin's face in his mind's eye as he heard him speak, the mock-flirtatious look of a jokester, as he was.
He felt a soft kick on his ankle coming from Devvy's direction and looked up. She was innocently looking around the room, but a grin slowly eased across her face. He was just a bit shaken from even being in her presence, but managed to listen as Trelawney started the lesson.
Even though she was shaky on her feet and had to use a cane to prevent herself from toppling over, Trelawney insisted on walking around the classroom as she lectured the students on the mystical properties of tea leaves and their magnificent ability to predict the future, with sensationally accurate results. She, unlike a majority of the students seemed extremely eager to delve into the hands-on portion of the lesson. Of course, being that she was always a bit rickety and had long ago lost the mental capacity to conceal even the tiniest of her emotions, she always seemed to be excited about something.
The students began sipping at their tea. Most of them took gentle sips, as Trelawney was very specific on which method of tea consumption would produce the clearest predictions. Some students, however, either hadn't been listening or were extremely over-eager to begin their readings, because their tea was gone within moments (Along with a large portion of their leaves. Embarrassed, they discreetly poured themselves a new cup and took much greater care the second time around).
Atlas, Devvy and the twins all finished their tea around the same time, leaving curiously shaped lumps in the bottoms of their cups.
"Hmm," Robin stared down into his cup. The largest clump appeared to have a triangular head with a thin, almost handle-like extremity. "What d'you think that is?"
"Uhh," Atlas flipped through his book, and the twins quickly followed suit. He felt another gentle nudge on his ankle. Devvy's face showed a child-like innocence, once again, despite her pleased smirk.
Was…was she flirting with him! Atlas tried to expel the thought from his mind as quickly as possible as his cheeks began to turn pink. It couldn't be, could it? Sneaking a look back over at her, he could see that she was softly giggling to herself, probably amused with his flustered response. Atlas shook the thought away as the Carol's face lit up.
"Here! A Bricklayer's Trowel signifies a presented task being successfully completed."
Robin smiled, "Cool! What's yours?"
Carol peered into his cup. A large figure lurked along the rim. "It kind of looks like a dog…"
"What did you say!" Professor Trelawney, who was only a few feet away, quickly hobbled over to their table and took Carol's cup. The dog which he had spotted had a thin tail and slouching, flappy-looking ears. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, never mind then," She handed the cup back to Carol. "However, the dog symbolizes dishonesty in someone close to you-"
"Um, it says in the book that a dog symbolizes a loyal friend, though." Carol said, reading from a page in his textbook.
"Oh, well," Trelawney began to circle around the table "It must be a misprint, then."
The twins rolled their eyes at each other as Atlas examined his own cup. The picture, unlike Robin's or Carol's, was shockingly clear. Though he wasn't sure what the exact interpretation was, he figured that nothing bad could come from-
"Ohh, an angel!" Trelawney gingerly took Devvy's cup. Atlas looked down at his own, stunned. The winged figure he saw was almost identical to the one the professor was showing around. "Angels signify great joy. Oh, and a tremendous love coming your way." She handed the cup back to a smiling Devvy, both of the twins looking in their books for a paragraph on angels and both nodding their heads to Trelawney when she glared at them, almost daring them to challenge her readings again.
Atlas's heart rate was picking up as Trelawney stepped towards him. He quickly shook his cup, shifting the leaf clumps into a new position before she could peer inside.
"Hmm…I'm not quite sure what this is..." She said, quizzically looking at the lumpy formation: a bumpy, rectangular shape with swirls of tiny leaves being emitted from what could be perceived as the top.
"It sort of looks like a smoking chimney." Carol said. Robin pulled his brother's book across the table to look at the picture.
"Yeah, it does," He said, "A smoking chimney signifies…contentedness with your life and the simple path it is taking." He looked up at Atlas, "Basically, nothing exciting is ever gonna happen to you."
Atlas shook his head, sighing, "That sounds fine by me."
Trelawney looked a bit disappointed, and walked with slightly teetering steps to the next table. Atlas looked over at Devvy, who looked pleased as she continued to stare down into her own cup. She looked up and locked eyes with him, a small smile forming on her face. He quickly looked away. Thankfully, class was over in a matter of minutes. Atlas and the twins said goodbye and went to their next classes.