This had been entirely a bad idea. Pomona Sprout sat awkwardly, twiddling her thumbs as the tea was brought out to the table. Sybill Trelawney sat opposite her, gazing around Madam Pudifoot's tea shop; it was not a place she went often and the decor was interesting, if not completely over the top. Pomona smiled slightly at the waitress and then glanced back at Sybill, wondering if she understood exactly why Pomona had asked her here. Was this a date, in the eyes of the Divination teacher, or merely a cup of tea between colleagues? Pomona was not sure and so, instead of risking the potential embarrassment of asking, she just sipped her tea in silence. Sybill too sipped her drink, her face not giving anything away. After a while, Pomona felt a need to break the silence between them.
"So, does your tea say anything?" she asked in an attempt at a joke.
The seer gave an indulgent, but superior, smile.
"Sometimes tea is just tea," Sybill said in a slightly mystic voice, "It does not always have to mean something."
Pomona had to keep herself from cringing; was that statement a metaphor for this very meeting?
"And you're sure this cup doesn't mean anything?" the Herbology professor asked, a hint of sadness in her voice.
Sybill did not say anything for a short time. Her eyes, magnified a hundred times by her glasses, stared at Pomona, as if looking right inside her. Pomona hoped to god she wasn't blushing.
"I don't know," Sybill replied after a few seconds.
She smiled, one that was hesitant but also slightly teasing. She leaned in a little closer to Pomona.
"I haven't got to the end of the cup yet," she whispered.