Rating: PG
Characters: Snape, Trelawney

---

Severus could feel someone staring at him. Since his release from Azkaban and the ensuing scandal that forced Percy Weasley from office - and into that very same prison - Severus had slowly grown accustomed to once again being the focus of attention. His first day teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts had been an excruciating exercise in self-control. Immediately after dismissing his last class, he'd confidently strode through the corridors of Hogwarts and then locked himself in his rooms with a large whisky, willing his hands to stop shaking and his heart to stop racing.

Ten years in Azkaban where you prayed to be ignored did take its toll.

With a slow tilt of his head, he pretended to examine the window display at Flourish & Blotts and he was able to clearly see the street in his peripheral vision. There. A woman stood on the pavement staring at him. There was something familiar about her...

He gave an inaudible sigh as she began to walk toward him. These days, too many people felt the need to approach him. A very few congratulated him on his Order of Merlin. Most, however, attempted to ask stupid and annoying questions about his duties as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix.

He deliberately turned away from the woman, choosing to walk in the opposite direction. He had business at both ends of Diagon Alley; it wouldn't matter if he went to the stationery shop now or later.

"Hello, Severus," the woman said from behind him.

He went rigid at that soft, wispy voice and slowly turned to face her. The bug-eyed glasses were gone, replaced by battered wire-rimmed spectacles. The scarves and shawls and jangling bracelets he associated with Sibyll Trelawney were absent. This woman wore only faded black robes that were frayed along the hem.

"Good afternoon, Sibyll," he said in a clipped tone.

"I read that you were..." she paused with a wry twist of her lips, "freed from Azkaban. You're teaching at Hogwarts again. Defence Against the Dark Arts now, not Potions." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I was surprised to find you gone, though. I thought that you'd stay in that tower until you perished." He sneered slightly as he spoke. He'd never had much use for Sibyll Trelawney and her incessant morbid predictions.

"I spent twenty years in that tower," she answered with a familiar fluttering of hands. "The brunt of jokes, teaching disdainful children who laughed behind my back. Twenty years was more than enough. After Albus died..." Sibyll's voice trailed away and then her voice strengthened. "Minerva never liked me; she never believed me, so I decided to leave."

Severus raised an eyebrow. There was no point in disagreeing with her, she was only telling the truth. But then he had no intention of spending his afternoon talking to Sibyll Trelawney, either.

"I have quite a few errands--" he began.

"It's starting again," she suddenly blurted.

"Starting?" Severus asked, surprised at her abrupt statement.

"You spent ten years in Azkaban; you paid more dearly than anyone else alive." Her words were coming faster now, tumbling one over the other in rapid succession as she spoke. "So when I saw you, I knew that I should tell you. To warn you. And you're truly in a position to watch them. Defence Against the Dark Arts would be the perfect--"

"You're rambling, Sibyll," Severus interrupted, distaste evident in his tone. "What are you talking about?"

"It's starting again. I've seen it - dreamt it - over and over again. Even now, someone else is beginning to make plans, to gather power. To take the other's place." She was wringing her hands now, twisting her fingers until they were bloodless.

"There's always someone greedy for power. That knowledge doesn't require divination," Severus said coldly. The woman was clearly up to her old tricks of making diaphanous predictions of death and destruction.

"You don't believe me," she said, shaking her head. Her hands were flailing now, as she became more agitated. "I've tried telling people, but no one listens. No one believes me."

"Who, then?" Severus snapped, his patience gone and his voice harsh. "Who is it that's "beginning to make plans"? Give me a name, woman. Something specific. These vague prophecies of yours are useless."

"Don't you think I know that?" she screamed, her hands clenched into fists.

Alarmed, Severus stepped back and placed his hand on his wand as her voice continued to rise.

"I don't know who it is. I never know anything for certain. If I did, then all those people wouldn't have died. Albus and Filius and Hagrid and Remus and all the others. If I'd known, I could have stopped it!" She was sobbing now and people were whispering as they walked by, some openly staring at them.

"Sibyll, calm down," Severus said sharply. "You're causing a scene."

She closed her mouth abruptly and took a hitching breath, then her tear-filled eyes met his. "Whoever it is, they're in that school now, Severus. That's all I know for certain," she said softly. "Don't make the same mistake that Albus did with Tom Riddle. Albus only wanted to see the good in people, but you know better. You know what people are truly capable of being."

Severus sighed again. She was obviously insane. Her misplaced guilt and her own sense of failure had taken the last of her mind. He felt a slight twinge of pity. He was no stranger to guilt and failure.

"You seem overtired, Sibyll. You need to rest, I think," Severus said, careful to keep his tone soothing. "Why don't you go home now?"

"Promise me," she insisted, her eyes locked with his. "Promise me that you won't make that mistake."

"All right, Sibyll. I promise," he answered, still keeping his tone even.

Her head bowed and her shoulders slumped. "You're humouring me. You don't believe me, either," she said dully.

Without another word, she turned and walked away. As she passed, people flinched away from her, but Sibyll never stopped and Severus watched until she turned the corner and was out of sight.

Severus shook his head. When he returned to Hogwarts, he would speak with Minerva about her. Perhaps Sibyll could be admitted into St. Mungo's. It would be kinder than leaving her to wander the streets making her usual false predictions.

"Not always false," a little voice whispered in his mind. "Remember?"

He frowned as he walked toward the stationery.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...

It was patently ridiculous. She'd spent the majority of her time at Hogwarts peering at tea leaves and spouting nonsense.

Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...

No matter what Albus Dumbledore had believed, it was ludicrous to think that the woman had actual prophetic visions.

And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...

Wasn't it?

By the time Severus had reached the stationery, he'd begun to catalogue his students, mentally sorting the potential Dark Wizards from the rest.

He supposed there was no harm in being cautious.

Comment

<< Previous Ficlet | Too Much Butterbeer | Ten Years After - Home | Next Ficlet >>

---

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters and concepts are the property of J.K. Rowling. These stories are fan tributes to her works, and generate no profit of any kind. No challenge to the intellectual property rights of Ms. Rowling, or any other author or artist whose works may be mentioned herein, is intended or implied. Story archived by permission of the author.