Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it. This is done for fun and the entire Harry Potter Empire is the property of JK Rowling. I do not make any profit from these stories.

Snape and Sybil's First Day

"What do you mean a slight administrative error?" Severus Snape asked as he glared across the table at Headmaster Dumbledore.

"It was all such a muddle," Dumbledore began as he sorted through the scattered papers. "So much happening, so much to do, and it was just a little hiccup. It'll all be sorted in a few days."

"But I don't see why we have to do this?" Severus asked, knowing his voice was starting to sound whiny and hating that it did. "Can't we just do what we originally planned?"

"Oh no, that wouldn't be right," Dumbledore replied with a sorry shake of his head. "Until the error is rectified at the Ministry you will have to do what your job contracts say you're hired for."

"But-"

"No arguments," Dumbledore cut him off. "The Ministry are getting very strict about the rules these days and they won't want people doing jobs they're not hired for."

"But you hired me to teach potions!" Severus was starting to lose patience and a dawning sense of panic was settling in.

"And you will," Dumbledore assured him. "Just as soon as this little error has been cleared up. Until then I'm afraid that Sybil will have to take over your duties and you will be teaching her Divination classes."

"But she doesn't know anything about Potions," Severus replied with a glare towards Sybil who was happily gazing at Fawkes; he didn't know if she was even listening to the conversation. He decided not to mention his own lack of knowledge about the subject of Divination. His lack at least was on the grounds of disinterest rather than dimness.

"I am sure you have a suitable lesson plan already prepared. She can just work from that and you can work from hers. Then in a couple of days when it's all sorted you can do your own jobs."

Dumbledore nodded and stood up to rise, indicating that the discussion was at an end.

Severus stood up too; Sybil remained seated and Dumbledore merely walked around her, perhaps intending to have her forcibly removed, Snape thought with spite.

Divination! What the heck did he know about divination? The Dark Lord would be in stitches if he ever got to hear about this. He wondered if it would be possible to keep it a secret but knew there was little hope of that.

Monday morning on the first day of term dawned bright and sunny, a stark contrast to Severus Snape's disposition.

He had left the safe and cosy dungeon and made his way to the Divination tower an hour ago. And he still hadn't found Sybil's lesson plans.

He knew that she was downstairs teaching the second year students from his own meticulous notes and when he finally gave up searching for her plans he made his way to the classroom to ask her about them. Time was running out and his first class of fifth year students would be arriving in a matter of minutes.

Severus looked into the Potions classroom and tried to see through the clouds of billowing smoke that filled the room from wall to wall. What had that woman done? The plan for the first lesson didn't include anything that smoked like that.

He pulled the door open and after taking a last breath of clean air he walked into the room and weaved his way through the desks, peering around for Sybil. He had just tripped over the third carelessly left bag when he heard the sounds of her vague voice coming from his right.

"Wonderful, wonderful," Sybil declared, her voice rising as Severus worked his way towards it. "Isn't that a lovely smell of peppermint?"

Peppermint? Severus was even more confused as he made his way towards her.

"Look at all the interesting shapes. Why you could almost See in the wonderful smoke you're creating here. Excellent work."

"What's going on?" Severus asked as he finally reached her. "What have you done to my classroom?"

"Don't you remember?" Sybil asked sympathetically as she turned to him as though to a small child with a poor memory. "You're teaching my class in the tower."

Severus glared at her though the effect was somewhat lost as a small explosion from a nearby cauldron sent another cloud of smoke in his direction. He glared at the wand-waving Hufflepuff who had obviously tried to use a spell to quicken up his potion. That'll stop when I'm teaching, Severus thought to himself. Wands and potions don't mix when in the hands of lazy students.

"What did you do to my lesson plan?" Severus snapped at Sybil.

"Oh that," Sybil replied with an airy wave of her hand. "I couldn't make out that scrawly handwriting so I decided to form my own lesson plan. Did you know that your style of handwriting signifies someone with a bad temper but who yearns for acceptance and friendship?"

Severus opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it and shut it again abruptly. "You could have asked me what it said," he finally pointed out in a forced calm voice.

"That's okay," Sybil replied as another cloud of smoke billowed over them. "I got an Outstanding in my Potions OWL. Did you know that?"

The appropriate question would be 'do I believe it?' Severus thought to himself.

Taking another badly timed breath of peppermint flavoured air Severus started to choke yet again. "Why have you added peppermint to a potion?" he gasped, at a loss to recall any potion that required such an addition.

"I thought it would add flavour to the mixtures for when the pupils test them," Sybil explained as though she were surprised Severus wouldn't be doing the same.

"Add flavour?" he spluttered in horror. Did the woman have any idea what adverse effects such idiocy would have?

"Now Severus," Sybil said in a tone unlike one he would have expected from her. "I know you're disappointed you can't be teaching Potions until the little mix up is sorted out, but I must insist that you don't interrupt my classes. You're distracting the students."

"I only came in here to find out what you had done with your Divination lesson plans," Severus replied defensively.

"Lesson plans?" Sybil laughed and shook her head. "I don't use lesson plans. The Inner Eye doesn't work to a schedule. I just go with my instincts. You'll just have to do the same."

With a final wave of dismissal Sybil wandered over to a desk on the far side of the room where orange smoke was being churned out to mingle with the green. Severus hurried out of the room leaving behind the faint smell of oranges mingled with peppermint.

Back in the Divination tower Severus looked at the students who had piled into the room with looks of disapproval at his lateness.

"There will be no foolish wand waving in this class," Severus began, deciding at once that any student foolish enough to take Divination was too foolish to be allowed to do real magic.

He opened the desk drawer in the pretence of looking for something when he spotted a bottle of alcohol stashed at the back. He wondered if anyone would notice if he took a little sip.

Then in a moment of inspiration he looked across the room and saw the rows of tea cups lined along the shelf.

"Today we'll be reading tealeaves," Severus announced. Go get the cups and you-" he pointed at a scared looked Ravenclaw student. "-fetch me one too and the one who shows the most aptitude will be able to read my fortune for the rest of the class."

The students hurried to do his bidding and when he was sure that the students were engrossed in their readings he added just a drop of alcohol to his own drink. It was just the once, and if he was going to make it through the next few days he had a feeling he would need it.

Leaving them to their deliberations Snape only spoke again towards the end of the class when he pulled up the student who was to read his own fortune. He chose a small weedy looking Gryffindor boy who had broken his first tea cup and giggled so much Snape wondered if he had been at Sybil's drinks cabinet too.

"Well what do you see?" Snape snapped at the nervous boy as the rest of the class waited with bated breath.

"Erm," the boy began. "I see you've had a recent holiday in the sun, and you're going to be going on a long journey very soon."

Obviously the boy was blind, Snape reasoned, his pale skin a dead give away that he hadn't seen the sun in years. As for the long journey...wishful thinking on the lad's part. No, he was going to be sticking around at Hogwart's for many years to come...a fate he didn't like any more than the boy in front of him did.

He only hoped that Dumbledore and the Ministry sorted out the mix up soon before he had no potions room to return to and Sybil ran out of alcoholic provisions.