Love is the Bane of Honor
by ohsevenhells
Summary: Love is the death of duty. Choosing between your charge and your heart is never straightforward - a lesson Draco of House Malfoy has yet to learn. And sometimes a love gone awry can set the world aflame. HP/ASOIAF crossover. AU.
A.N: I obviously do not own neither Harry Potter nor As Song of Ice and Fire and their creators are far more talented than I. I simply thank JK Rowling and George R. R. Martin for creating such compelling worlds and characters. No copyright infringement is intended, et cetera. Also this is my first foray into the world of fan ficiton...
Now on with the story.
oOoOo
Sybill
"...for the night is dark and full of terrors," the woman murmured to the flames crackling in the fireplace.
Her eyes fluttered open after she finished her otherwise silent prayer. Her red hair spilled over her shoulder as she leaned forward to feel their heat and gaze into their depths. As she stared into the flickering flames the shadows cast by the fire began to drift and warp into ethereal shapes. Sybill looked deep into the flames, searching them for glimpses. Surely R'hllor, the Lord of Light, would reward her unwavering devotion? It was not yet a week past since she'd given a man who had somehow displeased the king – some poor sod from House Karkaroff – to the flames as a sacrifice to the Red God.
In spite of herself, Sybill blinked to moisten her drying eyes. When she did, she saw it. So transfixed was she by the scenes flitting through the flames that she didn't even hear her handmaiden enter her chamber. Recognizing the expression of rapturous concentration upon her mistress' face, the handmaiden hurried to the desk across the room. She shuffled quickly and quietly through the drawer of Lady Trelawney's desk, being careful not to interrupt red woman's divinations. She grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment and fumbled to find a pot of ink. After a moment, Sybill released the shuddering breath she hadn't realized she was holding and rubbed her eyes. The images had been so vivd this time...
"Well?" inquired her handmaiden breathlessly, quill inked and at the ready. "What did you see, my lady?"
Sybill did not open her eyes as she began to speak, the prophecy spilling from her ruby red lips. Her servant eagerly wrote down every word, quill scratching manically.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Mad King approaches. In the flames I have seen it. A love gone awry shall plunge the kingdom into chaos and disarray, turning House against House. Grudges old and new will fuel the bloodshed. The people shall suffer and burn and cast off their chains to fight their master. But the carnage shall end when the red wolf tears out the throat of the basilisk. A new king will lead this world to a new era unfettered by darkness and shadows."
The servant girl's eyes bulged as she copied down every word. When she finished her frantic scribbling, her hands were shaking. The basilisk was the sigil of the royal family... and that could only mean one thing.
"S-shall I inform his Grace of these... t-tidings, my lady?" the girl asked, her voice trembling.
"I will inform the King of my vision myself, at first light," replied Lady Trelawney, "you may go now, Rita."
Rita nodded, bowed her head and curtsied clumsily, and scurried from the room as though the faster she left, the further she could distance herself from the prophecy and its unpleasant implications. Sybill sighed heavily as she heard the click that followed Rita's hastily retreating figure. Sybill knew that Rita was likely running straight to the Queen to tell her everything she's heard. Rita was ambitious, it was true, but she lacked subtlety needed to survive at court. Sybill was no fool – she knew how the lords and ladies of Hogsmeade played their little games. But she was above all that nonsense. Sybill was important and powerful figure in Hogsmeade and had even become a confidant of the King himself. King Voldemort was a notoriously suspicious man, yet she was now one of his most trusted advisors.
Queen Bellatrix, on the other hand, had little love for Sybill Trelawney. Then again, Bellatrix had an inexplicable hatred for any woman that came within ten feet of her precious Dark Lord.
'Let Rita and Bellatrix share their silly gossip', thought Sybill loftily. 'Neither shall ever bask in the fiery light of R'hllor'. Sybill pitied them for that.
Suddenly, Sybill's shoulders drooped with the weight of what she'd seen. Receiving R'hllor's intrigues was taxing enough without the added drama of schemes and plots. Sybill stood somewhat unsteadily and walked over to her chamber window. She pulled open the heavy velvet curtains to peer at the inky black sky.
'Is it already so late'? The hour of the wolf was fast approaching. Perhaps she should have felt fear, but instead she felt only triumph. With a prophecy of this magnitude, her position would be solidified. Sybill would no longer have to endure the scorn of those vapid, simpering court ladies who mocked her threadbare robes, nor the sneers of those who worshipped those false idols – the Seven. She would be important. She would be powerful. Little did she know at that moment, as she gazed glassy-eyed at the glittering stars while lost in thought, that it would be the last time she would ever see the sky.
For she had just foretold the fall of House Gaunt.
oOoOo
And there it is. I apologize for the length, but this is really just a brief prologue to the main story. The next chapter will be much longer! I'd love to hear what you thought of it in a review! This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so do try to keep that in mind.
