Chapter 10 - Visions & Visible Mistakes

Severus' health continued to deteriorate, and by morning he was too feverish and ill to get out of bed and go to work. Dumbledore appointed a substitute teacher to take his place until he was well enough to return to work, which resulted in a great deal of grumbling and complaining from the ailing Potions Master.

The dark man tried sitting up in bed, and collapsed onto the mound of pillows when he was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness. Any further attempts at escaping the confines of the hospital wing resulted in Madem Pomfrey putting her hand on his chest and forcing him down in bed. Severus insisted on returning to work, but the harder he pushed the more forceful she became, and he knew that when she threatened to hex him so he'd stay in bed she meant it.

"This is for your own good, Severus," she told him. "Now stop acting like a stubborn child. I expect better of you than that."

Severus glared at her, wanting very much to cast a few hexes of his own. He hated being confined to bed, and he hated anything that had to do with hospitals and medical facilities even more. But even if he left there wasn't much he could do in his current condition, and eventually he gave in and decided to stay put, letting the healer do what she could to care for him.

While Severus was resting in bed, McGonagall took Selebi on a tour of the castle, showing her the dungeons and explaining that she would be staying with Severus once he recovered.

Selebi didn't seem pleased with the idea of living with Severus. "Why do I have to stay with him?" she asked. "I'm not convinced that he's the best company I could have."

"Severus is a professor. We wouldn't have hired him if we did not trust him," said McGonagall. "You have nothing to worry about. You'll be safe with him. Though I must admit he isn't the best company at times. But it's not so bad, once you get used to his attitude and learn to roll with it rather than fighting with him."

"I'm sure." Selebi folded her arms across her chest, glancing up at the cold, wet walls. "Yes, this is going to be lovely," she said sarcastically. "Living in a moldy dungeon. Fabulous."

Next on their tour was the kitchens. Selebi walked behind McGonagall, a look of disgust on her face as she watched the many house elves making lunch for the students. The dark witch despised house elves, and saw them as low class animals whose only purpose in life was to serve human beings. They were disposable, and Selebi wouldn't tolerate any sort of failure to follow her orders. If one of them slipped up they were as good as dead.

Winky was busy making tuna sandwiches when she caught sight of Selebi from the corner of her bright green eyes. She almost dropped the plate she was carrying when she saw the dark witch walk past, her hands trembling and her eyes wide as she backed up against the counter.

Selebi looked down at the trembling house elf. "Is there something wrong with this creature?" she asked, not bothering to conceal a note of disgust in her voice. "Poor thing looks like its going to piss itself."

Winky stuttered and stammered as she raised a trembling hand and pointed up at Selebi. "I-it...it is you! Y-you is r-really he-here!"

"Oh how precious, they taught you how to talk." Selebi looked back at McGonagall. "This creature is speaking but it isn't making any sense. It appears to be defective. Perhaps you should trade it in for a new one."

"M-my master," Winky stammered. "S-she is seeing you. You is just like she is seeing." She then turned around and screamed, her shrill voice causing Selebi to clap her hands over her ears as the elf called for her master.

There came a clinking of glass from around the corner. Selebi and McGonagall then watched as a bottle of sherry rolled across the floor, followed by Trelawney as she scrambled for the bottle before anyone saw what she was doing.

Trelawney stumbled and nearly tripped over one of her trailing shawls in her haste to retrieve the half empty bottle. "Oh, oh excuse me. I'm so sorry." She fumbled with the bottle then looked up. "Merlin's beard... I don't believe it."

There was a loud crash as the bottle slipped from the seer's hands and shattered on the floor, its contents spilling on Selebi's shoes.

If looks could kill, Trelawney would have died right then and there as Selebi's black eyes bored into her.

"What the bloody hell is your problem!" she shouted at the incompetent seer.

Trelawney slid over onto her butt, sitting on the kitchen floor as her Winky trembled and hid beneath her master's many layers of thick, wooly shawls. "I warned Severus about you," she said, her liquid lunch now forgotten. "Why did they let you in? You should not be here!"

"You mean to tell me that you foresaw this woman's arrival before she even got here?" McGonagall asked, looking from Trelawney to Selebi and back again. She found it hard to believe that the seer had actually made a correct prediction for once.

Trelawney suddenly launched into one of her overdramatic rants. "Yes, yes, I saw her, Minerva! She is the dark witch I forsaw! She is evil. Her aura is dark, very dark indeed!"

Selebi's look of furious anger vanished in an instant. She took several steps back, distancing herself from Trelawney as she nervously fiddled with the sleeve of her dress. "Look, I don't know you. I don't know who you think I am. And maybe I don't want to know you if you're going to start accusing me of being a dark witch the moment you first lay eyes on me."

It was difficult for Selebi to maintain her composure. Part of her wanted to fight, to defend herself and silence this drunken seer before she started spewing the truth about her past, about who she was and what she had done, while another part of her wanted to run before the situation got any worse.

Selebi was not the strongest witch, nor was she the bravest. She could turn on someone in an instant and strike them down like a bolt of lightning. But if she was pushed in a corner she often backed down, knowing that her strength in combat wasn't enough to guarantee victory. She preferred to strike and run, rather than stick around for the duration of a battle.

"Perhaps it would be best if we moved on," said McGonagall. She took Selebi by the hand and began to steer her out of the kitchen. "Sybil, I wish to speak to you later about your prediction," she added over her shoulder as they left the room. "Meet me in my quarters this evening."

.oOo.

The hour was late. Selebi couldnt sleep, and had decided to pay Severus a visit in the infirmary. She was still on edge after meeting Trelawney, and when McGonagall left to have a word with her later that evening, the dark witch took advantage of the opportunity to sneak off and go for a stroll through the castle.

Selebi entered the infirmary and quietly made her way towards Severus' bed. She didn't know whether or not he was still awake, or if Madem Pomfrey would throw a fit for disturbing her patient. However she didn't let that stop her from tiptoeing towards the bed, her hand closing around the curtain as she drew back the crisp, white material.

What she saw made her want to scream, as she spied the Potions Master lying in bed with a blood soaked towel beneath his left arm. Madem Pomfrey was mopping up the excess blood with a second towel, carefully cleaning and dressing the wound before vanishing the mess of bloody towels. She watched as the healer slipped her hand behind Severus' head, lifting him off the pillow and holding a bottle of dark blue potion to his lips. She held the bottle steady as she helped him drink it, then carefully laid him back down on the pillow.

Selebi was horrified at the sight of all that blood staining the towels on the bed. And to make matters worse she had seen the mark on his left forearm. There was no mistaking the writhing serpent that issued from the mouth of the leering skull. It was clearly visible despite the amount of blood and burned tissues that surrounded it.

She quickly backed away from the bed, just as Madam Pomfrey looked up and saw the frightened witch moving to stand behind the curtain.

"Miss Selebi, is something wrong?"

The dark witch was nervously chewing on her fingernails when the healer's voice broke through her troubled thoughts. She spun around, trying her best to hide the panic that was building in her chest.

"No, of course not." She shook her head, her dark hair falling into her eyes. "Nothing is wrong. I was just wondering if I could visit with him for a little while. I promise I won't be long. I just want to see how he's doing."

"I suppose. But make it quick. Severus needs his rest, and he's liable to fall asleep any minute now thanks to the potion I gave him."

Selebi ducked behind the curtain. She listened to Pomfrey's retreating footsteps, waiting until they were alone before speaking to the professor.

"You," she snapped at him, not bothering to hide the anger and anxiety in her voice. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

"Excuse me?" Severus was confused. He had no idea what she was prattling on about, or why she had suddenly decided to snap at him. "Could you be more specific? Or has something in your rational thought process gone awry?"

"Rational thought, eh?" Without warning Selebi hauled off and slapped him on the shoulder. "You're a damn Death Eater! And here you are, questioning the rationality of my decisions. How much time and 'rational thought' did you put into everything before you decided to join the Dark Lord?"

"I'll answer that question if you tell me how much time and thought went into joining your own dark master," Severus spat in contempt. This woman was getting on his nerves, and he was in no mood to listen to her.

"Well I..." Selebi found herself at a loss for words.

"Yes, that's what I thought. You seem to have developed an annoying habit of complaining about everyone and everything around you. And yet when someone asks you a simple question, you are unable to respond. Tell me, what was your master's name? Or is that too difficult for your mind to process."

"Babidi," Selebi answered, gritting her teeth as her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"How charming," Severus remarked dryly. "I won't deny what I am, Selebi. I'll admit it wasn't the wisest choice I made, but I have spent a great deal of time making up for my previous actions, and am now considered a reformed Death Eater amongst my colleagues."

"Ha! Reformed!" Selebi laughed. "Well pardon me for not coming up with a more colorful way of saying that I don't believe that crap!"

As she was talking, Severus' gaze shifted to the glaring white curtain around his bed. She was clearly wasting his time with her pointless rant, but he had too much class to raise a stink over it.

"Are you about finished?" Severus asked, sounding rather annoyed. "You're no better than I am. Therefore you do not have the right to criticize me. Atleast I know how to behave myself while you continue to chatter ceaselessly like a fool. And how did you discover that I am a Death Eater?"

"I saw the mark on your arm when Pomfrey was changing your bandages," said Selebi. "Of course, I've never seen such a thing on another human being before. I've only heard rumors of the Dark Lord branding his followers. But it's enough to tell me all I need to know about you."

By now Severus had begun dozing off as he listened to Selebi's long winded speech. He could see that she was upset with him, and kept fidgeting and fiddling with her wand as she talked. She had a lot of nervous habits, which only added to how thoroughly annoying she was.

"So you saw my mark and automatically assumed that I'm a Death Eater?" Severus asked, yawning as he fought to stay awake.

"Yes. Yes I did."

"Why?"

"Because I'm familiar with dark wizards branding their followers. See?" And with that she pushed back her thick bangs, revealing a blackened scar in the middle of her forehead shaped like the letter M. "This is the mark of a majin witch," she explained. "This is Lord Babidi's signature brand. All his followers wear it as a symbol to show our support for him."

The mark on Selebi's forehead was the last thing Severus saw before he finally fell asleep. For a moment he thought that his eyes must be deceiving him. Surely she didn't have a mark similar to his own. But there it was, plain as day. They both bore the mark of a dark wizard, but only one of them had to bear a curse along with the stain that marred their flesh.