Apart from Faith none of this is mine, all belongs to JKR. Thank you for your kind reviews! Especially the person who begged me to upload, whoever you are! And Manticore Queen, I really appreciate your offer to beta for me, but I do now have one. Thank you very much for offering though and any comments or suggestions you have I would really appreciate!
Finally thank you to my beta reader, Liz (go read her stories, they under the pen name Laura Beth and are wonderful!) for her helpful comments and patience with my terrible computer!
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Chapter 11Faith was not going to admit to herself she was going to the staff room for company. Nothing could make her admit that the attack in the morning had left her with a nagging fear of being alone. She had lain trembling in the bath for hours as she tried to deal with the aftershocks. They had come less frequently than usual but she couldn't cope with any more screams ringing in her ears.
She had slept, a dead exhausted sleep, all afternoon. Now she felt a lot better, but she was still jumpy and could sense the buried thoughts stirring in her mind.
The staff room was a chaotic muddle of light and sounds. She drifted through it, listening to the fragments of conversation. Some of the teachers were excited about the pupils returning, some were dreading it, and the air was strained. There were the snippets of laughter that were just too high, the cut off whispers and the twinges at loud noises. There was a tangible feeling of… dread? No, Faith thought as she reached the window, that was too strong. It was expectation. Not a bright and keen expectation, but a nervy and twitchy one.
As she looked out of the window she was surprised to see a faint grey smudge on the sky. At the very edge of the horizon the clouds were massing into an oily grey blemish.
"Faith!" Sprout's voice, Oh God… "Are you looking forward to tomorrow? Going to be a bit of a change I expect! But then living here has been hasn't it? I wonder if…"
Faith nodded along to whatever the hell Sprout was rattling on about. She couldn't face the woman's eyes. The unbearable, watery sympathy was too much for her to take.
She scanned the crowd for Snape or Blackthorn, but neither were around. Sprout was still talking, Faith was seriously beginning to wander if her brain was actually connected to her mouth. She turned and faced the older woman giving her the iciest stare she could manage.
Sprout trailed off and Faith walked over to a table loaded with drinks. She poured herself a glass of lemonade, checked no one was looking, and topped it up with whisky. She then sat down at a table in the corner and began to write a letter to Remus.
She hated writing letters, the plain black words could deviously lead you to say too much, but Faith knew she put her friends, all two of them, through enough without ignoring them for months as well.
"Dear Remus,
There isn't much to tell. I'm still alive, and since no evidence to the contrary has come my way I assume you are too.
It's still too hot here. You'd think that it would be cooler in Scotland wouldn't you? But the damn heat won't break."
She tapped her fingers against the wood.
"I've put on some weight. You can't see my ribs so clearly now."
Faith jerked her head up as the door banged open, Snape had marched in ahead of Trelawney, who was waving her hands and calling to him.
"But Severus, it's really exciting news!"
She fluttered in front of him, all shaking bangles, flapping, garish scarves and clattering beads. Faith thought she looked like a butterfly on a acid trip.
Snape poured some whisky, downed it and slammed the glass on the table.
"Sybil. I do not. Do not. Want to know any of your pathetic visions." He sneered the last word like it was a bad taste in his mouth.
Faith was surprised to find herself wanting to laugh.
Trelawney swung in front of Snape,
"But…"
"No! Especially if you think it involves me. No."
He stalked across the room to Minerva, who's mouth was twitching like she wanted to laugh.
Trelawney suddenly span round in the middle of the room and proclaimed,
"There's someone new here!"
This was met by a general groan, and Faith tried to melt into the background, but it was too late. Trelawney was walking over to her with a calculating look.
Faith did not stand up but raised her eyes to stare coldly at the woman.
"You have an interesting aura my dear."
Faith suppressed the urge to breath in sharply at the endearment, her voice was acid as she said,
"My name is Faith Llewllyn."
She also felt vaguely stumped, how on Earth was she supposed to respond to a comment like that?
"It's the colour of steel."
"Steel?"
"Yes."
Faith was aware of a general movement in their direction. She leaned back,
"I was once told it was aubergine."
It was actually true that someone had said that to her. She hadn't been able to keep a straight face. She and Michelle, who's aura had been gold, had had hysterics about it for hours. Something inside her smiled, they had thought the whole of France was gold that Summer.
Trelawney tilted her head,
"No, definitely steel."
Faith smiled and was just about to point out the total uselessness of that information to her and that she was actually busy, when Trelawney cut in,
"Why don't I do a tarot reading for you? To welcome you to Hogwarts. Maybe we could see how long it will be till your health improves?"
Faith smiled narrowly. The woman was going to pay for that crack about her health, a crack which also showed an annoying degree of perception.
Faith considered tarot cards a speciality. She had been taught a trick with them in France, about six years ago. Its was a trick that could be extremely funny, or used to scare people away. Faith was crowing inside, she could probably make Trelawney desperate never to come near her again.
She smiled sweetly and said,
"Why not?"
She noticed Snape and McGonagall had wandered over. She caught Snape's eye for a moment and glanced down at the cards Trelawney was offering her. As she lay down the top five Faith focused her mind to see the pictures on the cards…
The hard thing with this trick wasn't the actual magic, it was giving the impression you weren't doing anything at all.
She frowned at the first cards and pictured the image she wanted. As Trelawney gabbled about the history of Tarot, Faith let the picture twist as she altered it with her mind's eye. The picture twisted, slid and then fixed. She let her breath out, the only sign so far of the effort this was taking. The second part was easier, she just had to transfer the picture on the first card to the other four…
She sat back in relief as she finished, now for the fun!
Trelawney turned over the first card. As Faith had created it, a grinning death stood there, waving his little scythe.
Trelawney laughed,
"Don't worry, it doesn't actually mean death! It really means an ending, so therefore also a new beginning."
Faith bared her teeth in something approximating a smile.
Trelawney turned up the next card. Also death.
"Oh."
Faith smiled and said sweetly,
"Is something wrong?"
Somewhere to her left there was a hasty coughing noise. Snape moved round behind Trelawney's chair. Faith couldn't manage to look at him yet.
"Well… Um… There is only one major arcane per pack… I'm not sure…"
Faith leaned over and tapped the rest of the pack with her wand.
"Finite Incantatem. No, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with them."
"I'm sure it's fine Sybil. The other cards may explain it."
Snape's silky smooth voice eased over the table. Faith was surprised to see Trelawney visibly relax. She glanced up but Snape's face was as unreadable as her own.
"But this is impossible!"
"I'm sure there must be a precedent."
McGonagall came closer and smiled,
"Listen to him Sybil. I mean if anyone knows a precedent for something in divination it would be a Snape."
Snape glowered at her, and Faith filed away that information for future reference. So Snape doesn't like references to his family's fame in divination.
Trelawney turned over the next card. Then breathed in quickly and clutched at the glass round her neck. Her bug eyes were watering behind her glasses.
"Not doing well am I?" Faith said in an agreeable voice.
"It isn't possible!"
"But the cards never lie."
Faith shrugged. She could sense Minerva standing next to her and struggling against the laughter.
Trelawney was staring in horror and gulping like fish.
The fourth card's death waved cheerfully and then made a swishing motion with its scythe.
Trelawney was speechless, she waved her hands in horror, the bangles trembling in sympathy with their owner. Faith also made no comment, she appeared to be a sweet mixture of embarrassment and curiosity.
Her hand hovered over the Fifth card. Faith glanced over to Minerva, who was shaking with suppressed laughter, and then up at Snape. He just raised his eyebrow and quirked his lips, a curious gesture of respect.
She glanced down rapidly.
When the last card also turned out to be death, Faith gave an embarrassed smile and spread her arms in incomprehension.
Trelawney gathered up the cards, then spilt them everywhere and muttered something about casting out the presence of death. She practically ran out the room in a trail of glitter and gauze. Some of her scarves got trapped in the door and she tripped on the doorframe as she scrambled out.
Minerva let the laughter loose and clapped faith on the shoulder, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Wonderful, the old fraud won't bother you all year!" She walked off with Hooch, both of them still chortling.
Snape slid into the chair vacated by Trelawney.
"How did you do that?"
"I didn't do anything. It was all in the cards."
"Oh. Of course."
He leaned towards Faith and smiled disbelievingly. Faith felt surprisingly uncomfortable at his proximity, it was unnerving.
She didn't give him the satisfaction of leaning back however, she matched his stare and shrugged slowly.
"I'm going to have to be very careful."
"You are. Speaking of which, your plan needs to be discussed."
"I know."
"With the students back tomorrow I want this last night to myself. Tomorrow is, obviously, impossible. But the day after?"
"Fine."
"Come to my rooms at eight. I'll speak to Blackthorn."
He pushed the chair back and made to sweep out of the room, but got side tracked by Minerva and dragged into a conversation about the inter-house Quidditch fixtures.
Faith breathed out slowly and ran her hand through her hair. She felt stupid about still being jumpy from the morning. She took a long gulp of lemonade and smiled. She wouldn't have to speak to Trelawney ever again! Even if she worked out the trick she would probably be too offended to speak to her.
She started on the letter again.
"My scars are fading too. They have gone to pink now. Apart from"
She stopped. That was a random quirk of the Nocthorrifica curse. It turned any scars on your body a deep crimson. She had been going to write "apart from the ones on my wrists."
Instinctively she began to play with the heavy silver bangles she wore to hide them. The bangles were out of character and uncomfortable, but preferable to the World knowing she had once tried to slit her wrists. Or twice to be accurate.
She hesitated and crossed out "apart from." Remus knew of course, but he would only tell her to be sensible and ask Dumbledore about it, or worse a doctor. That was not a conversation she wanted to have.
"Your warnings not to coddle me have fallen on deaf ears. Sprout is unbearable and the others aren't much better. They keep expecting me to snap any second. Fuck knows what they would do if I did though.
Actually Minerva treats me fairly normally. And Blackthorn, but I met him a few years ago.
Snape treats me with the same indifference or contempt with which he treats everyone. Well that's not entirely fair, he was quite nice to me just now! But then I had just humiliated Trelawney.
My good deed for the day!
She paused on the next line. She knew the expected thing to say was "I miss you." And she did miss him. But she couldn't write it, the naked need implied in the line was more than she could give.
"Thinking of you. When I'm bored at any rate!
Faith."
She read through the letter, it was ridiculously cold. But she shrugged and got up to post it anyway.
Before she got halfway across the room Dumbledore walked in.
"Faith! What have you done to Sybil? I saw her just now and she was in a very bad state. Making no sense, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to protect you or banish you from the school for bringing the spectre of death!"
Faith was sure that behind his grave tone his eyes were twinkling. She just shrugged.
"Anyway, I need to talk to you about something. It is customary for new members of staff to be introduced at the Sorting Feast. I know you're not a teacher, but I think it would be the a good thing to do. To let them know who you are.
"No. I wasn't even planning to be at the Sorting, it's really not necessary Albus."
"It will help."
"How?"
She was aware of Snape watching and enjoying her discomfort.
Dumbledore shrugged, "People will see you around the school and rumours will fly. Who are you? And when that is answered, why are you here? If I just briefly explain that you're a recuperating auror helping me there is no reason for gossip."
Faith sighed. He was right, but it would still be fairly damn horrible.
"Fine. Anything else?"
"I'll introduce you to the Head Girl and Head Boy, that may make things easier too."
"Great. I can't wait. Now if you'll excuse me."
She walked out and slammed the door behind her.
She hated the idea of all the students staring at her, knowing her. "Oh sod it," she said venomously, prompting a picture of a very prim Victorian lady to look at her in complete disgust.
Faith sighed. It was not possible to do a thing right here.