Chapter Four
A/N: One more chapter after this, but that will just be the one tying up all of the loose ends. Thanks! I may rewrite this chapter, so if it doesn't make sense to you, then just tell me.
(This takes place at the end of Harry's seventh year.)
Sibyll Trelawney sat comfortably in her worn, green chair, sipping of a cup of tea while listening to Professor Dumbledore. Apparently he had received information from Draco Malfoy that Voldemort was going to attack Harry Potter sometime in the past week and for that reason, the whole castle staff had been up on their wit's end, with trying to prepare the students for their finals and staying up most of the night watching for any strange happenings. Sibyll had been the most helpful of all of the teachers and had actually stood guard the previous three night straight, but all of the teachers had helped out and now that it was Friday, most of the teachers had to continually drink ice-tea and get Perker-Uppers from Madam Pomfrey to even keep their eyes open. Dumbledore, himself, had fallen asleep earlier in the meeting when giving a long winded speech about how this is what Voldemort wanted and that all of the staff had to be on their toes, for Voldemort was sure to come sometime tonight or this weekend. Currently, he was distributing new schedules for the weekend for each teacher's shift and what times they'd be up. Sibyll looked at hers: twelve midnight to four a.m. Perfect, she thought, knowing that tonight was really the night that Voldemort would attack and he had intentionally given Draco's father false information so that the entire staff would be so tired that they wouldn't have a chance to fight with his Death Eaters. Sibyll smiled at herself and leaned back in her chair, trying to relax, knowing what would happen the following night. She sat there with a bemused smile on her face for the next twenty minutes until Dumbledore ended the meeting on a note of sorrow calling for a moment of silence for all of those who had died at the hands of Voldemort. With that, he wished them all luck and blew the candles that lit the room out.
Sibyll walked out of the room, sullenly and stopped outside when she saw Minerva waving at her from down the hall, signaling for her to come with her. The pair walked in silence until they reached Minerva's office, were the lights where out. "Wait out here, I have something for you," Minerva said. Sibyll walked over to the other side of the wall and crouched down, her legs aching from standing watch the night before. Suddenly Minerva appeared from her office with a piece of paper in her hand. She gruffly handed it to Sibyll and then rapidly put her head down, suddenly becoming interested in a spot on the floor. Sibyll looked at the piece of paper and then realized that it was a card. Slowly looking down at it, it simply read:
In Your Time of Sorrow,
with a rose that started as a small bulb, then bloomed in to a beautiful flower. Sibyll slowly opened the inside that read:
Nothing Can Take the Sorrow Away,
But Knowing That People are Here For You,
And Will Always Be With You May Help.
Sorry About Your Loss,
Sibyll looked up, with tears in her eyes, not knowing what she had done to receive such a beautiful card asking, "Why'd you give this to me?" Minerva kept looking at the ground mumbling, "Well, the first time we really talked, you said that your brother had died and I never really properly said that I was sorry. Besides, you've had such a... well... such an attitude change in the past year that I had to say thank you... for being such a good... friend." Minerva then quickly swept Sibyll up into a brief but meaningful hug and went into her office, locking the door. Sibyll slowly realized what was happening, Minerva thought that she was going to die. With new determination, Sibyll, walked back up to her tower, card clutched in one hand a, teeth gritted and her wand clutched in the other hand. They will not die, they cannot die tonight. I will not let Minerva, my true friend die at the hands of Voldemort tonight, she thought, heading into her tower for a nap before she went on duty later on that night.
****
Sibyll walked around the blacked castle, wand gripped in one trembling hand and Minerva's card still clutched in the other. She walked around until nearly midnight, then knowing already that Voldemort would be on the grounds already, she walked outside, towards the lake. With her teeth gritted in determination, she walked towards the steadily growing figure of Harry Potter, who had been lured out of bed with the Imperious Curse. Slowly walking behind the branches of a nearby tree, she signaled a flare in the air form her wand, signaling all of the other teachers to awaken and come. Then, she stole into the darkness jogging around an old beaten path to where she knew the final battle would occur.
****
Ten minutes later, she had positioned herself behind a tree where she knew Voldemort would be and awaited the oncoming Death Eaters. Watching as more and more teachers and some students, such as Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and others came to the clearing where sixty Death Eaters were coming closer to them in the darkness. Sibyll watched as the staff took on the Death Eaters, and this time, rather than in her vision, they did quite well, with much more sleep, but still suffered losses as she watched thirty of her friends get captured, but also thirty of the Death Eaters caught by staff and other people of the the Light side. Sibyll watched as Voldemort, himself, walk into the clearing, tapping his wand slightly on his hand. Calling attention to his Death Eaters, he called for his prisoners to be killed immediately. Sibyll winced as she saw Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and others die from his orders, but she knew there was nothing to do. Sibyll felt her body tense up as she watched Dumbledore simply bind all of his prisoners with an Unbreakable Charm instead of being cruel, like Voldemort. Voldemort walked in front of Harry Potter, who had captured Lucius Malfoy, and was now tensed for a fight with his wand out. Voldemort called out to him and called for a final duel between them, since both of the sides had lost the same amount of people, saying that winner take all. Sibyll felt her heart start to race and felt adrenaline start to pump through her legs as she realized what would happen if she didn't do anything. Giving one last prayer that her plan would work, she edged her way closer to Harry. Feeling her heart fall to her stomach, as she heard Voldemort begin to start the Killing Curse, Sibyll ran out in the clearing towards Harry as a bright green light emitted itself from Voldemort's wand. Flinging herself in front of Harry Potter, she looked towards the bright green light and smiled one last time, letting the green light hit her body, blocking Harry. "Goodbye, and good luck. Win the battle for me," Sibyll whispered as the green light took her and she felt her soul lift from her body and rise toward the sky in a bright streak of light, loosing all memories of her past, but only thinking of the bright light that lay ahead of her.
A/N: So, should I write a happy ending where Harry wins?, or a sad ending where Sibyll's died in vain and Harry still died? I can't decide yet, so help me out with this one- you can e-mail me at wills604@aol.com ! Thanks!