...Winding Path...

By Zetta
Summary: James Potter's had a rough year, and when he decided he needs a break from being an Auror, Albus Dumbledore comes up with an interesting proposition....
Characters: James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Sybil Trelawney, Taura Sinastra, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, and more!
Rating: PG-13
This Chapter you get to meet one of my new fav. characters, the Potions Professor! Hope you like her too! :o)
Anyone looking for a Beta-Reader swap? I'll beta yours, if you'll do mine?

Chapter One

If Lily Evans hadn't been Muggle-born, she and Sybil Trelawney would never have been friends.

At the start of their seven years at Hogwarts, each of them had been something of an outcast. Lily, who no one knew, was not trusted by anyone because Muggle-borns were still something of an unwelcome rarity. Sybil no one trusted because she had already discovered Divination, and walked around in a dreamy state, sprouting off random predictions for the future, some true, others so far fetched that it was amazing she wasn't beaten up any time she opened her mouth.

The two had been thrown together in Herbology, one of the two classes they shared. Everyone else had partnered up quickly, and they had been stuck together. It had happened again in their flying class, when they were supposed to be practicing with a partner.

After a few days, they got over their wariness of each other, and began to talk to each other, and from that, their friendship grew.

Even as the years past and people grew more familiar with the two girls, no one would have ever suspected that they were best friends. They were very, very different, and no one could imagine what they had in common.

Lily had been small from the first day of her life, and it never changed. She was short, tiny, and had long red hair that stood out for miles. She was practical and intelligent, and had always studied regularly and achieved great grades. She dressed in boring clothes, and even on the weekends usually stuck with the uniform: plain skirt, blouse, sweater, tie, robe, and sensible shoes.

Sybil was very tall and slender, to the point of being twiggish. Her head was nearly always in the clouds, and the only class she excelled at was Divination, though she also did well in Astonomy and the Study of Ancient Runes, which were both somewhat related to Divination. She was very intelligent, but had the common sense of gnat and the social skills of a Flobberworm. She often refused to wear the uniforms, citing the skirts as being too binding and short, and the sweaters as being stifling and scratchy. She wore long, flowing clothes, and in her younger days, had nearly driven the staff mad with her ramblings.

But their differences had been pushed aside by necessity, and by the time the rest of the school had figured out that they- or at least Lily- were not as bad as they'd previously thought, the two girls were friends forever.

Two years after graduation, nothing but their ages and positions in the school had changed. They'd gone from being teenage prefects to twenty-year-old professors.

The previous year had been their first teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and both were perfectly content to continue teaching for as long as they could.

Lily taught Muggle Studies down by the Transfiguration and Dark Arts rooms, and Sybil taught Divination up in the North Tower.

The two who had taught before them had been a married couple, and had retired after Lily and Sybil had graduated, leaving the opening for them that was quite perfect, as they had vowed that they would do their best to stick close to each other until they either got married or died, whichever came first.

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had quite agreed that they would fill the positions perfectly, and had offered them the job immediately upon hearing of it.

Lily's private rooms were located up above her classroom, and she spent much of her time in them, working hard on the next lesson plan, and reading.

She was an early riser, and, with one day left before the start of term, she'd already been back for a week, had plotted out the lesson plan for the first month, barring any incidents, and was relaxing by reading a Muggle novel she'd bought before catching the train to Hogsmeade.

When the clock informed her that it was seven thirty, she marked her page and set out for the Great Hall, which she knew would be full of teachers who wanted to hear the Headmaster's plans for the Dark Arts position.

Therefore, she was not surprised to find Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the other House Heads already there, along with a few of the other teachers. "Good morning," she said cordially.

"Good morning to you, Lily," Albus Dumbledore said cheerily. "Do try the biscuits this morning. The House Elves have out done themselves."

Lily grinned and took her seat a few places down from him, in between Sybil's spot and the place the Dark Arts teacher would sit. Taura Sinastra sat on Sybil's other side, and was one of the only other staff members within a few years of Lily's age. "You just missed it," she informed her as Lily took a plate and grabbed a biscuit. "Albus has announced the Dark Arts teacher."

"An acquaintance of yours," Minerva McGonagall added from her seat down the table, looking quite pleased.

"Per chance was this person in Gryffindor?" Lily guessed, figuring that that would be the only reason McGonagall was so happy.

"Your Head Boy," Arabella Figg, Potions professor, said from down the table. She snorted. "That wretch was always getting in trouble in my class."

"James Potter?" Lily said, surprised. "I always thought he was more of a Transfiguration person."

McGonagall sobered. "So had I. But, Potters always have been. Few of them ever really did anything with it though, which is a tragedy. I can remember James's father..." She shook her head a bit, giving a soft sigh. "No matter though. I had always hoped that James would take an interest. For a while, I had though he would, but towards the end of his fourth year, his interest had ended again."

"He became an Auror, correct?" Arabella Figg wondered, her voice raspy from age and smoking a pack of cigarettes nearly every day of her eighty plus years of life. "Until that son-of-a-bitch killed his family. Just a month ago, too. No wonder the boy needs a break. All death and destruction that is, and doubly so now days. Worse than Grindelwald, that bastard is."

No one was surprised to hear that sort of language from Arabella-she'd always been a bit.. er, vocal- but her words brought an even more somber note to the breakfasters, who had already been sobered by the reminder of the deaths of the Potter family.

Albus waved his hand and the pitcher flew up to fill his cup, and then Minerva and Arabella's cups, which were next to his.

"Thank you," Minerva murmured.

Albus smiled in response, but kept his attention on the conversation around him. "After much thought," he stated carefully. "I decided that our students could use practice with curses and the like." He speared a piece of fruit and cut it carefully. "Mr. Potter was looking for a break, and he seemed quite perfect for the position."

"Certainly," Minerva McGonagall agreed. "It will be quite nice to see him back, too. Though I do hope he's realized that his pranks are not appropriate for a professor to play."

"You don't fancy having everyone's hair changing colors?" Fulton Flitwick chuckled. "As I recall, he was quite good at those sorts of charms. Dyed the whole school, he did, didn't he? Best show of school spirit we ever had!" Flitwick laughed again, and nearly fell off his stool.

Taura glanced at Lily with a bemused smile. "He didn't dye your hair though, did he?"

Lily grinned a bit, fingering her long red locks as she remembered it. "Not a bit. He seemed quite pleased that he wouldn't have to."

Of course, she'd been rather annoyed, but he'd cheerfully informed her that her hair was quite red enough, thank you very much, and he'd decided to save the dye for another student, another day.

"You were the only one he didn't get," Taura remembered. "He even got his little friends. I always though he fancied you a bit."

Lily laughed, but McGonagall scowled. "I still don't know how they did it," she admitted. "I searched their room countless times for a cloak or something... Worst thing I ever saw was a parchment that spat out insults. They were very good at hiding..."

Arabella Figg snorted. "Oh, I'd bet Galleons that that parchment of theirs did more than that, Minerva. Those boys were clever, and I'm certain there was something else to it. I found that on Black a number of times, and he wouldn't carry it around for fun when he could spit out insults faster than any parchment, any day."

Lily bit her lower lip to hide a smile. She knew exactly what "parchment" they were talking about. She'd seen it one day when James had fallen asleep while doing Head Student business, and he'd left it open to the map part.

"I'd always 'spected 'e'd be a Quidditch play'r," Corwin Falkner, the appropriately ancient Ancient Runes professor, grunted, then took a bite of toast. "'e was quite good as I r'call."

"He got a letter from Puddlemere," Lily contributed. "Towards the end of our seventh year, I remember him telling me."

"The Wasps sent someone out here to see him play, too," McGonagall remembered, smirking proudly. "And the Cannons as well."

Arabella Figg stabbed a sausage. "Fat lot o' good it did," she muttered. "Boy goes off to be an Auror instead."

"Wasted talent," Madam Hooch agreed sadly. She'd been very quiet all morning. She was a very shy young woman, only a year or so older than Taura, and she'd been a Hufflepuff. She was the Flying Teacher, and worked in Hogsmeade when she wasn't teaching the first years. "I've never seen anyone with so much natural talent on a broom..."

The staff fell quiet for a moment.

"We could use someone around here to liven things up," Arabella stated firmly, apparently having had enough of the silence. "It'll be good to have him back. And I'd bet ya' another Galleon that his little friends will be around as well. When's the boy due here, Albus?"

"Yesterday," Dumbledore said with a pleasant smile. "He owled to inform me that he was running late, but I'd suspect that he and Mr. Black should arrive some time today."

"Black too?" Minerva sighed. "They were monsters when they were together."

"Remus was quite nice," Lily murmured. "I always felt so sorry for him, with his condition and-" She slapped her hand over her mouth, horrified, and stared at her plate.

McGonagall looked uneasily at Lily, as did most of the rest of the staff, all of whom knew about Lupin's secret.

"And how did you find out?" Dumbledore asked curiously, his blue eyes twinkling.

Lily sighed. "James was supposed to be meeting me one night during sixth year, and he didn't show up. I found Pettigrew, asked him where James was, and he said he was walking Remus to see the nurse. It was, of course, the full moon, and I started watching him, and it was a fairly easy thing to notice."

"For four boys who prided themselves on their secrets," McGonagall complained. "They certainly were rubbish at keeping them!"

Lily grinned.

The conversation slowly turned to other matters, and once the attention was diverted, Taura slid over into Sybil's seat. "So," she said, a mischievous smile on her face. "As I recall, Potter was rather attractive. Do you think he's against older women?"

Lily laughed. "I'm sure you'll try to find out, won't you?"

*..:..*..:..*..:..*..:..*..:..*

"I already knew he would return," Sybil murmured dreamily as she, Lily, and Taura walked down the halls towards the teacher's lounge about two hours later. They were having a start of term meeting in a few minutes. "I saw it in my crystal ball."

"And overheard us discussing it," Taura muttered. She did not believe in Divination, and Taura and Sybil were almost constantly arguing over it.

Sybil ignored her this time. "I do not see him lasting long," she said. "In March, something quite dreadful will happen."

"Of course he won't be here long," Taura agreed. "Everyone knows that that position is cursed."

Lily fought back the urge to either roll her eyes or laugh. She believed in Divination, a little bit, but she was never quite sure about Sybil... it was rather impossible to tell her that though, as Sybil was her best friend. But honestly, it wasn't hard to get a few predictions right when she was so bloody vague!

They were just entering the foyer of the castle when the doors opened, and two men cloaked in black entered, two trunks floating behind them.

"It's bloody cold out there," one complained, and threw back his hood, shaking the rain off of him. Lily smiled. Sirius Black. So the other had to be-

James Potter drew back his hood as well. "We're only a bit late," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Lily stared for a moment. He looked awful. His eyes were dark and his skin was pale. Even just seeing his face, she could tell that he'd lost weight and wasn't sleeping very well. "Wouldn't be so late if you'd get over your damned fear of Flooing."

"Well, so sorry," Sirius grumbled, looking far better than his friend.

"Hello, sirs," said one of the house elves, who had just appeared out of nowhere. It looked up at the two men. "May we be taking your things, Mr. James and Mr. Sirius?"

"Blinky," Sirius said with a grin. "Good to see you."

The house-elf blushed. "Is very good to see yous, sirs."

A few more popped out. "We's putting your things in your room," Blinky said.

"Thank you," said James.

"Anytime, sirs," said the elf. It waved at the trunks and they disappeared.

So did the house elves.

Apparently used to such behavior, the two wizards looked back at each other.

"What time did Albus tell you to get here?" Sirius asked. "If we're so late."

"Yesterday," James answered in a mildly annoyed tone. "Around noon."

"We're not that late then," Sirius said, giving him a satisfied nod. "We did call and let him know we'd be delayed."

"Not by a full bloody day," James said. "When I talked to him last night-" He stopped abruptly, his eyes finally falling on the three witches. A ghost of smile crossed his face, further proof that he'd changed. Lily had run into him a year ago, and he'd grabbed her and danced around the bookstore with her, much to her embarrassment. He opened his mouth to greet them, but Sirius spoke first.

"Now," Sirius said grandly, giving the three a shrewd look. "I understand."

"Understand what?" Taura asked, grinning at him.

"Why James took this job," Sirius answered. He pushed James forward and the two moved further in the foyer, and closer to the witches. "You all look bloody fantastic," he said cheerily.

"Still oozing charm, eh, Black?" Taura teased, allowing him to take her hand.

James snorted. "That's not all he oozes," he muttered. He kissed Taura on the cheek as Sirius moved on to Sybil. "'Ello, Professor," he greeted her.

"I'm only two years older than you," Taura reminded him with a smile. "And you'll be teaching here. It's Taura."

James nodded. "Yes, ma'am." At her look, he smiled slightly. "Taura, I mean."

He greeted Sybil next, and then turned to Lily. "Hello, Ms. Evans. You look quite lovely this morning."

"Don't worry," Sirius interjected, having finished with his greetings. "He won't be offended if you don't return the compliment."

"Sod off, Sirius," James said, not sounding surprised or hurt by the comment. He didn't smile either, but Lily had the feeling he hadn't smiled much in a long time.

"Well, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black," another voice said, this one raspy and old.

"Professor Figg," Sirius said with false enthusiasm as he turned around. "You look absolutely... absolutely the same. And Minnie!" The older woman scowled at him. "The years have been quite kind... What did you do to your hair? Looks lovely," he added hastily as McGonagall gave him an annoyed look.

She and Arabella crossed the foyer towards them. "We heard voices, and came to investigate," McGonagall continued.

"We were hoping to trounce the intruders," Arabella said with a straight face.

James nodded. "I'm sure you'd have kicked our arses, mam."

"Damn straight."

James's lips twitched.

"It's good to see you boys," Minerva said. She caught James's hand and patted it. "I was so sorry to hear about your parents and family. Maggie and Dax were wonderful people, and I'll always remember what a monster your brother was while he was here. I shall miss them terribly."

James lost the glimmer of a smile he'd had. "Thank you," he said. "They always spoke well of you, though I confess that on the one or two occasions I was suspended or nearly expelled, I had a difficult time understanding why."

Minerva gave him a fond, sad smile. "How are you handling it?"

Lily took in the circles under his eyes and the grimness that seemed to seep from him, and decided that she didn't need to ask how well he was doing. It was obvious.

Arabella apparently agreed. She made a disgusted noise. "How do you think he's handling it, Minerva? He's a Potter, so he's strong, and he'll get better, and that's all we can ask of him. Now leave the boy alone. He's got enough on his plate to deal with without blithering ninnies like you pestering him about it. Come along, Potter. Humor an old woman and forget about that bastard who did it for a while. Pretend to be interested in my cat stories, will you?"

Minerva scowled, Sirius fought a grin, and the three women exchanged amused looks.

And James smiled and took Arabella's arm to escort her to the lounge.

*..:..*..:..*..:..*..:..*..:..*

The teacher's lounge was just a short distance from Dumbledore's office. It was crowded with comfortable chairs, tables, a rather extensive library, and doorways that lead to various rooms about the castle.

Each teacher had a favorite seat, James knew, and they stuck with it every time they were in the room.

The plush leather chair near the fireplace was Dumbledore's, and seated near him were the elder professors, and McGonagall, who was still a spring chicken in comparison to people like Kettleburn, Falkner, Figg and Flitwick.

Taura Sinastra and Sybil Trelawney sat on a small couch towards the center of the group, and Lily sat on a chair between him and them.

Dumbledore was not in the lounge until ten minutes after he'd requested their presence. "I apologize for my tardiness," he said as he entered. "Ah. I see that our newest educator has arrived."

"Hello, Professor," James said, nodding towards him.

"Howdy, Al," Sirius said with a cheeky grin.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "And Mr. Black. Accompanied James here, did you?"

"Of course, sir," Sirius said. "Wasn't sure you lot would recognize him without me, you know."

James rolled his eyes and sat back.

Dumbledore took his seat. "Quite wise of you. I trust you had no trouble finding this room?"

"We brought them here," Arabella said. "But I'm sure they could have found their way without the slightest trouble." She snorted. "Boys must have been in here dozens of times to play some damned prank."

"Fourteen," Sirius said solemnly. "Though we debated leaving you a going away present, Remus insisted upon being sensible, and therefore, we did not have the opportunity to enter fifteen times."

"Excellent," Albus said. The room quieted, and he lost his smile. "Now, I'm afraid, we must go on with business."

A little surprised by the Headmaster's somewhat solemn manor, the staff quieted immediately, bracing themselves for bad news. "I have just received word from the Minister," Dumbledore said. "The Mallory family was attacked last night. Both children were killed, as were their parents."

James felt a wave of icy cold rush through him, and he glanced at Sirius, then looked back at his hands.

"Several of the parents have requested that the Hogwarts Express be accompanied by a few staff members tomorrow, for fear that worse shall happen. I have agreed."

"Wise of you, Albus," Arabella announced. "Voldemort would like nothing more than to end this school and hurt you, and it's about time you started thinking about that wretched train ride." She scowled at the staff. "Well? Who'll volunteer? I'd do it, but I'm old, and I have no desire to sit on a train for eight hours with those wretches."

"I always knew she hated kids," Sirius murmured to James.

Figg's eyes found him at once. "Excellent of you to volunteer, Mr. Black. Mr. Potter, will you join him?"

Sirius scowled. "There's no one better than you at getting volunteers, is there?"

"I'll do it," Taura said. "James needs the time to get ready for his classes, don't you think?"

"True," the old woman admitted grudgingly, but her eyes had yet to lift from Sirius. "I always liked you, boy. Smart as a whip. Shame you never applied yourself in Potions."

Sirius shrugged. "Potions are for Slytherins, mam, and no offense, but I will never, ever be like them."

The Head of Slytherin cackled, completely unoffended. "You took that approach too, did you Potter?"

James gave Sirius a pointed look. "I didn't have much choice." Before she could ensnare him in further lecture, he looked back at the Headmaster. "I've prepared my lessons already. I'll go with them on the train."

Arabella snorted and gave them a twisted grin. "Lily? Sybil? One of you join him."

"I must gaze into my crystal ball," Sybil murmured. "The stars are aligned quite perfectly, and Jupiter is nearing-"

"I'll go," Lily said quickly, giving Sybil a quick smile. She had no desire to hear Sybil go on and on, and knew that Minerva and Taura had almost no patience for it. And she highly doubted that Sirius Black and James Potter would tolerate it either.

"Very well then," Albus said, pleased. "Now. We must discuss Hogsmeade weekends."

"I'm all for getting rid of them," Arabella said with a scowl. "The little brats come back from that bloody joke store and disrupt class for a week afterwards."

"I think he meant he was looking for the chaperones," Minerva McGonagall said with a tired sigh.

Arabella snorted. "And if we got rid of the things, we wouldn't need chaperones, would we?"

"I'll do it," Lily said, hiding her grin.

"So shall I," said Taura.

"Sybil?" Lily asked softly, as the other teachers looked at each other.

"What's it involve?" James asked.

"You simply go to town and stay there until six o'clock, then help usher the students back to the castle," Minerva explained.

"I'll do it then," James agreed.

"I see myself there..." Sybil murmured, her eyes closed. "Twice. Once in fall, once in spring."

Dumbledore was clearly pleased. "Excellent. The students shall, of course, arrive tomorrow evening. Those of you who shall be joining the students on the train may Floo from my office at about ten o'clock."

"Sounds good," said Taura.

The teachers discussed a few further plans for the year, and were then dismissed to prepare for the students that would arrive the next day.

Next Chapter will involve a bit of the train ride and the first day of school, and I'm not sure when it'll be up. (I've already got it written, but I'd like some criticism on the first two chapters before I get too far along and can't change things.)

Much thanks to my reviewers and those who've placed me on their favorites lists: I love you!
Koneko- Glad it looks promising. Hope it remains promising still! This was a hard chapter to write! (Well, to end anyway. I liked how most of it turned out, it's just the ending that still needs a bit of tweaking. But I got frustrated and couldn't get it better.) Hope you still like!
OriginalProxy- Glad you didn't have to go all Grammar-Nazi on me- feel free to do it if I slip up!
mogliecat- The outcome of his new job is in the works... It'll be less sad for James as the fic goes on, don't worry!
Jemi Fal- Hope this chap remains interesting!
Amanda- Continuing on...!
Quack Quack 88- Lol, I do suck at writing little kids, I agree. But I think that's the last we'll see of Tiffany, I think. She was only meant to be in the dream, and she was supposed to be kind of... weird. I wanted people to realize that something was very wrong with what was going on, and therefore, she got to act weird-ish. As to the age differences, perhaps I'll come up with a reason for that in a future chapter. It seems normal to me- I know a lot of people who waited ten, fifteen years before having another kid. Thanks though! I appreciate the criticism!
thistlemeg-Of course Lily will come in! :o) (See above chapter.)
Manatees 'R' Us- Another one who felt bad for James... Don't worry, it'll get better soon!
Scarlett*eyes- You almost cried? I felt bad when I was writing it, but I didn't realize it was that sad! lol! Thanks!
Atlantis Forester- Glad you liked, and nice wordage. I feel special if it's "eye-catching". :o)

Places to visit for more fanfic:
My ff.net profile thing: http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=154516
The Chalkboard: http://www.sphosting.com/chalkboard/

I'm especially interested in opinions on Sybil Trelawney and Arabella Figg. More on Sybil will come later, including a possible romance, and an explanation for why she's a complete whacko in the future. :o)
BETA READER WANTED!
I AM WILLING TO SWAP SERVICES!
Plllleeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeee!
Drop me an e-mail and I'll let you know what I'm looking for: zettazofia@yahoo.com