...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
A little bit from Sybil, a visit from Sirius, and the first signs of L/J being observed...

Chapter Three

Sybil Trelawney believed in Divination with the same devotion that Muggles tended to have towards their religion. For her, Divination was her religion, and every day, she practiced it.

Her classroom was dark and warm-she'd observed that the students felt closer to their Inner Eyes when they were free of distractions, and not having a well lit room certainly helped with that.

On the walls were pictures of famous Diviners, and a handful of Fortune Tellers who had been real, and had actually predicted things.

Her private chambers were a fancy bit- she'd always loved the idea of being a princess or something, and firmly believed she had been one in a prior life. Therefore, her bed floated, and the curtains that could be drawn around it were long and gauzy and as rich as she'd been able to conjure.

She had a picture of her family on the wall to the right of the door, and a picture of her and Lily on Graduation Day on the left. Her family, all dead from a horrible attack by the Dark Lord, and her only real friend.

Sybil would never admit it out loud, but her friendship with Lily had been the only thing that had kept her sane through the years. She'd been made fun of, laughed at, and generally been considered a freak. But Lily had always stood up for her, Lily with her Gryffindor bravery and her attitude of "sod off before I make you."

In second year, when Sybil had received the Letter from the Ministry, telling of her family's deaths, Lily had been the one to stand by her side and comfort her.

Sybil couldn't imagine what she'd do if Lily weren't around- it would be too horrible for words.

She'd never had a boyfriend, or a lover, or anyone like that. Men seemed to be wary of her, and were Sybil truthful with herself, she would understand.

Not many men out there could handle dealing with a woman with the Inner Eye. But it didn't make it any easier when everyone else was on the Great Quest for a Man, and they were all willing to conform to the Man's beliefs about what a woman should be. Sybil would not do that. Her Inner Eye was a very important part of her.

Of course, perhaps there were a few times when she was just a little too extreme, but that was only occasionally, and besides, wasn't everyone allowed to exaggerate once in a while?

With a sigh, Sybil finished up her tea and set it on the desk, then wandered back to her lovely, soft, warm bed, and took off her dressing gown and slippers, and crawled right in.

Classes were over for the week, and she was firmly in favor of a nice lie-in in the morning...

And Merlin, did she need one! Students seemed to get more and more rambunctious each and every year...

It was not long before she entered her dreams...

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

"Lily! Wake up, wake up! Lily! Lily!"

Her eyes flew open and she reached for her wand, sitting up and aiming at the intruder in her bedroom before she'd even completely opened her bed.

Downstairs, a door was thrown open and footsteps ran up, even as the light went on.

Sybil was the one who'd woken her, and was staring at her with wide-eyed horror.

James Potter, whose room was the next room down, rushed in, wearing only a pair of pants, and carrying his wand. "What the hell's going on?" he demanded, glancing around the room. "I heard someone screaming."

Sybil let out a great sob. "Oh, Lily, you're going to die!"

Lily paused mid motion and gave Sybil a long look. "What are you talking about?" She pulled her robe on over her pajamas, climbing out of bed.

Sybil grabbed her and hugged her. "I Saw it, you're going to die, I know it! Oh, Lily, please, you can't!"

James Potter had pulled on his dressing gown and looked even more puzzled. "What?"

Lily managed to get free of Sybil's tight embrace and pulled on her slippers. "She had a dream," she explained to James. "Come on, Sybil. I'll get tea going, and you can tell me about it."

Potter did not look pleased. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "A dream. And it was important enough to wake everyone down the hall at five in the morning?"

Sybil gave him a hoity look. "I'm a Seer. What I dream does come true."

Lily bit her lip and shot James a pleading look. She was not up for dealing with Sybil going on a rant. Not this early in the morning, anyhow.

He sighed. "Right."

Lily glanced at the clock. It was, indeed, five thirteen in the morning. She sighed. "You're welcome to join us for tea, or go back to bed. It's a Saturday after all; you should enjoy a bit of a lie in."

He gave her a terse smile. "I don't think I'll be getting back to sleep any time soon, so if you don't mind, I'll stick around."

Lily motioned for the other two to go back down the steps, and waved her wand at the lights in her room.

When she got to the bottom of the steps, Sybil had already conjured up some tea, and was pouring for them.

"It was horrible," Sybil said, her hands shaking.

Lily frowned. She'd never seen Sybil so upset before. She was always dramatic, but there was usually a look of solemn seriousness about her that gave her away. This time though, Sybil looked far too upset. She took a seat next to her, taking the tea and wrapping her fingers around the warm cup. "Couldn't it have just been a nightmare?" she suggested.

Sybil shook her head. "It wasn't like any dream I've ever had before. I don't know what was happening, all I know is that it caused your death, and it was absolutely awful!"

Lily bit back a tired yawn and gave Sybil a soothing smile. "Tell me all about it," she encouraged, and sat back.

She hoped it wouldn't take too long, she really wanted to get back to bed.

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

An hour later, day had broken through, and light was streaming through the windows.

Sybil had finished telling everything, and James had escorted her back to her room a short while ago.

Lily went up and got dressed, figuring that she'd gone to bed early, so she may as well get up early as well.

When she came back down, James Potter was there, looking out the window. (There was an excellent view of the lake, and the sun was rising over it, fiery red and quite beautiful.) He turned when he heard her. "Good morning again," he greeted her.

"And to you. Not going back to bed?" He had dressed as well.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked back towards the front of the classroom, where she was. "I asked Sybil if she wanted to go into Hogsmeade with Sirius and me," he said. "He's coming up to look for a place to stay. Would you like to accompany us? I didn't want to say it to her face, but I don't think Sirius would take it well if he had no relief from her... er, visions. And," he added with a rueful smile. "I don't think I would much go for it either."

Lily smiled a little. "That sounds lovely. Would you mind if I invited Taura along as well? She's been looking for a chance to get out."

James grinned. "That'll make up for bringing Sybil along, in Siri's mind."

Lily smiled. "Sounds lovely. When shall we go?"

"I've got to run over and see Albus and then see a few students," James said with a glance at the clock. "How's after lunch?"

She nodded. "I'll tell Sybil and Taura. You on your way down to eat?"

James nodded. "Now that I've been up for this long, I fear I might waste away to nothing if I don't."

Lily smiled. "We can't have that now, can we?"

He shrugged. "Does that mean we get to eat now?"

Lily laughed. "And they say boys change when they grow up..."

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

Sirius Black was not laughing a few hours later, but he was fighting back a big, obvious smirk.

It was not the reaction most people would expect of him after spending even five minutes with Sybil Trelawney, but that was not bothering him as much as he'd expected. He was far too focused on the amusing situation his best friend was finding himself in.

When James had wandered down to the train station that morning to find him, Sirius had not been thrilled to hear that they would be accompanied by Sybil Trelawney. Lily Evans was all right, as he thought she was rather pretty, but Sybil was somewhat obnoxious and annoying.

His irritation had not been soothed at all when he found out that Taura Sinastra would not be joining them, either. In fact, that had nearly driven him to run off screaming. Of Sinastra and Evans, he personally preferred Sinastra: she was older, sexier, and while many men wouldn't mind the fact that Evans was so short, he did not particularly want to hear the jokes about just where her head came to when she stood next to him.

James had explained to him about how upset Sybil had been the previous night, but still, was that really an excuse to bring her along?

More than a little peeved, Sirius had reluctantly wandered around Hogsmeade with James and the two women, going in and out of little shops. It hadn't been entirely bad- they had done a lot of reminiscing, but it still had been rather weird. Sybil was very quiet for much of the morning... and Lily and James had kept getting side-tracked, looking at displays in windows....

It had been waiting at the Three Broomsticks for the two to return with their drinks that the obvious had popped into his head.

James Potter was paying an awful lot of attention to the short, attractive, lovely young Muggle Studies professor. And she was paying it right back.

A grin spread across his face as he realized it, and the morning's irritation slowly began to fade away. Dumbass that he was, James probably hadn't even figured out that he was interested in her in any way but as a fellow teacher. Up at the bar, Lily started laughing at something James had said.

Well, he though with sigh and a wry smile, whatever happened between them, he hoped that James would take it slow. He'd suffered an awful loss just a short while ago... And Sirius Black did not want his best friend to get hurt again.

Shaking his head, Sirius looked at Sybil and noted that she was watching the scene with a small frown on her face. And she didn't seem to have that absent look in her eyes that she usually had. "So," he said with something of a forced smile on his face. "They look like they're getting cozy."

Sybil averted her eyes. "Yeah," she said distractedly.

Sirius fought back the urge to let his jaw drop. What, no lame line about how she'd foreseen it? "You don't seem too pleased by it," he observed.

She shrugged her shoulders, and in doing so, her earrings jingled. "Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked, and suddenly, it was as though she'd put a mask up. The foggy look was back in her eyes, and her expression was rather vague. "I'm not at all surprised by-"

He held up his hand, stopping her. "Right, you saw it." He sighed, drumming his fingers on the table, and then looked back up at her. "You want a little advice?"

She gave him a cautious look. "Go ahead."

"You'd be more believable if you didn't try so hard."

She studied him for a very long moment, and then slid out of the booth. "If you'll excuse me, Mr. Black," she said coldly. "I must be returning to the castle. I have work to do, and I do not find your company to be so pleasant that it is worth enduring any longer."

She grabbed her bag and stormed out.

A moment passed, and then Lily hurried over to the table, James behind her. "What happened?" she asked worriedly, letting James sit first.

Sirius frowned. "She suddenly had work to do, and didn't find my company all that pleasant."

Lily looked very tired, and leaned on the table. "Look," she said, frustrated. "I know that you think she's a bit odd for being like she is, but-"

"I don't think she's odd," Sirius corrected. "I know she is."

Lily glared at him. "Sybil is my best friend. You're twenty years old. Grow up. You're not going to like everyone you meet, but that doesn't mean you can run off and ridicule them, or whatever you did to her. All morning long, you've been glaring at her like she's such a horrible person. It's fine if you don't like her- a lot of people don't. But you don't have to be such an ass about it." She looked over at James. "I'll see you tonight, James," she said, and then turned and left.

Sirius looked after her for a long moment, until he became aware of the fact that James was smirking at him. He glared. "Oh, sod off. You think I didn't notice you up there flirting away with her?"

James lost the smirk immediately, and gave him an alarmed look. "What are you talking about?"

Sirius sighed and took a long drink of Butterbeer. "I'm saying that you've spent all morning flirting with Lily. If it weren't obvious that it's such a shock to you, I'd probably chew you out for it."

James shook his head a little, and the tired look he'd been missing all morning was back. "I don't want... Hell, Siri, I'm not looking for that right now."

Sirius shrugged. It wasn't fun to make fun of James anymore- he was too emotional. Rightly so, but nonetheless, it was hard to cheer someone up when they were so depressed that you couldn't make fun of them. "I know you're not," he said, choosing to remain serious. "But she doesn't, and I think, despite Sybil's apparent issues, that Sybil would kick your ass if you ended up hurting her."

James nodded a little, rubbing his eyes. "I guess I'll just have to try to cool off."

"Not completely," Sirius advised, studying him with a frown. "She's a nice girl, and she was always fairly good with Charms. Wouldn't be a good idea to be a complete ass to her, you know. It'd be tragic if you ended up waking up with all of your clothes charmed invisible or something." He fought a grin and gave James a solemn look. "I don't think it would go over well if all of your students saw you in that sort of state."

James studied him for a long moment. "You're an ass, Sirius."

Sirius nodded. "And you love me for it, Potter."

James laughed, and Sirius felt better.

Silly or not, he had taken it upon himself to help James get back to normal- or at least somewhere around there. With that thought still in mind, Sirius decided to tell him about Peter's latest attempt at getting a girlfriend...

Don't worry, everyone. It's not about to turn into a happy-happy fic! I've got lots of misery plotted out and yet to come!

Iris Cream- Couple of things. :o) First off, Arabella is of an unknown age. All we know about her comes from a brief mention in PS, stating that she watched Harry sometimes, and an even shorter mention in GoF, in which she's part of the "old crowd". So, I decided she was going to be part of the ooooooolllllllddd crowd. :o) Second, the bit with Sybil hating Harry. I don't really think that she *hates* Harry... But I'll get more into that later. To quote a former teacher, "All be revealed, grasshopper!" Last, Sirius and James. Sorry you didn't like them saying ma'am. :o) I meant it to be in a humorous way, and sorry you didn't like it. :o) Hope it hasn't turned you off the story! Thanks for reviewing!
Manatees 'R' Us- Eww, Alg. 2 finals... euch! I had one of them in my junior year, and it wasn't pretty... :o( Glad the sight of an update made you happier!
Scarlett*eyes- You enjoyed James's lesson? Good... Glad you did. I had fun writing it, but I was worried that people wouldn't like it very much. Glad you did! I felt bad for James too though. That's why he got to flirt with Lily in this chap. :o)
Y.Kuang- Lol, hope you mean it's interesting in a good way! I'm trying very hard to keep the narrative consistently unbiased. I had a lot of problems with skipping around with POVs in my earliest days of writing, and I'm only now, slowly, learning to get better. :o) Feel free to tell me if it's good or bad directly! I"m not easily offended... Matter of fact, I'm usually pretty oblivious when someone's trying to offend me... :o)
sirius' lover- Hope this was fast enough!
Quack Quack 88- Glad you're still enjoying. Glad you're still reviewing!
Jemi Fal- lol, back again?! I feel special since you've reviewed me so many times...!
Emily Woodmark- Lol, glad you're enjoying it!
Nicole- hehehe... Nicole is my name in another realm... That's why I like it so much. Glad you thought the chap. was cool! :o)
chickensoup3- Well, I hope that wasn't too fluffy for you! I promise, the next parts won't be too fluffy. Lily and James are going to face a bit of a set back of their own making... (that'll make more sense when you read the next chap.) Just for you though, I'll make sure to include something really grim and depressing in one of the next chapters, all right? :o) Though I can't promise you a lack of fluff entirely- I'm happiest when I'm either making people die or making them snog, and I like making myself happy... ;o)
mogliecat- Glad you're liking how it's shaping up! Hope you still do!
Got Harry- I'm updating as fast as I can manage!

Special thanks to Vanilla Blood again, for all her help!

Reviewers get a special commemorative photo of Mr. Potter in his sleeping pants... Shirtless... with bed hair... holding only his wand... sooooooooo sexy!... hehehe.... (Actually, if anyone would draw it for me, I'd love them forever...!)

Next chapter: Why students should never say mudblood, and Lily and James get a little closer... and a little more distant.

Note that future chapters will come a little slower now, as I'm actually writing them between updates, and I"m also having them beta-ed. :o) (Feel free to send extra encouragement so I don't take too long!)

And Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate!