Chapter 42 – The Prophecy

The weeks continued tirelessly without much word from Dumbledore. Malfoy was in the hospital wing for more than a week. McGonagall was more upset with him than Lizzie, but Snape curbed expulsion. Lizzie showed up for detentions on Saturdays, prepared to miss the final quidditch game before she'd admit the secret about the book.

Without word back from Dumbledore, Lizzie focused her attention on Malfoy again. She found a book on magical objects of the 20th century and came across the vanishing cabinet Arthur had mentioned.

"I think it needs a sister…" Lizzie said, and showed Hermione the section about it. "Where do you reckon the other one is? Maybe that Room of Requirement where all the things are hidden… I bet you he's going there and then leaving the castle to Borgin and Berks…" Lizzie reasoned. Hermione didn't look convinced but agreed she was probably onto something.

"In any event, I'm going back for the book, I'll take a look around," she said. Hermione hit her on the head with the essay she was writing.

"Don't you dare! You almost killed him with that spell! I haven't found reference to it anywhere!" Hermione berated.

"Neither have I, which is making it tough to weasel out of detention," Lizzie grumbled.

Snape had her copying infraction reports from the 1970's, starting with P, meaning most of the were her father's and most of them involved Sirius. There were boxes of records, and she could easily work on them through the entire following term. Her resentment toward Snape boiled but he wasn't overly abrasive toward her per his usual. This only made her more skeptical.

Charlie was coming in about a week, Ron was equally as excited as she was and the group made it a mission to see Norbert when Lizzie told them that he would undoubtedly be fond of them since they also saw him hatch. Lizzie was finding herself more eager to see Charlie though… especially as summer approached and she wondered what adventures that might entail.

With finals coming sooner rather than later, Lizzie really needed a crutch with the Half Blood Prince's book. She did some further digging but found no other reference to such a name or title in the school archives. The book version was published in 1965 so it had to be a student who attended some point after that. Since it contained references to dark magic, she wondered if it belonged to someone who later became a death eater. Lizzie also took to examining Slughorn's shelf for name ideas, surely a student this advanced would have made the club. None of the names particularly stood out to her though. His shelf was comprised of predominantly pure bloods from his own house, or muggleborns he deemed exceptional considering they lacked a magical upbringing or inherited power. Maybe if it was a death eater, he removed him from the shelf. However, that wasn't the case with Sirius's brother, Regulus, and she wondered why. His picture still stood out in front as Slytherin's Seeker Captain. He was far from a half-blood though.

The long silence from Dumbledore was finally broken by a note that arrived on a Saturday morning at the beginning of May. The last quidditch game was scheduled later that day and Ginny was ready to play Seeker, Katie agreed to play as well but noticeably didn't want to. Ron mentioned Charlie was going to try to make it to the game, Lizzie bargained that maybe she could at least catch up with him later.

Lizzie,

I believe I have found one and need your help. We will plan for Sunday next. Meet me at seven o'clock in my office. Bring your cloak, I will go over the essentials.

Yours truly,

Professor Dumbledore

Ron and Hermione both look nervous and apprehensive. "Which one do you think he found?" they asked, "and where?"

"I dunno. I reckon the locket or the cup maybe. No clue where. Orphanage, perhaps? But we will see I guess," Lizzie said, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously.

Lizzie knew it was stupid but promised herself only to use the Half Blood Prince's book for finals, and reentered the Room of Requirement after breakfast to retrieve it. She easily got lost and couldn't find where she hid it. She also kept an eye out for a cabinet, but all she saw was a broken wardrobe-like furnishing that didn't appear to be correct. She did find it odd when she opened the door and a small bird quickly flew off into the piles of lost treasure. After nearly an hour of wandering, she gave up and made her way back to the corridor.

Lizzie nearly collided with Trelawney on her way up to Gryffindor Tower to get her things for what would be the fourth detention now with Snape. It was the first time she had seen Trelawney since the year prior.

"Ah, my dear…" Trelawney said abruptly. Bloody hell, another death omen I bet anything… Lizzie thought cynically.

"Hello Professor, trust you're well," Lizzie said politely.

"Ah… well… no.. troubling times for a seer," she admitted.

"How so?" Lizzie asked, but regretted the invite to further conversation.

"Seers often complain that timelines become skewed when there is great uncertainty in the horizon. I have not been able to see anything clearly for some time…" Trelawney explained. Lizzie nodded skeptically at the evasive response, but it dawned on her to ask about her other prophecy while she had her attention.

"Professor, do you remember the prophecy you made to Dumbledore… seventeen years ago…about me…?" Lizzie asked.

"It was not about you specifically dear, at least not at the time, but yes I do," she said.

"When you referenced that the one to vanquish him would ascend to greater evils, what did that mean?" Lizzie asked.

"There is no way out, my dear. You each live within the other…" she said.

"How did Voldemort even find out about the prophecy, surely Dumbledore didn't tell him? Do you know?" Lizzie asked, a question that hadn't dawned on her until now.

"Well, if my memory hasn't betrayed me, we were being watched that day by a young death eater. I recall he heard at least the beginning of it," she explained. Lizzie nodded in understanding, there were so many 'young death eaters' at that time, it didn't dawn on her to inquire further.

"I was very surprised when Albus later hired him," Trelawney added absently. Lizzie froze.

"I beg your pardon? Surely you don't mean Professor Sn-" She asked. Trelawney looked over anxiously as though her auror had changed dramatically. Her expression was confirmation enough and Lizzie swayed in place as the world around her spun furiously.

"No…" Lizzie whispered to herself and felt as though the nausea ensuing was boiling in a violent rage at the base of her stomach. She left abruptly without saying goodbye to Trelawney.

"I don't understand what he wants with my daughter," she heard her dad saying in her head.

"If they give her to me, I will let them live," she heard Voldemort hiss.

The whole trajectory of the past started from that point. Pettigrew would not have betrayed them, they would not have even been hunted, they wouldn't have died, she wouldn't be the chosen one, she wouldn't have grown up in the seventh layer of hell, Sirius wouldn't have been imprisoned, Remus would not have been alone, nobody would have died for her, not then, not now. It all came down to what he heard and what he told Voldemort. She knew it wasn't irrational not to trust him, not to trust Dumbledore. Was she a pawn for Dumbledore the entire time? Did he want Voldemort to know to set it into motion? Her thoughts raced faster than her mind could register. She felt she could strangle Snape to death with her bare hands, but didn't even consider coming down from the rage before entering his office, much less sit through another asinine detention.

All she could feel was the rage, all she could see was red, a lifetime in prison posed little threat in her mind if she carried through on the intentions that ran repeatedly through her head. She didn't care what Dumbledore or Remus would say, this was the final straw, final piece of the endless puzzle. She would not be able to stand another bombshell around why her family was murdered and who was ultimately responsible.

She pushed the door of his office open angrily and stormed in. She slammed the door behind her as he looked up incredulously.

"If you want to continue this for another term, be my guest, Azalea. I think the only person who has more detention records than your father is you," he spat. He quickly noticed her narrowed eyes and stiff posture.

Snape was feeling irrationally angry the longer he looked at her as though absorbing her rage defensively. He couldn't read her mind; that wasn't normal for him, all he could feel from her was bitter and complete resentment. She stared at him with eyes swimming in pure anger, deadlocked internally on what she actually wanted to say or do.

"Sit down, Azalea. If this is about quidditch, don't be a child," he said sharply.

Lizzie picked up a glass container in reach and threw it hard across the room aiming for his head. He ducked as it shattered and whipped his head around at her with eyes searing with rage.

She pulled her wand and blasted the shelf behind him, sending shards of glass everywhere.

"AZALEA!" He roared; his eyes now completely black in anger. He approaching her aggressively, but she held her wand up to stop him.

"Interesting bit of history I was told just now," she growled in a trembling voice. He narrowed his eyes at her curiously, but was beginning to look rather frightened.

"You told him," she said just above a whisper. He stepped back a little in response.

"I told who? What exactly?" He asked slowly.

"Don't be fucking stupid. Can't read my mind? Probably nothing but red, am I right? I could fucking kill you," she hissed.

"Don't you DARE talk to me like- " he started to growl back.

"I WILL TALK TO THE MAN WHO GOT MY FAMILY SLAUGHTERED HOWEVER THE FUCK I WANT TO!" She screamed back at him at the top of her lungs, and watched his eyes double back in place of his body with sudden and complete understanding of what this was about.

"The proph-" he started to say.

"Azalea, you need to understand- " BANG, another shelf behind him exploded, sending more glass everywhere.

"Why would you do it?!" She yelled.

"There was no indication WHO it was actually about!" He yelled back, and disarmed her wand before she could continue. She paced to the side furiously.

"I bet you were THRILLED to find out it would mean my dad, weren't you? Did you jump for joy that Voldemort could take care of your petty little vendetta?" She hissed, watching him thinly conceal a mixed reaction to the words. He was silent and calculating.

"There was nothing I could do once he knew. If there had been I would've - "

"What? WOULD HAVE DONE - WHAT?" She yelled with an exasperated tone. She gave a faint weak maniacal laugh that reminded him ever so slightly of Bellatrix, but at her least deranged.

"You wouldn't have done anything. You don't think I know him? You don't think I know what he's capable of? He might as well own me, my body, my mind. He has killed the people I loved most in the world IN FRONT OF ME. But he would have never been out for my head if not for YOU!" She berated, tears welling. Snape was approaching her cautiously.

"Don't you fucking come near me!" She demanded, pointing a shaking finger at his face.

"You hate me...You have always hated me. Don't try to deny it! Had you known then you wouldn't have done ANYTHING!" She yelled, but was now growing unable to keep her mind from unraveling. He approached more aggressively at this, furious at the implication. Her back hit the wall, and he came close to her face.

"You don't think I've done anything, Potter? You don't think I'm here to protect YOU? YOU ARE JUST AS MUCH TO BLAME AS ME FOR THEIR DEATHS - " he yelled.

"I DIDN'T ASK TO EXIST! I WAS A CHILD! I would have had a family if you hadn't set that prophecy into motion! NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED," she yelled, her voice hoarse and trembling.

"I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS ABOUT YOU! It could have been anybody!" He roared back.

"As if that would make a difference - you HATED THEM!" She retorted.

He shoved her violently and had her pinned against the wall with an impossibly tight grip on her upper arms. "HOW DARE YOU," he yelled. Lizzie struggled, but he slammed her hard against the wall again in response and she let out an involuntary whimper.

"LOOK AT ME," he yelled close to her face. She wasn't going to be able to keep him out of her mind. Her heart hammered outrageously hard behind her chest. All of their deaths, Sirius, Cedric, her parents, all of the pain of her upbringing, every bit of fear felt during every encounter with Voldemort flooded her mind and ran like fiend fire through her bloodstream.

His grip was still unrelenting. His hands nearly wrapped all the way around her arms. He considered her face for a moment when she looked up at him reproachfully. All he could see from her mind was a little girl curling up in her dead mother's arms. He immediately cast his head down with eyes affixed to the floor almost as though he was going to cry. But it was because she had caught a glimpse of her mother from his.

"I didn't hate them, Azalea," he said slowly, feeling her shake a little harder in his grip.

He looked up to see her crying, her eyes weren't swimming in their sockets they were drowning. She struggled in the grip again wanting to collapse in a truly unbearable amount of pain.

"I doesn't matter," she whispered. "You're still the reason they're dead," she mumbled with pure disdain between sobs.

He released his grip on her already bruising arms but before she could swing fists, or try to maul him, he wrapped his arms around her head and shoulders in a tight hold. She couldn't tell if this was supposed to be comforting or abating, or both. Her body went rigid, and he held tighter the more she tried to back away, until she surrendered and felt in as many pieces as the glass that littered the floor. She sobbed uncontrollably into her hands with her face pressed hard against his chest.

Lizzie didn't know how much time passed, but she woke up on a small sofa, unsure if she was actually ever asleep or if her mind had just turned off as a last-ditch mental rescue effort. She couldn't move, Snape had cast something to ensure that for his safety but perhaps possibly hers as well.

Something about her eyes seemed to have come back to life, and he sat across from her staring.

"Why was it us?" She whispered. Snape grimaced sympathetically.

"Li -" he started to say, but rubbed his face.

Snape had impossibly sad eyes and she thought she must be seeing things. He stared back at hers with a look she couldn't read.

"Can I leave?" She asked, starting to feel vulnerable. He could hear her heart rate picking up in mild panic.

"Please just let me leave," she whispered desperately. He considered wiping her memory of the last couple hours but couldn't bring himself to do it. Part of him wanted her to know everything but now was not the moment they needed to wait for. She stared back at his face in confusion and was able to move again.

"I'm not coming back for detention," she said bitterly. He stared back at her but said nothing. "I knew I was right not to trust you," she added with malice. "I found that spell in a book by the way. Scribbled in a book," she said. He narrowed his eyes at her in disbelief.

"I don't know what you're up to with Draco. I know Dumbledore trusts you and if this is what he has on your head, as far as I'm concerned, it's not enough. I hope you do feel guilty, but I wouldn't place any bets on it… Stay the bloody hell away from me," she hissed. He clenched his jaw and refrained from saying anything because he knew nothing would suffice.

Lizzie summoned her wand and swallowed back a considerable amount of willpower not to curse him into a bloody pulp.

"You won't do it," he said, sensing her intentions. "Don't be stupid. You aren't stupid," he pointed at her deliberately, as if it was meant as a compliment, and walked toward his desk.

"She died screaming…" Lizzie said suddenly and he froze in place not looking at her. "I hope you do too," Lizzie growled and left the office.

Lizzie checked the time and saw that there was time to get on the pitch for the last game. She caught up with Ginny to let her know.

"Oh thank god…" Ginny said. "Hate that bloody snitch, I'll ask Katie if she still wants to play or not."

Lizzie got ready in the locker room, but her mind was still elsewhere. It was the Ravenclaw game and for the first time ever she didn't care if she won.

She pulled on her gloves and gear, her dad's sweater, and grabbed for the firebolt. McGonagall looked shocked to see her but quickly got the vibe not to pry about the detentions.

The teams assembled and she stared across at Cho Chang absently. She'd never felt so far from the field she was in. The future felt bleak, it all felt trivial and pointless in the scope of what they'd need to do. When Hooch blew the whistle, Lizzie didn't move. Ginny and Dean both whipped past her and it jolted her into reality. She took off straight into the air and climbed to a high altitude above a lower bearing cloud. Cho followed assuming a move like that was only in pursuit of the snitch. Lizzie stopped and looked around at the height she was at and let life pause for a moment.

"Lizzie!" Cho shouted, unsure of what she was doing. Lizzie desperately wanted to fall and considered it for a few moments while Cho stared back in confusion from a few yards away.

The snitch darted inches from her face and shot back down toward the stadium. Lizzie broke from her trance and instinctively dived after it. Once back in view of the stadium, on a dive course for the snitch, Lizzie whipped around the stadium when the snitch changed course. Lizzie shoved Cho out of the way and was extremely aggressive in her maneuvers. It took her by surprise and was shockingly out of character for Lizzie.

Lizzie eventually caught the snitch with a barrel roll as it darted just under her. When she whipped up to the upright position and held it up, the sky directly to the north of her cracked with a loud explosion before Gryffindor erupted into full applause. The stadium went silent, there had just been a significant effort made to penetrate the protections of Hogwarts. Aurors took off toward the edges of the grounds to inspect, and Lizzie stared absently in the direction, hovering in the dead center of the field. The last thing she needed in this moment was a reminder that she wasn't and would never be safe.

The celebration in the locker room was cut short when McGonagall ushered everyone back to the castle in an abundance of caution. Lizzie's brain was still elsewhere. "I stayed to see Ginny play Seeker," Charlie said as she quickly put her stuff away before leaving.

"Just little ole me… sorry to disappoint. She hates playing Seeker though, but is rather good at it, have to admit, she won us the cup last year," Lizzie said with a weak smile.

"You're not thrilled? Near flawless streak. Just won the cup," he said happily, watching the others celebrate.

"It doesn't – well does it matter?" She asked, pointing toward where they heard the crack in the sky. He frowned.

"Of course it does. Did it stop being your favorite thing to do? Your life isn't dictated by that," He said reassuringly. She shook her head.

"No…Charlie... my life has always been dictated by that" she said. He approached her cautiously.

"What's wrong, Lizzie? Something happen?" He asked.

"Nothing important," she lied. He stared at her intently for a moment and put a hand on either side of her face. He leaned down and kissed her lightly. Only Ginny saw and gave Lizzie a strange look she couldn't read. Lizzie didn't know how to feel, her insides felt numb. She gave him a tight hug and retreated back to Gryffindor Tower with the others for the after party where she made an obligatory speech. Everyone seemed nervous about what happened until McGonagall came back and assured everyone was safe. Lizzie retreated to her dorm to stare at the ceiling with the curtains drawn. She would tell the others about the prophecy later and let them enjoy the fun while it lasted. There was bigger work to be done tomorrow.