Chapter 24: The Prophecies

Chapter 24

The Prophecies

Severus stalked back to the dungeons, his head was swimming with thoughts. He ground his teeth and tried to banish the thoughts from his mind. He disabled the wards to his rooms and strode in. He paced a full circle around his living room before he sat down on the couch.

He was angry that Potter did not even know what his father had done, did not know exactly how arrogant his own father had been. He probably thought his father was some sort of a hero. When James Potter had never been anything other than a trouble-maker and a bully.

His mind took over and he began to remember scenes from his past. He was quiet when he first came to Hogwarts. His education had begun many years before and he easily excelled above everyone else, especially in Defense and Potions. He did not have many friends and he especially disliked Lucius, although he never showed it. His father had been adamant that he get along with the Malfoys.

He had been a thin boy, but tall for his age. A lot of his spare time he spent with older students and his brother. Severus had met her in their first year. She was a rather bland looking girl with large red hair and bright green eyes, not to mention a few pimples here and there. She was thin like a rail and was often ridiculed by other students because she was, during first year, the shy type.

Sirius Black and James Potter had chosen to throw a spell at her that would make her hair look even more like she had put a finger to a muggle electrical outlet. They had done it right before the Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins and Severus has seen it happen. Before he knew what he was doing, his wand was out and he sent a curse flying at them. They both had run after that, no doubt up to the hospital wing.

She had favored Severus after that. They began to talk. He didn't care what she looked like and he knew he was rather lanky and average. Hormones were not working at that age anyway. He agreed to help her in potions class, because her natural ability there was rather abysmal.

He had watched her turn into a beautiful girl, with sleek red hair, beautiful white skin, and caring green eyes. She had an effect on him. He had never known happiness like he had known it with her. They started dating during third year. She became so warm and outgoing that Severus could not help but feel as if he was freed from some terrible thing that had been binding him before she walked into his life.

Whatever his father had taken away from him, Lily gave it back. Whatever his father tried to instill in him, how cold his father had wanted him to be, Lily changed. Severus was much more like Jace in those years. Happy, free, and only acting a certain role when he had too. But Severus had never been as trusting or forgiving as Jace had. Severus was always naturally suspicious of people. Lily had tried to change that in him too, but he had told her that there were bad things in the world and that you had to be prepared for them.

She had been afraid of his interest in the Dark Arts at first, but she had grown to appreciate his philosophy that knowledge did not make one evil, it only made one prepared. They had been in love. They were inseparable. He would go on 'trips' with Jace over the holidays so that his father would not know he was visiting her or even dating her. His father would have been furious, he would have forbade his son to date a 'mudblood'.

His father had wanted Severus to get Marked after he graduated, but Severus wanted none of it. He thought better of himself, he did not want to serve someone, even Voldemort. Severus did not want to be a Death Eater, he wanted to have a blissful life with Lily. He had even talked with Lily about eventually getting married. His own naivete at that age sickened him.

Severus could not say that he had loved his father, because he had not. But, he had respected the man a lot. His father had been a good father at some times, not often. When his father died, he had been so angry, he wanted the aurors to be killed. Severus had no proof, but he knew the aurors aimmed to kill and not bring anyone to trial. He knew that they had no evidence his father was a Death Eater, his father was too prominent to allow that to happen. His father was too crafty. All they could have had were suspicions. It made him angry that they just murdered him. The Mark on his father's arm had justified the kill in the eyes of the Ministry and especially Mr. Crouch, but it didn't justify it to Severus. It was his father and he never had any chance.

Lily had tried to discourage him, but he had begun to change. He regreted it later, regreted what he had done to them, what he had done to sweet Lily. He could have had everything, instead he chose revenge.

Towards the end of his sixth year he sat Lily down and told her that she could not be with him for what he had to do. For her safety, he told her that they could no longer be together. She had cried on his arm so profusely that his shoulder had felt her tears. She asked him not to get Marked, that even killing the aurors would not bring his father back. Lily had reminded him of how much he loathed his father, but it didn't matter. Wisely she said that once he had gotten his revenge, he would be giving himself to another person, lowering himself, degrading himself, allying himself with something purely evil. As Dumbledore had said to him years later, he had been a stupid, vengeful child. He had made a grave mistake.

During their seventh year, Lily came up to him in the library one day and told him that the worst thing she had ever seen in her life was him changing into what he had become. She said that he was not the Severus she had known and loved for over three years. Her soft hand touched his shoulder and told him that her heart still mourned the day that he had died and that she would always remember him and love him even though he was gone. He remembered the emotion that had tried to swell into his heart, he remembered fighting them back down, he remembered pushing her hand away. He remembered the day he packed down the dirt over his own grave.

She reawakened a small part of him on the day of Jace's funeral. James did not come, he wouldn't, but she did. She had kissed him on the cheek and looked into his cold, black eyes. 'He would have wanted more for you,' was all that she said to him.

He still fought everyday to keep that part of him buried. It was still there and he knew it. Recently that part of him had been there more than it ever had in a long time. Sage was tapping into it. Only two other people in his entire life had, his brother and Lily.

His fists were clenched when he came out of the memories and stared at the fire. He closed his eyes. His biggest regret was giving up his life for revenge. He did not realize it then, but that's what he had done. He could have been married to Lily. If he had, she would still be alive. She had pleaded with him to do it, to marry her and forget about revenge. He didn't listen. He slammed his fist down on the arm of the couch. She was gone now. There was no way he could tell her he was sorry, that she had been right. She was gone because of Potter. Prince Potter.

He had been stupid to think that she would let the Dark Lord kill her only son. As a rare token, he had offered to spare Lily for Severus because He had killed his brother. He offered to spare Lily because he had killed Jace. Severus, of course, had warned Dumbledore anyway as he was already a spy.

Voldemort had killed Lily when she refused to let him have Harry. Severus cringed. She wasn't supposed to die. Had he not believed she would be okay, he would have gone there personally and tried to defend her, even if it meant that they both would die. He would have been willing to die for her to right all the wrong he had done to her. That was why he had saved Harry, because he did not want Lily to have died for nothing. It was his way of making things up to her in his mind.

He said to himself, "You said that even though I had died that you would still mourn me, love me, and remember me. Everyday I am doing that as well, but you really are gone. I am living with the regrets you tried to warn me of. It has turned me into someone you would not have liked and I'm sorry."

Sage sat comfortably in his room in his chair by the fire. The fire was roaring. The worn leather case was on the floor next to him. He had read everything in the case except for this, the prophecies. The writing on the sheet had disappeared after he first briefly viewed it. As he held it up now, the words reappeared. Or at least some of them did.

He was reading them intently.

The Prophecies of the Great Sage and Magi, Merlin

A Dark Lord shall rise, who shall try to gain limitless power through unnatural means. His symbol will be the snake. His followers will live off death and destruction as if they need it to sustain themselves and thus they will be named.

The first member of the triad, the man who will sit to the right of the One of whom I will later speak, will be drawn into darkness like that of his ancestors. The blood in his veins, that of the Nag himself, will make him powerful and calculating. He will cleanse his line of evil by rejecting the Dark Lord. He will remain alone until the One comes to him. He is the man chosen to teach the One. The descendant of the Nag will have the great knowledge of Darkness that the One shall need.

The second member of the triad , the man who will sit to the left of the One, will be forced into the service of the light before he is even aware. The blood in his veins, that of Fawkes, will make him loyal and courageous. He will purge the world of the dark lord for a short period to allow the One to rise.

The One will bring together the blood of 3. In him, the darkness and the light will join, their powers merge. Inside of him will live powers greater than either side alone. He will join the blood of the ancients, Fawkes and Nag, and carry the blood of my line. The One will be my true heir.

Everything shall revolve around the numbers of 3 and 15. This triad will form and rise during the next time of great Darkness.

The triad shall begin to rise in the One's 15th year and the rise of the Dark Lord to power once more will come after the 3rd duty. After 3 years, the One will be ready to confront his fate and face the Dark Lord. He will run a path between the Dark and the Light, the man on his right, the descendant of the Nag, will be constantly at his side. They will both be tormented by the Dark and their obligations. The man to sit on his left will, with the aid of another of my line, help from the outside. The man on his left will not be of great importance until the Last Fight.

The last time he had looked at the parchment there had been more writing, he was sure of it. One or more of the prophecies had not reappeared. Sage lifted his eyes from the paper. The flickering fire met his eyes. When was this time Merlin spoke of? Who was a descendant of the Nag, that ancient man who had sat on Ra's right side, who had caused terror thousands of years prior? And what was this triad thing? Could the Dark Lord be Voldemort? It could make sense read that way, but Sage couldn't be sure. And who was the One?

Suddenly, his uncle's voice shot out of the flames.

"Sage!"

Sage saw his uncle's head in the fire.

"You're ten minutes late. You have detention as well."

The boy groaned, he had forgotten all about detention. He knew he had to go down and work with his uncle on his tutoring and training, but he had completely forgotten that his uncle had given him two nights of detention for using his powers improperly on the quidditch field.

"Sorry, sir. I've been reading something the headmaster gave me. I'll be down in a minute."

Severus growled. "You're flirting with another night of detention." Then his head disappeared from the fireplace.

Sage reluctantly got up from his chair, closed the case, shoved his books in his bag, and left for the dungeons.

Severus looked in a foul mood when Sage opened the door to the Potion's classroom. Hastily Sage put down his bag and walked up to the desk.

"You can stay an extra half hour for your tardiness. This is something I would expect Potter to do." He handed Sage a piece of paper. "Get started on this potion. It's easy enough."

Sage silently went to work on the potion, occasionally looking up at Severus. The potion was supposed to turn a neon orange color and be very fluid. But his uncle was right when he said that it was easy enough. Sage was finished within a half hour.

Severus was pleased enough with the healing draught he had Sage make, so he told him to bottle it up for the medi-witch. He looked up at his nephew.

"Do not make being late a habit."

"I won't, sir."

"Good, now I want you to get my wand away from me with using your wand."

Sage wrestled with this task for about fifteen minutes before he was finally able to will the wand to him. Severus shook his head.

"You will do better. We will practice this until you can do it immediately."

"Yes, sir." Sage said nodding. He knew that this ability would be very useful to him in the future. It was a skill he was very willing to practice.

"Now, as for your detention, I think the floor could use another good cleaning. Longbottom has spilled at least twenty times since you last cleaned it, and countless other dunderheads have as well. I'll be in my office when you are finished."

Sage watched as Severus strode quietly out. He scowled. Not those damn floors again. He still remembered the sores on his hands and the pain in his shoulder from the last time. Sage decided that, in the future, he would have to set up some sort of alarm so that he would always make it to Severus on time. He didn't want to give the man another opportunity to make his scrub gut-ridden floors.