On her last trip to the kitchen, Sybill had found that having the house-elves sent away wasn't all bad. There had been no offers of unwanted help or awkward questions to dodge and she had been able to bring back plenty of supplies. Or so she had thought.
The cold had been getting increasingly worse and though she kept the fire going at all times, she had found it necessary to warm herself from the insides too with liberal amounts of sherry. This had the beneficial effect that she had slept through most of the previous day and luckily missed whatever unpleasantness Minerva's spell might have caused.
Unfortunately, keeping herself warm meant that she was already down to her last bottle and now had to venture out again to fetch some more. Wrapping herself up in a couple of blankets, she made her way down to the kitchens, trembling and breathing on her fingers to keep them warm.
Suddenly, she heard a door close right behind her.
"Sybill?" Minerva's voice sounded, a little higher than usual. "What… what are you doing here?"
Sybill sniffed. "That is really none of your business," she said. "I have a right to go anywhere I wish in the castle. As long as I stay out of private quarters."
"But…" Minerva was staring at her as if she had grown an extra head. "I thought you had left!"
"I let you mess about in my rooms," Sybill said. "Isn't that enough? Do you really insist on driving me out of my home?"
"You could have been burned!" Minerva was still wearing the same shocked expression.
"Burned?" Sybill's insides turned as cold as the air around her. "What… What do you mean?"
"The spell! I was casting it yesterday. If I had known you were still here…" Minerva rambled, shaking her head.
Her words were coming from very far away, it seemed, and Sybill felt the floor tilt slightly under her feet.
"Sybill?" Minerva's expression, although slightly blurry, seemed to turn even more concerned. "Are you alright?"
"Yes… Fine… It's just the… cold..." Sybill said, waving a hand in what she thought was Minerva's direction. "I… I should get back to… to my room…"
Minerva caught her waving hand and steadied her. "I think you should come with me. You really don't look well."
"I'm fine…" Sybill protested, but still let herself be led down the corridor. Inside her head, words were tumbling around. 'Burned… spell… yesterday…'
"Do you still take sugar?" Minerva's voice cut through her thoughts and Sybill realised that she was sitting in a very soft armchair in front of a roaring fire in an unfamiliar room.
"Huh?" she said, blinking rapidly as she looked around, trying to focus.
Minerva looked at her assessingly. "I'll put some sugar in anyway. You look like you could use it." She pushed a red and gold chequered teacup into Sybill's hands. "Did you eat anything at all since I last saw you?"
"Of course," Sybill said, wrapping her fingers instinctively around the warm cup, her trembling slowly subsiding. "I had a very lovely meal in the kitchen while you were… snooping around in my rooms."
Minerva rolled her eyes. "That was two days ago. I'll fetch you something to eat."
Rather than protest, Sybill focused on sipping her tea. It was surprisingly good.
Minerva waved her wand and then handed her a tray with a bowl of stew and a few slices of bread on it. "That's as well as I can do for now. At least it's warm."
Putting her teacup down, Sybill took the tray gratefully. "Thank you," she said, suddenly realising how very, very hungry she was. "That is very kind of you."
"You should learn to take care of yourself," Minerva said, shaking her head as she sat down opposite from her.
"I manage just fine. Usually. But I've been so busy this past week. Trying to find a way to send away all those restless spirits so that we can make the castle fit for the living again. I guess I just… forgot…"
Minerva frowned. "There wouldn't have been any need to send them away if the spell had worked."
"But they shouldn't be here. Surely you must agree that the heroes of the war deserve a better fate than being stuck here for eternity?" Sybill sighed and put away the bowl, which had emptied surprisingly quickly.
"Nick told me that most of them will move on eventually. I think we must avoid rushing them," Minerva said, before gesturing at the bowl. "Do you want some more?"
Sybill was about to say no. That she should be getting back to her rooms. But it was so very, very comfortable in front of the fire. And the stew was really very good. So she nodded. "Yes, thank you. That would be wonderful."
Minerva nodded and filled the bowl again. For a while she was quiet, staring into the distance. Then she said: "I suppose I will have to take care of the ghosts if I don't think of something else. Something that actually works."
Sybill smiled to herself before starting on her second bowl. It was a rather pleasant change to have Minerva actually confiding in her, almost asking her advice. Rather than telling her what to do. Or, as was the norm, telling her what not to do.
She glanced over at Minerva, who seemed lost in thought. "This is nice," she said. "Almost like old times."
Minerva gave her a sharp look, but then her expression softened. "Yes."
"We used to do this a lot, didn't we?" Sybill said. "After you'd moved back from Hogsmeade?"
"We did," Minerva said slowly, a small wrinkle forming between her eyebrows.
Sybill almost bit her tongue. She had quite forgotten why Minerva had moved back. That she might not remember that time with quite as much fondness as she did. Back then, Sybill had been all too happy to have her friend back, but Minerva… Minerva had been grieving the death of her beloved husband.
After an awkward silence, Sybill cleared her throat. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "He… He was a good man…"
"He was," Minerva said, sounding only a little choked. "But it's fine. I'm still grateful that… that you were there to support me." She blinked and sat up a little straighter.
Sybill put away her bowl, and before she could change her mind, reached out to take Minerva's hand. "I'm just glad that I was able to help you," she said softly. "You were my best friend. My only friend. I couldn't bear to see you hurting."