Having spent an afternoon with Minerva had been surprisingly pleasant. And the stew she had provided had definitely been better than what Sybill could have made for herself. But her little run-in with the Headmistress had made Sybill forget the original purpose of her excursion the other day. So now she had to leave her tower again.

This time, she had made sure to eat before venturing out. And had brought her largest bag so that she, hopefully, would be able to bring back supplies for at least a week.

As she passed a large window on the third floor, she noticed something that made her pause. After a moment, she turned and hurried down the corridor, once again headed for Minerva's office. But, having been so lightheaded last time, she had not caught the current password. She frowned as she stood by the gargoyle, unsure how to make her presence known.

"Professor," a voice sounded behind her, and she turned to see the smiling ghost of that sweet Gryffindor girl who had shown such talent for the Prophetic Arts. "I didn't know you were still here."

It took a moment for Sybill to remember her name. Then she smiled and nodded. "Miss Brown," she said. "You should have known I would not leave Hogwarts without guidance in times such as these."

"Oh… Of course." Miss Brown blushed a darker shade of silver. "Are… are you visiting the Headmistress?"

"Yes, but it seems Professor McGonagall has forgotten to inform me of the new password to her office," Sybill said, smiling indulgently. "Rather careless of her, but I suppose she cannot be blamed, considering her difficult situation."

Miss Brown nodded solemnly, but then smiled. "I can go fetch her," she offered. "If… If you like, Professor."

"That would be nice, Miss Brown," Sybill said. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Of course not, Professor," the girl said and glided up through the ceiling of the corridor.

"Sybill," Minerva greeted her a few minutes later. "I had told the ghosts I was not to be disturbed, but Miss Brown stressed that what you had to tell me was urgent..."

"Not really," Sybill said. "But I suppose we cannot blame Miss Brown for exaggerating a little in her desire to fulfil her task. I merely wanted to ask you a question. To clarify something."

"Of course," Minerva said, looking a little… tired? "Go ahead."

"You said that everyone had left the castle, right? And the grounds? Everyone but you and I?"

Minerva nodded. "Of course everyone and everything that lives in the Forest is still there, but apart from that… Yes, everyone should be gone."

"And… Professor Hagrid?" Sybill prompted.

"Yes, he too," Minerva said. "He told me he would be spending the month with his brother."

"There is light in his cabin," Sybill blurted out. "I saw it as I passed the window. If he is with his brother, then who is in his cabin?"

Frowning, Minerva passed her and stopped by the window, straightening her glasses. "I don't see any light."

Sybill pushed her aside so that she could look out too. "No… well… There's no light now. But when I looked out not ten minutes ago, the windows were lit up. Like there was a bonfire inside." She looked at Minerva. "Don't you believe me?"

Minerva studied her face for a moment. "You're sober."

Sybill glared at her. "Of course I am," she said. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing. It just makes it easier to believe you," Minerva said earnestly.

Sybill considered several nasty things she could have said in reply to that, but thought better of it. With a dignified huff, she whirled around, heading for the kitchens.

As she filled her bag, she was still seething. Who did Minerva think she was? The nerve of that woman…

Sybill was so distracted by her anger that she almost dropped several bottles on the hard stone floor, but managed to somehow tip them into her bag instead, where they made quite a lot of noise but, thankfully, did not break.

By the end of it, she had to sit down and take a sip to calm herself. Come to think of it, Minerva had always been pestering her about her occasional indulgences. Ever since she had married that stuffy old man from the Ministry, she had been acting so superior. Like she thought she was better than Sybill.

She sighed and opened another bottle as she remembered the day, she had come to Minerva for help. The first time her friend had let her down.

Sybill had only been married for a few weeks. Hadn't even had time to settle in on the small farm her husband had bought, when things started going wrong. Admittedly, the wedding had been a bit rushed, what with Howard suddenly being called back to the States, to assist with something on his former employer's ranch.

He had wanted to put off the wedding until he returned, but having made her decision, Sybill did not want to wait. So they had gone to London for the weekend and tied the knot at the register office with only Howard's sisters, both very much non-magical, attending. After the ceremony and tea at a small pub, Howard had taken a Portkey to Dallas and Sybill had returned to her rooms at Hogwarts, not wanting to stay alone at the farm.

In that time, she had only ever seen Minerva on the rare occasions that they passed each other in the corridors. They had not exchanged more than a handful of words, but she had gotten the distinct impression that her older friend had been quite peeved that she had not taken her advice regarding Howard.

And then things had gone wrong. Very wrong. Upon Howard's return, he had brought her to the farm and they had been about to start their life together when he, while helping her unpack, had come across their marriage licence.

She had been very surprised by his reaction. Surely he had noticed when they signed the papers? And why was it such a big deal anyway? Of course she would be keeping her own surname. She was the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer, Cassandra Trelawney. Who in their right mind would give up a name like that for something as common as 'Higglebottom'?

But Howard had, it turned out, not quite seen eye to eye with her on this. He'd become very unreasonable, demanding that she changed her name immediately. And then he'd begun making these wild accusations about her motives. Said that it was all because of that old hag she was always mooning over. Just because her 'friend' had not taken her husband's name, Sybill wouldn't do it either.

This was, of course, completely ridiculous and she had told him so in no uncertain terms. And then she had stormed out. The farm was rather remote and by the time she got to Hogsmeade she had been tired and out of breath. So naturally, she had stopped by The Three Broomsticks to compose herself before barging in on Minerva. And yes, she had had a drink or two to calm her nerves, but she had definitely not been 'two drops away from self-combustion' when she showed up at their house that night.

Instead of supporting her, Minerva had begun lecturing her. Sybill couldn't quite remember all the details, but it was something about how she should, at least, have talked to Howard about those things before the wedding. Instead of rushing into it. She had, in short, laid all the blame on Sybill and more than hinted that alcohol had been involved, both when Sybill agreed to marry Howard and at the actual ceremony.

Sybill had never been more offended in her life and would have stormed out if physical and emotional exhaustion had not caught up with her. She had collapsed before she could make it to the door and Minerva's relic of a husband had somehow managed to carry her to a bed to 'sleep it off'.

Things hadn't quite been the same after that night. Sybill had returned to the castle and was not surprised when Howard asked for a divorce soon after. Things had also been cool between her and Minerva. In fact, they had not spoken again until the day Minerva too returned to the castle. The moment Sybill saw the grief in her friend's eyes, all was forgotten and she had not left her side for those first terrible weeks following Elphinstone Urquart's death.