Chapter 5

A/N Is anyone else already sick of school? I am. I don't know about Bailey but I'm not loving this whole getting up early thing.

EcargWillOneDayRuleTheWorld: We feel sorry for Snape too (even though we are the ones putting him through this).

Christine Dalen: Don't worry, you'll see plenty of talking between Snape and Lily...eventually ;)

LissLove: Thanks for the follow!

OJSB: Thanks for the follow/favorite!

As usual, Severus sat in the corner of Leaky Cauldron as he waited for Dumbledore to do something. He sipped his pumpkin juice and tried not to yawn. His brief talk with Lily last night had left him with some unpleasant memories in his dreams and he had woken up feeling as if he had never gone to sleep. He had already spent most of the day watching Dumbledore and he was finding it harder to stay awake as night began to creep closer.

Suddenly, Dumbledore stood up and began to walk towards the door. Without questioning it, Severus stood up and silently cast the disillusionment charm over himself. Once he knew the spell had taken effect, he hurried to follow the old man.

Unlike any normal wizard, Dumbledore didn't simply disapparate to his next location as soon as he could. Instead he walked at a brisk pace at which Severus found almost hard to keep up with for quite some time. Dumbledore stopped abruptly and Severus sprinted forward, just barely grasping the edge of his cloak before he disapparated. Once they landed on the ground again, Dumbledore began walking once again. Severus followed the man and noticed the wind picking up and when he looked up, he noticed clouds rolling over the horizon. A storm was coming. Dumbledore looked up and once he noticed the clouds began to walk even faster.

By the time they stopped, Severus was cold and wet from the rain. The old man didn't seem to be having that problem and didn't even stop to catch his breath as he walked into the Hog's Head Inn. Severus had to quickly follow him in as a door opening with no one visible doing it would raise some questions.

As he entered into the Hogs Head, he allowed himself a moment to stop and rest. Besides himself and Albus, no one else was in the bar. All the wooden tables sat empty, stubs of candles burning softly providing little light to the room. Even when it was light out, it was almost always dark inside as the windows were so covered in filth it was almost impossible to see outside. Severus' brief moment of break was interrupted as tall, thin man with an impressive beard walked into the room.

"Albus."

"Aberforth."

"She's upstairs."

"Thank you." Before Severus could register who the man was, he was gone and Dumbledore was on the move once again. He walked to a staircase which led into the Inn portion of the Hog's Head and as he climbed the stairs, he disappeared from view.

Severus slowly stepped towards the staircase, cautious of any noise. He didn't know where the other man had come from the first time and didn't want to risk getting caught by him. Deciding it was more suspicious for him to be walking around invisible, he took off his disillusionment charm and walked forward. Once he reached the stairs, he climbed them and kept his eyes and ears open for Albus, the sound of rain humming in his ears. At the top of the stairs, he saw ten different rooms. Deciding to make his way down the hall one door at a time, he approached the first door and leaned in to listen.

Nothing. He moved to the one directly across the hall. A group of high pitched laughs filled his ear once he pressed it to the door and he immediately pulled it away. The next door was harder to listen to as the people inside were whispering.

"Are you sure Frank?"

"Yes. James noticed it as well. He told me he was going to notify Mad Eye as soon as he could. If the Death Eaters really are on our trail, then we must talk to them about keeping Neville safe somehow while we fight. Even if it's us they are after, the Death Eaters would surely hurt him too." There's a slight pause before the woman responds.
"And Harry." Severus leaned in closer. Those were the voices of Frank and Alice Longbottom. If he didn't get information on Dumbledore, than at least he would have something on the Longbottoms.

"James said he would come by tomorrow so we could discuss what to do." That's when he stopped listening. They were talking about James Potter. If Severus remembered correctly, Harry was the name of his son. He couldn't listen to the talk any longer. If he knew the information, then he would have to fight to keep it from the Dark Lord which is something he wouldn't want to do.

The next door he checked contained nothing as did the one after that. Where did Albus go? Once he reached the sixth door, he heard nothing at first, but then he heard a familiar voice.

"I'm sorry Sybill, but I don't think you are what we're looking for." Severus heard the sound of a chair moving across the floor and then shortly after, footsteps.

"Albus wait! I-" The footsteps stopped.

"Sybill?"

A voice eerie and dark filled Severus' ear. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…" Suddenly, Severus felt a hand on his shoulder and he was pulled away from the door. The man from earlier stood in front of him, his wand pointed right at Severus.
"You're not supposed to be here." Severus pulled his own wand, his mind racing.

"Get out. Now. I have no problem killing a Death Eater." Severus looked at the man for a moment, weighing his options. The man pointed his wand more forcefully and Severus darted out of the building.

As soon as he entered the street, he immediately disapparated back to his house. He raced in the door and quickly found a piece of parchment to write down what he had just heard.

"...And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal," Severus said aloud as he wrote, trying to make sense of the words, "but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…" He reread the words he had just written a few more times before he realized what he had just overheard.

Someone had made a prophecy about the Dark Lord.

"My Lord!" Severus called out as he ran up the steps of Malfoy Manor. "My Lord!"

"Severus," his master said, looking at him with question as he made his way towards his running servant.

"My Lord, I bring news," Severus panted.

"Tell me what you have heard."

"I was following Dumbledore to the Hog's Head and when I listened in on his conversation he talking to someone named Sybill. He was going to leave when she said something that made him stop."

"What did she say?" he asked impatiently.

"She made a prophecy, My Lord. Someone is going to be able to destroy you."