Thanks to winner from the contest, toavoidconversation! This chapter won't be a contest, but I will be having more of the same kind, so look out for them! Good luck && enjoy!

Chapter Nine: Not Forgotten

Sybill stared at her cards. She crystal-gazed and star-gazed, but she continuously came to only one conclusion. She did not know when it would happen, but soon enough, Minerva McGonagall was going to be in a lot of trouble and Sybill had to do something about it. Well, she couldn't be sure it was Minerva – not without reading her tea leaves or her palms, at any rate. Still, what she did see said it was someone close to her, and the only person she cared for in the last fifteen years was Minerva. Minerva had no idea, of course, that Sybill was madly in love with her. The only thing tantamount to telling her how she felt, was telling Minerva that she believed the woman was also gay – and that so was the headmaster. But telling her about her future was a close second. Sybill shuffled her cards again. Chaos.

Minerva patrolled the corridors before retiring to her private quarters for the night, and nearly ran – literally – into Sybill Trelawney.

"Sybill – how – erm – nice to see you outside of your tower."

"Minerva. It – it is not nice at all." Her voice was airy and shaky. "I came to see you."

"To – to see me?" It was best to feign stupidity. Sybill smelled like cooking sherry, and Minerva knew she must have been drinking again. That was not a good sign. She had tried to tell her that she should not drink so much, but she was a grown woman after all, and she could not force her to stop. She did wish she would give it up, though.

"Yes. I – I know something Minerva, and I am not happy about it at all." She couldn't be talking about – no, it wasn't possible. "You are in grave peril, Minerva." Minerva snorted inwardly. There was the Sybill she had known for over forty years. Now that Minerva thought about it, it might be even more inappropriate – she and Sybill – considering that she had been her teacher at one point. Although, the little voice inside her argued, that really was a very long time ago. Sybill interrupted her silent arguement. "I – I have seen things, dark things – and I know you do not believe in Divination, but Minerva, please, do be cautious."

Minerva had to laugh. Sybill was telling her to not be reckless? "I think I'll be fine, Sybill." She walked away from her, a small smile still on her lips, so lost in the ludicrousness of the exchange that she did not hear the younger woman's whisper. "No, you won't."

There were a mere five hours that Minerva had left in which to get some sleep – if she would get any at all tonight. She was almost finished with her tea. The last dregs swirled around in her cup and got cold, but she did not feel like drinking it anymore. She sat there, thinking about what had happened earlier, and then laughed it off. She knew the other professor believed what she said – but that didn't mean she had to do so as well. Her thoughts of Sybill trailed into their night together, as usual. Dumbledore was right, of course. She had to see that now. She wasn't sure he was right about Sybill being in love with her – though Dumbledore was almost always right, genius that he was. Pomona and Filius, however, hadn't rushed to Sybill's side. Hadn't stood up for her, hadn't comforted her. They may have helped Sybill to her room, but only Minerva had truly been there for her before Dumbledore stepped in. Had she been Sybill, it might have made quite an impression on her as well. She sighed, and was about to clear her things when her door opened.

Sybill entered Minerva's private quarters silently and strode over to where Minerva sat. "Sybill, what are you doing here?" Instead of answering her, Sybill looked down at the table, and picked up her teacup. She looked at it intensely, and was frightened by what she saw. Four clubs – not one – sat in the cup ominously. Four clubs was nearly impossible. "Minerva," she whispered hoarsely. "You must listen to me. There – there are Dark things – very, Dark things headed your way. You must be wary. Darkness is coming to Hogwarts."

"Have you not been paying attention, Sybill? Dark things are already here."

"This is nothing. Things are only going to get worse."

"You think I don't know that Sybill? You-Know-Who is back, and until he's defeated, things will continue to be dark and dangerous."

"You think I do not know this already, Minerva? Only a fool would not." Minerva raised her brows but Sybill did not notice. "Things are very unsafe, though, and I –" she could not tell Minerva what she had Seen. The woman would never listen to her. "I would hate for anything to happen to you." "That's very kind of you, Sybill."

Sybill leaned forward and pressed her lips fully to Minerva's. Minerva's knees went weak, and she could feel the pull of Sybill's kiss, her scent and her taste overwhelmed Minerva momentarily. It took all her mental strength not to place her hands on Sybill's cheeks, not to pull her in closer, kiss her back, kiss her hard, harder, pull her closer and closer... She pulled away from almost as soon as the thought entered her brain. Sybill looked at her funnily, apologised quietly, and left the room in silence.

Sybill wasn't sure why she had just done that. Yes, she knew how she felt about Minerva, but she would have never previously been possessed enough to do something so bold. Okay, so she had lived with this for some time. She even had a sort of crush on Minerva as a young girl. That was different, though. It was a lot easier to fall for someone you admired as Sybill had Minerva then. She still admired her, but it was a lot harder to love someone who seemed to abhor you. Sybill had outgrown her little crush sometime after she'd left Hogwarts. She had even had a brief relationship with someone her own age just a couple years before she applied for her post at Hogwarts. It had torn her apart to realise that she had fallen even more in love with the older woman one night when Minerva was particularly sharp with her. She had known even then that she would probably be alone forever. Perhaps it was all just getting to her.

Minerva sighed and sat down in her favourite chair. This was getting to be an extremely difficult problem.

The next day, Minerva got very anxious, very quickly. Dolores had discovered that many of the students were practising Defence Against the Dark Arts themselves, which she couldn't pretend she didn't find impressive on a personal level, and Dumbledore had been forced to leave the school. She decided to take a walk about the grounds to clear her head after all that had happened. Sybill slipped suddenly out of the shadows. "Minerva," she whispered pleadingly. Minerva was about to respond when she heard shouting. She looked out over the grounds and was shocked to see that Hagrid was being attacked. Right in the thick of it, she saw a short woman, with a bow on her head.

She took a step towards them, but Sybill placed a gentle hand on her. "Don't."

"Sybill, I know that you're worried, but I cannot just stand by and watch this happen." She pulled softly away from the younger woman, yelling at the group of people as she went. Before she could even draw out her wand or think that she would need to Shield herself, four voices cried out and all she saw was a mass of Stunning spells coming towards her before blacking out.

Sybill saw the four Stunning spells hit Minerva squarely in the chest and gasped. She felt it in her own as well, and doubled over. She hadn't thought that this would be it. Something, in that moment, broke in her mind, and she fell onto the floor, a vault of memories rushing forward. She saw herself kissing Minerva. Remembered kissing her again and again until Minerva finally kissed her back. Minerva kissing her on her own. The two of them climbing into bed together. Touching. Feeling. Kissing. Everything. The images shook Sybill's entire being, and she gasped for air until things went Black.