Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER - None of these delightful characters are mine, all belong to JK Rowling.

The climb to the Divination tower was steep and Luna was slightly out of breath by the time the Professor was closing the attic door behind them. As they neared her rooms, the older woman had gathered pace quite a bit, so that they moved along the corridor at close to a jog. No doubt, she was anxious to be back in her familiar surrounds.
"I would offer you some tea, dear but I fear the leaves will not cheer us tonight. Perhaps warm milk is the best choice," Trelawney tugged her shawl tight and looked about her.

"I know I have a pan here someplace but oh, where did I…?"

A shuffle through the cushion laden floor, several clattering moments moving tea cups from one crowded surface to another. Finally, the woman turned, clutching a copper pan by a long wooden handle.

"Ah yes, this is the thing."

As Trelawney placed the pan on the stove top, it filled with snowy white milk but Luna would have preferred to pass on the drink. It was already stifling in the room and she had only been there a few minutes. Hot drinks were the last thing she wanted but she did not have the heart to refuse.

"Do sit, my dear. It has been a while since we had a catch up," a flap of her hand vaguely in the direction of the over stuffed cushions.

Luna complied, letting her eyes roam about the room. Stars decorated the ceiling, cast in their constellations, china cups rested in delicately listing piles along shelves, little tables bore lamps shaded in draped scarves, all in colours of red and gold.

At last, the woman turned, bearing mismatched cups, both topped with foaming, steaming white froth.

"Here we are," she extended one to Luna and gave her a crooked smile.

"Thanks Professor," Luna took the cup, rested it in her lap.

"Call me Sybil, dear. We are friends are we not? And tonight, here we are, just the two of us, all is chaos without," Sybil did not sit, instead, she hovered rather restlessly close to one of the thin legged tables.

Luna was not so comfortable herself, there was the heat and something else, a smell, too indistinct to identify but unpleasant just the same. Not wanting to be impolite, she thought it best not to betray any sign she found it so. Once more, she let her eyes drift around the over furnished room. Again, they lingered on the towers of china cups.

"Your milk, are you not going to drink it?"

Luna brought her gaze back to her host, finding her large eyes peering at her quite intently. Sybil smiled encouragingly.

"Oh, yes. It looks delicious," Luna dutifully lifted the cup but was careful to give the appearance only of taking a sip.

It really was too hot to even think about taking a mouthful of scalding milk.

"You have made lots of friends I understand since you came to Hogwarts. How nice. And nice for the Potter boy to have a companion, with such dark Fates gathering around him," Sybil nodded, a soulful look on her face.

"Everyone has been so nice to me. Not a bit of trouble with shuttlers even once," Luna responded.

A puzzled look shot across the face of the teacher.

"Shuttler? Oh good, good."

Luna was about to point out that her dad and Sybil had spent an entire Saturday spelling the shuttlers out of the attic at the Ottery St. Catchpole house. She refrained, thinking that Sybil might not want to talk about her brief courtship with Xenophillius. It had ended rather abruptly, as far as she remembered.

"I suppose you have had plenty to talk about, you and the Potter lad. You have much in common, both of you losing parents so brutally," the mournful eyes were settled on Luna, carrion birds focused on prey.

Her unease kicked up to actual distaste. How could Sybil possibly know if her dad's loss was brutal or not? Luna didn't know the answer but she recoiled from the use of the word.

Sybil was shuffling again, turning her back and toying with a lamp, moving it slightly this way and that.

"Listen to me, rattling on! You've hardly said a word! I suppose your excellent work with the insightful Quibbler is at an end also?" the question was spoken with the barest curiosity.

"Well, I am compiling article ideas and leads for when dad comes back. I have found quite a few here at Hogwarts. For one thing, frobble flies are surprisingly resistant to the air here. I think it's to do with the moisture in the air from the lake," Luna chatted, trying to quell the desire to get up and hasten from this stuffy, strange room.

"Frobble?" Sybil glanced over her shoulder and this time, there was no confusion but something close to irritation in her eyes.

Luna got the feeling she had answered a question wrongly, though she could not see how.

"My dear, there are far more pertinent stories your father was working on, I am interested if you have looked at any of that?"

Now, the woman had turned to face Luna once more, her attention suddenly seeming sharper. Her eyes really were rather keen as they stared through the thick lenses.

Her guardian's voice was clear in Luna's head, clear as if he had spoken beside her. Speak to no-one of the prophesy…..

So, she gave a slight shrug.

"Dad kept much of his work to himself. I am sure he will catch it up when he comes back," she said by way of reply.

This time, Trelawney's smile was tighter.

"Your milk, dear. It will go cold if you don't drink up," she said.

Luna set the cup carefully on a table close by. She rose to her feet, managing to so slowly and as if it didn't matter at all. But the desire to leave had now become a compulsion.

"Actually, Professor Trelawney, I think I had better get to my dorm. Severus will be worried if I am not there," she said.

"Thank you for the milk and the erm.. Chat."

Before Luna had taken a step, the woman moved, effectively blocking her way to the attic door.

"No rush. You are perfectly safe here. We are just talking afterall."

This time, there was no trace of the distraction that Luna associated with Sybil. She looked over the woman's shoulder, her eyes finding the tea cups and Luna frowned a little, wondering why the sight niggled at her.

"Your dad wrote quite a bit that I would like to know more about. Perhaps you could tell me about some of it. We were good friends your father and I and I know he would not see it as breaking confidence," the smile was back.

It looked like it had been painted onto her face.

"Like I said, Professor. Dad didn't tell me a lot about some of his stories. But we can talk again another time if you would wish."

Luna made to step past the woman but Trelawney stayed solidly in place. She laid a hand on Luna's arm, a clawing grasp that made Luna feel cold, despite the oppressive heat of the attic.

"We will talk now."

The pretence that this was a friendly visit was over. Luna stepped back, freeing her arm. She looked around, realised that no one knew she was here. And it occurred to her that the piles of tea cups were at odds with Sybil's form. She kept her precious china cups painstakingly stored on the shelves, put away with loving care.

"I don't think I can help you, Professor," she said.

Trelawney's face was losing definition. It was hard to look at but Luna could not look away.

"You are a liar!"

The harsh accusation seemed to come from another person. Someone who was not Sybil Trelawney.

Luna blinked and she felt her thoughts stutter and stall in her mind. She edged away, the backs of her knees met the plump cushion she had been sitting on and Luna flopped back down on it.

Before her very eyes, Sybil Trelawney was melting, a sight that was more terrible than she could process. Her stomach churned, her breath froze. Frizzy flyaway dun curls drew in and tightened to a dark and greasy cap of hair that clung to a head that belonged to a tall, painfully thin man that was emerging from the Sybil skin.

The spectacles fell to the floor and Luna saw an earpiece crack. Skin that was sickly pale drew over a form that was rangy, a face was peering at her, defined by small, piggy eyes that looked rabid, unnatural in a human face.

"Who are you?" Luna asked.

The thin man smiled in a way that made Luna think of feral things that hunted in the shadows.

"You should have drank your milk. It would have made this easier for the both of us."

The voice was hoarse, as though untried for a long time. It was also cultured. Memory stirred in Luna, no, not actual memory, a sense was triggered.

"I think I met you before," she said.

The man inclined his head, licking his lips in an unseemly way that made Luna look away.

"Yes. You came to my room that day in my father's house. You thought I was another. We have never been properly introduced. Not that it matters. Tell me what I want to know and you can go free."

"You father? Mr. Crouch?"

Luna should have felt more surprised, she supposed. It was not every day a person got to be kidnapped by a man supposed to be dead but strangely, what she felt was revulsion, not fear. The same sense of being in the presence of something rotten and diseased that she had felt months ago in a bedroom of the Crouch's home was back, this time forceful enough to almost make her gag.

"That man is nothing to me," the man spat venomously.

"Your father, now that is what I want to talk about. His articles, his work, he had information I want and I think you can give it to me," Crouch junior said.

"Did you harm my father?"

Luna looked into his mad eyes, sounding very calm though her heart was beating so fast she thought she must be about to faint.

"Tell me what I want to know and I can take you to him if that is what you want."

Though she could not say how she knew, Luna instantly recognised the lie.

"There is nothing about Dad's work I can tell you. He wrote about yezzirs and wand rot. I don't think there's anything to that I can add," Luna said.

"Wand rot! Tosh! He was writing about Harry Potter. You can tell me about that for a start!".

Speak to no-one of the prophesy…

" Dad speculated about things. You shouldn't read too much into that, Mr. Crouch!" Luna said.

"Do not call me that! The Crouch name is filth! I serve another now!" the man almost screamed.

"He was not speculating when he wrote about the Potter boy. He knew, he knew about the prophesy!"

There it was, Luna's heart sank.

"I only saw one page, the headline about it. I have no idea where my father got his information or what it contained. Please just let me go. No one has to know about this, not your father or anyone," Luna met his eyes with her own.

"I could not care less! Word of the prophesy is already given to my master. It no longer interests me. But the Hallows, that's a different story. Your father knew about the prophesy and he knew about the Hallows. Is it coincidence that the Potter in the prophesy is here in this school and so is the cloak of the Hallows? No! No!"

Crouch's too red tongue flicked out, a serpentine circuit of his lips.

"There is a second. A second artefact is here in the school. Do not tell me your father didn't know of it! That is what I want from you, tell me about the wand and you live," the pale face dropped too close to Luna's own.

"I can give my master the cloak and the wand. There will be none he will favour above me! I have to have it!"

He reached out a hand, a skeleton like talon that had Luna scrabbling away. She did not want him to touch her again, whatever he was made of, it was foul and soul-less and made her long for clean air.

"Step away from the girl, Bartemius."

It was a lazy, droling command but a command just the same. Startled, Crouch looked over his shoulder.

Luna did not need to look, she would have known that voice from a thousand lifetimes away.

"Touch her and you die where you stand," there was no emotion in the tone, no trace of hatred.

In the eyes of |Severus Snape, though it burned behind the smooth black stare. There was murder in his face and his wand was drawn, his hand steady.

"This time, I promise you, death will take."

Crouch straightened, turned but did not move away from his quarry.

"You! The most trusted one! Disloyal traitor!" he spat.

From behind Severus a small figure moved, a round, wrinkled face appearing.

"Master Barty must stop now! He must come back with me!"

Winky wailed, the plea a desperate appeal that Crouch barely registered.

"Even you, Winky? You are on their side? Then no more! I am done with you. And I am done coaxing you, little brat! Tell me where the wand is hidden!"

With spittle spraying from his lips, Crouch turned back to Luna.

She saw Severus take aim, knew the words he was about to utter but closed her eyes, not wanting to see, clapping her hands over her ears, not wanting to hear.

There was a popping sound and then, perfect silence. Luna would have thought the killing curse would have been louder. She kept her eyes shut tight for the sight of it was more than she could bear.

There were hands on her shoulders, bringing her to her feet, there were words, she thought they were directed at her but they could not breach her pillow of darkness. Fingers tousled her hair, cradling her head in a gesture she recognised.

"Luna? It is ok. You are safe now. He's gone."

Her guardian's voice was gentle and Luna slowly lifted her eyelids, the familiar attic room drifting back into focus.

"That's it. Good girl. Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

There was an urgency in his tone that belied the Professor's tender touch.

"No. I am fine. What happened? Where is he?" Luna's eyes scanned the round room, finding it quite empty apart from herself and her dark protector.

"Gone. The elf got to him. Got him out. You don't have to worry, love. I'm here and you are safe."

Luna leaned forward and pressed herself against the comforting solidness of him.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Severus," she said.

Shudders rippled through her and his arms closed tightly around her, holding her up even when she didn't seem to have the strength herself.

"Shhh. It's alright," he said.

"I should have done as you told me. I thought Trelawney, Professor Trelawney, I thought it was her. I'm sorry," Luna said again, her face pressed against the front of Snape's robes.

"I know and it's ok, child. I have you now," he murmured.

"You saved me. How did you know? How did you get here?" she looked up, into eyes that would have looked fierce to anyone else.

To Luna, they looked full of shock, relief and above all, kindness.

"No more questions, now. I will tell you all you want to know but later. Come with me now. I am taking you home."

"I'm really glad to see you," she breathed.

He sighed heavily.

"Not nearly as I am to see you, little Miss Lovegood!"

He picked her up, gathering her against him and suddenly, the floor seemed a long way away to Luna. She felt she should make some protest at being ferried like a child but instead she wound her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. This was the safest place in the world and right now, that was exactly where Luna wanted to be.

He did not set her down until they reached his quarters, where he placed her on the couch as though she were made of the same china as Sybil's teacups.

"I thought you'd be telling me off. I don't even mind if you do. I walked with her…him, Severus. I just went with him. He intended to kill me."

She looked up at him and Snape's breath caught. He dropped his head, not wanting her to see what was in his eyes. Her statement was true but even to himself, it was painful to confirm it.

"I'm not going to tell you off ! By the looks of you, tether's end is not far off! Nor is it for me, Luna. I was worried out of my mind," he eased himself into his armchair, moving slowly like an old man.

"What happened is not your fault so you can stop looking so guilty. Crouch had all of us fooled," he said.

He looked at her, the expression on his face was full of regret.

"I promised you that I would keep you safe and again and again, I have failed to do so. It is I who owe you the apologies, child."

She shook her head.

"You never failed me. You are all I can truly count on, Severus. I don't understand anything that happened tonight but I know that you came and then it was all alright."

"Nothing should have happened tonight and if I had not been so preoccupied with Quirrell, I would have made sure of that," the pulse at his temple throbbed.

"It was Trelawney all the time! Or at least the Trelawney fake," she frowned to remember the awful melting features, the sickening smell.

"The school is being searched as we speak but Crouch is gone. Elves have deep magic and his helped him escape. I do not believe he will come near you again, Luna, now that his cover his blown," Snape said.

"I know that you are tired and that tonight's ordeal was not easy for you but do you think you can tell me what happened after you left the Great Hall? If you wish to take some time, that is perfectly understandable," he said.

He was not in the least surprised to see the look of resolve in the green eyes. He had come to recognise the jut of her chin, it signalled that she was readying herself to face what she must.

She told him about meeting Trelawney at the stairs, the conversation about her father, how she had found everything completely normal until things changed in the Divination classroom.

"Something just wasn't right," she said when he pressed her.

If he had not been feeling so utterly culpable, he would have marvelled once more at the accuracy of her intuition.

She talked about the jumble of teacups, the strangely intrusive interest Trelawney had shown in her father's articles and in Harry. She told him about how Crouch had emerged and his fevered demands for a special wand and Harry's cloak. And then there was his insistence that Luna drink the milk she had been given.

"It was far too hot. I couldn't drink it in that stuffy room," she wrinkled her nose.

"A good thing too. Laced with Veritas Serum. Hence the particularly foamy texture," he told her.

"There was a weird smell, not nasty but strong and sickly after a bit. Was that from the Veritas?" she asked.

Her guardian gave a shake of his head.

"That was the Polyjuice Crouch was taking to assume the form of Sybil Trelawney. Not everyone can detect the odour. Quite clever of you, young lady. Perhaps I will make a potion maker of you yet!" the fathomless eyes twinkled at her.

"That explains it. I was half wondering if Professor Trelawney truly exists or if he had invented her all the time," she bit her lip.

"Oh she exists alright. Professor Dumbledore learned only this evening that the real Sybil Trelawney has been on extended leave, an expedition to India to deepen her sense of the mystical. Paid for in full a special gift from Mrs Crouch to thank her for her insights. That was what set the alarm bells ringing but the troll incident caused sufficient disruption to delay dealing with it," Snape said.

"Mrs Crouch?" once again, Luna was finding the threads of the facts unravelling, misting the picture in her head.

"She was not at the house that day, Severus, when we went in the summer, It was her son in the room. He had the same horrible, evil air then and he had it tonight," the shudder was back and he moved to stand beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Mrs. Crouch is dead, Luna. She was ill alright and as a last act took her son's place in Azkaban. I do not have the finer details but we do know that is how he escaped. His father has been keeping him hidden with the aid of the elf. But the boy learned enough from his mother to know about the Potter prophesy. When his strength returned, he started digging around. He had the name of Sybil Trelawney and that led him to you father," Snape supplied.

"And the Hallows," she finished.

Above her he nodded.

"And the Hallows."

"What about the troll? Did Crouch have something to do with it?" Luna was still scrambling to put all of the jumbled pieces of a most dreadful night together.

"I do not think so. I think the troll did provide a welcome opportunity to get to you but that was all," the Professor explained.

"What happened? Is it gone?" she looked up at him and he gave her a strange smile.

"Well, your three friends can tell you more about that. It was Pottter, Granger and Weasley who knocked it out cold in the girls' bathrooms," he said and Luna's eyebrows shot up.

"Wow!" she whispered.

"You still haven't told me how you knew where to find, me Severus," she said, her eyes steady sey upon his face.

She settled into quiet, clearly finished with her own narrative and awaiting his instead.

"I owe that to that elf!" he ground out, looking far from grateful.

"She came to plead with me to help, saying that her master was doing something foolish and dangerous. She was terrified and finally admitted that you were with him in the Divination classroom," he said.

Delighted, Luna smiled openly.

"I knew she wasn't bad. She was trying to warn me when she came to see me that last time," she said, earning a look of the deepest irritation from the Potions Master.

"Luna! She was merely troubled to save the worthless hide of her scabrous master!" he shot.

"But she did help," she said simply and he fastened his lips, perhaps to swallow back a retort he felt best saved in light of her difficult night.

Luna frowned, thought some and tilted her head.

"Master? Crouch kept talking about his master. What did he mean by that? The Death Eaters, their master is gone, isn't he, Severus?"

"There is much about that we don't yet know. Crouch is deranged, his years in Azkaban are unlikely to have cleared his mind. Merlin knows what he believes," Snape sighed.

She was watching him as he talked and he noted her pallor, the drop of her eyes.

"You look ready to fall out of your seat, Luna. It is past time you were resting. Off with you to bed, now. It has been much too long of a night already," he said.

"Severus? Will you stay? I mean you will be here won't you?" she asked, suddenly looking very young and every inch the beleaguered child.

"I am not going anywhere," he pledged quietly and she sighed and rose to her feet.

That was good enough for her and Luna yawned widely. She would sleep now, happy in the knowledge that she was not alone and Severus was close. Just knowing that felt like being surrounded by warm light and favourite things. It was a beautiful feeling.

.