The Burning Pen

A Turn for the Better
by Ruth Solomon

The story content is adult in nature and can contain graphic sex and violence.  Those under the age of 18 are asked to leave this site immediately.  You are not welcome here.  The author is not responsible for those under-aged who view these works.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 31 ~ In Albus' Office (Short Chappie)

Snape arrived by floo in Dumbledore's office to present his budget for the final quarter of the term for his approval. He found the Headmaster quite distracted, staring at a small, spun glass sphere on his desk, stroking his beard. It appeared to glow with a dull inner light.

"If you're busy, Headmaster I can come back," the Potions master said to the wizard, who looked up at him and gave him a wan smile.

"Oh no, stay, Severus. I was just musing over this . . . this prophecy Sybil Trelawney made years ago. I really should have turned it over to the Ministry . . . but it's such a puzzle. I haven't been able to access it again, however. I've heard these prophecies are made so only the person they are about can actually make them work."

Snape sat down, eyeing the sphere. Dumbledore continued to stare at it.

"You know, I hired Sybil based on her giving me this prophecy. She was a rather sad case, and I didn't believe she had the skills of her grandfather, poor dear. I was about to inform her that I couldn't hire her, when she went into this trance . . . "

Snape was well aware of the prophecy Sybil gave Albus, because he was right outside the door listening. He had just been accepted as a Potions master and was seeking a job at Hogwarts. When he heard the prophecy, he quickly left, applying another day.

Snape scowled slightly as he looked at it.

"Very interesting, Headmaster. However, I would like you to look at this budget," the dark wizard said, sliding a folder over his desk and accidentally hitting the glass globe.

"Watch out!" Albus cried in horror, but Snape seemed frozen as the globe rolled off the desk and shattered on the floor.

"My apologies, Headmaster," Snape purred as the image of a much younger Sybil Trelawney rose from the glass shards in a swirl of smoke. She was translucent, draped in shawls and revolving slowly.

She began to speak in a voice hollow and rich with power, uttering words of truth that rang inside the dark wizard like muted bells.

`The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … having knotted his fingers in the fabric of time and twisting, given knowledge by one who lives and is yet unborn.

He would not be marked his servant . . . could not live while the other survived. Armed with that which was not, he made what is, the coil broken by a son of Slytherin who is, and a daughter of Gryffindor who is not.

It was at this point Snape left the Hogshead Inn, afraid Albus would figure out it was he who killed Tom Riddle. The proprietor had stopped him, but the young wizard said he'd decided to apply another day. He had never heard the ending of the prophecy, which was actually a revelation, until now.

Watch for them. She rises, selfless, clothed in the span of years, her garb of brilliance, her lantern for those who would see. Claimed by blood sacrifice before blood ran, the bond formed when her virtue broken. When the line curves to meet the river's flow, time will relinquish the mystery, and the serpent and his lioness will be timeless, and one."

Sybil's voice and pale form faded away. Albus looked at Snape sadly as the wizard sat back down.

"I'm truly sorry, Headmaster," he said again softly.

Albus sighed.

"It was an accident, Severus," he said, pulling out his wand and Scourgifying the broken glass. "I doubt if I ever would have deciphered it anyway. I still have the Pensieve, however. But the sphere . . . it is a loss. I guess it only had to be broken for its contents to be viewed."

"Apparently so, Headmaster. You never know about these things. Now, about the budget . . ."

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A/N: Just a little short, filler scene that popped into my head. Sybil had only been hired because of the prophecy she gave Albus during her interview, so she had to have done something impressive still, in order to be a teacher at Hogwarts. Not a prophecy, but a revelation. However, Albus didn't know the difference. Snape wasn't about to let him figure it out.

But . . . there is still the Pensieve memory . . . lol. Thanks for reading.

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INDEX

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