schism

Caradoc followed Sybill toward the tall trees by the lake’s edge. Stopping at the trunk of a large towering oak tree with her, he looked straight up at the branches, almost making himself dizzy by staring upward for a few moments. When Sybill took off her shoes, the first thought in Doc’s head was basically shit, she’s one of those tree-huggers da always complained about…. Good.

“Take my shoes off?” he looked at her with a slight head tilt. “We gonna be skipping barefoot through the woods hand in hand while wearing flower crowns?” he joked, “Because no lie, I’d be down with that.”

she looked at him confused for a moment before chuckling lightly. “I mean-- there are many ways to ground yourself, and some forms would verge on that description... i guess. “ witchcraft and wizardry wasn’t just as simple and black and white as most believed. being a legacy of sorts, sybill had learned the ways of her ancestors, the druids, the early forms of pagans in her bloodline. “some choose to run through the fields with flowers in their hair, some choose to dance naked under a moon, I choose do this more clothes and stationary form.”

Caradoc already felt confused by what Sybill was saying. Inner eyes, grounding, communing with the earth… He was totally lost. Divination wasn’t a class he took and to be honest the idea of anyone having visions and divining the future made him a little nervous. Mainly because of what they might see about him. It made him feel more vulnerable. But he was still intrigued and figured he’d see where this went. With a small shrug he smiled, “Not like I had any other plans anyway. So sure, ground me, Sybill.”

there was hesitation, she’d have to be blind to see that there wasn’t, nevertheless, sybill popped her belongings into a small amethyst velvet bag and rose to her feet. “come on then. “ she mused, looking over him one last time before she set off towards the edge of the lake. the trees were tall here, and the elements were all present bar one. once she reached her desired location, she set her bag down against the truck of a tall oak tree before she slid her feet out of her shoes. “-- well, take your shoes off.”

“I’m not upset,” Cassandra scoffed as she brushed her blonde hair behind her shoulder, resisting the urge to shoot daggers at the girl. Divination was a waste of time anyways. Anyone with a sound mind could tell that. “I asked if I was going to get a dreadful on the essay I just turned in. Your cards must be broken because I spent hours on that essay,” she muttered as she looked at her nails in an uninterested fashion. It was a lie, but Sybil wouldn’t know that. Would she? 

she didn’t understand people like the witch in front of her. how could you believe and practice one form of magic but be completely closed off to the other? “it’s not the cards---” she answered, looking at cassandra as if she were utterly insane. “--- I mean, the cards literally can’t break so....”

“--not that kind of grounding.” she mused with a light smile. she’d been grounded that kind of way more than once, but the other kind of grounding, that was a daily occurrence. “Divination allows us to open ourselves up and use our inner eye, but-- there are multiple aspects of the world that we need to work with in order to do it... the earth being one of them.” she paused, noting that she probably sounded crazy, but it was what she had learned from her grandmother. “i can show you... if you like?”

The feel of her fingers tracing his palm gave him a slight case of goosebumps and he wasn’t sure if it was some sort of magic or if he was just not used to such a gentle, kind touch. He looked at the lines on his hand, wondering how much information those could really hold about his future. To him they just looked like creases.

“Not sure I’d consider anything about myself strong or healthy lately.” Before the events of this summer, yeah, he kept himself strong for Quidditch. But lately he just felt like he was weaker, inside and out.

“How do I even do that? ‘Focus my energies’?”

his words mirrored what she was sure many around her felt. she could feel it vibrating around her, the worry, the anxiety, the uncertainty of what was to come. she felt the same, but she couldn’t let it consume her. “I’m not sure many would.” she agreed in honesty, eyes meeting his with kindness. she’d had a tough life, but others had it harder and she always reminded herself of that. “that’s one way. when was the last time you grounded yourself?”

Caradoc blinked a few times at Sybill, wondering if he should sit and let her read more into him. Despite of course believing in magic, he wasn’t sure he believed so much in divination. The look in her eyes however made him naturally plop back down in his seat. “You know,” he stretched out his hand to her with a smirk, “if you wanted to hold my hand, Syb, you could’ve just asked.”

the flush to her cheeks was almost instant, though she swallowed it down and let her hair fall over her features slightly. she took his hand, turning it over and letting long fingers trace out the lines within it. she was used to getting little reactions from touch, mainly electric, reading palms was something she often had reactions from. “see this here--” she traced her finger down the line between his thumb and forefinger. “this is your life line... yours is strong, healthy and, from what I can see, long.” Sybill let her eyes meet his. “maybe you need to focus your energies with the card next time...”

Being Head Boy was never something James had aspired to do. In fact, it was the last thing he thought he would ever be chosen for, but then one letter from the Headmaster later there he was pinning the Head Boy pin on his robes. Normally James would never had taken the new assignment seriously but with all the attacks and rise of the Death Eaters he was on alert. Even now as it was well after curfew he patrolled the halls to ensure all was well. When he rounded the final corner on his loop back toward the Gryffindor Common Room he spotted someone and his brow lifted, “So are you planning on actually heading to your Common Room any time tonight or do you want to be docked points for your house?”

it had been one of those nights where the stars were bright and the pull to admire them, strong. like a moth to the flame, sybill had little choice in the matter. people seemed not to understand this, her feet had their own mind and her compulsions were in command. curfew and school rules didn’t really come into play with it at the moment, and this was something her house heads knew. Sybill was sitting on a window ledge, pyjama clad, bright pink robe laced around her and her cat sitting on her lap as her eyes remained fixed on the stars. the boys voice did little to drag them from the beauty of the sky, but she knew there were certain pleasantries that needed to be exchanged. “I won’t be long.” she mused, light smile over her features as she looked back at him. “they’re just so talkative tonight.” the words left her lips in a little more than a whisper as her eyes met the night sky again. “have you ever just listened to them?”

It didn’t take very long until the rumours of their nuptials began to spread throughout the castle. At the beginning of the school year, Andromeda had dreaded the end, but now - she couldn’t wait until graduation. They had underestimated how difficult it could be to get a moment alone and all she wanted was a few moments alone with her new husband. It was difficult, but they stole moments when they could. In fact, Andromeda felt happier than she’d ever been. Her betrothal - whether her parents liked it or not - was null and void. The rumours ran rampant and she knew there would be a letter from her parents in no time, but she didn’t care. 

The brunette sat at a table in the library trying to catch up on the school work she had been skiving off when she felt a pair of eyes upon her. Andromeda sighed in annoyance, before looking up to see whom had interrupted her study session. “Can I help you? Are you going to speak or are you going to stand there and stare?” 

there were moments in her day where sybill would find herself in a completely different place to where she’d intended to be. her feet would take her where they wished, almost a trance like state until she suddenly woke up. her mother used to call it  somnambulism but-- that involved being asleep, which she wasn’t, which only further confused her. this was the case today, she found herself standing in front of andromeda black, with little knowledge as to why. 

her brow furrowed as she blinked back at the girl in confusion. something was different. “Well, It’s not always clear immediately, so generally I do need to stand here for a bit...” she mused, looking over the girl with a tilt of her head. “you’re... not andromeda anymore... or something... “ she put a finger to her temple, a sudden pain vibrating within it. “ ugh, something is different. what is it?”

It had been a bit of a joke when Doc sat at the table with Sybill and asked her if he was going to die young. Well, half joke, half serious. He already figured with the path he was on he wasn’t likely to see old age. He hadn’t been upset with Sybill or her cards, just that they seemingly confirmed his fears that he would drink himself to death like his Uncle Dafydd. When she had explained the cards’ answer, he suddenly stood up looking almost as though he’d seen a ghost.

“I’ve spent too many days basically courting an early death, so it isn’t that I wasn’t prepared for the answer. I just…. Fuck.”

she blinked back at his reaction, not really prepared for it. watching him, she shuffled the deck once more, stacked them neatly and placed them to the side. “ uh-- sit down.. please?” her eyes almost pleaded with his for a moment waiting for him to follow direction. “if you want, i can read your life line. sometimes the intentions you set before the cards are drawn aren’t clear and so the readings can get-- well, the interpretation can be taken the wrong way. the cards still don’t lie, but just because you drew death, doesn’t mean death is coming.” she let her eyes meet his for a moment, again encouraging him to sit. “I just need your hand... it might help you feel better.”

( FEMALE , SHE/HER ) SYBILL TRELAWNEY is a RAVENCLAW whose favorite subject is DIVINATION, maybe because they are INSIGHTFUL but also ABSENTMINDED. They might be so popular because they look like DIANA SILVERS and they are a HALF BLOOD, can you believe they are a SEVENTH YEAR? rumors say they support NEUTRAL. where do they go from here?

                                   WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I HEARD VOICES                                   SOME WOULD SING AND SOME WOULD                                                         S C R E A M                                               YOU SOON FIND YOU HAVE FEW CHOICES                                                I LEARNED THE VOICES                                                        DIED WITH ME Trigger warnings: mental illness mentions, disassociation. (most of this is just relating to her supposed seer symptoms, if that makes sense).