A/N: A one shot that's not really anything to do with anything, it was just an idea that I plotted into a story, but not a story I'm actually going to write, it's just a section.
Drops of blood separated themselves from the steady trickle that rolled down the girls pale face, dripping in a steady beat onto the dark wooden floor, their origin a large, fresh gash running from her right ear to the corner of her mouth. She leant over and rested her palms on her knees, her fingers maintaining the grip on her wand, breathing heavily. Momentarily her eyes flicked from her opponent to the steadily growing pool of blood at her feet. That was a mistake. The second she looked away she was hit with an invisible force which threw her back against the wall. She crumpled into a heap, winded and shrunk down even further as the man approached her.
"I've told you before Cassie; never lose eye contact with your opponent. That's when they'll strike. That brief moment could be the difference between winning and losing. Between life and death. Get up, try again." Barty's voice was calm and controlled, just like it always was.
Cassie relaxed slightly, she still hadn't got used to the fact that Barty no longer punished her further when she made a mistake, other than the results of the mistake itself. He certainly did seem a lot less harsh than he used to be; or perhaps she was just getting used to it. She took a deep breath and, using the wall to help her, manoeuvred herself back up to her feet. Harsh as Barty had been in the past; he was a great teacher. Cassie was sure that there was a part of him that cared for her, only his way of showing it was by teaching and training her, all the while keeping his cold demeanour.
Once more she locked eyes with Barty raising her wand slightly. He mirrored her stance. Just as Cassie was about to make the first move (a laceration hex to Bart's right side) a high pitched whistling pierced the air. Keeping the earlier words in mind, she kept her eye contact with Barty. He however looked away to the source of the noise, so Cassie looked too. On a table at the edge of the room a modified Sneakoscope was lit up creating the racket as it sensed someone approach the house.
"Cassie, stay here."
The girl nodded as Barty left the room. She went to stand in front of a chest of drawers which had a mirror above it to inspect her wound. The gash looked bad and it was quite deep, but Cassie had had worse before. Gathering her concentration together she traced her wand along the edges of the cut. Nothing happened. Undeterred, she traced the wound again. This time the edges started to move together and the bleeding reduced; not perfect but enough. Now she moved to the door and strained her ears, she could faintly hear two low voices; one definitely belonged to Barty so the other must be the visitor. It wasn't a voice Cassie recognised. Footsteps approached and the door swung open, Cassie moved backwards just before it hit her.
Barty walked in, followed by the newcomer; a tall man with slimy-looking hair and a hooked nose. This, with his long black cloak, created a bat like affect, which Cassie suppressed a smirk at. When he noticed her one of the man's eyebrows rose.
"Cassie this is Severus, an old... associate of mine."
"Nice to meet you." said Cassie politely.
Associate? Since when did Barty associate with anyone? She thought.
"And you. Though may I ask why you are covered in blood?"
"Oh...erm." She looked to Barty for an answer.
"I've been teaching her how to duel." Barty stated simply. Out of everything Cassie had thought Barty might say the truth wasn't one of the things; he usually kept it quiet that he was teaching her.
"But she isn't school age yet. Surely she doesn't have a wand? Nor the power to cast anything but the simplest of spells."
"She is proficient in most types of magic. And we acquired her a wand. Are you going to give your reason for this unexpected visit Severus?" Evidently Barty's tolerance for small talk had worn thin.
"I came to talk to you about your current... situation."
While this meant nothing to Cassie, apparently the same couldn't be said for Barty. She had noticed the subtle changes in his expression.
"Cassie, go upstairs and get cleaned up."
Cassie was slightly surprised by the sudden yet unmistakeable dismissal. She knew better than to argue so she walked out of the room and headed upstairs. As she washed and changed she contemplated the newcomer. It was very rare that they got any visitors as they moved often and usually to remote, wild places. The reason for this was unknown to Cassie but she didn't mind, after all she had no other memories to compare it to.
She could tell that Barty knew the man well, even if they didn't seem to particularly like each other. What is the current 'situation' that was mentioned? Cassie thought and why did Barty send me up here? He never does that unless it's something that involves me in which case I'll find out in time. But, really, Cassie doubted that. She sat on the edge of her bed, deciding to wait until the urge to eavesdrop left her. It didn't.
Curiosity killed the cat.
The muggle saying flitted to the front of her mind as Cassie crept down the stairs, using her arms to swing herself over the step she knew creaked. She stood to one side of the door ensuring she wouldn't cause gaps in the slit of light under the door, a little over-cautious she knew, as it was unlikely they'd notice such a small thing.
Better safe than sorry.
Bah! Another muggle saying. What was wrong with her? Then again, she mused, the muggles did seem to have a saying for every situation.
Cassie calmed her quickened breathing and racing heartbeat so she could concentrate better on the muffled voices on the other side of the door.
"She's not ready." That was Barty. Not ready? What were they talking about?
"The Dark Lord fell years ago, yet you insist on this madness! It's not fair on the girl to-"
"Fair? Fair! When have you ever given a shit about fair? What Cassie contains could destroy her whole life if any-one found out! She'd be treated unfairly and prejudiced against. Yet you think it's less fair to keep her here, where she's safe? You are the one insisting on madness, Severus."
Cassie's mind was reeling. She'd never heard Barty so angry before and that was saying a lot, he didn't have the best of tempers.
"What's this Barty? You actually care for the girl don't you?" he laughed softly, "How the mighty have fallen. Well if that's the case, why don't you call Cassie down here and we'll ask her what her opinion is on this matter."
"There is no need. She's staying with me and that's final. You say that the Dark Lord fell years ago and yet you and I both know that he's not dead, we know that he can't be. And when he returns he will eventually connect the dots and he'll come looking for Cassie."
"That could be years away. She can't spend all that time with just you for company. In less than a year she'll be old enough to go to Hogwarts and when that time comes you will send her. You can't deny that she'll be safe there."
"She stays here. This argument is closed Severus."
"On the contrary, you know I'm right."
"Get out." Barty's voice had turned to calm and controlled ice, something Cassie knew was far worse than his expressive anger. Severus decided he had gotten through to the man so turned on his heel, striding to the door. Cassie reacted too late. The door swung open and both men spotted her immediately, she knew there was no point in pretending she'd just got there. Cassie glanced guiltily towards Barty.
"Cassie, come here." His voice still had that freakishly calm tone and Cassie couldn't help but flinch. She moved her gaze to Severus, whom she found staring at her with a slight frown on his face. When their eyes met, he looked away and walked past her to the door which snapped shut behind him.
A/N: So tell me what you think! I know a lot of people don't like OC's but you should give them a chance, I didn't use to like them either but now I think they're great.
This is a challenge I put to my friends and they haven't got it yet- What is Cassie's full name? The clues being- She's from the Black family and it's not Cassandra.