Chapter 9: Talk
Cassieopeia and Riley walked slowly through the dark halls of Hogwarts, listening for a sign of errant Marauders or patrolling teachers. Cassieopeia was walking as she always did, eyes forward, steps purposeful. She glanced back every once in a while to check on Riley, who was unfolding and refolding the directions to the headmaster's office every few turns or so.
"You gonna talk about this morning?" Riley teased, immediately glancing over to make sure her friend was not offended.
Cassieopeia shrugged, thinking back for a brief moment before deciding to leave those daydreams for later. Instead she glanced over her rather reckless friend. As Nox held up the paper and squinted at the elegant writing, Cassieopeia roughly reached out and yanked her friend to the right, narrowly keeping her from walking into a very large suit of armor. Riley laughed her thank you and as they kept walking, the girl who should have been in Slytherin was left with renewed determination that nothing was going to happen to the idiot beside her. No matter how little Riley seemed to care.
"So you find a new crush yet?" Cassieopeia asked finally, attempting to distract her friend from her study of the two sentences in front of her.
"Ha." Said Riley. "How about several." She shook her head in mock self-disgust and laughed, finally setting away the note. "Too bad all the boys here are crazy."
"Yes." Laughed Cassieopeia. She glanced ahead, thinking that the gargoyle they were looking for should be down the next flight of stairs and she didn't quite catch Riley's next words. "Sorry?"
"Nothing."
"What?" Cassieopeia laughed, watching Nox skip down the stairs two by two.
Riley hesitated, biting her lip. Then she gave an enormous shrug. "I said, Remus isn't too crazy. Whatever his choice in recreant friends." She gave a slight smirk.
"Oh, you can flirt with Black but I can't—"
"You weren't just flirting." Riley interrupted, teasing. "I know a super crush when I see one." She paused. "We'll need to give him a nickname, you realize. Just like all our old crushes."
"Lupin isn't a 'super crush'! He's just…" But Cassieopeia trailed off with a sigh.
"Yeah. That's what I thought." Riley said, her face smug. She jumped the last couple stairs and frowned as she caught sight of Dumbledore's gargoyles. "Mmm."
"None of this is going to last, anyway." Cassieopeia said with a frown. "After all this, we're going to go home." But her voice sounded reluctant, even to her. What was really waiting back there? Cassieopeia against shook off her thoughts as she saw that Riley wasn't replying. "Nox, don't' worry. We have far too much to worry about for me to mess with dating."
They arrived at the gargoyle and stopped to stare up at it, matching its ugly face with their mocking expressions until Riley finally spoke back.
"I think you're wrong." She said slowly. She made one more silly face for good measure and then she added, "For you, I think Lupin is the best guy you could meet. And you know what he loses: he could use someone like you who understands. Who can make him buck up a bit." Riley shook her head. "You two clicked, don't deny it."
"I could say the same about you and—" Cassieopeia started, glancing down the empty hallways as she remembered Nox's laughing conversations.
"No, you couldn't." Riley interrupted, shaking her head. Cassieopeia waited with caught breath, wondering what Riley was up to. "Oh, you know I always mess these things up because I don't know if I want them. I mean, even if I did, I don't belong here… but I guess…Oh, phooey. Who knows if he even… Skip that." Riley waved a hand dismissively and Cassieopeia rolled her eyes, not in the least surprised. "Just give him a shot if he wants one." Riley said. "He's no Hann."
"Ugh!" Cassieopeia replied, this being the only word to describe her previous romantic flummox. "Whatever you say, Nox. Now shall we go up? Mars Bar."
The door swung open to reveal a set of stone stairs and then Riley was shaking her head.
"I think…" She frowned and took a hesitant step back. "I think I'll let you two hash things out first. I could use some sleep."
Cassieopeia eyed her friend thoughtfully. "Nox?" Nox shrugged. "Well, good night."
"Have fun scolding the principal… I mean headmaster." Riley rolled her eyes and walked away, disappearing behind a suit of armor as she turned a corner. For a moment Cassieopeia thought she heard Riley talking again, but she dismissed it and turned back to the gargoyle, assuming that Riley was singing or scolding Boo again.
"Here goes nothing." Cassieopeia sighed. And she marched up the spiral staircase, feeling only slightly trapped as the door swung closed behind her.
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Cassieopeia's first thought on entering Dumbledore's office was that Riley was going to be very sorry she'd missed this. She could practically hear Riley's future dry remarks on how it was unfortunate visiting the headmaster's office was inconvenienced with talking to the headmaster. But even the idiotic wit of her friend faded from Cassieopeia Black's mind as she stared around the shelves and shelves of books and devices that she itched to examine. The Sorting Hat was crumpled just out of her reach on a shelf to her right. Cassieopeia looked back to the headmaster's desk and gasped: there was even a phoenix resting on its perch beside Dumbledore's desk.
Cassieopeia stepped through the door with a brief knock on the frame, walking up to the bird and staring into its molten eyes. The bird ruffled its brilliant red feathers and stretched its neck out, reaching toward her curiously. Cassieopeia raised a hand and softly stroked the bird's beautiful head all thoughts of distrust and anger and fear fading weirdly away. The bird let out a comforting squawk and she remember Riley's hope, she thought maybe they would survive, maybe they would go home. Maybe, somehow, everything would be alright…
"His name is Fawkes."
Cassieopeia jumped at Dumbledore's voice and turned to stare coldly at the old man. His eyes twinkled but he smiled apologetically, seeming to know the feelings he had just disrupted. If nothing else, he could certainly see the stern distrust in her expression. But she replied with only one, neutral word.
"Fawkes?"
"Yes." Dumbledore told her, walking into the room from another door and making his way to his desk. "Quite a fascinating creature he is, as well."
"Mmm." Cassieopeia replied, giving Fawkes one last pet and then taking the chair Dumbledore summoned out of thin air for her.
"But yes, to business." Dumbledore said merrily. Then he peered over his half-moon spectacles, as though to x-ray the girl's response as he spoke his next words. "But your friend is not coming?"
"Riley?" Cassieopeia asked. "No. No, I don't think she believed you were going to answer our questions." She said truthfully, if with a bit of misdirection.
"Pity." Dumbledore said. "I could have used another pair of eyes for something." He brought his arms out in a shrug.
"But you don't want mine?" Cassieopeia said.
"Well, I will show you, of course." Dumbledore said kindly. "But you seem to me to bit of a favorer of the direct approach. Like me." He waved his wand and a small box floated over from one of the many shelves, landing daintily on Cassieopeia's waiting hand. "Take a look and then we shall discuss your reasons for visiting."
Cassieopeia opened the box and frowned as she saw its contents. "What on earth is this?" She asked.
Dumbledore let out a polite laugh. "That's exactly what I hoped Riley might tell me." He admitted, taking the box and dumping its contents on the desk. The puddle of cloud like liquid oozed dreamily through the air and settled happily on the desk, reminding Cassieopeia oddly of a cat curling up in its owners lap. She shook the thought from her head and leaned forward to stare at the strange gaseous liquid. Or was it a liquid gas?
"It looks like memories." Cassieopeia said slowly. "But…"
"But, indeed." Dumbledore agreed pleasantly, watching the puddle as it began to float lazily away. "But it came from the two of you; I found it at your, er, arrival site…. And of course, I have never seen gold memories."
"No." Cassieopeia agreed and she stared somberly at the strange magic, memorizing the pale, soft glitter of the gentle gold. Then she shook her head irritably, turning to glare at Dumbledore. "But you said we were going to talk."
"Of course, Miss Black." Dumbledore said agreeably. "What would you like to ask me?"
Cassieopeia hesitated, running through all her own fears and worries and angers but in the end she gave Riley's. "Is there a prophecy about us?"
Dumbledore frowned.
"There is!" Cassieopeia hissed, leaning forward and waiting to hear what the headmaster would have to say about it.
"Yes." Dumbledore said slowly. "And two people know the contents."
"Who?" Cassieopeia demanded but Dumbledore was still speaking.
"And I think that is enough for now." He finished.
There was a long and awkward silence broken only by the sound of Fawke's wings as he moved to rest on Cassieopeia's shoulder. Cassieopeia ignored the bird and continued glaring at the old man. Finally he spoke again.
"For now." He repeated. "I think it best if the two of you decide on your path, if the two of you come of age before you hear what may be in store for you." Cassieopeia said nothing. "All the more so because I believe the prophecy will be clearer to the two of you if you have time to decide on your roles."
"Roles?" Cassieopeia slowly shook her head. "Voldemort is evil. Our role is to fight him."
"Is it?" Dumbledore asked. "That is just the problem!" His eyes rested for a moment on the gold vapor now floating a few inches above his desk and then on Fawkes: then he stood abruptly and summoned a Pensieve from his closet. "The roles you play will be very different, if the prophecy is to be believed. And then who knows? Your own choices may make the prophecy moot." He waved his wand at the bowl and Cassieopeia saw a young woman rise up to speak in a beautiful, songlike tone.
"The two with the knowledge to vanquish the Dark Lord will arrive as August rises and evil grows… The warrior and the spy, torn willingly from their lives, will be found where the Dark Lord first battled the one he fears most…"
Dumbledore waved his wand again and the recorded prophecy cut off. "The prophecy speaks of the fate of the warrior and the fate of the spy." He told her. "But if you were to both choose to fight, or both choose to join the ranks of Voldemort's army to destroy him from within… You see, there are other ways you could succeed. You must choose your roles by yourselves or you may lose yourselves." He said urgently, tapping the Pensieve for emphasis. But Cassieopeia was not listening.
"What fates?" She asked slowly, her eyes on the silent seer. Dumbledore said nothing. "What fates?"
"Miss Black, I do not think it is best to say. They are not written in stone. Not yet."
Cassieopeia stood up, her small frame rising from the chair to press both hands against Dumbledore's desk, knuckles turning stark white. The cloud of gold shifted irritably and moved away, but she paid it no attention. "What is going to happen to Riley?"
Dumbledore watched the girl sadly for a moment and then shook his head. "I don't know." He said gently. Cassieopeia shook her head. "Cassieopeia, we cannot know."
"Oh, please." Cassieopeia snorted. "You know who Riley's been hanging out with. She's the spy."
"Maybe." Dumbledore agreed calmly. "But she will have to make that decision for herself. Just as she made the decision to stay here." He smiled. "Just as she will have to make the decision to come see me."
"Good luck with that." Cassieopeia told him. Fawkes squawked in agreement and she let out a little smile. "Especially if you're going to be hiding things from us." She added seriously.
"I can only assure you and Miss Nox that my motives, as questionable as they seem to you, are the same as yours." Dumbledore said calmly. "But you know that."
"It's not what we know that's the problem…" Cassieopeia groaned. "Or…" She shook her head. "There's too much at stake to trust anyone."
"Ah…" Dumbledore sighed, sitting back down and looking across as the young woman with a sad shake of his head. "And yet, that is all Voldemort needs for the side of evil to triumph." He watched Cassieopeia's eyes narrow. "I suppose I cannot ask that you trust me. The risks you have taken demand that I give you the benefit of the doubt, but I still believe there are some things you should not know. Not yet, Miss Black. Just understand that this is all up to you; the prophecy cannot tell you who you are. And it cannot ensure your victory… or indeed, it cannot ensure your defeat! It can only hint." Cassieopeia watched him silently, knowing that his words were not doing anything to quell the curiosity the prophecy had sparked. "Miss Black, I ask only that you trust your friends." Dumbledore finished.
Cassieopeia nodded, but she had to get the last word. With the thought of not only Riley, but of Remus and the Marauders, of the other Gryffindor girls and their part in the war that was creeping nearer and nearer to the halls of Hogwarts, Cassieopeia shook her head and stared the headmaster straight in the eye with her warning.
"And I only ask that they survive."
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Author's note:
Ok, so more than one chapter a week is not happening. Nope. And writing Cassy is super hard guys! Super hard!
Louise: Lol, that was my reaction when I wrote Remus and Cass too, actually; struggled with it for a while. But I think, they're both going to be so equally empathetic I want them to just kinda mesh… Sirius and Riley though? Uh, uh. Not for a looooong time at the very least. She's actually going to be with someone else this book… dundundun. Plus there's someone else attempting for Sirius' heart.
Sure on this shining why is your name different?: More marauders soon, more Remus and Cassy in a bit. You're awesome.
Emerald: Thanks for all the reviews! Super good to hear. And no, the Slytherin Riley relationships do not seem likely to end well...
C.B. Weasley: :)
Sunstrike:... #1No. You've got it backwards. Sorry. Check the picks on my home page and you'll see: but I'll start adding more descriptors. #2: I'm not honestly sure. I've been thinking it like it rhymes with Ethiopia.
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Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Love,
Pumpkin
