*~Chapter One~*

            Cora wandered down the stairs to the first floor of her house.  She wandered down a long, dirty hallway.  There were spider webs hanging in corners and coating the walls, the tables and floor were covered in dirt, there were vases full of dead flowers, the vases needed to be cleaned, and the walls had spots of dust and neglect.  She let out a sigh, "I probably should get around to cleaning this place." She told herself, it wasn't like she ever expected to have anyone visit but it probably wasn't healthy to just let it continue to pick up filth. 

She pulled her wand out, waved it, and said a word that tidied everything up.  "There, that should do… perhaps I should get a house elf sometime?" Once she was at the end of the now clean hall, she opened a door and exited.  Once she was outside she looked up and down the street, "Screw this, I'm not walking to it!" With two pops she disappeared from the front of her house and appeared at the gates of Hogwarts. "Now… why was it I was called here again?" She questioned as the gates flew open as Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall could be seen walking down to greet her.

            Should I be scared? Truly I'm not.  She thought to herself.  "Hello Cora, you have been called here for an important reason, follow us to my office," Dumbledore greeted.  Cora nodded and followed the three to Dumbledore's office.  They walked up a path that obviously led to the castle stairs.  She examined everything she could about the scenery, the lush green grass of the castle grounds, there was a giant carriage in the middle of it though, the water in the lake shimmering in the sun as waves crossed the surface, there was a ship she had never seen in the middle of the lake, and the sun beaming down from the clear, light, blue sky. 

She looked to her right as she realized that someone was walking there.  It was Severus Snape, she glared at him, a traitor to the Dark Lord and he had probably told Dumbledore about her being a death eater.  She moved her gaze back to Dumbledore's back.  Don't hate him; hate is too much like love… takes too much time and energy to hate someone.  Besides, if he did tell, you'll become a martyr and you'll still honor Lord Voldemort.  She silently thought as she stepped onto the first step.  They climbed the few steps and entered the castle.

They entered into the Great Hall that had stairs to the left if they went just a few feet more, to the right there was a doorway, Cora knew it lead into the Dining Hall, and if you went straight you would go to the dungeons.  Cora had mixed emotions as she remembered memories, both good and bad, of when she had attended Hogwarts as a student.  She continued to be lead by the three teachers.  They lead her to a statue of a Griffin. "Lemon Drops," As soon as Dumbledore had spoken, the statue began to slowly spiral up.  Stairs appeared and all four boarded them.  Cora looked up as they spiraled; she had never been into Dumbledore's office before.

Once the statue had stopped spinning all four headed over to the desk.  Cora glanced around at all the pictures and scattered papers.  She saw the sword that read: Godric Gryffindor, she saw the phoenix, and she saw the stairs; she figured they led up to his 'bedroom'.  Dumbledore motioned for her to sit down and she did so.

"You have been called here because your parents were Death Eaters, were they not?" Dumbledore questioned.

"They were; what's that got to do with me?" She questioned with a look of suspicion.

"We found a student's body in the forest, she had been killed," Snape commented.

"We guess it was a Death Eater who had used the Avada Kaderva curse," McGonagall added.

"Okay, I understand your concern but I still have no idea what this has to do with me!" Cora yelled wanting them to get to the point as she already knew what had happened to the girl named Alexandria.

"Since your parents were Death Eaters, we were hoping you could help protect the students here," Dumbledore finally stated.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on! Look, for one thing, I'm no auror, for another, these guys are sneaky, clever, deceptive, they can find a way around almost anything, there are lots, and I mean, lots of them, and they'll do anything to win."

"We know that, we didn't live under a rock when You-Know-Who was in full power.  Besides, we're having the triwizard tournament this year and we need to keep everyone safe," Snape hissed.

"I'm not an auror though! I have nothing against these guys; I just wanna be left alone, please."

"They got your parents killed before you were even twenty five."

"That was their fault not mine, they went up against the Ministry of Magic like the fools they were.  They were overconfident of themselves and underestimating their opponents, that's the way they always were."

"You were hurt, sad, hateful, and angry; you came to me to talk about it."

"That was then this is now, I cannot wallow in the past, I live in the present and I do have a future ahead of me even if it is only a few seconds or years to come."

"So you will not help us or the students that go here? Think of the way you felt when your parents were killed."

"I don't remember and I wish not to."

"Why? Is it too painful? Perhaps you're just heartless?"

"Shut up Severus!" Cora angrily yelled getting to her feet which caused the chair to scoot back a few centimeters. "You have no idea what my life is like! You shall never know! You shall never know why I am who I am or of my past!"

"Calm down Cora," Dumbledore tried to comfort.  Cora just stared down at the desk with angry and sad thoughts running through her head.  She eyed down the dark wood work, the papers, the quills and what they were held in, everything that was placed upon his desk she looked at in the five minutes of silence.

"Fine, to prove Severus wrong, I'll help," She stated breaking the silence.  She turned around and headed to the door.

"We will set up a place for you so that you can stay on the school grounds, please move in as soon as possible."

"Whatever," She mumbled as she left the way she came.  As she walked down through the halls that were now filled with many students; she tried to concentrate on how she could turn this act of kindness and goodness into a twisted act of deceit.  She looked to the side to see a few classroom doors and to see the students who looked at her.  She went to the Great Hall and exited onto the path of which she had come up by.  Of any auror they could have gone to, the come to a Death Eater such as me without even knowing it! How the hell am I supposed to get myself out of this one?

She exited the gate and within two seconds time, she appeared inside her house to gather her stuff.  She walked down the hall with its blue walls, decorated vases, clean floor and ceiling, and laughed, "I just cleaned this hall only to leave!" She went up the stairs with a laugh still escaping her lips.  Perhaps this was just what she needed as she would then be able to get information on Dumbledore.

"Now, what to take…" She mumbled to herself as she wandered down a second hall, just as dirty as the first one would have been had she not cleaned it earlier.  She went to the end of the hall and entered a room decorated with seventeenth century furniture.  It was the cleanest room of the house other then the hall.  She glanced around it.

"Well, obviously clothes… you know… I don't understand it… I don't understand how I can hate Severus, even though he betrayed Lord Voldemort, when once I liked him…" She pondered as she grabbed what was important and packed it away.  Once she had packed everything she needed, she sat down on the bed and gently fell onto her back.  "I really do miss the old days.  I remember in school how I was an outcast but Tom… er… Voldemort decided that I could be his friend.  He's a hypocrite yes, but he was always kind… until he gathered all the other Death Eaters.

"Then I remember when Severus and I first met… he seemed a little odd to me, but I'm sure he saw me the same way.  We became friends in a matter of minutes when we told each other how we felt about Sirius and James … of course; he didn't like Peter or Remus either."

She stood up and grabbed the bag that held all of her things.  She let out a sigh, "Yes, they were good times… but it's all over now and all memories fade away eventually." She exited her room and wandered down the dirty hallway again.  She went down the stairs and through the clean hall; once she had made it to the door, she turned around.  She looked at her house once more, before disaparating and aparating in front of the Hogwart's gates for the second time.

They opened for her and this time she was greeted by Severus alone; she immediately went to glaring at him, "You know, I think I now understand why I dislike you."

"Though once we were friends?" He questioned leading her up the path once again.

"Yes, though once we were friends…" A slight note of sorrow came in her voice and sorrow rang in her facial expression, she just wanted the old days again.

"So, why, is it because I left the side he was on? Or is it that you just don't anymore?"

"Both… You left and I wanted to stay in touch but I knew he wouldn't want it.  I battled with that thought; the farthest I got on a note was Dear Severus.  Then I started to think of you as a traitor, like he had taught me to.  I couldn't think clearly after that, still can't either, it's as if I'm no longer myself."

"He had fallen by that time, long fallen."

"I know but I can't help it; I just wanted him to notice me.  I want to be known for something.  You know that, you always have since you met me.  In school, I was an outcast.  He was the first to except me."

                                   

Author's Ravings: Yay, chapter one… working on chapter… four! Yay… I gotta get to six by the end of tonight… I hope I make it!