(All is J.K Rowling's except my dear Lemercier.)

7. Fondness

The beauty of Hogwarts had always allured Cassandra, even at the darkest of hour or when something so evil lurks within it's halls and upon it's grounds, the school was still a wonder to behold. Standing by Dumbledore's grave which stood out like a sore tumb upon the grassy mound, she couldn't help but feel bitter anger towards the old man. He had left her in a messy situation, with no one to turn to for guidance, no one. He did the one thing that he promised he would never do to her, and she hated him for that.

"The hour grows late, and you arrive as if you had foregone sleep and bathe for over a week." Dumbledore said lightly his eyes twinkled as Cassandra entered his office, her robes were wrinkled and worn. It was her final year in becoming a full fledged healer, and work was starting to take it's toll her on. The patients taken to St. Mungos were vast and numerous of them resulted in long care, making a healer's hours twice as long and the paperwork that went with it. Making a grunt of a hello she made herself comfortable in a chair across from his desk which he himself was sitting at, only sitting down himself after bidding her a greeting. She knew she looked like a mess, it has been awhile since she had a proper bath and a change of fresh robes. Work and her long visitations to Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, she hadn't thought much to her toilette.

"My mind has been elsewhere these past few days, but I will take in consideration your words Headmaster," She said lofty, glancing round the room, her eyes landing on Phineas she gave a small nod which he returned and turned her attention back to Dumbledore. Her eyes narrowed immediately on his right hand which looked... Injured. "What happen to your hand? Your old age finally has caught up with you?" He smiled at her small jab at his age, and shook his wrist so that his sleeve covered it.

"Yes, I seem to be experiencing the lack of reaction that all old men endure."

"Truly Headmaster." Sitting up she reached for it, but he pulled his hand and rested on his knee behind the desk so that she could not observe it. "Why will you not let me look at it? I am training to be a healer it would be a waste not to use my strengths upon you." He only gave her his cheeky smile and his eyes twinkled evermore behind those pair of moon shaped glasses. She gave him a curious look as to what was he was playing at, it wasn't like him to hide things from her. "If you will not let me see it, then may I be able to persuade you to see a healer?"

"I will have Poppy look at it, if that will settle your nerves." She scoffed, and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I am saying this to be courtious, don't think that I'm actually being friendly and worried for you." She gave a small laugh at the thought of being in any terms friendly to anyone. Pulling herself together she stared at Dumbledore who stared back, smiling about her small comment to his hand. If that was what he was really thinking about, you could never tell with him. He could be miles away and you would still be thinking he was listening to you. It was his eyes, those were his give aways if he was listening to you or not. If he were they were ever watchful and fully aware. Yet when he was thinking of something else his eyes would mist over, and your words would be lost to the air.

"Your meetings with Voldemort I percieve are going well?" She only scorned at his comment, it wasn't going well at all. She was useless to him, all his attention were towards Severus Snape and that scrawny, pale, pinched face Draco Malfoy. She was only in his inner circle because of her last name, it was the Lemercier's that help bring him to power. Tis only right that he allow the last of the line to be entertained by his presence. Still she knew that his interest in whatever Draco Malfoy was doing was waning and so was his patience, it was Severus Snape who urged him to give the boy more time.

"Why don't you ask your other spy, he seems to be in good terms with the Dark Lord." Pushing a strand of hair that had escaped her messy ponytail, she went on. "Whatever is going on...I don't have a clue...But it seems big and dangerous." Fixing her eyes back on his face. "Dangerous that even Hogwarts can't protect Harry Potter... Or yourself." Truly that was how she felt about the whole thing, whatever the Dark Lord was planning it had to do something with them two, the two people that stand between him and his rule over the wizarding world. "If I were you Headmaster I would take heed."

"I will keep your words to heart, you have not yet failed me Cassandra." Speaking he got up from behind his desk and appoarch the other living object in the room, Fawkes. Petting it's head with his pinky he went on, "As much as I like our visits it will soon have to limit itself to more monthly then daily. Your presence doesn't go unnoticed, even if it's for a short time." Cooing at the phoenix, Cassandra just stared at Dumbledore's empty seat.

Monthly? Her visits with Dumbledore gave her a piece of clamness that she sought for, and it was essential that she keep to that with her tests coming and her visitations with the Dark Lord increasing. But she couldn't tell him that, she couldn't tell him that she had a fondness for him, that he took over the role of a fatherly figure. Frowning she nodded a reply and kept to her thoughts brewing over his words and the pressures of her life as a double agent. She felt alone once more, and a bit angry at herself and him. Never in her life had she trusted or shown any emotional attachment with anyone, and now she felt the repercussions of betraying her original ideologies.

"It doesn't mean I've left you to your own problems and worries," He whispered as if he had read her mind moving her gaze to him he was standing still by the bird stand, but Fawkes had left it's perch. She nodded and felt her anger die down, it was foolish to be angry at such a small trifle. Silly her, she could go on without him feeling her old self rise up she smirked.

"I don't need you to help me live my life Headmaster, I'm very much able to do that on my own." Silence elasped her words, and she knew it was very rude of her to say such a thing. He was only trying to be nice, but she couldn't let him see her vulnerability. She was a Lemercier, her family were proud, pure- blood and a direct desendent of Merlin, and she was not weak. Knowing that the night had turn sour and she could not find any console in his persense, she got up and made her way back to the door.

"Cassandra," He said softly, turning around she watched as he moved away from the stand and made his way towards her, a few steps only seperated them, as he looked up and she looked down on him. "I promise you that I'll never leave you unprepared..." Taking his words to heart she shook the momentary weakness of emotions and turned around exiting his office without a word.

Pushing that dreadful memory into the dark depths of her mind, she reached out and lightly touched the stone slab that seperated her from him. "You broke your promise... I wasn't prepared at all... I wasn't prepared to teach a pupil especially it being Potter, I wasn't prepared to be one of the dark Lord's puppets, and I was never ever prepared for your death. You broke your promise..." Sighing she wiped a few tears that escaped from the corner of her almond shaped eyes. "Was I to inherit your burden?" The question rang out into the silence as she stopped and waited for an answer, which would never come.

"It's destroyed." Turning around she watched as Harry ascended the mound his hands in his pockets dressed in a pair of muggle clothes that she knew he favored in wearing then regular wizarding robes. Moving so that he staring at the grave he paid his respects by touching his forehead then the slab."We destroyed it a couple days ago, right after I got your message... Everyone has been celebrating, no one liked the fact that something of Voldemort's was lying underneath them as they slept." Rubbing the bridge of his nose he went on. "I didn't know you were here, if you told me I would have prepared your chambers for you."

"I'm not staying," turning around to see if the two badly hidden aurors were still behind her, but they had left when Potter arrived. He must have dismissed them. "I'm wearing the spell Potter so you're going to forget this meeting, unless you have something to tell me that is of importance." She had forgotten her hand upon the slab and pulled away tucking her hands into the pockets of her robes. The wind picked up a little blowing strands of her long hair and settling it down around her shoulders, she took the silence as a no and stayed by each other as company. Harry to brewed over the past and what he had accomplished, noting that Dumbledore would be proud of him for getting so far without him. Cassandra to her anguish thoughts and darken memories, yet within that storm there was a small hint of fondness, a fondness that will never die out for Dumbledore.

Footnotes:

-The spell that Cassandra is referring to is "Masque" (Meaning Mask in French). It is used to hide herself behind a mask while on the light side. Due to her work as a double agent she must be careful and in order to be careful she must perform this spell before she leaves for the light side. When confronting her with the spell, you will see her as she is, but when it comes to remembering her she will only be a haze and everything said between herself and the victim would be lost. The reversel spell is Démasquer (meaning Unmask)

-Dumbledore and Cassandra had a father-daugther relationship, because of her father's death early in her life and her mother's sentence to Azkaban where she killed herself, she never had a preternal figure.

-At the moment the only people who know her as who she is and has the pleasure of retaining her face and all their conversations would be: Ginny Weasley Potter, Harry Potter, Phineas (Even if he is a protrait), Moody (It would fruitless to use that spell around him), Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Everyone else knows her as 'X', a loner and rumoured to have ties with the dark arts, thus her disappearance at long lengths at a time, but a wonder in healing. (This will be essential to the next chapter.)