Always.

Albus Dumbledore quietly opened the door to the infirmary. Within a moment, he sensed Buffy had lost control of her emotions at some point for her errant magic hung in the air all around him. It brushed against his own, and the similarity to another's sent a shameful trill of longing through him. He braced himself against it, with a sharp reminder that 'he' was not in the room and what he felt now was a child's magic. Still, it was embarrassing how the echo of Gellert's magic affected him after all these years. Perhaps... it always would.

Dumbledore took a deep breath and walked in. As he moved towards her, his mind conjured up scenes from his youth and in particular the summer after leaving Hogwarts. It had been a time of great joy, personal discovery, and all the madness that had gone along with it. Then, at the end of the best summer of his life, it had all gone pear-shaped. The result was him standing at his sister's graveside, a bloody nose, and his world turned upside down.

He'd have liked to forget that summer, but if Aberforth's accusatory stare wasn't enough, there were the newspapers reports. He'd tried ignoring it all; keeping his head down and studying, first with Flamel and, much later, throwing himself into his teaching position. It had been to no avail. With Grindelwald's growing number of followers and victims, he'd been drawn into the battle against him. The man was dangerous, and it was all too easy for people to be sucked in by his charismatic rhetoric and anti-Muggle ideology.

And now, Grindelwald had left another problem on his doorstep. Buffy Summers, an enigmatic young Witch whose fate and future hung in the balance. With that sobering thought, Dumbledore approached the young girl's bed.

She looked up, spotting him before the others. Slytherins weren't known for wearing their hearts on their sleeve – that was much more of a Gryffindor trait – but Buffy was the exception to the rule. Anger rolled off her in waves along with more errant motes of magic. Someone had upset her. Dumbledore felt oddly pleased that this time it wasn't him.

As he closed the distance between them, her eyes widen fractionally as she took in his clothing. Did his robes not meet with her approval? That surprised him. On a grim and miserable morning, he'd chosen his lime green and purple robes to brighten up the day.

The grey-haired man sat at her bedside spoke and Buffy turned away, her scowl growing fiercer.

"Ah, Solomon Demdike is the reason for her anger," he murmured. When the Ministry's Thestral drawn carriage had drawn up earlier, Dumbledore had been surprised to see Demdike step from it. Why not someone of a lower ranking? That the Minister of that department had involved himself made Dumbledore uneasy.

Joyce had guarded her secret carefully and, as far as he knew, only four people knew who Buffy's real father was. Could others have guessed Buffy's true parentage? Rumours were flying, all thanks to the Blacks who thought they were doing Buffy a favour by saying her father wasn't a Muggle. So far, all guesses were far from the truth. But how long would it be before someone guessed correctly?

Dumbledore frowned and stared at the back of Demdike's head. Is that why he was here? Or was it simply because the Dementors had become such a big problem? Did he think new knowledge might be gained about these creatures?

"Professor Dumbledore!" Gus Lupin jumped up out of his seat. "Here! You can take my seat, I'll grab myself another chair." Even as he spoke, he was stepping away, taking a chair from the next bed over and dragging it to Buffy's. Behind Demdike's back, he whispered, "I'm very glad to see you."

Dumbledore took Lupin's vacated seat, saying as he did so, "Please forgive me for my tardiness. I was, unfortunately, delayed by a student who'd been badly hexed. He arrived at my office door seeking my help."

Lockhart's mouth had vanished. Dumbledore suspected a dark Oscausi Charm rather than a Transfiguration spell. It wasn't a common hex and he guessed the caster's family had a strong interest in the Dark Arts. He'd like to think it wasn't the work of a Gryffindor, but since Lancelot Lockhart wasn't well-liked it could be anyone.

"Poor Lockhart was quite distraught," he mused, half to himself. "Having neither a mouth nor a voice must have been his worst nightmare."

"No mouth? Lancelot?" Buffy asked, coming out of her angry huff. "He's kind of annoying, but he doesn't deserve that." She paused, running through her mind her dealings with the boy. "At least... not to lose it permanently. Is he okay now?"

Dumbledore didn't smile but his eyes twinkled. She really couldn't help herself. "As right as rain. He sent you his best regards and left my office spouting Tennyson's 'Guinevere'. I believe he rather fancies you as Guinevere."

"Is that bad?" Buffy's eyes went round. "Oh...Lancelot and Guinevere were lovers. Crap."

At the expletive, Dumbledore allowed his face to grow cold. When she'd shuffled uncomfortably under his silent reprimand, he turned his gaze onto Solomon Demdike. The sour-faced Wizard sat with his arms folded and a heavy scowl on his thin lips. It was plain the Unspeakable thought his presence would spoil his fun, which only made Dumbledore wish he'd arrived earlier.

"I knew you'd be impatient to start the interview with Buffy. And it's not as if you'd question a young student without a teacher present."

"Er, no," Lupin replied sheepishly.

"They've been questioning me for hours already," Buffy piped up eagerly. "That guy," she pointed to the Demdike, "just accused me of being an Obscur-ess."

"It is an Obscurial or Obscurus, not an Obscur-ess. There's no such thing," corrected Dumbledore, force of habit making him fall back into his teaching role. He raised a brow at Demdike. "Really, Solomon? I'm rather disappointed in you. Is Obscurus the best you could come up with?"

"That's what I said!" Buffy exclaimed. "If I had a cloud of crazy magic following me all over the place, why would I be at Hogwarts? I wouldn't need to learn how to float feathers. I'd be floating buildings and stuff with my..." she shot a glance at Dumbledore," ...with my Obscurus," she said, pronouncing the word carefully.

Demdike snapped, "That would not happen! An Obscurus is a dark magical force that only manifests itself when its host loses control! It does not float above your head like a child's balloon! If you aren't an Obscurial, why did it take your magic so long to show?"

Buffy opened her mouth to tell him and Dumbledore – worried that she might spill secrets – protested loudly, "Solomon! Solomon! Miss Summers is not an Obscurial!"

The Unspeakable didn't acknowledge the comment. Remarking in a snug tone, "Our Intelligence agents in Europe have uncovered information that shows Hubert Von Kendrick has been conducting experiments into the source of magic. So far, he's restricted himself to using Muggleborns and their families for those experiments, but an Obscurial... now she would be the jewel in the crown for him." Demdike's eyes glazed, and he almost began to salivate. "Just think... think how much knowledge could be found from dissecting one of those creatures. It could advance our research tenfold."

The comments caused shocked side-looks amongst the Wizards. Aware others many might not think like an Unspeakable, he went on, "And then we come to your… 'friend's' involvement, Dumbledore, the notorious Gellert Grindelwald..."

Not one to be baited, Dumbledore regarded him placidly. Over in her hospital bed, Buffy looked sharply at Dumbledore. He could almost see the cogs turning the information over in her mind.

Demdike snorted at Dumbledore's silence, taking it as a sign of guilt. "We all remember the lengths Gellert Grindelwald went to trying to secure a Obscurial in the past." He let the comment hang in the air, for all except Buffy would remember the course of those terrible events.

Addressing Buffy once more, Demdike asked, "Did Grindelwald send Von Kendrick for you? What are his plans?"

"How should I know?" Buffy asked, bristling with annoyance. "He totally forgot to mail me this year's agenda."

"Do you intend to join Grindelwald? Will you wreak havoc on the Wizarding World as one of his followers?"

"Can't say it's on this week's to-do list."

"STOP THIS IRRITATING FLIPPANCY!" Flecks of spittle flew from Demdike's mouth and landed on Buffy's bed. "Traitors to the Ministry face a stint in Azkaban! Let's see how you fare interacting with their Dementors!"

Buffy flinched. Whether it was from the shower of saliva or the threat of Azkaban, Dumbledore wasn't sure.

Lupin had had enough. "Demdike!" he cried. "I don't know what you think you have to gain by threatening this girl, but there's no need for it! She's done nothing wrong."

"I believe..." growled the Unspeakable, taking no notice of his companion. "...that Grindelwald sent Von Kendrick for you, you hesitated, and when he resorted to a threat, you lost control of it."

"Lost control of what?" Buffy asked, feeling bewildered.

"Your magic! The Obscurus!"

"Solomon!" Dumbledore protested, warningly.

"It makes sense," the Unspeakable said unrepentantly. "Von Kendrick attacked your mother and your Obscurus form manifested. We've all read the reports from MACUSA. An Obscurus is highly destructive and will destroy everything and anything within its reach. It's no wonder that Von Kendrick apparated away before the building fell in. You might not know it, but you're a danger to everyone and are better off being locked up."

Buffy gaped at him – speechless.

"Solomon Demdike! That's enough!" Dumbledore allowed a hint of his growing anger to enter his voice. "Auror Moody investigated the incident in London and he will vouch there has been no Obscurus activity near there. Nor has MACUSA ever heard of any Obscurus activity near the Summers' home in California. I can tell you, that avenue has already been explored."

Buffy tilted her head – listening. Taking in the fact Dumbledore had investigated her past and disliking it.

Demdike raised a bony finger and pointed it at Buffy. She glared back at him. "Trouble follows that one around, just like it did with Credence Barebone. Do you not see the similarities? Did it not occur to you it might have been her Obscurus that drove off the Dementors? It would also explain how she managed to hurt one."

"I'm not an Obscurial!" Buffy replied. Magic crackled in her hair and tracked along her shoulders. "I just rammed a broom handle into it! There's nothing magical about staking something!"

The sentence hung in the air. The weight of her words felt abnormally heavy in the magical atmosphere of Hogwarts. It was almost as if magic itself was listening and judging her comment.

"For the last time, Demdike, Buffy is not an Obscurial," Dumbledore added firmly. "And as you can see for yourself, she is not the repressing type. Nor do I think that you really believe she is."

"Merlin's beard!" said Lupin. "There's not a scrap of evidence to suggest she is. My first thought on reading her file, was that it was a classic example of magic appearing after being put in danger. She's a little old..." Buffy scowled at him. "...but she's still only a teenager."

Demdike shrugged. He settled back into his chair and looked more bored than contrite. "I didn't say I actually believed it, I'm merely floating ideas around."

Lupin's jaw dropped, and Dumbledore sighed while Buffy rolled her eyes and shook her head in frustration.

"Listen, all this 'floating' is making me seasick," she said wryly. "And, since I've spent ages answering all your questions, I'm calling a halt to this interview."

Demdike lifted a finger to stop her. "You still haven't provided a satisfactory explanation on how you escaped the Dementors."

Buffy groaned, dropping back into the pillows and resting her hand weakly against her forehead. "I think I have the post-Dementor blues." She closed her eyes. "Do me a favour and go away."

"That's a shame," said Dumbledore. "I was about to invite you to watch the Dementor being removed from Hogwarts."

Demdike and Lupin's heads whipped around and stared at him. Demdike with burgeoning interest and Lupin with heavy disapproval. Buffy cracked an eye and peered at the Deputy Headmaster.

"I thought it might help," Dumbledore explained, rising stiffly from the chair. "You know the saying about falling off a hippogriff?"

"It's a long way to fall if you're in mid-air?"

Dumbledore smiled. She'd the same puckish nature and sense of the absurd as her father at that age.

He cleared his throat, and continued, "My dear, the saying goes... if you fall off a hippogriff, you should climb straight back on. I'd say, it is even wiser to do so if you are in flight."

Lupin looked aghast. "Surely, Professor, you don't really want her close to a Dementor after all she went though yesterday?"

Dumbledore regarded him evenly.

"Well, I think it's the best idea of the day," Demdike cheerfully remarked as he climbed to his feet. "Come along, there's no point malingering in bed." He rubbed the palms of his hands together, shooting Buffy, who was regarding them all with a moue of surprise on her lips, a hard look. "Get up, girl. Put your shoes on. We don't have all day to wait while you're wool-gathering."

Lupin jerkily climbed to feet, face grey. "I disagree. Why put a child in danger like this –."

"She's not going to be in danger, Gus," Dumbledore broke in with his firm, brook-no-nonsense teacher's voice. "My Patronus and the Headmaster's are already guarding the creature. You and Solomon are able to create more if you wish, and I rather think Buffy has shown that she can take care of herself."

"Madame Bones will throw a wobbler if she finds you've taken her patient to see a Dementor!" Lupin's protests had become weaker. He was clutching at straws, desperately trying to find a reason why this shouldn't happen. That he was doing it to protect a student – one he didn't know personally – only made him rise in Dumbledore's esteem. Gus Lupin would be a good and decent man to have on your side.

"I shall put it right with the nurse," Dumbledore replied, giving him a little reassuring pat on the shoulder. Most likely, Madame Bones would make his life miserable for the rest of the term. However, it would be worth it, just to see the way the Dementor and Buffy reacted to one another.

"I'm sitting right here, you know that?" Buffy sat on the edge of the bed, regarding them all with a sour expression. "I get a say in what happens to me and I've gotta say I don't wanna see the creepzoid again. You can't force me to."

Lupin nodded, opening his mouth to lend her his support, but Buffy hadn't finished. "I don't want to go anywhere near that thing, but the professor is right. Sometimes you have to get right back on the... um, broom and face your demons. And that's what I'm gonna do."

"You don't have to do this, Buffy," said Lupin, still looking unhappy. "You can stay here if you want."

She nodded. "I know, but I'm doing this. But... I'm gonna dress first so you guys need to scoot out of here. Nightwear might be all de rigueur for late night Astronomy classes, but for fashionable for Sunday afternoon jaunts, it is not."

…...

A/N;

Thanks to Deiticlast for his super fast beta-ing!

I wasn't highly motivated to write over Christmas... I don't know... my reviews seem down despite the hits on the last few chapters. It, sort of, makes a writer think 'if no one likes it why am I stressing and writing this?'
After all, I know the plot, the many twists to come (and no one else has guessed them or come close) so why am I tearing out my hair trying to get the words down in the right order (I have dyslexia and Fibromyalgia).

And then I have Musey leading me off at a tangent and dropping me in high water to see what happens. Sink or Swim.

So... I shall keep writing (did I mention I have a magical writing rune? It means 'write more' but does not guarantee the quality, lol)

To those who consistently review, my heartfelt thanks. This is why the story is still going, because of YOU.

Have a great New Year!