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Web of Redemption COMPLETE	By : FemmeBono Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 3455 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter
3: Twists and turns of fate

Fighting
a wave of dizziness that passed over her, Iris allowed herself to be escorted
back down the stairs of Dumbledore�s office and up yet another flight to the
hospital wing.

�And what is your name dear?�
asked Madame Pomfrey, closing the door and bustling down the aisle towards her
office.

�Erm, Cassandra�Cassie�Cassie
Pearl,� she said, choosing the name of her best friend in nursery school.

�Well, Cassie, you�re Professor
Pearl now,� the elder lady pointed out as she swept back up the aisle rolling
a screen ahead of her. �Now, if you�ll step behind this we�ll see what�s
what. Have you had anything unusual you�ve noticed? Any symptoms at all?�

�A little light-headed, a little
dizzy, but that�s about it. And it may well be a combination of nerves and not
having an appetite. Other than that, nothing. Really.�

Iris,
mentally noting that she�d have to start answering to a whole new name now,
secretly hoped the questioning did not press much further. She had already lived
through enough and then relived it again all in the same day; she didn�t know
if she could bear having to do it again. Nevertheless, when the nurse pressed on
her abdomen she felt a flicker of fear as the nausea slid over her again and
Madame Pomfrey knitted her brows.

�Oh
dear, my girl. It seems you might be pregnant� I�ll just do a quick charm to
see if I�m right.�

�Sure,�
was the numb response.

�Probare
graviditas� she said, tapping her wand on �Cassie�s� belly. Cassie
gasped as not only the wand tip, but also her belly glowed gold. Again she felt
tears welling up that she struggled to fight back, knowing the full import of
what she had seen.

�I�m
sorry, dear, I take it this was not planned.� Cassie could do nothing but
shake her head. Clearing her throat, Madame Pomfrey continued. �Then I feel I
must tell you that you do have options to consider, though none of them are
available here. You can, if you choose, have the child and there are any number
of homes to be found for a child�or�should you choose not to have it, there
are any number of trained healers at St. Mungo�s who could help you there.
You�ll want to see them either way, though. Should you decide to continue with
the pregnancy, you�ll need pre-natal care.�

�Mmm.�

�But
there�s plenty of time for that and much to do in the meantime. Let�s get
you settled in for now. There seems to be nothing else amiss, and a good
peppermint tea with just a pinch of ginger will soothe the tummy troubles.
I�ll have some sent right up to your room. Now up you get.�

Cassie
couldn�t help but think that some of the brusqueness had to do with the fact
that she was clearly unmarried. Discounting her escort�s curtness though,
her overriding feeling was that Malfoy had somehow reached out and delivered a
stunning blow from beyond the grave. It occurred to her how lucky she was that
he hadn�t found out about her condition as well. But what in the sweet hell
was she going to do with his bastard child? There was no question. She
did not want to keep it.

Once she was shown to
her room�having explained to Madame Pomfrey the meaning of the password
(�Fruit Loops�)�and left to a relieved silence, she took her time
exploring the suite-sized chambers that were now hers. The biggest shock of all
though was meeting herself face-to-face in the carved mirror over what had to
have been a Rococo period vanity. There, staring back was the face she was used
to, yet with so many subtle changes that she hardly recognized it. Her nose
seemed shorter, hair lighter and certainly longer, lips fuller and face thinner.
Yet with so many minute touches, she doubted even her family would know her. The
biggest surprise, so to speak, was that her breasts seemed to be back down to
their normal size.

�It
never ends,� she mused to herself, shaking her head and reflecting on all the
events of the day. �Well�no more backaches at least.�

�That�s
the spirit,� replied her vanity mirror, shocking her into silence.

Moving
back into the bathroom, she was excited to find while wondering aloud how she
would get the bath water to run that she need only say the word, �bath�
before water started running out of the spout at a perfect temperature.
Sighing in deep contentment, she slipped out of her new robes and into the
warm suds. Thinking through everything she had done and seen in only a few
hours, her life seemed suddenly surreal. Worse yet, she tried to picture
herself with a child of frost blond hair and ice eyes. She was sure it would
be her own kind of unjust scarlet letter, having people see her and know. To know
what had happened to her and from where that child had come. Despite the bath
and its warmth, Cassie felt chilled and dirty. She had to do something, but
could she trust St. Mungo�s? Enough of that for now. Madame Pomfrey was
right on one thing, she did have time to consider options and go with the best
one. If there was one thing she was good at, Cassie reminded herself, it was
planning. It had gotten her this far at least. Resigned for now, she climbed
out of the tub, which drained automatically and put on the robe hanging on a
nearby rack. Crawling onto the bed, she curled up within minutes and fell into
a fitful sleep full of memories.

In the week and a
half that followed, Cassie met most of the rest of the faculty. Earthy Professor
Sprout, who turned out to be somewhat of a gossip filled her in on the goings-on
and backgrounds of everyone, including herself. She and Hagrid seemed to be the
earliest risers in the castle, and nearly always met at breakfast. One day, on
discovering the library, she met not only Madame Pince, but Professor Trelawney
as well, flitting about the divination section. It was the realization that
Trelawney was obviously not leaving her lesson plans up to the fates that
finally got Cassie working on her own.

What
in the world did one teach magical children about non-magical society? Where did
one begin? In the end, she decided to keep things simple, especially for the
first weeks of the term. The first few years of students would get a
day-in-the-life lesson, while older students would have a chance to ask her
questions on life as a muggle. Eventually with those classes she could move into
more abstract aspects of Muggle life, such as politics, religions, relationships
and so on. Younger students could learn about less dense subjects�vacations
(Disneyland!), travel, games, occupations�the more she thought, the more
excited she got planning.

So
caught up was she in her lesson plans and poring over Professor Burbage�s work
from previous years, that she was surprised to have a note materialize on her
desk one day with a familiar purple script.

�Have
just returned, and at present am preparing to get searches underway for such objects
as we discussed on your arrival,� it read. �I would appreciate your meeting
me in my office this evening at 8 sharp. PS-I am currently enjoying Licorice
Snaps.�

�And
so it begins,� she said aloud.

�As
always,� replied the mirror sighing.
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Web of Redemption *COMPLETE*

Web of Redemption COMPLETE