Hogwarts After Dark

Cassandra Claymore · Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:16 pm Post subject: A not so accidental meeting

Cassandra sat quietly, sipping her gillywater, and checking her watch periodically. She shook her head at the woman holding up a menu, and took another sip, trying to control her irritation. For whatever reason Michael had contaced her, after five years, it must have been important. The very last time she had seen him, was when she departed Hogwarts after completing her studies. The train had pulled into the platform, and when she crossed the barrier, there he was.
But not for her.
Never for her. He had been there to greet a friend of his, so they could go on a celebration trip, and do whatever guys do when they were off alone. Why should she have been expecting him to be there for her? It wasn't like he had ever noticed her before, other than to tie her bootlaces together during flying class, or slip something into her cauldron to make a loud noise, a distraction to enable him to sneak out of class undetected.

So why now? What could he want after all this time that would push him into contacting her, and pleading with her to drop everything at his beck and call? And why was she even entertaining this?

She frowned and checked her watch one last time. She was giving him exactly five minutes before she left a note at the bar, and her floo contact, and going home.

Mike Dunbar · Site Admin Headmaster Joined: 21 Apr 2007 Posts: 60

Mike stood in the doorway, scoping the joint, trying to get a glimpse of Cass before she spotted him. He looked all over, trying to figure out which one could be her, but was stumped. He vaguely remembered a chunky, mousy girl with glasses who kept her head down and spoke quietly. He didn't see anyone who even remotely fit that description here. A couple of redheads, and a charming black haired woman who gave him a silent invitation, but nothing that even resembled Cass.
He was only a few minutes late, he couldn't believe she left already. He groaned and decided not to waste this chance, and approached a blond woman he had dismissed at first glance. She was a little skinny for his taste, but he had a weakness for blonds. He straightened his tie, and checked his breath and wandered over, practicing his smile. He tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned to acknowledge him...

"Cass?"
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Cassandra Claymore · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:35 pm Post subject:

Cassandra frowned as he sounded so puzzled. Of course, she had been aware of him the moment he entered, and wondered exactly how long it would take him to stop ogling the girls and finally come over.

She also wondered if he would notice anything different. Gone were the huge tortoiseshell glasses, the mousy light blond hair color, the oversized robes and bulky sweaters, and all the baby fat. The past few years resulted in a drastic transformation for Cassandra. Going to work in Gringotts as a new accounts representative brought her into public contact daily, and as such required her to change her image. Carefully tailored suits and robes, a sleek new hairstyle, colored to suit her complexion, contact lenses, and special attention to her diet completely changed her from the proverbial ugly duckling into the swan.

She wasn't entirely sure whether to be angry or flattered by the incredulous tone of his voice. It either meant he was so repelled by the few glimpses he got of her back in school that this was a shock...or that he never would have recognized her whether she changed or not.
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Mike Dunbar · Site Admin Headmaster Joined: 21 Apr 2007 Posts: 60

Mike stared for a moment longer before pulling a chair out, and seating himself across from her, and tried to focus on the business proposition he was going to discuss.

"Well...it's like this, Cass...andra. Err, you are aware of my grandfather's passing, I'm just lost without him."

He tried for a cross between puppy eyes, and extreme bereavement, hoping to milk her natural sympathy for all it was worth. He missed his grandfather, but lets face it, he died months ago, and now Mike was focused on rallying his forces and trying to make the best of it. From the few things he remembered about Cass, she was always one to lend a sympathetic ear, or let someone cry on her shoulder. Come to think of it, she was kind of a welcome mat for a long time.

"It seems with me being made headmaster of the school on such short notice, plus the devastated staff deserting me, I am completely alone in that place. I have managed to recruit a few likely candidates. But I need someone with strong organizational skills. Someone with high morals. Someone who is young enough to feel a strong connection to the school. Someone like you."
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Cassandra Claymore · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:23 pm Post subject:

Damn. She knew he was up to something. Bastard.

Cassandra had been genuinely fond of the former headmaster, and was hurt to hear of his passing. While she didn't doubt Michael was also grieving, she could see he wasn't above using her sympathies to his advantage. Just like in school, he looked at her with puppy eyes and a fake tear. This time his target wasn't an older girl for a quick snog behind the armor in the trophy room. Nope. This time the rotten man wanted a sucker to do all the heavy work while he sat back and drank tea and flirted with the new staff members, probably most of them buxomy and willing. Dammit.

She was just about to refuse when she heard,

"someone with strong organizational skills. Someone with high morals. Someone who is young enough to feel a strong connection to the school. Someone like you."

Someone had to have prepared that for him. Evil.
She sighed and took another drink, obviously stalling for time. She needed to find a diplomatic way out of this before she got sucked into his chaos.
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Mike Dunbar · Site Admin Headmaster Joined: 21 Apr 2007 Posts: 60

This wasn't going quite the way he had planned. The plan was, she was supposed to jump at the chance to work alongside him, and agree to his every wish, grateful he rescued her from a life of ordinariness.
He hadn't counted on her showing up looking like she already had a good deal going for her, and not being interested. Damnit.

"I understand if you aren't interested, Cass. After all, it takes a certain type of person to live with the challenge I am presenting you, and try and overcome your feelings and work with me, it's ok. After all, we will be working very closely together, and I know how difficult that must be for you. You go back to whatever it was you were doing, and I will simply offer this position to someone else with unique capabilities..." his mind struggled for a moment, trying to remember the blond with the big bazooms that all the girls hated when they were in school. Something with an 's'...

"Salome Sedgewick"
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Cassandra Claymore · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject:

"You clearly have a head start on your drinking today, Michael. Either that, or you are normally this disillusioned when you are sober. My Feelings for you? Your overinflated ego seems to have gotten even bigger since we last saw each other, I'm surprised you could fit your fat head in through the door," she snarled, he had hit a sore point with her. She had never had an actual crush on him, but had admired him from afar every once in a while.

"And as far as offering the position to that overexposed, underbred tramp, you must be joking. I would rather burn Hogwarts to the ground than let her ruin it with her lack of any kind of skill - At least not the kind of skills decent people talk about," while she was letting her temper have free reign, she had snatched a pile of papers right out from the folder in front of him and began rifling through the contracts. Everything seemed in order. A standard four term contract, no hidden loopholes, even nice bonuses awarded in the event outside forces prevented her from completing her obligation. My, my, my.

She quickly signed everything in triplicate and slammed the stack back in front of him.

"I will be in your office first thing in the morning, and if I hear one word about that twit, you will wish you were never born!"

She stomped off, and pushed past the barmaid without a word. It wouldn't be till much later when thinking over the conversation that she would perhaps consider he was playing her. Not that it mattered, her signature was valid in any case.

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