¤It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.
The love, life, and lies of Cassiopeia Vulpecula Rosier
"The Dark Lord took a particular interest in me I couldn't have escaped his service if I had tried....
...I must apologize, for I...
.the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.
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Over the next several months, I became convinced that there was a spy in Dumbledore's ranks.
I had gone over it all in my head again and again. Lost sleep over the safe houses that were attacked... over the people who died. There just seemed to be no other explanation. The Dark Lord seemed to know things that even I wasn't aware of. Things that only someone in the Order of the Phoenix could have known.
For months-through meticulous planning- Dumbledore and I had worked out a system that led the Dark Lord to believe he was several steps ahead of the Order, when in reality his information never got him anywhere. It had been taxing, and utterly stressful, but it had worked. Until it didn't.
More and more people were disappearing. Robert McGonagall just last week. Benji Fenwick had been brutally murdered. The Order had only been able to find bits of him. More muggles and muggleborns slaughtered. It was beginning to make the muggle news.
But I just couldn't shake the fact that someone was working against us.
Even several things the Dark Lord had said over the last month raised my suspicions. Nothing outright, but he continued to allude that he had ears where it mattered. And I was quite positive he didn't mean me.
I had tried to think through every option before bringing it to Dumbledore, hoping I could come up with some kind of a lead as to who the spy was. But each time I was left with only more and more questions.
He wasn't in his office that night, and I used Regulus's map to track him to the Astronomy Tower. I had found it in the drawer of our bedroom when I packed for Hogwarts. The delightful little thing had truly come in handy in my months as a Professor.
Dumbledore was looking out at the darkened grounds. His robes billowed out behind him in the harsh wind of a brewing storm.
I suddenly felt a pang of sadness at having to interrupt him. I was sure he hardly ever got a moment of peace. It seemed like he had sought out the tower for some solace. With all the grumbling portraits in his office, I could hardly blame him.
I turned to leave, content to address him when he was back in his office.
"No need to hurry off, Cassiopeia." His soft voice said. I was surprised that it carried over the rumbling of the storm in the distance.
"I'm terribly sorry to bother you, Sir." I replied, feeling like I had intruded on a quiet moment. "I should not have interrupted."
"Please, don't be sorry." He said somberly, and gestured me closer to the rail with him. "I often find myself here on stormy nights. I like to watch the lightning."
I looked out over the grounds, and saw the rippling water of the black lake, the waving bows of the whomping willow, and the glowing lights in Hagrid's hut. There was something calming about it and the way it all lit up when lightning struck in the distance.
