By Knowing Angels
Summary: Viviana and Halia thought they would have an uneventful summer mourning the death of Sirius Black. Until he came out of the closet...literally. HP/OC. NOT A SLASH!
Chapter One: Summer Plans
The sun was shining brightly on Edisto Beach, South Carolina in the early morning. Inside 2242 Cupid Street, two young women of seventeen were sitting, bleary eyed yet awake. A middle aged woman with dark red hair was standing before them, looking unsure.
"Viviana? Are you listening to me?" The woman asked. The girl with dark auburn hair in tousled curls nodded dully.
"Yes, Ma," the younger redhead replied.
"And Halia?" The older woman said, attracting the attention of the brunette by the redhead's side. "You're sure you don't mind staying with Viviana while I'm away?"
"You serious?" The girl asked, being entirely too cheerful for such an early morning. "'Course I don't, Ms. Séance."
At this Ms. Séance looked from one innocent face to the other. Still not entirely sure if this was a good idea, she looked at the clock and sighed. She had to leave now or miss her plane.
"Alright. I expect you to call my cell phone at least once a month, girls," the older woman finally stated with finality.
"'Kay, Ma," Viviana replied dully.
"Yes Ma'am!" Halia replied excitedly, earning a glare from her friend who muttered something about being too awake in the morning and stalked off into the kitchen.
"Okay, girls, I gotta run!" Ms. Séance replied, picking up her suitcase and heading towards the door. "Remember, no parties, no drinking, no starting bad habits, and if I get a phone call from the police, girls, I will have your skins!"
"We know, Ma," Viviana replied, walking out of the kitchen with two mugs of coffee. She was about to offer one to Halia, but then seemed to reconsider and handed it to her mother instead. Halia pouted and Ms. Séance kissed her daughter's cheek.
"Alright, button, I love you," she said running out the door. She climbed into her car and revved the engine. She lowered her car window to remind them to "Be good!" before peeling out of the driveway, leaving the two girls standing in the doorframe.
"No way," Viviana said in an amazed voice.
"She went through with it," Halia replied, sounding equally shocked.
"Lia," Viviana said, a smile spreading on her face, "my Ma just left us in charge of the house for the summer!"
"Oh, sweet," Halia replied, an impish look on her face. "She never said we couldn't use the boat, either."
"Sweet," Viviana agreed. "very sweet."
And so began a crazy, crazy summer.
Three days later the house was in shambles. Pizza boxes lay scattered on the floor, empty Snapple bottles were stacked on the kitchen counter, and the dishes still needed to be done. Blankets and pillows lay on the floor before the TV from a late night movie festival the girls had hosted. Popcorn seemed imbedded in the carpet, and paper plates were all over.
Viviana and Halia looked around the house, observing the damage.
"Well," Halia said, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Don't they all," Viviana remarked mournfully. "This place is an absolute pigsty. If Ma could see it, she'd have a heart attack."
"Right," Halia said resolutely. "Let's do it then."
"Do what?" Viviana asked.
"Clean," Halia said grimly.
Viviana took a deep breath and looked around the house once more. She didn't even know where to start. She did know one thing-this would take all day.
Three hours later, the girls were still at it. The first thing Halia had done was search for the CD player in the mess and make a spot on the counter for it. ("You can't clean properly if you can't sing loudly and out of tune, Vivi.")
The CD player was currently blasting one of Viviana's mother's Aretha Franklin CDs. Viviana had raised her eyes to high heaven when Halia insisted on listening to it. It was "old people music." Halia, however didn't seem to care.
"Because I'm……" Halia sang, jumping up on the clean coffee table and holding using a feather duster as a microphone, "givin' him somethin' he can feel, to let him know this love is real……"
Viviana laughed at her friend's antics. She had to admit that the music grew on a person after a while. Halia was right, too-music made cleaning go faster. She was also glad that the other girl had insisted on wearing athletic pants and tank tops. Although hardly decent, they were much more comfortable.
"After all," Halia had insisted pulling her long brown hair into a messy pony tail, "Who's going to be seeing us?"
Viviana flipped her braid over her shoulder and began cleaning the kitchen counter once more. The dryer buzzed in the laundry room. Viviana was about to go get the laundry when the phone rang. Sighing, she picked it up.
"Hello?" She asked, holding the phone against her ear.
"Viviana?"
"Yes, this is she."
"I know……"
Viviana paused and pulled the receiver away from her, giving it a strange look. She leaned over and checked the caller ID: Unavailable. Frowning, she pulled the phone back to her ear.
"Who is this?"
"Derrick."
Viviana groaned aloud, not caring if Derrick heard. Halia gave her friend a curious look and Viviana mouthed "It's Derrick." "My condolences," was Halia's unhelpful reply.
"What do you want, Derrick?" Viviana asked acidly.
"Listen, I just want to say sorry for that thing the other night," he rushed on.
"Derrick, you called my home at three in the morning. Mum picked up the phone!" Viviana burst out. "Do you know how much trouble I got into for that?"
"Listen, I just wanted to see if we could hang out sometime-"
"-no," Viviana cut him off. "The last time Halia and I went out with you, Derrick, we ended up in a jail cell!"
"Hey, that was your girls' faults!" Derrick protested.
"It was not! If it weren't for you we wouldn't have been caught!" Viviana retorted shrilly, her voice rising.
"Me? I did not get us caught!" Derrick shouted, his voice rising through the receiver so that Halia didn't have to strain to hear what he said.
"You did too!" Halia put her two cents in.
"Not only did you get us arrested, Derrick," Viviana continued coldly, "you ran away before the cops could catch you! You left us alone!"
"I got you out, didn't I?" Derrick countered.
"Eventually," Viviana spat out.
"Fine. Whatever you want to believe. What are you doing, anyways? Is that Aretha Franklin?" Derrick's voice went from insulted to curious.
"Yes, and we're cleaning," Viviana replied, abandoning her anger just as easily. With a smirk she continued, "come on over if you want, Derrick. It's loads of fun."
"Okay, I'll be right over," Derrick said. Viviana laughed and rolled her eyes. She was about to voice her doubts when she heard him hang up.
"I hate it when he does that," she mumbled, putting the phone down.
"He hang up?" Halia asked.
"Yup," Viviana replied nonchalantly.
"Scared of the idea of cleaning, I'm sure," Halia said with a laugh.
"He actually said he was going to come over," Viviana said, her voice making it clear that she didn't believe him.
"Right. He and Sirius Black," Halia said with a laugh before sobering. With a frown she turned to the display of Harry Potter books and looked sorrowfully at the Fifth Book. "May he rest in peace," she added sadly.
Viviana sniffed, looking away to conceal the tears forming in her eyes, "Don't talk about Sirius. You know it always gets me started."
The girls were about to take a fifteen minute break to ponder the reason for death, and why people they loved had to die. They didn't bother telling themselves that it was only a fictional character. They didn't need to hear it. It didn't matter. All that mattered was Sirius was dead, and he wouldn't be coming back. Ever.
Viviana and Halia would have pondered all this, too. Except that the doorbell rang at that moment. This startled the girls from their morbid reveries. Viviana got up to answer the door.
"Hey, Lia," Viviana called over her shoulder; "the sheets and towels are done. Would you mind getting them from the dryer so we can fold them?"
"No problem, Vivi," Halia replied as she bounced off to the laundry room.
Halia's trip to the laundry room was rather uneventful. She found a basket and loaded the freshly laundered clothes into it. While Halia was busy doing this, Viviana opened the door.
Standing there was a boy about a year older than she. He was dressed in worn jeans and a black leather jacket. He styled his dark black hair in long spikes that stood out every which way, making it look as if he just climbed out of bed. This was a possibility. He was tall, six feet at the least. Behind his dark silver sunglasses were deep blue eyes that were sure to be shining in mischief.
'Oh right,' Viviana thought distractedly as the boy in front of her smiled, 'this is why we went along with Derrick's crazy ideas. He's gorgeous.'
"You came," was what Viviana said aloud.
"I said I would," Derrick pointed out.
"I still didn't think you would," Viviana replied, moving over so he could step inside.
"Would I lie to you, Vivi?" Derrick asked, feigning hurt.
"Yes," Viviana said simply.
"Well, yes, probably," He said with a smirk. Viviana shook her head and started towards the living room. From inside she could hear Halia singing once again.
"Hey, is that Halia?" Derrick asked with a bright smile.
"Can't you tell by the voice and music choice?" Viviana asked with raised eyebrows.
"Sure thing," Derrick replied with a grin. Then he cried, "Hey, Lia!"
"No way, Vivi!" Halia called. "He came?"
"Apparently," Viviana shouted back.
"Put him to work," Halia demanded.
"Aww, girls," Derrick began to complain as Viviana ushered him into the living room where Halia was sprawled out on the floor, folding towels. She grinned and waved her hi to Derrick before her eyes widened.
"Omigod! Vivi!" Halia cried before grabbing Viviana's hand and pulling her out of the room.
"Lia! Chill out!" Viviana said with a laugh. "I know you think Derrick's hot but-"
"-but look at what we're wearing!" Halia cried. Viviana looked down at her scanty outfit and blanched. Yes, it was all good when it was just Halia, but with a guy there? God, she was indecent!
Five minutes later both girls came back downstairs with sweatshirts over their tank tops. They stopped on the threshold of the living room in utter amazement. Derrick was sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by folded towels.
"Aww, look," Viviana said quietly. "He's doing something productive with his life!"
"Oooh, Vivi," Halia crooned, "can we keep him?"
"Shut up, you two," Derrick snapped. He stood to thrust a pile of neatly folded towels into Halia's arms. "Go put those away," He ordered.
"Hile Hitler!" Halia cried, trying to salute but finding it difficult. Giving Viviana a smile, she walked out the door towards the linen closet.
Halia paused to look at the door. It really was a pretty closet. It was made of dark cherry wood, and had flowers engraved into it. She knew that Viviana's mom hated that door because it was "too dratted girly", but it was Halia's personal favorite.
Shaking her head with a grin, she reached out and opened the door. All the towels and bed sheets were folded and put away perfectly. Halia walked into the closet and began stacking her towels in an empty space. When she was finished she stepped out of the closet and closed the door. She admired it once more for a moment before walking away.
Suddenly Halia heard a crash from behind the Flower Door. She frowned and reached out to open the door, wondering what fell. That's when the door swung open. Standing there was a gaunt man in his late thirties. His long black hair and haunted eyes were unmistakable. Halia's mouth fell open as she looked at him.
"Omigod, it's you," She whispered in awe.
"Do I know you, kid?" The British man said with a raised eyebrow. He looked around his surroundings calmly.
"Omigod," Halia whispered once more before dashing away from him into the living room.
Viviana had been overseeing Derrick work, and looked up when she saw Halia hurry in looking flustered.
"What's up, Lia?" Viviana asked with a quizzical look.
"VIVIANA," Halia cried at the top of her voice, "SIRIUS BLACK JUST CAME OUT OF THE CLOSET!"
"Halia," Viviana said, her voice near tears once again, "you know what a touchy subject this is. And how can you say that about him? You shouldn't speak ill of the dead! Sirius Black was NOT gay!"
"No, no, Vivi!" Halia cried, feeling faint. "I'm serious. He just wandered out of the closet! Right now!"
"Halia," Derrick said with a worried frown, "Maybe you should sit down, honey."
At that moment the doorframe was blocked by a tall figure. Viviana's mouth fell open as she surveyed the thin man with long black hair. Although in his late thirties, he was still handsome. He was also very familiar. In fact, she would recognize him anywhere.
"Sirius Black," Viviana whispered.
"He's real," Derrick said in mild shock.
"Yes," Sirius said warily, looking at each of the three teens in turn. "I'd like to know how you Muggles know who I am."
One by one, the two girls and Derrick pointed to the Harry Potter series on the shelf. Sirius frowned and walked over to the books. He gazed at the cover before picking one off the shelf and flipping through it. All of a sudden he stopped, looking angry.
"Damn it, you Skeeter cow! They aren't supposed to know all this!" Sirius growled.
A/N (Angel Black1): First of all, I think I ought to let you all know that there are two of us in on this insane idea, although I can happily take credit for the closet and Sirius coming out of it. I was the author of this chapter, and my co-authoress, Never Knowing, is currently hard at work on chapter two. So if you like the story and want more, crack your whip at her through a review and maybe she'll post faster! If you don't want more, I'm curious as to why you're bothering to read the author's note. Anywho, it's up to NK. If you have any comments or questions just click the little review button and let us know.
A/N (Never Knowing): First of all, I should let you know that the arrival of Sirius by means of closet was MY idea, AB here just expanded on the story plot, such as the setting and general outline of the first chapter. And I'm partway through Chapter 2 as we speak, so be prepared for an update soon. So have fun, all, review, and let the two of us know what you think of our crazy works!