Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Wow, it's been a really long time hasn't it? XD I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story in forever, and because it's been such a long time, I've decided to go back and re-write this to make it flow a little better. Being in college tends to make you anal like that, haha! I've decided to change my character's name and her personality a little so she doesn't sound so "Mary-Sue-ish" and make her seem a little more realistic and normal since this story is supposed to be set in modern day XD. But then, who in this world acts normal? Please be nice, it's been a while since I've written something like this!
Disclaimer: *exasperated sigh* This isn't really necessary, is it? If Harry Potter was mine, would I really be writing fan fiction about it?
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Thanks to: Uchiha Falcon- Yes, I'm very happy, thanks for reviewing! ^_^; Tseecka Akeunah- Hey girl! Long time, no see, err, read? Lol! Thank you so much for reading! *hugs*; animalis g_girl- lol, thank you!; katya meimei snape- yes, it is Sirius, LOL!; LiLUmBrA- lol thank you and don't worry, it's not so bad to be a little overly Sirius obsessed, I mean look at me! ^_^ lol; koko- lol thank you, I know what you mean, I felt like burning my book when I read his death. ^_^; austenbronte83- thank you so much! I'm so sorry you had to wait for so long for this. ^~^ oops! ; funki-mage- oh, yes, I agree- I doubt no one in their right mind would just leave Sirius in the middle of their backyard! Lol!; CiCi- lol, I know what you mean, this story helps me with the pain of his loss, lol ^_^, there really need to be support groups for this kind of things. ^_^; BigBlackDogStar- you know what, I think you like Sirius! ^_^lol, yes, I am so sorry I took WAY too long to write this, but thank you so much for your support! Yeah, I know she's seems so Mary-Sue at first, which drives me insane, but don't worry, she'll get more real and down to earth than you think! ^_^; MusicChild- Oh, thank you so much! *You're* sweet for saying that! ^_^; Aalina- Thank you! I hardly think this is good work, but that's great of you to think so! ^_^; greenfairie- thank you! I hope this will turn out to be as creative as I intend it to be. Watch it be crap, lol!; dragon the_lonely- Thank you! I'm sorry I had to keep you waiting! ^_^; innerfridge- lol, thank you so much for your support! I'm so sorry I ended up taking three long years for this, but thank you so much for thinking so highly of my story! ^_^
"Rose Wright- RN, NICU" read the nametag of the young woman sitting at a small cafeteria table. She shook her head as she watched the T.V. screen above on the opposite wall from her. There was a special debate over the new 5th Harry Potter book that had come out, and the now familiar overzealous religious denominations were crying out against the very popular children's book series. A reverend from some faith of which she missed the name and the editor of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books were disputing over Rowling's real purpose of the Harry Potter stories.
"While Rowling is a noted children's book author who writes very good pieces of work, the fact that she uses the supernatural as the main background of her stories shows that she endorses the use of witchcraft to children and that such devilry is okay!" the reverend argued.
Rose snorted in her coffee. She had heard these arguments several times before, and now instead of shocking her with the absurdity of it, she found it amusing.
"While Mrs. Rowling does use magic as one of the themes in her stories, it isn't the only theme she is trying to convey! She uses Harry Potter as a type of tragic hero overcoming many obstacles and is trying to show little children that no matter how miserable or bleak your future could seem, things could always change for the better. She's trying to tell them that things are never as they seem and get them to realize that extraordinary things could be waiting for them right around the corner! Many other children's book authors do the same thing, she just merely used a different way to show it to them," the editor countered.
Rose inwardly agreed whole-heartedly. While Rose completely understood the reverend's and any other religiously devoted person's outcry, being a Christian herself, even respecting their ability to come forward with their beliefs, she also thought that there was a fine line between being devout and being overzealous, and well, rude. It was just a children's book for goodness sake! Of course, she would be the first to call herself a hypocrite on that part, considering she took the fantasy realm of the Harry Potter books to a completely insane level, even in her own opinion…
On the T.V., the reverend was still arguing for his convictions. "Rowling may be a children's book author, her writing is certainly not for most children! She even has included the element of murder in her latest book!"
A stab of sharp pain hit Rose's chest as she remembered that horrible part. She felt like she couldn't breathe for a few seconds and felt the panic rise in her chest. Don't you DARE cry, you stupid, stupid, STUPID little girl! She told herself as she quickly regained her composure. She quickly got up and left the cafeteria, before she made a real fool of herself. She hurried outside of the hospital's cafeteria to her parking spot where her piece of junk car sat. She climbed in and then rested her head on the steering wheel. Several deep breaths later, she started to laugh. She laughed so hard, the tears finally came.
Oh good grief, she thought, taking deep breaths to calm herself, I nearly had a total break down inside of a hospital cafeteria because I was reminded that a FICTIONAL character in a book was killed! But it was so much more than just a character. Sirius Black… ever since the very first mention of him in the first book, Rose was intrigued by his character. By the third book, she was fascinated by him, and sympathized in his plight even before his innocence was revealed in the story. At first, she brushed her feelings off as part of her love for the series and as a result of her involuntary single life. Then it became more than that. She wanted to help him, which was pretty stupid of her to think, since it was just a book. But she couldn't help it- she was drawn to him for some reason. The fourth book, where he was forced to live in a place he grew up despising, made her heart break and she longed to take his pain from him. She fell in love with Sirius- she didn't know when, or how, or more importantly, why; she just did.
Rose stopped laughing but the tears still came. She was so miserable and wretched, hurting inside from her loss but also inwardly berating herself for being a mad lovesick loser. Many of her friends and family noticed the dramatic change in her normally cheerful demeanor, but she laughed it off as PMS- she would never admit to them her true pain. It would be like adding insult to injury! She wanted to go see a professional about her distress, but what kind of psychologist would listen to a registered nurse talk about her love of a fictional story-book character and his fictional death and NOT send her to an insane asylum or dope her up on drugs, after telling her boss and making her lose her job?
She wiped away the tears and started the car to drive home. Once she got there, she promised herself, she would take a nice long bath and then a nice long nap- she deserved it. She had been working all week so far, with this past shift for 22 hours straight (with naps in between) and now had the next three days off. It HAS to be the stress from work, she thought. I should ask for a vacation. For now, she needed sleep. LOTS of sleep.
Rose heaved a huge sigh of relief as she drove up in the drive way of her modest little house. She lived in a quiet, sheltered but safe neighborhood not more than 15 minutes away from the hospital where she worked. She worked her way up the "corporate ladder" of hospital support personnel and earned quite a bit of money but she preferred not to squander it away. She instead saved for the unexpected, learning from experience from patients who couldn't even afford medical insurance.
She climbed out of her car and tiredly walked into her house. A familiar sight greeted her; stylish yet comfortable furniture decorated the house, and all the latest technology was integrated into her lifestyle- 50 inch plasma flat screen TV, the latest high tech computer in the other room, which was furnished with bookcases built into the walls, filled to the brim with all kinds of books. She was prudent with her money, yes, but that didn't mean she lived like a homeless person. She lived within her means, splurging every once in a while, but not too often.
Her dog, Patience, came to greet her in the usual canine way- bounding to the door in her excitement to greet her, tail wagging hard, with her adorable doggy smile. She was too exhausted to really pay much attention to her beloved dog as she usually did. Instead she dropped her bag into the nearest chair, briefly patting Patience's head, navigated around her and wearily headed off to her bedroom, yearning to take off her uniform and jump in to the bath and relax.
However, she was forced to abandon her plan when the phone rang. She groaned and grumbled as she detoured from her way to the bedroom to the phone in the kitchen. She picked up the receiver and no sooner than she mumbled, "Hello?" an irritating, high-pitched voice rang out loudly. "DARLING ROSA how ARE you?" Rose, who had scrunched up her face in pain and wrenched the phone away from her ear, calmly replied, "It's Rose, Caroline, for the millionth time, and I'm sorry but I was just about to go to sleep, I've been working for 22 hours-" "NONSENSE, darling, you are going to come over to my place and we are going out to a party!" Rose sighed exasperatedly and made a face to Patience, who was sitting on the kitchen floor staring at her, giving her what Rose could've sworn was an amused smile.
"I'm really not up to going anywhere Caroline, I'm really tired-" "NO you're not, you're MOPING again like a kicked puppy because the "love of your life" is dead! Honestly Rosa, grow up!" Rose jerked back as though she had been slapped and closed her eyes and grit her teeth as she slowly counted to ten inwardly. She was stupid enough just once to go to one of Caroline's parties and had inadvertently gotten drunk and stupidly spilled the beans about her secret love to Caroline, whose main reason for taking her out was to find out exactly that- her love life, that is to say.
"Seriously, Caroline, I am sorry, but I'm about to pass ou-" "No you're not, I know you're lying, so I'm coming over and you better be ready to go the hottest club in Washington!" Rose blinked. "What? Caroline, you can't just-"click.
Rose pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the receiver. She was always amazed at the sheer rudeness of some people, and Caroline beat all of them. She didn't know why Caroline of all people wanted to hang around her- she was just a nurse in a hospital. She had met Caroline through the resident doctor of the maternity ward at one of the charity banquets to which professionals who make loads of money are obligated to going. She had gone to one of them as a favor to the doctor, who was an elderly but sweet man, never married but instead gave his life to his career, for which she greatly admired him. Caroline had just appeared out of nowhere and began berating the poor man Rose accompanied, calling him an old fart who wasted his life on people who were going to die anyways. "Let them go early, more room and money in the world for me, as I always say," were her exact words. Then she turned around and began insulting Rose, asking her if her life really was that pathetic if she went to a charity banquet with her grandfather! Rose was always proud of her patience, but oh, Caroline tried hers that night.
Even now, she doesn't remember how or why she ended up becoming friends with her, if that's what you could call their relationship. Rose certainly didn't consider her a real friend, but considering Caroline wouldn't leave her alone, she supposed that's what Caroline considered Rose to be.
She put the phone down on its base and walked back to the bedroom, with a more sluggish and weary walk than before.
A little less than an hour later, Rose came out from the bathroom with comfortable pajamas on. She wasn't going to be forced into clubbing with Caroline this time- she was getting tired of this and this time she was putting her foot down. The moment Caroline rang that- *ding dong* Well, speak of the devil…
Rose sighed and went to the door, meaning to tell Caroline the moment she opened the door that she was NOT going, not this time, and most likely not ever again. However, Rose didn't have the time to even open her mouth, for the moment she unlocked the door and turned the handle, Caroline shoved through the door and into the house, her mouth running with all the insulting babble she could think of.
"Honestly Rosa-" "Rose." Caroline waved her off, "Whatever- you need to stop living like a pathetic hermit, I mean, sure, you don't have much looks and God knows your personality needs work," Caroline failed to see the angry, offended expression on Rose's face and dropped her mink coat on the coffee table as she continued on towards the kitchen, "But that doesn't mean you can't at least try going out and meet new people. Who knows? Maybe there's some poor desperate ogre who's just dying for a woma- uh I mean, person like you." Caroline then went and raided Rose's fridge, leaving Rose fuming in the middle of the dining room. "Good God, woman, where is your beer? Your margarita mixes? Do you even know the meaning of fun?" Caroline called out from the kitchen. Rose's lips thinned as she forced out a calm reply, "Unlike you, Caroline, I realize that people can have fun without the use of alcohol." Caroline gave a derogative snort in reply.
Rose had enough. She stomped into the kitchen and went straight up to Caroline, who was eating a piece of cake she had made for a coworker's birthday party the next day. Caroline made a startled sound when she found Rose right behind her and stepped back several steps, saying "God, Rosa, some personal space here," using her fork to gesture an invisible semi-circle in front of her, "I know you're not exactly high class, but I'm sure you learned some manners in that barn of yours!"
Rose gritted her teeth, and snatched the cake away from Caroline, placing the plate on the counter. Swirling around, she stepped closer to Caroline. "GET. OUT." Rose growled. "I MEAN IT." She glared at Caroline, who sputtered in shock. "W-what? Rosa, honey, you know I was just kidding ya, huh, you big gal, you? Honestly, you should learn to ease off the testosterone! Sure, you haven't had a man in a while but-" Rose stopped listening and rubber her eyes tiredly, forcing away the tears of frustration and fighting back the rage boiling to the surface. She wished with all her might that Sirius was there to replace the wretched creature of a woman in front of her. She knew it was ridiculous, but it was the only thing holding her to sanity. Please, God, make her go away…bring Sirius back to me… please… Knowing her plea was fruit-less, she opened her eyes again and tuned in to Caroline insulting her mother. "Caroline, I'm WARNING you-"
Suddenly a bright flash of light filled the kitchen, so bright Rose had to cover her eyes again. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, Caroline was nowhere to be seen. Panicked and incredibly confused, she ran through her house, irrationally thinking Caroline went to some part of her house to destroy something to get back at her for trying to kick her out. Rose could find no destruction and no trace of her. She looked outside and found Caroline's Porsche gone from her driveway. She frowned, knowing that there was no way Caroline could have run out to her car and left in the time it took Rose to close and open her eyes. Besides, she would have heard the monstrous roar of her car as it peeled out of her neighborhood; Caroline had no regard for safe and courteous driving.
Then where did she go? And more importantly, what was that bright light? It seemed as though it came from her backyard, though it didn't seem logical. If it was a glare from a passing car, then it would've come from her front yard, which faced the road. Behind her house was the field belonging to a family farm. She looked out her kitchen window, and to her great surprise, she saw something lying in the middle of her backyard.
Moving to her back door, she saw through the screen that it was actually a person. Her nursing instincts put her into gear, and she ran out into the yard, to the person, who turned out to be a man. He seemed malnourished, and in great distress. It looked as though he was having troubles moving, as though it pained him to make the smallest movement.
He was wearing a strange black robe, tattered and raggedy, and was deathly pale. She checked his pulse, noting that though his heart was beating fast, it wasn't too fast to cause alarm and he had no fever. He was taking shallow breaths too quickly, so she tried to calm him down to prevent him from causing more stress than he was already in. He had a haggard, unkempt appearance, but as she swept his hair from his face, she realized that he had a handsome, mature face, though very diminished. She blushed; she'd been alone too long.
The man slowly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly and squinted at the light of the sun. He looked at her and her heart skipped a beat. His haunted yet strong gaze pierced her, leaving her momentarily breathless. Blankly she asked, "Where does it hurt?" He stared at her a few seconds longer and closed his eyes. Rose wondered if he even heard her, let alone understand her. She placed a hand on his face, and he opened his eyes again. "Sir, can you understand me? Can you hear me?" Slowly he nodded, grimacing. Relief spread through her, and embarrassment followed soon after it. This was clearly an injured man, and she wasn't a good nurse if she didn't try to help him, instead of interrogating him.
However, she obviously didn't have enough strength to bring him inside, and calling the ambulance would have to wait until she knew all the details of what happened, and if he had any hidden serious injuries.
"Can you talk?"
He nodded, and then replied hoarsely, "Yes."
"That's good," she replied and then with an apologetic smile, "Then you can tell me how you ended up in my backyard?"
He looked at her with a blank look for several seconds, and then changed to confusion. "Where am I?"
Rose looked at him. "In my backyard," she replied slowly.
"No," he said, "Where am I?"
"Oh!" Rose said, sheepish, "You're in my backyard at 331 Willow Street, in Seattle, Washington." Rose was worried that he might have been a victim of an attack and ended up with severe trauma to his head, causing some memory loss.
"Washington? Where is that?"
Rose was alarmed. "In the United States, North America, the planet Ear-"
"I know where that is!" the man snapped. Rose frowned, "There's no need to be testy." The man looked contrite. "I'm sorry, I just- I thought I was in England, last I checked." Rose stared at the man lying on the grass in her backyard, shocked. England? He's more than a little off!
Suddenly, the man tried to get up.
"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" He gave her a sharp look. "I'm getting up, what does it look like?" She returned his sharp look with an "Oh really?" look of her own, took her pointer finger, pressed it against his forehead, and used it to push him back on to the grass with little effort.
"Looks like you're not going anywhere. Stay here."
He glared at her, which she replied with a haughty look. She got up and began to walk away. Alarmed, he called out, "Where are you going?" She replied without looking back, "I'm going to call for help."
"What? No! COME BACK!" And at his last words, she felt a strong force violently jerk her back a few feet, landing her on her back. Alarmed and frightened, she screamed and scrambled to her feet, looking for the cause, only seeing the unknown, hapless man on the ground. She shrieked at him "What just happened?" He looked around, as though her bushes or her garden would hold some excuse for what just happened, and stammered, "I-I don't know." Rose stalked towards him, "Yes you do! Tell me or I'll stomp your face in!" She stood threateningly over him, as he stared up at her in alarm. "I-I swear! P-p-please!"
His voice was thick with fear, and his face was set with a look of fright, but his eyes betrayed his act. Rose narrowed her eyes, and knelt down to be closer to his face. "You're a horrible actor." His expression turned to utter astonishment, and before he could stammer a reply she cut in, "I don't know what's going on, but you will tell me before this is all over. In the meantime, I'm going to drag you inside, and I'm going to fix you up. Got it?" He swallowed thickly and nodded.
Rose nodded and went back inside, looking back over her shoulder, suspiciously glancing back repeatedly at the invalid behind her. She returned with a tarp that looked to be part of a hammock, and managed to get him to roll on to it. She tied the bottom strings to secure his legs together, and did the same to the top strings to secure his torso.
Since the previous home owner was in a wheel chair, all the stairs were replaced with ramps, which didn't bother Rose any, and in this case, was a great convenience. She whistled for Patience, who came out faster than she'd ever seen her and excitedly sniffed around the man. She managed to make the black half-husky half-German shepherd to calm down and grab onto a knot to help her drag the man she wrapped up into a cocoon up the ramp and onto the porch.
As she was dragging the man, she felt embarrassment creep up on her. There was no need to threaten an obviously injured man. His mysterious appearance in her closed in yard, as well as that strange force, were things he had the knowledge to explain, she knew that, but it could wait. Rose labored as she struggled to heft the man up the ramp, even with Patience working hard alongside her. The man was heavy; Really heavy. When she mentioned this to the man, he answered sarcastically in defense, "Well, I really haven't had the chance to work out, you see?"
Rose pulled the head of the make-shift stretcher up closer to her face and leaned over so she could stare at him upside down. "If you're going to be like that, then you at least owe me the pleasure of your name." The man's face turned impassive. "My name is not important." Rose stopped and looked at him again. "I'll drag you to the dumpster, leave you there, call the cops, and tell them you're a homeless guy trespassing on private property." The man glared at her, and looked away with a hard, pensive look.
She waited a few minutes, and then said, "Well?" He looked back at her, and for a brief moment, she saw a glimmer of insecurity and fear in his eyes before it disappeared behind the inky depths.
It seemed like he took an eternity in that second before he finally replied, "My name is Sirius Black."
There were a few moments of shocked silence, and then Rose dropped him.
A/N: Yay! Let's see how Rose takes the news later! I'm working on the next chapter, but I can't promise how soon I can post it. Hopefully it won't be another 3 years, haha!