The title is from the song Fuori dal Mondo by the pianist Ludovico Einaudi.
She was lying on the hard floor. Cathrine had her body firmly placed on the floor of her old house. She was in pain; so much pain that she thought she was dying. Looking up towards the stairs, she could see a figure standing at the end of it, on the second floor.
"You did this to yourself!" A man's voice sang loudly and Cathrine knew that it was Erick's voice. "This is all your fault, you reckless bitch!"
Cathrine turned her eyes away, not daring to look at that man again, blood and tears covering her face.
That's when she woke up.
Cathrine sat in the bed, breathing heavy… It was just a nightmare. A memory. She lay down again, closing her eyes, trying to calm her breathing and trying to remember what had happened with her last night.
With her eyes closed, she remembered that after work Erick had followed her and she had to run through the middle of the trees of the park close to her house, as if she could hide from him. But that was when something happened. A huge hole opened in the ground, sucking her into it. After that, Cathrine wasn't sure of what had happened.
Opening her eyes again, she realized that something was wrong. Looking around, she realized that was not her bedroom. In fact, nothing there was hers not even the room itself.
Rising from the bed, she walked to the window across the room, so maybe she could figure out what part of Portland she was, but the sight that greeted her wasn't at all what she was expecting.
Outside, a small village stood in front of her; only a few houses were built there, and they looked more like shops. It was still dark outside but the birds were already singing, which meant dawn was almost there.
Cathrine forced her mind to work, trying to remember where she was and what had happened to her.
She remembered that after being sucked by that hole, she was in a forest and soon she found the main road. It was really cold and Cathrine knew she was very weak; that's when a man had come to help her and that's when things started to get really insane.
The strange man said his name was Aberforth and that she was in… Hogsmeade. How could she be in a place that did not exist? And if things couldn't get weirder, another man appeared and that's when she knew she had gone mad, because the man was Albus Dumbledore.
After that, Cathrine remembered she had tried to run away but was stopped when she stood in front of him. Severus Snape. And then she knew no more.
Cathrine couldn't believe she was in a place that was only real in the books, but it seemed she wasn't crazy, when looking through the window again she was sure that that was Hogsmeade. And to make things truly real, that moment the door opened to show Aberforth.
"Good Morning, miss" He said, entering the room, looking at her carefully. "I can see you look much better today".
"Yes, thank you very much for your concern" Cathrine said. That was the moment she needed to make a plan. If she was truly in a different world she was going to need help. But mostly important of all, she needed to think of something else than the books.
All she could think was the movies of Back to the Future, and all the mess knowing too much about the future could do. Cathrine was going to concentrate to think of something else, because even if she didn't say a word about the things she knew, some of them could try to read her mind. She had no idea how she was going to hide her thoughts from Dumbledore and Snape, but she had to try. She had no idea what year she was and maybe the smallest thing they knew the consequences could be enormous.
"You scared us last night. Made us really worried with you" The man said. "You were really confused."
"I am really sorry for all the trouble I might have caused, sir" She apologized.
The man just looked at her, indicating for her to follow him.
"There's some food for you downstairs" He said, still looking very suspicious towards her.
Cathrine followed the man in silence, being guided at the bar of the Hog's Head, where at one of the front tables, Dumbledore was sat, drinking tea from a big cup. The woman stopped, insecure to be there.
"Good morning, lady" Dumbledore said with a smile on his lips but that didn't reached his eyes. "I truly hope you are feeling better today" He made the same commentary that Aberforth had.
"Yes, thank you" She once again said, now fully observing the place; it was not much clean, with just a few table and some animals head's hanging in the walls. While observing, Cathrine's eyes rested on the man that stood silently at the far corner of the room. She lowered her eyes quickly, not daring to make eye contact with that man – it was as if he could read her soul. And she knew he damn well could. Snape was looking at her with such a force that she could sense every muscle of her body froze. Turning to Dumbledore, she could at least try to eat something even if he too was looking intently at her.
"Please, have a sit. You must be very hungry".
Cathrine only nodded and sat, while Aberforth place a cup with coffee in front of her and some bread, leaving her alone with the only other two men. Slowly she picked the bread, eating a small piece of it and drinking the black coffee. She liked coffee but it was mixed with milk. Black coffee was one of the drinks she hated the most.
She could feel Dumbledore's eyes fixed on her and she knew she had to say something before the questions could come crashing towards her.
"I know you must be waiting for some explanation" She said trying to sound as calm as possible.
"Indeed. You were really confused when we came here yesterday" Dumbledore said not in a harsh tone, and Cathrine could see he wanted to get answers. "My dear, tell me… What's your name?"
Swallowing, Cathrine thought for one moment if she should lie about her identity, but as no one knew her in this "world", her name wasn't something relevant.
"My name's Cathrine Watson".
"Very Well, Miss Watson... I am Albus Dumbledore and that is my colleague, Severus Snape" The man sitting in front of her said while she tried to appear indifferent. Of course she knew who they were and she tried to believe neither of them noticed that she had in fact said Albus name's the previous night. "We can see that you are not from around here… Would you care to say where are you from?"
Biting her lips, the woman tried to decide if she should tell them the true or not… Well, not the whole true, just a part of it. After all, she was going to need help to find a way to come back… To where exactly she didn't know.
"I am from… Portland" Cathrine said. "And… I don't know how I have ended up here." She finally confessed, breathing heavily. "I just don't know. One minute I was walking to my home and the next I was here".
Dumbledore seemed to realize that woman was truly lost and a little desperate. She didn't sound like a witch, because if that was the problem she would only have to disapparate, so he asked for her to tell everything. And that she did.
Cathrine told everything to the wizards that were in the room… Well, everything except the fact she knew everything about their future, what would come to pass, who was going to live and die… Also, she did not said a word about Erick, only saying she was walking back home from work when a huge hole opened in the ground and the next thing she knew she was lying down in the middle of a forest and them Aberforth had found her.
At the end of her tale, both Dumbledore and Snape had kept the silence. Snape had come close to them but still was keeping his distance.
"This sounds different from everything I have knowledge." The elder man finally said, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "I have heard about this only once in my life. The way you said, this hole might have been a portal."
"A portal?"
"Yes, but not something like a normal portal, from other cities or countries, but from different worlds". He said and that caught Snape's attention, his eyes focusing even more on the woman.
"A different world…" Well, that Cathrine already knew, but how was that possible? "So, if you said you have heard about this before then you know how to send me... back?"
To that the man hesitated to answer, again looking at her with something hidden in his blue eyes, just as blue as hers.
"That I don't know… But I think I can find more about this, but it will take a while. Till them you will have to remain here."
"I think that is the only option I have. I am sure there might be a way for me to go till the closest city, so I can find a place to stay…" Cathrine sighed.
"No Miss Watson. I think you miss understood me. I mean, you will have to stay here… With us."
"What?" Both Cathrine and Snape spoke at the same time and Cathrine looked at him, before looking down, while Snape stepped close to Dumbledore talking in a low murmur.
Cathrine couldn't stay here, it was too dangerous. All the things she knew… What if they found out about her secret and what if she decided to change the future? It was too dangerous… Too much a temptation. Even more knowing who was going to die. Suddenly that thought made her look again briefly towards Snape. He was so much younger than what she thought he was and also much more mysterious. Cathrine couldn't hide her fascination about that character… That man. He had always been her favorite, the one everybody hated was the one she liked the most. Not because of his appearance, after all he wasn't considered a handsome man, although for her it was completely the opposite, but because of his personality. Of course now she could see clearly all the differences between him and the actor who portrayed him. Before she could make a list of it, she realized she had been staring at him and so he did. Cathrine lowered her head, feeling her cheeks burn a little, while the man just stared at her with his eyebrows almost reaching his hair line. Looking at Dumbledore, she could yet see Snape's eyes were burning with hate towards her.
"You will come with us, but first I have to show something to you. Something that will require you to forget everything you have believed that was real and what wasn't." Dumbledore said, while Snape stepped away, visible irritated. "Tell me Miss Watson, do you believe in Magic?"
"Magic?" Cathrine could laugh at that, but that question made her stop and think. She had never believed in Magic, maybe once in her childhood, and even though she wanted to believe that it could exist, life proved her wrong… Till now. Did she believe in Magic? After all that happened to her in these hours, could she really believe it existed? Been dragged by a portal and ended up in a world that only existed in her books and now sitting in front of two fictional characters… By then she knew her answer. "Yes… Yes, I do".
"Excellent" Dumbledore smirked, taking from inside his left sleeve a wood stick… A wand and in one movement he made the plate with the rest of the bread that were on the table disappear. "Because it exists".
With a gasp, Cathrine rose from her chair, looking with wide eyes between the table and the wand in amazement. So that settles everything. It was all true.
"Wow, that… That was awesome!" She said.
"Well thank you. Now, you will come with us to Hogwarts…"
"What? But I thought I was going to stay here. In this place!" Cathrine said without thinking about the consequences. The way she said it seemed as if she knew what Hogwarts was in the first place. She didn't notice but that did not go unnoticed by Snape. "I mean..."
"No, you will come to Hogwarts where is safer" Dumbledore said, also looking with suspicion to her, his blue eyes scanning her face above his half-moon glasses. "You are under my protection now." That moment, the wizard tone was as to end the argument there. No one could argue with that.
"Okay, sir… May I ask something sir?" Cathrine looked at him, with concern in her eyes. "Could you tell me what year is it?"
Dumbledore and Snape looked at each other, completely baffled by her question. But Dumbledore turned and answered her.
"It's 1991. June 30th to be exact…" He said.
"1991… Right." Cathrine could feel she had gone a little more pale with that information. She really shouldn't be here.
"We must be going, it's already morning and I would like to explain everything you should know when we reach Hogwarts…" He said, walking towards the front door of the Hog's Head, with Cathrine following with slow steps, when the wizard stopped and turned to her, his eyes piercing hers now more than ever. He was trying to read her, of that Cathrine was sure. "Unless… Miss Watson, there's any more you want to tell us? Any questions, doubts, secrets?"
Cathrine didn't dare to look away from the wizard. She didn't even blinked. He would not have said that last word if he hadn't spotted something in her. But Cathrine just couldn't risk saying a damn thing.
"No Mr. Dumbledore. There's nothing more I need to tell you".
That was when in the blink of an eye, Cathrine felt her body being pressed against the wall, her face inches apart not from Dumbledore's, but from Snape's. His eyes were like a blaze and his grip like iron, pressing her furiously as if he was going to break every bone of her body. At that moment, Cathrine truly feared the man, but she was not going to let her pride be suppressed bye that man.
"Let me go! What are you doing?" Cathrine tried to free herself from him, but he was much stronger than her.
"Stop with your lies, you filthy girl!" He said, snarling at her face, griping her arms. For sure that would leave a mark on her skin.
"Severus, stop. Let her go…" Dumbledore asked, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Not until she says the true!" Snape forced her once again against the wall, and that for sure made her back arch with pain.
"I am not hiding anything, you bastard! Let go of me!" Cathrine screamed and that was her time to stare at his eyes, daring him to cause her any more harm. She wasn't going to let another man command her like Erick used to. Snape's black eyes were piercing her blue ones with such a force that she thought he could read her soul.
"Severus, let her go" Dumbledore said again, pulling him away from the woman, to look in silence to him, as if just by looking at each other they could communicate.
Snape did not say a word, turning his head to look one more time to Cathrine before he stormed out of the bar, closing the door with great force.
Dumbledore just sighed, turning to see Aberforth coming to them again. In a hush voice, both man talked with each other, but Cathrine didn't care to pay attention. She couldn't look away from the front door where the other wizard had leave. So that was how Snape was going to act around her. Cathrine knew the man was complicated but in no way she would let him make her feel bad. She knew she was doing the right thing not telling them the true, as Snape had put out. And she could be as stubborn as he.
"We must go now, Miss Watson" Cathrine refocused her attention again at the old man, who was now thanking his brother once again.
"Thank you very much sir" The woman turned to Aberforth. "Thank you for find me and helping me".
"You're welcome, lass" The man said, shaking hands with the woman. "If the need appears, you must know that you can come here".
Cathrine just nodded with her head, thanking him once more before Dumbledore step out of the bar. The girl followed him, walking side by side, before looking briefly to the Hog's Head one last time. It sure looked different from the other houses in Hogsmeade, but she knew that one day she might need to come to that place once more.
"I am sorry about the way Severus treated you" Dumbledore said, guiding the path. He knew the girl was hiding something, he wasn't a fool, but he was not going to press her. When the time appears he knew she was going to tell him everything.
"He is quite… complicated" She said more to herself than to wizard.
"Strange choice of word, Miss Watson, but completely true. Severus Snape is a very complicated man" Dumbledore looked at her, his blues eyes shining briefly. "Although I must say he is not completely wrong".
"I am sorry?"
"I also know you are hiding something. But" He continued before the woman could interrupt him. "But I will not press you to say anything; even if I am sure you know that when the time arrives you can come to me".
Cathrine didn't say a word to that, remaining silently as both walked in a path away from Hogsmeade. Dumbledore knew she had secrets beyond the things she had said to him and that made her decide. If the need appear, she was going to say the Headmaster what she knew. Only he could at least know a bit of what she knew.
How would she survive in this world full of temptation? It was like fate was playing a game with her. But she was going to be strong, no matter the circumstances.
Hi, I am back! So sorry for the time it took me to post this, but I was having trouble writing this. I was trying write something different from what I have read and in a way that could look natural. well, now some things I forgot to say before:
I you want to know what the portal looks like, you just have to search for an episode or trailer of the tv show called "Once Upon a Time". I love that show so much!
Another thing is, that whyle I write, I must have the character visual concept in my mind, and I realized that the link I posted here for you all to see a pic of her did not worked, so here again, now the right one, you just have to add 'instragam dot com' and the following: /p/tbib8XLeCL/
And finally, something that is really important and I wanted to share with you: I decided to start a channel on youtube! Yeah! It is called "Tea time, anytime", and it will be about geek stuff! So, I really would like if you subscribe to my channel or/and send me ideas in your reviews to what you would like me to talk in my channel! It can be about anything... For example... Fanfics! You can find my channel here, you just have to add 'youtube dot com' and the following : /channel/UCuJqdl7m5shVJ-dN2XZP6yg
Well that's all I wanted to say.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Subscribe!