I'll Still Be There when You Scream
Chapter Six of The True Meaning of Happily Ever After
Danielle Heskey sat motionlessly on a bench in the middle of a busy wizarding street in Paris, writing down what she saw. Even though the cold wind blew into her eyes and made them tear, she carried on, her mouth a thin line. There was an obvious crease on her forehead, and if you looked into her eyes you would see that she had seen a lot of things.
It was one year after the death of Voldemort, and in other words, Harry Potter's fifth year. Sirius had been freed from Azkaban and lived with Harry. Sirius. She had not seen him since she had left for Alaska, and had met...
It was no use thinking about that. He was gone. They were both gone. Forever.
When the school term started, she would be returning to Hogwarts to teach History of Magic, replacing Binns, who had had the sudden urge to abate his onus and was now permanently gone.
Right at this moment, with all the information present, you or anyone else might wonder why Danielle was sitting in at that particular bench. She was preparing a lesson, one of the first lessons she would be doing with all of her classes: comparisons between wizarding communities of old and of present. It was rather boring, just sitting there, but Danielle rather enjoyed it.
IApproximately six foot three, black cloak, sunglasses.../I Danielle jotted some notes about the man beside her down. As she directed her attention to an interesting looking dog across the street, the man tapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but do I know you?" he asked, smiling a smile that he obviously thought was charming. Danielle found that smile strangely familiar. She remembered it, but yet she could not quite put her finger on it.
She silently took in the man's features in a trancelike state. IDefined features, beautiful eyes, seductive eyebrows.../I Danielle suddenly jerked back into reality as the man asked her, "I'm that cute?"
Danielle made as if to stand up and move away, but he grabbed hold of her wrist. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look at your papers or anything... It's just that you looked like a very beautiful girl I once knew when I was in school. I... lost contact with her, and I was wondering... if your name was Danielle Heskey?"
Danielle took a sharp breath and wrenched her wrist away from him. "Who are you?"
The man shrugged, and replied, "Black. Sirius Black."
Without answering, Danielle hugged him, crying.
"I missed you so much..."
...
Sirius surveyed the mess in Danielle's apartment as he stepped in. "So... Danae lives here too?" he asked Danielle.
"Yeah, except that she's gone out right now," Danielle replied, as she conjured an ice-cold jug of lemon juice that landed perfectly on her coffee table. It poured out two glasses of juice.
They sat there in awkward silence, as Danielle sipped from her glass.
Finally, Sirius broke it. "So... How's Alaska?" he asked.
"Well, cold?"
Sirius sniggered. "I think we knew that. Anything else?"
"Great. It was fun. I met this guy, Dominic..." Danielle trailed off.
"I'm not going to take offense or something. Just tell me about it. What was he like?"
"He was nothing like you- the direct opposite: he was younger than me, with very fair hair, dreamy blue eyes, except that he wore glasses, so it sort of spoiled the whole thing. He used to take his glasses off and lie in the snow, staring at the sky, so that was how I discovered his eyes. He was really quiet- seriously. He hardly said anything. I met him at a bar."
Sirius frowned. "If he was all that quiet, what was he doing at a bar?"
"His friends dragged him there. It was a wizard bar, so when all of his friends got too drunk on firewhiskey, he was in charge of taking them home. He was so sweet when I met him; later we both found out we were colleagues. He was also working in the same office."
Sirius made a face. "Ah- the water fountain romance story. So..."
Danielle looked up from her glass.
"So what happened to this Dominic person?"
"He's still in Alaska. We broke up."
"Workaholic syndrome. That's why the water fountain was never the greatest place for romance- hey, are you crying?"
Danielle dropped her glass on the floor as she buried her face in Sirius' chest. He patted her on the back.
"Must've hurt."
Danielle nodded. "A lot," she mumbled.
"I know. I understand that hurt."
Danielle looked up. "Like you do," she said sarcastically. As Sirius began to protest, she continued, "Since when did anyone break your heart? Since when did you care? You had too many girls in your life, and you just fooled around. Then you went off and carved out your career as Azkaban intern. And now you're back to fool around again."
"Wha-" Sirius began, stumped. He had evidently forgotten about Danielle's mood swings."
"Do you know how much I missed you? When you said you'd send me off at the portkey, and you didn't come? I hated you at that time."
"I had serious business to attend to, on that day. I'm sorry I couldn't-" Sirius began, his voice a hoarse whisper.
Danielle rose to her feet, her wrath poised to descend onto Sirius, but instead of shouting at him, she said, "All these years I've acted like I forgot you. I even thought I did. But Dominic-"
"He saw through, didn't he?" Sirius asked.
"He knew all along. I told him about you, I told him I was over you, but he knew I wasn't. You know what that boy did?"
Sirius had a feeling he knew what Dominic did.
"He tried to kill himself so I could go back to you."
"He tried." Sirius tried to make his conscience feel better.
"He jumped off the building- twenty-six stories. They had a cushion below, but he suffered brain damage. They tried to cure him, but..."
"What happened?" Sirius felt horrendous.
"He doesn't remember anything. They- they had to teach him how to do everything, and right now he still can't use his right leg, for some strange reason. It's because of what happened that they sent me to Paris and Danae followed. I can't go one mile near him, in case he falls in love with me all over again. Restriction laws."
There was a silence.
"And so, in this twisted way, we got what we wanted. He's- I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Danielle, I-" Sirius began.
"When the Hogwarts term starts, I'm going to be taking over the History of Magic class. Professor Dumbledore thought it would be a good way for me to take my mind off things." She showed Sirius the way out. "Now please, will you go away?"
Before she slammed the door, Sirius whispered, "I'll still be there when you scream."
Danielle slammed the door and locked it.
"No," Danielle verbalized, as she sat on the floor, her back leaning on the door, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I've screamed too many times, and you never came."
Now was a good time to tidy up the apartment.
Chapter Six of The True Meaning of Happily Ever After
Danielle Heskey sat motionlessly on a bench in the middle of a busy wizarding street in Paris, writing down what she saw. Even though the cold wind blew into her eyes and made them tear, she carried on, her mouth a thin line. There was an obvious crease on her forehead, and if you looked into her eyes you would see that she had seen a lot of things.
It was one year after the death of Voldemort, and in other words, Harry Potter's fifth year. Sirius had been freed from Azkaban and lived with Harry. Sirius. She had not seen him since she had left for Alaska, and had met...
It was no use thinking about that. He was gone. They were both gone. Forever.
When the school term started, she would be returning to Hogwarts to teach History of Magic, replacing Binns, who had had the sudden urge to abate his onus and was now permanently gone.
Right at this moment, with all the information present, you or anyone else might wonder why Danielle was sitting in at that particular bench. She was preparing a lesson, one of the first lessons she would be doing with all of her classes: comparisons between wizarding communities of old and of present. It was rather boring, just sitting there, but Danielle rather enjoyed it.
IApproximately six foot three, black cloak, sunglasses.../I Danielle jotted some notes about the man beside her down. As she directed her attention to an interesting looking dog across the street, the man tapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but do I know you?" he asked, smiling a smile that he obviously thought was charming. Danielle found that smile strangely familiar. She remembered it, but yet she could not quite put her finger on it.
She silently took in the man's features in a trancelike state. IDefined features, beautiful eyes, seductive eyebrows.../I Danielle suddenly jerked back into reality as the man asked her, "I'm that cute?"
Danielle made as if to stand up and move away, but he grabbed hold of her wrist. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look at your papers or anything... It's just that you looked like a very beautiful girl I once knew when I was in school. I... lost contact with her, and I was wondering... if your name was Danielle Heskey?"
Danielle took a sharp breath and wrenched her wrist away from him. "Who are you?"
The man shrugged, and replied, "Black. Sirius Black."
Without answering, Danielle hugged him, crying.
"I missed you so much..."
...
Sirius surveyed the mess in Danielle's apartment as he stepped in. "So... Danae lives here too?" he asked Danielle.
"Yeah, except that she's gone out right now," Danielle replied, as she conjured an ice-cold jug of lemon juice that landed perfectly on her coffee table. It poured out two glasses of juice.
They sat there in awkward silence, as Danielle sipped from her glass.
Finally, Sirius broke it. "So... How's Alaska?" he asked.
"Well, cold?"
Sirius sniggered. "I think we knew that. Anything else?"
"Great. It was fun. I met this guy, Dominic..." Danielle trailed off.
"I'm not going to take offense or something. Just tell me about it. What was he like?"
"He was nothing like you- the direct opposite: he was younger than me, with very fair hair, dreamy blue eyes, except that he wore glasses, so it sort of spoiled the whole thing. He used to take his glasses off and lie in the snow, staring at the sky, so that was how I discovered his eyes. He was really quiet- seriously. He hardly said anything. I met him at a bar."
Sirius frowned. "If he was all that quiet, what was he doing at a bar?"
"His friends dragged him there. It was a wizard bar, so when all of his friends got too drunk on firewhiskey, he was in charge of taking them home. He was so sweet when I met him; later we both found out we were colleagues. He was also working in the same office."
Sirius made a face. "Ah- the water fountain romance story. So..."
Danielle looked up from her glass.
"So what happened to this Dominic person?"
"He's still in Alaska. We broke up."
"Workaholic syndrome. That's why the water fountain was never the greatest place for romance- hey, are you crying?"
Danielle dropped her glass on the floor as she buried her face in Sirius' chest. He patted her on the back.
"Must've hurt."
Danielle nodded. "A lot," she mumbled.
"I know. I understand that hurt."
Danielle looked up. "Like you do," she said sarcastically. As Sirius began to protest, she continued, "Since when did anyone break your heart? Since when did you care? You had too many girls in your life, and you just fooled around. Then you went off and carved out your career as Azkaban intern. And now you're back to fool around again."
"Wha-" Sirius began, stumped. He had evidently forgotten about Danielle's mood swings."
"Do you know how much I missed you? When you said you'd send me off at the portkey, and you didn't come? I hated you at that time."
"I had serious business to attend to, on that day. I'm sorry I couldn't-" Sirius began, his voice a hoarse whisper.
Danielle rose to her feet, her wrath poised to descend onto Sirius, but instead of shouting at him, she said, "All these years I've acted like I forgot you. I even thought I did. But Dominic-"
"He saw through, didn't he?" Sirius asked.
"He knew all along. I told him about you, I told him I was over you, but he knew I wasn't. You know what that boy did?"
Sirius had a feeling he knew what Dominic did.
"He tried to kill himself so I could go back to you."
"He tried." Sirius tried to make his conscience feel better.
"He jumped off the building- twenty-six stories. They had a cushion below, but he suffered brain damage. They tried to cure him, but..."
"What happened?" Sirius felt horrendous.
"He doesn't remember anything. They- they had to teach him how to do everything, and right now he still can't use his right leg, for some strange reason. It's because of what happened that they sent me to Paris and Danae followed. I can't go one mile near him, in case he falls in love with me all over again. Restriction laws."
There was a silence.
"And so, in this twisted way, we got what we wanted. He's- I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Danielle, I-" Sirius began.
"When the Hogwarts term starts, I'm going to be taking over the History of Magic class. Professor Dumbledore thought it would be a good way for me to take my mind off things." She showed Sirius the way out. "Now please, will you go away?"
Before she slammed the door, Sirius whispered, "I'll still be there when you scream."
Danielle slammed the door and locked it.
"No," Danielle verbalized, as she sat on the floor, her back leaning on the door, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I've screamed too many times, and you never came."
Now was a good time to tidy up the apartment.