Disclaimers: I do not own these characters except for Jessica Weaver and
Other characters that you do not recognize. The others belong to J.K.R.
RWH
***
Seventeen
Monday 4/28
The afternoon sun blazed down on the woman as she moved slowly up and down the streets. Her face and clothes covered with the ashes of the fire from the previous two days. She felt hot and tired, longing for a nice hot bath to soak in. Two days she has been wandering, two nights she had found herself camping down for the night under the starry sky. Thank God that the nights have been clear and the rains have miraculously held off. It was bad enough that she had to live her life in this way. Pneumonia would not be a welcomed illness at this time in her life. Right now, it wouldn't be wise to catch something. She had to keep her head about her and think.
Jessica wondered the street homeless with nowhere she could go, no one she could turn to. To her dismay, she had no idea of how to get in touch with Severus. She couldn't find any of her so called friends and her co-workers were MIA, either killed in the fire or still to out of it from the horrible experience to answer her phone calls.
Charlie, Flora, Candace, Sera.
So many people that she thought was close friends, that she had no idea if they were alive or not. They continued to flitter in her brain. She wished she could just get in touch with one of them but her money was running out. She didn't have the extra to keep trying to ring them up to find out. She had to start watching every dime because she had no idea how long she would be destitute.
Desperate
Abhorrently alone
She thought of her friends again and sighed. Fly by night friends, her mother would have called them. Merely friendly acquaintances that she knew but weren't real friends at all. The reality of that sunk in last night as she was going through her purse for loose change. She had never been invited over to any of their homes so she didn't know their families, so the idea of actually getting in touch with them to see if they were all right was near to impossible. She had no idea where to start looking other than going back to the sight of the burned out pub. And *that* she didn't want to go anywhere near again. It held to many memories for her to deal with at this time. She *could* go and try to talk more reason into Mr. Wiltington, but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to put what little dignity she had left through that tribulation.
Dignity, what a laugh, she had no more dignity left. If she did, she would stop her wanderings and feed herself and the baby. Stop wallowing in this self-pity that she tried not to acknowledge but slapped her face every time her stomach rumbled or her feet cramped from all the walking.
Thinking about the pain in her feet she sighed and found a bench where she promptly flung herself down on and leaned back into the hard wooden surface letting her head fall back over the back of it. Setting her dance bag down beside her she closed her eyes against the blaring mid afternoon sun but kept her hands over the bag protectively. It and its contents were her only possessions now and she had to watch out for it. Her only change of clothing was the red mini that she packed that last morning for work. Not something that she could actually use in the real world, well, at least in the daylight hours. Walking the streets in the evenings, yes.but not for respectable work. She seriously doubted that she would ever see her things again. Not that she cared, really. Her only fear was in not ever seeing Severus again.
She sighed thinking about the nice comfortable sweat suits that sat waiting for her in her tiny little apartment, the nice hot shower and shampoo that she longed for.
Damned self pity again.
She sat upright and set her expression in a grim but determined state. She had to do something constructive something to get her motivated again. An idea to get that fire burning under her ass and get her brain back into gear. She was terrified, yes, but being homeless didn't scare her too much. There were always shelters she could go to to clean up, to get some fresh clothing. Used clothing they may be, but at least clean enough for her to do some proper job hunting.
So being homeless didn't frighten her as much as it should. It was the part about being in her condition and alone, with no sign of Severus. *That* terrified her more than the worry of where she was going to sleep or what she was going to eat that day.
She still had no idea if he was safe or what, if he had somehow escaped the fire and was actually looking for her.
Her face paled as she thought once more that he had no idea if she was in the fire or not. For all he knew she would have been at work. He wouldn't have had any idea that she was running late that day and had missed being in the building as it went up.
He may have already thought her as being.. dead. If that were the case then he wouldn't be looking for her at all.
She bit her lip to stop the tears from coming. That simply couldn't be the case. He would know, somehow that she was still alive, just as she knew.she absolutely *knew* that he was. There was no shred of evidence that he was dead, no body, no feelings of remorse or acceptance in her head or heart. If he were gone, she would be able to feel it.. inside.. somehow.
If it weren't for the baby she would have given up and flown back home, back to America, back to her family with her tail between her legs. But she couldn't.
Not now
Severus had to know about the baby. She had to find some way of telling him. She had planned on telling him on the night of the fire. That damned fire put a stopper on that idea. Now her only chance is to find that school he taught at. Problem with that one was that, try as she might, she could not recall the name of it. She was sure that at some point in their conversations he had mentioned it by name. She just had to jog her memory to recall it.
Ugh.. what was it?
Her face crumpled as the name of the school flatly refused to come to her. She knew they discussed it on a few occasions, but why in God's name could she not remember it now? It was like the name was on the tip of her tongue but refused to meet up with the actual thinking part of her brain. The neurons or whatever they were called weren't snapping or meeting up like they were supposed to do in the actual thinking process.
Finally, she threw her hands in the air in disgust then set her mind on a different path. If she couldn't figure it out one way, change the way you were thinking.
Don't get lost, just change the location where you were going.
Second idea, always have a back up plan, her father used to say. So, she closed her eyes to concentrate, trying to remember another place Severus had talked to her about.
Then it hit her.
A Cauldron
There was a bar he once mentioned.. *something*.. Cauldron. She remembered him using that word because she thought it was odd that he had mentioned calling his beakers cauldrons as well.
He had this thing for witchy things obviously.
"Okay, That's it. I just have to find a phone directory that's al. He's bound to show up there at some point." She draped her dance bag over her shoulder and made her way back towards the way she came. First she had to go to a shelter and get something hot to eat, a hot shower and finally something clean to wear.
Then she can start looking for the bar. There had to be a telephone listing somewhere.
It was, after all, a public place and all public places had phones.
~~~
Acknowledgments and A/N's
Aviatrix: Hey, thanks for the offer. I'm doing a few other fics that I would love for you to beta. As soon as I get them up to where I want them I will send them your way. Thanks a lot, Hon!
J.S. Sumner: Grow weary of Snape? *Gasp* NEVER! Not that I would turn down Lupin, but I would first have to shoo Severus out of my bed first and that just ISN'T going to happen. LOL. I didn't want the super to be to evil but hell, I couldn't turn that down. He's a prick and I guess I had to write him as one. Oh well, he got what he deserved. I have all the answers to your questions honey, but unfortunately, they are chapters away. You will just have to keep reading to see how they find each other again. And as for that *other* fic.. LOL.. I can honestly say they are not the ONLY ones I have going. I think I have about five active stories going at this time. LOL.. some will be posted.. others not. But hell, least I enjoy writing them. Blessed Be!
Nuttygirl: Don't worry, he will find out all about the baby, but not for some time yet. Keep reading Muchacha!
Keneez: Time well spent I assure you.
The-Potions-Mistress1: The Super got what was coming to him.that's the important thing.
NiteQueen: LOL.. and this story keeps me from doing my housework on my rare days off, but what the hell. JUST SAY NO! Keep reading and writing.. that's what I need my time for, who needs a clean home? Hehe
Cathryne: Ohhh.. Alan can do whatever he wants to with me with that voice. And more angst coming up, keep reading sis!
~~~
Please don't forget to review!
Blessed Be!
RWH
RWH
***
Seventeen
Monday 4/28
The afternoon sun blazed down on the woman as she moved slowly up and down the streets. Her face and clothes covered with the ashes of the fire from the previous two days. She felt hot and tired, longing for a nice hot bath to soak in. Two days she has been wandering, two nights she had found herself camping down for the night under the starry sky. Thank God that the nights have been clear and the rains have miraculously held off. It was bad enough that she had to live her life in this way. Pneumonia would not be a welcomed illness at this time in her life. Right now, it wouldn't be wise to catch something. She had to keep her head about her and think.
Jessica wondered the street homeless with nowhere she could go, no one she could turn to. To her dismay, she had no idea of how to get in touch with Severus. She couldn't find any of her so called friends and her co-workers were MIA, either killed in the fire or still to out of it from the horrible experience to answer her phone calls.
Charlie, Flora, Candace, Sera.
So many people that she thought was close friends, that she had no idea if they were alive or not. They continued to flitter in her brain. She wished she could just get in touch with one of them but her money was running out. She didn't have the extra to keep trying to ring them up to find out. She had to start watching every dime because she had no idea how long she would be destitute.
Desperate
Abhorrently alone
She thought of her friends again and sighed. Fly by night friends, her mother would have called them. Merely friendly acquaintances that she knew but weren't real friends at all. The reality of that sunk in last night as she was going through her purse for loose change. She had never been invited over to any of their homes so she didn't know their families, so the idea of actually getting in touch with them to see if they were all right was near to impossible. She had no idea where to start looking other than going back to the sight of the burned out pub. And *that* she didn't want to go anywhere near again. It held to many memories for her to deal with at this time. She *could* go and try to talk more reason into Mr. Wiltington, but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to put what little dignity she had left through that tribulation.
Dignity, what a laugh, she had no more dignity left. If she did, she would stop her wanderings and feed herself and the baby. Stop wallowing in this self-pity that she tried not to acknowledge but slapped her face every time her stomach rumbled or her feet cramped from all the walking.
Thinking about the pain in her feet she sighed and found a bench where she promptly flung herself down on and leaned back into the hard wooden surface letting her head fall back over the back of it. Setting her dance bag down beside her she closed her eyes against the blaring mid afternoon sun but kept her hands over the bag protectively. It and its contents were her only possessions now and she had to watch out for it. Her only change of clothing was the red mini that she packed that last morning for work. Not something that she could actually use in the real world, well, at least in the daylight hours. Walking the streets in the evenings, yes.but not for respectable work. She seriously doubted that she would ever see her things again. Not that she cared, really. Her only fear was in not ever seeing Severus again.
She sighed thinking about the nice comfortable sweat suits that sat waiting for her in her tiny little apartment, the nice hot shower and shampoo that she longed for.
Damned self pity again.
She sat upright and set her expression in a grim but determined state. She had to do something constructive something to get her motivated again. An idea to get that fire burning under her ass and get her brain back into gear. She was terrified, yes, but being homeless didn't scare her too much. There were always shelters she could go to to clean up, to get some fresh clothing. Used clothing they may be, but at least clean enough for her to do some proper job hunting.
So being homeless didn't frighten her as much as it should. It was the part about being in her condition and alone, with no sign of Severus. *That* terrified her more than the worry of where she was going to sleep or what she was going to eat that day.
She still had no idea if he was safe or what, if he had somehow escaped the fire and was actually looking for her.
Her face paled as she thought once more that he had no idea if she was in the fire or not. For all he knew she would have been at work. He wouldn't have had any idea that she was running late that day and had missed being in the building as it went up.
He may have already thought her as being.. dead. If that were the case then he wouldn't be looking for her at all.
She bit her lip to stop the tears from coming. That simply couldn't be the case. He would know, somehow that she was still alive, just as she knew.she absolutely *knew* that he was. There was no shred of evidence that he was dead, no body, no feelings of remorse or acceptance in her head or heart. If he were gone, she would be able to feel it.. inside.. somehow.
If it weren't for the baby she would have given up and flown back home, back to America, back to her family with her tail between her legs. But she couldn't.
Not now
Severus had to know about the baby. She had to find some way of telling him. She had planned on telling him on the night of the fire. That damned fire put a stopper on that idea. Now her only chance is to find that school he taught at. Problem with that one was that, try as she might, she could not recall the name of it. She was sure that at some point in their conversations he had mentioned it by name. She just had to jog her memory to recall it.
Ugh.. what was it?
Her face crumpled as the name of the school flatly refused to come to her. She knew they discussed it on a few occasions, but why in God's name could she not remember it now? It was like the name was on the tip of her tongue but refused to meet up with the actual thinking part of her brain. The neurons or whatever they were called weren't snapping or meeting up like they were supposed to do in the actual thinking process.
Finally, she threw her hands in the air in disgust then set her mind on a different path. If she couldn't figure it out one way, change the way you were thinking.
Don't get lost, just change the location where you were going.
Second idea, always have a back up plan, her father used to say. So, she closed her eyes to concentrate, trying to remember another place Severus had talked to her about.
Then it hit her.
A Cauldron
There was a bar he once mentioned.. *something*.. Cauldron. She remembered him using that word because she thought it was odd that he had mentioned calling his beakers cauldrons as well.
He had this thing for witchy things obviously.
"Okay, That's it. I just have to find a phone directory that's al. He's bound to show up there at some point." She draped her dance bag over her shoulder and made her way back towards the way she came. First she had to go to a shelter and get something hot to eat, a hot shower and finally something clean to wear.
Then she can start looking for the bar. There had to be a telephone listing somewhere.
It was, after all, a public place and all public places had phones.
~~~
Acknowledgments and A/N's
Aviatrix: Hey, thanks for the offer. I'm doing a few other fics that I would love for you to beta. As soon as I get them up to where I want them I will send them your way. Thanks a lot, Hon!
J.S. Sumner: Grow weary of Snape? *Gasp* NEVER! Not that I would turn down Lupin, but I would first have to shoo Severus out of my bed first and that just ISN'T going to happen. LOL. I didn't want the super to be to evil but hell, I couldn't turn that down. He's a prick and I guess I had to write him as one. Oh well, he got what he deserved. I have all the answers to your questions honey, but unfortunately, they are chapters away. You will just have to keep reading to see how they find each other again. And as for that *other* fic.. LOL.. I can honestly say they are not the ONLY ones I have going. I think I have about five active stories going at this time. LOL.. some will be posted.. others not. But hell, least I enjoy writing them. Blessed Be!
Nuttygirl: Don't worry, he will find out all about the baby, but not for some time yet. Keep reading Muchacha!
Keneez: Time well spent I assure you.
The-Potions-Mistress1: The Super got what was coming to him.that's the important thing.
NiteQueen: LOL.. and this story keeps me from doing my housework on my rare days off, but what the hell. JUST SAY NO! Keep reading and writing.. that's what I need my time for, who needs a clean home? Hehe
Cathryne: Ohhh.. Alan can do whatever he wants to with me with that voice. And more angst coming up, keep reading sis!
~~~
Please don't forget to review!
Blessed Be!
RWH