Ora, Dimension Jumper
By Juli Lantz
Chapter Three
Orion stared outside her dormitory window, sighing deeply. The shimmering full moon glared at her, as if taunting her. So far, the girls in the dormitory ignored her, and Sierra for that matter, even though they weren't in the same house. She loved being at Hogwarts, and she fit in so well, despite her appearance. She stared at the grounds again, hoping to catch a glimpse of a grim, rat, wolf, or stag. None came. She finally gave in to her conscious, and settled down into her four-poster bed, snuggling deep into the covers and falling into sleep.
The morning crept unto Orion suddenly, feeling like she barely had any sleep at all. She stretched out her arms until she felt the satisfying pop of her shoulder blades, glimpsing at her Gryffindor robes hanging from her trunk by her cushiony bed. With a big sigh, she grabbed them off her other belongings and slipped them on.
The Great Hall was bustling with excitement, the sound of plates clattering and drawn out, enthusiastic conversations, all mixed in with laughter and rattling papers. Orion sat down nervously next to a Gryffindor fifth year, who was talking about a lesson to a sixth year boy. She grabbed her plate and started placing eggs, bacon, and toast on it, reaching over for a jar of marmalade. As she started to spread some unto her toast, a bump on her right made her jump, and she spun over quickly as if she was under fire. There she saw, James Potter, as she recognized, talking with the Gryffindor Prefect, Lily Evans. She quickly inhaled her food and walked out past the giant oak double doors to the snow-covered grounds, glancing around in surprise at the wonderland she has yet to fully enjoy since she fell in it. She approached the lake, kneeling down and soaking the knees of her pants to lean over and peer into the frosty crystal in curiosity. Looking around to see if the coast was clear, she poked her finger through the icy cover to notice it was very thin, telling her the sparkling snow was fairly new.
"Wonder if the squid is here?" she asked herself, trying to lean over even closer, but not seeing hide nor tentacle of the beast. She shrugged, noticing a tree that hung over the lake that represented her needs for un- companionship. Without thought, she wrapped her fingers along a branch, pulling herself up unto the desired height she longed to stay. She leaned against the thick trunk, feeling inside her cloak for the book that brought her here. After succeeding, she propped it open with her knees, and began reading chapter thirty-four, 'How to Send Messages Via Dimension Jump'. Just has she got through half the chapter, loud laughter echoed itself throughout the area, and just as before, it was caused by Sirius Black. Nobody was in the area, glancing about him nervously like she did, and was surprised to see that they didn't even notice her. She kept trying desperately to continue reading her book, wondering if she should write to her parents or not, then deciding it was definitely a not. She glanced back and forth, from the black and white text to the colorful outlines of the four boys plus Lily, issuing a snowball fight. She held back a laugh, trying to ignore them.
"The destination of your message will differ, depending on exactly what incantation you write on the sending address' envelope space," she read to herself, eyeballing the group as they started chucking snowballs with their wands, Lily and what she assumed to be James, standing in the corner laughing. They seemed to move closer every time they magicked a new slush ball to throw; until they got so close they almost hit her twice. She moved over on the branch over the lake, wincing as frost from it melted on her buttocks.
"You can use many incantations for various places. One that has been proven useful is the, 'Return to Sender' incantation," she muttered again, this time more audible, trying to keep her balance as much as possible on the rickety wood. She quickly ducked as a snowball narrowly missed her head. She blushed profusely and moved even more on the branch to the end, the leaves gone from the pointed sprigs. The Marauders eyed her, muttering their apologies in her direction, before continuing their spree. Ora chuckled, pretending to read as she stared intently at Sirius, her heart doing flip-flops in her ribs. As her eyes glazed over, gazing into space, the branch under her seemed to buckle slightly.
She stopped her daydreaming, panic rising in her mind as she saw the branch split at the beginning. She tried to calm herself, carefully placing her book into her coat, taking it off despite how cold it was outside, and tossing it at the very edge of the shore.
'Careful...... just get off the branch and you'll be fine,' she told herself, inching slowly to the trunk of the tree. With a loud crack, the branch fell, taking her with it, into the frozen-over lake. The ice covering gave way with the weight and force of Ora's body and the heavy branch, pushing her into the stunningly cold water. She tried to swim, but the branch advanced on her, slamming her into a rock mound and the wood splintering into many pieces. Ora's consciousness slipped, her air escaping itself into many large bubbles splashing at the surface. A loud splash echoed itself under the water as another fell through the ice, his scraggily black hair flowering about the water as he swam as fast as he could to Ora's unconscious, sinking form. A calling from the surface was muffled, but yet he didn't stop.
"Sirius!" James yelled, peering over the lake, hoping to see him through the dark water. Sierra came running outside, a look of panic plastered on her face, as she joined the group of boys, trying to locate her friend.
"Ora! Orion! Please, be okay......" Sirius barely heard, not recognizing the voice, as he grabbed Ora's arm and pulled. A Grindylow emerged from a tangled mass of sea ferns, gripping it's long fingers over Ora's ankle and pulling. Sirius, having almost lost all breath, pointed his wand at his head, yelling out a spell that came out only in large masses of bubbles from the tip of his wand and mouth. One of the bubbles wrapped itself around Sirius' head as he gasped for breath, his face and expression of relief as he did the same to Ora. With a few more kicks of his feet, he reached the Grindylow and bent back it's fingers, a look of shock and pain on it's features as it let go. He swore, if he could understand it's burbles, it would have been cussing him out.
"Sirius! Orion!" the voices grew louder as Sirius kicked off from a rock formation, trying his hardest to swim to the surface. He felt his own pulse in his throat, urging himself to continue, no matter how tired or how cold he was. After what seemed like eternity, he finally broke the surface, lifting the limp body of Ora above the water, the Bubble Charm disappearing from around her head. Shouting filled his head, his breath coming out in shaky icy puffs as he swam to the shore, James and Sierra helping them out of the water. As they laid Ora's body on the snow-covered ground, Sirius quickly turned around and started pressing on her chest. Ora's eyes shot open, coughing up water, Sirius patting her back. She looked around blearily, before shutting her eyes and falling backwards into the snow, unconscious. Sirius, breathing a sigh of relief, did the same.
Orion woke with a start, sitting up abruptly and scanning her surroundings. She was in a bed, with white curtains draped around her bed area, her scarf missing, and a thick woolen blanket draped over her. Her breath came in sharp gasps as she tried to figure out where she was. A harsh voice filtered through her ears, and echoed around the room.
"We are NOT allowing visitors at this hour. Please leave the premises, they will be all fine and well tomorrow, you will see them then!" Ora peaked through her curtains, seeing who she presumably guessed was very young Madam Pompfrey, telling off a group of visitors. She heard many groans, including one that sounded just like Sierra's. She opened them a little wider, looking about the hospital wing, noticing another bed with draped curtains. She sat back in her own bed, placing her hand on her head. A raging headache ensued, making her groan with exasperation as she glared at a glass of water.
"Wha' 'appened?" she managed to grumble, her voice sounding like she hadn't used it for ages, looking about the room again, though nothing changed. She tried to remember, thinking hard against her pounding head, shutting her eyes tight to try to think straight. She remembered falling, and ice-cold water enveloping her, everything going dark, and then blurry images and voices...... but she couldn't hold the thought. A moan made her jump as she peered through the curtains, seeing the other occupant's drapes being pulled open abruptly. She gasped, her memory putting pieces of the puzzle together as she saw Sirius get from his bed and walk to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" a very petulant Madam Pompfrey asked, blocking the way out the door. Sirius shook his head, his hand finding his forehead and staying there.
"Bed," he mumbled, waiting impatiently for his blockade to move. Madam Pompfrey snorted, walking to Sirius and turning him around, leading him to the bed he woke up from.
"You are not well enough to return to your dormitory Black, I suggest you get back to the bed, you can return in the morning," She replied sternly, making him sit at the foot of his bed. He groaned, glaring at her through his hand, but unmistakably nodded, letting himself fall backwards on his pillow. Ora saw Madam Pompfrey walk to her curtains and open them curtly, looking at her austerely, as she sat back on the bed.
"You're lucky to be alive miss Moonbelt, what were you doing climbing brittle trees over the lake?" Ora stared at her, shrugging.
"Trying to stay out of the way?" she asked, Madam rolling her eyes. She laid Orion down, shaking her head exasperatedly.
"You know, if it weren't for Black, you'd still be at the bottom of that lake. You should be grateful he was right there when it happened," She nodded, averting her eyes from Sirius, who had sat up, watching. Pompfrey got up, walking to a door at the very end of the room, in which Ora guessed was her quarters. She shook her head again, bid them good night, and walked through. Orion stared at Sirius, who stared right back.
"Er...... Thank you," she muttered, rubbing her head before reaching over and grabbing a glass of water, drinking it all in one gulp. Sirius shrugged.
"Your welcome. Ya know, you really shouldn't be climbing trees over-"
"Why'd you save me?' she interrupted, staring at him, curious to why someone even cared. He shrugged, his gaze wandering.
"Wasn't gonna let a fellow Gryffindor drown now was I?" he chuckled, dropping to the mattress limply, staring at the boring white ceiling. Ora shrugged, watching him, as his eyelids grew heavy. Soon, he was fast asleep. Ora curled up into a ball, her tail wrapped around her, as she too, fell through the barrier of consciousness.
A/N: Okay, you know the drill. Reviews make me write more, so hustle up... Update I rewrote this chapter because some people were telling me it went too fast, and I agreed. I hope it's better now, and I may rewrite it again, as I don't fell 100% satisfied yet... And Trogdor smiteth, and all was left to Burnination...
By Juli Lantz
Chapter Three
Orion stared outside her dormitory window, sighing deeply. The shimmering full moon glared at her, as if taunting her. So far, the girls in the dormitory ignored her, and Sierra for that matter, even though they weren't in the same house. She loved being at Hogwarts, and she fit in so well, despite her appearance. She stared at the grounds again, hoping to catch a glimpse of a grim, rat, wolf, or stag. None came. She finally gave in to her conscious, and settled down into her four-poster bed, snuggling deep into the covers and falling into sleep.
The morning crept unto Orion suddenly, feeling like she barely had any sleep at all. She stretched out her arms until she felt the satisfying pop of her shoulder blades, glimpsing at her Gryffindor robes hanging from her trunk by her cushiony bed. With a big sigh, she grabbed them off her other belongings and slipped them on.
The Great Hall was bustling with excitement, the sound of plates clattering and drawn out, enthusiastic conversations, all mixed in with laughter and rattling papers. Orion sat down nervously next to a Gryffindor fifth year, who was talking about a lesson to a sixth year boy. She grabbed her plate and started placing eggs, bacon, and toast on it, reaching over for a jar of marmalade. As she started to spread some unto her toast, a bump on her right made her jump, and she spun over quickly as if she was under fire. There she saw, James Potter, as she recognized, talking with the Gryffindor Prefect, Lily Evans. She quickly inhaled her food and walked out past the giant oak double doors to the snow-covered grounds, glancing around in surprise at the wonderland she has yet to fully enjoy since she fell in it. She approached the lake, kneeling down and soaking the knees of her pants to lean over and peer into the frosty crystal in curiosity. Looking around to see if the coast was clear, she poked her finger through the icy cover to notice it was very thin, telling her the sparkling snow was fairly new.
"Wonder if the squid is here?" she asked herself, trying to lean over even closer, but not seeing hide nor tentacle of the beast. She shrugged, noticing a tree that hung over the lake that represented her needs for un- companionship. Without thought, she wrapped her fingers along a branch, pulling herself up unto the desired height she longed to stay. She leaned against the thick trunk, feeling inside her cloak for the book that brought her here. After succeeding, she propped it open with her knees, and began reading chapter thirty-four, 'How to Send Messages Via Dimension Jump'. Just has she got through half the chapter, loud laughter echoed itself throughout the area, and just as before, it was caused by Sirius Black. Nobody was in the area, glancing about him nervously like she did, and was surprised to see that they didn't even notice her. She kept trying desperately to continue reading her book, wondering if she should write to her parents or not, then deciding it was definitely a not. She glanced back and forth, from the black and white text to the colorful outlines of the four boys plus Lily, issuing a snowball fight. She held back a laugh, trying to ignore them.
"The destination of your message will differ, depending on exactly what incantation you write on the sending address' envelope space," she read to herself, eyeballing the group as they started chucking snowballs with their wands, Lily and what she assumed to be James, standing in the corner laughing. They seemed to move closer every time they magicked a new slush ball to throw; until they got so close they almost hit her twice. She moved over on the branch over the lake, wincing as frost from it melted on her buttocks.
"You can use many incantations for various places. One that has been proven useful is the, 'Return to Sender' incantation," she muttered again, this time more audible, trying to keep her balance as much as possible on the rickety wood. She quickly ducked as a snowball narrowly missed her head. She blushed profusely and moved even more on the branch to the end, the leaves gone from the pointed sprigs. The Marauders eyed her, muttering their apologies in her direction, before continuing their spree. Ora chuckled, pretending to read as she stared intently at Sirius, her heart doing flip-flops in her ribs. As her eyes glazed over, gazing into space, the branch under her seemed to buckle slightly.
She stopped her daydreaming, panic rising in her mind as she saw the branch split at the beginning. She tried to calm herself, carefully placing her book into her coat, taking it off despite how cold it was outside, and tossing it at the very edge of the shore.
'Careful...... just get off the branch and you'll be fine,' she told herself, inching slowly to the trunk of the tree. With a loud crack, the branch fell, taking her with it, into the frozen-over lake. The ice covering gave way with the weight and force of Ora's body and the heavy branch, pushing her into the stunningly cold water. She tried to swim, but the branch advanced on her, slamming her into a rock mound and the wood splintering into many pieces. Ora's consciousness slipped, her air escaping itself into many large bubbles splashing at the surface. A loud splash echoed itself under the water as another fell through the ice, his scraggily black hair flowering about the water as he swam as fast as he could to Ora's unconscious, sinking form. A calling from the surface was muffled, but yet he didn't stop.
"Sirius!" James yelled, peering over the lake, hoping to see him through the dark water. Sierra came running outside, a look of panic plastered on her face, as she joined the group of boys, trying to locate her friend.
"Ora! Orion! Please, be okay......" Sirius barely heard, not recognizing the voice, as he grabbed Ora's arm and pulled. A Grindylow emerged from a tangled mass of sea ferns, gripping it's long fingers over Ora's ankle and pulling. Sirius, having almost lost all breath, pointed his wand at his head, yelling out a spell that came out only in large masses of bubbles from the tip of his wand and mouth. One of the bubbles wrapped itself around Sirius' head as he gasped for breath, his face and expression of relief as he did the same to Ora. With a few more kicks of his feet, he reached the Grindylow and bent back it's fingers, a look of shock and pain on it's features as it let go. He swore, if he could understand it's burbles, it would have been cussing him out.
"Sirius! Orion!" the voices grew louder as Sirius kicked off from a rock formation, trying his hardest to swim to the surface. He felt his own pulse in his throat, urging himself to continue, no matter how tired or how cold he was. After what seemed like eternity, he finally broke the surface, lifting the limp body of Ora above the water, the Bubble Charm disappearing from around her head. Shouting filled his head, his breath coming out in shaky icy puffs as he swam to the shore, James and Sierra helping them out of the water. As they laid Ora's body on the snow-covered ground, Sirius quickly turned around and started pressing on her chest. Ora's eyes shot open, coughing up water, Sirius patting her back. She looked around blearily, before shutting her eyes and falling backwards into the snow, unconscious. Sirius, breathing a sigh of relief, did the same.
Orion woke with a start, sitting up abruptly and scanning her surroundings. She was in a bed, with white curtains draped around her bed area, her scarf missing, and a thick woolen blanket draped over her. Her breath came in sharp gasps as she tried to figure out where she was. A harsh voice filtered through her ears, and echoed around the room.
"We are NOT allowing visitors at this hour. Please leave the premises, they will be all fine and well tomorrow, you will see them then!" Ora peaked through her curtains, seeing who she presumably guessed was very young Madam Pompfrey, telling off a group of visitors. She heard many groans, including one that sounded just like Sierra's. She opened them a little wider, looking about the hospital wing, noticing another bed with draped curtains. She sat back in her own bed, placing her hand on her head. A raging headache ensued, making her groan with exasperation as she glared at a glass of water.
"Wha' 'appened?" she managed to grumble, her voice sounding like she hadn't used it for ages, looking about the room again, though nothing changed. She tried to remember, thinking hard against her pounding head, shutting her eyes tight to try to think straight. She remembered falling, and ice-cold water enveloping her, everything going dark, and then blurry images and voices...... but she couldn't hold the thought. A moan made her jump as she peered through the curtains, seeing the other occupant's drapes being pulled open abruptly. She gasped, her memory putting pieces of the puzzle together as she saw Sirius get from his bed and walk to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" a very petulant Madam Pompfrey asked, blocking the way out the door. Sirius shook his head, his hand finding his forehead and staying there.
"Bed," he mumbled, waiting impatiently for his blockade to move. Madam Pompfrey snorted, walking to Sirius and turning him around, leading him to the bed he woke up from.
"You are not well enough to return to your dormitory Black, I suggest you get back to the bed, you can return in the morning," She replied sternly, making him sit at the foot of his bed. He groaned, glaring at her through his hand, but unmistakably nodded, letting himself fall backwards on his pillow. Ora saw Madam Pompfrey walk to her curtains and open them curtly, looking at her austerely, as she sat back on the bed.
"You're lucky to be alive miss Moonbelt, what were you doing climbing brittle trees over the lake?" Ora stared at her, shrugging.
"Trying to stay out of the way?" she asked, Madam rolling her eyes. She laid Orion down, shaking her head exasperatedly.
"You know, if it weren't for Black, you'd still be at the bottom of that lake. You should be grateful he was right there when it happened," She nodded, averting her eyes from Sirius, who had sat up, watching. Pompfrey got up, walking to a door at the very end of the room, in which Ora guessed was her quarters. She shook her head again, bid them good night, and walked through. Orion stared at Sirius, who stared right back.
"Er...... Thank you," she muttered, rubbing her head before reaching over and grabbing a glass of water, drinking it all in one gulp. Sirius shrugged.
"Your welcome. Ya know, you really shouldn't be climbing trees over-"
"Why'd you save me?' she interrupted, staring at him, curious to why someone even cared. He shrugged, his gaze wandering.
"Wasn't gonna let a fellow Gryffindor drown now was I?" he chuckled, dropping to the mattress limply, staring at the boring white ceiling. Ora shrugged, watching him, as his eyelids grew heavy. Soon, he was fast asleep. Ora curled up into a ball, her tail wrapped around her, as she too, fell through the barrier of consciousness.
A/N: Okay, you know the drill. Reviews make me write more, so hustle up... Update I rewrote this chapter because some people were telling me it went too fast, and I agreed. I hope it's better now, and I may rewrite it again, as I don't fell 100% satisfied yet... And Trogdor smiteth, and all was left to Burnination...