A/N: Thank you so much to ellieo for the review - you're so sweet!
Anyway, here's the second chapter. I promise that things are going to get more exciting soon - I have a lot planned for Mirabella (and others ;D)! I'll try to update as often as I can - every time I sit down at the computer another chapter seems to come out of me LOL.Please review if you liked it!
The young man froze, staring at her. "You. What?" he said, and then tried to cover his mistake by quickly saying, "Er – I mean, I don't know what you're talking about."
Mirabella thought fast. It was obvious that her mysterious visitor was a wizard – no matter how bizarre that would have seemed to her a few hours ago – and that he didn't want her to know about it. Of course, she thought. I'm a Muggle, and it's illegal for him to tell me anything about the wizarding world. Her thoughts whirled as she tried to come up with a way to convince him that it was okay to talk to her. A thought occurred to her, and she smiled. Maybe if I give him a bit of a shock, she thought with an inward, wicked smile.
"Crucio", she said softly, and watched as he flinched. "Imperio. Impedimenta. Stupefy. Avada Ke-"
"All right!" the young man said, flinging out one hand in a protective gesture that would have been useless, had she been a witch. "Stop. I believe you."
Mirabella couldn't stop the grin that broke across her face. Magic was real, it was all real, and she had a real live wizard standing in front of her doorway. An incredibly good-looking wizard…but she stopped that line of thought. You just found out that magic is real, Mirabella, she thought to herself. Don't go looking for anything more.
"But how did you – " the young man stuttered, looking a little lost. His face cleared suddenly as he was obviously struck with an idea. "You're a Squib, aren't you?"
"Um…no," Mirabella said, trying to find a way to explain. A corner of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix dug into her shoulder, reminding her of its presence. She grabbed onto the book, just to have something solid to hang onto while the foundations of her world shifted.
"Then how…" her visitor muttered, shaking his head in confusion.
"I – I read about you," Mirabella blurted, and then blushed. She hadn't meant to say that, at least not yet.
The young man's mouth worked silently for several moments, and then he said, "Muggles have books about us? But the Statute of Secrecy…" He trailed off, looking confused.
Mirabella felt as though she had to help him out. "I thought they were fiction, until you cast Alohomora on my door," she said.
The young man appeared to be lost in thought for a long moment, looking at her, and then the book, and then the door. His lips moved silently, as though he were arguing with himself.
Finally he nodded, like someone who has come to a decision, and fixed his eyes on her again. "All right. So where am I?" he asked briskly.
"Um – you're in my dorm room," Mirabella said, a bit lamely, and then cringed inwardly as she realized how silly that sounded. He quirked an eyebrow, and she added rapidly, "At Kenniston College. In Oregon."
His eyes went wide at that. "I'm in America?" he said disbelievingly. "But how – " Then he shrugged. "I suppose it's not any stranger to wake up in America than anywhere else."
Taking the few steps between her door and her bed, he sat down on the edge of her mattress, causing her heart rate to temporarily go through the roof. He stuck out his hand, and she flinched, and then blushed at her silly reaction.
"I suppose we might as well introduce ourselves," he said. "My name is Sirius Black."
If Mirabella thought her head was spinning before, it was nothing compared to this. It's all true, she thought helplessly, hearing her knuckles crackle in complaint as she clutched at the book in her hands. Sirius Black – but how? She was aware that Sirius was looking at her oddly, but she couldn't seem to pull herself out of the whirlwind that was blowing through her mind long enough to answer. Sirius Black – looking like he's my age, sitting on my bed! A voice in her head was gibbering nonsense at her. She forced herself to take the proffered hand, saying quietly, "Mirabella Owens."
Sirius grinned at her, making her heart give another twitch at the way his face lit up when he smiled. Shut up, Mirabella, this isn't the time, she thought to herself. "Well, Mirabella," he said jauntily, apparently having recovered his composure, "any idea how I got here? Or better yet, any idea how I can get back? There's a – " and then he broke off, looking wary.
Mirabella couldn't stop staring at him. He looked so young – not at all the way he was described in the books she'd read, unless you counted – "How old are you?" she blurted before she could stop herself.
Both his eyebrows rose this time. "That's hardly a polite question," he said. "But I'm nineteen – why do you ask?"
Nineteen. Only a year older than her. Only a year out of Hogwarts. Mirabella's mind raced. "Then that means – " she said, and then bit her tongue. Did she dare reveal information about his future? She remembered what Hermione had said about the dangers of meddling in the past. Did it count as the same thing if characters from a book showed up in your bedroom?
"Means what?" Sirius said, fixing her with a sharp stare. "What?" he pressed, when she bit her lip and refused to reply.
"Um – it means you're not old enough to drink yet," Mirabella said lamely, grasping at the first thing that came to mind.
"I certainly am," Sirius replied, drawing himself up a little. "And if you're going to offer me a drink, I wouldn't refuse. It's been a strange night."
"No – I mean that wasn't – I mean, I don't keep alcohol in my room," Mirabella said, trying to recover from her near-slip. She wasn't sure if it would change anything, but she knew from every book she'd read about time travel that it could be disastrous to meddle without knowing what you were doing. She'd just have to wait and see.
Sirius gave her a long look, but let her fumbling answer pass. "The question is, how did I get here?" he asked, still watching her.
Mirabella squirmed under that steady gaze, suddenly remembering that she was still in her pajamas and huddled under the covers. "Um, I don't know," she said awkwardly. "Um – do you suppose you could turn your back so I can get dressed?"
Sirius leapt up from the bed immediately. "Of course," he said. "I must have forgotten my manners – I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He walked to the other side of the room and ostentatiously turned his back.
"It's all right," Mirabella said faintly, and began groping around the floor for the clothes she'd worn the night before.
Once she was dressed, Mirabella felt a little more comfortable around her unexpected visitor. She sat on the edge of the bed, allowing Sirius to take the desk chair. For a long moment they just sat, looking at each other. Mirabella fidgeted a little. Her bedside clock clicked faintly as it rolled over to display 7:00AM.
"So," Sirius said, gesturing vaguely.
"Yeah," Mirabella replied, trying to think of something useful to say. They stared at each other some more.
Suddenly they were both startled by a tapping at the window. Looking out, Mirabella saw an owl hovering just outside. They both rushed to the window and ended up running into each other. They fell down, but Sirius grabbed her arm at the last second and kept them both upright. Their eyes locked, and neither of them moved for a second. Then the owl tapped on the window again, insistently, and Mirabella gasped, turning away from Sirius to work the latch holding the window closed.
The owl hovered long enough for her to retrieve the scroll it held in its talons; then it flew away so quickly that she almost dropped her prize. As soon as she'd brought it back inside Sirius snatched it from her hands.
"Sorry, but it's not for you," he muttered as he unrolled the parchment and scanned it quickly. When he got to the end he cursed softly. At Mirabella's questioning look, he shoved the missive at her, turning away to mutter darkly under his breath.
Mirabella unrolled the scroll curiously, and let her eyes scan down its contents:
Dear Sirius,
Rest assured that we are aware of your disappearance, and that we are doing everything we can to bring you back to us.
Unfortunately, the curse that was used to send you to your current place and time is a fairly complex one, and it may take us a while to counteract it. The peculiar nature of the curse is such that you will have to spend as much time in your current spatiotemporal location as it will take for us to find a countercurse.
I hope that this letter finds you well, and that you will have no difficulty obtaining shelter for the time that it takes us to find a solution to this problem.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore.
Mirabella stared at the letter, which had somehow been sent in defiance of the laws of space and time (and fiction, a part of her mind insisted on adding). As the words sunk in, she looked up at Sirius, who was staring out the window with his jaw and fists clenched.
"Um – Sirius?" she said uncertainly, tasting his name in her mouth for the first time. "That is – ah – if you need a place to stay – " She broke off as he turned around, his eyes burning with a frightening intensity. Uncertainly, she took a step back.
For a moment, Sirius just looked at her, but then he spoke, in a quiet tone that nonetheless demanded immediate answers. "What year is it?" he asked, his eyes boring into her relentlessly.
