Chapter18:

Making Plans

After staring at the letter for what seemed like forever Siriussa finally set it down and, noticing her owl's look, went and got Ramon's treats and gave one to him. As he sat nibbling humbly, Siriussa started pondering her letter. For how many times she read it, she should've known it by heart, but she lacked that skill and therefore, to refresh her mind, she reread the letter:

Dear Siriussa,

First of all, it's really splendid to hear from you, since it's been so long. When I first read to whom it
was from I wasn't sure if I read correctly. But alas, I had. I hope you are well. Now to get down to what you asked about in your letter. You enquired if you could meet me somewhere so we could talk, I believe? Well, I'd relish that, and it was lovely for you to invite me to your hotel room, but to tell you the truth, I'm not a big fan of Scrivenshafts. So if you don't mind I would love for you to come to Hogwarts and we could talk over lunch. But I'll leave it up to you which to choose, because it was your request. So I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore

"Well, Ramon," Siriussa sighed, "it seems I'll be visiting that wonderful castle that I've only ever dreamed about since I was a young girl."

Ramon hooted.

Siriussa smiled at him. "Ya know," she began, "it's always nice to have someone to talk to, even if it is an owl, and I'm glad I have you."

Ramon hooted again, then flew to Siriussa and nipped her nose.

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After Siriussa responded to Dumbledore by telling him that she was free the following days, she went outside for a walk to get some fresh air, and boy was it fresh. The snow was falling from the sky like heavy tear drops from a spoiled child that doesn't get his way.

So the first place she went to was the Three Broomsticks, where she decided to sit up by the bar. After she ordered her butterbeer, she sat and sipped it, looking and absorbing the throng around her.

While she was drinking the last sip of her drink, someone must've fancied interest in her, because when she set her mug down a man was sitting next to her.

"Hello. I'm Derrik." He greeted her, smiling a prominent smile, showing his flashy white teeth.

"Hey." Siriussa responded, then called to a waitress and ordered another butterbeer.

"What's your name?" he persisted, after ordering a butterbeer too, then offering to pay for them.

"Why do you ask?" she enquired. She was getting sick of strange people knowing her name.

"I just want to put a name to this lovely face of yours."

Siriussa considered him, eyebrows raised. In normal circumstances anyone would love the situation she was in, but Siriussa had always protested people who based others on looks. Everybody always told her she had above average looks, but she seemed to always respond, either out loud or, for respect, to herself, that there shouldn't be an average of looks or beauty. They would insist that any guy would love to date her, but she knew they meant guys would date her for her looks, which she didn't morally agree with.

But she hadn't been approached by a guy in some time, besides recently, and she put that probably to the fact she barely went out and made herself approachable before her journey started. So when she saw this guy, who didn't look as stunningly normal or strange as any of the other people she met, she considered him. This included, after looking at this man named Derrik, wondering why the hell he'd go for her when he could get any other girl in the country - he looked so hot.

"My name's Siri." She finally said, giving in for his cunningness.

"Well, that's a very colorful name. Is it short for anything?"

She thought about this question for a second then responded, "Siria - It's short for Siria."

"Wow," he said after a minute, "I must say that name is one of a kind. I like it." And he truly looked like he meant what he said.

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Siriussa spent only a tad but more of the day with Derrik, but then had to go to work. They decided to meet up later, and so after work Siriussa had him come to Honeydukes. After he bought some candy for them to share, he took her to see some awesome shops. He introduced her to shops that she hadn't ever seemed to notice or think to visit before. She had a blast.

When it started getting dark, he walked her to her hotel room and gave her his card, then wished her good night and left.

When she went up to her room, it was yet again rather chilly because of her relentless habit of leaving her window open.

Ramon was still not back yet, and she wondered how long it was going to take. After not even a half an hour later the snowy owl flew into the room with the response attached to his leg.

Since some of the fervor wore off she wasn't as hasty as she was the first time she tried to detach the letter, and it went quite a bit smoother.

She unfolded the parchment and it read:

Dear Siriussa,

Fantastic! We can meet tomorrow then, and talk over lunch. Maybe I can ever give youa tour of the
school if we have time and only if you'll oblige. I'll send a carriage for you to ride into Hogwarts - it'll be at the front of Hogsmeade - and I'll meet you there, in front of the school. See you tomorrow!

Yours Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore

ps- i am sorry if you're reading this and i'm very slow at updating.
things have been quite busy around here, even though i know that's not an excuse.
but i guess i holded off even more when i tried to post a song fic and they rejected it.
i was so happy and proud of that fic, and i loved it, and they turned it away like it were poisonous.
so yeah, picture that.
i dunno how i'm gunna do it, but i'm gunna fins some place to post it, and i'll tell you guys where to look... it was so cool!
i'm gunna try to be as fast as i can at updating more, but i promise nothing...

REVIEW!