The pain of losing Sirius was still with Harry, though he tried to ignore it. Sirius, as irresponsible as he was, was his best hope at having a real home, a real family. No one seemed to care but Harry – the others would never know what Harry went through after Sirius went through a curtain! A curtain! What sort of idiot at the Ministry of Magic constructed a curtain to separate the Space Betwixt the World of the Living, and the World of the Dead? "O, th' pain!" Harry cried. "If only Sirius had not gone beyond the veil! O, ruinous fortune! I defy you, oh Fate! I spurn your decree! I shall find a way to retrieve him!"
There was a terrible clap of thunder that shook the very walls of Hogwarts at this decree. Upon the highest parapet, Harry cried his resolute pledge of determination, to find a way to retrieve his godfather from the World of the Dead! Dumbledore had told Harry that there was no way of doing it, that once dead, a witch or wizard couldn't be summoned back, but Harry knew that he could do it! He had defeated the Dark Lord when he was only a child, he had time and time again gotten through impossible feats of magical mayhem! Nothing was beyond his scope!
Oh, hubris!
"Somewhere within the Restricted Section of the Library there must be an answer to my problem!" Harry resolutely exclaimed. "But the secret of eking out knowledge from books lies within only the grasp of my good friend Hermione! I am a Man of Action, not of Erudite Scholarship! Hermione shall never approve of my endeavors! Never!"
Harry could sense that he was no longer alone – there was a light feeling on the air that wasn't there a moment before, the suffusion of hope and light into the dark corners of his soul. He whirled around to see a girl standing in the twilight, the soft light of stars softening the features of her face, and keeping him from figuring out if her hair was a soft honey blond, a vibrant red, or a rich chestnut brown. What he could tell was that she had an understated beauty that, even in the darkness, assaulted his senses with its loveliness. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, her voice filled with uncertainty, "I didn't think that anyone would be up here."
"Neither did I, it's why I came up here," Harry said brusquely. "I wanted to be alone."
"Oh, I'm so very sorry," she said once again, her voice almost to tears. "I come up here sometimes – it isn't easy being an exchange student from America, and I miss my friends and family so very much…"
"Yes, well, that's fine, but I have issues of my own that I need to deal with," Harry said, starting to head for the stairs down, "so if you'll excuse me…"
"I overheard what you were speaking about, and I think that I can help you in this," she said quickly, in one giant breath.
"My affairs are my own, and are not meant to be bandied about, especially by pretty young girls such as yourself!"
The girl blushed at the compliment that slipped in amongst Harry's upset feelings. "A girl has a way of picking up on things, and when you're new to a place, you learn to learn as much as you possibly can about whatever it is that you're stuck in. There's a boy here in this school who I think could help you to…" her bell-like voice dropped off, leaving volumes unsaid.
"To bring back Sirius? Are you serious?" Harry asked excitedly.
"I've been, ever since I was young, Clairvoyant – it is the burden which I must bear, and when I came here, I noticed that there was a boy who has an aura of the World Beyond about him. He himself is caught between; neither fully alive nor fully…" again, her voice trailed off, unable to continue. A lone tear fell from her sparkling eyes that, in the moonlight, appeared silvery blue. "If anyone could help you in this endeavor, it would be Gildor Ravenwing."
"How do I know I can trust you, and that you aren't simply trying to make fun of me?" Harry asked her. "I don't even know your name!"
"I'm Melanie Rayne Farmer, but you can call me Mel," she said. "I don't know how to convince you that I'm speaking the truth, except to say that I have no reason to want to hurt you, or deceive you."
There was an earnest truthfulness in the girl's declaration – Harry couldn't help but believe that she was speaking the truth. "Fine, Mel," he said, "I'm Harry Potter; call me Harry. Take me to this friend of yours, then."
Authors' Notes:
Gillikin: Hey! I'm writing this with my friend Lyssoh, so if sometimes the writing style is a little different, don't worry! Mel is my character, and Gil belongs to her! We totally have some great ideas for this fic! Our Best Friend Meg helped name the story (love!), she's our BETA! Plz R&R!
Lyssoh:
Chris and I don't own Harry Potter (becuz if I did Sirius would be mine SO SEXI LOL). Read and review and I'll give you cookies (lol cookies). R&R the story and check back often for more!
