Dark Come Soon

There had been a consensus within Alexandra’s family. They had all agreed that when Alexandra set eyes on her mother, she would be struck by an overwhelming sense of happiness. That was also how Alexandra had expected to feel when she met her mother for the first time in so many years, but as she stared at the oddly dressed woman that stood before her, she felt nothing of the sort. There was no surge of great emotion, no crippling joy that forced tears from her eyes.

There was only curiosity.

Alexandra was curious to learn more about the woman that had given life to her, curious to learn about ways to hopefully master her ability. Curiosity was all she felt and Alexandra felt guilty for not being overjoyed. She had, after all, dreamt of meeting her mother on countless occasions and the fact that she felt nothing, angered her.

Unlike her daughter, Sybill felt an immense joy that forced tears from her dark green eyes and rendered her incapable of speech. All she could do was stare upon the face of her daughter in silence, marveling at how much she had grown in the years that they had been apart.

It felt like just yesterday that Sybill had been rocking Alexandra to sleep in the nursery that she had worked so hard to set up and now, in place of that infant, stood a young woman that towered over her by a few inches.

Andrés observed the scene in silence. He had thought that Sybill would take their daughter into her arms and hold her tightly while rambling about how much she had grown. That was the sort of behavior that he expected from her.

The silence wasn’t.

He had never seen Sybill so quiet, so still. It unnerved him greatly for he wanted Sybill’s flamboyant nature to be on full display so that Alexandra could fall in love with her vibrant mother.

Seeing as to how neither woman spoke. Andrés took it upon himself to break the silence.

“Mija (daughter),” he spoke. “Show your mom what you got her.”

Alexandra’s eyes flickered to the brightly colored floral arrangement in her hands. She breathed in softly before taking the five steps that would leave her mere inches from her mother.

“I got you some flowers. Hope you like them.” Alexandra held out the flowers to Sybill, a timid smile playing across her lips.

The flowers were gladly taken by Sybill whom brought them up to her face so that she could bury her nose in them, relishing in the soft scent that reminded her of a field of wild flowers after the rain.

“Thank you.” her eyes were firmly fixed on Alexandra and after a few seconds of contemplation, she threw open her arms and took Alexandra into a tight embrace. “I'm so glad you’re here Alexandra, so very glad.

The intense affection caught Alexandra off guard. For the first minute or so of the exchange, she merely stood there with a perplexed expression. Then, when the initial shock wore off, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Sybill and buried her face in the golden blonde tresses. The smell of honey and wildflowers mixed with burnt incense struck Alexandra. It was a soothing scent.

“You have your father’s lips and nose,” whispered Sybill when she pulled away. “But those are my eyes.”

“That’s what my dad’s always said,” Alexandra smiled awkwardly. She wasn’t fond of attention.

Sybill chuckled softly, caressing Alexandra’s hair as she did so. “Short hair looks lovely on you. Did you cut it yourself?”

“No, my Nana Aurelia cut it. She’s the only one that cuts my hair.”

“Your mother” Sybill turned to Andrés.

Andrés nodded. “I'm surprised you remember her name.”

“It hasn’t been long enough for me to forget everything from our time together. I still remember most things, well, the important ones at least.” Sybill grew quiet, staring absentmindedly into the distance for a few seconds before remembering where they were meant to go. “I believe it’s time we head towards the Tower in which I live. Dumbledore and his granddaughter are set to join us there.”

“I thought it was just going to be us three,” blurted Alexandra. Her body tensed at the thought of being joined by strangers.

There had once been a time when Alexandra had welcomed the company of strangers, a time when she easily conversed with anyone that crossed her path and could truly enjoy their company but that no longer ran true. People now made her uncomfortable.

“Oh no, the headmaster wishes to meet both of you.” Sybill paused briefly before adding. “Why?” she added. ”Is something the matter?”

“No,” Alexandra lied. “Just surprised that the headmaster is going to be there, they’re usually really busy with important stuff to make time to personally meet a student.”

“Dumbledore always makes time for others.” Sybill proudly stated. “And he is very eager to meet you. There are so few true seers that coming across one is a treat.” Sybill noted the change in Alexandra’s complexion. “Do not worry about him judging. He won’t think you odd or dangerous and neither should you. There is nothing wrong with your ability, it is a gift.”

“In that case, what do you think the return policy is?”

“Why in Merlin’s name would you want to exchange it?” Sybill failed to grasp the humor.

“Because I have a feeling that being a metamorphmagus would be more fun,” Alexandra smiled in direction of Andrés whom was having trouble stifling his laughter.

“More fun, perhaps, but not nearly as precious a gift. That, you will learn in time.” Sybill smiled reassuringly and took Alexandra’s right hand in hers. “Follow.”

The climb to the tower was much longer than Alexandra thought it’d be. They had gone up countless flights of stairs and in all honesty, she was tired. Alexandra wasn’t a very active youth, she went out on walks in the evening with her dad but she didn’t run or do any strenuous exercise that would have prepared her for the never ending stairs.

By the time that they reached Sybill’s office on the seventh floor of the north tower, Alexandra was out of breath and beads of sweat had formed along her hairline. She placed her free hand on her hip while shooting her father a questioning look. He merely shrugged at her response and discreetly wiped the sweat from his brow.

Sybill was completely oblivious to the exchange that occurred behind her. She was far to focused on opening the door to her classroom to notice that her guests were exhausted. She threw the door open, leading them into her classroom which doubled as her home.

In the middle of the room was a large oak table which had been arranged for five people. The tablecloth contained several bright colors which had been swirled about and sprinkled with sparkling gems.

“This is exquisite.” Alexandra’s ran her fingers against the fabric. “Where’d you buy it? I’d love to get one for my room.”

“It would go nice on your dresser.” Andrés agreed. “But I don’t think this is mass produced. There’s too much detail on it.” He then turned to face Sybill. “Did you make this? It seems like a Trelawney original.”

“That’s because it is,” stated Sybill, quite proud that her work was being well reviewed. “But if you like, Alex, I could make one for you.”

“Oh no, that’d be way too much work . . . I wouldn’t want to impose like that.” Alexandra mumbled, making odd hand movements as she did so.

Sybill smile warmly, eyes twinkling with excitement. “Nonsense, I want to make one.”

A knock came from the door. Sybill excused herself from them and walked towards the entryway so that she could welcome her guests. Warm greetings were exchanged between them and once the greetings had been said, they made their way to where Alexandra was standing beside her father.

The first to greet Alexandra was Dumbledore.

His long, silver hair bounced lightly as he stepped towards her. His face was adorned with a bright, welcoming smile and his piercing blue eyes twinkled with a mixture of kindness and curiosity, the former being present at a higher level.

Alexandra was in awe of his eyes, the kindness radiating from them was overwhelming and as she looked into them, she felt deep within her being that coming to Hogwarts had been the right choice.

“You must be Alexandra,” his voice was calm and pleasant, reminding her of wind chimes on a breezy afternoon. “It is a pleasure to finally meet. Your mother has talked about you nonstop in these last weeks.”

She smiled shyly. “I hope it was all good.”

“Rest assured that it was. Ah. It seems that I forgot to introduce myself. I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts.” He bowed politely as he held his hand out for her to take.

Alexandra shook his hand, her smaller hand easily being engulfed by his. “I'm Alexandra and I just wanted to say thank you for letting me transfer into Hogwarts. I know that it was short notice and that you didn’t have to let me in, but thank you for letting me. It really means a lot.”

“There’s no need to thank me, it’s only natural that you come here and I am sure that, at Hogwarts, you will not only learn to master you abilities but you will do so in a welcoming environment.” Dumbledore’s eyes flickered to Andrés. “Ah, is that your father?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I think it time for me to have a chat with him. Lovely meeting you, Alexandra,” he shot her a smile before leaving to speak to her father.

For a brief moment, Alexandra allowed herself to believe that the introductions had finished, that no one else was going to join them but then a young woman, no older than sixteen, appeared before her. She had long dark hair that framed her face and a silver piercing on her lip. Not exactly the sort of person that expected to meet at Hogwarts.

“I'm Ramona, but you can call me Mona,” she introduced herself.

“Alexandra, but Alex is fine.”

“Well then Alex, I like your hair, looks good on you.”

“Thanks. I like your piercing. Did it hurt?”

“No,” Ramona grinned. “And even if it had it would’ve been worth it.”

“Girls, it’s time for dinner.”

The pair sat down at their respective seats while the adults began discussing the arrangements. Not four minutes had passed when Ramona turned to Alexandra, eager to strike a conversation.

“So, have you ever been to a boarding school?”

Alexandra shook her head, placing down her fork as she did so. “No. This is going to be new to me.”

“This will become home very quickly.” Ramona grinned. “The people here become family and we look after each other.”

“I heard last year was very dark for the school.”

“It was, but we made it through like a family. We stuck together and we took back our school,” she laughed at the memory of the Weasley boys flying on their brooms. “My grandpa told me about your visions.”

Alexandra tensed. Her eyes widened as the familiar fear crept into her being.

“Don’t worry. I overheard him talk about you with the Professor,” Ramona said. “I'm just clearing the air so you don’t have to pretend. I want to be friends and if you ever need anything, you can always come to me.”

“You’re not scared?” whispered Alexandra, disbelief present in her voice.

“Scared? Why would I be scared? It’s not like you’re some evil creature or dark wizard. You can see into the future, it’s different, but not scary. I think it’s cool.” She wrinkled her nose and returned her attention to the plate before her.

Alexandra stared at her plate in silence, her lips tugging upwards as she replayed Ramona’s words. She had never thought of her ability as cool and when she’d asked her friends what they thought about seers; all they had said was that seers were freaks. So hearing someone her age state otherwise was strangely reassuring.

The dinner went fine.

At the end of it, when the plates had been cleared, Dumbledore suggested that Ramona take Alexandra on a tour of Hogwarts while the adults discussed more about the arrangement. Had it been someone else, Alexandra would have protested the forced interaction but Ramona held a similar aura as Dumbledore, it was one of calmness and acceptance.

The pair wandered through Hogwarts, Ramona acting as tour guide. Ramona did most of the talking, pointing out interesting facts about the school and cracking a few jokes every so often. Alexandra had made an effort to be friendly, but after so many months of being a recluse, her socializing skills weren’t what they once were.

After an hour long tour of Hogwarts, the pair returned to Sybill’s office where the adults had just finished discussing what was going to happen. Apparently, Alexandra and her father were going to move in on the following day to the living area in the Hospital Wing. It was a two bedroom area that would be shared with Madam Pomfrey, meaning that Alexandra and Andrés were going to have to share a chamber until the former was sorted into a house at the start of term.

Now that all the information had been given, Dumbledore offered to let them apparate in his office so they wouldn’t have to journey back to Hogsmeade. The offer was gladly accepted and the pair returned to their home in Los Angeles, where the sun was still shining brightly and the day was young.

The moment that Alexandra entered their house, she bolted up the stairs so she could get to her room and throw off the clothes that she had worn for the dinner. She then threw on a pair of dark washed jeans and a grey shirt that she could be comfortable in while she sketched in the backyard.

With all her sketching supplies in her bag, she made her way to the backyard where she began sketching wildly, her charcoal pencils darting across the paper as she put her visions onto paper. She spent well over an hour sketching in the backyard, lost in her own little world. It wasn’t until she heard laughter that she remembered that she wasn’t the only one out there and when that laughter grew strong enough for her to recognize its owners, her heart stopped.

It was Mavis and Willow, her ex best friends.

Their laughter penetrated her being, forcing her to think about what it was that had them laughing so hard, forcing her to remember all the days that she had spent her afternoons laughing and it was at that moment that the loneliness set in.

It was at that moment that the world reminded her that she no longer lived.

She merely existed.