92 Days

Lenore Witte was an average girl, nothing special about her except that when she visited London, she had an American accent. She had brown eyes and hair, fair skin, a narrow face, and she liked to wear summer dresses almost as much as she loved summer itself. Her mother worked as a receptionist in a stuffy office that sold life insurance, and her father was a writer in a newspaper column; ordinary jobs for ordinary Americans. Lenore may have been ordinary, until she found out she was a witch. Finally, there was something that made her different! During the school year, she went to a magical school called the Salem Institute of Magic, which was located on the historic grounds of Salem, Massachusetts. Ever since she was eleven, her parents had permitted her to fly all the way to London to stay with her grandmother over the summer.

This year was no different.

“Lenore, breakfast is ready!”

“Coming!” Lenore called from upstairs. She pulled a t-shirt over her head and a flowing red skirt, ran her fingers through her freshly washed hair, and bounded downstairs where her grandmother, Rose, sat waiting at the table.

“I noticed you're up rather early,” said Rose, motioning for Lenore to sit.

Lenore nodded. “I want to check out that new park today, Grandma,” she said between spoonfuls of bacon, eggs, and gulps of coffee.

Rose smiled. “Good of you to get up early, then. Else the sun will be high-”

“And the heat too hot.”

“As every summer you come and visit,” Rose agreed.

It was the last few days of May, and the heat was already damp and somewhat brutal. Lenore often found this to be the best kind of weather, the heat and sunlight being a symbol of summer. It was oftentimes this warm during her vacations here in London, but the heat in Massachusetts was never like this.

“I should be back before dinner, Grandma. I'll probably check out the stores down the street as well.”

“Alright, dear. Be careful. But do try and embark on some new adventure; that's what you're here for every year, isn't it?” said Rose with a smile.

Lenore nodded, grabbed her bag and left the house. The rock path leading from the house to the street was hot beneath her shoes as she set out, indeed to find a new adventure. The houses all along the street were cute and picturesque, lawns trimmed and paint unscathed. There was one building across the street that always caught her eye; it was large and tall, the paint dark and the lawn neat. It wasn't ostentatious, but it had always captivated Lenore with its humble, quiet grandeur; it looked antique rather than simply ancient.

She stopped at the corner of the street to admire the building. She'd never set foot in it, and had never seen a foot leave it. Maybe it was abandoned; she'd have to investigate it at some point this vacation. Lenore rounded the street corner and headed down a few more streets before finding the park. It was relatively new; the last time Lenore had been here, about a year ago, it had still been under construction. Now, it sat there in its own glory, the grass a vivacious green and the trees obscuring the view from passersby, unless they were curious enough to poke their heads in through the gap created by a group of tall bushes at the park entrance.

Lenore stepped through the bushes and it was like stepping into a new world. There wasn't a mere trail to walk on, but a bridge over a clear blue pond. There were fields of grass and wildflowers and dandelions, the sunshine breaking through the shade at certain areas like holes in a net; it seemed like a wild forest, and Lenore's perfect new haven. For the next few days, this was where she stayed until the bright sun no longer washed over the streets. She rarely came across any other people, especially since she'd burrowed deep into the park where there was a clearing and a large tree stump that served as a magnificent chair, or even a table.

On the first of June, the heat was stuffy in the house, and Lenore escaped to the park. She found her usual tree stump and sat to read, back against another tree. She was immersed in her book when a voice called to her.

“So you come here often?”

Lenore very nearly shrieked; the scream stayed lodged in her throat as she wildly glanced around. The only other being near her was a small sparrow that stared at her. “Was that you?”

A laugh resonated through the still trees, and the sparrow took flight. “And you always talk to the birds, too?”

“Where are you?”

Suddenly, something leaped out of the tree next to Lenore. No, not a thing; it was a boy, around Lenore's age.

“Odd of you to ask for where instead of who,” he said, brushing black fringe from his eyes. They seemed to dance in the light, and he had a sly smile, like a fox; mischievous.

“Lady killer.”

“What?”

“What's your name, I said,” Lenore asked, fright quickly replaced by curiosity.

“Black,” he said. “Sirius Black. You know, like the star.”

Lenore nodded. “I'm Lenore. Like the poem.”

The boy named Sirius stared at her. “Poem?”

“Yes. Edgar Allan Poe. Don't tell me you don't know who he is!”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “I wish I didn't have to, but I really don't know.”

“Oh, come now! He wrote 'The Raven.' That's where Lenore is from! You know, 'Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary'...?” When he continued to stare blankly, she shook her head. “Never studied literature and English, did you?”

“Well, I'm speaking English right now, aren't I?”

Lenore laughed. “You're weird.”

Sirius smiled. “Muggles,” he murmured fondly.

Suddenly, Lenore looked back at him. Her face broke out in a grin. “You're a wizard!”

If Sirius had looked confused before, now he looked utterly bewildered. “Bloody hell! But you're not.. not a-”

“Witch?” Lenore finished, laughing some more. “Surely you didn't think I was a Muggle?”

Again, Sirius just stared at her before letting out a bark of laughter. His eyes glittered. “Well of course I thought you were a Muggle! You look like one.”

Lenore looked down at her attire. “Do I really?”

Sirius nodded. “Besides, you never really showed any sign of magical ability or anything of the sort.”

Lenore grabbed her book and showed him the front cover. “Oh yes, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard', how Muggle-like,” she said, smiling.

“I didn't see that,” he admitted. “Why are you reading a children's book? And where are you even from, anyway? I'm sure I'd have seen you before if you were from here.”

“I'm reading this because it's interesting! My whole family is full of Muggles, see. I've never known any magical children's tales. Actually, I never even knew they existed until a friend lent me it,” Lenore replied, holding up the book again. “Anyway, I'm from Massachusetts. I'm staying at my grandmother's for the summer.”

Sirius snorted. “Seems like you're staying at this park a lot more.”

“How would you know? You thought I was a Muggle!” Lenore teased.

“Probably the fact that I've seen you come here for five days straight,” Sirius answered. “I've been up in that tree the entire time and you never looked up,” he added, seeing her confused expression.

“And you couldn't have said something?”

Sirius grinned. “I said something today, didn't I? And I scared you instead.”

“Fair enough,” Lenore agreed. “Um... do you want to go for some coffee with me? I know it's warm out, but...”

Sirius' smile faltered. “Erm... I can't. I should have been home ages ago, actually.”

Lenore was disappointed. “Oh... that's unfortunate. Well, off you go then. It was nice meeting you, though.”

Sirius nodded, his quirky smile returning. “You too,” he said, and disappeared from the clearing.

Lenore watched his retreating figure until he was out of sight. She grabbed her book and sat back down to read, thoughts of this new enigmatic Sirius Black piercing through everything else.