The Love Of A Wizard

It was two whole, agonizing days before Claudia heard from Remus or Sirius. Those two days were filled with Emma plying her with questions about when her ‘new friends’ were coming back. Claudia tried to keep Emma busy with the animals, but found herself looking out of the window every opportunity searching for signs of their return. Maybe it was because they had been cooped up in the country for so long that now that people had come, she wanted them back.
The morning was bright and cheerful as a summer morning could be. Claudia awoke to make coffee and breakfast. As she was adding water to the pot, she saw something move on the porch. The doorbell jarred her from her thoughts. They had finally come back. Dressed once again in t-shirt and sleeper pants, Claudia hurried to the door, but paused before opening it. She ran a hand over her short brown hair and tried to make it lay flat. She opened the door and was welcomed by two of the most handsome faces she could ever have hoped for. Remus smiled and gave a little nod. Sirius however, opened his arms and hugged Claudia and planted a loud kiss on her cheek.
“Morning! See…told you we would be back. Where’s Emma?” He was full of life and excitement. It seemed to amuse Remus to see his friend smiling so.
“She’s still asleep. Coffee?” Offering coffee was the only way she could think of to keep herself busy. So she poured two more cups of fresh coffee and sat down at the table. Remus sat opposite of her and Sirius stood in the kitchen, going through the cabinets. Giggling at all of the contraptions she had.
“Claudia, Thank you for being so wonderful about everything. I just want you to know it is so nice to meet such a caring person.” His eyes never left hers as he spoke and she felt herself blush.
“Oh Remus. Flattery will get you everywhere. What are you buttering me up for?” This was met with laughter from Sirius. He had been intrigued by a bag of instant pop popcorn before his fit of laughter.
“No Claudia. We mean every word of it. You helped Sirius when he needed it and we wish to extend our thanks for that.” He had reached out and patted Claudia’s hand as he spoke.
“Well Claudia, it’s like this,” Sirius had sat down next to her and was drinking his coffee with loud slurps. “I need somewhere to hang my hat for a bit. I am kind of on the run, so to speak, and I need to rest up and get my head together. I was hoping I could rest up a bit here with you.” His eyes were sunken in and his face was hollow and pale. But behind all of that, laughter was dancing in his eyes. This man needed much more than a relaxing holiday in the country.
“It would only be for a short time Claudia.” Remus spoke as if trying to take back everything Sirius had just said. “Until the summer is over, then we can find somewhere else…” His voice faded as he looked in Claudia’s face. She was smiling at him and waving her hand .
“Oh stop it Remus.” She was almost laughing now. “Of course you can stay here! You both are welcome and I could use some help around here. Don’t look so worried! It’s alright. Emma will be so happy about it too.” With her words, Remus looked as if he finally relaxed and Sirius was smiling over his coffee cup.
“There is one other that needs to come…if it’s ok?” Remus looked over at Sirius as he spoke, trying to get Sirius to speak.
“Yeah…” Sirius put his coffee cup down and began turning it in small circles on the table as he stared at it. “I have a … pet…that needs room to spread his wings. Seeing as though you are such the animal lover, I thought Buckbeak could come here too.” His eyes never left the cup.
“What’s a Buckbeak?” Claudia already knew this was going to be yet another fantastic tale. She looked back and forth between the men at her table. “Well? What the hell is a Buckbeak?”
“Perhaps we should show you, then you can make your decision.” Claudia let out a laugh and realized they had brought the “pet” already and had hoped she wouldn’t say no. Of course she wouldn’t say no to an animal! That’s what she does for goodness sake.
The two men took her out the front door and in her front yard. To the left of her house stood a horse… no …not a horse, a horse with wings and a bird’s head. It was pawing the ground with it’s clawed front feet.
“This is a Buckbeak?” Claudia’s voice was shaking.
“No…this is a Hippogriff whose name is Buckbeak.” Sirius smiled as he gave her a lesson on the magical creatures that were Hippogriffs.
“What do they eat?” Claudia asked, worried for all of her furry friends who had made their homes around her home.
“Oh don’t worry. I will take care of Buckbeak, you won’t have to do a thing.” As he spoke, he bowed to the Hippogriff and received one in return. He motioned for Claudia to do the same but she shook her head.
“No thanks. I’ll introduce myself later. Did you bring your things?” She addressed Sirius who in turn laughed at her.
“Claudia, sometime soon, you and I are going to have a long talk about what has brought me to this point in life. However, now is not the time.” As he spoke he put his arm around her and lead her back to the house. “For now, I can safely tell you I have everything I need. Well…I could use some food.” All three of them walked back to the house and were met with squeals of delight from Emma who had finally pulled herself from bed.
The day continued on as the five of them ate, talked and walked all around Claudia’s expansive grounds. Sirius was so excited by the swimming pool that he jumped in much to Emma’s delight. She then begged that they swim together everyday. Remus was much more reserved than Sirius and he would sit for long periods of time watching all the action around him.
Claudia and Emma were introduced to Buckbeak the next day. Sirius tried to get the girls to ride him but at this Claudia flatly refused. So he amused himself by showing off in front of the girls and making them duck as Buckbeak soared over head and swooped down low. All the while, Remus would disappear and reappear from the house. It was one of these periods of disappearance that Claudia asked Sirius what he was doing.
“Oh, Moony is keeping up on what Dumbledore is doing I suppose. See, there are things going on in our world that require our constant attention. Maybe it would do you some good to get caught up to speed.” He and Claudia had just put Emma down for bed when Remus suddenly appeared on the front lawn again. He knocked on the door before coming in.
“Would you stop doing that!” Claudia exclaimed. “You live here for God’s sake. When I told you to make yourself at home, I meant it. Do not knock again!” Remus knew she was joking, but he flushed a light pink even so.
“Remus, can you get us some wine? I think we could sit and have a chat with Claudia before you go.” With Sirius’s words, Claudia turned to look at Remus.
“You’re leaving?” She didn’t know why really, but her heart sank to the floor.
“Yes, just for awhile. A few days and I will be back. What did you want to chat with Claudia about Padfoot?” These nicknames were a source of delight to the two men who refused to explain why they called each other by these silly names. Claudia, tired of being joked with, stopped asking what they meant by it.
I think it is time we expanded out story to include some facts. You know, why it is I am on the run. Harry. Dementors. The Ministry of Magic.” He had been counting these things off on his fingers. Sirius filled his wine goblet with wine and sat back and stared Remus squarely in the face. “She has a right to know Remus. She really does. Especially if we are to be staying here.”
“Yes, I agree she should be filled in. However, we are not the ones to do that.” Remus spoke in his usual quiet, hoarse voice. “Sirius, I just got a letter from Dumbledore. He will be here later tonight to introduce himself to Claudia here and fill her in. He says she could come in handy.”
“Who is Dum…Dumbly...err…who?” Claudia was a little unnerved by the sudden turn in mood in the room. Sirius and Remus both were serious faced and thoughtful.
“Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore, is one of the most powerful wizards in our world. He is head of the wizarding school, Hogwarts. He…well…it’s hard to explain without details. What you should know is that he is powerful. But also one of the kindest people I have ever known. He has done a lot for me, for all of us.” Remus was standing now and pacing as he spoke. “He should be here soon.”
They all sat silently, sipping wine, each lost in their own thoughts. Breaking the silence was a rapping at the door. Claudia jumped and sloshed wine on her chin. Sirius headed to the door and Remus handed Claudia a handkerchief.
Standing on Claudia’s front doorstep was a tall, old man with long white hair and a beard to match. He wore a dark blue robe and small glasses perched on his nose. Sirius led him into the house and the man stood and looked around Claudia’s living room. She stood and the man known as Albus Dumbledore extended his hand to her. As she took his hand, their eyes met and she was instantly filled with a warmth that she did not expect.
“Ms. Moore. I have heard wonderful things about you. Thank you for welcoming me to your home. My name is Albus Dumbledore. But you may call me Albus.” His eyes seemed to sparkle as he spoke.
“Thank you. Albus. Please, come in and make yourself comfortable. Would you like some wine?” She didn’t know why, but her hands were shaking. This man standing before her radiated power and authority.
“Yes, thank you. Sirius, could you? Thank you, thank you.” He sipped his wine and settled into an arm chair. Sirius and Remus took up post on either side of Claudia. “Do I understand correctly it is just you and your daughter living here?”
“Yes. Emma and I have lived here for awhile now. Before that, I lived in the States.”
“Really! I have never known anyone from the States before.” He took another sip from his wine and set it down on the table next to him. He folded his hands together and looked across at Claudia.
“My dear, it warms my heart that you cared for our mutual friend Sirius. He is indebted to you.”
“Yeah I am.” Sirius answered.
“Remus and I have spoken at length and have come to the conclusion that we would like to invite you into our world and entrust secrets to you. Remus tells me you are honorable and trustworthy and that putting a level of trust in you would not be ill-advised.” Claudia could feel her face redden and chanced a glance over to Remus who sat with his head bowed over his wine.
“Well, I really don’t know what to say. Thank you Remus. I really don’t need to know everything. I understand some people have secrets and some need to stay that way. However, I ask that you tell me this, when I allowed these two” she gestured to the men beside her, “into my home, did I invite trouble as well?”
“Oh…I daresay you invited an element of trouble, yes. Does this bother you?”
She let out a slow breath. “A little. My only concern is for my daughter.”
“Understandable.” He nodded his head. “You have our protection, mine as well as these two.” He gestured to Remus and Sirius. “They are powerful in their own right. Now, I feel I must fill you in on certain things. First, Sirius has a responsibility to his godson Harry. From time to time I am sure, they will correspond by letter and what not. Remus will be taking care of things for me, so he will be in and out, so to speak. Secondly, Sirius has escaped from the wizarding prison Azkaban,” Claudia took a sharp intake of breath and looked at Sirius. “Please do not trouble yourself worrying about this. Sirius is an innocent man. Framed for a murder he did not commit some thirteen years ago. Our world went through terrible times then. All has been well until lately..” His voice trailed off.
“Sirius? Are you serious? You really are on the run? Oh my…well…is that all? Or are you going to tell me the bad news now?” Claudia could not help it but sarcasm was her only tool on hand. Dumbledore seemed to enjoy this and chuckled under his breathe.
“No…that is the worst of it…for now. Thank you Ms. Moore for allowing me to come into your home and for welcoming me so warmly. I do like muggle homes.” He nodded to each of them and swept out the door.
“So that was the most powerful wizard in your world huh?” Claudia sat back down and sipped her wine.
“Oh, don’t let him fool you. That man is good at what he does.” Remus drained his glass and turned to Sirius. “Have you written Harry yet?”
“Yes, once. I suppose I should send him another letter. Let him know I am still alright. I can’t stand him being left alone. I wish he could come here too.”
“Why can’t he? He is your godson, you know he can come here.” Claudia reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder.
“No, he can’t. He has to stay where he is. I’ll need an owl Remus.”
“An owl?” Claudia thought she had a grasp on things so far, but this took her completely by surprise. Remus laughed.
“We use owls to write letters to other wizards. Smart birds owls. Don’t know where we will find one around here though.”
“Can you use just any bird? I mean, there are some truly fascinating birds here.”
“Perhaps. We can look in on that tomorrow. I think I will turn in for the night. He filled his wine glass once more and carried it to his room and closed the door.
Claudia turned back to Sirius who sat stone faced , deep in thought. “Are you ok?”
He turned and looked at her and quickly dropped his eyes to his almost empty glass of wine. “Yes, I’m ok. My life for the past thirteen years has been…well…horrible. I escaped Azkaban to find vengeance for the death of my closest friend and wind up living here instead. I was framed for the murder of one slim ball, Peter Pettigrew. I didn’t kill him , like Dumbledore said, I am innocent of that. He is, in fact, not dead. But Peter turned on us when Voldemort was still out there and got my best friend and his wife killed. Voldemort tried to kill their infant son, Harry, but something happened that night and it killed him instead. The wizard world can be a beautiful, magical place. But it can be horrible too. We have horrors in our world that we have to fight to keep contained, otherwise, it will spill over into your world. Then, there is nothing anyone can do. That’s what Dumbledore does. And that’s what I intend to do too.” Claudia sat and stared at Sirius’s face. Any signs of laughter and fun had gone and now the years of pain and suffering were etched around his eyes. She fought the overwhelming urge to hug him and hold him like she would her daughter. Telling him everything would be alright. But she sat there and patted his shoulder once more.
“I’m going to bed Sirius. Thank you for telling me everything that you did. I…goodnight.” She reached down a softly gave him a kiss on his forehead. He looked up at her and smiled an empty smile.
“Goodnight Claudia. See you in the morning.”