Poison & Wine//A BBC Sherlock fanfic

Prologue~Ghost of the Past

On the night that Sherlock Holmes and his younger sister Teddy turned up on Cosette Bellamy's front doorstep, it had been raining heavily. Throughout the day it had slowly been building, starting off as a light sprinkle before turning into a heavy downpour.

Sherlock had, at first, not been keen on the idea of searching for Cosette. He didn't have much of a choice, though. It had been late when he and his sister had arrived in France and most hotels had either closed for the night or had no vacancy.

"Besides," Teddy had said, her voice loud over the rain. "When we're this close to England it probably isn't a good idea to be sleeping in hotels. Anyone could notice us."

Sherlock would've been fine with just finding a place in the streets to sleep but Teddy had been against that idea for two reasons. The first: she was tired, hungry, wet and felt as though a cold was coming on so she really wasn't in the mood to be sleeping in the gutter. The second: why sleep in the streets when your brother knows someone who lives not too far from where they were at the time.

So, without arguing (because Sherlock knew that he would lose) the Holmes' siblings caught a late night bus to Montargis, France, before walking for thirty minutes to the outskirts of the place. They walked up a hill, turned left and found themselves on a street that had no exits and only a small amount of houses. Right at the end of the street was their destination: a small cottage made out of white stone with dark green vines twisting up the side. As the siblings had walked up onto the porch Sherlock couldn't help but think back to the last time he had seen Cosette Bellamy. It was not a good memory for him and he pushed it aside as his sister rang the doorbell.

At first, nobody answered. Obviously. It was just after two in the morning, everyone in the house would be asleep. After the third try, though, a light turned on inside. Faintly the siblings could hear someone mumbling French swearwords as they approached the door. When the door was pulled open Sherlock had to shield his eyes briefly, the glare of the light cutting through his vision which had been used to the dark. When his eyes adjusted, though, he stared at the woman in front of him.

He remembered her when she had been younger. Looking at her now she had not changed much. Only a few things were different. She looked slightly taller. She had a bit more of a curve to her body, something she hadn't had when she was younger. Back then she had been straight up and down, hardly any curves at all. That had changed. Her skin was tanned and he could see a few freckles at the base of her neck, just above the neckline of her nightgown.  Her hair- a rich honey blonde color flowing down like a golden waterfall past her shoulders and down her back- was longer than last time he had seen her. Her face wasn't as round as what it used to be. She had lean features that stuck out more now that she was older. Long, thin face. Sharp nose, more defined cheekbones, arched eyebrows. Her lips were full and slightly parted like a rose just beginning to bloom. Her eyes, almond shaped and half shut with tiredness stared straight ahead, her cloudy white irises-

White? Sherlock took half a step back in surprise. Her eyes were gold, not white-

"Bonjour," she said, staring straight ahead. Sherlock didn't reply, he was too busy staring at her eyes-

Her eyes, that could not see him.

"Um, hi," Teddy said, slightly taken aback by her blindness but not as much as Sherlock. With a closer look Sherlock could see a few scars here and there around her eyes. "Um, I'm Teddy Holmes and this-"

"'olmes?" she repeated, her French accent thick as she spoke in English. "I know zat name, but I 'ave not 'eard it in many years."

With a small gasp Sherlock spoke, finally able to get over his shock at seeing her.

"Cosette?"

She took a step back, her hand flying up to clutch her chest in shock. Her lips moved but no sound was made. With a small whisper she replied.

"Sherlock? No, but- but it can't be. You are dead."

"I'm not," Sherlock answered. Teddy moved to the side as Sherlock took a step forward, water dripping from his hair and down his face. "Could- could we come in?"

Without a word Cosette stepped to the side, gesturing for the siblings to enter. They did, Teddy pulling up the rear looking like a drenched rat, and once they were inside Cosette closed the door firmly shut behind them, locking out the rest of the world.

Author Note: Woo hoo! First chapter up :D The next one will turn up soon, my lovelies, so stay tuned!