Callum McHenry and Seraphina Heinrich (title pending)

Chapter 1 Dying Is Easy/Chance Meeting

My name is Seraphina Heinrich and while I am telling you my story I want you to keep an open mind. This is not a tale for the faint of heart nor for love sick puppies looking for a sappy romance. This is a tale of heartbreak, loss, love, and adventure more than your wildest dreams could contain. I shall start from the beginning.

December 13, 1905

The air was cold and thin. Snow had begun to stick to the frozen ground. I had been walking home every night from work for the past three years no matter the season. This time it was just a little too cold to bear. The last thing I remembered was hearing a voice call out to me before I collapsed into total darkness. Everything was so cold and then nothing. The void of nothing felt peaceful yet empty. This is the night I died. Now I know I said I shall start from the beginning and truly this is where my story starts. When I met Callum McHenry.

December 16, 1905

I awoke three days later in the hospital with no memory of how I got there. I could remember my name and where I lived but it all seemed fake and surreal like nothing was really happening. The nurses and doctor's assistants on duty told me I had died for forty-five minutes and a young man named Callum McHenry had found me lying in the snow. The nurses couldn't figure out how I even came back and considered it to be a Christmas miracle. I had told them I wanted to meet the young man who saved my life, if that would be okay. Luckily he was still in the building signing some forms. It appeared he was the town residential doctor and quite the historian according to some of the younger nurses. When I was waiting for Callum to walk through the door I don't know quite what I was expecting. Maybe I wasn't expecting him to be so good looking or maybe I was expecting someone older than I thought when everyone had said young man in reference to him. Nothing prepared me for the moment he walked into my room smiling.

His smile lit up the room and caused me to feel very warm. He looked like he was roughly thirty and had short black hair with a tuft on top that seemed to be just enough to run his hands through. He held out his hand and as he got closer I noticed his eyes were two different colors. One was blue and the other was blue with a golden yellow mixed throughout. I shook his hand nervously. He sat on the edge of my bed crossing his hands in his lap. Words seemed to escape me so he spoke first.

"You know Miss Heinrich you gave us all quite the scare. I'm amazed you were able to pull through. What were you doing out in the cold alone?" I stared at him for a moment longer without saying anything when it dawned on me. If I was dead for only forty-five minutes how did he even find me and bring me to the hospital when I had been alone? Wait hadn't I heard a voice when I fell? I scrunched my face in confusion and he seemed to gauge my reaction.

"Are you remembering something Miss Heinrich? Anything you remember is direly important to us helping you recover."

"I wasn't alone when I fell. I heard a voice, a man's voice calling to me. They said you found me Mr. McHenry, what I want to know is why you were following me in the first place? There is no way you could have found me otherwise." I looked straight into his eyes sternly crossing my arms. He smiled at me and started laughing. This caused me only to get angry very fast since I didn't appreciate being laughed at in any manner.

"You are quite the suspicious little creature aren't you? I live out there now. I believe we are neighbors. I'm new to this town and that part of the countryside came highly recommended to me." He continued to grin at me before clearing his throat.

"Apologies Miss Heinrich, it isn't often a woman makes me smile this much. I wish you good luck on the road to recovery. Also I was the one who called out to you because you seemed like you were about knee deep in snow before collapsing face first. I only realized you were technically dead when I brought you to the infirmary. Well good evening Miss Heinrich I will be in to check on you tomorrow before signing your release form." With one last smile Callum exited my room as swiftly and quietly as he had entered.

December 20, 1905

For four days my thoughts have been plagued by Doctor McHenry, Callum. After my being released from the infirmary I took Callum's instructions for extra health care into consideration. He had even lent me his carriage home the past few nights so that I didn't have to struggle against the cold night air. Since I worked in the local tavern serving drinks it was long hard hours for low pay which sometimes resulted in me having to walk home in frigid temperatures. However, tonight I had the pleasure of riding with him as he was able to close the infirmary earlier than normal. We didn't speak to each other much until we almost reached my home. He had found something rather interesting about staring out the window and I found something interesting in watching him.

"You know it's not polite to stare Miss Heinrich." He grinned still staring out the window of the carriage. Lucky for me it was dark and he was unable to see the stain of pink crawling across my cheeks.

"I wasn't staring. I was just wondering what you are finding so interesting about the trees rather than conversing with your present company." I covered my tracks as best as I could without giving anything more away. He looked at me and didn't seem to be convinced but rather deciding to play along.

"Well Miss Heinrich you see out there the world is so peaceful at this time of night. Nature is quiet yet full of life bursting forth don't you think? It's quite lovely." He looked out the window again as we continued the next few minutes of the journey in silence. Callum McHenry was indeed quite an odd individual yet he somehow intrigued me more than any man had before.

As we arrived at my home he opened the carriage door for me and even walked me to the door. He was quite more of a gentlemen than I had ever thought possible to find in a man. We said our farewells as he left back for his home. Over the course of this past week I have come to grow fond of sharing Callum's company as he was intellectual and very kind-hearted from what I had noticed thus far. He was also quiet and a very comforting individual. I imagine these are some of the qualities that pushed him into pursuing a career as a man of medicine and caring for others. As I laid my head down for this night my head was filled with thoughts of the man named Callum McHenry that I had grown to like in this long week.

*Hi Lovelies and welcome to my new story! Hope you all are enjoying it this far please don't forget to vote, comment, and share with your friends! I know this is very short for a first chapter but if you like it let me know :)*

Always,

BellaKiss19

A.k.a.  Hermione Snape