When I woke up I jumped to my feet, going over to the desk and getting out a pencil. The book had closed, which I don't remember doing, but Sherlock had been able to flip all of those pages the other day, so I'm guessing he did this.
Are you there? I wrote hopefully.
Have I ever not been? The cursive handwriting appeared once again, making me smile with relief. It wasn't just a dream.
So, just to be sure, that wasn't just something I made up in my mind right, the glowing light, Hogwarts, you?
No, all real as far as I know.
Well that's a relief; I'm not going crazy then.
Everyone is going crazy, just extremely slowly.
That's nice...
Some fall faster than others though.
That's a nice sentiment.
Truth is rarely nice.
Obviously. But god, that was so amazing. I never really pictured you like that, I mean, I did and didn't, if you know what I mean.
No Mr. Watson, I fully understand, I knew you were one of those athletic funny kids but it's the little details, like your hair, height, and cute creases when you smile.
Umm.... Thanks?
You're welcome. I could imagine him laughing to himself at my presumed reaction.
"John, Harry, breakfast!" Mom called through the house. I heard a loud groan, so Harry was up as well.
"20 more minutes!" Harry called.
"No Harry, you know the rules, eight o'clock on weekends. John are you up?" Mom called.
"Yes, coming!" I yelled back with a groan.
I need to go eat breakfast; I'll hopefully see you later.
Enjoy your meal. I wondered where Sherlock ate, it seemed like the Great Hall was deserted, and there was no one else in the castle, at least no one I had seen. He said only select people he liked were still there, I had to guess that meant cooks and waiters and stuff like that. I walked out into the dining room, where Mom had set up a whole buffet of Saturday breakfast, including French toast, eggs, and bacon. I loved breakfast; it might even be my favorite time of the day. A lot of families, like Greg's, don't really cook breakfast anymore; they just kind of throw cereal and milk together and call it a meal. But at the moment I wanted to be with Sherlock, not just pages on a book. I wanted to be with him, see him as a living, breathing human, be able to link arms with him, smell whatever that beautiful scent was, hear his deep voice that sounded too beautiful to be aloud. If I had to put together the ideal man, Sherlock would be the first person I would pick. Not that I thought about him, like that, it was just something I took notice of. My heart was still set on the beautiful Mary Morstan, even though Sherlock had become a sort of friend/family member.
"How'd you sleep dear? I saw you fell asleep on your desk." Mom said with a little laugh. I smiled, shrugging and saying that I had slept alright. Poor Mom, she'd never know what I was really up to.
"You've been awfully quiet lately, anything I should know about?" she asked again. I felt all of the family's judging eyes turn on me.
"Oh, no, just homework. I'd like to see anyone of you last one minute in Mrs. Fletcher's class." I said with an annoyed smile.
"Now what are they teaching you?" Dad grumbled, he didn't sound like he cared about anything more than the food on his plate, but it was a nice attempt to pretend that he gave a crap about the rest of the world.
"Oh, just atoms, the periodic table and all that." I shrugged, swishing a piece of French toast around in the puddle of syrup on my plate.
"I remember Junior year science, good luck." Harry laughed.
"I'm not the one headed off to an actual college. At least I know people here." I pointed out with a little smile just to annoy her. Harry just rolled her eyes and went back to her food.
"No need to get angry, it's such a lovely day, does anyone want to go on a walk or something?" Mom asked hopefully, a smile on her face. Harry just laughed at the thought of the terrifying mix of sunlight and exercise, and dad just grumbled no.
"Sorry Mom, I really would, but we've got this project we've got to do and I may or may not have waited until this weekend to even start it." I lied, trying to look seriously disappointed. Mom just smiled and nodded, I knew she wasn't too hurt because it was a lost cause the moment she suggested it. I finished up my breakfast in silence, excusing myself, doing the dishes, and trying to get decent in my room before going back to the book. My hope was that Sherlock would open the book up again, let me come to Hogwarts with him.
I'm back.
Everything good?
Well yes, mom started to pick up on my absence, but I told her it was just homework, I don't know if she fell for it or not.
Oh well, mothers will be mothers, always trying to get into your business.
I guess so ya.
So, any plans for the day?
None yet, Greg might come knocking but I was sort of hoping to spend the day with you?
Aw, well that's very thoughtful Mr. Watson.
Is that a no?
That is not a no, that is a tell me when to let you in. I quickly looked behind me, making sure the door was locked, hoping my mom wouldn't come around bothering me again.
Now is a good time. I decided with a small smile. I saw the light glow in the middle of the books, growing larger and larger and it sort of felt that it was light from Heaven. Sherlock was behind it, waiting for me with open arms, the only person in this world that I felt 100% comfortable with, I trust him more than Greg, and that's saying something. I closed my eyes, not really one for watching as my soul left my body, but finally I felt normal again, and when I opened my eyes back up I was in the familiar stone halls of Hogwarts. Sherlock was leaning on the wall with his ankles crossed, Leprechaun style maybe.
"Hello again Mr. Watson." He said in that deep voice of his, making a smile grow on my face.
"Hey Sherlock." I smiled. "Just to be sure, do you even know my first name?"
"Yes of course, John, but I'd rather be formal about it." Sherlock decided.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Holmes. No, that sounds weird, like a teacher, ew." I decided. Sherlock just laughed, but didn't leave that sort of model pose he had there.
"So, the sun's shining, the birds are chirping, what shall we entertain ourselves with?" he asked.
"I have no idea." I admitted. Hogwarts was fascinating, truly, but there really didn't seem to be a whole lot to do.
"I'm doubting you've ever been to a wizard library before?" he asked, trying to look oblivious to the answer.
"No, of course not." I pointed out.
"Well maybe it's time to change that." he decided, standing straight up and holding his arm out for me once again. I walked to him, linking arms and walking along with him to wherever this library was. We walked in silence, even though I wanted to talk about something I was too fascinated by the talking pictures. We were approaching some large oak doors, not nearly as huge as the entrance hall doors, but bigger than the regular classroom doors.
"Welcome, Mr. Watson, to the Hogwarts Library." Sherlock said, opening the doors up dramatically, letting sunlight come pouring out of the large stained glass windows at the very back of the large room. It looked like a very old fashioned library, no computers, no sofas and stuff, and no people. There were wooden desks and chairs and large, oak bookshelves stuffed to the max with leather bound books of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Sherlock breathed in the musty, book scented air as if it was like a candle burning. In all reality it did smell fantastic, both the library and him.
"What type of books are here?" I asked curiously.
"Anything you could possible want to read." Sherlock said. "So of course I was finished with it in third year."
"You read all of these?" I asked in amazement.
"Oh no, not the entire restricted section, at least not back then."
"The restricted section?" I asked curiously. Sherlock glanced over at an iron fence stretching over three or four bookshelves, looking very out of place in such a warm and homey sort of place.
"What's in there?" I asked.
"Oh, everything wizards seem to think is inappropriate for young wizards, but some of them are study tools for some of the more advanced branches of magic." Sherlock shrugged.
"Cool." I said, wishing my boring old 'muggle' school had a Restricted Section.
"So, anything you want to see?" he asked, gesturing with his free hand over all of the bookshelves.
"Oh jeez, I have no idea, do you guys have any cool animals? Are dragons real?" I asked hopefully. Dragons had been my childhood obsession, well, other than trains and stuff every boy enjoyed.
"Follow me." Sherlock decided, walking forward to one of the middle sections. I followed anxiously, wanting to know as much as possible about this completely new world. He paused in the middle of the section, browsing through the book titles with his fingers, brushing the spines gently before pulling out one green book, handing it over to me. I examined the fading cover with amazement, Dragons of the World, was the title, and I knew this was a book I immediately wanted to check out.
"Oh my god that is way too awesome." I decided, taking my arm away from his to flip through the pages. There were all these pictures of dragons and their names, descriptions, and all these other facts that you'd find in any normal wildlife animal book.
"How can there be so many dragons and no human has ever seen one?" I asked curiously.
"Oh they have, how do you think the rumor started? Some 'mad man' rambling I guess, but now if anyone we know of sees one, it's not a difficult thing to wipe a mind." Sherlock sighed.
"You can wipe people's minds?"
"If you can imagine it we've probably got it." Sherlock pointed out. It was extremely hard to wrap my head around that, magic, and magic that could do virtually anything.
"That's completely amazing." I decided, still holding the book, hoping I might be able to take it home.
"I quite agree, after having to resort back to a muggle life, I just don't see how you do it." Sherlock shrugged.
"So you weren't allowed to do anything? How'd you live, how'd you get a job?" I asked.
"Well I got expelled sixth year, so I had to go to muggle school for a little while, absolutely pathetic if you ask me, but with that I was able to get some of the education I needed."
"I bet you were completely stumped about what to do." I guessed.
"That would be the logical assumption, but no, believe it or not I have a brain, and I had taken a class on muggle studies, learning all about their complicated math and science and a whole lot of other things that I never used in my life."
"So you're out of school now? No college?" I asked.
"No of course not, the very thought of having a roommate makes me cringe."
"Ya well, that's where I'll be in two years." I groaned.
"You don't actually have to go to college; you just have to do what you think you want to do. I did, and look where I am now." He pointed out.
"Well like you said, you've got a brain in there whereas I just got some tumbleweed." I defended.
"Oh rubbish, I guarantee you've got more of a brain than you think you have." He assured, shaking my head around in one of his hands. I laughed, he certainly was charming, I guess.
"What other cool creatures actually exist?" I asked curiously.
"Let's see, here we go, the encyclopedia of all creatures Muggles are too stupid to notice." Sherlock said, pulling an extremely large book off the shelf. He didn't seem bothered by the weight, as if big books was his profession.
"That's not the real title, is it?" I asked. He showed me the cover, and it only said Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures.
"Let's find a table shall we?" he suggested, shining a smile in my direction.