We Call Him Sunshine

We Call Him Sunshine by Divine

Chapter 2

Sunshine

Midway through Rarry's child-like fit, the crowd had left. Blinking, he realized there was no one left in the chamber besides him and Germione. His eyes were still slightly blurred as the result of anger.

As soon as he set eyes on Germione, she arose from the spot where she had been intently studying her nails and impatiently said, "Come on Rarry, let's go. I'm famished."

Watching Germione begin to chew on a piece of gum, he towed after her reluctantly. He felt like the woman in this relationship which, of course, wasn't quite so different from the other relationship he'd had... well if you would count that Mindy girl when he was in the second grade as an actual relationship...

Suddenly, in the darkness he saw the vague hints of a moving shadow. Something was coming towards them. His feet were rooted purposefully. He was scared. Was he seeing a ghost? After all, this was a pretty old building. The figure was outlined in the pale moonlight that hit the floor through the window. It looked like a werewolf: it's back was bent forward and it was creeping forward slowly.

"Rarry, hurry up. You know I've got to get up early to-" her voice spoke shrilly in his head, and he turned towards her. "Oh," she whispered in a surprised tone. Her hazel eyes rose to a spot just above his left shoulder. A flicker of something went through her eyes, and Rarry knew that if he had been a writer he probably would have known what that something was.

Almost reluctantly he turned to see what she was looking so intently at.

Stupid, he thought, I am so stupid.

Standing before him was what seemed to be a kind old man. The first thing he noticed was that the man was short. Rarry was about a head taller than him. Although, had the man been standing straight, Rarry was sure he would be taller. He was bald: his head almost glossy. And his beard was pure white. He looked harmless, yet he had terrified Rarry only moments ago.

" 'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'to talk of many things: Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax -- Of cabbages -- and kings -- And why the sea is boiling hot -- And whether pigs have wings,'" The old man's voice echoed through the building rather like a rusty-hinged door.

Rarry, now sure that everyone could hear his heart beat, squeaked out, "Pig's don't have wings," Simultaneously turning a different shade of red, he realized his faux pas. The old man lightly chuckled, while Germione laughed out loud. Rarry, slightly angry that Germione hadn't gone to his rescue and instead stultified him, continued, "I mean... er...what can I do for you?"

"Well Rarry-" the old man began.

"How do you know my name?" Rarry rather suspiciously interrupted.

The old man's eyes glittered for a second, and then he continued, "You are the founder of Muggles for Harry, aren't you?"

"Well... yes," Rarry, now sure that no more humiliation would come to him (or if it did, he'd brave it up), looked the man straight in the eye for the first time. And he noticed that the man's eyes were different colors. His left was a purple so deep that it might be mistaken with black and it was rimmed with a light, almost unnoticeable, red. His right, however, was a dark blue. Rarry couldn't help but think that if the expression eyes are the windows to our soul was true, then this old man's windows really needed to be cleaned.

A slight smirk grew on the man's face, subconsciously reminding Rarry of Draco. "I'm Sinus, Rarry, but they call me Sunshine."

"Who's they?" Rarry asked.

"You know, the people who have really good dentists." Sunshine smiled, showing his brilliantly yellow teeth.

Rarry laughed awkwardly. However, before he could say anything, Sunshine said,

"So, who's this lovely lady?" Rarry mentally kicked himself for forgetting about his girlfriend.

"This my - erm... This is Germione," he said, embarrassed. He felt his face grow hot, and he was suddenly grateful that there wasn't a very strong light in the room.

Germione came forward and took Sunshine's outstretched hand. "It's a pleasure, Sunshine," and she grinned what Rarry called her "Colgate Smile". However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that she'd been too quiet.

"Sunshine, why don't we continue this conversation at my place?" Germione said, flipping her hair. Rarry immediately wondered what conversation there was to continue, then became angered that Germione had called his (okay, their) apartment her own.

As Sunshine and Germione began to walk forward, Rarry took a quick look behind him. Behind the rusted bars that were supposed to protect the windows, but did little other than making those who saw it feel imprisoned, the full moon was shining an intense orange. Taking out his custom made, rose-scented garlic necklace and shoving it under his shirt, he caught up with the others.

Germione's heels tapped on the floor with a beat that reminded him of the grandfather clock in his father's home; the same clock that had peered at him mockingly day after day... Rarry quickly banished that thought from his head before it could go any further.

They pushed the doors open with a slight squeak that signified that they were in need of fixing. Rarry walked slightly faster as to get ahead of Germione and Sunshine. When he accomplished that endeavor he raced them to the car.

"Last one is a rotten basilisk egg!" he said sportively.

Neither of his two companions bothered listening to him.

So, as soon as he reached the car, he unattached the keys from his pants and opened its right-hand door. He sat down, waiting for what seemed like five minutes, but was probably more like thirty seconds.

Rarry was rather surprised when Germione sat next to Sunshine in the backseat after they entered the car, but he soon thought that it did make sense. They couldn't leave a guest sitting alone; he might steal one of the magazines.

Rarry looked up at the rearview only to find Sunshine staring deep into his eyes; mocking his soul. Rarry immediately looked away, but when he looked back Sunshine was reading a magazine. He shook off the feeling of unease he had, and decided that they should go home.

After a relatively quiet drive, they climbed the stairs to the second floor, where he unattached the keys from his pants and opened the door.

"It's not much," Rarry said.

"It's wonderful."

Rarry took his coat off and opted to take Sunshine's as well, but Sunshine decided to keep it on. Why he did puzzled Rarry, but he took it as one of those odd habits people have that are just unexplainable and you have to deal with. Lucky, Rarry thought, that I don't have any of those weird habits.

He nearly ran to the couch by the wall which he knew had a funny smell to it (something like old socks and money which Germione always complained to him about but he would never admit to). Sunshine took his place across from him on an old, but comfortable La - Z - boy.

Rarry was looking halfway across the room at Sunshine expectantly, and Sunshine was studying Germione, who was busy scratching at the couch by Rarry. The tension in the air was so thick that Rarry was sure that if any one of them tried to move or, heaven forbid, talk, they would spontaneously combust.

"Why won't I go make some tea for you two?" Germione said, as she stood from her seat and walked into the kitchen, not bothering to wait for their answer. Rarry made a mental note to never trust his intuition again.

"So...Have you been coming to Muggles for Harry often?" he said in an attempt to break the ice.

"Of course. I've been quite a fan since the first book came out. And once I heard of your group, well I couldn't resist seeing what it was like."

"And you liked it?" Rarry asked a bit too eagerly.

"What do you think Rarry?" Sunshine replied, making Rarry feel more than a bit stupid.

Thus resulted an awkward silence that was beginning to make Rarry more than a bit worried about what happened to Germione. He also didn't find out anything about Sunshine, so, deciding that he should try out his Slytherin skills of trickery, he asked, "So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm retired Rarry," Sunshine said with a blank face.

Well... Rarry always knew he was a Gryffindor at heart.

* * *

The silence continued once again, this time making Rarry sort of freaked out.

Luckily Germione soon came in with an apple pie (so that's why she took so long) and some tea. Rarry heartily had more than his fare share of each.

Finally, he decided to get to it.

"So, Sunshine, tell me, how can I help you?" He put his cup down on to the table with a satisfying tack! that emphasized his question.

With a steady look in his eye, Sunshine replied, "Before the Stone," Rarry knew that the era when the first book came out was called the Stone. "I was the CEO of a little publishing company up by Little Whinging in Surrey," Rarry grinned at this. "I was wealthy, happy, and young... er. I lived happily in a one-roomed flat rather like this one. Until, that is, I met a special lady," At this statement Sunshine looked rather meaningfully Germione. Rarry didn't pay any attention to this, nor did he care. Old men were crazy, and thus did crazy things.

"Her name was Margaret," he continued, "I loved my dear Maggie... I still do. We eventually got married. Out by the sea. I had never seen the sea before that day," Sunshine's eyes had glazed over. "I can still remember her beautiful light blue dress that matched the color of her eyes; and her sandals. You see Maggie was quite the smart one.

" 'Can't wear heels on the beach can I? Sand would get into them,' she'd said. So she decided to wear a pair of sandals that her mother had gotten for her before she died. It was a size too small, but my Maggie didn't care. She didn't mind. It was the last thing her mother had ever given to her, she had to wear them." Sunshine shook his head, and quickly wiped an errant tear from his face. "She gave birth to my baby girl. But no sooner than her first birthday was she killed... along with Maggie. That's why I've come to you Rarry. You have to help me."

* * *

Halfway across the world, just as Sunshine finished his sentence, a lightning bolt flashed across the sky with such intensity that for a split second the dark night's sky was as bright as the light of day. Had Rarry seen this, he would've thought of it as "more odd than salmon flavored cream cheese," as his uncle Taylor often put it.

That bolt of lightning also happened to strike ____γ_ρ_σ Stone, an ancient piece of ignacious rock. Many who lived around it, though, thought of it as harmless. This, of course, was not true.

Had those citizens looked out of their window, just as that bolt struck, they would have found a number of people running around the stone, flailing their arms like madmen. They were donned in black, hooded overcoats. One even had the audacity to wear an "I've been stoned at ____γ_ρ_σ Stone" shirt underneath the uniform. But the clouds withheld their figures from being seen.

Many unconsciously shook when the loud roar of thunder was heard, sounding rather like the rumbling of a hungry stomach.

The heavens soon opened up, allowing any onlookers to catch a glimpse of the periwinkle blue moon. Shortly afterward, another bolt struck the stone, and this time those walking (for they had tired themselves out) went into a full stop.

One among them then walked towards the stone, thus breaking the circle. His tall figure loomed in the gray darkness as he began to climb the rock.

Lightning flashed in the sky again, striking the land farther north to where they were gathered. The man's figure stood valiantly as the heavens threatened to strike ____γ_ρ_σ Stone again.

He reached inside his cloak taking out a small, glass vial. He held it up before the gatherers, whom immediately bowed down to their knees, as though a giant hand had pressed them all to the ground.

Waving his arms around in a conversational manner, and unconsciously threatening to drop the precious vial, he began to speak in what Rarry would definitely have called gibberish.

His eyes pierced all those around him as he spoke. The gatherers crouched farther down, if that was possible, and began muttering in the same gibberish. The man then raised his head to the continually darkening sky.

His voice began to increase into a crescendo as the gatherers began to make strange and beautiful hand movements. They moved with such a grace and uniformity, as though they were in a trance.

Lightning struck once more, but with an increasing ferocity, as if the world itself was angry. The ground began to shake from the massive strikes, all of which had only hit within a seventy-five foot perimeter of the rock. Thunder echoed magnificently off the nearby mountains, nearly swallowing the man's voice.

His eyes were bloodshot and his voice raspy. The gatherers continued with their rhythmic mumblings and hand movements. Their eyes were glazed and they looked at nothing other than the rock in front of them.

Suddenly everything stopped. The gatherers placed their hands on the damp ground, still on their knees. The man ended his ritualistic incantations. The heavens were mysteriously tranquil.

Just as quickly as that happened, the man raised his hands upwards, as if he were pleading, and shouted to the sky. He took the vial in his left hand and threw it to the ground. The dark red substance, which had only moments before been contained in the glass, oozed between the crevices of the rock. The glass shards glittered in whatever light there was, giving the rock an ethereal appearance.

As soon as the ground had tasted a drop of the liquid, it responded with a wave of massive tremors, which threatened to split the ground in half.

The gatherers stood in earnest as they saw the unthinkable happen; the man standing on ____γ_ρ_σ Stone was struck by a bolt of blue lightening.

* * * * * * *

Disclaimer 2: "It's not much." "It's wonderful" comes from p 32 of the American Edition of Chamber of Secrets. The quote that Sunshine says comes from The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Caroll (One of my favorite poets). And the line "You know, the people who have really good dentists" is owned by my brother, who oh so kindly helped me out of that hole. If you're wondering what ____γ_ρ_σ means, it's just Illigor's in Windings.

Thank you to all who reviewed. You give me such inspiration.

QueenAlissa [I'm glad you thought it was really good. I thought so too ;)] Hermes Weasley [You loved it too! Aww, thank you!] Jessica Potter [Hope this chapter doesn't scare you too much ] Phenom Miller [Here's some more for you] SingtoAngels [thanks for such a lovely review] Anise [I'm speechless. Thank you so much for reviewing!]

Until next time

Divine