Beyond the Shroud

The Shroud of Pandora

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Chapter Two: Beyond The Shroud
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Sirius was baffled; where was this place, what was he doing here, and most of all, how was he going to get home, and what would Harry think in the meantime?

"Would you... like a cup of tea, Mr. Black?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, please."

A young girl, not much younger than Harry himself, pushed the door open. "Giles?"

Sirius turned, staring at the girl in shock. She looked about fourteen, with long, straight brown hair that fell almost to her waist. But what had shocked him the most was the girl's accent.

The girl's *American* accent.

"Dawn, please go put on some water for tea." Giles instructed. "It seems we have a guest."

'Dawn' nodded, leaving the door open as she walked away.

"What is this place?" Sirius asked.

"The Magic Box."

Sirius shivered, realizing what must have happened. The black curtain, the veil... it must have been the legendary Death Shroud of Pandora, which would supposedly teleport a person who passed inside of it into a mythical box that contained all the evils of the world - and thus, it was his own personal hell, apparently. Had the Ministry tested the shroud on Muggles? He wouldn't put it past them.

The legends had, after all, never mentioned how to get out of the box.

"I think... I think I'm ready for that tea, now." Sirius said.

Mr. Giles nodded, leading him out into the outer room of the building, to a large round table piled with all sorts of books. Sirius shivered; it reminded him of nothing more than the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place, when Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys had taken it over as a homework table over the Christmas holidays.

The red-haired girl at the table looked up from a book, and Sirius was relieved to see that she didn't look anything like a Weasley; her hair was a far too dark shade of red, almost brown. So at least Ginny Weasley hadn't found her way through the shroud. Besides, this girl looked about six or seven years older than Ginny Weasley. "Hi. I'm Willow."

"Sirius. Might I ask what you're reading?"

"Just a book on ancient Celtic death rituals." Willow said, setting the book carefully aside as 'Dawn' approached with a silver-plated tea service, and Mr. Giles was just behind her. Sirius noticed right off, Willow's voice bore the same American accent as Dawn's.

"Good, you've met Willow."

"I have." Sirius nodded, as Mr. Giles poured him a cup of tea. "Where are we?"

"California." Mr. Giles said. "Sunnydale, precisely. It's a small coastal town about a hundred miles northwest of Los Angeles."

Sirius sighed; he was a third of the way around the world from Britain and everyone he knew, then. "And where are you originally from, Mr. Giles?"

"England, obviously. I studied ancient languages and mythology at Oxford and Cambridge."

Sirius nodded. "That explains it, then."

"Pardon?"

"Have you heard the myth of Pandora's Box?"

"Of course. Pandora was given a box which contained all the evils of the world, and by opening that box, unleashed them all upon humanity. War, famine, strife..."

"Okay. Do you believe in magic?"

Giles paused. "Yes." He gestured to one side, and Sirius shifted his gaze, finally realizing he was in some sort of Muggle magic shop; the shelves were occupied with all sorts of crystals, statuary, and books, as well as jars of various lizard entrails and body parts.

"Some... acquaintances... of mine found Pandora's death shroud. I accidentally passed through it, and found myself here."

"Interesting." Giles stood, beginning to pace. "We've always known, of course, of the existence of other dimensions, and if this shroud acts as some sort of portal from your native dimension into our own..."

Willow interrupted. "I've never heard our own world described as a hell dimension before."

Sirius nodded. "That... makes sense to me. I just wish I knew how to get back."

Giles raised a hand, removing his glasses and polishing them on his shirt. "We should not assume that is the only possibility, without proof. It's entirely possible that..."

Sirius nodded, and then jumped as the bell suspended over the doorway chimed. Giles cut himself off, turning to the door.