Better Late Than Never || An HP Fanfic

Finding Out

I woke with a start as a loud CRACK filled the air of the room I was in for a split second. But, as soon as the sound appeared, it was gone, and a slow, but steady beeping filled the room once more. I settled back down in my chair, content that everything was okay and rubbed my eyes.

God, I was so tired. Taking care of my dad was wearing me out, and I had been falling behind on my work for school. I knew that this was taking a toll on me, but I refused to give up. Not when there was even the slightest chance that he could get better.

A deep voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hello. Ara Rose Graham, I presume?"

I jumped, startled. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking away the tiredness that I now felt almost constantly.

An old man stood in the center of the room. He looked to be about 70 to 80 years old and had a long white beard. He wore long grey robes of which I had never seen anyone, much less a man, wear before.

His presence wasn't startling so much as it was unexpected. I didn't feel threatened, but I held my phone out in front of me anyway as a warning. He glanced at the phone and looked at me with a grim smile on his face like he understood. Understood the pain in my heart and my inner turmoil that I felt everytime I looked at the frail man in the bed in front of me.

"Hello, Albus. I believe this visit has been long overdue," said a weak, trembling voice.

I looked at the man in front of me, confused by how he managed to speak without moving his lips. Then I realized that he was looking at the man on the bed.

The man, my dad, who somehow knew this man, pressed the button on the bed control and moved the bed to an upright position.

"I have been praying for this day to come, but dreading it's arrival at the same time. I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge you for very long, especially in my present state. So, you must be Albus Dumbledore. Cassie used to tell me stories about you," said my father turning slightly to look at the old man, or Dumbledore as my dad called him.

"So, Cassandra told you about me. All good things I hope?" said Dumbledore.

My dad chuckled. "Of course. She said that you were the best teacher that she ever had."

"Well, I'm glad she thought so." said Dumbledore smiling with his head slightly tilted as though he was reminiscing.

This whole exchange had me kind of confused. Why was my dad waiting for Dumbledore to visit, and why did my mom tell my dad about Dumbledore when they both went to the same school? Then I realized that I knew why, I had seen the pictures and the journal entries that explained it all. I sighed quietly, regretfully accepting that everything that I had read was true and all of the stories that I had been told my whole life were shams.

Dumbledore glanced over at me. "I expect that you found your mother's things a long time ago."

I nodded smiling guiltily.

"I figured you would have. Let me just explain a few things before we go," he said.

"Wait, I can't go anywhere. I have to stay here with my father. He's sick and he needs me."

Dumbledore shared a long look with my father be for looking at me. "Of course, I'm sorry, I had forgotten."

I looked at Dumbledore, my eyebrows furrowed. I knew that he was lying, but I couldn't quite figure out why.

"Ara," my dad's frail voice interrupted my thoughts, "you need to go with Dumbledore. He can explain so much more to you than I ever could. Your heritage, your abilities, he can help you understand. I love you so much, but I can't give you everything that you need right now. I... " His words faded away as he went into a bout of coughing. I grabbed a napkin from the night table beside me and stood up to hand it to him. He continued coughing into the napkin and when he finally let up, and pulled the napkin away from his face, it was filled with blood.

"Dad!" I cried, "Hold on, let me get the nurse."

"No!" he said and grabbed my shirtsleeve. I tried to pull away, but his grip was incredibly strong for a sick man.

"Listen to me. I swear to God I love you Rosie. You are my daughter, you always will be, and I hate to leave you, but you need to let me go."

I looked at him, confused.

He leaned toward me and patted the space beside him on the bed. I sat down and he cupped my face in his hands.

"I have been hanging on for so long because you've needed me. But you're tired now- no, don't shake your head I know you are because I am too. We have been holding on to each other for far longer than we should have. Don't be ashamed because I have wanted to go for a long time. But, you don't need me anymore. Dumbledore can show you where you belong, you don't have to feel awkward and out of place anymore. He'll take you to your new home, but Rosie you have to promise me that you'll try to be happy. You need to make friends, and find new family. Become the extraordinary woman that I know you will be because you are such an amazing young girl. I love you so, so much baby, and I will always watch over you." My dad grabbed a locket from the table next to him and folded my fingers around it.

"It was your mom's, but I want you to have it now. You need to promise me Rosie, promise me you'll be happy."

"I-I promise."

"Good. You better keep that promise sweetheart because I'll know if you don't. I'll always be with you, in heart and in spirit because love, love transcends all realms."

"Dad," I said, my voice shaking, "this is sounding a lot like goodbye. This can't be goodbye."

"Oh sweetheart, but it is." he said, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I wish to God it wasn't, and I could watch you get old, but I can't. We've known this day was coming for a long time now, I actually think that it's been way overdue. I'm sorry baby. I love you." he smiled sadly at me and squeezed my hand one final time before going completely still. The monitor behind him flatlined and I began to sob.

"No, no, no, NO! Dad! Please, please wake up! NO!" I shook him, like I could wake him up, but his eyes just stared blankly at the ceiling, unseeing.

Nurses rushed into the room and one of them gently pulled me away from my father. The man who had just said goodbye, the man who cared for me my whole life who was now gone. I stared at his body my mind going blank, refusing to comprehend what I was seeing, instead taking in what I was hearing.

"Time of death, 11:22 PM."

At this I began to sob again, and stepped away from the nurse who had pulled me away from my father's body. He gestured his head towards the door and all of the nurses cleared out of the room to give me my space. I looked at my father, ready to once again beg his lifeless body to come back, but then I saw the look on his face. He looked peaceful, and I knew that no matter how many times I cried and begged him, there was no coming back for him and he was content with that so I needed to learn to accept it. I thought back to his last words and wiped the tears from my face.

"I'm gonna do my best daddy, I promise. I'm gonna try to be happy." I whispered.

I leaned over his body and planted a kiss on his cold forehead and turned around. I was mildly surprised to see Dumbledore there, but then I remembered the look that they exchanged and knew that I was supposed to be going with him. I nodded once to show that I understood and he offered me a small, grim smile and looked at me with incredibly sad and tortured eyes. In that moment I knew that Dumbledore truly knew what I was going through. He offered me his arm and I looked one last time at the name  on the hospital board that would forever be burned into my memory, and then I grabbed his arm and said goodbye to everything that I was leaving behind because I only needed one thing to remind me of my promise, and that was a name.

My father's name. Michael Char Graham.

And then a loud CRACK filled the room once more, and we were gone.