Fiona pulled the chain with the ring from beneath the t-shirt she wore under her pale blue scrubs the moment she reached the deserted vestibule. 

The ring that had never been anything but a cold, plain band of gold had been acting impossibly over the last couple of weeks-- she had seen it warm up and glow an eerie bluish light in the dark, even oscillate, but it had never gotten this warm before.

Luckily, she had noticed Freddie trying to pilfer it from the drawer of her nightstand before she had taken him for the weekend to her mother. The little monkey had always been intrigued by that ring for some reason... She could only hope that his grandmother hadn't filled his head with her silly stories like she had filled Fiona's when she was his age. She didn't mind him playing with the ring, but she preferred to keep an eye on it, especially since it had started behaving strangely, even though she didn't believe any of that rubbish. Or better, she tried her best not to...

She pulled the golden chain away from her chest and looked at the ring in the dimly lit vestibule of the hospital, wasting time, stealing herself to walk into the heavy drizzle. Her flat was just far enough for her to get wet before she would reach it, and there was no convenient bus line. And she would never take a cab alone, get into a car with a complete stranger and let him drive her home, even if the cabs hadn't been so incredibly expensive. 

Inhaling deeply, Fiona walked through the sliding doors into the night, casting one last glance at the ring as she pulled the hood of her cardigan up. That's when she saw them, and heard them too-- a faint chuckle brought to her on a gust of wind that made her notice them-- three men hiding, or rather attempting to hide, in the trees of the small park beyond the narrow parking lot, right across from the entrance. 

"Botheration..." she whispered. Her mother had done a good job indeed, feeding her vivid imagination with stories about the father she had never met, a dashing, rich man from a... parallel, fairytale-like kingdom, about how he would come back for them, or send someone... Even though Fiona stopped taking her mother's tales seriously when she was a little older than Freddie, the woman had not given up recounting her fantasies to her only daughter until the day when she finally moved out, eighteen-year-old, pregnant and freshly dumped by her great and only love, a man she dreamed of marrying, feeling alone and heartbroken, but incapable of living with her mother and her delusions a day longer.

Fiona had told herself that she didn't believe in those stories. And she didn't, they were impossible...

Now, however, she retreated towards the vestibule, pressed her back against the glass, finding shelter from the cool drizzle under the eaves of the building, and dug her phone from her handbag. She dialled her mother's number, her eyes intent on the three weird men reduced to shadows as they shifted under the trees, observing her. They were confused by her behaviour, most likely, waiting for her next move. 

If one of them was her father, he was going to receive a piece of her mind immediately, loud and clear, whatever he really was, she mused as the phone rang, once, twice... She glanced at her watch; it was just after ten. She disliked the afternoon shifts, she always stayed too late... Three times, four... But the awful, irresponsible man who had fathered her needed to hear how his act had influenced her mother, and her, consequently; how she threw away her childhood waiting for him...

"Mum," Fiona breathed as her mother finally answered the phone. "Is Freddie okay? Fine, fine, that's great. I'll see you both tomorrow night, yes. Listen.... do you remember the stories you used to tell me about.... Father and his... world?" She braved another look towards the trees as she listened to her mother's all too clear memories for a while, nodding, then continued, "I'm asking because... there are three men waiting for me in front of the hospital. They look strange, to say the least. And the silly ring has been burning the whole day."

"What? Why do you need to know what they look like?" Fiona scoffed at hearing her mother's request. She would definitely have to approach them to see them well enough to describe them to her mother, and that was the last thing she wanted.

As on cue, they decided to leave their hiding place and move quite close to the entrance, stopping directly under one of the lamps illuminating the parking lot, looking at her directly, making it obvious that they were waiting for her.

"Botheration," she muttered, closing her eyes in exasperation before she proceeded to describe them to her impatient, nagging mum. "One is very short, not much taller than Freddie," she said as Gilderoy, noticing her scrutiny, smiled and bowed deeply, making her almost smile in return. He was sweet. "Then there's this tall, blond one with a ponytail, and I swear he looks like Brad Pitt... " she trailed off, gasping as he bowed too, the movement revealing... "He's got... pointed ears..."

"Hmm... elf, right. Of course, mum," she replied, feeling her reality shift around her, to the excited stream of words filling her ear at lightning speed, words she heard but could not understand.

"Yes, one more. Hmm... the last one... is the strangest," she whispered, shivering, as her eyes met Peregrine's. He was... incredibly... attractive despite the darkness surrounding him, despite not being as classically handsome as the blond guy. She couldn't put a finger on what it was about him... "Yes, I'm here, mum. He's huge and dressed all in midnight black; he's even wearing a wide brimmed hat and a ring like mine around his neck..." Fiona spoke into the phone, "and..." she spotted it as he bowed in his turn, the motion sending his ankle-length black cloak into a flurry around his legs... "goodness, he's carrying a massive sword!" Just what was he, a dragon slayer?

Her mother's insistent words ordering her to go introduce herself brought her back to reality. She didn't want to talk to them. And at the same time, she did, but she didn't, not really... 

"I'll see you tomorrow night. Don't say anything to Freddie, understand?" she said into the phone before she dropped it back into her bag.

"Botheration!" she whisper-shouted, giving herself courage, before stepping out of the protection of the building, into the night and rain, within reach of the three strangers, accepting her fate.

"Go away," she said petulantly as she stopped in front of them, so close that she had to crane her neck to look at the taller two, "you are almost two decades too late. I don't believe in you anymore."

They stared at her, bewilderment plain in their eyes, before they started exchanging furtive glances with each other, giving her a moment to notice again how intriguing and stunning and otherworldly they looked. 

"Is any of you my father?" she asked as they stayed silent, the long moment filled with the sounds of the wind rushing through the trees, the distant, neverceasing drone of the cars, and the rain dropping off the hospital's roof so unusual that she was sure she would remember it forever. She sighed as she observed them-- they hardly looked older than her but she needed to know at least something for sure.

"No, lady," Peregrine said finally, stepping on Leodhais' foot to make him understand that it was up to him to do the introductions. 

The elf cleared his voice. "I'm Leodhais, my lady. These are my companions, Gilderoy and Peregrine. Your father sent us to find you and bring you home."

"I don't think so," she shook her head even as she crossed her arms across her chest and tapped the tip of her white trainer shoe in the huge puddle spreading under their feet. "Even if I agreed to leave with him," she pointed at the almost normal looking Gilderoy, "I'd have to be out of my mind to trust someone with pointed ears or a sword taller than myself!"

"How did she notice my ears so quickly?" Leodhais muttered as he adjusted his hair, stunned with surprise, "and how can she see your sword, dragon? Didn't you say it was concealed from the humans?"

"It must be the magic she inherited from her father," Peregrine said, grinning. This quest was going to be interesting, after all.

Fiona stared at them, trying to process what they had said. Dragons, her father's magic, swords invisible to humans...

The cold rain made her shiver as she raised her hands in warning and spoke in a whisper, looking around the deserted parking lot first to make sure that no one had noticed them. "Stop. Wait. Don't you tell me that I'm a Harry Potter because I won't believe you."

They stared back at her blankly, the most normal thing they had done so far.

"I need a drink," she said on a sigh.

"Wonderful, my lady. We are quite hungry after our journey. Lead the way to the closest inn, and we'll explain," Gilderoy, recovering first, spoke, offering her his arm, which she accepted without thinking.