It'd been four years since Audrey Dane had been home.

As soon as she had graduated from Hogwarts, she had left home, planning to never return. Disappointingly enough, that had backfired.

Her home was anticipating a war. Lord Voldemort, the leader of a genocide against muggles and muggleborns, had returned and the wizarding world of Britain was teetering on the edge of a version of hell that was thought to never be experienced again.

And, because of her stunning luck, Audrey had managed to get herself wrapped up in it.

Both of her parents had been involved in the First Wizarding War. They had been some of the best Aurors in the world and were in the Order of the Phoenix from the very beginning. The couple had launched themselves straight to the front lines, and had no regrets.

As Audrey had been growing up, her parents, Eli and Marie Dane, had taught her to be open-minded and to not only protect herself, but others as well. Her first year at Hogwarts, and she was already fighting back against the bullies, even if they were seventh year Slytherins, who she was positive were eight feet tall. Audrey had always been braver than thought smart for how small she was. If she saw somebody in trouble, she never stopped to think and instantly jumped into the fray.

Years later, and nothing had changed.

After graduating from Hogwarts in 1987, Audrey had moved on to become an Auror. She'd always loved adventures, but she had considered other options due to a very close friend of hers. However, both of them knew she cared too much about helping others to give that up. Besides, it would be a way to pay tribute to her parents who had died in her sixth year due to one of their missions.

Audrey had passed her Auror training with flying colors, quickly becoming one of the best. She had studied under Mad-Eye Moody, that is, until he had retired four years after she had joined the force. After that she had started going undercover, and was constantly sent abroad to catch Death Eaters who had originally escaped during the First Wizarding War.

She had been in Russia, Moscow specifically, when she had gotten the letter.

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody had owled her, writing about a resurrected Order of the Phoenix organized by Albus Dumbledore, Audrey's old headmaster. With Lord Voldemort at large once again and a war brewing in Britain, the secret society needed all possible hands on deck.

Moody had not only signed himself up, but suggested Audrey Dane to be a member, which, honestly, hadn't been surprising in the slightest. Her mentor had a bad habit of deciding things for others, not caring if they agreed or not. In fact, the last line of his letter to her had read:

See you tomorrow.

And that was it. She packed up her things, and took a Portkey back home.

"Audrey!"

Audrey grunted as a body collided into hers, bubble-gum pink hair obstructing her view. The Auror laughed, hugging her friend back eagerly.

"Tonks!" she squealed. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Same here! I can't believe you came."

If Audrey was being honest, neither could she. Russia had been amazing- well, not exactly. It had been extremely dangerous, and she had nearly blown her cover more times than she would have liked. However, for Audrey Dane, that just made it even more of an adventure and even more amazing.

And yet…

There she was, at Diagon Alley, sitting at a table in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor as the lazy summer sun streamed inside. She was enjoying her malt when one of her closest friends, Nymphadora Tonks, arrived to meet with her.

"How was… where ever you were?" Tonks asked, taking the seat across from her dark-haired friend.

"Moscow," Audrey grinned. "And it was amazing."

"Meaning you had three near-death experiences- minimum."

Audrey laughed. The metamorphmagus wasn't wrong.

Tonks rolled her momentarily teal-colored eyes. "Whatever, we'll be discussing your mission later. I'm supposed to be filling you in."

"Right," Audrey sat back in her seat, running her finger along the edge of her glass. "Lord Voldemort is back. How'd that happen?"

Tonks sighed, and spent the next thirty minutes explaining to her friend just what she had missed in the past four years.

Audrey let out a low whistle. "Wow… that's... quite the story."

Tonks snorted. "Isn't it though?"

The duo enjoyed a comfortable silence, glad to be reunited.

Well. Audrey did. Tonks was nervously biting her lip, wondering how to approach the subject. Audrey's eyes met her younger friend's, and she smiled lightly.

"You're wondering if I'm going to join the Order or not, aren't you?"

"You've gotten good," Tonks chuckled.

Her companion scoffed. "What do you mean 'gotten'?"

Tonks stuck out her tongue and both the girls laughed. "But, um," the metamorphmagus bit her lip once again. "What's your answer?"

That really was the question of the day, wasn't it?

Audrey was back home in London after not being there for ages. She had been pulled out of a mission that had been step-by-step excitement, all of which she had either been risking her life, or saving others. It had been exhilarating and action-packed and she had loved every minute. That was why she had become an Auror. She not only saved lives, but every moment was invigorating.

However… Audrey had left it behind. Well, not completely. She was still an Auror, but she wouldn't be undercover, she wouldn't be traveling, she wouldn't be experiencing the thrill that she loved every single second.

"It's barely been a day, and you already miss it, don't you?" Tonks shook her head.

Audrey blushed, but her friend wasn't wrong. "Can you blame me? I don't really have anyone or anything to hold me here. Nothing to fight for. But when I'm abroad and undercover, I'm fighting to protect innocent people."

Tonks laughed so loud she attracted the attention of a few of the surrounding tables. "Come on, Audrey! If you join the Order of the Phoenix, you'll be joining a war and will be protecting the world."

Audrey blinked. "You've become more manipulative. I'm proud."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Audrey didn't hesitate with her answer.

Nymphadora Tonks and Audrey Dane stood outside of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the wind blowing their hair about as the sun set, causing colors to be cast across the sky.

"Ready?" Tonks asked, grinning at her companion.

Audrey grinned back. "Definitely."

The metamorphmagus handed her friend a note with words scrawled on it in perfect cursive. She smiled lightly as Audrey read the note.

"Got it?" Tonks asked. Audrey nodded returning the note to Tonks, allowing her to burn it so nobody else could read it. "Let's go then."

Together, the duo passed the threshold into the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.

"Is it weird?" Audrey asked, holding the gate open for her friend. "Being here, I mean. Your mother was disowned by them, not to mention this house is meant to be filled by pureblood elitists."

"Not really. Sirius has been extremely focused on erasing all of that kind of stuff."

"You know, that's weird too. I mean. People thought he was mass murderer for years. Hell, so did I."

"I never did. Mum always said that it was bull. No way could her favorite cousin be a killer. Always said he was lighthearted. Now that I've met him, I've got to agree. He's a good man."

Audrey let that sink in. It was strange to think that one of Britain's largest criminals, wasn't really a criminal at all. Not to mention… her parents had helped to put him away.

The duo had reached the front steps, and Tonks turned to face her before opening the door, being sure to meet her friend's eyes. "Be quiet as possible, yeah?"

"Why?"

"You'll find out eventually."

The Auror's brow furrowed as she stepped inside.

Audrey Dane had been many terrible places. She understood when people described a place as 'eerie' or 'sinister'. Out of all those types of places she had been, Number 12 Grimmauld Place most certainly fit those characteristics best.

The entry hall was dark and lined with creepy portraits of Black Ancestors that sneered at her and Tonks. At the end of the hall, on the left side, there were steps framed with an iron wrought banister. On the other side, there was a closed grimy, dark wood door. In between the two entry way exits hung a dark colored curtain that covered the entire wall.

Audrey gasped as Tonks whispered into her ear. "Welcome to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Enjoy your stay!"

Audrey snorted.

"FILTH!"

The curtains flew open to reveal a large portrait of an annoyingly gorgeous woman. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight bun that showed off her aristocratic bone structure. She wore a high collared emerald gown, and sat in a velvet cushioned chair. Her dark eyes glinted as her beautiful face scrunched into an ugly grimace as she screamed at the duo.

"The hell is that?" Audrey asked, covering her ears as she faced her friend.

"That would be Mrs. Walburga Black, my great aunt."

"Great family you've got."

"Isn't it, though?"

"OH, SHUT UP YOU TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE WOMAN!"

Another voice had joined the fray as the door at the end of the hall, allowing for two men to come running into the hall. Five tense minutes passed as the two strangers struggled to close the curtains. Finally, with a giant heave, they managed it before turning to face the girls.

"Of course it was you two."

Audrey grinned. There in the door frame, in all of his angry glory, stood Alastor Moody.

"Nobody else would manage to wake her up in such record time."

"I missed you too, Mad-Eye."

And she had. After her parents died and she became an Auror, Mad-Eye had been her mentor. He had taught her practically everything she knew.

Mad-Eye grunted in response. The man besides him laughed, brushing his long, black hair out of his face.

"Aw, calm down Mad-Eye. It will never be a normal day without this hag hollering at someone."

The man turned to face his newest guests, giving them a bright smile. He was handsome. Or, he had been, a long time ago. He couldn't have been that old, somewhere near his mid-thirties, but the wrinkles on his forehead and the shadows behind his silver eyes said otherwise. As Audrey studied him, she realized his grin was familiar.

"You must be Audrey Dane, one of Mad-Eye's old protégés, am I right?"

"That's me."

"Heard you were a prodigy."

"I wouldn't disagree with you."

Mad-Eye snorted. "I would."

The stranger's grin grew, if that was possible. "Nice to meet you, kid. The name's Sirius Black. I assume you've heard of me."

"Yeah," Audrey's eyes didn't waver from his. "I have."

"Come on down to the kitchen, and we'll talk. Tonks and Moody can come too."

Tonks had opened her mouth, stepping forward and ready to come along, when Moody's hand landed on her shoulder. "That's all right, Sirius. We'll see you both later tonight, during the meeting."

Audrey was about to comment, not particularly wanting to be left alone with a criminal that her parents had helped to arrest… even though he wasn't really a criminal. However, Tonks' loud voice cut her off.

"Right! Yep. We'll see-"

"Quiet," Moody growled. "Do you want to wake her?"

Tonks' eyes widened. Sorry, she mouthed.

Moody rolled his good eye. "See you in a couple of hours."

Sirius chuckled as the door quietly swung closed behind the Auror mentor and mentee. He watched as Audrey nervously shuffled back and forth on her feet. "Oh, calm down. I'm not an actually a mass murderer. Thought that was part of the briefing."

Audrey blushed. "It was."

"Then let's go have some tea, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Audrey was tracing a mark on the kitchen table, eyes focused on her task. Although it startled her, the Auror didn't flinch as the dark-haired man slammed down her mug in front of her. Sirius sighed deeply as he sunk into his seat across her, tossing his feet up onto the table.

.

.

.

"So! This is awkward."

Audrey laughed. She felt tense, but Sirius was very good at making her feel comfortable. "Definitely."

"Dane, right? Yeah, I knew your parents."

Audrey blushed once again, ducking her head. "I know. They, um, they helped to arrest you."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, drawing the young Auror's attention back up to him. "Not what I meant, but yeah. They did. Don't worry though. I'm not going to hold it against you. They were doing what they thought was best."

"Wait, if that wasn't what you meant… how did you know them?"

"I was part of the original Order as well," SIrius explained. "They were good people, always wanting to help others. If I'm being honest… I looked up to Eli and Marie."

"You did?" Audrey hadn't expected that.

"Oh, yeah." Sirius folded his hands behind his head, casually leaning back in his chair so that he caused it to only rest on the back two legs. "They were Gryffindors as well, a couple of years above my mates and I. Even then, I looked up to them."

"Yeah. They were pretty great, weren't they?"

"Definitely. I was sorry to hear about what happened to them."

Audrey's gaze fell back to the mark she was tracing. "Mm, me too."

Sirius frowned. It was obvious that even after nine years, the girl was still hurting from her loss. Although, who could blame her? Her parents had lost their lives when she was only sixteen. That takes a toll on a person.

"Eli ever tell you about the time he and Kingsley Shacklebolt, another friend of ours (you know, part of the original Order and in Eli's year), started a food fight during the Closing Feast?"

Audrey eyes widened. Her father joked around, sure. He'd pull the occasional prank on her mum. It was half the reason she believed in true love. Her parents could go from arguing to teasing each other to cuddling in a matter of minutes. She had had that once.

But… Kingsley Shacklebolt? It was difficult to believe that the mad she had always known as 'professional' and 'composed' used to pull pranks.

"No way."

Sirius grinned. It was always fun to see people's reactions to Kingsley's 'dark' past.

"Yes way."

The next hour and a half was spent filled with laughter as Sirius told Audrey story after story about his past with Eli and Marie. He was in the middle of a thrilling tale about how he, her father, and James Potter had pulled a prank on Kingsley.

"Oi, Sirius!" A familiar voice echoed down the steps into the kitchen. "You here, mate?"

"Yeah! We've got a guest as well."

"Really? Who?"

Audrey's jaw dropped as her gaze landed on Bill Weasley, her closest friend since she was eleven years old.

"Bill?!"

"Audrey?"

The two were hugging in what had to have been less than five seconds. Sirius raised his eyebrow as he watched the old friends reunite. Audrey had her head buried into the oldest Weasley's neck, and he was holding her so tightly that he had lifted her just enough that her toes brushed the ground.

He cleared his throat, perhaps relishing a little bit too much in making the moment awkward. "I'll be upstairs. Keep in mind that the meeting should be starting in about thirty minutes, you two."

For the umpteenth time that night, Audrey blushed, stepping back from her embrace with her friend as Sirius walked back them and up the stairs. Bill, however, simply rolled his eyes. He could hear the older Order member laughing from upstairs.

A calm moment passed as Bill held his friend's elbows, staring into her eyes. "Heya, Audrey."

"Hi, Bill."

The duo laughed, happy to just be in each other's company again.

"How have you been?" the redheaded man asked, curious to how his best friend had been doing since the last time he had seen her.

"I've been… great," Audrey grinned. "Had the time of my life in Russia."

"Russia?"

"Oh, yeah. Moscow specifically."

"What were you doing there?" His hand had trailed down her arm, interlacing his fingers with hers and tugging her along behind him over to the table.

"Tracking down Antonin Dolohov. Quite a chase, that one. What about you though? Last time I heard you were a Curse Breaker in Egypt. What are you doing back in London?"

Bill sighed, running his hand up and down Audrey's arm. They had always been rather touchy with one another. Practically all of Hogwarts had thought they were a couple because of it. Of course, they weren't. They were just good friends, that was all, even though nobody ever believed them. Audrey and Bill had just never really seen each other… at least, they hadn't until their seventh year.

They had given each other a shot that year, and it had probably been the happiest year of Audrey's life. Bill's too, even though he had never told her. That year had been spent cuddling and talking and having adventures with one another. Honestly, it wasn't that different from previous years. This one just involved things that were much more intimate, like conversations and… other pass times.

Sadly, they had break it off. Bill was planning to become a Curse Breaker meaning that he would need to travel to places like Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Audrey knew from a very young age that she was going to be an Auror. Although, after a year that was practically spent in heaven, she had reconsidered.

For a millisecond.

Bill had refused for her to give up on her dream. Audrey had been ranting about becoming an Auror since the very first day of their first year. There was no way that he was about to let her give that up.

"Guess I'm back here for the same reason you are," Bill responded. "The Order of the Phoenix and Lord Voldemort."

"Yeah," Audrey laughed without humor. "Sounds about right."

A comfortable silence passed, Bill playing with Audrey's fingers as she gazed up at him.

"How long will you be here?" she asked.

"I was actually thinking about staying. For, uh… for good."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He stilled his hand and raised his gaze to meet hers. "As long as I've got a reason to stay."

Audrey's breath caught in her throat. "I was thinking the exact same thing."

Their stares didn't waver from one another. Audrey nervously licked her lips as Bill leaned forward, raising a calloused hand to cup her soft cheek. His lips were a hair's breadth away from her own, when he whispered, "I've missed you, Audrey."

She was about to reply, when their lips touched and she was suddenly thrown back in time to her seventh year at Hogwarts and light pecks and heavy kisses and laughter and teasing and arguing and cuddling in the common room late into the night.

Audrey let out a ragged gasp as Bill pulled away. The kiss had barely lasted five seconds, and yet there was so much passion and past behind it.

"I've missed you too, Bill."

His thumb softly stroked her cheek, intently studying her face as if her were once again trying to commit every part of her to memory. "Is there any chance you have something to stay for?"

"As long as you do."

Bill grinned and Audrey had to admit that she felt as though she had found the thing she had been looking for during her years undercover.

"I do," he replied. "I definitely do."

Audrey laughed, and practically launched herself into Bill's arms and she felt like she had finally returned home after eight years.

"Oi, you two done reuniting, yet? I mean, is it safe?"

Bill laughed, standing and pulling Audrey along with him, refusing to release her from his grip after having to go so long without her. Their one year together had been the best year of his life. Sure, he had agreed to break it off and move on. It wasn't exactly what he had wanted. If Bill had to give up his hopes and dreams to be with Audrey he'd do in a heartbeat, but he'd never ask that of her. He had let her go, wishing her the best and hoping that she'd be happy, because if he was being perfectly honest, as long as she was happy, he'd be okay.

But he hadn't been. He had missed her every second of every minute of every day for the past eight years. It had hurt to let her go, and it still hurt him to this day to even think about it.

Now, though… well, now she was back and everything that his life had been aiming towards in the past eight years had finally fallen into place. Everything felt… right.

"Sod off, Sirius. It's safe."

The grin that Sirius wore was a bit too big for Audrey's tastes. "Sorry, mate. Couldn't resist."

"Of course, you couldn't," she laughed.

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes, once again taking the seat across from the young Auror and tossing his feet onto the old table. "The meeting is about to start. Tonks and Mad-Eye just got back, and Kingsley Shacklebolt's here as well."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem, mate."

Audrey was stuck between wanting to laugh as Sirius' teasing of her and Bill, which was obviously grating on the redhead's nerves, and also being annoyed by it.

The newly refreshed couple once again sat down, clutching each other's hands beneath the table and whispering to one another as people filled the kitchen. It had been strange for Audrey to see people she had either never met or hadn't seen in ages united for a common cause. As she looked around at the calm and cheerful crowd, the Auror had to grin. Her home was on the brink of war, and she knew that these people were ready to give up their lives to not only protect each other, but all of the innocent people who might lose their lives due to a genocide.

Kingsley Shacklebolt, an old family friend was there, arguing with Alastor Moody, her mentor. Tonks and Sirius exchanged stories, laughing so hard that their eyes watered. Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, sat scowling at Mundungus Fletcher as he slept. Arthur and Molly Weasley weren't there, but Audrey had been informed that they and the youngest four Weasley children would soon be moving into Number 12 Grimmauld Place in order to be a bigger part of the Order. Remus Lupin was smiling as he listened to the conversations around him.

"It's good to be home," Bill whispered into her ear. "Isn't it?"

If she was being honest, Audrey didn't really care all that much. In fact, she was already missing the adventure and thrill that came along with being undercover.

Then again, Bill was there. Bill was home. The person she knew she had been in love with since she was seventeen years old. She wouldn't necessarily say that she regretted leaving him behind in order to further her career. She loved doing undercover work as an Auror. It had been an amazing adventure.

However, as she looked at Bill, it occurred to her that maybe it was time to… settle down. To move past endless adventures, and if she did that, Bill would be the perfect person to do that with. He'd been a part of some of her best adventures. He was the one who knew her best.

He was home.

FIN.

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