Soon enough, the Hogwarts Express finally arrived at Hogwarts. We all got off and headed to the Great Hall for the feast and to see what house the incoming first years will be sorted into. After about an hour, the sorting was done, and fifteen new Hufflepuffs joined Rylie and I at our table. I wasn't particularly hungry, so I lightly chewed some strawberries, my favorite food.
"Hey Audrey, guess who's staring at you from the table over there?" Rylie asked, pointing in the direction of the Gryffindor table.
I looked behind me, but when I caught Oliver's gaze, he averted it quickly and pretended to focus on his food. "That means nothing, Ry."
"How can you say that? You know he's liked you for a long time. Why won't you finally accept that?" It's true. Oliver did seem to like me ever since second year, when he finally got over that girls-have-cooties stage of his life. I never really thought of him in any other way as my best friend. We knew eachother too well.
"It's not going to happen. Oliver and I are just friends." I assured her. I glanced back towards Oliver again. Sure enough, he was staring at me again. This time, he kept looking at me. A smile seemed to creep onto his face. "He has a beautiful smile." I thought to myself. "No, I can't let a silly little crush get in the way of our friendship."
I looked back towards Rylie. "Audrey, it's bound to happen. I just know it." And with that, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see none other than Oliver standing there.
"Hey, Dericotte. I was just wondering if you would like to accompany me to the first Hogsmeade trip of the year?" Oliver asked.
My heart fluttered and I could feel my cheeks turn red. How was I supposed to respond? I couldn't just reject him. "Uhm, of course." I feebly responded.
"Great! See you then." Oliver said before returning to his table.
I turned back to Rylie slowly, not wanting to hear what she had to say.
"AUDREY! I told you!" Rylie practically screamed. "I told you, I told you, I TOLD YOU!"
"Ry, shut up." I simply said before filling my mouth with baked chicken. If I was eating, I would have an excuse not to talk about it. That reminded me of something. "Hey Ry, you never told me about your summer. What happened?"
"Oh, it's just that my dad got in a really bad car accident, considering he's a muggle and has to drive a muggle car. He's pretty beat up. He broke his left leg and his collar bone. Our whole family has been having to take car of him." Rylie explained.
"That's terrible! I hope he's okay."
"He will be, soon enough. I just feel bad for leaving my mum and little sister to take care of him while I'm at school." Ry frowned.
"It'll be fine. He'll be better soon enough." Ry just smiled.
After the feast, Ry and I silently returned to our dorms. Both exhausted from the busy day, we collapsed on our beds. I found myself falling asleep in minutes.
I was standing in the middle of a dark room. I could see two shadowy figures pacing back and forth behind what seemed like a door, once my eyes adjusted to the dark. I heard muffled voices, but couldn't make out a word they were saying. I could feel sweat trickle down my neck. "What is this place?" I thought. "How did I get here?" Just then, interrupting my thoughts, the voices halted and the door swung open abruptly. I audably and sharply inhaled a breath of air. One of the shadowy figures turned to look at me. He was about six feet tall, had short brown hair, and was dressed in all black. He took a few steps towards me. By now, I was shaking tremendously.
"Who... Who are you?" I asked. The figure laughed darkly, which sent a painful tingle down my spine.
"My dear, sweet, Audrey. Why you don't recognize me? I'm hurt. So very hurt." The figure chuckled darkly again. He came into the only dim light in the room beneath the window to reveal his face.
"Michael! You... You're supposed to be in Azkaban!" I frantically said while trying to get to my feet.
"Now, now. I couldn't just break out and not say hello to my darling sister, now could I?" Michael smirked. He kept taking slow, long strides in my direction.
"Get away from me!" I screamed as I started to run to the door closest to me. Michael ran after me, and started closing in...
I bolted upright in my bed, sweating like a dog. I panted frantically, blinking the thoughts away as they flooded my mind. "Why would I have a dream about my brother breaking out of Azkaban? He couldn't! He's under much security, along with the other Death Eaters!"
"Audrey, are you okay!" Rylie rubbed her eyes. "I heard you scream!"
"I... I'm fine." I said. I went over to my chest, and drank the Dreamless Sleep potion I kept for nights like these. Within minutes of laying my head back down on my pillow, I drifted off to sleep again.