A/N: Hello, everyone! How are all you beautiful people feeling on this lovely Wednesday afternoon? :) As always, I hope you all enjoy this chapter immensely—and then I also hope you get the urge to review and tell me what you thought! ^__^ Unfortunately, this chapter is a tad bit short, but to make up for this I'm going to post Chapter Five later on tonight. See? I'm very, very reasonable. But it's only because I love you guys like whoa. :)

Also, I would to thank with my whole heart the following people for leaving me such incredible and encouraging reviews (words cannot describe how much I appreciate it!): riddlefan (my first anonymous reviewer! :3), ThexWorld'sxAxBrokenxBone (your review was so brilliantly long! I LOVE YOU!), jayrosew (a fellow Brit!), and slytherin-principessa (I love your penname!). And also to the incredible ALXandRA for leaving me a SECOND review. You all honestly made writing this chapter worth while. :3

Music: "I Still Remember" by Bloc Party.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; I do, however, own all original characters and storyline.


CHAPTER FOUR:

Reinstated by the Ravenclaws

***

Sunday, September 1st 1944

9:02 P.M.

At the Welcome Feast to commence the 1944-1945 school year, Audrey took her place beside the other seventh year Ravenclaw students and, to her intense surprise and pleasure, was instantly welcomed with open arms, no questions asked. As an extra bonus to her sudden good fortune, the Ravenclaw dining table of 1944 was also placed directly next to the Slytherin, and so she had a perfect view to try and scope out exactly who Tom Riddle was.

Though, as she duly noticed halfway through dinner, it was not exactly hard to tell. Had he not been wearing the shiny Head Boy badge on his Slytherin robes, the small, tight-knit group of boys and girls fawning over him would have told Audrey everything she needed to know. Though none of his followers directly made any attempts to engage him—a few of the girls looked as if they wanted to very badly—Audrey frequently saw them throwing him longing glances.

Begrudgingly, Audrey admitted that there was some substance in the girls interest in him: He was indeed very good-looking. He hand a perfectly angular face with dark hair and hazel eyes, pale skin, and a look about him that told anyone stupid enough to engage him in a fight that he was not to be crossed.

She knew very well that she needed to meet him and make an impression as soon as possible, because she only had a limited amount of time on her hands. However, she was also aware that there was no need to go to him; he would come to her: Sometimes within the next week, the Head Boy and Head Girl would have to hand out the Prefects patrolling schedules, which now included Audrey.

To tide herself over, she helped herself to a generous helping of Eton Mess, finding herself famished despite having eaten with Luna not four hours ago.

Across from her, a burly dark-haired boy in the same year as her raised an eyebrow. She remembered vaguely that he had introduced himself as Braxton Griffin with a smarmy wink, and was apparently a Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. "Merlin, you're not really going to eat all that, are you?" He sounded astonished yet amused.

Audrey paused with the ladle in her hand and looked up at him. Both he and his friend, a slighter boy who she remembered was called Reuben Garwin—Ravenclaw's Seeker and Captain—were looking at her expectantly, along with some Slytherin's from the next table who had turned around to see who he was talking to, curiously interested in the anomaly of the 'new girl.'

Audrey made an irritated face, and the majority of the Slytherin's turned round. "Err, yeah, I was." She put the ladle back into the tray of strawberry pudding, wondering how girls in 1944 managed to not pass out from hunger. "Unless you have a problem with that, Griffin?"

Braxton laughed deeply. "No problem at all, go straight ahead."

She gave him a very deep glare before going for it. She was too hungry to care about manners or pretence.

Though Braxton had turned to talk to a new first year, Reuben was still staring at her when she raised her head, and so she arched an eyebrow in question. "What's the deal, Garwin? Can a girl not eat around here?"

He, too, laughed, though the sound was less startling. He was obviously the politer of the two. "What school did you say you transferred from again?"

Audrey narrowed her gaze in on the Seeker. "I didn't," she said flatly. "But, if you must know, it was Beauxbatons Academy of Magic."

"Beauxbatons?" asked Braxton, surprised, turning back to the conversation and having evidently never stopped listening at all. "Isn't that a French school? Why don't you have an accent?"

Audrey immersed herself in her pudding, frantically searching her mind for a reason. Several seconds later, she said around a mouthful, "I lived in England until I was ten, and attended Beauxbatons 'till now, hence the lack of an accent."

Reuben nodded before going back to his pudding, also; Braxton simply shrugged and turned back to the petrified first year, rambling on about Quidditch and girls and the secret passageways of the school.

When the Welcome Feast was finally finished and all the plates had been cleared, Headmaster Dippet ushered them all from the Great Hall and ordered everyone back to their common rooms to unpack and settle in.

As she removed herself from the bench, Audrey was surprised to see both Reuben and Braxton ease up beside her. "What do you two want?" she asked, trying for casualness.

Braxton looped an arm through her own, though she gave it a pointed look in return. She didn't like to be touched. "Well, considering that you have no idea where the common room is, Fitch, myself and Reuben felt like we should accompany you…lest you wish to get lost?" He smirked, revealing pearly whites. "Which is strange, really, because you're the Prefect in this exchange." He pointed to the badge on her button-down shirt. She had still not been to her dorm to receive her robes, which, on the way down to the Feast, Dippet had told her he had arranged to arrive in her room later on in the evening. As far as she could see, she was the only person not wearing robes. "So, technically, you should really be leading us to the common room."

Sliding her arm from his, Audrey gave him a sweet smile. "Somehow I don't reckon I'll be getting lost tonight, Griffin, so save the Playboy moves for someone who's interested."

Though the muscled Quidditch Chaser obviously did not specifically understand each word she used, he did seem to get the point. He laughed once more. "All right, then, Fitch, I can take a hint. I'll see you back in the common room…if you ever get there."

Both he and Reuben took off down the corridor whilst Audrey simply glared at their backs. Braxton was so much like herself it annoyed her.

She turned and made her way in the other direction—having discovered a quicker route to the Ravenclaw tower in her third year—and travelled back down the stairs and toward the Great Hall. She arrived just in time to see the new Slytherin students leaving the Hall and making their way down to the dungeon.

In front of the line of first years was Tom Riddle himself and a female Prefect.

"This way!" shouted the plump, black-haired girl, ushering them in the direction of the dungeons. "We will be heading this way, under the lake to the Slytherin common room…"

Audrey stilled at the bottom step with one hand on the banister as they passed, and just when she thought Tom Riddle was going to disappear out of sight, he looked right at her for a good three and a half seconds. And in those fleeting seconds, Audrey felt something strange pass through her—an electric current she was chalking up to her hate for the future Lord Voldemort.

At least, she was pretty sure that was what she was feeling.

She didn't have enough time to dwell on the thought as—whilst she was still unabashedly staring at Riddle—someone suddenly covered her eyes from behind with large palms. Startled, she gasped a sharp intake of breath and violently pulled the hands from her face, only to see that Riddle, the chubby Prefect and the Slytherin first years had completely vanished into their common room.

Audrey turned to find Braxton a few steps up from her, looking amused. "Guess who?" he said cheekily. "You know, we weren't leading you in the wrong direction or tricking you or anything, the common room really is this way…"

Braxton had slightly redeemed himself by coming back for her when he had thought she was lost, so Audrey indulged him with a laugh and a smile. "Alright, Griffin, lead the way, then."

He hooked his arm through hers once again and lead her up seven flights of stairs and through the riddle of the bronze eagle knocker, then into the Ravenclaw common room. There were many first years lingering there and looking up in astonishment at the bewitched starry ceiling.

Braxton, though, lead her straight past them and to a secluded corner of the common room near the fire. Here, Audrey saw Reuben sitting with another girl—a very pretty blonde witch with large, sparkly blue eyes. The pair were huddled close and looked to be a couple, their fingers intertwined.

"This is Audrey Fitch, the exchange student," announced Braxton happily to the blonde girl, plonking down into the sofa opposite Reuben and his girlfriend and patting the seat next to him, indicating Audrey to sit. He winked and grinned her way.

She refused with a hard glare. "I need to unpack," she said flatly.

The blonde girl removed herself from Reuben and the chair, coming to stand in front of Audrey with a smile. "I apologize for him," she said darkly, hiking a thumb in Braxton's direction. "He doesn't tend to think before he speaks, unfortunately." She held out her hand in welcome. "I'm Stella, Stella Roberts."

Audrey took her hand and shook, but raised an eyebrow nonetheless. "Roberts? Does that mean you're a—"

"Muggle-born?" interjected the blonde girl with a hard smile. "Yes, I am. I hope there's no problem with that." She squeezed down a little harder on Audrey's hand.

Despite the brightness of her platinum hair, Audrey had to admit that she liked the girl; she was gutsy. Audrey smiled. "No, in fact one of my best friends back home is a Muggle-born." She thought of Dean and instantly felt a ripple of longing pass through her and linger.

Stella looked impressed. "Good. I have to admit, I did have my reserves after hearing you were a Fitch and all, a pure-blood family like them…"

Audrey made a mental note to research the Fitch family after her classes tomorrow, wondering how awful they might be. She shrugged half-heartedly. "Well, you can't pick your family."

Stella smiled and took her hand back. "Anyway, now that that's out of the way, would you like me to show you to our dorm room? You said you needed to unpack."

Audrey nodded and, with one last glance toward Braxton and Reuben, she followed Stella up the stairs and then down to the last door on the left. Inside, there were already three girls unpacking and talking loudly.

The second Audrey stepped in they all abruptly stopped. Three pairs of eyes stared her down in the small space.

Stella smiled a little, sympathetically, indicating to the last bed left; oddly enough, it was the same bed Audrey had slept in for the past year in 1998—the one closest to the window—and so she took her shrunken trunk and wand from her pocket and reversed the Reductor Charm, then placed the trunk at the foot of her bed. On her bedside table was two pairs of Ravenclaw robes, two midnight blue ties and three crisp, white shirts.

When she turned around again, Stella and the three girls were still staring at her, and so Audrey said, as politely as possible, "Err, hey, guys—I'm Audrey Fitch."

The first girl to wake from her revere was a tall, redheaded girl with many freckles. She smiled and held out a hand in greeting. "Hello, Audrey, my name is Adeline Chambers." Audrey took the redhead's hand and shook, though made a conscious effort to lighten her grip this time, remembering Eloise's harsh comment from earlier. "And this is Camilla Clearwater"—she gestured toward a brunette with long, curly hair and chocolate eyes—"and that is Delia Davies." Adeline then hiked a thumb toward a chubby girl with thick raven hair cut into a bob in the background, who looked to be the shyest of all.

Audrey tried to memorise the names. "Nice to meet you all," she said as politely as possible, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed.

She took a quick glance around the dorm room and already missed all the little amenities of 1998. Her digital watch, for one, as well as her clothes and make-up and electricity.

One thing she did not miss, however, was the smarmy face of Amycus Carrow, who was likely going to kill her the second she returned to 1998...if she ever did get back.

She turned back round and opened up her trunk, removing all the stolen clothes from Padma Patil and Su Li and shoving them into the dresser beside her bed. After many loads, she turned back to her trunk once more and realised that some of her clothes had fallen to the floor in her haste.

Including some of her tiny knickers and a very revealing lacy bra.

She looked up in alarm to see if the others had noticed. Adeline, with raised eyebrows and a perpetually shocked expression, was holding up a pair of Audrey's more revealing knickers: red lace girl boxers. "Merlin," said the redhead witch with a gasp. "What in the world are these?"

Audrey snatched them back with a horrified expression. "Those are personal!" she cried indignantly. She hadn't thought to pack old-fashioned underwear; no one was supposed to see them! Spluttering, she said, "They're the latest…err…fashion in France. French girls wear them to accommodate for not shaving." Even to Audrey's own ears, the excuse sounded lame.

"Oh," said Adeline, still wide-eyed. "They seem to be very…um, revealing…"

Audrey tried very hard to ignore the curious glances she was thrown every so often when all the girls resumed unpacking. This time, she was much more careful with her possessions, including the two smaller trunks she tucked under her bed: One for the Dark Arts books, the other full of bandages and medical tape for her back.

By a quarter to midnight, each girl had finished sorting their stuff into drawers and dressers and trunks, and so readied themselves for bed.

Audrey, reminding herself that she didn't want the gashes on her back to become septic and attract attention, hurried into the bathroom with the trunk full of supplies. It took her a very long time to change the bandages herself because they were on her back and she was entirely inexperienced, but after fifteen long minutes she had somehow changed the dressing, applied salve and magically vanished the old, blood-covered bandages.

As painful as changing the dressing was, what really hurt was when she grabbed her new nightclothes stolen from Su Li. She barely stifled a wince when she slipped into a bloody nightgown.

She emerged from the bathroom to find her roommates all tucked into bed in the same style of nightwear, though they were still sitting up and talking animatedly. Unable to stop herself, Audrey rushed over to the head-to-toe mirror in the corner and examined herself critically.

Oh, Merlin, it was horrible. The godforsaken thing was silk and lace and was long enough to touch the ground. "Aw, bloody hell," she groaned aloud, and all the heads in the room snapped up to stare open-mouthed at her. "Bloody nightgown…long enough to touch the ground…look like I'm a hundred and twelve years old… Bugger."

Someone coughed behind her. "Good Merlin, Audrey, your language is absolutely atrocious." She turned around sharply to find the girls staring at her and realised Adeline had been the one to speak. "That is no way for a young lady to be speaking."

Unable to find enough strength to care, Audrey yanked back the plush navy covers of her bed and crawled in, feeling wholly uncomfortable. She missed her usual night attire of boxer shorts and a t-shirt. "Sorry," she mumbled absently.

As soon as she laid her head down onto her pillow, the other girls in her dorm must have decided it was time to sleep and the lights were put out with the flick of a wand.

In the dark, Audrey tried to plan her next move concerning Tom Riddle.