She moaned and threw herself onto Ginny's bed dramatically. They had just gotten back and already her delight from visiting the twins had worn off. She had remembered her anger towards her parents and felt now was a good time to get her feelings about it off her chest.
"What the hell were they thinking? They can't raise a kid!" She raged. All the happiness she'd felt with Fred and George had evaporated and her parents were once again forefront in her mind. Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"They raised you." She reminded her, flipping a book open and flopping down next to her.
"Badly!" Audrina cried, putting her head in her hands.
"Well, I think you turned out alright." Ginny said thoughtfully. She waved a hand dismissively.
"Only because I was mostly raised by the Malfoy's, and your family." Audrina said, indifferently.
"Is any of this supposed to be comforting?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow and sorting her books into her trunk.
"No. But they can't raise a kid in war! What if something happens to it?" Audrina asked, biting her lip nervously. Ginny turned to look at her closely, a closed look on her face.
"Rin?" She asked, looking at her oddly. Audrina glanced at her, unnerved by her look of caution.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Do you think you're going to like the kid?" Ginny asked, struggling for words. Audrina was taken aback.
"Well, yeah- I mean- well, yeah!" She stuttered. Ginny tilted her head, her books forgotten.
"You do?" She asked, surprised.
"Don't I have too?" Audrina asked blankly. Ginny shrugged and turned away. Audrina stared at her back, confused by her words. She turned around and gave a small, tired smile.
"C'mon, let's go eat." She said, and got up. Audrina followed her downstairs, greatly confused.
The day of Ginny's birthday dawned cloudy and gloomy. Audrina rolled over and poked her awake.
"What?" She mumbled, annoyed.
"Happy birthday!" Audrina said happily. Ginny flipped over to face the wall, away from the noise and overly excited attitude.
"I'll be happy when it's not…. What time is it anyway?" Ginny demanded, voice muffled from the blankets that she was hiding under.
"It's 9:30." Audrina announced gleefully. She loved when she could wake Ginny up early and she couldn't be mad.
"When it's not 9:30!" She proclaimed angrily, curling up in a ball. Amused, Audrina crawled out of bed and grabbed an oversized jumper. She tossed it on and headed downstairs.
Harry was alone in the kitchen. Audrina glanced at him, then opened the cupboard and pulled out a glass. She filled it up with water and took a long drink. Then she sat next to him.
"Morning." He said quietly.
"Kind of sucks, doesn't it?" Audrina observed, looking at the surprisingly dismal weather outside.
"What?" He inquired, glancing at her.
"The morning. Too bad… Ginny wanted to go down to town and mess around with muggles for a little bit." She said, saddened that their plans now would more than likely involve the wedding. He looked at her.
"You guys do that?" He asked, amused.
"Yeah. It's really funny." She said, leaning back and grinning. He grinned back at her.
"What do you do?" He asked, interested.
"Well, sometimes we make ourselves look really weird and go see everyone's reactions, but normally we just go down there and watch muggles go about their normal business. We keep trying to take Hermione but she won't go with us anymore. Something about how people aren't entertainment. She gets the most mad when we mess up muggle stuff though." She explained. He was quiet. She took another drink.
"Do you ever…?" He trailed off, letting the question hang in the air.
"Play any pranks?" She guessed, grinning. "Please Harry, don't insult me. Fred and George raised me and I'm related to Sirius. Of course we do." She scoffed. He smiled slightly.
"He would've liked that." He said softly. She bumped him softly.
"He did. He was always giving me ideas and tips—Did you know that one time James and Sirius and Remus went to Lily's house, and Sirius tried to yank off your uncle's beard because Lily dared him to?" She told him, grinning. That startled a laugh out of Harry.
"No, I had no idea." He said, somewhat shocked. But she could tell that he believed her. It was something Sirius would do. She nodded, smiling. She took another sip and leaned back.
"And another time, Sirius got a year long ban from Quidditch." She said, grinning at the memory of Sirius laughing until he cried when he told her the story of his fifth year.
"Why?" He asked, leaning forwards onto his elbows, interested. She finished her glass and then explained.
"Because he charmed the Slytherin's brooms to beat their owners over the head." She said, wishing she had come up with that. Maybe then she could've beaten some sense into Draco. He laughed and bumped her shoulder back.
"That sounds a lot like Sirius." He admitted. She leaned her head on his shoulder sadly.
"I miss him." She admitted softly. He leaned his head on hers. The gesture was innocent enough. She saw Harry as another older brother. She had lived for eleven years hearing about how terrible he was. It wasn't easy to see him as a hero like Ginny did though she tried.
He was also the only other person to really be close to Sirius. The last summer when everyone had been living in his house it was an odd balance between her two worlds. Everywhere she looked were mementos of the family that had banished her. Sirius had bonded with her over the large tapestry that they had both been burned off.
"I miss him more." He whispered.
"It's alright." She said, trying to infuse some sort of happiness into her voice. "We can be orphans together." He glanced at her.
"You have your parents." He said, confused. She pulled a face and he set his head back down.
"Not anymore. They're replacing me with a baby." She admitted. He was quiet. After a long pause, he patted her on the arm. She heard footsteps on the stairs, and twisted just in time to see Ginny's horrified face, then she turned and ran back upstairs. Audrina sprinted after her and barged into her room. Ginny had her arms folded and was holding back a hurt expression.
"Really Rin?" She asked tightly, doing her best to look impassive and failing miserably.
"It's not what you think!" Audrina explained. The look in Ginny's eyes informed her that she was likely to show her no mercy. Audrina dove for minimal safety of the bed as Ginny blew.
"Do you like him?" She demanded. Audrina shook her head.
"No, Ginny, you know I don't." She insisted. Ginny pulled her wand and Audrina put my hands up automatically. More than once she had been on the receiving end of her curses but she knew it wasn't the wand she had to fear; that was secondary to what she was really doing.
Their entire relationship was built on the trust that they had never lied to each other, not since their first year. Ginny would remind her, usually not very gently, whenever something she had learned as a child was surface. Audrina would call her out whenever she would make general assumptions about someone. They had never flinched away from expressing their true emotions and Audrina knew if she started to lie to Ginny now she would never forget or forgive it.
"In what way to you love Harry Potter?" She demanded.
"Brotherly." Audrina answered truthfully.
"In what way to you love Ron Weasley?" She asked, an amused glint in her eyes, wand twitching.
"Brotherly." Was her answer with an eye roll.
"Do you love Draco Malfoy?" She asked, and now there was an evil glint in her eyes.
"I have." Audrina admitted, wishing that she hadn't given her the power. Ginny lowered her wand.
Audrina glared.
Ginny ran.
When Audrina had taken her down, tickled her, laughed at her for a large amount of time, then quit and helped her up, she had already forgiven her. They had ended up in the orchard and she plopped down.
"Anyways." Audrina said, as she caught her breath.
"How did you get Veritaserum?" Ginny asked. Audrina sat down, mindful of rotten apples, thoughtful.
"You know, my mom puts every known charm on the study to keep it locked. No wizard could get in; no spell could." She remembered, thinking about how she stole it fondly.
"No spell?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow. Audrina smirked.
"She is so busy with spells; she forgets to make sure you can't get in with..." She reached in her back pocket and pulled out my lock picking kit. "Lock kit!" She announced grandly. Ginny rested her head in her hands.
"I should've known that whenever I had to deal with my mum, you wouldn't go sit in my room and play with dolls." She muttered. Audrina grinned.
"It should've been a hint when Fred and George started calling me their prodigy." She reminded her. She just sighed and rubbed her temples.
"You know, this wasn't the way I wanted to start my birthday." She admitted. Audrina rolled my head to look at her.
"What?" She asked, unsure if she was talking about Harry, the weather, or the whole chasing her through the yard.
"Walking in on my best friend and my biggest crush cuddling in my kitchen." She admitted ruefully.
"So you still like him!" Audrina proclaimed, elated. She loved when she was right, because she had known that Ginny had loved Harry all along, though she'd never admitted it to her.
"Beside the point." She muttered darkly. Audrina grinned, making a mental note to bring this up one night when she was in a divulging mood.
"Right. Sorry. No, we were just talking about Sirius. And I told him about how we go down to town sometimes." She told Ginny, leaning back and looking at the murky clouds.
"Oh…" She said, trailing off, deep in thought.
"Besides, I know what will make it better." Audrina said, grinning and sitting up. Ginny glanced at her.
"What?" She asked, wary. Audrina grinned and gestured for Ginny to follow her. They went into the Burrow and up to her room, where Audrina dug in her trunk and pulled out her birthday present.
It was a long, old beaten chain of gold, and on the end was a small gold heart, with a diamond set in it. It was one of a few pieces of jewelry Audrina had taken from her house when she had left. She never wore it and she knew Ginny likely wouldn't but she wanted her to have it. She gently dropped the chain into her palm. Ginny gasped, and held it up so it caught the light. Audrina shifted awkwardly side-to-side, unsure of such a personal gift.
"I thought, you know, because my family jewel is a diamond, and you're my only family, so I thought—" She said awkwardly. She was cut off when Ginny flew into her arms, hugging her tightly.
"I love it." She whispered. Audrina relaxed and hugged her back. They let go and she slipped it on.
"Well, let's go play Rounds or something." Audrina said, still a little giddy that she liked my gift so much.
"Ok, but you have to let me win. 'Cause, you know, it is my birthday!" She reminded her, as they stomped down the stairs.
"I had a feeling it was going to come down to that. Let's go then, birthday princess." She said, racing her out the door.
The trio joined them at the orchard and their game was cut short when the skies opened and the downpour began. Laughing and joking, they trooped back into the kitchen, trekking mud everywhere.
"You are going to get eet on my clothes!" Fleur cried, as Ginny reached over her to grab a towel.
"Sorry." Ginny said, her tone indicating she clearly was not. Harry grinned and grabbed the towel for her.
"Just because it's your birthday does not give you permission to make a mess young lady!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
"But Ron's making a bigger mess so you should yell at him first." Ginny pointed out and Ron threw his soaking wet shirt at her, making Fleur cry out in horror as she was splattered with mud.
Later, as they all gathered in the living room for cake and tea, Hermione bumped Audrina's shoulder.
"Did you get Ginny that necklace?" She asked her quietly and she looked up at Hermione in surprise.
"How'd you know?" She asked.
"You've got a diamond ring you never take off. I figured it was some old family tradition. Plus it's not like Ron would've gotten something like that for her so I guessed it was you." She said and Audrina nodded, impressed that she had figured it out. Then again this was Hermione they were talking about and she was more perceptive than Audrina was.
"Yeah, I thought it was fitting." She said, trying to downplay it by shrugging her shoulders.
"Was it yours before?" Hermione pressed.
"Yes." She said quietly as Harry and Ron howled with laughter at Ginny's impersonation of Snape and McGonagall.
"Does it mean a lot to you?" She continued and Audrina stared at her, wondering why she took an interest now in her life.
"Yes, why?" She demanded.
"No reason." She said quickly and moved to sit next to Mrs. Weasley. Audrina followed her slowly, confused.
AN: Thanks for reading guys! Please leave me a review or a comment. I love to hear what you guys think.