The following morning, Audrey had no sooner entered the hospital door for her shift when she was paged to her boss's office.
"Have a seat, Audrey," her boss, Frances, said with a grave tone.
Nervously, Audrey obeyed and sat in a rickety chair in front of Frances's desk. Frances sighed and removed her glasses. Audrey guessed she was around 45 years old, but it was hard to tell. She looked like she hadn't had a normal sleeping schedule in 30 years.
"It's not good news," Frances said.
"I didn't know I was expecting news at all," Audrey said. She gave her notice of resignation yesterday. Was it not a clear-cut situation?
"Your contract has been terminated."
Audrey's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Frances sighed again. "You're leaving the hospital before the end of your contract, so the board has elected to terminate it immediately. Your last day isn't two weeks from now, it's today."
"But… but I gave my two weeks' notice…"
"According to the contract you signed when you started here, you need to give your employer 30 days' notice before leaving the company. Obviously, if it were up to me, I'd keep you on as long as you needed. Lord knows, we need all the help we can get."
Audrey was speechless. She was fired. She was planning on leaving the job anyway, but it stung that wasn't of her own accord anymore.
"They wanted you out of here immediately, but I managed to convince them give you the full day," Frances continued. "I've assigned you to pharmaceuticals, but I'd understand if you want to leave now."
Audrey winced. What was the point of staying at a job where she wasn't wanted? And working with the pharmaceutical department was one of the more dreaded shifts among the nurses. There was no patient interaction, and the pharmacists refused to give nurses any responsibilities beyond clerical work. Still, Audrey needed the money.
"I'll stay until the end of my shift," Audrey said, her voice thick.
The rest of the day dragged. She begged the pharmacists for assignments so she could distract herself from her own sour mood, but, not surprisingly, they refused. The other nurses seemed to avoid her, barely meeting her eye. No one even said goodbye to her as she left the hospital for the final time at 4 PM. She entered number twelve with a heaviness in her chest.
"Hi, Audrey," Remus said brightly as she walked into the kitchen. "Tea?"
"Maybe something a bit stronger," Audrey grumbled as she took a seat at the table.
"Bad day?" Remus said. "What happened?"
"I got fired," Audrey said. It sounded strange saying the words aloud.
Remus gave a low whistle and, to Audrey's relief, pulled a bottle of firewhiskey from a cabinet.
Sirius entered the kitchen jovially, leaning against the doorframe. "Thought I heard you come in, Audrey." He eyed Remus with amusement as he poured out two drinks. "A bit early for that, isn't it, Moony?"
"I got fired," Audrey repeated.
"Shit," Sirius said. He sat across from Audrey at the table. "What happened?"
"Apparently, I violated my employee contract, so they just terminated it."
"At least you've got other work lined up," Sirius said.
"Still not a good feeling to be let go from a job," Remus said, bringing three cups of firewhiskey to the table.
"Very true," Sirius said. "And I didn't say I wanted a drink."
"I know better than to ask by now," Remus said. He smirked as he took a sip from his glass, and Sirius laughed and did the same.
"You should have seen us in our Hogwarts days," Sirius grinned at Audrey. "We may have abused our Animagus abilities to sneak to Hogsmeade and steal a bit of booze every now and again."
"I'm shocked," Audrey said with a laugh. She appreciated the distraction and looked forward to more stories about the two men's youth. "Remus, how could you let this happen?"
Remus threw up his hands. "It was impossible to stop James and Sirius from doing anything they'd set their minds to. I think Dumbledore hoped I would make a difference in their behavior when he made me a Prefect, but it was no use."
"Remember the first time we got Wormtail drunk?" Sirius said slyly.
Remus snorted into his glass. "Merlin's beard, he nearly asked Mary MacDonald to marry him that night. We had to roll him up the stairs to bed."
Sirius cackled. "Ah, that was brilliant. And you were a riot back then, Moony, when we could convince you to drink with us." He leaned over toward Audrey and lowered his voice. "He was a table dancer."
"Are you not anymore?" Audrey asked Remus with a raised eyebrow. "It'd be a major disappointment if I missed out on that."
"Maybe we'll find out soon," Sirius grinned.
"It's only 5," Remus said with a smile. "I think one more drink will be enough for me for now. Hardly enough for a dance."
He stood to retrieve the bottle of firewhiskey, and Audrey drained her glass. The warmth of the drink spread throughout her body, and she relaxed. The stress that had settled in her ribcage loosened its grip. Remus filled their cups and then raised his own.
"To table dancing," he said. "And however far we may or may not have come from that."
They laughed and drank together. Sirius turned his mischievous grin to Audrey.
"I'm sure you had your own stories of school mayhem. Let's hear it."
Audrey shook her head. "I wasn't nearly as bad as Natalia. But I was dragged into some of her schemes, of course. There was one time when Nat was snogging this Slytherin girl on the sly."
"Scandalous," Remus said.
"And then her boyfriend found out about it…"
"Absolutely scandalous," Sirius said, nodding.
"So this boyfriend tries to corner Natalia after Charms one day," Audrey continued. "Aims a Bat Bogey hex at her while her back's turned and then misses. So she hits him with a Tickling Charm and makes her escape. But she's dying for revenge and recruits me to help her out. We end up throwing a massive party in the Hufflepuff common room— our entire year was invited. The Slytherin couple shows up, they pretend they don't know us, so Nat spikes his drink with a laxative potion I heard about in a book from the restricted section of the library. Took us a week to brew it, and it was extremely potent. He didn't even make it to the toilet. Shat himself in the hall."
"Ah, deadly!" Sirius laughed.
"Did he try to get back at you?" Remus asked.
"He never figured out it was us." Audrey couldn't suppress a grin. "Not the sharpest tool in the box, that one. He was mortified, of course, and just figured it was the flu."
"He had it coming," Sirius said, finishing his drink. "Only cowards try to attack someone with their back turned."
"Tell me about it," Audrey said, and she downed the rest of her firewhiskey. "I did feel guilty afterward, but we did the entire school a favor. The kid was a menace, a bully really, but he became quite subdued after that night."
"You know what would be a good idea?" Sirius said, his eyes brightening. "Remus can give you your first Patronus lesson today."
Remus shrugged and turned to Audrey. "If you're up for it, I'd be happy to."
Though the firewhiskey made her feel a little better, Audrey wasn't sure she was up for learning new, challenging magic at that moment. But she was curious, and she didn't want to seem disagreeable.
"Let's do it then," she said with what she hoped was an enthusiastic smile.
"Excellent." Sirius pushed back his chair. "There's an empty room on the second floor with plenty of open space we can use."
"We?" Remus said with a raised eyebrow. "This lesson isn't for you, Sirius."
"If you think I'm missing Audrey in action, you are tragically mistaken, my friend," Sirius said. His eyes swept over her, up and down, eagerly.
"I'll be sure to give you quite a show," she responded lightly.
Sirius laughed and led them upstairs. The room was empty save for a couch to the side, covered in a sheet, and a long bookshelf. Sirius plopped down on the couch and sat earnestly, looking like a kid about to watch his first Quidditch match.
"Don't mind me, go on," he said. He propped his chin on his fist.
"Right," Remus said, giving Sirius a warning look. He turned to Audrey. "What do you know about the Patronus charm?"
"I know it's meant to ward off dementors but apparently it's also used to send messages," Audrey said. "And it takes the shape of an animal, which is different for each person."
"A corporeal Patronus will take the form of an animal, yes," Remus told her. "It's much harder to conjure one of those. More likely, at first, your Patronus will be more of a shapeless silver mist. The incantation is Expecto patronum."
"Got it," Audrey said. She brandished her wand.
"Hang on just a moment," Remus chuckled. "The most important part of the spell is that you've got to think of your happiest memory. Not just any happy memory—your happiest. Let it fill you up, and then say the incantation."
"Alright," Audrey said. She thought of when Paul first told her he loved her. They were walking on a chilly beach, hand in hand, in the moonlight. She had never cared so much for another person before, and she couldn't believe someone so lovely would be standing beside her. Then words were out of his mouth so suddenly, yet she wasn't taken off guard. It was nearly predictable. He had smiled widely, relieved, when she said it back. He kissed her then, softly. Was that really six months ago? Time had flown.
She took a deep breath and raised her wand. "Expecto patronum."
Nothing happened.
"No worries, you can try again when you're ready," Remus said.
"Expecto patronum!" Audrey said with more passion. She thought of how the wind played with Paul's curls. But again, nothing happened.
Remus's patience didn't falter. "Perhaps another memory might—"
He broke off his sentence as they heard a clamor on the stairs. Natalia burst into the room panting.
"There you are!" she exclaimed. "We've got a bit of a situation."
"What kind of a situation?" Audrey asked tentatively.
Natalia looked from Remus to Sirius hesitantly and then shook her head, accepting their presence. "You've got an angry boyfriend in my flat looking for you."
"Paul? But what—"
"You haven't called him… at all," Natalia said.
"It's only been three days," Audrey said. "That's not so terrible, is it?"
Natalia shook her head. "I've got Jackie entertaining him now. I said I was going to the loo and then I Apparated over here. I'm just glad I found you."
"Jackie! This is interrupting your date!" Audrey exclaimed in horror. "Shit, I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry about that just yet," Natalia told her. "Worry about Paul. He is sincerely pissed."
"Shit, okay, yeah," Audrey muttered. She turned to Remus and Sirius. "Is it alright if we postpone this?"
"Absolutely, do what you have to do," Remus said. Sirius nodded and bit at his thumbnail, saying nothing.
"Okay, let's go," Audrey said to Natalia, and they rushed toward the door. "I think I have a plan."