Chapter Fourteen: Remembrance

December 30th 1995

Audrey smiled contentedly as she leaned back in the third class seat watching the world fly by through the train window. A small wooden box in her lap opened displaying many letters and a few pictures that Audrey was looking at carefully, taking in every detail, the man, whose smile looked infectious and lively, the woman who looked as happy as he did. Another picture showed the two much at roughly Audrey's age.

She was finally going to see her father. Her hands began to shake excitedly as she closed the box and held it to her chest. Audrey was going to find him.

They would be a family again.

Though, she was nervous about this whole traveling to London bit. Audrey only had enough muggle money for one ticket one way. She nudged the broom lying next to her feet nervously. Just in case things went bad, like if her wallet got stolen, she could at least have a way to go somewhere.

After her grandfather had begun to get sicker, Audrey had managed to procure an old broom before the Christmas holidays and enchant it at the school. Just in case she needed to make some kind of escape after Granda's funeral. It was a large enough affair that Audrey had snuck off without too much notice. The only person that was not there was her father, Audrey was sure he had good reason for not coming. Maybe he was working on a case. Her eyes began to grow heavy as she took her dad's large old trench coat from her rucksack, which held all of her worldly goods, to use as a blanket and tugged the fur cap around her head snuggly around her ears.

In the muggle world, Audrey was still underage for another couple of years; she would still be underage in the wizarding world for another few months. She was not going to a muggle children's home, she may not be able to get back to school if she did. Also she didn't like the idea of explaining her abnormalities to muggles. Audrey was sure her father would accept her; it would only be for a few months they could get to know each other. Audrey was positive he would take her in, she knew it somehow.

Oo0Oo0

"Causey… Causey… Causey… Where is Aran Causey?" Audrey flipped through the phonebook in a local library, quickly reading each name until a small ad on the page next to it caught her attention.

Aran E. Causey, Private Investigator

The ad gave an address and a phone number. Audrey smiled a she copied the information on the back of a free bookmark, her hand trembling in nervous excitement and anticipation. He was not too far from here; she had walked down the same street to get to this library. It would be a quick walk back the way she came. Audrey double checked the address thanked the librarian, and ran out the door, excitement and adrenaline pulsing through her body, so close, so very close.

She felt her boot lose grip on the icy steps to the building bringing Audrey to her knees. She felt the corners of her eyes dampen in pain. "Ouch!" She hissed as she pulled herself to her feet and winced as he knee refused to straighten. Grabbing the railing, Audrey managed to limp inside where it was nice and warm. There was a tiny woman at the desk who was reading a magazine with interest. Audrey limped over, adjusting her backpack and double checking to see if she still had her broom. "'Cuse me Ma'am, do you know where I can find Aran Causey?"

The woman looked up with interest. "707 on the seventh floor," she paused. "He doesn't get a lot of visitors, clients mostly. You seem too young to be a client."

"I'm eighteen." Audrey lied wanting to keep this nosy woman out of her business. "Thing is, I'm looking for someone and Mister Causey came highly recommended."

"Ah," the woman replied as she waved Audrey on so she could continue reading her magazine. Audrey limped into the lift at the other end of the room.

Audrey was scared. Her heart was beating so loudly she swore the man standing next to her in the lift could hear it. It stopped on the seventh floor and Audrey walked off with a photograph of her father in her pocket to remind herself why she was here. It was her favorite picture, her father looked high spirited and mischievous. Audrey's grandmother used to say that she had the same smile her father had whenever she was up to something. That was how she could always tell if Audrey was doing something she wasn't supposed too.

'707… 707…' The door was a solid looking oak door was the only thing keeping her from her family now. Her heart thundered louder in her chest as her stomach rumbled loudly. 'Maybe he'll feed me…' Audrey's fist rose to knock on the door. Why was she so nervous?

As she was about to knock the door suddenly flew open.

"If you're selling raffle tickets boy, I'll make this easy for you. I'm not interested." Audrey felt her jaw drop as she looked at the man before her. He was fast approaching forty with a couple of gray hairs in his mouse brown hair possessing a wiry build. The thing that made Audrey do a double take was the fact that they had the same coloring down to the ice blue eyes. Everything else could be claimed by Eva Causey, Audrey's mother. He looked Audrey up and down with a wary eye, "Now what do you want?"

"I-I… I'm not selling anything." C'mon Audrey tell him who you are! "I-I'm looking for someone…"

Aran Causey gripped the bridge of his nose with one hand and motioned for Audrey to come in with the other. Audrey stepped past him and into the flat. It was fairly clean except for the kitchen which was covered in brown paper sacks and a lot of cans. There was also a container of Chinese takeout sitting nearby. It smelled good. She heard the door close and footsteps walking across the wood floor. "I like my clients to call first, holiday or not." He brushed past Audrey and sat at the desk he had set up in what looked like a living room and sat down behind it professionally, and motioned for her to sit down in an overstuffed armchair on the other side. Audrey set her things down and sat suddenly feeling nauseous. "Alright, I need some information."

"L-Like what?" Audrey stared at him with eyes like saucers and began to twiddle her thumbs nervously. She looked over his shoulder to find a rather large bookshelf filled with what appeared to be a collection of history books. She would love to sit down with one of those thick volumes for a few hours. Her thumbs stopped twiddling and rested on her knees while she focused on the books to begin collecting her thoughts.

"I'll need the name of the person you are looking for, what they look like, their date of birth, last place they were spotted, last year they were seen is a very good place to start on these matters. I'll need your name and information as well." There was a ringing sound from a room in the back. "I'll be right back." He walked briskly towards the room that was the source of the noise. Audrey felt her stomach flip uncomfortably when she heard him yelling at some poor soul over the phone. "I am not interested in whatever it is you are trying to sell! It's New Year's Eve for crying out loud! Now please stop calling me!"

'He's got a temper…' Audrey thought as she stood to have a better look around. The room was very bare with a couple of paintings and no photographs to speak of. She sat down quickly as she heard him walk down the hall and back into the room.

"Sorry, sorry," he reclaimed his seat behind the desk, and picked his pen back up to resume his note taking.

"Do you have any kids' sir?" Audrey blurted out before she could stop herself. No turning back now.

"No." Aran Causey replied flatly, as the phone began to ring again. "Bloody blasted thing!" He rose and walked briskly back to answer the phone again.

Audrey leapt out of her chair, her eyes wet. She was wrong. Wrong! He didn't want her all those years ago and he really would not want an abomination like her under his roof now. Her breathing became short and ragged as her stomach rumbled loudly. The smell of still warm Chinese food filled her nostrils. She picked up her bag and walked quickly and quietly into the kitchen, picked up the box of takeout and put it into her bag along with a couple of cans of peaches in her coat pockets. 'Screw him!' Audrey never needed him before and she was not going to start needing him now! 'He left me, what in the world made me think he would want me now' She walked through the front door quietly with tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as she walked to the lift quickly, pushing past the father and daughter just walking out of the lift. As the lift doors closed Audrey gave a choked sob. She pulled herself together as the lift door slid open to the main floor. The woman behind the desk popped her gum as she continued to read her magazine, not even noticing a red-eyed Audrey going through the front door. 'He didn't even come to Granda's funeral! What the hell was I thinking?' Audrey hated crying, her face felt blotchy, her eyes puffy; she was not one of those girls who could cry prettily.

She continued to walk through the snow and took the hot meal out of her bag when her tears began to subside. "He's my bloody father; the least he can bloody do is bloody feed me!" A man walking in front of her turned appearing to be appalled by her language. Audrey did not care about his opinion, she had meant every word.

Hours later, Audrey found herself in front of a building ignored by passing muggles. She had continued walking in a daze and managed to sneak onto the underground to get here. Audrey had decided she was done with the muggle world; there was nothing for her there anymore. She smiled tightly, it was time she grew up and made something out of herself. Walking quietly through the front door, Audrey suddenly felt warmer from the large crowd of people gathered in the Leaky Cauldron and the large fire growing in the fireplace. Audrey peered over the heads of a couple of people in front of her where a clock was striking seven in the evening. Audrey had muggle money, and the small savings account she had started at Gringotts had a little bit of money in it though according to the clock she would not be able to make any withdrawals and money transfers until morning.

Audrey sat up on an empty barstool next to an older man with grey hair and very thick caterpillar eyebrows. She eyed him warily as he drank his way through the glass of whiskey, he pushed his glasses up his nose and smacked his hand on the bar a couple of times. Audrey jumped. "Another round Tom and keep'em comin', it's New Years after all." His robes were patched at the elbows, Audrey noticed. She guessed the old timer was the local drunk that people had learned to ignore somewhat. He seemed rather friendly with a few of the people nearby and was making conversation with the barkeep Tom. Audrey then presumed he was a very regular customer.

She took the picture out of the pocket of her coat. It was just a picture of two people called Evelyn and Aran Causey, one dead in the ground, the other dead to her. Audrey seriously considered for a few minutes throwing it into the fireplace, but changed her mind and put it back in her pocket.

It was the only picture she had of her mother.

By the time midnight had come, Audrey had forgotten the older man completely and gone to sleep with her head on her arms. She had no idea she would soon become very familiar with him when school let out for the summer.

"Do it again Audrey. And this time, do it right."

Audrey doubled over resting her hands on her knees, she was sore Septimus had been instructing her for almost an hour on different techniques in combat. Stuff he had invented on the fly during his youth and some standard spell review. He was doing it with everybody but he seemed to be focusing on Audrey particularly. "I thought that was right." She panted as she tried to stand up straight.

"Don't get smart with me young lady! I'm trying to keep you alive. Perfect practice makes perfect, now do it again."

"You're pretty mean when you're off the booze."

The ground beneath her began to shake as Septimus tapped his cane on the ground and muttered an incantation. Audrey suddenly found herself rising into the air by her ankles. A root had risen out of the ground and was pulling her up into the tree nearby. "What!" It lower towards the ground so that she was now eye to eye with the disturbingly sober Septimus, Audrey was starting to regret her comment towards his unwanted sobriety.

Septimus' voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned closer to the dangling Audrey. "You were expecting me to throw a hex at you right? Something you could see coming and defend yourself against? I hate to tell you kid, the real world fights dirty, lying in wait for any and all opportunities to destroy you. I suggest you start refining your technique and start thinking like the people who want to kill you. The only allies you have are the people with us now, the Ministry is being run by You-Know-Who supporters who appear to be trying to purify," he said purify like it was some kind of bad taste in his mouth, "the wizarding world by, what sounds to me like genocide. You're turning purple." Audrey yelped as she was unceremoniously deposited on the forest floor. "I suggest you start thinking outside the box the Hogwarts and Ministry Educational Regulations put you into, because the enemy knows every spell you do except for the ones you discover on your own and what I am trying to teach you now. Go do it again."

"Y-yes sir!" Septimus was right; she only had one shot at making it out of this war alive, though if she had to go down, Audrey intended to take as many Death Eaters and Ministry Mooks as she could with her.

July 4th 1998

"Ow…" Audrey opened her eyes to find herself staring at a white light, her eyes widened as she focused on the light over her head. She blinked a couple of times, "Agrippa's knickers, I'm dead aren't I…" A rather scruffy looking figure leaned over her. Audrey recognized it immediately. "Wait, if you're here this can't be heaven… This must be the other place!"

"Hell is reserved for politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, and traitors. You're not dead yet, keep this up though and I might just kill you myself. Though I'll have a very hard time explaining where you went to the neighbors." Septimus moved back a bit, leaning on his walking stick while giving Audrey a look that would make those unfamiliar with it run screaming in the other direction. The dark circles under his eyes were no help. "I want to know what the hell you were thinking." He was breathing heavily and Audrey pulled the hospital sheets up to her chin to try and hide. "I would not have even known where you were or what happened unless that bloody bureaucrat came back to the pub to tell me what was going on. He seemed to think I was Mister Causey for some reason…"

"Did you tell him we're not related?"

"No, I was about to while I was stepping out the door and then I tripped over that depressed clown brother of his who passed out on the front steps of the Sneezing Snitch." Septimus replied flatly, as he rubbed his forehead. His tone reverted to clipped. "I hate feeling like I owe somebody. But we were not discussing that. What were you doing down there?"

It all came back in a rush, Russell, the cloaked woman, the thunder, and the man in the golden mask, and that bright light. "Russell saw the man in the mask in Knockturn. I couldn't let him go alone, he was meeting this woman. I didn't see her face but she had this pretty voice and they seem to be working together." Audrey was speaking quickly trying to tell Septimus exactly what happened as quickly as she could. "They walked deeper into Knockturn, Russell was following with me a few feet behind him and… Is Russell okay? When can I see him?"

Septimus seemed at be at a loss for words for a moment, he was looking around the room seeming to take in the strange assortment of medical injuries nearby, including a man with a pickle stuck in his ear. "There is something you need to-"

"Uncle, I brought the tea!" Lucia's voice sounded from the other end of the room. There was a rapid pattering of footsteps as Lucia approached. "One large half full glass of green tea no sugar for you, and a small jasmine for me, I can't believe you don't like sugar in your tea. Absolutely mental." She gave a cup of tea to Septimus and fixed Audrey with a relieved smile as she reach out to brush Audrey's hair out of her face. "How are you feeling? Better then yesterday I hope."

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "What's the date?"

"The fourth, you've been out of it since they brought you in two days ago. You did wake up for a bit yesterday, but they gave you some sleeping drought and doused you with some more potions to help speed up the healing of some other damage." Lucia smiled grimly, it quickly morphed into a look of disgust. "Uncle, are you putting whiskey in your tea?"

"Yes," Septimus replied as he stirred the contents of his glass slowly and placed his flask of whiskey on the bedside table. "Why do you care what I put in my tea?"

"Because it's gross."

"Have you ever tried it?"

"No."

"Then you have no grounds for an argument." Septimus answered coolly as he took a sip of his tea.

Audrey could not care less at that moment what Septimus put in his tea or not, he still had not answered her question. "When can I see Russell?" Septimus and Lucia grew quiet. Audrey's stomach knotted up in anxiety. "Please tell me."

Septimus looked down at his tea, appearing to be uncomfortable, "Russell is dead, Audrey. I'm sorry."

The world suddenly slipped from beneath Audrey leaving her over a dark empty pit.

Author's Note: Why do I enjoy writing Septimus Lowell so much?

Ah, yes, you may be wondering why most of this chapter was a flashback, well truthfully I really don't know. I didn't think that I could fill a good sized chapter without them. So pick your favorite flashback segment. I seemed to enjoy the moment when Audrey took her father's dinner. That was time when she took on a life of her own and was surprisingly easy to write.

I realized something while I was writing this, Audrey seems to have put her father on a pedestal as a child and held onto that belief until they met. She may be continuing to do this to other people as well, especially people she admires. Just a thought of mine.

I foresee my next chapters being very emotionally charged, some more than others.

Fun Pointless Information: Audrey and her father have the same initials. It was her mother's idea.