Chapter Twenty-one: Limbo

July 12th 1998

She felt she was going nowhere. Her feet were moving but the scenery was not changing. It was a continuously dark space that stretched on forever and ever and into eternity.

An old woman clawed her way out of the nothing only say something that Audrey could not hear before being pulled back under. Audrey recoiled and felt the smoke coil around her ankles.

A great shadow beast with fire for eyes came forth and reached for her with its large hand. It's fingers turned to claws and drops of fire and dark magic fell from its mouth.

Audrey unleashed a scream that never reached her ears as she pushed forward with all of her strength to escape.

Then came a great push from behind her. A gentle, familiar presence from a place that seemed far away in both time and distance. It continued and helped her forward past the more persistent pursuers. Until suddenly it stopped and a slight breath brushed over her cheek and ear with all of the gentleness of a butterfly's wing, something like the comforting grasp of a hand on hers before her protector disappeared from her side.

There were moans and screams in the distance that called her to stop and remain, dark shadowy figures that reached out to grab her hands and ankles as she passed them by.

They whispered promises of rest, they spoke of eternity, they screamed in agony.

Audrey broke into a run.

She burst of the darkness, wandering into a new place full of light.

"Please help my daughter!" Septimus' voice echoed through the space.

There was everything and nothingness around her.

"Sir, please we need to take her to Saint Mungo's! She needs a skilled healer!"

She found herself looking down on Septimus as he helped put her on a stretcher to Saint Mungo's and carried her body out to the Atrium. There were so many people crying out in pain, some were not moving at all with white sheets covering their face and bodies. Audrey felt as if she were walking through the scene.

There was John administering first aid while Lucia left his side to run over to Septimus to help him follow after her body. Lucia's face was wet with tears and blood ran down her arm as she screamed Audrey's name with such pain that Audrey felt herself shiver. Cappie and Serena were with Arthur and Percy, helping the two tall men to their feet and to the triage area. She followed after the children and in an unconscious action put her hand on Percy's back when he stumbled. She barely batted an eye when her hand passed through him.

As if she expected it.

Percy looked around suddenly and down the corridor where they were taking Audrey's body away. Cappie's hold on Percy tightened as he began to shake from the sound of Lucia's screaming.

"Oh Audrey, no…" Percy's voice croaked like a frog and Audrey just wanted to take his hand but that was denied her in this state.

There was suddenly a fog moving around her feet and the last thing she saw before being consumed by light was her body being taken away.

"We're losing her! Healer we need help here!"

"Audrey, stay with me, dammit!" Septimus' voiced echoed through her mind before it was lost to the emptiness around her.

Her vision consumed by white space once more. Audrey paid no mind to the resumed strangeness and began to walk once more. Perhaps it would change again in awhile? After all, it was just a dream.

Her thoughts began to fall away.

Her memories were left behind in echoing footsteps.

As if answering her thoughts the emptiness began to fill. The space under her feet formed into a smooth wooden floor, around her furniture like bookcases and chairs appeared from nowhere. A fireplace formed in front of the bright red chairs and couch, a staircase and doors to secret places and madcap wonders followed springing forth from white smoke. Audrey ran up the stairs as each step formed in front of her feet. She felt like she was flying!

She swung open the door to her ramshackle room and its patchy third hand quilt with the small oak desk and bookshelf covered in her notes and writings. The small window that offered a view to Diagon Alley was there and Audrey could not see the street through the thick white fog. Audrey inhaled deeply and sighed contently as she rushed back downstairs to wait on her family. She was back in the living room at the heart of the shop and found herself spinning and laughing, as she had not done in months in exuberant glee.

The Septenary had reconstructed itself before her eyes!

She was home!

The rational part of her mind was screaming that this was impossible. The part that believed in wonders and miracles was screaming in joy. Everything would be better than it had been the previous months!

There was a simple white robe lying on the arm of the couch. Audrey reached for it realizing for the first time she was without clothes. Why was she naked? Her face was heated hoping nobody had seen her. She sat down on the couch and stared at the fire in the hearth.

The fire was barely providing warmth and seemed to be slowly dying before her eyes.

"Your favorite place in the world. I had no idea you were such a workaholic."

Audrey turned around quickly to find a young blonde woman who appeared only a couple of years older than Audrey herself. She had large bright blue eyes that gave her the appearance of a curious child. Something in the woman's face seemed achingly familiar.

It was so hard to remember little things now…

"Would you mind if I sit down, Audrey?"

Audrey… That was her name. It sounded unusual to hear things, like she had forgotten that sound even existed.

"Oh, not at all, please, go ahead." Audrey motioned to the empty space on the couch next to her. The woman sat gracefully. "Who are you?"

The woman put her hands in her lap and stared at the fireplace, seeming to ignore Audrey's question. "Nobody important, just someone who loves you very much." Not the answer Audrey was looking for. "You live here with your mentor, Septimus Lowell. You look to him as the father you never had." The woman smiled sadly, sounding regretful, "Aran Causey is a good man, he just… He has problems. He cannot cope with grief. I met a woman once who said the same of Mr. Lowell."

Audrey paused, was she talking about Kitty Fletcher, the same woman who was Septimus' wife? But she was dead. How could this very young looking woman have met someone who had died in 1959? This woman did not look a day over twenty-one.

"Who are you? I want a real answer this time."

The woman smiled sadly. "I'm sorry; I don't enjoy talking about myself very much." She paused and twined her fingers together slowly. "There isn't very much to tell really, my life was so short. I'd much rather talk about you, I find you far more interesting." Her smile grew into a full grin as she gently took Audrey's hands in her own. "Why here? There are so many other places that have impacted your life. I can think of several other places that changed your life in an instant."

The answer fell from Audrey's mouth before she even had time to think about it. "I was happy here. The happiest I had ever been in my life. I was free to study what I wanted, come and go as I pleased within limitations, and…" Audrey paused, her mind focusing on the man who had offered her a chance at a good life and salvation. Words flowed from her mouth like a steady river. Septimus had saved her in so many ways. "I finally met someone who I could look up to for both failures and successes, for his pride and ambition, and someone who understood why I wanted to understand magic the way I did. Septimus taught me so much," Audrey stopped, taking back her hands slowly as one hand moved to cover her mouth as a sudden realization overtook her. Her throat clenched and she struggled to speak over the large lump in her throat. "I think of him as my dad. And I'll never be able to tell him that."

Audrey broke down and made a noise that sounded like a sob before tears flowed down her cheeks and a watery laugh escaped her throat.

"Because I'm dead, aren't I mum?"

Evelyn Causey gave her a gentle smile, and put her hand on her shoulder. "In a sense, you are. You are stuck on the border between life and death, you're body is struggling to stay alive, but your spirit is here to rest and decide if you want to go back to your body or go back with me. But your ultimate fate has yet to be decided."

"By whom?" Audrey choked as she leapt out of her seat angrily, "Take me to him! Whether it's God or someone else, I want to speak to him!"

Evelyn giggled, "You sound just like your father. Ready to take on the world for answers, aren't you?"

Audrey cringed.

"Your fate is being decided by you. Your body is in great distress; it's been tired and beaten down over the last year, and the blow that sent you here should have killed you. I'm not sure why it didn't. Ultimately, it's your choice whether to go back or to go on."

"My choice? How? You died, you could've chosen to stay to hold your child and keep your family together. If it's a choice, why don't we all stay behind for those we love?"

Tucking her blonde hair behind her ear Evelyn remained calm and rational in opposition to Audrey's frantic questions. "Sometimes Audrey, we have no say in the matter. We just move on into a place like this and someone who we knew in life comes to tell us that it is our time to go. That our bodies are broken beyond repair and there's no way back." She smiled grimly, "I had no way back. I would've, if only for just for a few moments, to hold my newborn daughter. I felt cheated. I felt angry. My grandmother explained it all to me and I cried and tried to return to you and Aran. She couldn't make me move on until I was ready. I wanted to see the baby girl I had been waiting for. I wanted to see her father hold her in his arms like I never would. What I saw was a man broken beyond repair holding my cold, dead hands."

Audrey remained silent as a stone.

"I couldn't bear to leave Aran alone like that, but I needed to move on then or I never would. I would just watch the goings on in the living world forever. That is a fate that many who suffer sudden deaths succumb too. No matter what their loved ones say they cannot wrap their minds around the fact they are dead and just remain in their own waiting place."

"I hope I don't become someone's whole heart the way you were to father." Audrey had no idea why she said that, though Audrey could see why Evelyn became Aran Causey's reason for existence. From the minutes, or perhaps hours, she had been here, Evelyn Causey had been almost exactly how she had imagined her mother, kind, gentle, and extremely patient about explaining everything to Audrey. She seemed like someone Audrey would've gotten along well with. And, Audrey imagined, she wouldn't ignore her for a week when she found out she was a witch the way her grandfather had.

"Your life would've been very different. Aran would've had to work all the time anyway and you would've spent more time with babysitters then your father. Perhaps it was a small mercy. Your grandparents loved you. I'm just sad your father never got to know his daughter personally or about the life you have led."

"He's happier not knowing, trust me. No man wants to know his daughter could've become a victim of genocide if she stayed in the country, but stayed anyway to help others get to safety." Audrey's voice rose in uncontrolled rage. "And then have the whole operation fell apart when one of the leaders, a man you trusted, turns out to be a double-agent and sells you and everybody else out for gold, and some dark magic spells." She paused and took a deep breath as her voice lowered to a soft, cold tone. "I'm going to kill Nolan Odell very, very, slowly." Audrey's hands moved subconsciously towards the place where she usually kept her wand.

Evelyn leaned away from Audrey nervously as her daughter's eyes bulged and her wand hand shook violently. There was ice on her fingertips.

Damn Nolan.

"Audrey, sweetie, killing and violence are not the answer. I think you've seen enough to know that."

"Mum," She'd always wanted to say that word, "I don't care anymore. Nolan Odell is a problem-"

"Who you will meet again either next week or years from now. Odds are he'll find you before you find him."

"If I have something he wants. Like that damn book."

"Audrey!"

"What?"

"You know what."

"Okay, sorry. Geez…" Audrey propped her chin on her hand. The Book of the Dead… Plans needed to be made for its safety… Plans for the long term protection of the artifact, it was a sick and disgusting item that Audrey knew should not be left anywhere unattended for too long or at all. The things it could do if its full powers were released, Audrey had only touched a small fraction of its powers and even in death could still feel it coursing through her. She shivered, Book of the Dead indeed. Septimus knew how dangerous it was, (she hoped), he would make arrangements for it if she could not return. Sealed with her own blood, Septimus would be sure to put that to use somehow.

Ancient sorcerers spoke of blood magic in their old texts. Yes, it was a powerful act to give your life for another. Though there were other ways to ensure protection of a specific sort using the blood in ones veins. Spells of protection and sealing in particular that Audrey was preparing to write a thesis paper on for the society before the shop burned down. She had impulsively scrawled a bloodseal on the book before it could start devouring Percy.

How would she pay for that?

Audrey sighed and curled her toes over the wooden floor for a moment as a silence washed over them. What did she have to go back for? A world struggling with the repercussions of a war so terrible, bloody, and violent that the best of humanity was left behind for safety and security? A dead-end job working for people who would not have batted an eye at another dead mudblood? People who had betrayed her and some who had actively tried to kill her violently for information and baiting? These were superficial reasons but they made life that much harder. Audrey looked at the warm fireplace with the dimming fire in the hearth. It was nice here, but there was something missing.

Life.

"You have a lot to go back for, think about that, sweetie." Evelyn said so softly it was practically a whisper. "There is so much ahead of you and I don't want you to die younger than I did without knowing what those things are…"

Audrey's eyes closed and her breathing steadied as she began to think of all of the people in her life. Lucia's fairness, intelligence and loyalty; John with his ambitions of a better future for his son and Ellie; Cappie and Serena's struggles for closure and some form of normalcy after all of the horrors of war. Septimus with his drinking and penchant for gossip. There was one more image in Audrey's mind, which caused her to smile. Percy's easy hand of compassion and willingness to listen, he chest tightened, he was just so nice. She had a feeling she was going to become rather fond of the Minister's lap dog.

She stood, fists clenched at her sides. Audrey inhaled deeply and looked at her mother with a grim smile. "I'm going back; there are still a lot of things I need to take care of. Besides, I think the old man would be pretty bored if I left."

"I think a few other people would be too," Evelyn said as Audrey's form began to fade. Her voice suddenly became very stern. "Now, I don't want to see you back here for a very long time. Don't come back until you give me grandchildren!"

"Goodbye mum!" Audrey laughed and the outline of her body walked out of the Septenary's front door and into the nothingness beyond, leaving her mother with tears streaming silently down her face.

"I'm so proud of you. Please stay safe…"

Evelyn Causey turned and walked towards the Septenary staircase with her white dress trailing behind her and was swallowed by white clouds and smoke as the vision of the Septenary faded from Audrey's eyes as she turned to look over her shoulder for one last longing look.

There was an obnoxious snoring sound coming from the bed to Audrey's right. Audrey moved her head slowly, ignoring the pain shooting through her body, to see where she was. The starch white walls and dividing curtains told her all she needed to know. Saint Mungo's or hell, were her only viable options. Neither one was very nice.

She tried to sit up, she could barely move her arms without wanting to scream and bit her lip when the pain came. Audrey groaned and gave up on sitting up and turned her head in the other direction. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and she was near tears from the burning sensation. What the hell did Nolan hit her with?

Audrey found a familiar grizzled figure sitting in the chair next to her bed. Septimus' head was propped against his hand, his elbow on top of a tome of ancient runes. There was a dim light coming in through the window curtains that outlined every line on his face. Audrey sighed; every year of his life could be seen in his face. Septimus was right; he may have been getting to old for heroics. He had also claimed that age was not going to stop him completely, just slow him up a little. Though even that seemed unlikely.

Audrey smiled for a moment before reaching over to poke Septimus; he was just within reach but hissed in agony at the pain that shot through her shoulder when she touched his hand. He snored loudly in response. Audrey giggled and stopped suddenly when she realized what Septimus was holding in his lap, it was her box with all those letters she had told him to burn if she died at the beginning of the war. She breathed in deeply –Merlin's staff that hurt too- as she tried to relax on the feathery pillow and closed her eyes.

"I'm awake you know."

Audrey shot up with a hiss as bone shattering pain rippled through her chest and shoulder. "Don't do that!"

"Well, I have your attention now." He was giving her a strange look that was anxious, and full of concern as he put his hands on her shoulders and helped her lay back on the bed. Audrey winced and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "Seven minutes, you were dead for seven minutes." He took a deep breath. "We need to talk, we are going to have a great many discussions over the next couple of days, but considering everyone else in this place is asleep we'll start with this one." He held the box up and Audrey knew exactly where this discussion was going to go. "Fifteen letters addressed and unsent in a box, I hope you will be glad to know that I sent them."

That was not what she was expecting.

"I wanted you to burn those!" Audrey yelped, covering her mouth as she realized how loud her voice sounded her own ears. The snoring on the other side of the curtain stopped and was replaced by rustling sheets for a moment. Septimus and Audrey were silent until they were sure he had gone back to sleep. Though Audrey heard no snoring. She ignored her gut instinct on the lack of privacy as she focused on glaring at Septimus. Her cold look ceased immediately when he held the open box in front of her to just display opened letters in varying degrees of childish scrawl to her father, Aran Causey. Audrey felt her face growing warm. "Oh, you were joking."

Septimus smiled, "Yes, I was." He placed the box on the bedside table next to Audrey, "I've been here for six hours waiting to tell that joke too. Now, on to other matters, I'm going to give you some advice that has nothing to do with liquor or magic, so I suggest you pay attention." His voice became soft as he adjusted his glasses and moved the chair closer to Audrey's bedside. "Your father made a choice and lost his opportunity to know what an incredible person you are, it's his fault not yours. You did nothing wrong. So quit blaming yourself for things that you have no control over."

The corners of Audrey's mouth twitched, "He had every reason to hate me, I killed my own mother." Septimus flicked the side of her head with his finger.

"Not your fault either. If your life had not turned out the way it had, we never would have met. You'd probably be a too quiet secretary in some ministry department, wasting away the vast potential in magic and intelligence I see in you."

"I have no idea what it is you see in me. You've had six apprentices before me, why am I the only one you haven't chased out or frightened off? I don't understand it!"

Septimus blinked, "We always find people we need when we need them. I needed someone to kick my ass occasionally, and you needed someone to care about you as an entire person the way a parent would. You needed a home. I see a lot of things in you Audrey, and telling you what those things are would mean nothing in the long run."

Audrey's eyes began to water.

It took a moment for Septimus to begin to speak, "I thought of you as my apprentice, at first, just some impetuous child who needed help to find her way in the world and you became so much more to me a such a short span of time. You reminded me of a lot of things I had almost forgotten about. I've never been a lucky man, but you are the third best thing that could have ever happened to me when you walked into my shop and asked me for a job."

"W-when my father left, I must have already done some magic or something, and he called me an abomination. I always thought growing up that love from others, your family, was earned. I realized while we were helping people go abroad, all of those parents always loved their children unconditionally." Audrey glanced down at the sheet she had clenched in her fists, her eyes red and puffy from pain and emotional distress. "I wondered why my own father never cared for me the way those parents cared for their children. The way you cared about me. And I realized that there is something wrong with my father. The past three years, you've been more of a dad to me then my own father."

Septimus stood, "Well that's…" He paused; his glasses were a bit foggy. "I'll see you in the morning, Audrey." He squeezed her hand gently as he stood up. Septimus turned, opened the curtains and suddenly stopped. "I always hoped… that if my Laurel had gotten the chance to grow up," he paused. "She would have turned out a lot like you."

Audrey thought he sounded for a brief moment, like he was choking on words left unsaid. As the curtains swished closed behind him, Audrey finally gave in to the burning pressure behind her eyes and released a choking sob that she barely managed to silence behind her hand. Her tears were hot and heavy as they ran down her face.

In a strange way, she felt whole again.

Audrey awoke the following morning to find a scary sight at the bed next to her. She was one quite a bit of pain potion and thought for a brief moment she was hallucinating. It looked a fire before she realized that it was just a very large crowd of redheads. Her fuzzy vision came into focus and she recognized the older woman who was trying to fluff Percy's pillows while he tried to wave her off. Audrey's eyes widened fear filling her mind. That was the lady who killed the crazy Lestrange woman at the battle. Oh Merlin… That woman was scary… Was she his mother?

She looked over to her bedside table to find several bouquets of flowers with cards attached. There was a bouquet of tulips, and violet mums with a card. Audrey reached for it with a slight noise of pain to find out who had sent them.

Audrey,

You are far more courageous then we ever suspected you of being. The rest of the department is bursting with pride at having such brave, clever and talented witches such as you and Lucia working with us and the rest of the security staff just won't stop bragging about it, it's quite endearing. We all pitched in and sent you both flowers to wish you both a quick recovery.

Everyone wants to hear the full story when you come back. Brace yourself!

Wishing you a quick recovery,

Henry Dawson and the rest of the security team

P.S.

Please don't do anything like this again. I can't handle the stress. I'll come by to visit you and Lucia after work.

Audrey grinned as her cheeks grew pink. Dawson was a very kind man and Audrey would tell him so when he came to visit later. She put the card from Dawson on the table and picked up the second card next to the very pretty bouquet of yellow roses, irises and blue hydrangeas.

She did not recognize the handwriting.

Audrey,

Molly and I can't thank you enough for what you and Lucia did to help Percy and I back in the Ministry. We would prefer to thank you both in person but neither of you seem up to large numbers of visitors at the moment, so we'll come do that later. What we would like to do is invite you both and your family to one of our Sunday dinners when you are both feeling up to it.

Audrey felt her stomach rumble quietly at the idea before she finished reading the letter.

Best regards,

Arthur and Molly Weasley

There was a postscript in much loopier and fancy writing at the bottom of the page. It was much different then the handwriting in the main part of the letter. It was shaky and nervous looking.

P.S.

Audrey-

The next two sentences were crossed out. It was still legible and made Audrey smile but she moved onto the sentences that were not crossed out.

I would prefer to thank you in person, so I'll wait until you're awake. When you're better, would you like to play cards or something? I think we're both going to be here for a while and you're a much better card player then Felix. By that I mean you don't cheat.

Percy

Audrey laughed quietly.

"Okay, what do you want? Prophet or Quibbler?" Septimus asked as he appeared suddenly at the foot of her bed with the Daily Prophet in front of his face as he read the headlines, the quibbler tucked under his arm and what Audrey believed to be spiked tea in his remaining hand. Audrey yelped and shoved the letter under her pillow, her face turning pink as she laid down and tried to look as ill as she was able.

She slowly turned around to face the wall and pulled the covers over her head. Pretending that she was not there. It did not work for long.

"Get out of there; I know you are not asleep."

Audrey groaned as he set down his tea on the table and yanked the covers off her head, "Alright, it's good to know you're not dead." He smiled and sat down in the nearby chair. "Might as well get you up to speed. Everyone is just fine, John escaped without a scratch, he and the security department are coming to visit you and Lucia later."

He paused suddenly and fumbled with the Daily Prophet while he threw the Quibbler onto the foot of Audrey's bed. He seemed to be trying to find the words before deciding to go plow forward with his characteristic bluntness.

"Lucia was hit with a slow acting blinding curse up in the Minister's office, she said that the Healers told her she will be completely blind in a few years. There is no reversal for it. She's not scared, she said something about not needing eyes to truly see or some such thing. I think that was the concussion talking. She'll be cleared to go back to the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow morning." Septimus gave Audrey a hard look, "You, on the other hand will be here for three weeks and I've had a hell of a time telling the press to get stuffed because you are in no fit state to be bothered." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I've been telling your bosses and everyone involved that you and Lucia want to remain anonymous as a gesture of… good will and solidarity to reconstruction efforts. The Minister wants to see you both as well. Probably wants to know why his office has been reduced to ash."

Audrey looked at her hands sadly biting her lip anxiously, what kind of future was Lucia going to have? On top of that, the Minister wanted to see them, Audrey was going to have to tell him either the burning of his office was a symbolic gesture or the masked man did it. She would pick one later.

They were silent for a few minutes before Audrey spoke on another matter entirely; her voice had a chilly edge. "Why did you hire Nolan Odell?"

"Um…"

"He tried to kill us; I have a right to know."

Septimus looked really uncomfortable, "Well, you see, the exact details escape me but…" He drank his spiked tea. Audrey glared at him. He shuddered, "Don't look at me like that, it's a bit eerie." He finished his tea, "I… er. I met him in a pub in Knockturn Alley, he bought me a drink and we got to talking. I remember asking if he would like to be involved and him telling me yes… He seemed like a somewhat decent bloke, in my defense."

"Buying you alcohol is a sign of trust?"

'I need something to hit him with something… Something large and heavy. Where's my wand?' She was pulled out of her thoughts by a shout from the door that led into the ward.

"I thought I recognized those eyebrows!" Marion Higgins' stood in the doorway looking at Septimus with some kind of deep boiling anger. Audrey could do nothing but watch the scene unfold; she was too confused and sore to act. She looked over at Septimus who looked just as confused; obviously he did not know Madam Higgins. "Do you even remember me?"

Septimus shook his head quickly as the little old woman marched forward getting the attention of everyone in the ward, she looked angry.

"Forty years ago," she continued coming closer, a snarl crossing her features and she drew her wand. Audrey felt just as scared as she had when she had fought Nolan. "YOU LEFT ME AT THE ALTAR!" She pushed the tip of her wand into his chest. Septimus' eyes widened in horror, Audrey guessed he remembered her now.

Audrey felt she was beginning to sense a theme with the Selwyns who had left the family fold for their own desires. Lucia had bragged about leaving her fiancée at the altar. Though then again, he had been twice her age, a Voldemort supporter, and had found her breasts more fascinating than her face.

"Marion?" Septimus said stupidly as he dropped the papers put his staff up in a defensive position and backed away slowly, like one would from a wild animal. "How have you been?"

She responded with a suggestion so foul that even Audrey was impressed.

Audrey decided in that moment that whatever Marion did to Septimus would be far better than anything she could come up with in her drugged state and proceeded to prop up her pillows and settle in for the show.

Percy and his family were watching with interest, though the matriarch and the beautiful blonde woman seemed more disgusted than anything else. Most of the men by the bed seemed to be smirking behind their mother's back while the redheaded girl was giggling.

Marion turned her attention to the Wealsey family, leaving Audrey feeling relieved and giving Septimus a chance to escape and hide on the other side of Audrey's bed. "How are you doing, Percy?" She sounded more pleasant now.

"Fine, Madam Higgins." He smiled slightly.

"Good, I brought you and Felix some things to read along with some crosswords, I know a lady who makes the puzzles." She dumped a book with a bunch of papers tied to it on his bedside table. Percy thanked her profusely while he looked excitedly for a quill. "Now, where is Felix anyway?"

"Did someone say my name?" A voice from the other side of the room piped up. "I'd come see you but someone gave me a lot of pain-potion and cursed my arms."

Madam Higgins grinned, "I have a book for you."

"If you were fifty years younger I'd marry you! You're to good for the old bloke you were screaming at."

"Ha! I always knew that much!"

"If you read to me, I'll take you to dinner when I can move my arms again!"

As Madam Higgins walked over to Felix's bedside Audrey smirked as Septimus peered over her bed to watch Madam Higgins disappear behind the curtain.

"You were supposed to marry her?" Audrey whispered pointing at Septimus and Madam Higgins' general direction.

"It wouldn't have worked out. I loved someone else, she married a nice Muggle-born several years later, and she scares the shit out of me." He counted those factors on his fingers as he said them.

Audrey started laughing and stopped short with a pained wheeze. "Laughing hurts Septimus, stop being funny."

"How much pain potion did they give you?"

"Too much and not enough."

Septimus patted her on the top of her head, the only part of her body that did not hurt, before going to collect his newspapers from where he had dropped them before setting them down next to Audrey.

"I'll come back later, if she's going to murder me you don't need to be a witness."

"Wait," Audrey's voice was soft and sounded strained from the effort of speech, "I have one more question."

Septimus stopped short, "Yes, my dear?" He returned to the empty seat next to Audrey sitting back down and taking her hand gently.

Audrey waited for him to settle in before she found her voice and asked her question.

Loudly.

Because Audrey was petty that way.

"What in the hell was in that book?"

The Weasleys got quiet on the other side of the curtain and Septimus reacted quickly to try and preserve his secrets, closing the curtains with a tap of his cane on the floor and a second tap to throw up a noise distortion barrier.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Septimus-"

"The Weasleys work for the Ministry, I don't want to hauled in for questioning yet!"

"Please just answer the question."

Septimus huffed, and exhaled loudly. "Merlin's pants I have no clue." Septimus shifted in his chair to rest his elbows on his knees as he hung his head in defeat and hid his face in his hands. "Swain is not going to take that thing now. I don't want either of us messing around with it." He ran his fingers through his hair. "You put a good seal on it though, excellent work. Whatever that thing is, it'll stay in the book for a long time."

Audrey wrung her hands in her lap and bit her lower lip as the images from the battle flashed through her mind. The putrid smell of smoke and dark magic filled her nose and clouded her thoughts with memories of sharp jagged teeth and eyes like fire. "So, where is it now?"

"It's not with the Ministry. It's safer with us."

"A child stole it!" Audrey hissed through clenched teeth.

"An exceptional child," corrected Septimus with an amused grin, "we don't meet those everyday."

Audrey turned her head and looked at Septimus coldly. "I can't do that again. Sealing that… thing damn near drained my magic."

Septimus' steel grey eyes hardened. "I promise, you will never have to worry about that again. When I find a safe place for it, it leaves."

"That-" Audrey tried to sit up and groaned as the world spun around her, Septimus leapt out of his chair and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Audrey, just lay back down!"

"-Is something we should talk about when I am not high on painkillers." She eased herself back down onto the bed with some help from Septimus as her arms began to shake. "God, I hate this."

"We'll have that conversation when you get out of here."

"Okay…" Audrey's eyes felt heavy. "You should go before Madam Higgins remembers you're here."

Septimus brushed a few stray hairs from Audrey's face and moved away from the bed. He tapped his cane on the floor and the dull noise of the hospital filled the space by Audrey's bed once more.

"I'm going to see Lucia so you can rest. I'll come check on you later."

A couple of hours later after Marion Higgins had gone back to repair the library Audrey and Percy found themselves talking. Audrey was avoiding the question she really wanted to ask out of politeness. Why did he offer himself up to the creature from the book? If he did not bring it up, Audrey sure was not, at least not now. The timing was not right. He had sat down in the empty chair next to her bed propped his injured leg on another empty chair and was working on a crossword while answering her questions about his health.

He kept coming to sit next to her when Septimus went to see Lucia or going to run some other errand. As a result, Audrey never was without company and Percy just seemed incapable of staying in bed to rest. He always seemed to want to be busy for the sake of being busy. He moved around as much as he could when the assistant healers were busy elsewhere. Mostly wandering over to Audrey's bed to talk. Percy said she was one of the few people in here he actually knew, liked and was awake. Though he wasn't talking to Felix as much as she thought he would be and he was on the other side of the room. Felix seemed unusually giggly every time Percy took a seat in that empty chair.

Side-effect of the drugs, maybe?

"So, how's your leg?"

"Fine, they expect I'll have a full recovery." Percy replied as he answered the last word on his crossword. "Finished." He set his quill down on Audrey's table and shifted in the chair a bit. She admired his profile for a moment.

Agrippa's knickers he was handsome.

Smart too.

"You just did three days worth of crosswords in two hours. That's kind of creepy."

"I've been involved in stranger things."

"What kind of things?" Audrey asked looking over appearing interested. She was bored, somebody this straight-laced had to have some kind of interesting uncharacteristic experience that could pass another few minutes here.

"You don't want to know."

There were sudden visions of Percy dancing around in a tea cozy.

Drugs.

To many drugs.

He moved some papers around on Audrey's table that he had brought over. "Oh, missed one. Do you know the old English word for bagpipe?" Percy asked as he picked up another crossword.

"No, sorry."

His mother walked in and Audrey considered diving under the bed to escape notice, Septimus and Cappie who was holding a small bag of money and tossing it into the air happily followed her into the room. Cappie ran over and sat on the edge of Audrey's bed as Percy quickly got up and moved quietly back to his bed before Septimus could see him.

"Aud, look at this!" He opened the bag gleefully to show her the money inside. "I won this off a scarred bloke in the tearoom. I challenged him to a game of darts and won. His wife was laughing when I walked off with his pocket money." Cappie's smile was wolfish.

"Did you hustle him?" Audrey looked at Cappie suspiciously.

"No…"

Septimus was nodding behind him as he kept his eyes on Percy who was being told goodbye by his (in Audrey's opinion) rather scary mother. He moved closer to them to stand next to the bed. Percy had definitely been spotted slinking back to his side of the curtain. "If you need us, just send word okay. It takes nothing to floo over to St Mungo's."

"I will, mum." He sounded a bit exasperated.

"Good, we will come back tomorrow to visit you. The Healer told me you'll be able to go home tomorrow or the day after depending on how you're leg is doing. Though you will be here longer if you don't stay in bed like you're supposed too."

Molly looked over at Audrey, who promptly grew paler and put a hand on Cappie's shoulder and tried to smile awkwardly.

"Don't worry ma'am, we'll watch him, won't we?" Septimus seemed to be addressing the entire room of patients who just ignored him. None of them were too fond of Percy after his snoring had kept them awake all night. Audrey was not bothered because she could sleep through anything, but everyone else had staged a revolt and began to throw things at around three in the morning. Audrey knew better then to take her eyes off Septimus and kept her eyes on the scene watching Mrs. Weasley's nose wrinkle in disgust. She elbowed Cappie in the ribs to get his attention. "Nothing to worry about, right boy?" He smiled a bright semi-drunken smile and smacked Percy's injured leg.

Twice.

Percy shot up and reached for the afflicted area with a muffled noise as his eyes almost popped out of his head from shock.

"Ouch," Audrey and Cappie said in unison as Mrs. Weasley gave Septimus a look that would have sent people who were not intoxicated in the other direction. The minutes until she left were awkward.

"So, you were Martin Garland's informant?" Septimus suddenly leaned in a little closer to Percy; Audrey could barely hear what he was saying, she and Cappie leaned closer to hear better. "He said he had some young bloke in the Minister's office. I didn't think it would be someone this weedy. Though, if you could hold off a legilimens like those working around the Ministry Garland made a good choice then."

Percy looked at him blankly, "How would you-"

"Know that? Well, you see, Garland was working for me. Make of that what you will."

"Why did you hit me then?"

"That was for flirting with my assistant."

Author's Note: Future father-in-law from hell anyone?

Am I the only one who entertains the idea of Audrey being slightly frightened of Molly? Probably. But it does amuse me.

And yes, Cappie hustled Bill for pocket money. Cute kid.

(2016) Audrey's trip through the threshold of death is a bit longer than Harry's due to the fact she was dead for seven minutes. Her body was trying to restart while her soul wandered about in quite a few different places from shock and trauma. Harry was not dead long before Narcissa went to check on him.

This is an important chapter for a lot of reasons and I am so glad to brush it up the way I wanted too. I've always liked these characters and now I am in a place where I can finish this story completely (the entire saga) the way it deserves to be in my own mind before I move on to an original project. One of several that has dogged my mind. There's technically about 21 but only half of them would be feasible projects, some are practice projects where I learn things and share the results for my own amusement.

From the start of the chapter to when Audrey wakes up in Saint Mungo's was written to Lily's Theme. It's soft and melancholy and sounded perfect for a walk through unnatural death places.