As expected, Audrey had received a barrage of letters from Tom's friends asking about his condition. They had even attempted to visit him at St. Mungo's but by the time they had arrived, Tom had already been discharged.
"They're sending me letters now." Tom said in an amused voice over breakfast at Audrey's house. "Glad to know they care."
"They're not coming here are they?" Audrey frowned.
"Of course not. I've ordered them not to." he said while he ate.
Her friends, on the other hand, had come over the day she had written to them and consoled her. Tom was not the kind to be affectionate to his friends but they seemed to care a great deal about him. While Audrey didn't like Tom's friends very much, she did think he took them for granted.
Tom changed the subject. "Have you begun packing, yet?" he said very casually as though them moving in together was no big deal. When he looked away from his food to face her, she could see that his face looked thinner and paler which caused him look even more handsome.
"Not yet." She said softly, hoping he wouldn't be mad at her.
"We're leaving in two days." he spoke warningly.
"You just got out of the hospital, don't you want to rest for a bit? Besides, we haven't even told my parents yet." Audrey fiddled with a fork on the table nervously. She was absolutely dreading telling her parents that she wanted to move out with her boyfriend.
"I told you, I'm fine." A bit of annoyance slid into his voice, "I've already informed your parents that I've gotten a job at the Ministry and that I'm moving into a home with some roommates. Now if you want to be one of my roommates that's fine, but you'll still have to ask them."
"And if they say no?" she sighed.
"You're a big girl, Audrey. You're leaving whether they like it or not. It's just polite to ask." He finished off his toast and pushed the plate away.
"Everything will be fine." He reassured her after seeing her stressed expression.
"I guess I'll start packing then." She almost sighed again but decided not to. She didn't want him thinking she didn't want to live with him. Especially when that was all she wanted to do. Fantasies of them living together, making dinner for him, reading by the fireplace, and laughing over breakfast pushed away the memories of his attack just 4 days previous. Although any self-respecting person would never 'forget' something like that. Audrey had always prided herself on being one of those self-respecting girls who wouldn't go on unnecessary diets or give her virginity to the first boy that asked. But what if your boyfriend beat you? Why had no one given her a life lesson about this? Why was this never talked about in school, at home, or even in the newspaper?
Audrey wasn't stupid; she knew boys weren't supposed to physically abuse their girlfriends. But what was she supposed to do about it? Leave him? She couldn't, she loved him. It had only been the one time anyway. And it was only because he had been so desperate to see that damn library. What was so important in there anyway? Audrey knew better than to ask.
"Don't forget to pack that dress I bought you. I want you to wear it to the house warming party." Tom said as he stood up from his spot at the table.
"House….warming?" Audrey raised her eyebrows. Tom simply did not seem like the kind of person to throw a house warming party.
"Yes, I'm having one the night after we move in. Just having a few people over. Drinks, cigars and so on." He said pleasantly. Audrey struggled to find a reason why he would be throwing such an out of character party but thought it best to mind her own business again. Tom was a mysterious person with a lot of hidden agendas and Audrey had come to learn this quickly. It wasn't right to ask questions; he wouldn't tell her and she wouldn't want to know.
"Right." she responded quietly.
"You'll be hostess of course. You can cook something nice can't you?" Tom spoke. Though the sentence should have been a question, it came out like more of an order.
"Of course." Audrey said, a little taken aback. Tom had no idea what her cooking skills were like. Luckily she had inherited her mother's love for cooking and had a knack for culinary spells.
"Splendid." Tom beamed. He seemed to be in a much cheerier mood now that he was talking about this social gathering. Audrey felt relieved; the touchy topic of her talking to her parents had been putting her on edge.
"Oh," Tom said, pulling something out of his pocket. "Here's another letter from Victoria and Claire." He handed her the crinkled but unopened letter. How he kept intercepting her letters she did not know.
"You…haven't opened it?" she asked, turning it over and examining it to make sure.
"No, you can go to whatever childish sleepover they want to throw." He sounded annoyed.
"I can?" Audrey ripped the letter open. It was indeed, an invite to Claire's house for a sleepover the next night. "I don't have to go…"
"No, no, no. You missed the last one you should go to this time." He waved at her dismissively.
Audrey put the letter down next to her empty plate, stood up, and gave Tom a shy hug. "Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder. Tom, evidently, had not been expecting this and had gone totally stiff. Eventually, he began to put his arms around her, pulling her chest into his.
"You're welcome." he said, laughing slightly at her over-reaction. It was just a silly sleepover to him. But to Audrey, it was quality time with her friends that she had been missing since they had graduated and she definitely needed her friends right now.
"Just be back by noon, that's when I want to leave." he slid his hand down her arm and grabbed her hand. "So be packed and ready by then."
She nodded and he smiled his approval. After the whole hospital ordeal, Tom felt much kinder and warmer. Maybe the experience had changed him somewhat? Audrey remembered reading somewhere that near death experiences change people for the better. Well whatever it was, Audrey liked it and she hoped it would last. The previous week with Tom had gotten much too frightening for her liking. But the way he was looking at her now was much different. It wasn't completely kind but there was no malice either.
"Is there a reason why you're staring at me?" he asked playfully.
Blushing at the realization that she had been staring at him, Audrey tried to brush it off by acting flirty, "You're just so…ah, handsome."
Tom brushed a thumb over his lips: a move that probably wasn't meant to be sexy but ended up that way. "I love it when you do that."
"Do what?" Audrey asked slowly, trying to read his expression.
"Compliment me." He smirked. "You love me." He said with definite wickedness. He was taunting her. Audrey looked down, embarrassed but refused to give him the satisfaction of a 'yes'. After all, he had never told her that he loved her. So why should she tell him?
"I'm going to pack now." Audrey said, dipping underneath Tom's outstretched arm but he caught her anyway and whirled her around to face him.
"Not yet!" he grinned and locked her in a fierce embrace. "You can't just butter me up and walk away unkissed." He pulled away a chunk of hair that had stuck to her lip during their shuffle and kissed her a lot more gently than she was expecting. His hands stayed firmly on her waist, not wandering anywhere else and his tongue did not try to enter her mouth. His lips danced pleasantly over hers like he was kissing her on a first date. He drew air when he pulled back like the kiss had left him breathless. Audrey pressed a hand to his chest and felt his heart beating just as hard as hers.
Audrey pressed her lips together awkwardly. He was staring at her now, wringing his hands nervously. Not knowing what to say, she stayed quiet as she waked past him to go pack like she had promised.
"Audrey." he called and she turned around. "I'm glad that you're moving in with me. Thank you for agreeing to."
"You're welcome. I'm glad too." She replied, unable to hide the giant smile on her face. He smiled in turn and finally let her leave.
The next evening, Audrey had finished packing all her clothes and small possessions. She hadn't seen Tom since breakfast but her parents had kept checking on her, making it very hard for her to hide that she was leaving. She kept trying to pass it off as her packing for the sleepover since she had told her mother she would be staying at Claire's overnight. Audrey felt bad about leaving her parents without saying anything. But she just couldn't face their disapproval.
"I'm such a bad daughter." She kept muttering to herself as she folded her clothes and placed them into her sleepover bag.
"Just tell them if you're so tormented." said an extremely irritated voice from the hallway. Tom appeared in front of the door a couple seconds later with his arms crossed over his chest. "Your friends are here."
"Already? Tell them I'll be down in a minute." She said quickly while zipping up her bag and hoisting it over her shoulder.
She slipped into the grey sweater that was draped over her desk chair and headed for the door. But Tom pressed his hand against the frame, blocking her way.
She stepped back and looked at him, puzzled, "What?" she asked.
"Kiss me goodbye." He whispered to her. Audrey craned her neck and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. This made him laugh, "I was expecting more than that. But that's just fine. Have a nice time, alright? And be home by noon, remember."
Audrey pressed her lips together and gave him one quick nod, then ducked under his arm. She expected to be pulled back and forced into a proper kiss but he simply followed her down the corridor and to the first floor. He stood back as she greeted her friends.
"Ready? We want to do a bit of shopping first." Claire clapped excitedly and Vicky rolled her eyes.
"I hate shopping." she complained but Claire ignored her totally.
Audrey felt Tom's body behind hers and his hand press against hers "Here." He said quietly as he put a handful of gold coins into her hand.
"Oh that's not necess-" Audrey started but Tom cut her sentence off.
"Buy something nice for tomorrow night." He whispered low so that the girls couldn't hear.
Audrey blushed, "I don't need the money." She spoke a lot louder than he had. She did come from a wealthy family after all. She was never short on gold.
"I know," he smiled understandingly, "But I want you to have it. You're my woman and I want to take care of you." He brushed her face with the back of his hand romantically and Claire let out a big 'aw'. Audrey turned and saw that even Vicky was smiling a little.
"Have a good night girls!" he waved and yelled as they walked across the courtyard. They all waved back until the front door swung shut.
"He called you his woman!" Claire clung onto Audrey's shoulders and screamed, causing her to stiffen in surprise.
"So you guys are really serious now, right?" Vicky nudged her.
"I'd say so." Audrey said, still trying to recover from Claire's attack. "We're kind of," she paused dramatically, "Moving in together."
Audrey had chosen to say this at the exact moment Vicky had held out her arms for them and apparated. When they landed in Diagon Alley, amongst the other shoppers, both of her friends yelled and began pummeling her with their fists.
"Ow!" Audrey covered her head with her arms in defense.
"You could have splinched us!" Vicky yelled.
"Yeah, don't tell me stuff like that before I apparate, I barely passed the test last year!" Claire pouted.
"I'm sorry!" Audrey said, struggling to hold in her laughter.
"Your parents are letting you move in with him?" Vicky said with a skeptical look on her face.
Audrey began walking down the crowded street, trying to avoid the girls' gazes. "Well, no. But I'm 17, I can do what I want!"
"And your parents let you two sleep in the same room?" Claire gasped.
"No, of course not!" Audrey said as quietly as she could to avoid any more stares from the people next to them. "He's staying in the guest room."
"But when you move in together," Vicky whispered as they entered a robe shop that Audrey had been too distracted to read the name of. "You will be sleeping in the same bed, won't you?"
Audrey turned her face away so they couldn't witness it turning bright red. Oh Merlin, why had she said anything in the first place? "Uhhh" she said lamely trying to regain her composure, "I guess…"
Claire and Vicky looked at each other with grim expressions. Audrey frowned and them and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Honestly!" Audrey felt herself getting mad all of a sudden. How dare they judge her? "Could you two be any more immature? Just because neither of you have boyfriends!"
"We just think this is a bit fast, that's all." Vicky said quickly to try and cap Audrey's rage.
Claire hastily picked up a pair of deep blue robes and thrust them into Audrey's hands, "Come on, try it on! Forget about what we said. We're happy for you, really."
Audrey raised her eyebrows skeptically but both girls were sporting very apologetic looks on their faces, which she could hardly say 'no' to. Still pursing her lips, she yanked the robes away from Claire and headed to the fitting room.
It took almost a half an hour of silence before she began talking to them again. In this half an hour though, she had purchased the blue robes and while Claire and Vicky weren't looking, picked up a satin camisole and panties to match. She had almost chickened out trying to buy them. But luckily, she did look a couple years older than she was and the clerk either didn't notice or didn't care that she was buying risqué underwear.
"Will you cut it out!" Vicky giggled when Claire threw a piece of graham cracker at her for the third time that night.
The girls had arrived at Claire's house just after 5 in the afternoon and they had immediately pulled out the snacks and board games in Claire's room. Audrey was glad to get off her feet as they were starting to swell painfully in her heels as they walked around Diagon Alley. She certainly regretted wearing them and had only put them on because she knew Tom liked them.
"Tell me about this new boyfriend then!" Claire whined. Both of them had been trying to get Vicky to tell them about the new boy she was seeing. He supposedly worked at the Ministry of magic and was three years older.
"He's barely my boyfriend. We've been on 3 dates." Vicky blushed. "My mother set me up with him. You know how she is."
Audrey knew very well that Vicky's family was all about keeping their blood 'pure' and arranging marriages to make sure of it.
"Yeah, but you actually like him!" Claire pushed Vicky playfully and she blushed even harder.
"What about you Claire?" Audrey shifted the conversation to save Vicky from any further embarrassment.
"Huh?" Claire almost gasped in surprise.
"Been on any dates lately?" Audrey asked coyly.
"Me? No, I haven't." Claire said, looking disappointed. Audrey had always considered Claire to be the prettiest out of the three of them and could never understand why she had only had one boyfriend for two weeks in fourth year.
"You girls are so lucky with guys." Claire pouted.
Smiling on the outside while her stomach lurched, Audrey handed Claire a chocolate cauldron. "Being single isn't bad at all."
"Says the girl who's practically getting married to her boyfriend." Claire laughed. "Can I be a bridesmaid?"
"Of course, you too Vicky." Audrey played along.
The rest of the night was spent gossiping about their former classmates and how Claire bet she'd be the last out of the three of them to get married but still second to have sex since Vicky was such a prude. Vicky objected greatly to this and the argument ended up in a lengthy food fight which left Claire's room covered in crumbs.
Cautious of the time she had to be home by, Audrey convinced the girls to go to bed at a decent hour instead of staying up all night like they often did. She wanted to be refreshed the next morning especially if she was going to be losing her virginity that day.
"Thank you for letting me stay here while I got on my feet." Tom said graciously to Audrey's parents as they helped him set his bags in the foyer. "Not many people would have been this kind."
"You're a very nice young man, Tom. You are always welcome here." Mrs. Row smiled at him and patted his face in a motherly way.
"You're not leaving before Audrey comes home are you?" Mr. Row asked.
"Oh no of course not. Didn't she tell you? She's coming with me." Tom smiled, waiting for their reaction.
"Coming with you? You mean just to see the house?" Mr. Row said apprehensively.
"No, she's moving in with me." He spoke confidently.
"No, she certainly is not." Mr. Row scoffed.
"Oh no." Tom said feigning worry, "I thought she had told you."
"She told us no such thing!" Mr. Row said, his voice getting louder.
"This looks like a big misunderstanding dear." Mrs. Row said, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"I asked her to tell you about it weeks ago." Tom sighed, "I'm terribly sorry for shocking you like this."
"My little girl is not moving in with her boyfriend!"
"Please, sir I love your daughter and I assure you that there are many others living in the home. She will have her own room like everyone else." Tom spoke very calmly despite the anger boiling up inside of Audrey's father.
"No one is going to touch my daughter before she's married!" Mr. Row stuck out his index finger angrily at Tom.
"I have no intention of touching your daughter Mr. Row." Tom spoke calmly still.
"Ha! How old are you boy?" Mr. Row laughed.
"Eighteen, sir."
"You think I don't know what eighteen year old boys think about?" he roared.
"Winston! That's enough." Mrs. Row pushed past her husband and stood directly in front of Tom. "Look at the poor boy. He has good intentions."
"I assure you both that as soon as I've saved up enough money, I will marry your daughter and I have no plans to touch her until then." He gave the pair a genuine look.
At that moment, the front door opened and Audrey appeared in the foyer, dragging her bag behind her.
"I'm back!" she smiled but the happiness soon disappeared from her face at the sight of her father's expression.
"Are you moving out?" he demanded.
"He told you?" she said looking at her father and then Tom and back again.
"You were planning on sneaking out and never coming back?" he said, shaking with anger.
"Daddy I'm sorry! I didn't know how to tell you. I was going to!" Audrey pleaded.
"I forbid you to go." He said simply.
"Dad, I'm an adult." Audrey looked at Tom for reassurance and he smiled at her, "I can live with Tom… and his friends, if I want to."
"I know you two are in love but would it hurt to wait just a year?" Mrs. Row said in a depressed tone.
"Mum I've already packed and everything. We're going now." She said in a shaky voice, "I'm grown up now please understand." She spoke, tears glistening in her eyes and she walked past them to the stairs.
"I'm sorry." Tom said shaking his head, "It's her decision."
He turned around to start levitating the trunks outside and grinned. He had hoped that Mrs. Row would be just as angry but at least her husband was. If he was going to have Audrey to himself, he knew he had to make them furious at her. He'd cut all her friends and family off one at a time.
Audrey marched down the stairs with her belongings in both hands. Tom rushed over to help her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Are you ok?" he whispered.
"I'm fine, lets go." She said, holding back her tears.
"Young lady don't expect to come back here when it doesn't work out between the two of you!" Mr. Row yelled as Audrey walked passed him and out of the front door. Audrey ignored him completely.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Tom bowed continuously until he reached the front door and closed it behind him. Audrey was furiously dragging her bags down the courtyard to the apparation point. Tom levitated his own trunk and sped after her.
"Audrey!" he called. "Wait for me."
She halted at the edge of her parent's property and stood staring at him with her arms crossed.
"I can't believe you did that!" she yelled. He had never seen her angry at him before. It was strangely arousing.
"They deserved to know where their daughter was! You were going to disappear without a bloody trace!" Tom yelled back.
"They hate me." She cried. Tom sighed and wiped the tears from her face.
"They don't understand what we have together. No one does." He kissed her and held out his hand. "Come on, grab your bags and I'll take you to your new home."
She glared at him but picked up her bags and took his hand nonetheless.