Music: "Let Me In" by Flor.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; I do, however, own all original characters and storyline.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

Words Wildly Whispered

.

Monday, January 11th 1945

7:48 A.M.

The first week of January had passed by in a hazy, horrible, tear-filled blur.

Before she knew it, second semester had arrived like a terrible red dawn. All of Audrey's friends had returned from Christmas break late the previous evening, happy and rested and still filled with festive joy. They had returned to her as if nothing had happend.

As if her time with Tom had never happened.

And honestly, Audrey kind of wished that it hadn't. She'd spent the better part of a week crying in her dorm, trying not to feel like a complete loser.

Rejection was so not her forte.

In the Great Hall at breakfast, she sat with Stella, Braxton, and Reuben, who were all discussing their holidays in great detail. To fill the misery-shaped hole in heart, she had piled an exuberant amount of bacon and eggs onto her golden plate.

Braxton nudged her. "Hungry, huh?" he asked, grinning. Trying to strike up a conversation.

She could only manage a withering glance in return. "Girl's gotta eat."

Perhaps sensing her bad mood, Braxton simply shot her a sympathetic smile and ploughed on with his breakfast.

Stella was magically stirring her coffee with a little golden teaspoon. "So, Audrey, how was your break?" she asked. Then, in a wondering tone, "I've never stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas before."

As if to make her bad mood plummet to new depths, Adeline chose that exact moment to plonk herself in the seat across from Audrey. Despite how things had ended between them, whenever Audrey looked at Adeline, she could only recall the way Tom had grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her with more passion than she'd even been kissed before—and damn, did she felt guilty about it.

Audrey swallowed a mouthful. "Uneventful," she replied eventually, but it was a bad lie.

Adeline shot her a sceptical glance over her bowl of cereal, but upon noticing Audrey's dark expression, clearly reconsidered whatever comment she had been about to make.

Stella, on the other hand, snorted. "That's not what I heard. Katie O'Neill told Regan North, who told Elijah Laswell, that you went to the Christmas feast—"

Audrey silenced Stella with a glare that could have killed. "No more, Stella Roberts, or I start blabbing about why Professor Ivor really banned our Year from the Prefect's bathroom after sundown."

Stella's eyes bugged from her head. She swallowed hard, but said nothing more. Reuben, beside her, was turning an unsightly shade of beet red.

The warning bell for morning classes sounded, and Audrey sighed. She had avoided Tom for as long as she humanly could, but no more—her first period was double Runes.

She trudged to class with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Mercifully, she was the first to arrive to Runes, and so plonked down in her desk, took out her parchment and quill, then settled into some doodling to keep herself sane.

She heard the door open behind her, but didn't bother looking.

Avery's deep voice floated into earshot. "Seriously, Malfoy? She's barely a 5/10. Don't even consider it."

Audrey tried very hard to tune out the dulcet sound of Avery as he took his seat beside her. "Fitch," he greeted eventually, and his tone was impassive. Whatever grievances they'd had in the last, perhaps with New Year, he'd decided to let it go.

But she doubted it.

"Avery," she called back, still not looking up.

"Good break?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied. "Yours?"

Truthfully, she didn't care, but sometimes Avery was a nice distraction from the other thoughts that circled her head. She hoped that today was a good day for him, because she didn't have the energy to fight him, either.

He snorted. "Yeah, it was alright. Some good parties." There was a pause. "You're looking just as lovely as ever, I see."

Behind her, she heard the door open and close again, but didn't need to look up to know that it was him. She felt his presence behind her, as cold and impassive as ever.

"Riddle," said Avery in acknowledgement. His tone was different than when he addressed Tom, she thought—more formal, more respectful.

Odell followed closely behind. She bounded into the room, her little heels making a click-clack sound on the hardwood floor. Only when the Runes professor came into Audrey's frontal view did she dare to lift her gaze. Odell was smiling, holding a stack of thick papers in her arms.

Very slowly, Audrey realised that it was the mock-exams they had taken before Christmas break.

She groaned internally.

Odell patted the papers beside her. "I'm sure you'll all be happy to know the exams you took before the interim have been graded."

No, Audrey wasn't particularly thrilled by the news.

"Well, I won't leave you all suffering!" laughed Odell. She took each exam parchment in her arms once more—they were around 20 pages thick each—and began handing them out. First Riddle, then Malfoy, Avery, and lastly, herself.

Audrey really hoped that the order in which Odell handed them back wasn't indicative of her grade.

But, before she had time to worry, she peeked down at her parchment, and saw there, written on the first page in large red ink—'A'.

Audrey blinked. Merlin's beard. It was an actual miracle.

After inspecting his own paper with a crinkle of his nose, Avery took a quick peek at Audrey's. His eyebrows shot up. "Bloody hell, Fitch," was all he could say.

Audrey was just as surprised as he was. Had someone else taken the exam for her?

Odell was practically beaming at the front of the class, hands clasped together in front of her. "You all did exceptionally well!" Her happiness was palpable, and Audrey's bad mood lifted a notch. "So, as a treat, I've decided to take you all on a little excursion! Seeing as there is so few of you, Professor Dippet has agreed."

Audrey quirked an eyebrow.

Odell produced a stale, weathered glove from her desk drawer then. "Come, come! Gather round!"

Confused, Audrey rose from her chair just as her other three classmates did, and came to stand around the strange glove. It was pulsating with an odd magical aura.

Out of the corner of her eye, Audrey spotted Tom, but he was clearly trying his best not to look at her.

Well, bugger him, she thought with scorn.

When Professor Odell placed a hand on the glove, Audrey realised with dawning suspicion that it was a port-key. Just where was Odell taking them, anyway, if they needed a port key to travel there?

When she indicated for the students to place their hands on the key, Audrey complied. She'd only ever used a port-key once before—with her father when she had been about eight years old—when he had taken her to the Quidditch World Cup in Germany. She spied the glove pulse and glow, before she suddenly felt like she was falling through a never-ending tunnel. The sensation seemed to go on for a prolonged period of time, before eventually, and with a horrible thud, Audrey landed on her arse in a cold, dark room. The air was thick with a spicy, musky incense, and she could smell pine.

Beside her, a torch suddenly flamed to life. Much to her chagrin, she spied that both Odell and Tom had landed on their feet; however, much to her satisfaction, both Avery and Malfoy had landed with her on the ground.

She pushed herself to her feet with an inaudible groan.

Avery was the first to speak, looking a little annoyed. "Where are we?" he asked in a bemused tone.

Odell was working on getting the rest of the torches lit, but said, a little excitedly, "Why, Mr Avery, we are in Norway."

Norway?

Audrey tried to let that sink in. She was relatively sure she had never been to Norway before, and a small part of her couldn't believe that Avery was with her for the occassion.

As Odell finished making her way around the torches, the long room began to come into focus. Beside her, on the wall of the chamber, Audrey realised that the stone was inscribed with the most guttural, intricate Runes she had ever seen. She peered closer, trying to decipher them, but these Runes were old. Much older than anything she had ever studied. Or seen, for that matter.

Odell seemed to notice her confusion. "Having trouble, dear?" she teased.

Audrey folded her arms across her chest, defiant. "We haven't studied these."

Odell laughed, nodding. "No, my darling, we haven't." She grabbed one of the torches from the wall, before making her way down the chamber. "Follow me, follow me! We have much to cover!" she called, and her voice echoed in the dim.

Audrey followed Avery down the hallway, with Malfoy and Tom just ahead. The space seemed to tighten and constrict as they ventured deeper.

Eventually, the group happened upon another chamber, but this one was much larger. The room was filled with around six or seven rows of wooden sarcophagus'. With dawning trepidation, Audrey realised that it was a burial chamber, Here, the Runes were even more plentiful—there was scarcely a blank space on any of the four walls.

"This is…actually kind of cool," said Malfoy, beside her, more to himself than anyone else.

Odell turned to her their group. "Go on, go on, have a look around, class. You'll be studying these for the next month and a half, so get a good look while you can!"

Audrey took that as her cue to escape. She wandered around the chamber, being careful to avoid her other classmates. When she found a quite spot on the south wall, she reached out and gently ran her fingertips over the Runes. They were the almost primal-looking, the way they jutted with such violent and sharp lines. She thought they might pre-date Nordic runes by a few thousand years, but she wasn't sure—

An odd noise from one of the sarcophagus' made Audrey take her hand back very quickly.

Bloody hell, no.

She turned, a hand over her heart, to inspect the line of coffins behind her. If she wasn't mistaken, what she had heard had been a distinct groan—

The sarcophagus directly in front of her exploded open with a firework show of splintered wood. A half-dead, skeletal-looking man came at her with blinding speed, rusty knife in hand.

Audrey couldn't help what happened next: from her throat came the most wild scream she had ever produced. She screamed like she was about to murdered, because for all she knew, she was. The sound of her terror pierced the silence of the cave. She was shoved backward by the skeletal hands, and suddenly the thing was on top of her. More than anything, she was overwhelmed by it's stench. It smelled like it had been dead for a thousand years.

It made a move to go for her with the knife, but suddenly a bright green light blasted it off her. It went flying across the room with a horrible screech, and exploded in a scattering of bones against the chamber wall.

Audrey turned to see who had saved her, and spied Odell in the middle of placing her wand back in her belt. "Well, yes, I suppose they're not quite dead."

Audrey swallowed hard. "You think?" she managed, sarcastic as hell despite herself.

Only to me, Audrey thought crossly. Only would this crap happen to me.

She chanced a half-way glance at Tom, only to find that he hadn't even turned to look at her. She'd had a knife pulled on her, she'd screamed bloody murder, and he hadn't even looked.

Even Avery had bloody well looked.

She felt the tell-tale sign of anger begin to pulsate in her temple, and pushed herself to her feet crossly.

She was so over this. She was over his incessant need to keep her at arms-length. She was over his rejection. She was over trying to get close to him. She was over feeling not good enough. She was over his stupid, infuriatingly handsome face.

She was over him.

Well, she supposed she wasn't, really. But, she decided with absolute resolve, it was time to start getting over him. Her stupid crush on him was getting in the way of why she had been sent here in the first place. She needed to get back to business.

She busied herself with inspecting Runes to keep her thoughts from returning to him, and after about ten minutes, Odell finally called the four of them back to her.

The Runes professor smiled as she led them down one final chamber.

It didn't taken Audrey long to guess where they were going. A horrible chill began nipping at her through her cloak, and the sound of wind became more and more pronounced in the confined space. The group eventually happened upon an exit carved into the mountain, and though Audrey didn't know what to expect initially, she hadn't expected the view that greeted her.

They had happened upon an astonishing valley carved between the mountains. Great pine trees lined the edges of the valley, and in the middle proudly stood one of the clearest, bluest lakes Audrey had ever seen.

"What do you think?" asked Odell beside her.

Audrey breathed an astonished sigh. Her breath heated the air with a whisp. "Pretty incredible," she replied.

Her response seemed to make Odell happy. She produced the tattered glove once more from her robes, and the group gathered round to port-key back to Hogwarts.

They arrived back in the classroom moments later, and Audrey was just happy that she hadn't landed on her arse this time.

The bell rang with sickening intensity, and Audrey stuffed all of her books and parchment into her bag without much feeling.

Odell was perched nearly behind her desk. "Okay everyone, I hope you enjoyed our little field trip today! You'll find those Runes on page 143 of your textbooks! I'll set some homwork next lesson." She waved them off with a flippant hand. "Now, off you go to your next class!"

Audrey began trudging her way towards Potions, feeling irritable.

Much to her annoyance, Avery eased up beside her. "So, Fitch, no news from Christmas break?'"

Audrey simply shook her head. "Nope. Quiet as a mouse." She didn't even bothering looking at Avery, but he said nothing more, and she sensed that he knew something he was not telling her.

Audrey, Avery, and Malloy all arrived to the dungeons for Potions slightly late.

Tom, somehow, bewilderingly, had managed to get there before them, and not for the first time Audrey wondered how.

Slughorn was in the middle of demonstrating the potion they were to make for the lesson. "Ah, hello, you three! Take a seat, take a seat!"

Audrey slid into her stool beside Reuben.

"Now," said Slughorn, "as I was saying! Today we will be brewing a Draught of Peace! So, everyone, take out your books, turn to page 45, and begin!"

Audrey sighed as she retrieved her book from her bag.

It did not go unnoticed. Reuben, beside her, nudged her. "Hey, you want me to get your ingredients?"

For the first time since she had woken up that morning, Audrey felt marginally better. Reuben was a good friend. "That would be great. Thanks, Reuben."

He headed in the direction of the ingredients cupboard with Oliver Stewart, who was chatting animatedly about their next Quidditch match.

Audrey waited patiently until the two boys returned with a plethora of different ingredients—including powdered moonstone, unicorn horn, porcupine quills, and syrup of hellebore. Audrey began separating the ingredients into chronological order for her potion, and then got to work. The potion took longer than she would have expected. One hour later, however, her potion looked pretty perfect: her pewter cauldron was bubbling away, emitting a silvery vapour that smelled incredibly relaxing.

Audrey stared at her concoction, deliberating. She knew what this potion did, of course—it was usually used to relieve anxiety and agitation, which, currently, sounded incredible.

But she was also keenly aware of what happened if the concoction was brewed incorrectly. It would put her into a deep—and possibly irreversible—sleep.

She bit her lip.

Bugger it. She was a damned good potion maker. What did she have to worry about?

She dipped her finger in, feeling particularly reckless.

Reuben, beside her, reached out and grabbed her hand with blinding speed. He held her wrist tightly in his hand, and when Audrey chanced a look at his face, he looked incensed.

"What the hell are you doing?" he snapped.

Audrey has never heard his tone so cold before. "I wasn't—" She swallowed thickly. Why in Merlin's name did she need to explain herself to him? She was a damned adult. Her tone grew hard, as well. "It was just to take the edge off, Reuben."

Without a word, he grabbed a spare piece of parchment from the middle of their station and wiped the liquid off the end of her finger. He threw the used parchment into the bin beside them.

Slughorn chose that moment to arrive at their station, and, much to Audrey's relief—judging by his expression—he hadn't seen anything. He inspected Oliver's potion first, looking a little annoyed by what he saw, then moved to Reuben's. "Ah, Mr Garwin! Very well done, my lad. This Draught is almost perfect! I take it you've been studying over the break?"

He rounded the desk, then poked his head into Audrey's cauldron. "My, miss Fitch," he said slowly, and sounded thoroughly displeased. "How much syrup of hellebore did you use?"

Audrey blinked. She hadn't... she hadn't used any. She snuck a peek at her ingredients on the side of the desk, only to the syrup entirely unused.

Bloody hell.

"Slightly disappointing, I must say," he comtinued, then patted her shoulder. "Are you having an off day, perhaps?"

Audrey nodded wordlessly.

He made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat, then moved onto Walburga Black's table near the back of the classroom.

Audrey heard the bell ring. Before she had to deal with Reuben's wrath, she shoved her book into her bag with alarming speed, then took off into the hallway. She didn't manage to get far, however, because Reuben was hot on her heels. He managed to grab her elbow just as she exited the classroom.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking, Audrey?" he snapped, and his anger was so foreign that she blanched. "Or were you thinking at all?"

Audrey didn't appreciate being talked to like a child. She crossed her arms, feeling all-of-a-sudden indignant. "Shove off, Reuben. Your fake concern isn't appreciated."

"Fake?" he asked, taken aback. His surprise swiftly returned to anger.

The other students began filing out of the classroom. But Audrey didn't care anymore.

"Fake," she repeated hotly. "You don't know me, Reuben, so stop pretending you do. What I do is none of your business."

"I don't know you?" he repeated, and actually laughed at her—a dry laugh that didn't suit him. "What the hell's gotten into you, Audrey?"

She was angry now. The foul mood that had been following her all day was suddenly too hot to contain. "Nothing's gotten into me!" she fired back crossly. Walburga Black was lingering by the classroom door, trying her hardest to eavesdrop. Behind her were Avery, Malfoy, and Tom. The sight of him incensed her further. "I don't need to be babysat! I don't need your concern! I don't need you."

She didn't know where all this heat was coming from, but Merlin, it felt good to let it out.

"Evidently you do!" Reuben shot back. "Or maybe I should just let you get yourself killed next time?"

Walburga lifted her eyebrows in surprise as she passed them. She was damn well listening.

Audrey rounded on her. "Can I help you?" she snapped, sarcasm thick. "Get lost."

Walburga didn't even look faced by the accusation; clearly, she was on the lookout for a confrontation. "Oh, seriously, Audrey? How am I not supposed to overhear you and your big mouth?"

Tom was behind Walburga, looking as impassive as ever. Avery looked amused.

Audrey reached boiling point. She was surrounded by all these people she wasn't supposed to know. She wasn't supposed to be here. "Walburga, shut your damn mouth. You are just the epitome of unimportant to me right now." She turned to face Reuben again, who looked slightly cooler, but behind her, she heard a snort of derision.

Walburga had been the culprit. "Yeah. I hear the same things about you."

Audrey turned back to the group of Slytherins very slowly. She didn't particularly like where this was going, but she snapped anyway, because she couldn't leave well enough alone, "What the hell does that mean?"

Warburga let loose a horrible laugh. Her expression was so evil, Audrey could barely stand it. "Your crush. On Tom. Hilarious, if you ask me." Before Audrey could reply, Walburga ploughed on, her tone wholly sarcastic, "Katie O'Neill saw you leave the head dorm crying last week. What happened, sweetie? Tom reject you too hard?" Her eyes turned cruel. "As if he would give half a day to a mudblood-loving idiot like you."

Audrey felt her heart plummet into the depths of her stomach—whether from anger, or something much worse, she was unsure. She suddenly felt sick. Her eyes snapped to Tom, who looked between herself and Walburga with a strange expression. As if he couldn't believe someone had proof of their encounter. As if he hadn't expected it.

Well.

"Walburga—" started Tom.

Audrey cut him off. She didn't care for anything he had to say. "Right." She didn't have the patience to confirm or deny what Katie O'Neill had seen—the loud-mouthed cow.

Reuben, beside her, shot Walburga a look that could have killed. "You're a real bitch, Walburga." Despite the fact that they had been arguing, he put an arm around Audrey's shoulders and squeezed down hard. "C'mon, Audrey. We have better things to do than listen to the ramblings of this idiot."

Walburga's lip curled, but before she could say anything further, Reuben dragged Audrey down the hallway, and then in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room. They walked in complete silence, with Reuben's arm still around her shaking shoulders. As they reached the staircase just below the entrance to the common room, suddenly Audrey felt it: a sob broke from her throat, and before she knew what was happening, she was in full-fledged hysterics.

She hated Tom.

Reuben took her into his arms without hesitation. "It's alright," he said gently, rubbing her back.

She sobbed until she thought she might combust. When other Ravenclaws passed her, she hardly had the wits about her to give a damn.

When she relented somewhat, Reuben asked her gently, "Is what Walburga said... Is it true?"

Audrey nodded wordlessly into his cloak. Well, most of it was true, she supposed. No one but her and Tom needed to know the specifics.

He seemed to consider that. "He's an idiot."'

Audrey hadn't thought Reuben would say that. Despite herself, she laughed. It was more of a gurgle, mixed with her sobs.

Reuben wiped her tear-streaked face with kind hands, before he motioned for her to join him on the stairs up to the common room. She followed wordlessly, and he led her to a quiet corner. Three plush arm chairs were all positioned towards each other, with a crackling fireplace beside them. A window allowed the bright light of the morning to stream in, the snow falling in brilliant white clusters.

He put her down in one of the chairs, then conjured her a steaming mug of coffee. Two sugars and milk. Just how she liked it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked eventually. He took residence in the chair across from her, looking patient.

Audrey shook her head, staring into the milky-brown abyss if her coffee.

Reuben sighed. "Well, you should talk to someone about it." He conjured a mug for himself. "Stella?" he hinted. "She'll be back soon from Charms."

Audrey nodded. Stupid Reuben. He was too good for someone like her. Before she could help it, she was crying again.

Alarmed, Reuben came to sit beside her, placing a reassuring hand in her knee.

"Merlin, I'm awful," cried Audrey. "I am such an awful friend and I'm so, so sorry, Reuben." She wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her midnight blue jumper, feeling fresh tears forming. "I didn't mean all of those horrible things I said to you. Walburga's right—I am an idiot."

Reuben squeezed on her knee. "First of all, Walburga's never right," he said, tone playful. "Second of all: I didn't mean it either, Audrey." He continued, frustrated, "I just care about you, and I don't want to see you do something potentially stupid. Stella cares about you. Brax cares about you." When she looked up into his eyes, she saw his stark kindness there—and it shamed her. "You're the newbie, but you're not alone here. Okay?"

She nodded into her coffee, taking a long sip.

Like a flurry of pretty blondness, Stella arrived in their corner. She was carrying a thick book on Charms in her clasped arms. When she noticed Audrey bent over her coffee, face stained red from tears, she was suddenly panicked. "Merlin's beard! Audrey, what happened?"

"Boy trouble," explained Reuben evenly.

"Boy trouble?" asked Stella disbelievingly. "And how in the world would you hear about this before me— Wait, trouble?" asked Stella indignantly. She sat down across from Audrey and fixed her with an even stare. "Tell me everything. I am prepared to hate him."

Audrey laughed. "Oh, you might already."

She seemed confused for a moment, before saying, tentatively, "Riddle?"

Audrey nodded.

"Wow," she said after a moment. "What happened?"

Sensing that perhaps Audrey didn't feel like re-telling the story, Reuben explained, "Walburga... Erm, after Potions, she said someone had seen Audrey crying when she left the head dorm last week. Audrey said it's...true." Reuben didn't mention their stupid argument or the Draught of Peace, and for that Audrey was grateful.

Stella quirked an eyebrow in Audrey's direction. "You were crying? Merlin, what did he do? Tell me so I can hurt him."

Audrey tried to imagine sweet Stella hurting anyone—nevertheless Tom Riddle—and laughed. "He... He totally blew me off," she admitted. She didn't want to tell them about the way he had kissed her, or showed her his artwork, because it still damn well hurt. "I put myself out there, and he made it pretty clear he wasn't interested."

Stella seemed dubious. "He seemed pretty interested at Slughorn's Christmas party. He couldn't keep his eyes off you."

Audrey tried not to think of that, so instead said, "Yeah, well, I guess he's not."

Stella folded her arms, looking less than pleased. "Well he's an idiot."

Reuben looked gratified. "That's what I said!"

Audrey laughed a little.

"Wait here!" exclaimed Stella very suddenly. "I have a stash of Chocoballs for just an occasion." She ran up to their shared room, then returned a few minutes later with a small chest full of sweets, chocolate, and candies. They looked mouth-watering.

By the time Braxton joined them, the chest was half-empty, and their coffee cups were dry.

Feeling like she owed him an explanation, Audrey had allowed Stella to tell him about what had happened.

When the story was finished, he looked more than a little horrified. "Well." He turned to her, looking a little peaky. "Riddle, huh?"

He was asking her what she saw in him, but Audrey glowered.

He held up his hands, feigning innocence. "Just asking!"

Their conversation turned to happier things after that, and Audrey listened as Stella recalled her Christmas break with fondness. They talked about their match against Gryffindor next month. They laughed about more plans to let off stink bombs outside the Slytherin common room.

All in all, things felt normal again—as normal as things could be in 1945—and Audrey admitted as she crawled into bed that evening that her friends were quite magnificent here.