Auden went down to the Great Hall the next afternoon with Harry and Hermione for the Apparating lessons. Ron had been about to walk down with them, but he had been ambushed by Lavender, who was really starting to get on Auden's nerves. Almost every night she was bombarding Auden with questions about what it was like growing up with Ron as her best friend. There wasn't really much to tell. At first, Auden had told her a few good stories, but as time went on, she began to give her vaguer answers. It was tiring being asked so many questions when she was trying to sleep.

Hermione was nervously wringing her hands as they entered the great hall where the tables had been moved so that the room was clear.

"What are you so nervous about, Hermione?" Auden asked.

"What if I'm awful at this?" she asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Here we go," he said.

"I'm serious! What if I'm the worst out of everyone?"

"Okay, Hermione," Auden said. "First of all, you won't be the worst. When have you ever been the worst in anything?"

"When we learned Patronus Charms last year in the D.A. It's the only spell I've ever had trouble with."

"Okay, well still, that's one thing it took you a while to learn. But you were nowhere near the worst. Secondly, we're just learning and nobody's going to be great the first time and it's not like we're taking our test any time soon."

Hermione didn't get to respond because the instructor from the Ministry was calling for everyone's attention. He was an old man with thin, wispy gray hair, and he was so tiny and frail looking he looked like a puff of air would knock him over.

"Good morning," he said in a small, cheery voice. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition tests in this time—,"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" yelled Professor McGonagall, cutting the instructor off.

Everybody's head snapped towards Malfoy, who looked angry as he stepped away from Crabbe. It looked as if the two of them had been whispering about something.

"Anyway, by the time our lessons are over, many of you will be ready to take your tests," Twycross said, ignoring the interruption. "As many of you probably know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. Dumbledore has lifted the enchantment in only the Great Hall for one hour so that we can practice. Now, I would like each of you to place yourselves so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

Auden shifted around so that she was standing between Harry and Hermione and five feet behind Ron who was standing next to Lavender, of course.

"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione suddenly asked.

Auden looked up to see Harry darting away to a spot across the hall. "He's trying to listen in on Malfoy," Auden said to Hermione, noticing where Harry was headed.

"Oh for goodness sake," Hermione sighed.

"Now then, if we are all in a good position," the instructor said, clapping his hands together for silence. He waved his wand and a hoop appeared on the floor in front of everyone. "When Apparating it is important to remember the three D's!" he exclaimed. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation!"

Auden snorted. The instructor was definitely very enthusiastic about Apparating.

"Now, the first step is to fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination," he said. "For now, it is the inside of the hoop in front of you. Please focus on that destination now."

Auden stared at the inside of her hoop, her eyes never leaving the scuffed and worn floor of the Great Hall.

"Next," continued Twcross, "focus your determination to occupy the space inside the hoop."

Auden glanced up for the first time and looked around the room. Hermione was clenching her teeth and squinting into her hoop. Ernie Macmillan looked as if he was trying to lay an egg, and Pansy Parkinson looked as if her head was going to pop off from concentration. Auden giggled and looked back at her hoop.

"Now the third and final step is, when I give the command, turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! When I say go. One, two, three…go!"

The room was suddenly full of people spinning on the spot, but not going anywhere. Auden ended up almost falling over from enthusiasm. Hermione was spinning over and over again, looking disgruntled.

"Hermione, stop," Auden said, "you're making me dizzy."

"Now, now, let's try again," Twycross said. He didn't look fazed that nobody had successfully Apparated into their hoop.

It wasn't until the fourth attempt that something interesting happened. Susan Bones splinched herself. Most of her body appeared inside of her hoop, except for her left leg, which was standing five feet away. Auden's eyes widened. That was definitely an odd and slightly scary sight.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand and with a puff of smoke, Susan's leg was reattached to her body, but Susan looked as if she never wanted to experience Apparition again.

By the end of the lesson, nobody except Susan had made any progress. But nobody seemed upset about it except Hermione.

"Did anything happen to you?" Ron asked Auden as Harry caught up to them. "I think I felt something once. A kind of tingling in my foot."

"Aw, maybe your shoes were tied too tight, Won Won," Hermione said, walking briskly past them and out the door.

"What's got her wand in a knot?" Ron asked.

"Well, I think it's a few things," Auden shrugged.

"Like what? Did she expect to Apparate successfully on her first try? That's almost impossible," Ron said.

"I think it's a few other things as well," Auden added.

"Hey, listen," Harry said, clearly not having listened to the conversation. "Let's go back to the dorm, I want to check something."

"What are we doing? Can you please just tell us?" Ron asked as they climbed the stairs to the boy's dorm a few minutes later.

"Wait just a minute," Harry said, rummaging in his trunk.

"Harry, come on," Ron huffed.

Auden sat down on Ron's bed and Ron sat next to her, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Malfoy is using Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts," Harry explained. "I just want to know where he's going that he needs them to be lookouts. Aha!" He straightened up holding up what he had been looking for.

"The Marauder's map?" Auden asked.

"Yeah, it'll tell us where Malfoy is. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said. Words appeared on the map. Harry flopped onto his own bed and studied the labeled dots moving around the paper. "Come here, help me find him."

Auden and Ron stood on either side of Harry and stared down at the map. "There he is," Auden said, pointing to Malfoy's dot.

"See, Harry?" Ron said. "He's in the Slytherin common room with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy."

Harry looked disappointed. "Well, I'm keeping an eye on him from now on. Mischief managed." He tapped the wand and stood up as the words disappeared and the map was once again a blank piece of paper.


Valentine's Day arrived a few weeks later, on a Sunday, and Auden's prank was ready to go. She had gotten what she needed in Hogsmeade the week before when she had picked up Fred's birthday gift—a book written by some famous joke shop owner that Fred idolized, and a small stuffed bear, just for laughs. It didn't play music though. Really, it was a shame, but Auden took what she could get.

That morning, she woke up early and sent Fred's Valentine's gift off to him, which was just a box of his favorite candy and a homemade card. Then she went back to her dorm. Luckily it was empty. She flung open her trunk and dug through it until she found what she had hidden at the bottom. A large bottle of floral scented shampoo. It was for Snape. She had even tied a ribbon on it and included a little tag that said "From your secret admirer."

She knew that Snape would probably be at breakfast by now and not in his office, so Auden tiptoed down to the dungeons and slipped into Snape's office. It was unlocked. She left the shampoo on his desk chair and quietly left the room, smirking slightly. As she snuck back through the dungeons, she felt a hand on her arm. With a loud gasp she turned around.

"Malfoy?" she asked, surprised.

"Will you be quiet?" he answered angrily. "Why are you down here sneaking around Why aren't you at breakfast? Or maybe I should go get Professor Snape and you can explain it to him."

"And while you're at it, you can explain why you were sneaking around down here too," Auden shot back.

Malfoy looked at her, dropped her arm, and took a step back. "Fine," he said. "I won't say anything."

"Really? That's it?" Auden asked. "You're not going to try to get me in trouble? No rude comments?"

"No," Malfoy said. He looked just as awful as he did at Slughorn's party, if not worse. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked paler than usual and extremely stressed.

"What's wrong?" Auden asked. She had no idea why she was trying to be nice. This was the boy who had teased practically everyone who wasn't in Slytherin since first year. He had insulted her and the Weasleys last year when his team lost the Quidditch match. And yet, Auden felt herself feeling sorry for him.

"Nothing's wrong," Draco snapped, half turning away.

"Okay," Auden said, putting her hands up in defeat and turning to leave.

"My family," Draco began, taking a deep breath. Auden turned around. "You must know that my dad's in jail."

Auden nodded. "Yeah...and is that why you look so terrible?"

"Well, sort of. It's complicated." His expression turned stony again. "And it's a lot more than you could ever understand."

"What are you up to?" Auden asked, crossing her arms. She didn't expect him to answer her question, but she had asked it anyway. "I mean, you look terrible, you were sneaking around the night of Slughorn's Christmas party, you passed up a chance to get me in trouble...I don't get it."

"Like I said, it's complicated. And why would you seriously think I would tell you of all people? You'd just try to stop me or get me in trouble."

"Only if you're doing something that needs to be stopped," she retaliated, raising her eyebrows.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "You're one of the people that suspect I'm the one who cursed Katie Bell."

"Sort of, but I'm not the only one."

"Potter?" Malfoy snapped.

Auden shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. You don't seem to keen on giving up information, so neither am I."

Malfoy scowled before turning to head back down the hallway. "Still dating that blood traitor scumbag Weasley?" he said, turning to walk backwards so he could sneer at her.

Auden sniffed and her expression changed to a glare. "Yes, I am. And you should watch who you're calling scumbag when you're the biggest one of all." She turned and stomped away. Auden didn't slow down until she reached the Great Hall. Breakfast was nearly over by now, but she saw Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table, reading the Daily Prophet.

"This came for you," she said as Auden sat down. Auden looked at the package Hermione was pointing at. "Polka wouldn't stop poking at me until I took the package. I think she expected you to be in here."

"I was doing something," Auden said, reaching for the package.

"Oh, no," Hermione groaned. "I don't like the sound of that." She put down the newspaper and stared at Auden.

"I was leaving Snape a very thoughtful Valentine's Day gift," Auden replied.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, but she looked like she was trying to fight back a smile. "Shampoo?" she asked.

"You got it," Auden answered, unwrapping the package with the force of a tornado. She was excited to see what was inside. The box was thin and about a foot long. When she pulled off the cover, she saw a note resting on top of a nest of tissue paper.

Dear Auden,

See, I told you I wasn't sending you a giant singing bear. Aren't you glad? If you're disappointed then I will gladly send you one, but personally I think you'll be happier with the gift in this box.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know a few things about this gift, so go ahead and open it now. Go on, I'll wait.

Auden smiled, set the note aside, and lifted away the tissue paper. She smiled even wider when she saw what was inside. It was a single red rose. She pulled it out with her right hand and picked up the note again with her left.

I know this looks like an ordinary flower, but it's not. I know you're a smart girl, so you probably wondered how it made the journey from me to you in just a box with no water and managed to look perfect. Well, you're in luck, because I'm going to tell you. I charmed it so that it will never die. It's a real rose that smells nice and everything, but it will never wilt or die and it doesn't need water either. It took me forever to get the charm just right and I'm 99.9% positive it will work. If the flower does die or wilt in the slightest, you can sue me for every Galleon I'm worth. Anyway, even though it's not much, I hope you like it.

I got your gift early this morning just before I sent this out and thank you so much. The card was incredibly witty and clever. The pop up heart when I opened it was really a nice touch and I can tell you that the chocolates will probably be gone within the week, especially since George will steal about half of them.

Please tell me about that prank. I've been in agony ever since you mentioned it in your last letter. Especially since you said I gave you the idea. I wish I could be there to see it. And also so that I could hug you with such force that you fall over.

Anyway, have a wonderful day today and don't forget that I love you to Pluto and back more times than you love me. I bet Pluto is happy that we're giving it all this attention. Personally, I think Pluto's always been a bit neglected. Planets like Earth, Uranus, and Mars always steal all its thunder. I mean, who hasn't used a Uranus joke at least once in their life?

I'll see you in less than a month.

Love, Fred

P.S. How are Apparition lessons going? Anyone splinched themselves yet?

Auden smiled as she set the note back on the table and lifted the flower to her nose.

Once breakfast was over, Auden returned to her dorm and put her rose in an empty vase on her night stand, right next to the picture of her in Fred. It was weird how she had only been thirteen in that picture and Fred only fifteen. Their lives had changed so much since then. She decided to write to Fred and thank him for the gift, so she sat down and pulled out a quill and some parchment.

Dear Fred,

The rose was a great idea. I heard that the charm you put on it was a complex one. I really don't know why you didn't get more OWLs than you did. You definitely deserved more.

Apparition Lessons are going great. I think I'm closer to actually Apparating than I was a few weeks ago. Hermione actually successfully Apparated last week for the first time. No surprise there. Ron and Harry haven't managed to make any improvement either, along with most of the people in my year, so I don't feel so bad. Susan Bones was the first one to actually make any progress at all at our very first lesson and she was also the first to splinch herself. Her entire leg separated from her body, Fred. She was terrified, and rightfully so.

As for the prank, I bought some shampoo for Snape and tied a ribbon on it with a note attached that says "from your secret admirer." I left it in his office this morning. I saw him this afternoon and he just looked extra angry and his hair was as greasy as ever. I don't think he liked it. I'm quite hurt, but not really.

Also, on my way out of the dungeons, I ran into Malfoy. He threatened to tell on me, but then he let me go. He didn't even try to make fun of me or anything. At first, anyway. Something's definitely up with him. He looks awful, like he hasn't slept in days. And he was hinting that he has some family problems between him and his dad. I know this sounds crazy, but I was starting to feel sorry for him. That is, until he went right back to insulting me. Well, you mostly, but when he insults you, he insults me. No need to come beat him up, because I insulted him back. Plus, you don't need to be getting into trouble with the Order or anyone else. You don't want to ruin your opportunity to come see me on my birthday.

Thank you again for the gift and I definitely think it is more appropriate than a giant singing bear.

Love, Auden


The rest of February flew by, and soon it was March 1st, Ron's birthday. There had been a trip to Hogsmeade scheduled on that day, but it had been canceled, leaving both Ron and Auden upset. Once she had found out about the trip, she had written to Fred and asked him to come then instead of on her birthday two days later. This way, he wouldn't have to actually sneak into the castle. Now that it had been canceled, they were back to the original plan.

Auden burst into the boy's dorm on the morning of Ron's birthday just as Seamus and Dean were leaving. From the looks of it, Harry and Ron had just woken up. "Happy birthday!" she shrieked, adding her gift to the pile at the end of Ron's bed.

"Why don't you yell a little louder? I don't think I quite heard you," Ron joked.

"Well, you're seventeen today," Auden said. "You're all grown up, little Ronnie." She leaned over and tried to pinch his cheeks, but he swatted her away.

"Yeah, well, it'll be you in two days," he said.

"Have you done your first bit of legal magic yet?" she asked.

"No, I haven't," Ron said, a grin lifting his lips. He picked up his wand and looked around the room thoughtfully. Finally, he smiled as his eyes fell on Harry, who was digging through his trunk, flinging objects all over the place. Ron waved his wand and caused a pair of socks to repeatedly hit his best friend in the head.

"Harry, are you going to try to look for Malfoy again?" Auden asked as Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map.

"Yeah, and he's not on here," Harry said, frowning as he finally swatted the socks out of the air. Ron let out a snort of laughter and began opening his gifts.

"What do you mean?" Auden asked Harry, moving to sit on his bed and look at the map over his shoulder.

"Malfoy definitely isn't anywhere on here," Harry said.

Auden scanned the map. It was true that Malfoy was nowhere on it. She had told Harry about her encounter with Malfoy on Valentine's Day, which had made Harry all the more suspicious. She had almost regretted telling him because of that. He had become almost obsessed with looking at the map to see where Malfoy was.

"Want a chocolate cauldron?" Ron suddenly asked, sticking one in his own mouth.

"No, thanks," Auden and Harry said in unison.

"Are you sure Malfoy's gone?" Ron asked. "I don't think that's possible."

"He's definitely gone," Harry said.

"Oh, well, let's go down and get breakfast or else we'll have to Apparate on an empty stomach."

"You already ate," Auden joked, glancing at the chocolate cauldrons.

"Yeah, but that doesn't count," Ron said.

Auden rolled her eyes and began examining the rest of Ron's gifts as Harry went to the bathroom to get dressed.

"Ready?" he asked a few minutes later. "Ron?"

Auden looked up. Ron was standing at the window with an odd expression on his face.

Auden and Harry looked at each other. "Ron, are you ready to go get breakfast?" Auden went over and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Oh, I'm not hungry," Ron said, giving her an odd, dreamy smile before returning to staring out the window.

"But-," Harry began as Auden raised her eyebrows.

"I'll come down with you but I'm just not hungry anymore," Ron said.

"Well you did just eat all those cauldrons," Harry said, nodding.

"But they 'don't count,' I thought," Auden said, making quote marks in the air.

"You guys wouldn't understand," Ron sighed, not looking away from the window.

"Try us," Auden said. "We're two of your best friends."

"Never mind, Aud," Harry said. "Let's go. Coming, Ron?"

Auden shrugged and turned to follow Harry out the door.

"I just can't stand it!" Ron yelled. Auden jumped at the sudden outburst and turned around.

"Can't stand what?" Harry asked, looking alarmed.

"I can't stop thinking about her," Ron sighed.

Auden and Harry glanced at each other again. "Okay, well I certainly didn't get that impression, but why does that stop you from eating breakfast?" Auden asked.

"I don't think she knows I exist," Ron said with a frown.

"Oh she definitely does," Harry said. "She keeps snogging you, doesn't she?"

Auden nodded. She was definitely confused. Why was Ron acting so strange? He was talking about Lavender, wasn't he? Unless this was his way of finally confessing he liked Hermione.

"Who are you talking about?" Ron asked, blinking twice.

"Who are you talking about?" Auden asked.

"Romilda Vane." Ron's expression grew dreamy all over again.

"Romilda Vane? Auden asked, shocked. "The girl that's been practically stalking Harry all year?"

"She's been stalking Harry? Why? Does she like him?" Ron asked in a panic.

"Are you joking?" Harry ignored Ron's questions.

"No, I think I love her, you guys," Ron sighed.

Auden's mouth fell open. She didn't know whether to laugh or panic. Ron's behavior was definitely strange on one hand, but on the other hand, it was hilarious. She wished she had one of those Muggle things that recorded people. She could totally blackmail Ron with it.

"Okay, say that again with a straight face," Harry said.

"I love her," Ron repeated. He didn't even crack a smile. "Have you seen her eyes? They're all big and dark and her hair is so shiny and soft looking. Have either of you ever felt her hair? Is it as soft as it looks?"

"I wouldn't know," Auden answered, holding back a laugh.

"You know what? This is a really funny joke, Ron, but just stop." Harry turned to leave but faster than lightning, Ron stepped forward and punched Harry right in the side of the head.

"Ron! Stop!" Auden yelled. She was totally scared now. Things had all of a sudden stopped being any bit funny. Something was seriously wrong.

"Levicorpus!" Harry yelled. Ron was pulled into the air by his ankles and he dangled there, gasping for breath.

"You insulted her! You said it was a joke!"

"Ron, this is mental," Harry said.

"Wait, Harry. What did Romilda Vane give you for Christmas? What type of food was it that she gave to you that was spiked with love potion?" Auden asked.

"I think it was a box of chocolate cauldrons, why?" Harry asked, following Auden's gaze. A box of chocolate cauldrons was lying on Ron's bed, with three empty spots.

"Well, that explains a lot," Auden sighed, meeting Harry's concerned gaze. They needed to get Ron some help.