I wasn't going to release this chapter yet, but we have another birthday! Happy Birthday Antigona! Hopefully you guys don't mind, but I got this out so quickly it wasn't edited by a second party. I'm sorry for any errors you may see. Luckily, you might not noticed thanks to being distracted by what happens in this chapter...
Enjoy ;)
Chapter 38 – Playing the Part
"I'm dying!" I moaned, falling to the Slytherin table and slamming my sensitive cranium against my hands. I let out something between a strangled cry and moan that reverberated in my ears painfully – which, naturally, made the whine worse. "I'm dying and I'm warning you all that if this life is any indication: there are no bloody golden gates. Everyone who says different are liars or idiots. And to make it worse, I do not want to spend my time in hell with the lot of you. Oh, Merlin, get it over with and kill me!"
"Why is she dying?" Zabini asked conversationally, not needing to acknowledge how my whining was a common occurrence. Still, he kept his tone playful while he sat himself beside Malfoy, meaning that Blaise was now across the table from myself while Theodore and Lillian had taken to either side of me.
"Trelawney needs to stop burning those herbs, that's why!" I yelled at him, only to moan again from the volume of my own voice between my ears. I buried my eyes into the heel of my palms, favouring the pressure against my eyelids and the absence of stabbing light that tried to blind me when these headaches hit after every Divination class.
Godric, I never should have thrown that moonstone at my brother's head – I needed the relief of it now more than I could ever say.
"Why don't you stop going, then?" Tracey asked conversationally, sitting a few seats down as both Crabbe and Goyle were on Malfoy's left and she was stuck on the far side of them. I frowned but did not leave the solace of my palms.
"If I were allowed to just drop the subject, I would. I don't have enough courses and I'm not really looking into Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, or Muggle Studies." I frowned, daring to look up from my eyes and wincing at how bright the Great Hall was. "At least with me being the only real clairvoyant in the class, the old bat can't fail me on principle."
"Why not take muggle studies?" Theodore asked with a shrug, scooping himself some soup. The smell made my stomach churn thanks to the migraine. "It'd be an easy O for you, wouldn't it?"
"I don't want to be reminded of the muggle world at all, actually," I mumbled, grabbing myself some Caesar salad just to appease the looks that the three blonde purebloods sat at the table were giving me. "To be honest the minute I graduate I plan on leaving the muggle world behind me for good. I'm all for progression and equality for muggleborns and all that shite you lot hate, but I never want to have to live there again."
"Here, here," Tracey called from across the table, leaning forward so that we could clink our pumpkin juice goblets together. As Tracey was also a halfblood – though she was still tightly-tied to the pureblood circles – she felt almost the same way...well, except she had no qualms calling people mudbloods or blood traitors and tended to think she was better than most people, no matter their blood status.
"Draco," Lillian began by drawling his name with a slow smile. "Do you think we'll have any of our classes inspected by Professor Umbridge?"
Ah yes, I had nearly forgotten through the haze of pain that today we had heard the news of Umbridge's Ministry 'promotion'. I hadn't really understood what it meant at first until Tracey had pointed out just what 'class inspections' might mean for the teachers of Hogwarts. Inspections mean questions. Questions mean dirt. Dirt gets messy. And mess gets people fired. Theodore and I had hunkered down and tried to understand the rationale behind the whole idea of class inspections – but it was still just a jumble of words in my sore frontal lobe.
"Not today," Malfoy informed simply while he buttered his scone. "Today she was testing a Charms and Divination class with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. We only have to see her for class today and then for Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow – she knows which classes we like least, see? She and my father are very close."
My headache cleared for just a moment thanks to some puzzle being worked out in my head. I didn't understand it, but the sudden clearing made me know that my instinct was trying to get me to piece something together. "They are?"
"Oh yes, she comes round for dinner all the time. They like to talk about the goings on at the Ministry and how their projects are doing. Father's trying to get into the Wizengamot, he just hasn't had enough years within the Ministry to be certifiable."
The idea of Lucius Malfoy working within our judicial system was terrifying.
"Well, that makes a lot of sense," I murmured to myself. I threw my head into my hands again while I tried to ignore my mind coming up with horrifying images of Malfoy in the British parliament and eventually becoming the king of England and then getting England burnt to the ground and then the raiders would end up sinking it for good measure.
The images my migraines make.
"Yes, my father would be a valuable member of the Wizengamot. I reckon-" Malfoy began, sounding as pompous as he always did when he was bragging about his father. I cut off his self-righteous rant almost automatically.
"That's not what I meant."
"Oh? Then what makes sense?" He raised an eyebrow, eyes flickering to my forehead as I massaged my temples and frowned.
"Now it makes sense why she likes me."
And it did.
If Dolores Umbridge was really that close to Lucius Malfoy, it meant she obviously had a soft spot for his son – like most Slytherin bastards did. And if she had been well-read enough on the Prophet's articles about me and Drago's apparent responses, then Umbridge would have had to think – as everyone else seemed to – that Malfoy and I were an item. How could she hate me then, no matter who my brother was, if oh-so-perfect Malfoy fancied me?
Which he didn't, but perhaps that was something I'd need to play up to keep in her good graces.
Ugh, except I had no clue how to flirt or make it subtle enough so that I wasn't coercing the entire Wizarding World about it being true. Or Malfoy. Just Umbridge. I just needed Umbridge to believe it.
"Well," I sighed quietly to Malfoy, who had stopped eating to examine me as my slowly building thoughts started to make sense. "You made this year much easier on me."
He hummed his response to me, obviously not really sure where my mind had gone with the realization, but I didn't really feel the need to educate him. Instead, I shrugged my shoulders. No matter how much more we were able to tolerate each other, I did not feel compelled to have him understand me – and luckily, it seemed that was reciprocated. Telling Malfoy just how he'd made the year easy would have been stupid and telling him 'thanks for making it so easy for me to spy for the Order of the Phoenix' would have been suicide, so I'd just leave it with the mystery of it all.
Classes flew by quickly again, thanks to Theodore actually letting me sleep through most of them. By the time I was sat in one of the back rows Defence Against the Dark Arts with Theodore and Tracey on either side of me, however, I was near certain that I was going to vomit. I looked longingly over to the side wall where the Moonstone I'd thrown had exploded against the stone – who could tell how much better I would feel if I had not been so hasty in my decision.
As Umbridge had been watching over the Gryffindors last class – which the whispers dictated to be Divination – she'd walked them into the Defence classroom. The pink-smothered toad was humming under her breath – a horrible sign in itself. Had Harry already gotten some form of detention? Could she hand out detentions during her inspections, though he was not her student at that time? Or worse, had my brother done something ridiculous already? I had no way of knowing until after class. Well, that was of course assuming he didn't make a scene for this time-slot...
...Which seemed terribly unlikely.
"Wands away," Umbridge instructed with a smile, watching over us all while the class seemed to sigh in unison and push their wands away. I couldn't deny the smile that pulled at my lips while I did as asked – it was both a blessing and a curse to be in this class. It was nice not having to worry that someone would be blown up because of my wand's personal inefficiencies, but it was also terrifying to know that no one else was learning how to protect themselves. I had Magnuse for myself and probably couldn't have done the wandwork anyway, so I wasn't worried for me – but a sickening feeling made me worry for everyone else as I visualized watching the school burn.
"As we finished Chapter One last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page nineteen today and commence 'Chapter Two, Common Defensive Theories and their Derivation'. There will be no need to talk." She was very happy with herself, anyone could tell. I did not open my book. I was falling behind in all my classes – migraines and night-long patrols as culprits – but I couldn't deny that this particular class was one of the few I wasn't as worried about. Umbridge had made it very clear that the Slytherins were in her good books and I planned to ride that horse until it was dead thanks to everything else that had been going wrong in the early weeks of this year.
"What is it this time, Miss Granger?" the question was whispered, but thanks to the sensitivity caused by my headache the question was clear as day. Three rows from the front, Hermione Granger and Umbridge were face to face and both looked determined to see the other crumble. I nudged my bench-mates in the ribs so that they could pay attention to the argument, as well.
"I've already read Chapter Two," Hermione stated simply. I had no need to warn Tracey and Theodore to listen, however, because the bushy-haired witch did not feel any need to stay quiet.
"Well then, proceed to Chapter Three," Umbridge smiled and looked about ready to turn on her heel before Hermione spoke again.
"I've read that too," Umbridge's smile somewhat fell. "I've read the whole book."
"Well, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkhard says about counter-jinxes in Chapter Fifteen," Umbridge smiled again, recovering the poise she had lost for a moment and a smugness that she didn't deserve. After all, what the toad didn't realize was that she was speaking to the brightest witch of this age – and I had not one doubt that Hermione had read through the book twice.
"He says that counter-jinxes are improperly named," Hermione had not missed a beat. "He says 'counter-jinx' is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable. But I disagree."
"You disagree?" Her voice had an edge to it that was undeniable. It could have been my enhanced hearing thanks to the tenderness of my poor brain, but Umbridge was losing her cool. And she was losing it quickly.
"Yes, I do. Mr. Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be very useful when they're used defensively." Umbridge straightened up and Granger's words, her whole body rigid.
"Oh, you do, do you? Well, I'm afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger." Hermione began to protest instantly, but Umbridge had already begun to walk away. "That is enough. Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor house."
Slytherins snickered. Gryffindors raged.
"What for?" Harry asked her loudly. Hermione whispered something so quiet that even I couldn't hear, but I could tell by the urgency of it that it was some kind of warning. I heard myself groan – it was so obvious that he was about to do something stupid that it was painful.
"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions," Umbridge stated factually. "I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about that which they understand very little. Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more licence, but as none of them – with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell," I groaned as I watched my brother bristle. I could already tell he was going to strike back before even he knew he was going to. "-who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects – would have passed a Ministry inspection-"
"Yeah, Quirrel was a great teacher," Harry hissed.
"Harry no," I heard myself groan, but it seemed like he hadn't heard me as he continued.
"There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head."
I slammed my forehead against my desk loudly, probably drawing some attention onto myself, but still, it was not enough to drown out the silence that permeated my core. People were listening and no one was defending him. I was almost surprised when the silence was broken by a smug and croaked out "I think another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr Potter."
How the bloody hell would I ever be able to save this daft-headed ignoramus from himself? Saving him from others was something I had managed to do for the entirety of my Hogwarts career – but how do you save someone from their own stupidity?
I groaned again, hitting my head against the table once more.
"Audrey, Audrey get up," Theodore whispered quickly. "Audrey-"
"Hem, hem," It was impossible not to know who that was. "Do we have a problem here, Miss Potter?"
I sighed loudly, calling on all my strength to stay quiet and polite and remember what I was doing as I pulled myself upright – my stomach argued with me immediately and I found that I was still hunching to stop the nausea that was accompanied by the pain pounding against my cranium.
"No, professor," I wheezed out, ever-so-slightly more melodramatic than I felt. "I'm just sick."
"You were sick last week," she said instantly, though she did not leave her sugar-sweet tone behind for the sentence. I looked up at her, watching her carefully – the woman was surprisingly easy to read considering that everything she embodied was fake. Still, no matter how true this headache was or how fake my civility was, I needed to bring this woman farther onto my side.
"I was," I agreed with a deep scowl. "I'm sorry to say this always happens when I attend Divination, professor."
"Is this true?" Umbridge did not turn to either of my bench-mates to ask this, which confused me. When I followed her eyes, however, I noticed that she had instead questioned the people behind me.
"It's been this way since third-year, professor," Malfoy agreed loudly, even though what he said was a lie – I hadn't had this since the middle of third year or for any classes last year. "Potter believes it's the herbs Professor Trelawney burns."
Well, at least now we could safely say that my theory on the Prophet's influence on Umbridge was entirely accurate.
"I see," Umbridge hummed to herself slowly, her eyes gazing back to me intently. "And after two years why have you not thought to change subjects, Miss Potter?"
Uh-oh, this was one of those times I needed fast thinking to be on my side and I knew it wasn't.
"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are interesting, professor, but I am not good at them and do not want to sacrifice my grades for comfort," I said as genuinely as I could manage. I don't know how believable it sounded, considering my teeth were grinding as I said it and the blood pounding in my ears took away emphasis from my words. But technically, what I had said wasn't entirely untrue, but I knew what she would accuse me of before she spoke.
"And Muggle Studies?" She asked pointedly.
I made a face, thinking back to this afternoon at lunch and remembering how I had already defended myself against these arguments with Blaise. Then again – maybe I could keep that rationale. It wasn't exactly a muggle-loving rationale, was it?
Because, in my own way, I wasn't really a muggle-lover.
I didn't want to kill them all, obviously, but no...no, how could I be? I couldn't be a muggle lover when I look back on my life; not when I start thinking back to all the memories of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's home – thinking of all the things that muggles had done to me in the past and had tried to do to me since I was pushed into that house where I had been tortured and bullied – I'd had my nose broken and my teeth knocked out. I'd had my hair pulled and my knees skinned when people tripped me. I'd been shoved under sinks, in lockers, and kicked under desks...
No. Muggles hadn't been kind to me...and as wrong as it was, I used it to fuel the fire in my eyes.
"It's not something I wish to learn about, professor," I answered simply, my jaw clenched and my face warm. "At all."
"An easy grade for someone of your upbringing," she argued even more quietly.
"I would rather feel pain than sit in a class about muggles," my response was bold and it shocked even me with how much power was behind it. Did she understand the hatred she heard of my childhood memories as a hatred for muggles as I'd hoped she did?
Her small smile and her even smaller, beady eyes – which were shining brightly – somehow told me that she did.
"Mr Malfoy, would you please accompany Miss Potter to the hospital wing?" she asked, not finding a reason to look at either of us while she turned on her heel and walked back up to her desk. All around me, students were glaring. The Gryffindors looked mutinous, the Slytherins looked shocked...I didn't know how to abate the ripple of suspicion that passed through my classmates, but I hoped that Umbridge wouldn't take the time to notice. Instead, I tried to stay focused on her while she scribbled something quickly on a piece of pink parchment – her colour of choice, it seemed – before she handed it out to Malfoy, who had followed her up to the front of the room. "Give this to Madame Pomfrey, if you would, dear."
Malfoy nodded and turned back, waiting for me impatiently as I gathered my things – clumsily, until Tracey helped me pick it all up. I looked up to the front of the room, face red while I tried to ignore the stares. "Thank you, professor."
"Feel better, Miss Potter," she smiled tightly before turning to remind the class that there was a chapter to be read and ignoring both Malfoy and I. At first, I didn't feel right leaving the classroom. I felt like I should bring my brother with me or at least stop him from the glares and whispers he and Ron were pointing my way – but Malfoy cleared his throat and closed the doors the second I was outside the heavy oak doors.
At first we didn't speak. There was no reason to speak about what was said – no matter how interested I was by the slip of paper in his hand. Still, now that I didn't have to think quickly, it felt like my mind had stopped entirely. We had only walked a short distance before my fogged mind caused me to trip over a raised stone in the otherwise smooth castle floor and roughly shoulder the wall I'd been dragging my hand against.
"Are you an invalid?" Malfoy voiced loudly from behind me. I winced at the volume. "What's wrong with you?"
"I wasn't joking, Malfoy," I looked over my shoulder to him, waiting for his slow and lazy steps to catch up to my quick and uneven ones. "Something in Trelawney's classroom triggers this – it's like it clogs up my third eye and my brain is trying to push the clog out. It's painful and it's horrible."
"I always thought you were faking," he noted simply with narrowed eyes. "Trelawney burns those herbs to open our mind."
"No, it's to enhance it," I countered, giving him a deep scowl. "Which is a great philosophy unless you actually have the Sight...but she wouldn't know that, now would she? Since that old cow doesn't have any kind of sight at all, she thinks she's helping people when she's actually debilitating the best of us Seers."
Malfoy considered me, nodding his head slowly before it turned into a definite shake. "No, I still think you're faking."
"Think whatever you want," I grumbled back spitefully. "What's that note say?"
"It says," he flicked his hand around awkwardly to look at the slip of paper, "'Madame Pomfrey, Miss Potter is experiencing constant migraines due to her attendance in Divination class. For the fate of Audrey's education, I encourage you to find you a cure for her so that she is no longer debilitated during her class time...signed, Dolores Jane Umbridge – Hogwarts High Inquisitor'."
"Merlin's beard," I groaned emphatically. In a fit, I turned on my heel to continue the trek to the hospital wing – tripping over myself briefly. "I'm indebted to her!"
Oh, what a horrifying thought.
How would she later make me repay this deed?
"Why did you answer like you did?" He asked suddenly, I looked over my shoulder only to find that he was now directly beside me. I raised an eyebrow. "About Muggle Studies?"
"Why wouldn't I have answered like I did?" I challenged, while I began to massage my temple.
"Because you'd never sound like that, Potter," he said strongly. "You sounded..."
"Like one of you?" I finished for him. His eyes flashed to me, looking at me tensely. I raised an eyebrow, which seemed to dislodge him from whatever thoughts he'd been stuck in, making him shrug and pretend to be uninterested. "Did it ever occur to you that I might not actually like having been raised a muggle?"
"Did it ever occur to you that I may know when you're lying?" He smirked back.
I couldn't help but smile tauntingly. "So, you think you can tell when I'm lying?"
He raised an eyebrow. "I know I can."
"We'll test that theory," I warned him seriously, even though any thought to do that was interrupted as we walked through the open hospital wing doors. It didn't take long before Madame Pomfrey came bustling from a student, considering she probably saw how badly I was tripping over myself.
She sighed once she got to me. "What's happened this time, Miss Potter?"
"Oh, don't be like that," I argued as playfully as I could through gritted teeth. "You can't say you didn't miss me."
"I was told to give this to you," Malfoy interrupted our banter, holding out the pink slip to the flustered woman. Madame Pomfrey took it without question, reading through it quickly before she guffawed loudly, placing her hand on my shoulder and steering me toward a hospital bed.
"That woman knows nothing of healing," she mumbled as she pushed me. "If she did, she would already know that these headaches are no simple fix!"
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, groaning as she made me hop onto the hospital bed she'd led me to. "I know they aren't really curable in my condition."
"Until you are no longer magically backed-up, Miss Potter, I do not see a situation where this could work for your benefit." I looked upon the older nurse with wide eyes. I had never told her I was magically backed-up, and I certainly didn't talk to her often about what being magically backed-up meant. So...how did she know that I was magically backed-up on my visions?
Huh.
It would seem that Madame Pomfrey was in the Order of the Phoenix, too.
"I have some numbing potions that may help, but the headache will not go away without rest and a reset," she told me earnestly, sighing exasperatedly as she did. Malfoy took his time and sat in the chair beside the bed while she took my pulse, felt around my tender scalp, and took my temperature.
When she finally left me to go try and find a solution as Umbridge had asked of her, I relaxed into my pillows...but could not ignore the nagging feeling of being watched.
"Shouldn't you head back to class?" I sighed, turning my sights over to the boy in the chair beside me.
"Why would I, you really think Umbridge will care?" he scoffed, shaking his head. "Come on, Potter. I'm above reading chapters in a book."
"You are?" I repeated with a frown. "Do you believe that?"
"Of course I do," he sneered. "Even you are."
"So you agree then," I raised my eyebrows. "You agree that we should be learning the spells instead of simply reading about them?"
"Of course I do," he repeated, lacking the consideration as he looked at me as if I were stupid. "You can't honestly think I want to sit around and read for an hour each day, do you? I want to perform the spells. I can perform the spells. Still, Umbridge has her reasons and my father agrees that-"
"That the Minister fears us, I know," I said simply. Though I still wanted to argue with him, both of us silenced while Madame Pomfrey came back with three different potions for me to try.
First she instructed me to take the purple one now as it was a sleeping draught that would let me reset and feel better when I woke. The blue potion beside it was to be taken before each Divination class and the brown one if the blue one doesn't help after the class. She told me to get some rest as there is no reason to go back to class so late. I frowned as she stood over me, watching like a hawk as I struggled to choke down the sleeping potion that tasted of bad summer memories and beans.
The effect was almost instantaneous when I felt my eyes begin to droop. Whoever had brewed the potion had decided to fair without any barley, which would have delayed the effects of the drowsiness...at least, that's all I could really focus on while my mind started to fog over with exhaustion. When she was sure it was working, Madame Pomfrey left to go back to her other patients. But before she was gone, I didn't miss the look she sent to Malfoy, considering it was very stern. Still, he looked right back at her, as if challenging her to try and send him away.
What an arse.
I turned on my side, looking at him while he turned back to look at me. He settled back in his chair, getting comfortable and finalizing the idea that he was staying with me and bunking class. I couldn't tell how I felt about this...it would have been nice that he were staying, if he was doing it simply to keep watch over me.
But he wasn't, I told myself firmly. And don't think for a second that any of this is for your benefit, Audrey.
"Why didn't you speak up with the rest of us?" I asked, blinking my eyes slowly.
"What?"
"In Defence Against the Dark Arts," I yawned loudly, but kept talking through it. "When we were all fighting about the use of wands in the classroom...you agreed with us, so why didn't you fight?"
"Because it was stupid to fight," he said simply.
"No it wasn't," I frowned, rubbing my eyes and feeling my hand trail up to rub my forehead. "It was the right thing to do. For us. For all of us. It was noble."
"And nobility is stupid," Malfoy argued seriously. "Father always told me that nobility can be bought by those stupid enough to die for it. You can't be noble and live at the same time, Potter – you have to choose between them."
He was so factual and so sure that it made it almost believable in itself. That or it was my delirious mind under-working itself. I wiggled closer to the edge of the bed, practically hanging over it so I could see him more clearly – you know, considering my vision was starting to blur while I fought off the Sleeping Draught.
"And how are you supposed to know if you chose right?" I asked him seriously, tucking my hand underneath my head so that the rumpled sheets wouldn't keep impeding my vision of him.
"I always assumed if you're alive in the morning." He told me simply, his voice low.
"Well you chose wrong," I mumbled, blinking slowly and realizing that it was for a bit too long. I opened my eyes hastily to see him shaking his head at me with a smirk.
"Yes, in your opinion I usually do, don't I?"
"Mhm," I yawned, nodding as much as I could. "Wake me before patrol."
"I don't patrol with you tonight, Potter," he reminded, I could hear the smirk in his voice. "This is my patrol you're taking over - I have Quidditch Practice."
He loved to taunt me, didn't he? I wish I could have taunted him back, but it just seemed like the intelligent parts of my brain were shutting down before my mouth was.
"Yes you will," I smiled drearily, my eyes having closed at some point that I was having problems even remembering. "You owe me."
"I owe you?"
"Even if you didn't, you'd stay anyway," I said with a shrug.
I thought I heard him hum something in the background of the dreams that began trotting over my perception of consciousness and subconscious, but I could never have deciphered what it was. I was too far gone to make any comments at all and too far gone to appreciate when someone pulled the blanket over me.
Still, I couldn't stop myself from smiling deliriously.
At least in my dreams Malfoy could be sweet.
"You're feeling better, looks like," Tracey raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me while I came trotting towards the Slytherin table the next morning at breakfast. I stretched dramatically a threw her a wide, uncommon smile.
"I feel great," I breathed happily. "Someone must have convinced Snape to let me take a night off of prefect rounds because I woke up in the hospital wing this morning. That Sleeping Draught didn't have any barley, so it put me right to sleep and I guess it kept me out. It was just what I needed."
"Or it's because you're so tiny that she overdosed you by mistake," Malfoy commented bitingly, making sure that I didn't go even two minutes without acknowledging him at the table. "Eat something, will you, little dead girl?"
"Oh, my favourite of the nicknames," my smile formed into a sarcastic baring of my teeth at him. He narrowed his eyes at me and refused to lower them until he was pleased that I scooped some eggs on my plate. Then, his eyebrow raised and he refused to leave it alone until he saw me start eating them. When the blonde had finally looked away, I turned an eye roll toward Lillian – who was across from me – in annoyance. "You know, I was in a good mood."
"You usually are when I'm here," Malfoy smirked, taking another bite of his own eggs. I made sure to stuff my face – since he wanted to see me eat so badly – and show him just how many eggs I could fit in my mouth at once. He scowled and looked away from the display of my half-chewed bolus.
"I guess you didn't get any of the homework done, then?" Theodore asked carefully, looking to me with a wary expression. "The Transfiguration essay, Charms report, or the Potions notes?"
"I forgot about those," I let out a long whine, putting down my fork with a frown. "Well, now the good mood has entirely disappeared. Thank you, everyone."
"I can fix that," Malfoy said promptly, reaching deep into his rucksack and pulling out some neatly folded parchment. "I managed to acquire an extra copy of yesterday's homework. I assumed you're still behind, so I got the notes from some Ravenclaw or other."
"Do you mean stole them?" I asked with a smirk, not hesitating before I took the notes from him and began giving them a brief once-over. They didn't seem too bad; the Charms and Transfiguration notes looked like they were probably right – though to be honest, I wouldn't know either way – but there were two amateur mistakes with the Potions notes that made me nervous Malfoy had 'acquired' them from the only clueless Ravenclaw in the school.
"I never steal," Malfoy contradicted with a playful smirk toward me. "I may have threatened docking house points, however."
"From who?" I asked conversationally, still flipping through the notes. "The person's not the brightest, clearly. So my guess would be either Brocklehurst or Turpin."
"Turpin," he nodded, smirking at some memory or other.
"Oh, get a room," Tracey muttered under her breath. I turned my eyes toward her quickly, watching as she shrank away from my glare and by the look of it, Malfoy's glare as well. Daphne cleared her throat loudly.
"That was nice of you, Draco."
"Nice?" He scoffed, stabbing at his vegetables. "I did it out of pity, you should have seen the girl beg."
"Beg for points, I'd hope," I muttered back...and suddenly frowning when my own thoughts took terrible turns down disturbing detours. I tried to block my mind from imagining Malfoy holding Turpin and kissing her...but in the end, for some reason, her plain brown hair started turning into my dark red hair and for some reason that stupid brunette-turned-redhead was not pulling away.
Ew.
"Come on then, double Transfiguration before we have Care of Magical Creatures," Theodore told me, breaking my reverie and turning to me with a piece of strawberry jam toast in his hand.
"I already ate," I frowned, turning to point at the crumbs leftover from my eggs. "Ask Malfoy, he saw it pre-digestion!"
"Well, you'll be eating more Miss 'I-feel-fantastic'," Theodore shoved the toast into my hand.
"I believe I said that I feel great and that my mood had been ruined by Malfoy's mockery and your attentiveness to my homework-less state."
"Eat it, Audrey," Theodore said sternly. "You'll need to have a clear head; we're being inspected today."
"Oh joy," I mumbled, making another show of stuffing the toast in my mouth and showing him before turning to Malfoy, who – again – sneered and turned away from the sight. "That's what you get for not defending me from this!"
I would never know whether or not Malfoy actually understood me through my mouth full of strawberry toast because Lillian grabbed my arm and chastized me with a giggle while she, Theodore, Tracey, Daphne and I made our way all the way down to McGonagall's classroom. We were some of the first ones there, so we separated and started taking over the back desks. I did not feel bad for the Hufflepuff that sat in front of me – people should know by now not to sit in front of me for classes like this.
"Theodore," I turned to him suddenly. "Are you my friend?"
"You're about to ask me for something," he stated knowingly – and rightly, suspiciously – while his eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
"Just to know if you're my friend."
"I am," he said carefully.
"A friend who cares about me and my well-being?" I urged, watching his brown eyes become more lost and even more guarded.
"Generally, but not if it requires me moving from this seat or doing anything humiliating," he responded carefully. I smiled.
"So, it wouldn't be a problem if I were to ask you to transfigure all these notes to look like my handwriting?" I gave him a large, cheeky smile while I held out the pieces of parchment that had been given to me by Malfoy at breakfast. Theodore looked down at them and rolled his eyes – he did not care for cheating on school notes and I knew he would be against it. Still, I was surprised when he sighed and took his wand out of his robe pocket.
"Just this once, because Malfoy worked so hard to 'acquire' them."
"I doubt he worked hard," I frowned, remembering the insinuation of Turpin begging and having the horrible image of the brunette-gone-redhead fogging my mind again.
"Sure," he rolled his eyes. "And I'm only doing this once because you were legitimately in the hospital wing, do you understand me?"
I watched, pleased, while he tapped his wand over the parchment and whispered an incantation while McGonagall walked past us and up to her desk to begin the lesson. When he was done I smiled cheekily at him.
"You know," I told him as seriously as I could. "You should really give Harry lessons."
"In Transfiguration?"
"In being overbearing."
"Today we will be continuing our work with Vanishing spells. You two, come hand out the mice – remember that because the mouse is a mammal it will present a much more difficult challenge than the snail. When you have completed to fully vanish your mouse, you will then move to kittens..."
"Ugh," I sighed, looking at the mouse that was placed in front of me with an exaggerated pout. "I don't want to hurt you..."
"You could just try and see how it goes," Theodore told me simply, using both hands to steady his mouse before grabbing back a hold on his pristine works-all-the-time wand. I didn't say anything as he began to try and vanish his mouse – getting near immediate results. No, he did not do it perfectly the first time, but at least the tail and front feet vanished. I took a look at my own wand – still dirty and worn. The light ash wood of the stick in my hand weighed close to nothing thanks to the weightless Augurey feather core and it actually could have passed for quite a quaint looking wand...if you didn't know what a nuisance it was.
"Alright wand," I began threateningly, looking at my wand with all the seriousness I had. "We can do this, you and I. We're going for a passing grade in this class – just a one, two, tap and we can make this mouse disappear. For the grade. I know you don't like me and to be honest I'm not the fondest of your sorry excuse either – but if you can make me pass these grades until I turn seventeen – I'll get a new wand and never have to use you again. So...work. Please."
"She's gone off the deep end," Tracey sighed loudly from behind me. They were wiser than the Hufflepuffs who had dared to sit in front of me, where my wand would be pointed.
"Is she seriously talking to her wand?" Lillian asked, more as a joke than anything considering she and Tracey were already laughing behind their hands and trying to stay quiet.
"You would too, were yours so testy," I turned to give the two of them the evil eye.
"Get a new one, then." Tracey rolled her eyes.
"I've tried, but you don't understand how difficult it was for me to try this one. Every wand I tried would blow something up in my hands or worse, injure me. You should have seen all the gashes I had in my palm – it was as if the wands all hated me," I frowned, rubbing my palm absently as the memory played in the back of my mind. "Harry's wand had been particularly violent with me."
"Why?" Theodore frowned at me. "Wands don't normally attack handlers."
"Well, I'm a special case," I frowned, turning back to glare at my wand again. "This one may backfire but it's never left gashes in my hand – so we have come to a mutual understanding that involves me not getting hurt and its own performance anxiety."
Needless to say that after accidentally giving the Hufflepuff in front of me a vanished patch of hair at the back of her skull – there was no need to worry her about it by telling her – and almost setting Theodore's robes ablaze, I did not vanish my mouse. His ear, however, did have a nice gouge out of it. I could not tell whether or not it was vanished or had been blown off, but in the end at least the mouse liked me enough not to bite me.
Walking down to lunch was a long trek of Theodore lecturing me on my eating habits once again. Since I had missed dinner the night before, he was determined to make me eat an entire plate of food today so I could make up for it. I told him it was impossible – that even at my heaviest a whole plate of food would just make me feel ill – but he was determined to get my body mass up considering I had been losing weight and was even smaller than when we'd first arrived. I agreed that I weighed too little, but my appetite just wasn't what it used to be. To placate him, I ate half a plate of mash and a waffle. I fed what I could to Circe under the table while he wasn't watching. Still, the food had seemed to do a good job in boosting up my energy again. I had forgotten how much a good meal could help with energy, but I was glad I hadn't tried to eat the entire plate considering how full I felt now.
Though perhaps Theodore had a point after all, perhaps I should start eating more so I could properly start wreaking havoc to my full potential.
By the time we made it down to our afternoon stretch of Care of Magical Creatures, Umbridge was there waiting for us. Smothered in lavender today – though she donned pink accessories and parchment – she was standing beside Professor Grubbly-Plank, a pink clipboard poised in her hand, looking ready to take note of anything and everything.
"Get back to work with the Bowtruckles, everyone, and see if you can go about feeding them." Professor Grubbly-Plank ordered, sounding more stern then I had ever heard her. I was sure to go to the edge of the table and situate myself closer to the two of them so I could 'accidentally overhear' what was being said.
"You do not usually take this class, is that correct?" Umbridge asked sweetly. I grabbed a few woodlice in my hand to make it look like I was doing something and tried not to be distracted as the bowtruckles seemed to line up to come and retrieve some.
"Quite correct, I am a substitute teacher standing in for Professor Hagrid." She said plainly.
"Hmm," Umbridge still tried to seem sweet, but her voice held something that just sounded wrong. "I wonder – the Headmaster seems strangely reluctant to give me any information on the matter – can you tell me what is causing Professor Hagrid's very extended leave of absence?"
Malfoy, who had come to look at the bowtruckles beside me, looked up eagerly.
"'Fraid I can't," Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice was clipped and it seemed that she was taking any liberty she could to avoid making eye contact with Umbridge. Still, it didn't look like she was trying to hide something – it looked as if she were trying to control her temper. "Don't know anything more about it than you do. Got an owl from Dumbledore, would I like a couple of weeks' teaching work. I accepted. That's as much as I know. Well...shall I get started then?"
"Yes, please do," Umbridge smiled before turning to her clipboard and making notes. I busied myself by envisioning switching the feathers on her quill so she wouldn't realize that she was writing with the blood quill until it was too late – what would she have carved in her hand by the time she had noticed, I wonder?
'Hagrid's a giant', 'eradicate the giants', 'they are all plotting'?
Umbridge let Professor Grubbly-Plank continue to tell us what she wanted us to do for the day – she wanted us to inspect the bark armour of the bowtruckles and try to fix them as I had the day before, not that she put any emphasis on me. I was glad, I didn't really think that was information I would have wanted to share with Umbridge if I didn't have to – she may hear that I was good in this class, but I didn't want to give her any rope to talk to me about it before I did my research. Still, ignoring that we were trying to work, Umbridge continued to walk around and ask the students questions. I was standing on the Slytherin side of the clearing when I heard Umbridge head over to Grubbly-Plank again.
"Oh, yes, Dumbledore's excellent," the professor smiled broadly to the toad woman. "Yes, I'm very happy with the way things are run, very happy indeed."
Umbridge did not seem to like that answer. "And what are you planning to cover with this class this year – assuming, of course, that Professor Hagrid does not return?"
But he would, I thought to myself darkly. Hagrid would be back. He had to be – this woman taught too safely...there were never any interesting animals. My ideas were proven correct as professor Grubbly-Plank continued.
"Oh, I'll take them through the creatures that most often come up in OWL. Not much left to do – they've studied Unicorns, Kneazles and Nifflers; I thought we'd cover Porlocks, make sure they can recognise Crups and Knarls, you know..."
"Well," Professor Umbridge quite obviously made a large checkmark on her clipboard. "You seem to know what you're doing, at any rate. Now, I hear there have been injuries in this class?"
"That was me," Malfoy said instantly, he was only a few people away from me but I was sure that if I wanted to I could touch him with my Magnuse and sew his mouth together. It was tempting...but ultimately detrimental to my plans. "I was slashed by a hippogriff."
Surely not too detrimental though...
"A hippogriff?" Professor Umbridge seemed aghast, scribbling frantically on her clipboard.
"Only because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do," said Harry angrily, walking up a bit closer toward them. I rolled my eyes, all ideas of making myself the bad guy disappearing as I realized that Harry was playing the role for me. What a change.
"Another night's detention, I think," Umbridge smiled, scribbling on a different page of her clipboard and handing Harry a pink slip, surely informing him of his newest detention time. "Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, I think that's all I need here. You will be receiving the results of your inspection within ten days."
"Jolly good," Professor Grubbly-Plank tried not to show how sarcastic it was, but as I had learned, sarcasm flew directly over Dolores Umbridge's head – and the toad walked away with a smile. I turned toward Malfoy with a dark glower.
"Will you please stop getting my brother into trouble?"
"Me?" He scoffed, turning his head to give my brother – who was now standing much closer to us – a quick glare. "He does it all on his own."
"Well there's no need to help him," I hissed, spinning on my heel so I could turn an accusatory finger and blazing eyes onto my brother. "And you! Stop making my life difficult!"
"Oh, Audrey, as if any of this bothers you in any way. You prob-" Harry began in a hiss, throwing his detention slip onto the ground toward me with a grunt.
"It does," I hissed to my brother, looking over and watching as Umbridge's back headed back up to the castle. She was jolly in her steps – a bad sign that something had gone well for her. "And if you don't stop making things hard for me, Harry, I won't be able to help you out of your tight spots. Stop being selfish."
"Stop being selfish, says the Slytherin," he mocked darkly before turning away from my shocked expression.
"He shouldn't have said that to you," Malfoy whispered to me, coming close as if to taunt me more. His closeness to me was distracting, but ultimately made me nervous enough to train my thoughts closer on my brother...for safety's sake. I couldn't have my mind wandering to memories of unhappened events again. "You deserve better."
"He's my brother," I argued.
"And he's going to get you in trouble. Even I don't do that."
"Anymore," I added, looking up to him with a smirk. He looked down at me, his eyes the colour of falling rain in May. My smirk fell.
"Anymore," he agreed.
I took three steps forward, taking a deep breath. Malfoy had gotten too close for comfort and these damn memories of the vision in June were just setting me up for failure. If I couldn't get the idea that I would kiss him out of my goddamn head, I would end up kissing him.
...I did not just think that.
"He'll never be able to let it go," Malfoy said from behind my back. He took a step closer and I took two more in the opposite direction. I almost felt the urge to run toward my brother and hide behind him, or run to Hermione and ask her to obliterate these thoughts from the forefront of my mind. And the forefront of my mind was where the hot embers - that never wanted to bloody die - seemed to keep burning the image of kissing him into my mind. "If he keeps this up, he'll have detention with her for the rest of the year."
"The rest of the year – with her," I repeated slowly, my eyes flickering to Malfoy's pleased smirk. Then, watching his cruel smirk and thinking of how alike mine it was branched off into a thought of Snape who...no way. Dungbomb Malfoy just inadvertently saved my brother's hide. I opened my mouth in shock before once again rounding on my brother. "Oi, Potter!"
"What, Drea?" He hissed back again, he had been preoccupied with the much more noticeable wound on his hand. These detentions would keep that open forever at this rate.
"Detention."
"What?" His eyes bugged, looking more like himself than he had in weeks. "What are you talking about?"
"You have detention – with Snape – all week."
His jaw clenched darkly when he realized that I was not joking. "For what?"
"Littering," I informed, looking pointedly at his crumpled detention slip that was still laying in the grass near my feet.
He glared at me darkly. "But I already have detention with Umbridge!"
Hermione, much faster to catch on to everyone else, took a deep breath of realization. I turned to her with a glint in my eye, hearing the Slytherins behind me snicker as they thought that I took their side once more. I was playing my part well, if they believed it.
Still, my brother did not catch onto my ploy – and something was making me doubt that he ever would. Would I play my part so well that even my brother would have trouble realizing which side I was on? It wouldn't doubt me, he wasn't himself – anyone could see it. I thought that Cedric's death had affected me, but clearly my brother had taken to mourning in a fashion none of us expected: he was angry, and bitter, and looking to place the blame on anyone he could.
It was like he wasn't even my brother anymore.
"That's not my problem," I gritted out, watching him with hard eyes as he stormed away. Malfoy watched me carefully, I couldn't tell if he had caught on as Hermione had or if he just happened to know that this punishment had something other than a superfluous reason.
Hopefully the power of Snape's hatred would be enough to get Harry out of detention with Umbridge – because at least Snape wouldn't rip my brother apart as Umbridge seemed so keen.
And while he was in detention, I would be doing rounds...
With Malfoy...
Who I can't stop thinking of kissing.
Ahhh, it's happening! Dreaco lovin' is happening! So much goodness in this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it. I've been thinking of changing the description of Green Eyed Monster to these lines from this chapter:
"nobility is stupid, Father always told me that nobility can be bought by those stupid enough to die for it. You can't be noble and live at the same time, Potter - you have to choose between them."
"How do you know if you chose right?"
"I always assumed if you were alive in the morning."
Any thoughts?
To my fantastic reviewers:
BlueRose22: I'm glad to hear you're doing better and even though I personally hate the cold, I'm glad it's here if it's helping you out...kind of. Old habits die hard ;) Don't ever think that you're a bother, I promise you that you're not. Draco and Audrey are slowly getting together, even in this chapter we're seeing signs of it – it makes me giddy just thinking about it! Thank you, as always, for your review!
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I thought their "thank yous" were pretty cute – I giggled as I wrote them. I will be doing Draco POV chapters, but I won't put them into this story – I really feel like it would break the flow of the story if I started putting in other peoples POV's, but you will see some in Audrey Potter's Prelude. I already played with them over in that one and I enjoyed it, so I'll be posting differing POV's over there :)
SchadenFreude95: I'm glad you're nervous, it means you're invested and that's always a great feeling for an author! There are a lot of hints, aren't there? Which ones have you picked on, can you think of any in particular? I'm just curious as to where your thoughts go – I like seeing how people interpret what they think will happen considering it's in Audrey's first person point of view – and that means we're limited to her understanding only...so it's interesting if people pick up on the other hints I throw in from other people. I loved this review, so thank you very much!
TheForrestAgain: The "Malfoy's eyes, finally, turned toward mine. They were a tumult of ice and understanding" was one of my favourite lines, as well. I love writing lines like that – there are a lot of them in the next few chapters. Hint-hint, lots of inner monologuing about our favourite Slytherin boy – they are finally moving forward. I'm trying to put lots of Sirius into the chapters, I want to make sure we know exactly where he and Audrey stand. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter!
RoseyPoseyPie: I recalled you saying you were Audrey Eakman, I love your name! I'm actually thinking of changing mine, I feel like I've outgrown it. This chapter was about 8500 words, so hopefully it was a nice, longer one than last time. Mention of the DA is kind of coming up next chapter – which is about 12 000 words full of fluff and information. Hopefully you liked this chapter, thanks for reviewing!
sara253xxx: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I wish I could update more often – I really do – but I don't think it'd be as good if they did. I hope that you liked this one :)
DiamondofNight: I'm flattered that you are reviewing when you normally don't, really. I'm glad that you're liking the story enough to! Daphne does tend to ruin things thanks to her jealousy and big mouth, so hopefully she'll be able to fix that while she tries to get back into Audrey's good graces. Draco was pretty cute last chapter and I liked him a lot in this chapter, as well. Interesting that he agrees with what Audrey and the Golden Trio about their DADA classes, isn't it? Too bad he thinks that "nobility is stupid". Also, I try VERY hard to keep Draco in character – otherwise, this story would probably move a lot faster and they'd have admitted they like each other about twenty chapters ago. But I really try to be true to their characters – particularly the Slytherins.
I'm glad that you find Audrey's weakness and feelings believable. As I said, I try very hard to be true to characters and I really did map out Audrey and her entire personality in my mind before I started writing this...so I'm glad that all her weaknesses and flaws are believable to people, as well. Also, Audrey is constantly frustrated by how often she is dragged behind in the Golden Trio's trouble and then their fame from it – that will be elaborated in the next chapter.
As for the boggart: since they are fuelled by fear I thought that when the other girls had started to feed it thanks to their own panic, it would keep using that against them instead of conforming to Audrey's own fear. Considering she didn't feel anything but happiness and laughter – which as we know weakens it – I figured it wouldn't have the strength to morph into her fear when she already felt such a strong surge of happiness...really good question! Thanks so much for reviewing.
Novella Vialli: I think that the Gryffindors (save Fred and George, who we know also have their own 'bad' side when it comes to their pranks) don't understand Audrey and that's why they seem cold. I'm glad you like the Draco-ness. Hopefully you liked this one, too!
BloodxForxMyxRose: Daphne was definitely out of line, but she is trying to make it up...and maybe she'll end up doing something worth being forgiven for. Harry is a little bit out of line, but in a few chapters they'll have some bonding and a nice long talk about it – well, there may be some yelling at first, knowing Audrey, but eventually there will be bonding. And boys being confusing – amen! Then again, half the time I don't understand girls around me, either. But Malfoy is being a good boy – for the most part. I definitely put a lot of thought into Audrey's character and I'm glad that you liked how she turned out :)
Princesslinleigh: You got a tattoo? That's great! What of? I have a few myself...I'm kind of addicted to the idea of them. I realized I was pretty soon though so now I wait six months after I get an idea for one to make sure that I'm not doing anything hasty and that I still want it after six months – then it also gives me extra time to make it exactly like I want it to. I'm about to get my fourth one next month :) Anyway, I'm glad you like my take on Hermione – to be honest, Hermione Granger is almost exactly like my Mom, so I just base it off of her when I can't picture how Hermione, herself, would handle a situation. And I'm so glad that you think Audrey seems real, thank you! Again, I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter with Malfoy, Sirius, and Montague drama. Hopefully this one did the last one justice!
Dustfinger's cheering section: You will find out just what Malfoy thinks about Audrey in the next...two or three chapters. You will find out just what Audrey thinks about Malfoy in the next...two or three, as well ;) Even though we are starting to see it in the past few chapters – but she has yet to recognize what it is. Umbridge and her relationship will be a little more defined next chapter and the chapter after (the chapter after the next is titled 'Understanding Umbridge'). And I really do think Draco's had to grow up – I think anyone who knows what's going on has had to grow up and we all know that Draco's family is fully involved with Riddle's plans. Hopefully he realizes that he and Audrey are playing for opposite prizes.
Princess-Dixon: Yes, Daphne is definitely trying to make things right in her own way – Audrey isn't going to forgive easily though. The Draco/Audrey walls are quite obviously crumbling down, and pretty quickly by the looks of it. Something tells me it won't be that simple for either of them though – they're both so pigheaded. As for the Snape thing you mentioned, you are absolutely right – but that's just a secret between you and I ;) As for the idea of Audrey being on patrol alone, you have a general idea of something that I'm planning, but I'll tell you that it's not when they'll kiss. Their kiss will be very sudden and I'm VERY excited for it. Not long now, not long...
As for the length of my chapters, it's not necessarily easy to make them as long as I do. Sometimes it feels like I've written forever as well and it ends up only being 3000 words – sometimes I'm okay with that (like for my Vampire Diaries story) but because this story will be so long I tend to like going for longer chapters, so sometimes I add in something that would have happened in the next chapter. My biggest secret is that I write three chapters at a time, they end up being anywhere from 3000-5000 words on average, and then when I'm almost done updating all three of those and my editor is done with the three before, I go back to those chapters that I want to update next and I fill in things I feel like I've missed such as detail or some extra dialogue. It's like I make a skeleton and then give it muscles the second time, then my editor gives it skin. By the time I've added things, it ends up being usually 2000 words more and it's usually flowing better and more descriptive. That's all I can say for tips, hope it helps!
Kara: Sirius is definitely close with Audrey too, I'm glad that you like the change. Thanks for the review.
Jade: Cho and Marietta will not get out of this story unscathed, I promise you. Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing :)
Sasha: It's coming, I promise! Thanks for reviewing.
Nan: Yes, if I liked a boy who was like Audrey, I'd be afraid of rejection too. Audrey is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Thanks for the review!
Magimagus: Your reviews are EPIC. They are literally EPIC. Did you know your last review was 1554 words? EPIC, I say! And I love them. Every single one and every single word of them – truly, I do.
Yes, me breaking the keyboard was pretty embarrassing and even though I just got it back I can already see that the finish is starting to wear off – it's kind of crazy. I never really took the time to notice before but now I'm noticing that on my boyfriends computer and my own, the keys are all starting to get warn out...the poor space key looks like it's been rubbed raw :(
Yes, Dreaco is here! Subtly, yes, but it is here. And it won't be very subtle for long – Audrey and Draco aren't very subtle people. Not that I SHOULD tell you this...but we may or may not get to read the articles next chapter...just saying...and we will be doing a time skip over the patrols because this book is just so thick and it moves SO slowly, so I can promise no Montague creeping. Yet. And yes, the way they said they were thank you was pretty cute, in my opinion. Of course, I wrote it, but I still giggled with each word written. Also I love the James references from both Sirius and Snape and I was really surprised by what I came up with/how much I didn't realize what I was writing as I thought about her not knowing how to feel about it. I kind of just wrote it blindly and then went back to fix grammatical errors and was like "whoa, that's deep". As for the Sirius vs Snape, I think that would be pretty deep as well and it's interesting you would say the whole 'choose between them, thing...not that I can tell you why, but that's very interesting...
The Magnuse isn't the reason she's good with animals, I'll tell you that much. It was newly created and she does need to touch things to make it work – she has not mastered Magnuse, which is the ability to project it outside of oneself. It'd pretty much mean unlimited wandless magic...which would be pretty cool, but not believable for a 15 year old, temperamental girl. As for my imagination being vast, it's true...but it's also terrible because I live in my imagination for so long then come back and think "man, this world SUCKS...and back to my brain..." I grew up kind of spacey in the Luna Lovegood way because of my brain and my imagination – Highschool was rough because of it. I really relate to that girl...it sucks Audrey kind of doesn't. Yet. I'll make it work. Simply because I'd want Audrey to be friends with me :P
It's okay to be Anti-Daphne still because Audrey still is and we're still seeing through her POV so we won't see the good she's REALLY trying to do it as most of the others can probably see it. But you will, eventually, and then it will probably be a battle of WANTING to hate her, but not being able to. Or so I hope. And when Sirius was defending Daphne saying the whole "not all bad" thing, he was really saying that she wasn't all bad, but he was not defending Alya – particularly because he doesn't really know what's going on there.
As for why Audrey is in the bathroom when it is flooded, it's a good idea that she is in there as a prank by the girls. She does scream for Draco during it out of fear...
And I'm loving the fangirl for Dreaco. And don't tone it down! I love hearing it, it really gets me in the mood to write them being cute. Draco IS always on Audrey's side. In a twisted way, of course, but even if you look back through all the chapters, most of the time he is on her side and when he ISN'T it's usually because she's pushed him away or because he's flirting...ultimately, he's always on her side. It's a cute subtly through the entire story, I think.
I can honestly say that when you said "Audrey's Slytherin-ness is amazing c: Her Slytherin-ness makes me realise that I'd actually probably be in Slytherin" I actually screamed for joy. Like, actually. I think my boyfriend almost had a heart attack. Then when I explained it, he rolled his eyes because he's a Gryffindor and always makes jokes about how I only ever write about Slytherins because "I have no heart". Sigh. Boys.
Whichever Weasley she kisses, it will be good. I can't tell you who, that would ruin it, but you probably won't see it coming – I really like the kinds of kisses or moments that surprise people. When I used to read fanfiction I never really was surprised by what I read, so I tend to try and change that for you guys.
Yes, Audrey really does act carefree around Snape. They really are very casual around each other – or maybe she's just casual around him, he IS Severus Snape. And Draco and Audrey speaking in code? I think they have to speak in code because they can't accept that they like each other. I mean, it's SO obvious that they're perfect for one another – but being against what someone else stands for makes relationships very complicated. Including the fact that Draco Malfoy is not for relationships. Sigh. Boys.
Anyway, thank you, as always for your FANTASTIC review! Hope you liked this chapter :)
xxz0eyxx: There will be lots of Malfoy-ness next chapter...was there enough in this one for you? Montague-ness is coming up soon as well, so you won't have to wait too long. Audrey does eat, she just eats once a day or so, which is really unhealthy but can leave you totally functional. As for you fainting, that would suck – I've done it a few times. Once I was on the phone with my boyfriend because I'd come home sick and fainted while I was walking up the stairs. He came and got me – it was terrifying waking up to him calling my name. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter as much as the last – thank you, as always, for reviewing!
Blue Luver5000: I'm glad you like it, thank you for your review!
Antigona: Happy Birthday! I wasn't going to update until my editor gave the next few back to me, but I decided that I couldn't miss it so I'm sorry if there are mistakes or anything. Also I had it all ready to get out hours ago, but the website crashed, so I'm sorry it wasn't out earlier! I hope you have a fantastic birthday and that you liked the chapter :)
SarcasticRaven: Ha, I'm glad to get a review every now and then so don't even worry about it! I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and hope that you liked this one as well – thank you!
VeraWhite: Hello, Vera it's very nice to meet you and thank you for the review! Thank you so much for liking the story and I'm so flattered to hear that it's your favourite. It's nice that you find Audrey to be a real Slytherin and that you like how she behaves. She is definitely a little firecracker and she will keep things interesting, particularly with her brother. I also love your name – Vera is beautiful and I've played Ophelia before – she was one of my favourite characters to act. I hope you liked this chapter :)
RandomCitizen: You reviewed chapter one, so hopefully if you make it to all the way to here, you'll see this! Thank you so much for reviewing. She is still close with Harry, even if they really butt heads on a lot of topics. Every now and then you see them close with each other, like during the summer, before the hearing, and even last chapter when he was warning her to eat and such. Hopefully you liked this chapter and the others you read :)
A BlueHeartAttack77: I'm glad you liked chapter 26. Hopefully by the time you get to this chapter you'll like the Dreaco action here, as well :)
sexichick: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I tend to call them Dreaco, but any of those are good options so long as they're stuck together, haha. Thank you so much for reviewing!
I'd love to hear what you think on this chapter everyone. Will Audrey kiss Draco? Will Will they ever admit they like each other? Will Montague get punished? Will Audrey join the DA? Did Audrey save her brother from another night's detention? What are in those damn articles?
Please leave your thoughts in a REVIEW!
-Egypt