(A/N: REVIEW! I don't care if it's perfect! Tell me so!)
The foursome returned to Hogwarts at the beginning of the New Year. Audrey still had disturbing dreams, which she now viewed as visions, but whenever she felt any probing, her reflex action was to wake up. Then, she would concentrate really hard on something different. She usually slept peacefully for a couple hours afterwards.
Audrey didn't understand why this man wanted to know who she was. It was all so confusing! When he didn't know she was there, he was mean and cruel, but when he sensed her presence, he turned milky sweet.
On the evening of their first day back, Audrey had to write an essay on Ivanescense for Potions because her mixture had been one degree off the right color. The extra homework did not sit well with her because there was a lot of homework to do in her other classes as well. For the next three hours Audrey grumbled to herself about her bad luck. At the height of her irritation, she even drew a rather funny picture of Snape with boils and extra toes growing out of his body. She animated the picture so that the boils burst and the toes wiggled. She named the picture, A Potion Gone Wrong. Sniggering, Audrey finished the essay with ease.
On Tuesday morning, Audrey met Ron, Hermione, and Harry for breakfast. Immediately, Audrey noticed that Harry looked rather peaky. She questioned, "Did the lesson go that badly last night?"
Harry snarled, "That's an understatement." Seeing that he didn't want to talk about it, Audrey turned to her food.
Their first class was Transfiguration. The class went fairly quickly. Actually, to Audrey's consternation, the whole day flew by. Before she knew it, she was standing outside the door of Snape's office. After quietly knocking, she entered after hearing a grunt.
Snape turned to her and said, "As you know, you're here to learn Occulmency. Do you know what that is?"
"No."
"It's easy. All you do is clear your mind of all emotions and thoughts." He fingered his wand. "I'll give you a chance to defend yourself. Ready?"
Before Audrey had a chance to comprehend his words, she again felt the probing in her mind. "No...not again..." A thousand thoughts flew by at top speed. Snape had caught her totally off guard. Her mind fixed on one memory. The memory of her drawing, A Potion Gone Wrong. Audrey fought, "No...He can't see that..."She pushed out but he wouldn't budge.
The next memory was of a conversation with Ron about how much they disliked Snape. Audrey started to feel panicky. "No!" she screamed. Snape's anger gave him the power to resist her. By this time, Audrey had fallen to the floor in her effort.
Panic truly flooded her veins when her next memory arose. It was the first dream where she had heard that man's voice. The same gut reaction that took place in the kitchen overwhelmed her. With an all mighty surge, she thrust the memory and intruder away.
Opening her eyes, she saw Snape wincing as he got up from a pile of broken glass that used to be a cabinet window. "Reparo!" he murmured. Then, "What was that memory?" When Audrey only cowered away from him, "Answer me...! Or do you need to relive it again?"
Audrey shouted, "Protego!" as Snape sent the spell at her. Snape dodged the reflection. For the next ten minutes, Audrey deflected all of Snape's attempts to read her mind. Suddenly, Snape stopped and smirked. Audrey realized why. He was standing at the only exit out of the room.
Snape slowly approached her. "There's no way out...you have to tell me...or do I need to find out forcefully?" Audrey was so distracted, that when she opened her mouth to retort, a bottle flew into her mouth and emptied it contents. She heard Snape say, "It Veriterisum...a truth potion."
Shocked, Audrey tried to dash past because he had moved away from the door. The problem was, her legs weren't working right! She stumbled and fell right into Snape. Plucking her wand out of her fingers, he sat her down in a chair.
Audrey blinked and held her head. The room was spinning and her limbs felt like dead logs. Quietly, Snape asked, "What was the last memory I witnessed?"
She tensed and fought against her inclination to answer him, but she found herself relaxing. Closing her eyes, she didn't realize that she was answering his question.
When her eyes focused again, she was still sitting in Snape's office. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around. The office was still in order, and Snape was sitting at his desk, tapping his fingers in deep thought.
Audrey heaved herself out of the chair and staggered forward, off-balance. The room swam around again. She was forced to sit down again.
Snape looked up a hard expression on his face. "You'll have to sit awhile for all the effects to wear off." He paused for a moment as if figuring out what to say. "These visions you have been having are the feelings and thoughts of the Dark Lord...You mustn't allow him inside your mind...Practice emptying your mind before going to sleep...it is extremely important."
"Why?" Audrey asked and then gripped her head as another bout of dizziness washed over her. "This is almost too much to deal with right now," she muttered under her breath.
"That's none of your concern."
"None of my—" Audrey yelled standing up and getting shoved back in the chair.
"You'll find out in time, but not from me! Now...you won't be going back to your dormitory because I need to observe your recovery from the Potion. A drop would have been enough, but I had no choice but to use the whole bottle. You'll spend the rest of the night here." Audrey's face blanched, but Snape refused to notice. "Now listen. Relax your mind and let all emotion go."
The only reason Audrey listened was to make the night go faster and so she wouldn't have to look at Snape. Surprisingly, she fell asleep fast and had no dreams.
When Audrey came to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning, Harry immediately asked how the lesson went. Audrey gave him a whispered account of everything that happened. Harry whole-heartedly agreed that Snape was acting really odd. Still, they decided not to worry right away.
Bright and early in the morning, Snape stormed into Dumbledore's office. Before waiting for Dumbledore's permission to speak, he said, "Albus, we have a major problem!"
Dumbledore looked up from the packet of complaints Mr. Filch sent him every morning. "Well, Severus, what is it?"
"Potter and Hadley have been having the same dreams. I mean...there not even dreams...They're both seeing through the Dark Lord's mind...and...you know what makes it even better...He knows there are two, Dumbledore—"
Snape didn't get a chance to say anything else. Dumbledore turned to Fawkes and some of the portraits, telling them to contact members of the Order and tell them the situation had changed. There would be an emergency meeting right away. Turning back to Snape he said, "Let's just hope she practices her Occulmency." Then, he disappeared.
Audrey did practice. She would have her revenge against Snape when he wouldn't get one iota of information out of her. Surprisingly, Audrey didn't have any dreams for the rest of the week.
On Saturday, Audrey, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking toward the Quidditch field. Hermione and Audrey would work on homework while Harry and Ron practiced. Halfway there, Draco Malfoy and his friends jumped out from behind a rock.
"I see you've started hanging out with the wrong crowd, Hadley," Malfoy smirked.
Audrey scowled and said, "I've been told that I'm a very good judge of people. I know who the right crowd is."
"Come on. Let's go." Harry started to push past Malfoy and his friends.
Malfoy, mad that he didn't get the last word, stuck his wand in Harry's face. "Nobody move, unless if you want to see Potter hurt...Hand over you wands!"
Just as Harry handed over his wand, Audrey yelled, "Expellidermus!" Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand. Audrey ducked as Crabbe and Goyle's stunning spells exploded over her head. Instinctively, Audrey pointed her wand at Malfoy and yelled, "Expellidermus!" just as he pointed Harry's wand at her and yelled the same thing.
As Audrey watched, a thin golden line connected the two wands. Harry stood up beside Audrey, a look of astonishment on his face. Malfoy looked extremely confused as he tried to jerk the wand up, but could not. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ron barreled into Malfoy's ankles, knocking him off balance. The gold line disappeared.
"Accio, wand!" Audrey yelled. Harry's wand flew into her hand. Handing it to Harry, she said, "We better get out of here before a teacher sees." Then she added, "That was really weird, don't you think?"
Looking a little dazed, Harry ushered Ron and Hermione to follow Audrey. Quidditch practice flew by quickly. They never got a chance to discuss the event further.
Malfoy did not let it drop so soon. He immediately sent an owl to his father relaying the whole incident.
When Lucius Malfoy received the letter, he reported it to Lord Voldemort.
As Lucius recounted Draco's story, Voldemort stared intently straight ahead. Absentmindedly, Voldemort murmured, "There's a third...There's a third." Lucius waited for Voldemort to gather his thoughts. Suddenly, Voldemort whipped around. "I want to meet this Audrey Hadley...Lucius...make a plan for late this spring...I want Harry Potter and Audrey Hadley." Voldemort looked straight into Lucius's eyes. "Do not fail."