Author's Note: This is the third chapter! Finally! It was, originally, part of the second chapter, but I added much more into the beginning, and decided to split it in half instead. The fourth chapter, in turn, is also a tiny, tiny bit of the second chapter, about three or four paragraphs. However, I thought it better if I split it up a tad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Plain? Simple? However, I do own Meara, Catrin, Audrey, Halwen, Audrey's 'menagerie', and they parents/siblings. So, in the case of them-NO TOUCHY!

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What is the answer? In that case, what is the question?- Gertrude Stein

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"There's a car in the driveway! You're right! I wonder if she's up?"

"Shh, Catrin, be quiet. You don't know if Audreys still asleep or not. We've gotta whisper, be as quite as we- hey, the key's not under the flowerpot."

Furious knocking erupted from the door.

"Hey Rey! RE-EY! ARE YOU AWAKE, AUDREY! SOMEONES TAKEN YOUR HOUSE KEY FROM UNDER THE FLOWERPOT!"

Audrey buried her head in one hand. Did it have to be one of those days when every went wrong! First she welcomes an old friend with aggravated assault, and now Meara was attempting to not wake her up by screaming at her front door and pounding on it like a angry elephant.

Calm down Audrey, calm down. Your mom always said you had the ideals of a saint-

"WHY ARN'T YOU ANSWERING THE DOOR REY? COME ON, ARE YOU ASLEEP?"

-Just not the patience of one.

Audrey steeled herself, taking deep soothing breaths, picked up her tea and slowly went to get the door. It wasn't helping that Hermione still sat on the couch, covering her mouth to muffle her laughter.

As she turned the lock on the inside, Audrey was bombarded almost immediately. First, by Halwen, the giant wolfhound making a great circle run around her legs, leash dangling, before spotting Tucker and deciding to go give the ferret an experimental sniff. Next, Catrin shuffled by somewhat meekly, and for some reasons still in her nightdress. Finally, there was Meara herself, who did not seem to shut her mouth once since she walked through the doorway.

"Hey Audrey, I didn't wake you did I? You wouldn't mind either way. Just stopping by. Wanted to tell you anyways, Catrin's got a letter, Hermione's going to be home today. Her cars in the driveway too. We're going to stop there next but we figured we better come get you first- Oh hey, nevermind! She's already here. Ohhhh... is that toast."

"Uh, yeah.." Audrey smiled and nodded, hardly believing that she'd been able to get a word in edgewise. She was smart, and yet, she still hardly understood a thing Meara rattled off. She hadn't even realized that her hand had begun to shake again, spilling coffee out onto the floor. Luckily, Meara'd moved on to interrogating Hermione now, while she and Catrin proceeded on devouring her second attempt at a meal that day.

"Hey, Hermione, How'd school go?" Mused Catrin.

"I bet the first thing you hit was the library...they had a library there, right?" Meara enthused around a mouthful of toast.

"It was...good. And of course there was a library. It is a-"

"I bet you would've died without a library. Of course, you did bring enough with you to start your own. But how'd you do. Did you get a report card yet? Mum's not too happy with mine...seeing as I didn't have you to copy off've this year, and Audrey's a spoil-sport about it. Oy, get over here and stop trying to eat the ferret!" Meara tugged hard on Halwen leash, pulling the dog away from Hermione and Tucker, seeing as He'd stopped sniffing and started to eye the ferret with longing, tongue lolling.

"S'a good think then..Maybe you'll learn something, Like how to do things for yourself. Besides, my notes were stretched around as it was.."

"Really?" Catrin asked, taking a swallow of her own breakfast. " I though they'd all be as smart as you. I mean, or, do you mean, that people used your notes for examples? Wow, Hermione! Then you're better than some of the kids at Harris'... Your better than normal geniuses!"

"Uh...No Catrin, I'm not. I just lent them to my friends when they were... Sick."

"Oooooo, No, Granger. You better not have made any better friends at that haughty school of yours. Next thing you know, you'll be leavin' us all in the dust. Won't even remember that we were the first three who actually bothered to put up with you." Finishing her last piece, Meara reached for another slices of toast, but losing it halfway back to Halwen, who snapped in up eagerly.

"Are you nuts! I'd never forget you guys. I'd expect you to forget us first, sieve for brains! Besides, I only got really friendly with two guys who-"

Catrin's eyebrows shot up, and she giggled. The usually shy girl seemed to take Meara's place for a moment, seeing as she was busy berating Halwen and lamenting after her second piece of breakfast. " So you've hooked yourself two boys then, Hermione? Ah...well maybe you've learn a bit from Meara after all. Imagine that, someone learning something from Meara.

Meara's cold glare turned with lightening speed from the dog to Catrin, who shrunk back under it.

"Er... Ah... No... Not at all... What I ment was... They're just friends... Like you guys... Nothing whatsoever different... Exactly the same, in fact."

Audrey listened, not wanting nor able to interrupt Meara and Catrin's constant stream of questions guided at Hermione. While she didn't do the talking, Audrey listened and watched Hermione. She seemed odd, almost reluctant, to answer a few of the questions asked, which didn't seem that odd. Most of her answers were along the lines of being very short, and she didn't want to embellish anything. All throughout the constant chat, Hermione wore the same odd expression, as if she were trying to thing up the right answers again and again while skirting touchier questions about the school. This, especially from Hermione, was strange behavior indeed

"Well, we'll got to come and visit sometime!" Catrin piped up once more, when Meara stopped looking at her. Audrey swore Hermione looked close to swooning,

"They don't have a visitor day." She replied simply, and that basically ended the conversation right there.

Audrey couldn't think for a moment. "Meara...why did you bring Halwen with you?" She finally asked.

"Well, I was supposed to walk...ohhhhh." She groaned. "I uh, I have to go. Mom thinks I was going to be five minutes.

"When was that?" Audrey asked.

"Three hours ago." She added quickly. "Come on, Catrin. Mum likes you, you explain it to her." She said, grabbing Cat round the arm and making a record dash for the door and out it, almost forgetting Halwen behind in the process. The giant wolfhound bounded after her and down the street.

Hermione seemed to relax a little more now, as if she'd just finished a lie detector test and passed. " God I missed them. I'm so used to them coming around, it just wasn't the same." She said as she slumped back.

"Funny. I'm not sure I'll ever get that used to them." Murmured Audrey as a reply, lifting the mug early to her lips. Right now, she could do without food, she just needed a good shot of caffeine.

Which, by the time she got to it now, had been totally emptied out onto the floor.

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Okay, there you go. R&R Please, People! I want to know if people are reading this on here!