A/N: Okay, another chapter. Thanks all of you for subscribing, it really means alot to me. (Partially due to the fact that I think I'm a horrid writer, but anyway...)
Uh, yeah...some action from the early chapters of OOTP and some past love action between Remus and Audrey, which I'll go over in more detail later.
Oh, and Tonks hates Audrey, btw. I mean, if you're crush belonged to a vampire and she came back, you'd be mad at her too.
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It was completely dark outside by the time they had reached the mead. Hidden behind the overgrown bushes in the children's playground, it was an excellent place to meet up or travel from, swiftly and quietly. The street lamps couldn't reach the withering grass of the field, leaving the wizards safely covered in shadows. Audrey followed the dark figures crossing the grass and wondered where exactly she was being led. It was impossible for a vampire to fear the dark, but she could still feel a little chill climbing up her back. There were no stars out tonight, little jewels perched delicately in the net of black above. Only the faint whisper of the moon stood out shyly from behind a cloud.
'Almost full.' She glanced over to her right where the werewolf was walking briskly alongside of her. A muscle was twitching in his jaw. Could he be feeling the sickness already washing over him, days before the moon was even full?
He noticed her staring over at him and shot her a nervous grin.
They turned right down a narrow dirt path, leading into the deserted field. Their footsteps were muffled by decades of yellowed weeds underneath their feet, the vines tangling over her ankles, making her stumble.
"Alright, here we go."
Audrey peered over Remus' shoulder, shaking her head vigorously in dissatisfaction.
"What's the problem?" Remus asked, twisting his head in order to get a better look at her.
The others had already begun to mount their brooms silently in the darkness, the cool night air humming past them as they pulled their robes tightly around them so as they wouldn't flap noisily during flight. No one had noticed Audrey slowly stepping back a few paces, wondering whether she could have just gone along with Mr. Weasley instead.
Remus clutched the arm of her jacket and pulled her back over.
"What's the matter? Do you not like flying?"
She groaned a bit as she felt herself being guided by him back over to the broom, her mouth open in silent protest, her eyes screwed up in a strained expression as though she were struggling to remember something crucial she had to do.
"Well, it's not that I don't like it..." she began. She could feel her heels digging into the soft earth, trying to pry herself out of his hands.
"It's...uh...just that...I...don't care for it."
He let out a soft chuckle and reached down to grab the broomstick off of the ground.
"There's not really anything to be afraid of. It's one of the safest means of transportation we could use."
"But, wouldn't it be more convenient to Apparate there instead?"
Tonks, who had been strapping a harness to the back of her broom, let out a howling laugh.
"And be splinched halfway to Thursday?"
Audrey peered up at the young witch and was returned a savage glare, her eyes burning holes through her. She hadn't expected such a harsh answer and found she didn't have the will to look back up at her.
"Don't worry, my dear," Remus mumbled, pulling her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his own.
"You'll be riding with me."
She swung her right leg over the broom and gripped onto Remus' waist tightly.
"Alright, let's go!" said Moody loudly. At that moment Audrey had almost forgotten how to breathe.
Remus kicked off hard from the ground. Audrey could hear the sounds of the city racing past them but she refused to open her eyes. A nauseous wave crashed over her and made her head spin like a top. She could hear the squeals of delight echoing from around her, the other brooms whooshing furiously past her. She buried her face into the warm torso in front of her, her eyes watering from the chill surging through her.
Buried in the snug folds of a sweater, she didn't seem so sick. The light smell of pachouli surged around her nose, making it tingle. Her head rose and fell with the hurried, excited breaths coursing through his lungs, that same crisp, icy air that was hissing in her ears.
"Bearing north!" she heard Moody shout.
As the broom shifted in direction, Audrey loosened her grip on Remus; her hands becoming numb. Feeling her grasp weaken, he shot a free hand behind his back and searched for her own hand. She settled her hand in his and squeezed.
"Starting decent!" Moody yelled across the sky.
She could feel Remus plunging the broom into a dive. Audrey felt her stomach in her throat and let out a shrill scream to unclog it from her windpipe.
She could now hear buildings whooshing past and dared to open her eyes a peek.
The ground looked as if it were meeting her upside down. Chimneys crossed her eyes as they zoomed past and then spun back over her shoulder.
"Here we are." Remus called behind him and touched down on solid ground.
Feeling earth underneath her feet was one of the single best experiences of her life after that flight and she vowed at that second never to fly on a broomstick as long as she lived.
She and the others dismounted outside of a rather square house in what seemed to be an ordinarily quiet neighborhood street.
"Keep on your guards, everyone,' Moody whispered loudly around the lawn. "Those dementors could still be lurking about, if there were any in the first place."
They made their way across the front yard, Kingsley stepping quite ungraciously over several flowering plants lined along the garden wall.
Remus withdrew his wand from the inside of his sleeve and tapped it lightly against the doorknob. It opened with a squeak and they barreled silently into the house.
Audrey could hear distant rumbles throughout the house as if it were talking to them.
She couldn't help but feeling an air of unhappiness about the house, as if she could smell it in the air. The melancholy was there, printed on the walls as clearly as the dull pink flowers stamped on the hallway paper. It was hardly a place of living, anyway. It was too clean, she could taste the artificial pine cleaner fragrance in the air, coating her tongue.
Suddenly, a huge crash sounded from behind her, sending shattered bits of glass flying across the linoleum floor. Everyone, their eyes wide with horror, shot back to see Tonks sitting rather unlady-like, her legs spread wide on the floor.
"For Merlin's sake, Tonks!" Moody growled out at her, his wand pointed at her head.
"Sorry!" she mumbled, her hair changing from a fiery pink to a rather meek grey.
"Well, come on," Moody continued, slinking into the hallway, "I'm sure Harry is aware we are here now."
Audrey let out a stifled giggle and put her hand out for Tonks to grab onto. But instead of grabbing on, she abruptly pushed it away and helped herself back onto her feet, glaring spitefully at her as she pushed past her and joined the others.
'Well, that's a great way to start your new position with the Order, Audrey. Let's see how many will end up loathing your existence by the end of the night. You've already got one.
Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to break your own rules and bite her, just the once. It wouldn't even hurt too much, I mean...'
Audrey's train of thought was cut short as she bumped into the back of Remus. He and the others, who had all paused in the hallway were looking up the stairs, shielding their eyes from a rather bright light emerging from a doorway at the top of the staircase.
"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," Moody barked out at the light.
"Professor Moody?"
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The night had gone fairly smoothly after that. They had rescued Harry from his prior confinement, and after another vomit-inducing ride on the back of Remus' broom, made it back fairly safely to Grimmauld Place.
She remembered fondly the look on Harry's face as he stepped into the hall of the house. A certain mix of excitement, fear and delirium. And his face when he saw Sirius again.
Oh! How those emerald eyes sparkled, seemed to shine in the dim candlelight of the kitchen.
Audrey sat, coffee mug in hand, searching deep into the fire for the better part of an hour, thinking over the night's events. Everyone had been fed, the long, black burn from the bewitched stew cauldron which had been branded on the dining table had been cleaned away and everyone had since been sent off to bed, some in a more angered state than others.
Her mind flashed briefly to Molly Weasley, who had stood, trembling in the doorway listening to Sirius divulge information of Voldemort to Harry and the others, sending her into a rage.
"Rather interesting night, eh?"
She glanced over to the couch beside her, where Remus had now settled down, breaking off a bar of chocolate and handing it over to her.
"No thanks." she whispered, shaking her head. "I don't eat very much, remember?"
He withdrew the piece of chocolate and began nibbling on it himself, settling back into the cushions. "From what I remember, you had quite the appetite."
She placed her face over the rim of the mug, letting the steam work its way over her skin.
"That was a long time ago, Remus."
He nodded, understanding. "It was. Nearly seventeen years now."
At that, he leaned over towards her, causing her to nearly spill her tea. His eyes searched longingly into her own, looking almost sorrowful.
"What happened to us, Audrey?" he mumbled, the chocolate beginning to melt in between his fingers.
She sighed and returned the longing gaze, reaching out to touch his arm.
"Before I met you," she began, trying to choose her words carefully, "I was determined never to get involved with anyone. Wizard, muggle, werewolf, the like."
There was a sharp intake of breath from Remus.
"But I did meet you and I was...", she paused, searching the air for the right word.
"I was...bewitched by you." She let out a small giggle and he flashed a quick grin. But as soon as it had come, it had been transformed back into a frown.
"I couldn't help myself. I thought it would have worked, you being a werewolf. You would have had some...inkling of physical and emotional pain in your life, just as much as I have had and you would have understood. Understood what it's like to be hated, to be feared."
At this, her lip began to tremble and it look every ounce of her being to keep her voice from cracking.
"But I was too blind. A person in my condition is...just...not fit to be in a relationship, with anybody. You don't know what it is like to live as long as I have, and see every single person you have ever loved die, one by one in front of you, until you are alone in the world."
The tears had begun falling freely by now and she knew they couldn't be held back.
"And what of me?" he suddenly barked out, his eyes brimming with tears. "I had told myself the same, that I could never be together with anyone, because causing them physical pain would tear my soul apart." He loosed himself from her grip and raised himself from the couch.
"But I risked everything, to be with you."
Audrey raised herself off of the couch so that she was eye-level to the werewolf and grabbed onto his hand, lacing her fingers throughout his.
The heat radiating off of his body calmed her, made the firelight begin to grow fuzzy.
It was so different from her own body, with her icy marble skin. She gave herself chills.
She looked up into his eyes and wiped away a stray tear that had been forming in the corner.
"I can't see another person I love die." she cooed, her cold breath bouncing off of his chest.
Suddenly, there was a ear-piercing creak and the door leading into the hallway opened, revealing a rather lively Sirius grinning like mad.
"Are you nearly ready to go, Moony?" he sang, swinging along with the door.
Both pairs of eyes shot to him and made him loose his balance, loosing his grip on the door handle.
"Was I, uh, interrupting something?"
Frowning, Remus peeled himself from Audrey and made his way over to where Sirius was standing, dumbfounded. "No, it's alright. We'll talk about it when I get back."
"Back? Where are you going?" asked Audrey, who had drifted over to the doorway and now squeezed herself between Sirius and Remus.
"Well, it's nearly the full moon," Remus began, "And seeing as how the kids are all here, we figured it would be safer if I was to transform quite far from here, where it would be safer."
"I want to go with you, then." she stated proudly, nodding her head as if it had already been decided.
"No, certainly not. It's not safe for you, either. Absolutely not."
Remus then made for the door, Sirius leading the way, when Audrey blocked the doorway with her body, her arms spread wide.
"You will not stop me, Remus Lupin. I said I'm coming with you, and that's all there is to it."
He shook his head, trying to push her aside. Sirius just stood aside, his arms crossed, enjoying the show playing out in front of him.
"There is no way. You've got a job to do here."
She pushed him back and continued to hold her ground.
"Harry's already been retrieved, Sirius and Moody are looking after him well enough. I can hunt with you. Puhhhleeasseee?"
At this, Remus stopped and looked questioningly over at Sirius.
He raised his shoulders and shrugged. "If she wants too, I say why not?"