14. Old Friends
"Audrey! Wait a minute."
There as a scowl on Audrey's face as she turned to see who had interrupted their departure, however, it quickly melted off as she took in the person that was coming towards her. Her eyebrows rose and her eyes widened to express her surprise.
"Gemma?" Audrey asked. "I must be seeing things!"
"I sure hope not," Gemma replied with a smirk as she approached Audrey.
Audrey started walking towards her, too, and met the older woman in a tight embrace. Gemma Farley had been the one person at Hogwarts that Audrey wouldn't hesitate to call a friend. Having been older than her, as well as a prefect, Gemma never hesitated to assume the mantle of a mother bear. Now that Audrey thought about it, it had been ages since she had last seen her.
But that was most definitely Gemma Farley standing before her. She had the trademark dark skin and nearly black hair of the Shafiq family, handed down from her mother, and the extremely thick Irish accent, thanks to growing up in Dublin. Being the daughter of a disowned pureblood, Slytherin might not have been the friendliest to Gemma, but she had never hesitated to defend Audrey and Daphne when they needed it, as if they were her own children.
"Merlin, how long has it been?" Audrey asked. Then, with a jolt, she added, "Sorry! I'm being quite rude. This is my friend, Erin Donoghue. Erin, this is Gemma Farley. Also known as Mother Bear."
"Audrey, that nickname isn't any less stupid now that we're adults," Gemma scolded.
"See? Do you hear that tone?" Audrey exclaimed towards Erin, who only laughed at her friend's excitement. "Mother Bear."
"Well, Mother Bear is going to maul you to pieces if you don't stop calling her that," Gemma replied as she crossed her arms and challengingly raised an eyebrow. The two Slytherins stared each other down for a moment, then both burst into bouts of laughter.
"Oh, I've really missed you, Gemma," Audrey said as her laughter died down. "So, what has you in Diagon Alley on this lovely Saturday?"
"Uh, actually - "
"Gemma?"
Audrey knew that voice, and her smile dropped when the person came into view. "No," she breathed out. "Tell me it isn't so, Gemma."
"Erm, well - "
"Callaghan, " Marcus greeted as he came to stand beside Gemma.
Audrey turned her narrow-eyed gaze to Marcus. "Flint," she replied. "Threaten anyone in a bar, lately?"
"Yeah, I've been meaning to apologize for that," Marcus said. His face was too blank for Audrey to tell if he was being sincere or not.
"You've been meaning to - well, by golly! Then it's all nice and dandy, isn't it?" Audrey exclaimed sarcastically. She crossed her arms and let out a frustrated huff, turning her gaze away from the couple as her face started to go red.
"Audrey, you know better than anyone that people change," Gemma said in a calm voice.
Flint? Marcus bleeding Flint? Audrey thought to herself, fuming. The smartest girl in Slytherin chooses him? However, as much as Audrey disliked Flint, she also couldn't ignore the calmness in Gemma's voice. It reminded her of the many times she would try to talk reason into Audrey when she would get into a spat with someone. Gemma Farley was not known for stupid, reckless decisions, and Audrey Callaghan was not known for her rash judgements.
If this was what Gemma wanted, then Audrey would at least bear through it with a clenched jaw.
"Well, six months must be some sort of record," Audrey commented as she turned to glare at Marcus.
Percy stumbled out of the apothecary to talk to Audrey, but immediately stopped in his tracks.
George ran straight into him, nearly bringing both of them to the ground.
"You've got to stop doing that, mate," George grumbled. "At least give a bloke some warning."
"I think I've missed my window, George," Percy said, ignoring his younger brother's grumblings.
George finally looked past Percy to see Audrey and Erin talking to two other people. "Hey, would you look at that! That's Gemma Farley. Bribed her enough times while she was on prefect duties to know. And... is that Marcus Flint? Huh, look at that. He still has that stupid overbite."
"You bribed the prefects?" Percy asked as he turned to give George an incredulous look.
George shrugged. "Of course," he replied. "How else do you think we got away with all of that nonsense. Sometimes, our sheer genius would be enough, but other times... Well, we weren't below asking for help, is my point."
Percy only scoffed and turned to walk in the other direction, but George grabbed his shoulder to stop him and asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing? You haven't missed any bloody window. Just go up to her."
"But - she's - we should wait."
"Wait? No, no. You either go up to her, or we leave," George said in a commanding tone. "I'm not going to lurk around here, waiting for her to finish reminiscing."
"I - I don't know," Percy muttered. "Maybe this isn't such a great idea."
"Don't be a wuss, Perce," George said as he gave Percy a light shove. "Although, I'll admit - I'm a little shocked to see her around Marcus Flint."
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge," Percy replied.
"Well, aren't you full of wise words?" George asked mockingly.
Percy knew they weren't wise words. They were words from a lesson he learned the hard way. Audrey had her arms crossed, a stony expression on her reddening face, and the few times she would meet Flint's eyes, it would be for the purpose of sending him a glare. Percy had seen Audrey like that one time before, and it was when Daphne Greengrass approached her. Back then, he didn't even take notice of Audrey's behaviour. Now, he realized it all screamed of her discomfort with the situation at hand.
Percy only wished that he had been smart enough to notice that the first time he met her.
"Tick tock, Percy," George taunted.
"I just - "
"Well, I'm not going to stand around here like a creep," George interrupted.
"Fine!" Percy exclaimed.
With an indignant huff, Percy turned away from George and started walking towards Audrey. The moment she noticed him approaching, she took her own step forward and grabbed his arm, all the while muttering, "Thank Merlin." She gave one last glance over her shoulder and shouted, "Be right back!" as she led Percy far away from Erin and the two Slytherins.
Once they were partially hidden by some crates outside of a shop, and out of view and earshot, Audrey turned to Percy and let out a sigh of relief as she said, "I owe you one. Gemma's great, but Flint is a piece of - " she cut herself off and bit her lip nervously before continuing, "Well, he's not great."
"Not a problem, I suppose," Percy said. "I actually did want to talk to you, though. I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go for another cup of tea, or maybe a lunch."
Audrey's features contorted into a look of surprise as she stuttered out, "Is that - I mean, are you comfortable with that?"
This didn't make any sense to Audrey. One moment, Percy was outside talking to his girlfriend, and the next, he's asking her to a lunch. He was probably asking as a friend, but surely that must have been awkward for his girlfriend, at the very least.
"Am I...?" Percy trailed off with a frown. What's she going on about? "Yes, I am. I quite enjoyed our last cup of tea."
"Oh," Audrey let out. "I mean, I enjoyed it, too, of course! I just thought - well, never mind. If it's all right, then that would be lovely."
"Of course it's all right!" Percy exclaimed with a laugh. "I'm a tad busy this weekend, so how's Monday after your training? Five, perhaps? The same place?"
Of course he's busy this weekend, Audrey thought to herself, feeling suspiciously crestfallen. It's Valentine's Day this weekend. "Yes, that works fine," she replied quietly. "Now, I think I should probably get back to Erin."
"Right, of course," Percy said with a grin. "I'll be looking forward to Monday."
Audrey nodded and forced a smile, which fell off her face as soon as Percy turned his back to rejoin George. She let out a sigh and covered her face in frustration. Why can't I just be a hermit? Audrey wondered to herself.
"Boo!"
"Ah! Damn it, Erin!"
Erin laughed as Audrey sent her a glare and took a deep breath. The blonde linked their arms together and dragged Audrey along with her. "Those two had to go, but Gemma said she'd send an owl to organize a lunch meeting. Daphne included," Erin explained.
"Daphne's at Hogwarts," Audrey stated.
"That's the other thing she wanted me to tell you," Erin continued. "Daphne took her N.E.W.T.s at the Ministry in August, when apparently she ran into you and said some things she regrets."
"Great," Audrey said sourly.
"Anyways, let's forget all about that. I'm more curious to find out how exactly you know this Percy character," Erin said. "Wait. Is that what's been bothering you? Are you in a relationship, Audrey?"
"I'm not in a bleeding relationship," Audrey grumbled. "We just had tea together after the Lestrange trial. He was nice, and I thought that was it."
Of course, Audrey was lying. She had not been able to allow herself to believe that that was simply it. It was why the hours they talked never fully left her mind and always brought a smile to her face. It was why she always searched for his face among the crowds at the Ministry.
It was silly, and Audrey wasn't sure if she was lying to try to convince Erin or herself in that moment.
"Wait. The Lestrange trial?" Erin asked. "Isn't that when you brought home that thick book about ancient duelling, or something? You snagged a guy with that rubbish?"
"Thank you for your undying confidence in me," Audrey said sarcastically. "Anyways, like I said, it's not a big deal. Especially since I was in Slytherin, and he - "
"Oh, not this bullshit again!" Erin exclaimed. "What the hell is it with you Brits and your satané houses, anyways?"
"Okay, we're both Irish, Erin, come on," Audrey reasoned. "And Hogwarts is in Scotland."
"You know, if the French do one thing right, it's not having houses at their magical schools," Erin continued, clearly ignoring Audrey. "Maybe that's why Hogwarts seems to breed evil wizards. I mean, who's the most evil person out of Beauxbatons? Luc Millefeuille? I'm pretty sure he got killed in his sleep."
Audrey sighed. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I am," Erin replied. "Those houses mean nothing. I mean, you're nice. Gemma's nice. That Marcus guy is a little bit of a creep, but he's making small steps towards being a better person, from what I can tell. I'm very right."
"Don't get too over-confident, there," Audrey warned jokingly.
"I am sufficiently confident, than you very - "
"Hey, Audrey, right?"
Audrey and Erin stopped in their tracks to search for the owner of the voice, and Audrey's eyes landed on a familiar young man.
"Yes! You're Oliver Wood, if I remember correctly," Audrey greeted. "It's nice to see you! I can't remember the last time we talked."
Oliver nodded and approached them. "Yes, you do remember correctly. I think you were saying something about being a horrible flyer the last time we ran into each other," he replied. Then, his face contorted into a small frown and Audrey followed his gaze to... her scarf. Her Slytherin scarf. "Where'd you get that?" he asked cautiously.
"It's mine," Audrey answered quietly as her hand nervously went up to the scarf. A knowing look came onto Oliver's face as Audrey jokingly added, "It's not exactly something I brag about on a regular basis."
"Well, you should!" Erin shouted. Oliver turned to her with a startled look as Erin pointed an accusing finger at him. "See, Audrey? This is exactly what I was saying!"
And there was Erin's infamously passionate anger. Once the girl got started one something, she wouldn't stop.
"I'm so sorry, she's been in a right mood all day," Audrey said to Oliver as she painfully nudged Erin in the side. "Usually, my dear friend Erin is very pleasant, but she was just going on about how ridiculous Hogwarts houses are. Then again, she went to Beauxbatons, so what does she know?"
"Pah! Quelles conneries!" Erin exclaimed with a huff.
"See? She's being quite irritable," Audrey continued. "You really wouldn't want to get on her bad side right now."
"Thankfully, I was going to say that it's people like you that remind everyone that Slytherin students aren't all bad," Oliver said with an amused smirk on her face.
"Oh, were you now?" Audrey asked, but her gaze was fixed on Erin. "What do you have to say to that, Erin?"
"Perhaps, I overreacted," Erin said quietly as she crossed her arms, avoiding both Audrey's and Oliver's eyes. Then, she sharply turned to face Oliver and added, "That doesn't change the fact that you looked so bloody shocked when you saw that scarf."
"Merlin, Erin - listen," Audrey started, turning to Oliver, "I'm sorry about this. It really is nice to see you again. How's life been treating you?"
"Not too bad, actually. Finally getting off reserve for Puddlemere," Oliver replied.
"Would you look at that? That's fantastic! I do remember reading something about Harbeck retiring," Audrey praised.
"Real shame. Harbeck's a great Keeper," Erin mused.
"You're telling me," Oliver agreed. "They're some big shoes to fill. Hey, since I've run into you, would you like a couple of tickets to the first game? I'm sure I can get them."
"Oh, that's really not necessary," Audrey started with a smirk, "especially since the first game is against the Kestrels. I would hate to watch you lose."
"Kestrels fan, then?" Oliver guessed.
"Am I Irish?" Audrey replied rhetorically. She gestured towards Erin with her thumb and added, "This one's a right traitor to our kind. Big Puddlemere fan."
"Hardly," Erin said with a scoff.
"You have two Puddlemere posters and a kit. Stop kidding yourself."
"Well, it's been nice talking," Erin said in a bored tone, promptly ending the quidditch conversation. She turned to Audrey and added, "We should head back before I'm late for practice."
"You play quidditch, too?" Oliver asked.
"As if that's the only sport in this godforsaken wizarding community!" Erin exclaimed.
"You are really talented at pushing her buttons, you know that?" Audrey told Oliver with an exasperated look.
"I compete in flying races, thank you very much, and I have to take a bleeding Portkey all the way to the isolated land of Banff, Scotland tonight, so a little more appreciation would be nice," Erin seethed.
"We'll be on our way before she burns Diagon Alley to the ground," Audrey said to Oliver as she waved goodbye.
"Every damn time I open Witch Weekly it's all about stupid quidditch players," Erin grumbled as the two women walked away from Oliver.
"Good Godric," Audrey muttered. "You're off your trolley, Erin."
For anyone that's wondering, Luc Millefeuille was a Beauxbatons student that became a pâttisier and was famous for poisoning Muggles (source: Harry Potter Wiki).
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P.S. - French translations:
satané - damn (adjective)
Quelles conneries! - What bullshit!
(7 years of French lessons and this is the knowledge I retain)