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DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS JESUS!

CHAPTER 5

Audrey sat out in the back gardens with her grandmother and her aunts, watching her uncles, cousins, grandfather, and great uncle play Quidditch.

Jacques, Edik, and Ivan were the only three that didn't require a broom. Audrey laughed as she watched her Great Uncle swiftly maneuver around Pavvel and score.

"Now who is the old man?" roared Ivan, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"I sometimes wonder if uncle Ivan is senile." said Sophia thoughtfully.

"Oh heavens no, my Sophia…" said Anastasia casually, sipping a glass of water. "He's always been this way."

They burst out laughing.

"Are you going to see Sven?" Anastasia asked, turning to her granddaughter. "He's been asking when you were coming for nearly two weeks!"

Audrey laughed.

Sven, was my childhood friend. I had met him in the Summer Gardens when I was accompanying my grandmother there one morning. We have been friends and penpals since.

"Where is Sven?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Where else would he be?" Sophia snorted. "He is at the Palace Square, sketching as usual."

"Can I go, Nana? Please?" Audrey asked.

"Of course dear!" Anastasia replied, she shuffled up from her chair. "Let me make sure you have the money th-"

Audrey groaned, but her grandmother didn't hear her. She didn't like taking her grandparents' money.

Her grandmother began shoving wizard and muggle money at her, just incase.

"Nana, I-"

"Oh shush." Anastasia said, tutting. "We have more of this then we know what to do with. Now go!"

Audrey sighed, shaking her head at her grandmother's stubbornness and set out through the palace towards the front entrance. The run didn't take that long, it would have probably taken the average human about ten minutes. It took Audrey three.

She made her way down a few side streets and into the palace square.

Though it was technically still spring time, there were throngs of tourists, muggles and wizards alike in St. Petersburg.

Though it wasn't difficult at all to spot Sven. He was sitting in the center of the square, at the large fountain with his sketchbook out.

Audrey grinned and began to make her way through the masses to sneak up on her friend. He was avidly drawing, she looked over his shoulder.

"What's that, Sven?" Audrey said.

"Oh, I'm drawing that woman over there and her daughter. Positively gorgeous, Aud-" Sven stopped mid sentence and slowly turned his head grinning.

"You!" He said, jabbing her with his pencil.

"You!" Audrey mimicked, an inside joke. They hugged.

"I hear you were stalking my grandmother?" Audrey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" Sven scoffed indignantly. Audrey laughed.

"I was merely asking her when you were arriving…a lot." He said, laughing with her.

Audrey sat down next to him on the fountain.

"Look at those muggles over there with the funny shirts…" Sven mumbled, jerking his head towards a few tourists wearing odd shirts with flowers on them.

Audrey giggled and elbowed her friend. "Maybe it's a muggle fashion trend, don't be ignorant, Sven."

"I'm not being ignorant! They're hideous. Muggle or Wizard, why would anyone want to wear one of those?"

Audrey nodded, he did have a point.

"Come on, the people I was drawing left the square. Let's go to the bakery, I'm starving." Sven said, getting up. Audrey followed.

This was what our summers consisted of, wandering the streets of the city, sitting in the square, watching people. Sven was the first person I had ever told about my powers, the first person who knew outside of my family and family friends. But it wasn't always that way, when I had first met Sven my grandmother forbid me to tell him anything. Of course, Sven was the first human I had ever really encountered…not counting my grandmother of course.

Though I had gone years without telling him, I unfortunately had to the previous summer.

Audrey and Sven were wandering the streets as usual, it was nearing dusk and tourists and residents were slowly clearing out.

As usual, the two had gotten ice cream from one of the vendors and were slowly heading back towards St. Aleksander's Palace when they heard a rattling coming from one of the alleyways.

The children froze, exchanging glances. Then they heard voices.

"NO! Please!" said a voice.

"Where is it?"

"I don't know! I don't know!"

"You've been fooling us for too long, and now we're going to put an end to you."

"HELP!" the first voice wailed. "HELP!"

Sven and Audrey quickly and quietly made their way towards the alley, unsure of what was happening. Audrey saw four men, three of them were burly and muscular. One of the three was holding up a tiny stick of a man, one was standing there watching, and the other was in the tiny man's face. He was their leader, and the man who was threatening the tinier man.

The leader raised his wand to the man's throat, and that's when Audrey's instincts kicked in.

I don't really know what I was thinking…I wasn't at all, actually.

"HEY!" Audrey yelled.

The men all turned their heads in the direction of the little voice. One of them burst out laughing.

"It's just a little girl!"

"What do you want, little girl?" sneered their leader.

"Leave him be." Audrey said sternly.

"Him?" said the man who was holding up the tiny cowering man, he shook him. "We were just playing with him." The man was trying to trick her.

"No you're not." said Sven, coming out of the shadows. The men burst into laughter again.

"Ah we have some smart children here, Vladimir." said one of the men, addressing the leader.

Vladimir wore a rather frightening grin, looking at the children.

"Do you know the story of the little children who should have been in bed?" said Vladimir, approaching the two, twirling his wand.

"No." spoke Sven. "But I know the story of the man with the bad teeth."

Audrey elbowed him and mumbled under her breath. "Not the time for that joke, Sven."

"Little children should be in bed at this hour and not meddling in business that is not theirs." said Vladimir, still approaching them, a sick and twisted smile was plastered on his face.

"You're going to kill him." Audrey spoke angrily. "You are a pathetic human being."

"Oh am I?" Vladimir replied, now inches from their faces. "You're so smart for such a small child."

His breath was repugnant, and Audrey cringed as he stroked her face.

"It is a shame, I have to kill something so pretty, I'm sure you would have had a lot of callers when you were older…" Vladimir said, raising his wand.

Audrey retracted her arm quickly and pushed outward, a huge gust of air had knocked Vladimir backwards and straight into his cohorts. The skinny man that had been held hostage broke loose and began to run, he screamed over his shoulder at the children to run.

The pair didn't hesitated and bolted, the three men had gotten up in the alleyway as quickly as possible.

"I don't know what happened, they got lucky. You two get Afanasi! I'll deal with the children." Vladimir spat.

Sven and Audrey set off running down side streets, until someone had pulled them into another alley.

It was the skinny man who was nearly killed, he grinned at them showing pointed teeth. Sven cringed back, scared of the vampire but Audrey was fine.

The two men who were set out to find the vampire had stupidly passed the dark alleyway. Their footsteps echoed down the street and were heard no more.

"Thank you." He whispered to them. "I am most grateful."

"You're…you…you…" Sven was at a loss for words, looking at the vampire.

"My name is Afanasi." The vampire gave a little bow. "And I can promise you that I do not mean any harm. I am here undercover as a wizard."

Before either of the children could say anything, Afanasi turned to Audrey.

"I know what you are…" He said, bowing to her once more. "However, I do not feel it wise that you are out at night. St. Petersburg is a safe city, but it is not when the sun falls."

Sven was now gaping at her and Afanasi.

"He didn't know…until tonight…" Audrey said, motioning towards her companion.

"Who were those men?" She asked, looking up at their new found friend.

"Vladimir Morozov and his followers. They aren't the nicest of wizards…" said Afanasi.

"What did they want from you?" said Sven, finally relaxing a bit.

"I am a double agent working with the Russian Ministry, Vladimir thought I had something that could ensure his rise to power over the country. I staged this meeting with him tonight to tell him I didn't have it, I knew he would try to kill me. Hit Wizards are stationed all around the city. He will be caught." said Afanasi.

"I appreciate your kind efforts, but it was a silly thing to do. You both could have been seriously injured, or killed." He was looking directly at Audrey as he said it.

"You need to be more careful." He said to her. "I will be watching you, just to make sure."

"Thank you." Audrey said, he bowed again and left the alleyway.

"Would you mind explaining to me what even happened tonight?" Sven said in a whisper as the two walked quickly back through the Palace square and down a few side streets.

They arrived quickly in the entrance hallway of 's Palace and Audrey closed the door quickly. She began to tell him about her powers.

Sven had taken it quite well really, I think that it was just the events from which this all had come about that had shocked him. I swore him to secrecy, and he has kept my secret as well as my family's.

During the last week of July that summer, I was woken around seven in the morning by my grandmother yelling for me to come downstairs.