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CHAPTER 14

"Did you really battle two mountain trolls?" said Lily, shoving Audrey into a corner of the hallway during their free period. Severus was there as well.

"She what?" Severus said, looking at Lily horrified.

"Shh!" Audrey said, giving the two a look. There were a few passersby in the hallway.

Audrey pushed her two friends into an empty classroom and made sure the door was closed.

"What on earth were you thinking? Going looking for those trolls…" Severus exclaimed, wide eyed. "Audrey, you could have been killed!"

Audrey held up a hand for silence.

"I didn't go looking for them, Sev. Marlene, Sarah McMillan, and I were on our way back from the dance studio and we rounded the hallway and there they were. One of them threw a club at us and we hid behind two suits of armor…then…" Audrey stopped, debating on whether she should mention to her two companions who had shown up next. Severus and Lily weren't exactly fond of James and his gang.

"Then?" Severus said, his eyes narrowing slightly. Lily crossed her arms.

"Then Potter and his gang of morons showed up, James was clubbed in the stomach…didn't see him for a while after that. Peter naturally cowered in the corner-" The three rolled their eyes at the same time. "Sirius stood there like an idiot, and Remus, being the only intelligent one was calm and looked as though he was calculating something…"

Audrey went on, explaining how they killed the trolls.

"Remus is the only smart one out of the group, by far. I don't understand how he can tolerate them…especially Sirius." said Lily.

"Don't remind me." Audrey groaned. "He of course made some snide comment about our dance shorts when we were heading back to the common room."

Severus rolled his eyes; Sirius was indeed a typical Black. He thought that he could woo any girl with his looks, and thought he could get away with some of the degenerate comments he made.

Lily looked at her watch, and then looked at her two friends.

"It's nearly half past; we should get to Slughorn's."

The other two nodded and the three exited the classroom.

Though Audrey dreaded potions class with the Slytherin first years, it wasn't nearly as bad with Severus there. The only issue they had always run into was James and Sirius being together in class, as they were in every class.

It was as if Severus was their constant target. He had done nothing wrong, nothing. It was a petty war started by a pitiful, age old, argument about the school houses. I wasn't sure why it really mattered…but having no immediate family attend Hogwarts I did not understand the rivalries within the school at all…

Audrey, Lily, and Marlene always sat in the front of the class, while James, Sirius, and Peter sat in the back. Remus chose to sit in the middle.

"Alright gang! We are switching up the partners today…everyone up!" Professor Slughorn announced excitedly.

The chairs scraped the floors as everyone bustled up from their seats and filed to the sides of the rooms. Sirius slyly made his way toward Audrey, as James had to Lily.

Lily had yet to see James, but Audrey saw Sirius with ease.

She exchanged a glance with Severus across the room; he was glaring at Sirius, right behind Audrey's shoulder.

"I know." Audrey mouthed, rolling her eyes.

Professor Slughorn began calling out names in pairs, Gryffindors with Gryffindors, Gryffindors with Slytherins, Slytherins with Slytherins.

"…Dalio, Snape."

Audrey grinned at Severus, relieved. She could hear Sirius curse under his breath, barely audible.

Severus whispered in her ear, looking to the left.

"Look who it is."

Audrey looked to the left and noticed who was sitting next to her, Lily Evans with her partner.

"Oh!" groaned Audrey. "Poor Lils."

Poor Lily was stuck with Sirius…though I was quite grateful at the time it wasn't I who was stuck with Sirius.

...You act like that's a good thing.

Severus and Audrey had finished rather quickly, and were the first in the class to get their potion to a deep purple. Slughorn boomed about the class, boasting the two's work for a good ten minutes.

"And this!" Slughorn pointed to their cauldron. "This proves my point that a cunning Slytherin and a clever Gryffindor can work together in harmony, and create a draught easily." Many of the students around the classroom, Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, rolled their eyes. Let's face it; the houses would forever be at war.

Sirius and James were making faces at each other. Lily smacked Sirius' arm, she was doing most of the work from what Audrey could see. Marlene and Remus were the next to finish their potion.

"Now what, Sev?"

"I'm not sure, Audrey." Severus said, looking around the classroom.

"Wanna play Guess Who's Cauldron is Going to Blow Up?" Audrey asked.

"I've never even heard of that game." Severus retorted.

"Oh, because I just made it up five seconds ago." Audrey grinned. "And I'm going to guess, Goyle's." She pointed to a thick Slytherin across the room.

Surely enough, five minutes later Goyle's cauldron blew up. Several students in the vicinity had shrinking draught splashed on them, including Sirius and James. Lily had been smart enough to shield herself with a book quickly.

James' nose began to shrink, and Sirius' lips began to shrink.

Severus, Lily, and Audrey exchanged looks and burst into silent laughter. Severus had to keep his sleeve over his mouth, Audrey bit her hand, and Lily was laughing so hard that tears were falling from her green eyes.

"Professor? Perhaps you shouldn't give Sirius any antidote. I think we all like him better this way." Audrey piped up. Sirius shot her a glare; she began to laugh once more.

I swear, every time she laughed I melted. Even if it was at my expense.

Severus gave Audrey a look.

"What?" She asked.

"Did you?" He asked.

Audrey shook her head. "No, I didn't put anything in their cauldron. What do I look like? One of them?" Audrey jerked her head towards James Potter.

"Then how?" Severus asked.

"A good guess, Goyle's not the brightest wand in the bunch." Audrey supplied.

Severus gave her a skeptical look and replied. "Neither is Mulciber over there, he's a second year in a first year potions class. Why not pick him?"

"I don't know, Severus." Audrey replied thoughtfully. "I just saw it."

"You saw?" Severus whispered, looking around to make sure no one else could hear.

"Yes, it's hereditary." Audrey said, looking at Severus as if he had five heads. Why was it so abnormal?

"Not many people have that gift, Audrey." Severus said, reading her expression.

I did not realize that it was an uncommon thing to have visions for human beings. A lot of banshees, centaurs, and goblins had visions, according to my mother.

Audrey blushed and said. "I didn't know that, Severus."

Since that night back in October with the trolls, James and Sirius had been significantly kinder to Marlene and I. We were skeptical of them for quite some time, as we had quickly learned that those two could not be completely trusted. Of course from down the table, Sirius and James had seen us talking…

After class, they decided to confront me about it.

"Audrey!" said James, trying to catch up with the girl. She was walking with Marlene and Lily out to the greenhouses for Herbology.

"Yes?" She turned around, now walking backwards.

"Stop, come here." James replied, crossing his arms. He was flanked by Sirius and Remus, Peter stood off somewhere to the side as usual.

Audrey sighed, told Lily and Marlene that she'd meet them in the greenhouse and strode over to the four boys.

"Well?" Audrey asked, her free hand resting on her hips.

"Don't say well with so much sass, Missy!" Sirius said in an authoritative tone, wagging his finger.

Audrey gave Sirius a funny look, as well as James and Remus. Sirius put down his finger and shut up.

"Anyway…" James said, after an awkward pause. "We would like to address something."

Audrey raised an eyebrow.

"You need to stop talking to Snivellus." James said, in a fatherly tone.

"Excuse me?" Audrey replied, peeved.

"You heard him." Sirius said. "Snivellus is into all that Dark Arts nonsense. Plus I'm sure he's an awful kisser."

Audrey was taken aback and then said became angry. "First of all…"

She began to talk towards the boys, her eyes narrowing. "His name is Severus, he is my friend, and nothing more."

"Second…" She drew closer, doing her best to stay fierce but not reveal her powers.

"I hang out with Severus quite often; he's not into that rubbish."

"Thirdly…" She was now in their faces, her eyes flashed red for a moment but she blinked quickly to clear it up. "You are not my parents, you do not know me, or where I am from. You have no control over who I talk to, and who I associate with."

She turned on her heel quickly and was about to walk out of the castle when Sirius called. "Well, love. We're from your house, your temporary family. And I'm sure your father and your grandfather wouldn't approve of Snivellus either."

Audrey turned once more.

"Do you want to know what my grandfather would say?"

James, Peter, and Remus stood back, not wanting to challenge the girl.

"He's crazy." Peter whispered to the other two. "Why is he challenging her?"

"Because he's mad about her." replied James. "He's been crazy about her since the moment we walked in on her compartment."

Remus nodded in agreement.

"Sure." Sirius replied to her, his eyes danced.

I learned that day that I really enjoyed getting her angry, because it broke that elegant façade of hers…Also, I just really hated Snivellus.

"He would say 'Audrey, why are you talking to such fools who have nothing better to do with their time but insult your friends?'" Audrey said, her Russian accent coming through a bit.

"And by fools." She said, her English accent coming through once more. "I mean you and James, not Remus or Peter. They're obviously the kinder, more intelligent of the group."

And with that, she turned on her heel once more and strode from the castle to the greenhouses. When the entrance hall door slammed shut, James turned to his three friends.

"Did you see her eyes go red?"

The other three nodded.

"Good…I thought I was seeing things." James replied. "I wonder what that's all about."

"I don't know…but we will find out, mate." Sirius had a mischievous glint in his eye.

The boys followed; after all, they did have class together. Remus was silently calculating things while his other three friends were chattering away. Audrey was different, just like him…but what was she?