The chaos is finally over…sort of, I'm still packing for college now and seeing off the last few friends that are still here. I leave in ten days, and I figured I'd have a day to myself to write today. I'm working on 51 right now, I'm hoping I'll get it out today. Sirius isn't in this one much, don't worry, he'll be back. :]
Holy fifty chapters, Batman! :O
Thanks for the reviews, marycaity, Madmad237, weasleytwinslover87, JulesDragonlady, and LizziePixie-Aiko.
La la la la la…review? ;]
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS JESUS!
CHAPTER 50
October came and went, and before she knew it, Audrey was staring down her calendar.
November 7th…
It was a quiet day for me. It was a Saturday, there was a Hogsmeade visit but Hisoka advised me to sleep as much as possible so I did. It was bitterly cold that day and the drafts through the castle made me feel numb. It seemed unusual for me…to be chilled to the bone, but then again, was it really?
Early in the morning, and the gang was sitting together in the Great Hall.
"Where's Audrey?" Sirius asked, looking around. The girls giggled.
"What are you lot laughing at?" James asked.
"Nothing." smirked Marlene.
"Well, where is she?" Sirius demanded, the girls giggled again. Sirius groaned in frustration.
"She's still asleep." Lily finally answered. "She said she's not going into Hogsmeade today."
"Well why not?" Sirius demanded, genuinely upset.
Lily and Marlene exchanged a smirk and Marlene spoke next.
"Her debut is tonight, and it's going to be a pretty late evening for her, so her mentor advised her to sleep as much as possible."
"Oh…" Sirius replied, slightly disappointed.
"What's wrong, Sirius?" Lily dared. Sirius however was completely casual when he spoke back.
"Oh nothing, Russia's going to miss out on our Honeydukes raid." He chewed on some bread.
"Uh huh…" Marlene replied skeptically.
Hisoka had taken my measurements over a month prior to the debut, with the O.W.L's coming that year, I didn't have much time to shop. I trusted her with finding me something, everything was going to be fine.
Around noon, Audrey woke and made her way to the West Wing to meet Hisoka, who wasn't quite awake herself. Audrey had to laugh at her mentor's unusually messy hair.
"You could have slept for a few more hours you know." Hisoka said conversationally, tapping her wand to her hair and fixing it. "We don't leave until seven."
Audrey shrugged. "I couldn't sleep any longer."
"Understandable." Hisoka replied. "I remember how nervous I was before my first debut…"
Audrey cocked her head.
"My first debut as a geisha, I mean." Hisoka clarified. Audrey nodded.
"And I suppose you would like to see your dress?"
"That'd be nice." She replied, Hisoka laughed moving towards her closet and pulling out a long black bag and a hanger. She pulled off the bag revealing a long strapless midnight blue dress covered in sequins.
"It's lovely. Thank you." Audrey said, giving Hisoka a bow.
"I figured it would be perfect for the event tonight." Hisoka beamed, pulling the protective bag over it once more. "Bring this back to your dormitory, make sure it's safe and hung up. Meet me here at a quarter to."
Hisoka gently shoved her out the door and shut it once again.
"Event?" Audrey said, to no one in particular. She shook her head at her mentor's vagueness and headed back to the vacant Gryffindor dormitories.
She tried to go back to sleep but couldn't, her nerves were keeping her awake. She went to the dance studio to practice for a few hours, by the time she was done it was a quarter to five. She had an hour left to bathe and get ready.
As soon as she entered the common room…
"RUSSIA!" The boys yelled.
"Hey guys." Audrey panted, she had sprinted across the school in ten seconds. She headed straight for the stairs to the girls dormitory.
An arm shot out, hitting her in the stomach and taking her down onto the couch.
"Why the rush, Russia?" asked James Potter, right above her. Sirius was next to him.
"Nice one, James." Sirius grinned.
"I need to shower and get ready." Audrey groaned, struggling against her two friends.
"Russia, we haven't seen you all day. Can't you spare a few minutes?" Sirius whined.
"I can, if you let me shower and get ready first. I'll be quick, I promise."
"Alright!" The two said together, dropping her onto the floor.
"Oh, you're classy." Audrey snorted, getting up and walking upstairs.
As promised, she took about ten minutes to get ready. I was quite impressed, a girl getting ready in ten minutes. Ten! Sweet Merlin, she cleaned up nice.
When Audrey returned to the common room, she noticed Marlene and Lily were there with the boys. Marlene fox whistled.
Sirius and James shot her an odd look.
"What? She's my best friend, and hell, we're way better looking than you two." Marlene replied casually.
"Oh really?" James replied.
"Really." said Audrey, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Are you doing anything with your hair?" Lily asked, cocking her head.
"Hisoka's going to do it…I'm a bit scared." Audrey bit her lip, Lily laughed.
After a few minutes, Audrey bid her friends a good bye and set of running barefoot through the halls to the West Wing with her heels in hand.
"Sirius, stop drooling." Marlene rolled her eyes, hitting him with a pillow.
Hisoka had actually done my hair by hand, which was something I found peculiar but I did not question. Between a different hairstyle and different make up, I didn't completely recognize my reflection…and I was fine with that.
After all, I was not Audrey when I performed.
The event was in London for an international business dinner for Muggles involved in the stock market, I wasn't sure what that was but Hisoka said that would work to a good advantage.
"Remember the playing dumb trick, Ayla?" Hisoka was in character herself, she had transfigured herself into a very elderly woman, she walked hunched over with a cane. Audrey had been trying not to laugh a good portion of the night.
Audrey nodded.
I was not the only entertainer at the event, there were several mentors and performers alike. Almost all of them were witches and wizards, which eased my nerves slightly. I wasn't frightened of muggles, they were like butterflies, entirely harmless. What I was frightened of was exposing myself, it's easier for a witch or wizard to hide their magic, but it takes a lot of control for me. I've always been controlled, but there have been times where I've slipped.
In the back room, where the musicians kept their things, Audrey was unpacking her cello.
"Are you the girl debuting tonight?" said a voice. Audrey turned to see a blonde girl a little older than she was unpacking her violin.
"Yes, I'm Ayla." Audrey smiled, giving her a small wave.
She smiled. "I'm Iris. I debuted here last year, there's nothing to it. It's really fun, you'll enjoy it."
"I'm glad." Audrey replied. "Are you're…?" Audrey didn't say anything incase they were heard, but she pulled her wand slightly from her case. Iris nodded, taking hers out as well.
"I'm in my last year at Beauxbatons, how about you?" She asked.
"Fifth year, Hogwarts." Audrey smiled.
Iris tilted her head for a second. "I don't think I saw you last year…but then again, I bet neither of us are really recognizable." She gestured to them both. Audrey laughed.
"I didn't even recognize myself in the mirror earlier." She replied.
"That's normal." Iris waved a hand. "It goes away eventually."
Audrey nodded.
I played a few solo songs, and then a few songs accompanied by Hisoka on piano. Like Iris had told me in the back room, there was really nothing to it. When you are a musician, playing gradually becomes an activity of enjoyment when you are older. It was easy to be happy when I played, it was an escape from the world. I could travel through time between the notes.
The next part of my evening was brief socializing with the guests, some were easier than others. I sat with an elderly man from Wales for a while, he was explaining stocks to me. The trick that Hisoka had taught me was not only to be open about being unaware of the subject, but to act incredibly curious and interested.
The end of the evening came quickly and Audrey apparate with Hisoka into Hogsmeade. They set off walking towards the castle, as soon as they arrived into the village, Hisoka waved her wand and she was back to her normal self.
"I always hate adding extra skin to myself." She cringed. "It's quite heavy."
"I can imagine." Audrey replied, after a few seconds she asked. "Do you think it went well?"
I had noticed she had this look in her eyes, a look of calculating.
"I think it went well, yes." Hisoka replied, still putting something together. Audrey felt a weird foreboding sense.
The following Saturday, I had my next engagement. It was a small party and quite close to the school, they had requested a strings player and certain repertoire. Bach, Colombi, Galli…all pure blooded composers. Until we arrived at the Manor, I did not realize or know who I was playing for that afternoon. I should have realized that it was going to be a very different gig, Hisoka had transfigured herself to the point of the unrecognizable. The host and owner of the Manor was an elderly man, in his short gray hair was a black streak. He was blind in one eye and walked with a cane.
His name was Zacharias Flint.
The party was a small gathering of pure blooded elitists, talking, laughing. It made me feel ill. I had heard of these sorts of humans before, from my father and mother, from my grandparents, from my friends…
Hisoka accompanied me where needed, but she mostly stayed in the shadows. At this party, these humans assumed that she was my manager, though at any other engagement she'd be considered my mentor.
When we arrived and I was unpacking my cello I remember Hisoka whispering to me, barely audible.
"Do not look any of them straight in the face. Keep your head bowed."
I was hired to play for three hours, and only play thankfully. Something that is possible for me, but like anyone else it is very tiring. Through the notes, I could hear the chatter and banter of the party guests.
"Walburga, where is Orion?" A woman asked.
"Oh, he'll be coming shortly, Druella." drawled Walburga.
Walburga and Orion…I knew those names…I had heard those names before, in a very mocking and loathing context.
They were Sirius' parents.
As instructed, I did not look at any of the guests. I had the advantage, for when I was playing I could close my eyes and just see the music. I could move with the music, and I was barely noticed. I was background noise, ambiance for their little gathering and nothing more.
When I opened my eyes a few times here and there, I saw Zacharias Flint staring at me. He smiled a few times…my stomach dropped and a chill ran up my spine. It had occurred to me that not only was I a creature in a house full of elitist purebloods but that I was being stared at by Marcus Flint's grandfather. Marcus was a seventh year now, and he hadn't bothered me the previous year because I was almost always with Karl. Severus assumed that Karl was intimidating to Marcus, just as he was intimidating to Sirius.
Let me clarify something, I was not intimidated by Karl Gregorovitch.
Audrey was so grateful when her time was up, she gave a quick bow and went to the back room to pack up her cello. Hisoka followed, Audrey gave her a look that said 'We need to talk about this.'
"Later, Ayla-san, I promise." Hisoka nodded.
We were shown out by Zacharias, after he paid me he spoke in a low drawl.
"Beautiful girl, beautiful playing."
Audrey thanked him quietly, grabbed onto Hisoka's arm and they disapparated.
Once they arrived safely back at the castle, in Hisoka's guest quarters, Audrey let out a long exhale and fell onto the couch.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Audrey hissed, a panicked look came across her face. "Why didn't you tell me that I would be playing for those sort of humans?"
"Ayla-san, we cannot always choose who we entertain. Edgar was supposed to be at the party but had some rather unfortunate business to attend to regarding a friend, none of the other cellists in the rotation could have taken the job, they're muggles." Hisoka replied calmly.
"That old man gives me the chills." Audrey shivered, taking a glass of water Hisoka offered her. "Thanks."
Hisoka nodded.
Once again, she was thinking of something…planning something…