Okay, I'm giving you a long chapter because I'm leaving tomorrow for University/Orientation. I'll also be switching to a different laptop so I don't know when I'll get that, hopefully Monday or Tuesday. I have to transfer a bunch of prewritten stuff for later in this story to that computer.

When will I be updating? I have no idea yet. Ideally, I'd like to update on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I don't know my schedule yet, I'll find that out next Saturday and from there I can plan out updating. Bear with me, I'm a college freshmen and I'm going to need some time to adjust and whatnot. :] I know a lot of my readers are in University, so I'm sure you'll all understand. x3

Thanks for the reviews, Sarah Liz B (YAY AUSTRALIA!) , marycaity, javalon14, weasleytwinslover87, LizziePixie-Aiko, and JulesDragonlady! :D

Review's are kind… *wink wink nudge nudge*

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

CHAPTER 56

During the beginning of a rather cold February, I went to the top of the clock tower during my free period and stood there for a while, staring at the land around me. Everything was blanketed in snow, all of the plants and trees were dead and bare. It was a year ago that I had looked out onto the grounds with the same numb feeling. I adored the snow of the winter season but I despised how dead everything was, it was truly haunting. The previous year, the dead trees had only made me think of my family…in the present, they made me reflect. It is truly amazing all of the things that could change in a year.

The first weekend in February I was invited to Elphias Doge's home for a small gathering of notable wizards, fortunately they were not of the notable kind that associated themselves with pure blood elitism. I found myself very comfortable there, and I was being paid to play whatever I fancied. It was rather sublime.

Ayla-san,
Meet me in my quarters as soon as possible,
I have exciting news.

-Hisoka.

"Got a note?" Sirius asked, looking over Audrey's shoulder. She quickly folded the small piece of parchment.

"Mentor business." Audrey replied, giving Sirius a peck on the cheek. "I'll be back in ten minutes, twenty max."

Audrey set off from the common room and down the halls in seconds, the words 'exciting news' flashing in her head.

"Two minutes after I sent my owl." said Hisoka, opening the door with a smile. "Not bad."

"News?" Audrey asked, out of breath from sprinting all out.

"Here." Hisoka replied, handing her two rolls of parchment. Audrey unfurled it and read.

Dear Hisoka,

Please see to it that your protegee receives this. I think she'd be a fabulous addition.

- I. Martine.

Ms. David,

I would like to formally invite you to join our cello section in the English Chamber Orchestra as third chair.. You require no audition as your body of work and competition has been reviewed by the board of directors. If you are unsure of your decision you are welcome to sit in on our next rehearsal this Thursday evening at 6.

I'll be looking forward to your reply.

Stay warm!

Isaac Martine, Conductor.

Audrey looked up at her mentor, grinning.

"But…how has he viewed my repertoire?" Audrey asked.

"He proposed the idea a few years ago at one of your very first competitions, he was a judge. I told him that when you made your debut he could follow us to two of your gigs. He was at the Quidditch gala a month ago, and he was at Elphias' party on Sunday."

"Will you go with me on Thursday?" Audrey asked.

"Of course, Ayla-san." Hisoka laughed. "I'll be in the shadows though."

Audrey nodded.

We set off early that Thursday evening and made our way into London where the ensemble usually rehearsed. I had the option of bringing my instrument with me incase I wanted to join in that night, but Hisoka told me not to. In a sense, I was grateful that she did…

"Ayla!" said a venomously charming voice that made Audrey's hair stand on the back of her neck.

"Angeline." Audrey replied in mock sweetness, she had noticed the girl hadn't grown much but changed slightly. She peaked out at the same height as Audrey. "So nice to see you."

"And you as well, I didn't know you were watching our rehearsal today." Angeline clapped her hands together, her evil smile plastered on her face. "Are you thinking of auditioning? I believe all the chairs are full at this time." She wore a smirk.

"Oh yes, I'll be observing." Audrey replied, airily. "Mr. Martine invited me here to hear the orchestra, he's offered me third chair."

Angeline's expression dropped, she didn't say anything but marched angrily back to the stage.

I have always found it rather amusing when noticing that fellow musicians care so much for chair placements. Why should a chair justify your skill or your passion? I haven't the slightest idea. But what I found most amusing was that Angeline was fourth chair…

Though it would be insufferable to sit next to her for rehearsals, I knew it made her angry that not only was I sitting next to her, I was ranked 'ahead' of her. Angeline debuted a year before I did, as she is a year older and she hadn't been at many competitions with such a busy schedule. That does not mean we did not encounter each other from time to time. I entertained more wizards than muggles which is why we never happened to run into each other at a gig.

The rehearsal was rather lovely, the ensemble sounded beautiful even with a rotten infestation such as Angeline within it. It was at the end of the rehearsal that I spoke with Mr. Martine backstage and accepted his offer. I suppose Angeline must have been within earshot for when Hisoka and I were leaving I could hear her screeching and storming like the metaphorical monster she was.

"HOW DID SHE GET PAST WITHOUT AUDITIONING?" She screeched at her mentor and manager, Mrs. Evel. "SHE TOOK MY SPOT! I AM SUPPOSED TO BE THE YOUNGEST MEMBER IN HISTORY, NOT THAT SO-KA."

I wasn't sure what I found funnier, that I had just broken her record or that she attempted to speak in my native tongue and pronounce an insult wrong.

I stifled my laughter and we dissapparated.

"That girl has always been so charming." Hisoka mused, sarcastic.

"She didn't even say suka properly." Audrey laughed.

"Don't use such language, Ayla." said Hisoka. "It's not lady-like."

Audrey decided to change the subject. "So I noticed your friend Edgar is second chair…"

Hisoka nodded. "Edgar is very gifted, make sure you are well acquainted with him. The less time you are around Angeline, the better."

There was another reason she wished that we would be well acquainted, she just wasn't telling me…

When I arrived back to the dormitories that evening, Omi had a small piece of parchment attached to her foot.

"Evening, laaaaadies." Audrey said in a manly drawl, that had been their recent joke in reference to James Potter and Sirius Black.

"Evening." Marlene grunted like a man.
"Good evening, mate." Alice imitated Frank.
"Heeeeeeeyyy." Lily imitated James Potter's signature greeting.

Everyone laughed at that.

"How was the night?" Audrey asked, sitting on the bed and untying the letter from Omi's leg. Omi hooted and then flew out the window, to the owlery.

"Certainly quiter than usual." Marlene said.

"We didn't hear the boys much at all…" said Alice. "Quite unusual."

"I'm thrilled about it, personally." said Lily, looking up from the novel she was reading.

"Well itis a full moon tonight, isn't it?" asked Audrey. She knew it was a full moon but she couldn't just tell the girls about the other boys' illegal animagus transformations.

"Yes, so Remus is in the shack." Marlene said sadly, she was worried.

"He'll be fine, Marly." said Sarah, walking into their dorm. "He's a big wolf, he can take care of himself."

"How did you even get in here without us?" Alice asked, flabbergasted.

"One of the first years let me in." Sarah shrugged. "Sleepover?"

"Of course." said Lily, pointing to the fifth vacant bed in their dorm.

A few months into our first school year, a fifth bed had appeared in our dorm room after we had all become friends with Sarah. Every year when we'd move up a floor, it'd be there.

"So how was your rehearsal-observy-thing, Audrey?" Sarah asked.

"It went really well actually, with one minor flaw…guess who my stand partner is?" Audrey said, her eyes flashing yellow for a brief second.

"No!" Marlene gasped in shock, her mouth full of food she had snatched for everyone from the kitchens.

Audrey nodded.

"The wicked bitch of the west?" asked Lily.

"Lily!" Marlene was appalled. "I've never heard you use such language!…that means I am definitely rubbing off on you!" She was giddy.

"Oh shut it, Marly." Lily laughed.

"It's funny you used 'bitch', Lils." Audrey began, raising her eyebrows.

"What for ironic purposes…or…?" asked Sarah. Audrey launched into her tale of what went down with Angeline before the rehearsal and Angeline throwing a hissy fit afterwards.

"She mispronounced suka." Audrey rolled her eyes.

"You should just speak to her in Russian at rehearsal. That'd be hilarious." Sarah grinned.

"No! Speak to her in Banshee." Marlene said evilly.

"I don't want to freak out the other people in the section, Marly." Audrey smirked, then she remembered the small letter in her hand she hadn't opened.

Audrey,

Join me in Hogsmeade tomorrow at the Three Broomsticks?

Sirius.

Audrey groaned, flopping backwards onto her bed.

"Let me guess, message from Sirius?" said Sarah.

Audrey nodded, the girls laughed.

"Well, well. Get on with it, what does he want now?" Marly asked. Audrey cleared her throat and stood up on her bed.

"Audrey," She read aloud, mimicking Sirius' voice quite well. "Join me in Hogsmeade tomorrow at the Three Broomsticks? Sirius."

The girls laughed, Audrey twisted her fingers delicately and the parchment was hovering. Then it burst into flames.

I didn't mean it as a rude gesture, but I genuinely thought that this was going to be one of Sirius' rather elaborate ruses. After all, he had done something similar to me during our third year. I came back from Hogsmeade with purple slime all over me…

That was one of the rare times that one of my pranks had actually come back to bite me in the ass.

A few days later, Hisoka received an owl from Blake requesting that I accompany him to a Valentine's day event early in the afternoon.

"It is certainly interesting…" Hisoka said, looking at the letter and putting something together. "The courting requests usually don't come until a few months in, but he did ask you to play for him before the event for an hour."

Audrey shrugged.

When you are very new to this profession, as I was, there are a lot of minute rules that you don't know about. The courting rule, as I had learned was when a client just asked for your company and nothing further. Hisoka was beyond that stage with some of her clientele, she didn't even have to play for them anymore and they still paid her. But if she wished to play for them, she would. It was rather bizarre.

The only issue with this was that Valentine's day fell on a Thursday that year and I had class, Hisoka had somehow managed to get me excused and we traveled via portkey to Blake's home in Cape Jervis.

Magic never ceases to amaze me. You could be in the bitter cold winter in England and go into the warm sunny summer of South Australia. Of course, for the great change in climate and season I had to dress in more favorable attire. A strapless red dress with a long slit down the right leg.

There were always little things you could do for a client that were what I like to refer as teasers or trademarks. Mine happened to be something my mother passed on to me. Banshees have a tendency to craft things out of random objects, my mother found out I could do this in our meadow one summer morning. I don't really recall it, she's just told me the story quite a few times. I came to her with a broken twig, she blinked and it turned into three blood red flowers. While every banshee creates something different, it's a hereditary thing. My mother's flowers were red, my Maimeó's flowers were red, her mother's, and so on. The only thing that was different was the patterns that the veins formed. Mine were rather intricate circles, and were seen quite clearly due to the veins being uncharacteristically dark. They were a bit temperamental you see, sometimes they rapidly closed and rebloomed whenever they felt like it. Over a year prior, I had made an arrangement of these flowers into a heart from some branches and gave it to Karl. I always wondered if he kept it...the flowers don't die until the creator does.

For every client I had in years to come, I would make them something different.

For Blake, I made him a simple sphere of flowers.

"Happy Valentine's Day." Audrey gave him a smile.

"These are lovely." Blake grinned, flicking his wand and the sphere set off onto a mantel. "But you're lovelier…Come in."

Audrey said a quick thanks and set up her cello.

The hour only lasted minutes to me and before I knew it we were apparating to Daniel Jones' home, he was one of Blake's team mates.

Years after Blake's party, I was at a similar engagement with Iris. When we were in the powder room, I remember her saying "I always feel like an animal on display at these parties."

There are no other words to describe what these engagements are like. Everyone looks at you, it's as if they know you're hiding something even though they don't.

Though the party was still great fun.

Returning to England though was a bit of a bother, the times are quite far apart, and it was late into the evening by the time we returned to the school.

Audrey walked into the Gryffindor common room, carrying her cello and her heels. It was deserted, the fire was just dying out.

"Alright, love?" murmured a sleepy voice.

"Sirius, why are you still down here?" Audrey asked. "You should go to bed."

I was actually planning on laying out on the couch naked but I decided against it at the last moment. I didn't want her to kill me, after all.

"I was waiting for you." He replied, sitting up and stretching. "Happy Valentine's Day." He grinned.

"It's technically the fifteenth already, but alright." Audrey replied, kissing him on the lips. He wanted more but she pushed him away, resisting the temptation.

"You need to go to bed, we have class tomorrow."

"Yes, mum." Sirius replied sarcastically, blowing her a kiss.

"You shouldn't call me mum, then it gives Marlene more incentive to make pure blood incest jokes." Audrey said, half serious, half joking.

"You're right." Sirius murmured. "Good night, Audrey."