Hello! I am back from school until September 1st (that's when the lease starts on my apartment. Totally appropriate for going back to Hogwarts. ;D)

I'm SO SORRY it's been so long, I know a lot of you are also at University so I'm sure you'll all understand. I'm still making a few decisions on the next few chapters and where I'm going with this, etc. I'm also working more on the deleted scenes. I need to refresh my mind a bit…I may be a bit rusty.

Thanks for the reviews, Weasleytwinslover87, javalon14, LizziePixie-Aiko, marycaity, MissLunaLovegood1999, Vivi Fontaine, Masterofbugs123, JulesDragonlady, angeldog14, and thewrittenword87! :]

Reviews are lovely! ;]

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

CHAPTER 60

"RISE AND SHINE!" yelled James Potter, running into Sirius' room and jumping on the bed.

Sirius shot up, grabbing James' legs and pulling him down. He put a finger to his lips and pointed to Audrey who was somehow still asleep.

James' mouth formed a perfect O; Sirius shut it for him, giving him a small grin. James assessed the situation and then mouthed.

"Did you…?"

Sirius shook his head, giving his friend a shocked look.

"What?" James whispered. "You're…you."

"I'm not going to unless she wants to." Sirius said evenly, giving his friend a look that said 'Don't push it.'

"Sorry." James whispered, holding up his hands in surrender. "I just assumed, and that was wrong. I apologize, Pads."

Sirius nodded. "It's fine, Prongs. You know it's hard for me to get mad at you."

James blew him a kiss, and Remus walked in, giving them a weird look.

"I knew you two were lovers." Remus joked, grinning.

"Got the Prophet, I see." James retorted.

"What else is new?" Sirius whispered, throwing his hands in the air. Audrey stirred.

"I'm surprised she's still asleep." Said James. "Doesn't she have super-sonic hearing or something ridiculous like that?"

"No, James. She just has better hearing than a human, like I do." Remus replied.

"Oh." said James. "So basically, she has super sonic hearing."

Audrey lifted her head finally, looking a little annoyed.

"We can never get any alone time, can we?" She said, sitting up.

James and Remus grinned.

"Not with us around." Said Peter, scampering into the room.

"Good morning, Peter." Audrey said.

"Wait, how come you said good morning to him and not me?" said James, incredulous.

"Good morning, Remus." Audrey said, ignoring James and turning to Remus.

"Good morning, Audrey." Remus replied, giving her a nod.

Audrey turned to Sirius, whispered good morning and gave him a long kiss on the lips. Sirius grinned.

James tapped his foot in mock annoyance. Audrey laughed and shouted.

"GOOD MORNING, JAMES!"

James puffed up in anger and stormed out of the room, he then roared from down the hallway.

"GOOD MORNING, RUSSIA."

Audrey burst into laughter, and Sirius kicked Remus and Peter out of the room.

"Why'd you do that?" Audrey cocked her head.

"Because I wanted to go back to sleep, it's eight." Sirius whined, flopping down on the bed and pulling Audrey down to him.

"Sirius…" Audrey whined, pushing him away, but he clung tighter. She laughed.

"You like it." Sirius kissed her temple.

"I don't think I can sleep any longer, plus Marly will be here soon." Audrey said, sitting up and brushing herself off.

"Oooh, I see how it is." Sirius said sarcastically. "Ditch the boyfriend for the best friend. You know, Remus won't be too happy about this either."

"Why, because Marly and I make a better couple than you and James, or you and Remus?" Audrey said, standing in the doorway raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you're both certainly better looking." He winked, Audrey laughed shaking her head and went downstairs to get breakfast.

Of course, I knew when Marlene McKinnon arrived at these parties. Audrey would go sprinting to her and tackle her to the ground, hugging her. This was a normal thing, they greeted each other better than James and I would, but then again, James and I were seldom apart.

Sirius came downstairs a few minutes after the noise of Audrey and Marlene's reunion to see that Audrey was in Marlene's arms.

"Are you two tying the knot?" Sirius asked, putting a shirt on as he walked down the stairs.

"Yes, Sirius. Because I'm more of a man than you are." Marlene said in a mock-gruff voice.

"What about me?" said a familiar, casual voice. Remus had appeared behind Marlene and she dropped Audrey to attack him with kisses.

Sirius extended a hand to Audrey and helped her off the floor.

"My woman left me." Audrey exclaimed, shocked.

"That's what happens when she has a hot werewolf boyfriend." said James, walking by. Audrey burst out laughing.

The rest of the day was filled with arrivals and shenanigans. The girls had locked themselves away in Marlene's room to talk for a while, the boys grew bored waiting.

"I notice Sirius is tame." Marlene cooed. Audrey gave her friend a strange look.

"She's right." piped in Sarah. "He hasn't insulted Marlene or Lily at all."

"…Yet." Lily added, skeptical of Sirius changing. Audrey nodded, in accord with the redhead.

"He hasn't changed." Audrey chimed in.

"He's just keeping his mouth shut because he fancies her." said Sarah, nodding her head at Audrey.

Audrey was about to fight back but her friends gave her looks that said otherwise.

"Well, I think it's just because of recent events. I suppose…" Audrey said, in thought. She then went on to explain what had happened in her home the previous day.

Her friends paled upon hearing about Vladimir's men.

"They came after you." Lily was frightened. "Audrey, you can't keep performing, someone is going to figure you out."

Audrey stared out the big bay windows of Marlene's room, a storm was brewing.

What if Lily was right?

Later that evening, Audrey lay in her bed, wide-awake, staring at the wall…

What Lily had said earlier had really struck a nerve, what if they found me? What if they found my parents? They had already taken down my entire family…who's to say it wouldn't happen again. I am sure that at the time my father knew the risks and circumstances, which made me further question why he hadn't forbade me from entering this world of mirrors, deceit, and disguise.

Yet…there was a pulling voice inside of me saying "Defy the odds." This had been my dream since I was a small girl.

But were the repercussions worth it?

I question this constantly now. At the time, I thought it was worth it. But I was such a naïve fool!

Creak.

Someone was awake. Audrey assumed it was Peter, probably heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Audrey jumped when an arm snaked around her side. There was a breathy chuckle that followed.

"Relax, Audrey. It's just me." whispered Sirius, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Why is it that I always find you in my bedroom, Sirius Black?" She asked, not turning around.

"Because we're meant to be in a bedroom together, love." Sirius growled, slipping under the covers next to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him.

She snorted.

I may have always been found in her room someway or another, but it always seemed that we had the best conversations at night, lying in bed.

Audrey turned to face him, giving him a small smile.

"I thought you were asleep." He said apologetically. "I didn't want to knock and wake you."

"That's sweet." Audrey smiled, poking his nose.

"But I do have to ask, why are you awake at this hour?" Sirius cooed, pulling her closer.

"I don't know." Audrey replied, looking out the window and noticing the lightening and hearing thunder in the distance. "But it's going to rain…"

"Don't. change. the. subject." Sirius said, between planting kisses all over her. She laughed.

"I don't know why I'm awake, I was just thinking about things I suppose." Audrey said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Russia." Sirius began, Audrey gave him a look. She didn't mind her nickname, but Sirius was her boyfriend. She expected him to address her by her actual name.

"Audrey." Sirius corrected, giving her a small smile.

I always liked making her angry.

"There's no need to think or worry right now, it's the summer holidays." Sirius said soothingly.

"I know, I think my mind is just other places."

"Like home?" Sirius asked, Audrey was surprised at how well he could now read her. She always prided herself on Sirius' inability to know her thoughts.

"Home, St. Petersburg…da." Audrey said softly, Sirius stroked her hair. Not saying anything.

He somehow knew I was going to spill.

"I'm just scared, I guess. Those men could have killed my mother, all because of me. My family was killed because of me; my parents are constantly in danger because of me. Soon, my friends will be in danger because of me, you will be in danger because of me. And I don't want anyone else to get hurt, I don't want any of you to die." Audrey bit her lip, blinking back tears.

"Hey." Sirius whispered, pulling her closer. "No one is going to die, everything will be fine, Audrey."

How could he say such a thing? It was inevitable.

Because sometimes we have to lie to ourselves just to fall asleep at night.