I'm baaaaaaack. ;) Sorry for the cliff hanger, but you know me…heheh.

I know I said around mid-December (January 1st…close enough), but oh god, this semester was absolutely nuts. Too stressful, and I'm glad it's over. But anyway…HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D I hope you're all doing well, and are healthy and happy! And if you're not doing well, or are unhealthy, or unhappy…I MUST FIND YOU AND HUG YOU. D:

I've been in the process of re-reading my stories just to get a grip on what I'm writing, I have all of my ideas, I just needed a refresher. I leave on the 20th, I'll try to get out as much as I can. The break is always so unpredictable. The story is getting closer to the chapters I want to publish. (I've had three very important ones sitting in my docs folder for ages.)

Thanks SO MUCH for the reviews, ChrlotteBlackwood, TheBloodyPhoenix, LizziePixie-Aiko, Weasleytwinslover87, xXallegedangelXx, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, and thewrittenword87! :D

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

CHAPTER 82

"You have been hiding for too long, my dear." said a cold voice.

Laughter echoed through the theatre…I held my breath.

She looked through the slit of the curtain, out to where the seating for the audience was. There was a shadow in the aisle.

Holding her breath, she tip-toed across the stage.

There was a slash, then a tearing sound. The entire right curtain dropped, revaling Audrey to her attacker. She acted quickly, and twisted her fingers, which uprooted several seats.

He waved his wand, shielding himself. The seats crumbled.

A jet of blue light went whizzing at Audrey, she ducked and mumbled.

"Always the fuckin' nutters going after me."

Everytime Audrey blinked, it felt like her attacker was moving closer. He kept firing at her, and Audrey kept tearing up the theater for ammunition.

I must say, I felt rather terrible for destroying such a lovely theatre…

Audrey twisted her hands together delicately, a small red light was glowing between them. She released her arms and the whole theatre shook.

He did not stumble.

Audrey noticed that he was now in the pit, looking up at her. She could not see his eyes, his cloak covered most of his face. But she knew who he was, she could feel it in her bones.

His head was slightly cocked.

"Being very difficult, aren't we?" He tutted, he twirled his wand in his fingers.

He was now on the stage, standing infront of her.

Audrey didn't say anything...her eyes narrowed, turning red. She was waiting for his move...but there was a silence.

"I know what Vladimir Morozov did to your family, I know it still puts you on edge." He said, approaching her slowly. "It angers you, I can feel it."

Audrey said nothing, she shook slightly but repressed it.

"It's funny…" He said, walking around her, looking her up and down. "What events can shape us. We act like these tradgedies don't affect us at all, but the anger tears at our bones every day."

She said nothing as he returned to face her. Audrey's gaze was fixed straight forward at the backstage door, it was still open. She saw Regulus looking in, right at her. He wore an expression of sorrow, which then turned to rage.

"Wait for me" He mouthed to Audrey, pointing at his wand.

"Morozov is destroying Russia, your home." Voldemort said, pacing infront of her for a moment.

Audrey kept a straight face, her eye's not changing color.

"I can help you, Audrey." Voldemort said, dangerously close to her ear. "If you let me."

He stroked her arm. "Together…we could bring Vladimir down. We could save St. Petersburg, and restore the Ivanoff legacy."

Audrey saw Regulus flick his wand, a jet of red light went straight for the wizard, he turned, but did not see Regulus.

Audrey dissapparated.

As I hit the floor of our flat, I could hear my heart beating. I wasn't sure where Sirius was and I panicked.

"Sirius?" Audrey called, but grew impatient a second later. "Love? Are you home?"

"Yes, I'm here." He called, coming down the stairs swiftly. He noticed she was on the floor.

"Portkey?" He asked, grinning.

Audrey shook her head, Sirius could see something was very wrong.

"Is everything okay, love?" He asked, kneeling on the floor next to her. Audrey shook her head again, and let out a shaky sigh.

"Audrey…" Sirius said, lifting her chin so he could look her in the eyes.

She inhaled.

"I saw him, Sirius…I saw him."

"Him? You saw him?" Sirius asked, in disbelief.

At this time, there were rumors circulating that if you spoke Voldemort's name, they would find you. Increasing the fear of his name among the masses. It was clever, I must admit. But I hated being chained by everyone's paranoia. For the longest time, we were uncertain about the rumor, so we took the pre-caution anyway.

A few tears rolled down her cheeks, she took a deep breath.

"What happened?" He asked, pulling her into him.

In all of the years I had known her at that point in time, there were only two other instances where she had clung to me so tightly. I am sure that you can figure them out.

"We had just finished the concert, the audience had left. We were all getting ready to go home, and the Death Eaters had stormed in. Everyone flooed out through the Conductor's office, Alastor had told me not to risk it. He and Edgar battled some around the stage, and I slipped out the back door."

I was very shaken that night, but telling Sirius the next part was even more nerve wracking…

"And?" He asked, stroking her arm.

"I heard a voice that had called me over…the voice was so familiar…He told me to pull my hood up. I only saw his back, he told me to follow him, so I did..."

"You followed him?" Sirius asked, giving her a funny look. "Not your best idea, love."

"If I hadn't…I wouldn't have returned, Sirius." Audrey said quietly, looking at him.

Her eyes were chagning all sorts of colors, never fixed on the familiar white I knew well. She was frantic, but holding herself so well.

"There was a small alcove, and…and...it was your brother."

Sirius' face turned from calm, to confusion, to anger in seconds.

"What did he do?" He gritted his teeth. "Don't tell me he saved you because that's bullshit. Regulus is just as backwards as my parents were and he'll give you away just to save his arse."

"Sirius…" Audrey's voice shook, she was near tears. "He did…you need to see—"

Before he could respond, Albus Dumbledore apparated into their sitting area with Alastor and Edgar. Both men were covered in blood and wounds, Edgar had a large amount of blood around his mouth. He looked like a monster.

"I'm glad to see you're alright." Albus said, kneeling down to Audrey and Sirius. "Edgar wasn't sure if you had gotten out of the fray or not."

"Where were you?" Alastor barked.

"I was inside the theatre, trying to get to the fireplace." Audrey said, looking at the floor for a moment.

"I had told you not to risk it!" Alastor barked.

"You also told me not to dissapparate because they could trace that too!" Audrey snapped back, her eyes going black. She was irritated. "I supposed you didn't want me to fly either because that would have been too obvious."

The Auror shut his mouth.

"I'm assuming you disapparated?" Albus asked.

Audrey nodded.

"I didn't have a choice, he was inches from me." She replied.

"WHAT?" Sirius asked, looking at her.

"You didn't let me finish my tale, so you wouldn't have known that." Audrey replied, looking down.

"Sorry." Sirius whispered, squeezing her hand.

"Would you care to explain it again?" Albus asked.

"I'm a bit drained." Audrey replied. "But I think this would be better than my explanation."

She pressed her finger to her temple, a silvery liquid came out. Sirius flicked his wand and a pensieve came floating off of the shelf.

Audrey dropped the memory in and backed away from the pensieve. She watched as the four men went in. She moved herself to the couch and waited.

It seemed to take forever for them to come out of the pensieve, Alastor wore a stone cold expression, Edgar looked shocked, but not nearly as shocked as Sirius.

"Audrey, did he make any attempts to get inside of your mind?" He asked seriously, looking at her.

Audrey shook her head and said "No…it was just the words that did enough…On govoril o dome, i ya chuvstvoval sebya takim bolʹnym. Ya khotela umeretʹ."

"English, please." Alastor said, mumbling under his breath about foreigners.

Edgar rolled his eyes and said "She said, he spoke of home and I felt so sick, I wanted to die."

"Thanks, Fangs." said Alastor.

"That's not my name." Edgar grumbled, the Auror ignored him.

The entire time, Sirius did not speak. He was pale and expressionless…

"Audrey, I'd strongly advise you to cut your ties with the English Chamber Orchestra. You need to keep your professional engagements outside of the country." Albus said, looking at her.

Audrey nodded, still looking at the floor. Her eyes were pooling with tears.

Just a mention of St. Petersburg and I would fall apart…but what scared me the most, was how close he was to me. What if he were to come that close to my daughter?

The three men left after a little bit of discussion, leaving the couple alone. Audrey looked up to see Sirius' extended hand, he helped her off the ground. The two made their way to the sofa and collapsed onto it. She rested her head on his shoulder, they both sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you." Sirius said, after a few moments of silence. "But you must forgive me when I say this, but I still don't trust him."

"Fair enough." Audrey replied, though she disagreed. She knew it was best not to bring it up.

"I am just so happy that you're here with me." He said, looking at her. He blinked out a few tears.

"I was more worried about you and the baby." Audrey whispered, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't know what I would do if…" She stifled a sob. "I don't even know what to do now, Sirius."

He grabbed her and kissed her roughly.

"One day at a time, love. One day at a time." He said, looking out the window.