Sorry this took so long! Things got a bit busy here, I meant to publish yesterday but this website seems to be having some issues.

Long chapter! Whoohoo.

Thanks for the reviews, thewrittenword87, LizziePixie-Aiko (long time no see! :D), and CharlotteBlackwood.

Review please? It lets me know people are reading and whatnot. :)

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

CHAPTER 98

St. Aleksander's was as dark as the last time Audrey had seen it. There was a blanket of dust that covered the furniture and the floors. There weren't any foot prints in the dust other than the ones they had made. That gave Audrey some reassurance, over the last six years she had wondered if anyone broke into her grandmother's home.

"It couldn't have been this easy." Afanasi said, as they quietly made their way through the main hallway.

"You're right." Audrey nodded, looking around.

Within the first few minutes of being inside the palace, I realized how terrible of a thing it was to come back. Everywhere I looked, I was reminded of what had happened… I had passed the spot in the hallway where I slipped in blood, where I watched my Aunt be murdered before my very eyes.

Every step I took, I felt my heart get heavier and heavier. I remember envying Sirius, who was at home with our daughter, sound asleep.

Karl gave her hand a squeeze, Audrey sighed, blinking back some tears.

It was harder to hold myself together as we made our way towards the entrance hall. Just as we were about to enter the right door of the hall, the doorway began to glow.

The four stepped back, a little alarmed.

At the far side of the hall, the dust began to rise. Through that dust, a shape was forming…the shape of a man.

They watched as it approached them. Once he came under the moonlight, they recognized him at once.

"Я знал, что ты вернешься" He said.

"I knew that you would come back."

"Jacques." Audrey whispered, her eyes pooling with tears. Sven, Karl, and Afanasi seemed to be more in shock than she was.

"Why did it take you so long, Audrey?" He asked quietly. "I came for you…"

Karl, Sven, and Afanasi shot her a peculiar look.

"I came for you…nearly a year ago…I am bound to the palace and yet I still was able to come for you…"

"I know." Audrey replied, her voice shook. "I am sorry I took so long…but it was hard to find the right opportunity."

"What is he talking about?" Sven asked her.

"I'll explain later." Audrey said quietly, as she approached her dead cousin. "Dzhek, what did you mean when you said you were bound here?"

"He's dead…" said Afanasi.

"No shit, Merlin." Sven mumbled.

"You didn't let me finish." Afanasi gave him a look. "He's bound to this land. He was murdered here, he has unfinished business. He cannot move on."

"So, would that mean that the rest of the family is here as well?" Karl asked.

"Da." Jacques replied, walking towards them. He passed them and went to the doorway. He pointed down the hallway.

"Alina guards that hallway."

"We didn't see her when we came in." Sven said, perplexed.

"She likes to stay in the shadows." Jacques replied, pointing to a window near the end of the hallway. All they could see was her silhouette.

"Where are the others?" Karl asked.

"Hans and Petro guard the main doors, Ivan roams the top floor, Sophia is always in the gardens-"

"We didn't see her when we came in…" Sven said.

"She knows who you are." Jacques waved a hand. "Why would she have any reason to come out?"

"What about grandfather and grandmother?" Audrey asked, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

Jacques said nothing, but pointed to a corner of the hall that was rather dark.

The corner, in which my grandmother had died, was the same in which she stood. We could barely see her in the moonlight. She wore a straight face; she held up a hand and gave a small wave.

She wasn't the same…it hurt.

Audrey bit her lip and blinked back some tears as she waved back with the others.

Jacques then pointed upward.

A pair of white eyes stared at them in the dark.

"Jacques, why are you the only one who speaks?" Sven asked, looking around the empty hall.

"They've chosen me to speak to you." He replied, pacing for a moment. "I was the one chosen to find Audrey last year to tell her."

"But you didn't find me." Audrey said softly. "You found my daughter."

"She's of this blood…she must know too." Jacques said, his voice was tense.

"She's just a child." Audrey argued.

"Audrey, one day she will need to know this. Just as much as you. You need to find it…it's always been here. It's been waiting for you." Jacques urged.

"You can't tell us where it is?" Afanasi asked, noticing some noise outside. Someone had broken curfew. "What if they find out we're here?"

"We have guarded St. Aleksander's for six years, waiting for Audrina…no one has gotten in. And if someone does get in…we will be ready for them. We can give them quite a fright." Jacques was confident.

"But…sorry if this is rude, Jacques, can you still…you know…" Sven felt very awkward.

"Do we still have our powers?" Jacques replied in a flat tone.

The four nodded.

Jacques sighed and snapped his fingers. There was a gust of wind, and then a book came flying through the hall. It hit Sven in the gut.

"I think that's a yes." Karl said.

"What are you standing around for?" Jacques snapped, now hearing people outside in the city. "Split off and start looking! It won't be an easy find."

The four nodded, Sven and Afanasi took the left wing of the palace, Karl and Audrey took the right. They had four floors to get through, and Audrey couldn't even think of where to begin.

We started in the hallway from which we came, looking under every table, looking in every corner for something.

The worst part is…I didn't even know what to look for! Was the secret written down? Was it in a crystal ball? Was it written behind a painting?

There were so many possibilities, and judging by the noises outside, we had a limited amount of time.

They wandered up the hallway, turning over tables, opening drawers, feeling the walls for secret panels.

"So, what have you been up to these last few years?" Karl asked, looking at Audrey. He was genuinely curious, and trying to make conversation so that the deafening silence of her grandparents' home wouldn't get to her.

She hadn't stepped foot in the palace since the night she had witnessed her family murdered before her very eyes. Karl could easily sense her mixed emotions.

"I made my debut during November of my fifth year, and I've seen good clientele since. Though the times are tough now, many of my clients have been reported missing, or dead...I only have one left, and I'm hardly allowed out of my home anymore."

Audrey frowned, it annoyed her greatly to be confined to her home. She loved her daughter more than anything in the world, but she had longed for a stage and the feeling she got when she performed. On top of that, she was incredibly envious that Sirius was allowed to leave, even if it was mostly for Order business.

Karl frowned with her, he remembered how badly she wanted it. "It must have crushed you…"

Audrey nodded. "Yeah, it's been difficult, but I'm not alone…"

"I saw you…" Audrey said, after a few moments of silence. She looked at the floor and smiled coyly, tears pooled in her eyes. "Twice."

Karl stopped infront of her, cocking his head slightly. "You saw me, and you did not say hi?"

Audrey blinked back some tears. "Karl, you would not recognize me at all if you saw me. It would have put both of us in danger."

"You were there the night that the gala was attacked, weren't you? You threw those rocks at my attackers…" Karl said, piecing it together.

Audrey nodded, her voice breaking slightly. "I couldn't stand by and let him hurt you, even though I should not have intervened."

Oh, how badly Karl just wanted to kiss her right now, but his eyes wandered to her left hand. He knew it was going to happen, he could tell by the way he looked at her so many years ago. As long as she was happy, he'd be happy, but she clearly wasn't as she stood before him. She seemed very broken…

Karl bumped her hip and pointed to her left hand, changing the subject.. "I see you've gotten married."

Audrey had to laugh at Karl's antics, he hadn't changed much. Under the sober exterior the war had given him he was still the same charming boy she knew.

"Da…I finally caved to Sirius my fifth year of school…we dated for two years, and he proposed to me on Valentines day of our seventh year. He's always been rather…" Audrey began.

"Persistent? Cheesy?" Karl supplied, a smirk forming on his features.

"Yes." Audrey replied.

"Sven called it, I'm quite impressed." He grinned.

"What?"

"He said, after we broke up, that he bet that if we didn't get back together Sirius would pounce on you." Karl said, trying not to sound in lament. He truly loved her, but he knew that when you loved someone that much, you had to let them go. All that mattered to him was that she was safe and happy.

Audrey gave a tiny laugh. "Yeah, Sven knows me all too well. He claimed that Sirius looked at me like 'more than a piece of meat.'"

"Oh how right he was." Karl thought to himself. But decided not to say it, he motioned for Audrey to continue.

"Then I got pregnant-"

"How'd your parents feel about that one?" Karl laughed, remembering Isaac and Airleas fondly.

"They didn't take it as badly as I had expected." Audrey paled, she tried not to think about them. It was just easier that way, it was easier to think that she had no parents all along rather than deal with the truth. "I mean, my mother was about my age when she was pregnant with me, and they were married about the same age as well. They were quite ecstatic about being grandparents."

"I heard you mention your daughter earlier…what's her name?"

"Her name is Anastasia." She gave him a watery smile, her eyes wandered to a dark corner of the hallway. Karl looked over to see the elder Anastasia standing in the corner, watching them intently. She gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement and kept walking.

Audrey eyes were filling with tears. He reciprocated, he understood her pain. Her grandmother was so close to her at that moment, but so distant.

"I know." Karl gave her a squeeze. "I miss them too…but I'm sure she's honored that you named her after her. I'm sure she would have adored her. Tell me about her?" Karl wanted to sway the subject as they continued searching the hallway.

"She's just three years old, born in November. She's playing already, I can't get over it. She's got my grandmother's nose, and an odd combination of Sirius' and my hair." Audrey gave a weak laugh.

"Where is she now? With Sirius or your parents?"

Audrey's demeanor changed entirely which startled him, her eyes were blue, her lip was quivering, tears were beginning to fall.

"Audrey?" Karl stopped, taking hold of her shoulders. "What's wrong, what is it?"

She shook her head, taking a few deep breaths to make sure she kept her emotions in check. "M-m-my parents are dead, Karl…"

He didn't say anything, but pulled her into his chest. She sobbed. "A week! A week after I told them I was expecting, Albus pulls me out of class…and he told me he killed them, he just came into our home, and he killed them. Because my father refused to join him…"

Karl pressed his lips to her temple, she was shaking, not because of her powers, just from sadness and exhaustion.

"THEY DIDN'T EVEN GET TO MEET HER…" Audrey wailed, muffled into his chest. She kept her hand over her mouth, though St. Aleksander's was safe, they still had to be careful.

"I know…" said Karl, rubbing her back. "Is that why you came back as well?"

Audrey nodded and looked up at him. "Everything's gotten so scary in England, Karl…and when I came here, I had a brief hope that everything would be the same here, but it's not. It's just as frightening as it is back home, barren…"

Karl nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Disappearances and deaths every day-"

From the outside, in the square, there were yells and screams. Karl and Audrey ran to the closest window, looking down below.

In the square, there were black figures laying in the snow…motionless.

"We really need to start looking now, Audrey." Karl said quickly. "I'm sure they don't know we're in here but we can't be too sure…and they can only buy us so much time." He looked towards Anastasia Ivanoff, who stood in the moonlight, watching them.

Audrey nodded, taking a breath.

"Where were you last time? Where did you think it was?"

"My grandfather's study…" Her eyes widened, remembering. She began to sprint down the hallway, Karl followed.