Close to the end! AAHHH! I'm going to try to finish this story tomorrow.
Please review! PLEASE?
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS QUEEN!
CHAPTER 109
When I returned home that evening, everything was silent. Sirius and Anastasia were both asleep. I thought I was in the clear until the next morning…
Audrey woke after Sirius, she made her way downstairs. He sat at the table, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the Daily Prophet.
"Sirius, why do you still read that god awful paper?" Audrey stretched, sitting at the table across from him.
"Well, there is always some truth within the lines." He replied with an unpleasant tone.
"I suppose." Audrey replied, sipping a cup of tea.
"So." Sirius said, putting down the paper. "Where were you last night?"
"I went out for a stroll." Audrey replied, figuring that she wouldn't completely lie to him.
"A stroll that requires you to dissapparate?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"I like Scotland, what can I say?" Audrey shrugged.
"Audrey, do you even care anymore?" Sirius sighed, shaking his head. He vaguely reminded her of Remus.
It was a terrible thing that I could not tell Sirius of my fate. With my time closing, I had every right to be wreckless.
"What do you mean?" Audrey slipped into Ayla.
"Don't do that to me." Sirius gave her a glare.
"Do what?" Audrey cocked her head.
"Don't slip into character, Audrey. It's not sexy or cute when there's a war going on and a price tag on our heads." Sirius replied bluntly. "Where were you last night?"
"I just told you." Audrey replied, in her normal manner. "I was in Scotland, taking a stroll."
"Taking a stroll with Severus Snape?" Sirius stared her down.
"I haven't spoken to Severus in three and a half years, wherever would you get that idea?"
"Oh, I don't know…when he suspiciously apparated into our back yard? Perhaps you had seen him? I mean, the studio faces the yard." Sirius said with a sarcastically casual tone.
Audrey paled.
I don't know what compelled me to lie further, but there was this overwhelming feeling that I had to protect Severus. It was the fear that Sirius would go running to other members of the Order.
If that happened, Severus would be dead.
I had to protect him; he was essential to my post-mortem plans.
Audrey didn't even open her mouth, but her silence must have gotten to him.
"Don't you dare fucking lie to me, Audrey." Sirius growled. "I know you went and saw him."
Audrey remained calm; after all, their daughter was upstairs sleeping…
"Alright, alright. So I went and saw an old friend, what's the problem with that?" She replied.
"The problem?" Sirius asked, fuming. "The problem is that you severely lack judgment! YOU ARE SO WRECKLESS YOU COULD HAVE EXPOSED US ALL!"
"Severus wouldn't have contacted me if that were the case-"
Sirius snorted.
"Had he been ready to hand me over, he would have brought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named with him!"
"What did he say to you?" Sirius leaned over the table, his teeth bared. (Audrey would have laughed if the situation weren't so serious, he looked like his animaigus…)
"WHAT DID HE SAY?" Sirius slammed his mug so hard on the table it shattered and cut his hand.
"HE JUST WARNED ME TO STAY INDOORS, NOT TO BE SEEN. RELAX SIRIUS." Audrey rushed to the cabinet to grab a towel.
She was about to wrap his hand when he shoved her away.
"HOW CAN I RELAX WHEN MY WIFE JUST MET WITH A DEATH EATER WHO'S BEEN OUT FOR MY HEAD SINCE OUR SCHOOL DAYS?"
"OH!" Audrey threw her hands up. "DON'T YOU DARE…DON'T YOU DARE BRING HOGWARTS INTO THIS. IT WAS YOU AND JAMES WHO STARTED THE FUED BETWEEN YOU THREE IN THE FIRST PLACE."
"RIGHTFULLY SO!" Sirius replied. "HE WAS DESTINED TO BECOME A SLIMEBALL, AUDREY. YOU JUST COULDN'T SEE THAT BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN SHELTERED YOUR ENTIRE LIFE."
"I WAS SHELTERED BECAUSE I WAS BEING HUNTED, SIRIUS. THERE'S A DIFFERENCE. I KNOW WHAT THE REAL WORLD IS LIKE, SIRIUS. I KNOW WHAT WAR IS LIKE, I WAS BORN INTO WAR."
"AND WHAT DID YOU DO TONIGHT, GENERAL?" Sirius shot back sarcastically. "GO HAVE A BEER WITH YOUR HUNTER?"
"I HAD TO ASK OF HIM A FAVOR. SOMETHING TOO IMPORTANT THAT YOU COULDN'T HANDLE."
"You…asked him…of a favor?" Sirius was shocked. "HE'S BEEN OUT FOR YOUR HEAD SINCE HE LET THEM MARK HIM. WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU ASK HIM A FAVOR?"
"Because you won't be able to do it." Audrey said quietly, turning on her heel and going into the spare room. She slammed the door.
It was clear to both of us that our marriage was failing. Surely we could see why, we both lied to each other. Sirius was rather hypocritical, for he would call me out on my lies, but when I tried to bring out his…it was catastrophic.
I knew that when he went out on missions for the Order, he was doing other things. He wasn't unfaithful…of the many things that were wrong at the time with our marriage; we were still very much tied to each other.
What Sirius didn't realize was that I knew, deep down, that he would not be with our daughter in the future. Sirius was barely in my visions, and that frightened me greatly. I did not fear his end, for I would be one with death long before him. My biggest fear was for our daughter, she would be all alone and so very cold…
Severus Snape was a man I had trusted since the very first train ride to school. I had no doubts in my mind about him, even when he joined Voldemort, all along; I knew where his heart was.
And that was precisely why I wanted him to raise Anastasia when Sirius and I were gone.