Hello, readers! Firstly, WOAH THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS, thewrittenword87, Nova5621, CharlotteBlackwood & HandsomHolly (I really want to reply to your questions but I can't PM you seeing as you don't have your password. D: )! :D
Secondly, I'm going to address a question that won't spoil the story for those who haven't read the first one.
Will I be writing after this story: I'm not quite sure at the moment. I have a busy school year ahead of me, which means the only times that I will be able to write are my winter break (December) and summer break (May 2014.) I have a bunch of one shots for Deleted Scenes already written out, so I'll be publishing those and such in the mean time.
I may or may not write a completely different story unrelated to my previous works. I think I'd need to go through and re-read the series again to find some inspiration.
What I will be doing, along with Deleted Scenes, is going through The Dark Lord's Last Hope and editing A LOT of the chapters. For those of you who have known me from the beginning and stuck around, you know there were a lot of mistakes between my own writing skills and the FF editor cutting things off at odd times. I really need to polish up that story; I may even do some of it today after I finish this one. (But I also have to pack a lot for school…hmmm…)
*WARNING! INTENSE CHAPTER!*
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS QUEEN!
CHAPTER 110
By September I was going mad, I could no longer stand behind caged. I loved spending time with my daughter, and playing cello together, but my arguments with Sirius had left me exhausted. It seemed that something was wrong every day. His drinking had increased…I believed that it wasn't entirely stress related. It was the loneliness; neither of us had seen James, Lily, or Remus in so long. It was only two months, but it felt like an eternity. I must admit, that I do blame myself as well for his issues…I put far too much stress on him. Humans, they are such fragile creatures.
I decided that I would be a little reckless again, I wanted to perform…I deserved to perform after the 8 hour days I had been practicing for the last six months. It took me a few days to figure out where I could perform, and then it hit me one day when I was looking out the window. The trees were dancing in the wind, it reminded me of Chantal and Teagan.
"Are you going into Hogsmeade today?" Chantal asked, shaking Audrey awake.
"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Audrey mumbled, she shouldn't have been surprised. Chantal was always one to shake someone awake.
"Well?" Chantal asked.
"Yeah, the whole gang is going in." Audrey replied, and by the whole gang, she meant everyone else in their dorm.
"Good, I want to go to the Hogshead." Chantal said.
"What?" Audrey asked, sitting up.
"You heard me."
"Yes, I did hear you. Chantal, are you taking a Stupid Draught?" Audrey asked, serious.
"No, I am not taking a Stupid Draught." Chantal did jazz hands to emphasize the last two words. "Very clever with that, but anyway, the Hogshead has tons of our kind there, Audrey. We're not going to be killed or anything. And they have an open mic!"
"So does the Three Broomsticks." Audrey replied.
"Audrey, you move rocks, you can cause an 8.0 on the Richter scale. I can shoot fire from my hands and turn into a vicious bird! We'll be fine." Chantal said casually.
The problem with going to the Hogs Head would be its audience. Though it is mainly a bar for creatures, there could be others lurking in the shadows. If I was going to be this careless, I needed to at least disguise myself.
Audrey went through her never-ending trunk; she found dresses, robes, make up, and other things she had completely forgotten about.
For my first performance, I had given myself pale blonde hair, a smaller nose, blue eyes. For my second performance, I was a red head with small lips black eyes, and a scar across my cheek. I continued that ruse for a few weeks, but it grew as tired as my marriage to Sirius was…
We fought so much that fall; we always slept in different rooms. We didn't speak in the mornings. I made myself scarce when he came home from shifts.
That very last night in October was the worst that it's ever been…
Audrey came downstairs to get Anastasia a glass of water before putting her to bed. Sirius sat at the table, staring at the wood.
He looked so pale, as if he had swallowed the most terrible secret.
"Ar-are you alright?" It was hard for Audrey to speak; she hadn't spoken to him in days.
Sirius shook his head.
"D'you want to talk about it?" Audrey asked, coming closer.
He shook his head again.
"Sirius, you look as though you have seen a ghost." Audrey was concerned.
"I'm fine." He said in a dead voice.
Audrey left the topic alone, and poured a cup of water. After a few moments of silence, Sirius spoke.
"Why do you care?"
"What?" Audrey was startled by that question.
"You heard me." Sirius said.
Audrey turned to face him.
"I think you sometimes forget that I took a vow with you. Even though things are bad right now, I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. Ring any bells?"
"It's funny, Audrey. You've conveniently forgotten the to be true to you in good times and bad part." Sirius sneered.
"I am not the only one in this room who has lied, Sirius." Audrey gave him a steady look.
"But you've certainly done it more than I have." He retorted. "That's the thing about you, you've lied and lied and lied…which, I understand, with me being so drunk and unpredictable I don't deserve the truth in some aspects. But none the less, you have went against our vows."
"For our family's safety." Audrey replied through gritted teeth.
"Y'know what also was beneficial for our family's safety? You sneaking out when you're not supposed to be out! Going to Russia on Christmas day, going to see that greasy prick a few weeks ago, oh and going out every fucking Wednesday night for no apparent reason."
"I haven't been seen." Audrey said through gritted teeth. "Russia and Severus were equally important."
"If Russia and Severus were equally important than it was just a bunch of people from your past telling you what I've been telling you all along." Sirius threw his hands up in annoyance.
"Russia was important because I needed to know something about my family, something that I've missed. It has changed so many things…" Audrey hissed. "Severus was important because I needed to say good bye."
"You said good-bye to that greasy prick at graduation." Sirius snarled. "Russia? Your family secret? I doubt you found it, you probably just wanted to go back and snog Gregorovitch."
"I DID NOT." Audrey protested, she was getting frustrated. Sirius was always accusatory when he was drunk, but tonight he was sober and it hurt so much more.
"Then why do you deny it so fiercely?" He replied, crossing his arms.
"Sirius Orion Black, I would never cheat on you." Audrey slammed her hand on the table. "If I had wanted Karl Gregorovitch, I-"
"Would have gone back to Russia one or more times to visit him?" Sirius interrupted.
"I would have married him instead of you." Audrey finished. "Sirius, the secrets I bear, I cannot speak of."
Before Audrey could say another word, the glass mug that Sirius had in his hand hit her hard in the face. There was a gash on her cheek that quickly began to bleed.
Audrey couldn't take it any longer; she wouldn't take it any longer.
She punched him in the mouth, and then he lunged for her. They slammed into the counter hard, she shoved him off with great force.
War…it does such terrible things to love.
They sat in opposite ends of the kitchen. Sirius sat in the rubble of what their kitchen table was, Audrey sat in the hole that was now in the counter.
"I have been trying to protect you." Audrey said quietly, the tears that were rolling down her cheeks mixed with the blood from her wound.
"Lying to protect?" Sirius sneered. "Hardly a good reason when I'm all you've got."
"I stand with my decision, Sirius. It's for your own good." Audrey replied back.
Sirius' eyes wandered to the staircase, their daughter was watching them. Judging by her face, she had been there the whole time.
His gaze returned to his wife.
"No." He shook his head. "I can't do this anymore."
He stood up and made his way for the door.
Audrey shot up.
"You don't mean it..." She bit her lip, more tears beginning to fall.
"I'm going." Sirius said sternly, striding to the door and slamming it shut.
I felt the ground shake beneath my feet, for the first time in years. I was stunned when I realized that I was the cause.
Audrey sank to the floor and sobbed.