AN/- Hey everyone thanks for reviewing and adding my story to your favourites. Hope you'll continue reading and maybe drop a review sometime. That would be splendid/

Also would like to wish my friend Rhea a Happy 21-have a great one Rhea!

onward!

Chapter 17

Audrey woke up to a few people talking, the voices came from the common room and suddenly there seemed to be a terrible commotion going on outside, but the girls in her dormitory were still asleep. Audrey moved out of her bed and slipped her sneakers on, she pocketed her wand and walked out of the dormitory, as she walked down the spiral staircase that led to the common room, the voices grew louder as she reached the door to the common room, she opened the door slowly, just enough so that she could hear who the voices belonged to, she noticed Sirius, her great uncle and aunt, Flitwick, and Snape in the room along with her mother.

Someone entered the common room, Audrey noticed who it was Rita Skeeter walked in with the minister of magic; they stopped abruptly as the minister spoke.

"Thank Merlin—you caught him Severus—if he'd gotten to the boy—Merlin knows it would have been the death of me," smiled Cornelius Fudge as he walked over to Snape and raised his hand to rest it on the man's shoulder as Snape shrugged away and stood closer to Dumbledore, his eyes glaring at the minister as if severely offended by his gesture.

"The dementors will be here any minute now," said the tall dark auror who had come in with the Minister.

"Merlin—Kingsley kill the bloody rat," snarled Sirius at the auror as he pulled out his wand vehemently and pointed it at the said man, who quivered under the glares of the people who looked him down like he was filth. Suddenly Audrey felt the room grow cold, colder than she could ever imagine and it wasn't just the temperature but it felt like her insides had gone cold as well, like all the happiness was being drained out of her body, the dying fire in the grate died completely as four hooded dementors entered the room. Dumbledore threw a glare at the minister, he despised dementors and he could see the colour drain out of Sirius's face even though he tried to put on a facade of bravery.

Audrey's eyes grew wide as her breathing became normal again, no vapors left her mouth anymore as warmth spread through the room and her great uncle pulled his wand out and conjured something so majestic that her eyes could not believe. A silver phoenix shot out of his wand, as it pushed the dementors back to the door. The tiny man in the middle of the crowd of people who Audrey finally recognized as Peter Pettigrew from the last months daily prophet scrambled back towards the fireplace on seeing the dementors and then his eyes fell on Audrey who was standing behind the half open door, she was scared as that man stopped moving and looked at her with utter shock like he knew who she was.

"Get here you Rat!" snarled Sirius as he pulled Peter up by his collar, Rachel pulled her wand out as well, Audrey saw how the two friends looked at the man with severe loathing possibly more than how Snape looked at Harry.

"Don't send me back—I promise to change—Sirius-I promise—Rachel—you won't send me back Rachel—we are friend's aren't we Rachel—James wouldn't want it—he would forgive me Rachel," cried Pettigrew as Audrey's mouth dropped, Sirius tried his best to pull the man away from Rachel's feet as she tried to wriggle herself free. Audrey noticed Snape quite readily help Sirius in roughly pulling the man up.

"I wouldn't know what he'd want Wormtail—you haven't left him alive for us to know," sneered Rachel as Pettigrew gulped.

"Severus! Severus-I—you won't let them send me back there will you Severus—we were friends Severus—weren't we Severus please!" begged Pettigrew, as Snape's grip on the man's collar loosened for a second, friends spat Severus in his head, if Pettigrew had ever been his friend was when Severus had tutored him in Potions in their seventh year because Slughorn and Mrs. Pettigrew had begged him to. Snape clenched his jaw together, anger evident on his face; if the man said anything else he would kick the daylights out of him.

Sirius and Snape got Pettigrew to stand up as the short round man lunged at Rachel who took quick steps back as Sirius held him at wand point.

"She's beautiful Rachel—I see her now—she's beautiful—you know what I am talking about do you not Rachel—but she doesn't know does she—she doesn't know—I have been watching her since the past week—brilliant and who'd have imagine that she's-," said Peter his eyes at the door and Audrey knew what he was referring to, he was referring to her, she was very scared, everyone was now looking where he was, he smirked sinisterly his rotten teeth seen through his parted lips.

"Audrey—isn't it—come on out Audrey don't be shy-come and play with Uncle Peter!" snarled Peter as Audrey caught her breath in her lungs she could see Minerva walking towards the door. Audrey was a goner now, she was going to be grounded for life no maybe she'd be grounded even in her after life unless her mother sparred her and tortured her forever, but just as Minerva yanked open the door someone put a hand over her mouth and pulled her against him, it was a boy she noticed his non bulging chest as her back crashed into him. She turned around to see Harry throw a cloak over them, covering them from head to toe.

Minerva pulled the door open to find nothing and no one there the passage that led to the dormitories was empty, she even climbed the steps that ended at the dormitory doors but both the girls' dormitory door on the left and the boys' dormitories door were shut tight. Minerva came down smoothly as the minister read the man his rights while the auror who Sirius called Kingsley waited patiently next to Dumbledore whose Patronus was still flying around the dementors who seemed hungry. Rachel looked at Minerva both expectantly and worriedly as Minerva shook her head a small smiled on her lips as Rachel sighed and rubbed her temple, she rest her head on Sirius's shoulder who seemed very pleased with himself, her arm going into his.

"Will be alright—Rach—you know it—she didn't hear nothing—wish Moony was here to see this—better James," muttered Sirius as Rachel nodded into his shoulder and chuckled as she closed her eyes, she hadn't spoken to Sirius like that in a very long time, they hadn't had any friendly contact in about thirteen years and she was finally happy to have her best friend back, she was thankful he was there. She knew Severus was looking at her but it was best if he were ignored.

"They did well to hide—but they won't live—no one who supports Potter will—he's coming back—he's coming back and he will take little Harry out, Sirius even if you don't want it—see—See—See!" snarled Peter as he burst into hysterics and tore of the filthy shirt sleeve on his left hand to reveal the dark mark that was brownish black on his skin, it moved like a real snake.

Audrey looked away as her head buried into Harry's chest, it was gruesome, the man laughed and showed off his mark like it was a symbol of victory, he looked vehemently at the door and laughed as his eyes never left Rachel, he muttered.

"He will make good of her—he will—he knows the truth—you can't hide anything from the great Lord Voldemort" said Pettigrew like a war cry as Rachel snapped, she pulled away from Sirius her wand turning in her hand as she lurched forward to the little man.

"Rach—come on—No! Rachel—forget it—he's not worth it-Rach," said Sirius pulling Rachel back by her waist.

"Let go I'll kill the f-ing rat-I'll kill him—I will f—ing kill the ass—le!" snarled Rachel as Sirius tried his best to control her.

"What's wrong Rach, gone soft, did darling Audrey do this to you—Ms. independent Rachel Adams gone soft?" laughed Pettigrew as he seemed to look fearlessly at the woman. Rachel got out of Sirius's hold her wand pushed into Pettigrew's throat as the man winced as she turned the wand in his skin, the wood piercing his skin making it red and painful.

"Don't say a word against my-!" stopped Rachel and glared at Pettigrew who smirked as Sirius's hand rest lightly on her shoulder.

"You're what—go on Rachel-say it!"said Peter smirking, Rachel looked at him with loathing, the fact that the bastard knew the truth did not please her in the least, he knew her daughter's name, hearing it come out of his mouth made her want to kill him, the man who had killed her god-brother the man who was responsible for the death of her best friend—James was gone, she wished he had too.

The minister stopped talking and nodded at Dumbledore whose Patronus disappeared and the dementors went forward towards Pettigrew as Sirius pulled Rachel away from the man, she looked at him with hatred, but the scariest part of all was that even when the dementors took the man away, his bout of hysteria was still present.

Audrey couldn't sleep that night and she was thankful for the Sunday, she wanted to talk to Snape, but she scratched the thought out of her head, after all he said it himself, he could not be trusted. After the adults had cleared out of the common room, Harry and she had sat down and spoken for really long, Harry told her everything about Pettigrew, he needed someone to talk to and she promised not to tell anyone else and in return Audrey told him a secret she was not allowed to tell anyone, she told him who her mother was, now they both had some sort of insurance over each other. She trusted him and she was glad he could trust her in return but she needed to get out of Hogwarts this school was putting one problem in front of her after another.

Audrey sat at the house table as everyone around her ate breakfast animatedly, everyone except her and Harry they sat uncomfortable as hell, still thinking about last night's events. Audrey saw Sirius, Remus and her mother enter the great hall, talking happily about something, last night's scars on Remus's face still very raw and fresh. Malfoy walked pass them and threw a dirty glance but Remus brushed it away instantly as they walked up towards the head table. Rachel paused at where her daughter was sitting and playing with her food.

"Audrey—when are you going to stop playing with your food?—you are fourteen for Merlin's sake," said Rachel as Audrey jumped in her seat at being addressed suddenly even Harry's spoon fell into his bowl of oatmeal splashing it around.

"Are you alright?" asked Rachel putting her hand on her daughter's back as Audrey nodded vigorously.

"You sure Drey?" asked Remus sceptically as she nodded and smiled at him, he smiled back at her and they carried on their path to the head table as Sirius sat down with the children talking to Ron about the Chudley Cannons. They noticed Rachel turn suddenly and walk back up to Audrey who stiffened.

"Where were you last night at three?" she asked suspiciously as Audrey looked at her hands, her weakness was she couldn't lie to her mother if she looked her in the eyes.

"In my dormitory—sleeping—I don't know," she muttered as Rachel gulped.

"Ms. Granger was Ms. Adams in her bed at three last night—you are the leader of your room aren't you?" asked Rachel as Hermione looked at her, she had seen Audrey sneak out but she hadn't followed her out, now she looked at Audrey who looked at her with pleading eyes.

"I wouldn't know professor—umm—I don't think any one left the room," said Hermione as honestly as possible.

"Are you sure you don't know or are you just trying to save her skin?" asked Rachel as Hermione looked at Audrey who had closed her eyes in despair.

"Give it a rest Rach!" said Sirius as Rachel calmed down looked at her daughter.

"I want to see you at the lake after breakfast—Snape said he wants to speak with you about something that you are aware of-" said Rachel as Audrey nodded.

"Are you supervising?" asked Audrey sarcastically as Rachel glared at her for back answering as Sirius sniggered earning himself a glare from Rachel.

"What about Jea—professor Claude's detention or whatever?" asked Audrey thinking about the detention Snape had promised.

"Sadly Jean doesn't remember anything from last night—it seems as if his memory of the incident has been wiped off," said Rachel as Audrey smirked at her and Sirius added his inputs.

"Innocent until proven guilty Rach," he said as Rachel rolled her eyes and walked up to the head table, Audrey sighed in relief and smiled gratefully at him who returned her smile with a handsome grin.

Audrey finished breakfast, went back to the common room, collected her egg and strolled back down to the grounds, she had finally learnt her way back and forth through the school. It was not like the Beauxbatons castle, they didn't have stairs that moved at their will or portraits who confused you because they were confused about where they were situated. Hogwarts was not a culture shock but it was definitely a maze.

Audrey stood by the black lake as the spring breeze blew serenely making ripples in the lake, she stood by the bank as she put the egg in her rucksack and took in a deep breath of the fresh air, she looked at her watch, it was a Sunday and not just that people had finally some free time on their hands so when most of the students would be bombarding the Hogsmeade shops some of them would go to the library while a few other would get their doubts cleared from teachers, so Audrey would have to wait till Snape and her mother would have free time on their hands to come down to the lake.

She picked a stone and threw it into the lake, to see how far it could go, she found it oddly amusing and therefore continued to do it when the giant squid finally came to the surface of the water and squirted water at her narrowly missing by a few inches as Audrey apologised by smiling, she did not know if the message got across but the squid went back into the water and did not reappear, but someone spoke to Audrey from behind.

"Pleasant Morning isn't it?" asked Barty Crouch as Audrey turned and greeted him with a small smile, he walked up to her and stood next to her; she nodded in reply.

"We don't really have a lake at Beauxbatons, but our pool isn't so bad too," commented Audrey as Crouch nodded.

"My Aunt and godfather used to go here," added Audrey softly looking at the castle as Barty Crouch looked at it fondly a different look in his eyes, possibly nostalgia mixed with some sort of pain.

"I went here with your great uncle and aunt, my son attended school with your aunt," replied Crouch sighing as Audrey smiled.

"Where is he now?" she asked curiously just in case he was her-there was no harm in trying.

"He's dead." Finished Crouch rather coldly as Audrey felt her insides go hard, it seemed like Crouch was quite sentimental about the topic, she did not push it forward as Crouch changed the topic.

"It must have been hard growing up not knowing you parents—you and Mr. Potter have been through similar circumstances—possibly one reason why the goblet chose you two," he said wondering what her opinion was, but it seemed like she didn't have any on the matter.

"I certainly hope you do well in this task Ms. Adams-you are quite strong willed like your aunt-you'll make a fine spinner just like her," he commented as Audrey looked at him confused, Spinner?

"To be a spinner is very similar to being an animagus you need to be registered in both the fields, except, Spinning is working your wand in different ways to create different spells or different ways to do that spell—while being an animagus is just Transfiguration, both very difficult and dangerous courses, both need a trained master to teach you," said Crouch who seemed to have noticed the confused look on her face. She merely nodded, although new information was always good when it was Audrey she liked learning new things, she thought it would eventually be useful in the future.

Audrey sighed it had been almost half an hour and neither Snape nor her mother had reared from the pathway towards the lake, Audrey could hear a crowd of students shuffling themselves to Hogsmeade for their customary Sunday weekend as their laughter and loud chatter filled the air and made it infectious, even Audrey wanted to go now, she wanted to see what it was like, they too had a small muggle village near their school but she had never been to a complete wizarding village.

A few minutes later, she saw Snape and her mother walk down to towards the lake, Snape was at quite a pace it felt like he was running but in reality he just had very long strides. Audrey saw her mother smiling and laughing in her best navy blue and purple robes as Jean wore a black cloak over his dark grey robes, Snape decked in black did not turn around to look at the insufferable couple, he simply walked towards Audrey and stood next to her as the rest made their way at their own sweet pace.

"Now, that we're all here, I suppose we can finally being," he sneered harshly as Jean's hand on his fiancée dropped a little lower making it uncomfortable for the rest as Rachel blushed deeply, he raised his eyebrows at Snape and Audrey and motioned them to continue.

Audrey rolled her eyes and picked up her egg as Snape walked up to her and took the egg from her hands inspecting it closely.

"I suppose you've figured it out then?" he asked as she nodded and began her explanation.

"Last night when the egg opened up in the snow, it went silent but according to my deductions I have realised the core that cracks the clue is not snow because snow is not an element and since the first element used was fire this should ideally be a task to do with water—snow being a form of water but in totality a mixture of air and humidity," she completed her speech as Jean made a snoring noise making Rachel giggle inaudibly. Audrey was going to snap at him rudely, first she could not go to Hogsmeade because of him and now he was mocking her—who called him here in the first place.

"So have you tried opening it in water then?" Snape asked ignoring Jean who smirked making bubbles in the air behind Snape that joint together and read 'snark'. Audrey snapped, her nostrils flared, Severus thought she looked a lot like Minerva.

"Why are you here!" she declared coldly as Rachel looked at her, Jean's eyes tore away from his magic making it disappear.

"I have no idea why Adams—I want to be in Hogsmeade—but I can't leave you're lovely Aunt alone with you and-," he said throwing a disgusted glance at Snape. Audrey closed her eyes and rubbed them slowly as if thinking of a hex to kill him.

"Can we please continue," said Rachel motioning Audrey to go on and finish it as she transfigured a large open tank and Jean filled it instantly showing of his skills in charms as the air made his brownish blonde hair flies lightly in the wind making him look handsome as ever.

Audrey went forward and opened the egg in the tank, her inference had been correct as bubbles formed at the top of the water she took a deep breath and plunged her head into the tank.

"Come seek us where our voices sound-we cannot sing above the ground-an hour long you'll have to look to recover what we took—no hour more you'll get—your prize will dissolve by sunset." Sang the egg as Audrey shut it and pulled her head out while the three adults waited in anticipation.

"Well?" asked Rachel anxiously as Audrey looked at her trying to catch her breath.

"I know what it is," she finished as Rachel looked at her and Jean rolled his eyes and checked his watch, they would miss the puppet show in Hogsmeade that was held every Sunday, Audrey was too displeased so she looked harshly at Jean and snapped.

"Well—what, it's my clue—I decide who tell and—who not to," she finished looking at Jean unpleasantly.

"Whatever Adams-good for you—come on Ray," whined Jean as Snape clenched his jaw, he just called Rachel—Ray it was what he used to call her—only him.

"She could very well die!" cried Rachel angrily

"Well—it's her life!" said Jean with an obvious shrug as Rachel glared at him.

"Audrey-," began Rachel as Audrey looked at Jean and smirked he did not know how much leverage he had offered her there.

"Yea—he's right—it is my life," she said snapping as she smiled at Snape and departed with her egg as a quick swoosh of her wand and a soft incantation her hair was instantly dry.

Audrey made her way to the dormitory and on her way she found Harry walking down with Ron and Hermione.

"Harry!" she called as he turned to look at her, she stepped into the circle of three and spoke to them.

"Have you cracked the egg yet?" she asked him her hand resting on his arm. He looked disheartened and shook his head but she smiled at him and whispered into his ears.

"It will open with water—go swimming of take a bath or something—trust me," she said smiling as Harry who beamed at her.

"I owed you," she said smiling as Harry pulled her hand into his before she departed.

"I am not letting you get out of this one Adams—you're coming to Hogsmeade with us," he said pulling out his invisibility cloak and a worn out parchment and Audrey was amazed as writing appeared on the parchment as if an invisible hand was writing on it.

"Wow," she declared touching the parchment, this was brilliant magic and she wished she knew how to do it, she wished several things one of which was coming true today—she was finally giving up her fears and going to go to Hogsmeade where she promised herself to enjoy, after all she had earned it.

AN/- REVIEW!-and get a free piece of chocolate cake that my friend is going to bake for me. =)