Saving Audrey

Chapter 2

"Audrey Virginia Kelly, get out of the bed and make your self presentable this instant."

Audrey rolled out of bed with a terrible feeling in her stomach. For one, her mother never woke her herself. That was a job left to Lisa, Audrey's older sister. Lisa pretty had most of the responsibility where Audrey was concerned, except for the discipline aspect. That seemed to be left up to Audrey's grandparents and mother. All Tina seemed to do was criticize and try to plot out Audrey's life. Lisa was the one who took care of Audrey and actually seemed interested in her. In fact, Audrey considered Lisa more of a mother than her own.

"Audrey, I am ashamed to call you my daughter. Do you know how bad it will look for the family if your little rendezvous gets out? You are lucky that your grandparents give a lot of money to that school. Otherwise, you would have ended up arrested. At least now you have simply been asked to transfer. Honestly, breaking into the football stadium with that bunch of hoodlums, and taking the headmaster's daughter with you! And how in the hell did you manage to get onto the press box? No, don't answer that, I don't even want to hear you right now. Get out of my sight while I call your grandparents and decide where I should send you this time!"

Audrey ran to her room before her mother could see the tears forming in her eyes. She would never let her mother see her cry .She didn't know how long she had been staring at her ceiling when she heard a knock. She quickly put on a nonchalant face and announced for her visitor to enter. Seeing it was Lisa, she put her guard down. "I didn't break in Lisa. I was simply staring at the gate, trying to figure out how to get in, and the lock all the sudden popped open. Same with the press box. I was just looking at it, thinking, and all the sudden this ladder just kind of appeared, and as soon as I got up there, it was gone. I can't explain it. If I had told anybody else this, they would have simply sent me in for drug rehab. Oh Lisa, why does this always happen to me? It's not like I go looking for trouble, weird things just always seem to happen to me.

Audrey could still remember the look on Lisa's face two years ago as Audrey broke down. It was almost like a part of Lisa felt Audrey's pain and misunderstanding. Her mother, while not a heartless bitch, never looked like that. Audrey felt that Lisa could see a part of her soul that no one else could. Audrey looked into the mirror and noticed the emotion in her eyes that stemmed from such thoughts. She quickly scolded herself. She was meeting with her grandparents and mother soon, she definitely did not want any emotion to appear during such an event. After running a brush through her hair and slipping on her sandals, Audrey headed down the steps to the parlor. Expecting to see her mother and grandparents, Audrey's bouncy walk suddenly came to a halt. Sitting on the couch across from her grandparents was Lisa, with Audrey's mother on one side of her and a red-haired man with a strange earring on her other.

"Hello Audrey darling." Her grandparents stated in a very monotone voice without even rising to greet her. "Please, have a seat, we have a lot to discuss today."

Audrey fell into the leather chair beside her grandfather. "OK, let's just get to the point of this. Which school am I going to this year? And what do Lisa and this guy have to do with it?" Seeing the look on Lisa's face at this comment, Audrey was immediately sorry for what she did.

"Mom, Dad, I think you've helped us out enough today. If you would like to head to the living room, I think we can take care of everything." Audrey hoped no one noticed her mouth dropped as her grandparents looked at Tina and Lisa and quietly left the room. After the door closed, Tina continued speaking. "Audrey, I have decided that no school here is suited for you. Instead, you will be going to England and attending Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts? Is this some kind of joke? I've never heard of such a place!"

"Perhaps I should tell you a little about your background. That would probably help you understand Hogwarts and why you are just now hearing about it" Tina glanced at Lisa and the man beside her before beginning her story. "As you know, Lisa had just finished school when you were born. I am sure you noticed the lack of photographs or mementos of your sister growing up lying around. It is not because I don't love my daughter, I do, even though I may not act like it." Tina glanced at her oldest daughter with a sad expression on her face. "However, this story goes back much further than your sister's school days. It actually starts when I was a young girl..."

Seventeen year-old Tina Kelly waited anxiously by to the 10^th corridor at King's Crossing. Only yesterday she had graduated from St. Francis Catholic School and she had never seen her parents happier. That had all changed about an hour ago, though. Tina announced to her parents that she was going to go meet her boyfriend, Samuel Briggs, when he got off the train from school. He had just graduated top of his class from Hogwarts.

When Tina had first started dating Samuel, she knew nothing of this school. When Samuel would never allow her to accompany him to the station, Tina began thinking that this school was made up. When no one else had heard of it, Tina started thinking Samuel did not even attend school and went off somewhere else when Tina went back to St. Francis' after the holidays. Her suspicions got the best of her and Tina went crazy. Realizing how much his secrecy was hurting his girlfriend, Samuel informed her that he did indeed attend school and it was called Hogwarts, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After three hours, Samuel finally convinced Tina that he was in fact a wizard. Tina went against every reaction Samuel imagined her having to his news- she was actually excited and interested. They had been dating for three years and the week before going back for his last term, Samuel had proposed.

Tina could not wait for graduation and married life. Tina's parents had other plans for her, though. Tina was going to go to college and make a name for herself, just like everyone else in the family. However, they agreed when Tina told them she was going to meet Samuel at the station convinced that she was going to tell him she was going to college and not getting married. Right before she left, she kissed her parents good-bye and told them she was marrying Samuel. Her parents argued with her until she stopped them, telling them not only was she in love, she was also pregnant. They immediately disowned her and left for California without saying good-bye. Tina was strong, though. She and Samuel were in love, and she knew they would survive.

"So what happened to Samuel?"

"Samuel and I were married only a month later, and not much later, I gave birth to Lisa. I was right, we could survive. Samuel had a great job and took care of Lisa and me. However, Samuel's job was as dangerous as it was good. He died in the field just before Lisa turned two. I was heartbroken. Samuel had left us money of course, but not enough to survive long. I knew that I could not let my pride destroy my child's life. So I gave into the only option I had. I called my parents. They took Lisa and I in, hiring a nanny so I could finally go to college and make something of myself. On Lisa's eleventh birthday, she received an acceptance letter to Samuel's alma mater. After much debate with my parents, she was allowed to go. They knew it was only right to let Lisa serve her father's memory, and of course she could still go to a normal college after graduation." Tina paused and looked to Lisa. "Lisa, I think you should continue the story from here."

Lisa nodded slowly and picked up where her mother had left off. "Hogwarts was the best experience of my life. I had wonderful friends, great classes, and in my fifth year, I fell deeply in love." She looked at the guy on her left. "My life seemed almost perfect. Then, the summer before my sixth year, I started feeling sick all of the time. Finally, I went to a doctor. He informed me that it might not be best to go back to school. I was almost four months pregnant. I would physically be able to go back to school second semester though, after I gave birth."

Audrey was incredibly confused. She was not sure what Lisa's story had to do with her and where in the hell had this baby gone? Was all of this really necessary to explain what Hogwarts was? Shouldn't they have moved on to explaining this whole magic concept to her?

Lisa paused as she felt the questions building up inside of Audrey. She then took a deep breath and continued. "So I informed the Headmaster, Dumbledore, that I would be needing a private tutor for the first half of the year and returning to Hogwarts after Christmas. Everyone at school was so worried about me and the illness that I chose not to speak of. Finally, on December 12^th, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. A month later, I left her with my mother to keep as her own and returned to school and the life of a normal teenage girl. However, I carried a burden inside of me for the last fifteen years. Not only had I given birth to a child who would probably never know me as a mother, but had also kept her a secret from her father. Audrey, I am sorry that I was never a true mother to you" She looked at her shocked daughter, who was the same age as her when she got pregnant. She then focused on the red head beside her. "Bill Weasley, this is Audrey, our daughter." As Audrey let out a cry and ran from the room, she noticed the red head, (her father?), pass out.