Saving Audrey

Chapter 4

Audrey was immediately grabbed by the two older adults of the group and brushed off. She assumed they must be her grandparents. For a moment she stared at them all as they looked at her and Lisa. Finally, the older woman broke the silence.

"Hello, Audrey. I am Molly Weasley, and this is my husband Arthur. We are your grandparents, I guess. And these are our children. Percy will be a fifth year with you this year. The twins over here are George and Fred; they will be in their third year at Hogwarts. This is Ron, our youngest boy and he's just beginning his first year. Ginny is our youngest and the only girl in the family. We also have another son Charlie, but he works in Romania with dragons. I am sure you want to get cleaned up and all, so Ginny will take you to your room and you can get settled in. "

Audrey could overhear Molly and Lisa as she followed Ginny up the stairs.

"Lisa dear, it is so good to see you. We asked ourselves for years where you had disappeared to after graduation. Bill never got over you. He was so excited to get an owl. He often had wondered what he could have done to make you stay."

"Oh Molly, I am so sorry. I just left you all with no notice. After I became pregnant with Audrey it was obvious to me that I needed to just slip out of Bill's life. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and the rest of the family. I don't know what I would have done without you all. It's so good to be back here, even if the circumstances aren't what you hoped for I am sure."

"Well, while I don't approve of the sort of behavior that you and Bill obviously carried on fifteen years ago, there is nothing that can be done about it now. I am just thankful that Bill has you back and his life and I certainly hope that we may become a part of yours and Audrey's lives now." With that, the two women met in a tearful embrace and not another word was spoken until they could hear the rest of the family heading towards the kitchen.

Audrey hardly spoke during dinner. She was too busy listening to the other conversations and taking in the Weasleys' home. It was nothing like the home she had grown up in. She was used to an extravagant, in order household. The Weasleys' was neither of these. However, among the mess and strange form, there was something that made Audrey fall in love with it. She realized immediately it was the presence of family and love. While she now understood that her mother and grandmother loved her, it was nothing like this and probably never would be. They couldn't help it. Her great-grandparents did not teach their daughter and granddaughter such.

After dinner, the table was immediately cleared. Audrey was beginning to really like this magic thing. Fred, George, and Ron went off to play Quidditch (Audrey had heard Bill talk about the game but had no clue what it really was), Percy disappeared to his room, and Ginny to hers. This left Audrey, Lisa, Bill, and Bill's parents. The five of them congregated in the living room. The older Weasleys began explaining Hogwarts and other aspects of the wizarding world Audrey had questions about. During this, the rest of the Weasley family had gone to be. It was almost four in the morning when the others realized it was getting late. They immediately told Audrey to go and get some sleep; she started her tutoring sessions with Lisa, Percy and the older Weasleys tomorrow.

It amazed Audrey and the younger Weasleys how fast she was catching on to everything. Only Lisa, Bill, and his parents did not seem surprised. With three days before the start of term, she was almost caught up to the level of Percy. However, she felt as if she had not slept in months. Her first free day was spent catching up on sleep and getting to know her family better. On the second day, they all went to Diagon Alley.

Audrey had never seen such a place. They bought her books, robes, an owl, and other school supplies. Finally, it was time to get her wand. The Weasleys went on to various other stores and Lisa took Audrey to Ollivander's. It seemed like every wand she tried failed. Audrey was beginning to once again feel like she did not belong in the magical world. Finally, something different happened with her eighth wand. "I think we've found it," stated Mt. Ollivander. "Phoenix Feather, Redwood, 8 ¾ inches. Very interesting combination. Very similar to a wand I sold almost thirty years ago to a great wizard. I hope we can expect the same sort of power and courage from you." With that, Ollivander had charged them, wrapped the wand, and disappeared to the back of the shop leaving Audrey very curious about her wand.

After Ollivander's, Lisa and Audrey set off to meet the Weasley boys at the Quidditch shop. Arthur and Molly had already gone home with everyone's supplies and Ginny. As Lisa went to Bill, Audrey went to the other side of the shop to talk to Percy and the twins. She had grown fond of all of the Weasleys. Percy seemed a bit nerdy, but nice. She loved the twins though. Life was never boring with them around. She suddenly stopped as she approached the boys, though. Standing with them was the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen. She felt her heat beating faster as she gained up strength to walk towards the group again. However, she did not get there fast enough. She was almost to the group when she heard the boys saying, "Good-bye Oliver, we'll see you on the train." With that, the boys turned around and walked towards her as the other boy walked out of the store.

Audrey could not get the boy out of her head. After asking the twin about them, she discovered he had been named Quidditch captain. She knew what she had to do. She woke the twins up early and spent her entire last day at the Burrow learning all about Quidditch, from the rules to actually getting out and playing herself. After mastering a good handful of moves on the broom, they all headed to bed, getting a good nights rest before heading to school the next day. Never in her life had Audrey been so excited about starting a new school.