Saving Audrey

Chapter 6

Although Audrey had spent the better half of her summer catching up on what she had missed at Hogwarts the past four years, she still was behind. Therefore, she could usually be found with a tutor or in the library when she wasn't in class. This left her little time to become friends with anybody. Not that she minded. She'd never had close friends. At least here she had her Weasley cousins to talk to, and she felt lucky for that.

By the end of November, McGonagall and Dumbledore felt that she was doing well enough to stop the every day tutoring. She would now be meeting with each of her professor's once a week. She was disappointed, because she had been hoping to stop altogether. Overall, the professors at Hogwarts were wonderful. However, she always dreaded her meeting with Snape and Quirrell. Snape was the head of Slytherin and it was obvious he, like his house, did not like Gryffindor or anybody in it. Quirrell, while not the ass hole that Snape was, still gave her a strange feeling. He always seemed scared of something, much to the distraction of Audrey. Still, once a week was better than everyday.

Her lack of tutoring also gave her more free time. She spent most of this with the twins. While she and Percy were the same age, she seemed to have more in common with Fred and George. They loved hearing stories of all the trouble she got into growing up. Of course, she didn't tell them everything. As much as she loved hanging out with her cousins, they were never serious and she began to feel the lack of anyone to have a conversation with, especially another female. At home she had always had Lisa and she did have female friends, even if she never felt very close to them. Considering that this was a serious matter, she decided to talk it over with Percy.

"Percy?" she asked knocking the 5^th year boy's door.

"Yes?" answered the red head as he opened the door.

"Um, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. I guess you can come in since your kind of, well, you are, family."

"Thanks. Look, a lot of stuff has been bothering me lately. I mean, I love Hogwarts, I truly do, but there are a lot of things I miss. I miss having Lisa or anyone to talk to. The twins are fun, but I feel like I have no friends. Not that I don't consider y'all friends, but you are family, so it's different, ya know? And I miss my old lifestyle. Well, not all of my old lifestyle. But I miss like sports and stuff. I do here is study. Did you know I was supposed to be cheerleading captain this year? Cheerleading was my life! It's the only damn thing that ever made me happy and no one here has ever heard of it! I feel like I want to go home, but I know how much I would miss it here, too. Oh, I am so lost!" By this time, Audrey was sobbing. Percy didn't know what to do, so he just chose his words carefully.

"Well, maybe you should try to get to know people. I'll help you and I am sure the twins will. And about sports, Quidditch is the only thing we really have here, but I am sure you could get Oliver or someone else to run with you or whatever it is you can do around here. I'll even ask him myself. Don't go home. Hogwarts is the best place there is, and you don't want to leave. It would kill mom too if she lost you just as you were becoming a part of the family. Maybe you should write to her and Lisa about all your problems. They are probably much better at this than I am. I hope that I helped you some, I really need to head to my prefect meeting." Percy gave his cousin an awkward hug and left the room.

Audrey was still on the bed crying when she heard someone else approach. She quickly sat up and tried to dry her eyes. It didn't help when she noticed the boy was Oliver Wood. It had been over three months since she first saw him and she still turned red at the very mention of him.

"Audrey, what are you doing in here?"

"Sorry, I was about to leave. I just really needed to talk to Percy and he said it was ok if I came in since we were family and all." She quickly answered as she got up and began walking out.

Oliver grabbed her arm to stop her. "No, it's okay, I didn't mean for you to leave. I was just wondering what was wrong with you."

"It's nothing, really. I don't want to bother you with my sill problems."

"I'm sure they are not silly. Please tell me, maybe I can help."

Audrey then told him everything just had just told Percy. She was surprised and touched at how he seemed to take in and care about all she said. When she finished, she was once again crying. Oliver grabbed her hands, looked into her eyes, and began speaking.

"I hope that you can consider me a friend. I'll be happy to introduce you to the rest of the Quidditch team. That's about all though because I don't do much else besides Quidditch, sorry. And as far as sports go, you are more than welcome to join the reserve team if you are as good as the rest of your family, and I am sure you are. I also run every morning if you care to join me. And maybe you can do cheerleading when you go home for the summers. Please don't leave, then Percy will be the only friend I have that isn't on my team." This last comment made them both laugh.

Audrey stayed with Oliver for a while longer, telling him all about cheerleading and other aspects of her life before Hogwarts. She told him things that even the Weasley's didn't know. He in turn told her about his love for Quidditch and what it was like growing up with the Weasley's. She loved hearing all the stories about her cousins before she met them. He had just finished telling about the twins turning Ron's teddy bear into a spider when he was younger. Although she felt sorry for Ron, Audrey still found this humorous.

"Yeah, growing up with those boys was definitely an adventure. However, as many memories as I have of them, I never once met or heard about you that I recall. Exactly how do you fit into the picture?"

"Well, it's actually kind of weird, and I am not sure if I am supposed to tell anybody, but it's going to come out eventually I am sure and I trust you can keep a secret until then." Oliver nodded his head. "I am Bill's daughter. He got my mom pregnant while still at Hogwarts. She didn't tell him about me until this summer, afraid it would ruin his future and all. I don't even know the whole story myself, but that's how I am related to them." Oliver looked at her with shock.

"Hell, if you are that close into the Weasley family, you can definitely play Quidditch!"

Leave it to Oliver to refer to Quidditch after such a piece of information. Not knowing what to say, Audrey looked down at her watch. "Hey, dinner starts in ten minutes. Think we should head down?"

"Sure." They both got up and after a quick hug, headed down the stairs.

That night, Audrey lay in bed thinking about her conversation with Oliver. He seemed like a nice guy and would be a great friend. After their conversation about Quidditch, though, she wasn't so sure how datable he was. No matter how much he loved someone, she thought, that girl would always be almost important, but not quite, as Quidditch. At that moment, she decided that while she might not be able to get over Oliver in an instance, she could definitely get over the thought of being his girlfriend.

On the other side of Gryffindor tower, Oliver to was lying in bed thinking about the conversation he and Audrey had had earlier. She seemed so lost. He was glad that she trusted him enough to talk to him about it. She seemed to be eager to be friends with him and accept his help. However, that was all she seemed to want from him. He knew that there was no way he was going to get of the feeling that came over him the first time he met her was not going to go away. Still, he knew that he must put that in the back of his mind and concentrate on being her friend and helping her.