Hey everyone! Sorry this one took so long; my college classes started back up this week, and it's been hectic so far. Discovered I have possibly the most evil biology professor on the planet (if it tells you anything, I would rather sit in Umbridge's class than hers). On top of that, I had to do some research on this chapter to see if the Hogwarts Express had bathrooms. I know it seems silly, but it was crucial to this chapter (sort of), and when I couldn't find any official evidence, I just asked some fellow Potterheads, all of which agreed and said that it would be bad if the train didn't. >.< Anyhow! I hope you enjoy chapter 24! It introduces a secret that I wasn't planning on for a while still, but Marisa and I thought it would be hilarious to have it enter the story early. ;)

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"You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors; it's the morning of your very first day." –Fifteen, Taylor Swift

Green landscapes rolled past in one solid blur in Audrey's vision. The girl found herself sitting back on the train to Hogwarts for the last time. Honestly, she wasn't sure about going back. There were so many reasons for why she didn't want to- the lack of friends and the Pansy situation being the main two.

With the battle a few months ago, she was pretty sure she had alienated herself from most of her friends, if not most of the school. Despite what she and Draco did, she was nearly sure she was going to find herself in a different crowd of people during this last bit of schooling. She would have Draco, obviously, Nicole, Krystie, Ron, and Ginny. Beyond that, Audrey didn't think there was anyone else she could call friend. She wished Artemis could've came to Hogwarts with them, but there was no way that would've worked. She was sure to be writing him letters for advice if she needed it during the month they were gone.

But perhaps even more troubling than that was the whole situation with Pansy. Audrey was still beyond livid at the whole situation. Pansy had sunk to an all time low, even for her. Audrey didn't know what she had done to deserve the hell Pansy had been putting her through. The brunette stared aimlessly out the window, watching the green landscape continuing to pass by as she pondered what to do about her nemesis. Pansy was surely on the train too, and Audrey knew soon enough she was going to come face to face with her. It was just a matter of when, and when it happened, Audrey was not sure she would be able to contain her anger.

It's only a month, she kept telling herself. You can last a month in this hellhole. You did almost seven years of it. One more month won't kill you. But then she had an afterthought. Or will it? Her thoughts began to reflect on the evening she returned from her honeymoon almost a month ago when an explosion nearly killed both her and Nicole. What if something like that were to happen while they were at Hogwarts? Pansy wouldn't dare a stunt like that with all the teachers there, would she?

Audrey shifted uncomfortably on the seat, accidentally kicking Draco in the process. She glanced back him for a moment, then muttered, "Sorry."

"You're fine," he replied. He didn't say anything else for a few moments. "Are you feeling alright? You seem... distant."

Audrey shrugged. "Just a lot on my mind, I guess. Trying to comprehend it all is making me nauseous." Somewhat of a lie, as it turned out. Audrey did feel nauseous, but she doubted it was from all the drama in her life. Honestly, she was beginning to think she was coming down with a cold, something that didn't happen to her very often. The girl had been trying to shake the feeling all morning, but had thus far been unsuccessful in that attempt.

Draco frowned, something Audrey really hated. "Nauseous? Are you really that worried about this one month we have left?"

Audrey debated how to answer her husband for a moment. "It's more or less what kind of reception we're going to get, and the whole Pansy thing."

Draco sighed, placing his arm around Audrey's shoulder. "Who cares if we have no friends? We have each other, and our small posse. We don't need anyone else. Screw the rest of 'em!" He paused for a moment. "And as far as Pansy goes, we'll deal with her when the time comes. Karma's a bitch. She'll get what's coming to her, don't forget that."

Audrey supposed Draco had a point, although it still wasn't exactly a pleasant thought. Until recently, Audrey had always had a lot of friends, and a relatively drama-free life. She supposed everything changed after a while, but she had never thought it would be such a drastic change. She knew over time people tended to move on, get new friends, but she never thought in the course of a few months, she would only have about two people left from her previous school years. It was unnerving, to say the least.

"Just trying not to think about it," Audrey said quietly, once again trying her hardest to not show how truly sick she was feeling. She glanced around the compartment, noticing that she and Draco were alone. All of the friends that had sat with them had left. "Where did Nicole, Ginny, Krystie, Hermione and Ron go?"

"The girls went to go put their robes on, and Ron and Hermione went to go check on Potter," Draco explained. "We should probably change here soon, as well. We'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon for the last time."

The girl pushed herself unwillingly off the seat, trying her hardest to keep her balance on the moving train. Audrey reached up onto the luggage holder, and grabbed her small carryon bag she had stowed her uniform in. The girl looked at her husband for a moment before saying, "I'll be right back."

The brunette left the compartment, sliding the door shut behind her. After only being in the hall for a few moments, she swore she could hear whispers amongst the other students. She couldn't hear what they were saying precisely, but the way they gawked at her said it all. She hadn't been forgiven for what happened, even though she really had nothing to do with the outcome of the battle.

Forever a Death Eater, she thought. Even though I never was one.

She pushed her way through the narrow path to the bathroom. The girl never did quite understand how they managed to have a bathroom on a train like the one they had on the Hogwarts Express. She shook the feeling before she stepped into the girls' bathroom. Sure enough she found all of the girls huddled around one mirror, all fixing their hair.

Nicole noticed Audrey first. She turned to face her friend, causing the other two girls to do the same. "About time you showed up," she greeted. "We offered you to come with us, but you kind of ignored us. We thought you were mad or something. You just missed Hermione; she probably went back to sit with Harry."

Audrey shook her head. "I was just... thinking is all."

"What about?" Ginny asked.

"What this last month is going to be like," she answered. The last thing Audrey really needed was having her friends worried about her, even if they had good reasons to be. "It's nothing really; nothing to be worried about."

"Oh, you'll be fine, Aud," Krystie added, leaning against the wall.

Audrey grimaced as she noticed the sick feeling in her stomach again. "If you say so," she muttered. She walked past her friends, not saying another word, and stepped into a stall. The girl shut the door behind her. She expertly slipped out of her Muggle clothing and into her school uniform, definitely not wanting to be wearing it. Audrey stowed her old clothing back into her bag, and opened the door, all three of her friends still hovering around the mirror.

"Are you gaining weight?" Krystie asked randomly. "Your uniform looks tighter than it did a few months ago."

Audrey felt her face scrunch up. She hadn't gained any weight, at least not any to her knowledge. The fact that Krystie would insinuate that made her feel somewhat insulted. "No, I haven't," she finally answered. "And if I have, it's not a lot. You have to remember I've been eating like a queen the past few months because of Narcissa, Molly, and Butler."

"True," Krystie mumbled, mostly to herself.

Audrey glanced down so she could adjust her skirt. If there was one thing she hated about the uniform, it was the skirt. Unfortunately for her, moving her head to look down caused that queasy feeling she had to intensify. Within seconds, Audrey found herself face down into the toilet that was behind her, the contents of her stomach emptying carelessly into it. Honestly, Audrey had no idea how she had managed to turn fast enough to reach the porcelain bowl behind her.

Once the feeling passed, she stood back up, wiping the side of her mouth with the back of her hand before flushing what was her breakfast down the toilet. She turned to face her friends, all who stood there with disgusted looks plastered to their faces. "I think I caught whatever you had," Audrey stated, glaring at Krystie.

"Dude, I was sick over a month ago now. There's no way you're just now catching it," the blonde girl explained. "It's physically impossible. Whatever you got, you got it on your own."

Krystie's words echoed through her head as Audrey tried to piece together what was going with her body. Before now, she hadn't been out of Artemis' manor, and no one there had been sick either. The girl shook the thought; maybe she had just eaten something that didn't sit well with her stomach. Perhaps her scrambled eggs that morning weren't cooked as fully as she liked them?

"It's nothing. Probably just ate something my stomach doesn't like," Audrey shrugged, moving out of the bathroom stall, approaching the sink. The girl washed her hands, even more so than usual, being overly paranoid that she might've been sick.

As the girl shook the water from her hands due to the lack of paper towel, she watched her friends exchange glances- all three wore devilish grins, something Audrey honestly hadn't seen Nicole or Ginny use yet. The girl was admittedly worried now. Her friends were all thinking something, and part of Audrey didn't want to know what.

"Anyhow... if you're all done getting glamorized, we should probably vacate the lavatory," Audrey went on. "We'll be arriving soon."

Nicole immediately began laughing. "You've been spending too much time with Artemis," she giggled. "You're starting to talk just like him. What happened to your typical lingo?"

"I can't shake up my dialogue a bit?" Audrey questioned. "It gets boring using the same words over and over again. To quote one of my favorite Muggle TV shows, 'what's life without whimsy?'"

Before her friends had time to respond, Audrey started to walk out of the bathroom. Without even turning around to take a glance, Audrey could feel her friends following close behind her. This time when she passed through the narrow corridor back towards the compartment in which she was sitting, the girl walked with her head high. Having her friends with her gave her a new confidence. She knew she wasn't truly alone, and that if anyone dared mess with her (especially if Pansy decided to rear her ugly head), they had her back.

Just as they reached the compartment door, Audrey felt the train come to a complete stop. They must've arrived at Hogwarts. Draco stepped outside, also dressed in his robes. He took his wife's hand, standing by her side as the group of them made their way into the school, some of them for their last time. Audrey was just hoping this last month could pass quickly.