Hello all! Got this finished today. Hope you all enjoy! Things are all downhill from here.

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"I thought you were so strong. You'd make it through whatever. It's so hard to accept the fact you're gone forever." ~ Bye Bye, Mariah Carey

Two weeks following her birthday, Audrey had yet another reason to have a party. It seemed like the past few months attending parties was all she had done. Between weddings, birthdays, baby related events, the young woman was drained. She was so glad this was the last party of any variety for a few months at least. Krystie and Fred had just found out the other day that they were having a little girl, and their baby shower wasn't going to be until probably after Audrey had already given birth, both to her pleasure and displeasure. Depending on when her child decided he wanted to be born, Audrey wasn't sure she would feel like attending any kind of party.

This time it was her baby shower, and so far everything had been going well. She had just finished opening up all the gifts, and she was certain there was nothing the baby was missing now. Between all the clothes, toys, diapers, furniture, and everything else, Audrey was admittedly not sure where she and Draco were going to put it all. To make matters worse, in a sense, Draco was having a similar party with the guys on the other side of the manor. There were going to be many trips to get everything home later, but for now that wasn't even an issue. Right now, Audrey was just enjoying her time amongst her friends and family. Everyone had shown up; Nicole, Krystie, Hermione, Ginny, her mother, Narcissa, Angeline, and Molly were all seated around the table with her. All of them were talking amongst themselves while they ate some cake. Yet despite the happy atmosphere, Audrey couldn't help but feel like something was off.

"You've hardly touched your cake," Nicole pointed out. "Are you feeling alright?"

Audrey debated what to say to her friend. Surely this bad feeling was just nothing. Before she could disregard her feelings, Krystie spoke up, "If you don't want your cake, Kiara and I will be more than happy to eat it for you."

Audrey was going to question who Kiara was, but then remembered her friend and Fred had already named their daughter. As soon as they found out what they were having, it was decided. Honestly Audrey wished that naming their son would've been just as easy, but so far had been inconclusive. Every name that was brought up was shot down by either her or Draco, although there was one name Audrey hadn't suggested yet.

She slid her friend the plate. "Eh, just not as hungry as I thought I was," she declared. "That's all. That or the baby just doesn't want cake for once."

"Still just the baby, eh?" Krystie asked, beginning to eat her newly acquired piece of cake. "I thought you guys would've named him by now. I mean, theoretically you could pop any day now."

"Oh I hope not. I'm only six and half months in. I don't want to think about giving birth yet, not to mention the issues that could pop up with it being this early. Give me a few more months and we'll talk," Audrey muttered, and then shrugged. "I dunno. We just haven't crossed a name we both like yet. I've got one more I want to bring up to him, but I haven't done it yet."

"Well? What is it?" Nicole pried, setting her fork down on her now empty plate.

"Call me strange but I came across the name while I was doing some studying for my Astronomy exam way back in October," Audrey started to explain.

"Go figure," Krystie muttered. "You were always studying. But seriously, what is it?"

Audrey sighed. "It's Scorpius. I don't have a middle name for it yet, but for some reason I like it. I'm not even sure why I had looked at it so hard, really. I think it's because I had just become friends with Artemis, and his name popped out at me on the page, and it was under the section for the constellation Scorpius. So there's the backstory."

"Scorpius," Nicole repeated to herself. "Hmmm... I like it. It just sounds like a Malfoy name, you know what I mean?"

Audrey nodded. "Plus it keeps the theme the family seems to have for naming their kids after stars and constellations- Draco, Bellatrix, Sirius, and the rest of them- so I figured why not? Still have to clear it with Draco, though."

Nicole shrugged. "I think he'll like it."

Audrey had opened her mouth to say something, but it never came out. Her attention shifted when she noticed a new person enter the room, one who wasn't invited, nor was she expecting. Standing in the archway was none other than Kingsley Shacklebolt. Audrey immediately recognized him from the Ministry, as he worked along closely with her parents as Aurors. He had been the officiant at her wedding too, which was probably the last time she remembered seeing him. She was admittedly confused as to why he had shown up, but the grim expression and several cuts on his face were certainly not good news.

"Fianna, Audrey," his deep voice almost seemed to echo through the room, silencing all the sidebar conversations. Audrey and her mother both looked to him, causing him to speak again. "I need to speak with the both of you in private..."

Audrey and Fianna both exchanged glances as they stood. The two of them followed the man out of the room, wondering what he could possibly have to tell them. Once Kingsley was sure they were out of earshot and alone, he turned to look at the two women, the dark expression still ever present on his face.

"I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this," he stated, sighing.

Audrey swore she heard her mother sniffle for just a second, but she ignored it for the time being. "Tell us what?" she asked. "This couldn't wait?"

The frown on Kingsley's face grew larger. "Afraid not," he muttered. He took a deep breath. "As you know, things have been chaotic in our world, and this is true for all of us. It was only a matter of time before we had something like this happen." He glanced out the window, debating his next words carefully. "Lorcan... we were ambushed on our mission. We were outnumbered..."

Audrey felt her heart drop before the words were even said.

"...he didn't make it."

As her mother burst into tears, the girl pulled her into a tight embrace, her mind racing out of control. Her father was dead. Tears flowed from her eyes, unchecked. By all means she shouldn't have been crying, based upon how the man had treated her in the past nine months or so, but she couldn't help it. Despite all that, he was still her father; he had given her just over seventeen drama-free, love filled years. He had protected her, he had provided for her... and now he was gone.

It was surreal. Audrey couldn't believe it. Her father had tangled with the most powerful dark wizards known to mankind, and some nobodies managed to kill him. She pulled her mother closer to her, trying her best to comfort her. She couldn't imagine what was running through her mother's mind as her heart shattered. Audrey could only pray she never experienced what her mother was going through right now.

Despite the tears streaming down her face, Fianna pulled away from her daughter, and turned to look at Kingsley. "Take me to him," she requested.

Kingsley nodded before looking at Audrey. "Would you like to come?"

Audrey debated it. If her father was already dead, seeing him would only make it worse. She knew that for a fact. It was bad enough she would have to see him at the funeral. She shook her head.

Fianna hugged her daughter tightly, kissing the top of her head before pulling away. "I love you," she said, wiping the girl's face with one of her hands. "I'll be back later. I have to go get your brother too."

All Audrey could do was nod as her mother joined Kingsley and Disapparated from the manor, leaving her standing alone. Or at least she thought she was alone. As she turned to face the archway, mentally preparing herself to speak to her friends again, she saw several of them lingering in the doorway, including Draco.

Audrey felt her legs shaking, on the verge of collapsing underneath of her. Before she realized what was happening, she was on her knees, her face buried in Draco's chest. He held her close, allowing her to cry all she needed to. Even without speaking, she knew Draco knew what was happening. He didn't speak for several minutes, debating what he should even say to her.

"I'm sorry, love," he said quietly.

Audrey said nothing, noticing both Nicole and Artemis joining the two of them, wrapping their arms around her. While it didn't improve her thoughts or sadness, it did make her glad she had the three most prominent people in her life with her right now. What was supposed to be a joyous day had turned out to be a disaster, and all she could do now was cry into the arms of her friends and husband.

It was always obvious this new war was a major threat, but now it was so much clearer to the girl. No one was safe; that much was evident, and they all knew they had to stop at nothing to stop the Death Eaters before someone else was hurt, or killed.

This was war.