Chasing Dreams {Book 2: Chasing Butterflies}

Chapter 23: Burned Bridges

Hey guys! Finally got motivated thanks to Steph! =) Hope you all enjoy! =)

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"You can't expect me to be fine; I don't expect you to care. I know I said it before, but all our bridges burned down..." –Payphone, Maroon 5

"You should be just fine," Artemis assured Audrey. "Merely a slight fracture is all. Could've been much worse. Consider yourself lucky. Your injuries are far less than Nicole's."

Audrey sat on a bed in one of the spare bedrooms, holding her left forearm. She wasn't expecting Artemis to be the one to inspect her and her friend after the explosion, and she was quite unsure about where the Irish boy had learned all of this. Audrey had expected Narcissa, or even Angeline, to be the one tending her wounds. "Thanks, Artemis," she answered. "Where did you learn about all of this?"

"Well, with the highest tested IQ in Europe, this kind of thing just comes naturally," he explained, moving off of bed next to her. "Especially when you have nothing else to learn at school. Tell you what, Durmstrang ran out of things to teach me after year one."

Audrey laughed slightly. "That certainly explains a lot."

He smiled, something Audrey hadn't seen him do much of. "It does, it does." He paused for a moment. "I could try to heal it for you, if you wanted. Better than walking around with a cast or splint for weeks."

Audrey shrugged. "If you want; I'm certainly not stopping you."

Artemis took a deep breath, readying himself. "Now I warn you that this might be a bit different than what you're typically used to. I... err... don't necessarily need a wand like you and Draco. Please; don't ask how. It's a long story."

"Maybe another time," Audrey responded. She did her best to position her arm in a way where it wouldn't be awkward for him.

Artemis gently pressed his hand against her arm. Audrey could tell that he was trying to be gentle about it, but it still didn't exactly feel that great. Artemis muttered the word "heal," and with that, Audrey watched as a few blue sparks danced down his arm, and onto hers. A few moments passed, a tingling sensation lingered on her skin from where the sparks hit her. At first, Audrey felt nothing else, but then she heard, and felt, a few cracks in her arm as her bones healed and realigned themselves. When the snaps finally ceased, Artemis moved his hand away from Audrey's arm.

"Now can you move it around a little bit, just to make sure it healed properly?" he requested.

Audrey moved her arm around, flexing the muscles, something that bothered her just moments ago. "Everything feels much better," she assured. "Thanks Artemis."

"You're welcome," he answered. "And considering that was the first healing I've attempted in years, that's reassuring that it turned out correctly."

That little bit made Audrey a tad nervous. "Yea, I'm glad it did too."

"Well, I'll let you enjoy some peace and quiet," Artemis went on. "Want me to send Draco in?"

Audrey shrugged. "If you see him. He was supposed to be in already, but I think he got lost getting food from the kitchen."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Your husband, I swear."

Audrey smiled slightly. She still wasn't quite used to Draco being referred to as her husband. It was an unusual feeling. She was glad they were married, but the idea seemed to be surreal to her, like a dream. Lost in her own thoughts, the girl hadn't even noticed Artemis had left the room, shutting the door, and leaving her alone once again. The girl closed her eyes, resting against a stack of pillows behind her. It had been a long day, and she was honestly just glad she had survived to tell about it.

After what seemed like only a few minutes, Audrey heard the bedroom door open, causing her to open her eyes once again. Although when she opened her eyes, she immediately regretted it. Standing before her, a nervous look plastered to his face, was Maverick. Audrey was not thrilled about seeing him in the slightest.

"You know, you're incredibly hard to find when you don't want to be found," he stated.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she spat, cutting to the chase.

"I came to warn you," Maverick went on.

Audrey gave her ex a strange look. "Warn me about what? I thought I made it clear the other night that I didn't want anything to do with you. Seriously. Do I need to break your other foot?"

Maverick sighed. "Please... let me explain."

Audrey didn't know if she wanted to know what he had to say. She didn't trust him, nor did she like him. What could he possibly have to say that was so important that he hunted her down to tell her? "You have five minutes."

"I'm really sorry about acting like I did at your party. It was incredibly rude," Maverick started. "I deserved to have my foot stepped on, if not more."

"Obviously," Audrey snorted, folding her arms across her chest.

Maverick continued, undeterred. "I only was acting like that because I was supposed to split you and Draco up. I was... part of a plan."

Suddenly Audrey was interested. He was part of a plan to split them up? Could he know who was sending her the nasty letters then? Who caused the explosion that could've possibly killed both her and Nicole? Audrey needed to know. "Who's plan?" she demanded answers.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I can't help it. It's just... an incredibly stupid plan, honestly," he explained. "I was supposed to make you leave Draco so Pansy could step back in. But after I failed to do that, she got really rude with me and told me she was going to have to hurt someone to get what she wanted. That's when I changed my mind. No one needs to get hurt."

"It's a little late for that, Maverick," Audrey pointed out. "I don't know if you noticed the grounds, but a good portion of them is scorched, and my best friend and I nearly were killed in the explosion that caused that." When Maverick didn't speak, Audrey remembered what he had said. Pansy. She should've known. That girl had been causing her problems for what seemed like forever now. "Leave it to Pansy to be petty about this," she sighed. "That girl is so stupid, I can't even begin to find words to describe her. What the hell is wrong with her?"

Maverick shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you. I just know she needs to be stopped before this gets anymore out of hand."

"Indeed," Audrey agreed, something she swore she would never do. "Do you plan on seeing her again?"

"Err... I really don't want to if I can avoid it," Maverick responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Well... if you do, can you deliver a message for me?" Audrey asked, a devilish grin forming on her face.

"Sure. What is it?"

"You tell that bitch she couldn't beat me on her best day," Audrey answered. "If she thinks she can have Draco, she's obviously mistaken. She obviously doesn't know who she's dealing with. If she wants a repeat of what happened in the library, I can surely give it to her."

Maverick blinked his eyes a few times, mostly in disbelief that Audrey had used such crude language. But then again, he didn't entirely blame her. He would've been a bit ticked if something like this was happening to him too. "I'll tell her if I see her," he assured.

"Good," Audrey responded. "Thank you for telling me. You burned this bridge a long time ago, but you might've just started to rebuild it. I still don't like you, but I'm glad you told me. But now that I know who is causing all this, we can end it for good."

He nodded in agreement. Before he could say anything else, Draco stepped into the room. The blond boy looked at Maverick questioningly before Audrey explained what was going on.

"We know who's causing all the drama- the notes, the explosion," she said. "And I'm mad we didn't figure it out sooner than we did." When Draco merely raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue, Audrey added, "It's Pansy."