Chasing Freedom {Book 3: Chasing Butterflies}

Chapter 19: Before The Storm

                 

Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long! I won't bore you with the reasons why. It's just been a long month and my writing has suffered because of it. This chapter was deleted once because I just didn't like it, and I rewrote it, so I think this version is better than my original attempt. I toyed with a bad idea, and it's still incredibly tempting...

Anyways, here is Chapter 19! Enjoy!

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"You're only alive when you torture the weak; now hear me roar. I will not take this anymore; these words will never be ignored. You want a battle? Here's a war." ~You Want A Battle? (Here's a War), Bullet For My Valentine

            A few weeks after her father's funeral, Audrey was once again in a large gathering of people at the Burrow. It was the first time WANDE had met in a while. Things had started to get out of hand with the Death Eaters. They had been killing more, yet at the same time, more of them had been arrested and locked away in Azkaban. Tensions were high among everyone, WANDE member or not; there was no doubt about it. Things were only getting worse as time went on.

            After all, no one knew who their leader was, and none of those captured were speaking.

            Honestly it was all incredibly annoying.

            Whoever was in charge was keeping a very low profile that was for certain. Audrey almost missed the days in which Voldemort was leading the Death Eaters. Everyone knew who he was, what he was capable of. Whoever was in charge now was a mystery. They had no idea who they were, what kind of abilities they may possess, what their motives were. They were sure it had to be someone who was part of the Death Eaters previously, but most of the higher ups were either dead or locked well away. The possibilities were decreasing every day. Honestly, Audrey found it ridiculous no one wanted to speak up on it and reveal the leader so they could put an end to it once and for all.

             While the rest of the members were talking amongst themselves, she was zoned out, physically and mentally exhausted from literally everything going on. It was more than anyone could put up with, pregnant or not. There were only so many times she could handle hearing the same information over and over again. She sighed, and got up from the couch, making her way to the kitchen. Once away from the group, Audrey could hear herself think again, and relax just a bit. She poured herself a glass of water from a pitcher that was sitting on the counter, and took a sip.

            "Thought you could sneak away, did you?" a voice asked, startling her to the point she almost dropped the cup.

            She glanced over to see Draco standing in the doorway. "No, I... uh, just wanted some water," she sort of lied.

            "Mm, sure you did," Draco responded, moving from the doorway to lean against the counter next to her. "So why did you really come out here?"

            Audrey shrugged, setting her glass down on the counter. "I just wanted to get away from all the noise. Like what is the point to these meetings anymore? We have been meeting for months, and we have made literally no progress in getting to the bottom of this. It's honestly very frustrating."

            A frown formed on Draco's face. "We're doing the best we can with the information we have, love," he replied. "It's hard when no one wants to talk. I think the worst is yet to come, and we have to be ready for it at any time."

            Audrey knew that all as fact, but still it was hard to listen through. "Speaking of ready at any time... I still need to talk to you about what this poor boy's name is going to be," she brought up, gesturing at her stomach. "Now is as good of a time as any. I've had a name I've wanted to bring up to you for a while, and at this point I hope you like it."

            Draco raised an eyebrow. "And what is it?"

            "Scorpius," she responded.

            "As in like the constellation?"

            Audrey nodded. "I found it when I was reading the Astronomy book back when we were still in school. I think it popped out at me because I was reading and Artemis' name was on the page, and we were just becoming friends then, and-"

            "-you're rambling again," Draco chimed in. "I think it's a fine name, really. My family has a tendency of picking astronomical names, so he would fit right in with the rest of us. We'll figure out a middle name later, alright? Right now there's something else I need to talk to you about."

            This baffled Audrey a little bit, and the expression on her face said it all. What could he possibly want to talk about in a time like this? "What do you mean?"

            "I feel like something is going to happen soon, and Artemis and I were talking about what is to happen if something happens to me during any point during this war," Draco went on. He took a deep breath, before he said anything else. "If something happens, I want you to stay with him. Out of our friends, I feel like he would be the one best suited to protecting you and Scorpius in the event of a crisis."

            The words cut her like a knife. She had been trying so hard to imagine that this war wasn't going to take anyone else close to her- Draco especially. To hear they had a plan in case of his death hurt her deeply. The young woman knew there was the possibility her husband could easily be taken from her in the near future, but she didn't want to believe it. She stood there in stunned silence for a few minutes before she said anything to his statement.

            "You're not going to die," she decided, more to herself than anything.

            "I'm inclined to agree with you, but with how things have been, it's really uncertain if that will remain true," Draco said. "Anything could happen out there, and we just need to be prepared in case something does happen."

            Audrey knew he was right. "What if something happens to me? What then?"

            "You are going to be okay, as is the baby," Draco assured. "Right now your safety is our number one priority."

            "Dammit Draco, I can protect myself," she swore, feeling her hands form fists at her sides. "I don't need an army protecting me. Seriously. We formed this group to protect all of us, not just me. If it comes down to it, don't think I'm not going to fight."

            "I know you well enough to know that you'd say something like that. I know you want to fight, but you really shouldn't because of the baby," Draco responded, giving her a stern look. "Don't unless you have no other choice."

            Audrey sighed, defeated. "Fine," she said, although she didn't agree with the decision. She knew if it came down to it, she was going to fight to help protect her friends and family. She had sat by idly for too many other battles to let this one slip her by if she needed to help out. She had lost too many people already, and she would be damned if she was going to sit by and watch more of them die.

            If only she had known how soon this battle would be brought on.

*****

            The wind rushed through the tall grass, making passage through it difficult at best. Pansy was trying her hardest to remain unseen on this recon mission. The Burrow was not an easy house to sneak up on, due to its remote location, and the fields were the only way to remain hidden while one approached the house. Her job was to discover if this was the location where the enemies of the Death Eaters were residing. She had managed to get close enough where she could see in through one of the windows into what appeared to be the living room.

            The girl peered in from her spot in the field, trying her hardest to identify who was all present in the room. As far as she could tell, everyone Lucius had a vendetta against was in the room. It was almost too good to be true, yet here it was. Pansy knew that if there was to be a final battle, there was no better time than when all their threats were in one location. The girl smirked.

            This was about to get real bloody real quick.