Chasing Freedom {Book 3: Chasing Butterflies}

Chapter 27: Honestly

"That he does," she eventually answered him.

Artemis smiled, and Audrey couldn't resist smiling back at him. "Shall we?" he asked, offering her his hand.

Audrey took it, and Artemis pulled her up from the couch, and pulled her into a tight embrace. This had become the norm the past few months. Artemis was suddenly much more affectionate than Audrey had remembered him being previously. Not that she was complaining. It was nice to have someone who could comfort her at the end of a long day of chasing Scorpius, or just in general. Honestly, she missed sleeping next to someone, but she had never admitted that. The girl hugged him back tightly, feeling content for just a moment before he pulled away to pick Scorpius up off the floor.

Before Audrey could say anything, she heard the manor's main door open downstairs, and she knew at least some of the guests had arrived. On that note, the two of them plus Scorpius made their way down to the foyer where they saw the Weasley family standing, or at least a majority of them. There had been a lot of changes in the Weasley family since Scorpius was born, and those who were there reflected that pretty well.

After greeting all of them, the group of them made their way to the ballroom where the party had been set up. Unlike a lot of parties, since it was for such a small child the adults all just segmented into different social groups. Molly and Arthur had joined Artemis' parents, Narcissa, and Fianna. Artemis, Ron, Harry, Fred, and George had taken over another table. Artemis' younger brothers, Myles and Beckett, who were now close to seven years old, enjoyed a rare nice day in Ireland by playing outside. Audrey was content to be with Nicole, Ginny, and Hermione like the old times, although this time she had Scorpius sitting by her feet, happily playing with some blocks. It didn't take long for the girls to bring Audrey up to speed on what was new.

"Fred's finally back to his old self, I see," she brought up, noticing the twin laughing on the other side of the room with the guys.

"Oh yeah," Ginny assured. "He's been a lot better without that harpy he was with. Glad she's gone. Really, I think all of us are. She was absolutely terrible."

As it turned out, Krystie had been seeing another man behind Fred's back the entire time, and the child she gave birth to wasn't Fred's either. Nasty shock when he found out, and after the divorce was over, she fled the country to the United States to be with the other man. Fred had been torn up about it for a while, but he was seemingly on the up and up now, and had apologized profusely for how he had behaved during the funerals. Audrey accepted his apology, and things on that front had been going much better since then.

"She really was," Audrey agreed. She hadn't spoken to her estranged friend since before Draco had died, and now she was positive she would never speak to her again. There was no room for negativity in her life, and everyone knew how much negativity that woman brought.

"He's finally back to running the joke shop with George, so you know that has made their relationship immensely better," Hermione added.

"But enough about Fred," Nicole changed the topic. She glanced over to the boys to make sure they weren't paying attention to her, and even on confirmation that they weren't, she still spoke in almost a whisper. "So... what is the deal with you and Artemis?"

Audrey was afraid of that question being brought up. Honestly, she didn't have a good answer for it. Technically speaking, they were just close friends. But, they were more affectionate than most close friends would ever admit to being, and they were together constantly. Not to mention they were raising a kid together, and that was going incredibly well.