Rick Astley was a young man with musical dreams.
He came from a small place called Warrington, and had only just been discovered last year by music producer Peter Waterman and brought to London.
He had been composing a song today but was interrupted by a burst of crying.
He ran downstairs angrily, intending to drive the uninvited guest away from his door, but as he got close, the blood-curdling wail actually gave him limitless musical inspiration!
It was an ethereal and beautiful girl's voice, her sorrow and despair unconcealed, perfectly combined with the lovely tone. It was as if she were howling a tragic family chronicle...
He opened the door and saw a small back sitting on his steps, her slender shoulders trembling, evoking pity.
"Whose little girl are you? Why are you crying so sadly?"
Rick couldn't help but ask. The girl seemed very embarrassed and stopped howling, reduced to quiet sobs.
After what felt like an eternity, the girl finally turned her head. Under the dim streetlight, the falling rain created a hazy atmosphere, and a face Rick knew extremely well leaped into his heart.
How could he not know it? He saw that huge poster every day when he came and went.
He was captivated by Audrey Hepburn's peerless beauty. He often fantasized that if he had been born a few decades earlier, perhaps he could have had a passionate love affair with Audrey.
But why did this little girl in front of him look exactly like Audrey?
'Is this a little angel sent by God in response to my wish?'
"What's your name, girl?"
Rick asked in the gentlest voice he could muster.
Hydrus froze. She had been in such a hurry to switch to the Metamorphmagus magical constitution that although she had changed her face, she had forgotten to come up with an alias.
Continuing to use Hydrus was clearly inappropriate. She immediately and helplessly resorted to the invincible amnesia tactic:
"I... I forgot my name."
"Then where do you live?"
"Forgot."
"What about your parents?"
"Forgot."
...
"It's cold outside. Why don't you come in first?"
Hydrus nodded and followed Rick into the house.
It was a small, two-story house.
The ground floor had a fireplace. On the square rug in front of it was a low table, surrounded by three old leather sofas. Because no one had visited in a long time, their original appearance was hidden under a thick layer of dust.
"Wait a moment!"
Rick rushed into the kitchen, brought out a wet rag, and clumsily began wiping the sofa and low table.
It was clear he was not familiar with housework, so inept that Hydrus felt embarrassed for him.
While Rick was back in the kitchen rinsing the rag, Hydrus switched to her house-elf constitution. While reverting to her own appearance, she snapped her fingers—this was the housekeeping magic inherited from house-elves.
The low table and sofa, which Rick had only managed to smear more, instantly became spotless.
She spent another five seconds changing back to Audrey's face and stood quietly to the side, waiting for the inevitable surprise.
"Ah!"
Rick looked at the clean sofa, a little dazed. It hadn't looked like this a moment ago.
He looked at Hydrus. The little girl was looking down, tapping the frayed edge of the rug with her foot, as if trying to smooth it.
'It seems it has nothing to do with the girl.'
'So, the sofa becoming clean... was this God favoring me again?'
Rick piously made the sign of the cross on his chest, then returned to the kitchen.
Twenty minutes later.
Hydrus was perched on the edge of the sofa, her upper body leaning over the low table, frantically inhaling a bowl of oatmeal.
"You were starving, weren't you," Rick said, his heart aching a little. "Do you really have nowhere to go now?"
Hydrus didn't look up, just made an "mhm" sound from her throat.
"If you..."
Rick hesitated for a few seconds, but finally made up his mind, because he felt this was all God's guidance!
"If you have nowhere to go, you can temporarily live with me... Of course, of course, I won't do anything strange to you, please rest assured!"
'This man is so strange. I'm the one in need, so why does he seem like he's begging me to stay?'
"My name is Rick, Rick Astley. I'm a singer!"
Hydrus's beautiful eyes (Audrey's eyes, at the moment) suddenly widened. She had heard this name before!
Rick Astley was a smash-hit singer in the late eighties and early nineties!
His "Never Gonna Give You Up" was an awesome song that could still be called a golden hit even in the twenty-first century!
'So at this time, Rick was still holed up in an old house like this?'
'Counting the time, this guy is going to make it big in another two years!'
Hydrus fell into deep thought.
Seeing her lowering her head to think, Rick became extremely nervous, afraid the girl would refuse.
He didn't know why he was so concerned about a little girl he had just met.
Maybe it was her resemblance to Audrey, maybe it was her beautiful, melodic voice, maybe it was the strong sense of affinity she gave him, or maybe it was her tragic circumstances?
As a musician, he believed his judgment couldn't be wrong. If she weren't at the height of misery, how could she have produced such a moving wail?
Hydrus looked up, her eyes as clear as a young animal's. She nodded her small head. "Then I'll have to trouble you!"
"No trouble, no trouble," Rick's young face was filled with ecstasy. "Um, um, you need to have a name, otherwise I won't know what to call you."
Hydrus agreed. "I should. Why don't you just pick one for me, big brother?"
'She called me big brother!'
Rick was overjoyed and blurted out, "Why don't you just be called Audrey!"
Hydrus was speechless.
'Just because I look like Audrey, I have to be named Audrey?'
"Alright," Hydrus said with an air of indifference. "Audrey it is, then. Audrey Astley."
From this day on, her name in the Muggle world would be Audrey Astley!
When Rick saw that Hydrus had accepted the name he gave her and had even taken his surname, a strange sense of responsibility rose in his heart—he had to raise this little girl in front of him properly.
Neither of them knew that Hydrus's body, having been suffused with magic for eleven years, constantly emitted the scent of magical elements.
Wizards might be used to magical elements and not notice, but any Muggle who stood near Hydrus would be attracted by the "natural" scent on her!
"Audrey," Rick beckoned to her. "Come upstairs with me, let's go see your room!"
Audrey nodded and obediently followed her "brother" upstairs.
There were three rooms upstairs. The one facing the street was the master bedroom, the one in the middle was Rick's studio, and the one at the very back was the guest room.
Rick led Audrey to the guest room.
Squeak... The door opened, revealing a room that could be used as a set for a horror movie.
The little girl had anticipated the situation inside before the door even opened. After all, the dust-covered living room on the first floor had left a deep impression.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Audrey," Rick scratched his head, giving a sheepish, apologetic smile. "I didn't realize the room was this dirty. Why don't you go watch some TV first, and come in after I've finished cleaning?"
Audrey smiled and pushed him into the studio. Various musical instruments were inside.
A simple desk was piled high with papers. A fountain pen was lying on the paper, uncapped. Clearly, he had just been composing.
"You go ahead and work, big brother. I'll clean my own room!"
"But..." Rick wanted to say more, but he saw Audrey give him a sweet smile and then close the studio door.
It left the new big brother muttering helplessly to himself:
"It's your first day here, how can I let you clean..."
Actually, the thing he should have been thinking about wasn't the cleaning,
but the fact that he had just accepted the reality of having a new sister in the house. That was the strangest part!
...
Back in the guest room, Audrey smiled slightly, switched to her house-elf constitution, and waved her hand.
The trash grew legs and walked itself out, and the dust and cobwebs vanished without a trace.
She pushed open the window, letting the damp air drift into the room, and placed her hands on her hips, satisfied.
The plain room was far less luxurious than her conditions at Lestrange Manor.
But its advantage was that it was free!
Its advantage was that it was free!
Free!
She tapped her finger on herself, and instantly her body was no longer sticky, and her damp clothes immediately became dry.
From next door came Rick's soft humming. Audrey smiled slightly.
The god of fate still favored her. On one hand, she was wanted by the Ministry of Magic; on the other, she had inexplicably obtained a new identity in the Muggle world.
And the person who adopted her was a good person! 'Right, just seems like his brain isn't too bright.'
She made a 'C' shape with her right hand and cupped her chin.
It was only just past seven in the evening. The long night shouldn't be wasted.
'Why not go pick up Momo first!'
As for how to explain Momo's existence to Rick...
'Simple enough. Just have Momo cast a Confundus Charm on him.'
No sooner said than done.
Crack!
When she reappeared, Hydrus was already in the stairwell of the second floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Five or six seconds later, she pushed open the stairwell door and walked out, already wearing Tonks's face...
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