You are viewing a story from harrypotterfanfiction.com
View Online
Format: Novel
Chapters: 21
Word Count: 64,469
Status: WIP
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Strong Language, Mild Violence, Scenes of a Mild Sexual Nature, Substance Use or Abuse, Sensitive Topic/Issue/Theme, Contains Spoilers
Genres: Drama, Fluff, Romance
Characters: Dumbledore, Lupin, McGonagall, Snape, Sirius, Lily, James, Pettigrew, Voldemort, OC
Pairings: Sirius/OC, James/Lily, James/OC, Lily/OC, Remus/OC
First Published: 08/06/2011
Last Chapter: 08/01/2012
Last Updated: 08/01/2012
Summary:
Brilliant banner by wingsatmidnight@TDA
“I swear Black, if you touch me I will kill you!”
“Oh come on, I'm not that bad.”
Alex Taylor just started Hogwarts. Of course she loves it, who wouldn't? But the thing she isn't loving quite as much is Sirius Black and his bark-like laughter. Plus, James made a promise on a certain July evening; nothing evil will ever come after her. Boy, was he mistaken.
Here's a lovely CI of Alex by LunaLovegood @ TDA. I love it don't you?
"Honey!! Come inside, it's really hot out today."
Alex rolled her eyes at her mother. It's England it was never hot here. She hated the weather in her home country. It was always wet and humid, even now; in the summer you could barely wear shorts and not be cold.
Her mother, on the other hand, was convinced that Alex was going to pass out from the heat. It was one in the afternoon and so supposedly the hottest part of the day. It was late July and Alex was outside in the garden lying in the hammock, murmuring 'Hey Jude' as she rocked herself. It was a song by The Beatles and it came so naturally to her, it was easier that breathing. She sometimes wondered whom they loved more, her or the band? They certainly spent more time fussing over their records and shrines to the four boys, then paying attention to her. They also celebrated every one of their birthdays. But she didn't complain. She grew up with The Beatles and was now almost as obsessed with them as her parents. Life was great.
At school she had lots of friends and was the center of social life. She was charming, smart and pretty and many boys turned their heads when she walked by. She was well aware of her good looks, but never paid them much attention. Alex was more of a tomboy that a real girly girl. She preferred the company of boys and liked running around, instead of discussing the importance of firm nail beds. She was still young, not even 11, why couldn't she enjoy her childhood.
"But now, is it all over?" she thought to herself. Primary school was over and her parents had in rolled her into a private secondary school. She was worried. Will she have to grow up now? She was gonna miss the countless pranks with her best friend Ed. She was also going to miss Ed. He has been her best friend since first grade and they did everything together.
"Alexandra! Will you please come in from the heat!" she heard a cry from the kitchen again. She cringed. She hated that name, Alexandra. It just wasn't her. Alex was better. It was relaxed and happy. Alexandra sounded so stuck up and pretentious.
"Coming," she sighed.
She walked into the kitchen where her mother was preparing lunch.
"Alex, for goodness sake, have a drink of water, you must be parched. The heat out there is unbearable," her mother was fussing over her.
"Mum, I'm fine. It's not even that hot. It's nothing compared to Italy."
A year ago, Alex and her father went on a father-daughter trip to Italy during the summer. Now that was hot. It was the best week of Alex's life and she dreamed of returning there soon.
"Could you cut the cucumbers dear?" her mother asked her.
"Mummy, must I?"
"Yes, you must, otherwise you will have nothing to eat for lunch, how would you like that?"
"Why can't Izzy do it?" she whined again.
"You‘re older so you have more responsibilities."
"How is cutting the cucumbers a responsibility?" she grumbled, but never the less took the knife in her hand.
At that moment a cat came running through the door, Isabelle, Alex's younger sister right on it's tail with a paintbrush in hand. She was chasing him around the kitchen table desperately trying to paint his tail blue, while giggling intensely.
"Izzy, stop that," Mrs. Taylor said kindly. But Isabelle was far too involved in the chase to stop. She almost knocked the knife out of Alex's hand and caused a few pieces of cucumber to go flying across the room.
"Isabelle Lisa Taylor! Stop this behavior immediately!"
Izzy stopped but there was still a hint of a smile on her face.
"Clean this mess up!" Mrs. Taylor ordered and went back to frying the onions. Izzy took a cloth and started wiping the drops of blue paint that were splattered on the floor. Their cat, Audrey-named by the great Audrey Hepburn, stood frozen under the table eyeing everyone with great intensity. Alex finished chopping the cucumbers and put them neatly in a bowl on the counter. At that moment Mr. Taylor came walking through the door.
"Girls, have any of you seen my paintbrush?"
Izzy giggled.
"You cheeky monkey," Mr. Taylor said and walked over to his youngest daughter. He lifted her up into his arms and kissed her on the cheek.
"You cheeky little monkey," he repeated again. "What have you been doing?" he asked her.
"Well I wanted to paint the cat blue!" she said with a big grin on her face.
"Blue? I don't think Audrey would quite like that, would you Audrey?" Mr. Taylor said and looked at the cat that was still frozen from the terror of being blue.
"So, monkey, will you give me back my paintbrush?"
She grinned and handed it to him.
Mr. Taylor was a painter who did mostly portraits. In his free time he liked to work on paintings of his favorite band The Beatles, of course. Right now he was working on a giant portrait of Lennon and spent all his free time in his studio.
The Taylor house consisted of four bedrooms. One for each of the girls, the third for mr. and Mrs. Taylor and the last for Mr. Taylor's art studio.
"Honey, we really must discuss your birthday. Do you want a party?" Mrs. Taylor asked her eldest. Alex's birthday was on the second of August, which meant it was only a week away.
"Mother!? If I want a party? What kind of question is that?"
Mrs. Taylor chuckled "I'll take that as a yes."
They went into detail about the party during which Mrs. Taylor almost burned the lunch.
At three o'clock the whole family sat down for lunch and after that Alex took it upon herself to make the decorations for her upcoming birthday party. She spent the whole afternoon in her room cutting and coloring things together while listening to the radio. She carefully wrote down the addresses of all her friends that were invited to her party. She then took them downstairs and handed them to her mother.
"Oh my, Alex! That's a lot of people!" Mrs. Taylor gasped.
"Well I have a lot of friends," Alex stubbornly said and crossed her arms.
Mrs. Taylor went through all the names.
"And they're mostly boys. They are going to the turn this house upside down. Alex, I really don't know if this is wise."
"Well I'm ten. I'm not supposed to be wise." Alex said. Mrs. Taylor laughed.
"True that. I'll have to talk to your father about this. Now it's past your bedtime. Hurry up and get ready, I'll come and say goodnight in a second.
"Isabelle!!" Alex groaned as the bright morning light pierced her vision. This was their standard routine. Each morning Izzy would come to Alex's room and open the curtains so that Alex would have to wake up at an un humanly hour.
"Alex! Wake up! I wanna play!" Izzy said pulling the covers of Alex.
Alex groaned and put the pillow over her head. All was quiet for a minute and she thought that her sister gave up and left. She should have known better. A piercing shriek cut through the silence and Izzy landed with force on Alex's back.
"AW!!!! That hurts. Ok, I give up! I give up! I'll come and play just get off me!"
Izzy, pleased at her success climbed of the bed and sat on the floor.
"I'll come in a minute. Just let me get ready. And from where did you jump?" Alex asked while rubbing her back.
"From your wardrobe,"
Alex looked. It was a high jump, no wonder she still felt the pain in her back. Finally she got up and put her dressing gown on. She heard a laugh.
"What?" she asked her sister.
"Your hair," Izzy giggled again.
Alex looked in the mirror. Her brown hair was sticking out in every direction. She had a pixy haircut that now looked like she'd been electrocuted. She didn't even care; she was too tired.
"Let's go and play!" Izzy said while jumping up and down excitedly. They went out of the room and just as Izzy was about to set up the dollhouse their mother called them down to breakfast. They ran down the stairs, both of them really hungry and immediately attacked the toast that lay on the table.
"Girls, girls slow down there's plenty for everyone," Mr. Taylor said while reading the daily news and drinking his cup of coffee. Mrs. Taylor had just lay a pot of tea on the table when they heard a 'click' telling them that the post had arrived.
"Alexandra, would you be a dear and go get that?" Mr. Taylor asked.
"Dad! How many times have I asked you to call me Alex?" she said annoyed.
"That's beside the point. Can you get the post please?"
"Why can't Isabelle get it?"
"Izzy, get the post," Mrs. Taylor said.
"I will not. She should get it. You asked her first."
"Will one of you just get the bloody post?!" Mr. Taylor raised his voice.
Alex stood up and went to the front door. She took the post. There were some bills, a post card from her aunt and a thick envelope. It had a funny crest, a badger, a snake, an eagle and a lion, all around the letter H. She thought it must be for her father from one of his little artist clubs. She turned it around. And there it was, written in green ink:
Alexandra Carrie Taylor
44 Maple drive
Oxford
England
She couldn't believe it. From whom could it be? She weighed it with her hand. It was heavier than just a normal letter. She made her way back to the dining room, but just before she opened the door a strange feeling came over her. She suddenly decided it's best if she opens the letter on her own. She ran upstairs, put it on her dresser and came back down to the dining room. She gave the other post to her father.
"What took you so long?" her mother asked.
"Sorry, I just read the postcard that auntie Jane sent."
Her father was just reading it now.
"She got bit by a dog," he told them.
"Really?" they all exclaimed including Alex.
"Didn't you just say you read it?" her father asked confused.
"Yeah, I did." she said and quickly began gathering things from the table to avoid further conversation. From the kitchen she went straight up to her room and opened the letter.
Her heart was beating fast when she read it. And when she finished she began re-reading it. Alex couldn't believe it. The letter said she was a witch and that she has a place at Hogwarts a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Then there was a part about an owl that should arrive until the 31 of august, which she didn't quite understand.
"It's probably just Izzy pulling a prank on me," she thought. But somewhere a part of her was saying that what the letter said was true. She really didn't know what to think and decided to not tell anyone about this today and just push it out of her mind.
She went to Ed's house that day and they were making up pranks that they could pull on their friends. But the whole time Alex was distracted and she had a sort of nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Her thoughts just kept going back to the letter no matter what she did.
When it was her bedtime she crawled into bed but stayed awake for a long time after. She didn't fall asleep even when she heard her parents coming up to their bedroom. And just as she finally dosed off, the doorbell rang.
A/N:Hi guys! So this is the first chapter and I apologize for it being so boring, but you know, got to start somewhere. And I promise the chapters will get more and more interesting. But now it's your turn. Please review!! Tell me if you love it or hate it and don't hold back. I really want to hear your thoughts and notes. So please review!
Chapter 2: Alex gets a visit and pays a visit
[View Online] [Printer Friendly Version of This Chapter]
[View Online] [Printer Friendly Version of This Chapter]
Stunning chapter image by LoonaLovegood@TDA
"Mum, who could that be?" Izzy was holding on to Mrs. Taylor’s arm as the whole family went to open the door for the midnight visitor.
"I don't know honey. We'll have to open the door to see."
"Do you think it’s thieves coming to rob us?" Izzy asked all scared.
"If somebody wanted to rob us, I think they wouldn't ring the door bell," Alex snorted.
They arrived at the front door.
"Who is it?" Mrs. Taylor asked.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, at your service."
They all looked at each other in awe. Something triggered in Alex's mind, that name was definitely familiar. Now she remembered. It was written on the top of her letter from Hogwarts. This was the headmaster of the so-called wizard school. So it definitely wasn't a prank. If this man was here now, then it must be true; she really must be a witch. Then another thought crossed her mind; maybe the reason he came was to tell her there has been a mistake and that she shouldn't have received that letter.
Mr. Taylor was the first to move as he went to look through the peephole.
"It's an old man, he looks harmless enough," he shrugged and opened the door.
"Good evening. I'm very sorry to have arrived so late in the night, but I got held up at the ministry," he peered down at them through a tiny pair of spectacles.
The entire Taylor family just stared at this strange man. He was old but he had a sort of childish innocence about him. His eyes were full of wisdom but filled with kindness and hope as well. He had gray hair and a long beard that sparkled in the moonlight.
"How long did it take you to grow that beard...sir?" Isabelle blabbered.
"Izzy!" Alex nudged her.
But Dumbledore just laughed.
"My dear, that's a very interesting question. I must say I don't know the answer to it. But it has definitely been there from before you were born, before Alex was born even.
"How do you know when I was born and how do you know my sister's name?" Izzy demanded.
"I know a lot of things my dear. Now if you and your family would be so kind to invite me into your lovely home, it's a dangerous time to be standing on the doorstep."
As nobody reacted he just let himself in.
"I take it the living room is that way?" he pointed in the right direction.
The entire family followed him and they sat on the sofa, while Dumbledore took the chair next to the fireplace.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Mrs. Taylor finally asked.
"I am professor Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts," he smiled as if it were the most obvious thing.
"Excuse me, but that still doesn't really tell us who you are. And what is Hogwarts?"
"Hogwarts is the school for witchcraft and wizardry of course."
"A school for what?" Mr. Taylor was losing it by this point. A strange man had appeared in the middle of the night and said he was the headmaster of a wizard school. And the way he said it, like it would be the most normal and mundane thing.
"For wizardry. Your daughter will be attending it in September. If she wishes that is," he added and apologetically looked at Alex as if to say he's sorry for assuming she would just take her place at Hogwarts.
"With all due respect sir, I have absolutely no idea what is this nonsense you’re talking about or what this Hogarts or Hogwarts school is. And frankly, I have enough of this mumbo-jumbo, so I'm going to sleep," Mr. Taylor said and started to get up.
"Alex, did you not tell them anything?" Dumbledore turned to her. He looked like he was enjoying himself.
"Well...I wasn't really sure if this was true...so I didn't really know what to do. You've got to understand this is very confusing for me; I got a letter saying I'm a witch. No sane person would believe it!" she defended herself.
"What? What letter? Did this man send you a letter?"
"Not I personally, but my school did. You see your daughter here is a witch."
"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Taylor asked.
"Alex dear, why don't you go and get the letter?"
Alex already started standing up but then Dumbledore stopped her.
"Wait! Maybe we can kill two flies at once. Accio letter!"
The letter flew into the room.
“Wow! That was awesome!” Izzy yelled.
“What is this madness!?” Mrs. Taylor screamed.
“It’s magic,” Dumbledore explained calmly.
“You need to go and see a mental health professional. Hell, I need to go and see one. I’m imagining flying letters. This is getting out of control.”
“Mrs. Taylor please calm down and read your daughters letter,” Dumbledore said.
After a few minutes of persuasion both of Alex’s parents calmed down enough to read the letter, but as soon as they did they shot up again.
“Is this some kind of joke?!”
“No, m’am. It’s totally serious.”
“Do you expect us to believe this shit?”
“Didn’t I just prove a few minutes back that magic is real?”
This didn’t convince them and they were still screaming and asking questions. Dumbledore pulled out his wand.
“Lumos!” It light up.
“You expect us to believe that this is magic. Any idiot can see that this is just a stupid gadget bought in a joke shop.”
“Accio paintbrush.” It flew from under the table into Dumbledore’s hand.
“Do you believe me now?” he asked clearly amused by the entire situation.
They didn’t say a word but sat down apparently prepared to listen. Dumbledore explained everything. What they teach at Hogwarts and how the whole system works.
“But how am I a witch if none of my parents are?” Alex asked.
“It’s quite a common thing actually. A lot of witches and wizards are muggle-born.”
“Muggle born?” Alex asked.
“Meaning that they don’t have wizard parents.”
“Professor Dumbledore?”
He smiled at her.
“Yes, my dear?”
“I didn’t quite understand the part in the letter about the owl having to arrive by the end of August.”
“Ah, that. You see in the wizard owls deliver mail,” he explained and got puzzled looks from the Taylors.
“It’s faster. But you can’t imagine the mess we have in the owlery,” he chuckled to himself.
“But there will be no need for that. I have personal confirmation of you attending Hogwarts in September have I not?”
Alex nodded enthusiastically. She then looked at her parents.
“May I go? Please?” she made her begging face with the big round puppy-dog eyes.
“Well…” her parents looked at each other.
“Ok.” They said at last.
“Yeeey!” Alex sang and embraced them in a huge bear hug.
“I want to be a witch to!” Izzy said.
“We’ll see my dear, we’ll see,” for the first time that evening Alex spotted that Dumbledore was uncomfortable. He covered it up by standing up and heading for the door.
“Oh and one last thing, there is wizard family that lives in your neighborhood,” he told them the address.
“They have a little boy, about your age, Alex. James is his name. You should pay them a visit, they’ll help you sort your stuff out. You’ll need to get your books for Hogwarts. Until next time then, Alex, Mr. Taylor, Mrs. Taylor, Isabelle,” he waved and in the next moment he was gone.
“Oh my god, mum! Did that really happen?” Alex was so excited.
“You tell me,” her mother sighed.
“Off to bed girls. It’s been a rough night,” Mr. Taylor said.
“Oh dad, I couldn’t possibly sleep now! I’m far too excited!” Alex was jumping up and down.
Her father laughed: “Well then you’re just going to have to lay in bed wide awake.”
“Oh but dad!” Alex whined.
“No buts, it’s after two.”
***
“Can I go yet?” Alex asked for the tenth time that morning.
“Not yet honey, it’s only half nine. You’ve got to let that family sleep. I know you’re excited about meeting a fellow wizard but you’ve got to be patient.”
Finally it was twelve, the earliest hour her mother would let her go and meet ‘the wizards’, as they were referring to them. Alex walked the few streets that separated their houses and when she arrived she gasped. She was standing in front of a mansion. It had a huge garden and Alex spotted a tree house in the back garden.
“Wow,” she thought to her self “I really need to make friends with these people.”
She suddenly felt nervous. What if these people were rich snobs? They certainly had a house that was big enough. She straightened her t-shirt and took a deep breath then rang the doorbell. A woman opened the door.
“Yes dear? Are you lost?” she asked, her eyes filled with warmth.
“No. I’m very sorry to bother you on a Saturday,” Alex apologized.
“Not a problem dear. So, how can we help you?”
“Well the situation is quite complicated. You see yesterday I got a letter from Hogwarts.”
“Oh a little witch. My son is going to Hogwarts this year. Come in, you can meet him. Come dear,” she stood aside so that Alex could pass. She was very happy about the turn of events. These people, or at very least the mother, seemed very un-snobbish.
“I’m so sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Alex Taylor.”
“Very nice to meet you. I’m Eleanor Potter and this is my husband Mark,” she said as a man walked into the living room where they were sitting. He had pitch-black hair and glasses. Even Alex, who wasn’t even 11, could see that he was very handsome.
“This is Alex Taylor. She’s going to Hogwarts this year,” Mrs. Potter explained to her husband.
“Oh, very good.”
“So Alex honey, tell us why you’re here. Uh, wait, first let’s get you a cup of tea.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Alex said politely.
“Don’t be silly darling,” Mrs. Potter waved her wand and a pot of tea with cookies appeared on the little table.
“Help yourself to sugar, milk and the cookies of course.”
“This is very kind of you. So as I was saying I received my letter yesterday and later that day professor Dumbledore arrived to explain everything in detail. You see, my parents are muggles,” she said and wasn’t sure how they would react to this news. They didn’t seem to take notice.
“Oh lovely, lovely,” Mrs. Potter said.
“So before he left, he told me your address and said I should pay you a visit and that you could help me with the preparations for school. But I don’t want to in bark on your life any way.”
“Oh, darling, it would be a pleasure. We always wanted a big family, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be, we only have one child, James. Where is he? We should call him, so that he can meet Alex.”
Alex felt sad. These lovely people who almost welcomed her into the family and they couldn’t have more kids. Life just wasn’t fair.
“James!” Mr. Potter called.
“Yes?”
“Please come downstairs. There’s someone here we want you to meet.”
Alex heard thudding as James walked downstairs.
“So, this is our son James. James, this is Alex Taylor, she’s going to Hogwarts this year,” Mr. Potter introduced them.
“Hi,” Alex said and they shook hands. James looked exactly like his father; the same hair, the same eyes, they even wore similar glasses.
“Alex, honey, how would you like to stay for lunch? James can tell you anything you want to know about Hogwarts,” Mrs. Potter offered beaming down at the little girl.
“That’s very generous, thank you. Could I just ring my parents and ask them if that’s ok?”
“Of course you can. The phone’s right over there,” Mr. Potter showed her.
She called her house and her mum said it was fine to stay for lunch.
“Alex, I have a tree house in the back garden. Do you want to see it?” James offered as she hung up the phone.
“I would love to see your tree house. It sounds awesome.”
They went to the back garden and climbed up the tree.
“This is the coolest thing ever,” Alex said staring around the little house. She always wanted a tree house but they didn’t have a big and sturdy tree in their back yard.
“My dad and I built it,” James told her.
“This is seriously fantastic.”
“We can have Agnes bring us some tea and cupcakes up here.”
“Who’s Agnes?”
“Our house elf.”
“You have an elf? Like the one in Lord of the rings? With pointy ears, good eyesight and everything?”
“I don’t know what kind of elves there are in Lord of the rings but I can tell you Agnes doesn’t have good eyesight. She’s really old already,” James told her.
“Ok, firstly: I still can’t believe you have a house elf. What for? Do all wizard families have one? And secondly: You don’t know what Lord of the rings is?”
“Well Agnes does most of the house work and no, not all wizard families have one. Sorry, I’ve never heard of this Lord of the rings. It must be a muggle thing.”
Alex was glad she at least knew what a muggle was.
“You have to read Lord of the rings. It’s the best book ever.”
“Yeah, I’m not really big on reading. Except for Quidditch magazines.”
“Yeah, I’m not big on reading either, except for Lord of the rings. You’ve got to read it, I tell you. And what is Quidditch?”
“You don’t know Quidditch?” he was appalled. Then he went off into explaining the rules of the game. Alex was fascinated. Flying on brooms? She wanted to try it out as soon as possible.
“Do you have your own broom?”
“Yes, I do. My dad was a seeker when he was at Hogwarts. I’ll show it to you later, you can try it out.”
“Oh my god! Are you serious? I love you!” she said and hugged him. After she let go they were both a bit embarrassed. James was looking a bit flushed and Alex thought she’d better change the subject.
“So tell me about Hogwarts.”
“Well when you get there, you get sorted into one of four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin,” he cringed at the last.
“Is there something wrong with Slytherin?”
“Well, I don’t want to turn you against them but they are known to be very stuck-up and even evil. Almost all the evil wizards were in Slytherin.”
“Evil wizards? I didn’t know they exist. Now that I think of it, it’s logical. If the muggle world has evil people, so does the magic one. So tell me more about the other houses.”
“The Ravenclaws are the smart ones, the Hufflepuffs the nice ones and the Gryffindors are the brave ones.”
“Wow. In which house were your parents?”
“In Gryffindor,” James said proudly.
“You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, their daring nerve and chivalry, set Gryffindors apart. I want to be in Gryffindor,” James told her.
“Wow. I like Gryffindor. How do they decide who gets put in which house?”
“The sorting hat. They put it on your head and it decides.”
Alex started laughing. Then she saw James was serious.
“You’re serious? A hat decides?” she asked and James nodded.
“So, what are the classes like? Is Quidditch a school sport?”
“I don’t really know about the classes. We’ll have to wait and see. Well it is, kind of. First years aren’t allowed on the team, but we have flying lessons.”
“What about the teachers?”
“I’m not really interested in the teachers. I just want to know what kind of pranks I can play on them,” James grinned.
“I love pranks. My friend Ed and I used to prank all the teachers at our old school.”
They spent the next twenty minutes talking and laughing at previous pranks they’ve pulled.
“You know what, I like you Alex Taylor,” James said to her and smiled wide.
“I like you too James Potter, I think we’re gonna get along very well.”
“Yeah, except if you’ll get put into Slytherin,” he joked.
“I will not!” she said and playfully punched him in the arm.
“Aw! That hurts,” he laughed.
“You’re strong…for a girl.”
“Oh really? I bet I’m stronger than you!” she grinned.
“I don’t think so.”
Before they could do anything to prove who was stronger a voice was heard from the house. It was Mrs. Potter calling them to lunch. They quickly climbed down the ladder and headed for the house.
Agnes the house elf served them lunch and for the whole time she was in the room Alex just stared at her.
“So that’s a house elf,” she whispered to James when Agnes left.
James laughed.
“Yes,” and then in the same breath he said: “Mum, can we have some cupcakes and tea in the tree house?”
“Yes, I don’t see why not. You can have them at teatime. So Alex, has James told you all about Hogwarts?” she smiled.
“Yes, he has. He’s told me all about the houses and Quidditch. And he’s going to show me his broom later.”
“Ok, just be careful you two. We don’t want to send Alex home with a broken skull.”
As promised after lunch James took Alex to their broom shed. There were three brooms in there.
“So this is my broom. It’s a Comet 260,” he said proudly.
“Are these your mum and dad’s?”
“That’s dad’s,” he said and pointed to the newer shinier one.
“My mum doesn’t fly. That’s my old one.”
He took it out and handed it to Alex.
“It’s yours for today.”
“Thanks, I hope I’ll return in it one piece,” she smiled.
“So Alex Taylor, are you ready for your first flying lesson?”
“Oh please, I was born ready,” she said and pretended to flip her nonexistent long hair. They both laughed. Alex mounded her broom and James showed her how to hold it correctly. When he touched her hand she thought she saw sparks flying. They kicked off the ground.
“Hey! I’m doing it!” she said excitedly when she didn’t fall off the first second. James laughed and did a flip in the air.
“Now that’s just showing of.” She said and he gave her a cocky grin.
***
“Alex, dear please we would love to have your parents and you for dinner sometime this week,” Mrs. Potter said to her as she was leaving.
“Thank you so much for the invitation. I’ll ask them and give you a ring. James gave me your number.”
“That’s lovely. And I almost forgot, if you would like you could come with us to buy everything for Hogwarts. You probably don’t know where you would get everything.”
“That would be a real help, thanks.”
“We can discuss everything if and when your parents come to dinner,” she smiled sweetly and surprised Alex by giving her a goodbye hug.
Alex walked happily back to her house.
“Hi honey. How were the wizards?” her father opened the door for her.
“Oh they’re great. They invited us all around for dinner sometime next week. And they have a huge house and James has a giant tree house oh and I rode a broom and they have a house elf. They also invited me to go with them to get everything for school and they’re really nice and…”
“Calm down child. You’re blabbering. You’ll have plenty of time to tell us everything over dinner,” Mr. Taylor said.
A lovely chapter image of James, by LoonaLovegood@TDA
The Taylors went to the Potters house for dinner the following Tuesday. They sat down in the dining room where Agnes served dinner. Everything was going great and the parents were getting along very well. The Taylors agreed for Alex to go shopping to London with the Potters the next day. As soon as dinner was over James asked if they can be excused and he and Alex left the adults to their conversation.
“On Saturday I didn't even get a chance to show you my room,” James said and led her upstairs.
“How many rooms are in this place?” Alex asked as she saw the huge first floor.
“Would you like a tour my lady?” James said and bowed as a good English butler.
Alex giggled and then suddenly stopped. She didn't usually giggle like that. She was never such a girl. But around James it seemed natural. She was surprised at this new revelation but decided to go with it.
“Is something wrong?” James asked now back to his old self.
“No, I'm fine thanks. So what about that tour?”
He showed her around the first and second floor. There was a library and even Alex who didn't like reading (except Lord of the rings of course) would gladly read any of the books that were in there. She screamed when she saw that the cover on one of the books was moving. James explained to her that that's what pictures in the magic world do. Then there was the master bedroom, Mr. Potter's study and Mrs. Potter's “little” working room as James called it. They had an upper living room and a music room; Mrs. Potter was quite the musician. Then there were of course countless guest rooms and bathrooms. At the end James led her to his room, or rooms if we're precise.
He had two rooms and his own bathroom. He used one room for sleeping and one for hanging out. Alex sat on a sofa in his room (the second one).
“What do you want to do?” James asked her and threw himself on a beanbag.
“Tell me more about Hogwarts,” Alex pleaded.
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything. Everything.”
James laughed.
“Well there are seven years and in the fifth year you have O.W.L.S…”
James spent the next two hours telling her everything he knew about Hogwarts and Alex was fascinated. They were deep in conversation when their parents knocked on the door.
“Alex honey, it's time to go home.”
“Why?” James and Alex whined at the same time.
All the adults laughed.
“Well you know, Alex you could sleep over. We're going to London tomorrow anyway. You could stay, if that would be ok with you two,” Mrs. Potter suggested and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.
“Do you want to do that Alex?” Mr. Taylor asked.
Alex nodded enthusiastically.
“Would that be ok with you James?”
Now it was James's turn to nod.
“But she doesn't have her stuff here,” Mrs. Taylor pointed out.
“Not a problem,” Mrs. Potter said and waved her wand. A brand new pajama and wash bag appeared on James's bed. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor looked a bit taken aback by this but quickly shook it off.
“That's sorted then. I need to give you the money for all of Alex's things,” Mr. Taylor said and handed some money to Mr. Potter.
“Uh…do you have any special money or something?”
“Yes we do actually. But we'll exchange the pounds,” Mrs. Potter said.
They said their goodbyes and then Alex's parents left.
“So Alex honey, feel free to choose any of the guest bedrooms or sleep in the same room as James. We could set up a bed next to James's. What would you prefer?”
Alex looked at James.
“I think you should sleep in my room, that way we can still talk before we go to sleep.”
Mrs. Potter waved her wand and another bed appeared next to James's.
“You two won't stay up too long will you?”
“Mum I don't think I'm going to dignify that question with an answer.”
Alex laughed at that comment and Mrs. Potter sighed.
“I'll have Agnes bring you up some hot chocolate before you go to bed.”
“Thanks Mrs. Potter,” Alex said.
“Pleasure, dear,” she said and left them to get ready for bed.
“Your mum is so nice,” Alex said to James as they crawled into bed with their mugs of hot chocolate. He snorted.
“That's what you think. When guests are around she is, but otherwise she's a dragon.”
“I don't believe that.”
“Do dragons really exist in the wizard world?” she asked after a while.
“Yes they do. I've seen one,” he bragged.
“I don't believe you.”
“I did. It was in Gringgot's. That's the wizard bank; dragons guard some of the most important vaults.”
Alex was amazed by all this new information.
“Wow! Does a dragon guard your vault?”
James laughed.
“No, of course not.”
“But you're really rich. Just look at your house,” Alex waved with her hand.
“Oh this is nothing. There are much richer families in the world, especially in the wizard one.”
“James, what you said before about evil wizards, are there any now?”
“There will always be evil wizards in the world, Alex. It's just like the muggle world.”
“Yes, but are there like any big ones now? Like Hitler or Stalin?”
“Well yes and no. It's different. There is this one wizard who they say will become very powerful. They say his power is rapidly growing.”
“What's his name?”
“People call him you-know-who because they're scared. His real name is Voldemort. But be careful to whom you say his name, some frown upon it.”
“What will he do? What does he plan on doing?” Alex asked quietly.
“He hates muggle-borns. He wants to kill them so that the pure-bloods will rule the world.”
“I'm muggle-born! What if he comes after me?” Alex was scared.
“He won't come after you. You're just one person.”
“Do you swear he won't come after me?” she asked.
“I swear,” he said confidently.
James had no idea just how much he was mistaken as he made that promise to a scared little girl on a quite July evening.
***
“Ok kids, are you ready?” Mrs. Potter asked the next morning when they were all dressed and ready to go shopping.
“Where are we going?” Alex asked James quietly.
“To London.”
“To London? But that's far. Are we driving all the way?”
“Alex, have you forgotten? You're a witch now.”
“Oh,” she said and then her face lit up “Are we flying?”
“No. We're going by the floo-network,” Mr. Potter joined in on the conversation.
“What's the floo-network?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Come to the living room,” James said.
She followed him and the whole Potter family and Alex gathered around the fireplace.
“Alex honey, would you like to go first?” Mrs. Potter asked her kindly and held up a cup of some kind of powder in her hand.
“I don't really know how. I'm sorry.”
“No need to apologize. James will go first, won't you James?” she handed him the pot of powder.
To Alex's immense surprise he took a handful and stepped in the fireplace.
“The Leaky cauldron!” he yelled and then threw the powder over himself. The flames turned green and he disappeared. Alex was shocked.
“So Alex, would you like to go next? All you have to do is say The Leaky Cauldron and throw the floo-powder,” Mr. Potter said.
“Ok,” she tried to say it confidently so that her shakiness wouldn't show. 'I mean, there are a hundred good reasons why this shouldn't work' she thought to herself, but never the less took the floo powder in her hand. When she yelled the destination she felt being pulled up and swirled around the chimney. The journey took about two minutes and when she was thrown on steady land again she almost puked.
“You alright?” A voice said and a hand appeared in her sight. She took it as an offer to help her get up and accepted it. When she was standing she looked at the person who helped her up. It was a boy about her age with light brown hair and dark circles under his eyes. His face was worn out but he still had a friendly smile on his lips. Alex got a good vibe from him.
“Hi, I'm Alex. Thanks for helping me up.”
“No problem. I'm Remus.”
They shook hand.
“Are you going to Hogwarts?” She asked him.
“First year,” he nodded
“Same here.”
At that moment James walked up.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“Yeah I'm fine. This is Remus,” she introduced her new acquaintance.
“Oh, I know who he is.”
“Hello James,” Remus said in an unfriendly tone.
“You two know each other?”
“Yes. We went to primary school together. He was the geek,” James told her.
“And he was the prankster,” Remus said in a tone that said he thought it was despicable.
At that moment Mr. and Mrs. Potter appeared behind their backs.
“Ok, I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts. Bye,” Alex said to Remus. He gave her a one-armed wave.
“What were you doing with Lupin?” James asked her as they left the Leaky Cauldron.
Alex assumed he meant Remus.
“He's nice.”
“He's such a nerd.”
“He's still nice,” Alex shrugged.
They came to a brick wall in the back yard of the pub.
“Where to now?” Alex asked.
James pointed to the wall. Alex looked at him, confused at his gesture.
“You might like spending your time banging your head into a wall, but that's not my favorite hobby, as hard as it is to believe.”
James just smiled and they walked up to the red wall. Mr. Potter took out his wand and started tapping the bricks in the wall. All of a sudden they moved and an archway formed.
“Wow!” Alex exclaimed.
“This is Diagon Alley,” James said proudly.
They walked through the brick arch and as they were safely tucked in the street, the entrance sealed itself up again. Alex took out the list of things that she needed for her first year.
“Why don't you two go off to madam Malkin's and we'll go into Gringgot's to get some money,” Mrs. Potter said.
Although Alex really wanted to see Gringgot's and possibly a dragon, she didn't object. James led the way to madam Malkin's where they got their school robes. The entire time they were there, a measuring tape, was swirling around the room, measuring everything in sight. The robes were finished before James's parents got back so they headed for Flourish and Blot's for their books. When they entered Alex immediately spotted Remus in the corner absorbed in a book. The title read: Werewolves and why they're a threat. Alex discovered another fairytale creature that actually exists in the magic world.
“See I told you, nerd alert!” James said as he saw Remus.
Alex went over to say hi to him, much to James's annoyance.
“Hi again!”
“Hello Alex,” Remus greeted her and put down his book.
“So you and James don't get along,” it wasn't a question; it was a statement so Remus didn't bother denying it.
“In primary school he was always showing off and pulling pranks all over the place. He was just so full of himself.”
“Well he's my friend and I'd like you to be my friend too,” Alex said.
“I'd like to be your friend, but as far as Potter's concerned, I don't know. Maybe I could give him a chance. He wasn't the worst, his friend Sirius; he's twice as obnoxious as James. Have you had the pleasure of meeting him?”
Alex shook her head.
“I don't want to turn you against him before you've even met him, I will just warn you, he's quite the ladies man.”
“He's eleven!”
“Trust me, that doesn't stop him.”
Alex laughed but stopped when she noticed Remus was serious. Well, then she'd better watch out for this Black guy. She looked around and saw that James was waiting for her with arms full of books. She said goodbye to Remus and headed over to him.
“While you were busy making friends with Lupin over there, I got all of your books.”
“Thanks James, that's great.”
He handed her half of the book he was holding.
“Can we go and get our wands now?” Alex asked. She'd been looking forward to that the whole day.
“Sure, but we need to find mum and dad first.”
And at that moment Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked through the door.
“There you are!” Mrs. Potter exclaimed.
“Mum, we're going to get our wands, could you and dad get everything we need for potions?”
“Yes, we could do that. Then we'll head back to the Leaky Cauldron for a butterbeer and you can meet us there in an hour.”
They agreed on that and Alex handed Mr. Potter some money for the ingredients. James then led her to Olivander's wand shop. They came out of it quite quickly. Alex was thrilled with her new wand. It was made of birch and had Unicorn hair as a core.
“James it says here that I need a toad, and owl or a cat. Have you got any of those?”
“I've got an owl. I named it James junior.”
Alex started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop for a good ten minutes. James on the other hand looked offended.
“What? I think that's a noble name.”
That got her going again and she had to stop in the middle of the street.
“Can't … breathe,” she mustered during her laughing fit.
She finally calmed down and they headed for the pet shop.
“So which animal do you want?” said James still not completely friendly towards her.
“I definitely don't want a toad, I'm scared of those and I'm not a huge fan of any kind of birds, even if they do have noble names. So I guess that only leaves me with a cat.”
They looked around and finally Alex chose a little kitten that was totally black except for a white dot on its left paw.
“What are you going to name it?” James asked her.
“Well, it's not going to be Alex junior, that's for sure.”
She stuck her tongue out while she was thinking about it.
“It's going to be … Hector,” she firmly decided.
This time it was James's turn to burst into laughter.
“You say James jr. is bad and then you go on and name you're cat Hector! I can't believe it!”
Alex laughed with him but still firmly stated that the cat will indeed be named Hector.
“Look there's the Quidditch shop!” Alex said excitedly as she noticed it on the corner.
“Yes, it is. Sadly first years aren't aloud to be on the team. But you can get your own broom and try out next year.”
They went over too look at the prices.
“I don't have enough money for a broom. Not even close,” Alex said biting her lip.
“You can always borrow one at school,” James said reassuringly.
They finally turned their longing stares from the brooms and headed back to the Leaky cauldron.
“There you are children! We've been waiting for you for ten minutes!”
“Sorry mum. We were looking at Quidditch equipment,” James apologized. Mr. Potter was ready to forgive them as soon as they mentioned the word 'Quidditch' but Mrs. Potter wasn't that easy.
“James, I said…”
“Oh, give it a rest, Eleanor. They're here now, so let's get back,” Mr. Potter said to his wife.
She sighed and fixed her coat as they proceeded to the fireplace.
“Alex?” Mr. Potter said and handed her the floo-powder. She took it, this time knowing what to do. The way back was the same as the way there and once again Alex felt like puking when she finally got to steady land. They had just gotten re-assembled when the doorbell rang.
“This must be your parents, coming to get you.”
“Ruby, Paul, how wonderful it is to see you again,” Mr. Potter greeted them.
Alex and James were delighted to hear that their parents were on first-name bases, meaning they have gotten along well yesterday evening.
Before the Taylors left, Alex remembered one more thing and quickly whispered something into her mother's ear. Mrs. Taylor nodded to her.
“James, would you like to come to my birthday party this Friday?” Alex invited him.
“I would love to. Can I mum?”
“I don't see why not,” Mrs. Potter smiled widely.
“It's at my house at three o'clock.”
“I'll be there,” James said.
“You'd better.”
A/N: Please review! It only takes a second and it makes me so happy.
“On Saturday I didn't even get a chance to show you my room,” James said and led her upstairs.
“How many rooms are in this place?” Alex asked as she saw the huge first floor.
“Would you like a tour my lady?” James said and bowed as a good English butler.
Alex giggled and then suddenly stopped. She didn't usually giggle like that. She was never such a girl. But around James it seemed natural. She was surprised at this new revelation but decided to go with it.
“Is something wrong?” James asked now back to his old self.
“No, I'm fine thanks. So what about that tour?”
He showed her around the first and second floor. There was a library and even Alex who didn't like reading (except Lord of the rings of course) would gladly read any of the books that were in there. She screamed when she saw that the cover on one of the books was moving. James explained to her that that's what pictures in the magic world do. Then there was the master bedroom, Mr. Potter's study and Mrs. Potter's “little” working room as James called it. They had an upper living room and a music room; Mrs. Potter was quite the musician. Then there were of course countless guest rooms and bathrooms. At the end James led her to his room, or rooms if we're precise.
He had two rooms and his own bathroom. He used one room for sleeping and one for hanging out. Alex sat on a sofa in his room (the second one).
“What do you want to do?” James asked her and threw himself on a beanbag.
“Tell me more about Hogwarts,” Alex pleaded.
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything. Everything.”
James laughed.
“Well there are seven years and in the fifth year you have O.W.L.S…”
James spent the next two hours telling her everything he knew about Hogwarts and Alex was fascinated. They were deep in conversation when their parents knocked on the door.
“Alex honey, it's time to go home.”
“Why?” James and Alex whined at the same time.
All the adults laughed.
“Well you know, Alex you could sleep over. We're going to London tomorrow anyway. You could stay, if that would be ok with you two,” Mrs. Potter suggested and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.
“Do you want to do that Alex?” Mr. Taylor asked.
Alex nodded enthusiastically.
“Would that be ok with you James?”
Now it was James's turn to nod.
“But she doesn't have her stuff here,” Mrs. Taylor pointed out.
“Not a problem,” Mrs. Potter said and waved her wand. A brand new pajama and wash bag appeared on James's bed. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor looked a bit taken aback by this but quickly shook it off.
“That's sorted then. I need to give you the money for all of Alex's things,” Mr. Taylor said and handed some money to Mr. Potter.
“Uh…do you have any special money or something?”
“Yes we do actually. But we'll exchange the pounds,” Mrs. Potter said.
They said their goodbyes and then Alex's parents left.
“So Alex honey, feel free to choose any of the guest bedrooms or sleep in the same room as James. We could set up a bed next to James's. What would you prefer?”
Alex looked at James.
“I think you should sleep in my room, that way we can still talk before we go to sleep.”
Mrs. Potter waved her wand and another bed appeared next to James's.
“You two won't stay up too long will you?”
“Mum I don't think I'm going to dignify that question with an answer.”
Alex laughed at that comment and Mrs. Potter sighed.
“I'll have Agnes bring you up some hot chocolate before you go to bed.”
“Thanks Mrs. Potter,” Alex said.
“Pleasure, dear,” she said and left them to get ready for bed.
“Your mum is so nice,” Alex said to James as they crawled into bed with their mugs of hot chocolate. He snorted.
“That's what you think. When guests are around she is, but otherwise she's a dragon.”
“I don't believe that.”
“Do dragons really exist in the wizard world?” she asked after a while.
“Yes they do. I've seen one,” he bragged.
“I don't believe you.”
“I did. It was in Gringgot's. That's the wizard bank; dragons guard some of the most important vaults.”
Alex was amazed by all this new information.
“Wow! Does a dragon guard your vault?”
James laughed.
“No, of course not.”
“But you're really rich. Just look at your house,” Alex waved with her hand.
“Oh this is nothing. There are much richer families in the world, especially in the wizard one.”
“James, what you said before about evil wizards, are there any now?”
“There will always be evil wizards in the world, Alex. It's just like the muggle world.”
“Yes, but are there like any big ones now? Like Hitler or Stalin?”
“Well yes and no. It's different. There is this one wizard who they say will become very powerful. They say his power is rapidly growing.”
“What's his name?”
“People call him you-know-who because they're scared. His real name is Voldemort. But be careful to whom you say his name, some frown upon it.”
“What will he do? What does he plan on doing?” Alex asked quietly.
“He hates muggle-borns. He wants to kill them so that the pure-bloods will rule the world.”
“I'm muggle-born! What if he comes after me?” Alex was scared.
“He won't come after you. You're just one person.”
“Do you swear he won't come after me?” she asked.
“I swear,” he said confidently.
James had no idea just how much he was mistaken as he made that promise to a scared little girl on a quite July evening.
***
“Ok kids, are you ready?” Mrs. Potter asked the next morning when they were all dressed and ready to go shopping.
“Where are we going?” Alex asked James quietly.
“To London.”
“To London? But that's far. Are we driving all the way?”
“Alex, have you forgotten? You're a witch now.”
“Oh,” she said and then her face lit up “Are we flying?”
“No. We're going by the floo-network,” Mr. Potter joined in on the conversation.
“What's the floo-network?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Come to the living room,” James said.
She followed him and the whole Potter family and Alex gathered around the fireplace.
“Alex honey, would you like to go first?” Mrs. Potter asked her kindly and held up a cup of some kind of powder in her hand.
“I don't really know how. I'm sorry.”
“No need to apologize. James will go first, won't you James?” she handed him the pot of powder.
To Alex's immense surprise he took a handful and stepped in the fireplace.
“The Leaky cauldron!” he yelled and then threw the powder over himself. The flames turned green and he disappeared. Alex was shocked.
“So Alex, would you like to go next? All you have to do is say The Leaky Cauldron and throw the floo-powder,” Mr. Potter said.
“Ok,” she tried to say it confidently so that her shakiness wouldn't show. 'I mean, there are a hundred good reasons why this shouldn't work' she thought to herself, but never the less took the floo powder in her hand. When she yelled the destination she felt being pulled up and swirled around the chimney. The journey took about two minutes and when she was thrown on steady land again she almost puked.
“You alright?” A voice said and a hand appeared in her sight. She took it as an offer to help her get up and accepted it. When she was standing she looked at the person who helped her up. It was a boy about her age with light brown hair and dark circles under his eyes. His face was worn out but he still had a friendly smile on his lips. Alex got a good vibe from him.
“Hi, I'm Alex. Thanks for helping me up.”
“No problem. I'm Remus.”
They shook hand.
“Are you going to Hogwarts?” She asked him.
“First year,” he nodded
“Same here.”
At that moment James walked up.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“Yeah I'm fine. This is Remus,” she introduced her new acquaintance.
“Oh, I know who he is.”
“Hello James,” Remus said in an unfriendly tone.
“You two know each other?”
“Yes. We went to primary school together. He was the geek,” James told her.
“And he was the prankster,” Remus said in a tone that said he thought it was despicable.
At that moment Mr. and Mrs. Potter appeared behind their backs.
“Ok, I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts. Bye,” Alex said to Remus. He gave her a one-armed wave.
“What were you doing with Lupin?” James asked her as they left the Leaky Cauldron.
Alex assumed he meant Remus.
“He's nice.”
“He's such a nerd.”
“He's still nice,” Alex shrugged.
They came to a brick wall in the back yard of the pub.
“Where to now?” Alex asked.
James pointed to the wall. Alex looked at him, confused at his gesture.
“You might like spending your time banging your head into a wall, but that's not my favorite hobby, as hard as it is to believe.”
James just smiled and they walked up to the red wall. Mr. Potter took out his wand and started tapping the bricks in the wall. All of a sudden they moved and an archway formed.
“Wow!” Alex exclaimed.
“This is Diagon Alley,” James said proudly.
They walked through the brick arch and as they were safely tucked in the street, the entrance sealed itself up again. Alex took out the list of things that she needed for her first year.
“Why don't you two go off to madam Malkin's and we'll go into Gringgot's to get some money,” Mrs. Potter said.
Although Alex really wanted to see Gringgot's and possibly a dragon, she didn't object. James led the way to madam Malkin's where they got their school robes. The entire time they were there, a measuring tape, was swirling around the room, measuring everything in sight. The robes were finished before James's parents got back so they headed for Flourish and Blot's for their books. When they entered Alex immediately spotted Remus in the corner absorbed in a book. The title read: Werewolves and why they're a threat. Alex discovered another fairytale creature that actually exists in the magic world.
“See I told you, nerd alert!” James said as he saw Remus.
Alex went over to say hi to him, much to James's annoyance.
“Hi again!”
“Hello Alex,” Remus greeted her and put down his book.
“So you and James don't get along,” it wasn't a question; it was a statement so Remus didn't bother denying it.
“In primary school he was always showing off and pulling pranks all over the place. He was just so full of himself.”
“Well he's my friend and I'd like you to be my friend too,” Alex said.
“I'd like to be your friend, but as far as Potter's concerned, I don't know. Maybe I could give him a chance. He wasn't the worst, his friend Sirius; he's twice as obnoxious as James. Have you had the pleasure of meeting him?”
Alex shook her head.
“I don't want to turn you against him before you've even met him, I will just warn you, he's quite the ladies man.”
“He's eleven!”
“Trust me, that doesn't stop him.”
Alex laughed but stopped when she noticed Remus was serious. Well, then she'd better watch out for this Black guy. She looked around and saw that James was waiting for her with arms full of books. She said goodbye to Remus and headed over to him.
“While you were busy making friends with Lupin over there, I got all of your books.”
“Thanks James, that's great.”
He handed her half of the book he was holding.
“Can we go and get our wands now?” Alex asked. She'd been looking forward to that the whole day.
“Sure, but we need to find mum and dad first.”
And at that moment Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked through the door.
“There you are!” Mrs. Potter exclaimed.
“Mum, we're going to get our wands, could you and dad get everything we need for potions?”
“Yes, we could do that. Then we'll head back to the Leaky Cauldron for a butterbeer and you can meet us there in an hour.”
They agreed on that and Alex handed Mr. Potter some money for the ingredients. James then led her to Olivander's wand shop. They came out of it quite quickly. Alex was thrilled with her new wand. It was made of birch and had Unicorn hair as a core.
“James it says here that I need a toad, and owl or a cat. Have you got any of those?”
“I've got an owl. I named it James junior.”
Alex started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop for a good ten minutes. James on the other hand looked offended.
“What? I think that's a noble name.”
That got her going again and she had to stop in the middle of the street.
“Can't … breathe,” she mustered during her laughing fit.
She finally calmed down and they headed for the pet shop.
“So which animal do you want?” said James still not completely friendly towards her.
“I definitely don't want a toad, I'm scared of those and I'm not a huge fan of any kind of birds, even if they do have noble names. So I guess that only leaves me with a cat.”
They looked around and finally Alex chose a little kitten that was totally black except for a white dot on its left paw.
“What are you going to name it?” James asked her.
“Well, it's not going to be Alex junior, that's for sure.”
She stuck her tongue out while she was thinking about it.
“It's going to be … Hector,” she firmly decided.
This time it was James's turn to burst into laughter.
“You say James jr. is bad and then you go on and name you're cat Hector! I can't believe it!”
Alex laughed with him but still firmly stated that the cat will indeed be named Hector.
“Look there's the Quidditch shop!” Alex said excitedly as she noticed it on the corner.
“Yes, it is. Sadly first years aren't aloud to be on the team. But you can get your own broom and try out next year.”
They went over too look at the prices.
“I don't have enough money for a broom. Not even close,” Alex said biting her lip.
“You can always borrow one at school,” James said reassuringly.
They finally turned their longing stares from the brooms and headed back to the Leaky cauldron.
“There you are children! We've been waiting for you for ten minutes!”
“Sorry mum. We were looking at Quidditch equipment,” James apologized. Mr. Potter was ready to forgive them as soon as they mentioned the word 'Quidditch' but Mrs. Potter wasn't that easy.
“James, I said…”
“Oh, give it a rest, Eleanor. They're here now, so let's get back,” Mr. Potter said to his wife.
She sighed and fixed her coat as they proceeded to the fireplace.
“Alex?” Mr. Potter said and handed her the floo-powder. She took it, this time knowing what to do. The way back was the same as the way there and once again Alex felt like puking when she finally got to steady land. They had just gotten re-assembled when the doorbell rang.
“This must be your parents, coming to get you.”
“Ruby, Paul, how wonderful it is to see you again,” Mr. Potter greeted them.
Alex and James were delighted to hear that their parents were on first-name bases, meaning they have gotten along well yesterday evening.
Before the Taylors left, Alex remembered one more thing and quickly whispered something into her mother's ear. Mrs. Taylor nodded to her.
“James, would you like to come to my birthday party this Friday?” Alex invited him.
“I would love to. Can I mum?”
“I don't see why not,” Mrs. Potter smiled widely.
“It's at my house at three o'clock.”
“I'll be there,” James said.
“You'd better.”
A/N: Please review! It only takes a second and it makes me so happy.
A chapter image of Sirius. By me, I tried my best.
***
“Happy birthday Alex!” James said, handing her a carefully wrapped long parcel.
“James, is this what I think it is?” she asked staring at the object that lay before her eyes.
“You’ll have to open it and see,” he grinned.
She unwrapped it quickly with both of her arms and shrieked.
“James! You didn’t have to!”
In front of her lay a shining new broom. It was a Comet, not as good as James’s but it was still a broom and it was hers to keep. She was flying with joy because of it-no pun intended.
“Thank you so much!” she said throwing her arms around him.
“Don’t mention it,” he said suddenly very humble.
“I’d better put it in my room quickly before one of my muggle friends sees it.”
They were still standing at the doorstep and now Alex quickly scooted upstairs to keep her broom safe. When she came back everyone was already in the living room and James was talking to Ed about some kind of prank. Alex was happy to see him fit in with her muggle friends.
***
“Have you got everything honey?” Mrs. Taylor shouted.
“Yes!” she shouted back and checked that Hector was safely in his cage. He turned out to be a very lively kitten and she didn’t want him escaping somewhere in the middle of King’s cross.
The moment was finally here. The last day of August and the day she was leaving for Hogwarts. She spent the last month of her vacation at James’s or Ed’s house. It killed her that she couldn’t tell her best friend her secret, but it was the price you had to pay for being a witch. And at last here came her reward. She had never been so excited in her life.
Finally the entire family was seated in the car with Hector in between Alex and Isabelle.
“It’s not fair! Why can’t I go?” Izzy was whining.
Alex felt terrible for her little sister. She didn’t know how to make her feel better. She could only imagine the terrible feeling of your older sister being a witch and you being normal. Alex prayed that when Izzy turns eleven, she too is going to get her letter. Still, today nothing could bring her spirits down and she was singing along with the radio happily.
“So we’re meeting the Potters at quarter to eleven at which platform?” Mrs. Taylor asked from the front seat as they began to drive through the outskirts of London. Alex took the train ticket from her pocket.
“It says here that the train leaves at eleven at platform … wait, that can’t be right … 9 ¾.”
“Well, that’s peculiar isn’t it? Ruby and Mark will explain everything, don’t worry,” Mrs. Taylor said in a calm tone.
But Alex was worried. For the whole summer she had been waiting for something to be out of place, for something to go wrong and that this entire thing was going to fall apart. It was all just too good to be true and here were the first cracks in the plan. There wasn’t a platform 9 ¾, it has never been heard of.
But she sighed in relief as she saw the entire Potter family standing in front of King’s Cross station, waiting for them to arrive.
“Alex!” James waved frantically as their car pulled up and Mr. Taylor got out to unload it.
After they said their hello’s they started moving towards the platforms. There was five, six, seven…
“Please be there, please be there,” Alex closed her eyes and whispered but when she opened them they were standing in front of platform nine and behind it was platform ten. There was absolutely nothing more to it. No platform 9 ¾. Alex felt like crying and she wasn’t the kind to cry.
“James, give it up. It’s over. There is no platform 9 ¾,” she said to him.
“Alex, calm down. Remember the entrance to Diagon Alley?”
Her face light up again.
“So we just have to tap on the bricks?” she started reaching into her pocket for her wand.
“Well, not exactly,” James said and without another word he started running with full speed towards the firm wall. Alex’s heart stopped. He was going to crash, in a second they’re going to call an ambulance. She could barely look. But the moment James was supposed to collide with the wall he disappeared. Alex blinked once and she blinked again. And now Mr. Potter was running after James with a trolley and James’s suitcase. And like his son before him, he too disappeared into thin air.
“Alex, you just have to run through the wall and you’ll get to the right platform. Trust me,” Mrs. Potter said noticing the worried look on Alex’s face. Then she turned around and explained the same thing to Alex’s parents.
“Ok, Alex. You can do this. Just close your eyes and run.” And she did.
When she hit the wall she didn’t stop, hell she didn’t even feel she hit the wall. She opened her eyes again and pulled to a stop next to James and his father. They were on a brand new platform where a scarlet train was waiting. The entire place was filled with children, parents and owls. Everyone was laughing and saying goodbye. Some of the children were already on the train and leaning through the windows saying their last words to their families. As she looked back at James she noticed that now her family had joined them as well.
“Oh honey, you’re so big already. Going to boarding school,” her mother was crying and Alex rolled her eyes. She was used to her mother being so emotional at goodbyes. She hugged her tightly and then her dad too. Next to them James was saying goodbye to his parents.
“And you be good James Potter, I don’t want any letters informing me you’ve snuck out of school after curve view or set fire to something. Or mind you, you’ll get a howler, you will mister,” Mrs. Potter was informing him but at the end she smiled and pulled him in a big hug. The she kissed Alex on her cheeks and Mr. Potter shook her hand. Finally James and Alex were getting on the big red train. They leaned out the window for the last goodbye and then the train started moving faster and faster until it disappeared into the distance.
Alex had a weird feeling in her tummy as she turned away from the window and looked around. She was going to miss her family, but at the same time she couldn’t wait to get started at Hogwarts. She wanted to say something to James but when she turned to her left he was gone. He wasn’t anywhere up or down the corridor so she decided to get settled in a compartment and then look for James. She found and empty one and pulled her suitcase in and then wanted to step out onto the corridor again. But there was a boy blocking her way.
He looked a year or two older than Alex and she had to admit he was very handsome. He had black scruffy hair and dark eyes that were easy to get lost in.
Then she heard the words coming out of his mouth.
“Do you believe in love at first sight or do I have to walk past you again?”
They were directed to a pretty blond who was chatting to her friends. ‘Scratch that. He is most definitely not handsome. He’s a pig,’ she told herself.
“Khm, khm,” she coughed trying to get pass him.
He looked at her surprised, but then smiled showing his perfectly white teeth.
“Well, what do we have here?” he said his attention shifting from the blond to Alex. She now noticed he was wearing a shirt with FBI-female body inspector written on it.
“Don’t try any of that stuff on my or I’ll kick you,” she said already annoyed by the tone in which he was speaking to her.
He threw his head back and laughed, but it sounded more like a bark.
“We have ourselves a feisty one here, have we not?” his eyes twinkled but Alex was ‘most definitely not impressed’ as she told her self.
“I mean it. Just get out of my way and stay there.”
“Well that wouldn’t be much fun.”
She glared at him.
“Allow me to introduce myself, I’m …” but before he could finish a voice called out from up the corridor.
“Sirius!”
Alex looked. It was James and he was excitedly waving at the boy Alex was talking to, or trying to get away from, to be more exact.
The boy- Sirius ran up to James and they enveloped in a big man-hug. Then something rang a bell in Alex head. Sirius-James’s friend Sirius. Ding-ding-ding!
Remus had warned her about him, the eleven-year old playboy. Well he didn’t look eleven that’s for sure. Alex’s realization made her hate Sirius even more and glared viciously at him when he and James were coming towards her.
“Alex, I’d like you to meet my best friend and fellow prankster Sirius Black. This my friend, is Alex Taylor.”
“Pleasure,” she said icily sticking her hand out to him.
“”Oh, no, no, the pleasure is all mine,” he said grinning and pretending to not notice her hostile tone.
James looked confused.
“Have you two met?” he asked
“Yes we did, when he was trying to hit on me.” Alex said.
“I was not!” he said.
“Liar! You just did!” Alex screamed and a few heads turned their way.
“Or maybe you wanted me to? Ever think about that missy?”
“Why would I want that?”
“Because maybe you’re subconsciously attracted to me.”
She spluttered.
“I’ve known you for about five minutes!”
“Attraction can be formed in a second.”
“Yeah and with that the ability to hate someone!”
“Now you’re just saying nonsense.”
“Whatever. You tried to hit on me!”
“I didn’t! I would never hit on you!” he shouted.
“Says the guy with female body inspector written on his shirt.”
“This is my favorite shirt! It helps me get girls.”
“Yeah and how’s that working out for you? I see that blond was definitely checking you out,” Alex snickered.
James was looking bewildered at this scenario and Alex could imagine this was not he way he pictured introducing his two friends.
“As a matter of fact she was. I’ll go and talk to her now.”
“Fine, you go do that. At least that’ll get rid of you.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
And with that Sirius walked away. By now everyone was staring at us.
“So I’m guessing you and Sirius don’t get along?” asked James quietly.
She sighed.
“No we don’t. But that’s no reason you and me still can’t be friends.”
“Can you please just try and be civil? You don’t have to like him, just be polite.”
“Hey! Why are you telling me this? I didn’t do anything. He started the whole thing.”
“I’ll talk to him to.”
“Sure you will,” she said.
Sirius came back and opened his mouth to say something to Alex.
“A-a-a, we have agreed you two will try to be civil,” James said.
“Who’s we?”
“Me and Alex.”
He looked at Alex and she flashed him a sarcastic smile.
“Well I can be civil if she can,” Sirius said.
“You know what, I didn’t even do anything. You started it all,” Alex said in a restraining voice.
“I started it? You attacked me out of nowhere!”
James was looking as upset as ever.
“I doesn’t matter you guys. Just shake hands and forget about it.”
Alex sighed and reached out for Sirius’s arm.
“I’ve got this compartment here, you can join me,” Alex said, deciding she’s going to try and make peace with Sirius.
She walked on and as James thought she was out of earshot he whispered to Sirius:
“Did you really hit on her?”
“I tried, she is hot, but man she’s a real bitch.”
“I heard that!” Alex shouted.
“I meant you to!”
“I hate you already, Black!”
“Likewise Taylor!”
James sighed and buried his face in his palms. It was going to be a rough year.
***
As the countryside was quickly passing by the Hogwarts express Alex, James and Sirius were seated together in a compartment. Already two hours had passed and Alex and Sirius had yet to kill each other. James took that as an achievement.
“I’m going to get changed. I’m feeling uncomfortable in these muggle clothes,” James said to his friends.
“Ok, let’s all get changed,” Alex said and took out her robes and headed or the door.
“What you aren’t going to change here?” Sirius asked.
“Black, pipe down. You’re eleven, not sixteen you can’t be that driven by hormones.”
“Well actually I’m twelve in a month. I went t school a year later.”
“Why? Because you’re such a retarded dumb ass?”
“I’m definitely smarter than you!”
Alex thought she had a brilliant comeback:
“You’re most definitely not! I’m sure you’ll be in Slytherin!”
James and Sirius fell silent and looked at her.
“What did I say?”
“You tell her,” Sirius said turning his back to Alex.
‘What did I say?’ thought Alex. ‘It surely couldn’t have been that terrible. God knows, maybe I’ll be in Slytherin, it’s not so bad.’
“Sirius’s entire family was and still is in Slytherin. He’s scared…” Sirius shot him a murderous glare, “that he will be in Slytherin too. He’s different than his family, trust me, I’ve met them and he resents them for their ways.”
Alex stared at Sirius.
“Yes, my parents support Voldemort! Are you happy now?” he asked in a bitter tone.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea,” she said biting her lip. Maybe Sirius wasn’t all bad. ‘No’ she said sternly to herself ‘you hate him’.
“It’s fine, how could you have known?” he gave her a half-hearted smile.
Alex left to get changed it the bathroom. There was a really long queue because apparently all the girls have decided to get changed at the exact same moment. Alex sighed and stepped in the end of the long and winding line.
“Hey!” a voice piped up.
It belonged to a small red-haired girl.
“Would you like to come and change in my compartment? There aren’t any boys in there, my friend went to change in the male toilet so it would be just you and me.”
Alex sighed in relief.
“That would be great, thank you so much.”
She followed the little red-hair through the train.
“My name is Lily Evans by the way,” the girl introduced herself.
“I’m Alex, it’s a pleasure. Why did you offer me your compartment?”
“You just seemed nice and I didn’t want you to wait in that long row. I like helping people,” she shrugged.
“Wow, that’s so nice of you. Thanks again.”
“Not a problem. So are you a first year?”
“Yes, I am,” Alex told her.
“So am I. I’m a muggle-born and I was so excited when I got my letter. My sister was really upset though,” Lily said biting her lip obviously not bearing the though of someone being un-happy.
“I’m a muggle-born as well and I have a sister.”
Lily cheered up again:
“So you must know how it feels! I can just see we’ll be great friends.”
Alex never liked people who rushed things and were all goody-good. But she kind of liked this girl and it was nice to be around someone so full of energy. Happiness was practically bubbling out of Lily
“So here we are, I’ll let you get changed,” Lily said leaving Alex alone.
She quickly put on her wizard robes and went outside to meet Lily.
“Please stay with me at least for a while,” Lily begged and Alex couldn’t refuse those bright green eyes of hers. Come to think of it Lily was actually very pretty with her long slightly curled hair. Sirius is going to enjoy her, but Lily will know to take care of herself. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl to fall for a guy like him.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Lily asked as soon as they sat down.
‘Wow this girl was fast,’ Alex thought but out loud she said:
“No, you?”
“No. I don’t like boys. Except for my friend. You’ve got to meet him. He should be along soon you know, he’s probably stuck in the queue.”
“Have you got any pets?” Alex asked wanting to participate in the conversation.
“I’ve got an owl.” She pulled a blanket of the cage to reveal a sleeping owl.
“His name is Honey. Because he’s the colour of honey.”
Alex couldn’t help smiling. Such girls usually annoyed her but she was taking quite a liking at Lily.
“Do you have an owl?”
“Nah, I’ve got a cat. I named him Hector.”
Lily giggled and at that moment a slim boy entered the compartment. He had thin dark hair that was draped across most of his face.
“Severus!” Lily cried out happily.
“There you are. Have you been stuck in the queue for that long?”
“Yes, I have been,” his voice was like silk and it sounded dangerous and intriguing at the same time.
“This is Alex, Alex meet my friend Severus,” Lily introduced them.
Alex shook his hand. It was ice cold. He was scary and she wasn’t sure if she liked him or not.
“Lily,” Severus spoke her name and in that moment Alex could see the longing in his face. Yes, he liked Lily and he liked her very much but she didn’t even seem to notice.
“Yes, Severus?” she piped up in her normal cheery voice.
But Lily never got to hear what Severus had to tell her because at that moment dozens of girlish screams were heard from the corridor.
“I bet you a Galleon that I know who’s the cause of that,” Alex said murkily.
The three of them opened the door and looked out. There were girls running everywhere and in the midst of all this stood Sirius Black laughing his barking laugh. Alex was surprised to see James by his side looking almost as amused as Sirius.
“Black, what did you do?” Alex walked up to them.
“Why do you blame me? What happened to the innocent until proven guilty theory?”
“I believe in the guilty until proven innocent.” Alex said.
“Well then James is just as much to blame as I am, and you as a the matter of fact.”
“James, what did he do?”
“He bought little devices that crawl around and blow wind up girls skirts. I don’t know where he gets them,” James laughed.
“You’re despicable Black.”
“Oh, come on Taylor can’t we just start over.”
“My good opinion once lost, is lost forever,” Alex said and realized she was quoting a line from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice that her mother once tried to read to her.
“That’s from Pride and Prejudice, the dance scene,” Sirius noted.
Alex stared at him with her mouth hanging wide open.
“You know Pride and Prejudice?”
“There’s a lot of things about me that might surprise you.”
Alex was still staring at him.
“Now Taylor, I know I’m mouth watering but there’s really no need to drool. It’s not very attractive.”
And he’s back to his old self!
She closed her mouth but was still in awe. James didn’t even know Lord of the rings, how can Sirius Black know Pride and Prejudice. Something was weird about that boy.
Alex stormed back to her first compartment and on the way she bumped into a familiar figure.
“Remus!” she said generally happy to see him.
“How are you doing Alex? You seem kind of angry,” he greeted her.
“I have two words for you: Sirius Black.”
“Ah, there’s no need to say more.”
“He’s the most annoying person I have ever met. Including my fifth grade teacher and that’s saying something.”
“I spent six years with him and now I have to spend seven more. I guess we’ll be a jolly lot,” Remus said.
A/N: So what do you think? Sirius is finally here! I’m so excited. I hope you’ll leave plenty of reviews telling me exactly what you think. Please, don’t be shy.
Many thanks for the chapter image to elaine_17
Alex spent the last part of her trip seated next to Remus eating things that they bought from the trolley.
“I love the pumpkin pies,” Alex said while she was munching one.
“Hey try one of these,” Remus said and tossed her a package.
Alex tore it opened and a chocolate frog jumped out of it. Her entire body froze following the frog as it jumped to the floor.
“What's wrong? It's just a spell,” Remus asked.
Alex opened her mouth but nothing came out.
“Alex, say something!” Remus was worried by now and he figured it would be best to get rid of the frog. He squished it with his foot and it left a chocolaty mark.
“I'm sorry,” Alex finally breathed, “I have a fear of frogs. It's borderline phobia and I already went to see a psychiatrist about it.
“I should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't have tossed it at you. I'm sorry.”
“You silly fool, you couldn't have known I'm such a wimp. I'm scared of a little frog.”
“You're not a wimp Alex.”
“From now on you eat all the chocolate frogs, ok?”
Remus laughed.
The train was slowly coming to a stop and Alex with Remus on her tail were one of the first to get out.
“First years, follow me!” they heard a booming voice coming from somewhere above them Alex looked around and saw a man with a bushy black beard. He was three times as tall as Alex's father and the beard only made him look scarier. But as Alex got closer she saw his eyes were full of warmth and they sparkled like two moonstones.
When all the first years gathered he spoke again.
“I'm Hagrid the keeper of Hogwarts,” he smiled at every one of the little scared faces looking up at him.
“ I swear the lot of you are getting smaller each year,” he said so that only Alex and a few others could hear him.
He led them to a big lake and ordered them to get in little boats not more than four in each. Alex looked around for Remus who had disappeared somewhere and by the time she had found him the boats were mostly filled. They looked for one with only two people.
“Care to join the party?” Alex heard Sirius's voice and turned around. He was in a boat with James.
“I'd rather be eaten alive.”
“Is everyone in? Let's go!” That was Hagrid's voice and Alex and Remus were left with no choice but to quickly join the two boys in the boat. Alex had just the luck to get the seat next to Sirius.
He wanted to put his arm around her.
“I swear Black, if you touch me I will kill you.”
“Oh come on Taylor, I'm not that bad.”
“Are you serious? I would rather go out with…” she looked around the boats for a particularly nasty looking kid, “that guy,” she pointed to a small chubby boy with bad skin.
“You've got to be kidding me.”
“Am not.”
“Well, then go out with him.”
“No.”
“Then go out with me.”
“No!”
“Well then him.”
“Shut it Black!”
“You've got to pick one of us!”
“Fine then I pick him,” Alex said.
“Suit yourself. You have to ask him out tomorrow.”
“Not a problem.”
Everything went quiet and just then did Alex truly realize what she had just done. 'I hate my life,' she groaned. She had no idea how Sirius got her to agree to go out with an unattractive boy who most importantly she didn't even know.
The boats reached the dock and everyone was in a hurry to get out. James helped Alex out and then pointed to the middle of the lake.
“They say a giant squid lives in here.”
Alex looked at him surprised.
“Care to test that theory, shall we Taylor?” Sirius called out and with that he pushed her in the lake. Everyone there gasped.
“Not the worry, it's not dangerous,” Hagrid called out and Sirius laughed seeing he wasn't going to get into trouble.
Alex finally appeared. She has never been that mad at anyone in her life. She skillfully climbed out on to the docks and made her way over to Sirius who was now laughing hysterically with some other guys. She was walking with a murderous glare in her eyes.
“Sirius Black I curse the day you were born!” she shouted at him and slapped him straight across the face. There were a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' going around. And then she whispered so that only he could hear:
“You're going to pay for this in a way you have never imagined,” and with that she stormed of after Hagrid who was already starting his way up the hill to Hogwarts.
At the castle's entrance a strict woman greeted them her manner saying for itself that she is not the one to be messed with.
“Hello children. I am professor McGonagall and I am the head of Gryffindor house. All of the other students are already seated and waiting for you to get sorted. All you have to do is place the sorting hat on your head and he will tell you in which house you belong. Now after me, please.”
“What happened to you?” she asked Alex who was standing at the very of the line. With the side of her eye she saw Sirius stiffen probably thinking he's in for it now.
“I fell in the lake,” she said.
“There's always one,” McGonagall sighed.
Sirius stared at her wondering why she did what she did. She could have easily got hi into trouble for pushing her into the lake. They followed McGonagall into the great hall and all the new students stared in admiration. The sky was light in millions of stars. At the end in the middle of the teachers table sat Albus Dumbledore. They were lead up to the front where a three-legged stool stood with a hat on it. The sorting began and McGonagall started calling out names.
“Sirius Black!” came quite soon and Alex could see several people at the Slytherin table (James had previously told me which one that is) leaning forward and listening intensely. Even though Alex was still mad at Sirius she found herself clutching her fist together hard, hoping to not hear the word Slytherin out of the hats mouth. She wouldn't wish for anyone to go to a house against his or her own will. Finally the hat made its decision:
“Gryffindor!”
Sirius smiled widely at the Slytherin table where some people were not extremely happy.
“You're a disgrace to the Black name!” a girl with curly black hair and mad eyes called out.
“Love you too, cous'!” Sirius called back.
The next name Alex recognized was 'Lily Evans' who also got put into Gryffindor. 'She seemed more like a Hufflepuff type of girl, but I guess the hat knows best' Alex thought.
Remus sat on the chair a bit longer than others before him but finally he also took his place at the Gryffindor table. Alex was again surprised he was not in Ravenclaw. Everyone she knew up till now had got put into Gryffindor.
“Peter Pettigrew!” McGonagall called out and the chubby boy who was Alex future-to-be boyfriend stumbled across the floor. 'Well at least I'll have a brave boyfriend,' Alex thought to herself as he was sorted to Gryffindor.
“James Potter!”
Alex looked up and followed her friend closely. The hat barely touched James's head before it yelled 'Gryffindor!'
James proudly bowed to everyone and Alex thought she saw Dumbledore chuckle.
Severus Snape got put into Slytherin and Lily bowed her head in disappointment. It was almost Alex turn because of the alphabetical order and she was getting nervous.
“Alexandra Taylor!”
She made her way to the stool and put the hat on her head. It covered almost all of her face.
“Ah, what do we have here?”
Alex jumped up when she heard a small voice coming to her from all around. She guessed the hat speaks to everyone before sorting him or her.
“Well the most obvious thing would be to put you in Slytherin wouldn't it, my dear?”
“What?!” Alex almost screamed her insides out.
“Well yes, of course, you would be a great Slytherin. But there are also a lot of brains with the tendency of slacking of. You have a good heart but want to prove yourself. That brings us back to Slytherin. Of course there's courage, lots and lots of courage.”
“Well what will it be?” Alex snapped. She didn't feel like waiting around and being told how she would perfectly fit in Slytherin.
“Patience is not your best quality, I see,” she thought she heard the hat chuckle.
“But I don't want to be in Slytherin,” she whined.
“Why? Slytherins are cunning and clever from which you are both. They good assets and know how to use them. Slytherins can achieve a lot in life.”
“Yes, but I don't want to be in Slytherin,” Alex said and thought how long this was taking. She was on here much longer than even Remus and could already feel the curious stares of the other students.
“You stand up for what you believe in and what you want. That's good.”
“I don't need you telling me what's good. Just put me in a house already,” she thought the hat was deliberately testing her patience.
“I see everything that is in your head Alexandra.”
She shivered when he called her by her real name.
“You will achieve great things. You will be a powerful wizard just like those before you. I think you'd suit best in -Gryffindor!” The last word was heard everywhere and the school cheered.
“Wait, what did you mean by…” but she was already being pushed of the stool and towards the Gryffindor table. She wanted to know what the hat meant by “those before you”, she was muggle-born, what could have he meant?
She saw James scoot over so she could sit next to him.
“Wow, Alex I knew you'd be in Gryffindor,” he said and gave her a big hug.
She only smiled still thinking about the hat's words. There were only three more children to be sorted and when they were food appeared on the table. Alex suddenly remembered she was starving quickly dug into the pasta that laid in front f her.
“You were a hat stall,” Remus told her.
“A what?” she asked.
“A hat stall. That's what we call people that get sorted for more than four minutes.”
“Is that a bad thing?” she said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.
“It doesn't have to be. I heard McGonagall was one,” Remus said.
“Why didn't you give me up to McGonagall?” Sirius, who was sitting on the other side of James, interrupted them. For a second she didn't quite know what he was talking about, but then quickly remembered her “fall” into the lake.
“Because I intend to punish you myself,” she said, “And wipe that stupid grin of your face it is most definitely not going to be fun.”
“I'm sorry Alex, it was only a joke,” he asked her with pleading eyes.
“We'll se,” but when she turned away she had a hint of a smile on her face and Sirius took that as a good sign. Apparently she was more forgiving with good food inside of her.
After they had finished dessert, the prefects lead them to the Gryffindor common room.
“All of your stuff is already waiting for you in your bedrooms and try to get an early night because classes start tomorrow.”
They headed for their bedroom and Alex was pleased to find she shared a room with Lily. There were three other girls with them.
“I'm Tiffany,” the first one introduced her self. She was exactly the kind of girl Alex didn't like to socialize with. Blond, pigtails and all dressed in pink. The second one -Sheila- was also leaning to the Tiffany kind of girl.
“And I'm Paige,” the last one said. At least she seemed normal. Lily and Alex introduced them selves as well and then the girls made their bed arrangements.
“So guys, I do ask you that the bathroom is free when I get up, because I absolutely have to get ready. You know how my hair gets if I don't brush it,” Tiffany said when they we're all lying in bed. Alex sighed 'and that's one roommate I'm defiantly not going to get along with'.
***
“Ow, Hector, get off me!” Alex shrieked in the morning when her cat had decided to wake her by jumping on her. Well if it wasn't her little sister, it was her cat. Everyone was already up and Tiffany was hogging the bathroom. They had about half an hour before classes started.
“I need to pee!” Alex shouted after ten minutes had passed and Tiffany hadn't gotten out of the bathroom yet.
“How long do you need Tiff?” said Lily trying to be friends with everyone, but Alex could see that she wasn't pleased with her roommate either.
“Ten minutes!”
That meant they would have no time for breakfast. Alex decided her best shot was to use the boy's bathroom. She wasn't exactly thrilled about that idea, but she had no other solution. She walked down to the common room and up into the boys dormitory. She knocked on the bathroom and after there was no answer she opened it.
“Ahhh! Bloody hell!”
“I'm sorry!” she quickly closed the door.
“Shit, can't you control yourself woman?!”
Of course it was Sirius that she stumbled upon and he was wearing nothing a towel wrapped around his waste. At that moment James opened their bedroom door and observed what was happening.
“Mornin' sunshine. What's all the shrieking about?”
“Well Taylor was so interested in seeing me naked, she had to come up here and jump me in the shower!” by now Sirius had appeared out of the bathroom.
“You saw him naked?” James laughed.
“No, thank god. I don't think I could have lived through the horror.”
“Alex what are you doing here?” Remus came to join them.
“Yes Taylor, what are you doing here if you didn't want to see my stunning body?” Sirius asked.
“I came to use your bathroom. That stupid blond won't get out of ours.”
“Blond? Stupid? Just the way I like them,” Sirius rubbed his hands together. Alex rolled her eyes at him.
“So can I use your bathroom?”
“If pretty boy over there is done with it, then be my guest,” Remus smiled.
After Alex got out, she and Remus headed for breakfast.
“Just my luck. I get stuck with Potter and Black as my roommates,” Remus said as they were walking down the grand staircase.
“Well I've got Barbie doll and wannabe as mine, so I think we're pretty much even,” Alex laughed.
They entered the great hall and sat down somewhere in the middle of the Gryffindor table.
“Good morning. What do we have for first period?” Lily joined them in a second and asked.
“Double potions with Ravenclaws and hi, I'm Remus,” he introduced himself.
Lily took his hand and then helped herself to some cereal.
“So, how did you guys meet?” she asked Alex between spoonfuls of cheerios.
“Diagon Alley,” she explained.
“We should get going you know. We have five minutes to get to the dungeons,” Remus warned them and snatched the piece of toast Alex was about to eat, from her hand.
“Hey! I was about to eat that!”
“No time for food.”
“You obviously don't know me. I need breakfast. If I don't get food I get cranky,” Alex said.
“You'll have lunch,” Lily said as they walked out of the great hall.
“That's not for another four or five hours!” she whined and try to get back to the table.
“She'll live,” Lupin and Lily agreed and dragged Alex away from the food.
“You guys!”
They managed to get inside the classroom before the bell rang and because Remus and Lily wanted to, they sat in the front row. 'Nerds' Alex thought.
“Good morning class!” said a cheery voice.
“I am professor Slughorn and I will be your potions teacher for the following five to seven years.” He was a plump and jolly looking fellow.
“So potions are not about listening, but about doing. Today we we'll be brewing cure for boils and all the instructions are on the bored,” he waved his wand and they appeared, “please get started. I know this is your first hour, but please let's not try and melt any cauldrons. Good luck!”
Everyone quickly got started, wanting to prove them selves.
After about half an hour had passed Slughorn made his way around the classroom making approving noises at some cauldrons and shaking his head at others. He came to Alex's table.
“Very good. This table is far ahead from the others. May I ask for your names?”
They told him.
“Miss Evans, are you by any chance related to the great Robert Evans who was one of the greatest potions masters in history? You certainly have the talent,” he chuckled.
“No, sorry sir. I'm muggle-born.”
“Oh, no matter the. Keep up the good work,” he left them in peace. They continued working for a good hour and then he stopped them
“Time's up! Let's see what you have achieved.”
He nodded approvingly to some Ravenclaws, sniffed and cringed away from Sirius's and James's cauldron (they spent the entire hour goofing around), smiled comfortingly at Peter Pettigrew's obvious disaster and then reached Alex's table again. He peered in each one of their cauldrons.
“Absolutely brilliant! You three are my star students!”
James smiled at Alex from behind Slughorn's back and Sirius made a face.
“All of your potions have exceeded every other on one the class. Very good!”
At that moment the bell rang, announcing the end of class.
“Wow, I've never been so good at any class before. I must have a knack for potions.”
“Good for you,” Remus said to her.
Their next class was Magical history where each and every one of them almost fell asleep. A ghost who kept his voice levels the same through the entire class taught it. The bell was a relief and they quickly scampered outside where they had two hours of herbology in the greenhouses.
“Finally lunch! I'm starving!” Alex said as she made her way back to the castle with Remus. As soon as the food appeared on the table she loaded herself as much potatoes as she could fit on her plate. When she took the first bite James and Sirius slid on the bench opposite them.
“So Taylor, where is your boyfriend?” Sirius asked.
“What …” she swallowed her mash “are you talking about?”
“Hey, hey, hey! No backing out now. You have to ask out that boy, Peter Pettigrew.”
Oh shit, she had totally forgotten about that.
“I will. After lunch,” she said unhappily.
Then Lily appeared next to her, red cheeked and breathing heavily.
“Where have you been?” Alex asked.
“I went to the Library to check up something about mandrakes that professor Blossom told us,” she told them.
“It's the first day. You don't need to start your studying yet,” Alex said with no understanding.
“Oh, sorry I forgot. This is James and Sirius,” she introduced the two boys.
Lily smiled and helped herself to some salad.
“I only have a couple of minutes. I have to get back to the library.”
“I don't get you,” Sirius commented.
She gave him a questioning look.
“It's the first day. You should be having fun and relaxing.”
“Well, I think it's better to start learning now and rest later,” she told him sternly.
“I happen to agree,” Remus put in.
“Well, we all know you're a nerdy-nerd no need to rub it in everyone's face,” Sirius stated.
“Remus, would you like to come with me to the library?” Lily asked.
He nodded and they got up. James stared after them.
“What's got your pants in a knot buddy?” Sirius asked.
“I think I'm in love with her,” James choked.
“Who, Remus?” Sirius laughed.
“No, Lily.”
“You don't know her,” Alex commented.
“I'm serious. I love her.”
Both Alex and Sirius laughed.
“No, I'm Sirius,” Sirius said, “And you don't love her. You can't.”
“Yes, I can. Mark my words; one day I'll marry her. You'll see.”
A/N: so this was their first day. What do you think about the Sirius/Alex relationship? Please review! Reviews always make me so happy and I'm really sad that this story has so little of them. I'll give you chocolate if you tell me what you think :)
Wonderful chapter image by elaine_17 @ TDA
“So what do you think of James Potter?” Alex asked Lily in the evening.
“As far as I've seen him he's a bit of an arrogant ass and that goes for his friend Sirius as well. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
“Do you like him?”
“No,” Alex stated. Lily gave her a look.
“No, No!”
“Are you sure?”
“We met this summer, he's just a friend. Trust me.”
“What about Sirius?”
“I hate him from the very bottom of my heart.”
“He fancies you, you know,” Lily said.
“Yeah, me and about half of the school,” Alex scoffed not taking Lily's word seriously.
“You never know, you might grow to love him.”
“Never. And if that does by any chance happen-which it won't-you have to do everything in your power to stop me. Ok?”
“Ok,” Lily agreed.
As Alex went to bed that night, she had decided never to let Sirius Black become any more of a friend to her than he is now.
***
“Things to do on Alex's list: -brush hair,” Sirius greeted her and Lily as they came to breakfast the next morning.
“Tiffany was hogging the bathroom. Again,” Alex gave him a glare while James stared at Lily.
“Now that you bring her up, I really do need you to introduce us Taylor, I believe the words you used to describe here were blond and stupid.”
“She's all yours,” Alex said yawning.
“Number two on your list, you still haven't asked out Peter,” Sirius said happily.
“I don't want to,” Alex groaned.
“You can always go out with me.”
“Over my dead body. But I still need to punish you for pushing me in the lake.”
“Hey, I apologized for that.”
“So what? Shall we call it even? I don't punish you, and I don't have to ask out Peter.”
Sirius seemed to be thinking just to what extent Alex would go to punish him but in the end he said:
“Deal.”
“Great. And that means I haven't got a reason to sit here and talk to you, so I'll be of.”
She left them to their breakfasts and even though she now didn't need to talk to Peter she still somehow found herself walking with him to their first period. He seemed like a nice enough boy and they sat down together in defense against the dark arts, James and Sirius (Oh no, not again!) joining them later. An older professor taught this subject and the two pranksters took it upon them selves to make his life a living hell.
Every hour from then on they would play some kind of prank on him or just make inappropriate comments that he took seriously.
“I don't think this is getting you on Lily's good side,” Alex whispered to James one particular hour when they were being especially horrid.
“Oh, don't worry, she digs me.”
“I'm afraid she really doesn't,” Alex said pointing out the angry glares that Lily was sending him.
“She just has a different way of showing it.”
“Yes, that's for sure,” Alex let it go.
As they walked out of the classroom Lily started rambling.
“Potter is just so insufferable! He thinks he's so cool. Do you know he asked me out again today? Twice! At breakfast and at lunch.”
James mustered the courage to ask out Lily a week ago and when she refused him he wouldn't leave her alone.
“Hey Evans! Would you go out with me?”
And there he was again.
“No, Potter, for the third time today I do not want to go out with you!”
Alex felt kind of sorry for her but when she tried to talk to James he wouldn't budge. Guess Lily was just going to have to figure this one out for her self.
“So I'm going to study with Remus later in the library, want to come?” Lily offered. They had been at Hogwarts for almost a month now and Remus and Lily were in full studying mode.
“No thanks, I promised Peter I'd play chess with him.”
Peter had become friends with her, Remus, James, Lily and Sirius. He was also the fourth boy that lived in the boy's dormitory. After a while even Remus stopped being mortal enemies with James and Sirius.
“So Peter, ready to play?” Alex asked him when she entered the Gryffindor common room.
“Yes, sure Alex, I'll just get my chess set,” he said gathering the homework he was doing and walking upstairs. He soon came back with James and Sirius as his tail.
“They want to make a tournament,” he explained
“Ok,” Alex said, worrying a bit about James's excellent chess skills.
“That is of course if Taylor can handle the pressure,” Sirius said giving Alex a daring grin.
“Better than you, that's for sure.”
“Oh please, you're going down Taylor!”
“We'll se who's gonna be the last one laughing,” and with that note they started.
First it was Alex against Peter. She was winning easily so they had time to talk.
“Do you know what Alex?” James said.
She looked up from the board.
“Remus wasn't in our dormitory last night.”
“Where was he?”
“We don't know. He disappeared before dinner,” James shrugged.
“Maybe he was sleep-walking. There was a full moon yesterday,” Peter suggested.
“Maybe he was with a girl,” Sirius commented.
“Believe it or not, Remus is somewhat more respectable than you,” Alex noted.
“Well, then where was he, miss smarty-pants?”
“I don't know, you should ask him.”
“We will, when we next see him,” James said.
“Where is he now?” Peter popped in.
“He's in the library with Lily, studying,” Alex told them.
James looked worried at this thought.
“Don't worry James, they're both prudes. Nothing will happen,” Sirius patted him on the back.
“Oh Black, they're eleven! Can't you be normal?”
“Well if you're so underdeveloped it doesn't mean we're all like that.”
“You are a child!”
“I'm older than you.”
“I'm not acting like a fifteen-year old,” she said and with that she checkmated Peter.
After that the games were Alex-James 0:1, James-Peter 1:0, Sirius-Peter 1:0 and James-Sirius 1:0.
It came to no surprise that James was the winner but there was still a battle for second place so Alex and Sirius sat down to play.
“Scared, are we Taylor?”
“Never.”
Even if they already had a winner this seemed to be the most intense game.
“Come on Sirius, you can do it!” James said.
“You're rooting for him?” Alex looked annoyed.
“It's not really about taking sides Taylor,” Sirius explained, “The crowd loves a winner.”
“Shut it, Black.”
“Why? Am I making it hard to concentrate?”
Alex just glared at him.
“I'm on your side, Alex,” Peter said.
“Thanks.”
They seemed to be quite even all through the game. Once Alex had a better position, but then Sirius took over. It wasn't possible to tell who was going to win.
The only time James tore his eyes of the game was when Lily and Remus walked in.
“Here come the nerds,” Sirius said under his breath.
“Hey guys!” Alex said.
“Hello,” Lily said sitting down in an armchair and putting her bag next to her.
“Do you want me to take that up for you?” James offered pointing at the bag.
“No, Potter.”
“I'm just trying to be nice.”
“Well, we all know that you have a plan behind your politeness.”
“Come on Lily, just one date. Please?”
“No, Potter.”
“Why?”
“Because you're arrogant, an ass, think you're so cool cause you make dumb comments in class, really you're just as bad as Black and …”
“Shut it flower, we're trying to play!” Sirius stopped Lily's list.
Lily made a face and walked out of the common room.
“Now look what you did, you scared her away!” James yelled.
“No mate, I think it was both of us.”
“Sirius! Your move,” Alex said impatiently.
“Sorry love.”
“I'm not your love.”
“Yes, but you wish you were,” he said ordering one of the pieces what to do.
“In your dreams Black.”
“I think you dream about being in my dreams,” he grinned.
“What?!” Alex got confused.
“I'm right, aren't I?”
“Aghrrr!” Alex said making a move, which she didn't even think about, but it turned out to be very good.
“Hey Lupin, where were you last night?” Sirius asked.
“Why?” Remus looked embarrassed.
“Well, you weren't in our dormitory, that's for sure. So where were you?”
“My mother is very sick so am…Dumbledore let's me visit her sometimes.”
“Oh, I'm so sorry, we didn't know,” Alex said kindly.
“You couldn't have,” Remus said.
“Is she getting any better?” James asked.
“Yeah, kind of. The doctors don't really know.”
“Got you! You don't know what to do!” Alex said after Sirius was thinking for a long time.
“That move that you made before was totally lucky.”
“Was not!”
“Was so!”
James and Peter looked from one to another.
“Well play something Black. I've won anyway!” Alex said cockily.
He made a move and so did she.
“You lost Taylor!” Sirius laughed.
“I didn't! You aren't even near my king!”
“Well you didn't win and that's just about as good.”
“Of course I won, don't be ridiculous,” Alex snorted.
“Technically you didn't,” James said quietly not wanting to be yelled at.
“What?!” Alex snapped.
“Well the rules state that if one person cannot move his piece anywhere and not be eaten, but if he or she is not directly in danger of their opponent's piece, the game is a tie. So yeah, Sirius is right, you didn't win.”
Alex just stared at the board. She was so caught up in winning she forgot about that.
“You suck!” Sirius said laughing his bark-like laugh.
“I call a rematch!”
“No, you should have paid attention wile you had the chance. You could have easily won,” Sirius shook his head knowing quite well it was only luck on his part that made Alex screw up.
“I hate you Black!” Alex said.
“The feeling's mutual Taylor.”
Alex stormed of into her dormitory where she was greeted by Sheila, curling her hair and putting on make-up.
“Hi,” Alex said unkindly and threw herself on her bed.
“Hello Alex, is everything alright?”
“No. I had a fight with Sirius. Everything isn't peachy, like in your fake world,” she snapped.
But Sheila was so dumb she didn't even realize when you insulted her to her face.
“So you know Sirius? He is so fit! I like his friend James as well,” Sheila said and Alex just covered her head with a pillow groaning.
***
“Good morning!” Lily said, totally ignoring James who was next to Alex as they came down to breakfast.
“Hello to you to,” James said but Lily paid no attention.
“Any news about your mum?” Alex asked Remus as she sat next to Lily.
“Well she has been um… sick for quite some time. It's looking quite grim.”
“It's all going to be alright. But speaking of things that are grim, where is young mister Black on this pleasant morning?” Alex asked.
“Sleeping like a log,” James told her.
“Well as much as I'm jealous, if he doesn't get up soon he's going to get detention for being late to class. Wait, that might actually be a good thing. If he spends more time in detention he will have less time to bug me,” Alex said happily.
“Why, aren't we in a good mood today,” James commented.
“I don't really know why. Maybe it's because Black isn't breathing down my neck anymore,” Alex said chewing her toast.
“Don't be so sure,” said a voice right behind her and she jumped up.
“Black! You scared me!”
“Kind of my purpose,” Sirius laughed.
The others looked if she was going to reply something but she just smiled and got up.
“See you in class!” she said and skipped away.
“Who is this and what have you done to Alex?” Sirius asked.
Nobody replied as they were wondering the exact same thing.
“No seriously, flower, did you eat her?” Sirius said pointing at Lily.
A/N we already know where Remus really was, but what are your thoughts on the James/Lily thing? As always, please review!
Amazing chapter image by elaine_17 @TDA
Alex herself didn’t know why she was in such a good mood today but not even Sirius could get her spirits down. Sadly that night she hit an all time low.
I was lying on the floor, my eyes closed. There was nobody around me. I tried to look around and felt a burning sensation. There was fire all around me. I could smell the burning; mixed with something else in the air. I could feel the scorching heat. And then a voice, cold and cruel like a dagger through the heat.
“Alex,” it hissed long and slow.
I screamed and tried to get up. I ran through the fire not caring about getting burned. I didn’t even realize I still had my eyes closed until I heard the voice again.
“Open your eyes child,” it was so close but yet so far. I got the shivers all down my body and suddenly I was cold even with the heat.
Alex jumped up and in the last moment stopped herself from letting out a scream. She was soaking wet from her sweat so she decided to change into another pair of pajamas. She was still thinking about the dream. As a child she rarely had nightmares so this was something new to her. Her only real fear (except frogs) was losing the ones she loved. But aren’t we all afraid of that?
Alex tried to get back to sleep but found she was wide-awake still feeling the affects of the dream. She boldly decided to take a walk around the castle even though the caretaker Mr. Filch, was known to be found walking around the castle at night, searching for rule-breakers.
She walked past the charms classroom and up to the astronomy tower where she came face to face with Mrs. Norris.
“Oh, no,” she said quietly as Mrs. Norris scurried away probably to call Mr. Filch.
Alex quickly ran in the other direction her one and only agenda to get back in her bed. But as she ran around the corner she stumbled into an all to familiar figure.
“Taylor?!”
“Black?! Oh for goodness’ sake, does it always have to be you?”
“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked.
“I could ask you the same question.”
“But the difference is I asked you first.”
“I had a bad dream and couldn’t sleep, there,” she said for once not wanting to argue.
“And what’s your excuse?” Alex still wanted to know.
“Just a midnight walk.”
“Do you do that often?”
“Just every now and then. But you see today I had the honor of meeting you,” he said in his sleazy tone.
“Ew Black, don’t try anything.”
“What? Just making small talk.”
Alex rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you tell that to Tiffany or someone else who cares.”
“Oh yes Tiff, thank you for introducing us. We got along quite well.”
“I don’t wanna know,” Alex raised her arms in defense.
“That other one, the dark one’s got the hots for James.”
“Sheila, yes. Well James can’t stop drooling around Lily, it’s pathetic really.”
“He’ll get over her. If she would just go out with him, maybe give him a good snog, then he’d be cured.”
“And there you go again,” Alex sighed at the lost cause.
“What did I do?”
“Oh come on Black, you know perfectly well what you did.”
“I beg to differ,” Sirius grinned his lop-side grin.
“It’s late and I don’t wanna fight. As far as I’m concerned, I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”
“Oh come on! Party pooper! Stay and chat.”
“Black I’m sorry to say you are about the last person I would want to chat to, especially in the middle of the night.”
“Well then who would you like to talk to? Maybe I know him,” Sirius said.
“Unless you know Paul McCartney I’m not interested,” Alex said once again trying to leave.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Paul McCartney?”
Still nothing.
“The Beatles?”
Where does he live?
“Please say you’ve heard of The Beatles.”
“Indeed I have not.”
“John Lennon? The fab four? Yesterday?”
“Sorry,”
“You are saying,” Alex said slowly trying to comprehend the message he was sending across, “You have no idea who The Beatles are?”
“Nope and you seem to think that’s inexcusable.”
“It bloody well is inexcusable! How can you not know The Beatles?!”
“It’s not like I don’t know who the Chudley Canons are. Please just tell me who is this Beatle.”
“First of all, the what? Second, it’s The Beatles. And thirdly, they’re only about the greatest band of all time.”
“Wait, you don’t know the Chudley Canons? They’re the best Quidditch team!”
“Well, you don’t know Beatles!”
“Ok, this could go on for hours,” Sirius decided.
“Well you are-“
“Busted!”
Mr. Filch was peering at us with his grayish eyes. We have completely forgotten we were in the middle of a corridor, way past curve view and screaming at the top of our lungs.
“I hear the detention bells for you two tomorrow! Eight o’clock, the entrance hall. Be there. And now off to bed with you! All these years and kids still don’t know better than to wonder the halls at night. Go! And if I ever catch you two again…” he trailed of.
Alex and Sirius quickly ran out of his sight and back into the Gryffindor common room.
“I still can’t believe you don’t know who The Beatles are,” Alex said as a good night and went up to her tower.
*
“Good morning! You guys look like you’ve had a tough night,” James said.
“Well we were up almost half the night,” Alex explained while Sirius nodded.
“You two? Together? Not killing each other? The world has gone mad!” James exclaimed.
“Well, but now e have detention, thanks to Black,” Alex gave him a dirty look.
“Me? You’re more to blame than I am. Getting so upset about me not knowing about The Beatles,” Sirius said.
“Rookie mistake, I learned that during the summer,” James patted him on the back sympathetically.
“Well how can you not know them?!” Alex raised her voice again.
“Well you don’t know the Chudley Canons! That’s a sin.”
“I knew it was to good to be true. There you go again, fighting,” James sighed.
“This isn’t about some stupid Quidditch team,” James and Sirius inhaled like they couldn’t believe what she was saying, “It’s about the greatest band ever!”
“I can’t believe you said Quidditch is stupid. It’s just because you’re a girl and you don’t know how to play it.”
“It is not! James taught me how to fly,” Alex said.
“I’m sure you’re still bad at it.”
“Well then you teach me if you’re such a master.”
“Fine, I’ll do that.”
“Ok, you do that,” mocking him.
“I’ll teach you this weekend.”
“It’s a deal. Now buzz of, so I can eat without you constantly annoying me.”
James and Sirius left, but Lily soon took their place.
“What was that about?” she said.
“What?”
“The fight.”
“What fight?” Alex tried to act nonchalant.
“Oh please, the whole school heard you.”
“They did not!”
“Shhh Alex, save it for Sirius.”
Alex grumbled something.
“So what happened?”
“Well, Black is going to teach me- Oh my god what did I do?!” she yelled.
She agreed Sirius was going to teach her how to play Quidditch. She is voluntarily going to spend even more time with the person she hates the most. How does he constantly make her do things she definitely doesn’t want to do.
“How do I get myself into these situations?” she said desperately.
“What situations?”
“Black’s going to teach how to play Quidditch.”
“Why?”
“Because I told him so!”
“Why did you do that? You hate him.”
“I know Lily, I know. I don’t know how he makes me do these things.”
“Maybe you subconsciously want him…”
“No Lily, I subconsciously don’t want him to do anything. I subconsciously want him to leave me alone.”
Lily shrugged.
“You’re a bit cranky this morning.”
“That’s probably it. It’s the morning. Bloody mornings! I curse to the man who invented them,” Alex said not wanting to tell Lily about her midnight adventure.
*
“Kids, after tonight, you’ll never be running around the corridors at night ever again,” Filch greeted them with an evil toothy smile.
It was eight o’clock and their detention was starting.
“Greetings to you too, Argus,” Sirius said.
Filch just turned around and headed for the dungeons.
“What are you so happy about?” hissed Alex as they walked down the stairs.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just such a wonderful night to be doing whatever nasty thing we’ll be doing.”
“What’s up your sleeve?”
“Would you believe me, if I told you nothing?”
“Who are you kidding, Black?” Alex snorted.
Sirius shrugged.
“Tonight you’ll be cleaning Slughorn’s potion supplies closet. And trust me, it ain’t pretty,” Filch said opening the door to a private room they have never been in.
It was full of shelves, which were filled with random ingredients.
“Slughorn’s had it for almost thirty years and I think he hasn’t cleaned it once,” Filch said happily.
As Sirius and Alex stepped inside they almost immediately cringed away. It stank of old eggs and rotten tomatoes.
“Old Sluggy loves things clean, I see,” Sirius said taking a closer look at a brownish paste that was splattered across one of the lover shelves.
“Did I mention I ran out of gloves?” Filch said with a nasty grin. He gave them the cleaning supplies (he wasn’t joking about the gloves) and left.
“Let’s get down to business,” Sirius clapped his arms together.
“Really Black, what’s your angle?”
“Whatever do you mean?” he said smiling innocently.
“Why are you so jolly?” Alex eyed him suspiciously.
“Maybe I just have a good feeling about tonight.”
“What? That we’ll become best friends and live happily ever after?” Alex said sarcastically.
“Maybe,” he shrugged, earning another weird look from Alex.
They picked up the rags and started cleaning the shelves.
“Eww! This looks like a toenail clipping! Why would Slughorn need that in a potion!” Alex cried.
“Maybe
he just cut his nails here,” Sirius said smiling.
“Double ew!”
“I have here, what appears to be a rather large amount of goblin puke.”
Alex laughed.
“Had lots of experience with that, have we?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I did. I once slipped in some at Gringgot’s.”
“How did that happen? Why didn’t they clean it up?”
“You tell me. Goblins are supposed to be smart. Maybe it was left there on purpose, to drive away thieves. By that theory, it was wasted on me.”
Alex laughed again. She was actually having quite a good time. Least of all, they weren’t fighting.
“So Alex,” wait, why was he calling her Alex? “Any siblings?”
“A sister, you?” she said suddenly feeling awkward.
“Younger brother. He’s coming to Hogwarts next year. I hope he’ll be in Gryffindor.”
“What about the girl, that was yelling at you during the sorting ceremony?” she suddenly remembered.
“That was my lovely cousin Bella,” his face darkened.
“You two don’t get along?”
“If you call screaming and throwing various objects at one another getting along, then yeah, we get along great,” Sirius said.
Alex’s face suddenly dropped. She had just remembered the hat’s words to her at the sorting. That the most obvious thing would be to put her in Slytherin. Why had he said that?
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Taylor?”
“I’m just thinking about um… my family.”
‘Oh, great! Now he’ll think I’m a coward for missing my family. Like he doesn’t tease me enough, as it is.’
But Sirius didn’t say anything and as she glanced up she thought she saw him slip something into his pocket.
“What did you just take?”
“What are you talking about?”
Well, maybe she was wrong.
“Doesn’t matter. So you were talking about Bella.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about my family.”
“Well, then what do you want to talk about? It’s such a rare chance, that we aren’t fighting.”
“Well, I’m sorry. You aren’t all bad.”
What was that? An ‘I’m sorry’ from Sirius Black? That’s a new thing.
“Well, I guess I prefer you to that Severus guy,” Alex said somewhat affected by the tension that was between them.
“That’s something. What is his deal anyway?”
“He just hates us all. I think he’s jealous.”
Severus had been hanging around Lily quite a lot and sending angry glances at everyone (especially James).
“I think he likes Lily,” Sirius said and Alex didn’t bother denying it.
They got back to work.
“How long have we actually been here?” Alex asked.
“I think about two hours.”
“How long do we have to stay?”
“Until Filch comes, I guess,” Sirius said.
“Look at that,” she said and cringed at a dead frog that she held.
“Aren’t you scared of frogs?”
“Only live ones and how did you know that?”
Sirius didn’t answer. Alex threw the frog in a big plastic bag that they used instead of a trashcan.
“So Taylor, when are we having our first flying lesson?”
Alex groaned. Why did he have to remind her? Even though she didn’t hate him at this moment, that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t want to spend more time around him then necessary. But she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of backing out.
“Anytime next week,” she said.
“Let’s make it Thursday, then.”
“Can’t wait,” she said hoping the sarcasm was visible in her tone of voice.
“I am going to get some water. I’m really thirsty, do you want anything?”
“Just some water as well.”
He left and Alex carried on with the work. They had done more than half by now and it shouldn’t take them more than an hour to finish.
“There you go,” Sirius came back, handing her the water.
“Where did you get it from?”
“The bathroom. And I checked the time, it’s almost half past ten.”
“Let’s get this done quickly, I’m tired,” Alex said and drank the water.
The next hour passed in a haze and finally Filch came to free them from their working chains. The staggered back to the common room.
“They shouldn’t keep us up this long. How are we supposed to think tomorrow!” Sirius said yawning.
“I know I’m not thinking right now,” and with that Alex grabbed him by his sweater and kissed him.
A/N Cliffhanger! Oh, oh! Please tell me what you think! I know they’re only eleven, but what can you do! They’re wizards. Review, review!
CI bi MyMyMiss @ TDA
"What did I just do?!" Alex came to her dormitory after leaving a very shocked Sirius Black in the common room. That’s it; she just kissed him and left. And now she was freaking out.
“Lily! Wake up!” she shook her friend.
“Alex, is there a fire?”
“No, why would there be a fire?” Alex stopped for a second. Was there a fire? She was so tired, she couldn’t think.
“Then leave me alone!” Lily turned around.
“Lily, I kissed Sirius.”
“You did what?!” Lily was wide-awake.
“I kissed him. I kissed Black!”
Lily stared at her and then the only thing she said was:
“But, why?”
“I don’t know why!”
“Shh, you’ll wake the others!”
“Those two are to stupid to wake up and as far as Paige goes, I don’t think she’s ever awake. That girl is in her own world.”
“Ok, focus! What happened?”
“I don’t know. We had detention and we weren’t fighting and then out of the blue I kissed him.”
“Do you think he’s cute?”
“Well, yeah, I do. But he’s an ass.”
“Is he an ass you want to go out with?”
“No!”
“Well then what’s the problem?”
How was she not getting this?
“I hate him and now I kissed him.”
“So what? You had to let go of all this energy somehow.”
“By kissing him?”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“But how am I supposed to act tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, just go with the flow.”
“Lily?!”
“Be nice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well you know. Oh, and one more important thing. Did he kiss you back?”
“Why is that important?”
“It just is! So did he?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Alex, just tell me, did he kiss you back?”
“Ok, yes he did,” she said.
“And why are you smiling about that?”
“Am not!”
“Yes you are, now go to sleep.”
“Well, then good night,” Alex said and went to bed.
Next morning Alex skipped breakfast and avoided Sirius for the entire day.
“Has he said anything to you?” Lily asked her at lunch.
“Nope,” Alex said stuffing mashed potatoes into her mouth.
“You really like to eat, don’t you?”
“Yep. Love food. If I could, I would marry food.”
Lily laughed and so did Alex, but then she became serious again.
“No, but really, can you do that?”
“I don’t think so,” Lily said looking at her like she was crazy.
“Gotta love food,” Alex said, taking some rice pudding.
“Hi, can I talk to you?” Sirius came up to them.
“I’ll leave you two,” Lily said and sent a meaningful glance at Alex.
“Yeah, um…sure,” Alex said pointing at the bench opposite her.
“So, about last night…”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to kiss you. It was a mistake, we were tired and well...”
“Yeah, that’s it… nothing more, we were just tired,” he said awkwardly.
“So I guess that’s it.”
“Yep. Everything’s decided.”
There was a weird sort of tension between them, like they left a lot of things unsaid.
“We should get to class,” Alex said.
“Ok, I’ll go and get my things,” Sirius taking the excuse to leave the table and Alex sighed in relief when he did.
She finished her rice pudding in peace and then slowly started going to class. Just before she entered the charms classroom Lily ran up to her.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” Alex said.
“Oh, come on! You’ve got to tell me!”
“Well, we just said it didn’t matter, we were just tired.”
“Bu you want to be with him!”
“I don’t! I hate him.”
“Don’t lie to me. I saw that smile when you told me he kissed you back. I know that smile.”
“What smile?” Alex said innocently.
“Alexandra, you know perfectly well what smile I mean!”
Alex didn’t answer and they sat down next to Remus ad Peter in the front row. Professor Flitwick soon came and he started his lesson on happiness charms.
Alex tried to concentrate but right behind her Sirius and James were seated and they kept talking. She swore she heard her name being mentioned once or twice.
“Will you guys just shut up?” she turned around.
“Oh look, Taylor’s turned into a teacher’s pet. I’d call that bad influence,” Sirius said motioning at Lily and Remus.
“If we’re not careful, they’re going to get Peter as well,” James said.
Alex gave them a stern stare and turned back to listen to Flitwick. She didn’t usually pay attention in class it was just that she didn’t wan her thoughts slipping back to some handsome dark-haired boy sitting behind her.
A few days passed and everyone’s life went back into track. Sirius and Alex still had their daily fights and didn’t focus on their kiss. Soon it was Thursday and time for Alex’s flying lesson (Sirius was being very stubborn, with keeping their agreement).
“So Taylor, ready for the time of your life?”
“Ready, trying to survive, what difference does it make, really?” Alex said grimly as she met Sirius in the entrance hall at around four o’clock.
“Hey, why are you in such a bad mood. I’m trying to do you a favor.”
“It’s not called a favor, Black, when one person is being forced into I against their own will.”
“You suggested this in the first place,” he stated.
Alex grew quiet, because she new this was true. But she wasn’t going to back out now. She was just as stubborn as Sirius.
They walked down to the Quidditch pit.
“So James has taught you the Quidditch rules and the basics of flying, right?”
Alex nodded.
“So mound your broom and let’s see what you’ve got, Taylor,” he said challengingly raising one of his eyebrows.
“Bring it, Black,” she said and kicked herself of the ground.
He raced her around the hoops and then came back to the ground to get a big red ball. They spent the next hour shooting it into the hoops.
“Well, I must say Taylor, I’m impressed,” he said, when she blocked a particularly good throw.
“Always the tone of surprise.”
“Well, you are still a girl.”
“Don’t you like girls?”
“I love girls. It’s just that when it comes to sports, mixing them with girls isn’t always the best combination.”
“I’m a great athlete!”
“Well yes, but you can never beat me.”
“Wanna bet, Black?”
“Remember what happened the last time we did something like that? You had to go out with Peter.”
“Are you scared?”
“No.”
“Well then what’s the problem?”
“It’s just your mighty ego might get bruised in the process.”
“I think you might be worried about your own ego, Black.”
He grinned at her and than snatched the ball out of her hands and before Alex even realized it, he was half way down the field (can you say that, even though they’re in the air?).
But she didn’t let herself get distracted and quickly dashed behind him.
“You’re in for it now, Black!”
“You wish!”
They were flying around like mad and Alex had to admit he was good. Before, when he was teaching her, he barely showed his true colors. Alex had a hard time trying to catch up with him and when she did he just sped away again.
“Not fair! You’re to fast!”
“You were the one who wanted to bet. Oh and by the way, what are we betting for?”
“If I win, you have to be my slave for a week.”
“What kind of slave?”
“Bring me stuff, carry my bag…”
“That’s what boyfriends are for.”
“I guess you have the wrong idea about boyfriends. Well, so what do I have to do, if you win?”
“You have to ask out Peter and for real this time.”
“Nope, not doing that.”
“Well then you have to ask McGonagall if she has children.”
“That’s a death sentence,” Alex shrieked.
“Well, will you do it?”
“Sure,” she grinned and flew towards him, which took him by surprise so she could snatch the ball away.”
“That’s 1:0 Alex. Rule number one Black, always be prepared.”
“We’ll se who’s gonna be the last one standing,” and with that he started chasing her, Alex laughing loudly as she flew away.
At the end, Alex had to admit Sirius won fair and square. He was much better and had much more experience than her.
“Tomorrow will be the first time I’ll actually enjoy transfiguration,” Sirius said as they walked back to the castle for dinner.
“Oh, no. Don’t remind me.”
“Well you have to admit I’m good.”
“You are good. It makes perfectly no sense to deny it.”
“I bet you want to kiss me again, after you’ve seen what I can do in the playing field,” he said with his arrogant smile.
Alex just stared at him. It was the first time they had brought it up after they decided it was nothing. Alex couldn’t think of a better response than:
“Oh, please. You were the one who kissed me.”
Sirius looked astounded.
“You’re not actually going to try and convince me, that I was the one who grabbed you and pressed you to my lips!”
Alex knew she was pathetic, but now, once the words were out of her mouth she couldn’t take them back. And of course it wasn’t like Alex to admit she was wrong. Now that she was in it, she had to go all the way.”
“Yes, it was you who started it.”
“Taylor?! What are you talking about?” Sirius spluttered.
“You kissed me!”
“I did not. You just attacked me out of nowhere!”
By that time they were already in the great hall next to the Gryffindor table.
“What is it this time?” James sighed at the sight of Alex and Sirius fighting again.
“She’s saying that I kissed her!”
“Well, he did!”
“Wait, what? You guys kissed?” Remus looked confused.
“Yes!” they both yelled in union.
“Ok, that’s quite a lot to comprehend, so are you guys dating?”
“No!” it was both of them again.
“Well, what’s the problem then?” Lily asked.
“She’s claiming that I was the one who started the kiss, which I was clearly not!” Sirius said.
“Well, it was you. We all know you have a hard time keeping in your hormones. It’s just something you would do.”
“It does sound like that, mate,” Peter said.
“But it wasn’t me! It was her!”
“No!”
“Does it really matter, who kissed whom?” Remus said seeming exhausted.
“Yes, because I know that she was the one who kissed me!” Sirius shouted.
“Oh, really Black, how do you know?”
“Because I know! Because I put a potion in your drink!”
Everything fell silent.
“You’re in for it now,” James sympathetically patted Sirius on the back.
“You did what?” Alex said very slowly in a deathly tone that even Sirius felt scared.
“Look, I’m sorry. I put something in your water.”
“What did you put in?”
“Just a few drops of something that I found in Slughorn’s cupboard.”
“Aha! So I knew you took something!”
“It just made you a bit more relaxed and loose and you didn’t think what you were doing.”
“Well, why did you put that in my drink?”
“I thought it would be fun.”
“Oh, admit it Black, you wanted to kiss her!” Lily said.
Alex ignored her comment.
“You could have poisoned me!” Alex yelled.
“I would never poison you!”
“Well, you wouldn’t have known it was poison, until it would be to late, now would you?”
“I’m sorry Alex,” he said pleadingly.
“You know what, just forget it,” she sighed.
“What? You’re not mad?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t have the energy anymore,” she got up and tried to leave.
“No Alex. Listen, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did. It was reckless and stupid.”
“Yes it was. But that’s just you. I guess I forgive you, but you have to be extra nice to me for the whole year.”
“Ok,” he said and surprised Alex by pulling her into a big hug.
A/N: What do you think? Like always review, please
Chapter 9: Is it going to be a merry Christmas?
[View Online] [Printer Friendly Version of This Chapter]
[View Online] [Printer Friendly Version of This Chapter]
Chapter image by goddesfaith17 @ TDA
“Great! Do you know that my parents and yours are going on holiday together this Christmas and we have to stay here,” James said grimly a week before the end of term.
“What?! I didn’t even know they got along that well.”
“Yes, apparently they started hanging out while we were here and now they’re going to abandon us!”
Alex and James were sitting next to the fire in the common room, warming themselves.
“Why can’t we go with them?”
“I don’t know! It’s outrageous! Leaving their children here.”
“Where are they going and please don’t say Italy, because I will die.”
“No, they’re going to Nebraska.”
“Where’s that?” Alex scrunched up her nose.
“Don’t know, but if it’s anything like Alaska, I don’t even want to go.”
Alex groaned. Now her entire pre-Christmas mood was ruined. She was stuck here and as much as she loved Hogwarts, she really was looking forward to going home and seeing her family.
“Hey James! Guess what?” Sirius walked in excitedly, “Taylor,” he nodded to her, them still being in a war-relationship.
“What?”
“My parents are letting me stay here for the holidays, I don’t have to go home,” he sad happily.
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s a shame you’re going home, though.”
“That’s the thing, we’re not,” James said. He was happy about his best-friend staying with him.
“Oh no!” Alex screamed.
“What’s up, sunshine?” Sirius asked.
“Don’t call me that. It’s bad enough I have to stay here, but that you’re going to be here as well?! Kill me now.”
“Well, you’re not my favorite person to be spending the holidays with either,” Sirius said.
“Why do you always have to turn up, where you’re not wanted, Black?”
“James wants me!”
“Well I don’t!” Alex said.
“Stop it, you two. You guys have to learn how to get along,” James interfered.
“But he’s always getting on my nerves. And now I have to spend my holidays with him as well. James, how do you expect me to do that?” Alex whined.
“You just have to, for everyone’s sake. I know Remus and Lily are getting annoyed with you two always fighting.”
“She should just stay out of my way!” Sirius suggested.
“I try! But you’re always here!”
“Well you’re always with James and I want to be with him too.”
“So it’s actually James’s fault.”
“Why, it’s my fault now?” James looked offended.
“Yes,” Alex and Sirius said in union, pleased at the agreement they have made.
“Well, at least I’ll have Lily,” Alex sighed.
“What, she’s staying over the holidays too?” James’s face lit up.
“Yes, she says she has to work on the Charms project. I tell, you that girl is crazy.”
“She’s going to be doing school work, during the holidays?” Sirius couldn’t believe his own words.
“If it makes here stay here, than I’m happy,” James said.
“Are you guys talking about me again?” Lily suddenly appeared before them.
“No,” they answered.
She eyed them suspiciously.
“But, Remus and Peter are going home, aren’t they?” Sirius tried to smoothly continue the conversation.
“Yes, I just met Remus in the library and he said he’s going home,” Lily nodded sitting herself down next to Sirius, much to James’s annoyance.
“Do you guys realize, Lupin wasn’t in our bedroom again last night?” James noted.
“What? How many times has it been, now?” Alex asked.
“It’s once a month and he never tells us, that he’s going to see his mum,” Sirius said.
“Oh please Black, how stupid are you?” Lily said.
“What, flower?” he seemed hurt.
“He’s not going to see his mother!”
“Well, then where is he going?”
“I don’t know.”
“So you’re not that smart either.”
“Shut up, Black,” Lily groaned.
“Same goes for you too, flower.”
“Well, where could he be?” Alex stopped their argument.
James shrugged and Sirius just looked confused.
“Maybe we should just ask him,” Lily suggested.
“Are you crazy?” Sirius said.
“Why? We’re his friends. We have a right to know!”
“I still like to keep it on the down low, that I socialize with such a nerd,” Sirius said quietly.
“Black shut up! You’re his friend and you know it!” Alex got mad at him.
“Well I like him, but do you know what it’s like for a guy like me? I have a standard to maintain, Taylor. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Are you trying to say something, Black?”
“What?”
“That I have no standard?”
“Well…” he trailed off suggestively.
“Black, I swear, one of these days I will-“
“Chill out, he was only joking!” James said.
“How do you know that?”
“I’m his best friend! I know him!”
“Guys, can we please talk about Remus,” Lily said always being the mature one.
“Oh, flower, then just go and talk to your precious little Lupin,” Sirius snapped.
Lily stood up, offended.
“Now look what you did!” James groaned.
“What? I don’t care about hurting little flower’s feelings. You go and talk to her and be her savior.”
“Oh, Black! Must you be so insensitive?” Alex yelled.
“I can be really sensitive if I want, you know?”
“Really? I’m sorry if I don’t believe that,” Alex started walking away.
“You’ll see one day!” Sirius yelled after her.
“Oh, Alex, come back! Don’t you leave as well!” James tried to bring her back.
“Good night, James,” she said and walked up to her bedroom.
“Sirius, you know you could be a bit more sensitive,” James suggested timidly.
Sirius groaned and flung himself into an armchair.
“Mate, sometimes I just don’t know how to react,” he ran his fingers through his hair.
*
They somehow got through their last week of school and then breathed in relief, when the holidays finally started.
“Isn’t it great, to not have to do anything?” Alex said lazily to Remus.
“Alex, don’t think this holidays are just for slacking off. You’ll have to study as well. Thank god Lily’s staying, she’ll push you to it, at least a bit.”
“Oh Remus, chill out! Relax. It must feel good to just sit here, by the fire.”
“I have to admit it does. But I still have to pack tonight, we’re leaving in the morning.”
“Argh, don’t remind me! I’ll be stuck here with Black. There will be less people at Hogwarts, so the percentage of him annoying me, will be even higher!”
“He’s not that bad, you know.”
Alex gave him the are-you-kidding-me look.
“Are you kidding me Potter?!”
James marched in with a furious Lily on his heels. Several heads turned.
“Well, for once it’s not you and Sirius fighting,” Remus laughed.
“He’s bad company!” James was defensive.
“Who are you to tell me that? It’s not your business to tell me who I can and cannot hang out with!”
“Well, he’s a Slytherin!”
“They aren’t bad people! Just get of your high Gryffindor horse and for once acknowledge that the house you’re sorted in doesn’t defy who you are!”
James was kind of taken aback by this.
“But, does it have to be him?”
“I’m guessing James is having problems again, about Lily hanging out with Severus.” Remus whispered to Alex.
“Snevillius isn’t good for you!”
“I don’t care! I don’t care what you think! How many times do I have to tell you that.”
“I’m just trying to look out for you,” James said.
“I didn’t ask you to protect me. I don’t want you to protect me, Potter,” Lily said firmly.
James looked hurt, but Alex felt it was right for Lily to tell him this so forwardly. He didn’t seem to get the hints.
“Now, I’m going to bed, are you coming, Alex?” Lily waved to her.
Alex quickly got up and followed her, shooting a warm smile at James, so he wouldn’t think she was picking sides. They got ready for bed in silence, Lily being very grumpy. Alex got under the covers and thought about all the lovely Christmas presents she was sure to get in a few days.
“Stand up!” I said, my voice cold and slick. Before me lay a trembling man, his head bowed down to me.
“Please, have merci!”
“I know no merci!” I laughed.
That pitiful old man. He knew nothing of power. He was too weak to kill. It was funny to me. I held everything in my hands. I had my wand and I could kill him at any moment. I controlled the game.
“Please, just leave my family,” he sobbed.
I laughed again. How people had no idea, that they shouldn’t reveal their weakness. Telling the thing they didn’t want was the most ridiculous thing to do. I was going to take great pleasure in doing just that. How mortals amused me. They seemed to be against themselves in every step.
I threw my head back and laughed again. The man looked up at me. I waved my wand carelessly and a blaze of green light appeared. The man lay dead before me. I snickered.
“So weak.”
Alex was woken up, by what she thought was the piercing green light, but was actually the sun that came through her window.
She was gasping for air as she looked around the room. It was empty, because everyone was at breakfast. Alex saw the time was already eleven.
Why was she having these dreams? This one had the same feeling as the one months ago. And now she was killing people? What was happening to her? She was really scared. It wasn’t normal for an eleven year old, to have dreams about murdering people.
She got dressed slowly and then headed down to the Gryffindor common room. It was totally empty, so apparently all the kids have left already.
“Alex?” she jumped, she hadn’t noticed Sirius sitting in the corner.
“Hi.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked her kindly.
“Nothing, why?”
“You look very pale and your eyes are all red, have you been crying?”
“No, I never cry.”
“And then you accuse me, of not being sensitive.”
“Being sensitive isn’t only about crying.”
“Tell, me what’s wrong,” he asked her again and it seemed like he really wanted to know.
She sat down next to him.
“I had a horrible dream, again,” she sighed.
“Really? You couldn’t find your Beatles CD?”
“You see! You can’t be sensitive!” she started getting up.
“Wait, wait, I’ll try my best, I swear,” he laughed.
She sat down again.
“So, what happened,” he tried his best to keep a serious face.
“I was killing people. It was terrible and I’m really scared. What if I really killed someone?” she said timidly.
“Oh, Alex you would never kill anyone!”
“I know that. But what if something possesses me at night and I go on a murder hunt. Innocent people might die.”
“Trust me Alex, you can’t just go somewhere in the middle of the night and kill people.”
“Why not? It’s the wizard world?”
“You can’t, really. Trust me,” he reassured her and for once she did.
They went down to breakfast together, Alex happy that Sirius was being nice. She was wondering why he sometimes had breakthroughs, when he seemed like such a wonderful person. But then he made some stupid and shallow comment, which proved just how much of an ass he really was.
“Oh-oh, let’s hope James doesn’t see that,” Sirius pointed at the Slytherin table. Lily was sitting there, next to Severus.
“Where is James, anyway?” Alex asked.
“I think he’s still sleeping.”
“My kind of guy,” Alex laughed.
“Why?”
“I love sleeping. If I don’t get enough sleep I’ll probably kill someone,” she joked but then remembered her dream and it suddenly wasn’t funny anymore.
“Hey Alex, please believe in yourself. You know you didn’t kill anyone.”
“But I was there! I felt like I wanted to kill the man. It was funny for me to see him suffer.”
“It was just a dream,” Sirius said.
At that moment Lily noticed that Alex and Sirius had come down to breakfast, so she decided to join them.
“Why were you sitting at the Slytherin table?” Alex asked her.
“Well, I accompanied Remus to the train station and then got back so early that nobody I knew was up yet. Then Severus invited me to sit with him.”
“How did you guys even become friends? He really isn’t similar to you.”
“He’s the one that told me everything about magic and Hogwarts.”
“Why is Snevillius not going home?” Sirius asked.”
”Don’t call him that and it’s none of your business,” she glared at him.
“Just trying to have a conversation,” he said defensively.
“You’re worse than Potter,” Lily claimed.
“I take that as a compliment,” he said proudly.
“Speaking of the devil,” Alex waved to James that was standing at the entrance.
“I am really not in the mood for this,” Lily said and got up to leave.
“I’ll come with you,” Alex said.
“See you, Sirius,” Alex said, surprising him with her kind tone.
“What do you want to do?” Alex asked Lily when they sat down in the common room.
“I think we should get started with our homework and then we should study…”
“Oh, Lils! It’s the first day! Let’s just enjoy it.”
“But you’re already behind.”
“Please, just this once, lets do something else.”
“Ok.”
“Thank you! So what do you want to do?”
“I’ve been meaning to see Hagrid, he’s invited me for tea. Do you want to come with me?”
“Yes, I’d love to.”
They got their coats and scarves from their dormitory.
“Do you know there’s snow everywhere?” Lily said, excited.
Alex groaned.
“What? Don’t you like snow?”
“I hate snow. It’s cold and wet. I love the heat.”
“I’ve never seen this much snow,” Lily said as they got outside, “I’m not sure if it’s real or a magic spell.”
“It’s cold and that’s enough for me to hate it.”
“I love snow!” Lily sang and threw herself to the ground to make a snow angle.
“So how do you even know Hagrid?” Alex asked her.
“I was really interested in magical creatures and he knows a lot about them, so I asked him. He took me to see some in the forbidden forest.”
“You went to the forbidden forest?” Alex was shocked that Lily would do something like that. The forest was, as you might have guessed, forbidden.
“Yes,” Lily said clearly ashamed, “I just really wanted to see a centaur.”
“You saw a centaur?” Alex was totally taken aback by this new side of Lily.
“Yes, they’re so nice. I talked to them.”
“You are crazy. Lily Evans breaking the rules, the world is mad.”
”Please don’t tell anyone! Remus will think badly of me and Potter won’t stop teasing me.”
Alex laughed.
“Ok, I won’t tell anyone,” she found it so funny that Lily was worried about this.
“Thank you. So after that me and Hagrid just started talking about things.”
“He did seem really nice when I saw him the first day. But he is really tall.”
“I know and the bushy beard is scary as well.”
They both laughed. Finally they got to Hagrid’s hut and Lily knocked.
“Who is it?” a voice boomed.
“It’s Lily!”
Hagrid opened the door.
“Oh hello Lily, I haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Hi, Hagrid. I’m sorry I’ve been busy with school and everything.”
“You are always so hard working,” he smiled fondly at her.
“This is my friend, Alex,” Lily finally introduced them.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Hagrid said, stretching his big palm towards Alex.
They went inside, where Hagrid put the kettle on.
“I remember you,” he suddenly said to Alex.
“Really? From where?”
“You’re the one that fell in the lake,” he laughed.
“Was pushed inside, is more like it. You can blame Sirius Black for that.”
Hagrid laughed even harder.
“That Sirius Black is a character, he is. Him and his friend James try and sneak to the forbidden forest every once in a while.” Hagrid said, his eyes twinkling.
“Yes, that does sound like them,” Lily said.
“But they’re good chaps,” Hagrid said fondly again. It seemed like he loved all of them.
Hagrid served them tea.
“I think I have some fudge cakes somewhere here,” he said looking around his little hut.
“That’s really ok Hagrid, we don’t need them,” Lily said looking kind of scared.
“Why don’t we need them?” Alex whispered.
“Aha! There they are,” Hagrid opened a tin and put it on the table.
“You’ll see,” Lily said and took one to be polite.
Alex followed her example. She bit into it and then almost let out a scream of pain. Her teeth were aching. The fudge on the cakes was so thick and so hard, that you couldn’t eat them properly.
Hagrid didn’t seem to notice and happily bit into one. He probably had stronger teeth, because he was so big.
Alex glanced at Lily because she didn’t know what to do with the fudge cake. Lily was carefully sucking on one, not being able to bite.
“So ar’ you guys happy the holidays are here? I can see the jolly smiles on the kids faces,” Hagrid said.
“Yeah, it’s been a rough term,” Alex sighed.
They had a nice hour or two talking to Hagrid, while feeding the cakes to Hagrid’s dog, Fang, who would eat just about anything you would give him.
“I think we should head back for lunch,” Alex said, her tummy already rumbling.
“You could eat with me! I have a lovely ferret stew prepared,” Hagrid’s face shinned with happiness.
“Ah… Thanks Hagrid, maybe another time!” Lily said quickly getting up.
“Ok, but you’ll have to try my stew once. It’s delicious!”
“Yeah, can’t wait. Thanks for the tea, Hagrid,” Alex said and then they quickly escaped, before Hagrid could offer them any more food.
“That was nice, but the fudge cakes, on the other hand were nasty. That’s coming from me and you know I’ll eat almost anything,” Alex laughed.
“Yeah, Hagrid’s cooking is-“
“Attack!”
“Ahh!” Alex and Lily screamed as two enormous snowballs hit them in the face.
When they cleared the snow of themselves, they saw James and Sirius laughing hysterically.
“That means war!” Alex said pilling some snow together.
“Alex, are you sure that’s wise? Don’t you think-“ But Lily was to late, because Alex already flung the snow at the two laughing boys. It fell over their heads and they ended up looking like two sad puppies. But they quickly recovered and declared a snow fight.
“Take that, James!” Alex threw a big snowball in his face.
She laughed when it hit him, but then someone grabbed her from behind.
“Taylor, I heard you want some snow,” Sirius practically fed snow down her throat and smudged it all over her face.
She kicked him and he yelled in pain and let her go. She took the opportunity and ran away. Lily had finally joined the fight and was throwing snow at James, laughing.
After an hour they declared peace and went to lunch, all of them rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed from the exercise.
“Alex, you can’t do that in the heat,” Lily said, catching her breath.
“That’s true. I guess snow is good for something,” Alex laughed and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
They hungrily dug into the food that was on the table.
“I have to run,” Sirius said after he finished his lunch.
“Where are you going?” James asked him.
“I’m meeting Tiffany,” Sirius said suggestively, “You should come with me, that Sheila is interested in you.”
“Nah, my heart goes to the lady sitting across me,” he said and Lily rolled her eyes.
“Your loss, bye!” he quickly walked out of the great hall.
“Evans, would you go out-“
“NO!”
“Worth a shot,” James shrugged.
Alex sighed, it seemed like they were getting along great, out in the snow, but inside they were fighting like always.
*
I threw my head back, laughing cruelly. Tonight I have an interesting meeting. All my little followers were coming to report how their assignments were going. It was going to be fun, killing the ones that failed and rewarding the ones that didn’t. Next to me my snake hissed.
“Come, my love,” I stroked her soft head.
“Master, I believe they are waiting for you,” she hissed.
“Yes, let us not keep them waiting to long.”
I stood up and straightened my dark cloak. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was pale and my short brown hair covered my face. I smirked. I knew I was handsome; there was no point in denying it.
“Master, let’s go,” my snake reminded me.
I walked out of the room, carrying my wand in my left hand. I felt powerful.
As soon as I walked into the meeting room, everyone fell silent. They all bowed to me.
“Rise, my followers! There is no need to be afraid.”
I laughed at my lie. I took in their faces. Some were respectful, some scared. I fed from their fear.
“Let us start. What news do you bring,” I waved at a particularly scared young boy.
“My lord, There’s nothing new, I-“ his voice trembled.
“What?”
“I have nothing to report,” he said quietly.
“So you are saying you are useless?”
His chin trembled and he looked down.
“Look at me!” I yelled.
He looked up even more scared now.
“I want to see your face when I finish you,” I murmured.
“Please, don’t-“
He crumbled to the floor like an old cloak.
“That is what will happen to each and every one of you, if you don’t obey me.”
My voice cut the silence, like a knife.
“Do you understand?”
Nobody answered. I turned to the man on my right.
“Lestrange, do you understand?”
Lestrange looked at me. I flicked my wand:
“Cruccio!”
His scream pierced the room. I laughed at his twisting body on the floor. I stopped and he quickly got up, panting.
“That was just to give you a taste. I ask you again, do you understand, Lestrange?”
He nodded.
“Good,” my face turned into a smile.
“Merry Christmas!” Lily tossed a pillow at Alex.
Alex woke up from her dream, still shivering and looked at Lily.
“What? It’s Christmas!” Lily said defensively.
“Oh, right.”
“Look at the presents!” Lily jumped with joy.
Alex looked to her bedside. There was a pile of neatly wrapped parcels there.
“I just have to go to the toilet,” Alex excused herself and ran to the bathroom.
She got to the toilet just in time and puked her guts out. The images of Lestrange’s body were still flashing threw her mind. Why would anyone do that? Why would she do that?
Alex rested her head on the cold marble wall. She could feel the thumping in her head. Why was she turning into this monster at night?
She rinsed her mouth and went down to the common room to look at the time. Again, only Sirius was sitting there. She tried to back away, before he would notice here.
“Taylor, stop right there.”
“Damn,” she whispered under her breath.
“Did you have another dream?”
“No,” she put on her innocent face.
“I can see it. You did.”
She sighed, there was no point in hiding it. Her emotions were written all over her face, plus she was still sick.
“Come here,” he waved her over kindly.
She gradually sat down next to him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“Please tell me, I’m worried,” he whispered.
Why was he being so nice? Alex decided to go with it.
“I was a horrible man, I torture and kill people.”
“What? You were a man?”
“I could see myself in the mirror. I don’t know what’s happening,” she sobbed.
Sirius put an arm around her.
“It’s all going to be ok.”
“Why is this happening to me?”
“They’re just dreams, they can’t hurt you,” he comforted her.
“But, you don’t understand. They’re so vivid. I can feel them, it’s like they’re really happening,” she said, pictures of the two dead men flashing before her eyes again.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” he said, pulling her closer to him.
She somehow felt so comfortable and safe in his hug. So, he could be sensitive, if he wanted to. She told him everything.
“And I can speak to snakes,” she finished. Reliving the dream had exhausted her.
“Shh, Alex. It’s not you. You’re not the same person in your dreams. You cant’s speak to snakes, can you?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You see? There’s nothing to be worried about.
“But still, what if it is actually me killing these people?”
“It can’t be you. You’re here, in your bed sleeping. This is probably happening, because you have a lot on your mind.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I have to go and open my presents now, Lily’s probably waiting for me.”
“You go do that and I’ll se you later, ok?” he smiled encouragingly.
She stood up to leave.
“Oh, and Sirius?” she looked back and he raised his head in question.
“Thank you.”
A/N: I hope you liked it. I tried to develop the Alex-Sirius relationship a bit more. And I know I skipped to Christmas quite fast, but I’m really trying to get through the first few years quickly, because I have more planned for later, so this is going to be happening quite a lot. Tell me what you think, below. Thanks for reading!
Amazing chapter image by Saranghae@ TDA
Everyone got back from their Christmas holidays safely and school soon started to take up most of their free time again. Alex still hadn’t gotten rid of the dreams, but when she was pre-occupied with something else, they appeared less often. But then suddenly, they started to come back again and now Alex found herself growing sadder and sadder. It was like a burden, weighing her down. Sirius stood by her, but she didn’t share her depressed feeling with him to the full measure. They still had their daily fights, but he was there for her whenever she needed him.
Alex found it funny, that the person, who she hated the most, became one of her closest friends. The others were also pleased by this transformation, because they knew that even though the two still picked fights with every step they took, they were friends at the end of the day.
It was already late April and Remus and Lily were pushing everyone to start studying for their exams. One evening after Remus’s had disappeared the night before, they all sat down in the common room to talk about it.
“What’s enough is enough! I’m saying we should just ask him about it!” James said.
“That would be questioning what he’s told us,” Alex disagreed.
“But we’re his friends,” Peter added.
“That’s why we should just trust what he says,” Sirius said.
“But it’s so weird. He can’t be visiting his sick mother!”
“And it’s the full moon again,” Lily said.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Peter asked.
“Haven’t you noticed? He always disappears at the full moon. It can’t be a coincidence, but what does it mean?” Lily asked pacing around, while James and Sirius stared at her.
“What? Why are guys looking at me like that?” she asked, looking offended.
“Oh, flower, we’ve been so stupid!” Sirius slapped himself on the forehead.
“What’s happening?” Alex asked confused, Peter mirroring her.
“We had all the information, we just didn’t piece it together!” James said excitedly to Sirius.
“Yes, we didn’t know that he disappears at the full moon and flower over there did, but she didn’t know what it means!”
“Could someone just tell me what is going on?!” Lily said annoyed.
“Ok, everyone, brace yourselves. We have made a discovery about Lupin’s disappearances.”
“Spit it out already,” Alex hurried them.
“Remus is a werewolf,” James stated.
“What?”
“How?”
“What does this mean?”
They couldn’t continue their conversation, because Remus joined them and they quickly grew quiet.
“What’s happening, guys?” he said puzzled.
“Remus, we have an announcement,” James stated, speaking in everyone’s name.
“Yes?”
“We have been thinking about-“
“Cut the ceremony James,” Sirius waved him off, “Lupin, we know about your furry little problem.”
Remus slumped himself in a chair and looked absolutely shattered.
“I knew this day would come, sooner or later. What can I say? It was nice knowing you all,” he looked sadly at everyone.
“Are you going somewhere?” Peter said, generally confused.
“No need to push me Pete, I’ll pack my things and be off your backs.”
“Lupin, what are you talking about?” Sirius said totally aghast.
“Well, you don’t want me in your life anymore, who could blame you? I’m a monster,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Remus, of course we still want you in our lives!”
“Yeah, we don’t care what kind of monster you are!”
They all jumped on him and gave him big hugs.
“Really? You mean that?”
“Yeah, of course we do,” Sirius grinned.
“Why didn’t you just tell us?” Peter asked.
“Because I thought you’d hate me.”
“We could never hate you,” Lily said, giving him another hug.
That was the happiest night in Remus’s life. He never thought he would come across friends, who could still love him after they knew his “furry little problem” as Sirius called it.
*
“Alex! I haven’t seen you in a while!” Boomed a voice across the corridor.
“Hagrid!” Alex cried happily and he suffocated her in a big hug.
“Are you finished with all your classes for today?”
“Yep and I’m glad about it too.”
“Great, then come with me. I’ll show you my new pet.”
“Is it a frog? I’m scared of those, remember?”
“Yeah, I do. I still feel awful about the last time you visited me.”
A frog jumped out of the milk jug and Alex almost collapsed.
“Don’t worry about it. Sure, I’ll come with you.”
“Jolly good, let’s go. You can tell me all about your classes, it’s really been too long since I saw you.”
They came to his hut.
“Look, here it is, at the back.”
They walked to the back where a huge wooden box stood.
“Can you just tell me what’s inside, before I see it?” Alex asked him.
“A snake.”
“Oh, goody, I always loved snakes.
“I know, you told me once. Not many people love snakes.”
“Did I tell you that? I don’t usually go about, telling people that I love snakes. Especially since I became a wizard, you know, Slytherin and all that.”
Alex suddenly remembered that the hat almost put her in Slytherin. She got an un-easy feeling in her stomach. Hagrid grunted and started lifting the lid of the box. Inside it laid an enormous snake.
“Wow, what’s its name?”
“Rhonda,” Hagrid said proudly.
“Hi, Rhonda,” Alex leaned closer.
“Hi,” hissed the snake.
Alex blinked and looked at Hagrid. He didn’t seem to notice anything, so she waved it off, thinking she’d imagined it.
“Can I stroke her?” Alex asked
“Of course, she won’t do anything,” Hagrid said, fondly looking at the snake.
“How are you doing?” Alex asked the snake and petted her on the head.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
This time she definitely heard it and Hagrid didn’t. What was happening? Was she a parsletoung? Suddenly something inside her clicked and she didn’t like it. In her dreams she could speak to snakes as well. She quickly let go of the snake.
“Hagrid, I have to go. I’m sorry,” she quickly said and started running towards the castle.
“Alex?!” Hagrid yelled after her.
But she didn’t stop. She had to tell Sirius this. She didn’t want any sort of connection to the person in her dreams. Sirius said they weren’t real. But if she could speak to snakes in real life and in her dreams, that’s got to mean something.
Alex came to the common room and looked around for Sirius. He wasn’t there.
“Hey Tiffany! Have you seen Sirius?” she said while trying to catch her breath.
“I don’t want to hear that name! He exchanged me for that slut Jessica; maybe he’s with her. Or at least she’ll know where he is,” Tiffany said in a stuck up voice, clearly upset about the fact that she wasn’t Sirius’s favorite anymore.
Alex didn’t answer and ran out of the common room again. She thought about where to go. Sirius wouldn’t be in the library, but Lily and Remus might. She could ask them if they’ve seen him.
She started running again, but then had just the luck of bumping into Sirius on the staircase, both of them falling to the floor.
“Easy, Taylor.”
“Sirius!”
“What is it Alex?” immediately switching to first names.
That was their unwritten rule. When they were in every day life and fights they were Taylor and Black, but when it turned serious, Sirius always called her Alex.
“I can speak to snakes!”
“What?”
“Yes, I discovered that I could, just like the person I am in my dreams.”
“It’s not you in the dreams, how many times do I have to tell you that? That guy is an evil man, you’re a lovely girl,” Sirius said, blushing slightly.
“That’s not the point! What will I do? What if I’m turning into the person in my dreams?”
“Do you feel like you’re changing in any way?”
“I do feel that I’m getting sadder and like some invisible weight is pushing on me,” she said, quivering.
“When was the last time you had one of your dreams?”
“A week ago. It’s just like I have the deaths of all these people on my shoulders. It’s to much for me, Sirius,” she sobbed into his chest.
“Shh, you’re fine.”
“I just can’t deal with it anymore. Every time I have a dream it’s just like it adds another stone, to the pile that’s burying me. I’m still scared that I’m the one that’s torturing them. I keep killing innocent children!”
“Ok, Alex, you need to go and see Dumbledore. This is starting to get serious.”
“No, I won’t bother him with my small silly life.”
“This isn’t small anymore, Alex. It’s getting out of our hands.”
“I just can’t tell him. He’ll hate me for killing all of them.”
“Alex! Stop it! It isn’t you! You need to start separating dreams and reality.”
“But, it’s all so muddled up. I’m confused.”
All of the emotions that she pushed down for the past few months were starting to surface.
“I won’t force you to go and see Dumbledore, but if this gets any worse, you will, ok?”
Alex nodded into his chest.
“Now, let’s go back to the common room,” he said, supporting her the entire way they walked.
“Sirius, I’m tired.”
“Yes, I think it’s best, if you get some sleep.”
He went with her to the girl’s dormitory, even though boys weren’t usually allowed in.
Alex got ready and climbed into bed.
“Ok, Alex. Goodnight,” Sirius said.
“No! Don’t leave me! Please! The dreams will come back.”
Sirius looked at her and didn’t have the heart to go, so he lay down next to her.
“Please stay here, with me,” she snuggled into his chest, loving the smell of him, which had become so familiar, during these past few months.
“Ok, I’ll never leave you.”
“And make sure I don’t go anywhere at night.”
“I will.”
Alex had no idea why she was behaving this way. The only thing she knew was that she had enough of everything and just wanted her friend to stay with her.
That night, the dreams didn’t come back, all though Sirius left after she fell a sleep. In the morning Alex felt better than she had in weeks, finally telling someone what she was feeling.
When she got up, she was even singing while she brushed her hair. ‘Getting better’ by The Beatles was just perfect for this occasion.
Alex and Lily went down to breakfast together, where they joined Remus.
“Where are your roommates?” Alex asked.
“Peter was feeling poorly in the night, so he’s in the hospital wing. James and Sirius are still in bed,” Remus smirked, letting them know that, that was what he thought despicable behavior.
“Oh, poor Peter,” Lily said, being kind as always.
At that moment the owls flew in and a big brown one landed in front of Alex.
“Oh, it’s from home!” she said happily and opened it.
It was only a how-are-you-doing letter, but she was happy anyway.
“I also got a letter from mum, it contained pictures of their Christmas holidays,” James said.
Alex hadn’t even noticed that he and Sirius sat down next to them.
“Really? But that was like month ago,” Alex said.
“Parents are forgetful, “ James shrugged, “I wish they were more like that towards me. But no, they always want to know where I’m going.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t go anywhere exciting, even if you were able to,” Lily snapped at him.
“What’s gotten into you?” Sirius asked.
“Nothing,” she sighed, “I’m just not having the best day. Anything new in the paper?” Lily turned to Remus who was reading the Daily prophet.
“Look, Voldemort is on the front page,” he turned it around, so that they could see it.
“Oh my god! That’s me! I’m Voldemort!” Alex screamed, when she recognized the person on the photo.
A/N: I’m sorry, this chapter is a bit shorter and it jumps a period of time in the beginning, but thanks for reading anyway! Please tell, me what you think, reviews really make my day.
brilliant chapter image by Saranghae@TDA
“Oh my god! That’s me! I’m Voldemort!” Alex screamed, when she recognized the person on the photo.
“What are you talking about?” James laughed at her.
“Crazy, much?” Sirius said.
“This is me! I’ve got to go!” she quickly got up and ran out of the great hall.
They all started to get up, worried about her.
“I’ll go,” Sirius stopped them and followed her, alone.
He soon caught up with her.
“What was that all about?”
“Sirius, you don’t understand. I’m Voldemort. In my dreams I’m Voldemort,” she sobbed.
“What? How did you not know that before, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well I’ve never seen his picture and I only vaguely described what I looked like, to you. I thought I was just an average twenty to thirty-year-old guy. Well, except that I was killing people.”
“How did we not figure this out? How did he call his followers?”
“Sometimes, he called them Death eaters, but I told you that.”
“Alex,” Sirius groaned, “You didn’t tell me that.”
“I did.”
“I think I would remember!”
“Well, I’m sorry, I was always upset after my dreams.”
“You have no idea what this means!”
“I know! I’m the most evil wizard of this generation!”
“That is not you! They are just dreams. But you have to go to Dumbledore.”
“Why, Sirius?”
“Because, this is starting to get out of our hands. You might have a connection to the dark lord.”
“The dark lord? Why are you calling him that? Only his followers call him that.”
“I vowed this would never happen,” he cussed.
“What?”
“It’s my parent’s influence. But no, I will not fall under it, I swear.”
“I know you won’t,” Alex said kindly.
“You have to go to Dumbledore.”
“No, I don’t want to.”
“Alex, I don’t care and I’m sorry to be doing this, but I’m going to go and get him if you don’t come with me.”
“Ok, I’ll go,” Alex stuck her tong out at him.
“Real mature, Alex.”
“I don’t care.”
He laughed and they went along the corridor.
“I still hate you, for making me do this,” she said as they got to the Gargoyle.
”I’m ok with that.”
“What do we do now?”
“Password?” the Gargoyle asked.
“Oh, no,” said Alex sarcastically.
“Prof. Dumbledore!” Sirius yelled at the top of his voice.
“Are you crazy?!” Alex covered his mouth, but he yelled again.
“Sirius! Shut up!”
Nothing could stop him, he yelled again. Dumbledore appeared at the top of the staircase and Sirius looked please.
“Mr. Black, I take it, that this is something very urgent, otherwise you would not be standing here, shouting at the top of your voice,” he said, looking amused.
“Yes, Prof. Dumbledore, it is something very urgent.”
“Well, then come in.”
The Gargoyle jumped aside and they followed him up the twisted staircase. This was the first time Alex had been in Dumbledore’s office and she looked around, interested. There were numerous portraits on the walls and underneath them the name of each headmaster or headmistress, before Dumbledore. Dumbledore waved his wand and two soft chairs appeared. He gestured to them to sit down.
“So, tell me to what do I owe this visit.”
Alex launched herself into the long explanation and with some help from Sirius, managed to tell the whole story. After they finished, Dumbledore was quiet for a few minutes.
“I hope I did the right thing, bringing her here, sir,” Sirius said, wondering if he shouldn’t have wasted the headmaster’s time.
“Yes, of course you did, young boy. I’m just thinking everything through. We are not sure what this is. It might just be a fiction of a child imagination- not that there’s anything wrong with that, I sometimes still wish I was able to do that.”
“So what should I do?” Alex asked timidly.
“I think you should just wait and see and whenever you have one of your dreams, don’t hesitate to come to me. The password is ‘Chocolate frogs’.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you, sir.”
“Yes, You should most definitely come. And don’t worry about it to much,” he smiled at her through his spectacles.
“You should head of to class now,” he said.
“Goodbye Prof. Dumbledore and sorry for the khm noise, sir,” Sirius said.
They left his office and Dumbledore rested his head in his palms. He made sure not to let Alex see just how worried he really was. He didn’t want to ruin her childhood just yet, so he decided to try and protect her from the truth, as long as possible. She was still so innocent and as long as He didn’t know, there was nothing to worry about. But Dumbledore still couldn’t help himself from being worried.
*
The Easter holidays came and went. Soon everyone was in full studying mode for their exams. Alex hadn’t had a dream recently, she somehow felt more peaceful after she had talked to Dumbledore. It also helped that she was so busy with her exams and studying. And somehow they managed to get through it, even Peter who was the least bright of them all.
“Can you believe it? The first year is almost over,” James sighed happily.
“Yes and now I have to go home to my dark-magic-loving family,” Sirius seemed to get grimmer each day.
“I personally couldn’t be happier to be going home,” Lily said, glaring at James and making it clear she couldn’t wait to be away from him. If Alex wasn’t mistaken James had asked her out a total of 63 times, this month.
“Nobody cares for your personal opinion, flower,” Sirius snapped.
“I care!” James protected his lady.
“That worse than nobody caring,” Lily sighed.
“I care as well,” Alex stood up for her.
“Whatever. I’m going to bed,” Sirius stood up.
“You do that, spreading your bad mood on us is a waste of time,” Alex said.
“Goodnight to you too Taylor.”
“Night, Black.”
“I think you guys haven’t fought in over a week. That must be a new record,” Remus noted and Peter laughed.
“Yeah, I just don’t have the energy. All these exams have tired me out. I think I’ll follow Sirius.”
“Yeah, just don’t follow him literally, not that he’d mind.”
“I would rather die that go to bed with him, ew.”
“We’ll see about that,” James said.
“There will be absolutely nothing to see, I can assure you that!”
“Oh, please, you could cut the chemistry between you two with a knife!” Lily snorted.
“As I said, I’d rather die.”
Alex said goodnight to them and left for the dormitory (her own, not he boy’s). But when she climbed to bed she couldn’t help thinking about what the guys said.
“Could there be something there?” she said to herself.
He was handsome, that’s for sure, with his dark shaggy hair and brown eyes. But still, it was Black and she hated him. Well not for real, but she sure thought she did at least a few times a week. The thought of Sirius was soon pushed out of her head, replaced by a much darker image.
“Long time, no see,” I chuckled at the old women who opened the door that I knocked on. She gasped in surprise, when she saw me.
“Tom, what are you doing here?”
I could feel the disgust in her voice and my blood boiled. I pushed the door open.
“Get out of here, you are not wanted,” she said.
“Nobody tells me what to do,” I laughed.
“You were like that as a child, you didn’t listen to anyone, not even to me,” she reminisced.
“As I said, I don’t listen to anybody. I didn’t back then and I don’t now.”
“What do you want, Tom?”
“I want a lot of things,” I said pulling my wand out of my pocket.
“Tom what are you doing?” I could see the fear in her eyes, “I have nothing of yours, you didn’t have any possessions. You were different as a child.”
“Are their anymore people here that remember me? Mrs. Parkinson? Is she alive?”
“No, she died, I’m the oldest here, Tom what are you doing?” her voice quivered.
“If you are the only one left, then that makes this a whole lot easier,” I chuckled.
“Tom, please, I saw how you were born,” she backed away and hit herself on the edge of the table.
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this. Avada Kedavra!”
Her body fell to the floor. I went to the front door and left the building like a shadow. Before I apparated, I glanced back one last time. I saw the notice that read: Sunshine Orphanage.
“It didn’t feel very sunny, back then,” I thought scornfully.
“Why? Why?” Alex moaned, waking up.
Why do the dreams always come back, when she least needs them? Her exams were over and that left her with an empty mind. She got up and looked around. Paige’s bed was empty. Where was that girl? She always seemed to be in her own little world. Alex decided to go and see Dumbledore immediately, because she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
“Chocolate frogs,” she murmured to the Gargoyle.
“You are a late bird,” it said, but jumped aside never the less.
Alex cautiously knocked on the headmaster’s office, suddenly wondering if it was a little late to be barging in on him.
“Enter,” she heard his voice.
“Hi, sorry for bothering you, sir, but I had a dream,” she said, realizing how childish this sounded.
“Ok, Alex, sit down and tell me,” he didn’t seem upset about her late visit.
So, like many previous times, she sat down on the chair he conjured up and told him everything.
“Do you know the place he was at, or the women he killed?” she asked him in the end.
“I’m afraid I do.”
“And why was she calling him Tom?”
“Tom Riddle is Voldemort’s real name, but not many people know that, I’m sure that’s why he killed her.”
“What? Because she knew his real name?”
“You see, you don’t understand his logic. It’s not really about the name, but about the person he was before. I think, Tom-that’s what we’ll call him from now-wants to cut all his connections to his childhood, so he can become exactly, who he wants to be. He doesn’t want risking people knowing to much about him.”
“How come, you know him that well, sir?”
“I was his teacher, when he was at Hogwarts,” he said simply.
“You were his teacher?” she yelled surprised by the news and then quickly added “Sir.”
“Yes, I was. Probably one of the rare ones, who saw him for who he was-even though I say it myself. That’s probably the reason why Tom never liked me; I wasn’t under his charms. You see Tom is very charismatic and knows how to please people, if that will help him. I tried to help him, I hoped he wasn’t going to become what I saw in his eyes. I believed there was still hope.”
“Do you still believe that, sir?”
“Yes. I think there will always be a good part in Tom, even though he might not realize it, until it’s to late. His soul is so powered with hate, that it will never be the same again,” Dumbledore said sadly.
“What do you want me to do, professor?”
“Nothing for now. You should take this summer as a waiting period and just see what happens. Now go to sleep, Alex,” he smiled.
She started getting up.
“When you come back next year, you’ll get my message when to come and see me. And enjoy your holidays.”
“Goodnight, sir.”
“Goodnight, Alex.”
*
“All onboard!”
They heard the piercing sound of a whistle and hurried onto the train. James found them a compartment and they sat down, the end-of-the-year feeling, finally sinking in.
“Where’s Lily?” James asked.
“I think with some of her friends,” Alex said, not wanting to hurt James’s feelings, telling him she took the first opportunity to get away from them.
“Oh, I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.”
“Absence, makes the heart grow fonder,” Sirius said.
“Does that mean, she’ll be in love with me when we come back?”
“You never know,” Remus smiled.
“Can you believe it? Just six more years to go,” Peter said.
“It’s scary, isn’t it?” Alex said, shifting in her seat.
“Can you imagine what the people that have just finished Hogwarts, must be feeling like?” James wondered.
“They’re going into their real life and we’ve just started.”
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Sirius barked.
“But I can’t wait,” Alex grinned.
A/N: Sorry, kind of a cheesy end, but what can I say, it had to be done. One year down and six to go. So I'd like to say a couple of things: I've published another story, it's called Hogwarts for dummies so if you like this one go and check it out, please. The other thing is, I would like to thank hpfanno1, who left me two lovely reviews that really made my day and also Maddy who's been the most faithful reviewer! Thank you so much! Plus a few months ago a user Catherine asked for Alice Longbottom to be in this story, I don't know if your still following it, but don't worry she will appear soon. Please review you guys! It means the world to me, review!
“Remus!” Alex yelled excitedly o the other end of the platform, where she had just seen her friend. She was standing next to her parents and they still had five minutes, before Alex left for her second year of Hogwarts.
“Honey, you’ll see your friends all year, pay us some attention now,” Mrs. Taylor said, once again on the edge of tears, at her small girl going away again.
“Oh, mum! I was with you all summer.”
“I know, but now you’re going away.”
“I’ll see you at Christmas, if you don’t go away, again.”
“I’m so sorry about that,” Mr. Taylor smiled guiltily.
Alex didn’t understand her parents. They kept telling her, how much they missed her, but on the other hand they went away the only time she could see them, during the year.
“Promise me, you’ll take care,” her dad said.
“Bye, Alex,” Izzy hugged her.
It was almost eleven now and Alex quickly got her luggage on board, then she waved to her parents, one last time.
“Alex!”
“Lily!”
There was a bunch of eager girlish screams. Alex laughed at the way she was growing more and more into a girl, from of a small tomboy.
“Wow, your hair has grown!” Lily admired it.
“I bought some special potion in Diagon Alley, I decided I wanted my hair long.”
It really had grown during the summer. Before, Alex had a short pixy haircut, but now her hair was almost an inch below her shoulders.
“It looks really good,” Lily complimented her.
“Thanks,” Alex smiled, “So, have you seen James yet?”
“Argh! Don’t mention that name, please. I want to put that moment off, for as long as possible.”
“You might find, you’ve had a change of heart,when you see him,” Alex sang happily.
“Never. Do you know he sent me 51 love letters, during the summer?”
“That just means he’s dedicated.”
“I call it annoying,” Lily said and Alex laughed.
“Lily! Alex!”
They turned around and Remus came up to them.
“Why are we standing in the corridor? Let’s go, I’m sharing the compartment with the others,” Remus said.
“Sorry, but I think I’ll pass. I’m going to have to see Potter soon enough as it is,” Lily said skipping away.
“Poor James, he thought he’d finally won her over, with those love letters.”
“Knowing Lily, she probably burned them.”
They both laughed and Alex felt so good to be back. They soon came to their compartment and Alex greeted Sirius and Peter as she’d seen James over the summer, frequently.
“Guys, I think we need to plan a good prank this year,” Sirius was in full planning mode.
“Are you thinking, what I’m thinking?” James asked.
“Are you thinking-“
“Yep,” James said.
“They, yes I am.”
“I don’t even want to know what’s going on,” Remus said, raising his hands.
“Nothing, for you to worry about, Lupin. We’ll settle everything ourselves,” Sirius said.
“Are you trying out for the Quidditch team this year, James?” Alex asked him, switching the subject.
“You are looking at Gryffindor’s new seeker,” he said pompously.
The door of their compartment slid open.
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Potter.”
Severus Snape was standing there, looking at them spitefully.
“Snevillus, judging you had a good summer?” James laughed.
“I’m not going to go around telling that to you, am I Potter?”
“What’s got your wand in a knot?” Sirius said in such a laid back tone, that Alex wasn’t surprised it annoyed Severus.
“Have you seen Lily?” Snape asked, looking at James suspiciously as he might know where she is.
“Sadly, I haven’t. But if you see her, send her my love.”
“I will do nothing of that sort,” he said, sticking his nose up.
“Yeah, James, he will do nothing of that sort,” Sirius imitated him, laughing.
“You know, she hates you, Potter,” Severus said.
“And she loves you? I’d like to see that happening,” James snorted.
Severus backed away, clearly this not being a topic he wanted to discuss.
“Bye-bye Snevillius, send our worst regards to your family and imaginary friend!” Sirius shouted after him as he left.
“Black, do you have to be so mean?” Alex asked.
“He’s vermin. He’s worse than that. He’s-“ Sirius said, clearly not finding a bad enough word, to call him.
“Lily says he’s not that bad,” Remus said.
“Well if little flower says that, then we must all dance around joyously and braid our hair with flowers, I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends for life!” he said in a sweet voice.
“Black, stop that!” Alex said.
“Stop what? I’ve just said I’ll be best friends with Snevillius!”
“You know very well, what I mean.”
“Oh, yes, I forgot this is miss-know-it-all that I’m speaking to.”
“Black, shut up!”
“We’re not even half an hour into our second year and they’re already fighting,” Peter said, although he seemed to be enjoying it.
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
“If you wouldn’t be such an idiot most of the time, I wouldn’t have to.”
“Guys! Stop it! Let’s not start our year this way,” James told them.
“I’ll stop it, if she will.”
Alex stuck out her tong at him, but they held peace for the rest of the journey. Before they realized it, they were sitting in the great hall, plates loaded with food, surrounding them.
Sitting here, Alex remembered her sorting last year and what the hat said to her; that the most obvious thing would be to put her in Slytherin. Why? She made a mental note, to ask Dumbledore about that.
“Alex, how was your summer, you know…” Sirius asked, after making sure, everyone was preoccupied with something else.
“I only had one dream. And even that was only a few days after we came back from Hogwarts,” she smiled happily.
“So they must have gone away. That’s good news!”
“I don’t know, Sirius. They could come back at any moment.”
“Nonsense, if you didn’t have one, for a month, I doubt they’ll come back now.”
“We’ll se what Dumbledore will have to say about this.”
“I’m sure he’ll agree with me.”
Alex didn’t want to spoil his good mood, so she just turned around and started talking to Lily.
“I trust you’re all well fed, so it’s time to go to bed!” Dumbledore’s voice rose above them.
He clapped his hands together and the food disappeared. Soon the room was filled with loud chattering and the sound of chairs being pushed away from the tables.
“Alex! Let’s go!” Lily shouted, who was being dragged away by the crowd.
“Coming!”
Somehow they managed to tear themselves away from the current of people and arrive safely to their dormitory.
“So, Lils, you haven’t had a chance to tell me how was your summer?”
“Fine,” Lily yawned, “Except for the disturbances of Potter’s love letters, that is.”
At that moment the door swung open and Tiffany came in, with Sheila on her heels.
“And there goes the peace…” Alex murmured.
“Hi girls!” Tiffany screeched.
“Hi, Tiffany,” Lily said, while Alex didn’t even bother answering.
“Whose is that?” asked Sheila pointing at a suitcase in the corner.
“I have no idea,” Alex shrugged. She hadn’t even noticed that it was there. Come to think of it, there was one more bed in their dormitory.
“Are we getting a new roommate?”
“Could be,” Lily said.
“Can you actually do that? Come to Hogwarts after first year?”
“Sure you can. What are you supposed to do if you move?” Lily answered.
“We’ll soon see what’s happening,” Tiffany said and got down to the floor to do sit-ups.
“What’s up with her?” Paige, who just walked in, asked.
“Hi Paige!” Lily said.
“Hello! So what are you doing, Tiffany?” Paige asked, curiously.
“Well, I saw in Teen Witch, that if you do thirty sit-ups, twice a day, you’ll get a flat stomach in a month.”
‘And this is the person I have to share my bedroom with,’ Alex thought to herself.
Sheila, after hearing this, immediately got down on her back and started doing the same as Tiffany.
“I believe, that Teen Witch and other magazines like that are just a scam,” Paige said.
Tiffany couldn’t have been more offended. Alex really wasn’t in the mood to listen to a discussion about the importance of fashion magazines in the wizard world, so she went to brush her teeth. When she got back, thankfully, the conversation had already ended.
“Is there someone new?” Paige asked, also noticing the new suitcase.
“We haven’t solved the mystery yet,” Lily smiled.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in!”
Slowly the door opened and a small girl appeared. She had a kind round face and brown hair, which cupped it beautifully.
“Hi, is this the second year bedroom?”
“Yes,” Paige answered.
The girl came in and closed the door. She looked around timidly.
“I’m Alice,” she introduced herself shyly, “I’m new at Hogwarts and I’m going to be your roommate, that’s my suitcase,” she pointed to the only unclaimed one.
“Hello Alice, I’m Alex,” she introduced herself, feeling a bit sorry for the girl, who seemed so shy.
“I’m Lily.”
All the other girls told her their names.
“So where did you go to school last year?” Lily asked, trying to make conversation.
Alice seemed very uncomfortable when being spoken to. She obviously wasn’t relaxed around strangers.
“I went to a school in America. My parents are English, but we lived in America for five years. And now they decided to come back,” she said quietly and started unpacking.
Lily took it as an achievement that she got so many words out of Alice and decided to leave her for the evening.
“I’m tired,” she yawned, “Goodnight, Alex.”
“Goodnight, Lily.”
Alex also got into bed. It was good to be back.
*
“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”
“Black, that’s the most pathetic excuse for a pick-up line in history,” Alex said.
They were in the Great Hall, eating breakfast and apparently the girl, who was at the receiving end of Sirius’s “Poetry”, thought so too, because she rolled her eyes and left.
“Please, girls are practically waiting in line for me,” Sirius said, flipping his hair.
Not that this wasn’t entirely true. Lots of girls turned their heads when Sirius walked by, even some from a year above them. Alex didn’t want to know, what was going to happen, when Sirius turned fifteen or sixteen and the hormones really kicked in. He’ll probably be the most arrogant playboy in the entire school.
“Black, you sometimes make me want to kill myself,” Alex groaned.
“Don’t stress yourself Alex, everyone knows I’m irresistible. That’s no reason for you, to take your life,” he mocked her.
“It’s just unbelievable that you have such a high opinion of yourself.”
“I bet you sometimes daydream about being Mrs. Black,” he continued.
“You wish,” Alex snorted.
“You know you love me, Taylor,” Sirius said in his annoyingly charming voice.
“I hate you, Black!” Alex said.
“The line between love an hate is thin, you know.”
“Yeah, the line between hate and punch is even thinner, so I’d be careful of what I’m saying,” she threatened him.
“Oh, this is warming up,” James said, amused by their morning fight.
“You wouldn’t want to destroy this beauty,” Sirius said, gesturing to his face, “It’s probably protected by the ministry.”
“Black, you could not get more annoying.”
He grinned at her: “I can try.”
Alex ignored him:
“Lily, are you coming? What do we have first period? I haven’t gotten the chance to check my timetable yet.”
“You were to busy eating,” James teased her.
“A girl’s got to eat!” she said defensively.
“That’s reasonable, when you don’t eat an entire pig.”
“I beg your pardon, it wasn’t nearly that much,” Alex pursed her lips together.
“Come on Alex, we have double potions, now.”
“Are you serious? That’s exactly the same as last year!” Remus exclaimed.
“You’re right. Can you believe that? What a coincidence,” Lily laughed.
“The things that make you two laugh,” Sirius shook his head, at what he thought was an A+ nerd display.
Alex and Lily left the great hall, but they had to stop in the bathroom, causing the boys to get to the classroom earlier.
“Where shall we sit?” Alex asked, looking around.
“Definitely not there,” Lily said grimly and motioned to James who was eagerly waving them over.
“Then that’s our only option,” Alex said, pointing at the table, which already had two Slytherins sitting by it.
“Better them then Potter,” Lily said.
“Hi, I’m Lily,” She said introducing herself to the two boys, “Do you mind if we sit here?”
“No, please do. I’m Matthew and this is my friend Eric,” the taller one said.
Alex introduced herself as well and placed her cauldron on the table. She was pleasantly surprised at the boys’ attitude. Hanging out with James had made her believe that all Slytherins are bad people.
“How do you like Horace?” Matthew wanted to make conversation.
“Excuse me, who?” Alex asked.
“Oh, old slugger,” him and Eric laughed.
“He’s fine,” Lily said, “why? Don’t you like him?”
“You see, last year he invited us to his Slug club and we just found the whole idea very funny.”
“The Slug club?”
“Oh yes, it’s his club for “Special” students,” Eric explained.
“I’ve heard about you, Lily Evans. You’re supposed to be quite smart, you’ll get in the Slug club sooner or later,” Matthew said.
“Ok,” Lily said, not sure what to think of this.
At that moment “the old Slugger” walked in and they quickly started brewing the instructed potions. Alex could sense the glares, which James was sending to their table. He wasn’t very thrilled about Lily hanging out with other males, especially if they were from Slytherin.
When Alex got back to the dormitory in the evening there was a neatly rolled parchment on her bed.
Dear Alex,
I trust you’ve had a good first day. I hope you would care to come and see me, this Friday at eight o’clock. It is concerning our meetings last year.
Best regards,
Albus Dumbledore
P.S. I hope you like caramelized apples.
Alex quickly understood that Dumbledore was telling her the password in his last line. She folded the letter and put it in her suitcase, then got ready for bed.
A/N: I’m not really happy about this chapter so don’t be too harsh. And for my kind reader, who asked for Alice and Frank to be in the story, I started it and there will be more. Please review! It makes me so happy! See you in chapter thirteen!
Chapter 13: The meeting, tryouts and some very busted Gryffindors
[View Online] [Printer Friendly Version of This Chapter]
[View Online] [Printer Friendly Version of This Chapter]
“Hello, Alex;” Dumbledore smiled at her from behind his desk as she entered.
“Good evening, sir.”
“How was your summer?” he asked kindly.
“Fine. Yours?” she wasn’t sure, if that was polite, but he didn’t seem bothered.
“Nothing much. Just an old man, sitting around.”
As always, he conjured up a comfortable chair and Alex sat down.
“So tell me, did your dreams come back?”
“No they didn’t, sir. I only had one, during the summer.”
“And tell me what happened.”
“Well I was him, again. And there was some kind of raid; he went to kill loads of muggles. It was pretty scary,” Alex was shaking, now that she thought back.
“Could you remember the date of this dream?”
She thought for a second.
“It was the 29th of July.”
Dumbledore sighed at this news.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Nothing Alex. I hope for your sake and mine that the dreams have stopped for now. But you should come and see me first thing if they come back. Ok?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“I do have one question,” she said.
“Go ahead.”
“Last year, at my sorting, the hat said something that confused me.”
“What was that?”
“That the most obvious thing would be to put me in Slytherin and that those before me did great things, or something in that sense. But I’m muggle born, what did it mean?”
“Alex, I’m sorry but I cannot explain the great magic that lies in the sorting hat. It knows a lot of things that many on us don’t. You’ll have to find out the answer to your question by yourself. And don’t mind me saying, it might not be very important for now.”
“I understand, sir,” she said although she got a feeling that there was more then he was prepared to tell her.
“Go to your common room now.”
“Goodnight, sir.”
*
“Quidditch tryouts!” James yelled at the top of his voice on Monday morning.
“Here comes your big moment, Potter,” Alex teased him, “will you get on the team?”
“Of course I will,” he scoffed.
“When are the tryouts?” Remus asked.
“Today. Are you guys trying out?” he addressed the entire group.
“Couldn’t get me alive, but I’ll come and watch,” Remus said.
“I think I’ll join Lupin,” Peter said.
“Me too,” Lily agreed.
“What about you two?”
Alex and Sirius looked at each other.
“Hell yeah!”
“We’re definitely trying out.”
“What position?” James asked them.
“Chaser,” they both said and then shot each other surprised looks.
“Well I guess that’s something we have in common,” Alex observed.
“There’s always a first.”
“So I want to go down to the pitch earlier to practice, do you want to come?” James looked at them.
“Sure,” Sirius shrugged.
“Look, you guys, there’s Alice,” Lily said.
“Who?” the guys asked.
“We got a new girl in our form.”
Sirius’s head immediately swiped around.
“New girl? Where? Maybe she needs showing around.”
“She’s next to Paige. I’m going to go and sit next to them,” Lily said getting up.
“Need help, Evan-“ James looked up hopefully.
“No,” she shot him down firmly and left.
“Why did she leave?” Peter asked.
“You know Lily, she is so nice and always wants to help people. She’s just trying to be kind to the new girl. And Sirius, at least give the poor child a few days to settle down before you jump her,” Alex said.
“So, I’ll se you after class on the pitch?” James said, also getting up.
Alex nodded since she had just stuffed her face with bacon.
“Ok, I’ll see ya’,” he grimaced at Alex and left.
“And why did he leave?” Peter asked again, looking at Alex.
“Don’t know. He’s just James,” she shrugged.
*
“Settle down! Let’s get ready, mound your brooms!” The captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team Sean Oakland yelled at them.
The tryouts started and Sirius, James with Alex trotting behind them, were already on the field. Peter, Lily and Remus had seated themselves in the audience and were cheering for them.
“Those of you, trying out for chasers are up first!” Sean told them and James stepped aside, since he was trying out for the seeker position. Alex and Sirius kicked themselves off the ground and flew a few circles around the pitch with the other candidates.
“So, since we don’t have a keeper yet, I’ll be protecting the rings and you guys try and shoot on them one by one,” Sean instructed.
They got in a line and each of them had ten tries to get the quaffle into the hoops. Sirius got it in eight times and Alex six, but there were a few players that got ten out of ten shots in.
“Very good! Now everyone who got in more than five shots, stay in the air. Others, please leave and sorry, but you have not made the team, you can try out again next year.”
Sirius smiled at Alex since they were one of the finalists now. It was them and six more players. Sean split them into two groups of four and told them to play normally against each other, him being the keeper again.
“Ok, I’ll make the final announcement at the end, so if you would all just stick around till the tryouts are over,” he said and they all flew back to the ground.
“You did good, mate,” James patted Sirius on the back, “You weren’t bad either, Sirius’s flying lessons must be paying off.”
“Thanks, James,” Alex said.
She looked up to the stands and saw Lily giving her a ‘thumbs up’.
“Keepers, in the air!”
They watched the players protect the rings and quickly made their assumptions on who is going to get the position.
“Beater tryouts next! Just a reminder, there is only one beater position opened, since I will be playing the second one,” Sean said.
“I guess you’ll be up last,” Alex said to James.
“Nervous?” Sirius asked him.
“Never,” he said, but Alex could see he was a shade whiter that usual.
They watched the ten-or so students fighting off the bludgers, then it was soon time for James to mound his broom. This time Sean gave the instructions whilst on the ground so Alex and Sirius could hear what was the given task.
“I know some of you might find this an un-fair way to decide who will fill the seeker position and it definitely is unusual. You might complain that it can just be luck on someone’s part, but I have decided to get our new seeker this way, so don’t object please. The rules are simple: the person to catch the snitch is the new Gryffindor seeker, you can go in ten seconds, nine, eight…” Sean opened his palm and a golden glint appeared, but before Alex blinked, it was gone.
“But that’s so unfair-,” a girl started.
“And go!” Sean said, all of them flying up into the air, in search of the little golden ball.
“Let’s hope the odds are in James’s favor,” Sirius said.
“He’s got the best broom out of all of them,” Alex said.
“Yes, but has he got the skill?” Sirius grinned.
“He is a very talented seeker.”
“Better than Kristen Bell?” Sirius noted, pointing at the favorite. Kristen was a fifth year and had been the seeker for the Gryffindor team for three years. But when Sean became captain this year, he decided to form an entire new team so everyone had to tryout again.
“She would be the obvious choice, but I heard she had a bad arm injury during the summer.”
“Something that a spell can’t fix? I highly doubt that.”
“You never know,” Alex shrugged.
“Shit! Look at her go! It looks like she’s spotted the snitch!” Sirius yelled. Kristen was flying with full speed forward the ground. Alex could see something gold hovering on the ground’s surface.
“James! She’s spotted the snitch!” Alex yelled at him in the air, as he didn’t seem to notice.
He heard her but didn’t do anything.
“Why isn’t he doing something?! Sirius!” Alex shouted at Sirius, tugging on his arm.
“I don’t know,” Sirius frowned.
Suddenly James started darting in the other direction.
“What is he doing?! He’s not going to get the position now! He could have caught up with her!” Alex groaned.
To her immense surprise Sirius was laughing next to her.
“Black? What’s so funny? That your best friend is a dumb ass?”
“On the contrary, he’s quite the opposite.”
“Will you please tell me what is going on?” Alex looked confused.
At that moment several things happened. Kristen came rushing to the floor with all the other seekers right behind her. At the last moment she steered, the sand around her blowing in everyone’s eyes. She looked at the floor, then up into the air and cussed then threw her broom away onto the ground. All the other seekers were hovering above the ground.
“Black will you please tell me what’s going on?” Alex seemed annoyed, being the only one not knowing what is going on.
“Look at James,” Sirius pointed up, still laughing hysterically.
James was high up in the air, but Alex could see a wide grin flashing on his face. When he saw everyone looking at him he opened his palm and the golden snitch flew out, then he skillfully caught it again, still grinning wildly.
“I guess we have our new seeker!” Sean yelled.
Kristen spat in the sand angrily. She then knelt down and picked something from the ground. Alex and Sirius went to greet James, as he landed not far from the others.
“Potter, I think this belongs to you,” said Kristen spitefully and handed something to James. Alex soon realized it was a Galleon. That was the thing that was shimmering in the sand and Kristen along with everyone else confused it with a snitch.
James didn’t even deny it; he just put the Galleon in his pocket.
“That’s cheating you know, you mislead your opponents,” she hissed.
“I dropped it by accident. Sorry. It’s not my fault you thought it was the snitch,” he said, grinning again.
“You dropped it on purpose and we all know that.”
“Have you got proof?” he said haughtily.
She looked at him angrily and stormed away.
“Oh Kristen! Wait up!” That was Sirius running after her.
“A fifth year? He’s got his hopes high,” Alex snorted.
“He’s got too much free time. Needs a challenge.”
“Well I guess congratulations are in order,” Alex stuck her hand out.
“Thank you,” James bowed.
“Everyone gather round! I have to announce the other positions!” Sean yelled.
Kristen and Sirius came back and there was a red-palm-imprint on Sirius’s face.
“Got you good, did she?” James laughed, while Sirius rubbed his face.
“-the keeper is Frank Longbottom and the chasers are Robert O’Connell, Reese Sketter-Forks and Emily Johnson. We already got the seeker position filled so-”
“Bad luck you guys,” James said sympathetically.
“Yeah,” Alex groaned.
“We’ll tryout again next year,” Sirius said.
“You’re being awfully positive,” Alex noted.
Sirius just shrugged and they made their way into the castle.
*
“Get ready for the prank of your lives!” Sirius said dramatically.
It had been a week since the Quidditch tryouts and Sirius was already back on his feet about the defeat and was in full planning mode.
“So tell us this genius plan of yours, Black,” Alex scoffed.
“We’re going to go to the kitchen and tell the house elves-“
“What? We have house elves?” Alex was shocked.
“What a rookie. You say you’ve never been to the kitchens?” Sirius said.
“I’m sorry if I’m not such a rule breaker as you.”
“Whatever. So we’ll go down and we’ll tell them to put this special powder in the Slytherin’s food because there’s a disease spreading out there and that’s the medicine,” Sirius said proudly.
“That’s the dumbest idea I have ever heard,” Alex laughed.
“Why is it dumb?”
“Because nobody in the right mind will believe you!” Remus said.
“What would the powder do?” Peter asked in awe.
“It would make the Slytherins behave like chickens!” James said, his face beaming up.
“What? They would be clucking around the Great hall?”
“Yeah.”
“Well that would be amusing, but the elves would never go for it,” Alex said.
“We’ll just tell them madam Pomfrey told us that the Slytherins all need to get this medicine.”
“It’s never going to work,” Remus said in a singsong voice.
“It’s worth a try,” Sirius grumbled.
“So are you with us?” James asked.
“I guess,” Alex said.
“I’m not going,” Remus told them.
“Your going to be the only one left out of the greatest prank of all time?” Sirius asked, amazed.
“Peter hasn’t agreed on going,” Remus said dryly.
“We all know Pete’s going to follow us wherever we go, no offense Peter.”
Peter just looked up happily. He really was just glad to be a part of their little group.
“The sooner we go, the sooner we can get it over with,” Alex sighed.
“Don’t bring that negativity into this whole thing. It will ruin it,” Sirius said, waving her off.
“Oh yes, cause you’re always so jolly,” she replied sarcastically.
“Speaking of bad moods…” Remus said, pointing at the door.
A furious redhead just climbed through the portrait hole.
“James Potter! You insufferable cheating bastard!” Lily yelled.
“This time it really isn’t my fault! I haven’t done anything,” he defended himself.
“I just spoke with a certain Kristen Bell and found out how you got your position in the Quidditch team!”
“What?”
“You dropped a gold coin on the floor, KNOWING that everyone is going to think it’s a snitch and you would have free hands to catch the real one.”
“I call that creativity,” Sirius said.
“Shut up Black! You wouldn’t have caught the snitch if the odds were fair and now the Gryffindor team will lose because of you. How do you feel about that?!”
“We won’t lose. Have you seen me play, Evans?”
“I saw you cheat,” she said dryly.
“That was nothing. It’s not my fault Bell lunged herself at the Galleon like a blind bat. It’s even less my fault that all of the players followed her. We can’t have people on the team that don’t think with their own head,” he knocked on his forehead with his finger.
“You know perfectly well, Potter that you would have been the first one to follow Bell if the circumstances would have been different.”
“And that just proves that I react faster than others, you see that’s the material we need on the team.”
“The bottom line is, you cheated and you know it.”
“I’m on the team aren’t I?” James pointed it out, like it was the most important thing.
“You’re a pig-head, you know that?”
“Yeah, and I’m ok with it.”
Others we’re watching this showdown in awe.
“I’m not going to be cheering for the Gryffindor team if you’re on it,” Lily said angrily.
“Don’t hold your breath to watch me care,” he said, but everyone could see he was hurt.
Lily went to the other side of the common room to sit next to Alice and Paige.
“Are we ready for the prank?” Sirius said excitedly.
“Not the time, my man. Not the time,” Remus said, watching a very upset James look over at Lily.
***
“Shhh, Peter, be quiet, you’re scurrying like a rat,” James said.
It was the middle of the night and they were all walking down to the kitchens. In the end they even convinced Remus to come, although he was being quite bitter about it.
“I swear, if I get detention because of this…”
“You should have thought of that before you decided to share a bedroom with us last year,” Sirius said.
“I didn’t decide to share a dormitory with you! They made me,” Remus said in a loud whisper.
“Technicalities,” Sirius groaned.
“James, tell me again, why do we have to do this in the middle of the night?” Alex hissed.
“It’s more exciting this way. We’re going on an adventure!”
“It would have been just the same if we gave the stupid powder to the elves in the morning.”
“No, we would be missing out on this midnight fun!” James said happily.
“I see no fun in what we’re doing,” Remus observed.
They came down the kitchens and tickled the pear. As they stepped inside all of the elves surrounded them, offering them different treats.
“They are used to midnight visitors, I see,” Peter said, taking a giant strawberry pastry.
“Quit stuffing your face Pete and let’s get down to business,” James said pulling out package.
The elves didn’t seem suspicious about anything and gladly took the “medicine”, promising them they will put it in the Slytherin’s breakfast.
“Isn’t it weird that students who are supposedly carrying a medicine, which the school nurse gave to them, come to deliver it at two in the morning?” Remus asked.
“No,” Sirius said, although he clearly saw Remus had a point.
“I hope they don’t put it in our breakfast instead,” Peter said, seeming a bit scared.
“You’re such a wuss,” James told him.
“And you’re saying you’d like to behave like a clucking chicken in front of the entire school?” Alex said, “Oh wait, that’s what you do now.”
Remus and Peter chuckled.
“Point taken,” said James grimly.
At that moment something moved behind them and they all turned around swiftly. They we’re just fast enough that they saw a figure disappearing around the corner.
“That was one greasy head, that I really didn’t fancy meeting,” James said quietly.
“Are you sure it was old Snevillius?” Sirius asked.
“Positive.”
“What are we going to do now?” Peter asked.
“Should we go back?” Alex suggested, “It’s not to late. We can still tell the elves to not put powder in.”
“No, we’re leaving it like it is,” James decided.
“But he could tell McGonagall,” Remus observed.
“He won’t rat us out.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Because that would mean he would have to tell old Minerva that he was out wondering the corridors as well,” James said.
“Fine, we’ll leave it. Now let’s go to bed,” Sirius said, waving them off to the Gryffindor common room.
Before they separated to go to their own dormitories, Sirius whispered to Alex.
“Any dreams yet?”
She shook her head.
“Good. Goodnight then.”
Alex tucked herself in, but she couldn’t help being worried about their prank.
*
The next morning Alex walked to breakfast by herself, since she woke up a bit earlier than usual. When she stepped in The Great Hall, she immediately looked to the Slytherin table, to see if the powder had started working yet. It had not, the Slytherins were still behaving only as chicken-like as any other day. She was just about to head over to the Gryffindor table when she spotted Matthew and Eric getting down to eat breakfast. They were the two nice Slytherin boys, next to whom her and Lily sat in potions. Suddenly a surge overcame her and she waved them over when one of them looked up.
“Hi, Matthew, Eric,” she greeted them.
“Hi Alex. What’s up?” Matthew asked.
“I just wanted to warn you not to eat breakfast today.”
“Why?” Eric looked at her suspiciously.
“Well me and my friends kind of played a prank on the Slytherin table so just don’t eat it. You’ll se what happens,” she smiled.
“How come you warned us?”
“Well you seem nice and I didn’t want you to suffer.”
“Thanks Alex, you’re really nice,” Matthew said to her.
“No problem,” she said and then they walked off.
The four boys were already sitting at the Gryffindor table when she got there.
“As far as I see, no chickens yet,” Sirius noted.
“But look, Snevillius is not eating,” Remus told them, pointing to the other end of the hall.
“Well he saw us doing something is the kitchen. I wouldn’t eat, if I were in his place,” Alex shrugged.
At that moment a loud yelp was heard from the Slytherin table.
“Oh, here it goes,” James laughed.
They observed carefully. A minute passed and a few students started to make chicken noises and then looked around, distressed. Soon they started getting up and clucking around the table. Almost all the students in the hall noticed this and were laughing by now. McGonagall got up and started yelling and shooting spells at the clucking students, but they wouldn’t stop. By now the entire Slytherin table was up and about, behaving like mad chickens. The Gryffindors were laughing their heads off, along with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
“This is so funny!” Peter yelled.
Bellatrix was even pecking some food of her plate.
“Oh-oh,” Remus said and stopped laughing.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look at Snape.”
Sever had gotten up and was heading towards McGonagall. When he reached her, he whispered something into her ear, since they could not be heard over the chicken noises. McGonagall swished around looking through the Gryffindors and landing her sight on Alex and the boys.
“Oh no, she’s heading our way,” Peter said.
“Taylor, Black, Potter, Petigrew and even you Mr. Lupin-“
“Why does he get a Mr.? I want a Mr.!” Sirius whined.
“As I was saying Mr. Black,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “Even you Mr. Lupin, I did not expect this from you. You have detention for a month.”
“But professor, what on earth did we do? We’re just five innocent kids eating breakfast,” James said, putting on his puppy-dog face.
“Oh don’t give me that look Potter. I know it’s because of you; the Slytherins have turned into blithering chickens.”
“We can’t help it, if their real sides have decided to come bursting out,” Sirius said.
“Mr. Black, I have a very reliable witness telling me that he saw you go down to the kitchens and tell the poorhouse elves to put this ingredient into the Slytherin’s breakfast.”
“You’re calling Snape reliable! How can you believe him, more than you believe us?” James was offended.
“Because I know you Potter and I know the troubles you and Black cause. This is just like something you would do.”
“But professor-“ Alex started.
“Enough! I will see you twice a week, in my office at eight o’clock. End of discussion!”
With that she walked off to help the other teachers clean up the mess that the Slytherin-chickens made.
“It was so worth it,” Sirius said, high-fiving James.
“But now we have to spend two hours a week with dear Minerva,” Alex groaned.
“It’s only for a month. Last year me and James spent each day in detention for pouring dragon dung on filch,” Sirius laughed.
“Which date is it today?” Alex suddenly remembered.
“It’s the twenty third,” Remus said kindly.
“Oh crap! I totally forgot! Somebody give me a piece of parchment and a quill! Quickly!”
Remus gave her what she asked for and Alex quickly scribbled down something.
“What’s that?” Peter asked.
“I totally forgot. It’s my sister’s eleventh birthday today. I need to send her this letter and the sweets I bought.”
“But if your sister is eleven, shouldn’t she be at Hogwarts?” Peter asked, confused.
“Well firstly I don’t even know if she’s a witch. I come from a muggle family, remember?”
“And you have to be eleven on the first of September to enroll into Hogwarts. She’s going to have to wait for next year to see, if she’s a witch,” Remus explained to them.
“Yeah, I’m also going to be thirteen in a month,” Sirius backed him up.
“Ok, I need to run and get this sent before class. See ya!” Alex said and got up to run to the Owlery.
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter and that you’ll tell me what you think in a review below.
“Hello, Alex;” Dumbledore smiled at her from behind his desk as she entered.
“Good evening, sir.”
“How was your summer?” he asked kindly.
“Fine. Yours?” she wasn’t sure, if that was polite, but he didn’t seem bothered.
“Nothing much. Just an old man, sitting around.”
As always, he conjured up a comfortable chair and Alex sat down.
“So tell me, did your dreams come back?”
“No they didn’t, sir. I only had one, during the summer.”
“And tell me what happened.”
“Well I was him, again. And there was some kind of raid; he went to kill loads of muggles. It was pretty scary,” Alex was shaking, now that she thought back.
“Could you remember the date of this dream?”
She thought for a second.
“It was the 29th of July.”
Dumbledore sighed at this news.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Nothing Alex. I hope for your sake and mine that the dreams have stopped for now. But you should come and see me first thing if they come back. Ok?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“I do have one question,” she said.
“Go ahead.”
“Last year, at my sorting, the hat said something that confused me.”
“What was that?”
“That the most obvious thing would be to put me in Slytherin and that those before me did great things, or something in that sense. But I’m muggle born, what did it mean?”
“Alex, I’m sorry but I cannot explain the great magic that lies in the sorting hat. It knows a lot of things that many on us don’t. You’ll have to find out the answer to your question by yourself. And don’t mind me saying, it might not be very important for now.”
“I understand, sir,” she said although she got a feeling that there was more then he was prepared to tell her.
“Go to your common room now.”
“Goodnight, sir.”
*
“Quidditch tryouts!” James yelled at the top of his voice on Monday morning.
“Here comes your big moment, Potter,” Alex teased him, “will you get on the team?”
“Of course I will,” he scoffed.
“When are the tryouts?” Remus asked.
“Today. Are you guys trying out?” he addressed the entire group.
“Couldn’t get me alive, but I’ll come and watch,” Remus said.
“I think I’ll join Lupin,” Peter said.
“Me too,” Lily agreed.
“What about you two?”
Alex and Sirius looked at each other.
“Hell yeah!”
“We’re definitely trying out.”
“What position?” James asked them.
“Chaser,” they both said and then shot each other surprised looks.
“Well I guess that’s something we have in common,” Alex observed.
“There’s always a first.”
“So I want to go down to the pitch earlier to practice, do you want to come?” James looked at them.
“Sure,” Sirius shrugged.
“Look, you guys, there’s Alice,” Lily said.
“Who?” the guys asked.
“We got a new girl in our form.”
Sirius’s head immediately swiped around.
“New girl? Where? Maybe she needs showing around.”
“She’s next to Paige. I’m going to go and sit next to them,” Lily said getting up.
“Need help, Evan-“ James looked up hopefully.
“No,” she shot him down firmly and left.
“Why did she leave?” Peter asked.
“You know Lily, she is so nice and always wants to help people. She’s just trying to be kind to the new girl. And Sirius, at least give the poor child a few days to settle down before you jump her,” Alex said.
“So, I’ll se you after class on the pitch?” James said, also getting up.
Alex nodded since she had just stuffed her face with bacon.
“Ok, I’ll see ya’,” he grimaced at Alex and left.
“And why did he leave?” Peter asked again, looking at Alex.
“Don’t know. He’s just James,” she shrugged.
*
“Settle down! Let’s get ready, mound your brooms!” The captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team Sean Oakland yelled at them.
The tryouts started and Sirius, James with Alex trotting behind them, were already on the field. Peter, Lily and Remus had seated themselves in the audience and were cheering for them.
“Those of you, trying out for chasers are up first!” Sean told them and James stepped aside, since he was trying out for the seeker position. Alex and Sirius kicked themselves off the ground and flew a few circles around the pitch with the other candidates.
“So, since we don’t have a keeper yet, I’ll be protecting the rings and you guys try and shoot on them one by one,” Sean instructed.
They got in a line and each of them had ten tries to get the quaffle into the hoops. Sirius got it in eight times and Alex six, but there were a few players that got ten out of ten shots in.
“Very good! Now everyone who got in more than five shots, stay in the air. Others, please leave and sorry, but you have not made the team, you can try out again next year.”
Sirius smiled at Alex since they were one of the finalists now. It was them and six more players. Sean split them into two groups of four and told them to play normally against each other, him being the keeper again.
“Ok, I’ll make the final announcement at the end, so if you would all just stick around till the tryouts are over,” he said and they all flew back to the ground.
“You did good, mate,” James patted Sirius on the back, “You weren’t bad either, Sirius’s flying lessons must be paying off.”
“Thanks, James,” Alex said.
She looked up to the stands and saw Lily giving her a ‘thumbs up’.
“Keepers, in the air!”
They watched the players protect the rings and quickly made their assumptions on who is going to get the position.
“Beater tryouts next! Just a reminder, there is only one beater position opened, since I will be playing the second one,” Sean said.
“I guess you’ll be up last,” Alex said to James.
“Nervous?” Sirius asked him.
“Never,” he said, but Alex could see he was a shade whiter that usual.
They watched the ten-or so students fighting off the bludgers, then it was soon time for James to mound his broom. This time Sean gave the instructions whilst on the ground so Alex and Sirius could hear what was the given task.
“I know some of you might find this an un-fair way to decide who will fill the seeker position and it definitely is unusual. You might complain that it can just be luck on someone’s part, but I have decided to get our new seeker this way, so don’t object please. The rules are simple: the person to catch the snitch is the new Gryffindor seeker, you can go in ten seconds, nine, eight…” Sean opened his palm and a golden glint appeared, but before Alex blinked, it was gone.
“But that’s so unfair-,” a girl started.
“And go!” Sean said, all of them flying up into the air, in search of the little golden ball.
“Let’s hope the odds are in James’s favor,” Sirius said.
“He’s got the best broom out of all of them,” Alex said.
“Yes, but has he got the skill?” Sirius grinned.
“He is a very talented seeker.”
“Better than Kristen Bell?” Sirius noted, pointing at the favorite. Kristen was a fifth year and had been the seeker for the Gryffindor team for three years. But when Sean became captain this year, he decided to form an entire new team so everyone had to tryout again.
“She would be the obvious choice, but I heard she had a bad arm injury during the summer.”
“Something that a spell can’t fix? I highly doubt that.”
“You never know,” Alex shrugged.
“Shit! Look at her go! It looks like she’s spotted the snitch!” Sirius yelled. Kristen was flying with full speed forward the ground. Alex could see something gold hovering on the ground’s surface.
“James! She’s spotted the snitch!” Alex yelled at him in the air, as he didn’t seem to notice.
He heard her but didn’t do anything.
“Why isn’t he doing something?! Sirius!” Alex shouted at Sirius, tugging on his arm.
“I don’t know,” Sirius frowned.
Suddenly James started darting in the other direction.
“What is he doing?! He’s not going to get the position now! He could have caught up with her!” Alex groaned.
To her immense surprise Sirius was laughing next to her.
“Black? What’s so funny? That your best friend is a dumb ass?”
“On the contrary, he’s quite the opposite.”
“Will you please tell me what is going on?” Alex looked confused.
At that moment several things happened. Kristen came rushing to the floor with all the other seekers right behind her. At the last moment she steered, the sand around her blowing in everyone’s eyes. She looked at the floor, then up into the air and cussed then threw her broom away onto the ground. All the other seekers were hovering above the ground.
“Black will you please tell me what’s going on?” Alex seemed annoyed, being the only one not knowing what is going on.
“Look at James,” Sirius pointed up, still laughing hysterically.
James was high up in the air, but Alex could see a wide grin flashing on his face. When he saw everyone looking at him he opened his palm and the golden snitch flew out, then he skillfully caught it again, still grinning wildly.
“I guess we have our new seeker!” Sean yelled.
Kristen spat in the sand angrily. She then knelt down and picked something from the ground. Alex and Sirius went to greet James, as he landed not far from the others.
“Potter, I think this belongs to you,” said Kristen spitefully and handed something to James. Alex soon realized it was a Galleon. That was the thing that was shimmering in the sand and Kristen along with everyone else confused it with a snitch.
James didn’t even deny it; he just put the Galleon in his pocket.
“That’s cheating you know, you mislead your opponents,” she hissed.
“I dropped it by accident. Sorry. It’s not my fault you thought it was the snitch,” he said, grinning again.
“You dropped it on purpose and we all know that.”
“Have you got proof?” he said haughtily.
She looked at him angrily and stormed away.
“Oh Kristen! Wait up!” That was Sirius running after her.
“A fifth year? He’s got his hopes high,” Alex snorted.
“He’s got too much free time. Needs a challenge.”
“Well I guess congratulations are in order,” Alex stuck her hand out.
“Thank you,” James bowed.
“Everyone gather round! I have to announce the other positions!” Sean yelled.
Kristen and Sirius came back and there was a red-palm-imprint on Sirius’s face.
“Got you good, did she?” James laughed, while Sirius rubbed his face.
“-the keeper is Frank Longbottom and the chasers are Robert O’Connell, Reese Sketter-Forks and Emily Johnson. We already got the seeker position filled so-”
“Bad luck you guys,” James said sympathetically.
“Yeah,” Alex groaned.
“We’ll tryout again next year,” Sirius said.
“You’re being awfully positive,” Alex noted.
Sirius just shrugged and they made their way into the castle.
*
“Get ready for the prank of your lives!” Sirius said dramatically.
It had been a week since the Quidditch tryouts and Sirius was already back on his feet about the defeat and was in full planning mode.
“So tell us this genius plan of yours, Black,” Alex scoffed.
“We’re going to go to the kitchen and tell the house elves-“
“What? We have house elves?” Alex was shocked.
“What a rookie. You say you’ve never been to the kitchens?” Sirius said.
“I’m sorry if I’m not such a rule breaker as you.”
“Whatever. So we’ll go down and we’ll tell them to put this special powder in the Slytherin’s food because there’s a disease spreading out there and that’s the medicine,” Sirius said proudly.
“That’s the dumbest idea I have ever heard,” Alex laughed.
“Why is it dumb?”
“Because nobody in the right mind will believe you!” Remus said.
“What would the powder do?” Peter asked in awe.
“It would make the Slytherins behave like chickens!” James said, his face beaming up.
“What? They would be clucking around the Great hall?”
“Yeah.”
“Well that would be amusing, but the elves would never go for it,” Alex said.
“We’ll just tell them madam Pomfrey told us that the Slytherins all need to get this medicine.”
“It’s never going to work,” Remus said in a singsong voice.
“It’s worth a try,” Sirius grumbled.
“So are you with us?” James asked.
“I guess,” Alex said.
“I’m not going,” Remus told them.
“Your going to be the only one left out of the greatest prank of all time?” Sirius asked, amazed.
“Peter hasn’t agreed on going,” Remus said dryly.
“We all know Pete’s going to follow us wherever we go, no offense Peter.”
Peter just looked up happily. He really was just glad to be a part of their little group.
“The sooner we go, the sooner we can get it over with,” Alex sighed.
“Don’t bring that negativity into this whole thing. It will ruin it,” Sirius said, waving her off.
“Oh yes, cause you’re always so jolly,” she replied sarcastically.
“Speaking of bad moods…” Remus said, pointing at the door.
A furious redhead just climbed through the portrait hole.
“James Potter! You insufferable cheating bastard!” Lily yelled.
“This time it really isn’t my fault! I haven’t done anything,” he defended himself.
“I just spoke with a certain Kristen Bell and found out how you got your position in the Quidditch team!”
“What?”
“You dropped a gold coin on the floor, KNOWING that everyone is going to think it’s a snitch and you would have free hands to catch the real one.”
“I call that creativity,” Sirius said.
“Shut up Black! You wouldn’t have caught the snitch if the odds were fair and now the Gryffindor team will lose because of you. How do you feel about that?!”
“We won’t lose. Have you seen me play, Evans?”
“I saw you cheat,” she said dryly.
“That was nothing. It’s not my fault Bell lunged herself at the Galleon like a blind bat. It’s even less my fault that all of the players followed her. We can’t have people on the team that don’t think with their own head,” he knocked on his forehead with his finger.
“You know perfectly well, Potter that you would have been the first one to follow Bell if the circumstances would have been different.”
“And that just proves that I react faster than others, you see that’s the material we need on the team.”
“The bottom line is, you cheated and you know it.”
“I’m on the team aren’t I?” James pointed it out, like it was the most important thing.
“You’re a pig-head, you know that?”
“Yeah, and I’m ok with it.”
Others we’re watching this showdown in awe.
“I’m not going to be cheering for the Gryffindor team if you’re on it,” Lily said angrily.
“Don’t hold your breath to watch me care,” he said, but everyone could see he was hurt.
Lily went to the other side of the common room to sit next to Alice and Paige.
“Are we ready for the prank?” Sirius said excitedly.
“Not the time, my man. Not the time,” Remus said, watching a very upset James look over at Lily.
***
“Shhh, Peter, be quiet, you’re scurrying like a rat,” James said.
It was the middle of the night and they were all walking down to the kitchens. In the end they even convinced Remus to come, although he was being quite bitter about it.
“I swear, if I get detention because of this…”
“You should have thought of that before you decided to share a bedroom with us last year,” Sirius said.
“I didn’t decide to share a dormitory with you! They made me,” Remus said in a loud whisper.
“Technicalities,” Sirius groaned.
“James, tell me again, why do we have to do this in the middle of the night?” Alex hissed.
“It’s more exciting this way. We’re going on an adventure!”
“It would have been just the same if we gave the stupid powder to the elves in the morning.”
“No, we would be missing out on this midnight fun!” James said happily.
“I see no fun in what we’re doing,” Remus observed.
They came down the kitchens and tickled the pear. As they stepped inside all of the elves surrounded them, offering them different treats.
“They are used to midnight visitors, I see,” Peter said, taking a giant strawberry pastry.
“Quit stuffing your face Pete and let’s get down to business,” James said pulling out package.
The elves didn’t seem suspicious about anything and gladly took the “medicine”, promising them they will put it in the Slytherin’s breakfast.
“Isn’t it weird that students who are supposedly carrying a medicine, which the school nurse gave to them, come to deliver it at two in the morning?” Remus asked.
“No,” Sirius said, although he clearly saw Remus had a point.
“I hope they don’t put it in our breakfast instead,” Peter said, seeming a bit scared.
“You’re such a wuss,” James told him.
“And you’re saying you’d like to behave like a clucking chicken in front of the entire school?” Alex said, “Oh wait, that’s what you do now.”
Remus and Peter chuckled.
“Point taken,” said James grimly.
At that moment something moved behind them and they all turned around swiftly. They we’re just fast enough that they saw a figure disappearing around the corner.
“That was one greasy head, that I really didn’t fancy meeting,” James said quietly.
“Are you sure it was old Snevillius?” Sirius asked.
“Positive.”
“What are we going to do now?” Peter asked.
“Should we go back?” Alex suggested, “It’s not to late. We can still tell the elves to not put powder in.”
“No, we’re leaving it like it is,” James decided.
“But he could tell McGonagall,” Remus observed.
“He won’t rat us out.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Because that would mean he would have to tell old Minerva that he was out wondering the corridors as well,” James said.
“Fine, we’ll leave it. Now let’s go to bed,” Sirius said, waving them off to the Gryffindor common room.
Before they separated to go to their own dormitories, Sirius whispered to Alex.
“Any dreams yet?”
She shook her head.
“Good. Goodnight then.”
Alex tucked herself in, but she couldn’t help being worried about their prank.
*
The next morning Alex walked to breakfast by herself, since she woke up a bit earlier than usual. When she stepped in The Great Hall, she immediately looked to the Slytherin table, to see if the powder had started working yet. It had not, the Slytherins were still behaving only as chicken-like as any other day. She was just about to head over to the Gryffindor table when she spotted Matthew and Eric getting down to eat breakfast. They were the two nice Slytherin boys, next to whom her and Lily sat in potions. Suddenly a surge overcame her and she waved them over when one of them looked up.
“Hi, Matthew, Eric,” she greeted them.
“Hi Alex. What’s up?” Matthew asked.
“I just wanted to warn you not to eat breakfast today.”
“Why?” Eric looked at her suspiciously.
“Well me and my friends kind of played a prank on the Slytherin table so just don’t eat it. You’ll se what happens,” she smiled.
“How come you warned us?”
“Well you seem nice and I didn’t want you to suffer.”
“Thanks Alex, you’re really nice,” Matthew said to her.
“No problem,” she said and then they walked off.
The four boys were already sitting at the Gryffindor table when she got there.
“As far as I see, no chickens yet,” Sirius noted.
“But look, Snevillius is not eating,” Remus told them, pointing to the other end of the hall.
“Well he saw us doing something is the kitchen. I wouldn’t eat, if I were in his place,” Alex shrugged.
At that moment a loud yelp was heard from the Slytherin table.
“Oh, here it goes,” James laughed.
They observed carefully. A minute passed and a few students started to make chicken noises and then looked around, distressed. Soon they started getting up and clucking around the table. Almost all the students in the hall noticed this and were laughing by now. McGonagall got up and started yelling and shooting spells at the clucking students, but they wouldn’t stop. By now the entire Slytherin table was up and about, behaving like mad chickens. The Gryffindors were laughing their heads off, along with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
“This is so funny!” Peter yelled.
Bellatrix was even pecking some food of her plate.
“Oh-oh,” Remus said and stopped laughing.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look at Snape.”
Sever had gotten up and was heading towards McGonagall. When he reached her, he whispered something into her ear, since they could not be heard over the chicken noises. McGonagall swished around looking through the Gryffindors and landing her sight on Alex and the boys.
“Oh no, she’s heading our way,” Peter said.
“Taylor, Black, Potter, Petigrew and even you Mr. Lupin-“
“Why does he get a Mr.? I want a Mr.!” Sirius whined.
“As I was saying Mr. Black,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “Even you Mr. Lupin, I did not expect this from you. You have detention for a month.”
“But professor, what on earth did we do? We’re just five innocent kids eating breakfast,” James said, putting on his puppy-dog face.
“Oh don’t give me that look Potter. I know it’s because of you; the Slytherins have turned into blithering chickens.”
“We can’t help it, if their real sides have decided to come bursting out,” Sirius said.
“Mr. Black, I have a very reliable witness telling me that he saw you go down to the kitchens and tell the poorhouse elves to put this ingredient into the Slytherin’s breakfast.”
“You’re calling Snape reliable! How can you believe him, more than you believe us?” James was offended.
“Because I know you Potter and I know the troubles you and Black cause. This is just like something you would do.”
“But professor-“ Alex started.
“Enough! I will see you twice a week, in my office at eight o’clock. End of discussion!”
With that she walked off to help the other teachers clean up the mess that the Slytherin-chickens made.
“It was so worth it,” Sirius said, high-fiving James.
“But now we have to spend two hours a week with dear Minerva,” Alex groaned.
“It’s only for a month. Last year me and James spent each day in detention for pouring dragon dung on filch,” Sirius laughed.
“Which date is it today?” Alex suddenly remembered.
“It’s the twenty third,” Remus said kindly.
“Oh crap! I totally forgot! Somebody give me a piece of parchment and a quill! Quickly!”
Remus gave her what she asked for and Alex quickly scribbled down something.
“What’s that?” Peter asked.
“I totally forgot. It’s my sister’s eleventh birthday today. I need to send her this letter and the sweets I bought.”
“But if your sister is eleven, shouldn’t she be at Hogwarts?” Peter asked, confused.
“Well firstly I don’t even know if she’s a witch. I come from a muggle family, remember?”
“And you have to be eleven on the first of September to enroll into Hogwarts. She’s going to have to wait for next year to see, if she’s a witch,” Remus explained to them.
“Yeah, I’m also going to be thirteen in a month,” Sirius backed him up.
“Ok, I need to run and get this sent before class. See ya!” Alex said and got up to run to the Owlery.
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter and that you’ll tell me what you think in a review below.
“Victory party in the Gryffindor common room!” James exclaimed.
It was nearly December and the lions had just won their first Quidditch match with James as seeker. He caught the snitch in less than twenty minutes.
“You were brilliant!” Sean, the captain yelled at him.
They all headed to the Gryffindor common room where Sirius had already supplied lots of butterbeer and snacks.
“We won!” Lily jumped up and down.
She came to watch the match even though she swore she wouldn’t, since James had cheated to get the position.
“Yeah we did! Let’s go and get a drink,” Alex suggested.
They went over to the table that had butterbeers where James was standing as well.
“Congratulations James!” Alex said to him and patted him on the back, but he surprised her by giving her a massive hug and lifting her up into the air.
“Ahh James!! Let me go!” Alex squealed and he did.
“So how about a kiss for the best seeker in history?” James looked at Lily, batting his eyelashes.
“No way!” she squirmed.
“How about a hug?”
“Alex look there’s Alice, let’s go and talk to her,” Lily said totally ignoring James.
“Hi Alice,” Alex greeted her.
“Hello,” she said shyly.
Even though she had been at Hogwarts for a good three moths now, she was still very shy and closed up.
“Did you enjoy the match?” Lily asked her kindly.
“Yes,” she unexpectedly blushed.
“Oh, is there someone you like on the team?” Lily said, immediately picking up her red cheeks.
“Oh, no,” she said but her eyes flickered to the corner of the room where a certain keeper was standing
“You like Frank Longbottom?” Alex asked.
“Shhh, please don’t tell him,” she said timidly.
“You should go and talk to him, he’s really nice,” Lily told her.
“I’ve talked to him once in the library,” she said.
“What did he say to you?”
“Can I borrow a quill please?”
“And what did you say?” Alex asked.
“I was too freaked out to say anything, so I just nodded. He must think I’m a psycho,” she said sadly.
“He’s a third year, you could ask him to help you with some homework,” Alex suggested.
“Everyone knows Alice is a genius,” Lily rolled her eyes and Alice looked embarrassed.
“You really should talk to him, he’s quite shy as well, you know,” Lily told her kindly.
“I could never talk to him. I can just watch him from afar,” Alice said quietly.
“Is anyone up for a game of spin the bottle?” Sirius yelled.
“Nobody wants to kiss you, Black!” Alex yelled back.
“I think you just couldn’t stand the sight of another girl kissing me!” Sirius said.
“You wish!”
“You see, I could never do that. Talk to a guy, like that,” Alice whispered.
“Sure you can,” Alex encouraged her.
“What’s the worse that could happen?” Lily asked her.
“He could hate me,” she whimpered and looked at them with those gorgeous big blue eyes.
“Well, now he doesn’t even know you. You need to say something to him, if you really like him.”
“I do. I just can’t. At least not tonight.”
Alex and Lily left her and went to talk to some third-year girls.
**
Later that night when Alex got into bed something that hadn’t happened in almost half a year did.
I was in a room with a dead man on the floor. My father. I spat angrily at the filthy muggle. Finally he got what he deserved for abandoning me. I laughed cruelly and then caught my reflection in the mirror.
“I am so powerful, nothing can stop me,” I thought.
There was nothing here for me anymore. I had finally cut off all my connections to the past and my muggle father. Now I could finally rise in all my power.
Alex was woken up by the sunshine that shone in her face. It was a Saturday and she was the only one left in the dormitory.
“Why now?” she groaned and wondered why the dreams came back. She got dressed quickly and climbed out of the portrait where she bumped into Sirius.
“Good morning, Taylor,” he said.
“Morning,” she said, struggling to keep her voice normal.
She didn’t want to burden Sirius. He had helped her so much last year, but this year she wanted to manage alone.
“Are you ok?” he asked, eyeing her cautiously.
“I’m fine. Why?” she said nonchalantly.
“I don’t know…” he trailed of, still looking at her.
“Everything’s great. What could be wrong? I’m just going down to breakfast. I’m hungry,” she chirped.
“You had another dream!” he gapped in realization.
‘Crap,’ Alex thought.
“What would make you think that? I’m fine,” she said, a fake smile plastered on her face.
“Alex, don’t lie to me. I see it written all over your face. You’re pale and you’re shaking.”
“I am not!” she yelled, refusing to believe that she was showing any signs of weakness.
“Come on, let’s go to Dumbledore,” he said, tugging on her arm.
“I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself, thank you very much,” she said, pulling away from him.
“You don’t have to do that, you know?”
“Do what?”
“Be so strong all the time. You can let me help you.”
She wasn’t being strong. He had helped her the entire last year and she had enough. She wanted to stand on her own two feet.
“I can do it by myself.”
“Can I come with you?” he asked.
“I’m perfectly fine alone,” she said haughtily.
“Let me come for me. I’m worried,” he pleaded.
“Fine, you can come,” she sighed and they walked off.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked after a few minutes.
“You’ll hear it when I tell Dumbledore, there’s no need for me to repeat myself twice.”
“Fine,” said Sirius, giving in.
They reached the Gargoyle and Alex gave it the password, which luckily hadn’t changed, since she last visited. Sirius knocked on the headmaster’s door.
“Enter.”
They opened the door to the study, where Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk.
“Ah, master Black and Miss. Taylor, I see.”
He conjured up two chairs.
“I’m hoping this isn’t about what I think it is about,” he said.
“Sadly it is, sir. I’ve had another dream,” Alex told him.
“Would you care to describe it?”
She actually wouldn’t care to do that, but Alex knew it wasn’t a question, so she retaliated the story. When she finished, she couldn’t help feeling exhausted, it was like she was reliving the dream all over again.
“So Voldemort killed his father?” Sirius asked.
Neither of them answered, so he took the silence as a yes.
“Sir, there was one thing that seemed different, though,” Alex noted.
“What was that, my dear?”
“Well, I haven’t had a dream for six months now, and in this time Vol-”
“Let’s call him Tom Riddle, shall we?”
“Well, in this time I’ve noticed Riddle had changed a lot.”
“What do you mean?” Dumbledore asked her, peering through his spectacles.
“His features became more, how shall I put it? They became more lizard like, he looks like a snake. And his figure became slimmer and slicker.”
“In what way?”
“I find it hard to explain,” Alex said, “it was just the way he moved, it was somehow more am…flowy. And his face became thinner,” Alex fought to find the right words. “You see I doubt I would have noticed it, if I wouldn’t have been absent for such a long time. But he just seemed so different,” she finished quietly.
“I understand. Thank you for telling me this and the policy remains the same. Any dream you have you must come to me, understood?”
Alex nodded and then Sirius and she left his study.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Sirius asked her kindly.
“No,” she shot him down.
They walked the rest off the way in silence.
**
Weeks passed and Alex found herself alone frequently. It wasn’t that her friends weren’t there for her; it was just she kept pushing them away. On several occasions Sirius would walk up to her and try to get her to open up, but she wouldn’t budge. The dreams were quite frequent again and she would often find herself wondering the halls at night, when she couldn’t sleep.
One day after the Christmas holidays, Dumbledore called her into his office.
“You have got my quite worried, Alex,” he said to her.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“This connection with you and Tom, it’s… well it’s quite something and we should be careful how we deal with it.”
“What do you propose we do, sir?”
“Have you ever heard of occlumency, Alex?”
“No,” she scrunched her eyebrows together.
“It’s an ability to control your mind and protect it from anything that is trying to get in.”
“Get in? I’m afraid I don’t understand, sir.”
“Tom Riddle is penetrating your mind. Whether it’s deliberately or not, we don’t know, although I am more inclined to believe the second option,” he explained.
“He’s in my mind? I’m not sure if I like the sound of that.”
“In one sense he is, yes. And I will try and help you train yourself, so that you can push him out of it.”
“Will that get rid of my dreams, sir?”
“Ultimately, that is the result we hope to achieve, yes,” he nodded.
From then on, they would meet once a week to train Alex in occlumency. Time passed, but again Alex couldn’t help from distancing herself from the others. She noticed that almost every day James’s or Remus’s eyes were on her, searching for signs. Lily also made it clear that she was there for her whenever Alex would need her, although she hadn’t the slightest idea, what was the cause of Alex’s detachment. Despite the occlumency lessons, Alex felt the dreams were getting worse and even on a dreamless night, she rarely slept peacefully. She found herself lashing out at Dumbledore, during their lessons, for what she had no idea why. He seemed to take it calmly, which irritated her even more. Dumbledore kept telling her she will get better, but every night the horrible images returned. To sum it up, she was sleep deprived, lonely, irritated and all together couldn’t really cope with every day life anymore. She didn’t think of trusting her friends, because she wanted to be strong and not have to rely on them.
One morning she woke up from a particularly bad dream that had her crying and drenched from sweat.
“Alex! What’s wrong?” Lily, who was the only one in the dormitory, asked her.
So far she had managed to hide the dreams from all of her friends except for Sirius. And even he wasn’t fully aware of the trouble she was having, for the passed few weeks.
“Nothing, I’m fi-fine,” she stammered and ran to the out of the dormitory, Lily right behind her.
“Alex! Wait!” Alex ignored her and ran towards the portrait hole.
At the last moment she turned around and saw Lily standing still, a very hurt look in her eye. She tried not to feel bad and ran out and towards Dumbledore’s office. On the third floor she bumped into Sirius.
“Man! Why are you always here?” she yelled, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
“Alex, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m fine,” she repeated her answer stubbornly.
“Alex, stop it. Why do you keep pushing me away?” he asked her, holding her by the arm.
She looked away.
“You can trust me,” he said gently, “you certainly did last year. Why are you like this?”
“Because I’m bloody sick of it, that’s why!” she exploded suddenly, “I’m sick of being so weak! I’m sick of having no control over my life anymore! I have enough of these dreams! Do you have any idea how it feels to start muddling dreams with reality! I keep having mental pictures that someday I’m going to kill Lily! Or even worse, that I’m going to kill you.”
“Is that why you’ve been avoiding us?”
Alex bit her lip.
“In here,” Sirius said and suddenly pushed her through a door, for which Alex was quite sure wasn’t there a minute ago.
In the room was a sofa and some shelves, it looked pleasant.
“Now explain what this is really about,” he ordered and set her down on the sofa.
Alex took a deep breath: “Lately, I’ve just been feeling like I can’t do anything. And I’m always worrying what Voldemort is doing and what I might do. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you guys to hate me. Plus this occlumency isn’t helping at all, I even feel like my mind is more open and vulnerable. And it’s like I’m slipping further and further down a path and now I’ve reached a point, where I don’t know whether I’ll be able to go back again.”
Sirius pulled her into a hug. Alex just sat there, tears still silently trickling down her cheeks.
“I would never hate you and you could never hurt me,” Sirius said soothingly, “Basically cause I’m too much of a man, but…” he tried making a joke and Alex laughed half-heartedly through the tears.
She straightened herself up a bit.
“Are you feeling a bit better now?” he asked her.
“Yeah, I am. It felt good to get it off my chest.”
“You see. Now I really do think you need to see Dumbledore and tell him everything to the full extent. He might be able to help you.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Ah-ah-ah,” he stopped her, “there is something you need to do first,” he said, standing up abruptly.
“What?”
“You need to tell the guys. They are so worried about you. You owe them that, Alex.”
“Fine, I know you’re right. But the longer I put it off, the harder it is to tell them,” she said.
“Now’s the time Alex. You don’t know how much they’ve stressed over about what was happening.”
Alex felt a pinch of guilt. They were her best friends and she didn’t tell them the major thing that was happening in her life. She really was a crappy friend and they deserved so much better.
They went out of the room and as they stepped outside the door disappeared.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask, where were we?” Alex said and looked at the now blank wall.
“It’s called the Room of requirement.”
“A what with a hm?” Alex looked puzzled.
“The Room of requirement. It turns into whatever you need at that moment.”
“And how in god’s name did you find it?”
“Well, I was on the third floor corridor and I needed something and the rest is history,” he winked.
“Do the others know about this?”
“I told James,” He shrugged, “we can tell Pete and Remus now.”
They came to the Fat Lady’s portrait.
“Before we go in,” Alex sighed, “I really just want to say ‘thank you’ again. You really helped me and frankly the past two years would have been hard without you.”
“Eh… yeah, no problem. What are friends for?” Sirius looked a bit embarrassed.
“Just kiss him, honey,” the Fat Lady whispered.
“Ew!! No way!” Alex jumped back a step, “Been there, done that. It was not pretty.”
Sirius had mirrored her reaction precisely.
“Sorry, I thought it was a good idea,” said the portrait defensively and swung open, even though they haven’t told her the password yet.
The common room was fairly full and Sirius immediately headed to where the three boys were sitting. Alex followed him, calling Lily as she went. When they were all gathered she spoke:
“I have something to tell, but firstly I want to apologize being so weird for the past few months and you’ll see why as I go further…”
Then she explained everything. The dreams, the sessions with Dumbledore and what she was feeling.
“I am really sorry for not telling you earlier, I was just kind of embarrassed and felt like it showed a weakness. I hope you guys can forgive me,” she concluded.
Through her entire speech, they had all been quiet and now she looked at their solemn faces that portrayed nothing.
“Well with Lupin’s furry problem over here and you being a psycho dark-lord-chick, this group really can’t get any weirder. I find myself being the only sane one,” James said with a big grin on his face. With that the tension broke and they all started talking and hugging Alex.
“I am so mad that you didn’t tell me!” Lily said, but she was smiling.
“I’m so sorry, Lils.”
“Well, as long as you’re ok,” and she hugged her as well.
Even though Alex wasn’t sure what was going to happen, she was really glad that she finally told her friends everything.
**
The next day she went to see Dumbledore and they talked everything through. He told her to go and see madam Pomfrey and she will prescribe her some light anti-depression medication.
“I feel it is best that we still continue with our occlumency lessons, even though there is only a good month of term left. Next year we will see how it goes.”
“Ok, sir,” she said, although she hoped that he would drop the lessons.
“I do have a feeling everything is going to start looking up fro here on,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
“I do have one question sir, will you answer it?”
“I’m sorry, I cannot promise that before I hear the question.”
“Well, do you know why Voldemort can penetrate my mind?” she asked.
“I think I do, but I might be wrong,” he said slowly.
“Can you tell it to me?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Will you ever tell me?”
“When I think you are ready, then I will tell you.”
Alex sighed but realized there was no hope to push the matter further.
*
The scarlet train was speeding through the countryside. The four boys, Lily and Alex occupied one compartment and were chitchatting lightly. Alex was glad to go home, since it had been a rough year. But Dumbledore was right , when she told her friends the truth, everything changed. Life got easier and her dreams slowly started disappearing, although she didn’t know if that was because of the occlumency or her friends. Basically, she was happy again.
But with each mile that was closer to London, Sirius’s face started getting dimmer.
“Why so sad, Blackie-boy?” Alex nudged him.
“I have to go home,” he grimaced, “It’s so sad I can’t stay at Hogwarts during the summer holidays. I really don’t want to spend time with my family.”
“Oh, you can come and visit me anytime you want,” James said.
“Thanks, but I already feel guilty being at your house at Christmas and Easter. I have to go home sometime,” he stretched his arms.
“Are you gonna miss me, Lily-pad?” James switched the subject and Lily puckered.
“Are you kidding? This month is going to be the happiest in my life. No pranks that I have to look out for and most importantly no you, Potter, to annoy me.”
“I’ll miss you too, but don’t worry I’ll write you every day.”
“Oh, the horror!” Lily groaned, burying her face in her palms.
At that moment Alice walked by, looking lost and timid as ever.
“Alice!” Alex yelled, “Come and join us.”
The girl slid the compartment door open cautiously and eyed the boys carefully.
“Ok,” she said and gently closed the door on the inside.
She then sat down next to Lily and watched everyone with big eyes. Alex discovered that Alice was even shier around boys.
“So Alice, are you a muggleborn?” Remus tried to make conversation.
“No, I’m pureblood,” she smiled kindly.
They talked through the rest of the journey, Alice remaining quiet, but she seemed quite comfortable like that, so the let her be.
All too soon the platform 9 ¾ appeared and it was time to say goodbye.
“You have to come to my house this summer,” Alex said to Lily.
“You live near Potter right?”
Alex nodded.
“Yeah, not gonna happen,” Lily slurred, “But you can come to visit me.”
“We’ll arrange it, ok? Call me, you have a phone since you’re parents are muggles.”
“Great. We’ll make it happen.” They hugged quickly and then they both left with their families.
A/N: I know TONS of stuff happened in this chapter and it all went so quickly, but as I said I wanted to get through the first few years quickly. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who’s reading this story and even more to those who’ve taken the time to review it. Please tell me exactly what you think and I guess I’ll see you in year three!
“Alex, dear, are you ready?” Mrs. Potter asked her.
It was the first of September and the Potters came to pick up Alex to take her to King’s Cross station.
“Yes, I’m ready,” Alex said, waving to James, who was sitting in the car.
“Bye mum, bye dad,” Alex hugged her parents goodbye.
“I’m so sorry we couldn’t take you to the station, it’s just I have this meeting,” Mr. Taylor apologized.
“It’s no problem dad,” Alex waved him off, “So I guess Izzy isn’t coming down to say goodbye?” Alex asked sadly.
“I’m sorry honey,” Mrs. Taylor gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Well, tell her I love her and not to be too sad.”
“We will, bye!”
They said their final goodbyes and Alex sat down next to James in the back seat.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked her.
“That’s the thing, she didn’t get her Hogwarts letter so she locked herself in her room and refuses to speak to me.”
“Oh, that must be tough.”
“Yeah, ever since I went to Hogwarts she’s been wanting to go and now she’s really disappointed. And she’s mad at me, cause I get to go,” Alex said, biting her lip. She felt really bad for her sister.
The journey to King’s Cross-passed quickly and soon they were standing on platform 9 ¾, saying goodbye to James’s parents.
“No, pranks this year James,” his mother sternly reminded him and he just grinned widely.
“At least don’t let them catch you,” his father whispered to him, behind his wife’s back.
“Let’s go, James,” Alex said after Mrs. Potter gave her a big hug.
They jumped on the train where they almost immediately bumped into Sirius.
“James, my man!” He said and they did their secret handshake.
“Taylor, looking fine as ever,” he said, approvingly glancing her up and down.
“Eh, Black you disgust me,” Alex said, moving along the corridor.
“Alex!” she turned around and saw Matthew and Eric waving to her.
“How was your summer?” Matthew asked her.
Every time she spoke to them, she was surprised that they were so nice, since they were Slytherins.
“It was great and yours?”
“Fine-” Matthew started but then Sirius walked up to them.
“Jackson what are you doing? Get out of here!” he waved them off and they went back into their compartment.
“What was that?” Alex asked angrily.
“You are welcome.”
“Welcome for what? I was having a perfectly nice conversation.”
“They are Slytherins!” Sirius said, like that explained everything.
“Black, you are unbelievable! How dare you just assume that I need you to rescue me from a perfectly nice talk!”
“With Slytherins!” Sirius said, still not understanding her.
“It doesn’t matter what they are. I like them and they’re my friends.”
“Trust me Taylor, some day you will realize that I have done you a favor. Slytherins are bad people and I don’t want you hanging out with the.”
“Excuse me?” Alex was completely aghast by this, “You don’t want me to hang out with them? What gives you the right to tell what I can and cannot do? I’m not your girlfriend and even if I was, it would still be inexcusable!”
“So is that what this is about? You want to be my girlfriend?”
“How did you get that from what I said? I don’t ever want to be your girlfriend.”
“Well I have other offers, I had five girls throwing themselves at me, during the summer.”
“Black, does it look like a care?”
“Alex! Sirius! Quit fighting and come here!” Remus popped his head out of a compartment.
They walked in, still snapping at each other.
“It’s good to know nothing has changed. You guys are still fighting,” James said, smiling.
“Well he’s got such a big head, I’m surprised it fit through the door,” Alex said and flashed Sirius a sarcastic smile.
“I’m sorry, if I’m the only one who has a love life.”
“Are you still with that Sarah?” James asked him.
“No, I dumped her weeks ago for this girl Lindsay, she had…” Sirius gestured to his chest and James high-fived him.
“You two disgust me,” Alex groaned.
“What about you Remus, any girls?”
“No, I was working all summer in my uncle’s shop.”
“That’s great, Remus,” Alex told him, making sure Sirius knew how much she despised him.
“Taylor, I worked this summer too,” he told her.
“Oh really?” she seemed surprised.
“You know it’s really hard work keeping all of those girls satisfied,” he said and burst out laughing.
“You couldn’t even get a job, you don’t have any skills,” she said.
“I’ll have you know that I have a lot of skills. I unhooked numerous bras this summer.”
“Yeah, unhooked bra-impressive. Make sure to write that on your résumé,” Alex said sarcastically.
At that moment Lily walked by.
“Lils!” Alex cried and Lily opened the compartment door, smiling.
“Hi everyone!” she said to all of them.
“Lily!” James’s face brightened up.
“Flower child,” Sirius nodded, to acknowledge her existence.
Lily sat down next to Alex and they started talking, James staring at Lily all the while.
“Potter? What is it? What do you want?” Lily snapped at him finally, when she had enough.
“Nothing. It’s just you’ve gotten so beautiful, not that you weren’t before, it’s just you’re stunning.”
Sirius tried hard to contain his laughter at this.
“Potter, will you please just leave me alone? I don’t like you and I never will,” Lily sighed.
“You’ll give in, someday.”
“No, I won’t!”
“Yes, you will.”
“Would anyone care to bet on this?” Sirius made a totally inappropriate remark and Alex shot him a look.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stand this anymore. I’m going to find Alice and Paige,” Lily said, standing up, “Bye,” she waved to them, James staring longingly after her.
“She really is something,” he then sighed.
“You really are serious about this? It’s been two years and you still haven’t given up,” Sirius said.
“I will get her eventually, trust me.”
The journey passed quickly and they were chatting about random stuff.
“Are you guys trying out for the Quidditch team again?” James asked them.
“Yeah, that’s why we played Quidditch every day in your back garden,” Alex told him.
“She’s gotten really good, you should watch out,” James told Sirius.
“I’ve got nothing to worry about. I rule.”
“We’ll see about that, Black,” Alex said.
“Oh, it’s on.”
“So, do you think you’ll have to try out again?” Remus asked James, before Alex and Sirius could start another bickering match.
“I don’t think so. Sean is still the captain so I hope I’ll maintain my position,” James shrugged “Anyway, I’ll get it even if I try out again.”
“Let’s not forget you cheated last year,” Peter noted.
“Oh, shut up Pete,” James said playfully.
“We should change,” Remus, being the responsible guy that he is, said.
Alex got up to change in the bathroom.
“Oh, come on Taylor, we’ve been friends forever, you can change here,” Sirius said.
“Black I swear, your hormones this year are over the roof.”
“Ok, we’ll vote on it. Those of you who think Alex should stay and change here, raise you hands.”
Sirius immediately raised his, James joining him and at last Peter raised his too. Only Remus remained still.
“James?” Alex said in disbelief.
“What Alex? You’re a girl and you’re hot!” James said in his defense giving Sirius another high-five.
“What is wrong with you guys? Sirius go and find Tiffany if you’re so horny, I’m sure she’d be willing to snog you somewhere,” Alex snorted.
“Good idea!” Sirius said, walking out.
“I didn’t mean that literally,” Alex groaned.
It was getting dark and the train soon pulled up at the station, where Hagrid was waiting for the first years.
“Alex, good to see you,” he gave her a big hug, almost suffocating her in the process.
“Hi Hagrid!” Alex said after he let her go.
“You should probably get inside the carriages, they’re about to leave,” Hagrid hurried her and she climbed in one with James and the others.
“Did you see how fit Annie Wingmen has gotten?” Sirius commented.
“Yeah! And did you see the rack on Sheila?” James asked.
“Sometimes I wonder what had stopped me from killing myself up till now,” Alex moaned.
“What’s wrong Alex? Are you jealous?” Sirius teased her.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” she answered sarcastically.
“It’s ok if you are, you know. But you’re rack is looking quite fine, I must say,” Sirius whispered and put his arm on her thigh.
“Get that off!” Alex yelled slapping him in the arm.
“Sirius, you should be respectful to women, they are gentle creatures,” Remus said.
“You are just saying that, because you haven’t had a good snog. When one girl takes you into a broom closet you’re sure to change your mind,” Sirius said and Remus blushed slightly.
*
It was so good to be back at Hogwarts that the days just flew by. They spent a few of the warm September days lying next to the Black lake and feeding the giant squid that was enjoying the sun next to them.
“You know what is going to be the best about this year?” Alex asked them one afternoon, almost a week into their school year, when their spare time wasn’t yet filled with homework.
“That Tiffany and Sheila might go skinny dipping in lake?” Sirius said lazily, earning a punch on the shoulder from Alex.
“No, you over hormonal teenager. We’re in our third year now, so that means we get to go to Hogsmeade!” Alex said, happily.
“Oh, yes. It’s one of the rare villages that only contains magic inhabitants…”
“Remus?” Sirius looked up.
“Yes?”
“Shut up.”
They all laughed heartily.
“Alex, you haven’t told us how your summer was, you know nightmare-wise,” Remus said
“Way to ruin the mood, wolfy,” Sirius told him.
“No, he’s not ruining it, because there’s nothing to tell. I didn’t have any dreams. Not one,” Alex smiled happily.
“That’s great,” Peter said encouragingly.
“They could come back like they did last year,” Sirius smirked.
“Who’s ruining the mood now?” James said.
“I’m just pointing out, that it is a possibility,” Sirius defended himself.
“Ok! Lighter topics!” Alex stopped them, “Today are the Quidditch tryouts, care to venture how they’ll go?”
“I think you’ll get in, you’ve gotten really good over the summer,” James said kindly.
It was true. She and James practiced almost every day. They sat there for about an hour and then headed down to the Quidditch pitch.
“Robert O’Connell and Emily Johnson left, since they were seventh years, so there are two chaser positions opened as well as a beater one,” Sean told them.
Sirius and Alex were soon in the air, showing their skills and wondering if it’s going to be enough. Lucky for them it was. After an hour of tiring flying Sean announced who got on the team and Sirius and Alex hugged in joy when he read their names.
“Just one more word with you two,” he said, after the other contestants left, disappointed.
“I picked you guys because you are very synchronized, it’s like you read each others thought. That’s a very good start, but it isn’t enough. You’ll need to work very hard, ok?” he looked down at them from his bushy eyebrows and they nodded.
“Practices are each Tuesday and Wednesday at six o’clock. Be there,” he told them and left.
Lily and Remus ran down to them from the stands to give their congratulations.
“You know what I didn’t even realize?” Alex asked Lily, when Sirius and James walked ahead and were out of earshot.
“What?”
“Frank Longbottom is the keeper! And I am on the team now; I can get him together with Alice! She’ll be so excited.”
“Does she still like him?” Lily asked.
“God knows,” Alex shrugged.
“I’d say so. She isn’t really the type who would move from one guy to another like…”
“Tiffany,” Alex finished the sentence, sparing Lily of saying bad things behind someone’s back.
“We’ll tell her today,” Lily nodded.
“I have accepted the mission: this year I will get Frank and Alice together,” Alex said.
“Have you ever even spoken to Frank?”
“No, but I’m on the team remember?”
They walked up to the Gryffindor tower and found Alice reading a book on her bed.
“Hi sweetie,” Lily said nicely and sat down on the edge of Alice’s bed.
“Hello Lily.”
“We have something to tell you,” Alex said.
“Yes?”
“Are you still interested in Frank Longbottom?” they inquired.
Alice blushed to a violent red.
“I am happy to inform you that starting today I am a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which means I will weekly be practicing with your love interest.”
Alice didn’t say anything.
“Aren’t you happy? Now I can introduce you to him.”
“Thanks Alex, but I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Why’s that?”
Alex failed to understand what was going on in Alice’s head, because the two of them were so different.
“If I meet him, he might not like me. It’s better that I’m nothing to him, than a pest.”
“Ok, then,” Alex agreed, but this was far from over to her. She was convinced to get them together in the end.
***
“Are you Alice Longbottom, Lily Evans and Alexandra Taylor?” Alex winced at the last.
“Yes, we are,” Lily nodded.
A small first-year boy was standing in front of them carrying three neatly tied up pieces of parchment.
“This is from professor Slughorn,” he handed one to each of them and then left.
Alex pushed away her eggs and bacon to open the parchment.
Dear Alexandra,
You are cordially invited to my dinner party, which will take place in my chambers, this Saturday at eight o’clock. This is an exclusive little gathering that I have been hosting for years. Please be so kind as to except my invitation,
Best wishes,
Horace Slughorn, potions master
“What a douche!” Alex snorted placing the invitation on the table.
“He’s not that bad,” Alice defended him.
“Oh, please! What chambers? He doesn’t have any chambers, he just has a stinky potions classroom and a small cabinet,” Alex laughed, but not unkindly, because she was in reality quite fond of the plump professor.
“Do you reckon we should go?” Lily asked.
“I think we don’t have any other choice,” Alex shrugged and glanced up and down the table.
James, Sirius and Remus held identical pieces of parchment, only Peter was empty handed and Alex couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. She guessed this dinner party was for students that Slughorn thought were exceptional in some way or another and poor Peter was very average.
“I have actually heard of this thing,” Lily said, waving at with the parchment, “Slughorn calls it his Slug club, it’s for people with connections or wealthy families. I’m not really sure why I was invited,” she shrugged.
“He is also very keen on clever people, who will do well in life, so that they could help him,” Alice said.
“So he’s just using them?”
“Professor has a kind heart, I think he just wants to be comfortable,” Alice shrugged.
“How come I’m the only one who hasn’t heard of this Slug club?” Alex asked, confused.
“You’re too wrapped up with Black to notice anything else,” Lily told her nonchalantly.
Alex gaped and couldn’t even think of a come back, she was so shocked at the comment, especially since it was coming from Lily.
“I must object to that! I don’t give a tiny frogs ass about Black,” she said, but everyone including her knew it wasn’t true.
“Speaking of the devil,” Alice pointed to the boys who were coming past them on their way to class.
“What a fine day it is, am I right ladies? I see you’ve gotten Sluggy’s invitation,” Sirius addressed them. He then tried to take a piece of toast off Alex’s plate, but she slapped his hand away.
“Leave my food!”
“Ow! You know Alex, this butter will go straight to your hips, you’d better give it to me.”
“Go away, before I hex you.”
“So are you going to the party?” James thought it was better to interfere. Pete looked grim at this question, because he was the only one not invited.
“I personally could not be seen there alive,” Sirius said.
“Why is that?” Alex asked.
“It’s so snooty and pretentious. I’ve had to endure that for most of my childhood and I’ve had quite enough, thank you very much.”
“I was actually asking the girls here, Sirius,” James gave his friend a look.
“I am ever so sorry,” Sirius stated, making sure his face told he really doesn’t give a damn.
“I think we’ll all be going,” Lily said.
“Well in that case, I definitely have to RSVP.”
“If you’re attending Potter, I might skip it,” Lily raised her eyebrows.
“Would you like some company with that?” James asked.
“I think she’s trying to get away from you,” Peter offered.
Sirius shot him a look of disgust and Remus looked bemused by all of this.
“I personally will be attending, but first I suggest we get to class,” Remus said.
The girls slowly got up and followed the boys out of the Great hall.
“Are you really not going?” Alex asked Lily.
“I think I still might go, depends on my feelings for James on the day. If I will rate him as only a stupid annoying self-centered idiot as on any normal day, I think I’ll go. It would be quite rude to decline a professor.”
Alex rolled her eyes and smiled at her friend. Lily was as always being the teacher’s pet
It was Saturday evening and the three girls were getting ready for Slughorn’s dinner.
“Before we go, could you please check, if the coast is clear? James threatened to escort me to this thing,” Lily rolled her eyes.
“There’s nobody there,” Alex said when she opened the door and peered down to the common room.
“Do you know who else is attending?” Lily asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Alice.
“Who?” said the shy girl.
“A certain Quidditch keeper,” Alex laughed.
“Oh no! Frank is going to be there? How do you know?”
“We were talking at Quidditch practice. Apparently his parents are some famous aurours and he wants to become one himself.”
“Then I am definitely not going. I am too embarrassed.”
“You most certainly are! Look how pretty you look! This will not go to waste.”
Alice really did look stunning. She put on an olive green top that really made her eyes and face shine. She had a round face with pretty features and full lips.
“Frank is an idiot, if he doesn’t see how wonderful you are,” Alex complimented her.
“Yes, any guy would be lucky to have you,” Lily agreed.
They managed to drag her out of the dorm and avoid James on the way. They knocked o Slughorn’s study.
“Enter.”
They did.
“Ah, finally the lovely ladies have joined us. Fashionably late, of course. Somehow that is always the case with women, no matter what age. Please sit, sit!” Slughorn welcomed them and pointed at a table that was set for about twenty people.
“Allow me to introduce everyone…” he started naming the people that were seated there. Alex saw that Matthew and Eric were also here and she gave them a small wave.
“Please sit down, there are nametags in your place,” Slughorn told them.
It was arranged so that you didn’t sit next to people you knew, so that you could talk and meet new students. Or it was supposed to be like that. Alex’s place was next to Matthew and a Slytherin from year seven with dirty blond hair. Lily took her place besides Eric (James looked very irked by this) and Alice sat down in between Frank and Remus. She looked like she was about to pass out when Frank smiled at her.
“So my friends, how is life treating you?” Slughorn began.
They all grunted something in response.
“Splendid! Splendid! Frank, how are your parents?”
Frank began telling a story about his father and Slughorn looked fascinated.
“Be sure to give my best to him. He is only a couple of years younger than me and I remember him from my Hogwarts days,” he said, reaching for the tin of caramelized pineapple.
“Thank you for the pineapple Evan, it is my favorite, I wonder how you knew that!” he winked at the boy on Alex’s right. His name was Evan Rosier, if she recalled correctly and he just gave a small nod at the professor’s thanks.
“What about the talented miss Evans? Do you know that I have never seen a third year that could turn an object into a perfect animal,” Lily blushed at this, “Oh, yes, Minerva told me all about your newest achievement, you are a little genius,” he waved his sugar coated finger at her.
Lily had just last week managed to turn a chair into a monkey and made it clean the classroom, which was something students two years her senior are still struggling with.
Slughorn continued with his interrogation. He was very pleased with what some told him and not so much with others.
“So Matthew, how is you’re dear uncle? You see this boy is the nephew of the great Andrew Jackson!”
Alex hadn’t the slightest idea who that was and judging by the looks on other people’s faces some of them hadn’t either.
“He is a great scientist! One of the best! He discovered and proved the first and second Merlin law.”
Lily seemed impressed at this. Alex on the other hand ad no idea what the Merlin laws stated and she had no wish of knowing.
“Now for the food! Robby!” Slughorn called out and a small house elf came in. He was pushing a silver trolley with all kinds of food.
“This is goose pâté,” he said pointing at a dish and Alex reminded herself to stay clear of it, “and this is filee mignon, and cordon blue.”
“I decided we should have a bit of a French themed party!” Slughorn chuckled.
The elf named some other fancy dishes like tomato quiche and lots of cheeses.
“For dessert we have ile flottante, crème brulee and apple tart with bourbon vanilla ice-cream. Bon appetite!” The elf bowed and left.
Alex had never been to France so she didn’t know what the various dishes consisted of, but Lily looked impressed at the feast that lay before them.
“So, what’s up with you and that Black boy?” Matthew asked Alex, while they dug into his supper.
“Nothing, why?” Alex eyed him suspiciously as to say he better not make an inappropriate comment.
“Well, you’re always together, I see you in the hallways and he seems very protective about you.”
“Sirius and I have a very complicated relationship,” Alex winced at how grown-up that sounded, “We fight and get on each others nerves, but at the end of the day he is probably my closest friend. He is really a terrific guy,” she paused for a second, “but please don’t tell him I said that, I wouldn’t hear the end of it.”
“But there’s nothing more going on between you two?” Matthew asked curiously.
“Oh, no. Trust me that would not work. We are not very compatible. It would take all of the energy I have.”
“But you just said he’s a terrific guy.”
“He is a terrific friend,” she emphasized the last word, “I think he would be a terrible boyfriend.”
It seemed to Alex that Matthew looked somewhat relieved at this news and she really hoped that he didn’t have any other than friendly feelings about her. He was very nice and all, but she didn’t want anything more. Further down the table Alice was stealing shy glances at Frank who smiled at her casually now and then. Whilst Lily looked like she was enjoying herself very much in Eric’s company, which irritated James greatly.
“Your friend seems to be having a good time,” Alex pointed at Eric and Lily.
“Oh yes, I’m sure he is,” Matthew smiled.
“What did you mean by that?”
“Please don’t tell hi I told you this, but Eric’s liked Lily for quite a while now.”
“Are you serious?” she was shocked.
The Slytherin nodded, since his mouth was full of some vegetable dish, which if Alex recalled correctly was called ratatouille.
“Do you think Lily might like him too?”
Alex faced a great dilemma. She thought about James and wondered, if she should say Lily was taken. On the other hand the girl seemed very happy in Eric’s company and she should have the right to make her own decisions. She decided to just tell the truth.
“Lily hasn’t said anything about him yet, but judging by the look on her face she is open to the possibility of there being something more between them. But I think you should warn Eric: if he might initiate something he will have to go through hell, coming from James’s side. Sirius would probably also participate, since it’s his best friend, plus he always likes annoying an pulling pranks on people.”
“I’ll make sure to tell him that,” Matthew smiled.
“I’ll ask Lily about Eric, but she’s quite shy when it comes to boys, I doubt she’ll want to tell me anything so soon.”
“She doesn’t seem shy when telling Potter to go to hell,” Matthew pointed out.
“Yes, well James is an exception,” Alex grinned.
“So, tell me about your family,” Matthew asked.
“Nothing to tell. I’m a muggle born and I have a little sister. My family is totally average. Yours?”
“I wish I could say the same. I am adopted, I don’t know my parents.”
“Are you serious? I have never met anyone who’s adopted.”
“It’s not such a big deal. It’s just not very common. I never even met my real parents and I’m closer to my foster parents. They’re my mum and dad,” he shrugged and then added: “They’re pureblood.”
Alex sensed a touch of pride at the blood status of his family. She didn’t know him well enough to tell whether he discriminated muggle-borns, but he didn’t seem bothered at the fact that she was one.
“Did your mum and dad tell you anything about your real parents?”
Alex wasn’t sure how to refer to Matthew’s adopted parents. ‘Fake’ parents seemed a bit cruel.
“I asked them a few times, but they said they didn’t know. I think they’re hiding some piece of information. I don’t even know, if I want to find out about them.”
Alex knew that, if she was in his place she would do anything to find out things about her parents. She couldn’t stand not knowing things that concerned her. That’s why it annoyed her greatly when Dumbledore refused to tell her stuff.
“I double dare you to eat that.”
It seemed that they were passed the family conversation and Matthew was now pointing at a weird pink jelly of some kind that closely resembled raw meat.
“I can’t turn down a dare, can I now?” she sighed all though, she really didn’t like the look of it.
“Professor Slughorn? May I ask what exactly is this?” Alex at least wanted to check out what she would be eating.
“This my dear is a mousse made out of raw salmon, egg whites and peppermint.”
“Thank you, that sounds am…yummy,” she said, but immediately scrunched up her face when she turned to face Matthew.
“I detest fish and peppermint makes my throat burn.”
“But a dare’s a dare.”
“Ok, I’ll eat it,” she agreed: “Watch out, though. It’s going to be your turn next.”
Alex scooped up some of the salmon mousse and shivered when she caught smell of it.
“You can do it,” Matthew encouraged her.
She slowly put a small spoon of it in her mouth, quickly swallowed it and then poured water down her throat.
“This fish thingy was nasty! Let me pick something for you,” Alex said, glancing around the table.
“I have got just the thing for you!” she then laughed.
“I don’t like the sound of this.”
She reached to bring over a bowl, that no one had touched so far.
“Ah, Alex you seem to be the brave one, going for the escargot,” Slughorn seemed impressed.
“What is that?” Matthew peered suspiciously into the bowl.
“It’s snails in egg sauce,” she exclaimed proudly.
“Ew! I am most definitely not eating snails!”
“Fine, but then you lose the challenge.”
He seemed to be fighting an inner battle.
“Argh! Give me the bloody snails.”
“You and me are much alike. We can’t turn down a dare,” Alex laughed.
“Yeah, maybe we’re related. I can’t believe my personality is making me it snails. No sane person would do that.”
“Actually you’re wrong. Snails are frequently eaten as an appetizer in France,” Lily commented from somewhere.
“Lily, you really have an exceptional talent of popping into the conversation when someone says something you know is wrong. Do you follow everyone’s discussion?” Alex laughed.
“I don’t know. I just hear when someone says something and then need to correct it.”
“She’s a smart one, she is!” Slughorn said.
“Matthew, eat this French appetizer, as Lily has informed us,” Alex turned back to him.
He looked scared when he delicately placed the snail in his mouth.
“How is it?”
“Chewy,” he said, taking quite a while to swallow the animal.
The French cuisine offered lots of unusual foods, that they dared each other to try out. They laughed and bonded quickly through this process.
“Now enjoy the dessert!” Slughorn clapped his hands together and Robby the house elf placed the sweet things on the table.
“I think there will be nothing so delicious as the snails here with the desserts. How disappointing,” Matthew pretended to look disappointed and then laughed.
“Oh yes, I really miss bouillabaisse as well,” Alex played along.
The bouillabaisse is a French fish soup, that Alex found to be quite disgusting, her not being a fan of fish and all.
“I think I have to try this chocolate cake,” Matthew commented, now being serious, his eyes gleaming at the rich chocolate dessert.
“This is no ordinary cake. It’s gateau au chocolate with a rich raspberry filling,” Lily taught them.
“That’s lovely Lily, why don’t you eat your floaty island, or whatever it’s called and we’ll eat this chocolate cake.”
“Alex, this is not a floaty island. It’s ile flottante, an egg based dish that floats in custard,” Lily explained.
“Thanks, but I think I’ll refer to it as ‘floaty island’.”
“Miss Evans, you seem to have a thorough knowledge of the French cuisine, how is that?” Slughorn asked.
“I spent the summer before Hogwarts in a French camp,” she told them.
“I don’t think that’s the reason Lily knows all this stuff. She’s probably very well informed about Venezuelan cuisine, but she wasn’t in a camp there. Lily just knows everything. She’s a walking encyclopedia,” Alex commented.
“Yes miss Evans, you are very lucky to have such a good memory, not all of us are so gifted,” professor Slughorn lectured them.
They stayed for a while more, chatting about various subjects and then Slughorn sent them home, right before curfew.
“That was fun,” Lily said as she and Alex walked back.
“I guess,” Alex shrugged, “It was better than I expected it to be and I like Matthew a lot.”
“You like him like him?” Lily asked.
“No! Most definitely not! But since we’re on the subject, how about you and Eric?”
Lily blushed to a bright red, which was all Alex needed to know.
A/N: I know nothing exciting has happened in a while, but stuff that you found out in this chapter are important for the development of the story. And I also apologize for the lack of Sirius in this chapter, but I’ll make it up in the next. Tell me your thoughts, favorite parts, everything….
“Hogsmeade, Hogsmeade, Hogsmeade!” Lily was jumping up and down the dormitory all excited about the upcoming trip.
“Yes, Lily. We all get it-we’re going to Hogsmeade,” Sheila snorted.
“Lily’s just excited because it’s her very first date,” Alex said.
“What?” Tiffany was always hungry for gossip.
“Nothing for you to stick your nose in, Tiff,” Alex shut her up.
It was true though. Eric had asked Lily out a week ago and James was on the verge of hanging himself because of it. Alex was not looking forward this trip, since she was going with the boys and would have to endure James’s whining jealousy.
“I can’t stand still Alex! I am so excited,” Lily said, jumping up and down like a little chipmunk.
This was the first time Alex had seen Lily so excited and frankly it scared her. Lily was usually so calm and rational and nobody had ever seen her like this.
“You just have to wait one more hour and then you’ll be with your dear Eric.”
“Your going out with Eric?” Tiffany immediately butted in and Alex bit her tongue and sent an apologetic look, Lily’s way.
“You’re going on a date with a Slytherin?” Sheila added her cup for full measure.
“No, she’s not,” Alex was decided to protect her friend.
“Then which Eric is it?”
Alex noticed that Tiffany resembled a harpy when she was thirsty for gossip.
“Not Eric Patrickson? The fifth year Ravenclaw Quidditch captain?”
“Yes, him,” Alex nodded and then laughed on the inside when Tiffany’s face went green with jealousy.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, Lily needs to get ready for her date with the extremely attractive Eric,” Alex laughed and pulled Lily out of the room, just overhearing Tiffany saying to Sheila:
“How did she get him to go out with her?”
Alex exploded with laughter when they were out of earshot.
“Why did you do that?” Lily grumbled.
“Wasn’t it worth it? To see the looks on their faces?”
“Yes, but now it sounds as if my Eric is less worthy.”
“Well, you want to go out with your Eric, not the fifth year guy, so there’s no problem.”
“Yes, but it sounded like I am ashamed of my Eric and I had to make up a better one.”
“But it wasn’t you who said you’re going out with a different guy, it was me!”
“But still I don’t want her to think I put you up to it.”
“Lily, she won’t. You worry much to much.”
“Alex! We’re going in half an hour, ok?” Remus came up to her in the common room.
“Sure. I’ll meet you by the entrance shall I?”
“Ok. I’ve got to find James and Sirius now.”
“Why? Where are they?”
“If I had a sickle for every time I asked myself that very same question…” he trailed off.
“Have they gone missing again?”
“They’re probably planning some prank to pull on someone. On second thought, they are most definitely going to try and ruin your date Lily, so be careful,” he warned her and then smiled kindly.
“I’ll see you later,” Alex said and Remus walked away.
“That was nice of him. He took my side and not his best friends’,” Lily said to Alex.
“I think Remus has enough of the two of them sometimes, they tend to get a bit out of control.”
“But still, they’re best friends.”
“Yes, but Remus is much more responsible than the other two and I think it pleases him a little, if he can stop a prank or two.”
“I must say Remus is by far my favorite out of them. Peter’s not that bad, I don’t really know him though and Black’s a toerag. As for Potter, I have no words that could describe this horrendous tragedy that his parents inflicted upon this world,” Lily talked about her arch nemesis.
“I know he’s not your favorite person, but he is one of my best friends, so please contain yourself, he can be nice you know,” Alex felt the need to defend James.
“Maybe he acts tolerable when you’re around, but he certainly hasn’t been anything but a pest towards me,” Lily stuck to her opinion.
“You ladies cannot stop talking about me, can you?” a haughty voice was heard behind them.
“Potter, you are insufferable!” Lily stomped her foot.
“Now, now, Lily there’s no need to be so hateful, everyone knows you love me.”
Lily made a sound to show her despair at the boy and then left for the dormitory.
“I know that you’re upset about her having a date, James, but you are never going to win her, if you act like this,” Alex told him as he sat down in an armchair.
“I have a plan Alex, trust me.”
“I don’t know, if I want to hear this,” she groaned.
“I’m going to tell it either way; so you better just listen, otherwise I’ll have to explain your part to you again.”
“My part? Oh, no, no, no, no James,” Alex shook her head firmly, “I will in no way be participating in the ruin of Lily’s date.”
“Oh come on Alex! This is about the woman I love! What, if it was you and Sirius?”
“Me and Sirius?!” Alex jumped out of her chair, “That is an absurd thought!”
“Someday you will be pinning for him,” James shrugged.
“Me? Pinning for….for him? Never in a million years,” Alex spluttered.
“We’ll see.”
“Sirius? Do you not have anything to say for these unrealistic comments?” she turned to face him.
“Look Alex, every girl goes through her ‘Sirius’ phase, your bound to want me sometime,” he shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin.
“Gah! Why do you insist on annoying me?”
“You know Alex, your Sirius phase happened in first year, so maybe you’re immune,” Peter offered.
“That was a stupid confundous potion, that he slipped in my drink!” she pointed her index finger at Sirius.
“I’m going to help Lily get ready, when I get back there will be no more discussion on this topic, alright?” Alex said slowly and they all nodded.
Then she left the common room.
“James, you do realize that playing the Sirius card was not the wisest move, when you needed something from her?” Remus told him and James glared.
*
“Isn’t it such a lovely day to be outside,” Alex said happily and slipped her arms through Remus and Peter’s.
James grumbled something and Sirius stayed quiet.
“Aren’t we a jolly bunch?” Remus commented sarcastically.
“I guess I’m the happy and nice one in this group,” Alex grinned.
Sirius snorted loudly.
“Yes, Black? What is the matter?” Alex asked him.
“Well I have never heard your name and the word ‘nice’ in the same sentence together. Maybe not even in the same conversation, I think the word nice is scared of you. It runs as far away as it can.”
“You aren’t really a skipping singing leprechaun yourself.”
“None of us are. Jamesie is upset that the woman he loves,” Sirius rolled his eyes at this, “is on a date with someone else, the full moon is close so we can’t really except Remus to be the life and soul of the party and Pete just goes along with whatever we do.”
The weird thing about this was that Peter didn’t even seem offended by this, he was just happy to be a part of it.
“Only Remus has a true reason to be upset,” Alex said and smiled at him.
“It fine,” he said kindly, “I’m used to it by now.”
“But it isn’t ok actually, if only we could find a way to make it easier for you,” Sirius said and thought deeply.
“You can’t,” Remus shook his head, “and there is no way I am letting you near me, when I’m in my state.”
“Unless…”
“No! It would be to dangerous.”
“Just hear me out! Would it be possible for us to be in animal forms and then stay with you? Do you attack animals as well?” Sirius asked.
“No, animals are ok, but do you know how hard it is to master such a high transfiguration spell to turn yourself completely into an animal. Things could go terribly wrong.”
“We could manage, we’re not the dumbest bunch,” Alex said, excited about this idea that could help her friend.
“Where are you even going to get the spells?” Remus still tried to convince them out of it.
“We’ll just ask someone from seventh year. Actually, I’m sure you know them Remus,” Alex looked at him.
“Even, if I do know them I might not be willing to give them to you. I don’t want to put my friends at such a risk.”
“Remus, we’re going to get the spells with or without your help. For goodness sake’s, I managed to convince a girl once that I was sent from the future to save her from a great evil and that the only way she could save us was to snog me senselessly on top of the astronomy tower, I really don’t think getting a set of spells will be that hard.”
“That was Tiffany! You could convince her that the third world war was upon us!” James laughed.
“So what? It still counts,” Sirius said stubbornly.
“Let’s get back to the topic,” Alex said, now getting excited about the whole matter, “It would be brilliant, if we could do this for Remus, things would be so much easier for you then,” she gave him an encouraging smile.
By now Remus was white with worry, “Please don’t do this. What if something happens to you? I couldn’t live with myself.”
“You said yourself that animals aren’t a problem, so you wouldn’t harm us,” James shrugged.
“You could get into serious trouble and those spells are hard to master, plus every time you need to go through the entire procedure of casting them. It takes a while, you know.”
“We’re doing it,” Sirius stated not budging on the matter any further.
“Guys! I have had a flash of brilliance!” James yelled.
“Well that’s a first,” Sirius commented and Alex nudged him in the ribs slightly.
“Tell us your idea James.”
“If learning and casting the spells would be such a problem, wouldn’t it be so much easier, if we could just transform into the animal we wanted?”
Everybody looked confused except for Remus.
“James, do you have any idea how dangerous THAT is? Casting a spell is no problem compared to this. Things could take a horrible turn. You could wind up in st. Mungo’s or even worse.”
“Not if we do it properly,” James argued.
“James you are all thirteen years old…”
“Fourteen,” Sirius butted in.
“Whatever,” Remus waved him off, “there is no way you could pull it off. Most adult wizards can’t. Why do you think there aren’t many of them?”
“Would somebody please tell me what is going on, because I haven’t the foggiest idea,” Sirius murmured and Peter nodded along.
“Yes, Remus, please explain,” Alex said.
“I ain’t going to tell you, it’s James’s idea and it’s stupid.”
“James tell us,” Peter said.
James coughed ceremoniously: “Each of us, my friends, is going to become an animagus!”
They all exploded into words and Remus shook his head and made worried noises.
“James you are brilliant!” Sirius yelped and jumped on him so that they both toppled to the ground.
“Are you sure we can pull this off?” Peter asked.
“How hard can it be?” Sirius asked positively.
“You have no idea Sirius, you have to practice for months, with different potions, spells…” Remus trailed off, trying to stop them on more time.
“We’re going to do it, for you Remus,” Alex smiled brightly, thrilled at this new idea.
“I wonder which animal I’m going to turn into?” James asked.
All of them were totally warmed up to the idea now and couldn’t stop discussing it.
“Maybe a lion or something,” he continued.
“Yes, cause you’re so proud and arrogant,” Alex laughed.
“No, it’s because I’m a born leader!” he made a pose looking majestically into the distance.
“You’re a douche,” Alex laughed again and gave him a playful arm-punch.
“I’m sure I’m going to be a vermin or something,” Peter said.
“Oh Pete, stop it. You’re in Gryffindor! You’re going to be a proud animal!” James told him kindly.
Alex was a bit worried that Peter was even going to succeed, because as harsh as it sounded, he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box.
“When are we getting started?”
“I’ll go and get some books in the library so that we can read up on the entire procedure,” Sirius said.
“Well that will be the first time you’ve laid foot in there,” Remus said, “And I’m pretty sure the books are in the restricted section, Dumbledore doesn’t want his students all transforming into various animals.”
“Then you’ll get them for us,” James instructed him.
“No way. I will not be a part of this. You’re my friends and it’s far to much of a risk,” Remus shook his head.
“Just a second: before we press this matter further, where shall we go now?” Alex was the only one that noticed they have gotten to Hogsmeade, since the others were so caught up in the conversation.
“That pub over there? The three broomsticks?” Peter suggested and they all nodded along.
“Our first time ever in Hogsmeade!” Remus remembered suddenly.
“Don’t try and switch the subject,” James reminded him sternly.
They managed to get a small table in the full room and they sent Peter to get them all butterbeers.
“So anyway, to continue, Remus will get us the books that we need from the restricted section….”
“I will do no such thing,” Remus said in a dry voice.
“Oh come on! The teachers love you! Every one of them would write you a permission slip for the book and I sure doubt they’re going to write one to Sirius or me,” James sighed.
“I don’t care,” Remus shook his head.
“You know one teacher that might be persuaded?” Alex said slyly.
“Yes?” Sirius raised his head.
“One with a big appetite for caramelized pineapple,” she continued.
“What’s with Slughorn?” Peter squished himself in between Alex and James and put the butterbeer on the table.
“Alex you are brilliant,” James complimented her and then turned to Peter, “Old Slugger will write us a permission slip for the restricted section.”
“Are you sure he’s going to do that?”
“I am sure he will, if golden boy James here, asks,” Alex winked at him.
“I am very persuasive, but in a charming and intelligent way,” James said, looking at his nails as, if to say ‘we all know I’m brilliant’, but then he smiled at them all widely.
“That’s great! Go and ask him first thing tomorrow,” Sirius instructed.
“Oh no, he likes to sleep long.”
“How do you know that?” Alex asked.
“Alex, Alex, you have yet to learn so much. If you want something from someone you must study his every move.”
“Well why were you studying him before?” Peter asked in awe.
“You never know when you will need something and Slughorn will only agree to things when he’s in a good mood. Waking him from his beauty sleep would most certainly not put him in one.”
“I have a hunch this will all go terribly wrong,” Remus sighed.
“Don’t be such a party pooper,” Sirius boo-ed him.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he shook his head as numerous times before.
“Code one alert! Code one!” James suddenly yelled.
“What the hell in code one?” Alex asked.
“Oh Alex, you’re ruining everything. Didn’t I tell you to listen before, I knew you wouldn’t know your part of the plan,” James said desperately.
“Whatever, can you just tell me what code one is?”
“Code one stands for Lily and Eric,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes letting her know that he too thought James’s behavior was silly.
“Where are they?” Peter asked.
“At the bar! No-don’t you all look! Gah!” he glared at them angrily as they all turned their heads to face the bar.
Lily looked up and waved to Alex, ignoring James who was desperately trying to get her attention.
“Ok, so the next phase is…” James lowered his voice.
“I will not be a part of this,” Alex said standing up.
“Wait, where are you going? We’re getting to the good part now, this is where we get to become real super-spies.”
“James you are thirteen years old, you are not a ninja,” she told him, pronouncing every word carefully, like a mother to a child.
“What will you do?” Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I guess I’ll just walk around, want to come with?”
It was clear that Sirius was torn between the two options, but then he saw the look on James’s face, the extreme disappointment that his prank buddy and best friend was abandoning him in the time of need.
“Sorry, I think I’ll stay here.”
Alex nodded, telling him she understood.
“I’ll go with you,” Remus offered, also getting up.
“Ok, great. And you three,” Alex looked at the remaining bunch, “Try not to go to hard on Lily, it is her first date,” she begged James and he made a face.
“Let’s go then,” Remus lead the way through the mass of Hogwarts students that gathered at the Three Broomsticks.
They walked around the small village visiting Zonko’s joke shop and Honeyduke’s. Alex was thrilled at all the sweets that they supplied there and she bought a big pack to send to Izzy, hoping that her sister wasn’t still mad about not getting her Hogwarts letter.
“What do you want to do next?” Alex asked.
“I need to buy new, parchment,” Remus told her, “Can we go and do that?”
“Sure,” Alex agreed willingly.
They started heading in the direction of the little paper-shop but then suddenly Alex felt a breeze against her neck and raised her arm to feel around it.
“Oh no! I’ve forgotten my scarf! I think I left it at Honeyduke’s when I was paying.”
“Ok, let’s go back,” Remus offered immediately, starting to turn around.
“You know what, you just go ahead to buy your parchment and I’ll meet you there ok? I’ll just run back quickly,” she said.
Remus agreed and they parted ways, Alex quickly walking to Honeyduke’s where she indeed found her red scarf, safely put away by the shopkeeper.
“Thank you so much,” she smiled at him and then left the shop once more.
She was just turning into a narrower street when a voice called.
“Hey you! Girl!”
She spun around quickly, seeing Bellatrix Black running up to her, her hair being whipped wildly everywhere by the wind. Alex couldn’t help getting shivers down her spine as the older girl stopped in front of her.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she said scornfully.
“What do you want?” Alex plucked up all her courage to look into Bellatrix’s eyes.
“Don’t talk to me in that tone, mudblood,” she spat put the words.
This angered Alex greatly and she didn’t feel her fear anymore.
“Just say what you came to say and then shut up.”
Bellatrix laughed dangerously but continued nevertheless:
“You stay away from my cousin.”
“Who? Sirius?” Alex thought this was absurd.
“Yes, him.”
“Why should I do that?” she laughed.
“He might have headed in the wrong direction right now, but we’ll get him on the right path.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Sirius is a proud Gryffindor, he would never take your bloodsucking side.”
“What did you call me?” Bella screeched.
“Nothing else but the truth.”
Bella grabbed her wrist and pulled Alex in, so that their faces were mere millimeters apart.
“You listen to me girl, stay away from Sirius. I don’t want him mingling with the likes of you. He will see the light trust me. He will not become a blood-traitor; this is just a small rebellious phase. In the end he will rise up to the Black name and make his parents proud,” the words were like snakes around Alex throat and she pulled away, throwing Bellatrix of balance momentarily.
“And what, if I don’t?” she asked narrowing her eyes.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you get seriously hurt,” the wild girl turned around and walked away in her high-heeled boots.
Alex sighed in relief when the dark figure disappeared around the corner and then she quickly ran to meet Remus, deciding on the way not to say anything to anyone about what had happened. She didn’t want to think what Sirius would do and she was sure that he would never turn, like Bella had said. But still, what if there was a part of the dark Black inside him after all?
James burst through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room where the others were waiting expectantly.
“So? How did it go? Did you get it?” Alex looked up hopefully.
James shook is head to be met with three pairs of disappointed eyes and one pleased.
“I told you, you wouldn’t,” Remus said.
“What happened?” Sirius asked in a beaten down voice.
“I’m sorry, he didn’t want to give it to me,” James huffed, “he said the restricted section was just for the N.E.W.T. students.”
“What are we going to do now? We need the permission slip for the books,” Peter said.
“Could we make a fake?” Sirius suggested.
“I doubt it. We can’t do anything magic can’t detect.”
“Then, we’re out of ideas,” James said, throwing himself in an armchair next to the fire.
“Damn! I was sure Slughorn would do anything for a member of the Slug club,” Sirius said, punching through thin air.
“That’s where you’re wrong…” Alex said suddenly, a new hope gleaming in her eyes.
“What do you mean, Alex?” Sirius said, catching on that they had a new lead.
“It’s not going to work, just drop it,” said Remus desperately.
Everyone ignored him, their eyes focusing on what Alex was saying.
“James you said we needed to know everything about Slughorn, well what does he love most, besides caramelized apples?”
“His little stars in the making or the Slug club as he likes to call them,” James answered immediately.
“Exactly.”
“But we already tried that. He refused to give me the permission slip, I don’t think there’s anything more I can do,” James shrugged.
“That’s not what I was saying. He’s already got you, you are in the Slug club.”
“What are you saying?” Peter asked.
“I’m saying he wants someone new. Someone who escaped his sugar-covered fingers, someone with a rich family background and a lot of influence, but who didn’t want to join his club…” Alex said and graciously turned her head to look suggestively at Sirius who was following the entire conversation.
“What? Me?” he yelled.
Alex nodded.
“You are brilliant!” James yelled giving her a rub on the head.
“No way,” Sirius shook his head.
“But Alex is completely right! If you offer Slughorn your presence at the parties, he’s sure to give you the permission slip,” James encouraged him.
“But that means I have to suffer from stuffy dinner parties for another four years,” Sirius contradicted in despair.
“Come on Black, be a man. We’re doing this for Remus over here!” Alex told him.”
“I don’t need you to do anything,” Remus commented.
“Argh! Fine, I’ll do it,” Sirius groaned, giving in.
“But make sure to phrase it in a way that doesn’t sound like you’re giving him an ultimatum. Slip it in gently. He is a smart guy, so I’m sure he’ll figure it out, but still, put it on the table gently.”
Sirius nodded along, grunted here and there and then murkily stared at the fire.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Go!” Alex ordered, giving him a small push.
“You want me to go now?” he asked bewildered.
“What do you think? The sooner we get the books, sooner we can start trying to become you-know-whats,” she said, looking around to make sure nobody was listening.
Sirius got up grudgingly and climbed through the portrait hole without another word.
“He sure seems happy about this,” Remus noted dryly.
“Oh, shut up Moony! Soon you’ll have four friends running about with you at night,” Alex told him.
“What did you just call me?” Remus laughed.
“Moony,” Alex shrugged, “It’s my new nickname for you. You know-the moon and your thing,” she laughed.
“I like it,” James agreed, “from now on you shall be referred to as Moony.”
“You guys come up with the strangest things,” Remus looked bewildered, but didn’t say anything to stop them, knowing it wouldn’t help anyway.
***
Sirius made his away along the Hogwarts corridors still annoyed that the others made him do this, but he wanted to help Remus, so he gritted his teeth and went along.
Slughorn study was in the dungeons and Sirius plastered a wide fake grin on his face as he knocked on the door.
“Yes? Who is it?” Slughorn opened his door.
“Good day, professor, mind if I come in? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Slughorn nodded and stepped away from the threshold so Sirius could enter.
“You know master Black, your fellow prankster, that James Potter was just here, not an hour ago,” Slughorn commented and Sirius could see very well that he found this very suspicious and was on high guard for anything weird that could be going on.
“Oh really?” he faked his surprise, “I only wanted to come along and pass some good news to you in person, sir.”
Sirius knew very well how to butter-up the middle-aged professor without it seeming too obvious.
“And what is that, my boy?” Slughorn now sat down in an armchair and was visibly more at ease, now that Sirius made it clear there was not a prank somewhere behind his façade.
“I wanted to tell you how very sorry I am not to have attended your last dinner party,” Sirius fought his urge to grimace, “I have thought it over and I will definitely be present at any further pleasant little gatherings you will choose to host,” he gave him a gracious smile.
Slughorn didn’t find it at all suspicious at Sirius’s sudden manner and he immediately jumped up with joy.
“That is indeed wonderful news! Oh yes, now I shall have both of the Black boys. I must tell you how pleased I was when your younger brother Regulus was sorted into my house this year. Such a wonderful addition to Slytherin.”
Sirius’s face darkened noticeable, but Slughorn didn’t seem to notice.
“Would you like something to drink? A piece of caramelized pineapple perhaps?” the professor asked, his eyes twinkling with joy.
“I am most sorry, but I am in a hurry.”
“In a hurry? On a Sunday? You kids really are a hard working bunch,” he chuckled to himself.
“But before I go, could I ask you a small favor?”
Slughorn stopped what he was doing and eyed the boy closely, realizing that this all along was probably the cause for the unannounced visit.
“Yes? What would you like?”
“Professor I am extremely interested in the art of becoming an animagus. It is my wish when I grow older that I could work at the ministry in the area specified exactly for this. Would you be so kind to sign this note, saying I could borrow some books in the library? It would mean so much to me, if I could start educating myself now,” Sirius said his already planned words.
He could see the calculations going on in Slughorn’s head. The professor, although not seeming so at time, was indeed quite smart and right now he knew that signing the form was the only way to get Sirius into his Slug club. Of course there was the dilemma between doing the right thing and getting what you wanted. Slughorn knew that in times of need Sirius was a trustworthy and smart boy, but nevertheless, he did have the tendency to do something stupid and mischievous.
Sirius held his breath as he awaited for the older man’s answer.
“And you’re sure you need this for purely academic purposes?”
“Well, yes professor and you see I came to you, because you’re the only one who would understand such a thing.”
These words triggered something in Slughorn’s mind. Just a few years ago a similar boy came to him asking for information, he was just as smart and charming, but Slughorn knew what he was slowly becoming now. He shuddered and pushed the thought away. Sirius was nothing like that.
“Ok, my boy. I will sign it, where is the permission slip?”
Sirius sighed in relief and handed the small piece to the professor.
“Thanks a lot, sir,” he said and then disappeared out of the study in a flash.
Slughorn sighed and fell back into the large armchair. Did he just repeat the same mistake?
*
“Who’s the man?” Sirius said proudly as he walked into the common room and waved the small piece of paper in front of everyone’s eyes.
“You got it!” Alex shrieked excitedly and threw herself into his arms, giving him a quick hug.
“Indeed I did,” he nodded.
“Well done, mate,” James congratulated him with a big pat on the back.
“How did you do it?” Peter asked.
“I just told him that I will join his club and then asked him for the signature. I’m sure he knew it was a kind of bribery, but I got it and that’s the important part, right?” he asked, grinning wildly.
“So phase one is finished,” James agreed happily.
“When shall we go and get the book?” Alex asked.
“I’ll go a bit later,” Sirius said lounging comfortably into the big armchair.
“Is anybody in the mood for a game of chess?” James asked, bringing out the pieces from his bag.
They all nodded along.
“Let’s make a small tournament, shall we?” he suggested.
They quickly set up the chess-pieces and assembled the players. It was Alex vs. Peter first and she won without a problem, Remus also beat Peter so he was out of the game and now Remus was playing James.
“James is sure to win,” Sirius whispered to Alex as they were sitting next to each other.
“James is the king at chess,” Alex nodded.
“Except for me, of course,” Sirius disagreed giving her a lopsided grin.
“Modest much?” Alex commented.
“It’s not bragging, if it’s the truth,” he answered solemnly.
“Black, you really think of yourself as the best thing that’s happened to this world, am I right?”
“More like the god’s gift to the people, a salvation in a time without awesomeness, I had to come along to show the world what brilliance truly is, but yes, you’ve basically got it right,” Sirius laughed.
“You are just so full of yourself,” Alex snickered.
“You know Alex, someday you’ll understand how lucky you were to be sitting here with me. Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your place?” he asked her with his deep gray eyes.
Alex knew that Sirius was attractive and lots of girls were waiting in line just to get a smile. He was just so damn arrogant and she knew he had a good heart, but at moments like these he annoyed the hell out of her.
Sirius continued his speech: “Look at yourself, you really should count yourself lucky, here I am talking to you,” he put his hand on her thigh, “Sliding my hand up your leg,” he did as he said, “Your in a special position, use it.”
“Ew, Black get your playboy hands off me, ok?” she slapped his hand away and he cringed.
“Oh come on Alex, all you have to do is let yourself fall,” he gave her a seductive smile.
“Are you kidding me Black? I spend every day with you; don’t you think I’ve seen you use these lines on at least a billion girls? You really think I believe you?”
“Sorry, just checking, if they still work,” he gave her a goofy grin now.
“Oh, please. The only people that fall for this are girls like Tiffany and Sheila.”
“Don’t lie to me Taylor, I’ve still got it. I practically saw you swooning, you were begging for a kiss.”
“Argh! Never!” Alex said, moving just a bit further away from him.
“Hey you two! Would you please move your heated discussion somewhere else? I’m trying to focus,” Remus told them.
“Sorry Remus,” Alex said, getting up, “I think I’ll go and borrow the book from the library,” she snatched the permission slip off the table.
“Ok, I’ll come with you,” Sirius said, also standing up, “you guys look like you’ll be playing for a while,” he nodded towards James and Remus.
Alex shrugged and walked out, followed closely by Sirius.
“So are you happy we got some alone time?” Sirius whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.
“What the hell are you taking about, Black?” Alex looked at him.
“Now we can go somewhere private and you know “talk”,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and putting his arm around her waist, pulling her in.
“I am definitely not going to be doing any “talking” with you, except for the one involving my tongue,” Alex realized what she said, just as the words escaped her mouth.
“Well then it looks like you’re up for it, let me just see if I can find an empty broom cupboard,” Sirius said, looking around.
“Damn it! I didn’t mean it like that and you know it,” she said, pushing his arm away from her waist.
“Then what do you propose we do?” he asked.
“I’m thinking we do what we actually came to do-we’re going to get the book from the library,” Alex said dryly.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes and then Sirius turned around swiftly as a fit blond walked by.
“Did you see the girl on that ass?” he whistled and then made a suggestive move with his body.
“Ok, Black, you seem to have mistaken me for one of your guy friends, so let me make it very clear to you: I am not James. You do not talk to me about asses and what you’d like to do with them,” Alex told him sternly, “Geeez, seriously, what is up with you today? Your hormones are over the roof,” she ran her hand through her hair.
“Oh, I’m sorry Alex, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Sirius said, sliding closer to her, “And trust me I would never mistake you for James, his rack isn’t half as nice and yours,” he grinned wildly, knowing just how to push her buttons.
“Could you stop it?” she said, rolling her eyes.
“I was just trying to pay you a compliment. I saw that you got a bit jealous as I checked out that hot blond.”
“Jealous? Who do you take me for? Please, go ahead, run after her. That’s one less problem I have to deal with.”
“Taylor stop being to defensive,” he said as they turned a corner, “I know you want me.”
“Oh really Black, how do you know that?” Alex asked sarcastically.
“Well first of all that hug before…it was clearly more than friendly.”
“I think it must be wishful thinking, because I would never hug you in any other than friendly way, believe me. It’s just like when I give Remus a hug.”
“Well except that I’m much more of a man, than Moony,” Sirius chuckled.
“If by man, you mean a man-whore than you’re right, you’re like the Tiffany of the guys.”
“Hey, Tiffany’s not that bad,” Sirius defended her.
“You’re just saying that because she snogged you.”
“Multiple times,” Sirius added proudly.
They got to the library and after the librarian -Mrs. Monocle- stared at the permission slip for about ten minutes, they finally got the book.
“Now we can finally start preparing for becoming an animagus,” Alex whispered excitedly as they got out of the library.
“Yes and how about I find us a nice comfy broom cupboard to celebrate in?” Sirius casually slipped into the conversation.
“Black, for the hundredth time, I do not and will never want to make out with you in a broom closet.”
“Ok, I understand Alex. Is the room of requirement more to your taste?”
Alex groaned in desperation: “That is enough Black.”
“Oh come on! Don’t be such a prude!”
“I’m sorry, if I don’t feel the need to snog every guy I see!”
“I don’t snog every girl I see!”
“Oh really?” Alex gave him a questioning look.
“No, just the hot ones!” he raised his hands defensively.
“You are unbelievable.”
“Unbelievable sexy, maybe?”
“Unbelievably annoying,” she concluded and stomped away leaving him in the middle of the corridor.
“You know you love me, Taylor!” he shouted behind her and started catching up.
“Right now I hate you,” Alex told him, still not turning around but continuing her power walk back to the common room.
“Well in that case, I hate you too, but you know what they say: hate turns to passion.”
She turned around now and hissed, seriously angry by now: “Now listen Black, if you make one more, and I mean ONE more suggestive comment, movement, joke, sarcastic observation or anything similar, I swear, I will turn you into a tiny little fly and then I will…”
“Am…Alex…” he said, shying away at her rant.
“No, listen to me! And then I will make a frog eat you and then I will stomp on that frog with my foot and enjoy every second of it, understood? And if that won’t be enough, I will…”
“Shut up, woman!” he shouted.
“No I will not shut up! I have enough of this!” she shouted back at him, still they were both starting to laugh slightly, but were determined not to show it, “So anyways, or I will make sure that you can never have babies and that your sperm are harmed to an unrecognizable extent and do you know how I will do that? I will…”
At that moment his lips slammed into hers as she tried finishing her sentence and she struggled to mumble something against his mouth.
“Shut up Taylor,” he said.
Then he pushed her behind a tapestry, away from the corridor, pinning her beneath him and grabbed her wrists also holding them up against the wall. Alex told herself to do something, to stop this outrageous behavior, because she was not just another girl in his line that he could snog when he felt like it.
“Black…let…go…” her cries weren’t heard between his ravenous kisses and she soon gave in, not trying to fight him anymore.
Alex didn’t know how long they stayed like this, his body pressed against hers, totally absorbed in each other. Her mouth openly explored his and she heard him moan slightly in pleasure, but when he did, she finally realized just what she was doing.
She opened her eyes, not even remembering when she closed them and then pushed him off suddenly.
“Taylor, I though you said you’ll never make-out with me,” have gave her a wicked smile, “well, your actions beg to differ.”
Alex looked around, panting slightly, trying to get her thought organized. What had just happened? And why in the world did she kiss back? Then she turned to face Sirius:
“Why did you just do that? Why did you kiss me?”
“Well you wouldn’t shut up,” he laughed.
“That was stupid…I mean what we just did.”
“If you say so,” he said, still smiling, telling her he didn’t mean it.
“I am serious Black!”
“No, I’m Sirius,” he repeated his joke.
“Stop it! Let’s agree that this was just something that happened in the heat of the moment and we’ll never talk about it again, ok?”
“As you wish,” Sirius nodded.
“Let’s go back now,” Alex said, but neither of them moved, still tracing each other’s figures in the dark hiding behind the tapestry.
“What are you waiting for?” she pressed on again.
“I could ask you the same question.”
“Let’s go,” she hurriedly pushed him out into the corridor and they walked as nonchalantly as possible back to the tower, although Alex though it seemed more than obvious that they’d just shared a heavy make-out session.
“So? Is it out turn to play yet?” Sirius said cheerfully as the entered the common room.
“We finished twenty minutes ago, where were you two?” James asked suspiciously.
“Oh, nowhere,” Alex waved it off, sitting next to Remus who was now reading a book.
“Did you at least get the book?” James asked.
“That we did,” Sirius said, putting it on the table.
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s start reading,” James said, opening the old book on page 1.
“Alex! I have to tell you something!” Lily came running up to her in the Great Hall at dinner.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“I am officially dating Eric,” she said, blushing to a wild red.
“Are you serious? That’s great Lily!” Alex was immensely happy for her best friend, but still she felt just the slightest pang of sympathy for James.
“Yes, I’m so happy! The date in Hogsmeade was wonderful and he asked me just now, in the library,” Lily giggled excitedly and this told Alex that every girl knows how to giggle, if she only has the right reason for it.
“The library, that must be the most romantic setting for you,” Alex rolled her eyes slightly but smiled all the same.
“It was so sweet and I really like him.”
“Well I hope you’re not going to ditch me, now that you have a boyfriend,” Alex said.
“Don’t worry, friends come before boys.”
“I once saw: Friends are forever, boys are whatever, written on the desk,” Alex laughed, “I guess this could be applied.”
“Eric is not whatever,” Lily pursed her lips together.
“It was a horribly clichéd joke anyway.”
Dessert appeared on the table and their conversation died down, since Alex was fully occupied with the chocolate-sour cherry cake that she laid on her plate.
“Have I mentioned that Hogwarts food is to die for?” she asked, between bite-fulls of food.
“Only like a gazillion times,” Lily rolled her eyes at her best friend.
“Hello girls,” Alice walked by, “Mind if I join you?” she asked shyly.
“Not at all,” Lily smiled warmly.
“So how are you doing Alice?” Alex asked.
“Oh, I’m fine. You two?”
“I am extremely well,” Lily grinned widely.
“I wonder why,” Alex said and they laughed.
“What happened?” the third girl asked.
“Today, Lily officially became Eric’s girlfriend,” Alex explained.
“Is that the Eric from the Slug party?”
“That very one.”
“So this is a good day for boys then, because something happened with Frank!” Alice said.
“Did he ask you out on a date?” Lily hoped for the best.
“Oh no, nothing like that, but I spoke to him in the library,” Alice’s eyes shone up.
“What did you say?”
“He recommended a book to me.”
“Well, now you can really start talking to him.”
“But I’m far to scared, what if he finds me annoying?”
“Nobody could find you annoying,” Alex shot her down, “Plus you can’t just wait around for something to happen, you need to make the first move.”
“We’ll see, but for now I am perfectly happy watching him from afar.”
Alex thought about her two friends, who were both happily crushing on someone. Why wasn’t there a boy in her life then? Well, except for Sir…No, she wouldn’t even allow herself to think that thought. Sirius was nothing, but a friend. He had always been and always will be nothing, but a friend.
But what was that kiss about then? Since this morning she couldn’t stop mulling it all over, still she came to no other conclusion except that it was just a stupid event, caused by a lack of judgment and the heat of the moment. She didn’t feel anything more towards him, did she? Alex glanced at the four boys sitting near them, her eyes lingering on the gray-eyed one with a goofy smile. Definitely just friendly feeling there, no doubt about that.
Nevertheless she didn’t fail to notice how his cheekbones were just slightly more sculpted than was common and how his hair gently fell around his face.
“What are you thinking about Alex?” Lily brought her back to the conversation.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Are you sure you’re not thinking about a special someone as well?”
“Who did you have in mind?” Alex acquired.
“You seemed to be quite friendly with Matthew at the party, it seems like Slytherin boys are quite in style,” Lily laughed.
Alex noticed how just this crush with Eric had changed her friend; she was so much more relaxed and up for joking.
“Matthew and I are just friends,” Alex answered truthfully.
“You never know, thing might change.”
“I think the best romances sprout from friendship,” Alice said, romantically.
“Then a certain Black boy is just the right guy for our dear Alex,” Lily winked.
“I am nowhere closer to dating Black, than you are of ever dating James,” Alex told her, but knew it wasn’t true. Lily and James hadn’t shared a make-out session behind the tapestry just this morning, at least judging from how Alex was informed.
“Back to Eric,” Alice switched the topic thoughtfully, “Is he taking you out on a date anytime soon?”
“We haven’t really talked about it yet,” Lily shrugged, “I’m just happy to hang-out with him, it doesn’t have to be special.”
It’s right when they say news travels fast at Hogwarts and the gossip about the fresh couple in third year soon reached James’s ears, who joined them at the table.
“Are you seriously going out with him?” he hissed.
“James, lay off,” Alex said in a warning tone, but he didn’t listen.
“He’s a Slytherin,” he said with disbelief and disgust.
“So what? He’s a much better person than you are,” Lily told him.
“You don’t know him half as well as you know me.”
“I like him and so far, in the last three years you haven’t shown me a good side, even if I do know you better.”
“Lily, how could you? What about us?” he asked in a hurt voice and Lily shrieked.
“What the hell are you talking about Potter?” she asked in an absurd tone, “What us? There has never been and us and mark my words when I say: there will never ever be an ‘us’,” she finished coldly.
“Ok then, Evans,” James said, the sadness visible in his eyes as he walked away, closely followed by Sirius.
“Wasn’t that a bit mean?” Alex defended her friend, “Did you see how hurt he was?”
“See, if I give a damn,” Lily said, biting her lip and Alex could clearly tell the guilt in her expression. Lily never wanted to harm anyone in any way.
“He does care for you.”
“I find that hard to believe and anyway he needs a good kick to bring him back to reality. Sadly, I will never like him, not while he’s behaving like an arrogant prat.”
“It’s just a face that he puts on.”
“In that case he should stop, at least if he wants to impress me,” Lily closed the subject.
*
September slowly shifted into October and that meant school was starting to get busier with each second. James, Sirius and Alex also had Quidditch practices twice a week and their first match against Hufflepuff was coming up. To top it off, the three boys and Alex spent their entire free time studying up on how to become an animagus and practicing intently in the room of requirement, but still they got no further.
“I swear, I will give up on this, if we don’t reach a breakthrough soon,” James said, throwing himself in a beanbag chair on a drizzly Wednesday in mid-October.
“We’ll get there in the end,” Alex said positively, “If we just keep our mind to it, we’ll manage to transform eventually.”
“James you’re being to impatient, I read that it could take years to master advanced magic like this, and we are only a bunch of third-years.”
“I just want to help Remus so badly,” James whined.
“It might take another year, maybe two,” Sirius said grimly.
“Why aren’t you Mr. Happy go lucky?” Alex said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I’ve had enough of this animagus stuff for today, let’s head down to dinner,” Sirius said and they agreed, getting up from the floor or in James’s case a bean-bag chair.
“I hope you three will kick ass at the Quidditch match this Saturday,” Peter said.
“Don’t remind me,” Alex groaned, her face turning green with worry.
“Oh come on Alex, the Puffs have got nothing on us,” James waved his arm in dismiss, “we can beat them with our eyes closed.”
“I wouldn’t try that, I’m going to have enough trouble staying on my broom as it is.”
“It’s going to be an easy win,” James said again.
“Of course it is, I’m playing!” Sirius laughed, “I always win and my Quidditch skills are out of control.”
Alex knew Sirius was just bragging as usual and she also saw him studying up on Quidditch techniques in the library, which meant he wasn’t so relaxed about the entire matter as he liked to put on.
“We all know you are the best at everything. Yeey Sirius is the king. Blah, blah, we’ve heard it all before,” Alex said dryly.
“You got that right,” Sirius winked, ignoring her sarcasm.
They entered the Great Hall and took their seats next to Lily and Alice.
“How are you girls doing?” Sirius asked.
“We are fine, thank you,” Alice said politely.
“Hello dear,” Eric slid down on the bench next to Lily giving her a quick peck on the cheek and Lily smiled warmly.
“Cough, cough barf, cough, cough,” James commented.
“Have you got a problem mate?” Eric asked his arm protectively around Lily’s waist.
“I sure have a problem.”
“What is that?”
“Hm, let me think…” James looked around in fake thoughtfulness, “Oh yeah right, it’s you,” he stared at him directly.
Eric looked shocked and offended at this.
“I’m sorry, what did I ever do to you?”
“For starters you’re a Slytherin.”
“Potter lay off,” Lily said in an icy tone.
“Sirius, do you know why Slytherins always cross the road twice?” James turned to face Sirius.
“No James, tell me,” Sirius said.
“Because they’re all double-crossers,” James laughed loudly.
“That’s a bit stereotypical don’t you think?” Eric asked, narrowing his eyes.
“It’s not a stereotype, if it’s true,” James shrugged.
“Well clearly you don’t know a lot of Slytherins.”
“I know quite enough to tell that it’s true.”
“Potter stop it right now,” Lily warned again.
“So your problem is that I’m a Slytherin?” Eric asked.
“Yes that is the major cause, but if you would just be there and stay out of my business with your slimy ways I could even tolerate you. But no, you have to come her so I have to watch you while I eat. I repeat: barf.”
”I’ve had it,” Lily said getting up, “Potter you are insufferable,” she turned to Eric, “Let’s go and sit somewhere else.”
”I’ve had it,” Lily said getting up, “Potter you are insufferable,” she turned to Eric, “Let’s go and sit somewhere else.”
They walked away leaving the little group silent for a while until Alex spoke up.
“James that wasn’t nice of you. Slytherins aren’t bad, that’s just your prejudice.”
James just huffed something and continued eating his steak and chips.
**
“Sirius, I don’t know, if I am going to survive this,” Alex whispered as they were standing in line to fly out onto the Quidditch pitch.
Sirius didn’t even answer, his face was to green and he looked like he might throw-up just by opening his mouth.
Alex’s stomach twisted and churned as she awaited Sean to tell them to mound their brooms. She had never been so nervous and really wished that rain would suddenly start pouring down and they would cancel the match. Little did she know that Quidditch was played I almost any circumstances, even of there was a blizzard tearing down on them.
Luckily the day was dry and light, but without sunshine, ideal for a Quidditch game.
“This is the moment,” Sean said and they all started hopping on their brooms.
James sent Alex an encouraging smile, his face a tight mask of concentration but no signs of nervousness.
“We can do this Black,” she patted him on the arm and took one last look at him before flying on the field, hundreds of cheering voices surrounding her.
The captains shook hands and soon the Quaffle was released. The Hufflepuffs had it and they were flying around so fast, Alex couldn’t even keep track of them.
“10-nothing for Hufflepuff!” the commentator yelled and Alex looked around surprised.
‘When did this happen?’ she thought to herself.
As the ball was once again in the air, she told herself to concentrate better and looked around at the field. Sirius had the ball and was flying wildly to the opponent’s hoops. He tried to shoot but the keeper blocked him, once again getting the Hufflepuffs the ball. She fiercely flew towards the Hufflepuff with the big red ball in his hands and somehow managed to take it away from him, passing it to Sirius who was hovering near the hoops. Without a moment’s hesitation Sirius threw the ball, which avoided the keeper and flew swiftly through the hoops.
“The result is 10-10!” The commentator yelled and Sirius gave Alex a wink.
The game continued at a moderate pace, the Gryffindors always just a few points ahead.
“It is now 90-80 for Gryffindor, the seekers must try really hard to end the game!”
Alex looked around for James and spotted him watching the surroundings intently, being closely followed by Hufflepuff’s own seeker.
“Come on James, make this come to an end,” Alex whispered under her breath and as, if he heard her, James suddenly flew with lightning speed upwards, like he was trying to reach the sky.
Sirius meanwhile scored another goal, since everyone was observing the battle between the two seekers. James was a few meters ahead, but the other boy was closely gaining on him. Just as he was at James’s tale, Potter reached his hand out and firmly cupped the golden ball.
“Gryffindor wins!”
Alex happily flew towards the ground and was pulled into a big group hug, consisting of the entire Quidditch team and some students, who had already rushed down to congratulated them.
“Well done James,” Sean patted him on the back.
“We are one step closer to winning the Quidditch cup,” Sirius grinned.
Disclaimer: I did not make-up the Slytherin joke myself, you can find it in numerous places on the internet. What did you think of the Quidditch match or this chapter in general? Any thoughts on Lily/Eric?
Things were going well for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, they had managed to beat Ravenclaw just over a month after their first match and they were slowly climbing to the top of the Quidditch rankings. The practices grew more intense as the weather stared getting worse, but Sean didn’t seem to show any consideration.
Things were also going well in Lily’s personal life, she thought to herself as she skipped down to breakfast a week before the Christmas holidays. Her relationship with Eric was developing well and he asked her to come and meet his parents over Christmas break, as they lived fairly close. Lily was aware that they were still young, but she could easily see this relationship going the distance. Even more, she hoped it would.
“Hello Lily-pad,” Eric greeted her in front of the Great Hall, as was their tradition.
“Hi,” she smiled giving him a quick peck on the lips.
“I had a dream about you last night,” Eric told her, getting a hold of her hand.
“Oh really?”
“Yes, it was the most wonderful dream,” he told her lovingly.
“So tell me what happened,” she encouraged him as they sat down in their usual spot, which was no longer next to James and his little clan. Lily discovered it to be wise to stay away from Potter when she was with her boyfriend, since Eric didn’t seem to agree with him. Not that this was hard for Lily, in her mind the perfect place to be was as far away from James as possible.
“I’m not going to tell you what was in my dream,” Eric said, blushing slightly.
“Oh come on,” Lily laughed.
“Nope, maybe some other time,” he threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in so that she was leaning on his shoulder.
“Do any of you feel sick?” James asked at the other end of the table, viciously stabbing his hardly eaten pancake.
“Does this have anything to do with Lily and Eric over there?” Alex teased.
“No,” James glared at everyone around him.
“Look at Jamesie being all jealous,” Sirius told him and then throwing a piece of bread and catching it with his mouth.
“Did your mother never teach you any manners, Black?” Alex asked, “This bread trick is hardly amusing.”
“Oh you don’t like it with bread? I can try with something else,” he said looking around at the food that was laid on the table, “Maybe bacon will please you more.”
He threw the sliver of meat in the air, but when he opened his mouth to catch it, it fell right into the collar of his shirt
“Serves you right,” Alex snickered.
“I have to agree with Alex on this one, this is hardly a way to behave at the table,” Remus said.
“Oh please, you two are such hypocrites. Have you seen Taylor dig into dinner after a long day? The food basically goes flying everywhere as she sloppily buries her face into the plate of pasta or whatever else she’s eating. And you Moony, I don’t particularly enjoy watching you eat a piece of hardly cooked meat and tearing it apart with your teeth. I am aware that it’s not your fault that you enjoy the taste of blood, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is not an pleasurable sight,” Sirius concluded.
Peter looked at Sirius in admiration as he finished speaking and it seemed he would love nothing more then to kiss his feet.
“Does it really matter in what way you all eat? I would rather not go into the details. Let’s just get to class,” James groaned and got up, but he had just the luck to bump straight into Eric as he took a step back.
“Watch where you’re going,” he snapped, gritting his teeth, although it was obviously his fault.
“I’m sorry,” Eric said, not wanting to pick a fight, but sadly that was exactly what James wanted and it angered him greatly that Eric was not going to answer back.
“You should be sorry, you’re in Slytherin you slimy bastard.”
“James, what is wrong with you?” Lily gasped.
“Stay out of this Lily,” he said, turning back to Eric, “So? What do you have to say for yourself?” he challenged him.
“Why should I have anything to say?” Eric answered calmly, convinced that he was not going to get sucked into this fight.
“How will you defend the fact that you are a worse then scum?”
“James stop this nonsense,” Remus warned him, but James didn’t.
“So? What will it be you nasty Slytherin?”
“At least I don’t have to put down people, just so I can feel better that the girl I have a crush on is with someone else,” he shrugged and pulled Lily forward, “Let’s go Lily.”
They walked past James and he seemed so annoyed by this that he turned around and called out Eric’s name.
“What?” Eric faced James again.
James made a fist and punched him right in the face. Everyone around them turned silent and were looking at the pair next to the Gryffindor table. Eric was clutching his face and Lily was glaring at James.
“Mr. Potter! Violence will not be tolerated at Hogwarts! Detention for one week, I will see you tonight at eight!” McGonagall came running down the aisle between the tables, with a fierce look in her eye, “Eric if you are in a lot of pain, go to the hospital wing, if not then all of you head to class,” she shooed them along, “come on, off with the lot of you,” she turned around and took in Sirius who was watching the exchange between her and James.
“You have a greasy stain on your shirt master Black,” McGonagall told him, sternly eyeing the yellow mark that the piece of bacon left on Sirius’s collar, “Make sure to take care of that before class, I do not want my students running around like a clan of monkey-like baboons, Potter over here, being your poster boy,” with that she left everyone watching her straight posture.
“James what were you thinking?” Remus asked him.
“I just hate his Slytherin guts,” James told them.
Lily and Eric had already left and they were now also walking to class.
“There is no way you will get Lily, if you behave that way and I have told you this a million times before,” Alex explained.
“But…”
“No buts James, just lay of Eric.”
“But he’s a Slytheirn and not a good looking one to top it off!” James whined.
“No James, I don’t care about your excuses, you have to stop!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not fair to Lily, she deserves to be happy and you shouldn’t try and stop it every chance you get. If you really care for her, you’ll leave Eric alone, ok?” Alex told him and something in James moved.
“You’re right,” he agreed whole-heartily.
“Very well then,” Alex smiled.
“Finally James has come to his senses,” Remus nodded along.
“I’m going to miss pranking that little Slytherin,” Sirius sighed longingly.
“Sirius, don’t encourage him,” Alex gave him a stern glance, “James has only just agreed to stop pestering Eric, don’t try to get him back on the bad side.”
“I’m sorry,” Sirius grimaced.
“I was thinking we should go to the room of requirement tonight, so that we can practice becoming an animagus, we have some catching up to do,” James changed the subject.
“Sure,” Alex agreed.
They entered the classroom and split ways to their sits. Alex sat down next to Lily who gave her a kind smile.
“Everybody, settle down please,” professor Vector entered and Alex shot Lily a confused look.
“Where’s Flitwick?” she whispered and judging by what was heard from around the class, others were wondering that as well.
“Sadly professor Flitwick had an urgent matter to attend to, so I will be running this class today, I am sure you will be on your best behavior…”
As soon as James and Sirius heard that they would be having a substitute teacher they started yelling and laughing in uproar.
“Boys settle down, please,” the professor said.
But it was too late. Everyone was standing up, talking to their friends and there was general chaos in the classroom. Professor Vector seemed at loss and was looking around, not sure what to do.
“Students, please open your books…” he glanced from one loud moving student to another, “Or you know, you could just take the hour to study by yourselves…” he concluded, sitting down behind his desk and burying his face in his hands.
“Three times hooray for the free hour that we just got!” Sirius yelled.
“Hooray!” James joined him.
“Those boys are unbelievable,” Alice shook her head shyly.
“This is nothing compared to some other things they’ve done. Do you know that Sirius and James once painted Mrs. Norris blue? I have no idea how they managed to get away with it, as far as I know Filch he would have buried them alive, if he ever found out,” Alex told them.
“That’s why we made sure he didn’t find out,” Sirius grinned from behind.
“And how did you do that?” Alice asked.
“That’s our brilliant secret, love,” Sirius winked playfully.
“Shut up, Black and stop behaving like you rule this school,” Alex rolled her eyes.
“Oh, Alex, jealous again are we? You know you’re my favorite,” he said, leaning on her desk and putting an arm around her.
“Shove off,” she shook his arm off her shoulders.
“Hey Sirius! Come and look at this!” James waved him over from across the classroom, where he appeared to be brewing some kind of green gooey mush that was splattered all over Remus’s desk. He on the other hand was sitting there quietly with a look of firm denial on his face. Alex frequently wondered how they even became friends. She turned around to face Lily and Alice once more, who were talking about Frank Longbottom again.
“Just ask him out,” Lily convinced her.
“No,” Alice shook her head.
“Look now that I have Eric, I really want all my friends to be as happy as I am,” Lily smiled warmly, “It’s just the best feeling in the world.”
“I agree with Lily, you should totally go for it,” Alex nodded.
“He’ll just shoot me down, he probably thinks I’m some third-year loser.”
“He doesn’t think that. You know what? I’ll talk to him at practice, ok?” Alex asked.
“Ok, if you must, but please do it subtly. I don’t want him thinking I set you up to this.”
“Don’t worry,” Alex reassured her.
The next time the Gryffindor team had Quidditch practice, Alex walked up to Frank and started talking to him.
“You played well today,” she ignited the conversation.
“Likewise.”
Frank was a very nice guy, but he never said a lot, he too was a bit shy, just like Alice and that’s why Alex thought them perfect for each other.
“I feel like I've never really spoken to you and we're on the same team, I think we should change that,” Alex said.
“Yeah, I'd like that,” he smiled warmly at her.
“So, tell me something about your personal life,” she said.
“Oh, I'm from Yorkshire, I wen to school there. My parents are both wizards, what about you?”
Alex quickly summed up her childhood.
“Let's walk to the castle,” Frank suggested and Alex followed him out of the changing rooms.
“Wait up!” Sirius and James suddenly yelled behind them and Alex cursed under her breath. Did they really have to come in this moment? She was just getting close to Frank.
The rest of the way to dinner passed in discussing Quidditch tactics and Alex sat down next to Alice with a look of disappointment on her face.
“Why so blue?” Lily asked.
“I managed to talk to Frank, but then those bloody two got in the way.”
There was no need for further explanation for who was meant by those bloody two.
“Don't put yourself down because of it Alex,it's fine, really. It would have been suspicious, if you asked him right away, if he liked anyone,” Alice told her.
“I guess you're right,” Alex groaned slightly.
*
Dear Alex!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Lots of love,
Lily xxxx
My dear Alex!
I wish you all the best in the holidays!
Love,
Alice
P.S. Frank sent me a Christmas card! Yeey!! xo
Alex!
I hope you have an enjoyable Christmas and that you aren't missing me too badly (I know it must be hard for you). Don't worry, I will give you your present when we are back at Hogwarts-I have already made a reservation in the finest broom closet-just for us!!
Best regards, kisses and hugs from your intelligent, charming and extremely good-looking friend Sirius.
P.S. Your ass is looking very fine (this is just in case it has grown sad, since it is not disposed to my daily compliments)
Dear Alex!
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Best regards,
Matthew
“So Taylor how about I give you my present now?” Sirius whispered into Alex's ear and she jumped up in surprise and almost knocked over Remus's owl.
“Jeez Black! Do you really have to creep up on me like that? Have some boundaries.”
“I know a good demonstration where boundaries are broken, would you like to help me show and explain Remus what it is? Don't worry, there wouldn't be so much explaining involved, mostly just the showing, a lot and a lot of showing...” he said slowly, glancing up and down Alex in a slimy manner.
“I will punch you,” Alex said in a dead-serious voice.
“So you're into that all that kinky aggressive stuff,” he said licking his lips.
“You know what? Just show off, if you can't contain yourself go and jerk-off in the toilets!”
“Alex? What was that?” James asked bewildered.
“I just have enough of him!”
“Well then maybe I'll do that, oh and look Tiffany's there! I'll ask her to help!” he gave them a devilish grin and walked away.
“How was your Christmas Peter?” Remus asked, smoothly changing the subject.
“It was fine,” Peter pipped.
“I got another really descriptive book about becoming an animagus!” James told them excitedly, “It's really old, I nicked it from my uncle's library.”
“This is spinning out of control,” Remus groaned, “You're going to get yourselves killed and I'm going to have to live with the guilt.”
“Light up Moony, it's all going to be a-ok,” James patted him on the back and then lifted his suitcase up on the shelf in the compartment.
“A-ok? Did you travel back in time to one of those weird old time movies?” Alex raised her eyebrows at James.
“Sorry,” he sighed in explanation, “My mum likes to watch them during the holidays.”
“For once I can say I am really not looking forward to going back to Hogwarts,” Alex heaved herself into the train seat and started staring into the moving countryside.
“Why's that?”
“I have a feeling this is going to be a hard semester, all the professors were saying they were going easy on us until the holidays and that January was when the real deal begins. Plus I have Quidditch practices and knowing Sean, he isn't anywhere close to lighting up, not with the Quidditch cup at stake. We have only one match left, but it's against Slytherin and that isn't going to be easy.”
“We'll win for sure,” James said confidently, “I believe in every single member of the team, my faith is with you.”
“That's very inspirational and all, but on top of that we have Slughorn's stupid dinner parties and, if we want to get any further to transforming we will need to work really hard. The holidays have only just finished and I'm already so tired,” Alex yawned and rested her head on the window.
Nobody said anything for a few minutes and that's all it took for Alex to nod off. She dreamed a strange dream, where her sister was excepted to Hogwarts, but then sorted into Slytherin. Alex tried to get the sorting hat to change it's mind, but it wouldn't and then suddenly Izzy was a few years older and Alex was watching her from the Gryffindor table. The younger girl was laughing with her Slytherin friends, but there was some sort of coldness about her. And then Lucius walked up to her and kissed her straight on the mouth, hugging her around her waist and putting his hand beneath her skirt on her thigh. This was more then Alex ever wanted to see or take, but the dream wouldn't change and she could only watch her little sister flirting with the blond-haired boy.
“No, Izzy, no.”
“Alex wake up,” Sirius gently shook her and Alex opened her eyes to meet a pair of concerned gray ones.
“What happened?” she groggily asked.
“You fell asleep, is everything alright? What did you dream? You were shaking and talking,” Sirius said, the panic visible from his voice, though he tried hard to contain it.
“Oh, I'm fine,” Alex said, removing a strand of hair from her face.
“Are you sure?” Sirius asked, still not budging away and was inspecting her face closely for any signs of trauma.
“Really, I'm quite alright. I just had a dream about Izzy, it's nothing to worry about.”
“If you're sure...” Sirius said, not looking convinced, but he did move away and sat opposite Alex.
“What time is it? It seems to be getting dark already,” Alex said peering out the window.
“It's just after four, you know how quickly the sun sets in the winter, it feels like we have less of the day,” Remus explained.
“Wow, I was gone for a really long time.”
“Did you not get a good night's sleep?” Peter asked.
“Basically I haven't been sleeping well for the entire vacation, I just have this restless feeling all the time,” Alex said.
“Do you think it might have anything to do with Tom Riddle and all your dreams? Are they coming back?” Sirius asked, his eyes full of worry.
“Sirius you are such a drama queen, this has nothing to do with it.” Alex told him.
“I still think you should go and talk to Dumbledore,” Sirius pushed.
“No way! I am not going to see the headmaster just because I'm having trouble sleeping. I'm sure it's just some hormonal change or stress from school. If I'm not worried, there is absolutely no reason for you to be.”
“What do you guys think?” Sirius asked the other three, hoping to get support from the male population.
“Don't drag them into this,” Alex warned.
“We're your friends, we can tell you what we think,” James said.
“I think you should take care of yourself and, if you still have trouble sleeping after we get back to Hogwarts you should see Dumbledore or at least madam Pomfrit,” Remus told her kindly.
“I agree, we don't want to lose you.” James told her.
Alex was touched by this, but still thought they were overreacting immensely.
“You guys, nothing is going to happen to me! I can't sleep because I am worried about school and Quidditch and becoming an animagus. This has absolutely nothing to do with the crap that happened last year, I am sure of it,” she told them firmly.
There was a knock on the door and a little first-year peeped into the compartment shyly.
“Yes?” Remus asked kindly.
“I have these from professor Slughorn,” he told them, pulling four purple invitations from beneath his robe and handing them out, Peter again not getting one.
“Argh,” Sirius groaned loudly in despair at the purple ribbon and it seemed to scare the little boy.
“It's ok, you can go, thank you,” James dismissed him and then added, “I definitely wasn't so small and skinny when I was a first-year.”
“Shh, he can still hear you! Do you really want to take away the ounce of self-esteem that he has left?” Alex scolded him.
“But he's so small,” James hissed.
“He'll grow into it and just for the record, you were even skinnier,” Alex smiled smugly.
“I was not!”
James had the genes that absolutely every piece of clothing hung from him like an oversized stretched jumper and he could eat all he want, but he still stayed thin as a stick. Although in the last year he did gain some muscle weight, so he didn't look so abnormally skinny next to Sirius or Remus, who were both broad-shouldered and quite muscular.
“Oh the horror,” Sirius gaped as he untied the purple ribbon and straightened the parchment.
Alex quickly read hers.
Dear special student,
As a lot of you were unable to attend my Christmas party in December (Alex begged Sean, for hers, James's and Sirius's sake, to schedule an emergency Quidditch practice on that date, so that they wouldn't have to attend) I have decided to host a little post-Christmas gathering for all of you in hope that we will celebrate the holidays in each others jolly company. The dinner-party will take place on the following Friday, I'm hoping you all will be free and ready to attend.
Best wishes
prof. Horace Slughorn
“He's a little minx, that one!” Alex shrieked after reading the invitation.
“What? Why?”
“He made sure that we got the invitations before we even got to school so none of us had made any plans, arrangements, set up practices or landed ourselves detention. We have to go, there is no way out of it,” she shook her head.
“Maybe I could still convince Mcgonagall to give me detention...” Sirius mused.
“What do you have in mind?” James asked.
“I'm thinking something with leeches, ink and half a pound of bananas.”
“You had me at leeches,” James agreed.
“No way you guys! You are not abandoning me!” Alex complained.
“Do you want in on our prank too Taylor?” Sirius looked at her.
“No! But you are going to the Slug dinner, both of you!” she told them sternly.
“You're not my mother, you can't tell me what to do,” James whined.
“You'll have Moony there for moral support,” Sirius told her.
“No, Sirius you have to go. Otherwise Slughorn will regret giving you that permission slip, you already missed the last party,” Alex pointed out, “We are going, it's final.”
“Fine,” James groaned, “you're worse than my mother,” he grumbled under his breath and Alex rolled her eyes.
“Like little children,” she said to herself, shaking her head.
*
“So Alice, I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you yet,” Alex said on Friday when they were already “mingling”-as Slughorn liked to call it- at the post-Christmas party.
“Hi Alex,” the girl smiled gently.
“So, good news about the whole Frank-Christmas card thing, I sure didn't get one. You go girl!” she encouraged her.
“I really hope it means something,” Alice said wishfully.
Alex knew the girl well enough to not suggest again, that she should just ask Frank out.
“What about a little lively music? Are you ready to have some serious fun?” Slughorn yelled and at that moment all the lights dimmed down and music started blasting from all around them.
“Is he serious?” Alice raised her eyebrows, laughing.
“It looks like it,” Alex looked around in disbelief, as people were actually starting to dance.
“Slughorn managed to get some enthusiasm into them.”
“Ok, now I know that I never want to see Eric dancing again,” Alex pointed to the corner where a patient Lily was trying to teach her boyfriend at least the bases of moving with the music.
“Poor Lily,” Alice smiled sympathetically.
“Look there's Frank, why don't you at least go dance near him?” Alex gave her friend a little push.
“I can't,” Alice shook her head.
“Yes you can, come on, I'll go with you.”
Alice gradually agreed and they danced their way to the other side of the room, where soon Frank and Alice were dancing next to each other, sending shy glances each others way.
“Young love,” Alex smiled and wiped and imaginary tear of her cheek.
“It really get's you, doesn't it?” suddenly Matthew appeared, laughing.
“We're acting like an old emotional couple.”
“So, would you like to dance Agatha? That sounds like an old person's name, right?”
“It would be my pleasure Ernesto, my dear old husband,” Alex laughed and took his offered hand.
“You know this reminds me of a time when I was young and full of energy, it was a warm summer night and there was a garden party at my great-aunt's place,” Matthew continued to play his role.
“Oh, yes, the blossoms filled the air with a thickly sweet smell and we drank tea and did nothing interesting at all,” Alex laughed loudly and raised her hands to dance with the rhythm of the music.
They danced for a few more songs and then decided to go and get a drink.
“There you go, it's not the kind of tea you like, but it's good old pumpkin juice,” Matthew handed a glass to her.
“Oh thank you Ernesto, this reminds me of our old Hogwarts days,” Alex said dramatically.
“What are you talking about?” James popped up from nowhere.
“Yes, and who's Ernesto?” Sirius followed.
Alex glanced at Matthew and they both burst into fits of laughter.
“What is happening here?” Sirius gave James an “are they crazy?” look.
“I have no idea and who is this Ernesto?” James shrugged.
“Oh no one, just an old friend,” Alex managed to say.
“You have an old friend named Ernesto?” Sirius asked in disbelief.
“Oh yes,” Alex nodded dead-seriously.
“Well more importantly-I have an old friend named fire-whiskey,” Sirius pulled out a little flask from underneath his coat.
“Where did you get that from?” Alex hissed.
“If I told you, I'd have to kill you,” he said and took a swig out of the flask, “Want some?” he whispered into her ear.
“Ew, no thanks and your breath stinks.”
“Give me some of that,” James pulled the fire-whiskey out of Sirius's hand.
“Alex!” Lily came running up to her, “You have to help me! I cannot dance with Eric anymore, he sucks!”
“Oh well, I guess that's where you made a mistake by picking him. I am a jaw-dropper on the dance-floor,” James said, tugging on his robes and running his hand through his hair.
“Ew Potter you smell! Have you been drinking?” Lily asked bewildered.
“No,” James said with a guilty look on his face and quickly hid the bottle behind him.
“Whatever,” Lily rolled her eyes, “Will you come dance with me?” she pulled Alex towards the dance-floor.
“Is Eric really that bad?” Alex asked when they started moving to a quick song by a band named the fire-hippogriffs.
“At first I thought he would pick it up as we went along, but that boy is a lost cause,” Lily said.
“How will you guys dance at your wedding?” Alex joked.
“I don't know, I'll have to figure something out,” Lily said seriously.
“Lily, you aren't joking?” Alex started freaking-out slightly, “Do you really think you're going to marry him? You've been together for a few months!”
“I know Alex, I'm not stupid,” she rolled her eyes, “We're only thirteen or in his case fourteen, I know it's quite far-fetched to think we'll be together forever, but I really like him.”
“Despite his dancing skills?” Alex laughed.
“Despite his dancing skills,” Lily agreed.
“Mind if we join you pretty ladies?” James asked, wiggling his way in between Lily and Alex, closely followed by Sirius and Remus.
They danced in a circle for a while, chit-chatting in between and singing the lyrics to songs as they went along.
“I must say this is the best Slug-dinner/party I've been to yet,” Sirius said.
“That's because it's the only one you've been to,” Alex said.
“Oh yeah, right,” Sirius seemed a bit confused, “Then maybe it's not so good, because it drags on and seems like it's at least half a dozen dinners in one.”
“Now you're just not making any sense,” Remus shook his head.
“Well I can safely say that it's the best one I've been to,” James said.
“That's because at the last ones you didn't have your two best friends with you,” Sirius grinned.
“Two?” Alex asked in confusion.
“Me of course, and fire-whiskey!”
“Ok, you are starting to get to drinking topics here and since I am not interested, I will go and find Eric. I owe him a few more dances,” Lily said.
“I'll join you, I'm going to get something to drink,” Remus said, leaving them.
“I guess it's just us three,” James said, “Well you know what they say: three's a company, four's a crowd.”
They all moved in so that they made a smaller circle.
“Do you remember the day you came knocking on my door?” James started reminiscing.
“I was scared out of my pants, I thought your mother was going to bite my head off,” Alex laughed.
“The last thing I expected on that day was that a little pixie-haircut muggle-born girl would come knocking on my door.”
“I sure didn't expect that I would gain such a friend that day,” Alex smiled.
“And do you remember how you hated Sirius when you first met him?” James laughed.
“Yeah well, things sure have changed since then,” Alex said, glancing at Sirius who gave her a smile and they shared a moment that only they could, “but I still hate you, just a tiny bit,” she laughed.
“I bet you do,” Sirius grinned.
“Did you know how nervous Sirius was on the first day? He practically strangled me, just so that he would have something to do,” James continued.
“Why were you so nervous?” Alex asked, but as she said it, she realized what the answer was, “Oh yeah, you were worried about getting sorted into Slytherin.”
“Thank god I jumped that bear-trap,” Sirius said, relieved.
“And do you know the hours he obsessed and obsessed over getting you to notice him Alex? He drove me absolutely mental- oh...”
James's face dropped suddenly as he realized what he had just said and a look of panic crossed Sirius's. Alex covered her mouth in realization.
“Ok, I've got to go,” James said quickly and fled into the crowd.
“You liked me?” Alex looked at Sirius for an explanation.
“No,” he answered.
“But James just said...”
“James is a little bit confused and a little bit drunk,” Sirius grinned taking Alex's hands in his and swinging her around the dance-floor then pulling her close to him.
“Wow Black, I didn't know you had it in you-the dancing I mean.”
“There's a lot of things you don't know about me, baby,” he whispered, for a second once again not being able to get out of his skin.
“Oh yeah, like the fact that you had a crush on me back in first year?” Alex teased, a smile spreading on her lips.
“No, now where did you get that from?” Sirius smirked.
“Just admit it.”
“When you admit that you found me irresistible, I mean look at me-who wouldn't?”
“I can't believe I am saying this, but yes I did think you were cute, sadly that impression was ruined the second you opened your mouth.”
“Oh, but you did think I'm cute,” he wiggled his eyebrows and spun Alex beneath his arm.
“Cute in a puppy-dog sort of way,” Alex giggled slightly.
“Oh come on! I am a man! You must have thought I was sexy, not cute.”
“Nah, I think the exact word I described you with was: cute,” she laughed again.
He pulled her to his hip and suddenly Alex was very aware of his hand on her hip and the fact that she was pressed very closely against his body. Sirius leaned into her so she could feel his breath on her neck and he whispered slowly: “And what do you think now? Am I still cute?”
She tilted her head to see his face and to asses, if he was just doing one of his supposedly charming flirting things. But she was met with a pair of grey eyes that seemed totally serious and he looked at her with a burning sensation that sent shivers down her spine and she started leaning in, closer and closer, their lips were just about to touch when suddenly reality came crashing down in shining light and Alex was slammed into a different world.
“What? How could this be possible?” the snake-like creature yelled.
“No,” Alex moaned, “Not again,” everything was dizzy and she was caught between two totally different surroundings, not being able to focus on either of them.
“I am not the only one? Another?” he hissed, grabbing his head with his long pale fingers.
“Alex! Alex! Are you there?”
She felt rage, burning rage that was not her own. Every inch of her was trembling with the pain of the heavy emotions. She started transforming into a different mind.
How could there be another? I thought I was the only one, this is not possible.
“Alex! Wake up!”
“How?”
“ALEX!”
Everything collapsed in darkness.
A/N: Hello! So I know that a lot of people were disappointed with the last chapter and hopefully you liked this one more. I would also like to point out another thing: my first language is not English so please, if you find some spelling mistakes (feel free to point them out) but please don't be too harsh. I am doing my best and sometimes I spell a word which is actually correct (so the program doesn't underline it with red), but the meaning is different or something in that area. I do always read through everything, but of course some errors escape me. I am sorry.
Please tell me what you thing about this chapter. I have now already gone through a month of my summer vacation and I have rested well after a tough year, so you should be expecting fast updates as I plan on writing a lot! (:
http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com