Alexandra Weasley: Book 5

4

Apparently Harry performed magic in front of muggles. His arrival at Grimmauld Place was hurried, which actually gave Alex some relief. All the adults were working on keeping him safe and bringing him in, and all the teenagers were instructed to continue clearing out the house. Well, except Alex. She was allowed to stay in her room and continue wallowing and throwing herself into her books. She was mostly rereading, not wanting anything to do with any of Sirius's books on principle. She wasn't lying when she told him the only reason she was at the house was because it was the safest place for her family and she wasn't allowed to stay back at the burrow on her own.

When Harry did arrive, Alex avoided him. They were never friends. He was Hermione's friend, he was Ron's friend. And now, he knew who she was, and he had witnessed Cedric's murder. There was a new kind of atmosphere between them. Neither wanted to be in the other's presence.

The third time Alex missed dinner, Tonks brought a plate of food up to her.
"You didn't have to." Alex said.

"Yeah, but you really didn't seem to be coming down anytime soon and Hermione sprained her ankle so she's avoiding the stairs."

"Is she okay?" Alex sat up and Tonks smiled. Clearly, Alex was just as protective of her friend as Hermione was of her.

"Yeah, just resting." Alex settled back down in relief. Tonks set the plate down on the table next to her and glanced at what Alex was doing. "Homework?"

"No, that's all done." She shrugged.

"Ravenclaw?" Tonks tried again.

"Hufflepuff."

"Oh, me too!" Tonks said cheerfully. Alex didn't have a reply. "So what are you doing? Looks like some you've got some arithmancy going on there."

"Making a potion with a friend." She answered.

"What sort of potion?" Really the only thing that kept Alex from making a spiteful remark was the idea that in another life Tonks might have been her sister.

"Memory retaining potion." She said. "For people losing their mind, so they might get to hold onto certain memories a little longer."

"That's impressive."

"It's nothing." She sighed.

"I'd love to see what you find impressive if this is nothing." Tonks glanced at the picture on Alex's bedside table of her and Cedric. "This was Diggory, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I think I remember seeing him around a couple times. He was on the quidditch team my last year at Hogwarts, I believe. The two of you look happy."

"We were."

"My condolences for your loss." Alex didn't answer. "Where was this taken? That waterfall looks gorgeous."

"Hogwarts." Alex answered simply. Tonks looked confused.

"There's nothing like that at Hogwarts."

"We walked through the forest a lot. All the time." She told Tonks. "It was our secret place."

"That's incredible." Alex glanced at the picture and looked away in sadness. Tonks got the point and moved on. "So, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Not unless you know arithmancy and alchemy and potions."

"Potions, I can do." Alex rummaged in her belongings and found a book and held it out. "Alchemy for dummies. Nice."

"You won't understand any of my notes unless you can understand that."

"Challenge accepted. I'll come back when I've finished." She grinned and left. Alex frowned before shaking her head and turning back to her calculations. Haru was counting on her response so they could get into the first phase of trials by the end of the week. Taking away the time it would take for the owl to reach Japan, she had a day to send it off. Obviously Haru would be working the potion with his mother, considering he wasn't even eleven yet, but he was excited. Alex couldn't bring herself to make him delay much longer, and forcing herself to focus on the equations for the potion gave her something to do.

"You're reading." Moody noted, seeing Tonks sitting on a sofa.

"Wow, keen eye. You should be an auror." She answered.

"Who are you?" She looked up at him and saw him looking suspicious. She changing her face to look like him.

"I'm you." She changed back into her usual self. He looked at the title of the book.

"You're into alchemy?"

"Nah, I got set homework." She shrugged, flipping the page. She felt his stare burning into the side of her head and let out a sigh. "Alex Weasley. She's doing some sort of potion thing. I think her work's the only way to get through to her. That or get Black to annoy her into yelling at him again."

"She's brewing potions in her bedroom?"

"Creating one, actually. She's doing the theory, lots of arithmancy and alchemy. Hence, alchemy for dummies."

"She gave you the book to get rid of you." Hermione spoke up from her position, taking pity on the Hufflepuff. "She's making her final notes before she sends it off in the morning and is counting on you taking more than a day to finish the book." Tonks snapped the book shut.

"You're kidding."

"Nothing you do is going to get through to Alex. Especially not now."

"What if I finished the book before tonight?"

"She'll give you another or promise to work on it tomorrow because she's tired."

"Son of a troll." She swore.

"Don't worry. You're not the only one to fall for that, and you definitely won't be the last. Besides, usually she goes for a direct approach. You're lucky she's being polite."

"Polite? I've been reading for the past hour." Hermione let out a snicker, and Tonks glared.

"Sorry. Sorry. She just prefers solitude. Especially now. She's upset and in pain and overwhelming her is just going to make her want to burrow deeper into a hole." Hermione shifted a little. "She never even writes back to her friends."

"Except for the one she's making a potion with."

"Yeah, except him. Mainly because she doesn't want to disappoint him. He's a little boy and he loves working on those potions with her. Plus it gives her an excuse to hole up in the room."

A/N- lol, poor Tonks. Favourite line is "Wow, keen eye. You should be an auror."