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Breakfast the next morning was a hurried affair. Owls zoomed all over the great hall depositing Valentine's Day gifts in front of girls.
"Look Alex. There's one for you." Susan pointed. Alex looked up at the owl that was zipping straight towards her. She reached up and untied the parcel on it's legs and a card.

"Who wants chocolates?" Alex passed around the box and Charlie let her head drop into her hands.

"When someone gifts you a Valentine's Day gift... it's supposed to be for you." Megan said.

"Who is it from anyways?"

"I don't know."

"Pedro?" Hannah asked.

"Doubtful. We've known each other for, like, less than two months. Besides there's nothing going on there, at all."

"Oh!" Charlie exclaimed. "You have a secret admirer. What does the note say?"

"A bunch of nonsense." Megan snatched the note from Alex's hand.

"It's a love poem." She snickered.

"That's disgusting." Alex shuddered.

"It's sweet!" Susan said.

"You can have it." Alex offered.

"Alex!" Charlie groaned.

"To be fair, it's really bad." Megan grinned.

Alex stayed in that trip. She knew Hermione was setting up an interview for Harry with Rita Skeeter. Personally, she thought it was a stupid idea, but it wasn't up to her. She encouraged her friends to go without her.

She was crossing the courtyard and came across Snape in her path. She froze, awkwardly. She hadn't spoken to him since before regaining her memories. Eventually she veered off at a 90 degree angle and headed towards the forest.

She went to Kichiro first.
"Hey boy." She greeted, bending down slightly and cradling his face in her hands. She pressed a kiss to the top of his nose. Soon Venus came trotting over and nuzzling into Alex beside her son. "Hey, V." Alex moved a hand to pet her too.

She concentrated, calling Saphira to come too. It wasn't long before she heard the beat of her wings and smiled.

Saphira swooped low and grabbed Alex with her claws before throwing her into the air and catching her on her back.
"Saph!" Alex giggled. The dragon just laughed with her.

There's a giant amongst the trees. She said.

"That's just Hagrid. He's a half giant. He's the school gatekeeper." She said.

No. He has a brother. A giant.

"And he's keeping him at Hogwarts?" Alex asked. "I guess I'm keeping a dragon at Hogwarts so I'm not much better."

Saphira didn't reply and instead projected her view to Alex. No matter how many times she'd seen the world like this, Alex couldn't help but gasp in awe at the superior senses of the dragon.

"Saph, you're amazing."

The next time she saw Harry, Alex marched right over to him.
"Right now, you're my hero." She told him. He furrowed his brows.

"Because of the interview?"

"What? No. Actually I think that was stupid, but I don't know. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. I mean for ditching Chang halfway during your date. Honestly, Harry. I love your style. You're the best person ever for that."

"I didn't-"

"It's okay. I just wanted to thank you for that." She pat his shoulder, and walked away. He turned to Hermione, who shrugged.

"Did you schedule the interview with Rita on the day I had a date with Cho on purpose?"

"No, but it was a nice bonus. Honestly, I thought the sooner we could do it the better."

"A nice bonus?"

"She hexed Alex. Tried to. She failed, but she did try."

"Says Alex." Hermione smacked the back of his head.

"Says I, actually. I saw her use magic on Alex's turned back. Like a coward. Are you still going to tell me I'm wrong?"

"You actually saw her? With your own eyes?" She nodded.

"Yes."

"So why didn't Alex do anything? Like the way she made Baker cut his hair?"

"Because Cho used a get sick jinx on her. It's a serious hex, Harry. She would've been stuck in the hospital wing for at least forty eight hours throwing up everything and anything. And especially on someone like Alex who barely has any nutrients in her body on any given day, it would have been really bad if it worked. Alex is very much an eye for an eye person. If someone humiliated her, she'll humiliate them back. But to exact revenge on Cho, she'd have had to hurt her back. Alex hates the idea of hurting anyone."

"She threatens us with her sword!"

"Has she ever actually raised her katana against you? Her words are her weapons. She will threaten and she will terrify you, and every once in a while hex you, but she will not hurt you. She will irritate you and annoy you and make you want to throttle her, but she will never physically hurt you. Wanna know why? That is something Voldemort would do, and she is nothing like him."

"Guess I don't know her well enough to know that."

"Think of it like this. Imagine she'd been nice to you from the very beginning. You've developed an attachment. You're really good friends. You're as close with her as you are to me. And then you find out her secret. How would you feel?"

"I dunno." He shrugged.

"Betrayed? Angry? You were mad at her without being her friend for hiding her heritage. It would've been so much worse if you actually liked her and trusted her. She knew that from the start. And she didn't want to do that to you. So, she tried to distance herself from you. So you wouldn't have to feel like that. That's what all these years have been about, Harry. Not because she actually doesn't like you. She doesn't dislike you. There's literally only two people she dislikes and one person she totally loathes. Well, actually, maybe more than one. Voldemort, and his stupid minions. Stupid, evil minions. Those monsters absolutely one hundred percent deserve violence."

"What... what happened to Alex? When he took her?"

"Horrible things, Harry. I'm not going to tell you what, because they're very private and personal and horrid. It's the stuff of nightmares."

"I know nightmares."

"I know. You've gone through a lot too. But just like you don't want to tell everyone the pain you've gone through, neither does she. It's taken a lot for Alex to try to work through everything." Harry nodded.

"Alright."

A/N- Favourite line is "I mean for ditching Chang halfway during your date. Honestly, Harry. I love your style. You're the best person ever for that."

Alexandra Weasley: Book 5Where stories live. Discover now