An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Forty-Two

"So, Alexa, how was the first half of your last year at magic school?" asked Peter as I headed for the living room with my family. I'd used a quick sling portal to drop my bags in my room before following everyone to the next stop at party central.

I grimaced at Peter's question. "It's been fine. We have a TERRIBLE teacher who's made it her mission to ruin everyone's lives, but I'm determined not to let her."

"Good for you," said Steve.

"Let me know if you want to borrow the potato gun," said Harley.

"Honestly? I might actually take you up on that this time," I said. Harley looked concerningly excited as we sat down on one of the couches in the living room. I scanned my assembled (pun intended) friends and family, then scanned them again as I realized a few faces were missing. "Where are Nat and Clint?"

"They got called on to do some work for SHIELD," answered Bruce, his tone sympathetic. "They tried everything they could to get out of it so they could be here, but it just wasn't possible."

"Apparently they're working on something pretty big," added Steve, leaning forward a bit in his seat. "It sounded more espionage-related than Avenger-related, but they couldn't give us a whole lot of details before they shipped out."

"They should be back for New Year's at the latest, though," added my dad. "If Hill's coming like she always does, I'm sure she can let her agents have a night off, too."

I nodded, trying not to worry too much. My aunt and uncle were absolute pros; they could handle anything that anybody tried to throw their way. Still, I couldn't help worrying at least a little bit whenever any of my family members got involved in something potentially dangerous.

"Alright, enough of the serious shit," said Harley, leaning forward and taking control of the situation. "This is party o'clock, and we have games to play and chaos to create before the bigger party tonight."

I laughed as Harley started organizing us for Carchphrase, one of our family favorite games to play. We got a word that we had to get our team to guess without saying the word itself, and once someone on our team got it, we passed it off to the person on our right (who was on the opposite team) as quickly as possible, hot potato style. This game quickly escalated to the point of throwing things, shouting, and cheating whenever we all played together, so I sat forward a little more to get in the zone.

I wasn't about to lose to anybody on my birthday-party-day.

Chaos erupted as my ultra-competitive family moved from one game to the next, the rivalries getting heated and accusations of cheating flying left and right. We all laughed and smiled despite the fierce competition, and none of us felt ready to wrap up in the afternoon when it was time to prepare for the later party that night. Still, we did wrap up, if only because I was still jet lagged and I needed to nap if I wanted to be any fun at party number two.

Peter and Harley tried their best to get me to go to the pet store with them to buy a goldfish or something now that I was eighteen and could legally do that, but I declined. I needed a nap, and honestly, I didn't really want a goldfish.

After a few hours of peaceful sleep (thanks to the magic warding spells I put up around my room to keep anyone from bothering me), I got dressed and headed back downstairs for round two of the birthday fun.

By the time I got downstairs, the music was already blasting. My friends and family let up a cheer as I came down the stairs, and in the crowd I could see Dale, Alana, Harry, MJ, and Ned, all muggle friends who weren't looped into the Hogwarts part of my life. I smiled and waved to them then started heading in their direction, but I stopped short when I noticed another familiar face in the mix.