An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Sixty-Three

For one of the first times in my entire life during a school holiday, I actually let myself completely and totally take a break.

Normally, I would rest while also making time for passion projects, or working in the lab with my dad. Lately, the Avengers would bare-minimum drag me into some sparring and maybe a few reflex tests. But for this spring break, I actually, well and truly, did nothing.

My passion project was watching shows and occasionally baking with my family. I still hung out with my dad in the lab, but I just tinkered and DJ'd and hung out while he did actual work. When the Avengers tried to drag me into training, I put my foot down with such force that they let me completely off the hook for the first time in my entire life.

I didn't give them a lot of details about Umbridge, mostly because I didn't want to think about her, much less talk about her. But my family understood me well enough to know this last year had not been easy, and the best thing for me would be doing nothing.

So that's what I did. Movie marathons with everyone, a few baking adventures, wandering aimlessly around New York with Harley, Peter, and all our friends. For two whole weeks, I focused on that and only that. Probably, I should've tried to study at least a little bit for my wizard tests. I wanted to go out strong after all, despite not really needing good test grades from Hogwarts for my future. But I didn't crack a single text book, wizard or muggle. I hardly touched my wand, and I didn't check my regular school email once.

Normally, after doing absolutely nothing for so long, I would start to get a little bored and fidgety. But as the end of the two weeks came to an end, the break still felt like exactly the perfect rest. I passed out on the couch in the middle of The Empire Strikes Back, leaning against my dad with Harley, Peter, Pepper, and Happy around us. For those few hours, absolutely everything was right with the world.

I hadn't checked in with the wizarding world at all while I'd been gone. I'd made the twins swear on everything they held dear that they would call me if they needed me, and then I'd let myself check out. Part of me dreaded what I might find when I got back, but I knew I'd need the break to get through to graduation. The rest of my family seemed to know too, especially since they brought all the positive energy they could muster with them to see me back off to school.

"GOOD LUCK ALEXA!" screamed Harley, Peter, and Shuri, all three of them waving noisemakers in my face as they gathered around me in my usual sling portal spot. I just smiled and shook my head.

"You're all ridiculous."

"You know you love it," said Pietro, grinning at me with a noise horn in hand, clearly just waiting to blow it right in my face.

"Mm." With a quick flick of my wand, I turned it into a stick of pure salt. Pietro gagged and made a face as he let it drop to the floor. "I definitely loved that."

The look in Pietro's eyes promised revenge, so I quickly held up my hands in a gesture of peace.

"Look, before this escalates to another full-scale prank war, let me make it up to you," I said. He crossed his arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow. I gave him a nervous grin, taking a step back towards my dad and glancing at him. My dad watched me with the same expression Pietro had. "I was thinking we could let Piet have the run of the Malibu house for a few days?"

My dad's eyebrow raised even further up into his hairline, which I'd been expecting. I glanced back at Pietro and found him looking very, very excited. Ha.

"Whoever he wants can come, and if you really want, we can send Uncle Clint or somebody to keep things from getting really out of hand. But otherwise, it'd be all you Piet," I said, turning to the speedster before glancing hopefully back at my dad. "Please, Dad?"