Of Shadow And Sky

Hogsmeade and Monsters

A/N: Sorry the last one took so long. I had a short bout of writer's block.

<<<<<(-_-")>>>>>

Everything had been - relatively - peaceful for the four demigods. The only things they had to protect Harry from was himself, and Umbridge, which was easier said than done. His temper proved to be their biggest challenge, and his sudden strange dreams about a door were bothering them too. One thing every demigod learns early is that one never dismisses dreams, and one never participates in strange interactive dreams from untrusted or unknown sources.

Then there was the daily struggle to maintain the quality of their homework, and struggling to get together to discuss the quest. Alex was also continuing to wage psychological warfare against Umbridge, who had rather quickly become the most hated teacher in the school, and her headaches were becoming unbearable. She hadn't really thought too much about the years of memories that had seemed to have disappeared from her mind, but each passing moment at Hogwarts was drawing her towards the nightmare and her missing past.

"Alex? Hello? Is anybody there?"

She blinked as Draco waved a hand in her face. "Oh! Sorry, Draco. I got lost in thought."

"Unfamiliar territory," he asked with a quirk of his lips.

"Something like that. What were you saying?"

"It's the first Hogsmeade trip this weekend, and I wanted to know if you would accompany me."

Behind him, Pansy whipped her head around so fast Alex was sure she gave herself whiplash. Her neck certainly made a concerning cracking sound. Blaise was looking away from Pansy, his lip twitching.

"I would love to," she smiled.

Another pang. Another feeling of having forgotten something important. They were increasing with every passing day that she spent in Hogwarts. As if to make things stranger, she had acquired a rather elegant British accent. Thalia had pointed it out to her a few days ago when she had told off a boy for harassing a first year.

"And I've lost her again," Draco let out an exaggerated, long-suffering sigh.

"Sorry," she frowned, looking out the window. "I've just been distracted for a while."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I...No. No, it's okay. Anyway, shouldn't we be going? They'll leave without us."

She stood up, smiling, but she could tell by the look in Draco's eyes that he didn't buy it. She would have to talk to him about it sooner or later. Pansy was glaring evilly at her as she and Draco left the common room, but they really paid her no mind. And really, Alex was beginning to seriously dislike her for some reason.

~~~~~{•¡•}~~~~~

In retrospect, she should have known that the peace they enjoyed would be short lived. It was almost a given that demigod luck was absolute crap. What she hadn't expected was the monster to be that monster.

She and Draco had gone down to Hogsmeade for the day, enjoying the shops and sights. He had even bought her strawberry sugar quills, which she had discovered a passion for. They were wandering out by the Shrieking Shack when he pulled her over to a fallen log to sit.

"So, tell me what's bothering you."

She froze, and wouldn't look at him. It had been a long time since she'd been upset over this. After being imprisoned for a year and staying at Camp Half Blood, she had felt that there were more important things to be upset over. Like Kronos trying to take over the world. It was still a painful topic.