Of Shadow And Sky

A Memory and Payback

A/N: So I'm actually surprised I've gotten to chapter 10. It's been a while since I've gotten this far with a story. Hopefully it's not as bad as the first one I ever finished (on Fanfiction.net).

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Of all the possible outcomes, this wasn't what she expected. They had tried using the Mist on him, but it hadn't worked so they'd ended up telling him what was going on. At the price of an oath on the River Styx that he'd keep it a secret. Now Alex was fidgeting with her necklace, refusing to look Draco in the face.

"Demigods," he parroted, looking at Percy. "Not the first time I've heard that term, actually. So what are you four doing here?"

"We're on a quest, but it's better if we dont share too much about that."

"Right," he snorted, but his eyes were on Alex, his expression unreadable.

Nico cocked his head to one side. "You're not telling us something."

Alex snuck a look at Draco, who looked rather closed off all of the sudden and looked up at the sky.  He seemed to be weighing his options, wondering if he should tell them. She didn't blame him, really, they were strangers, and certainly not friends. She frowned, suddenly, staring down at the ground, thinking about her own relationship with Draco. Were they friends? Well, they certainly spent a lot of time together, and he had asked her to join him to Hogsmeade. Still, just being friends felt wrong, somehow.

"On the Christmas five years ago...someone very precious to me disappeared, and her family was slaughtered."

Alex froze, eyes locked on Draco. Christmas five years ago? She'd woken up in the cell the day after Christmas. They'd been sure to tell her that, and had laughingly showed her the tree burning with the bodies. Sudden pain erupted in her head, and she cried out. It was like someone was taking a drill to her forehead. Everything went black before she woke up in a very familiar garden.

The sun was shining over the bubbling fountain at the center, the flowers seemed to dance gently in the breeze, and birds chirped happily from the willow tree next to the pond. In the gazebo, she could see two  kids sitting at a chess table. One was a younger her, the other made her gasp softly. It was the boy whose features she hadn't been able to see beyond the eyes. Now she could make out the general shape of his face, and it looked familiar. Was this a memory?

"I cannot believe her! She pushed me into the fountain," the younger Alex scowled. 

"Oh? When was this," the boy asked, lips twitching.

"You're laughing at me! It's not funny at all. My new dress was soaked, and I had wanted to show it to your mother!"

Since when did she wear dresses? She frowned, then, remembering that she'd been found in the cell wearing the remains of what had been a beautiful ball gown. The younger her sitting at the chess table was wearing a soft green day dress. She actually quite agreed with herself, being pushed into a fountain was not at all fun, and the boy shouldn't have been laughing at her.

"So Pansy pushed you into the fountain? And you just took it? Why do I feel like you aren't telling me something?"

She pouted at him, "I hate when you do that. I didn't have the chance to retaliate because she came up behind me and did it, and then ran before I could get out of the water. But I swear that I will make her life hell for this! I refuse to let her get away with this insult."