Harry Potter & the Wizards of Waverly Place Book 2: 7th Year at Hogwarts

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

For once in their lives, the school year was passing by relatively uneventfully for Harry and Hermione. But that didn't mean that they and Alex weren't working hard. Justin wouldn't have recognised the raven haired girl at Hogwarts. Alex left most of the pranking to Max, who was quickly making a name for himself and his girlfriend Ginny as class clowns.

Alex really liked Ginny, who she'd met when Ginny and her brother George had come to New York looking for Hermione and Harry. She sensed that there might have been something once between Ginny and Harry. And she could see why. Ginny was funny, and wicked, and kind, and fearless. And Ginny didn't take crap from anyone. But Alex really didn't have time to hang out with Max and Ginny, who seemed to be spending a lot of time in detention lately anyway. Alex was hard at work studying.

But Alex took some time off and spent it with Ginny and Max that Saturday, and she discovered why Ginny and Harry had probably not worked out.

It was a warm day for autumn at Hogwarts, and Alex had been outside by the lake with Ginny and Max. They were conjuring up little warships and playing Battleship with them on the lake. They came inside for lunch, and then went up to the Gryffindor common room together.

Ginny's brother Ron was sitting sulking in one of the armchairs. He looked up when he saw Alex come in with Ginny and Max. Alex felt cold all of a sudden. Ron was staring at her with hateful eyes. Alex usually avoided Ron because he gave her the creeps, and this was the first time that they had actually come face to face since the start of the school term. She couldn't figure out what Ron's problem was. He stared at Alex, then he stared at Ginny-but he studiously ignored Max. Alex grit her teeth. She wasn't going to put up with bullshit.

"Stop it." Said Alex sternly, "You're creeping me out. What's your problem dude?"

"You..." said Ron harshly.

"WHAT?" Alex yelled, half sneering with an angry laugh. "Are you kidding me...? I don't even know you!"

"You... you're with him... Harry... my ex-best-friend... and with Hermione... my ex-girlfriend. Now you're here with her... my sister!?" Ron snarled. "What? You come to take any more friends and family away from me?" He got up from his chair angrily.

Alex's head was spinning. What the hell was going on? Ron wasn't making any sense. Alex couldn't deal with this, she threw up her hands in frustration and turned to go back the way she came.

" Whatever Dude... You are a FREAK! I'm out, loser..." Alex said, reverting to rudeness, the only way she knew of for dealing with psychos and brothers.

But her words had unhinged Ron, who was barely holding it together. Lunging, Ron shot a hex at Alex's back. Ginny and Max, who had been watching in silence to see how things would play out, both fired spells back at Ron who toppled backwards over his armchair with tentacles growing out of his face and bat-bogeys flapping their wings as they flew out of his nostrils.

Ron's hex would have hit Alex square in the back, except Hermione had come by the common room to find her. She had seen Ron lunge with his wand and she yelled.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione only just managed to hit Ron's wand as it was already firing. But it was enough. The hex missed Alex by inches.

Alex stepped around the armchair to look at Ron. She burst into giggles at the sight of the octopus tentacles growing out of his face, and bats crawling out of his nose. These English kids really knew some great spells. Then she sniffed disdainfully and looked at Ron in contempt.

"If you EVER try that again, you'll wish those bats were coming out of your nose again, because I know other orifices they can fly out of." Said Alex angrily. Then she turned around and stalked out of the room... and ran straight into Hermione.

"Oh... I'm so sorry Hermione. Was that your spell that saved me?"

"What... oh yes it was. I came by to see if you want to go on a... er... 'picnic' with Harry and me. Then I saw him." Hermione almost spat the words. "I can't believe him. Every time I start to feel sorry for him he always makes it worse. This is too much Alex. Ron is getting out of control."

"What did you ever see in him?" Alex asked seriously.

"He saved me from a Troll once, and he made me laugh." Hermione sighed. "But that's not enough for a relationship when you're arguing all the time. I don't really know what I was thinking. We always fought. I... I don't know why I didn't just get together with Harry sooner. I've known since our third year that I wanted to be with Harry." Tears were running down Hermione's nose. "But somehow it never happened, and then I thought that he and Ginny..." Hermione sniffed and magicked up a tissue to blow her nose.

"Anyway, last year when we were helping Harry looking for Voldemort and trying not to get captured or killed ourselves, Ron LEFT us. Harry and I had never done anything-not even snogged-ever. But Ron went off in a jealous rage anyway. That's not something anyone really gets over-knowing that you might be tortured or killed at any moment-and then your boyfriend leaves you in the middle of it all."

Alex waited patiently for the next part of the story. She wanted to hear the good bit. Hermione continued after a moment.

"Well... it was awful at first. I cried for days. But Harry was always there with me, and I remembered how he made me feel. I was there when he saved his own life and his godfather's life from a 100 dementors at once in third year. That's when I first really knew. Anyway, in the weeks after Ron left, I felt closer and closer to Harry, and on Christmas Eve, we visited the graves of Harry's parents at Godric's Hollow together. He had never been before, and it was really heartbreaking. It was so sad, and yet so beautiful. It was snowing, but I just wanted to stand there and hold onto Harry and never let go of him."

"But then Voldemort's bloody snake showed up and everything went to hell. Harry's wand was broken and we were stuck in the woods again. That's when we finally just admitted that we loved each other."

"But we still had the war to fight, and Ron did come back shortly after that, which put an end to any chance for Harry and I to do anything alone together. But things were never the same between any of us."

"That holiday in New York we were trying to take, that was the first real chance we've had to be together since Godric's Hollow... and then we met you." Hermione grinned now, her wet cheeks notwithstanding. "I'm not a big believer in fate, but it seems like too much to be entirely coincidence."

"I agree," said Alex quietly. Her own eyes were slightly moistened by the tale. But without another word Alex leaned in and kissed Hermione. "Now we're with who we were meant to be with." Alex said with one of her sweetest smiles. "Where is Harry anyway?" She asked Hermione.

"Flying around on his Firebolt of course." Laughed Hermione.