An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A/N: Anyone who understands who Alexa's AI is/where she came from gets bonus house points.

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Once Fred and George were out of the corridor and on their way to dinner, I ducked behind the nearest tapestry to attach my arc reactor to my chest.

My arc reactor. I still couldn't believe that was a real sentence I got to say.

My dad created this new design for his technology where it could stick permanently to my chest like his original arc reactor without the negative effects, and the suit would just expand out from there. My Iron Man armor was a touch away at all times.

I couldn't stop myself from giggling and bouncing a little as I went back into the main corridor. I was heading for the astronomy tower, and I only made it about ten feet before I broke into a sprint. I'd been waiting sixteen years for this! I couldn't wait anymore!

I made it about halfway before I ran into anybody. I saw Percy come out of a different corridor up ahead, and I knew he'd want to talk to me if he saw me running. I debated slowing down, but I couldn't do it. My strategy was to sprint past him while he wasn't looking and be gone before he realized I was there.

This turned out to be a terrible strategy.

"Alexa?" called Percy, stopping me just a few steps past him. It took every ounce of self-control I had to actually slow down and stop.

"Yeah Perce?" I asked, only half turning back to look at him.

"What's going on? Why are you running?" He glanced around the hallway like he was looking for somebody that might be chasing me.

I knew I didn't want to tell him about the Iron Man armor, and I didn't have the patience to work on a convincing or even slightly real-sounding lie. So I just used the first thing that popped into my head.

"It's a New York muggle thing," I said, banking on him knowing nothing about New York or muggles. "You do a few sprints before dinner so that you have more room for the food."

"O-oh... alright then, carry on." I turned to go, but he called me back again before I could. "Alexa?"

I sighed, trying not to roll my eyes. "Yeah Perce?"

"Why is your shirt glowing?"

I glanced down and saw the familiar glow of the arc reactor lighting up my black t-shirt under my Hogwarts robes. Dammit. I'd have to do something about that. In the mean time, I chose to keep lying my ass off.

"Oh, I messed up pretty bad on casting a charm so this shirt's just kinda like that now. Don't worry though! I'm using it as a learning opportunity. I'm trying to figure out how to fix it on my own."

"Well done Alexa! Failure can always be turned into a learning experience." Percy was practically beaming with pride. "Let me know if you need any help figuring out the reversal charm."

"Thanks Perce! I will!" I smiled, giving him a short wave and starting back down the corridor. "See you later!"

I was down the hall and around the corner by the time Percy called his own goodbye.

With excitement and anticipation fueling me, it was only another minute or two until I made it to the Astronomy Tower. The November wind was whipping through the windows, and the purple twilight haze made my heart jump in my chest. This was perfect.

I stepped onto one of the window ledges and braced myself against the walls, closing my eyes and letting the wind sweep through my robes and hair.