d o v e

t w e l v e

"You're wrong," Alexandra defended, almost in tears as she argued with Harry. "There has to be another explanation."

She knew there was no other explanation, but she couldn't let Draco's cover be blown. Having seen the prophecy, Alexandra knew there was no stopping the attack at the Astronomy Tower, and that's something she accepted. She felt horrible saying it, but, after everything Dumbledore knowingly put her through, she wasn't exactly eager to even make an attempt at stopping it.

"I know what I heard. He said he was chosen. What else could that mean, Alexandra?"

"How do you know Dumbledore hasn't asked him to do something? Maybe-"

"Alexandra, I know you don't want to hear it, but Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater. I was sure of it then, and I'm sure of it now. Nothing you say will change my mind."

Alexandra stormed off, heading to the Room of Requirement in hopes of Draco being there as well.

"You saw the way his attitude changed when he saw her," Hermione whispered. "I don't think he would do anything to harm her."

"That doesn't mean he wouldn't harm the rest of us," Harry responded angrily, storming off in the opposite direction. Hermione sighed, following Harry.

"Harry overheard you and Snape," Alexandra warned as soon as she saw Draco. He seemed more upset than he did angry as he fell into his chair and threw his head in his hands. Alexandra kneeled in front of him, gently grabbing his hands so they were in hers. He kept his head down, and Alexandra noticed he was shaking. Her heart shattered into pieces when he began sobbing. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him until he stopped. When he did, he didn't say a word. He was exhausted, and it wasn't until he fell asleep that she sobbed until she fell asleep herself.

She thought she had her life together when she returned to Hogwarts, but she was wrong. She has no idea what she's doing, and she didn't know how to handle it. Every aspect of her life was being questioned by herself and everyone around her, and it was extremely overwhelming. She could no longer tell what was real and what was a lie or fake memory, and she was still coping with apparently being able to manipulate one of the most powerful and dangerous feelings in the world. Her knowledge, or lack thereof, of her abilities even made her question whether or not the love she felt for Draco and the love she thought he felt back was real or just another lie.

"It says here that both individuals would feel somewhat of a burning sensation if a manipulation was occurring. It wouldn't affect you, but it would cause the victim to associate that feeling to love and therefore crave it. Depending on how bad it is, it says here it could drive the victim into madness," Ginny read out loud. The two girls had returned to the Burrow for the holidays along with the rest of the Weasley family and Harry, and they immediately found themselves researching Alexandra's abilities in order to finally get some answers.

"They say victim as if I'm a monster," Alex scoffed.

"According to this, you are," Ginny frowned. "It says your powers are fueled by feelings of betrayal surrounding the topic of love, and are geared towards ruining love for all others."

"It's almost as if Dumbledore ruined my life for the sole purpose of fueling my-" Alexandra said, stopping when she realized how accurate her joke really seemed.

"It seems to me you're feeling betrayed, and I kindly ask you not to ruin love for me," Ginny joked.

"Ginny," Alexandra whined.

"Right, sorry," Ginny frowned, closing the book. "Look, just because you have these abilities, doesn't mean you have to utilize them. I'm sure you can control them somehow like you're doing now."

"I can't believe Dumbledore would take advantage of me like that. He's had this all planned from the moment I was born, I'm sure," Alexandra laughed, not being able to believe the man could stoop so low for his own benefit. She's suspected something like this had been going on from the moment her first true memory was revealed, but now she knew for sure. Falling back onto her bed, Alex sighed.

"I've got to shower. I'll let you be," Ginny told her, smiling lightly before heading to the bathroom.

"You look like you need some cheering up," Fred insisted, noticing Alexandra from the hallway as he walked past her room. "Care to share?"

"You don't feel like you're burning when you touch me, do you?" Alex asked. Fred laughed, having no idea what she was talking about. He rested his hand on her arm to humor her before dramatically pulling it away. "I think you've just set my hand on fire!"

"I'm serious, Fred," Alexandra laughed, sitting up.

"What's this about?" Fred asked. Alexandra grabbed the book Ginny had been reading and handed it to him. He skimmed through it, furrowing his eyebrows. "You think this is you?"

"I know it's me. That's why Dumbledore sent me to Tom. That's why he lied about all of those things, he was using me like a pawn in his ridiculous game; controlling me and my powers for his own personal gain exactly like you said."

Fred frowned, letting Alexandra rest her head on his shoulder as she cried again. Since the night of the Christmas party, Alexandra hasn't gone a night without crying. It's obvious that she's both confused and overwhelmed, and her friends didn't know how to help.

A loud bang caused Alexandra to quickly pull away from Fred. The two both began looking around, trying to find the cause of the noise. Out the window, the dark skies suddenly began glowing a bright red. Fred looked out the window, immediately grabbing Alexandra and pulling her out of the room.

"My wand!" Alexandra yelled. Her wand flew into her hand as Fred held onto her other one, pulling her down the stairs and outside of the house. Frantically, Fred looked around to check if everyone had gotten out safely.

"Where's Gin and Harry?" He asked. George gestured towards an opening in the fire as Lupin, Tonks and Arthur ran through it. Alex tried to run through herself, but Fred and George held her back.

"Ginny!" Alexandra yelled, kicking and struggling to the point where Ron had to help his brothers contain her. The four kids all looked up at the sky as a string of fire flew through the air, crashing into the Burrow. It wasn't long until the entire Burrow was up in flames, and everybody watched in awe as everything they've ever known was destroyed in front of their eyes. Other than their wands and the clothes on their backs, they were left with nothing.

—— MID-STORY ANNOUNCEMENTS ——

Note: so this is a big part from the movie that wasn't in the book, and I've also included parts from the books that weren't in the movies. Bear with me. I'm just sticking in scenes that work the best for the plot/character development.

Also, there are some big gaps from when I began writing Touch and Dove to when I began publishing/continuing to write. If you notice any mistakes or something doesn't make sense, please let me know. I've been going back and forth between chapters to double check, but I may have missed some things. I very much appreciate your feedback.

One more thing: I've decided to write the books so that they equally focus on two main love interests (Book 1 is mainly focused on Tom, Book 2 is focused on both Tom and Draco, while Book 3 will mainly focus on Draco.) Don't fret Tom lovers: Tom and Alexandra's story will be fully explained, both at the conclusion of book 3 and in the upcoming 'what-if' series I'm planning on releasing. Stay tuned <3

Thank you for your support and lots of love xxx.