d o v e

e i g h t e e n

Alexandra's friends grew concerned as she started becoming distant, leaving her dormitory early in the morning and not returning until late at night. The only time she spoke to her friends was in her sleep as she relived all the worst moments of her past two years at Hogwarts. They feared Alexandra had finally reached her breaking point after the incident with Harry and Draco a few weeks ago, and nobody knew how to help.

She sat alone at meals and in classes, even refusing to attend Quidditch matches to support her friends.

"When I get captured," Alexandra said quietly to Draco. He had been out of the hospital wing for a few days now, but he's been too busy continuing his task to meet Alex until today. "Do you think they'll even try to come rescue me?"

"They won't have to rescue you, because you're not getting captured," Draco assured. Alexandra rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious. They're much closer to Harry, and he's definitely more valuable. I'm sure they'll be more worried about protecting him than me," she frowned. Draco did as well.

"Then they're not truly your friends," Draco told her. "If they were your friends they would do anything to ensure your safety, no matter the risk; similar to what you've done for them, with Tom and all. You expected to die for them, for all of us, and you still do. If they don't appreciate that, they're mad."

"Since when did you become so caring?" Alexandra joked. Draco chuckled.

Earlier that night, Draco had shown Alexandra his progress with the vanishing cabinet. Since his return from the hospital, he was able to successfully send and retrieve a living thing to and from the cabinet's sister without harming it. It only took nearly dying and weeks stuck in a hospital for him to finally understand the cabinet enough to mend it properly.

Alexandra had been expecting that moment for a while now, but it wasn't until she saw it with her own eyes that it became so much more real. The day was inching closer by the minute, and she began to think she wasn't as prepared to die as she once thought she was. She already made her decision to give herself to the Dark Lord, though, and that wasn't going to change. She supposed it was the small chance that she'd be saved by her friends that made the decision so easy before, but now things were different. Now, she didn't have as much hope.

"Of course she would support you, Ginny. Especially with how understanding you've been regarding her and Malfoy. She might be mad at the world for good reason, but that doesn't mean she isn't still your friend. She knows how happy Harry makes you, and I'm sure she'll be thrilled for you when you tell her you two are finally dating," Alexandra heard Hermione tell Ginny as they walked into the dormitory, assuming their friend was still sleeping. She turned in her bed, looking at them.

"You're dating Harry?" She asked. The girls stopped short.

"I am," Ginny nodded. "I hope you'll understand, I-"

"It's about time, don't you think?" Alexandra asked, smiling lightly. A grin grew on Ginny's face as she jumped on Alexandra's bed, hugging her as Hermione joined them. The three girls laughed, interacting for the first time in weeks. "I heard Lavender is finally done with Ron, too. That got old rather quickly, I have to admit."

"That's not exactly an unpopular opinion," Hermione laughed. "How's Malfoy doing?"

"His scars are still healing, but he's doing alright otherwise."

"He's gotten rid of the book. He's also agreed to put away that map," Ginny explained. "He feels absolutely horrible. He's been beating himself up for weeks. He truly never intended an outcome that drastic."

"Draco did cast the cruciatus curse right before," Alexandra admitted, frowning. "That's what I heard before I ran in. Maybe Harry was right to try and defend himself."

"He still shouldn't have used a spell he didn't fully understand. I don't think Malfoy would have gone so far to kill Harry, but Harry could have very well killed him," Hermione surprisingly defended. "Besides, Harry said the curse didn't work. It hit him, but he didn't feel any pain."

"It's because he didn't want to cause any," Alexandra explained. "The curse doesn't work if the wizard doesn't truly want to cause the victim pain and take pleasure in their suffering. Harry figured that out last year."

"We think you two should talk. You know, sort things out," Ginny suggested. "We all miss you."

"All of us," Hermione accentuated. "We need to stick together, especially now."

"Voldemort is after me, too," Alexandra admitted, deciding her two friends deserved to know the truth. They were both taken aback. "And when he comes for me, I'm going willingly."

"Are you mad?" Hermione asked angrily, standing up. Ginny joined her. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I'm not going to put my friends in danger because of a mess I made."

"Dumbledore made that mess, not you," Ginny added. "You shouldn't have to suffer because of his mistakes. He knew that task would put you in danger, and he sent you anyway!"

"We won't let you give yourself up to him," Hermione assured, starting to cry. Alexandra felt strange admitting it, but her friends' obvious worry made her feel better about her decision. "We can help you."

"You can't," Alex said sternly, getting up out of her bed. "Forget I told you anything. This was a mistake."

"We can't just forget-"

"Obliviate," Alexandra whispered, watching sadly as her friend's faces fell into a blank stare. Her heart broke, feeling like she betrayed them by erasing their memories. "It's wonderful to hear about you and Harry, Ginny."

"We think you two should talk. You know, sort things out," Ginny repeated. Alexandra let out a deep breath. "We all miss you."

"All of us," Hermione accentuated once again. "We need to stick together, especially now."

"I know. I just need time, but I'll talk to him. I promise," Alexandra smiled. "Now, tell me everything. How did it happen?"