a n c h o r

The Burrow 1997

A number of days went by, and there were still no answer as to where Alexandra was. It wasn't until Dumbledore's funeral that the students of Hogwarts were finally told the truth: Alexandra River is alive and safe.

Alexandra didn't attend the funeral, not because she didn't want to, but because the Order advised against it. They took their orders to protect the girl very seriously, so much so that Alexandra hasn't been able to leave the Burrow since she arrived. The Order even went to far as to confiscate her owl and therefore ban all communications outside the Burrow.

Ginny and Ron, eager to see their friend alive and well, rushed into the Burrow upon returning from Hogwarts. Ginny was excited to see Alexandra, but Ron was quite angry.

"How could she not think to mention that she had this grand escape plan?" Ron ranted angrily. Nobody other than Ginny truly knew how Alexandra escaped the Death Eaters, and Ginny decided it was best if everyone else found out on their own.

"She didn't," Fred answered, entering the room and handing Ron the note he had taken from Alexandra's pocket. Ron read it, deciding to hand it to his sister when he couldn't figure out what exactly the short note meant. He watched his sister as she seemed completely unbothered.

"It was Malfoy," Ginny stated, coming up with an excuse to explain how she deciphered the note so quickly. "I recognize the handwriting. He must have brought her here somehow."

"Mum said she heard someone apparate. It couldn't have been him. He never attended the classes," Ron argued, referring to the apparation class the ministry offered that year at Hogwarts.

"I thought you couldn't apparate in or out of Hogwarts," George stated.

"We think Dumbledore took the barrier down when he and Harry left the castle. It would have given anyone enough time to leave and return without being noticed," Ginny explained, continuing to act like she was as clueless as the rest of her family.

"Why would Draco Malfoy help Alexandra in the first place?" Fred asked. "He's a downright git, yet you expect me to believe he's some hero because of a bloody note?"

"Is anyone going to explain what exactly we're meant to protect her from?" George asked, bringing up what he thought was the most important question.

"You-Know-Who. We suppose it has to do with her task," Ginny answered.

"Ron!" Alexandra smiled, running down the stairs in an attempt to quickly end the current conversation before any more questions were asked. "Ginny!"

"Alex!" Ginny grinned, running to hug her friend. "We thought we lost you."

"You gave us quite a scare," Ron chuckled, joining the embrace. Out of all of Alexandra's friends, he seemed the most broken over her supposed disappearance. The only other time he had felt so hopeless was when Ginny had been taken to the Chamber of Secrets.

"You should've seen her when we found her," George pointed out.

"Talk about a scare," Fred added.

"We thought she was dead," George continued.

"Then came the screaming."

"And the kicking."

"Don't forget the crying."

"Yelling about how someone was going to die."

"We thought she'd gone mad!" The twins concluded.

Later that night when everybody had finally calmed down, Ron decided he would ask Alexandra what she remembered about that night. She explained the note, and how she confronted Dumbledore only moments before his death.