A Draught of Firelight (Prof. Severus Snape x OC)

Frosted thoughts

Luckily, the stairs managed not to shift and Alex quickly made her way to the first floor then down into the Main corridor. She silently prayed that Madam Pomfrey wasn't lurking about, waiting for her to put her coat (which the McGonagall had made her buy) on to drag her into the Hospital Wing to weigh, poke and prod at Alex's nearly healed figure.

The Gryffindor popped into the Hall to grab a solitary issue of the Daily Prophet and leafed through it, revelling in how much things were blown out of proportion just to attract readers.

"I thought you didn't meddle with posh gossip," said Lupin strolling in after her.

"I never said I didn't find it entertaining to see what they go on about," Alex replied smirking.

"I wouldn't be surprised to find a column devoted to going on about Sirius," he mumbled.

"Me neither, honestly. I still don't know what to think about this whole ordeal and that Skeeter woman isn't helping," she said dragging a hand through her long red waves.

"Do you remember him from... you know... before?"

"I ran into him a couple times by the lake with you, James and Peter, and I know all the girls in school talked about him and his luscious locks. One of my friend's sisters had a huge crush on him."

"Sirius was all over the place. He and James were the masterminds, for the pranks, for the map... and I still have no idea what happened that night...I know it sounds strange, but I can't believe it, can I? He was our best friend, he was..." Remus trailed off as the wandered to the edge of the courtyard.

"I know Moony, it's confusing. We all lost someone, and worst thing is that we know that could have just as easily been either of us," Alex patted his shoulder and incinerated the copy of the Prophet.

"On a less depressing note, what do you want to do today?" he asked.

"Do you want to go see what Peeves is up to?" Alex tried nudging him in the ribs.

"Why would I go looking for him?"

"That's not what you used to say," she grumbled and headed outside getting immediately doused with minuscule shards of ice. An idea had popped into her head. It was probably madness, but she wanted to see if her speculations were correct.

"Alex! Come here—Merlin—you'll freeze to death," Remus ran after her almost losing his balance on the frozen steps. The cold whipped their faces and soon enough they both couldn't feel their fingers and noses. Alex promptly stopped when she got to the Training Grounds and turned to see a dishevelled Lupin glaring at her.

"Do you have a death wish?" he fussed rubbing his hands on his arms in a vain attempt to keep warm. Alex rolled her eyes and took out her wand pointing it at the sky. She had a theory, Meteolojinx recanto probably wouldn't work and if she cast a Patronus the dementors would scurry off and Dumbledore would have the Ministry knocking down his door in less than an hour.

"Nivosus pacifico!" Alex yelled over the billowing gale. A spiralling jet of blue light shot out of her wand and reached the clouds with a surprising thud. The sky flashed for a second, then the wind quieted and the shards of ice that were flying about gradually started clearing, quickly turning into fat snowflakes. Alex grinned and heaved a sigh.

"It was the Dementors wasn't it?" Lupin asked smiling at the sky.

"They don't only mess with people when they attack, but they literally feed off happiness. They put you off in general, and with the high hopes for a white Christmas, they dissipated happiness by making us miserable inside," Alex nodded quickly and started down toward the now peaceful Black Lake. Lupin followed a few steps behind and, unbeknownst to the redhead, kept grinning like an idiot. The girl before him was a marvel even if she looked after her abilities in a cynical way, that reminded him only too well of how she had been trained for combat, how she had taken to the fight against Voldemort when she was a little older than Harry Potter himself.