Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 68 - Goodbye

This is so sad alexa play despacito

 Al heard her bedroom door creak open, and she sat up in bed, glaring at the figure that had snuck in, probably to smother her in her sleep. The gas lamps clicked on and Al blinked stupidly in the sudden light. Hermione stood there, fully dressed, with her wand in hand.

 "Mundungus slipped me two vials of potion earlier," Hermione said. Al looked at her blankly. "So?" Hermione whispered, as Al clambered out of bed, "Are we going, or what?"

 "You want to go now?" Al hissed, thinking Hermione was insane. "It's the middle of the night!"

 "So we'll be back by morning," Hermione reasoned, "I've thought it out," she continued, "We can get the Knight Bus to my house, then to yours, then back here."

 Al thought for a moment, then nodded, "Alright then," she said, "Give me five minutes."

*****

 Al rubbed Hermione's back as she cried into her hands, the Knight Bus rocking them from side to side. "It's alright, Hermione," she whispered, the knot in her stomach tightening with every sob, "You did this to protect them." Hermione sat up, the tears still streaming, but silently now. Al looked out the window, the houses growing more familiar. They were almost at her house.

 The bus screeched to a halt, and the conductor announced, "Privet Drive." Al grabbed Hermione's wrist, and half-dragged her off the bus, thanking the driver as they went. Number four, Privet Drive. It was right there, and inside, her parents would be sleeping peacefully.

 "You don't have to do this, Al," Hermione croaked, "We don't both have to lose-"

 "But it will be so much worse if I don't," Al reminded her. "Do you have the potion?" she asked, "And Harry's hair?"

 "It's already in there," Hermione said sadly, as she handed her a vial. Al plucked her own hair out and dropped it in. The potion fizzed slightly as it dissolved, becoming completely colourless.

 Al walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell once, Hermione hovering nervously behind her. A light clicked on upstairs and she heard her Pa mumbling as he came down the stairs. "What?" he asked, flinging the door open. His eyes widened as he saw his daughter, "Alexandra," he whispered, "but you're...they said..."

 "I'm right here, Pa," Al said, embracing her Pa for what she knew would be the last time. A monster in her stomach gnawed at her, telling her to stop, that she could go back, but she knew that she couldn't.

 "Who's this then?" Vernon said, turning to Hermione with a face that was clearly him trying not to cry.

 "Oh, just a friend from school," Al said, "But don't worry - her parents are normal too. Listen - I need to talk to you and Ma. I reckon I've got some explaining to do."

 Her Pa stood aside, and she and Hermione crossed into the kitchen while he went to go and wake Petunia. Al put the kettle on and began making two cups of tea, pouring half the potion into each. Hermione stood behind her, watching her every move. "Sit down," Al whispered, "It'll make them feel better."

 "Alexandra?" Al's Ma said from behind them. Al whipped around to see her Ma's disbelieving face. She too enveloped her daughter in a hug. Al felt a mix of emotions. She had a weird relationship with her parents - they weren't the nicest of people. In fact, they were some of the worst sorts. But they were her family. And their actions - well at least her mother's - were understandable.

 Al now knew that her Ma didn't dislike magic - she was jealous of it. Where her sister was special, she was plain. And while this was incomprehensible to someone who had so willing closed her mind, as Petunia Dursley had, it was easily understandable to Al. It didn't excuse the way she'd treated Harry - it never could. But it explained it, so Al could still find it in herself to love them.

 And that was what she felt, as she stood in her childhood home, feeling the familiar embrace of a mother that too many children had never felt. Al would be eternally grateful that they'd had so long together.

 Everyone sat down at the table, and Al pulled the two mugs of tea close to her. "Before we start, I just want to say, that...that I love you both so much. And no matter what, I'll never forget you, even when we spend time apart, like we've had to in the last few months. I'll still always love you."

 "We know that, sweetums," her Ma said kindly, despite the worry in her eyes, "Now what's been going on? Where've you been?"

 Al pushed the mugs towards her parents and watched as they each took a sip, "And," Al continued, her voice barely a whisper as tears crowded her eyes, "I wanted to say goodbye."

 She watched as they both dropped their mugs on the floor, tea and ceramics spilling all over the carpet. Their eyes glazed over, and they sat rigid in their chairs. "Come on," Hermione hissed, pulling at her arm, "Come on, it only lasts a few minutes."

 The two girls stepped outside, and Al began placing a few muggle repelling runes on the walls and around the perimeter. "So the house is empty next summer," Al explained tears falling down her face like a running tap.

 Returning to Grimmauld Place was a blur for Al. Her tears fell thick and fast, and she remembered the cold night air as they stepped off the Knight Bus and into the house. She remembered as she and Hermione stepped lightly up the stairs and hugged each other goodnight. And she remembered the unending feeling of pain and loss that she felt. They weren't gone. And yet, they were.

 The only thing that made Al feel worse was the fact that tomorrow, she would have to tell Harry something that would change his life. Harry was a horcrux. And she knew it was going to break him as she was broken now.