Alex spent every possible minute with Kichiro and the unicorns. His mother was protective so the rest of the herd spreaded out, leaving mother, father and foal to their own space. Alex was really the only other being they could stand. It was even hard for Luna to get close to them sometimes and often kept several metres away. She didn't let it deter her from visiting. Kichiro was getting healthier as time went on. He could walk now, and drink milk on his own. Still, Alex didn't want to jinx it so she made Luna keep their activities a secret.
It was lunch, and Alex and Luna were eating together. Alex had taken some food from the kitchens and sat with Luna further from Kichiro and his parents.
"Do the other unicorns have names?" Luna asked.
"I don't think so. I suppose we can't just call them Kichiro's mother and father. Would you like to name one?"
"I think his mother is a Venus." Alex smiled. It sounded just the sort of name Luna would come up with.
"That's a wonderful name." She looked at the mare. "Are you a Venus?" She whinnied in reply and Alex laughed. "I guess we have our answer. What about Kichiro's father?"
"You pick a name."
"Hmm. We could call him Mars."
"Mars and Venus." Luna tested. "And baby Kichiro."
"Yeah."
"I like it." Luna said.
"We should probably start walking back now." Alex said, standing up. Kichiro trotted over to her and she put her hand on top of his head. A little stub was visible. "Luna, look! His horn's growing!"
"Oh." She reached out to touch. She giggled at the sensation.
"Bye, Kichiro. We'll come back later." Alex said, and she and Luna made their way back. "Do you see Ginny much?"
"Sometimes. We have history of magic and charms and potions together."
"Right."
"She's nice."
"She is." Alex agreed.
Alex got to class a little late. The class hadn't exactly begun yet, but everyone was seated. She snuck in when Snape had his back to the classroom, writing on the blackboard.
"You've been late to class every day this week." Charlie noted.
"Yeah, sorry. Personal project."
"For Japan?"
"Yeah, sure." She said, distractedly as she set up her station with the necessary equipment.
"Considering your attempts at a fire protection potion last week was utterly abysmal, we'll be revisiting the theory behind it. Again. Let's see if you can figure out where you each went wrong." He said. "Turn to page twenty three in your textbooks, and read through. I will be giving a test at the end to see how much, if any, information you've managed to retain." He said. The sound of thirty flutters of pages filled the room. Snape walked around the room before stopping at Alex's desk. "And five points from Hufflepuff. For lateness."
As the class drew to a close, Snape began setting their homework before ordering them to pack up.
"Please stay behind, Miss Weasley." He said after dismissing the class. She stayed in her seat, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.
"I have astronomy and it's the farthest place from here."
"I'll write you a note. You seemed distracted today."
"Maybe a little. Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind."
"Anything you'd like to share?" She shook her head. "You missed class last week too."
"Right." She'd forgotten about that. "I wasn't feeling very well, so I slept in that morning."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I went down for breakfast, but I felt bad so I went back to my dorm."
"I haven't really seen you in the great hall much, either."
"I get some food from the kitchens. I don't have time to sit in the great hall." She said. "I promise."
"I trust Miss Granger can corroborate your story?"
"No, but you can ask the house elves."
"The house elves?"
"Yeah. I ask them for food."
"You do?"
"I promise I'm eating. And I feel good. Your potion helped and I'm doing better, I swear."
"Try to spend one meal a day in the great hall?"
"Fine." She sighed. "I'll be there at breakfast."
"Alright." He said, before getting a spare piece of parchment. He scrawled something down and handed it to her. "Enjoy astronomy."
"Thank you Professor."
As soon as her astronomy class was over, Alex rushed out before her roommates could catch her and headed into the forbidden forest. She ran deep to the field, slowing down as she finally reached it. Kichiro walked up to her and she placed her hands under his mouth, kissing the top of his head.
"Hi, how are you today?" She cooed and he whinnied in reply. "That's good. I had kind of a boring day, myself. I had potions. It's my favourite, you know. Mixing up concoctions, and it's all natural. But Snape just made us do some bookwork, which I guess is also kind of fun, but I'd rather have been here with you. I'm also pretty sure my roommates are beginning to hate me again, but it's not like I can tell them what I'm doing. I probably should spend a little time with them." Kichiro whinnied in agreement. "But I don't want to leave you alone." He shook his head. "Yeah, I know. You're not alone. You have your family, and you have Luna too. Oh, all right. I'll stay at Hogwarts all day tomorrow, but the first sign of trouble, and you call to me, okay? Or your mother, like she did before."
"Mother-foal relations are especially important in the beginning of the foals life." Luna said behind her. "Just like knobbypuffs."
"Sometimes I think you make up these creatures." Alex said.
"Sometimes I think so too, but then I see them and I know they're real." She held up a book. "I checked out this book on horses from the library. Unicorns might be magical, but they're still horses."
"That's good thinking."
"Duck!" Luna suddenly yelled, but Alex moved her body to shield Kichiro. She was aware of something crawling on her back, digging in deep. "Immobulus!" Luna said and walked over, plucking the creature off her.
"A pixie? Must be from Lockhart's class." Alex said. "Good aim."
"It was general. I'm surprised you're not frozen too." Luna said. "Maybe Kichiro protected you."
"Yeah, maybe."
