It's the penultimate chapterrrrr! Whoo!
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Alex was fully healed a week later.
"Hermione, seriously. You don't have to check in between every class." Alex huffed, hearing someone sit on the empty chair beside her.
"I didn't know I looked so feminine." Cedric said and she opened her eyes to look at him.
"Hi. Sorry. I thought you were-"
"Hermione. Yeah, I got that."
"Sorry."
"How are you feeling?"
"Madam Pomfrey says I can leave today. But only after I have dinner under her supervision."
"Nice."
"I think I'm supposed to go right back to Mahoutokoro. That'll be fun to explain."
"Just tell the truth."
"The first time I told you I saved a unicorn you didn't believe me."
"That was different, you were intentionally leading me to believe that you were lying."
"I'll think about it, and I think I'm coming back to Hogwarts in September."
"Really?"
"Well the last time I decided to go elsewhere, I somehow got teleported back. That's probably a sign that I should stay at Hogwarts." Cedric laughed. "Thank you, by the way."
"For what?"
"If it hadn't been for you, I'd still be petrified in the middle of the forbidden forest. Thanks for looking after Kichiro, and thanks for helping me."
"You don't need to thank me."
"Yes, I do."
"We're friends, remember? I was hardly going to leave you to rot."
"I would have left you to rot." She said and he snorted.
"You can lie better than that." She glared at him playfully.
"Don't you have class?"
"DADA's been cancelled for the rest of the school year." He explained.
"Huh, thought Hermione would have said something. Ranted or something." Cedric just shrugged.
"I should probably warn you. People know you're here."
"What?"
"Well, it was a secret, but now somehow everyone knows that Alex Weasley is at Hogwarts."
"Oh." She thought for a moment. "Megan's going to strangle me with her bare hands."
"No, she won't."
"Yes, she will." Alex groaned. She looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Draco and Blaise.
"So it's true? Thought you were supposed to be in Japan?"
"Yeah, but that was before I lost a hand." One of her arms was covered under the blankets and she kept a straight face.
"How?" Draco asked, looking horrified and curious.
"We were learning how to use a katana and one of the students wasn't very good."
"Can we see?"
"Madam Pomfrey's regrowing it- it looks really weird." Both Draco and Blaise look at Alex, interested. She suddenly laughed turning to Cedric. "Has your faith in my ability to lie been restored?"
"Still think you could do better." He shook his head.
"So your hand didn't get cut off?" Blaise asked.
"Nope." She held up both hands, waggling her fingers. "I just got sick."
"Right."
"What are you two doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you be in charms?"
"Ah, we've already finished our assignment. Everyone else is still working on their concealment charms, so we were excused."
"And you came here?"
"Purely to see if the rumours were true. You're supposed to be in Japan." Draco said. She nodded.
"Yeah, probably. I ran away."
"Nope." Cedric stopped her from spinning another fantastical tale.
"Yes. You see I-"
"Do not lie, please." A devious smirk grew on Alex's face.
"I did leave on my own. In fact, my host family didn't even know I was gone until I got to Hogwarts. I would have gotten away with it, if I hadn't been caught by Cedric here and he hadn't carried me back to Hogwarts."
"That's a lie." Draco tried.
"Okay, that's kind of true, but not really." Cedric said.
"So what did happen?"
"I'm keeping that a very closely guarded secret. Which means no more than five people can know. Hermione, Cedric, Professor Snape and my mum and dad. That's five."
"Not your brothers?"
"Ron would definitely tell Potter. That'd be two extra people. The twins really never keep their mouths shut, and Percy's distracted enough. Ginny's got a lot on her mind too, so I probably won't be telling her either."
"And not us?"
"Sorry. You'd have to be my friend for that information, and we've already established a Weasley simply cannot be friends with a Malfoy and a Zabini."
"Can't argue with that." Blaise shrugged. "We should go now. There's about twenty minutes till class."
"See you." Alex waved and the Slytherins left.
"So you're friends with Malfoy?"
"More acquaintances. We had charms together, and had to put aside differences if we wanted to pass."
"Oh."
"The pair of them aren't so bad when it's just us." She said. "But they act like total arseholes when other people are around."
"Right, yeah."
"Don't you have class next?"
"I've got a free period." He shrugged.
"The Cedric I know would be outside playing quidditch with his available teammates." She teased.
"Maybe I'd rather do something I enjoy more."
"Hang out in the hospital wing?"
"Talk to you." Alex had no reply for a moment, taken off guard.
"What blasphemy." She eventually said. "Maybe Madam Pomfrey should check you for head injuries."
"Haha." He said dryly.
Alex was woefully unprepared for the amount of visitors that trailed through the hospital wing. Laila Shafiq came by and Alex returned her pendant. Her siblings visited, each at separate times. She was expecting Ron, but Harry surprised her.
"Thanks." Alex told him. He frowned.
"I didn't do anything."
"You saved my little sister, and that is most certainly something. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you and Ron didn't come up with such a crazy and dangerous plan. So seriously, Harry. Thank you." He looked a little embarrassed.
"You don't have to thank me." He said. She stared at him, hard, until he gave in. "You're welcome."
