A/N: Harry Potter fanfic really scares me most of the time, but I had to write this. So this is like a prologue introducing my own character-Alexia, and placing her in the Potter verse. I didn't want to write a bunch of flashbacks, so the chapters after this will take place way before this, when Charlie went to school, because. I just wanted to introduce her first. Oh--And I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own Alexia.

Alexia jumped at the tap on her window. She had just been packing up the rest of her things into a trunk. She packed the cloak she was holding tightly into the trunk then rushed to open the window of her cozy little one-room Hogsmeade cottage . She recognized almost instantly the owl sitting on her windowsill patiently, along with the messy scrawl of her name, Lexi, on the envelope the bird held in its beak. Very few people got away with calling her by her childhood nickname. She shooed the owl inside the closed the window against the night. Her heart skipped a beat as she took the letter from the owl's mouth. What if the plans had changed? What if he said she couldn't come? She crossed the room and set the letter on her desk. "You must be hungry you poor thing, " she said the the owl, "Flying all this way from Romania. Here, come rest and have a bite to eat. " She showed the owl to the small bird stand she kept next to her desk for occasions such as these.

After seeing to the owl, Lexi paced back and forth, climbing over and around the haphazardness of her stuff during packing. As she paced, she gathered the courage to return to the envelope on her desk. She sat down in her desk chair and picked up the envelope. She held the envelope to her extra-sensitive nose, to see if Charlie's distinctive scent remained on the letter. After breathing deeply, she slowly opened it, then, holding her breath, she read the letter.

Lexi,

Slight change in plans. You remember hearing about my brother Ron? Well, it seems he is following in the path of Fred and George with his exploits. Apparently Hagrid somehow managed to get a hold of a Norwegian Ridgeback egg and hatched it. How he did that I don't really want to know. Even I haven't been able to work very extensively with the Ridgebacks, they're so territorial. I don't think your parents did either, although they probably would have loved trying.

Anyway, Ron and his friends volunteered to help Hagrid get rid of the dragon, actually they probably had to talk him into it. You know how Hagrid is. They need help getting the dragon off school grounds. Is there any way you and the guys can stop by Hogwarts on your way to Romania, pick up the dragon and bring it with you?

They're all set to meet you on top of the tallest astronomy tower, you know the one, at midnight on Saturday. We'll be able to find a place for the dragon once you get here. It shouldn't be so difficult to carry the dragon between the four of you. Good luck, and write me back to let me know if this will work out. Things are getting a little hectic here and I could really use your help. I'm looking forward to seeing you; it's been a long time.

Charlie

Lexi put the letter down and just smiled. She could see Hagrid defending his acquisition of a baby dragon. He would say something like, "It's really a friendly little thing. Don't mind the teeth; he's just trying to play." Never mind the fact that dragon teeth were fairly poisonous. She opened the desk drawer and pulled out a quill and parchment and opened the jar of ink on the desktop. She pushed strands of her dark brown hair out her face and behind her ears as she considered what to write. She picked up the quill but paused just before dipping it into the ink. Even though Charlie was her oldest friend, she still got nervous writing him. She wanted to make sure and say things exactly right.

Charlie,

It's good to know that things haven't changed, with Hagrid or your crazy family. I'll talk to the guys tomorrow; we're meeting to finalize the trip, but you're right. It shouldn't be a problem. I think I know just how to rig up a harness that will hold a crate full of baby dragon. I know I just finished school last year, but it will still be strange going back. One things for sure, it will bring back a lot of memories. I know I'm looking forward to meeting another of your clan.

Thank you again for finding me a place. Things really aren't working out here in England. I miss the outdoors too much. And the fresh air. It's not too bad here in Hogsmeade, but there are no dragons.

See you soon,

Lexi

She read over the letter, nodding to herself in approval, before she put it into an envelope. She showed the envelope to the owl. "Take this back to Charlie when you're rested." The owl flapped it's wings and hooted an affirmative. He took the letter and hopped to the windowsill. "Charlie must be doing something right if you're ready this soon," she said as she opened the window for the bird.

With renewed energy borne of both excitement and anxiety, Lexi returned to her packing. If she was going to be living in Romania, she didn't want to leave anything behind that she might need. Even magically enlarged, her trunk didn't have enough room for all of her things. Carefully, she went through her stuff putting things like working clothes and magic supplies into her trunk for travel and the rest into crates for storage.

Later that night as she finished up, Lexi had time to think. Hogwarts was home to both some of her best and some of her worst memories. The thought of returning to Hogwarts, even if only for a short time, brought of all of the memories flooding back. She remembered everything from first getting her Hogwarts letter, to leaving her home in the wilds of Romania, to seeing London for the first time. She remembered her first train ride, her first sight of Hogwarts and her first experience with people her own age. She remembered how much she didn't fit in. She was the crazy, uncivilized jungle girl. Most of all she remembered Charlie. He had been her first friend and had given her a place at Hogwarts.

As she closed the lid of her trunk she tried to close her mind on thoughts of Hogwarts, especially thoughts of Charlie. She tried to focus on thoughts of her family. It wasn't hard to do. As she climbed into bed, she looked long and hard at the two pictures placed proudly on her nightstand, the figures waving at her, once they noticed her attention. One picture was of her parents, her brother and her, taken when she was 7. In the picture her brother had just graduated from Hogwarts and was proudly displaying his Hogwarts robe. Her parents stood on wither side of him, most of the time, and she stood in front. Two months after the picture was taken, her parents had died, caught in between a two males fighting over a mate. Lexi could only remember bits and pieces of her life with her parents alive. After her parents died, her older brother Henry took over the raisin gof her. Lexi, smiled thinking of her brother.

As she remembered her brother she couldn't help but think of the day she got her Hogwarts letter, which led to a slew of Hogwarts memories. Eventually, she managed to fall asleep remembering her life at Hogwarts, bot the good times and the bad.

In the morning she woke early and worked out how to fashion a harness to carry something between four brooms. The guys would probably know better than she. After meeting her, Charlie had introduced her to the rest of the quidditch team and they had all become friends. Some of the team members were bored and offered to fly with her to Romania. She was meeting them in town for lunch. Looking up from her work on the harness she realized she was almost late. Gathering her things, she reached into her pocket for her wand. Muttering the spell under her breath she disapparated appearing seconds later outside the Three Broomsticks Inn. As she entered, she was greeted by three boisterous voices shouting her name. She hurried to the table and sat down. After ordering a butterbeer, she told her friends about the new plan. They were all up for it. When she told them about the harness problem they all laughed.

"Lexi, they already make those. You don't have to invent one," Edward said. "Yeah," said Tomas, "I even have one. We used it to carry large shipments of books when I worked for Flourish and Blotts."

They finished making plans, eating and chatting then each headed their separate ways. Four days later found the foursome headed to the tallest astronomy tower at Hogwarts. They had the harness and just needed the dragon. They landed shortly after midnight meeting Charlie's brother's friends. "Where's Ron?"

"He was bitten by the little bugger," said the boy stepping forward. "I'm Harry."

Lexi looked at her friends thinking. "Harry Potter?"

"Yes," the boy said with a sigh.

They harnessed the dragon to the brooms and Lexi couldn't stop smiling. She had met Harry Potter and he smelled like steel, something that wouldn't break; and she was finally going home, to her Romania and her oldest friend. The only man she had ever loved. And she had an entire flight to prepare herself.