"Harper, I don't know about this, a dating game? For the theme of your bachelorette party?" Alex asked, "Thought the party was to celebrate your last few days of being unmarried."
"I know but I wanted to break norms and do something different. Look, it's the end of the party, where the guys at Zeke's bachelor party will draw one of our names, excluding me. They will then take the woman whose name they drew on a date," Harper explained.
"I dunno, Harper, I don't know if I'm ready," Alex hesitated.
Harper sighed on the other side of the phone and said, "Look Alex, I know it has been a couple of months since Mason left you after he got scratched by Justin's psychopathic ex-girlfriend Juliet. And I know a month ago when you went to go look for him you found out he mated with Isabella. It hurts, I know, but you have to give this a try to move on. I don't expect you to find the love of your life tomorrow, but I want you to dip your feet back into the dating pool and maybe you might find your perfect match along the way. You'll never find the one if you never try."
"I-I know, and I keep telling me that, but I keep getting nightmares, the voices in my head all taunting me with reasons why he didn't choose me in the end," Alex sighed, "I wish I knew why."
"He didn't appreciate you as much as you appreciated him. His loss. Now, forget about that douchebag, and pick out a dress. You're coming to my party because you are my best friend, okay?" Harper asked.
"O-Okay," Alex stuttered.
"Remember, wear something cute. And NO CONVERSE!" The redhead reprimanded before hastily hanging up.
Hearing the dial tone, the brunette sadly smiled and remembered those rebellious times she and Harper spent before she met Mason. Back then, boys were stupid and didn't know how to think straight. She would wear street-style clothes. But that changed when she met Mason, whose sweetness changed her idea about boys. She would dress nicely and place makeup and refine her manners.
All for him.
Alex sighed. But now he wasn't there anymore. He was probably in Transylvania, happily f*cking his mate, who didn't happen to be her.
Glancing into her closet, she found a simple teal button up dress with the collar and no sleeves. She decided to pair it up with some simple black flats. The brunette family wizard secretly hoped to herself that doing this would be the best for her.
"Let's hope that this goes well," Alex prayed to herself.
-x-
"Harper?" Alex asked her best friend once she found her the next day.
"Oh Alex! You're beautiful! And you got a haircut! With bangs!" Harper fluffed around Alex's curly hair.
"Yeah, decided a curly bob cut with blunt bangs would be the best thing for me," Alex nervously smiled, "Do you like it? I got it done yesterday!"
"You look beautiful even if you shaved your head bald, Alex," Harper rolled her eyes and dragged her best friend to the crowd of single women.
Alex tensed up when she was dragged. Somehow, spending most of her time with one person made her feel antisocial and more claustrophobic around people.
Harper, noticing the discomfort of her best friend, flashed the brunette a sympathetic smile and squeezed her left forearm before blending in with the crowd. Chatting busily around her, were the former classmates from their college days.
And for once, Alex never felt more isolated in her life since Mason deserted her.
-x-
The end of the party came, and all the girls all giddily running out into the common room, the room that connected Harper's bachelorette party and Zeke's bachelor party. Somehow, these two lovebirds loved enough so much they couldn't bear to spend their last moments as unmarried people apart from each other.
The guys filed in from the room that held Zeke's bachelor party and one by one the guys went to the girls with the said name and they would hook arms and leave the room. Alex had to resist an eye-roll as girls would obnoxiously demand to be taken at expensive restaurants and the guys would reluctantly agree.
When the room slowly by slowly cleared up, Alex turned to her best friend and sighed, "Harper is he coming or not? Because if he isn't then I have to get home."
"I don't know, I mean, your name was in the pool and all the names got chosen, so I don't know what happened," Harper panicked.
Alex shook her head and placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder as a sign of comfort, "It's okay. Look I gotta go home, but it was nice coming here and celebrating your bachelorette party with you."
Harper reluctantly nodded and Alex started to walk out of the room when a familiar voice whispered, "Alex? Is that you?"
Suddenly it felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. Whirling around, she was bewildered to find out her longtime crush, Harry Potter standing there. In his hand was a piece of paper with the name, Alexandra Margarita Russo, scribbled across it.
"Oh look my puppy's vaccination appointment is right now!" Harper made up an excuse to leave the two alone together and dashed out the room shortly after.
"Harper-!" Alex yelled but sighed in defeat when her one pillar of confidence disappeared.
"Is it really you?" Harry asked.
"Uh… yeah it is," Alex smirked slightly, "Never changed."
"No, you did," Harry insisted, making Alex's smile waver and vanish.
"It's… a lot has happened since we last saw each other at Hogwarts, remember?" Alex sighed.
Harry nodded and said, "Tell me about it."
"But why are you here? Last time I heard from you, you and Ginny were dating throughout your last year of Hogwarts," Alex rose an eyebrow, trying not to feel jealous.
"Can we… can we talk elsewhere?" Harry asked.
"How 'bout my apartment?" Alex asked, "Super close to the family subshop."
Harry nodded and followed the brunette witch outside, in the cold, crisp air of the winter breeze. Somehow, while some people would complain that it was too cold, Alex loved the cold. Like Elsa, the cold never bothered her anyways. Well, after Mason just replaced her, that is.
"We're here," Alex announced when they reached her apartment complex and started to walk up the railing to her room.
Unlocking the door, she held it open for Harry to come in and closed it after herself.
"What a quaint place," Harry complimented.
Alex rolled her eyes and said, "It's teeny tiny. You don't have to be nice. Now what would you like for dinner?"
"I dunno, Italian food?" Harry asked while scratching the back of his head.
Alex nodded and took the wand out of her boot and waved it. Suddenly, food appeared on the table of lasagna, pasta, spaghetti, breadsticks and two mugs of hot cocoa.
"Kind of reminds me of grand feasts at Hogwarts," Harry laughed as he sat down.
Alex nodded, grimacing at that word. That place brought back some tough memories for her. More than fighting Voldemort it was having a crush on somebody who was too dense to like her back, or so she thought.
"So you didn't answer my question," Alex asked as they began eating, "We're in a quiet place, so spill."
"I thought I could bury some of my feelings for you if I just dated her. She seemed to like me for a long time so I thought why not? Maybe somewhere along the way, I could love her back too. But shortly after our 7th year, it just seemed cruel to lead her on so I broke it to her and she took it hard. At least she's happy now, she's dating Neville Longbottom," Harry shrugged.
"Wow, that's rough. Even more rough than facing that noseless dude," Alex grinned.
"And what about you?" Harry asked.
"Well had a couple of boyfriends here and there but was in a serious relationship with a werewolf named Mason Greyback, for two years. He left me for a mutt named Isabella a month ago, when I found out he mated with her," Alex sighed, twirling around her noodles on her fork.
"Wait… Mason Greyback?!" Harry screeched.
Alex was confused, "Yeah, why?"
"He is Fenrir's son! Couldn't you tell?" Harry sputtered.
Alex remembered asking Mason where his parents were. Mason would always make up some kind of excuse to make sure she never met them. And how it took some time for him to warm up to her because she was a wizard.
"Oh my god, I didn't know! Oh my god I feel so disgusting!" Alex cried in horror as she covered her face in her hands, "I can't believe I didn't realize this!"
"Hey, it's okay, you didn't know," Harry said, awkwardly patting Alex on her shoulders as she moped.
"No I feel terrible," Alex grumbled.
"Look it's in the past. Let's enjoy the food, okay?" Harry said firmly and didn't leave any room for argument.
It was an awkward silence and now neither had an appetite since Alex mentioned her ex and they realized his identity. But Alex had something to say.
"You know, I had the biggest crush on you then," Alex said.
Harry froze, and dropped his fork as he leaned forward, "And you never told me because…?"
"You were always in this happy go lucky mood to even give me some kind of chance to tell you. Seeing your happy face made me even more reluctant to confess because in year 5, you kissed Cho. In year 6, Ginny kissed you and you kissed her back when you two went to go hide the Half-Blood Prince's potion book. And in year 7 you were dating her. And the courage for the first four years of Hogwarts that I built just vanished in the toilet Harry, you can't pin this on me!" Alex exclaimed.
"So then why did you date him? And the guys before him?" Harry asked, instantly jealous.
"Same reason you dated Ginny," Alex snapped back.
The rest of the dinner went by in silence. Alex waved her wand when they finished and the dishes magically disappeared, the dining table clean and empty, like no dinner took place.
"I guess I'll go, I guess," Harry said, his heart feeling heavy.
Alex stopped him by latching her arm on his forearm. Harry turned around in surprise.
"Will you stay the night? That is, if you have no other plans?" Alex asked.
"Sure, I'm free. But why do you want me to stay?" Harry asked, unsure.
"I always get these nightmares after I found out that Mason replaced me. The nightmares would replay the day I found out, except they would be dramatically altered in which Mason and Isabella would list out my faults why Mason didn't choose me in the end," Alex said, tears running down her cheeks, "Please."
Harry used his right thumb to whip away the tears and drew her into a tight hug, whispering, "Always."
TBC
A/N: I dunno, had this idea floating around in my head for a while. Thought I would write about it using my favorite pairing Alex Russo/Harry Potter, right?
Mason/Alex and Harry/Ginny pairing shippers should honestly not read this because there are hundreds, if not thousands of fanfics that use those pairings and honestly, the Ginny in the books was a total sweetheart and I loved her… until I saw the movies. WHICH IS WHY I DO NOT SUPPORT HINNY PAIRINGS.
So don't you go complaining to me or demanding me to write Hinny or Malex fanfics because I WILL shoot you down with a NO. But… if you have a Harlex one-shot idea, tell me and I will consider it!