"So how many cheeses did you put in this lasagna?" Max asked excitedly.
Theresa smirked and said, "I will never tell."
Hermione was about to open her mouth about the associated health risks she read about too much intake of cheese, when Ron's hand squeezed her own and he pleaded through his eyes not to spill the beans.
"I want to eat some cheese," Ron begged.
The young lady rolled her eyes but nonetheless yielded to her fiancé. She couldn't say no to his puppy dog eyes. However, the joy of the Russo children was short lived when Theresa made her next announcement.
"You can have lasagna when you have a bowl of salad!" Theresa exclaimed, "And no coke!"
Max slumped in his seat because his mother caught him in the act of leaning across the counter for the huge bottle of regular Coca-Cola.
"Well, a part of Juliet still rubbed off on her," Alex shrugged.
After dinner Harry asked, "Alex, may I talk to you?"
The brunette in question shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay, speak."
After a silence, he said, "In private."
"No, you may not," Justin protectively snapped in response on behalf of his sister.
Alex held up a hand in gesture for Justin to calm down. She looked at her brother and shook her head saying, "Justin, I can handle this. Trust me."
"I trust you, not this jerkface," Justin growled.
"Justin, manners!" Theresa yelled.
"Okay, fine! Harry and I will talk on the terrace with the door closed. The compromise is that while you can't hear anything we are talking about, you can see us in plain clear view," Alex held her hand up as a T for 'timeout'.
Justin wanted to retort but felt her proposition seemed reasonable so he nodded; but then he held up five fingers for five minutes. Glaring at Harry he said, "That's all the time you will get to talk to her."
Alex patted his shoulder and led Harry out the terrace, and closed the door behind her. She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at the young man standing in front of her. She tapped her foot impatiently, successfully earning his attention. She looked at anywhere but him when she said, "So you wanted to speak to me?"
"I'm sorry," Harry said.
This made Alex snort in disgust; he thinks a sorry can cut for all the horrible things he did to her in the past. Well he is sadly mistaken.
"Whatever. Just run back to your stupid girlfriend," Alex shook her head.
"We broke up," Harry said.
It was Alex's turn to be shocked; or at least display any emotion other than anger or disgust. What did he mean they broke up? She wasn't sad, but they had definitely been packing some sort of shitty star-crossed lovers' PDA during the war.
"Well choose some other girl to play your rebound," Alex snorted, "I am not going to be your personal toy."
"You were right about her," Harry admitted, when Alex turned around to leave, "She wasn't as angelic as I thought her to be."
"Oh my god, you don't say! When did you finally find out the truth?" Alex asked sarcastically when in reality she really didn't give a damn about his dwindling love life.
"A year ago," Harry said, taking deep breaths so Alex's harsh words didn't affect him, "She was comparing me to Draco, complaining when I couldn't buy her the most luxurious items in the world. She left me for him, and it was that moment I remembered your words from year six."
"I warned you, and you didn't listen to me," Alex snapped; it was her way of rubbing it in with an I-told-you-so attitude.
The young wizard look down as he said slowly, "You did."
"And what did you call me?" Alex asked.
He didn't say anything and she didn't want to bring it up but she had to. She wanted him to relive all the torture she went through.
"Well to restart your poor memory, you called me a selfish pig," Alex snapped, "I am guessing selfish pigs try to save their best friends from heartbreak, but you know what? They're leeches for doing so."
Harry's head snapped up as he caught the sight of the tough Alex Russo tearing up. He wanted to reach out for her, but he knew he caused enough damage that she wouldn't allow him to get near her.
"You're going to have to get Justin's approval if you want any sliver of chance of getting my trust again," Alex whispered.
His eyes widened as he yelled, "But he's never going to say yes!"
"Exactly my point," Alex bit back, "If you can't gain his approval, forget about being with me."
With that, she slammed the glass sliding door behind her, leaving him alone on the terrace to think about what she had just said.
-x-
"Well, you're the judge," Alex patted Justin on his back when she came back.
"Wait… what?" Justin asked.
Alex stooped down and told him everything they argued about on the terrace. She then told him how she involved his name.
"Well, it is going to take a long time for him to earn my trust," Justin snapped.
The brunette just shrugged, "Then be it so. He has to earn it from you first before I give him any hope of reconciliation."
"Good thinking," Justin nodded, "I will chew him out."
"Have fun, he's yours," Alex smirked.
Jerry cleared his throat and said, "Okay well now that it is getting late, we need to make sure our guests are situated. Max, show Ron and Harry to your room."
Max shrugged, "Okay, right this way."
But right he was climbing up the stairs, he turned around and faced Ron with a puzzled expression, "Wait… I thought there was three of you?"
"The third one is on the terrace," Alex snorted, crossing her arms, "Still there where I left him."
"Okay well I will go get him then," Max shrugged and walked to the terrace.
Alex waited and waited for Max to come back in and finally he did, but Harry wasn't there with him. She sent him a look to which he shrugged again in reply.
"He wants to talk to you," Max said, "Whatever that means."
"Okay," Alex sighed and said, "Well at least show Ron to your room. Hopefully you tidied your room. Justin, show Hermione to my room. Tell her I will flash a bed in the space available for her to sleep there."
Justin nodded and he pointed up the metal staircase and led Hermione up. Ron and Max were excitedly chatting about gross habits they have. Then finally, Jerry and Theresa escaped to the lair to have a movie night just for the two of them. Alex shivered; she didn't want to know what kind of movie they will watch, hopefully not The Notebook.
Alas the brunette shook her head and realized she still had to face with her former flame. She slid the door open and closed it after her. It had begun to rain hard so she stood under the shed of the terrace to keep from getting wet.
"It's raining hard and you're lost in thought like Jacob Black," Alex snorted.
He didn't say anything, but looked at her the moment she finished her sentence. His gaze was intense.
"You gonna stay there and catch hypothermia? Because I am NOT going to kiss you in the rain," Alex snapped, crossing her arms defensively in front of her.
"I will win you back, Alex," he insisted softly.
"Like you even will," Alex snorted, "You have to get through Justin first. And even the fact that you were the 'boy who lived' won't sway him. Come in when you realize that standing out here in the rain can catch a cold. When you gather your common senses, Max will show you to your room."
The brunette stormed out of the terrace and slammed the sliding door behind her. He didn't even stop her, like back in Hogwarts. She even wondered if he would truly love her enough to chase her, but then again, who was she fooling? No one would love her that much.
She despondently walked up the stairs, and heard the terrace door slide open. Harry decided to finally come inside. He used his wand and summoned wind to dry himself magically. Alex rolled her eyes and walked upstairs to her room quietly.
Harper was sitting on her bed explaining her weird sense of fashion and Hermione was standing around awkwardly because Alex promised to flash her a bed as soon as she came.
"Oh, my god so sorry," Alex laughed as she pulled her wand out of her boot and waved it; instantly a bed to Hermione's taste appeared complete with a mini dresser and nightstand.
"Thank you so much!" Hermione smiled as she quickly unpacked her luggage and sought to getting prepared for bed.
Alex nodded and plopped down on her bed, already exhausted.
"Wow someone seems like they saw the future; what happened?" Harper asked in good humor.
"He won't give up," Alex said, her voice muffled by her bed.
"Well that's a good sign, right?" Harper asked, unsure.
Hermione came out of the bathroom with a brush in her hand and said, "On the contrary, he's quite complicated as a person in general. He's not evil but he sure was cruel to her when she confessed her feelings for him."
"Granted, I was very sarcastic when I did admit them," Alex sighed, getting up from her bed.
"True, you could've gently told him, but he would just laugh it off," Hermione shook her head, "He wouldn't get it on the first try."
"Well that might not be a good thing to mention in front of Justin," Alex wryly smiled, "You know, if you want Harry to win."
Hermione stopped brushing her hair and placed the brush on her nightstand. For a moment, Alex got scared that she might've said something to make her angry. Even Harper was considering the same thought; though she thought Alex didn't say anything offensive… yet.
"I don't care if he wins or not. Bottom line here, Alex, he hurt you. And it wasn't tiny, it was huge. I at first felt like your brother was being too protective but then reflecting on our days at Hogwarts and how cruelly he treated you, he needs to shape up big time if he ever wants to be with you," Hermione said, "Come here."
With Alex and Hermione hugging in content, Harper felt like the third wheel. But the redhead knew it wasn't like Stevie – Hermione was a much better influence than her – but the mere fact that Alex was closer to other people that wasn't herself made Harper glum.
Hermione opened one eye and saw that Harper was sad. Alex noticed the same thing and said, "C'mere. Friendship hug!"
Harper laughed and joined in the duo's hug. Harper and Hermione grinned at each other as they yelled out, "Alex sandwich!"
"My favorite type! Best ingredient too!" Hermione smirked at Alex's protest to get out of the suffocating hug.
"Yep, Alex Russo," Harper squealed.
-x-
"If you want any chance of getting my sister back-" Justin started but was cut off.
"Yes, I know, I have to convince you first," Harry sighed.
"You think this is some kind of game? A toy machine where you place in some money and manipulate a crane to fish out a prize? Alex is not a cheap toy, her love isn't a game, and the path to earning her trust means that you have to truly prove you're not the same jerk you were back in Hogwarts," Justin snapped.
Harry was about to say something when something soft was chucked at his face. Grabbing it with his hands and carefully unfolding the piece of garment, he found out that it was an apron.
"What is the meaning of this?" Harry asked.
"You want to prove yourself to me? Here it is; you're going to work at the Waverly Sub Station without the use of magic," Justin smirked.
When Harry tried to protest, Justin smoothly cut him off, "My sister loves to use magic as a convenience but even she managed to do this job without using a hint of magic."
Harry looked at Justin, not knowing what he got himself into; but one thing was for sure, ever since he found out how much of a materialistic bitch Ginny was, he suddenly realized that the only reason he went out with her was to replace Alex and how horribly he rejected her.
"If you love her so much and will do anything to earn her trust, you'll do this, won't you? It's just a simple mortal job," Justin slyly smirked; he then proceeded to fake a yawn and walked up the metal staircase to his lone room.
Harry was left in the living room with the apron in his hands. If it meant doing a job for a mortal he would do it, only for her.
TBC…