Author's Note: Still own nothing but Alex and the plot points you don't recognize…
Chapter 1 The Stray
She was standing in a dark room. The only light was coming from the open window as the full moon shone through. A woman sat in a rocking chair with a sleeping baby in her arms, her face half in shadow. With a heavy sigh, the woman rose to her feet, careful not to wake the sleeping child. Alex watched as the woman went to the window and looked out, her face becoming sadder, grimmer. The door opposite the woman opened and a figure shrouded in darkness entered.
"Al, what are you doing up this late?" he said groggily, "Did the baby wake you?"
"I heard her writhing around as she slept," the woman answered quietly, nodding at the now calm baby, "She was having a nightmare I suppose. I think she's all right now."
The woman went to the crib and placed the child inside, placing a light pink blanket over it and returning to her place beside the window while hugging herself tightly. The man sensed her unease and approached her, still in the shadows.
"Full moon tonight," she whispered shakily, "Poor Liz, she must be worried sick. They're trying the wolfsbane potion tonight, she wrote and told me yesterday. I hope it works…"
"Alana, we need to talk," the man said, his voice heavy with sorrow, "This is the last time we'll be able to do this, you know that. The entire Black family-"
"I don't care if it's the entire bloody British army," spat the woman, eyes blazing, "They're only making conjectures, they don't know anything. Are you going to let them stop you from seeing your family?"
"I don't want anything to happen to you two, you know how much I care for the two of you. Voldemort's supporters are looking for you and Alex, you need to go into hiding like James and Lily. Dumbledore said you can stay with them. Please Al," the man said pleadingly, "If you won't do it for me, do it for Alexandria. You know what Voldemort's men and women are capable of. Do you really want your daughter to have to deal with that kind of torture?"
The fire in her eyes died as she looked over at the crib where her daughter lay sleeping soundly. The woman looked pained as she ran her fingers through her hair and leaned against the window. Her eyes became shiny as she bit her lip to keep it from trembling.
"What about you?" she whispered, "Come with us. Please, come into hiding with us."
"Al…"
The woman ran to the shadowy man and threw her arms around him, her sobs muffled as she cried into his chest. Alex squinted as she tried to get a look at the man's face…
BEEP! BEEP!
Alex opened her eyes and turned off her alarm clock. Rubbing a hand across her tired face, she threw the covers and sat on the edge of her bed. The woman was her mother so the man must have been her father. Alex wished she could have seen him better. The only way she saw her father was in pictures. She sighed and stretched, getting ready for the day ahead.
…
"Alex! Hurry up, you're going to be late!"
"Coming Uncle Monty!" cried the girl.
She ran out of the bathroom and slid down the stairs. Running into the kitchen, she kissed her guardian good morning and grabbed some toast that was sitting on the table.
"Thanks Uncle Monty, I'm starving!" Alex said as she bit into her toast. As she chewed it, she grimaced. Her adopted uncle was a great guardian, but a terrible cook.
Alex didn't always live with her uncle. For the first five years, Alex lived with her grandparents in America. They were horse trainers in Montana. When they died, Alex was flown to England and started living a normal life with her Uncle Monty…that is, until three years ago.
Alex always knew she was special. She had tan skin and long, thick black hair with stormy grey eyes. She was always told she looked exactly like her mother, except for her eyes. Her father's eyes were blue-grey so everyone said she had gotten her eyes from her father's side of the family.
What made Alex really special was that she was no ordinary girl: she was a witch. For the last two years, she had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There was something else too. Alex had a lightning bolt scar on her right arm. For ten years, she thought it was from the car crash that killed her parents. This was not true. Her parents didn't die in a car crash, but were murdered by the cruelest wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort. Alex's scar was all that remained after Voldemort tried to kill her too.
She ate the rest of her toast with much difficulty. Afterwards, she cleaned her plate and grabbed her bag and water.
"Don't forget I'm going to visit Erin after dance, okay?" asked Alex as she hugged her uncle.
"I remember, call me when you're about to leave. I'll start dinner after you do," he said happily.
"Um, Uncle Monty, maybe I should make dinner tonight?" Alex said nervously. Ever since Alex got back after being petrified for a few months, Uncle Monty had started taking more responsibility around the house. Sometimes this was a bad thing, like when he cooked.
"Oh…you didn't like my breakfast?" he asked frowning.
"Yes, of course I did," she said unconvincingly.
Uncle Monty smiled and waved her away good-naturedly. Alex stepped out into the July morning air, took a deep breath, and started walking down the hill. Alex and her uncle lived on a hill, just minutes away from the little village it overlooked. Every summer, Alex took a dance class and, she would only admit after much pestering from her friends, she was the best in the class. Soon, she came to a brick building with a sign that read, "Miss Stacy's Daring Dance Studio". Alex opened the door and entered.
The dance studio consisted of eight rooms, nine if you counted the never used waiting room. Everyone lived so close that they just walked. As Alex put on her hip-hop shoes, one of her friends entered.
"Hey Deryn!" said Alex.
"Hey Alex! Where's Erin? You two always come in together," asked Deryn, a dark skinned girl with a full head of braids.
"She's really sick," explained Alex, "She called me last night and told me she had the flu."
"Ouch. Class won't be the same without her," Deryn said frowning.
"Yeah, it'll be a lot quieter," laughed Alex.
Just then, their teacher, Miss Stacy, told the girls to start stretching in the next room. Alex stood up and shook her hands, a large smile on her face usually reserved for learning a new potion or watching Quidditch.
"Let's get this party started," she said.
…
Alex said good-bye to her friends and set out to Erin's house. It was a twenty minute walk from the dance studio to Erin's house, but Alex didn't mind. It was a beautiful day outside. She decided to take a detour through the park right near Erin's house. As she strolled down the path, stones crunching under her feet, Alex heard a noise. She stopped and listened harder, it sounded like a whimper. Alex followed the noise to a nearby dumpster.
"Hello?" whispered Alex.
The whimpering stopped and was replaced by a low growl.
"Shh, it's okay, I won't hurt you," said Alex, trying to calm down the thing that was behind the dumpster. Usually Alex would have tried to communicate with it in its own language, but she had no idea what the animal was. She hoped her soothing tones would make the animal calm enough to come out.
The growling subsided and Alex heard the sound of something getting up. A large black dog came from behind the dumpster.
Alex gasped and took a step back. The dog was as thin as a rail and had a glazed look in its eyes. It stumbled over to Alex and lay down at her feet.
"Oh, you poor thing! Come on buddy, good thing Erin's dad is a vet." She tried to pick the dog up, but even though it was so skinny, Alex couldn't lift it. "Um…stay," she commanded. As though to prove it wasn't going anywhere, the dog curled up in a ball.
Alex sprinted through the park and up to Erin's door. She rang the doorbell and pounded on the door. She stopped only after Erin's dad opened the door.
"Dr. Malloy," Alex said hysterically, "You've got to come right now!"
"Alex, calm down-"
"Please, there's this dog, it's really sick, can't even stand very well. It's in the park."
"All right, all right, let me get my stuff," said Dr. Malloy.
Alex waited outside, pacing. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Dr. Malloy came back and Alex led him to where the dog was. Dr. Malloy took out a pair of latex gloves and, as an after thought, handed another pair to Alex.
"You'll need them for protection, in case it has some disease," he said.
Alex sat down so the dog could see her and tried to comfort it. After a few minutes, Dr. Malloy looked at Alex sadly.
"We need to get him to my office, fast. He doesn't have much time left, but I might be able to save him. Help me lift him."
Alex obeyed and the two of then carried the whimpering mutt to Dr. Malloy's office, which was only a minute from the park. After they got the dog there and made sure everything was set to go, Alex went to the front desk to call her uncle. After assuring him she was safe, she called Erin to let her know what was happening.
"I'm with you dad, he's taking care of a dog I found at the park," Alex told her friend.
"Is everything okay?" asked Erin. Her voice sounded like she was congested.
"Yeah, but I'm worried about that poor dog. He looks so sick."
"Don't worry Alex, my dad's the best vet around. He'll take good care of him."
…
Alex was dozing in a chair when a nurse told her that the dog was doing great and she could see him. Alex followed the nurse to a room and entered. Lying in a doggie bed on the floor was a much happier black mutt.
"Hi buddy! How do you feel?" asked Alex in a whisper as she lay down next to the dog. The dog looked at her and wagged his tail. "What's the matter buddy? Can't you understand me?" The dog cocked his head to the side and wagged his tail even more. Alex smiled and scratched him behind the ears. The dog closed his eyes with pleasure and Alex laughed. Even if he couldn't talk to her, he could make his emotions known well!
"He's a real character, isn't he?"
Alex looked over and saw Dr. Malloy leaning against the door. Alex nodded and continued scratching the dog's ears. Dr. Malloy sat down in the chair next to her.
"I called all the local shelters and no one's reported a missing large, black dog. Still, I think someone should put up posters, just in case.
"Also, he's much too weak to be taken to a shelter and we don't have enough room here for him, so…I was wondering if you would like to take care of him."
"Are you serious?" asked Alex.
"I can understand if you don't want to, it's a large responsibility. He'll need to be bottle fed for a few weeks and gradually introduced to hard food. However, I talked to you uncle and he said he's fine with it, as long as you are."
"I'd love to take him!" said Alex. She wrapped her arms around the dog's neck. "Hear that boy," she whispered, "You're coming home with me." The dog's tail thumped on the ground and Alex took that as pleasure.
…
Alex came out of the back room to find her guardian signing papers at the front desk. When he saw Alex, he set the pen down and enveloped her in a hug.
"Do you enjoy scaring me half to death?" he said, voice full of relief, "When Dr. Malloy called, I thought you had gone and gotten yourself hurt again."
"I'm sorry Uncle Monty," she said with a smile as he let her go, "Although I think what happened at school is worse than anything that can happen to me here."
"You, Alex Ratcliff, are more of a trouble-maker than your mum," laughed Uncle Monty.
Suddenly, Alex felt fur under her fingers and looked down to see the black mutt by her side. His tail was wagging hard and he was barking happily.
"I think he's happy to be coming with us," her guardian said, "Come on, I filled out all the paper work already. So, what are you going to name him?"
"Not sure yet," said Alex, "I'll think of something though."
When they pulled up the drive way, Uncle Monty told Alex to give the dog a full head-to-toe cleaning, so Alex took the dog upstairs and scrubbed him down. While doing this, she though of names out loud.
"What about…Charles? No, that's too posh for you. What do you think of…Spike?" In response to this, the dog shook himself, spraying water all over the bathroom. "Apparently not," said Alex, wiping water off her face.
After giving him a bath, Alex took a new toothbrush and brushed his teeth. Alex noticed, though, they were more like fangs than teeth.
"Oh Merlin!" said Alex, waving a hand in front of her face as she brushed, "Your breath smells worse than some of Uncle Monty's cologne." Afterwards, Alex clipped his nails and brushed his coat. "My friend, you look ready for a dog show," Alex said, stepping back to admire her work. The dog jumped up and put his paws on her shoulders, panting. "Just don't breathe in their faces," Alex said as she pushed the mutt off her.
She led him to her room and grabbed some extra blankets. As she was arranging them in the corner of her room, the dog jumped on her bed and curled up in a circle.
"Oh, fine! You can sleep on the bed," said Alex laughing.
She pulled out her Astronomy book, some parchment, and sat at the desk by her bed.
"Can you believe I have to copy and label all the constellations and planets in the summer sky?" said Alex angrily, "I mean, who cares about Mars, or Orion, or…THAT'S IT! What do you think of Orion for a name?"
The dog sat up and thumped his tail on the bed, letting out a bark of what Alex took for approval."
"Then I, Alex Ratcliff, dub thee Orion the dog. May you eat well, live long, and not drink from the toilet." Orion did a dog smile and licked her face. Alex grabbed a disposable camera that was lying around her room and wound it up. "I need to get some pictures of you for the fliers and for my friends." She took a few pictures of him and then some with her in them too. Once the roll was done, Alex looked at her watch and ran over to the window.
"I guess this book did come in handy," she said.
…
It was past midnight when she finished. She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and crossed out the word "Astronomy".
"Only Defense Against the Dark Arts left. Wonder who the teacher will be this time?" said Alex thoughtfully. She looked over and saw Orion with his head cocked to one side. "Our first teacher, Professor Quirrell, had Voldemort on the back of his head and our other one, Professor Lockhart, lost his memory," Alex explained, "We're not good at keeping Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. Of course you probably don't even know what I'm talking about, do you?
"You see, I go to a school called Hogwarts, it's a school for witches and wizards. That's why I have these books and that trunk full of robes over there." Alex waved a hand over to her closet where her trunk was sitting open.
"But I'm not a normal witch. I don't have any parents, or even grandparents for that matter. My parents were killed by Lord Voldemort when I was a baby. All I have left from that night is this."
She pulled up her sleeve to show Orion the lightning bolt scar on her arm. Orion sniffed it and licked it.
"Thanks buddy," laughed Alex and sighed, "Sometimes I miss them so much, you know? But at least I have my friends, that always makes me feel better."
She went over to her trunk and pulled out a photo album and set it on the bed. She flipped through to a picture of four people.
"That's my best friend, Hermione," she said pointing to a girl with bushy brown hair, "That's Ron," she pointed to a tall boy with bright red hair, "That's me of course and that's Harry," she finished, pointing to a skinny boy with dark hair and green eyes, hidden behind glasses.
"They're all great, Ron's funny but a little insensitive and immature sometimes, Hermione's the smartest witch you'll ever meet, and Harry…he's very nice and funny, even after all he's been through."
Alex stretched and put on her pajamas. As she climbed into bed, she kissed Orion good night and tried to find room for her legs. She was just about to fall asleep when a loud snore woke her up. Alex sat up, looking wildly around, and laughed. She looked at the snoring lump of black fur and lay back down. This was going to be a long night.
Author's Note: Hello to all my readers! Like I said last chapter, welcome to Book 3! What did you think of this chapter? The prologue? I really want to know what you think of this story since it's my favorite and starts to go more AU than the first two. Also, feel free to make predictions for future chapters. I love seeing what you think will happen. ;)
Next chapter brings in two OCs of mine. They're quite fun to write and may make an appearance later in the series, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, that's a taste of next chapter so you have something to look forward to.
As always, please please take the time to review these last two chapters. I'm eager to see what you all have to say. :D
