The Lake, New Friends, The Sorting Hat and Ron

The rest of the train ride was spent in laughter and stupidity, with Alice mentioning things and joining in when a certain topic came up that she was interested in. It truly surprised her how alike the people in her compartment where like her own family back home. She still kept her guard up, one can never be to cautious but, for once in her life, she found herself actually enjoying the company of witches and wizards.

It came as a bit of a shock when she realized it. She had been smirking at something Spooks was saying and doing. He looked even more insane flinging his arms around, trying to demonstrate what one of his pranks had done to some poor fool who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and been slimed for his enjoyment. And then Spooks had tripped over Ginny's foot and ended up sprawled across the floor and halfway out the door. Alice couldn't help it, he looked so stunned, she laughed. A quiet melodious laugh. Which cut off as soon as she noticed, drawing a strange look from Ginny. She was enjoying herself. With her most hated enemy. How could she even, the thought was cut off by Ginny nudging her, looking concerned.

"You okay, Alice?" she asked softly. Alice glanced at her distractedly, still half in her head and nodded jerkily.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm...fine." Alice frowned to herself, ignoring the way Ginny looked at her before shaking her head and smiling slightly, finally noting that the train had stopped moving. Standing quickly she turned and went to reach for her trunk when a pale hand stopped her. She stiffened, every muscle tensing as it readied for a fight. Sensing this, the hand disappeared quickly.

"Sorry," Spooks muttered quietly as Alice turned to face him, "it's just, you can leave your trunk on the train. The others will bring it up to your room for you." Ruffling a hand through his messy hair, he stood uneasily in front of Alice as she narrowed her eyes, then slowly nodded.

"Thanks." The answer was short and sharp, her body language guarded and Ginny could only wonder what had made the strange girl raise her walls once more. Shrugging slightly to herself, Ginny decided to put those thoughts on the back burner until she could find somewhere quiet to think about them. Right now, she was more interested in getting inside the castle and into the Great Hall before Ron did. Because if she entered after him, there would be nothing left; he would have vacuumed it all into his stomach like a hoover on crack. Ginny wrinkled her nose in disgust, good God why did she even think of that.

XXX

Alice shivered, reprimanding herself silently as she followed the other three out into the pouring rain. She'd let her guard down and if he meant her any harm, which he didn't think he did, she could have been hurt again. She promised herself she would never let herself into such a position again, but she had; so quickly too. She was lucky here. These three, she knew, meant her no harm. They were curious younglings. That was all. But they could have been someone different and if they had... Alice shuddered to think what would have happened. Instead she pushed it to the back of her mind and looked around the platform for a sign of what she was supposed to do now.
"Firs' years. Firs' years over here, now!" A gruff voice called over the sound of thunder, making Alice whip around to stare at the giant of a man standing at the edge of the platform, shuttered lantern in hand as he gathered together the youngest students. shrugging to herself, Alice started to wander towards him when a voice called out her name. Twisting her head, she almost smiled, it was Ginny. Of course it was Ginny.

"Where are you going? The carriages are this way?" Alice smirked in amusement at the poor girl.
"True. But I'm a first year, didn't you know." She almost laughed at the look on Ginny's face before turning and leaving the gobsmacked Weasley behind. Wandering up to the little group of first years surrounding the giant, she tilted her head and wondered if he'd notice her in the back of the group when he finished shouting to the water-logged black haired boy. He looked familiar, as did his companions, but the conversation was done between giant and boy and they were trekking down a slippery stairway to reach a fleet of little boats floating dangerously on a lake.

A little girl before her slipped as she was walking down the steps; without thought Alice reached out a hand and caught the little one by the arm. Holding her gently til she regained her feet.
"Thanks," the girl whispered as she stared at her feet, the words only just loud enough for Alice to catch it over the rain, "mom always said I was too clumsy for my own good."

Alice could only stare at her for a moment before smiling that slight smile and resting a hand upon the little girls arm.
"It's okay. I almost slipped myself at the top of the stairs. I think everyone's slipping cause of the rain, don't you?" The little girl nodded, still not looking at Alice before walking to the boats quickly and jumping in one that had three very rowdy boys in the front. Frowning as she watched the boat glide away from the jetty, Alice hopped in the next, and last boat, to leave, quite happy she was all by herself. The giant was somewhere in the middle of the little fleet of boats. A few minutes into the choppy ride, there was a scream, a splash and then above it all Hagrid yelling and asking what was going on. No one else heard the second splash as Alice quickly divested herself of cloak and shoes and dove straight into the lake, making for where that same little girl from before had fallen in. Diving down, she saw the girl, as well as another boy, thrashing around, trying to make it to the surface but both were slowly being dragged down by their clothes. Moving swiftly, she swam towards the little girl and wrapped an arm her waist, then grabbed the boy with the other before kicking towards the lakes surface, all the while keeping note of the water around them. Finally they broke through, the youngsters both gasping for breath before Alice dragged them towards the closest boat, heaving the little girl up first, then the boy, the boats members pulling them in as best they could, and finally heaving herself up, rocking the boat a little as the three lay panting in the hull, the rain continuing to try and drown them above water. After a moment, Alice turned to the girl, placed a hand on her arm and stared at her.

"You okay?" The girl, who looked more like a drowned rat now, nodded her head shakily before curling up into Alice's left side, trying her best not to sob into Alice's shoulder as Alice wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She turned to the little boy on her right and asked him the same question. He nodded looking positively delighted that he'd almost drowned, before hugging her neck quickly. A dark shadow loomed above them; Alice instinctively tightened her hold around the little girl, right hand wrapped tightly around her wand as every spell she knew flashed in her mind. Then the shadow spoke and Alice relaxed a little.

"You three alrigh'?" the giant asked gruffly, pink umbrella in one hand, wait... what? Alice stared at the umbrella slightly befuddled. What the hell was he doing with that umbrella furled up, and why was it pink? What self-respecting giant/man owned a pink umbrella? She watched, rather dazedly, still trying to grasp the fact that he owned a pink umbrella, as he realized that she was older. When he opened his mouth to ask what the hell she was doing here, she shook her head slowly, mouthing the word 'later' at him and hugging the little one closer to her side, the boy was actually bouncing in his seat he was so damn happy and Alice couldn't help but roll her eyes at his enthusiasm. The giant hesitated, but saw how the little one held so closely to the older girl, he also thought the boy was a lunatic, and she had actually saved both the kids, so he saw no reason asking questions now until the three were all safe and dry within the castle. Then he'd tell Dumbledore and have his questions answered. Nodding his head at the decision, he turned away gruffly, before stopping and turning round again.

"Here," He muttered as he shrugged off his coat and passed it to Alice, who had to lean forwards to grab it so it didn't fall in the water, "it'll keep you warm for a bi'." Then he turned around once more and tapped the umbrella against the side of his small boat, sending the fleet once more towards the castle.

When the giant had handed her the coat, Alice's eyebrows had risen slightly at the gesture, but grabbed the coat anyway. Then she'd snagged the boy's arm and pulled him to her side, before wrapping all three in the giants coat. So much for a quiet entry into Hogwarts, she thought to herself sarcastically and scoffed quietly as she held the little girl to her side and rolled her eyes at the little boy chattering excitedly in her ear. Though she smiled as the little girl made a little mewling noise and buried her face deeper into her shoulder. At least she knew she'd have two friends in the place, the little boy, Dennis, wouldn't stop yammering in her ear how awesome he thought she was and how they'd be the "greatest friends ever!". Or maybe she'd have more than just the two first-years, as her mind drifted towards Ginny, Luna and Spooks and the boats drifted ever closer to the castle and her new life there.

XXX

Finally the small fleet of boats had docked, the first years, plus Alice, had disembarked and the lot of them had followed Hagrid up a large flight of stairs to where a severe looking woman in bottle green robes and large pointy hat, stood staring at them. Well, she was more or less staring at the three bedraggled students at the very back of the group. One of them proudly swimming in Hagrid's moleskin cloak, the teenage girl beside him rolling her eyes at the boys sheer bubbliness as she dragged a hand through her short wet hair, while the other hand was clasped tightly within the grip of the third person who made up their little group. Eleanor, or Elle, as the little girl told Alice as they had been climbing the steps, had seemed to mold completely to the Alice's side as soon as the group had stopped walking and was even hidden slightly behind the older girl's taller frame.

Professor McGonagall turned to Hagrid and simply lifted one eyebrow at the beast of a man. Alice nodded her head slightly in approval as she watched the woman turn the giant from a man to a sheepish boy with one look. It was quite impressive to see and Alice's respect for the woman shot up immediately. It rose even higher when she simply dismissed him quietly and told the new students before her exactly what was going to happen in a no-nonsense manner, her eyes lingering on Alice in the back. There was a question in the older witch's eyes, a few actually, but the most important was the simplest one.

'You are the transfer student, are you not?' Alice simply nodded her head in reply. With that, Professor McGonagall whirled around, called: 'come along, please,' and strode through the doors of the Great Hall, the first years, plus Alice, trailing behind her like a bunch of little ducklings after their mother. The image made Alice chuckle softly to herself, already seeing Dennis the Duckling waddling off by himself and getting into all kinds of trouble while Elle would follow dutifully behind McGonagall and would snap annoyed at him whenever he'd do something stupid. Shaking her head, a miniscule smirk on her face, Alice wandered after her two charges and newest friends as Dennis vibrated with pure excitement and Elle folded in upon herself in fear.

XXX

"Oh, hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Harry. "I could eat a Hippogriff."
No sooner were the words said, the doors of the Great Hall were thrown open, Professor McGonagall, the woman that had, minutes before, pulled Hermione aside to ask her to take care of a new 'transfer student', strode in, a gaggle of first years trailing behind her. If Hermione thought she had been wet before, it was nothing to what the first years looked like. It actually appeared that they had swum across the lake. But it was the three at the end of the line facing the school that caught Hermione's, and almost everyone else's attention. All three were completely soaked to the point they were actually dripping water onto the floor, and the boy on the end, who bore a strong resemblance to Colin Creevey, seemed to be wearing Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. Hermione could only imagine that Hagrid had given it to the boy because, unlike most of the first-years, he did end up swimming in the lake, and somehow managed to bring the other two with him.

Actually, Hermione thought as she watched the boy practically vibrate in excitement, only to settle down a little when a tanned hand landed on his shoulder, it more seemed he had accidentally taken the other first-year girl into the lake, who was swimming in robes three sizes too big for her, and the girl the entire hall was staring at, had jumped in after them.

She did look the sort, after all. What with the old black jeans, the long sleeved shirt that was sticking to her like a second skin, the bare feet and the way she ran a hand disinterestedly through her dripping short hair, she epitomized old school rebel. What only added to the image was the air of... danger she seemed to carry around. Like if you made one wrong move near her, you'd be on your back with a split lip quicker then you could say 'Uncle'.

Hermione tried to dismiss it, but it couldn't be anything else. It was in the set of her shoulders, the way she stood, feet always shoulder width apart. Even though she seemed to be relaxed, Hermione could almost sense the way the girls' muscles twitched, waiting for her to spring into action. It made her wonder about other things she'd willingly spring into...

"Bloody hell, she's hot!" Ron exclaimed, staring avidly at the bare foot rebel who was now rolling her eyes, rather sexily, Hermione thought idly, at something Colin's brother was saying, before shaking her head quickly to get rid of the strange thoughts.

"Ronald! You shouldn't say things like that. You're objectifying the poor girl!" Hermione snapped at Ron, but all three of the trio were surprised when they heard someone laugh beside them. Turning in surprise, Hermione found herself staring at a smirking Ginny in confusion.

"I doubt she'll care, Hermione." said Ginny. Ron smiled and opened his mouth to say something, Hermione didn't doubt, completely sexist, when Ginny cut him off with a shrug and an innocent, evil, smile on her lips. "Because if he said something as stupid as that to her, Alice would probably just light him on fire."

That seemed to shut Ron up, as well as half the table who were now all staring at Ginny, then the brunette, in stunned disbelief. Hermione frowned as she looked at the girl, but it was Harry that finally broke the shocked silence.

"She'd set him on fire?" Ginny just laughed and shook her head.

"Nope. Just his shoes. Said it's fun to just watch 'em running around screaming before they finally douse 'em."

"Wha-" But whatever Harry was going to say was cut off by the Sorting Hat clearing it's throat and launching into song. For the first time in all her years at Hogwarts, Hermione ignored what was going on around her and instead stared at the teenager who was looking completely bemused at whatever the hat was saying, one hand still holding Creevey down, the other arm wrapped gently around the girl in her robes who was attached to the teenagers side like a limpet and looked absolutely terrified at all the faces staring at her. Not for the last time, Hermione wondered how this strange girl being at Hogwarts would affect all of their lives, be it for better or for worse.

XXX

Alice watched curiously as Professor McGonagall unrolled a large scroll of parchment, cleared her throat.

"When I call out your name, you will place the hat on your head and sit on the stool," McGonagall paused and stared severely at all the first-years (she was sure the glare was more meant for her then the little firsties). "When the hat announces your house, you will then walk to the appropriate table."

There was another glare. Alice noted that, even if she was a lot more powerful than the witch in front of her, she still didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those glares.
"Ackerley, Stewart!"

One of the boys up the front of the crowd walked forwards, sat on the stool and placed the hat tentatively on his head. Alice should have been watching what was going on but Elle had suddenly latched onto her arm with incredible force and was now shaking like a leaf.

Leaning down she softly whispered in the girl's ear, 'Elle, what's wrong?' Tear filled brown eyes looked up at her.

'What if - hickup - what if we get sorted into different houses?' Elle sobbed quietly, clutching Alice's sleeve even tighter.

'Elle, hey Elle, look at me,' Alice gently maneuvered her head so they were looking into each others eyes. Alice let a small smile cross her face, features softening as she looked upon the girl who reminded her so much of one of her little cousins back home. Somewhere in the background, 'Baddock, Malcolm!' was called and sorted into Slytherin.

'Elle, I promise that whatever house we're sorted into, I'll look after you. No matter what. even if it is Slytherin.' Alice pulled a funny face but it got a laugh out of Elle, so that made her happy.

'Okay?'

'Okay.'

'Good girl. Now I think your names been called.' Elle frowned at that.

'Why?' Alice tried not to laugh at how adorable Elle's obliviousness was. 'Because everyone's staring at us.'

The girl immediately went white.

'Oh.' This time Alice didn't even fight the grin, completely ignoring McGonagall as she called Elle's name again.

'Yeah, up you get. And no matter what, I'll look after you. I promise.' At this Alice tapped two fingers over her heart and then pushed her gently towards the waiting hat. She watched, a little nervously, though she would never admit it, as the hat slipped down around Elle's small oval face and opened the rip in it's brim to call out: 'Hufflepuff!'

She grinned at the girl when she tugged the hat from her head and placed it, gently, back down on the stool before walking towards her house. But not without a glance back at the tall roguish teenager that had quickly become her closest friend and protector in this new world. She was greeted by a grin, a wink and two fingers tapping against her chest and with that Elle wandered over to the Hufflepuff table, knowing that whatever happened, she would always have someone to look out for her.

Alice was only broken out of her reverie by Dennis tugging on her sleeve, looking down she outright laughed at the painfully excited look upon his pointed face.
'Yes, Dennis?'

"Do you - Do you think I'll be Gryffindor? I really, really wanna be in Gryffindor." Alice chuckled softly.

"Yes, you twerp. I'm sure you'll be in Gryffindor. With all the rest of the courageous and brave', said Alice, winking as she did so, making the boy laugh happily. Suddenly: 'Creevey, Dennis!' was called and Alice once more pushed a first year forward, laughing softly as he tripped and staggered on his borrowed coat in his enthusiasm to be sorted into -
'Gryffindor!'

The boy literally beamed and ran off towards the table on the far right, sorting hat still perched precariously atop his mousy head, forcing him to turn around and rush back before throwing himself in a seat beside, Alice could only assume, his older brother Colin and chattering to him excitedly about falling in the lake.

Shaking her head slowly, Alice turned back to the proceedings, straightening her shoulders and clasping her hands behind her back in the 'at ease' position without consciously thinking about her actions. Finally, 'Grey, Alice!' was called and she sauntered forwards, bare feet not making a sound on the cold stone floor.

Ignoring the sudden silence that had fallen across the hall, she grabbed the old wizard hat, placed it on her head and sat easily on the stool, completely relaxed.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here?' Alice smirked softly at the voice inside her head. 'You're definitely something new.' She shook her head slowly at the thought.
'No? Old then. Very old. Powerful too. Angry. A bit reckless but brave, and loyal. A quick mind too. Where should we put you?'

'Not Slytherin,' she muttered quietly to the hat.

'Hmm but you could be great in-' The thought was cut off quickly by the quick sequence of memories that flashed through her mind. 'Well then. Not Slytherin indeed,' If she thought the voice sounded angry, Alice gave no heed and whispered again: 'Not Slytherin.'

'I agree. Then it better be-'

'Gryffindor!' Alice grinned, but quietly thanked the hat before placing the hat back on its stool. Pausing for a moment, ignoring the cheers coming from the Gryffindor table, Alice turned to the Hufflepuff's, looking for one in particular and when she finally found her, she raised a hand to her chest and tapped to fingers right above her heart, before strolling towards her new house and a very excited Creevey brother.

No really, he wasn't just bouncing in his seat beside his brother, he was literally waving his hands around like a lunatic, almost whacking the people next to him twice before being forcibly restrained by the older boy beside him. Looking away from the boy, she noted an empty seat beside a familiar looking redhead that was right across from her excitable friend. Slipping into it, she nodded a welcome at Ginny, and all the other people who were congratulating just waiting for -

'So what are you doing here?' She looked at the boy who'd asked the question and her face almost moved into a look of pure revulsion. There was food everywhere around the boy, obviously having flown from his mouth when he'd opened it to talk, and he wasn't even bothering using a napkin to clean up his face, his sleeve seemed to be good enough. He'd even, the gods know how, managed to get food in his massive map of orange hair. Gods, not even her baby cousins (Alice has a lot of cousins) made that big of a mess when eating. And they were 2 and 4 respectively.

Wait a moment. Orange hair. Alice turned her head slowly to stare at Ginny and then back at Ron, then again at Ginny. Ginny had already cracked up on sight of the vaguely horrified look on Alice's normally uncaring face.

'Wha'?' The boy said through a mouthful of food. Alice couldn't even speak, mostly she was just wondering how to get him to actually shut his mouth so she didn't have to stare at the horrors that were coming out of it. Maybe when she did, she could sow it shut. No one would mind. They'd all probably thank her for a job well done. She nodded decisively to herself before, slowly, ever so slowly, reaching for her wand. She didn't want to alert the food monster to what she was doing. Though something must have shown her face because Ginny had grabbed her wand arm and just shook her head, still laughing.

'No, you can't spell his mouth shut.' said Ginny, laughing at the, unbelievably, disappointed look on Alice's face. She faux frowned.

'But it would be a kindness to the rest of humanity. I bet they'd even reward me for a job well done.' Alice couldn't really believe that she was joking with the witch, a witch!, one of her enemies. But they, the few she had met personally, were nothing like the beasts from -, she cut the thought off. The memory, even years later, was still painful to think about. Instead she immersed herself into the light-hearted conversation going on about the Food Monster, otherwise known as Ron, and his eating habits. Currently he seemed to be trying to defend himself but was just making it worse for himself. And spraying whatever was in his mouth all over the table.

'Dude, just do us all a favor and shut your mouth. It'd really help the rest of us in the spray zone if you would.' Ron opened his mouth to protest but Alice quickly cut him off.

'No man. Seriously. Just shut your mouth, chew your food like your mum taught you, swallow, then have at it. I don't give a shit if you wanna argue with me, but do it when your mouth is free of food otherwise you just look like a pig. A really disgusting pig. Kapeesh?'

With Ron, thankfully, silenced and sulking in his seat, Alice turned to look at the food in front of her then frowned. There was bit's and pieces of Ron's food spittle all over the meals in front of her. Shaking her head, she turned to Dennis and grabbed his arm to stop him bouncing around and hitting someone.

'Dennis, calm boy. There you go. Good boy.' He frowned and stuck his tongue out her, making them both laugh. Well, he laughed, Alice smirked.

'Stick that tongue back in your mouth before I chop it off. Oi. Don't be a twerp,' Dennis snickered but stuck his tongue back in his mouth and looked at her eagerly, both of them ignoring the people watching their interaction curiously. 'Now I've got a really important job for you buddy.' She handed him her plate as he nodded enthusiastically.

'What's the mission, Cap?' Both of them we're grinning now. It was almost uncanny how quickly they'd formed a sibling bond but neither cared about it. Fine, Alice did, but she would worry about it later, now was time for fun.

'Your mission, soldier. Is getting me a meal that hasn't been touched by the Ron Monster's deadly spittle spray.' The entire table cracked up, it seemed that Ron's eating habits were known, and avoided, house wide. Even the black haired boy, with the slightly crooked glasses dangling off his nose, seated beside Ron was grinning from ear to ear.

What surprised the rest of the table though was that Dennis actually did what the sarcastic rebel asked him too. Picking through the meals to make sure that it was untouched by Ron's spittle, before handing her back a plate full of food. She thanked him by ruffling his mousy hair and giving him a one-armed hug which he snuggled into for a second, before bouncing back into his conversation with his brother.

Ginny was the one who had to bring it up, in a very roundabout way.

'So, how was the trip across the lake? Did Dennis really fall in?' The look on Alice's face at the questions was priceless. She rolled her eyes, swallowing her food and turned to face the redhead, an exasperated look upon her face.

'Yes, the little twerp really did fall in the lake, though he brought poor Elle along with him. Didn't you?' Alice said, lightly cuffing Dennis across the back of his head to get her point across. He grinned back at her sheepishly.

'I didn't mean to! I just wanted to see if I could see the giant squid!' Alice rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

'And you didn't think you might fall in, leaning halfway out the boat the way you did?'

'...No?' The table chuckled lightly at his reply. 'But it didn't matter anyway. You still jumped in and saved me... And Elle.' He added the last part in a mutter, slightly ashamed (Alice had berated him enough times on the way up the stairs for it to actually sink in that he shouldn't have pulled the black haired girl in with him) but still overly enthusiastic.

The rest of the table turned to stare quizzically at her, Ginny actually had her eyebrow raised. She hadn't expected the slightly fearsome girl to just help anyone.

'What? They're kids. Like I was gonna let kids drown. Fine, I'm an asshole, but I ain't heartless.' Alice grumbled, annoyed that people would actually think she would let children be hurt when she could prevent it.

'We don't think you'd hurt kids. It's just... surprising. Seeing as the way you,' Ron gestured at the girl in general. 'look. I guess. It was just, unexpected.' He finished, a little shakily. The people around her, even Ginny, winced in sympathy, just waiting for an outburst from the girl who had become increasingly silent and tense.

'Wait,' Ron backtracked quickly. ', That's not what I meant, I -'

'So, what you're saying is: I'm a heartless bitch because of the way I... "look". Is that right?' The words were cold, and her glare had Ron positively frozen to his seat in fear. This wasn't the easy, joking girl from before. This was exactly what he had been alluding to but more. Sitting opposite the terrified Ron was a cold, hard killer and he suddenly realized just how out of his depths he really was.

'Is this who you meant?' Alice gestured at herself, the rigid way she was sitting, gray eyes flashing darkly at him. Everyone shivered, the air, cold before, was now positively frigid as she held Ron's terrified gaze with her own, very dangerous one.

The silence stretched as Hermione prayed that Ron would just shake his head. That he wouldn't be so stupid as to agree with her. She had a very strong feeling that if he nodded or said something completely imbecilic, his life would be forfeit. As if he had heard the thought, Ron slowly, ever so slowly, shook his head no. Alice held his gaze for a moment longer, making sure he wouldn't make such a mistake again. Before releasing him from her gaze and reining herself in.

The entire table, and a few of the staff, sighed in relief. Luckily, the rest of the hall hadn't noticed the almost palpable tension that had been coming from the Gryffindor, and kept on acting as if nothing was wrong. Back at the Gryffindor table, Alice had risen from where she had been sitting, her eyes glinting dangerously as they connected with Ron's once more.

'That was your first and final warning, Ronald Weasley. Say anything like that again, and I will not be so forgiving. Understood.' Ron nodded quickly, still vaguely terrified that she would reach across the table and stab him, repeatedly, in the face with her fork. Or set him on fire. Both ideas were pretty terrifying.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the table who all nodded quickly in understanding before making to leave. A small hand on her arm stopped her arm, whirling her head around, ice glare in place when she noticed it was Dennis. Softening quickly, she shot him a small sweet smile that said everything would be fine between them, placed a hand gently on his head and ruffled his hair, making him smile in return. Then she turned and strode easily out of the hall, that same aura of power and grace surrounding her like a cloak, every eye from the Gryffindor table, and a few that were not, following her until she disappeared from sight.

'Blimey, what was that about?' Everyone stared at Ron in shock. Harry, Hermione and Ginny in pure disbelief. How could he not understand? Harry shook his head at his best mate, resigned to the fact that he would have to follow the idiot around so he wouldn't get himself killed by his stupidity. Hermione, on the other hand, was still slightly in shock, her last coherent thought, before she was swept up by Dumbledore's address, was quite simple really, does she have any idea where she's going?

AN: Truthfully, when I started this chapter, I had no idea it was going to be so long. It just kind of ran away from me. But it does put a lot of the groundwork I need into it. So what did you think of Scary Alice? Love? Hate? Either way, please review. Madds x