A/N: Because I keep getting rejection letters, I'm going to focus on this for a while. Or at least try to. Do enjoy.
As time was wont to do, it passed slowly. The remaining days of the holidays were some of the longest days Alexa could ever remember, though she was pleasantly surprised when her grandmother showed up the morning before she was to go back to school.
"You didn't think I would miss the chance to see you before you left, did you?" her grandmother said as she embraced Alexa tightly at the door. Foxes was bouncing around, yipping madly while Mr. Lott took Granny's suitcases up the stairs.
"I'm so glad you're here!" Alexa exclaimed as she took her grandmother's hand in hers and led her into the sitting room where tea and biscuits were already assembled. "I've got so much to tell you. My letters would be too thick for the owls if I told you everything!"
Granny sat beside Alexa, who had poured them both a cup of tea, and said, "Start from the beginning."
Alexa looked apologetically at her mother, who had seated herself in the armchair by the window.
"Mum and Dad have already heard it," she told Granny.
Her grandmother made a dismissive noise. "Tosh. I want to hear about it."
Alexa grinned. "Well, I got this letter, right, to go to King's Cross. It said to take the train from platform nine and three-quarters, but we so confused because there is no platform nine and three-quarters, but we figured it out. You have to go through the barrier and…"
By the time Alexa finished her tale, the tea had gone cold, the sun was burning hotly in the early afternoon sky, and Mr. and Mrs. Lott had disappeared to the kitchen.
"It sounds like a marvelous time," Granny said appreciatively as she set her empty teacup onto the table. "But I'm not sure how I feel about the troll getting in. Is it always like this?"
Alexa shrugged. "No one told me if it was normal or not, so I don't think it is. They thought Peeves let it in, but it turned out to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Granny frowned. "The one who tried to kill a student?"
"For You-Know-Who," Alexa said with a nod. "But since Potter stopped him, You-Know-Who didn't come back."
"Tell me more about him," Granny insisted. "I might be able to figure out if we're talking about the same person."
And so Alexa gave all the information she could on You-Know-Who and his followers, the Death Eaters.
"Most of the kids in my house are Death Eater's children," Alexa told her grandmother in a lowered voice. "Mum and Dad don't know. I think if they did, I wouldn't be allowed to go back and I love Hogwarts so much."
"Now these kids – will they tell their parents about you?"
"Only if they find out," Alexa said quickly, "and only if it benefits them. There is a girl who does know, but she's keeping it a secret until she can do something with it. I'm sure that the whole House will know I'm not at least a half-blood by the end of this year."
"And why's that?" Granny asked, leaning forward with obvious interest.
"Because she doesn't like me and if I make her angry enough, I'm sure she'll tell," Alexa said.
Her grandmother reached out and took Alexa's hand in her own, the cool skin soft and comforting. "Loyalty is more important than blood status, my dear. Your great-great-grandmother used to tell me that and I suppose she knew what she was talking about."
Alexa frowned. "But our ancestor, Norabella Tugwood, died so long ago! Surely your grandmother wouldn't know about blood status."
Granny smiled softly. "Darling, blood status is hardly a new thing in the world. And in any case, she was Norabella Tugwood's daughter. I suppose her mother told her a thing or two about magic and the people who belonged to that world."
"Could you imagine being born into a family of magic and discovering that you had none?" Alexa shuddered. "I think that would be terrible. And to be kicked out to go live in the Muggle world simply because you had no magic…How dreadful."
Her grandmother simply smiled at her then got to her feet. "Come. I am sure your mother would like us to eat something before dinner this evening."
"We had biscuits," Alexa said defensively, but all that same, she helped her grandmother carry the tea and empty plate of biscuits into the kitchen.
The next morning, Alexa rose early but, rather than get dressed immediately as she had done the year previously, she lay in bed for a while, listening to the sleeping world outside.
Knowing that they had to get moving soon, Alexa sighed in resignation and finally got out of bed.
She hated that it was such a long drive to London and she hated that her parents didn't take the aeroplane, but there was nothing Alexa could do about it.
Morgana watched her from her spot by a pillow as Alexa double checked that everything was packed.
Satisfied, Alexa pulled out Morgana's carrier from the depths of her closet and sat it on the bed.
"It's not time yet," Alexa soothed her apprehensive cat. "But you will need to get in it if you plan on going to Hogwarts with me."
Morgana sniffed then settled back down to sleep.
Shaking her head, Alexa then made her way down to the kitchen where, to her surprise, she found her grandmother cooking breakfast.
"Good morning," Granny greeted cheerfully while Mrs. Lott hovered around the brewing coffee. Mr. Lott had already settled himself at the table, hidden behind the paper.
Foxes circled happily around Alexa's feet, nearly tripping her as she made her way to the table to wait for whatever it was that her grandmother decided to cook.
Pouring herself a glass of orange juice, Alexa peered around the edge of her father's paper and said, "Anything interesting in there?"
He shook his head and flipped to the next page. "Nothing. They're still going on about the Duchess of York, though."
"Well, it was a scandal," Alexa reasoned as her mother sat down beside her, blowing absentmindedly on her coffee to cool it. "I mean, she's married to the Duke of York and she was seen with another man."
"I know, I know." Her father sighed and folded up his paper just as Granny sat down a plate of kippers, bacon, and potatoes. "This looks lovely, Mary, thank you."
Alexa didn't miss the subtle sarcasm in her father's voice, nor the dark look her grandmother shot at him as he drank deeply from his glass of orange juice.
"Don't push it," she snapped as she settled down into her seat between Alexa and Mr. Lott.
"Mum," Mrs. Lott said in a low warning tone.
"I'll not mar Alexa's big day," Granny said and Alexa felt her face turn pink. "She's going back to Hogwarts and I won't see her for God knows how long, so I'd like to spend a lovely morning with her, Daniel."
Mr. Lott snorted and Alexa say her grandmother's jaw clench.
It always amazed her that, no matter how old her grandmother was, she still seemed as feisty as ever, even if Alexa had noticed that she had lost a good deal of weight since last summer.
Mrs. Lott glanced at her watch then said, "Come on. You'd best get ready, Lexa, if you plan on getting on the train in time."
Once everything was loaded in the car, Alexa put Morgana in the backseat first then settled her on her lap once she was inside.
The world always looked so strange to Alexa when the sun hadn't even risen yet, though she did notice that it was beginning to lighten a little.
"Such a long drive," her father sighed as he started the engine.
Alexa napped as they left Lizard Peninsula behind and trekked towards London. By the time they reached the outskirts of the city, Alexa was wide awake and buzzing with excitement.
With twenty minutes to spare, Alexa hung back with her parents and grandmother for as long as she could.
After giving her mother and father a quick hug each, she turned to her grandmother, whose eyes were shining with unshed tears, and embraced her tightly.
"Have a fun year, my dear," Granny said quietly. "And write to me often. I want to know everything, even if it's more trolls."
Alexa, grinning, pulled back then took hold of her trolley. She glanced at the clock. She had seven minutes.
With one last look at her parents and grandmother, Alexa then turned and ran headfirst into the barrier and came out on the other side, the familiar scarlet train before her as families and students milled about on the platform.
To her immense relief, as she pushed her trolley through the crowds, Alexa spotted Sue, who was standing by a door, her parents with her.
Alexa made for her and, after hastily greeting the Li's, Alexa and Sue got settled into a compartment halfway through the train. As soon as the compartment door was closed, Alexa let Morgana out and then waited for the train to start moving.
"Did you have a good last two weeks at home?" Sue asked as she dug around in her bag. She withdrew a book then settled back into her seat, her eyes on Alexa.
"It was perfectly fine," Alexa replied, glancing anxiously towards the compartment door. Liam had said he was planning on sitting with them. Was he still going to come? "How was yours?"
"Mum and Dad are still miffed that I'm Slytherin, but they're more okay with it now that they've met you," Sue said with a broad grin and Alexa couldn't help but smile back.
The train had just lurched into motion when Liam burst into the compartment.
"Merlin's beard," Sue exclaimed as Liam shut the door and plopped down on the seat beside Alexa. "A bit of warning next time might be useful."
He shrugged then turned to Alexa, whose face felt like it was burning.
"Well I hope that no dark lords plan on ruining another school year," Liam said casually as, outside the windows, the city slipped away and gave way to countryside.
Alexa had dozed off when she was suddenly being shaken violently awake by a frantic Sue while Liam was rolling in his seat, tears streaming down his face as he struggled to get his breathing under control.
"Goodness, what is it?" Alexa cried and, in answer, Sue pointed out of the train window.
Following her finger, Alexa lifted her eyes to the azure sky – and was startled to see a flying blue car riding alongside the train.
Alexa blinked and then the car was zipping upwards into the clouds and out of sight.
"What on earth was that?" Alexa gasped, looking between a stunned Sue and a howling Liam.
"Potter!" Liam wheezed. "And Weasley! Are flying! A car! To Hogwarts!" And he fell into a new fit of laughter, rendering him useless.
Turning to Sue for explanation, all Sue was able to do was shrug, still dumbfounded at the sight of the flying car.
"God Lord in heaven above, what are those two idiots doing?" Getting to her feet, Alexa left the compartment without a word and went in search of Hermione Granger, whom she found towards the back of the train sitting with Neville Longbottom and the tiny red haired girl from Flourish and Blotts.
"Alexa!" Hermione cried in surprise, leaping to her feet and tossing a textbook aside. "What are you doing here?"
"Did you, perhaps, see the phenomenon that just happened right outside the train?" she asked and Hermione looked confused while both Neville and the red haired girl looked on.
"No?" Hermione replied, stepping closer to Alexa. "What are you talking about?"
Gesturing between the girl and Neville, Alexa then asked, "Where exactly are Potter and Weasley, Hermione?"
Hermione's expression transitioned from confusion into exasperation immediately.
"What did you see?" Hermione asked, closing her eyes as if that would somehow change what Alexa had witnessed.
"Your two moronic friends are flying a car to school," Alexa explained and Hermione groaned while Neville looked nervously between Hermione and Alexa. Meanwhile, the girl shot to her feet, her hands balled into tiny fists as she glared at Alexa.
"My brother is not a moron," the girl shouted. "And neither is Harry Potter."
Alexa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Either way, they're going to be in loads of trouble when we get to Hogwarts. McGonagall won't stand for it."
Hermione seemed to be considering something then, finally, said, "Thank you, Alexa."
Knowing she was dismissed, Alexa backed out of the compartment and strode back towards her own when she was waylaid by Daphne Greengrass, who seemed to be on her way to the bathroom.
Greengrass glared at her. "What are you looking at?" she demanded.
"I was wondering that myself," Alexa responded coolly.
Grinning widely, Alexa slipped around Greengrass and continued on her way though worry gnawed at her. She should not have said that to Greengrass. She could reveal Alexa's parentage to the whole house at the Welcoming Feast tonight and Alexa would be bullied for the next six years, making life at school unbearable.
Whatever her fate, Alexa thought as she reentered her compartment and sat down beside Liam, who had calmed down and was stuffing a cauldron cake in his mouth, Alexa would face it with as much dignity as she could muster.