Alena stormed into the Great Hall, heart racing as her mind whirled with angry thoughts. How dare William say such awful things about James? He had no right whatsoever and she would be damned to just sit back and let him continue to run his mouth. Oh no, she was going to take action. That's what she did. Everyone knew it, especially James. He shouldn't have even bothered to try and hold her back from yelling at him. Merlin, he can be daft.
As she looked around, Alena's eyes finally landed on the dark and handsome face of William, who was leaning casually against the Slytherin table and chatting to a group of girls, his usual smirk on his face. Surprise, surprise. Without another thought, Alena marched up to him, pulled out her wand and pointed right at his throat, causing the girls to gasp and back away, and William to raise his brows in question as he stood up slowly, arms raised.
"What a lovely greeting, good to see you're feeling better Lena," William said casually as he stuck his hands in his pockets, a smirk flitting back onto his mouth. His plan was running perfectly.
"Don't call me that," Alena hissed coldly, he had lost the privilege to call her by her nickname.
"Why?" He asked curiously, out of the corner his eye he could see Potter and the rest of his lot running into the Great Hall. As for everyone else, they were either watching or still eating for they hadn't noticed the scandal occurring just yet.
"Because I no longer consider you my friend, of all people, I never thought you'd be the one to stoop so low Zabini," Alena spat as she pulled back her wand and let her hand go limp. The anger she once felt had begun to be replaced with betrayal and defeat.
"Now wait just a second, I haven't done anything nearly as bad as your suggesting Alena, let me explain," Will suddenly said, his eyes glancing around with worry as he realized his plan was beginning to backfire. Alena isn't supposed to hate him.
"No I think I've got it just right. You thought it'd be okay to talk about me behind my back. You thought it'd be okay to trash my relationship with James. You, William Zabini, had the audacity to claim that I would leave the man I love for worthless scum such as yourself," Alena hissed in a low whisper, her eyes lighting up. Someone squeezed her arm, causing her to look over and see James giving her a look showing that he was there to back her up.
William sputtered as he tried to think of something to say. None of this was supposed to happen; he didn't mean the things he said. Just a joke really. "Alena, no that's not it...," he tried to say but he failed to finish his sentence because he didn't know how to explain to her that it was all a ploy to figure out what she was hiding.
"It's safe to say that our friendship is finished now, thank you for proving to me that everyone was right about not trusting you," Alena said with defeat, her eyes shimmering with pain before continuing, "Stay away from me Zabini," she finished off before turning on her heel and pushing past James who stared at the exchange with shock.
The Great Hall murmured with interest before turning back to their breakfast and their conversations about the departure of the train which would be in about two hours.
"Potter," William began, he had to say something, anything to make him seem better, James looked at him expectantly with a grim expression on his face as he clenched his fist, "Go after her," was all he said before Will decided it was best to go back to the snake pit.
James watched Zabini leave quietly; his shoulders slumped and head down. Part of him felt bad for the guy, but the other was inwardly cheering for the end of his and Alena's friendship. He had been waiting for years for this moment to finally happen, and not that it has, well it was awfully bittersweet.
"Well I didn't expect that. Usually she's a bit more violent, don't ya think?" Fred commented as he came up next to James, who is still standing in the middle of the walkway.
"Yeah, she is. Guess she decided to handle it differently this time," James commented before deciding he better go find her. "I'll meet you guys at the station, save us a compartment will ya?" He asked.
"Of course," Fred replied as James took off and out the Great Hall to find Alena. It pained Fred to watch his best mates be upset, but there was nothing to do for them right now. Therefore, he decided it was time he just sat down with the others listen to their idle talk before they had to leave.
James ran down corridor after corridor, calling out Alena's name as he tried to find her. Why is that she always runs off and never waits for him? Irritation slightly filled him as he turned another corner, his footsteps becoming slower as he realized there was no possible way to find her without the map. Of course that would mean returning back to the Gryffindor Tower and looking through his trunk. A lot more work than he wanted but it was necessary.
Just as James was about to head back to the common room, he heard a scuffle and soft sobbing. How he knew it was Alena, he wasn't sure, but he trusted his gut and took off down the hall until he stopped in front of an empty classroom. Pushing the door so it creaked open, he scanned the room and saw Alena sitting on a desk in the dim light. Her head buried in her hands as sobs escaped her mouth.
"Alena," James called softly as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah just fucking peachy James," Alena spat back as she lifted her head and tried to dry her tears. She didn't think it was possible to feel this much pain over a friendship. But then again, Will had been a big part of her life before James ever stepped into the picture. Hardly anyone knew just how much he meant to her.
"Why are you so upset? I thought this is what you wanted," James said with furrowed brows as walked over and stood in front of her hunched form.
Alena begrudgingly straightened up and stared at him warily. Did she really want to explain to James how significant Will was in her life? Not really, but she knew that James wouldn't let it go until he was satisfied. "I trusted him James. I don't take betrayal too kindly. Even if it wasn't that big of a deal and whatever. He knows better and he knows me, so he shouldn't have done it."
Nodding along, James stared at her before reaching out and wiping away any stray tears that happened to slide down her cheek. "You know I'm here for you, and everything will be fine," he whispered as he tried to pull her in a hug but Alena wouldn't move.
"How can you say that? How can you be so sure that everything will be perfect for us? God James sometimes I wish you weren't always this fucking positive about everything," she snapped as she pulled away. Of course she was wrong for yelling at him, but Alena didn't care. Not right now at least.
James narrowed his eyes with anger, he was trying to be helpful, not get bitched at. "Alena, do you hear yourself right now? How can I possibly be too positive? Positivity and hope are all we have now," he deadpanned.
"No, we have reality and the truth James. Let's be realistic, we're both gonna be handling a lot of shit from everyone and nobody is going to be happy about this. I don't even want to imagine what happens after I get off the train today," Alena complained as she began to pace back and forth. Her emotions were all over the place. She needed to vent, scream, kick, and punch all at the same time.
"Why are you so fucking negative? Can't you just sit back and relax? You need to understand that I'm here to help you. We're both gonna go through this and you need to get that I'm not leaving. So stop lashing out at me whenever you get pissed off," James spat irritably as he moved towards the door.
Alena stopped pacing and looked at him blankly; she saw two options flashing in her mind. One being to stop the fight and quickly apologize or two, be her stubborn self and keep going until James breaks. Obviously, she went for the second as the words, "Don't expect to sit with me on the train," left her mouth.
Eyes widening and then quickly turned to slits, James stormed out the room and let the door slam with a bang. Alena did nothing as she fell into a chair and stared at the ground. Why was she this stupid? Why did she have to fight with James when all he did was care about her? Merlin, why oh why is she such an awful person to the people who love her? Quickly deciding she should grab something to eat before the train left, Alena walked out the door and headed to the kitchens. Afterward she would find her sister and Scorpius and sit with them on the train.
Two hours had passed; everyone had boarded the train and began to settle in their compartments as the train began to take off. Alena could be found sitting by a window in a compartment she shared with Scorpius, Sabrina, and surprisingly Albus Potter.
"So you guys haven't spoken since your spat earlier?" Sabrina asked curiously for she was quite surprised when her sister came up and declared that she would be sitting with them for the train ride.
"Yup, now can we drop it," Alena stated blankly as she glanced over at Scorpius as he began to shuffle a Muggle deck of cards he purchased last summer. Sabrina shrugged and said nothing more. She knew when to leave her sister alone.
"Anyone wanna play a game?" Scorpius asked five minutes later after sitting in a moment of silence. Sabrina looked up from her nails, Albus stopped reading his book, and Alena gave him her full attention.
"As long as it's not Go-Fish, we're in," Sabrina said as she grinned at him playfully. Albus chuckled as he nodded and tucked his book away.
"Nah, I think that game should be banned after you nearly sliced my ear off when you got mad at the last game," Scorpius said teasingly.
"What?" Alena inquired as she smiled at her sister disbelievingly.
"They were cheating!" Sabrina exclaimed as she tried to defend herself.
"We were not! You were just pissed that you were lousy at the game and didn't get as many pairs as me and Albus!" Scorpius retorted as he snorted at Sabrina's nonchalant shrug.
"Well I don't like losing," she stated simply as all of them began to laugh at Sabrina's ridiculous antics.
"That's pretty damn obvious," Albus chortled with a shake of his head, making everyone laugh harder.
After they finished laughing, Scorpius began to shuffle the cards and motioned for everyone to take a seat on the ground so that it was easier for them to play. "Alright, the game is poker and we'll be using fictional money until we're ready for the big leagues."
Alena grinned as Scorpius began to deal out cards, thankfully her older brothers had taught her and Sabrina how to play poker so understanding the cards would be a piece of cake. Plus growing up the way she did meant she could bluff pretty damn good when needed to.
"Let's do this," Sabrina said excitedly as they all began to turn cards and look at their hands. The rest of the train arrived involved them playing several rounds of poker, a trip to the trolley, and another round of poker that involved Chocolate Frogs and Licorice Wands as bets. By the end of the train, Albus and Scorpius were quite pleased with themselves for winning the jackpot and Sabrina was fuming with annoyance.
"Oh stop, I'll get you a box of frogs as long as you get over it," Alena snapped as she grabbed her bag and stood at the compartment entrance. The boys had left first and it was just the girls in the compartment. People could be seen shuffling in the corridor as they tried to shove their way off.
"I swear they cheated but you can still get me that box," Sabrina muttered with annoyance as she grabbed her own bag and swung it over her shoulder. "By the way, should I be on the low about the you know what?"
Alena rolled her eyes, "No shit Sherlock. You want everyone to know our business?"
Sabrina began to laugh as they left the compartment and fell into line with everyone else. It was a slow process and nobody really understood why it took this long to actually get off the train when they do it every year. You'd think that people learned how to move on and off a train with ease after a few years, but alas it has yet to happen.
"Well I mean it would be one hell of a greeting," she snickered into her hand as Alena shoved her lightly.
"Stop being a bint and help me look for our brothers," Alena replied as they stepped off the train and began to stand on her tiptoes so she could see over everyone's heads that blocked her view.
"Uh, just a warning but you have a hazel eyed boy with messy black hair staring at you, actually he might be glaring," Sabrina whispered as she stared at James blankly. Alena shrugged as she ignored James look and kept searching for her brothers.
"So we're just gonna ignore him? That's sweet. My you're just the best girlfriend to have," Sabrina said sarcastically as she crossed her arms with disapproval.
"Again, stop being a bint and help me look," Alena said coldly as she glared at her sister for being useless.
"Found them," she said dully as she pointed over to Paul and Michael who were bouncing on their heels, hands shoved in their pockets as they waited for their sisters to come over. Their father was still at work; therefore, they had been assigned the task to pick up the girls.
"Perfect," Alena said as she latched her hand on Sabrina's wrist and dragged her over to the two boys, who gleamed when they finally spotted the girls coming towards them.
"There are my favorite girls! Alena why do you look like you're about to rip Sabrina's arm off?" Paul questioned as he enveloped her into a warm hug. Alena smiled and ignored Sabrina's huff after she had let her arm go.
"Didn't want to lose in her the crowd and she was being a bint," Alena replied with a smirk as Sabrina stuck her tongue out.
"Good to know you both haven't matured," Michael said with an eye roll as he glanced around the station. A lot of families had already left except a few and one of those families happened to be the Potters. Michael also noticed that several of the family members were staring directly at them.
"Uh Alena, I think they want to talk to you?" Michael said unsurely as he glanced over at the girl who was toying with the ends of her hair.
"You think so? I think we should just leave," Alena commented as she looked everywhere besides her brother, and the Potters.
Sabrina snorted, "Now you're the one being a bint. He's your bloody boyfriend Alena, stop being stubborn and go talk to him," she said as she shoved Alena over there.
"Sabrina!" Alena complained as she stumbled forward, giving James the impression that he should come over. "Great, look what you've done!" Alena hissed over her shoulder as she glared at her sisters smiling face.
"Uh we'll go get the trunks. Don't move," Paul said awkwardly as he dragged Michael and Sabrina away from their spot. Alena sighed as she looked up at James who stopped in front of her, several feet away.
"Hey James," Alena said softly as she looked into his eyes, who stared at her with confusion; however, she could still the anger that lingered.
"Look I don't want us to leave on bad terms. And I know you too well to expect an apology so can we just forget it?" James quickly said as he got straight to the point. He had spent the entire train ride complaining to Daniel and Fred about what had happened and they all agreed that it should just be forgotten.
Alena thought about it and she knew that what he was saying meant sense but a part of her felt annoyance for the fact that James had assumed he deserved an apology. "I agree, it's best to just let it go," she finally decided.
James smiled with relief as he stepped closer and quickly pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. Alena had to be one of his biggest pains but he still loved her madly and he didn't think anything could change that.
"Listen I have to get going, but promise me that we'll meet up as soon as possible?" James asked as he pulled away and looked at her expectantly.
"Yes of course, I'll owl you tonight," Alena answered as she looked over her shoulder to see that her siblings had indeed returned.
"Okay. Talk to you soon," said James as he kissed her on the cheek, afraid to do anything more with her brothers around and walked back to his family.
Alena also turned around and found her brothers smirking at her with curiosity, while Sabrina was pretending to gag herself. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" Alena questioned as she moved closer so they could get ready to apparate.
"No reason. Just when were you planning on telling us you were dating a Potter?" Paul asked as he hooked his arm with hers.
"Over break of course. Why do you look so surprised?" Alena demanded as she prepared herself to go through the sickening sensation that apparating gives.
"I don't know, you don't usually date seriously and well we never thought it'd be a Potter you'd end up with," Michael said causally as he had his own arm hooked with Sabrina and the other hand holding a trunk. "Now enough chatting let's go."
With a pop, all four of them were gone and then reappeared in front of a medium sized home that was surrounded by hills and trees. They lived at the very end of Godrics Hallow, where there were fewer houses and more space.
"Aw, home sweet home," Sabrina exclaimed cheerfully as she began to go into detail about her studies and what was happening at school with Michael. Alena listened silently as they entered the house and were greeted with the smell of cinnamon and coffee.
"When will dad be home?" Alena questioned as she hung up her coat and stepped out of her shoes.
"Said around eight. He had a lot of paperwork to finish up," Paul replied as he threw his jacket on the stand and headed to the living room to watch a movie. The house had two sitting rooms, one dedicated for conversing with guests, and the other for leisure activities such as watching television from their Muggle set or playing a game.
"Great," Alena mumbled as she headed upstairs, her stomach began to squeeze with nerves. Pretty soon she would have to sit everyone down and tell them her dark secret. James had said he wanted to be here for that, but she doubted she would invite him now. Alena thought it might go better if it was just her family. Surely the boys would want to throttle James if he was there.
"You okay Lena?" Sabrina asked with slight worry as she watched Alena slowly go up the stairs. Alena had yet to share her fear of staircases with her yet.
"Huh? Yeah just tired. I'm gonna go lay down. Wake me up when dad is home," Alena called out without thinking and continued her way up. Finally she reached the top and turned left and went down to the very end of the hall where her room was located. Opening the door, she was greeted with the familiar mess she had left it in. The walls were decorated with an assortment of picture frames, collages, and anything that had been deemed significant.
A queen sized bed was placed against the wall and Alena gladly threw herself onto the large gray comforter and pulled the sheets over her body. She hadn't been lying when she said she was tired. The fight with James, the train ride, and even apparating had really taken a toll on her. Being pregnant made her exhausted even after the tiniest tasks. It was absolutely terrible but there was no way to stop it from happening. With nothing really in mind, Alena fell asleep to a dreamless nap.
