Disclaimer: I have to budget my gas money so no, I'm not JK Rowling becaue I promise I would have an iPhone and a closet filled with the entire American Eagle stock if I was.
Chapter Summary: She's got a little bit of heaven with a wild side, got a rebel heart a country mile wide, there's a little bit of devil in her, in those, angel eyes (Angel Eyes, Love and Theft).
Last Chapter Recap: Ali hates Halloween, got detention once her third year, and agreed to stay for the Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch match even though she and Kensy have an appearence Saturday night which could turn out to be either a really good idea or a really bad one. Ali found out about Lily's "secret" plan to get Ali to marry Al and Lester warned Albus to be careful because Ali's kind of a workaholic. And that's what you missed if you didn't read the last chapter!
Miracle Magic
Ali had not been to a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match since her first year. When Ali was eleven Hogwarts seemed like an amazing new adventure. She wanted to see everything, participate in everything she had time for. She wanted everyone to like her, she wanted to get good grades, and she had even considered trying out for the Quidditch team before she learned that her talent on a broom was equal to that of an elephant trying to perform ballet. She wasn't entirely sure why she was so awful on a broom. She wasn't scared of heights, she had decent balance from doing yoga every day over the summer breaks, and she even thought that she was at least semi-coordinated. But there was something about riding a broom that she just couldn't grasp.
Cedric Jordan was considered something like a cheerleader. For people he liked (which was just about anyone who wasn't on an opposing Quidditch team), anyways. When he commentated matches he could come across a bit biased but that was to be expected, Ali supposed, considering he was so competitive. When a fifteen year old trips a thirteen year old because she might beat him to the castle, you know he has issues. But aside from his biased commentator ways and competitive nature he was a genuinely nice and optimistic guy. Which is why, when he told Ali that she was hopeless on a broomstick, Ali decided to give it up. He had spent hours outside and couldn't even help her hover with her feet two inches above the ground. If he was discouraged, that meant it was serious.
But Ali learning that her Quidditch dreams were dashed didn't hit her as hard as it would have if Cedric had told her she was hopeless in her first year because by the time her third year rolled around she was already getting into all of the modeling, she had a mum who was battling breast cancer, and all she really wanted to do was get everyone to leave her alone. She wasn't the type of person to have a heart-to-heart with anyone who could listen and she was sick of all of the pitying looks everyone who knew were sending her, Rose and Scorpius included.
She missed the Gryffindor/Slytherin match her third year because it gave her a chance to have time alone after she fed her friends some sort of excuse, and they eventually gave in when it became clear that she wasn't going to change her mind no matter what they said. As much as they cared about Ali, Quidditch was both of their greatest weaknesses and Ali was smart enough to know the best way to play off of their love.
She would have gone to the match her second year but her potion had exploded the day before and she was covered in boils. She listened the commentation from the hospital wing and realized that Quidditch, really, wasn't all that interesting. The year before she had enjoyed it because it made her feel as though she was a part of the school and was hyped up from the energy of the crowd but the longer she tried to keep her eyes open, the more she began to realize that she really had no idea which ball the Quaffle was or what it did. Cedric could call out that Potter had the Quaffle as many times as he wanted but Ali still had no idea what was going on and fell asleep trying to figure out how Slytherin went from 80 points to 230 in the span of ten seconds.
After the Gryffindor/Slytherin match Ali's second year she still went to the matches but she enjoyed them much less than she had her first year and by the time her third year rolled around she really had no desire to watch. When she didn't miss seeing people ram into each other during the first match of the season her third year, Ali knew that she was done with Quidditch unless she felt as though she had an obligation to support Scorpius or humor Rose's obsession. Until now, apparently.
Because now, on November fourth of Ali's seventh year, she was dressed in furry snow boots, legwarmers, black leggings, a sweater dress, gloves, a hat, a scarf, and a large cloak to keep her warm. There was a sea of red and gold to Ali's left and an equally large blob of silver and green to her right. Ali, after giving in to Rose's begging, had agreed to adorn a red hat and added some gold hoops to prove her allegiance. Scorpius had sent them both annoyed looks as he was supporting Slytherin (more for his parents than his personal preference, but still). The entire Ravenclaw house seemed split as most people had friends or relatives in one of the two houses. If Ali had to choose she would probably say there were more people in her house routing for Slytherin than Gryffindor.
The Hufflepuff house also seemed split but had more red and gold than green and silver. It made sense, really. Hufflepuff's were nice, Gryffindors were noble. They would get along. Ravenclaw's, on the other hand, were smart and Slytherin's were conniving. Ravenclaw matched better with Slytherin and Hufflepuff matched well enough with Gryffindor.
"And here they come," Tessa Higgs, a sixth year who had taken over for Cedric the year before, announced. "Gryffindor led by their captain, seventh year Albus Potter, and Slytherin led by seventh year captain Mario Flint. A beater and a seeker, two complete rivals.
"The captains shake hands," Tessa went on. "And the players mount their brooms. The bludgers are out, the snitch is released, and the game begins with Rookie Igor Crawford taking the Quaffle for Gryffindor—passes to fifth year Misty Lee who gives it back—passes to—intercepted! Seventh year Charlie Pucey in possession of the Quaffle for Slytherin—he takes it down the pitch and ooh! Hit by a bludgers from Albus Potter. That's going to leave a bruise. The Quaffle is taken out of the air by Lee who passes it to fourth year Hugo Weasley—Weasley scores! Ten nil for Gryffindor. Slytherin keeper Montague takes the Quaffle and passes it off to sixth year Silo Burke. For those of you who aren't all the way tuned in to the happenings of Hogwarts Quidditch you should know that Slytherin is the only team who hasn't had to replace a single player this season making them favorites for the Quidditch cup. Silo ducks Weasley—shoots—goal for Slytherin bringing us to a tied game of ten-ten and a time out is called by Slytherin team captain Flint."
"You know, even though Higgs isn't as entertaining as Jordan was, I still kind of like her," Rose commented as everyone sat back for the time out. "She's a Slytherin but she's not biased at all."
Two minutes after the time out ended it was clear that Slytherin had changed their strategy and their beaters, Cameron Prince and Vincent Goyle, were taking no prisoner.
"Another bludger is hit at Alyssa Bell," Tessa called through her microphone. "Barely dodges it but does none the less and Albus Potter is after it, hits it towards Flint who—ouch! Right in the arm and there's a foul called on fourth year Devon Trey for Cobbing fifth year Misty Lee. Elbowing her is no way to get to second base mate, I know you've had a crush on her for a bit but really, at least ask the girl on a date first."
Devon turned to the commentator box looking furious with his cousin but she just smiled brightly and blew him a kiss which caused his face to turn even redder. Rose and Scorpius were both howling with laughter but Misty Lee seemed as embarrassed as Devon did from Tessa's comment.
"Hugo Weasley takes the penalty and—Montague barely misses it. Thirty-twenty to Gryffindor. Flint looks absolutely livid, you might want to get your act together Montague, it would be tragic if you were murdered by Flint. I don't reckon I would like his face being the last thing I saw. Montague passes the ball out to Pucey who passes to Trey, Weasley's coming up to challenge Tr—nice bludger there, hit at Weasley by Prince and he's forced to swerve giving Trey a clean shot and denied! Keeper Wood blocks the Quaffle from going in. Rumors have been circulating about a strife between Potter and Wood about a certain Boot girl but it doesn't seem to be affecting their game today, both are in top form. No need to look so prissy, Potter, just stating a fact. Weasley with the Quaffle shooting down the pitch—"
The commentary went on and Ali tried to ignore the looks that were being sent her way after Tessa's comment. She had changed her mind; the girl was the worst commentator in the history of commentators. She wanted Jordan back. Now.
"Just ignore them," Rose whispered, noticing Ali's uncomfortable fidgeting. "They're just rumors."
"Yeah," Ali muttered. "Ooh, that'll hurt," she winced as Fred (Gryffindor's second beater) hit a bludgers towards Burdock Montague and made contact, giving Gryffindor another ten points.
The longer the game progressed, the dirtier it became. Goyle hit a bludger at Hugo when he was less than two feet away and broke his nose. Albus retaliated by intentionally colliding with Goyle, claiming that he was trying to race after the bludger but getting a foul for blatching anyway. Pucey wasn't all that impressed with Albus' display and hit a bludger towards the Gryffindor keeper while the other players were on the
other side of the pitch but Madam Robins didn't see and was unable to call him for aiming at the keeper when the Quaffle wasn't within scoring range. Less than a minute later Fred whacked Silo Burke over the side of his head and claimed that he thought his mop of black hair was a bludger which, of course, caused Silo to get angry and retaliate by blurting.
After that, Albus called for a timeout. In the stands, Ali couldn't hear what he was saying but could tell by the mere look on his face that he was pissed and the entire team seemed battle worn.
"They're up by twenty points," Albus unnecessarily told the team. "That's not enough; I need you to catch that snitch Bell. I know you can beat Flint; you're smaller so I don't care how much of a disadvantage you have. If you see the snitch, get low and bullet towards it. The chasers are getting beat up so I need you to avoid the bludgers as best you can, yeah? They're going to start aiming at you as soon as Fred and I move away. Fred, I want you to cover the Chasers when they're moving forward, hopefully we can get a few more goals in. I'll take the defensive side, try to keep Wood from getting knocked out of the game and I'll do what I can for you as well Bell. Just catch the snitch."
"Got it," Alyssa nodded seriously, scanning the surrounding area even as she spoke.
"Alright, let's go get this," Albus declared, spitting out a bit of blood from his cut lip as he did and glancing up at the Ravenclaw stands where Ali and Rose both waved at him. He grimaced back and mounted his broom, ready to get the match over with. If they won this, they had a really good chance at the Cup.
"Gryffindor in possession—Weasley passes to Crawford who passes to Weasley who passes to Lee—dodges Burke, goes under Trey, Shoots—Ooh! Nice bludger by Goyle forcing Lee to swerve and giving Montague an easy save. Montague tosses the ball out to Trey who takes it down pitch—shoots—saved by Wood who passes it out to Crawford. Crawford dodges a bludger from Prince, ducks under Trey shoots—Goal for Gryffindor! Gryffindor down by ten. Burke has the Quaffle passes—is that the snitch? Seeker Mario Flint is shooting towards the Hufflepuff stands, Alyssa Bell right on his heels. They both turn left—Bell pulls ahead—that's it! Alyssa Bell has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins."
Flint, in his typical anger issues way, jumped off his broom from about three feet in the air and chucked it towards the ground angrily, spitting onto the grass and storming off without the rest of his team. Alyssa, meanwhile, was being smothered in a huge group hug by her teammates.
Lily and Kensy were going wild in the Gryffindor stands and Ali clapped politely, laughing at Rose's outrageous reaction. She followed the rest of the student population onto the pitch and lost Rose within seconds as she plowed over people to get to her brother. Scorpius rolled his eyes at Ali and left relatively quickly with the rest of his team. Most likely to discuss what they had seen and how best to combat it when they played Gryffindor in the last match of the season.
Ali continued to weave through and saw Misty Lee jumping up and down with her friends while Devon Trey looked on a few feet away, apparently more interested in the group of five girls than the consoling words his friends were no doubt showering him with. Maybe Higgs had been right about him. Off to the side Sisi seemed to be attempting to converse with Montague but he wasn't having much of it and they seemed to be arguing as Ali had come to realize they did rather often. Still further in Hugo was trying to shove Rose off and Fed was showing off for Kensy, letting her try out his bat.
"What'd you think?" Albus asked from behind her, grabbing her arm to spin her around.
"Not bad," Ali grinned. "It was more interesting than I was expecting but there seemed to be more violence then strictly necessary."
"That's Slytherin for you," Albus shrugged. "We had to retaliate."
"So I noticed," Ali grinned. Her hair was flying all over with the wind and she tried uselessly to push it behind her back only to have it whipped in her face again.
"Lost cause, Boot," Albus laughed and she shrugged.
"Maybe," she admitted. "At least it's not as bad as yours."
"It's hereditary!" Albus protested, running his hands through his long hair pointlessly.
"Uh-huh."
"It is! You've seen my dad," Albus insisted.
"At least he keeps his short," Ali pointed out. "Yours is—"
"Sexy? I know," Albus cut her off.
"I was going to say a catastrophe," Ali teased with a shrug. "But whatever works."
"You love it," Albus teased her.
"It does make you…unique," Ali said, wrinkling her nose to make it clear that she was not complimenting him.
"My mum always said I was special," Albus shrugged modestly.
"I'm sure she did," Ali nodded in mock sympathy. "Well I actually have to grab Kensy and go but nice match, Potter. I was impressed."
She gave him a last smile before turning around to make her way back to where Kensy had been standing with Fred moments earlier. They both had a load of work to do before the crews arrived in an hour. The wind combined with what had no doubt become a head of hat hair would take a good half hour to comb through, not to mention the makeup that had become smudged over the course of a four hour match.
But Albus didn't seem to notice any of that as he was pulled back into the large group of admirers. His only regret was not having the nerve to pull the same stunt his dad had 20-something years earlier. One day, he decided, the whole school would know Ali was his. Just, you know, not today. Another day…err, eventually.
"Kense, time to go," Ali said, hurrying towards her cousin. She felt a bit bad for Freddy, tugging Kensy away as soon as he may have had a shot with her. But, really, the boy had, had five years. He could wait another day.
"Coming," Kensy said immediately, passing the bat back to Freddy and grabbing Ali's hand so that they wouldn't lose each other as they ran as fast as they could through the crowd of people that was now making their way back to the castle.
It turned out to be a rather enjoyable night and Ali only had to lie twice when she said it was nice to meet you—once to a lady in a bright pink feather dress who kept stroking—yes, stroking—Ali's head and the other to a middle-aged man who felt the need to perv on younger girls. The first lady Ali had to make her excuses as she was a friend of her parents but her Aunt Parvarti rescued her from the second.
Sunday morning Ali woke up feeling hung over. She hadn't had much to drink the night before and she had been nowhere near drunk but late nights combined with even a few sips of alcohol and smiling more than normal always left her drained. Her mum was up already, drinking a cup of coffee with The Dailey Prophet open as she sat on the couch in the glass room.
"'Morning mum," Ali greeted and Padma moved over a bit so that Ali could lie down beside her, her head resting on Padma's shoulder.
"Are you in a hurry to get back to school?" Padma asked. "Your dad is going to make pancakes whenever he gets up if you can wait."
"I have time," Ali assured her. "All of my homework is out of the way and my first test isn't until Friday so I can cram the night before."
"What class?" Padma asked; always ready to be as involved as possible in Ali's education.
"Potions," Ali muttered.
"How is that going?" Padma asked, trying and failing to sound casual. "Have you started experimenting yet?"
"No," Ali shook her head. "Professor MacMillan said we wouldn't start until December so I have another month."
"But you're doing well," Padma pressed.
"Yeah," Ali said quietly. "I'm doing alright."
She wanted to tell her mum that it didn't matter how well she did in potions, that she just wasn't going to be able to take over her parents business. She didn't find any joy in experimenting with different ingredients and she absolutely loathed the idea of staying up until three in the morning in the hopes of finding a better way to stop thirteen year olds from dealing with acne. Sure, it sucked for them, but selfish though it may have made Ali, she really just didn't feel any need to be the one who cured them.
She knew that all of those people who said beauty wasn't just skin deep were stupid. I mean, really, how could beauty be more than skin deep? Beauty was in the eyes of the beholder, her parents had always told her that, but beauty came from what you saw. There wasn't some way for you to be beautiful on the inside and not on the outside. You could be ugly and still be a nice person but really, beauty is only skin deep. She had been proving that for years. She wanted to do something more but didn't know how to tell her mother that without feeling as though she was discrediting all of their hard work.
"Are you alright sweety?" Padma, ever perceptive, asked when Ali had been quiet for a few minutes.
"Yeah," Ali muttered, knowing even as she said it that it wouldn't calm her mother's worries and therefore wasn't the least bit surprised when her mum pulled Ali's head up so that she was forced to look at her.
"What's wrong?" Padma asked, tossing the paper aside so that Ali had her full attention.
"Nothing," Ali insisted. "It's just a lot of pressure this year with NEWT's and such. I'll be fine."
"I heard you and Kensy stayed later at school to watch the Quidditch match," Padma said slowly, as if hoping Ali would talk the more she was prompted to. "Those matches used to be the most fun I had at Hogwarts. It was always Slytherin and Gryffindor competing for the cup, every year I was at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw never stood a chance with Harry and then Ginny playing Seeker."
"It was actually a good match," Ali admitted. "I've never liked Quidditch much but it was fun this time."
"You don't like Quidditch?" Padma asked, looking shocked.
"Why would I?" Ali asked. "It's not like I've really had much exposure to it outside of Hogwarts and even then, I had no idea what was going on."
"You—but your father and I talk about Quidditch all the time!" Padma exclaimed.
"No you don't," Ali laughed. "You guys never talk about Quidditch. I'd only ever seen Jack and Jules play one-on-one once when I was eight. I didn't even know there was usually more than two people playing until I met Rose."
"How is that even possible?" Padma asked, looking bewildered. "Your dad and I used to go to matches all the time when we were dating. I suppose we did stop once you were born but I know we took you to one when you were a baby. We had to leave ten minutes into it because you were screaming. You always hated the crowds; there was too much stimulation."
"Well I guess that never really left me," Ali shrugged.
"What about when you were dating Lester?" Padma pressed. "He plays Quidditch. You had to have enjoyed Quidditch to date a Wood."
"Err, yeah, there's a reason we didn't work out," Ali grimaced. "The second he started talking about Ronnie Faints I was lost."
"I can't believe it," Padma said, sounding genuinely stunned.
"It's not a bad thing," Ali was quick to assure her. "It's not like I was really missing much and Cedric tried to teach me how to ride a broom stick a few years ago. I have no talent what so ever. He gave up, said I was hopeless."
"Cedric said you were hopeless?" Padma asked, raising her eyebrows.
"It was really bad," Ali accentuated and Padma laughed.
"What was bad?" Terry asked, walking into the sunroom.
"Ali can't ride a broomstick," Padma explained, winking at Ali to warn her it was best not to mention to her father that Ali didn't really care about Quidditch. Ali hadn't thought about it before, but her dad always did seem happy when she was wearing one of Rose's shirts. She was pretty sure he had even given her a lecture about her choice of team at one time or another. She had nodded until he shut up and then went up to her room with a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll teach you!" Terry offered enthusiastically.
"I don't think that's a very good idea," Ali protested immediately. "If Cedric couldn't do it, I highly doubt you're going to be able to."
"Of course I will," Terry exclaimed. "You're my daughter, what does that boy know?"
"Really honey," Padma tried to intervene. "You never played Quidditch. Cedric knows all about it."
"I taught her how to ride a bike, I can handle teaching her how to ride a broomstick," Terry waved Padma's worries away. "Now who wants pancakes?"
"Is he really that bad?" Ali asked her mum who normally let both Ali and Terry learn by trial and error. If she stepped in, Ali knew it was time to worry.
"Let's just say you didn't get your lack of coordination on a broomstick from me," Padma said slowly. "My uncle got Parvarti and me little broomsticks when we were five. Your dad on the other hand…well, his confidence outweighs his talent."
"Wonderful," Ali groaned.
"I'll try to talk him 'round," Padma assured her. "You just focus on that potions test."
"Yeah," Ali nodded, standing up to set the table for breakfast.
Miracle Magic
Rose wasn't in the dormitory when Ali returned to Hogwarts Sunday afternoon so she turned around and checked the boys' dormitory.
"Have you seen Scorpius or Rose?" she asked Edward Davies who was sitting on his bed.
"Not since this morning," Davies told her. "But Potter was looking for you a while ago."
"Which one?" Ali asked.
"The girl one," Davies said, laughing when she groaned.
"Something I'm missing?"
"Nah," Ali sighed. "Did Kensy come back last night?"
"Dunno, she was with Potter and her cousin, Fed isn't it? All three of them were trying to find you."
"Alright, thanks," Ali sighed. "If you do see Scorp or Rose tell them to find me, yeah?"
"Sure," Davies agreed, already turning back to his book.
Ali walked towards the library but they weren't there, nor were they in the kitchens, or at the Quidditch pitch. She had gone to the Gryffindor common room to try and find Kensy, Fred, and Lily as well but once again she came up with nothing and no one had seen them for a few hours though a few mentioned that the three Gryffindors had been looking for her since morning.
"Thank Merlin," Ali exclaimed when she finally turned a corner to see Albus and Kevin walking towards her.
"That was something I never thought I would hear her say when she saw me," Albus muttered to Kevin who grinned.
"What's up Boot?" Kevin asked as they neared her.
"Have you seen…well, anyone really? I haven't been able to find Rose or Scorpius anywhere and at least fifteen people have said that the Three Musketeers were looking for me but I can't find any of them anywhere and I've been to the library and the kitchens, and the common rooms, and the dormitories, and by the black lake, and I even braved the Quidditch pitch! That place looks likes a swamp by the way."
"We were all down at Hagrid's until about twenty minutes ago," Albus offered half-heartedly. "He made us tea."
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Ali asked. "How long were down there?"
"About two hours," Kevin said. "How long have you been looking?"
Ali's responding glare was enough for both of them to know the answer.
"Where is everyone now?" she sighed.
"Probably back in the dormitories," Albus shrugged. "Or in the kitchens. Or in the library, or by the lake, or on the Quidditch pitch."
"You're right, I'll stick with you," Ali decided. "What are you doing?"
"Err, you don't want to do anything with us," Kevin said quickly.
"Yes I do," Ali protested. "I am not spending another two hours looking for all them and you're right here. Now what are we doing?"
"Really Ace, you won't want to," Albus told her. "You freaked out just being out after hours."
"But we're not out after hours," Ali pointed out. "It's barely seven. Now come on, what are you doing?"
"Okay," Albus said slowly, ignoring Kevin's incredulous look. "But you have to swear that you'll go through with it first."
"Okay whatever," Ali shrugged. "What are you doing?"
Albus looked over at Kevin and indicated for him to take out the supplies. Kevin sighed but took out two giant spray cans anyways.
"What is that?" Ali asked.
"This thing Muggles use on to clean stone," Albus explained. "But you can't see it."
"So?" Ali asked, not getting it.
"So we're painting the Slytherins bench with it," Kevin explained. "It's stays wet for 48 hours."
"Okay, bye," Ali quickly backed out, trying to move past them.
"No way," Albus said, sidestepping to his right in order to block her way. "You said you wanted in, now you're in. No backsies."
"No backsies?" Ali repeated, raising her eyebrows.
"Come on, we warned you," Albus pointed out, turning her around and pushing her along in front of them. Ali sighed but didn't argue as they made their way to the Great Hall. She really should have known what she was getting herself into the second she ran into them. There was a reason she used to avoid Albus, after all.
"The doors are closed, so sad," Ali said when they got there.
"The whole reason we can do this is because the doors are closed," Kevin explained. "The house elves are in there cleaning up from dinner. It takes them approximately 45 minutes and they started ten minutes ago so we should have plenty of time. Besides, they don't even lock them."
To say Ali was surprised when she walked into the Great Hall would be an understatement. She was downright shocked. There must have been at least fifteen house elves running around, sweeping the crumbs off of the floor, cleaning the tables, and snapping their fingers to make the last of the dishes disappear to the kitchens. The chairs up at the high table were being polished by the house elves and all of the windows were in the middle of being washed.
"Oi, you lot!" Albus called out after the Great Hall doors were closed behind them. "If anybody asks you, you did not see anyone come in here while you were working."
The house-elves all grumbled to each other but they didn't protest Albus' order so he nodded and called, "KREACHER!"
Much to Ali's surprise, his call actually resulted in the appearance of a house-elf who bowed at Albus.
"Yes Master," he croaked and Ali gaped incredulously. She knew people still had house-elves (Scorpius' family had two), but she never would have guessed that the Potters had one as well, especially with all of Rose's mum's beliefs about house elf rights.
"Kreacher, can you finish up the Slytherin table for those house-elves over there?" Albus asked, sounding marginally polite. "We have a present for the Slytherins tomorrow morning but you can't tell anyone, especially my parents, and if any of the teachers ask, you know nothing about this, okay?"
Kreacher bowed again but didn't look the least bit pleased as he waved the other house-elves off. Still, he did as Albus asked and within five minutes he had bowed and disappeared with a snap of his fingers.
"Did he just…?"
"Dissaparate, yeah," Albus nodded.
"And he's your house-elf?" Ali asked. Again Albus nodded.
"It's a long story," he told her. "I'll explain it all later."
"Okay," Ali shrugged. "Can I spray first?"
"Sure," Albus agreed handing her a bottle and she grinned, uncapping it and spraying a whole ton of it on the bench.
"Hey, this is fun," she laughed, putting a heavier layer on than was strictly necessary. Albus and Kevin both laughed and Kevin started on the other side. Whatever the chemical was, it really did appear invisible and though Ali would deny it if anyone asked, she kind of liked the idea of the Slytherins getting a nasty surprise the following morning. And knowing that she had been a part of it.
"Where did you get this stuff?" Ali asked Albus who was watching her with amusement painted clearly on his face.
"James sent it," Albus shrugged. "With Kreacher of course, he couldn't risk someone else getting their hands on it. Uncle Charlie has a huge house and apparently he uses this stuff to clean his fountain. James saw it and couldn't let it go to waste."
"But shouldn't the Slytherins prank you?" Ali asked. "I mean, they were the ones who lost."
"Yeah but it looks better to be a poor winner than a poor loser," Albus shrugged. "This just lets us rub their faces in our win a bit more."
"You want to do it?" Ali asked, holding out the can for him.
"Nah, your fine," Albus waved her off. "I've spray painted before."
"I used to spray paint my clothes," Ali said randomly. "I have at least three pairs of jeans that I tried to make more interesting by making them colorful and all of my white t-shirts were tie-dyed. I had a thing against solid colors from when I was eight until I was about eleven. It drove my mum mad."
"Why'd you stop?" Albus asked.
"Grew out of it I guess," Ali shrugged. "Okay, you seriously have to try this, it's so much fun," Ali insisted, giving the can to Albus who finished the last third of the bench in no time.
"Not bad, Boot," Kevin conceded as they all looked at the table, wondering if anyone would notice. If you looked closely, and the light hit it just right, then it looked a bit wet but Ali was pretty sure people would be too tired Monday morning to really examine it for imperfections.
"I didn't think you would do it," Albus admitted.
"Well shows how well the two of you know me," Ali shrugged. "And now we should go before we get caught."
"Yeah," Albus agreed, flicking his wand at both of the spray bottles. "Let's get out of here.
Miracle Magic
It was about a week later when Albus and Kevin nearly got themselves busted for the prank they, along with Ali, of course, pulled on the Slytherins. All three of them were in Defense when the discussion about how a wizard's desperation or, more specifically, their emotions could allow the witch or wizard in question to perform a spell without a specific incantation.
"So when the Slytherin's all got that weird charcoal stuff on their clothes," Davies piped up. "All they really had to do was want it off their clothes desperately enough? Because a bunch of those girls sounded pretty desperate. I'm pretty sure Australia could hear Zabini's high-pitched shriek."
The class laughed while Zabini glared at Davies.
"Not exactly," Professor Jones said delicately. "There the emotions weren't strong enough and they were more outrage and anger than they were some sort of need. I'm talking about being backed in a corner when your instincts of fight or flight would normally kick in. Because the magic is within you, you always have the ability to channel it, does that make sense? Miss Weasley?"
"It could also occur in less dire situations though, couldn't it?" Rose asked. "Because my Uncle George told me that Uncle Harry once blew up his aunt when he got mad at her. It wasn't as though she was trying to kill him or anything, she was just getting under his skin and next thing anyone knows she's floating in the air and all of her clothes are bursting off."
The class laughed again and Professor Jones joined in.
"Harry was always very good at accidental magic," she said delicately. "But that story is true and you are correct, the situation wasn't dire. But she did strike a nerve which caused the emotions to be extreme. Think back to when you were kids and you first performed magic. You didn't have a wand but I'm sure there were many acts that you each performed. I know Professor Longhbottom performed his first magical act by turning himself into a ball so that he could bounce when he fell out of a window. I myself have a terrible fear of dogs and I once found myself on the other side of my aunt's six foot fence when her dog ran at me and my niece performed her first magic this summer when she wanted a cookie and her father wouldn't give her one. She levitated one right out off of the plate and into her hand. But to children cookies are of the utmost importance while fixing clothes that can be changed is not that big of a deal in the large scheme of things, even to seventeen-year-old girls."
It was right after Professor Jones finished speaking that the door flew open and three Nifflers came running into the classroom. Everyone shrieked and jumped out of their seats, those by the doors running out of the classroom altogether. Ali and Rose both jumped onto the table and Ali yelled when a Niffler came running towards them.
"Your jewelry!" Rose said suddenly. "Take it off!"
Ali scrambled with her earrings while Rose unclasped her gold necklace, tossing it away from them to keep the Niffler occupied while Ali slipped off her bracelet and tossed it, along with her gold hoops, onto the table across from theirs.
"Hagrid!" Professor Jones yelled and the giant appeared, huffing and puffing in the doorway along with a class of slightly frightened fifth years.
He overturned a large chest full of gold and all three Nifflers ran towards him, allowing the fifth years to put cages over them quickly.
"Ar, sorry 'bout tha'," Hagrid said nervously, running his hand through his unruly mane of dark hair. "Some o' the students got a bi' distracted."
He sent a meaningful look towards Kensy and Lily who both shared a sheepish look. Ali smiled to herself and glanced across the room where Albus was shaking his head at his sister who made a face at him.
"Well if you have your class under control…" Professor Jones said pointedly and Hagrid nodded quickly, picking up the Nifflers and carrying all three of the cages in his ginormous arms.
"Wait!" Zabini called out. "They took my ring!"
"Oh, sorry bou' that," Hagrid said uneasily. "Err, I'll give Professor Jones anything I fin' bu' yeh ne'er really know wi' Nifflers, where the gold goes, ya' see…"
"Whatever," Zabini huffed. "It's not like I really liked the ring anyways."
"Did they take your stuff," Rose asked as they jumped down to take their seats again.
"The necklace," Ali sighed as she picked her bracelet and earrings back up.
"Which one?" Rose asked.
"The one with my birthstone," Ali said, shrugging as though it didn't bother her in the least which, if she was honest with herself, was a bit of a lie. All of her cousins on her dad's side had gone in on it for her sixth birthday.
"Is it replaceable?" Rose asked, obviously amused by the entire encounter.
"Probably," Ali nodded. And the necklace probably was.
"Hey," Zabini shrieked. "What's that?"
Ali turned with the rest of the class to see what Zabini was pointing at and froze when she saw the spray bottle that was rolling towards Professor Jones at a tantalizingly slow pace.
"Charcoal," Professor Jones said, reading the label, "Used for cleaning marble, invisible to the naked eye."
Ali was panicking. Her fingerprints were on one of the two bottles. She knew no one would suspect her but if Albus and Kevin denied that they had done it surely they would perform some sort of test on the bottles. The teachers had been furious that morning and the Slytherins looked mutinous. Most people suspected that it was the Gryffindors but there was no proof and therefore no one had even been questioned about it. But now, they were all in trouble. Ali looked towards Albus and Kevin along with the rest of the class and saw Kevin looking resigned but at ease while Albus still reclined casually in his char.
"Mr. Potter," Professor Jones said calmly to the boy whose bag the can had rolled out of during the Nifflers invasion. "Can you tell me why you have this in your bag?"
"I could offer a few theories," Albus said easily. "But I have a feeling you wouldn't appreciate them and it really comes down to a person placing that bottle in my bag."
"Well then I'm sure you won't mind walking to Professor Longhbottom's office unless you can prove to me right now that you and Mr. Jordan were not the one's who put this mixture on the Slytherins' bench Sunday evening…"
"They were with me," Ali blurted out and the entire class turned to look at her.
"With you?" Professor Jones repeated in surprise.
"Yeah," Ali said, sounding more confident than she felt.
"I spent the day at home and when I got back I couldn't find anyone because they had all gone down to Hagrid's so when I finally ran into Albus and Kevin we hung out for a while."
"And what time was that?" Professor Jones asked.
"I dunno," Ali said. "About seven I guess. We walked around the castle until curfew then they went back to their dorm and I went back to mine."
"I can vouch for that," Rose offered. "Ali came in just before nine.
"Yeah, so did Albus and Kevin," Aaron Roy piped up. "I stayed up until three working on a Transfiguration essay and they were both asleep when I got up to the dorm."
"In that case I'll just send these up to Professor Larson so that she can do with them what she wants and we'll get back to the lesson at hand," Professor Jones declared and Ali breathed a sigh of relief.
Professor Larson never seemed to follow up with things as harmless as this. In the past few months Ali had been having lessons with the headmistress she had come to realize that, strict though Professor Larson may be with students who were caught red-handed, she hardly ever followed up when a student came tattle-tailing to her about suspicions. She would thank them curtly and then never look into it. Ali assumed that she had seen far worse during her days in the field and therefore didn't think that kids messing around needed anything more than a lecture from herself or one of their teachers.
She had been in no way amused by the stunt but as it was now a little over a week later…well, Ali didn't think she would care much. Still, Albus' wink reassured her that he had wiped the bottles of all easily obtained evidence and she was able to sit back and listen to the rest of Professor Jones' lecture, participating when she knew the answer.
Miracle Magic
A/N: Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews last chapter! I got more for the last one than I have for any of the chapters so far. Think you can beat it? Leave me a REVIEW to tell me what you thought of this chapter and what you think is coming next!