So... I'm not dead! Sorry lovelies, I hope you all are still following this story and haven't given up yet but I did say my Alexis Lestrange series took precedence. Anyway, to all you still reading, Enjoy!
Chapter 10
It was a full week before Oliver woke up from the Bludger incident and instead of being terrified of playing Quidditch as the Slytherins had hoped, he had become almost twice as excited about it. Oliver was even looking forward to rubbing it in Marcus Flint's, the ink hair Slytherin Alice met on the train and competed against in the Quidditch match, face that the Gryffindor team had won (apparently, he and Marcus were as big as rivals as Alice and Cassius). He didn't, however, because Don had reprimanded him for the idea and Oliver, after he discovered that Duke and Don had saved his life, had begun following every order the two boys gave him with gusto.
Another thing that had only taken a week was the discovery of who Nicolas Flamel was or rather is. Alice had been waiting for the Weasley boys to return from their trip to Hogsmead, a small wizard town just outside of Hogwarts' grounds, when Bill barged into the Common Room, Charlie right on his heels.
"Look at this Al!" he exclaimed. Both boys were drenched in sweat from what Alice safety assumed was their run back from Hogsmead.
"We were at Honeydukes when we found it," added Charlie as his older brother handed Alice a small pentagram-shape card.
Alice lifted her eyebrow. In her hand was a Chocolate Frog card.
"Why did you give me a card of," she flipped it over to read the name, "Albus Dumbledore? I already know who he is and I don't collect these."
"Read it!"
Once more Alice flipped the card over and in a bored, monotone voice, read aloud, "Albus Dumbledore... Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts... Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore en- Flamel!"
Bill and Charlie nodded their heads frantically. Without another word the three Gryffindors made a break for the library. In no time, Charlie waved them over to an enormous old book. He pointed to a passage that read:
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).
"See?" exclaimed Charlie. "Fluffy must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it!"
"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Bill. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."
"But Snape doesn't look or even act the part of a greedy lowlife," whispered Alice. "Well, lowlife yes, but not greedy. There has to be more to this then just that."
The three pondered on the idea. No matter how much the three of them hated Snape, they couldn't picture him risking his life for unlimited riches. He was far too selfish in Alice's opinion, which led the three of them to spending the next two months trying to figure out why Snape was really after the Stone. Or at least, they would have, if a certain letter from Moody hadn't gotten them distracted.
It had come only three days before their Christmas Holiday and had been a very strange letter at that. It was long, a full six sentences!
Alice.
Arthur and Molly have invited us over for Christmas. I don't know if either Weasley boy knows. Make sure you're packed, stay with the boys on the train, and stay vigilant. Arthur will pick you up at the station. Ask him what the first words you said to him were. I'll meet you at the Burrow.
Alice's hair was a bright blond for the rest of the term. Bill and Charlie, though not as visibly, were just as excited as Alice. They couldn't help but to tell her all about their younger siblings.
"And Ron is terrified of spiders," said Bill to Alice. The two of them, along with Charlie, Myron, Duke, and Don, were sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express together.
"Mind you," chuckled Charlie, "it's Fred and George's fault. They turned his teddybear into a giant spider when he was five."
"I always knew the twins were my favorite Weasleys," said Myron. When Bill hit him, it was very far from a love tap.
"Anyway," said Charlie, chuckling twice as much now that Myron was rubbing his sore arm, "Ginny is the youngest and only girl. She's rather shy so don't expect her to do more then gawk at you. You are her hero after all."
Alice rolled her eyes, ignoring Charlie's tease.
"So what are you doing for Christmas, Don?"
For the first time since the train had left, Don looked up from his copy of Hogwarts a History.
"Same as Myron," he replied, closing his book. "I'm spending the holiday at Duke's."
Alice nodded her head.
"What's your family like, Don?"
Don lifted and eyebrow.
"Why are you asking?" he said cautiously, making Alice grin. Though unintentional, she was making him paranoid. He had even started checking everything he ate just like Alice did before every meal.
"Well, Duke's family is big on Quidditch, Myron's family members are all Ministry workers like Bill and Charlie's, but I don't know anything about yours," said Alice. "I'm just curious."
"Oh, well, my mum is a primary school teacher," he said casually. "Dad was too before he passed away."
"Which is why Don is such a know-it-all," pointed out Duke. Almost immediately, Myron and Bill had to separate him from Don.
At long last, Alice departed from the train with a soccer ball Maddy under her arm. Bill, Charlie, and Percy, who had finally stopped asking Alice questions like a Daily Prophet reporter, joined her as they waited for their ride. It was nearly half an hour later when Arthur Weasley arrived, out of breath but smiling madly as always.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, still out of breath. "Muggles have the strangest parking places. Supposably, you're only supposed to take up only one block when you park. Who would have thought? Amazing, Muggle inventions, what will they think up next?"
Although Alice found Arthur's story entertaining, she cut straight to the chase.
"What was the first question I asked you?"
Arthur smiled kindly again.
"You asked if I had your letter," he replied. He didn't miss it when Alice released her wand from her death grip. "And I asked for my wand back."
Alice beamed. Something told her this was going to be an excellent Christmas.
.
The moment Alice saw the Burrow she fell in love with it. It wasn't simple and plain like her home, in fact, it was far from it. Several stories high, the Weasleys' home had at least four chimneys on the roof and seemed only able to hold its preposterous shape up by ways of magic.
Located on the ground floor was the kitchen and the living room. Both rooms were very lively and large. The kitchen itself had a numerous amount of counters and cabinets, making it look more clustered then it already was, a large fireplace that took up a whole wall, and a great grandfather clock that pointed to various times such as "You're late" or "Time to feed the chickens". Both the front door and the back door were connected to the kitchen. As for the living room, it was connected to the kitchen by a large, crooked archway and had several oddly shaped windows lining its outer walls. It was full of sofas and armchairs, none of which were matching, along with another fireplace, a wooden wireless set, and a small wall-clock that, rather than tell the time, indicated the status of each member of the Weasley family. Instead of numbers, there were various phrases such as "home," "school," "work," "traveling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and "mortal peril". It had nine arms, one for each Weasley with their name on it.
On the next floor was the bedroom of the youngest Weasley, Ginny. It was small, but bright, and overlooked the orchard in the Weasley's backyard. Alice was rather pleased to see a poster of the Holyhead Harpies captain, Gwenog Jones, hanging up on Ginny's wall instead of a poster of herself as Charlie had tried to convince her there would be.
The twins and Percy's rooms were on the next floor. Unsurprisingly, Percy's room was unnaturally clean except for when Fred and George decided to 'help' him reorganize. Speaking of the twins, their room was such a great mess, Alice found it difficult to believe they didn't make it that way on purpose.
Bill and Charlie shared a room on the third floor. Alice thought it looked exactly like one would expect a Muggle teenager's room to look like except all their posters of bands and sport teams moved. It was semi-neat, though not anywhere as neat as Percy's, and had the strange smell of burnt peppers.
The fifth floor, (the fourth being where Arthur and his wife Molly's bedroom was located), was where the youngest Weasley boy, Ron, slept. Much to Alice's dismay, it was covered with Chudley Cannon posters and decor, making the room a bright orange pit. Percy was sharing the room with Ron while Moody commandeered Percy's room for the holiday.
The final floor was the attic. The attic was a dark, musty place where the Weasley family ghoul lived. The ghoul was considered more of a pet than a pest by the Weasleys, and Charlie told Alice that it took to loudly banging the pipes when it felt that things were too quiet in the Burrow.
And then, of course, there were the Weasleys themselves. The matriarch of the family, Molly Weasley, had taken Alice by complete surprise when she entered the Burrow with the four eldest Weasley men, hugging Alice in a way she assumed Molly hugged her own daughter. She had shot a glance to Moody, who was leaning against the wall observing the ordeal, expecting him to yell at her for not being vigilant enough but he said nothing. Apparently Molly Weasley was a hugger and even Moody was okay with that - or rather, knew better then to try and stop her from giving hugs.
"You must be Alice!" Molly exclaimed, hugging Alice once more. "Oh, the boys have told me all about you!"
"Have they?" asked Alice, once more sending a glance towards her father. He seemed too okay with the situation in her opinion. "What exactly have they told you?"
"Only praises, dear," smiled Molly. Finally, she released Alice from her grasps before leading her to the kitchen table. "Now, you all must be starving, so I've made roast."
"Um..."
For a third time Alice sent Moody a questioning glance. He merely shrugged his shoulders, clearly used to the matron's antics. Bill and Charlie, however, were finding the whole situation amusing.
"Let her breath, mum," teased Charlie. "She hasn't even said hi to...Moody?"
Charlie sent Moody a look, trying to see if the title he had chosen for him was the appropriate one.
"That will work, lad," grunted Moody, shifting to lean more on his staff than the wall.
But before Alice had a chance to greet her father, two identical red heads with Cheshire grins and devious eyes entered the kitchen. Immediately, their eyes fell on Alice but before they could speak, Molly did.
"What did you two do now?" she sighed.
"Mother!" cried one of the twins, almost offended.
"Truly you don't think we," said the other.
"Could have possibly-"
"Done anything-"
"Even remotely-"
"Worth such a harsh tone?" finished the first.
Easily enough, Alice knew they had done something worth an even harsher tone than the one Molly had given them. They were, of course, Fred and George Weasley, the dynamic duo of troublemaking as titled by their older brothers.
"I will repeat myself only once more," said Molly. "What. Did. You. Do?"
The twins shrugged in perfect unison.
"We only reorganized Percy's sock drawer for him," said the first twin innocently.
"Like good little brothers," added the second twin just as innocently.
Alice was surprised by how quickly Percy was on his feet and running up the stairs. The two twins, who were still grinning wider than Alice thought was health, then returned their attention to Alice herself. They bowed deeply and in an almost sarcastic manor at her.
"Fred-"
"-and George-"
"Weasley, at your service!" they finished together. Alice failed miserably in holding back her laughter as Percy's cries of dismay filled the air, her hair changing a blinding blonde color.
If it were possible, Fred and George grinned even wider than before only to have their grins wiped away by their mother who quite literally chased them out of the kitchen, and from what it sounded like, up the stairs. Alice was only just calming down from her giggles when Molly reentered the kitchen, slightly red from chasing her devious sons.
"So those are the twins," Bill supplied for his mother.
"I see," grinned Alice. "Rather lively."
"You have no idea," breathed Arthur, which Alice just barely heard.
"Oh!" said Molly, cheerfully. "You must want to meet the youngest two as well!"
Before Alice could even protest, not that she was going to, Molly was shouting again.
"Ron! Ginny! Come to the kitchen dears!"
Moments later, childish giggling, mainly that of a young girl's, and a muffled voice Alice assumed was of someone making a joke, filled the air as well as two sets of feet coming down the stairs.
"Yes mum-"
The smallest of the red head boys stopped mid sentence when he caught sight of Alice in his family's kitchen. He had his arm around his younger sister's shoulder affectionately as a older brother would but it quickly fell to his side slack as did his jaw.
"Hmp," he whimpered in awe. His younger sister was no better. The youngest of the Weasleys had amazingly wide eyes trained on Alice as if she was an impossible thing that had just happened.
"Ron, Ginny," said Molly. "This is Alice Moody. She goes to school with your brothers."
Another whimper escaped the two youngest Weasleys but nothing more. It almost seemed as if the two of them had forgotten how to function.
"Hi Ron and Ginny," said Alice, trying to make the awkward situation less awkward. Unfortunately, her words did not help the situation.
"She knows our names," Ginny Weasley whispered to her brother.
Ron seemed almost as if he hadn't heard her and instead continued gawking at Alice.
"Ron," whimpered Ginny, unsure what to do.
Finally, Ron seemed to snap out of his stupor before grabbing his little sister's hand and running back up the stairs. It took a total of two seconds after the youngsters disappeared from view before Bill and Charlie slowly but surely broke down into fits of laughter. Alice couldn't help but to grin along with them and had a feeling Moody was doing the same thing behind her.
After the first awkward meetings with the rest of the Weasley family, Alice seemed to slip easily into the Weasley everyday routine. Every morning, Alice, along with Bill, Charlie and the twins, would get up early and go flying in the backyard until Molly called them for breakfast. Then Alice would very discretely check her food (because she didn't want to insult Molly's cooking) before scarfing it down with as much gusto as any of the Weasley boys. The first time this had happened, Molly had been rather astounded but instead if reprimanding Alice, she sent Moody a look that Alice swore she say her father shutter under.
On the second day at the Burrow, Alice had convinced Ron to play chess with her, an action she had almost immediately regretted when the young red head whooped her tail six times in a row. Fortunately, it had broken the ice between the two of them and Ron no longer seemed uncomfortable around her. Ginny, however, was a different story. The little girl literally gawked at Alice everywhere she went, which was quite annoying seeing as the two of them were sharing a room over the holiday.
The night before Christmas, Alice had had enough.
"Ginny," said Alice, not opening her eyes.
The tiny red head didn't make a sound.
"I don't have to open my eyes to know you're staring, Ginny," said Alice calmly. She opened her eyes then to find Ginny staring at her with wide eyes full of fear and embarrassment.
"Sorry," whispered Ginny softer then a mouse.
Alice smiled at her.
"I'm not mad at you so you don't need to apologize."
"Sorry," whispered the little red head again. Alice couldn't help but to giggle at her.
"Do you think we could be friends?" asked Alice, stunning the littlest Weasley speechless.
"Why... Why would you want to be friends with... With me?" whispered the surprised red head.
Alice merely shrugged her shoulders, shifting her pillow along with a sleeping Maddy slightly.
"Why not?"
Once more Ginny was astounded.
"B-because you're the Girl-Who-Lived!"
Alice shrugged again, this time waking Maddy up fully who rolled onto Alice's lap before he preceded to licking Alice's elbows.
"So? Stop it, Maddy."
Maddy let out a huff while Ginny continued to gawk before snuggling on Alice's stomach and humming.
"Why would you want to be friends with me?" Ginny whispered.
"Do I need a reason?" Alice asked, raising a brow. Ginny shook her head. "So friends?"
"Y-yes," whispered Ginny nervously smiling.
"Good," said Alice, smiling as well. She closed her eyes to finally go to sleep before opening them once more. "Hey, Ginny?"
"Yes, Alice?"
"Al works,"corrected Alice before continuing, "anyways, want to see something cool?"
"Sure!"
Alice grinned before turning her hair a mixture of colors and making her nose long and comical. Ginny let out a surprised gasp before giggling.
"Night, Ginny."
"Good night... Al."
Unfortunately, a good nights sleep did not follow the two girl's words for it only felt like minutes before Fred and George woke the two girls up in the wee hours of the morning.
"Merry Christmas!" shouted the twins.
"Come on you two," said Fred.
"You two are the only ones still in bed," added George.
"That is-"
"Besides Moody."
"But we'll go wake him."
"NO!" shouted Alice and Arthur, who had apparently been heading down the stair just as the twins turned to leave Ginny's room.
Arthur stood on the stairs dressed in blue and white pinstriped pajamas and a blue bathrobe. His red hair was a mess and his glasses crooked slightly as if he had just put them on half asleep though he looked fully awake thanks to the twins comment.
"I'll wake him," he volunteered nervously.
"No need, Arthur," said a grumbling voice at the foot of the stairs. "I'm already up."
"Thank Merlin," Arthur muttered under his breath. Alice was sure she was the only one who had heard him seeing how Fred and George had hurried down the stairs already with Ginny right on their heels.
Seven merry Christmases and two spinning hugs, one from each of the two oldest Weasley boys, greeted Alice when she entered the living room as well as the sight of several presents. A pile of presents off to the corner caught her eye especially, seeing that Moody was just finishing running his wand over them in inspection.
"Well don't just stand there dears!" exclaimed Molly Weasley in her green nightgown and light blue bathrobe, her hair in Muggle curlers. "Open your presents!"
Not needing to be told twice, everyone dug into their gifts. Alice grabbed her first present already grinning with blinding blonde hair. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Alice, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute that Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Alice blew it and grinned widely at her father.
"It sounds like a dying owl," Moody grumbled but smirked ever so slightly at his daughter.
Alice then returned her attention to her other gifts. A blue box full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Penny, a new pair of Chaser gloves from Oliver, and limited edition of Quidditch Throughout the Ages from Cedric scattered the floor as Alice slipped on her hand-stitched, dark green, Molly-made sweater with a giant golden A on the front. She had only one gift left when Moody called her out into the hall.
"It's time you had one of these," Moody grumbled, reaching inside his long trench coat. He pulled out a narrow, black box. "Merlin knows you'd lose your wand without one anyway."
Alice was about to snap back at her father when she realized what was inside the box. Opening the box, Alice looked up at Moody grinning before returning her gaze to her gift.
"My own Ministry approved, Aruror issued, eleven inched, wand hoister, made of only the finest dragon leather," Alice breathed with ease.
"One more thing," said Moody, drawing his wand. "I think you're ready for your first Aruror level spell."
Without a second of hesitation, Moody quickly waved his wand and grumbled, "Expeliarmus!"
The wand hoister in Alice's hand went flying into Moody's open hand. Alice looked at him with awe.
"Did you catch that?" Moody grumbled.
Alice merely nodded her head frantically before taking her father off guard by hugging him.
"I love you, dad," she whispered, squeezing her father tightly.
Moody let a rare smile cross his twisted lips before saying, "I love you too, Allie."
"Um..."
Standing in the crooked archway were Bill and Charlie, both looking rather bewildered at the sight of an affectionate Mad-Eye Moody.
"Mum says Alice needs to finish opening her presents with the rest of us," said Bill awkwardly.
Surprisingly, Moody did not protest. After another quick hug, Alice followed the two oldest Weasley boys back inside the living room to her last gift.
"Did Moody call you Allie?" asked Charlie finally.
"Yes he did," replied Alice in a way daring the two boys to question her father. It was a rare occasion when Moody showed his loving father side and an even rarer occasion when he showed it around other people.
"Right, last gifts from Myron and the gang," said Bill nervously. "Let's see what they got you."
Sure enough, the last gift was from Myron and his gang. A small letter was tied on top of the red box, Alice's name written in neat black letters. Inside it read:
Merry Christmas from the gang!
Before wearing your gift, make sure to change you hair color and perhaps your face as well. Then try and change it while wearing your present.
With bright, curious, orange hair, Alice opened her Christmas present to find a old, tan, Muggle baseball cap. She examined it slowly before finally putting it on.
"Nice hat, Al," said Bill.
"Thanks," said Alice. "But I think it's broken. Myron and the gang sent it to me so I guess I just assumed it would do something."
Slightly disappointed, Alice was about to take her cap off when she realized her hair was still a bright orange instead of purple like it should be. Realization hit her only seconds later.
"They got me a hat to control my Metamorphous abilities!" Alice exclaimed. It wasn't that Alice needed help controlling her ability, she just couldn't believe the gang would do something so sweet as try to help her.
Smiling, Alice looked at the rest of the Weasleys who were all digging into their presents. They were all laughing and talking with each other having a grand time and so was Alice.
"Best Christmas ever, Mad-Eye," Alice said to her father late into the night.
After opening presents, Molly had made them all an amazing Christmas breakfast of all different kinds of sweets and pastries. Then Alice and the boys had gone flying when it had started snowing and they decided to have a snowball fight. Arthur had tried to break it up but soon he and Molly were pulled into the war as well. When Moody had come outside, firing ceased for a moment before Ginny, turning out to be the bravest of them all, hit Moody in the back of the head. That's when the real snowball fight started.
Now, after a long and delicious dinner, Alice sat curled up on the couch with her father and Maddy, lazily drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate.
"Glad you enjoyed yourself," grumbled Moody, still a little bitter from Alice and Ginny double teaming him. However, he smiled softly nonetheless.
A gently, although calloused hand, ran through Alice's silver hair and Alice let out a sigh. It was only in a matter of moments before she and Maddy were asleep, her hot chocolate cold and forgotten.
Carefully, Moody picked his sleeping daughter up bridal style and headed towards the stairs. He had just reached them when a humming noise told him Maddy was at his side.
"I'm not carrying you," he growled at the Puffskein.
Maddy growled back, turning a violent green, before wrapping his tongue around the railing to pull his circular self up the steps. After three failed attempts, Moody finally picked him up and gently placed him on Alice's lap.
"You better not bloody lick me," Moody grumbled, slightly edgy on a count that he couldn't have his wand out as he climbed the stairs.
When he reached the youngest Weasley's room, he wasn't surprised to find it empty (Ginny had fallen asleep in Ron's room after tricking Percy into reading her a bedtime story). With the carefulness only a father or an Aruror would have, or in this case, both, Moody layed Alice down on her bed.
"Good night, kiddo," Moody whispered, kissing her forehead. "Love you"
He turned to leave but not before hearing a very soft, "I love too," from his semiconscious daughter. Moody couldn't help but to smile as he walked into the hall.
Of course, the smile was wiped away the moment he caught sight of Arthur and Molly Weasley in the hall with him.
"What?" he growled.
"Nothing," said Arthur quickly making his way up the next flight of stairs. Molly, however, walked up to Moody and patted his shoulder.
"Not bad for a grumpy old Aruror," she said smiling softly. "Guess I was wrong about you Alastor."
Moody snorted, not believing his fellow schoolmate for a second.
"No complaints on how I raised her?" he grumbled. "Her table manners? How she acts in public?"
"Oh no, I have complaints," corrected Molly in a teasing way. "But over all, Lily would approve."
Moody only nodded his head grimly.
"I think so too."
So like I said, sorry I took so long to write another chapter but honestly, it's really hard to come up with a Christmas Moody and stay in character! I'm not sure if I did or not but I tried to keep him Moodylike while also adding the father figure to him. I also hinted at a school friendship with Molly and developed Alice's relationship with the Weasleys.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and please, please, please REVIEW!