First off, I would like to thank one reviewer in particular who pointed out that I obviously did not pay attention to what I was posting and, therefore, posted practically the same chapter just differently. Things were amended and I do truly thank you. In my defense, the document is as one, not in individual pieces and whatever I had originally written had been deleted. I didn't think to look on here because I trusted my computer to have everything I had written saved, but it didn't. In any case, I'm back on track, things have been saved at regular intervals, and my writing - though coming slowly - is happening.
Disclaimer that I don't own anything, blah, blah, blah, enjoy.
It took days for Alexa to fully comprehend that there had been a troll in the castle and that it had been in the same area as her dorms. Everyone else had seemed to laugh it off, despite the fact that she had overheard how worried many of her fellow Slytherin's had been at the prospect of a troll possibly lumbering its way down to their common room and trapping them inside.
It was harder, still, for her to believe that three Gryffindors her own age had defeated it.
How? she kept asking herself, most especially when she saw the three in question the day afterwards. How had three eleven-year-olds taken out a troll? And why would Hermione even associate herself with two of the biggest oafs Gryffindor had to offer?
Harry isn't too bad, Alexa reasoned with herself as she watched Hermione correct Harry over Potions the next day. She was kind, Alexa could see that, and Harry was kind back. The red-head, however, was still rude as ever. Alexa thought poorly of him and wanted to pull Hermione aside and tell her just what she thought.
But no, she wouldn't do that. Hermione seemed truly happy for the first time since she had seen her on the train. She couldn't – wouldn't – be responsible for ruining Hermione's happiness.
"What's got you thinking so hard?" Sue wondered in a whisper as she set her books down on the library table the day before the first Quidditch match of the season.
"How on earth is it possible that those three took out that troll?" Alexa asked in frustration.
Sue sighed heavily. "Oh, Lexa, we're not going through this again, are we?"
Alexa sat back in her seat, her hands outstretched in a show of disbelief. "They're our age, Sue. How could they taken out that troll? From what I heard, it was massive!"
"Most trolls are," Sue reminded Alexa as she pulled out her Charms book and a fresh scroll. "What was that spell Flitwick told us to work on?"
"Look, all I'm saying is that there is no way those three took care of that troll and got away with it," Alexa persisted, ignoring Sue. "Hermione wouldn't have become friends with them."
Sue leaned against her books towards Alexa, her brown eyes betraying her annoyance. "Just drop it, Alexa. I don't care about what Potter and his friends did. All I care about is passing Charms. So if you don't mind…"
Alexa sat back, defeated, and let her eyes rove over the filled desks. They immediately fell upon the bushy haired girl who, to Alexa's surprise, was sitting with a blonde Hufflepuff girl Alexa immediately recognized as Hannah Abbott, whom Alexa had barely spoken to since being Sorted.
Rather than risk Sue's wrath at not helping her with her Charm's homework, Alexa settled down to the task at hand and, together, she and Sue worked until the lanterns in the library were lit and night had fallen.
It wasn't until the librarian, a stern middle-aged witch, came over and shooed them away.
As she resituated her bag on her shoulder, Alexa said, "Do you ever think what might have happened if you had been sorted into Ravenclaw?"
Sue frowned slightly, brushing her long, black hair over her shoulder. "Sometimes. I know Mum would be happier and Dad might actually write more than once a month, but I've gotten used to being in Slytherin now and can't imagine being anywhere else. I think I would've been a disappointment in Ravenclaw, honestly. I'm not nearly half as smart as Mum."
"You're lucky," Sue added as they made their way down to the common room.
"Why am I lucky?" Alexa asked, eyebrows raised high in confusion.
"You're parents didn't even go to Hogwarts," Sue said, lowering her voice. "They're Muggles, so you don't have to worry about them being disappointed in you being sorted into the 'worst House'."
Alexa made a noise of agreement as Sue said the password to the stone wall.
It slid open and Alexa and Sue stepped inside, making a beeline for two empty chairs by the fire.
Setting her bag on the floor, Alexa had only just settled down into the chair when Morgana hopped up onto the arm of the chair, purring loudly.
"Sometimes, your cat comes over to my bed and watches me sleep," Sue said as Alexa stroked Morgana's chin. "It's creepy and I don't like it."
"Well I can't stop her," Alexa replied as Morgana moved from the arm of the chair to her lap, where she stretched out, her tail flicking absently while Alexa continued to pet her. "As far as I knew, she stayed with me all night."
"She doesn't," Sue said, digging around in her bag and pulling out a book.
"I thought you were done with homework?" Alexa said, her hand stilling over Morgana's side. The cat mewed and Alexa resumed her petting.
"Mum sent this from home," Sue explained as she opened the book. "She said it was time I started reading for fun rather than to learn."
"What's it called?" Alexa said curiously. She remembered reading the book Matilda just last year, borrowing it from the school library. She had briefly thought she was a telekinetic until she received her Hogwarts letter several months later.
"It's a Muggle book that Mum found the other day," Sue answered as she flipped through the book. "Mum likes to go to Muggle bookstores - she finds their books to be fascinating. Anyways, she found this one" – Sue held up the book, revealing the title, The Mists of Avalon – "and thought I would like it."
Alexa felt her lips curve. "It's a big book," she observed and Sue grinned.
"I never did shy away from a book larger than four hundred pages."
Contenting herself to sitting with Morgana while Sue read quietly beside her, Alexa stared blankly at the fire until, after what felt like several hours, Morgana leapt off her lap and she finally stirred.
Realizing that the common room was mostly empty – even Sue had disappeared – Alexa got to her feet, stretching and yawning, and made her way up to the dorm where she found everyone fast asleep.
How long had she sat there in that chair? Had she fallen asleep?
Shrugging it off, Alexa dressed for bed and crawled under the covers and fell asleep quickly and woke early.
Putting her feet lightly to the cold stone floor, Alexa grabbed her bag and padded silently from the room and down to the common room, which was, blissfully, empty.
Pulling out a piece of parchment and her quill and ink, she finally wrote to her grandmother, describing everything as best as she could.
I wish I could take a photograph and send it to you because I know I'm not doing Hogwarts justice, she wrote towards the end. The classes are interesting and I've flown on an actual broom! Tomorrow is the first Quidditch match of the year, which where two teams fly around on brooms and throw the Quaffle – a great big ball – into three large hoops that look very much like the wands from bubble bottles. They have to dodge Bludgers, which are these self-powered balls that try and knock people off their brooms. Then there's the Snitch, which one player from each team has to catch, and when they do, the game is over. Most often, whoever catches the Snitch wins the game, but sometimes, if you score enough points with the Quaffle and the opposing person catches the Snitch, you still win. It's all so difficult and someone had to explain it to me because I don't understand it, but I'm excited. It's my house against Gryffindor and that's usually the most anticipated one, probably because of the rivalry.
As I said, Slytherin's aren't liked at all, but I'm getting used to being here. Most of the kids in my house are nice, but they don't know I'm Muggleborn. It could change if they find out.
The sun's coming up now, so I guess I'll send this off to you. Lots of love, Alexa.
After folding up the letter, Alexa hurried back up to the dormitory, dressed as quickly and quietly as she could, then left again, hurrying down the halls and up the stairs towards the Owlery.
The air was getting colder and she knew autumn was slowly turning into winter.
What would winter at Hogwarts be like? she wondered. tying the letter to an obliging school owl, Alexa watched it fly away before she made her way back down from the Owlery.
The corridors were chilly already, so she dared not think of what they would feel like in the middle of winter.
She knew perfectly well what winters in Scotland were like, having been at her grandmother's enough times over the years during particularly powerful snow storms. Would classes get cancelled, like Herbology, if the snow was too deep? Or would they have to struggle through the tall snow towards the greenhouses?
Wrapping her cloak tighter around her at just the thought, Alexa made her way towards the Great Hall, which was still fairly empty, and helped herself to some bacon and eggs.
It wasn't until she was draining her second glass of pumpkin juice that Sue took a seat beside her.
"What are you doing up so early?" Sue wondered, looking bleary-eyed as she started in on a bowl of porridge.
Alexa shrugged. "Beats me. I wrote to my grandmother, though. She'll be happy to hear from me."
Sue made a noncommittal noise before pouring a cup of coffee and nearly chugging it before even making an attempt at full conversation.
"Are you excited about the match tomorrow?" Alexa asked as Sue scraped the bowl.
"Hardly," Sue replied. "I've never found Quidditch to be all that exciting, if I'm being honest. But it would be interesting to see how it's done at school rather than a real match."
Alexa's brows furrowed. "Real match?" she repeated.
Sue nodded. "Each country has a team, and much like Muggle sports, there's loads of teams within the country. They all play each other. Anyways, every four years, there's a world cup and, every year, a different country hosts it. if I remember correctly, there'll be one in about three years that'll be hosted here. I'm sure my Mum and Dad will have tickets for it," she added in an off-handed voice. "We went to the last one and I was bored to tears. It lasted far too long."
Alexa, having never seen a Quidditch match, couldn't imagine what could possibly be boring about watching people on brooms try everything possible to win. it was like rugby, she thought, only in the air.
And a bit of netball, she added to herself in an afterthought.
"Come on," Sue said as she drained her second cup of coffee. "I'm not keen on being late for McGonagall's class."
There you have it. The next chapter. Again, I am not promising regular posting because I've lost all motivation - my own novel included - and so writing's just not high up on my list of things to do, sadly. But I hope you enjoy and review. I read them all!
Thanks very much!
