Alexa had taken to spending her evenings in the Hog's Head. She'd throw on her witchy-est dress, actually do her make up the way she liked it, add a cloak on top, and head out. She'd nurse a glass of burning whiskey at the bar, and chat with a young Aberforth who was less grumpy than he would be, with a wild red beard and equally fiery hair.

Currently, she was doing just that. It was late, nearly midnight on a Friday, and the bar wasn't packed, but it was busy.

"Hey, Abe," she called, "Can I get another?"

"That's going to be on me," a deep voice added. A man came to sit next to her at the bar, all smoldering dark eyes and crooked smiles. Aberforth looked at Alexa, an eyebrow raised. She shrugged, and he sighed, giving her another whiskey, neat.

"And for you?" he asked the man.

"Just a pint, if you don't mind," the man replied, and passed over the appropriate coinage.

"And who might you be?" Alexa asked, turning to face him.

"Zephyr," he said, "And what might your name be?" he asked, imitating her. The name made her nervous, but his soul was unmistakably human.

"Alessandra," she replied. She'd been using her full name simply because it was unlikely anybody might come into the Hog's Head asking for her with it.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," Zephyr grinned. He was handsome, olive skin, dark eyes, shaggy black hair that looked straight off Prince Charming.

He was not the first person to approach Alexa. Granted, it had been a while since the last one had decided his pick up line was to grab her ass. Alexa had thought her response of slamming his face against the counter hard enough his lip split had been appropriate. Aberforth agreed, and she supposed that's all that mattered. Zephyr, however, seemed new.

"Yours too," she mused, sipping her drink. Aberforth snorted, trying to pass it off as a cough and failing miserably.

"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Zephyr asked. He was around her age give or take and dressed in all bleck. It was all too fine and new to blend in, which she was guessing was what he was trying to do. It looked like an edgy costume. It could be entertaining to humor him at least.

"How do you suppose you know what kind of girl I am?" she asked, looking up at him. Her eyes always threw people, she knew. Nobody at Hogwarts had mentioned it, but she knew they stuck out.

He stared at her for a moment, eyes locked on hers in surprise. Before he could answer, however, a girl appeared at his side looking very annoyed.

"Are you done making a fool out of yourself yet?" she asked. She had the same delicate features and dark eyes as Zephyr.

"Hi Ophelia," Alexa tried not to laugh. Ophelia was a regular as much as Alexa. She'd been wondering, actually, where the other girl was. They'd ended up in an unspoken tradition of meeting together on Fridays.

"Ophelia," Zephyr hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Alessandra," Ophelia sighed, "I see you've met my baby brother." Zephyr looked positively offended.

"Eleven months," he scowled, "You're eleven months older."

"I appreciate you not breaking his face," Ophelia grinned at her.

"He was very gentlemanly," she assured her, glancing at Zephyr who was sitting with his arms crossed. Ophelia sat herself down on Alexa's other side and ordered a drink.

"I should have taken him to The Pixie in Diagon," Ophelia sighed.

"I haven't been there before," Alexa mused.

"It's fun. There's dancing. We should go sometime."

"That sounds like it would be really nice," Alexa smiled, "I don't think I've ever been dancing."

"Wait, this is the friend you told me about?" Zephyr leaned over the counter to look at his sister.

"Obviously, Zephyr," she snorted, "You picked her out quick."

Zephyr flushed red, scowling dow at his pint.

Alexa clapped him on the back, "Just so you know, that pick up line is never going to work."

"Good to know," he muttered.

"Anyways," Ophelia tossed her dark hair over her shoulder, "Did you see the prophet today?"

"No," she replied, concerned, "What happened?"

"Grindelwald," Ophelia frowned, "His followers apparently went through and graffitied up Diagon Alley."

"Shit," Alexa raised her eyebrows, "He's getting braver."

"Yeah," Ophelia nodded, "He left a weird message on the wall too-or whoever he sent to do that anyways. Some triangle thing and a message. Nobody seems to know what it means. It's not in any known language from what I've heard."

Ah, yes. The Deathly Hallows. Alexa hadn't been following Grindelwald too closely. In the original timeline it had been handled. She was about to respond when she heard the door open behind them. Aberforth froze, his face quickly changing from shock, to horror, to absolute fury.

"You!" he bellowed, drawing his wand, "Get the hell out of my bar!" All the patrons turned to see who had come in that caused such a reaction, and Alexa sighed.

Albus was standing in the doorway, cloak drawn tightly around himself, mouth set into a straight line.

"Really, no need to cause such a scene," Albus said evenly.

"Isn't that…?" Zephyr whispered.

"Yep," Alexa groaned, "Albus Dumbldore."

"Get out!" Aberforth repeated. Dumbledore drew himself up.

"I need to speak with you."

"Like hell you do," Aberfort spat.

"Okay!" Alexa hopped up, "He said get out, you're getting out."

"Aless, you don't need to-" Aberforth began, but Alexa had already made her way across the bar to a supremely irritated Albus and grabbed him by the arm. He tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong.

"Let's go, Albus." Her voice was low and didn't allow for any argument. He let her drag him outside into the snow, spluttering in indignation. They got a fair way up the deserted snowy street before she stopped.

"How exactly," Alexa asked Albus, "did you expect that to go?"

"How did you get out of the castle? he demanded, finally pulling his arm away.

"What were you doing in Abe's bar?" she countered.

"How often do you come here?" his expression was neutral, but every jerky movement he made screamed of irritation.

"Often enough. Look if you want to tell Aberforth something, tell me. I'll let him know. He's going to blast you halfway across Hogsmeade if you try that again."

"Do not presume to involve yourself in my family affairs," Albus's response was quick and sharp. Not quite angry, but getting there. "What business do you have being here?" He was holding his wand in a white knuckled grip, so hard she feared the wood would break.

"What did you want to tell Aberforth?" she asked, trying to sound placating. Without him, she had no resources at Hogwarts. It was bad enough she lost her temper before, she couldn't afford to do so again. .

"I don't need you to mediate between my brother and I." He wasn't looking at her, just back towards the Hog's Head.

"Albus," she tried again, "I'm not trying to get involved in your family, I just think-"

"And you know all about my family, don't you?" His lip curled into almost a sneer. He was losing control faster than she was suddenly reminded that Dumbledore had been the only person Voldemort was afraid of. His normally twinkling blue eyes shone like an animal's. Even if his tone was calm and even, she knew he was seething.

"I-" Alexa didn't know what to say.

"You know more about me than I do about myself, afterall." He turned away, clasping his hands behind his back so she could not see his face. "Clearly, my career and reputation are worth gambling to you. I don't seem to have much of a choice in the matter. I know nothing about you, other than that you dislike me very much." He glanced at her over his shoulder, "And you expect me to trust you?"

"You trusted me enough to send me," she began.

"I doubt that was for any reason other than your parentage would allow you to survive. It's been hypothesized before," he interrupted. This felt like a pivotal moment. She needed his cooperation, and the worst part was his words made sense.

"Fine," she said, "you're right. You have no reason to trust me. I need your help. I can't tell you everything, but I'll tell you what I can." That was the most she could do.

Dumbledore drew his wand back, brows pressed together, mouth twisted. "Is that the best I'm going to get?"

"What do you want?" she asked, "I'm not going to jeopardize my mission." She was trying to keep the frustration pushed down.

"If that's all you can offer then I suppose I can't do anything but take it," Albus stared down at her, as cold as the snow that had begun to fall.

"What did you want to tell your brother?" she asked again, "He's not going to listen to you, I can at least pass it on."

"Grindelwald is likely planning an attack on Hogsmeade," he looked back towards the bar, expression falling into what could only be called mournful, "I wanted to warn him."

"I'll tell him," she sighed. "Then I'll meet you back in your office."

"I would prefer not to be caught after curfew with a female student in my office, if you don't mind," Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose, "There's a muggle pub in Dufftown. I can apparate both of us there." Alexa nodded, lips pressed together. She didn't care for apparition. Hopefully Dumbledore wasn't angry enough to purposefully splinch her. That seemed too overt for him anyways.

Alexa squared her shoulders and slipped back in the bar.

Aberforth hadn't moved from where he stood, glaring at the doorway, fists pressed against the counter.

"You could have gotten yourself hurt," he growled, "That worthless-"

"Can I talk to you for a sec, Aberforth?" she asked quietly. Ophelia and Zephyr were both staring at her, whether out of curiosity or confusion she wasn't sure.

"Fine," he grumbled, waving her to come with him behind the bar. She followed him into the bottle lined back room.

"What did the bugger want?" Aberforth asked, arms crossed.

"Grindelwald may attack Hogsmeade soon. I thought it was important you knew regardless of where the information came from."

Aberforth sighed, sitting down on a crate, "Thanks Aless." He'd given her his own nickname, pronouncing it as 'Alice'. It wasn't one she had heard before, and she liked it.

"Be careful, I wouldn't want to have to start going to the Three Broomsticks," she smiled, and he chuckled, "I'll see you next week, I'm going to head home I think."

Aberforth nodded, giving her a distracted wave. He seemed absorbed in thought, so she left him in the backroom.

"Is everything okay?" Ophelia asked when she came out.

"Yeah," Alexa sighed, "It turns out that was his brother. Bad blood there," she shrugged, "I'm going to head home. I'll see you later."

"You'd better, I told Zephyr you can drink anyone under the table. I was hoping he'd challenge you," Ophelia was all easy smiles as Alexa left.

She found Dumbledore where she had left him, having transfigured his cloak into a coat. She pursed her lips. Right. Muggle.

"You can't go dressed like that," he informed her, as if she didn't know.

"Right. I'll be right back," she sighed.

"For pity's sake," he rolled his eyes and waved his wand in her direction. She could only shiver as her dress was given a more 40's appropriate cut and her cloak was given sleeves.

"I never got seventh year transfiguration," Alexa grumbled, taking his offered arm.

"This is sixth year material," his response was snide, and they vanished with a pop.

They emerged just outside the town, and Albus set off without a word, leaving her nothing to do but follow. Fortunately the pub wasn't far, and they made it inside just as the snowfall was beginning to come down. Alexa was grateful that she had thought to exchange some galleons for muggle money before she'd left London.

They were sat back in the corner at a rickety table, and each ordered a beer.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, as soon as the barmaid had left.

"What's in the castle?"

"A monster," she replied. "Originally it killed one girl, and unintentionally at that. I have the date and time that happens, so I'm going to prevent it."

He scowled, "And that's all you'll tell me on that?"

"Yes. To be fair," she gave him a dry look, "You and the other teachers never figure it out. Here or when it happened again in my second year-a bunch of second years handled it."

He pursed his lips but said nothing for a moment. "What do you know of my connection with Grindelwald?"

"You were together when you were young, obsessed with finding the Deathly Hallows. At some point that went...wrong. Very wrong-thank you!" She accepted the drink as the waitress passed them over. It was a little amusing that she was sitting in a muggle pub drinking with her former headmaster. Dumbledore was silent.

"You're still considered a hero and one of the greatest wizards ever in the future if that helps," Alexa shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

"Why then, do you dislike me so much?" he asked, lacing his fingers together.

"You found me in California, in New Rome. You're the reason I was at Hogwarts," she wrapped her hands around the glass, looking down into its amber contents, "I always wondered how you did that, and why you would risk letting a demigod into your school. A child of Pluto no less. But I found out. Decades before, a god brought you a prophecy and told you how to send me back. I'm assuming they told you where I was. I never thought it was purely altruistic, but enough strange things have happened in my life that I didn't question it. But you had a tendency to use whoever was around you to get what you wanted." She sighed, looking back up at him.

"I hoped that I had just gotten lucky. Maybe that my dad sent you. Maybe he was the one to give you the prophecy, but that would be the most interest he's ever shown in any of his kids."

"So you feel used?" Albus asked.

"Oh, no," she shook her head "This wasn't entirely was another kid. His parents were murdered helping you. He doesn't talk about the aunt who you left him with, but I was good friends with his girlfriend. He was starved, bars on the window, made to serve them. They hated anything to do with magic and you sent back there summer after summer. Then you strung him along and told him half truths until he trusted you completely. You put responsibility on him without explaining the reason for it. I don't respect that. At least the gods are honest about ruining your childhood."

"You're angry at how I treated others?"

"That would be a more accurate statement," she shrugged.

"And then I died because...you said arrogance?"

"You couldn't resist the potential of power, but of course there was a curse that came with it. Should I mention the professor you hired who was a spy for you, so you let him mock and belittle and bully all the students who weren't in Slytherin? Or my friend, who in sixth year was trapped into serving the Dark Lord. You knew, and you did nothing to protect him or others. Instead, you had a plan to arrange your own death around him." She took a deep breath, trying to level herself, "I don't know if you're a bad person, but you never seemed to care who you hurt as long as it was for what you believed was the greater good. And you left Hogwarts undefended."

"You resent me." It wasn't a question. She sighed, rubbing a hand over her face.

"I don't know. I don't have a great deal of respect for your methods. But I didn't know you. Whatever you may think of me, however, know that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. So whatever you may feel, this was part of your plan, not mine." He was staring at her with an intensity that made her shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"You say I left Hogwarts undefended?" he asked finally. Albus seemed much calmer. She wondered if he felt as if he was in control now.

"Like I said, you caused your own end right at the brink of the war. The Dark Lord's followers attacked the castle. He took over everything after that." She couldn't tell him too much.

"You were involved in the war, weren't you?" His voice was almost soft now. Paternal, even. Probably the same voice he used to comfort weepy first years.

"The Dark Lord's followers ran the school, torturing students and nearly killing several of them. I was in the resistance. We called ourselves Dumbledore's Army, in your honor, y'know?" She chuckled, "Seems a bit off now. Anyways," she looked back up at him, "I was the only one with military training, obviously. It was my job to teach a bunch of teenagers how to kill in your name."

Albus displayed no other reaction than to lean back. "I see."

Alexa bit back a sarcastic report and just sipped her drink, waiting for him to continue.

"Do you truly think you can prevent this?" he asked finally, "If you kill him now, you'll collapse time around yourself. Are you trying to...befriend this wizard into goodness?"

He was goading her. "I know what he's going to do before he does. I'm behind the scenes. Regardless of what happens to me, if at any point I believe I will be unsuccessful, I will kill him."

"Could you kill a friend?" he asked. There was the trap. If she said yes, he would know she was friends with Voldemort. Which she wasn't. Except she sort of was, but that was very much not something she was going to deal with in that precise moment.

"Why would I be friends with him?" she asked, shaking her head, "Every time I see him I want to drive my sword through his chest." That was still true. Mostly.

Dumbledore pressed his lips together, but bowed his head, "My apologies."

"I'm not telling you who it is, which I'm sure you already knew, but let's just keep things transparent."

"I would not expect that you would entrust me with that information," Dumbledore acknowledged. He was backing off now, one tactic failed.

"Do you have anything you feel I should know?" Albus asked, after a long moment of silence.

"Always remember that Peter Petigrew was the secret keeper." All Harry had asked was for her to save Sirius. She was going to at least try for that.

"What does that mean?" He looked genuinely confused.

"You didn't find out until lives had been ruined and an innocent man spent twelve years in Azkaban," she leaned back now, nearly empty drink in her hands. "Nobody did, until it was too late. If I get killed before I can stop this, then that will be important."

"What has your life been like?" He asked. She couldn't read the expression on his face, and she didn't like that.

"I was born in 1930, mother, brother, and sister were murdered by Jupiter when I was nine, frozen in time within the Lotus Hotel for seventy years before being dumped in a forest. Lived with Lupa, mother of Romulus and Remus for a bit, then made my way to Camp Jupiter. Went to school at Hogwarts, Camp for the summer, fought in the Titan war, then the second wizarding war, and now I'm here." Alexa shrugged and finished her drink.

"That's...quite a bit for someone as young as you," he commented, finishing his own beer.

"It is what it is," Alexa shrugged, "That's what demigod's lives are like. Do you want to know anything else?" she continued.

"Not presently. However," Dumbledore removed his spectacles and began to polish them against his coat, "Grindelwald grows more powerful by the day. Perhaps that would be something you'd have an interest in getting involved in?"

"I was going to ask you about that, actually," Alexa flashed a smile, "What are we doing about the attack on Hogsmeade?"