For now, Remus was blessedly in the dark. Alex went on a mission to
find Catrina and the illusive baby boy she must have given birth to by
then. She owled Dumbledor and met with him in the heart of Paris to
explain her situation. She waited at a café and soon a muggle-clad
Dumbledor, looking somewhat distinguished in his suit, joined her.
"Good evening Alexandra," he said pleasantly. "You're looking...well."
Alex was in her normal form. She looked about twenty-five, same basic features but she was all the more alluring now that she looked the part of an adult. "It's time you knew all, or at least see all, Albus. I think you already knew I wasn't a child. I'm far more than that, but I'm also far more than a human."
He nodded, clasping his hands on the table. "I had an inkling," he said with a small smile.
"I've always been on the earth, as long as some form of mammal walked the earth. But I'm not going to tell you about it, it would only confuse and bother you. I'm here because I'm trying to help your student, Severus. I do love him, and I want things to go properly in the events to come. I must be part of his life." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I have a mission of my own, I have to find my...sister. She and her baby could be in danger and I have to find her. I need to keep up the guise that I'm doing work via owl, correspondence in a sense. Trust me that work will reach your teachers and they will be more than satisfied. Assure them all that when I return this winter, I will take a practical exam and pass with flying colors."
"You are sure you can do this?"
Alex laughed heartily and stood up. "I can do anything," she smiled and traipsed off into the crowd of tourists.
Dumbledor sat at the table for a little while longer, staring at her half drunk coffee and musing about this amazing creature he had the fortune to meet. She confused and amused him on so many levels, he was unsure if he enjoyed her company or was eternally frustrated with her cryptic nature.
He could tell, as he could with many things, she would be the answer to Severus' prayers. He could feel the boy's soul calling out in the middle of the night every now and then and he ached to give Severus some deliverance. It wasn't his place, though. The boy was surely to aid Riddle in the end, but maybe, he could hope that Alex was the one to bring him home.
Alex found her sister by early November and was assured the boy, though not accessible, was safe and sound in his father's arms. Alex kissed Catrina goodbye, knowing it would be ages before they met again, and she was sad again.
The omnipresent black hole was still taunting her. Retreating into herself was a welcome feeling after centuries of seeking what she could never have. But she ignored the desire to be alone with herself and returned to Hogwarts, a thirteen year old third year student. She met with all six of her professors and successfully passed each practical exam. She knew what every third year should know at that stage, and more. Of course, they didn't know that she wasn't really using magic, she was using a normally untapped power that she had mastered.
She settled into her dorm, ignoring the other girls questions and got a good night's sleep. At breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning, she was immediately accosted by Lupin, Black and Potter who demanded to know where she had been and who had kept her away.
Lupin was busy poking and prodding her arms and legs for any signs of bruising or abuse. "Can you tell us why you were gone? Honestly I thought you'd been taken away from us forever."
Alex looked over at the Slytherin table where Snape was sitting in between Malfoy and a busy eyebrowed boy named Nott. He was trying his hardest not to look at her, but he was emanating a feeling of extreme relief.
"How has it been for um...Severus?" She glared at them to make sure they knew she was serious.
Potter and Black both rolled their eyes, but Lupin sighed complacently. "Awful. He refused to ask where you were, but he was always tailing us for clues, trying to over hear our conversations. Every time James or Sirius caught him, he'd try and curse them. We've all spent a fair amount of time in detentions because of the war it's caused."
Alex couldn't suppress a small giggle. "My face that launched a thousand spells," she joked. But it was a muggle joke, gaining no response from the trio.
Later in the hall however, Lily Evans caught up with her. "I thought it was funny," she said quickly, as if Alex intimidated her. "You're name's Blackbird, right?"
Alex smiled at her, hating what was to become of this girl. "You know muggle literature?"
"I'm muggle born," she said softly.
"I told you she was a mudblood," came a scathing hiss from nearby. Alex looked up to see the Slytherin gang pass by, led by Malfoy. "She wouldn't be talking to other mudbloods if she wasn't one."
"Malfoy," Alex said with a small smile, "I'm so sorry you're so impotent, but you don't have to take it out on the rest of us."
Malfoy stopped in his tracks, "Say that again, Blackbird."
Alex took Evan's hand and blew the Slytherins a kiss. "Well I can't say this has been intellectually stimulating," smirking at the puzzled looks on Crabbe and Goyle's faces. "But I really must be going. I would tell you where you can stick your little threat, Malfoy, but you probably couldn't find it."
Alex and Lily sped out of the hall and collapsed, out of breath with laughter, on the front lawn. The trio joined them moments later howling with laughter. "Wow," Sirius said with a grin, "that was amazing. I can't believe you told old Snivelly off like that."
Alex and Lily both glared. "She was talking to Malfoy, you git. Snape didn't say anything to her." She gathered her bag and started off across the lawn towards the lake where her friends were waiting.
"Think she'd go to the Yule ball with me," James mused. He pulled the snitch out of his pocket and began to play with it.
"Ask her," Alex answered, "but don't expect a yes. She has a soft heart where you have none." With that, she was off to her next class.
A few days later, Severus managed to find time alone to approach Alex. She was sitting alone in the library writing on a very long sheet of parchment. "Homework?" he asked softly.
"Not as much as you fifth years, with O.W.L.'s and all. But I fancy I'll do well on those tests, so I shouldn't complain."
"Where were you? You didn't write me and no one knew what had happened to you."
She shrugged and continued writing for a moment. "Would you fancy yourself a teacher?"
He was slightly taken aback at this change of subject. "I doubt I would enjoy teaching little snot-nosed brats anything. I'm a child and I hate children."
"You wont hate your own," she said matter of factly. "I was away on family business. I was doing class through owl and I had to take a practical exam before I could reenter school. I passed, of course."
"Was it that man that hit you on the platform?"
She shook her head, "No, I was searching for someone. All is well with them, so I returned to school. No other place for me, really."
He looked down at his feet, feeling uncomfortable. "No place for me, either. Erm," he stammered, "the Yule ball...coming up soon, you know? I'm in fifth year and I thought you would go with me? You could buy dress robes in Hogsmeade if you don't have any."
She let him squirm in the silence for a few moments before answering. "I don't have any other plans, I suppose I might go. But, what might Malfoy think if you take me?"
"He can sod off." Alex smiled and for the first time he noticed her two eyeteeth were very, very sharp. They looked so menacing suddenly, as if they could bite right through flesh.
"They could," she said answering his thoughts. "But I'm not meant for that, I'm higher than that."
"You're part...vampire? Is that why you can read minds?"
She laughed heartily, pleased with his ignorance. "Of course not. I cant quite explain what I am. Nameless in a sense, because my kind, while we weren't first, we were better." She stood up and packed her books. "I have to be off. Don't dwell on it, it will do you no good."
"He asked you, didn't he," Remus asked Alex later that day. "Severus?"
Alex nodded, "I said yes, but my kindness wont save him, Remus."
"What will," he asked curiously, as if he knew the plot line.
"I'm not sure," she said and gave a little shiver. "Sometimes I feel like I have it all under control. I know the outline, Remus, I know little details and the title of the would be chapter in life, but sometimes I feel like it's all spinning out of control." Alex didn't know what made her open up to this boy, but she knew he was one of the few who could understand having such a secret, and the need for it to be kept quiet. "You aren't like them, Remus, and I'm grateful for that."
He smiled serenely at her, sharing a secret smile before he went off to his next class. Alex wondered why it was that she chose to stay with Severus instead of Remus. It really made no sense to her, but for some reason she felt a pull to him, and that pull grew stronger every day.
The Yule ball approached quickly for Alex, who decided to wear an open silver robe over "muggle" clothing. She chose a tight black shirt and short, ruffled black skirt to outline her developing adolescent body. She curled her hair and twisted small strands into knots, connecting one another so it looked as if she wore a net over the top of her hair. She jeweled the knots and applied a bit of makeup to enhance her features.
Severus, dressed in elegant black robes, waited for her at the entrance to the Great Hall. He was speechless as she approached and quickly led her to the table he had chosen. "Muggle clothes," he said uncertainly. "Why muggle clothes?"
Alex shrugged, "I've always been fond of how muggle women look in their tight outfits. I found it enticing." She pursed her glossy lips into a pout. "You don't like it?"
"It's n-not that," he stammered quickly. "You look lovely, really." He pulled her to the dance floor and they spun round and round, for at least four of the dances. Finally Alex decided to pull Severus along for a walk in the chilly outdoors.
She held his hand tight and soon was cuddled up next to him under his cloak. They found a bench among the glittering, snow covered bushes and sat together. "I'm feeling very insecure," she said very softly. "I'm going to lose you soon and I don't know if I can bear it."
He hugged her tightly, kissing her hair. "No, you wont lose me, I'm always going to be with you."
She buried her face in his warm chest and began to cry softly. "No, I'm already losing you. I can feel you slipping away, and it hurts so much. You're going to betray me and hurt me, and I can deal with that, I really can, but it's just so hard when I know I've found someone whom I want to be with. I could end it all now, of course and just go and kill Voldemort, but that would disrupt the future. I cant let that happen, even if it means sacrificing you." She shuddered and hugged him tighter. "Something else is happening too, but I cant see it. I cant see things in my world, Severus, and I feel that Victor is preparing something. I hate going against him but I don't know what else to do." She knew full well that Severus would be confused by all of this, not knowing what she meant by half of her words, but she had to talk to someone. "I cant kill him, and I know that's what he's always wanted. I had no idea I would be making another true immortal in him, but I did. I used to love him, I really did, but I cant find that love anymore."
He squeezed her shoulder, feeling a little uneasy. "I don't know what you meant by all those things, but I really am here for you. As for V- voldemort," he stammered over the name, "I just suggest you not meddle in those affairs. I don't want you to get hurt."
Alex stood up and laughed, "Don't be silly. I could kill Voldemort in an instant if I wanted to. But I wont. I wont mess with the future that way, I cant bring myself to do that." She leaned in and kissed him very deeply for several minutes. "I hate it that I have to make you forget, but I cant let you know any of the things I just told you." She kissed his forehead and the memories were gone. "I have to get to bed," she said and kissed him again. "I hope you had a pleasant evening."
"Good evening Alexandra," he said pleasantly. "You're looking...well."
Alex was in her normal form. She looked about twenty-five, same basic features but she was all the more alluring now that she looked the part of an adult. "It's time you knew all, or at least see all, Albus. I think you already knew I wasn't a child. I'm far more than that, but I'm also far more than a human."
He nodded, clasping his hands on the table. "I had an inkling," he said with a small smile.
"I've always been on the earth, as long as some form of mammal walked the earth. But I'm not going to tell you about it, it would only confuse and bother you. I'm here because I'm trying to help your student, Severus. I do love him, and I want things to go properly in the events to come. I must be part of his life." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I have a mission of my own, I have to find my...sister. She and her baby could be in danger and I have to find her. I need to keep up the guise that I'm doing work via owl, correspondence in a sense. Trust me that work will reach your teachers and they will be more than satisfied. Assure them all that when I return this winter, I will take a practical exam and pass with flying colors."
"You are sure you can do this?"
Alex laughed heartily and stood up. "I can do anything," she smiled and traipsed off into the crowd of tourists.
Dumbledor sat at the table for a little while longer, staring at her half drunk coffee and musing about this amazing creature he had the fortune to meet. She confused and amused him on so many levels, he was unsure if he enjoyed her company or was eternally frustrated with her cryptic nature.
He could tell, as he could with many things, she would be the answer to Severus' prayers. He could feel the boy's soul calling out in the middle of the night every now and then and he ached to give Severus some deliverance. It wasn't his place, though. The boy was surely to aid Riddle in the end, but maybe, he could hope that Alex was the one to bring him home.
Alex found her sister by early November and was assured the boy, though not accessible, was safe and sound in his father's arms. Alex kissed Catrina goodbye, knowing it would be ages before they met again, and she was sad again.
The omnipresent black hole was still taunting her. Retreating into herself was a welcome feeling after centuries of seeking what she could never have. But she ignored the desire to be alone with herself and returned to Hogwarts, a thirteen year old third year student. She met with all six of her professors and successfully passed each practical exam. She knew what every third year should know at that stage, and more. Of course, they didn't know that she wasn't really using magic, she was using a normally untapped power that she had mastered.
She settled into her dorm, ignoring the other girls questions and got a good night's sleep. At breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning, she was immediately accosted by Lupin, Black and Potter who demanded to know where she had been and who had kept her away.
Lupin was busy poking and prodding her arms and legs for any signs of bruising or abuse. "Can you tell us why you were gone? Honestly I thought you'd been taken away from us forever."
Alex looked over at the Slytherin table where Snape was sitting in between Malfoy and a busy eyebrowed boy named Nott. He was trying his hardest not to look at her, but he was emanating a feeling of extreme relief.
"How has it been for um...Severus?" She glared at them to make sure they knew she was serious.
Potter and Black both rolled their eyes, but Lupin sighed complacently. "Awful. He refused to ask where you were, but he was always tailing us for clues, trying to over hear our conversations. Every time James or Sirius caught him, he'd try and curse them. We've all spent a fair amount of time in detentions because of the war it's caused."
Alex couldn't suppress a small giggle. "My face that launched a thousand spells," she joked. But it was a muggle joke, gaining no response from the trio.
Later in the hall however, Lily Evans caught up with her. "I thought it was funny," she said quickly, as if Alex intimidated her. "You're name's Blackbird, right?"
Alex smiled at her, hating what was to become of this girl. "You know muggle literature?"
"I'm muggle born," she said softly.
"I told you she was a mudblood," came a scathing hiss from nearby. Alex looked up to see the Slytherin gang pass by, led by Malfoy. "She wouldn't be talking to other mudbloods if she wasn't one."
"Malfoy," Alex said with a small smile, "I'm so sorry you're so impotent, but you don't have to take it out on the rest of us."
Malfoy stopped in his tracks, "Say that again, Blackbird."
Alex took Evan's hand and blew the Slytherins a kiss. "Well I can't say this has been intellectually stimulating," smirking at the puzzled looks on Crabbe and Goyle's faces. "But I really must be going. I would tell you where you can stick your little threat, Malfoy, but you probably couldn't find it."
Alex and Lily sped out of the hall and collapsed, out of breath with laughter, on the front lawn. The trio joined them moments later howling with laughter. "Wow," Sirius said with a grin, "that was amazing. I can't believe you told old Snivelly off like that."
Alex and Lily both glared. "She was talking to Malfoy, you git. Snape didn't say anything to her." She gathered her bag and started off across the lawn towards the lake where her friends were waiting.
"Think she'd go to the Yule ball with me," James mused. He pulled the snitch out of his pocket and began to play with it.
"Ask her," Alex answered, "but don't expect a yes. She has a soft heart where you have none." With that, she was off to her next class.
A few days later, Severus managed to find time alone to approach Alex. She was sitting alone in the library writing on a very long sheet of parchment. "Homework?" he asked softly.
"Not as much as you fifth years, with O.W.L.'s and all. But I fancy I'll do well on those tests, so I shouldn't complain."
"Where were you? You didn't write me and no one knew what had happened to you."
She shrugged and continued writing for a moment. "Would you fancy yourself a teacher?"
He was slightly taken aback at this change of subject. "I doubt I would enjoy teaching little snot-nosed brats anything. I'm a child and I hate children."
"You wont hate your own," she said matter of factly. "I was away on family business. I was doing class through owl and I had to take a practical exam before I could reenter school. I passed, of course."
"Was it that man that hit you on the platform?"
She shook her head, "No, I was searching for someone. All is well with them, so I returned to school. No other place for me, really."
He looked down at his feet, feeling uncomfortable. "No place for me, either. Erm," he stammered, "the Yule ball...coming up soon, you know? I'm in fifth year and I thought you would go with me? You could buy dress robes in Hogsmeade if you don't have any."
She let him squirm in the silence for a few moments before answering. "I don't have any other plans, I suppose I might go. But, what might Malfoy think if you take me?"
"He can sod off." Alex smiled and for the first time he noticed her two eyeteeth were very, very sharp. They looked so menacing suddenly, as if they could bite right through flesh.
"They could," she said answering his thoughts. "But I'm not meant for that, I'm higher than that."
"You're part...vampire? Is that why you can read minds?"
She laughed heartily, pleased with his ignorance. "Of course not. I cant quite explain what I am. Nameless in a sense, because my kind, while we weren't first, we were better." She stood up and packed her books. "I have to be off. Don't dwell on it, it will do you no good."
"He asked you, didn't he," Remus asked Alex later that day. "Severus?"
Alex nodded, "I said yes, but my kindness wont save him, Remus."
"What will," he asked curiously, as if he knew the plot line.
"I'm not sure," she said and gave a little shiver. "Sometimes I feel like I have it all under control. I know the outline, Remus, I know little details and the title of the would be chapter in life, but sometimes I feel like it's all spinning out of control." Alex didn't know what made her open up to this boy, but she knew he was one of the few who could understand having such a secret, and the need for it to be kept quiet. "You aren't like them, Remus, and I'm grateful for that."
He smiled serenely at her, sharing a secret smile before he went off to his next class. Alex wondered why it was that she chose to stay with Severus instead of Remus. It really made no sense to her, but for some reason she felt a pull to him, and that pull grew stronger every day.
The Yule ball approached quickly for Alex, who decided to wear an open silver robe over "muggle" clothing. She chose a tight black shirt and short, ruffled black skirt to outline her developing adolescent body. She curled her hair and twisted small strands into knots, connecting one another so it looked as if she wore a net over the top of her hair. She jeweled the knots and applied a bit of makeup to enhance her features.
Severus, dressed in elegant black robes, waited for her at the entrance to the Great Hall. He was speechless as she approached and quickly led her to the table he had chosen. "Muggle clothes," he said uncertainly. "Why muggle clothes?"
Alex shrugged, "I've always been fond of how muggle women look in their tight outfits. I found it enticing." She pursed her glossy lips into a pout. "You don't like it?"
"It's n-not that," he stammered quickly. "You look lovely, really." He pulled her to the dance floor and they spun round and round, for at least four of the dances. Finally Alex decided to pull Severus along for a walk in the chilly outdoors.
She held his hand tight and soon was cuddled up next to him under his cloak. They found a bench among the glittering, snow covered bushes and sat together. "I'm feeling very insecure," she said very softly. "I'm going to lose you soon and I don't know if I can bear it."
He hugged her tightly, kissing her hair. "No, you wont lose me, I'm always going to be with you."
She buried her face in his warm chest and began to cry softly. "No, I'm already losing you. I can feel you slipping away, and it hurts so much. You're going to betray me and hurt me, and I can deal with that, I really can, but it's just so hard when I know I've found someone whom I want to be with. I could end it all now, of course and just go and kill Voldemort, but that would disrupt the future. I cant let that happen, even if it means sacrificing you." She shuddered and hugged him tighter. "Something else is happening too, but I cant see it. I cant see things in my world, Severus, and I feel that Victor is preparing something. I hate going against him but I don't know what else to do." She knew full well that Severus would be confused by all of this, not knowing what she meant by half of her words, but she had to talk to someone. "I cant kill him, and I know that's what he's always wanted. I had no idea I would be making another true immortal in him, but I did. I used to love him, I really did, but I cant find that love anymore."
He squeezed her shoulder, feeling a little uneasy. "I don't know what you meant by all those things, but I really am here for you. As for V- voldemort," he stammered over the name, "I just suggest you not meddle in those affairs. I don't want you to get hurt."
Alex stood up and laughed, "Don't be silly. I could kill Voldemort in an instant if I wanted to. But I wont. I wont mess with the future that way, I cant bring myself to do that." She leaned in and kissed him very deeply for several minutes. "I hate it that I have to make you forget, but I cant let you know any of the things I just told you." She kissed his forehead and the memories were gone. "I have to get to bed," she said and kissed him again. "I hope you had a pleasant evening."