CHAPTER 5

The next morning, at breakfast, Alex sat puffy-eyed at the Ravenclaw table as she picked at her toast.

"Good morning." Harry whispered in her ear with a peck on the cheek.

"Hi." She said softly.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, wheeling her around to face him. Harry crouched down to her eye level.

"Nothing." Alex whispered.

"It's not nothing. You've been crying." Harry said rubbing a single tear from her eye.

"No, I swear, I'm fine." She mumbled.

"Stop messing around, Alex, just tell me." Harry said, pulling a stubborn lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Your friends hate me, Harry."

"They don't-"

"Yes, they do. I heard the three of you in the corridors last night." She said sternly.

"They do not hate you, Lex. They just don't know you, they don't understand you yet."

"What do you mean by 'yet'? They're never going to know Harry. I don't want anyone knowing about him!"

"They won't, I already promised you that." Harry said simply.

"They don't want to like me, Harry." She shook her head.

"I don't know what they're thinking, Alex. They'll see how much I want to be with you and they'll get with it, please don't let this upset you."

Alex merely nodded.

"In fact," Harry continued, "I was hoping that we could all meet in the room of requirement today, after dinner, just to talk. We could stay there as late as we want and I'll take you back to your dormitory with my invisibility cloak if it gets too late."

"Okay, but if they act arrogant and all high and mighty, like they did yesterday, I won't sit there and take it." Alex said sternly.

Later that morning, after breakfast with Harry, Alex took up her books and headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins. It wasn't anything that she was excited about.

"Sunshine!" Draco laughed aloud, as he blocked Alexia's way into the classroom.

"What do you want from me, Malfoy?" Alex asked with her fists clenched.

"My, my, we have gotten feisty, haven't we?"

"Leave me alone." Alexia barked.

"Ooh, you're starting to stand up for yourself. That's rather sexy." Draco said running his hand down her arm.

"Don't touch me." She snarled.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Draco smirked as he ran his cold pale finger from her ear to her chin.

Alex tried to push Draco away. If he'd done this two days ago, she would have just stood there and accepted it. Something in her changed, she wasn't afraid anymore. She didn't want to feel Malfoy's clammy skin against hers; the only person who had her permission to touch her was Harry.

Draco laughed menacingly, shoving Alex. Alex landed with a thud and her weight fell to her left arm, just as she had the day before. She winced in pain, cradling her arm.

Suddenly, Ron was standing between Alexia and Malfoy.

"Back off, Malfoy." Ron ordered.

"Seems like Weasley's got himself a girl." Draco laughed.

"No, actually, Harry does." Ron said stiffly.

"I thought Potty could do better. You, on the other hand, deserve her. She's nothing but a trashy mud blood like that Granger girl." Malfoy said, waving his hand.

"Say what you want about Harry or me but never insult Hermione or Alex. Just because they aren't pure blood, doesn't make you any better than them."

"Twenty of Alex couldn't amount to an eighth of me." Draco said, running his hand through his light blonde hair.

"You're wrong." Ron said flatly.

"She's a filthy mud blood. I can't see why you're defending her, Weasel."

In a loss for words, Ron's tightened fist rammed with Malfoy's head, rendering him unconscious.

"Do you always punch people when you run out of things to say?" Alex asked from behind Ron.

"Pretty much." Ron said as he kneeled down beside her, "You okay?"

"My arm hurts a bit but, it isn't broken, it'll be fine."

"Do you think you need to go to the hospital wing?" Ron asked.

"No, I don't think so. Maybe, if it's still giving me trouble later."

Ron nodded and hauled himself to his feet, pulling Alexia up with him. Ron turned to leave but Alex tapped his shoulder the instant he turned away from her.

"Ron, thanks so much for sticking up for me, it really means a lot." She smiled.

Ron returned her smile, "It was nothing."

"It's something to me: I can only think of one other person that's ever stood up for me."

"Anytime, mate." Ron said as he walked down the corridor.

Alex stepped over Malfoy's body and entered her classroom with more confidence in her little finger than she'd had in her whole body since she could remember.

As usual her classes went smoothly and she was successful with every potion, charm, or plant that came her way. Finally, after hours of toiling away at her work, the lunch bell rang and Alexia was the first out of her seat. She knew she had to hurry, the library would be full if she didn't get there soon. She'd done this almost every day at Hogwarts. She'd rip herself from piles of books in a classroom and enter the library to do extended research daily. There was only one problem with that, Madame Pince, the librarian, hated her.

"Ms. Grant, I see you're here for only the first time today. I had planned on warning you earlier, but you were nowhere to be found, my child. You have a book due in a few hours. Don't you recall? Quidditch Through the Ages, dear! My most sought after book, you are aware that if it isn't returned by the end of lunch your library privileges may be suspended." The librarian spoke with a twisted grin.

"I've never forgotten a book in my life Madame Pince-!"

"That does not excuse you from the rules, Ms. Grant." Pince said sternly.

"I'm aware of that, Madame Pince. That's precisely why I have the book here with me." She pulled the book from her bag and handed in carefully over to the angry librarian, "I found it to be a very informative read, despite the multitudes of grammatical errors that I came across. Don't worry about those, I had them corrected."

"YOU WROTE IN MY BOOK?" Madame Pince bellowed furiously.

Alex smiled mischievously, "A wand, ma'am, is an extraordinary tool."

Alex turned away satisfied and took her usual seat among the rows of books.

"Hello." Harry whispered softly into her ear.

"You need to stop surprising me." Alex smirked as she kissed his cheek.

"Why don't you have something to eat?" Harry asked.

"I'm studying, Harry." She said sternly and her eyes scanned the page.

Harry pulled out a chair and situated himself beside her. Leaning forward, Harry rested his elbows and the table as an exasperated sigh escaped him.

"What was that for?" Alex snapped her head to face him.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Stop lying." Alex said as her attention was drawn back to her work.

"How do you know if I'm lying?" Harry asked, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"You're eyes. They're enchanting eyes, Harry but they give you away." Alex said as she stared into them.

"Oh." Harry said in a loss for words.

"Now, stop being a git and tell me what it is that's bothering you." Alex said as she ran her fingers gingerly through Harry's untidy black hair.

Harry turned Alex's chair to face him. Alexia stared at him almost angrily waiting for a response. Harry was afraid he might be hitting a nerve so when he finally spoke his voice was uncertain and shaky.

"You don't eat." He said.

"Don't be stupid Harry. Of course I eat." Alex said rolling her eyes.

"No, no you don't! You didn't eat lunch yesterday; you had a bite of food at dinner, and no breakfast this morning. And here I find you studying instead of eating. I don't see why you're trying to improve your marks if they're already perfect."

"You've turned into a total nutter. What's gotten into you?" Alex asked and she collected the books she was finished with into a neat pile.

"Food. Unlike you." Harry scoffed.

"I just don't get hungry." She said.

"Please," Harry begged, "Come with me to lunch and eat something- anything."

"I have to study." She said sharply.

"Please." Harry said as he took his her hand.

With shivers running down her spine, Alexia leaned closer to Harry, her fingers sweeping under his chin as her pink lips met his briefly.

Silently, Harry collected her books and stuffed them into her black book bag and swung it over his shoulder. Taking her hand, Harry led her to the school kitchens.

"Where on earth are we?" Alexia asked when she found herself staring at a titanic painting of a bowl of fruit.

Harry laughed out loud at Alex's expression as he tickled the pear on the painting. Next thing Alex knew, she was sitting the Howarts' kitchen, surrounded by house elves eating a Waldorf salad.

"Harry!" Alex burst after she leaped from her seat.

"What's up?" Harry asked calmly.

"We're late! Defense Against the Dark Arts in five minutes! There's no way we can get there in time!"

"Yes we can." Harry grinned, remembering all the secret passageways from the maurderer's map.

"What are you talking about?"

"Trust me!" Harry shouted as he grabbed her wrist.

"I've heard that one too many times already." Alex mumbled.

"BYE DOBBY!" Harry bellowed as he dragged Alexia out of the kitchens.