Chapter Four
"What are you doing?" Scott asked, as he approached the table that Alex was sitting at.
"Just going over these files." She sighed, looking up from the large stack. Alex had barricaded herself in the library, armed with old case files from the first reign of Voldemort. Dumbledore had provided her with them, at her request. She was hoping to find some weak spot in Voldemort, one that could bring about his final destruction. Since he could now touch Harry and get into his mind, that idea was out of the question. But Alex knew that Harry was somehow the key in this fight. If only she could figure out how they could bring him down.
"Do you think they could help?" Scott asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at the current file she was reading. It was the file on James and Lily Potter.
"I'm not sure. It could but then again there is a ton of information missing. Like in here, why was Voldemort after the Potters?" Alex sighed, leaning back in her chair. She had been going over these since right after breakfast. In fact, breakfast itself had been trying. Because of the argument the night before, Snape and Alex shot dirty looks at each other throughout the meal, and while she tried to avoid Lia's constant questioning. The only humorous situation was seeing Ayla Black dressed, not in her school uniform, but dressed in an outfit almost identical to the one Alex had been wearing when she first arrived. As Alex headed to go and get the files from Dumbledore, she told Ayla to give Snape hell in class.
"Well isn't it obvious? James Potter was a mudblood lover." Scott said. Alex froze and turned halfway in her seat to face him.
"What did you say?" Maybe she hadn't heard him right.
"Well he married Lily, who was muggle born and the dark lord is against those marriages." He explained. Alex frowned but turned back to the file. She must have heard him wrong.
"Hey you need to loosen up." Scott said and started rubbing her shoulders, in attempt to help her relieve some of the stress. "We only just got here. You can't expect to solve this war in one night. This could take years."
"I don't know if I could survive being here for years." Alex sighed, leaning back allowing him better access to her shoulders.
"Why's that? Everyone seems pretty nice here, except for that Snape fellow."
"Please don't mention that name." She frowned, flashbacks of the conversation from the night before coming into her mind.
"There is something between the two of you, isn't there?" Scott asked.
"No. There is nothing between us except the fact that I worked under him for student teaching. That's all." Alex lied. She didn't really want her team to know the history of her and the potions professor. It was the past. Suddenly, Scott grabbed her roughly as he leaned next to her ear.
"Don't lie to me Alexandra. I saw the two of you last night." He said harshly. In that moment, the Scott from her childhood came back.
"Scott, stop it!" Alex cried out, trying to break from his grasp but he was holding her too tightly. His fingers were digging into arms, as he gave her two quick shakes.
"You love him, don't you? You love that greasy-haired potions professor. You don't belong to him, Alexandra. You belong to me and you always will."
"I belong to no one, Scott. Not you, not anyone. What goes on between me and Snape is my business not yours." Alex argued, trying to not let him intimidate her.
"You are naïve. You know nothing about how any of this works. You'll see, Alexandra." Scott laughed cruelly, his mouth next to her ear as he threatened her.
"I'll see what? That I was stupid for letting you join my team? Trust me, I already know that." Alex scoffed. She hadn't wanted Scott on her team from the beginning but Johnson pulled rank on her and she was left with no choice.
"No. We are destiny you and me. We are meant for each other and nothing will stand in the way of that. Not even your precious professor." Just then the door to the library opened; Snape came in carrying a pile of files. He froze at the sight of Scott hovering over Alex. Scott slowly straightened up and stepped away from Alex at the professor's dark look.
"Dumbledore said to give you these. They might help in finding something useful for whatever it is that you are looking for." Snape said placing the stack down next to the one Alex was currently looking through. He shot her a look when they made eye contact, as if asking if she was all right. He knew that he had interrupted something between the two of them.
"It would probably help if I knew what exactly I was looking for though." Alex said as she picked up the top file off of the new stack.
"I'm going to check on the others. Think about what I said Alexandra. We'll talk about it later." Scott said and exited the library.
"What the hell just happened?" Snape asked sitting across the table from her.
"It's nothing I can't handle, Severus. Don't worry about me." Alex shrugged as she leafed through the pages, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"Damn it woman! Are you deranged? How is it that you can feel like you can trust him, after what he did to you as a child?"
"Who said I trusted him." Alex snapped, her eyes flashing angrily.
"If you don't trust him, how is it that he is working with you?"
"This conversation is over, Snape. I will not talk to you about this. Trust me, I can handle it." Alex stated, turning back to the files in front of her.
"I hope that you are right, Alexandra. But do not expect me to be there to pick up the pieces when you find yourself to be mistaken." Snape said and then stormed out the library.
"No, Severus, I would never expect such a thing." Alex sighed; flinching as the door slammed closed behind him.
..........
"If everyone can take their seats, we can begin." Dumbledore announced, bringing order to the room. Tonight was the official Order of the Phoenix meeting, where the new assignments were to be handed out.
"One of my spies have informed me that Voldemort is putting together an army. For what purpose, we are not yet sure of but we need to find out." Dumbledore explained.
"I have prepared a list of assignments for everyone to carry out. Lupin, you and Sirius will be keeping an eye on the events going on in Diagon alley, Knockturn alley, and Hogsmeade. I want to know every action of what is going on. Who comes and who goes...as accurate as you can be." He directed. Both men nodded in acknowledgment.
"Arthur, Kingsley, Tonks, and Fiona... I want you four to keep an eye on all ministry officials who seem to be switching side, especially McNair."
"Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, you two both know your jobs. And the last is Alex's group. Alex, Tonks is going to be helping you with the mission. She'll explain everything to you later. I am giving you free reign of how you want to get your job accomplished."
"Thank you, Albus." Alex said, grateful to be able to run her mission her own way and not the way of the order.
"What about me?" Lia asked.
"Honey, we've already talked about this. You need to stay within the school walls." Sirius said.
"It's not fair. It's not like I'm an invalid." Lia argued, clearly agitated.
"Between you and Harper, I believe we have two of the most half-witted women on the face of the planet!" Snape mocked, from his corner of the room. Both Alex and Lia glared evilly at him. "But then again, if you want to harm your unborn child, by no means, go ahead. Take a mission that will put you in harm's way. It's one less Black in the world, after all."
"Take that back, Snape! You will not talk to my wife like that." Sirius said reaching for his wand.
"Here we go again." Lupin sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"Like what? A child? That's how she is acting." Snape replied.
"Forget wands! I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Sirius declared and jumped on top of Snape, knocking him to the ground, pummeling him. Before either of them could severely hurt each other, Sirus was flung back to the opposite side of the room. All eyes turned to Dumbledore as he stood there with his wand in his hand.
"I have told the both of you more the once, to overcome this hatred that exists between you two. If I wasn't sure that you would kill each other, I would lock you in the same room until you could get along!" Dumbledore lectured. This was the second meeting in a row that Snape and Sirius had caused a disruption. Just then the door slammed shut, signaling Lia's exit.
"Sirius, I would think it best if you would go after your wife right now. This meeting is over." Dumbledore sighed.
"Well that was certainly interesting." Alex said as Sirius ran out after Lia.
Next chapter: a small interlude between Alex and Snape
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"What are you doing?" Scott asked, as he approached the table that Alex was sitting at.
"Just going over these files." She sighed, looking up from the large stack. Alex had barricaded herself in the library, armed with old case files from the first reign of Voldemort. Dumbledore had provided her with them, at her request. She was hoping to find some weak spot in Voldemort, one that could bring about his final destruction. Since he could now touch Harry and get into his mind, that idea was out of the question. But Alex knew that Harry was somehow the key in this fight. If only she could figure out how they could bring him down.
"Do you think they could help?" Scott asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at the current file she was reading. It was the file on James and Lily Potter.
"I'm not sure. It could but then again there is a ton of information missing. Like in here, why was Voldemort after the Potters?" Alex sighed, leaning back in her chair. She had been going over these since right after breakfast. In fact, breakfast itself had been trying. Because of the argument the night before, Snape and Alex shot dirty looks at each other throughout the meal, and while she tried to avoid Lia's constant questioning. The only humorous situation was seeing Ayla Black dressed, not in her school uniform, but dressed in an outfit almost identical to the one Alex had been wearing when she first arrived. As Alex headed to go and get the files from Dumbledore, she told Ayla to give Snape hell in class.
"Well isn't it obvious? James Potter was a mudblood lover." Scott said. Alex froze and turned halfway in her seat to face him.
"What did you say?" Maybe she hadn't heard him right.
"Well he married Lily, who was muggle born and the dark lord is against those marriages." He explained. Alex frowned but turned back to the file. She must have heard him wrong.
"Hey you need to loosen up." Scott said and started rubbing her shoulders, in attempt to help her relieve some of the stress. "We only just got here. You can't expect to solve this war in one night. This could take years."
"I don't know if I could survive being here for years." Alex sighed, leaning back allowing him better access to her shoulders.
"Why's that? Everyone seems pretty nice here, except for that Snape fellow."
"Please don't mention that name." She frowned, flashbacks of the conversation from the night before coming into her mind.
"There is something between the two of you, isn't there?" Scott asked.
"No. There is nothing between us except the fact that I worked under him for student teaching. That's all." Alex lied. She didn't really want her team to know the history of her and the potions professor. It was the past. Suddenly, Scott grabbed her roughly as he leaned next to her ear.
"Don't lie to me Alexandra. I saw the two of you last night." He said harshly. In that moment, the Scott from her childhood came back.
"Scott, stop it!" Alex cried out, trying to break from his grasp but he was holding her too tightly. His fingers were digging into arms, as he gave her two quick shakes.
"You love him, don't you? You love that greasy-haired potions professor. You don't belong to him, Alexandra. You belong to me and you always will."
"I belong to no one, Scott. Not you, not anyone. What goes on between me and Snape is my business not yours." Alex argued, trying to not let him intimidate her.
"You are naïve. You know nothing about how any of this works. You'll see, Alexandra." Scott laughed cruelly, his mouth next to her ear as he threatened her.
"I'll see what? That I was stupid for letting you join my team? Trust me, I already know that." Alex scoffed. She hadn't wanted Scott on her team from the beginning but Johnson pulled rank on her and she was left with no choice.
"No. We are destiny you and me. We are meant for each other and nothing will stand in the way of that. Not even your precious professor." Just then the door to the library opened; Snape came in carrying a pile of files. He froze at the sight of Scott hovering over Alex. Scott slowly straightened up and stepped away from Alex at the professor's dark look.
"Dumbledore said to give you these. They might help in finding something useful for whatever it is that you are looking for." Snape said placing the stack down next to the one Alex was currently looking through. He shot her a look when they made eye contact, as if asking if she was all right. He knew that he had interrupted something between the two of them.
"It would probably help if I knew what exactly I was looking for though." Alex said as she picked up the top file off of the new stack.
"I'm going to check on the others. Think about what I said Alexandra. We'll talk about it later." Scott said and exited the library.
"What the hell just happened?" Snape asked sitting across the table from her.
"It's nothing I can't handle, Severus. Don't worry about me." Alex shrugged as she leafed through the pages, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"Damn it woman! Are you deranged? How is it that you can feel like you can trust him, after what he did to you as a child?"
"Who said I trusted him." Alex snapped, her eyes flashing angrily.
"If you don't trust him, how is it that he is working with you?"
"This conversation is over, Snape. I will not talk to you about this. Trust me, I can handle it." Alex stated, turning back to the files in front of her.
"I hope that you are right, Alexandra. But do not expect me to be there to pick up the pieces when you find yourself to be mistaken." Snape said and then stormed out the library.
"No, Severus, I would never expect such a thing." Alex sighed; flinching as the door slammed closed behind him.
..........
"If everyone can take their seats, we can begin." Dumbledore announced, bringing order to the room. Tonight was the official Order of the Phoenix meeting, where the new assignments were to be handed out.
"One of my spies have informed me that Voldemort is putting together an army. For what purpose, we are not yet sure of but we need to find out." Dumbledore explained.
"I have prepared a list of assignments for everyone to carry out. Lupin, you and Sirius will be keeping an eye on the events going on in Diagon alley, Knockturn alley, and Hogsmeade. I want to know every action of what is going on. Who comes and who goes...as accurate as you can be." He directed. Both men nodded in acknowledgment.
"Arthur, Kingsley, Tonks, and Fiona... I want you four to keep an eye on all ministry officials who seem to be switching side, especially McNair."
"Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, you two both know your jobs. And the last is Alex's group. Alex, Tonks is going to be helping you with the mission. She'll explain everything to you later. I am giving you free reign of how you want to get your job accomplished."
"Thank you, Albus." Alex said, grateful to be able to run her mission her own way and not the way of the order.
"What about me?" Lia asked.
"Honey, we've already talked about this. You need to stay within the school walls." Sirius said.
"It's not fair. It's not like I'm an invalid." Lia argued, clearly agitated.
"Between you and Harper, I believe we have two of the most half-witted women on the face of the planet!" Snape mocked, from his corner of the room. Both Alex and Lia glared evilly at him. "But then again, if you want to harm your unborn child, by no means, go ahead. Take a mission that will put you in harm's way. It's one less Black in the world, after all."
"Take that back, Snape! You will not talk to my wife like that." Sirius said reaching for his wand.
"Here we go again." Lupin sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"Like what? A child? That's how she is acting." Snape replied.
"Forget wands! I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Sirius declared and jumped on top of Snape, knocking him to the ground, pummeling him. Before either of them could severely hurt each other, Sirus was flung back to the opposite side of the room. All eyes turned to Dumbledore as he stood there with his wand in his hand.
"I have told the both of you more the once, to overcome this hatred that exists between you two. If I wasn't sure that you would kill each other, I would lock you in the same room until you could get along!" Dumbledore lectured. This was the second meeting in a row that Snape and Sirius had caused a disruption. Just then the door slammed shut, signaling Lia's exit.
"Sirius, I would think it best if you would go after your wife right now. This meeting is over." Dumbledore sighed.
"Well that was certainly interesting." Alex said as Sirius ran out after Lia.
Next chapter: a small interlude between Alex and Snape
Please click that small button below and review.