Chapter One

Arrival and Quidditch at the Burrow

Ron woke up and walked downstairs only to find that he was the first person up. He looked around, then walked to the door to go out side for some fresh air. Just as he opened the door, and owl swooped in. Ron looked at the owl, it was white, with some black spots here and there. He thought for a moment, there was only two people with owls like that, Harry and Alex. He walked over to the owl, took the parchment, of its leg and read it. It read:

Ron, can you come here and get me?

Alex

Ron sighed, sat the letter down, and walked upstairs to his parents room. He opened the door and saw no one was in the room at all. He wondered where they could have gone. He walked back downstairs, just as his parents were walking in, followed by Alex. Ron looked at his parents. "Whoa. How did you get him here without seeing the owl he sent?" Ron asked. Mr. Weasley looked at Ron. "His parents sent us an owl yesterday. You were out playing Quidditch with the others," Mr. Weasley said. Ron looked at Alex. Alex was six foot nothing. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was slim. "Good to see you Alex. How was your summer?" Ron asked. Alex looked at Ron. "Hell. I got dragged to the Ministry of Magic about six times! That place isn't 15 year old friendly," Alex told Ron. "Trust me, I know." Ron said. Alex looked around. It wasn't the first time he'd been to the Burrow. The first time was just before his third year at Hogwarts.

Alex looked at Ron. "Are Hermione and Harry here yet?" he asked. Ron nodded. "Yeah, they got here about three days ago. We were waiting for permission to come and get you. I don't know why mum and dad didn't tell me they got an owl from your parents yesterday," Ron said in one long breath. Just then Harry and Hermione came walking down the stairs. "Alex!" they both said in unison. Alex looked at them, he shook Harry's hand, and Hermione gave him a hug.

He looked at Hermione for a moment, then looked at the others. "Man…I've missed you guys," Alex said. He thought to himself, especially you, Hermione. He smiled and sat down at the table, because Mrs. Weasley had breakfast already made. "After breakfast we'll go outside and play a little Quidditch. How does that sound?" Harry asked Alex. "Sounds great," Alex said. Ginny came walking down the stairs and sat down close to Alex. Alex looked at her. "Hey Ginny," Alex said. Ginny looked at Alex, smiled, then started looking at Harry. Alex shook his head. He knew Ginny liked Harry. But he wondered why she just didn't come out and say it.

Alex was happy being around his friends again. But he was most happy being around Hermione. He looked over at her and Ron. It looked, to Alex, that he was flirting with her and it looked as though she were enjoying it. He sighed and looked back to his plate of food he had dished out for himself.

After they had eaten they headed outside to start playing a little Quidditch. Alex, who was going to try out for the Beater position on the Gryffindor team, looked at the others. "We need another Beater, and two Chasers," he said. Just then Fred and George apperated. "Hey guys. You look like you need another beater and a chaser or two!" said Fred. Alex looked at them. "Why don't I be a Beater and a Chaser. Fred can be a Chaser and a Beater and George can be a Chaser? How's that sound?" Alex asked looking around at the others. "Umm, that might get slightly confusing," said Harry. Alex couldn't help but admit he was right. "You're right Harry. Hmm…what can we do?" Alex said, thinking out loud. Then Mr. Weasley came outside and looked at the boys. "Hello boys. Need another teammate?" he asked. Alex smirked. "Can you play?" Alex asked. "You bloody well bet! I helped Fred and George practice! What place do you need?" Mr. Weasley asked. "A Beater, and two Chasers," said Ron. Alex looked at Fred and George. "You two can be the Beaters. I'll be the other Chaser. How's that sound?" Alex asked. "Sounds good," said George. "Alright. Then lets get to it!" Harry exclaimed. Harry mounted his Firebolt, Alex mounted his Nimbus 2001, and the other mounted whatever their brooms were. Alex looked at Hermione. "What about Hermione?" he asked. "Don't worry about me. I'll go and help Mrs. Weasley. You just have fun, and be careful with Mr. Weasley," Hermione told them, then turned and walked inside the house.

Mr. Weasley stayed on the ground to release the Snitch, the Bludgers, and tossed the Quaffle in the air, then took off himself. Alex caught the Quaffle and sent it whizzing past Ron through a hoop that had been set up. Fred and George flew around hitting the Bludgers left and right. One zoomed passed Alex, almost knocking him off his broom. Alex looked at the two. "You're supposed to protect me from those, not hit them towards me!" Alex yelled at them. Then the Bludger came back and socked him in the shoulder. He whirled around for a moment, then stopped himself, and landed. He walked over to the steps of the house, then others landed and ran over to him. Fred and George stayed behind to catch the balls, Harry had caught the Snitch by now and put it away. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley had come outside only to see that Alex was holding his shoulder and grimacing in pain. "What in the world happened?" Mrs. Weasley asked hastily. "I was caught off guard by a Bludger. It hit me in the shoulder. Its ok. Its happened before. I know how fix it, just stand by with some pain reliever medicine ok?" Alex told Mrs. Weasley. She nodded, ran in the house, then came back out with the medicine. Alex stood, and walked to a wall. He counted to three then, WHAM! He hit his shoulder into the brick wall of the Burrow. Then, from extreme pain, he passed out. Mrs. Weasley administered the medicine.

Alex awoke seven hours later, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting next to the couch. He looked at them for a moment, then said, "Damn that hurt. Remind me never to do that again."

Everyone snapped their gaze to Alex. "Man, that has to take some guts mate," Ron said. "Mum wasn't to pleased you did that. She said you could have hurt it more," he continued. Alex sat up and looked at Ron. "No. I do it all the time, it hurts, but that time it hurt worse," Alex said looking down at his arm, which was in a sling now. Alex looked back up at them. "Mrs. Weasley says you have to keep that on for another day so it will heal properly," Harry said. Hermione didn't speak. Alex looked at her. She seemed to have a very angry look on her face as thought she wasn't all too pleased that he did that. "What's wrong Hermione?" Alex asked her. "YOU COULD HAVE DAMAGED IT WORSE ALEX! DON'T DO THAT AGAIN OK?" she screamed. Alex was wide-eyed now. He had only seen her yell once like that, and that was at Ron. Hermione stood up and walked out of the room, just as Mrs. Weasley entered. "Well you seem to be better. Come and have some dinner," she said. Alex looked at the clock, it was already five o'clock. He looked at Harry and Ron. "Man…that was really painful," said Alex.