Chapter Eleven

A Happy Day

Hermione walked in to Gryffindor Common Room nearly an hour and a half after she had run after Alex. She was unable to find him until the moment she entered the common room. He was sitting in front of the fire looking down at a photograph album. There were tears falling down his cheeks. Alex was parentless now. He was the last of his family. He didn't have anywhere to go and he knew he couldn't stay at Hogwarts over the summer breaks. He had to have somewhere to go. Hermione stared at him for the longest time, then walked over to him. "Alex?" she said quietly. He didn't look up at her, instead he pointed to a picture. "I remember this day. I remember it because I fell in the lake behind us. We went fishing. I cast my rod out and the boat started rocking," Alex began to chuckle lightly, "then it tipped over. We lost most of the fishing gear we took, the only thing we didn't lose was the fishing pole that I was using," he finished, but he wasn't chuckling anymore. He turned the page and on it, there was a picture of when Hermione first met Alex's parents. Hermione looked at the picture and a few tears began to fall down her cheek. A thought had come across Hermione's mind. Alex doesn't have anyone now. He's alone. All he has is an old photo album and…her. This was her thought.

Alex looked at her, then reached up with his hand and gently wiped the tears off her cheek. "Don't cry. Its…its ok. I'll be fine," he told her. But only more tears began to fall down her cheeks. "You don't have anyone now, do you Alex?" Hermione asked. He looked back down to the photo album and shook his head. "No…I don't," Alex said. Hermione looked down at the ground. "Then what are you going to do? You can't stay at Hogwarts," Hermione asked. "I know that. I don't know what I'll do," Alex said, taking Hermione's hand. He looked at her. There weren't as many tears streaming down her face now. He leaned forward and began to kiss her as he had when they were sitting in the hospital wing. It was as if everything around them froze. They were trapped in this moment, and for this moment Alex was happy again. Not thinking of his father and mother, nor of where he was going to stay after the year ended. Hermione wasn't thinking of anything but Alex in this moment. She wasn't worried about him or anything. They were sharing a good moment.

This moment was broken by the noise of the common room portrait opening. They quickly pulled away from each other but they kept eye contact. Harry and Ron had entered the common room and were looking at them. "Hey. You found him Hermione," Harry said slightly happy. Ron, however, didn't say anything. He looked at Alex for a moment, then walked out of the common room. Alex sighed and shook his head. "He's still mad at me huh?" Alex chortled. He wasn't surprised. But Alex felt he had done nothing wrong. "I think he might be," Harry said reluctantly. After a moment Professor Dumbledore came walking slowly into the common room followed by Professor McGonagall. Hermione and Alex stood up as they saw the two professors enter. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, will you excuse Mr. Price, Professor McGonagall, and I for a moment?" Dumbledore asked politely. Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "Lets go find Ron," Harry said to Hermione who nodded. They walked out of the common room. Alex felt awkward. "Mr. Price," Dumbledore began. "we know you have no other family. And you do know that you cannot stay at Hogwarts correct?" McGonagall asked.

Alex nodded. "Yes," he said. "We are in the process of trying to communicate with the Ministry of Magic, but they are not answering because of the Christmas Holiday. We ask you, what are you prepared to do for the summer, should we fail to hear anything from the ministry?" Dumbledore asked. Alex was slightly confused by this. He didn't know. Then the thought of talking to Lucious Malfoy came across his mind. He shuddered at this. "I don't know sir. But since I have almost six months to think about it I'll let you know," Alex said. Dumbledore nodded, looked at McGonagall, and they both turned and walked out of the common room. Alex watched as they left. Then he began to think of a summer with the Malfoy family. Draco wouldn't think twice about asking his father. Then hit him. If he had gotten that letter from the Ministry not more than an hour and a half ago, why weren't they able to contact them? Alex pondered on this for the next little bit.

A half an hour later Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the common room. Ron didn't stop. He just walked up to the dorm and shut the door. Harry and Hermione walked over to Alex and sat by him. "What did Dumbledore and McGonagall want?" Harry asked. Alex sighed and looked at Harry. "Just more bad news. That's all. And also some stuff I already know," Alex told them. He told them what Dumbledore had said about not being able to contact the Ministry. "What? They've got to be lying. How else would you have gotten a letter from them not two hours ago?" Harry asked. Alex shook his head. "I honestly don't know Harry," Alex told him.

This Christmas Holiday finally came to an end. Kids were returning to Hogwarts. On Monday the new term would start off with Potions. On Saturday Alex and Hermione spent some time walking about the grounds talking about various things. "But you have to admit that Potions is a fascinating subject Alex," Hermione said. "Hermione…how can you say that? Snape never calls on you, and when you do answer he deducts five points from Gryffindor," Alex said. "But if Snape wasn't the teacher, would you think differently?" Hermione asked him. Alex stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah…I think I would like it. But I don't because Snape is the teacher," Alex began to chuckle. He looked at Hermione and smiled. They walked over to snow covered bench and sat down on it together. Alex looked at Hermione and took her hand. Hermione looked at him and just smiled. He was finally happy. He had been reeling from the news of two weeks ago. However, he didn't manage getting over it by himself. "Hermione…there's something that I want to tell you," Alex said. Hermione looked at him. "What?" she asked. "If…if you hadn't been with me this past week I don't think I would have made it. I think I would have gone crazy. Having you with me has made the most gloomy of days turn into bright ones," he said with a smile. "I know…that sounds so stupid," Alex said.

Hermione shook her head, took a glove off her hand, and placed the ungloved hand on his cheek. "No. No not stupid at all. That make me feel like I can do more than learn spells and stuff," she said lightly. Alex smiled at her, and took the hand that was on his cheek into his own. He thought about telling her that he'd ready if the Figure were to show itself again, but he decided against it. He wasn't about to ruin this moment. Alex and Hermione had gotten to know each other better over the holiday and felt more comfortable about doing things like, kissing and holding hands and such. Kissing, they didn't do this unless they were alone. They did have a decency about them. Sunday night finally came. They all sat there staring at their potions books dreading the class. "Alex!" Ron came running up to Alex. Alex was surprised. Ron hadn't spoken to him since Christmas Eve. "Whoa…you're talking to me!" Alex said. Ron nodded. "Yeah…I've been avoiding you for these last two weeks because I've been waiting for this letter!" Ron said and tossed a letter to Alex. Alex picked it up, then looked at Ron. "Go on! Read it!" Ron exclaimed. Alex began to read aloud:

Dear Ron,

We have indeed heard about Alex's father and your father and I

have discussed it. We are willing to let Alex come and live here

with us! Tell Alex we will see him at the end of the year on platform

9 and ¾! We look forward to seeing you both in five months!

Love,

Mum and Dad! (Mr. And Mrs. Weasley)

Alex was speechless. He just stared at the letter, then looked to Ron and nodded.