Disclaimer: I own only my original characters, nothing more.
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'New at Hogwarts' Chapeter 11 Screwing up . . .againIt was already dark outside when Ron and Hermione made their entrance in the common room looking happy as ever.
"Here you are!" Ron said, dropping various sweets on Harry's lap and once they were done telling him and Alex all about Hogsmeade, -not without Ron's comment about butterbeer- Hermione asked Harry what he had done.
"Well, Lupin invited me for some tea in his office and Snape came in . . ."
"So that was where you had got yourself into! I looked for you when I was done with the toilettes but as I didn't find you I sat and wrote a letter to my friends back home and then I crashed into Snape and . . ." Alex trailed off, seeing the inquiring looks on Ron's and Hermione's faces. Harry told them about the cup Snape had given Lupin and their landing on detention.
"You got detention again?" Hermione asked Alex, who simply shruged and looked away.
"And Lupin drank it?" Ron asked astonished, talking about the cup.
Hermione glanced at her watch. "We'd better get going . . .the banquet's about to start".
When they left through the portrait hole, they were still talking of Snape
"But if he. . . you know . . ." Hermione lowered her voice, glancing around. "If he were trying to poison Lupin he wouldn't do it in front of Harry".
"Yeah, maybe you're right", Harry said as they reached the Great Hall, which was decorated for the occasion: Halloween.
The food was great. Even Hermione and Ron, who were bloated with candy repeated. Harry could not stop staring at the teacher's table where Lupin was talking to tiny professor Flitwick. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but Snape seemed to be blinking more than usual as he regarded professor Lupin.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Alex followed the rest of their fellow Gryffindors up to Gryffindor's tower, but when they reached the corridor where the portrait of the fat lady was, they found it crowded with students.
They could hear Percy's high-pitched voice as he called for Dumbledore, who appeared moments later. They got closer to see what it was all about.
"What the hell?" Alex said out loud.
The fat lady was gone. But that was not all, the portrait had been riped so harshly that some strands had fallen to floor and there were even some big pieces missing.
Looking at proffesors McGonagall, Lupin and Snape, who were approaching quickly with saddened eyes, Dumbledore said "She has to be found. Please professor McGonagall, tell Mr Filch immediately to look for the fat lady in every portrait in the castle.
Suddenly, they heard a sneering voice. It was Peeves.
"What is it, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked him.
"She's embarrassed and doesn't want to be seen. She's a dissaster. I saw her running through the scenery, towards the fourth floor, dodging trees and screaming something terrible".
"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore asked in a low voice.
"She did. He got angry with her since she didn't let him in, you knou?
That Sirius Black has an unbearable temper!"
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All students were sent to the Great Hall, every single one of them looking as confused as the rest.
"The teachers and I have to search the castle", professor Dumbledore explained whilst professor McGonagall and Flitwick closed all the doors of the Great Hall. "I'm afraid you'll have to spent the night here for your own safety. I wan the prefects to stand guard by the doors and I leave both Anual Prizes in charge. Notify me through any of the ghosts". Professor Dumbledore stopped before leaving. "Well, You will need . . ." and with a flick of his wand, the tables were sent to a side. Another flick and the Gret Hall's floor was covered by hundreds of red, comfy-looking sleeping bags.
"Allright, everyone, go to sleep! I will be turning out the lights in ten minutes." Percy said over the noise.
"C'mon" Ron said to Harry, Hermione and Alex. They grabbed three bags and headed towards a corner.
"Do you think Black's still in the castle?" Hermione whispered worriedly.
"Well, Dumbledore obviously thinks so" Ron said.
"Lucky he chose this night, do you realise?" Hermione commented. "The only night we weren't in the tower".
"I suppose he doesn't know what day he's living in. He hasn't realised it's Halloween. . . otherwise, he would have come in here violently."
Hermione shuddered.
Around them in the Great Hall, everybody was asking the same question: "How did he get in?"
Hearing the various and unlikely theories, Hermione lost her patience. "Am I the only one that has read Hogwarts, a history?" she asked the three.
"Probably, why?" Ron asked.
"Hogwarts is not only protected by walls but also by a series of enchantments to prevent anyone from entering furtively." Hermione reminded him.
"I'm going to turn off the lights now!" Percy yelled. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags."
All the candles went out at once, the only light coming from the silvery ghosts and the enchanted ceiling, which was full of stars as the real one.
Harry felt as if he were sleeping outdoors and was about to fall asleep as Ron and Hermione had already done when he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder.
"Pssst, pssst, Harry!" Alex called.
Harry turned round to see what the girl wanted. "What is it?"
"Who is Sirius Black?" She asked with a clueless expression.
"You don't know who he is?" Harry asked taken aback, surprised that she didn't know. All the wizarding world knew who he was . . .though now that he thought about it, he hadn't know either. "He was a death eater. . ." He started, but seeing the blank look Alex was giving him, he had to explain "That is what Voldemort's followers call themselves"
"Oh", Alex replied feeling stupid.
"Well, anyways, as far as I know, he was a death eater. He was sent to Azkaban for killing 12 muggles and a wizard, Petter Petigrew. The biggest piece of him that was left was one of his fingers."
"That's . . .disturbing", Alex said, not entirely sure if it had been a good idea to ask.
"Why didn't you ask before?" Harry whispered.
"I felt stupid. Just like now", she smiled sheepishly. Harry just returned the smile.
"Don't worry . . .I didn't know much either when I first came to Hogwarts. . ."
Moments latter, they were both asleep under the star-lit enchanted ceileing.
Every hour, a teacher would come round the Great Hall to check everything was in order. Around three in the morning, when many of the students were already fast asleep, professor Dumbledore came in and approached Percy –Ron's older brother- who happened to be just some feet away. They shared a brief conversation, interrupted by the sound of a door opening and footsteps.
"Headmaster?" It was Snape's voice. Harry remained still and quiet, but he wasn't the only one. Next to him, Alex strained her ears trying to hear the conversation taking place between the two professors.
". . .do you have any idea so as to how he might have entered, professor?" She heard him ask.
"Many, Severus, but all equally unlikely." Dumbledore replied.
The four of them opened their eyes slightly. Snape seemed angry.
"Do you remember, headmaster, the conversation we had before . . .the start of term?" Severus asked barely moving his lips so that Percy couldn't hear.
"I remember, Severus"
"It seems . . .almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without any help. I expressed my preocupation when you pointed. . ."
"I don't think anyone in this castle helped Black to break into Hogwarts", Dumbledore observed in a tone that made it clear that he wouldn't discuss the matter further.
After both Dumbledore and Snape had left, the four Gryffindors looked at eachother.
"What were they talking about?" Ron asked.
During the following days, every single person in the castle was talking about Sirius Black. The speculations about how he had managed to penetrate the castle getting more and more fantastic; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent most of the Herbology's class telling how Black could turn into a flowery shrub.
Unfortunately for the Gryffindors, the escape of the fat lady (who'd been found hiding in a map of Argyllshire, in the second floor) had meant the crazy sir Cadogan would be replacing her, as he had been the only one who had been brave enough to accept the job.
But for Harry, Sir Cadogan was the least of his worries; teachers would use any excuse to follow him everywhere and Percy stuck to him like a lost puppy (Harry thought this was Mrs. Weasley's doing).
"You know," Alex told Harry as they strolled down a corridor after finally leaving the dungeons where Snape had made them stay after the class was over to discuss their detention. "In a way, you should be glad it's not Snape following you around . . .can you imagine turning round a corner and suddenly bumping into him? That's creepy!"
"Yeah" , Harry agreed . . .it could have been worse . . .
" . . .or what if you get up at night to answer nature's call and Sanpe's face is glancing up at you from the lavatory? Can you imagine : Potter . . .(glub) . . .get (glub) . . .back to (glub) . . .bed!" Alex mimicked.
Harry laughed hard at that. "Yeah, but then it'd be easier to get rid of him; Just flush and he'll be gone."
"At least Myrtle will have company!" Alex had accidentally met Myrtle –the ghost of a student- when she Snape had told her to clean the toilettes. The girl had been whining the whole time and asking about Harry.
"Potter!" they both turned around and saw professor McGonagall, who had just come out of her office. "I need to speak to you", she said.
"I'll wait here", Alex told Harry as he entered the room.
Twenty minutes later, Harry came out of McGonagall's office looking gloom.
"Harry, what happened? Is there something wrong?" his fellow Gryffindor asked worriedly.
"She wanted me to stop going to quidditch practice"
"Wha- no! First match's against Slytherin, and you've already lost tons of practice because of detention!" Alex lectured him, sounding like Hermione.
"She said she'll let me practice but there's gonna be a teacher there . . . and I haven't lost any practice . . .Wood made me spend the weekend training, remember?"
"Oh, hehe . . .I guess I forgot . . ." Alex asked noticing there was something more. "What else did she tell you?" She pressed.
"Just what Ron's dad told me, that Sirius Black is coming after me-" He said but was interrupted by Alex yelling.
"WHAT! HE'S AFTER YOU, HARRY? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE!" She bellowed.
"Will you keep your voice down!" he whispered annoyed. "I already get enough attention as it is."
"Sorry", she apologized calming down. "It's just that- why?" she sounded anxious.
"I don't know. All I've been told is that he's after me, that he said 'he's in Hogwarts'" Harry explained.
"But then . . .the grim . . .Harry, you don't think it's real, do you? I mean, you saw it when you left your uncle's and then it appeared twice, in your tea cup." She finished her sentence and looked at him preocupied.
Harry stayed silent.
As the day of the match approached, the weather got gloomier and gloomier, strong winds whistling atop the towers of the castle. With Harry training and Ron and Hermione arguing (this happened a lot lattely, with Crockshanks continuously chasing Scabbers), Alex had spent every rainy afternoon –the one she had free, of course, since she had detention with Snape Monday, Tuesday and Thursday- in the library. She had actually come across many great books. She particularly enjoyed one about potions; far from Snape and his I'm-superior look, Alex had found potions to be quite interesting. She'd even made a point to herself that when she had the time, she'd try some of the potion in there.
The previous day to the first quidditch match Alex woke up quite early; she'd never been able to sleep with the wind howling outside her window and it was no different now. Putting on her robes and her slippers, She decided that she might as well get something to eat –it was not like she was starving, but as she had nothing better to do and the library was probably closed.
She tickled the pear in the fruit portrait and went into the kitchen. Although it was very early, some house elves were already up.
"Hi", Alex ventured shyly.
"Hello, young mistress!" one of the house elves greeted with a very high-pitched voice. She stared at the creature before her. The elf was not dressed as the rest, he was wearing a pair of shorts, his chest bare with a tie around his neck and two different socks.
"Umm, hello", she said. "I'm Alex."
"Dobby is pleased to meet you!" Assuming that the elf's name was Dobby, Alex was about to ask wheter they had something to eat when a better idea occured to her.
"Listen, Dobby, could I cook something?" She asked bending down, so she was more or less the same height as the creature; Alex didn't like looking down at people when she spoke.
"Cook? We can cook for you!" The elf informed her proudly.
"Oh, yes, I know you can. I've tasted your food, It's the best!" She happily complimented. "But the thing is, I want to cook something special for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny", she said as she counted with her fingers.
"Harry? . . .Alex knows Harry Potter?" Dobby asked with adoration.
"Yeah, we're friends . . .so you know him too?"
"Harry Potter saved Dobby!" Dobby exclaimed, tear in his eyes. "I will help Alex prepare food!"
"That's great! I was thinking of pancakes. . .what do you think?"
"You want to know my opinion?" The elf asked somehow surprised.
"Well of course! It's your kitchen I'm using . . .I don't want to be a burden for you!"
"No, no, no!" Dobby said shacking his head, his bat-like ears flapping against eachother. "No burden at all!"
"Ok, then! Let's get to work!"
An hour and a half later, four dozens of pancakes sat in four columns, one on top of the other.
"There!" Alex exclaimed content with the result. "Thanks, Dobby. I wouldn't have done it without you!"
"Alex is far too kind!" The elf choked out through tears.
Glancing at the clock on one of the walls, you came to the conclusion that if you wanted to get a shower before breackfast, you'd better do it fast.
"Sorry, Dobby, It's late, I gotta go, but I promise I'll come visit you . . .if not, you can come visit me anytime you want to!"
"Goodbye, Alex!" Dobby's high-pitched voice said.
Running to your room, you grabbed clean clothes and took a quick shower.
"Alex, where were you?" Ron asked as he helped himself to some delicious-looking pancakes.
"Taking a shower . . ."
"That's odd" George commented as he sat besides Ginny at the table. "They've never done pancakes beore!"
"They're so sweet and tasty!" Fred exclaimed.
"Yeah . . .they came out just fine", Alex said more to herself than anyone else. "Hey, where's Harry?"
"Practice", Hermione simply replied as she looked at the Daily Prophet.
"Then I guess I'll have to save some for him. Anything about Black?" Alexandra asked. She'd become more concerned after she learned that Black was after Harry.
"Not really." The other girl said back.
Suddenly getting a feeling, Alex looked up at the teacher's table. Snape was looking at her . . .no, wait, Snape was staring at her. But he quickly looked appart, as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for her, Fred had caught the last part of that strange situation.
"Oooooh, looking at your beloved?" His sugary-sweet false voice was more than she could take. As if catching Snape . . .Snape, of all the teachers staring at her wasn't sick enough!
"Shut up, Fred!" Alex growled, got up and left the Great Hall.
"What did I do now?" He asked confused. It was not like her to get up and leave . . .she was more of the I'll-kick-your-ass girl. Ron simply shrugged. "Girls", he said.
Alex needed to think, and with Fred and George around that would have been nearly impossible. No, she needed a quiet spot. Where could she go? Climbing several pairs of staircases, she found herself at the base of one of the towers. Going higher up, she finally reached a trap-door in the ceileing. The place was nothing like she had expected it to be. A bit dusty, yes, but calm and quiet, the wind barely audible despite the height. There was a couch facing the opposite direction of the small window and a fireplace to the side. Scattered in a corner were cushions of differrent sizes and colours, all comfy-looking.
"This might be just what I was looking for!" She said to no one in particular.
Rolling up the sleeves of her robes, she opened a small cupboard which had . . .
"A broom and a shovel . . .and a trash can too!" Everything she needed was there, so she started cleaning, completely forgetting about classes.
When the room was more or less clean and there wasn't dust floating all over the place or huge spider webs in every corner, she let herself fall on the couch, extremely exhausted.
"Class started ten minutes ago, Potter. So I think ten points should be discounted from Gryffindor. Sit Down", the unconfusable voice of Severus Snape, the most hated teacher at Hogwarts said somewhere in Alex's head. She bolted up from the couch where she had been sleeping for the past forty-five minutes. She was later for Defence Against the Dark Arts. She was sure, though, that professor Lupin wouldn't mind much, he wasn't like Snape. Talking about who . . . 'What's with the spooky dream? Probably Fred's fault. . .last time I checked, Lupin was the DADA's teacher.'She thought. (Luckily) the voice in her head answered. It seemed to have taken lots of vacations lately, but that was probably because Fred was doing it's job of annoying her. 'Well, better get going" and with that, she grabbed her schoolbag and headed for the classroom.
She opened the door just in time to hear Snape call Hermione an unbearable know-it-all (a/n: sorry, I've got the Spanish version and I don't really know the exact phrase used in the English version) and Ron answer furiously but not really out of place:
"You've asked a question and she's answered. Why do you ask questions if you don't want us to answer?"
Alex couldn't supress a laugh, which was very unfortunate since Snape chose to realise she was there late . . . and laughing.
"Weasley," he said in a low voice, his face close to Ron's "You'll have detention-"
'Welcome to the club', Alex thought gloomily.
"And if I ever hear you question my way of teaching, you'll be sorry."
"What will you do", Alexandra said before she even realised what she was doing. ". . . give him more detention?"
Snape turned to look at her, his face reminding her of that time he'd grabbed her arm, after she'd written the letter to her friends.'Oopsies!' Her mind squeaked. Reality hitting her, she turned around and ran towards her new hideout . . .if Snape caught her, God knew what he would do!
(Maybe they weren't so empty, the threaths) part of her thought, not really knowing if it was her or the pesky voice, but not really caring either. She was listening, waiting for any sign that told her Snape was coming, but none came.
She sighed. Yes, she always screwed up things . . .specially with the wrong people.
Five minutes after the class had ended, Ron caught up with Harry and Hermione, who were shortly joined by the twins and Ginny.
"You know what that son of a bitch made me do?" He asked scandalizing Hermione with his choice of words. "I have to clean the infirmary's lavatories . . .no magic!"
"Hey, has anyone seen Alex?"
"Fred, keep on acting this way about her and I'll think you want to take her away from Snape!" Harry teased Fred who became silent but recovered quickly saying "Of course not! I was just asking."
"So, what were you saying about some lavatories?" George asked his younger brother who went into explaining their last DADA class.
Night came and still there were no sign of Alex. Waking up from his sleep and grabbing an old parchment, Fred tapped it with the tip of its wand, stared at it for some time, frowned, and then tapped it again.
Harry was almost asleep when Fred poked him in the arm.
"Hey, Harry, you don't mind if I borrow your invisibility cloak, do you?"
Although Harry appreciated his cloak very much and was not willing to lend it just like that, he was not willing either to loose more of the valuable time that could be spent sleeping.
"Take it . . .and let me sleep".
"Thanks!" Fred replied and hurried out of the bedroom with the cloak on and the piece of parchment and wand underneath it.
He scurried down corridors and past armours like a shadow, finally stoppìng at the foot of a spiraling staircase. Tapping the parchment once more, he put it away and climbed the stairs until he came to a trap-door . . .
"Alex?" He whispered, poking his head in that pitch-black room. He heard something move.
"Lumos"
The tip of his wand cast a dim light that allowed him to see the source of the noise; curled on a sofa, was Alex's sleeping form. Fred smiled and started tickling her.
Wriggling to get out of his grasp, Alex finally woke up.
"Fred . . . What are you doing up here? How did you find me?"
"Thanks to this little friend of mine", he said motioning to an old piece of yellowish parchment.
"An old piece of parchment?" Alex asked, echoing the narrator's words.
Fred mocked hurt "Your words wound me!" he exclaimed. "It is thanks to this 'old piece of parchment' that we've done all we've done. Watch", he told her and touched the paper with the tip of his wand
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good", he said and some letters immediately appeared on the parchments surface. "This little friend here shows me where every single person within school grounds is", he explained. It was fascinating. You could see that most of the tiny dots with labels were still –most students were sleeping- while others were moving . . .or as in their case, somewhere they shouldn't be.
"Cool", Alex praised. "So, you just came here to wake me up?" She asked half joking, half serious . . .she really was curious so as to why he had come.
"Yes, 'cause I live to annoy you", Fred rolled his eyes.
"Well, since I met you, that would seem the case!" She replied amused.
"I was simply curious about where you had got yourself into, that's all" He said not looking at her.
"Awwww, how sweet! You care about me!"
"Yeah, but keep your voice down or we'll get caught" Fred whispered.
"Riiight, 'cause you're scared Snape will find us. . ."
"Hey!" He jumped. "I'm not the one who's been hidding from him all day in this place!" He retorted.
"Touche", Alex muttered. "He seemed really angry, just like that day he grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go . . ." She said, voicing what she had been thinking before. "and I really didn't feel like getting more detention. . .or worse, going to Dumbledore again". She said looking downwards. She was sure her parents would be very dissapointed if they heard that she was not er. . .behaving.
Suddenly, Alex jerked her head upwards.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping and resting for today's game?" She asked suspiciously.
"Er, well, I guess you could say that, yes" Fred admitted
"Fred, go back to your room. It's two in the morning! And it's raining!" She added. "If you're not completely rested, you are not going to be able to play in these conditions!".
Getting up from her spot on the couch, Alex grabed his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"C'mon!" She barked.
Hiding under Harry's invisibility cloak, they made their way to Gryffindor's common room.
"Now," She said once they had taken off the cloak. "go rest!" Alex commanded.
"Yes, mom", Fred answered mockingly.
Five hours later, Alex woke up and descended the stairs into the common room. Hermione and Ron were there, already arguing.
"Morning guys!" She greeted sleepily. "What if we go get some breakfast? You can continue your er, disscusion after the match."
Glaring at eachother, they left through the portrait hole, Alex leading the way.
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A/N: The end! . . .of chapter 11. Hope you enjoyed.
Review plz!
Catgirl89