Disclaimer: I own only my original characters and ideas, nothing more.

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'New at Hogwarts' Chapeter 13 Damn that mistletoe!

Monday was a great change from th previous disaster-striken days. Despite the fact that they had potions, they had quite a good laugh when, after listening to Malfoy gloat about Gryffindor's defeat, Ron threw a slimy crocodile's heart at him, making Snape take 50 points from Gryffindor.

After lunch, as they headed towards the DADA class, Ron declared "If Snape teaches again Defence Against the Dark Arts, I'm going to be sick!"

"Yeah", Alex said. "Having to put up with that ego-inflated, stupid, egocentric, self-centered, mean, idiot, arrogant twice in a day would be too much."

"Yeah", Harry agreed.

Just in case, Hermione stuck her head in the classroom before going in.

"perfect!" She exclaimed happily.

Professor Lupin was there, looking convalescent but smiling nevertheless at the students as they sat down and burst out complaining about Snape's behaviour during Lupin's illness. Everybody shouted at the sime time, making it impossible to determine who was saying each thing.

"Two scrolls!" Someone at the back yelled.

"Did you tell professor Snape that we hadn't arrived there yet?" Professor Lupin asked frowning. Everyone started talking at once again.

"Yes, but he said we were far behind . . ."

" . . . he didn't listen . . ."

" . . . two scrolls!" The nagging voice insisted.

"Alex," Ron whispered to his friend who was standing up. "I think he already got the 'two scrolls' part"

"Oh" The girl said, sitting down. The three friends sweatdropped.

After class, professor Lupin asked Harry to stay for a while. He probably wanted to talk about the dementors and the quidditch match. So Alex left Hermione and Ron with the excuse that she was going to look for the twins, which was, actually, a lie. She was going to the library to get that book on potions she'd come across. She felt like trying some of them . . . plus, if Snape was going to make his best effort to make her fail her year, she'd have to work twice as hard.

There was only one problem, though. Madam Pince wouldn't allow her to take the book from the library if she didn't have a special permission signed by . . .

"Snape?" She repeated the old librarian's words, not willing to believe them. "But I've already read it in here . . .what's the difference?" As I said before, Madam Pince wouldn't allow her to take the book. It seemed that as that was the only copy left in the entire school –no one knew what had happened with the rest of the copies - and it was greatly used by students in higher courses, she couldn't borrow it if she didn't have that permission. That, and the fact that a great number of books had gone missing since the start of school term.

Leaving the library dissapointed, she decided to visit her 'private spot' –that's what she'd decided she'd call the place she had found up in the tower. She could do some dusting and redecoration. Besides, she still had to check what was inside the cupboards.

Once she had moved stuff from its original place, created a curtain out of an old piece of cloth and nicked an unused carpet from a brooms' cupboard where Filch kept old or unused things -that's where she'd got the old piece of cloth from-, Alex decided that it was time to open the cupboard.

There was a raging fire in the fireplace. Alex supposed it was Dobby's doing since she had told him about this place before. Not having to use her wand to create light like the previous time she'd been there, she raised it just in case something nasty came from inside the furniture and used her free hand to turn the knob. A soft clicking sound was heard. She slowly opened the wooden door and gasped.

Alex could not believe what she was seeing. At least fifty small bottles, all labeled, containing different ingredients for potions stood before her on two separate shelves.

Below them was another pair of smaller wooden doors. With shaking hands, she eagerly opened themand was just as stunned as before. There was a small cauldron at the left and next to it, five books. Alex recognized one of them as the one she'd been trying to take from the library: "Advanced potions, tome 1" She read out loud.

Taking a closer look at the ingredients, she noticed only part of them were familiar to her, some, very rare ingredients and other, totally unknown.

"Wow", she softly whispered with awe. "unicorn hair? . . . and Boomslang skin! If I'm not wrong, this is like the stuff Hermione stole from Snape's supplies! . . . and what in heck's name is 'Derivillivio'?"

"So," said a voice, startling her. "You're here again"

"Fred!" Alex exclaimed surprised.

"You know, it's funny how you first look for me in the least probable place. . ."

"Oh, that." She said embarrased and looking away. "Fine, you caught me. I wasn't going to look for you-"

Fred's face said too clearly 'No, really? I hadn't noticed.'

"Okay, so I was gonna get a book on potions!" She blurted out and blushed. "I didn't want any of you to know . . . it's ironic, I hate Snape but I love potions. Harry and Ron would laugh at this for the rest of their lives!" She said glancing up at Fred.

"Well, as you said, it is ironic", he agreed and opened his mouth to speak again, but Alex beat him to it.

"and please, don't make any Snape-related comments right now!"

Fred closed his mouth and grinned broadly instead.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Too predictable", she told him.

During dinner, Harry told them about Lupin's promise to give him special antidementor classes. This partly cheered Alex since Wood started training the team with renewed energy, which meant long, exhausting practice, which in turn, meant that Harry would be too busy to think about the Grim. She admittedit; at first she had thought everything about the Grim was true. But now that she had seen it with her own eyes and had come out in one piece, perfectly unharmed –unlike Harry-, Alex was certain that it might have been anything but th ghostly dog that prowled round the cementeries.

Two weeks before the end of term, the rainyand gloom weather was replaced by clear skies and white grounds. Alex, who had never seen the snow, was more than delighted with the change.

All around the castle, students were talking about their plans for the holidays. Alex was glad to hear that Harry, Ron and Hermione were staying, or she would have been very lonely. Her parents had sent her an owl days prior to the holidays apologizing and telling her she'd have to stay in the school. It had something to do with a surprise they had for her.

The last weekend before holidays started, there was a visit programmed to Hogsmeade and Ron and Hermione were merrily chatting about it. Feeling sad for a second, Alex decided to turn that sadness into anger against Snape. Despite the fact that they had argued, ignoring the fact that he was furious with her, completely overlooking the fact that she had actually tried to quit potions, Snape had not put off that Saturday's detention. What bothere her the most, was that if it hadn't been for bloody detention, she could have actually gone to Hogsmeade. It turned out that her parents had signed the authorisation when they'd come to Hogwarts to leave Alexandra. They knew that she would be taking classes every weekend but they signed it nevertheless, in case she had a free Saturday or Sunday 'Like this one!' She thought; her extra classes had been cancelled as all of the teachers considered her to e at the same level as her fellow students. All teachers escept Snape, of course.

Saturday morning, after saying her goodbyes to her friends and cursing under her breath, Alex made her way to the cold, frozen dungeons.

Meanwhile

"So, young Harry", said Fred imitating Percy. "Beahve yourself."

"See ya in Honeydukes!" George added winking at him. They'd just given Harry the Marauder's map, or as Alex called it 'that old piece of parchment'.

They left the classroom smiling with satisfaction and before closing the door, Fred turned around and said "One more thhing. Ask Alex if she liked my surprise when you see her . . . but make sure you wait until she's cooled down first."

"What . . .?" Harry asked suspicious.

Winking an eye and fighting back laughter, Fred replied "You'll see!" and they were both gone.

Holding just one second before she opened the door, Alex breathed deeply. If she didn't want to be made to course third year twice, she'd have to control her temper. She knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in!"

Not wanting to stay there longer than needed, she entered the room . . .

Everything was going right (as right as it could be with those two, anyways!) until it was time for Snape to decide whether the last potion was as perfect as the previous two.

Happily getting to her feet, Alex went to the front of the class to get Snape. She'd sat as far as possible from him and, without his face looming over her cauldron, all three potions had been expertly brewed. The crystal shimmering surface of the latest one told her that one was no different.

"Sir?" She said. He looked up from the homeworks he was grading.

"I've finished"

Snape got up and went to where the cauldron was.

"And you call this a freezing potion?" He asked as he glanced down at the green, bubbly substance. "It seems to me," he went on. "that you forgot to add one newt's eyes." He said with an unpleasant smirk. ' . . .hot' she heard part of her mind dreamily say as she saw that smirk appear. Clearing her head, she decided it must have been the fumes.

"No I didn't!" She protested getting closer and pointed with a finger at the cauldron. "It's just as it should be", she stated and looked at the content. " . . .GREEN!" Alexandra Kevingston yelled outraged. "It was crystal clear seconds ago! Something must have fallen in it!"

"You seem to forget that you are to call me sir or professor evry time you address me." He reminded her, his voice picking up a dangerous tone to it, becoming lower and softer

and taking a step closer to her.

"You are not listening!" She protested once more, taking a step closer herself.

"I am loosing my patience with you", he warned her, his face menacingly near to hers.

"Fine", she replied raising her face up to his. "Something must have fallen on it, sir", she said, emphasizing that last word.

"Like what?" He whispered back.

Alex was getting an uncomfortable feeling . . .

Alll of a sudden, they heard a noise coming from above. Raising their gaze, they noticed Peeves, the poltergeist, was there.

"Kissy-kissy!" He exclaimed. He had something green in his hands, and next to him . . .

"AHHHH!" Alex gave a shriek and moved backwards, stumbling over a stool and falling flat on her ass. Snape's face was contorted in disgust, his hands put up in front of him.

Even though Peeves left as soon as he was caught, they both remained rooted to the spot.

Neither of them could take their eyes of the menacing, offensive, hanging-from-the-ceileing . . .

. . . MISTLETOE!

Alex was tempted to ask Snape if he knew any strong, untraceable poison but refrained from doing so as he would realise she knew who the culprit was and would force the information out of her, taking matters into his own hands and Alex didn't want that to happen . . .she wanted to get him herself.

She was positively going to kill Fred when she found him!

. . .(how can you 'positively' kill someone? Isn't killing negative?). The pesky voice seemed to be getting dumber and dumber by the second . . .or maybe it was that it had nothing better to do.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed the little mistletoe scene ; )

Catgirl89