A/N: Thanks for all your lovely reviews!

Chapter Fifteen

Jailbreak

Harry was currently experiencing the worst summer of his life – and that was saying something. After he had returned from his first, wonderful, amazing year at Hogwarts, the Dursleys seemed more terrified of him than ever. They acted as if hadn't been at a magical school all year, and flinched violently every time he said anything beginning with the letter 'm'. Harry would've found it amusing, if the constant suspicion and snapping weren't so tiring. If only his schoolmates could see him now.

Speaking of which, why weren't they sending him any letters? They had promised, before break started, to owl him, but so far there was neither hide nor hair of any mail. It was crushing. Fortunately, though, there was one exception to the rule.

Alex was probably the only person capable of contacting him without the use of an owl. She had stormed up to 4 Privet Drive, her face set in a fierce scowl as she knocked firmly on the door. Aunt Petunia had answered, judging by the screeching that followed. Harry had scrambled out of his new bedroom—Dudley's spare—and down the stairs before Hedwig could blink.

"I need to see Harry," demanded Alex. "Where is he?"

"How dare you!" gasped Aunt Petunia. "Who do you think you are to barge in like this?"

"He hasn't been answering any of my letters. He always answers them."

Aunt Petunia looked about to explode, and Harry figured that was when he was meant to intervene. "Alex," he said, rushing down. "It's all right. I'm fine. I'm…just not allowed to send any mail right now."

Alex narrowed her eyes at him. "Then come to my place."

Harry chanced a look at his aunt. "Aunt Petunia?" he asked.

"Are your chores done, boy?" she snapped.

He nodded. "The gardens are weeded, hedges trimmed, dishes clean, dinner's prepared, rooms are tidied, and the windows are washed."

"Fine, then," she spat, turning away. "Good riddance. Be back in time to wash up after dinner."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," he grumbled.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Lovely as always, isn't she?"

He sighed. "Tell me about it. Let me grab Hedwig and we'll be on our way."

Hedwig chirped at him inquisitively as he burst into his room. Excited, he explained to her that they were going to Alex's for the day. Although Hedwig didn't know who he was talking about, she seemed glad enough to leave the stuffy room.

"Okay," he said, shutting the door gently behind him. "Let's go."

Alex nodded, even as she stared at Hedwig. Laughing, Harry popped open the cage and coaxed his owl out.

Hedwig cooed appreciatively, nipping Harry's fingers gently, before regarding Alex with guarded curiosity. Alex must have been part-owl, though, because Hedwig accepted her easily.

"So you're saying you sent me letters?" he asked, gratefully accepting the chocolate frog Alex had dug out her pocket for him. It was a bit gooey, but Harry gobbled it up all the same.

"Yeah," she said, frowning. "You didn't get any of them?"

Harry grew sombre. "No. Not one."

"Something's up," she muttered. "Trust me, Harry, the others would have sent you heaps of letters."

"I was beginning to think the whole thing was a dream," he admitted in a small voice. It wasn't easy for him to do so, but he knew Alex well enough to know she wouldn't mock him.

He was right. Her eyes grew distant as they were wont to do. "A dream, huh?" she murmured, before shaking her head to clear whatever clouds were looming over it. "You have Hedwig here as a constant reminder, though," she said, reaching up to run her fingers over his owl's feathers.

Harry managed a laugh. "Right." To lighten the mood, he told her how managed to kill time back at the Dursleys – namely, teasing Dudley with fake magical words.

Alex grinned widely as his story continued. He even managed to coax a laugh or two out of her.

"What have you been doing this summer?" he asked as they reached her house.

"Same old. Working, reading."

"Sounds fun."

"You're a terrible liar, Harry."

He simply smiled.

The next time Alex saw Harry was at the Burrow. A tired old owl had dropped by in the middle of the day. Alex fed it some treats and water and took it where they let visiting owls stay as they recuperated. The Weasley owl, Errol, allowed her to pet it once before falling asleep. Creeping quietly, Alex returned to her room and read Ron's letter.

Scratch that, Harry's letter. Ron and the twins had rescued him from the Dursleys a few nights back. The letter in her hands almost burst into flames when she read those brutes' treatment of Harry. They had bars put in on his windows. As if he didn't feel like a prisoner enough, they needed a constant, physical reminder put in place too.

Alex forced herself to calm down before her accidental burst of magic could destroy the letter for good. Incidents like those happened less and less as time passed, but it was still frequent enough to be cause for concern.

Sighing, Alex folded up the letter and placed it in a folder with the rest of them. It joined the ones sent by Cedric, Hermione, and Ron.

"Mum!" she screamed, startling Spitfire. She sent her irritated cat an apologetic look as she left her room. "Are you here?"

"What?" her mum replied, equally loud.

Oh, good. It must have been her day off. "Can you take me to Ron's house please?"

"Yeah, sure, just tell me where."

"Thanks! You're the best."

"I know," Mum said distractedly. Well, at least Alex knew where she got it from.

The area Ron lived in what very similar to Cedric's. There were no other buildings surrounding the Burrow, save for what she assumed was their shed. Instead, their house was surrounded by tall fields and trees. But if Cedric's home was finely manicured and well-kept, Ron's was a wild jungle.

Waving goodbye to her mum, Alex walked the final steps to the Burrow. She used the door knocker and waited several beats. Finally, the door opened.

"Oh, Alexandra," Mrs Weasley said, distinctly less than enthusiastically than she had last time. "Ron mentioned you might be dropping by."

"Um, yes," she said uncertainly. "I can leave if you want me to?"

"No, no. Come in. I'll fetch the boys." Mrs Weasley walked away, calling for Harry and Ron and leaving Alex to let herself in. She felt so welcome, truly.

The Burrow was ridiculously cluttered. Even though it was practically a tower in and of itself, it was packed almost to the brim. Still, Alex couldn't deny the fact that it was homelier than any house she'd ever seen.

Alex spotted several figures zooming around in the distance. One of them had messy black hair and a skin-tone darker than her own. Unless one of the Weasleys got a spray-tan over the summer, Alex was sure that that was Harry. She almost ran outside.

"Alex!" called Harry once he noticed her. He flew towards her, lightning-quick, on his Nimbus Two Thousand. Although he'd had the broom for at least half a year already, it looked good as new. "Did you just arrive?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling slightly at Harry's evident glee. It was a dramatic change from last time. "What about you?"

"Just got here two days ago. Think we're about to head to Diagon Alley soon, though. Hey, Ron!"

Ron was slowly but steadily making his way towards them on his rickety broom. "What?" he asked.

"Are we grabbing our supplies today?"

"Tomorrow. Hey," he added, nodding to her.

"Hey," she replied. "Your mum was a bit cold when she saw me just now. Care to explain?"

Ron rubbed the back of his neck, almost falling off his broom as he did so. "Fred and George let it slip that you're a Slytherin."

Alex closed her eyes as if to stave off a migraine. First Cedric's father, and now Ron's mother? She was sick of it. "Whatever," she grumbled. "Is anyone else here?"

"Nah," replied Ron. "Hermione's meeting us at the Alley tomorrow, though."

"We're about to play quidditch," Harry practically squealed. Such a nerd. "D'you want to join us, Alex?"

"Yeah, no. I'm good, thanks. I'll just hang out with your sister, Ron. Laters."

"Don't do anything weird to her!" Ron called back.

He didn't have to worry, though; she and Ginny hit it off without a hitch. At first, the youngest Weasley child was rather wary of Alex. It seemed she had heard of her House. Still, after a few ice-breakers on her part, Ginny warmed up to her. The first thing she did was ask about Harry.

"What?" Alex asked, bewildered. "Ew, no, I don't like Harry like that. He's young enough to be my son."

Ginny frowned, perplexed. "Aren't you a year older than him?"

"Exactly. Now," she said, getting down to business, "do you have any pets?"

There was Errol, but Alex was already acquainted with him. When Ginny showed him their pet rat, though, Alex almost screamed.

"It's okay," Ginny hurried to explain to her, "he's not feral, honest. Scabbers here has been in our family for years now. All he does is eat and sleep, really."

Alex forced herself to smirk. "Sounds like Ron."

Ginny's eyes sparkled as she made the connection. "Everything makes so much sense now."

Snickering, Alex reached out and gently grasped Scabbers. Well aware of how sensitive animals were—whether they were genuine or not—Alex made sure to seem calm and collected. She stroked Scabbers' coarse fur and played with him for a bit before returning him to Ginny.

It was only when they left Scabbers to his own devices did Alex lose herself in her thoughts. To be honest, she wanted to do nothing more than to grab Scabbers by the neck and throw him into an animagus-proof jar. In her fantasy world, a simple animagus-reversal spell would reveal to the world that Peter Pettigrew was indeed alive and kicking, freeing the wrongfully incriminated Sirius Black from the dreadful Azkaban prison. She would have done that, too, if she wasn't aware of how corrupt the Ministry truly was.

For all she knew, the minute it became clear that the Ministry had prosecuted the wrong man, Sirius Black would have been lost in an 'accident'. An accidental Kiss, an accidental lack of nutrients, an accidental curse – and bam, Sirius's life would be snuffed out like a candle. A tragic accident, of course, but the public still regarded him as the maniacal serial killer he was painted as, so no one would really care.

So she waited until it was time. Then, when no one expected it, she would strike.

Alex eyed the Floo powder curiously. Like Harry, it was her first time travelling via this method, and she was equal parts excited and nervous. (Her mum loathed the idea that someone could just waltz into their house whenever they pleased, and Alex had to agree with her paranoia.) The twins had already left, and now it was Harry's turn. Mrs Weasley was much more anxious than Harry himself; she overloaded him with information about the Floo system while Harry grew more and more dazed.

"He'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss," said Mr Weasley, helping himself to some Floo powder.

"But, dear, if he got lost, how would we ever explain it to his aunt and uncle?"

"They wouldn't mind," Harry reassured her. "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't worry about that—"

Mrs Weasley looked exceedingly uncomfortable at Harry's cavalier attitude about his neglectful family. Alex hid her smirk behind her hand. Honestly, Harry was so clueless; it was hilarious.

"Well, all right," Mrs Weasley said hesitantly. "You go after Arthur. Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going—"

"And keep your elbows tucked in," advised Ron.

"And your eyes shut," said Mrs Weasley. "The soot—"

"Don't fidget," interjected Ron. "Or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace—"

"But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred and George."

"Harry," Alex said, her confident voice cutting through the babble like a knife through butter. "Take a deep breath, say 'Diagon Alley' very clearly, and throw the powder like Dudley throws tantrums. Okay?"

Harry nodded, his confused expression clearing. "Okay." He grabbed some powder from the flower pot the Weasleys stored it in. Instead of following her instructions, though, he got all mixed up and threw the powder before speaking. The force of his toss kicked up the ash in the fireplace, making Harry cough like crazy as he choked out a, "D-Diagon Alley." He was gone in a whirl of green fire.

The house was deathly silent.

Alex sighed.

"You're an idiot," she told Harry when they found him. He was covered in soot and dirt, but was otherwise all right. That must have been Hermione's doing, though. She and Hagrid were by the Boy-Who-Didn't-Listen's side when she ran into them. "Did you even hear what I said?"

"Calm down," yawned Ron. "You sound just like Snape, you know that?"

"I actually do a rather good impression of him," she admitted.

"Really?" Harry asked, excited. Before he could ask for a sample, though, Mr and Mrs Weasleys rushed in. They immediately doted over Harry.

They all got moving soon enough. Hagrid left in the midst of Mrs Weasley's enthusiastic expressions of gratitude, and they pushed through the crowd towards Gringotts. Harry revealed having spotted Malfoy and his father in one of the shady stores at Knockturn Alley, and the lot of them began to commiserate about the rotten family.

Mr Weasley's attention was soon directed towards Hermione's parents, who looked exceedingly uncomfortable as they stared at the goblins manning the desks.

"But you're muggles!" said Mr Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten pound notes in Mr Granger's hand.

"Please don't mind Mr Weasley," she told Hermione's parents. "He's lived an entirely magical life, so meeting non-magical folk is as shocking as you two meeting a witch or wizard."

"Oh," Mrs Granger said, calming slightly. "Well, that certainly explains it."

"He has the best intentions," she assured them. She lowered her voice into a stage whisper. "He reminds me of an excitable puppy."

The Grangers chuckled, no doubt sensing the likeness. Mr Weasley, oblivious to what she had said, joined in. Alex had a feeling his opinion of her sky-rocketed at that moment.

"You guys go on ahead," she said, lifting her hand in a wave. "I'm going to drop in at the shop."

"Are you sure?" asked Hermione. "What about your school supplies?"

"Already bought them when I was working. By the way, Lockhart's a fraud so save your money and pride and don't buy any of the self-gratifying drivel he dares to call textbooks. Okay, see ya." Alex whirled around, leaving the rest of them blinking dazedly as she exited the building. Their reaction was only to be expected, she supposed. It was the first time she had said so much so heatedly and so quickly in her entire life, after all.

Goosebumps erupted all over her arms as Alex stepped into the cool store. The bell above chimed, drawing her dad out of the back. "Welcome-! Oh, Alex dear, what are you doing here? Here to join ol' Dad and man the counter?"

"Nice try," she said, smirking. "No, I'm just here with some friends. They're grabbing some money at Gringotts, and I felt like dropping in. How's business?"

"Brilliant!" Dad grinned. "Everyone's busy buying all their school supplies, so it's been packed all day. It's a bit quiet now, though." He nodded to the currently empty store.

"That's all right," she said. "Less people to witness you giving me free ice cream."

"Popsicle…" he said warningly. Then he brightened. "What would you like?"

Laughing, Alex closed her eyes and pointed randomly. Fortunately, her finger landed on a decent flavour. As much as she loved her dad's creations, some were a little…insane. "A scoop of that, please," she said.

"Coming right up!"

Alex had just gobbled up the last morsel of her treat when the door opened once more. Harry, Ron, and Hermione strolled in, looking as delight as, well, kids in an ice cream store.

"Done with Gringotts?" she asked, wiping her fingers.

Harry nodded. "Percy wandered off, and Fred and George spotted Lee Jordan and ran off with him. Mrs Weasley went to look for some robes with Ginny while Mr Weasley insisted on having a drink with Hermione's parents."

Oh dear. She hoped Mr Weasley didn't scare them too much.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," she said, rising. "Pour your money into my allowance fund and buy some ice cream."

"Alex," Dad said, scandalised. "Don't talk to our customers that way."

"They're my friends, Dad."

"Oh. Well, that's okay then."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree."

Alex stuck her tongue out at him.

In the end, they all bought something each. Instead of staying to finish off their snacks, the trio announced that they were going to window shop as they ate. She declined their offer to join them.

"What're you going to do?" asked Harry. "Stay in the shop?"

She shook her head. "I'm meeting up with a friend."

Harry exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione. "Who?" he asked, sounding entirely bemused. Wow.

"I do have other friends, you know," she grumbled. Just one, really. Cedric was to show up any time now, having convinced his parents to allow him to shop with her.

"Yeah, but who?"

"First name None, last name Of Your Business. Now shoo. And remember what I said about Lockhart's books."

"But Alex," protested Hermione, "they're mandatory textbooks. We're setting ourselves up for failure if we don't purchase them."

"Trust me, Hermione. If I'm right about anything, it's this." She grimaced. "At least read through it a little if you don't believe me. And if you're still concerned, just buy a copy of each book and share it between each other."

"My daughter the businesswoman," Dad sighed fondly. "I couldn't be prouder."