Alex was amused by Arthur Weasley's clear discomfort, she supposed the red head was disturbed by her relation to the Malfoy family. This was going to be real fun.

Turning towards Molly Weasley once more she moulded her face into 'the perfectly polite child'.

"Molly, Fred and George have told me that you are a big family, I've never really had a chance to have such a thing," at this she looked down at the floor, "I've, however, wished for one…"

That was a lie Families sucked, at least Alexandra's did and she had no reason to wish for more of it. Anyhow, it seemed to work as Molly Weasley's eyes softened and she smothered Alex in a tight hug.

"Oh, you poor child! I am certain that you'll fit right in with us. Right now we are seven people, but do not fret Bill and Charlie are going to get here soon. And they'll adore you, I mean who couldn't? You are so well-mannered."

It was George who broke his mother's rant by coughing discreetly or trying to at least…

"Mother, don't you think we, Gred and I should show Alexandra her room?"

"Of course, George, what a great idea," she clapped her hands excitedly, "then run along children."

As Mrs Weasley walked back into the kitchen Alex gave her a dirty look. She did not appreciate being called a child. Kids were innocent, helpless… Not yet exposed to the hardship of life, as such, she wasn't a child and hadn't been one since the murder of her parents.

A pang of pain went through her scar, she grimaced.

"Are you okay?" George looked at her in concern.

"Yeah, just a bit tired. I had a photoshoot yesterday that took a bit too long so I did not get a lot of sleep." She nodded to herself, it wasn't even a lie. It just wasn't the reason for her discomfort.

Both Fred and George nodded in understanding, she giggled, they would be very confused in, 3… 2… 1…

"Wait, what?" They both exclaimed, "photoshoot?"

"Yeah, I work as a child model in the muggle world," She sent them one of her rare, real smiles, "it's really quite fun."

Fred shook his head.

"Of course you do," he mumbled in disbelief and then grinned, "of course she does."

George looked at his twin, then sent her a questioning look, Alex just shrugged her shoulders. How was she supposed to know what happened inside Fred's mind? To be honest, the twins were some of the hardest people to manipulate since one never knew what they were thinking.

"Well, boys! Weren't you supposed to show me to my room?"

They nodded their heads eagerly.

"If you'd allow us…"

"To take your hands…" They extended their arms to her.

"We, Gred and Feorge, would be honoured…" "To show you to your humble chamber."

She linked her arms with both of theirs, "I would love that, boys."

.

.

Ginny was impressed, Alexandra was so beautiful, and she worked as a model too. While there were no models in the wizarding world Ginny had heard her dad talking about the profession once or twice. She, therefore, knew that they were well known for being notoriously good-looking. Ginny supposed that fit Alexandra Potter, well, she was very pretty and seemed to hold an air of mystique.

Ginny looked at the older girl as she interlocked her arms with her brothers and sent them a small smile.

Ginny stopped breathing for a second. Alexandra's face was gorgeous when she didn't smile, and even prettier when she did. Then the smile disappeared and only a blank facade was left.

And that suddenly seemed very empty.

Now, Ginny wasn't stupid, she was actually quite smart and she also recognised the more morbid undertones in Alexandra's eyes. she just chose to ignore them like so many before her, Alex was, after all, the girl-who-lived and her childhood idol.

"What are you looking at Ginny?"

The small girl jumped up in surprise, her heart almost stopped beating."

"Shhh," she looked around frantically to see if anyone else had discovered her, it didn't seem like it.

"Shut it, Percy, she'll find out if you talk so loudly," she all but hissed back at her older brother. Her eyes formed small slits.

"Who?" He asked, confusion clear in his voice, then pushed her aside to take a look too.

"Merlin, is that who I think it is?"

Ginny swelled with pride, Percy had recognised Alexandra. Now, if it had been anyone else they would think it weird to be proud on the behalf of a person they had never known but Ginevra Weasley had, as mentioned before, grown up with stories about her saviour. To say she had been mildly brainwashed to adore the ground Alex walked on wasn't exactly an understatement.

"Yes, it is Alexandra Potter," the small redhead exclaimed.

"Yeah… But what us she doing here? Isn't she supposed to hang out with Draco Malfoy or some other snakes?"

Percy's words were equal parts confused, terrified and spiteful.

Ginny scowled, why would her perfect saviour hang around people like Draco Malfoy? And she did not like the way Percy spoke about Alexandra. He ought not to speak her name with such vindictiveness. Who did he think he was, talking like that about her Alexandra?

"Contain yourself, Percy. You are painfully ignorant to listen to."

Percy sent her an indignant glare, "what do you know? You've never met her before. Now, I have and let me tell you something: Alexandra Potter, or Miller as she prefers, is no saviour. She's a slimy snake, one of the worst at that."

He then left in a small fit of rage. Ginny's eyes were tearing up.

Stupid Percy, he didn't understand her at all. Nobody in this godforsaken family understood her one bit. She still loved them, though.

.

.

Charlie and Bill arrived an hour later, only to be strangled in their mother's tight hugs and stuffed with Christmas cookies.

Bill was already exhausted. He did love his family as dearly as everyone else loved theirs, but they were demanding. He knew Charlie felt the same, this was one of the reasons they both picked jobs that required a lot of travelling and contained long stays in other countries.

"Are you even listening to me, William?" his mother waved a hand in front of his face.

He smiled, "yes mother, please do continue."

To tell the truth, he hadn't been listening, but his mother didn't notice his lie and continued on talking about some of her friends and their trip to Diagon Alley last week. He zoned her out and took a swig of his butterbeer.

"I must say that I do not like what you've done to your face…" This line caught his attention as his mother looked at him in despair, "you were so pretty before, now you have a fang in your ear, and that hair, dear, would you please let me trim it? What do they say at the bank?"

Bill sighed, "No you can't trim my hair mum, and they really don't care all that much."

Molly threw her hands up in the air.

"I give up, dear, but do tidy yourself up before dinner, we have a guest."

The eager glint in his mother's eyes was contagious and Bill found himself wondering who the guest was.

"She's with the twins at the moment, I think. They're probably up to no good so I hope she'll keep them straight… But really, William, she's such a sweet girl."

Beside him, Charlie chuckled and their eyes met for a short second. Both were filled with mirth and fascination. Bill really wanted to meet this girl, she had to be interesting if both his mother and the twins liked her.

.

.

Meanwhile, Fred and George had cornered Alexandra in the guest room. They had postponed this encounter for as long as they could since none of them had really wanted to discuss this with their raven-haired friend. The conversation could make or break their friendship with the girl and they both quite liked her. Now, however, they couldn't keep putting the conversation off. They had already waited for far too long.

"We saw," Fred blurted out, "we saw Hermione, Ron and you."

Alexandra turned to look at him, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Her eyes were innocent, and both Fred and George understood that she was offering them a way out. They could drop the subject and they would continue being friends with Alexandra. She would pretend they hadn't said anything if they did so too. It was tempting but they knew they had to do this.

"Cut the bullshit, we saw you consoling Hermione after she… snapped, on our brother."

Alex sighed and sat down on the bed, she suddenly looked much older than before.

"What do you want from me then?"

The twins exchanged looks, they hadn't thought so far. They had expected for her to deny the whole thing.

"Well," George spoke up, "we do not appreciate the way you spoke to our brother. He might be an annoying little git, but he's our annoying little git."

Fred nodded fiercely. Ronnikins was ickle and annoying but still their brother.

Alexandra folded her legs and sat rigidly in the bed. Her defiant eyes were in clear contrast to her otherwise prim and proper behaviour.

"I will not apologise for that as Ronald has been acting like a straight up brat towards Hermione and me over the short span of time I've known him. I will, however, refrain from harming and or damaging him severely out of respect for the two of you." Her voice was cold, Slytherin.

Fred immediately wished that they could have the old Alex back, Gryffindor Alex, yet he knew that this Alex was probably closer to her real self than the one he was used to. Somehow he felt happy that she had chosen to trust them enough to show some of her real colours. It was a horrible and grim satisfaction, but a satisfaction nonetheless.

Both the twins slowly nodded, their friendship with Alex meant more to them than they had thought: They were willing to overlook this one flaw of hers.

"Anything else you want to know?" Alex asked

This time it was Fred who answered, "What is wrong with Hermione? I'm assuming there is something wrong since, since one doesn't react like that normally…"

Alex shrugged and carelessly waved her hand, "I wouldn't know, she has yet to tell me, but I suppose it's either schizophrenia or intermittent explosive disorder, maybe a bit of both."

The twins stared at her in confusion, Schizo-what? Was this some kind of muggle thing?

Answering their silent question Alexandra smiled sadly.

"Schizophrenia is a mental disorder where the victim sees and hears things that aren't there. It often hits highly intelligent people and that is the main reason I suspect that is what Hermione is experiencing. Intermittent explosive disorder is another mental disorder, it causes volatile and aggressive impulses that the person will have a hard time controlling and resisting. I think that accurately sums up Hermione's state."

"Oh…" This was more complex than the twins had imagined.

.

.

Bill got a chance to meet the mystery girl at dinner. She walked down the stair with a twin on each side, and he had to admit that she looked regal. Her red dress contrasted her porcelain skin, black hair cascaded down her face and she held a cold air of confidence. And her eyes, her avid green eyes. They were downright scary as they distinctively looked like the Avada Kedavra curse.

The only thing that broke her image was her glasses and the slight smirk her lips formed.

"What is she doing here?" Ron suddenly exclaimed, pointing a finger at the girl.

"Ronald!" Their mother scowled, "is that an appropriate way to greet a guest?"

Ron looked like he wanted to say something but he never got to it as Molly sent him a menacing glare.

"No, mother." He then turned to the girl, "I apologise for my rude behaviour."

Bill chuckled, his little brother looked appalled at his own words.

"No hard feelings, Ronald. I suppose it was quite a shock to see me here, guess the twin forgot to tell you about my invitation." Her words were casual, almost civil, but William Weasley was used to working with goblins and they were masters of hidden affronts. She was clearly saying that Ron didn't have a great relationship with the twins. A statement that Bill couldn't help but, reluctantly, support.

The girl sat down in the seat beside him, and soon dinner was served and the conversation went on smoothly. Bill quickly got to appreciate the girl's, or Alexandra as she was named, sense of humour. It was dry, dry and sarcastic albeit a bit disparaging.

Just before the dessert was served she suddenly turned to him. He looked at her in interest as calculating green orbs bore into his own blue eyes.

"Gred said you work as a spell breaker for Gringotts."

He nodded in confirmation.

"I really enjoy working with arithmancy and runes."

"Really?"

"Yep."

And that was the beginning of a delightful conversation. In the beginning, Bill was a bit sceptic about Alexandra's claims. She was but a first year, how advanced could she possibly be? But it turned out that she had a decent level of understanding for both subjects. Nowhere near his, of course, but enough for him to have an intelligent discussion with her. It helped that she was an eager learner and picked up on everything he said. He never had to explain a concept more than once.

.

.

Ginny was nervous, she wanted to talk with Alexandra but at the same time she didn't. It was really quite confusing. Still, she doubted the girl had even taken notice of her. The thought was sour.

The older girl had been so spellbound by her conversation with her older brother that Ginny doubted she noticed anything else. At the moment Bill was rambling on about the difference between Roman and Egyptian scripts, and the precaution one should take when breaking down a ward made of those.

Boring. At least according to Ginny.

Their dessert consisted of mincemeat pie and was really quite nice, Ginny just felt a bit excluded as no one really talked to her. She was either too young for them or too uninteresting, the latter only applied to Alexandra.

As they left the room after dinner she, however, caught Alex's eyes. A smile spread across the older girls face and Ginny felt herself grow red. Alexandra Potter acknowledged her existence.

Hello to you my dear readers,

I want to say thank you to those of you that review, favourite and follow my story!

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas with those you love ^-^

- formalkitty -