AN: A little late I know, but this chapter is a bit longer so it evens out I think.

I also post this story on Spacebattles, a forum site, i'm answer questions there and there's story discussion. So if you're interested just google New Day, New Life Spacebattles, and it should be one of the first ones to pop up.

Chapter 30:

Patience

Part 1

Joel Jensen

I am not what anyone would call a morning person. In my humble opinion anything before ten am is the work of the Devil and should be summarily boycotted as such. Sadly, Mum is ex-military and Dad is disgustingly type A, so early rising is, more often than not, my reality.

I am not a morning person but I am used to getting up early. So when Mum told me to go wake up Alex I did so with only minimum amount of eye rolling. It should be noted that I did anything Mum told me with the minimum amount of eye rolling. There was only so much back talk that Mum allowed before she got angry, and that was before she became my Alpha on top of being my Mum.

I made my way upstairs to the guest rooms and knocked on the room Alex was staying in. When I didn't hear any response I listened through the door and heard deep and even breathing. She must be a deep sleeper. I knocked again. When that elicited no response I sighed and opened the door.

"Alex, it's time for breakfast," I said softly, mindful of the day she went through yesterday, but still loud enough that it should have woken her up. Alex, of course, went on sleeping. I went over to the bed and reached out to give her a small shake. As soon as I touched her she shoot up and a fist slammed into my face. I jerked back, more surprised than anything, and barely managed catch her second hand as it sailed towards my chest.

I took a big step backwards, dragging Alex with me, only to let go half way through my step. She fell off the bed in a tangle of limbs, and I assumed a defensive stance.

She got to her feet in one smooth motion and stared at me, a sliver knife in her hand. Where the hell had she gotten that? It hadn't been there a second ago, but before I had time to really ponder that development. My attention was drawn to her eyes. There was something wrong, very wrong with them. They were locked on me but there was no sign of recognition, no emotion, no anything. I would have thought that her wolf had taken over, except even then there should have been some emotion. Even if it was just rage.

I tried to edge towards the door, only to freeze when Alex's hand drew back. Her knife hand, that is. I was forcefully reminded that Alex had killed two Hexenwolves just a few months ago. If I didn't want to get added to her kill list I would have to get creative.

"Alex?" I asked, keeping my voice low and nonthreatening. The last thing I needed to do was provoke her by talking. "Alex, I need you to listen to me, okay? I'm not here to hurt you. I just need you to put down the knife, please?"

For a moment nothing happened and I was getting ready to call for some help, when awareness seemed to enter her eyes. She glanced around curiously before focusing back on me.

"Joel?" Alex asked.

"Yes," I said, slowly relaxing. She didn't seem hostile now.

"What's going on?" Alex asked, looking worried.

Like I have any idea, is what I wanted to say. Instead I settled for a more diplomatic response. "I tried to wake you up for breakfast and then you tried to stab me!" Well I tried for diplomatic.

"I, what?!" Alex said. "No, I wouldn't…" She finally seemed to notice the knife in her hand. "Oh." She sat on the edge of the bed and slipped the knife up her sleeve in a motion she had obviously practiced until it was practically instinct.

I frowned, that explained where she had gotten the knife from but it brought up another question. A few questions actually. Like what the hell was an eleven year old girl doing sleeping with knives?! Or more to the point, what was her life like that she thought sleeping with knives was necessary?

"Alex, why do you sleep with knives?" I asked, feeling more than a little weirded out.

She gave an odd look as if she couldn't quite figure out why I would even ask. "…why wouldn't I?"

"They could cut you?" I said.

"That's why I use holsters," Alex said in a 'duh' voice before lifting her sleeve to show me the holster in question.

"Ah," I said before deciding to change the subject. "So, you want to tell me why you attacked me?"

"I didn't," Alex chirped, a huge smile bisecting her face.

"You did. You may not remember, but I do. Given that I was, in fact, there," I said dryly.

Alex sighed, "Well that's the thing. You were here, but I wasn't." I must have looked as confused as I felt because Alex decided to keep explaining. "I remember trying to hit you, and my body did try to hit you. But it wasn't me, at least I wasn't conscious for it. The only reason I can think of for is because I went to sleep last night in my mindscape."

What?

888

Alex

Joel blinked, "What?"

I sighed, I could hardly blame him for his confusion. I barely had a working theory, and I'm the one it happened to. "I went to my subconscious, represented as a physical place, and then I went to sleep while I was there. So when you tried to wake me up you woke my body up but my mind wasn't quite there." I ran my hand through my hair and frowned. I really needed a shower. "A decent comparison can be made to a Fugue State…" I trailed off at his look of complete confusion. I really needed to save complex answers until after I really woke up because that sounded way too complicated to have come from a normal eleven year old.

"What?" Joel asked.

"I wasn't awake yet and tried to hit you on accident," I said. "Sorry."

"Ah," Joel said. "Yesterday must have left you feeling very tense."

Sure that works. "Yeah, sorry," I said. Honestly he could very well be right. Yesterday had been one tense moment after the other, but I'd had bad days before and I'd never tried to attack someone who was just trying to wake me up.

"Well actually…" Dragon said, sounding far too amused for my liking.

That doesn't count, it was an instinctual response to Pansy trying to get us to train on Saturday. Saturday, the one day of the week I get to relax. I can't be held responsible any action taken to defend that inalienable right.

"You tried to strangle her," Dragon said flatly, but I could hear the amusement bubbling up. "With a pillow."

Humph, whatever. Where was I? Right, I've had bad days before but I'd never tried to stab someone who woke me up the next day. More importantly, my body had never tried to attack someone without me in the driver's seat. It could have been Dragon or Wolf, but they both denied it and I believed them. So that left one option.

My body can defend itself even without me controlling it. Which is both cool and extremely worrying.

"Alex?" Joel asked.

"Hmm?" I responded absently. I'd need test it. Did I need to be asleep in my mindscape for it to happen? Or would simply being there be enough? Would my body attack anyone? Or were there some people it wouldn't? So many questions, so little time.

"Breakfast," Joel said, motioning to the door. "If we don't get down there soon Mum's going to get worried."

"Lead on McDuff," I said, as I started for the door.

"It's lay on, McDuff. Lay on, not lead on." Joel said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, don't they teach you anything in that magic school of yours?"

"About overrated playwrights? No, can't say they do." I said as we started down the spiral staircase.

"Overrated? Overrated?" Joel practically shrieked. "Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in history! His plays transcend social class, time, and culture. That's not hype, that's talent!"

I couldn't help smiling at his reaction. Touched a nerve, did I? "Didn't he steal most of his ideas from someone else?" I said slyly.

"What?!" Joel said. "There's no way that's true!"

"Because that is certainly impressive," I said completely ignoring his reaction. "Shakespeare, history's most successful con-artist. Who knew?" By the time we made it down the stairs Joel's face was nearly purple.

Werewolf packs are big on bonding. They go out of their way to spend time together. It's not just a Sunday dinner thing, it's an any chance they get thing. Werewolves are always going over to each other's houses to eat or to play. As a species they're clingy, and the loss of two pack mates would only exacerbate their need to be together.

I stepped inside and froze as nearly twenty pairs of eyes turned towards me.

Eep.

I had never been comfortable in crowds, I wasn't phobic or anything but I didn't like them either. The only reason I didn't turn tail and run then and there was that most of them looked curious, or at worst, apathetic. The only exception was Ellie who honestly looked angry.

Angry at me or…

"They don't bite, I promise," Joel said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I gave him a hesitant nod and he directed me to a seat near the end of the huge dining table. Rachel sat at that end, Adam sat to her right with Ellie next to him. Joel sat in the seat directly to the left of Rachel and I sat next to him.

Which put me right across the table from Ellie.

Joy.

"Did you sleep ok?" Adam asked looking at me, a concerned look on his face.

"Yes sir," I said.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, call me Adam. None of this sir business," Adam said, smiling.

"At least once more," I said, smirking as I added, "Sir."

"Of course, of course." He chuckled, before standing. "I'd best be off. If I don't get to the office soon there may not be one left." He bent over and kissed Rachel. Both Joel and Ellie made disgusted noises at it.

"Really Dad, we did not need to see that," Joel said.

"Poor boy, subjected to proof that his parents love each other. However will you cope?" Adam said as he straitened. "Bye love." He held Rachel's eyes for a long moment before turning and heading for the door. Despite his seeming hurry he stopped along the way to talk to his pack mates. A quiet word here, a reassuring touch there, all in all it took him nearly ten minutes to get out the door.

"Good Alpha," Wolf said.

I nodded in agreement before turning my attention to the spread in front of me. Eggs, toast, porridge and just about every breakfast meat imaginable.

"Help yourself. You'll need a lot of energy for today," Rachel said.

Well that isn't ominous.

888

Turns out I should have replaced ominous with mind-numbing boredom. Boredom that had, slowly but surely been replaced by annoyance.

See, step one of acclimating a new werewolf to their situation usually involved meditation. They, the new werewolves, would get a multitude of uses from meditation. Ranging from breathing exercises that would help them control their temper to actively getting in touch with their inner animal.

The problem—and of course there was a problem. What would my life be without problems?—is that I'm already quite talented at meditation. I had already told Rachel about my Occlumency so I thought nothing of showing her that I already knew how to meditate. I had thought I'd get to do something interesting, like actually transforming into a wolf.

No.

Of course not.

That would only make sense. Instead I got to spend the next couple of days picking up sticks. That's right; I, Alexandrea Lily Potter, wielder of magic, werewolf slayer, troll icer, Dark Lord defeater, chosen one, last and the greatest of the Potter line, wielder of Death's cloak, and the hope of the Wizarding world—I could go on, but the list is a work in progress so I'll leave it there—had spent the last few days picking up sticks.

I realized that there had to be a method to this madness. It undoubtedly had something to do with teaching me patience. If I hadn't already mastered the breathing techniques, this would be a wonderful way to implement them in a controlled environment. I had realized this within the first hour, and had been making use of said breathing techniques since about halfway through my second day.

This whole thing was so banal that Wolf and Dragon had completely retreated to the safety of our mindscape.

The problem, the real problem, was that the Jensens' house was not just a house. It was in fact an estate. A huge estate. One that, unless I missed my guess, made use of spatial expansion charms to enlarge the grounds even further. So, as you can surmise, I had yet to make a real dent in the ambient stick level.

All that I could bear with. If not with a smile, then at least with the stoicism that so stereotyped my new homeland. What truly got my goat was who had been assigned as my watcher.

Snap.

"You missed one, Alex. Be sure to pick it up, we wouldn't want Mother to think you're doing a sloppy job of it, would we?" Ellie purred, her eyes locked on my face. I looked from the branch—it was taller than I was and had to weigh the better part of forty pounds—on the ground to the tree that had a large hole from where the branch had been ripped out and I realized something.

She wants me to kill her.

I mean that has to be her goal doesn't it? Why else would she spend the last two days riding me, making digs, and generally being an incredibly unpleasant person? Why else would she put a perfectly serviceable weapon right in front of me, with a look on her face that practically dared me to hit her? Even given that I'm a guest in her house, thus requiring me to be on my best behavior. Even given that before these last few days I would have counted her as a friend of the family.

Even given all that, I was this close to grabbing that hunk of wood and hitting her, and hitting her, and hitting her. If I had been anyone else, anyone who had gone through what I had just gone through, I would have attacked her by now. Hell, a normal eleven year old—twelve tomorrow—would have completely lost it by now.

Ha, normal.

As if I'd ever been normal.

At some point, I'm not sure when, I started laughing. It wasn't a polite giggle, or the full belly laugh of unrestrained joy. No, this was the laughter of someone who realized that laughter was just one letter away from slaughter.

I lunged for the branch and, with an ease that belayed my size, pivoted on my heel and swung it straight for Ellie's face. She stepped back, the branch missed her by inches, and as my swing continued on she grabbed my impromptu weapon. She proceeded to rip it from my hands with enough force yank me from my feet. Before I even had a chance to land Ellie grabbed me by my shoulders and slammed me into a nearby tree. One hand holding my arms above my head, and her forearm digging into my throat.

I strained, pushing and twisting with all my might but Ellie held me firmly in place. She increased the pressure on my neck, not enough to hurt but just enough to make breathing a tad more difficult. I glared at her, and for some reason she…smiled?

"Finally, I was beginning to think it would take you all summer to snap," Ellie said, her odd smile still in place.

What?

"I mean, self-control is good. Great even, but at some point it stops being about controlling emotions and starts being about repressing them, and Alex? That really isn't healthy," Ellie said.

No seriously. What?