*A/N: I've decided to change this up a bit. Instead of being strictly Harry Potter, this is an AU/cross between Potter and Wizards of Waverly Place. Instead of strictly Harry, Harry, Harry, there'll also be Alex, Stevie, Harry. See how it works out, won't we?*

Alex Russo broke the kiss Stevie had drawn her into, heart fluttering with love but she, herself feeling troubled. "Stevie... how'm I going to tell Mom and Dad? I know they love me, but... I'm not sure they'll understand."

Stevie smiled, cupping Alex' chin. "I'm sure they will, Alex," she said, kissing Alex softly on the lips. "Just give 'em a chance, huh?"

Alex smiled. She had always been so sure she'd find a relationship with a boy she'd be perfectly happy with, but now, she had found someone in whom she could trust as a significant other... and that someone happened to be a girl. "You're right," she said. "That's why I'm going to Obliviate them." Alex allowed a devious smile to play her lips, one that she knew Stevie would immediately pick up on.

"What... Alex, you can't do that! That'd undermine the point of coming out!" Stevie held Alex at arms' length. "Do you really want to ruin a perfectly good opportunity to learn?"

"Seriously, Stevie, it makes my brain hurt just thinking about it. I really shouldn't take it to heart..." Her protests were stifled by yet another kiss Stevie had planted on Alex' lips, which calmed her to such a point that she was almost certain that what she wanted more than anything at that moment was to take her up to her room and...

"Have I gotten throught to you, Alex?"

Alex' eyes remained closed, and she could still taste the sweetness of the girl's lips on hers. "Yes," she breathed, opening her eyes. "Yeah, you're right, Stevie." Alex smiled and wrapped her arms around Stevie's waist. "Meet me here tomorrow at three. Mom and Dad'll be having me doing my chores, and I really don't want to tell them while they're still uptight." She smiled at Stevie, whose hair was, as always, perfect; her goldenrod-colored bangs were swept to one, reminding Alex of a Japanese anime she had loved since she could remember. "That alright with you, babe? Or am I gonna have to convince you...?" Alex' fingers contemplated the handle of her wand, which protruded from the back of her boot, where she kept it in case of emergencies, so as to avoid a buttock being blasted off.

"I think I can live with that," said Stevie, smirking at Alex' seductive tone. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yes... you... will..." replied Alex, giving Stevie a kiss between every word and allowing the girl's hand to hold the back of Alex' head.

"Seeya then, Alex," said Stevie, stepping back and turning on the spot, vanishing into thin air.

For a while, Alex stared at the spot where Stevie had Disapparated, mischevious brain still working on a scheme that would lull her parents into a sense of euphoria enough that they would not take too hard her homosexuality... She was startled from her reverie when she heard footsteps at the mouth of the alley and turned to see Harper Finkle walking toward her, vivid red hair showing from beneath what appeared to be a seagull. "Hey, Alex. Do you know where Stevie is? I forgot to bring her the dress I made for her."

"What? Oh, yeah... she went home," replied Alex, walking forward.

"Oh, maaann! Why am I always late?"

Alex laughed as she placed an arm around her friend's shoulder. "C'mon, Harper! Maybe you can give it to her tomorrow!" Under her breath, Alex concluded, "...oh, I hope you forget, Harper Finkle."

"Did you say something, Alex?"

"No," replied Alex. She hoped Harper wouldn't see her devious smile.

Alex arrived in the sandwich shop the next morning, while Jerry and Theresa Russo, her parents, were still hard at work sweeping the tables in the lounge. She checked around for her brothers, Max and Justin, but, seeing no one, she pulled out her wand and waved it at the front door, which burst open, giving her enough time, she hoped, to enchant the mop to begin its lazy circuit of the kitchen floor. The two were too involved in trying to shut the door from a gust of wind, which she had magically created, to see her enchanting a rag to wipe clean the kitchen countertops.

Sooner than she had expected, Jerry managed to shut the front door and when he piped up, "Alex!" she immediately took hold of the mop and rag simultaneously, hoping her father hadn't spotted her.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Did you magically open the door?"

"N - uh, yeah, yeah I did." She looked up at him with what she hoped was a sincere smile, but she had the sudden sinking feeling that it had manifested as a guilty grimace.

Jerry crossed his arms over his chest. "I see what's going on," he said, looking at her.

"You do...?" said Alex, her heart falling into the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, yes." For a moment, he looked as though he might scold her, but his face broke into a smile as he said, "You wanted to show me that you aren't only a responsible witch, you're also a very competent housekeeper." He beamed at her. "Good job, Alex!"

Theresa walked over and hid her face while she wiped her eyes. "Jerry... maybe we can give her the morning off."

"Now," said Alex, letting go of the rag and momentarily forgetting that she had charmed them, "isn't that just a great idea! Wow, you guys, I never thank you enough!" She had, she hoped, continued "guiding" the mop and the rag before her parents had noticed anything.

But before anyone could say anything, Justin and Max rushed down the spiral staircase into the lounge, the eldes, Justin, holding a scroll of parchment in his hand. "Dad! Dad, you just got a summons from the Ministry of Magic in England!" he said, holding out the scroll.

"What? What for?"

"I don't know. It was addressed to you, so I brought it to you as soon as I could."

Jerry quickly slit open the parchment with a tap of his wand and unfurled the scroll, which he read, his eyes flicking back and forth across the surface of the page in a hurry. He looked up and closed his eyes. "Oh, God, no."

"What?" said Justin. "What is it?"

"It looks like he's back."

"Who?" asked Justin and Alex.

Jerry opened his eyes and sighed. "It looks like Lord Voldemort's returned."

"What? Voldemort? But Harry destroyed all the Horcruxes, didn't he?"

"Cool!" said Max. "You mean they've continued the Star Wars saga?"

Everyone eyed Max in frustrated sorrow. "Max," said Justin, slowly, "Lord Voldemort isn't a character from Star Wars... he's a real bad wizard with real bad plans."

"Oh," said Max, scratching his chin. "Well... does he at least carry a lightsaber? Or a blaster?" Max looked delighted at the idea.

Justin sighed. "Sure, Max... he's a big Star Wars fan, and he carries a lightsaber."

There was a rumbling from the upstairs, and Alex immediately threw down the rag and mop, which stopped their work at once and fell to the floor. She ran up the stairs and into the living room, closely followed by her brothers and parents. In the middle of the room, a man in a long, black traveling cloak was hunched over a deflated spare tire that looked as though it had been torn off of a random wreck.

Turning, the wizard showed that he was tall, thin and intelligent. "Hello, Jerry," said the wizard, holding out his hand. "I'm Harry Potter, here on behalf of the British Ministry of Magic."

"But," said Jerry, "I thought the Minister..."

"The Minister's giving a conference to the reporters at the Prophet. Then he'll be supervising a few security updates and the like. He sent me in his stead."

"This is about Voldemort, right?"

Harry Potter shook his head. "No. This is about someone Dumbledore was close to. This is about Nicolas Flamel."

Jerry froze; he'd heard that name before, he knew it. But where?

"Wait," said Justin, "wasn't... wasn't Nicolas Flamel the guy who helped Dumbledore create the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry nodded, and Justin sat down. "Oh, God... oh, God, no."

"Apparently he's been idling for more than six hundred years," said Harry, pulling an old, worn parchment from within his robe. "I've had Hermione Granger translate this for me... it's taken her a few weeks, but she's made it this far."

"What is that?" said Alex, who was not generally interested in anything older than the cuticles on her nails.

"It's a parchment I found in one of my old schoolbooks," replied Potter. "It's an agenda Flamel hid a number of years ago. Apparently, the book I found it in was either older than it looked, or he somehow managed to slip it into one of my own textbooks."

There was a pause, which was broken by Max. "So this guy... he comes back from the dead... for a piece of paper?"

Everyone in the room turned to Max, exasperated. "No, Max," said Justin. "Apparently, he had a Horcrux hidden somewhere. That's how he's been alive six hundred years."

Max's eyes widened in shock. "He's been alive six hundred years?"

Jerry paused and turned to Harry, disappointed in his oddest child. "We can't get through to him, either."

"It's alright, Jerry," said Potter, picking up the spare tire. "We'll require you at the Ministry as soon as you can... as well as any able-bodied witch and..." He was cut off by a loud pop, signalling that someone had just Apparated into the room.

"Hey, Alex," said Stevie, looking around the room. "Harry, right?"

"Erm... yes," replied Harry, taking an extended hand.

"Stevie Nichols." She smiled charmingly at him.

"So... so are you coming along with..." Harry gestured at the room at large.

"Huh? Where to?"

"Um... Stevie, this might be a bad time to explain to Mom and Dad," whispered Alex, who walked toward her girlfriend.

Unfortunately for Alex, someone had heard. "Explain what to mom and dad?" said Theresa, looking from one girl to the other and back. "What? What're you kids keeping from me?"

"Mom, please... don't make me explain-!"

"I am your mother, Alex Russo! What are you keeping from your parents? What are you keeping from us?"

Alex' heart sank, and she thought she could feel it hitting her toes. Instinctively, she walked over to stand beside Stevie and laced her fingers in those of the other girl. "I'm in love, Mom. I'm in love with Stevie." The room was silent. "Mom, Dad... I'm gay." Alex heart split in two as she said it. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she'd be damned if no one else could see them, the stupid fat drops of salt water.

"Alex..." said Jerry, stepping forward. "Alex... I thought... but all those boys... what about the...?" Jerry was at a loss for words. "Didn't you go out with...?"

"Yes, Dad... I did. I just... I've been going out with Stevie since I was seventeen." Her heart broke into smaller fragments as she released her longstanding passion.

"Alex..." Jerry stepped forward and sighed. "Alex..." The words appeared awkward for him. Taking a deep breath, he finally said, "Sweetheart, I support you one-hundred percent. I may not be quick to adapt to the idea, but I'll certainly do what I can."

Alex' heart was no powder. The dust was scattering on the wind, she was sure. She had just reached this conclusion when her mother swept her up in her arms and kissed her forehead. "Alex... oh, God, I love you no matter what!" She began rambling in Spanish, occasionally casting a word that Alex recognized. "Stevie," she said, finally, "We love you as part of the family. You know that." She smiled and pulled Stevie into a tight hug, patting the girl's head. "Both of you... you have our blessing."

"And mine," said Max, who was still in awe. Justin merely gaped, unable to make a sound with his constricted throat.

"C'mere, Max," said Alex, smiling tearfully and pulling Max into the tightest hug she could manage.

"I'm sorry to be rude, everyone," said Harry Potter, who held up the tire and checked a gold pocketwatch on a long chain. Alex caught a glimpse of a face that sported nine miniscule moving planets and only one hand, "but anyone willing and able has to be at the Ministry in about three minutes. I can't make a Portkey without Ministry authorization, and I can't tell when I'd be able to get to the nearest Floo-capable fireplace." Turning to Jerry, he added, "...Unless you have one."

"I still don't like the Floo network. I'll consider getting it installed, but I'm not really too sure at the moment."

A choking sound from behind the Russos made them turn. Standing there, the odd seagull-topped had and matching dress in her hand, vivid red hair barely distinguishable from her red cheeks, was Harper, who stood, mouth agape, staring at Alex.

"Harper... what's wrong?"

Harper seemed to have gained her composure. "What... what's wrong? What's wrong is that you can't even... I mean..." Harper stood rooted to the spot. Without warning, she dropped the clothes and spat, "I can't believe it! You dyke cunt! You can tell your family... your best friend doesn't even mean anything...!" For a moment, it looked as though Harper might fall to her hands and knees to vomit, but whatever Alex had expected, she didn't expect what happened next. Her best and oldest friend, the girl she had trusted to be in on her schemes, even if it was a grudging trust on the girl's part, moved across the room with unexpected lightning speed in two strides and struck Alex across the face with a flat hand, a slap that turned Alex face immediately tomato-red. "Not telling me you're a witch is one thing, but hiding the fact that you're gay for eight years...!"

"Harper," whispered Alex. "Harper..."

"No, Alex Russo! No! You are a cold, deceptive bitch! If you ever talk to me again..." Harper shook her head and stormed out, leaving Alex to contemplate everything that had just happened.

After several minutes of silence, Harry said, "Mr. Russo, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your family disputes, but... the Dark wizard that's out and about..."

"Oh, right." Jerry walked over to the old tire. "Who's coming along?"