Soul of the Enemy

By Willow Spirit

Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Everything else belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 11 – Cantankerous Potion Professors

Last Chapter: Alex turned her head and gave Malfoy the most curious smile.

"Oh, but you already know my father."

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed as they left Malfoy standing there, with his mouth hanging open like a fish. "I can't believe it. You were great. I've never seen anybody give it to Malfoy like that."

"It was amazing," Hermione reluctantly agreed.

"Yeah, well, what can I say," Alex continued on like it was nothing. "He was being a pain the ass, so he had it coming."

"Does Malfoy really know your father?" Harry was looking intently at Alex. For some odd reason, the thought that Malfoy might know more about Alex than he did greatly troubled him. If Malfoy knew her father, then why didn't Alex tell him who he was?

"Of course he doesn't," Alex said, refusing to look at any of them. "It's all a mind game, Potter. It's about who has the power. I implied that Malfoy knew my father so that it would drive him crazy trying to figure out who he is. Malfoy always tries to mess with people's minds. That's just how he is. So I thought I'd give him a taste of his own medicine."

"But you knew about Malfoy's father," Ron pointed out. "How'd you know about him?"

"Come on, Weasley," Alex rolled her eyes. "It's the Malfoys. Lots of people know about them. They were all over the paper two years ago when Lucius got arrested. You'd have to be living under a rock not to hear about them."

"So who is your father?" Harry tried, even though he suspected Alex's answer.

"I can't say," Alex's face was set with determination. "It's confidential. People here already know too much about me. I'm supposed to be hiding out here, remember?"

"So is Alex Reid even your real name?" Hermione challenged.

That comment must have struck a cord, as Alex came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway. The two boys just looked back and forth between the two girls, wondering with trepidation how Alex would react. "What do you think?" Alex asked Hermione.

"I think if I were in protective custody, I would change my name," Hermione answered after a few seconds. "But then again, that's just me."

"Good answer," Alex gave an appreciative nod before continuing on to class. Harry and Ron just shook their heads in disbelief.

"I don't know if we'll ever figure this girl out," Ron said.

Harry was quick to respond. "Since when do we ever figure out any girls?"

And that earned him a nice elbow from Hermione.

Double Potions with the Slytherins. What more could be said about that?

The four Gryffindors entered the classroom and found a group of seats around the middle of the room. With a minute to spare, they also noticed Malfoy and his two thugs enter and take up some seats in the rear. No one missed the icy glare that Malfoy shot in Alex's direction. Alex chose to respond with a bored, unimpressed expression, and then she turned her back on him.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, Snape stormed into the classroom. And apparently, everybody missed the cold glare that he shot towards a certain new student. Maybe that was because he also had a scowl on his face.

"Today, we will be making Wolfsbane Potion," he immediately started in. "It is a very precise and difficult potion and I don't expect many of you to succeed."

A wave of whispers washed over the entire class. "Is he mad?" Hermione let out a quiet hiss. "He knows how complex that potion is, even for a seventh year class."

"Here is your list of ingredients," Snape flicked his wand and words magically appeared on the board. "Now get started everyone. Also, I will not tolerate any talking, whispering, or any subtle conversation during this class. You are to work alone and not in pairs today. Anyone caught disobeying these rules will be punished."

No one wanted to argue with him, so the whole class immediately got to work preparing for the potion. Soon the only sounds that could be heard were the chopping sounds as students prepped the ingredients and the soft bubbling of the potions in progress.

At one point, Harry glanced over at Alex, who was using one of Hermione's old cauldrons. He was a bit surprised to see her working so calmly. Alex didn't seem to acknowledge anyone else in the class, even Snape who occasionally made his rounds in order to make his biting remarks. Her gazed was fixed on her cauldron as she stirred it. Then she turned around and started working on chopping up her next ingredient.

Harry wondered briefly how her potion was going. He knew that his, with his luck in Potions, would probably turn out to be a soupy mess. But he really didn't care all that much. Harry was way beyond worrying about what Snape thought of him.

A few more minutes passed by, until the menacing professor drilled out further instructions.

"Those of you who are brewing a successful potion will soon have a properly smoking concoction," Snape said. "Though I doubt any of you will be able to reach this state. Either way, continue on until you have completed all the steps of the potion."

"Professor Snape, sir?" Malfoy raised his hand, with a terribly wicked smirk on his face. "The new girl over there, it seems like her potion is already smoking. And look, she's just sitting there doing nothing."

Harry turned quickly to look at Alex. It was true; there she was sitting quietly on her stool. The potion beside her did indeed look finished. She had an opened book sitting in her lap but her gaze was now scanning the classroom…as every other student turned to look at the "new girl."

"You," Snape simply said, as he swept across the room and towered before her. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I did as you said, sir," Alex stated logically. "I did my potion and now I'm reading my potions book."

"How have you finished your potion?" Snape exclaimed. "I do not see anyone finished with theirs. Not even our resident Miss Know-It-All has completed hers."

Soft cries of protest rippled through the Gryffindors, while soft snickers could be heard throughout the Slytherins. Hermione bristled with resentment. For once, Snape didn't bother trying to silence the class. He was too busy glaring at Alex to care.

"What did you say?" Alex asked incredulously.

"I said that Granger is not finished, therefore it is not possible that you could be finished," Snape continued, knowing exactly what he was saying. "For that reason alone, I suspect that there is something amiss here."

"I didn't cheat if that's what you mean," Alex folded her arms across her chest.

"That is precisely what I mean," Snape sneered. "And I think I made it quite clear at the beginning of class that anyone who breaks the rules will be punished. Therefore I will be taking twenty points from Gryffindor, for your blatant disrespect for my rules."

Alex looked like she couldn't believe what he was saying. "How can you accuse me of something that…"

"Thirty points!" Snape exclaimed. "And you will be given detention as well."

Alex nearly growled out loud, it was so obvious on her face. Instead, she buried her face in her hands. "I don't have time for detention!" Alex muttered softly, as if she felt she was dealing with a child. Unfortunately for Alex, Snape's hearing was better than she realized.

"That will be two detentions for you, Miss Reid!" Snape was close to snarling by now. "And you are to never question my authority again."

Well, that was it for Alex. She took her face out of her hands and gave Snape such a look that it should have turned him into stone. "You know what?" Alex snapped. "I don't need this and I don't need you. I don't know what game you're trying to play here, Snape, but it's not going to work with me. This class is pathetic. I don't have to be here so I am going to leave right now!"

Within a matter of seconds, Alex had packed up her things and was out the door, leaving a stunned class and a very pissed-off professor.

-----

Harry, Ron and Hermione were the first students out the door at the end of class.

"Where do you think she is?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry was really worried about her. "If I had my map we could find her in a second, but it's upstairs in my trunk."

"Let's check the library," Hermione suggested.

"Oh, sure, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes. "Alex runs out of class and the one place she wants to hide out in is the library. She's not you, you know."

"I know she isn't me!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's just that anyone who can make that kind of potion in that amount of time is a real genius. Why wouldn't she be interested in books? I mean, if I could make the Wolfsbane Potion that quickly, I would be…"

"Do I detect some jealousy?" Ron looked very amused.

"Of course not," Hermione stiffened. "Anyway, the library is on the way back to Gryffindor tower. That's the only reason why I suggested it in the first place."

"Alright, it's okay," Harry said. "It's a good idea, 'Mione. We'll go."

-----

A few minutes later, when the trio entered the library, they didn't know whether they should be surprised or not. There, sitting alone at a large table, was Alex. She wasn't really doing anything; she just had her head in her hands and this tired look on her face.

"Alex?" Harry softly called to her as the three of them joined her at the table.

"Don't" she replied while refusing to look at them. "Don't ask me about what happened back there. It's confidential. Besides, it'd take too long to explain anyway."

"You should have seen Snape after you left class," Ron blurted out, unable to stop himself. "I've never seen him so angry, expect maybe with Harry. I didn't know anyone else could piss him off that much."

"Yeah, well, just call it my gift," Alex sighed.

"I'd like to know where you learned to make potions like that," Hermione jumped into the conversation. "I've never seen anyone do such a complicated potion so quickly, which is why Snape was probably caught off guard like that. You must have been at the top of your class at your old school."

"Not really," a strange sort of smirk passed quickly over Alex's face.

"Yeah, right. And Dad's the Minister of Magic," Ron snorted.

"Oh, come on," Alex really started to look annoyed. "Just because I did one potion, doesn't mean I'm a genius or anything. I'm not good at everything, you know. I'm sure that every one of you could kick my ass at something or other. How about you, Ron? How could you beat me?"

For a dreadful moment, no one spoke as they desperately racked their brains trying to save Ron from painful humiliation. "Wizard's chess!" Hermione nearly screamed out loud, she was so glad to have thought of something. Then she remembered that they were in the library, so she quickly leaned forward to whisper excitedly. "Nobody at school can beat Ron at wizard's chess!"

The tips of Ron's ears turned a lovely shade of bright pink. "There you go," Alex had to commend their quick thinking. "I'm not good at wizard's chess. And you Hermione?"

"Oh, Hermione's grades are better than anyone's," Ron instantly jumped in. Hermione had to look away to hide the sudden color on her cheeks.

"Alex still finished her potion before I did," Hermione said respectfully.

"So what?" like that really mattered to Alex. "As a matter of fact, Granger, grades aren't even that important where I come from."

"What!" Hermione couldn't believe it for a second. "How is that possible? How can grades not be important? How can you try to do better if you don't know how well you're doing in the first place? That makes no sense to me…"

"Anyway…" Ron interrupted her before she could continue her crazy train of thought. "I bet Harry could beat you in DADA, Alex. No one stands a chance against Harry when it comes to defense."

At that moment, Harry and Alex locked eyes in a silent staring contest. "And how did you become so skilled in defense, Harry?" Alex asked knowingly. "Don't tell me that everything just came naturally."

Before he even opened his mouth to answer her, several images flashed quickly through Harry's mind. The first one was of him and Professor Lupin, practicing the Expecto Patronum spell to chase away the dementors. The other image was of him and Hermione practicing the Accio charm before the first task of the tournament back in fourth year. "No," Harry said softly. "I had to practice."

"Thank you, Potter, you've just proven my point," Alex fixed her intense green eyes on the trio. "I am good at certain things because I practice. There's nothing more to it than that. Haven't you ever heard that practice makes perfect?"

"Yes, but…" Hermione started but Alex quickly interrupted her.

"No buts, please, I'm too tired to deal with buts right now," Alex's hands started massaging her temples in slow, small circles.

"Well, maybe we should be going," Harry suggested, looking at his watch. "It's almost lunch time."

"I'm not really hungry," Alex sighed as she followed the other three out of the library.

"Well, you should try to eat something," Harry glanced at Alex with concern. He didn't know if it was just him, but he strongly suspected that something was wrong with Alex. Harry didn't keep track of how much she was eating every day, but he was sure that she wasn't eating properly. Whatever her problem was, something was definitely bothering her and it was slowly and subtly affecting her health.

"I'm fine, Potter," Alex gave him a very fake smile. "Let's just go."

As they all left the library, Harry managed to sneak a quick look at Ron and Hermione. They all had identical expressions on their faces, all clearly saying:

This is going to take a long time.

-----

A/N: Please review!

Next Chapter: Alex has a chat with Hermione...Firenze gives Harry a warning...