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. Sorry for the delay! I hope to update sooner, especially since the story is nearing the end. I'd say there are about three chapters or so left, depending on how things go. I can't believe it's that close.

Chapter 27 – The Next Day

Several students were extremely surprised to see Alex sitting at the Gryffindor table the next morning for breakfast. Word had spread about how she had nearly beaten the living snot out of Draco Malfoy yesterday. Some figured that Alex would have gotten in trouble, but then again, others figured that she had done them all a favour. Malfoy certainly didn't have many friends or admirers, so the whole situation was a blessing for anyone who had ever been picked on or intimidated by him. But even though many were silently cheering for her, most students decided to give her plenty of space; everyone except for Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron.

The five Gryffindors were huddled around each other at the unoccupied end of the table. They were grateful for the privacy since they still had much to discuss. Though at the current moment, the other four were staring at Alex as she piled the food onto her plate with one hand and shoveled more food into her mouth with her other hand.

"Oh, God, this food tastes so good," she mumbled around her food.

"Why don't you save some for the rest of us," Ginny teased.

"And I thought my manners were bad," Ron muttered as he tried his best not to laugh.

"I'm sorry," Alex forced herself to slow down and take a short break. "It's just you have no idea how it's been for the past four months. I've been sick to my stomach nearly every week since I've been here."

"So it wasn't just my imagination," Harry said. "There really were days when you were feeling sick."

"Exactly," Alex exclaimed. "Think about it. I shouldn't have been here in the first place. Imagine what it was like for me to wake up in the infirmary and see all of you guys, all the people that I know, except you were all much younger. You were all my age. And the whole point of me coming here was so I could do this thing and stay hidden."

"Well it certainly didn't turn out like that," Hermione raised her eyebrows. "No wonder you reacted like you did. You probably thought you had failed completely."

"I know," Alex continued. "I felt like there was a huge knot in my stomach. I was just waiting for the day I'd slip and say something that would give me away. I've never felt this kind of stress. I swear I must have lost weight since I've been here."

"But now we know," Ron said.

"That's exactly it," Alex started buttering some toast. "Now that it's all off my chest I feel so much better. Last night was the best sleep I had in months. And now I feel so hungry and I can finally eat food again and I'm…I'm…just so happy! Things couldn't be better." As if to emphasize her point, Alex eagerly munched away at her toast.

"Well, we still have to deal with Voldemort at some point," Harry reminded everyone.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Alex waved her hand at him. "I have faith in you guys. You beat him once, you can do it again."

"But we don't even know how we're supposed to beat him!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well, I'm not telling you," Alex moved onto her second piece of toast and spread some strawberry jam on it. "That's something you'll have to figure out on your own." She paused for a second and stared down at her toast. "On second thought, I don't want anymore toast. Here, Harry, you can have it. Don't worry, my hands are clean." Before Harry knew it, Alex had dropped the piece of toast down on his plate. He picked it up to examine it. It looked just right, not too much jam or large chunks of strawberries. Shrugging his shoulders he popped the toast into his mouth.

As everyone continued eating, Hermione took a moment to glance at Harry and Alex, who were sitting next to each other on the other side of the table. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she started picking up on little things they had in common; the way they held their utensils to the way they leaned their elbows casually on the table. She suddenly wanted to laugh at how similar these two actually were. Instead, Hermione let out an undignified little snort.

"What?" Alex asked. She and Harry both looked up and gave Hermione identical glares of annoyance.

"Oh, this is too funny!" Hermione let out a loud laugh, before turning to the Ron and Ginny beside her. "Can't you see it?" Ginny and Ron turned to look at Harry and Alex, wondering what on earth Hermione was going on about, when they suddenly saw it too.

"Bloody hell," Ron breathed. "Those two look so much alike, it's scary. How come we never saw it before?" Alex and Harry turned to look at each other, which only make the others burst into more laughter.

"I'm more relaxed now," Alex shrugged in response. "I couldn't really be myself before. Now it's like I can drop my persona and just be who I normally am. That's why I wanted to call you all by your last names. Calling you by your first names would be something I would do and I couldn't be me while I was here…does that make any sense."

"It does if you wanted to put some distance between us," Hermione nodded.

"Oh, that reminds me," Alex said, then dipped her hand deep into her cloak pocket. When she pulled it out she had a tiny bottle in her hand. She immediately twisted off the top and poured a few drops into her goblet of pumpkin juice.

"What's that?" Harry was almost afraid to know.

"Truth serum," Alex said casually before she took a long swig of her drink. Everyone's eyes grew quite large.

"Are you mad?" Harry asked. "Why would you be drinking truth serum…on purpose?"

"Because I can't get out of shape," Alex replied. "All that stuff yesterday about the truth potion and how Snape would be wasting his time was true. Truth serum doesn't really work on me. Even if the stuff is really strong, I find I can still manage to manipulate my answers."

"But why?" Ginny asked. "How?"

"I started drinking a little bit each day when I was younger," Alex explained. "After a while I increased my daily dose and soon I became immune to it. I figured it would come in handy; being the daughter of the Boy-Who-Lived isn't always easy."

"Where exactly did you get that serum?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I borrowed it from Snape," Alex grinned wickedly. "I just took a little bit until I can make some of my own. It's been a long time since I've had any and I didn't want to lose my edge." Hermione just shook her head.

"You are absolutely insane, you know that."

"Yeah, I know. It must be a family thing."

-----

Everyone eventually managed to get through classes that day without too much distraction. It was difficult, what with the revelations just the day before, the fact that exams would be coming soon and that they still had Voldemort to worry about, but other than that everything was perfectly fine.

Right…

So one could say that everybody was just going with the flow. As soon as classes were over, Ginny, Alex, Harry and Ron were outside on their brooms while Hermione watched contently from the stands. Nothing formal was organized; the flyers were merely enjoying the wonderful sensations of soaring through the air.

"You never were trying to kill Harry that day you got sent to the hospital wing, were you?" Hermione shouted to Alex with a huge grin on her face.

"God, no!" Alex whooped with laughter. "I was really admiring Harry's amazing flying skills. Dad never flies like that anymore."

"So where did you learn to fly like that?" Harry asked, hoping for an actual answer this time.

"Where do you think?" Alex replied as she slowly rotated and starting flying upside down. "You love flying. You taught me when I was little. I practiced all the time with the Weasley cousins."

"Weasley cousins?" Ron stopped in mid flight and nearly fell off his broom. "What do you mean exactly by 'Weasley cousins'?"

"Ron, think about it," Alex explained patiently. "How many siblings do you have? Don't you think that at least some of them might have children at some point in their lives? If you all had three or even only two kids, wouldn't that be a lot of little Weasleys running around?"

"I suppose so," Ron agreed.

"I owe a lot of my Quidditch skills to them, you know," Alex said as she did a loop and flew right side up again. "We played Quidditch all the time, especially over the summer. We usually had enough for two teams. When Hogwarts still had Qudditch teams, there were always some of us on the Gryffindor team over the years."

"I suppose you were the Seeker, like Harry," Ginny said.

"Actually I wasn't," Alex grinned at everyone's shock. "I'm a Chaser. Not that I couldn't be a Seeker; thanks to the Weasley's we were all pretty good at most positions. I just prefer to be a Chaser. I find there's more to do and I'm afraid the games wouldn't be too long if I were Seeker."

"So you're saying that you'd make a better Seeker than Harry?" Ron grinned. "Care to make a wager on that?"

"No I would not," Alex rolled her eyes. "It's not that I'm better than Harry, but I have been flying a lot longer than Harry has. Harry only started flying when he was eleven years old; imagine what he would have been like if he had started early like me. In reality I think Harry has much more talent than I do. My talent came from lots of practice, but Harry's comes naturally."

"Awe, look, you're making him blush," Ginny teased.

-----

The gang stayed outside until supper time; afterwards Hermione pointed out that even if the world was coming to and end, they still needed to do their homework, especially Hermione since she had been gone for several days. So after their meal they all spent some time in the common room grudgingly doing work.

Eventually Harry gave up trying to concentrate and he muttered some excuse about going for a walk. The others exchanged concerned looks as he exited through the portrait door.

"Think he'll be alright?" Ginny asked.

"Who knows," Ron shrugged. "Hope so. It's been a rough couple of days around here."

"I think I'll go talk to him," Alex said as she moved her things of her lap.

"Maybe that would be a good idea," Hermione said. "I'm sure there are some things you'd like to talk about in private."

"Oh, I think so," Alex sighed as she raced through the door after Harry. She looked up and down the corridor and saw him disappear around a corner at the other end. Alex took off running and soon she had caught up to him. She slowed her pace until the two of them were walking side by side. "So where are we going?"

"Don't know," Harry shrugged. At least he didn't tell her to go away. "I was thinking maybe one of the towers."

"As long as it's cleaner than the Owlery," Alex grinned at the memory of their conversation in that particular tower.

"Sure thing."

They made it to one of the Astronomy towers and thankfully it was deserted. Alex sat down on the floor next to one end of the railing and Harry sat at the other end. They both looked out over the grounds, enjoying the last bit of the sunset. For a good while, neither said anything, but eventually Harry had to bring it up.

"So you really don't like balconies, do you?" he asked, noticing the way she cautiously peered over the edge.

"That's right."

"Why?"

Alex sighed. "Harry…" she said slowly as she thought about how to phrase this. "I always have and always will love being a Potter, but I'm sure you understand by now that certain things happen because of our name. It's just a part of who we are. And sometimes, some of those things that happen aren't always good things. When I was young there was an incident. I won't go into details but I will say that it involved some pretty nasty people. I was there and I pushed one of those people off the side of a balcony in order to save one of our people. I ended up going over the edge with him. Someone managed to save me but the other guy…well, he didn't make it. He fell to his death and I watched him go. I was the one who pushed him."

Harry stared at her in shock. "I…I had no idea…" he whispered.

"So that's why I fear balconies," Alex continued quietly. "The ironic thing about it is I still loved to fly even after the incident. I think my brain somehow made a distinction between balconies and broomsticks. As long as I had a broom with me I felt safe, I felt secure."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I'm sorry you had to go through any of that. No one should have that much pain in their lives…"

"Harry, don't blame yourself," Alex tried to reason with him. "You can't change the actions of other people. You can try but it probably won't work."

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, each one absorbed in their own thoughts. Harry was still getting used to the idea that he had…or will have a daughter in the future. And she was sitting right here with him. Could his life be any more twisted than what it was right now? Probably, knowing him and his luck. By this point in his young life, Harry had learned to expect the unexpected.

Harry's thoughts were also stuck on something else, something that hadn't been brought up before, and that surprised him. Well, if Alex wasn't going to talk about it then Harry would. "Alex…" Harry started slowly.

"Yes, Harry?" Alex glanced at him suspiciously. What was he up to?

"I was wondering," Harry tried his best to act naturally. "You say you're my daughter from the future, right? That got me thinking, if I'm your father then obviously you'd have a mother…"

"I don't know what took you so long," Alex didn't even wait for Harry to finish. She gave him a sympathetic and understanding smile. "I thought you'd have cracked hours ago. Hermione was asking me last night about her."

"Hermione knows!" Harry's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "Hermione knows who your mother is?!"

"No, because I wouldn't tell her," Alex replied calmly. "And there's absolutely no way in the world that I would tell you either. Knowing how awkward you are, you'd probably go and mess up the whole entire thing and scare her away."

"I would not," Harry muttered to the floor. "Does that mean that it's someone I know?"

"I didn't say anything about you knowing her," Alex scoffed. "I'm not telling you if you meet her now or later."

"Isn't there anything you can tell me?" Harry pleaded with his green eyes. "Are we…are we together, your mum and I? Are we happy?"

Alex breathed deeply through her nose as she contemplated her response. "Yes, you're happy," she offered. "You're so happy it makes other people sick sometimes." Harry released a deep breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Do you remember that time on Valentine's Day when we were up in the Owlery?" Alex continued on. "We were talking about love and you were so afraid that you wouldn't find the right girl. You don't have to worry, Harry, you will find her some day. She'll be everything that you're looking for."

Harry couldn't trust himself to speak properly. It was a few moments before he could collect himself together. "Well," he started in a shaky tone. "Never expected you to say something like that. Are you sure I won't miss her? How will know it's her."

"Don't think about it too much," Alex advised. "Just don't look for her and you'll find her when you least suspect it. Trust me, you'll know when it happens."

Harry glanced at Alex as she looked out over the school grounds. He suddenly remembered how she had been back in the hospital wing and that time he saw her life in her eyes. Now it all made perfect sense. Now he understood the tired look in her eyes because that was how he felt most of the time. He believed her when she said she had been through a lot in her life. Harry had had many of his own problems.

"You know," Harry sighed as he rested his head against the wall. "I think I'm beginning to see Hermione's point. We're very similar, from the little things all the way down to fact that we both had rough childhoods. Though it seems to me that you would have had one advantage over me."

"And what would that be?" Alex tilted her head to one side curiously.

"Apparently you have a family that actually loves you," Harry said with a slight hint of bitterness, but not bitterness that was directed at Alex; it was more directed at life and its general unfairness.

"Harry, just look around you," Alex whispered as her eyes began to get glossy. "You might not have had two loving parents but you have family everywhere. You are surrounded by people who love you. Sometimes you underestimate that love but it's always there."

As Harry listened to Alex, images of everyone he knew flashed randomly through his mind. The more he envisioned them, the more he knew that Alex was right. He could see the Weasleys, who were pretty much his adopted family anyway. He saw professors like Dumbledore and McGonagall, who had always been like wise and encouraging grandparents. Then there were his friends like Hermione and even Neville, who would always be there for him. And finally he saw people like Remus and Hagrid, uncle-like figures who were always watching over him. Even his parents and Sirius were probably watching over him.

"See?" Alex grinned as if she could read his mind. "I told you. They're there for you, Harry. Never doubt that for a second."

"This is so strange," Harry shook his head. "Here you are giving me advice when I'm technically the parent and you're the daughter."

"Maybe technically…" Alex hesitated slightly.

"But what?" Harry asked.

"Well, don't get offended or anything," Alex continued. "But it's kind of hard for me see you as…I mean, I know you're meant to be my dad but at this point…"

"You don't actually see me as your father," Harry finished for her.

"Yes and no," Alex admitted. "It's really bizarre for me. I see you and you look like Dad, minus quite a few years and you even talk like Dad most of the time. It's just that you don't have everything that makes Dad him. We're pretty much the same age right now, whereas Dad's been through more than you have; not saying that you haven't been through a lot, but Dad has been around longer than you. He's had the chance to do a lot of things you haven't done yet. I guess a part of me realizes that and I don't feel like I can say you're him even when you are…and this is why I hate time travel because this is getting way too confusing."

"I think I understand," Harry grinned at Alex's frustration. "You must miss him a lot. What do you think will happen if we win this thing?"

"When we win," Alex corrected him. "And, yeah, I do miss him, but it's not too bad. Being here with you guys helps, even if you're all a bit younger. As for what will happen…I don't know. I just hope I can get home to the future. I hope that everything will be different…for the better…"

"Are you worried?" Harry asked carefully, remembering a certain conversation from Alex's memory. Alex nodded slightly and let out a big sigh.

"A little," Alex confessed. "Only 85 accurate, that's what Hermione said. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I just don't want to end up in the Stone Age or some place like that."

"Let's hope not," Harry looked carefully at Alex as she fiddled with a piece of thread on her jumper. He knew she could guard her emotions carefully but he could tell that she was nervous. It seemed so strange to him; she was utterly confident in their future but when it came to her own she was completely lost. Not that he could blame her. Who knows what the ramifications would be if something went wrong with the return journey. She could end up, as she said, in totally different time or place; or even worse, maybe she wouldn't even be born at all. What, then, would happen to her if she tried to return to the future? Would she just cease to exist? Harry didn't know enough about time travel to know the answers to these questions. She was probably asking herself these exact same questions. No wonder she looked so nervous.

"Alex?" he asked softly. She looked up into his eyes at the sound of his voice. "Everything will be alright. I promise." Alex offered him a weak smile.

"Thank you, Harry."

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A/N: Please review!

Next Chapter: Voldemort may finally be making a move...someone unexpected will step up and become a leader.