The newspaper had never been a high reading priority for Alice, having been brought up with Regina's philosophy of 'Same shit, different day.' And considering that that 'same shit' was usually depressing, it happened to be one of the few things Alice agreed with Regina on.

But when, two days after she'd returned from school, Alice saw the copy of The Eastern Oracle on the coffee table, she knew something important must have happened. The headline certainly wasn't something she had been expecting.

DUMBLEDORE BACKS BOY-WHO-LIVED'S CLAIM OF YOU-KNOW-WHOS RETURN; FUDGE DENIES!

A read of the large article beneath described the horrific end of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. A boy named Cedric Diggory had died, and the only explanation given was Harry Potter's claim that Lord Voldemort was the cause. Such a statement from the boy who had brought the dark wizards downfall had caused quite the stir.

A statement given by the British Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, proclaimed that Diggory's death had been an accident, and that Harry Potter was quite distressed from the events of the evening.

Dumbledore, however, had sided with the Boy-Who-Lived.

The general rumors over the next few days, at least from the old gossips on the corners of Libra Lane, were that: either Potter or Dumbledore, or both, had finally cracked, or this was the work of the terrorists from the World Cup.

But by and far, the more commonly accepted theory was that Fudge was denying something, because this seemed to be the first time anyone could remember him openly opposing the elderly headmaster.

Any way that one would look at it, the general consensus was that England was not a vacation hotspot for the summer. And it was certainly not a place Alice would willingly go.

"No."

These men were senile if they thought she was going anywhere with them. She began to back up towards the door she'd come through, praying it was unlocked. Her sneakers squeaked a few times, a sound she barely registered.

Her eyes never left the forms of the three men on the other side of the room as she reached out her hand behind her back for the door handle. When she grasped it and tried to turn it, however, it wouldn't budge.

'Fuck. Now what?'

She doubted that she could get her wand out and try an unlocking charm before someone else managed to stop her. The fact that this door was locked was more than likely the only reason she'd gotten across the room. The other door was blocked, and she had no idea where it led to anyway.

"Miss, there isn't any need to run. I understand this must all seem unnerving to you, but you needn't be afraid." Dumbledore spoke, though one couldn't miss the light snort from his younger companion. The swift elbow the older man sent his way might have made her laugh any other day.

"I'm not going. Now let me out!" she yelled.


"That isn't going to happen." His voice was deep, his words sharp. Severus wasn't going to start this relationship with that kind of attitude. He could understand she was nervous, that this was large change for her, but he refused to accept such a tone from her.

'There's no time for this. But how to make her come willingly?'

She was too old for promises of toys or candy, like he'd known Draco would have given into as a child. This was also far too new a situation for her to follow into blindly, no matter Dumbledore's assurances that answers would be forthcoming. If they hadn't been pressed for time, he might have felt more than a sliver of pride for her stubbornness to follow so quickly, no matter who was leading.

Pride. He felt himself stiffen just a little at the slight feeling. Pride for a child he didn't even know, so foreign and yet it felt right.

"Don't I get a say in where the hell I go?"

That small feeling of pride dissipated to near nothingness, annoyance taking it's place at Alice's choice of words. Severus hoped that she wasn't accustomed to using others like it, but refused to hold his breath.

"You will watch your language, young lady, or you'll find yourself having a taste for soap." 'Merlin, but I hope I don't have to follow through on that threat.'

Alice crossed her arms and leveled him with a nasty glare that he knew meant she wasn't going down without a fight. "Listen here Buddy, I don't care what the pink goop in that pot says. I don't know you, I don't trust you, and I'm not going anywhere with you."

Severus couldn't help but smirk, and by the look on Alice's face, he was certain it unsettled her. If this was the game she was going to play, he had years of experience on her.

"By all means, don't care about what the 'pink goop' says. It no longer matters. What does matter is that the legal documents for your guardianship now have my signature on them. And that means you don't have to know me, or trust me, but you will go where I tell you to."

Her face reddened and her eyes narrowed, and Severus was certain she was about to stamp her foot like a five year old. The image look form in his head and he suppressed the laugh that would have escaped him if he wasn't so controlled. He also managed to repress the tiny thought of how cute the image actually was before he found himself angry at having been robbed of the chance to actually see her as a small child.

She didn't stamp her foot, but she didn't move either. The idea of stunning her and simply taking her back to Hogwarts unconscious was becoming more appealing by the second, but Severus was rather certain that that wouldn't go over well with anyone else.

A hand on his shoulder had him looking at Dumbledore.

"Perhaps, Severus, it would help if we knew why going with us is so opposable?" Dumbledore turned his head to face Alice. "Certainly if the idea of discovering the truth and it's consequences wasn't what you wanted, you wouldn't be here I should think. So what is the problem with accompanying us home?"

She turned her head and stared at one of the tiles on the floor. She knew she had to provide an answer, but anything less than the truth wouldn't do. And really, she didn't want to admit it that the thought of going to a country that everyone was saying to avoid was frightening on a deeper level. But lying wasn't an option, because she had this feeling that those piercing blue eyes would know if she did.

She looked out the corner of her eye to the older man and then quickly set her sight back to the tile. 'No, definitely no lying.'

"I'm not stupid. This whole thing screams conspiracy." She met his gaze then. "And I'm not interested in getting into any of it."

She hoped they understood what she meant, because she wasn't going any further.

Dumbledore's blue eyes softened, but unless her eyes were deceiving her, so did the darker ones beside him. They might have been tricking her, because the moment she looked over at him, there was nothing in the obsidian pools.

"You've got no reason to trust 'em, I'll admit." It was Mr. Jackson who spoke up. "I know you aren't stupid, you know who he is." A thumb pointed in Dumbledore's direction. "And you'd have to live in some frozen hole in Alaska to not hear about what happened last week. You don't know half of it, but he promised answers and he's not gonna break that promise. But believe me when I say out of the options we had, this is probably the best for you kid."

Never mind that he had provided no answers at all, Jackson's words had given her more comfort than the other two had. She looked at them, staring each in the eye before heaving a sigh and dropping her arms to her sides.

She looked to Dumbledore. "Fine, but I want answers or I'm gone with the wind, Buster."