Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter but Alicia is mine
Chapter 8
Alicia didn't go to any class that day. After her outburst at breakfast, she preferred to go for a walk.
The little girl walked in the rain, her eyes closed.
She was fighting with a new feeling. Alicia had never felt like that.
She was ashamed, miserable, and felt terribly lonely.
Alicia was aware of the gift she had to manipulate people. Hadn't she controlled her little cousins when they were younger? Hadn't she enjoyed bossing them around all the time?
She had loved every moment spent with her cousins, as they worked, begged and cried.
Alicia had always been cruel.
But now she was unhappy. She hadn't been able to control her parents or her tears.
Alicia suddenly stopped and opened her eyes.
In front of her she saw the tall dark trees of Hogwarts: the forbidden forest.
The Headmistress had told them that the forest was a dangerous place.
Danger was everything Alicia liked. With a grin, she walked into the forest.
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"What do you mean she has disappeared?" the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher roared.
Elisabeth didn't answer. She hadn't seen Alicia for four hours now. The girl seemed to have disappeared completely. Now the teacher was yelling at Elisabeth. Mr. Collins was the only one who didn't adore Alicia.
"I don't know, Elisabeth said, she ran away at breakfast and I haven't seen her since!"
The blond girl's voice was cold. Mr. Collins was taken aback. He knew Elisabeth was not to be trusted but she had always been polite. Now she seemed to be acting a bit like Alicia.
Mr. Collins was getting angrier by the minute. He was a clever man, and he had long noticed that some first years seemed to follow Alicia.
There was a long silence in the classroom. The Slytherins were grinning to each other. They couldn't wait for the bell to ring, so they could congratulate Alicia.
The Ravenclaws, who were having class with the Slytherins, were confused.
They didn't know Alicia very well and they wondered how a first year could dare skip a class.
Mr. Collins was thinking the same thing. Then he remembered what Elisabeth had just said.
"She has missed more than one class?" he asked bewildert.
Elisabeth nodded.
"Well, Mr. Collins sighed, when you see Alicia again tell her I'm waiting for her excuse. Of course she will have a detention."
Elisabeth nodded again.
Suddenly a timid Ravenclaw girl put her hand into the air.
"Professor?"
Mr. Collins turned to her.
"Yes?"
"Professor, I don't think it's a good idea to give Alicia a detention."
Mr. Collins laughed. He had always wanted to give Alicia a detention and now he had the perfect excuse. But he was a nice man, so he listened to the Ravenclaw.
"Why not?"
"Well, I saw her running out of the great hall this morning. She seemed quite miserable. Maybe a detention will only make her sadder."
"I don't think so. Alicia Potter is a good actress. Surely she was just pretending to be sad."
"No, she wasn't pretending, the Ravenclaw girl said, I'm sure of that. She was crying."
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Alicia had stopped crying. Instead she became very interested in the forest. Sometimes she heard strange noises, saw strange shadows.
After a long walk the little girl sat down. She looked at her muggle watch, a gift from her grandfather.
She was supposed to be in class with the Ravenclaws, learning how to defend herself against the Dark Arts.
Alicia giggled as she thought of Mr. Collins.
She knew she was going to be in trouble with him once she walked back to the castle.
But Alicia didn't want to return to the castle.
She felt even more at home under the dark trees than she ever was in the Slytherin common-room or in her parents' house.
"You are troubled my dear," someone hissed.
Alicia didn't even jump as she heard this strange voice. She had almost expected something like that. The forest hid many secrets and mysteries.
As the little girl looked around, she saw no one. But that didn't bother her very much.
"I am. I am afraid my father doesn't respect my choices."
"And what choices are thessse?" the voice hissed again.
Alicia smiled. She liked this new invisible friend.
"I have been put into Slytherin."
There was a long hiss.
"You go to that wizard's ssschool? I have heard of it. And I have heard of the Ssslytherin house. Do not worry. It isss, from what I've heard the bessst houssse."
Alicia frowned.
"If you live in this forest, you surely saw the castle!"
"Not necessarily."
"Who are you?" Alicia asked at last.
The voice hissed angrily.
"You speak to me, yet you don't even know who I am?"
Alicia said nothing. She was ready to stand up when she felt something on her shoe.
She looked down.
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Alicia came back into the Slytherin common room only in the evening.
The moment she walked in, Elisabeth came to her and several first years. They told her about Mr. Collins's anger; they told her how lucky and clever she was. Then they asked her where she was.
Alicia simply pushed them aside impatiently and didn't answer.
She was about to make her way to her dorm when Elisabeth asked the final question.
"Why were you crying after breakfast?"
Alicia stopped in her tracks. The first years were all looking straight at her, waiting for her to say something.
Alicia cleared her throat loudly and tried to act casual.
"You knew about that?" she asked.
"Linda Patil, the Ravenclaw girl in our class told us."
A boy named Kevin was grinning at Alicia.
"Well, he said, you're lucky! When Mr. Collins heard about it, he decided against giving you a detention."
Alicia laughed nervously.
"Obviously I was pretending," she said.
And without another word she went to her dorm and closed the door behind her.
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That night, Elisabeth woke up with the sound of a door creaking open. She grabbed her wand and whispered 'Lumos!".
The door of the dorm was half open, and she could hear someone tip toeing in the common-room.
She directed her wand to where Alicia was sleeping.
The bed was empty.
Elisabeth sighed and waited. It wasn't the first time that Alicia disappeared in the middle of the night.
A few minutes later, Alicia appeared, with two large books under her arm. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were shining.
"What I need is an invisibility cloak!" Alicia joked.
Elisabeth had already heard of invisibility cloaks so she nodded.
"What kind of books have you brought now?" Elisabeth asked sitting up on her bed. She turned on the muggle light beside her.
"Books about Salazar Slytherin."
"Salazar? I thought it was the Dark Lord you were interested in!"
"I'm still interested in Voldemort but I think Salazar is also fascinating. After all they were the darkest wizards! And I think Salazar and Voldemort are related. The most successful wizards in the Dark Arts are all related!"
"Yet you're not related with Salazar," Elisabeth whispered. She hoped Alicia hadn't heard.
Unfortunately for Elisabeth, Alicia had.
"What did you just say?"
Elisabeth fiddled nervously with the end of her cushion. She didn't want to meet Alicia's gaze.
"It's just that a few nights ago, I had a dream."
"A dream? About what?" Alicia said.
"About our future. I dreamed that we were still friends, even five years after Hogwarts. In my dream, you were very powerful, and people began to compare you with the Dark Lord."
Alicia grinned.
"And then what happened?" Alicia wanted to know.
"I don't know," Elisabeth shrugged.
"You have to know! It's your dream after all!" Alicia cried.
It reminded her of the time when she was a little kid and Ginny read her stories, like the Three Little Pigs and Cinderella.
Every night, Alicia used to fall asleep with the sound of Ginny's voice.
And every time, when one of the three little pigs were about to be eaten by the wolf, Ginny would stop talking.
And little Alicia would beg her to continue.
"Come on, tell me the rest of your dream," Alicia cried again.
"No!"
"Please?"
Elisabeth sighed and this time she stopped fiddling with the cushion.
"I don't know the rest because I had to wake up."
"Oh." Alicia was disappointed.
"I had to wake up because I died in my dream." Elisabeth said.
"What kind of dream was this?"
"A nightmare."
The two girls laughed. Elisabeth was about to turn the light off when Alicia stopped her.
"Wait, you haven't told me why you died."
Elisabeth didn't answer immediately. She wanted to tell her friend, so that she could finally free herself of the nightmare that had haunted her thoughts for the past days.
She decided to get over with it. Elisabeth took a deep breath and then spoke.
"I died in my dream, Alicia, because you killed me."
Author's note : Just a little chapter before I go to England.
Hope you like it!
ps: For Laura, here is the teacher called Collins that you wanted:)