I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated last. Things have just gotten in the way of my writing. Well, here's chapter 23 anyways so I hope you'll find it as good as usual. :)

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Chapter 23

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"You've got to be kidding me?" Alice turned to face Pansy Parkinson. She looked just as much as a dog that she had done the last time Alice had seen her. "What are you trying out for? Skank of the year?" Alice stepped up to Pansy; she was without doubt taller than Pansy, who tried to back away a few steps.

"What did Draco give you for Christmas?" Pansy didn't answer. "Guess he couldn't find anything that went with that dogface of yours." The expression in Pansy's face told Alice it had stung.

"What did he give you?" Pansy was on the brink of crying. Pathetic, thought Alice. Pansy seemed so strong otherwise; surprising something so obvious would be her weakest point. Alice leaned in towards her.

"Himself", she whispered in her ear. "Entirely." Alice took out her wand without anyone noticing and pointed it into Pansy's side.

"I do think you want to carry my bag", Alice said with a smile. Alice dropped the bag in Pansy's hand, whom immediately put the bag in her shoulder and followed Alice.

"Pansy, where are you going?" Millicent Bulstrode yelled after them. Pansy's face had gotten even paler; she must have remembered the last incident between the two of them. They walked across the hall by the main entrance and down towards the dungeons.

"A-are you going to hurt me again?" Pansy said behind her. Alice stopped and looked over her shoulder. Pansy was afraid to even meet her eyes.

"No, not when you behave that is", Alice said, once again with a smile. They started walking again and entered the Slytherin common room. Alice took one look, it was crowded, the first day of term was around the corner. She made her way over to the right, Blaise was there with some of his friends. Amongst them Draco.

"Hey babe", Alice said. Blaise stood up and turned towards her.

"Hey..." He said and took her in with a surprised smile. Alice took a step forward, she looked to her right. Draco was looking at her in chock. Their eyes met. Then she looked back at Blaise and kissed him. Most of the boys around them cheered and clapped their hands. Just like in a high school-movie. Alice finished the kiss and stepped away. Daphne was the one she needed to talk to now.

"I thought you said that you were with Draco?" Pansy said; Alice had almost forgotten that pansy was following her.

"I said he gave himself to me, I didn't say I want him. You can have him if you'd like." Alice stopped in front of the armchair Daphne sat in. Daphne looked up, her first reaction was chock, then it went over to a smile.

"O, what's up with the outfit?" Daphne asked, she obviously tried to sound serious but failed miserably. "It makes you look bad!" Alice raised an eyebrow towards her friend.

"Don't get me wrong, you're all about dresses and skirts and stuff. But this, I mean wow! I like it!" Daphne stood up and smiled again before they hugged each other. Then she nodded slightly towards Pansy that was standing a few feet away. Alice attached her gaze in Pansy's.

"Go away?" She then harshly said. Pansy put the bag on the table next to them and it seemed as she couldn't get away fast enough.

"Hey, you're almost as tall as I am in those shoes", Daphne said and started measuring the height difference between them. Alice caught her own reflection in one of the windows. Maybe it did make her look bad, the tight, black jeans, the low-cut top and the boots. This was her now though – she wasn't just showing of an image. She was showing of herself, her new self.

"Um, hi", said Draco, he was standing right beside her. Daphne slowly disappeared and left the two of them alone.

"What is it?" Alice asked and looked at him carefully. He was holding his wand, turning it in his hands, rolling it between his fingers. Something was bothering him.

"What was that about?" He asked, as if she would understand what he meant. He didn't look her in the eyes; in fact, he wasn't looking at her at all. "I thought..." He interrupted himself, swallowing hard.

"Maybe you should stop thinking so much and go do what you're supposed to do", she said with a cold smile. He looked up at her in fear.

"You know?"

"Yes, I know. He wouldn't be too pleased with you if he found out you were spending useful time on me when you have other, more important things to attend to. Now would he?"

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Daphne and Blaise made their way to the Great Hall; Alice was supposed to have met up with them in the common room for supper. It had been two weeks since school started, two weeks since Alice got back.

"Have you noticed the change in Alice?" Daphne asked quietly. A group of younger Slytherin students were passing by.

"Change? How do you mean?" Blaise asked. Daphne stopped and looked at him with a serious gaze.

"I mean it, Blaise. Don't you see it?" Blaise sighed and turned to her.

"Yeah, I see it", he said and shrugged his shoulders. "I love her, no matter how she changes."

"I'm not saying we should try to change her back", Daphne defended herself. "Something must have happened!"

"I think we should leave it to her then", Blaise said. "It's her thing to deal with. If she wants to go back that fine, but if she wants to be like this, it's fine too." They stood quiet for a moment. Harper and a few others from the Quidditch team walked by.

"Hey Blaise, you coming to practise?" Harper said with a goofy, boyish smile.

"I'll be right down", Blaise said. Daphne and Blaise looked at each other one last time before Blaise followed the boys. How could he not care? Didn't he see the abrupt change in his girlfriend? Trying not to think about it Daphne walked in to the Great Hall searching for Alice. She then noticed her; surrounded by girls Daphne had never seen before, involved it what seemed as an intense discussion. They sat not far from Pansy Parkinson and her friends either. Daphne came in and sat next to Alice, she looked around at the girls sitting beside them. For a moment she wasn't sure if she should be bothered by them of not.

"Pansy was talking about you again", Daphne said and picked up the napkin.

"Sometimes I wish someone would hex her right in the face, making her nose shoot mucus or something", Alice sighed, tiered of Pansy's constant talk about her. Pansy hadn't dared to open her mouth whilst Alice was around. Rumours had it, though, she more then opened her mouth about Alice when Alice wasn't there.

"Why would you want to be with her? Isn't she a mudblood?" Alice continued the conversation. She casted a vicious glance towards the Rawenclaw girl whom for the moment were sitting by them at the table.

"I'm not sure", Amy said, looking down on the floor.

"I bet that blood of hers is giving her a hard time getting any friends at all", Alice laughed and the girls beside her did the same. "Who would want to socialize with a mudblood anyway?"

"We just got to know each other, I didn't know..." Amy tried to explain herself.

"Of course you're the one getting in this sort of trouble, Amy", the girl next to Daphne said. She was long, lean and had thick, brown hair. "You never think."

"Now, now, Jenny, don't be harsh", Alice said and Jenny instantly returned to her former, calm state. "After all, I'm sure all of you will take not of whom to and not to be with furtherer on."

"What do we do then, if they won't leave you alone?" A third girl asked. All of them seemed insecure of themselves.

"Just point your wand at them and think Solvta Inter", Alice said with a cunning smile. Daphne had never seen her like this before. She wasn't just giving friends advice, she was demanding them in a way so that they themselves didn't even realise it. "It's a non-verbal spell. But even you girls should be able to perform it." Alice looked each and every one of them for a second in the eyes. "I trust you", she then said with a smile. The five girls around them stood up and left the table, without speaking a word to anyone else.

"And how long have you known them?" Daphne asked and started eating from the food on her plate.

"Long enough", Alice said, with the same, cunning smile she'd had before.

"Don't do that to me", Daphne said, putting her fork down with a slam.

"Do what?" Alice looked honestly surprised.

"Pretend like you know something I don't, like you're better than me", Daphne said between clutched teeth. Alice leaned in, looking very serious but still with that, god forbid it, annoying smile.

"But I do know something you don't", she said and left the table. Daphne stood up and followed her friend. This wasn't going to end. Not like this anyway. The clothes and the attitude towards others she could handle. But when it came down to friends... That's where the line goes. Daphne caught up with Alice just above the stairs down to the dungeons. Alice was holding a piece of parchment in her hands. She glanced over her shoulder and made it burn in her hands as Daphne got closer.

"What was that about?" Daphne asked, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"A letter", Alice said and started walking away from Daphne. "It wasn't for me."

"Oh, come on! We both know that's not the truth!" Daphne said in rage.

"Fine! It was a note from Dumbledore asking me to come to his office", Alice said and turned to Daphne.

"And you're not going?"

"No. He's just going to snoop around in my private life, as always."

"You've never objected towards it before?" Daphne walked down the steps so they were at the same height again. They stood quiet as a group of students passed by. "What happened? You can tell me, you know that."

"Nothing happened Daphne, just let it go!" Alice said. She might have sounded very convincing to someone else. Daphne knew she was lying; Alice wouldn't look directly in her eyes when she spoke. Although, Daphne sighed;

"Whatever, if you say so." Alice smiled, this time it was her genuine smile. "So, tell me about these new friends of yours", Daphne said and smiled back.

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Professor Dumbledore walked down the stairs in the big castle. It had been long since he did so. The path he was taking was leading down to the dungeons where he had some unfinished business. Most of the student that he met either warmly greeted him or just walked by, as if he wasn't there. Fortunately, none of them seemed to take notice of his black hand. They were all heading back to their common rooms as is was about bedtime.

"Albus." Professor Dumbledore stopped and turned.

"Minerva", he said with a soft smile.

"Albus there is something I think you should see", she said, her worry was unnoticeable. "In the hospital."

"I'm afraid that I am on my way to a very important meeting. Is it crucial?" Professor Dumbledore said, he had a pretty good guess of what was going on.

"She stable for now, Severus is with her", Professor McGonagall said. "There is nothing wrong with her; it seems as if her body is just shutting down."

"She is going to be fine, Minerva. I believe that the girl is in good hands", professor Dumbledore said. Professor McGonagall nodded and hurried away along the corridor. As professor Dumbledore continued his walk the corridors started to empty completely. He casted a glance on the watch, it was past bedtime with about fifteen minutes now. By the time he got down to the dungeons almost half an hour had passed. He stepped in to the Slytherin common room; only the older students were still out of bed. They all watched him as he crossed the room, towards the only person that didn't pay any attention to him. He stopped by the table she and her friends were sitting at. Both Mr. Zabini and Ms. Greengrass watched him with big eyes.

"Alice, for god's sake!" Daphne finally said and pushed her on the arm. Alice looked up, directly at professor Dumbledore.

"I believe we have a meeting", he said with a, in Alice's opinion, far too kind smile.

"Right", she said and closed her books. "I must have forgotten, sir."

"No worries Alice", professor Dumbledore said. "Take a walk with me." Alice left her books at the table and walked after the old man. Professor Dumbledore took one last glance around the room; he could only find one student missing.

"Much to do in class? A lot of homework?" Professor Dumbledore asked when they'd left the common room.

"Not really, sir", Alice said, she looked down on the floor.

"Then you don't really have a reason to have skipped our appointments these last weeks?" Alice shrugged her shoulder.

"I guess not", she said in a low tone. They continued under silence.

"How are things going otherwise? I noticed some new friends of yours", Professor Dumbledore said as they got closer to his office.

"Enough chit-chat", Alice said. "Get to the point." They stepped on the spinning staircase and stepped in to professor Dumbledore's office.

"Alice, as you might have noticed people seem to change around you", Dumbledore said, he walked over to the desk and sat down behind it as usual. Alice started stepping back and forth through the circular room.

"I don't mean for them to do as I say. Most things I say is rubbish anyway", Alice said, stopped and looked at professor Dumbledore.

"Like when you told them that you wished someone would hex Pansy Parkinson in the face, making her nose shoot out mucus?" Professor Dumbledore looked at the young girl over the edge of his glasses. He folded his hands together and rested his chin upon them.

"Yeah", Alice scratched the back of her head. "Like that, I'd never believe someone of them would actually do it."

"I want you to be careful though, Alice", professor Dumbledore said. "They take things a lot more serious than you mean to... Unfortunately we don't have time to do what I planned for today, so I'm afraid we must reschedule for yet another meeting." Alice looked down in the floor once more.

"The girl, in the hospital?" Alice said and looked up at him.

"Ah, you know about her?"

"Everyone does", Alice said. "You should try giving her some essence of Dittany."

"Essence of Dittany is manly used for external wounds..."

"That's just because no one's ever tried eating it", Alice said. Dumbledore nodded. This girl was much more knowing that she portrayed. The devouring of books he'd heard of was probably a part of it.

"I'm not going to keep you any longer Alice, but this was a warning. Our meetings are of far more importance than you might understand", professor Dumbledore said.

"Good night sir", Alice said and turned to walk out from his office.

"Alice, you dropped something", professor Dumbledore said and pointed slightly on the piece of paper on the floor. Alice stopped, looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"No, I didn't", she said before continue walking. Professor Dumbledore stood up, walked over and picked up the paper. It was an old photo that seemed more than familiar. On the picture was a cave by the shore.