"Guess what," James said, sitting down at the table near the fireplace where Alexandra, Fred and Alanna were working on their Potions homework. "My dad said he's going to come to the Quidditch match on Saturday; you're dad's coming with him, Fred."

"Really?" Fred said, looking up from his work. "Cool! They'll get to see us crush Slytherin!"

"I didn't know they let parents come and watch the games," Alexandra said.

"If they're friendly enough with the teachers, they can usually manage an invite," Fred explained.

"They'll be sitting with Neville in the teacher's box," James said. "I'm gonna go find Al and tell him."

"Now we have to win," Fred said. "That would be humiliating if we lost to Slytherin while our parents watched."

"Savannah seems to think we're going to have a strong season," Alanna reminded him. "And Slytherin's best player graduated last year."

"You guys will do fine," Alexandra assured them. "But speaking of Quidditch, don't you lot have practice soon?"

"Blimey, she's right," Fred said. "We need to be on the field in ten minutes."

"We'll see you later, Alexandra," Alanna said, cramming her books into her bag.

Alexandra watched as her two friends hurried out of the common room. She was quite used to being left alone while they went to practice, but that didn't stop her from feeling lonely sometimes…

"Alexandra," Victoire called from across the common room where she was standing next to the window. "There's an owl out here with a letter for you."

Alexandra's blood froze. Was her mother writing to her again?
Ever since Alexandra had responded to her mother's invitation to stay with her for the holiday three weeks earlier, her letters had stopped. Was she starting up again?

Alexandra quickly headed to the window where one of the school's owls clutched a roll of parchment with her name on it in its beak. She retrieved the letter and headed away from the other students to read it.

Relief spread through her body when she realized it wasn't her mother writing to her, but then a cold shudder went down her spine when she realized who it was from. All the letter said was: Meet me in the R.O.R in ten minutes.

Alexandra stared down at the sentence. Every sensible bone in her body was telling her to throw the parchment into the fireplace and go back to her homework, but then there was that tiny bit of her that seemed to be pulling her towards the portrait door.

He probably wants to try and convince me to stay with him and his mother for the holiday, she thought. I'll just set him straight and then get out of there…

Stuffing the letter into her pocket, she quietly snuck out of the common room. When she reached the hallway where the Room of Requirements was, she paced in front of the door three times and then slowly entered.

Wretermoust was standing in the middle of the room.

"I see you got my letter," he said.

"I already told your mum that I'm not staying with her for the holiday," Alexandra said, closing the door behind her. "So if you're going to try and-"

"That's not why I asked you here," he said quickly. "In fact, by staying with your father, you've just given us the perfect opportunity…"

"Why?" she frowned.

"You see Harry Potter over the break every year, don't you?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "But what's that got to do-"

"Several months ago, Harry Potter received something that could be…slightly detrimental if he discovers what it really is."

"Well good," Alexandra said firmly. "Hopefully Harry will figure it out and then whatever it is that you and your mum are planning and-"

"When I said detrimental," Wretermoust interrupted, a cruel grin twisting onto his face. "I didn't mean detrimental for her. Sure, she'd rather avoid the whole scene at the moment, but if Potter were to discover it, it wouldn't be the worst thing for her…the real trouble would be for you."

"For me?"

"Potter has a necklace chain," Wretermoust continued. "That mum left behind years and years ago; before Lord Voldemort fell. That chain doesn't look like much at first, but upon very, very close examination, one can see the tiny engraving on the clasp. It says Mildred Greene."

"Mildred Greene?" Alexandra repeated. "That's the name-"

"Our mum used when she was married to your father," he nodded. "Mum had been planning that for years before she acted. She stole the necklace from the real Mildred Greene after she killed her. Now Potter hasn't found it yet, but he will. And when he does, you can be sure he'll investigate the name and find out mum used it as an alias. He'll find out that she was married to your father and that they had one child together; you."

Alexandra's heart began to race.

"Knew you wouldn't fancy that idea," Wretermoust said.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked weakly. "To make sure he doesn't find out."

"When you're at his home," he told her. "Steal the chain. Give it to me when we come back from the holiday and I'll see that it gets to mum."

"Steal it?"

"It's the only way you can make sure he doesn't find out," Wretermoust said.

Alexandra looked into the fireplace in the corner of the room, which was crackling away. He was right. If she didn't take the chain from Harry he would find out Claridina was her mother.

She took a deep breath.

"I'll do it."