Alexandra crammed as many books as she could into her bag and piled the remaining into her arms as she headed out of the library. She'd been there since dinner had ended, trying to find any mention of The Prince, but had no luck.
She tried to hurry back to the common room as fast as she could manage, but under the weight of the books, it was rather difficult to walk even at a normal pace. She was turning the corner when she felt herself collide with another body.
"Sorry," she said as the books tumbled out of her hand.
"It's all right."
Alexandra was surprised to see Rose, who was kneeling down to start helping her pick up the books.
"Thanks," Alexandra said, getting down as well.
"Checked out half the library, did you?" Rose smiled kindly. "Thought I was the only one around here who did that."
"Yes, well, I'm trying to find something," Alexandra replied.
"About potions, I'm guessing?" she said, looking at the titles of the books.
"Yes."
"What are you looking for? Maybe I could help you."
Alexandra pondered this for a moment. It was no secret that Rose was incredibly smart; perhaps even smarter than Alanna, which was definitely saying something. Would she know of the Half-Blood Prince? Maybe she had come across it in one of the hundreds of books she had read. But at the same time, she sort of wanted to keep the Prince to herself. Besides, she had gone through many books herself and had found nothing; what were the odds that Rose had found him in one of her books anyway?
"Just a little background on a potion Slughorn mentioned in class," Alexandra said. "And I'm positive that one of these books have it. Thanks, though."
"No problem," Rose said. "Good luck. Have you seen Albus, by the way? Him and I were supposed to meet here an hour ago to visit Hagrid, but it seems like he forgot…probably hanging out with Scorpius again."
"Er, no, I haven't seen him," Alexandra said. "I'll tell him you're looking for him if I see him on the way up, though."
When she got back up to the common room, Alexandra was happy to see that it was nearly empty. A few groups of students huddled around the fireplace playing gobstones, but everyone else seemed to have retired to bed early. She found herself a table by a window and spread the books out among it. Fred and Alanna would be back within an hour from Quidditch practice, which meant she had that long to peacefully peruse the books until they returned. The hour seemed to fly by, though, and by the time the portrait door swung open and Fred and Alanna and the other members of the team walked in, she had only gotten a chance to go through two books.
"Savannah's scheduled practice everyday this week," Fred moaned, throwing himself into a chair across from Alexandra.
"Well she's losing a whole week of practice next week when half of the team's going to be gone for the spring holiday," Alanna reminded him.
"Are you both staying here over the break?" Alexandra asked. She knew she was. Her father had written her the week before to tell her that their house was going to be fumigated that week and he was going to have to stay in a tiny hotel where it was barely large enough for one person, let alone two.
"Nah, I'm staying at James's house," Fred said. "With my sister. Our parents are visiting my Uncle Charlie in Romania."
"I'll be here," Alanna smiled. She looked at the pile of books. "How many books did you take from the library?"
"Just some that looked helpful," Alexandra shrugged.
"All this for just a little background in potions?" Fred frowned. "Seems like the whole history of the thing if you ask me."
"I'm just reading pieces from each," she explained.
"Are they at least helpful?" Alanna asked.
"More or less," Alexandra replied.
"Why don't you just ask Slughorn about whatever potion's giving you trouble?" Fred asked. "It would save you all this stress."
"I-I sort of want to find it on my own," Alexandra said.
"Suit yourself," Fred said, rolling his eyes. "I'm heading to bed. See you guys at breakfast."
"Are you coming up to bed too?" Alanna asked. "Or are you going to stay down here and read some more?"
"I think I'm done for tonight, actually," she yawned.
"You know," Alanna said as Alexandra stuffed some of the books back into her bag. "You've spending a lot of time reading lately."
"You read a lot too," Alexandra pointed out.
"Yes," Alanna nodded. "But, well, you've never been too interested in potions before."
"So?" Alexandra said, almost defensively. "I've decided I wanted to get better at it. You see how my potions are always sloppy compared to yours and Fred's."
Alanna shrugged. "Okay. I was just wondering if there was maybe another reason why you were reading all these books."
"There isn't," she said firmly. She stuffed the last of the books into her bag. "Good night."
And with that she headed up to her dormitory, leaving Alanna standing alone in the common room.
….
"Snape was right about the Mandrake leaves," Hermione said, walking into Harry and Ron's office. "All that's left of the Athrimo potion is a cauldron of water."
"Well at least we know how to destroy it now," Harry said. "Problem is, if it's already been released into the air, the leaves won't be of much help."
"It would be hard for Claridina to gather up the ingredients to make another batch, though," Ron pointed out. "They're so hard to come by it probably took her months just to make the first batch."
"You're right, I don't think Claridina's going to try anything for awhile," Harry nodded. "But unfortunately, she's more dangerous when she's quiet."