Alexandra hated the tiny square unit of a house her and her father had been placed in. There was only one room and one bed, so Dudley was forced to bunk on a pile of sheets he had set up in their sequestered living room. Even know, when she was alone while her father went back to their old house to try to bring back any of their belongings, Alexandra felt much too big for the house.

Alexandra suddenly felt hot and uncomfortable. She supposed that the cooling charm that was supposed to substitute central air conditioning had worn out. She sighed and she wiped the beads of sweat from her brow as she laid on the couch. She hadn't been doing much of anything else since Claridina's attack. She didn't have the energy, mentally, at least.

What have I done? Alexandra thought to herself for about the thousandth time. She couldn't see anyway out of this; she had made a vow, an Unbreakable Vow, to help kill the one man that it seemed the entire wizarding community was counting on to end this whole mess.

There has to be some loophole, she thought miserably, rolling up her sleeves as the heat continued to worsen. Somewhere…

The temperature kept rising and soon Alexandra's whole body was covered in sticky sweat.

This is ridiculous, she thought, finally getting up off the couch. She walked over to one of the windows and tried to pull it open, but it appeared to be stuck. She tried the other ones in the room but was met with the same results. She looked longingly at the door. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the house alone, but surely just getting a bit of fresh air for just a moment wouldn't do any harm? Besides, if she stayed in the house any longer, she probably would suffocate.

Cautiously, she stepped out of the protected house and into the open for the first time in what felt like days. She felt a cool breeze on the back of her neck and felt just a little bit relaxed.

"Out stretching your legs, are you?"

She spun around. There, standing about five feet away, was her mother.

She could feel anger boil inside of her. "You!"

"It looks like your ministry couldn't even spring for a roomier hiding spot," Claridina said in a casual tone one might use to discuss the weather. "The protection's spot on, though, I'll admit that. I couldn't get past it. I had to lure you out."

"You tricked me!" Alexandra cried furiously. "My father was alive that whole time! And it was your Thestral that was trying to kill him, not Harry's and the ministry's! And-And you made me make that Unbreakable Vow!"

"I did what was necessary," Claridina said simply. "And what was necessary was for me to gain inside access to Harry Potter."

"You lied to me to make me your spy? Is that it?"

"Don't be foolish, girl, I have plenty of spies infiltrated already," Claridina said. "No, you're more than a spy. You'll be able to get closer to Potter, help me get to him in ways he couldn't imagine."

"You're a monster," Alexandra said softly.

"Perhaps," Claridina said. "But then what does that make you?"

And before Alexandra could say another word, her mother was gone.

…

"Claridina Wretermoust?" Dudley repeated, his eyes widening. "No…there must be some mistake. That was my wife, Harry. We were married! I-I think I would know if she was as a crazy witch!"

"Dudley," Harry said. "Look at this." He pulled out a crumpled page of the Prophet on which there was a large picture of Claridina. He held it up against the picture frame. The woman in the frame looked a bit younger, but other than that, the pictures were identical.

"That-that can't be," Dudley said softly. "She-she told me her name was Mildred. Mildred Green. I-I met her at a bar after work one night…I-she-"

"She tricked, you Dudley," Harry said firmly.

"How-how could I not have seen that?" Dudley asked. "How could I not have known that she was a witch?"

"Because she deceives, people, that's what she does," Harry said.

"But-but why me?" Dudley asked. "Why would she pretend to be a muggle to marry me?"

Harry frowned. He was wondering that same thing as well. Why would Claridina marry Dudley while impersonating a muggle? If she wanted to try and get close to Harry, surely she could've managed to do so without marrying the cousin who at the time he didn't speak to. And then it hit him.

"She did it," Harry said gravely. "So she could have Alexandra."

"Alexandra," Dudley whispered.

"When was the last time Alexandra saw her mother?" Harry asked urgently.

"She-she left us when Alexandra was about two years old," Dudley said. "She hasn't had any contact with her since…oh, no."

"What?"

"Last summer," Dudley mumbled, leaning against one of the standing walls for support. "Mildred-Claridina, I mean, she-she started contacting me. She wanted to see Alexandra again. I was going to get the courts involved, but then-then Alexandra told me that she wanted to see her mother just once."

"Where did she go?" Harry asked.

"I-I don't know. Alexandra took underground to see her. I-I didn't want to be there." Dudley said. "Alexandra didn't know her mother was a witch, though."

Harry didn't say anything. He knew that Claridina's picture had been in the papers far before last summer; she was the most wanted witch in Europe, and he was positive that Claridina's name would've most definitely been brought up at the school. And then he remembered nearly four years when Claridina got lost in Diagon Alley and had wound up face-to-face with the woman herself and Harry had told her the name. No, Harry knew Alexandra would've known exactly who Claridina when she had seen her. Now the question was why had she kept his information to herself for nearly a year?