Author's Note: It's September 1st! You know what that means, right? I get to tell you that I don't own Harry Potter and only Alex. What, were you expecting something else? :P

Chapter 5 Preparations for Hogwarts

"Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously, noticing his frown. Alex leapt up from her seat on Harry's bed. "What's wrong?"

"Well," said Harry with a sigh, "It looks like you're going to have to put up with me for another year…I'm not expelled!"

He broke out into a grin and Alex let out a sigh of relief. She embraced him tightly and slapped his arm hard.

"Don't you scare us like that again!" she said, but was laughing, "Merlin Harry, do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Just trying to have a bit of fun," said Harry with a cheeky smile.

Both Hermione and Ron expressed their relief that Harry was going to stay. Now that the trial was over, the entire air of the house was that of relief and excitement for the school term to start. However, Alex couldn't help noticing her father's fake cheeriness. She knew it must be hard to be cooped up in a house he hated so much, but she hoped he wouldn't try to get out. If anything were to happen to him…no, it was too horrible to imagine.

Uncle Monty joined them the evening before they were to leave for Hogwarts. Alex noticed he looked drained and asked him if he was feeling all right.

"I think I'm getting too old for my job," Uncle Monty sighed, "Plus the fact that Fudge is going around questioning anyone who he knows is close to Dumbledore is getting rather old. I've been called to his office five times this week!"

"What does he ask?" Alex asked with a frown.

"The same old," Uncle Monty said tiredly, "If I know what Dumbledore is planning, is Dumbledore going to overthrow the Ministry, stuff like that."

"That's ridiculous!" cried Alex as she sat down at the table, "Why would he think that? Dumbledore's got a school to run, he doesn't care about taking over the Ministry at all!"

"Fudge has always revered and feared Dumbledore," said Uncle Monty heavily, "Now that he's on Dumbledore's bad side, he fears him. Fudge knows Dumbledore could take the Ministry like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Alex shook her head and went upstairs to finish packing her new school things. Mrs. Weasley had gotten their supplies earlier that week and Alex still had to put her things in her trunk. When she arrived in her room, Hermione was holding a letter and a badge in her hand, her eyes wide.

"What's up? You look like you just swallowed a frog," said Alex as she closed the door behind her.

"I'm…I'm a Prefect," Hermione whispered, looking at Alex in shock.

"A…But that's great Hermione!" said Alex with a laugh, "Congratulations!"

She drew Hermione into a hug and they began jumping up and down excitedly. Once they had calmed down, Alex looked the badge over in her hands.

"Come on," she said with an evil smile, "Let's go show the boys!"

Before Hermione could stop her, Alex tore out of the room and barged into the boy's room. Alex saw Harry holding a badge in his hands and grinned.

"Harry, you're one too?" she said happily.

"Are you a Prefect?" Ron asked, seeing the badge in Alex's hands.

"Me, no way!" said Alex, handing the badge to a red-faced Hermione, "Please, I cause too much trouble to be one."

"Well," said Harry, handing his badge to Ron, "That would explain why I didn't get it too."

"You mean…" Hermione drifted off and looked at Ron, "Wow Ron…congratulations! That's a great honor."

"Yeah," said Ron, looking at his badge with a small smile, "I guess it is."

Mrs. Weasley came in with a basket of laundry, the twins behind her each carrying a basket too.

"Ron, you're on the right while Harry's on the left," said Mrs. Weasley, putting the basket down, "Fred, George, take those into the girl's room. What are you two staring at?"

The twins were looking at the badge in Ron's hand. Mrs. Weasley turned, gasped aloud, and gave Ron a tight squeeze.

"Oh Ron!" she said, tears running down her face, "That's amazing! You could be Head Boy like Bill and…" She paused for a minute to compose herself and continued, "Oh your father will be so proud of you! I'll go tell him right now!"

She left in a hurry, the twins following batting their eyes at Ron like two fan girls saying, "Oh Ronnie, a Prefect!" again and again. Alex shut the door after them and turned to Ron.

"Why didn't your mum mention Percy?" she asked, "Come to think of it, where is Percy? Has he been working on papers all summer?"

Ron's face went dark as he said, "He's got a flat in London. He thinks what Dumbledore says is all hogwash and hates that Mum and Dad believe it. You see, Percy came home one night and told us he got a promotion at work, he was going to be the Minister's personal assistant."

"But," said Alex with a furrowed brow, "Percy didn't even notice the difference between when his boss was alive or dead. Remember Crouch Sr. was killed by the impostor Moody after Hagrid took Harry and me back to the castle that night with Krum?"

"Right, so why would he be promoted?" Hermione continued, "That was Mr. Weasley's philosophy. He thought that Fudge was trying to use Percy to get to Dumbledore, since the Weasley's are so close to him."

"Well, Dad told us that Fudge is trying to figure out what Dumbledore's up to because he's afraid of him," said Ron, "Dad voiced his opinion to Percy and Percy got all angry. He said that it was hard for him to make a name for himself in the Ministry because of Dad, you know because of his Muggle fascination. Anyway, Dad and Percy got into a big fight and there was a lot of shouting."

"It was horrible," said Hermione with a shudder, "He said such terrible things."

"Yeah, like that it was because of Dad's crazy love of Muggles that he got the job he has and isn't paid well. He blamed Dad for our, you know, lack of money and stuff…"

"That little-" Alex started but Hermione gave her a look and she stopped herself.

"It's all right, Fred and George had a few choice words to say to him via owl," said Ron with a shrug, "Percy also said that we were all fools to go around praising Dumbledore and we'd pay for it in the end. He said that if we all were going to be traitors to the Ministry, then he'd make sure he had nothing to do with us."

"That's terrible!" said Harry, "How could he say those things?"

Ron and Hermione didn't answer and they fell into silence. Alex then remembered the pile of clothes she had to put away so the girls returned to their room and packed up. Once they had finished, they went downstairs to help Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.

Upon entering the eating area, Alex saw a gigantic banner in the process of being hung up. It read, "Congrats Ron and Hermione!" in large red and gold lettering. She also saw her father sitting at the table, staring into the fire. She sat beside him and he didn't even move.

"Hey," she said quietly but Sirius still started, "Great about Ron and Hermione, isn't it?"

"Oh…yes it is," said Sirius a little distractedly, "Your aunt was a Prefect in our final year. She took over Lily's place when she became Head Girl."

"And you?"

"Me?" Sirius laughed heartily, but Alex could hear a touch of fake-ness in it, "Dumbledore would've had to have been more off his rocker than I thought to appoint me as Prefect. No, Moony was the good one of the group."

"What are you telling Alex about me?" Lupin asked, joining his old school friend.

"You were a Prefect?" Alex asked and smiled, "That doesn't surprise me at all!"

"I guess Dumbledore thought I'd be able to control my friends," said Lupin with a reminiscing smile, "But he was wrong about that. I don't think anyone could control your father and James except your mother and Lily."

"You're right there, Moony!" said Sirius letting out a true bark of laughter.

Mrs. Weasley had made a splendid going-away dinner for the Hogwarts students. Alex laughed at her friend's jokes and when Tonks changed her appearance randomly. Whenever she saw her father when he didn't see her looking, he was frowning as he picked at his food. She hated leaving him, but he would be safe here.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley called down, "What would you like me to get you as a reward for you getting Prefect?"

"W-What?" Ron stuttered.

"Well, you get a reward for this! This is a big honor!"

"Mum," said Ron hopefully, "Could…Could I have a new broom? Not a good one," he added quickly seeing his mother's face fall slightly, "Just something a little different."

"Of course, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley kindly and smiled, turning to her husband to talk. Brooms were expensive and the Weasley's couldn't just throw their money around.

Just before dessert, Sirius rose from his chair and the entire table fell silent, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"A toast! To Ron and Hermione for becoming Prefects, let's hope they can keep my daughter and godson out of trouble! And to all those returning to Hogwarts, good luck to you and watch your backs."

Everyone didn't know whether to smile or be serious as they drank deeply from their glasses. As Sirius sat down, Lupin whispered something to him but he just waved his hand at him. As everyone stood around talking after dinner, Alex heard Alastor Moody talking with Mrs. Weasley.

"I think there's a boggart in that room," Mrs. Weasley was saying, "Can you see it?"

"Yes, there it is," Moody said, his blue eyes rolling back into his head, "You want me to take care of it?"

"There's no need," said Mrs. Weasley cheerfully, "I'll take care of it now. Be back in a bit!"

Alex watched as Mrs. Weasley left the room and her eyes caught Moody's. He gestured for her to come over and she saw Harry with him too.

"Thought you two would like to see this," said Moody as he pulled out a photograph and handed it to them.

Alex looked at it and saw a group of people ranging from just graduating Hogwarts to in their late sixties standing around, smiling and waving cheerfully. As she looked closer, she saw a young man with long black hair and a handsome face with his arm around the waist of an almost-identical version of her. Next to the woman were the Potters, the Longbottoms, and Professor Lupin with her Aunt Elizabeth. Standing in between the young Sirius and James Potter was little Peter Pettigrew. Was he already on Voldemort's side when this picture was taken?

"What is this?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"This is the original Order of the Phoenix," said Moody, "That's the Longbottoms, they were tortured into insanity just weeks after this was taken by Bellatrix Lestrange, and that man…"

But Alex didn't listen to the rest. Her eyes were fixed on the taller, more muscular version of Neville and the kind, smiling face of Alice Longbottom. No one knew of their fate as they waved happily and carefree, no one knew that one of them, if not more, was a traitor.

Harry asked to keep the photo and Moody gave it to him, leaving without a word. Harry looked over at his best friend to see her pale and shaking slightly. Taking her by the arm, he led Alex out of the room and up the stairs.

"How could he show us that?" she whispered furiously as they walked, "How could he talk of Neville's parents' deaths so calmly?"

"He's probably seen it all, Alex," said Harry, "He is an Auror after all."

"That doesn't mean he should talk about death so calmly and without reverence," Alex spat. She stopped for a moment to take a calming breath and leaned against the wall. Looking up, she saw Harry looking down the hallway towards the stairs leading to the kitchen. There was something on his face that she couldn't place at first. Was it jealousy?

"Harry?" she said quietly, snapping him back to reality, "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing," he lied and she noticed the way his eyes darted back to the stairs. It suddenly clicked.

"You thought you were going to be a Prefect, didn't you?" asked Alex. When he didn't answer, she continued, "Harry, I know you're disappointed and yeah, I thought you would be it as well. But when you think about it, the two of us cause a lot of trouble."

"Ron's been a part of it all too."

"Yeah, but he wasn't taken to trial by the Ministry of Magic and pretty much been called a quack by the most prominent Wizarding newspaper," she retorted, raising an eyebrow, "This is good for Ron, you know that. He always feels like he's second best around you and this is his chance to be in the spotlight for a change. Let him have his moment."

Harry turned his emerald eyes on Alex and glared angrily. She thought he was going to start yelling at her but suddenly, there was the sound of distant sobbing. The anger turned to confusion and Harry looked around.

"What's that noise?"

Alex listened as well: someone was crying behind the door to their left. Alex opened the door cautiously and saw a gruesome sight before her.

Mrs. Weasley was kneeling on the floor sobbing over Fred and George's identical dead bodies. Alex turned to Harry, who was pale. That couldn't be right though. Fred and George were downstairs, laughing at Tonks' faces.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Alex asked gently.

The woman didn't look up but began sobbing even more. Suddenly there was a loud CRACK, and Alex saw Harry's life-less body on the floor. She jumped and turned to see a living Harry by her side.

"No," moaned Mrs. Weasley.

CRACK! Alex saw herself on the floor. CRACK! She was replaced by Mr. Weasley, then Bill, Charlie, and finally Percy. Mrs. Weasley let out a cry of sorrow and threw herself on the boggart Percy. Alex couldn't stand to see anymore so she ran over to Mrs. Weasley and pulled her off the boggart, standing in front of her.

The boggart Percy suddenly sat up and looked at Alex with cold eyes. CRACK! Alex frowned as she saw her Uncle Monty standing before her. Suddenly, he let out a scream of pain and doubled over. She gasped and ran toward him, reaching out her arm to put on his shoulder. Her hand went right through him.

"Oh no. No, no, no!" Alex cried, her voice drowned out by the screams. The boggart then turned into Harry, then Hermione, then Ron, then Erin. Every time Alex tried to help them, her hands went through them as though they were made of gas. The feeling of helplessness she hated so much overcame her and she was conscious of the fact that her cries were mixed with the cries of the victims. CRACK!

Alex let out a sob as Draco came next. He was shouting, crying out in pain, and begging Alex to make it stop. Horrible fear gripped her chest as the hopelessness reached a new height. She thought she heard footsteps behind her and someone picked her up and held her in their arms. It was Sirius. Lupin and Mr. Weasley were there as well, wands aloft. Lupin looked at the sobbing mother and young woman to the boggart and his face darkened.

"Riddikulus!" he cried and the boggart turned to dust.

Mr. Weasley picked his wife off the floor and held her close as she cried out nonsense words. Sirius and Lupin ushered Alex and Harry out of the room and the two Gryffindors went to their own rooms. Alex had finally calmed down and she gave her father a watery smile. Just as she was about to enter her room, she turned to Professor Lupin.

"Sir, my boggart changed," she said quietly, "It seems dementors are no longer the thing I fear the most."

"What was your boggart this time?" he asked gently. She thought for a moment and let out a shuddering sigh.

"Feeling helpless when those I love are being hurt."

Lupin nodded and gave Alex's shoulder a squeeze. Harry wished her a good night and went into his room quietly while her father drew her into a final hug before Alex went into her room. As Alex got ready for bed, she couldn't help shuddering at the sight of her lifeless body. To think, what frightened Mrs. Weasley the most was seeing her family dead…that included her and Harry. Alex rubbed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, silently praying no nightmares would haunt her this evening. She wasn't sure if she could handle it.

...

Alex woke up at dawn and groaned quietly. She had hoped to get more sleep than this, but knew that would be out of the question. Alex never slept well the night before leaving for Hogwarts; she was too excited. Even last night's events couldn't dampen her good spirits.

Shaking her head, Alex got her clothes together and tip-toed into the bathroom to get ready. Once she had finished, she pulled her long black hair back into a braid and smiled at herself in the mirror. She left the bathroom to find Hermione and Ginny just waking up.

"Morning lazy bones!" said Alex cheerfully as she put some last minute things into her trunk.

"I thought you weren't a morning person," said Ginny as she stifled a gigantic yawn.

"No Ginny, she isn't," said Hermione grumpily, "Except when there's something exciting that day. Then she's up at the crack of dawn and all…happy and cheerful."

Alex laughed and pulled the blankets off of Hermione. Her friend let out a shout of surprise and ran into the bathroom furiously. However, by the time she had finished, Hermione wasn't angry anymore. As they waited for Ginny, Alex showed Hermione pictures she had taken over the years.

"I had no idea you took these!" said Hermione with a laugh, "When did you have time?"

"Oh, I have my ways," she said mysteriously.

Finally, they went downstairs and found everyone already eating. Alex managed to get down some toast and eggs, but wasn't really hungry. She saw her father's stony face and felt her heart drop, all the cheeriness she had that morning disappearing fast.

Once breakfast was finished, the students dragged down their trunks and animal cages. They saw a large group of people waiting at the bottom landing and Alex sighed, raising her eyes to the heavens. They were going to have an entourage on their way to school.

A black blur ran down the corridor and practically tackled Alex and Harry. She felt hot breath on her face and knew exactly who it was.

"Orion!" she said with a laugh as the big black mutt licked hers and Harry's faces.

"Sirius!" barked Mrs. Weasley, "You're not coming with us! What would Dumbledore say?"

"Please Mrs. Weasley," said Harry pleadingly, "He's in his dog form and no one knows about that except for us."

"And he'll be good, right boy?" Alex asked and Orion wagged his tail harder than ever.

Mrs. Weasley looked sternly at the dog, who put on his adorable face with his big grey eyes. She faltered a little and let out a sigh of defeat.

"I'm a sucker for those eyes," she muttered to herself and said louder, "Very well, but make sure he acts like a dog for once!"

Orion barked and spun around in circles. Everyone laughed and left the house, Orion walking in between Alex and Harry. As Alex turned back toward the house, she saw it disappearing between numbers eleven and thirteen.

The group of wizards and witches didn't have to walk far to King's Cross Station; the house was only a couple of blocks. Alex saw Moody had worn a hat that he used to cover his revolving eye but she knew for a fact that it was probably zooming around faster than a roller coaster. Tonks had subdued her hair color today, making it raven black with two red strips on either side of her head. Mrs. Weasley kept pulling her bag up on her shoulder and Alex smiled. She knew it was probably full of sandwiches for them all to eat on the train ride. Lupin and Uncle Monty were walking behind Alex, Orion, and Harry, chuckling once in a while and shaking their heads at the dog's antics.

Orion loved his new freedom. He would run up ahead of the two others barking madly, chase terrified squirrels up trees, and sniff anything he could get his nose on. Alex laughed when he even put his nose up Mrs. Weasley's leg, giving her a cold, wet surprise.

"Sir-Orion!" she snapped as the dog quickly joined Alex's side, "Bad boy! Try to act like a normal dog, if you please!"

They reached the station and were soon through the barrier. Platform 9 ¾ was in between platforms nine and ten and could only be reached by going through a "solid" wall. When they arrived on the platform, it was starting to fill up. Mrs. Weasley gave everyone a sandwich, a hug, and a kiss. She gave Alex and Harry an extra set of each as well as a tearful smile.

"Do try to behave yourselves, you two," she whispered, "And write often!"

"We will, Mrs. Weasley," they said together, "Thank you!"

"It's no trouble, none at all," the older woman said happily, "You both are like my own children."

Alex turned to Tonks and Lupin, shaking their hands and thanking them for everything. Lupin clapped her on the shoulder and Tonks gave her a wink. She then turned to her guardian and hugged him tight.

"Watch out for Orion for me," she whispered quietly.

"I will Alex, you just watch after yourself," Uncle Monty said with a smile, "Be good and I want to hear from you every week, got it?"

"No problem, Uncle Monty!" Alex said with a grin and knelt by her dog. Orion looked at her with those big grey eyes and Alex shook her head. "I wish you could come," she said quietly, "But it's better you stay behind. Be safe and I'll write soon, okay? I love you!"

She kissed his nose and received a lick on the face. She chuckled and got up. Orion jumped up and put his paws on her shoulders, giving her a dog hug. She held him tight for a few moments and let go, pushing him down. He did the same to Harry until Mrs. Weasley dragged him down.

"Honestly," she hissed, but hid a slight smile.

Author's Note: Hello my amazing readers! I am happy to say that I am at college now and loving every minute of it! It's a huge adjustment and I'm still trying to get into a schedule, but it's still a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone for their patience with me. I would have posted this sooner but we lost power during the hurricane and didn't get it back until the night before I left for school. But I'm back now and will try to get chapters up as fast as I'm able to. I'm a biology major and the program is really intense. However, I want to assure all my fans out there that I won't let you down. This series WILL be completed, even if I have to pull all-nighters to get chapters written. I know that I have fans who love my characters and I want you all to enjoy this as much as I do. So don't worry, even if my chapters are late, they will be coming! :)

Are you calling me crazy: So this is my reply for the last two reviews! Yeah, I added the part with the snake knocker. I thought it would be kinda cool so I'm glad you liked it! As for Harry's anger issues, I totally agree with you. Harry is really moody in this book, which makes for fun moments with Alex knocking some sense into him. I didn't want Alex to be like that because I feel like that's not her personality. She's not brooding or moody. If something bothers her, she just comes out and says it. And trust me, she does a lot of that in this book. :) Thanks for your reviews!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, added me to their favorites, and put me on alert. It's so heart-warming to hear from people who are just finding my stories and have read them all the way through. So if you're new to the series, please don't hesitate to tell me what you think. And if you've been following this since the beginning, you know that you are more than welcome to give me your thoughts and opinions! So hit that review button and make this author's day just a little brighter! :D