Author's Note: I only own plot points and characters that you don't recognize. Sorry to disappoint!
Chapter 15 When A Door Closes, Shouldn't Another One Open?
"All right then," said Harry once everyone was quiet enough, "Now this spell is easy I know, but it's saved my arse on several occasions. You just flick you wand like this," he gave it a flick and said, "Expelliarmus!" loudly. Alex was standing in front of him and her wand soared above their heads and was caught deftly by Harry.
"So if everyone could pair up," said Alex as she held out her hands and her wand came soaring back to her, causing a lot of shocked faces, "We can get started."
When everyone had paired up, Stevie and Neville were the only ones left. Alex went with Stevie while Harry went with Neville. Stevie was staring off into space and looked upset when Alex came over and threw her a comforting smile.
"What's wrong?" asked Alex kindly.
"I've…I've, um, never disarmed anyone before," the American girl said shyly.
"That's fine," Alex said, "It's a good thing you're here then. I'll help you, don't worry about a thing. Now, point your wand at me…good, just a little higher."
Alex coached the new girl through the steps until she knew them all by heart. It wasn't that Stevie wasn't smart, she was just too shy to get the full meaning behind the spell.
"That's the thing about defensive magic," said Alex as she gave Stevie her wand back after showing her the spell again, "You have to mean it for it to work as well as it should. So, try again and this time, pretend I'm a Death Eater who's about to kill you. Or someone you want to defend yourself from. Don't worry, you won't hurt me."
So Stevie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, she snapped her eyes open, raised her wand, and cried out, "Expelliarmus!" in a loud and forceful voice. Alex's wand soared into the air and a stunned Stevie caught it.
"You did it!" said Alex joyfully.
"Yeah, I really did!" Stevie said, smiling and jumping up and down, "Thank you!" she said again and again.
Alex let Stevie pair up with Neville so she and Harry could walk around and help others. Alex found herself having to go over to the Ravenclaw boys area at least ten times because they kept calling her back, saying they were confused.
"Oh yeah," she said after the tenth time, "You all seemed really confused. Maybe I'm not explaining it right, I'll get Harry to help you three."
"No, you're doing fine," said Terry Boot quickly, "Just show me the wand movement again."
"I'll let Harry show you," said Alex, unable to hide a small smile because as she walked away, she heard Anthony Goldstein whisper angrily, "Nice going Terry!".
Finally, it was time for everyone to go back to their common rooms. As the Ravenclaw boys were leaving, Anthony smiled at her and waved. She just shook her head and chuckled. Boys were so strange.
...
Besides D.A meetings, which they couldn't make regular due to the different schedules, Harry and Ron were training for their next Quidditch match. Alex and Hermione would spend their evenings outside with the boys watching their practices, unless the weather was really bad. Alex thought Ron was a pretty good Keeper, but he lacked the confidence in himself to be great. She knew that if he could get a boost, he would be an amazing Keeper.
It also didn't help that the Slytherin Quidditch team kept using the field to practice so much that the other Houses didn't get to use the field at all. Also, the Slytherins would sit in on Gryffindor practices, supposedly waiting for the field, and shout out insults. When they realized that Ron took them to heart, they would go for him more. They even made up a song about him. Alex was absolutely furious with the whole lot of them, including Draco, and refused to even look at a Slytherin. During her lessons with Draco, she refused to speak to him and left as soon as they were finished.
Finally, the day of the match came. It was Slytherin versus Gryffindor and Ron had the old pre-match nerves. He didn't eat anything, although he was notorious for shoving as much food into his mouth as humanly possible, and Hermione looked worried.
"Ron," she said kindly, "You'll be fine! You've done great in all your practices!"
"Oh yeah?" he asked darkly, "What about last night when I missed the goal because of that stupid song?"
"You can't let that get to you, Ron," continued Hermione, placing a hand on his shoulder, "And that was only once out of the entire practice."
Ron just grumbled into his untouched porridge and left quickly when Angelina told the team to head off. Hermione watched them go and sighed. Alex stood up and they went to find a good spot in the stands. She could feel the tension among the crowd. No one wanted Slytherin to do well because no one wanted them to regain the Quidditch Cup.
The team members came out of the locker rooms and everyone cheered. Lee Jordan, the commentator, was using his magically magnified voice to introduce the players.
"GOOD MORNING HOGWARTS AND WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE SEASON!" Lee shouted and this resulted in the crowds cheering some more. "WE HAVE ON THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM JOHNSON, SPINNET, BELL, WEASLEY, WEASLEY, POTTER, AND, THE NEW KEEPER, WEASLEY! THAT'S RON WEASLEY BY THE WAY, IN CASE YOU'RE CONFUSED BY ALL THE WEASLEY'S!"
The Gryffindors cheered loudly and Alex let out a series of earsplitting whistles.
"AND WE HAVE SLYTHERINS," said Lee in a bored voice, "THOUGH IT SEEMS THIS YEAR, THEY WENT FOR MORE BRAWN THAN BRAINS. JUST LOOK AT THE LINE-UP WE'VE GOT HERE!"
"Jordan!" McGonagall said warningly.
"SORRY PROFESSOR!" he said insincerely, "ANYWAY, WE'VE GOT MONTAGUE, WARRINGTON, PUCEY, CRABBE, GOYLE, MALFOY, AND BLETCHLEY. I MEAN, JUST LOOK AT THOSE TWO NEW BEATERS, DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHICH END IS THE TAIL?"
"Jordon, just commentate!" McGonagall said angrily.
The Quaffle was released and the game began. Alex watched as Ron let in four goals. With each goal Slytherin scored, their song got louder and louder until Alex could hear it all.
Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing;
Weasley is our King.
Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King.
Alex was shaking with fury as she saw Parkinson stand up and begin conducting the last part of the song.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.
"Fine," said Alex angrily, "If they want a song fight, I'll give them one."
"Alex, what are you-?" Hermione started but Alex ignored her as she stood up and got a beat going. STOMP, STOMP, CLAP. STOMP, STOMP, CLAP. Soon, the entire Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff stands were doing it. Then the voices began singing, the ones who knew the song anyway.
"WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!"
Alex saw Stevie screaming the song at the top of her lungs and showing Neville what to do. They were able to drown out the Slytherins' song and Alex watched as Gryffindor scored a goal.
"THAT'S THE TICKET!" Lee shouted as everyone began cheering, still following the beat, "SLYTHERIN IS LEADING BY THIRTY NOW, COME ON GRYFFINDORS!"
Suddenly, Harry dove hard. Draco went down too but Harry was ahead. He was reaching for a sparkle of gold as every person in the stadium was either singing the Slytherin song or the Queen song. Harry had just closed his fingers around the Snitch when a Bludger came out of nowhere and hit him square in the shoulders. He fell off his broom, luckily only a foot off the ground, and was still holding the Snitch.
The stadium was full of either cheers or boos, but it didn't matter. Gryffindor had made a comeback and had won. Alex pushed past people, holding onto Hermione's robes behind her, and jumped the barrier to the field. All the players were still on the field…but where was Ron? Alex looked and saw a red-head walking into the locker rooms quickly and sighed. It seemed that Ron was going to sulk because he hadn't performed the way he knew that he could. But she would worry about him later, she needed to find Harry. After screaming his name for some time, she found him surrounded by his teammates, still holding the winning Snitch.
"Great job, Harry!" said Alex happily, "How's your back?"
"It'll bruise, but it was all worth it," said Harry with a smile, "Was that 'We Will Rock You' I heard?"
"Yeah," said Hermione breathlessly, "Alex started it to try and drown out the Slytherins so Ron would do better. Where is Ron?"
"He left," said Harry with a frown, "I think he's upset he didn't save any goals."
"Hey Potty!" Everyone turned and saw Parkinson leaning on Draco, smiling evilly, "Did you like our song? Dracey wrote the lyrics, didn't you Dracey Poo?"
"Please excuse me," said Alex loudly, "While I find the nearest garbage bin to throw up in. Oh wait, there's one right in front of me!"
"You think you're so funny, don't you Ratty?" This was Maggie, stepping out from behind the green couple.
Maggie had been in Gryffindor for the last four years and had finally been moved to the House where she had wanted to be. Now she was wearing her school robes with green and silver instead of red and gold. Alex had to admit the colors suited her better, both for her skin tone and her personality.
"We tried to say something about Weasley's mother," said Montague, the Slytherin captain, "But we couldn't find enough words to rhyme with ugly and fat."
Fred and George stiffened but the others held them back.
"Ignore them," Angelina said to the twins, "They're just sore losers."
"We couldn't fit in failure to Wizard-kind either, for his father," added Parkinson.
Alex was taking calming breaths as both Fred and George were frozen, muscles tense and rippling. Don't let them bother you, don't let them bother you.
"But you like the Weasleys, don't you Potty and Ratty?" Maggie asked with a snigger, "You spend your holidays with them. I guess when you've lived like Muggles for you're whole life, a Weasley house feel just like home."
Seeing red, Alex turned around so she didn't have to look at the Slytherins. She could feel her anger boiling and desperately tried to keep herself under control. If her powers got out of hand...
"Or maybe," said Parkinson, "You can't remember what your mothers smelt like and the Weasleys' house reminds you of it."
Harry, who was holding George back, let go and they both ran at them. Harry punched Draco in the jaw and a fight broke out. It wasn't until someone shouted a spell that sent everyone flying back that it stopped. Alex, who had also been knocked down, stood up and brushed herself off. She watched as Harry and George were sent to McGonagall's office while everyone else struggled to their feet.
"You okay, Hermione?" Alex asked, going over to her best friend and helping her up.
"Yeah, let's just go," said Hermione quietly and Alex nodded. As Alex and Hermione were leaving with the Quidditch team, Parkinson shouted, "YOU FILTHY MUDBLOODS BETTER WATCH OUT!"
"Was that a threat?" Hermione asked coolly, spinning around and glaring icily.
"You bet it was," snarled Parkinson, "So you and Ratty better watch your backs."
"My mother was a witch, you moron," said Alex stiffly, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Who was a Mudblood who married a Muggle," the Slytherin girl snarled, "Which makes you even worse than a Mudblood! We just haven't come up with a good name for your type yet."
The rage bubbled up again and Alex clenched her fists so hard that she felt blood dripping down her fingers. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake slightly. It wasn't enough for anyone to fall over but it was enough to cause the Slytherins to stop smirking and look worried. Alex shut her eyes and took deep breaths, counting to ten. The tremors stopped and she opened her eyes.
"Well," said Alex quietly, "If you call me that name, I would feel honored to be called something that Hermione is because she's a million times smarter than the whole lot of you put together."
She turned on her heel and left to the common room. Hermione knew better than to talk about what happened and Alex was grateful. She had no idea how she did that nor did she really care. She just wanted to be as far away from the Slytherins and their bad vibes. However, the mood in there wasn't any better. Fred, George, and Harry were all sitting on the floor, looking as though their very souls had been sucked out.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked.
"We've been banned from playing Quidditch," said George in a hollow voice.
"Umbridge banned us because of our dreadful tempers," said Harry, "And she banned Fred because he would've attacked those Slytherins if you all hadn't been holding him back."
"But…but…" Hermione struggled to find words.
"It's not fair?" Alex suggested and sighed, "Hermione, nothing about her is fair. What did McGonagall do about it?"
"She was telling Umbridge it was none of her business getting involved with our punishment," said George, "But that bat pulled out another educational decree that said the High Inquisitor will have power over punishments, sanctions, and removal of privileges over Hogwarts students."
"Don't forget the power to change the punishments, sanctions, and removal of privileges that teachers make," Harry added gloomily.
"I'm beginning to hate these decrees more and more," said Alex as she flopped herself into an arm chair and looked over her hands. There were four small half-moon shaped cuts into her palms from where her nails had dug into her skin.
"This is all my fault," Ron said, who Alex had only noticed was there, "If I wasn't so horrible at Quidditch, the Slytherins wouldn't have made up that song and gotten you all angry. I'm going to resign in the morning."
"Oh no you don't!" said Fred angrily.
"Listen Ron," said George fiercely, "If you resign, then we'll have no Keeper as well as no Beaters or Seeker!"
"And you're not horrible," said Harry, "Look, I'll help you train. It's the least I can do for the team now that I'm banned."
Ron sighed but agreed nonetheless. Eventually, all the guys went up to sleep but Alex sat by the fire, staring into the leaping flames as though they would have all the answers. Finally, Hermione got off the floor and sat on the arm of Alex's chair.
"You know that it was you that made the ground shake, don't you Alex?" she whispered. When Alex nodded, she continued, "You can't let a bunch of Slytherins get to you like that. Imagine if you weren't able to control yourself. You could've killed someone!"
"And then they would've gotten what they deserved," Alex growled and added after Hermione gasped, "Hermione, they insulted all of my friends in the worse possible way! They have been nothing but horrid to us since we first arrived here. Okay, so maybe they don't deserve to die but they do deserve to be punished. That even you can't deny."
"I agree that those Slytherins are heartless, immoral fiends," said Hermione and Alex smirked at her too kind and clean version of what she was thinking, "But that doesn't give you the excuse to blow your lid off at them. Alex, Dumbledore thinks that these gifts you have are important, as well as learning to control them. He must know how dangerous you could be if you don't control yourself."
"I try to!" cried Alex, rising to her feet and hands flying as she talked, "I really tried to stay calm while those bastards said those things but it isn't easy to hear people talk shit about your friends, people who are practically your family! Hermione, you're the sister I never had, you know that! The fact that they call you that horrible name and Draco..."
Her voice caught and she turned around, crossing her arms across her chest. Draco had been there the entire time, heard what his friends were saying about her and her friends. He couldn't even look her in the eye! He just stood there and watched it all unfold. And the fact that he came up with the lyrics to the song that started it all made Alex want to throw up, it was so sickening. She understood that Draco had to act a certain way not to arouse suspicion but he didn't need to do such a good job of it.
"Oh Alex," her friend said sadly, coming over and placing a hand on her shoulder, "I know that Malfoy is your friend and I respect your decision. He hasn't been nasty to us in a while and I'm assuming that he's growing up while being around you. But you have to remember that he's a Slytherin for a reason. Just be careful, okay? You're the sister I never had as well and I don't want to see you get hurt."
Alex nodded, turned, and gave Hermione a hug. They stood there for a moment and then went up to their dormitory arm-in-arm, silently comforting each other in the way only sisters know how.
...
The castle mood was a grim one. Everyone had heard about the fight and the banning, as well as seen the new decree posted all over the school. Luckily no rumors were flying about the tremors. Apparently the Slytherins agreed that it was probably Hagrid walking nearby that made the ground shake.
Alex was still completely ignoring Draco and had even missed their Potions meeting on account of "being sick". She had to answer to Snape during a Potions lesson but she didn't care. If Draco didn't know she was angry at him before, he sure as hell knew now.
Angelina was having new try-outs later that week and Alex kept her nose clean so as not to miss them. She had felt bad about wanting to take her friends' places and had even asked them if it was all right if she tried out.
"Of course it's all right, Alex!" said George.
"You'll be great!" said Fred with a smile, "Be sure to hit a few Slytherins for us when you make the team."
"I'm not even sure I'll get in," Alex mumbled, her face turning red with embarrassment.
"Not sure you'll even get in?" Harry cried and laughed, "Alex, don't you remember how good you were in your third year?"
"But we lost the-"
"Only because of those dementors!" Harry interrupted, "Trust me, Angelina remembers how well you did. You'll make the team."
Yet even with her friends support, Alex was still shaking with nerves when the day of the tryouts came around. She had to use a school broom because Fred, George, and Harry's broom were locked up in Umbridge's office.
"Okay everyone!" Angelina shouted to the crowd of people, "Those who want to be Beaters, wait off to the side. Those who want to be Seekers, mount your brooms and wait for my whistle. Once I blow the whistle, you're gonna fly around the stadium ten times. The one who finishes first wins the spot. Ready…set…GO!"
She blew the whistle and everyone shot up into the air. Alex watched as a dot of red zoomed in and out of peoples' legs to the front. It was Ginny! She watched in amazement as the fourth year Gryffindor led the way for the last two laps. When she finished first, she dove down and smiled modestly as Angelina handed her the team robes.
"Now for the Beaters," Angelina said, "We're going to send five Bludgers at you. The two who hit the most and get them through these hoops will be our Beaters. So…who wants to go first?"
Alex watched as all the students lined up and began the trial. Every one of them was abysmal and Angelina was looking worried and annoyed. Finally, she got so frustrated when a little first year boy didn't hit a single one.
"All right listen up!" she shouted and everyone drew back a little, "If you're here just to test your Quidditch skills for the first time, get the hell out of here! Get it? Got it? Good!"
At least twenty people groaned and left. Finally, it was Alex's turn. She put her leg over the broom, pushed off hard, and held her Beater's bat aloft.
"Ready Alex?" Katie Bell shouted from below.
"Yup!" said Alex with as much calm as she could muster.
One at a time, the five Bludgers were released. Every single one of them went through their hoops. Alex was smiling with relief when she landed on the ground.
"Nice show, Alex," Alicia whispered.
The last person was a boy in seventh year with broad shoulders and a handsome face. He too got all his Bludgers into their hoops. Angelina handed them their robes as well.
"Great job, Alex!" said Ginny, running over and hugging her friend, "That was absolutely amazing! You're almost as good as Fred and George."
"I wouldn't go that far," said Alex, feeling her face get warm. She turned to the other new Beater and smiled warmly, saying, "I'm Alex by the way, Alex Ratcliff. I guess we're teammates now, huh?"
"Yes, I suppose we are," he said, looking Alex up and down for a moment before shaking her hand, "I'm Brian McHughes. Well, I'll see you two later."
Alex watched him go with a slight frown but shrugged. She supposed that he was just shy around strangers and wanted to go tell his friends that he made the team. She and Ginny quickly changed into their regular robes and went up to the common room. They had made the other Gryffindor teammates promise not to say who they chose. Alex and Ginny had hidden their robes behind their backs when they entered, Alex making them float behind them.
"Well?" all their friends asked together.
Alex kept a straight face and shrugged. Hermione looked at Ginny, who did the same thing, and looked sad.
"Don't worry," she said, "There's always next year, what with the Chasers and Beaters leaving. And it's just a sport anyway, right?"
"What make you all think we didn't get it?" Ginny asked, moving aside to reveal her own robes.
"I don't remember ever saying we didn't make it, do you Ginny?" Alex asked, showing her robes too.
Suddenly, both Alex and Ginny were enveloped into backbreaking hugs. Fred, George, Lee, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had run at them all together and were trying to congratulate them. It was several minutes before both girls were able to breathe fresh air.
"I'm so happy for you two," said Harry with a smile.
"I just wish I could be on the team without you being banned," said Ginny, "But it'll be yours next year. I'm just the filler."
"But I'm banned!" said Harry.
"Only while Umbridge is around," said Ginny with raised eyebrows, "And I don't think she'll be around long."
"Why do you say that?" Alex asked with a frown.
"The job's cursed, remember?" said Ginny with a chuckle. The others laughed merrily, glad for a reason to be happy.
Author's Note: Happy 2012 everyone! I hope that you all had a lovely New Year and are excited for 2012. So what did you think of the first chapter of the new year? Like it? Hate it? Love it so much that you would marry it? Okay, maybe not that but you get the idea. :P
I would love to know what you all thought of this chapter. Did you enjoy Alex and Hermione's little heart-to-heart session in the common room? What about Alex officially on the Quidditch team? If there was anything else that you really enjoyed, please let me know!
Thank you to all my fans for reviewing, alerting, and adding me to their favorites. As always, you're support means the world to me and I look forward to another year of writing for my fans. :D