Author's Note: Nope, still don't own anything except Alex and the plot points you don't remember from reading the Harry Potter series.

Chapter 4 Deals and Conversations

Alex was working behind the register of the animal shop, thinking about how the last weeks had gone by so fast, when a loud voice snapped her back to reality.

"Alex, we've got a boy taunting the animals in the cages on the wall. Can you go tell 'em off for me?" said the manager, and Alex's new friend, Rose.

"I'm on it!" she shouted over the noise of the animals.

Alex hopped over the counter and went over to the cages that were stacked on top of each other and heard a voice that was only too familiar.

"Come and get your food, you stupid animal!"

"Hey, cut that out!" Alex said angrily. The last thing she needed right now were Malfoy's taunts.

He spun around and saw Alex. His smirk widened.

"Well, well, I didn't know you worked here," Malfoy drawled, "Your uncle can't afford to keep that big house so now he's forced you to work? How touching."

"It's volunteer work, you moron, see the apron I'm wearing?" Alex said, pointing to the word 'Volunteer' on her blue apron.

"Oh, now that's not how you treat a customer, is it? Now I might think about going somewhere else," Malfoy said, his eyes glinting evilly.

"What do you want then? If all you came to do is tease the animals, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Alex said, struggling to keep calm.

"My owl keeps fainting and refuses to carry my letters," he said, handing Alex a beautiful owl that was wrapped in a blanket.

Alex took the bird and went up to the counter, putting the bird down before she hopped over it. She then proceeded to look the owl over, checking its eyes and ears.

"How long has your owl been like this?" Alex asked Malfoy, who was on the other side of the counter watching the nearby rats.

"Huh? Oh, about three weeks, maybe four," he said shrugging.

Alex bit back a nasty retort and began to run her hands up and down the bird's abdomen, feeling for anything unusual. Usually, Rose would do this, but she was busy with a rather picky client who only wanted a certain cat. When Alex reached the middle of the abdomen, the owl gave out a screech of pain.

"Shh, it's okay," Alex cooed as she petted the owl's head lovingly, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"What did you do?" Malfoy said angrily.

"She's tender around-"

"It's a boy."

"Sorry, he's tender around his midsection. It might be he ate something bad or can't go to the bathroom. What do you feed him?" she asked.

"How should I know? The house elves feed him," Malfoy said haughtily.

"Let me get this right: your bird's been sick for almost a month and you don't do anything until now, and you have no idea what he's been eating? So for all you know, he could be eating Chocolate Frogs or aspirin! How can you be so heartless?" she said angrily, feeling white hot anger rise up inside her.

"First of all, we've been very busy around my house. Secondly, the house elves have him on a very strict diet. They take good care of all the owls. Third of all, what in Merlin's name is aspirin?"

"Well, I'm glad some people in that house of yours are taking care of the animals," said Alex, ignoring his third question entirely, "Because it's quite apparent that you could care less! I really don't care if you're on the tightest schedule in all of Europe! When an animal is sick enough to be fainting on the spot, you take it to the nearest veterinarian!" Alex said shaking with rage, "You don't deserve such a beautiful creature!"

"How much would it be to make him better?" Malfoy said.

"Oh, so now you want to help him, when it might be too late?" she said, but after seeing Malfoy's pleading face, she sighed, "I don't know what's wrong with him, so we might have to run some tests to find out. I could ask how much-"

"Don't worry about it then," Malfoy said, waving his hand.

"S-Sorry?"

"I'll just take him home and have one of the house elves take care of him. Father can get me another owl."

"So that's it then? You might have to pay a little more than you bargained for and you're just going to replace him?" Alex said, feeling her eyes burn, "It's not like you don't have the money, you just too lazy to have to do something. For all you know, it could be cheaper to take care of this one than to buy another!" Alex shook her head and looked down at the owl. Suddenly, and idea came into her mind. "Give him to me."

"What?" he said, "Are you out of-?"

"I'll make him better and after I'm done, you can have him," Alex said, looking him straight in the eye, "I have one thing to ask you though, you have to keep him until we get to school. It's only one day, I'm sure you'll manage."

"Deal," he said and put out his hand. They shook and Alex watched Malfoy leave with the bird, shaking her head.

…...

It was around lunchtime when Alex left the animal shop and found Harry in the Quality Quidditch Shop, ogling the Firebolt. When she told him about her encounter with Malfoy, Harry whistled.

"You sure you can take care of this owl? I mean, you've never done it before, right?" he asked.

"There's a first time for everything and besides, I'll be able to talk to the bird without anyone looking at me like I'm some psycho. Come on, I'm in the mood for some ice cream," Alex said, leading Harry to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

They had just ordered their ice cream and went to find a place to sit when they heard someone shouting their names.

"Harry! Alex! Over here!"

Alex spun around and saw Hermione and Ron sitting under an umbrella eating. Hermione was a very smart girl with long, bushy brown hair and light brown eyes. She was especially tan because she had spent her summer in France. She was also Alex's best friend, no matter how annoying she could be at times. Ron was a tall, lanky boy with bright red hair, like all the Weasleys, and his face, which was normally freckly, was covered in freckles, making him look tan as well. Alex ran over and hugged Hermione and then Ron.

"We heard that you two were staying at the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you left early this morning," Ron said happily, "Harry, did you really blow up your aunt?"

Alex roared with laughter when Harry nodded. Hermione, however, looked appalled.

"Harry, you could have gotten expelled!" she said over Ron's laughter.

"Yeah," Ron said calming down, "But if it had been me, my mom would have made sure there was no one to expel."

Once everyone had finished their ice cream, Alex offered to help Hermione carry some of her books while they walked.

"Holy Merlin, Hermione! What's in here, bombs?" Alex cried when Hermione gave her a rather bulky bag.

"No Alex, they're my books, I'm taking more subjects then you, remember?" Hermione said, lifting her own bag and pulling out her change purse, "I still have some money my parents gave me for my birthday. They wanted me to get something for myself, so what should I get?"

"Anything, as long as it's not another book," Ron said as he held one of Hermione's bags.

"How about an owl?" Alex said happily, "There's an animal shop just down the road where I volunteer at and they've got some great owls."

Hermione nodded and followed Alex to the store, the boys dragging their feet under the weight of the bags. Upon entering, Alex went to the owl section and showed Hermione her favorites of the bunch. She left Hermione to look around and went to see what Ron and Harry were up to.

"It's my rat, he's been a bit off since we got back from Egypt," Ron was telling the manager.

"Oh my, he's been through a lot, hasn't he?" Rose said looking at Scabbers' missing toe and bald patches.

"He was like that when my brother gave him to me," Ron said defensively. Alex knew Ron didn't like to talk about how he always got the hand-me-downs from his older brothers. Even if they weren't the richest family, Alex didn't care because they had always been good to her and her uncle.

"Why don't you try some rat tonic?" Rose suggested grabbing a small red bottle from under the counter, "It'll make him a bit peppier."

Ron nodded and paid for the tonic. As he was shoving Scabbers into his pocket, a large orange flash came down and attacked Ron's head.

"Crookshanks, no! Bad cat! Get off him!" Rose shouted.

Ron managed to shake off the cat, but Scabbers slipped off and ran out the door. Alex watched them go and helped Rose get the overweight cat into its proper cage.

"Actually Alex, can I see him?" Hermione said, looking at Crookshanks fondly.

"Yeah, sure," Alex said, handing the cat to her friend.

Hermione held the cat and he began to purr loudly. From the look on her face, Alex knew that Hermione wanted him. She looked at Rose, who sighed and said, "Come over here, dearie, and let me ring him up for you."

…...

"YOU BOUGHT THAT THING?" Ron shouted once Alex and Hermione found them by the Quidditch store.

"Isn't he wonderful?" Hermione asked petting her new cat on the head.

"He attacked my head!" Ron said angrily.

"I only wanted the rat, you see," Crookshanks told Alex, who relayed this to the others.

"Scabbers is supposed to rest and relax! How do you expect that to happen when he has to worry about him?" Ron said, pointing at the cat.

"Oh honestly Ron, Scabbers will be in the boy's dormitory and Crookshanks will be in the girl's. Stop fussing and let's get back, it's almost dark."

"I don't like that rat," Crookshanks told Alex as they reached the Leaky Cauldron, "He's bad and…different. I don't like different."

"Maybe it's that he's older than you're used to," Alex whispered quietly.

"No, I know what old rat smells like: death. This one, Scabbers as you call it, smells of evil," Crookshanks said almost maniacally.

"Okay then," Alex said awkwardly, "Because that's not really weird."

But before the cat could respond, Alex heard someone shout her name. She turned and saw Mrs. Weasley and her daughter Ginny coming over. Mrs. Weasley gave Alex a big hug.

"Alex, oh it's so good to see you! How are you dear? Got all your things packed?" she said happily, looking Alex up and down in a motherly way.

"Yes Mrs. Weasley, just some little things to put away," Alex said happily. Mrs. Weasley was like another mother to her. "Hey Ginny, how was Egypt?" Alex asked the youngest and only girl Weasley.

"Wonderful, though the mummies creeped me out a little," Ginny said smiling.

Alex had just walked over to Harry when she saw Percy come over. He had a badge with the letters 'HB' written on it.

"Ah Harry, Alex! How wonderful to see you on such a beautiful day! How are you both?" he said in a very posh voice. He shook hands with them both.

"Um, fine Percy. How about you?" Alex said slowly. Percy could be strange, but never this strange. Plus, Alex was shocked Percy was even talking to her after the prank she pulled on him at the beginning of the summer. She, Fred, and George had led him away from his girlfriend and proceeded to tell her a bunch of embarrassing stories about her boyfriend. Harry was looking at Percy like he'd never seen anything like him.

"Splendid, simply splendid!" Percy said, "Now Harry, I-"

"Harry! Alex! How are you?" came the voice of Fred, imitating Percy's voice.

"Fred! Stop that right-"

"Percy, my dear brother! My own flesh and blood! How are you doing this beautiful summer day?" said George, who came right behind his twin and shook Percy's hand so that his shoulder was moving up and down.

Alex tried to suppress a bark of laughter with a cough, but completely broke down into fits of giggles. Percy looked angrily at her and stalked off. Fred and George turned to Alex and Harry, who was laughing too.

"He's been like that ever since he got his letter saying he's Head Boy, so-" George said, rolling his eyes.

"-we just had to give him a taste of his own potion," Fred said, finishing his twin sentence.

Just then, Mr. Weasley came over, smiling at his sons and Harry and Alex. Mr. Weasley was a tall man with thinning red hair and glasses.

"Come on you five, it's dinner time," he said.

Dinner was a lot of fun, there was never a dull moment with Fred and George still imitating Percy and Hermione and Ron talking about their trips. Once everyone ate to their full, Alex went to her room to get ready for bed. She had just put on her pajamas when she heard a noise from the room next door.

"Ron! Where is it? If you stole it, I swear I'll-"

"I didn't take your bloody badge Percy! You probably left it on the dinner table! Have you seen my rat tonic?"

Alex sighed and went next door and knocked. A very upset Percy answered the door. Alex raised her eyebrows at his glare.

"What's up in here? I can hear you from next door," she said.

"Ron took my Head Boy badge!" Percy said angrily, opening the door wider.

"I never touched your-" Ron started furiously.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, opening his door across the hall.

"Brotherly love," Alex said in a stage whisper, "Ron can't find his rat tonic and Percy can't find his badge."

"I think I left the tonic at the bar, I'll go and get it," Ron said.

"Oh no, you're not! You're staying here and looking for my badge," Percy said, his face red.

"We'll get it, Ron" Alex said quickly, grabbing Harry and heading down the stairs, "I can't deal with their bickering any longer, I had to-"

She stopped, hearing voices from down in the bar. She would have continued if she had not heard Harry's name.

"Harry's not a child, Molly. He deserves to know the truth." It was Mr. Weasley.

"Arthur, can you imagine how terrible he'll feel if he knows? He's just a boy!" Mrs. Weasley said firmly.

"He has to be on his guard, he's already been in the forest too many times! Who knows what other kinds of trouble he's gotten into as well?"

"But Hogwarts has Dumbledore and the dementors, surely Black won't try anything with them there?" said Mrs. Weasley, trying to believe her own words.

"Black's determined, Molly, and a determined man will try anything. He's already gotten past the dementors once and, despite what the Prophet says, we're nowhere near finding out how he did it. Also, Dumbledore made sure nothing about this was found out about, but Black is looking for two people for his revenge," Mr. Weasley said gravely.

"W-What do you mean two people? Who else does he blame for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name's downfall?" Mrs. Weasley said, her voice shaking.

"Dumbledore told me, and only me mind so don't go telling the children, but there were two families the night You-Know-Who came to the Potters. James and Lily were killed, but Alex's parents were killed as well. Black knew they were there and, according to Dumbledore, he seems to think it's Alex's fault as well."

Alex froze and looked at Harry. Harry opened his mouth to whisper something, but Mrs. Weasley started talking and Alex put a hand up.

"Alex? I always wondered how she ended up living with Elian. Oh, the poor dear, does she know about any of this?"

"She knows about her parents, Elian told her when she got her letter, but nothing about Black looking for her. I think her uncle should be the one to tell her, but with Harry, he has no wizarding family to tell him how dangerous Black is. Someone has to warn him not to go looking for trouble, especially with a madman involved," Mr. Weasley said and gave a huge sigh.

"Well Arthur, you do whatever you think is best for Harry, although I think that if you tell one, you should tell the other. They're like brother and sister, one will find out from the other," Mrs. Weasley said.

Alex heard the sound of scraping chairs and footsteps coming toward them. Quickly, she pulled out her locket and grabbed Harry's arm, elongating the chain and throwing it over his head. She turned the knob to the right just as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came around the corner. Harry and Alex waited until they heard the bedroom door close and Alex turned the knob to the left and took the necklace off Harry, making them visible. Silently, they headed to the bar and found the rat tonic. On their way back, they heard sniggering and looked over to see Fred and George sitting in their room with Percy's badge, which now read: 'Humungous Bighead'.

When they reached their rooms, Alex gave Harry a clap on the shoulder and went to her room, climbing into her bed. She lay there for a while, thinking about what she had just overheard. Surprisingly, she wasn't very scared. She knew she should be, what with a mass murderer looking for her, but she thought about Dumbledore and those dementors everyone talked about. If that wasn't enough to stop Black, then Alex didn't know where she would be safe. Everyone who talked about the dementors did so in a frightened tone. What really annoyed Alex was that, until Black was caught, she would be watched more than ever.

Sighing, Alex knew she couldn't sleep. She always had trouble sleeping the night before she went to Hogwarts. She threw the covers off and went to her bag, searching for one of her books. Instead, she found her sketchbook that her uncle gave her, took it out, and opened it. Inside was a set of drawing pencils and erasers. Alex looked around for something to draw and her eyes fell upon the window where the light of the full moon was shining through. Alex settled herself in her bed and began to draw the view. Alex wasn't sure how long she was at it, but she began to feel her eyes droop. It wasn't long before Alex rested her head on the pillow and fell fast asleep.

Author's Note: I know, another update so soon! The reason I'm doing so is because I would normally want to update on Sunday but I'm visiting a college that day for an overnight program. Therefore, I will not be home until Monday afternoon and I would feel bad if my fans didn't get an update until then. So here we are! Thanks to madscientist128 for suggesting I update today! ;)

The gang is back together now! What did you think of this chapter? Did you enjoy Alex and Draco's deal? More of that will appear throughout the story so hopefully you will either continue to enjoy it or find enjoyment from it as the story continues. Also, what do you think of what Mr. Weasley told his wife? The mystery begins…muahahaha! If anyone reading this hasn't read Remembering the Past: A Marauder's Tale, I would highly suggest doing so. It adds a lot of back story to this series and, since some Marauder members appear in this book, it would be helpful to have read the prequel. Just giving you a head's up now. :)

Thank you to my lovely reviewers, my amazing favorite-ers, and my awesome alert-ers! Yes, I did make up those last two nouns just for you guys! Having your support keeps me going and puts a smile on my face. If you haven't reviewed and are reading this, I would love to hear from you. I won't know what you all like or dislike unless you tell me. Thank you and hope you enjoyed this! :D