Author's Note: Still own only Alex and unrecognizable plot points…

Chapter 9 Happy Halloween!

By the end of September, everyone in the castle had one favorite class: Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was obvious to Alex that Professor Lupin was born to be a teacher. He could take the most boring lessons, like when they had to take notes on the chapter, and make them enjoyable. The only people who found something wrong with their new teacher were Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins.

It was the first class of the month of October. Alex and her friends were just leaving a very interesting Defense Against the Dark Arts class about Red Caps, when they heard Malfoy whispering loudly, "Can you believe the state of his robes? It looks like something you'd find in an old house-elf's garbage."

"Watch your mouth Malfoy!" Ron snapped.

"I'm sorry Weasley, did you lend it to him? No, you couldn't have, it's too good for you. Your family usually wears old Muggle clothes," Malfoy sniggered.

"Why do you care so much about clothes, Malfoy?" Alex asked with her eyebrows raised, "Who cares what he's wearing? He's the best teacher we've ever had! Look at Lockhart, he had impeccable robes and he was a horrible teacher."

"Is there a problem out here?"

Alex spun around and saw Professor Lupin in the doorway, watching them. Alex felt heat rush to her face and knew he had been listening the entire time.

"I suggest you all hurry to your next classes. Your teachers wouldn't want you to be late," Professor Lupin said calmly.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex nodded and sped off to the Common Room. When they came through the portrait hole, they found the entire Gryffindor house buzzing with excitement and all gathering around the notice board.

"Ron, you're the tallest, what's it say?" asked Harry as he tried to stand on tiptoe to read the board.

"Hold on a minute, this bloke needs to move his fat head…oh sorry Neville, didn't mean anything by that. It says there's going to be a Hogsmede trip on Halloween!" Ron said happily.

"That's wonderful!" Hermione said with a smile.

"Yeah, I bet it will be," Harry said gloomily.

"Tell us how everything is," Alex added with a frown.

"You know what I think?" Ron asked, "I think you two should go to McGonagall and ask her to sign for you."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Hermione said, "I mean, with Black looking for them and everything, I think it's best that they stay here."

"Anyway," Alex added, "McGonagall wouldn't sign for us anyway. She's very law-abiding, in case you haven't noticed. I could get it signed, but my uncle's very busy with everything."

"I'll ask her," Harry said suddenly, "It can't hurt my chances. I'll ask her tomorrow since we have Transfiguration right before lunch."

"Oh Harry, don't-"

But before Hermione could finish, Crookshanks jumped onto her lap with a dead mouse in its mouth. Alex shuddered and started pulling out her books, she hated seeing that cat bring "presents" to his mistress seeing as they were all either dead or dying.

"Does he have to eat that mouse right in front of us?" Ron asked, taking Scabbers and using Harry to block him putting the rat into his bag.

"Hey, at least this one's dead," Alex said as she took notes from her Potions' book, "The last one was still breathing and I had to hear its final squeals of protest. All I ask it that his rats have no pulse when the come near me. I can't take hearing them die!"

"Was all that really necessary?" Harry asked with a small groan.

As Alex took her notes, she heard the cat talking as he ate.

"I smell a rat," he said to Alex, "That bad one from before, he's different than the others and I don't like it one bit."

Alex was about to tell him to be quiet and eat his rodent when she heard a low purr and Ron's yells.

"GEROFF ME, YOU STUPID CAT!" shouted Ron as he grabbed his bag and tried to put it behind him.

During the scuffle, Scabbers ran out of the bag and Crookshanks chased after him. Alex ran after the cat, shouting in its own language to stop chasing the rat and causing many in the common room to stop and watch the scene with fear or amusement. Eventually, Scabbers ran under a cabinet and out of the cat's reach.

"No matter," Crookshanks said haughtily, "Until we meet again."

He walked off with his tail high in the air. Ron coaxed Scabbers out and gave one final look at Hermione, who was holding a purring Crookshanks, before stalking off to the boy's staircase.

…...

As expected, Professor McGonagall did not sign Harry's permission form to go to Hogsmede. This made Ron even angrier at Hermione, although she didn't help by saying, "I told you two she wouldn't," right afterwards.

"Hermione," Alex said after the boys had left lunch, "I don't think that was the smartest thing to do. You know how much Ron hates it when you say that."

For the next few weeks, Ron and Hermione chose to ignore each other. This was quite difficult for Alex and Harry because they were caught up in the middle and tried not to choose sides. Eventually though, as Hogsmede was rapidly approaching, Ron and Hermione put aside their argument and tried to cheer their friends up.

"Don't worry you two, we'll bring you back so much food and drink that you won't have to leave the Common Room for a whole month!" Ron said as he pulled on his cloak in the Common Room

"And I'll tell you everything about the sights there," said Hermione as she wrapped her scarf around her neck, "Maybe you could work on your homework!"

"Hermione, that may be how you want to spend your free time, but I'm all right," Harry said, putting on a fake smile.

"Don't worry, you go have some fun. Harry and I will be fine," Alex said, "I should go and check on Malfoy's owl, she should've laid that egg by now."

Alex watched as Ron and Hermione left through the portrait hole and turned to Harry.

"You want to come with me?" she asked, "You can see the owl and maybe we can grab lunch?"

"Thanks Alex, but I still need to write my essay for Binns. I'll see you later."

Alex watched as Harry headed off to the library. Once he was gone, she ran up to her dormitory, grabbed her cloak, and sped toward the grounds.

As she walked around outside, she took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp air and stopped, looking around her. She could hear something from the forest. Quietly, she approached the edge and listened hard. Hoof beats, a lot of them. Alex closed her eyes and she could see a herd of centaurs galloping around. A few miles away, there was a mother and baby thestral feeding.

"Wow," Alex whispered, "This is amazing, I never knew I could do this."

So she sat on the ground and began her investigation. Alex saw so many things, unicorns prancing around, baby rabbits poking their heads out of their burrows, and in the heart of the forest she saw a colony of the largest spiders ever.

Shivering, Alex drew her cloak more tightly around her. She had just begun wondering why it was so cold when it hit her. This wasn't normal cold, it was the depressing frigidness that came from a dementor.

Standing up quickly, Alex looked wildly around and saw not one, but two dementors gliding eerily toward her. She tried to run, but found she was frozen with fear. She tried to scream, but it died in her throat. Finally, she pulled out her wand, but didn't know what to do. Hopelessness and nausea overcame her and Alex fell to her knees and began retching uncontrollably, dropping her wand. Then the voices came, louder this time so she heard everything.

"Get away from her, get away from my baby!" a woman screamed.

"Out of the way, both of you! I said stand aside you stupid girls!" a cold, unearthly voice cried.

"Not the children, please have mercy!" another woman pleaded.

"I've warned you, stand aside! Avada Kadavera!"

Women's screams and crying babies filled Alex's ears. Somewhere far off, there was a sound of an incantation and Alex saw a bright light. Alex vomited once more and passed out.

…...

Alex opened her heavy eyelids and looked around. She was in an oversized bed and saw a fire roaring merrily. She was in Hagrid's hut.

"Hagrid?" she called, her voice no more than a whisper.

She heard the sound of paws and saw Fang waddling over.

"Hagrid out, be back soon he says," the boarhound said, "You not well?"

"Not really," Alex said with a sigh, "The dementors came at me and I passed out. Fang, do you know what happened?"

"I feel cold and hear friend calling for help. I tell Hagrid to go out, but he no listen well to me. I run out by back door and Hagrid follow. We find you on ground and hooders, you say dementors, leaving. Hagrid take you back and leave to castle. Getting food for you, he said 'chocolate'."

"Fang, when you say friend, who are you talking about?" Alex asked, rubbing her throbbing forehead.

"Met in forest, new there. Don't know name."

Just then, Hagrid came in closely followed by Professor Dumbledore. Both were carrying armfuls of chocolate bars and looking grim.

"Alex! Thank goodness yeh all righ'!" Hagrid bellowed, forcing Alex to cover her ears.

The gamekeeper came over and, after dumping the chocolate on the bed, gave Alex a rip-snapping hug.

"Hagrid, I think Alex is losing oxygen," Dumbledore said calmly with a trace of a smile. He too put down the chocolate on the bed and looked down his crooked nose at her. "The chocolate is from Madame Pomfrey who is rather busy this morning caring to a large group of first years. She, however, gave us strict instructions to make sure you eat most of this," he nodded at the mountain of chocolate, "And not to get out of bed until you do."

Alex looked at the candy, then at the adults, and back, saying, "Only if someone helps me."

So Hagrid pulled up two stools and the three began eating. Alex told them that she had been sitting at the edge of the forest, stressing many times that she never entered it, when the dementors came at her.

"It got so cold," she said as she unwrapped her third bar, "And I looked around and saw two of them coming at me. I felt…sick and like there was nothing happy in the world. Then I heard voices, women begging for their children to be spared and a man killing them. The last thing I heard was their screaming."

Everyone was quiet. Alex finished the prescribed amount of chocolate and sat up in the bed.

"Professor Dumbledore," Alex said and the Headmaster nodded, "Why did the dementors go after me?"

"You have been through so much Alex, and the dementors can sense that. They force us to relive our worst memories. For you that is your mother's last moments, trying to protect you. Hagrid, I trust you will look after our patient?"

"Yes Professor Dumbledore."

"Good, I will send word to Madame Pomfrey that Alex has made a semi-full recovery. I must now go and have a word with the dementors about attacking innocent students."

The Headmaster's eyes were angry but he gave them a small smile and left. As soon as the door shut, Alex threw off the covers and stood up unsteadily.

"Alex," Hagrid said in a warning tone.

"I feel fine, Hagrid. You didn't expect me to stay in bed all day, did you? How's the owl?"

"I was just about to come and tell yeh. She laid the egg this mornin'! Come and have a look!"

Hagrid led Alex to the far corner of the hut and she saw a little nest made of straw and bits of cloth. There was Malfoy's owl fast asleep, but under the bird was a large, light-brown egg.

"Oh Hagrid, you did a wonderful job! She's so happy!" Alex exclaimed in a whisper and hugged her large friend.

Hagrid offered Alex some tea, but she wasn't in the mood so she said wasn't fully better. Alex bid Hagrid and Fang good-bye and made her way to the castle and up to the library. She wanted to know exactly what she was dealing with.

Alex checked out several books and found an empty classroom. She set her books on the table and heard something fall lightly to the floor. Alex bent down and saw it was the picture of her mother and friends. Seeing them all so happy made her smile as she tried to forget her mother's screams.

Placing the picture on a book, Alex opened another and began reading as she sang a familiar tune.

"When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, le-"

A door creaked and Alex's head shot up. Standing in the doorway was Professor Lupin.

"P-Professor, I didn't know…I didn't see…" Alex stuttered as she gathered her books. In her haste, the picture flew away and landed at the professor's feet. He picked it up and stared at it, a frown on his face.

"Um, I'll just take that and leave sir," muttered Alex.

"Would you care to join me for a cup of tea, Alex?" Lupin asked, not looking up from the picture.

"S-Sure."

Alex followed the professor across the corridor and he opened the door for her. No wonder he heard me, thought Alex as she pulled up a chair nervously, His office was right across the corridor.

She watched as Professor Lupin put water in a kettle and pointed his wand at it. Instantly, it began to steam and he poured two cups and put a tea bag in each one. He set them on the table and sat down. Alex took out her tea bag and drank it quietly.

"Doing some light reading, I see?" asked Lupin, nodding to the books beside Alex. The girl jumped at being addressed and shook her head.

"No sir, just trying to learn about them since they seem to affect me more than the others," she replied with a shrug. They fell into silence again.

"Alex, do you know who these people are?" Lupin asked as he placed the photo on the table between them.

"Some sir," said Alex quietly, very much confused, "That's my mum and aunt in the center. That's Harry's parents," She pointed to a tall boy with messy hair and glasses standing next to a short, red-haired girl, "But I don't know anyone else sir. I even asked my Uncle Monty, but he said he never met them."

"I see," Lupin said thoughtfully.

"Professor, is there something wrong?" asked Alex nervously, "Am I in trouble?"

"No, of course your not!" Professor Lupin said with a trace of laughter, "I just wanted to know if you knew who you were carrying around with you."

"Do you know who they are?" Alex asked curiously.

"I do. These two," At this he pointed to a brown-haired wizard and the only unidentified witch, "Are Frank and Alice Longbottom."

"Neville's parents?" cried Alex, "I had no idea! What about the others?"

"Let me see," Lupin muttered, squinting at the figures, "This one is Peter Pettigrew," He pointed to a chubby boy with mousy-brown hair and watery eyes, "And let's see if you can guess this one."

Alex looked at the wizard Lupin pointed to. He was standing next to Elizabeth, just a little taller than Alex's aunt. He had sandy hair, hazel eyes with dark circles underneath, and faint scars on his arms. She looked at her professor with confusion and then her eyes grew wide.

"No way," she whispered, looking from the photo to the professor with a huge grin, "That's you? You knew my mum and aunt? That's why you knew my name on the train! Did you know my dad? What were they like?"

"Yes, I knew your dad, not as well as I would have liked. Your mum was just like you: fiercely loyal to her friends, a bit of a temper that got her into trouble, and a great student when she put her mind to it. Your dad was very polite and never said a bad word against anyone, no matter what they said about him. Your aunt was…amazing." His eyes glazed over and he sighed, "She was incredibly bright, extremely modest, always reading about something, and just as loyal as her sister. She was quiet but you never wanted to get her angry; she knew enough jinxes to send you to the Hospital Wing for three weeks."

"What ever happened to her?" Alex asked slowly. She realized her Uncle Monty had never told her.

"She died in an accident," Lupin's voice caught and he cleared it, "It was a week before our wedding and the day your mother and father died."

"I'm so sorry Professor," said Alex. She wondered what kind of accident, but decided not to ask. It was obviously too painful for him to discuss.

"I guess it was better that way," he said with another sigh, "Your mother and aunt were extremely close. The death of your mum would have caused a lot of suffering for her."

They sipped their tea in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Alex decided to lighten the subject.

"How about the last one?" Alex pointed to the dark-haired wizard next to her mum, "Who is he?

There was a knock on the door and in came Snape holding a steaming goblet. Alex quickly snatched the photo and put it in her pocket, glaring at the Potions Master.

"Hello Severus," Professor Lupin said with a smile, "Alex and I were discussing grindilows."

He pointed to a tank Alex just noticed. It contained a very ugly creature with long fingers. Alex remembered reading about them; they used those fingers to strangle their prey. The way to remove them was to break their grip, for they had very brittle fingers.

"You need to drink this again Lupin. Twice a day, remember?" Snape said coldly, looking at Alex with the same coldness that was in his voice.

"Yes, thank you. Just set it on the table and I'll take it in a few minutes."

Alex watched closely as Snape placed the goblet on the table and left. She leaned forward slightly in her chair and saw a grey, bubbly mixture. She could smell it too and tried not to gag.

"What is it?" Alex inquired curiously.

"Just something Professor Snape kindly brewed for me. I've been feeling a little sick and this will help me feel my best."

"But why does Snape have to brew it for you?" Alex asked quickly as Lupin reached for the goblet.

"Professor Snape, Alex, and I've never been an amazing potions brewer. This one is very complex."

Alex watched in horror as he raised the goblet to his mouth. She resisted trying to knock the goblet and instead blurted out, "Professor Snape loves the Dark Arts!" Professor Lupin stopped and she continued, "People say…they say that he'll do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job."

"Really? Well, cheers."

Alex watched as Professor Lupin drank the entire potion. He shuddered violently and Alex thought he was dying.

"Sir?" Alex asked nervously.

He responded by shuddering again and saying, "That stuff is vile. It really is a shame that sugar makes it useless. Well Alex, your friends should be back soon so I won't keep you. Good day and enjoy the feast."

"Yeah, same to you, sir," said Alex, taking her books and left. The goblet was still smoking.

…...

Alex had just sat down at a table with Harry in the common room when Ron and Hermione arrived, looking extremely happy and cold.

"We brought back as many sweets as we could," Ron said as he placed a large bag on the table.

"And I took notes about all the historical sites," added Hermione, putting a tall pile of parchment next to the sweets. "How was your day? Did you do any work?"

"Oh, the usual," said Alex calmly, "Checked on the owl who laid her egg, got attacked by a dementor, had tea with Professor Lupin-"

"Wait a minute," Ron yelled, "Repeat those last two!"

"Got attacked by a dementor and had tea with Professor Lupin," repeated Alex and told her three friends what happened. When she told them about the dementor attack, she hadn't expected their reactions.

"What were you thinking going out by yourself?" Hermione shouted, half hysterical.

"So you can "see" animals by hearing them? Blimey Alex, that is wicked!" said Ron excitedly.

"Why are you so supportive of this?" Hermione rounded on Ron, "Do you realize the seriousness of this? She could have been hurt or expelled!"

"Expelled for what? For sitting on the grass, minding her own business?" Ron snapped.

"Alex," Hermione turned to her friend, "Black is looking for you! You shouldn't go out on your own."

"He's not going to get past the dementors," said Ron hotly.

"He did it once, what's to say he won't do it again?" said Hermione, now fully hysterical.

"GUYS!" Harry and Alex shouted together as Ron opened his mouth to retort. "Stop and listen to the rest of Alex's story," Harry said.

Alex gave Harry a grateful smile and finished her story. She finished by telling them about the smoking goblet.

"I had tea with Lupin today as well," Harry said once Alex finished, "He drank the potion then too. Do you have any idea what it could be?"

Everyone turned to Alex. Sighing, but eyes shinning with excitement, she went over the details in her mind, took out a piece of scrap parchment, and wrote them down.

"It was grey and bubbly, smelled like a cross between rotten eggs and Ron's dirty socks-"

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed.

"Well, they do reek!" Alex said with a laugh, "Must be drunk twice a day for it to work, it's extremely difficult to brew, and sugar makes it useless. I could sneak into the Restricted Section and look, but let's go to the feast first."

"You don't think it's poison?" Harry asked quietly as they left the common room.

"No," replied Alex in a whisper, "For two reasons. One, poisons are usually made to be tasteless and smell-less, and trust me that stuff was horrible. Two, Snape wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore around. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't like Lupin."

The feast was as delicious as Alex remembered. Even though Alex had a pound of chocolate before, she managed to have seconds of everything. Finally, the dishes were cleared and the Gryffindors headed toward the common room, all yawning and stumbling. However, when Alex, Ron, Hermione, and Harry reached the seventh floor corridor, there was a large crowd in front of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"What the…?" Alex said, trailing off, "The password's Bubatuba for Merlin's sake!"

"I can't see anything from here," Ron said as he was the tallest.

Just then, Percy made his way through the crowd. There was silence and then, "Someone get Professor Dumbledore…NOW!"

A fourth year ran and came back with the Headmaster and Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Lupin. As the crowd made way for them, Alex leaned over and gasped. The Fat Lady was gone and her portrait was ripped to shreds.

"Everyone is to go to the Great Hall immediately," Dumbledore said over the eerie silence.

There was a cackle overhead and Hermione jumped next to Alex. They all looked up and saw Peeves the poltergeist floating above them.

"What is so humorous, Peeves?" the Headmaster asked.

"Oh, begging your pardon Your Headmajesty," Peeves said. He knew better than to get the Headmaster angry, "But it's nice to sit back and admire someone else's mischief."

"What do you mean?" Professor Dumbledore asked calmly.

"I mean, Your Headship sir, that I wasn't the one making mischief tonight, Sirius Black was."

Alex felt her insides drop like lead and heard Hermione gasp next to her. She felt pain in her arm and looked to see Hermione grasping her arm tightly.

"You see, Headmaster sir, she refused to let him in without the password, so he attacked. What a mighty temper he's got!" Peeves said with a wicked grin, "Last I saw of her, she was running toward the portrait of Sir Brogan the Brave."

"Minerva, take these students to the Great Hall and make sure the other Heads of Houses do so. You can do the Slytherins for Severus. Severus, gather the ghosts and have them search the entire castle. Also, tell the portraits to search for the Fat Lady. Remus, I am going to need your assistance with the dementors."

Alex and her other housemates were herded to the Great Hall. Everyone was deathly silent, as if they were listening for any sign of Black.

…...

"All right everyone, lights out in ten minutes!" Percy shouted over the noise.

Alex, Harry, Ron, and Hermione each grabbed a plushy sleeping bag Dumbledore had conjured for them all and went to a corner of the Great Hall. While they pushed through the crowd, people were talking. Gryffindors were telling other houses what happened and others were voicing their theories about how Black got through all the security.

"He Apparated, I'll bet you that's how he did it!" one Hufflepuff said loudly.

"No way, he probably flew in!" a first year Ravenclaw argued.

"Actually, it's neither," Alex muttered to her friends as they laid out their sleeping bags, "No one can Apparate on school grounds and the dementors would've sensed him from the air."

"See Ron," Hermione said, "I told you he could get by the dementors again! And I am not the only one who's read Hogwarts: A History."

They had just climbed into their bags when all the lights flickered and went out. People began scrambling around, using the light from the moon and starts above to see where they were going. A few minutes later, a group of Slytherins started a chant of, "Bring in the dementors!" but were quickly silenced by Percy.

Alex shuddered violently and asked, "You don't think they'll let them in, do you?"

"No," said Hermione instantly, "Dumbledore wouldn't do that. He doesn't like them very much."

"Who does?" Harry asked.

"Apparently the Slytherins do," said Ron darkly.

"They just know they scare the hell out of people," said Alex icily, "That's all they need to like them."

Around three in the morning, according to Harry's watch, everyone was asleep except for the four Gryffindors in the corner. Percy was patrolling the Hall when the main doors opened. Alex shut her eyes and listened as two sets of footsteps came closer and stopped right in front of her sleeping spot.

"Any luck Headmaster?" Percy asked.

"None at all, although I did not expect him to linger long."

Alex cracked open an eye and saw Percy's face shinning in the light of the stars. Next to him, with his back to Alex, was Dumbledore and on his left was Snape, his face half hidden in shadow.

"How do you think he got in, Professor?" the Head Boy asked.

"I have had ideas, but none of then would fit the situation at hand," Dumbledore said.

"Did you consider the, ah, suggestion I made at the beginning of the year?" Snape asked quietly, barely opening his mouth so Alex had to strain her ears to her it, "When you hired-"

"I do not think a single member of my staff would help Black enter the school," Dumbledore said with a tone of finality.

There was an awkward pause in which Alex saw Snape's expression turn livid.

"Should I wake the students and return them to their common rooms, sir?" Percy asked Dumbledore cautiously.

"No, thank you Mr. Weasley," the Headmaster said kindly, "Try and get some rest. Good night."

Alex watched through squinted eyes as both teachers left the Hall and Percy took a sleeping bag and left to find a place. She turned to her friends and found them all wide awake. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Alex shook her head.

"Later," she whispered, "For now, let's try and sleep."

She rolled on her back and watched the stars twinkle above her. Eventually, she fell into a fitful, but deep, sleep.

Author's Note: Ta-da! Another chapter gone. This was rather long but had a lot of useful information in it. I want to take this time to strongly suggest that anyone who hasn't read Remembering the Past: A Marauder's Tale should do so now. As this series continues, there will be references to the book and it would be helpful to have read it. I know some of you may not be Marauder era fans, but at least give it a try. Thank you to my amazing reviewers, those who put me on alert, and those who put me in their favorites. Don't forget to review this chapter and thank you for your continual support! :D