Author's Note: If I were not a high school student, something else I'd rather be. If I were not a high school student, J.K Rowling me! Sadly this isn't true and I don't own anything in Harry Potter but Alex and the plot points you don't recognize.

Chapter 12 Into the Green Room

Christmas break was coming fast. Just two weeks after Alex was in Dumbledore's office, McGonagall was coming down the tables with a list of who was staying and leaving. Alex had explained to her uncle that she had a lot of work to do over break and she needed a certain book in the library. She hated lying to her uncle but there was a lot to do on the Polyjuice Potion if they wanted it ready by the break.

"Malfoy's staying too," whispered Harry, "Just saw him telling McGonagall."

"That's odd," said Alex, "I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss a chance of seeing his dear old mum. He might get homesick."

…...

On the day of the start of break, Alex said good-bye to Parvati and Lavender as they left for the train. Maggie had left too, much to Alex and Hermione's relief. They didn't want anyone trying to find out what they were up to all Christmas break. After saying their good-byes, Alex and Hermione went to Myrtle's bathroom.

"Almost done!" said Alex happily, "It just needs to sit for seventy-two hours and then-AARRGGHH!"

Alex jumped back in alarm as Moaning Myrtle came out of one of the stalls. Hermione gasped as well and almost knocked over the cauldron on the floor.

"I know I'm ugly," screamed Myrtle, "But you don't need to make a show of it!"

She flew up and they heard a splash. She had gone back into her toilet. Alex sighed and turned to the cauldron.

"Anyway, like I said, just seventy-two hours and we can drink it," she finished, as if none of that just happened.

"That's Christmas Day! Do you have your hairs yet?" asked Hermione.

"Yep, knicked them off Parkinson during the duel," said Alex holding up a tube with long brown hairs inside. "She's apparently going to Italy for the break, but isn't leaving until after the Christmas feast. I'm just going to say her dad is picking her up late. You?"

"I got mine when Bulstrode had me in a headlock," said Hermione holding up her hairs too. "Harry and Ron don't have theirs yet though."

"Don't worry," said Alex flashing her smile that could only mean trouble, "I've got that under control."

…...

On Christmas morning, Alex woke up and jumped on Hermione's bed.

"Wake up! Wake up!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

After Alex pulled off the covers, Hermione sat up and grabbed her gifts. Alex got The Very Large Book of Animals from Harry, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Ron, a diary from Hermione, and a box of fudge with a Weasley sweater from Mrs. Weasley. Alex held up the sweater and saw a steaming cauldron on it. She threw it on over her pajamas and looked at Hermione's gifts.

Hermione got How to Succeed in School Without Really Trying from Harry, a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Ron, and the usual box of fudge and sweater from Mrs. Weasley. Hers had a large stack of books on the front.

"Put the sweater on Hermione, it's so warm," said Alex as she read Hermione's book, "This is pretty useful, you know," she added putting the book down.

The girls didn't feel like changing into regular robes, so they went down to breakfast in their pajamas and their sweaters. They saw Fred and George and sat with them. They had their pajamas on and sweaters on too, but theirs were the same color, one with an 'F' on it and the other with a 'G' on it.

"Fred, why are you wearing the one with the 'G' on it?" asked Hermione as she pulled some toast over.

"We wanted to see how many people would notice the difference," said George.

"And so far, no one has. McGonagall even called me George," said Fred.

Soon Harry and Ron came down wearing their sweaters, although they had changed. Alex was really enjoying herself, but she missed her uncle and Erin. She knew that Erin would not be happy when she came back for the summer. This was the only time during the school year when Alex could go home. An owl flew into the Hall and landed in front of Alex.

"Hello Monty," she whispered as she took the parcels.

"From your uncle and friend with love," said the owl and he took off.

Alex opened her uncle's gift first and smiled. It was a picture frame with the Hogwarts emblem on it. It was red with gold lining and words, "Gryffindor, the brave and strong" written along it. She turned and opened Erin's gift. She laughed loudly at the gift. It was a purse with the Rolling Stone sign on it. The Weasley's were fascinated with the idea of a band's sign being a mouth and a tongue. Fred and George were imitating the design when a cold voice drifted over to them.

"Hey Potter, nice sweater! Where did you find that, in a Muggle dumpster?" said Malfoy.

"Can it Malfoy, it's Christmas for Merlin's sake! You know, peace on earth and good will to man?" said Alex exasperatedly. Malfoy just smirked and turned to his cronies.

After they had finished eating, Alex changed into some Muggle clothes and went to check on the potion. As she was nearing the girls' bathroom, she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped and they stopped. She started walking again and heard them again. Thinking it was Percy following her, Alex turned the corner, grabbed her locket, and turned the knob to the right, becoming invisible. She waited, wanting to scare Percy by surprising him. Served the prick right for following her around the castle. The footsteps snuck around the corner and it wasn't Percy, it was Malfoy. He turned his head around, as if looking for someone.

"What are you doing?" asked Alex, becoming visible again and stuffing her necklace into her shirt.

Malfoy spun around and realized who it was. He composed himself into a sneer. "Am I not allowed to walk through the corridors anymore?" he countered.

"Not when you're following someone," said Alex, "I heard your footsteps a mile away."

"What's that?" he said, pointing to Alex's pants.

"Jeans, ever heard of them?"

"Don't Muggles wear those?" he asked, his sneer widening.

"Yeah, they do. So what? In case you haven't noticed, I really don't care about your "pure-blood" ways. My background isn't the cleanest in the world, you know," said Alex, feeling hot anger inside her.

"You shouldn't talk about that stuff, Ratcliff," said Malfoy, his sneer fading, "You don't want the heir of Slytherin to hear you or you'll end up in the Hospital Wing like the others."

"Well according to everyone in the school," said Alex hotly, "Harry's the heir of Slytherin, and he already knows my mum was Muggle-born and my dad was a Muggle. I guess I'm going to be the next victim! Better stay away, otherwise the monster will get you too!"

She turned on her heel and left, glad that soon she would know what Malfoy was up to. Who did he think he was sneaking around and following her?

"Ratcliff, where the bloody hell are you going?" shouted Malfoy, running up and falling into step beside her, "It's not safe to walk the corridors alone."

"What's the matter, Malfoy? Are you scared of the Heir of Slytherin's monster?" mocked Alex.

"Honestly, yeah I am and you should be too." Alex stopped short and Malfoy had kept walking. He realized she wasn't next to him and turned to face her stunned face. "Oh come off it Ratcliff. Even though the monster is controlled by a Slytherin, our House is just as terrified as the rest of you guys. What if we pissed off the wrong person? Would the heir really turn the monster on his own House?"

"But you're a pure-blood so you have nothing to fear," said Alex, but not in her angry tone anymore.

"It doesn't matter if I got on the Heir of Slytherin's nerves."

"Well then we know Harry's not the Heir of Slytherin then. You've pissed him off more times than I can count," Alex said dryly as she continued walking.

"Then how do you explain Potter being a Parselmouth?" asked Malfoy with a raised eyebrow.

"There have been other Parselmouths over the centuries of Hogwarts history, Voldemort was one. Are you suggesting Voldemort and Harry are related? Because I can assure you that they aren't in the least. Look," Alex stopped once she realized she was in front of the girl's bathroom, "I'm not going to argue about this, especially with you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do what I came here to do."

Alex nodded towards the bathroom door and Malfoy nodded, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest. Their eyes met in a battle of stares before Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Are you seriously going to wait for me outside the bathroom?" she cried out.

"Someone has to protect you from the monster, right?" he said in a mocking tone.

"Oh great, my own knight in shining armor! Isn't that every girl's dream?" snapped Alex, eyes blazing, "Piss off Malfoy!"

"If that's not ironic, I don't know what is."

"You insufferable git! Why can't you just leave me alone? I hate you, do you hear me? I hate your rotten fu-"

"What's this?" Alex spun around mid-curse and groaned. Percy was looking at the two of them with a stern glare but Alex was sure he was secretly enjoying this.

"Come on Percy, I just wanted to go to the bathroom!" said Alex in an attempt to get out of the detention the older Weasley had promised if he ever caught Alex or her friends here again.

"Nice try Alex, you and Malfoy both get a detention and five points deducted from your house," said Percy and Alex heard the enjoyment in his voice now.

"What did I do wrong?" asked Malfoy incredulously.

"No Malfoy, you deserve this. This is what you get for stalking me," Alex said and glared at Percy, "You know I have resources and that I will use them to my full advantage."

"Was that a threat?" Percy asked a little warily. Even though he had the badge to prove his power, he knew the full extent of Alex's anger and hunger for revenge.

"Nope, just a warning," she replied with a sickeningly sweet smile and Percy decided that was a good time to leave before Alex let her anger out completely. Watching the Weasley go, she turned to Malfoy and said, "Have I ever told you just how much I hate you?"

"Probably, seeing as you can't control yourself when you're angry and usually you're angry at me for some reason," he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and smirking, "What are your resources anyway?"

"A woman never reveals her secrets," she said mysteriously as she made her way to the door, "Go away Malfoy."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Ratcliff," said Malfoy with a sarcastic wave and he left. Alex just rolled her eyes and went to work on her potion.

…...

"We're doing it tonight, everything's ready, except you need Crabbe and Goyle hairs," said Alex, running into the common room half an hour later.

"How are we going to get those?" asked Ron.

Alex pulled out a bottle of bright blue liquid. "This is a very strong sleeping draught," Alex explained, "It'll knock them out for more than enough time for us to question Malfoy and change back into ourselves. Put them in a brownie or something, make sure they eat it, and then grab the hairs."

That night at dinner, Alex handed Harry two chocolate cupcakes to put the draught in. She and Hermione left earlier so they could grab Slytherin robes.

"You think these'll fit?" asked Hermione, holding up some robes.

"It'll have to do, we need to get going," said Alex as she grabbed some robes that she thought would fit.

They went to the girl's bathroom and started preparing the potion. Hermione pulled out four tall glasses as Alex poured the goopy solution into them. They then went into the stalls and changed into the Slytherin robes. Alex had just come out when Harry and Ron ran in, looking pleased with themselves.

"They're so thick!" Ron said laughing.

Alex threw the robes at the boys and they went to get changed. Alex laughed when Harry came out.

"Those are huge on you!" said Alex.

"Yeah, but they'll fit Goyle just fine," muttered Harry as he rolled up his sleeves.

Alex handed the cups out and sprinkled the hairs in her potion. It fizzed loudly and it turned a dull brown.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Alex?" asked Harry as his turned black.

"Pretty sure, I double checked everything and Hermione double checked my double checks. Well, bottoms up."

Alex gulped down the solution quickly. When she finished, she grimaced at the taste and shivered violently. The others were looking at her nervously, cups full and untouched. Suddenly, Alex felt sick to her stomach. She clenched her hands over her stomach and fell to her knees, her eyes shut. Finally, the pain subsided and she stood up. She looked in the mirror and gasped. She was looking at Pansy Parkinson. She turned to the others and smiled.

"Told you it would work," she said, her voice the same. "Oh, told you it would work," she tried again, this time in Parkinson's whinny voice.

She watched the others drink their potions. Hermione felt sick and ran into a bathroom stall, closely followed by the others. Alex was just pulling her now brown hair up when Harry came out.

"You look just like Goyle!" said Alex happily.

"Thanks, I mean…thanks," he said, trying to imitate Goyle's deep rumble.

Ron came out and looked at himself in the mirror, frowning at his squashed, round face.

"I look so stupid!" he cried angrily.

"That's good, it means it's working," said Alex as she walked over to Hermione's stall and knocked. "Hermione, you all right? Come on out and see us!"

"I…I don't think I should go," said Hermione shrilly.

"Why?" asked Ron, coming over too, "Come on Hermione, we all know Bulstode's ugly but-"

"I just don't want to go, okay?" cried Hermione.

"Okay Hermione, you stay here and we'll go," said Alex, throwing Ron a dirty look.

They left the bathroom and started walking down to the dungeons. As they walked, Alex noticed how people were looking at them differently. Some students would give them dirty looks, others would pretend not to notice them. Alex realized how much Slytherins were hated at Hogwarts. As they reached the dungeons, Alex thought of something.

"Guys, we don't know the password to the common room," she whispered.

Harry slapped his long forehead with his oversized hands. Ron groaned, but smiled.

"We'll just ask someone," he said in his best Crabbe voice.

"Oh sure, real smart Crabbe," said Alex sarcastically, trying to get used to calling the boys by their new names, "Because I'm sure many people are just going to tell us flat out what the password is."

"Excuse me?" said a voice from behind them. Alex turned around and saw Percy at the end of the corridor. "What are your three doing just wondering around? Get to your common room now."

"Who said you could boss us around?" asked Ron.

"I'm a Prefect," said Percy arrogantly, "I can tell you whatever I want."

"Is that so?"

Alex looked and saw Malfoy sneering at the older student. He walked over to Percy and stared him in the eyes.

"Come on, let's get out of here, we don't want to be infected by this Muggle-lover," said Malfoy.

"You better watch what you say around me, Malfoy," said Percy, his face turning red.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows and Percy left. He looked at Harry and Ron.

"Just like his stupid father," he said laughing, then he became more serious, "Did you two just get back? Have you been eating the entire time?"

"Yeah," they said, sounding stupid.

"Goyle, are you wearing glasses?" asked Malfoy.

Alex froze and could have kicked Harry. The moron had forgotten to take his glasses off! Why hadn't she noticed that?

"Oh, yeah," said Harry in Crabbe's deep voice, "Just for reading."

"Reading? I didn't know you could read," said Malfoy.

His eyes fell on Alex and his mood changed entirely. Before, he had been laid back, carelessly making fun of his friends. Now he stood up straighter and ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Pansy…wh-what are you doing here? I thought you left on the train after the feast," he stuttered.

"My dad said he was running late," said Alex smiling sweetly, "He's meeting me in later tonight so I won't get to have the entire time in Italy."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he said, recovering from his initial shock.

"It's fine," she said, pretending to be sad, "I'll get over it. There's always next year, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Come on, let's go to the common room, we can talk freely there," said Malfoy, holding out his arm.

Alex took it, trying not to flinch. She could hear Ron and Harry snickering behind her, but tried to ignore them.

Author's Note: Hello reviewers! I was in a giving mood and decided to update the day after my last update. We didn't have school today due to snowy weather so I had time to post this. :D

I would really like to know what you thought of this chapter. The whole part with Alex and Draco getting detention was something I recently added on and the next chapter will have more of that in it. Did you enjoy the bickering between the two of them? Anything you didn't like or wouldn't like to see? Your comments will help me with the rest of the series so please don't be shy.

Finally, in case you didn't get my first A/N it was a spin-off of a Monty Python sketch. It's from Episode 3: How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away and it's the court sketch. If you like British humor, I highly suggest checking it out online. You can look it up on YouTube. If you do watch it or have already seen it, feel free to send me a review or PM. It's good to know that I'm not the only one here who likes Monty Python! :D