As to be expected with all scenes with Hex and or Moody, there shall be one curse word
you have been warned...
Enjoy!
3 Chapter 11: Blackest Grim
Despite Harry being unable to go with her, Alexis felt an unexplainable amount of excitement about going to Hogsmeade. She also felt extremely guilty because of this.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay here with you, Prongs?" she asked Harry for the third time. "Tails and Moony are going to be sight seeing together and I'm just going with the twins. Draco is going with Pansy-"
"You're rambling, Padfoot," Harry laughed but only half heartedly. "Go. I'll be fine until you three get back, okay Hex?"
Alexis nodded before hugging her best friend. Then she ran off and joined Fred and George who were waiting for her at the front door of the castle where McGonagall was taking up permission slips.
"Ready, milady?" grinned George, bowing dramatically as Fred sarcastically kissed Alexis's hand. McGonagall's snort in amusement did not go unnoticed but the twins knew better then to instigate the Head of the Gryffindor House.
"Onward my brave knights!" Alexis ordered, playing along. She waved one last time to Harry, a pang of guilt hitting her for leaving him behind, before heading off for Hogsmeade with the twins.
But despite trying her best, Alexis soon found herself having too much fun at Hogsmeade to feel guilty that Harry wasn't there. Fred and George took her to every shop available.
The trio first stopped at Honeydukes, the legendary sweet shop Ron had talked about on the train ride. They quite literally had every sweet known to wizard or man and Alexis was rather glad she had good self control or else she would of bought the stores stock of Every Flavor Beans. Next, Fred and George led Alexis to Spintwitches, a store very similar to Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley, where Alexis found a great deal of Christmas gift ideas. After that, they went to Dervish & Banges, a helpful shop that sells and repairs some magical instruments, Gladrags Wizardwear, (though Fred and George only show Alexis that store so she could see the charmed socks that screamed when they got too smelly), and Dominic Maestro's, a music shop. The twins pointed out the Herbology shop, Dogweeds and Deathcap, and J. Pippin's Potions while leading the awestruck Alexis to Zonko's Joke Shop, completely avoiding Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop on the account only 'lovey dovey' couples went there.
It wasn't until it was nearly noon that Alexis said goodbye to Fred and George, who were both slightly distracted by a teacup that had decided to bite Marcus Flint's nose, before heading out on her own through Hogsmeade. She passed Potage's Cauldron Shop and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop uninterested in what they had to sell and only briefly paused in amusement outside of Ollivanders Wand Shop if only to see the reaction of her fellow classmates who had taken to gawking at her.
'Why are they staring at me?' Alexis thought as she continued to trudged down the road.
'Its not everyday people see you by yourself, Hex,' said McPherson plainly. 'Outside of school anyways.'
"It's not my fault Harry couldn't come," Alexis grumbled quietly.
'Nobody said anything about Harry,' teased McPherson. Alexis was about to snap back at him but something caught her eye.
Mounted on top of a hill several paces in front of her was a tall, creaking, two story... shack. All of its doors and windows were bordered up. It was swaying softly in the wind, and to Alexis, it looked like it had seen far more then its fair share of hard times.
"Wow," Alexis whispered, taking in what she was seeing in small quantities. "What is that place?"
'The Shrieking Shack,' answered McPherson. 'Its the most haunted house in all of Britain.'
"Really?"
The amount of excitement in Alexis's voice was unmissable. Thankfully, however, before McPherson could yell how much of a bad idea it was for Alexis to go exploring, as he had said, 'the most haunted house in all of Britain', someone grabbed Alexis's arm.
"Don't even think about it, Hex," said Cedric, pulling Alexis away from the fence she was about to tower.
"But Cedric-"
"No buts," said Cedric. "I can't believe the twins left you alone to your own devices."
He was still grumbling as he dragged Alexis back towards the main part of Hogsmeade. Standing outside of Madam Puddifoot's, which Alexis realized had a great view of where she had been standing near the fence, was a dejected Cho Chang. Evidently, Cedric and her had been on a date when he had ran out to stop her from climbing the fence to the Shrieking Shack.
"Sorry," Cedric said to Cho once they reached her. "I couldn't let her climb in there. Merlin knows what sort of trouble Hex would have gotten into."
"Yes," said Cho coldly, "wouldn't want the little girl to get hurt."
Alexis didn't miss Cho's emphasis on the little in her words and neither did Cedric but he assumed it had more to do with him running off on Cho in the middle of their date.
"Come on Cedric," said Cho, "our tea is getting cold."
"Right," said Cedric. He turned to Alexis. "Do you want to come-"
"NO!"
Cedric blinked in surprise at Alexis and his girlfriend's unanimous reply.
"I mean," said Cho awkwardly. "I'm sure Hex has other friends she wants to hang out with. Right Hex."
The fact that Cho hadn't asked but ordered Alexis to say yes bothered her but Alexis ignored it. Mainly because she didn't want to have to deal with Cho either.
"Right," lied Alexis. "I'm actually heading back to the castle seeing that I can't explore the Shrieking Shack. Bye Ced!"
Running off before Cedric could protest, Alexis hurried through the streets. She had just passed Hog's Head when the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Alexis knew she was being followed. She picked up the pace, trying to lose her stalker but something told her they were right on her heels. Then, as she turned into an alleyway, Alexis felt a tug on her pants leg. She looked down and let out a laugh in relief.
"What a cute dog."
Once again, Alexis was alone in her opinion on what the animal before her looked like. This dog was far from cute. It was black as night, it's hair matted and tangled. The poor thing was barely standing with how skinny it was but was nonetheless massive.
When it's unnaturally dark eyes met Alexis's, she felt almost an instant connection to the animal and fell to her knees to scratch the poor creatures ears.
"Are you hungry boy?" said Alexis and almost instantly the dog barked and licked her face affectionately. "Alright boy, I'll get you some bread and water if you stay here."
Alexis pushed her way into the Three Broomsticks and bought a butterbeer, a water, and three loaves of bread. The latter of these three earned her a raised eyebrow from Madam Rosmerta, the tavern owner, but Alexis ignored it and asked for a bowl as well.
After paying for the few items, Alexis returned to the dog, which had surprisingly not moved even an inch from where she had told it to stay.
"Here you go boy," said Alexis as she tossed the loaves at the dog's feet. They were almost immediately swallowed whole. "Jeez, you are a hungry fellow. Here have some water."
Alexis placed her butterbeer down as she pulled the small bowl out of her jacket but the dog charged at the butterbeer. He began to lap it up so quickly that Alexis found it too comical to stop him. When he had finished, he drank the water from the bowl a great deal slower then the butterbeer from the cup.
"Well, now that you've had your fill," Alexis teased, "why don't you tell me about yourself."
The dog said nothing.
'How surprising,' chuckled McPherson.
"Shut up," growled Alexis, earning her a head tilt from the dog. "Not you! I was talking to Tom."
Once more the dog tilted its head but Alexis ignored its confusion.
"Well I'm Alexis," Alexis said sliding down into the snow. The dog laid across her lap and nudged its head into her neck. "I'm a Gryffindor, third year. My best friends, Harry, Ron, and Hermione that is, are Gryffindor too. Cedric, he's over at the Madame Puddifoot's with his girlfriend Cho. Fred and George, their twins, well, I'm not sure what their doing. Scary really, not knowing what they're up to..."
It was surprising how responsive the dog was to her one sided conversation. His ears perked up at every mentioning of Harry's name and, much to Alexis's amusement, he showed his teeth at the mention of Professor Snape.
Suddenly an idea popped in Alexis's head and a devilish grin crossed her face.
"I'm going to keep you and bring you to Hogwarts," she said gleefully. "I could bring you food in between classes. Plus, Harry always said he wanted a dog. I could share him with you."
The dog seemed to like this idea a great deal but was very reluctant in allowing Alexis to stop scratching behind his right ear. When he finally did, the two made their way to the castle and if Alexis didn't know any better she would say the dog was leading the way.
"Lunch is just ending now," Alexis said aloud as Hogwarts came into view. She had been quite surprised by the lack of Dementors on the path and had the eeriest of feelings that it had something to do with her new dog.
Halfway to the front doors of the castle Alexis spotted Snape and groaned. He looked like he was looking for someone and knowing Alexis's luck it was her. She still had a detention to serve with him after all and it would be very like Snape to demand she serve it over the weekend.
"He'll never let me bring you inside either," she grumbled to the dog, not expecting a response. To her surprise, she was given one.
Tugging on her pant leg, the dog ran off expecting Alexis to follow, which she did of course. Finally, the dog came to a stop right outside the boat house. Alexis couldn't help but to grin at him widely.
"Wow, you're smart!" she exclaimed, scratching the dog's ears. "And I can sneak straight into the castle from here!"
After locking herself and the dog inside the boathouse, Alexis just barely remembered to tell her new dog goodbye and that she would bring him food after the Halloween Feast before hurrying through the portrait of Percival Pratt at the bottom of the grand staircase. She was so excited about telling Harry about her new pet she didn't pay any attention to where she was going...
A shame really.
With a few choice words that made her hope she hadn't ran into Dumbledore or McGonagall, Alexis fell on her bum with a loud thump. She looked up to see what, or in this case who, she had ran into and cursed once more.
Carter Swine, Cornelius Fudge's right hand man, was towering over her, his wand already drawn thanks to her surprising him. He wore his hair in its usual ponytail and his grey eyes were glued on Alexis with a menacing.
"Watch you're mouth, girl," Swine snapped rudely.
"Fuck off," Alexis hissed standing up. She heard a harsh snort and caught sight of two other men standing behind Swine. The one on his right was Mad-Eye Moody and on his left was a tall black man Alexis swore she had seen over the summer.
"I see she's picked up on your vocabulary, Alastor," said the third man, smirking ever so slightly.
Moody only replied with another snort.
"What are you doing in the castle, lass?" growled Moody.
Alexis subconsciously shrugged earning her a Moody glare.
"I got bored," she replied simply. "What are you doing in the castle?"
"None of your business," snapped Swine.
"Now Carter," said the third man. "It was just a question." He turned towards Alexis. "The name is Kingsley Shacklebolt."
He stuck out his hand for Alexis to shake. Hesitantly, she did just that.
"Alexis," Alexis replied slowly. "So, why are you three here?"
"Extra security," said Kingsley. "With the students at Hogsmeade we had to pull back on the Dementors for today."
"Wow," said Alexis, speaking her thought aloud, "so today would be the perfect day to sneak into Hogwarts..."
"And what makes you say that?" sneered Swine.
"Well, Sirius Black did kill twelve people with one spell," stated Alexis before she realized what she was saying. "You, unlike the Dementors, are people. And if he really is Voldemort's right hand man, you three aren't very much..."
Finally what Alexis was saying out loud hit her. Thankfully, however, before Swine, or Moody for that matter, could reprimand her, a familiar voice filled the air.
"Hex!"
Alexis nearly fell over again when Harry ran into her. He, however, quickly steadied her before pulling her towards the stairs.
"Come on!" Harry shouted, purposely ignoring the three Ministry workers staring at him. "Professor Lupin has a Grindylow!"
Without leaving a second to protest, Alexis let Harry drag her away, up the stairs. They were halfway to the Defense classroom when Harry spoke.
"You really need to stop inserting your foot in your mouth, Padfoot," he said, shaking his head.
Alexis sighed loudly before shrugging. She couldn't agree more.
"Yeah... So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
.
"And you let him drink it?" cried Hermione and Ron together, looking mortified.
Harry nodded his head weakly. Once Hermione and Ron had returned from Hogsmeade, he had told them the same thing he had told Alexis. Remus Lupin had invited him to tea while they were away when Snape came in carrying a suspicious smoking goblet. Hermione and Ron had been horrified to discover Harry had allowed Remus to drink the concoction when it was a well known fact that Snape had been after Remus's job as the Defense Against the Dark Arts for years.
Alexis, however, was more interested in why Remus had drunk the potion and thanks to Harry describing the potions properties, she knew the answer to that question too.
'So Remus is a werewolf?' she thought. 'Cool.'
McPherson chuckled at her as she and her friends, who were still reprimanding Harry for allowing Remus to drink the potion, descended the stairs to the Great Hall. The Halloween Feast had already begun and the four of them were running late.
"Shoot," cried Hermione. "I left my essay for Transfiguration in the Common Room!"
"But the essay's not due until Thursday," said Ron.
"Professor McGonagall said I could turn it in early," said Hermione as if it was normal to turn in a homework assignment five days early. "I'm trying to stay ahead, you know."
Before Ron could say anything, Alexis spoke up.
"I'll go get it, Moony."
"Do you want me to come with you, Padfoot?" asked Harry.
Alexis shook her head, already heading back up the stairs.
"Nah, I got it, Prongs. Do save me some potatoes, okay Tails?"
With a chorus of goodbyes following her, Alexis hurried on her way back towards the Gryffindor Tower. She had no doubts that it would be deserted seeing that it had been when she and the gang had left so she was surprised when she heard a cry coming from the seventh floor corridor. Like any true Gryffindor, Alexis picked up the pace and headed towards outside the Gryffindor Tower where the noise had come from.
She had expected to see a first year being picked on or even Neville trapped between the portrait again. Never had it crossed her mind that she would see what she did which maybe why she froze in place at the sight.
Standing in front of Alexis, a look of madness and rage on his face and his hand bleeding from the damage he had done to the Fat Lady's portrait, was Sirius Black, but that wasn't the worse part.
He was staring right at her.
I do hope we enjoyed the dramatic chapter end (it sounded so much better in my head) Sorry for the delay lovelies I got a concussion on Thursday, what fun! Anyway, if the chapter is fuzzy and jumpy a bit I'm blaming it on that. Hope you all enjoyed it and can see how Alexis Lestrange is slowly changing the HP story we all know and love (I promise at least one very dramatic change near the end of this story which I'd love to hear you all guess on)
ThatOneGirlNoOneNotices: Thanks for the review though now I'm very interested in figuring out what that Boggart would look like. As for the vanishing cabinet question your guess is as good as mine!
mercenary2.0: I promise I'm trying to update at least once a week if not more. School, XC, PT, and my family takes a lot of my free time unfortunately
Kuroi-Akuma-no-Okami: Arachibutyrophobia is my new favorite word. Thank you!
And finally, the lovely Phoenixfelicis07: Don't worry about Ron getting jealous of Harry. He knows (or assumes like everyone else) that Harry is number one to Hex. Even Draco knows that (or assumes. Not gonna say which one is right). As for the Ron/Draco truce I'll explain it later on. Now, Hex's detention... Well, as you remember in the first book, after a certain curious first year girl messes around in the potion classroom she ends up being in Fourth year potions. Perhaps Snape actually thinks Alexis is good at potions, perhaps he is only harsh on her in class so that she'll improve her skills, perhaps secretly Snape cares about Alexis and wants to warn her about the dangerous creature teaching her... Or perhaps Snape is a dick and wants to hurt Alexis by revealing to her that her favorite teacher is a werewolf. You never know with that guy... :D
Once more thanks for the reviews! I love them all and enjoy reading them so send more!
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