Alexandra Potter
Chapter 8
Scene 2/3 - Take 2
"Back to work, everyone!" barked Sprout when she saw they were all just standing around talking. "You have to write this up for homework, and if you have no data it'll be your own fault!"
Alex and Draco shared a grin when they looked at Malfoy's rather blank notes.
"Here," said Alex, pushing hers over. "Copy mine."
"You mean... she put it in her mouth?" asked Alex, appalled. "People do that?"
The girls giggled loudly, earning a dirty look from Simon Taggart - the 6th year prefect accompanying them down to Hogsmeade village. Only third years and above were allowed to visit the Wizarding village on their own, so the Hufflepuff girls had been given an escort by Professor Sprout - much to Taggart's displeasure.
The wind whistled, and Alex gathered her robe around her as they passed through Hogwarts' main gate - a long tunnel under a crumbling gatehouse. It was uncommonly cold for October, and the gatehouse was like an icebox. She needed to buy some warmer clothes - all of her purchases at Madam Malkin's had been summer robes. Luckily, she still had five galleons left over from Diagon Alley.
"Honestly, Alex, haven't you ever heard of a blowjob?" asked Lily.
Alex was too surprised to be embarrassed by her lack of knowledge.
"You're joking with me, aren't you?" she said, suspicious. "People don't really do that."
This sent the girls into even louder guffaws. Even Hannah was laughing. Alex looked at Susan.
"It's true!" protested the redhead, who had put her hair up into a braided circlet - with Alex's help. It was a bit annoying that Susan was copying her hair, but she'd helped anyway.
Alex scrunched up her nose as she realised the girls weren't lying to her. Why on earth would you want to put a dick in your mouth? I'll never do that.
"So Daphne gave Toby Ashby a... blowjob?" she asked, still disbelieving. Toby Ashby was a Slytherin third year.
"Well, that's what Toby told Humphrey, who told Marcus, who told Cedric who told Megan," said Lily, all in one breath. Alex looked at Megan in surprise.
"Cedric spoke to you?" she said. Cedric was a fourth year Hufflepuff, and very handsome. Alex wouldn't put his dick in her mouth, but she wouldn't mind kissing him.
Megan ducked her head. "Well, perhaps not spoke," she said. "But he sat next to me at lunch, and I heard him talking with Stebbins about it."
Hannah looked at Megan jealously. "I can't believe he sat next to you," she said dreamily. "He's so beautiful."
"You mean handsome," said Susan, not in a mean way.
Hannah stuck out her tongue. "I said what I meant. Cedric Diggory's beautiful."
"Hang on," said Alex, not yet finished with the conversation about blowjobs. "What's Daphne saying about it?"
"Not much," said Lily, who was closest with the Slytherins. You'd never guess it from her dirty mouth, but Lily was Old Blood. The Moons used to have a seat in the Warlock's Council, before they lost the Civil War. Her fool ancestor Charlus Moon had even challenged Brandon Swann himself to a duel. The duel ended with Charlus missing a head and Swann's armies free to take Nottingham.
"But did she or didn't she?" pressed Alex.
"Probably," said Lily, shrugging. "Judging from the way she reacted to Malfoy."
Alex laughed, remembering. "I was so confused," she confessed. "But it makes a lot more sense now. It was rather clever, really."
Lily looked at Alex speculatively.
"So I heard something interesting yesterday," she said. This doesn't sound good. "Apparently, Draco Malfoy asked you out, Alex."
"What?" said Susan. Crap, thought Alex. Should've told her sooner.
"He may have wanted to come with Hogsmeade with me," she said, unable to stop herself from grinning.
"And you said no?" asked Hannah.
"Well, not exactly no," said Alex. "I just didn't say yes."
"I can't believe the only one of us who got asked out said no," grumbled Hannah, and Lily laughed.
"That's not entirely true," she said with a smile. Hannah gasped.
"Who?"
"Ronald Weasley," Lily said, and they all laughed. "Of course I said no," she added, "he's no Draco Malfoy."
Alex looked at Susan, who was strangely silent. Normally she loved conversations like these. But she was oddly subdued today, Alex thought. Is it because I didn't tell her about Draco? She was perfectly fine before we started talking about - oh. Alex realised the truth. Susan liked Draco. Alex immediately decided to avoid the subject - unless Susan brought it up. No reason to rock the boat.
The sound of laughter further down the path interrupted Alex's thoughts. Taggart was setting a quick pace, and they were quickly catching up to another group of girls. Alex's heart sank when she saw who it was: Daphne, with Pansy, Tracey Davis and Sophie Roper.
"You better watch out, Alex," Pansy taunted as their groups joined together. The Slytherin girls were being led by Mandy Werrel, a pretty 6th year prefect, and it looked like Taggart had a thing for her. "You can't hide behind Malfoy forever."
Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm shivering in fear," she said, and the Hufflepuffs laughed. Daphne scowled.
"You should be," she said. "I'm going to make you wish you never left your filthy Muggle relatives."
"Speaking of filthy..." said Susan - the first thing she'd said in five minutes. She looked to Alex and grinned. Alex took the hint.
"How's Ashby, Daphne?" said Alex with a smirk, "You know, if you ever need it, I hear Madam Pomfrey can provide Witches' Brew."
Pansy gasped, and for a moment Alex thought Daphne was going to slap her.
"At least I have a boyfriend," she said at last. "An older boyfriend. No one wants to go out with you. Well - maybe if you begged Goyle. But even he wouldn't dirty himself with someone like you."
Alex clenched her teeth.
"Someone like me?"
"Yeah, you know-" Daphne looked around, then leant in closer so the prefects couldn't hear - "a mudblood."
Susan gasped, and Lily's wand had somehow appeared in her hand. Even Sophie looked shocked. Alex was just confused - it was a bad word, obviously, but she'd never heard it before. Not even from Lily.
"Furnuncu-" Lily began, a nimbus of orange light forming around her wand, but -
"Salvo!" cried Mandy, and Lily's jinx spluttered and died before it was fully formed. The prefects weren't as idle as they'd looked.
"Enough," said Taggart, bringing them to a stop. "Lily, prefects' detention. Friday, eight o'clock. Same for you, Greengrass."
"No," said Mandy, giving Taggart a look. "Daphne will be coming with me to see Professor Snape when we return."
Daphne's gulp was audible.
"Ohh. You're gonna have fun," Lily said, grinning. Alex didn't know what she was talking about - Snape was famously easy on his own students. She'd probably just get away with a slap on the wrist.
"You better watch your mouth," Daphne said, but she wasn't looking at Lily. She was looking right at Alex. "You never know what trouble it might get you into."
Perfect.
"Well, you're the expert on how to use your mouth, I suppose," Alex said, grinning. Lily burst into laughter and Daphne reddened.
"Merlin save me from first years," Taggart muttered, earning a smile from Mandy.
"I think it'd be best if we split up," she said. "Simon, you go on ahead. I want to have a chat with these ones first."
"Good idea," said Taggart, "Come on, girls. Let's get this over with."
Hogsmeade village was like something out of a storybook. The streets were narrow and cobbled, and the houses were built in what Alex thought of as a Tudor style, all exposed wooden beams and crooked windows. As they made their way to the centre of the small village, however, the buildings got older and larger, many of them made of the same stone as Hogwarts castle. And right in the centre of the village was the High Street - a single street of shops, not unlike Diagon Alley.
The village was packed with Hogwarts students. The older years wandered around in small groups, but here and then you could spot larger groups of first and second years being led around by prefects.
"That's the Three Broomsticks," said Taggart, pointing to a large pub on the corner. "We'll finish there. Famous for their Butterbeer. Now, do you just want to wander or is there anything in particular you want to do?"
"I need some quills and parchment," said Megan.
"Me too," said Alex, thinking of her dwindling supplies. "And is there a clothes shop?"
"There are three," said Taggart, and he looked at what Alex was wearing for the first time. "You'll want Alain Fixworth, I think. Gladrags is alright, but not as fashionable. And Hornby's is second-hand. We can go to Scrivenshafts on the way."
"Ohh, Fixworth's," said Susan, "I've always wanted to go in there!"
"How come?" said Alex.
"He's the best designer in Britain!" said Hannah, scandalised that Alex didn't know. "You'd have to go to France for better clothes!"
"Hey!" said Lily. "My Mum's stuff is miles better than Fixworth's!"
Hannah looked startled. "Oh, yes," she said. "Um, I'm sure it is."
"Hang on, what's that?" said Alex, interrupting their fight before it could start. A shop across the street had caught her eye. It had large glass windows displaying all sorts of crafted objects, from a lifesize bronze sculpture of a lion, to tiny little robins made of silver, and much more besides. There was a naked stone woman wearing a dress of swirling water, and a sculpture of a dragon poised to fight, a ball of flame burning in its mouth. The sign above the window declared the shop to be called Manor. "Can we take a look?"
Taggart sighed.
"Fine, let's go."
They crossed the street over the grumbling of the other girls. Alex immediately walked over to the window with the robins.
"The detail is amazing," she said, almost pushing her nose against the glass. "And that's real silver!" Now she understood what Dumbledore meant by artisan quality. "I mean, they look like they could get up and-"
As if obliging her request, one of the trio of robins perked its head up, gave a silent chirrup, and jumped off its shelf, fluttering around the window. Alex gasped.
"Living silver," said Taggart, suddenly interested. "I'm not sure if even McGonagall could pull that off."
"Can we go in?" said Alex. Susan groaned, and Taggart looked up at the darkening sky.
"Not today," he said after a moment. "I want to get back before it rains, and we don't know how long Fixworth's will take.
Alex immediately resolved to return, the next time she came to Hogsmeade.
They were in and out of Scrivenshafts in less than ten minutes. Alex eyed a spell-checking quill with interest, but in the end decided to stick with her standard self-inking non-drip version. After grabbing several pads of parchment and paying she was done.
Alain Fixworth Apparel was another matter entirely. It was almost empty, so the girls had the run of the shop floor. They went from rack to rack, holding hangers up to themselves and each other, then gasping when they saw the price tags.
"Rhia, this is eleven sickles!" said Lily, holding up an under-robe with a plunging neck. "It's nice, though."
"You don't have the boobs for that," said Susan bluntly, "here, try this." Susan passed Lily a black lace robe that was, in places, rather transparent.
"Ohh, I like it," said Lily, and Alex agreed. But she was looking for warmer clothes, not more under-robes. She found a couple that she liked.
"What d'you think?" said Alex, holding one up to herself - a silvery grey robe like nothing she'd seen before. It was sleeveless, with a hood, and made of an extremely light, silky material. Despite that, the tag claimed that it came with a sewn-in warming Charm. "You're meant to combine it with a long-sleeve under-robe, I think." She held up a dark blue under-robe she'd picked to go with it.
"It looks good!" said Susan, sizing her up. "But it's not the kind of thing you can wear every day..."
"Yeah," said Alex, who'd realised the same. "I've got this as well." She showed them a dark green pullover with a duck knitted into the breast.
"It's so cute!" Susan gasped.
"Here, feel it," said Alex, "it's really soft too."
"Goes with your eyes as well," added Lily, returning from the counter. "Have you seen the lingerie? It's so pretty."
Susan rolled her eyes.
"Ladies!" called Taggart. He was waiting by the door. "We don't have all day!"
The girls moaned, but they hurried up nonetheless. Lily dragged them on a brief trip through the lingerie section, but none of them bought anything. It was all made for older girls. But Lily was right: it was pretty - if a bit uncomfortable-looking.
After more nagging from Taggart, Alex bought her robes - thirty sickles in total - and they left for the Three Broomsticks, where they were to try Madam Rosmerta's delicious Butterbeer. The pub was the complete opposite of the Leaky Cauldron: it was clean, spacious, and everything looked new. It was also completely packed. After finding them a table, Taggart left them for his own friends.
Their Butterbeer arrived in glass bottles, and the sticker on the front was handwritten, like homemade jam. Madam Rosmerta's World-Famous Butterbeer, it said in calligraphic script.
"Why don't they have this at Hogwarts?" said Alex after taking her first sip of the golden liquid. It was amazing - warm, sweet, buttery, yet not too sweet. She could easily have drunk bottle after bottle.
"No idea," said Susan, who had already finished half of hers. "Too expensive, I guess. It's not something the House Elves could make, so they'd have to buy hundreds of bottles a week."
Alex hadn't known Hogwarts used House Elves, but it made sense. The castle was huge, after all.
"We should buy some extras," Alex began, "to take-"
She was interrupted by a loud cheer the next table over. It was another group of Hogwarts students - 6th years, by the look of them.
"Down, down, down, down," they chanted, and Alex watched as one of them - a grinning boy - took up a thimble sized glass of amber liquid. He hesitated a moment, then downed it. The table cheered. For a moment it looked like he was fine, but his face got steadily paler and paler, until it looked like he was going to be sick. He opened his mouth, and before Alex could look away, a giant fireball shot out like dragon's fire.
"Firewhisky," said Susan at Alex's questioning look. "You have to be 17 and over to buy it."
She didn't look too happy about that, Alex thought. The idea of Susan getting drunk was quite funny. Maybe I could get her some Firewhisky for her birthday, somehow.
"So Alex, when are you going to say 'yes' to Draco?" asked Lily.
"Well, I'm not sure if I'm going to..." said Alex. She was still uncertain about the whole thing. Draco was alright, but she couldn't really imagine kissing him. It just seemed weird. And wasn't that what having a boyfriend was mostly about?
"Of course you'll say yes!" said Lily. "Daphne has a boyfriend. You need one too."
Alex hadn't thought of it like that. It was a good point. Imagine Daphne's face when she finds out I'm going out with Draco. IF I go out with Draco.
"But what if he wants to... you know," said Alex.
"What if he wants a blowie, you mean?" said Lily. Alex blushed. Lily was rather direct. I wish I could just say whatever I wanted.
"Mmm," said Alex, agreeing. "I mean, isn't that the kind of stuff boys want to do?"
"Well, if you don't want to do it, you just say no," said Lily. Alex wasn't sure it was that simple.
"Or you make him do you first!" said Hannah, going bright red.
"Hannah!" said Lily, actually shocked. Alex frowned.
"Er, I don't have a dick," she said, rather confused.
The girls laughed, and Alex started to get annoyed. Not knowing things wasn't fun.
"Oh, Alex," said Lily, smiling. "There's so much we need to tell you." She leaned over to whisper right into Alex's ear, cupping her hands to hold in the sound. "They lick your you-know-what," she whispered.
Alex spun to look at her, eyes wide.
"Ewwww," she said. She didn't want someone's face there. How embarrassing would that be? Alex had, of course, explored herself in the bath, a bit. She got the idea. She wasn't stupid, nor as innocent as she sounded. It would probably feel nice. But the idea of an actual person doing that to her - it was too embarrassing to imagine.
"What?" said Megan, who had been listening to everything in stunned silence. She looked at Alex. "What did she say?"
Alex gestured at Lily. "You tell her," she said. Lily grinned, and repeated what she'd done for Alex. This time Alex got to watch, and she had to admit: it was funny watching Megan's face. She laughed with the others.
"That'd probably be Draco's reaction too," said Hannah, grinning. "And the best thing is, he can't really argue against it, can he? It's just fair."
"But what if he said yes?" said Alex.
"Then I guess you're in for a bit of fun!" said Lily, with an evil smile.
"This is all theoretical, of course," said Alex, glancing at Susan. "I still haven't decided what to tell him."
"And probably, he's not going to ask for a blowie," said Lily.
"Of course he isn't!" said Susan. "Draco's a gentleman!"
Lily snorted. "Gentleman or not, he's still going to want to touch those," said Lily, gesturing at Alex's boobs. Alex looked down at her chest protectively.
"How do you know about all of this, anyway?" said Alex. Maybe Lily was just making stuff up.
"I dunno," said Lily, "Magazines? It's not like there's some big secret. Mum talks to me about this stuff all the time. And what my Mum won't tell me, Lizzie - my older sister - does."
"How old's your sister?" said Alex.
"She's fifth year," said Lily. "She's probably around Hogsmeade somewhere, actually. With her new boyfriend. Honestly, he's all she ever talks about now. Oliver this and Oliver that. Bla bla bla."
"You don't mean Oliver Wood?" said Hannah.
"Not many other Olivers, are there?" said Lily.
"The Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?" asked Alex. She'd never spoken to him, but she'd seen him in the hall.
"The Hogwarts Quidditch captain, now," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "He was selected by Dumbledore last week for the match against Montery Hall."
"I didn't know we played other schools," said Alex. Quidditch season was starting soon, and she was looking forward to seeing her first game. It sounded so exciting.
"Just one match a year," said Susan, joining back in. "Sometime around Christmas. People come from all over to watch it."
"Hogwarts always loses," said Lily with a grin.
"Maybe now Oliver's captain we'll win!" said Hannah.
"Being pretty doesn't win Quidditch games," said Susan. "Hogwarts always loses."
"What's that?" interrupted Taggart. Alex jumped - she hadn't seen him coming back. Thank god we weren't talking about blowjobs. "Is that a lack of school spirit I hear?"
"It's a fact," said Lily. "Hey, aren't you on the Hufflepuff team?"
"Keeper," said Taggart with obvious pride, and Alex noticed that Hannah was suddenly making gooey eyes at him too. "We're gonna win the cup this year. I can feel it."
"Really?" said Lily, "'cause everyone's saying Slytherin's gonna win."
Taggart shook his head mockingly.
"Whatever happened to House pride?" he mused.
"I think the Slytherins have locked it in the dungeons," said Susan, and they all laughed.
"Right you are," said Taggart. "Anyway. I came over because we've got to leave - it's tipping it down out there."
They all turned to look out the window. Taggart was right: beyond the warm fires of the Three Broomsticks, it was raining hard.
"That looks like the perfect reason not to leave," said Lily. "I don't want to get wet."
"Which is why we're going by Floo," said Taggart. "Come on."
He led them over to the fireplace, over which there was a large pot of green powder. Alex looked at it nervously. She'd read about Floo, of course, and she'd even seen it before - back at the Leaky Cauldron. But she'd never done it herself.
"Professor Sprout's Office!" said Lily, quite clearly, before throwing the powder into the fire. The flames shot up and turned a bright neon green. Without a hint of hesitation, she stepped into the fire and disappeared in a burst of flame.
"You next, Alex," said Taggart, who was watching her carefully.
"Alright..." Alex said, picking up a good fistful of power. She took a deep breath. "Professor Sprout's Office!"