Alexandra Potter

Chapter Ten: A Woman's Weapons

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That Saturday Alex lunched with Draco at the Slytherin table.

"And father just sat there!" said Draco, pausing his story to act out an imperious expression. The Slytherins loved it - more than one was wiping a tear from their eye. "Salazar got him right in the cheek, but he acted like he didn't notice - he just kept talking about werewolves or whatever."

"He didn't get rid of it?" said Nott, a short boy with a rat-like, pinched look about him.

"Nope," said Draco, grinning. "Minister Fudge was sitting right next to him, and you could see he was staring at it, nodding away at everything father was saying."

Alex giggled - she supposed you had to have met Lucius Malfoy to really get the joke - and took a bite of her sandwich, savouring the taste. Though her dinners with Dumbledore were over, the habits remained. She ate much slower now. It almost embarrassed her, to think of the way she used to just shovel it in. But that was the way things were done in the Dursley household.

"You want to come down with us to the Whomping WIllow?" said Draco as they finished.How dull, Alex thought. The Whomping Willow was his favourite place to hang out. Sometimes they would just sit there and hold hands, pulling at grass and talking about not much.

It wasn't that she disliked Draco - not at all. He was interesting, and nice. Hanging out with him was always perfectly pleasant. But she couldn't help feel like she was wasting her time, whenever they just sat around and talked.Honestly, how can he be so happy doing nothing?

"I think I might get started on a new book," she said. She'd takenA Maid's Companionout of the library. Despite the less-than-enticing title, the contents were interesting enough: a rather detailed guide to all manner of cleaning Charms. It was much better than the appendix to their Charms textbook. Alex hoped that when she was finished she could make the workshop a bit more habitable.

"Alright," said Draco. He didn't seem too put out. "I'll see you later?"

Alex nodded and he kissed her on the cheek before leaving with Nott. She went straight to Hufflepuff House when they were gone.I wonder if Susan's around, she thought as she entered, and she didn't go directly to the dorms as she'd intended. She decided to take the long way around.

The girls were in the Winter room, huddled around one of the tables in the corner, playing a new card game. Alex waved and walked over. Hannah and Susan glanced at each other.

"Hi Alex!" Lily said, looking up from her fistful of cards. Apparently she was losing. "You want to join? You can help me this round - we'll deal you in next round."

"I'd love to," she said, pulling out a chair next to Lily.I can't believe I used to think she was mean.

"Actually," said Hannah, glancing at her watch, "we still haven't had lunch. We really should be going before they stop serving."

Alex looked at her watch - lunch was open for another hour. Susan and Hannah stood up, leaving their cards.

"You coming, Megan?" said Susan. Megan hesitated, but only for a moment. Alex knew she'd made her decision weeks ago.

"Another time, maybe," said Alex.Who do they think they're kidding?

Susan gave her a brittle smile. "Sure," she said, and they scurried off, leaving Alex alone with Lily.

"You know," said Lily, staring at the door through which they left, "this is getting fucking immature. It's been a month already - Susan needs to get over it."

"I don't really think she's angry anymore," said Alex, flipping over the cards, trying to work out the game, "it's just... things are stuck like this. And I'll be damned if I'm going to apologise again. I've apologised enough, you know?"

"No one needs to apologise for anything," said Lily, looking at what the other girls had held. "Damn. I could've dumped all my cards on Hannah next round."

"Can you play with two?" Alex said. She could spare thirty minutes before getting down to reading.

"Nah," said Lily. "I'm kinda sick of it, anyway. You want to go swimming?"

That actually sounded really good. Though she'd been at Hogwarts for months now, she still hadn't used the pool.

"Sure," Alex said, and got up to get her costume.

"Hang on - where're you going?" said Lily when Alex headed for the stairs. "The pool's this way."

"Er - I have to get my swimming costume," said Alex. "Do you already have yours?"

Lily looked at her for a moment as if she was absolutely insane, before bursting into delighted laughter. "It's true!" she said, wiping a tear from her eye, "Muggles wear costumes when they swim! Do they dress up like fish, thinking it'll help them float?"

Alex didn't know if she should be insulted by that. Of courseshewasn't a Muggle - but she was raised as one. What kind of ridiculous things did wizards believe about her?

"It's not really like that..." she began, before deciding it was a lost cause. Maybe she could show Lily later. But for now... "witches don't wear anything when they swim?"

"Of course not!" said Lily, "now come on!"

It shouldn't have surprised her, really, after everything she'd seen. The girls showed little concern for nakedness in their dorm - no one ever worried about getting changed, or even wandering back from the shower.

It was something that took some adjusting to. When Alex had first arrived she would get dressed as quickly as possible, laying out all her clothes on her bed before she started. And when she went to have a shower, she would always make sure she was firmly wrapped in a towel. But Susan and Lily and Hannah treated getting changed like a social event, filled with interruptions and conversations.

So, slowly, Alex had joined their conversations. She began to take her time getting changed, asking for advice on what to wear, and getting advice in return. She'd still do her hair in the bathroom alone, but that was more because she wanted to keep her metamorphmagus powers a secret - for now. She had no particular reason for doing so - but she thought that, in the absence of any compelling reason to tell, she might as well keep the secret. Once it was told she couldn't take it back, after all.

They went to the pool by the stone garden, entering through the tunnel. Alex gasped as she passed under the dry waterfall.

"I forgot how cold it was!" she said, looking around. They were alone.Thank god.Being naked around Lily was one thing; strangers were quite another.Imagine if there were boys here!

At least it was dark inside, lit by what Alex now recognised as luminous Scandinavian Fairies: much smaller and less mischievous than their British cousins, they were about the size of a common fly. They made a low humming sound as they floated, just about audible over the gentle splashing of the water. The waterfall was a quiet one - little more than a rippling sheet of glass covering the tunnel entrance. After hitting the ground the water was channeled into a natural gutter, passing along the wall into a high pool on the far side, where it overflowed in a second fall into the main pool.

Lily started pulling her robes off without ceremony, dumping them on the damp stone. With a last nervous look to the entrance Alex joined her. As soon as she was naked she jumped off the walkway.

SPLASH!

"Oh my god!" Alex shouted when she surfaced. "It's freezing!"

SPLASH!

Lily jumped in with a high pitched squeal

"Fuck!" she shouted. "Why the hell is it so cold? Haven't they heard of the warming Charm?"

"My wand's on the ledge!" said Alex, wishing she'd thought to apply one.

"We'll just have to warm up the Muggle way!" said Lily, "race you to the other side!" She burst into a crawl.

"Hey! No fair!" said Alex, before launching herself after her.

The cavern was a lot bigger than she'd thought, with arches in the walkway which divided it in two. There were all sorts of nooks and crannies, too, and around the plunge pool was a semi-circle of large, flat rocks sticking out of the water. They formed a sequence of stepping stones, and a set of stairs was carved into the rock where they met the wall , leading back up to the walkway above.

It'd been ages since Alex had swum, but she used to go several times a week. She overtook Lily easily and beat her to the rocks.

"Figures," said Lily when she caught up a few seconds later. "Is there anything you're not good at?"

"Drawing," said Alex with a grin - Lily wasn't really upset. "I never really advanced past stick figures."

"How're you with water fights?" said Lily, before launching an armful of water at Alex.

"Ahh!" Alex screamed, some water making it up her nose. "You'll regret that!" she said. She turned and swam away - making sure to kick up as much water as possible, completely covering Lily and her screams.

Before long they were treading water again, panting as they caught their breath..

"Truce?" said Lily, watching Alex's hands for any sign of renewed warfare.

"Truce," said Alex, who was doing the same

"So how's everything with Draco?" said Lily.

"Oh, you know," said Alex. She didn't particularly feel like talking about Draco. "Alright."

"Nu uh! You're not getting away with that!" said Lily, "I need details! Have you kissed yet?"

"No!" said Alex, before frowning. "Should we have?"

"Well, if it was me..." said Lily with a cheeky smile.

"I guess kissing might be nice," said Alex. She'd never kissed anyone before - at least, not a proper kiss like in the movies. "But it just hasn't seemed right."

"Maybe if you actually spent time with him," said Lily.

"I do spend time with him! I had lunch with him today!" said Alex.

"Yeah, but it's not really coupley time, is it? He needs tocourtyou."

Alex laughed at the word. "Court?" she said, "and after that we can return to my castle!"

"But the Potter's castle was destroyed centuries ago," said Lily, frowning. Alex laughed even harder.

"This is some Muggle thing, isn't it?" Lily said. She sounded rather grumpy.

"Sorry," said Alex, trying to stop giggling. "And I suppose you're right. He's my boyfriend. We should do... something. But - well, to be honest, I prefer being with my friends."

"That's what I'm saying!" said Lily. She leant backwards and entered into a gentle backstroke. "Draco's your boyfriend, but he's not really your friend, is he?" she called up at the ceiling. "You're meant to want to spend time with him!"

Lily was right, Alex knew. But that didn't mean she had to like it.If only we could be boyfriend and girlfriend but never have to actually be with each other. She swam after Lily, copying her backstroke, and the moment she looked up she noticed something rather strange: all the fairies were following Lily. In fact, there was a Lily-shaped cloud of them hovering over her, mirroring her every movement. It lit Lily up like she was under a spotlight.

There was no way Lily hadn't seen, but she'd said nothing. It looks like I'm not the only one with magical secrets, Alex thought. She was insanely curious, but she knew not to ask. If Lily wanted to share she would've said something.

Maybe there'll be something in the library about it.

They swam another few laps before returning to the waterfall.

Lily hauled herself up onto one of the rocks. "Come on!" she said, her dark hair clinging to her shoulders. "It's warm!"

The rock was big enough for the both of them, so Alex scrambled up and joined her. Lily was right: the rock was warm, and strangely dry, like it'd been sitting in the sun for hours. Alex watched the water drip off herself - the moment it hit the stone it evaporated.

"Rhia, this is good," said Lily, lying down on her back. Alex glanced around - they were still alone. She felt rather exposed out of the water, but itdidlook good. She lay down next to Lily, letting the warmth of the stone seep into her. "You know, I heard Daphne broke up with Ashby," said Lily.

"Oh?" said Alex, pretending not to be interested. The fairies had found Lily again and were forming into a swarm above them.

"Yup!Apparentlyit was by mutual agreement," said Lily, "but everyone knows Daphne dumped him for Henry Talbot."

"Who?"

"Honestly, Alex! Roderick Talbot - Henry's Dad - was appointed First Lord of the Wand last week. Everyone was talking about it."

The First Lord of the Wand was an important position in the government. A role of much ceremony, over the years it had grown in power - in modern times, the First Lord of the Wand was effectively the Minister's second in command. It was also, unlike the elected position of Minister, always bestowed upon unusually formidable wizards.

"So Daphne's with Henry, now?" Alex said. The girl just went from victory to victory.

"Yeah," said Lily, "you haven't spoken to her in ages, you know. Putting down your wand?"

Alex hadn't avoided Daphne intentionally. She'd just been so busy with Dumbledore that she'd forgotten all about it. And life was so much simpler without Daphne in it. But still...

"I haven't forgotten," said Alex. The memory of that day in the Great Hall still burned inside her. Even when she was alone in her bed at night, sometimes she had to hide her face in her pillow just at the memory of how embarrassing it all was. "I'm still going to get her back."

"Good," said Lily, rolling onto her front. She had a mole on her left hip, Alex noticed, before she looked away quickly. "Everyone's saying that Daphne won. That she beat the Girl Who Lived."

Alex sat up. "She didnotwin!" she said. "I'm just... taking my time, is all."

"Want some help?"

Alex grinned. "Well, I think a potion deserves a potion, you know? No Dark magic, of course. I don't want to get suspended like Flora. But I can't think what."

She knew, in theory, how to make a dozen poisons that would kill Daphne in minutes,andall sorts of clever ways of sneaking them into her food. But all of that knowledge was useless. She didn't want tokillDaphne - just humiliate her to the point of complete social destruction.

"Potions aren't my strong suit, really..." said Lily, and Alex knew it was an understatement. "I'm more of a Charms girl."

"Maybe there's a potion to give her a load of spots, or something..." said Alex, but it immediately sounded lame. She needed something that would top what Daphne had done to her. "No, not that. Well, what about-"

Alex stopped. She could hear voices. Someone was coming down the tunnel.

"- so Marshall's not got the best, aim, right?" one said - a guy's voice, quite deep. "And McGonagall's turning the corner just as he competes - his hex missed Radley entirely."

"And hit McGonagall?" another said, and a group of four boys walked in, laughing. Sixth year boys. They turned to look at Alex and Lily and acknowledged them with a wave.

A sound like "eep!" escaped Alex's lips, and she practically jumped back into the cold water, her face burning. Lily just laughed and waved back.

"Now you're all wet again," said Lily as the boys started to undress. Alex's eyes went as wide as saucers and she quickly looked away - before sneaking a couple of glances back.Interesting. The graffiti on the desks is completely inaccurate. She looked at Lily, who, despite her apparent cool, had a distinct red tinge to her cheeks.

"What?" said Lily, and Alex waggled her eyebrows. Lily broke at the same time as Alex, and they giggled together, trying to keep quiet so the boys didn't notice. The boys dived in with a great crash of water. One of them let out a girlish scream when he hit, and Alex burst into full laughter.

"Well, I'm all dry!" said Lily, and she stood up to leave.

"Don't you dare!" said Alex, but Lily was already moving, hopping over to the next stone.

"I'm gonna kill you!" said Alex, and she pulled herself out of the water again. She fought the urge to cross her arms over her chest - doing that would make her stick out more than anything - and she chased after Lily, held held high. She knew the boys had seen her, but if Lily could do it then so could she. "How am I gonna get dry?" Alex called as they got to the stairs. "I can't get into my robes wet!"

"Should've thought about that, shouldn't you?" said Lily, sticking out her tongue, but when they reached their robes she picked up her wand. "I've seen my Mum do the towel Charm enough times to copy it, I think."

Alex looked at Lily's wand nervously.

"Youhavecast this spell before, right?"

"Nope!" said Lily, "now hold still."

"- wait-"

"Anhydra!"