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LB

After the moment in Fred and George's dormitory, I couldn't train with them. I wouldn't be able to keep my hands to myself, to stop myself if they were there. So, I gave them an excuse, telling them I was too tired but secretly went out to train with Draco and Harry. I hid the surprise from my face when I saw the two of them leaning against the wall, talking. Their wands tucked away. They didn't notice my entrance as they kept their eyes on each other.

"Is the conversation so intriguing, you don't hear me come in?"

They both jumped like I expected, and I grinned at their flustered faces. It was nice to see Draco with a little colour on his cheeks.

"It was actually." Draco said as he straightened his back. "I was helping my uncle sort the potions' cabinet."

"Kiss ass." Harry muttered with a shy smile as he looked at his feet. Draco grinned at that as he glanced over his shoulder to the Gryffindor.

"So, what I was saying was -" He turned back to me. "When I was helping him reorganize, I saw something that may come in handy. For Potter there." He gestured his thumb over his shoulder. "Gillyweed."

"Gillyweed? I know you can use it in the Scorning potion, but Herbology isn't my best subject." I said.

"Gillyweed makes it possible for the person to breathe underwater. Harry needs to eat it just before he goes in."

Draco didn't seem to notice that he called him by his first name instead of Potter, but Harry certainly did. His mouth was agape as he looked at Draco.

I scrunched up my nose. "You want Harry to eat that?" I shivered. "That's nasty."

"That is probably his only chance. The Bubble-Head charm he produces now only last for five minutes, so he can't do that."

"Alright, how can we get some Gillyweed?" Draco grinned as he took a glass jar from his pocket and held it on eyesight. "You nicked it from Snape?"

"He had it coming." He shrugged. I knew he was still mad at him for what he did to Moony.

Harry came closer and made the same face as me as he looked at the jar. "That doesn't look tasteful at all."

"It doesn't have to be tasteful. It just needs to do its job." Harry peered closer to the jar, brushing his shoulder against Draco's arm, making him stiffen. Draco sighed. "If you don't trust me, go do you research in the library. I'll hold on to this."

He looked at him for a moment, not blinking once. "I -" He swallowed, looking away. "I'll go to the library tomorrow." He didn't see hurt flash in Draco's eyes, but I did.

"Gillyweed asides, thank you, Draco." I smiled at him, he gave a small one back. "We should train a bit with the information Draco had gathered from what is in the black lake."

Draco placed the jar on one of the tables and took the wand from his fancy new holster on his hip and we took our places.

LB

A week before the second task, Harry and I were in Sirius's living room. Going over the plan for the next task. I've told the twins, Lee and Angelina where we had gone to and that we were staying the night, so they didn't have to worry. Before I left my eyes got caught on the twins, their gazes already on me and my heartbeat quickened. Ever since that moment in their dorm, I hadn't allowed myself to be alone with them. I knew I wanted them, but I wasn't sure I was ready for that. Not with the tournament hanging over my head. I came out of my thoughts when Sirius mentioned my name.

"Alec, what's your plan?"

I bit the inside of my cheek because I wasn't sure if should tell them about what spell I would use. "The Bubble-Head charm." I said. I felt Moony's eyes on me and I knew that he knew I was lying. I locked my eyes with him, and he gave a subtle nod, knowing what spell I would actually use.

"Gillyweed is a good alternative if you can't master the Bubble-Head charm." Moony said. "How did you think of that?"

"It wasn't me." Harry said.

"Me neither. I've only used it in a potion. I didn't know it had specific qualities like that. You know Herbology isn't my best subject." I offered my uncle a smile as he grinned. Sirius still seemed entranced as he watched our interactions. I glanced to Harry next to me. "Draco came up with it."

"Malfoy?" Sirius' eyes widened.

"No, Draco Fortuna." I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Draco Malfoy. Who else?"

"So, he knows about the task?"

"He does. Draco's been helping me train all year. He didn't know I had a spell already." I lied. I could Remus's eyes on me again. "And he thought I could use Gillyweed. So, I passed it to Harry."

"He didn't mind that you gave that to Harry?" Sirius asked.

"No. How many times do I have to tell you that Draco isn't his father. Harry spent two weeks there last summer. If he was like his father, Harry would never have stepped a foot in that house."

"Alec is right." Harry said, surprising me. "He is different. Not only with Alec. And he... he isn't only training with Alec. The three of us have been training together for the past year."

Harry did not only shock me but stunned the two adults who sat in front of us. Both of their mouths had dropped open as they stared at Harry. But Harry continued, dismissing my earlier lies.

"He got the Gillyweed for me, knowing I couldn't preform Alec's spells. He nicked it from Snape's private storage... for me."

"For you?" Sirius whispered. "You're friends now?"

Harry's brows knitted together. "Friends is... a bit much. But we try to be friendly." I had a whole other idea of friendly in my mind, but I kept my mouth shut. "Alec is our buffer." Harry chuckled. Maybe in the beginning, but with each training session it became less necessary.

Sirius leaned back, processing the new information. Moony gave a little tilt of his head and I followed him to the kitchen.

"So, what spell are you really going to use?"

"Sanguis Oxygeni."

He let out a shuddering breath. "Okay. Have you practiced it?"

"Yes, Cedric gave me the password to the Prefect's bathroom, and I go there a couple times a week to practice."

"Good, good." He nodded. His eyes flicked up to me. "So, you and Cedric?"

"No, we're just friends. I mean we had fun at the Ball, and we shared a kiss. But we decided to stay friends and I feel good about that."

"Is it-" He nervously put his hands in his pockets. "Is it because of Fred and George?"

"I think you know." I said.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, leaning down. "You know they are smitten with you, right cub?"

"They're twins, Moony. You know I could never choose between them."

Remus put a privacy charm around us. Placing both hands on my shoulders. "The twins are amazing young men, who will treat you how you deserve. I don't want to think too much about you being in a triad -" I gasped in a breath. "With them. But there is a connection between you, a special connection that you can't ignore." He squeezed my shoulders. "Once you accepted the bond of a triad, it gives you extra protection, power. Your magic will be linked to them, and theirs to yours. I assume the twins' magic is already linked. The bond is more than just three people in a relationship."

"I don't know if I'm ready for that." I admitted. "I'm seventeen."

"You don't have to do anything right now, cub. You can explore your relationship with them at your own pace. It's not that if you kiss or... do other things." A tiny smile appeared at his discomfort. "That the bond will snap in place. There is more to that, a ritual of sorts."

I glanced over to the living room where Sirius and Harry were talking but their gazes flickered to me and Remus every other minute or so.

"Think about it, because I think what the twins feel for you, what you feel for them is more than just being smitten."

I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his chest. "Thank you, dad ."

His grip tightened. "Anything for my daughter." I closed my eyes, pushing the tears away that threatened to fall. "You will do amazing next week, Alec."

"I wish you could be there."

He pulled back smiling. "Sirius and I are invited to come see you and Harry for the third task."

"Then you can see how I'm holding up the Triwizard Cup." I joked with a grin. Remus laughed loudly.

"It wouldn't surprise me, cub."

LB

A knock came from my door later that night. I called out for Sirius to come in and he poked his head inside.

"Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure." I said, placing my book on the nightstand and sitting up against the headboard.

Sirius walked in, looking at the changes I made in my room before sitting on the desk chair. "We haven't talked much since you arrived. How are you feeling about the second task?"

"Nervous. It's not like I can't swim. I can and not bad either but... dark spaces are hard for me. And the black lake is sure to be dark."

"How come?"

"I told you I didn't remember anything about my time before Remus, that was a lie. I don't remember much, but I do remember that my mum hid me in a cellar under the house when someone came by without her knowing. It was to keep me safe, but I still have dreams of being stuck under there. Hearing my mum talk upstairs, afraid I was a second away from hearing her scream."

"Oh, Godric, Alec. I'm so sorry."

I pulled my knees up to my chest and changed the subject. I pulled up my sleeve and showed my bare arm. He sucked in a breath. His hands trembled as he reached out, but pulled back before he could touch my skin. The large scar visible for the first time in years.

"I've never seen that before."

"I have a charm on it most of the time."

"How?"

"I think if Moony had a kid of his own, he would train him or her too. But I trained hard, for years. I didn't want to feel helpless or vulnerable ever again. I was a few weeks shy of my seventh birthday when I got attacked. It was on a full moon and Moony had left for his safe space. But another werewolf, a female, was near and smelled him. She came to our house and attacked me when I was sleeping. Oscar ran out of his room, grabbed me and apparated me away. But by then I had several wounds." I lifted up my pyjama trousers, showing off another scar. "I have another on my back and side." Sirius was utterly still from his place on the chair. "Moony still hasn't forgiven himself for what happened. I stayed at the hospital for a month, seeing if I would shift into a werewolf. But the scratches weren't deep enough for me to turn."

"I can't believe you went through that. First your mum, then the attack." Sirius seemed to vibrate with anger. "And it's all my fault."

"Sirius-"

"No, if I wasn't such a coward, I would have been there. You and Cor would have been safe."

"Or you would be dead too, maybe even me. I don't blame you, Sirius, for not being there. Not anymore."

"How can you say that? I don't think I will ever be able to forgive myself."

I hid the scars again and placed the blanket back over me. "That's why I didn't want to tell you."

"No, you can tell me anything, Alec. Anything. I just – I need to process everything." He frowned, then blinked a few times, clearing his head. "Do your friends know?"

"Only Jack and Jazz, I always have a charm over me, day and night. I don't want people to look at me in pity or disgust."

"Nobody would look at you like that. Those scars, it shows you are a warrior, a survivor. A young woman who couldn't be brought down. Who came out of this stronger." Those words hit me like a stray bludger, I never thought of them like that. I always thought of them in shame even though Jack and Jazz never flinched at seeing them, not even the first time. "You may not turn into a werewolf, but Remus said your senses are heightened."

"I thought it was because of my Animagus form."

"Normally that would only be possible when you are in your Animagus form. But you can hear and smell things when your human. I think it's a side effect from the attack."

I bit my lip, thinking it over. I always found it weird that Sirius didn't hear or scent when someone was close when he wasn't padfoot, maybe he was right. I wondered what other things I could feel or hear. Like a heartbeat, the way Remus could tell when someone was lying.

It was a lot to process, so I changed the subject. "So, how are you and Remus doing?"

"We're fine. He keeps himself busy with his work in the library. And I'm still sorting through as what I want to do. Right now, I just go outside and walk. I walk all day if the weather let's me."

"You can always talk to me about Azkaban, you know. I would like to understand even a little at what you had gone through." Sirius gave me tight-lipped smile, a slight nod. "But I wasn't talking about your day to day. I was talking about you and Remus."

"Me and Remus? There isn't anything going on between me and Remus." He blurted.

"I found a photo of you guys back in school. Moony never said anything, but just from that picture I knew there was more than friendship between you two."

"I -" He opened and closed his mouth like a clownfish.

"I told him, I would be okay if you decide to become more. But he and I also know you need time to heal from your time in Azkaban. That Moony has to be able to open up to you again like he used to. And I know he's waiting until our bond is stronger."

"I don't know what to say."

"You and Remus can say you have a very observant daughter." I saw his eyes sparkle at the last word.

"Observant is only one word I would describe you as. Brave, wickedly smart, funny, kind. And a young woman with one the largest hearts I've met in my life. Even larger than her mother's."

Then we were hugging. I don't know who or what happened, but we hugged. And I wasn't crying this time. "Don't make him wait too long, Sirius." I whispered. "He obviously loves you and he's been alone for too long."

"I won't." Then he chuckled. "I'm getting dating advice from my seventeen-year-old daughter."

I laughed. "Better me then Harry."

"I can't argue with that." We both laughed at that.

LB

You may have expected some more Alex/Fred/George moments but these are important too.
But don't worry, they are coming. ;-)

Story also posten on Ao3 and Wattpad.