Finally Me ~

Chapter 79

**Alex’s POV**

I look down at the contents of my stomach sitting in the toilet bowl. I’ve been throwing up for what seems like hours. I think it’s finally stopped and sit back, testing my stomach. My mouth tastes disgusting. I want to get up and brush my teeth, but I know that would make me throw up some more. I learnt that yesterday.

I lean back against the bath and look around at the bathroom. It’s small, but nice. The shower hangs over the bathtub with the toilet across from it, next to the sink. The walls are painted a pale blue with fish all over them that move when the water is running. The shower curtain is dark blue with cute little sea creatures scattered around it. My favourite is the octopus with its crazy eyes.

I climb unsteadily to my feet and rinse out my mouth. I walk across the landing to my bedroom and crawl back into bed. Scarlett is still asleep so I mustn’t have been making too much noise while I emptied my stomach.

I toss and turn for about an hour until I hear movement downstairs. I leap out of bed, eager to do something other than lie in bed wishing for sleep. No sooner have my feet hit the floor that I feel my stomach twist and have to clamp my hand over my mouth as I sprint for the bathroom. I knock George out of the way and kick the door closed, bending over the toilet.

I won’t tell you what happens then. It’s not pretty.

Once it’s over I feel exhausted. It seems throwing up does that to you. It’s a lot of work, when you have to- Never mine, I don’t want to think about it. I rinse my mouth again and stagger out of the bathroom into the bedroom. George and Scarlett are sitting in bed together talking. I crawl under the blankets and close my eyes. I feel the bed tilt as Scarlett sits down next to me. She presses her hand against my forehead for a moment.

“Alex?”

I let out a soft groan and struggle into a sitting position. Scarlett looks me over.

“Feeling sick?” she asks gently. I sit up and shake my head.

“I feel fine except for right after I’ve thrown up,” I tell her, “I think I need some fresh air.”

I get out of bed and wrap my dressing gown around me. I walk downstairs and outside. The air is cool and fresh. I take a few deep breaths as I walk around the garden. Tuppy runs up to me and presses close to my legs as I walk. She's grown a bit and now reaches my knee. I sit down on the wall and she puts her head in my lap.

"You've been quiet lately," I tell her as I scratch her ears, "what's up, huh?"

Fred crosses the yard and sits down next to me.

"How're you feel?" he asks.

"A bit tired," I sigh, "and bored. It's been three weeks since our last radio broadcast, shouldn't we be doing it more regularly? You know, keeping every updated?"

"I've been thinking the same thing," he says, "we were going to do one today."

"Excellent!" I exclaim, "I'll go and get dressed."

"Only if you feel up to it," Fred says as we hurry across the yard.

"More than up to it," I smile, "I haven't been this excited since. . . I don't know, yesterday?"

Fred laughs and opens the door for me. George and Scarlett are having breakfast with Mr and Mrs Weasley.

"Are you hungry, dear?" Mrs Weasley asks, "do you feel sick?"

"I feel fine," I tell her earnestly, "I'm starving, I'll get dressed and come back down."

I run upstairs and pull on some jeans and a jumper. I have to scramble under the bed to get my shoes. One of them has a mouse in it.

I join the others for breakfast and eat quickly. We all head out to the back shed where we have the radio station set up. We sit down in the small space and George spreads out a piece of parchment that we write news down on.

"I hate seeing the death list," Scarlett sighs. I nod in agreement.

"At least people know," I point out. The death list that has accumulated over the last three weeks is depressingly long.

"Right, who wants to broadcast today?" Fred asks, setting the radio up.

"I think we need to discuss code names," Scarlett says, "I don't want to be 'Red'."

"Well, you are," Fred says.

"Well then you should be Rodent."

Fred scowls at her and she pokes her tongue out.

"Guys, come on," I sigh, "it's a code name, it doesn't matter. Although, why do they all have to start with 'R'?"

"It's the letter we chose," George says, "it shows unity."

"There are no good words that start with 'r', though."

"Except Rrrrrrapier!" Fred grins, "come on, Al, I thought you liked Raider."

"I do," I say, "but. . . I don't know, it's not me."

"That's the point," George says, "we don't want anyone to even suspect who we are."

"Do I HAVE to be Red?" Scarlett complains.

"What do you want to be?" I ask her.

"Well, I wanted to be River, but Lee had to steal that one," she sighs, "If I have a daughter I'm calling her River Song."

"I think that's from a tv show," I say, "why don't you be Ruby? Or Rose? Or. . . Railcar?"

Scarlett laughs.

"Maybe I'll be Ruby," she says, "can I be Ruby?"

"Whatever," Fred shrugs, "we're on air in five."

We gather around the radio as Fred tunes in.

"Hello listeners and welcome back to Potterwatch, your friendly radio station that keeps you updated on all things anti-You-Know-Who. This is Rapier here with Ruby, Raider and Ranch."

I shoot George an amused look. Fred reads out the death list and then Scarlett reads out the missing list.

"Next is Raider with an update on You-Know-Who's activities," Fred says. I freeze, staring at him. I don't want to talk! He pushes the parchment towards me and I read in a trembling voice.

"There have been sightings of giants in the north, so we encourage you to stay out of the mountains," I glance at Fred who gives me an encouraging smile, "while we don't know exactly what You-Know-Who is planning, we know that he is using the dementors, so practice those patronus spells. The Ministry is still tracking Muggle borns, so keep an eye out for Snatchers and Death Eaters and keep your friends and family indoors as much as possible."

I step away from the microphone and let out a breath of relief. George gives me a squeeze on the shoulder and he takes my place.

"That's all for now, tune in next time, the password will be Hogwarts, this is Ranch, signing out."

He flicks the switch and there's silence for a moment.

"Do you think anyone listens?" I ask, looking at the dead radio.

"Yep," Scarlett says, "the Order has been telling people about it, remember?"

"Doesn't that mean that the Death Eaters could be listening too?"

"That's why we're using code names," Fred reminds me, "come on, it's cold out here, let's go inside."

We traipse inside to find Mr and Mrs Weasley are talking with Kingsley who must have arrived while we were in the shed. They turn and look over at us and I feel a knot tighten in my stomach.

"What's happened?" I ask.

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Sorry for any spelling mistakes, it's freezing here and my hands are all stiff. Hope you liked the cliffhanger ;) Will update soon. Please comment, vote, message, etc! Thanks for reading!