Alexandra Weasley: Book 6

46

Alex sighed and walked up and down the small space.
"You're going to stay here aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I think I should let you know straight up, I don't approve."

"I hadn't noticed." He responded, sarcastically.

"Now I know how Hermione feels." She said. "I hate this."

"Headmaster Dumbledore says-"

"Forget what Dumbledore says." Alex huffed. "This has nothing to do with him. He has no right to ask any of this of you."

"You're all the family I have." He told her, softly. "I can't leave."

"You can't stay for me." Her brows knitted together angrily. "That's dumb."

"Huh, not the reaction I was expecting."

"Let's play chess." She said, stalking over to the table and taking a seat.

"You remember I beat you last time?"

"Sit." She insisted. He frowned but took a seat at the table.

"Bossed around in my own home." He muttered.

"I grew up with six brothers. If you're going to stay, you have to get used to it."

"If?"

"We're going to play. If I win, you go back to Brazil."

"It doesn't work like that." He told her.

"Play." She glared furiously and he started the game. "If you win, I will back off and be more... amenable to your decision."

"Fine."

They played a long, gruelling game long into the night. Alex was ferocious with her strategy, and Pedro was humoring her. Eventually the game ended, with Alex as the victor.

"I'm not leaving." He told her, and she looked resigned.

"If only it was this easy." She said.

"It's not your fault, either. This is my choice. I am choosing to stay. I know you don't want anything to happen to me, and you think I'll be safer in another continent, but you won't be. And I don't really know the extent or the details of our relationship at this point, because we're working it out. But I want to know you better. And I don't want to abandon you."

"You know, I really miss first year. No one liked me in first year. Except maybe Hermione. Certainly, no one was willing to follow me into war."

"I'm not following you. I came here without knowing you'd be here. I've simply found a reason to stay."

"I would appreciate it if you found a reason to leave."

"What about you?" He said. "Why do you have to be so involved? Walking into the tiger's den and being a spy."

"Lion's den." She corrected.

"My point stands. I don't doubt your power. You're smart and capable, but..."

"Voldemort's smarter?"

"He's found a way to evade death. He's caused so much destruction and damage and managed to accumulate an army and convince them they're right."

"I know. And, honestly, if it was simply me, maybe I wouldn't be able to do it."

"What do you mean?" She stated at him for a moment, as though determining whether she should tell him about Doomie.

"I have a secret weapon."

"A secret weapon?" He repeated.

"Yes. Besides, our situations are vastly different. I'm already involved. I've been involved since I was eleven. If I leave, he will hunt me down. I'm involved whether I like it or not."

"Seven years ago, he was still presumed dead."

"He still had minions." She said. "And he wasn't alive in a traditional sense, but he wasn't gone. Trust me."

"What happened? That's why you started Hogwarts late, isn't it?" She nodded. He looked disturbed. "Eleven?"

"If it helps, I was almost twelve." He didn't look impressed. "Well, to be fair, I didn't have much choice in the matter. I was taken. And then when I did start Hogwarts he was there, too. As a parasite, sharing the body of the then defense against the dark arts teacher. Potter killed him."

"I'd heard stories the position's cursed."

"Apparently it actually is. Voldemort cursed it decades ago when he didn't get the job."

"I'm glad I'm not actually related to him." Pedro said and she narrowed her eyes.

"Lucky you. You don't have an evil homicidal grandfather."

"I don't have any grandfather." He pointed out.

"Oh, right. I'm the only family you have. How sad."

"If you forget about Voldemort, technically I'm the only family you have too."

"I have a muggle father out there somewhere, actually."

"Oh."

"And you know, aside from me, you've got my family."

"Voldemort?" He grimaced.

"No, the people who raised me for eighteen years. You're family adjacent and my mother has a thing for strays."

"She's very kind." He said and Alex smiled.

"Yeah. Unless she doesn't like you."

"Does she like me?"

"Probably. You'd know if she didn't." He grinned but then yawned. Alex glanced at the clock. "Oh, wow. It's a lot later than I expected. I'm gonna have to sneak down to the dorms." She said and stood.

"You can sleep on the couch, if you want. Wouldn't want Filch and the devil cat finding you."

"Well, I've had a lot of practice eluding them." She shrugged. "But staying here might not be such a bad idea. I don't want to wake the girls."

"What if they ask where you were?" He asked.

"Oh, I have a habit of not sleeping in my bed, so they'll just assume I'm in the forest or something."

"The forbidden forest? Wait, no. I don't want to know. I probably shouldn't know."

"No, it's actually common information. I have an attachment to the creatures out there."

"You like magical creatures?" She nodded. "My grandfather was a magizoologist."

"Really?" Her eyes brightened.

"Yeah. He loved them. He once brought home a dragon egg to study. It was too early to hatch, so he thought it'd be safe. We spent the whole night watching it, and recording any changes."

"My brother Charlie- he's a dragon tamer."

"Really?" Alex nodded and then stood up to go to the window, staring into the trees.

"Legend has it, there's a dragon in the forest." She said. Pedro walked over and stood beside her. "Left behind and forgotten. Godric Gryffindor's son had chained her up because she was an Earth dragon, and no one around was a speaker. They chained her deep inside where none could ever venture and erased her from all accounts."

"An Earth dragon?"

"If you listen carefully, they say sometimes you can hear her roar." As if on cue, a deep growl sounded from the woods. Alex smiled.

A/N- Lmao, Saphira is always up for freaking people out. Also only fifteen parts left till the next book 👀

Favourite line is "I would appreciate it if you found a reason to leave."