Alex Weasley: Book 3

58

Alex left it up to the girls to introduce Cedric to the founders area and spent most of the last month of school outside with Kichiro.

She heard a tree branch snap behind her and turned away from Kichiro.
"Hi." She smiled at Cedric. He sat beside her and kissed her cheek.

"Hey."

"Got some homework?" She asked, looking at the book on his lap.

"No, actually this is for you." He said. She tentatively took the book, and looked at the cover. It was a yearbook. Written on the top was 'Hogwarts: Class of 1972'.

"Is this-?"

"Your biological mother's yearbook." He said. "You don't have to look if you don't want to, but just in case you're curious of what she was like." She turned to give him a hug.

"I love it. Thank you."

"She was pretty, and you look like her. I think she was happy at Hogwarts." He said. Alex shifted so she was facing in front of her without leaving Cedric's embrace. She opened the book delicately. She flipped to the Slytherin's section and searched for her mother's name.

"Here, Morgana Gaunt." She looked at the picture beside her. "He didn't have any pictures of her. No portraits, either. Just put me in her old childhood bedroom. I didn't know it was hers at first, and I ruined it. I kept getting so angry and I kept messing up everything in the room." He didn't say anything, and let her say her piece. "She had a best friend. Andromeda Black. Her favourite class was arithmancy. Cedric!"

"She's a lot like you."

"She was voted most likely to curse muggles for fun." Alex frowned.

"What? Where?" Cedric looked at the book, to see Alex was no longer looking at her mother's profile but the 'most likely to...' section. "Oh, I didn't see that. I'm sorry."

"It's nothing I didn't already know. She was raised by the worst of the worst, and before she met Titus, she was just as bad. She had a reputation. I just let myself forget for a moment."

"But the important thing is that she changed. She did meet him and she knew what she was used to believing was wrong. And then she had you and she gave everything to make sure you'd grow up knowing it was wrong too." Alex nodded and flipped the page to the extra pictures. There was an image of Morgana and her friend Andromeda both captured in a moment where they were laughing hysterically, hanging on to each other so that they didn't fall over.

"I have to apologise to Snape." She frowned. Cedric looked confused.

"You do?"

"I-he was doing the same thing you just did, except it was his brother's watch and I got mad."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Because with her, I know she's dead and that there's nothing I can do about it, so it doesn't really bother me. But with Titus, he's alive and well and it feels kind of like a betrayal to my dad. And he's a squib. If Voldemort ever caught wind of it, he'd kill him. There's too many reasons to not open that door."

"Well, I'm sure if you talk to Snape, he'll be fine. Merlin, that felt weird to say."

"Yeah, I guess." She closed the yearbook leaning closer into Cedric. He put his arm around her.

"You're cold again, aren't you?" She didn't answer. "You really need to cast heating charms on your robes before you leave the dorms. You always get cold."

"It's summer."

"You're in the most shaded part of the forest."

"You keep me warm." Cedric rubbed her arm in response in an attempt to warm her up.