Classes eventually were let out and as the corridor filled with students, no one seemed to pay mind to the clearly upset girl sitting at the window. She stared outside, sniffling every once in awhile as sat there, trapped in her own thoughts. People only glanced at her before hurrying to their destination, not wanting to get involved.
To them, it just seemed to be a case of a teenager dealing with hormones. But it was so much more than that.
Every once in awhile, Alex wiped her face of the fresh tears that had fallen, keeping her gaze outside. Her mother's words kept echoing in her head and she couldn't help but think that was actually how her mother felt. When Andrei was attacked that day, Alex should have listened and left and they would have maybe been able to get him help, but from what she remembered, he was long gone. She closed her eyes, trying to drone out of the noises of students walking by to get to wherever they were headed.
A few minutes later, she heard someone sit down next to her, but still kept her eyes closed until they cleared their throat. "Are-Are you okay?" The voice asked.
She opened her eyes to see a familiar and older boy sitting next to her, a soft smile on his face. Alex recognized him immediately. Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff quidditch captain and Seeker and recently appointed prefect for the year, was sitting next to her.
Sniffling, she shrugged. "As well as can be expected, I guess," she told him.
"Is there anything I can help with?" He offered.
She shook her head. "Unless you know how to change a boggart or obliviate memories, I don't know how much you can help," she told him with a dry laugh.
Cedric gave a small nod of understanding. "I assume you had Defense Against the Dark Arts then?"
Slowly, she nodded, her gaze falling to the floor. "And as if the images I saw didn't haunt me enough, now everybody saw it and so much worse," she admitted to him. She didn't know why she was talking to him, they had never seen each other or interacted other than in a quidditch setting and even that was limited as she was a chaser and he was a seeker.
Cedric gently patted her knee. "I'm not gonna tell you it's going to be okay because it seems like whatever you saw really shook you up," he began softly, "but I can tell you that keeping it bottled up won't help. Talk to someone, someone you trust, okay?"
She looked up at the older student, a soft smile making its way onto her lips. "Thank you, Cedric," she whispered. "I needed that."
He smiled back. "Of course, Alex."
Her brow furrowed. "How do you know my name?"
He laughed. "You're Harry Potter's best friend, to not know your name would seem like a crime," he joked, causing her to let out a soft laugh. "Besides, I saw you on the quidditch pitch last year and you're very impressive."
The blush that formed on her cheeks was immediate and she quickly cleared her throat. "Well, thank you," she spoke. "You're not so bad yourself."
Again, he laughed. "Well, thank you," he said. "Can I walk you back to your common room?"
Alex looked up to see he was genuinely asking and not just looking for an excuse to leave her company. "I'm not really wanting to go back to the common room yet," she told him. "Could we just walk around, talk a bit?"
"Sure," he told her.
She grabbed her bag and they began walking, no particular destination in mind. He was very good about distracting her mind from the boggart's words and she couldn't help but laugh at several things he said. They mostly talked about quidditch, though neither dared to divulge in their team's secrets, but they also talked about their home life as well.
Cedric told her about his dad's hope that he would one day work in the Ministry of Magic, like him. However, Cedric was hoping for something more exciting, maybe playing professional quidditch one day.
"I can see you doing that," she told him with a laugh.
He shrugged. "I think I'm pretty good, whose to say I can't make a career out of it?" Then he turned to her. "What about you? What would you like to do after Hogwarts?"
Her mind drew a blank. She had never thought much about what she would do when Hogwarts ended. "I don't know," she admitted with a laugh. "I guess I really need to start thinking about it, don't I?"
"You've still got time," he told her assuredly. "Don't stress too much about it until fifth year, that's when you'll have to meet with your head of house to discuss career options."
"Well, thanks for the heads up," she told him before a few familiar voices sounded down the hall.
Fred and George walked towards the two of them, talking excitedly about something to each other, causing Alex's chest to flutter with an unknown anxiety. She grabbed Cedric's arm and pulled him to stand against the wall, hoping that the twins would walk by and not notice them talking.
"Are you okay?" Cedric asked with a laugh over her sudden movement.
"Yeah, I just know those boys will give me Hell for talking to you, seeing as you're the "enemy,"" she joked with air quotes.
"The enemy?" Cedric laughed.
She laughed as well before the sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention. They both looked over to see the twins standing there, arms crossed as they looked at the two of them.
"Not trading quidditch secrets, are we, Alexandria?" George teased with a smirk, though Fred was silent as he looked at the pair.
Alex and Cedric laughed. "Oh yes," she told them. "I'm telling him all about Wood's secret plan to kill off every quidditch player of the opposing teams so Gryffindor has a sure chance of winning."
While Cedric and George laughed at the lie, Fred looked down at Alex, finally noting the puffiness and bloodshot look in her eyes.
"Hey, have you been crying?" He asked.
Panic rose in her chest. "Well, would you look at the time?" She spoke, pointing to her blank wrist since she forgot her watch that morning. "I really must be heading back to the common room, but I will see you lads later. Thanks again for keeping me company, Cedric, bye."
Before she could walk around the twins to leave, Fred and George grabbed ahold of her arms. "Oh no, you don't, Alex," Fred spoke as they began guiding her down a way that most certainly did not lead them to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"No one is allowed to leave our presence, looking like they were crying unless it's because they laughed so hard, they started crying," George told her as they led her down a somewhat familiar path.
"Wait, what are we-"
"In good time, Alexandria," Fred shushed her, "in good time. Come along and don't drag your feet!"
She desperately looked behind to see Cedric watching with an amused smiled as they dragged her away. 'Help me!' She mouthed, causing him to laugh before someone calling his name distracted him down the hallway and he walked in the opposite direction.
"Listen, lads," Alex tried to reason as she still attempted to pull away from them, but due to them being Beaters, they were quite muscular and Alex wasn't as built as she was only a Chaser, "you know that I already have detention with Snape, I really don't fancy anymore time with him."
"Ahh, but that is only if you get caught, dearest Alex," George told her pointedly.
"Boys, please, I don't think it's - AGH!"
Alex let out a yelp as Fred picked her up and threw her over his shoulder to keep her from dragging her feet and attempting to pull away anymore. "Don't fight it, Alex," he told her as they continued walking. "Just come along and enjoy the ride!"
"Sweet Merlin, have mercy on my soul," she groaned, falling limp as he continued walking with her resting on his shoulder.
☽
The corridor was completely quiet as several students stood by, talking about classes when the sound of screaming and yelling caught their attention. The students looked down the corridor to watch the infamous Weasley twins bolting down the hallway, a third shorter and slower figure running after them.
"RUN FASTER!" George shouted.
"I'M TRYING!" Alex yelled back. "YOU TWO HAVE FREAKISHLY LONG LEGS!"
Fred quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her down a separate corridor as George continued down his own path, trying to confuse Filch. Fred ran around a corner before pulling Alex with him, holding her in his arms as he hid her against the wall with Filch running by, yelling for them. A few seconds later, they pulled apart, Alex's heart pounding and not just from the running.
"Oh, my gosh, that was hilarious!" She laughed, holding his arm for support as she nearly fell over laughing. "Did you see his face when the dungbomb smell hit his face? I can die happy now after seeing that."
Fred smiled as he watched her laughing, holding her side. "Well, I'm glad we were able to help put a smile on your face and it wasn't just Diggory," he told her, causing a blush to form on her face.
"Cedric was just making sure I was okay," she told Fred. "He found me crying and offered to help me. It was a good distraction."
"Why were you crying?" Fred asked, realizing that even he didn't know.
Her heart tightened as she remembered why. She gulped, opening her mouth to respond when Filch ran around the corridor and instantly spotting them.
"AHA!"
Alex let out a squeak while Fred nervously chuckled as Filch glared at the pair of them, stomping over. "Hello, Filch," Fred attempted as a way to distract him from what they had done a few minutes prior. "Fancy seeing you here and what is that perfume you're wearing? It smells absolutely dreadful!"
☽
Alex did her best to bite back the smile trying to form on her lips as they stood in Snape's office. Both Filch and Snape only glared at Fred and Alex, who were very keen on keeping their eyes on their shoes. They all stood silently as they waited for what? Neither Fred, nor Alex had the slightest clue.
It seemed to feel like hours had passed of them being glared at before the door to Snape's office opened to reveal Professor Lupin and suddenly, she could hear her mother, or rather the boggart's words repeating in her mind. She shifted her eyes away when she had made eye contact with Professor Lupin, who looked concerned.
"What's going on, Severus?" Professor Lupin asked as he approached where they stood.
"These two set off a dungbomb in my office," Filch grumbled as he continued glaring at them while stroking Mrs. Norris, his cat. "Now it reeks in there and they woke Mrs. Norris up from her nap!"
"So why am I needed?" Lupin asked, turning to Severus with the question.
Severus glanced at Alex, who stared down, several tears falling from her eyes. "Miss Selwyn here was supposed to be serving detention with me tonight for an unprovoked attack on Malfoy-"
"Unprovoked, my arse," Fred mumbled under his breath. "He most likely deserved it."
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your sarcastic attitude, Mr. Weasley!" Severus snapped at the red head, having heard him.
Alex couldn't help but glance at her godfather, an angered and questionable look across her face as tears were still welling up in her eyes. What had gotten into him? Why was he being so rude, especially to her? What exactly had she done to earn such ill treatment from him? Sure, he didn't like Gryffindor but he always was reasonable with her, despite her being in Gryffindor. And it was just because she had detention, there was something more he wasn't saying.
"Go on, Professor," Lupin told him, "what am I needed for exactly?"
Severus let out a heavy breath. "I have other matters to attend to tonight, you'll be supervising their detention," he told Lupin before looking back at the both of them. "And you both will have detention every night for the rest of the week."
"But Fred doesn't deserve that!" Alex spoke up quickly, trying to defend the older boy.
"For his snide comment, he does," Severus snapped. "Now do not argue with me, Miss Selwyn, or it will be two weeks detention for you."
Alex huffed an angry breath before the two of them, along with Lupin were excused. She and Fred walked out of the dungeons, fury boiling in her blood before she heard their name's being called and they turned, seeing Lupin walking just behind them.
"Meet me by the Great Hall tonight after dinner and we'll go from there," he told them.
Fred watched as Lupin sent Alex a caring glance and went to speak but the young girl turned on her heel and towards the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, ignoring Lupin's calls after her. Fred turned back to Lupin after Alex was out of sight.
"Did I miss something?"
☽
Eventually, Alex walked back into the common room, still angry before she caught sight of her friends sitting near the fire. As she walked through the common room, several of her classmates that had been in Defense Against the Dark Arts glanced at her before whispering frantically with each other.
She hated the fact that people were now discussing her, problem feeling sorry for how broken she was. She hated it. She didn't want the fake sympathy, she just wanted her mum.
But did her mum want her?
Ron was the first one of the trio to notice her, a look of relief crossing his face. "Alex!" He called, waving her over to where they sat.
Harry and Hermione both turned, watching as she made her way over, setting her bag down and pulling out her homework for that day. The three sent glances to each other, as if trying to prompt one of them to say something, trying to address what happened in class. Hermione finally did.
"Alex, are you okay?" Hermione began. "After what happened in Defense-"
"I'm fine, Hermione, just don't bring it up again, please," Alex begged, not taking her eyes off of the textbook she was reading. The trio glanced at each other one last time before Fred walked into the common room a few moments later and straight to where Alex was sat.
"Can I steal you for a moment?" He asked. Alex glanced at him, feeling the familiar tightening in her stomach. She didn't know what to expect from the interaction.
"I s'ppose."
They walked to a quiet corner, making sure no one was around before he spoke. "Why was Professor Lupin trying to talk to you?" He asked. "I asked him and he told me it wasn't his place to say, that I should ask you."
Alex couldn't help but shift uncomfortably, crossing her arms across her chest as she thought of the boggart lesson. "Promise not to go blabbing about it? Not even George?" She requested, causing Fred to nod before she let out a sigh. "Okay, even if you don't, I'm sure others from the class will. But today, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, we had a lesson on boggarts. When it was my turn to face the boggart, it took the form of-" she stopped talking for a second, her throat tightening as she could feel the pressure building in the back of her throat, desperate to be released, "it took the form of my mother, blaming me for our friend's death and stating how she would never want me and it was just horrible. That's why I was talking with Cedric, he found me crying before we ran into you two."
Fred was stunned to silence as he looked at Alex, who stared at the floor, pushing a hair strand behind her ear. Despite her hair being braided back that day, several strands had managed to fall, framing her face.
"I'm sorry," he spoke softly. "I didn't know."
"It's fine," she told him with a shrug. "I just can't help but wonder if that was how she felt and why she left me."
"You know that's not true, Alex," Fred told her sternly. "I'm sure she had her reasons but she obviously cared about you enough to leave you in someone's care, as questionable as Snape may be," that comment caused her to snort, which made Fred smile. "But seriously, I don't think your mother would want that image haunting your head, much less being your boggart. And I'm here if you ever want to talk about it." Fred gave her a small smile and she returned it before the trio called her back over. "I'll see you at dinner, I suppose," Fred told her before walking up to the boy's dorm, most likely to find George.
Alex smiled to herself before Harry calling her over once again brought her out of staring at Fred's retreating figure. She walked back over to where they sat, a smile on her face. "Sorry, I was just discussing about detention tonight with Fred," she told them before going back to looking at her textbook.
"You got more detention?!" Hermione squealed.
☽
While dinner had been pleasant, as soon as Alex walked out of the Great Hall, she saw Fred standing off to the side, leaning against the wall as students filed out and she remembered having detention. She bid the trio farewell and told them to not wait up for her before walking over and joining Fred.
"Fancy seeing you here," he teased, causing her to nudge him slightly.
"Shut up, you tosser," she responded. "It's your fault I'm in this mess."
"I don't remember you trying to walk away," he joked.
"That's because you tossed me over your shoulder and wouldn't let me walk away, Fred!" She exclaimed but laughed, not entirely being angry about spending the evening in his company.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he spoke, holding his chin thoughtfully. Alex couldn't help but shake her head at him.
After everyone had filed out, Professor Lupin appeared before them, a tired smile on his face. "Very well, now if you would both follow me, that would be wonderful."
Slowly but surely, they made it into the tapestry corridor on the first floor. Alex glanced around before seeing two buckets and rags laying in a corner. Professor Lupin turned to them. "These paintings have been gaining a little bit of dust over the years, you two are to wipe them down without magic," he told them, causing a quiet scoff to escape Alex. "And whatever you don't get done tonight, you can finish during the remainder of your detention this week."
After grabbing the buckets and rags, both Fred and Alex started wiping down each painting, the figure in the painting often telling them where to wipe specifically. Professor Lupin eventually excused himself, claiming that he would be back later to release them. His departure allowed Alex to rest for a second as her left shoulder had begun to ache.
"Oi!" The painting of an old Scottish wizard she had been wiping down cried. "Yeh are no' done yet, lassie!"
"Oh, piss off!" Alex grumbled as she moved her shoulder to loosen the knot that had formed in it. "I'm only taking a moments rest."
Fred set his own rag before walking over to Alex. "Here, let me help you out," he said as he began to rub her shoulder.
A content sigh left Alex's lips as Fred's thumbs managed to massage right where the knot had formed in a short time. She closed her eyes for a second as he pushed his thumbs just a little harder, causing her to cringe in pain before sighing in relief as the knot let up.
"Better?" Fred questioned.
"Much, where did you learn to do this?" She asked, glancing at him from behind her.
"When you're a Beater and you swing that bat around as much as I do, you get pretty sore and you find ways to soothe the muscles from aching too much, as well as loosening knots," he explained to her.
"Well, your good with your hands in more ways than one," she told him.
"So I've been told," he replied, though Alex didn't see the smirk on his face as she was oblivious for the way he took her comment.
After a few more seconds of him loosening the knot in her shoulder, a funny thought entered Alex's mind. "It's funny, you know," she told him.
"What is?"
"How I didn't even like you as a friend before last year," she deadpanned, causing Fred's fingers to cease before he stepped in front of Alex.
"You used to not like me?" He inquired, eyebrows raised in curiosity.
"And George, but you both gave me good reason not to at the time," she told him simply as she went back to wiping down the painting. "However, you've both redeemed yourself in my eyes."
"Don' yeh forget to git right here-"
"Shut your mouth, I know what I'm doing!" Alex snapped at the Scottish wizard before continuing her assignment, a confused Fred still standing a few feet from her.
"Why?" He asked a few seconds later, curiosity getting the best of him.
Alex looked at him as she set her rag down, ignoring the Scottish wizards complaints. "You really want to know?" She questioned, causing Fred to nod. "Well, it began right after my mother had left and Snape became my legal guardian. When he had to come up to the castle and work, I usually stayed down in Hogsemeade with Madam Rosmerta or someone else who lived there, but I would enjoy coming up and visiting the castle, whether it was to walk the grounds with Hagrid or talk to professors who weren't teaching class. One day, while Madam Rosmerta had a particularly busy day at the Three Broomsticks, I had decided to head up to the castle to see Snape because I knew he was free that day during that time. I made it into the castle before I became hopelessly lost," she paused, glancing at Fred's expression, whose eyebrows were furrowed together.
"How do George and I come to play into this?" He inquired, still very confused.
"I'm getting there, don't get your knickers in a twist," she snapped, yet a playful smile sat on her lips. "I ran into the two of you and when you saw me, you both told me I was too young to be at a Hogwarts, which I told you I wasn't and then I asked for directions to Snape's classroom. You both asked me why and when I told you he was my guardian, you both made fun of me, calling me a "bat-in-training" and a few other rude terms before laughing at me and leaving me in the corridor, crying. And since my mother had left me only recently, it left me quite distraught before McGonagall found me, so it didn't help the situation because I really didn't have anywhere else to go to."
Fred was stunned to silence as he watched Alex, who was wiping down the grumpy Scottish wizard's painting still. He didn't realize he and his twin had been that rude to a little kid. He knew some of their pranks could be harsh, but he didn't realize they had been that rude and to someone so young. Also, the fact that they had done it so close to when her mother had left, they must've left some damage, as little as it was.
"How do you stand us now then? You said things changed last year, what happened to change your opinion?" He asked, remembering her saying that it had changed only last year.
A smile appeared on Alex's face. "Well, first of all, after I made the quidditch team, you and George began to look at me differently rather than just Snape's goddaughter," she told him, causing him to laugh. "Plus, during quidditch practices, you always gave me pointers, which I really appreciated."
"Is that all?" He asked.
"Let me finish," she laughed. "But I'm sure you remember, everyone had gone crazy with the Chamber of Secrets being opened. While Harry had been accused of being the Heir of Slytherin, people were also accusing me of assisting him just because we were friends, do you remember?" She asked, glancing at Fred's face.
He nodded, before motioning for her to continue. "Well, it was after Justin had been attacked and I was alone, studying in the library. Ernie Macmillan and a few other students from Hufflepuff came up to my table and they were being rude, telling me to 'fess up and tell everyone that Harry and I were attacking students. I was terrified and didn't know how to respond," she paused as she looked down at her hands that were clasped together, fiddling with her thumbs as she recalled the memory, "but then, you and George came up and told them off, telling them to leave me alone and how I had nothing to do with it. Actually, anytime any students tried attacking me about it, you and George sort of appeared almost out of nowhere and saved me from being attacked, like my personal bodyguards or something similar. It was after that, that I actually liked you both."
Fred recalled the memory and knew exactly why they had always been able to find her, though he wouldn't reveal that secret. He couldn't help but smile at her as she fiddled with her fingers nervously. "Well, I'm glad we both were of assistance to a damsel in distress in such dire situations," he told her, causing her to giggle.
"Yes, my knight in shining school robes," she joked, causing her and Fred to laugh. "Plus, when you both helped everyone make up for missing my birthday, that was really nice too and boosted up your brownie points."
Fred thought back to the previous year and how Alex let slip that her birthday had passed a few weeks prior and the only person who acknowledged it was Snape. The trio came to Fred and George and together, threw a giant birthday celebration with all of Gryffindor a few weeks later for Alex's birthday.
"No ones birthday deserves to be forgotten," Fred told her. "And it's coming up in a few weeks! Maybe I won't forget it."
Alex shook her head. "Please, after tonight, I'm sure it'll be out of your mind because you'll have too many prank ideas running through your head," she joked, causing Fred to laugh before Alex let out a loud yawn. "Oh, I'm exhausted, are we done yet?"
"Sadly no," Fred told her as they both got up and went back to cleaning, all while a million ideas ran through Fred's head.
☽
A few hours later, Lupin walked in to find that both Fred and Alex had fallen asleep. Fred leaned against the wall while Alex's head laid in his lap, Fred's arm draped over her. They had managed to get quite a few of the portraits done but there were several complaining that their own had been neglected or others stating that they'd missed a spot.
"They'll be back tomorrow to finish it up, but I think they've both worked hard enough for one night," Lupin told them as he walked up to the sleeping teenagers.
He lightly shook Fred's shoulder, the older boy stirring awake and seeing Professor Lupin. Panic surged through him before Lupin motioned for him to be quiet and looking to the sleeping Alex.
"I trust you'll make sure she gets back to the common room safely?"
Fred smiled and nodded. "I'll be sure to do that."
Lupin smiled before walking out of the room to head back to his office for the night, leaving Fred to stretch carefully before turning his attention to Alex.
"Alex, wake up," Fred whispered to her, "we have to get back to the common room."
Slowly, Alex stirred awake before sitting up and yawning. "What time is it?" she questioned as she stretched out her sleepy muscles.
"Midnight, I'll carry you back if you'd like?" he offered, causing Alex to give him a tired smile as she nodded.
"That would be splendid."
Fred stood up, pulling Alex up with him and crouching down to allow her to jump onto his back. After adjusting her to make sure her sleeping figure didn't fall, he trekked up the stairs to the common room. Though he was tired himself, he didn't dare say anything or complain as Alex had wrapped her arms around his neck, settling her head onto his shoulder, a content sigh leaving her lips.
After making it into the common room, he found George waiting on the couches, doing his homework. He glanced up to see Fred walking in with Alex's sleeping figure on his back. He looked at Fred confused before his twin motioned for him to be quiet.
Carefully, with the help of George, they both set her down on the couch. "Alex, do you want to head up to your dorm room or stay asleep here?" George whispered, causing her to stir awake. She glanced around at the empty common room before letting out a yawn.
"I should head up to the dorms," she told them before picking herself up. "Good night, boys," she whispered before making her way up to the girl's dorms.
Just before she disappeared up the stairs, she glanced back through half opened eyes and smiled. "Thanks for bringing me back, Fred."
After bidding them good night again, she disappeared up the stairs. Both twins settled down on the couch for a second before George turned to Fred. "What's on your mind, Freddie boy?" He asked as his twin looked deep in thought. "I know that look."
"September seventeenth is coming up," he began, "Alex's fourteenth birthday."
"And what does that mean for us?" George inquired.
"That means that we've got some planning to do, Georgie boy."
☽
Oooooooh Cedric has entered the chat... what's to happen lol
Plus, Alex's birthday is the next chapter.. which should be interesting for sure as well...
What do y'all think?
Don't forget to vote and comment!
Love you guys!
-Squid☽