Alexandra Weasley: Book 5

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"What's with the long face, Granger?" Laila asked and then glanced at Rani, who was nuzzling into Hermione's caresses. "No offence, Rani."

"No reason." Hermione said, but made no effort to hide the frown on her face.

"That's total shite." Laila said. "Come on, little lioness, if you can't talk to a fellow explorer, who can you talk to?"

"It's nothing, Laila."

"That's the worst lie I've ever heard." She smiled but Hermione didn't let up. "In all seriousness, though, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's bothering you. Alex, right? Or Alexandra, as she goes by now." Hermione stayed silent. "I get it. First it was Cedric, and now Alex. Two friends in a matter of months."

"Alex isn't dead." Hermione scowled.

"Well, not in the physical sense, but the Alex we knew is gone. It's alright to be sad."

"I'm not sad."

"Okay. But if you were, it would be okay."

"I'm not sad. I'm angry. Angry at Alex, except I can't be angry at Alex because she's not here and the person who is here is a totally different person. And I can't be mad at her because she's actually really nice and none of this is her fault and I can't be angry that she's happy now, so I'm mad at myself because I don't want to hate her, but a little part of me does because she's not Alex and that makes me the most selfish person on the face of the planet."

"You're not selfish. Nothing about you is selfish, Granger. You miss your best friend, and that's okay. You're angry because she's gone, and that's okay. It's not your fault." Laila took a seat next to Hermione. "She'll get her memories back one day."

"I'm not so sure that's a good thing." Hermione said. "Although it's so hard to protect her now that she has no memories."

"Protect her from what?"

"For one, Danny is still holding a grudge. And she doesn't seem to understand how out of hand their rivalries are. She-" Hermione broke off to take a deep breath. "She said that maybe it was time to try being nice and has made a point to wave or smile at him every time saw him every day this week. I'm pretty sure he thinks she's mocking him. Then there's the fact that not everyone knows about her spell immunity and she doesn't really understand why she wanted to keep it a secret and I cannot get it into her mind how supremely bad of an idea it is to just announce to the world that she's got extra powers or how she got those powers. She's a lot more innocent than she used to be and it's frustrating."

"Because you're used to cynical Alex, not optimistic Alexandra." Hermione nodded.

"Exactly. I've never known Alex to be so naive." Laila nodded.

"Where is she anyways?"

"With Dumbledore. She, Danny and a few others are competing for the Hogwarts champion title. The wizarding schools potions contest is during winter break. They'll be gone for the weekend."

"Know what we should do?" Laila smirked mischievously.

"What?"

"Hit Ravenclaw's study, and spend a little time there. We'll get Luna and sneak through. We never really got round to checking everything out."

"I'm not sure we should. We're not supposed to be there without adult supervision."

"Well, technically, I'm seventeen, which makes me an adult so we wouldn't be breaking any rules. Come on, Granger. Live a little."

"I'm a prefect."

"And you wouldn't be breaking any rules, technically."

"Fine." Hermione sighed, with a grin.

Hermione sat on Cedric's memorial bench.
"This is the only way you'll ever catch me on a broom." She said aloud. "We miss you, Cedric. You're supposed to be here and make us laugh and show Alex that it's okay to be vulnerable and-" she broke off. "You're supposed to be here. You were one of the first friends I ever made at Hogwarts, and you were by far the friendliest person I'd ever met. We had fun, didn't we. Scheming and plotting, usually behind Alex's back. The three of us studying in the library.

"Hogwarts just isn't the same without you. I get what Alex used to say, you know. You really are everywhere. And so is she. And it is hard. I don't even have her to help me get through this, because your death broke her. And now I have to protect her somehow from him and I don't know how that is possible when she doesn't know anything and now I'm starting to wish I could just forget everything too. But I'm not going to do what she did. I'm not going to run away from my feelings. I'm not a coward. I'm upset and I'm going to face that sadness. I'm sad you're gone, I really am. And I'm not sure if it's just going to go away. I've never lost anyone before. It's always just been me, mum and dad. Never had grandparents or other relatives. You changed that though. You always felt like an older brother. Thanks for that, and thanks for helping me feel better when I was upset. And- oh, god. Am I turning into Alex? I am! Next thing you know, I'm going to start adopting magical creatures of my own and pushing away all of my friends. I'm already talking to a bench!" Hermione stood up. "Okay, before I go any deeper into the Alex hole, I'm going to stop, and go in for dinner."

A/N- I love Laila. Gonna miss her, not gonna lie. It's her final year and next year she's gonna be gone into the adult world and 😭 I'm gonna miss her.

Favourite line is "And- oh, god. Am I turning into Alex? I am! Next thing you know, I'm going to start adopting magical creatures of my own and pushing away all of my friends. I'm already talking to a bench!" Lmfao, I love Hermione.