Alexandra Weasley: Book 6

35

Alex didn't know what was going on with Harry. She'd heard from Hermione that he drank some of his felicis, and then heard that her brother and Ginny had broken up with their respective significant others.

Hermione didn't tell Alex what Slughorn said, possibly disturbed by her conversations with Alex as of late. She was too afraid of accidentally encouraging her.

Still, Alex's mind was made up. It was the best way she could protect her family and friends. Besides, her life was pretty hectic as it was. She still needed to figure out a way to talk to Snape and also find a way to get over Blaise.

And of course there was Pedro. After weeks of pondering his options, he asked her to stay behind after class.
"How do you feel about chess?" He asked.

"Wizard's or muggle?"

"Either." She shrugged.

"I like it. Ron's great at it, so I've always had a worthwhile opponent. You?"

"I'm good at it." He shrugged. "Are you up for a game?"

"When?"

"Tonight?"

"Okay." Her lips curled up slightly.

"Here." He gave her a piece of paper. "Seven?"

"Sure." She unfolded it and saw directions. His quarters, she assumed.

After dinner, she stood and headed out to the seventh floor. She past the corridor to the east wing, and looked for the suit of armour with the alchemical symbol above its head.
"Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, Rubedo." She recited and the suit moved out of the way. She knocked on the door behind it and Pedro opened it.

She wasn't sure she knew what to expect in the room, but it wasn't this. There was a couch in front of a coffee table, with a blanket folded neatly on its edge. Two stacks of papers were on the side of the table. Behind a couch was a round table on which a chess board was set up along with snacks. The walls were decorated with wall hangings and paintings.

"Huh, this looks neat. Didn't know boys could be neat."

"Thanks." He said. The was a door that clearly led to his room at the back, but she ignored it. She took in the rest of the room, looking at pictures on the mantle. There were three. One of him and an older man. His grandfather, she assumed. Another of him with a group of people who were all attempting to squish into the frame. The third was of a young boy with a man and a woman.

"So, when you say you're good at chess," she started. "Is it the sort of good where you're talented but I'm going to beat you anyway, or...?"

"I'm going to win." He said, resolutely.

"Right, okay. Bring it on." She took a seat in front of the black pieces. He sat.

"I don't need the advantage." He said, but made the first move anyway.

"This is a nice place." She said. "Much better than the Leaky Cauldron."

"Oh, definitely."

"You planning on staying at Hogwarts then?" She asked. "As an alchemy teacher?"

"Till the end of next year, at least. After that depends on how many students I get next year. And without you to wrangle a lot for me..." he teased, moving a piece.

"I can probably wrangle some for next year." She said. "Six is the minimum needed, right?"

"Yeah."

"So," she moved her bishop. "I can get Luna and Ginny. Maybe a Slytherin- Ben. I dunno. I'm not really close to the year below."

"That wasn't really a suggestion to find a way for me to keep my job." He chuckled. "Besides, I'm only in England till the war's over."

"Right." She looked over at the picture of Pedro and his friends on the mantle. "I had you wrong, didn't I? When I said you had nothing to fight for."

"Not totally." He answered. "I left. I love my friends, but I left. I came here. I chose vengeance and justice for my family, than to let it go. Snuck away in the middle of the night and didn't say a word." Alex stared at the board as Pedro got up to grab two unopened bottles. "Coconut water?" He offered. She took one.

"It isn't worth it, you know." She shook her head.

"I disagree."

"You think you're ready. You think it'll all be worth it. You're ready to sacrifice anything. Everything. Sacrifice yourself, your feelings, your sanity. You think that what happens to you will be worth it as long as the people you care about are safe. That's why you're doing this. Because you're afraid a national takeover won't be enough for him. He'll want to go global. Better to stop him here before he grows unstoppable, right? Comes after the people you care about."

"How is it not worth it?" He asked.

"Because you're not ready." She answered. "You can put on a brave face. You can hold onto your memories in times of darkness. But there will come a moment, and you'll hate yourself for it, but there will come a moment where you resent everything that happened that put you where you are. You'll resent having cared for anything- anyone- so much that you were willing to endure all of this. You'll wish you could turn back time. You'll wonder what it could have been like if you hadn't gotten involved. And in that moment, you break." She moved another piece. He looked at her cautiously. "They don't tell you that part when they talk about heroes and martyrs."

"Is that what you are?"

"I don't know what I am. I'm not a hero, I haven't saved anyone. I couldn't even save a hippogriff properly. Martyrs die for a cause and I'm still alive. Besides I don't have beliefs to die for. Just my family."

"Broken?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "That's one word for it, I suppose. Believe me, it's not worth it. That moment might be long, or it might be short. It could last years or a fraction of a second, but once it comes there's no turning back. After that, you'll hate yourself. You'll hate that you were weak enough to think that. You'll never believe you deserve care or love, no matter how much you try."

A/N- yeah, I know absolutely nothing about chess, so if any of my minimal chess mentions are wrong, please just ignore it, x. Also someone needs to tell Pedro it's not polite to call someone broken 😭

Favourite line is "They don't tell you that part when they talk about heroes and martyrs."