Alexandra Weasley book 7

45

When it was finally time to return to Hogwarts, Alex managed to persuade her grandfather to let her take Luna with her. She promised to keep an eye on the Ravenclaw and pointed out that his death eaters were already monitoring communication so it wasn't as if Xenophilius would find out Luna was at school. He let her under the condition that she would make sure to watch Luna very carefully and wouldn't hesitate to correct any hint of misbehaviour.

Alex and Luna stayed in a compartment with Alex's Slytherin friends until the train started moving. They left once the train had completely left the station.

Alex helped Luna find Ginny to sit with. The Gryffindor looked incredibly relieved at her appearance.
"Luna!" Ginny had jumped up from her seat and hugged her tightly. "You're okay. You're alright. And you're here. We've been so worried!"

"How touching. I'm going to throw up." Alex said, gagging far too dramatically before turning away to find her Hufflepuff friends. She joined Megan, Hannah and Susan.

"Hey!" Megan greeted with a smile.

"Should I be offended you didn't come to my belated birthday bash?" Alex scowled.

"Wasn't invited." Susan said.

"Me neither." Hannah added.

"Yeah, that was on purpose. But Megan made me promise to let her be part of this whole thing."

"Why weren't we invited?" Susan asked, a hint of offence in her tone.

"I'm keeping you as far away from my grandfather for as long as I can." Alex told them. "Have either of you taken a look at your home lives lately? My grandfather murdered the last remaining member of your family a year ago, Suze, and Hannah- there's the situation with your parents. More specifically, your muggle dad." Alex hissed the last bit. "And to be fair, I'm not actually mad Megan didn't attend. Although she did miss the opportunity for some gossip that she could've shared with you before you saw me."

"Gossip? What gossip?" Megan leaned forward.

"I kind of have a boyfriend now." Alex took pleasure in the whirl of emotions that crossed her friends' faces.

"Okay, I give up. Who?" Susan asked.

"Blaise." She said.

"No." Was Megan's answer, baffling Alex.

"No to what?" Alex asked.

"You're not dating Zabini."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't date anyone. Does he know it means he can't be with other girls?"

"Yes, Megan. He knows. Besides, it's been a while and he's actually remained very faithful."

"We were joking when we teased you about Blaise."

"Well, not totally. We were together then too."

"So how long has this been going on for?"

"About eleven months." Alex muttered.

"What, really?" Susan asked.

"We were keeping it a secret. I didn't want it getting back to my grandfather, so I wouldn't let him tell any of his friends and I didn't tell any of you guys."

"Did Hermione know?"

"Yeah, she found us once. I was trying to keep it from her too."

"So you're actually, like, dating Zabini? I didn't think you were even remotely interested." Megan said, hung up on the detail.

"Well, my survival kind of depends on how well I can lie, so you can't be surprised."

"I'm not surprised you were keeping it a secret." Susan pointed out. "Just that you are actually interested in Zabini."

"Charlie would enjoy this." Megan laughed.

"I'd never hear the end of it." Alex agreed.

"How did it happen?" Hannah asked. "You and him?"

"Well, it started last year. Hermione brought it up, actually. She thought she was making some point, but to be honest I just hadn't really realised anything, and once she pointed out she thought I liked Blaise, I started to think about it and then it turned into this thing, and yeah."

"Okay, but what do you like about him? Beyond his looks?"

"I dunno, he's funny."

"I'm funny." Megan said. "It doesn't make you fall for me. Give me a real answer."

"Honestly I don't know. I like him. He's funny and smart. He's protective of his friends, and I like being around him when he's not insufferable. I don't know, what answer are you looking for. It doesn't make much sense to me either. Except that, I like him a lot. He's a great friend, and I don't want to be just his friend. And he doesn't care if I don't always tell him everything which is a bonus."

"Okay fine. He doesn't sound terrible."

"You know him."

"Yeah but, I never really saw that coming."

"Neither did I. Hermione was the only one who did." Alex told them. "And Luna figured it out when I kidnapped her off the train when we were leaving."

"Okay, now I just feel like we were oblivious." Susan said.

"No, Luna just notices everything. She wasn't even surprised to find out Voldemort was my grandfather." Alex said.

"How did that go?" Hannah said. "How was your break?"

"It was alright. Spent most of my time either with my grandfather or Draco and Luna."

"What even happens when you're with your gramps?" Megan said, her face adopting a look of mischief. "Because I can't really imagine him going on about the good old days and what kind of things youths have ruined. Not unless they're muggleborns."

"He doesn't." Alex replied. "It's all world domination plans."

"Is that a joke or..?" Susan asked.

"Only partially. He also taught me how to withstand the effects of veritaserum."

"Sounds like a... productive break."

"Very. I should go. I should be switching duties with Draco about now." She said and smiled at her friends. "I'll be back in half an hour."

A/N- Favourite line is "I'm funny." Megan said. "It doesn't make you fall for me. Give me a real answer."