Alexandra Weasley book 7

74

"Um, I'm switching sides." She said. "Because... I don't need to explain myself?"

"Hermione, you can't honestly believe her." Ernie scowled.

"You know, Ernest. I really thought you and I were friends." He snorted.

"You don't have friends."

"I wish." She huffed. "Granger ruined me. She made me friendly. Now I have friends. They're everywhere."

"I ruined you? I'm on the run."

"I offered to protect you. You chose tweedledum and tweedledumber." She said, but then shook her head, adopting a more serious tone. "Okay, but we're wasting time. You can either trust me or not. Doesn't change the fact that you idiots decided right here and now is the best time for a showdown."

"Why don't you have a mark?" Neville pressed.

"I'm not really a tattoo person." She said. "Especially when they're that permanent."

"And you know who is okay with that?"

"I guess I convinced him I'm an asset he couldn't afford to lose."

"Convinced him how?"

"Okay, it's only a matter of time until he makes his way here. So we can stand around, with pointless questions, or we can get to it." She said.

"She's right." Hermione said. "We don't have the time, and yes, I trust her."

"Have you found the diadem yet?" Alex asked.

"How do you know about the diadem?"

"No." Hermione spoke over Ernie.

"Okay, he wouldn't have put it somewhere easily found. There are two places he could have hidden it. Chamber or in here. If it's in here, it won't reveal itself like this. It would've been special."

"Maybe you could ask." Hermione switched to Japanese.

"Not with everyone in here."

"I'll figure it out. You leave, while I get everyone out and you can come back. When you find out where, let me know through the coin. We can start mobilising troops, getting the kids someplace safe."

"I'll find the girls, they can help you figure out how to get the kids safe. Everyone under fifteen. And anyone who doesn't want to or can't. Then I'll double back." She agreed. Hermione nodded and Alex left the room before anyone had questions. She disappeared down to the basement and slipped into the dorms to check in on her friends. Susan and Hannah were following her instructions but Megan was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she?" Alex asked and Susan looked at her sheepishly.

"She insisted she was going to help."

"I am going to kill that girl." Alex huffed and walked out to look for her friend.

Alex rushed through the courtyard and caught sight of a shadow. She paused.

"Why are you hiding?" She questioned her uncle.

"Minerva, Pomona and Filius reached their breaking point. They pushed me out." He smiled a little.

"Are you hurt?" She stormed towards him, and he shook his head.

"Be careful." He said to her and she nodded. His dark eyes seemed to bore through her intensely and he slowly reached to hug her, giving her time to reject him if needed. She stepped into his arms and hugged him tight.

"You be careful too, uncle." She said and he gripped the back of her head. "Thank you for being here for me."

"It has been my honour." He replied. She squeezed once more and they let go. "I... I care very much for you, child."

"Not a child." She mumbled half-heartedly.

"Still a teen." He said. "I hope you know, I, that is to say-"

"I know." She grinned, a smidge of mischief in her tone. "I love you too."

"I love you." He managed. Her smile dropped.

"You are going to be safe, aren't you?"

"Of course. I will do my utmost to make sure we emerge out of this successfully."

"You are included in that we. Don't Dumbledore this. Don't make this about the greater good." She told him. "Please, uncle. Be careful."

"I will." He promised. "I have to go. Protect yourself."

She nodded and watched him half meld into the shadows and disappear from view. She kept a sharp eye on him, even through his glamour.

"I thought he was the enemy?" Megan's voice surprised her. Alex turned, half resigned, half defensive.

"Maybe I am too?" She tried but Megan seemed to see right through her. "He was never the enemy."

"He killed Dumbledore."

"He didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice."

"Let's just say Dumbledore's machinations ran deeper than you know."

"Alex-"

"Please. Not right now. We're close to getting rid of him. We'll talk after. I would rather you help the girls wrangle the kids, but I also know I can't control you and you refuse to stay put, so..." she sighed. "Go find Hermione. No one's really hiding anymore."

"Thank you." She said, happily throwing her arms around Alex. "It'll be okay."

Alex sighed but hugged her quickly before rushing away to the vanishing room. She paced outside the room with the one thought until the door opened.

She walked to the edge of the room and waited for the familiar shimmer to envelop the room. The room was large- more never ending. Her grandfather, a young adult version, walked in. He was almost unrecognisable. He had on a satchel as he walked through rows of cluttered shelves.

"Where all the lost things go." He muttered. She followed him to a nook deep into the room, but not so obviously in the middle and engraved the spot in her mind.

Voldemort didn't wait around. He simply turned and walked right back out and the shimmer disappeared.

"Where the lost things go?" She said. "What is that supposed to mean?"

A very familiar book appeared on the table. She sighed but started flicking through. She'd read a lot of the book, so finding the new passage might be harder.

It took a while but eventually she located the newly unblurred passage of the book, only to find the room she was looking for was the room she was in or, at least, existed in the same place as the room she was in. She'd have to leave to actually access the room where all the lost things went.

A/N- It's been almost two years. Wow. I have no excuse because it's basically been two years, but I am back and I won't be updating every day. Maybe every week, I'm not sure yet. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Favourite line-
"Why don't you have a mark?" Neville pressed.

"I'm not really a tattoo person." She said. "Especially when they're that permanent."