Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 114 - Apparation Lessons

Sorry for not updating you guys - I'm really busy with my new job at the minute :) :)

 The next week came in a flurry of snow, and Al found herself spending most of her time either studying or reading with Hermione in the library, or in the alcove by the stairs with Harry and sometimes Ron. It seemed Ron and Hermione had had an argument or weren't getting on or something, but Al decided not to ask about it while either of them were around; she was already grateful that they were sticking by her without pushing her luck any further.

 It was Wednesday morning and Al was eating a lonely breakfast of porridge and tea, as Draco was sat with Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Parkinson further down the table, and she wasn't talking to him anyway after the fiasco during the Quidditch match. And Daphne and Theo were nowhere in sight. She was feeling rather cheerful however, as that morning she had both Transfiguration and Charms, where she could sit with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and two free periods in the afternoon.

 Her mood was lightened when a small barn owl landed gracefully in front of her and held out its leg to her. She untied the letter and fed her a bit of spare bacon, before watching her fly off and out of the hall. She turned back to her letter, wondering who it could be from - she'd got her weekly letter from George yesterday.

 To Al,

 Here I am, writing to you as promised. I never got the chance to thank you for the thoughtful bars of chocolate you sent me, so thank you. I am doing very well at the minute, but I will be going underground for a few months from Monday, so I won't be able to write then.

 I hope Hogwarts is treating you well. I suppose you'll be doing apparation lessons soon - good luck with that. I heard from a little phoenix that you performed very well in a duel against Cindy Jones? I'm glad you're reading my book.

 Best of luck in your Alchemy NEWT, if I don't get a chance to talk to you before then; I don't think I'll be at the Burrow for the Easter holidays. Give Harry my best and lots of love,

Moony

 Al read the letter once more and then once again, wanting to soak in every word. She wasn't going to do her NEWT until June - would she have to wait that long before she heard from him again? She wasn't sure if she'd last.

 Al was cut from her musings when the bell for first period went, and she rushed off to Magical Theory, stuffing the letter into a textbook for safe-keeping.

*****

 Thursday, Al wasn't so lucky. She walked into first period double Potions to see Zabini sat in her usual place next to Theo. That would've been okay, if Draco wasn't sat directly opposite him. 'I'm sorry,' Theo mouthed, and Al smiled at him, before going to take up the spare desk where Hermione was sat.

 "You okay?" she asked, unpacking her bag as she sat down next to her.

 "Yeah," Hermione said, her voice quite high, "Fine." Al threw a puzzled look at Harry, who was sat in her line of vision, but he only shrugged.

 They reviewed Golpalott's third law and began brewing the antidotes for the potions. Al poured the contents of hers in and did a specialis revello, and let it simmer until all the contents had broken down into identifiable layers that she noted down, then separating them into six different vials. It seemed Alchemy was going to come in very useful here.

 Al then went through each of the poisons and half-mixed the individual antidotes, putting them all in neatly labelled vials. When she'd done that, she only had ten minutes left, so she mixed all the antidotes together in her cauldron, adding the pre-stewed mandrake leaves and whisking, before putting her antidote into a vial and tidying away with a swish of her wand.

 Slughorn circulated the room, smiling at Hermione, and clapping Al on the back when he saw her antidote. "All bottled up I hope?"

 "Yes, Sir," Al said, handing him the vial.

 "Very well done, indeed, Al! Thirty points to Slytherin!" Beaming Al laughed with the rest of the class as Harry produced a beazor instead of the required antidote. She left for Transfiguration in high spirits, waiting for Harry who wanted a word with Slughorn. And she bet she knew what it was about.

 She heard Slughorn shout, "WRONG!" and the next moment, Harry was rushing out, grabbing her arm and pulling her through the corridors to Transfiguration.

 "What was that about?" Al hissed, worried that he'd messed it up.

 "Dumbledore asked me to ask him something," Harry said, his face red as they took their seats between Ron and Hermione in Transfiguration. "It went badly," he admitted, but before he could elaborate McGonagall began her lecture on vanishing spells and they were forced to listen. Although Al probably would've even if it was voluntary.

 "Remus wrote to me, by the way," Al whispered to Harry while they annotated a diagram.

 "How is he?" Harry asked, only half-interested as he annotated his diagram.

 "He's fine," Al said, "You've missed that box, there. He sends his best to you."

 "Thanks," Harry said, "For the box I mean-"

 "I know," Al said. She saw Ron peering over at her parchment and moved it so he could see properly, and he copied it down before scowling at her and mumbling a quick 'thanks'. What was up with everyone today?

*****

 January blurred into February, and Slughorn seemed to have stopped his meetings with the Slug Club. Al continued to practice wandless soul magic every Sunday with Dumbledore, who was becoming increasingly anxious, though he fought to keep it silent. Al presumed this was because of the memory Harry had failed in collecting.

 Soon enough it was time to start apparation lessons, and the sixth years gathered in the Great Hall. Al stood with Hermione when Harry wandered off. Daphne and Theo were together at the other side of the hall, near Ron and Lavender who were definitely not five feet apart. "Remember the three Ds. Destination, Determination, Deliberation. Now visualise yourself in the hoop and feel yourself going into it," Professor Twycross was saying. "On three. One, two, THREE!"

 Al visualised herself the hoop and pulled her magic into her fingertips and every other part of her body, just like when she was doing wandless magic. Then she turned, feeling her way around, but her mind wandered. She'd read about the dangers of disapparating - what if she got splinched?

 The result of this was that she just turned randomly on the spot, but opened her eyes just in time to see Ernie Macmillan doing a leaping pirouette into his hoop, making her and a few others roar with laughter. No one had managed to do it yet, so they tried again.

 This time, Al thought she was sufficiently focused to do it. She poured her magic out again, pictured the hoop, and turned. There was a rushing sound, as though she was being dragged very fast through the air, and she felt herself being gently compressed as opposed to having the guts squeezed out of her.

 Al opened her eyes and there she was, stood in the hoop. She looked at Hermione, who was seven feet away from her, and grinned, raising her arms in mock jazz hands. But when she tried to lift her left arm, all she felt was a sharp pain. "Oh, Merlin!" Hermione shouted as blood gushed from Al's shoulder. It seemed she'd left her actual arm five feet away.

 "Bloody hell!" Al shouted, drawing a fair bit of unwanted attention towards her. Flitwick and Snape made their way over and the former waved his wand. In a puff of purple smoke, her arm was reattached and she flexed it, checking it still worked. "Thanks, Sir," Al said to Flitwick, who beamed up at her.

 "Mind your language, Dursley," Snape snarled, and Al turned away, rolling her eyes. Twycross gave a brief talk about splinching, before they got back to it again. On her third and fourth go, Al splinched her hand and one of her eyeballs, and Susan Bones splinched her whole leg on her fourth go. But Al didn't quite manage to do it without splinching anything, so she'd have to try again next week.