An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Forty-Nine

I was supposed to go back to Hogwarts on January 3rd, so I spent every moment of the next few days with my family. They kept trying to talk me into letting them come back to Hogwarts with me to talk to Cedric, and I kept ducking their requests or flat out saying no. The Canary Creams eventually ran out, so we let up on the prank war, but a few members of my family kept throwing things at me even on my last day in the Tower.

On Sunday, it was time for me to go back. I stayed in New York through one last dinner with my family, then made a sling portal back to my dorm and went right to sleep. Angelina and Alicia were already in bed too, since classes started back up tomorrow, and I was already wincing at how painful it would be to wake up in the morning. To my body clock, it was going to feel five hours earlier than normal.

My alarm went off at 7:30am, and it damn near killed me to pry my eyes open and get out of bed. I was a zombie going through my morning routine, trudging down the stairs to breakfast and drinking coffee like my life depended on it. I gave sleepy hellos and hugs to my Gryffindor friends, and somehow I managed to maintain a conversation at breakfast. They all completely understood why I was so exhausted, and they all did their best to keep me from going face-down into a nap at the table.

"Did you see the notice up in the Common Room this morning?" asked Lee excitedly. All my friends nodded, but I just stared blearily at him over my second cup of coffee in about an hour.

"No..."

"We're starting Apparition lessons!" he said excitedly. "We have to pay for the class, but the first one's in a month! If we pass our tests at the end of the year, we can use Apparition to get anywhere!"

"Alexa can already do that with her sling portals," noted Fred, shooting me a look. I just shrugged.

"Hey, can't hurt to have another method of traveling magically. Especially since I can use Apparition in a fight if Strange demands a rematch over the summer..." I was lost in thought for a second, then I turned back to my friends with a smile. "Besides, if you guys are all going through this whole wizard-milestone class, I want to do it with you."

My friends grinned, and we talked excitedly through the rest of breakfast about Apparition lessons. Our first period was Charms with Hufflepuff, and Cedric caught up with us as we headed out of the Hall.

"Alexa! It's good to see you again," he said, smiling brightly and pulling me in close for a hug and a kiss. I smiled back at him.

"It's good to see you too. I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Alright, we'll see you all in Charms," said George, cutting in as he herded all our friends along ahead of us, leaving Cedric and I to walk to class in private.

"So how was break? Did I miss anything big?"

"No, not really. Other than the Apparition announcement, we haven't had any big or interesting events since you've been gone."

"Alright, that's good. Have George and Angelina admitted their feelings for each other yet?"

"Unfortunately not. We may have to return the favor of helping get them together."

I grinned. "My thoughts exactly. Further scheming may have to wait until I'm done with this cup of coffee, though."

"Oh dear. What number is that?"

"Three. But before you say anything, it's three in the morning to me right now."

Cedric and I spent as much time as possible together throughout the rest of the day. We had to separate for Potions, where I finally got to see my Slytherin friends again. Jackson and Adrian were apparently trying to make a run at me and Cedric for best couple of the friend group, and Myrah just seemed happy to have a bigger crowd than just the three of them again.