Alex Weasley: Book 3

3

The 'exciting news' turned out to be a spontaneous trip to Egypt because her father had won enough money for a surprise trip to visit Bill. It had been two years since they'd seen him, after all. Alex wasn't excited much, and she definitely let it show when she'd been forced to take a picture. She'd half hidden behind Ron, unwilling to show her face. She had a sneaking suspicion that the galleon draw had been tampered with, though for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. Voldemort was many things, but a loving grandfather who wished her only happiness was definitely not one of them. Still, she couldn't bring herself to ruin it for her family. They did deserve a holiday. So she kept her suspicions to herself, not even daring to mention it to Hermione.

The day before they left, however, Alex's parents insisted on talking to her. It was expected though.
"Headmaster Dumbledore told us a few things." Her father started after thoroughly warding the room.

"I figured." She sighed.

"It's true? You were taken?" Her mother asked. "He took you?"

"I went willingly." She repeated the same line she'd been using since her return.

"Alex."

"I did. I chose not to make a scene. I chose to leave behind my wand and go with Mr Griffiths."

"Oh, darling." Molly reached out comfortingly towards Alex but she jumped away and stood in the corner of the room.

"No matter what anyone says, I left. That's what matters. And it's all my fault."

"None of it was your fault. You were protecting your brother." She shook her head.

"Then the joke's on me, because he's not my brother. Is he? I'm not his sister."

"That's not true."

"I'm not. I'm not the same girl who left. Because she was brave and strong. She was willing to sacrifice everything for him. I don't think I could do that."

"You don't have to do that." Arthur said. "It's not your burden to carry. It is up to me and your mother to keep you safe and we failed once. We won't fail again."

"You didn't fail."

"Yes, we did."

"No, you didn't. I did. Because I lost hope and I gave up and I believed him when he said you were dead." Alex stared at her mother for the last part and rushed out of the room. Molly and Arthur looked at each other, horrified.

Alex managed to avoid being alone with either of her parents for the rest of the holiday. They left for Egypt two days later.
"Alex, Harry says it's brilliant being at home with the Dursley's. I don't think he knows what brilliant means, because I'm pretty sure that they still mess with him a little. He says it's a lot better than before and he's optimistic about getting his letter signed for the Hogsmeade trip." Ron nattered on, a smile on his face. "I think it was really cool of you to do what you did, especially since you didn't have to. They don't work him like a house elf anymore."

"I owe him. You guys saved Ginny, and that was really brave of you guys."

"I didn't really do much."

"You had his back, Ron. You watched over Lockheart so that he couldn't go after Harry, and you cleared away some space so that Harry and Ginny could get back through. They would have been trapped if not for you." Ron blushed. "Seriously, and no one else at the school can speak parseltongue, so if you didn't clear away all the rocks from the cave in, Harry and Ginny could've been stuck in there forever."

"How do you know so much?"

"Oh, please. Hermione might be your friend, but she's mine first. Unless it's absolutely top secret, it's a safe bet that she'll tell me things."