Alex didn't know how long she had been sitting there against the wall when footsteps caught her attention.  She looked up and spotted Cedric walking in her direction with his friend, Malcolm. They were laughing about something when the two boys noticed her up ahead. 

"Alex!" Cedric called with a smile but it quickly vanished when he saw her crying.  "What happened?" He rushed over, Malcolm trailing back since he didn't know Alex as well.

She could only shake her head and cover her face. Cedric motioned for Malcolm to head on without him as he sat there with Alex. He slowly put his arm around her shoulders, which caused her to just cling to the front of his robes, quiet sobs leaving her mouth.

"Hey, it's okay," he told her, trying to shush her softly.

All she could do was keep shaking her head.  "He's coming for me, Ced," she cried.  "He's coming for me and I don't what to do."

Cedric's brow furrowed at her words.  "What are you talking about?" He asked.  "Who's after you?"

Immediately, her stomach dropped as to what she just confessed, and she pulled away from him.  "I shouldn't have said that," she quickly said, scrambling to stand up and walk away. "I'm sorry."

She went to turn and run before Cedric grabbed her arm, gently pulling her to sit at one of the window seats close by.  Her breathing became sharp as she realized she wouldn't be able to avoid this conversation.

"Alex, are you in danger?" He asked.

Looking up at his eyes, she could see the genuine concern he had and nodded meekly.  "And I don't even know why," she whispered with frustration.  "I don't know why he's after me but he is."

The look of realization seemed to cross Cedric's face at her words.  "Sirius Black?" He whispered.

Alex let out a strangled sound and nodded again.  Her head dropped in her hands as she felt her chest tightening, making it hard to breathe.  Her sobs grew louder before she began hyperventilating, which worried Cedric.

Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, trying to calm her down. "Alex, just breathe with me, okay?" He whispered. "In through your nose and out through your mouth very slowly."

Cedric's words managed to make their way for her to hear it clearly and she slowly breathed along with him as the older boy held her there. She closed her eyes before her breathing was normal and she pulled away slightly, looking at him.

"I'm sorry you manage to always see me when I'm distraught," she told him as she wiped away the tears.

He smiled softly and shrugged. "I must be a good shoulder to cry on," he joked, which caused Alex to smile.

"Must be," she told him softly.

They fell silent for a minute before Cedric looked at her. "So he's after you," he began slowly. "Why?"

Alex shook her head. "I don't know," she responded before seeing the uncertain look on his face. "Really, I don't."

He gave her a sad smile.  "I'm here to talk about it if you need someone," he told her.

"Thank you," she responded, barely audible before checking her watch and gasping loudly.  "Oh, I'm gonna be late for quidditch practice and it's the last one we have before the match!  Wood's gonna kill me!" She quickly began running down the corridor.

"I'll walk you to the pitch!" He told her, following right behind.

She gave him a suspicious look before he laughed.  "I'll walk you down and head straight back to the castle, I swear!"

Not wanting to waste any more time, they both made a run for the quidditch pitch.  The weather had been terrible in the days leading up to the first match, Alex was nervous about what it would be like the actual day of the match. She could see several teammates heading for the locker rooms to go change into their practice uniforms.

"Alex, where have you been?" Wood called to her over the sound of the wind.  Then he saw Cedric with her.  "What do you think you're doing here?!"

"Easy, Wood!" Alex told him, standing between the two boys.  "He was just walking me down, no need to fear."

"He's not sticking around?" Wood questioned, his gaze hardening.

"No, I've got to go meet with my own team," Cedric told him before looking at Alex. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"See ya!" She told him before rushing into the locker room.

Angelina and Alicia were in there, nearly ready as Alex stripped out of her school uniform and threw on her practice clothes. She fixed the ponytail her hair was in before rushing out onto the pitch with her broom where the team was beginning practice.

Madam Hooch sat in the stands, supervising the practices, or rather, keeping an eye on Harry and Alex. Harry had told her about the conversation she had with Professor McGonagall a few days prior about making sure an adult was around.

"Where were you that made you almost late?" Fred asked with a smirk as he flew right by her.

"I was with Cedric," she told him casually like it was no big deal.

However, she didn't see Fred's smirk drop upon hearing that little tidbit of information. His stomach tightened as he realized he had to start making a move or Cedric was going to have Alex wrapped around his finger. That was the last thing Fred wanted. But how was he supposed to approach it?

They ran through drills, fake passes, trick shots, and so many other things. By the time practice was over, Alex was shivering because of the wind and it had begun raining in the middle of practice.

"Merlin, it's freezing!" She grumbled as the team made their way back up to the castle.

"Oh Alex dear," Fred spoke as he came up beside her. "If you wanted me to snuggle up to you, you could've just said so."

Before she could retort back, he put his arm around her and she immediately warmed up. Her cheeks flushed as they continued walking but Fred continued his conversation with his brother as they made it into the Entrance Hall.  However, despite the obvious temperature change, Fred didn't remove his arm from Alex's shoulder, if anything, he pulled her closer and she felt herself grow even redder in the face.

Talk about mixed signals.

What Fred was saying and what he was doing were two completely different things. Which one was she supposed to look to when it came to his feelings toward her?

After making it back to the common room, the team separated to go and have warm showers before dinner.  However, as soon as they all were back in the common room, Wood called them over to where he was sitting by the fire.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" He told everyone as soon as they made it over. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"Why?" Everyone chorused at the same time.

"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured," Wood told them, his teeth grinding. "But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances..."

"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!" Harry gritted out. "He's faking it!"

"I know that, but we can't prove it," Wood continued.

"Oh, you need proof?" Alex asked, beginning to stand. "I'll go find that git and hex him until he admits he's not injured." She began to make her way to the portrait entrance.

"Fred, grab her!" Wood ordered quickly.

Without hesitating, Fred ran over and grabbed Alex by the waist, lifting her up as she thrashed in his arms for a few seconds. "Let me go, Weasley!" She cried. "I'd love to give that git a piece of my mind!"

"No, we don't need you having detention the day of the match!" Wood ordered, causing Alex to slump in Fred's arms.

"Fine," she grumbled as Fred set her down.

"But we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their styles quite different," Wood told the team. "They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory-"

Upon hearing his name, Alex felt herself blush as Angelina and Alicia giggled before looking at her knowingly. They had seen her with the older Hufflepuff in the corridors and would continually ask about it when they got the chance.

"What?" Wood asked.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" Angelina spoke. "Wouldn't you say, Alex?"

The younger girl didn't respond and just hid her face in her hands because of the blush forming. Fred couldn't help but roll his eyes as he watched the girls giggling.

"Strong and silent," Alicia added.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," Fred spoke impatiently through gritted teeth.

"Well I've had quite a few conversations with him where more than two words were spoken, Weasley," Alex told him with a bitterness behind her tone.  "Or did you forget?"

"I don't know why you're worried, Oliver," Fred continued, trying to ignore Alex's hostile tone towards him. "Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"

Alex sent Fred a somewhat questioning and disgusted expression. He never spoke this way about the other teams before, other than Slytherin of course. What had suddenly changed to make him talk like this about the Hufflepuff team?

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood exclaimed. "Diggory's put a very strong side together. If he's managed to get any information from Alex-"

"Which he hasn't!" She added in the middle of his rant.

"He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" Fred told him, not expecting the outburst. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."

After that, the team was dismissed to head to dinner. As Alex walked down the corridor, just behind most of the team, Fred walked right up beside her and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"What?"

"No need to sound so hostile," he teased. "Worried about beating Diggory that he won't talk to you anymore?"

Alex stopped in her step and looked at Fred. "Do you really think that's all I care about when it comes to him? Quidditch?"

Fred only shrugged.

"You are so infuriating, Fred!" She exclaimed. "What's gotten into you? You used to never care about who I hung out with but ever since I've become friends with Cedric, you seem to have it out for him, why? What has changed?!"

All Fred could do was remain silent after Alex's outburst at him. She stood there for a second, waiting for him to say something, but when he didn't, she walked back down the corridor, shaking her head in frustration.

"Stop it with the mixed signals, Weasley!" She called over her shoulder. "I'm sick of it!"

Fred watched her go, kicking himself before softly mumbling to himself, "I've changed." Though she couldn't hear it as she stomped off down the corridor, Fred softly admitted to himself, "I care too much about you now."

Alex was just about to enter the Great Hall when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her by a pillar just outside of it. She gasped before seeing that it was Cedric and they both laughed.

"Sorry, but I just heard the news and wanted to talk to you," he told her. "How are you feeling about this change?"

"Truthfully?" She asked to which he nodded. "Annoyed. Malfoy's just faking it because of the weather but went can't prove it without getting detention and that's what's so bothersome. We've been training to go up against Slytherin, but now we have to change our tactics to go up against your team."

"I know," he agreed. "But we haven't even had as much practice as your team, so you have a better chance than we do."

"You're just saying that," she told him with a playful nudge.

"No, I'm serious," he told her with a smile. "I don't doubt you guys will be giving us a run for our galleons." He then looked down at the jumper she wore and smiled.  "I see you still have my jumper from the Hogsmeade trip."

She looked down to see that she was wearing his yellow Hufflepuff jumper, a blush forming on her face.  "I can give it back if you want," she told him.

"No," he responded.  "You keep it for now, it looks better on you anyway."

Alex laughed as she shook her head. "Well, regarding the match, may the best man win," she told him, extending her hand.

He took it, giving a firm shake before gently pulling her closer to him. "Agreed," he whispered before gently kissing her cheek.

Her eyes widened at the gesture before she stepped away slowly as she bid him goodbye and walked into the Great Hall with her face as red as a Weasley's hair. Fred had been walking down the corridor when he saw what Cedric did and felt his stomach drop.

He felt like he was too late now.

☽

As the days grew closer to the match, Alex and Cedric hadn't been spending as much time after classes together because Cedric had been holding emergency team practice to be prepared for the match against Gryffindor.

However, he went out of his way to, at least, walk Alex to and from her classes. She often found herself blushing when she saw him waiting outside of classrooms for her.

"This isn't just a way for you to try and throw me off for the game, is it?" She teased as he walked her to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Cedric laughed at that before shaking his head. "No, I promise that has nothing to do with me wanting to walk you," he told her. "I really do enjoy spending time with you."

Alex smiled as she felt a blush creeping on her face. "I like spending time with you too, Ced."

Eventually, they made it outside of Defense Against the Dark Arts and bid each other goodbye. Cedric made sure to let her know he wouldn't be able to hang out after classes as he was having another team practice. After another goodbye, Alex walked in to find Severus there, which confused her.

She set her stuff beside Hermione before approaching her Godfather.  "Where's Professor Lupin?" She asked.

Severus looked at her.  "He's ill, now sit down," he told her strictly, causing her to raise her hands up in defense and walk back over to where Hermione was sitting.  They both sent confused looks to each other before settling into the lesson.

About ten minutes in, the door to the classroom opened and Harry ran in, thinking Professor Lupin was teaching but he was very wrong.  Alex couldn't help but cringe as Severus took several points away from Gryffindor before sending Harry to sit down next to Ron.

Severus went on to explain how they would be learning about werewolves, which confused the entire class because they weren't supposed to start discussing those for quite a few weeks. Hermione even tried to tell him that but as usual, Severus paid no mind, which annoyed Alex to no end.

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" He asked the whole class.  The only person to raise their hand was Hermione.  "Anyone?" He questioned again, completely ignoring Hermione, which irked Alex even more. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between-"

Parvati Patil quickly cut in, "We told you, we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still in-"

"Silence!" Severus growled, causing Alex's blood to boil as she glared at him.  He began to insult Professor Lupin's teaching methods, which annoyed the whole class but Hermione decided to prove him wrong.

"Please, sir," she said. "The werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways.  The snout of the werewolf-"

"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger," Severus told her, his tone dripping with ice. "Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."

Hermione's face immediately turned red and looked at the floor with tears welling in her eyes.  Alex quickly put her arm around Hermione to comfort her and glared at Severus again along with the entire class.

Ron spoke out once he saw how upset Hermione was, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer!  Why ask if you don't want to be told?"

Severus glared at Ron as he walked towards him.  "Detention, Weasley," he told him, causing Alex to scoff quietly to herself over his behavior. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach again, you will be very sorry indeed."

For the rest of the class period, they only took notes on werewolves from the textbook as he criticized the work they had been doing for Professor Lupin.  The end of class came, along with a sigh of relief but not before Severus assigned them an essay on how to identify and kill a werewolf, which made everyone even angrier.

Alex followed the class out grumbling angrily as she bid her friends goodbye before heading to the library.  She made it, a fire burning in her chest by the time she got there.  How could Severus be so cruel to all the Gryffindors?  Alex understood that he had a bad history that she didn't know about with members of the house completely but that was no excuse to take it out on the children who weren't even alive when it happened.

She made her way to the back of the library and pulled out her homework, mumbling angrily about Severus. Fred had made his way in at the same time, waiting for George to meet up with him so they could do some homework.  As he went to get a seat, he spotted Alex practically stomping to the back of the library with Madam Pince sending a disapproving look her way.

Curiosity got the best of him and he followed behind the angsty Gryffindor.  He found her sitting at a table with her homework, mumbling incoherently as she angrily scribbled something down on some parchment.  She stressfully tugged at her black hair which was no longer in its usual braid or ponytail.  Fred couldn't help but smile at how pretty she looked with her hair down.

Glancing around and waiting for a few seconds, when Cedric didn't appear, Fred walked over to her table. "Are you trying to curse your homework for when you hand it back to your professor?" Fred questioned to break the silence.

Alex looked up from her writing to see him making his way to sit across from her.  Though she knew she'd been annoyed with him for a few days, his smile was a welcomed one to her after their lesson. "Because I know a couple of good hexes that you could use, which professor are we cursing?" He asked, propping his arms on the table and resting his chin in the palms of his hands.

Alex sighed.  "No professors are getting cursed.  It's just Professor Snape," she grumbled. "He was the professor for our Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson today and he was so rude to the students and they didn't even do anything wrong.  He even gave Ron detention for pointing out how he had rudely treated Hermione."

Fred sighed.  "Ahhh good ole' Snape.  Wonder what's got his wand in a knot."

Alex kept her mouth shut as she knew very little as to why he was the way he was but like before, she only had somewhat of an idea.  But in her mind, that still didn't give him the right to treat the students horribly, they hadn't done anything wrong, nor were they directly involved with past affairs.

"No idea," she simply shrugged.

Fred shrugged as well before pulling out his own homework and they both began writing silently.  A few minutes later, Fred looked up to see her still concentrating on her work but he had to ask or he would regret it.

"So, what's really going on between you and Diggory?" He asked. "Like honestly, are you together or what?"

She looked up from her work. "Why do you care if we're together?" She responded, her eyebrow quirked in curiosity.

Fred could only shrug. "Just making sure you aren't swapping quidditch secrets in between snogging sessions, that's all."

Alex laughed before chucking her quill at Fred, who laughed as well. "I haven't even kissed him, Frederick," she scolded. "But no, we aren't together, we're just friends."

He nodded in acknowledgment, feeling somewhat relieved. Still, in the back of his mind, he knew he had his work cut out for him if someone like Cedric was also interested in Alex.

"So where is he?" He asked. "Don't you usually hang out after class?"

"Quidditch practice," she responded. "He's pretty worried about playing against us."

"Yeah, he should be," Fred stated confidently, puffing out his chest.

Alex snorted as she shook her head. "You are something else, Weasley."

"Just for you, Alex dear," he told her with a wink, which caused her to blush before quickly scribbling notes onto her parchment.

A few minutes later, Alex groaned and set her quill down. "I don't even want to do homework," she mumbled.

Fred looked up, a smirk on his face. "C'mon then," he told her. "I have an idea."

After dropping their things off in the common room and Fred grabbing something from his dorm, he took off running holding Alex's hand towards their intended destination. Alex couldn't help but laugh until she realized where they were going.

"The Slytherin Common Room?" She asked.

"Yeah, c'mon!" He told her, pulling in their direction.  "I know they've been teasing you for when you got sick on Halloween, this is revenge."

Alex didn't say anything because he was right.  Ever since Halloween, anytime Alex saw either Malfoy or any of his cronies, they pretended to throw up, which annoyed her.  They obviously would never understand that it was because of anxiety that she had gotten that sick.  But how could you explain that to students who wouldn't pull their heads out of their own arses?

Crouching down behind a pillar not too far from the entrance, Fred pulled out something from his pocket.  Alex looked over his shoulder to see it was a dungbomb and shook her head with an amused smile on her face.

"If we get caught and have detention for the match, Wood is going to kill you, along with me," she whispered.

"Don't worry," Fred told her, "I have a plan. You're going to throw it."

"Why me?" She questioned.

"Because your aim as a Chaser is impeccable!" He told her.

The sound of voices down the corridor caught their attention and they quickly hid as they watched a group of Slytherins heading for the entrance. What made it even better was the fact that the group was made up of Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

This really was the best revenge for the time being.

As they walked past, Fred and Alex peeked their heads out to watch as the Slytherin Common Room door opened. Fred handed Alex the Dungbomb and she gladly took it after seeing who the intended targets were. Taking a deep breath, she chucked as hard as she could just before the door closed.

A few seconds later, there was screaming from inside the common room, causing Fred to grab her hand and the both of them to take off running back down the corridor. Neither bothered to look back or see if they were being followed.

Pretty soon, they came up to the One-Eyed Witch statue and Fred pulled his wand out, muttering, "Dissendium!"

The hump immediately opened and Fred quickly squeezed in as voices began shouting down the corridor, not far behind them. Alex glanced back before feeling Fred grab her hand and drag her in. The hump closed immediately after she was in and darkness surrounding them.

"Lumos," Fred spoke and the tip of his wand lit up, Alex followed suit with her own wand.

A few seconds later, they heard shouting outside of where they had just been as they both caught their breath from the sudden run they had to take. Then Alex began laughing, causing Fred to laugh as well. She slumped against the wall and slid down, Fred following suit next to her.

"You have really good aim," he told her breathlessly.

She shrugged. "Well, I hope so, being a Chaser, ya know."

Fred laughed breathlessly at that before Alex looked around, finding them in some sort of secret passageway.  "Do I even want to know how you found out about this place?"

"I have my sources, Alex dear," he told her with a wink.

"Oh, you do, do you?"

He nodded.

Shaking her head with a laugh, she quickly stood and listened just outside the entrance to see if she could hear any voices before hearing Fred standing up beside her.

"What's your rush?" He asked. "They won't find us here, I promise."

"I know that," she began, "I just-"

What she failed to realize was how close Fred was standing to her now. She could feel his body heat radiating and felt her breath catch in her throat. And she didn't have anywhere to go because he had her caged between the wall and himself.

"Cat got your tongue?" He questioned, a smirk making its way onto his lips.

She couldn't even answer because the only thing she was focusing on was the way his scent seemed to engulf her senses. The cologne he always seemed to be wearing. Swallowing nervously, she looked up at his brown eyes which were dimly lit by their wands.

Fred's hand slowly reached up, pushing a strand of her black hair behind her ear before gently caressing her cheek.  His thumb ran over it as he admired just how blue her eyes were in the dimly lit passageway. It seemed he was having an internal battle with himself, but one side won over the other as he slowly began to lean in.

And Alex didn't stop him.

However, the sound of the entrance opening startled them both to pull apart from each other. Looking over to the disturbance, George climbed in, a smile on his face as he saw the pair.

"Knew I'd find you here," he told them as he put a piece of parchment back in his robes. "The map said you were here."

"The map?" Alex questioned in confusion.  "What map?"

"The coast is clear, by the way," George told them, ignoring Alex's question.  "I could hear the Slytherins yelling about the dungbomb you guys set off."

"Thanks, George," Fred spoke, his tone annoyed. "Always the best timing with you."

Alex awkwardly cleared her throat before smiling at both boys and climbing out of the passageway.  George looked at his twin, who watched Alex rush off with a small hopeful smile on his face.

"What happened before I came in?"

Fred looked at his twin.  "All you need to know is that I'm not too late, Georgie boy."

☽

In honor of me getting my ticket to get a photo with James and Oliver Phelps, here's another chapter for you guys!!  I'm so excited!!!!  I don't even know how these photo ops work, can anyone offer insight please??????

Don't forget to vote and comment!

Love you guys!

-Squid☽