CHAPTER SEVEN: HALLOWEEN
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IT WAS FINALLY HALLOWEEN, by far one of Alex's favorite holidays. She loved the idea of being able to disguise herself and feel normal for once. Hide herself in the dark, where nobody could see her. Nobody could comment on her faults, or tell her how she's supposed to act. She wasn't the daughter of the darkest wizard for one day, it was peaceful for once. However, Hogwarts treated Halloween differently. There weren't any costumes, they had a big feast and got to join in on a few 'Halloween' games the professors chose. It was a letdown to Alex.

The one thing that stuck out to Alex, was they let the houses sit with whoever they wanted. Usually, students had to sit at their own table, with their own housemates. She didn't mind that much, she usually sat with Tianna. But it was nice to get the chance to sit with other people. A lot of the older students broke this rule.

Alex looked over at Tianna with a smile on her face as they entered the great hall. They spotted their friend group sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron across from Neville. The two girls made their way over, stopping at the head of the table, and looking down at them.

"Can we join you?" Alex asked, she still had a small smile on her face.

Ron nodded rather quickly. "Of course!" he said cheerfully. Alex and Tianna each sat on one side of Neville.

Tianna was looking around before she glanced across at Ron and Harry. "Where's Hermione?" She asked. Alex and Tianna knew that Ron didn't like her, but she was usually always around.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno." He said, not seeming to have a care.

Alex glanced over at Tianna, before shrugging as well. Alex as well glanced around the table and Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

"Parvati Patil said that she wouldn't come out of the girls' bathroom," Neville explained. "She said that she's been in there all afternoon crying."

Harry and Ron exchanged a look and Alex sighed. "What did you guys say to her?"

Before either of them could answer, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and Professor Quirell came running in. "Troll! In the dungeon!" He screamed. "Troll in the dungeon."

The Great Hall went silent as Dumbledore stood up. Quirell passed out and some of the students started screaming.

Alex and Tianna quickly got up, trying to make their way over to the rest of their house. "Silence!" Dumbledore announced loudly. Everybody froze in place. "Everyone will please not panic. Now prefects will lead your house back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Alex lost sight of Ron, Harry, and Neville, but Charlotte and Gabriel came into view, gathering all the students together. They all quietly followed the two prefects to the common room, nobody spoke, maybe a few words here and there but it was obvious most of the students were scared.

Once they got into the safety of the common room, some students broke out into conversations. Alex took a seat in the corner of the room with Tianna.

"I wonder what they're gonna do," Tianna said, mostly to herself but it made Alex look over at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked. "They're going to get that troll away from here."

Tianna shrugged. "I wish I could see the troll."

"I think you're insane." She said, shaking her head in disbelief. The brunette smiled as Alex jokingly rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Allie, you have to admit it'd be pretty cool."

She shook her head. "I mean if you have a death wish." She said.

She shrugged, as she leaned back into the yellow cushioned seat. "Whatever you say." She said.

Alex stayed quiet for a few minutes. She felt uncomfortable in the string of silence and tried to come up with a new subject to talk about. "Did you hear Harry made the quidditch team for Gryffindor?" She asked.

Tianna nodded. "Yeah, isn't it rare for first-years to make the team though?"

She shrugged. "I'm unsure." She admitted. "I think so. I wish I could play."

"You're interested in it?"

She nodded. "A bit. I feel like it would be fun."

"What position?"

"I'm not sure." She admitted. "Definitely not seeker. It's too much pressure for me. I probably couldn't be a keeper either."

She shrugged. "I'm not all that interested in it, but if you ever make the team, trust me that I'll be at every game."

She smiled at that. "Thanks, Tianna." She said.

-

There were rumors about Harry and Ron, how they were the ones who defeated the troll. Alex didn't believe it, she didn't believe 2 eleven-year-olds would be able to handle a full-grown troll.

That was until she ran into Ron in the hallway. "Ron!" she exclaimed, backing away from him. "Sorry."

He shook his head, gathering the books he had dropped. "No big deal." He said, smiling at her.

Alex didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask him about the troll. She didn't want him to yell at her, she always got yelled at when she asked Lucius too many questions.

She plucked up the courage in the end, just as Ron was about to walk away. "Hey, Ron?" She questioned, an uneasiness in her voice. "I um... what happened with the troll? There's some things going around school, but I wanna hear it from you."

Ron looked confused for a moment before he nodded. "Oh, that..." He mumbled, looking up at her. "Well, Harry wanted to go get Hermione so I just went with him. The troll was there and we just... yeah."

She nodded slowly, trying to piece together the very blunt story but she shrugged it off. "Are you all okay?" She asked.

He nodded. "Oh yeah, we're all fine. Professor McGonagall even gave us house points... well me and Harry. Hermione lost some."

She seemed even more shocked that McGonagall of all professors rewarded house points, especially for something like that. "That's cool," Alex said, unsure of what else she should stay. He just nodded, as if he was waiting for her to say more. "Well, is Harry excited for his first game?" She asked as she started walking beside him.

He shrugged. "Not sure." He admitted. "I don't really know why he wouldn't be."

She glanced over at him with a short shrug. "I don't know." She mumbled. "Are you interested in quidditch?"

He nodded. "Kinda. My brother Charlie played and both Fred and George do as well." He explained. "I'm surprised Bill didn't play, but I'm not surprised Percy doesn't. He's too happy about his role as prefect to focus on anything else. What about you?"

She nodded as well. "Yeah, I hope I can try out either next year or the year after. I'd like to play it looks fun."

"Too bad you're not a Gryffindor," Ron said, with slight disappointment in his voice, she looked confused and he shook his head quickly. "Not in a bad way, but if you were Harry, you and me could all play quidditch together."

She smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"What house did you want to be in?" He asked. "I wanted Gryffindor, my entire family was in Gryffindor. My parents and all of my siblings."

She shrugged. "It didn't really matter to me." She said. Of course that was a lie, she wanted to Slytherin so she could please Lucius. She already knew he was going to be upset. She also knew if she was in Slytherin she and Draco would be talking.

"At least you aren't a Slytherin!" Ron exclaimed. Alex bit her lip but nodded. She wasn't sure what else to say to that. What was she supposed to say? Especially since it was the house she wanted. Well, she wanted mostly to only please Lucius.

authors note

it's been too long since i updated this. i'm hoping once the new year starts i'll get back into my usual writing habits, but no promises. i really hope you enjoyed this chapter and i hope you like the new formatting i did. i love you all and i wish you a very merry christmas and a happy new year!