CHAPTER SIX: THREE HEADS
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A FEW WEEKS passed into the school year. This was the most peace Alex had ever been at in her entire life. She didn't have to worry about the burden of Lucius, the constant yelling or belittling she received from him.

But Draco... she still didn't understand why he was acting the way he was. Why couldn't they be friends? Sure, they couldn't let anyone know they were cousins, but why was that stopping him from even showing her an ounce of acknowledgment.

She tried to shake the thought, she had other friends now, like Tianna. But she still missed Draco.

She sat in the library, working on some homework, as a familiar redhead approached her. "Hey Alex," he said.

She smiled slightly as he sat across from her. "Hey," she greeted quietly.

"What are you working on?"

"Transfiguration," she told him, glancing down at her homework.

He revealed his transfiguration book, placing it on the table. "Bloody hell, finally," he said, she gave him a confused expression. "Can you please help me?"

"Why can't Hermione?" she asked, she didn't mean to be rude, even if it sounded like that. "I mean. She's in your house, just thought it'd be easier."

He shrugged. "She's annoying," he said.

She bit her lip, but then nodded. She'd only spoken to Hermione a few times since the train ride. "Well, I'm not sure- I'm not very smart."

He looked shocked by that comment. "Professor McGonagall seems to think different," he pointed out. "Please Alex, I promise i'll make it up to you."

She finally nodded, agreeing. This was the first interaction the two had really had outside of the classes they shared.

-

After the two finished homework, Ron looked up at her. "Thank you," he said, for about the hundredth time.

She nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

After they put their books away, Alex and Ron ran into Harry and Hermione, who were coming from the Great Hall.

"Hello," Alex said quietly, as they approached the two.

Harry smiled, "What have you two been up too?" He asked.

Ron shrugged. "She helped me with transfiguration homework."

Hermione looked shocked, Alex spotted it almost instantly as the expression was drawn onto her face. Maybe she wanted to help Ron, but she doubted it. The two never looked like they got along.

"Where are you guys going?" Alex finally asked.

"Common room," Harry added, pointing in the directions of the staircase. That's when they started walking towards their common rooms in a group.

"Where is the Hufflepuff Common Room?" Ron asked curiously.

"By the kitchens," she explained. "It's in the same direction as the Gryffindor Common Room, I think."

Hermione nodded, like in a way she was agreeing to what Alex said.

Alex glanced around at the hundreds of staircase. She was sheltered almost her entire life, she felt like she never learned much about the castle. Like how the stairs moved or how the Great Hall ceiling looked like the night sky. Most students knew these things going into Hogwarts, at least the ones raised in magical families like Alex's.

As the four walked up a flight of stairs, they started to move. "What's happening?" Ron asked.

Hermione seemed annoyed, like the answer was obvious. She wasn't entirely wrong, they had talked about it the first night. "The staircases move, remember?"

Once the stairs reconnected, Harry glanced around for a moment before going up the stairs again. "Let's go this way."

"Before the staircases move again," Ron mumbled under his breath, the other three followed Harry. Harry pushed open a unfamiliar door. They arrived inside and almost immediately Alex felt the eerie environment the room gave off. Ron took a shaky breath as they slowly walked around. "Does anybody else feel like we shouldn't be here?"

Hermione shook her head. "We're not supposed to," she pointed out. "This is the third floor, it's forbidden."

"Maybe we should go." Alex suggested. The four turned around to leave and Filch's cat appeared out of no where.

"Run!" Harry said quickly as they all rushed off in the opposite direction. After awhile a door appeared in the distance. "Quick, let's hide in that door."

When Harry approached it he tried to open it but nothing happened. "It's locked!"

"That's it!" Ron shouted. "We're done for." Alex looked behind them, but nobody was there, not even the cat.

Hermione shoved Harry away from the door. "Oh move over!" she said. She took her wand out. "Alohamora."

The lock on the door unlocked itself. "Brilliant," was all Alex told her and she received a smile from the brunette. The four walked into the room, shutting the door behind them.

They glanced around the room, it was small, dark, Alex could barely see anything. Hermione and Ron argued a bit about the door being locked, before Harry finally spoke up. "And for a good reason."

He was staring forward, Alex turned her head and there was a three headed dog, sound asleep, but they started to wake up due to the noise.

All four children let out unison screams of fear, as the dogs let out loud growls. Alex quickly turned around and shoved the door open, the other four quickly following her out, quickly slamming the door shut behind them as they fought against the force of the dog.

As they ran off, Ron panted. "What do they think their doing!" He snapped. "Keeping a thing like that!"

"You don't use your eyes do you?" Hermione asked. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

Alex thought about it, Hermione was right. It was standing on something, but she couldn't remember one. "I wasn't looking at its feet!" he exclaimed. "I was a bit preoccupied on its head. Incase you didn't notice it had three!"

"What was it standing on?" Alex asked curiously.

"A trapdoor," She responded. "Which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something."

"Guarding something?" She questioned.

They stopped in front of what Alex could assume to be the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione nodded, "That's right." She said. "Now if you three don't mind, I'm going to bed. Before one of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse expelled."

Hermione turned around and entered the Gryffindor Common Room, as Alex through her hands up in defense. She got pulled into this.

Ron groaned in slight annoyance. "She needs to sort out her priorities."

Harry nodded slightly in agreement and the two boys turned to Alex. She shrugged, "I'm not sure what the dog was guarding in that trapdoor, but Hermione was right," she said. "I should probably get to bed as well, I'll see you guys tomorrow.

Harry nodded and both boys spoke up. "Goodnight." They said in unison, glancing at each other as Alex walked back in the direction of the Hufflepuff Common Room.

-

Once she arrived at the common room, Cedric Diggory, was sitting on the couch, a book in his hand. He looked up, hearing Alex enter.

"Hey." She said.

"Hi." He said in return, glancing at her. "Out past curfew already."

She shrugged, before nodding. "Yeah, I lost track of time," she lied. "I was helping a friend with Transfiguration homework."

He shook his head. "Oh, no I don't care," he said nonchalantly. "Just don't let the professors- or prefects. That'll get you a detention with Filch."

She nodded. "Thanks?" She said hesitantly. "Anyways, goodnight."

He nodded, "Night."

She walked up the stairs into the girls dormitory where she joined the fellow first year girls from her house. They were all still awake, sitting on their beds chatting which one another. Tianna smiled when she saw Alex. "Hey Allie." She greeted.

Alex returned the smile as she sat on her bed, which was beside Tianna's. "Hello."

"Where have you been?"

She bit her lip, she wondered if she should tell Tianna about the three headed dog, about how it was hiding something. She was smart, maybe Tianna had an idea of what it could be. She was curious, Alex wanted to know what was under that trap door. But then again, did the others want her to know.

However, it was only one person.

"Can I tell you something?" She asked.

Tianna nodded, Alex glanced at the other Hufflepuff girls who seemed distracted. She looked back at Tianna. "I was helping Ron with homework in the library."

She looked like she had something to say, so Alex stopped. "Oh, no. Continue." She said. "Assuming it's not the time for jokes."

She shrugged, but continued anyways. "Well, we ran into Harry and Hermione, we ended up getting stuck on the third floor."

She tilted her head for a moment. "Wait," she started to say. "Isn't the third floor forbidden?"

She nodded in return to her question. "Yeah. So Filch's cat was there so we ran off and found this other door," she explained. "We went inside and their was this huge, three-headed dog."

"Three-headed?"

She nodded again. "That's not the crazy part, it was a trapdoor."

"So?"

She sighed, thinking for a moment. Could the door be nothing? It didn't make sense to her if it was nothing. "Hermione thinks it's protecting, or hiding something."

"Did you guys check?"

"Obviously not, Tianna," Alex told her. "Their was a three-headed dog in there."

Tianna bit her lip before nodding. "Yeah, yeah makes sense." She said. "Why are you telling me about this?"

"I was hoping you'd know something."

"Why would I?"

Alex shrugged, slightly frazzled over her thoughts. "I mean, you're smart and you read a lot. You seem to know a lot about the castle," she said. "I was- sheltered most of my life, from a lot of the magical aspects in my life."

She nodded slowly. "Hermione reads a lot too, does she know?"

She shook her head. "No- I don't think so," she said. "She didn't say anything, she was the one who pointed the trap door out in the first place."

"Well, sorry Allie," she said quietly. "I don't know anything either."

She nodded slowly "Okay, maybe it isn't as big of a deal that I'm... and Hermione are making it seem." Maybe it wasn't hiding anything, but Alex had a curious mind and she knew she wanted to know.

authors note

another chapter! guts got released yesterday and i'm obsessed with every song. especially get him back and the grudge. anyways i hope you enjoyed this chapter :)