They were trapped. The two Death Eaters were getting closer and closer to them from the end of the dark alleyway and they had no wand with them to fight back. They knew that there was no point in running, because the Death Eaters could easily Apparate before them no matter where they went.

So knowing that staying put was the only option for now, they stood frozen on their spot, their heartbeats quickening from fear as the two Death Eaters neared them in a slow and dangerous pace.

"Well, well..." one of them sneered. "What would two little Hogwarts students be doing at this hour all alone in the alley?"

"L-look, whatever it is that you want, I'm sure we can come t-to an agreement," Mike said cautiously, mustering all the courage that he had left within him.

But it only seemed to have angered the Death Eater even more, for the man quickly drew out his wand furiously.

"How dare you talk me, you filthy Mudblood!" he snapped and then with a quick jerk of his wand, a flash of light left its end and hit Mike, knocking him over and hurtling him down.

"NO!" Alexandra screamed, trying to run over to her friend who laid motionlessly on the ground, but the two Death Eaters both raised their wand at her direction warningly.

"Don't move," he growled dangerously.

"Wh-what do you want?" Alexandra whimpered, longing to go toward her friend, to make sure he was still alive.

"Us?" One of them sniggered. "We're just gonna have a little fun."

With that, he raised his wand at her. Alexandra closed her eyes and winced, waiting for the pain to come, but it never did.

Instead, she suddenly heard a loud crash coming from above and when she opened her eyes again in shock, she saw that the Death Eater had been stunned, meanwhile the other was looking at someone standing behind Alexandra in horror.

Alexandra quickly turned on her heels and jerked around to see her savior, but her jaw fell open when she saw her grandfather there, standing tall and proud with his wand raised at the two Death Eaters.

With his cold eyes laid upon them, he said in a calm and silky voice which was more chilling than if he had shouted, "I thought you were warned to leave her alone."

"I — we —" the Death Eater stumbled backwards, stuttering as he tried to come up with something to say.

But Mr. Starling only gave him his cold gaze, snarling, "Leave. Now."

They didn't wait to be told twice. The Death Eater took a hold of the unconscious one and in a blink of an eye they both Disapparated from the alleyway.

Alexandra was shocked to her very core, her heart still pounding in her chest from fear and her mind bursting with questions. But she put all that aside as she ran over Mike and kneeled on the ground, shaking him desperately and calling out his name as she sobbed.

But she moved aside when she felt her grandfather walked toward her. And so with that, he pointed his wand at Mike and gave it an effortless swish. On cue, Mike suddenly shot awake, panting heavily and looking around him in panic.

"He was just Stunned," said Mr. Starling blankly, placing his wand back in his coat before turning to look down at Alexandra. "I asked Edna to pack your trunk for tomorrow. I'll tell her to bring it to you here before you have to leave for King's Cross station."

And then, before Alexandra could get the chance to speak or even process the things that had just happened, Mr. Starling turned on his heels with his hands laced together behind his back, Disapparating out of the alley.

***

That night when Alexandra and Mike went back home, they decided not mention the things that had happened to Mike's parents. They were Muggles and even though they could tell that horrible things were going on around them, they still couldn't understand the depth of danger that they were all stuck in.

Neither of them had quite gotten a grasp over the things that had happened that night, both so shook and still windswept that they couldn't bring themselves to even talk to each other about it.

But what was bothering Alexandra was her grandfather. How did he know where to find her? Why were the Death Eaters so scared of him?

If he really cared for her enough to come and save her in a moment of danger, then why didn't he force her to go back home?

All these questions were driving her mad and kept her awake all night long as she rolled around in her bed. This time, she kept her wand close to her on the nightstand, afraid that a Death Eater would burst into the room if she closed her eyes.

The next morning, Mike and Alexandra were suspiciously quiet according to Mrs. Williams, neither of them speaking during breakfast. But soon their doorbell rang, revealing a trunk at their doorstep, though no one else there. Alexandra assumed that Edna had brought it there for her and had left quickly.

Mike and Alexandra didn't even utter a single until they drove to King's Cross, passed through platform 9 3/4, and finally found an empty compartment to themselves.

But it was when they had arrived at Hogwarts and got off the train when for the first time in the last day, Alexandra finally forgot about all that had happened to her when she spotted Regulus from afar, right before he was about to get on one of the seemingly horseless carriages.

"I'll be back in a minute," Alexandra told Mike and then without waiting for his reply, she started walking toward Regulus, holding her cloak more closely to her body against the winter cold. "Hey!"

Regulus came to a halt and turned around at her familiar voice, a grin forming on his lips when she reached him. "Hey —"

But before he could say anything else, Alexandra suddenly leaped forward and brought him into a hug, catching him off guard.

Regulus took aback at first, but soon he melted into it and hesitantly raised his arms to wrap around her, hugging her back as his smile widened.

"Thank you for the present." Alexandra smiled in his arms as he held her. "It was the best gift I could've ever asked for."

"Of course." Regulus grinned, pulling away from her.

"But where did you get it?" Alexandra mused curiously.

"Got it from Borgin and Burkes," he answered. "They've got all sorts of valuable and original artifacts. You'd be surprised."

"But — it must've costed you a fortune!"

Regulus chuckled, shaking a hand at her reassuringly. "Don't worry about it."

"Thank you." Alexandra gave him a genuine smile, her heart warming from the inside. "It was the nicest thing anyone had ever gotten me."

So not knowing what else she was supposed to say, she just gave him a shy and awkward wave before turning around and walking back to Mike, who gave her a look which she ignored.

Regulus watched Mike and Alexandra get into the carriage and it soon started on, making its way up to Hogwarts, moving on the icy and snow-covered grounds.

But he jumped out of his skin when a voice suddenly said behind him, "Regulus."

Turning around and glancing behind his shoulder, he saw Avery — a sixth year Slytherin boy — standing there, a smirk playing upon his face as if he had just watched and witnessed everything.

"You're not really catching feelings for the Starling girl, are you?" Avery asked.

Regulus's smile faded and he looked away at where Alexandra's carriage had just turned the corner and disappeared from sight, before he shook his head.

"No, of course not," Regulus said coldly, turning to face Avery again. "Everything is going just as planned."