"Wow... she's beautiful..." Alexandre said with a gasp, staring ahead at the majestic Hippogriff which was resting on the ground, beneath the tall trees of the forest.

"Now how did yeh know it's a she, eh?" Hagrid chuckled, impressed and amazed at her once again.

"Well, the color of their feathers vary from male to female," said Alexandra, her gaze still fixed on the sleeping Hippogriff. "I've read all about them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt Scamander has always been like a hero to me, the way he spoke of these creatures."

At the sound of their speaking, the Hippogriff slowly opened its eyes and woke up, lazily getting up and stretching out her wings by fluttering them twice.

"May I?" Alexandra asked Hagrid for permission and he nodded brightly, trusting her with the creatures.

So with that, Alexandra took a deep breath and turned to face the Hippogriff. And then, without breaking eye-contact with it, she slowly bowed down deeply.

Moments later, the glorious Hippogriff bowed down to her as well, making her smile and cause Hagrid to laugh in delight.

Afterwards, knowing that the Hippogriff had granted her permission by that gesture, Alexandra took slow step toward her and when she finally reached her, Alexandra ran a up her beak, caressing it.

At her calming touch, the Hippogriff closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation and stuttering, making Alexandra giggle.

"Hagrid, how did you manage to find this beautiful creature?" Alexandra mused, still looking at her in astonishment. "Hippogriffs are said to be very proud."

"Well, this one came to me, actually," said Hagrid. "She's pregnant, yeh see."

Alexandra's eyes widened at those words, her heart leaping with joy as she took a step back, observing the Hippogriff.

"How many months until she's due?" she asked in excitement.

"Seven, I guess," Hagrid replied. "Can't be too sure, though."

Alexandra smiled, going forward to caress the Hippogriff's feathers again. "So what's her name?"

"Haven't got one yet," said Hagrid, smiling. "I thought maybe you could name her."

"Really!?" Alexandra exclaimed, glancing back at Hagrid in glee.

"Of course!" He chuckled. "I mean, yeh've already named half the creatures in this forest. Might as well name this one too."

"Hmm... let me see..." Alexandra started thoughtfully before saying happily, "Ooh, I got it! How about Witherwings?"

"Yeah, it's got a nice ring to it," Hagrid agreed cheerfully.

"How would you like that name?" Alexandra asked the Hippogriff and in return, the Hippogriff nudged Alexandra with her beak, making her laugh. "I think she likes it."

***

From their first week at Hogwarts, the fifth year students could already tell that this was going to be an extremely hard year, with their O.W.Ls approaching them.

The teachers had all given them speeches about the seriousness of their upcoming examinations and had already loaded them with homework that kept them occupied all day long, barely leaving any free time for them.

Alexandra didn't mind spending her spare hours at the library with Mike who studied lazily, although she couldn't get herself to look at her school books for too long.

Because each time, her gaze wondered away out of the window, staring dreamily ahead. Or else, she would come across a fascinating new book about magical creatures and would forget all about her lessons and essays again.

Although not once was she left behind on her homework, seeing as Mike always let her copy his, which came at the very terrible cost of him complaining for hours on end.

"You know, sometimes you should take one for the team too," said Mike. "I've already got Quidditch practice twice a week. Although after the first match between Slytherin and Gryffindor I'll talk to Flitwick to book the pitch for us three times a week. Let's see if we can beat the Queen of Gryffindor this year," he said with a playful grin.

But Alexandra was only half-listening. Her thoughts soon wondered off at the mention of the Slytherin Quidditch team, remembering that Regulus Black played Seeker for their team.

She felt guilty for ending things on bad terms with him. Alexandra had tried so hard to get him to forgive her after the Potion blowing incident, only to ruin things between them again.

     She blamed herself for bringing up Sirius in front of him, even though she had no idea what was going on between the two brothers at the time.

"Oi, Alex! You listening to me?" Mike said loudly, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Alexandra shook her head, trying to regain herself. "What did you say?"

Mike smirked at his friend, now used to her habit of dozing off every once in a while. "I asked if you wanted to come watch us practice today in the Quidditch pitch. It's in an hour."

"I don't know, Mike..." she sighed. "But I guess it's a good weather for reading a book on the stands..."

"That's the spirit!" Mike boomed happily, getting to his feet and packing his stuff. "I'll better go and change. See you in an hour." With than, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek and winked at her one last time before leaving the library.