Chapter Text
She first notices Maggie Sawyer her first year at Hogwarts.
How can she not when the fierce eleven-year old runs, barreling in front of her, shielding Alex from the crosshairs of third-years who might as well be double her height?
Her house robes wave slightly after her, coming to a rest below the ankle of the girl’s boots, just short of scuffing the pavement. Alex can’t see her face, so she focuses instead on the deep gold that peeks from the back of the girl’s hood, thankful to tear her eyes away from the menacing gaze of the group of her older housemates.
“Leave her alone,” the girl in front of her demands, her high-pitched voice doing nothing to lessen the threat in her tone- a tone that Alex would hate if it were directed at her. The girl stands with her feet apart, hands resting on her hips.
Alex can see the confusion in the opposite party, the three Slytherins in front of them exchange furrowed eyebrows before their expressions morph into similar leers of sick amusement.
The girl leading the offense, Veronica Sinclair, brandishing green and black as a weapon (the same green and black that Alex was trying to desperately use as armor), makes a show of bending to the height of the small Hufflepuff in front of Alex. Her fellow tormentors snicker at the action.
“Come on now, short stack, we’re just having a bit of fun.”
Alex wants to tell the girl in front of her to back off, that she could take care of herself, that she’s more than willing to-- but the words refuse to leave her body. Instead, she grasps at fistfuls of her robe, her hands shaking from anger (anger that she can’t stand up for herself, that she can’t stand up for this girl in front of her) as she averts her gaze and finds fascination in a loose thread of her tie.
The girl seems to puff herself up at the comment, crossing her arms in front of her and tilting her chin up though she said nothing in response. A moment of silence passes, and Alex could almost see how the emotion in Veronica’s eyes shifts before the third-year scoffs, the smirk never leaving her face as she straightens up, her eyes flitting between the Hufflepuff and Alex.
The older Slytherin makes a small noise of intrigue.
Alex wonders what Veronica saw, what the girl in front of her was doing because whatever it was had Veronica turning her back and slowly walking away. Her friends stare after her in shock, their previously threatening stances breaking.
She pauses a few feet away, and with a tilt of her head, her groupies break their shocked expressions (one’s that seemed to be exactly identical to that adorning Alex’s) and turn to follow her. The boy with curly hair and a bruised eye, who had flanked Veronica, glares slightly at the two first-years before stalking off.
The girl in front of her keeps her stance for a moment longer, only relaxing when their tormentors had disappeared around the corner. She turns to face Alex.
Alex finds herself staring at a pair of soft brown eyes and a dimpled smile, and suddenly it was made very clear why Veronica had turned away.
“You okay?” She asks— tone too light and jovial for the situation that had occurred.
Alex blinks in response, still in shock (and really, quite confused) at what had just happened.
The girl’s smile disappears with Alex’s silence, and all Alex wants to do is find the right combination of words to bring it back again.
The girl tilts her head, eyebrows furrowing slightly. Her voice was soft, “They’re gone now, you don’t have to be scared anymore.”
Distracted by her voice and her eyes and her dimples and the damn wind that picks up and wafts over the most amazing scent, Alex mumbles out her response.
“I... I wasn’t scared.”
It wasn’t even a lie… Sort of. After all, it wasn’t herself she was scared for— but Alex doesn't think that’s what the girl is implying.
The girl grins at her words, and Alex has to fist her hands at her sides to stop herself from poking at her dimples.
“Right. Sorry. Just me then,” She shrugs.
Alex takes a shaky breath in. The girl extends her hand.
“I’m Maggie Sawyer.”
Alex takes Maggie’s hand in her own, “Alex Danvers.”
Maggie makes a small noise of delighted surprise.
“You’re the girl that caused the hatstall at the start of the term.”
Maggie shakes her hand before releasing it with a small squeeze.
“What class you have right now, Alex?”
“I, uh, I have h-herbology.”
“Looks like we already have something in common then.”
The halls are beginning to fill with people, the previously slow trickle gone as lunch nears an end.
Maggie nudges Alex forward with her shoulder, “Come on, let’s go.”
“You don’t have to walk me to class,” Alex’s voice takes a significantly harder tone. After all, she's a Slytherin. She doesn't need some Hufflepuff defending her. Or, at least, she shouldn’t. Maggie doesn’t even looked fazed.
“I’m not, Alex. You’re walking me to class,” Maggie reiterates, as if it was obvious.
Alex blinks in surprise, her recently built bravado disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared with the words of the girl in front of her.
“…Sorry?”
“We just faced a bunch of third-years and you didn’t even get scared. Why wouldn’t I want to associate someone like that with myself?” Her tone is half teasing, the other part completely sincere.
Alex stares (gapes) at the brunette, studying her with no foreseeable outlook of an easy conclusion.
“Come on,” Maggie grabs her hand, and suddenly, Alex finds another thing she couldn’t quite tear her gaze away from. “We’ll be late for class.”
/ /
The pair walk into their first Herbology lesson, an introductory welcome from the Professor and a rundown of the curriculum, and Alex leaves with a newfound hatred for flora.
Maggie, on the other hand, who had sat next to Alex just short of bouncing throughout the entire lesson, was radiating excitement.
She rattles off the list of things she can’t possibly wait to learn because, Alex, it’s living things that we can’t even speak to but some of them depend on us to keep them alive and that’s an awesome amount of loyalty to have in one thing that’s not certain- you know, with how people just let their plants die- it’s also kind of bad because you should never just blindly trust something but still, pretty loyal and way cool.
Alex wants to make a teasing comment about stereotypical Hufflepuffs, but she’s too occupied trying to figure out how the girl got all that out in one breath.
(That, and she’s almost certain that this girl she’s just met can’t be described with categories or placed into stereotypes.)
Alex begins to stuff the Hufflepuff’s notes and textbook into the bookbag lying halfway open on the floor next to her when their Professor gives them a warning glance, tapping on her wristwatch. Alex tugs on the sleeve of Maggie’s robe and jerks her head towards the exit.
/ /
She finds out that she and Maggie share four classes- Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, and Flying.
She had found out the second of the four when Maggie had waved her over enthusiastically as soon as she entered the room, patting the seat next to her rapidly as the Slytherin made her way towards her, head ducked to avoid the curious glances of their other classmates.
She had swiped a look at Maggie’s schedule during the period and found out they shared the latter two.
(To which she then pointed out to Maggie, who gave her a high five and a brilliant grin in response.)
/ /
They get closer through lazy Saturdays and frantic study sessions.
Alex has always been the kind of person to er at the thought of company, preferring to spend her downtime alone with a book, and finding studying alone much more effective. Nevertheless, she’s meeting Maggie in the Hufflepuff common room, and fighting the castle in its effort to keep the Slytherin out every other night.
One weekend, they find an alcove in the forest surrounding the Great Lake. It small, but stretches out pretty deep, and Alex’s voice carries when she speaks.
“Looks like we weren’t the first ones here.”
Maggie’s pointing to a carving in the cave wall, faded, but still glaringly prominent. The carving is shaped into a roughly drawn heart, encasing the initials ‘J. P.’ and ‘L. E.’ The bottom point is unfinished, and comes to an off angle, as if someone shoved the guy carving.
(It was Lily Evans, who, years ago, caught on to what James was doing and playfully shoved his shoulder, rolling her eyes and making a comment about ‘cliche teenagers’. The rock had fallen out of James hand, but he beamed at the girl who had gone on a full on rant, the smile never leaving her face.)
Maggie bends down and pops back up with a rock in her hand.
“Do me the honor, Danvers?” She’s got an eyebrow raised, her hand extended, and a playful smile on her lips.
They hike back to the castle in time for dinner, a freshly made carving of their names and the date marking their “discovery” brandished on the cavern wall.
/ /
About half the year passes by when Maggie asks her about that first incident.
“Why were they being mean to you back then?”
Maggie says it without putting her book down, conversationally. Maggie asks the question like the answer won’t change their friendship.
(And maybe it won’t; but Alex fully knows the power that certain words have, how certain words strung together could be more powerful than a hit to the gut, and sometimes, hurt just as much. She tries to believe in Maggie more than that knowledge.)
Alex fiddles with her hands. It’s her silence that catches Maggie’s attention.
She places the book face down on her comforter and sits up.
There’s a stuffed rhino that sits in between Maggie’s pillows. Alex keeps her eyes on it.
“My uh… my dad works for the Ministry. He’s an auror.”
Maggie tilts her head to the side.
“Both his parents were Muggles- they wanted him to be a scientist, and he thought he wanted that too. But then he got his acceptance letter to Durmstrang and they were really excited for him and stuff, but it kinda put everything else on hold. Eventually, he decided to just get a job in the Wizarding World.”
Alex shifts her gaze to meet Maggie’s. Maggie smiles in return.
“But he has all this science stuff in his head and it's really good stuff, you know? He has this dream of combining Muggle science and technology with magic. He says it can help a lot of people. He’s been telling the Ministry for years and it's finally getting somewhere.”
“What's wrong with that?”
Alex shrugs.
“Some people don't like it. They think it’s unnatural.”
“And… what do you think?”
“I think it can be really strong. Like… really good. But when the right people use it though.”
Maggie nods, seeming to be thinking something over. She makes a small murmur before laying back down on her mattress, picking the book up again.
Alex feels the need to ask.
“Is… is that okay?”
Maggie smiles over the textbook.
“It doesn't sound bad to me.”
Alex beams and goes to lay down next to her friend. Maggie presses her shoulder against Alex’s and angles the book so Alex could read from it too.
Alex grabs the rhino from the pillows and places it on her stomach. She points to the picture of the plant on the bottom right of the page.
“What's that one?”
/ /
Alex is terrible at flying but loves the feeling of it just the same.
(This love of said feeling is the only thing keeping her from touching back down to the ground and calling it a day.)
Shifting on her broom, she sits wobbling fifteen feet above the ground, watching as Madam Hooch instructs a Ravenclaw boy, crouched and gesturing in front of him.
She steadies herself, not quite confident enough to fly around, but too excited to mount off.
Across the clearing, Alex can nearly see how much Maggie’s shaking. The Hufflepuff is only a few feet above the ground, her tongue stuck out and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Looking up and catching Alex’s eye, she grins, methodically lifting a hand off the broom to give a wave and a thumbs up.
Alex grins and waves from her position above.
/ /
Maggie always eats breakfast and dinner with Alex, usually nowhere to be found during lunch.
Alex is fine with this. She’s beginning to see Maggie as her only friend here and though it was lonely when she wasn’t around, the time they spend together always seem make her forget about it.
Alex noticed how Maggie steered clear of the milk during breakfast and gravitated towards the fruit salad during desert rather than the piles of cookies.
Alex makes a mental note to ask if she’s allergic.
/ /
Maggie is usually quiet around new people. It seemed that the only time Maggie didn’t hold her tongue was when she thought something was unjust.
Alex liked this about her.
Alex has watched the brave Hufflepuff put her own little body in the middle of disputes. Alex has watched the clever Hufflepuff point out the misspelled herbs and write the correct medicinal purposes in Alex’s own Herbology homework. Alex has watched the ambitious Hufflepuff study all night to get high marks on a test that was half a week away.
Maggie’s glaringly brave, naturally clever, and determinately ambitious-- she’s every other house in one, and even then, she’s fiercely loyal, and humble. Hufflepuff fits her, but Alex can’t help but realize she’s got worlds bundled up in yellow robes and a golden tie.
Alex works to make herself good enough to be around her.
/ /
One of her roommates leaves part way through the school year and transfers to Ilvermorny. The action leaves Alex alone with Siobhan Smythe and Leslie Willis, who’re as thick as thieves and are always equipped with a snide comment.
Alex spends a lot of her time avoiding her room from then on.
/ /
“Alex,” Maggie whispers. Across the dorm, her roommate shushes them. “How do you feel about going for a walk?”
It’s a quarter past midnight and Alex would physically hit her if she didn't like her so much. Alex blinks at her friend, checking if she would disappear if she did.
She didn't.
“How’d you get in here?” Her voice was raspy from sleep.
Maggie waves the question away, rummaging through Alex’s trunk. She tosses Alex a sweater and nudges her shoes towards her.
“Come on,” Maggie insists. “I saw a Gryffindor prefect a few halls down. We might be able to get past her if we hurry.”
Alex, thoroughly confused, puts on the clothes nevertheless and follows her friend down to the Slytherin common room.
Hazy from sleep, Alex lets Maggie drag her along the castle halls, her mind only registering that they were nearing the Astronomy Tower.
“Maggie, where are we going?”
Maggie shushes her, a giddy smile on her face. Alex could swear Maggie has a knack for this whole sneaking around thing.
She looks around the corner and nods once. Grabbing Alex’s hand, she pulls them up the stairs and sits them down in front of a large window facing west.
Alex fights to catch her breath, sure they had scaled those steps in record time.
Maggie nudges her and whispers in a quiet voice, “Danvers, look.”
Alex averts her gaze to the large opening in front of her.
Streaks of white light fly across the cosmos, tracing the stars before disappearing from view. Alex watches in awe.
“What are they?” she asks in a breath, afraid that speaking too loudly would somehow cause them to stop.
“It’s a meteor shower. My dad and I spend a lot of time watching the stars at home. Your dad’s science-y, too, right?”
Alex nods, “His telescope’s usually pointed the other direction.”
“The stars are a lot brighter here. My dad sent me a letter a few days back and told me to watch out for this one.”
“It’s- It’s…” Alex splutters, unable to take her eyes off of the sky, her mind too far gone, in no position to think of the right word.
Maggie seems to understand anyway.
“Yeah… it is.”
/ /
The end of the year comes too soon. Before Alex knows it, Gryffindor’s being awarded the House Cup and the students are being sent back to the Hogwarts Express with their bags.
She and Maggie manage to close-off a compartment to themselves.
“Do you think we’ll miss it?”
“I know I will. What about you, Danvers?”
“Hm… Some of it... Maybe. I’ll miss you.”
“You gettin’ soft on me?”
Alex shoves her.
/ /
“Hand me the knight.”
Alex gives the requested piece over.
“You really think that’s gonna work?”
“Oh, no way in hell, but it’s worth a shot.”
Maggie’s sitting on the floor, an arrangement of wizard’s chess pieces and an unopened chocolate frog between her outstretched legs. She’s methodically placing the pieces in areas she predicts the frog would land.
“What’re you going to do if it does?”
Maggie looks up at the question, and blinks in surprise, as if never truly realizing her plan might pan out. She makes a small humming noise.
“Well, I’ve always wanted a pet frog named Paulo.”
Alex smiles and chucks a jelly bean at the smaller girl.
/ /
Back at Midvale, Alex is bored out of her mind.
With all the daily excitement at Hogwarts, she hadn’t realized how quiet California would be. Her father is still in London, attending to business in the Ministry, coming home at odd hours of the weekend only to be gone by morning. Nevertheless, Alex cherishes the time she spends with Jeremiah.
He’d take her out to the beach and tell stories of his time in Durmstrang, spin tales of ancient mythology, or explain some theory in quantum physics. When there's something he can't very well describe, he'd take out a pen from his pocket and scribble numbers and diagrams across Alex’s forearms. Come morning and his leave, Alex traces over the fading lines with a permanent marker to prolong their existence.
Her days are spent studying for the upcoming year’s classes and attempts in making a solid plan for her OWLs in her fifth year. At night, she sneaks out of the house through the backdoor, grabs one of her dad’s old broomsticks from his days playing, and practices flying.
She’s getting quite good at it, really. On the nights the clouds are too dense and the stars not so bright, she opts for a late night surfing session instead.
Her only company during this time is a few old friends from her days in the Muggle schooling system, to which she would politely wave to before turning heel and nearly sprinting the other direction, her mother, and the occasional letter from Maggie, which never fails to brighten her day.
It’s a Thursday night when she meets Kara.
Her father hasn’t come home for weeks, busy on some extended mission from the Ministry to investigate a trail of followers of Lex Luthor. Alex’s only update on the whereabouts of her father are given through the small paragraphs printed on the Daily Prophet.
The latest article describes how a group of aurors, in which her dad’s name was apart of, helped defend an attack from dark wizards on a werewolf-wizard community located in some isolated mountain range called Krypton. The paper goes into detail about how much is unknown about the attack, which serves useless to Alex.
After reading the article, she frantically scribbles everything she remembers from her talks with Jeremiah onto her arm, as the last of his own writing had washed away after her last surfing escapade.
The next night, Alex lays in her bed, staring at nothing, thoughts spiraling, when she hears the telltale signs of Apparition. The loud whoosh reaches her ears and she scrambles down the stairs to meet her dad.
Kara is small, Alex probably has more than a few inches on her, and the blonde-haired girl has a nasty scar that trails from the top of her shoulder to about halfway down her forearm.
Alex halts at the steps when she sees her. They stare at each other and Alex could nearly see the pain in the other girl’s eyes. Unable to hold the gaze, she turns, instead, towards her father-- who's a picture of distress himself, his clothes covered in ruble and something that looks awfully like dried blood.
“Dad?” She calls out.
Jeremiah turns towards her, an exhausted smile turning his lips.
“Hey there, kiddo. You want to take Kara here to your room for a bit while I talk to your mom?”
/ /
Kara fits seamlessly into her family, but has trouble everywhere else. She uses slang no one else knew, flaps her arms when she gets excited, and has trouble sitting still.
And somehow, Eliza blames Alex for it.
“You have a sister now, Alexandra, you have to show her how to do these things-- you have to be better for her.”
Despite what Eliza pushes for, Alex already feels a strange sense of shelter around this strange girl, and she tells herself that she will be better for Kara because Kara deserves it, not because Eliza told her she has to.
The summer turns around when Kara arrives. She speaks a lot about Krypton to Alex, well, she speaks a lot about Krypton to anyone with ears and time to listen, but Alex could tell it could be a bit much for Eliza and Jeremiah. She, on the other hand, always has time.
Krypton started out as a wizarding community. They were native to the land and practiced a powerful type of wandless magic. During the time of the Second Wizarding War and the Anti-Werewolf Legislation of 1993 by Dolores Umbridge, Krypton served as a safe haven for werewolves and their kind alike. It was a working system-- every full moon, the community would make a festival of the event, making sure every lycan had a dose of Wolfsbane so they could keep their right mind when they transformed. By 1999, a year after the repeal of the legislation, the werewolves had grown to the life in the small village and decided to stay.
Word of Krypton got around to those who opposed the existence of half-breeds, namely, Lex Luthor-- a dark lord who is said to have a mind set for their errassure from the Wizarding World. At first, the community held to the attacks of Lex’s minions, fighting valiantly alongside each other to defend against the opposition of dark witches and wizards.
However, the practitioners of dark magic had a few tricks up their sleeve, and Krypton was brought down by their very citizens-- someone had rendered the effects of the Wolfsbane potion useless, and that month, on the full moon, werewolves were taken over by their beastly state of mind and ravaged the community. Come morning, the lycans were faced with the guilt of what they’d done and put up no fight when Lex’s followers came to finish the job.
Kara was one of the lone survivors of the attack, and after being mauled by one of her parent’s closest friends, she was left with a deep scar, and developed lupine tendencies, particularly, a very large appetite.
When Alex heard the full story the first time, she can see how vividly Kara was reliving the events in her head. Alex was never one to be outwardly expressive with her emotions. Not knowing how to console the girl, she snuck up a tub of ice-cream from the kitchen, placed a punk rock cd into her cd player, and held the little girl who she cried into spoonfuls of ice cream as Greenday played in the background.
/ /
Maggie writes to her about the children in her small town. They’re not allowed to interact with Muggles in America, but Alex knows exactly what Maggie thinks of this law.
She’s bitter, Alex can tell through her words, at how small minded they are. Alex would be too if she had to go through that.
Maggie tells Alex of how unfair they’re being, of the names they call her, and how much she misses Hogwarts.
Alex feels a knot forming in her stomach at these words. Maggie had been there with her when she was going through a hard time and Alex couldn’t even return the favor.
Alex tries to cheer her friend up-- telling her about Kara and the ocean and even invites Maggie over-- but she knows some things are hard to be cheerful about, so instead, she offers to fly over and beat them up.
/ /
Alex starts giving Kara flying lessons. She had gotten to a point where she’d call herself a fair flyer (and to the point a non-Alex-Danvers-overachiever person would call good enough to join a minor league Quidditch team), and she’s coming around to the idea of sharing things with her new sister.
They start off in the afternoon, waiting until Eliza’s gone off to the labs before racing down to the backyard shed and grabbing the broomsticks.
Kara is great for a beginner. She’s able to hold on through the drills Alex has her perform, and she only slightly lags when trying to keep up with Alex’s speed.
Eliza comes home early one day to find Kara hanging off her dad’s broom, Alex on the ground instructing her how to mount it when it she’s in a precarious situation. The younger girl swings herself over with a determined look on her face, teeth gritted at the effort, and Alex exclaims happily on the ground, celebrating.
Eliza blames Alex for giving her a self-diagnosed heart attack.
Later that night, after Alex had been thoroughly scolded, she sits at the backyard, splayed out, muttering obscenities to herself as she picks at the grass.
Light spills from the house as her dad comes outside to join her. He lowers himself on the grass with a small noise of displeasure.
“Your mom told me what she caught you two doing today.”
“Look, whatever you’re going to say, I’m sure mom’s already shouted. I get it, okay? It was wrong. It was dangerous. Kara could’ve gotten hurt.” Alex is spitting out her mother’s words now, pulling up a handful of grass from their roots. Maggie would’ve glared at her. She grabs the discarded chunk and pats it back down into its place. Good enough...
“Did you come out here to yell at me some more?” She shoots at Jeremiah, because of course he’d return home for the first time this week just to be disappointed in her. She grits her teeth, refusing to show just how much she’d missed him.
Jeremiah chuckles. The sound of it causes Alex to look at him incredulously.
“I came out here to…” He pauses, and tilts his head slightly, choosing his next words carefully. “tell you that your mother’s a pretty heavy sleeper.”
Alex gapes at him in disbelief.
“And not to use the Nimbus 1000. The old thing’s worn down-- you’ll have a lot more fun with the Cleansweep Eleven or the Comet 140.”
With that, Jeremiah winks, pats her on the back and makes his way back inside.
Alex and Kara practice flying during the night from then on.
Alex makes a comment about the irony of witches flying around at night on broomsticks. Kara gives her a confused look and Alex waves the comment aside.
/ /
Kara returns the favor by teaching Alex how to perform wandless magic. Having lived in a community that prefered and perfected it, Kara has a knack for the notably advanced type of magic and tries to teach Alex.
It’s one of the hardest things she’s ever attempted to do. It takes ages for her mind to settle and focus, and she never thought she had a problem doing that until then. Thankfully, Kara is patient. She repeats soothing mantras and doesn’t get offended when Alex snaps at her.
After staring intently an apple for nearly an hour without it moving, Alex is just about ready to give up.
“How do you even just… think of nothing ?” Alex murmurs. Kara looks up from studying Alex’s stack of cd’s.
“It’s not like that exactly. It’s more like… try… try concentrating on the one thing that makes everything else disappear. Think of something that makes everything else feel like nothing. D-does that make sense?”
Kara tilts her head to one side, squints her eyes, and effortlessly, the fruit floats into the air. The little girl blinks and it gravitates down gently, back in front of Alex.
Alex nods, placing her attention once again on the frustrating fruit.
She thinks of her year at Hogwarts, of the barbed insults thrown her way, the sneers Veronica had pointed at her, the pressure Eliza never released her from-- and she thinks of Maggie, who’d always made it seem all so arbitrary.
The apple shakes.
She thinks of her dad, who always takes her out flying when her mom was being exceptionally hard on her.
A rattle.
She thinks then, of Kara, her baby sister who had lost her entire world yet manages to smile and be good through all of it.
The apple topples over.
Kara holds her breath as she watches her sister in fascination.
Alex thinks of the three of them together-- of Maggie’s dimples, Jeremiah’s voice, and Kara’s laugh. She thinks of how wonderful her world is with them, and how nothing else could quite compare. She lets her mind swim in its memories of these people, of the unique feelings of elation that eventually came to be associated with only them, and floats around in this realization.
The apple slowly makes its ascent into the air and hovers.
It’s a shaky movement, nothing like the effortless action Kara had done, it’s probably about three inches off the table, and it makes Alex feel like there is a baseball-sized rock pressing itself up against her brain.
But she’s done it.
Alex grins and jumps up, concentration lost, the fruit forgotten and left to bruise as it topples to the ground, as Kara lets out a whoop and tackles her sister in a hug.
/ /
Alex turns twelve as summer comes to a close.
On the day, her family takes her out to the beach, makes a fire pit in the sand, and spends the day together.
Her mom gifts her with a new sweater for the colder months of the school year that Alex was beginning to think she would never get used to. Kara gets her a telescope, having heard her sister’s story of that night on the Astronomy Tower with Maggie. Her dad, who had taken off work for the day, gives her his own annotated copy of Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger and a copy of Stephen Hawking’s new book, The Universe in a Nutshell .
The day before, a tired owl had dropped off an envelope with Maggie’s birthday wishes to Alex. Inside was a card with a small note, and a moving picture of the two of them next to the Great Lake-- Maggie sat cross-legged, laughing joyously at a wet, disgruntled Alex.
She remembered that day. Maggie had brought down a loaf of bread from breakfast and taken Alex down to the lake on a mission to try to see the giant squid. To say the least, Alex had to run back to the dorms to change out of her soaking clothes before first block. Some fellow first-year Gryffindor with a camera had seen it all unfold and snapped a photo.
She grinned at it, and placed it on top of the stack of books on her bedside table. She made a mental note to frame and pack it for the school year.
Giddy, Alex had sat down and immediately wrote a thank you, feeding and giving the owl water before sending it back with the response.
/ /
Alex gains an affinity for wandless healing spells. It still takes a lot to accomplish and much more to follow through, but she deems them easier to focus on and she often finds herself healing the bruising of fruits in her spare time.
She hopes the use of the wandless spells can’t be picked up by the Ministry via the Trace, but they hadn’t come barreling down the doors yet, so she thinks she’s okay. Either that, or they assume her parents perform multitudes of small spells daily.
Kara barrels into the ground one night when they’re flying and thankfully, she was already on her way to mount off and thus, only falls a few feet from the ground.
Still, the blonde-haired girl sniffles as Alex inspects the scrapes on her palms and knees. Alex places Kara on the steps of the back porch and murmurs a healing spell under her breath, her hand extended over the smaller girl’s injuries.
It's harder than fruit. Alex grits her teeth through the pain in her head, grits her teeth through the feeling of sharp, continuous stinging in her brain, and mushes on for her sister.
The wounds close smoothly, the only trace of the fall was the dirt that Kara’s covered with.
“You’re getting better at that.” Kara comments, beaming. Alex returns the gesture even though her head felt fuzzy.
She shrugs, nudges Kara’s shoulder, and does a good job pretending the simple spell hadn’t made all the air leave her lungs, “I had a good teacher.”
/ /
Kara turns eleven just under the cutoff for the new wave of first-years, and Alex is just as excited as she is when she gets her acceptance letters from Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, and, later, Beauxbatons.
Eliza turns up her nose at the letter from Ilvermorny, the same way she had when Alex expressed interest in the school last year, and Alex rolls her eyes, telling Kara to choose whatever feels best for her.
Kara chooses Hogwarts, the decision easy for her and from then on, it’s all she speaks about.
“Alex, what house do you think I’ll be sorted into?” her voice is quiet, but it does little to hide the excitement in them.
Alex turns in her bed to face Kara’s.
“I’m not too sure. Gryffindor, probably.” A pause. “Maybe Hufflepuff.”
Her sister laughs giddily before pausing abruptly.
“You’ll still be my friend even if I don’t get into Slytherin, right?”
Alex smiles at her through the darkness of their room, knowing full well that the girl with lupine attributes can see it.
“Of course, Kar. Always.”
She thinks her sister returns the smile.
“Now get some sleep, we’ll have to get up early tomorrow for the train.”