Changing the elements

Chapter 6

AN: Please read and review

Severus Point of view, dealing with the aftermath of the party

Edited 28/07/2017

I felt terrible for shutting Alex out the day before. I was sure her skipping dinner had soley to do with our fight. I knew she skipped meals often, especially when she was distressed.

I meant to make amends to her this morning, but she wasn't at breakfast either. I just hoped she was having a lie-in, and that nothing had happened to her at this stupid Gryffindor only  party. I decided to take my bag in my dorm, and wait for her at the library. She'd come there to make her homework, or help me with mine. Despite her excellent tutoring, I still had trouble with arithmancy. I decided to do my other homework first, so we could look into arithmancy together.

It was nearly 11 when Alex showed up. She had this strange look about her, and the dreamy 'good morning' she gave me, sounded nothing like herself.

'I'm sorry for yesterday' I started  ‘I was worried about you, and a little jealous.' I didn't get a reply, odd, maybe she was still a little under? I didn't know how much she had had to drink the night before. I’d heard a great deal about these parties, and the drinks those Gryffindors served. It was a miracle no one ever got caught drunk.

'How was the party?' I asked, trying again to get any kind of reaction from her.

At that, she told me everything. Of course I didn't like that she went without me. I wasn't particularly happy with the dress she had worn either. I didn't like that she'd danced with Black, and the things he'd said to her were most definitely not to my liking.

I had suspected Black's feelings for Alex for a while, having noticed the extra attention he gave Alex, all the times he looked at her during class. That had been why I’d been stepping up my game as well, lest Black get any ideas. I would not be the second choice here, I wanted Alex to be mine.

Black's continued bullying of me, had lowered him in Alex' esteem, or so I had thought. Maybe it was the punch, although she told me she had only had 3 glasses of it, they might have spiked it. It would be the ultimate joke for Potter and his friends, having spiked Alex' drink with some sort of lust potion, leading her straight into Black's bed.

Now Alex was telling me all about the way Black had held her, danced with her. I was furious with Black for such a low trick, but relieved he'd only danced with her. Of course I’d never tell Alex about this. I hadn't told her about my feelings for her, and wasn't about to do that anytime soon. She'd never given me any indication that she felt anything other than friendship towards me. Even Lily had reported that Alex remained clueless about my feelings. So I tried to hold my feelings in check, and behaved like a good friend, nodding at the right intervals. It bugged me that Alex seemed to be so taken with Black. After all, all they had done together was dance, and talk a little.

 When we had done my homework, we walked arm in arm to lunch. I sat with Lily, Mary and Alex at the Ravenclaw table when Potter and Black came in. Alex noticed, and looked up from her plate, her eyes followed him all the way to his seat. It was disturbing, I was still not convinced the punch was clean. I saw Laura Wallace, a Ravenclaw 7^th year waving and winking at Black. Black waved back at her, looking confused. Alex frowned, never a good sign.

Laura elbowed Mary saying 'he wasn't that shy last night, you know, after the party, when he asked me to ride his broom.' She wiggled her eyebrows in a very suggestive way.

Lily and I both looked at Alex, seeing the shock in her eyes. 'What do you mean?' she asked. I was sure I knew what she was going to say, Black did have a reputation. I was also sure Alex wouldn’t like the answer.

'Weren't you listening to me?' Laura asked, annoyed at the little attention she got with her story 'I'm telling you that Sirius Black slept with me last night, after the party.' she said. Silence fell at the Ravenclaw table. I exchanged looks with Lily. I had been sure that Alex would react badly to this. Instead, ever the ice queen to the outside world, she replied 'That is hardly something to boast about, since he slept with half of Hogwarts.' Before Laura had any chance to reply to this, she got up, and left the great hall.

I decided to give her a small head start, before excusing myself as well, and going after her.

It took me a while to find her, she wasn't in the library, the owlery, not at the quidditch pitch, nor any of the other places she usually went when she was upset. I found her at the edge of the lake, simply sitting there, her back against a tree trunk, staring at the water.

I knew I liked to do this when I was upset, the water always calmed me.

I was grateful she wasn't crying, I wouldn’t have been sure what to do if she had been. I sat down next to her. 'have you come to gloat?' she asked me. I wasn’t surprised about her hostility, if this would be me, I wouldn’t want an audience to such a thing. Also, she knew that I had warned her about Black. Silently I put my arm around her, and she scooted closer, laying her head on my chest. 'Believe me, I take no pleasure in your distress.' I told her. I was sure she could feel my heart go faster when she hugged me. She didn't comment, or maybe she didn't care enough to comment.

'You warned me about him, told me he would try to seduce me. I was stupid for believing he would suddenly want to have anything to do with me.' she ranted. Why had I never seen how beautiful she was when enraged?

I lifted her chin so that she would have to look me in the eyes. 'Alex, you are anything but stupid.' I said 'Black is the fool for doing this to you, and I'll make sure he regrets it, I'll never let him hurt you again that's a promise.'

'I don't want you to get in trouble because of me.' she told me.

I didn't answer, I just sat there, holding her, until her breathing became rhythmical, and I knew she had fallen asleep. It had been a long night for her, and an emotionally draining day. Maybe it was best to let her sleep for the time being, I would wake her up when it was time to go back.