A New Menace...

[Alex Falconer]

Dear Mum and Dad,

Having taken our subjects for our OWLs already we- myself and the rest of my year were supposed to have chosen our careers ideas by now. As you know I haven't been very forthcoming with any ideas about my own future but I believe that I have chosen over the past few weeks the path I want to take.

You have always been protective of me as parents and though you encouraged me to be confident and self-assured I feel that you will not like the occupation I am strongly considering.

Since I heard of the rumours of a new "Dark Lord" of some kind in the Daily Prophet I feel that the best job I could under go would be that of an Auror. I feel that I am both magically strong enough and intelligent enough to deal with the training ahead for such an occupation and am encouraged by Rose who is also considering the option.

Whether you agree with this choice or is your decision and yet I hope that you will lend me your support. I look forward to your reply letter.

Alex

The words that Alex had written onto a thick sheaf for parchment a week ago were still running through her mind. It sounded formal and distant but with informing her parents of her decision it had had to be so. Zac Falconer had lived a life of danger on a broomstick which had only enhanced his protective instinct towards his family, especially as her mother was a muggle and therefore unable to defend herself from magical threats. Alex's decision to become an Auror- placing herself in a dangerous position, especially if these rumours of a "new Lord Voldemort" were true would not sit easily with her father. Having had a brilliant relationship with him so far in her life she was nervous now of wounding it.

Sitting broodily in a large red and squishy armchair Alex stared intently into the fire. It was one of her nights off from duty and she had spent most of the evening working on a transfiguration essay that she had completed easily and efficiently. Transfiguration was her best subject. Alex was good at her studies full stop. She had an academic mind and was able to grasp concepts easily. Her Defense Against the Dark Arts grade was one of the highest in the year along with Rose's and she found is easy to rememeber information about all of the creatures they studied in Care of Magical Creatures. She found Ancient Runes challenging but interesting, and her Transfiguration grade was near the highest in the year. In fact she wouldn't be surprised if it was the highest. The rest of her subjects were another matter. Her Potions grade was decent, usually hovering between an A and an E, and her Charms grade had yet to pass anything but an A. Herbology and Divination were down right awful though. She had a P in Herbology at the moment and it was D for Divination.

Resting her head back against the back of the chair she closed her eyes and thought about how these grades would help her on her way to being an Auror. Her potions grade needed to be a secure E for the OWLs or she couldn't take it on to NEWT level, and her Herbology was in dire need to help. Charms was her biggest worry though. She struggled with the delicate intricacies of the wand work in Charms. Being a confident and wild person she was non-too-gentle with her wand and liked to brandish it about too much for the delicate art of Charms. She would have to get Rose to help her; she was brilliant at Charms.

A tap tapping at the window roused her from her sleep and she looked up to see an owl rapping it's beak against a pane of glass in the window on the other side of the common room. No-one was around- they had all gone off to bed a while ago. Getting up tiredly from her chair Alex made her way across the room and opened the window. The bird flew gracefully in and landed on a nearby table. Alex reached forward and took the letter that was attached to it's leg via a small ribbon. As soon as it was released the bird hopped about the table looking for crumbs.

"Sorry Icarus" Alex said reaching out and stroking the eagle owls smooth feathers. The bird belonged to the Falconer family. "No food for you today. Go to the Owlery or find a nice rat somewhere." The bird gave an almost indignant look but then affectionately nibbled the girl's fingers before taking of again and disappearing out of the open window.

Alex sat back down in her chair after closing the window behind the bird and looked down at the thick yellowy envelope. The bold and slanting scrawl of her father warned her that she may not like the contents of the letter. Taking a deep breath she slit over the envelope and slid out the letter. It was relatively short- her father never was one for writing letters and she was half delighted, half upset by it's message.

Alex,

You are right to think that I am not happy with the idea of my only daughter becoming a Dark Wizard Catcher. It is a dangerous and upsetting job and can lead to the end of many great witches and wizards in more ways than one. I have seen it happen enough at the Ministry. However it is your future. If you wish to fight this supposed threat- which by the way we are unsure is fact as yet- then I will not stop you. I will however be checking that your grades are as good as they can be between now and graduation so that I know you will be as prepared as you should be for facing these threats.

Something else that you might want to consider is that there is a position of Chaser and Seeker vacant in the Holyhead Harpies. As I'm sure you know the Keeper of the Harpies is the sister of the Captain of the Viennan Vixens. This could be your opportunity to break into the Quidditch world like me. It would be a shame to put all that talent to waste. Please consider this as a safer (or as safe as Quidditch can be) idea.

Keep up with your studies.

All my Love,

Your Father.

Alex sighed as she folded the letter up. He was furious. Most upon reading that letter wouldn't be able to tell but Alex knew. Zac Falconer was furious at the idea of her becoming an Auror- otherwise he wouldn't have suggested the Quidditch placement. He would have encouraged her to be an Auror. Rubbing her eyes she wondered what to do. It felt strange branching out on her own without the support of her parents.

Looking down at the table in front of her chair she noticed the corner of that day's edition of the Dailt Prophet sticking out from some scraps of parchment and the remainder of a chess set someone had left. Fishing it out from the pile of debri she scanned the page.

Phantom Menace Approaching?

-screamed the headline. It gave information of certain journalists and Ministry employees that had gone missing and some people that had found to have been under the Imperius curse. Who had charmed them out of their minds or stolen the mission people was as yet to be decided. But records had shown that this was exactly how it had started before when the legendary Lord Voldemort had come to power before Harry Potter- Rose's ancestor had stopped him. Sighing again Alex rubbed the ball of her palm into one of her eyes to try and wake herself up. What was happening? What was going on in the Wizarding World while she was stuck in Hogwarts...?

[Rose Potter]

The slender figure had been tossing and turning around the bed for hours now, and sleep was just as evasive now as it had been earlier. Rose Potter, usually a heavy sleeper and one who was normally able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, just could not sleep tonight. Whether hs just had too much on her mind, or she hadn't exercised enough today to make her body weary enough for sleep, she didn't know. With a loud huffing sigh, Rose shoved the bedcover off of her legs and onto the polished, wooden floor. Looking across to the next bed, Rose noticed that it was empty. Where's Alex? She thought as she tugged her legs over the side of the bed and pushed her feet into a pair of fluffy red slippers that were ready and waiting at the foot of her bed.

"Alex? Are you there?" Rose called out, her voice barely above a whisper. But she received no reply, which was to be expected. It would be pretty weird if Alex was in the dormitory but not in her bed, right? A small frown on her face as she wondered where he best friend was, Rose stood up and tiptoed towards the door and the stairs down to the common room, grabbing her thick, crimson dressing gown and wrapping it around herself as she moved silently out of the dormitory.

Alex was known for her late-night wanderings. Well, Rose was as well, but Alex had always been that tiny bit more adventurous than Rose had ever been. Rose tried her best; she loved being friends with Alex, and never wanted to lose that bond. They were both self-confident people, always had been. It was most likely caused by the constant media spotlight on the both of them. They were very similar in that respect: it was their family, or their name, that was famous, not themselves. Rose had had it all her life; her first words reported in the Daily Prophet, her first romance spied upon and eventually leading to disaster because of this.

The floor was cold, even through the fluffy slippers. One hand on the wall as she descended, it wasn't long before Rose finally came into the Gryffindor Common Room. Just as she had guessed, Alex was sitting in the room, looking nice and comfortable on one of the squishy chairs next to the fire.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Rose asked her friend with a smile, then, noticing the letter next to Alex, looking at it pointedly, wondering what its contents were but not mentioning it, instead waiting for Alex to talk to her about it.

[Alex Falconer]

Alex looked up as she heard the soft footsteps of a fellow Gryffindor. Recognising who it was immediately- she would know that face better than she would her own- she smiled ryely at Rose. Letting her head flop back against the armchair after having raised it to see who had entered the common room Alex let out another sigh and rubbed her eyes.

"Haven't tried yet." She said in reply to her friend's question. Suddenly standing Alex reached for the letter and envelope, strode forward and let it go into the fire. Tongues of flame curled up around it as it ignited the edges of the parchment glowing red and shrivelling in on themselves.

Standing up straight she leant back against the fire's hearth, her robes hiding most of it's light. "He doesn't like the idea of me being an Auror." She said. She smiled, but it lacked it's usual sparkle. She knew that there was no need to elaborate on who "he" was. Rose knew that there was only one male Alex cared about in her life, and that was her father. Over the past two years when Rose had come round to Alex's house- or rather mansion as it were, thanks to Zac's career as a Seeker and later at the Ministry- she had begun to understand the small looks and actions of Zac Falconer. This was evidence of how long the two gryffindors had been friends. Rose would know that there was nothing in the letter that would have hinted to his true feelings but for Alex the message was loud and clear. "He said how he would support me-" ALex made a face indicating that she didn't believe a word of it "-and then changed the subject. Apparently the Harpies are looking for a new Chaser and their Seeker is out for a term at St Mungo's. He seems a lot more enthusiastic about me being a Quidditch player than an Auror." Alex laughed, this time a little more like her old self. "I would have thought Quidditch ten times more dangerous than fighting Voldemort himself." A glint illuminated her eyes as she became a little more like the Alex Falconer known by all to be unscathable.

Moving back to her chair she took her seat again and smiled companionably with Rose. The two of them were famous. There was no other word for it. They often got seats by the fire. Not because they asked or demanded them but if anyone saw them come into the common room the chairs seemed to miraculously become empty. It was odd how this sense of fame was equal for both of them. Rose's ancestor was a million times more well-known than Alex's father but Zac Falconer was alive and more recent; the sense of awe and respect people felt for them was roughly the same for both of them. This meant that there had never been jealousy or rivalry between the two of them- not that either one of them would care about their fame, but it made it easier on the whole. Instead they had bond fiercely from the start and stayed that way through all of their years at Hogwarts. This companionable duo were now still equal. Two years ago when Rose had got Qudditch Captain over Alex, she had felt a little annoyed. Understandably Alex had wanted to position. Her congratulations to Rose however had never been false. The girl deserved to be Captain and she was doing a fantastic job of it. Then this year Alex had been made Head Girl- for reasons she couldn't understand. They were once again on equal footing.

Through their success on the Quidditch pitch and in the social structure of the school the two of them were liked by nearly everyone save the Slytherins- especially the Gryffindors, for whome the two of them gained points galore.

The Slytherins were another matter of course. When it came to Rose, the green robed students were annoyed at her being sorted into Gryffindor rather than Slytherin where her pure blood should dictate. Even more so- once she had been sorted into Gryffindor Miss Potter was happy there! The indignanty of it!

Alex was different. She was not a pure blood but a half-blood. And yet she still had the money and position of a pure blood. Her father's life in the public eye and now as Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry had put her above some of those who believed themselves superior by their ancestry. This Alex found meerly amusing. And so the two of them had started off on a bad footing with the Slytherins, through no fault of their own- though Alex's attacks on Slytherin students didn't help- sealing their friendship into a steady rock of unity.

Alex, snapping back to the present, picked up the paper and held it up for Rose to see. The front covered screamed it's ominous headline while underneath there was a very old picture of Voldemort and another of Harry Potter. It was discussing who the new "voldemort" could be and is their another saviour such as Rose's ancestor to stop him. There was even a small bit at the bottom with Rose's school photograph smiling and blinking at the camera on whether Harry Potter's living descendant would react to the news of a new menace.

"Your face is in the Prophet again Potter." Alex said with a smile. Dumping the paper on the table where they could both see it she frowned down at it. "What do you think?" they had had this conversation several times over the past week which had then led to Alex's career choice. "It looks like there's really something out there doesn't it?" Her gaze was fastened on the list of names at one side of the page. Names of the missing or dead. "Auror training is gonna take years, I'll be too late."

This last was a low murmur as if to herself. In her head Alex was thinking quickly. She had always been good at studying. Always. If she could keep up better... If she could organise her time better and get all her work, duty, and quidditch practice done, she could study the work of Aurors. She had received an O in her Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL and was in good favour with the professor. She could get into the restricted section... find some books that would help her and prepare her for Auror training. By the time she got to being an Auror she would know half of the curriculum already. This idea had merit. Alex was half paying attention to her surroundings, half examining this new theory. What were the subjects you had to be tested in? Definitely defensive spells and anti-jinxes. You would have to know a lot about the Dark Arts history- find out how the enemy thought... Then there would be disguises... Disguises? It was not the first time Alex had wished she were a Metamorphus. But she wasn't and it took decades to learn. What about... The idea of an Animagus had always appealed to Alex. She was good at Transfiguration after all and would find it easier than others.

Alex snapped back to the present time. This was pointless. She had to focus on the time at hand. She would analyse that idea later. She turned to look at Rose and waited upon her answer to their conversation, surprised that what she had been thinking about had only taken a few seconds, rather than the hours she knew she would spend contemplating it the next day...

[Rose Potter]

"We really should stop staying up every night." Rose said in a serious tone, though her face was lit with a smile that said the complete opposite. "Otherwise, one day, we'll wake up, and find out we've missed our NEWTs!" Rose smacked her hands against her cheeks, her mouth carefully moulded into a tight 'O'. After a second though, Rose let go with a laugh and sat down in the chair opposite Alex with a sudden flopping movement, kicking her legs up to rest them on the table in between the two girls. Hmm, it's nice and warm here... Rose thought as a wave of drowsiness washed over her from the effect of the fire's heat.

Rose shifted her position to make sure she didn't fall asleep in the chair -- as comfortable as it was, she wasn't so rude as to fall asleep in the middle of a conversation! As Alex stood up and went to lean against the hearth, Rose frowned at her best friend's words. Much as she liked Mr Falconer, Rose knew how protective he -- and his wife -- were of their daughter. A few years ago, Alex becoming an auror might not have been such a worry for them, but with the latest rumours... Well, it was entirely possible that it was just that -- rumours. But there was also a possibility, however slight, that there really was a new Dark wizard beginning to follow in Voldemort's footsteps.

"I don't know what to say... I would volunteer to talk to him for you, but I don't think it would make much difference." Rose smiled sadly and crossed her legs, clasping her fingers around her knee. "I know you'd make a brilliant Auror. And I'm sure your dad knows that deep down, too. Just... Show him." Rose smiled again. "And as for the danger side of things... Well, you haven't died yet, have you? And we've been in some pretty sticky situations already, without even being Aurors! Remember when we first met the centaurs? Now that was a tough one to get out of!" Rose laughed, and crossed her legs the other way, leaning back down in her chair. She would never forget meeting the centaurs, not in a million years. It had been so exciting, yet absolutely terrifying at the same time. Luckily the two girls had managed to talk their way out of that particular situation, and they had even been back to the Forbidden Forest to talk to the centaurs on occasion.

Rose thought about Mr Falconer's mention of Quidditch. Both she and Alex were on the Quidditch team -- Rose was even the Captain -- yet neither had really seriously considered going into Quidditch as a career. Not recently, at any rate. Rose really loved Quidditch, always had done. She could still remember playing with her older brother, Ethan, when they were both a lot younger. When Ethan had gone to Hogwarts, he had become the Captain for his House in his Fifth year. Rose had been Quidditch Captain for two years now, and had never regretted taking on the position. She loved to play the sport, and she loved to organise training for the team. Sure, she could be a little bossy, and she was known for being a hard-nut Captain, but Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup for the last two years running. Rose only hoped they would win it again this year -- it would mean she beat Ethan's winning spree, and that was always a good thing!

As Alex showed her the newspaper, Rose cringed. "I really wish they wouldn't use that photo all the time... My hair looks horrible!" The cringe quickly turned to a laugh, though, and Rose picked up the paper from the table, holding it up so that she could read it in the dim light from the fire. Hmm... So Marcus Fletcher has disappeared... Rose thought sadly. She had met Marcus, an employee of her father's in the Ministry. he had always been really nice to her, and seemed to be a genuinely good guy. It was sad to hear this news. Rose would have to write to her father in the morning.

"What do I think?" Rose echoed Alex's question. A frown formed on her face as she thought over what Alex was asking. If there was one thing that Rose was good at, it was her ability to think things through rationally. It was why she was a good strategist in Quidditch, a reason why she had been chosen as the Captain. Of course, most of the time, Rose's reasoning skills were put to thinking up perfect plans to prank people -- mainly Slytherins -- but she always thought ahead. Sometimes it was a good thing, sometimes it was a bad thing. But in this case, Rose just didn't have enough information to think it all through and plan ahead.

"I really don't know." Rose sighed. "I agree that there are an awful lot of coincidental deaths and disappearances going on, but I couldn't say what's happening for sure. If I were investigating it, I'd have to see what they all had in common, because it might tell us what sort of people they've been in contact with. As it is, though, we don't know. So I'm not going to jump to any conclusions-" She held the paper up and chucked it back to the table, where her school photo grinned back at her with its terrible haircut. "As the Daily Prophet seems to have done. They're jumping to conclusions that they have no basis for, and they're just going to cause a panic, making people think that there's some evil Dark wizard out there, when it's probably just something completely different."

[Alex Falconer]

Alex nodded a little sleepily. "True. It could all just be rumours and coincidence but..." she paused her gaze sliding from Rose towards the flames in the fireplace. The whips of red and gold flashed in her eyes as she watched their dancing motion, pondering over her next words. "I guess I just don't believe in coincidence enough. They've been too many death and disappearances. If it were just one or two then it's likely a nutty wizard selling dangerous produce and not realising it's fatal, or a new wonderful spell people are trying and it actually makes you permanently invisible." She was smiling at the idea but suddenly turned serious. She shook her head. "But this is too much. I don't necessarily believe that there's a Dark Wizard out there ready to take over the world. But... There's definitely something there. I believe that these occurances are linked but there's too many of them for them not to be linked by something bad, if you get what I mean."

Alex turned her head to rest it on one hand, her elbow balanced on the arm of her chair. She raised one ankle to balance on the opposite knee. Her hair fell in her face. Alex pushed her hair back, locked it round her ear, put her hand down, and the hair fell back over her eye. She made a face of deepest suffering and smiled at her friend. Rose knew how much Alex's hair was annoying her.

Now that they had finished that particular conversation Alex's mind shifted back to her latest idea about training as an Auror. The one thought that had really struck her was the idea of becoming an Animagus. Sure it was illegal to do it without registering and you couldn't register until you were out of education but becoming an animagus took time. Thinking it over Alex felt sure that she could do it in half the time it should normally take. She had teacher's approval- so long as she didn't raise suspicion she could get access to books in the restricted section. Not to blow her own trumpet but Transfiguration was Alex's thing- she was good at it. Becoming an Animagus was within the realms of Transfiguration. Then there was the fact that she was magically talented when it came to making her own magic spells and enchantments. Alex was often making new magical items, or creating new spells- usually to try out on Slytherins or are presents for Rose at birthday and Christmas. She would research it, learn it, and register when she was old enough. Then there would be no time wasted. It wasn't as if she were using the ability to break the law- she could just pretend to have learnt it after leaving school- she would wait a while after graduating from Hogwarts and then go to the Ministry.

"Hey Potter-" Alex said. She often called Rose by her surname. This was due to the Slytherins using it as an insult and Alex decided to change it to a friendly nickname- therefore making the snide remarks loose their sting. She used it nowadays just to annoy Rose. "What do you think of Animagi?" She asked. "I was just thinking that with this new threat- or so they say- and disguise being a key aspect to being an Auror, becoming an Animagus would be useful right? What do you think?"

Alex sat back in her chair, and started blowing the lock of hair that was continually falling into her face and waited for an answer. She always ran these ideas by Rose first. Always had, since the first moment they became friends. They made a good team. Alex was often over excited, driven and blind-sighted by simpler routes, whereas Rose had the patience, level-mindedness and persistance that kept an idea on the right track. Rose was the steering wheel- Alex the accelerator. They made a good team and generally came up with the perfect solution between the two of them. Rose's opinion was always invaluable to Alex- even if she didn't always take the advice- a road that indefinitely led to trouble.

[Rose Potter]

Rose sighed at her friend's reluctance. Obviously Alex had been thinking about this a lot, even though it shouls really be nothing to do with the two of them. But then, both of these Gryffindor girls had always had a knack for getting into business that shouldn't concern them. It was what made them good people, in a way, as they tried to help other people out, even when it was none of their business. Of course, helping out and butting in had its fair share of bad sides, and Rose at least had had plenty of experience of getting the wrong end of the stick and ending up making the situation worse then it was to start with.

"I suppose you're right. There have been far too many coincidental disappearances to warrant nothing going on..." Rose frowned, thinking over all of the newspaper articles she could remember reading about any disappearances or deaths lately. "But it's too early to say anything. I doubt that there's some sort of..." Rose looked down at the newspaper's headline again, to get the wording right, "'Phantom menace', on the loose." She smiled to lighten the tension. "That would be way too cliche, after all!"

As she thought about it again, Rose couldn't keep the frown from crossing her face. If there really wasn't anything major going on, surely the Ministry would have said something to stop the media going crazy with their overactive imaginations. So did that mean that there was something going on, but that the Ministry wanted to keep it quiet? Or did it just simply mean that they didn't even know that there was something happening? It was so frustrating that Rose couldn't find out this sort of information. Sometimes she wished she had more contacts in the Ministry. As it was, she did know a fair few Ministry members, her father worked for the Ministry, but wasn't in a position where he would be told this sort of information. He wasn't an Auror, and Rose didn't know any Aurors.

Looking up, Rose noticed that Alex was fiddling with her hair... Again. She smiled at the pained expression on her freind's face. Unlike Alex, Rose preferred having her hair over her face. Not in a weird "I must hide myself from the word" way, but it just felt more comfortable to her. The two girls were constantly arguing about which looked best, though they had never managed to agree on this point.

"Animagi?" Rose repeated, wondering where Alex was going with this. She noted the use of her surname rather than her given name -- Rose had never really thanked Alex for helping to turn that nail on its end. For the first few years at Hogwarts, Rose had hated being called by her surname; it had always reminded her of what she had to live up to. Sure, it was two hundred years since her however-many-greats-grandfather, Harry Potter, had been alive, and that was one part of what she felt she had to stand up to. But it was even more recent people, her father included, who Rose wanted to live up to. He was the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic, and even Rose's brother was planning his way up the Ministry ladder next year. It was hard to figure out where her own place was in the world.

"Well, yes, being an animagus would be really useful to an Auror..." Rose rested her elbow on the arm of the chair and leaned her chin against one finger and thumb, crossing her legs at the same time. "But it takes years to learn, and you can't do it until you're out of education...." Rose thought about it. She knew that Alex's best subject was Transfiguration, and she was sure that she would be able to learn the secrets of an animagus in less time than most, but still, it was a big step to take. And even though Rose had broken her fair share of rules, breaking the law was something different. You have to draw the line somewhere, right?

"It's a bit of a waste of time, though, it you were planning to use being an animagus to combat this 'phantom menace'. There wouldn't be enough time, if whatever is happening, happens soon." Rose shrugged. She didn't really think that Alex was thinking seriously about this. After all, it would be a wasted effort, wouldn't it? There were much more usefuly spells, curses and charms that you could use to fight.

[Alex Falconer]

Alex frowned and nodded. Rose didn't like the idea. She could tell by her friends face and tone that she thought trying to become an Animagus a waste of time- Rose had always been good at Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts- she would probably consider counter-jinxs and defensive spells to be more important. Alex agreed. But just because she wanted to be an Animagus didn't mean that she would stop practicing spells and enchantments Alex made up her mind to place a notice in the common room tomorrow. Another idea had begun to take fruitation...

"I guess you're right." Alex said in reply to Rose's comments. "Becoming an Animagus would take a long time." Alex wasn't sure if she was convincing her friend or not- whether Rose would believe that Alex had given up on the idea or not. Rose knew that Alex valued her opinion and nearly always followed it- maybe that fact would squash any suspicions Rose had that Alex would continue along the path of an Animagus. Because the truth was that Alex wasn't ready to put down the idea just yet. She had always liked the idea of becoming an Animagus- always- and now she had the skill (she hoped), the knowledge (if she could get into the restricted section), and the encouragement to become one. She was not dropping this idea by far.

She did however feel uncomfortable with the idea of doing it behind Rose's back. The two of them shared just about everything- this would be the first big thing that they wouldn't enter in together. But if Rose didn't think that it was worth it- if it were a waste of time, then Alex wasn't about to force her to explore the idea further. They were approaching their NEWTs and they needed to focus on their exams. Alex had always been very laid about about examinations- she had always believed that her talents lay elsewhere- such as making spells and objects of her own- or playing Quidditch. She studied hard for them but exams had never stressed her out. Rose took them a lot more seriously and Alex didn't want to worry or distract her from them. She was also Quidditch Captain and was forced to give a lot of her time to practises and planning matches. Alex would keep her plans quiet for now. When she had done- and she would do it- she would tell and show Rose and then if her friend wanted to learn too Alex would be able to help and tutor her, making the process faster.

That settled Alex suddenly felt much more relaxed. The tension in her neck was easing and the dull ache from behind her eyes had gone, leaving behind the strong urge to let her eye lids dropping. Rubbing her eye sockets with the balls of her palms Alex yawned loudly. Looking up drowsily at her friend she smiled.

"Sorry about my complaining about my family." Alex apologised. "How's your folks? I haven't had a chance to speak to Ethan much this year." She laughed, and grinned at her best friend, conspiratorially.

Ethan Potter and Alex Falconer held an odd relationship. Though many people who saw them without knowing them thought them to be a couple, Ethan and Alex has never dated. Instead they had remained good friends through Alex's countless stays at Rose's house in the summer and had an annoying habit (for Rose) of flirting and playing around. Alex remembered times when she had fed Ethan a mouthful of her food as if they were sweethearts, just to rile Rose, while Ethan had once- when Alex was confused about something a textbook said- grabbed her waist as she walked by, pulled her onto his lap and then read the book to her announciating each word as if she were five. The scrummage that had happened afterwards as Alex struggled to get free had left them both red in the face and out of breath. Ethan was a great person and a good brother and Alex admired him a lot. Whether she fancied him or actually wanted to become his girlfriend was an... odd... idea. She had never really considered it- their play acting was mostly for Rose rather than themselves... Or at least Alex thought so...