FicWad

The following weekend, Alex decided to hang out with Gideon and Fabian, who had basically adopted her as their successor in the pranking business.
“Now Alex, today we’re going to show you our favourite secret passageways, and then we’ll teach you how to navigate the castle in the dark.”
“Okay, let’s get started.”
Gideon and Fabian each grabbed one of Alex’s hands and they dragged her through the castle, narrating everything as they went. Luckily enough for Alex, she had a good memory and speed-talking was her specialty, so she caught every word they said, no matter how quickly or quietly it was spoken.
“Okay, now we’re going to teach you how to navigate when you can’t see.”
Alex was blindfolded and the boys taught her which stairs creaked in certain ways, which windows the night could be heard out of and the differences between the teachers’ footsteps. Once Alex was comfortable the boys brought her back to Gryffindor Tower and rewarded her with a Butterbeer.
“So how have your classes been going, Miss America?”
Alex laughed at their nickname for her. “Fine. Remus and Lily have been helping and I get just about everything to begin with, so it isn’t too hard. I’m kind of dreading OWLs though, 'cause I know next year will be killer tough.”
“Ah, you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you just need to study.”
Alex smiled at them as the Marauders came running into the Common Room.
“Blondie! There you are!”
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Remus smiled.
“Sorry Prewitts, but we’re going to have to steal her from you for awhile!” James smirked, grabbing Alex and dragging her out of the common room.
“Bye boys! Thanks for the help!”
Once they were in the hallway, Alex dug her heels into the floor, causing James to stop for a moment.
“Where exactly are we going?”
“Hogsmeade of course!”
Alex smirked. “Last one to the one-eyed witch has to pay!”
Alex sprinted off and the boys raced after her, James reaching the statue last.
“You’re buying at the Three Broomsticks!” Sirius laughed, shoving James down the tunnel in front of him.
“Fine, I’ll pay.”
Alex laughed and jumped in after James, racing down the tunnel in front of him, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. They all chased after her and started tripping as it grew pitch dark, but Alex continued to race ahead.
“Alex! Wait up!”
“Yeah! We can’t see anything!”
The boys heard Alex’s laugh echo around them. “You should learn echo-location then!”
“Please don’t tell us that’s what you’re doing!”
“Nope! I just have good eyesight!”
Alex was suddenly in front of the boys and she slid in between James and Sirius, linking arms with them. “Here, I’ll lead the way.”
Soon they reached Honeydukes’s cellar and Alex let them go as she slid up into the shop.
“What now?” Sirius asked and Alex stared at him in disbelief.
“What now?” She asked mockingly. “We’re in the middle of the best sweet shop around! We’re going to buy candy before we do anything else!”
Sirius smiled sheepishly and Alex playfully swatted him on the head.
“Come on y’all.”
Alex led the way through the store, grabbing various things as she went along and the boys followed suit. They bought their sweets and then Remus led the way to the Three Broomsticks where they all sat down together for lunch.
James, being the gentleman his parents had raised him to be, pulled Alex’s chair out for her and then he pushed it back in for her.
“Thanks James.”
“No problem.”
The bar maid came and took their orders and Sirius started giving James advice on how to get Lily to fall for him.
“You need to use pick up lines, like ‘Is that top felt? Would you like it to be?’
“Oh really Sirius! Surely you can do better than that!” Alex laughed. “Try something like ‘If beauty was sunlight, you’d shine from a million light years away.’ Something that’s not crude and overly sexual.”
Remus started laughing and Alex looked confused. “Did I do something wrong?”
“I just didn’t expect you to know any pickup lines.”
“My comebacks are much better.”
James laughed and said he would take her advice so Alex smiled and ate her steak happily. Remus tried to grab a bite of mashed potato off of Alex’s plate, but Alex smacked his hand away.
“Mine! Get your own!”
Remus laughed and stole some food off of James’s plate instead. James was staring at Alex strangely again and Alex glanced at him questioningly.
“Sorry, it’s just usually girls aren’t very protective of their food.”
Alex snorted. “You are if you have friends like the ones I have in America! You give them a sliver of opportunity and all of your food will be gone!”
James shook his head at her and went back to his own food while Sirius tried to see if he could steal any of her food. As his fork poked out at Alex’s, she batted it away and swiped some of his food, batting away his next blow and stealing more. Every time Sirius gave her an opportunity, Alex stole some of his food and suddenly Sirius turned to his plate to realize there was nothing on it.
“You gave me a sliver of opportunity!” Alex laughed as she ate some of the food she had stolen from Sirius, already having finished her own food.
“You little thief! Give me my lunch back!”
Alex pushed her plate over and turned around to take a bite of Peter’s food before she decided that she was full.
Everyone finished and James paid the bill silently before they headed out into the crisp fall air.
“Let’s go to Zonkos!”
James dragged Alex down the street towards Zonkos and she followed without protest while Remus. Sirius, and Peter jogged to keep up.
After they shopped through Zonkos, they all headed back up to the castle, and Alex flopped down on the couch with her head in Remus’s lap for a nap.