FicWad

A couple of days later, Alex decided she wanted to go ice skating. She woke up early and headed outside to the pond they had gone swimming in earlier that week, pulling out her wand and carefully casting freezing charms. As she sat in the snow around the pond, she laced up the skates she had conjured and watched the pond freeze through. Then she pulled on the hat the boys had insisted she have, buttoned up her little pea coat, and pulled on her gloves. When ice skating, warming charms just didn’t seem right.
“Perfect!”
Alex stood up and carefully got out onto the ice, falling down almost instantly. As she pulled herself back up she was more careful and soon she was gliding across the ice fairly gracefully. Eventually she got brave and tried a couple of small turns, but she ended up falling every time so she just continued to glide across the ice and smile at the snow coming down around her.
“Alex! Are you out here?”
“I’m at the pond!”
The boys came running over and smiled as they saw Alex smiling serenely.
“Mind if we join you?”
Alex shook her head and motioned for them to join her.
Remus was the first one out onto the ice and he started to slip so Alex came up behind him and supported him for a second until he got his balance, then she helped James, Peter, and Sirius.
Alex twirled across the ice and tried yet again to spin, but she fell and slid across the ice, knocking over James in the process.
“Sorry!”
James laughed and helped Alex up and the pair was off skating around again. Alex skated past Remus and suddenly slipped, starting to fall backwards. Remus reached out to catch her, losing his balance and the pair crashed to the ice together. Alex started laughing as Sirius tripped going around them and fell down, Peter then crashed into them and Sirius tripped James so the entire group was sitting on the ice laughing at their inability to skate.
“Come on boys; let’s go get some hot chocolate.”
“Only if it’s yours! That was amazing!”
Alex smiled and nodded. “I think I can make some for you boys. Now come along, I don’t want you getting sick.”
~x~
The next morning Alex walked down to the kitchen and found Mrs. Potter sitting alone on the counter. Alex popped up next to her and sat cross legged. “Are you okay Mrs. Potter?”
“Call me mum dear, and yes, I’m just a little tired of hearing reports about attacks on muggleborns.”
Alex nodded. “I know what you mean, but it will get better, Voldemort isn’t going to win, I won’t let him.”
Mrs. Potter smiled at her. “You seem so sure.”
“I am. I have faith that love will prevail, if I doubt that for even a second then I’m letting evil and hatred win.”
“You’re very wise for your age.”
“I don’t think age really matters, experience is what’s important, and I have a lot of life experience.” Alex replied with a smile.
Mrs. Potter just smiled and placed her hand on Alex’s knee in a motherly manner.
“Mum, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead dear.”
“Is it wrong of me to pity Voldemort?”
“Why do you pity him?”
“Because he’ll never know love, and his mother died, leaving him abandoned and alone, his father didn’t want him, and he’s all alone. Can you imagine a life without love? It’s so sad. I feel sorry for him, because maybe if he had known love things would have turned out differently for Tom Riddle.”
“That’s not wrong at all. That’s incredibly true, and kind.”
Alex nodded thoughtfully. “Good, because I’ve been feeling guilty for thinking that when I know he’s killing innocents.”
“The world isn’t black and white Alex, there’s a lot of grey, and the challenge is figuring out when the grey is too dark.”
Alex smiled grimly and nodded. “Well, c’est la vie, je sais. I just wish that it could change, you know? I wish it could be easier.”
“I think we all wish for that dear.”
“Right, well thank you, but I think I’m going to go bother James.”
Alex headed upstairs and walked into James’s room, finding him sitting in a window seat across from the door.
“Hey James!”
“Hey Alex! Come join me.”
Alex crossed the surprisingly clean room and sat down next to James, curling into his side to get warmer.
“You’re really cold.”
Alex laughed, “I’m always cold, that’s why I learned warming charms, but I only use them when I need to.”
James rubbed Alex’s arms to help warm her up as she looked around his room. Like hers it was red and gold and decorated with Gryffindor Quidditch banners, Quidditch posters, and pictures. On the wall opposite his bed the wall had pictures over half of it and Alex could see pictures of her with the boys up there, which made her smile.
“James, do you think I could come back again sometime after this break is over? It’s so nice here, it feels like home.”
James smiled at her. “Of course you can! You’re one of us now, so you’ll always have a home here.”
“Thanks James.”
James smiled and stood up, pulling the blonde up with him.
“Come on Alex, let’s go get the others up and decorate the tree.”