Chapter - 12.3

By the time everything settled, it was way past lunchtime.

The lunch was already over, and there was still some time for lunch. So, Alex went to his room under the curious gaze of the Slytherins and brought Nicole and Hermione the snacks he had. Alex, Nicole and Hermione then headed towards the lawn and spent the rest of the evening there, enjoying each other's company.

From there, they went to the Great hall when it was time for dinner, and by the time they parted ways, it was past nine o'clock.

On the way to their dormitories, Nicole was smiling ear to ear to herself. And after it had gone for too long and to the point that Nicole appeared to have a couple of screws loose, Hermione could not take it anymore and spoke up.

"Look at you smiling like a nutcase after your patch-up with your brother?" Hermione said, "People won't be able to recognise you if they see you now and you a few hours back," Hermione said teasingly.

"I am happy for sure," Nicole nodded, "Whenever he is with me, I don't even have any issue if this whole world were to burn to smithereens." Nicole chuckled.

"Hey... Don't go burning this world," Hermione also laughed along with Nicole, "We poor people also want to live our lives," Hermione folded her hands and acted as if she was begging.

"Fine... I will think about it," Nicole held her head high like a noble and went with the flow.

"But I have to give it to Alex," Hermione brought the conversation to Alex, "Even though he cares about you so much. He held back from even coming close to you for this many days."

"Oh well, he can be a bit stubborn sometimes," Nicole nodded, "And this is only the second time that he had kept himself away from me for so long," Nicole told Hermione.

"Second? When was the first time?" Hermine asked curiously.

"It was a few years back. That was around the time when many of the children were getting adopted," Nicole started narrating the story, "A few were also interested in adopting me, and my brother as well."

"But for some reason, my brother would say no to every one of them," Nicole told Hermine, "And however much I hated him for that, I couldn't just bring myself to leave on my own."

"... When I confronted him about that, he told me that he could not call anyone else their parents," Nicole said.

"But for me, it was different," Nicole's face dropped, and she looked sad, "I don't remember a thing about my parents," Nicole told everything to Hermione without holding back. And by now, they were already in the Gryffindor common room.

For the past few days, a bond based on trust had formed between Nicole and Hermione. So, Nicole had no problem sharing her past with Hermione.

"So, naturally, I had to ask him about our parents," Nicole said, "And I still feel that I was right to ask that."

"So, you know nothing about your parents?" Hermione asked.

Nicole shook her head, "He did not tell me anything. He said that he would fulfil my every wish. He won't let me feel the absence of our parents, but in return, I was not supposed to ask about our parents." Nicole said.

"And you agreed?" Hermione asked.

"Hell, no," Nicole laughed, "We fought and didn't talk to one another for about a week or so."

"Then..."

"Well, even though I wanted to know about my parents, in the end, my brother was the one who had been there for me through thick and thin," Nicole sighed, "I do want to know about my parents, I truly do. But more than that, I want my brother to be with me."

"Your brother loves you a lot," Hermione said enviously.

"That's for sure," Nicole replied gleefully.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the other hand, as soon as Alex was in his room, he crashed on his bed as usual. Other than the two nonsensical confrontations he got into, everything else in this school was boring. With Professor Snape's help, Alex has been able to go through so many books in the last few years that, with a slight effort, he might be able to graduate from Hogwarts at any given time.

To be honest, he liked boring. He had seen enough adventure and hardships to last for a lifetime. But even Alex has a limit to just lying on his bed and doing nothing. And Erebus was no help either. Whenever Alex was around, that guy was generally asleep.

He was bored to the point that, now, whenever he was alone, Alex would even miss the constant chatter of his sister, which Alex found hard to bear in the past.

With nothing else to do, Alex grabbed Erebus by his front legs and made him dance on his two legs for a while. After Alex was done tormenting the little guy, he practised magic for a while before he grabbed a book on potions to read.

By the time Alex was done reading the book and was ready to sleep, it was almost midnight. But before that, Alex thought of checking on Potter and his sister one last time. He was not sure when something unexpected might happen again.

Alex grabbed the map and infused some magic into it. And soon, the fascinating sight was in front of him again. The blueprint of Hogwarts appeared, and Alex could see many Slytherins in the common room. But they were not Alex's concern.

"Harry Potter," Alex called out.

"Nicole Ashbridge," and then in the same breath, Alex called out Nicole's name.

And soon, two footprints appear alongside one another. But there was one problem, and Alex could not help but frown. Both Potter and Nicole were not in the Gryffindor tower.

Finding the situation a bit suspicious, Alex called out Hermione's name as well. And without much surprise, her footsteps appeared beside Harry and Nicole.

"Ron Weasley," Alex knew the outcome, but just to confirm his doubt, he called out his name. And just like he guessed, the red hair was also with them.

So looking at the map, the situation was like this. Potter and Ron were together in the lead, and Nicole and Hermione were not too far behind.

Now he had no doubt that the group was about to do something foolish, which might turn out dangerous. Alex was angry, he specifically asked Nicole to be at arm's length from Potter, but here she was on a midnight stroll with the troublemakers.

'Why can't they act mature for once? Whose bum was on fire that they had to leave the dormitory so late at night?' Alex jumped off his bead and, with the map in his hand, walked out of his room.

But when Alex arrived in the common room, there were some Slytherins still there. Alex wanted to march out as soon as possible, but he was reluctant to do so with so many gazes on him. But he did not know how long will it take for them to leave. With time not on his side, Alex had to think of something fast.

Suddenly he had an idea. With his reputation now, he was sure it would work. Without saying anything, he walked up to one of the armchairs in the room and sat there comfortably. He then looked around, eyeing every Slytherin present there intently. Sensing Alex's gaze on them, those around Alex felt uncomfortable, and slowly within minutes, all of them dispersed one after the other.

Now that he was all alone, Alex quietly walked out of the Slytherin dormitory. With years of experience in stealth to get behind his prey, Alex moved through the shadows, going unnoticed by even the ghosts floating around.

Following the map, Alex reached a large room. As lamps flickered, numerous trophies, cups and awards could be seen displayed all around.

'So this is the trophy room,' Alex thought. He had never been here. But he had no time to appreciate the rich history of Hogwarts. Something else was weighing on his mind right now.

'What the hell are they doing in the trophy room?' Alex slowly approached the footsteps on the map and thought. It was a very unusual place to be in the middle of the night.

Following the map, Alex soon found Harry, Ron, Nicole and Hermione arguing over some matter. Alex stayed hidden in the shadows and listened to them.

"He is late," Harry said.

"I told you he won't be coming, or precisely he can't come," Hermione said.

"Maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.

"Or maybe he is just too smart to be here," Hermione smirked, "Moreover, after what Nicole's brother did to him, he wouldn't want to come out of his room," Hermione said.

"What's so great about Nicole's brother? You have been chanting his name like a fangirl," Ron ridiculed.

When Hermione wanted to reply, a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak, and it was surely not the one they had been waiting from.

"Sniff around, my sweet. They might still be lurking in a corner." It was Filch speaking to Mrs Norris. And listening to his voice, horror-struck, Harry and the others stood rooted on their spot like a stone in fear.

When Alex saw the four of them not move an inch, he had to come out of the corner. With no time to look at the map, Alex dashed towards his sister and the others.

"Brother..." Nicole was surprised by Alex's sudden arrival.

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