Little Riddle | James Potter

Seventeen

       "For f**k's sake!" The fear and panic Alexis felt made it difficult for the witch to breathe. The aftershock was beginning to settle in, making her body shake violently, but she couldn't cry anymore. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if she ran out of tears.

       Remus was the first one to react, tossing his glass aside and running to his friend's side, immediately followed by the rest of the boys. "Lexi! Oh Merlin, look at you! What happened?!" He exclaimed frantically.

       "What did they do to you? I'm gonna kill them, I swear I'm gonna kill them!" Sirius' expression was one of pure anger.

       "We were worried sick, Lexi! Are you okay? Well, of course, you're not okay! What kind of question is that!" Peter facepalmed as his shaking hand held hers.

       James was full-on crying by then, fighting the urge to engulf the girl in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, Merlin. I'm so sorry, Lex, this is my fault, I should've stopped you!"

       "Boys," Lyall Lupin's stern voice interrupted them. "I'm gonna need you to step aside." The boys all looked at each other hesitantly before backing away slowly, letting Lyall crouch down to speak to the girl with a much more gentle voice. "Hi, can you tell me what your name is?"

       She looked at the rest of the boys for help, knowing her last name would most likely get her in trouble or cause some uneasiness on the adults.

       "She's Alexis Riddle, and she's our friend," Remus nodded at his father, silently assuring them they could trust her.

       "Very well," Lyall's voice remained gentle. "Who did this to you, sweetheart?"

       "Death Eaters," she answered faintly.

       Lyall's expression turned from kind to panicked in a blink of an eye. He wasn't the only one though, Alexis could see the alarm on all the adults' faces. "Fleamont, call Dumbledore immediately."

       "I'll call a Healer." Euphemia ran after her husband. Lyall instructed Hope to look after the girl before running out himself.

       "Come on, now." Hope helped her stand up and guided her to the sofa. "You sit here." She carefully wrapped Alexis with a blanket.

       The boys all sat around with preoccupied expressions as Hope continued comforting Alexis and the others walked around the house in a frenzy. Alexis couldn't hide her shock when she saw Albus Dumbledore walking through the door, certainly not expecting him to arrive in less than three minutes.

       "Good evening, Ms Riddle." He nodded politely and took a seat across from her. "I am sure you are aware that time is very valuable right now, so I would like to do this as quickly as we possibly can. What happened? Why were you there, Ms Riddle?"

       "My brother invited me." She cleared her throat so she could speak louder, noticing the adults were back along with two people she did not recognize. "Tom— Voldemort, he invited me to spend the holidays there at Malfoy Manor. Remus and I knew it was a setup, but I still went because I wanted to obtain information that I could report to you, sir." She lowered her head in embarrassment, knowing how foolish her spying mission was. Remus nodded his head in confirmation.

       "An incredibly brave thing to do." Dumbledore nodded, motioning her to proceed.

       "Voldemort was never there, sir. But there were about thirty Death Eaters at the Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange was in command, she locked me in a room for three days. Then she used the Imperius Curse on me, made me talk to Oliver Abbott. Apparently, he was in some sort of negotiation with the Selwyns, most likely about money. Voldemort isn't happy with Augustus Selwyn because he's asking too many questions." She recited the conversation from memory. "Then she— I— used the Cruciatus Curse on him, sir." It still haunted Alexis to remember Oliver's face contorted with pain. A pain she was inflicting.

       "How did you break the Imperius Curse?" Lyall asked. Alexis could tell he'd gotten suspicious of her.

       "Occlumency, sir. Tom taught me back when I was eleven, thought it would be helpful in the future."

       Lyall gave a humourless laugh. "And how did you escape?"

       "They went out for an attack tonight, leaving only Dolohov behind. I took my chance."

       "Who was in the house?" The mysterious man, who Alexis assumed was a Ministry official, questioned her.

       "Only Dolohov and Bellatrix when I left. You see, they always travel in pairs or alone after an attack, they never travel in groups. Some of the faces I was able to recognize were Nott, Rowle, Travers, Macnair, Rosier, Crabbe, the Carrows, and plenty of others."

       "That would be all, Ms Riddle." Dumbledore nodded at the woman next to Euphemia, who approached Alexis and began looking after her wounds. Then, he turned to Lyall and the Ministry official. "Gentlemen, you have a location and the names."

       "I'm going to give you a Sleeping Draught dear, so you can rest now."

       As soon as the liquid ran down her throat, Alexis was already fast asleep in the Potters' couch.

       Even with a sore body and heavy eyelids, Alexis enjoyed how good it felt to be out of that dreadful place. She sighed with relief, sinking deeper into the comfortable bed. She opened her eyes slowly, getting slightly startled as she was met with James' hazel eyes staring down at her.

       "James Fleamont Potter! Leave that girl alone, right now!"

       "I'm just checking on her, Ma," James smirked. "See? You woke her up with your screaming."

       If the clock next to her was right, it was now 9 a.m., which meant she'd slept all night. The room was full of familiar faces from the previous night. The Healer pushed James away to check on her. "How are you feeling, dear?"

       "Much better. Still a little sore, though."

       "Nothing a little rest won't solve. But other than that you're good as new!"

       Alexis couldn't help but still feel incredibly ashamed as she felt everyone's gaze on her. They had to go through so much trouble just because a silly little girl wanted to play the hero.

       "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down at her lap.

       "About what?" Dumbledore approached her, standing at the end of her bed.

       "For being so foolish."

       "Foolish? It was because of you, Alexis, that we caught six Death Eaters last night. Intersected them as they neared the Manor. We also managed to arrive just in time to stop Oliver Abbott from visiting Augustus Selwyn. Mr Selwyn is extremely grateful for saving his, and most likely his family's, lives. And Mr Abbott is on his way to Azkaban with his fellow Death Eaters. Your plan worked perfectly, Ms Riddle." Dumbledore gave her a kind smile. "The biggest Death Eater incarceration so far."

       "You did an excellent job, Alexis." Lyall congratulated her with a broad smile.

       "A very brave and selfless thing to do, that was." Fleamont Potter nodded at her with a warm smile.

       "We're all incredibly proud of you, dear," Euphemia added with glossy eyes.

       "Overall, I think it was Lord Voldemort who learned a great lesson yesterday." Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles. "His sister is a force to be reckoned with."

       Alexis blushed, feeling proud of herself for once. She looked at the boys, who were all looking at her with pride and happiness. "I'm still more badass than all of you."

       The fresh air felt soothing against her skin, with a blanket wrapped around her body and a mug of hot chocolate keeping her hands warm. She hadn't been able to leave the Manor in a week, and although she was extremely thankful for the Potters' hospitality and the Healer's amazing job, she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. The door opened behind her, she didn't have to turn to see who it was because James sat next to her right away, followed by Rem us who sat on her other side, then Sirius, and lastly Peter.

       She smiled kindly at them. She hadn't had the chance to speak to them properly, but she knew they had all been on edge the whole time and were still clearly upset. "Any particular reason for this little get-together?"

       "You're not leaving our side from now on." Sirius crossed his arms with a stern expression. "Say goodbye to your private space."

       She giggled, trying to ease the tension seeing as everyone looked on the verge of tears. "That might be a little too much, boys."

       "No." Alexis turned to see James staring down at the grass with glossy eyes. "It isn't. I felt like dying every night knowing you were out there, Lex."

       "This is all my fault." Remus covered his face with his hands to hide his tears. "They used two Unforgivable Curses on you and it's my fault. I should've stopped you."

       "Boys, no." Her voice broke at the sight of her friends who were all weeping. The four boys had tears running down their cheeks, making her eyes well up as well. "This was all on me. It's none of you's fault. Do you hear me? None of you. Besides, something good came out of this, let's focus on that!"

       "But you're not alone in this, yeah? Next time you have a crazy plan like this let us know, we'll fight with you." Alexis felt particularly close to Sirius in moments like this, knowing their families were involved in such a despicable movement they both opposed. Because Alexis was no longer neutral, she had chosen a side.

       "We're never leaving your side. Never, ever." Peter's squeaky voice broke.

       "Good, because I don't want you to."

       James was still miserable and it made Alexis' heart ache to know he had been so concerned and distressed. His crying didn't seem to cease in the slightest, making Alexis place her hand over his and squeeze it. He turned to look at her with red puffy eyes and a sad smile, turned his hand over and intertwined their fingers, holding on to her tightly.

       "Right. Everyone stop f*****g crying," James said, making everyone chuckle as they wiped their tears.

        "Lexi."

       "Sirius, leave her alone."

       "Lex."

       "You're gonna wake her up."

       "Alexis."

       "Let her rest!"

       "Alexistential crisis."

       "Padfoot, sit down!"

       "Alexis Theodora Riddle."

       "What do you want, Sirius?" She sat up groggily on the couch where she had been taking a nap.

       "Yay, you're awake." Sirius was kneeling next to the couch. "I need you to back me up."

       "On what now?"

       "I came up with a great idea for a prank and no one is supporting me on this one." Alexis turned to look at the rest of the boys, who were sitting on the floor looking annoyed.

       "And what prank is that?" She sat up properly.

       "Alright, picture this. Hexing Snivellus into dreaming of James dancing naked so he can be confused as hell but also have a mini gay crisis. And we follow him all day so he can randomly bump into James and freak out." Sirius stated proudly while James furiously shook his head.

       "That's really weird." Alexis looked at him with a quizzical expression that turned into a grin. "But that would be... interesting."

       "Why can't it be you dancing naked?" James frowned at Sirius.

       "Because we don't want Snivellus to fall in love with me, obviously."

       Their argument went on for approximately thirty minutes, making Alexis lay back down on the couch and stare up at the ceiling with boredom. Today was her second day at the Potters’ and she had done nothing but sleep, which was not the brightest idea considering it was night time now and she was not sleepy in the slightest anymore.

       "Lex, can I have a word with you? Alone?" James fidgeted nervously and stood up immediately when she nodded. "Come on, let's go someplace else."

       "How rude." Sirius turned to Remus. "They're excluding us."

       "Yes, we are. Now stay here. Peter, you're in charge of not letting them eavesdrop." James instructed as he left the room.

       "Ohhh, why me?" Alexis could hear Peter's complaining from in the hallway. "You two better not try anything. I'm not in the mood."

       "Or else what?"

       "Or else I'll turn into a rat and pee all over your stuff."

       "That's gross, Peter."

       "Oh, yeah? Then I'll turn into a dog and pee all over your stuff as well."

       "Can you act like civil humans for once and not pee on things?"

       James walked ahead of her, heading towards a window at the end of the hallway on the second floor, and climbed out of it.

       "Are you mental?" Alexis asked in disbelief.

       "Come on, love. Mind your head." She hesitated before pulling herself up with James' help and climbing out into a small sectioned rooftop. "We can stay here, or we can climb up to the second floor's roof. The view is pretty wicked from up there if I do say so myself."

       "Is it safe?" She furrowed her eyebrows. 

       "Wouldn't be suggesting it if it wasn't." He smirked. "Come on, I'll give you a little push but you gotta watch your step up there."

       "Doesn't sound all that safe to me," she muttered as she struggled to pull herself up.

       "What did I tell you? Gorgeous, isn't it?" James noted once he was up there with her.

       Alexis turned to admire the view. The night sky was clear, letting the moon and stars shine through. "It is."

       "Sorry for not doing anything fun today." He sat down, patting the place next to him motioning for her to sit down. "Mum said you needed to rest."

       "It's okay. The few extra hours of sleep did wonders, the only problem is I probably won't be able to sleep tonight."

       He chuckled. "It's alright, we can stay here for as long as you want to, as long as it doesn't rain." He shrugged, "I'm not very sleepy either."

       "Sounds good to me," she whispered, looking up at the stars.

       Something stirred inside James as he silently watched her. He had missed the way she made him feel, that warm and fuzzy feeling that spread throughout his body. It made him feel more stupid and guilty, if that was even possible, for being such an arse to her. "I'm really sorry, Lex."

       He broke the trance she'd been on as she turned from looking up at the stars to look at him. "I thought we already had our sentimental moment?"

       "As a group we did. But not you and I." Alexis was about to interrupt him but he held his hands up to stop her. "No, listen— there are so many things I have to apologize for. I actually made a list." He smiled as an adorable blush crept up his cheeks.

       "A list?" She smiled, amused.

       "Yes, I made it the fifth day we hadn't heard from you." He pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment and held it with shaky hands before clearing his throat. "I'm sorry for walking out on you. I'm sorry for being an insensitive douche and having no regard for your feelings. I'm sorry for trying to move on when we were both clearly not ready for that. I'm sorry for parading around with Lily knowing it was hurting you. I'm sorry for making you feel like you weren't good enough. I'm deeply sorry for ignoring you and making your life a living hell for weeks. And lastly, I'm sorry for being a huge, utter idiot."

       James was being too hard on himself, and even though Alexis was glad he had learned his lesson, she didn't want to see the boy in despair any longer. "And I forgive you for all of that." She ran her hand down his back soothingly. "We were both being immature, James. We were both dramatic and irrational."

       He kept his gaze down, looking at his feet with glossy eyes. "I know we can't just pick up where we left off." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked at her. "But I just want you to know that I still want you, Lex. I need you around even if it's just as friends."

       She reached over and messed his hair. "I'll be around, James Potter. Let's just take it step by step, yeah?"

       "Yeah, see how it goes." He nodded. "Start over."

       "So," Alexis cleared her throat. "Lily?"

       He groaned as he threw his head back. "She took me to meet her family this week. Haven't heard from her since."

       She winced, "That bad?"

       James mockingly cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "I accidentally let her aunt's Chihuahua loose, I think they still haven't found him. I made her little cousin cry after beating him in a video game because apparently you're supposed to let kids win?" He made a funny face. "Her father had this perfectly accommodated pile of logs of wood and I managed to knock them over somehow, about thirty of them, just rolled all over the place. And last, but definitely not least, I not-so-accidentally spilt a drink on her absolute nightmare of a sister."

       "So you're already planning the wedding then?" She teased.

       "Oh, yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Her parents can't wait for me to come back."

       She giggled as she shook her head in amusement. "Why were you so nervous?"

       He scoffed, "I wasn't nervous." 

       "Then what was wrong with you?"

       "I just... didn't feel like being there with her and her family, that's all." He shrugged.

       She frowned, "Why?"

       "Don't act like you don't know, Lex." He turned to look at her with a glint in his eyes. "I haven't been able to get you out of my head."