Disclaimer: Do I really need to repeat it again? JKR's not mine… unfortunately.
They soon had more immediate concerns than Snape and the Stone as a few weeks after Ron's birthday the teachers, and Hermione, decided they should begin exam preparation. For Alice this was relatively easy as she had an excellent memory and had never needed to revise much, besides she spent most of her spare time reading anyway. For Ron and Harry however, revision seemed to be the cue for them to complain as loudly as possible for as long as possible on every topic from the unfairness of life to how it was impossible to look up the properties of Alihotsy if you didn't even know how to spell it. Coupled with all that, they discovered that Hagrid was illegally trying to breed a dragon in his gamekeeper's hut. Apparently the Universe felt they didn't have enough to deal with.
As they walked back across the grounds still reeling from this latest bombshell, Hermione abruptly broke the stunned silence that had fallen between them.
"I mean what is he thinking? A dragon in that little hut? Not only that, an illegal dragon? Can you imagine all the things that might go wrong? He could be killed; he might get caught!"
"Nice to see she's got her priorities straight," Ron muttered.
"And what's he going to do with it when it needs to fly? Let it loose on a leash above his hut? I can't even begin to imagine what it would take to feed it, especially once it starts growing. Hagrid really hasn't thought this through at all."
She continued in this vein for so long that the minute they got back to the common room both boys yawned exaggeratedly and excused themselves.
"We'll need an early night if we're studying all day tomorrow." Ron practically ran up the stairs leaving Alice to Hermione's ranting.
A week later Alice was sitting in the library with Harry and Ron helping them decipher a particularly boring tome on the formation of the Committee on Experimental Charms when Hermione rushed into the library brandishing several sheets of multi-coloured parchment.
"I've finished them," she sang cheerfully.
Ron gave her a disgruntled glare as he lifted his head from the table. "Finished what?" he asked suspiciously.
"Your study timetable," with a proud flourish she placed it down in front of him, "look I've coded it so that you know exactly when you're meant to be doing which subject. I did one for you as well Alice, I know you probably don't need it, but I thought you can never be too prepared."
"Thanks Hermione," Alice smiled at her friend, it was the thought that counted after all.
"Hermione," Ron complained, "you do realise these are only our first year exams. We don't sit our NEWTs for another six years."
"And you do realise Ron that we need to pass these exams to come back next year?"
"Relax Hermione; they only kick you out if you're really terrible. So unless you swap papers with Neville - Ouch!" Ron suddenly clutched his leg in pain as Alice kicked him sharply under the table. "What was that for?"
Seeing that his friends were all about to start arguing Harry shut his book abruptly and sprang up from the table. "I might go and warm up a bit before Quidditch practice starts. I'll see you guys later."
Once he had gone Alice considered starting a fight with Ron but she really wasn't in the mood. "Just… don't say such mean things about Neville all the time, he's not stupid." Looking down at her copious History of Magic notes she realised that she didn't really feel like studying much either. Harry's mention of Quidditch had sent her brain outside on a meander round the grounds and pitch. "I want these back when you're done," she pushed her notes towards Ron who groaned loudly as Hermione took over with a wave to her friend. Alice smiled gratefully and moved quickly towards the door, she and Hermione were so in tune that her friend knew exactly when to give her some space if she especially needed it. Now was one of those times; she'd had a headache building for the last two days partly as a result of spending every available minute of the day in the library studying and partly because she'd been up half the night wondering what they should do about the Stone.
She found her feet needed very little encouragement to take her outside and she was soon climbing the rickety wooden steps into the Quidditch Stadium. It was eerily quiet without the crush of students that usually filled it, the only sounds she could hear was the faint laughter of those who had chosen to `study' by the lake and if she listened very hard the rush of air as a certain star seeker performed aerial acrobatics fifty feet above her. As Alice watched he was joined by several other people who, judging by their hair, seemed to be the Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan.
As he ascended again after a spectacular dive, in which he narrowly avoided skewering himself on his broom he was leaning so far forwards, Harry flew towards her. "Do you want to join in?" he yelled as he approached, "I can go and get a broom for you if you want?"
Alice grinned at him in delight before casting a concerned look at the growing group of flyers. "Are you sure the others won't mind? I wouldn't want to get in the way."
"Don't be daft, practice doesn't start properly for ages anyway. Besides Lee's not on the team either." Within seconds it seemed he had fetched a broom for her and she was in the air luxuriating in the feel of the wind rushing through her hair. To get the feel of the broom she did some experimental corkscrews and a loop-the-loop for good measure before they reached the group who had now been joined by the three Gryffindor Chasers. Feeling slightly shy she let Harry introduce her to the older students that she didn't know but she felt comfortable enough around the twins to punch Fred hard on the arm when he tried to pull one of her plaits with a comment about midgets on brooms. It took only moments before it was decided that they would play a cut down version of Quidditch with only one Chaser on each team. With a mischievous grin George suggested she be the seeker for his team, while Lee became their Keeper and a tall second year called Katie was the single Chaser. Everyone seemed to think it was incredibly funny that she was pitched against Harry, but despite knowing that the odds weren't in her favour Alice resolved to do her best to beat him… even if it was only practice.
Thankfully Harry had managed to find her a fairly decent broom rather than one of the decrepit Shooting Stars that languished pitifully in the broomshed, the Comet 180 that she was riding, despite being over half a century old, was probably one of the most modern brooms Hogwarts owned. The difference between her broom and Harry's was stilled decidedly marked however as the two of them rose above the fledgling match. Whilst she ascended gracefully at a somewhat leisurely pace Harry zoomed past her circling the pitch long before she got into position, true she wasn't in any hurry yet, but she was still at a definite disadvantage never mind the fact that he was the youngest Seeker in a century.
The two first years began circling the stadium keeping one eye on the progress of the match whilst the other searched for any sign of the Snitch. Because there were less players the match seemed to develop much faster than usual, within ten minutes Alice's team were 50 points up and 10 points in the lead. Every so often Harry seemed to twitch in midair as he saw something down below that could be, but never was, the Snitch. Alice was only half paying attention as she watched the twins begin an odd game of what looked like tennis with their bats and a bludger which led to loud complaints from Angelina Johnston when Katie managed to score another goal for her team. As she berated Fred Alice spotted a flash of gold next to her head and in the same instant was aware that Harry had dived so she did the only thing she could, she flattened herself along her broom and sent it hurtling in his wake. Her eyes stung as the wind whipped into them and she screwed them up as tight as she could focusing all her being on the tiny speck below her. Whether the snitch became aware that two seekers were hurtling toward it or it simply chose that moment to flit on as it continually did Alice wasn't sure but suddenly it took off across the pitch dancing between the other players who rapidly scattered out of Harry and Alice's way. Her friend had a definite lead on her but Alice was slightly smaller than Harry and she managed to coax every ounce of speed out of her older broom so that she was flying parallel to Harry's ankles.
Suddenly the Snitch dropped again and both players reacted instantly ending up neck and neck in a vertical dive. Alice was unaware of anything else except the Snitch and how close to it she and Harry were. She was completely oblivious of the fact that every other player on the pitch had stopped to watch the first years, or the fact that the ground was rushing up alarmingly to meet them. With several feet to go she considered pulling up and fleetingly wondered if Harry would too, instead she acted against every instinct for self preservation she possessed and threw herself off her broom towards the Snitch. Landing hard on the ground she saw another hand grab the golden ball as her fingernails scraped the side and almost in the same instant Harry dropped heavily on top of her forcing her face into the grass.
The two lay there for several seconds recovering from the exhaustion of the match before Alice turned her head awkwardly to the side so she could speak, "Harry could you maybe get up? You're crushing my lungs."
Her friend grinned crookedly at her and seemed to consider ignoring her request for several seconds before she scowled at him.
"Hey Harry," a voice from above them called as he helped her to her feet, "if her broom was better she'd have beaten you there. You better watch out." George Weasley landed next to them followed by his grinning twin.
"Yeah but we still won."
"Nah Harry's a better flyer than me," Alice conceded as she spat out a mouthful of earth, "congratulations on your victory O-great-one." She bowed low in a mock salute as the rest of the team landed.
"What's your name? Evans?" Alice turned to see who had spoken and found herself facing a burly fourth year who she was fairly sure was Oliver Wood the Gryffindor Captain.
"Yes," Alice felt her old shyness creeping back when confronted with a much older pupil who was addressing her directly, "Alice."
"That was some good flying Alice, nearly as good as our Harry here." He clapped his bespectacled Seeker on the shoulder. "You should think about trying out for the team next year. We could do with some reserves."
"I - I never really thought about it." It was true, it hadn't even occurred to her. She had never been into sport much at primary school, although she had always done fairly well in the races on Sports Day. However she'd never been on a team for anything in her life, preferring to spend her time in the library instead. Oliver had given her something to think about.
"Right you two," Wood was addressing Lee Jordan now as well, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, we need to start practice."
"Sure," she collected the Comet 180 that was floating diligently several feet off the ground after she had jumped from it, "see you later Harry."
As they were stowing the brooms in the shed Lee Jordan said, "you know you and Harry fly in exactly the same way. You're both completely nuts on a broom. The way you both jumped off at the end there…" He shook his head in disbelieving respect as he walked back towards the castle.
Alice allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction before setting off in the direction of the castle, initially she intended to go straight back to the library to find Hermione and Ron but one look down at her mud spattered robes and she redirected her steps to the dormitory. As she walked through the portrait hole she very nearly collided with Parvati and Lavender walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh, hi Alice…" Parvati's smile froze as she took in the state of Alice's appearance.
"Quidditch," she offered by way of explanation, feeling the familiar flush building in her cheeks.
"I didn't realise you played…" her expression made it clear what she thought of the sport, especially if the result was mud on your robes.
"Well I suppose we'll see you later." The girls walked round her making it painfully obvious they were trying to keep their robes clean. They didn't even wait till the portrait hole had shut before erupting into giggles which made Alice's usually pale cheeks burn even brighter. The other female Gryffindor first years were all right really, they just had very different outlooks from Alice and Hermione, although they were usually quite friendly to Alice at least. It was just that sometimes they could be a bit insensitive. Not that she was bothered she had other friends, speaking of which… Alice walked over to where Neville was sitting on his own next to the empty fireplace obviously struggling with his notes.
"Are you alright Neville?"
His head snapped up as though he was startled anyone had spoken to him. "What? Oh Alice it's you. Yeah I'm fine I just… No, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Alice looked sceptically at the scribbled notes and crumpled parchment lying, half concealed under his copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
"I'm just trying to understand what Professor McGonagall was talking about the other day, for the essay she set us. I just…" He tailed off looking down at his notes so forlornly that Alice felt a surge of pity for her friend.
"Do you want a hand? I don't mind," she added when he seemed about to protest. "I'll be back in a second I just need to change," and without giving him a chance to argue with her, not that Neville ever would, she dashed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
After that day Neville began spending more time with Alice and her friends in the library with Hermione and Alice patiently explaining to him the theory behind certain spells, and Ron not so patiently grumbling at them all to be quiet. Alice found that teaching someone else was actually a rather good revision technique as it seemed to enhance her brain's organisation. However, much as she was fond of Neville, his presence meant that they couldn't discuss the Stone or Hagrid's dragon egg around him. It was about two weeks before they managed to give him the slip when he stayed behind after Herbology to talk to Professor Sprout. Feeling slightly guilty they made their way quickly across the grounds and down to Hagrid's hut to see how things were progressing. As it turned out their trip was well timed as Hagrid gleefully informed them that the egg had begun to hatch.
"I was going ter tell you but I didn't want to drag you out o' class."
"That's alright Hagrid." Harry like all of his friends was staring with rapt attention at the huge black egg wobbling precariously on Hagrid's kitchen table.
"What are you going to do once it hatches Hagrid?" Hermione hissed, "it could burn your house down."
Hagrid didn't seem to hear her however as at that exact moment a long crack appeared around the middle of the egg with a noise similar to a gunshot masking her question.
"Any minute now…"
Suddenly with a final effortful twitch the egg split in half and a tiny black dragon's head forced itself into the open.
"Wow," Ron sounded impressed, "it's not everyday you see a dragon hatch."
The tiny dragon hiccupped gently as it peered hazily at its surroundings and shuffled in the direction of Hagrid who, close to tears, was cooing gently and reaching out to it.
"What are you going to call it?" Alice tried hard not to roll her eyes at Hermione's question, it seemed even her no-nonsense friend was being swept up in the wonder of the moment.
"Well I was thinkin' -"
"OUCH!" At the sudden noise from outside all five of them were instantly on their feet and peering towards one of the tiny windows in Hagrid's cabin.
"Who's there?"
Beyond the marked and smudged panes of glass Alice could just make out that some sort of tussle was occurring outside. Suddenly Harry moved past her, wrenched open the door - which was no mean feat for a tiny first year considering the size of it - and stopped dead in the doorway.
"Malfoy!" In the split second it took Alice to get to his side she heard someone mutter a curse and then feet pounding on the grass. As she peered around Harry she was briefly aware of a blonde figure sprinting across the grounds before none other than Neville appeared in the doorway clutching the side of his head.
"What happened? What are you doing here Neville?" They quickly pulled him inside and checked him for serious injury whilst bombarding him with questions.
"Hang on, just what do you think yer doing?!" Hagrid glowered at the interruption as he moved his not inconsiderable bulk around the table and easily hid the tiny dragon from view, although in Alice's opinion this was rather like bolting the stable door after the horse had bolted - assuming of course that Neville had seen anything.
"I… er… I um…" Her timid friend stuttered ineffectually under Hagrid's baleful stare.
"It's alright Hagrid," Hermione reached up to lay a hand on his arm, "Neville's a friend. What happened Neville?"
"I - well I left the green… greenhouse, and saw you three coming over here so I ran after you… then I looked in - in the window." Neville only just managed to stutter out, punctuating his sentence by throwing a terrified look at Hagrid every second word.
"And then?" Hermione seemed to be doing a wonderful impression of McGonagall all of a sudden.
"I couldn't see much… just you all round the table. Then Malfoy turned up, I tried to stop him - but he hit me and looked anyway. I'm sorry," he finished miserably.
"Don't worry about it Neville," Alice went over to give him a quick hug, "you were really brave trying to stand up to him."
Neville blushed and looked slightly better. "Thanks Alice."
"I s'pose it wouldn't hurt to take a look." Hagrid seemed to relent and stepped to the side to reveal the dragon and Alice, Harry, Ron and Hermione all laughed at the look of astonished incredulity which covered Neville's face. "Neville, meet Norbert."
Alice suppressed another giggle with difficulty. She had to concede that Norbert was much better than Fluffy by a long shot, but she still made a mental note never to let Hagrid name anything if she could help it.
A/N: Alihotsy is a plant mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I also borrowed one of my favourite lines from the film. The next chapter might be a bit longer in appearing because I've got a couple essays to write over the next few weeks. Hope everyone liked the chapter, as ever please R&R!
-->