Mysterious Ways

Much to Alice's surprise, the next week passed quite quickly. She still had tons of work to do, and she and Lily slaved away practically every night in the library, but even so, Alice was beginning to feel more relaxed. She loved nothing better than the feeling of satisfaction when she finished an essay she'd been working hard on for hours.

Alice began to wonder, in fact, why she'd got so stressed out the first couple of days back. Alice really wasn't the type of girl who lost her temper easily - when she got angry, she normally bit her lip and silently hated whoever or whatever was getting on her nerves. She had inherited this trait from her father - he held long, stony grudges against people who had betrayed him. Alice knew he had one against his brother - her uncle, Cameron, but Alice didn't know why - her dad never would tell her. Alice's mother, on the other hand, was much more easy-going. She was always scolding Alice's dad and calling him a "stubborn old mule". Alice was an only child, and was often the point of arguments between her parents.

When Alice had first joined Hogwarts, there was a lot of speculation about which House she would go into. Her mother had been in Gryffindor, along with the rest of her family, including her brother Richard, who was James' father. Her father, however, had been from a long line of Ravenclaws, with the exception of her Uncle Cameron, who had been a Slytherin. When Alice had got into Ravenclaw, her father had been so proud - but this meant he also put a lot of pressure on her to do well at school. Alice's mother always told him to go easy on her, but Alice loved and respected both her parents, and wanted to make them proud.

The following Sunday, she and Lily were relaxing by the lake. Alice had just finished yet another essay for Defence Against The Dark Arts, and now the two girls were lying on their backs, staring at the clouds that were rolling in rapidly. Alice lazily swatted a fly away from her face before putting her hands behind her head and settling back comfortably. Yes, it took a lot for Alice to blow her top, and in this case, it was Sirius Black. Alice hadn't seen him for four days and she had felt surprisingly mellow. Alice made a mental note to avoid him as much as she could; he obviously brought out this snappy, bad-tempered bitch in her and she didn't like it at all.

"Wasn't that Quidditch match good?" Lily remarked, lazily pulling up handfuls of grass and throwing them back down again.

"Yeah," Alice said in agreement. Gryffindor had won the first match of the season against Hufflepuff. Alice didn't really like to be biased, but she had to admit she was rooting for Gryffindor. "Wait until you play against Ravenclaw, though. We'll slaughter you!" Alice teased.

Lily laughed. She and Alice didn't take the house rivalry too seriously - the main one was between Slytherin and Gryffindor, anyway.

"Didn't James play great?" Alice asked slyly. James had scored the winning goal for Gryffindor, just before their Seeker caught the Snitch - even Alice had lost her cool and had jumped up from her seat, cheering.

"Mmm," Lily said vaguely, a tinge of pink staining her cheeks. Alice grinned to herself and rolled over onto her stomach.

"When's the next meeting?" Alice asked.

"Tomorrow," Lily said in a straightforward manner. Alice decided not to press it and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lily frowned.

"I'll be back in a minute," Alice said. "I'm just going to get my homework. I've got another Arithmancy essay due for tomorrow."

"More work?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "Can't you leave it until the last minute, like everyone else?"

"No," Alice grinned. "I can never enjoy the weekend until I've got all my work out the way."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Strange girl."

Chuckling, Alice left her friend by the lake and headed towards the castle. Just before she could go through the doors someone opened them from inside, nearly hitting Alice in the face.

Alice jumped back just in time to avoid a broken nose. Holly Gordon came through the door, blushing. "I'm sorry!" she said frantically, and then seemed to relax when she realised who it was.

"Oh, hi Alice." Holly gave her a nervous smile and hitched her bag higher on her shoulder.

"Hi Holly." Alice felt slightly guilty as she looked at Holly's expectant face. She had been so busy over this past week that she hadn't had time to think of any way to help Holly get Remus to notice her.

"I don't suppose you..." Holly let the end of her sentence trail off and bit her lip. Alice racked her brains, trying to think of something she could come up with on the spot. Try as she might, she could think of nothing.

"I'm really sorry, Holly. It's just been crazy this past week, and I haven't..." Alice stopped midsentence as she realised Holly wasn't even paying attention to her. Instead, she was looking over Alice's shoulder, a panicked look on her face.

Alice turned around to see Remus and Sirius approaching. Annoyed as she was at Sirius, she couldn't let the opportunity to get Holly and Remus talking slide. Alice turned to Holly and hissed, "Drop your bag!"

"What?" Holly looked at her as if she was mad.

"Drop it!" Alice insisted, but as Remus and Sirius drew closer, Holly seemed frozen on the spot. Alice grabbed Holly's bag and yanked it off her shoulder. Books, parchment and ink spilled everywhere, some of them stopping right at Remus' feet. Holly turned red as a tomato as Remus smiled and stooped down to help her pick her stuff up.

"Some of your ink bottles have smashed," Remus said apologetically, holding out a broken bottle to Holly. Holly took it, her face flaming. Remus picked up one of her books and looked at the title with interest. "Werewolves - Cold Blooded Killers Or Innocent Men?" he asked quizzically, holding it out to Holly.

Holly took it, smiling shyly. "I've always been fascinated with werewolves. I think it's terrible the way society reacts to them today - werewolves are people just like us. Well, except for a couple of days out of the month, anyway," she added.

Remus smiled. "I agree with you completely."

Alice decided that this would be a good time to leave. "Well, I've got to go," she said, giving the group a little wave. "So much to do, so little time, you know." She turned and hurried off down the corridor. When she had turned a corner, she leaned against the wall and smiled secretly. Her spur of the moment idea had worked even better than she'd hoped!

"You really do never get tired of interfering in people's lives, do you?"

Alice turned to see that Sirius Black had followed her and he was leaning against the wall, too, his arms folded. He was staring at her with an amused look on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about," Alice said briskly, resisting the urge to yell, "I do not interfere with people's lives!"

Sirius laughed. "That little stunt you pulled back there. It's so obvious what you're doing." His eyes twinkled at her. "So are you going to admit I was right?"

"No." Alice began marching down the corridor. Much to her annoyance, Sirius followed her.

"Come on," he said with a grin. "Admit it. You enjoy being Miss Matchmaker, don't you?"

"No, I do not," Alice replied snippily. "I don't have time for childish stuff like that. I'm too busy."

"Yeah, right." Sirius raised his eyebrows. "First James and Lily, now Holly and Remus. Who's next?"

"I only said I'd help James because he asked me," Alice reminded him. "Anyway, he doesn't need it any more. He and Lily are getting along fine without me. As for Holly and Remus, I only gave them a nudge. Holly asked me to help, and I felt sorry for her, so I said yes."

"That's not why you did it at all." Sirius smirked. "You did it because you're so bossy you just love to organise other people and tell them what to do."

That did it. Alice stopped furiously in her tracks. How dare he call her bossy? "I am not bossy," she said hotly. "I don't ask to do things for other people, it's the other way around. Since when is it your business what I do in my free time, anyway?"

Sirius didn't say anything, he just looked at her with a broad smile on his face. Alice turned her back on her and stomped off down the corridor. Don't lose your temper. Just ignore him.

This time, Sirius didn't follow her. Relieved, Alice sped up back to Ravenclaw tower and up to the dormitory to collect her homework. On opening the door, she found a large barn owl sitting on her bed, a letter in its beak.

Alice sat down on the bed and took the letter from the owl, stroking its tawny feathers. She recognised her mum's writing on the envelope. "It's about time," Alice muttered to herself, tearing it open. Unfolding the letter, she scanned the first few lines and her heart dropped to her feet. She put the letter down, her face pale, hoping that it wasn't true; hoping that she had misread it. She picked it up again, taking deep breaths, and began to read it properly.

Dear Alice,

I know you're probably wondering why I haven't written until now. I'm so sorry, dear, but things are... hectic at home. I regret to say that there are more attacks happening every day, and your father and I are run off our feet. I haven't had time to even pick up a quill until now.

Alice, this isn't an easy letter for me to write, but you're almost eighteen - old enough to know the truth. I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now, but your father warned me not to - he said it would be too much for you to handle while you were still at school. You know what he's like. But it's only a matter of time before you find out - every newspaper in the country will be printing it - and I thought it would be better if you heard it from me.

What you must understand, Alice, is that your Uncle Cameron is a very cold and proud man. I'm sure you know that both Salazar Slytherin and Lord Voldemort believed Muggle-borns to be unworthy to study magic, and that Muggles are the inferior race. Well, Cameron Tyler was no different. He was Sorted into Slytherin when he was at Hogwarts, and he had it drilled into him by his fellow housemates that Muggle-borns were scum; that purebloods were superior in every way. By the time your uncle left Hogwarts, his dislike of Muggles and Muggle-borns had developed into pure, cold-blooded hatred.

Your father tried to talk to him about it, tried to change his ridiculous opinions, but he wouldn't listen. He told your dad that his foolish love for Mudbloods would be his downfall. That was what caused the rift between the two of them. Your father vowed never to speak to him again, and he was true to his word.

Two years later, a Muggle-born wizard was killed. Cameron was a suspect, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. Everyone believed he was guilty, though. Your father went to ask him about it, but he didn't once deny that he was involved.

I know this must come as a shock to you, Alice. You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this now, in a letter instead of face to face. Well, there's been another attack - another Muggle-born has been murdered. This time people saw him do it. There were too many witnesses for him to get away with it - it was your Uncle Cameron.

He must have known he'd be found out, because he's in hiding now. No one's seen him since the attack. The Ministry believes he may be working for Voldemort.

I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, darling, but I didn't see any other way I could contact you, and I wanted you to find out before it was reported in the newspapers. I just hope your classmates don't treat you any differently because of it... although as far as I'm concerned, he's no longer family.

Owl me as soon as you can, sweetheart, and let me know how you are. Again, I'm so sorry about all of this - I just wish I could have done something to prevent it.

Love always,

Mum.

Alice clutched the letter tightly with shaking hands. She could feel tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes and blinked them away fiercely. Stuffing the letter back in the envelope, she pushed it under her pillow and then sank down onto her bed, curling up into a ball as the tears began to fall.

Just the thought that her uncle could have so much hatred for people, to murder them in such a callous way, for the pure reason that they were Muggle-born... it made Alice want to curl up and die. The fact that Cameron Tyler could have such a grudge against people like Holly Gordon, people like Lily... Alice just couldn't understand. And working for Voldemort...

"Why?" she whispered, rocking back and forth on her bed, hugging her knees. "Why, Uncle Cameron? How could you do such a thing?"

Alice lay there for a while, silent tears running down her cheeks. Eventually she couldn't cry any more, and sat up, rubbing her face with the back of her hand. To her surprise, her sadness had ebbed away, and what was left inside her was the feeling of white-hot anger.

"It's people like you," Alice spat bitterly, "that make this world the shithole that it is today..."

"God, talk about touchy! I freeze you out for one day and you act like I murdered your best friend!"

"Murdered?" Alice's head shot up at that. Belinda was standing in the doorway, a confused and slightly shocked expression on her face.

"Oh, it's you." Alice sighed. "I wasn't talking about you, Belinda."

"Oh, good," Belinda said brightly, stepping into the room. "Because I've decided to forgive you."

"Lucky me," Alice said dryly. She suddenly remembered that she had forgotten about Lily and jumped up immediately. Belinda looked a bit put out that Alice was walking out on her - for about the millionth time.

"Sorry," Alice said distractedly. "I've got to find Lily." She hurried out of the room and down the steps, cursing herself for being so unreliable. When she left the common room and glanced out of the window, she saw that it was raining.

"Great," Alice muttered. Lily had probably come inside and gone to her own common room.

Alice dashed to the portrait hole, ready to pounce on Lily when she came out and beg for forgiveness. A second year Gryffindor came along and eyed Alice suspiciously, obviously not wanting to say the password while Alice was within hearing range.

"Go ahead," Alice said, waving her in. "And if you see Lily Evans in there, tell her Alice is outside."

The girl nodded. Alice stuck her fingers in her ears while the girl recited the password and went inside. "Please be there, please be there, please be there..." Alice muttered under her breath, hopping from one foot to the other.

The portrait hole opened again and the girl stuck her head out. "Sorry, she's not here," she said importantly before disappearing again. Alice cursed under her breath and decided to try the library. On the way she bumped into James.

"Whoa, where are you going in such a hurry?" James asked, catching hold of her arm. He noticed her expression and the look on his face changed to one of concern. "What's wrong?"

Alice bit her lip. She didn't know whether to tell James about her uncle or not. On the one hand, he was her cousin, after all. Cameron was a relative of his, even if it was somewhat distantly. But Alice was too ashamed of what he had done to talk about it.

"Nothing," Alice replied, forcing a smile onto her face. "I just need to find Lily. Have you seen her?"

"Don't give me that," James said with mock sternness. "I can tell when you're lying." He grinned broadly, but then saw that Alice wasn't in the mood for kidding around. "Come on, Alice, this is me. You can tell me anything."

Alice felt tears spring to her eyes again. What the hell. He's going to find out anyway. "Oh, James, it's awful," she burst out suddenly, flinging her arms around him.

James patted her back awkwardly. "It can't be that bad, whatever it is."

Alice pulled away. "It's worse," she sniffled, and then proceeded to tell James all about the letter she had received.

"I can't believe it," she ended, her voice trembling. "I'm so afraid people are going to blame me - they're going to think I'm just like him."

James enveloped her in a hug again. "Don't be so stupid. Everyone knows you're not like him at all. Just because someone in your family does a terrible thing like that doesn't mean that you're the same. Just look at Sirius - his family are scum and he's not like that at all."

Alice couldn't help snorting through her tears. "Well, he's not that awful, anyway," James said with a small laugh. Alice considered this for a moment. She knew that Sirius had run away from home the previous year and lived with James in the summer holidays. Alice hadn't met any of his family before, but her parents had, and they had told Alice that they were typical pureblood snobs. She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Sirius. If she was this distraught by her uncle hating Muggle-borns, what must it be like to have parents like it?

James took Alice by the shoulders, forcing her to look straight at him. "Look, you can't feel guilty about other people's mistakes, even if they are family. People won't judge you on what Cameron does - people will judge you on what you do, and everyone in school knows you'd never dream of harboring a hatred for someone just because their blood isn't completely pure. I mean, your best friend's Muggle-born, right?"

Alice gave a small smile. "I guess so," she said, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice. "I just feel so ashamed..."

"Don't be," James assured her, putting an arm around her comfortingly. "The people that matter, your true friends, like me and Lily, won't give a damn about Cameron Tyler. We care about Alice Tyler."

Alice smiled again, suddenly gaining new confidence. She felt quite touched and reassured by James' words, and vowed to herself that she would ignore any gossip or nasty comments once the story broke the following day.

"Thanks a lot, James," she said, rubbing her face. "I'd better go and find Lily."

"Sure." James released her and Alice began to walk away down the corridor.

"Oh, and Alice?" Alice turned back round curiously.

"If anyone gives you trouble - anyone at all - tell me straight away," James said with a wink.

"I'll remember that," Alice laughed, waving before turning away again. She rounded a corner only to bump straight into someone.

"Oh, sorry!" Alice said at once. She looked up and, cringing, realised it was Lucius Malfoy.

Alice had never spoken to Lucius before in her life, but she saw how he treated other people - mainly people who were Muggle-born - and she didn't like it. She made a point of avoiding him whenever possible. He'd do well going out Muggle-killing with Uncle Cameron, Alice thought bitterly. She waited for the bashing, the "How-dare-you-touch-me-I'm-a-Malfoy", but it didn't come. Instead, Lucius just regarded her coolly, one eyebrow raised, before walking off.

OK. That was weird. Alice couldn't help but feel puzzled. Lucius was known for being stuck-up and rude to people; that was just the way it was.

Oh well. Alice didn't dwell on it too much; she had more important things to worry about, after all - like finding Lily. She hurried off to the library, hoping and praying that Lily would be there.

She was; sitting in their usual spot, reading Advanced Charms and When To Use Them. Alice approached her warily, not sure if Lily would be annoyed with her or not. Lily must have heard her, even though she tried to tread quietly, because she looked up from the book she was reading.

"There you are!" Lily cried, closing the book and getting up from her chair. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Alice gave a weak smile. Lily frowned and walked over to her. "Alice, what's wrong? You look awful," she said in a concerned voice, steering Alice over to a chair.

"Gee, thanks, Lily. I can't hear that enough," Alice teased. Lily rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

Alice twisted a strand of hair round her finger. Lily was looking at her curiously. Alice debated whether to tell her about the letter or not, but she decided not to. She knew Lily wouldn't judge her, but she didn't want her to know that a member of her family could do something horrific like that.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just bumped into Lucius Malfoy on my way here and he was acting weird, that's all." Alice filled Lily in on her encounter earlier.

"Wow, that is strange," Lily agreed. "I mean, he's normally so..."

"Evil?" Alice offered.

Lily grinned. "Exactly. It's a known fact. That's just how he is, same as James being a cocky, arrogant git." She paused, seeming to contemplate her words. "Then again, people can change," she added offhandedly.

"Right," Alice said with a smirk. "Have you spoken to him at all this week?"

"Not really. There's another prefect meeting tomorrow evening, though." Lily blushed slightly before changing the subject. "Did you find your homework?"

"What?" For a minute, Alice didn't register with what Lily was talking about. Then she remembered that was what she had gone to her dormitory for. "Oh, no. I got a letter from my mum, and I just forgot."

"Anything good happening at home?" Lily asked.

Alice shrugged. "Not really," she said airily, ignoring the gnawing feeling of distress in her stomach.

Lily stood up again from the chair she was sitting on. "I'm starving," she announced. "It must be dinnertime by now. Let's go and get some food."

Alice got up too, and the two girls went to the Great Hall. Alice joined Lily at the Gryffindor table, pretending not to notice the death stares Belinda and the other Ravenclaws were giving her. Alice didn't hate her House or anything; she was proud to be in Ravenclaw. But sitting anywhere near Belinda and her friends was absolute torture.

James, Sirius and Peter were already sitting at the table, much to Alice's annoyance. James she could tolerate, but Sirius and Peter... briefly, Alice wondered where Remus was, but shook it off and helped herself to pork chops.

"You OK, Alice?" James asked in a concerned voice. Alice shook her head warningly, nodding towards Lily. James turned to look at the redhead. "Hi, Lily," he said with a warm smile.

"Hello, James," Lily said politely, though Alice could detect a trace of a blush on her cheeks. Alice raised her eyebrows. She had never heard James call Lily anything other than "Evans" before.

Alice was about to say something when Holly Gordon came flying into the Great Hall, her eyes sparkling and a blissful look on her face. She made a beeline for the Gryffindor table and before Alice could even say "hi", Holly flung her arms round her, almost knocking her off the seat.

"Erm, hi, Holly," Alice said, somewhat taken aback.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Holly said in reply, closing her eyes dreamily.

"Um," Alice started, noticing Lily looking at her with an amused grin on her face. "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Oh, I'm too happy to eat anything now!" Holly gushed. "I just wanted to say thanks!" She floated from the room, seemingly walking on air.

"OK..." James said in a confused voice. "That was weird."

Alice shrugged with a grin. "What can I say? It's just been a really weird day."