Mysterious Ways

Thanks to Belinda, Alice felt a lot happier over the next few days. Knowing that nobody was really interested in what she was doing any more, Alice was able to relax and let loose a bit more. Unfortunately, the teachers were becoming more and more anxious, and they were piling huge amounts of homework on them, much to Alice's annoyance.

As the weather grew colder and Christmas drew nearer, Alice began to grow restless. It seemed as if nothing interesting was happening - unless you counted studying, studying and more studying, which Alice didn't.

"I'm bored!" Alice announced one morning. Hail was hammering down against the windows, and she and Lily were in the library doing yet more homework.

Lily glanced up from the book she was reading. "Alice Tyler, bored of homework?" she asked, pretending to be shocked. "I've never heard such blasphemy!"

"Oh, thanks," Alice replied. She frowned. "You know, I actually used to like homework. Now it just seems so - boring."

"You finally figured it out?" Lily asked wryly.

"I mean it," Alice insisted. "It's not just homework that's boring. Everything's boring. I'm boring."

"You're not boring," Lily said, raising her eyebrows, "but you are being a bit of a complainer. You know we've got NEWTs next year. We need to study."

"What, every single minute of the day?" Alice asked, bouncing up from her chair. "You know what they say about all work and no play..."

"Alice, you like schoolwork," Lily said, narrowing her eyes at Alice over her book. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Alice said. She whipped the book out of Lily's hands, ignoring her protests. "I was just thinking that maybe I should reinvent myself."

"What?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Lily, everyone thinks we're uptight!" Alice pointed out. "I don't want to be regular, boring old Alice any more! I've been like that my whole life. And I had this talk with Belinda a couple of weeks ago -"

"You're actually listening to what Belinda says?" Lily looked surprised.

"She said that I should do what I want to do, not what everyone else wants me to do," Alice continued. "Everyone expects me to be honest, reliable, studious... which all adds up to boring."

"Are you aware that you've used the word boring about ten times in the past two minutes?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows.

Alice ignored her. "Lily, I want to get rid of this reputation I've got."

"Why?" Lily asked, grabbing the book back from Alice. "This is who you are. You've always been like this. Why do you want to change?"

"Because!" Alice said, then stopped. She wasn't really sure why she wanted to change. Her talk with Belinda had made her realise that all her life she had been a conformist: her father wanted her to be a good student, so she was a good student, her mother wanted her to be brave and honest, so Alice had stayed at school when she felt like everyone hated her. The teachers expected her to work every night and get good results in the NEWTs, all the other students expected her to be perfect and never make any mistakes... Alice knew she wasn't perfect, and what's more, she didn't want to be perfect. She wanted to do what she wanted, not what everyone else wanted, and people expected her to be bossy, uptight and studious. Well, Alice didn't want to be like that any more. Things were about to change.

"Besides," Lily said, going back to her book, "it's not a very good idea to slack off when we've got our NEWTs next year, is it?"

"I didn't say I wanted to slack off," Alice protested. She still wanted to get good results, after all. "I'm just fed up of being predictable, that's all. Come on, Lily, let's do something crazy!"

"Like what?" Lily asked warily.

"Like..." Alice bit her lip and looked around. "I know where James keeps his Dungbombs. We could let one off in the corridor!"

"I'd hardly class that as doing something crazy," Lily said wryly. "I can't, anyway. I'm Head Girl - I'm supposed to set an example to the younger students. Besides, I don't want to get in trouble."

"Yeah, me neither," Alice admitted. She racked her brains for a moment. She wanted to do something reckless, something daring... but something that wouldn't get her into a lot of trouble. Is that even possible? Alice wondered. Well, it must be. James did it all the time.

"Come on, Lily, we've been studying for two hours," Alice begged. "Can we just go and sit outside or something?"

"Alice, it's hailing," Lily pointed out, gesturing towards the window.

"Well, I want to do something," Alice declared, jumping up from her seat. "Let's just go and find Holly. I haven't seen her for ages, and I want to know how everything's going with Remus."

Lily sighed, putting her book back in her bag. "If we must."

The two girls left the library to find the corridor surprisingly crowded. "What's going on?" Lily asked, craning her neck to look over the heads of the groups of students milling around.

Alice shrugged. "Nothing exciting, probably. Everyone always gets worked up about nothing."

She and Lily began to weave their way down the packed corridor. Someone bumped into Alice and trod on her foot. "Ow!" Alice said indignantly. She looked up to see that it was Lucius Malfoy.

"Watch where you're going," Lily snapped. Lucius, however, didn't take any notice of her; he just smirked at Alice and walked away.

"He fancies you," Lily commented as Alice fell back into step beside her.

"As if," Alice protested. "I doubt he even knows my name. Besides, the only person he's in love with is himself."

"And his money," Lily added.

"Exactly," Alice agreed. "I probably wouldn't be good enough for the honourable Malfoys," she said sarcastically.

"Hey, look! There's Holly." Lily changed the subject abruptly and pointed to the small blonde girl who was waving them over.

"What's up?" Alice asked as she and Lily joined Holly, squeezing into the small space in between two excitedly chattering groups of people. "What is everyone so thrilled about?"

"Haven't you heard yet?" Holly asked in surprise.

"Heard what?" Lily frowned.

"There's going to be a Christmas ball!"

Holly's news was met by two very different reactions: a squeal of delight from Lily and a groan from Alice, who found two faces staring at her curiously.

"What's wrong?" Holly asked in dismay. "Don't you like dances?"

"It's not that I don't like them," Alice sighed.

"Then what?" Lily frowned.

"It's just..." Alice bit her lip. "There's always so much pressure to find a date for these stupid things."

"So?" Holly asked, sounding confused. "You won't have a problem with that. You're really outgoing when you talk to boys."

"Yes," Alice said glumly. "But I'm outgoing as in bossy interfering superbitch, as I'm so constantly reminded. Boys always see me as a know-it-all, or 'just James's cousin'."

"That's bull," Lily said bluntly. "And besides," she added, her eyes sparkling, "there might be one boy in particular who wants to take you to the ball, Alice."

Oh God. Alice groaned inwardly. Shut up, Lily, please... She sent Lily silent begging signals with her eyes, pleading with her not to say anything in front of Holly. Lily seemed to take the hint and shut her mouth. Alice breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she didn't trust Holly, but she didn't want rumours flying around that Lucius fancied her when it probably wasn't even true.

Holly was looking back and forth between them, a puzzled expression on her face. Lily must have noticed this and abruptly changed the subject.

"Hey, Holly, how did you find out about the ball?" she asked conversationally.

"There's a notice pinned up about it on the doors of the Great Hall," Holly told them. "Come on, I'll show you."

The three girls made their way along the corridor to the Great Hall, where large groups of giggling girls were clustered around the doors. Alice noticed Belinda with Jen and Suzanne, and smiled briefly at her. Belinda gave a half-smile back, an unspoken truce passed between them.

"There," Holly said, pointing. She, Alice and Lily squeezed through the assembled people until they were right in front of the doors. Alice read the notice dutifully:

TO ALL 4^TH-7^TH YEARS

This year, Hogwarts has decided to have a Christmas ball. The ball will be held on December 22^nd, and dress robes are required for those who wish to attend. Nobody below fourth year may attend unless invited by an older student. Your Heads of Houses will give you more information should you require it. Happy Christmas!

Albus Dumbledore

Alice glanced at Lily, who was still reading, her face shining with excitement.

"Isn't it great?" Holly asked breathlessly. "I just hope someone asks me."

"That's really sexist," Alice said moodily. "Why do we have to sit around waiting for boys to ask us? I mean, what's wrong with us asking them?"

"Don't be so grumpy," Lily said, elbowing Alice cheerfully. "You can ask someone if you want."

Alice shook her head fiercely. She didn't want. In fact, she didn't know why she had jumped on Holly in the first place. It wasn't that she was such a big feminist or anything, it was just that she was trying to find something, anything, to criticise about the ball.

Truthfully, Alice didn't think she'd be able to go anyway. She was certain that no one would ask her, and she'd rather chew off her own arm than ask someone herself. The only thing more pathetic than not going, Alice reflected, would be going without a date. It was even harder when she had a best friend as gorgeous as Lily. Even Holly was pretty in her own way. Alice was sure they'd have boys queuing up to ask them to the ball. Next to them, Alice could only describe herself as plain - dark brown hair, brown eyes, freckles, average height, average weight. There was nothing special or distinguishable about her.

Oh well, Alice thought glumly, it's not like there was anyone who I'd want to ask me, anyway.

"Hey, look, the hail's stopped," Lily said, pointing at the window. "Shall we go and walk around the grounds a bit?"

Alice and Holly nodded. "So are you two both staying for the holidays?" Holly asked as the three girls made their way to the doors.

Lily shook her head. "My sister Petunia has a new boyfriend, Vernon something, and she's invited him over for Christmas dinner. I don't think she wants him to know that I'm a witch." Lily pulled a face. "In fact, she'd probably try to pretend I didn't exist if she could."

Lily's tone of voice was light, but Alice knew that she was upset that she didn't get along better with her sister. Lily and Petunia had never been close, but ever since Lily had come to Hogwarts, the wedge between them had grown even bigger. Alice remembered one year when she had visited Lily in the summer holidays. Lily and Petunia had been arguing over the TV remote, and Lily had got so angry that the remote had flown across the room and landed in Lily's outstretched hand, hitting Petunia in the arm as it did so. Petunia had been horrified. "Lily, you're a FREAK!" she had screamed, before bolting from the room. Lily had laughed it off and tried to pretend that she didn't mind, but Alice could tell that Petunia's words had hurt her.

"What about you, Alice?" Holly asked.

Alice shrugged. "I'll probably stay as well. My parents are really busy at work at the moment, and even if I do go home, they'll be at work all the time and I'll end up being stuck on my own."

"Ahh, you poor neglected thing," Lily teased. Alice elbowed her playfully.

Holly pushed open the door and as soon as they stepped outside, a cold wind whipped through Alice's hair. Alice shivered, pulling her cloak tighter round her. She had always liked the cold weather. Everything seemed so much more real in winter - the trees, stripped of their leaves, gleamed starkly against the slate-grey sky, and the ground glistened with puddles where the hail had melted. It was such a contrast to what Hogwarts looked like in the summer, with bright green grass and trees full of blossom, which was nice, but Alice always thought it looked like a picture in a children's storybook - too vivid and garish to be real.

The girls wandered over to the lake in companionable silence. Alice idly watched the tiny waves lapping in and out against the soil; the water was dark and murky, almost pitch black, the colour it usually only looked at night-time. Alice always half-wished that the lake would freeze over in winter, but it was simply too big and fast moving for that.

As they approached the lake, Alice noticed a group of students huddled together, whispering. She nudged Lily. "Wonder what that's all about."

Lily didn't seem too interested. "Probably just gabbing about the ball, I reckon."

Alice, however, didn't think so. The voices speaking in hushed tones didn't sound excited; they sounded alarmed and even a little panicked. While Lily and Holly chattered about the ball and what they were going to wear, Alice moved closer to the group, pretending to be looking for stones to skim but actually straining to hear what they were saying.

They were talking too quietly for Alice to hear, but she could see that they were huddled around something. Alice edged a bit closer until she could just see over their shoulders. It was a newspaper cutting, and if Alice squinted she could see that it was dated yesterday. The headline screamed TWO MORE BODIES FOUND.

A wave of nausea began to build up in the pit of Alice's stomach; she pushed it down and forced herself to read the article:

Late last night, two more dead bodies were stolen from St Mungo's hospital. Since the incident of last month, security had been bumped up around the wards: more protection spells had been issued, and two trained Aurors were placed outside the wards to ensure nothing would happen. However, mediwitch Amelia King, who spoke to us last month, went in this morning to find the bodies missing and the Aurors Stunned.

The Ministry are said to be furious and bewildered at who could have the power to do this. However, there is some talk that this may be the work of He Who Must Not Be Named. The Ministry refused to comment.

The bodies -

"Did you want something?"

Alice jumped, startled, to see the group of students glaring at her frostily.

"Oh - erm -" Alice took a step back, feeling a blush creeping up at being caught snooping. "No, I was just -" Unable to find an excuse, she turned hurriedly and half-walked, half-jogged back over to Lily and Holly.

"What were they saying to you?" Lily asked curiously as Alice arrived, slightly breathless and embarrassed.

"Nothing," Alice said, not wanting to tell Lily about the article. "You were right, they're just all hyped up for the ball."

Lily raised her eyebrows. Alice cringed, knowing that she sounded completely insincere, but she held her best friend's gaze and gave her a fleeting smile. Lily obviously didn't believe her, but she didn't comment further, just pulled her scarf tighter around her neck and said, "Come on, let's go back inside, I'm freezing."

As they trudged back up to the school, Alice's mind was whirling with questions. Who was powerful enough to get past trained Aurors? Was it really Voldemort? What would anyone want with the bodies in the first place? And the most important question of all - the one she didn't think anyone could answer - what the hell was going on?

Alice shivered. She felt cold suddenly, and not just because of the weather. She hated the fact that she didn't know what was happening - or what was going to happen. Alice had a firm belief that there was an answer to everything; that knowledge could be gained from looking in the right places. But how could she find anything when she didn't know where to look? Alice felt scared - and not just for herself, but for the entire wizarding world.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was silent in the Ravenclaw seventh-year girls' dormitory. The only sound was that of rustling pages from the book Alice was reading.

Alice sighed in frustration and closed the book, stashing it in the top drawer next to her bed. Holding her illuminated wand to the clock on top of the drawers, she saw that is was just past midnight. Alice rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes, willing sleep to come. She had been trying in vain to fall asleep for the past hour, but it was useless - she just wasn't tired.

A muffled snort made Alice sit up in bed with a start. Swinging her wand around, she realised with some relief that it was only Jennifer in the next bed, snoring. The relief quickly turned to annoyance as her snoring grew louder. Alice sighed - there was absolutely no chance of her getting to sleep now.

Alice swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She began to pace up and down, trying to be as quiet as she could so as not to wake the others, all the while wondering what to do to make herself feel sleepy. Reading hadn't worked, staring into space hadn't worked, and just lying there willing sleep to come had proven the least effective of all. Suddenly an idea came over her - but she dismissed it immediately. It was stupid - wasn't it?

Alice paused in her pacing. Maybe it wasn't so stupid. She knew James and the others sneaked out of their dormitories at night all the time - why shouldn't she?

Because you'll get into trouble, a voice at the back of her head told her.

James does it all the time, and he never gets caught, another, louder voice argued.

They've got the Invisibility Cloak, Alice reminded herself.

But you've still got the map.

This sudden realisation spurred Alice on. Quickly she walked over to her dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer, shifting books and papers until she found the map at the very bottom. Touching her wand to the parchment, she muttered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," and watched as ink blossomed over the pages and the tiny lines began to fill in.

Alice stood there for a moment, map in left hand, wand in right. Do I really dare to do this? she wondered.

Why not? the louder voice said. Maybe a walk will help tire you out. You've got the map, so you'll be able to see if a teacher's coming. And maybe - maybe doing this will help you shed the reputation you've got as boring, reliable old Alice.

Alice hesitated for only a split second longer before striding towards the door, slipping through and shutting it behind her with a soft click.

The Ravenclaw common room was pitch black and deadly silent - almost eerily so. The only light came from the dimly glowing embers of the dying fire, but it wasn't enough to see by and Alice stubbed her toe on an armchair. Cursing under her breath, she held her wand out as far as she could and fumbled her way to the stone archway.

Outside, Alice studied the map. Professor Slughorn was patrolling the corridors near the Great Hall, far away from the Ravenclaw tower. That made up Alice's mind not to go very far. Not very sure what she wanted to do or where she wanted to go, Alice set off in the general direction of the library, hoping that Slughorn wouldn't decide to come down here. He probably wouldn't do anything to her, seeing as her father was an Auror, but he was really very annoying and Alice didn't want a confrontation with him.

The corridors were deathly silent, so much so that Alice felt slightly creeped out. She heard a cough behind her and spun around, her heart hammering, holding her illuminated wand aloft.

"Hey!" a cranky voice snapped from her left. Alice jumped backwards and turned to see a portrait of a seventeenth-century man with a ruffle around his neck glaring down at her.

"Do you mind?" the portrait snapped, holding a hand up to shield his eyes from the light. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Oh, right - sorry," Alice whispered, backing away. Breathing a sigh of relief, she checked the map again and saw that nobody was around. So why don't I feel reassured?

"Probably because of that nagging voice at the back of my head telling me I shouldn't be doing this," she muttered to herself. Still, not wanting to give up so easily, Alice continued down the corridor.

At the end of the corridor, three staircases loomed, dark and uninviting. Alice, who was feeling less and less like a rebel and more like an idiot, reluctantly decided to take the down one. As she slowly descended the steps, she decided to make this a short walk and then head back to bed.

At the bottom of the stairs, Alice stopped. The space in front of her was inky black, and even when she held her wand out as far as she could, she could barely see a metre in front of her. Alice took a cautious step forward. Her footstep sounded incredibly loud, the echo ringing on and on in the silent space.

"OK, enough's enough." Alice turned away and began to hurry back up the staircase, telling herself that she had made her point. Before she had even made it halfway up, though, her foot got caught in something and she tripped over, landing heavily on her elbows. The map fell out of her hands and tumbled down the staircase. Alice couldn't see exactly where it went, but she heard it land with a thud some way away from her. Looking down, Alice saw that she had stepped in one of the trick stairs and had sunk in down to her knee.

"Well, that's just fabulous," Alice groaned. She tried to pull her leg out, but it was stuck fast.

All of a sudden there was a cracking sound behind her. Alice whirled around, retrieving her wand from where it had clattered a couple of steps below her and thrusting it in the direction of the noise. She could see nothing, and again silence settled all around.

Alice found herself breathing heavily. OK, relax. It's probably nothing. You're just hearing things.

There was another cracking noise, followed by a sort of rustling, like a cloak swishing against the ground. Alice panicked, not wanting to be caught by a teacher and unable to reach the map. She grabbed hold of the stair in front of her and started desperately trying to yank her leg out. Slowly, like pulling something out of quicksand, it began to rise out from the stair.

A short laugh echoed through the dark space, followed by footsteps skittering across the floor. This made Alice jump so much that she let go of the stair and her leg sank back in. "Shit," she muttered, reaching blindly for her wand, just as a voice started up. "Alice..."

Alice swung her wand around. "Who's there?" she asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"Alice..." the voice whispered again. More laughter.

Alice narrowed her eyes. She recognised that laugh...

"Sirius Black!" she hissed. "Come out at once!"

The laughing grew louder as Sirius appeared at the bottom of the stairs, pulling off what appeared to be James's Invisibility Cloak.

"You prat!" Alice said furiously, trying to wrench her leg out of the stair. "What the hell are you doing, wandering around here at night?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm..." Alice faltered. She couldn't think of a decent excuse. "It's none of your business," she said lamely.

"Well then, neither is what I'm doing," Sirius shot back. He noticed the map, still lying on the step, and picked it up. "I think this belongs to me," he smirked.

"Fine," Alice said, feeling like a complete idiot. "You can just go now, then." She turned her attention back to working herself free.

"Here." Alice felt Sirius take hold of her arm and her head snapped up in shock. After a split second's hesitation, Alice took hold of the stair in front again. She and Sirius tugged until her leg popped free with a glomping sound, as if it had been pulled out of mud.

Alice sat where she was for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Thanks," she said finally after a moment of awkward silence.

"No problem," Sirius said absent-mindedly, before turning and heading back down the stairs. At the bottom he paused as he checked the map. "You'd better hurry up," he told Alice conversationally. "Filch is heading this way." With that, he pulled on the Invisibility Cloak and disappeared from sight, leaving a very confused Alice sitting on the steps, trying to comprehend what had just happened.