An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Why do you look like you just won the Quidditch Cup?" asked Angelina as I sat down for dinner. I still couldn't wipe the massive smile off of my face.

"And why is your shirt glowing?" asked Alicia. I glanced down again, saw the glow of the arc reactor, and smiled even wider.

"It's a long story that I'll tell you all about after dinner." I leaned in to whisper. "It's kind of a secret though, so nobody outside this group gets to know about it, okay?"

Everyone nodded, and I could tell they were seriously curious. I knew I'd get the fifth degree questioning treatment later, but that was absolutely fine with me; I was ready to talk about my new suit of armor until I was blue in the face.

After dinner, I ducked into a hidden corridor with Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Fred, and George and explained everything about my suit. By the time I finished, everyone's mouths were open in shock. There was a long pause while my friends recovered their senses, and then I got bombarded with questions. I didn't mind though. It was fun to tell my friends more about the crazy life I led.

Once I'd answered everybody's questions, we decided it was time to go to bed. Fred and George wanted me to fly them around the castle, but I couldn't do that. I promised my dad I'd be responsible with the suit, and that meant keeping it a secret. I couldn't use it for any more joyrides, especially after my last run-in with the dementors.

The rest of the week was slightly calmer. I quickly found a way to cover the glow of my arc reactor, and Percy made sure to congratulate me on fixing my mistake the next time he saw me without a glowing shirt. Gryffindor's first Quidditch match was this weekend, so Oliver was making us practice for hours every night.

I tried to convince him I shouldn't have to participate since I was just a sub, but he wasn't having it.

"Our first game is against Slytherin, our biggest rival," he said when I tried to get out of the first practice. It was raining cats and dogs outside. "We need every player at their best, sub or no."

To make matters worse, everyone was still terrified by Sirius Black's break-in during Halloween. Madam Hooch was officially supervising all our practices since word had gotten out that he was targeting Harry.

Harry didn't seem particularly bothered by the news, but I figured a friendly chat with someone who knew the feeling couldn't hurt.

"Hey," I said, pulling him aside after Wednesday night's practice. "So you seem pretty calm about this whole... 'murderer out to get you' thing, and if you don't want to talk about it that's absolutely fine, but I just thought I'd tell you I'm here to talk if you need it. With my dad being who he is I've been targeted before too, so I know a little bit about how you're feeling."

"Thank you, Alexa," he sighed, running a hand through his rain-soaked hair. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Sure thing. And, if you decide you want to take action instead of talking, I teach a mean self-defense class too. The Black Widow is my godmother."

Harry laughed. "Maybe I'll take you up on that once we're done with these brutal Quidditch practices."

"Ugh, yeah. You won't even need to train after the week we've all had. Who knew flying a broomstick could be such a workout?"

After another long day of classes on Thursday, it was time for our final practice before the match. The weather just kept getting worse, and the last thing I wanted to do was go work out in the pouring rain for a few hours.

I sat impatiently in the locker room with the rest of my team, waiting for Oliver to show up. It wasn't like him to be late, and it was making me nervous.