Dangerous Hearts

The Charmbridge bus came to Larkin Mills in the first week of January, to bring Alexandra back to Charmbridge Academy. The route the short bus took seemed to be different every time; Alexandra knew the first and last stop was usually the Wizardrail station in Chicago, but she was never sure who would be collected before her. This time, she found David and the Pritchards already aboard.

“Hi, Alex,” David said, looking a little nervous. She smiled and sat down next to him. He fidgeted in his seat.

“Happy New Year, Alexandra,” Constance and Forbearance greeted her in unison.

“We hope you had a nice Christmas,” added Constance.

“Well, there wasn't any snow, which was an improvement over last year.” Alexandra smiled at the Ozarkers. They seemed more cheerful than they had been in December. As they headed for Chicago, the twins took out the cameras Alexandra had sent them, and snapped pictures of her and David.

“We can't wait to show our pictures in Muggle Studies,” said Forbearance.

Alexandra was still bothered by her conversation with her mother, and she wanted to talk about it, but not on the bus. The four seventh graders talked about their holidays, and the upcoming semester, until they left the Automagicka and began moving through Chicago's city streets, gliding between cars and around corners and down narrow alleys through which the bus, even with its magically-reduced exterior, should not have been able to fit. David became increasingly nervous as they approached the Wizardrail station.

“You don't have to do this if you don't want to,” Alexandra told him.

David licked his lips. “You really think this will work?”

“It does in the movies.”

He frowned. “Yeah, but...”

Constance and Forbearance were looking at them curiously. “What are y'all goin' on about?” Forbearance asked.

“Y'all fixin' to pull some dido from the movies, playful-like?” Constance asked, sounding intrigued.

“Or one 'a them S-F-hex tricks?” Forbearance suggested.

“We was told we might actually see a Muggle movie this semester!” Constance said excitedly.

“Uh, yeah. This is more like a romantic comedy.” Alexandra winked, ignoring David's grimace.

“Oh, I'm a-dotin' to see a romance movie!” Constance exclaimed, clasping her hands together over her heart.

“Well, then watch.” Alexandra looked at David.

He swallowed. “Okay.”

As the bus pulled to a halt in front of the Wizardrail station, Alexandra leaned against David, and he put an arm gingerly around her shoulders, as if afraid it might catch fire. Constance and Forbearance stared.

“Stop looking like you think I've got cooties!” Alexandra hissed, jabbing David with an elbow.

“Ow! Stop elbowing me in the ribs!” he whispered back.

“Then put your arm around me like I'm your girlfriend, dork!”

David curled his arm a little more tightly around her. From the cage which Alexandra had hung above the table, Charlie made a coughing noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

Constance and Forbearance's eyes were as wide as if David and Alexandra had both grown fangs and turned into vampires. Their mouths were agape, and their faces were bright red.

“Relax, guys. We're not really a couple,” Alexandra assured them.

Forbearance was fanning herself. Constance exclaimed, “I should hope not! Y'all ain't old enough for courtin'!”

“And... and pawin' each other all in front of everyone!” Forbearance gasped.

“I'm not pawing her!” David protested.

“Shh!” Alexandra implored, putting a finger to her lips. “We're just trying to fool Angelique.”

“What?” the twins demanded at once.

“David wants to know if Angelique likes him, so we're going to make her think he likes me,” Alexandra whispered. “Then we'll see if she gets jealous.”

Their mouths dropped open even further. Both of them began sputtering.

“That... that...”

“...is the most plumb bug-headed...”

“... bodacious...”

“...koosy...”

“...indecent...”

“Alex, what if she doesn't get jealous?” David muttered nervously, as the first students started to board.

“Then you're on your own, sorry.” Alexandra shrugged.

David did not look comforted. She shook her head. “Look, Darla and Angelique both think they're the queens of the seventh grade. Trust me, it will drive Angelique crazy if she thinks you like some other girl more than her. Especially me.”

They had already been over this plan on the phone, but it had been a lot easier to agree to when it didn't actually involve being stared at by the other kids boarding the bus. Some looked surprised, as they walked past the table where Alexandra was sitting with David's arm around her. Others winked or snickered or whistled. Tomo Matsuzaka walked past, and barely glanced at Alexandra before hastily looking down and hurrying on to where the sixth graders were sitting, in the rear.

Forbearance leaned across the table and whispered, “Everyone's gonna think y'all are sweet!”

Alexandra rolled her eyes as she rested her head against David's shoulder. “Last semester, half the school thought I was dating Maximilian. And don't forget I'm a Dark wizard's daughter, and a Mudblood.” The Ozarkers flushed at that, while David frowned. “So you know what?” she concluded. “I think I'm kind of tired of worrying about my reputation.”

Forbearance looked flustered, and kept averting her eyes from the 'couple.' “But...”

“It hain't right!” Constance fumed.

“It hain't proper!” Forbearance whispered.

Alexandra sighed. Really, the Pritchards could be so old-fashioned! It wasn't like they were kissing or anything. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, and then brightened when she saw Anna coming down the aisle, holding Jingwei's cage in her arms. The owl hooted, and Anna said, “Hi, guys –” She froze, in the middle of hanging her familiar's cage from another hook overhead, and stared at David and Alexandra, eyes wide as dinner plates.

Alexandra grinned at her and winked. Anna had no idea how to react to that, so she just kept staring.

Then a familiar, syrupy-sweet voice said, “Hello, y'all...” Angelique's voice trailed off as she reached their table and saw Alexandra leaning into David's (still uncomfortable and not entirely convincing) one-armed embrace.

“Well,” commented Darla, coming up behind Angelique. She seemed unable to think of anything else to say.

Alexandra saw Honey's beady little eyes staring at her through the bars of her cage. She was sure the jarvey had plenty to say – fortunately, Angelique had apparently put a Silencing Charm on her before boarding the bus.

“Come on, Angelique,” Darla prompted haughtily, leading her roommate forward. Both of them gave Alexandra and David another astonished look, before sitting at the table behind theirs.

Anna's mouth was still open, and then yet another voice called out, “Alexandra!”

Alexandra sat up, and was smiling broadly before she realized it, as Maximilian came down the aisle towards them, already in his blue and silver BMI uniform. He paused when he saw David with his arm around his sister, and scowled.

“What's this?” he demanded, and for a moment, Alexandra thought he was going to make a scene right there on the bus.

“Would everyone please sit down?” called Mrs. Speaks from the front of the bus. “I know everyone is very excited to see your friends again, but socialize when we get to Charmbridge, not in the middle of the aisle!”

“Later, Max!” Alexandra pleaded.

He gave David a narrow look, and then her. “Count on it,” he growled.

He walked back to the front of the bus where the other Stormcrows were sitting, after casting one more glare over his shoulder at the 'couple.'

“Guess he was surprised, too,” Anna commented quietly, after everyone was seated and the bus was moving again. Her own expression was a mixture of confusion and hurt.

“Anna,” Alexandra said, reaching across the table to grab her friend's hand. Anna's eyes fell on the bracelet around Alexandra's wrist, and she smiled for a moment at the Chinese characters jingling there, the raven and snake charms. Then she looked back up at Alexandra with a frown.

“It's not what it looks like,” Alexandra whispered, in a low voice. “David and I are just playing a trick on Angelique.” She tilted her head backwards, in the direction of the two girls in the booth behind them, who were talking about some wizard rock band and Darla's birthday next month.

Anna's forehead wrinkled. “A trick?”

David, by now, looked as if he were having second thoughts about this whole affair. Alexandra rolled her eyes at him and lifted his arm off her shoulders. He pulled away with relief.

“Just don't say anything, okay?” Alexandra whispered.

Anna frowned. “This sounds dumb.”

“It surely does!” Constance agreed vehemently.

“You two both oughter be shamed,” Forbearance muttered under her breath.

“And I don't think your brother approves, neither,” said Constance.

Alexandra grinned. “Yeah, I noticed.” She looked at David. “Maybe we won't tell him.”

He stared back at her. “You crazy? He looked like he wanted to kill me!”

“What kind of a boyfriend are you if one look from my brother is going to scare you off?” she declared, this time loudly enough to be heard at the next table. David coughed, while Anna opened her mouth, and then just shook her head. But they heard Angelique and Darla's conversation stop, for a moment, and there was a long pause, before the other two girls resumed talking loudly about whether the lead singer of the Wyld Hunt was going to get back together with some Norwegian witch.

“You're both crazy,” Anna muttered.

“Straw-headed ornery mule-crazy,” Constance agreed. She had folded her arms across her chest and looked thoroughly disgusted.

“So, you think holding my hand while we cross the Invisible Bridge might be pushing it?” Alexandra asked innocently. David groaned.

It wasn't until they arrived back at Charmbridge, and were unpacking their things, that Alexandra was able to tell Anna about her Christmas. Anna listened quietly while Alexandra described her mother's reaction to their confrontation, and the days that followed, spent speaking to one another politely but tersely, with a magical elephant constantly in the room.

The other girl shook her head when Alexandra was done. “I'm really sorry, Alex.” She bit her lip thoughtfully. “My mother doesn't like everything about the wizarding world, but she's never asked me to pretend I'm not a witch.”

Alexandra nodded. “Something happened to my mom,” she said quietly. “Maybe my father did something – I don't know. I'm going to ask him.”

Anna looked nervous at that. She'd been remarkably accepting of the fact that her roommate was Abraham Thorn's daughter, but the idea that Alexandra was now having chats with the most wanted wizard in the Confederation clearly unsettled her.

Alexandra set the picture cube Maximilian had given her on her desk, and then considered the locket her father had sent her. She'd opened it a few more times since Christmas, and even tried speaking to Thorn's cameo, but he just smiled at her. He'd said he wanted her to keep it close to her. Did he expect her to wear it?

Charlie cawed, and Alexandra turned to look at the raven, who was eyeing the locket greedily. With a smile, she held it in front of the bird. Charlie snatched it out of her grasp.

“Charlie always liked the first locket I had, too,” she said.

Anna nodded. She was looking at the pictures of Alexandra horsing around with Maximilian and the other Stormcrows, with a small frown.

“Um, so, have I mentioned that I signed up for JROC again this semester?” Alexandra asked.

Anna turned her head to look at her, blinking in a manner that made her resemble her owl familiar. “No,” she replied slowly. “I don't think you have.”

Alexandra stuck her hands into her pockets. “It was just...”

Anna sighed and shook her head. “It's not like you need my permission, Alex. And I can understand. Maximilian is your brother. You want to spend more time with him.” She frowned. “But I hope you're not expecting me to join!”

“No,” Alexandra laughed. “Just don't get in any more fights with Tomo.”

Anna didn't look amused. “My father was furious about that. The first day I got back, he yelled at me for an hour.”

“Sorry,” Alexandra said.

“He says if the Majokai want their own schools and their own communities, they should stay in them.”

Alexandra shrugged. She didn't really understand the Chinese-Japanese feud, and it made her uncomfortable. “But I guess Tomo's parents don't mind letting her mix with non-Majokai kids.”

“They probably just realized their schools are primitive and teach old peasant magic,” Anna scoffed. “My father says the Japs will steal anything they learn elsewhere and then claim they invented it. They only joined the Confederation because otherwise they would have been kicked out of the country.”

Alexandra frowned. “Japs?”

“Japanese,” Anna clarified.

“I know what it means,” Alexandra said. Her tone and expression were disapproving.

Anna frowned and looked down.

“You aren't going to get in any more fights with Tomo, are you?”

The Chinese witch shook her head. “We didn't say anything to each other on the train.”

“Good.” Alexandra looked at Charlie, who was pecking at her locket, and Nigel, who was coiled comfortably on his magic rock. She sighed and resumed unpacking her things. Anna did the same.

In the next room, they heard Honey chanting: “Two little Mudbloods, sitting in a tree...”

“Shut up, Honey!” Angelique snapped.

Honey wasn't the only one who parroted unpleasant words, Alexandra thought.

At dinner, Alexandra made sure to smile sweetly at David before sitting down next to him. She was starting to find this game quite amusing. She didn't understand why none of her friends did. Constance and Forbearance still looked appalled, while Anna just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“So, has Angelique said anything?” she whispered. The black girl was sitting down the table from them, with Darla, and both of them seemed to be trying not to look at her and David.

He shook his head. “Just 'hello.'”

“Well, did she say 'hello,' or...” Alexandra cleared her throat, and purred a long, sultry “Hellooo,” in another bad imitation of Angelique's Louisiana drawl.

“Would you stop that?” David hissed, as Alexandra started laughing, and even Anna giggled a little. Angelique and Darla both stared down the table at them for a moment. They were too far away to hear exactly what everyone was laughing about, but they seemed to suspect that it involved them.

“How long are y'all fixin' to keep up this koosy lally-gaggin'?” Constance demanded crossly.

Alexandra shrugged. “Until we're tired of it... or until Angelique steals my man!” She clasped her hands over her heart and feigned a dramatic swoon. Anna was now turning red with laughter, while David and the Pritchards were just turning red.

“I should never have listened to you,” David muttered, darting his eyes down the table at Angelique and Darla. “'It works in the movies,' my foot! You just watch too much TV.”

“Give it time,” Alexandra urged, digging into the wild moon hen and black-eyed peas the cafeteria was serving tonight. “And if it doesn't work, we can always stage a dramatic break-up, and Angelique can be the one to comfort you...”

“Way too much TV,” David groaned.

Anna changed the subject, by telling them about a magical game she'd been given for her birthday, which she said was called Heart of Three Kingdoms.

“It's sort of like a multi-player game of wizard chess,” she explained. “Except you use tiles, with no board, and the pieces don't actually move, and you fight by combining elements, and it takes strategy and a good memory.”

“That doesn't sound much like wizard chess at all,” said David, but everyone was eager to play it nonetheless. The five of them headed for the seventh grade rec room after dinner.

They stopped in the middle of the corridor when someone called Alexandra's name. They turned to see Maximilian, now out of uniform. He was striding after them, wearing a conservative high-collared vest and dark pants with matching boots.

“Hi Max,” Alexandra greeted him. She had been hoping to talk to her brother before school started the next day, but didn't really appreciate being accosted in front of her friends. Maximilian didn't seem to care, as he frowned at her and then gave David another unfriendly look. Alexandra noticed Anna trying not to back away from the boy who'd bullied her all last semester, but Constance and Forbearance were both looking at him with wide, ingenuous expressions, and sighing in a manner that unexpectedly annoyed her.

“I want to talk to you.” Maximilian's voice was low and surly.

Alexandra looked at her friends. “Go on. I'll catch up.”

They nodded, and proceeded towards the seventh grade dorms.

“You know, bossing me around in front of my friends is not cool,” Alexandra told him.

“Cool?” He raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. “Come on.” He gestured for her to follow him. Slightly annoyed, she did.

“How was your Christmas?” he asked.

“Wonderful. I told my mother I'm a witch and that I know who my father is, and she told me never to talk about it again.”

Maximilian stopped and stared at her, wordlessly.

Alexandra shrugged. “I guess maybe 'Dad' didn't take such good care of her when he left her. What a surprise.”

Her brother sighed. “I'm sorry, Alex. I really wish I knew what to tell you.”

“I hope he does,” she said darkly. “Assuming I ever see him again.”

“You will.” His expression was somber again. “Whatever Father might have done to your mother, it's not your fault, and it's not right for her to expect you to deny your birthright.”

Alexandra shrugged. “I'll deal.”

He frowned again, puzzling over her idiom, then repeated, “It's not right.”

“I'll be fine.” She was suddenly uninterested in pursuing this. She didn't want Maximilian to criticize her mother, or comment on her upbringing. “Hey, I have a present for you!” She smiled, changing the subject.

He smiled back. “I told you –”

“Yeah, I know, but I got one anyway. I hope you like it. Come on.” She changed direction, and this time she gestured at him to follow, and after a moment, he did.

They passed beneath the portrait of the old warlock hanging at the entrance to Delta Delta Kappa Tau hall.

“This is the seventh grade girls' dormitory, young man,” the portrait said sternly to Maximilian, while giving Alexandra a familiar disapproving stare.

“He's my brother,” she said, while Maximilian cleared his throat.

The warlock's eyebrows went up. “Really?” He squinted at them. “Well, even so, you are not to have boys in your room, young lady.”

“He's my brother!” she repeated, annoyed, but Maximilian reassured the portrait.

“I won't go in her room,” he promised. “I'll stay in the hallway.”

“See that you do,” the warlock replied.

Alexandra rolled her eyes as they continued to her room.

“I know you're trying to distract me,” said Maximilian.

“Distract you from what?” she asked innocently.

“Distract me from talking to you about your... about that boy.”

“That boy,” she repeated, frowning. “You mean my boyfriend?”

Maximilian made a choking sound. “You're too young to have a boyfriend!”

They reached the room she shared with Anna, and she opened the door and stepped inside. “You can come in. That nosy portrait can't actually see down the hall in this direction.”

Maximilian folded his arms, and remained standing outside. “No. He's right, it's improper.”

Alexandra narrowed her eyes at him. “Right, you've got no problem going to Mors Mortis Society meetings and practicing Dark Arts, but it's 'improper' to set foot in your sister's room?”

He winced, and looked around quickly. “Keep your voice down!” he hissed.

“Our father removed the curse on me.” She grinned. She stopped grinning when she saw his expression. “Okay, okay,” she whispered. She picked up a small book and walked back outside. “But seriously...”

He grabbed her arm, leaning over until he was almost nose to nose with her. “This is not a game, Alexandra!” he snapped. “Do you think this is funny?”

“You're hurting my arm,” she said quietly.

He blinked, and then released her arm and straightened up.

She handed him the book. “I didn't wrap it,” she mumbled. “Sorry.”

Slowly, he looked down at the volume in his hands, and opened the cover. It was a photo album.

Not many photographs had survived the fire on Sweetmaple Avenue the previous year. Alexandra's mother and stepfather had combed the burnt wreckage of their house, and found virtually nothing salvageable. Her mother had a few pictures of Alexandra at work, and so (to her surprise) did Archie. At Alexandra's request, her mother had asked Mrs. Seabury, and Brian's mother had found a few pictures in her own photo albums, of Brian and Alexandra playing together. Alexandra had had copies made of all of them, and put them in the album that her brother was now holding.

Maximilian stared at the pictures of Alexandra at age six, and age eight, and age ten, and then all the subsequent photos that she had taken over Christmas vacation, of herself, and her mother and stepfather and her house, and the Muggle neighborhood where she lived. He looked up at her, finally, and closed the book gently.

“It's all I could think of to give you,” she muttered. “I mean, I can't really buy any magical stuff, and most Muggle things you probably wouldn't be interested in, so I thought –”

“It's an excellent gift,” he said, clasping it to his breast. “Thank you.”

She nodded.

“You're angry at me again.”

She glowered at him, eyes smoldering beneath her bangs. “You're being a jerk again.”

He looked down at the floor, took a deep breath, and looked up at her again. “I'm sorry. Sometimes you don't seem to take things seriously, and –”

“You lose your temper.”

He regarded her solemnly. “I'll never hurt you, Alexandra.”

“Not on purpose.” She rubbed her arm for emphasis.

She felt guilty at the way he blanched at that, so she forced a smile. “I really liked the picture cube you gave me,” she said softly. “Although it kind of freaked out my folks.”

He smiled slightly. “I'm not used to worrying about what Muggles see.” His expression grew more serious. “Alexandra, are you really... dating that boy?”

She met his gaze, stubbornly keeping her expression deadpan. “What if I am?”

He shook his head. “First of all, you're too young, and secondly, he's completely unsuitable for you.”

Her expression darkened. The fact that she wasn't interested in David at all as anything other than a friend was forgotten. Maximilian's disapproval irritated her so much that she probably would have declared him her boyfriend then and there regardless.

“Why?” she demanded. “Because he's black?”

He shook his head, frowning a little. “Not so much that. But he's a Muggle-born.”

“You mean a Mudblood?” she exclaimed, her voice rising. “Like me?”

“Merlin!” her brother exclaimed, looking horrified. “Alex, I'd never call anyone that! Or think it!”

“Then what's wrong with David?” she demanded.

He sighed. “I hate the fact that pureblood prejudice still exists, but it does. And since you're already going to have a hard time being accepted, let alone marrying into a respectable family –”

“I am not marrying anyone!” she exclaimed. “Are you crazy? I'm not even thirteen yet! Do you seriously think I'm planning to get married? And even if I was, which is the most stupid, insane idea I've ever heard, why would I care about his family? I'm not going to choose a...a husband because... because he comes from a respectable family! ARE YOU NUTS?”

Maximilian grimaced, and held up his hands pleadingly. “Alexandra... lower your voice. Please.”

She stared at him, breathing in and out rapidly, and then looked right and left. Down the hall, Janet Jackson was returning from dinner, and looking at the two of them curiously.

“What are you staring at?” Alexandra snarled at her. The other girl's eyes widened, and she hastily ducked into her room.

Alexandra turned to face her brother again.

“You don't get to tell me whether I'm old enough to have a boyfriend, or if he's good enough for me! I'll date whoever I want! And I'll marry a Muggle if I want!”

“Alexandra,” he said, with a grim expression, “I'm just looking out for your reputation and your future –”

“That's not your job! I don't care if Dad says it is!” she yelled fiercely. “You big fat blaggard jerk! And I was going to tell you that I signed up for JROC again this semester, too, except now I can't believe I was crazy enough to give you a chance to boss me around again! What's next, are you going to tell me who I can be friends with?”

Maximilian winced, and then she backed into her room and slammed the door in his face.

“Alex!” he called, through the door.

“Go away!” she shouted. “This is a girls' dormitory! You shouldn't even be here! It's improper!”

She heard him muttering something, and then his footsteps receded up the corridor. She threw herself on the bed, and lay there sulking, until she heard a rapping on the window. Because it was so cold outside, they had to keep the window shut for Nigel's sake, which meant Charlie had to be let in and out. She rose from her bed and opened the window, only to groan in dismay when she saw something shiny in Charlie's beak.

“Charlie!” she yelled. “You're stealing things again!” She almost grabbed her familiar's beak as she snatched the shiny object away. Charlie let out a startled squawk. Alexandra looked down at the raven's prize, and saw that it was nothing more than a bent piece of copper – it looked like it might have fallen off of one of the academy's Clockworks.

She looked up at Charlie, who had hopped away from her and was now regarding her reproachfully. She sighed, and sat down on her bed, tossing the piece of copper onto her desk with a clatter.

“I'm sorry, Charlie,” she said softly. She rubbed her arm absently, where Maximilian had grabbed her, and wondered if the two of them were alike in all the wrong ways.

Charlie cautiously snatched up the brass, and fluttered up to the birdcage hanging over Alexandra's desk. She looked down, and ran a hand through her hair. Then she heard a soft clucking sound, and looked up to see Charlie once more sitting on her desk in front of her.

She held a hand out, almost wishing Charlie would bite her fingers or something to reprove her for her temper. But the bird merely pecked lightly at them instead.

“I'm a jerk too, sometimes,” she admitted.

“Big fat jerk,” said Charlie.

Alexandra laughed. She took out her father's locket, and gave it to Charlie to peck at, before leaving her room to join her friends in the recreation room.

Even in her distracted state, Alexandra proved quite adept at Anna's game. Her combined stacks of Metal and Fire tiles sent up showers of sparks, devastating Anna's walls of Water and Wood, and David groaned as his Air and Wood tiles were incinerated. But she had to get up before dawn for the first morning of JROC exercises, so she quit early. When they saw Darla and Angelique walking past, on their way back to their own room, Alexandra leaned over and whispered to David, “Kiss me.”

He almost dropped his tiles. “What?” he choked, while Constance and Forbearance gasped in shock.

“Give me a good-night kiss, dummy! Quick, while Angelique is watching!”

David's eyes darted towards the two girls out in the hallway, who looked as if they were trying not to watch him and Alexandra through the window of the rec room.

“Don't look at them!” Alexandra hissed. David's head jerked back in her direction. Then, with a nervous gulp, he bobbed his head forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

She rolled her eyes. “Very convincing. Good night.”

She smiled sweetly at Darla and Angelique as she emerged from the rec room and walked upstairs to her room. Angelique was just looking at her in astonishment, but Darla's expression was closer to a scowl.

The next morning, she awoke quietly, trying not to wake up Anna, and pulled on her exercise clothes: long baggy pants and a gray jacket, suitable for running around outside in the miserable, cold weather.

I must be crazy, she thought.

Maximilian barely spoke to her, as the JROC assembled for the first formation of the new year. Ms. Shirtliffe barked, “Welcome back!” to everyone, and then sent them running laps around the academy. Conan Smith, Charmbridge's Mage-Sergeant Major, sent ghostly, snarling hounds to nip at the heels of the slowest runners. Witch-Sergeant Adelaide Speir conjured glowing red fires they had to leap over. By the time they finished their exercises, everyone was panting and sweating, despite the near-freezing temperature.

“Enjoying JROC?” Anna asked, a little bit smugly, when Alexandra returned to her room to shower and change into uniform.

“Yeah,” she said. “It's a blast.”

Anna laughed, and walked with her to breakfast. To their surprise, they found Darla and Angelique sitting with David in the cafeteria. Darla looked chatty; Angelique looked nervous, and more so when Alexandra arrived.

“Good morning!” Alexandra announced, sitting down next to David and patting his hand. He flushed.

“So, you're in JROC again this semester,” Darla observed.

“No, I just like wearing uniforms for fun,” Alexandra replied.

Darla regarded her coolly. With the tone of a grown-up pointedly ignoring a child's outburst, she said, “I don't imagine that leaves you much free time.” She glanced at David, with a raised eyebrow.

Alexandra frowned, and looked at Angelique, who was still silent. She shrugged. “I've got enough free time. I won't be spending any late nights hanging out with loser Dark wizard wannabes, for example.”

Darla flushed dark red. Angelique choked on her pumpkin juice.

Darla leaned forward, and hissed, “You mean like your br –”

“Careful, I'd hate to see you drop dead from a curse or something.” Alexandra's eyes sparkled maliciously as Darla turned pale.

“What are you guys talking about?” David asked nervously.

“Ask Darla,” Alexandra told him. “Oh, wait, she can't tell you. But I can. I had the curse removed.” Darla turned even whiter. “Now go away,” Alexandra said haughtily, to the other two girls. She patted David's hand again. “I want to talk to my boyfriend.”

David started coughing. Darla rose from the table, looking furious, and flounced off. Angelique followed. “Bye,” she mumbled.

“What was that all about?” David asked.

“Alexandra is taunting Darla,” Anna told him, in a disapproving tone.

“And how does that help me?” David demanded. “You know what? This crazy idea of yours was stupid to begin with. I can't believe you talked me into it.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Alexandra asked.

David flushed again, and sputtered, missing the twinkle in her eyes. Anna groaned and shook her head.

Stares and whispers followed her the rest of the week, especially when she was with David. Last year, the constant rumors and whispering about her had annoyed her, and gotten her into a few fights. Now, however, she found it amusing.

JROC drills that week were not nearly as much fun. Maximilian didn't speak to her much, and when he did, he was harsh and abrupt, upbraiding her for small deficiencies in her uniform, or being too slow to draw her wand. On Wednesday, he Disarmed her forcefully enough to numb her hand, after about a dozen repetitions.

“Back to bullying me when I don't do what you want?” Alexandra muttered, just loudly enough for her brother to hear, as she picked up her wand. She stood up and glared at him defiantly. “Should I be looking out for trees again?”

His face twitched, and he looked like he was about to say something. Then Witch-Corporal Hawthorne walked over and said, “That's enough, Quick. We're done for today.” When Maximilian looked at her and started to protest, she shook her head, and caught Maximilian's hand in a way Alexandra found interesting.

“Go on. Broom, Alex,” Beatrice ordered. Alexandra blinked at the informality, looked at the older girl for a moment, and then left.

Friday night, Alexandra joined her friends again to play Heart of Three Kingdoms. She continued to dominate the game. Constance and Forbearance surprised her at how savagely they attacked each other – Constance built a fortress of Water, Wood, and Air that almost fell to Forbearance's mountain of Fire tiles, but then Alexandra smashed both of their stacks apart with her Metal onslaught. David and Anna finally joined forces to try to hold her off, but she was about to overwhelm them both when David muttered, “Uh oh.”

“Yeah, you should never have put down Wood when you knew I could surround you there with Fire.” Alexandra smirked, as a few more of David's tiles smoldered and burst into flames.

“No, it's your brother,” David said.

Alexandra turned around, to see Maximilian standing at the door of the recreation room. Technically anyone was allowed in any common area, but students tended to socialize with their own grade level, so Maximilian was the only eleventh grader in a room full of younger students.

“Double uh oh,” David said, when they saw that Darla and Angelique were with him. Darla was whispering something to Maximilian. He was watching Alexandra – and David – and only half-paying attention to Darla. He nodded to her, and then walked over to the table where the five seventh graders were playing.

“Alexandra,” he said in a calm, controlled tone. “I want to speak to you.”

She turned away from him and carefully conjured another row of Metal tiles to attack Anna with. “I'm playing a game.”

There was an awkward silence, then he spoke again. “All right, I'll wait until you're done.”

He walked over to take a seat by the Wizard Wireless. A pair of seventh grade boys scrambled to move away from him. Alexandra glanced over her shoulder, frowning. Darla immediately went over to sit next to him, while Angelique drifted over to the table.

“What are y'all playing?” she asked.

“Heart of Three Kingdoms,” replied Anna.

Angelique wrinkled her brow. “Never heard of it.”

“It's Chinese. It's a really cool game,” David told her, a little too eagerly. “You could join us!”

“We're in the middle of it!” Constance protested, even though her tiles had been all but demolished.

“It's your turn, Alexandra,” said Forbearance.

Alexandra was still watching Darla and Maximilian. Darla was leaning forward and putting her hand on Maximilian's knee. He was barely paying attention to her, but it annoyed Alexandra nonetheless. So did Maximilian's presence here. Forbearance and then Anna had to repeat themselves to catch her attention. She finally turned back to look at them, and a wicked smile curled her lips.

“Why don't you teach Angelique to play?” she suggested. “She can take over my tiles.”

Angelique looked uncertain, and not all that enthusiastic, but Alexandra rose from her seat and nudged Angelique towards it. And then, with slow deliberation, she walked around the table until she was standing next to David, and she was sure Maximilian was watching.

“See you later, David,” she said, and she bent over to place a kiss right on David's mouth.

He froze. Alexandra had her lips pressed tightly together, and after his initial gasp of surprise, so did David. It wasn't really much of a kiss. But when she stood up, she saw that everyone in the room was staring at them. A few of the boys whistled and cheered, until Maximilian glared at them. Constance and Forbearance's mouths had dropped open, while Anna looked stunned.

Alexandra barely noticed Angelique's reaction. She was looking at Maximilian, whose expression was severe and disapproving, though he said nothing.

With her head held high, she sauntered over to the couch where he and Darla sat.

“Okay,” she said. “What do you want to talk about?”

Maximilian sat up, cleared his throat, and looked at Darla, then back at her. “Not here.”

“Fine,” Alexandra replied curtly. She gave Darla a disdainful look, as Maximilian stood up.

“Good evening, Darla,” he said politely.

“Good night, Max.” She smiled. “Alex,” she added, in a cooler tone.

Alexandra frowned at her, and then followed Maximilian out of the rec room.

In the hallway outside, she spoke first. “If you're just going to give me another lecture about being too young to date, and how I should find a pureblood to marry, then save it.”

“Do you really care for him?” Maximilian asked.

She stopped walking and looked at her brother in surprise. He looked back at her seriously.

“David? Yeah, sure, he's my f – I mean, of course I care for him! He's my boyfriend!” She folded her arms defiantly.

He studied her a moment, then nodded, and continued walking. Alexandra paused, then followed.

Maximilian didn't say anything, as they walked down the hallway, lined by locked classrooms and, occasionally, other rooms where students were studying or playing games or reading. They walked through the large entrance foyer at the front of the academy, and Alexandra looked around at all the photographs and paintings of past staff and alumni looking down at them from the walls, before Maximilian proceeded towards the front doors.

It was after curfew for underclass students, but Alexandra followed her brother anyway. He only went as far as the front steps. Even in the absence of snow, it was freezing cold outside, and none of the other older students were out and about. Maximilian pointed his wand at the stone steps at their feet and muttered something before sitting down. He looked up at Alexandra and patted the step next to him. Cautiously, she sat down, and found that his charm had warmed the stone, so it was comfortable to sit on.

“I don't like it when you're angry at me, Alexandra.”

She frowned, caught off-guard. “Then don't make me angry!” she retorted.

Maximilian smiled thinly. “I don't try to. I still think you're too young to date. But if you and that boy are happy together, and he respects you, you should enjoy it while you can.”

Alexandra looked at him in confusion.

“Just please tell me you're not doing anything more than kissing him,” Maximilian muttered.

“No!” Alexandra exclaimed. She felt her face turning warmer than the stone step she was sitting on. “Of course not!”

“Good.” He nodded. He stared off silently across Charmbridge's grounds.

“What made you change your mind?” she asked cautiously, after several seconds.

He sighed. “Beatrice told me I was being an arrogant, overbearing, overprotective ass, and that I can't control who you're smitten with, and that a little adolescent Amortentia is harmless.”

Alexandra blinked, and frowned. “I told you that,” she pointed out. “Well, not in those words. But I did.” She'd have to look up 'Amortentia' later.

Maximilian smiled. “Yes, but Bea is seventeen. You're twelve.”

“Almost thirteen. Jerk.”

He turned to look at her, and grinned at her indignant scowl.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“You're only sixteen, you know. That doesn't make you an adult.”

He nodded, looking amused rather than offended.

“I really will date whoever I want. And marry whoever I want. Even a Muggle!”

“Yes,” he sighed. “I wager you will. I hope you stay this willful and defiant, Alex.”

“You don't seem to like it when I'm willful and defiant.”

He smiled – a little sadly, she thought. She studied her brother, in the light cast by the windows behind them. At times like this, she was sure he was thinking about things he hadn't shared with her. She still found Maximilian complicated and confusing.

“Is Beatrice your girlfriend?” she asked.

He started, then laughed and shook his head. “No. We're just friends.”

“Oh.” She frowned, looked down at the stone at her feet, and confessed, “David and I are just friends, too. We're not really dating. I don't like him that way.”

“What?” Maximilian exclaimed. He stared at her.

“It was all just a game, to make Angelique think David likes me.”

“Angelique Devereaux? Why?”

“Because David likes her, duh!” She looked back at him. “So I figured if Angelique thinks David likes me, she'd be jealous, and then she'd like David, and...”

Maximilian burst out laughing.

“What?” she snapped.

“Merlin! Only seventh graders would hatch a plan like that!” he guffawed. “Did you actually think that would work?”

Alexandra felt her face coloring again. “Well, it does on TV!” she said defensively. “And Angelique is stuck up and thinks she's better than me, so it has to drive her crazy that David likes me better – stop laughing!” Maximilian was now clutching his sides and shaking with laughter. With difficulty, he caught his breath and sat up straight again, shaking his head.

“That's quite a scheme, Alex. I suppose I should be glad you didn't just try to slip her some Pitter-Pat Candy.” He smiled at her, looking much more relaxed and cheerful than a few minutes ago – relieved that his sister didn't actually have a boyfriend, she supposed, glaring back at him resentfully. His smile faded, as his expression became more serious. “But the Devereauxs are one of the oldest and most powerful wizarding families in New Orleans. They wouldn't approve of their daughter dating a Muggle-born either.”

Alexandra shook her head. “All this wizarding society stuff is stupid.”

“You're right. A lot of it is. But it's there. You can't ignore it just because you don't like it.”

She frowned. The two of them sat together quietly for a while. At last, she asked, “Is that why our father wants to start a revolution? Because of all these stupid prejudices?”

Maximilian looked at her, and then cautiously patted her knee.

“That may be part of it,” he said quietly. “But I don't think a revolution will change people's hearts. And you shouldn't worry about what Father is planning. You don't want to be involved, and I'm sure he doesn't want you to be. I don't want you to be.” He squeezed her knee, and then let his hand fall back to his side.

She sighed, and rolled her eyes in the dark winter night. There he went again, thinking it was his job to 'protect' her! She didn't need or want Maximilian's protection. But after a moment, she leaned her head against his shoulder. He didn't move away, and they sat there on the steps as a few snowflakes began drifting down from the sky.