So I've decided to go ahead and post the final chapter. It is rather long, admittedly, but ah well. At least it's done and over with.

My usual disclaimer of ownership that I don't claim possession over anyone besides Alexa, her family, and Liam.

"Did you hear what Potter and his friends did?"

Alexa was shaken violently awake by Sue, who looked like a madwoman, her dark eyes wide and excited, a huge grin splitting her face.

"What are you talking about?" Alexa yawned, pulling her covers up to her chin. Morgana had leapt from the bed as soon as Sue had begun shaking Alexa awake and was sitting on the floor, flicking her long tail in clear agitation. Alexa eyed Sue darkly. "I was sleeping, you know."

"Potter and his friends stopped Professor Quirrell from taking this stone that was being guarded. That's why we weren't allowed on the third floor," Sue said quickly, jumping up onto Alexa's bed, pinning her down. "This great big three headed dog guarded the entrance and those three somehow made it in. They challenged all sorts of things the teachers put up to defend the stone. I can't believe Quirrell was trying to steal it!"

"Sue, what are you talking about?" Alexa demanded, struggling to sit up. She nudged Sue, who obliged silently, and Alexa managed to pull herself into a sitting position while Sue pet Morgana absentmindedly after the cat had hopped back up onto the bed.

"Potter, Weasley, and Granger stopped Quirrell from taking the Philosopher's Stone!" Sue said excitedly. "Apparently he was trying to steal it so that he could bring You-Know-Who back from the dead! It would give him a body and supposedly You-Know-Who was possessing Quirrell, that's why he always wore a turban. It wasn't because he saved some bloke – it was because he was hiding You-Know-Who in it!"

Alexa eyed Sue as if she was mad. "You've lost your marbles, you have. What on earth on you on about?"

Sue leaned forward, her face inches from Alexa's. "Look, if you don't believe me, Potter's in the Hospital Wing right now. Professor Dumbledore saved him, but it was nearly too late. Weasley and Granger are back in the Gryffindor common room now, I suspect."

Alexa shook her head and got out of bed.

"If you don't believe me, go see for yourself," Sue said, gesturing towards the dormitory door. "Even Pansy and Daphne know all about it. That's who I heard it from. Apparently they had overheard one of the Prefects talking about it this morning. They were excited because Potter will be out cold in the Hospital Wing while Gryffindor plays Ravenclaw tomorrow."

"Right, the last match," Alexa said as she got dressed.

Sue watched her silently then got to her own feet, making for the dormitory door.

"C'mon," she said, opening the heavy door widely. "Let's go get breakfast and hear what everyone else has to say about it."

The match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw lasted barely thirty minutes. No matter how hard the Gryffindor Chasers tried, they simply could not score enough points to win the match without Potter.

Gryffindor lost, seventy to hundred and ninety, and Ravenclaw took the Quidditch Cup from Professor Dumbledore.

As the school was filing into the Great Hall for dinner that evening, Alexa hung back and waited until she knew the coast was clear before heading towards the Hospital Wing.

The Wing was empty aside from Potter, who was lying in a bed in the middle of the room.

Alexa looked around for the nurse and, when she certain she wouldn't be caught, she hurried into the room and left a quick note beside his bed next to his round glasses.

Dear Harry, she had written not ten minutes before, I hope you get well soon. To be honest, I'd wanted Gryffindor to win against Ravenclaw, but since you're here, that didn't happen. Good job on stopping Quirrell from bringing back You-Know-Who. If anyone should have stopped him, it was right to be you. Sincerely, a friend.

She didn't sign her name, didn't want him to know that a Slytherin sympathized with him and his plight. But she wasn't made of stone and she was grateful that he had foiled a plan to bring back the darkest wizard in recent times, if only to be sure that she would not be harmed should he return.

Alexa hurried back down the corridor towards the Great Hall and joined Sue at the end of the table near the professors and ate her dinner in silence.

The following evening found the whole school assembled for the End of the Year feast.

To hers and the rest of Slytherin houses delight, the hall was decorated in thick green hangings and, behind the High Table, hung a great green banner with a giant serpent emblazoned across it.

So Slytherin had won the House Cup for the seventh year in a row, she thought gleefully as she sat between Sue and Liam.

"Look at how those Gryffindors look!" a burly seventh year crowed, cackling madly as he pointed across the Hall towards the Gryffindor table. "Even precious Potter couldn't help them win!"

"It was because of Potter that we've won," his friend pointed out and that section of the table burst into loud cheers.

"I'll admit, I'm pretty happy we've won," Sue admitted as she glanced impatiently towards the High Table.

"Of course you're happy," Liam said with a snort. "What Slytherin isn't? We worked hard to get the House Cup. It's Potter's fault that they lost it. They shouldn't have been running around the school after hours."

As the feast drew to a close, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and the Hall fell silent.

"Another year gone," Dumbledore announced, smiling happily at the students. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were…you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts….

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; in second, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-six; and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

All around her, the Slytherins were cheering loudly, banging their fists on the table and whooping, hugging each other as tightly as possible.

"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin," Dumbledore agreed and the room fell silent once more. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

Alexa felt her smile slip off her face and hers wasn't the only one. Her entire house looked at Dumbledore with a mixture of fear and contempt.

No, she thought, her heart hammering madly in her chest. Don't you dare.

"Ahem, I have a few last minute points to award," Dumbledore announced, looking cheerful as ever. "First, to Mister Ronald Weasley for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen these many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

The Gryffindors cheered loudly and Alexa glared hatefully towards them.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger," Dumbledore went on when silence had fallen once more, "for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

Another round of cheers broke out from the Gryffindor table while the Slytherins grew more serious.

Alexa was torn. She wanted her house to win, but she was pleased Hermione had achieved something for her house.

"Third, to Mister Harry Potter," Dumbledore went on and the room fell dead silent, "for pure nerve and outstanding courage. I award Gryffindor House sixty points."

"They're tied with us," a girl cried shrilly across from Alexa. She was barely heard over the outrageous screams the Gryffindors were making.

Alexa looked venomously towards Dumbledore, who seemed to have eyes only for the Gryffindors.

He raised his hand and the room fell silent once again.

"There are all kinds of courage," he announced, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mister Neville Longbottom."

The Slytherins groans of dismay and cries of outrage were drowned by the deafening sound of, not just the Gryffindors cheering, but of the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws cheering as well.

Alexa felt sick to her stomach as Dumbledore called out over the din, "Which means we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands and the silver and green hangings turned into scarlet and gold; the huge banner behind the High Table changed from a serpent to a lion.

Her entire house was fuming – Alexa caught Professor Snape shaking McGonagall's hand with a forced smile plastered on his face.

"I swear that's the biggest load of dung I've ever heard," Liam said angrily as the cheers slowly died out as the feast began.

"And to think that everyone was happy we finally lost," Alexa agreed. She had lost her appetite and, all along the Slytherin table, she noticed that most of her fellow classmates had barely touched their own food.

Sue was shaking her head. "It's hardly fair. Dumbledore was a Gryffindor! He's going to be biased, especially if Potter is involved."

For the rest of the feast, Alexa and the rest of her house sat in sullen silence, hardly speaking to one another and barely touching their food.

They had won, fair and square. They had earned the House Cup and simply because Potter, Weasley, and Granger had broken rules and - though it pained Alexa to admit it - stopped a terrible man from doing something far worse than she could ever imagine, they had stolen the Cup right out from under their noses. The entire school was happy at Slytherin's defeat and it made Alexa hate the whole lot of them.

To Alexa's pleasure, she passed all of her classes with good marks, even History of Magic, which she could barely keep her eyes open in. Her Potions score was the highest out of them all, closely followed by Transfiguration and Charms.

"How'd you do?" Sue wanted to know as her eyes quickly scanned Alexa's test results. "Well, I knew you'd do better at Potions than me, but I'm glad I got a higher mark in Charms than you."

Alexa scrunched her nose at Sue, who laughed, and the two of them settled down into chairs by the fire.

All around her, Alexa could hear talk of summer plans, of promises to write to each other.

Only Sue would write to her, Alexa knew, and she was perfectly fine with that. After all, she hadn't exactly made many friends that year, and she had barely spoken to Hannah over the last few months.

She could easily blame it on studying for the finals, but after watching Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw cheer at Slytherins defeat of the House Cup, she had very ill feelings towards the rest of the school, Hannah included.

As the train left Hogwarts, Alexa watched it disappear before letting Morgana out of her cage.

Morgana stretched out, her claws entended as her tail curled slightly, then curled up in a ball next to Alexa, who was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Sue, when the compartment door slid open and Hannah entered.

"What do you want?" Sue asked, her tone waspish.

Hannah simply smiled. "I wanted to say goodbye to Alexa before we got to King's Cross. I haven't had a chance to talk to her for a few weeks."

"Oh, well, see you next year," Alexa said, somewhat coldly.

Hannah regarded her with raised eyebrows then sat down.

"Look, I'm sorry about Slytherin losing the House Cup," Hannah began, but Sue cut her off.

"Are you?" she demanded. "I don't think you are. I saw you cheering right along with the rest of the school. I've no time for false condolences and feigned apologies. Get out and go back to whatever compartment you came from."

"Sue, enough," Alexa snapped. "She's my friend, not yours."

Sue shrugged and looked pointedly out of the window, watching as the scenery flashed by.

"It's fine, Hannah," Alexa said, but Hannah was shaking her head.

"It's not," she countered. "It was wrong that everyone was happy that Slytherin lost. You all had won, fair and square, and Gryffindor came in and stole it from you." Hannah shook her head. "I am sorry, truly. I hope we can still be friends."

Alexa stared at Hannah for a long moment before nodding, a smile breaking out on her face. "Of course we can still be friends."

Hannah beamed and reached forward, hugging Alexa tightly.

"Good," she said in Alexa's ears. "I like you far too much to not be friends with you."

She pulled back and eyed Sue carefully. "It's nice to officially meet you, by the way, Sue."

Sue glanced coldly at Hannah then turned away again.

"She's a tough nut to crack," Alexa lied.

Hannah looked happy enough and soon disappeared just as the lunch trolley was rolling through.

"Why are you friends with her?" Sue wanted to know as she returned to her seat, her arms laden with Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes.

Alexa grabbed a Licorice Wand and a few Chocolate Frogs before returning to her own seat.

"Because she's nice and doesn't judge me for being a Slytherin like everyone else at Hogwarts does," Alexa retorted. She ripped open a Chocolate Frog and read the card: "'Nicolas Flamel is a well-known alchemist and the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone.'"

She looked up and caught Sue's eye.

"Isn't that what Potter and his friends stopped Quirrell from getting?" Alexa inquired and Sue nodded.

"It is," she confirmed.

Alexa flipped the card over and stared down and the smiling face of Nicolas Flamel.

"How odd," she said as Flamel tilted his head at her, "that Quirrell would sacrifice himself for something as legendary as the Philosopher's Stone."

"A sacrifice that was in vain," Sue agreed.

Alexa looked down at Flamel for a moment longer before putting the card aside and biting the head off the Chocolate Frog.

When the train rolled into the platform, Alexa hurriedly put Morgana back in her cage, much to her cats' obvious discontentment, and joined the throng of students eager to disembark and find their parents.

Sue had just found her parents when a hand touched Alexa's shoulder.

She spun round, a scream stuck in her throat, and found herself looking up at Liam.

"Have a good summer," he told her, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Er, thanks." She eyed him curiously. "You too."

Liam nodded then hurried away just as Alexa's parents approached.

"Did you have a good year?" Mrs. Lott asked as she embraced Alexa tightly. "Oh, I've missed you."

"I had loads of fun," Alexa said as she pulled away and turned to her father, who hugged her even tighter than her mother, making it difficult to breathe.

When he finally released her, he took hold of her trolley and made for the exit.

"We can't wait to hear all about it," he said and the three of them left King's Cross station behind them and, Alexa thought a little sadly, the Wizarding world.

Never fear, for those of you who have been keeping up with Alexa and Sue and Liam. Presently, in-between novel writing, I have been working on the second Alexa Lott fanfiction. For now, at least, I have every intention of continuing her story. I haven't got the faintest idea as to when it will be posted, but I am aiming for the end of this month, perhaps early next month. You can follow me as an author if you wish to read more about Alexa. It's the only way I can think of for you to be notified. Unless you just want to keep checking back for it, of course. Whatever you decide, if you want more Alexa, it'll be soon. Enjoy your November and see you in Stone Cold.

Sincerely, The TragedyIs