And now ladies and germs, I give you the final chapter of Alexis Lestrange and the Diary of Tom Riddle...

Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Surrey

"Ah, Alexis, glad you could join us again,"said Professor Dumbledore with a smile. "I've just sent off a letter to Azkaban request in our gamekeeper back."

"Why do I doubt it was really a request?" said Alexis. She caught sight of Harry looking at his now clean robes.

'Dumbledore used the cleaning spell, huh?' she thought. She was surprised when Harry jumped and looked at her wide eye.

'I can hear your thoughts.'

Now it was Alexis's turn to go wide eye. McPherson could send thoughts into others mind but Alexis could only ever read them. Had her mind reading abilities developed?

"Harry," said Dumbledore with another smile. "If you wouldn't mind returning the sword and going to the Great Hall. I'm sure the feast is about to begin and I need to talk to Alexis."

Harry nodded before returning the sword to the desk.

"Yes, Professor," he said but stopped when he reached Alexis. Giving her a hug he whispered, "Wait for you outside, Padfoot?"

"If you'd be so kind, Prongs," Alexis whispered back with a smile.

With a quick wave goodbye, Harry disappeared behind the door, leaving Alexis and Professor Dumbledore alone in the Headmaster's office.

"Lemon drop?"

Alexis looked at her Headmaster with an amused expression. She had come to realize he only started conversations with offering candy when he thought she wasn't going to be comfortable with it.

'Pretty sweet of you, old man,' Alexis thought to herself and Dumbledore smiled knowingly.

"You can do it too," said Alexis. "Read minds I mean."

Professor Dumbledore said nothing. Instead he walked over to the fireplace. He looked at Alexis still smiling, a familiar twinkle in his eye.

"Legilimency is a very difficult ability to master, Alexis," said Dumbledore, taking a seat in a golden armchair and motioning for Alexis to do the same. "Very few have ever mastered it actually. It takes years, many, many years, and then most who learn it still have to cast an incantation to, as you say, read minds."

"But I've always been able to do it," said Alexis, sitting across from her Headmaster. "I mean, read thoughts anyway. Tom never taught me, I just, well, I just knew. He did it too except he could talk to me without me reading his mind."

"Tom McPherson, like yourself, inherited his gift of Legilimency," said Dumbledore. "Unlike you, however, Tom began training to improve his ability because he knew it could do far more then read the thoughts of those of his choosing. Legilimency allows you to navigate through the many layers of a person's mind. Thoughts, emotions, memories, everything is visible to those who possess this ability. Some, a very few, can even influence the mind they invade and send its owner into madness."

Alexis blinked at her Headmaster, surprised.

"Do you understand the seriousness of this, Alexis?" said Dumbledore, the twinkle in his eye all but gone. "It is very important you keep your gift a secret. I know you will not abuse it, well no more then a child would" - he chuckled softly, clearing the room of its tense air if only for a moment- "but if the Ministry discovers it..."

He didn't finish, knowing full well Alexis understood what he was talking about.

Alexis shifted in her seat uncomfortable. She had listened very closely to Dumbledore's words and knew she had not miss heard him.

"You said I inherited my gift," she said.

"I did," agreed Dumbledore.

"So that means one of my parents were Legilimens too, right?" said Alexis, getting a little antsy because of her headmaster's dismissive behavior.

"It is likely," said Dumbledore. He wasn't denying what he had said earlier but he wasn't admitting it either. "But they would not have had to inherited it as well."

"So," said Alexis, hesitating only slightly, "who else can do Legilimency besides us?"

Professor Dumbledore smiled again.

"Strange how your ability matured after your encounter with Tom Riddle's diary," he said, turning his attention to the flames of the fire. "Have you noticed any other changes in your magical abilities?"

"Yes, sir," said Alexis with a nod. She highly doubted pressing Dumbledore for information on her parents would work so she wasn't going to bother. "I can understand Parseltongue. To-Riddle said it was a bonus for doing what I was doing. I think he was talking about writing in the journal but I'm not sure. Was I, I mean, were we becoming one person? Was he going to possess me and that's why I was gaining his... gifts?"

"In a sense, Tom Riddle is apart of you now," said Dumbledore. "He transferred some of his own powers to you through his diary similar to how he transferred some of his power to Harry the night he tried to kill him."

"So Riddle was a Legilimens too then," mumbled Alexis. She looked up to find her headmaster staring at her. "Are these new powers permanent?"

"I'm afraid so," said Dumbledore. He returned his attention to the fireplace once more, leading to a long, drawn out pause.

Finally, without looking at Alexis, Dumbledore spoke once more.

"How much did Mr. McPherson tell you about the night he rescued you, Ms. Alexis?"

"Not much, sir," said Alexis, not knowing where this conversation was going. "He told me he was sent to kill me but couldn't bring himself to do it. I tried prying more information from him every once and awhile but he never said anything else."

"When it was discovered that your mother was with child, Millicent Bagnold was the Minister of Magic," said Dumbledore, the flames of the fire reflecting in his eyes. "She placed Cornelius, who at the time was her Junior Minister, in charge of dealing with the situation. In turn, Cornelius called forth those he thought would be the best to guide him in the decision."

Alexis looked at her headmaster and felt a lump forming in her throat. There was no more twinkle in his eye, nor was there an amused expression on his face. For the first time Alexis was seeing Professor Dumbledore for the old man he really was and he looked very old indeed.

"It was a heated debate on what to do with you," said Dumbledore, "but in the end Cornelius left it up to only one of us to decide."

"You," said Alexis, the lack of emotion in her voice surprising even herself. "He let you to choose."

"Yes, and I will not deny I chose death, no matter how cryptic I said it, I chose death for an unborn child," said Dumbledore, his voice just barely over a whisper. He had yet to look Alexis in the eyes again even as he continued, "I was afraid, you see. I had made the mistake of choosing life before and the idea of history repeating itself again frightened me. Funny how at my age I have more fears now then I did as a child."

There was another long pause before either of them spoke.

"I forgive you," whispered Alexis.

"That is not something I deserve, I'm afraid," said Professor Dumbledore.

"Maybe," said Alexis, standing up, "but it's something I'm giving you. Tom told me to trust you and that may not entitle you to be forgiven but I find it hard to trust someone I have a grudge against." She turned towards the door but called back, "I know if you had really wanted me dead I wouldn't be here, and I most certainly wouldn't be the Golden Boy's best friend. You protected me from the Ministry even though you didn't have to and for that I forgive you and thank you."

She caught a glimpse of a smile slip onto her headmaster's face before she disappeared down the spiral staircase.

"Took your time, Padfoot?" said Harry as Alexis came out the Headmaster's office.

"Do me a favor, Prongs," said Alexis as she threw her arm over her best friend's shoulder.

"Anything."

"Quite dying," she said, bumping Harry with her hip. "This is the second time I've watched you escape death. First in your nightmare, now right in my arms, I don't know how many more of those I can take."

Harry rolled his eyes before bumping his friend with his own hip. It was funnier, seeing that Alexis was smaller and therefore nearly fell over because of the force.

"Jerk," hissed Alexis, gaining her balance.

"Snot brains," Harry snapped back.

"Troll bogie."

"Dragon dung."

"Banshee bait."

"Gryffindork."

"And proud of it," sang Alexis and the two friends laughed. They continued on there way to the Great Hall with their arms over each other's shoulder, neither of them expecting to almost be knocked down by the great clamor of cheering that greeted them when they arrived.

Hermione and Ron were the first of many to greet them, quite literally sprinting down the path between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to hug them first, followed by the Weasley twins and Cedric. Cedric himself nearly squished Alexis to death when he hugged her before reprimanding her as if he was her mother.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again," he snapped after he finally released Alexis from his grasp. Harry was currently having his hand squeezed to death by Justin while he apologized repeatedly for suspecting him.

"No promises," teased Alexis, hugging her surrogate older brother back.

As the feast continued on things only got better. Everyone was in their pajamas besides Alexis, Harry, and Ron and the feast lasted until the early morning. There was an endless amount of food and around three in the morning Hagrid returned. They were ecstatic to see their giant friend again, though Ron kept mumbling, "Follow the bloody spiders, follow the bloody spiders, huh, Hagrid?" between mouthfuls of sweets. Around four-o-clock Professor McGonagall announced that Harry and Ron had earned four hundred points for the Gryffindor house, securing the House Cup for the second year running, and that all exams had been canceled as a school treat. Only Hermione seemed to be disappointed in the latter news.

Everyone's favorite part of the feast, however, was when Professor Dumbledore announced that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. There was a standing ovation over the great news in which most of the teachers joined in. Professor Flitwick even shot off fireworks from his wand and Professor Snape let a small smile appear on his face.

The rest of the school year past by in a blur of sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences - Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled, but Harry and Ron believed they had plenty of practice at that anyway, and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Peeves was back at terrorizing students with newly found gusto but everyone was too happy to be bothered by his pranks and would usually just laugh along with him.

Alexis spent her last day at the lake with Draco discussing summer plans.

"Are you sure you can't come with us to France this summer, Alexis?" whined Draco for the fifth time. Alexis couldn't help but to laugh.

"I'm sure," she said still giggling. "Moody said I wasn't going to go anywhere with anyone this summer. Punishment for not turning in the journal."

"Oh yes, because being unwillingly possessed by You-Know-Who was your fault," grumbled Draco.

"You can't always get what you want, Draco," teased Alexis.

"And why not?" said Draco. It took a while before Alexis realized he wasn't kidding.

Rolling her eyes, Alexis stood up and hugged her best friend goodbye.

The train ride home the next day was almost as fun as the feast. Alexis, Harry, Hermione, and Ron got a compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours they had together. They ate numerous amounts of sweets, played wizard chess, and practiced disarming each other by magic. Harry was getting very good at it, though it was unfair when Alexis used it seeing that she did magic wandless.

When they were almost to King's Cross they all decided to discuss what they were doing during summer.

"My parents and I are going to France," said Hermione, earning her a jealous look from Ron.

"We never go anywhere for the holidays," he grumbled. "Can't afford it."

"Cheer up, Tails," said Alexis, nudging her ginger friend. "Maybe you'll win the lottery this summer and go to Egypt to spend time with your brother Bill."

"Ha ha, very funny, Padfoot," Ron grumbled.

"I'm serious, Tails," said Alexis defensively. "Professor Trelawney says I have the Inner Eye. It's going to happen, you'll see."

Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes while Ron punched Alexis playfully in the arm. She pretended to be hurt but soon broke down into a fit of giggles when Ron failed in his attempt to lift an eyebrow.

"What about you, Harry?" asked Hermione. When Harry refused to answer her she rephrased her question. "What are you doing this summer, Prongs?"

"Nothing, Moony," replied a grinning Harry. "I probably won't be leaving Privet Drive, let alone Surrey, if the Dursleys have anything to say about it."

"I wish I at least knew where Moody lived," said Alexis with a sigh.

The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.

"Here. This is called a telephone number," he told Ron, handing him a piece of paper with numbers on it. He handed identical ones to Alexis and Hermione. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer - he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to..."

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?"

"Proud?" said Harry. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious..."

Together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world before going their own ways.

"Ready to go, lass?" said Moody.

Alexis nodded.

"Um, where exactly are we going?"

"I have a safe house in Surrey," said Moody before taking the cart from Alexis. "We'll be staying there."

"Surrey?" said Alexis. She glanced to her right to see Harry reluctantly following his fat uncle out of the station.

Something told Alexis this summer wasn't going to be that bad after all.

In less the a month I've finished the second book to the Alexis Lestrange series. Not going to lie, I'm pretty proud about that :D

Thank you everyone that's reviewed and don't be shy and stop reviewing just because the stories over. I'm planing on making a poll on my account over Fred and Draco. It's a secret for what it's for but I can't get started on the next story until I decided which one.

anyway please review and thank you Luna the HP fan and Nathaliie for your reviews last chapter!

check out my other story, Alice L Moody as well, I'll probably be posting a few chapters of that before I start the third book of this series.

Keep an eye out for Alexis Lestrange and the Grim!