So far the summer had been horrible for fifteen year old Alexandra Potter. The heat was unbearable, as were the Dursleys, and she hadn't talked with someone in forever. For the last weeks, she had done nothing apart from wandering through the hot streets, picking up newspapers and desperately reading through them in hope of finding out something new.

She now sat on a park bench, the only one which laid in shadows, and starred at the dry ground angrily. She was kept in the dark about everything. After all that had happened last summer, after escaping death by a hairs breadth, witnessing Voldemort's return and Cedric Diggory's death, her best friends Ron and Hermione, and her godfathers Sirius and Remus wouldn't write anything informative to her.

"Take care, Alex."
"We'll see you soon, Alex."
"We're not allowed to tell you anything, sorry!"
"Don't put yourself in danger, honey."

That's all she got! Nothing about Voldemort or anything that happened in the magic world. Where was he? What about his Death Eaters? She had so many questions, but nobody was willing to answer them. What frustrated and irritated her the most was the fact that nobody seemed to care that she was spending her summer holidays with the Dursleys. The Dursleys, who had always hated Alex and never cared about her.

She forcibly had to return to Little Whinging, to her mother's sister, after Remus and Sirius got her when was four years old and found her beaten up in the cupboard. She knew that Sirius and Remus were really sad and furious that she couldn't spent her holidays with them like usual, but they had given in when Dumbledore insisted that it was safer for her to come back after Voldemort's return. It was horrible, living in a house where everyone hated her. Nobody cared that she barely slept 3 hours a night, because she'd rather stay up all night than close her eyes and see Cedric' dead eyes and hear his last scream. She didn't need to experience that dreadful night again, she even put up with the bags under her eyes, which were getting darker every night.

"I just want home," Alex whispered to herself, thinking of the nice house she normally lived in with Sirius and Remus and what she would do to be there. Nevertheless she hated that even though they ignored all her questions and apparently didn't want to see her, she still wanted to see them and talk to them. It made her heart clench and unclench painfully just at the thought of Ron and Hermione having fun and Sirius and Remus talking about good old times, laughing. How could they forget her that easily? The anger inside her swelled up again and she kicked a stone on the ground, immediately regretting it.
Feeling something is better than feeling nothing, she thought as she had been feeling numb recently. Alex sighed heavily, still not understanding why nobody trusted her. While sitting on the bench Alex observed a mother with a little boy on the swing. They both were laughing, it seemed like they didn't have any worries in their lives, and at the moment she wanted nothing more than to have a similar life.

Alex looked at her watch. She sighed, it was nearly time for her to go 'home'. Her uncle Vernon would be furious if she came home after Dudley. She stood up silently, and with one last look at the family behind her, she left the park, still facing the ground.

It was as if her legs were carrying her on their own, because she wasn't concentrating on the road. Maybe this was the reason she bumped into someone hard and fell on the ground. Alex tried to move, but the person had somehow managed to fall on her, so she couldn't. The girl looked up at the person's face. It was a boy, probably in his late teens, his eyes were a wonderful shade of blue and his hair dark black. He was looking down at her and as he examined her face closely, a cheeky grin appeared on his face.
Alex blushed hard, he was staring at her and hadn't bothered to stand up yet.
"Um – would you – um – mind to move?" His grin vanished a little and his cheeks got red. He instantly moved up and also helped her to stand up.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't see you coming," he apologized and smiled at her. "Are you okay?" He smiled widely and showed the sweetest dimples Alex had ever seen.
The teenage girl smiled at him and cursed herself for not wearing something nicer.
"Um – yes. I'm alright. What about you?" she looked at the tall boy.

The young man looked her deeply in her eyes and smiled, "Never been better" Alex blushed a little and scratched her head. She wished she could say something interesting and make him talk with her in a way. She only nervously tried to flatten her hair and looked into his eyes. She tried to figure out what caused her stomach to make loop-the-loops and a warm feeling spread in her. His eyes, she decided and grinned.
There was a small silence between them when again he broke it
"Oh and, how impolite of me, bumping into someone and not introducing myself. I'm Rigel Williams." He stretched his hand and Alex shook it politely.
"I'm Alex Potter," she smiled but frowned as she noticed that a shocked expression flashed on his face. A second later he was smiling though, and Alex decided that she had imagined that.

"How come I have never seen you here before?" Alex asked curiously.
"I'm actually only visiting my aunt, who lives down the road to the left," Rigel explained. "And I was just – um – exploring when I crashed into you."
"There isn't much to explore, really." Alex chuckled.
"I kind noticed that too", he responded.
"Oh." Alex said and again she deeply wished that she could say something more than just "Oh". She tried to think of a question, maybe he wanted to be shown around in Little Whinging but she mentally snorted. Who wanted to be shown around in the most boring town on the planet?
"Anyway," Rigel said with a look at his watch, "I don't want my aunt to worry. It was great meeting you, Lexi."
Alex jokingly raised a brow. "Lexi?"
He grinned playfully. "Don't you like it? I think it suits you perfectly."
Alex smiled at him and retorted with a slight blush, "I'll think about that nickname. It was also great meeting you."
"Oh and, I'll see you again?", he asked her, looking at her with a piercing look in his eyes that she feared to lose herself in them. "It seems like I'm stuck in here until September so yes," she chuckled.
"Alright, see you then," he winked at her and walked down the street without another word.

With a small smile playing on her lips, and her worries forgotten, she headed back to the Dursley. For once she could ignore Vernon's degrading comments, Dudley's dumb sayings and Petunia's perpetual nagging.
As soon as she arrived in her small room, she ignored Sirius', Ron's and Hermione's useless letter and cuddled into her blanket. For the very first time in about 3 weeks now, the anger and numb feeling in her stomach had disappeared and had been replaced with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Her insides were going crazy and it was ridiculous to think that someone she barely knew had such an impact on her. She smiled out of nowhere when she remembered his cheeky smile and his dimples. In that night after weeks without sleep, she slept peacefully in her bed, without seeing Voldemort, Cedric or other horrible nightmares. Maybe the summer wouldn't be that bad after all.

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Special thanks to "Lavada Lenore" who was very kind and corrected this chapter for me. I am aware that I need to update the others as well. I will try to correct them as soon as possible, or maybe I will be able to find a Beta Reader.

Please continue reading the story, I will continue with it very soon.

B xx