Alex jumped as someone yelled his name and the sound echoed throughout the corridor. "Wha...oh, Sierra!" he said, smiling as his sister approached him. He wrinkled his eyebrows. "You seem a bit...stuffy," he said. Was she sick too? Maybe colds applied to that twin telepathy...thing or whatever it was.

Sierra was just about to grab her brother's shirt to stop him from going any further, when he whirled around to face her. Her hand was still up in the air, posed and ready to grab. Oh. She lowered her hand. "Yeah, I've had this stuff for about a week," she said, waving a hand over her general ear, nose, and throat area. "I was looking for my mom to see if she had a potion."

Speaking of potions...

"Hey, Alex? Will you take my truth serum from potions class?" she asked, pulling it out her robe. "I've got to turn it in by this evening, and...I sort of need a guinea pig." She grinned playfully. "It's good, I promise." A thought crossed her mind just that quickly. Did he even know about Ariadne? He couldn't unless someone had told him.

"Huh...me too, actually. Not in the mood to wait up in the hospital wing," Alex said with a shrug. He sniffled and let out a little cough in to the crook of his elow.

"Truth serum...umm, sure," he said. He chuckled as he looked at the vial she pulled out of her robes. "Don't worry Sierra, you get on my nerves sometimes but I know you'd never try and poison me," he assured her with a wink. Sierra Greingoth was quite a character, but murderer? Please.

"You're looking for my mom?" she asked, glancing up at him with a slightly puzzled expression. Funny. She never thought he'd actually taken the smallest of liking to her. She guessed he was just like any other student, though. Her mother was brilliant at what she did. Anybody would be lucky to get one of her brews. "So have you...heard about Ariadne?" she asked, uncorking the potion.

She stuffed the cork into her pocket and passed the vial to Alex. He was willing. Why not just let him drink it himself? She stood back and waited for him to drink the brew. When it set in, she'd start asking questions. She didn't exactly have anything in mind, but she'd come up with something.

Her MOM. It sounded so weird to hear him say that. Alex sometimes cringed when she referred to Lafay as that--granted she wasn't nearly as bad as Alex had first imagined, not nearly at all, but still, his mother was Bella. HER mother was Bella, and she'd just replaced her. Perhaps it was because she could easily fill the void that occurred when Bella died, and he couldn't, which explained why he took it so hard...ah well, more pressing matters were at stake right now.

"Ariadne? Who's that?" he asked before gulping down the potion. Hmmm, minty. He guessed that whoever that was...they were object of her interrogation.

Well, that was that. The potion had been taken, and now, Alex had to tell the truth. Or, he would have to if the potion was actually brewed correctly. Psh. Who was she kidding? She was amazing at this. It was definitely brewed correctly. "She's my baby sister," Sierra asked. "Mom and Dad had a baby on Christmas day." Which would make the baby only what? A few weeks old? Barely at a month.

"Alex?" she asked. ...and here was the moment when he had to tell the truth. "How do you really feel about what happened when we were first years? About Dad and Bella's divorce? My adoption? Bella's disappearance? You having a different dad?" The whole nine yards. What had he been thinking all these years?

"They had a BABY?" Alex asked in surprise. OHMIGOSH he was a big brother! Actually no, he wasn't at all, but he could think he was, right? Damn, not fair, he'd always wanted to be a big brother and now Sierra was! Maybe he should try and set his dad up with someone...

"How do I feel?" he repeated. He could feel a weird tingling in his tongue and knew that no matter what he tried to do, the answer was going to come out anyways. "Well, the divorce didn't bother me so much, they never really seemed to be a good match, you know? I just...sometimes feel weird knowing that we basically have two separate lives now. We practically aren't even related anymore, even though we obviously ARE...but mum was the only thing holding us together and now that she's gone...we might as well be completely different kids," he said with a shrug. That was a bit more than he had been intending to say, but it was the truth. Guess her potion worked...

"Mmhmm," Sierra said, nodding her head. She smiled just thinking about her precious baby sister who'd almost died. "They got married on Christmas day, I got adopted on Christmas day, and Ariadne was born on Christmas day." It really was their special day. She may have said something else about Ariadne, but then Alex started answering her questions.

"I know, and I'm sorry," she said, hanging her head. Looking back up, she added, "Dad and I were just so unhappy, Alex. Neither one of us ever fit in. I always thought something was wrong with me, because I never took to my birth mother like most girls do." Thank Merlin her daddy had been there when she was little.

"...but Alex, I think you'd be so happy for me now. She loves me so much. She taught me how to cook and clean, so I'd know how to do it on my own one day," she said. Even though she could so ask a house elf, too, if she so desired. "When I'm sick or upset, she sleeps with me or lets me sleep with her. I think I might be a bit of a Mama's Girl some, too, now." She'd skip the part about how she was still trying to overcome the separation anxiety she'd developed after her kidnapping, too. For a while, she didn't even leave her parents' sides. "Alex, how did you feel when I was kidnapped?"

...because his mother had done it.

"I AM happy," Alex insisted. "Obviously I didn't want you to feel unhappy or unwanted. I just...I don't know. It's one thing to be happy that your sibling is happy, and another to be happy even though they're enjoying their life in a totally different family," he explained. He bit his lip and looked at his shoes. Gosh darnit, he hated this truth potion, if he knew she was going to grill him like this he never would have agreed to it!

"And I guess it's a bit harder for me because...well, I JUST met my dad. It explains a lot, but it's not like you and Lafay, this is a TOTAL stranger entering my life after my mum passed away and I'm having a bit of a hard time adjusting to it all. You just jumped right in to it, happy as a clam," he said with a shrug. ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration, especially when she reminded him of the kidnapping.

"Honestly...I was scared and confused and didn't know what was going on. I feel like I was totally alone then--that woman was NOT my mother. She just...lost it. I know that's no excuse and I'm not trying to justify her actions but...I don't know. I was just so NUMB. None of it felt like it was real because I just couldn't believe she had actually done that. And I was scared for you because I didn't want you to be hurt. And then, just like that, Mum was gone, and I was left with Anna and Cale and some man who was calling himself my father that I didn't even know existed," he explained.

Sierra couldn't really say anything at first. All she did was bite her bottom lip and just nod a few times. She was honestly started to regret asking him about this. He was under the effects of a truth serum, and things were starting to get INTENSE. She really was in a totally different family, and up until now, she really hadn't stopped long enough to think about that. Really think about it. "Maybe you and I should try to hang out a little more, Alex. I mean, we should see each other on holidays and during the summer," she said. "Anna, too. Maybe it would do us some good."

"You know, Alex, when my mom moved in, and especially when I was adopted, I just wanted to forget my old life and move on. My old life was too painful," she said. "I shouldn't have pushed you and Anna away, though, and I'm sorry." Why hadn't she seen this sooner? WAIT. Hold up. All her thoughts came to a screeching halt. What did she just say. "She'd DEAD?" Sierra asked. All she'd even known of her birth mother was that she'd up and disappeared. Now she knew what her mom meant when she said Sierra would never be hurt again.

...but he was right. Bella had gone off the deep end, and Sierra hated her for it. She'd never gotten along with her, but she'd never hated her either. Now, she despised the woman's very existence. Or, lack thereof. She was DEAD?!

Alex smiled. "Yeah, I'd really like that," he said with a small chuckle. Who'd have ever thought that Sierra and Alex would be WANTING to spend more time together? "You should come see the twins sometime too...they're crazy," he added with a grin.

Alex wrinkled his eyebrows. "Well I figured as much, I mean I haven't heard from her in YEARS," he said. That was the only logical explanation right? "If she isn't dead she has a LOT of explaining to do!" he exclaimed. Seriously, there was no excuse for her NOT talking to him these past few years unless she had died.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout! Lex skipped down the dungeon corridors SHOUTING singing a merry tune. "Here is my handle, here is my spout," She looked around hopping to find more choir members but they weren't necessary. She did a cartwheel then yelled, "TIP ME OVER AND POUR ME OUT!!!"

Hehehehehe

Singing was fuuuun!!!

She sprinted down the corridor laughing like a maniac. "Moon, moon, moooooon!!!"

Oh?

A CRACK IN THE WALL?!?!? Hogwarts wa gonna fill with water!!! They were gonna siiiiink!!!--What did the bottom of the lake look like? Giant Squid Man was down there! They could have chocolate frogs together!!!! EEeeeeepppp!! Hurry crack! Break faaaaaster!

Sierra wanted to be mad at the Care of Magical Creatures professor. Really, she did. When you've been hit by the song of a Fwooper, though, it's kind of hard to think straight enough to be mad at somebody. Sierra was trying desperately to make her way back to the common room, though. If she was going to temporarily be insane, she wanted to be insane behind the closed doors of her dorm.

She swerved a little, giggled loudly about it, and then took a few more steps forward. That was when she overheard Alexa, that firstie from Gryffindor house, having the time of her life in the corridors. Heyyy, that looked like fun...

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout! Here is my handle, here is my spout!" Sierra said. She was, of course, doing all the hand motions, as well. So much fun! She giggled a bit, glanced at Alexa running down the corridor, and then continued her song. "When I get all steamed up, hear me shout--tip me over and pour me out!"

In the middle of her crack motivating she heard someone singing a silly little tune. Now where had she heard that before? It sounded soooo familiar!!!

Looking up the corridor she saw that Slytherin Prefect Girl. "Hey! Heeeeey!!!" Could she hear her? Could she?? Huh? Huh? HUH? "HEEEEEYYYY!!!!" She began hopping while flashing her hands wildly. Company!! Singing company!!!

"You wanna help me see a giant squid?!" Those were always so prettiful and big and squidy. Eeeep! She wanted one!! She could name it fluffy and he would be her bestest friend in the whole squid kingdom.

Hop. Hop. Hop.

She hopped her way over to the girl with a mad grin on her face then whispered enthusiastically, "He's hiding in that crack over there."

GIGGGGGGLE.

Sierra literally burst out the common room, parchment in hand, and began looking around the dungeon corridor as if what she was looking for just might fall right out the sky. Of course it didn't, so she took off down the corridor in search of anybody--literally anybody--walking by.

She had completely let the Arithmancy homework slip her mind, and now that it was due in the professor's office in a little less than an hour, she was sort of in a fix. She'd just finalized her message and coding and all she needed to do now was find somebody to give it.

Anybody?!

Anybody?!

Alex had just finished up his potions homework and turned it in, and now he was heading back to his dorm--anywhere AWAY from the dungeons. It was colddddd here!

As he was walking, he walked RIGHT in to someone as he turned the corner. "Oh, sorry I--oh, hey Sierra!" he said, realizing it was his sister. "What's up?" he asked. He hoped he hadn't hit her in the head or anything.

Wait...

...that voice! Sierra knew that voice!

"ALEX!" she said, yelling out louder than she'd intended to. "Alex, I need you to do my homework for me!" Wait. That came out the wrong way. "I mean. Not the whole thing. I just need you to try and decipher my message for that Arithmancy homework. It's due in...thirty minutes?"

She gave him a pleading look and gently pushed a piece of parchment into his hand. "Will you take a look at it? Solve it? Please?" she asked. "If I miss it and make another bad grade, my dad's going to ground me for life."

Alex blinked as she pushed the parchment in his face and he raised his eyebrows. Another puzzle? But he'd just done one of these for Vivi! Well, he supposed he could do it again...as long as Sierra's wasn't that hard.

"Yeah, I can give it a try," he said with a smile, taking the parchment and looking at it. He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Merlin! Real letters!" he said with a chuckle. Right, 30 minutes? Ok, he could do this. He pushed the parchment against the wall and started to examine it.

Sierra breathed a sigh of relief and actually gave Alex a one-armed hug as he accepted the parchment. "Thanks, Puffer Brother," she said with a grin. She meant that term in the most sincere way possible. "What would I ever do without you?" ...besides move out and get a new mom and new family?

Okay, back to the parchment...

"Okay, so here's the alphabet," she said, pointing to the middle of the parchment, "because you'll need it to solve the puzzle above." She backed away to try and let him get started. Oh, but wait... "Think addition, Alex. ADD!" She shooed him along in a moment of panic. Would she even be able to make it to the Arithmancy classroom in time?!

"Ssh! I can do it!" Alex snapped. He didn't want her help! He was SMART. He'd solved the weird symbol junk that Vivi had given him, he could do this.

Ok...think addition. A equaled D, so...what did that mean? Addition? UGGH. He stared at the parchment when it suddenly popped out at him. "OH! I get it!" A equaled D, so you had to move 3 places over...Ok, he got it!

He quickly scribbled the answer on the parchment. That wasn't bad at all! He'd solved it in record time too!

"Your brother has saved the day," he announced with a grin, handing her the parchment back with the correct answer written on it.

Quote:

Slytherin for the house and quidditch cup!

He'd told her to shhh, but Sierra was just too anxious about missing this assignment to actually pay attention. "Alex, hurry!" she said, looking over his shoulder at what he was doing. "Just...think addition. Add, Alex! Add!" Patience just really wasn't her thing. She did finally manage to get quiet, but it was only because Alex began writing letters, and they were all in the correct order.

"That's right, that's right," she said, as he managed to get the first few words on the parchment. He was actually doing it! Puffer Brother was good for something! Actually, he was good for lots of things, Sierra was starting to realize. Yeah, yeah. She loved her brother. When he finally finished, she accepted the parchment with a grin. "That's it--Slytherin for the house and Quidditch cup!" Too bad they wouldn't actually get either...

"Thanks, Alex," she said. "...and I really have to go now. I have to turn this in." She turned and started off down the corridor. "Thaaaaanks!"

...and what was Alex doing hanging out in the Dungeon Corridors so much for anyway? This was the second time she'd randomly caught him here. ... ... Oh, my Merlin! He had a snake girlfriend, didn't he?!