Mira had been coming upstairs after finishing the accounts in the office with Verity, the other girl the Weasley's had hired to help out in the shop. Verity had gone back to the apartment she was renting above Madame Malkin's after calling a guard to see her safely there. Standing outside the door to the living space up there she could hear Fred and George arguing. "Don't you see? This could be our chance to have her!" She knew who they were talking about and didn't want to intrude, but couldn't bring herself to go back downstairs either.
"George, I don't want her anymore! Can't you see that?"
"You can't honestly tell me you don't want her, Fred!"
"Yes, Erin is the ideal woman for either of us! I admit it, George."
"You still love her just like I do!"
Fred was quiet for a moment and Mira could hear him take a deep breath. "Yes, George, I love her. But I'm not IN love with her anymore. I love Mira. I don't know what it is, George, I really don't…but loving Erin and seeing the good in her allowed me to see the good in Mira once I started to really get to know her."
"She's a Slytherin, Fred…I like Mira, I do, but at the end of the day she is still a Slytherin."
"There's a reason for that. I can't tell you, but I can assure you that it's not what you think."
"If you say so, I'll believe you. I'll always believe you, Fred." He said in a soft voice.
"Thanks, I can't tell you some things, yet, but I will when I can."
"It's okay. I knew one day we'd have secrets from each other. And that it would be because they're important to keep. But promise me, that we won't keep them forever from each other."
"I promise, Georgie, as soon as I can tell you, I will."
It was quiet after that and after a few minutes Mira opened the door. Only Fred was lounging in the living area up there waiting for her. She smiled. "Everything's finished."
"Great," he said motioning her over to sit with him. She folded herself under arm on the couch and felt more than saw Regulus hop up onto the back watching them. He kissed her cheek. "What's the damage this week?"
"It was a good week in the shop. There's only a few more days until I go back to Hogwarts, though."
"That's why we hired Verity. She may not do as good a job as you can…but it will get done. Are you planning on coming home for Christmas?"
"I'd like to, if you want me to."
"I do. We can go over to Sirius and Erin's. I'd like you to get to know her better…be a friend to her…if you can."
"I'm sure that won't be a problem." The Dark Lord would love it if she was able to create a confidence with her. She knew Erin didn't have her memories anymore, but she'd need people around her to help her. And she thought she'd like Erin. Even losing your memory you didn't lose who you were basically. Fred had said she was a good person, feisty, and did what she could for others. Mira thought she'd like a friend like that. It was hard for her though to trust others with all the pain in her life. She'd only been able to trust Regulus and now Fred and to some extent George. She wanted to trust others, but she didn't think she could afford to until the Dark Lord was gone.
They snuggled for awhile until they both went to bed in their own rooms. Regulus followed her. "I don't like him." He said jumping up on her desk when she sat down to brush out her hair.
"You wouldn't like anyone I did."
"That's not true."
"Yeah, right, I know you lie to me."
"What have I lied to you about?" He asked making that really low yowl in his throat.
"You think I wasn't listening to you and your brother? You know who my parents are and you've never once told me or gave any hint that you knew! Even when I said something about it you just sat there!"
"It was for your own protection!"
"My own protection? What could be so bad that you would lie to me?"
He was quiet for a moment, "Because like Erin you could be used for the prophecy."
"What are you talking about?" She asked in a hushed voice, her heart had begun beating faster and faster.
"I wouldn't tell you if I had a choice, but I don't anymore…your mother was Dorcas Lyancomp."
"Who was she?"
Regulus ran a paw over the desk for a moment. "She was a witch, one of the greatest of her generation. Many of the Lyancomps were on the side of the Dark Lord. But of the children, Xenus, Xenia, and Dorcas were on the other side. They were ALL killed personally by the Dark Lord. Donovan Lyancomp is the son of Xenus Lyancomp and Amelia Bones. The greatest of the pure bloods runs through your veins, Mira! Just as it runs through Erin's…the Black line is dead now! There are no more males to carry on the line. If Voldemort is to fulfill the prophecy it must be now with the three bloods." He was ranting and managed to calm himself down. "Dorcas was a member of the Order of the Phoenix along with her sister. Xenus was already dead. She was married right out of Hogwarts to a Muggle Born wizard named Meadowes. I don't remember his first name. He was killed soon after by Death Eaters."
"I'm a pure blood…so he can't be my father…"
"No, he wasn't your father…but your mother was killed personally by Voldemort when you were only days old. That was in 1979."
"No," she shook her head. I was born in 1980. October 1980." She didn't know the exact date, just that it was in October.
He shook his head. "I took you to Dumbledore myself. He made it so everyone would believe you were born in 1980 to throw off anyone about who you were. Your birth was hushed up. You were so small anyway that it wasn't a stretch to believe you were born a year later than you actually were."
"Who's my father?"
He shook his head. "Mira, please, don't ask me that."
"You'll tell me who my mother was, but you won't tell me who my father is!"
"It's for your own protection, Mira!"
"No! You just won't tell me because you don't think I could handle it! It was Sirius Black, wasn't it! That's why you won't tell me!"
"Mira, stop!"
"Erin's my sister! That's why Fred loves me, isn't it!"
"Mira!"
"I have a different mother! Sirius cheated on his wife! That's why you won't tell me! Because I'm an illegitimate, that's why isn't it?!"
"No, Mira, that's not—"
"Save it! I'm not speaking to right now!" She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck putting him outside her door before slamming it. Regulus meowed unhappily, but she didn't open the door.
