Harry's POV
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It took me quite sometime to figure out exactly what to do with Malandra; I didn't know her as well as I knew Hermione and Ron, and yet, she was easy to talk to. She was one of those people that understand just what you are saying even when you are not exactly sure what you are saying yourself. She knew exactly what to say and when to say it. It was as though she already knew me, which, when I thought about it, she kinda already did. Yet, she was still a mystery to me.
So, what exactly could I do with a person who was a complete mystery to me? I smiled, Get to know them, of course. Which was how, after about thirty minutes of sneaking into the castle unnoticed, Malandra and I ended up in the room of requirement.
This time, the room was set up with chess board, two bean bag chairs, a ping pong table, and a glass box that I didn't have the foggiest idea what it held. The room had, in short, turned into the perfect teen hang out.
I couldn't help but laugh when Malandra raced to plop down on a beanbag chair and then sighed in contentment when she reached it. "What?" She asked laughing, "I've had a rough couple days, I've been shoved into the past, my father hates me, my mother doesn't even know I exist, and I had to play therapist to you, I need a break."
I smiled, "Ok, first of all, you did not have to "play therapist" to me; I was perfectly fine brooding on my own." She snorted, but I chose to ignore her. "Second, I'm sure your father doesn't hate you, Snape is just being… himself, its part of his personality." She smiled back at that one. "Thirdly, as for your mom, she might not know you exist now, but I'm sure that in few years she'll be more than content to have a happy, bouncing, baby--well, baby you to play with."
Her smile faltered. "I'm not so sure about that." She said. I glanced over at her. "What do you mean?" She sighed, "I mean I'm not so sure that in a few years I'll really exist at all." She looked down at the floor. "My mother and father got together after she saved his life, even though she thought she was the traitor who killed Albus, she saved his life, that' when the whole relationship between them started. Before that, they had a grudging respect for each other, at best." She sighed again, but this time, when she spoke, I could hear that she was beginning to cry. "If we change things, I don't know if they will ever fall in love, get married, have me, I don't know if I'll ever exist or if I'll just disappear like I was never here." she started to sob quietly, "I've never know two people to be more in love or to be more right for each other than my parents and yet, I can't help but get the feeling that if that one tiny thing doesn't happen then they will never realize just how right they are for one another."
Tears were flowing freely down her face now, and yet, my curiosity got the best of me, I had to ask. "If you knew that there was a chance you might not… exist anymore than why change the future at all?" She smiled a weak smile through the tears. "My life is not nearly so important as to saving the hundreds more that will be saved if we stop this."
I felt like such a prick. Here I was just a few minutes before bemoaning the fact that I might die and stay dead saving the wizarding world and here was a girl who was willing to risk never even existing to try to make the world better. I am such a bloody prat.
To make matters worse, I don't have a way with words the way Malandra does, there was nothing comforting I could say to her. Instead, I pulled her into a tight hug and let her use me as her shoulder to cry on. After all, what else are friends for?
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After about ten minutes, Malandra perked back up as though nothing had every happened. "Look," she said pulling me over to the glass box, "I want to show you something." At first, I didn't see anything in the box, but eventually, I saw something begin to wiggle around. Malandra stuck her hand in there and pulled out a small, green, garden snake.
"A snake," I said, "How very… Slytherin of you." She laughed. "He's adorable." She said, "Aren't you little guy?" I was slightly surprised when the snake nodded its head in agreement. "Wait, you're a parseltongue?" I asked genuinely amazed. Other than Voldemort and myself, I had never met another one.
She smiled. "You were the first one to notice that when I talked to the snakes in mum's garden they listened." She laughed, "For my 11h birthday you bought me a beautiful python that I named after you. Mum wasn't too please, she was never overly found of snakes, but dad seemed to think it was a proper familiar for his little Slytherin princess."
She rolled her eyes. "he never let mum forget that I was a Slytherin just like everyone else on his side of the family had always been." "What was your mom?" I asked suddenly interested. "Gryffindor." She said, and that's all she would say about the subject.