Chapter Eight

A/N – Introduction to a less Mary-Sueish Mia! -

"Hi Hermione," Mia said, "What's the matter?"

"You should know," Hermione said, marching right up to her, "How could you do that to Ron!"

"Do what?" Mia asked.

"Embarrass him like that!"

"But…I didn't…I just…"

"Yes you did! Showing off like that! You took his spot from him! He deserves to be Keeper! He…"

Now Mia was getting angry, "He didn't deserve anything! Hermione, let me tell you something, I have wanted to be on the Gryffindor team….on any team since I was a child. Had I been able, I would have tried out for the team, but I couldn't. So, I practiced when I could. I practiced every position so, maybe; just maybe, I could get on the team. Keeper just happened to be my strength."

"Well…you didn't have to bewitch his broom to get in!"

There was silence…

"What?"

"Ron told me that he let you use his broom. Then his broom wasn't working when he used it," she took a breath, "I understand if you don't like Ron or I, but you didn't have to do that to him! You didn't have to cheat…"

"Cheat?" Mia asked; she was beyond angry now. Who the bloody hell did this girl think she was? Yelling at her, accusing her of cheating! "Look Hermione, I have never cheated at anything in my entire life. I don't intend to start now. As for Ron, I'm sorry if he thinks something was wrong with his broom, but I didn't do any thing to it. I've seen the Hogwarts games on my replay…"

"Your what?" Hermione cut in.

"Replay, go look it up if you want. Anyway, from what I've seen Ron was doing exactly what he does in the games. If he did poorly today it's because he's naturally bad at that position. I didn't do anything at all. If you…"

"Well, well, well," A voice said, Draco Malfoy stepped out of the trees, "If it isn't the Newbie and the Mud-Blood, having a little spat."

The girls stiffened, Mia turned to Hermione, "Excuse me for a moment," she said before rounding on Malfoy. "My name is Amelia Matthews, and she is Hermione Granger. I am not exactly new to the school and I would appreciate it if you'd not call Hermione that again."

"What?" He asked, "Mud-Blood?" He laughed, "You obviously don't know who I am, I'm…"

"I don't care," She said simply, "I wouldn't care if you were the minister of magic himself, that is a foul word to use on anyone who is not a Sludge Muck" (I know…dumb name, I made it up, imaging a mud monster)

Malfoy seemed stunned for a moment, "I am a Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and…"

"I still, don't care," She cut in once again, "Do not use that word against Hermione or any other muggle born student, ever again, or I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" He asked, taking a threatening step towards her, about to draw his wand. Suddenly he fond himself thrown against a tree, bound there by invisible rope, Amelia advancing on him, wand drawn.

She walked right up to him, wand pointed at his face. She spoke in hushed tones, so that Hermione wouldn't hear. "Malfoy, I'm warning you. I have spells beyond the power of a mere 7th year student, a knowledge that surpasses many of the teachers even, an experience worse than that of Harry Potter, and a power that could make your 'Dark Lord' run scared…" she paused, speaking in normal tones again, "So if I were you," She backed away, putting her wand back, releasing Malfoy from her hold, "I'd never use that word again."

She turned away, heading back to Hermione when Draco scrambled to his feet, anger overruling his fear. How dare a Gryffindor, Mud-Blood loving…girl, get him scared like that? Him! A Malfoy! He ran at her wand drawn, curse forming on his lips.

Before Hermione could even utter a warning, Mia had spun around flinging her right arm out. Draco flew back, hitting the tree with a greater force than before, knocking him out cold.

Mia sighed, drawing her wand, kneeling by Draco. She conjured a floating stretcher, sending it up to the school, it's destination being the Hospital Wing.

She stood there a moment longer, staring after the stretcher. She glanced over at a bewildered and slightly frightened Hermione, before looking down, then back up to the castle.

"I never disliked you or Ron," She said finally, "Quite the contrary," She sniffled, "I thought we could be friends…" She let her sentence trail, turning to face her. "Just remember you two were the ones who disliked me." She smiled sadly before trudging up to the castle.

Hermione stood there, watching till her figure disappeared, "That…that…" she thought to herself, "wasn't wand less magic, was it?" she shook herself out of those thoughts, "No, it couldn't be…it was wild magic…nothing more…"

She started heading up to the castle as well, new feelings coursing through her, the most prominent being guilt. She had been arguing…yelling, at Mia, accusing her of horrible things… "And she stuck up for me any way…and I still find myself not trusting her…but I know what to do…"

I

I

I

The door to the Headmaster's office slammed shut as Mia ran over to the desk where her Uncle was awaiting her.

"Okay, Okay, before you say anything, I know that I'm not supposed to use sorcery…"

"Amelia," Dumbledore said.

But he was ignored as Mia continued, "…but I couldn't stop it this time, Draco was about to attack me with my back turned, and I'm pretty sure that Hermione only thinks that it is wild magic…"

"Amelia."

"…and I know that she will probably come to see you about hexing Ron's broom, but I didn't, you know that I would never cheat or abuse my magic, I didn't do anything to his broom, you have to believe me…"

"Mia…"

"…as for talking to Harry today…I'm sorry, but he is the only person in the school who seems to accept me and actually talk to me…I know that I should keep my distance, but please, just let me be friends with him, nothing more, please, that's all I ask…" She took a deep breath, her first real breath since she started her ramble, as she awaited her grandfather's response.

There was silence, before Albus Dumbledore started laughing. "What?" Mia asked.

Once his chuckles died down, Albus spoke, "Yes, Mia, I know about what happened at the Pitch just now. And I understand. I also realized that even if I were to forbid you from anything involving Harry, that Harry would find a way around it just to speak with you…so it is pointless to keep you from him. You have my permission to be his friend…just make sure that nothing happens to him…alright?" He asked her with a meaningful look.

"Yes, of course," She spoke, nodding her head. She dug into her bag, taking out the two books that she had borrowed from him. "I brought the books back."

"Thank you," He said, standing, "Would you like to take any more for a while?" He motioned towards the hundreds of books on the shelves of his office. Mia walked over to one of the shelves, eyes roaming over the numerous titles. "Although," He said, pulling out a draw of his desk, "I don't believe you will have that much time to read for a while…" Mia looked over at him, "What with Quidditch practice…your studies…your basilisk…" He finished, pulling out a golden egg from the draw. Mia squealed and ran up to it, taking it in her hands, cradling it. Dumbledore gave a soft chuckle. "It should hatch in a day or two…"

He was cut off by his granddaughter pulling him into a bone crushing one-armed hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Now now, you can leave the egg here, till it hatches…can't have the students knowing about this." Mia nodded, "And it must be kept within the Chamber, is that under stood?" Mia nodded again, "Now off to lunch with you."

Mia gave an apprehensive look, before nodding slightly, placing the egg on the desk. She gave the headmaster a chaste kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Albus?" The sorting hat asked, from one of the shelves.

Albus sighed, "I don't know…" he admitted, sitting back down, looking upon his picture of Mia…