A/N I do not own Harry Potter, or characters that appear in the books.

Revealed

Despite her best intentions, Mia still didn't know what to say.

Whilst he was waiting for Mia to speak, Al walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Mia. He didn't pester her, knowing that it wouldn't help.

Mia sighed, realising she couldn't put it off any more. "When I was nine, my mother found out that I had magic and sent me off to live just outside London with one of her employees. Mother already knew about magic, and arranged for me to meet with the son of an influential magical family – the Malfoys. That's pretty much all there is to it."

Al looked at her shrewdly. "You don't think I really believe that that is the entire story. I live with James. I know how to spot gaps in a story from a mile off. I promise I won't think any differently of you, or treat you any differently, if that's what you're worried about."

"You wouldn't be able to help it. All I want is a relatively normal time here, spending time with my friends, complaining about work, the lot. I've never had that."

Al made one last attempt to get her to open up. "I swear I won't tell anyone. Plus, all I've ever wanted is a normal time here. As if I'm going to get it. It's not even like I'm famous. Everyone treats me as if I'm my dad incarnate. I get really sick of being treated like another being."

"Fine. But you better not treat me any differently. You promised. Well, what I told you was all true. I have just omitted the fact that my mother is the Queen of England. I was too high profile to keep around, so Mother sent me off to live elsewhere. I haven't seen her or my brother since then. I don't understand why they couldn't have visited me – even once, but it was ok. Being one of the most influential people in Britain, she already knew about the magical world, and set me up with Scorpius in the hope of creating better Wizard-Muggle bonds." Mia felt pleased with herself that she hadn't actually omitted anything. After all 'set me up with' could translate as 'effectively betrothed me to', couldn't it?

Al had a slight frown on his face. He still felt that something was slightly odd about the story, but decided not to pursue it. "So, you're muggle royalty. Cool. Was your brother older or younger than you?"

Mia turned away slightly and replied "I was never actually told, but I think that he might be older than me." At Al's slightly confused face, she elaborated, "We are twins. We hadn't been apart from each other for more than a few hours since birth. And she took me away from him. I missed him so much at first that I couldn't sleep. We'd always shared a room – I had grown used to his steady breathing. I still miss him, but it's more a steady ache. I don't really know him anymore; two years is a long time. I probably know you – and definitely know Scorpius – more than I do Edward at this point in time."

Al thought about this. In his mind it was practically a crime to separate siblings – especially twins – from each other. After all, after Fred's death had left his Uncle George distraught. The fact that Edward was still alive made the separation even worse. "That's awful. How well do you know Scorpius? What did you think of him to begin with?" Al tried to make the comment as off-handed as possible. He knew that the two of them had been passing notes to each other in Potions, and was slightly jealous of the blonde boy.

"Well." Mia smiled, remembering the morning she had met Scorpius.

Flashback

"Emilia, Scorpius Malfoy is here." Lucy said cautiously to her charge.

"Tell him to go away. I don't want to see him. I want to see Edward. I need to see Edward. Not some boy who only wants to use me like everyone else." Emilia replied into her pillow.

"Emilia. Come down now. He has come a long way to meet you – it would be a shame to turn him away."

"His family are magical. It probably took them a really short time to get here. Leave me alone. Tell him to leave me alone. Say I'm mentally unstable for all I care." Emilia hugged her pillow tightly and turned fully away from Lucy.

Before Lucy could answer there was a knock at the door. Lucy went to open the door, but was surprised when Emilia leapt off the bed to answer the door.

Emilia was met with the sight of a boy with pale blonde hair. Before she could shout at him to go away, or anything of the sort, the boy began speaking.

"Hello, I'm Scorpius. Sorry for intruding. My parents made me do this too. I only agreed because I thought – never mind. I can see you don't want to be – know me. I'll go." Scorpius turned around forlornly and made to go back downstairs.

"Wait. How long did it take you to get here?" This seemingly random question that had been uttered by Emilia made Scorpius turn around.

"Urm, a couple of hours? My dad wanted to apparate me here – or make me take a portkey, both of which would have taken a matter of seconds, but I don't like travelling like that, plus I thought it would probably be disrespectful to you, so I was driven here. In a car." Scorpius replied nervously.

Emilia giggled. Scorpius looked at her in confusion. "One more question. What were you going to say? You kept changing what you were about to say."

By this time Lucy had also ventured out of the bedroom and was looking at Emilia – curious about what had sparked her apparent change of heart.

Scorpius blushed slightly. "I was going to say that I wanted to be friends with you. I don't really have any friends, and I thought we could make the best of the situation. Especially if we're going to be spending the rest of our lives together. Also, why did you laugh?"

Emilia didn't answer for a while. Suddenly Scorpius realised why Emilia had suddenly turned so quiet and pale. She hadn't known. He felt awful and didn't really know what to do.

After a considerable amount of time had passed, or so it seemed to Scorpius, Emilia replied "I laughed because you said 'In a car.' That was pretty much implied when you said you were driven. And I – well; that's a lot to take in. I knew I would be having an arranged marriage, but I hadn't connected the dots. I would like to be friends, but can we pretend we're not betrothed?"

"Of course." Scorpius said, relieved.

End Flashback

"Er, Mia? Are you in there?" Al said nervously.

Mia blinked and came back to herself. "Sorry, I was just remembering the day I met Scorpius. He was so shy and sweet – I couldn't be angry at him, even when he said – er, something he didn't know he shouldn't." Mia ended lamely.

Al knew something was off for sure now. But again, he didn't want to pressure her into telling him something that she obviously didn't want to tell him.

"He grew more confidant as I got to know him. We'd stay round each other's' houses frequently, and I got to know his parents quite well. We are very close, and there are very few secrets we have from each other. He's jealous about you. He thinks you're going to take me away from him. Please don't try. I would have to choose him over you, and that isn't a choice I want to make. I want you two to be friends."

"I'll try to be friends with him." Al didn't know what else to say. She had been frank with him, and he certainly didn't want to lose her, but he didn't know what to make of the Slytherin boy.

Mia had achieved her objective. She knew what she said had been harsh, but it was true, and it had the added benefit of distracting Al from asking about her slip regarding what Scorpius had said that he shouldn't have.

"We should probably go now." Mia said, breaking the silence that had formed between them. "It's probably lunchtime now, and I am really hungry."

Al followed Mia as she left the room, and decided to put all thoughts of Mia's relationship with Scorpius out of his mind; at least for now.

Lunch was a fairly quiet affair. The first years were mainly content to eat their fill and listen to the older years moan about large pile of homework. However, James Potter was not focusing too much on his food, but on the girl sitting next to his brother, an invisibility cloak stuffed under his robes.

A/N The flashback drove me mad. I kept writing Mia instead of Emilia, and I had to go back and change it all. Also, I kept changing my mind about how I wanted it to go. So, sorry if you don't like it. Please tell me either way. :)