Okay, chill. Mira told herself, looking at her pale, stricken face in the mirror. The bathroom she was in was a bit too bubbly for her taste; the tile was a faint pink, and the marble sink and tub matched its color. There were lotions, body sprays, brushes, various tubes and compacts of make-up and hairspray lined neatly on the sink counter.
Mira shrugged, realizing that until Dumbledore saw fit to return from his little outing to the Ministry, this would probably be her home. She stripped off her wet clothes quickly, and tossed them in a pile on the floor. She gratefully put on the dry clothes Molly had given her. True, Hermione didn't have the best taste when it came to evening wear, but Mira would've worn Molly's old, shabby robes if it meant being dry.
"Mira, dear?" She heard Molly's voice quietly filtering under the door.
"I'm here." Mira said as she swung the door open, tucking her hair behind her ears.
"Good. Now, dear, I've just got an owl from Ron, the others will be here shortly. Everybody will be around for dinner, they all are dying to meet you." Molly beamed at her.
"Me? Why would they want to meet me?" Mira questioned. The only people who really cared about her were dead.
"What?" Molly said ludicrously. "The child of Natasha and Foster, the last remaining female Dumbledore?" Molly said, shaking her head.
"What!?" Mira shouted, the din of her voice echoing off the walls around them. "Dumbledore? No, I don't think so...my last name's Smethwyck!" Mira was frantic, sure she had heard wrong, that her thoughts of hate towards Dumbledore were merely haunting her still, and that Molly had not really associated that name with her parents, less likely her self.
Molly looked at her oddly for a second, then nodded. "Er, right you are, my dear…come, Remus has lit a lovely fire in the drawing room. Tonks, Arthur, and Charlie are there, too." Mira nodded, remembering with each name Molly said a file and a picture from Voldemort's meetings.
So Mira followed Molly down the hall, down more stairs, and to a spacious room with the door wide open. This room was different then the rest of the house, and was obvious that others had brought their own things to put in here. The wooden floor was barely visible under old, shaggy rugs, the furniture was well-worn and looked very comfortable, not stiff and unused, and scarlet home-made curtains hung from the darkened window.
"Mira!" Called an unfamiliar voice. Mira looked up to see Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, calling to her.
"Hi, Mr. Weasley," She said, smiling at him. Though she was in a house that was headquarters for Dumbledore's anti-Voldemort movement, and in a room chuck-full of his loyal, faithful followers, Mira knew where her alliance lay, and it was with Voldemort. However, she reasoned to herself, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
"Please dear, call me Arthur! Can't imagine the look on Foster's face if he knew his daughter was calling his best friend 'Mr.'!" Arthur chuckled, clasping Mira warmly on the shoulder. He led her over to the couch, where Remus and two others were sitting, chatting animatedly. "Mira, this is Tonks." Arthur said, indicating a girl with ripped levis, a dark purple shirt, and short, spiky hair that matched the color of her shirt.
"Hi." Mira said, hoping that Tonks lived in the house as well; she might be able to borrow some decent clothes throughout her stay here.
"And I'm Charlie." The guy next to her said. He had red hair, as vibrant as she knew Ron and Ginny's to be, and a spray of freckles across his face. His eyes were a deep blue, accented with a heart-stopping smile. He wore khaki shorts, and a black shirt with a Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes emblem embroidered on it and light green converse sneakers. Mira was just noticing his muscular arms when she remembered she was supposed to speak.
"Hey. I'm Mira." She said, smiling dazzlingly at Charlie. If nothing else, at least she would get to see more of him while she was here.
Charlie smiled back at her. "Well, the kids will be home soon, how about we have a nice cocktail before dinner?" Mr. Weasley suggested, rubbing his hands together.
"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley cried, her hands on her hips. "Mira is only a child!"
Arthur chuckled. "Come now Molly, I think Foster would've been disappointed! He always did think Mira older then she is, didn't he? And didn't he always say that alcohol quickens the wits?" Mira had no idea just how all these freaks knew her parents, and truthfully, at the moment, she didn't care. Her concerns at this point were all aimed around Dumbledore. She had a sinking feeling, though, that her talk with the aging murderer was about to be seriously delayed, and she had learned long ago to trust her feelings.
'Freakadinks', her mother would call them. "The fact of the matter is, dear, that you can't ever be sure that you're wrong. Best go with what you feel." So Mira had taken her mother's advice to heart, and surrendered to the fact that she would be staying here, in a house chuck full of Dumbledore-lovers.
"Mira, come sit down." Charlie said to her, shaking her out of her thoughts. Giving another smile,
Mira plopped down next to Charlie, as close as she could without appearing too obvious, yet not far enough away to allow a large space between them.
"I hear you're starting Hogwarts this year, are you excited?" Charlie asked her, turning so they were facing each other.
"Well, it'll be nice to get out of the Malfoy's house…I don't really need school, but I'm up for anything different, you know." Mira said, staring into Charlie's face.
Charlie nodded, grinning. "You won't hate it, I promise. Gryffindor is great."
Mira nodded, but squinted in confusion. "Oh, I'm going to be in Slytherin." She said, suddenly remembering what Remus had said in the graveyard. Charlie looked over to Remus, who was on her other side, Tonks having left the room with Arthur to get drinks. Remus said nothing, only shrugged.
"What about you?" Mira said, changing the subject to something that actually made sense. "What do you do?" Charlie began to talk passionately about the Dragon's he worked with in Romania, and how much he loved his job.
Mira was so lost in his eyes and taking in every word he said she didn't realize that she had scooted closer to him. Remembering herself when their hips touched, Mira shook her head slightly, to throw off the daze this stunning Weasley had her in, and scooted back.
"Oh, I don't mind." Charlie said, placing his hand on her leg. "The other's are sick of hearing about work." He shrugged.
"How is that possible?" Mira asked, grinning. She was fascinated with Charlie. Charlie's job, she corrected herself, Not Charlie. Her body, on the other hand, told her to shove it. She was intrigued by Charlie and she knew it, though a small thought of Draco leaked through from the back of her mind. "Oh yeah?" Mira said to herself, cursing her brain for bringing up Draco just when she was moving in on this gorgeous guy before her. "Bet he's fucking Pansy senseless." Satisfied that her answer would turn out to be correct, as her feelings told her, Mira went back to Charlie.
Hmmm…Dumbledore, take your time.