Mira shut the dormitory door behind her, dreading going to the common room. However, she thought, seeing Draco would be well worth it.
"Hey stranger. I wondered when I'd see you again." Blaise Zabini, his brown hair streaked with blond dripping wet, was walking towards her, a white towel wrapped around what Mira could only hope was his naked lower half. His stomach, chest, and arms were tanned, his arms defined and a slight six pack poking from his stomach.
"Hey, yourself." Mira grinned.
"Heading downstairs?" Blaise asked as he approached her.
Mira nodded.
"I hate going down there. Everybody's so stuck on themselves….hey, what do you say we get lost? I can change and show you around the castle."
Mira nodded eagerly. Even though she wished to see Draco, she might not get another chance to prove him wrong about Blaise. "How're we supposed to get by the common room?" Mira asked.
Blaise laughed. "There are more ways out then in." He said in a sing-song voice. He grabbed her hand, and led her down the hall away from her dormitory. Blaise led her into his own dormitory, though she hesitated slightly at the door. "It's okay. No one will come in, babe." Blaise said, smiling at her.
Babe. Mira repeated to herself. That feels good. Mira had never, in her life, been referred to by a male as "babe." What the hell was wrong with Draco? Was it because Blaise was considerate, and charming, whereas Draco was cold and distant, and this made Draco angry? Did Draco know that Blaise would soon win Mira over?
"You're welcome to watch, but I have to tell you that one fair turn deserves another." Blaise said, breaking into her inner ramblings.
Mira grinned, tempted by his offer, though she doubted if the many cuts over her body would be appealing to Blaise. "I'll wait outside." She said. She stepped out of the dormitory, laughing to herself. She'd known Blaise a total of three hours, and she could already tell that they would be really good friends, if not more. There was also a grim satisfaction that her being anywhere near Blaise pissed Draco off to no end.
Suddenly, Mira remembered Charlie. He was probably on his way to Romania, by now. Mira didn't want to deal with a long-distance relationship, and really her and Charlie had never made any serious declarations of their feelings for each other. She felt her necklace, still there under her shirt, and pulled it off her neck, pocketing it. What was the use of something so beautiful when she didn't want to think of the giver?
Blaise emerged from his dormitory five minutes later, dressed in khaki shorts and green shirt. "Shall we?" He said, bowing to Mira.
Mira laughed and nodded. "Proceed, sir." She said, following him.
Blaise led Mira to a dark green tapestry that he ripped down, revealing a wide hole in the wall. Blaise climbed up into it, and Mira followed. They reached the end of the small tunnel, and stood at the foot of a high staircase. Blaise led Mira up the tightly circular steps.
"I discovered this about third year." Blaise told Mira, as they walked upward. "And here we go!" They had reached the top of the stairs, and before them an archway stood. Blaise walked through the archway, giving Mira a brilliant smile.
Mira couldn't help but grin to herself, and follow him. "Whoa, not too bad." Mira said as she walked out onto an open balcony. The sky was black, dotted with stars, and Mira could faintly make out the night sounds from the forest. They weren't very high up, as the House of Slytherin was in the dungeon, but the staircase Blaise had taken her up ended at about the third story.
"Not too bad, yeah?" Blaise said, leaning on the stone rail.
Mira nodded. "Not too bad at all."
Before too long, Mira and Blaise knew much about the other. Mira told Blaise about her summer, how dreadful it was living with the Malfoys, and how Draco had bought her a new broom. Blaise agreed that being closer than fifty miles to Narcissa was terrible, and how awful it must have been to deal with Pansy on a daily basis. They talked well into the early hours of the morning, Blaise finally escorting Mira back to her dormitory around two.
"Goodnight, Mira." He whispered, lightly brushing her cheek with a small kiss. Mira smirked, and went to bed.
---
Mira awoke the next day by Pansy snoring loudly. She cringed in disgust; she would be with Pansy for the next eight hours. Rolling herself out of bed, she quietly grabbed her Hogwarts uniform and makeup bag. Remembering that the showers in the dungeon were in the center of both the guys' and the girls' dormitories, Mira walked quickly there. Entering the bathroom, which she could only presume was co-ed, she made sure the shower stalls were empty before undressing. She layed her clothes out, and turned on the faucet, waiting for the water to heat up.
As soon as she was done showering, she dressed, not daring to look at herself in the mirror. She knew she looked like shit. She, as fast as was possible, applied her regular black makeup, dried her hair with a wave of her wand, and left the bathroom only fifteen minutes after entering it.
She returned her stuff to her dormitory, and left the common room. She debated, for a fraction of a second, waiting for Draco, but knew that his Highness would not dare make an appearance until the very last second possible. So Mira made her way down to the Great Hall, ignoring the few students who shot her curious looks on the way.
"Mira!" A voice said. Recognizing it, Mira turned around, half-glaring at Harry.
"Yes?" She ventured at him, folding her arms in front of her chest.
"Let's go. We've got some stuff to talk about." He grabbed her arm, and using his strength acquired from Quidditch training, easily dragged her off away from the Hall, and out of the huge front doors of the castle.
"Harry!" Mira cried, trying to stop him, "what in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Harry ignored her, and dragged her down a path that led down a hill, towards a large hut-like structure.
"But Harry, I don't want to go to Hagrid's!" Mira protested, trying to dig her feet into the ground, but to no avail.
Harry merely shrugged, and when he continued past the half-giant's home, Mira was mystified.
Harry led her straight into the forest, and for five solid, silent minutes, The-Boy-Who-Lived pulled her over rocks, protruding tree roots, and uneven ground. When at last he seemed satisfied that they had reached their destination, he dropped her arm.
"There! What do you see?" He demanded, his tone suspicious.
Mira glanced around the small clearing. "Um…forest?" Mira answered, wondering if Harry had finally snapped.
Harry glared at her, then stretched out his arm, pointing. "There. Just there. Tell me, what do you see?"
Mira shook her head, her eyebrows arching. "I don't see a damn thing." She declared. "And I think it's finally time somebody was carted off to St. Mungos psycho ward..."
Harry regarded her for a moment. "Good." He finally said, turning out of the clearing and walking off.
"Hey!" Mira called, hurrying to catch up with him. "What was that about? Have you finally lost touch with reality?"
Harry shook his head. "It was nothing. Forget about it. We have more important things to talk about before classes start."
Mira nodded slowly, knowing that even thinking about being seen walking with Harry Potter was instant death to her already diminished Slytherin reputation. However, she felt that what Harry had to say would be well worth her time.
"Before I was born, there was a Prophecy made. Voldemort would be killed." Harry started.
Mira nodded. This was nothing new. She should have been among the group of Death Eaters that went to the Ministry that night last spring, searching for the glass orb that contained the fully detailed foretelling of the destruction of the Dark Lord, but Voldemort had insisted she stay with her parents, at their home. She had wanted to use the situation to prove to Voldemort her worth and loyalty, but he still regarded her as child.
"In this prophecy I was the one to kill him. Dumbledore told me about you, Mira." They had reached the path leading to the stone steps of the castle entrance, and Mira looked oddly at him.
"Heard about me? Heard what?" She asked, confused.
Harry nodded. "About the power you have."
Mira laughed shrilly. "Power?"
Harry nodded again.
"Believe what you want Harry," She said, climbing the steps in front of him. She turned around, facing him, one stair above him. He was taller than her, so now they were almost even in height.
"I am no one special. Whatever Dumbledore may tell you, don't believe the ramblings of an old man."
---
Mira joined the Slytherin table, and sat alone, at the end nearest the Staff Table. Might as well give Dumbledore a clear view, she decided, since she knew he would be watching her all through breakfast, anyway.
"Morning, love." Draco's voice said, sitting down next to her. Mira nodded blankly, as she added toast and bacon to the golden plate in front of her.
As she thought of the day ahead, of watching Draco snog with Pansy in the halls and make passes at her throughout the entire day, she wished, more than ever, for a good shot of vodka.
She sighed. She'd have to wait until the first Hogsmeade trip to sneak in liquor. Thank the gods she'd brought some cigarettes, they would help her to get through the absence of alcohol. Draco was silent, for the most part, only speaking to her when he pulled from his robes her course schedule.
"You will be with me, for most of the day. I don't, however, have the urge to bore myself to death with Ancient Runes. Dinner is at six, and I expect you here, with me then."
Mira rolled her eyes. "Why? Pansy's stunning conversation just isn't the ticket?"
Draco actually gave a small laugh. "Wit always was your strong point, my dear. However, you'll find that not everybody here finds this as admirable as I do."
Mira rolled her eyes again, downed whatever liquid floated in her golden goblet, and stood from the table, leaving her plate untouched. Draco, knowing of her ways, made a mental note of this.
Mira sighed again. Damn, she wanted alcohol. She decided on using one of her precious cigarettes, and turned her course towards the castle doors. Walking away from clear view of the windows, she pulled out a cigarette and held it firmly between her thumb and index finger. In one swift motion, she magically lit the cigarette with her wand.
Savoring the sweet taste of the tobacco as it entered her throat and traveled to her lungs, she began walking her own path. Perhaps, today, she'd skive off lessons. She pulled out her course schedule, and noted that she had Potions first.
Muttering, she turned back towards the castle. Snape had made it quite clear at their last Death Eater meeting that she was to be in full attendance of all of his lessons, and Voldemort had seemed quite supportive of this.
Twenty minutes later Mira joined the group of Slytherins and Gryffindors lined outside of Snape's classroom. Draco and Blaise hadn't arrived yet, and Cheryl, the only decent girl Mira knew to exist in Slytherin was busy with Denise. Across the hall, Harry smiled and waved at her. Mira, being ignored by her own house, shrugged and went to speak with him. Ron and Hermione weren't there yet. They were, Harry explained with a grin, having "marital issues."
Mira laughed. As much as she knew Hermione was attracted to girls, there was a special place for her where Ron was concerned.
Harry asked her about her first night in the dungeon, if she'd slept well, and how the Slytherins treated her.
Mira smiled shrewdly. "They all think I'm a freak or something…the only one who's nice to me is Cheryl." Mira said, indicating the red-head who was talking to Denise.
Harry nodded knowingly. "Yeah, she's not too bad. The rest though, I don't know how you put up with them…so, Mira, thinking about giving Quidditch a go?" For the remaining time until Snape arrived, Mira and Harry discussed Quidditch tactics, brooms, and teams. Mira was shocked to know how much she and Harry actually had in common, and was, very much against her own will, beginning to like him.
Okay, She decided, as Snape approached the group, sneering, and let them into the Potions room, For now, a semi-Harry hater.