Potions was an interesting affair. Snape had let them, as a very rare treat, pick their own partners for the potion that was to be made for that day's lesson. Mira had a sneaking suspicion he could do this so he could see who Mira was friendly with.
However, as Blaise and Draco hadn't yet bothered to make an appearance, nobody approached the black-haired girl, and she was certainly not going out of her way to be chummy with any of her classmates, so she stood up her own cauldron and carefully set to her potion.
She looked up from her simmering cauldron to grab a vial of mandrake juice, and noticed Harry wiping his hands on his robes and taking off his gloves. She smiled at him as he came over to her.
"Why don't you come over with us? Ron and Hermione would love to get to know you more." Harry said.
Mira smirked, doubting if she and Hermione could know each other any better than they did already. "Sure they would. Thanks Harry, but no. I prefer being on my own, anyway."
Harry nodded, then turned around and went back to his cauldron. He knew Mira's words had a deeper meaning, and that she truly was alone. And she enjoyed it.
Halfway through the lesson, Draco, followed by Blaise, sauntered into the dungeon. Snape looked up from examining Mira's potion, nodded at Draco, who took a seat at the back next to Pansy, kissed her on the cheek, then ignored Mira's stare of disgust.
"Excellent job, Mira." Snape muttered to her, scribbling on a clipboard he held.
Mira nodded vaguely, desperate to get Draco's attention. She motioned at him, but still he ignored her.
"What he sees in that wench, I'll never know." Blaise Zabini said, hoisting his school bag on the table next to Mira's cauldron.
Mira smiled faintly. "Obviously a hell of a lot more then he sees in me." She said bitterly, turning to her things and beginning to pack them away.
Blaise looked at her, staring hard. "Draco has a complex where he can't see the good that's right in front of his face."
Mira smiled. "What a sweet load of bullshit, Blaise, I'm flattered." She laughed.
Blaise shook his head. "I'm serious. And since he doesn't see it, it's mine for the taking." Mira raised her eyebrows at him, but said nothing. Blaise continued to stare at her, while she emptied her cauldron and washed her hands, only turning his eyes away from her form when Snape cleared his throat and declared that they would each give a foot parchment essay on the proper handling of Dragon scales.
Mira scribbled the homework down on a spare piece of parchment and folded it, shoving it into the front cover of her potions book. Blaise had reverted his gaze to her again, and as she stood and made to leave, he hurriedly followed her.
---
The rest of the day passed in a depressed haze for Mira. She found her lessons much too easy, and as a result of that, very boring. Every class her first day was spent in the company of Blaise, who had this odd way of making her laugh at the stupidest things. Pansy and Draco were disgusting, snogging in the corridors and touching each other every opportunity they got. Mira had walked out of her Transfiguration lesson, Blaise behind her, to find them up against the opposite wall. Mira licked her lips and turned furiously around, ready to storm off in a rage, but Blaise grabbed her arm, stopping her.
He shook his head, taking her hand. "He's not worth it, Mira. C'mon, let's get some lunch." Blaise took her down to the Great Hall. Her hand still clasped in his, they sat at the Slytherin table. He dished her a bowl of stew and poured pumpkin juice into her goblet.
She pretended to eat, while Blaise told her animated stories from his summer vacation. She laughed and nodded in all the appropriate places, but her thoughts were still in the corridor above her, with Draco and Pansy.
Mira hated Pansy. She would kill her, with her bare hands. No weapons, no knives, no wand, just her own strength and hate. She reveled in the murderous daydreams of sucking the breath from the evil bitch. She would make Pansy suffer, she would make her beg for deliverance. Mira would not give it.
Finally, three hours later, the last bell of the day rang, signaling classes to end for the evening. Mira sighed, glad that her first day was over, though she knew tomorrow would be even worse. It would be a cycle of misery, she knew, but she only had two years left of this then she could be free to do whatever she pleased. Since she had very little faith that Draco would, one day, want her back, the next best thing would be to be free of him. To live far, far away, to try and forget him. It was the best future she could hope for.
She dropped her bag off in her dormitory, ignored Denise and Pansy, who were giggling like mad the minute she walked in the room, and changed from her school uniform into jeans and a black tee shirt.
Giving each girl a sneer before she slammed the dormitory door shut, Mira walked down to the common room, hoping to see Blaise there. She didn't feel like going down to dinner alone.
When she entered the plush, green room, it was almost completely empty, save for a few first years milling around the homework tables. Mira sighed, then left the dungeons, walking slowly up the stairs to the Great Hall.
---
Mira was the last person in the common room. Blaise had bade her goodnight, winking at her as he disappeared into his dormitory. Draco and Pansy hadn't returned all evening since their departure from the dungeon, and though they had many Prefect duties dealing with the start of term, she suspected that they were engrossed in other "activities."
Mira slammed shut her Potions book and set her completed essay aside. She sighed, drumming her fingers on the wooden table. She hoped tomorrow would be a better day, though in truth she had no real belief that any such thing would happen.
Sighing again, she decided on bed. She knew how desperate it would look if she was still awake, and waiting, when Draco and Pansy finally did return to Slytherin House. She gathered her things, then went to her dormitory.
Cheryl and Denise were fast asleep, their deep breaths filling the silence of the room. Mira set her book, essay, ink and quill on her bedside table, then stripped down to her bra and underwear. She yawned slightly, then climbed into her bed.
Her stomach gave a loud rumble, reminding her she had only had a roll at dinner all day, but she ignored it. She'd give anything for a good shot of any form of liquor right now, and didn't really care about eating. She wriggled into her soft mattress, covering herself with her light sheets.
"Fuck!" She gasped, as a sharp pain shot up her thigh. Cursing again, she reached down, felt around, and grabbed a parchment envelope. Her name was on the front side, the green ink glistening from the dimly lit torch on the wall above her bed.
She reached down into the jumble of clothes on the floor beside her bed, felt her wand, and slit open the envelope. She took out the neatly folded, creased letter and unfolded it quietly.
Mira,
Dumbledore wants to see us, alone. He requests we meet him in the Room of Requirement. I'm begging of you, Mira, (and that ought to shock you, for as you well know, a Malfoy begs for nothing) to respect Dumbledore, and to listen wholly to him. That night, when your parents were killed, I saw the truth. I saw Voldemort for what he is, a power-hungry, blood-thirsty bastard too cowardly to perform his own violent acts. I realized that my father longed to be the image of Voldemort, though he is even more cowardly, for he actually sunk to the level of killing his best friend and her husband.
I'm going to tell you this before Dumbledore, Mira, because you need to understand, to a point. Lucius murdered your parents. You and Potter may have talked about this, I don't know the bounds of your intimacy, but a Prophecy was Seen by Trelawny, that foretold Voldemort's destruction. I'll be brief here, for this is Dumbledore's area, not mine. In short, my dear, your parents were discovered as spies working for Dumbledore. Thankfully, Snape has not been discovered yet, though his reenlistment into Voldemort's circle led to much physical punishment and suffering on his part.
"What the hell?" Mira whispered to herself. Snape's reenlistment? She shook her head; now wasn't the time to contemplate Draco's ramblings.
iThat night, a few months ago, Lucius was given the order to destroy your parents, but to leave you alive, and well. Why? You ask? Because you are, and always have been, the heir of the purest bred Wizarding family in the history of the generations. Voldemort wishes to make you, Mira, his adopted daughter. He knows something about you, something you have yet to discover, but the Order, and the world, if they ever opened their bloody eyes, sees.
You have the power to destroy Voldemort. The Prophecy, however, clearly states that Potter must be the one to vanquish him. Dumbledore brought you here, to Hogwarts, to do this, to show Potter the way.
It seems impossible, I know. Voldemort has always been the only stability in your life, and I know you are reluctant to turn your back on the one thing that has been firm for you. I blame myself, in part, for this. Perhaps if I had not caused you so much pain, you would be able to see the light more easily. I can only repent, and beg for your forgiveness. While Pansy boasts of our relations, I love only you, Mira, and I will fight to my own death for your protection.
Mira snorted softly. If Draco really felt this way, he sure as hell had a funny way of showing it.
I know you will not readily believe my words, and nobody would blame you. Deep, deep in your black heart, I know that you love me, for I see it in your jade eyes every time I look at you. It grieves me to my very blood that I can't return this love like I once was able to, but you must understand there are things now that are set in motion that cannot be changed, but one day I will take you. Though you are blinded by Zabini right now, I will be here when his true colors shine.
Room of Requirement, midnight. DON'T be late. Dumbledore has pressing matters on hand, and it's important you have time to hear it all. And, if you please, check your resentment at the door. Dumbledore is more powerful then you know.
-Draco L. Malfoy
Mira sighed, and reached for her watch. 11:30. She pulled back her covers and got out of bed. She had thirty minutes to change and be in front of the Room of Requirement. She'd better, for Draco's sake, make herself presentable.
She quickly pulled on her Hogwarts uniform, as it was the only "nice" thing that she owned. She ran a brush quickly through her hair, pushed a stick of mint gum into her mouth, and quietly but quickly left Slytherin House.
Mira found her way around much easier in the dark. "I fear the light," she had jokingly told Blaise on the Hogwarts Express. He had looked at her seriously, saying "If I had to lead your life, so would I, Mira.".
It took fifteen minutes for Mira to coriander around ghosts, Prefects, and teachers on patrol. Thankfully, she didn't meet Peeves, and had five minutes to spare when she reached the corridor where the Room of Requirement was housed.
The door was already there, and she didn't need to summon it through desire. A good thing, too,she decided. She had absolutely no desire to face Dumbledore. As much as she hated him, and plotted his death and her ultimate revenge, the old man's calm, twinkling demeanor unnerved her more than anything else she had encountered.
And so she stood in front of the door, urging herself to open it. She took a deep breath, wished more than ever for a bottle of vodka, and reached out her hand. The door sprang magically open, and Mira walked with deadened legs into the room.
Draco and Dumbledore were seated around a wooden table, two steaming mugs in front of them. Draco jumped up and went to her, grabbing her arm.
"Good, you're on time." He said, looking worried.
Mira nodded numbly, as Draco walked her to the table. He gestured towards the old man. "This, Mira, is Albus Dumbledore."
Mira, who had been staring at her feet, now slowly looked up.