Another chapter so soon? Yes! This one is a bit longer, and mostly unedited as it's 85% new. So please forgive any errors! Many of the lines in this first scene are from the books, so I do not own them!

"So what part of this isn't living up to your expectations?" Harry spit out, and Miranda knew his anger was protecting him now, insulating him, "Did you think we'd be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you'd be back to Mummy by Christmas?"

Ron's face turned red, "We thought you knew what you were doing! We thought you had a plan!"

"Ron!" Hermione pleaded, but he still ignored her.

"Well, sorry to let you down." Harry said, his voice deceptively calm. "I told you everything from the start, everything Dumbledore told me. We've found one Horcrux-"

"Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them! Nowhere effing near!"

Hermione had stood, taking a step towards Ron, "Take off the locket, Ron. Please, take it off. You wouldn't be saying this stuff if you hadn't been wearing it all day. Please, just give it to Miranda."

Miranda stood, holding out a hand in the direction of Ron's tense breathing. "Ron, please, give me the locket."

"No." Harry said, yanking her hand down to her side, gripping her arm in his strong hand hard enough to make her wince. "D'you think I haven't noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? I can never get Miranda to tell me what you're saying. I know she can hear you though. D'you think I didn't guess you were thinking this stuff?"

"Harry, we weren't-"

"Don't lie!" Ron roared.

"I'm not!" Hermione screeched.

Miranda pried Harry's fingers loose, yanking her arm from his grasp, "Harry, this has to stop."

"No, this needs to happen!" Ron yelled, throwing the locket at Miranda, who, without her connection to it, couldn't have caught it before it his her face. "Do you even care about my sister? No, you don't, you don't care that she could have been killed for the sword!"

"I didn't ask her to do that..." Harry mumbled.

"It doesn't matter, does it? You've got Little Miss Blind girl to replace Ginny, so what do you care? What good is my little sister to you up against Miranda? And who cares what happens to my parents! You're parents are out of the way."

"My parents are dead!" Harry yelled, moving around Miranda.

"And mine could be going the same way!" Ron spit back.

Miranda felt the instant the situation bubbled dangerously, "Then GO!" Harry screamed as Ron, "Go back to them! Run home to Mummy-" Both boys raised their wands.

Hermione screamed through her tears, "Stop!"

Miranda threw herself at Harry, pushing him back a step. "Harry, you don't want to do this. He is your friend!" She pleaded.

"Leave the Horcrux." Harry said coldly, wrapping his arms around Miranda in a way she had never been held before. The possessive hostility was palpable in the room.

Ron threw his bag over his shoulder, looking at a shaking Hermione, "Are you coming? Or are you staying?"

Miranda didn't know how Hermione could have made such a decision, she couldn't have, but she did. "I-I-yes, I'm staying. Ron, we said we'd come, we said we'd help-"

"I get it. You choose him. I hope you three are happy together." Ron said, leaving as if he didn't care at all, the venom and fire shoved solely into his blue eyes.

"Ron, no-please-come back!" Hermione yelled as he walked out into the rain.

Miranda broke away from Harry and grabbed Hermione before she could run after him, "'Mione, don't. Once he disapperates, you won't be able to find him. He's not coming back tonight. There's nothing you can do tonight. Please, for now, you need rest. Sit."

"He left!" Hermione cried like she couldn't believe it.

Miranda forced the other girl to her cot, "Hermione, you need to calm down." Miranda begged, wrapping her arms around the other girl and rocking with her as her father had done when she had been upset.

The muggleborn witch was sobbing hysterically, and kept doing so until Miranda poured a vial of Sleeping Draft down her throat. "Ron, Ron, Ron." Hermione chanted over and over again until she finally drifted off to sleep in Miranda's arms.

Miranda tucked the other girl in and went to Harry, drawing the curtain to the girls' side of the tent, closing it and lining it with sound proofing charms. "Harry." She called softly, only needing to hear him once to know where he was.

"I'm here." She heard him say, and she was relieved the anger was gone from his voice.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly, holding a hand out to feel for him.

"I've been better." He took her hand, pulling her to sit next to him. "Why would he leave? I just don't...Did I do something? I can't know everything, can I? I never claimed I did. I got angry and I couldn't stop, but…did I lead him on?"

"Harry, no. You can't do this. It's not healthy. You've done nothing wrong." Miranda implored, cupping her hand against the side of his face. "He just needs time to cool off. He'll come back, when ever he's ready."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked, putting one of his hands over hers.

Miranda chuckled, "Harry, Ron is a lot like Alphard was. Headstrong, impulsive, but loyal until the end. I know the type, he'll be back. I promise. You three are kind of a package deal."

He kissed the palm of her hand before lowering it in his to his lap, "I wish I could believe that, but I just don't think I can."

She smiled at him, "Believe in me. Can you do that? Because Hermione is going to need you to be able to keep it together."

"Okay," Harry said, "Speaking of Hermione, how is she?"

Miranda glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the other girl, "I gave her a sleeping brew. She'll be out for a while. Wasn't going to get any rest otherwise."

"Thank you for helping her." He said softly, ashamed it hadn't been him.

"Harry, me helping your friends helps you. That's why I'm going to try to find Ron in the morning. Knowing him, he's probably splinched himself, the idiot." Miranda said lowly, but she genuinely hoped the red head was alright. Sometime in the last months a small shell of affection had started in her for him. He was Harry's friend for a reason, and she and Ron had started blunting their barbs at one another most of the time.

"You're going to leave?" Harry hissed, standing up.

Miranda grabbed his other hand, pulling him back down, and closer. "Oh, hush. It'll just be for a week. I need to make sure that he knows that you two need him, that you want him to come back. He won't believe it from either of you, but he'll believe it from me."

"Why would he believe you and not Hermione or I?" Harry asked, confused by the witch again.

Miranda chortled, "Ron will believe me because while he doesn't hate me anymore, he doesn't trust me, and he knows that I wouldn't do anything for his benefit."

Harry shook his head, an incredulous smile on his face, "So you're going on the hope that the fact that you two want to half kill each other is going to make Ron listen to you."

"Exactly."

Harry kissed her, "You are brilliant."

Miranda smirked, "No, that's Hermione, I'm just intuitive. When you're blind, you can't see people's faces to know what they really think. I have to listen to the meaning behind the words."

"And what do you think I mean when I tell you how beautiful you are?" Harry said, needing to get his mind off of Ron.

Miranda smiled, but it wasn't the smile he had been hoping for. She looked almost sad. "Harry, before you say anything else, I have to tell you something."

He nodded, "Okay."

"Back then, when I was friends with Walburga and everyone. I thought I knew what love was. I thought I loved Alphard. I knew I loved my brother, and I thought I loved my father." She swallowed tensely, but smiled at Harry again, light in her eyes. "I never truly understood how Walburga could be so ready to give up everything for Brennan, but I know now. I know why she would have left all of the money and fame of being a Black for him now."

"Miranda..."

She clapped a hand over his mouth. "Hush, let me finish." She put her hand back down, shifting nervously. "The things I feel for you, Harry...they make every feeling I've ever felt for anyone else pale in comparison. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that...I love you. More than anything, more than anyone. Even when you're being pigheaded."

She couldn't hear him anymore. Miranda's heart must have stopped, he was holding his breath. To her, time stood still as she waited for his reaction to her declaration. She wanted him to say something. Anything would have been better than the silence.

Miranda nearly cried in relief when he finally moved, and kissed her softly, "I love you too." She flung her arms around Harry's shoulders and clung to him. When she started crying, Harry just rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head, "Don't cry, please, Randa. What's wrong?"

She laughed, pulling away from Harry so she could wipe her face, "Nothing. They're happy tears, I promise. I was so worried that you didn't...that you wouldn't..."

He laughed, kissing her again, "Miranda, why do you think I wouldn't. In all of this whole crazy mess, you've made me feel like I can do this. Like I can kill the Dark Lord."

Miranda smiled blearily at him, telling him what he wanted to hear, what she wanted to be true, "You can, Harry. You can do it." She kissed him, "You just can't get there alone."

"That's why I have you..." He said, punctuating each word with a kiss, "And 'Mione...and Ron."

"Exactly." Miranda chirped, "I'll cool him off in the morning. He'll see that everyday, we get a step closer to finding all of the Horcruxes. We know how to destroy them now. All that's left is to find them."

Harry shook his head with a smile, "You sound so sure."

Miranda shrugged, "I'm not sure, I'm just hopefully optimistic." She ran her fingers through his hair, and shifted to rest her head on his shoulder. "I have a past, Harry." She whispered, "It's not a happy one, and you've shared so much of yours. I want to tell you. I just don't think I'm ready yet. Will you be patient with me?"

Harry seemed startled by how scared and young she sounded, but kissed the top of her head, "We all have secrets, right?" She nodded against his shoulder, and he kissed her one more time before pulling her up and taking her to what had become not just a cot, but their bed. Miranda gripped his shirt tightly when they lay together, and he frowned at her, "You okay?"

She sighed heavily, "Long day."

He knew her better than that though, and pulled her closer, "Hey, I promise. You want me to be patient, I will be."

They stayed curled up together until Harry drifted off to sleep. Miranda was aghast at herself. Yes, she loved Harry, that hadn't been a lie, but why had she said the rest? She'd been so close to giving up all her secrets, but she couldn't. She couldn't give up on Tom, not yet, not when he'd done so much for her. It was then, staring sightlessly into the the air above her, that Miranda suddenly realized that loving them both was going to get her killed.

—

The next morning came too quickly for Harry's liking, "I almost wish you would stay and let the git sort everything out on his own."

Miranda rolled her eyes at him, "That might have worked if it was just you and Hermione, but I'm an extra thorn. You did date his sister. Don't call him a git, we should have had him wear the locket less." She said drolly.

Harry winced, "I hadn't really thought about that." Guilt crumpled his face and it killed Miranda to know she was part of the cause.

Hermione looked at him like he was an idiot. She was better when she woke up, but Harry would still have to deal with her short temper alone while Miranda was gone, "Harry, how could you not? Ginny's his sister!" The book worm exclaimed.

Miranda hugged her friend, "Don't be too hard on him while I'm away. He means well. I'll be back here in a week. With or without Ron."

Hermione looked like she was going to cry again, and Harry grimaced, "Hermione, he'll be okay."

Miranda nodded in agreement, "'Mione, I might not be able to bring him home with me, but he will come home when he's ready."

"Home?" Hermione said, looking around at the tent. "Miranda, this isn't a home."

"Yes, it is Hermione. Home is where the heart is, and trust me, Ron's heart is here." Miranda said brightly, looking towards Harry, "As is mine."

"You'll be safe, right?" Harry said sternly, walking out of the tent with Miranda, an arm slung over her shoulder.

She laughed, "Yes, I will. Just as long as you come back right here in a week. Until then, keep moving camp. A week from today at noon, we will meet here, and then you can take me, and possibly Ron, to wherever you two are camped."

He stopped her, looking confused. "I just realized, how will you be able to find Ron?"

"Well, everyone has a magical signature. My Papa taught me to be able to latch on to one left after dissaparation even if I can't see. The signature lingers for a while after. Once you have a clear idea of who you're looking for, you can go to where they went." Miranda explained.

Harry shook his head, "One of these days, you're going to have to teach me all of these little tricks and stuff."

Miranda kissed him on the lips, and he melted around her, his taller frame fitting snugly against her. "It's a deal then. You teach me how to play Quidditch, and I'll teach you all the magic I know they don't teach at Hogwarts." He often seemed to forget that she had spent a great amount of her magical learning years in the company of more than one Black. Walburga in particular, had specialized in the sort of things they didn't teach at any school.

If she was ever going to be able to tell him the truth, she needed to make him remember that there was more to her than met the eye. She couldn't be seen as the perfect girl anymore. Because when people saw her like that she couldn't help but try to meet their expectations. She couldn't afford to do that anymore, no matter how easy it was.

"I'd like that." He said with a smile in his voice, kissing her again, unaware of her inner turmoil. He held her for a few minutes longer, unwilling to let her go, "Do you really have to go?"

"Harry!" Miranda groused, tugging away from him, "I need to find where Ron apparated to."

"I guess that means I have to let you go." Harry grumbled, and Miranda saw a shadow of the man he would be one day. That man, was someone she wanted to know more than anything.

"Yes, it does." She said softly.

"Okay." He whispered, cupping the side of her face in his hand, "Just be safe and come back to me. And don't tell anyone about the Horcruxes. He can't know that we know."

She kissed him, and this time it was hard and deep, "I will." She whispered to him, catching her breath. "In a week. Not a day later, with or without him. I love you, Harry James Potter."

He smiled, "I love you too, Miranda Peverell."

Miranda kissed his cheek, "I really must go, Harry. I'll see you in a week."

"Goodbye, Miranda." Harry said, his heart heavy.

She waved back at him, moving out of the shade of the trees and into the bright sunlight that seemed to bounce off her dark hair. She stepped outside of the wards and Harry headed back inside the tent to collect what was remaining of his best friend in an effort to take her mind off of Ron.

Of course she'd lied to him again, and Hermione hadn't been there to point out her fallacy. There was no way to track apparation. Sure she could see the tear of magic in the black space where Ron had vanished, but that was it. A similar tear would be in the place he'd ended up, but it was impossible to follow between the two, even as skilled as she was. She just had to pull on what she knew about Ron and guess. At the very least she had been told enough over the last few months to know a few places Ron might be, and enough of an idea of what they looked like from the few photos she'd seen before they'd left Grimmauld Place.

She had somewhere else she wanted to be though. Somewhere she needed to be. She'd been thinking about it for weeks now, and there was only one person she could trust to help her: Ollivander.

"Miranda, dear girl, remember if there's doubt, you can always count on me. I will always remind you of who you are. You can always find yourself here."

She hadn't understood his words then. They'd just been another in a long string of strange things the eccentric man had said to her. They'd been his last words to her, and now he was missing.

Miranda found herself standing in the middle of his shop in a second, her ears ringing but mind clear. She'd known Ollivander so well, had spent some of the best times of her life in his shop. A few days after Brennan had pulled the wood out of her back Ollivander had been a bit stranger than usual. He must have seen some of the exchange. He had just taken a wand box off the shelf and held it out to her, but when she reached to take it from him when he put it back on the shelf, shaking his head, "Not yet, dear girl. Someday, but not yet."

She took a deep breath, and a step towards the counter. A wand rolled across the floor, and she remembered what Harry had mentioned about Ollivander's shop being ransacked. "Bugger."

It just wouldn't stand for the shop to be out of order when Ollivander came back. He was quite specific with where each wand went after all. Some of them were ill suited to be neighbors. She'd learned that the hard way her first week with him.

Two days. It took two days of searching and organizing before she finally found the box. And she only knew it because the damned thing bit her hand when she picked it up. She dipped a finger inside, and felt a cool liquid.

Miranda went scrambling across the shop. Around noontime the first day she'd found Ollivander's pensieve, and she needed it now. He had to have left her memories, and it was time she found out why. Hands shaking she tipped the liquid into the bowl, and took one deep breath before shoving her face into it and letting light flood back into her sight:

The first memory began with Ollivander alone in his shop, but he was quickly joined by her Papa. But he didn't look like her Papa, not really. His hair was far paler than the golden curls she'd grown used to, and it was shorn close, stuck up. His hair wasn't the most startling change. His eyes were ice cold in both color and feeling, one brown and one blue. "Hello, Mr. Ollivander."

Ollivander jumped, a hand on his chest, "You-you're him! Grindelwald!"

Her Papa nodded magnanimously, "Yes, I am, and you are the great wandmaker Garrick Ollivander. You met my daughter this week."

Ollivander scoffed, though his hands shook as he tucked a newly made wand into it's box, "That sweet girl is no more your daughter than I am. I know exactly who she is."

Her Papa shrugged, "Well, she is adopted. If you know who she is, then you know that too. She likes you, or I would have killed you for knowing. As is stands, your continued survival hinges on her liking you and you keeping your mouth shut. No one is to know who she is. It's simple. I'll let her come here and learn from one of the greatest wandmakers that ever lived. You keep her occupied, happy, and you live. It's a win-win for me, so to speak. And one for you too. She is a delightful child. Beautiful and smart."

"I'm to assume she knows nothing about what you do?" Ollivander hissed.

Ice blue eyes dragged their way from the counter to Ollivander's face, a smug smirk on his own, "Of course not. She's a good girl. And I am her beloved Papa. I intend for it to stay that way. You talk, you die."

"Why send her here?" Ollivander asked. The man with her Papa's face stared for several minutes, and Ollivander got anxious, "From the moment that wand was made, I knew a special witch would wield it, and after her brother came to see me, I knew she would come. I also knew she wouldn't really need it. Her magic is it's own entity, split from her and using her body as a living host. It doesn't need the help of a wand to come out. She shouldn't be alive at this age, it's a miracle."

The smirk turned dark, "'She is a mortal danger to all men. She is beautiful without knowing it, and possesses charms that she's not even aware of.' Edmond Rostand wrote that, and I think it fits my Miranda quite well. Wouldn't you say so?"

Ollivander spluttered, "Did you do this to her?"

A hint of her Papa came back to the man's face, "No. It happened before I rescued her."

Ollivander laughed shortly, "Rescued? You?"

The hint vanished, "Yes, I rescued her. And I rescued everyone near her. She was on the cusp in that dreadful place, but now, you've seen her, she is a glorious creature. And you're going to help her stay that way. She's a delicate child. Should she have an…episode…while in your care, and you live through it, summon me."

She watched them make and Unbreakable Vow, and a second memory followed after.

She saw herself, sitting on the floor of the typically disheveled shop. Drops of blood stained the back of her blouse. It had to have been the day with Brennan. The day she had somehow thrown him across the room and ruffled the shop. But she had no memory of this at all.

Ollivander knelt next to her side, "Dear girl, are you alright?"

Tears stained her face, "Something happened earlier."

He sighed heavily, and wiped a tear from her face, "Are you injured?"

She shook her head, "No, not anymore." She whimpered softly, "I could have hurt him."

"Who?" He asked, "Your muggle-born friend? He seemed just fine when he left."

"I didn't hurt him, but I could have." She buried her face in her hands, "I can't control my magic, Mr. Ollivander. I'm old enough, I shouldn't…I'm mean accidental magic in children is one thing, but I'm…"

He pulled her into a hug, and now she could see the tears in his eyes, "Oh, Miranda, I so wish I could tell you."

The her in the vision shoved him off her, and stood quickly, her skirts swishing violently, "No! I'm so sick of that! No one will tell me the truth. Maybe Brennan was right?" She tugged on her own hair and began pacing the shop, her breaths coming in short bursts.

"Miranda, please calm down." Ollivander told her urgently.

Memory Miranda seemed to blur for a moment, but the distortion vanished when she shook her head, "No! There's something wrong with me! I'm losing time! I'm getting hurt and I don't remember it! I used to be clumsy, but I'm not anymore, not enough to explain all the bruises and scratches I don't remember getting." She blurred out again for a second, "I feel like I'm about to explode."

He seemed afraid to touch her, but did anyway, "I wish I could tell you what you…"

Her blue eyes raked him mercilessly and she stepped back sharply, "Tell me."

"I can't." He said, tears in his eyes, "Dear girl, I…"

"Stop lying!" She screamed, and finally…she seemed to explode, a dark sparking mass of energy filling the space around where she'd been, zipping around the shop, virtually tearing it apart.

Ollivander stood in the middle of it all, horror on his face as he begged her to calm down. Something he said eventually must have worked because suddenly the energy was gone, and Memory Miranda slid into the wall, unconscious.

Ollivander pulled her into his arms and held her, drawing a necklace out go his shirt pocket and holding it tightly in his hands.

Grindelwald appeared an instant later, "What happened?"

Ollivander wiped tears out of his own eyes, "She was inconsolable. Talked about missing time and being injured without remembering." He glared at Grindelwald, "She hasn't been harmed here. What have you done to her?"

The man who wore her Papa's face grimaced, "It appears I'm not quite the healer I though I was. I've done all I can to protect her, Mr. Ollivander, and to prepare her to protect herself if I can't." He gestured around the shop, broken wands everywhere, cracks in the walls, "This is what I am trying to prevent by keeping her happy, Mr. Ollivander."

He knelt in front of them both, and cupped Miranda's face in his hands. His terrifying coloring faded to the blond curls and warm blue eyes she'd been so familiar with, just before Memory Miranda opened her eyes. "Papa?"

He smiled at her, "There you are, Pet." He stroked her tangled dark hair out of her eyes, "You've had a hard day. You're tired now, but Papa is here to make it all better." He held his wand next to her temple, "Obliviate."

Just like that her memories were gone.

Exhaustion and the force of the spell had Memory Miranda passing back out. Grindelwald stepped back, ice returning to his features, "Make tea. Tell her she fell asleep after the long day, give her a cup, and Claudius will be here soon to bring her home. I think she'll stay away for a few days." He knelt back down and adjusted the silver snake where it dangled half off her wrist, "This trinket keeps her grounded, Mr. Ollivander. You would be dead if she'd lost control without it."

"You are going to destroy her." Ollivander hissed.

Grindelwald shook his head, waving his wand and righting the shop to it's previous disarray, "She was already destroyed. I've simply spent these last few years piecing her back together. You're an intelligent man, you know she should be long dead, but here she is. I'm the only reason she's still here."

"Merlin knows she's the only good you've ever done." Ollivander snapped.

Grindelwald shook his head, "Not the only. Everything I've done has been for the Greater Good. You'll understand someday."

"When? After you've gotten her killed?"

The memory ended abruptly, and Miranda lost the contents of her stomach onto the floor. Her thoughts raced, and she resigned herself to laying on the dusty floor until her head stopped feeling ready to burst. It took a while. How long she wasn't sure, but she came back to herself slowly.

Deep down nothing she'd seen in the memories was truly a surprise. And perhaps that was what shook her the most. She had known on some level that her Papa was dangerous, and still had plenty of memories that would have been a good indication if she'd ever bothered to notice the pattern. She'd been so naive. But Mr. Ollivander's affections had been genuine, hadn't they? He'd been unable to tell her, to physically warn her, but he'd left the memories for her, all those years, even when he had to have assumed she'd died.

In the end there was only one true mystery: What the bloody hell was she?

There wasn't time though. She'd used too much time hunting down ancient history. None of it mattered to the task at hand. Voldemort, the twisted shell of her brother, was out there killing and maiming. Gellert Grindelwald was in prison. He couldn't steal her mind from her anymore, and she wasn't going to spend more time crying over him. Whatever power that lived inside of her wasn't a threat as long as she remained in control of herself. She'd grown up in the last year, far more than he had anticipated, apparently, because she'd shaken recently, but she hadn't lost her grip.

Miranda paused at that. He had made it seem like the snake was keeping her together, but it had obviously failed back then, and she didn't have it now…

Harry. She had Harry. The feeling she felt whenever she was near him, the utter contentment and security…a long time ago the serpent bracelet had made her feel the same way. Ollivander had made it sound like her magic had a life of its own. Maybe it liked Harry just as much as she did. Harry, not the snake, grounded her now.

Miranda had to laugh at that. The last few months she'd been under the assumption that she had been keeping Harry from flying too far off the handle. She was wrong.

She also knew she needed to get back to him. She had tried to warn him, and now she understood why that need had been so strong. Tom being her brother wasn't the most dangerous thing about her. She would never forgive herself if she hurt someone, and she knew, deep down, that she could never, ever, hurt Harry James Potter. She would kill herself before she ever came close.

Miranda took a deep breath and apparated to the first place she thought of when she thought of Ron: The Burrow.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks so much to D00rFr4m3 for reviewing along the way of your read, I really appreciate it!

Let me know what you think!

-Jenn