The double sided mirror (pansmione wlw)

I Will Find You

Please tell me what you think of it!

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Hermione had stopped hurting. Seeing Ron and Lavender together, being affectionate in a way that made her wonder if they knew they were in a public space had stopped making her suffer. He was allowed to go wherever he pleased, and kiss whoever he wanted. The loud pain had turned into a slight unease.

Hermione arrived early to her first class of the day once again. Eating without talking was much faster than with friends. Harry had found himself in "shared custody", and had decided to have breakfasts with Ron and lunch with her. Her back resting against the wall, her eyes staring at her book, she hadn't seen McLaggen arrive.

"Hey Hermione, early today as well I see". She raised her head to look at him. Cormac never spoke to her usually. She knew that he had asked Ron to introduce them, but apparently preferred a complete lack of romanticism that would've come with a set up date to instead simply talk to her on a Tuesday morning. Perhaps had he realised no one would help him, and had decided to take matters into his own hands. He was leaning against the wall, resting his head on his palm, giving her the McLaggen smile she imagined girls all talked about. Hermione found him repulsive. She was about to nicely tell him to never talk to her again when Ron and Lavender appeared around the corner. She was over him, but she wasn't over making sure he knew that.

"Cormac, it's good to see you. I've been wanting to ask you for a while if you were already going with someone at the Slughorn Christmas Party." Hermione said, making sure her voice was loud enough for everyone in the hallway to be able to hear her. McLaggen seemed surprised that things were working out so well for him.

"I haven't thought about it yet. Do you have a cavalier?"

"Actually, I wanted to go with you." Ron and Lavender were too busy snogging to hear the conversation.

"Sounds perfect to me, love!" He said, his crass smile making a comeback, this time accompanied with a wink.

What have I just done

Hermione thought, trying to keep a straight face after what had just happened. A wink? Love? She could've thrown up right there and then. Ron hadn't even flinched. Had he even heard anything? This was the stupidest decision she had ever made in her Hogwarts career.

She had been hoping to gather up the courage to talk to Circe again, and invite her to the Slughorn ball. She would've hit two birds with one stone, a good time spent with the one that never left her thoughts anymore, as well as to be on a date with a Slytherin, a Slytherin Girl, which would've made Ron effectively lose his mind. But she had succumbed to the temptation of getting his attention away from Lavender, foolishly trading her long term happiness for a much smaller high which had never happened anyway.

She hadn't talked to Circle in two weeks. Fear paralyzed her every time she grabbed the mirror to respond to one of the girl's long night rants. Everyday it became more difficult for her to come back with an excuse that would be good enough to justify her absence.

Circe had come to her every night. Sometimes she described her days, her fears of the mirror being broken, repeating how she was probably just talking to herself, how much she missed her.

One night, she had installed herself by a window in the staircase that led to the girl's dormitories. It was late, but giggles and whispers indicated to her that not all were asleep yet. The cold stone was uncomfortable, but she settled anyway, waiting for Circe. She had ended up talking for almost an entire hour, alone. As she said goodbye, Hermione had had the urge to stop her. To talk to her. But she had been too scared. When the silence had come to greet her again, she had cried. She felt powerless, swearing that next time, she'd muster up the courage to speak up. The next day, as usual, she had failed.