You Only Live Once

CHAPTER 19

"You look lost in thought" Theodore said with a chuckle.

It had been two weeks since they returned to Hogwarts, and in that time, Mira and Theodore hadn't found a single moment to be alone. At first, Mira had convinced herself that the silence was a good thing. She thought that perhaps the flame had finally flickered out over the holidays and that they simply wouldn't speak again. Part of her felt that was for the best. After all, that was exactly what Lily and Remus had been telling her for months. But all it took was one scrap of parchment slipped onto her desk during Potions, telling her to meet him at their favorite broom closet, for all her resolve to crumble.

So there they were, squeezed into a tiny, dusty room tucked away in a quiet corner of the castle. They were cuddled up against a stack of old, splintering brooms and half-empty buckets. Despite how much she enjoyed the quiet weight of his arm around her, Sirius's harsh words from that morning in the Lupin kitchen kept echoing in her mind. For the first time, she couldn't dismiss them as just Sirius being dramatic. Why would a Nott—a boy from one of the most prestigious, pure-blooded families in the wizarding world—want to spend his time with her? Why was he willing to sneak around dark corridors just for a few minutes of her company?

"I'm some kind of rebellion, aren't I?" she said after several minutes of comfortable silence.

Theodore had been leaning back, eyes closed as he enjoyed a cigarette in peace. He stopped mid-puff, the smoke curling around his face as he turned his head to look at her. He furrowed his eyebrows, his confusion seemingly genuine. "What are you talking about?"

"Against your parents" she clarified, her voice small but steady.

"You think I need to go against my parents?" Theo asked, a dry smile touching his lips. "And even if I did, would being around you really be the way to do it?"

"Well, let's look at the facts" Mira suggested. She shifted her weight, standing up straighter so that his hand naturally dropped from her waist. She turned her whole body to face him, forcing him to do the same with a long, tired sigh. "At the Christmas ball, your parents should have received an award for the performance they gave. It was really top-notch. Even behind those fake smiles and polite nods, I could practically smell the disapproval when they saw us dancing together. That's why you insisted on us leaving the party early, isn't it? You knew that making a scene and disappearing would rile them up even more"

She was recounting the events from three weeks ago, playing them back like a movie in her head. "Because let's face it, Theo. I'm a Potter. In the eyes of the people you grow up with, I'm a blood-traitor. That's the label I carry, right?"

Theodore stared at her as she spoke, his gaze intense and concentrated. For a moment, she thought she had finally cornered him with the truth. But then, his expression broke. He started laughing. It wasn't a mean laugh, but it was loud and clear. Mira stood there, unsure if she should be offended or just plain surprised. She watched him in shock, waiting for him to catch his breath.

"Firstly" he started, his laughter dying down to a low chuckle. "My cycle is your cycle. We have the same friends, remember? We sit at the same tables and walk the same halls. And for some reason, we don't see you as a blood-traitor. Neither do our families, regardless of your last name. That's exactly why you were invited to the ball in the first place, Mira. Because you, too, are seen as one of us"

That hit Mira harder than any insult could have. She had never thought of it that way before. She knew she had friends in Slytherin, but hearing Theo say she was "one of them" felt bizarre and unsettling. Was she really viewed that way by the very people her other friends despised? She wasn't sure if that was a compliment or a warning.