Mia Potter was the other Potter. Looking almost identical to her mother, she was a force to be reckoned with. But there was only one person who could reckon with her, and his name was Draco Malfoy.
In which the youngest Potter twin finds herself fa...
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"Anyone else thinks it's weird about how fucking quiet it is?" Mia called as she ran next to her brother.
The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain, where jets from the wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and the house-elf's ears continued to gush into the surrounding pool.
"Come on," said Harry quietly and the seven of them sprinted off down the hall, Mia and Harry in the lead, past the fountain, toward the desk where the security man had sat and which was now deserted.
Mia felt sure that there ought to be a security person there, sure that their absence was an ominous sign, and her feeling of foreboding increased as they passed through the golden gates to the lifts. She pressed the nearest down button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking, and they dashed inside. Mia stabbed the number nine button, the grilles closed with a bang, and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling.
Mia had not realized how noisy the lifts were on the day that she had come with Mr Weasley, she was sure that they would raise every security person within the building, yet when the lift halted, the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," and the grilles slid open again, they stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.
Mia turned toward the plain black door. After months and months of dreaming about it, she was here at last.
"This is it," she said, and her heart was now pumping so hard and fast she felt it must interfere with her speech.
She glanced around at them all. They had their wands out and looked suddenly serious and anxious. Mia looked back at the door, looked at Harry and pushed.
It swung open.
They were there, they had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs.They glimmered dully in the light issuing from more candle brackets set at intervals along the shelves. Like those in the circular room behind them, their flames were burning blue. The room was very cold.
Mia edged forward and peered down one of the shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves. She could not hear anything nor see the slightest sign of movement.
Mia hurried after her brother and came to a stop when she saw there was an empty gap where Sirius should have been.
"He should be here," Harry said, looking around and Mia looked at Ron.
"Mia, Harry," Neville called, staring at a glass orb. "it's got your name on it." Neville was pointing at one of the smallglass spheres that glowed with a dull inner light, though it was verydusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years.
Mia and Harry exchanged looks as the younger twin walked over to Neville. Not as tall as Neville, she had to stand on her tiptoes and crane her neck toread the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dustyglass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen yearspreviously, and below that:
S. P. T. to A. P. W. B. D. Dark Lordand Euphemia and Harry Potter.
Mia stared at it. She reached out a hand and picked it up and stared at it.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches," a raspy voice from the orb said, but nobody seemed to react to it. It was as if only Mia could hear it. "And the Dark Lord shall mark one of them as his equal, but they shall have power the Dark Lord knows not. For neither can live while the other two survives."
Mia furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the orb.
"Mia."
Mia looked up and her heart dropped as they heard footsteps walking towards them.
"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked as everyone raised their wands.
"You know," came the cold voice of Lucius Malfoy, "you really should learn to tell the difference between dreams, and reality."
Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, adozen lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts. Ginny gavea gasp of horror.
"You saw only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see," said the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as heheld out his hand, palm up as he looked at Mia. "Now, hand me the prophecy."
"If you do anything to us, I'll break it," Mia said, her eyes flashing red.
"She knows how to play," came a woman's voice from behind Malfoy. Mia squinted her eyes and the woman came into light. Azkaban had hollowed Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making itgaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow. "Itty, bitty baby. Potter."
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Neville said as Mia looked at him and then at Bellatrix.
"Neville Longbottom, is it?" the mad woman asked as Mia moved her blue eyes back to her. "How's Mum and Dad?"
"Better, now they're about to be avenged," Neville said, pointing his wand at her. Everyone stopped him as Bellatrix raised her wand back, a murderous look on her face.
"Now, let's everybody just calm down, shall we?" Malfoy asked as Mia looked at him. "All we want is that prophecy."
"Why did Voldemort need us to come and get this?" Mia asked as Bellatrix's dark eyes went wide.
"You dare speak his name?" she breathed as Mia looked at her. "You filthy half-blood!"
"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" said Mia recklessly. "Voldemort? Yeah, his motherwas a witch but his dad was a Muggle, or has he been telling you lothe's pureblood?"
"STUPEF. . . ."
"NO!"
A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange'swand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His spell caused hers to hit theshelf a foot to the left of Mia and several of the glass orbs thereshattered. Mia had an amused grin on her face as she looked at Bellatrix.
"Prophecies can only be retrieved by those about whom they are made," Malfoy said, "which is lucky for you, really. Haven't you always wondered, what was the reason for the connection between you and the Dark Lord?"
Mia raised an eyebrow.
"Why he was unable to kill you and your brother, when you were just an infant? Don't you want to know the secret of your scars and powers? All the answers are there, Potter, in your hand. All you have to do, is give it to me. Then I can show you everything."
"It's funny," Mia said she looked down, "I've waited fourteen years."
"I know," Malfoy said sympathetically.
"What's the harm of waiting a little longer?" she asked with a smirk as she nudged her brother.
