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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✴✴✴✴
"Where's Mia?" Katie Bell asked. The match was about to begin and nobody had seen Mia. "The match is about to start."
"I'm sure she'll be here," Ron said, looking around worried.
A second later, Mia came walking through the door. Her eyes were bloodshot, her skin was pale and she was no longer shaking. She looked relaxed, almost too comfortable.
"Mia!" Ron said. "Where have you been?'
"Just, sorting stuff out," she said shrugging. "Right, let's do this shit."
They walked out onto the pitch to tumultuous roars and boos.
One end of the stadium was solid red and gold; the other was a sea of green and silver. Many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had taken sides too: Amidst all the yelling and clapping Mia could distinctly hear the roar of Luna Lovegood's famous lion-topped hat. Ron watched her, slightly worried as she got something out of her pocket and quickly took it.
Mia stepped up to Madam Hooch, the referee, who was standing ready to release the balls from the crate.
"Captains shake hands," she said, and Mia had her hand crushed by the new Slytherin Captain, Urquhart. "Mount your brooms. On the whistle . . . three . . . two . . . one . . ."
The whistle sounded, Mia and the others kicked off hard from the frozen ground, and they were away. Mia soared around the perimeter of the grounds, looking around for the Snitch. The ginger girl felt her vision blurry as she shook her head and breathed. Then a voice that was jarringly different from the usual commentator's started up.
"Well, there they go, and I think we're all surprised to see the team that Potter's put together this year. Many thought Ronald Weasley would have a patchy performance as Keeper but of course, a close personal friendship with the Captain does help. . . ."
These words were greeted with jeers and applause from the Slytherin end of the pitch. Mia craned around on her broom to look toward the commentator's podium. A tall, skinny blond boy with an upturned nose was standing there, talking into the magical megaphone that had once been Lee Jordan's; Mia recognised Zacharias Smith, a Hufflepuff player whom she heartily disliked.
"Oh, and here comes Slytherin's first attempt on goal, it's Urquhart streaking down the pitch and. . . ."
Harry's stomach turned over.
". . . .Weasley saves it, well, he's bound to get lucky sometimes, I suppose. . . ."
Mia had a weak smile as she dived amongst the Chasers with her eyes searching all around for some hint of the elusive Snitch.
With half an hour of the game gone, Gryffindor were leadings sixty points to zero, Ron having made some truly spectacular saves, some by the very tips of his gloves, and Ginny having scored four of Gryffindor's six goals. This effectively stopped Zacharias from wondering loudly whether the two Weasleys were only there because he liked them, and he started on Peakes and Coote instead.
"Of course, Coote isn't the usual build for a Beater," said Zacharias loftily, "they've generally got a bit more muscle. . . ."
"Hit a Bludger at him!" Mia called to Coote as he zoomed past, but Coote, grinning broadly, chose to aim the next Bludger at Harper instead, who was just passing Mia in the opposite direction. Mia was pleased to hear the dull thunk that meant the Bludger had found its mark.
It seemed as though Gryffindor could do no wrong.
Again and again, they scored, and again and again, at the other end of the pitch, Ron saved goals with apparent ease. He was smiling now, and when the crowd greeted a particularly good save with a rousing chorus of the old favourite "Weasley Is Our King," he pretended to conduct them from on high.
"Thinks he's something special today, doesn't he?" said a snide voice, and Mia was nearly knocked off her broom as the Slytherin seeker, Harper collided with her hard and deliberately. Mia almost lost her balance as she gasped for breath. "Your blood-traitor pal . . ."
Madam Hooch's back was turned, and though Gryffindors below shouted in anger, by the time she looked around, Harper had already sped off. Her shoulder aching, her heart pounding and blood boiling, Mia raced after him, determined to ram him back. . . .
"And I think Harper of Slytherin's seen the Snitch!" said Zacharias Smith through his megaphone. "Yes, he's certainly seen something Potter hasn't!"
But the next moment, her stomach seemed to drop out of the sky. The Snitch was speeding along high above them, glinting brightly against the clear blue sky. Mia accelerated; the wind was whistling in her ears so that it drowned all sound of the commentary or the crowd, but the Slytherin seeker was still ahead of her, and Gryffindor was only a hundred points up; if he got there first Gryffindor had lost. Mia's eyes glowed red as the Slytherin seeker fumbled ever so slightly, let the Snitch slip through his fingers, and shot right past it. Mia made a great swipe for the tiny, fluttering ball and caught it.
Wheeling around, she hurtled back toward the ground, the Snitch held high in her hand. As the crowd realized what had happened, a great shout went up that almost drowned the sound of the whistle that signalled the end of the game.
✴✴✴✴
That night, there was a joyous party in the common room. The Gryffindor celebration party, was in full swing when Mia arrived. Renewed cheers and clapping greeted her appearance, and she was soon surrounded by a mob of people congratulating her. Mia smiled weakly before she managed to push her way out of the mob and out of the common room.
A few hours passed and Harry realised his sister was missing.
"Where's Mia?" he asked Ginny and Hermione.
"I haven't seen her in hours," Hermione said, looking around. "I'm getting rather worried."
"I'm sure she's fine," Ginny said, smiling but looking nervous. Before either of them could say another word, they looked up and saw Ron wrapped so closely around Lavender Brown that it was hard to tell whose hands were whose. Harry began cheering with the others before looking at Hermione whose face had dropped. She said nothing as she walked out of the common room.
The brunette walled out of the common room and made her way towards an empty corridor, but let out a scream as she froze in horror.
