Bookworm

2

When Mira woke once more, she was in an unfamiliar room. The bed was large, old and dusty. Trying not to cough, she slowly sat up and slipped out from under the heavy green duvet. It released her weight with a loud creak, she winced and padded across the room, pulling the curtains open. She was sure they disintegrated slightly under her fingers, and let out a loud cough as dust clouded around her head. Even with the curtains open, the room was dark and gloomy. She had never seen so much dust in her life. And there was a smell lingering in the air, almost as if someone had died in the room just days before.
Wrinkling her nose, she pulled the door open and looked around. The stairs looked as old as the rest of the house, almost as if she put the slightest weight on them they would collapse under her. Testing her feet on them and deciding it would be safe, she slowly began to descend. Her heart sank as she reached the bottom of the old once grand oak stairs. She would recognise this anywhere. Grimmauld Place.
The films had been far from correct. They made it seem old and abandoned, but loveable. A happy place. This-she wasn't sure if it had ever seen a hint of a smile. Everything had such a thick coating of dust she wasn't sure where the surfaces ended and the ornaments and decorations began. Lamps hanging on the walls cast a gloomy light that made it seem sinister, she wasn't even sure if she would notice if they weren't there. The walls were faded and peeling, a thick layer of black mould beginning to creep down from the ceiling. She could hear faint, muffled voices and moved toward the sound. Light was shining like a beacon from under a door, she nervously approached it and knocked before stepping back slightly. The door swung open, she expected to see Mrs Weasley or Sirius Black stood there, but instead was faced with Albus Dumbledore himself. Her eyes widened as he smiled down at her and chuckled slightly.
"Nice to see you awake, Miss..." There was a few seconds of silence before she registered what he said.
"Oh! Harfield. Um, Mira Harfield." She awkwardly held her hand out before clenching her fist and retracting it quickly, letting it fall by her side as she scuffed her shoe on the ground slightly.
"Um, so..." she began, noting the amusement shining in his eyes. He stepped back and gestured her into the room with a smile. She paused before entering, keeping her eyes cast down.
She would either be met with Harry and his friends, or she would be met with the Order of the Phoenix.
"You're awake!" she heard Remus Lupin announce happily. She glanced at him before nodding slowly, eyes darting around the room before resting on the floor again. She knew the face of every person there.
"This is Miss Harfield." Dumbledore announced, slowly making his way around the table before coming to a stop at the other end and observing her with curious eyes. "You've caused quite a stir, Miss Harfield." Mira looked up and met his eyes, murmuring a quiet apology.
"Don't be stupid." Tonks waved her off. "It's been nice having something to do-You-Know-Who and the death eaters are lying low-" An elbow was sharply rammed into her side and she winced before shutting her mouth, her hair slowly turning a shade of red as people sent her harsh glares.
"Yes, well, I for one want to know how a supposed muggle took out two death eaters and injured three of our best field agents." Whom she recognised as Sirius Black spoke up, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Took-took out two death eaters? I-I didn't-"
"Well, there were two death eaters on the scene, both still slightly warm. And you were the only one in the house." Moody spoke up bluntly. Mira shook her head, eyes wide.
"I-I-they came at me! I didn't-y'know. Kill them."
"Well, they were dead." Remus told her gently. Her chest constricted as she gasped, tears welling in her eyes.
"Hey, calm it. They would have killed you. It was just self defence." Tonks reached a hand out onto her shoulder. She shrunk back slightly. Murderer. You don't have a right to be in the same room as them.
"They were death eaters. They deserved it." Moody grumbled. She made eye contact with his brown eye before lowering her head again and shaking it slightly.
"I-um. I got home from school, and the, um, door was open. Which, y'know, I thought was-er-strange." She began, flushing at her stuttering. But her hands were shaking too, and tears were beginning to run down her cheeks. Dumbledore glanced at her for a moment before looking over at someone that she couldn't see properly through the tears.
"Do you have a calming draught?" He asked. She could feel the panic rising in her chest and suddenly jumped out of the chair she had been forced to sit in, sending it flying across the floor behind her. She ignored the wands instantly pointed at her and focused her attention on her knuckles, slowly turning white as they gripped the table, and tried to calm her breathing. It didn't work, but only seconds later a goblet with a weird baby-blue liquid was forced into her hands. She could vaguely hear someone telling her to drink it, and did as requested.
Instantly, her body calmed. Her breathing evened out and her hands stopped shaking. She stared at them in wonder, the past events suddenly seeming trivial. It was almost as if she was remembering it all through another person.
"Right, Mira." she heard Remus Lupin say gently, and she raised her head to look at him once more, truly taking in his appearance. His robes weren't shabby but were slightly big on him-she had a strong suspicion that they were borrowed from the man on his left. He looked exhausted; dark bags under his eyes telling her all she needed to know. His hazel eyes crinkled as he smiled at her softly. "Could you tell us what happened?" She nodded and took a deep breath.
"Yeah, so the door was open. Which I thought was strange because my parents are-were-away. So I went in, thinking it was maybe a neighbour or something, because there was nothing to say it was a forced entry. Nothing was broken, the door was simply just open. And I heard someone talking in the living room, and I went over, and there were these weird men in masks. Um, I think one of them heard me because he came over so I hit him on the head with a photo-frame and, um, yeah..." She heard Sirius snort in amusement and avoided looking at him. "And then, the other started coming over so I took the stick he was holding-and I doubted it would work because magic doesn't actually exist-"
"You're literally talking to a room full of witches and wizards, kid." Mundungus Fletcher chuckled. She allowed a soft smile to grace her lips as she sat back in the chair.
"Yeah. I guess I am. This is crazy." she admitted. Sirius cleared his throat.
"So you took his wand? Then what?" His face was bright and full of interest. She held back a sigh at his eagerness for the slightest action before continuing.
"And I pointed it at him, and he kind of exploded into the wall? Then the whole house started to shake-and I panicked and thought it was an earthquake...something fell and hit his head as he was getting up. Not my fault. But, um, yeah...when it stopped shaking I went to the window to escape and...everything looked different. Not like, destruction different. But old fashioned different." she furrowed her eyebrows before a look of realisation crossed her face. She had travelled back in time. "B-b-but that's impossible." she whispered to herself. The Order members looked at each other in confusion.
"What's impossible, Miss Harfield?" Dumbledore asked curiously. Without the calming draught, Mira had no doubt she would be panicking. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She only raised her eyebrows, expelling a large breath of air before slumping her shoulders and easing herself back into the straight-backed wooden chair.
"Hmm? Oh-nothing. Nothing, doesn't matter." Her mind was quickly skimming over everything she had learnt about time travel in the Prisoner of Azkaban. Don't be seen. Already screwed that one up. Don't make any significant changes. Again, failed. You can only go a few hours at a time.
But, looking at the table, Mira realised she had travelled years. Decades, even. The Order of the Phoenix had been assembled-Voldemort was still lying low. Sirius and Remus were both adults-so after the first wizarding war. So Harry must be beginning his fifth year soon. She had been in 2017-she had gone back 22 years. Yep. Three simple rules and she had obliterated all of them. Sounds about right.
She wasn't born for another seven years. She thought about it-ignoring the conversation happening around her by the Order Members. Seven years until she existed. Maybe...just maybe, she could find out who he truly was. Her father.