Bookworm

12

The journey was long, but certainly not boring. Mira wasn't entirely sure anything could be boring when Fred and George were around. If there was a slight silence they either broke out into loud songs that no one had ever heard of or started a spontaneous game of eye spy. It was rather quick paced, as the train was moving so fast as soon as anyone saw anything it had disappeared.
Everyone laughed at Mira when she saw the castle for the first time and almost fell out of the window in her awe. Fred pulled her back by the back of her robe and pinned her in the seat beside him by sitting on her lap.
"Yeah, we were the same way." George said whimsically.
"Remember when we were innocent ikkle firsties, Georgie?" Fred replied mystically, looking off into the distance as though he was reliving a fond memory.
"Innocent? You?" Angelina snorted. "I doubt you two have ever been 'innocent'."
"And besides, I'm not an 'ikkle firstie'." Mira muttered, shoving Fred's weight off her. He fell to the floor and remained there.
"Oh? What year are you going into?" Lee asked, catching a chocolate frog in mid jump and ripping its head off. He let out a rather erotic groan and shoved the rest of it in his mouth. Mira tried not to blush and kept her voice steady as she replied.
"Fifth. Same as Harry, Ron and Hermione."
"Same as Malfoy." Angelina pointed out. "If that pompous little prat gives you any trouble-"
"He wont, will he Georgie?" Fred finally sat back up, pouting at her before resuming his seat beside her.
"No he wont, Fred." It was obvious to anyone that George wasn't listening to the conversation, his nose buried deep in a box of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans; trying his hardest to find a good one.
"Don't worry about Moriarty, Johnson. She can defend herself perfectly fine-and if he tries anything then he will face the wrath of us!"
"Not to mention the trio and Ginny." Lee butted in. "They seemed to really like you earlier. And I'm sure their hatred of Malfoy by far outshines any hesitation they'll have." Mira smiled thankfully at them as the train slowly came to a stop.
"HOGSMEDE!" George screeched, standing up and sprinting through the open door. The others hung back and stuffed their pockets with the sugary goodness before following after him. Mira didn't want to run, and watched with a grin as Angelina and Lee took off in a race to reach the redhead. Fred stayed by her side, glaring at any student that tried to barge past her. Mira laughed.
"Calm it, Weasley. I'm not going to break a bone." The scowl fell from his face and was replaced with a smirk as they reached the carriages to take them up to the school.
"M'lady." He fake curtsied and held a hand out to help her climb into it. Mira forced her eyes to stay away from the thestrals she could see. Her eyes trailed to Harry pointing at them in horror, speaking with Luna, Ron and Harry.
"Come on, M!" George laughed, grabbing her other hand and pulling her bodily into the little room. Lee laughed as Angelina helped Fred in and they all sat comfortably, the others talking about their homework from over the summer and complaining about the workload Snape set. Mira snickered.
"It's your NEWT year, the workload is given to be awful." George grumbled something under his breath, earning him a sharp clap around the ear from Angelina.
"Bloody hell woman!" he cried, hand rubbing his ear. "I need that you know!"
The others all laughed. Mira didn't. Only Fred saw the uncomfortable look of horror on her face, her eyes distant. She seemed to be thinking about something, something that wasn't very good.
They finally arrived up at the castle and piled out of the cart. Mira was almost instantly pulled away by Flitwick and waved a sad goodbye to them over her shoulder.
"What's going on?" She asked curiously. The short man before her had attended a couple of Order meetings over the summer, but not many. He wasn't much of an active member, just there for when they really needed him.
"Dumbledore wants to talk to you about your...position at the school. He said he didn't explain it very well." Mira nodded and followed silently until they found the man in question in an old classroom on the bottom floor, in a deep conversation with Professor McGonagall.
"Ah! Miss Moriarty, I'm glad you could make it." Flitwick nodded before bustling from the room. Mira approached the adults apprehensively.
"Sir, what's this about? You're not changing anything, are you? Because I will still need to leave the school-"
"You are still here as my guest, Mira." He smiled. "There's just a couple of things I need to talk to you about." Mira nodded and sat on the table beside McGonagall, trying her hardest to not swing her legs and look like a child to the two adults.
"First off, at meal times do you want a chair at the staff table, like one of my guests would have? Or would you prefer to sit with your friends?"
"Friends." Mira replied instantly. "Need to be blending in and all that...jazz." She internally cringed. Dumbledore nodded.
"In that case, you would probably need a Gryffindor tie so you don't stand out." He waved his wand and her plain black tie turned scarlet and gold. Mira stared at it in wonder before allowing her eyes to trail back to him. "And I must say this, that if you choose to attend any lessons, it would be preferable if you attended those with your house mates in your year group. So you don't stand out on the registers and all that...jazz." Mira felt herself blush pink and avoided his twinkling blue eyes.
"As for your...sleeping situation. Obviously, not being a registered student at the school, I cant set you up in any of the student dorms. But, I do have quite a hidden fancy little spare bedroom on the fifth floor. You have permission to be in common rooms, just not permanently. Come find me or Minerva at the end of the feast and we'll take you." Mira nodded, thanking him quietly.
"And a last note. How many of them do you have now?" It took Mira a few moments to register the question, but when she did she noticed the sudden stern look on his face.
"Um, I can have three by tomorrow."
"There's one in Hogwarts?!" McGonagall cried. Mira winced but nodded.
"On the bright side, he cant risk checking on this one. Yay?" she threw her hands up before allowing them to limply fall at her sides. Dumbledore glanced at his watch and nodded to Minerva. The woman swept from the room, her face still slightly pale.
"Come to my office tomorrow, as soon as you can. I'm sure Harry or any of the Weasleys can direct you. They've been up plenty of times. Come along then, Miss Moriarty." This seemed to trigger something in the girl and she stopped in her tracks.
"Sir! Harry, he has a map of sorts. And it shows everyone's names, and he'll see that I'm not actually Moriarty, but Harfield!" Her words were fast and didn't make much sense but after a few moments of silence Dumbledore waved his wand over her.
"Concealment charm. It should render you as Moriarty on all magical object tracking you now. Come along." Mira nodded and followed his brisk pace. They went down a short staircase and into the Entrance Hall. Mira barely had a few seconds to register the beauty before she was pushed gently toward the doors.
"Quickly, enter before me. Less suspicion and..."
Don't do it. Please don't do it. Mira pleaded in her mind.
"All that jazz." She sent his laughing form a small scowl before slipping into the hall.
It was grand, better than anything she could have ever imagined. The books, the films, not even the games did it any justice. It was massive, she could have easily fit six of her old home in it, and still had room for a rather large garden. Large banners hung from the bewitched ceiling, ruining the effect in the perfect way. Hundreds of candles floated in the air above their heads, casting a warm light into every corner of the room. Four massive tables laden with students were all turned away from her, watching the sorting ceremony with disinterest. The houses were clear, blocks of colour at each table distinguishing them. Mira searched the table full of claret and gold for her friends, for a familiar set of gingers. The first person she saw was Ginny, surrounded by her fourth year friends and talking rapidly. The trio were sat in a deep conversation, looking serious. Fred and George were with Lee and Angelina alongside a large group of people. Slightly intimidated by each option, Mira opted to sit at the very back on her own. Not many people were sat at the back of the room, eager to see all their friends. There were a couple of friends dotted about, but Mira had plenty of room to herself. Not much attention had been drawn to her, and those staring quickly looked away to talk to their friends about boys or quidditch.
"To our newcomers, welcome!" Mira could have sworn his eyes lingered on hers for a few moments. "To our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, but this is not it. Tuck in!" Food blossomed before everyone and only the first years and Mira seemed surprised. Everyone else just casually reached for whatever was closest to them, and in Ron's case began stuffing their mouths. Mira scanned the Gryffindor table for any other familiar faces at all, but there were none. Glancing at the Hufflepuff table, she saw Zoe sat quietly in-between two boisterous girls, whom were engaging her in the conversation. A small smile graced her lips-Hufflepuff suited the girls just fine.
"Mira?" a voice whispered, extremely close to her ear. She let out a small shriek and turned to see George grinning at her.
"George? You scared me!" she laughed slightly.
"Did he now?" Fred asked from the bench on the other side of her. She heard laughter and looked up to see Lee and Angelina laughing at the look on her face. She looked around the small group and noticed that everyone previously surrounding them had begun to trickle down the table to where they were sitting.
"Mira, this is Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. They're my best friends. guys, this is Mira Moriarty."
"Moriarty? As in the guy from that muggle book? Sherlock?" Katie asked excitedly. Mira shrugged.
"I guess, yeah."
"We're all on the Gryffindor quidditch team, besides Lee."
"I'm the best damned commentator Hogwarts has ever seen!" Lee announced proudly.
"The twins are beaters, and we're all chasers. Harry's our seeker-we haven't got a keeper yet." Alicia explained to her. Mira, of course, knew all this already. But nodded along none the less.
"You should try out!" Fred said excitedly. Mira instantly shook her head.
"Nope. I don't do well with heights-I'm okay thanks. Besides, I've never even been taught how to ride a broom, it would be more effort than necessary!" Everyone paused their eating. Fred spluttered on his pumpkin juice.
"You've never ridden a broom?" he asked, the drink dribbling down his chin. He didn't even attempt to wipe it away.
"Not true." George cut in. "She tried to sneak out on a broom in the holidays, remember? Mum was fuming-"
"Yes, alright George." Mira mumbled. "I just made it up as I went along-I'd never flown before that, I'm lucky I didn't die."
"You're such a killjoy, Moriarty." Fred grumbled.
"I'll write to your mother, Fred Weasley. See who's a killjoy then!"
"You wouldn't!" The twins turned to look at her with faces of horror.
"Don't test me."
"I like you more and more with everything you say." Katie grinned. Mira smiled back before beginning to nibble on some roast potatoes.
The students were eventually well fed and caught up to date on all the gossip. The chatter died down to a minimum as Dumbledore stood up and approached the podium.
"This should be fun." Mira grumbled.
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start of term notices. First years ought to know that the forest is out-of-bounds for students-and a few older students ought to know by now, too." Mira saw the trio smirk at each other as Fred and George high fived loudly over her head. Dumbledore continued to talk about things that Mira already knew; the changing of staff. Her mind wandered no matter how hard she tried to concentrate-to the end of the year.
If she was here as Dumbledore's guest, when he was forced to leave what was she expected to do? Stay. and aid the students against the foul toad? Or leave with him, and commit her efforts to the Order?
Oh well. That sounded like a problem for future her.