Bookworm

14

"Mira, wait up!" Neville sprinted over to her, his round face nervous as he fell into step beside her. "How was your first lesson?"
"It was...okay. Interesting." she responded half heartedly. Neville nodded understandingly.
"You haven't really got the best start to the school. History of magic then double potions...I wouldn't be surprised if you dropped out to be honest." Mira chuckled.
"I'll stick it out, see how potions goes. Word is, Snape is a bit of a-"
"Bit of a what, Miss Moriarty?" a voice came from behind them. They spun around and Neville immediately tensed up, his eyes wide and terror written on his face.
"An unfair dick, Professor. I am sorry, but that's the word. I'm only repeating it." she shrugged, and was sure she saw amusement flicker in his eyes.
"Five points from..." he paused, an eyebrow raised. "You don't really have a house, do you? Lets start your own. You're now on minus five points, Miss Moriarty." Mira tried not to laugh as she glanced at Neville and saw the terror etched onto his pale, sweaty face.
"Well lets hope I can make it up in lesson, then Professor. Yeah? Come on Neville." She hooked her arm around the crook of his elbow and pulled him ahead of the Professor. Neville was still frozen and it wasn't until they were out of earshot did he finally dare to breathe.
"Oh my god Mira! You're going to get killed! It wouldn't be out of character for him to put you in detention for a year...or...or throw a table at your head!" Mira snorted.
"He wouldn't throw a table at my head-maybe a chair, but not a table!" Neville seemed to get over his horror and laughed slightly as the bell rang and they arrived at Snape's classroom. Neville began talking about Herbology excitedly, and although Mira wasn't that interested in gardening she didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. And besides, she had just listened to Binns for an hour and a half. Next to him, Neville gushing about roots was endlessly interesting.
The door creaked open, and the class quietly filed in. The room was dark and dingy, Mira could hardly see. She quietly made her way to a desk in the middle of the room and Neville followed, sitting beside her.
"You don't mind me sitting here, do you?" he asked when he saw her look at him. She quickly shook her head and sent him a toothy grin before Snape stormed in and slammed the door shut behind him and her head snapped around to follow him.
"Settle down. Before we begin todays lesson, I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an "Acceptable" in your OWL, or suffer my...displeasure." His gaze landed on the table that she and Neville occupied, she heard Neville gulp and held his gaze for a few moments.
"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me. I only take the best of the best into my NEWT potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye." His gaze lingered this time on Harry, who just glared at the teacher. He quickly set them off on making the potion.
Mira took a deep breath and grabbed two of everything she would need, dumping her laden arms onto the table. Neville let out a squeak and jumped before seeing that she wasn't, in fact, the Potions Professor, and quickly moved to help her separate it. She could do this. She used to do cooking all the time with her mum, it was their favourite past time to discover new things to make.
Neville quickly fell into a panic and began hurriedly cutting up his mandrake roots.
"Neville, stop. Stop! You're mutilating them-do it carefully." she muttered, putting her hand on his forearm to get his attention. He glanced at her and nodded, pursing his lips as he began to calmly measure out everything as best as he could. Every time he glanced at Mira she was slowly getting further and further ahead, eyebrows furrowed in concentration and her grey eyes not moving away from her cauldron.
His few seconds of distraction meant he put a few too many porcupine quills in, and a violent hissing emerged from the cauldron before it turned a dark brown. Mira's eyes widened and she looked at him in panic.
"Oh Neville, I don't know how to fix that!" she whispered. Neville winced slightly as he began feverishly stirring it.
"It's fine, just do your own. It looks like its going good." he replied quietly. Mira sent his potion one last disheartened glance before getting to work again.
Soon, there were only ten minutes left to go. Her cauldron was a shimmering mist of light silver vapour, and only moments later did Snape announce that was what he was looking for. Her heart began to race as she stayed concentrated on her own. It was the exact shade shown in the book. She hardly paid any attention as he began walking around the dungeons, not hearing as he began to wind Harry up. She didn't pay attention until he came to her potion and stopped. There was a few seconds of silence as they stared at each other.
"Very good, Miss Moriarty, to say it's your first lesson." He sneered, looking down at her potion with disinterest. Mira only raised an eyebrow, opting to say nothing. He looked at it for a few more moments before rolling his eyes.
"O. Don't get used to it. I very rarely give them out." He turned to the class and raised his voice. "Fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making, to be handed in on Thursday." With a collecting quiet groan, the class did as told and began filing from the classroom. Mira paused at the door, looking back at the teacher silhouetted in the vapour coming from her cauldron, his back to her and hands clasped behind him.
"Can I help you, Miss Moriarty?" he drawled. She glanced back at the door closing and hitched her bag back up her shoulder.
"When is the next meeting?" she asked in a low voice.
"Can you not ask Albus?" he sneered, still not turning around. She glared at the back of his great greasy head.
"I cant speak to him too much. It'll be suspicious." Snape was silent for a few moments.
"You have detention next Tuesday night. Eight until half ten. You are dismissed."
"Thank you Professor." She paused in the doorway. "And Professor? Don't forget that whilst he is James's kid, he is also Lily's." They stood there for a long time as he tried to think of a reply.
"You are dismissed." was his stern response, and the door slammed shut on her face. She scowled and began making her way to the great hall. A mop of messy black hair rushing up the stairs caught her eye.
"Harry!" she cried. "Hey, wait up!" If anything, the boy sped up. Mira flicked her wand out of it's place in her sleeve and waved it. He seemed to trip over nothing and Mira grinned, realising the practice she was doing on her own was finally paying off.
"What the hell?" she remembered Harry was still on the floor and rushed over, helping him stand back up.
"You could have just stopped." she told him. His face was red and angry, eyebrows furrowed and his lips pulled into a deep frown. "'S got your knickers in a twist?"
"Go away Mira." he mumbled before turning to storm away once more. Now that Mira was in step with him, she easily stayed beside him. Just to annoy him, she forced her breathing to stay steady to show him she wasn't bothered. Finally, when they were alone in a corridor, he let out an angry huff and stopped in his tracks.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" he roared. Mira flinched and glared at him.
"Just because you're in a mood does not give you the right to talk to me like that!" she calmly replied, lifting her arms and shoving him away from where he was towered over her frame roughly. "I only wanted to see if you were okay, you looked like someone had murdered Ron and Hermione! But you know what, go off on your own and sit in a sulk all alone! You-you're so-so-"
"So what?" He asked in a threatening tone. Mira wasn't threatened at all. She knew how mediocre his duelling was; he seemed to only know expelliarmus and run.
"Dramatic! Why do you think everyone is out to get you?"
"Well I have people out to get me, do I not?" he hissed.
"But I'm not. Hermione, Ron, they're not! You're treating your friends as you would your enemies!" she cried in frustration. "We're only trying to help you Harry."
"Oh, yes. I'm sure little clued in Mira wants what's best for me, just LIKE EVERYONE ELSE THAT REFUSES TO TELL ME ANYTHING!"
"Don't even try that with me Potter. Do you have any idea the number of arguments I've had with Albus for not telling you anything? And you wanna know something? I just landed myself in detention with bloody Snape for telling him to take it easy on you!" she growled. His face softened slightly in surprise but she stepped away from him.
"You know what, forget it." she muttered. His face clouded over with anger once more.
"Hermione was right about you. You're nothing but a stuck up little piece of-"
"Wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, Harry."
"Yeah, you never know when a dung bomb may drop on your head." The twins emerged from a hidden passage to their left, identical forced grins on their faces.
"Now, if you don't mind." Fred spoke up cheerily.
"We need to steal Mira over here-"
"There's an important question we have to ask her." they finished in unison.
"Be my guest." Harry muttered before stalking off.