"…and Fred and George managed to get their hands on tickets for the next Weird Sisters concert."
Mira sat with Emily, Daisy and… Ginny in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express, listening to Ginny's story, while doing her best not to think about the kiss she'd shared with her secret crush a few weeks earlier.
Ginny was so beautiful as she happily talked to Emily and Daisy.
"No way! You brothers just gave you a ticket for the Weird Sisters?! They are super hard to get!" Emily exclaimed excitedly.
"No," Ginny pouted. "Those bas…" she stopped and looked at Daisy worriedly - as if Daisy didn't know the word 'bastard' - and continued, "those idiots made me pay for it! Their own sister!" Ginny complained dramatically.
"Hey! Don't treat me like a little child. I know the word basta..." Daisy complained, but she was silenced by a lightning-fast silent Silencing Charm - since when could Ginny cast silently?
"No!" Ginny wailed while hugging Daisy dramatically, "which bastard dared to use bad words in front of my cute, innocent little Daisy."
'Pretty sure it was you…'
Mira wished that Ginny would hug her instead of Daisy, but she tried to hide it.
"You shouldn't hug people so willy-nilly, Ginny," Mira advised Ginny, hoping no one could see past her carefully maintained pureblood persona.
"Oh Mira! Do you want a hug, too?" Ginny asked, releasing Daisy and opening her arms for Mira.
Mira almost said 'Yes', but thankfully she stopped herself in time.
A brief headache flickered behind her eyes when she met Ginny's beautiful, twinkling brown gaze. Strange… Maybe she didn't sleep enough.
But those thoughts were forgotten quickly when she saw Ginny's dazzling smile widening.
Ginny really did love to tease others. If only Ginny knew what this was doing to her heart…
She looked out of the window, ignoring her roommates' antics.
Mira still hadn't decided whether she should tell her parents anything about her… preferences.
They were already constantly complaining about the 'baseless' rumours surrounding her older brother, Marcus. Well, her mother at least called them that, but Mira had seen Marcus holding hands with that Ravenclaw Prefect - Robert Hilliard - when they thought that nobody was nearby. So she wasn't entirely convinced about the 'baseless' part…
Her parents had tried to pressure Marcus into choosing a girl from a respectable family at Hogwarts - someone whose engagement would benefit the Fenwick name. They had quite a big fight about it last summer.
Now, Mira felt ashamed that she hadn't stood by him. She had even repeated their mother's words at one point, about how it would be for his own good and benefit the family… She had no idea how to apologize for that.
Her mother and father also had an arranged marriage, so they - especially her mother - thought that it was completely normal and for their own good to have an early arranged engagement.
She heard the door opening and looked away from the window.
"Ginny," Potter said, coming in with a way too sweet smile, "I looked everywhere for you…"
Mira couldn't understand how Ginny hadn't noticed that Potter was hopelessly in love with her, but Ginny could be really dense at times. That was probably a good thing. Otherwise, she might have realised Mira's own feelings.
"Oh, hey Harry," Ginny waved absentmindedly, cuddling up again with the annoyed and now magically silenced Daisy.
"I… I just wanted to make sure everything is ok…" Harry continued lamely. Mira couldn't understand what Ginny saw in Potter at all… it certainly wasn't his fame as the Boy Who Lived - Ginny wasn't that shallow, right?
But she understood Harry… What had happened with Harper had been horrible. The Exploding Charm could have killed Ginny and Harper wasn't even expelled for it. Had the Harper family bribed the Board of Governors or was the Headmaster simply being too lenient? Mira didn't know… Probably both.
At least Harper had suffered for it in the end - even if the punishment had come from Malfoy rather than the school. There had been a lot of rumours and conspiracy theories going around about that.
Thankfully Ginny had been ok and hadn't been traumatised by it. Ginny was really brave and strong. She really belonged in Gryffindor.
"I'm ok," Ginny said, tilting her head. "Why?" she asked, looking at Harry puzzled.
If Mira didn't know better, she would guess that Ginny secretly enjoyed watching Harry fumble awkwardly around.
That was when Daisy escaped Ginny's arms and began angrily gesturing to lift the Silencing Charm.
"Oh… I forgot, sorry Daisy," Ginny said - definitely a lie. "Finite."
Like that, the rest of their train ride continued rather uneventful – Ginny even managed to coax Daisy into forgiving her. Unfortunately Harry stayed a while before reluctantly going back to his compartment.
Saying goodbye to her friends afterward proved far more difficult than she had expected. This was just her first year at Hogwarts. She would have never thought how important her roommates would become to her, especially Ginny. She now couldn't imagine her life without them.
And if she lingered in Ginny's farewell hug a heartbeat longer than necessary, well… that was her secret. But unfortunately her parents were already waiting for her with Marcus.
"So you've finally arrived, Mira," her mother greeted her impatiently, like always.
"Hello, Mira. I hope you had a great time at Hogwarts," her father said. "Dear, perhaps you could be a little less harsh. We haven't seen them since Christmas," he added gently, turning to his wife.
Ah, yeah… that had been a 'fun' Christmas.
"Hugging that Weasley girl so openly, in front of everyone, is entirely unseemly," her mother admonished.
"I apologize, Mother."
"As long as you understand," her mother replied crisply. "Let's go home." She turned and led them toward the Floo entrance. Her father offered her a small, apologetic smile. Mira already knew that this would be a long summer…
Later, once the house-elves had unpacked their things, the family gathered for a cold, distant dinner in the dining room. The Fenwick house-elves' cooking was, as always, impeccable - yet she found herself missing the warmth of Hogwarts meals.
During dinner, Marcus was once again pressed about whether he had finally found a suitable girl for an engagement. Mira kept her eyes fixed on her plate, but that did not spare her from a similar interrogation.
Her mother asked her opinion on Dearborn and Farley, since they were from respectable families and in her year in Gryffindor. She was even asked about older boys like Longbottom or Macmillan. Her mother was clearly not pleased when Mira told her that she had never spoken to them.
Thankfully, the ordeal did not last long, but Mira knew that this wouldn't be the last interrogation about this topic this summer.
She retreated to her room and collapsed backward onto her bed without ceremony.
Mira really felt sorry for Marcus and guilty about her past behaviour.
What should she do?
After a while she made a decision. Nothing would improve if she didn't act. So she stood up from her bed, walked to her brother's room and knocked at his door.
After a while, the door opened.
"Mira," he said neutrally, standing in the doorframe - clearly not wanting her to enter.
"Hello, Marcus… can I please come in?" she tried, but Marcus didn't step aside.
"Why?"
"Please, it is about… Hilliard," she whispered the last word, while looking down - she hated the hostile look of her own brother. They'd never been that close, with him being four years older, but still…
Marcus' eyes widened, then his demeanour became even more hostile. He pulled her inside and closed the door behind her.
"What about Hilliard?" he asked, still grabbing her arm.
Perhaps she should have chosen different words, but nothing else would have made him listen.
"I…" she started, looking up into his eyes, trying to convey sincerity. "I'm sorry. Truly. I'm sorry for what I said last year…" she apologized, her voice almost breaking. "I saw you with Hilliard and you shouldn't be forced to marry some pureblood girl…"
Marcus looked very surprised, letting go of her arm.
"You're not going to tell Mother about this, are you?" he asked suspiciously, but Mira could see the hurt beneath it. She remembered years ago, before he went to Hogwarts, when they would spend all their time together…
"No! Never… I… I just realized how cruel it was what I said," she said, bowing her head. "Please forgive me."
Tears slipped down her cheeks while the silence between them grew heavier.
"Ok."
"Ok?" she repeated dumbly.
Then she felt his arms around her.
"Ok, I forgive you… I suppose I really do have a hopeless little sister."