MARA WILLIAMS

"Just let me in you miserable old bat!" I hissed, wondering if it was possible to slap a portrait. Only one way to find out...

"Not without the password!" The fat lady said smugly, revelling in my rage as she ruffled her hideous pink dress that was the same vile shade as Umbridge's office.

"I already told you! I don't bloody know it!" I threw my hands in the air in frustration. "I'm literally wearing Gryffindor robes, what more do you want!"

"No password, no entry!" She sang, or shrieked, I couldn't t quite tell.

"Right that's it." I was just about to tear the damned thing from the wall when a puffing Neville appeared behind me, still out of breath from running up the stairs.

"It's ok Mara, I've got it." He straightened himself, before saying proudly. "Inexcussus!"

"Cheers." I grumbled as we stepped into the common room.

Harry Potter sat before the fire, alongside a pair fiery haired twins who beamed warmly and motioned us over.

"Been running Neville?" One of two joked to the red-faced boy.

Neville's chest still heaved for breath as he slumped down on the faded leather armchair. "The stairs kept moving! Took me half an hour to get here from Care of Magical Creatures!"

"We might have an issue." I sat next to Harry, who shot me an awkward smile before continuing. "The first meeting of the D.A. is in less than an hour and we still don't have a place to go, there are more members than we thought so the Shrieking Shack is no longer an option..." He turned to us, an edge of desperation in his voice, "Any ideas?"

"...No, sorry." I shot back a wince, "I still get lost on the way to dinner. How many members have we got now then?"

One of the red headed boys pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to me.

DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY
-Harry Potter
-Ronald Weasley
-Hermione Granger
-Mara Williams
-Francisca Moreira
-Parvati Patil
-Padma Patil
-Neville Longbottom
-Cho Chang
-Samantha Green
-Cedric Diggery
-Luna Lovegood
-Lavender Brown
-Lee Jordan
-Justin Finch-Fletchly
-Anthony Goldstien
-Daisy Michaela
-Freya Lilith
-David Haffenforth
-Fred Weasley
-George Weasley

The list had grown in only a matter of days from four names to twenty one, and I didn't doubt that before long more would follow.

"What about-.." Neville began but was cut off when a shout came from behind us.

"You two!" Hermione growled appearing from behind the portrait and if looks could tell the twins would've been six feet under as she stalked towards them, pointing a slender finger in their faces. "How dare you!"

"Hermione... Come on." Ron mumbled as he shuffled unwillingly after her, head downcast. "Leave it out, it doesn't matter."

"Yes Ron, it does! They can't just go experimenting on first years!" She turned on the twins once more, "They could've been seriously hurt or worse killed! Imagine if one of them was allergic!"

"Oh come off it Hermione. They're fine, look!" One of the twins said, pointing to a first year eagerly on his way to his next class, Herbology book clutched tightly in his arms. "-Besides we paid them handsomely."

"Didn't we just." The other scoffed as if still traumatised by his loss. "A galleon each, my pockets are practically bleeding."

"It doesn't matter how well you pay them! You must not test on them, as a prefect I cannot allow it."She shot a heated glare at her cowering friend. "-Ron back me up!"

Ron did not back her up. Only glancing briefly up at the smug look on his brother's faces before staring back down at his shoes and mumbling, "Yeah, what she said."

"We're not allowed to do anything anymore." Pouted one twin, "I feel like a bloody house elf."

This only seemed to make Hermione angrier as her face glowed bright red and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Ron and Harry brace themselves for the onslaught that was no doubt to follow.
The second twin smirked, swooping low into a mocking bow, "Your wish is our command, Master Hermione."

"The working conditions of house elves is nothing to joke about Fred! They're being forced to work day in day out as slaves for the wizarding community! They don't get any pay! No days off-."

"-Alright! Alright!" The twins groaned in unison, scrunching their faces as if the sound of her voice hurt their ears, understandably. "We get it!"

She pursed her lips into a thin line, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm serious about the first years! You have to stop!"

"Oh yeah, and how are you going to stop us?"

"I'll... I'll..." She glanced around the common room as if searching for inspiration when her eyes landed on the knitted green jumper hanging off a banister, the front embroidered with a big yellow R. "...I'll call your mum!"

The twins instantly looked at her in horror, eyes wide and frightful. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Are you sure about that?" Hermione said dangerously, cocking her head slightly. "-Maybe I should sent her a howler tonight, unless of course you promised to stop experimenting on the first years..."

"Okay Jheez Hermione, no need to bring out the big guns like that." One twin blanched, whilst the other mumbled. "-Yeah bit of an over reaction if you ask me..."

"Promise." Granger said firmly, not taking her eyes off the boys. "Promise you wont."

"Scouts honour."

Ron grumbled, slumping down on the empty loveseat. "They never even went to Scouts..."

Hermione let out a huff as she sat besides Ron, looking thoroughly pleased with her self. And Draco Malfoy had the nerve to say I was insufferable...

"We still have no where to go for the meeting." Harry said, glancing at the clock. "-And we're quickly running out of time."

"What about the room of requirement?" Neville spoke up quietly from the faded armchair. "Could that work?"

"Neville Longbottom, you're a bloody genius!"
-Never heard that one before...

• • •

"The Room of Requirement only appears when someone is in very great need of it, and contains what that individual needs at that time." Hermione said matter of factly.

The Room of Requirement was far larger than I had initially expected, a great empty hall with floor to ceiling mirrors hanging from the far wall.

I couldn't look away from the girl before me in the mirror, strangely foreign and yet vaguely familiar in a way. Thick raven hair fell to her waist, and a pair of bright green eyes stared comfortingly back at me.

I had my mother's eyes, my father had always told me so, but I'd never been able to see it until now when the face of my mother stared back at me. He'd told so many lies to me over the years I guessed I'd just sort of assumed this was another one.

I jumped, my heart flying into my throat as a low voice appeared behind me to tear me from my trance. "Mara Williams, have you been avoiding me?"

"Jesus Christ Cedric! You frightened the life out of me!" I held my hand to my chest as if that would somehow manage to dampen the thundering of my heart. "-And no of course not, I've just been a bit busy is all. I was thinking about writing you a letter or something, because I don't even know where I would find you..."

I clamped my mouth shut before I could say anymore. Shut up Mara. You look desperate.

"You were thinking about me?" Cedric's face came alight with a flash of white teeth and a wink, "That's good to know."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, it wasn't like that."

His soft face seemed to almost glow in the golden light, as he stared upwards, examining the hundreds of floating candles that burned brightly above us. "I heard about your ordeal with Umbridge."

I almost forgot to answer, I was too busy staring at the strong line of his jaw, every contour and plane emphasised tenfold in the bronze glow. "You did? What did they say?"

This light cast even a normally angelic face like Cedric's in an ungodly hue, usually only reserved for that of Draco Malfoy's harsh features. The two were polar opposites, like light and dark. Day and night.
"I heard you and Granger stood up to her, it was all anyone talked about at lunch."

"...Oh" Great to hear that the freaky new girl was the subject of school-wide speculation once again...

"Don't worry," He said with a small smile that made my chest swell with a foreign feeling. "I think it was a really brave thing to do, I know many people that would dare do that."

A slight tug pulled at the corners of my lips, "Thank you Cedric."

When I turned around the Room of Requirement had dramatically filled, brimming with people, more so than were on the list and so Hermione, Harry and Ron stood in the far corner forcing all the new comers to sign their names onto the list before they were allowed through.

I couldn't help but scan the crowd, looking for the one face I knew I wouldn't find, but still I found myself searching for none the less. Did I even want him here? Of course not... Why would I?

It was a strange feeling. Some small part of me wanted to glance up and see his hateful grey eyes glaring back at me, that sinful part of me that loved the tension and revelled in the excitement of our every interaction, despite the rest of me crying out against it. It wasn't good, it wasn't healthy.

I knew he was bad for me, Christ, that boy was toxic beyond belief, yet still my chest ached at his absence.

"Looking for someone?" Cedric said quietly, looking over the crowd and snapping me out of my daydream and back to the reality of the world around me.

"No." I said quickly, and he shot me a questioning look. "-Just thought I saw something is all..."

***
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