"Well, we're agreed that you're an idiot."

"You could try to talk to Miranda. If she's going to hate me for it it'd be better that she learn now, and I don't think she'll say anything - and if she would be tempted to it'd be for the sake of the person I was presumably abusing into it, so if you -"

"If you like."

"I just wish - why me -"

Snuggle. Sigh.

They go back to school. It's weird not having Timothy or Theodore at Hogwarts.

Theodore's absence has less of a daily effect on Miranda's life but Timothy being gone is definitely weird. She gets on with one of the year's new prefects all right though so she doesn't have to frantically revise her habits to account for no friendly authority figures.

"And next year maybe you can be a friendly authority figure."

"I dunno if I'm in line for it. Maybe."

Not being Timothy he doesn't have dozens of tricks up his sleeve to contrive to meet with arbitrary Hogwarts students but he manages to find her in the library after a while. "Timothy asked me to talk to you."

"Uh, okay, hi. What is it?"

"We're sleeping together and I think he has concluded that you're going to notice eventually and that if you're going to be appalled you might as well do that sooner."

Miranda thinks about that for a good two and a half minutes.

Then, "No, I don't think I'm going to be appalled."

"He will be delighted."

Giggle.

"I don't think he prefers, in general, gambling on whether people'll be appalled."

"I won't go around telling people."

"Thank you." 

And he heads off.

There's a Muggleborn first year in Slytherin. She's having a hard time of it. When Miranda gets back to the common room she's outside the door crying.

"What's the matter?"

"Black memory-charmed me to forget the password, said I wasn't supposed to know it anyway and should just go - bother the Hufflepuffs -"

"It's kallipolis. Black doesn't do the Sorting, doesn't resemble a Hat at all, and ought to know better, that was a rotten thing to do. There's a thing you can learn that'll let you throw off memory charms but it takes a long time to pick up."

"Oh?"

"It's called Occlumency, I can loan you my books if you want to put the time in." The door has opened; Miranda ushers her through. "Did you tell any prefects or teachers?"

"No. I don't really want to make enemies. And Heller and Black are friends, I've seen them together, he won't get him in trouble."