Tranquility.

 If there was one thing Mira loved it was snow. This probably spawned from the fact that for as long as she could remember she had been told to resemble it. Her light hair, pale as snow skin, and radiating confidence and beauty made her a undisputed child of winter. Not to mention her regained reputation of ice cold B****. Alice had looked like ice too. Pale, blonde, fragile. But unlike Mira she had had the personality of the sun. The faint childhood memories of her sister that remained all showed what a joyful and carefree girl she would have grown up to be. She could remember one winter morning her sister running over the manor lawns, catching tiny snowflakes with her tongue, and wearing the most dopey undignified grin imaginable. With such a girl as she, it was no great mystery which of the girls was the better choice. The more likely to love.

If her sister had survived Mira knew she would be a completely different person. She might have been softer for the lack of death and mourning but she might also have been more bitter with her sister controlling the spotlight on the Anderson girls. Whatever it would have been she definitely wouldn't have had Elijah as her own. He had always favored the sister and always would. Even in her death she outshone Mira, setting an impossible bar for his standards that she could never reach. It was only until this last year that he even really saw her as her own being. Separate, so no longer needing to be equal. But Mira knew that until the day she died she would still be compared to her sister. This simple fact scared her more than anything. That no matter how beautiful she was, how many languages she could speak, how well she married, the immortal Alice would still be better.

But Mira would never change. Never become nicer or learn to trust the world. Elijah had started to knock out the pain but the second he was gone it came instantly back. Long story short - she had retreated back to being the exact same person she had been last year at this time. Bitter, lonely, and very very angry. But for once she had no one to blame but herself. She had been the one to send him away this time. So afraid, always running. They had had something real and beautiful but she had torn it down just for the fear of getting her precious heart hurt. And she had done a good job, there was absolutely no change of going back to him. Bridges burned, destiny shaken to it's core. Elijah Krum was no more. 

In his place had been so many new men. Okay, not that many, but as many as she needed to attempt to clear his smell off her and his face out of her head. They came and went, just like before, and Mira really preferred it this way. Where it seemed to generally be a stereotypically male concept, no strings attached had been Miras motto these last few months. 

"You go on ahead and I'll catch up." I say with a fake smile to Christopher. He smiles back cluelessly at me. If only he knew. If there was one person who keeps me grounded to the world its Chris. Yeah, he may be a muggle and not exactly Ravenclaw level of genius but he's perfect. Or as close as it comes. 
"Are you going to make it back to the house before you have to go?" he replies hopefully. But he knows the answer already. I can just tell.
"Probably not. I've got to get back." 
"Why? You could ditch your family, hang out with me, make gingerbread cookies. It would be way cooler than any holiday you've ever had before."
"Happy Christmas, Chris." With a sigh and a shrug he hops off the bench. Where he was sitting the thin layer of ice has melted from his warmth. He doesn't say anything but swoops down to give me an innocent kiss on the lips before he departs down the road. I wait, and as soon as he turns the corner I disaperate. 

Mira wasn't really sure why the memory had come to her head. It had been such a simple, innocent encounter between her and her favorite muggle. He was the one man that truly loved her, and he was the best friend she never had our of her circle of friends. He made her so sweet. Mira became an angel when around Christopher Dale. But needless to say Mira never did make it back to his house for Christmas dinner. While he was decorating the tree, Mira was sitting through a boring dinner party. While he was cutting the turkey, she was snagging Val. While he was thinking about her, she was thinking about Elijah taking that stupid Ravenclaw girl to the dance and hating herself for caring. Needless to say it was one of the worst Christmas's Mira had ever had. And this year it was looking like Mira was going to be Eli-less yet again. She couldn't believe another year had passed. How much had changed since then. And how it felt like nothing had changed at all. 

So here Mira sat, under a tree near the great lake, the snow falling gently down, the wet ground slowly seeping into her clothes. Little flakes caught on her eyelashes and fell on her skin. It was so quiet out here. Most kids were too scared of a little cold to come out when there wasn't enough snow to build things out of. The lake wasn't frozen but it had the beginnings of ice on it. Trying to choose what to be. Mira wore her Hogwarts robes and Slythirin scarf. She looked just like every other student in this school. Ordinary. Forgettable. More and more Mira had been starting to realize that she was nothing. Even with him she was no one. But he sure made her feel like the queen of world. Sitting there she was at peace. At least until her free block was over, when the reality of school and life would have to sink in yet again. Merry Christmas, Mira Anderson, merry Christmas.