Running From Lightning

I heard the door behind me open. I panicked and shoved the letter in my cloak pocket.
"I gather you put the mirror where I asked?" Albus asked me as he sat down at his desk.
My mind was racing, trying desperately to explain the letter in any other way than what was probably true. I wasn't his sister. I wasn't his sister. I wasn't his sister. I wasn't his sister...
"Yes."
Albus's eyes suddenly became sad. We sat there for a moment. Him looking at me, and me staring blankly back at him.
"I have potions homework," I mumbled, standing up and rushing out the office.
"Of course, Ariana." I heard Albus say softly behind me.

I was practically running down the hallways. I didn't want to go back to the dormitories, and I really didn't want to run into anyone I knew. I didn't want to talk.
Somehow, I ended up back on the seventh floor, walking towards the mirror of Erised, which was still standing by the tapestry. I sat down in front of it and stared into it, but the former image of my parents was gone, along with the stranger that I had seen before. The mirror's surface was now murky and muddled. For some reason, that was what made me crack.
I burst into tears, trying desperately to hold back the sobs that kept surfacing. Every now and then I saw something flicker in the mirror, and with every flicker, the tears would flow even faster.
"Ariana...?"
My heart stopped. I knew that voice. Why did I keep running into him?
I stood up, swaying slightly as I did.
"What's going on?"
I turned around and forced a smile.
"Don't worry about it. Were you finishing up an experiment?"
He ignored my question. "You, uh... you were crying."
"Was I?" Stay calm, don't break down again. Don't cry in front of him. Please, don't.
He stared at me.
Find an excuse, find and excuse...
"I've just been really stressed, is all. With O.W.L's and all."
"You're taking those?" He still didn't sound convinced.
"Yeah." I started to wipe away the tears that were still clinging on my face. And then he grabbed my hand.
"What's that?" he asked quietly, looking at the back of my hand. He was so out of character...
"Oh, uh..." I was trying to pull my hand away, but he kept a strong hold.
"'I will respect'..."
I finally managed to pull away my hand.
"I should've figured that out..." He pulled up his left hand. "I will not cause mischief" was carved into it. Now I was really close to tears.
"I should go," I choked out.
He seemed to snap out of that strange little trance he had been in.
"See ya, Ariana." He said, giving me a smile.
"Bye, Fred." I replied.