"Pro..."

Megan could barely believe it. It couldn't be true.

"Professor Quirell...?"

He turned round and looked at her without saying a word.

"No, it... Snape...!"

"Yes, he does seem so much more the type, doesn't he?"

His voice was much colder than before, and his stutter had gone.

"Who wouldn't suspect him, next to p-p-poor st-stuttering professor Quirell?" he said.

Megan took a few steps forward, still unable to believe what she was seeing.

"But... Snape tried to kill me... during the Quidditch match!" She said.

He smiled coldly.

"Oh, no, dear girl. That was me. I tried to kill you."

Megan's mouth fell open as she realised what that meant.

"So... when Hermione saw him pronouncing something... he was trying to save me?!" she said, her eyes wide with confusion.

"Very good, Potter, he did. And trust me, without your little friend Granger interfering, I would have succeeded!"

He turned to the mirror. Megan could see her expression in the corner.

"Now... what does this mirror do...? How am I to get what it is showing me...? I see myself with the stone, but how do I get it?"

Megan hadn't moved in the past few minutes. But then, she heard something echoing.

Use the girl... the girl, you fool...

Quirrel looked up at her reflection.

"Of course..."

He spun round.

"Potter! Down here, now!"

Megan obliged, though guardedly. She stepped down the large stone steps and stood beside Quirell. First all she could see was herself, in her red shirt and jeans, both of which had tears. There was blood on her fingers from the chess game, and a nasty cut on her cheek. She was fighting to keep the fear out of her eyes. Her long hair fell down her shoulders, her ponytail having come down along the way.

"Tell me what you see," Quirell ordered curtly.

Megan immediately understood she had to lie.

Think, she chided herself, think! You can't let him find the stone.

"I... I'm holding the Quidditch cup..." she finally said. "Gryffindor won it... I'm being lifted by the team."

It almost worked. He had had plenty of occasions of seeing how much she wanted to fit in, and loved Quidditch. But the voice intervened:

She lies... she lies...!

Quirell turned on her.

"Tell the truth, child! What do you see in the mirror?!"

Megan looked again, trying to think of something. If she lied again, he would know. But what did she see...? She was so focused on finding the stone before he did to stop him from using it, she only just noticed something. She saw her hand slide into her pocket, a confident smile on her face, her eyes twinkling, and she pulled her hand out of her pocket, holding a large, dark red stone... it couldn't be... just then, she felt something heavy drop into her real pocket. She glanced at her reflection, who winked at her. Carefully reaching to feel it, she tried to hide any of the emotion that came over her. She really had the stone. But Quirell got impatient and asked:

"What do you see, Potter? Tell me!"

Let me speak to her... face to face... said the voice.

Quirrel's anger vanished and he turned away from Megan.

"Master, you're not strong enough...!"

I have strength enough for this, Quirell.

Megan fought the urge to look around to identify the voice. But her silent question was answered when she saw Quirell remove his turban, standing with his back to the mirror. And, now, Megan knew why he always wore it day in, day out. There was no hair at the back of his head. Instead, there was a face.

Megan's eyes widened, and her heart raced.

"Megan Potter..." said the now identifiable voice. "We meet again."

Megan fought to keep herself composed as she stared at the face. If you could call it that. It had tiny blood red eyes and two long slits for a nose, like a snake. It was pale and cold. There was nothing human about this face.

"Voldemort..." Megan whispered.

Her heart hammering in her chest, she forced herself to keep still.

"Yes... see what I have become?" He said. "What I have had to do to survive....? You see, Unicorn blood sustained me for the past months, but cannot provide me with a body. However, the Elixir of Life has such a power... but for that, I need the stone in your pocket..."

Megan backed away and bolted for the door, stone still banging against her leg. But Quirell snapped his fingers and a circle of flames appeared, blocking her way out. She turned round, looking for another exit. But there were none.

"Don't be foolish, child. You have a choice, Megan. Either die trying to resist me, as your parents did. Or join me and live..."

"Never! You can just kill me now!" Megan shouted.

"Ha ha ha!" Vodlemort cackled. "It would be so easy, wouldn't it? Yet I feel that would be insulting the childish but true bravery you're showing here. Your parents had it too, you know. They put up a very strong fight before I got past them to you. Now just give me the stone, unless you want their deaths to have been vain."

"They will be if I hand it to you!" She said defiantly. "They died believing in truth, in hope, and love! You have none of that! So I will keep their fire inside of me burning bright!"

Voldemort laughed his cold, heartless laugh again, sending a chill through her spine.

"You really are like your mother. She had in her eyes the fire you have now. Don't you miss them? It is painful, isn't it, growing up without parents?"

Megan didn't want to give him the satisfaction of confessing that her heart ached day and night since she had learned the truth of their death. How the fact that she had had no idea what they looked like, not knowing how real the mirror's reflection had been, hurt her more than anything in the world. So, she said nothing.

"Together, Megan, think of it! We could do extraordinary things! But I need you to give me the stone."

Megan then felt a pang as he produced two faces in the flames surrounding them. Those of her parents. Slightly distorted, but they looked pretty much like those she'd seen in the mirror. She tried not to let her pain show on her face.

"I know, dear child... how we miss the people we care about that are gone... But together, we could bring them back... isn't that what your heart most desires...?"

Megan said nothing. But deep down, it was her deepest desire, and she knew it. She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled the large stone out.

"Yes... just think, Megan... all those years of pain... a bad memory... but for that to happen, I need the stone."

There was a silence. He thought he had convinced her... but:

"You liar!" she yelled suddenly.

"Kill her!" He ordered.

Quirell soared through the air, and Megan tripped backwards as he grasped her neck, pressing hard. Her arm flew out, and the stone slipped from her fingers. She ignored Quirell's hand strangling her and her scar burning like a hot poker had been pressed against it, and tried to reach for the stone. But she couldn't reach. She was suffocating. Cedric's face flashed through her mind. The thought of never seeing him again pained her more than anything she was experiencing now. Reflexively, her other hand flew to try and prise Quirell's hands off her. She scratched and pulled, but it was not what freed her. Seconds after she touched her, he jumped back, yelling in pain.

"What are you doing, you fool, kill her!" Voldemort hissed.

But Quirrel was too busy with his smouldering hands.

"I cannot touch her! What is this magic?! My hands! They're burning!"

"Get the stone then, you idiot!"

He tried to. But Megan leaped up and her hands, instead of reaching his chest, hit his face, and he yelled in pain, his injured hands reaching to touch his blistering face. She had meant to shove him backwards to give herself time to snatch up the stone and run, but she looked down at her hands in confusion.

"Get the stone!"

He turned to it, lying on the floor. Megan was behind him. She ran forwards and jumped onto him, holding on tight to his neck, one hand on Voldemort's face. Both howled, drowning out any other sound. Then, he managed to throw her off. She hit the floor hard, but managed to get up. She was about to jump forwards to get to the stone, but saw it was no longer needed. Quirell had died. His head hung lolling on his chest. But Voldemort was still there. He turned around, and darted for Megan, who managed to hold her hands out to hold his face; but he had managed to twist himself so his hands caught Megan's neck again. She could hear him howling as he left the body, and then, there was a blinding light, a yell and her name.

"Megan! Megan...! Megan..."

*******************************

Heart still pounding from this fierce battle? Megan's certainly is! Will she be alright? Show her some support with the stars!

Would you want to have a Philosopher's stone? Tell us in the comments!

Is Megan's plight finally over? Can she finally get some respite? Let's find out in the next chapter!

Again, sorry for the short chapter, I'm working on making them longer. Let me know if you have any ideas! Thanks for reading!