AN: Hello my frands! I'm back! What's that you say? Two posts in less than a year? Your darn right it is! The second draft of my real book is in the hands of beta readers, so while they read up, I've been busy in the fan fic world. (more on my other project at the end)

I have the next few chapters mostly complete, they are shorter, but I will post them frequently. I hope you enjoy!

Big huge thank you to my beta Katherine!

I own nothing here, Jo Rowling is queen.

Chapter 39

During lunch the day before they were to leave for the quidditch world cup, a snowy owl swooped through the kitchen window and landed gently on the table.

"Hedwig!" Sirius exclaimed as a smile spread over his previously exhausted face.

Sirius took the letter from the owl as Mia shared small pieces of her sandwich lunch meat with the beautiful bird.

"How is Harry?" Mia asked.

"Give me a moment, I've barely got the letter open," Sirius replied.

But Mia ignored him. She hadn't been asking him.

Hedwig brought up her wings in a bird shrug. "The muggles haven't been so bad this year, but my Wizard is always sad when he is away from his friends," she said.

Mia's stomach turned uncomfortably and she let the bird have the rest of her food. She'd been relieved when Harry had to stay with his family at the end of term, but she remembered the dejected look on his face and the absolute gloom that had stayed with him until the year ended. She felt selfish and guilty for not wanting Harry around acting all chummy with Sirius while she didn't even know what to call him.

Maybe she should remind Sirius he promised Harry could stay with them for part of the summer.

Hedwig finished nibbling on her sandwich and took off out the window with a goodbye. Mia sighed and started cleaning up the lunch things.

"What's wrong Sirius?" Remus asked.

He was in the middle of writing a rather long letter to someone, and Mia was waiting for him to set the to address on the envelope so she could sneak a peek. He'd been getting a lot of letters recently, all from the same messy handwriting, and Mia was itching to know who they were from. She knew Sirius was also just as curious as she had been, asking the man leading questions each time one of the letters arrived.

Mia looked at Sirius and saw he was frowning.

"Harry said his scar hurt last night." The two men traded looks. "He asked if I know anything on magical scars." Remus frowned and Sirius returned to the letter. "Oh! He says he'll be at the quidditch world cup! How wonderful. Maybe we can all meet up. He's going with the Weasley's. I'm so glad Molly and Arthur have been looking out for him. Mia, have you finished packing yet for the cup?"

That small spot of surprise ran through her as Sirius addressed her. He had done it often enough, but it still caught her off guard somehow, as if she needed to be more prepared for conversing with him.

"Um, not yet."

"What? Aren't you excited?"

"Well, Quidditch really isn't my thing…"

Serious frowned. "Well, there are the cultural and historical implications of the event."

Mia just stared at him. "What?"

Remus was also staring at Sirius as though vaguely amused.

"The world cup is one of the only times witches and wizards from all over the world can come together. That may sound trivial, but the statute of secrecy means isolation for our kind," Sirius said.

"Mind you, the world cup is also the greatest security risk to the statute of secrecy," Remus added. "I believe it was one of the biggest arguments as to why the law needed to be passed."

"Very true, Moony. It was passed about a hundred years after the world cup started. Apparently working security for the cup is a shit job they give to ministry members who are out of favor. Try telling a group of drunk wizards they can't levitate their tent and you will probably get hexed," Sirius said.

"You also got a nasty fine for hexing that ministry worker," Remus said.

"Totally worth it," Sirius said before flashing Mia a grin.

Mia couldn't help the grin that crept on her face. She asked them questions about past world cups, and the men regaled her with their own old stories and with stories from years long before any of them were born. Sirius even kept talk of the specific matches to a minimum, mentioning who'd played and any spectacular mishaps from the games, but not launching into the game play by play as he would with Gabe.

They told her about games that lasted for weeks, games that resulted in the more interesting rules like no dragons being allowed in the stadium under any circumstances, and about the 1877 tournament that had to be restaged in 1878 because no one could remember attending in 1877.

That evening Mia finished packing her bag for the weekend, for the first time more than a little excited to be going.

They left bright and early the next morning. She felt bad leaving Remus just before the full moon, he was already looking pale. Mia gave Remus a hug and made sure he had enough wolfsbane potion for the week before they threw powder into the floo and stepped into the warm green flames.

Mia loved the floo. She kept her lips tightly closed as she smiled wide and spun around and around. When she stopped spinning she caught herself on the edge of the fireplace, and stepped into the bright room.

"Good show, Stripes," Gabe said, smiling. "I give the landing a ten out of ten." He took Mia's backpack from her and she stepped into the room so Sirius would have room to exit. The space was brightly lit, with big bay windows on two sides. The furnishings were in soft warm colors. Gabe fit in this room, standing tall in jeans and a light grey cotton shirt. He opened his mouth to say something when the fireplace roared and Sirius stepped out of the fire. "Sirius, welcome," Gabe said.

Sirius stood still for a moment before he nodded as though opening his mouth was a bad idea just then. After a second he shook his head and let out a sigh. "Almost thought that potion was gonna come back up."

Sirius had downed a pepperup potion just before they left. He had also slipped a few into his bag that morning.

Mrs. Adewumi came into the living room to greet them.

"Sirius, Mia, so glad you could come." She gave Mia a hug and shook Sirius' hand.

"Happy to be here, Lucia. Sorry to hear you couldn't make the match," Sirius replied.

"Yes, it's a shame, but I'm glad you will be taking my place. Well come in, we are about to sit down to breakfast, then you lot can head out."

They followed her into a yellow sunny kitchen with a large dark stained table. Two men already sat at the table, an older man with big bushy eyebrows and no hair on the top of his head, only the sides, and a younger man who looked a lot like Gabe.

Gabe's dad and brother stood when they entered.

"Sirius, a pleasure to finally meet you," his dad said as he shook Sirius' hand. "And Mia," he turned to her and smiled. "Gabe has told us all about you. Thank you for saving his potions grade."

Mia laughed. "Well he's helped me back in Transfiguration, so it was only fair."

Alec, Gabe's older brother also shook both their hands. He grinned at Mia as if he was telling a joke. "Truly a pleasure," he said as he bowed over her hand.

"Ok," Gabe said interrupting the group. "Let's eat and get out of here."

Breakfast was delicious, a big meal of sausage, eggs and toast. They all stuffed their faces before Mrs. Adewumi left for her conference. After cleaning up the kitchen things, Gabe, Alec and their dad grabbed their large backpacks.

"So, where are we to catch the portkey?" Sirius asked.

"There's a small wood behind the house. Just a few minutes from here. The portkey doesn't leave for a half hour still, so we should have plenty of time to hunt for it," Mr. Adewumi said.

"Excellent," Sirius said, swinging on his backpack and handing Mia's to her. "Let's get this party started."

Mia sighed quietly.

AN: Yes, it's short, but I will have the next one up in one week on Tuesday. Promis :] I may post it sooner if there are just SO many comments.

If you are interested in learning more about the young adult fantasy book I am working on, you can check it out at: hmwrites {{dot}} com /misplacedchild