AN: September first is quickly approaching, time to get ready to go back to Hogwarts! Comment your love.
Thanks SO much to Katherine my beta.
I own nothing.
Chapter 45
Mia awoke the next morning, feeling warm and safe. She wasn't sure at first why feeling safe felt important, and then the horrors of the night before came back to her. She covered her eyes with her paws and tried to forget the images of the small figure being strung along by the death eaters.
She remembered where she was and noticed the lack of warm bodies by her sides. The places where Sirius and Remus had laid were still warm. Sirius must have woken up and helped his friend to his room to sleep off the effects of the full moon. She sighed. She felt guilty thinking about Remus and his affliction. She wanted so badly to help him.
She should go shower and make breakfast. It would make her feel better.
She reached for the part of her that was pink and fur free. When she was human again she grabbed her bag from the couch and trudged up the stairs to the hot shower.
A letter was waiting for her on the kitchen table when she got up to make tea. She had brought her and Gabe's message book downstairs with her so she could write to him and see how he was, but she set it aside to read the letter. Apparently, Alec hadn't been able to sleep the night before, as he'd already written out the instructions for the Ekrizdis potion for her, along with an offer of any help should she need it.
She smiled. The wizard was kind, like his brother, and she appreciated the help, even if she didn't think she would need it. The potion was complex but much less so than the wolfsbane potion. There were a few more ingredients she would need. Maybe she could get them when she went to Diagon Alley for her school supplies.
Mia opened her message book and turned to a fresh page.
Sleep well? She wrote.
He would reply when he saw it, and would tell her any news he had heard from the world cup. She closed the book and started making eggs and sausage for her and Sirius. Remus would likely sleep till noon.
When the sausage was finished, Mia got the pan ready for some eggs, and heard a soft humming. She set the pan aside and opened her message book and read Gabes message.
Not long enough, but better than expected. How about you? Dad left early this morning for the ministry to see how he could help after the mess of last night. Alec went back to his flat shortly after you left. My mum has been worrying over the Prophet all morning. They did an article about the stuff last night and she thinks we downplayed the danger, so now she's mad and anxious over what could have happened.
What are your plans for the day?
Mia picked up her quill to respond.
I slept ok.
She thought about telling him about the dogpile she had joined the night before, but writing it down felt weird, like it was too personal of a moment. It was easier to be close with people when none of you were human, she didn't need to think how to address Sirius, she just cuddled against him safe and warm.
I'm making breakfast now, but was thinking about going to Diagon Alley later. I need more potions ingredients and need to get my Hogwarts things.
Gabe's reply was quick.
Can I come? I still need to get my stuff too. My robes are a few inches too short.
Mia laughed to herself.
Of course, they are. Let's go around noon if that works for you.
Gabe's reply was short.
See you then!
She closed the book and returned to making eggs. She was putting toast on a tray when Sirius thumped into the kitchen. She set a big plate of food in front of him and made tea. He grunted in thanks and started devouring his food.
After the food was gone and he had taken a long drink of his tea, he sighed peacefully and looked at Mia. He frowned as if remembering something.
"Why did you come home early? Did something happen?" he asked. His face grew more suspicious. "Did something happen with the boy?"
Mia sighed and put down her toast. "No, nothing like that. Again, Gabe and I are just friends." Sirius rolled his eyes, but she continued. "But something did happen. Apparently, it's in the Prophet today. We woke up, there was screaming and yelling. A group of robed wizards with masks had captured a few muggles and had strung them up in the air and were marching them around, setting off spells to scare people. They set tents on fire and trashed the place. Alec and Mr. Adewumi went to help the ministry and told me and Gabe to hide in the woods. We transformed and found a safe place to hide till it was over. But at the end, someone cast a spell into the sky. Gabe thinks it was you-know-who's mark. Things seemed to break up after that. Mr. Adewumi said all the death eaters fled when the mark appeared."
As she talked, Sirius's face grew grimmer and grimmer. "Did you get hurt? Are you Ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Parts of it were scary, but I was never in any danger really. We saw Draco. He all but said his dad was one of the men in masks."
Sirius shook his head. "I have no doubt."
He grabbed the rolled Prophet from the table and opened it. Mia saw the picture on the front of the paper. It was the skull shining in the night sky with the serpent growing out of the mouth. Mia shuddered and gathered up their plates, taking them to the sink.
"Is it ok if Gabe and I go to Diagon Alley around noon so we can get our Hogwarts supplies?" she asked as she cleared the dishes.
Sirius dropped the paper and looked at her. "Will you be safe?" he asked.
Mia smiled. "Always."
Sirius agreed and took his tea into the living room while he finished reading the paper. After cleaning up, Mia went into her basement lab and took stock of her shelves. She would need to pack up nearly everything to bring with her to Hogwarts. It would be an annoying task, but necessary. She made a list of everything she would need for the Ekrizdis potion and started packing up the extra supplies she would need for making the wolfsbane potion once she was back at school.
She didn't look forward to sneaking around the room of requirement all term, and wondered if there was a way she could make it with approval from her teachers. Snape would never let her use his lab after the anger he'd shown the year before with Sirius being freed. But maybe she could ask Madam Pomfrey if she could use her space. If the Ekrizdis potion worked, she could send that and the wolfsbane potion home each month. Maybe McGonagall would help arrange it.
When it was close to noon, Mia left her lab and went back into the kitchen. A brown owl flew through the table and dropped a letter.
"There's an owl," Mia called. She took the letter from the bird and thanked him. He gave a wing shrug before taking off. Mia read the name on the front.
Remus.
She took the letter into the living room, suppressing a small grin. "Letter for Remus," she said to Sirius.
Sirius sat up, his eyes wide and a grin spreading on his own face. "Who's it from?"
"I don't know, same as the others."
Sirius stood and took the letter from her and looked at the name. "It would be very bad to open it. Morally wrong you understand?" he said seriously to her.
Mia nodded. "I know."
"Well, as long as you really know how wrong it is. That's the important thing. Knowing the difference between right and wrong so you can then make an executive decision." Sirius ripped open the flap on the envelope.
Mia grinned.
Sirius grinned back. He looked at the paper and seemed to read a few lines, then frowned.
"What does it say?" Mia asked.
"Nothing. Just sounds like a discussion about a book." He read on. "He read the last one of these eight times. I don't understand, this all sounds boring. Oh, here we go." His eyes widened, then he squinted.
"What does it say!?"
"Shhhh! You don't want to wake him."
Mia reached for the letter. "Let me read it. I'm better at subtext than you are."
Sirius moved away from her holding the letter higher. "What makes you think that?" he asked sounding offended.
"Just let me read it," she whined.
"I don't know if it would be right. This is his letter. Little girls really shouldn't read their godfather's mail."
Just then the fire roared to life with emerald green flames. Mia and Sirius both jumped and Sirius hid the letter behind his back. Gabe walked into the room and stopped. He stared at them as if confused.
"What happened?" Gabe asked.
"Nothing," they both said at the same time.
Gabe raised one of his eyebrows then grinned. "What are you two doing?"
"Nothing!" they both said again.
"You know you have identical expressions right now right?"
Mia turned to look at Sirius at the same moment he looked at her. They were both standing there, she was slightly in front of him to help shield what he hid.
Sirius grinned wide at his daughter. "You do come by it honestly."
Mia pushed away the warmth spreading in her chest and into her cheeks. "Let me read it!" She made a grab behind his back but he was too fast and lifted it over her head again. She only tried jumping once. She didn't want to look like a moron.
"Is that one of the letters?" Gabe asked, his eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, he opened it after giving me the parental speech on why it was wrong."
"What does it say?" Gabe asked walking across the room.
"Nothing, it's just them talking about books," Sirius said, looking at the paper again.
"I knew it. I bet he's flirting," Gabe said, trying to read the paper in Sirius' hands.
"You can't flirt with books," Sirius said tipping the paper away from Gabe.
"You can definitely flirt with books," Gabe said in a dry voice.
Sirius froze and glared at Gabe. "I'm watching you."
Mia grabbed the paper out of his hand. "Who's it from?" she asked.
She flipped over the small stack of paper and unfolded them looking at the signature.
Yours,
Tonks
Mias's eyes widened and Sirius took the papers back from her hands looking at the signature. His eyes widened too.
"Who is it?"
"Tonks," Mia whispered.
"Aw, totally flirting. Called it!" Gabe said, triumphantly.
Mia shook her head and turned back to Sirius. "Are you going to let me read it?" she asked.
"Nope," Sirius said, now reading the second page of the letter, a small grin on his face. He looked up at them. "Aren't you two going to Diagon Alley for supplies?"
Mia sighed. "I need to get more potions ingredients as well."
"More? Don't you have enough as it is? Why could you ever need more?"
"The wolfsbane potion isn't cheap to make," she said. It wasn't the whole answer, but it had the desired effect. Sirius looked guilty and nodded to her.
"Get whatever you need, love."
Mia nodded and repressed the guilt. She was doing more than making the wolfsbane potion, but she didn't know if he would agree if he knew what all she was really up to.
She grabbed a jacket, her potions ingredients and school supplies list, and followed Gabe, taking the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.
AN: Do you think Mia's potion will work? Will Sirius be mortally offended?
Passing my book to my editor this week! If you have any interest in learning more about the Young Adult Fantasy book I am in the process of publishing, check it out at hmwrites {{dot}} com /misplacedchild
