Hello everyone! Welcome back!
All right, I'm just going to say it and get it over with, this chapter is one of my least favorites. I was trying hard not to brush over the events in this one, but also not to drag it out too badly, because I need to be moving the story along, already. I'm so close to finishing this book, it's just within my reach! I do apologize if things seemed a bit rushed in this chapter, I'm just trying not to extend anything out for too long if it doesn't need to be, and I feel like I could have done better with this. Plus, I'm tired, and this was a good spot to end the chapter. I promise, the next one will be better, and hopefully it will be posted in the next couple of weeks.
Anyway, I do hope you guys find this chapter decent and I hope you guys have a good day/night! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are NOT mine!
Chapter Twenty: Welcome Back
MiaPOV
A Month Later…
Mia watched on quietly as Mrs. Parker drew up the final papers from her bag, placing them on the table in front of Sirius and handing over her quill to him.
"All right, Mr. Black," she said. "This is the final step for you to obtain custody of Mia and Brian as their guardian. Everything else has been taken care of—the forms have been submitted, reviewed, and processed. I have made all the necessary interviews with you as well as the children, and your home passes the safety requirements."
"And my background checks," Sirius said, taking the documents into his hands to look them over. "There is no way anyone will use the accusations against me to try and take them away?"
"The accusations were false, your time in Azkaban resulted from poor work on the law enforcement's side," Mrs. Parker stated. "And when it comes to the fact of raising children, you have already proven the risks you are willing to take to make sure that no harm comes to Mia or Brian. That there proves your dedication to their well-being, and willingness to care for their needs. And having the support from families such as the Weasleys will be a great asset too. I am the main case worker for your assignment, as well as the head of the department, and even if the co-worker assigned to this as well had any objections, it would be trivial to the evidence I've witnessed for myself that you are a good fit for these children. All that we need right now is your signature and the process will be complete."
Sirius was silent as he took in her words, his expression unreadable as he looked through the papers before him, as though trying to make sure there was no loophole or flaw in the fine print. When he didn't seem to locate any, he turned his gaze to Mia, his eyes soft.
"Are you absolutely sure about this, Mia?" he asked her. "If you've changed your mind, all you have to do is say so, right now, and we can work something else out. This is yours and Brian's life—I need to know that you trust me with it."
Mia didn't answer at first. So much has happened over the course of the past month, she honestly couldn't believe it had come to this. When Sirius had first approached her about filing to become the official guardian for her and Brian, she was stunned, to say the least. While her brain was processing the suggestion, he went on to explain the reasons why he believed it would be for the best. He swore to her that he was in a good position to take them in, and nearly every flaw that Mrs. Nessen had pointed out to the Weasleys about their incapability of taking her in had no effect for him. Of course, Sirius came from a wealthy family and more than had to means to provide for them financially. But this would guarantee that she would be out of the Death Eaters reach while out of school, she would under the protection of the Order, and while there was the issue of Sirius never having raised children before in his life, she could tell rom the fierce determination on his face that he was willing to make any necessary sacrifices to learn.
That alone had left Mia speechless. She had been reassured that this would be temporary, and even though it didn't need to be said, Sirius had insisted that he was in no way trying to replace her father. He understood the wounds of her grief were still too fresh, and there would be no one on Earth that could take the place of her parents. He only wanted to keep them safe, and knowing the lengths he had already taken to do it, it didn't make the decision hard for her. While she didn't like the idea of being tossed from one home to another, she knew that she could trust Sirius and his promise to her.
Therefore, the stress-inducing process of the custody battle began. Not long after Sirius had decided to put in his application for guardianship, Remus had come by to inform them that Mrs. Rosanna Parker—Alex's mother—had been informed of Mia and Brian's situation, and at the behest of her beloved son, had requested to take on the case personally. Also, through an anonymous tip, Mrs. Nessen's reasoning for practically leaping to snatch the case up for herself had become questionable. She didn't know the details, but all Mia knew was that some discoveries at the Nessen household had the matriarch under investigation until further notice. There was a strong feeling deep in Mia's gut that Claudia may have had something to do with that and she made a mental note to thank her profusely the next time she saw her.
Now, after many weeks of charging through any sort of obstacle that popped up to prevent it from happening, they were all seated around the kitchen table, the charm that protected the house temporarily lifted to allow Mrs. Parker entrance. It took them a lot to get to this point, and Mia gratitude to Sirius was more than he could ever know.
"I'm sure," she told him, sounding confident. Sirius only stared at her for a moment more before he nodded, and then taking a breath, he took the quill from Mrs. Parker and then used it to sign his name at the bottom of the last document. Once that was done, he handed the quill and the papers back to Mrs. Parker who completed the process by signing her own name next to his, and the finality of it all sent a wave of relief and—for some reason—a tinge of sadness through Mia.
"Well, that's that," Mrs. Parker said with a smile as the documents rolled up and went flying back into her bag with a wave of her wand. "Congratulations to you both. I can honestly say that I am happy for you, and I am positive that things are going to work out more smoothly from now on."
"Thank you so much for your help, Mrs. Parker," Mia said. "It means a lot."
"The pleasure was mine, Mia," the woman stated, her smile growing more kind. "Alex thinks very highly of you, you have always been such a good friend to him. The least I could do was place you and your brother in a good home."
Mia could only nod as Mrs. Parker stood up from her seat, claiming that she had to get back to the office. Sirius offered to walk her out, and Mia found herself lost in thought as she sat at the table alone, a part of her still in disbelief of what has happened. She was now officially under the care of Sirius, at least until she turned seventeen and became of age next month. Then, what would happen after? He had told her they would cross that bridge once they reached it, but she couldn't help but think about it now. Having known him for some time now, Mia knew that Sirius was a very spirited individual, as well as occasionally reckless. When he first offered to take her in, she was definitely surprised since she never in a million years thought he would willingly take on two children, especially ones that were not his. He was more of a type that enjoyed being a bachelor, or it seemed that way to her. What would happen when she does turn seventeen? Would he be tired of caring for Brian by then and expect her to take on full responsibility of raising him? It's not that she wouldn't do it in a heartbeat. She loves her little brother with all her heart and would do anything for him, but the idea of Sirius growing tired of either of them made her worried. As she sat there with her brain on overdrive, she was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her name being called, and she turned her head to see Brian standing beside her.
"Hey Bry," she said warmly, smiling at him.
"Mia," he said. "I saw the lady leave. Does that mean we can really stay with Mr. Black, now?"
"Yes buddy," Mia confirmed. "We get to stay with him."
"Okay," Brian mumbled slowly, uncertainly. His expression made Mia furrow her eyebrows a bit and she reached out a hand to run her fingers through his hair, just like their mother used to do.
"Is something wrong, Bry?" she asked him softly. "Do you not want to stay here? I thought you were okay with it."
"I am," Brian said, before bringing his sad eyes up to hers. "Mr. Black is very nice, he makes me laugh, and it's fun when he turns into a puppy. But…"
"But what?"
"Is he..is he supposed to be our new Daddy? Because I—I don't want another one."
"Oh, sweetie," Mia sighed, his words piercing right through her chest. She used her hand to lift him up onto her lap, ignoring the discomfort it brought, seeing as he really was too heavy for that now. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close and kissing his head.
"Sirius is not trying to be our new Daddy," she explained to him gently. "The people who take care of kids without parents wouldn't let us stay with the Weasleys, so Sirius said he would look after us instead. It won't be forever, it's just to make sure we are with someone who we know, someone who will not hurt us. That way we can stay together. Do you understand?"
"Mmhmm," Brian hummed.
"But listen, Brian," Mia continued, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "You do remember what we talked about the other night? That I will eventually be going back to school?"
Brian's grip on her arm instantly tightened and he made a quiet noise of protest in his throat. Mia has explained that if everything went well with Sirius gaining custody of them, more than likely she would be going back to school to finish her term. Needless to say, Brian had not been happy about it at all. He had gotten used to her being there all the time, what will having to stay hidden at the house with the Fidelius Charm still in place, and the two of them would do everything together. Play games, make fun snacks in the kitchen, and Mia did her best to do the same things that Ben and Catherine would do to make him as happy and comfortable as possible. The boy still missed them greatly, but she knew he would have to get used to her being gone once again, while he stayed in the house with a stranger. He had thrown a big tantrum about it at first, but after many talks and reassurances, Brian had calmed down about it, and Mia knew that while he was handling it better than he was, it still made him scared at the thought of her leaving.
"Do you really have to go?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she replied.
"But what if something happens to you?" he whispered, making her eyes burn with the threat of tears.
"Brian, I promise, nothing is going to happen to me," she soothed him. "I will be at Hogwarts, and there will be plenty of people there to protect me. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and others too. Our headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, is the greatest wizard in the world, and do you remember Mr. Hagrid?"
"The giant?"
"Half-giant, yes," Mia said. "He will be there as well. He's big and strong, and he will make sure that no one hurts me. I'll be all right."
She held him a bit closer to her and turned him slightly so that he was facing her before she continued.
"And just because Sirius is not our father, it doesn't mean that you can't go to him, or talk to him, if you ever need to. He is a good, kind, and brave man who cares about us very much. Did you know, that when I was thirteen, he saved my life?
"He did?" Brian asked, his eyes widening in astonishment.
"He sure did. He protected me, and I have no doubt in my mind he will do the same for you while I'm at school. He may not be our father, but he's a wonderful friend, if you give him the chance to be. Can you do that for me?"
"Okay Mia," Brian answered after the briefest hesitation. "I'll try."
"Good," she said, giving him another kiss to the head and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence, just savoring each other's company, neither one of them noticing Sirius standing in the doorway, smiling softly and fondly.
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"Don't forget, it's best to do mathematics in the afternoon and his reading in the morning."
"I'll remember, I promise."
"His lunch time is usually in the twelve o'clock hour, and don't believe him if he tries to convince you to give him any Mars Bars, he'll be literally bouncing through the house and crash hard."
"I won't."
"I'm serious, he mastered the 'puppy dog' look when he was three—it's almost impossible to resist. Oh, and he usually likes to read a story before bed, and he needs to get a bath right before he gets settled in for bed, or he will get messy again if given the opportunity—"
"Mia," Sirius chuckled in amusement. "I'm sure I've got this. If I can deal with a fussy, diaper bombing Harry, I'm positive that I can manage Brian."
"But Harry was only a baby, he couldn't run to get away or talk back to argue!" Mia fretted. "Maybe I should stay just a little longer…"
"No, we've already discussed this, Mia," Sirius said. "You need to go back. It will take Brian some getting used to, but he'll be fine."
Mia sighed, wanting to argue some more, but she knew she was being ridiculous at this point. All of her things were packed up inside of her trunk, she had her travel cloak on, with her wand tucked away in her purse, and her nerves starting to get to her. It was finally the day she was going back to Hogwarts, after being away for so long. She had written Harry and the other about it not long ago, and she was sure they were as excited to see her as she was to see them. Yet, she was still worried about leaving Brian. After her parents died, she wasn't sure of she could ever leave him alone again, but she knew that Sirius was right. If there was one thing that her parents instilled in her, it was that her education was extremely important, and she knew that they would be disappointed if she missed more than what she already had to. Being away from Brian would hurt, for the both of them, but she knew that it needed to be done. She had done her best at easing him into it, and she needed to trust that Sirius had everything under control.
"All right," she agreed. "And you promise you'll get in touch with me if anything happens?"
"I promise, and Molly is not far from here at all if I need anything," Sirius reassured her for what had to be the hundredth time. He smiled at her before drawing her in for a tight, yet loving embrace that she accepted with a feeling of content.
"Sirius, I…" Mia started, swallowing thickly. "I don't feel like 'thank you' is enough to say. I don't know how I can ever repay you for everything you're doing for us. If you hadn't saved us…I don't know…"
"You don't have to repay me at all," he murmured, patting the back of her head. "You mean so much to a lot of people, including me. Don't forget, you saved my life too."
"Oh," Mia said after a few seconds in realization, pulling away and blushing slightly. "You heard me the other day?"
"Yes, I did. And your trust in me with caring for Brian means a lot. I will be honest with you, there is a small part of me that is nervous about all of this too. But no harm will come to him, you can be sure of that."
Mia nodded at this, a grateful smile on her face. Sirius then turned his head and then called for Brian to come into the room so he and Mia could say their goodbyes to each other. It only took a moment for the sound of Brian's footsteps to be heard coming down the stairs, and then he appeared soon after, his head hung a little low and shuffling his feet. However, when he looked up to see Mia all set to go with her things beside her, he rushed forward and barreled himself into Mia's side, hugging her fiercely and hiding his face in her cloak.
"I love you, Mia," he muttered. "I'll miss you."
"I love you too, Brian," she said, bending over so she could return his hug and plant a kiss to his cheek. "Remember, it's not too long before I'll be back for the summer. And you be sure to be good and listen to Sirius while I'm gone. Okay?"
"Okay," he agreed. Mia made sure to give her brother one last squeeze before she straightened up and grabbed her trunk. She reached up to place her hand in the flower pot on the mantle, gathering some Floo Powder between her fingers before she looked over her shoulder at both Brian and Sirius, who had placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.
"I'll see you guys soon," she said. Then, she threw the powder into the fireplace so the flames would turn an emerald green color, called out her destination, and then stepped through them, disappearing from sight.
After spinning around, and around, flying past other fireplaces, Mia finally came to a sudden abrupt halt before she started falling over out of the intended hearth, nearly losing her balance before she was able to catch herself just in time. She coughed slightly from the ash that formed a cloud around her face and layered her clothes, and after a few seconds, she stared around to see that she was now standing in the familiar office of Professor McGonagall. The Transfiguration teacher herself was sitting at her desk, going over what was sure to be several essays and homework assignments, and she lifted her head upon Mia's arrival, her glasses glinting in the reflected light of her lamps. Her eyes softened as she stared at Mia, and she folded her hands on her desk.
"Welcome back, Miss Thatcher," she greeted.
"Good to be back, Professor," Mia said in return.
"I do hope that you are doing better?"
"Honestly, not very much."
"I figured so," McGonagall admitted, adjusting her glasses. "But remember, you do have several people here who are willing to help you though this. Myself included. You are not alone in this."
"Thank you, Professor," Mia said with a tiny smile. "That really does mean a lot. Do you know where—"
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are currently in their last classes for the day," McGonagall told her. "They will be most happy to see you again. You can go along and place your things in Gryffindor Tower, and wait for them."
The sudden urge to see her friends and boyfriend again came over her in full force, and Mia thanked McGonagall once again before she left the room and hurried towards the common room, her need to see them driving her. It only seemed to take minutes for her to reach the Fat Lady's portrait, and once she was inside, she was thankful that there were very few students there. A couple of them raised curious eyes to her as she passed them by, and she ignored the sympathetic looks she could feel targeted at her. She made her way up the staircase to the girl's dormitories without saying anything to anyone, and she hastily threw her trunk onto her bed along with her cloak just as both Sapphire and Caesar hopped up onto the mattress, the two of them meowling in delight.
"Sapphire," Mia cooed as she bent down to stroke her precious pet and nuzzle her face with her own. "Oh my sweet girl, I've missed you so much!"
Sapphire purred loudly at her owner's touch, rubbing every part of herself against Mia, while Caesar playfully swatted at Mia's hair that was within reach. She spent a little while giving both cats plenty of affectionate attention, and when she got ready to head back downstairs after unpacking all of her things, they followed her closely like a couple of shadows, not ready to let her out of their sight. By the time she made it back down to the common room, more people had started to trickle their way back inside. One of them , she was very please to see, was a certain red haired girl that gasped loudly upon catching sight of her and came charging at full speed, nearly jumping over the sofa to get to her. Before Mia knew it, her life was being squeezed out of her in an iron clad hug.
"Hi Ginny," she gasped.
"Oh Mia, we've missed you so much!" Ginny gushed pulling back just a little to look Mia in the eyes. "I'm so happy that you're back, I was so scared you wouldn't be able to."
"I've missed you too," Mia said as she returned Ginny's hug. "More than you know."
"Mia, I'm…I'm so sorry about your parents," Ginny whispered, her brown eyes very sad. "And I'm sorry we couldn't be there for you."
"Thank you, Gin," Mia muttered. "It's all right, really. I understand you guys couldn't be there, it was too dangerous for any of you to leave the castle. I'm just glad to be back."
As she spoke, Mia moved her gaze over towards the portrait entrance, feeling anxious and hopeful, the coil in her stomach tightening. Ginny smiled knowingly at her and gestured with her hands for her to go. Smiling at her, Mia moved past her in order to go out and wait for her friends in the corridor, knowing that there was no way she would be able to sit still, waiting for them to get back. It turns out, she wouldn't have to wait for long at all, because the very second she stepped out into the lit corridor, she saw three very familiar faces coming around the corner at the other end. Her heart nearly burst at the sight of Harry, Hermione and Ron walking in her direction, and she could immediately feel the tears build up in her eyes.
"…won't help you persuade him, Harry!" Hermione was saying with a scowl. "If all you had to do was trick him with a spell or potion, Dumbledore would have done it himself already!"
"What else can I do, Hermione?" Harry retorted in annoyance. "The man avoids me like the plague outside of class, and he never answers when I go to his office—"
"Mia!" Ron yelled, catching sight of her standing there. In the time it took Harry and Hermione to stop arguing and look over, Ron had already dropped his bag and was surprisingly the first one to start sprinting down the corridor, snapping at a couple first years to move out of the way, similar to what his sister had done just minutes ago. Within seconds, Mia found herself being pulled into a hug by yet another Weasley, only this time she was nearly tackled and lifted off her feet a little. Ron's actions stunned her—he was never this openly affectionate with anyone. The closest he had some to this was when he rushed towards her and Harry in the lake during the second task in the Triwizard Tournament, eyes wide and frantic and he went to help them out of the freezing water. Ron and Mia's friendship went deep, but this was a rare time when he expressed just how much it meant to him, to have him hug her in this way.
"You're back!" he said, his voice thick with relief. "Thank Merlin!"
"Hey Ron," Mia greeted, feeling lighter than she had been in a long time. "I'm guessing you missed me?"
Before Ron could even reply, Hermione had joined in, coming from behind and wrapping her arms around Mia so that she was sandwiched between them.
"Oh Mia, you're here!" she exclaimed happily. "I knew you would be back, I just knew it! We were so worried about you, but somehow I knew it would be all right. Alex and Claudia really helped, I can't believe that she was able to dig up dirt on her family like that, it was genius! I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that, and go into hiding! I bet it was awful, but I'm sure everything will be fine now, with Sirius taking you and your brother in—"
Hermione was cut off in her ramblings, for at that moment Harry appeared beside them, his sight solely focused on Mia. He wore an adoring and longing expression, and somehow Mia knew that he was seconds away from ripping both Ron and Hermione away so he could get to her. Pushing gently against her friends grip on her, she moved away from them, only to be brought directly into Harry's embrace. She easily burrowed herself into his arms, instantly relaxing against him and savoring the feeling she had been missing for well over a month now, softly inhaling his scent and feeling happier than ever to be back where she belonged.
"I've missed you, love," he whispered tenderly in her ear.
"I've missed you too, Harry," she whispered back. "So much."
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Getting back into the swing of things and trying to catch up on all the work that Mia had missed while she was away had been brutal, to say the least. Granted, several of her teachers had been understanding of her predicament and had not expected her to make up all the assignments she had missed out on, but rather provide her with extra credit work that would still be applied to her overall grade as well as the most recent homework that they had assigned other students. To her immense surprise, even Snape didn't unload weeks upon weeks worth of school work for her to handle. But nonetheless, he did expect her to read through at least four chapters from their textbook and complete all the written exercises in each one, as well as complete an essay over the first weekend she was back at school, to be handed in on that following Monday, claiming she was lucky he decided not to assign it to her to be finished in one night. Harry, of course, had been angry at this, but Mia was honestly grateful for the distraction.
Being back at Hogwarts, back to her lessons, and the study sessions she had formed with all her friends, it was what she needed in order to take her mind off of everything that had happened to her over the course of the past few weeks. She drove straight into her work, focusing on hardly anything else and determined to be caught up with the rest of her classmates. Although, it was hard to try and veer away towards what had happened the first week she was back, since many people had come up to her to offer their condolences for her loss. Every time it happened, Mia would put on a polite smile and thank them for their kinds words before walking away or try to change the subject to something else. Talking about her parents was still too painful, and she did her best to prioritize other things. She had her time to grieve while she was at Sirius' place, and she needed to start moving past it, now.
However, the first time she laid her eyes on Claudia and Alex, she had hugged them both so fiercely that they were slightly sore by the time she finally let them go. It was just a tad bit awkward for her and Alex, but it had been that way ever since she discovered that he was the one who sent her that poem when they were twelve, and she had a strong feeling he still had feelings for her. But to his credit, he never outwardly showed it, and he was still friendly whenever he would run into her and Harry together in their classes, although she would occasionally catch a sad glint in his eyes and his smile would fade a bit when he thought no one was looking.
In the meantime, Mia had asked the others what had been going on since she was away and they all caught her up. As far as Ron and Lavender went, he was quickly growing tired of her clinging to him, and her constant jealousy. It was driving Ron absolutely mad, and he was currently trying to figure out a way to have her break up with him so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Mia could tell—from the secret smirk on her face—that Hermione was pleased with that.
Harry had only one lesson with Dumbledore over the last month, and he showed Harry more memories of the past. The first was the memory of an old house elf named Hokey, who had once served a witch named Hepzibah Smith a long time ago, and the memory showed Ms. Smith having a meeting with Voldemort when he was a young man, working at Borgin and Burkes. Ms. Smith was seemed to be a collector of rare magical items, and she had been showing Riddle some of her most precious treasures. Two of those treasures included—to Mia's shock—a golden, two handle cup that supposedly had belong to Helga Hufflepuff, one of the Hogwarts founders, and to whom Hepzibah's family had apparently been distantly related to, and also a golden locket. The locket, Harry explained, had Slytherin's mark on it, and it looked to be the same locket that Voldemort's mother had sold for money when she had been pregnant with him. Then, merely days after that meeting,. Hepzibah Smith was found dead in her home, and poor Hokey was accused of the crime. Apparently, Voldemort had modified her memory to look as though she accidentally poisoned her mistress, and unsurprisingly, the two artifacts that Ms. Smith had revealed to Voldemort ended up missing.
The next memory that Harry had gotten to see was one from Dumbledore himself, back when it hadn't been too long since he had become the new Headmaster of Hogwarts. At that time, Voldemort had been gone from the school for many years, but he had returned for a meeting with Dumbledore. Voldemort had requested to apply and be considered as the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, who had brought a confused look upon Mia's face.
"Why in the world would he want to come back and teach?" she had asked Harry when he revealed that information to her.
"It could have been for a lot of reasons, Dumbledore reckons," Harry had answered with a shrug. "He had a feeling Voldemort would have taken the opportunity to try and recruit young students into joining his cause, since he already had a group of Death Eaters formed at the time. But we won't find out the true reason probably, not unless I can get my hands on Slughorn's memory."
The news still baffled Mia to no end, but she knew that Harry was right. The only way that he or Dumbledore could find out any more information was if Harry somehow got the true memory from Slughorn about what he had talked about with Voldemort all those years ago. Harry seemed to be struggling with that, and Mia herself wasn't sure how to help Harry find a way to convince their Potions professor to hand it over.
Still, the time passed by at Hogwarts in a kind of haze, in Mia's opinion. Hermione and Ron were both able to take extra Apparition lessons down in Hogsmeade, since they had turned seventeen before the actual test date, whereas Mia and Harry would have to wait until the upcoming summer to take theirs. Mia was just grateful that she was finally able to Apparate during their last lesson before she had to leave. The night before they were set to go down to Hogsmeade for the lesson, all four of them were sitting together alone in the common room, with Mia tucked into Harry's side, her Ancient Runes book resting in her lap while she read the letter she had received from Sirius that very morning. It was the first one she had received since going back to school, and it brought a small smile to her face. Sirius was asking her how she was doing, as well as writing about Brian's reluctance to complete his mathematics work that was drawn up for him, wanting instead to play outside with Sirius in his dog form. He even included a picture that Brian had drawn for Mia, and the sight of it was enough to make Mia's eyes feel a bit watery, already missing her brother so much.
"Are you all right, love?" Harry whispered to her, while Hermione was trying to help Ron with his essay in the background.
"I'm fine," Mia replied, although her voice indicated she was anything but, as she folded the letter and tucked it securely into her book.
"Mia, you can't keep doing this," Harry said.
"Doing what?"
"Keeping all of this bottled up. You haven't talked about what's happened since you got back, not once, and even time your parents are brought up, you always shy away from it."
"Because I don't want to talk about it, Harry," Mia said in a low voice. "What good would it do?"
"It can help give you some closure," Harry insisted. "All you've done is work, in and out of class, and you're not allowing yourself to feel anything. I can see it, Mia, you're starting to block yourself off. You're acting as if nothing's happened…"
"Harry, I do not want to do this right now," Mia hissed in a tone of finality, sitting up a little straighter. A frown came across Harry's face, but before he could say anything more, there was a sudden loud crack and then two small figures appeared out of nowhere, causing Mia to jump a little where she sat, while Hermione gave a small shriek and Ron spilled his bottle of ink on his freshly completed essay. Blinking a couple of times, Mia saw that the figures were actually Kreacher and Dobby, both having popped up in front of the fireplace.
"Kreacher," Harry said as the old house elf bowed before him.
"Master said he wanted regular reports on what the Malfoy boy is doing, so Kreacher has come to give it," he grumbled.
"Dobby has been helping too, Harry Potter!" Dobby piped in, glaring resentfully at Kreacher before bringing his gaze over towards Mia, his face brightening a bit. "Hello, Miss Mimi!"
"Hi Dobby," Mia greeted warmly, not being able to keep back the smile from seeing the little elf.
"What does he mean, reporting about Malfoy?" Hermione asked once she had gotten over her shock. "What's going on, Harry?"
"Well…they've been following Malfoy for me," Harry admitted.
"Night and day," croaked Kreacher.
"Dobby hasn't slept for a week, Harry Potter!" added in proudly, although there were dark circles underneath his eyes and he was swaying slightly where he stood.
"What?" Mia said, turning to Harry. "You didn't—"
"Of course I didn't!" Harry said quickly. "Dobby, you can sleep, all right? But have either one of you found anything?"
"Master Malfoy moves with a nobility that befits his pure blood," Kreacher responded. "His features recall the fine bones of my mistress and his manners are those of—"
"Draco Malfoy is a bad boy!" Dobby interrupted heatedly. "A bad boy, who—who—"
At this, Dobby started shaking and he winced, as though he were in pain, and then made a sudden move towards the fireplace. Mia—knowing instantly what he was trying to do—shot to her feet and managed to wrap Dobby up in her arms before he got too close to it, holding him steady. Dobby only struggled for a moment in her arms before he went limp, breathing a bit more heavily.
"Thank you, Miss Mimi," he muttered tiredly.
"You're welcome," Mia said gently, knowing it was still hard for the elf to talk ill about his old masters, even though he has been free for quite some time. Once it was clear that he was not going to try and harm himself, Mia released him, but Dobby stood close by her, resting a hand on her shoulder so he could keep himself upright, and Mia smiled fondly at him, not minding in the least. Harry, in the meantime, turned to Kreacher for more information about Malfoy's whereabouts. Both Kreacher and Dobby explained that other than his usual activities, Malfoy not broken any rules from what they could see, and has not acting strangely that would cause any sort of alarm. However, there were many times when Malfoy, not wanting to be seen, would have several students wait for him on the seventh floor, whenever he would go into—
"The Room of Requirement!" Harry exclaimed. "That's where he's been sneaking off too! That's where he's doing…whatever he's doing! And I bet that's why he's been disappearing off the map too! Come to think of it, I've never seen the room on the map before."
"The marauders might not have known that the room was there," Mia suggested. "And if the user of the room needed it to be unplottable, then it would be. Besides, you would have to know what Malfoy needs the room to be whenever he goes in, because if you don't, there's no way you'd be able to get in."
"There will be a way to get around that," Harry said with determination. "There has to be. You've done brilliantly, Dobby."
"Kreacher has done well too," Hermione added in, smiling kindly at the elf, but Kreacher merely sneered at her.
"The Mudblood is speaking to Kreacher, Kreacher will pretend he cannot hear—"
"Enough of that!" Harry snapped at him with narrowed eyes. "Get out of it! And Dobby, you should go and get some sleep, too."
"Thank you, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby squeaked, and in the next second, both he and Kreacher Disapparated. Once they were gone, Mia looked over to see a familiar excited gleam in Harry's eyes, and she sighed, knowing exactly what he will end up doing tomorrow the second he had a chance to.
Looks like some things haven't changed at all since I've been gone.
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