5th year, June

Damn, damn, damn, Mia thought. She chewed on the end of her quill. How many Goblin revolutions were there in 1848? Did they affect the revolutions all over Europe that year, too? Mia could not remember. She wished, not for the first time, that she was closer to Alex's seat and could look over to his paper and copy the answer.

Needless to say, her History of Magic O.W.L. was not going well.

And there were only five minutes left.

Mia considered folding her paper into a paper airplane and sending it soaring through the Great Hall. It would be pretty, right? That could be an excuse.

She thought better of it once she'd done it. The tip of the airplane soared and instead of landing gracefully on someone's desk or at the foot of Professor Longbottom's muddy shoes, it smacked him in the face.

Mia tried not to, she really had, but she couldn't hold it in: she laughed.

Neville's face snapped up to where Mia Malfoy was in her seat, clutching at her stomach and laughing incredibly.

He rolled his eyes. She was worse than anyone in her family. She did it because she was bored, and Mia got bored way too easily for the comfort or sanity of the staff.

"Miss Malfoy," he commanded, looking down at the teenager attempting to stifle her giggles, "please leave the hall. Fifty points from Gryffindor."

That sobered her up.

Shit, Mia thought as she gathered her belongings. She'd already lost three hundred points for Gryffindor over the course of the year. There was no way they were going to win the House Cup, now.

Alex sent her a disapproving look, but Mia knew it was an attempt to hide his own laughter by the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Patrick just smirked at her and twirled his quill.

Mia slumped outside the Great Hall up against the wall once the double doors closed behind her.

Patrick and Alex came tearing out only a few minutes later.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Patrick exclaimed. "Longbottom's face! Oh, you know he loves you; he's just tired from all you do," he amended once he saw the look on Mia's face.

"Patrick!"

Patrick's head whipped towards the voice, belonging to Mia's sister Cassie, while Mia just rolled her eyes. She looked away, over towards Alex, who grimaced in sympathy, when Cassie came over and kissed Patrick. Smack on the lips.

"Gross," Mia said.

"You know you're secretly happy with it," Cassie smiled.

Mia did know. She was happy with it. She couldn't not be happy with something that put such a blissful look in Cassie's eyes and a jump in Patrick's step. Truth be told, the two were perfect for each other, too. But it was still her best friend dating her younger sister. It was weird. And Patrick was never allowed to talk about girls with her ever again.

The two of them waved good-bye and escaped to some broom closet, Mia expected, though she didn't really want to know.

"Eurgh," she said.

Alex laughed at her. "Get used to it."

"But…but…it's Cassie and Patrick!"

"And it's been going on a few months, now. It's around time to get over it. Even Kate has."

"I'm over it," Mia protested, grabbing Alex's hand and pulling him outside, down to the lake. "I just don't want her to get hurt. And I know Patrick won't hurt her intentionally," she said, once she saw that Alex had every intention of protesting.

Alex plopped down on the grass, up against the tree he, Mia, and Patrick had commandeered their second week of first year.

"Mia, he's head over heels for her; he's not going to want to do anything that could mess this up."

"I know," Mia sighed and laid down on the grass, her head in Alex's lap. She picked up his hand and began playing with his fingers, intertwining her hand with his.

Alex desperately hoped she didn't notice his pulse racing. Did she?

He glanced down to see Mia staring up at him. "What?" he asked.

"What do you want to do?"

Alex cleared his throat. "Now?"

Mia shook his head, causing friction in Alex's lap and making him shift uncomfortably. Merlin, she had no idea what she was doing. Or did she? Did Alex spot that devilish glint in her eye? He looked down to check, but she was facing away from him.

"With your life," she said. "I mean, we just took our O.W.L.s., for goodness's sake. We only have two more years here. Then what?"

Alex shrugged. "I've got no idea, not really. I guess I'd like to work in Magical Law. Or maybe as an Obliviator. Memories fascinate me."

"I know." A pause. "Do you ever remember things about your dad?"

"Sometimes," Alex admitted. His hand reached down absently to twist a curl of Mia's hair. "Sometimes I'm just dreaming, though, and I don't know if I made it up or if it actually happened."

"You'll figure it out. Don't worry," she smiled.

Alex instantly felt better, as sappy as he knew that was. Mia had such a satisfying smile. It was a smile that encouraged, that showed she had complete faith in you, that she trusted you explicitly. Alex only trusted it because she didn't give everyone that smile. So far, it had been reserved for Alex, Patrick, and her family.

"What about you?" he asked. "What do you want to do?"

Mia gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "Like I have any idea what I want in my future. I'll end up working in the shop, probably. Hanging out with Uncle Fred."

"S'not such a bad place to be."

"I guess not. I'm just not sure it's what I want."

"What do you want?"

Was it just Mia, or had Alex's voice become a husky whisper?

She glanced up at him, startled to find his eyes a smoky, darker green than usual. "What?" she asked.

"What do you want?" he repeated, an eyebrow quirked at her odd behavior.

Had his lips always looked so gorgeous? Mia wondered.

It wasn't even a fully-grown, fully-formed thought in her head when she did it. She had no idea why she was so impulsive; Mia just assumed it was genetic.

But his lips tasted as good as they looked when she kissed him.

She pulled back and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What was that for?" he asked bemusedly.

"I-I," she stuttered.

"Hermia Jane Malfoy stuttering?" Alex teased. "What has this world come to?"

Mia laughed and smacked Alex on the arm, the awkwardness broken.

"Well, if you're not going to say anything, then I'm going to assume you'd like to kiss me again."

A wicked glint came into Alex's eyes as he spoke. It was a glint that Mia hadn't seen very recently, ever since Alex had become obsessed with finding all he could about his father in his memories during third year. He'd become quite a bit more serious since then. She missed the old him, but she didn't dislike the newer one, either.

She reached up and brushed his hair away from his face. "I've missed that glint in your eyes," she said, before she thought better of it.

"Why don't you make it come back, then?" Alex whispered, before putting his lips gently down upon hers once again.

Dear God, she was kissing Alex. Alex freaking Carmichael. Her best friend. The one she'd played healer with when she'd been little. The one who knew her so well he could write a book on her that would reveal more than her autobiography.

And she liked kissing him. And he was definitely the best kisser she'd ever encountered.

Mia shifted. She started to sit up, never breaking the kiss, and straddled Alex.

His gasp of surprised escaped his mouth and Mia smirked.

Alex's arms snaked around Mia's body and held her hips. "Not fair," he muttered.

Mia just smirked again and pried his lips open with her own, her tongue seeking for his.

Oh dear lord, why hadn't she done this sooner?

Review, please - as always! This will most likely be the last update for awhile. I'm going on vacation and probably won't be able to update until September, or so. I'll do my best, but don't count on it. In the meantime, review!