one mia goes "first"

✨

       MIA BLACK, IN ALL OF HER SUNNY yet gloomy life, has never been this pissed off. And that's not to say Mia never gets annoyed — she does, truly. But, she's never been this level of angry; so angry her blood's boiling underneath her skin, her entire body practically radiating red-hot heat, so angry that her mother's hand-me-down ability — the correlation between her magic and her emotions — has caused all of the lights in the room to cut short, all burnt at the fuse. The smell of smoke, from the candles that were blown out, lingers in the air and Mia turns to her dad, and says, "We're staying in this shithole, all summer?"

       Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, was apparently a grand home, once upon a time. But, then, this was before; the eldest son was disowned, and then, for no fault of his own sent to Azkaban; the second son became a Death Eater, and right after his last year of Hogwarts, disappeared off of the face of the earth; and, finally, the parents, two old cows, croaked. Now, the only inhabitant is a house-elf called Kreacher — or, at least, he had been the only inhabitant of this stuffy pile of rubbish, until Mia got to leave school a month early (her best friend died, she isn't going to Charms!) and she was told by her mum that they couldn't stay at home during the summer.

       "But why?" she had asked her mum, also called Emilia.

       And her mum — her mum's Emilia and she's Mia, like she tells everyone that meets the two of them — had put her hands on Mia's shoulders, squeezing her lightly. "It's too dangerous to stay at home," she tells her. Her mum had then paused, because there is something she should've brought up, and was mostly likely thinking it, because Mia was standing there, thinking it too.

       The deal with Emilia Black, nee Salvatore, and the Death Eaters.

       Mia's great-grandfather, a dick called Rupert (no nice person is called Rupert, Mia thinks) had been a loyal companion to another evil guy called Grindelwald. And then, Mia's great-uncle (her mum's guardian) befriended another evil guy called Tom Riddle whilst at school. Long story short, her great-uncle promised her mum would join the Death Eaters, but since her mum isn't, you know, evil, her mum said no. Then her great-uncle died. But that's beside the point.

       About a year ago, her mum got roped into helping the Death Eaters bring back You-Know-Who... Mia wasn't aware of this, of course, until last week, when her best friend was killed... Mia would've died, too, if Emilia hadn't helped them bring him back. But instead her best friend went.

       Anyway.

       Emilia was forced into helping the Death Eaters, or else they would've killed Mia. So now, they're in danger. Mia doesn't really know if her mum's still being forced to do their bidding, but according to her dad she shouldn't need to worry about it. (But, then, how would he know what she should worry about? It's not like he even found her, after he escaped from prison!)

       Mia doesn't know, but she knows that her mum will tell her, if anything happens. Her mum's nice like that. She's one of the Healers at St Mungos', specialising in children, so she knows her shit, with stuff like raising a child. She always makes sure Mia knows what's going, she always makes sure Mia's OK. Mia loves her mum to pieces, because her mum, at the end of the day, gets her...

       Her dad doesn't.

       But, back to now: it's five minutes past three in the afternoon, and the three are standing in the hallway of Grimmauld Place. Mia's arms are crossed. Her mum used to tell her that crossing your arms creates a barrier between yourself and who you're talking to, and that it's bad for self-esteem reasons. Mia doesn't do it much, unless she's annoyed, because now she knows why she does it, so she does it with purpose. Like, now. Mia's annoyed, so her arms are crossed, and her mum gets why.

       Her dad doesn't.

       "I know it's not the best, but it's only for a summer, and then we'll be able to go back home," says Emilia. The candles flicker to life, a light, warm, hopeful glimmer. Mia feels bad for her mum. "But we'll make the best out of it. We're so close to Diagon Alley, we can go there and get ice cream, maybe..." Mia loves ice cream. "We can go into London and do some shopping, maybe, or see what art exhibitions they've got on..." Mia loves art, too. "I bet there's some snobby cinema somewhere that's still showing Pulp Fiction." And, last but not least, the pretentious prick inside of Mia cannot help but love the film Pulp Fiction.

       "I guess..."

       "We still haven't done anything for your birthday," says Emilia. Since Mia's birthday lies on the first of May, they always wait until the summer holidays to do something big, like, going out for dinner, or something. It's hard to get time off work for her mum; she's guaranteed Christmas Day off, but then that's because her work knows her daughter would be alone. "Maybe we can figure out what you wanna do for your sixteenth, and we can do that?"

       Mia juts her bottom lip out. "I wanna go to the sun."

       "Well that is impossible, but I appreciate the imagination behind it," says Emilia, trying her hardest to stay positive. "I know! Your dad can go with you upstairs, and you can decide which room you want!"

       "You're lucky," says Sirius, sounding a little awkward as he smiles at Mia. "There's no way you'll get the last pick."

       "Well, unless I've got ten more siblings...?" says Mia, frowning.

       Sirius' eyes widen. "No, um, actually the—"

       Emilia looks across at Sirius, panicking slightly. Mia can tell because the flames on the candles are shaking and Mia isn't doing it. "Let's get settled first," says Emilia, and she looks at Sirius, and Mia knows the look means something, but she doesn't know what.

       "... OK," says Sirius, and then he picks up Mia's trunk

       Mia walks behind him, going up the stairs, because she doesn't know where she's going. She frowns, as they reach the first floor, and she can see the staircase continues and spirals up even further. "How many floors are there?" she asks him.

       "Five, including the attic," says Sirius.

       "Wow," says Mia. "Big."

       "Where do you want to stay, then?" says Sirius. "You've got a big choice."

       "Is there one with a bathroom?" says Mia, raising an eyebrow.

       Sirius nods. "The third floor has one..." he tells her, but he frowns at her. He stops walking to turn back to her. Mia feels confused. "Although, it used to be my mother's room..."

       Mia thinks, and then shrugs. "Well, she's croaked, so, it's mine," she tells him rather confidently, making the peace symbol with her fingers. She walks past him and goes up the stairs. They're on the first floor currently — the one with the drawing room, AKA a posh man's living room — and on the second floor is, apparently, the room her parents are staying in. There are tons of other rooms, but they're unimportant. No one's staying in them, so.

       The third floor is her floor, and as they get there, she glances at the staircase leading further up into the sky, and her dad explains that his old bedroom's up there, along with his brother's. Apparently Buckbeak's up there, too. Mia nods. Her dad seems to have forgotten she wasn't a part of any of that, when he went to Hogwarts and tried to kill Ron Weasley's rat. (Who was Pettigrew, blah blah blah, she knows, she just feels it's a lot less exciting when you were a couple of minutes away... And your dad didn't involve you... But he involved his godson...)

       Anyway.

       Her bedroom's pretty nice, actually. It's clean, which is a shocking turn of events in this shithole. And Mia likes it.

       There's a window that overlooks the street, a view that's weirdly possible, because of the house's spells to keep the place hidden. But, the window's there, and it shows a tiny park in between a square of houses, where there's a swing set and flowers in the grass. The bedroom itself is pretty spacious — spacious enough that her grandparents once lived in it, according to the picture frame of them on their wedding day, still sitting on the mantlepiece. That's another thing: her bedroom has a small fireplace, not one that be lit, but the warmth from the downstairs fireplaces should warm it up anyway. Not that she'll need it, because she's only here for the summer, but it looks nice.

       Next to the window is the bathroom, making the room an L shape. Mia peers inside. Toilet, sink, bath, all old-school ones with fancy decorations in the tiling. It needs a clean — not as much as the rest of the house, since the room is far cleaner than everywhere else, but it still needs some bleach put to it.

       Her dad arrives, since Mia had gone ahead to find her room. He seems to have noticed the  cleanliness of the room — even the window sill has no dust on it — and he looks... unimpressed?

       "I see Kreacher's been keeping the room tidy," he says.

       "Oh," says Mia, and to herself she thinks, that makes sense.

       There's a pause.

       "I think, maybe in the summer holidays we'll try and get Harry to stay," says Sirius. Mia immediately stiffens. She had been looking out of the window, at the Doberman in the park, going down the slides with a little kid, but as soon as her dad mentions his godson, Mia stops seeing the park, the nice little park that cheered her up. Instead she sees red.

       "I bet you'll totally love that, won't you, Dad?" says Mia, as she turns around.

       Sirius looks at her oddly. "What is that supposed to mean?"

       "You know I'm your daughter, right?" says Mia.

       "Of course I know that—?"

       Mia crosses her arms. "But you checked on him, not me."

       "I wanted to keep you safe — you were fine, all of last summer—"

       "Yeah, well, between then, I've done some thinking, you have asked me how he is doing, but not me, and now, my best friend is dead and you're talking about him?"

       Sirius looks at a loss for words. "He saw Cedric die."

       I knew he was going to die, she thinks.

       "Oh, so, when James died, you'd have more sympathy for a muggle that walked past, and saw it happen, or would you have more sympathy for you?"

       Her dad looks annoyed. "Do not drag James into this!" he tells her, and Mia gives him a look. She's already crossing her arms, but of course, he wouldn't get why that's important. She gets he couldn't help it, what happened with Azkaban, but he didn't even find her when he escaped. That's what hurts her. "Harry doesn't have anyone else—"

       And I do?

       "You know what?" says Mia, and she uncrosses her arms. She's about to walk across the room, but the door opens by itself. Nice one, powers. "Talk to Mum about this."

       Sirius looks pissed off, he really does, but also — Mia is, too. Mia gets he didn't mean to miss her entire life... But, then, he chose to leave the house that day. He made that decision? She's never thought of it that way, actually... Shit...

       But anyway. He could've found her when he escaped. He could've found her at Hogwarts, told her everything was fine, but he didn't. Mia's always known he was good, but it wasn't nice, the school year after he escaped. She was looked at funny for the entirety of it. The only reason the looks stopped was because she started going out with someone on the Quidditch team... And even then, the looks continued, they were just focused on, who is Mia Black going out with? rather than, that's the murderer's daughter.

       The door closes behind her dad. She hears a crack, and she knows that he's Disapparated. He's probably gone to vent to her mum... She doesn't know where her mum stands on this. She hopes that her mum's on her side, or at least, she understands where Mia's coming from. Her mum's good at mediating.

       Mia sits down on the bed. She needs to change the sheets before tonight, but the bed's comfy enough. It's one of those fancy four-poster ones, with curtains draped around it. She makes a note to swap the thick fabric ones for something a little thinner. She's only here for the summer, sure, but she'd rather not sleep in a bed designed for like, Elizabeth I.

       She keeps on looking around the room. Mia's always enjoyed decorating her bedroom at home — changing the posters, getting new photos, peeling year-old Spellotape off of the walls and having to wash her hands afterwards. She loves it. She loves anything creative, but there's something special about decorating a room.

       Merlin. She's annoyed still, that she's spending the summer here, but she likes this room. Which annoys her even more. She's meant to hate this. She's meant to be walking down the street, or something, to get a train or a bus and go back home, and sit there until she's forcibly dragged back here.

       But she's not. Instead, Mia lies back on the bed, and she frowns up at the ceiling.

       This is all bullshit.

✨

       IT'S A DREARY DAY IN JULY when Mia Black gets caught up in the prophetic madness that is Briar Crouch, a girl that had been in the year above. Long story short: she left, went to Beauxbatons, then came back for the tournament. But, she's a Seer, and that's the important thing here — Mia's walking out of the Defence classroom, having handed the current professor some homework she asked for extra time on (the perks of dyslexia!) She was gonna walk to her dorm room, to thank her parents for the birthday card, but instead when she walks out of the classroom, she sees Briar Crouch, who looks close to tears... Or a mental breakdown... Whichever comes first. (Mia's been there.)

       "Are you all right, Briar?" she asks her, her eyes widening.

       Briar asks her, "Have you seen Cedric?"

       Mia's confused, to say the least.

       "Um... Not since breakfast..." says Mia, her brows furrowing. The thing with Briar is that she was the most popular girl at Hogwarts, before she left. But she was always known for acting weird sometimes, because of the visions she has. One minute, she'd be fine, half-flirting with Fred Weasley, and the next, she'll be in a panic about something.

       "I think he's doing some last-minute practice," says Mia, continuing. This was the day of the final task... The day he died. "Is something wrong?" She pauses for a moment, reaching her hand out to comfort Briar, before adding, "You're worrying me..."

       Mia's good with reading people. It's what happens, when your emotions are a little more heightened, have a little more oomph to them. You can tell when the expression in people's eyes change, the way the slight change of a brow's curve could mean a multitude of things, but added with the size of the eyes, whether they're narrowed or widened, or even body language, you can figure out everything, just like that. And Mia sees it happen. She sees Briar, lost in thought for a moment, her brows knitted together in a worried, unsure fashion.

       "Mia," says Briar. "I need you to help me."

       And she nods, without another thought about it. "OK."

       "Cedric can't compete," says Briar.

       Mia frowns: confusion. Duh. "Why not?"

       "Because—" And then Briar stops herself. She has the same thoughtful look across her face. It worries Mia. She doesn't like to see people upset... Briar keeps on swaying, too, as if she's dizzy, and Mia remembers Briar's visions. She must be worried about a vision... A vision about Cedric?

       Briar confirms her worries.

       "Because he's going to die."

       Mia feels as if she's been slapped in the face, punched in the gut, and thrown off of a building, all at once. It hits her like a tonne of bricks, and tears already begin to gather in her eyes. Her best friend, dead. What would she do if he died?

       "I—I thought Seers weren't supposed to interve—"

       "Yeah, well, I'm saying no to that bullshit," says Briar, shaking her head. She blinks a couple of times, a little sloppier than usual, as if she's dizzy. "He's going to die and V—"

       The classroom door opens.

       But Mia's got all of the information she needs. Briar's brought into the office just before she faints, and Moody — who's actually Briar's evil uncle, long story, Mia doesn't know any of it — pretends to have alerted Madam Pomfrey. He didn't, if you were wondering. That's why he's evil.

       As Mia walks away, she racks her brain for all of the places that Cedric trains. They were best friends, but they were also going out — and as his girlfriend she sometimes tagged along for his practices. Sometimes she'd help him out, but she couldn't do any duelling with him, because the second she panicked, her magic would take over. At one point, the water from the lake tried to drown Cedric... He thought this was incredibly funny, and since by this point they were going out, he had pulled her closer, despite being soaking wet and them being outside in February, and he had kissed her and said, "At least I know you'll always be safe."

       Another time, back when Lockhart had that God-awful duelling club, when she and Cedric went together, halfway through she almost set him on fire. Her mum thought that was incredibly funny, that time... And again, Mia did not.

       She goes to the lake. He isn't there.

       The common room. Not there.

       The library. Not there.

       Eventually she catches him at lunch, talking to his dad, who's just arrived to watch the final task. Mia's hands are shaking, as are the candles around her, as Cedric's dad pulls her into a warm hug and says he knew the two of them would end up together.

       "You're meant to be!" he had told them.

       The candles were blown out instantly.

✨

       MIA GETS CHANGED BEFORE DINNER, into something she determines as comfortable. Leopard-print mini skirt and a t-shirt tied at the waist, a black one with yellow lettering that says, GET OFF MY DICK. Mia thinks it's absolutely amazing. Her mum, if anything, thinks it's funny... She can't wear it at school, but sometimes Mia does. It's the comfiest t-shirt she owns. Of course, the girl that can't keep her emotions to herself, ends up with her comfiest t-shirt being one that tells people to fuck off, which, funnily enough, she wears when she wants comfort, and therefore alone-time. It's irony at it's finest... Maybe not irony. Mia isn't too sure. But it's some sort of humour.

       She walks downstairs for dinner. Her feet — donning yellow socks, because obviously she's got to show some house spirit at all times — hit the ground floor, and the second they do, the portrait on the wall begins to scream.

       Mia recognises the face as her grandmother, Walburga.

       "DISGUSTING, VILE—"

       "You're the dickhead with the name Walburga!" she snaps. "Who's parents call them that?"

       Walburga shuts up, straightaway. "Oh?"

       Mia walks away, into the kitchen. Sirius is snickering.

       "I know you're annoyed, but that was nicely done—"

       Mia turns to Emilia. "Can I eat upstairs?"

       Emilia shakes her head. "Sit."

       Mia grimaces, as she sits down at the kitchen table. There's a fancy dining room, too, but obviously they don't need it for just the three of them.

       Her mum takes one look at the t-shirt, before she smiles softly at Mia. Again — her mum knows. When Mia wears this t-shirt, it means she's some sort of unhappy, and wants to be left alone, to sit in comfort.

       "I think you two need to have a talk," says Emilia.

       Sirius frowns at Emila for a minute, before turning to Mia, who has her arms crossed. She hasn't even touched her food yet, but she looks across at her dad, as if to say, go on, then.

       "Mia, I thought you were safe, it would've put you in danger, me looking for you," says Sirius. "But Harry doesn't have anyone, I should've raised him—" Emilia raises an eyebrow. "—when James and Lily died. I had to check on him."

       "So it was too dangerous to check on me, but it was fine, going to the Gryffindor dorms instead of the Hufflepuff one?" says Mia, and she tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at him.

       Sirius glances at Emilia, but conveniently she looks away.

       Mia frowns. "Well?"

       "I thought you'd be fine!" says Sirius, hopelessly.

       Mia stands up. "Well, I'm not," she says. "My best friend — my boyfriend — was killed but you checked on Harry first? I get that he saw it happen, but I'm your daughter. You made sure Harry was OK first. Not me... I don't get it."

       "He had fought Voldemort—!"

       "He has other people, Dad!" says Mia. "I have you and Mum. And you were gone up until last year, weren't you? Everyone makes sure he's OK. I have two people in my life that'll check on me, and you didn't even do that." She looks at Emilia. "I'm not hungry."

       Emilia frowns. "Mia—"

       "I wanna be on my own, I'll eat later," says Mia, dismissively.

       Her mum sighs, but nods. As Mia leaves she hears her mum mumble something about bringing her food in a while. Mia wants to go home, where her actual bed is, where her pillow is, where she can rest and cry into her duvet and try and heal. But instead she's here. In a room that's nice, sure, but it isn't hers. It isn't the one she's had for years. It isn't the one she's spent summer afternoons with Cedric in, talking about Quidditch and school and Mia's latest boyfriend endeavour.

       It isn't it.

✨

       MIA BLACK LOOKS AROUND — at the men in their black robes, discussing the benefits of transnational tournaments, at the parents of champions wearing toothy smiles, at the teenagers with paint on their face like the Queen song. She has her arms crossed as she stands next to Cedric, who's dressed in his champion's uniform, black and yellow for Hufflepuff. There's gold face paint on her cheeks, a line across each cheek, but the frown on her face is anything but cheerful.

       She's been telling him all day that he shouldn't compete. And all day, he's reassured her that it's going to be fine. And it's not. She doesn't want to say why she's telling him to not compete — she doesn't think she's supposed to know. She knows even if she told him the truth, he'd walk in anyway. He'd hate to upset his parents; it's not that he wants their approval, or that they'd be angry, but rather, he hates the idea of them feeling awful, because of him. And they would, wouldn't they, if he walked away.

       But Mia wish he would.

       "Mia, it's gonna be fine," he tells her. One of his hands cup her face, and lightly his fingers brush against the side of her face, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She clenches her jaw to stop the tears. This is what he did when he first kissed her; how they were sitting together in the common room around midnight, and how he had moved closer to her, moving her hair out of her face, and he had kissed her. And Mia felt so euphoric she didn't know what to do with herself. It was as if her entire insides were warm from sitting in sunshine all day.

       "I'm gonna come back," he tells her. "And even if I lose, we've got the whole summer to forget about it..."

       "What if you get killed?" she asks.

       Cedric looks at her oddly for a minute. Nervousness casts over his face for a second — just enough for Mia to catch it — before he switches, a hopeful smile across his face. "Is that what you're worried about?" he asks her, and he laughs, because he doesn't know. But she can't tell him. That'll fuck up like fifteen big things in the universe, surely. She'll save him and her dad will die, or something. "Mia, I'm gonna be fine."

       "I'm not saying this as your girlfriend, Ced, I'm saying this as your best friend," says Mia quietly, urgency in her voice. The lights next to them, keeping the stands illuminated, begin to glow brighter. Cedric notices, and he realises: Mia is frustrated. "Please don't compete."

       "Champions!" says Dumbledore.

       "I've got to go," says Cedric. "I love you, yeah?"

       Mia wraps her arms around him. He said that for the first time a couple of days ago. She didn't say it back then. She was too scared to.

       "I love you even more," says Mia, and she continues hugging him, hoping that maybe she can just hold him, and he won't be able to walk away...

       ... She's not that strong though.

       Cedric pulls away from her, to look at her face. His expression's lit up completely, because she's said it. And he knows that for her, saying that's a big deal. Mia's had her fair share of boyfriends over the past couple of years and every time she's broken up after they've said the L-word. She couldn't say it back... Not until now...

       But isn't that her luck? The one time she wants to say it, the one time she really feels that way, he's going to leave her.

       "I'll see you soon," says Cedric, and he kisses her.

       He moves to walk away. Mia shakes her head, and she holds his hand.

       "You're going to die, Ced, that's why I don't want you to compete," says Mia, speaking quickly. Tears gather in her eyes. Cedric looks incredibly confused. "Briar told me. Please don't compete, I don't know how and I don't think she did either, but something's going to kill you — if you compete you're going to die—"

       Cedric smiles weakly. "Well, uh, at least I know to be careful."

       "Ced..."

       "I'll see you soon," he tells her, trying to reassure her.

       He walks away, towards where the other champions are standing. Mia stands there, stairs for the stands on either side of her, and she steps backwards. She doesn't want to stay for this. She looks up towards where the Ministry officials are standing, hoping her mum's here. Mum doesn't work in the Ministry, but rather at St Mungos, and her work with children and families has been enough to gain her a good reputation since what happened to Dad. She was invited, and she was going to come... But Mia can't see her. Fuck's sakes, Mia needs her mum. The entire world could end and Mia's mum would still be there for her — but where is she, now?

       Mia starts to cry, turning away from the entrance to the maze before Cedric steps into it. She hears people cheer for him, and she covers her ears with her hands, just as a girl with ice-white hair (she thinks it's Malfoy?) rushes past her. She wants to think that maybe, because he knows, he'll be able to avoid it, but how will she know? Either he comes back dead, or he comes back alive... But the Seer told her the first one and Mia can't help but believe that's going to happen.

       Her best friend's going to die...

✨

       "MIA, BABY," SAYS EMILIA, knocking on her bedroom door. She lets herself in, and she's holding a tray with Mia's dinner on. Cheesy pasta bake. Mia's favourite. She sets it down on the dresser, and she sits down next to Mia. "I want to make sure you're OK... I know you don't want to stay here, believe me, none of us do, but it's the safest thing right now. And I know you're annoyed with your father, but, forget about that right now. More importantly... Do you want to talk? About Cedric?"

       She looks up at her mum. Tears are already gathering in her eyes.

       "I lost my best friends, too," says Emilia, speaking softly. "I know what you're going through... You can tell me anything."

       So Mia does.

       From start to finish. How Briar told her the prediction, how she told Cedric that she loved him and how she couldn't say it the time before. How she even told Cedric he was going to die but that wasn't enough. How she was so alone afterwards, how she wished her mum was there... How she still feels terrible. Mia could've stopped it, and she didn't.

       Emilia wraps her arms around her.

       "I'm so sorry I wasn't there," she tells her. She hugs Mia tightly, and Mia cries into her shoulder. Emilia lightly runs her hand up and down Mia's back, comforting her. "I'll make sure I'm there, next time... But you need to do something."

       Mia pulls away from her, to look at her.

       Emilia frowns. "Your best friend died and that's terrible, but it was not your fault," she tells her. "You were told it was going to happen? You can't stop visions from happening. You cannot blame yourself for his death, because it was not your fault..." Mia opens her mouth, but Emilia continues. "I know you don't feel that way right now." Oh. This is what Mia means when she says, her mum gets her. "But you're gonna do something — every day you are going to tell yourself, it was not your fault. And at the start, it won't feel true, but you'll begin to realise that it is... Be thankful for the time you've spent with him, and begin to move on."

       Mia sighs. "I guess..."

       "You need to live for him," says Emilia, and that's what sets it off.

       A new spark in Mia blossoms.

       You need to live for him.

       You need to live for him, she tells herself, as she cuts her hair short, ending just below her jawline. She goes shopping with her parents; she buys some new clothes, some new makeup, a couple of muggle books on famous muggles. One on Frida Kahlo, the artist, and one on fashion in film. It's super interesting, even if she's only seen a handful of muggle movies.

       She gets a job at the muggle café a five minute walk away. The Angel Café. She introduces herself as Aria, her middle name, so she won't be traced back, and she cooks up a fake C.V., detailing the muggle version of O.W.L.s. She makes a couple of friends, working at the café, and it's awkward explaining that she goes to a boarding school in Scotland, but quickly they move past it, and Mia's got some new friends to talk to. About things like Nirvana and No Doubt... and the boy that keeps on getting coffee at the café, who apparently keeps on staring at her...

       You need to live for him.

       Mia thinks she's doing that. Or, at least, she's trying to.

       It's around four o'clock when she gets home from work, her hair tied into an awkward ponytail (her hair can only just fit into one) and her clothes reeking of a smell she can only describe as kitchen. Someone spilled cappuccino on her. The coffee smell blends charmingly well with the smell of dirty dishes and toast... But, it's money, and Mia wants to buy more clothes. It's a cruel, capitalistic world she lives in.

        She has a shower. She thinks it's the last day of school for everyone else, but she can't remember exactly. All she knows is that she has no more work until next week, and Mia cannot wait to have a lie-in tomorrow morning.

       She blow dries her hair with her Nirvana record on full blast. Mia sits back onto her bed, her warm, freshly washed hair hugging her face. She feels a lot better. She doesn't spend every day reminding herself that it isn't her fault — jury's still out on that one — but she does remind herself to live for him. So, piece by piece, she's going to live for him. And, right now, living for him, means moving on too fast. She'd argue it can even be classed as moving on. She's just letting an attractive boy with great arms call her pretty. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded.

       The record gets to the end of the side — but before she can flip it over again, she hears a voice...

       ... A familiar voice...

       She practically runs down the stairs, to find Holly Malfoy, a girl in the year below, carrying a trunk up the stairs. She gives Mia a smile, but it's an unimpressed one, before she sighs. "Get ready for the fuckin' cavalry," she tells Mia.

       Mia frowns.

       And then Briar Crouch shows up, in all her golden glory.

       And then, just as Mia lies back on her bed upstairs, her stomach filling with dread, a God-awful familiar voice makes her sit up immediately, crossing the room to the door. Already she feels annoyed again, because shit, if it's who she thinks it is, she's going to kill someone.

       She opens the door.

       And, low and behold, Fred and George Weasley are standing there, with their trunks.

       Mia's going to kill someone.

       "What are you doing?" she says.

       She hasn't liked them since they lost a Quidditch match to Hufflepuff, and they were awful to Cedric because of it. Now the defensiveness behind her dislike is even worse, because he's gone, and all she can see when she sees them two is they were such assholes to Ced...

       "Oh, well, since the Order of the Phoenix is using this as their headquarters, we're all staying here over the summer," says Fred.

       Mia is going to kill someone.

       "... Right," she says.

       "So you're next to us?" says Fred, and already the twins are exchanging looks. Mia can't read them well, mostly because she doesn't want to know anything about them, but she can tell they're unhappy with this, too. "Brilliant."

       "Bloody kill us," says George, grumbling.

       Mia just might.

emilia's advice is literally to thank u next cedric i can't lmao

anyways. i hope you enjoyed?? i didn't realise there'd be this much sirius bashing but also......... sis he made a couple of Bad Parenting Choices,,,,,, and like,,,, think about it,,,, mia would've grown up idolising him because he wasn't around and now that he's not living up to that?? Angst City that's what it is

there won't really be flashbacks in the future but if u guys haven't read clueless (which is fine!!! u dont have to in order to understand this!!!) i had to introduce the fact that mia was told cedric was gonna die. (but if u have read clueless 🙃 u know there's another Thing 🙃 that happened 🙃 and that's gotta be mentioned too woooooo)

i really enjoyed writing this so i hope you guys enjoyed reading it!! let me know what you thought, as well!!!

also??? mia and george having the same reaction??? Married Couple amiright

also???? saving mia black is still on she's literally just moving on w the self unhealthy coping mechanism as before??? silly sausage xoxox