twenty three fallen star

✨

          MIA HAS BEEN GETTING into painting recently.

         She always used to enjoy it, how everything slipped away until the world was gone, and it was her and her canvas. It made her appreciate the simplest of beauties; from the curve of a petal to the subtle contour of someone's cheekbone, it all felt divinely beautiful when her paintbrush was its cause. She would have to focus deeply on these qualities, and she thinks that's why she understood the beauty in everything.

          Art is a great way to overcome trauma, Mia has learnt. In the past four weeks, she feels as though she has transferred most of her emotions into her work. She spent the first week on a painting of Cedric. A realistic piece, or at least, half of his face is realistic, the rest being sketched outlines. The whole week was spent on one half of his face, perfecting every detail in her reference picture, and adding the smaller details she remembered. His light dusting of freckles, that you only really saw when you were up-close. The little dot of darker pigment in one eye. The warmth of his smile... But after a week, this intense fascination over his face disappeared. Mia felt better, and she didn't feel the need to finish it off. It was as if this painting had plucked all of the sadness left in her. Not to mention, she liked the symbolism of him being half-painted, half-not. Like his life, it ended before it was finished. She thought it was nuanced, as did her art teacher.

         In an attempt to ignore exam stress, Mia spent the next week painting twin portraits. She got her mum to send pictures of herself and her dad — with no explanation, thinking this would be a cool Father's Day gift — and her mum responded with pretty black-and-white pictures of the two, when they were teenagers. It looks as if they took them of each other. Mia never saw this picture of her dad before, but she's decided it's her favourite. His eyes are closed, and he's smiling warmly. He has one hand over his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun. It's not that he looks happy, he looks... Well, he looks content.

         Mia supposes she hasn't seen him like that before. His life was altered when she was a toddler. In the painting of his, she began to think about how it must've been for him, how young he was when that all happened. She began to wish she could've had the dad in this picture. She began to grieve that a little, but she began to notice little details in his face that she's inherited. They have the same bump in their nose, for example. The same weirdly shaped nail, but only on their left middle finger.

          She loves her mother to death. Whenever she sees pictures of her mum from back then, she struggles to picture it, because to her, her mum was born to be her mum. Emilia Black, neé Salvatore, is the most wonderful woman Mia has ever met, and she doesn't know what good karma she had in a past life to deserve her as her mother. She paints the picture of her mother and she feels nothing but love. She thinks of her emotional magic, and how it came from her mother; how really, it is her mother looking out for her, always... She thinks about how awful it must've been for her mother, that day her relatives all died...

          Mia packages the two paintings the second she's finished with them, and alongside the usual Father's Day message, adds, I love you lots, Mia xxx. She's been thinking recently... Her dad, before all of this awfulness, must've been such a cool guy. Like, her mum married him. Sometimes he's kinda cool now, too. She told him how she's been getting into painting, and he told her to write a list of every supply she needs, so he could get them for her.

          The last couple weeks were taken over by Mia's exams, but in her spare time, she got an old sketchbook and practised figure work. It was fun, she thought, looking at herself in the mirror and drawing the lines and curves she saw. It made her appreciate herself.

          It was in those last couple weeks that Mia understood the beauty of art. It helped her calm down. It helped her understand her own emotions, it helped her channel them into something better than a broken lightbulb, or a flooded bathroom. She could move the emotional charge away from herself, into something else.

          And that's where she is now. It's the last day of exams. Mia's got one left this afternoon, and she's a little nervous, but she thinks it'll be OK. The most important ones are next year, anyway. These are just mocks. But she still wants to do well, duh! She's spent all of lunch going through her revision notes with Archie, who looks bored to death.

          "Hypothetically speaking..." Archie begins. "If we kill Malfoy and he dies in the exam hall... We all get our predicted grades."

          Mia frowns. "Do you think I'd be invited to the funeral?"

          Archie shrugs. "Well, if they don't find out you killed him, maybe."

          "Maybe..." says Mia, thinking to herself. "I feel like Aunt Bellatrix would try and kill my dad, though, so maybe not..."

          "I mean, she's not killing you," says Archie, as a reassurance.

          Mia pulls a face. Intrigued agreement.

          See, Archie finished his exams yesterday, so he's a free man. Mia, on the other hand, is worrying. She knows these exams aren't that important, but she still wants to do well! She feels like she revised really well this year, and especially since she didn't take any exams last year because of Cedric — well, she wants to prove herself.

          Mia eventually gives up on being tested, deciding that if she doesn't know it now, she's hopeless. Instead, she lies down on the grass, the two having claimed George and Fred's old spot in the castle grounds. It's close enough to the tree to get a little shade, but not so much that she can't tan. Sometimes, Mia sees people walk past in envy. Mia wants to tell them, "It's compensation for dating one of them, ta-ta!"

          Not like they gave Mia and Archie the spot. In actuality, the two realised the spot would be free, and the second it turned lunchtime the day after the twins' departure, Mia and Archie ran to claim the space. Maybe their closeness to the twins helped them out, but still. Mia likes to think it's the least George can do... Not that he did anything wrong...

          (The real reason, but don't tell anyone this, is that Mia misses George, and she likes the memory of him here. Sue her, OK? She thinks it's perfectly normal to think that way. But that's why she mentioned it to Archie, emphasising the shade-but-not-too-much-shade benefits. Maybe Archie knew she was bullshitting, but he never told her. She loves him for that.)

          Mia closes her eyes, enjoying the sun. She loves Hogwarts in the summer. Everything feels so much more peaceful... She isn't even thinking about the anniversary of a certain someone's death.

          "You alright, kid?"

          She opens one eye to see who Archie's talking to. She should've realised it would be Harry, considering the random nickname, but still. Harry's on his own, and Mia figures that Hermione's in the library still.

          "Oh, are you going to the exam now?" says Mia, to Harry.

          "'Bout to, yeah," he says. "Is yours now, too?"

          Mia sits up. "Yeah... Hang on, I'll come with."

          Archie gives her a thumbs-up. He likes to act like an annoying parent, because he knows it winds Mia up. She gives him a light thwack on the head as she gets to her feet.

          "Good luck!" says Archie with a grin. "I'm gonna be here, getting hotter by the minute."

          Harry looks at his older brother with a raised eyebrow. Mia smirks.

          "You need to be humbled," says Mia, to Archie.

          Harry snorts.

          Mia picks up her bag, and begins to walk with Harry to the castle. It's strange, how they sort-of get along now. Like, she'd never call them best friends, but she can be around him for extended periods without wanting to kill him. That's progress, right?

          "How, uh, are the twins?" says Mia, but she means George.

          "Oh, erm, I haven't spoken to them much," says Harry. "But Mrs Weasley says she's proud, so I suppose they're doing well."

          Mia feels a pang in her heart. "Cool," she says.

          She misses George so much.

          But she tries to reel that all in. She can't fail this exam because she's thinking about a boy. That would be stupid of her. She can struggle sleeping because she's thinking about him, she can daydream about him and his annoying face, she can indulge in every thought about him — but doing that, in an exam, is the final straw.

          Mia and Harry arrive at the Great Hall, which has been cleared for the exams, swapping the dining tables for small desks. Mia smiles at Harry, and they wish each other good luck. She can already feel her heart pattering in nervousness. Calm, calm, calm... She thinks of anything other than exams, which of course means that her mind falls back to George. It comforts her for a little bit, but then she feels weird. She shouldn't be using the image of an ex, surely, to calm her down? He isn't hers anymore. She knows she needed to be alone for a little while, but still, she feels this awful longing for him.

          "You have one and a half hours. You may start your exams."

          She tries to get him out of her mind, but she quickly stumbles into thoughts about him. She wonders what his shop is like. She wonders if it is successful. She wonders what he wears to work, if he's got t-shirts printed with the logo on, or something cooler. She wonders if he's happy. She wonders if he fancies anyone else. She wonders if he thinks about her. She wonders—

          There's a massive crash in the hall.

          Mia turns her head sharply, to see that Harry's collapsed on the floor. He's forced to his feet by Professor Tofty, the invigilator, who ushers him outside. Mia frowns. That's... weird. Harry's never been like that before. She feels the overwhelming sense that something is really wrong... She remembers back to last summer, and her stomach starts to twist.

          No. Come on. It's fine. She reassures herself. She's worrying because she's worrying about exams. This is all fine. Nothing is wrong. And if something is, she will finish her exam first. She returns to her exam paper, and tries to shake the worry she feels. She can investigate afterwards. It's nothing to do with her right now.

          She tries to distract herself from Harry, and back to her exam. Her mind easily wanders to George, but she allows it, deciding it's better than worrying about Harry.

          The second the exam finishes, though, she gets to her feet. She tries to catch Ron and Hermione before they leave, but they were let out three rows before her, so by the time she leaves, they're long gone. Archie, though, is waiting for Mia outside of the hall. She opens her mouth to explain what happened, but he shakes his head.

          "I know, let's go."

          Archie grabs her hand to pull them both through the crowd. He walks quicker than her, which means she's being pulled along by him. He leads them away from the crowd, to an empty hallway.

          Mia begins, "Do you know what—?"

          "I'll tell you when we get there," he says. "But Mia — what's happening is scary, but please don't react badly, because we'll need you later on—"

          "What does that mean?" says Mia. "I don't understand—"

         They get to an empty classroom, and Archie lets them in. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville are all stood there. They look straight at Mia, almost with pity. She gets flashbacks to the year before.

          "Why are you all looking at me?" she says.

           "Mia..." says Hermione, but she stops herself, as if she doesn't know how to explain.

          Mia looks over at Archie. Secretly she wishes George was here.

          "Why do you all look scared...?" says Mia. "What's going on?"

          "Mia," says Harry, carefully. "Voldemort has Sirius."

hi im SO sorry it's been months! years! decades! pls enjoy this chapter! i cba to do indents anymore btw lol so i hope this isn't an annoying inconsistency to the previous chapters. let me know what you thought of this!<3