◤ ❝Can you imagine how boring the world would be without Slytherins there to entertain them? Granted, there would probably be less death, I'll admit we have a bad running streak, but you can never have everything good within our house. That would just be a disrespect to Salazar himself.❞ ― Tracey Davis ◢

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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:  THANATOS

March 28, 1983

           Celicia and Athella Nott kept to themselves. They were not the sisters who involved themselves too deeply in political affairs, nor did they overstep any boundaries when they were younger by asking the wrong questions to the wrong people. Athella, being older than Celicia by nearly ten years, made her the role model of the two―and a role model, she was. Celicia learned a lot from Athella. She taught her how to deal with their mother on her worst days, explained to her every small thing that she should remember before joining the Slytherin house at Hogwarts school, she was the sole reason by Celicia did not die of a heart attack the moment she discovered she was pregnant, but above all: Athella Nott was regal in her own sense, and the pureblood parties sodded deep with the Dark Lord's demise never phased her. Celicia was still learning that.

The sisters, although personable in their own natures, tended to stick to the side of the room where the other wives were and hold light conversation with anyone close enough to listen. This party, however, was different. It was being hosted in the Nott house this time, and Athella had no choice but to socialize with those in the room. Eldrice was fanning out around the entire room drunkenly, tugging his younger wife into his side every time she tried to escape. Celicia could never do anything, though, so she stayed in the corner and watched with distaste. Eldrice had never been a gentle drunk.

Celicia's eyes moved away from Athella when her sister walked over to the Goyle's, and they caught instead on another distasteful sight. Alastiare was conversing with the siblings, Amycus and Alecto Carrow. She had never liked them. Although there were many people in the room she shared that opinion about, there was always something about the Carrows that twisted her insides. Perhaps it was because she knew Alecto had always been infatuated with her husband, or the looks that Amycus would always momentarily show the children in the room. 

Thankfully, the conversation Alastiare was having with them did not last much longer because he was walking over to her with an expressionless stare burning his green eyes. She waited with raised brows, noticing that Alecto started glaring at her the moment Alastiare came over. Her husband must have seen too because he gently grabbed her elbow and turned their bodies so that their lips were turned away from the rest of the room. 

"One day I am going to wipe that look off that wench's face―" 

Celicia started her complaints, but she was interrupted when her husband sent her a look, making her stop in her threat. She felt her teeth tighten menacingly before she waited expectantly for him to begin talking. Immediately, whatever blank look he once wore was replaced with a shadow of the man she fell in love with. Alastiare's eyes always gave him away, and she could see the ghost of a haunted pain lingering behind. There was only one thing that could create such a painful expression, and Celicia's heart twisted at his hurt.

Alastiare hesitated, his stare flickering darkly to hers. "He has been placed in solitary."

"What?" Celicia asked in disbelief. "How do you know?" 

"Amycus overheard an Auror while visiting the Ministry, talking about how the Dementors have taken a particular liking to him when they went to speak to him last. They say he still claims he had no involvement in the deaths of those muggles, but Crouch doesn't believe his word enough to let him have a trial..." Alastiare's mouth pulled down, lip tightening to keep from showing his disgust. "Lupin has been spoken to. He gave his statement on the relationship between him and those friends of his...apparently even he believes...."

He stopped talking, hatred filling his eyes, and Celicia took over. "And there is still no chance Pettigrew survived?" 

"Oh, there is every chance, Cece. The man is as much a rat in human form as his Animagus. I told him that more than once, but he never listened to me. If I had known―" 

Once again, Alastiare's words trailed off and he was overcome with emotion. Celicia watched solemnly, knowing that he had been struggling for nearly three years with the same thought. He could have done something. No matter how many times she repeated that he had no choice, Alastiare would never forgive himself for what happened on the night of October 31, 1981. Both of them struggled with the news of the Potters. Celicia pretended the tears did not fall at the loss of her old classmate, Lily. Alastiare ignored the guilt that festered more and more every time he thought about their deaths. At the end of the day, it was not the end of the Dark Lord that upset either one of them so greatly, but what came with his death. 

"Alastiare..." 

Her words were soft on her tongue, but every emotion that they were trying to say still burned through. Alastiare's head shook in denial, eyes moving away from her so that he could inspect the room around him. No one was paying any attention to them, except possibly Athella who only gave him a worn smile before she returned to her conversation with the Malfoy's. The dull, diseased emptiness in his bones returned as he looked on at the group of people he had devoted so much of his life to working with. The Dark Lord's followers, disguised into a room full of pureblood families acting as though their leader was not dead.

"I will not give up on him, Cece. Not like everyone else has. If it were me, I know he would do the same." 

Anyone eavesdropping would think that Alastiare meant the Dark Lord, but it was Celicia that knew the truth better than anyone else. Sirius Black was a name they did not speak out loud, but it rang like sirens in their ears with every passing day. Years could go by, and Celicia feared that her husband would never truly find happiness in a world where his friend was locked away for something that he could have prevented. He could have done something. But could he have? 

Celicia noticed that Alastiare's attention had sprung to a different area of the room, both of their stares softening at the sight. There was a small corner in the large space set up for the children, toys bewitched around them to fly past their heads and turn them each into giggling messes. One toddler in particular seemed overjoyed, her curly dark hair flying wildly around her flustered face as she moved to catch the figurine of Salazar Slytherin. At her side was a white-haired boy grinning as he watched her, and trying to shove her away from the figurine was her laughing cousin. 

Something solid, resembling a sob, made it hard to swallow her next question. "Will you ever tell her about him?" 

"Why give her something she has already lost?" he asked thickly, and she knew by that alone Alastiare was thinking of everything he could never tell his daughter about Sirius Black. 

"Because it shows the man that you are, Alastiare. The friend you have been. Your daughter will be proud of that―of you. She may never know him, but she can know of the man that he helped you be. Let her see that your past can lead her future. Show her that friendship can beat a war."

Alastiare scowled, his stare darkening sickly. "But that is just the thing. We did not win." 

"I don't believe your fight for him is over just yet." 

"It should be," he offered lowly, watching as the little girl reached with tiny hands to grab another figurine. "What more can come from fighting for a man whose life has already been sentenced away? Sentence my own, as well? Sentence yours? Hers?" 

Celicia frowned. "There is possibility. Hope." 

"You say those words as if they hold any meaning in my life, Cece." 

Just then, the little girl from across the room darted her head up quickly and she turned in their direction. A grin stretched along her small, red face and swelled the hearts of her parents to a dangerous degree. Then, before either one of them knew it, she had pushed up from the ground and darted through the crowd of wizards to get to them. Her bright red dress swished around her feet, and she toddled around with the feet of a three-year-old. 

When she showed no means of stopping, Alastiare let out a low rumble from his chest and bent down to catch the small girl just before she collided with his legs. Her excited giggles melted into his quiet laughter, bringing her up against his chest by the back of her knees. Celicia watched them, an unmeasurable amount of emotion flooding through her as her daughter reached to wrap her small hand around her father's neck to hold herself in place. 

"Daddy! Guess what I caught!" she said, grinning wildly as she moved to shove the figurine in her other hand between the two of them. It was small and dainty looking, but even from her place, Celicia could see what it was. "It's the red house man!" 

Alastiare smiled at his daughter's enthusiasm, easily correcting her. "Gryffindor."

"Yeah! Theo likes them 'cause his favorite color is red. Do you have any Giff―Giffin―" she paused at the unfamiliarity of the word on her tongue and corrected herself, "red house friends?" 

Although the little girl had absolutely no idea what she had unintentionally asked, the question felt like a punch to her father's gut. He tried to keep the smile on his face, but it twisted and his cheeks burned to keep himself from falling apart right then and there. His hold tightened around his daughter, clutching her for any form of support as the figurine of Godric Gryffindor stayed absently between them. 

Then, he uttered the words that would scar him for the rest of his life. "No, sweetheart. Only green." 

Celicia looked over at her husband, trying to hide the shock on her face. If Andromeda Erebus gave any indication of disappointment, it was in the way her lip jutted out and she let out a faint "oh," to hide her upset. Alastiare only hiked her up further to make her smile return. She held onto his neck tighter, and Celicia ignored the urge to scoff at just how much they were wrapped around each other's fingers. She could only hope that they were as close in the future as they were now.

"How about this," he started with a soft look in his eyes. "Once you go off to school when you are older, find you a red house friend or two, all right? For me." 

"What if I am a red house?" 

"Then you'll be the best of them all," he said without pause, shocking his daughter and wife both at how easily he accepted the notion. "The color of your house does not matter as much as the heart you have, and yours is lit with a million little, bright stars."

Little Mia paused, looking down at him with a twinkle in her eye. Then, her free hand clutching the Gryffindor tightly stuck out between their faces. Alastiare realized that her pinky was out, struggling to hold the body of the figurine and do so at the same time. The small, muggle action was a characteristic that she and her cousin picked up from the Radnor sisters, Celicia and Athella commonly doing it with each other and their children. Andromeda just did not realize that, like a lightning strike, another remnant of pain struck his spine. 

"Promise?" 

Ghostly pain haunting him with every muscle moved, he brought a hand up so that he could wind their pinky fingers tightly around one another, and he ignored the memory that resurfaced in his mind right after. 

"I promise, Little Star." 

Andromeda Erebus would never know Sirius Black, but Alastiare Erebus would never forget him. As he clutched onto his daughter's pinky tightly, he could not help but feel Celicia's words echoing in the back of his mind as he gazed with admiration at his little girl―possibility. 

Hope. 

――――――――――

January 6, 1997

"Look. I'm only saying that it sounds like a terrible idea to have all of us learning to teleport when I can think right off the top of my head how many people I would willingly send to the depths of hell...yes, Parkinson, I am looking at the back of your big head. It is difficult to ignore." 

"You can't send other people anywhere without sending yourself as well, Davis. Fancy a place in hell with Parkinson?" 

"'Least I'd have the opportunity to watch her burn before I go." 

Andromeda and Tracey were going on with one another, bickering back and forth in the common room as they watched the slew of students standing in the line beside their notice boards. After everyone returned for breakfast before class started, Daphne was the first to notice the large sign. Being her, she ended up making a big show of it and had half of the sixth-years stumbling over one another to sign up. Mia and Theodore both opted on staying back, watching the chaos burn down before them. Neither cousin was surprised to see Tracey push through everyone first with a victorious sneer on her lips. 

"I hate Apparating," Mia said with a shrug, her eyes catching on Theo's as they both recounted the last time they Apparated and she had a bad reaction. "Makes you feel ill in the insides." 

Tracey turned to her in surprise. "You've Apparated? What? When―why did I not know about this?"

"Because I don't feel the burning desire to tell you every detail of my life. The story isn't very exciting, anyway. My family has been bringing us along for Side-Along Apparition since we were old enough. It was never out of the ordinary for us." 

"Lucky!" Tracey jeered, rolling her eyes. "Mom always used to say that 'children weren't allowed to Apparate so young' which I always thought was a load of bullocks―oh, she'll hear about it now. Daphne! Did you know Mia and Nott have Apparated?" 

The conversation was a mess from there, and Mia left her blue-haired cousin to deal with the chaos left behind as their friends got eager to ask questions about Apparition. She made her way over to the sign now that the crowd had finally disappeared, her eyes trailing down the list of her classmates before finally going back up to the top of the sign itself. Her fingers tightened instinctively on the quill she grabbed for her signature, trying to ignore the growing concern at the thought of having another panic attack in front of their entire year and a Ministry Official.

APPARITION LESSONS

If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on or before the 31st of August next, you are eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor. Please sign below if you would like to participate. Cost: 12 Galleons.

"It isn't as bad as it sounds, you know?" 

Mia turned her head to the voice, seeing Andrew standing only a few feet away from her with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. Curiosity swept over her, wondering why the boy was talking to her again. He had clearly been distancing himself, she wasn't an idiot, but after the stunt he pulled at breakfast, he had her perplexed. She did not understand why he would protect her and Draco when she had only left him confused and dejected after Slughorn's Christmas party. 

Mia had never been one for work-around conversations. "What are you doing?" 

"Beg your pardon?" he asked, looking at her in confusion. 

"I said, 'what are you doing,' Andrew. Why the civil conversations after what happened? Why cover for me this morning―and don't pretend like nothing has changed between us. I spoke with Theodore over break, and he explained everything to me about what the two of you talked about." 

Andrew's eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise. "Everything?" 

"I wanted to go with you, you know, to Slughorn's party," she admitted quietly, continuing with a frown as she began picking at the end of the quill in her hand. "I never had the intention to hurt you, and I meant every word I said before, but..." 

"But I'm not him," he finished, and her head shot up in alarm. Andrew smiled softly, shrugging. "I was the one who developed feelings for a girl knowing the world was against me for it, but I wouldn't take back a single one of them. If he makes you happy, then so be it...you know, from the moment we danced at the Yule Ball two years ago, I told myself I would make it my mission to make you smile...I can still do that as a friend."

Mia felt the dig of his every word, and there were so many things that her mind was racing to reply with, but she felt the sole obligation to say only one. "It took you two years to work up the courage and tell me how you felt about me? That sounds very uncharacteristic of you." 

"Ah, ouch," he laughed. "To my own defense, you and Theodore were not exactly the most outgoing of sorts the last few years. This year...this is the most that I have seen you break out of yourself. Theodore, as well. What happened with your fathers is not something I would wish upon my greatest enemy but...it changed something in you...allowed you to let go of something holding you back―or maybe it just showed you the world around you actually does move when your nose isn't stuck in a book. Crazy thing, isn't it?"

"Oh, shut up," she said with a snort, her free hand going out to shove his shoulder. It was amazing how quickly he could turn a sad conversation back into a lighthearted one. "At least I know how to read. Remember when you were fumbling over the first page of that book in the beginning of the year? I believe the word you were trying to pronounce was 'the'."

"There she is!"

Mia rolled her eyes at his fanatics when he gestured to her with a grin, happy to see that she was back to her old ways. In all honesty, Andrew brought out a childlike freedom to her that she only felt when she was around Theodore. Sometimes, Draco, but that was rare nowadays. The thought of her cousin made her eyes go subconsciously to the center of the room, noticing all of her friends crowded around and shoving various things into their bags for their first class in twenty minutes. Theodore was already set, of course, and leaning against the fireplace mantle talking with Daphne. 

She paused, her lips pulling into a soft smile at Theo, before she turned back to Andrew. He was staring in the same direction as her, a similar smile stretching on his face that only stayed when his gaze finally peered down at her. "I never said thank you."

 "For what?" 

"Being his friend," she explained, and when his brow quirked in question, she continued. "Since the beginning and you first wanted him on the team, you said you would watch out for him―that his last name didn't matter..."

Andrew shook his head, accidentally interrupting her. "It doesn't." 

"I know that it doesn't to you, but it does to others. You have seen the looks we get...it hasn't been easy. His entire life has been spent watching after me, hiding in this shell of himself because he never had the opportunity to find what it was that he truly enjoyed. Since he started playing, practicing with you...Quidditch has made him more outgoing. You have made him happier, so thank you." 

Andrew's face lit up, his smile spreading warmly on his face. She watched his green eyes flicker briefly over her head, no doubt looking at her cousin, before they returned back down to her. "He has a way of making you see things about yourself, you know? Theodore is too kind for everything that he has been through―both of you are. I wish more people could see that."

"Come on now. That would just ruin our image. You do remember whose house we are standing in now, don't you?" 

He snorted. "I remember. You really are a terrible Slytherin, Mia." 

"That's funny, coming from a Hufflepuff heart."

"Speaking of my heart, I believe it is about to ripped from its comfortable place beneath my ribs with the look that your new admirer is giving me. He's really oblivious about that, by the way. I suspect you'll have to knock some sense into him and tell him to rally in those emotions before he accidentally murders someone."

Andrew's statement made Mia turn around in confusion, glancing around until she finally realized who he was talking about. Sitting next to Blaise on one of the sofas was Draco, his grey eyes narrowed on them with a scowl threatening to spread across his lips. When she met his gaze, his brow only flickered up briefly at her. He then gestured with his line of sight to Andrew, and she knew he was asking what she was doing. She ignored it, rolling her eyes for him to see, before turning around and trying to block his view of Andrew completely. 

"Theodore said the two of you haven't admitted your feelings to each other," Andrew said. "Just that you finally realized it yourself...it's painfully obvious, but I know that he is still with Parkinson, right?" 

The familiar urge to deny any romantic feelings for Draco was there, but she knew that having feelings for him was a cover-up story Theodore made for her and she couldn't risk that lie exploding in their faces. So she bit down on the lie and nodded her head slowly, trying to keep the distorted expression away as she did so.

"Right," she said, and then paused when she realized that he may get the wrong idea about what he was covering up for that morning. She quickly went to explain. "Nothing is happening between us. This morning―I would never...he and I were just up talking late about our fathers. I would murder him myself if he cheated on her. I dislike her, but I've still lived with her for six years. I could never do that to her."

Andrew pursed his lips in thought, glancing back at him. "Do you ever think he's with her just to rile you up?" 

"What?" 

"To make you jealous," he explained, and at her blank stare, he only sighed dramatically. "You really are horrible at interpersonal relationships, Mia. He's probably only with Parkinson because he wants to see how you will react to them dating...or it was all out of spite because he thought you and I were together. Green-eyed monster and all." 

Mia was shaking her head before he even finished his last sentence. "No. I don't think that's it. Theodore said something like that already―" 

"Great minds do think alike." 

"―but...no. He doesn't have feelings for me, and I don't have the time to have feelings for him." 

Andrew looked at her blatant denial of things before his eyes went overhead once again. Then, his forehead creased in contemplation before he glanced back down toward her. "Can I kiss you?"

"Wha―" her eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the question. "No. What? Andrew." 

"I want to prove a point here," he explained with a sigh, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. "It wouldn't mean anything, of course. I mean, there are ulterior motives underlying in this for me because I am a Slytherin, and I would never pass on the opportunity to kiss you since we never got to that stage in our love affair, but only with your consent―" 

"Please stop talking. I have class soon." 

His eyes lit with amusement, still looking past her every so often. "I know one way to get me to stop talking...so, can I kiss you, Andromeda?" 

"Why?" she asked with raised brows. "What point are you trying to prove?" 

"Remember that green-eyed monster I was talking about? A sure way to get people to realize their feelings. Plus, if I am going to continue lying about a secret relationship between us so that you and Malfoy can have late-night talks, we may as well make it believable." 

Mia finally realized where he was getting at and knew that his second reasoning was good enough as is. The alibi would help a lot. Then, she remembered that he wanted to kiss her to prove that Draco had feelings for her, as well. A frown started to appear, thinking that it was a lost cause because there was no possible way that he would have feelings for her. Even if it was to just prove to Andrew (and herself) that Draco was not jealous and certainly did not have feelings for her, she decided to just agree. 

She sucked in a deep, hesitant breath before nodding. "Fine―but I'll draw blood if you try anything." 

"I don't doubt it," he said with a grin. "If you don't want to or don't feel comfortable, there's no worry. I have a feeling I could pat your head and your boyfriend would rip my limb well off my shoulder." 

"I have a point to prove, too. Like that he isn't my boyfriend." 

Andrew only raised his brow at the challenge and smiled at her. For the last time, he glanced past her head before focusing all of his attention on her. Noticing the way that his green eyes pierced hers, she suddenly felt swirling in her stomach and realized it was her nerves skyrocketing. His hands were out of his pockets and situating themselves gently on either side of her face, one of them getting caught around a wave of dyed blue hair and making him grin lightly at her. 

"No turning back now," he said softly, his face suddenly close enough that she could feel his lips when he spoke. 

Instead of replying, the anticipation had gotten to Mia. She closed to final few centimeters between their lips, her body immediately molding to the new contact and accepting the kiss. There were warning bells lighting up in her mind telling her that she should not be doing this, but then Andrew's hand slid from her face to the back of her neck, and she forgot about them. Her fingers went for his robe, and his teeth caught briefly on her lip as he parted them. Andrew did not kiss the way that she would expect. His lips were soft, but with a hardness that made her wonder just how much he was compartmentalizing his emotions. 

She stepped back when she felt that hardness begin to fade, knowing that both of them were slipping too deeply into something that was meant to be an act. Oh, how her fourteen-year-old self would have laughed. As her hand went up to her lips to wipe away the wetness, Andrew's dark green eyes struggled to return to their normal light color. They were not far enough away that it looked unnatural, but enough to inspect one another's unruly state. Both of their faces were flushed, chests rising and falling from going without a breath. Almost immediately, she could feel the tinge of residual emotion flooding through her heart for the boy.

"Oh, gross," a gagging sound was suddenly heard from behind them. "There goes my breakfast." 

Mia and Andrew both turned at the sounds, seeing that Blaise was the one gagging. Most of their common room around them was unbothered by the display of affection, too busy getting ready for the day (and because they had definitely seen worse). The only people noticeably bothered were Mia's little group of friends, rolling her eyes at the way Blaise was literally gagging into his bag dramatically. Only when he pulled away long enough to give her a sly wink did she remember that he was rooting for her and Andrew. Tracey and Daphne, too, who both looked like they were going to pass out from happiness. 

Her eyes wandered over to her cousin, preparing herself for the worst seeing as she made a show of pushing Andrew away, but Theodore was not looking at her. His attention was on the floor, busying himself by looking at his wand with deep interest. She heard Andrew let out a disgruntled sound from his chest, and she glanced over to see that he was also focused on Theodore's reaction. Before she could figure out why he looked so disappointed, Andrew's attention skipped over Theodore's head and a smirk started to pull on his lips. 

His eyes turned to her expectantly, moving so that he could whisper in her ear. "Do you need more proof?" 

Mia instantly turned in the direction she knew he was looking at and stopped dead in her tracks. There were many times in her life that she had seen Draco visibly upset. More often than not, it came with the territory of being able to read his emotions and expressions so well. That wasn't necessary this time. His pale complexion was twisted into a grim sneer, almost like he was trying to cover up his disgust at the sight but failing miserably. When her eyes traveled down lower, she noticed that his hands were digging deeply into the side of the sofa, squeezing tightly onto the fabric. 

None of that was the biggest giveaway that Draco was upset―his eyes were. It was always his eyes. While they were usually vexed and exasperated with her, they never hardened with hate the way that they did when he talked to other people. In that moment, she could see the biggest block in the iron grey and his emotions. Knowing that, she could not help the feeling from building up in her chest. Like she had been caught, and she needed to instantly explain herself to him. But why would she need to? He was not her keeper.

"Well...I guess we know what they meant by studying now," Tracey interrupted the pause of silence to smirk at Mia. Then, she glanced over at the clock that was hung on the wall over the fireplace and sighed. "Classes start in ten minutes. Flitwick will have my head if I'm late to Charms again...well, come on, you idiots. Stop looking at Mia like she just grew a third head. She kissed her boyfriend. Some of you lot have defiled this common room doing far worse in front of us." 

Like a routine, she and Andrew unconsciously corrected her at the same time. "We're not dating." 

"Friends with benefits―even better. Let's go. Daphne, come on. I don't want to be stuck next to Longbottom or Weasley because all of the seats are taken. Mia, get your cousin. Blaise, move!" 

Tracey had latched onto Daphne's arm and was dragging the girl towards the exit of the common room, setting the others into motion slowly but surely. Blaise let out a loud exhale before pulling himself up, following after the two girls with a stumble in his step. Mia watched Parkinson turn to Draco, and when she tried to tug him up but he wouldn't budge, she rolled her eyes and went on her way without him. 

"I need to head to Transfiguration," Andrew said by her side, his hand going down to squeeze her arm before letting go. "McGonagall will have my head if I'm late..."

Mia nodded and bid the boy goodbye with flushed cheeks, telling him that they would talk later. Andrew started on his way out, pausing only briefly to give a look to her cousin before he went on his way to class. That left her with Theodore and Draco, knowing that they would undoubtedly be late if they didn't leave that second. No one made a move, though. Not until Draco got up briskly, his hands flexing and unflexing unknowingly at his side from frustration. She felt her lips darting down to them, frowning before meeting his eyes when he stood in front of her.

Draco raised his brows at her. "Just going to have at it in the middle of the common room then, Romy? I thought you'd be more the type for privacy."

"Like you and Parkinson?" she asked in defense, retaliating.

"That's different," he dismissed quickly, shutting her down with an eye roll. "At least we're dating." 

"And you are doing a great service to the world. Charity work is always appreciated, even among our kind. You are the best of us, Draco," she gave him a dark look, her sarcasm tipping the point on her mood as she waited for another snarky reply. "Can we go now please? I don't want to miss my first day back to class, even if it is Charms." 

He scoffed. "Maybe if you were less preoccupied swallowing Vaisey's face in front of our entire House, you would be on time. Ever thought of that?"

"No, but I have thought of drowning you mercilessly in the Black Lake on more than one occasion―Theodore, are you coming?" 

She looked back to Theodore, noticing that he was still in the same spot as earlier, unmoving. At the sound of her calling for him, his eyes darted up and he quickly nodded. She watched in brief concern at his odd mannerisms, his shoulders slung heavily and weighing him down more than usual. Like with Draco, she knew him too well, and his blue eyes met with hers momentarily and she could see a storm of confusion within them. Even he didn't know what he was feeling. 

He made his way to her side, both of them mildly surprised to see that the anger-festering Draco was still waiting by the door of the common room for them. As they walked to him, Mia turned to her cousin in question. "Is everything all right?" 

"I think so. I'm not sure." 

Theodore definitely wasn't all right. Ten minutes into Charms class (all of them were just thirty seconds shy of being late), she could see that when he got his spell wrong and nearly took their dear cousin, Hannah's, head off with a water spurt from across the classroom. Unfortunately, them arriving with so little time to spare meant that none of them got seats that they wanted. Because they shared the N.E.W.T. class with the other Houses, it made for an adventure when seating became scarce. 

Theodore ended up stuck next to a Hufflepuff named Ares (who was clearly annoyed by her cousin's distraction), and Draco got thrown into an awkward situation between Looney Lovegood and Parkinson directly across the room from her. Best of all, Mia found herself sitting with a redhead Hufflepuff girl on one side of her and the Weasel from hell on the other. The only shining light was seeing that Potter and his other pathetic comrades were on the other side of Weasley, and that the Chosen One was rightly shaken after their conversation that morning. She loved seeing Potter scared of her.

Still, the idea of being so close to any Gryffindor—specifically that of the Weasel—disgusted her, and she sent daggers across the way at Draco. Blaming him for their tardiness was the only thing keeping her from killing the Hufflepuff next to her, even if it wasn't completely his fault that they were late. Unsurprisingly, the heat of his stare was just as scalding, and not even Professor Flitwick's attempt at learning the Aguamenta charm could calm them.

"How cool will it be when we can just—" Mia's eye twitched at the sound of Finnigan's voice so early in the morning, paired with the irritating sound of him snapping his fingers. "Me cousin Fergus does it just to annoy me, you wait 'til I can do it back...he'll never have another peaceful moment—" 

The conversation she had been cursed enough to be stuck listening to bored her to no end, and she could see all of the Gryffindors trying to pretend like she was the furthest thing from alive. She wished she wasn't, sitting next to them. But then, the idiot Finnigan decided to flick his wand too eagerly and sent a large spout of water directly in Professor Flitwick's face. Not one person was surprised when the boy got lines, but Mia had to momentarily pause from the boring jet of water that was spilling out of her wand and into the goblet they were given. Personally, she enjoyed Incendio much more.

An aggravated "Damn it!" came quietly from her side, and Mia just barely had enough time to look over to her right to realize what was about to happen. The Hufflepuff girl next to her was pointing her wand at the goblet, but the movement she made seemed to upset it because not a second later was the girl's wand spurting out a fountain of water, larger than Finnigan's. Unlike Finnigan, the water did not end up in their professor's direction—but Mia's. 

"Oh, Miss Croft! Not again!" 

The classroom went silent after Flitwick spoke, a choking noise coming out of Weasley's mouth that resembled something to "Nas," before he shut up all together. Andromeda only stared at the desk in front of her, feeling the contents of the water dripping down her face and her soaked hair obscuring her vision. An unconventional amount of irritation began to stir inside of her, the urge to choke the living daylights out of the girl next to her growing with every sound her wet clothing made. 

"Oh, my God! Andromeda, I'm so sorry! I didn't—my wand—oh, my—" the girl was choking out her words, soaked from head-to-toe as well in her own incantation. "My magic is a mess—it's only gotten worse—Merlin, here let me—" 

Mia grit her teeth together tightly and raised a hand, unsurprised to see water dripping off the wrist of her robes. "It's fine."

"But—" 

"It's. Fine," she hissed out, silencing the girl altogether. 

Her murderous eyes went up to look at the rest of the room, picking up on Weasley's wide-eyed expression before anyone else's. His attention was not on her, but the Hufflepuff who caused the mess in the first place. Beside him, Potter looked no better and tried to keep his eyes free of curiosity as he waited for her reaction (no doubt, thinking that she would murder the girl right then and there). A few other students were trying to regain their bearings, and Mia realized for the first time that not one of them dared to look her in the eye. Funny thing how quickly reputations change.

Well, until she got to the bane of her existence, which was her housemates. Tracey had her mouth buried deep into her bag, trying to contain the barks of laughter which were ringing out of her like a hyena. Daphne sat next to her, hiding her face deep into her Charms book but Mia knew that she was grinning at her state. Blaise didn't bother hiding his amusement, sniggering loudly from across the way. A bit away, scattered from the rest of the group of Slytherins, was Theodore and the Hufflepuff boy. Both of them looked rightly horrified, Ares' gaze falling on the Hufflepuff girl in concern while Theo only seemed fearful she may kill that very same girl. She was thinking about it. 

Then, she heard another sound of laughter through Flitwick's instructions, and she narrowed her eyes directly in front of her to see that Draco had lent his head back to snicker loudly and annoyingly for everyone to see. No one payed much mind besides Parkinson, who was smirking wildly at Mia like she enjoyed the view of the girl drenched and disgusting-looking. Seeing as her hair was still blue too, she probably looked like a drowned mermaid. 

When Draco finally glanced up, his eyes met hers and shined with the amusement and lightheartedness that he lost earlier. Mia bristled, and she watched Parkinson lean down to whisper something in his ear. A switch set off in her, and she couldn't help the smirk that fell on her face as she grabbed her wand and intentionally repeated the same action as the Hufflepuff girl did next to her. 

"Miss Erebus!" Professor Flitwick suddenly exclaimed. "I expected you of all my pupils to excel in this lesson!"

Directly across from the long rows of desks, a doused Draco and Parkinson sat spitting water out of their mouth, trying to pull away the clothes that were clinging to their bodies. Parkinson let out an exaggerated squeal, fixing her hair from its messy state while Draco only scowled darkly. Andromeda could only look innocently at her professor, dropping her satisfaction at ending the laughter of the couple.

"I apologize, professor. I think I need a bit more practice." 

A glare from grey eyes was enough to prove that he knew she was lying. She only quirked a brow up at him in temptation, daring him to do anything in return. When he didn't, they stayed glowering at one another from across the classroom, each soaked beyond belief and still burning hotly from their frustration with their counterpart. Needing the final word, their unbroken eye contact was just enough for her to bark a single thought into his mind, knowing his current emotions would leave him unguarded from his Occlumency. 

Be grateful it wasn't the Black Lake.

――――――――――

"Who is she, Theodore?" 

Andromeda was still trying to release her festering resentment for the Hufflepuff girl (and Draco but that was another story), but it was difficult to despise someone she didn't even know the name of. Granted, Mia was not the best when it came to remembering the names of anyone that was not in her daily interest, which meant that the list was exclusively for Slytherins. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs barely provided any importance to her life over the last six years, which meant that she swept them under the broom and left their names for other people to learn—like her cousin. 

"The Hufflepuff? Anastasia Croft..." when Theodore noticed that her name got no reaction out of Mia, he sighed. "She was the one who nearly took your head off second year during duels because her wand rebounded on her." 

That sparked a memory, and she glowered as she rung her hair free of the remaining water in her hair. "So she's always been dreadful at magic. Why have I never seen her around since then?" 

"You don't exactly make friends easily, Mia, and you know as well as I do you would run off with death threats ringing in your mind if you ever had a conversation with a Hufflepuff. You also hate the color yellow." 

"Trust me, they're ringing in my mind right now, and that is because yellow is the color I imagine when I envision hell." 

Theo rolled his eyes, moving out of the way when a second-year Gryffindor ran past them. "At this point, she'll get herself killed trying to be a witch without your assistance. Her twin brother is the one who was sitting next to me. He'd perfected that spell just after you, you know? Flitwick didn't even notice." 

"Him?" she asked in disbelief. "They're related?" 

"For someone so incredibly intelligent, you have the single-minded perspective of someone with parchment over their eyes," he muttered, and had she been paying attention to his tone of voice instead of the path in front of her, she would have noticed the way it wavered with exasperation. "It truly is a talent of yours." 

"Oh, please. Don't act like you invest any of your time into the Croft twins. Clearly they aren't important if one can barely do magic without blowing up the entire classroom and the other won't even take the credit for his skill—what, did one of them get all of the brains in the womb?" 

"Hm. I just think you invest too much of your time into Draco Malfoy...or is it Andrew now? My name is Theodore, by the way, in case you've forgotten—" 

"Shut up, you irritant. There is nothing going on with either of them—" 

Theodore rolled his eyes again, growing increasingly irritated by her consistent denial. "Mia, you kissed one of them in the middle of our common room and soaked the other with a tsunami because you were jealous. Nothing? Honestly? I thought you were meant to be distancing yourself from Andrew, not snogging him."

"Draco got what he deserved for laughing at me. I was not jealous...and Andrew was the one who asked to kiss me. He wanted to prove a point, and so did I. Plus it will keep everyone from looking too far into why Draco and I have been disappearing late at night for the last five months." 

There was a long pause, and she could see that Theodore was thinking over her words. The guarded look in his eyes had returned, shielding him of his emotions and making her wonder what was going on with him. She was aware that something was going on between the friendship of Andrew and him, but he knew that she and Andrew had a past. Only three weeks ago was she dancing at Slughorn's Christmas party, trying to ignore the crush she had been wishing for since fourth year. Things would never be the same for them, but Mia had done what needed to be done by pushing away anything more than a friendship between them. 

"What point was it exactly that he was trying to prove?"

Mia frowned at the question, but answered anyway. "He still believes the story that you told him about me being in love with Draco. I may have mentioned to him that I didn't think Draco had feelings for me—which he doesn't, so stop giving me that look—and he wanted to prove otherwise. Something about a green-eyed monster, and that it was a 'sure way to get people to realize their feelings.' I assume about Draco. Honestly, Theo. It meant nothing, and we talked before that we were better off as friends..." 

Theodore was quite again, and she thought that he was going to keep silent on the rest of their walk to Transfiguration, but he finally let out a sound resembling something similar to a scoff and a sigh. Mia turned her head up at her cousin to see him shaking his head, hands going up to his face so that he could rub them down his features in growing exasperation.  

"You are so absolutely blind, Andromeda. I think that water sodded the last remaining brain cell of common sense you have left..and it's a pity, because if we're left to rely on Draco for anything, all of us are doomed." 

"Excuse me!" she gaped at his insult, offended. "Why is everyone suddenly attacking me today? I already haven't slept in over twenty-four hours, and now all of you are coming for my throat." 

"Because you're an idiot, and you need someone to whack you upside the head with a thick book. Maybe it will fix whatever is broken with it." 

"Nothing is broken with me! Well, actually, there's quite a bit—" 

Theodore scoffed. "Clearly." 

"—but nothing that warrants abuse from you! Honestly, what is it that you think I'm too oblivious to see? The Croft girl? Because I don't exactly think she is much to be concerned about." 

"You will figure it out eventually," was all he said in reply. Mia glowered at her cousins' cryptic response. Her day was already starting out absolutely dreadful, and not an ounce of good news had come forward in the last day and a half since her return to Hogwarts. The least Theodore could do was indulge in the reason why she was so blind. She went to reply, to say something, but he beat her to it. "...but I need to figure it out first." 

Green-eyed monsters were evil things, indeed. 

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂ 

Author's Note: 

They kissed! Now, before you come for my throat, please keep in mind that Andromeda has no idea about Theodore's feelings for Andrew (or whatever is going on between them). If she did, she would have immediately denied kissing him—the kiss between them was not exactly platonic, they still care deeply about one another, but it was more to prove a point than anything. A final goodbye to Andrew and Mia. Plus, it was necessary to keep the prying eyes off Draco and Mia (Andrew definitely had ulterior motives by how his eyes kept glancing up though). 

ANASTASIA CROFT! Say hello to my beautiful new character in my story 'Cursed Child,' played by Maddison Brown. There will only be one or two more mentions of her in this book (so that you don't necessarily have to read the other book but I would love if you did) but their stories do take place in the same universe. Surprise! It's a Ron Weasley fic, and I happen to love her (and Mia) more than my heart itself. If you want sibling interaction very similar to Mia and Theo, check it out! 

What do you think about the scene with Alastiare and Celicia at the beginning? We are slowly continuing the story of Alastiare and Sirius, and I can't WAIT for you all to see their relationship unfold. I hope you like their story as much as Mia's! What do you think happened between them?  

(I'm telling so many different stories: Mia, her and Draco, Alastiare and Sirius, Theodore and Andrew...maybe another couple or two in the future).

Draco and Mia are irritating, and Mia is blind, but I love them.

Let me know what your thoughts are about this chapter! It definitely follows the book more, and it is more lighthearted than the previous (and future) chapters.  

THANATHOS: God of Death