✧

Glancing out the window of the train, a blur of evergreens and gray skies cover Mia's entire vision. The overcast weather reminds her of Forks and inexplicably, she starts missing the small town, her friends, and him. Leaving Edward behind was the hardest thing she's ever had to do. It feels as if her heart has been torn out and her soul has been left behind.

She has no idea how she will endure this new journey without him, but this needed to happen. Maybe the distance could help her heal. Maybe it could help her make peace with what happened and allow her to forgive him. The time will tell, but now, she's worried as to how her return will be received, especially since no one knows about it.

The train isn't full, which is surprising considering many are often traveling back and forth to Hogwarts. While the solitude is comforting, it's also nerve wracking. Nothing good happens in desolate places. It's practically a magnet for trouble and with how much ill fortune she carries, it's inevitable not dwelling on the possibilities.

As she ponders on how many things can go wrong, the door to the compartment opens, placing her thoughts on a halt and making her look up. When she sees the person, she's relieved and more than ecstatic to have a familiar face arriving with her.

"Surprise?" Jackson smiles nervously and opens his arms for a hug, unsure if his last minute decision to accompany her would be taken well.

Mia practically leaps into his arms and buries her face into his jacket. She's still nervous about her return, but there's a weight being lifted at sharing this new coming with a friend from Forks. "Jackson! What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't let you have all the fun," he carelessly says, but she knows it's to keep her out of trouble. "It's been a while since I've been around people with magic, so I figured, why not accompany you?"

Narrowing her eyes in disbelief, she nods along to his supposed reason, "Uh huh. Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with me?"

There's a moment of silence – the same kind that happens when you've been caught red handed – but he's able to avoid admitting the true reason by putting on a careless persona. "Look who's being conceited. Come on, Grey. Not everything is about you."

"Pssh, everything is about me," Mia rests back in her seat, crossing her legs and folding her arms across her chest. She's aware how self-centered she sounds, but it's all just her way of attempting to get him to admit the truth. He's resisting, so she'll give him a point for that.

"Not complaining," Jackson playfully kicks her foot, but before he can say more, he notices the trolley making its round. "Oh, we're definitely getting some treats. Do you have any galleons?"

"Really?" Mia shakes her head through a smile, but hands him various coins that is definitely enough to buy them dinner. "You owe me a butterbeer."

"I'll buy you dinner at the most fancy place," Jackson promises as he eagerly acquires the goodies and stares at them as if they were the most marvelous thing to exist.

Soon, both of them are stuffing themselves with all kinds of sweets and pastries. Chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, licorice wands, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and more. She avoids the flavor beans as she refuses to risk getting a terrible one, but it seems Jackson has forgotten all about it and pops a few into his mouth. To her misfortune, he got all kinds of tropical flavors. She truly hoped he would get the worst ones, but there will be other times, so fingers crossed.

As they continue stuffing themselves with the goodies, the train comes to a stop. It's nearly dusk, making the scenery much harder to see and adding to her sense of dread and unease. Hogwarts is close and as much as she tries pretending not to be terrified, her nerves are clawing their way out and clouding her rationality.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Jackson tries reassuring her, but it's hard to believe it when the walls feel like they're caving in. "Think about the good things. You will be seeing your friends again, be surrounded by magic, and-"

"Take my place in the war," Mia finalizes, the burden of her return dawning on her and adding to her sense of defeat. It's one of the reasons as to why she chose to return. She can't allow her friends to fight the battle while she's secure on the other side of the world. Not to forget how her name quite literally is expected to take its place in the iron throne (metaphorically speaking). It's some kind of twisted prophecy, an inevitable one she hopes to never face.

"If it happens-"

"It's already happening," Mia corrects.

He sighs heavily, "Then we'll face it together. You won't be alone in this."

It's supposed to be comforting knowing she won't be experiencing this war alone, but it only worries her more. Knowing her loved ones are involved is terrifying as there's the risk of losing them. No one is safe from wars. No matter how gifted or powerful, kings and queens are bound to fall, and she, for one, dreads the moment when loss comes.

Jackson stands up and brings their luggage down. Offering his hand, he gestures with his head to the door, "You can do this, Mia. We'll take it one step at a time."

One step at a time.

Good.

She can do that.

With a deep breath, Mia firmly holds his hand and follows him out of the compartment. The few travelers walk past them, but it isn't until one of them recognizes her from the newspaper. Her name and face has been plastered all around, more so than her father, which is insulting considering it should be him being reported.

"It's her. It's the daughter of Dimitri Grey."

"Nothing good can come from this."

"It's no wonder things have gotten worse."

Judgmental whispers and ongoing looks aren't anything new. She knew this was coming, but she didn't expect it to happen this soon. If anything, she was preparing herself to experience it at Hogwarts, but not on the train. She pokes her tongue against her cheek and tilts her head slightly, glaring at them so heavily that they scurry off like rodents without looking back.

Like she once said, if she can't be respected, then she might as well be feared.

Mia drops his hand and acquires control of her luggage. She can tell he wants to speak about what happened, but she would rather this be ignored as it will only get worse. With one hand dragging her suitcase and the other inside her coat's pocket, she approaches the train's exit and gets ready to walk down, but Jackson's gentleman-like manners gives him an upper hand.

"I know you're upset-"

"I'm not upset," she glares up at him and feels like a complete fool for believing she could convince him otherwise. "Can we just get out now?"

Mia doesn't give him a chance to argue back. She accepts his help to walk down the train, his hands resting on her waist and placing her down in a graceful move. Nodding at him with appreciation, she is soon distracted when recognizing one of her housemates standing a couple feet on the platform.

"Do you know him?" Jackson asks, wondering why the young man is starting to approach them.

Staring at him curiously, she notices the bright red rose in his hand and like she last remembers, he's still wearing his deceptive mask of friendliness. She wonders why he's here and how he knew of her arrival. No one besides Remus knows, so it's strange that he's the first and most unexpected person here.

Mattheo crosses to her and extends the red rose while offering the most gallant smile, "Welcome back to Hogwarts."

Hesitance in taking the flower makes her take slow and deliberate steps. Roses are her least favorite as they're often romanticized and made to believe as the representation of love, which is the last thing she wants to think about right now. "You should know roses are such a cliché. Lilies or tulips are preferred."

He takes a moment to attentively stare at her. Curiosity and a hint of disappointment is evident, but the combination of emotions vanishes as if a switch had been flipped, returning him to his once daring persona. "I'll make note of it for next time."

"Still, A+ for effort," Mia caresses the silky petals, barely missing from pricking herself with its thorn. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I should be, but welcoming you seemed like a better use of my time," he admits.

She notices the speck of mischief in his eyes. His dark brown hair is faintly lighter with the minimal light and the lamp from the station casts a shadow on his face. There's something unusual about him and like all unusual things, she's trusting her instinct by steering clear of him.

"Hmm, how intriguing," Mia moves her hand away and glances behind her shoulder, where the path to Hogwarts is. "Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other then," she says and walks back to Jackson, leaving him standing with the rose intact.

"I thought no one knew about your arrival," Jackson glances behind his shoulder, suspicion lingering in his eyes and making him wary of this unexpected welcome.

"I thought so too," Mia's relieved when Mattheo remains on the platform. She hops into the pulling carriage and wonders how many others know about her. If the majority of the wizarding world is aware, then she's already put herself on the Dark Lord's radar. She knew it was bound to happen, but she would have preferred it occurred later on. It seems she won't be getting a moment of respite anytime soon.

"Who was he? A friend of yours?"

She shakes her head, "We're housemates, but we never really interacted much. Mainly since his friends think they're above it all. Not to mention my house doesn't consider me as one of their own."

He nods in thought for a moment, "I would have thought he was an admirer based on the rose he brought you."

"I don't like him and he doesn't like me, so you couldn't be more wrong."

The carriage dives further into the dark. The trees are the only thing covering their vision and the only sound is the crickets chirping. A silence like this allows her to focus on what's waiting for her at the end. How will she explain the chaos her life's become? How will she be able to tell Harry about Edward?

So many things have happened that she doesn't know where to begin. For starters, she died and came back. Twice. She met a family of vampires, dated one (who happens to be Cedric Diggory immortalized), learned of shapeshifters, fought death eaters, lost her powers due to a curse, became linked to her father, met the Volturi, and had another encounter with a lycanthrope. Just thinking about it makes her question how she didn't go crazy. Well, she was on the verge of (thanks to her father). Still, she remained sane, so it's all that matters now.

Mia recognizes the familiar path and knows they're getting closer. If her nerves had disappeared, now they're one-hundred percent back. This feels like her first day of school, like she's the new student and will be forced to make friends. In all honesty, she would have preferred it. At least there wouldn't be any expectations of her, almost like a fresh start, but the more she thinks about it, the more relieving it is that everyone already knows her. She would just be reinstalling herself back at school, so it's not like it's anything new.

Well, except for all the revelations she's carrying and the werewolf-wizard accompanying her.

She rests her arms against her thighs, focusing on the silence and the warm breeze. The quietness helps silence her thoughts and it's becoming peaceful, but like all good things, they're bound to end.

Mia looks up at the sound of footsteps running her way. Sure enough, Mattheo is heading in her direction with haste and hops into the carriage with ease. He breathes heavily and offers a nonchalant smile, the rose still remaining in his hold.

"Hey," he says in an out of breath voice and forces Jackson to make space for him.

"What are you doing?" Mia refrains from rolling her eyes and instead averts her gaze to anything but him.

"Are you forgetting that we're heading to the same place?" Mattheo innocently questions and leans forward, causing her to lean back. "And you forgot your rose."

"Ah, how sweet of you to still be holding on to it," she folds her arms across her chest, a sign of defiance in refusal to accept the flower.

He softly chuckles, "I actually went through the trouble of getting Longbottom to grow me one."

Mia studies him more attentively. It's odd how nice he's being, especially with how he used to treat her before leaving. His group of friends always had it out for her simply for having a friendship with Gryffindors. She considers this must be a joke of his, possibly a scheme to embarrass her as a way to welcome her back. If that's the case, how truly absurd of him to believe he's dealing with the same Mia.

Mattheo hands her the rose again and notices the contemplation on her face. Like him, she recognizes the look in his eyes. It's the same one Edward gives her when attempting to get a read on her. She glances away and hopes he takes the hint that she doesn't want to speak, but it appears he's more stubborn than a mule.

"Who's this?" Mattheo points at Jackson, but there's not an ounce of interest in his voice.

His jaw clenches in irritation, "I'm Jackson and who the hell are you?"

"Mattheo," he bluntly says, averting his gaze back to her and no longer bothering to care for his existence. "I'm surprised you're here. A runner like you wasn't expected to come back."

She watches how he twirls the flower and holds the stem with delicacy to maintain its pristine condition. She knows it's his way of making her believe he's taking care of it, but it's just a way to prevent the thorns from pricking his thumbs that are smooth as if they haven't worked a day in his life.

"A runner like me?" Mia's eyes narrow into slits, incredulity lacing her tone. "I'm anything but a runner."

"Oh, come on. You left right when things got hard," Mattheo insists. "That's a runner by definition."

She's not wasting her time arguing with him. Explaining her reasons for leaving isn't his business, so she's not airing her truth to someone untrustworthy. She knows she isn't a runner and convincing him otherwise won't change anything.

"The silent treatment? How mature of you," Mattheo speaks in a softer tone and she feels a wave of relief when noticing the familiar silhouette of Hogwarts. He sighs heavily and stands up despite the carriage still moving. Not even when it comes to an abrupt halt does he stumble. Instead, he hops off and offers his hand.

Mia's not used to this kind of politeness from him. He's never shown any interest in her or even tried to form a conversation. Both of them only endured the other simply for being in the same house, which wasn't even great considering all of Slytherin viewed her as an outsider.

Jackson takes the spot next to him and offers his hand as well. She accepts his help, the faintest smirk appearing when seeing the defeat in Mattheo's eyes. As she and Jackson leave him behind, it's unavoidable not to hear the footsteps behind them.

Great.

Another thorn in the way.

Aurors walk out from the gate, the protective force fading for the second they cross through. The pair whisper amongst each other like a couple of school girls, but their whispers come to an abrupt stop when seeing the three approaching them.

"A Grey and a Riddle," one of the men says, glaring at them so intensely and speaking with a hostile tone. "And a foreigner. How nice."

"Who would have thought? The son of the Dark Lord and the daughter of his most loyal follower," the second one adds, the disdain in his voice cutting deeper than a knife.

The first auror bitterly laughs, "Not a surprise the two are friends."

Jackson takes a step forward, refusing to continue letting them speak of her this way, but Mia prevents him from making a mistake. She knows he means well, but it won't change their minds. If anything, it will make them more persistent to read her to filth.

"Just inspect us so we can go on with our lives," Mattheo rolls his eyes and mutters curses under this breath.

One of them steps forward, his hand twirling his wand and chin raising slightly, "Our lives? You mean the ones your father is trying to ruin?"

Mia notices his shoulders turning rigid and his hands clenching. She never expected him to be bothered over everyone's opposition. He's always appeared careless, especially since he made sure to pride himself over coming from the bloodline of one of the most powerful dark wizards. To see him bothered over this comment, it makes her wonder how much she's missed over the past two years.

"Exactly," she says and all of them turn to her. "You said it. It's his father wanting to ruin your lives. Not him or should we start discussing parents and their mistakes that you all are carrying as well?"

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you," the man with dark hair and green eyes says. "Your father is just as terrible as him. Letting you in will be putting innocent lives in danger-"

"I can vouch for Mr. Riddle and Ms. Grey," a familiar voice says from behind the two aurors. "And for our newcomer."

As if a bucket of cold water had been thrown, Mia has a physical reaction when recognizing the cloak emerging from the shadows. She would have preferred to be received by anyone else, but it seems her misfortune is starting now.

Much to the aurors' dismay, they're forced to inspect them before allowing them to pass through the gates. She knows better than to allow her temper to take over, but it's unavoidable not to provide a shove to the nearest one. It's a small action, but it's just as satisfying.

However, Mia's sense of enjoyment disappears when remembering the severity of the situation. She's now regretting not letting Remus accompany her, but she claimed it would have made her look like a child getting dropped off by her dad. It's not the image she wants for herself, but now, she's wishing to take back her words.

When she stands in front of the grand doors, she takes a moment for composure. It's quite absurd to feel nervous, especially when she's reuniting with her friends after so long. This is what she's been dreaming of ever since first departing to the other side of the world, but she's petrified by how everyone will react.

What if her friends aren't happy to see her?

What if her return is viewed as something wrong?

Was returning a big mistake?

Maybe she still has time to turn back around. Only a few people know about her, so it's not like it will matter. Besides, her mother assured her that she can always return. For Merlin's sake, she's now envious of her for staying in Forks. Now this is getting more serious.

"Nervous, Grey?" Snape's judgmental tone is still the same as she last remembers. It seems he's still trying to make the cloak work and she hates admitting it, but it's fitting.

"You'd like that, won't you?" Mia mutters to herself, but the professor is able to hear. She can tell he wants to discipline her already, but considering she's not technically a full student yet, it's not like he can take house points. Besides, they're both in Slytherin, so he'd be punishing his own house.

Snape glares at her so heavily as if contemplating on whether or not to hex her. He raises his chin ever so slightly and she prepares herself for any attempts at reprimands, but he instead ignores her existence and turns to Jackson. "You will need to come with me."

"Are you going to be okay?" Jackson asks, maintaining his voice below a whisper.

"Just go. I'll be fine," Mia assures him, soon watching them walk off into the hall.

The end of Snape's cloak soars through the corridors, creating a dramatic walk that contradicts the mystery he carries. If she didn't know any better, she would consider him a little theatrical.

When the doors fully close, the nerves return. The only relief comes in knowing that it's after dining already, so she won't have to face everyone's reactions right away. While she's unsure of how to handle this, she decides on approaching the only place she's certain will have the person she's dying to see.

As she heads to the moving stairs, Mia notices Mattheo trailing after her. It's almost as if he's become her shadow and it makes the alarms in her head go off. From the top of the stairs, she looks down at him, "Are you planning on following me all night?"

Mattheo only smirks in response before carelessly shrugging, "Pardon me for finding you to be a great source of entertainment."

Rolling her eyes, Mia takes advantage of the stairs moving again to take a leap across them. Sure enough, he's left stranded on the opposite side sporting a defeated expression. Knowing it would vex him, she forms a gentle bow as if having finished a performance. A flicker of anger gathers in his eyes and without looking back, Mia walks away to the Gryffindor common room.

Standing in front is the portrait of the fat lady, who is quick to ask for the password. It's only then when everything starts setting in and she considers that maybe this was a mistake.

"Mia?"

Oh, screw this.

Her heart is practically leaping out of her chest and the blood is pounding against her skull. She remains frozen for a brief second, but finds the courage to turn around and face the one person she's been longing to see.

The familiar set of green eyes and black hair stand in front of her. The scar in the shape of a lightning bolt is more visible than ever, and that smile, that damned smile, is the welcome she's been dreaming of.

Simultaneously, both of them lean forward into a crashing embrace. This feels like a dream, like she's bound to awaken at any moment now. She's been waiting for so long to see him again and now that she's holding him, it's all so surreal.

"You're here. You're actually here," Harry whispers repeatedly as a way to convince himself that this isn't one of his dreams. "How?"

"It was time to come home," Mia expresses, her eyes welling with tears and all kinds of emotions threatening to be placed on display, but she couldn't care less. She's finally here and that's all that matters.

"Well," Harry says, smiling so widely it illuminates the entire castle. "It's about time. You have no idea how much I missed you."

However, Mia notices how out of breath he is and the way he's trying to keep his worry on the low. In spite of their reunion bringing him joy, there's a thorn in the way, making her wonder what occurred and why he was wandering through the castle at this hour.

Before she can attempt to ask him, Harry grabs her hand and drags her into the common room. She watches as he frantically heads to the girls' dormitory and has to refrain from laughing once a half-asleep Hermione is being dragged down by him.

"Harry, have you gone mad?!" Hermione scolds him as she manages to acquire the nearest book to hit with him. "This better be good or else I will-"

Her words fade into a complete silence once Mia steps into the frame. She approaches her slowly as she takes in consideration how Hermione must be doubting if this is real or not, especially with how harshly Harry had awakened her.

"Hey, 'Mione," Mia nervously smiles.

Hermione rubs her eyes to acquire a better look. Once she's one-hundred percent certain this isn't a dream, she practically dashes toward her with open arms. "You're back! I can't believe you're finally here!"

Their embrace nearly causes them to fall to the ground, but Harry had seen this from a mile away. With haste, he approaches the two girls and holds them steady, preventing them from having quite an impact against the shelves.

"Finally you're here," Hermione excitedly says, both of them continuing to hold tightly to the other. "You have no idea how much I missed having my study buddy."

Mia laughs, "Which reminds me, I want to thank you for making me study muggle subjects." She used to believe those study sessions would be a complete waste, but they came in handy considering she graduated top of her class.

"Really? You used to complain about it all the time," Hermione narrows her eyes with curiosity, wondering what happened during her time away. "You told me, 'Studying for this is a waste of time. I'd rather learn something useful than focus on the ordinary, or better yet, I'd rather be turned into a ferret than deal with this.' Those were your words."

"You still remember what I said?" Mia places a hand against her heart, her face scrunching up with warmth and appreciation. "Oh, 'Mione, I didn't think I meant that much to you."

Playfully rolling her eyes, Hermione denies her hug, but eventually gives in, "Don't make it a big deal. You know I have a great memory."

"Yeah, sure," Mia tauntingly says, but notices there's no sign of Ron. Her first thought is that he must be sleeping, but since Harry didn't care about awakening Hermione, she wonders why the treatment wasn't given to him. "Where's Ron? I've missed that redhead."

Harry's silence makes her concerned that something happened to him. With how accident prone he is, she considers the possibility that he could have fallen down the stairs, got stuck somewhere, or once again got attacked by Crookshanks. She looks toward Hermione, expecting her to know something, but she's just in the dark as her.

Hermione's voice quivers with worry, "Harry? What happened to Ron?"

"Is he alright?"

"Ron is in the hospital," Harry reveals after the most eternal seconds. "He was poisoned."

Her entire body runs cold at the thought of someone attempting against his life. She can't comprehend how it happened, seeing as many claim Hogwarts is the safest place. You would have thought that after a student "dying" on school grounds, there would have been improved security. It seems she was wrong in having faith in this broken system.

"What?!" Hermione exclaims as she starts heading to the door. "I need to see him. I need to make sure he's alright!"

Both Mia and Harry try to grab ahold of her, knowing it wouldn't be good if she were to head to the hospital in this condition. No matter how much they want to visit him, it wouldn't be good for him to see them worried out of their minds.

"I gave him a bezoar, 'Mione," Harry assures her. "He's alright. Madam Pomfrey just thought it'd be better if he spent the night."

"Who would try to poison him?" Mia mutters to herself, pacing back and forth and running through various ideas on who could possibly want to do such a thing.

"It was Malfoy," Harry declares, not an ounce of uncertainty in his voice.

Hermione sharply turns to him as if he had said the most absurd thing, "Not this again. Just because you and Malfoy don't get along, it doesn't mean you can throw accusations around."

"Wait, hold on," Mia knows better not to trust Harry's instincts. He's been right in many things, so she's not tossing his suggestion under the bus. "Why do you believe this?"

"I just know," Harry states without a doubt.

"You just know?"

Harry groans in defiance as he can't endure having another person not believe him, "Don't tell me you don't believe he's not capable of this?"

Raising her hands in surrender, she shakes her head, "I didn't say that. I just want to know if you have any evidence against him. Something that led you to believe he's at fault."

"Harry is just under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a death eater," Hermione says as she rests her hands on her waist and tries keeping her disbelief on the low. "Can you believe it?"

It sounds terrible, but Mia wouldn't dismiss it. He comes from a long line of death eaters and let's not forget his father is a firm believer of his son following in his footsteps. Besides, Lucius went through the trouble to travel all the way to Forks to attempt taking her to the Dark Lord, so what's to say Draco wasn't influenced?

Hermione sighs in defeat at her silence, "Don't tell me you actually do?"

Mia slightly nods, "Well, his father did pay me a little visit and attacked me, so there could be a chance Harry's right, but then again, just because Lucius is a death eater, it doesn't mean Draco will become one. I mean, we're not bound to follow in our father's footsteps, and it would be hypocritical of me to believe that considering I'm in the same position as him-"

"Wait, hold on," Harry interrupts her, taking a step closer and eyes widening in bewilderment. "Lucius attacked you? He actually traveled all the way across the world to try to hurt you?"

"Oh, yes," Mia nonchalantly says as if it wasn't anything important. "There was also a vampire who worked for the Dark Lord and tried to take me to him, but it didn't end well," she runs through her words, unable to prevent herself from rambling like she does whenever she's nervous. "He's dead now thanks to Edward-" she cuts herself off as she remembers how grave mentioning him is, especially to Harry considering it's bound to change many things.

"Vampire? Edward?" Hermione takes a while to process everything and parts from the two, pacing back and forth and glancing at the floor.

Mia contemplates on how to continue. She can't just blurt out the truth as if it weren't anything important, because it is. It's the most important and major thing that has happened to her in a very long time. She wants to rip off the bandaid and confide about everything that occurred, but she physically can't.

Still, silence is always worse than the truth.

Her voice is barely a whisper and full of hesitance, "Harry, there's something I must tell you."

"What is it?" Harry approaches her with concern, worried as to what has her so distressed and reluctant to say. "Mia, what is-"

A sudden banging on the door disrupts her concentration. She's grateful for the interruption, but wonders who could it be considering this kind of knocking isn't usual. Every Gryffindor has the password, so there's no use to bang against the door. She looks toward Harry and Hermione, who are just as startled as she.

Mia opens the door and her heart drops when recognizing the person, "What are you doing here?"

Stepping into the frame, Edward reveals the secrets she's been carrying and now will be forced to say. How will she do it? She's unsure of, but one thing she's certain about is that the truth is inevitable now.

The time has come for the veil to drop.