Dear Olivia,
I knew you would want to know this because you are an utterly nosy and annoying sister. I felt like you ought to be told because you did, in your irritating way, help this happen. Yes, I am keeping you in suspense and yes, I am dragging this information out because I know you are incredibly impatient.

"Hurry up!" Olivia Potter whined at the letter that her brother had sent her, her finger dancing across the words on the parchment as she whispered it out loud, not capable of reading in her head as of yet.

Charlus' predictions were certainly right - she couldn't wait to find out what he was going to tell her and it was annoying her that her brother was taking forever to get to the point.

A few days ago, some events occurred that led me to finally kiss the girl that I was asking you advice about (though Merlin knows why I did that) and myself and Mia are now dating. For your small seven year old brain that may not understand that, she is my girlfriend. We are officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

Thought you oughta know, sis. Do me a favour and don't tell Mum or Dad yet, I'm going to write a letter to them shortly.

Cheers,
Charlus (your favourite brother) x

"YESSSS!" Olivia screamed once she had finally processed the contents of the letter, throwing it up into the air in her joy as she started jumping up and down on her bed, her little hands clapping together out of excitement as a huge grin spread across her face.

"FINALLY!" she squealed, leaping off her bed and dancing around her bedroom, her blonde plait swinging behind her and nearly whacking her in the face but she didn't care - Olivia was just so overjoyed that Charlus had finally snatched the girl he had had a crush on for so long.

Olivia may have only been seven but she knew what love was (she had great examples because Everleigh and Henry Potter were utterly and irrevocably in love and displayed it often) and she knew that it had taken far too long for Charlus to woo Euphemia, not that it mattered anymore because they were finally dating.

Of course, Olivia didn't know all of the complications behind Charlus and Mia's now budding romance but she was just simply so happy, blissfully unaware of all the troubles and prejudices that would now surround the couple, even if they had chosen not to go public with their relationship as of that moment.

Once she had managed to calm down enough (mostly because Henry, who was on his way to work, had shouted up for her to stop all of the noise), Olivia grabbed a piece of parchment, an ink pot and a quill, deliberating over what she was going to write back to her brother.

Sticking out her tongue to concentrate as she wrote slowly, Olivia managed to scribble something down in her messy, sprawling handwriting that seemed to be limited to only capital letters.

ᗪEᗩᖇ ᑕᕼᗩᖇᒪᑌᔕ,
                         I ᗩᗰ ᕼᗩᑭᑭY TO ᕼEᗩᖇ ᗩᗷOᑌT YOᑌ ᗩᑎᗪ ᗰIᗩ. IT TOOK YOᑌ ᗩ ᐯEᖇY ᒪOᑎG TIᗰE ᗩᑎᗪ I ᗩᗰ Gᒪᗩᗪ TᕼᗩT IT ᖴIᑎᗩᒪᒪY ᕼᗩᑭᑭEᑎEᗪ.

I ᗯIᒪᒪ ᑎOT TEᒪᒪ ᗰᑌᗰ Oᖇ ᗪᗩᗪ ᗷEᑕᗩᑌᔕE TᕼEᑎ I ᑕᗩᑎ ᑌᔕE TᕼIᔕ ᗩᔕ ᗷᒪᗩᑕKᗰᗩIᒪ ᖴOᖇ ᗯᕼEᑎ YOᑌ ᑕOᗰE ᕼOᗰE. YOᑌ ᗯIᒪᒪ ᗷE ᗰY ᔕᒪᗩᐯE ᗪᑌᖇIᑎG TᕼE ᔕᑌᗰᗰEᖇ Oᖇ EᒪᔕE I ᗯIᒪᒪ TEᒪᒪ ᗰᑌᗰ ᗩᑎᗪ ᗪᗩᗪ ᗩᗷOᑌT YOᑌ ᗩᑎᗪ ᗰIᗩ. ᗰᗯᕼᗩᕼᗩ ᕼᗩᕼᗩᕼᗩ!

ᑭᒪEᗩᔕE IᑎᖴOᖇᗰ ᗰIᗩ TᕼᗩT ᗰY ᗷᖇIᗪEᔕᗰᗩIᗪ ᗪᖇEᔕᔕ ᖴOᖇ YOᑌᖇ ᗯEᗪᗪIᑎG ᗯIᒪᒪ ᕼᗩᐯE TO ᗷE ᑭIᑎK Oᖇ EᒪᔕE I ᗯIᒪᒪ ᗷOYᑕOTT TᕼE ᗯEᗪᗪIᑎG ᗩᑎᗪ IT ᗯOᑎ'T ᗷE ᗩᔕ GOOᗪ ᗯITᕼOᑌT ᗰY ᗩᗰᗩᘔIᑎG ᑭᖇEᔕEᑎᑕE.

ᒪOTᔕ Oᖴ ᒪOᐯE ,
                               OᒪIᐯIᗩ (YOᑌᖇ ᖴᗩᐯOᑌᖇITE ᔕIᔕTEᖇ - ᗯE ᗷOTᕼ KᑎOᗯ ᖇOᑕᕼEᒪᒪE Iᔕ IᖇᖇEᒪEᐯᗩᑎT).

As soon as she had finished, Olivia folded up the parchment with her little hands and attached it to the family owl, who had delivered Charlus' letter in the first place, for it to be flown back to Hogwarts.

She then jumped up again and patted herself on the back, muttering, "Well done, Liv," because she was just so proud of her matchmaking achievements.

It was going to be extremely hard for her to keep her mouth shut around her parents about Charlus and Mia's relationship, especially because Olivia was a very talkative person and she had a tendency to not stop chatting about nonsense, meaning that she was very likely to accidentally blurt it out.

However, the thought of the power that would come with knowing that secret persuaded Olivia not to tell her mum or dad about what had happened between her older brother and Mia.

The sheer fantasy of making Charlus do everything for her during the summer holidays with the threat of exposing his secret really did make Olivia smile.

Olivia did know that Everleigh was rather curious about her son's love life, simply because of the amount of times that her mother had seen Charlus pondering over letters and cards from Euphemia, trying to decipher whether the 'x' after she signed her name actually meant anything or whether it was generic.

Olivia certainly got her nosiness from her mother because, when Everleigh called her youngest daughter down for lunch, she questioned why exactly Olivia had been screaming with joy just a few hours prior. Olivia's eyes widened and she gulped down her pumpkin juice in order to avoid the question.

Everleigh raised a suspicious eyebrow but chose not to comment, sliding a plate of cheese sandwiches across to Olivia, which the girl began to devour rather eagerly.

"So, have you heard from Charlus lately?" Mrs Potter asked her daughter which caused Olivia to spit out her sandwich in alarm before shaking her head furiously.

Everleigh eyed the sandwich remains on her polished wooden table with slight disdain before moving her gaze to Olivia, who appeared to be suppressing her amusement as she sheepishly wiped her mouth with her handkerchief.

"Did the sandwich offend you?" Mrs Potter asked mildly, looking faintly amused and exasperated.

Olivia nodded fervently, praying that her bad table manners would make her mother forget her questions and stop making her want to gossip about her brother, "Yes, extremely so. It was a bad sandwich," she informed Everleigh who appeared offended though Olivia was pretty sure that she was only fooling around.

"Well, if it was a bad sandwich then I guess I must have to take the rest of them away for a hygiene check," Mrs Potter said with a nonchalant shrug, reaching forward for the plate of sandwiches but Olivia grabbed the plate tightly, taking a bite of one and saying with her mouth full, "No, they're perfectly fine now."

As the girl had hoped, Everleigh scolded her for talking whilst eating and, in the process of three naming her daughter, she completely forgot about what she was saying, provoking Olivia to fist pump underneath the table in celebration because she had successfully managed to distract her mother from the subject at hand.

After nodding meekly and promising that she wouldn't do it again, Olivia ate another sandwich which caused Mrs Potter to cough pointedly, "I thought you said they tasted bad?" she said to her daughter who shrugged and then made a big deal out of swallowing her food before speaking, "It was just that one."

When Everleigh appeared sceptical, Olivia proceeded to explain with wild hand gestures, waving them about as she talked, "There's always a dodgy one amongst perfect ones. It's like how I'm perfect and Charlus is mildly average but Rochelle is just....dodgy. Sometimes you can't help having dodgy sandwiches amongst decent ones," she took another bite of her sandwich.

"Olivia Rae Potter....did you just imply that your sister is a dodgy sandwich?" Mrs Potter asked in a warning tone but Olivia appeared undeterred, nodding placidly before quickly adding, "I didn't imply, I stated. It's a known fact that Rochelle is the 'dodgy sandwich' out of us Potters," she flicked her blonde hair out of her face.

Everleigh was silent for a second before she sighed in defeat and uttered, "You, child, will be the death of me," she closed her eyes tiredly, looking forward to the day when Olivia would turn eleven and be able to go to Hogwarts, taking the troublesome girl off Mrs Potter's hands.

Olivia beamed, jumping up from her chair and skipping out of the kitchen without a second glance, "I'll take that as a compliment!" she called once she was halfway up the stairs, extremely pleased with herself because she had managed to steer the conversation away from Charlus onto something completely irrelevant.

Downstairs, Everleigh had sunk into a chair and vanished the half eaten sandwich off her kitchen table and was now slumped in a chair, hands over her face as she muttered, "I must've said it wrong. Dodgy sandwich, my arse," before she buried her head in her arms, despairing because Olivia had now decided to start playing her records extremely loudly.

~~~

Hogsmeade was always lovely in February time. The cottages lining the streets were always decorated with the telltale snow marks from the previous winter months and ice often shone on pretty much every single pavement and available space, making it quite slippy and extremely entertaining to watch as people slid across the icy patches with alarming speed, often landing on their backsides which had Florean in stitches.

Of course, there was a sense of melancholy hanging in the air with the frost and it was a good job that this particular February of 1952 was icy because many of the Hogsmeade buildings that had been practically burnt down to the ground during the attack last year still had charred marks on the sides of their walls, that were luckily concealed by the icicles.

A year ago to that very date, the 14th of February, Hogsmeade had been attacked and the day that was supposed to be Mia and Charlus' first ever date had turned into unbridled chaos and duelling that had ended in heartbreak for the two because Euphemia had been accused of spying on her friends and having a part in the attack.

That very attack had ruined everything - not only lives (Mary and Amanda were not forgotten) but also shops and businesses (despite them being rebuilt by magic, Hogsmeade stores had suffered financially for a while) plus relationships and friendships, especially ones involving Mia Black because she had lost everything that day.

Waking up on the morning of the 14th February 1952, exactly a year since the day when her life had turned to chaos, was quite weird for Euphemia and she spared a glance in the direction of the empty bed in the dormitory where Mary had slept.

Mia felt bad that she never thought about Mary - the girl had saved her life, after all, and had died during the process of it which would've completely broken Euphemia if nothing else drastic had happened that day.

Unfortunately, the day had only gotten worse and so Mia hadn't really thought much about Mary, even in the months after her death because she was too preoccupied trying to sort out her problems with her friends and too busy wallowing in her own self pity to properly grieve for Mary Crawley.

Walburga and Heather didn't even spare Mary a second thought or a single word - they acted indifferent and it was only when Euphemia really paid attention did she realise that they didn't actually care for their late friend nor did they ever treat her with respect when she was alive.

The February Hogsmeade visit had fallen on Valentine's Day again, meaning that Charlus had quietly asked Mia to go on a secret date with him that day, assuring her that no one would be able to see them and that Minerva would make sure that the rest of the group didn't become suspicious about their absence.

Of course, Euphemia had agreed and so, when Valentine's Day dawned, that was the only thing she could think about, until she glanced in the direction of the neat bed that had used to belong to Mary.

A wave of nostalgia and slight grief washed over her mingled with a sense of guilt because Mia's life had been so jam packed with action and drama as of late that she had been just as bad as Walburga and Heather in terms of forgetting about the girl because, until that moment, she hadn't spared a single thought about Mary.

Euphemia glanced sadly in the direction of Mary's bed that had been freshly made by one of the house elves after the incident and left that way for the past twelve months, remaining untouched by the rest of the fifth year girls.

"Going anywhere special today?" Eileen's voice cut Mia out of her thoughts and she moved her gaze from Mary's bed to her friend, who was buttoning up her blue cardigan absentmindedly whilst staring curiously at Euphemia's outfit.

Mia was wearing a pretty white dress that flowed into a nice, floaty skirt when it reached her knees and she had paired it with a black jumper that looked extremely expensive, not that Eileen would ever point that out. However, it was obvious that Euphemia wasn't just hanging out with her friends for the day.

"No, not really," Mia lied, choosing not to tell Eileen about her date with Charlus, simply because the trust between the two friends had been permanently broken ever since the girl had betrayed Euphemia and informed her family about her friends, who were frowned upon by the Blacks.

Eileen had caused a lot of problems for Mia in the past and, even though Euphemia had managed to forgive her, she knew she would never be able to trust Eileen with anything ever again, meaning that she was forced to lie to her friend about whether or not she was going somewhere special.

When Eileen simply raised a sceptical eyebrow, Mia fussed around with her hair, pulling it into a high ponytail and tying a white ribbon there to avoid elaborating but suspicion was still written all over Eileen's face.

"I'm just going out with my friends, that's all," Euphemia added, not noticing how Eileen winced at the word 'friends' because it was obvious that she wasn't classed in that category - she was not the type of friend that Mia wanted to hang out with.

It was clear by the look on Eileen's face that she knew exactly who Euphemia was going to be with that day but Mia didn't give the girl a chance to speak because she walked out of the dormitory, not wanting to be late.

Charis was waiting in the common room, a smile flitting across her face when she took in Euphemia's appearance, being reminded of Mia's date last year, on that very day with the same person as she was going with this time around.

"No secret attacks planned this year?" Euphemia joked lightly, a slightly grave tone lining her words and Charis shook her head with a strained smile, both of them knowing internally that they shouldn't be joking about such a serious thing but it was the only way to break the tension.

After a slightly awkward pause, Mia gestured for them to walk and Charis followed her, fulfilling her promise to Charlus that she would make sure that Euphemia was never by herself, to ensure that the incident with Orion would never occur again.

"It's strange to think that it was a year ago, isn't it?" Charis murmured to her cousin as they walked through the dungeons, remembering how blind with fear she had been when she had discovered the note underneath her pillow, how much guilt she had felt when Amanda and Mary had died...because Charis could've done something. But she didn't.

"Yeah," Euphemia mumbled in reply, scuffing her feet along the green tiles as she glanced down, her stomach churning as she remembered how Mary had been saving her when she had died and how guilty she had felt about it.

The attack seemed like it had happened so long ago because the events following it (Mia's friends falling out with her, Charlus being injured etc) had dragged on and made the months following the Hogsmeade visit ever so long, meaning that it seemed ages ago that it had been occurring.

Then again, when Euphemia thought about it properly, it had only been a year and the scenes were still as vivid in her nightmares as if they had happened just yesterday, which it obviously hadn't been because that day was the attack's one year anniversary. Yippee.

It was quite ironic that this very day, the 14th of February, had been the day when Mia had gone on her very first date with Charlus, the very date that had ended in ruin (literally - the cafe that they had gone to had been burned down to the ground along with the likes of Honeydukes and Zonkos) whereas now, exactly a year later, she was dating the very same Charlus and they were going on a date again.

"No one can know, though," Euphemia had told Charlus when he had asked whether she wanted to go on a date again, seeing as it was Valentine's Day. Charlus had understood, although he was a little disappointed, and they had assigned the help of the one and only Minerva McGonnagal.

Minnie had agreed to cover for them whilst they were, as she put it, 'canoodling in a corner somewhere' (a comment that had caused Mia to blush deeply and Charlus to snicker and smirk).

And so, the plan was set. Charis walked Euphemia up to the Entrance Hall, where she was to meet Charlus and the rest of her friends, and left her after a while with a whispered 'Good Luck!' before she went off to join Faye, Sally and Mandy, who were waving her over from the other side of the Entrance Hall.

The entire group was there - they had evidently been waiting for Mia. Brutus Scrimegeour was hanging out with them for some reason and he was chatting to Eugenia, who was blushing slightly and giggling whilst Lyall watched on sourly.

Alastor was explaining something to Filius, his hands waving all over the place as Pomona listened with a mildly interested expression on her face whilst Florean leant his head on her shoulder, looking tired and bored.

Minerva was chatting away to Charlus happily about something and, seeing as Charlus appeared amused and was smirking slightly, Euphemia assumed the conversation was about her. Her suspicions were confirmed when Minnie whacked Charlus on the chest and gestured to where Mia was stood with a knowing smile.

Charlus span around and had to conceal a beaming smile upon seeing Euphemia, especially because she was dressed so nicely for their date (not that anyone else but Minerva knew that they were going on a date).

Before Charlus could greet his girlfriend in a generic friendly way so that their friendship group wouldn't get suspicious, Florean cried out, "MIA!" and barged Charlus out of the way so that he could trap Euphemia in a tight hug that Mia accepted with a laugh.

Once everyone had greeted Euphemia, the group set off towards Hogsmeade, presenting their permission slips to the grumpy caretaker with cheery smiles and chattering conversations that carried throughout the group as they walked down the road to the village.

"Aw yes, Honeydukes is back open again!" Pomona exclaimed once the group had reached Hogsmeade, the blonde girl noticing the sweet shop's 'open' sign from afar and a series of cheers and whooping noises echoed through the crowd of friends.

Minerva suddenly whispered something to Brutus, who nodded affirmatively before they announced to the group that they were going shopping for some new quills.

Minnie sent a pointed stare in Charlus' direction as the rest of the group started moving towards the Three Broomsticks, rubbing their gloved hands together to prevent their hands from becoming cold.

"I'll join you, Min!" Charlus exclaimed hastily and he stepped on Mia's toe to get her attention, receiving a glare from the girl in question before realisation dawned on her face and she hooked her arm through her best friend's, telling everyone else that she was also going.

"You'll pay for stepping on my toe," Euphemia hissed playfully to Charlus and he sent her a smirk as the four of them walked away from the rest of the group, Brutus and Minerva pretending not to notice the fact that Mia and Charlus were now holding hands.

"Oh, will I now?" Charlus smirked and Euphemia was about to reply when Minnie interrupted her, turning to speak to the two of them, "Oi, lovebirds, Brutus and I are heading off somewhere alone. Can you two behave if I leave you?" she informed them in a whisper so Brutus didn't hear the 'lovebirds' bit, a teasing lilt seeping into her tone nearer to the end as she treated them like little kids.

"I daresay we can behave - how about you?" Mia replied sassily, raising an eyebrow at Minerva as she glanced in the direction of Brutus, who was conversing with one of his sixth year friends.

Minnie blushed, knowing what Euphemia was implying and Charlus smirked to himself. "I don't know what you're talking about," Minerva retorted before winking and rushing up to Brutus without another word to her best friend, who's mouth had dropped open whilst Charlus chuckled.

"She's a dark horse," Charlus whistled before steering a gobsmacked Mia, who was still staring in disbelief at Minnie and Brutus (who now had his arm around her!) towards the very same cafe that they had had their date in last time.

Euphemia's face softened when she saw the cafe, built back up so that it was practically identical to how it had been a year prior. She smiled at Charlus, nostalgia washing over her as her boyfriend squeezed her hand, his eyes sparkling with happiness.

Charlus reached forward and opened the door, hearing the twinkle of the bell above the doorway as he gestured for Mia to walk through first, ever the gentleman. "After you, Ms Black," he said, putting on a posh Londoner accent.

"Why thank you, Mr Potter," Euphemia responded, placing her hand in his delicately as Charlus pressed a kiss to her knuckles, bowing as she walked through which made her giggle madly.

Once he had pulled out her chair and seated her down, Charlus plopped down in the seat opposite her, grinning madly as Mia smiled in amusement, her grey-blue eyes shining with happiness.

"Second time lucky, eh, love?" Charlus said as he clinked his glass against hers, Euphemia leaning forward with a teasing expression plastered on her face as she spoke, "You're quite the romantic, aren't you, Mr Potter?"

Charlus appeared taken aback, "Well, I've been called many things but never a romantic. I'm offended!" he exclaimed and Mia smirked before extending her palm and shaking Charlus' hand, much to his extreme confusion.

"Nice to meet you, Offended. I'm Mia," she joked and Charlus rolled his eyes, pulling his hand out of her grasp gently, "You're not funny," he said with a dead pan expression as she smirked at him.

"I know I'm not, I'm Mia."

Charlus facepalmed. But Euphemia was pretty sure she had never felt so happy in her entire life.

I came back off holiday to 21K reads...thank you all so much!