"Are you sure your parents will be alright with me just staying here? Shouldn't I find somewhere else to stay?" Mia asked Charlus, about a few hours after arriving at the Potter's household. She was seated on Charlus' bed, freshly showered, and was now dressed in an oversized jumper of his and a pair of her own jeans that Clover had bought her one Christmas (for Cassiopeia and Arcturus never would've even dreamt of buying Euphemia Muggle clothes).

"Oh, they already know you're going to stay," Charlus shrugged, in a rather nonchalant fashion. He smoothed down his hair in the mirror, putting some sort of gel on it to make it stay down as he turned back to his girlfriend, who's mouth had dropped open as she stared in disbelief at him, "What do you mean - 'they already know'?" Mia questioned in disbelief, her eyes widening in surprise.

Euphemia had known that Henry had helped to save her from the wedding mere hours ago but she hadn't expected Charlus' parents to be so willing to allow her to stay in their house, especially as there probably wasn't a spare bedroom or enough room in the cottage for another human being.

"Well, I told them about the entire situation when they found me drowning my sorrows in endless cups of coffee and my parents helped to establish the plan that saved you from there," Charlus informed her gently, plopping back down beside her and taking her hand in his, squeezing it tightly when he saw that Mia's eyes had filled with tears, "What's up, love?" he tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear affectionally, still in disbelief that she was actually there, safe and in his presence.

"I just....why do your parents care so much? They don't even know me, they didn't have to help me..." Euphemia trailed off, heavily touched by the Potters' gesture and how they had been the ones responsible for her rescue. Charlus smiled softly at her, "They know how much I love you. And they said they'd do anything for you because you must be a pretty amazing girl if you can love me, of all people, back," he placed a sweet kiss on Mia's forehead and smoothed her hair down, inhaling her scent.

Euphemia's mouth dropped open again, this time no words issuing from her lips as tears welled up in her eyes before Charlus wiped them away gently, grabbing her hand again and pulling her up to her feet as he bowed and placed a kiss on her knuckles in a very gentlemanly manner, "How would you feel about meeting the rest of the gang, m'lady?" Charlus asked, "You've already met my dear old Papa but the girls are back now," he added, feeling a thrill at hearing her giggle at his shenanigans.

"I would love to, kind sir," Mia beamed before leaning into him as he led her down the stairs, with her looking around with interest once they were out in the upstairs hallway, seeing the different bedroom doors emblazoned with their own decorations that represented the personality of each inhabitant clearly.

For example, Rochelle's bedroom door was clearly the one with the polite notice saying, 'Please knock before entering' which was surrounded by drawings of flowers and hearts, to the side of a very sparkly, very pink letter 'R' that dominated the door. And Olivia's bedroom was obviously the one with tiara stickers and funny slogans plastered over the door such as 'I didn't ask to be a Princess - but, if the crown fits...' and 'No peasants allowed' plus the rather large message in the middle of the door that said 'Enter at your own risk - Queen Liv does not like to be bothered, inferior beings must make an appointment.'

"Your sisters seem lovely," Euphemia chuckled as they made their way down the stairs towards the living room, Charlus' hand still holding hers protectively. "Yes, they seem lovely but, wait until you actually meet them. Rochelle is whiny and annoying and Olivia is the devil's incarnation, trust me," he told her and Mia laughed again before instantly quietening when she realised that they had reached the closed living room door, hearing the sounds of the Potters through the door-hole.

Euphemia couldn't help but be extremely scared - Henry had already seen her in the pitiful state that she had been in after the wedding escape, when she had thrown up into the next-door neighbour's bush (how embarrassing...) so she wasn't too fussed about him but more about the females, the ones who would surely be more defensive over their son and boyfriend.

"I'm scared, Flea," Mia whispered to him and he smiled at her encouragingly, "Don't be. They're going to love you. In fact, I'm pretty sure they already love you," Charlus grinned, squeezing her hand before pulling her through the doorway, shoving his way into the living room with his shoulder, that had been healed from earlier by Everleigh, though Euphemia still fretted over the scar that it was going to leave.

"Be careful with that shoulder," Mia reprimanded her boyfriend and Charlus rolled his eyes at her, tugging on her hand so that she stumbled rather inelegantly into the living room, finding four faces staring up at her, four faces that all looked remarkably like Charlus in some sort of way which was extremely uncanny and rather creepy, if you asked Euphemia.

A woman with beautiful blonde locks and warm hazel eyes was sitting nearest to the door, her legs crossed over one another as she held a cup of tea in one hand - Mia recognised her from Platform Nine and Three Quarters when she would look over longingly at Charlus' loving family, always being brought back to her own reality by the cold grip of Arcturus' or Cassiopeia's hand on her shoulder.

Now, however, there was no hand forcing Euphemia to look away from the woman that was her boyfriend's mother and Everleigh Potter smiled, placing her cup of tea down with one hand and helping herself up with the other. "This is my mum," Charlus said unhelpfully, as if Mia hadn't already worked that out, and she sent him an affectionate but exasperated look, "Thank you for that confirmation, Flea. Before that, I had thought she was perhaps your dog."

Laughter rippled through the room and a small blonde girl, who was sat on the rug in front of the mantelpiece, leaned towards Charlus' other sister (who Euphemia recognised vaguely from when she had seen her around Hogwarts) and said in a loud whisper, "I like her," which caused a bubble of happiness to form within Mia's body, making her feel more at ease.

"It is lovely to meet you, sweetheart. You're even more beautiful than Charlus said you were!" Everleigh exclaimed and she surprised Euphemia by suddenly hugging her, which caused Mia to freeze for a second. She wasn't really used to this type of affection from older women....especially not ones that she didn't really know or wasn't related to but she soon relaxed in the embrace.

Charlus had blushed slightly upon his mother's comment that he had been talking about Euphemia to his parents, "Mum!" he protested in a rather whiny fashion and his sisters laughed at his misfortune as Everleigh pulled back from the hug, appearing mischievous, "What? Don't pretend that you didn't rave about her for years, Charlus. I know a lovesick puppy when I see one," she winked at Mia before leaning in to whisper, "Trust me, he was smitten and I can see why, darling."

Euphemia beamed at Mrs Potter, overwhelmed by the amount of kindness that Everleigh was showing her even though they had only been introduced minutes earlier. Henry came over at that point and offered his hand for her to shake, "I know we met earlier but it was under rather unusual circumstances so...it's nice to properly meet you, Mia," Henry said with a gentle smile, holding her one hand in the both of his for a second before going to sit down again.

"These are my sisters," Charlus continued the introductions once he had recovered from his embarrassment, pulling Euphemia over to the other side of the living room where Rochelle was curled up in an armchair, reading a book, and Olivia was poring over a jigsaw, her brow furrowing in confusion as she attempted to make sense of all the mismatched pieces.

"This is Rochelle and she is—" Charlus was cut off as Rochelle placed her book down and jumped up eagerly, with a sardonic glance in her brother's direction, "—perfectly capable of introducing herself," she shot him a sweet smile before turning to Mia with a genuine grin, "Hi, it's lovely to finally meet you," Rochelle beamed before also hugging Euphemia, like her mother had done which installed the fact that the Potters were a very affectionate, loving and welcoming family to Mia.

"I have seen you around at school before, I vaguely remember your face but I don't think we've ever been officially introduced so, it's nice to meet you too, Rochelle. It's lovely to meet all of you, in fact," Euphemia added, looking around at all of the Potters before she was interrupted by the clearing of a throat down below, causing both her and Charlus to look down.

"Fleamont, you seem to have forgotten what we discussed," Olivia said to her brother in a rather regal tone, sitting up very straight and narrowing her eyes at Charlus, who sighed, "Can't you just introduce yourself? It's not hard," he told the little blonde girl and Mia had to conceal a smile behind her hand at the way her boyfriend interacted with his siblings, especially Olivia.

Olivia glanced up at him as if he was actually stupid and Charlus rolled his eyes before adopting a town crier stance, a dull and fed-up tone taking over his words, "Hear ye, hear ye - I introduce to you, Euphemia, the one and only Queen Liv," he gestured with a flourish to Olivia, who bounced to her feet with a flounce of her skirt, sending Mia a wide smile before shooting an irritated look at Charlus.

"Fleamont, don't give up your day job  - your acting sucks more than your life and that's saying something," Olivia said with a sweet smile and Euphemia couldn't conceal her laughter this time, giggling at the expression on Charlus' face whilst her amusement was not fading whatsoever, especially due to Everleigh, Henry and Rochelle also joining in with the laughter.

"You may refer to me as Olivia or Liv because I like you," Olivia turned to Mia, "Some peasants....," she sent a dirty look in the direction of both Rochelle and Charlus, "...are reduced to referring to me as Your Majesty because they're disrespectful but, as a liked member of this family, you are permitted to use my actual name," Olivia then threw herself at Euphemia, wrapping her arms around the girl and hugging her tightly as Mia embraced her back, still unused to this sort of immediate display of affection.

"Olivia, behave," Everleigh said sternly and the seven year old smiled sweetly at her mother, saluting her in a sarcastic fashion. Everleigh shook her head in exasperation before turning to Euphemia in a motherly fashion, her hands clasped together, "Would you like a cup of tea, dear?" she asked her son's girlfriend and Mia found herself nodding as Henry gestured for her sit down, which she did rather awkwardly.

Despite the major differences between Cassiopeia and Everleigh, Euphemia still knew that the meaning behind a cup of tea offered by any mother was the same - it was the opportunity to hold a conversation, whenever Cassiopeia had brought Mia into the drawing room for a cup of tea, it meant she wanted to talk to her. With her own mother, it had always been a bad thing but now, the hot beverage sounded quite comforting to Euphemia and she found herself nodding.

Everleigh disappeared for a few moments into the kitchen and a comfortable silence fell over the living room, though Mia was visibly aware of Charlus' sisters staring quite attentively at her, as if expecting her to sprout a unicorn horn or something similar. Olivia in particular was peering upwards at Euphemia and she suddenly grabbed Mia's left hand, taking the girl in question by surprise.

"This is a pretty ring," Olivia said and Euphemia felt her heart stop in her chest as Charlus himself froze, aware that the ring that his sister was complimenting was in fact the very same engagement ring that Orion had given Mia, which she had been forced to wear that day because of it being her wedding day. Due to the excitement of the escape and all the chaos of the past few hours, Euphemia had forgotten to take it off and she found herself become rather shaky all of a sudden.

"You can have it," Mia told the little girl quickly and Olivia's eyes lit up as she slid the jewelled ring off Euphemia's left finger, her mouth falling open as the emerald encrusted within the twisted silver band shone in the light of the living room. "Mia, can I ask you a question?" Olivia asked as she slowly pulled the ring onto her right forefinger.

Euphemia smiled with a nod, adoring Charlus' sister's antics already but not being able to resist a witty remark, "You just did ask me a question but yes." Henry and Rochelle both let out hoots of laughter as Olivia's eyes narrowed immediately at her brother's girlfriend, whilst Charlus himself smirked, "I do the funny comments in this house, thank you very much," the youngest Potter declared with a flick of her blonde hair.

"Yes, apparently Liv is the only one capable of wit in this family," Charlus said drily and Olivia made a shushing motion at the sixteen year old boy, irritated that her question was getting interrupted, before finally turning to Mia and waggling her fingers in the air, letting the jewel sparkle once more, "This ring is so gorgeous....I just have to wonder why you didn't just take the ring and not the husband? Cause that's what I would've done!" she shrugged.

At that moment, Everleigh gave Euphemia her cup of tea and she very nearly dropped it when taking it from Charlus' mother's hand, managing to stop herself at the moment and only sloshing a little bit over the side onto the saucer in her shock. She laughed nervously, unsure as to how to reply to such a comment but, thankfully, Charlus jumped to her aid, "It's not that simple, Liv. But now, technically, she has done that so...how about you go and put that ring in your jewellery box?"

Olivia narrowed her eyes at her brother, her hands on her hips as she was evidently not fooled, "I know you're just trying to get rid of me but fine," she stuck her tongue out at Charlus before storming dramatically out of the room, stomping her feet loudly on purpose as Rochelle chuckled slightly at her sister's antics and Henry shook his head with a small smile on his face in the background.

Charlus leapt onto the sofa next to her, from where he had been leaning against the wall, and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into a hug, "Sorry that Liv said that, love. She doesn't realise how serious the whole wedding issue was," he pressed a kiss to Mia's forehead, who simply shrugged, still feeling a little shaken up by the vague reminder of Orion, "It's alright....I'll have to get used to people talking about it, after all."

As Everleigh came back into the living room, having overheard the conversation, she sent Euphemia an apologetic smile and squeezed her shoulder gently - a simple and comforting movement that Mia could've overlooked but she found herself strangely choked up by the rather motherly gesture....Cassiopeia had never done that. Charlus' mother didn't even know her, not properly anyhow, and yet she was acting more affectionate than Euphemia's own mother had been in her entire life.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that, dear. Your mother has never been the type to back down from something once she's planned it all out," Everleigh told her, sitting down next to Henry and taking her husband's hand in her own, as Rochelle shuffled across the carpet and leaned against her mother's legs, nose buried in her book.

The comment took Mia by surprise and, though she knew that Everleigh and her mother had known each other because of how they had acted around one another in the past, she was taken aback by how well Everleigh seemed to know Cassiopeia and she found herself asking, "Out of interest, how did you know my mother, Mrs Potter?" whilst tilting her head to one side in curiosity.

Everleigh exchanged a cautious glance with Henry and they seemed to hold a conversation with their eyes, barely moving their mouths as their strong connection was palpable, the love and respect that they felt for one another electrocuting between them. "First of all, call me Everleigh - Mrs Potter is far too formal," she told Euphemia, who nodded, despite being surprised, yet again, at how different the Potters were to the Black family.

"Second of all, I knew your mother from my school days...both myself and Henry went to school with her - we were in the same year but Cassiopeia was in Slytherin, obviously, and both of us were in Gryffindor," Everleigh informed Mia but the girl couldn't help but feel that something was being withheld from the conversation, something that Charlus' parents were obviously reluctant to reveal.

"Weirdly enough, Euphemia, your mother and I used to date, actually," Henry interjected slowly and Rochelle started in surprise, looking up abruptly from her book in shock as both Charlus and Euphemia gaped at Henry and Everleigh. Eventually, after a long stretch of silence, Rochelle voiced what all of the teenagers in the room were thinking, "That is so confusing and disgusting to think about!"

Rochelle stood up at that point, appearing utterly perplexed and revolted at the same time, "Think about it..." she began to pace up and down, her book closed and forgotten on the living room floor, "If that relationship hadn't ended, there would be some weird mixture of Charlus and Mia sat on the sofa right now....like a Charlemia or a Euphemont," she pulled a face and both Euphemia and Charlus shuddered a little, freaked out by the fact that Charlus' father and Mia's mother had dated in the past - it was just weird.

"Alright, let's move the conversation on from that disturbing fact, Shelley," Everleigh said hastily, also evidently rather put off by it all (especially as she had been the reason as to why Cassiopeia and Henry hadn't actually ended up together). Rochelle glared at her mother for the nickname, "Don't call me Shelley," she told Everleigh through gritted teeth and Charlus chuckled to himself.

"So, basically, you knew my mother from school and the reason why it was so awkward between you during certain situations, like when I was in the hospital, was because you both dated the same boy?" Mia summarised quickly, bringing the conversation back to her initial question in the type of small talk manner that had been installed within her since birth.

Everleigh gave a slight laugh, "Yes, pretty much. It sounds pathetic when you say it like that but Henry was a handsome devil....certainly something to get jealous over," she patted her husband on the knee lovingly.  Rochelle seated herself back down, opening her book again to start reading as Charlus leant over his girlfriend to talk to his dad, a grin spreading across his face, "So, Dad, it sounds like you were quite the player in your days," he teased and Henry chuckled with a twinkle in his eyes, winking at his son, "Of course."

"It must be where you get it from...like it's in your genes or something," Rochelle hardly glanced up from her book whilst delivering this comment and a scandalised noise escaped from Everleigh, who had started pouring Euphemia another cup of tea, and she nearly dropped the teapot as she looked down at her oldest daughter in shock, "Rochelle, you can't talk to your brother like that!" she scolded the girl.

"Well, it's true!" Rochelle insisted before whirling around to face Mia, as if looking for an ally, "Isn't it true? Before my brother fell hopelessly in love with you, he was the biggest playboy in Hogwarts," she stated and Euphemia glanced teasingly at her boyfriend before replying, "Yes, he was. The heartthrob and heartbreaker of the school," she nudged Charlus jokingly and he stared back at her, dead-pan, thoroughly unamused.

"I take offence to that....I am incredibly hurt now," Charlus said in a dramatic tone, not unlike the kind that Florean would adopt whenever he was being a drama-queen, and he turned his head away from Mia and stuck his palm in her face in a 'talk to the hand' gesture which simply made her laugh, "Oh, get over it, you big baby," Euphemia patted him on the head as if he was a dog whilst Everleigh and Henry watched on in an affectionate fashion.

"Is Charlus being a baby again?" Olivia had returned into the room and she stared in a stern manner at her older brother, raising her eyebrows. Henry chuckled before saying, "Yeah, he won't accept that he broke many girls' hearts before he started dating Mia," he shook his head at Charlus, who gaped at his father, a betrayed look on his face.

"I thought we were supposed to be on the same side! Besides, you can't even say anything - considering that you were also a playboy," he accused his father, pointing at Henry, who simply held his hands up in a surrender and shrugged. "So you admit it!" Rochelle suddenly exclaimed smugly, having caught him out, "You just referred to yourself as a playboy!"

"Whatever....my point is that Dad should be on my side because we're the men in this family," Charlus told Rochelle and there was a sudden snort of amusement from Olivia, who had an incredulous expression plastered on her face, "Don't flatter yourself, Fleamont. If pathetic idiots like you are classed as 'men' nowadays then I feel immense pity for the future generation," she commented sassily and laughter bubbled across the room.

Everleigh sent a strange look towards her seven year old daughter, forever surprised by Olivia and her intelligence - as she often was. "Where on earth do you get this extensive vocabulary from? You're only seven!" she exclaimed and Olivia simply simpered, "To be honest, I think that I was gifted with an amazing brain to make up for Rochelle's own lack of common sense and brain cells," Olivia said sweetly, provoking an outraged gasp from her sister.

"Excuse me?! I am much smarter than you," Rochelle retorted and she waved her book in the air, "I'm currently reading Jane Eyre - I don't see you divulging the pages of this classic novel!" she challenged her little sister and Olivia simply yawned, looking bored before replying in a rather flat tone, "Congratulations. You can read....what do you want, a medal? Besides, that book is boring anyway," she yawned again, as if to prove her point.

Chaos ensued then, with Rochelle and Olivia arguing - a battle of who could make the most sarcastic remarks and comebacks whilst Henry watched in amusement, probably glad that the conversation had swerved away from the discussion about his player days. Everleigh looked like she wanted to break up the argument but the comments kept getting funnier and funnier, which made even Olivia and Rochelle laugh at each other.

Mia smiled into her teacup, loving the interactions between the Potters - even though they jibed, taunted and teased, it was blatantly obvious that they all loved each other very much. The way that Henry and Everleigh were observing their children was with so much affection and love, the emotions so strong that Euphemia was fairly taken aback by it all....her parents had never looked at her and Marius like that.

Olivia and Rochelle were equally as funny and sassy, with intelligence sparking their witty remarks and, even though they were technically arguing, they clearly loved each other very much and their argument didn't even touch the vicious scale that Mia had seen in the Black family - some of her cousins, like Walburga and Cygnus, had horrible arguments that were full of venom and cruelty.

Everything in the Potter household radiated family and love - from the cluttering of family photographs on the mantelpiece to the constant laughter and affectionate banter that filled the cosy living room, Charlus' family home was the complete contrast to the cold, airy, glamorous but lacking-in-love Black manor that Euphemia had spent her childhood in.

She had only been in her boyfriend's house for a couple of hours, she had only met his sisters and parents properly that day and yet it felt like she had known them forever. The way that they had put Mia completely at ease as soon as she walked into the living room spoke volumes about the type of people that they were and they had even managed to make her forget about the wedding.

The wedding....it didn't seem possible that, just earlier that morning, Euphemia had resigned herself to the depressing fact that she was going to be tied in a marriage to her horrid cousin for the rest of her life and yet now, she was sat in the warm and loving atmosphere of Charlus' house and she was safe...she was content and she couldn't believe how quickly events had turned around.

"I'm sorry that they're all like this...not a good first impression," Charlus muttered in Mia's ear, wrapping his arm around her waist and bringing her into a side embrace and Euphemia chuckled slightly, wriggling so that she could look her boyfriend in the face, "They're perfect....this is all perfect."

Charlus' face lit up and he placed a kiss on her cheek before pulling back and looking deeply into her eyes, "Are you sure? Because I know that a small cottage with five other people living so close to you isn't what you're normally used to—" he was cut off as Mia pressed her finger against his lips, shushing him.

"Flea, this is the best house that I've ever been in. Your family is incredible - I feel safe, I feel wanted and I feel loved....there is nothing I would change," she told him earnestly and Charlus smiled before leaning in and kissing her on the lips, stroking her hair before they were broken apart by the sound of Olivia exclaiming, "Gosh, they're smushing their food holes together....is that normal?!"

And, as the room exploded into laughter at the strange comment coming from the innocent seven year old, everyone starting to chatter again and tease one another - Euphemia decided that she had never felt so relaxed and calm in all of her life. She was definitely going to enjoy it at the Potters.

My mock exams are finally over! Yay :)

Thank you so much for all of your support, it means the world 💕

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!