The rest of the summer holidays flew by in a whirlwind for Euphemia, which was weirdly ironic. When she had been staying at her own home, Black Manor, during the summer, the days had always dragged on and Mia had often felt like she spent years at the place which was probably because she hated every second of it. Summer had been a time that she despised because she had to go back home, so the holidays had always gone on forever, or so it had seemed.

Now, however, that she was at the Potters and actually having a good time during the summer holidays for the first time ever, the weeks sped past quicker than a snitch flying through the air during a Quidditch match. Euphemia found herself actually dreading going back to school, whereas she had always looked forward to the first of September in past years.

And she was having a good time. Mia's weeks were filled with laughter, warmth and fun now that she was at Charlus' house and she actually felt content and happy, for the first time in forever. Olivia was constantly entertaining all of them with her antics; Rochelle was intelligent and thoughtful; Everleigh had literally become a mother to Euphemia and Henry was one of the kindest, jovial men that she had ever met.

Charlus was obviously amazing as well and always made sure that Mia was happy at all times and, if there were occasions where she wasn't exactly feeling fabulous because of a vicious onslaught of memories or a horrible moment where something minimal reminded her of Orion or her family, he ensured that she was back to her smiling self within minutes.

More often than not, Euphemia and Charlus met up with their friends in Diagon Alley because they could have more time together, now that Mia's movements weren't being restricted or controlled by her parents. Florean needed a lot of support as he was having a hard time at home so the group met up a lot more than they used to, even if it was only a few of them catching up over a Butterbeer or an ice cream.

Euphemia just took a long time to adjust to the fact that she didn't have to ask permission to go out with friends (Charlus would simply grab her hand and yell to his mother that they were going out, to which Everleigh would just nod) and she also had to come to terms with the fact that she didn't get into trouble for the tiniest things.

There was one moment in mid August where Mia broke a plate and she froze in place, terrified that she was going to get yelled at but Henry had simply told her not to worry about it and flicked his wand, fixing the plate with a simple Reparo. Afterwards, Euphemia had stammered out apology after apology and, when Henry had reached forward to reassure her, she had flinched away instinctively.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Henry had said gently, "It's just a plate, it's been fixed," he had told her and Mia had nodded shakily but apologies had still spewed out of her mouth, causing Henry to embrace her tightly and reassure her that it was okay, that she didn't have to apologise for the simplest things anymore. Euphemia knew that, it was just going to take her a long time to truly get used to it.

Mia's time at the Potters was just so lovely that she didn't want it to end.....she didn't want to stop having the relaxing evenings when the entire family would sit out in the garden, chatting with drinks in their hands as the sun set in the distance, the warm summer air lingering around them and making them all content. Euphemia didn't want the morning breakfasts to stop....the conversations they would all have over some tea and toast were some of the best moments of Mia's summer.

"I'm going to miss you," Olivia said to her sweetly, on one of these particular mornings near the end of August, in the last week of the summer holidays before Charlus and Euphemia had to return to Hogwarts. The small seven year old curled into Mia's side at the breakfast table, clutching her glass of pumpkin juice in an adorably cute way, her blonde hair still ruffled from sleep.

"I'm going to miss you too, Liv," Euphemia replied, wrapping her arm around the little girl that she had started to think of as a sister by now. Her throat clogged up slightly with emotion and she made an 'ahem' noise so that her voice didn't embarrass her by breaking in the middle of the sentence, "But you can still write to me, yeah?" she suggested, lacing her fingers through Olivia's slightly sticky ones.

Olivia nodded, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice before placing it back down on the table with a clunk, cuddling more into Mia's side. Everleigh was busy washing up the dishes from breakfast as Henry bustled about upstairs, collecting all of his essentials before he headed off for work at the Ministry. Rochelle was sat opposite them at the table, head buried in a book, and Charlus was getting changed upstairs.

"I've been working on my letters with Mummy," Olivia informed her, "So I can write big paragraphs now," she said proudly and Euphemia patted the little girl on the head, mussing up her blonde locks a little more which caused Olivia to playfully scowl up at her. "Make sure you keep up with your studies though, dear," Everleigh called over from where she was waving her wand to clean the breakfast dishes, "Liv can wait a few days for her letters if you're busy with homework, you know," she told her.

Mia nodded, feeling a slight sense of warmth filter through her at the maternal advice - it may have annoyed other people but it just made her feel happy that Everleigh cared about her enough to scold her slightly about keeping her grades up and not being distracted by Olivia's letters. "I will do, don't worry," she assured Everleigh, gaining a smile from the woman in response.

As Euphemia continued talking to Olivia, the seven year old still practically lying across Mia's lap as the fifteen year old stroked her blonde hair in an almost sisterly / motherly fashion, Rochelle stood up from her place at the table and shut her book, starting to head upstairs for a little more peace and quiet to focus on her story. Rochelle really was the little bookworm of the family and Euphemia was actually surprised that the girl wasn't in Ravenclaw.

On her way upstairs, she bumped into Charlus, who was descending down the stairs rather quickly, his hand resting on the banister as he moved down them swiftly, "Have you seen Mia?" her brother asked and Rochelle stopped near the top of the stairs, hopping down a few to speak to Charlus, "Yeah, she's in the kitchen with Liv," she told him, pointing through the doorway and Charlus' previously indifferent expression melted into one of love when he saw his girlfriend cuddling his little sister.

Rochelle crept down the stairs slowly so that she could hover behind Charlus, who had now stopped in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face as he looked at Euphemia. "She'd make an amazing mother," Rochelle said softly, placing her hand on Charlus' arm gently and a wide smile spread across his face instinctively, "Yes, she would," he agreed.

Rochelle started a little in surprise, blinking before she glanced at her brother curiously, "You want kids then?" she asked in a questioning manner - she had never really seen Charlus as the type to settle down and have children due to his previous playboy reputation. She knew that he was loyal to Mia now and that he loved her very much but Charlus was always the type of reckless, irresponsible and immature guy that Rochelle hadn't really imagined as a father before.

"Of course I do," Charlus mumbled, his eyes still fixed on Euphemia and Olivia (who was now telling an enthusiastic story, gesturing wildly, as Mia listened attentively, nodding and inputting occasionally). "I didn't at first but now...." he trailed off sheepishly before shoving Rochelle away slightly, a blush coating his cheeks, "Why am I even telling you this? Go away," he told her, snapping out of whatever daze he had been placed in.

Rochelle simply smirked knowingly and, now that she thought about it properly, she could envision Charlus as a father, especially if Euphemia was the one that he started a family with. Mia was the right mother material and Rochelle could imagine the two of them with a little boy or girl that looked a little like both of them....they were too young at the moment, of course, but Rochelle could see it happening at some time in the future.

Charlus walked into the kitchen at that point, shrugging off any previous emotions and he pressed a kiss to Euphemia's forehead in greeting, not interrupting her conversation with Olivia though because he knew that his little sister would kill him for it. As he plopped down in the seat opposite his girlfriend and Olivia, Everleigh sat down beside him and leaned in to whisper something in his ear, "She's very good with children," she pointed out to him knowingly.

Charlus nearly spat his coffee out in annoyed shock, "For Merlin's sake, not you as well," he exclaimed with an eye roll, feeling the blush rise up in his cheeks again at his mother's suggestive expression. "Why? Who else has said it?" Everleigh asked, a smile curving at her lips and Charlus glared in the direction of where Rochelle had disappeared to, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, "Shelley said that as well. You're all annoying," he complained with a groan.

"Oh, are we annoying Charlus? Can I join in?" Olivia piped up, snapping out of her conversation with Mia, who was observing the interaction with a great deal of amusement. Charlus just had to pray that she hadn't overheard any of what his mother and sister had said to him because that would be really embarrassing.

"No, you can't," Charlus told her with a glare and Olivia smiled sweetly before leaning forward, moving slightly out of Euphemia's grip, "In that case...." she pretended to think, stroking her chin in mock thought but Charlus dipped his fingers into the flower vase in the middle of the table and splashed some of the water at his little sister, "Go away," he ordered her and Olivia simply stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Before Olivia could say anything else, however, Mia reached forward and flicked the threaded, friendship bracelet that was visible on Olivia's little wrist, "Who's this from, hm? One of your secret admirers?" she teased, swiftly changing the subject and Everleigh made a small noise of approval at the fact that Euphemia had managed to divert an argument from arising between the siblings.

Charlus glared at his mother, who held her hands up in surrender, mouthing, "I didn't say anything," at him innocently, her eyes wide. Meanwhile, Olivia had turned back to Mia and was giggling with a superior look on her face, "Yes, it's from one of them," she informed the older girl and Everleigh nearly dropped her tea cup in surprise as Euphemia exchanged an amused grin with Charlus.

"Oh, so you have many admirers, do you?" Mia asked the seven year old, arching an eyebrow and Olivia nodded with a smirk, "Yes, I'm very popular. Everyone wants me to be their friend and some of the boys are just desperate. It's like they think that giving me dead flowers and stupid bracelets is going to make me be friends with them. Stupid boys," she muttered disparagingly and Euphemia laughed openly.

Charlus was also amused but he felt a wider smile spreading across his face at the sight of his girlfriend laughing - he hadn't really noticed it at first but, whenever she was amused, her eyes crinkled up slightly at the corners and her entire face always lit up which was an incredibly pleasing sight, like the sun had finally streamed into the room. Mia's smile just always made everything much better.

At that moment, there was a sudden rapping at the window and all of the Potters in the room plus Euphemia glanced up to see that a very sleek, elegant owl was perched on the kitchen windowsill, two rather official looking envelopes with the Hogwarts crest clutched in his beak, waiting impatiently for Everleigh to hurry to the window and let him in.

Mia felt like an icy hand had plunged through her stomach as her heart practically dropped - she had completely forgotten that today was O.W.L.S. results day and that the envelope that Everleigh was now detaching from the owl contained her future, literally. She guessed that she had just been so caught up in the relaxed atmosphere of the Potters' home that she had neglected to think about the results of the exams that all fifth years had sat in the summer term.

If she had been back at Black Manor, Euphemia wouldn't have had much to distract her so O.W.L.S. results probably would've been the only thing on her mind and she would've been stressing over them for weeks. But now, she hadn't been expecting it at all and, as a result, nerves flooded into her system like a river with strong currents.

Charlus must've seen her nervous expression and the telltale signs of her anxiety - the slow gnawing of her bottom lip and the slight darting of her eyes so he made his way over to her side of the table, scooting Olivia over to one side as he wrapped an arm around Mia, "Breathe. It's okay, it's just exam results," he reassured her and Euphemia tried to take deep breaths but her hands still shook as she took the envelope from Everleigh.

"I'll make a cup of tea," Everleigh said, eyeing Mia with a great level of concern, "I'm sure you've both done great," she added, as she turned her back to boil the kettle, waving her wand to do so. Charlus looked sideways at his girlfriend, squeezing her hand and trying to help her relax, "We'll open them together, yeah? On the count of three - one, two, three..."

Both Euphemia and Charlus slipped their fingers underneath the Hogwarts crest that was sealing the envelope, their fingernails digging into the wax as they ripped open their envelopes, taking the parchment inside out carefully. Mia took a deep breath before unfolding her results at the same time as Charlus, both of their eyes scanning over the printed letters in front of them.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades: Fail Grades:
Outstanding (O). Poor (P)
Exceeds Expectations (E). Dreadful (D)
Acceptable (A). Troll (T)

EUPHEMIA CASSIOPEIA OPHELIA BLACK HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy:                                                E
Care of Magical Creatures:                     A
Charms:                                                      E
Defence Against the Dark Arts:             O
Ancient Runes:                                          O
Herbology:                                                 A
History of Magic:                                      A
Potions:                                                      O
Transfiguration:                                       E

Mia's heavy, laboured breathing lessened by the second as her eyes moved farther and farther down the page, a smile starting to spread across her face. High expectations had always been placed on her since she was born and she knew that her mother probably wouldn't be happy with some of those results but she didn't care anymore....it was whether she was happy with them and she was happy.

Somehow, Euphemia had managed to get three Outstanding grades, in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes and Potions and, even though she had no idea how she had managed to secure a top grade in Potions, she was over the moon about it. In the rest of her subjects, Mia had gotten several Es and As which was more than she was expecting - with all the stress of the wedding around the time of her exams, she had expected at least a few Ps or even a D but she hadn't gotten any!

Charlus glanced over at her, a grin on his own face and he gave her a thumbs-up, as if trying to ascertain whether she had done well and Euphemia beamed at him in response, throwing her arms around him and he caught her in a hug, swinging her around happily. "You happy? Let's swap, then," he suggested and he gave her his parchment, taking hers from her hand as Everleigh watched with a smile, Olivia now in her lap instead of Mia's.

Euphemia looked down at Charlus' results - he had also done well, surprisingly. It wasn't that she had expected her boyfriend to do badly but he did muck about in lessons and didn't really take his studies seriously all of the time so she wouldn't have been exactly shocked if he had failed any of his subjects. There were a considerably larger amount of As on Charlus' parchment than there had been on hers but he had also gotten an Outstanding in Defence Against the Dark Arts, like her.

Charlus had achieved several Es as well - in Charms, Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration and the rest of his grades were As but that was more than enough to get him into the N.E.W.T. classes that he wanted so the pair of them were incredibly happy. Everleigh bustled over to have a look at their grades and enveloped both of them in a hug, saying how proud she was of them both which made Mia beam from ear to ear - she had never had someone feeling proud of her before.

"Can't believe you only got an A in Ancient Runes though, Charlus," Everleigh scolded playfully, whacking her son on the back of his head and Charlus yelped, rubbing his head sheepishly and sending a rueful grin in Euphemia's direction, "Well, I was always a little distracted in those lessons," he told his mother, eyes still fixed on Mia and she blushed deeply as that was the lesson where they sat next to each other.

"No excuses," Everleigh said sternly before smiling at her son and his girlfriend, "All jokes aside, I'm chuffed for both of you. You've both worked so hard and life didn't really give you an easy time during exam period so well done," she beamed at Charlus and Euphemia as Olivia danced around her ankles, still in her pyjamas.

"I bet that Minnie got an Outstanding in Transfiguration," Charlus suddenly said with a grin and Mia nodded, agreeing instantly - Minerva was definitely top of the class in Transfiguration so it wouldn't surprise any of them if the girl had managed to get full marks in the exam. Euphemia mentally noted to herself to send letters to all of her friends to inquire how their grades had turned out, as they had all decided they couldn't meet up between now and the start of term.

The start of term....that mere thought struck quite a bit of fear into Mia because it was alright saying that she was safe when she was at the Potters but, once she got to Hogwarts, she had to share a dormitory with one of the cousins that she had ran away from. Walburga wasn't necessarily the person that had made Euphemia run away but it wouldn't help with the girl's anxiety if she had to see Walburga again.

Mia just wished that she could stay at the Potters forever, to be honest, because she felt so safe and content at Charlus' home. She loved being at Hogwarts with all of her friends, of course she did, but now the start of term definitely brought along it's own personal anxieties for Euphemia because the first of September would be the first time that she would see some of her family since she ran away literally in the middle of a battle. It hadn't exactly been the most peaceful goodbye....

As always, Charlus seemed to sense what she was thinking and, as Everleigh picked a protesting Olivia up into her arms and took her upstairs for a bath, Charlus snaked his arms around Mia's waist from behind. He placed a kiss on her neck, causing her to shiver a little, and whispered against her ear, "It's gonna be alright. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," his breath was hot against her skin.

Euphemia just had to hold onto that lifeline that he threw her and believe what he said because there was no other choice. She didn't want to think about reuniting with any of her family because it sent terror rippling through her body but Charlus' words eased her anxiety a little.

It was going to be okay......right?

I think we can all agree that 2020 is officially cancelled 🙃
My GCSEs were cancelled, my prom has been cancelled and so will all of my holidays probably (including a trip to New York...) so I really don't like this corona virus at all.

But that's not the most important thing, of course. I'm currently in self isolation and I hope that all of you are all staying home (if possible) and staying safe. On a more positive note, I should hopefully be updating more frequently because I have A LOT of free time now hahaha.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember to keep washing your hands, follow government advice and stay safe x

Love you loads!