Chapter Eighty-One
Outside the Order
Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home
When it's all said and done I'll follow the echoes
I hear you night after night calling out my name
And I find myself running to meet you, I didn't want to escape
From the bricks that I laid down
(Break In - Halestorm)August 6th, 1978Mia stared at her father's name on the paper until arms wrapped around her waist,
the soothing smell of leather bringing about an old comfort.
"You ready to go, kitten?" Sirius asked.
In the aftermath of the attack at graduation, the Gryffindors had rallied together to
offer assistance to the wounded. It had been chaos. Both Alice and Mary had lost their
mothers in the attack; while the witches had fallen to the ground consumed with grief,
Peter was unable to handle the near-fatal attack on his own mother, which left her comatose.
His father, Evan Pettigrew, turned murderous at the sight of his wife, having assumed her
dead. He drew his wand and started throwing hexes and curses at anyone who came near,
Peter included. When the Aurors showed up, Evan Pettigrew was arrested for accidentally
hitting an innocent bystander with a Cruciatus Curse.
When Charlus's body was found, Mia broke.
Dorea's passing had hurt like nothing else in the world, but there had been time—
even though it was a short amount—to adjust to the idea of her death. Mia had to be strong
for the others as well; James and Sirius were losing a mother, too, and neither had
experienced death before. Not only that, but Remus had just lost his own mother and
needed to be taken care of.
Losing Charlus felt like the last straw, and Mia had fallen to pieces in Sirius's arms
at the sight of her father, dead on the ground with a long, familiar, purple scar on his ribs.
Dolohov had been with the Death Eaters that attacked.
Those who had seen Mia's scar instantly recognised the similar one on Charlus's
body, but no one said a word about it, likely assuming that it was a Death Eater specialty—