the_debt_of_time

of them there, she began to panic until the front door opened and her best friend stepped
inside looking exhausted. "Remus, what happened? Where's Sirius?"
Remus put his hands on her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Calm down."
"Calm down? You send me a message like that and then tell me to calm down?"
"Mia.. ." Remus sighed. "Sirius got a letter from his mother."
Her anger fell immediately, and she groaned. They had not heard a word about
Walburga in years—not since Sirius had escaped Grimmauld Place. Despite knowing the
timeline, Mia blanked on any reason why the horrible woman would contact her disowned
son. "Merlin, what did that nasty old bitch have to say now?"
Remus frowned. "Sirius's father and brother died."
Her jaw dropped in shock as she remembered a long time ago when she and an
older Sirius sat together at Grimmauld Place. Harry and Ron had been tearing apart
Regulus's room looking for anything that R.A.B. might have left behind, specifically a
Horcrux.
"Tell me about your brother."
"Maybe another time, love."
"Was there a funeral?"
"I imagine so. I wasn't invited. I got a lovely letter from my mother telling me that my father and
brother were both dead."
"That's awful."
"That was typical."
"So you didn't even get to say goodbye?"
"Not in the way you're thinking. I said goodbye to them all the moment they blasted me off that
tree in the other room. When Reg died, though... I said goodbye by drinking my way through a bottle of
firewhisky with a girlfriend."
Understanding her role now, Mia walked over to the kitchen and waved her wand
in the air, levitating down a large, unopened bottle of firewhisky. Looking back to Remus,
she asked, "Where is he?"
"Downstairs," Remus replied, gesturing to the door. "He threatened to duel me if I
tried to separate him from the firewhisky." He glanced at the bottle in her hand, and Mia
could tell he was wondering if she was making the right choice.
"Sirius? Love?"