"It was not one moment of my life that ended our friendship," Snape acknowledged.
"She was not so petty as to let one word destroy that. But I can admit now that I was not
good to her—or for her. Not that your brother was any―"
"Watch it," Mia snarled, the growl coming from low in her throat.
Snape smirked as he fell silent, then gave a curt nod in her general direction.
Mia took a deep breath and sighed. "For the record, you were a better Potions
Professor than Slughorn, and I am grateful for your instruction. Even though you were a
giant arse about it."
Snape merely dipped his head toward her. Saying "thank you" once had clearly been
more than enough for him for one day.
"Oh," Mia said with a grin as she stepped toward the fireplace. "By the way, it was
me who set you on fire during my first year. And I also stole from your personal stores my
second year to make Polyjuice Potion in order to sneak into the Slytherin common room.
Oh, and I was the one who―"
"Lovely seeing you, Minerva," Remus interrupted, grabbing Mia's hand and tugging
her toward him. He gave her a tight smile as he reached for a fistful of Floo powder,
throwing it into the fireplace. "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!"
"Minnie." Mia smiled pleasantly at her old professor as she stuck one foot into the
flames before turning toward the painting of Snape, waving jauntily at him. "Severus,
always a pleasure."
Before Harry even took his first step toward the stairs, Sirius jumped up and
grabbed his arm. "Maybe let's leave Hermione alone for a bit," he suggested, hoping that
he did not look too suspicious.
He knew something like this could happen. Harry hated it when people kept secrets
from him—with good reason. Sirius was very similar. He remembered more than one
heated argument with Mia that started because of her secrecy. Granted, it turned out she
had a pretty bloody good reason, and he finally understood the position she had been in
for so long.