"And you think that one hour locked in that cupboard is enough for everything they
did to Harry?"
Mia shook her head and sighed. "Not even close. They starved him. Literally," she
said, clenching her teeth. "One hour today won't lessen my anger over that. Which is why
I imagine I'll come back in a month or so and do this all over again."
"Lily wouldn't approve," Sirius pointed out, looking only slightly guilty.
Mia nodded with a smile. "No, but Jamie would have."
October 31st, 1998Mia woke up on the morning of Halloween, remembering spending the holiday
with her Muggle parents so long ago. Her mother would dress her as a rabbit or a kitten
when she was very young and, ironically, once as a witch. Then her father would take her
hand and lead her door to door to collect sweets before returning home to dig through her
treasures and pick out the least offending pieces before taking his turn at the door to hand
out toothbrushes to the costumed children who came knocking—officially making them
the least popular house in their neighbourhood.
When she went to Hogwarts, all Halloween activities were limited to school; even
then, there was not much in the way of dressing up and eating sweets. She met with a troll
during her first Halloween at Hogwarts and, instead of chocolate bars, she walked away
with two best friends. The years that followed were not any better. A petrified cat and an
opened Chamber of Secrets, Sirius Black—purportedly an escaped murderer—attacking
the Fat Lady, Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire...
Mia was surprised that with a history of bad things happening on Halloween, that
she had chosen that specific date to lose her virginity to Remus. She wondered if perhaps
it had been an attempt to erase all the bad memories of the holiday that she had
experienced. Or maybe it was to forget what the future had in store.
James jumped over the end of the long, red sofa in the Gryffindor common room to find her curled
up on the other end with Sirius's head in her lap. The couple was jostled by James's rough landing, and he
chuckled when one of Mia's fingernails dug a little too sharply into Sirius's scalp.