the_debt_of_time

Mia smiled at his look of wonder that nearly matched her own the first time she had
arrived inside the manor. "Come on Remus, Sirius, grab your trunks, and I'll show you to
your rooms."
Sirius raised a brow. "Grab my trunk?"
"You plan on sleeping in the drawing room?"
Sirius looked around. "No, I mean... I thought you had house-elves."
"Unfortunately, we do." Mia seethed, and James laughed. "But that doesn't mean
you can't take care of your own things."
Mia was already not looking forward to a fight with Tilly—who still spoilt James to
a ridiculous point—but she would be damned if she saw Sirius take advantage of Tilly's
need to pamper.
"Mia has issues with the elves," James explained with a wry smile.
Sirius looked at Mia, completely confused. "You don't like house-elves?"
"I'd like it if the elves were able to choose for themselves whether or not they
wanted to be tied down to a family," she tried to explain but knew it would be for nothing.
She'd had plenty of these arguments with an older Sirius Black. "And I'd like it if the elves
were paid for their hard work."
"Paid?" Sirius let out a loud, disbelieving laugh. "Are you taking the piss?"
"She's really not." James shook his head. "Come on, Remus, I'll show you your
room. These two are going to be a while."
"Mia, that's what elves are for," Sirius explained as James and Remus vanished down
the hallway.
"They are living creatures and not property that can be used and abused, Sirius!"
"They abuse back just as good as they get. My mother's elf is a rotten little sponge
that acts just like her. Curses, spits, and bows at the same time."
Mia grumbled and looked away from him. The image of Kreacher popped into her
head too easily, especially as she recalled him calling her "Mistress" and "Mudblood" in the
same sentence.
"Maybe if someone treated them properly," she mumbled under her breath.
"Why the hell would I treat something properly that called me a 'beastly little
ingrate?'" Sirius asked.