December 19th, 1971Mia's eyes opened as the light from the nearby window flooded her room. At night,
the cold and dark memories plagued her nightmares, but in the morning, warmth
enveloped her entire being.
She looked down at the mess of long, silky, black hair against her stomach. She
chuckled softly at the feel of Sirius's arms wrapped around her waist, using her body as a
pillow. She watched closely as he took slow, shallow breaths, and felt additional ones
behind her. Craning her head upward slightly, she noticed that somehow during the night,
she had navigated herself onto Remus's chest, bracing against him with one of his arms
wrapped around her shoulders.
She smiled and leant into the embrace, a sense of peace gliding over her even as she
thought of the future. A future where Remus would be ostracised from society, forced into
poverty due to prejudice and fear. Left in loneliness for years and years whilst looking for
some semblance of family. A family she knew he would eventually get, but not until he had
suffered a great deal.
She wrapped her left arm against his, squeezing his hand gently. She would make it
up to him somehow.
She was determined to love him enough so that he could get through the years of
loneliness and pain that lay ahead of him.
A light snore from below brought her attention back to Sirius as he turned his head
to face her, still asleep. He almost looked innocent like this. She smiled and reached her
right hand out to run her fingers through his black hair affectionately. She could not
imagine this boy, this sweet boy, would grow up to spend twelve years in the hell that was
Azkaban. Innocent of any crime, put away without a trial, all while mourning the deaths of
his friends. His soft skin was blemish free now, but she knew it would eventually be covered
in scars, tattoos, and lines marking the years that would be stolen from him. Sure, he would
eventually be free, but the veil would take him from her. She would call him back, but it
would still be one more year stolen from him.
She was determined to love him enough so that he could get through those years
of suffering and anger that were ahead of him.