Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five
We All Make Choices
Don't wanna hear your sad songs
I don't wanna feel your pain
When you swear it's all my fault
Cause you know we're not the same
We're not the same, Oh we're not the same
Yeah the friends who stuck together
We wrote our names in blood
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good
(Ignorance - Paramore)October 4th, 1998Mia fell into what Remus called her grief stage.
Upon waking each morning, she would find Sirius already gone from their shared
bed, a disappointing way to rise every day in her opinion. She would distract herself from
memories of James and Lily by avoiding Harry first thing in the morning—or at least until
she had an hour to remind herself what year she was living in again. Once she felt adjusted,
she would spend as much time with Harry as possible, often involving short outings with
him, Ron, and Ginny. Wherever they went, they rarely stayed long. Still less than six months
since the final battle and Voldemort's destruction, photographers and reporters followed
them everywhere. Mia added her anonymity to the many things that she missed from her
life in the past.
When she was not at Grimmauld Place or out with her friends, she found herself
sitting at Andromeda's home with the Black sisters and Tonks—the remaining female links
to the once Noble and Ancient House. They sipped tea, ate biscuits, discussed charities
they would like to be involved with, complained about the Ministry, and bragged about
their children or, in Mia's case, Crookshanks.
Usually, by the late afternoon, she would find herself overwhelmed, as though trying
to hold everything inside all day was breaking her. She would cry in Sirius's arms only to
be passed off to Remus or Harry, who would carry her upstairs and rest with her until she
cried herself to sleep, stroking her hair and whispering words of love and comfort.