stressful situation with no one to take it out on but one another caused them to do just
that.
Sirius grinned from beneath the cloak as he and Mia watched the wonderful
entertainment.
Eventually, the two silently slipped out of their alcove and down the corridor,
leaving an entire houseful of sleeping snakes crumpled on the cold stone floor outside their
common room with no way inside.
"That was bloody brilliant!" Sirius shouted excitedly once he and Mia were safely
ensconced in the Gryffindor common room. "How did you do it? Was it a Locking Spell?"
"It was an adjusted Muggle-Repelling Charm mixed with a Notice-Me-Not," Mia
said proudly. The smile on his face filled something inside of her up and warmed her
thoroughly.
"That's amazing!" Sirius beamed. "You're amazing! You're pranking with us more
often. We need your brains. Your clever, sadistic brains!"
He leant forward and kissed her forehead, and she smiled up at him, surprised at
how Sirius was suddenly taller than she was, and how she had not noticed until now.
"I'll think about it."
"You better, kitten." Sirius grinned again and kissed her cheek.
He lingered.
The light feeling of stubble against her chin caused her to let out the smallest of
sighs, but it was audible. Everything suddenly felt very warm, and Mia knew it was not just
her because Sirius pulled back and dropped his excited smile, favouring a confused look
instead as he stared down at her.
Mia swallowed hard and tried to not look at his lips. Those lips that were so young
and untouched by time and circumstance. His innocence was still there behind his stare,
and it made her smile as she forcefully pushed down the memory of an older Sirius pulling
her into his lap, passionately devouring her lips with his own in the heat of battle.
Sirius cleared his throat. "Umm. Thanks," he said, breaking the strange spell that,
for a moment, had them both wrapped in a cocoon of awkward tension.