a room. He exhaled slowly with a frown when it did not work. Yearning to inhale her scent
increased steadily, and he gave in to it, burying his nose in her mane of curls again.
Just then, he heard the door to the dorm room open as his three friends returned.
"Don't take it personal, Pete," James said consolingly.
"Bloody house-elf called me fat," Peter bitterly grumbled as his footsteps carried
him into the bathroom where Remus heard the shower turn on.
Sirius burst into a fit of laughter. "She didn't look like she was trying to offend. Just
said how no other wizard enjoyed her food as much. Ever."
"Shh!" Remus scolded quietly, kicking the curtains around his bed aside.
"What's wrong?" James asked, raising his wand defensively, squinting across the
room into the darkness toward Remus's bed.
"Lumos," Remus whispered and held his wand up to look at James, then moved the
glowing stick over the form of the sleeping girl next to him.
James raised a questioning brow and nodded with a comprehending frown as he
crossed the room to Remus's bed. Tucking his wand back in his pocket, he tossed the
Invisibility Cloak over Remus's trunk and smiled appreciatively.
"Thanks," he said before collecting his sister in his arms.
Sirius frowned as he watched Mia subconsciously snuggle deeper into James's
embrace. "Still bad?"
"Still bad." James nodded, and Sirius and Remus watched their friend bring his sister
to his bed and tuck her in quietly.
All three boys shared a look of frustration and desperation. Wizards, the lot of them,
and no idea how to fix the one person they had sworn to protect.
Our job, Sirius had said.
And they were failing.
September 3rd, 1973Mia did not know what she was thinking when she chose her elective courses for
her third year. The classes offered were as usual: Divination, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes,