Sirius smiled in approval. "Very clever, kitten. Not quite the most awful thing you
could have done to them, but entertaining, to say the least. What do we give her, boys?" he
asked, looking around the table.
"Exceeds Expectations," Remus said politely with a smirk on his face.
"I have to agree with Professor Lupin." James laughed, and Mia stifled a chuckle at
the moniker.
"I'm only seeing Acceptable myself," Sirius admitted with a frown. "You need to
learn how to get a little dirty with your pranks."
Mia merely smiled sweetly at him. "Do you know how long it took me to sew
popcorn kernels into the lining of each and every Slytherin robe?" she asked with feigned
superiority. "You need to learn patience."
"Wheeeee!" A joyous yell echoed from just outside the Great Hall as Peeves the
Poltergeist flew through the open doors, a large bucket in his hands. "Sticky, slippery
snakes!" he chanted, hovering over the Slytherin table where he tipped the bucket he
carried, drenching each and every popcorn-encased Slytherin in litres of melted butter.
Mia's notional grades were immediately changed to Outstandings across the board.
The boys spent the better part of a month trying to figure out how she had been
able to get Peeves to help her, but Mia kept her lips sealed. Peeves was a wild card that
would ultimately be dangerous in the hands of the Marauders.
June 20th, 1974"Mia, wake up."
"Mmm," Mia mumbled into her pillow.
There were only a few days left of school, and she was already looking forward to
sleeping in her large bed back home. Exams were over, and she had performed
outstandingly. Third in her year just behind Lily and Remus—tied with Severus Snape of
all people. Mia, of course, knew that she could easily top them all—having already taken
and excelled in all of the classes the first time around—but she also knew that Lily and
Remus were being looked at for future prefects and the upcoming year would make all the