the_debt_of_time

had both, apparently, lost their wands in the duel and were now in the back of the room
pulling each other's hair. Mary appeared to be winning.
Sirius, still blocked by Professor Higgs's shield, was pacing back and forth like an
animal in a cage, his grey eyes glaring between the professor and Snape, looking positively
murderous.
Mia remembered a similar look on the older Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack
when he first came face-to-face with Peter Pettigrew after twelve years.
Peter had been in the back corner the entire time, quietly watching as the chaos
unfolded. He looked like he wanted to sink straight into the wall.
"Well, this was... illuminating," Professor Higgs drawled, as though commenting
on a mildly interesting experiment. "A fifteen-inch essay due tomorrow on the effects of
layering attack spells. Though it is the full moon tonight. Will you be able to finish your
homework, Miss Potter, or are you hoping to stage an intervention for the werewolves that
have been reportedly seen in the area?"
She glared up at him silently, refusing to let him provoke her into an outburst.
A clear dismissal, the students began to filter out of the classroom, but Sirius
lingered, stalking toward Snape. "You ever speak to Mia again, Snivellus, and you're dead,"
he growled dangerously before storming out of the room.
Outside the classroom, Remus looked like he could pass out at any moment. Mia
ran her fingers through his hair, pushing sweat-soaked fringe from his forehead.
"I still want to know where you found that spell, Potter!" Snape called, glaring in
Mia's direction the moment he stepped out of the Defence classroom.
Sirius turned and launched toward him, fists raised. "I told you to never speak to
her again! You're dead, Snivellus!"
"Whoa, hey! Back off!" Lily intervened, stepping in between them.
"Out of the way, Evans!" Sirius snapped.
"Sirius," Mia hissed, grabbing his hand as she glared at Snape from over Sirius's
shoulder. "Sirius, please, don't. He's not worth it."
Sirius slowly backed down, but threw both Snape and Lily a dirty look before
turning back to Mia and protectively wrapping an arm around her.
"Severus," Lily whispered.
He sneered at her. "Don't you want to go check on your friends and their... pet?"