sᴛ ᴍᴜɴɢᴏ's, 1977

┍F┚ʟᴜᴛᴛᴇʀɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ʙʀᴏᴡɴ ᴇʏᴇs, Mia Park awoke from what felt like a deep sleep. Her eyes lazily scanned the room.

"Where am I?" She whispered to herself, before it all rushed in her head.

Pain. Torture. Dolohov.

"Ah. Oh God." She whispered as she felt her heavy bandage around her neck. "What-."

'Slit her pretty throat.' Was she dead? Had Dolohov fulfilled his task? Was she well and truly dead?

But she was in a hospital room.

Mia had enough. She wanted to know where she was. Getting up from the bed, she looked down at her clothes.

A hospital gown.

"Oh. So I survived." She muttered, grabbing a random coat that was left on the door hanger before shrugging it on. "Let's get down to business." Looking back at the room, she saw a pair of slippers underneath the pile of clothes on the chair next to the bed. Quickly running back and slipping them on, Mia ran out.

The sharp smell of cleaning products and rubber gloves hit Mia like a sledgehammer as she walked through the almost empty hospital hallways with her head in a sharp ache.

Turning around another corner, she stumbled as her body suddenly felt weak and her knees wobbled. Almost like a toy tower of blocks being knocked over, Mia fell down onto the cold, hard floor of the hallway.

"Mia?" A familiar voice called out in confusion.

"Huh?" She asked, looking up into the worried eyes of Remus Lupin. "Romulus!"

"Nope. It's Remus."

"Same thing." She giggled as everything went hazy before her eyes. "Hey! Everything looks so blurry!"

"Um. Let's get you back to the Hospital Room, shall we?" Remus ushered her back into the room, watching with wary eyes as Sirius sat back down in the armchair next to the hospital bed.

"Remus." Mia whispered softly, her eyes fluttering as they soon closed and she slumped to his side. Sirius got back up and took her from Remus' arms, carrying her back to the hospital bed and softly laying her down.

"Shhh." He softly hushed her as she started to sob into his chest.

"D-Dolohov slit my throat, didn't he?" Mia asked, her hands shaking as they traced her bandage. "How am I still alive? I would have bled out and die-

"I got there in time." Sirius quickly cut her off, "You're alive. And that's all that matters at the moment." He softly whispered, trying not to let his tears fall at the thought of losing someone he loved.

"Okay." She whispered back, before slowly letting her eyelids drop.

"Don't do it, Padfoot. It's the last thing you can do." Remus pleaded with him, watching with pity as his friend shook his head.

"I have to! It's all because of me! I'm not helping her, I'm harming her!" Sirius argued, watching as Remus scoffed.

"But are you a blood-thirsty werewolf? Are you gonna tear her to shreds if she comes near you once a month? She loves you! I can see it in her eyes and you love her too!"

"No. But if you haven't clocked, I'm from a family with dark history! You know that Bellatrix did this! Bellatrix, my cousin!" Sirius raged, unaware of Mia stirring slowly from her sleep.

"AND WHY SHOULD THAT STOP YOU FROM LOVING SOMEONE?!" Remus shouted, his fury fiddling with his senses, but not failing to notice Mia slowly sitting up. "Sirius, stop-

"I CAN'T LOVE HER!" Sirius shouted back, before he noticed Remus' bewildered expression. Slowly turning around, he watched with wild eyes as Mia swayed dangerously as she stood up from the bed.

"I thought I knew you." She whispered, facing the window. "I guess I was wrong."

"Mia-." Sirius pleaded, watching as she slipped on the slippers, and grabbed his coat from the coat hanger.

"I'll owl your coat back. And the Muggle money." She stated before attempting to open the door.

"Mia." Remus stood in front of the door, "I think you two need to talk it out. Before you both jump into brash decisions that you'll regret when you calm down." Then, walking out the door, Remus was gone.

Sirius took a seat on the hospital bed, burying his head into his hands. His hair looked greasy, as though he hadn't washed it in weeks.

"What's the date, Sirius." Mia asked, still standing next to the door with an unreadable expression on her face.

"August. It's August." He whispered, lifting his head up to look at her with what looked like longing. "Dolohov, the murderous bastard, had knocked you out cold with a heavy crucio. You were in a coma, looking almost dead."

"Siriu-." He cut her off.

"You know what heartbreak looks like? You know what loss feels like? I watched as you slowly deteriorated on this hospital bed. You were dying. And I just stood there, pathetically watching."

"There was nothing-."

"Nothing I could do about it." Sirius scoffed, "That's what Prongs said. But he was wrong."

"Sirius."

"I COULD HAVE MADE YOU STAY! I WAS SO STUPID! I LET YOU GO OUT, IN THE DARK, DURING THIS FUCKING WAR!" He raged, pulling at his hair. "It's all my fault!"

"Sirius."

"It's all my fault."

"Siri-."

"It's all my fault!"

"SHUT UP! IT WASN'T! DOLOHOV HAD BEEN WATCHING US FOR WEEKS!" He looked at her.

"DOLOHOV HAD BEEN WATCHING ME GO TO WORK AND COMING BACK FOR WEEKS! IF IT WASN'T THAT NIGHT, IT WAS GONNA BE SOMETIME LATER! IT WAS INEVITABLE!"

"I'm so sorry." Mia walked over to him, before taking a seat next to him.

"How am i going to get it through your thick skull, that it want your fault." She whispered, "It was Dolohov."

"No." He sharply said, looking at her.

"I swear to god-."

"Bellatrix. She left a note."

"Who on earth is Bellatrix?"

"My cousin."

There was silence.

"And?" Mia asked.

"She specifically targeted you. Because of me."

"Sirius."

"Mia. We can't do this." He whispered, turning his head away from her. "I can't do this."

"What do you mean? You can't do what?" She asked, feeling her stomach flutter violently as she began to realise what he was about to do. "No."

"Mia, we aren't going to work."

"O-okay." She whispered. Who on earth was going to love her. She was disgusting.

"It's not you-."

"Goodbye, Sirius." She whispered, before standing up and staggering out the door.