◤ ❝Am I not deserving of mercy?❞ ― Andromeda Erebus ◢

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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: BIA

February 26, 1997

Andromeda was a lot of things, but a good sport had never been one of them. She enjoyed Quidditch, truly, and she attended nearly every match that Hogwarts had put on between houses from the very start of her first year. Granted, most of those games were just so she could cheer on her five-year crush on Andrew. Her sixth year was different. The thought of sitting through a match when she could be using those precious hours figuring out a way to coerce Slughorn or fix the Vanishing Cabinet was torturous―was, in past tense. Thoughts changed after Theodore started playing on the team.

She'd first been struck with a different meld of pride and panic for Theo during the Slytherin and Gryffindor match back in the beginning of the year (when she was inadvertently still crushing on Vaisey, and said crush had taken a bludger to the head). It only got worse. Now, with a gruesome rock growing in the abyss of her gut, Mia was on the brink of a breakdown. It was only an hour until Theodore was meant to go on the pitch and play Ravenclaw alongside Andrew and Blaise, and she was nervous wreck.

"You're going to end up chewing your finger off," Theodore said dully, knocking Mia's hands away from her mouth where she was unconsciously chewing at her nails. She just resorted to twisting the ring from Draco on her middle finger anxiously. "Would you relax? This is the second game I've played, Mia. Andrew and I have been practicing for months."

"'Practicing.' Right, practicing snog―" she was cut off when his gloved hand shot out to whack her upside the head, stopping her from her snarky comment. A heated scowl was sent at him. "Well, it's true, and stop hitting me. I'm concerned. I've had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach all day, Theo, like something is going to happen on that field and I can't get rid of it. It's just getting worse. You truly can't find someone to fill your position for this game?"

"You've just overworked yourself the last few weeks. You and Malfoy were up late last night...besides, you have your ring," he soothed, his eyes softening on hers when he noticed the genuine panic growing. Instinctively, they both glanced down at the twin ring on her finger, linking their blood and magic together. His wasn't visible behind the gloves, but it was still there. "Nothing's going to happen. I've got four games out of the year, and we've already lost one. Andrew had us up early this morning running drills, making sure we're all set. Even Urquhart showed up...when was the last time you slept?"

Her sunken, dark circles burned into her skin. "I got a few hours this morning. It's just...it's been a difficult month. None of the spells we've tried are doing anything. It feels like we're going back in our progress, and now I'm worrying over Slughorn and you getting your head knocked clean off your shoulders by Chang because she hates my guts―"

"Chang's the Seeker, Mia."

"Doesn't mean she won't seek to send a bludger to your head just to piss me off."

Another scolding look from Theo. "You're projecting."

"I am not. I'm frustrated. I want all of this blasted mess to be over with."

"Do you?" he asked softly, making her eyes narrow questioning on him. "The question wasn't asked rhetorically. I'm genuinely curious if you truly want to finish these missions...or if maybe you and Malfoy have been delaying the inevitable―"

A bitter taste fell in her mouth, and she took a small step away from him. "Why would you even think that? We've been losing sleep, up nearly every night trying to finish these tasks so that we can stay alive, Theodore."

"When was the last time you looked at Slughorn's book you worked so hard to get then, Andromeda?"

Before the cousins could continue their hushed conversation between the railing of the pitch, they were interrupted when they heard the whizzing of a broom flying in their direction. Both turned at the sound coming closer on Theo's side of the pitch, and Mia's sulky expression only became worse when she saw that it was Andrew in his emerald uniform. The eager grin on his face was bright, exuding all of the excitement he had to back on the pitch and playing a game after his last injury.

He flew down next to them, his feet landing gracefully next to Theodore and shooting both of them a cheerful smile. Theodore didn't hesitate to return with one of his own, shifting slightly so that his leaning body was straightened in the direction of Andrew. Mia, however, only glowered and returned to gnawing on her fingers until she was sure they were going to bleed. The feeling she had reminded her of the last Quidditch match when their missions were going horribly, and the Dark Marks on hers and Draco's arms were poisoned by the Dark Lord. What would this time entail?

Andrew noticed instantly, raising his eyebrows at her. "Do I want to ask?"

"Mia thinks I'm going to be murdered on the pitch today," Theodore explained lackadaisically, their last conversation dropped entirely. He shared a knowing glance with Andrew. "So she's resorted to gnawing off her fingers rather than admit her insanity. If you'd like to instill some comfort in her that I will not be dying today, I'd appreciate it."

"I'm not mad," she hissed, glaring at her cousin. "Considering the circumstances going on in the world lately, I'd say I'm handling myself better than most."

Theodore did not miss the intentional reference to their earlier conversation about her missions with Draco, and he frowned before his eyes peered momentarily over at Andrew. He was still completely lost in the world of what was going on, but both Mia and Theo knew that he was smarter than he let on. Even if he believed he was only covering for a love affair between her and Draco at the moment, it wouldn't be long before his suspicions grew―especially if he was suddenly canoodling with her cousin behind closed doors.

"Why exactly does Mia think you're going to be murdered on the pitch today?" Andrew asked, looking briefly over at her with furrowed brows before he returned back to Theo's piercing blue stare.

Theo rolled his eyes. "She has a feeling―"

"Now you're making me sound mental!" she interrupted him, stepping forward to lean over the barrier between her and them. Figuring she would have better luck with Andrew, she frowned deeply at him to show her upset. "Something bad is going to happen today during the match. I know it. I haven't felt right all day, Andrew."

"Maybe because you haven't been sleeping."

"Piss off, Theo," she scowled over at him, and then returned to Andrew. Thankfully, the older boy must have seen the genuine concern and decided to listen unlike her cousin. "Listen. Call me mad, mock me all you want after, say I'm turning into Trelawney, I don't care...I don't like this feeling. Just...please. For the sake of my wellbeing and sanity, don't let him go out on that field today. Andrew, have Mattins sub in―"

Theodore guffawed at the suggestion, turning around on his heel in exasperation. "Mia, you're being ludicrous."

She ignored her cousin, watching as the expression on Andrew's face morphed from one of mild disbelief to resignation. He was believing her. His darkened green eyes turned to look over at Theodore in thought, and she sighed in relief when she noticed that he was actually considering her offer. The concern that built in Andrew's eyes came from more than just his honorary Captain status on the team. She knew the sure way to get Theo off the field would be convincing Andrew he may be in harms way. He wouldn't let anything happen to him.

When Theo noticed the look that Andrew had, his eyes widened. "No. You can't be serious, Andrew! We've been practicing for the match against Ravenclaw since our loss against Gryffindor for months. You can't honestly consider taking me out just because Mia's suddenly got an intuitive bone in her body―"

"It's more than that, Theo," she interrupted again, clenching her jaw tightly. He turned to her, his expression softening when he noticed the look she was sending his way. Trying to get him to understand, she put more emphasis in her words. "It's more than that."

Theodore took a step back in defeat, his face falling when he finally understood what she was trying to say. The Dark Lord may be responsible. Something might happen to him out on that field because of her, and every instinct in her body was screaming at the thought of sending him on the Quidditch pitch. His hands raised to his hair, tugging annoyingly at it now that he was put in a predicament between potential danger and his house pride.

Andrew cleared his throat, and they turned around to see that his unusually bright eyes had hardened in the authoritative manor that went with his unofficial title. "I'll switch around the positions for this game. Zabini can move from Keeper to Chaser since he's used to the plays more than Mattins. I'll go see if he can sub in for Keeper...since you've suddenly come down with something and are incapacitated, Theo."

"Andrew, no one's going to belie―"

"That wasn't a suggestion, Theo," he said seriously, making Theodore's shoulders sag in acceptance. Mia exhaled in relief, seeing clearly in Andrew's eyes that the boy wasn't going to let go of his decision. "Whether or not anything does happen, I'm not taking that chance on you. I trust Mia's judgement, intuition, whatever you want to call it much more than your luck. I need to go let Urquhart and the others know so he can make the official switches before we start...go back to the common room before anyone sees you."

Andrew turned around after that, sparing one parting glance at Theodore and squeezing his arm gently before he was off on his broom to go inform the others of the position changes. Mia watched as he disappeared, the weight in her chest flying away with him. She turned back to her cousin to see that he was now staring distantly ahead at the Quidditch pitch, all of the different houses just beginning to file in the for the event. Guilt spread in her chest, and she stepped forward to grab a hold of his arm.

"Theo..."

"It's fine," he dismissed quickly. He turned to look back at her. "I understand. I would have done the same thing if it were you. I just hate feeling like I'm letting Andrew down."

She frowned. "He'd rather you be alive than a winner."

"Do you really think he'll try something?"

"I don't know," she said honestly, her dark eyes flickering to the pitch in thought. "But I believe in the chance that he might too much to let you go out there today. Last time―"

His brow raised at her. "Last time?"

"Last time we hit a wall with our tasks, back in October...he did something to us. Poisoned us through our arms, made us ill―" she stopped, knowing that Theo didn't know the truth about what happened to Katie Bell and Draco "―last time, Draco and I said we were concerned he may take his anger out on something that would hurt us more than ourselves...and there's no one more accessible to hurt me than you. It would be the perfect opportunity, Theodore. I know how his mind works. He could send you down onto your neck or use Imperio on another player before anyone realized what was going on, and with Dumbledore out..."

"I know. Let's just go before anyone sees me not suffering from a mysterious illness. I'd better be cured before Hogsmeade this Friday. Andrew and I were meant to go on a date."

Two hours later, Mattins was in the Hospital Wing with a fractured spine after borrowing Theodore's broom for the match. He'd been centimeters from falling on his neck.

――――――――――

February 27, 1997

"There's not been any meetings?"

Another night in the Room of Requirement, sitting and staring at the Cabinet with hopes that it will magically fix itself without either one of their contributions to that magic. Mia was in the chair once again, sitting on her legs and rubbing anxiously at the exposed Dark Mark on her left arm. Draco stood near the Cabinet across from her, his own white polo rolled up to expose the scar they'd received that summer, but his focus was on her and not the Mark. She couldn't see his with the way his arms were crossed, but she did drift her eyes momentarily to realize that she enjoyed seeing Draco with a messy attire more than his regular uptight, strict uniform.

"Not a one," she said, flickering her eyes away from his unruly blonde hair to his face. "Not even a mention of one in the future. He acts like everything is perfectly fine, but there must be something, right? If he's suddenly stopped his enthusiastic reign of terror for these Club meetings? The only explanation would be what I thought back in January. Potter's asked about the Horcruxes already, and he's neglected the meetings because he knows Potter will take the opportunity to suck up and stick his dirty nose in his memories by attending them."

"Potter hasn't got enough sense to know about patience, even if it hit him upside his deformed, pathetic head. You've got to ask Slughorn about them sometime. After yesterday―" Draco stopped talking when he noticed that Mia's face blanked, turning white at the memory of yesterday. With a sigh, he took a step forward and crouched down next to her seat. "Romy. You've got to stop. You're obsessing over nothing more than a possibility you already changed."

"But what does that do for the future?" she asked, looking at him blankly. "I changed nothing, Draco. I only delayed another opportunity for him to do it again. You know that he won't be deterred by something as childish as my gut feeling. What stops it from being Theodore again, or my mother, or yours―"

"Mia," he interrupted, placing his hands on either side of her face to stop her from getting too worked up. She paused instantly, frowning and staring into his grey eyes as they watched her. His fingers pressed down on her cheeks, holding her attention. "You working yourself up is distracting us from what we need to be trying to accomplish, and this is the only thing that will protect those we love. Calm down. I thought I was meant to be the irrational one in this partnership."

She scoffed, her hands going up to hold onto his wrists. "This is my rationality."

"It isn't. Something's been going on with you since you came back from break," he revealed. Then, he glanced at his hands on her face and frowned, pulling away. "You haven't done a single nonverbal spell, not even when we practice them in Defense. Not to mention you haven't used Legilimency in weeks. You've been fiddling with that wand of yours like you're terrified of it any time we work on the Cabinet, and don't think I haven't seen your hesitation in Apparition lessons. You would have been successful the first lesson a few months ago, yet you haven't been able to do it now. You're irritatingly concerned about Nott all of the bloody time, even I feel pity for him because of your hovering...so would you care to explain what's going on with you or should we wait a few more weeks until you've stopped using magic all together?"

With every passing second that Draco revealed another irregularity about Mia's actions, she sunk deeper into the chair she was sitting in. At the heated stare behind his eyes, she looked away and further into the cluttered Room of Requirements. "Nothing's wrong with me. I'd say I have enough reason to be acting differently given the days falling so quickly off the calendar."

"Hm. Try again, Romy."

She flickered her eyes back to him sharply. "That's the only reason I have to give."

"Really? Because I have a better theory," he said lowly, raising his brows stoically. "You've been acting different since you had your meeting with the Dark Lord over break, and I'd say you've been holding out on doing any form of magic that he may have touched in his lifetime, which just so happens to be the same kind you're so talented at, because you're still holding onto this fear that you're anything like him..." right when she went to interrupt, he sat up straighter and held a hand up, "no, I'm not done yet. I've also decided that you've settled on this obsession thinking about Nott becoming like us, so now you've resorted to creating a blasted protection cloak of your own around him. I thought giving you the blood rings would help―"

"Stop it, Draco."

"―but for what, Andromeda? We can settle back into this conversation about your similarities to him as much as you want, but that will never mean you are becoming him. There are plenty others brilliant in what you can do, and you're dragging yourself to unhealthy measures of denial by ignoring the magic you are amazing at just to prove an unnecessary point―"

"Draco," she interrupted again, her eyes burning hotly on his face. "Stop."

"Why?" he replied just as sharply, not daring to back down from her. "Because what I'm saying is true? You constantly bite into my open wounds because I need to feel them. I'm doing the same for you because the only way you and I are going to stay alive in this mess is if we do it together. Maybe I can finish the mission myself. I could kill Dumbledore and I could fix this ruddy fucking Cabinet on my own, but that would mean giving up on this partnership, and unfortunately for me, I've come to care about your life in this mess a tad bit more than I thought I would."

Where most people would shy away from admitting the last part, Draco wasn't swayed in the slightest that he had just admitted he cared about Mia. Not that she didn't already know it, whether it was admitted aloud or not. She stared at him, her eyes expressionless and unwilling to back down even when he was arguing with her. Besides, it was always the same fight with them. In one direction or another, they always fought about one thing, and it was the negative views they had on themselves. In that moment, struck hard with the truth she was unwilling to admit to herself, she wondered what would have happened if she hadn't been there for Draco―if he hadn't been there for her.

That thought dulled any immediate sense to push him away, and she let her shoulders fall out of their defensive stance. It was quiet in the Room for a few seconds, aside from the quiet creaking that always stayed. Then, she rubbed her lips together to test the waters of her next words.

"This is how it feels when I shout at you then, huh?" she said dully, glancing down at her fidgeting hands playing with her ring before she looked up and faced Draco. His expression was tame now, relaxed and softening when they met eyes. "I'm not sure I like it very much."

He scoffed. "Right, because I spend my nights hoping you'll find something to yell at me for. You're not meant to like it. You're meant to listen to it. I know that comes with a certain degree of difficulty for you."

"When did you become the mature one out of us?"

"I don't know, but it's exhausting if I'm being honest. I'd much rather prefer going back to when I was the one causing problems for us," he said casually, shrugging with his egotism. The heavy conversation drifted like air between them. He watched her for a moment, and Mia saw his eyes flickering on every part of her face to find any tell of concern. "You need to find your magic again, Romy. Not what you've determined is the same as his. Otherwise you'll never break away from that, and we will never finish this."

The crease above her brow returned, and it was exactly the tell in her emotions that he must have been looking for because he noticed it. "And will it ever really be finished?"

Another seed of doubt. Draco sucked in a shaky, deep breath. Mia waited, wishing that he would give her the assurance she needed in that moment that they were doing the right thing. That they were on the side of glory, and not the side of death. The centimeters between their hands felt like a thousand meters, and both of them wanted nothing more than the comfort of reaching out for each other―to feel the other's pulse, life beating in their hearts and not in the Dark Mark on their arms.

"Somehow," he said quietly, glancing down at their hands before settling back on her troubled face. "Someday. It'll be over, and we'll be alive to see it finished. We will see the side that wins this."

Their hands never touched, but both could feel the hanging ending that Draco left. We will see the side that wins this, he said. But what he did not say was that they would be on the side that won.

Because were they?

――――――――――

March 2, 1997

"Mia! Did you hear the awful news? There was a missed opportunity last night to deplete the fungus of a Weasley population...not to mention, the worst of them. Honestly, they could've done the Wizarding World a favor by getting rid of a few just to lessen the rapid growth..."

It being early in the morning, and on a Saturday right before Apparition lessons no less, the desire to listen to Tracey's voice was more intolerable than most. Mia barely paid any attention to her as she spoke, rubbing at her eyes to try and bring some life into them. She'd stayed up late that night practicing her nonverbal spells as she promised Draco she would, even diving deep into the section of the Reparation book that was exclusively wandless magic. Her plan for the day was to Apparate for the first time, and then go see Slughorn in his office.

All she wanted in that moment, though, was to fall asleep in her bowl of oats. She sat blearily on the bench, using Theodore's shoulder as support on her way down and mumbling a gurgled "Move," to Blaise when she nearly took his eye out with her elbow on the way down. Finally seated and officially ready to consume enough coffee to wake the dead, she glanced up at Tracey. The girl looked unamused now, her happy expression dying when she didn't receive a reaction from Mia.

"I expected a better reaction out of you. Even Zabini's was more memorable," Tracey said dully.

Mia blinked, looking at her blankly. "If you think I listened to a word of what you just said to me, you've clearly been having breakfast with a different person all these years, Davis."

There was a snort from down the table, and she glanced over to see that it came from Draco. She narrowed her eyes on him, and he returned the stare unlike usual, a smirk creeping up on the side of his lip. Then he looked away from her to Parkinson, who scowled momentarily when she noticed the brief interaction between them. A subtle nudge to her ankle made her look in Theo's direction, knowing he was the culprit, and she was unsurprised to see that he had a certain irritating expression on his face―almost like she could hear his commentary about her and Draco.

"If I hadn't been dealing with you during breakfast all of these years, I certainly wouldn't have built up my patience," Tracey huffed out, scowling at her before she leaned forward from across the table. "Now that you're listening, I was trying to make your day by telling you that Weasley almost died last night."

Mia, uninterested, took a spoonful of oats. "You ruined it instead by saying 'almost.' What happened now? Potter nearly blow his head off practicing for Defense? Snape may even give him extra credit if he nearly killed Weasley."

"Well, no one knows yet actually. One of the third-years just mouthed off about it this morning after going to shower Mattins in different sweets―" Tracey paused when she saw the visible flinch from Mia and Theo, who were still trying to get over that it had nearly been Theo on the faulty broom instead of Mattins "―sorry, forgot about that, but at least we won! Thanks to your boyfriend, Mia. The third-year said that they saw Weasley in bed looking like death."

Andrew being currently absent might have been for the best because Mia and Theodore still hadn't gotten completely used to the world thinking that she was dating him, when in reality, Theodore was seeing Andrew now. Although, given the situation, it may have been the best for both of them that everyone was under the impression she was still falling head-over-heels for Vaisey.

"So...you don't know the details of his torture, and he's not actually dead," Mia reiterated expressionlessly, pushing around the contents of her breakfast boredly. Blaise snorted to her right. "What reaction were you expecting me to give, other than disappointment?"

Tracey's scowl only turned into a grim expression, one that could kill had it not been for the quick shuffling and a flutter of blonde hair coming crashing down on the vacant space next to Theodore. Mia wasn't surprised to see that it was Daphne, having taken the opportunity to sit next to her crush now that Andrew wasn't there. Theodore instantly shifted closer to her side and away from Daphne, and she frowned. The situation with Daphne's crush had been something neither wanted to discuss, knowing that Theodore was dreading the moment he revealed the truth to the girl who liked him so much.

"I know what happened!" Daphne exclaimed, happily. "I got it out of some fifth-year Gryffindor this morning by telling him I'd get a Ravenclaw to do his Divination homework for a week!"

Parkinson, now interested in the conversation, perked up. "And? How much did he suffer?"

"Oh, a lot," she gushed back in return. Almost instantly, their small group of present sixth-years all tuned in to Daphne's hobby of gossip. "So, apparently, it was Weasley's birthday yesterday and he received some sort of chocolates from an admirer―"

"Gross," Tracey's face turned in disgust. "Who in their right mind would admire a Weasley?"

"People are saying it might've been the Croft girl, but listen to this! The chocolates were a love potion! The fifth-year said that Potter took Weasley out of the common room, screaming like a banshee about how pretty someone was or something, and took him to Slughorn to reverse the potion―"

Mia rolled her eyes. "That proves even more that he's an idiot then. We have the ingredients to reverse a love potion in our kits if he'd listened to a word Slughorn said in class rather than cheat."

"―he shouldn't have listened to Slughorn at all," Daphne huffed, scoffing. "He's the reason why Weasley almost died anyway. Supposedly he poisoned him with a bottle of mead. They're calling it an 'accident' like it wasn't intentional, but we all know murdering a Weasley is entirely intentional―"

Andromeda dulled Daphne's retelling of the gossip when she caught something peculiar in the corner of her eye. Draco, who had been bored listening in, suddenly stiffened in his seat at the mention of the mead. Everything about his body language changed, resulting in Mia to straighten up and narrow her eyes on him with a million questions begging to be asked. He looked guilty. He looked suspicious. The burning stare she was giving must have been felt because he glanced up from his food to meet her eyes, and she knew instantly.

"―said Weasley was moaning about how he never wanted to taste Cinnamon again, I think from the love potion."

Daphne finished talking, and the instant Mia heard the ingredient that Weasley mentioned, she knew. Because that had been their plan back in Slughorn's class when they were learning about ingredients in December.

"I caught Butterscotch and Spider Juice, as well. I'd reckon that four of the five ingredients are Cinnamon, Spider Juice, Butterscotch, and Ashwinder Egg―those are used in most all Love potions. Slughorn mentioned it when we were making the antidote," Mia said.

"Belladonna maybe?" Zabini asked after a moment. "Would explain the hallucinating love thing."

Theodore's face twisted in disagreement. "Maybe, but that would mean Cinnamon is incorrect. They would counteract. Snape always warned us vehemently against it, remember? Putting too much of either together would―"

"Kill someone instantly."

Mia was cutting her cousin off and speaking before he could finish, her mind setting her off on an entirely different path of thoughts than the class curriculum. Although she didn't glance Draco's way, she knew that he was thinking along the same exact lines as her. Belladonna and Cinnamon, when in extremely high doses, caused near instantaneous death. One entirely lethal, and one seemingly harmless. An easy mistake that anyone could make, and no one would blink an eye at its accident.

An easy mistake anyone could make, and no one would blink an eye at its accident.

Mia's jaw tightened, fury lighting up inside of her with a wrath unlike any she'd ever felt. Worse than when she had to watch Katie Bell suspended in the air from a cursed necklace. Worse than when she was in the presence of Potter―because Draco was a hypocrite. Spouting on and on about partnership and teamwork, when he had gone behind her back again to do the very thing she promised him she would help him with. The spoon in her hand dug deep into her palm, pushing deep into all of her pain stimuli to keep her from murdering Draco right then.

"Potter shoved a bezoar down his throat, I heard," Daphne said, sighing as she dramatically reached to grab a spoonful of fruit. "Pity, really. First the Hogsmeade trip gets cancelled, and now this."

Tracey rolled her eyes, returning back to her breakfast. "Bigger pity is him not dying. You'd think they'd cancel Apparition."

"Wishful thinking," Blaise said lowly. "I'm surprised none of you have splinched yourself yet. That's the real pity."

While the others conversed, Theodore turned to look at her. She wasn't paying mind to him in the slightest, focusing on a small spot on the table where Tracey's food was and the pulsing of her hand to ease the fury growing in the back of her mind. A nudge to her calf from Theo did nothing to deter her from her focus, so it was unsurprising when the pile of eggs littered on Tracey's plate suddenly exploded all over the girl's laps.

Silence fell upon the table, and Mia could feel all of the eyes on her as she slowly lifted her head. Tracey was staring with an open, shocked mouth down at the plate of eggs, her arms outstretched. She was too taken back to say anything about what just happened, though, and with good reason because Mia was still glowering when they met eyes. Her magic was back. Theodore's hand reached out with more intention than his nudge, going for her arm, but it was too late. Andromeda pushed herself away from the table and walking briskly away before anyone had the chance to say a single thing about what just happened.

The silence stuck for a moment, Theodore's hand falling down to his side as he went to get up from his seat and follow after his cousin. With both gone now, the unusually quiet table of Slytherins glanced around at each other to see if anyone else was going to make a fast exit to the door of the Great Hall. Right when Daphne went to speak, there was another sound as hands pressed down against the table and got up from the bench quickly as well. Draco was out the door after them before anyone else could blink, shrugging off the hand that Parkinson jutted out to follow after Mia and Theodore.

Tracey went to speak this time, but was interrupted when Parkinson got up to follow after her boyfriend, grumbling something underneath her breath about her boyfriend "being stuck on some girl that didn't even want him" as she raced after him. Another pause, and Daphne and Tracey glanced at one another before glancing down at their food awkwardly. What in the bloody hell was wrong with everyone that morning?

Blaise took another spoonful of his cereal, glancing with disinterest at the mess of eggs on Tracey's lap. "My cereal is soggy."

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Author's Note:

Hello! It's been a while! Classes started up, and I've only just managed to find a balance in my work, class, and writing so I apologize for the late update! I loved this chapter. It's the beginning of a cliffhanger, so I apologize for that too buuuut man am I excited to write the next chapter.

Just to clear up any confusion, Mia did NOT know anything about Draco's plan to use the mead to kill Dumbledore. All will be explained in more detail the next chapter, but I felt like that needed to be mentioned upfront so no one was confused. This will make a little more sense as to why I made this decision when Draco and Romy talk.

The Dark Lord went after Theo. I wanted to make sure that the stresses of the Dark Lord on their back didn't feel unrealistic, because let's be honest, there's no way he wouldn't do something of the sort to push them back into doing their tasks for him. I've wanted to write that small scene about Theo being the target for.ever. and I'm very happy (and sad) to have been able to do it. Just means we're getting closer to the end.

What do you think about Draco's little spark of truth to Mia? I hope you all caught the little hints earlier on in the story that Mia was holding back on her magic/adapting it so it wasn't nonverbal. It explains why she wasn't able to Apparate her first time when she definitely should have been able to.

That CHANGED! In the last scene. What did you think about the reveal of what happened to Weasley? And how did you like Mia's reaction? I love angry Mia. I just hate it when she's mad at Draco.

What do you think is going to happen next chapter? Will Mia forgive Draco or hold a grudge?

As always, let me know what you thought about the chapter! All my love and thanks!

BIA: GREEK GODDESS OF FORCE AND POWER