5th year
The Hogwarts castle seemed dark and empty, the only things you could hear were the sound of footsteps and the occasional snoring from some of the paintings.
Mia was roaming the empty corridors alone, lighting the way with her wand. She had a frown on her face as she glanced down at the shiny badge on her robe, regret filling her eyes every time she did so.
The fifth-year Ravenclaw felt extremely honoured when she was chosen to be a prefect, although she wasn't surprised by getting the title after how hard she worked in her fourth year. She felt like she finally had something to make her father feel proud of her – other than her outstanding grades, of course –, however, her twin brother was chosen to be the Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, which made her title of being a prefect seem meaningless and easily forgettable.
She already despised being a prefect. All the extra work, the responsibility, the meetings and all of that made being a prefect seem like a burden. Sure, there was the Prefect's Bathroom that she could use and she could take house points away from others or give them detention, but it didn't seem like a fair deal to her. She already knew that she would reject the title in her next year, but she promised herself that she wouldn't try to get out of it after the year has already begun.
It was also the year when they would have to take their O.W.L.s, which was already a time-consuming task considering how much she would have to study, but she kept telling herself that she could do it. She had a plan anyway. She decided that she would leave the dirty work to the other prefects and only do what was absolutely necessary, like patrolling the corridors at night, for example.
The other fifth year Ravenclaw prefect tried asking Mia to patrol with him, but she told him to go alone so they could finish faster. She could tell that the boy felt a bit uneasy, but she didn't really care. She wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible and patrolling together would have only slowed them down.
The girl was in an exceptionally bad mood that night, so she prayed that she wouldn't meet any rule-breakers, or they would have to meet her wrath in return.
They were patrolling the Seventh Floor. Mia passed the Arithmancy classroom, which made the corners of her mouth turn upwards slightly as she thought of the class itself, but her smile vanished quickly as she forced herself to move along.
When she reached the Fat Lady's Corridor, a slight smirk appeared on her lips. Gryffindors had a tendency to break the rules, and the Ravenclaw was feeling very generous that night. Usually she only took house points away, but she was quite eager to give some detentions out as well due to her bad mood.
As she started walking down the corridor with her wand raised, she had a feeling that someone was watching her. She took a look around, but there was not a single soul in sight, only her. Feeling annoyed, she stopped and started listening, concentrating on her surroundings. After hearing the tiniest noise, she raised an eyebrow and quickly reached her hand out, looking like she was trying to grasp the air, but just like she suspected, her hand did collide with something.
She pulled the material down and held it tightly in one of her hands while the other pointed her wand at the rule-breaker.
"Well, well, well..." She tilted her head to the side. "Look what we have here."
Standing right in front of her was none other than James Potter himself.
"You've got to be kidding me," the boy groaned.
"I could say the same, Potter. You know, I was looking forward to a good night's sleep, but you just had to give me more work, didn't you?"
"Why don't you save yourself the trouble and pretend that you never saw me, then?" He suggested.
"Oh, I would never pass an opportunity like this," she broke out in an evil grin. "Roaming the corridors at night; five points from Gryffindor. Trying to bribe a prefect; five points from Gryffindor."
"Five points from Gryffindor," James said in a mocking voice.
"Making fun of a prefect; another five points from Gryffindor. Good job, Potter. Keep this up and you'll get your house in the red. Wouldn't want Gryffindor to end up with negative fifty points at the end of the year, now, would you?"
"I don't know, would I?" He asked back.
"Don't worry, you can figure that out in detention."
"What?!" The boy's eyes widened. "Are you seriously going to take fifteen points away and give me detention?"
"We can make it twenty if you want," she gave him a challenging look.
"Whatever. Can you give that back?" He gestured towards the material in her hand.
"I don't think so," Mia shook her head slowly. "I can't believe you, Potter. First that map of yours and now an Invisibility Cloak? Makes me wonder what other things you might have."
"How about a huge d–"
"Being disgusting; five points from Gryffindor," she cut in. "There's your twenty."
"That's not the only twenty I have, then," he grinned down at her.
"Being a terrible liar; five points from Gryffindor."
"Now that's just rude," James frowned. "You're an awful prefect, babe. Not like it makes me like you any less. You look pretty hot when you're all bossy," he winked.
"Being a terrible flirt; five points from Gryffindor."
"I can never win," he tilted his head backwards while letting out a sigh.
"What were you doing anyway?" Mia questioned.
"I don't think that's any of your business, babe."
"I beg to differ, but fine, you can keep your secrets for now. I have something to keep for myself anyway," she said, waving the cloak in her hand.
"You're going to keep it?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"No, of course not. I'm going to hand it over to the Headmistress. Oh, she's going to love me for this, not like this is the first time..."
"What?!" The Gryffindor's eyes widened. "So it was you who told her about my map!"
"Of course it was me," she scoffed. "Don't be so naïve, Potter. Did you seriously believe me when I said that it wasn't me?"
"I... yes, I did," he nodded slowly. "I guess I was blinded by love, but don't worry, I forgive you."
"Forgive me?" She mocked. "And why would I want your forgiveness when I'm not sorry about what I did?"
James ran his eyes over her body while licking his lips, then glanced back up into her eyes. "You look absolutely smashing right now."
"Give it a rest, Potter," she rolled her eyes. "Can't you see that your efforts are worthless? Aren't you tired?"
"I could never get tired of you," he smiled charmingly.
"Pathetic," Mia spat. "Do you enjoy making a fool out of yourself?"
"I am a fool, but only for you," James grinned.
"No, I think you're just a fool in general."
"But you like it," he took a step closer to her. "Don't you, Mia?"
"You make me sick," she pointed her wand at him threateningly. "Maybe I should return the feeling."
"How about you return my feelings for a change?" He leaned on the wall with one shoulder while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Never in your wildest dreams," Mia grimaced.
"I want to snog you so bad right now," the Gryffindor moistened his lips.
"And I want to hex you so bad right now," the girl shot back.
"Do you know what rhymes with hex?" He smirked.
"Death?"
"Nah, you know what I mean."
"Of course I know," she huffed. "It's not that hard to figure out, since you're extremely dim-witted."
"So what do you say?" He asked, ignoring her comment.
"We're fifteen, Potter. You're disgusting, go back to your books."
"Actually, I'm already sixteen, princess," he smiled coyly.
"Do you want me to barf on you? Because that's what's going to happen if you keep saying things like that."
"So it's a no, but only because we're young," he thought out loud. "It's okay, I can wait for you. I've been doing that for a while anyway."
"Don't," she replied immediately. "Unless you want to die alone, that is."
"I would rather die alone than to be with someone who isn't you."
"Okay, Romeo. You go ahead and do that, just leave me alone."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was you who stopped me and started chatting with me. I just wanted to go back to my Common Room."
"Yeah, well, forgive me for doing my job," she glared up at him.
"No, my dear Mia," he leaned closer to her. "Your job was done when you gave me my punishment for breaking the rules, yet you're still here. I believe you enjoy spending time with me, you're just too proud to admit it."
"Don't think so highly of yourself, Potter. It's not like I care about you."
"I don't know about caring, but you're definitely attracted to me."
"And what about you do you think is attractive, huh? The unkempt mess on your head that you call hair, your inability to tie a tie properly or your arrogance?"
"It's called being a bad boy, babe," he ran a hand through his dark hair.
"Oh really? I thought it was called being a slob."
"Why don't you just kiss me, woman? You know I like you already, what are you waiting for?"
"For you to stop being an immature little imbecile," she furrowed her eyebrows.
"So you do want to kiss me, then?" He grinned.
"Stop twisting my words, you moron. That's not what I meant."
"Whatever you say," James shrugged lazily. "Can I go to bed now, or do you want me to keep you company and spend the rest of the night here on the corridor? Don't get me wrong, I would love to do that, but maybe we could find a more comfortable spot," he winked.
"Go," the Ravenclaw nodded towards the Fat Lady's portrait. "Get out of my sight."
"Are you sure?" The Gryffindor lowered his voice. "It's a cold night, Mia. I could keep you warm."
"Shove off, Potter, before I decide to take even more points away from you."
"House points, my map, my cloak, my heart, my everything... take it all away if you want. I'm all yours, babe."
"Again, pathetic," she gave him a pitying look.
"I'm just in love."
"That's unfortunate, isn't it? Now go to bed."
"Ah, but I would rather get into yours."
"Don't make me repeat myself, Potter."
"Alright, I'll go," he raised his hands up in surrender. "I enjoyed spending time with you, Mia. We should do this more often."
"I would rather not."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, you hate me," he nodded. "You just hate that you're so in love with me."
"Keep dreaming, slob."
"I will. Hopefully, I can meet you again in my dreams tonight."
"Actually, I'm quite busy, so don't wait for me to appear."
"You really want me to stay here, don't you, Mia? You just can't let me go."
She clenched her jaw, then took a step away from him. "I better take this to McGonagall," she tightened her hold on the material in her hand.
"Go ahead," he nodded. "Make sure to return to Ravenclaw safely after. Goodnight, my love."
With a swift move, he grabbed the cloak out of her hand and placed it around her shoulders, making her body disappear.
"There," he smiled down at her softly. "I would hate myself if you caught a cold."
"Go to hell," she scoffed.
He sent her one last grin before turning around and walked off towards the portrait.
She glanced down, then slipped the cloak off of her body and put it back in her hand. Shaking her head, she started heading towards the Headmistress' office, forgetting about the Gryffindor.
When she reached the Gargoyle Corridor, she stopped in front of the circular staircase.
"Gubraithian Fire" she said, getting the staircase to move.
After she went up, she knocked on the door.
"Come in," she heard the Headmistress' voice.
She walked inside and closed the door after herself.
"Oh, Ms Malfoy... Why are you here at such a late hour?" McGonagall asked her. "You know what? I have to finish this letter, so please occupy yourself while you're waiting if it's not urgent, will you?"
"Of course, Professor," Mia nodded politely.
The Headmistress continued writing at her desk while Mia started walking around in the office, careful not to touch anything, the cloak still in her hand.
"Evening, Ms Malfoy," she heard a cold voice.
Looking around with furrowed eyebrows, her eyes fell on a portrait with a pale, dark haired man on it. He was wearing black clothes and had a rather hooked nose.
"Professor Snape?" She asked, even though she was quite sure it was him.
"Indeed," he said, glancing down. "What have you got there?"
"An Invisibility Cloak," Mia answered in a low voice, not wanting to disturb the Headmistress. "I just confiscated it from James Potter," she explained quickly. "He was wandering around the corridors."
"Was he, now?" He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Somehow I'm not surprised... How's your father?"
"Alive," she answered bitterly.
Snape didn't comment on that. "Are you doing well in Potions?" He decided to ask.
"Not to sound like a know-it-all, Professor, but I'm doing well in every subject," Mia said with her head held high. "Although I must say, I wish you could teach us, I've heard great things about you. Not like our current Professor is bad, of course, I would just prefer someone a bit more... experienced, if you know what I mean," she added quietly.
It was hard to notice, but the corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly.
"Alright, Ms Malfoy," McGonagall spoke up, causing Mia to turn away from the portrait. "Why are you here?"
The Ravenclaw walked up to her desk and raised the material in her hand. "This is an Invisibility Cloak that belongs to James Potter. I caught him sneaking around on the corridors wearing it."
The Headmistress let out a sigh. "I see... You took house points from him, I assume?"
"I did," she nodded. "I also gave him detention."
"Very well. I'll put this right next to his map, then," McGonagall said, taking the cloak away from her. "Is that all?"
"Yes, Professor. I apologise for my late visit, but I figured I should give it to you straight away."
"It's alright, Ms Malfoy. You may go now."
"Have a good evening, Professor," she nodded again, then turned on her heels and left her office.
She couldn't wait to finally get some sleep.