IMPORTANT NOTE/QUESTION:

So I was thinking of making this a two part fic. This would be part one, obviously, and it would go until probably the end of the war itself. I would have to change this to a Mia/Reg pairing in my tags but the other part would be Mia/Fred and everyone healing from the war and stuff. I think I'm probably gonna do it, but if you guys don't like the idea, I totally get it and I'd likely reconsider.

There is another option if you guys opt for not making this a two part fic, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Six

July 11th, 1997

Mia released Harry's hand and smiled at her boyfriend before twisting her foot and focusing on the Burrow. With a loud crack, they appeared. It took less than a second for the wards to react. Mia and Harry were invited in warmly, but they stopped cold when Regulus was lifted in the air with a pained look on his face. He was biting his lips and Mia immediately knew he was trying not to scream.

"BILL! GET OUT HERE!" She screamed in alarm as she stood with panic flooding her. She was going to murder him. Bill ran out a second later and his eyes widened as he released the wards. Regulus crumpled to the ground and Mia pulled him into her lap, glaring at the man she considered a brother, who had his wand pointed at Regulus. "What the hell?!"

"Hermione – Mia – I don't know what you know of him, but that ward was set to trap-"

"Let me guess, anyone with the Dark Mark?" Mia spat out.

"I- Well yes, actually." Bill frowned but kept his wand up.

"Well he has the Mark, but he's not a bloody Death Eater!" Mia screamed. Regulus was tense with pain and she waved Harry to get Molly.

"How is that possible?" Bill asked as gently as he could manage, which was not very gentle at all.

"He was a spy," Mia growled, ignoring that it was a bit of a lie. "but then he came here."

Bill was saved having to respond by a worried Molly bustling over to Mia and Regulus. Both women glared daggers at Bill and he threw his hands in the air in frustration. No one had told him about the Not Exactly Death Eater Mia was dating. He waited for them to bring Regulus in the house before replacing the ward. After that was done, he stomped to the room he was sharing with Charlie while Molly fussed over the uncomfortable looking boy and pissed off girl.

"She's dating a Death Eater!" Bill yelled after putting up a silencing charm.

"What?!" Charlie screeched. He stared up at his brother with wide eyes.

"Says he was some sort of spy back in the seventies. He got caught in my wards."

"So… that's good then, isn't it? He's loyal to the Light," Charlie reasoned.

"Do you remember the last 'spy' the Order had?" Bill shot back.

"Well was he a spy for the Order or for Mia? He's a little young for the Order, Bill."

"I-," Bill stopped himself. It did sound more likely that he was helping Mia rather than Dumbledore. But that raised another question. "Then is he loyal to the Light or loyal to Mia?" Charlie seemed to consider this for a moment before shrugging.

"I'm not sure it matters. Mia is about as Light as it can get."

"I just… we don't know this guy," Bill complained. "I don't trust him."

Charlie snorted, sitting up now. "I don't trust him, either. But we gotta play nice. We already run the risk of being replaced by our uncles," he joked. "Either way, I trust her. She can handle him."

"She doesn't even stop Ron from being a dick to her, though," Bill replied, frustrated still at his youngest brother.

Charlie shrugged. "Yeah, but they're just friends."

"He treats her like shit," Bill grumbled, settling onto his bed.

"Probably why she's dating someone else," Charlie suggested with cheek.

"I'm gonna watch him around her." He declared.

"So am I," Charlie snorted. "Hell, I'm still watching Harry around Ginny."

"He has been giving her puppy eyes more recently, hasn't he?"

"Wish it could be like her first year again."

Bill grinned brightly. "You mean all the innocent kiddies and your Lisa girl?"

"I went on one date with her!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"So,"

"We were thinking," Fred said, waving to himself and his twin, along with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Bill, and Charlie.

"That maybe it was time," George continued.

"Someone talk to you about Mia." Fred finished with an evil grin.

Regulus stared at the boys and Ginny. "There's seven of you."

"He can count, Gred."

"I guess he can, Forge."

"Just cut to the point. Please," Regulus said with a frown.

"If you hurt her," Ginny started, moving close enough that he was relatively uncomfortable. He'd learned she was actually terrifying and that her brothers were idiots for pretending she wasn't. "once she's done with you, I will destroy every last bit of you. I'll hex you to hell and back and then I'll destroy your entire life." He matched her gaze but nodded.

"If I really do hurt her, I'll deserve all of that."

"I've got a question," Harry said, looking suspiciously mischievous. "How did you two meet?"

Regulus rolled his eyes and sighed. "Thinking back on it, I think she'd been trying to find me or plan on meeting me, but she just… ran into me. She was avoiding her boys – I don't know why, but I assume they did something stupid – and took the long way to dinner. She was going through the dungeons when she found a couple asshole Gryffindors trying to… put me out of commission before the next practice." At their raised eyebrows, Regulus shrugged. "I was Slytherin Seeker. Anyway, they'd gotten my wand away and cornered me. Mia hexed them and then cornered me herself so she could heal me."

The boys exchanged looks while Ginny grinned proudly. "Please tell me it was the Bat Bogey hex."

"Can't remember," he lied. "But she knew me right away and spewed some bullshit about being bad at potions-,"

"She actually is though," Ron said with a frown. Regulus just shrugged.

"She was great when I was her partner. She was fine with Severus, too, and even so on her own."

Harry and Ron shared a look before speaking together. "Slughorn."

"Er- okay."

"So," Charlie said. "How did you two get together?"

Regulus's lips twitched at the memory. "I asked her for help making Sirius squirm."

"Squirm?" Bill asked, looking much less angry than before.

"Sirius and I didn't… get along then. They were already very close, so I asked her to kiss me in front of him. She gave in and we did it, and Sirius said some stuff and she ran off to the Room of Requirement. James talked to her and then… I did. I asked if I could kiss her again," he paused, debating telling them about the soul bond. "and we did, and it was… the beginnings of a soul bond." There was silence after that. The Weasley's eyes had widened, but Harry looked confused.

"It's like the beginnings of a soul mate bond. Everyone has seven people with which they could create a soul bond. They're not as common as many people would think, because they can be shared between a magical person and a muggle," Ginny explained. Fred looked slightly sick, but George seemed to be the only one to understand why.

"So… you're her soulmate?" Harry asked with a thick voice.

"Only if we… er, marry and…"

"They gotta get married and have sex, Harry." Ginny said, slightly amused with the look on Harry's face.

"Do you want to marry her?" Bill asked seriously.

"Yes," Regulus said immediately. At the looks on their faces, he sighed. "If she'll have me and only when this war is over. I know she wouldn't be able to do it before. She has too many responsibilities. But I have given her a betrothal piece, and she knew what it was. She accepted it, and I told her to think of it as a muggle promise ring." He was suddenly reminded that she could wear it now in public.

"Oh,"

"That's…,"

"A lot." George finished.

"Are you all satisfied with my intentions now? Can I go?" Regulus asked politely.

Bill waved him off with a satisfied smile. "Go on."

Regulus left the room with a sigh. He was happy that so many people cared so much about her, but telling so many people his intentions when he hadn't even discussed them with her yet was frustrating to say the least.

He got out to the garden to sit before Ginny found him again and sat next to him. He looked at her and sighed inwardly.

"You need to promise me something," she said seriously. She looked… sad?

"Mm?"

"Go with them and take care of her. I know they're the Golden Trio, and I'm fine with that, but sometimes they forget to… take care of themselves. They all have hero complexes and at least Mia and Harry will give their lives up in the blink of an eye if they thought it would save someone they cared for." She paused, offering Regulus a pleading look. "Promise me you'll save my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without her, Regulus."

He gave her a long look before nodding slowly. "I'd do anything to save Mia."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

June 13th, 1997

The Order meeting had been over for a half hour, and everyone was sat around the picnic tables in the garden. Remus was sandwiched between Mia and Tonks and Sirius was on Mia's other side. Harry was next to his godfather with Ginny next to him. Regulus had decided to sit across from Ginny, and Mia thought they had some sort of weird friendship blooming. Avery was directly across from Mia and in a heated discussion with Tonks about something she couldn't quite hear, but Kingsley looked immensely amused with it. Mad Eye was at one end of the table with Ron cornered to him. Arthur was at the head of the table and Molly was close to him and sitting next to Andromeda.

Mia frowned and raised her hand to put up a shield as Mad Eye threw a hex at Sirius. "Why-,"

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"It's dinner!"

"And if I was a Death Eater, girlie?"

"Then you wouldn't be here, Moody," Sirius grumbled. "Tonks is an auror, send the hexes her way."

"Hey!" Tonks yelled, throwing a roll at her cousin. Mia caught it and grinned, taking a bite.

"Thanks," she said cheekily.

"Where are the twins?" Molly asked, obviously frustrated.

"Er, which ones?"

"I- Oh, well, both I suppose."

Mia grinned a bit. "Your brothers are taking care of something for me," she raised a hand before Molly could interrupt. "They offered. And your sons… I honestly don't know. Should we be worried?"

"Probably," Remus laughed. "I saw them with a muggle t-shirt launcher yesterday." Molly paled a little and quickly went inside, likely to try to find and confiscate said launcher. Remus and Sirius both turned to Mia, and she smiled at the identical looks. "What are Fabian and Gideon doing?"

"They went to check Potter Manor and the property in Godric's Hallow. They've been vacant for so long, I don't want to stumble upon anything… unwanted. Especially in Godric's Hallow."

"Are you worried about dark magic or just some thick layers of dust?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well logically I know Charlus and Dorea wouldn't keep anything dark magic at the manor-,"

"Oh, actually, they had a whole trash room for dark heirlooms," Sirius said in a low voice. "James and I snuck in when we were twelve. It was nasty. If Dorea hadn't found us when she did, we probably wouldn't have made it out so easily."

"Oh," Mia frowned. "I should send a Patronus and warn them, then." Remus nodded a bit and sighed.

"And Godric's Hallow?"

"Well… the whole place feels… tainted. I'm sure nothing will come up, but I still want it checked. I mentioned it to them and they offered, saying that they were Aurors and best equipped to-,"

"To be fair," Bill interrupted, walking out of the house with Charlie. "I would be best equipped. I'm a curse breaker. I deal with dark objects every day."

Mia shrugged. "Ever tried telling your uncles no when they're set on doing something?"

Charlie grinned. "Once. Bill got sent to his room."

"I was a kid!" Bill rolled his eyes. "Why don't you tell them to come home for dinner and I'll go with them after?"

Mia shrugged and brought her wand out to cast a Patronus. "Expecto Patronum," she muttered. A silver light flew out of her wand and formed a creature. Mia gasped as her eyes widened. The entire table shifted to look at her in surprise.

Her Patronus stared at her happily and nudged her with its snout. "It's a Lion," Harry said in surprise.

Avery grinned brightly. "No, it's a Lioness."

"I- go to the Prewett twins. Come home for dinner. Molly wants you." The Lioness bowed her head before gracefully sprinting off. "Holy shit."

"When did it change?" Remus asked with a faint smile.

"I'm not sure… In the past couple of days, I guess," Mia said. She reached out and found Sirius's hand easily.

"Sano," Regulus said, amused. "Little Lion was just a nickname."

"Shut it, you," Mia said playfully, though she was still in shock.

"I wonder why it's changed. Maybe just coming back to the future?" Remus offered. Mia shook her head.

"My otter came out a couple of days ago."

"Well, what's happened since then?"

Mia thought back. Not much had happened. She'd spent time with her friends and gone to Diagon Alley to pick some things up. It had been slow, really. But, she thought, she had been doing a lot of thinking. She'd been considering how different things were to when she was in school with Harry and Ron, and how now she had Sirius and Remus and Avery and… she had Regulus. She knew she couldn't leave her Slytherins out. She had to involve them in whatever she did, and she had accepted that. She did realize that that meant there was a shift in… dynamic in her group. She had realized and accepted that the era of the Golden Trio had come to an abrupt end, and then there were now five of them. She'd accepted that. "Oh."

"What is it?" Remus asked gently, touching her arm with his hand.

"I just… things are changing."

"I know, Mia Mine," Sirius said softly.

Mia looked at Harry and Ron sadly. "Things are changing," she repeated. The boys shared a look before Ron nodded a bit.

"I know, Mione. We know. We're okay with it, I think." Her redheaded friend said kindly. She smiled at them before glancing at Regulus and then Avery.

"You're stuck with us," she said, lips twitching into a greater smile.

Avery rolled his eyes. "We both swore fealty to you, Sano. I'd certainly hope you planned on keeping us." The entire table fell silent at that. Sirius and Remus had known, along with Harry and probably Ron by extension, but the rest of the Order did not.

"They swore fealty to you?" Andromeda asked slowly. Mia scowled at the Slytherins but nodded.

"Reg did it in the middle of an argument. Pissed me off. I complained to Avery and Sev, and they did it too, bloody idiots."

"Mia, do you know how serious that is?" Arthur asked quietly.

"Of course I know," Mia rolled her eyes. "That's why I was pissed. I didn't ask them to do it."

"Glad they did it," Moody said. "Trust 'em more now." Mia rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well, it's not a big deal. I didn't ask them to do this and I won't ask them to do anything with the oath."

Moody went to reply but stopped when there was a screech from Molly inside of the house and one of the windows opened up above the garden. Everyone looked up and Mia groaned, seeing the twins. When she saw what they were doing, she quickly disarmed Moody, who was generally shocked about that.

Moments later, there was another scream and a quiet pop and Mia closed her eyes. There was flour flying everywhere, and sticking to anything it touched. She cast an umbrella charm so it wouldn't touch her much and grinned as it fell on everyone else. There was shuffling and people were yelling at the twins, but Tonks cracked up laughing as the brothers then sent water after them. Mia joined her quickly as she watched the flour turn to goop and grinned when she saw her boyfriend pouting in the most un-Slytherin way possible.

"Welcome home prank?" She yelled up. George winked at her before repeating the process, and she laughed happily. Maybe everything could be normal again, even just for a bit.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Come here," Ginny said with a laugh. She grabbed her wand and waved Harry over. He stepped close and smiled at the redhead as she siphoned the goop out of his hair and off his shirt.

"Thanks," he grinned.

"Yep. You didn't try and get out of the way?"

"Nah," he shrugged a bit. "I don't really mind it that much. They were having fun." Ginny nodded and finished Scourgifying the flour and water off Harry. She stayed close and smiled happily, grateful to have some alone time with him. She wasn't blind to not see him avoiding her. "Ginny…"

"Yes?" She replied, looking at him with a faint shimmer of hope.

"I can't," he said with a pained look on his face.

"Why not?" She demanded. "Mia is."

"I'm not her. I'm not… I'm not comfortable putting you in danger like that."

"I'm already in danger, Harry. This is war. I'm a blood traitor."

"Exactly. You don't need more of a reason to be on Voldemort's hit list," he said hotly. He seemed to hate what he was saying, but Ginny didn't care. If he was going to do this, he'd have the bloody balls to do it completely.

"Mia is my best friend, Ron is my brother, and you're my… whatever. I'm already on his damn radar, Harry!"

"I'm not putting you in more danger!" He yelled. "I won't have someone else I love die!" There was a beat of silence before Ginny turned and walked away. She didn't run, she couldn't let him see she was hurt.

She made it all the way to her room before she broke into quiet, burning tears.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

So the flour and water out of a t-shirt canon was a dream I had. It was hilarious. I woke up and told my sister that I had to work it into my fic somehow, and I thought an Order dinner would be best.

Next chapter is going to be heavy on Mia, I think. She's got some work to do before the end of summer.

I will also be explaining why Harry is staying at Grimmauld Place instead of Privet Drive.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and remember to review!