I've got myself a beta! I promise after this chapter I will start sending them to her for the okay before I post. So, basically, much better and less confusing content.
Beta love goes to padfootl0ve. No, really, so much love.
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Chapter Six
Mia slipped into the DADA classroom quickly, glad to see no one was in there. She had run all the way there, trying to avoid the boy's questions, and was subsequently out of breath.
"You're a bit early." Mia yelped quietly and turned, her eyes settling on a head of messy, bright red hair. It can't be.
"Yes, well, I wanted to get here early and meet the professor. Which, er, I assume would be you?" Smooth. He cracked a familiar crooked smile, though, and nodded.
"I'm Auror Prewett. Fabian Prewett, that is." Ah, that makes sense. Ginny mentioned twin uncles who died before the end of the first war. But that means…
"Mia. Mia Potter." She sighed inwardly at the new name that her friends and their parents had agreed upon. If she were here, she wasn't planning on letting there be two of her.
"Lovely to meet you, Miss Potter. I happen to know there's a certain James Potter in this class. Any relation?" She frowned. They'd prepared for this, too, but she didn't like it.
"Yes, I'm his cousin. Er… distant, on the Black side. Very distant. They've taken me and a friend in after an unfortunate fire destroyed most of our town." They'd decided against saying it was simply Death Eaters. They felt like it would cause too much attention, that there would be too many pitying eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." He gave her a smile again, one that made her heart twist, and she realized they'd have to do something about Fred's hair. Some charms and a few lies would work. Shouldn't be too hard.
"Merlin, Mia, you're fast!" James panted as he ran in the door, nearly running into her. Sirius and Remus were behind him, but Sirius didn't look to be bothered by running while Remus looked exhausted. With a pang Mia realized she didn't know when the full moon was, but looking at him she would guess no more than a week away.
"Yes, well, I do track." She replied dryly.
"You do what now?" James frowned at her, confused.
"Why'd you guys run? You've plenty of time to get to class at a normal pace." She rolled her eyes at them, not noticing the frown on Remus's face or the confusion in Sirius's eyes.
"Well, kitten, we thought that you had no clue where you were going. Thought you were going to get lost." Sirius's voice was careful, like he didn't want to poke a lion.
Cursing herself, Mia understood her mistake. She was new. Why would she have known how to get to the DADA classroom on her own?
"Yes, well, I seem to have an incredible sense of direction, don't I?" She worried her lip between her teeth and ignored any remarks, turning instead to Auror Prewett. "Sir, could I see you after class? I have a few questions about the coursework for the year." Successfully turning the attention from her slip for the moment – Remus was still eyeing her suspiciously – Mia gave the boys a small smile as their new professor agreed and other students began to slip into the room.
Mia sat down before her boys, letting them decide who would sit where. After a silent debate between the three, James sat next to her and Sirius and Remus sat together. She was relieved, she realized with a start, to have someone so familiar sitting next to her, even if he wasn't Harry.
It took another ten minutes before she realized she was sitting across the room from sixth year Slytherins, and that James was glaring at one greasy haired boy in particular. Suddenly, Mia wasn't so sure that today would go well.
"Alright, everyone! Pair up. We're going to dive right in. As you know, I'm here because there's a war. Now one of the most important things if you find yourself facing a death eater," James snorted, likely because he was glaring at a Death Eater right then. "is to make sure they don't know what you're sending at them. So we will be working on wordless magic today. We will only be using Expelliarmus at first. Now find your partners and stand across the room from each other."
Now James seemed to falter a bit in having chosen Mia as his partner. She gave him a smile before nodding at him and glancing at Sirius, who was making a show of asking her to be his partner. A slight nod and he pumped his fist in the air triumphantly.
Ten minutes and a decent bit of tired grumbling later, and the entire class was ready to start. Fabian gave them a little more description on how to cast wordlessly before leaving them be. Everyone started quickly and while some disarmed immediately, Mia knew they were whispering the word under their breath. She disarmed Sirius quickly and silently, though she made a quiet show of cursing, like she had said it without meaning to. A quick look at Auror Prewett told her that he wasn't fooled at all. With a sigh, she resigned to letting Sirius work on her for the rest of class and not trying again. She wasn't supposed to have all of the practical knowledge that she did. Theory, sure, she read ahead all of the time. Practical use of the magic, no.
Class was over all too quickly, and it had, surprisingly, no incidents with the Slytherins, though she could feel a few pairs of eyes on her back the entire time. Once the class had left, Mia pushed down the anxiety in her stomach and approached Fabian Prewett, knocking once before entering the office.
He really was a beautiful man, she thought. He had the Weasley – or was it Prewett? – hair and sharp brown eyes with a bit of sea green in them. He had a beautifully defined jaw line and cheekbones that could probably saw Sherlock's in half, and it was topped off with what Mia thought was the best smile ever.
"So, you had some questions for me?" His gentle words shook her out of her thoughts and she tried, and failed, to shove down the blush threatening her cheeks.
"Yes, well, I didn't have a very… standard syllabus back home. I was wondering what you've covered in the year so far and what you'll cover in, say, the next month or two? I'm usually very ahead and I don't like the idea of missing or being behind, you see."
He shot her a sweet but calculating smile, and she couldn't help but feel like he was reading every secret she had. After a long moment, he nodded and opened his desk drawer, pulling out a few papers. "This is what I've had planned so far. But Mia, if you don't mind me saying, you're already leagues ahead of everyone in your class. You flawlessly and silently disarmed Mister Black on your first try and then pretended like you didn't. I have to say, I'm not sure why you're holding back." His words were gentle, but Mia could feel the threat lying deep beneath them, and she could see the blatant suspicion in his eyes. With a sigh, Fabian stood and walked to the front of his desk, leaning against it and looking at her with the calculating eyes that she imagined him looking at potentially dark wizards with. But then, isn't that what she would be to him? She had come out of nowhere and become family to two of the most politically influential families, even if Sirius would be disowned at Christmas, and preformed powerful magic that no one her age could do without a second thought. And now, she thought bitterly, he's caught me lying.
"Do you need help, Mia?" His intention was clear: Are you in trouble?
"I…" she faltered. She did need help. She just couldn't get it, could she? No, she would need to go this alone… Er, with Fred, that is. "No… No, I'm fine." Good thing I'm not in Slytherin. I can't lie to save my life.
"Mia, I hope you know that you're a really bad liar." Her eyes widened and she went to deny it, but someone knocked on the door.
"Mione?" Fred. Oh, no…
"Fred, no! I'll be- "She cut off as he came into the room, his smile faltering as his eyes fell on Fabian.
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He'd seen pictures of his uncles plenty of times. He remembered one in particular, one in Hogsmeade when Fabian had been playing Professor during the war. He remembered his Uncle Fabian holding Percy in his arms as he laughed at Bill and Charlie's antics. He remembered that it was the happiest picture he'd ever seen. He'd never seen someone look more content than his Uncle had at that moment in the picture.
But now… Now his uncle looked worried, he looked like he was trying and failing to save a lost puppy. Which led his gaze to… to Hermione, who looked like she was about to freak out.
There was a moment of silence that lasted way too long, silence that hurt his ears and made him want to scream, if only to end it. Finally, Fabian cleared his throat, looking at Fred in confusion, though he addressed Hermione… no, Mia. "Miss Potter, do you know him?" his voice was tight, and Fred imagined he recognized his hair.
"I… Yes. This is… Fred." She finished shortly, feeling useless.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me? Would you care to explain…" he gestured to Fred lamely, obviously referring to the broken look on his face and the sadness in his eyes, not to mention the hair. Merlin, why did hair have to be so telling?
"I'm… not sure I'm allowed to, sir." They had, of course, spoken about telling people. While Dumbledore discouraged it, he couldn't truly demand they keep quiet. Obviously Mia had agreed with the Headmaster's suggestion.
"Uncle Fabian." Fred said softly, cringing at the frustrated and panicked look on Mia's face. He moved to the side to avoid being hit by her and refused to look at her.
"Uncle… What?!"
Fred shot Mia a pleading look, but she merely shrugged and sat down, taking some deep breaths. "You're the one that messed up. I'm not fixing it."
Fabian shot a look at Mia, but he quickly caught the serious expression on her face and the anxiety in her eyes. He pulled his wand from his robes, training it on them suspiciously.
"Who are you?" the Auror demanded loudly.
"I'm… Fred." Before he continued, he mouthed 'sorry' at Mia. "Fred Weasley, twin brother of my dearest George, although the wanker was apparently too lazy to take a jog to the seventies. I'll tell ya, it's pretty cozy here, aside from Voldepants first reign of terror and all," he knew he would pay for the joking tone later, but it seemed to be the only way he could handle looking at…
"I… You're… First…?" With a sigh, Mia stood and walked to the confused Auror, placing a comforting and awkward hand on his arm.
"We weren't meant to say anything. It's not… safe." Well, Mia thought, the worst that could happen is he thinks we're insane and sends us to St. Mungos.
Fred nodded a little, and an uncomfortable silence settled on them for a few minutes before Fabian interrupted it abruptly. "What are you saying? Who are you?" He still had his wand out and on them, but he was staring at Fred, who was pleading at Mia with his eyes. With a resigned sigh, she nodded. "But only if he takes an Unbreakable Vow first." Fabian frowned at that, obviously weighing the pros and cons. After a few silent moments, he nodded, to Mia's surprise.
"You… really?" After a short nod and after he wiped the uncertain look off his face, Mia pulled out her wand and waved Fred over, asking Fred to do the Vow with him. Once they held their arms together, she began.
"Do you, Fabian George Prewett, promise to never reveal the secrets told to you in confidence today?"
"I do." After a moment of consideration, Mia decided not to add anything more and silver tongues of flame shot from her wand down their arms, sinking into their skin as the Vow accepted his words. When they were finished, Mia and Fred both sighed in relief, like they'd been dying to tell someone.
"We're from the future."
"Fred! Couldn't we ease him into this?!" Mia berated her friend, who simply shrugged at her.
"You're- what? You're... What?!" He stared at them both, obviously looking for any tells of a lie or a joke. He found nothing. "The future," he said slowly, "and you said your name was… Fred?"
"Frederick Gideon Weasley. My brother is George Fabian Weasley, but like I said, he stayed behind. Not that… well, Mione and I didn't mean to come here."
"Would you stop calling me that? It's not my name anymore! And I've told you, I hate nicknames."
"It's not my fault! You just up and picked a new name without telling me and how am I supposed to get used to that? Mia is so close to Mione!"
"It's only close by a couple of letters, Fred!"
"It's close enough for me to forget! I thought you hated nicknames! Mia sounds like a nickname!"
"Would you two shut up?!" Mia flushed and Fred sighed, letting her take over. He would rather avoid an argument.
"I'm sorry. Anyway, as he said so bluntly, we are from, er, a different time. 1997, to be exact. It was an accident, I promise, seeing as I got rid of my Time-Turner years ago after Sirius because time is tricky, seeing as he was supposed to be Kissed and we helped him get away, just imagine what would have happened if he had died! So, really it's for the best that Professor McGonagall took it back from me, even if it would have helped my studies along quite a bit- "
"Hermione!"
Mia turned to Fred who was looking at her warily. "What?"
"You're rambling."
"Oh. Sorry. I'm nervous." She shot a small smile at Fred before turning back to his uncle. "So… I guess, what questions do you have? We might not be able to answer everything, but we can try as much as possible."
Fabian sat down again, rubbing his forehead, before turning back at Fred. "You called me Uncle Fabian." And Mia winced. She had really hoped he hadn't caught that.
"You're Mum's brother, same as Uncle Gideon. Me and Georgie, we're not born yet here, is all."
"Georgie and I, Fred."
"You and George what?"
"No, your grammar."
"What about it?"
"It's wrong."
"Oi! My grammar is perfect!"
"Do you two ever stop?" Fabian was still rubbing his forehead, but he looked extremely amused by their bickering.
"Not really," they said together, making Fabian chuckle.
"Okay, say I believe you. You're my nephew? Who are you, then?" He gestured to Mia.
"I'm… A friend of Fred's. And your other nephew, Ron. And your niece, Ginny. Though Bill and Charlie act like older brother's all the time, which is really quite nice, seeing as I'm an only child. But Percy is a bit of a prat, really.
Fabian smiled warmly at her. For whatever reason, he seemed to believe them so far.
"And he called you Hermione because?"
"Because it's my real name. When we arrived here, which was bloody painful and I honestly think I bruised a few ribs, I blurted out to James and Sirius that my name was Mia so that, in a few years, there wouldn't be two of me. Well. Physically there will be two of me, but not the same age or really the same name." Fabian nodded a little, processing everything.
"So how did you two get here?" And he saw them share a look, sadness sprawled across their features before Fred wiped it off and spoke confidently.
"An old wizard messed with his wand and we got sent back. I think it was an accident."
"It was not and accident and if it were, it would be karma for all of your pranks. Though, why I would be sent with you escapes me." Fabian's eyes lit up at the word 'prank', but he didn't say anything about it.
"So, an old wizard messed with his wand, you two got it somehow, you're sent twenty years into the past, you," he points at Mia, "change your name, you enroll in school and, what? What do you do now?"
Mia and Fred exchanged uncertain looks before Mia began speaking, slowly and very carefully, as if she had to pick the exact right words or the world would end. "Time… is fickle. Things happen because they've already happened. So us being here, it's already happened. So… we do what we have to do to make sure that our time," she pointed to Fred and herself, "happens… but I… we… will do everything in our power to save anyone we can." She finished, staring Fabian in the eye with a bit of a creepy determination.
"So you're saying… everything is inevitable? Hermione, why didn't you tell me this before?!" And suddenly, Fred was angry, extremely angry and Fabian didn't understand it, unless…
"There's a war." Suddenly it made a little more sense to Fabian. "There's a war going on right now, and you," he spoke gently, like something would break if he didn't. "you seem to be leagues ahead of everyone else. Is… Is the war still going in twenty years?" His voice was a whisper now, and it seemed that his question was more of a statement. When Mia gave a small, jerky nod, Fabian swore loudly and covered his face with his hands.
"It… it stops. For thirteen years, but he comes back. Harry – he's my best friend, my brother – and Ron and I, we were…" Mia paused, shooting a look at Fred, "Bill was getting married at the end of summer, and we were going to go on the run. To find… some objects. The ministry is of no help. It's nearly over run with Death Eaters now, and Voldemort," Fred and Fabian both flinched a bit, and Mia rolled her eyes. "Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself! Get used to his stupid name! Anyway, he'll be able to find Harry so much easier when he turns seventeen, so we were going to stay on the move and find these objects so that we can kill the bastard. Er, Voldemort, not Harry."
Fred was taking slow breaths, seemingly trying to calm down. "And none of you ickle children thought it would be nice to tell, oh, I don't know, my mum or at least George and I?! You-Know-Who wants you three dead, and you plan on running off together? Wouldn't it be safer at the Burrow?!" He was yelling now, and Mia flinched at every sharp word, her hands curled into fists.
"I'm sorry." Her voice was a shaky whisper, and she refused to look at him. This was exactly why I didn't want to tell anyone. They wouldn't let us go, and we have to get the horcruxes! Maybe… No, the Order will need the twins and Ginny will have to go back to school. That's assuming Fred and I even get home…
Mia was shocked out of her thoughts when she felt a large hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Fabian smiling down at her comfortingly. He didn't even understand what was going on, but he was comforting her? She was somewhat amazed, especially considering how calm he was. He really was quite beautiful, and he wasn't much older than her, maybe three years… in this time, that is.
"Why don't we change the subject for now? I still have plenty of questions." Mia nodded gratefully and rested her hand on his, using it to ground herself and gather her thoughts.
"Of course. What else do you want to know?"
"I would like to know why my… nephew looked at me like he was seeing a ghost."
"Oh." Avoiding Fred's gaze, Mia looked up at Fabian sadly, readying herself for the lie she was about to tell. "Well, Dumbledore sent you on some sort of mission for the Order, and we haven't seen you or Gideon in months, is all. He was just surprised." She felt sick lying to him, but she couldn't tell him the truth. She saw Fred nod dumbly, and Fabian seemed to accept her answer with a smile.
"Well, hasn't happened yet, so I'm right here. But I'm afraid the next class is about to begin, so we'll have to finish this talk another time, yeah?" He stood and walked behind his desk, handing Mia the papers for class he had gotten for her earlier. "If you need anything else, just come to my office after class, and I'll see what I can do."
Fred and Mia both seemed to accept the obvious dismissal and left quietly, Mia thanking him for the material. They walked together silently, Mia apparently deciding to skip her classes for the rest of the day and Fred appearing to not have planned to go in the first place. When they got to Gryffindor Tower, they sat down on a couch in the empty room – Peter was nowhere to be seen, likely in his room – and Fred turned to her, confusion and hurt on his face.
"What the absolute fuck, Hermione?!" He shouted at her, ignoring her wince at how loud he was and curse. "We could have told him, saved him and his brother!"
"No, we couldn't! Don't you understand?! It doesn't matter what we do! Nothing will change. I experienced it third year with the time turner! Sirius was meant to be saved, or it wouldn't have worked! I… I know who they are, and I am so sorry, Fred, but… they have to die."
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Remus paused as he entered the Fat Lady, his hand on the portrait as he heard someone shouting angrily. At the volume, he turned to leave until he heard another voice, this one sounding… broken?
"…don't you understand?... experienced it third year… Sirius was meant to be saved… I am so sorry… they have to die."
Remus's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. Mia.
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Hey! Okay, so this is the longest chapter I've ever posted. I just need to share a few things with you really quick and then I'll be out of your hair.
So, Fabian. He's pretty quick to believe and trust them, even if he's got his wand at the ready, right? Well, there's a reason. He can feel the familial bond with Fred, which is pretty damn strong right now, and confusing. So he trusts them quickly and easily. Plus, it's easier on the story and takes away some nasty and quite frankly, not so fun chapters if he trusts them.
Now, I know Hermione and Ron don't find out about Harry's hunt for the horcruxes until way later, but in my story, for convenience purposes, Harry told them about it in his grief the day after dear Dumbles died, and they strong armed him into letting them come.
Anyway, I think that's all. Have a wonderful day!
