Chapter Nine

It was nearly eight by the time the Marauders and Mia stumbled into Potions class, merely because in all of the commotion, no one had remembered to cast a Tempus to wake them up. So, they'd all run out of there as fast as they could and made their way to the dungeons, while Fred instead went to Gryffindor Tower to sleep undisturbed for another hour.

When Mia walked in, the boys were already sitting with their partners – James with Sirius and Remus with Peter. To avoid them forcing her to meet Peter, she searched the room quickly for Regulus. When she found him, she walked over with a smile, ignoring the protests her friends yelled at her.

"Good morning, Regulus."

"Morning, Mia. Friends with my brother, are you?" Mia sighed. No one could say he'd ever let there be an elephant in the room, she supposed.

She reached her hand out to him to shake and, with all of her Gryffindor courage, smiled gently. "Mia Potter."

In months to come, she would look back on that moment and snicker, remembering his shocked and confused expression.

"I… you're… what?" She tried not to laugh, but she just wasn't sure she had succeeded.

"Mia Potter. A very distant cousin of James's. I was recently taken in as a ward and they thought it best to change my name… But Regulus, I promise I have no ulterior motives for being here." That's a lie. I want to save him.

He looked at her for what felt like a few of the longest moments ever before nodding. "Alright." She even thought he might look relieved to have found a friend.

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"Mia." Mia turned to see Sirius walking towards her and Regulus. Class was over and most people had left already, but Regulus had stayed behind to help Mia clean their work space. James had gone with Remus and Peter to talk to Slughorn and put away his own perfectly brewed potion.

"Yes, Sirius?"

"What are you doing with him?" Sirius spat. Regulus flinched a little, but she seemed to be the only one that noticed.

"He's my partner. He's helping me catch up in class." She spoke carefully, picking her words with precision.

"Don't you know who he is?! What he is?!" And Regulus flinched again, causing Mia's anger to soar.

"Do you think I can't be careful enough to pick my own damn partner, Sirius? Do you think that I, of all people, don't know who to trust and who not to trust? Should I judge you on the sins of your mother? Your father? Your bloody cousins? Should I take a look at Bellatrix or Lucius and spit on you?!" Her words were like knives and she threw them straight at Sirius, her anger pouring out of her.

"But he has done things, too! He's a Death Eater!" Sirius pointed aggressively to Regulus's left arm, but Mia grabbed Sirius' arm and twisted it hard.

"Don't you dare think that this world is black and white, good and bad, Death Eater and not. Don't you dare assume that I don't know what I'm doing! And don't you ever lift a finger towards him again. That is a warning, Sirius Black, and I suggest you listen." Her voice was the sort of calm that gives a person shivers, and he seemed to take a step back to look at Mia, pulling his arm away from her hard.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Mia." His words were sharp and slightly sad, like he had been let down. Mia's eyes widened as she heard him insult her intelligence and act as if he held authority over her.

"You insulted Regulus, your own brother, lifted a hand toward him, insulted me, but worse than insulting me, you insulted my intelligence. I thought better of you." And just as he had seen her do before, she silently and wandlessly used magic, but this time to hex him. With a wave of her hand, his head began to grow. It grew and grew until it looked like a bobble head, unable to control the perpetual nodding of his now inflated head. Remus, Peter, and James got back just in time to watch her hex him and stared on, mouths open in shock and suprise.

Mia grabbed Regulus's hand, who was staring between Mia and his brother in wonder, and pulled him out of the room quickly, running through the castle until they reached the Room of Requirement. When they were in the room, she slammed the door shut and slid down against it collapsing upon the soft carpet.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault he insulted you like that," Mia muttered. At her words, he was pulled out of the shock of what just happened, and he frowned at her.

"Who the hell are you?" Regulus demanded quietly. Before she could answer, she felt the familiar tug in her mind. He was trying to get past her Occlumency walls. She blocked him quickly, but he kept trying.

"I'm… a friend who wants to help you, Regulus." He stared her down for a few minutes before she could see his defensive walls fall. He believed her.

"What do you mean though? Help… how?" He sat down next to her, never taking his eyes off of her. She reached out gently, pulling his arm toward her and lifting his sleeve up. He didn't even bother pulling away; she already knew.

When she saw the Mark, instead of gasping or frowning or screaming, she gave him a soft smile, like it was the answer to her prayers.

"I'm going to save you, Regulus Black. I'm going to save your life and then I'll redeem you."

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Fred was sitting in the common room reading a book about Time-Turners that the RoR provided when the Marauders filed through silently with extremely interesting expressions.

Sirius looked both guilty and angry, James looked amused and worried, Remus looked upset (and was glaring at Sirius, so Fred didn't need to guess whom with), and Peter looked confused.

"What in Merlin's name happened? Where's Mia?" When he said her name, he realized whatever happened had to do with her. He'd only ever seen such interesting expressions after someone argued with her and got hexed. Oh, this should be good.

"She ran off with a bloody Death Eater." Sirius growled. Fred's eyes widened.

"What?!"

"What he means," Remus said calmly. "Is that Mia is with his brother, Regulus." It didn't clear much up for the redhead. He'd never heard much about Regulus aside from the fact that he was Sirius's brother and that they weren't close.

"I'm sure she's fine. Why is he so angry? Even if something happened, she's held her own against five of them at once before." His mind drifted back to what she'd told him of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Death Eaters had ambushed them and were all over. Ginny, Luna, and Neville had battled together. Harry had run ahead, and Ron was attacked by… brains. She told him that before she could help her friend, Death Eaters had surrounded her, and she had to fight. It was only when the Order had come to help that she had any chance of finding Harry. She had made it out of that fight with one scar, and more anger than pain.

He realized with a start that the Marauders were staring at him in wonder. "What?"

"She… took on five Death Eaters at once?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah. She didn't have much of a choice. Would've died otherwise." Fred frowned, thinking of his little brother and spoke quietly now. "Her friends would've died."

"She sounds amazing." Peter said, smiling. Fred shook himself and forced a smile.

"That she is, Pete. Incredible, too." He said honestly. "But what happened?"

James stepped in before Sirius could try to talk. "Not sure. I think they fought. When we got there, he had a growing head and she was running out and pulling Reg along." Fred cringed. He'd seen that used before, and he knew why. Only Madam Pompfrey had ever been able to remove that hex.

"Did you insult someone she considers hers, or did you insult her intelligence?" He asked Sirius.

"I… What? What do you mean, someone she considers hers?" Sirius frowned.

"She's kinda possessive. She has people. Take Harry for example. He was hers. When someone insulted or threatened him, she used the bobble head hex. Did it once for me, even, during the uproar against Umbridge. The bird was lucky that old toad didn't know who it was. I imagine she'd do it for the three of you, too."

"Why not me?" Peter pouted. James rolled his eyes.

"She hasn't met you yet, Pete, unless you count her watching you suck your thumb." Peter blushed brightly but didn't respond.

"So you're saying she considers Regulus one of hers?!" Sirius practically screeched at Fred, who rolled his eyes.

"That, or you insulted her intelligence. Or both."

"I didn't- oh." Sirius frowned again and looked down. "I didn't mean to. Just… anyone who knows he's a Death Eater and willingly spends time with him is either one too, or they're not too bright."

"Or," Fred sighed. "She knows something you don't, and you just fucked up." He suggested darkly. Sirius paled a little bit at that suggestion.

"Maybe I should find her and apologize." He suggested. Fred nodded a little, closing his book and standing up.

"I'll come with you. I might be able to help." Merlin knows they don't have any self-preservation when it comes to Mia's temper.

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"You can't save me, Mia. No one can. I've been damned since I was ten and you're looking at the evidence."

"'I will carry all your shame and I will carry all your names.'" Mia sang quietly, Regulus staring at her. "'Get up, Johnny Boy, get up Johnny Boy, get up cause the world has left you lying on the ground.' You can be saved, Regulus. I promise you, and I will be the one to do it." She reached out gently, touching his arm. "'Get up Johnny Boy because we all need you now.'"

It was quiet after that as he thought. They sat there together and he continued to push on her walls as she pushed back. It was a strange sort of comfortable. Eventually, Regulus stopped pushing and just traced the lines on her hand, the one that still rested on his arm.

"Why me?"

"Because," she began carefully, "you're the only one of them I trust. You're one of the very few that don't belong there in this very special way."

"What do you mean?" He frowned at her, turning to look straight into her deep, chocolate brown eyes now.

"I mean you won't be the only one I save, but you'll be the only one I trust, Regulus. I would trust you with my life." And looking back, Regulus would realize that it was that moment that he gave up and let himself trust her.

He nodded a little, watching her big, golden brown eyes stare right back. "I think I'm glad I met you, Mia Potter."

Mia smiled a bright smile, one meant only for him. "And I am forever grateful that I've had this… incredible opportunity to meet you, Regulus Black."

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Mia had sat with Regulus – Reg, he asked her to call him – for another hour before they both had to leave for class. She disillusioned herself before running to Runes. She didn't want to risk running into Sirius.

When she arrived at class, she dropped the spell and walked in. She was the first one there, but she wasn't surprised. She also wasn't surprised when Remus walked in barely a minute after her. He gave her a gentle smile, walking over and sitting next to her.

"They've been looking for you."

Mia quirked an eyebrow. "Not you?"

Remus shrugged. "Fred said it would be better if it was just him and Sirius." Mia sighed. Of course Fred was helping him.

"I refuse to stop being his friend, Remus. I don't give a shit what Sirius thinks of his brother. He's my friend and that's not going to change. I won't stop being Sirius's friend, either, but I refuse to leave Reg." Her voice was hard, like she expected him to tell her to stay away from the youngest Black son.

"Fred pointed out that if you were with him, you probably knew more than Sirius did. Then he told us that if Regulus tried to attack you, you could very well hold your own. Which I agree with, especially after how quickly and easily you disarmed all of us last night." Remus offered her a soft smile. "I trust you, Mia."

She smiled back, nodding a little. "Thank you, Remus. And I have always trusted you, present and future alike."

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When Runes was over, Mia and Remus had relaxed around each other and established a friendship that Mia knew would be special. They walked out together, standing close, only to be ambushed by Fred and Sirius, who pulled them both to an empty classroom that didn't look like it had been used in a century.

"Would – you – let – go!" Mia sputtered, screaming at Fred, who had a tight hold of her. Once the door was closed and locked, he let go of her. Which was, in retrospect, his mistake. She pulled her arm up and slapped him, a cracking sound resonating through the room when her hand make contact with his arm.

"Ow! Bloody hell, woman! That hurt!" Fred yelled at Mia, rubbing his arm.

"What the hell do you two want?!" She screamed at Fred and Sirius. Remus sighed and put up a silencing charm on the room so no one would come running, and then resigned himself to be referee if things got too out of hand.

Sirius looked at her sadly. "We wanted to… Er, I wanted to talk to you."

Mia huffed, crossing her arms. "Make it quick. I've got a lot of work to do." She shot a look at Fred, her message clear. She needed to start working on the Time-Turner.

"Er, right. Well, I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" Sirius winced. No, I won't make this easy.

"For insulting Reg and… erm, your intelligence. Just generally assuming I know better."

After a long moment, Mia nodded. "You were right; Reg is a Death Eater. But it would do you well to remember what I said. The world isn't black and white or good and evil." She paused, considering her words. "Sirius, I would kill to end this war." She spoke so simply, so honestly, that it shocked everyone in the room. Fred had known that she would, but to hear her say it so clearly was a shock. It was never something people liked to talk about, to acknowledge back home.

"Not only that, but I will kill to end this war. I will have blood on my hands, and I don't know that I'll regret it." She sighed, seeing the look on his face. "You haven't been pushed into the war like I have. I'm at the center of it back home. They… well, the papers, they call Ron, Harry, and I the 'Golden Trio.' It's not fun, but it's true. The three of us are in the middle of the fighting." Her voice was a little shaky, and Remus grabbed her hand, shooting her a supportive smile. "But war is nothing without death. The so-called good guys and bad guys, we all kill. It's not good and bad or black and white. If you're in the middle of the war, your white turns grey. It becomes harder and harder for normal people, yourself included, to decipher who is good because, in all honesty, we can't tell either." She looked at Sirius pleadingly. "Please stop assuming. Open your eyes and train yourself to look for grey instead of white or black. Look for the 'mostly okay' instead of the good, because you won't find it." She finished darkly. Her hands were shaking a little and, waving her wand, she pulled down the locking and silencing spells and walked out, leaving the three boys behind to ponder her words.

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Hey!

So, I had my Twenty One Pilots playlist on while writing this, and Johnny Boy came on at the perfect moment, so I had her sing it to Reg.

Like I said at the beginning of this fic, I know these songs weren't out back then, but I don't really care. I'm using it.

So I was talking to padfootl0ve in the car about this fic, and she helped me decide a lot of stuff for the long term of this fic.

One thing my dear sister helped me decide, was Regulus's fate!

(padfootl0ve would like to interject here that any heartache caused by my unfiltered mouth can only be attributed to . because she should know by now not to listen to my crazy ideas- she also may not see this note, which would be very entertaining)

( . would like to add that I am not blind and you're just as evil as I am, or do I have to remind you of what you're planning for OSAL? So, shush. I would also like to mention that I'm being very freaking nice to my readers!)

What do you guys think? Think Mia can save him in time?

I'll let you ponder that! I hope you enjoyed!

P.S. Sending this back and forth on erased all of the italisizedness in this chapter, and I'm too tired to fix all of it, so I just did the words from Johnny Boy. I officially blame padfootl0ve for this issue.