Holy shit. Ten chapters? Wow, it hasn't even been two weeks since I started this! Padfootl0ve has been such a help in keeping me excited and motivated when my muse runs off, so honestly, a big thank you to her.

Anyway, enjoy, and remember, reviews are food for selfish writers!

Chapter Ten

October 4th, 1976

It had been two weeks since they arrived, and Mia was settling in easier than expected. She got along quite well with the girls in her dorm. Lily was a lot like her, and they bonded over their love of knowledge and mutual annoyance of pranks. Mary was quiet, but whenever she spoke, she made everyone smile. It was nearly impossible to not like her. Marlene was a female Sirius. She was loud and crass and funny and over protective of those she loved. Alice, Mia found, was not much like Neville. She was lively and the center of whatever room she was in. She didn't seem to have much of a filter, but she made up for it easily. She was extremely kind and thoughtful, and Mia was somewhat convinced the girl was a Seer the way Luna was.

Mia was sitting in DADA when Auror Prewett walked in, smirking.

"Hello, class." She frowned. Something was off.

"Hello, Professor." The class said together.

"Today we'll be working a little more on nonverbal casting. We'll be using stupefy today. Everyone pair up and stand across the room!" With another frown and a sigh, Mia stood. She would have to talk to him after class.

Once she was standing across from Sirius, who had become her permanent partner, she readied her wand. "Begin!" She heard Fabian yell and watched as the class started. She absentmindedly put up a shield as she noticed Sirius begin to shoot spells at her. It absorbed his Stupefy – which was flawless and silent – and every other spell he threw at her. He didn't really need to hit her. He just needed a place to aim at, and she worked. She turned her head, keeping the shield up, and watched as Fabian stared at her, amazed.

"Um, sir?" She spoke quietly as he walked over, stopping when he stood next to her.

"Was that a silent Protego?" Mia shrugged, frowning. He'd seen it before and he'd come to expect a decent amount of power from her.

"Yes… You've seen me cast it before, sir. I meant to ask, can I see you after class? I have some more I need your advice on." When he looked like he was going to say no, Mia sighed softly and cast a silencing charm around them so no one could hear them. "Please, Fabian? I'm having issues with removal and it's so dangerous."

A week before, Mia and Fred had approached the Auror and asked him for help. Mia had lost confidence and refused to do anything without an older wizard, even just three years, there to confirm her movements.

Fabian nodded slowly. "I suppose. After class." Mia gave him a bright smile, thanked him, and took down the privacy bubble.

Fifty minutes later, Fred and Mia were waiting in Fabian's office for him.

"I'm serious, Fred, there's something off about him. Maybe he's just tired, I don't know, but we have to check before I show him my progress." Mia insisted quietly.

"Fine, but don't shove your wand down his throat because you're paranoid." Fred huffed at her. They sat in silence for another few minutes before the Auror walked, offering an apology for being late.

"Now, what did you need to show me?" He asked, looking at the teenagers across from him. Faster than light, Mia pulled her wand out and pointed it at him while Fred groaned, a look of resigned annoyance on his face.

"Didn't I just say not to do that?!" Fred complained.

"Who are you? You're not Fabian." Mia held the man's gaze, her voice hard. Secrecy was too important to not be careful (although no one would suspect such when they had been telling everyone they came across practically). The man looked at her for a long moment before the corners of his mouth twitched, giving away a grin he was trying so hard to repress.

"I'm Auror Prewett, Miss…?"

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that? He knows us," she waved to Fred and herself with her free hand, "so why…" She trailed off, looking at him. "Your hair is parted the wrong way…" Her brain whirled, putting the pieces together. She pulled her wand away with a huff, sitting down.

"Gideon Prewett." She said to Fred, her mouth tight. Fred grinned, looking between his uncle and Mia. "I hate twin pranks."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Fred glared at her playfully.

"Good! You're half of the idiot that caused my hate for said pranks!"

"To be completely fair, Granger, it was his idea first."

"Yeah, and I trust he would say the same if he were in your position."

"Damn right he would. We have a shred of self-preservation, we do."

"Really? I had no idea, not with the way you instigate your poor mother."

"Poor mother? Mia you've seen her mad, she looks like a sabertooth tiger for Merlin's sake!"

Gideon was watching the exchange, equally annoyed and amused. "I happen to love twin pranks. They make life so much easier." Fred grinned at him brightly.

"See, Mione?"

"Would you stop calling me that?! Merlin, you called me 'Granger' too…" She growled – actually growled – at Fred. He was making sure that they had to tell Gideon. "You have the biggest mouth of anyone I've ever met, Fred. It'll be a miracle if we survive."

Gideon frowned. It was obvious they had some sort of secret, one that his twin seemed to know. "What exactly is going on, here?" He tried to sound authoritative, but not the way he did when apprehending Death Eaters. It didn't seem to be going well. Fred looked amused and proud.

"My name is Frederick Gideon Weasley," Fred started. Mia groaned. This was going to take a while.

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It had taken them a while longer to convince Gideon, who was still somewhat shocked, but he believed them in the end.

"So you're trying to find a way to go back?" He asked his nephew and his friend.

Mia shook her head, reaching into her beaded bag to find something and pulling out the Time-Turner, which she had placed under a stasis charm. "We found something."

"Is that a Time-Turner?" Gideon sounded amazed, his eyes wide.

Mia nodded. "We, uh, stole it. From the DOM." Before he could say anything, she moved on. "We found a spell that helps remove the Sands of Time, but it's dangerous. Fred and I told Fabian about it and he was helping us. Once we remove the Sands, we'll place them in an object, charm the Sands to when we need, make it a Portkey, and we'll have a Timekey." She smiled brightly, obviously proud. "Fred helped the idea and he's been really good at the spell, so he might have to be the one to remove the Sands. It'll just take us some months, maybe six, before we can get it right."

"Wow," Gideon breathed. He was amazed.

Fred nodded, grinning. "Too bad we can't get them in the future. With a few restrictions, it would be great for the store."

"Fred! You know exactly why that would be a bad idea! Someone could end up like us."

"Why couldn't you?" Gideon asked, tilting his head.

"Um… My friends and I… there was a battle, and we accidentally kinda destroyed them all." Mia said sheepishly. She really did feel terrible for it.

Gideon's eyes widened before he blinked, furrowing his brow. "Does that mean… are you saying there was a battle in the DOM, and children fought it?"

"Uh, yeah… Harry had this dream and we went with him because he'd get himself killed without us, and there were Death Eaters and…" she trailed off, avoiding his eyes. His gaze was penetrating and it was making her uncomfortable. "We went into the Time Room and a slicing hex was sent after Neville but it hit the table and… all of the Time-Turners were broken." Mia finished shortly, glaring at Fred for not helping her.

Gideon covered his face with his hands, mumbling through them to speak. "And why did your friend Harry storm the DOM because of a dream?"

"It doesn't matter. It's already happened… er, for us. We just need to focus on this spell and getting back." Fred said quickly, much to Mia's relief.

"Right. Well, I don't think I should help you. Fab should be back tomorrow, so he can help you then. Just… write me and keep me updated, yeah?" With a smile, Mia and Fred both promised to write. Mia apologized once more for shoving her wand in his face before they said goodbye and left to consider one more person knowing.

"We'll have to Obliviate them or something."

"I know."

"I'll do research."

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Later That Week

"James Potter, you put him down right now!" Mia yelled sharply. James turned back to look at her, and immediately he felt that sinking feeling. She was pissed.

"Only if he says 'pretty please.'" James said and regretted instantly. He felt a hot substance sticking to his lower back, growing with every second. When he looked down, he saw his entire bottom half was coated with green goo.

"Mia! What is this?!" He screamed, pulling his wand down and poking the goo. When his wand was down, Mia huffed and walked past him, running to the Slytherin that fell when the spell broke. When she got to him, she spoke a few words and helped him up. Before she walked away with him, she turned to give James a cold look and muttered some words, giving James a bobble head.

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"Are you okay?" Mia asked softly, looking at Severus gently. They'd become friends the day Regulus was sick and she had to pair up with him in Potions. It had taken weeks, but he'd dropped his guard around her enough that she could tell him about her plan to help him. He'd accepted, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Severus nodded a little, gently pushing her hand away. "I'm fine, Sano." Mia pushed down the blush that threatened to surface when he called her that.

Severus and Regulus had decided to call her "Sano" after she had Severus join her and Regulus in the Room and told them about each other. Sano, she realized later that night, meant heal, cure, make sound. After that, she didn't bother telling them not to call her that.

"If you're sure." She sighed. "I told Regulus I'd be in the room tonight, if you want to come. The boys are doing something and I'd rather avoid finding out what."

Severus shook his head. "Avery has been watching us too much. I trust him, but you don't. Besides, you know I can't be seen with you too much, Little Lion." Mia nodded and sighed. She didn't know what to do about Avery. She'd never heard much about him and she'd never met him in her time. Here, he seemed all too interested in her, and she knew he was a Death Eater. Severus had said that Avery tried to refuse, but Voldemort threatened to kill his mother, so he had agreed. While Mia desperately wanted to believe that Avery was a good Death Eater, she just couldn't risk it.

"I'll make sure I run into him sometime soon, I guess. But Severus, I'm not invincible and I'm no miracle. There's… there's only so much I can do." Severus gave her a smile, like he knew something she didn't, but just nodded.

"I know, Sano. Now go. Reg gets cranky when you're late." Severus rolled his eyes, but Mia smirked. He was right; Regulus was very cranky if she was late. He was, in general, very protective of her, and it made her smile.

"I know, I know. But to be fair, I never told him when I would be there." She kissed Severus's cheek – in a purely friendly manner – and walked away, heading toward the Room.

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"Reg, if you ask me one more time, I will hex you." Mia warned sharply.

"Please, Mia! Just listen from my point of view!" He insisted, throwing his hands in the air. "He's pranked me more times than I can count since I've gotten to this school. All I'm asking is for you to help me once! It won't even hurt anyone."

Mia frowned at that. "It could hurt you," she countered quietly, not looking at him. She heard him sigh and walk over, grabbing her hands and forcing her to look at him.

"I can handle myself, Sano. I've done so for five years. He won't hurt me. He might yell, yes, but he wouldn't hurt me unless I was hurting someone else."

Mia shook her head, breaking eye contact and instead looking at their joined hands. "I don't know. He's… I'm trying to stay out of this. And besides," she added, her voice a whisper now. "He's one of the closest people I have. D'you think he'd forgive us both?" She looked up at him now and saw him grin. He knew he'd won the argument.

"Course he will. You've got him wrapped around your finger, and I'm his little brother, whether he likes it or not." He hugged her close for a second before pulling away and laughing.

"Think you can handle pretending to be my girlfriend for a day?" He asked.

Mia nodded, giving in with a sigh. "I think this will be harder for you than it is for me, Reg."

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Hey! So yeah. Reg's birthday (which I'm totally making up for this story) is coming up soon, and he has something planned!

Don't expect too much of Gideon. Sadly, there's not much of a way to work him in beyond this and letters and Hogsmeade trips.

Yeah! Friendships have been formed! Bonds have been made! I've got plans for Avery. (padfootl0ve would like to insert here that ever since she showed . the fic 'The Light' she has a weakness for Avery) I've also got some plans for Severus, but I'm really not sure when those can possibly take place.

As of now in the story, Mia and Fred have been there for about three and a half weeks.

Remember, reviews will help me know what you like and don't like, what you want more of, want you want less of, who you want to see, etc.

I hope you enjoyed!