Chapter Eleven
October 17th, 1976
Mia and Regulus had worked for hours on the prank for Regulus's birthday. They had to time everything correctly, which was a pain with Sirius, since he never seemed to do anything at the correct time. So, they had gone to Fred for help, who was more than willing to distract Sirius and bring him back to Gryffindor Tower right after dinner, claiming he needed help with something.
Mia was in the Room with Regulus, pacing as she listed off all the things that could go wrong. He listened quietly, letting her get it out of her system before he calmed her down.
"Plus, above all of that, he could always just refuse to ever talk to me again and- "
"Mia, love, he would never do that. He loves you and you know it. It's just a harmless little prank. It's just one kiss to give him a heart attack, and then you can tell him all about it. I promise you, it'll be perfectly fine. Do you really think Red would've agreed to help if he thought there was a chance of you getting hurt in the end?" Regulus reasoned patiently. Mia's shoulders slumped and she sighed, sitting down on the big chair next to him.
"I suppose not. You're right. It'll be fine. He can take a joke. He certainly makes enough of them." He put his hand on hers, rubbing her with his thumb.
"Exactly. Besides," he grinned at her brightly, "it's my birthday."
"Oh! I forgot. I got you something, but it won't be ready for another while. It might be another five months."
He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You got me a present and it won't be here for five months? You know you could've just left the gift at this and a simple 'happy birthday', right?"
Mia blushed a bit, nodding. Truthfully, she had only used his birthday as an excuse to give him the ring when it was ready. "I know. But I think you'll like it."
He nodded and stood, obviously brushing off the subject. "We're going to be late, Little Lion." He offered her his hand and she took it, standing. They left the Room and walked in companionable silence, both thinking of the prank to come.
When they got to the corridor that held the Fat Lady, they stopped and waited, standing there and talking. When they heard the cue – a very subtle "have you seen Mia?" from Fred – Mia took a sharp breath, squeezing Regulus's hand tighter than was probably healthy. Her stomach did a few flips which confused her, seeing as this was just a prank. He smirked at her knowingly before stepping forward a little, moving his free hand to cup the back of her head, and closing the space between them. His lips touched hers with a small gasp from her. Her lips parted in a gasp, he deepened the kiss just a little, a small smile forming as he felt her instinctively press herself lightly against him.
"What the fuck?!" Ah, there we are, Regulus thought. He gently pulled away from her, but he kept her hand in his as she looked a little dizzy. With a small squeeze of the hand, she pulled herself out of the daze, blushing furiously.
"Sirius!" She squeaked.
"What the hell are you doing, Mia?!"
"Um…"
"I'd certainly hope you know what that is, brother," Regulus said smugly. He loved getting his brother riled up, and it made him even happier that Mia was helping him just so he'd be happy on his birthday.
"I know what that was!" Sirius snapped, sneering. "I want to know why!"
Mia was looking between Sirius and Regulus nervously and Regulus knew he only had another few seconds before she would snap and tell Sirius it was a joke.
"Why? Of all people, Sirius, I thought you'd fall for Mia." Regulus started, his tone a bit mocking. "She's beautiful and smart and cunning and brave and even a little cruel. She's relentless and she will do anything for a friend if they ask. Or have you not noticed? I'd have thought you would fall for her, but you've never looked at her past being a friend, maybe a sister, have you?"
Everyone was silent for a few beats, though Mia was squirming under the praise. "It was just a stupid fucking prank!" Fred said, apparently frustrated.
"Sorry," Mia muttered, before running off. Regulus looked at his brother, his eyes wide. That was definitely not the way everything was supposed to go.
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"Mia?"
"What?" The small girl demanded, not looking up or moving. She was lying on a couch in the Room, a blanket draped over her with her eyes closed.
"Sirius sent me to come check on you. Said there was… an incident." James cringed. Sirius would never use the word "incident" when he could say – or rather scream, in this case – that he'd caught Mia and Regulus kissing.
"It was just a joke, Jamie." Mia had taken to calling James, Jamie when he woke her up out of a nightmare. He'd always hated the nickname, ever since his grandmother gave it to him, but hearing him call her that made him hate it less. He didn't really mind it from her, actually. "Something harmless, he said. No one would get hurt."
James walked over, patting her legs so he could sit down. "I know, love. Sirius isn't mad. He was just worried. He knows you trust Reg but… Well, it's hard for him to change his mind. Whenever he thinks of Regulus, his mind yells 'Death Eater, Death Eater!' and he can't get it to say 'brother' anymore. He worries about you so much, and I think seeing that scared him pretty bad." Mia sighed, opening her eyes to look at him.
"And I understand that. Harry was the same way with one of our professors who was a spy for the Order. But… I'm an adult, Jamie. Even if that were real, which I swear it isn't, I could handle myself. Besides, I've… I've never really been one for relationships," Mia muttered. "First boyfriend I had was Imperiused to try and help kill Harry. There've been a few dates to Hogsmeade, but… It's just not important to me. I have to save the world, or help save it, and that is more important than dating."
"Your boyfriend tried to kill my son?" James frowned.
"Not the point, James."
"I know. I just… Sirius loves you. He treats you like a sister and you're as close to him as I am, and you've only been here for a month." James sighed, grabbing her hand and looking her in the eye. "He wants the best for you. Wanna know what he told me before sending me in here?" Mia nodded slowly. "He told me that if it were real, if you did want to be with Reg, he would still love you and support you. He told me that nothing can take him away from you and that he wants to apologize to you in person whenever you decide to come out of here."
Mia sighed. She knew she was over reacting. "James, he's not the only reason I came here. Did he tell you what Reg said about me?" She worried her lip between her teeth, watching James carefully.
"No, nothing," He frowned at her, waiting for her to tell him.
"He just said… just all of this stuff about me. A lot. He explained why he thought Sirius would've fallen for me and… Jamie, I've never heard anyone say those things about me before. I wasn't even sure he was talking about me and not someone else."
James sighed, gently pulling her towards him and wrapping her up in a hug. "Regulus is out there, too. He was threatening to Bombarda the entire wall," he frowned when she winced at the idea, but she waved him off.
"Umbridge, fifth year. Inquisitorial Squad did just that. The wall nearly collapsed on Harry and the twins."
James nodded, finding he didn't much like this Umbridge woman. "Anyway, he says he's either taking the wall down or staying there until you come out."
With a sigh, Mia nodded, hugging him tighter. "I'll talk to Sirius first and then Reg…" she pulled away from the hug and smiled at James softly. "Thank you, Jamie." James just cracked his crooked grin and nodded, kissed her forehead, and then left, letting Sirius walk into the room instead.
"Hey, kitten." Sirius said nervously.
"Hey, puppy." Mia smiled softly, seeing him flinch at the nickname. He hated it and she knew it, but he let her use it when they were alone.
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"I'm an idiot," he added.
"No, you're just too protective for anyone's good." She corrected him gently.
"It's not my fault. You have a weird effect on me!" Sirius pouted at her as if it were her fault. Which, she thought, it very well might have been.
"I know I do, love. And I'm sorry. It was a bad idea, but he just really wanted to get under your skin, so I agreed."
"Well, I guess I should just be glad the kid has a sense of humor and a taste for pranking." Sirius said dryly.
Mia snorted, smiling now. "He can joke, you know. You just act like he's the worst person on earth when you see him."
Sirius shrugged, as if there was nothing he could do about it. "Are we okay?" He asked shortly.
Mia nodded, standing and hugging him. "Of course. I can never stay upset with you." She thought for a moment before adding, "Though, there are some things from the future that I'm still pissed at you for, if you'd like to be yelled at for those." Namely, dying.
He grinned at her, stepping back and holding his hands up in surrender. "Can't damn me for what I haven't done yet, love." She rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Alright, fine. I'll… yell at you when I get back." The lie was hard to force out and she could only hope he believed her.
"Right. Well…" he walked to the door, giving her a smile that made her melt. "Guess I'll let my brother come talk now. Remember… he won't suspect a muggle style attack." He winked and disappeared out the door. Mia gave a breathy laugh and rolled her eyes. Moments later, Regulus walked in, looking nervous.
"Mia…"
"Don't apologize, Reg. You didn't do anything that we didn't talk about a million times first." He took a step closer and she sucked in a sharp breath.
"I wasn't going to apologize, love."
"I… what, then?" She asked him, struggling to keep her eyes on his.
"I was going to tell you that I meant every word I said. I was going to tell you that you make me smile and feel safe. I was also going to tell you that kissing you was very likely the best thing I've ever done, even if it was just to put my brother on edge. And then I was going to ask you, very carefully, if I could do it again." Suddenly it was much harder than before to continue looking at his eyes. Her eyes fell to his lips and she bit the inside of her lip, thinking. She didn't quite trust her voice so she simply nodded.
Regulus moved a step closer and cupped her cheek with one hand, the other falling to his side to gently touch her hand. He moved slowly, giving her time to change her mind, before their lips met. She felt a rush of warmth throughout her body, and she didn't care about anything but kissing him. She opened her mouth a little and moved just a bit closer to him. He deepened the kiss again, but made sure she had complete control. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before he dropped his hand and she broke he kiss, instead leaning her forehead against his and catching her breath. When their lips parted, Mia felt a gentle shiver of magic over her entire being and she saw a gold glow circling them. She recognized it from books, she realized with a start. It was a soul bond.
A few minutes later, Mia looked up at him. "Reg?"
"Yes, Mia?"
"Reg, you know what just happened, right?"
"Yes, Mia."
She leaned her head back with a sigh. That was absolutely not supposed to happen. What if she failed to save him? It wasn't an option to begin with, but now… Mia knew what soul bonds were and she knew how they worked. She knew that while she had the choice to back out now, it would do her no good. She knew that she had the chance to be happy forever right in front of her, and she had no damn clue what to do with it.
Suddenly, Regulus pulled back and pulled his wand on her, frowning at her. She stumbled a little, as she had been leaning on him a bit, before she regained control and frowned at him, eyes wide. "What are you doing?"
"Who are you?" He demanded sharply.
"What? It's me, it's Mia. What are you doing?" She repeated, her anxiety spiking.
"You are not Mia Potter. You let your guard down. You let me in your head."
"Fuck!" She cursed loudly, her hands balling into fists. "Look, I don't know what you saw- "
"Neither do I! The first person I've trusted after Sirius and you're even lying to me! Now, tell me the truth or I swear to Salazar I will not hold back." He warned her sharply, his eyes locked on hers.
With a shaky nod, Mia sighed. "My name is not Mia Potter. It was never Mia to begin with. That's just something I accidentally said when your brother found me. My name is Hermione," she said softly.
"Like The Winter's Tale."
Mia nodded gently. "My mum named me after Hermione from The Winter's Tale, yes. I… Regulus, I'm sorry. I know I didn't tell you everything, it's just dangerous. If… if Voldemort knew about me, he would probably kill me, if not forcing me to tell him everything I know. Either way I would end up dead, you have to understand that. I'm keeping secrets because it's the safest option, Regulus."
Regulus looked a little more worried than angry now, but he waved her on to continue. "You can keep checking as I talk. I won't put up any more walls, but just let me explain everything. Actually, it would be helpful if you would watch me and know I'm not lying so I don't have to go through the task of explaining why I'm not lying."
"Just tell me, Mia… Er, Hermione." Mia scrunched her nose at the sound of her real name on his tongue. She didn't like it. He didn't know her as Hermione. He knew Mia, who she was now.
"Keep calling me Mia, please. Anyway, on September 19th, 1979, Hermione Granger was born to muggle parents." She watched his reaction carefully, relieved when he didn't seem to care about her parentage and instead just looked more shocked to find she was telling the truth. "In 1991, I attended my first year of Hogwarts, where I was Sorted into Gryffindor… though the Hat tried to put me in Ravenclaw." She scoffed, as if the idea were an insult. "I was a loner for the first two months of school, being ridiculed because I was ahead of everyone else in our studies and was… Well, our potions professor called me an 'insufferable know it all' if that gives you an idea." She watched him frown with a hint of anger before she kept going. "On Halloween, I ran into the bathroom crying after I heard some boys making fun of me. Our Defense teacher that year, Professor Quirrel, had let loose a troll in the school. The boys who made fun of me, Harry and Ron, ran to find me and saved me from the troll that had wandered into the bathroom. We were best friends after that. It was one of the weirdest bonding moments in my life."
Regulus quirked an eyebrow. "One of?"
"James Potter is weirder to me. He looks exactly like his son. It was a bit disconcerting. When I saw him, I called him by his son's name and… well, we'll get to the rest of that."
"Ah."
"Anyway, the rest of the year was spent investigating. Harry and Ron thought that our Potions professor was trying to steal something from Hogwarts. Well, fast forward past some small incidents and me lighting a professor's robes on fire during a Quidditch game, and the three of us managed to nearly get ourselves killed. Harry had gone to try and stop whoever was trying to steal from Hogwarts, and we followed. There were puzzles, and Ronald, the stupid boy, got trapped in one. He was on a large board of human sized Wizard's Chess. He sacrificed himself – the knight – to save the queen. He won, but he was injured. I stayed back to help him while Harry went to stop the thief. In the end, the man died. The man was Professor Quirrel, but he was also being possessed by… by Voldemort. Halloween night, 1981, Voldemort was killed. He was only a wraith when he possessed the man, and he was defeated by Harry."
She paused, looking at him. He sighed and nodded, but she could feel him still prodding at her memories and could see him schooling his expression into indifference. "I believe you so far."
"Good. So… second year wasn't much better. The Chamber of Secrets was opened. Everyone thought Harry was Slytherin's Heir and was going around trying to kill muggleborns, which was ridiculous, seeing as I'm his best friend." Mia huffed, apparently still frustrated. "But he found the entrance with Ron. I was…" she blushed softly and looked down. "I was petrified for most of this, so I only know what I was told." She looked back up at him with a sigh. "Harry found a basilisk down in the Chamber. Ron's little sister, Ginny, was being held down there by… Tom Riddle. Well, by the diary that… contained a piece of his soul." Regulus sucked in a breath, his eyes wide. "The horcrux was holding Ginny captive. Harry managed to kill the basilisk and destroy the diary before Ginny could die, but he nearly died doing it. He had been impaled by a basilisk fang. He would've died, had Fawkes not cried on his wound and carried him and Ginny out."
"A… Merlin, Mia, did you say a horcrux?"
Mia nodded gravely. "I did. Gods, Reg, they're terrible... But let me continue. We'll get to more of that later, love, I promise." He nodded shortly, and she launched into the tale of her third year.
"My third year was… different. Nothing within the school wanted to kill Harry or any of his friends, which was a welcome change. But… a man had broken out of Azkaban. He was after Harry. During a Hogsmeade trip, Harry found out that this man was his godfather. Fast forward to one full moon when a big black dog, resembling the Grim, grabs Ron by the leg and drags him into the Whomping Willow… Er, it's there for werewolves. It's a long story. Anyway, Harry and I follow. When we get there, Ron tells us it's a trap and points to the escaped prisoner. The man… he…" Mia faltered, pain sprawled across her face as she remembered Sirius on that night, the complete lack of sanity and how he was so obviously willing to let Harry kill him. Tears prickled her eyes and she swiped them away aggressively before she started again.
"He was yelling about killing someone. It went on for a bit and we thought he wanted to kill Harry. Our Defense professor for the year, though, showed up and we found out he was friends with the prisoner. We all fought for a bit before the prisoner demanded Ron give him his rat. The stupid rat, we found out, was an animagus. He was to blame for the deaths of Harry's parents, not the prisoner like everyone thought. Harry didn't let the prisoner kill him, though. He told the prisoner and our professor that there was no way the prisoner could ever be free if the rat died. So, we kept him alive and went toward the castle, intending to tell Dumbledore of his innocence, but our professor, a werewolf, had forgotten to take a potion – one that hasn't been invented yet – and he was turning into a werewolf. The prisoner told us all to run, and the rat turned into his animgus form again and got away. The prisoner turned into the Grim and held off the werewolf until it was drawn away by a howl in the forest. When he was gone, the Grim was hurt. Harry tried to help him, but he and the prisoner were surrounded by dementors – the minister had forced Dumbledore to place some at the school – and the dementors were trying to Kiss Harry and the prisoner.
"Someone casted a patronus, though, and the dementors left. After that, Harry and the prisoner were found. Harry was taken to the infirmary to heal while the prisoner was taken to a cell and left there until the Kiss could be performed in front of the minister." She took a breath, shaking her head. "I refused to let that happen. Er… you see, at the beginning of that year, Professor McGonagall had given me access to a legal form of time travel – it sends you a few hours into the past at most. I'd been using it to take every elective the school offered. But I used it with Harry, and we went back to save the prisoner. We distracted the wolf and Harry cast the patronus to save himself. He cast it because he had already seen himself do it, you see. We also saved a Hippogriff that was wrongly sentenced to death. We flew him to the cell and saved the prisoner. After that, we ran back into the infirmary and got back in bed before anyone noticed we were gone." Mia finished.
"Who was he? The prisoner, I mean." Regulus asked. It was the one thing that she had kept blocked from him, and he was getting frustrated trying to make her let the wall down.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Reg. Just… let that be, please."
He shook his head. "To trust you, I need to know everything. Now, who was the prisoner?"
Mia's face fell at his stubbornness. She let her shoulders droop and spoke with great reluctance. "Sirius. He spent twelve years in Azkaban for murders he did not commit."
Her words were met with silence, but she could see Regulus freeze, trying to process what she had said. "Sirius…"
"I'm sorry, Regulus. I promise you, I did everything in my power to save him, and he wasn't Kissed because of it."
"Just continue your story, Mia." From the look on his face, she knew he had caught the careful wording she'd used.
She nodded, understanding his need to focus on anything else. "Fourth year was horrible. The tri-wizard tournament came to Hogwarts. Someone entered Harry's name into the Goblet, and he was picked alongside a wizard name Cedric to be Hogwart's champions. Ron didn't forgive him for that for months. He thought Harry had done it himself, figured out a way to get his name in the Goblet, which was ridiculous. But Ron was jealous.
"The first task was to get an egg from a dragon. You could only go in with a wand. Harry summoned his broom and got the egg after a little trouble. Ron forgave him after seeing the torment Harry went through during the task.
"The second task was… Well, he opened the egg underwater, and it sang to him. 'Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, an hour long you'll have to look, to recover what we took.' It turned out that I was what they took for the Durmstrang champion, Viktor. Harry had Ron. They all had to find a way to breathe under water for an hour. We were put into a trance and dropped into the bottom of the Black Lake. Viktor got me before anyone else did. The Beauxbaton champion had to forfeit. Cedric came up next with his girlfriend, Cho. Harry took longer, but he got Ron and Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle. He came in second.
"The third and final task…" She cringed, wrapping her arms around herself as she remembered. "It was a maze filled with dangerous traps. Viktor was Imperiused by a Death Eater who had kidnapped the man that was supposed to be our DADA teacher and used Polyjuice Potion to take his place. He Imperiused Viktor to make sure that Harry got to the Cup without any interferences. He got Fleur out of the way – she was fine, just a little beat up – and tried to get Cedric, but Harry hit him on the head, I think. Harry and Cedric grabbed the Cup both…" she trailed off, taking a deep breath and looking at him hard in the eyes. "And were portkeyed to a graveyard where the rat killed Cedric and cut Harry's arm, using his blood for a ritual that brought Voldemort back from the dead. Harry escaped and grabbed Cedric's body. He used the portkey to get back to the stadium, but the Death Eater posing as a teacher found him.
"It wasn't long before Dumbledore found Harry and the Death Eater. He forced the man out of his disguise and threw him into Azkaban.
"I think that was when his nightmares started. He was never the same after that, and I don't blame him. Weeks after the final event, Dumbledore started the Order of the Phoenix back up, and the fight against Voldemort resumed."
Regulus watched her carefully before he grabbed her hand in silent support, waving for her to continue.
"The ministry said Harry was lying, of course. They didn't want to deal with the panic that came with admitting Voldemort was back. So, they decided to put an evil toad in charge of teaching us that year. Umbridge was foul. She forced Harry to write with blood quills, making him write 'I will not tell lies' until it scarred his hand." She paused. "I'm getting ahead of myself. The summer before fifth year, Harry and his cousin, Dudley, were attacked by dementors in the neighborhood of their muggle home. Harry cast his patronus to save them, and a squib helped Harry get home safe. He was then sent a Howler telling him that he was to be expelled for using underage magic outside of school. The Order picked him up that night and took him to Grimmauld Place – Sirius had offered it to Dumbledore as base of operations – and he had a trial. He managed to get off, but Dumbledore refused to speak to him and we had been told not to talk to him about anything outside of normal teenager stuff. Anyway, school was not great that year. Umbridge refused to actually teach us anything. She just made us read our books. Even I know there needs to be some practical application for us to learn anything! So Harry made a group called Dumbledore's Army with me, Ron, the twins, Ginny, Luna, and Neville. We invited people we thought would be interested in joining and Harry set about teaching us defensive magic. It was amazing. But eventually, Umbridge managed to kick Dumbledore out of the school and take control. She had a group called the Inquisitorial Squad there to make sure everyone stayed in line. It was horrible.
"A week before we left for Christmas break, Harry had a dream that someone attacked Ron's dad in the ministry. He told Dumbledore, and someone saved Ron's dad's life, who had actually been attacked by a snake. Dumbledore insisted Harry begin to learn Occlumency and made the potions professor – who knew Harry's mum and dad and hated his dad, and Harry by extension – tried for a bit, but it sounded like he was really just using the time to bully Harry. Harry retaliated and looked in the professor's memories and… well, the lessons ended." Mia took a deep breath, her mouth tight and eyes filled already with unshed tears.
"June 18th, Harry had a dream that Sirius was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. I lured Umbridge out into the forbidden forest, where she insulted centaurs and they took her. When I got back to the castle, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and I all decided to go to the DOM together. We got there and… there was a battle. Bell… A Death Eater…" she corrected herself. Her voice was tight and she felt hot tears burning their way down her cheeks. "A Death Eater sent a curse at Sirius, sending him back into the Arch in the Death Room. He died." She wiped at her cheeks and took a breath, shaking her head.
"Voldemort came and fought Harry once again. He possessed him, using him to talk to Dumbledore. The minister saw and could no longer deny what he knew: Voldemort was back." She knew her hands were shaking, but she only had one more year and then she was done.
"Sixth year was bad, too. Some students didn't come back. Harry had private meetings with Dumbledore. He couldn't even tell Ron or I what he was doing. He was suspicious all year of a particular Slytherin that had always hated him of being a Death Eater. I always told him, he couldn't be. He was just a kid. I always said that surely even Death Eaters wouldn't do something so cruel." She stared intently at Regulus. "Obviously I was wrong.
"This particular Slytherin had been given the task of getting Death Eaters into Hogwarts and then… Then he had to kill Dumbledore. When they were on the astronomy tower, this boy disarmed Dumbledore, but our potions professor killed him. There was a battle. I fought alongside some friends against Death Eaters. They left after a while. No one else died that night, but some of us were hurt." She shrugged a bit, as if she didn't care.
"Harry told us later that night about the horcruxes. He told us his mission and he told us that he wasn't coming back to school the next year, that he had to go find and destroy these objects instead. Ron and I both agreed to go with, refusing to let him go alone." Mia took a breath, relieved to be nearing the end.
"During the funeral, I left to get some air. I'd never been good with death, and his was just too much. One of Ron's brothers, one of the twins, found me. He offered to help me find Dumbledore's wand. I'd heard Professor McGonagall talking about how they couldn't bury him yet because they hadn't found his wand.
"We went and looked in the Forbidden Forest, and he found the wand. He made some annoying joke about how he was right and I was wrong – I had told him it couldn't possibly be in the forest because it was too far away – and I went to grab the wand from him. When I touched the wand, though… He and I were sent twenty years into the past, and landed right next to a young James Potter and Sirius Black. I saw James and thought he was Harry. He's… Harry James Potter," Mia said. "And he looks exactly like his father, but with his mother's eyes. Anyway, Fred and I met Sirius and James and then even Remus. We were all taken to Professor Dumbledore's office. He decided to ask the Potters to take Fred and I in as their wards, and they agreed." She sighed softly.
"Auror Prewett is Fred's uncle. When he saw him, he kinda… we told Fabian. Gideon found out later, too, which I still think was a stupid risk and completely unnecessary. But Fabian agreed to help me work on getting Fred and I back home.
"We had a fight. I told him… Look, time isn't malleable. Time is pretty solid. I told… I told Fred that we couldn't save his uncles and… he didn't take it well. So he was mad at me and gave Remus all the clues he needed to find out that I wasn't who I said I was. So we told the Marauders some of it. They know we're from the future.
"Later that night, I had an idea to get Fred and I home and possibly save some people. We, er, broke into the DOM and stole the time travel device I used in my third year. We have a way to get home and a way to save Fabian and Gideon and… and hopefully some other people. I've been working on it with Fab, but it's slow and dangerous."
Regulus stared at her for a few agonizing seconds before he nodded and dropped his wand. She could feel him retreating from her mind as well, and so she put the walls back up.
"You've had quite the life, Mia." He sighed at her.
She snorted. "I see you're good at understatements."
It was late now, after all of it, and probably past curfew. Mia took his hand and led him to a chair, sitting down next to him and leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Reg."
"Don't be sorry, Mia love. I understand now. You were right. He would use you and then kill you." He paused before looking down at her seriously. "I promise I will keep this secret with my life." She sighed and shook her head.
"And I promise I will save you in any way I can."
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HOLY SHIT. THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER.
The longest I've had yet, and it is currently three thirty in the ever confusing morning!
*twelve hours later. literally*
You guys should really thank my sister for this chapter. I had been going to send it before editing it, but she made me go to bed and when I woke up, I decided that it would be better if I checked it over. I did a major sweep of it and fixed it up. I'm still a bit iffy and it's still a bit stiff, but it's so much better and I'm willing to actually post it after I get approval from aforementioned wondrous sister.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and remember to review!
