About Time

The days went by slowly, at first.

Mia paid extra attention not to slip up. Say something she wasn't supposed to know. Do something that would've been out of the ordinary.

But as time went by, she found that it was easier to truly get into this new life.

Every day she had her lessons on etiquette, customs and the arts with Ma in the morning, and lessons on academic subjects with Pa in the afternoon.

It was odd to learn all of the Pureblood customs that she had never known in her past life.

Most of them were quite weird for her, such as ball customs or dating etiquette.

In her past life, she would have laughed if she learnt that a guy couldn't give her a piece of jewellery without proclaiming his intentions or something.

Mia's memories made things like these normal, though.

-

After their lessons, she and Jamie were allowed to go play or do as they wish as long as they stayed out of trouble.

Which they did.

Mostly.

Having a brother wasn't quite like what she thought it was going to be. Of course, she had Harry back in her time, but it wasn't the same as truly growing up with a twin.

On days it was warm and sunny, they ran through the grounds or swam in the creek near the manor. Sometimes, Jamie would fly on his broom while Mia sat on the soft grass and read a book, her fear and distaste for flying clearly persevered in any timeline.

James would sometimes try and convince her to come and fly with him, but Mia said no every time.

She would usually try and avoid activities that would get her dresses dirty or mess up her hair, but one mischievous smile from Jamie and they would both be arriving home, covered in mud, and getting yelled at by Mipsy.

On rainy days, they stayed inside, taking shelter in the library, where they would play games or tell each other stories. Her favourites were the ones Jamie told about a group of animals that were friends, smiling as she thought of how true that would be for him.

She would tell stories, too. Many times they involved a little girl going on adventures with her two best friends.

James would laugh as she told him about how they fought a troll and rode a dragon.

It felt good to share those stories. It was as if she were keeping the memory of them alive, but still accepting this new life.

Mia couldn't think of a life without Jamie anymore. He was her twin and best friend, and while she knew that sometime soon Sirius would come into their lives and become his best friend and brother as well, he would never leave her behind.

-

One day, they were laying down on the grass in the garden, looking up at the night sky.

They were waiting for Ma to call them for dinner, and couldn't be bothered to get up to wait inside.

Mia was enjoying the silence, and was startled when James said, "What is your favourite constellation?"

It was part of their lessons to have learnt all of the constellations, of course. But Mia couldn't help but smile and point out to one in particular, "Sirius."

"Yeah, I guess that one is cool. I like Draco though, it's a dragon!"

She laughed as James continued to point out all his favourite constellations, and just let the happiness wash over her.

It was so peaceful, this new life. No expectations, no worries, no troubles.

-

Surprisingly, she spent a lot of time with Mipsy as well. Mia loved to cook, and would try and follow Mipsy around in the kitchen as she made meals or snacks for the family.

Once in a while, she would just get in the way, and Mipsy would say, "If Miss Mia does not let Mipsy do her job, Miss Mia will not get any chocolate cake for dessert." And that would be enough to get Mia out looking for Jamie.

Mipsy loved spending time with Mia outside of the kitchen, though. She would usually spend hours trying new hairstyles on her, or making new dresses.

Mipsy was the one that first started putting ribbons on Mia's hair, whether it be in braids or as a hairband, Mia loved it, and started wearing them every day.

At first, she found pureblood fashion odd. She had never worn that many dresses in her past life, but as time passed she started getting used to it and even liking it. She knew though, that in a couple of years when she was at Hogwarts she would start buying more muggle clothes.

-

She was close to her parents, too. Pa would always give her new books when Ma wasn't watching, especially when they were on what Ma would say are "mature subjects" or "not suitable for a little girl". They would laugh as Mia returned to Pa the book she had just finished reading, and they whispered together in his office about the book as if it were the biggest secret in the world (oh, how Mia wished it were).

He seemed to know what sorts of books she was drawn to, usually lending her books on time magic or magical creatures.

It was in one of these sessions, where they were talking about magical creatures, that the topic of animagus came up. Mia asked Fleamont thousands of questions on it, but he was elusive, saying he didn't know the answers.

She knew he wasn't telling her the full truth, but it didn't matter. She would find out on her own, so that she could help Remus with it, as well.

With Ma, they did all of the girly and mother-daughter things that Mia didn't get much of a chance to her first time around.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her other mom, but she was never much into the more feminine side of things, and after Mia discovered she was a witch, there was no one to help her at home with magical related things.

Ma, however, loved to show Mia the possibilities of magic and how she could be as girly as she wanted while still being strong.

Ma taught her everything a pureblood lady should know but made sure that she was always there for when Jamie was taught what boys should know as well.

She loved watching Ma perform vanity spells, how magic helped her with her hair (which would've been quite useful in her other time) and make-up ("do not let your father know that I am teaching you these at this age."). She noted them down and remembered them as best as she could, in case she needed them at Hogwarts.

Euphemia would always say, "sometimes, your appearance can be your best weapon. So take as much care of it as you would a knife."

-

Mia did her best not to forget her old life. She could still see Harry's smile and hear Ron's laughter when she thought hard enough.

Any time she would eat a treacle tart she would think of Harry or laugh as she imagined Ron's indignation over how the Chudley Cannons lost their latest game.

The thought that she would probably never see them again as their friend almost broke her, but she couldn't let herself focus on that.

She used her spare time to research whatever she could on time-travel, using the books at the library at the manor.

She looked through every single book in the library that could've said something about the blue sands, even the story ones (she had learned her lesson on the importance of story books).

She didn't get much out of them, but hopefully when she got to Hogwarts Dumbledore would have more answers for her.

Every once in a while, she would check if the broken time turner was still where she hid it in her room, when her past life felt a little bit too much like a dream.

As each day, week, month, year passed, her other life felt more like a dream.

-

She gave herself three days a year to mourn.

September 19th, July 31st and March 1st.

Her past birthday and Ron's and Harry's birthdays.

It felt good to take that time to herself. She's sure that after a couple of years her family noticed the trend, and was grateful that they never mentioned anything.

Mia didn't do anything outrageous, and neither did she spend the entire day in her room crying. She just didn't talk to anyone, mostly staying in her corner of the library reading a book (normally Hogwarts: A History).

She didn't do it intentionally at first. She just happened to notice the date, and couldn't help but feel sad, and distanced herself from her family for the day.

She ended up doing that for all of the birthdays, and when she realized how that made her feel better, she decided to stick with it.

Her family always gave her space, even if they didn't understand it, and she was very thankful for it.

-

The nightmares didn't stop.

She initially hoped that they would, since she was a new person now. But Mia still had all of her old memories in her mind. She would still remember all of the details of the horrible things she had been through in her past life.

The first time she woke up screaming, James was rushing into her room to calm her down. He didn't ask any questions, which she was very grateful for.

She was also quite grateful for the fact that he truly looked almost identical to Harry, which helped her a lot more in the beginning, when she woke up and couldn't remember what had happened.

It became sort of a routine for them. James could sometimes sense when Mia would have a nightmare, and arrive before the nightmare got bad. Other times, he did his best to run to her room and calm her down as quickly as he could.

It hurt James to see his sister like this. He didn't know what could possibly be causing these horrific nightmares, but he didn't want to ask and risk upsetting Mia. All that he could do was be there for her. He needed to protect her, that was his job, as his parents had told him many times before.

Every single time she had a nightmare, James would help her back into a peaceful sleep.

-

The years went by in the same routines.

Mia didn't know whether she should feel lucky that the Potters didn't interact much with the rest of the wizarding world.

Of course, Ma and Pa went to events and parties many times throughout the years, but it was quite rare that they would take her and Jamie with them.

They weren't even allowed to go to the annual Potter Christmas Party, because, as tradition states, only children that have at least started their first year at Hogwarts were allowed to attend.

While a bit sad, that just made her and Jamie even more excited to start at Hogwarts.

Mia was a bit nervous of how it would go, but James' enthusiasm was always enough to push her thoughts out of her mind for the time being.

They did go out, though. They all went down to Godric's Hollow a couple of times a month, which was just a short walk from the manor, to eat or shop or just as something fun to do to pass the time.

Ma liked taking them to Diagon Alley when she wanted to go shopping, though. And Pa sometimes took Mia out to muggle London, knowing that she was fascinated with how they did things.

"I still don't understand how those things operate without magic," said Fleamont, for probably the hundredth time since they started their outings.

"They're called cars, Pa," answered Mia, for probably the hundredth time since they started their outings.

The twins' favourite outings, though, were when they were allowed to go to Diagon Alley to pick out their birthday presents.

They became predictable after the first few years, when each one figured out what they truly liked.

Every year, as soon as they arrived at Diagon Alley, Jamie would drag Fleamont to Quidditch Quality Supplies, while Mia would rush with Euphemia towards Flourish and Blotts.

That year, though, was a special one. Mia and Jamie were turning 11, which meant that they were going to receive their Hogwarts letters.

Mipsy had been so excited for their birthday that the only thing she had prepared for breakfast was chocolate cake, to Mia's eternal delight.

The twins happily ate their slices of cake as they waited for their letters. By the time they arrived, the twins were so hyped up on sugar that they practically yanked the letters out of their parents' hands, bouncing on their heels.

Fleamont and Euphemia just laughed, remembering their excitement when they were receiving their letters.

Mia had to fight back tears when she read the familiar handwriting of Professor McGonagall on the letter. This was the first thing she had encountered in this time that was also in hers. It was almost enough to change her entire mood, but the bouncing Jamie and chocolate cake forced her to forget about that for now.

After breakfast, they took their customary trip to Diagon Alley, where they could each pick two gifts as it was a special birthday.

They didn't have to worry about any Hogwarts supplies, as the letter with those would only arrive in August, but that didn't stop them from showing their Hogwarts letters to every person that they saw.

It was one of the best days of the twins' lives (in that timeline), and they just couldn't wait to be able to get their wands and go to Hogwarts where they could start doing magic.

For the twins, the wait for the supplies letter was eternal. It took years.

In actual reality, it didn't even take five months.

Mia was excited for the familiarity of shopping for Hogwarts supplies. She wondered if her parents would let her get a familiar, maybe even another Kneazle like she had in her past life.

She could imagine a little baby Crookshanks in her arms, terrorizing Jamie when she wasn't looking.

What most unnerved her, though, was having to get a new wand.

Mia knew it wasn't likely that she would get the same wand as she had before, but that didn't stop her from being disappointed. She went through so much with her old wand, and even after years of not seeing it, she could still imagine how it was like to hold it in her hands.

Maybe it was for the best, she thought, she was Mia now, and Mia deserved her own wand.

She heard Jamie shouting anxiously from downstairs for her to hurry up so that they could go to Diagon Alley.

Mia rushed down the stairs and gave Jamie a big grin as she held his hand and stepped into the fireplace, hearing him yell, "The Leaky Cauldron!" and seeing the world disappear into green flames.