About Time

As the family of four stepped out of the Floo, they were met with hundreds of bustling people on the station.

King's Cross seemed to be fuller than Mia had ever seen it before. But that could just be the anxiety of going back to Hogwarts messing with her head.

She never thought that she would be doing this again. Boarding the Hogwarts express to go start another year at Hogwarts.

A lot of things have happened that she never thought would, though.

The twins hugged their parents goodbye twice, because Euphemia couldn't handle the fact that her babies were going off to Hogwarts already, so they had to console her.

"Don't forget to write! I'll be sending care packages every week, darlings. Oh, please do let us know if you need anything." Euphemia said, as she looked at her children.

"Darling, they need to get on the train before they miss it. They'll be quite alright. I love you both, now hurry off to the train." Fleamont said.

After a chorus of I love yous, Mia and James rushed towards the train.

Neither of them had seen Sirius on the platform, so they assumed he must've already boarded.

"Ok, so I'm going to go look for Sirius while you find us a compartment," James told her.

"Why are you the one giving orders?"

"Because I'm older, duh."

She didn't argue with him further, but thought of how funny his face would look if he knew she was actually in her twenties.

She made her way along the train, looking through the windows of the compartments to see if there were any empty ones.

Inside one of the compartments, she saw a boy sitting alone.

At first, she didn't recognize him, but as she looked closer, she realized that it was Remus Lupin.

For a good second, she couldn't breathe. He looked so similar and yet so different. There weren't any scars on his face yet, and his eyes were still that beautiful green that they were in her time and his sandy blond hair was unmistakable.

Gathering up her courage, Mia opened the compartment door and said, "Hello! Are you a first year too? My name is Mia."

She extended her hand out to him and waited for the shock to wear off his face.

"Um, hi, hello. My name is Remus. Lupin. Remus Lupin." He seemed a bit unsure if he should take her hand, but at her insistence he did. "Yes, I'm a first year, too. Do you want to use this compartment? I can leave if you want. It's not a problem."

"Oh, don't worry! We are friends now, so come with me. We can go find my brother. He was looking for another friend of ours, and I have a feeling that they already found a compartment for us."

The look of bewilderment was evident on his face.

She grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him along after her, not allowing his fear and self doubt to convince him to back away. She knew she had laid it on a bit thick, but the poor boy was so confused that she wanted to be friends with him that he probably didn't notice how odd she was acting.

After a couple of minutes of searching, she found James and Sirius in a compartment.

With Severus Snape and Lily Evans.

She couldn't allow the shock to register on her face, so she took a second, and as she was going to open the door, it flew open and Snape ran out of the compartment, with Lily in tow.

"Out of my way!" Snape yelled as he passed by.

Lily's hair looked like fire as she rushed after him, muttering an apology as she passed by them.

Mia didn't waste a second and immediately opened the door to the compartment and said, "Jamie, what the hell did you do?"

James put both of his hands up. "I didn't do anything! He just seemed to think that Slytherin was a great house to be in, and I simply corrected him."

Sirius was laughing in the corner, but when he saw the angry look on Mia's face he stopped.

Both boys looked behind her, and she remembered who she was with.

"Boys, this is Remus, he is a first year, too. He is my new friend." She pushed him into the compartment before he could even get a word in.

"Hello," he said awkwardly.

"This is James, my twin, and Sirius, our friend," she presented.

Both boys broke into huge smiles, and started attacking Remus with questions.

Mia noticed that he was tense, at first, but started to warm up to them the longer they were together.

The second he told them he cheered for Puddlemere United as well, she could practically see the bond between them forming.

As the boys talked, Mia opened up a book to try and distract herself from the fact that she was on her way to Hogwarts, a place she thought she would never see again.

She barely noticed the words on the pages, and was shocked out of her reverie but a knock on the door and a familiar voice saying, "Something from the trolley, dears?"

Mia jumped up immediately, grateful from a distraction from her own mind.

She heeded the chorus of requests behind her, coming back with arms full of treats.

For Remus, she had two chocolate frogs.

James had requested pumpkin pasties.

Sirius wanted cauldron cakes.

And she got a couple of sugar quills for herself.

As she passed the treats around, the boys looked at her as if she had given them the sun, then immediately started eating. She had of course, bought extras, being familiar with the appetite of growing boys.

"Seriously, though," James said after they finished eating.

"I'm always Sirius," Sirius said, earning a smile from everyone.

"Anyways, what house do you guys want to be in? Mia and I will be in Gryffindor."

"Jamie, we want to be in Gryffindor, but we haven't been sorted yet." Mia told him.

"You and I both know that is where we belong, though."

"Ma was a Slytherin, so maybe one of us would get sorted there. Who knows, maybe I'll end up being a Ravenclaw." Mia told her brother.

Sirius looked baffled. "Your mother was in Slytherin? She doesn't seem like it."

"Yep. Not everyone in Slytherin is evil, you know. Besides, she always says that everyone has qualities from all the houses in them, so even if she was a Slytherin, she still had some Gryffindor qualities." Mia told him.

"I would love to be in Gryffindor, but considering my family, I will probably end up in Slytherin." Sirius muttered.

"Who cares about your family, though, you aren't like them, I can tell. I'm certain you would make an amazing Gryffindor." As Mia said this, Sirius' whole demeanor changed, and he gave her a true smile.

"Gryffindor seems cool, but I'll probably end up in Hufflepuff or something." Remus told them.

"There is nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, but I can see the courage in your eyes, Remus. If you believe you can be a Gryffindor, then you can be a Gryffindor." Mia said.

The boys fell into the discussion of how sorting would happen.

"I heard you had to fight a troll!"

"That's bollocks. I heard that you have to take a test."

"What if we have to go against a werewolf?!"

At that Mia looked over at Remus, who looked uncomfortable.

"Well, I think all of you are wrong." At that, the three boys looked towards her.

"And how would you know?" Sirius said. "You don't know everything."

"She generally does, mate." James acquiesced.

Mia smiled triumphantly and went back to reading, and the boys fell into another topic of conversation.

Once in a while she looked over to the boys, smiling as she saw how happy Remus looked to finally have friends.

-

At some point, Mia must've fallen asleep, because when she opened her eyes she noticed that it was dark out.

After a quick check of the time, she realized they would be arriving at Hogwarts quite soon.

"We should start changing into our robes," she told the boys.

No one mentioned the fact that Remus was already in his robes, most likely to avoid an awkward conversation about his scars.

Mia gathered her things and went to the loo to get changed.

When she got back, the boys were all in their robes and muttering excitedly about the castle.

It took them a couple more minutes for the train to stop at the station, then they all got off.

Seeing Hagrid was a shock that Mia was not prepared for. He looked the same as in her time, smiling at all the little first years and making jokes at their expense.

"First years, come 'ere. First years, make yer ways towards the boats to your rights. Other students, the carriages are to yer left." He yelled above the crowd.

The four of them made their way towards one of the boats, and settled in while the rest of the students got on.

Mia had a second to register the mischievous look on James' face before he started rocking the boat.

"James Fleamont Potter, I swear on Merlin if you make me fall off this boat you will regret it." She said it with such a serious look in her eyes that he stopped doing it immediately.

"Don't worry Kitten, if you fall, I'll catch you." Sirius told her, with a smirk on his face.

"Kitten?"

"Yeah, you've clearly got claws. Besides, it suits you." He said, oblivious to the blush the words brought to her cheeks.

They all stopped talking when the boats started moving.

It was a beautiful night for this. The skies were clear and you could see all the stars in the sky.

"Now up ahead, you'll see one of the most beautiful views in the world." Hagrid told them.

He wasn't wrong. Even if she was seeing it for the second time, Mia knew that there likely would never be a view that would top this.

Hogwarts emerged in front of them. Its towers reaching the stars, with the lit up windows looking like celestial bodies in the skies.

She didn't even remember the sight of it in ruins. Of the blood that had stained its walls and friends dead through the halls.

Suddenly, all of her fears about Hogwarts left her body, and she couldn't hold back the giant smile that took hold of her face.

She looked around their little boat, her heart softening at the faces of wonder the boys held.

Sirius looked at her for a moment, shooting her a grin, and looking back at the castle quickly enough that he didn't catch the blush on her cheeks.

-

They all arrived at the entrance of the castle, safe and dry, and watched as Hagrid pushed the giant double doors open.

Mia had to put on a face of wonder in case anyone looked at her. Sure, it was impressive to see the suits of armor, the dozens of talking paintings and the moving staircases as they made their way to the Great Hall, but it was nothing she hadn't seen hundreds of times before.

The anxiousness that the first years were emitting was almost tangible. They were all looking around and talking in between themselves, trying to guess what the sorting would be.

She chuckled as she heard parts of conversations, most of them being outrageous things, such as having to fight a dragon.

Mia was the only one that noticed the cat appear and sit in front of the group of students. But she certainly wasn't the only one to notice when the cat turned into Professor McGonagall in front of their very eyes.

The students fell silent as they looked up at her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"We will now be going into the Great Hall for the start of the ceremony. Please, follow me."

She opened the doors with a wave of her wand and the first years were allowed to see the marvel that is the Great Hall.

As they walked to the back of the Hall, the first years looked around in wonder at everything.

Mia has missed the familiar scene. The long house tables, the house banners at the end of the hall, the floating candles and enchanted ceiling.

"The ceiling is enchanted, you see, it is not the actual sky, just made to look like it." she told the boys, who weren't even listening to her.

She looked up towards the teachers' table, surprised to see that she didn't recognize most of them. This time, the only ones that she knew were Slughorn, Flitwick and McGonagall.

She spotted Professor Dumbledore then, and faltered. He didn't seem to notice her, and why would he, she was just another student, nothing special or to notice.

She wondered whether he would keep an eye on her after she talked to him that night.

The sorting ceremony started and shook her out of her reverie.

When the boys saw the Sorting Hat, they all looked over to Mia who just looked at them in a way that screamed I told you so.

She managed to catch onto a few surnames she remembered from her time, but didn't know who most of those people were.

"Abbott, Harrold."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Belby, Oliver."

"Ravenclaw!"

And then…

"Black, Sirius."

Voices quieted down a bit, as most of the students knew of the Black family.

Her heart broke a bit as she saw the look of fear etched across his face. Mia knew that he was scared to go to Slytherin, to have something else tying him down to the family that he hated so much.

What none of them were prepared for, though, was for the hat to yell "Gryffindor!" before it even touched Sirius' head.

Mia had never seen a smile as wide as Sirius', as he made his way to the Gryffindor table.

She spared a glance to the Slytherin table, and could tell that they were shocked, most of them with their mouths hanging open.

She could spot a couple of familiar faces. The white blond hair of Lucius Malfoy was unmistakable, with that scowl that seemed to be permanently etched onto his face.

By his side was Narcissa. She looked at Sirius in a way that Mia could not decipher.

She was only grateful that Bellatrix had already left Hogwarts. She didn't know if she would manage to look at her even once more in her life.

The sorting continued, and she couldn't help but smile when Lily was sorted into Gryffindor.

When it was Remus' turn, she could see that he was shocked over having been placed in Gryffindor. But it was quickly replaced with a smile, as he went over to the table to sit beside Sirius.

Right before James' name was called, McGonagall called out "Pettigrew, Peter.".

Mia almost started shaking with anger that she felt for the little, chubby boy that made his way to the stool.

She knew what the hat would say before he even said it, even if she didn't understand it. Mia wondered how many times the Sorting Hat had been wrong before.

She almost scowled when she saw him sitting next to Remus at the Gryffindor table, starting up a conversation with the caring boy.

The call of "Potter, James" drew her out of her mind.

She gave Jamie a thumbs up and a big smile as he left her side to go to the stool.

Almost identically to Sirius, the hat didn't even need to touch James' head to yell out, "Gryffindor!"

She started panicking then. What if she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor? She hadn't actually thought that was a possibility until now. How would she handle seven years in a different house than her brother?

Her heart stopped when McGonagall said, "Potter, Mia."

She quickly sat on the stool and felt the hat be placed upon her head.

She didn't know how much time passed before the hat murmured, "My, my, my, what do we have here? You have already gone through this once, yet I do not remember you..."

"Well, I'm here now," she told it, "and I would appreciate it if you did not make comments on my past, and focused on sorting me."

"Hmmm, your past you say?"

"Please do me the courtesy of placing me in Gryffindor so that I may go eat and talk to my brother."

"I have seen many time travellers before, and I know you will not be my last. Such an interesting mind, though..."

"Could we please get on with the sorting. I want to go sit with my brother."

"Well, Miss Granger -"

"Potter. My name is Mia Potter."

"You could do so well in Ravenclaw, with your big mind. Or even in Slytherin, I could sense the cunning in you before I was placed upon your head."

"If you do not put me in Gryffindor, I will not hesitate to steal you from Dumbledore's office and burn you into ashes."

"Such a temper. But very well… Gryffindor!"

Mia smiled widely and she went to sit beside her brother.

"What took so long? They were about to call it a hat stall when it called out Gryffindor." James asked.

"Nothing much, Jamie. Just talking a bit," she assured him, but he still looked at her a bit oddly.

The other boys smiled warmly at her and went back to their own conversations.

Mia didn't know what she had been so worried about. It felt so good to sit at the Gryffindor table again, she could've nearly cried.

She took a look along the table and her heart nearly stopped when she met the eyes of her best friend.

It took her a second to realize that it wasn't Harry who sat in front of her, but a little girl with fiery red hair.

Lily Evans. His mother.

She noticed that Lily had her hand out, and had probably already introduced herself. Mia chastised herself over having been rude.

"Hi! I'm Mia Potter. I think you've already met my brother and Sirius?" she said.

"Ah yes, I've had the displeasure. I haven't met you, though," she said, turning to Remus, "it's really nice to meet you."

He shook her hand nervously, telling her his name with a smile to his face.

Mia laughed silently when she saw that James had barely noticed Lily. She didn't know exactly when, but soon he would be head over heels for her, and she couldn't wait to see it.

As soon as the sorting was over and all the first years were sitting down in their respective tables, the food appeared out of thin air.

Mia never realized how much she had missed the food at Hogwarts. She had a bit of all her old favourites, and for dessert, had a slice of treacle tart in honour of Harry.

Once they all finished eating and the excitement started to buzz down, Dumbledore stood from his seat and the hall fell silent.

"I hope you all had as much food as your heart wished for. And now for the announcements. As the name might indicate, the forbidden forest is forbidden to any and all students. Mr Filch wanted me to remind all of you that products from Zonko's, such as dungbombs, are not to be used in school and will be confiscated if found. Quidditch tryouts will be held at the discretion of each captain, so please look out for them if you have any questions. My last words shall be blibbering, hokey pokey and lattermole. Now, everyone off to your dormitories for a good night's sleep."

Mia laughed at the usual manner that Dumbledore acted, and got up with the rest of her house to head to their dormitory.

-

The prefects told them the password, warned them of the charm on the girls' staircase and then they were allowed to explore the dormitories.

Mia felt at home in the common room. She looked over to her favourite chair by the fireplace, already imagining sitting down in it with a good book.

She could almost see herself sitting with Harry or Ron if she tried enough. But she wouldn't let herself go there.

Instead, she went up to her dorm to meet her new roommates.

She first saw Lily, who pulled her excitedly into the room.

"Girls, this is Mia Potter! Mia, this is Alice Prewett, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows and Emmeline Vance. Isn't it so exciting how we are all going to be living together?" Lily was practically jumping as she introduced everyone.

Mia, of course, politely said hi to everyone and smiled. She hadn't realized that she was going to be in the same year as Neville's mom, and couldn't help but notice how different she was than the woman she had once met at St Mungo's.

Alice was a short girl, with lots of freckles and short brown hair. Her eyes were the exact same shade of blue that Neville's was.

She could remember bits and pieces of Marlene from her time. Mia remembered that she and her entire family had been killed a short time before the Potters. She looked at the tall, blonde girl with the big smile, and thought that she could be friends with her.

She didn't know much of Dorcas from her time; she vaguely remembered her name being mentioned once in a while. She did, however, look like one of the kindest people Mia had ever seen, with big eyes, dark skin and hair. Mia could remember the adults saying that she had been killed by Voldemort himself.

Emmeline she remembered from her time. Her pale skin and brownish hair were the same from when she first met her in her fifth year, when she stopped by Grimmauld Place for an order meeting.

They all sat down on their beds and started to get to know each other. It was wonderful to hear such different stories of how people spent their time before coming to Hogwarts.

Mia found that she quite liked it. In her own time, she didn't have many girl friends, with the exception of Ginny and Luna. She never had much time to talk about fickle things such as boys or makeup, and it was a rather pleasant change for her.

As the conversation wore on, she could see how Harry hadn't inherited just Lily's eyes, but her spirit as well.

When she noticed the time, Mia quickly went through her trunk, pocketing the time-turner she had stored in one of her socks, and left the room to go find James, hoping he would still be down in the common room.

Luckily for her, he was there with Sirius and Remus… and unluckily for her, Peter.

She asked to talk to him privately, and took him a bit away from the boys.

"Is there any way that I could borrow your invisibility cloak tonight?" She asked.

James sputtered. "But - what. I have no clue what you mean. Invisibility cloak? What invisibility cloak?"

"Honestly, Jamie you are a terrible liar. As if Pa wouldn't tell me about it. Pretty please? I'll do your homework for the week?"

That seemed to do it, and James grumbled and told her to wait a second while he went to get it.

He handed it off to her in a way that the boys wouldn't notice.

"What are you going to use it for anyways? It's our first night here."

"You don't need to concern yourself with that. I'll give it back to you tomorrow morning. Thank you, Jamie!"

She gave him a quick hug and went up the girls' staircase just enough so that no one would see her throw the cloak around herself.

She waited by the portrait until someone passed by, and took advantage of that to leave the common room.

As she made her way to Dumbledore's office, she tried to figure out what she was going to say.

She knew things about him that would make him believe her… she hoped.

When she arrived at the entrance to his office and quickly looked around to check that no one was there.

When she was satisfied, she took off the invisibility cloak and stored it in one of her pockets.

She took a minute to fix her hair and her ribbon, then started reciting all sweets that she knew, and was pleased when the entrance popped open at "lemon drops".

Gathering up all the courage she had, Mia knocked on his door and waited for him to allow her to come in.

He looked surprised to see her, but quickly schooled his features.

"Young Miss Potter, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Good evening, headmaster. I'm sorry for showing up unannounced, I just have a very urgent matter that I must discuss with you."

"Oh?" He said, offering her a seat across from him. "If it is urgent then please, tell me immediately."

She sat down and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm from the future."

At his silence, which she assumed was shock, she just continued rambling.

"This weird time turner with blue sand accidentally took me back here and I have no clue how. It gave me this entirely new life and I didn't even think it was possible for that to happen. I found it in a box of your things, you see, and I didn't mean to mess with it, I tripped and before I knew it-"

"Calm down, Miss Potter. Let's slow down for a second. I hope you don't mind me asking, but how can I know you are really from the future?"

She ringed her hands on her lap. "Well, I know about you and Grindelwald. And what happened to your sister. I'm not sure how much I can say without ruining everything."

His eyes sharpened at what she mentioned, and she could see that he was now taking things seriously.

"Alright. I see. And from what year were you sent back from?" He asked.

"It was 1998, sir. I was 18. And when I arrived at this time it was 1967 and I was suddenly 7 years old."

"That is quite remarkable. Do you have the time-turner that brought you back with you?"

"Yes," she said, retrieving it from her pocket, "this is it. Before it brought me back, it was filled with blue sand. I had never seen anything like it before. I did my research on time turners after I had to borrow one in my third year from Professor McGonagall, but I never encountered any situation even remotely like this. I was heading down to show it to Si- I mean an adult that I know, and I tripped and fell and was sent back."

"You must be an excellent student for Minerva to have lent you her timeturner. And you said that this was in a box filled with my things?" He asked, with his attention completely focused on the time-turner.

"Yes, sir."

"And you have two sets of memories? One from each timeline?"

"Yes."

"And was everything alright in your future?"

"Yes, sir, it was."

"I don't think anything will change phenomenally if you tell me what your name was, my dear."

"Hermione Granger." It had been years since she said that name or heard it outloud. "But my name is Mia Potter now, I don't want you to call me anything different."

He put the time-turner down and looked at her again.

"Well, Miss Potter, this is truly an interesting situation. I promise that I will look more into it, especially this time turner, but I will tell you what I already know for now."

She held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Miss Potter, time turners can only bring people back in time for a couple of hours at a time. This time turner should not have been able to take you back this far. And according to this same logic, as far as I am aware, there is no way to take you back to your time."

Mia was speechless.

"I promise you that I will look into it, but I cannot promise that I will find a way to take you back. Time is a very complicated matter, and a lot of harm can come to those that mess with it."

She nodded, "I understand, sir."

"Excellent! Just a warning, which I am sure that you do not need, but will give it nevertheless. Don't tell anyone else about this. I know it will be hard, but only chaos might come from it. You cannot try and change things, either. If you do not heed this, I will be forced to take measures that I would prefer not to do. I will not risk a good future for anything, especially considering the times we are in." His face turned serious, in a way she had only seen in a handful of times during her time.

"Of course, sir."

"Are you familiar with Occlumency, Miss Potter?"

"I have had some basic training in it." She remembered those moments alone in the tent where she tried to get every advantage that she could over the other side.

"It is good that you already know the basics, then, because you will start doing lessons with me to ensure that your mind is as strong as can be. We can't tell what would happen if this information got into the wrong hands."

Mia just nodded.

"Now off to bed with you. Can't have you tired for your first lessons of the year, now can we."

He gave her his typical Dumbledore smile, which she learned meant he was keeping something from her, and she just gave a small smile back, leaving his office.

Once she was out in the corridor, she took out the invisibility cloak and put it over herself again.

The walk back to the tower wasn't normally long, but it felt like a lifetime.

Mia had known that there was a possibility that Dumbledore would tell her she couldn't get back. She knew that. So why did it hurt so much to hear it, then?

Her mind was buzzing. She tried to ignore the fact that she had never heard about a Mia Potter in her time.

When she reached the portrait, she took off the cloak and gave the Fat Lady the password.

She was surprised to see James there, sitting on the couch by the fire. There was no one else there, so she assumed that he had been waiting up for her.

Wordlessly, she sat beside him and he put an arm around her.

"It's so different than I imagined it would be. I didn't think I would miss Ma and Pa so much." He told her.

"I know Jamie, I miss them too." She confided in him, not only missing her parents but the family that she had left behind in time. "We have each other, though. As long as we stick together, everything will be ok."

They spent some more time together like that, until sleep started to take Mia, and they both went up to their dorms to get some rest.

"Do you need me to be there with you tonight?" James asked. "I'm not sure if I can go up the girls' staircase, but we can always sneak you up to my dorm using the coat."

Mia felt her heart soar. "Thank you, Jamie, but I think I'll be fine. I'll let you know if I need anything."

After a quick hug, they each went their respective ways, eager to sleep, for tomorrow another adventure would start.