About Time

When Mia woke up in the morning, it took her a second to realize where she was.

The Gryffindor red drapes were a familiar sight that she had not seen for many years, and was happy to wake up inside them once more. Light was filtering in through the windows, shining on all of the closed curtains in the room, a sure sign that her roommates were still asleep.

In her own time, Mia had never gotten along with her roommates, Parvati and Lavender. It felt quite odd knowing that she had actual girl friends now, that she could gossip and do more girly things with.

She knew that she could stay in bed for a couple more minutes, should she wish, but she had always been an early riser, and the excitement of the first day didn't make her want to sit still in her bed.

As she got on with her morning routine, her roommates started to wake up one by one. Soon, there was a flurry of activity through the dorm as everyone rushed to get ready so that they could go to breakfast.

Mia smiles as someone, she did not know who but she suspected Dorcas, turned on the radio. Soon, all of the girls were singing along to the songs that were playing while they finished getting ready.

Mia was finishing up her hair, placing a Gryffindor red ribbon, of course, on it like a hair tie when she noticed that Lily was behind her.

She turned and the red-headed girl said, "I was wondering whether you wanted to go have breakfast with me? I noticed that you were also ready, and all the other girls seem like they will still take a while so..."

Lily looked a bit nervous, but Mia broke out into a grin and said, "Of course, let's go."

The girls spent the entire walk down to the Great Hall talking about Hogwarts. Mia was happy to learn that Lily had also read Hogwarts: A History and that she could finally talk to someone about her favourite book and have them be genuinely interested.

"Of course, there are some things in it that are complete bollocks. As if Slytherin could've made an entire chamber in the school, much less anyone else not being able to find it for centuries." Lily told her as they entered the Hall.

"Who knows, Lils, magic is an interesting thing." Mia, of course, bit back a smile, as she most certainly knew that the chamber was real and even where it was located. A shiver ran through her as she realized that the basilisk was alive during this time.

As soon as they started to eat, Mia had truly missed some of the Hogwarts' special foods, a loud noise near the entrance drew their attention away from their food. Mia wasn't surprised to see her brother and his friends making their way towards them, laughing as though they were the only people in the room.

"Morning, Mia," James said, plopping down on the seat next to her.

"Good morning, Kitten," Sirius said, his bright disposition a contrast to the tired boys around them.

She heard mutters of good morning from Remus and Peter as well, who both looked like they would fall asleep at any moment.

"Good morning, boys," she said, while slightly nudging James to remind him that Lily was there as well and that he was being rude.

Somehow he got the hint, and muttered, "Morning, Evans."

Lily's only answer was, "Potter."

The tension in the air was starting to choke Mia, so in an attempt to distract everyone she said, "What classes do you think we will have today? Professor McGonagall hasn't stopped by with our timetables yet, but I hope she does soon."

"I hope we have potions, from what I read, it seems to be really fun. Severus seems to enjoy it as well, and thinks that I would, too." Lily told her, cheering up a bit when the topic moved to something she liked.

"As long as we don't have lessons with the snakes, I'm happy with anything." After a glare from Mia, James continued, "But I suppose transfiguration would be fun, Ollivander did say that my wand would be good for it."

"That's cool, mate. I really want to have Defense Against the Dark Arts, I heard that the professor for this year is this Auror who had to take a year of absence after having been attacked by a clutter of acromantulas." Sirius told them.

"Wicked," James said with a grin on his face.

"Jamie, isn't he the man that Pa knows? Throndsen something or other?" Mia asked her brother. "Dumbledore introduced him last night and he seemed familiar."

"Oh, yeah, I think so. I'll write Pa later to ask." He went back to eating and talking to his friends after that.

The girls went back to the conversation they had been having before the boys interrupted them. Lily truly seemed to believe that the chamber of secrets didn't exist, and the boys seemed to overhear them talking about it because when they turned towards them, they were already looking at the girls with grins that made them think twice about asking what they were thinking about.

Mia and Lily finished their food just in time for McGonagall to arrive, and almost jumped on her when she went to give them their timetables. They immediately started comparing them and talking about individual classes when a yell was heard from across the room.

They all turned to the Slytherin table to see the hair of everyone at the table turned different colours. There were shades of every colour, except natural ones, of course. The teachers were already coming down from their table to help the younger students reverse the effects.

Mia could see Lily immediately looking towards Snape, who had a scowl on his face as he looked at his pink hair.

Mia turned towards James, who immediately put his hands up and said, "Don't look at me like that, Mia. I told you we already had our first prank of the year planned." Finishing off with a grin at his friends.

Mia did nothing but shake her head and watch as Lily left the Great Hall in search of Snape.

They all quickly finished eating and headed to their first lesson, which was potions.

As they made their way towards the dungeons, Sirius turned to her and said, "Come on, Kitten. You've got to admit their reactions were funny."

"Maybe. Lacked originality, though, I thought you would've come up with something better than simply changing the color of everyone's hair, you did tell me it was going to be spectacular." She told him, speeding up her pace to join Remus in conversation, leaving a shocked Sirius behind.

As they entered the class, Mia saw that Lily was sitting with Snape, who had his hair back to normal, but the scowl was still there. She noticed that James had already sat with Sirius, and rushed to sit beside Remus before Peter could. She shot him what she hoped was an apologetic look before removing her materials from her bag.

The lesson started off well, and she had never truly noticed how different Slughorn and Snape were until she saw Slughorn teaching children.

While Snape was all rough edges and yelling, Slughorn was laughter and incentive.

They brewed the same potion as they did in Mia's original first year: Cure for Boils.

She could see that Remus was making faces the entire time, and remembered that the full moon was that weekend and that he was probably feeling a little extra sensitive to smells.

Towards the end of the lesson, Mia turned to Remus and said, "Why don't you let me finish up here? You can go talk to the boys and I'll finish putting things away."

He looked like he was going to refuse, but after one look from Mia, he thanked her and went towards his friends.

She put the potion they brewed in a vial and started cleaning up their workspace. She was nearly done when Slughorn stopped by and commended her on an excellent job. She glowed under his praise. No matter the timeline, Mia would always love a teacher telling her she did a good job.

She was ready to leave the dungeons and go catch up with her brother when she heard her name being said behind her.

When she looked she saw Lily, who was dragging along a sour-looking Snape.

"Lily, hi."

"Mia, I wanted to introduce you to my best friend, Severus. Severus, this is Mia, my new friend that I told you about." Lily said. She took a second to take in the man who had once been her professor. In all honesty, he looked the exact same as he did in the future, only younger. Everything from the hair to the scowl was the same.

Mia tried to be as polite as she could, putting her hand out and saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He took one look at her hand and said, "You're Potter's sister, aren't you?"

She knew where this was going, but still said, "Yes, I'm James' twin." Not pulling her hand back. She noticed Lily nudging his arm, trying to get him to shake her hand.

Without another word, he left the room with his cloak billowing behind him. Apparently, no matter his age, Snape would always have a flair for the dramatics.

"I'm so sorry. He is still a bit bummed by the prank your brother and his friends pulled this morning. Can't say that I blame him, really." Shooting her an apologetic look, she left the classroom in hopes of finding Snape.

Mia, unbothered by his actions, slowly walked to her next class. She honestly didn't expect any better from Snape. According to all the stories that she had heard, the only person he was even remotely civil to was Lily. Well, before the incident, that is.

As she sat down in her charms classroom with the boys, she started setting out her things when someone else sat beside her. Marlene gave her a smile and started taking her things out as well.

"Hey, Mia! Can you believe how far away the dungeons are from here? Oof. Here I was thinking that the stairs up to the tower were a workout. I really have to start getting into better shape if I want to make it on the Quidditch team next year."

Mia laughed. "Hi, Marlene. Tell me about it. I thought I would need a break halfway up the stairs to the fifth floo-."

"Wait," James interrupted, "You play Quidditch?" He was leaning over Mia now, and all the boys were looking their way.

"Yeah. I grew up with three older brothers, so I've been playing ever since I can remember."

"Which position?" Sirius asked.

"Chaser," Marlene told them with a smile.

"Wicked." The boys said in unison.

They all fell silent as Flitwick motioned to the class that they were going to start. This was the first time that they were required to perform an actual spell, and Mia knew she couldn't do so well at first. The lesson was on the levitation spell, Wingardium Leviosa, and Mia couldn't help but smile at the memories it brought.

She made herself fail at her first two attempts, reminding herself constantly to say the words out loud. On her third attempt, however, she performed the spell perfectly, earning 5 points for Gryffindor.

Beside her, Marlene seemed to be having a bit of trouble, so as kindly as she could she said, "It's all about the pronunciation. It's LeviOsa, not LeviosA. I noticed that I was doing it as well in my first tries."

Marlene tried again, this time managing the spell, and gave Mia another smile. "Thanks, Mia."

Mia simply smiled and saw that the boys were rushing to take her advice as well.

Before long, their section of the class had feathers levitated all around them. With the exception of Peter, who still hadn't managed the spell.

Mia, Marlene and the boys left the class as happy as can be after having successfully completed their first charm.

They went to have a quick lunch before heading to their last class of the day, double Transfiguration.

McGonagall put on her animagus performance just as she had done during Mia's original lesson, and Mia could see how the boys' eyes lit up. If only they knew that in just a few years, they would have alternate forms themselves.

The class was based on turning a mouse, or your small familiar, into a cup.

Mia had to go through the same process as she did in charms, so as not to attract too much attention to herself.

Mia couldn't help but laugh a bit at the irony of Peter not managing to transfigure his rat. He eventually managed when Remus took a bit of time to help him.

She helped the boys (not Peter, though) and Marlene, who was sitting next to her, with their spells. She was actually starting to quite like Marlene. She grew up with brothers so she not only knew what Mia went through for most of her life but also was wanting girl friends as badly as her. While they didn't have a lot in common, their spirits were too alike for them not to become fast friends.

Mia could see Lily sitting a couple of tables away with the rest of their roommates. She really hoped that Snape's tense relationship with her brother wouldn't get in the way of their friendship. She was starting to quite like the witch.

She didn't need to be worried, though, because as soon as Mia and Marlene sat down for dinner later on in the day, Lily appeared right beside them and started talking as her normal, animated self.

Mia couldn't help but go to bed with a grin that night, thinking of how wonderful this danger-free year would be.

-

The next day, they had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. The students had filed into the class quietly, while the Professor just sat in his chair and observed them. Mia mechanically took out her materials as Marlene sat by her side. She could see Lily sitting with Snape in the corner of the class, as far away as they could apparently get from her brother.

On the previous day, James had owled their father and Mia was right, he did know their teacher, who was Aldrich Throndsen and had worked with Fleamont a few years ago on a case.

He was quite an interesting man, with scars peppered along his face that reminded her of some of the people back from her time. She wondered what happened to him, as she had never heard of him before in her time.

"Listen up, students. I want you to know that you will need to take this course quite seriously, and I will not be admitting any sort of slacking off. I am sure that many of you will want to become Aurors in the future, and this is one of the most important classes for it." Mia thought it was quite pointless to bring up the matter of careers, seeing as they were merely first years, but didn't say anything about it.

The lesson was actually quite boring. First years couldn't really get into defence magic, so it was mostly theory that Mia had memorized years ago. The only thing that made the lesson worth it was to hear Sirius and James make up stories for each of Professor Throndsen's scars.

"I bet that one on his eyebrow was from a troll."

"No way, that one was definitely from a high-security wizard - or witch - on the run."

The discussion did earn them a deduction of house points, but Mia thought she saw a hint of a smile at some of the theories.

-

Mia was quite happy with how the week was turning out so far, but before she knew it it was the weekend, which meant a full moon.

Remus looked terrible Sunday morning. His skin looked grey and he was sweating more than Mia had ever seen him, future (past?) and present. She remembered all of what Remus of her time told her of his disease, and how it was truly horrible for him the days leading up to the full moon.

She also remembered, though, that chocolate always made everything better. So, when she went down to the kitchens that afternoon she grabbed him a giant slice of the chocolate cake she had as a snack to bring to him.

"Oh, Mia, you didn't have to." He tried when she gave it to him, dropping it in front of him in the common room.

"Nonsense, Remus. I can tell how much you like it and I was down there anyway so it wasn't a problem." She sat far away from him, so he wouldn't try and slide it back to her.

"Kitten, I will excuse the fact that you didn't bring us a slice if you tell me how to get to the kitchens." Sirius turned towards her, a grin on his face letting her know he believed he would get what he wished for.

Mia pretended to ponder the deal for a moment. "No can do, Black, I think it's something you'll have to figure out on your own."

Throwing a smile over her shoulder, she left the boys to go to the library, where Lily and Marlene were waiting for her. She found it funny that Marlene insisted on being there with them these first few days of the term, even though they could all tell she hated it.

Mia supposed it was a fair trade, though, as every time they ended up going outside after, where she could see her new friend felt much better. She also spent a lot of time braiding Lily's hair, which Mia had to admit she did really well. Marlene tried to braid Mia's hair once, but she didn't let her, still remembering her past struggles with her hair.

Even though Mia was in the library with her friends more often than not, she hasn't been studying that much. Mia knew all of the content that they were learning, and would for practically all their years at school, so she didn't really see the point.

She started taking things a bit lighter this time around. She knew she couldn't be Head Girl, or even a prefect for that matter, so she figured it wouldn't do anyone harm if she didn't study as much or pulled one prank or another.

Mia wouldn't tell the boys she wanted to pull pranks, though, she figured it would be much more satisfying to see their faces once she blew them away.

She was snapped out of her internal reverie by Lily snapping one of the books she was holding shut with a sigh. It was clear that she was getting nowhere with her research, (for an essay that was due in two weeks - Mia could now understand Harry and Ron a bit more) and was starting to get frustrated, so when Marlene suggested they go outside they were met with no protests.

-

It was agony for her.

Mia knew it would be the second that she settled into one of the tables in the common room for what she knew would be a long night. Every once in a while, she looked through the window towards where she knew the Shrieking Shack would be, and couldn't tell if the howls were just her imagination

Mia could remember watching Remus transform. It looked like the pain was indescribable. It was all broken bones and shredded skin. She didn't even want to know what happened to him after the transformation when he was left alone for hours in that horrible shack.

According to accounts from future him, things were better in his school years when his friends were with him, but she knew that it would take a couple of years before they would be able to become animagus. She knew that she would have to become one too. She figured she'd wait until the boys did it on their own, dropping a few hints here and there for them to get the idea, then ask one of them (not Peter) to teach her how to transform.

The only thing she could do for now was try her best to help him while not seeming like she knew. In a couple of months, she'd pretend like she figured it out on her own. It wasn't like she hadn't… she did, just not in this time period.

Mia tried to distract herself from the entire situation by opening up her books in front of her and doing some homework. There wasn't much to do, seeing as it was still the first week of the term.

Before she knew it, Lily was shaking her awake while light poured from the windows directly onto Mia's eyes.

"Merlin, Mia, did you stay here the entire night?" Lily asked. "Go get ready for class and I'll meet you for our first period and bring you some toast you can eat before going into the classroom."

Mia did as she was told and went to their dormitory to get ready for the day. She supposed it was good that Lily was the one that found her, she could only imagine what James' reaction would be if it were him.

She didn't rush, knowing that she wouldn't make it down to breakfast but could still take her time with her morning routine.

As she turned the corridor in the dungeons, Mia was not surprised to find Marlene outside of their potions classroom waiting for her.

"Lily went ahead with Snape, so I waited out here for you." She told Mia, handing her two pieces of buttered toast.

"Thanks. I tried to get a head start on that Charms essay last night and must've fallen asleep." Mia fibbed.

"Honestly, you and Lily are such swots." Marlene joked a bright smile on her face as both of them made their way into the classroom.

Once they were sat down and had their materials out, Mia pretended to be confused as she looked around, then turned to her brother asking, "Jamie, where's Remus?"

"Oh, he said he was feeling sick last night." he took a pause to adjust his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "He went up to Madam Pomfrey and must still be there."

She nodded, trying not to look worried, and did her best to pay attention to the lesson, knowing that she would have to duplicate all of her notes later for her werewolf friend that would miss his lessons that day.

-

The next morning, when Remus was back in class, she took some papers out of her bag and gave them to him.

"Yesterday's notes," she clarified, "I knew none of those idiots would think of taking them for you, and I know you would hate to miss so many classes."

Remus smiled lightly at Mia as he put the notes away in his bag, while Sirius protested that he certainly was not an idiot.

Mia just laughed and turned her attention to Professor Binns, who was starting the lesson.

"Do I even want to know how you got these duplicated?" Remus asked, taking the seat next to her.

"I did nothing illegal, if that's what you're asking. I just wanted to try out a new spell that I found. Seemed a lot easier than copying them again or asking for an older student to do it for me," she told him.

Remus gave her another smile and started taking notes of what Binns was saying. Mia didn't bother, being as she knew this inside out, and instead chose to take a quick nap, which seemed to be the preference of choice of the students in the class.

-

The days passed by, and Mia was the happiest she had been in a while. Until September 19th rolled around.

Mia was the first one to wake up and be out of their dorm.

She didn't want to run into anyone, so she quickly walked down to the kitchen to get food for the day. A lovely house-elf named Polly packed some of her favourite foods, and after thanking her, Mia headed towards the seventh floor.

She spent a couple of minutes just looking at the wall, remembering how the last time she had been there, it was burning with uncontrollable fiendfyre, and they had just witnessed a classmate die.

It wasn't the worst thing she had ever seen, but it still brought goosebumps to her skin.

Take me to a happy place. Take me to a happy place. Take me to a happy place.

She looked up and saw a simple, wooden door where there was previously only stone. Mia walked in and almost dropped the basket she was carrying at the scene in front of her.

It was the Weasley living room.

If she had seen this a couple of years ago, she was sure she would've started sobbing uncontrollably. Now, she was just happy she could enjoy the familiar space again. It was the same as she remembered it; with the couch and mismatched chairs, handmade quilts everywhere and even a very impressive replica of the Weasley Clock.

The fire was already lit, so she just sat on the couch and opened up the book she had taken with her.

It felt good to take the day for herself.

It was the first time in years where she actually fully mourned her past life. She still had a little bit of hope that she would see them again, but she knew that Dumbledore was more well versed in the subject than she was, and if he said there was no way, then there was no way.

Could she honestly say, though, that if she had the chance to go back she would?

She had a brother now, a twin, as well as really good friends and family. She had been there for years making these bonds, and they felt as good and natural as the ones she had in her own time.

Mia didn't think she could say that she would go back if she could. She didn't know if she could leave all these wonderful people behind.

She read book after book while taking some breaks to eat, so it took her a while to see the small changes in the room.

On the mantle, next to the pictures with her, Ron, Harry and the Weasleys, there were now pictures of her and the Potters. She and James. Pictures that Lily had taken with her polaroid in these last two weeks of Mia and the other girls.

She took the picture of Harry, Ron and herself in her hand gently. "Oh, boys. I do miss you. I like to think that you would be happy for me, that I managed to make a life here and be so happy with these people, my friends and family. I will never forget you, though." She took a breath as she wiped her eyes. "You would've loved your father, Harry. He is so similar to you. And your mother is such a wonderful person. If I ever get back to you I will tell you all about them."

She set the frame back where it was and made her way back to the couch. It took her a while, but she realized that she had asked for a happy place. These people were her happy place. Her boys were her happy place.

Mia realized that she didn't mind that much the fact that she could never go back to her previous life.

-

Same day, others' perspectives

Lily Evans rushed into the Great Hall, with Marlene right on her heels, and stopped by a messy head of black hair.

"Potter," she said, making him turn towards her. "Where's your sister?"

"She isn't with you or Marlene?" He asked, frowning as Marlene stopped right beside her.

"No, when we woke up she wasn't in her room. We looked all over but we can't find her."

"Well, I don't- ah shit." He said as realization dawned on his face. "What day is it?"

"The 19th. I don't get how the date has anything to do with this, Potter." It was quite clear to the boys watching that Lily was quickly losing her patience.

"Don't worry, Evans, this is normal. It's one of her Days, as Pa calls it. Three times a year she just completely shuts down. You won't be able to find her if she doesn't want you to, trust me, I've tried. Don't ask her any questions either, no good will come from it. She will be back tomorrow." He told her, going back to his food and his friends.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be worried?" Marlene asked, frowning a bit as she thought of her friend in some sort of trouble.

"Mia can handle herself, trust me. I've been through this enough times to know that the best thing to do is let her have her day. You'll see, she will be back tomorrow as if nothing happened."

"Well, thanks, I guess." She and Marlene walked back towards the end of the table to where Alice, Dorcas and Emmeline were sat down.

"What's that about, mate?" Sirius asked, nodding towards the retreating girls.

James shrugged. "You heard what I told her. This has happened every year since I can remember. It's always September 19th, March 1st and July 31st. Ma and Pa don't understand either, we just learnt to give her the space she needs."

"That's a bit… odd," Remus said, not wanting to somehow offend James, as they all knew he had a soft spot for his sister.

Sirius looked at his friend oddly, as if trying to put together a puzzle without having the pieces. He didn't say anything, either, but he agreed with Remus.

James shrugged again, quickly changing the subject to what prank they would be pulling next.

-

As James said, Mia was back the next day as if nothing had happened. As per tradition, he had been the first in the Great Hall, with her breakfast ready for when she arrived with Lily and Marlene.

The girls stopped at the sight of James, never having seen him arrive before them, but Mia just smiled and went to sit by him, as he draped an arm over her shoulder to give her a quick hug and handed her a chocolate muffin.

She went to classes, talked to her friends and studied as if everything was normal.

Mia knew that all of her new friends had questions and couldn't understand her actions, but she knew that Jamie had talked to them about it and she couldn't be more grateful.

She didn't know if she could handle questions that she couldn't give answers to.

Thankfully, they were all acting quite normal around her, with the exception of Sirius. She wasn't sure why, but on the days following her Day, he was a bit… softer around her. He didn't tease her as much or pull any pranks that he knew would upset her. Mia thought that he just knew, somehow, that her Day weighed on her, and was happier than ever to have him as her friend.

"Come onnnnnnnnnnnn, Kitten. Just tell me where it is, I promise I won't tell the rest of these wankers." Sirius whined, for the hundredth time ever since Mia had given Remus that slice of cake.

"Hey!" James yelled, throwing one of the chess pieces that had been defeated and Sirius' head, causing the piece to yell as well.

"I told you, Sirius, you have to find it on your own. What kind of a friend would I be if I took away the pleasure of finding something out for the first time?" She had a devious smile on. "Besides, a girl has to have some secrets of her own."

"I've been everywhere in the castle. Everywhere. And I still cannot find the door to the bloody kitchens."

"You will eventually."

"You're no fun," he said, pouting while dramatically flopping down on the couch, head in her lap.

"And you're just like a little puppy."

"Trust me, Kitten, nothing about me is little." He told her with a smirk, which quickly faded as James threw another piece of chess at his head, this time not missing.

"Get your head off my sister's lap." Mia just laughed, pushing Sirius off and bidding her boys a quick good night as she went up to her dorm room to get some sleep.

-

A couple of days later, Mia was sitting in the common room with her friends, watching her boys play Exploding Snap, when a little paper airplane flew up next to her. Before even getting it off the air, she knew that Dumbledore had sent it. She had been expecting word from him for quite some time now to schedule their first Occlumency lesson.

Opening the plane she read:

Dear Miss Potter,

Please meet me in my office at 21:00 for our first lesson.

D

P.S. Do you enjoy Sugar Quills as well?

She saw that it was already 20:30, and jumped up from the couch. Her friends found it strange that she was leaving at this time, in the middle of nowhere, and asked where she was going. Her only response was, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Luckily, a card exploded on Peter just then, and they all turned to laugh at him, giving her the perfect opportunity to slip through the portrait hole.

Mia started rushing towards the Headmaster's office, but then remembered that she still had some time, and set a more reasonable pace. She already started compartmentalizing everything she could. She had been a bit humble when Dumbledore had asked her about her Occlumency training, knowing it was strong enough to withstand Bellatrix even under torture, but she knew that more practice couldn't hurt.

She had just finished putting all the last remnants of the war into the furthest corners of her mind when she reached Dumbledore's office. With a quick mutter of "Sugar Quills", she was walking inside the familiar room.

"Ah Miss Potter, it is wonderful to see you. Please, take a seat." Dumbledore motioned to the seat in front of him "Lemon drops?"

"No, thank you, Headmaster." She took the seat in front of him and politely set her hands on her lap.

"Well, as I mentioned in the letter, we will be having our first lesson today. I believe I do not need to stress the importance of you having strong Occlumency shields, considering all that you know about the future. I trust you are familiar with the procedure?"

"Yes, sir. I am." A dark look spread across her face. She had brief flashes of the pain Bellatrix had caused as she invaded her mind. Mia knew that Dumbledore did not wish to cause harm and would be as gentle as he could, but she doubted that it wouldn't cause at least a low level of discomfort.

"Wonderful! I will try and be as gentle as I can, and I will be trying to target memories from this time so that I do not see anything that I shouldn't." He adjusted his half-moon spectacles and got his wand. "Are you ready?"

Mia nodded, too focused on checking all of her shields to talk. She could feel Dumbledore's attempts at penetrating her mind; the presence on the outer side of the walls she put up, looking for any way in.

"Hmmm, very good, very good." He said. She could feel the pressure building up as Dumbledore tried to find any weakness in her shield that would allow him access to her mind.

She didn't know how long it took, but after some time he found a crack, a very small one, and managed to force himself through it. Mia silently cursed herself for having allowed even that much of an opening but didn't have time to dwell on that, as she now had to deflect Dumbledore from specific memories.

He had claimed he wanted to see her childhood here, so that's what she showed him. She threw memories of her and Jamie running in the gardens, or dance lessons with Ma and Pa teaching her the different types of magical animals. Mia did everything she could to make it seem like she had the most normal childhood possible for a pureblood young witch so that he wouldn't notice the compartmentalized memories in the darkest corners of her mind.

She felt the sweat beads rolling across her face as she kept showing harmless memory after harmless memory to the headmaster.

Eventually, she felt the pressure in her mind recede, and let out a breath. She was panting a bit from the mental exertion, but felt pride run through her as Dumbledore gave her an approving smile.

"It seems like you were too humble about your skills, Miss Potter. You did an excellent job at keeping me out at first, and then completely deflecting me when I managed to get in. This is great, as we won't need to have as many lessons or go over the basics." He summoned them both glasses of water.

"Thank you, sir." She took the glass of water in front of her and drank the entire thing.

"I will be contacting you to inform you of our next lesson, but for now, hurry off to bed, can't have you being tired for your lessons in the morning." He handed her a slip that said she had permission to be out this late, and made a shooing motion with his hands.

She gave him a smile and thanked him again for his help, making her way out of his office.

Mia took her time walking back to the common room. She felt exhausted from the exertion; it had been years since she had to fight off an attack on her mind, and clearly, the small practice she managed to do alone wasn't enough to stop her from being tired. The stairs didn't help either, the hundreds of them that led up to the Gryffindor common room only served to show how out of shape she was. Maybe she should start working out somehow?

It had honestly gone better than she had hoped. Mia was worried that Dumbledore would try and access her memories of the war to try and gain an advantage. She wouldn't put it past him to do that. She didn't really have much of an option other than to trust him and hoped that he was telling her the truth when he said that he didn't want to risk a future where there was peace at last.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she reached the portrait hole. After quickly giving the password, she walked into her safe haven.

Due to the late hour, she would've thought that the common room was empty, and she was quite surprised to see Remus sitting on the couch reading a book. As she approached him, he looked up and gave her a smile. He was already starting to look ill again, but considering that the full moon was on the next week, he looked remarkably well.

She returned the smile and took a seat next to him, peering over to see what he was reading. "Ah, Oscar Wilde. I knew you had good taste."

Remus' face lit up. "You've read muggle literature?"

"Of course I have. They don't give the bookworm certification to just anyone, you know." She cracked a smile. "One must be very well versed in all types of literature, both muggle and wizarding. I even attempted to read some goblin texts once, but they were dreadfully boring."

Remus smiled at her. "I never really thanked you, did I?"

Mia's face scrunched up when she didn't understand what he meant. "Thank me? For what?"

"For having been my first friend. You immediately took me in, no questions asked, and made sure I was a part of your group. Even now you seem to take care of me and I don't know what I did to deserve it." His voice cracked a bit and Mia couldn't help but feel for the boy. She remembered what it was like to have no friends and thinking you would never have them.

"You don't have to thank me, Remus. I should actually be thanking you. How would I possibly be able to survive with those idiots who don't even know who Poe is?" Her attempt at a joke succeeded as Remus let out a laugh.

"What were you doing out so late anyway? How did you not get caught?" He asked.

Mia knew that this would come up, and had already prepared an answer. "I heard a while back that Dumbledore had a special copy of this book I read once. I sent him an owl the other day asking if he would mind showing it to me. Turns out he didn't." She shrugged, showing him the note Dumbeldore gave her to answer his second question.

"Ahh, you do the bookworm name well." They both laughed at that, falling into a comfortable silence.

"We should probably go to bed, it's getting late." Mia hoped that he would actually go to sleep, and not continue reading to distract himself from the approaching transformation.

They both stood up, stretching a bit, and made their way towards the stairs. Just as Mia was about to start going up Remus said, "Good night, Mia."

She gave him a soft smile, "Good night, Remus."

-

The full moon was four days later.

Remus didn't attend classes that day, feeling too sick to even get out of bed. It was almost a miracle that he even got to the Hospital Wing. Luckily, her boys didn't see a pattern and just took him straight to the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey claimed it was food poisoning to get them out of there.

They told Mia at breakfast what had happened, and she invented the fact that she had seen him eat something strange at dinner the night before, and her boys didn't question it. They immediately changed their attention to the upcoming Quidditch game that would take place that weekend.

"Ravenclaw is going to crush Slytherin!" Sirius claimed, his eyes shining with glee at the prospect of his family's house losing.

"Not sure about that, Sirius. They have Burke as a seeker, remember? The older students all say he is really good." James mentioned.

"Ravenclaw has the best strategies, though, so they have a good shot at it." Sirius turned and smiled at Remus for having his back.

"I don't know why you boys like Quidditch so much. Honestly, there are so many better things to do than fly around in a broom for hours." Mia told them, shooting a smile at Lily and Marlene before turning to the boys' shocked faces.

"How could you ever say that!" Sirius exclaimed. "Quidditch is the best sport ever. There are few things that are better than Quidditch, and reading is not one of them, Kitten."

Everyone laughed at Sirius' outburst. James was shaking his head, used to Mia's antics by now, and surprised that Sirius fell for such an obvious trap.

While Sirius was calming down, James turned towards Marlene and started asking her more questions about Quidditch. Mia found it funny that James seemed to develop a small crush on the girl solely on the fact that she liked Quidditch. She knew it wouldn't last for long, as Lily would soon claim his heart, but it was cute to see her brother acting like that.

Lily didn't care much for Quidditch, so she and Mia got into a conversation about the use of wormwood in potions, but it was cut short as the bell sounded, reminding them to go to their first period.

This time around, Mia found it quite boring to take notes for her classes. Apparently, she hadn't missed a single detail the first time, so she already knew everything there was to know. She only really took notes for Remus, so that he wouldn't fall behind on all of his classes. She did her best to make them as clear as possible, with little notes and comments on the margins which she hoped would make him smile.

Mia stayed up that night again. She had made a trip down to the kitchens and got her hands on some chocolate cake, which helped her stay awake for longer than last time. She still fell asleep, though, but woke up before dawn and managed to go back to her dorm for a couple more hours of sleep. Thank Merlin she did, because she couldn't have anyone suspecting anything yet.

Her day was quite standard. She spent most of her time with Marlene, seeing as her boys had pranked Snape again, and Lily had to spend the day with him to calm him down.

"Snivellus doesn't have a sense of humor." Sirius told them.

"Right you are, Sirius. Anyone else would have laughed and brushed it off. I don't get what the big deal was, we just switched out his ink with invisible ink." James shook his head.

Mia and Marlene gave each other a look and rolled their eyes.

"He deserved it, too! Remember he tried to hex you last week, James?" Peter said, trying to insert himself into the conversation.

Every time Mia managed to forget Peter was there, he did something to remind her. She could not contain her hate for him sometimes; he was the reason that Harry grew up without his parents. He betrayed his best friends who did nothing but love him. She couldn't understand why he would ever do something like that.

Everyone knew that she didn't like Peter very much. No one commented on it because she was never openly hostile with him, just shooting him ugly looks or not including him in her conversations. James had asked her about it once, but she just brushed him off by saying she had a bad feeling about him.

She wasn't sure how long she spent spiralling, but she was shaken out of her reverie by Marlene, who asked, "You ready to go?"

"What?" Mia blinked a couple of times and looked around her. The common room was mostly empty by that point, only a few stragglers trying to finish their homework that was probably due the next day.

"To bed, Mia. It's getting pretty late and I need my beauty sleep." She smirked at Mia, grabbing her hand and dragging her up the stairs.

Mia wasn't sure why, but she felt quite tired that night. She dressed quickly into her pajamas, and went to her bed. Her roommates were all in bed already, and she thought all of them, except Marlene maybe, were asleep.

She closed her curtains and put a silencing spell up. Mia closed her eyes, and she wasn't sure how much time had passed when she opened her eyes and was in Malfoy manor.

She felt the cold floor as she laid sprawled across the drawing room floor. She barely felt it, though, as the cold coming from the knife Bellatrix was lightly scraping on her neck was a million times worse.

"HOW DID YOU GET THIS SWORD?"

"Please… please. It's a replica. I swear. It - it isn't real." she could barely get the words out of her mouth, the pain in her mind almost making her shatter.

"How did you get into my vault? HOW?"

"We didn't go anywhere. I swear."

"You lying little mudblood." Bellatrix pressed the knife a little too strongly, producing a droplet of blood. "I guess we have to teach you a lesson." Bellatrix smiled maniacally, drawing her attention to her arms instead of her throat.

When Bellatrix started carving the foul word into her arm, she could barely breathe. She could hear screaming coming from somewhere, and it took her a minute to realize it was her. Soon, she couldn't feel anything, her body too numb and too tired to do anything but keep her Occlumency working.

She didn't know how long Bellatrix spent on her arm, but suddenly she sat up, turning towards her sister and saying, "Look at my wonderful work, Cissy!" She turned to a figure at the back of the room. "You can have her now. Let's see if she'll tell us the truth after this."

As she saw Greyback looming towards her, the screaming started again, and she tried with all her might to escape, begging her legs to move.

He stood above her, smiling like a wolf smiles at its prey. He started to go down towards her-

Mia shot straight up in her bed. She felt the tears still running down her face, her throat hoarse from the screaming. The blood in her hands from her nails digging into her skin in an attempt to wake her up was nothing new.

She took a few moments to calm down her breathing. Her arm was burning, even though there was no scar there anymore. She knew she would never be able to fall back asleep alone. So, she got her wand, put on some slippers, and left her dormitory as quietly as she could.

She hadn't been to the boys' dormitory's yet, but it didn't take long to find the one that belonged to her boys.

She was as quiet as a mouse when she opened the door and slipped into the room. She thought all the boys were asleep, so she made her way to Jamie's bed when a voice made her jump.

"Kitten? Is that you?" Sirius muttered.

"Did I wake you? I'm so sorry. I just really needed Jamie." Mia thought he could probably see her puffed face and notice the slight tremor to her voice, as his face immediately went from one of confusion to one of worry.

"You didn't wake me, Kitten. Do you need me to do anything? Do you need any help?" She could see that he wasn't really sure what to do.

She shook her head. "Just go back to sleep. Jamie will help." He nodded mutely, settling back into bed, but she noticed that he didn't close his eyes.

Mia slowly approached James' bed and shook him a bit to wake him up.

"Sirius," he grumbled, "It's either too early or too late for us to go to the kitchens. Stop it and let me sleep." He turned to the side, to get away from who he thought was Sirius.

"Jamie?" Her voice broke a bit, and James immediately turned around, alert as he looked at his sister. He scrambled to the other side of the bed to make room for her. Mia silently climbed on, going under the covers.

He quickly inspected her hands, noting that the cuts were not deep and seemed satisfied enough. He knew better at this point than to ask her what happened. He just laid down and opened his arms, allowing his sister to lay down on him.

"Just go back to sleep, Mi. I'm here to protect you. Nothing will happen to you now." He softly said those words over and over again, until he noticed her breathing go even, and allowed himself to go back to sleep as well.

Sirius took a bit longer to fall asleep, not wanting to take his eyes off the small girl who laid curled up in her brother's arms.

-

The next morning, Mia woke before everyone, and after saying a quick goodbye to her brother, she left for her dorm.

It had been a while since she had had a nightmare, certainly not since she arrived at Hogwarts. It left her with a weird feeling as if she ate something bad and couldn't shake the taste of it. Her hands were mostly ok, though, meaning she wouldn't have to make a trip to Madame Pomfrey with a lame excuse on why she needed some dittany.

None of her roommates found it weird that she was already fully dressed and ready before they even woke up, considering her habit of waking up early. Despite her troubles sleeping and waking up early, Mia wasn't really that tired. She sat on her bed while waiting for Lily and Marlene to finish getting ready, reading a book on merpeople customs while putting a ribbon in her hair.

"It's a pity real mermaids don't exist," Lily told her while sitting next to her, nodding towards her book. "There are so many stories of them in the muggle world, and when I was younger I wanted to be one so much." She had a wistful smile on her face.

Mia could only think of how much Lily would love to see The Little Mermaid, who also had red hair. Mia certainly loved it back in her time, not as much as Belle, though. She smiled back at her friend, getting up from bed and getting her things so that they could go down to breakfast.

"Maybe they do, Lils, but we just haven't seen them yet." Lily just gave her that look, the one that Mia knew meant she didn't believe her.

As they made their way down to the Great Hall, Marlene couldn't stop complaining about some homework they had due for their first period.

"I'm just saying it's unfair for him to set an essay for the next day. He should give us at least a couple of days to write it, especially since he asked for seven inches." She grumbled.

"Mar, you literally spent the entire afternoon yesterday in the common room doing nothing. You could've done it then." Mia tried.

Marlene feigned shock. "Excuse you, but I was having some very interesting conversations about Quidditch with your brother. As much as I love you two, it's really annoying how you seem to have zero interest in Quidditch. Honestly, I don't know how it's possible since it is the best sport ever invented by anyone ever."

Mia and Lily shared a look and broke into laughter, having heard this many many times, and not only from Marlene.

The girls settled down into their usual seats and started loading their plates up with food. Mia was glad that since Remus was due to be back today, she didn't have to take notes again for all her classes. She could spend her time researching or doing something more useful.

As soon as she finished eating her chocolate muffin, her boys arrived, as boisterous as ever. She was happy to see that Remus seemed well and that he chose to sit in front of her. She used the opportunity to hand him the notes she took for him.

"You really don't have to keep doing this, Mia." He looked a bit flushed but took the papers anyway. "I can find other ways to catch up."

"Nonsense. I really don't mind, and I know it will be easier for you. Besides, I know you wouldn't be able to live without my little notes on the margins." He grinned at her as she went back to her meal.

"Can I have some secret notes, Kitten?" Sirius was wearing his trademark smirk, but Mia could still see the worry in his eyes. She really hoped that he wouldn't mention what happened last night. She really hated talking about her nightmares.

"Unfortunately, the notes are only for members of the Bookworm Club. You need a certification to be a member and I'm pretty sure you don't have one." Mia joked, earning a laugh from Sirius and a smile from Remus, as he remembered the talk they had a couple of days ago.

"Speaking of," Remus started, "I think you would really like this one." He handed her a small book, and she smiled as she saw the name Little Women on the cover. "It's from a muggle author. Mum loves it so I thought you'd like it as well."

Mia smiled up at him. "Thank you, Remus. I'll get started on it today."

Jamie was trying to steal some food off her plate and she had to bat his hand away. "Seriously, Jamie. The bacon is right in front of you."

"Fair warning for everyone here, never get in between Mia and her bacon. Or her chocolate." He said it with such seriousness that it made everyone around him laugh. Mia bumped shoulders with him, smiling softly as he took some bacon and plopped it onto his plate, giving her a piece.

They all finished eating in comfortable silence and got up to go to their first lesson once the bell rang. Transfiguration was nothing special, but Mia felt quite queasy at what was next.

With all the worry over the full moon, Mia had completely forgotten that they were to have their first flying lesson today. She had been happy to know that they had been completely separated by houses this time and that Gryffindor would be the last one.

Her pulse was running by the time that they arrived at the pitch. She was seriously debating running back to the castle. Maybe that's how she would start exercising, running so that every time she saw a broom she could bolt without a problem.

Jamie could sense her apprehension and grabbed her arm. "Come on, Mi. It won't be that bad."

"Do you think she can just pass me based on your skills?" Mia asked. "We are twins so it shouldn't be much of a problem, right?" That earned a chuckle from a couple of her friends.

"Are you afraid of heights, Kitten?" Sirius appeared next to her, smirking down at her.

"What? No. I'm not scared. I just don't think it's natural for people to fly. If it were we would've been born with wings."

"Don't worry, Kitten. I'll be right there beside you if you want, ready to catch you should you fall."

"Hey Mia, remember that time when we were little when Pa got you a broom and tried to get you to ride it but then you-"

James didn't get to finish his story because Mia started yelling, "James Fleamont Potter! Don't you dare. Unless you want me to tell everyone about that time when Ma was having tea and you-"

Mia didn't get to finish either as James tried to interrupt her. The twins started bickering and their friends just laughed, continuing on their way towards the pitch. By the time that they arrived, the twins were laughing and James had his arm around Mia's shoulders, mostly to keep her from trying to escape.

Once everyone was there, Madame Hooch blew her whistle then said, "Good morning, first years! Today we will be having our first flying lesson. I am aware that many of you already know how to fly and are experienced at it, but please do remember that there are some that do not, so I will expect your full cooperation and patience."

Mia drowned out everything else that Madame Hooch said, as she technically already knew how to fly. She drew in deep breaths and listened as Jamie guided her through the steps. He was already on his broom - completely showing off, in her opinion - and was heading towards Sirius who was also already up in the air.

She couldn't help but feel a little pride coursing through her as the brook rose to meet her hand. She looked towards Remus, thinking he would be in the same situation as her, but found him already flying circles around Sirius and James with Marlene. He seemed so carefree that it was almost easy to forget what he had just been through.

Mia tried to focus again, mounting her broom. She looked towards her boys for support, then slowly started to raise off the ground. She was shaking more than a leaf in the wind, and her boys had to tell her multiple times to calm down.

When she was a couple of feet in the air, she felt a smile bloom on her face, believing she finally managed to properly fly. All it took was one mosquito to get her bumbling and suddenly falling.

She closed her eyes waiting for the impact when a set of arms wrapped around her. Mia mechanically wrapped her own arms around the body of the person who rescued her. Upon opening her eyes, she met the silver ones of Sirius.

"I told you I'd catch you, Kitten." The smirk he gave her made her heart flutter, and she really hoped that he didn't feel it.

"Thank you." She whispered.
He took her towards the ground and she almost jumped off the broom when they were close enough. She noticed that the rest of her friends also landed, and saw James heading their way.

"Merlin, Mia. You almost gave me a fucking heart attack." He did look a bit spooked, checking her to see if she was injured, but he gave her space to get her hair and uniform back under control.

"Language, Jamie." Attempting at a joke to lighten his mood.

He seemed to catch on, because he said, "At least it was better than last time. Remember, when-" He was already laughing when she turned to lightly hit his arm.

Before she could properly retort, Madame Hooch yelled, "That's enough for today, firsties. Please put all the brooms back into the cupboard and have a good day!"

Mia knew that James didn't mean for her to hear, but she smiled softly as she heard James tell Sirius, "Thanks, mate. For catching her. I didn't make it on time."

"Don't worry about it, James."

After doing as they were told, the group of friends made their way back to the castle. It was already lunchtime, and the Great Hall was packed with students.

They took their time eating, and as they got to dessert Jamie poked her and said, "You want to sneak into the kitchens to grab some chocolate cake?"

"Only if you don't tell Sirius where it is." She bargained.

His smirk was all she needed, and they immediately got up and went to leave the table.

"Oy! Where are you two going?" Sirius asked.

Mia turned around with a smirk and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The twins ran out of the Great Hall laughing as if they were children again.