the_debt_of_time

Headmaster of Hogwarts. At least then your pawns would have been bureaucratic adults
and not innocent children eager to prove their worth to you."
"Am I really so terrible in the future?" Dumbledore frowned, looking genuinely sad
and concerned for whatever actions had caused her to speak to him in such a way.
Mia shook her head in exasperation. "With all due respect, sir―" Which she did not
think was very much at this precise moment in time. "—you're not exactly that terrific in
the present." Before speaking again, she tried to work in the loopholes of the spell so as
not to exert herself further. "When the guilt over the losses you've accumulated from this
war becomes too much for you, please remember this feeling. Remember what it feels like
to... to be alone." She thought of Harry. "To not have all the information available to you
and still feel the weight of the world on your shoulders."
He looked to be contemplating her words deeply, and he silently nodded in
agreement before reaching for his wand. "If you don't mind."
Mia rolled her eyes. As though she had a choice. Dumbledore waved the Elder
Wand over her head, and she felt a slow tingle drift through her mind as the truth barriers
that were in place strengthened.
Once the magic settled, she stood tall once more. "Breaking your spell has given me
something to do all day other than file paperwork," she admitted with a shrug of her
shoulders, not wanting to show him how much energy she lost just by uttering those few
earlier confessions. "Happy Christmas, Albus."
Mia pushed her way through the crowd and followed the scent of tobacco to the
small porch outside the back door. She smiled at the sight of Sirius leaning over the railing
with a cigarette in hand, his long black hair hanging over his shoulders. Lily had recently
insisted that he cut it, and Mia had threatened to duel her friend over the slight. Sirius was
beautiful and perfect, and if anyone had anything to say about how a wizard wore their
hair, it was not Lily Evans, who was often caught staring at the cowlick on the back of
James's head.
"You all right, kitten?" Sirius asked as he turned, watching her approach. He offered
her a cigarette which she silently refused. She only tended to smoke in moments of great
stress and nagged him, more often than not, the rest of the time for his terrible
habit. Hypocrite was becoming a term of endearment.
"Fine. You?"