the_debt_of_time

Remus chuckled at the fact that, even now, she was obeying the rules. "Consider
this a temporary pass to read what you'd like. My Christmas gift to you."
He watched as her small fingers ran over the spines of the tomes, her attention
drawn to a slender book with a red cover. Taboo of Time Magic was written in faded black
ink across the front. She silently opened the book and leafed through it leisurely. Remus
smiled when she grimaced at the notes written in the margins. He wondered if she would
recognise her own handwriting.
On a blank page next to a chapter on Time-Turners were written a series of
advanced Arithmancy equations that he figured would be too advanced for her at this point
in her life. At the bottom of the page, it read: Impossible to move forward followed
by Return? and several faded notes about Portkeys that Remus had transferred to a
notebook that he kept locked up and warded.
"It belonged to a friend of mine."
"Remus, do you have room on your bookshelves?" Mia asked as she walked into his room, a small
red book in her hand.
He sat up from his position on his bed, a novel he had borrowed from Lily in his hands which he
immediately turned away from Mia's gaze, suspiciously placing the cover face down next to him. "Umm...
I suppose so. Have you run out already?"
Mia smirked. "Not yet. But I can't keep this one in our room where Sirius could find it."
"What is it?" Remus asked.
"The only book on time-related magic that Professor Dumbledore could find. When I first arrived
here, I had thought about trying to return to my own time," she explained. "Or at least I tried researching
how. Albus found this book for me, and I tried to figure out how to charm the Time-Turner to go forward."
She handed the book to him, and he thumbed through a few of the pages.
"I assume you couldn't figure it out?"
"Why would you assume that?"
"Because you're still here." Remus chuckled, but he looked up to see her frowning. "What?"
"Remus, I stayed here because I didn't want to leave," she said with a sad smile. "Anyway, I
hadn't finished all the equations on how to return, but I've given you a pretty decent head start on figuring
out how to charm the Time-Turner to send me back in the first place."
Remus nodded, swallowing hard. "I'll keep it safe."