the_debt_of_time

"You are the best friend I've ever had, and I have missed you so much!" he declared
as he set her back down on her feet.
"Good." She grinned at him. "Then you can go and do the shopping for me. I don't
think I'm ready to go outside yet," she admitted, her smile breaking a touch. "If I run into
someone I know, I... I don't know how I'll react. I know we'll need to tell people, but I
don't even know where to start."
"Ron and Ginny would be a good place," Harry suggested.
Mia blinked a few times, almost as though the thought had not even occurred to
her. "I suppose. I'd thought to get the whole Weasley family out of the way at the same
time considering they'll all have about a thousand questions, but Ron will be quite put out
if he isn't told separately, won't he?"
Harry agreed. "You know how he is."
"Yes," Mia said, feeling bad that she had actually forgotten. Being around Arthur so
much had all but recalibrated Weasley tempers in her mind. Arthur was on one far end of
the spectrum with Ron at the other. "And while I tolerated it before... Maybe after Ron
and Ginny, we could just call an Order meeting? I'd like Andromeda, Narcissa, and Draco
to be there as well."
Harry furrowed his brows. "Why? I mean, I get Andromeda, but the Malfoys?"
"They're family," Mia said firmly. "Harry, you know that Narcissa was a Black before
she married Lucius."
"But she did marry Lucius, and he was a Death Eater," he reminded her. "You want
to invite the Malfoys to an Order meeting? I know technically Malfoy was a spy, but they
weren't entirely on our side... not like―"
"There are no longer sides, Harry," Mia said, cutting him off. "The war is over, the
Malfoys are family, and my word is final. Is that clear?"
Harry was left speechless. He briefly looked to Remus for help but was offered
none. Mia knew that she had reprimanded him over the years, but there had always been a
softness behind it. Ever since the Firebolt incident in their third year, she had often worried
that if she pushed him too far, he would stop being her friend. Now, however, he was not
just her best friend, he was family, and Harry could stomp his feet all he liked, but he would
never be rid of her now. Because of that—and due to years of thinning patience, thanks to
James and Sirius—Mia's tone brokered no argument.