the_debt_of_time

"No!" Mia shouted, pushing herself to stand in between Remus and the headmaster,
as though the little witch could prevent him coming to harm at the hands of the most
powerful wizard in the world. "Sir, he would die."
"And that, perhaps, would keep him most unwilling to reveal what he sees,"
Dumbledore explained in a casual way that made Remus nervous. "But, not only that, it
would prevent you, Miss Potter, from showing him things that perhaps would cause him to
want to reveal the truth and make changes."
Remus watched as Mia narrowed her eyes angrily. Clearly, she knew something
about the future that would, in fact, make Remus want to take action. He tried to put the
thoughts from his head. She would not be able to tell him, and soon he would be bound
to keep the secret himself. What was the purpose in being burdened with the knowledge?
He already wished he did not know her secret as it was.
"His life is quite a bit more precious to you than it is to himself."
Remus noted the calm threat behind the headmaster's words. Dumbledore was
using him as a tool to prevent Mia from revealing too much. Even if Remus himself cared
little for his own life, he knew he would never allow himself to die because of her.
"I'll do it."
Mia turned on him, her eyes pleading with him to fight this alongside her, but
Remus was completely at ease with putting his life on the line on the chance that she would
be able to control what he would learn about the future.
"Fine," Mia agreed, looking positively enraged by the manipulation. "But he is
bound to me, not you," she added, glaring at the headmaster.
Dumbledore nodded politely. "I'll accept that and choose to be the Bonder if you
both agree."
Instantly, Remus and Mia grasped hands, and Mia's eyes lingered on Dumbledore's
wand as it touched them.
"Will you, Remus Lupin, keep the secrets that shall be revealed to you today in
regard to the future?" Mia asked him, her brown eyes connecting with his gaze.
"I will," Remus said, and a thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and
wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire.
"Will you speak the truth only to those who already know it," Mia paused, then
quickly added, "and reveal it only to Sirius Black in fifteen years?"