the_debt_of_time

spied on the other Slytherins long enough, she would stumble upon new information,
and that she could bring to the headmaster.
Unfortunately, her efforts were proving fruitless as not a single serpent showed a
hint of a Dark Mark, even in the privacy of their own common room. Mia had gained
access there thanks to James's Invisibility Cloak and an extremely loud second year
Slytherin, who shouted the password before slipping into the snake pit.
What she watched under the protection of the Hallowed Cloak was nothing to write
home about: Regulus bore no Dark Mark on his arm, nor did he indicate that one would
come anytime soon. He and Snape barely ever crossed paths anymore; when they did, it
often resulted in a mild confrontation. It was clear the two Slytherins had exchanged their
youthful alliance for a bitter animosity, which Mia could only assume had to do with
Regulus's choice to attack a particular Muggle-born that Snape still held regard for. Either
way, neither boy spoke a word to the other about it, nor did they say anything in reference
to Voldemort or other known Death Eaters.
Her poor eating habits and lack of sleep began to rival those of her first experience
in using a Time-Turner during her original third year. She was stretched to the breaking
point; exhausted and suffering from all her efforts to change the future. Few asked her
about it aside from occasionally questioning how she was sleeping and if she had eaten
anything that day. Remus was hovering more than usual, despite her efforts to get some
space from him and everyone else in Gryffindor Tower.
Early June found Mia at the Astronomy Tower, gazing up at the stars in a daze. A
cool breeze soothed the skin around her eyes that had become sore from rubbing away the
exhaustion. Leaning against the rail, she glanced straight down to the ground several
hundred feet below.
Curiously, she looked at her right forearm where a new triangular-shaped scar sat
on her skin, shiny and white. She scratched at the mark, bitterly recalling how stupid she
had felt when she received it during her original sixth year. A stray hex courtesy of Death
Eaters in the castle that had been let in by Draco. Dumbledore was dead, but no one had
known that yet, so they fought on—she, Ron, Luna, and Ginny—side by side with the
Order of the Phoenix.
The hex hit her from around a corner; had the older Remus Lupin not knocked her
to the side, it would have struck her in the chest instead of her forearm where the scar now