I get asked so many questions about Debt of Time that I decided to put together a Frequently Asked Questions page for my stories. If you have NOT read Debt of Time yet, DO NOT read below because it will reveal so many spoilers:
Because Debt of Time is so long, I’ve split the FAQs into the individual parts as well.
Part One - The Life Debt
Q. Is the Cadmus in the book that Hermione is reading the same Cadmus from the Tale of Three Brothers?
A. Yes. I really enjoy weaving canon into my stories rather than make up brand new characters. Almost every single character (with the exception of house-elves) is based on or related to a canon character mentioned in the series.
Q. Is Tonks really Remus’s mate?
A. Yes. Absolutely.
Q. What Life Debt does Sirius owe Hermione?
A. In Prisoner of Azkaban, when Sirius is imprisoned inside Hogwarts waiting for Dementors, it’s Hermione who uses a spell to break him out. This is where the Life Debt happened.
Q. Do life debts apply to family members, and if so, doesn’t Sirius also owe Harry a Life Debt from when Harry saves him from the Dementors?
A. Life Debts happen quite a lot in the series if we think about it. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that people who haven’t learned much about it (like Harry) would really even think about. Even Hermione has to research to discover what can be done with a Life Debt.
Q. Is Bill a part of Remus’s Pack?
A. Yes. However, there is a difference between Marked members of the Pack and kind of … adopted members. Remus’s Pack consists of Sirius, James, and Hermione. Anyone connected to them (spouses and children) are automatically brought into the Pack as well. Bill qualifies because Remus took him under his wing a bit when Bill was attacked by Fenrir.
Q. Why does Sirius hide the Potter family page in the Genealogy book?
A. Because he doesn’t want Harry or Hermione to see Mia’s name in next to James’s since Harry has never been told that his father had a sister.
Q. At the end of Part One, did Snape almost call Hermione Miss Potter?
A. Yes. Snape eventually figured out that Hermione Granger and Mia Potter were the same person when he saw Sirius and Hermione together and how they acted around one another. It also helped that the charm placed on Hermione every year to keep her under the radar of people who knew Mia Potter, wasn’t renewed at the beginning of the 7th Year, because Hermione and the boys never returned to Hogwarts.
Part Two - The Time-Turner
Q. Couldn’t Sirius and Remus have told Hermione their plans for sending her back in time?
A. No, because this story is running on a time loop. Nothing changes. It’s similar to what happened in Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry was able to cast his Patronus, because he’d already seen it being done before going back in time. Hermione goes back in time exactly in this way because Mia Potter told Remus exactly how it happened. It’s not one of those “let’s change the future” stories. It’s a “everything that happens happens because you try to change things” stories.
Q. Weren’t James’s parents Fleamont and Euphemia?
A. Not in my stories. Anything released by JKR after Deathly Hallows is taken with a grain of salt. While it’s considered canon, I wrote Debt of Time before the Potter family history was released, and I do not plan on changing it.
Q. How do you pronounce Mia?
A. This is my MOST asked question. I personally pronounce it My-uh. Because of how Hermione is pronounce. I know some readers pronounce it Mee-uh, and frankly, that’s fine. It’s not like this is going to be turned into a movie or anything.
Q. When Mia picked up her wand, you talk about two other wands. Who do those belong to?
A. The first is a “sister” wand of the one that Mia picks up and that is the wand that eventually goes to a young Hermione Granger, so Mia and Hermione essentially have the same wand with just a length difference. The other wand that Ollivander says he recently sold to a young Muggle-born, went to Lily Evans.
Q. Is Mia’s animosity toward Peter the reason that he turns traitor?
A. It’s one of the reasons that he becomes the way he does, yes. Every person that we interact with in formative years has an effect on how we grow and change. However, Peter had a lot going against him including a dark family background that his friends never really knew about. Mia didn’t completely create the Death Eater Peter Pettigrew, but she also made the mistake in not reaching out more to try and persuade him to not become that.
Q. Okay, but how old is Hermione really now? And isn’t it creepy for her to date the Marauders at this age?
A. Because of the De-Ageing Potion, Hermione/Mia is physically/emotionally the same age as the Marauders. She has the mental memories of the future, and her magic responds the same, but she is technically their age. So no, it’s not some creepy twenty-something Hermione hitting on a fourteen-year-old Remus and Sirius.
Q. Why doesn’t Frank share a room with the Marauders if he’s in Gryffindor too?
A. Because the rooms are only so big. Frank ended up in another dorm room with the rest of the Gryffindor boys in their year.
Q. In Chapter 28, Mia makes a big deal out of July 31st. Why is that?
A. That’s Harry’s birthday.
Q. If Hermione knows that she’s supposed to be with Sirius in the future, why does she date Remus?
A. Because the rarity of someone dating only one person in school and then marrying that person is just … so low. Sirius and Remus sent her back because Hermione going back in time was her chance at a semi-normal childhood without constantly having life and death situations and needing to look after Harry. It’s also a big question regarding fate versus choice. Should she be with Sirius because that’s what she’s supposed to do, or should she learn to make decisions on her own. The same question applies to Remus regarding his future mate.
Q. Why didn’t the boys invite Mia to become an Animagus with them?
A. A big reason is because Remus was feeling emasculated over Mia constantly taking care of him. The other reason is that despite being close with her, Mia is not a Marauder. She has friends of her own, and while the boys are the most important to her and she to them, they still have their little boys club.
Q. Why did you have Hermione learn to become an Animagus so quickly? She’s too powerful and it makes the fact that three boys became Animagi on their own not as special as before?
A. Hermione/Mia is so powerful because, while she’s technically the same age as the Marauders, her magic is older. She IS stronger than they are. It doesn’t overshadow the fact that three boys were able to become Animagi on their own. If anything, they are more impressive than Hermione/Mia because their magic is younger.
Q. Why do Sirius and Remus fight over Mia but then push her toward the other one?
A. Because both boys think they are not good for her. Remus is a werewolf and Sirius feels tainted by his dark family. They want what is best for Mia, which they think is the other. That being said, when the other boy isn’t acting right, they get angry because they do love Mia and feel that they’ve sacrificed their own love for her in order to keep her happy with the other. Boys are silly and dramatic.
Q. Why did Hermione/Mia’s Patronus change to a fox?
A. I thought a fox fit her well for her Animagus form and Patronus. I also wanted her to be closer to canine. Hermione fits an otter so very well, but she’s not just Hermione anymore. She’s Mia Potter who grew up with the greatest mischief makers, and was raised by Dorea Potter. A sly fox seemed a good fit.
Q. Did you research wolf pack behavior for this story?
A. Quite a lot actually.
Q. Do you go by the books or movies for canon?
A. A bit of both. I use whatever I feel fits the scene.
Q. Why do Sirius and Mia get upset that the other is having sex with other people but then they go and sleep with Remus (Mia) and all the Ravenclaws (Sirius)?
A. Because they are teenagers and teenagers are reckless, stupid, emotional hypocrites. Every character in this story makes LOADS of mistakes. People they are people. I really wanted everyone to have both a dark and a light side to show how human they are. That people who do stupid things can still be good people.
Q. What’s with all the sex without being in a committed relationship? And why does she sleep with BOTH Remus and Sirius?
A. Because I don’t slut shame anyone, and that includes fictional characters.
Q. Why does Fenrir want to bring Remus into his Pack?
A. Because Fenrir bit Remus to ruin the Lupin’s lives, and if Remus is just having a good old time at Hogwarts, hiding his Lycanthropy, then he sees that as an affront. Fenrir HATES wizards and werewolves who don’t embrace their inner wolf.
Q. Why was Mia mad at the boys for what they did to Snape when she already knew it would happen?
A. Because while we know everything that happens, it’s impossible to remember every little detail of every little thing and date for each character. Plus, it’s one thing for Mia to KNOW that things will/have happen/ed, but seeing it first hand is something entirely different.
Q. Why did no one ever tell Harry that he had an aunt?
A. Because what little information Harry was ever told about his family were about his parents and usually by Remus and Sirius. The only time anyone even mentioned his grandparents are when Sirius tells Harry that he lived with the Potters after leaving Grimmauld Place.
Q. Why was Narcissa in the hospital?
A. Because she miscarried.
Q. Why didn’t Dumbledore just Obliviate her to keep her from telling the truth about the future?
A. Because Dumbledore is manipulative in a way where he thinks he’s still doing the right thing. Taking away someone’s memories? Horrible! But spelling them so that they can’t speak the truth? Oh, well, that might as well be a silly little Silencing Spell. It’s kind of along the same lines as, Why are the Unforgiveables Unforgiveable when a person could use a Slicing Hex to murder someone? Also, I think that Dumbledore wants to keep the future intact, but keeps Mia around as a backup plan just in case he changes his mind.
Q. Who tried to kill Lily in the Black Lake?
A. Regulus.
Q. What kills Hope and Dorea? I’m confused.
A. When Death Eaters attack St. Mungo’s, Hope is caught in an explosion in the ward where she’s being kept because she’s sick. Dorea, however, dies of being exposed to Dragon Pox. While it could be cured, this was biological warfare. It’s not stated specifically, but Abraxas Malfoy was working on that for Voldemort, and the vile that he dropped was a concentrated version of the disease. Those nearby, including Dorea, were fatally exposed to it.
Q. When did Lily find out about Remus?
A. I imagine shortly after the Marauders did. She’s very observant, but kept her lips shut about it because she figured that Remus would have told her if he wanted her to know.
Q. What does Padfoot look like?
A. I imagine something close to what Prisoner of Azkaban had in the movie, only shaggier and much bigger. In the US version of the books, he’s described as “bear-like”. Maybe like what you’d get if you bred a Newfoundland with an Irish Wolfhound.
Q. What does Moony look like?
A. NOT like the movies. I’m not a fan of that. In the books, werewolves are described as looking just like a normal wolf except that they are much larger, and have a shorter snout and a tuft tail. So basically like that.
Q. Why didn’t Mia or Sirius turn into a werewolf when Remus bit them during the Pack binding?
A. One, Remus only bit Mia. Because James and Sirius were already technically Pack members, the Mark was just displayed on them. Two, Mia didn’t become a werewolf because Remus wasn’t a fully transformed werewolf at the time. She’s much like Bill Weasley.
Q. What happened to Mia’s cat, Snuffles?
A. At Hogwarts, the cat just roamed the castle (which is why I rarely wrote about it), and then eventually it moved into the flat with Remus, Sirius, and Mia until Sirius gave it to Lily. After the battle at Godric’s Hollow, I imagine the cat ran away from the destroyed cottage and became a menace to the village.
Q. Did Death Eaters kill Lily’s parents?
A. While it’s hinted at, no one ever finds out. It’s one of those “leave it up to the readers” things.
Q. So who really is better in bed? Remus or Sirius?
A. Who do you want it to be?
Q. OMG what does the sand in the Time-Turner mean?
A. A countdown of the minutes that Mia has left in 1979. The Time-Turner was triggered because Hermione Granger was conceived and the two Hermione’s cannot exist in the same world as one another because it would create a paradox.
Q. What’s the deal with Pandora and Luna losing their mother’s at that age?
A. It’s just something I created. There’s lot of old mythology where certain families are cursed. I imagine that this was similar and that’s how Pandora and Luna get their “Seer” abilities after suffering a tragedy. Something that passes from mother to daughter.
Q. Did Peter really kill Mary?
A. Yes. Wilkes was actually innocent.
Q. If Mia and Sirius and some of the others have killed people, why aren’t their souls broken like Voldemort’s?
A. Remorse. It’s all about the reason that they kill people. It’s war, and they don’t relish the kill in the same way that Voldemort does.
Q. Why didn’t Peter tell Voldemort that Snape had defected?
A. Snape played both sides of the war so Voldemort knew that Snape was at Order meetings, except Voldemort thought that Snape was spying FOR him instead of ON him.
Q. If Peter was a Death Eater, why didn’t Snape tell the Order about him?
A. I imagine Voldemort kept Peter as a secret backup plan just in case Snape did turn on him.
Q. Why didn’t Remus and Sirius trust one another like Mia told them to?
A. Because dumb boys are dumb. Because she wasn’t there as that constant reminder, and Sirius didn’t know where she went, and Remus began doubting that he’d done the right thing in sending her back. Because it was war and everything was on the line and both men were known to be rash and reckless and have terrible tempers. Plus, both went undercover in dark communities and then stopped speaking to the other. It’s easy to lose touch with friends that way and begin to think the worst.
Q. Why did Sirius sleep with Marlene?!
A. Because Sirius has a drinking problem and he didn’t know it was Marlene at the time. Sirius doesn’t handle grief very well.
Q. How did Mia duplicate the Potter bracelet for Lily? Wouldn't an heirloom have Goblic magic on it preventing it from being copied?
A: In my mind, I imagined that family magic superseded anything else placed on the item.
Part Three - The Promise
Q. Why didn’t Remus use the money that Mia left for him?
A. Because werewolf legislation prevented him from accessing it.
Q. Why didn’t Remus smell Sirius and Peter at Hogwarts?
A. He did. But this is a place that is layered with memories and history and he very likely can still smell James if he thinks on it hard enough. Plus, when you’ve been told that someone you know is dead and has been dead for twelve years, your brain doesn’t automatically go “I smell Peter!” it goes “I smell something that once smelled like Peter.”
Q. Why did Sirius not smell Hermione/Mia?
A. He did. But remember that Sirius has spent 12 years in Azkaban and is not exactly right in the head. What’s worse is that he’s aware of it. Any thought of Mia being alive, Sirius likely thought, “Well, that’s just me being crazy again.”
Q. Why don’t Bill and Charlie recognize Hermione from when they were kids?
A. Because they met her once in passing and they were children. Do you know how many family reunions I’ve been to and I don’t know a single damn person yet they do the whole “Oh I remember you when you were just a little girl.”
Q. Doesn’t Sirius remember meeting Hermione’s father?
A. Nope. Random Muggle in a bar? Plus, since Mia vanished later that night, Sirius had much bigger things on his mind.
Q. You got Sirius’s birthday wrong?
A. That’s because I wrote this before JKR released it. And no, I’m not changing it.
Part Four - The Soul Bond
Q. So is she Hermione or Mia now that she’s returned to 1998?
A. Both. They are the same person.
Q. How old is Hermione/Mia?
A. She is nineteen physically. She has the memories of about twenty-eight years or so, but she is nineteen.
Q. Are her eyes permanently amber now?
A: Yes. The little bit of werewolf that she got during the Pack Bond ritual made her amber eyes permanent.
Q. What’s with the Ron bashing?
A. *sigh* Okay, so here’s the thing. Ron comes into his own during Deathly Hallows. After he leaves Harry and Hermione and eventually comes back, it’s Ron who kind of keeps up their spirits and forces the trio to move forward in the Horcrux hunt. That didn’t happen this time around because it was Sirius who was in charge. So when Ron returned, there was still just a lot of tension and Hermione and Harry both had Sirius. So Ron didn’t get his big “grow up” moment in one large dose. It comes later over small bits and pieces after the war. I’m not bashing, I’m progressively forcing him to grow up by making Mia mean to him. And at this point, she is more Mia than Hermione. She is not still Ron’s friend. There’s also the big issue where Ron is not Pack, and as an Animagus who is very in touch with that part of her, she’s wary of people who aren’t directly connected to her that way.
Q. How long did it take you to write this?
A. About eight months.
Because Debt of Time is so long, I’ve split the FAQs into the individual parts as well.
Part One - The Life Debt
Q. Is the Cadmus in the book that Hermione is reading the same Cadmus from the Tale of Three Brothers?
A. Yes. I really enjoy weaving canon into my stories rather than make up brand new characters. Almost every single character (with the exception of house-elves) is based on or related to a canon character mentioned in the series.
Q. Is Tonks really Remus’s mate?
A. Yes. Absolutely.
Q. What Life Debt does Sirius owe Hermione?
A. In Prisoner of Azkaban, when Sirius is imprisoned inside Hogwarts waiting for Dementors, it’s Hermione who uses a spell to break him out. This is where the Life Debt happened.
Q. Do life debts apply to family members, and if so, doesn’t Sirius also owe Harry a Life Debt from when Harry saves him from the Dementors?
A. Life Debts happen quite a lot in the series if we think about it. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that people who haven’t learned much about it (like Harry) would really even think about. Even Hermione has to research to discover what can be done with a Life Debt.
Q. Is Bill a part of Remus’s Pack?
A. Yes. However, there is a difference between Marked members of the Pack and kind of … adopted members. Remus’s Pack consists of Sirius, James, and Hermione. Anyone connected to them (spouses and children) are automatically brought into the Pack as well. Bill qualifies because Remus took him under his wing a bit when Bill was attacked by Fenrir.
Q. Why does Sirius hide the Potter family page in the Genealogy book?
A. Because he doesn’t want Harry or Hermione to see Mia’s name in next to James’s since Harry has never been told that his father had a sister.
Q. At the end of Part One, did Snape almost call Hermione Miss Potter?
A. Yes. Snape eventually figured out that Hermione Granger and Mia Potter were the same person when he saw Sirius and Hermione together and how they acted around one another. It also helped that the charm placed on Hermione every year to keep her under the radar of people who knew Mia Potter, wasn’t renewed at the beginning of the 7th Year, because Hermione and the boys never returned to Hogwarts.
Part Two - The Time-Turner
Q. Couldn’t Sirius and Remus have told Hermione their plans for sending her back in time?
A. No, because this story is running on a time loop. Nothing changes. It’s similar to what happened in Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry was able to cast his Patronus, because he’d already seen it being done before going back in time. Hermione goes back in time exactly in this way because Mia Potter told Remus exactly how it happened. It’s not one of those “let’s change the future” stories. It’s a “everything that happens happens because you try to change things” stories.
Q. Weren’t James’s parents Fleamont and Euphemia?
A. Not in my stories. Anything released by JKR after Deathly Hallows is taken with a grain of salt. While it’s considered canon, I wrote Debt of Time before the Potter family history was released, and I do not plan on changing it.
Q. How do you pronounce Mia?
A. This is my MOST asked question. I personally pronounce it My-uh. Because of how Hermione is pronounce. I know some readers pronounce it Mee-uh, and frankly, that’s fine. It’s not like this is going to be turned into a movie or anything.
Q. When Mia picked up her wand, you talk about two other wands. Who do those belong to?
A. The first is a “sister” wand of the one that Mia picks up and that is the wand that eventually goes to a young Hermione Granger, so Mia and Hermione essentially have the same wand with just a length difference. The other wand that Ollivander says he recently sold to a young Muggle-born, went to Lily Evans.
Q. Is Mia’s animosity toward Peter the reason that he turns traitor?
A. It’s one of the reasons that he becomes the way he does, yes. Every person that we interact with in formative years has an effect on how we grow and change. However, Peter had a lot going against him including a dark family background that his friends never really knew about. Mia didn’t completely create the Death Eater Peter Pettigrew, but she also made the mistake in not reaching out more to try and persuade him to not become that.
Q. Okay, but how old is Hermione really now? And isn’t it creepy for her to date the Marauders at this age?
A. Because of the De-Ageing Potion, Hermione/Mia is physically/emotionally the same age as the Marauders. She has the mental memories of the future, and her magic responds the same, but she is technically their age. So no, it’s not some creepy twenty-something Hermione hitting on a fourteen-year-old Remus and Sirius.
Q. Why doesn’t Frank share a room with the Marauders if he’s in Gryffindor too?
A. Because the rooms are only so big. Frank ended up in another dorm room with the rest of the Gryffindor boys in their year.
Q. In Chapter 28, Mia makes a big deal out of July 31st. Why is that?
A. That’s Harry’s birthday.
Q. If Hermione knows that she’s supposed to be with Sirius in the future, why does she date Remus?
A. Because the rarity of someone dating only one person in school and then marrying that person is just … so low. Sirius and Remus sent her back because Hermione going back in time was her chance at a semi-normal childhood without constantly having life and death situations and needing to look after Harry. It’s also a big question regarding fate versus choice. Should she be with Sirius because that’s what she’s supposed to do, or should she learn to make decisions on her own. The same question applies to Remus regarding his future mate.
Q. Why didn’t the boys invite Mia to become an Animagus with them?
A. A big reason is because Remus was feeling emasculated over Mia constantly taking care of him. The other reason is that despite being close with her, Mia is not a Marauder. She has friends of her own, and while the boys are the most important to her and she to them, they still have their little boys club.
Q. Why did you have Hermione learn to become an Animagus so quickly? She’s too powerful and it makes the fact that three boys became Animagi on their own not as special as before?
A. Hermione/Mia is so powerful because, while she’s technically the same age as the Marauders, her magic is older. She IS stronger than they are. It doesn’t overshadow the fact that three boys were able to become Animagi on their own. If anything, they are more impressive than Hermione/Mia because their magic is younger.
Q. Why do Sirius and Remus fight over Mia but then push her toward the other one?
A. Because both boys think they are not good for her. Remus is a werewolf and Sirius feels tainted by his dark family. They want what is best for Mia, which they think is the other. That being said, when the other boy isn’t acting right, they get angry because they do love Mia and feel that they’ve sacrificed their own love for her in order to keep her happy with the other. Boys are silly and dramatic.
Q. Why did Hermione/Mia’s Patronus change to a fox?
A. I thought a fox fit her well for her Animagus form and Patronus. I also wanted her to be closer to canine. Hermione fits an otter so very well, but she’s not just Hermione anymore. She’s Mia Potter who grew up with the greatest mischief makers, and was raised by Dorea Potter. A sly fox seemed a good fit.
Q. Did you research wolf pack behavior for this story?
A. Quite a lot actually.
Q. Do you go by the books or movies for canon?
A. A bit of both. I use whatever I feel fits the scene.
Q. Why do Sirius and Mia get upset that the other is having sex with other people but then they go and sleep with Remus (Mia) and all the Ravenclaws (Sirius)?
A. Because they are teenagers and teenagers are reckless, stupid, emotional hypocrites. Every character in this story makes LOADS of mistakes. People they are people. I really wanted everyone to have both a dark and a light side to show how human they are. That people who do stupid things can still be good people.
Q. What’s with all the sex without being in a committed relationship? And why does she sleep with BOTH Remus and Sirius?
A. Because I don’t slut shame anyone, and that includes fictional characters.
Q. Why does Fenrir want to bring Remus into his Pack?
A. Because Fenrir bit Remus to ruin the Lupin’s lives, and if Remus is just having a good old time at Hogwarts, hiding his Lycanthropy, then he sees that as an affront. Fenrir HATES wizards and werewolves who don’t embrace their inner wolf.
Q. Why was Mia mad at the boys for what they did to Snape when she already knew it would happen?
A. Because while we know everything that happens, it’s impossible to remember every little detail of every little thing and date for each character. Plus, it’s one thing for Mia to KNOW that things will/have happen/ed, but seeing it first hand is something entirely different.
Q. Why did no one ever tell Harry that he had an aunt?
A. Because what little information Harry was ever told about his family were about his parents and usually by Remus and Sirius. The only time anyone even mentioned his grandparents are when Sirius tells Harry that he lived with the Potters after leaving Grimmauld Place.
Q. Why was Narcissa in the hospital?
A. Because she miscarried.
Q. Why didn’t Dumbledore just Obliviate her to keep her from telling the truth about the future?
A. Because Dumbledore is manipulative in a way where he thinks he’s still doing the right thing. Taking away someone’s memories? Horrible! But spelling them so that they can’t speak the truth? Oh, well, that might as well be a silly little Silencing Spell. It’s kind of along the same lines as, Why are the Unforgiveables Unforgiveable when a person could use a Slicing Hex to murder someone? Also, I think that Dumbledore wants to keep the future intact, but keeps Mia around as a backup plan just in case he changes his mind.
Q. Who tried to kill Lily in the Black Lake?
A. Regulus.
Q. What kills Hope and Dorea? I’m confused.
A. When Death Eaters attack St. Mungo’s, Hope is caught in an explosion in the ward where she’s being kept because she’s sick. Dorea, however, dies of being exposed to Dragon Pox. While it could be cured, this was biological warfare. It’s not stated specifically, but Abraxas Malfoy was working on that for Voldemort, and the vile that he dropped was a concentrated version of the disease. Those nearby, including Dorea, were fatally exposed to it.
Q. When did Lily find out about Remus?
A. I imagine shortly after the Marauders did. She’s very observant, but kept her lips shut about it because she figured that Remus would have told her if he wanted her to know.
Q. What does Padfoot look like?
A. I imagine something close to what Prisoner of Azkaban had in the movie, only shaggier and much bigger. In the US version of the books, he’s described as “bear-like”. Maybe like what you’d get if you bred a Newfoundland with an Irish Wolfhound.
Q. What does Moony look like?
A. NOT like the movies. I’m not a fan of that. In the books, werewolves are described as looking just like a normal wolf except that they are much larger, and have a shorter snout and a tuft tail. So basically like that.
Q. Why didn’t Mia or Sirius turn into a werewolf when Remus bit them during the Pack binding?
A. One, Remus only bit Mia. Because James and Sirius were already technically Pack members, the Mark was just displayed on them. Two, Mia didn’t become a werewolf because Remus wasn’t a fully transformed werewolf at the time. She’s much like Bill Weasley.
Q. What happened to Mia’s cat, Snuffles?
A. At Hogwarts, the cat just roamed the castle (which is why I rarely wrote about it), and then eventually it moved into the flat with Remus, Sirius, and Mia until Sirius gave it to Lily. After the battle at Godric’s Hollow, I imagine the cat ran away from the destroyed cottage and became a menace to the village.
Q. Did Death Eaters kill Lily’s parents?
A. While it’s hinted at, no one ever finds out. It’s one of those “leave it up to the readers” things.
Q. So who really is better in bed? Remus or Sirius?
A. Who do you want it to be?
Q. OMG what does the sand in the Time-Turner mean?
A. A countdown of the minutes that Mia has left in 1979. The Time-Turner was triggered because Hermione Granger was conceived and the two Hermione’s cannot exist in the same world as one another because it would create a paradox.
Q. What’s the deal with Pandora and Luna losing their mother’s at that age?
A. It’s just something I created. There’s lot of old mythology where certain families are cursed. I imagine that this was similar and that’s how Pandora and Luna get their “Seer” abilities after suffering a tragedy. Something that passes from mother to daughter.
Q. Did Peter really kill Mary?
A. Yes. Wilkes was actually innocent.
Q. If Mia and Sirius and some of the others have killed people, why aren’t their souls broken like Voldemort’s?
A. Remorse. It’s all about the reason that they kill people. It’s war, and they don’t relish the kill in the same way that Voldemort does.
Q. Why didn’t Peter tell Voldemort that Snape had defected?
A. Snape played both sides of the war so Voldemort knew that Snape was at Order meetings, except Voldemort thought that Snape was spying FOR him instead of ON him.
Q. If Peter was a Death Eater, why didn’t Snape tell the Order about him?
A. I imagine Voldemort kept Peter as a secret backup plan just in case Snape did turn on him.
Q. Why didn’t Remus and Sirius trust one another like Mia told them to?
A. Because dumb boys are dumb. Because she wasn’t there as that constant reminder, and Sirius didn’t know where she went, and Remus began doubting that he’d done the right thing in sending her back. Because it was war and everything was on the line and both men were known to be rash and reckless and have terrible tempers. Plus, both went undercover in dark communities and then stopped speaking to the other. It’s easy to lose touch with friends that way and begin to think the worst.
Q. Why did Sirius sleep with Marlene?!
A. Because Sirius has a drinking problem and he didn’t know it was Marlene at the time. Sirius doesn’t handle grief very well.
Q. How did Mia duplicate the Potter bracelet for Lily? Wouldn't an heirloom have Goblic magic on it preventing it from being copied?
A: In my mind, I imagined that family magic superseded anything else placed on the item.
Part Three - The Promise
Q. Why didn’t Remus use the money that Mia left for him?
A. Because werewolf legislation prevented him from accessing it.
Q. Why didn’t Remus smell Sirius and Peter at Hogwarts?
A. He did. But this is a place that is layered with memories and history and he very likely can still smell James if he thinks on it hard enough. Plus, when you’ve been told that someone you know is dead and has been dead for twelve years, your brain doesn’t automatically go “I smell Peter!” it goes “I smell something that once smelled like Peter.”
Q. Why did Sirius not smell Hermione/Mia?
A. He did. But remember that Sirius has spent 12 years in Azkaban and is not exactly right in the head. What’s worse is that he’s aware of it. Any thought of Mia being alive, Sirius likely thought, “Well, that’s just me being crazy again.”
Q. Why don’t Bill and Charlie recognize Hermione from when they were kids?
A. Because they met her once in passing and they were children. Do you know how many family reunions I’ve been to and I don’t know a single damn person yet they do the whole “Oh I remember you when you were just a little girl.”
Q. Doesn’t Sirius remember meeting Hermione’s father?
A. Nope. Random Muggle in a bar? Plus, since Mia vanished later that night, Sirius had much bigger things on his mind.
Q. You got Sirius’s birthday wrong?
A. That’s because I wrote this before JKR released it. And no, I’m not changing it.
Part Four - The Soul Bond
Q. So is she Hermione or Mia now that she’s returned to 1998?
A. Both. They are the same person.
Q. How old is Hermione/Mia?
A. She is nineteen physically. She has the memories of about twenty-eight years or so, but she is nineteen.
Q. Are her eyes permanently amber now?
A: Yes. The little bit of werewolf that she got during the Pack Bond ritual made her amber eyes permanent.
Q. What’s with the Ron bashing?
A. *sigh* Okay, so here’s the thing. Ron comes into his own during Deathly Hallows. After he leaves Harry and Hermione and eventually comes back, it’s Ron who kind of keeps up their spirits and forces the trio to move forward in the Horcrux hunt. That didn’t happen this time around because it was Sirius who was in charge. So when Ron returned, there was still just a lot of tension and Hermione and Harry both had Sirius. So Ron didn’t get his big “grow up” moment in one large dose. It comes later over small bits and pieces after the war. I’m not bashing, I’m progressively forcing him to grow up by making Mia mean to him. And at this point, she is more Mia than Hermione. She is not still Ron’s friend. There’s also the big issue where Ron is not Pack, and as an Animagus who is very in touch with that part of her, she’s wary of people who aren’t directly connected to her that way.
Q. How long did it take you to write this?
A. About eight months.