Where It Stays | J. POTTER [1]

9 | betrothed

"Rabastan Lestrange, meet my daughter Mayalyn Black," Walburga announced. They had returned home for break and things had gone surprisingly okay up till Christmas Day.

Maya glanced back at Sirius who was watching the scene play out in bewilderment. He was completely unaware of what was happening as well.

"Um, it's nice to meet you?" Maya tried but it came out more as a question than a statement. Walburga glared at the girl and she quickly righted herself, "I mean...hello."

"Much better," her mother applauded.

"I don't mean to be rude but..." she trailed off, hoping her mother knew she was genuinely just confused, "But what exactly are you doing here?"

The boy opened his mouth to reply but Walburga spoke before he could. "This is the man you are to marry," she explained and Maya gaped at her mother.

"What?" she asked, hoping that she had just completely misheard her.

"Don't 'what' me girl," she practically hissed, "You heard me."

"I am not marrying him," Maya shook her head, "I'm sixteen years old."

"Oh, please," her mother rolled her eyes, "It doesn't have to happen today. You should be grateful that I've secured you a marriage with another pureblood."

"Grateful?" she all but scoffed, "Grateful my ass. I am not marrying him. Not now. Not ever."

Walburga was in front of her in a flash and had the girls chin gripped in her hand. Maya tried her best to look away but failed, "Watch your tone with me girl." Her grip tightened and Maya had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from making any noise. Her mother's voice dropped to a whisper, "You are treading on dangerous grounds."

Maya remained silent and Walburga released the girl roughly, causing her to stumble slightly, "I'm sure you've seen him around school at some point. I trust you will be accommodating from this point onward."

Maya didn't even have to think twice about what her mother meant by accommodating. She plastered on a smile, "Of course."

Walburga patted the girls cheek roughly and it took everything in Maya not to react, "That's my daughter."

Maya took a deep breath before facing her apparent fiancé. "It was really nice to meet you," she forced a pleasant smile, "But I'm truthfully not feeling well. I'll see you when we return from break?"

The boy nodded before she turned away, passing by Sirius on her way to her room. Sirius waited a moment before following after her.

Maya sat on her bed as Sirius entered the room, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against the door and watched her for a moment before speaking up, "We could leave, you know."

Maya's head shot up at this, "What?"

"We don't have to stay here anymore," he explained, pushing himself off the door and joining her on the bed. He looked over at her with a slight frown, "We don't have to be around her anymore."

"Where exactly would we go?" she asked, shaking her head, "It's not as though we could get jobs." She looked down at her hands before looking back up at him, "We can't leave Regulus alone."

Sirius let out a low breath of air, "Regulus picked his side."

"It's not his fault," she shook her head, "He doesn't know any better."

"We've done all we can for him," he pointed out, "If he doesn't want to see the truth, we can't make him."

"Regulus could have easily been me!" she exclaimed. "I got lucky. Had I been sorted into Slytherin we would not be having this conversation. I'm not like you Sirius, I'm not good."