Where It Stays | J. POTTER [1]

10 | secrets

"What happened?" Sirius demanded as soon as the door to the guest room closed behind her. "Was it Regulus again?"

"No, it wasn't him," she shook her head before she rested her head in her hands for a moment before looking up at her brother, "Although I'm certain he's in trouble now."

"Why's that?"

"I guess mother came to check on you," she explained, "He was still outside the room and he tried to stop her from coming in but I didn't get out in time. It's just a scratch."

"You're not a convincing liar," he reminded her, "What else happened?"

"She told me that if I left, I was not to come back," she replied after a moment of silence. "If I grovel and do whatever Rabastan wants, maybe I-"

"Maya, stop," Sirius shook his head. "You aren't doing anything for Rabastan and you aren't going to grovel."

"So then what am I supposed to do?" she stood up from the bed, "She kicked me out, Sirius. As in never to return. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"We'll figure something out then. We always do."

"There is no we."

"You can't seriously expect me to stay if you aren't there."

"Like I said," Maya squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to fight back any tears, "I will find a way to get her to take me back. Regulus is most likely already in trouble because of what I did, if it's both of us, he's never going to even get the chance to change. He'll be alone."

"Regulus is old enough to make his own choices."

"Maybe you're right," she nodded, "But I'm not going to leave him. If you want to run, I'll help but I'm not coming with you. I can't."

"You can't keep doing this!" he exclaimed, "You can't protect everyone!"

"I'm sure as hell going to try."

"It's not-" he began but then the door opened and he stopped talking. Maya immediately turned away from whoever was at the door and wiped away any stray tears.

"Dinner's ready," James announced but he looked between the two and frowned, "Is everything okay?"

Maya took a deep breath before she turned around, "Everything is fine." She made her way to the door, ignoring the looks Sirius sent her way. "Let's eat."

"We aren't done talking," Sirius pointed out.

"Yes we are."

James eyes widened slightly as he glanced between the siblings, "If you guys need a minute, I can tell them to wait and-"

"No," Maya protested, "We're done talking."

"Maya-" Sirius began.

She turned to look at him, "That's the end of the conversation." Maya walked out past James, leaving the boys behind before she entered the dining room where everyone sat.

She smiled politely before taking a seat between Peter and Fleamont Potter.

Dinner definitely went poorly, to put it nicely. At first, they engaged in small talk, discussing what they had done over the break so far and whether they were prepared for their O.W.L's as well as their plans for after Hogwarts.

"Some people can be too passive in how their future plays out," Sirius commented and Maya looked up at him to see that he was looking at her.

"Not everyone has it in them to risk trying to change it either," she countered. Nobody else at the table knew what they were referring to but they all seemed to remain quiet after the interaction.

-

"Maya, I have something for you," Euphemia spoke up and Maya turned around to face the women. She held out a box for the girl to take, "Merry Christmas."

Maya opened the box and a light gasp escaped her lips as she looked down at the necklace, "It's beautiful."

"It was my mother's," she replied. "She gave it to me, and I to you."

The girl shook her head, "I can't take this."

"I don't have any daughters of my own," Euphemia explained, "I want you to have it."

"I-" she began but when she looked up at the women, an image flashed through her mind of the women looking sickly and pale as she lay in bed, dying.

Maya had been having glimpses like these on occasion. Peter with a silver hand that choked him to death. Sirius with wisps of smoke surrounding him as the life left his eyes. And James, falling to the floor with a flash of green.

She had chalked it up to a widely overactive imagination but it all felt so real it was hard to believe that it wasn't sometimes.

"Are you alright, dear?" Euphemia inquired.

"I-I'm fine," Maya replied with a smile, closing the box, "Thank you for this. Really."

-

"Did we miss something?" James asked and Maya remained outside the door, listening closely to the conversation. "It seems like we missed something."

"You missed nothing," Sirius answered and Maya couldn't help but be grateful. "Nothing out of the normal anyway."

"But when Maya arrived..." he trailed off, "Did she really trip?"

"You'd have to ask her that."

Maya walked toward her room quickly, making sure she was gone before anyone saw her. She changed out of her clothes and into shorts and a sweater she had stolen from James at some point during their new relationship.

She was looking through her clothes when there was a knock on the door. She turned in confusion, "It's open."

The door opened to reveal James standing on the other side. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. He looked as though he was ready to say something but he stopped in his tracks.

Maya raised an eyebrow and turned to face him fully, "Are you alright?"

"Uh, tha-um, that's mine," he pointed out, gesturing to the sweater she had stolen from him.

Maya looked down at it, pulling at the material gently. She looked back up at him and shrugged, "Not anymore."

There was a slight blush on his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck, "I like it on you." His eyes seemed to flicker from her face to throat and his head shot up immediately, "Did your mom do that too?"

Maya's eyes widened slightly as she realized that her neck was exposed now. That coupled with the barely explained scratch that was still present on her face, it was impossible for her to lie, "No. I mean...yes but no. It's complicated."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Maya inquired, "'Merry Christmas, oh and by the way, the scratch on my face? Yeah, that was my mother. She sends her greetings.'"

"I don't know, but you could have said something," James pointed out. "I just want to be here for you and I can't do that if you shut down everytime something bad happens. I want you to talk to me."

"I told you I wouldn't be good at this," she reminded him. "I told you I didn't know how to do this."

"And I told you I would help you," he countered, taking her hands in his own. He held them to his chest as he scanned her face, "So let me help you."