My One and Only

Chapter 5 - Year 1

BY MAIA'S FIRST FRIDAY AT HOGWARTS, she was sure she'd go mad from all the whispers. Everywhere she went, people would whisper and point at her. She couldn't complain though; Harry had it worse. She wasn't sure if she looked intimidating or the Weasley twins did, but no one dared approach her. Harry, on the other hand, was approached daily and questioned about his scar and how he defeated Voldemort. Eventually, after a few threats from Maia and even some from Fred and George, people stopped asking questions.

Maia hadn't really spoken to Harry much since arriving at Hogwarts, which was odd, as before he was the only person in her life who meant something to her. He and Ron had a tendency to get lost, and Maia absolutely hated being late, so she spent most of her time with Hermione, who was chronically early to every class. She sat with Fred and George during ever meal, listening to their stories of past pranks and future ideas. They told her about all of the secret passageways they'd found in the castle and promised to show her as soon as they were able. Fred filled her in on every teacher before her first classes, letting her know which ones were strict and which wouldn't notice if you dozed off. The most interesting teacher to her was her History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns. His lessons weren't interesting at all, but the fact that he was a ghost intrigued Maia. The twins told her he had fallen asleep and perished in a fire, and continued teaching the next day, leaving his body behind.

"What have you got today?" Fred asked, grabbing a piece of toast and sliding into the seat on Maia's right. George took the seat to her left and snatched her timetable from her hands, sucking air in through his teeth.

"Double potions with the Slytherins, bad luck."

Maia pursed her lips and snatched her schedule back, rolling it up and tucking it into her bag. "Why's that?"

"Snape favors the Slytherins." Fred said, lathering butter on his toast. "He especially hates Gryffindor."

"Best to keep your mouth shut in there if you don't want to lose points or earn a detention." George added, piling eggs onto his plate. Maia pushed her untouched breakfast away, no longer hungry, and sighed.

"Great."

Fred glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and bumped shoulders with her. "Don't worry." He said. "If anyone can melt Snape's cold heart its you."

Maia smiled softly and looked down, missing the look George shot his twin over her head. "Thanks guys." She said, swinging her legs over the bench and standing. "I'm gonna head to class now. Potions seems like the worst class to be late to." She grabbed a piece of toast and waved as she hurried out of the Great Hall, bumping into Hermione just outside the giant oak doors.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed as the dark haired girl thrust the toast at her. "Thank you."

"Sorry I didn't wake you." Maia said as the two began the trek down to the dungeons. "You were up so late last night, I figured you needed your sleep."

Hermione smiled softly and took a bite of the toast, her cheeks pink. "Thanks, Maia."

"Finish your Charms essay?" Maia asked, and Hermione nodded. The bushy haired girl had refused to sleep without finishing all of her work, while Maia had decided she would use lunch to complete her assignments.

Hermione and Maia were the firsts to enter the Potions classroom, unsurprisingly, and they settled down at a desk in the middle of the room. It was cold and musty in the dungeons and Maia shivered rubbing her nose. She made a mental note to bring a jumper the next time she had potions and bent over to pull her books out just as the doors opened and students began filling in. Harry took a seat on his sister's left, while Ron sat down on his other side.