My One and Only

Chapter 16 - Year 2

BY MONDAY MORNING, THE NEWS OF COLIN'S ATTACK HAD SPREAD THROUGH THE WHOLE SCHOOL. Everyone was a suspect, yet no one felt safe enough to travel alone. Ginny Weasley was especially distraught, as she had sat next to Colin in Charms. Maia spent every free moment she had with the young girl, offering as much comfort as she could and coaxing her to eat at mealtimes. The first year was beginning to look frail and sickly, but no matter how much Maia begged her to see Madam Pomfrey, she refused.

"I'll write to your mother." She declared one day, after she found Ginny emptying the contents of her stomach in the girl's bathroom on the first floor. The very bathroom where Maia and her friends had faced a troll only a year before. At that threat, Ginny agreed to go to the infirmary, though the matron could find no diagnosis for her illness other than stress.

Maia was beginning to feel the effects of too much stress herself, and her head ached with a dull throb constantly. Students had begun selling talismans, amulets, and other protective artifacts, unbeknownst to the teachers. Maia thought the whole trading system was absolute hogswash, but when Neville Longbottom returned to the common room clutching a large, putrid smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail, she couldn't find it in her to tell him he'd wasted his money.

"The monster went after Filch first." He'd said, holding his artifacts close to his chest, eyes wide and glossy. "I'm basically a Squib, so what's to stop it from coming after me next?"

Maia had nearly burst into tears at that, and hurried up to her room, grabbing an old bracelet that she had woven from the long grass that grew around the edge of the Black Lake. She'd braided tiny flowers into it, and to her delight, the buds hadn't wilted thanks to a charm Flitwick had put on it to preserve it.

"Here." She said, sliding it onto Neville's wrist and securing it tightly. "This protects you from monsters."

Despite being invited to stay at the Burrow over Christmas break, Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed their names on the list of those staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, wanting to spy on Malfoy, who was also planning to stay in the castle. Harry had marked Maia's name down as well, and even though she wanted desperately to go back to the Burrow for even one night of comfort, she couldn't bring herself to cross. If Harry was staying behind, there was no way she was leaving him. Not with the threat of some beast hanging over their heads.

Upon hearing that Maia was staying at Hogwarts over the holiday, the Weasley twins signed their own names on the list as well. When she insisted that they didn't need to stay behind just for her, they had winked and in unison said. "Can't let you have all the fun, now can we, Potter?"

---

When the four second years weren't in class, they were huddled in the girl's bathroom on the second floor, frantically trying to complete the Polyjuice Potion by the time break started. With less people present to catch them, the quartet felt that Christmas break would be the perfect time to sneak into the Slytherin common room. Unfortunately, they were still rather behind as they were missing many crucial ingredients. Ingredients that could only be found in Snape's personal store.

"If one of you creates a distraction, I can sneak in and steal what we need." Hermione said, pounding the side of her fist against her palm.

"Hermione." Maia began to object, but the bushy haired girl shook her head firmly.

"No, Maia. It has to be me. You three have already gotten into too much trouble this year. Besides, I can talk my way out of any tricky situation." She said, and Maia was unable to think of a response to that. So, with a resigned sigh, she left the other three to formulate a plan, dreading the next Potions lesson.