My One and Only

Chapter 22 - Year 3

HARRY DIDN'T SPEAK UNTIL THEY WERE SEVERAL STREETS AWAY FROM THE DURSLEY'S. Maia had been following silently behind him as he stormed down the sidewalk, watching him worriedly as he continued to shake. He stopped so suddenly that she nearly slammed straight into him, though he barely noticed. His arms were aching and his heart was pounding and he wanted nothing more than to go back and blow the rest of the Dursley's up as well.

Maia set her things down much more gently than Harry, and carefully pulled herself onto a low wall to rest, stretching out her cramped fingers. Harry was pacing, his face twisted into a mixture of fury and panic. His lips were moving, but no sound came out, and Maia shifted nervously on her perch.

"Harry." She said gently, after ten minutes of watching him pace. "Harry, are you alright."

Harry pulled up short and looked to his sister if suddenly remembering he wasn't alone. His eyes grey wide and he breathed heavily, matching his sister's worried expression with one of his own.

"Maia." He said rather breathlessly. "Maia, I'm sorry. I didn't – I couldn't-"

"Its okay." Maia said, sliding down and placing a gentle hand on her brother's shoulder. "I'm not mad at you. She had it coming for her."

"But now we're stranded, alone with no money and nowhere to go. Not to mention I could be expelled-"

"I'm not going to let that happen." Maia said firmly, grasping Harry's other shoulder and forcing him to look her in the eye. "As for the matter of finding a place to stay, well." Maia trailed off and bit her lip. "We'll think of something. We always do."

Harry didn't look too convinced, but he nodded nonetheless and pulled away to rummage through his trunk. Maia ran a hand through her hair, the ends turning gray as she tried to plan out their next moves. If Ron and Hermione were in town, they would've been able to stay with one of them, but neither were due back until right before the start of term and without Orion or Hedwig, they had no way to contact someone else for help. Who they could contact besides their two best friends, Maia wasn't sure, but she supposed McGonagall would come to their aid for sure, although not before scolding the twins mercilessly for their reckless behavior.

Think Maia, think. It had been two years since the twins were forced to stay in the care of their elderly, cat obsessed neighbor, Arabella Figg, though Maia was certain she'd open her home to them if they explained that they were no longer welcome with the Dursleys. It was a less than desirable option, but it was better than living on the streets. Even in Summer, the nights were chilly, and Maia shivered as a breeze raised the hair on her arms.

She paused, a nervous feeling twisting in her stomach as the prickling of her skin didn't fade with the wind, and slowly turned to glance about the dark street. Harry was doing the same, his brow furrowed as he scanned the area around them.

Maia's eyes were drawn almost immediately to the alleyway between the garage and the fence of the house behind them. It was too dark to see what exactly was lurking in the shadows, but she was positive something was there.

Harry seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and he hesitantly raised his wand. "Lumos."

Maia gasped as the light from his wand reflected back at them through a pair of large, gleaming eyes. Harry stepped back on instinct and tripped over his trunk, tossing his wand as he tried to catch himself before he hit the concrete. Maia barely noticed though, too terrified to pull her eyes from the large hulking figure. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but something about the eyes felt almost human to her. Whatever it was recognized her in a way that was more knowing than a predator staring down it's prey. She felt almost like it knew her, though that was clearly impossible.