Harry strolled down the pathway of Diagon Alley, together with Ron and Hermione. They were supposed to meet Maya in front of the leaky cauldron. As always, She would be a little later than the rest; she was indeed a Malfoy, and they were always late.
"Maya!" Hermione squealed as she ran to the girl. "Mione!" Maya grinned, hugging her tightly. "Ron! Harry!" She grinned even wider, pulling both boys in for a group hug.
"Do you have your books yet?" Asked Maya as she slung her back over her shoulder whilst with her other hand, she stuffed her wand in her pocket.
"I still have to get mine." Harry exclaimed. "So, how was your summer?" Hermione asked Maya, slinging her arm around her shoulder. "It was very... Malfoyish." Maya shrugged, smiling faintly as she thought back to her summer.
One of the biggest differences between Draco and Maya was that Maya almost smiled every second of the day, whilst Draco had a sarcastic smirk on his face most of the time.
Also, Maya's eyes were made of the purest blue, a bit of green added in there too. As if someone decided to mix the ocean in her eyes.
"No way!" Maya gasped as Hermione, Ron and Harry told her about the order of the Phoenix. "Too bad I wasn't there." She smiled sadly, then noticed someone in the crowd and her eyes grew wide.
"Beau!" She grinned, running to a blonde haired boy, who she hugged tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long!" She cried out, stepping back a bit. "I know!" The boy chuckled. "Hey" he shyly raised a hand to greet Hermione, Ron and Harry.
Beau was a Hufflepuff, and very fond of Maya. He would often join their compartment and they met at Herbiology, when they had to work together.
Anyway, it clicked and they became good friends, despite the fact that he was halfblood. "We should probably get our books." Maya nodded, referring to Harry. "I see you all at Hogwarts then." Beau nodded with a small grin. Hermione and Ron waved, but Harry and Maya already disappeared into the crowd.
"After getting my books, I also need to go to the leaky cauldron, my father made sure my owl is there." Maya muttered, looking behind her shoulder and waving to Beau. "How was your summer?" She smiled.
"It was fine." Harry explained a bit more about the order and how he only got her letters; Ron and Hermione never wrote back. "Yeah, they never wrote me too." Maya nodded. "I thought they were mad at me or something." She chuckled.
"So what did you think of my present?" Maya grinned while grabbing a huge book. "I liked it. Thank you." Harry smiled. Maya had sent him a blue birthday cake and a huge box of chocolate frogs, one of his favourites.
"Merlin's beard, I haven't eaten all day." Maya nibbles on a huge sugar quill. "Are you serious?" Harry shook his head in amusement.
"Dead serious." Maya smirked.
She slung her arm around Harry's shoulder in a friendly manner. He did the same, and they went to the leaky cauldron. "Aurora!" Maya smiled widely as she noticed a huge cage with a black owl in it.
The black owl screeched as her sapphire coloured eyes flicked over to Harry's owl Hedwig, who was sitting next to her.
"Who left you in here?" Harry laughed. Probably Ron, he thought. Suddenly, Maya threw her arms around Harry's neck. Harry, who is overwhelmed by her sudden hugs her back.
"I just wanted to-" Maya pulled away. "Give you a personal birthday hug." She smiled. "Maya." A voice snapped. Maya's eyes shot up, only to meet Draco's. "Draco." Maya said, tugging on Harry's sleeve softly.
"Ah, Potter. What a pleasure to see you here." Draco sneered, earning a scowl from Harry. "As much as I did not wanted to interrupt your... privacy moment, I had to give you this." He handed Maya a huge bag, probably filled with galleons, since it clinked loudly.
"Mother said you needed this." Draco said his brows raised. "I did. Mother told me to get a new robe." Maya shrugged. Draco was already gone.
"Do you really need a new robe?" Harry laughed. "Actually, I do." Maya stuck her tongue out as they walked down the Diagon Alley. "Where in bloody hell are Ron and Hermione?" She rolled her eyes and grasped Aurora's cage tighter.
Madam Malkin was thrilled when Maya and Harry walked in. "Oh honey, how pleasant to see you again." She sighed in bliss whilst measuring every inch of her body.
When the robe was done, Harry and Maya made their way back to the leaky cauldron, hoping Ron and Hermione would be there too. They were, and so were the Weasleys.
"Fred! George!" Maya grinned as she waved in their direction. "How incredibly nice to see you again." They answer in unison. "Maya, dear." Molly Weasley smiled as she hugged her.
"Hello, Maya." Ginny smiled genuinely and waved at her. "Hello, Maya. Nice to see you again." Said Percy politely, shaking Maya's hand. "Hi Percy." She replied.
"I suppose Harry, Ron and Hermione told you all about the order?" Molly said. Maya nodded. "We can trust her, mum." Fred winked in Maya's direction. "Lets go then." Molly nodded.
***
They arrived at Grimmauld Place 15 minutes later. "Who is that?" Sirius' voice boomed through the hallway. "It's Maya." Harry answered, looking into Sirius' direction.
"Oh, of course." Sirius smiled as he recognised the girl. Maya smiled back and hung her jacket on the coat hanger. "Her father is a Malfoy. But we can trust her, right?" Sirius asked Harry in a low voice.
"We can." He nodded. "Harry! You haven't told me about your hearing." Maya suddenly said. Sirius winked to Harry briefly before walking to the kitchen.
"Lucius told me all about it." Maya sighed. "He said you won, to his disappointment. You should've seen his face!" She giggled. "Hey Maya... is he still..." Harry starts. "He only hits Draco." She shrugged, but Harry clearly sees a certain pain in her eyes.
"I am mostly in my room, where it's kind of calm. Mum is the only one who's nice to me, but I'm used to it." Maya smiled sadly and shrieks when Fred and George apparate next to her.
Harry, who has spent half of his summer with them, is used to it and laughed. "Tomorrow we're finally going back to Hogwarts. The summer was a hell." Maya sighed, and Harry feels bad for her.
"I know." Is the only thing he managed to come up with.
The dinner was cosy and really cheerful. Maya sat next to Tonks and Ginny, who amused them by changing her face in the one of a duck, a pig and a horse.
Harry sat next to Ron and Fred, who loudly laughed because of something. Because his gaze was fixed on Maya, he takes a spoonful of burning hot soup. He nearly chokes himself, and Sirius, who noticed everything laughs under his breath.
"It's rude to stare." He mouths to Harry, who tries to suppress a laugh. "So, Maya... how was your summer." Molly smiled warmly as Maya shrugged it off by forcing a smile and saying: "You know my parents."
Maya was a bit the centre of attention, especially with Sirius. He totally understood how she felt; he wasn't very fond of his parents, and so weren't they, the moment he got sorted into Gryffindor.
Plus, he saw Harry's gaze on Maya every second of the day and smiled proudly whenever he attempted to talk to her.
"Harry, can I talk to you?" Sirius knocked on the bedroom softly, careful not to wake a snoring Ron. "Sure." Harry got up (he wasn't asleep yet) and stumbled towards Sirius.
"I've noticed you've been looking at Maya very much..." he started smugly, smirking at his godson. "So I thought-" "No, absolutely not. No. She's my best friend but, no." Harry quickly spoke, tripping over his own words as he does so.
"Aha." Sirius smirked amused and raised his hands in defence. "We can really trust her, right?" He asked for what feels the thousandth time. "We can." Harry sighed.
If only he knew what was awaiting them.
