Always

Chapter Eighteen

"Are you sure it's all right? I mean, what if—"

"If you are going to back out, then please do so and quit whining about it, will you?" Maia snapped. She held the torch a bit higher as she, Maizy, and Siebel passed through a narrow corridor. The night breeze was beginning to play with their hair just as the opening appeared and let them out into the night.

They were only a few meters away from one of Hogsmeade's buildings but the quiet was very unnerving.

"Maia, I am only saying that you have both your parents in the area and Professor Snape." Maizy looked warily around her and drew her cloak closer as they walked toward a noisy building. "Any one of them could come to our room to talk to you."

"They won't," Maia answered simply, whispering a quick spell to put out the torch as the lights from the lanterns on the street encompassed its light. "They are far too involved in themselves to do so."

"Besides, when have you ever seen Snape come into the dorms?" Siebel added.

"Exactly." Maia nodded curtly and laid the extinguished torch against a fence. "My parents have gone insane and have decided that now is the time to become heavy-handed and illogical. I am not going to stand for that."

"But what if—"

"Maizy, I will send you back if you do not shut it!" Maia hissed. When her friend pressed her lips together, Maia relaxed. "Now, we are going to have a lovely time, aren't we? All we have to do is get through the crowd, get into the Floo, and we'll be off. Understood?"

Maizy and Siebel nodded in unison.

"And I don't have to remind you that none of us saw each other if any of us are caught, correct?"

The girls shook their heads. Maia smiled.

"Perfect, then." She waved her hand towards the music and laughter. "Shall we, ladies?"

The small club was very trendy, very exclusive, and very discreet. Maia easily attained her and her friends quiet entrance and they were given a booth near the dance floor.

"If they didn't want Head Girls to get out and show their maturity and autonomy, then they shouldn't give them free passes out and the keys to the back garden gate, now should they?" Maia happily explained to Maizy, who was still quite worried.

"I think they do that because they want you to help in the event of an emergency."

"Pfft!" Maia popped a piece of cheese into her mouth. "If they wanted that, they should have specified."

Maizy pursed her lips. "True."

"Would you like to dance?"

"Maia! There's another bloke here for you," Maizy called to her friend who was busy looking for the perfect cheese and meat combination from their appetizer tray.

"No," she answered without looking up.

Maizy looked back at the stylishly dressed man. "Aren't you royalty?"

"Yes, I am." The man looked from Maia to Maizy before offering his hand and a smile to the latter. "Would you care to dance?"

Maia was left alone to finish off the plate of snacks by herself, which was perfectly fine with her. This wasn't about partying or dating. This was about freedom and pointing out that Maia did not care about nor need her parents' approval or permission anymore. She was on the cusp of adulthood. Who were they to tell her to stay in the castle? Who were they to insist on following her everywhere as if she were completely feeble? Had they forgotten who she was? Who they raised her to be?