Masquerade (Discontinued)

Chapter XIII

Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London, England, Great Britain

Monday the 1st of November 1998

11:00 AM

The stillness of the house was almost unnatural and Maya stiffened as the large clock in the entrance hall to announce the hour and she relaxed at her desk. She looked over her typewriter with a strange look upon her face. She shook her head and pushed back. She had writer's block. The older woman decided that it would probably due well for her to get some food in her before she tried to return to her writing.

Maya walked quickly towards the kitchen. She didn't feel like calling for Kreacher. He rarely did as she asked anyway. She wondered if she should go out into London to relieve some of the intense writer's block, but decided against it. She didn't really feel like going anywhere. The older woman began rummaging through the cupboards for a small snack when the beautiful sound of piano music floated through the air.

Maya's head jerked and she narrowly escaped banging her head against the cupboard shelf. Maya pulled away, slowly, her eyes narrowed in confusion. The piece was beautiful and sounded almost like it was inspired by Chopin. Maya's confusion turned into quiet joy and a slow smile spread across her face. The young woman began to make her way towards the sound and she found her adopted daughter in the drawing room, her piano right next to the large tapestry that took up most of the wall.

The song was quickly coming to the end and Maya knew that Bella realized that she was standing there. She simply didn't acknowledge her yet, and it was fine with Maya. She was fine with simply listening to the beauty that Bella was creating. And then, suddenly it stopped and Bella was looking up. The young woman didn't turn around right away. She stared down at her fingers for a long moment. Maya wasn't sure if the moment lasted only a few seconds, a few minutes, or several sun-lit days, but then Bella let out a long sigh.

Bella finally turned to look over her shoulder at Maya. Maya smile at her and Bella tilted her head.

"Hi, Bella-child," Maya greeted and Bella grimaced at the suffix before she made a vague gesture to the darkest corner of the room.

"Hi, Maya. Won't you say hello to your daughter?"

Maya's eyes flashed and she watched as a thin, gaunt looking woman emerged from the shadows. A shiver ran down Maya's spine as she recognized the unhealthy, tall, wraith-like woman with dark chocolate brown eyes and a small smile. The thick mass of curls were tangled and looked quite dirty despite Maya knowing that prisoners from Azkaban were now allowed to shower once a week, on Sundays. She also knew that was only possible because Draco didn't want his sort-of-sister smelling when he visited her.

"Mum," Hermione greeted, a quiet rasp in her voice.

Maya frowned. "How are you here? Won't they notice that you're gone?"

Hermione shook her head as she took another step into the room. Maya noticed that she was barefoot and her toenails were long and yellowing. Her hollow eyes and cheeks matched with the insane glint in her eyes. It was frightening to realize that the woman before her was her child.

"They won't. I used a Time-Turner. In the future, I'll turn it back to just the right moment and they won't even notice I'm gone. There will be a lapse of six seconds, most likely, but they won't notice. They never do," Hermione said with a light smile. Maya nodded and then rushed forward to envelop her daughter into a tight hug.