CHAPTER 2
Maia woke early the next morning, her sheets slightly damp from her tears. When she finally felt the strength to lift herself from the bed, she didn't bother to carefully assess her appearance, simply pulling off her shirt and underwear, changing them for fresh undergarments and a soft fabric dress she had assigned as weekend wear.
She pulled on a pair of sandals and stepped out into the common room, doing several spells as she did so, leaving her teeth and hair perfectly brushed and her skin clean. She noted the slight earthy fragrance that lingered on her skin, like the musky air of late summer. She clutched a spell entitled 'the mind boggling magic of nymphs'. It was rather thick but she only needed the section on forest nymphs. A quick wave of her wand disguised the book as Hogwarts a history, something she had been doing for years. Nobody was ever interested to read the words written in such a seemingly harmless book.
The sun quickly rose, warming Maia as she sat perched on the windowsill, consumed in the knowledge contained within her book. It appeared that with some practise, nymphs could perform wandless and wordless magic with as much ease as it took to breathe. A short paragraph mentioned that half nymphs could achieve such a feat with great practise but still required a wand to perform spells initially. The rest of the theory was the same as any other type of magic for witches and wizards. Maia took the opportunity to practise a spell that would weave strands of her hair into intricate braids that would circle her head like a halo, producing several blooms that wound themselves into the pattern. She achieved her goal on the first try, not touching her wand or saying a word, finding her hair dotted with small white blossoms. She memorised the other variations of the spell that would result in different colour blooms and different braids. It seemed like nymph magic was based more on intentions than incantations and wand movements. Maia felt a slight giddiness wash over her. She had never felt more attuned to her magic.
She spent her weekends reading the many books she had been supplied in the company of the marauders, though she assumed they were sitting with her to be polite, though a light friendliness grew between them.
Several weeks passed by with Maia following the same routine, lessons, lunch and memorising very detail of her new heritage. Her teachers were astonished by the potential they saw in her, praising her at every opportunity. It was only early one morning that she finally reached a point that she could do every piece of magic she had ever learned without a wand. It was monumentus for her. She had always dreamed of being this powerful, but she had never thought the day would come. Her relationship with the marauders had started off well, though she knew they were holding back on her. It hadn't surprised her, though her new magic could sense the animalistic aura of the quartet that would have given them away even without her knowledge.
One Saturday morning, dressed in the clothes of her people, she finally reached a point where she couldn't hide her knowledge from them.
"Maia?" A group of voices spoke, clearly confused by what they were seeing. Maybe it was the short dress with holes in the sides showing off her waist.
"Good morning boys." She grinned, noting the full moon in the sky and the scratch on James' face. "Where did you run off to last night?" She grinned, trying as hard as she could to keep it as un-smirk-like as possible. Though it was hard to keep it contained, given the length of time she had spent with Draco she had picked up his smirk beautifully.
"Just went for a walk." James spoke, not doing a very good job at covering their tracks.
What had her books said, that nymphs could sense other magical creatures, and Remus had felt rather wolffish as she sat next to him. She could feel a small radiance off of the boys, mirroring their animagus forms.
"Do be a dear James and don't lie to me." Maia smiled sweetly, walking over to him to place a kiss on his cheek. "Though your attempt was very cute." And that it was.
"And where is it you think we went?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Did you forget something that Lily spoke about a few weeks ago?" Maia grinned innocently, clearly driving the boys insane.
"No." James shook his head, clearly believing he remembered every word that ever left Lily's lips.
"Why don't you borrow this book?" She smiled, handing over the book she had been reading. His answer would be in there. A glance at the clock told her it was seven thirty, the perfect time for her to make an exit. And she did just that, skipping past the boys, twirling her wand in her fingers.
She moved through the familiar halls, making her way toward one of her favourite safe havens, the astronomy tower. She used to meet Draco up there, showing her the constellations and the stories that lay behind the black family names. It was easy to lose herself in the view, the trees in the distance seeming to calm her, even in her very soul.
"Avis." Maia whispered, watching several small birds appear out of thin air. They fluttered around her, whistling simple tunes into the morning air.
"Oh." A foreign voice spoke, Maia wondered how many times a meeting like this would happen today. She turned to see a face she didn't recognise, though the green on his quidditch robes only made it clear that she wouldn't know him.
"Good morning." Maia smiled, directing her attention back to the trees below.
"You're the new girl right." He asked, appearing at her side, mesmerised by her birds.
"Maia." She smiled, turning to look once more at her new companion.
"I'm Regulus." The boy smiled.
Maia's breath caught in her throat. This was R.A.B, the boy who would die in a few short years. He looked far too innocent to be a death eater. She wondered what his future would have held to send him to Voldemort's side. "Nice to meet you Regulus." Hermione smiled, trying to keep the sad frown that threatened to break contained.
"How'd you find the astronomy tower?" He asked.
"I got turned around on the stairs." Maia quickly fabricated. "I was looking for the library."
Regulus simply nodded. "First few weeks in the castle, I'm not surprised you got lost."
"What's that tree?" She asked, pointing to the whomping willow. It was like it was calling out to her. A kindred spirit finding itself in a place it didn't feel like it belonged.
"The whomping willow. It's pretty dangerous if you get too close." Regulus explained. There was something off about him, something dark hiding behind the pure facade. He left her atop the tower, leaving her in peace.
A strange fog clouded Maia's mind, pulling all of her happiness away, though there wasn't very much within her.
She had abandoned her friends to an unknown fate, they could be dead for all she knew. Especially if she failed. They were lost to her, on the other side of an impassable veil.
One step over the rail and her pain would be gone. The sadness that clouded her heart would fall away. She could see them all again, she could find herself in Draco's arms once more.
The world seemed to move slowly as she made her way over the rail, her hands refusing to let go as she leaned over the air below her.
"Maia!" She heard a voice scream, though it didn't break through the fog. It was just an echo that brushed past her ears.
"Just let go." She whispered, easing one of her hands off of the rail, though the other one wouldn't respond. "You can be with them again." She reasoned, letting go and falling from the tower, everything turning black.