Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter Twelve

Two days later, Maia was allowed to leave the hospital wing, by which point it was Saturday.

She left the hospital wing, swearing never to return, but Madam Pomfrey had only laughed and told her she thought she'd be back before long. She might as well have a loyalty card for the place.

Maia happily hurried up to the common room, where she was sure the boys would be, and when she pushed the portrait hole open - after having to answer all the Fat Lady's questions about where she'd been and how she was - she found only Alice and Mary sitting by the fire

" Maia! " Alice cried when she saw her, " you're back! "

Maia smiled, " Alice I told you yesterday, when you visited, that I'd be out today. "

Alice smiled, " Oh I know, but it's so good to have you back around. The place is awfully quiet without you, you know. Even when the boys were still up here. "

" How are you? " Mary asked, as Maia sat down on the arm of the sofa.

" Much better, thank you," Maia smiled, " slightly wary of Vince McLaggen wielding a bat, but otherwise fine. "

" I don't think McLaggen will be trying his beating skills anytime soon," Alice scoffed, " I heard that Sirius almost killed him as soon as he'd gotten you to the hospital. "

Mary nodded, " From what I hear, James was all for kicking him off the team until Remus had calmed them both down and McLaggen had apologised ten million times. "

Maia smiled, " Where are they, anyway? "

" Out by the lake, I think. "

Maia smiled gratefully at Alice, " I know it's horribly rude of me to ditch you, but I don't suppose you'd mind if I went to find them? "

Alice smiled, " Of course not - get out of here. The boys will be dying to see you. You know you've got them all wrapped around your little finger. Honestly, I don't know how you do it. "

Maia shrugged, " Trust me, spend all your time as the only girl among the boys and if you've got a strong enough personality, you're bound to emerge in charge. Someone's got to keep them in line. I'll see you in a bit then, guys? "

Alice nodded, " My mum's sent me a load of chocolate, you know the really nice stuff from Diagon Alley, and Mary's got some butterbeer, so we and I were thinking girls night in? "

Maia grinned - as much as she liked the boys, the thought of spending the night gossiping and messing around was very appealing. " Brilliant," she said, " I foresee lots of gossip. See you in a bit. "

The weather outside was quite nice for a day in September, Maia thought as she made her way outside. She supposed she could see why many of the students were sitting in the grounds, making the most of it all.

She knew where she'd find the boys, and started towards their usual tree by the lake, looking forward to their reactions on having her back with them.

Over the past couple of days they'd visited her constantly, while she'd moaned about being stuck in a bed and being bored, but she was so thrilled to be free.

Maia saw them in exactly the place she expected to as she approached.

Sirius was sitting by the edge of the lake, feet dipping into it, James sprawled out on the grass, Peter sat cross legged beside Sirius, and Remus leaning back against a tree with a book open in his lap.

None of them were facing her direction as she approached from behind, as they were all facing towards the lake and she grinned as she got closer.

" Morning," she called out when she was still far enough away that none of them had noticed her.

Immediately, all four of them whipped around to look at her.

" Maia! " Sirius yelled gleefully, as James shouted "Hey, good to see you" and Remus laughed on sight of her.

Sirius was the first to scramble to his feet, pulling his bare feet out of the lake and rushing over to her. He pulled her into a crushing hug, hugging her as tightly as possible. She laughed and hugged him back - he was always very over the top, and she was so glad to be out of the hospital wing, it didn't even matter that he was starting to hurt.

" I'm so glad you're ok," he grinned when he eventually let go of her.

She rolled her eyes, " I was ok when you saw me yesterday. And the day before. "

" Padfoot, get out of the way," James groaned, pushing Sirius aside so he could get to Maia. Maia spotted the snitch in his hand and wasn't surprised - the fact that he wasn't the seeker didn't stop him from stealing the snitch to show off with.

" You look great," he told her with a grin as he stood in front of her.

" Great? " Maia echoed with a playful smile, " that's ... very nice of you. Although if you're saying it because you think you have to be nice to me, having just got out of hospital, you don't have to. "

James rolled his eyes, " I'm saying it because it's true. Now, don't I get a hug too? "

He opened his arms and she smiled as he wrapped them around her. He, like Sirius, was much taller than her, and her head only came up to his chest. He hugged her tightly, warmly, though he seemed to be making less of an effort to crush her bones than Sirius had.

Maia smiled - hugging James was always warm and comfortable - and when they broke apart, she sat down on the grass, legs stretched out in front of her.

" So, what have I missed? " she asked, as James sat down nearby, and immediately started playing with the snitch, letting it fly away a bit before leaning forward to catch it again.

As Remus started telling her about all the homework they'd been set, Maia listening but allowed her eyes to wander.

Her eyes landed on James.

He was still playing with the snitch and she was suddenly struck by how handsome he looked, leaning back on his arms, messy hair falling into his eyes, lazy grin on his face.

Merlin, she thought, suddenly looking away and giving Remus her full attention.

James, handsome? Well she wasn't blind, she'd always known he was good looking, but she'd never really thought about it before. She was stunned that she'd even just thought of it.

When Remus got the end of his list of things they had to do, Maia groaned, " Sounds fun. I should probably get some of this stuff done. "

" Everyone should be," Remus chuckled, " but I seem to be the only one making any effort. "

" Moony, relax, we'll get round to it," Sirius scoffed.

Maia sighed at the thought of the notes she had to catch up o before she started doing any work, and she looked out across the lake. Sirius was grumbling about Snape, who had just exited the castle with some of his friends, and James was the only one joining in.

Maia rolled over onto her stomach and allowed her eyes to land back on James.

She met his eyes the instant she looked at him and wasn't sure if she'd been caught looking at him, or had caught him looking at her, and offered him a smile.

" W-what? " James frowned, when she didn't break eye contact.

She smirked and shook her head, " Nothing," she said, looking away.

James gave her his trademark grin - the one he most commonly used for attracting the girls - " I imagine you just like watching me, don't you? "

She laughed, always amused by his slightly arrogant, vain demeanour because she knew he wasn't half as bad as he used to be. " You wish Jamie, you wish. "

" Maia," Remus interrupted, " you can borrow my notes if you want? "

She nodded, knowing that Remus was secretly urging her to get all of her work done, given his disapproval of leaving work until the last minute. Maia knew she should get something done, and she scrambled to her feet.

" I'll go get my parchment and my other things, so I can copy from yours," she sighed, " suppose I might as well get your notes copied up now, while I'm still in a good mood. "

Remus failed to convince the others to do any work, and Maia headed back to the castle, intending to grab all her things, and go back to join her friends.

She passed Snape and his friends on the way back to the castle and hoped they weren't going anywhere near James and Sirius - the pair of them seemed completely unable to resist fighting with him, though admittedly they were growing up a little bit.

She strolled back to Gryffindor Tower, speaking to a few people who'd heard about her accident, on the way, and with all the people she stopped to speak to, getting back up to her room took far longer than it should have done.

She grabbed her things, and stopped for ten minutes to stroke and pet Athena, who seemed to have missed her greatly. She'd just decided she ought to get going back outside, and was walking through the common room when the portrait hole burst open and James hurried through.

She groaned at the sight of him - his shirt was stained in blood and cut open, and he looked furious.

" James, what the hell happened to you? " she demanded, shaking her head.

James took a deep breath and still managed to flash her his best grin, though he had the grace to look a bit embarrassed, " I .. got in the way of a hex. "

" Don't tell me," she scoffed, her tone mocking, " thrown by Snape? In retaliation to a hex of your own? "

" It was his fault! " James insisted.

" You're almost 18 years old James, shouldn't you know better? What're you doing back here, anyway?"

She was well aware that James was quite useless at healing spells, and his shirt was covered in blood, but he didn't seem to be in pain, so the wound couldn't be too deep or complicated that Remus couldn't have healed it for him, and removed the stain from his shirt too

" Remus thought I should go for a walk and cool off," James replied with a pout, looking very much like he was sulking, " and he wouldn't fix me or my shirt up, because he was mad at me. So I thought I'd come and find you. "

" Was Sirius fighting too? " Maia asked, rolling her eyes.

" A bit," he replied, " it was mostly me, though. "

She nodded, faintly surprised. Sirius was usually more likely to fight with Snape than James was. She was about to find out what the fight was about when she realised how much interest they were getting from the younger students, Maia shook her head, " D'you want to talk about it upstairs? "

He nodded and started towards his dorm, still seeming tense and angry. Maia realised Athena had followed her down the stairs, and smiled when her little cat also followed her up to James' dorm.

James sat down on his bed and groaned in frustration, while Maia carefully set her things down on the floor and stood in front of him.

Part of her wanted to tell him off for fighting with Snape, but she wasn't in charge of him, and from the look on face, he was already fed up with himself enough about it.

Instead, she sighed, watching Athena jump up onto his lap without even trying to scratch him - which was a first. " Let me fix you up," Maia said softly, " you know you're useless at practical things like that. "

He nodded and smiled at her, " Thanks. And I do know I'm an idiot. "

" Yes, you are," she replied, lips twitching into a smile. " Unbutton your shirt. "

James grinned as he stood up and reached for a button on his shirt, " Don't think I can't see your game, Maia. Manoeuvering us up here, getting me to strip for you ... "

" Shut up," she chuckled, pulling her wand out of her robes, and sure she could feel a blush rising in her cheeks, which she found ridiculously confusing.

Her face was level with James' chest and he was stood close to her as he unbuttoned his shirt and left it hanging open. Maia looked down at his body and forced herself to keep a straight face as she tried to recall the spell she needed.

She frowned slightly, wondering if his body had always been so ... nice. He was toned and athletic. Had she ever noticed before? But ... but how couldn't she have?

She forced herself to keep a straight face but could already feel the blush rising in her cheeks as she realised she might be attracted to James. James, her best friend!

The fact that James wasn't talking, and seemed to be just looking down at her, made her all the more aware of the tension as she raised her hand to his skin, resting a hand on his waist, on top of his shirt, as she did so.

Unable to contemplate the fact that she could have feelings for James, she cleared her throat to try and distract herself, " So," she said, performing the first spell, " what happened with Snape? "

" He was being a git," chuckled James bitterly.

" Yes, but what was he doing? " Maia sighed, rolling her eyes.

" You don't need to know the details," James shrugged, trying to ignore the warm sensation that shot through him as Maia's hands touched him, " Snape walked by, Sirius tried to bait him - the usual comments, you know, but it got out of hand. Sirius said something about him becoming a Death Eater, Snape reacted badly, said some stuff, I saw red, and I jinxed him and got this in return. "

Maia nodded as she grabbed a handful of James' shirt and pulled it around his body so she could find the bit stained with blood and fix that too.

Her wand half-way to his shirt, she stopped and frowned, looking up at him. She was suddenly acutely aware of how close to her he was, and how intently he seemed to be looking at her.

" James," she said, taking a small step backwards, " If Sirius was baiting him, why were you the one who got into the fight? "

James looked very much like he was embarrassed to answer as he looked away from her and then back down at her, " Snape made a couple of comments about you, and you know how Padfoot and I are. I reckon it was just chance that I attacked him before Padfoot did. "

Maia wasn't sure how to react and she cast the spell to clean the stain off his shirt and let go of it. " James," she said, her eyes glued to his, " whilst I appreciate it, don't go around getting into fights on my behalf. Let Snape say what he wants. "

" Well, I'm sorry," James said, buttoning his shirt back up as Maia stepped around him and sat down on his bed, reaching out for Athena, " but I won't have anyone talking about you like that. "

Maia laughed, " Thank you, then. "

" Thank you, for fixing me up," James replied when he was once again fully clothed. He watched Maia sitting on his bed, stroking her cat fondly, and a sudden rush of affection for the young witch rushed over him.

While she insisted it was nothing, he sat down beside her on the bed and spontaneously leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek, making her stop mid-sentence and giggle.

He noticed that she seemed to turn the colour of the curtains around his bed, and for some reason this was satisfying.

He cleared his throat, not sure what was coming over him, but sure that he was about to do something that felt very right.

" So," he said, his voice suddenly sounding very serious to himself and trying to force himself to be calm and lighter, " it's Hogsmede next weekend. "

He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt nervous - it wasn't a date. It would be two friends. It as hardly as if they hadn't spent time alone together before, although admittedly there was usually always someone else around.

" It is," Maia nodded, a casual smile on her face as she grabbed hold of Athena, who was trying to claw at James' leg.

" Well, I was just thinking," James said, " Sirius is going with Rachel Vane, Moony's staying here because it's full moon the night before and Pete's offered to stay with him, so it's just me and you. I was thinking we could go to the Hog's Head. I know it's not as nice as the Three Broomsticks but Frank tells me they've got a load of new drinks - some really crazy stuff. Or maybe we could - "

Maia felt her heart sink a little.

The thought of spending a whole day with James sounded more and more appealing, especially when he was looking so enthusiastic about it, and she knew she already had plans.

" James," she said, interrupting quietly and feeling terrible for doing so, " I've already been asked to Hogsmede. "

He stared at her in a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. " Oh ... oh, never mind then," he said, standing up quickly and trying to hide his disappointment - somehow he felt far more disappointed than he should, " erm ... who? "

Maia almost didn't want to reply, " Mark Chang. "

She expected James to explode, but instead there was almost no expression on his face.

James hoped he was keeping up a good enough mask - didn't want to look silly. A voice in his head told him not to be angry - he didn't want to come off as jealous. But then, Chang was an idiot, and Maia was his friend.

" Mark ... Mark Chang? " he echoed.

Maia sensed he was trying not to react and was sure it was because he and Sirius didn't like Chang - thought he was too full of himself, an arrogant prat.

" It's no big deal," Maia told him quickly, " he just asked me if I wanted to go for a drink, and I thought why not? "

" Does Sirius know? "

" Not yet," Maia replied, " never had a chance to bring it up with him. "

James nodded and he rested his hands on his hips as he grinned at Maia, some of the awkwardness he'd felt at Maia telling him she wouldn't be around to go to Hogsmede with him, replaced with humour.

" He's not going to be too impressed, you know. "

" I know," Maia replied, also standing up and starting to gather her things together, assuming they were going back outside soon, " but it's not got a great deal to do with him. "

James didn't reply and as Maia gathered up her things from the floor, she looked up at him. She could have sworn he looked disappointed, and she had to admit that James' company would probably be far more preferable than Mark's.

After all, she already knew that she got on with James and recently she was starting to notice all these little things about him that she never had before.

" James, I don't have to go, " she pointed out, as she straightened up, holding her several textbooks, quills and bits of parchment, while Athena nudged at her legs with her nose.

" Huh? "

" Mark asked me to go for a drink with him, but if I had a good enough reason not to go, then I could tell him something else had come up," Maia pointed out. She thought maybe it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but she barely knew Mark - it would be easy enough to cancel.

For a moment, Maia wanted him to tell her not to go.

She thought it might be quite nice if James told her to forget anyone else, and come and spend the day with him.

As it was, he said no such thing, and she wasn't surprised - she supposed she couldn't expect him to fight hard over spending a day together as friends. Still, she couldn't help but think she'd seen him looking put out when she said she was going for a drink with Mark - or had she just imagined it?

" No, don't cancel your plans on my account," James said with a smile, " no need for that. Now, should we get going back outside? Here, let me help you with your things. "

Maia narrowed her eyes, " James, you're sure? Because ... "

" Don't be silly," he replied, taking some of her textbooks from her without meeting her eyes, " I mean, it's not like I was asking you on a ... a date, is it? "

He laughed nervously and she followed him out of the dorm.

James moved the conversation onto something else quite quickly as they walked through the common room that she knew she'd missed her chance to press the issue of cancelling with Mark.

James couldn't be that disappointed she decided. He'd just said it wasn't a date.

James meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief as he and Maia struck up conversation about something else. He thought he'd gotten away with that one.

He hadn't actually asked her on a date but the more he thought about it, the more he thought he wouldn't mind going on a date with her.

Quickly, he pushed that thought from his mind. This was Maia. His friend Maia. What the hell was he thinking?

Anyway, it wasn't an issue.

She was interested in Mark now, wasn't she.