Chapter 21

Things had been odd since Maia went back with Severus, like they were all dancing on eggshells around her and Regulus, though at least they didn't know why the egg shells were necessary for Regulus. Maia had successfully avoided all contact with him though she suspected that he was doing the same. As much as she wanted to clear the air about rushing out, she knew she couldn't tell him she felt the same way, and that would probably hurt him the most.

Euphemia had been the most reasonable about the situation, not bothering to treat her like she was going to break.

"I'm sure you see it all from his perspective." She smiled, after having a long conversation about how Maia managed to apparate out of the house with the wards up.

"I do." Maia frowned. "I completely understand what he must have thought when I left and if I'm honest I'm not sure that he's entirely wrong. Just wrong about how much of it was my lack of being in love with him and how much was my making sure that he stays alive after all the work i've done to make sure he saw his eighteenth birthday."

"Why not simply tell him that?" Euphemia asked, glancing slyly at the girl chopping vegetables next to her. She had managed to convince the house elves that letting she and Maia help with dinner would to the girl some good.

"He's been avoiding me as much as I've been avoiding him." Maia sighed. "Probably more."

"It won't get better if you keep dancing around each other." The older woman smiled, placing her knife down so that she could give Maia her full attention. "Whether you love him or not, whether he loves you or not, whether you were protecting him or not, these things need to be talked about it so that neither of you begin to make things bigger than they already are."

"I suppose." Maia muttered, keeping her attention on thinly slicing the onions on her own chopping board. "I just don't want to hurt him any more than he already is."

"Believe me dear, the silence is hurting him more."

And with that, no one spoke to Maia about Regulus, as if hearing his name would send her running again. She understood that she couldn't stop them from fighting with her, no matter how much she didn't want them to, and she was beginning to get tired of their need to mother her.

"I'm going to talk to him so you can all stop acting like I'm about to burst into flames." Maia announced, leaving the group as they silently watched over her in the library.

She padded her way up the stairs toward the room she knew belonged to Regulus. She could hear him talking with Severus about her, thanks to the door that was already cracked open.

"She's not horrified by you Regulus." Severus tried to soothe, sounding like he'd had the argument a thousand times. "She's just scared to talk to you because she doesn't want to hurt you any more."

She took that as her opportunity to walk in before Regulus would say anything to make her feel guiltier.

"Hey Reg." She smiled softly, somehow the days separated and the rather odd exchange they'd had in her room gone. Though she was certain he didn't feel the same way. Just looking at the pair sat on the edge of his bed, the same way they would sit when she was trying to sleep, it seemed to flood back all of those touching moments with the pair, even if she knew that Regulus' concern wasn't just for a friend.

"Maia." He coughed awkwardly, too startled to notice Severus roll his eyes at him.

"Can I have a moment with him?" She asked Severus, who had simply eyed her curiously as she walked in. He left with a polite nod, leaving the pair in an awkward silence. "Things seem different to you now don't they?" She asked, moving to sit on the bed next to him.

"Yeah, they do." He nodded, avoiding her gaze.

"They don't have to be you know." She smiled, knowing how impossible it would sound. "I hate to break it to you but I have it on good authority that I can be a terrible girlfriend, plus I'm still in love with a dead man so maybe I'm crazy too."

They both laughed slightly, some of the tension in the air dropping away.

"I can't just forget I ever felt anything for you." He frowned, his hands clasped tightly in his lap.

"Severus used to be in love with Lily." Maia began, hoping that her example wouldn't be too close to home for the group. "But after joining our little band of adventurers, that changed for him. He knows he can't love her any more, though mostly because she and James are starting to hit it off. But even in years of friendship, even when he finally told her and she turned him down, they were still friends afterward. And I hate to compare us to them because I know our bond is different and special, but I also know that it doesn't have to go away."

Regulus didn't say anything, instead pulling Maia into a tight hug, one that she hoped meant that they were on their way to being friends again. "I really don't want to lose you Maia." He whispered.

"You won't." She smiled. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Things started to get better after that, the residents of Potter manor sensing that there was nothing to worry about between Maia and Regulus, which meant that all they had to worry about was the next scheduled Order meeting. Maia didn't know what happened with Moody after she left, mostly because she hadn't asked. She didn't particularly care about what happened to the man, just what he did with the information he stole. In her time, he would have never even tried to get the information out of her, and even if he had he would have taken it with him to the grave, but it appeared the man in this time had a lot of very important lessons to learn, meaning that he was definitely not on Maia's 'people I trust' list.

Despite things still being slightly off with Regulus, though they both elected to ignore it and continue on as best friends, he had admitted to punching the man before chasing after her, something she felt rather proud of. He wouldn't take kindly to one teenager landing a blow on him, let alone another resorting to muggle violence as he would have put it. The information seemed to repair them some more, though they still had a long way to go.