IWSC Season 3 Round 7 - School: Mahoutokoro, Year: 1, Theme: Hiding, Special Rule: A Muggle-born, Main prompt: (character) original character, Additional prompts: (word) invisible, (dialogue) "I need you to understand that I am not emotionally involved in this situation."

Word count: 2584

She had appeared out of nowhere. Draco didn't know where she had come from, who she was, what she was doing there, or why. He had been so focused on fixing the Vanishing Cabinet for hours on end that he had first thought it might have been a dream.

Perhaps he had been right.

"What are you doing?" asked a soft voice from beside Draco as he gingerly placed the apple in the Vanishing Cabinet. The blond stood up straight, his eyes widening in terror at the prospect of being found out. He whipped his head around, coming face-to-face with a brunette witch. She looked to be of a similar age, yet he could not recall ever seeing her in any of his classes. With the freckles spattered across her face and her stern gaze, she looked eerily similar to that Mudblood Granger. She even had a whole Gryffindor attire, with the necktie and robes and everything. Yet, Draco somehow knew she wasn't; for some reason, he didn't feel the inclination to judge her, like he would have with other Gryffindors. She was different, somehow.

"What's it to you?" he spat back, crossing his arms over his chest, schooling his face into an expression of stone cold indifference.

"Well, if you ask me," the girl said, rolling her eyes, as if to mock Draco's defensive jab, "what you're doing is wrong."

"You don't even know what I'm doing," Draco said with a raised eyebrow. The whole situation was strange. This girl, who was she?

"But I do," the girl said, a small smile playing on her lips. "I know everything about you."

"Who even are you?" Draco asked, dropping his arms in defeat. The girl pondered for a second, as if she didn't quite know herself.

"I suppose you can call me Maya," she said. Draco waited for her to elaborate, but she appeared to be content with not giving him any more information.

The blond felt torn. He wanted to know who this mysterious girl was and what she was doing in the Room of Requirement, of all places, but he had more pressing matters at hand. He could not disappoint the Dark Lord; he had to get back to work.

"Well, Maya," he said, rolling the name around his tongue in deliberation, "I would appreciate it if you left."

The girl—Maya—raised an eyebrow. For some reason, Draco felt as though she was laughing at him, like she was… pitying the work he was doing. Yet, she never said anything of the sort out loud. Instead, she shook her head and replied, "If you say so."

Draco glanced back at the Cabinet for a second, the apple patiently waiting for him to continue. It was only a brief second, but when Draco's gaze travelled back to where Maya had been, he found nothing but empty space.

"All I'm saying is, it's quite unfair of you lot, doing this to Muggleborns like me," came a soft voice yet again from beside Draco. He had been about to reach for the half-rotten apple in the Cabinet but was stopped in his tracks. He scowled at the apple for a second before returning to his usual, stoic expression and turning to face Maya, who was standing just a few feet away, at the exact same spot she had been the last time he had seen her. "All that spilt blood, and for what? Just so you can stroke your ego a bit? Don't make me laugh."

Draco's left eye twitched. He had thought long and hard about the whole blood purity business. He had, unfortunately, come to the conclusion that it didn't matter that much. Having seen the extent of the Dark Lord's insanity, having seen the torture, the pain, the death that the ranks of Death Eaters had caused, he had come to realise that the justifications he had been given were just… They were not enough. Yes, he had been cruel to Muggle-borns before, and yes, he had thought them inferior, but faced with actually taking lives, he couldn't. He couldn't justify it to himself. Yet, that realisation had come too late. He couldn't, after all, leave the Death Eaters. Blood purity or not, he was loyal to his family, first and foremost, even if it meant having to take a bullet for his father, and even if it meant having to potentially kill the most powerful wizard in all of magical Britain. His thoughts didn't matter; only his task and his family did.

"You're a Mudblood?" he spat, venom lacing his words.

"Well, duh," Maya said, as if Draco had been supposed to know, just like that.

"Don't come near me," Draco said, scrunching his nose up and narrowing his eyes.

"I wasn't planning to," the brunette said, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of her hair around her fingers. "I'm merely here to let you know that you shouldn't be doing this. You don't want to, at least, and that should be reason enough.

"No, you don't know," Draco said, his pitch a good octave higher than before. He felt the beginnings of a tear prickling his eyes, so he spun around, away from the girl. He would be damned to let anyone else see him cry. "Just…" he sighed. "Just leave. I don't want to talk to Mudbloods like you."

He heard a faint laugh. Once again, he couldn't help but feel like the girl was making fun of him, as if the whole situation was nothing more than a brief source of amusement for her. He didn't understand. He didn't understand a thing, but he couldn't ask. It was as though a heavy metal chain was wrapped around his neck, as though he had been gagged and bound. It was as though something deep in his unconscious was stopping him from asking questions.

"Alright, you go ahead and keep your secrets," Maya said. Draco could hear the smile in her voice. "See you around."

Once again, when Draco turned back after a few seconds, the brunette was nowhere to be found, as though she had vanished into thin air.

"Nice little lair you've got here."

Draco, sitting at his desk in the dormitories, perked up at the sound. His chair creaked as he kicked it out, making him wince for a second before his face returned to normal. Across the room stood Maya, arms crossed. She was looking around, sizing up Draco's belongings.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" the blonde hissed. "And how the fuck did you get in here?"

Maya shrugged. "Just paying you a visit. Thought it would be better to have a chat when you're not… working." The last word was brimming with sarcasm, almost making Draco wince a second time.

"That doesn't answer my…" Draco began his tirade, but he stopped. He had noticed. There was something different about Maya; she was not wearing a Gryffindor tie and robes, like she had been previously. Instead, her tie was now painted an elegant silver-green, and a proud snake badge was etched on her robes. Draco furrowed his eyebrows, his mind drawing a complete blank.

"Oh, this?" Maya said, pointing a finger at her newly found snake badge. "It's always been there. Not sure what you're so surprised about."

"No, you were a Gryffindor before." Draco shook his head. Nothing made sense anymore.

"Was I?" Maya retorted, cocking her head to the side. "Well, it's not like it matters, now that I'm here." Without hesitation, she continued. "So, as I was going to ask, why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Doing what?" Draco asked, blinking.

"The Vanishing Cabinet," Maya stated, her arms still crossed. "You know it's going to hurt everyone. You know very well that if you finish it, all hell will break loose. People will die, and the blood will be on your hands. Not on others', yours. You will be responsible for this destruction."

"I don't mind spilling dirty blood," Draco replied, digging his nails into his palms to help himself stay calm and collected.

"You keep telling yourself that," Maya said. "But let's pretend. Even then, it won't only be Muggles and Muggle-borns that will die. It won't only be the likes of me or the little Gryffindor know-it-all you like to heckle so much." She paused for a second, locking gazes with Draco. "It will be your kind too. Your family."

Draco shook his head. "No." He was not willing to think about the possibility. He couldn't.

"Oh, yes, and you know that," Maya said. "I need you to understand that I am not emotionally involved in this situation. I don't have anyone to worry about. But you do."

Draco stayed silent for a few seconds, hanging his head and fixing his gaze on a small, black spot on the wooden floor.

"Just go," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"As you wish," Maya said.

For what felt like an eternity, Draco stayed like that, trying his damnedest not to feel utterly useless. Then, there was a knock, followed by a creak of the door, prompting Draco to sit up straight and hide whatever emotion he might have had etched on his face.

"Who were you talking to?" asked Theo Nott as he stepped into the room.

"You didn't see her?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Who?" Theo shook his head. "Nobody came down the stairs. Nobody's come up for the past hour, in fact."

Draco sat, staring at the spotless, cream-coloured wall ahead. How did Theo not see Maya? It's not like she was… invisible... Was she?

"Nothing," he said, his tone even and his gaze fixed ahead. "I wasn't talking to anyone. You must have heard someone else."

After a moment's hesitation, Theo nodded. "Alright then." He made for the door, but before he stepped out of the room, he turned back and said, "Take care of yourself. I don't know what's happening to you, but you look like you've seen a Dementor."

And with that, he was gone too.

"Have you managed to think about what I said?" asked the familiar feminine voice. Draco was cradling the deceased dove in his hand, his lips pursed in concentration, but the appearance of Maya stirred him out of his thoughts.

"No," he said. He was not in a good mood that day, and if he was being honest with himself, he was getting fed up with his continuous failures. He couldn't ask for help from anyone—none of his friends knew what he was doing, and now that he had this issue with Maya—which they also did not know about—he couldn't even ask his godfather anymore. He was all alone, and he was getting tired of the questions. "Instead, how about you tell me who you are? How did you get in here? How come that I've never seen you in classes? Why are you a Ravenclaw now?" He added the last question, having noticed that Maya's robes had changed their colour scheme once again.

"Oh, I've always been a Ravenclaw," Maya said. "You didn't notice? What a shame."

"No, last time, you were a Slytherin. You were…" Draco trailed off. He distinctly remembered the snake badge on Maya's robes from when she had appeared in his dorm.

"Don't know where you got that idea from." Maya shrugged.

"Doesn't answer my other questions," Draco pointed out.

"No one," Maya said, shrugging again. "I'm no one. I've told you; I'm not the one emotionally invested in this. I have no reason to, no one and nothing. I'm just a Mudblood trying to convince you that it's not too late to undo the damage you're about to do. You know, if only you asked for help, you would get some. It doesn't have to be this way."

"I can't. It's too late," Draco said, facing the other way to blink away the single tear threatening to roll down his cheek. "Besides," he continued, swallowing and tightening his face. "You still haven't answered my questions. Why are you invisible to others? Why didn't Theo see you?"

Maya rolled her eyes. "People don't notice the things they don't want to notice. Yourself included."

That didn't make Draco feel any smarter.

"If you're not going to give me answers, you might as well just leave, Mudblood," he spat the last word.

"Just think about what I've been saying," the brunette said, her expression devoid of the playful smile Draco had gotten used to. Her lips were even, and her chocolate brown eyes were piercing right into Draco's soul. He had never seen her look so intimidating.

Draco blinked. When he opened his eyes, Maya had vanished without a trace.

Draco felt a pat on his shoulder. Looking up, he came face-to-face with Theo, who had cocked his head to the side, his narrowed eyes brimming with worry.

"You've been talking to yourself an awful lot lately," he said.

"I haven't," Draco mumbled, turning back to the half-written essay laid out in front of him. Not to myself, at least, he added in his head.

"Are you sure you're well?" Theo continued. "This whole year, you've been very… off. I know you're not one for pity-parties, but I'm saying this as a friend."

"It's nothing." Draco shook his head. "Probably just Potter's constant pestering that's getting to me. Little pest won't leave me alone."

He felt Theo's gaze on the back of his head for the next few moments, as though the other boy was trying to calculate something, as though the number of dishevelled blond locks would tell him what exactly was eating at Draco.

"Fine," he said finally, letting go of the blond's shoulder. "But you have to put yourself together. We both know what's coming eventually, and you can't be like this. Once we're out of Hogwarts, there will be no mercy for your moping."

You don't know half of it, Draco thought as the door clicked shut.

"This is your last chance to back out," Maya said, standing in her usual spot with her arms crossed as the dove, well and alive, fluttered around the two of them. Ever since his last tirade, her demeanour had changed. The condescending jabs were gone; instead, every time they met, the brunette looked dead serious.

Draco's lips curled into a small, painful smile. "It's not. Not anymore. It's too late."

Perhaps she had been right before, he realised. Perhaps, if the Vanishing Cabinet had stayed broken, there could have been another way. But not anymore, Draco thought. If it hadn't been too late before, it sure was now.

"You've told yourself that many times before."

"Not like this," Draco said. Maya sighed, breaking eye contact for the first time, ever since she had first appeared in the Room of Requirement. "You should go. The rest will be here soon, and I can guarantee they will not like the sight of any Mudblood."

A small, wistful smile returned to Maya's lips. "Heh. I see you still don't get it."

"Don't get what?" Draco asked, but before he could get an answer, Maya disappeared, just like that. No walking away, no sound of Apparition, no spell, no nothing. Nothing, except for a small piece of parchment left in the girl's stead.

Draco took a few long strides to pick up the parchment. As he folded it open and read it, his eyes widened and his heart rate picked up, leaving him gasping for breath.

I'm you, it read.

A/N: Maya means 'illusion' in sanskrit.

So, how did I create this story? Basically, as soon as the round was out, my thoughts immediately went to mental illness. I had been thinking about writing Hermione and doing something with autism because the dialogue prompt seemed like a good fit, and I was really focused on the idea of 'invisible disability,' but I couldn't really make it work in my head. Then, I thought of schizophrenia, and I was reminded of ASotM (because of course I was), and that's how this came about.

The key idea is that in his lucid state, Draco would conjure up a hallucination that would try to convince him to go down a path that he, somewhere deep down, knew would be less damaging. I made this hallucination resemble Hermione because I wanted it to be a reminder of sorts, for Draco to reflect on how different his life could have gone, had he made different decisions. I wanted to bring this stark contrast into this story with Maya. Plus, I didn't want to 'betray' that she was just a reflection of Draco's subconscious until the very end, although there was some strong hinting going on.

Anyway, that's it.