October 31, 2009: Fifth Year

Mai knew of course that requesting weekend leave twice in a month would garner attention. In fact she rather hoped it would, especially since she had given up a coveted Hogsmeade weekend to spend quality time with her parents. After flooing into the Headmistress' office, she went directly to the Slytherin dormitory and dropped her bag into her trunk before ascending the steps back into the common room. Without so much as a glance at any of the first and second years clustered around the fireplace, she enthroned herself on one of the high backed chairs facing the windows that looked out into the lake. Let Ty Lee and Azula enjoy their day in Hogsmeade. They would still have to come to her.

The problem with setting a scene was just how unspeakably boring it got sitting there waiting for the two of them, knowing that the second she got up, was the second that they would pick to walk through the door. She put her hand on the arm of the chair, tilting it so that her ring caught the firelight just so.

She had been sorely tempted by an extremely tacky REGARD ring, especially after she heard that it belonged to a several times great aunt, who had been disowned for marrying a Muggle, and had left the ring to the family in her will, along with a nasty hex to ensure they kept it. So too had she been tempted by a lovely sapphire ring set in a starburst of diamonds, until she discovered that one had been worn by an ancestor of hers who had campaigned in favor of Muggle hunting.

But this ring... Her mother had gone faintly green when Mai had touched it. One of her whatever great grandfathers had been a famous jeweler, and he had made the ring himself to give to his lady love, who, according to her father, had done nothing more noteworthy with her life than breed krups. Which as far as Mai was concerned, made it perfect. Her father told her she would be the third Nott woman to wear it, and her mother told her it wasn't a bauble for a child, and to put it back. So of course Mai had put it on instead. The centerpiece was a large, round, facetted ruby, perfectly clear and deep red, set in gold, with glittering diamond flowers decorating the band. Until she had put it on they had been roses, but they had turned to cherry blossoms the moment it had become hers. It was a ring that made a statement, and that statement that hers was an old, old power, of blood and history, that Azula couldn't even dream of having. But Zuko could. It made the statement that Mai was a queen who had chosen a king.

Of course she was also a school girl, who had just spent the day being told just how much of a stupid little girl she was, but she wasn't about to let that show.

What little daylight filtered down through the lake water had nearly spilled away by the time the portal to the common room opened, and Mai's body quivered with anticipation, until the voices of the seventh year boys reached her. But they left the common room almost as soon as they had entered it, heading for the stairway to their dorms.

It occurred to Mai then that Azula probably had a confrontation of her own planned with Mai, or more likely, an interrogation, and would probably wait for the common room to empty before she made her entrance with Ty Lee. For once, it was a hopeful thought. Might as well use Azula's theatrics (and ooh wouldn't Azula hate to hear it called that) for once, let her face Mai and only Mai, alone in all her Pureblood splendor.

"Miss Nott?"

The words shook Mai out of her reverie, and her head jerked up. A second year boy she didn't recognize waved at her awkwardly from where he stood near her elbow. "Yes?"

"Congratulations," he said turning pink. "On your engagement, I mean."

She inclined her head graciously and he darted away for the dorms. Well, Azula better come soon, she figured, or the news would be all over the school, and her entire display would be wasted. And wouldn't that be a shame.

Waiting through the returns of the rest of her housemates, Mai closed her eyes and kept very still, her breathing almost as deep and even as if she had been asleep. She didn't really think she could deal with any more congratulations just now.

o0O0o

Once nearly all of the stragglers had drifted back into the common room, and then down to their dorms, Mai opened her eyes and began to count. She wondered how long Azula would be able to stand making her wait.

Not long, as it happened. The wall opened two minutes and twelve seconds after the common room had emptied. She wondered what Azula would have done if the common room had been full of people when she came in, if she would have walked out again. But the common room was empty, except for Mai.

Then Azula and Ty Lee started heading for their dorm, and Mai nearly strangled them both. Instead, she opened her mouth and said "Hello Azula, Ty Lee."

They stopped gratifyingly in their tracks. Azula approached first, and Mai wondered if she was made to feel at all like a supplicant, or if Mai was simply deluding herself. "Hello Mai, did you enjoy spending time with your family?"

"Yes," she drawled. "I did."

She could almost feel the moment Azula noticed the ring, her eyes zeroing in on it like an eagle with a rabbit. "Late birthday present?"

She spread her fingers, as if to examine it, then curled them again. "It's a family heirloom."

"How is the manor?" Azula asked.

And there it was, the first time Azula had mentioned her changed status. Mai had begun to worry that Azula didn't know. "Oh, you know what those old Pureblood manors are like."

"Mai," Ty Lee cut in hesitantly. "Do you have something to tell us?"

There was something really really wonderful about Ty Lee, who had no claim on the Wizarding World or its history except her own magic, being the first to figure it out. She felt a fierce rush of affection for her friend. "My family will be announcing my engagement in the morning."

"Oh Mai!" Ty Lee seemed to apparate, she ran so quickly to her side, snatching up her left hand. "I'm so sorry! You must be..." She gazed imploringly into her face. "Tell me at least that it's someone we know, that it isn't a stranger... Oh, Zuko's going to be heartbroken!"

Mai suddenly wondered just what Ty Lee had been reading to give herself these ideas. "I'm marrying Zuko."

"When did he ask you?" Azula remained behind her, and Mai reined in a shudder. "Before or after you became the Nott Heir?"

Mai didn't answer, certainly not to reply that she had been the one to do the asking.

"He asked you right after the funeral, didn't he?" Azula said gleefully, and Mai gave a little start. "Oh Zuko, how surprisingly ghoulish! I didn't think he had it in him. I thought you were smarter than that, though Mai. It really is transparent what he's really after, isn't it?"

Rare as it was, the moments Azula's barbs missed their mark, when Azula honed in on an insecurity she didn't have, were something to cherish, since it meant Azula was too busy picking at that to go for real blood. And Mai wasn't going to stop her. Not that Azula really thought her brother was after Mai's money anyway. "You clearly don't have any idea why I'm marrying him if you think his motives matter to me."

"Oh Mai," That was all the warning Azula gave her before she flicked the tip of her wand and sent Mai's chair spinning around to face her. "You're marrying him because you think you love him, and you're a hopeless romantic and always have been." When Mai managed not to react, Azula tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're just desperate."

As she spoke, Azula braced her hands on the arms of Mai's chair and loomed in. All of a sudden, she wasn't a queen on a throne, but a butterfly pinned in a display case. She may have miscalculated, she realized afraid. After all, the ring, and the statement it was intended to convey, also firmly marked her as belonging to the same sort of people who had once called Azula's father their lord.

"You can go ahead and marry Zuko and ruin your life if you want. I can't stop you." She bent down and kissed Mai's cheek. "I hope you like being my sister."

After Azula left, taking Ty Lee with her, it was a long, long time before Mai could make her legs carry her to her bed in their dorm.