Disclaimer: I do not own any of Ms. Rowling's wonderful creations. Nor do I own any of the various songs that may be presented throughout the length of this fanfiction. The various songs will be named at the end of the fic, as well as in the chapter within which they lie.

I am SO sorry about the mixup on these chapters! I accidentally copied the third chapter off of the document with all of the chapters on it and posted it as chapter 2 first! So...as an apology, here is the third chapter! I suggest waiting to read it until after you read Chapter 2, though!

Again, I'm SOOOOO sorry! At least you get two updates in one day, this time!

Yours,

Allison

Chapter 3

Sirius Black's name has been cleared. I cannot find the words to truly express my happiness at this. Peter Pettigrew's presence forced Fudge and the Wizengamot to acknowledge that Sirius was innocent. The information secured by Kingsley Shacklebolt on the case against Sirius proved to be invaluable, accusing him of murdering Pudge and a street-full of muggles. The reappearance of Pudge and a quick 'Priori Incantatem' on his old wand- taken into custody for the case against Sirius- showed immediately that Fudge was wrong.

Pudge has been executed. He tried to escape when Alastor and I took him to Azkaban, and so I stopped him in the quickest way possible. The guards would testify for me, should it be necessary. It seems that even without the Dementors, Azkaban is frightening.

They are calling for Fudge's "Early Retirement" as we speak. It seems that this is the icing on the cake...the general public is royally pissed that Fudge condemned an innocent man to twelve years in Azkaban. I wonder why. Yes, that was sarcasm. Anyway, Fudge has been voted out of office, and it's about time if you ask me. They're voting to elect a new minister. Albus won't let me follow this election as closely as I want...which makes me wonder just exactly who the canidates for Minister are. Percy Weasley, I'm sure...he has always been ambitious. Dumbledore, no doubt, will be the second. I don't know why the public bothers...he will not accept the position. They'd be better off electing someone else.

Then again...nobody asked me.

Maya Gurgeon

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Maya was marking essays silently in her office when Albus knocked delicately on the door. "Maya? The results of the election are in the Daily Prophet today..." He seemed to hesitate, and then he handed her the newspaper. Frowning, she took it from him and looked at it.

"Long-Lost Auror Elected Minister of Magic"

Frowning, Maya turned her eyes to Albus, who seemed almost worried about what she would do. Narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously, she read on.

Many citizens have forgotten the War Hero, Maya Gurgeon, whose strange appearance in her seventh year with the infamous James and Lily Potter left everyone wondering where she had come from. However, recent events have forced the public to not only acknowledge this woman, but hear her story. "It is a tragic story of epic proportions," says Albus Dumbledore, reknowned Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Maya Gurgeon has suffered much in her life, she knows exactly how devastating this war is." Miss Gurgeon, formerly known as Hermione Granger, has brought an array of Dark Witches and Wizards to justice since her return, including the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange- a known, demented, supporter of You-Know-Who- Gregory Goyle Senior, and Vincent Crabbe Senior.

After an accident nearly three months ago with a time turner, Miss Gurgeon spent four years growing up and maturing in the past- from the year 1985 until the year 1989- before she was able to research and formulate a potion that would return her to her "proper" time. Though there has been some controversy over her actions in the past, the Wizengamot has agreed unanimously that Maya Gurgeon behaved in accordance to the current laws while in the past, even resulting in Miss Gurgeon losing the trust and love of everyone who once knew her, including her ex-fiance, Sirius Black.

"Maya will be a wonderful Minister of Magic." Said Cornelius Fudge, former Minister, "She is a brilliant Auror, and she cannot be swayed by any means of questionable pursuasion. Over the years, Auror Gurgeon has brought more Dark Wizards to justice than, perhaps, even Alastor Moody."

"Maya was my partner for two and a half years." Grizzled Auror, Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody stated. "I would be proud to serve under her as Minister."

Disgusted, Maya flung the paper into the air. Her wand was in her hand moments later. "INCENDIO!" The paper burst into flames and she turned her dark, reproachful eyes to Albus. "You nominated me for Minister of Magic?" She hissed.

"Technically Alastor nominated you." He pointed out. "The Wizengamot merely supported your election. That was more than enough to turn the election in your favor."

"What does Percy Weasley have to say about this?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.

"My dear, who else do you think contested the legality of your actions nineteen years ago?" Albus asked, arching one eyebrow. "This is not a bad thing, Maya."

"You don't get it, Albus! I don't want to be famous! I would be content to lay down and die!" She ranted. "I'll just have to decline! Yes, that's it! Percy can have the position!" She then started thinking about it, and then cursed. "Bags on it all! If I decline the position, the Wizengamot will think I think I'm too good for the position. But if I accept, the public will think that I'm trying to take advantage over them!" Albus sat down and pulled a lemon drop out of his pocket, slipping it into his mouth as he watched the brilliant witch before him pace. "I've got it!" She was on her way to the fireplace with a pinch of floo powder before the last word was out of her mouth. Shoving her face into the fire, she called out.

"Percy! Percy Weasley, get your sorry arse in here and talk!" Percy must have entered the room on the other end of the floo connection, because Hermione's voice held satisfaction as she continued. "Ah, there you are. I..." She seemed to be listening to the redhead rant. Finally tiring of it, Albus watched in amusement as she roared "ENOUGH! I don't care what you think of me, Percible Agostus Weasley, but you will SHUT UP AND LISTEN to me right this instant!" It must have worked, because when she continued, it was in a much more reasonable tone of voice. "Now. I don't want this bloody position any more than you want me to have it, but the Wizengamot's support and the nomination from the Aurors put me in a sticky situation. No I will NOT discuss it through a floo network. You can come to Hogwarts. I'm sure Albus is tired of staring at my ass, and that he'd enjoy hearing what I plan to do, as well." She yanked her head out of the fire and walked to her seat, sitting down. As Percy Weasley stormed through the fire moments later, she simply looked up at him mildly.

"What's your plan, Gurgeon?" He hissed.

"Don't call me Gurgeon if you like your male genitals where they are." She commented mildly, pleased to see him turn pale. "My plan is to share the position." She picked up a quill and dipped it into red ink, continuing to mark the essays that she'd been working on at Albus' appearance. Thus occupied, she didn't see the jaws of both of the wizards land on the floor in their shock.

"W-what!" Percy stuttered. "You can't be serious!"

"Of course not. That's my..." She stopped, a strange look on her face as she battled with the impulse to finish the statement. Clearing her throat, she looked up. "Why not?" Her face was completely empty of expression. Only Albus- who was very skilled at reading everyone and had worked closely with her since the beginning of the year- saw the stricken look in her eyes.

"It's simply not done!" Percy exclaimed, standing up.

"Why not?" The witch repeated, dipping her quill back in the ink and returning to her marking.

"It would be a breach of tradition..." Albus said, slowly.

"Well of course it would be." Maya snapped, writing down a grade first on the essay that she had just finished marking and then in the muggle-style gradebook to one side of the desk. "That's the entire point. We throw Voldemort's supporters off-balance and satisfy most everyone. There's little to no chance on Percy and I agreeing on anything whatsoever, so the general public shouldn't think that we're conspiring against them. This also gives me more freedom to continue teaching and being an Auror."

"It...could work..." Percy admitted, his interest piqued. He plopped down in his chair and leaned forward. "One of us to handle the war, the other to handle the debts and stuff?" He asked.

"With veto priveledges." She stated. At his confused look, she sighed. "In the States, there are three branches of government, all of which can veto each other. The Americans have screwed over the system...but veto priveledges basically means that we both have to sign off on all laws, all debt agreements, etcetera."

Percy frowned, thinking it over. It made sense... "Alright." He agreed, albeit reluctantly.

"Great. Now all that's left is to work out how to get the Ministry to instate both of us." She said, looking up at Albus, who fidgeted.

"I'll see what I can do..." He said. "I'm not promising anything else, Maya."

"That's all we're asking, Headmaster." Percy said, seeing his Co-Minister turn her full attention back to the essays.

"May I walk you out, Percy? Or would you prefer to use Maya's floo?" Albus asked.

"I'll walk with you, Headmaster. It'll be good for me to see the school again...it's been so long, after all." They left, closing the door and leaving the Defense Professor to her solitude. She sighed, closing her eyes. She and Harry would be leaving in ten minutes to go visit Lily and James. They would be spending that night at Maya's mansion before returning to Hogwarts the following morning. Which meant that she had to finish marking the essays within ten minutes. It was a very good thing, she thought wryly, that she only had one more essay to finish.

As she was on the last paragraph of the essay, a knock came at her door. "Enter." She called, preoccupied, reading a sentence twice to make sure that she'd read it correctly. The proper way to kill a vampire is to throw ground and dried garlic at it? Good grief, this poor child has been reading Lockhart! Dipping her quill in the red ink, she wrote out a note at the bottom of the essay. Miss Carson, the proper way to kill a vampire is not to throw ground and dried garlic at it! I suggest that you choose a book that ISN'T written by someone in St. Mungo's extended care psychotics ward.

Jotting down the grade, Maya capped her red ink and looked up, finally. "Ah, Harry. Thank you for waiting. Are you ready?" She smiled as he nodded and stood up, reaching into one drawer for an old muggle camera. Holding it out, she nodded when Harry grabbed it. "Hold on, Harry." She warned, picking up her duffle bag and tapping the portkey with her wand. "Portus Corthus." At the activation key, the portkey immediately rushed Harry and his Godmother off to Godric's Hollow.

Harry looked around the graveyard quietly before turning to Maya, who had gone very still beside him. She was looking at something a short ways off and, following her gaze, he looked to see two gravestones. He wasn't sure how, exactly, he knew...but he knew in his heart that there, under those stones, rested his parents. "Maya...I..."

She seemed to pull herself out of a trance as she looked at him and smiled encouragingly. "Go ahead. I will hang back until you are finished." Glad that she'd been so understanding, Harry moved from her side to the graves. It occured to him, as he knelt in the snow between the graves, that she had shown a remarkable ammount of restraint by allowing him to go first. When he glanced discreetly over his shoulder, he saw that his godmother had turned away to give him privacy. He turned back to the stones quietly.

When Maya felt Harry approaching, she turned and looked at him. His eyes were too bright and he was wiping his face on his sleeve, so she left him to his privacy and walked to the gravestones. Looking down at them, she felt a plethora of feelings rise within her, not the least of which was guilt. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, touching the angel statue on top of Lily's grave and the stag statue on top of James'. "I should have been there. I should have been your secret keeper. There are so many things that I should have done..." After a long moment, she turned to Lily's grave. "Oh Lils...I still remember the day I met you. I was there for you through so much...I should have been there." She touched the angel gently once more before taking a deep breath. Turning, she walked back to where Harry was waiting.

He seemed about to say something, but thought better of it when he saw the look on her face. Sighing silently, Maya looked at him. "You know how to apparate, don't you Harry?"

"Well, I'm not great at it yet, but yes..." He said, hesitantly.

"Good. I'm going to apparate. No, don't worry...just hold my hand and concentrate very hard on apparating to the exact same place that I'm going to. Ready?"

"I suppose so, Professor."

"Harry, I told you, it's Maya."

"Sorry Maya..." He said softly.

"Okay, ready? Three...two...one." On cue, both of them turned backwards, concentrating, only to appear in the living room of a very big mansion. Harry stared around in awe. His godmother took note of his awe and smiled. "Welcome to the house where you spent your first ten months of life, Harry." She said. "You learned to walk and talk in this very place." She then turned towards the kitchen. "Libby!" A house elf skittered out of the kitchen.

"Oh Mistress Maya is back! Libby is so pleased!" The elf gushed.

"Yes, thank you Libby." Maya said kindly. "Would you please see to it that dinner is prepared for Harry and I tonight? We will be staying until tomorrow afternoon, so we will need breakfast in the morning and lunch tomorrow, as well."

"Libby will make the preparations...and Libby must say, Mistress, that it is wonderful to have you back. We has missed you, that we has." Libby said before disappearing. Harry glanced at the woman standing beside him...she was still impassive...before beginning to- hesitantly- explore the room. After a long moment, Maya shifted.

"Harry, come with me." With that, she walked towards the staircase in one corner, walking up it as it wound around. Surprised, Harry ran after her, slowing only once he'd caught up with her halfway down the hall at the top of the stairs. Arriving at a second, much steeper staircase, Maya walked up it without glancing about. Harry frowned slightly, sensing someone moving in one of the rooms as he passed, before following her up the stairs. He stopped, looking around at the room.

"This is where it happened...isn't it. This is where you and Bellatrix..."

"Yes." She cut him off. "This is where I took the potion that sealed my fate." She seemed to shake herself out of a reverie as she walked calmly to one blank wall and murmured something. To Harry's surprise, a portion of the wall slid away to reveal a door. "After you, Harry." Maya said. After a wary glance at her, he ducked through the doorway. The wall slid closed behind Maya as she walked into the room and over to a desk in a corner. "This, Harry, is the only room that was perfectly preserved in my absence. You will find books in here that you will never find anywhere else...it is the most extensive library in the United Kingdom. Some of these books were gifts...others were confiscated from the Dark Wizards that I caught. Still others, I bought." She sighed softly. "Many of them are on time travel and how it may be done. It was in this room that I brewed the potion that brought me back to this time."

Harry looked at her as she spoke. It was obvious that she was no longer truly speaking to him...but merely stating the facts aloud. When she'd been silent for a while, he spoke softly. "Maya?"

Hermione looked over at him and gave a small smile. "Sorry about that." She walked to a desk in a corner and pulled out a file. "I brought you up here, Harry, to give you this." She handed him the folder. "I am under oath not to allow it out of this room. However, I am no longer an Honorary Marauder...and therefore the oath preventing me from giving it to you no longer exists. I must caution you, however, that this is very dangerous magic, Harry. I suggest you read through all of your father's notes before attempting it. I will be here when you attempt it...and you will not argue with me. Understood?" When he nodded, she smiled faintly before walking to the bookcase. "You are free to study that while I work on a project that I've taken up."

"Thank you, Maya..." Harry whispered as he sat down on a comfortable couch, curling up and reading the notes. He was aware of the witch selecting several tomes and carrying them back to her desk, sitting down to read.

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Harry looked up at his Godmother from his animagus form, concentrating as she had instructed him to until he turned back into a human. "That was bloody brilliant!" He gasped. Maya gave a tight smile as she tucked the notes back into the drawers.

"Now that you know how to perform the spell, you can do it twice more on Ginny and Ron. After that, I must ask that you put that particular incantation to the very back of your memory where you will never be tempted to use it again." His godmother told him. "Also, Sirius or I must be present when you cast the spell on Ginny and Ron." Her voice was firm. "I am curious, however, as to why you chose a Ferret. I would think your taste would run more along the lines of your Father's."

She watched in growing amusement as he squirmed. "Fourth year," he mumbled. "Ferrets have been my favorite animal since Fourth Year."

"I see. Well-" She was cut off by Libby, who appeared with a pop.

"Mistress! Libby has prepared dinner for you and young Master Potter!"

"Thank you, Libby. We'll be right down." Maya assured. As the elf bowed before disappearing, she turned and walked towards the door to the practice room that would take them back into the library.

"Maya? Why do you have House elves? I always thought..."

"That I couldn't stand making them do labor?" Maya smiled this time...a true smile. "I changed a lot when I was gone, Harry." She said, gently. "Libby was my first House Elf. She helped me to see that House Elves actually enjoy being owned by others. It's an almost masochistic desire." She sealed the library once more before turning and walking down the stairs.

Harry walked into the kitchen ahead of Maya and stopped short. She had paused to look at a picture of Snake's Halo hanging on the wall, a sad smile on her face, but as she walked up behind Harry, the smile disappeared. "What do you want, Black?" Her voice went steely.

Sirius jumped at the sound of that voice, and he looked up to see the witch that had once been his fiancee. The woman that had once been his closest confidant...one of two Honorary Maruaders...the only two in history. For months before he'd gotten beneath her walls, she'd hated him. It had been nineteen years since he'd last heard that steely, uncompromising tone in her voice. "Maya..." He stood up, looking at her. Harry had moved out of the way in case of a fight, but neither Maya nor Sirius truly noticed. "Maya." Sirius repeated, taking a step towards her. Her face showed nothing, but she remained still, watching him.

There were no true words for what happened next. A series of pops had Maya turning around, her wand out, even as Harry's eyes widened. "SIRIUS! GET HARRY OUT!" Maya shouted. Acting immediately to the urgency in her tone, Sirius vaulted the table in one swift move and grabbed Harry's wrist.

"Apparate with me, Harry!" He said. "HURRY!" Without waiting for an answer, Sirius spun backwards, taking Harry with him as he apparated away...moments before the Deatheaters stepped into the dining room.

"Well, well...if it isn't Maya Gurgeon. The new Minister of Magic herself." Sneered a deep voice that Maya recognized from her seventh year.

"Flint. What a surprise." She had vanished the table non-verbally and now stood in the center of the room, watching as the Deatheaters all crowded around and behind McNair, watching her with their wands pointed.

"You're coming with us, Minister." Sneered one.

"Do you have an appointment?" Maya drawled, flicking her wand. A turkey flung itself from the vanished table and into the head of one of the Deatheaters. When they hesitated before casting spells, she smirked to herself. They weren't there to kill her. Oh goody...an invitation to visit a demented psychopath!

"Do we need one?" Flint sneered.

"Well. I am Minister of Magic, after all." Another flick and a pie flung itself into their ranks. "I'm a busy woman." She pointed her wand over her shoulder. "Stupefy!" There was a cry behind her, allowing her to locate the second wizard. "Petrificus Totalus!" The group in front of her was shifting nervously by this time. Maya fought the urge to grin viciously. They were treating her as if she were a very dangerous person.

She loved it.

Her eyes, by chance, caught the dark, storm-cloud-gray eyes of one of the Deatheaters and she paused. Intellectually, she'd known that he had become a deatheater...but somehow, actually seeing him wearing the mask was still a great disappointment. Well practiced at hiding her feelings, however, she didn't show it. "The Dark Lord would like to...speak...with you." Flint said, finally.

"Oh I'm sure he would. After all, I've heard that he just loves giving office-warming gifts to the new Ministers." Maya said mildly. The deatheaters stiffened. Gray eyes held a hint of laughter. "Lucius." She said, her voice still mild. "I must say...it hardly does you any good to ask what I have done when you're the one under a white skull mask."

She saw immediately that she'd hit a button as he tensed, lifting his wand. "Expelliarmus!" Prepared, she skipped easily to one side, reaching up and catching the wand of the deatheater behind her whom the spell had hit instead as it flew past. Pausing, she broke it smoothly and tossed the pieces to the ground. She heard a cry of rage from behind her and sidestepped as the man who was trying to tackle her flew by. Her wand aimed for him easily.

"Stupefy." Her eyes never left Lucius'. "Have you done any reading on Soul Mates lately, Lucius?" She asked, twirling her wand idly. Thus far, she'd taken out five Deatheaters...with at least four more to go. The two that had been hit with food had, ironically, been knocked unconscious. "No? Well, I must say that Artengia Metronson has a very interesting theory on it, if I do say so myself."

She paused, her eyes moving to Flint as he spoke. "Give up, Gurgeon. We're four on one. You don't stand a chance."

"No, I suppose I don't." She commented. "But you'll forgive me, I hope, if I don't come willingly. You see...I can't quite work a visit to a maniac's lair in the custody of his brownnosing followers into my schedule." She saw Flint stiffen and she smirked. "Inpedimenta!" The deatheaters scrambled aside so that the spell hit the wall, but she was already moving. "Petrificus Totalus!" Sending a barrage of other curses at them, they finally disapparated.

"Stupe-" Maya spun, lifting her wand.

"Expelliarmus!" She caught the wand easily and stupefied the deatheater. The others disapparated immediately...not wanting to face her any longer. With a look of disgust, Maya accioed the rest of the wands to her and bound the deatheaters before apparating with them to the Ministry.

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Sirius paced silently in Albus Dumbledore's office, back at Hogwarts. Albus himself sat behind his desk with his fingers steepled. Though he did not show it, he too was worried. Harry had long since been sent to bed, leaving his Godfather and the Headmaster alone to worry and wonder about what had happened in the mansion once Sirius and Harry had escaped. The fire turned green, suddenly, which had both wizards spinning towards it, looks of fearful anticipation on their faces as Alastor Moody's face appeared. "Dumbledore...you'd best come see this yourself."

Immediately, Sirius was at the fireplace. "What's happened, Alastor?" But the Auror was already gone.

Albus walked to the fireplace and took a pinch of floo powder. "Come along, Sirius." He tossed the powder into the fireplace and stepped in. "Ministry of Magic: Magical Law Enforcement!" And with that, he was gone. Sirius sighed as he picked up a pinch of floo powder and followed.

They stepped out to see Maya standing off to one side, smacking off the probing hands of a mediwizard who- from the looks of him- had been trying for a while. She looked quite cross indeed as he pulled out a needle and thread and began stitching up a long cut on her bare shoulder the muggle way. She scowled dangerously at the mediwizard, who swallowed hard before speaking. "I'm sorry, Minister, but it hasn't reacted to any of the spells that either of us has tried. You refuse to go to St. Mungos..." Her face was positively murderous at the mention of the name. "And..." He gulped again. "This is the only other way to do up the wound. You can't go around with it open...you'll bleed to death!"

"Thank you for that wonderfully encouraging diagnosis, doctor. I couldn't have figured it out myself after all...I'm only the stupid Minister of Magic!" She sneered.

"Come now, Maya." Percy Weasley said from the corner as he smiled innocently at his Co-Minister. "It's not that horrible, is it?"

"Well I don't know, why don't I show you?" She pulled away from the mediwizard, almost causing him to yank the stitches from her shoulder as she raised her wand.

"Maya." Albus said, mildly, halting her movement. She cast one more glare towards the redhead in the corner before turning to Hogwarts' Headmaster.

"Albus. Since Black is with you, I'm assuming that my godson is safely tucked away in Hogwarts." She said, mildly. The mediwizard seemed astounded at her complete change of mood...though he wasn't about to take it for granted...and used the opportunity to hurriedly continue stitching her wound.

"That he is...though he did seem a bit shaken up from the experience." Albus stated.

"Understandable, considering that ten Deatheaters decided to impose their presence on my home." Her amiable mood forgotten and her patience with the mediwizard officially gone, Hermione turned to him with a snarl. "Go make a shirt or something if you want to keep using that damned needle and thread!" With a yelp, the mediwizard fell back, thankful that he had just finished the final stitch. Maya chased him out of the room before slamming the door behind him and crossing her arms, leaning on the door.

"Exactly what happened to you?" Albus asked, eyeing her.

"She brought in six deatheaters single-handedly." Alastor said, eyeing Hermione. "And then the fool went back to her house to clean up and make sure the House Elves- of all things- were unharmed." Maya glared right back as the auror stared at her. Giving up the futile staring contest, Moody looked back at Albus. "She won't tell us for sure, but I'm betting that there was someone lying in wait for her when she arrived back. She apparated into my office spouting blood from about twenty places and cursing fit enough to make a dwarf blush."

Sirius looked at the young woman in alarm from where she stood leaning against the door...only now taking in the state of her once pristine blue robes. They were singed and burnt in several places, and there were chunks missing from the clothes underneath in random places...where there were small scars in some places and more stitches in others. Across her tanned stomach- where a particularly large piece of cloth was missing- there was a line of stitches. "Maya..." He whispered.

She flicked her eyes towards him before turning her death glare back to Alastor as if daring him to continue. "What little we have got out of her is that Marius Flint, Bastian Veal, and Victor Kiebel were three of the deatheaters that escaped her the first time." Percy said mildly, causing the drilling, dagger-shooting brown eyes to turn in his direction. "She won't tell us who the fourth was."

Sirius and Albus exchanged glances before turning to look at Maya. She glanced at them and did a double take, her glare turning even more potent than before, if that was possible. "What?" She hissed. "If all you're going to do is go over what I already told you, then I'm out of here." With that, she turned, yanked the door open, and stormed out, slamming it behind her. She didn't care that it was slightly childish...she was more concerned by the fact that she was tired- both from the physical exertion of the battles and so much rapid spellcasting- that she was sore- she was going to kill Rodolphus Lestrange!- and that she was not in the mood to go over what she had been the one to tell Alastor earlier.

Walking down the hallway energetically...the burnt and torn robes only emphasizing the fact that she was a very scary woman as they billowed around her...Maya stormed into the Minister's office and slammed the door behind her. Only once she was out of sight of the general public did she slow down, moving much more tenderly due to her stitches and the bruises that she had been very careful not to let the mediwizard in all of his idiocity find. Inching into the chair behind the desk, she looked at the documents there waiting for the signatures of herself and Percy both. Albus had written up the magical contract for the Co-Ministers to sign, and as soon as she'd gotten there the first time she and Percy had signed...sealing the contract and making every other document in the ministry requiring the Minister's signature now forced to require duel signatures.

Making a face, she began reading.

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...soul mates are traditionally believed to be one's perfect love-match. In recent studies, however, a pattern has become more and more evident with each experiment. It seems that, unlike tradition has stated, soul mates are not one's perfect love-match. They are, instead, someone that one is so close to that one could never think of the other in more than a platonic way.

Maya glared at the familiar calligraphy in the book that she was reading through once more. She had told Lucius to read it, and was now looking through it just in case he took it upon himself to confront her. Slamming the book closed as she heard her seventh years enter the room beyond, Maya grabbed her wand and took a deep breath, standing swiftly despite the protest of her stitches and walking equally swiftly to the door of her office and out of it. She allowed herself to slow- charitably, she thought- on the stairs, before walking to the desk at the head of the classroom and easing her aching body into her chair.

Draco, the more perceptive of her two godsons, must have noticed...for he narrowed his dark eyes- so much like his father's- and watched her warily. She took a steadying breath before she began to speak. "Today, we will be working on the Transmorphus Curse and its effects. Both the effects on the caster and the victim." She pulled out a packet of papers and forced herself to her feet, walking slowly across the room, passing the papers out. "You will need to fill out these packets as well as read the chapter- Chapter Eighteen for those of you who have not bothered to look at the index of the books that you've, after all, only had for two monts- in your textbook. The packets will count as if they were an essay...so I suggest that some of you..." Here, she shot a look towards Parvati and Lavender. "...not wait until the last minute..." Her eyes swept to Ron and Harry. "...to try to finish it."

She marvelled, slightly, that she was just as feared and hated as Severus Snape...the dread potions master of the school. It was amazing what billowing robes, refusal to bend rules at any cost, and a low, silky drawl could do.

Unbeknownst to her, the very object of her thoughts was standing silently outside of her door, watching her and thinking very similar thoughts himself. However, he could see that her calculated, robe-billowing stride was slightly more hesitant than before...a stiffness that forced her to calculate her stride even further than normal...her steps slightly less smoothe than they would be if she were completely healthy. As the witch launched into a lecture about the Transmorphus curse, Severus took note of the way that she seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, taking points with an unbiased equality that had him amused.

As her students filed out past him, she sank into her chair once more and he could hear her give a soft, stifled groan of pain. Without any warning, he swooped in. She was on her feet in seconds, wand pointed at him for all of two seconds before it disappeared to wherever she kept it in her robes. "Severus." Her voice was surprised, but not unfriendly. "What can I do for you?" She remained on her feet, though he saw that she descreetly rested one hand on her desk to keep herself from staggering and he wondered just how much damage the ambush at her mansion the day before had done.

"I've come to..." He began formally, breaking off and looking at her quietly for a long moment before he sighed softly and approached her slowly. She watched him suspiciously, and he knew that her paranoia kept her wand within reach...though he didn't hold that knowledge against her. "Maya, I acted a fool. Could you ever forgive me for being such an unequalled ass?"

"Severus...you know that I forgave you the moment that you said the words." She said, gently. "You were right. Everything that you said...it was all correct." She sighed. "Come...let us talk in my office. You don't have class, I trust?" When he shook his head, she nodded and walked to the stairs. His practiced eye once again confirmed his earlier suspicions. The witch's normally fluid stride was broken, just slightly.

"Maya...who was it? Yesterday...who ambushed you?" He asked, the moment they were in her office and the door was closed. Her eyes went hard for a few moments before she spoke.

"Rodolphus Lestrange." She said, shortly. It was obviously not a subject up for discussion.

"I'll kill him." He snarled, moving for that door.

"I hold that priveledge." Her voice was cold. He turned to look at her. There was something that she wasn't telling him. Something that she had, previously, been able to keep hidden.

"What happened, Maya?" He asked. She glared at him for a long moment before seeming to come to a choice in her mind. She was out the door before he could truly fathom her movement...and he saw that her pain- when she put her mind to something- didn't slow her a wit.

"Come on, Severus. This is not the place for this discussion."

Only when they were seated in her quarters sipping tea did she speak again...and this time, Severus listened without speaking to the horrors that had unfolded in the mansion.

SCENEBREAKSCENEBREAKSCENEBREAK

Hermione apparated into the mansion to see Libby ironing her hands. "Libby! What's wrong?" She asked, still breathing slightly heavily from the exhersion.

"Libby is so sorry Mistress! Libby would not haved purchased that awful awful elf if Libby had known!" The elf wailed. Maya had told her to purchase as many additional elves as would be needed to get the Mansion back to its proper state of warmth and care.

"Which elf?"

"That awful awful Otty!" Libby sobbed. "Libby purchased him from Master Malfoy!" She bent over, snivelling, and the witch watching her felt as if shards of ice were shooting into her heart. "He told the awful awful deatheaterses that Mistress was here." Her words were punctuated by another wail.

Lucius? Surely not, Maya...Lucius would never betray you!

That, Severus, is what I thought as well. But Libby's words rang true, so I had to look into the elf that she spoke of.

Maya stared unforgivingly at the elf that was bowing before her. He had just- under the threat of being given clothes- admitted to having set Maya, Harry, and Sirius up to be attacked. "You are forbidden to leave this house, use the floo, or speak to a witch, wizard, or creature in general other than myself and Libby. These orders are magically binding. Should you disobey any of them, you will immediately be given a sock and sent on your wretched little way." She snarled. "And I must warn you, Otty." Her voice was frightening and terrible to the tiny elf. "When I buy an elf and it enters my service, it does so with the understanding that should I give it clothes, its mind and the memories of working with me will be suitably altered so that no compromising information may be given out. In short, Otty, you are now condemned to a life of silence and solitude for your betrayal."

"A pity. He was rather useful." The voice came from behind her. Maya's wand was out before she finished turning. "Sectumsempra!" Hermione dove to one side, though the spell hit her across the stomach in a glancing blow.

"Lucius...why?" She asked, gritting her teeth.

"Because I told him to." Her pained eyes were drawn to Rodolphus Lestrange as he walked into the room. "And because you killed my Bella."

"Sectumsempra!" While her attention was on Rodolphus, Lucius spoke the spell again. Something about his voice was off, Maya noted distantly as she took the spell full force across her shoulderblades. The blood began to run down her robes with each time they were torn open.

"Bellatrix meddled with forces that she should not have." Maya grit out, lifting her wand. "Crucio!" The spell hit Rodolphus...but strangely, it was Lucius that screamed out with pain. Startled, Maya immediately released the spell.

"Sectumsempra!" She had turned to look at Lucius in puzzlement, and the spell caught her across the stomach again...full force this time. Gripping at the wound, she stumbled backwards to lean on the wall, blood pooling around her feet. She was losing too much blood too fast. With each time that Lucius hit her, she lost another fountain of blood...and she didn't have the heart to attack Lucius. Also, from the botched Cruciatus curse moments before, it seemed as if any attempt to attack Lestrange would hurt Lucius instead. Therefore, she had no choice but to concede that the battle was lost.

Libby, on the other hand, had no such reservations about attacking Lucius. Nor did Hermione's second most loyal house elf, Batty. The two of them worked together to begin driving the two Deatheaters out of their domain. They could not, however, protect their swiftly weakening mistress from the Sectumsempra spells aimed at her by both Lucius and Rodolphus...and several more landed before Maya dropped behind a couch, her blood pooling about her and her head spinning from the loss of the vital fluid. She was aware of the elves pushing out the intruders and sealing the house. She would, of course, have to create more permanent seals later...but as she stood, she swayed on her feet.

With one last look at Libby, who waved her hands in a 'shoo'ing motion, Maya closed her eyes and disapparated