The Werewolf's Daughter

24: A trio of schools

The night of the Quidditch World Cup was in the past, but Maya was still waking up every night, screaming. All she could dream about was the masks, the screams, the spells being fired off everywhere as they ran towards the woods and the muggles. Those poor muggles that had done nothing wrong, apart from open their land up to the wizarding community.

They had been in the woods for what felt like hours when silence finally settled over the campsite; there were no more bangs or screams. Maya and Draco had lost the others in the chaos, so they decided it was best to stay where they were until someone came to find them.

'Draco, do you think everyone is ok?' Maya asked, trembling.

'I'm sure they are love.' Draco said, pulling Maya close to him. He didn't sound very certain though – how could he be.

'Maya, Draco, are you around here?' came a voice, suddenly.

'Is that my Dad?' Maya whispered – Draco nodded.

Maya tried to jump up and run to the voice, but Draco held her back. 'Wait!'

Draco made his way out of the bush they had been hiding in and Maya heard him say 'What was the first lesson you ever gave use about at Hogwarts?'

'Boggarts' came the answer and Draco seemed to relax slightly.

Lupin hurried over and pulled both teens close; Maya started to cry and wouldn't let go of him. 'Come on, we're going to get as much rest as possible back in the tent.'

'What? Why can't we leave?' Maya asked.

'We can't honey, there are no port keys. It's over now though, we'll be fine!'

Just as he said that, the group exited the woods, and then noticed something bright in the sky.

'Oh shit!' Lupin exclaimed.

'What? What is it? Dad?'

Maya looked up at the sky – there was a weird skull up there, shining brightly. 'Dad, what is that?'

Lupin didn't answer, he was hurrying back in to the woods to where the symbol hung over.

'Da-'

'Maya, it's the Dark Mark. The Dark Lord's mark. It normally only appears if someone has been killed.'

'Wh..what? Who? Oh god, where is everyone? What if it's Harry or Hermione, or one of the Weasleys? Tonks – where's Tonks?'

'Maya, calm down. We will wait here for your Dad and see what's happening.' He said, as he wiped away her tears.

Eventually her Dad came back.

'It's ok – no one is hurt. Come on, let's go back to the tent and I'll explain. Tonks and Padfoot are there.'

As Maya lay awake at 1.16am on 1st September, she thought the memory of that night would never leave her. She got out of bed, knowing she wasn't going to get much more sleep, and started to check that she had packed everything she needed. Tomorrow (today – just later) she was leaving to go back to Hogwarts for her 4th year. She was excited but nervous too – who knew what this year would hold for her!

Confident that everything was packed, Maya headed down to the kitchen to make a hot chocolate. She was surprised to see a light on in the kitchen and even more surprised to see Sirius sitting at the table.

'Aah, I wondered if you would be down tonight.' He said, smiling at her.

'What do you mean?'

'Maya, we know you haven't been sleeping. Your dad is going out of his mind, so I said I would try and speak to you. You haven't been around much though – you're always in your room!'

Tears started to stream down Maya's face.

'Maya, what is it honey?' Sirius asked, coming around the table to sit next to her.

'I don't know. Well I do, but I don't know why it's affecting me so much.'

'The World Cup?' Sirius asked.

Maya nodded 'I don't think I've slept for a whole night since then; I wake up from a nightmare about this time and then I can't sleep.'

'Maya, why did you not say?' Sirius asked.

'Because it's stupid. Why is it affecting me so much?'

'Maya, it was a scary night for everyone. Nightmares and fears after something like that are perfectly normal. Look, I'm going to make you a sleeping potion so that you can get through tonight ok? If you want, I can also make up extra for you to take back to school with you – just until you feel back to yourself?'

'I'll take some for tonight and let you know about extra, if that's ok.' She responded.

Sirius set about making up the potion and then gave it to Maya in a small vial, with a glass of water.

'Now go, get some sleep ok?' he said, kissing her forehead.

That was the first night where Maya felt she got a proper sleep in the last week.

Hogwarts

The train journey back to Hogwarts was uneventful and now all students were in the Great Hall, at the opening feast. Maya was starting to feel sleepy again and didn't eat much.

'You ok?' Draco asked, just as Dumbledore stood up to make his start-of-term feast.

Maya nodded and turned her attention to the headmaster. She was starting to feel drowsy and didn't hear much but her ears did perk up when he started to talk about the Triwizard Tournament.

'The delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive on Friday 30th October; classes that day will finish at lunchtime, so we can acknowledge their arrival. I expect you all to treat our visitors with respect and kindness while they are here.' Dumbledore finished his speech 'You may now depart to bed. Prefects, please lead your first years out.'

The Great Hall became a chattering, scattering of students. Draco held Maya's hand as they walked out of the hall.

'God Draco Malfoy, when are you going to grow up and come back to your actual friends and house?' came a sneering high-pitched voice from behind them.

Maya was tired but as soon as she heard that voice she was ready for a fight. She turned around, but Draco pulled her back. 'Ignore her' he whispered, 'She's just looking for a reaction.' He pulled Maya closer to him and kissed the top of her head as they walked away. Maya looked back at Pansy to see her standing there, staring after them. She sneered at Maya when she saw her looking.

Maya headed straight up to bed, but again by 2am she was awake from nightmares. Sirius had given her the extra potion as a precaution, so Maya took some and went back to bed, where she had a nice dreamless sleep.

30th October – 4.30pm

The evening of the 30th October came around quick and soon, the students of Hogwarts were getting ready to greet their guests. Everyone was gathered outside waiting for their arrival.

'I wonder how they're arriving?' Maya asked Draco. He shrugged.

Suddenly someone shouted. 'Look, look at the sky! It's a dragon!'

Maya and Draco looked up – it wasn't a dragon but there was what looked like a giant pumpkin being pulled by massive horses coming down to the grounds.

The carriage landed and after about ten seconds a giant foot appeared from the door. 'Woah!' Maya said to Draco, as a giant woman walked over and greeted Dumbledore. There was a flurry of blue following behind her, which Maya soon realised was girls in blue capes and blue hats. 'Oh god, are they dancing?' she asked, giggling.

Draco chuckled too. 'I hope they've brought something a bit warmer with them too. They'll be as blue as their robes soon!'

Maya giggled and moved closer to Draco, holding his hand and using her other arm to cuddle in to him. 'Thank god I have someone to keep me cosy, so I don't turn blue. It's so cold!'

They waited in silence for another few minutes and then Draco said in Maya's ear. 'Look at the lake' Maya looked over and gasped. Something was coming up out of the water. 'It's a boat!' she exclaimed.

'More like a ship – it's huge!' Draco responded.

The big black ship eventually came to a stop not far from the waters edge and a large plank came out to lead the people onboard on to shore. The man that Maya assumed was the head teacher greeted Dumbledore. 'Do you know who he is?' she asked Draco.

'Yes, Father considered sending me to Durmstrang – the school he is the Headmaster at – his name is Igor Karkaroff.' Draco dropped his voice so only Maya could hear. 'He was a deatheater.'

Maya gasped, 'How could Dumbledore let him come here?'

'He turned in a lot of other deatheaters – I doubt Dumbledore trusts him, but he can't say anything as he was cleared of all charges. He has to show him respect as another head teacher.'

'He looks creepy.' She said, as the teacher and his students walked past them to the Great Hall. All of the students looked quite surly too.

'Well, it looks like it will be an interesting year.' She said.

Draco nodded as they walked inside. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for Dumbledore to start his speech.

The speech was a long one; welcoming guests, explaining the tournament and rules. Maya wasn't really too interested at this point as her and her friends were too young to enter.

Eventually, Dumbledore finished his speech and food appeared in front of them all. The atmosphere in the hall was great; everyone was laughing and joking with each other and the food was amazing. Part way through the meal, Maya looked up and found herself looking at one of the Beauxbatons girls – she was staring right at them. Actually – she was staring right at Draco. Maya leaned over and whispered in his ear.

'Don't look now, but I think you have an admirer.'

Draco looked at her, confused; Maya inclined her head towards the girl. Draco saw her too and the girl smiled; Draco looked away without smiling back. He looked at Maya and gave her a kiss on the lips. It was definitely for the other girls benefit, but Maya wasn't complaining. She kissed him back and then went back to her meal. When she looked up, the other girl was whispering to her friend – she looked angry and they both kept staring back over at Maya and Draco.

'Looks like this year will be really fun.' Maya said to herself.