Hey there!

Here I am again, this time it didn't take that long.
In this chapter, some answers will be given. And just a reminder, this is just a story, everything that happens is fiction. It is all with a reason, so that the story can go as I want it to go. Also, not everything that happens will be a good thing or a nice thing. Bad things will happen to them, that is what makes a good story. This is why Peter is staying, he has to, to make it interesting.

Hope you enjoy it! R&R

Sofie

Disclaimer: It's all Rowlings! Just playing with the characters.

Chapter 8:

It was a Wednesday afternoon and most Hogwarts' students were free, including the sixth years. The summer was ending, It was raining and you could feel the change of the season. It was almost Fall.
The Marauders, as they had recently began to call themselves, where finishing a new spell on their Map inside of their dorm room. It was now ably to show where everybody else inside the Castle was walking. The next step would be to give the footsteps the name of the person they represented.
Lily was writing another letter home, well to one of her Muggle friends actually. She tried to keep in contact with her friends and family as much as she could, she didn't want to neglect them.

Maya was having a meeting with her grandfather. To keep up appearences, theymet each other every Wednesday afternoon.

"So you are saying I probably won't ever be able to return to my own time? To the future? You are certain about that?" Maya was sitting in the Headmasters' office. He had just explained to her that he had contacted everyone he knew that could tell him something about her time traveling problems. But none of them knew of a way to send someone back to their correct time. Every single one of them said she would need to stay in this time frame and accept the situation.
"What about what happens in the future? How can I know nothing of importance has changed? How can I know my friends are still going to be born? How can I be certain everything turns out the way it did when I was there?" Maya was very disappointed in the turnout of her situation. She had still had some hope of returning to her friends and family.

"You should do everything you can not to change the events that are supposed to happen. Although I have a theory about you traveling back. I think this was all supposed to happen. I think even in your time, there was a Maya Dumbledore who was once Hermione Granger." Dumbledore explained. Maya was just getting more confused by the second.

"Are you saying this all happened because in my time it had all happened before? This is all very confusing" Maya slumped in her seat, trying to wrap her head around it all.

"I think the Maya from your time was in hiding or dead. I think she is you, but the you that had already travelled back. She couldn't be seen by you, because seeing the you that has already travelled back would be very confusing and hard to explain. As you wouldn't know you were going to travel back. Also, you would do things differently back here if you had known you would be coming back." And then Maya was very confused. But somehow it all made sense. Because she had used a Time Turner in her third year, some of this stuff had already been explained to her then. Of course, with a Time Turner she wasn't able to travel back years so the possible consequences weren't as big as this time around.

"So I can't change anything major. But you are allowing me to think of a way to help everyone without changing the events that are necessary for everything that is supposed to happen? This is going to be a difficult task. It will take some time to think about the different possibilities and how I could maybe pull this off. Good thing I still have a couple of years to come up with something." Maya had hope again. The hope for a better future, the hope to give her friends what they deserve.

HPHPHPHP

After her visit to the Headmasters' office, Maya went to the Library. Her, Lily and possibly Remus, he didn't yet know if he would be able to make it, were going to study together for the upcoming test for Charms. It was the first test of the semester, which was already 3 weeks in. Time certainly went by fast. She was having fun for once. The threat of Voldemort was still quite small, so her friends and she herself were able to have a somewhat normal childhood. Although Maya had noticed Peter was absent on some occasions, she was going to pretend not to notice. She just had to let everything happen as it was supposed to happen. And that had proven to be very difficult already. She just hoped she could hold her tongue for a few more years and try not to get too attached to her new friends. Because she couldn't be certain she would ever be able to save them. And if she became too attached, she would be devastated when she loses them.

She saw Lily just after she turned the corner to the hallway where the Library was. Even from a distance, Maya could see that the Slytherins were harassing Lily. She silently sent a harmless spell to them, it was meant to make them eat slugs. A spell she had learned from Ron, thank God for Ron's clumsiness. The three Slytherins quickly made a run for the nearest bathroom.

She ran towards Lily, who was backed up against the wall. She was as white as a ghost. "You okay?" Maya asked her.

"Now I am. Thanks for that." Lily breathed out in relief.

"Don't mention it" Maya smiled and put an arm around her, "Let's get inside and start studying. That Charms test is tomorrow already. We really should start to study."

"What was it about again? The basics of non-verbal spells, right?" Maya nodded and answered: "Yes, just the theory, not the practical. So it should be a simple test."

After the first 10 minutes of studying, Remus joined them. Apparently James and Sirius held him up in the Common Room. They worked until right before dinner time, then they packed up their things and went to eat. That test was going to be fairly easy after all the studying they had done.

HPHPHPHP

In the Great Hall, the rest of the Marauders were already seated. Even Peter was there for once. Maya hated him, but since the only places left where next to the Marauders she didn't have a choice. Remus sat down next to Peter and Lily next to James, on the other side of the table. And since Maya didn't want to have to look at Peter for an entire meal, she sat down next to Remus.
It turned out to be a very nice meal. James and Sirius were being pleasant for a change. They laughed and talked in a civil matter to Lily and Maya. There were no insults being thrown around and Lily was quite pleased with that. She had begun to see another side to the these boys. And maybe she even began to see them as friends. It would take some more time still, but at least they were on good terms now. They were being civil and of it stayed that way then someday she could call them her friends.

Maya smiled when she saw Lily was talking to James and Sirius. She couldn't hear what it was about of course, but Lily and the boys were all smiling. So she could assume it was a nice conversation. Maya thought Lily and James looked good together, they would be a nice couple one day. She imagined it wouldn't be long before they were supposed to start dating. She had heard the stories from future Sirius and future Remus. Lily and James married right after Hogwarts, so she could only assume they were dating for some time before graduation.

Maya herself was having a nice conversation, if you could call it a conversation, with Remus. He was writing his part of the conversation down and she answered verbally. The downside to this was of talking with each other, was that it was quite slow. But neither of them minded that very much. She found it quite nice, talking to Remus.

"So Maya, we all sat together and we came up with a way for you to learn and practise DADA. We figured out how you can learn to duel and how you can do everything we are learning in the classes." Lily told her and the rest of them just nodded their heads. "So if you are willing, the four of us, Remus, James, Sirius and me are going to teach you every Wednesday evening after dinner. Sirius found the perfect location last Friday. So what do you think?" The four of them looked hopeful towards Maya, who was gobsmacked and looked at them with her eyes and mouth wide open.

"Are you serious? Really? That is amazing! Thank you so so much!" Maya ran around the table to hug Lily.

"Well actually, I'm Sirius" Sirius looked quite pleased with that joke. Lily, who had translated it for Maya, smacked him on the back of his head. "ow! What did you do that for?" The friends laughed. And for this small time, Maya felt at peace. She felt as though she finally belonged there, in this time and place. She felt as if everything would turn out just fine.

HPHPHPHP

That was it! Hope you liked it. And don't forget to review!