What followed was undoubtedly the longest night Maya had ever experienced, but she clung to the thought that even this one would eventually pass. When finally the moon slowly sank beneath the horizon and the sun made itself known to the world once again, Maya clumsily got to her feet. She was not sure whether she had actually slept or not, but considering how mentally and physically broken she was she would hazard a guess that she had not.
The despair surrounding the castle that morning was almost palpable and to Maya that could only mean one thing: Draco and his group had succeeded. Sure enough Dumbledore had left the world, left the school, left every single person to whom he had been a beacon of light in these and former dark times. All lessons were suspended, all examinations cancelled. Various parents lost no time in hurrying their children away from Hogwarts. Maya only vaguely registered the arguments between concerned adults and indignant students wanting to at least attend tomorrow's funeral as she walked past the Entrance Hall. She felt truly disconnected from that world, and the world she was currently living in was one of cold and darkness.
Draco's abrupt departure had left a void in her heart, which was slowly filling itself with strong feelings of guilt, shame and remorse. Vincent, Gregory and Maya could not be there for each other, each experiencing the loss of Draco in different ways. While Vincent and Gregory had mainly befriended Draco for his power, Maya had felt deeply connected to him on an emotional level. If Maya was painfully honest with herself, she had always known very deep down that this had been a real possibility, but at the same time she had never been able to stand the thought and had therefore always just brushed the idea aside. For once in her life it had been emotions over rationality, and now she paid the price for it. And even though she very much wanted to blame Draco, she knew that ultimately she only had herself to blame. Sometimes she did not know whether she should be more angry at Draco or at herself for being so stupid and essentially following the wrong path for six years. Neither did she know what was more difficult, if someone were to die or if someone was still alive but could not be in touch with her. All in all, it was a very painful experience indeed, the likes of which normally only seemed to happen to other people.
Maya did not know how she made it through the day, and the next she still truly did not know what to do with herself. As in some kind of trance Maya ended up climbing the massive stairs leading to the top of the Astronomy Tower just after breakfast in a very subdued Great Hall. For some reason she wanted to be there, all by herself at the place it had supposedly happened. When Maya looked over the grounds surrounding Hogwarts for what might very well be the last time, it suddenly hit her just how beautiful the world could be. Spending so much time in the Room of Requirement had made her forget about a lot of things.
Afternoon came, and as the bright and glaring sun moved to the west, Maya saw that Dumbledore's funeral was about to begin. Hundreds of people all wearing dress robes began to file from the castle towards the lake, where hundreds of chairs had been set out in neat rows, all facing a magnificent marble table at the front. Maya gulped back the tears. Actually seeing what she had done made it all so much worse. She stayed put, feeling she had no right to actually attend the funeral, but could not help witnessing it from up high even if she sometimes averted her eyes.
Among the crowd, as far as Maya could see from where she was standing, was a huge delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic himself. She hoped that despite their differences, especially prevalent since Voldemort's return, the Ministry still wanted to pay their last respects to Dumbledore. Maya would not put it past them, however, that they only attended the funeral to boost their public image.
There was an extraordinary assortment of people. Shabby and smart, old and young, but all joined together to say farewell to one of the greatest wizards of all time. Maya did not recognise most of the adult attendees, but she did spot Mr and Mrs Weasley, Fred and George and Remus Lupin among the crowd. The staff were seated in the front row with the Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. Maya saw that Harry was sitting near the lake alongside Ron, Hermione and Ginny and she suddenly felt quite jealous and sad that he had close friends to see him through while she had no one.
Inches below the surface of the lake appeared a chorus of merpeople; the sounds of their otherworldly song made their way all the way up to where Maya was standing. The song clearly spoke of loss and despair, which really made it resonate with her. Then Hagrid slowly walked up the aisle between the chairs, carrying what must be Dumbledore's body, wrapped in purple velvet spangled with golden stars. A sharp pain rose in Maya's throat at this sight and she looked away. When she looked back, Hagrid had retreated to the back row and Dumbledore's body lay on the marble table.
Various people delivered speeches, but Maya could not hear them. She spotted movement among the trees of the Forbidden Forest; the centaurs too had come to pay their respects. They remained semi-concealed in shadow, standing quite still, their bows at their sides and watching the ceremony. Then bright, white flames erupted around Dumbledore's body and the table upon which it lay, obscuring the body. Then the fire vanished and in its place was now a white marble tomb, safely encasing Dumbledore's body. Finally the centaurs shot a volley of arrows into the air, falling far short of the crowd, and disappeared back into the trees. Likewise the merpeople sank slowly back into the green water and a few minutes later the funeral was over.
Maya did not leave the tower even after the last of the chairs had been removed. When hours later the moon had taken centre stage in the starry night's sky with its eerie yet strangely comforting glow she began to wonder whether Draco was safe, wherever he was and whatever Voldemort would make him do next. Would he be looking at the same moon and thinking of her like she was thinking of him? She crept closer to the tower's edge and stared straight down into the abyss. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. It would only take a second of tremendous courage for everything to be over... To no longer find herself tormented by her own thoughts and feelings... Courage? Who was she trying to fool? She had always been a cowardly opportunist, like the typical Slytherin she was...
"Do you honestly think that will solve anything?" a sharp voice said.
Maya slowly turned around. It was actually a weird sense of relief to hear someone else's voice, distracting her from the very worst thought that had ever crossed her mind. She knew just who was addressing her and she looked at her cousin, quickly wiping away the tears. "No, but one can always hope," she said softly. Those were the first words she had spoken in days and she could not remember her voice sounding like this, so utterly devoid of any of the normal confidence and spunk. "H-how did you know I was here?"
"Say hello to my little friend," Harry said, holding up a document with black ink all over it, "with this map I can see the location of every person in the grounds."
"I don't even want to know how many privacy laws are broken by that thing," Maya muttered, but feeling somewhat intrigued just the same.
Harry pocketed the parchment. "I know you helped Malfoy bring this about, Maya," he said.
His words cut through Maya like an icy knife. "Course you do. So you're going to turn me in, I guess, getting me expelled or worse, imprisoned. It's okay, I understand. You should. I royally screwed up and I deserve every punishment. I could've prevented all this... but I was so blinded by love and the prospect of power that I... that I..."
"I haven't decided on that yet," Harry said curtly, "first I would like to know what you are going to do now."
Maya breathed a heavy sigh of resignation. "I honestly don't know, Harry. Between you and me, I'm in a very bad spot. I have no friends... no plans... no future. All I've got left are broken dreams and a whole lot of negative emotions. That's what I get for burning all my bridges and basically betting on the wrong horse. This is truly my lowest point."
"Funny you should say that," Harry said casually.
Maya looked at him in mild indignation and surprise, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, considering we're standing at the top of the Astronomy Tower right now..." Harry explained himself.
For the first time since the whole tragedy, in spite of herself, a slight smile crossed Maya's lips.
"You know, you were right Harry, when you told me 'literally nobody will want to be around you, though, not even your bestie Draco Malfoy,'" Maya mumbled, the smile already gone. It actually felt relieving to speak those words, as if some of her anguish had just left her body with them. Harry did not respond immediately and so Maya went on. "What made you come and see me, Harry? And I mean the real reason, considering it doesn't seem to be to tell me you're turning me in."
"All right. I know you feel betrayed and abandoned, Maya. I can't exactly fix that, but I can offer you what just might be the next best thing: a chance to fight for the good side from now on. But keep in mind, Maya, that this is really the one and only time I'll give you a chance to join me. If you decline now, we'll be on different sides for the rest of our days."
Maya could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was Harry really offering her a possible way out of her dire situation? Surely it was too good to be true... "But... why would you even want me on your side? After all this..." she asked faintly.
"Let there be no misunderstanding about this. You did screw up, Maya. Monumentally, I daresay. However, there was one person who never stopped believing in you, and that happens to be a person I trust with all my heart."
"Who?" Maya asked, and Harry recounted the memory.
"Before we will embark on this dangerous excursion, I have one more thing to discuss with you, Harry," Dumbledore said, turning his back on the window to look at the Gryffindor instead. "When the time is right, you will include a fourth member in this mission. I am talking about your cousin, Maya Dursley."
"Maya?" Harry asked in shock, "but, sir..." He needed to tell Dumbledore he was on the wrong track here. There was no way he could join forces with Maya, who was so deeply infatuated with the Dark Arts, who had regularly turned her back on him and with whom he truly had nothing in common apart from their blood.
"I understand your reservations, Harry," Dumbledore spoke calmly, now pacing around his office, "but it would be naive idealism to believe that the path to goodness and wisdom is a straight, one-way journey from birth throughout adulthood. It is often a route filled with roadblocks, detours, side streets, and occasional very dark alleys. I know first-hand that sometimes people can find their way again with a little confidence and guidance."
Harry did not respond for a few seconds. It was a lot to take in. "Are you sure?" he ended up asking blankly. It really seemed like one of Dumbledore's odd ideas.
"As a matter of fact, I am. Maya's actions stem from blind love and a perpetual search for power and recognition. She will end up with none of those things. She will follow you and bring you the firepower you need in what will be a very dangerous quest. Trust me, Harry. One day you will understand."
"All right, let's say I do. How will I know when the time is right to include her, sir?"
"Don't worry, Harry, when the time is right you will know."
When Harry had finished, Maya was in shock. For a brief moment it only made her feel more guilty about Dumbledore's tragic fate, but it also sounded like Dumbledore had known he would have to die all along and considered her a mere pawn in the grand scheme of things, therefore not putting any blame on her shoulders. Refusing Harry's offer seemed not only a stupid decision from her own perspective, but also a downright insult to Dumbledore's legacy.
She looked at Harry intently. "And what about you? Have you finally accepted that it takes unity, support, and cooperation to defeat evil, Harry?"
"I did. And I very much want your support," Harry said, slowly stepping forwards and offering Maya his hand.
The choice was obvious. "All right, Harry. You've got it," Maya said solemnly, taking her cousin's hand.
And so another year at Hogwarts had come to an end. A year that had truly been a roller coaster of emotions for Maya, ultimately culminating in what was an alternative, yet undoubtedly going to be an auspicious alliance, with the help of which she could maybe one day make it up not only to Harry and Dumbledore, but to the wizarding world at large.