Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, privet Drive. Mr Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his niece Maya's room.

"Third time this week!" he roared across the table. "If you can't control that owl, it'll have to go!"

Maya tried, yet again, to explain.

"She's bored," she said. "She's used to flying around outside. If I could just let her out at night…"

"Do I look stupid?" snarled Uncle Vernon, "I know what'll happen if that owl's let out."

He exchanged dark looks with his wife, Petunia.

Maya tried to argue back but her words were drowned out by a long loud belch from the Dursleys' son, Dudley.

"I want more bacon."

"There's more in the frying pan, sweetgums," said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son. "We must feed you up while we've got the chance… I don't like the sound of that school food…"

"Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when I was at Smeltings," said Uncle Vernon heartily. "Dudley gets enough, don't you, son?"

Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over either side of the kitchen chair, grinned and turned to Maya.

"Pass the frying pan."

"You've forgotten the magic word," Maya replied irritably.

The next thing Maya knew she was on the floor, blinking back tears, cheek smarting from where one of Uncle Vernon's massive fists had ploughed into it. He was on his feet towering over Maya's much smaller form.

"I meant 'please'!" said Maya quickly. "I didn't mean –

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU," thundered her uncle, "ABOUT SAYING THE M WORD IN OUR HOUSE?"

"But I –"

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!" roared Uncle Vernon, yanking her to her feet with one hand as the other clenched into a fist as he prepared to hit her again. "I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMAILITY UNDER THIS ROOF!"

"Vernon" Aunt Petunia interjected with a warning tone, "The Mason's remember."

Uncle Vernon, purple-faced and spitting mad, looked for a moment like he might disregard his wife's words, but eventually he let out a deep breath and released his grip on Maya's top. Petunia's warning might have earned Maya a reprieve but she knew Vernon wouldn't forget and she would pay for this incident later. Uncle Vernon sat back down, breathing like a winded rhinoceros and watching Maya closely out of the corners of his small, sharp eyes.

"Now, as Petunia said the Mason's are coming to dinner tonight. This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career and we will all play our parts."

Uncle Vernon narrowed his eyes on Maya as he spoke. Maya knew what he meant, Uncle Vernon might hate her and her 'abnormalities' as he called them, but he was more than willing to make use of one particular talent of hers when it suited him. And when it suited him usually meant when it would make him lots of money.

"You will do your part without drawing any more attention to yourself than necessary girl. You will wear the dress your aunt picked out for you. You will neaten your hair and ensure that horrid scar is hidden. You will be polite and well-mannered, speak only when spoken to, and if you learn anything from the Mason's that I need to know you will ensure that I do so at the earliest moment possible." Her Uncle was leaning forward and wagging his finger in Maya's face as he spoke, "And if anything, anything whatsoever goes wrong tonight. It will be back in that cupboard for you and you will never return to that freak school of yours. Never! Have I made myself clear girl?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Maya replied dutifully.

"Good. Well then – I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you," he snarled at Maya, "you stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."

Maya left through the back door. It was a brilliant, sunny day. She crossed the lawn, slumped down on the garden bench and sang under her breath, "Happy birthday to me … happy birthday to me…"

No cards, no presents, and she would be spending the evening reading the mind of one of uncle Vernon's work associates. An activity that never failed to leave Maya felling like she was coated in a thin oily substance that would never wash out. Still it was better than most of her other birthdays which had usually consisted of a long lecture on how she should be grateful to her Aunt and Uncle for taking her in after her parents had died, followed by a vicious beating and being locked in the cupboard under the stairs for a week.

Her last birthday had been the best she'd ever had, because her last birthday was when she'd found out about magic. Her last birthday was when Maya had discovered that she wasn't an abnormal freak who was a burden on her hard-working relatives. On her last birthday Maya had found out that she was a witch and she had been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

At first Maya had thought she'd found a home at Hogwarts, but after nearly dying a grand total of five times, that was no longer the case. It wasn't that she didn't love Hogwarts, because she did, she'd made her first friends there, learnt magic, learnt to fly a broom, and joined the quidditch team, which was the best sport in the world in Maya's opinion. But Hogwarts and the magical world was also where she'd learnt the truth about her parents and the dark lord that had murdered them. The dark lord who had been responsible for all of the aforementioned near-death experiences.

It had become clear to Maya that the dark lord who had murdered her parents wasn't nearly as dead as most of the wizarding population of Great Britain would like to believe. It had also become clear that he would like nothing better than to finish the job he had started eleven years ago, by killing Maya once and for all.

The allure of the wizarding world had faded over the last year, not that Maya didn't love magic because she did, but the wizarding world had proven to be no safer for Maya than number four Privet Drive had ever been. She had begged Professor Dumbledore not to send her back to her aunt and uncle but to no avail. Professor Dumbledore had insisted that living with her aunt and uncle kept her safe from Voldemort and his followers and he had refused to listen to Maya's insistence that it may keep her safe from them, but it in no way kept her safe from Vernon Dursley's fists.

Maya was stuck. Hogwarts, as unsafe as it had been, was her only refuge from the violence and loneliness that epitomised her life at the Dursley's, ever since she had been left on their doorstep Halloween night all those years ago. What Maya really needed was a third option, but at only twelve years old nobody would allow her to live on her own and as far as Maya knew, she had no other family to take her in.

Maya gazed miserably at the hedge, she had never felt so lonely. It hadn't been so bad before Hogwarts, when she hadn't known what she was missing but now she did. Maya missed her best friends, she missed Ron and Hermione, she missed Neville and Luna, she even missed Draco who had turned out to be less of a prat than he had appeared on their first few meetings and had gradually developed into just as much of a friend as the others. They however didn't seem to be missing her at all. None of them had written to her all summer, even though Ron and Luna had both said they were going to ask Maya to come and stay.

Maya let out a sigh and went back inside in response to her aunt's shrill voice calling out her name.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"I won't have you lazing about while I'm busy working, you hear me?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"Good. You can start in the lounge. I want it spotless, understand?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

While Dudley lolled around watching and eating ice-creams, Maya was hard at work. She cleaned the windows inside and out, dusted the entirety of the downstairs of the house and then vacuumed the same. Once that was done she was sent outside to prune and water the flowerbeds and ensure there were no weeds encroaching on any of Aunt Petunia's prized plants.

It was six o'clock in the evening when an exhausted Maya was called back inside by her aunt.

"Upstairs and in the shower with you." She ordered, "Your dress is already laid out, I want you down here without a single hair out of place before the Mason's arrive. Now go."

Maya followed her aunts' orders to the letter, knowing that the beating Uncle Vernon had nearly given her that morning had merely been postponed and that it would go much worse for her if she deviated from either of their instructions by a single step.

At quarter to eight on the dot, Maya presented herself to her aunt and uncle for inspection. The dress Aunt Petunia had picked out for her was a pale pink colour. It fell just below her knees, had a square neckline and long sleeves. In other words, it was the sort of dress that even the most conservative person would deem suitable for a young girl of twelve. Maya hated it, but then again, she hated most of the clothes her aunt picked out and forced her to wear.

Maya had braided her waist-length dark-blonde hair and wrapped it in a coronet around her head, ensuring that her fringe swept perfectly across her forehead, hiding the thin scar shaped like a bolt of lightening that her aunt and uncle despised. The bruise Uncle Vernon had left on her face that morning had been carefully covered with a layer of foundation as had all the other bruises she had accumulated since arriving home for the summer.

Petunia examined her from head to toe before giving a satisfied nod and Vernon grunted once after a single glance at her face. Maya let out a small breath of relief, she had passed inspection, now all she had to do was get through the evening.

The Mason's arrived and they were all seated in the dining room in short order, Maya helping her aunt to deliver all the dishes and drinks to the table before taking her own seat. Dinner went smoothly, Vernon and Petunia leading the conversation with the Mason's. Maya, mindful of her uncles warning that morning, responded only to the questions that were aimed her way, not that there were many, and presented to the couple the image of a well-mannered and quiet young lady. All the while using her ability to probe at the thoughts of Mr Mason to ensure that he wasn't planning any last-minute hiccups that might derail the deal.

It was a task that Maya had become accustomed to. Her uncle might despise her for her abnormal freakishness but even he hadn't been able to deny just how useful a niece who could read minds was. Or legilimency as it was called in the wizarding wold, according to her friends legilimency was a skill that most wixen had to learn, natural born legilimens were incredibly rare. It was a skill that Vernon Dursley had seen fit to exploit, using Maya to learn useful tidbits about his clients and colleagues that had helped him to sign deals and earn huge bonuses.

By the time dinner had finished Maya had learned that Mr Mason had little regard for his wife, thought Dudley was fat and stupid and that Petunia was too shrill and too bony too ever be considered attractive. He thought that Vernon was a loud-mouthed and greedy braggart and he'd decided that Maya would be beautiful enough in a few years to earn Vernon Dursley a pretty penny if he was clever enough to use it. Maya had been forced to hold back a shudder at that particular thought, just as she'd been forced to fight back the desire to knock Mr Mason's hand away every time it landed on her knee. Uncle Vernon had already given her a warning glare for fidgeting too much the first time it had happened.

Despite his thoughts on everyone present at the dinner table, Mr Mason was still very much inclined to sign the contract Uncle Vernon was offering him. He was just as greedy as Vernon and it was a good deal that would make both of them a lot of money.

Finally, with dinner finished. Maya was given the task of clearing the table whilst Aunt Petunia and Dudley took Mrs Mason out to show her the garden and Uncle Vernon and Mr Mason went to the lounge to finalize and sign the contracts.

Maya could hear snatches of their conversation drifting through into the dining room but it wasn't till she heard her name that she stopped and listened.

"Maya yes. She's the daughter of Petunia's brother and his wife. We took her in when she was just a baby. They died in a car crash you see."

"Really? How tragic! And she doesn't have any other family?"

"No, just us."

"She's a beautiful child, you'll have to be careful in a few years' time, girls like that can get into all sorts of trouble."

"Oh, she knows better than to get up to any of that sort of nonsense."

"Good, good. Taught her to mind herself, did you?"

"Yes, we did."

"Have you given any thought as to what you're going to do with her when she's of age? Many a man would pay to have a girl like that as his wife."

"Pay?" Uncle Vernon sounded startled as if the thought had never occurred to him before.

"Oh yes definitely. Of course, you've got a few years yet to think about it, she's what eleven, twelve?"

Maya felt bile rise up in her throat as a sudden slew of images from the minds of both men invaded her own.

"Twelve, she's twelve. A few months younger than my Dudley."

"Well you've got four years to consider your options and make a decision then."

"Options?"

There was a greedy tone in Vernon's voice that set Maya on edge, she was not liking the direction this conversation was headed in one single bit.

"Oh, you'll definitely have options, it depends whether you'd prefer a one-off payment, say if she were to get married, or if you prefer I know a few like-minded men –"

He broke off as the front door opened, signalling the return of Petunia, Dudley, and Mrs Mason.

"Something to discuss another time." Was the last thing Maya heard him say as she hurried to clear the last of the plates from the dining room table.

Petunia sent her a chilly glare for being so slow with clearing that table as she set about serving desert for herself, Vernon, Dudley, and the Masons, but not for Maya, who was directed to finish loading the dishwasher and do the washing up, whilst the evening wore down.

Maya focused all of her attention on her task, pushing away all thoughts of what her uncle had been discussing with Mr Mason. She had four years until she would be old enough for what they had been talking about, four years to figure out a way to get away from the Dursleys forever. She was just putting the last dishes away when her uncle shut the door behind the Mason's and returned to the dining room. Dudley was sent off to bed and Aunt Petunia had a low murmured conversation with Uncle Vernon before disappearing upstairs after him.

Maya busied herself wiping down the countertops, hoping that her uncle would forget about her presence. Unfortunately, her hopes were in vain as her uncle barked at her from the living room.

"Girl! Get in here, now!"

With great reluctance, Maya set down the cleaning cloth and went to face her uncle, careful to keep her eyes cast down at the floor so as not to aggravate him any further.

"Your aunt tells me that you were eavesdropping on my private conversation with Mr Mason." He said once she was standing in front of him.

Maya worried at her lip with her teeth and didn't answer. If she'd denied it, she would get into trouble for accusing her aunt of lying and if she admitted to it, she'd get into trouble for eavesdropping. It was a catch-22 with no way out. Not that it mattered, he took her silence as an admission of guilt anyway.

"My private conversations are not for you to listen to! And don't think I've forgotten about you threatening Dudley this morning. I've tolerated a lot from you since you came back from that freak school of yours, but you've finally gone too far. It will be the belt this time!"

Maya flinched, but didn't try and run away, knowing it would be all the worse if she did.

"You know what to do."

Maya nodded woodenly, reaching up to unzip her dress exposing her back, before kneeling down and draping the top half of her body over the coffee table, arms above her head, palms flat. Whilst her uncle usually preferred her fists when dealing with her, he had on several occasions in the path resorted to whipping her with his belt, frequently enough that Maya had been able to memorise the position he preferred her to be in when he did so.

Maya bit down on her lip to prevent herself from crying out, an action that might draw attention from the neighbours and as such was forbidden, and braced herself for the pain. The first blow came swiftly, Maya's teeth dug even deeper into her lip and she forced herself to remain still as blow after blow crashed down against her unprotected back. Maya didn't know how many blows her uncle delivered before he was finally done, all she knew was that the pain was immense and all-consuming and it took her a few minutes to notice when it had finally ended.

"Bed girl! And remember one more step out of line and that will be it for you!"

Maya nodded and fled to her room as quickly as she was able to before her uncle could change his mind and toss her into the cupboard under the stairs. The first thing she noticed upon entering her bedroom was that Hedwig was awake and irritated, the second thing she noticed was the crisp white envelope that had been left on her pillow, her name scrawled across the front.

Maya made quick work of changing out of her dress into a pair of ratty old pyjamas that had once belonged to Dudley, before sitting down and opening the letter that had been left for her.

Dear Maya,

Since you haven't seen fit to answer any of the letters we have sent or to write any of your own in the first place, I had out elf Dobby deliver this to ensure you received it.

Mother and Luna will be calling upon you tomorrow to check that everything is all right and to invite you to stay with Luna for the rest of the summer. We would invite you to stay at mine but father might object given past events.

Make sure you are ready and presentable no latter than ten am tomorrow as that is when mother will be arriving with Luna.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Draco Malfoy.

Maya folded the letter back and sighed. As much as she appreciated finally hearing back from her friends, and was surprised to learn that they had been writing her, since she had received zero letters the entire summer until now. Having two witches turn up on the doorstep out of the blue would not endear the Dursleys to her, even if they were there to take Maya away for the rest of the summer.

Maya laid down on her front, so as not to exacerbate the painful welts on her back, and considered her options. Which were none. Maya couldn't write back and tell them not to come as she had no way of sending the letter, not with Hedwig locked up as she was. She also wouldn't be able to sneak out of the house and head Luna and Mrs Malfoy off before they could knock on the door and interact with the Dursley's. Aunt Petunia always ensured to keep her inside after Uncle Vernon had punished her with the belt, at least until all the bruises had healed, so that no nosy neighbours could get a look at them and start asking awkward questions about things that couldn't be passed off as roughhousing between cousins like most of her bruises were.

Maya was stuck. She would just have to take her lumps when they came, because even if the Dursleys allowed her to leave with Luna and Mrs Malfoy tomorrow, an eventuality that Maya didn't deem likely. They wouldn't forget two witches showing up at their front door without warning. Maya would get punished for it tomorrow, or she would get punished for it the next time she returned to the Dursleys. Either way she was sure to get a serving of pain and misery in her future at the hands of her hateful relatives.

It was with this thought at the front of her mind that Maya finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep.