𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 || 𝘳.𝘢.𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

144. a spy?

    "You go Moony, I go Padfoot?" James suggests and Maria sighs with a soft not, James squeezing her shoulder before walking past her.

    Maria quickly makes her way out of the front door and sees Remus sat perched on the steps to the porch, trying to light a cigarette that's held between his semi-chapped lips.

    "He didn't mean it." Maria whispers as she sits beside him and Remus inhales the finally lit cigarette.

    "He did." Remus mutters, handing her the cigarette which she declines politely. "Since when did you stop smoking, Potter?"

   "Since I was pregnant for nine months and now the taste of a cigarette makes me want to vomit." Maria explains bluntly and Remus stares at her before nodding at her valid point. "I'm sure he didn't. Sirius. . .y'know what he's like. He doesn't think sometimes."

    "Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Remus asks her and she frowns slightly and he chuckles. "I wish I was as naive as you, Mari." He smiles and she sighs, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "Mar I think Sirius is the spy."

    "What?" Maria asks incredulously. "How—how could you possibly—"

    "All that bollocks he was spouting about me being a werewolf!" Remus snaps at her and she recoils slightly making him sigh and scratch his jaw. "Why would he say that if he wasn't—he wouldn't say that if he wasn't covering for himself."

    "Remus, you're thinking too far into—"

    "No, Maria, you're not thinking enough." Remus snaps at her and Maria blinks as he puts out his cigarette beneath his tattered converse before stuffing his hands into his pockets and strolling down the long driveway of the Potter Manor.

    "Big problem." James breathes from behind her and she turns around with tears in her eyes. "Sirius thinks Remus is the spy. And Remus thinks Sirius is." James panics. "Bloody hell what are we going to do?"

    "Do you think it's either of them?"

   "No. Never. None of you would do that." James denies, shaking his head. "It'll be okay, M. We just have to get through this."

[][][]

By the middle of September, Lily and James were forced into hiding by Voldemort. Everyone who ever knew where they had lived has had the location wiped from their memory, all except one. Nobody except from that one person, Lily, James and Dumbledore know who they are. James had asked Maria to be the secret keeper, but they had agreed it wasn't the best idea because of the death eater's interest in her and how her mind has been proven vulnerable to Riddle's legilimency before.

The group is further apart than ever when they should be the closed they've ever been. Maria and Regulus are often in their home with Nova and Tiger, making memories as parents and trying to slow the time to their favour. Sirius moved out of him, Remus and Peter's flat because of his fight with Remus and their newfound distrust in one and other.

It breaks Maria's heart to watch her friends fall apart.

Mary often visits Maria and Regulus, she lives with her muggle friend called Rosa in the countryside. Stanley and Alyssa visit every week or so with Dylan and Maria hasn't seen or heard a thing from the death eaters for over a week. It makes her uneasy that they're so inactive, it makes her wonder whether they're planning something particularly gruesome and dangerous.

Maria finds herself lay awake at forbidden hours of the morning, listening the Regulus' soft breathing and staring through the gapes of the thin curtains to the moon outside. She feels Regulus' thumb subconsciously tracing patterns on her hip as he sleeps with his forehead resting against her spine.

Maria sighs when she hears Nova fussing and carefully slips from the warm quilts and exits the bedroom, wandering into Nova's nursery where she's crying in her crib.

"Come on." Maria whispers, lifting her from the cot and holding her close against her chest, tracing her thumb across the base of her daughter's skull.

Nova is now six months old and almost always sleeps for a good five hours before waking in the night. However sometimes when she does occasionally wake, Maria can't help but carry her into the bedroom and lay her between her and Regulus.

Maria does exactly that, pressing a kiss to Regulus' temple before settling back into the quilts and staring at the baby between them that begins to drift to sleep again.

When he wakes, Regulus' eyes are met by his girls sleeping soundly in the bed beside him. He chuckles slightly, standing up and pressing a light kiss to Nova's head and then a firm one to Maria's before he gets ready and heads out to meet with Moody as he usually does every Wednesday morning.

"Morning, baby." Maria breathes when she feels Nova's palms attacking her face gently and the baby is smiling when she opens her eyes. "What's for breakfast, hm?"

[][][]

hey loves!

so.....there's like 4 chapters left of this story 😁