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Chapter 14

Sirius said" You are coming to the manor with us!"
I said" I've got to go home, silly."
" No! You are coming with us, we are kidnapping you!"
" Remus, put some sense into him."
Remus said" Impossible, darling." I jumped and grabbed a jumper hanging off the bed post.
James said" But why can't you?"
I said" Because Uncle and Aunt expect me home."
" Pleaseeee!" He got onto his knees and begged, pouting, Sirius joined him,
" Remus!"
Remus said" You two stop annoying Nugget before she leaves!"
" I'm going to the library, see you lot later!" I ran out,
" Bye!"
" Bye!"

Xavier walked up,
He said" Hello, Maisie."
I said" Hi, Xavier."
" Ready for Christmas?"
" Yes!" We were shushed, we both blushed and walked away from the couple of students reading. I grabbed a book from the shelf," Have I marked off this book yet, I can't remember?" He looked at it,
" Yeah, you read it last month, Sirius and I were sword fighting over you." I giggled,
" Really?"
" Yeah, Sirius made swords out of sticks and we were fighting in their dorm. You were rambling about oceanic magical properties and if grindylows knew they were breathing water."
" Godrick... I don't remember."
" You were quite entranced. It was pretty entertaining." I blushed," Don't be embarrassed, Maisie, I thought it was adorable. Sirius called you a girl Moony."
" Yeah, that sounds correct for Sirius."
" Here, you haven't read this one yet." He handed me a new one, American witchcraft and wizardry. I grinned,
" Thanks!" I kissed his cheek, he smiled and nodded his head,
" No problem. I get to hear about things I'd never read and I don't even have to pick up a book."

I was giggling as Sirius bounced around me,
He said" Please come to the manor!"
I said" No, come to my manor." I smirked as he stared at me in shock,
" I-I do not know how to respond... I will be right back, stay here!" He took off, I giggled again, Mary and Dorcas walked up,
Dorcas said" What did you do?"
I said" They've been badgering me about going to James' over holiday, so... I switched it up on him. His brain can only handle so much, you know." They both laughed,
Mary said" Oh, they have created a beast!"
Dorcas said" I love it!" She ruffled my hair," What book are you on, love?"
I said" Only 57! I'm way behind!"
Mary said" Including class books?"
" I forgot class book!" I opened my journal and marked off books for class," Now I'm on 63!" I grinned,
" Brilliant, Maisie." James and Sirius ran to me,
James said" You.... want us, as in the marauders, to come to your manor?" Dorcas and Mary laughed before walking away," Just so I'm hearing you correctly, Maisie."
I said" Yes." I smiled," It'd be fun! And... and I don't want to be alone at the party..." I looked down," My first party without my parents..." Tears welled into my eyes," My first Christmas without my mum and dad!" I took off,
" Maisie! Maisie!"

I said" Pureblood." The door opened and I ran into the slytherin common room, I knocked into someone then the ground,
Severus said" Watch where you're going, you filthy little-"
Barty said" Watch your bloody mouth, Snape before I wash it out!" Severus walked away, I sobbed," Maisie? You alright?" I dodged his hand and ran to my dorm, I closed it and locked the door, I walked to my bed and slid under it. I curled up, my first... without my parents... my first Christmas... I sobbed, unable to control my emotions any longer.

Sirius said" Maisie, love, let us in!" He hit the door," Maisie, please!"
Remus said" Maisie, we know you're in there. We can see it on the map, darling."
James said" Nugget, hey, let us in, please, we wanna know you're alright." The door opened," Nugget, where are you?" Then I saw Remus' eyes, he smiled at me,
" Hello, Maisie."
I whispered" Hi, Moony."
" Want to come out from under there?"
" No, thank you."
James said" Alright, you don't have to. We're gonna come to the party, and you're gonna have the best of time. We'll eat loads of sweets and I'll show you how to unwrap a gift and wrap it back so no one knows you peeked."
Sirius said" And we'll go ice skating, huh? I know there's a pond, sound fun?" They all smiled at me, I nodded my head,
Peter said" And we'll have a snowball fight, we'll pummel James down, yeah?" I giggled,
James said" Or we'll pummel you, Wormy."
" Oops, I'm in trouble." I smiled,
I said" It's okay, Pete, I'll protect you."
" Thanks, Maisie."
" What if I don't want to celebrate this year?"
Sirius said" Then we'll have an anti-Christmas party in your room, darling!" I smiled,
" Really?"
" Yes."
James said" Anything to see you smile, Maisie. We solemnly swear." I crawled out, James helped me up, I hugged him, he hugged me back.
I said" I miss my mum and dad."
" It's alright to miss them, it's your right to, honestly."
" My sisters tell me I need to grow up."
" That's 'cause they're jealous, they wish they could be a child again."
" They don't love me anymore."
Sirius said" That's alright. They don't need to, you've got us!" I nodded, smiling, I sighed,
" I don't know if I want to celebrate Christmas."
" You've got plenty of time to decide. Even till the day of."
" Alright. And we don't have to celebrate if I don't want to?"
" Nope! We'll have an anti-Christmas party in your room!"

I was cuddling with Remus,
Sirius said" Can I have my boyfriend back, please?"
Remus grumbled" No." He pulled me closer, I giggled and played with his hair, he smiled weakly at me.
" Moony?"
" 'M fine, love."
I said" It's the full moon, isn't it? It's tomorrow night, right?" They both looked at me, shocked," What?"
" Who told you?"
" No one?"
" Then, um, Maisie, we didn't not want-"
" It's okay, Remus. I read a book about werewolves about two months ago, figured it out, and you keep the moon phases charted on the wall, and you lot always go out on the night of the full moon."
" You are far too smart for your own good, Maisie Chadwick." I giggled, and laid my head back on his chest, he sighed and relaxed again.
Sirius said" Well, at least we don't have to tip toe around it. How're you feeling, Moony?"
" Just a bit ill is all, Sirius. I'm fine, really. Enjoy dinner?"
" Yeah, it was brilliant as always. And James has threatened if Maisie doesn't eat, he'll stuff food down her throat."
" Let him try. She's ill too, her stomach is noisy."
" You alright, Maisie?"
I said" 'Ma stomach just feels icky. I tried to eat an apple, though!"
" And?" I shivered, hiding my face against Remus' neck,
Remus said" And it came up."
" Oh. Sorry, darling, we'll get you a potion in the morning, okay?" I nodded my head, he sighed," And don't be embarrassed about puking, we do it all the time!" I giggled, peeking out as he made a silly face at me." Moony, want anything?"
" No, love, I'm alright."
———
I ran down the corridor, I froze as I saw Remus bloody, he saw me,
He said" Maisie? No. James." James looked at me, he rushed to me and covered my eyes.
James said" What're you doing up, Nugget? You should be in bed."
I said" I couldn't sleep, I hardly ever do on full moons. Is he okay?! Moony!"
" Shh, shh, he's alright, Nugget, shh, shh, it's alright." I cried,
" James, he's really bloody!"
" Shh, shh..." He lifted me up, cooing at me, holding my head down so my face nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

James' POV
We were helping Remus to the hospital wing, it was a rough night. I saw him stare ahead,
He croaked" Maisie? No. James." My head whipped to the direction and I saw Maisie, frozen in fear. I ran to her, covering her eyes as soon as I was in reach of her.
I said" What're you doing up, Nugget? You should be in bed."
She said" I couldn't sleep, I hardly ever do on full moons. Is he okay?! Moony!" She was frightened, I couldn't even imagine what images were going through her head right now.
" Shh, shh, he's alright, Nugget, shh, shh, it's alright." She cried,
" James, he's really bloody!"
" Shh, shh..." I lifted her up, cooing at her, I gently held her head down, making her face go into the crook of my neck. Sirius and Peter kept taking Moony to the hospital wing, I began making my way back to our dorm. Maisie squirmed a bit, reaching out behind us, sobbing, I knew she was scarred with the images of her parents... bloodied and dead, in front of her. That's exactly why we didn't want her to see Remus like this, it'd bring back bad memories and none of us wanted that for her.

I laid her down on my bed, sitting at the end of it to wait for the boys to return, she was tuckered out from her sobs. I put my head in my hands, my eyes drifting shut momentarily.

The boys walked in, Moony immediately rushed to bed, he looked at Maisie.
He whispered" She alright?"
I whispered" She tuckered herself out crying, she's worried."
" I never wanted her to see me like that... I knew, I- Fuck." He sat down, I sighed,
" She'll be alright once she knows you're alright, Moony."
Sirius said" Yeah, love, she will be." Maisie shuffled then sat up, rubbing at her eyes sleepily," Hey, Maisie." She opened her eyes, Moony stood up, staring at her.
She said" Moony!" She jumped up and ran to him, stopping just an inch before him, staring up at him. I knew what she was thinking, and Remus did too,
He said" It's alright, Nugget. See? I'm alright." He held her shoulders, she hugged him, he chuckled and hugged her back, falling back.
" There was so much blood..." She whimpered, then nuzzled her face into his neck. We all looked at each other, we knew she wasn't talking about Moony.
" I know, I know... Shh, it's alright, now. Everything's alright, Nugget."

We all waited patiently for her to be ready to talk again, she peeked her face up from Moony's neck. We were all relaxing, she's been awake for about an hour now, we've just been waiting.
She whispered" I-I don't feel like s-speaking..."
I said" That's alright, you don't have to if you don't feel like it." She nodded," Are you hungry? Just shake your head, yeah or no, alright?" She shook her head, I nodded," Alright, no worries. You just take all the time you need." She nuzzled Moony's neck again, he rocked her slowly side to side.

After a few minutes,
Moony whispered" She's asleep again."
Sirius whispered" This one took her for a whirlwind."
Peter whispered" Think she'll be alright?"
" I don't know..."
Moony whispered" I just wish we could take the bad memories away."
I whispered" We've been making better memories, that's all that matters. She's going to have days like this, it's gonna happen again, and we'll be there for her just like we are now."