𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷 | 𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚢

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦

Maria was gathering firewood from the woods when she first saw the dog. 

He was about the height of her knees but Maria had no doubt that the dog could put up a good fight if it came down to it. Despite this, Maria didn't feel afraid. She actually felt a sort of pity for the dog when she got a closer look at him.

His shaggy hair was covered in soot and mud, looking as though he hadn't been washed in a while. Maria noticed his mouth hung open with his tongue sticking out as the dog released heavy pants, almost as though he had been running throughout the night. She found herself locking eyes with the dog's large, gleaming eyes and couldn't help but wonder why she felt a sense of familiarity with the dog.

Maria coked her head to the side as she examined the dog further and was surprised when the dog mimicked her actions. The dog's eyes suddenly widened and before Maria could understand what was happening, a heavy force dropped on her back and emitted a loud yell. Maria let out a startled scream as the firewood tumbled from her arms to the forest floor.

Maria threw her elbow back into the attacker's stomach, who let out a loud grunt as their hold loosened on the young girl. Without wasting a single breath, she tossed the attacker off and pulled her wand out, fully prepared to use her magic even if it was illegal. It wasn't until she turned to face her attacker that her fear turned into extreme annoyance at the sight of her twin.

"Perseus!" Maria scowled at her brother who simply responded with a laugh. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Perseus shrugged his shoulders, making it obvious he wasn't really apologizing. Maria turned back around to find the dog but instead found he had disappeared. She held back a sigh as she turned back to face her brother, the dog already disappearing from her mind for the time being.

"What do you want, Perseus?" Maria asked her twin as she began picking up all the firewood from the ground. "I hope it's not just to scare me to death."

"Uncle Moony sent a letter," Perseus pulled out a letter for Maria to see. "He's coming to get us next week. I'm not sure what's going on but it sounded urgent."

"Everything's urgent with him," Maria muttered as she pricked her finger on a piece of wood, causing her to let out a small yelp as she once again dropped all the firewood. "Bloody hell."

"Oh, and also," Perseus trailed off as he pulled out a second letter clearly labeled with Maria's name in a penmanship she was all too familiar with. Her mouth hung open in shock before her face morphed into one of disbelief as he teasingly waved the letter from Fred Weasley out of her reach before taking off.

"Perseus Black, you bring that back right now," Maria huffed as her brother ran out of the woods, holding the letter over his head triumphantly and laughing.

Annoyed at first, she stomped out of the woods to find Perseus running across the meadow like a child. It brought back memories of Perseus and her running around when they were younger and everything was much simpler.

Maria rolled her eyes at her brother's behavior but figured there was no harm in entertaining him. There was barely any time she could watch him let loose and have fun when they were at the orphanage over the summer. Maria let her arms fall to her side as she took off after her brother, not missing the way his face lit up when he saw her coming before taking off in the opposite direction.

Maria was too busy chasing her brother around to realize the importance of where she was, or what was near her. It was too late by the time the ground beneath her feet caved in as she suddenly found herself falling into the old abandoned well in the ground. It had been covered up months after her incident as a child but Maria had never forgotten where it was, she had simply gotten too distracted to realize where she was. 

Her breath caught in her throat as she reached her hands out to grab anything but was too unprepared to save herself. Just when she thought she would die, not that it would be her first time, a pair of arms grabbed her. They yanked her out as she finally caught her breath and began screaming in a panic. The arms disappeared from around her as she dropped to the ground in a giant lump.

"Maria!" Perseus called out as Maria finally lifted her head to see her brother was all the way across the meadow and running towards her. 

Maria furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at her brother across the meadow. She twisted around, searching for who had saved her, only to find the space beside her empty.

"Oh my god, Maria," Perseus threw himself to his knees and threw his arms around Maria. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize how close we were..."

Maria simply tuned out her twin's voice as she held her brother tightly, trying to ignore the shaking in her hands and the way her body trembled. Her eyes trailed over the meadow as she tried looking everywhere but at the well, hoping she would also catch a glimpse of her savior.

All she could find was the black dog staring at her from the treeline's edge.