TW: Please proceed with this next chapter with caution! It includes details of child abuse and blood! If this is triggering for you please don't read it! Stay safe and look after yourself! G <3
"Theo? What do you need Theo for Maia?" Draco probed exhaustion in his voice, still sitting on his bed, rubbing his forehead.
"The less you know the better, you might be a talented occlumens, but you will be around him a lot more now I'm just protecting you. I need you to trust me" Maia replied firmly.
Draco looked up at her, she could see in his eyes that he studying her face trying to work out what her plan was but eventually relented. "Fine, I'll floo him and ask him to come to the manor" he got up and walked over to the fireplace in his room but quickly turned back to her "I trust you with my life Maia" he spoke softly. Maia gave him a soft smile before he returned to the fireplace. He called for Nott Manor in the fireplace, she could overhear them talking but she couldn't make it out. It was muffled. He stepped back out and spoke to her again.
"I'll let you know when he's here, he won't be long" he laid back in his bed exhausted, the burning of his new tattoo clearly taking a toll on his body.
"Thank You Draco" she replied, before walking over to his bedside and lighting a candle for him. "I'll get Mippy to bring you some food."
She walked out of his room and back to her own, Maia couldn't keep her thoughts from racing, how was she going to ask Theo to do this without causing suspicion? How could she get him to trust her no questions asked? She was pacing back and forth in front of her bed, waiting, the anticipation eating her alive.
She thought back to the last time Theo came to visit her and Draco at the manor, it was the summer before 5th year and Lucius had just punished Maia for showing kindness to Mippy, it was a sign of weakness in his eyes to show kindness to a species that he deemed was 'inferior' to her pureblood witch status. Not the behaviour of a Malfoy. He had just taken her to his study and broken her nose, with a few cuts to her shoulder blades with his favourite blade for good measure, she was still bleeding when he finally let her slip out.
Malfoy Manor
August 1995
She was stumbling down the hallway, holding her broken bleeding nose in her hand trying to run to her bedroom, to clean it up when she saw Theo just down the hall about to enter Draco's room. She tried to avoid him, but he had seen her, he tried to call out for her with a whisper, but she was embarrassed to be seen like this and ignored him.
The pain coursed through her body, and her head felt like someone was bashing it in with a hammer, still stumbling she finally managed to slip into her room.
Undetected so she had thought, she rushed into the bathroom to grab a tissue for her nose before she heard knocking on her door. 'Ignore it, he doesn't need to see you like this' she thought to herself, desperately grabbing at tissues to block her nose.
The door kept knocking and Maia could hear him calling for her "Mai? Mai? Let me in Mai please!" she could hear him pleading with her. She realised leaving him out there, calling for her would probably alert her father so she relented and slowly walked to the door, tissue turning red from the blood holding it to her nose, as she opened it slowly.
When Theo laid eyes on Maia his eyes widened, his face dropped and he rushed into her room closing the door behind him, he reached for her hand holding the tissue and gently pulled it away from her face so he could see the full extent of her injuries. Maia noticed his free hand clench into a fist before his eyes fell to her shoulder, the blood pouring through her clothes.
"Who did this to you Maia?" Theo asked firmly, she could see the anger in his eyes he was trying desperately to keep it under control.
"You never call me Maia Theodore" she joked trying to play down what had happened. Something she did all too often.
Theo's eyes were full of rage and worry, he had to take a breath before responding to her.
"Seven hells witch, will you just answer my shitting question!" he took another deep breath before speaking again "Is this where you went to after dinner? Is this what was happening to you? Whilst me and Draco were playing exploding snap and drinking Fire Whiskey you were being subjected to this? Does Draco know?"
Maia couldn't keep avoiding the questions anymore she had to tell him, she looked at him deep in his eyes, the crystal blue eyes now clouding over with rage. She put the tissue down on the dresser at the side of them.
"I'll answer in chronological order, Yes, this is where I went after dinner, Yes, this is what was happening when you and Draco were having fun and Yes, Draco knows this happens, but he doesn't know about this exact incident but I'm sure he suspected it might." She looked at the ground, her cheeks flushing red, sheer embarrassment at her best friend seeing her like this. She felt a hand gently pinch her chin and tilt her head upwards.
She hadn't had a chance to explain that Draco wasn't to blame, there was nothing he could do, Lucius was a twisted vile man who got off on the idea of no one hearing her being abused, no one able to save her, really drive the lesson home so he would cast protective wards on his study to prevent Draco from coming in and helping her.
The realisation crept over Theo's face that this wasn't the first time this had happened.
"It was Lucius, wasn't it? Because you were kind to the elf, to Mippy?" he continued to probe, she said nothing but just kept looking at him begging the tears not to start falling out of her eyes.
A single tear slipped out, rolling down her face and she suddenly felt him pull her into his embrace, his chest was warm, and he smelt like cigarettes, whisky, and pine. She felt safe. She could breathe again. He was stroking her hair for what felt like hours before he pulled back and placed both hands on her face gently wiping some of the blood off her face. Looking deep into her eyes.
"He will not ever hurt you like that again, everything is going to be okay, trust me. Because I love you, you're my best friend and I'm not going to let anything like this happen to you again. I promise Maia".
The way he spoke to her, she could tell he meant it, of course she knew it would happen again because Theo couldn't be around her every hour of the day but his promise, the way he spoke, the care in his face, the gentleness of his touch she almost believed him. He wiped his own tears away before pulling her back into his embrace and kissed her head.
As Maia stood in the safety of Theo's arms she felt it in her heart, deeper than she'd ever felt anything before, that she was terribly in love with the wizard. Theo was someone she could trust, trust with her life.
Maia was pulled out of her memory to the sound of knocking on her door and Draco's voice speaking to her. He was dressed now, his new branding hidden.
"Maia, he's here now" Draco declared. Draco had noticed the tears rolling down her face, she hadn't even noticed it herself. The memory of that night a year ago still sat at the forefront of her mind. "Are you alright Maia?" he asked, there was genuine concern in his voice.
She quickly wiped the tears away and headed to the door, "Yes, yes I'm fine no time to talk about it now" she replied quickly trying to shrug the whole thing off. The best thing about Draco was he never hovered; he never incessantly questioned her when he could tell she didn't want to talk about it.
The twins walked down the hall together toward Draco's room, as they entered, she laid eyes on him. Maia was certain her heart had stopped beating momentarily. 'Merlin the wizard ages like a fine elf-made-wine' she thought to herself.
He turned around, his lips curling up to a smile as he looked over at them both. His hands were in his pockets, but he was wearing a black suit, with white pinstripes up and down the jacket, his hair was the same as always chocolate brown curls that fell across his forehead and his blue eyes sparkled. Maia noticed how the shirt jacket clung to the muscles in his biceps, the trousers clung to his calves, and she noted how the colours of the suit complimented his olive-toned skin. He was mesmerising to her and everything about him drew her in. His presence, how he held himself, the way he stood, his voice- Salazar even the way he was breathing.
"Draco, Mai, to what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned to your fine manor today" he quizzed the pair, nodding at them both as he spoke.
Draco chuckled lightly and pointed at Maia "This has nothing to do with me, I was just the bloody messenger, no better than a sodding owl" he clipped. Maia threw a quick scowl toward Draco.
Theo looked at Maia, she could tell he was trying to work out what she was up to, but Maia was too busy trying to breathe and open her mouth.
"Thank you, brother." she said quickly to Draco before grabbing Theo's wrist and dragging him toward the door. Draco looked at them both extremely confused.
"No Mai, I will not go to your bedroom with you" Theo taunted loudly as he was being dragged down the hall, clearly hoping to wind up Draco. Maia just chuckled slightly "Shut up Theodore" she muttered before entering her bedroom Theo in tow.
"Witch are you ever going to explain why I was summoned here?" he questioned her again.
Maia took one look around her room and checked outside the door to make sure no one was listening before she finally spoke to him.
"Now I am yes, had to make sure we didn't have any lurkers, no one listening in" she smirked.
"Mai if you wanted me in your bedroom all you had to do was ask." He snickered at her.
"As much as I am flattered to be the chosen recipient of your flirting today Theo now is not the time" she clipped. Her face began to blush red swirling at the top of her cheeks.
'Merlin stop it Maia, focus on your impending doom first' she thought to herself. He must have noticed her becoming distracted because he gently grabbed her shoulder.
"Alright, Mai what do you need?"
"I need you to do me a favour, your home is safer than ours now that we have that bald snake-like psychopath roaming around the wings" she paused before continuing "Everything will be monitored more now, especially letters." she was gesticulating as she was talking.
Theo looked at her, clearly seeing her stressed "Okay? Salazar witch you are awful at getting to the point" he joked.
She shot him a glare. He must have noticed because he quickly apologised "Sorry Mai just trying to diffuse the tension."
"I need you to send a letter to Granger for me" she declared.
Theo looked at her puzzled.
"Merlin Mai if you're about to tell me you're having some sort of secret affair with your brother's witch, I'm going to be" he paused briefly "conflicted".
Maia looked at him shocked that was the conclusion he came to "What? No Theodore of course not!" she snapped. "Wait conflicted?"
He laughed up at her "Yes, conflicted because Granger is a catch, and it would be impressive that both the Malfoy twins had managed to seduce her but also stealing your brother's witch is a shitty move" he quipped.
She rolled her eyes at him "Salazar Theodore, I'm starting to think I won't die in this war, your nonsense will surely stress me out to death" she joked. Then they both just started laughing, that was the thing about Theo and Maia, even though he tested her patience to the max he always made her laugh.
"So, you need me to send a letter to Granger on your behalf?" he asked.
"Yes, I can't risk anyone in the house knowing I'm sending letters to a muggle-born not with that psychopath and his pet snake roaming around. Plus, Auntie Bella is more insane than usual after my little stunt at the Ministry" she stated. He looked up at her when she mentioned the Ministry incident and gave her a small smile.
Theo had assured her at the time she had done the right thing. They had a deep conversation at the Astronomy Tower the night after, he had mentioned how he thought Sirius was much like her and maybe she should reach out to him. Maia had planned to, but he was an escaped convict, so it was a little difficult to find out where to send the letters.
"I need to meet up with her, we have a lot to discuss. I've given her strict instructions to only send a letter back if she can't make the date and time I set, she is to burn the letter after reading it to protect us both and to address her response to you but only if she must." She continued.
"I just figured your father leaves Nott Manor every summer for a month to go to Italy, so it would be safer for her, for me and for you if she sends it there. No chance of either of us being tortured. You're the only one who will get the mail" she stuttered out.
Theo grabbed her hand to interrupt her and calm her down. His touch made Maia's nerves tingle, but she relaxed at the warmth of his skin.
"Mai, it's fine, of course I will, you're not asking for much" He said assuringly, before continuing "I do however have some questions, but knowing you... you won't answer all of them or you'll only tell me what you will allow me to know" he remarked.
She looked down he was still holding her hand lightly before looking back up into his eyes and responding.
"How am I supposed to get anything past you if you know me so well?" she clipped and chuckled lightly "Okay fine ask your questions but as you said I will only tell you what you need to know, but I promise you Theodore, I will tell you everything soon. I just can't now, it's not safe".
He looked at her as she let go of his grip and crossed the room to sit on the chair opposite the bed, he had now sat himself on. He gave her a curt nod before beginning his questions.
"Does Draco know you're sending letters to Granger?"
"No."
"Does he know you plan to meet up with her?"
"No."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"Yes, but not till we are back at Hogwarts".
"Why do you need to see her?"
"I can't tell you yet".
"Is it dangerous?"
"Meeting up with her? Possibly but I've asked her to show me around muggle London so it's safer for us both. What I need to talk to her about? Yes, that is dangerous."
"Does it involve Potter and the Psychopath with really bad toenails?"
She burst out laughing at him, trying to contain herself before responding.
"Yes"
"Does Draco know any of your plans?"
"No, but he knows I'm planning something."
"Will you be safe?"
"I will always try to be."
"You're not turning into a sodding Gryffindor, are you? Potter's suicide missions haven't rubbed off on you, have they?"
She laughed before responding.
"No Theodore, I'm still a snake, definitely not a lion".
"That's all I'm going to get right now, isn't it?" he quizzed.
She smirked at him "Yes Theodore, for now".
She reached into her robes and pulled out the letter for Hermione, reaching over to give it to him. Her arm was shaking, 'bloody cruciatus tremors' she cursed to herself. Theo noticed the shaking as he reached forward to grab the letter from her shaking hand, he sat upright, and she could see in his eyes that same rage she had seen that night a year ago.
"What happened this time Maia?" he fumed.
She grabbed her arm quickly "Oh that? That was just a gift from Auntie Bella for saving her dear cousin Sirius" she chirped.
"What did she do?" he continued; Maia swore she could see steam coming out of his ears.
"She used the cruciatus curse on me to weaken me before going into my mind trying to find any proof that I was lying about only being friends with Harry and saving Sirius to gain his trust for her lover-boy" Maia rolled her eyes. "It's nothing really, Daddy dearest did it all the time when he wanted information or just to punish me. I'll be fine in a few days; the tremors are just a nice little parting gift."
"Merlin's sake Maia, I'll kill her. I know Draco can't always help but why does everyone just let these things happen to you?! Why does Narcissa just stand back at watch? It makes me sick; you don't deserve any of it!" Theo shouted.
"Will you keep your voice down you'll get us all killed!" Maia snapped. "I'm grateful that you care Theodore, and I know it must be hard to see but there is nothing to be done about it. It's been going on for so long now I just get on with it, because I know, I know now what I need to do to get me and Draco out of this. There are only 5 weeks left of Summer and after that, I won't have to go through it again. I'm going to..." she trailed off.
"I'm sorry, I've said too much, it's not safe for you to hear any more. I'm sorry I snapped at you, I just- need to survive for a little longer and with Father in Azkaban, I'm just staying out of the way until we leave for Hogwarts. If I think on it all too much, I'll get distracted." She croaked. She rubbed her hands on her forehead, the stress was bubbling inside her.
"There's a time for revenge Theodore and trust me I am planning to get mine." She vowed.
His face started to relax, she could see features begin to slacken, he tucked the letter into his pocket and stood up and walked toward her on the chair. Towering over her, he placed a gentle hand on her face and stroked the top of her cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"And I intend to help you snuff out all of those bastards." He said firmly.
As his words rang through her ears she stood and he pulled her into his embrace, stroking her hair again, just like he did a year prior. He spoke softly to her as he continued to hold her.
"I'll send the letter to Granger today. If you need me at all for anything, and I mean anything, you floo me? Okay?"
"Okay Theo. I promise" she muttered back.
He began to pull away from her and headed to the door.
"Stay alive Maia, I'd hate to have to go a day without you glaring at me at least once" he joked.
"You'll never escape my glares Theodore, even in death" she sneered.
He chuckled "There she is, There's my Mai. Goodbye bella."
"If I don't see you again until Hogwarts it means something has gone right for once" she called out to him as he left.
Maia's heart fluttered and warmth spread throughout her whole body, she barely noticed the sound of the door clicking as he left. Of course, one of her bloody weaknesses was her best friend, sodding typical!
"Maia, you have to come up with a plan to save your friends, save your brother and make sure Potter wins against No-Nose Nancy and essentially save the wizarding world but just to make that a little a bit more difficult we've made it so you fall in love with your best friend and can't concentrate on anything when he's around!" she muttered to herself, pacing back and forth not entirely sure who she was talking too.
"Salazar's left tit sod this!" she shouted, the room still smelt like him, it was intoxicating, and she couldn't get him out of her head. She began to occlude putting all the walls up and shoving Theodore Nott so far to the back of her mind in a filing cabinet, covering it in cement for good measure. She felt the pressure finally release in her mind; it was like someone cast a cooling charm on her brain.
She went over to the desk grabbed rolls of parchment and started to plan everything. She knew that the letter she had sent to Hermione didn't give her much to go on, it was incredibly cryptic and knowing that witch, she would have a million questions. So, Maia knew she needed at least half a plan to calm that big, beautiful brain of hers once she told her what had been going on.
She knew she needed to tell her they had to leave Hogwarts after 6th year, they had to go into hiding, and they would need to convince Potter, that he needed them instead of enacting another bloody suicide mission. She was writing a list of things to go over with her, her ideas about portkeys, taking her ideas with DA coins but changing them to allow for communication between people, and potions to brew in case they were needed. Maia wrote everything she could think of, anything that they may need to have in place, for her to feel organised but also so Granger would take her seriously and not think she was coming to her with the news of their world ending with nothing but a half-baked plan.
She was writing ideas and plans for what felt like hours, but something that kept bothering her.
She like every other child in the wizarding world had heard the story of Harry Potter and the Boy-Who-Lived like it was a bedtime story from the Beedle and the Bard book but there was something about it that always puzzled her.
After getting to know Harry she understood how he had survived the killing curse, Lily's love, ancient magic, and her sacrifice protected Harry. It caused the curse to rebound. That magic, that protection lives in the blood that runs in Harry's veins. That she could understand.
What Maia could never wrap her head around was the fact that Voldemort himself had survived, there were no recorded cases of anyone surviving the killing curse except for Harry himself, but for two of them to survive it, in the same night? It didn't make any sense. The chances were astronomical, but Harry had Lily's love that's how he survived, but how did Voldemort?
He had no one sacrifice themselves out of love for him. Although Maia wouldn't put it past her insane aunt and her obsession with him to attempt to try but she wasn't there that night. His body was destroyed they found no trace of him at Godric's Hollow, just baby Harry, so just how did he return?
Maia thought on it and thought on it, the only explanation was that he must have had some sort of fail-safe in place to protect him in case of an incident like the night at Godric's Hollow taking place. But what? Some sort of dark magic? A curse? A dark magical object?
Then there was his big creepy snake that was always nipping at his heels, surely, he didn't just keep her around all the time because he was short on friends? Or maybe he just likes having a loyal follower who doesn't answer back?
She knew she had to work with Harry and Hermione to get rid of him, Harry was always going to need help, he might be the chosen one, but this was never going to just be as simple as casting 'Avada Kedvra' or it would have been over by now. It was a lot bigger than that.
Maia decided to take a page out of Granger's book, it was time to head to the Manor library.