Chapter Text
January 2004
I pushed my sleeves up and splashed cold water on my face. Almost six years later, and the nightmares still jolted me awake in the rare moments I managed to sleep without help.
"That bad, huh?" Alex asked from the doorway.
I tugged my sleeves down before turning toward her. "Why are you still up? It’s three AM," I responded.
"Just got home, that's all. Heard you moving about," she said easily.
"Just a nightmare. I didn’t take my meds before bed." I answered quickly. I still hadn’t been able to brew a version of Dreamless Sleep that could be taken nightly, so I suffered through the nightmares whenever I needed a break from it.
"I thought you were over those," Alex said quietly.
I sighed. Alex had been a lifeline when I moved to the States, but rooming with Muggles was a challenge. I couldn’t exactly tell them all about the war or the scars I carried from it.
"They don’t come as often. I’m fine, Alex, I promise," I assured her. "How was the date?"
Alex immediately launched into a ramble about her most recent date as we made our way to the kitchen. I started making us tea before sitting with her. Moments like this made me feel like a typical twenty-four-year-old. I let my mind drift as she gushed about Jack or Jake—whatever his name was.
"When are you going to start dating again?" Alex asked. "We know from Lyra that you’re no Virgin Mary."
I chuckled. "I trust Lyra with you and Katie. I tolerate daycare as a necessary evil. Other than that, I have my friends, and that’s all I need."
"Yeah, your friends with benefits . Why not something serious?" Alex pressed.
"When you find something serious, we can talk about finding me something serious," I retorted. "Besides, we have Katie to worry about—married by twenty-five, remember?"
"Katie always did have a plan. And she actually found a guy to go along with it," Alex sighed.
"And he’ll be here tomorrow with his cousin to get this show on the road. I still can’t believe she fell in love with a British guy while studying abroad," I muttered. I just pray England is a big enough island that she doesn’t come home with someone remotely related to my past.
Alex laughed. "Come on, Maia, be serious. Have you had anything serious since Lyra’s dad?"
"Come on, Alex. I was nineteen when Lyra was born. She’s been my whole world since then—plus school. You and Katie have been my rock when it comes to her."
Coming to the States at eighteen, pregnant with Lyra, three days before school started had never been my plan. It was a wonder they even accepted me. I called Harvard on August 9th, 1998—the day the stick turned pink. Harry and Ginny had been at the Burrow when I took the test at Grimmauld Place.
Three college acceptances sat on my desk: Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge. Dual enrollment—Magical Studies and Political Sciences. The decision had been made: as far from London as possible.
McGonagall and I had talked about it as soon as the trials were done. She had sent in samples from my sixth year and my transcripts to the universities on my behalf. The Ministry had offered me positions, and Hogwarts had given me the chance to complete my seventh year. But after I made that call, I booked a flight, called the realtor Harvard recommended for off-campus housing, and was gone before Harry and Ginny even woke up the next morning.
That was how I met Katie and Alex.
"Have you ever considered reaching out to him? Just for support with Lyra?" Alex asked hesitantly.
I sighed. We had this conversation every few months—ever since they found out I was pregnant.
"Alex, we’ve been over this. I have the money to sustain my life with Lyra, and I don’t want his help or his money," I reminded her. "Besides, he got married two summers ago and has another kid now."
"Doesn’t that bother you? That he has a kid now—one he cares for—while you're here raising his firstborn alone?" Alex pushed again.
"Honestly, Alex, it doesn’t," I said, my voice quieter. "I know the pressure Lyra would be under in his family, and I don’t want that for her. I’m already dreading her eleventh birthday because I know that means she’ll be thrust into the world I ran away from."
"Why does she have to be?" Alex challenged. "You said it yourself—you ran away."
"Because it gave me so much." I exhaled, rubbing my temples. "The world she’ll be entering isn’t the same as the one I did. I want her to experience the place where her parents fell in love, the place I worked so hard to rebuild, the place where I made my best friends."
The war was over. Hogwarts was safe. McGonagall was Headmistress and eagerly awaiting Lyra’s arrival. She was the only person in the wizarding world who even knew about my daughter.
"Alex, I’m happy keeping up with him through the papers," I said, gripping my tea mug. "He’s living his sad life in what is most likely a loveless, arranged marriage that his father orchestrated the moment he found out he was getting a son. I don’t want his family using my daughter as a pawn."
"Would he have married you if they knew about Lyra?" Alex asked softly.
"I was eighteen, Alex. If I wanted to be married, I would have stayed in London," I admitted. " Because if it hadn’t been Lyra’s dad, it would have been one of my best friends. His mum had already been gunning for the wedding."
I thought about him . About Ron.
Molly had started pushing two weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts—certain that our one kiss had sealed our fate. That we were madly in love. That we would marry and have redheaded babies running around the Burrow before the year was out.
But that kiss had been nothing more than two scared teenagers in a warzone, clinging to the last bit of hope they had left.
"Maia, we just want to see you happy and taken care of, that’s all," Alex said, her voice softer now. "Katie will be moving out by the end of the summer..."
She trailed off, hesitant to insinuate that she would leave me, too.
I bought a house in Boston shortly after graduation—paid for by a combination of my job and the Order of Merlin money. Harvard’s Magical Studies college had hired me right out of school, initially hoping I would teach advanced defense courses for those entering magical law enforcement. They settled for me in the Potions department instead.
Now, my current research focused on a long-term safe version of Dreamless Sleep. I also agreed to teach two courses, having earned my Potions Mastery by twenty-one—a feat most didn’t accomplish until much later.
"Alex, you don’t need to worry about me and Lyra," I reassured her. "We’ll be okay. Lyra will still have her aunties. You’ll just be living your own lives."
Alex nodded but still looked unconvinced.
"Now, come on," I teased. "You might be able to sleep in tomorrow, but the gremlin will be up in less than three hours. And we need to be presentable for Katie’s beau."
Alex laughed and bid me goodnight.
I did a quick clean-up of the kitchen before retreating to my room. My eyes lingered on the photo of Harry, Ron, and me from our last holiday together. My heart ached as I stared at the ceiling, wishing for a dreamless sleep.