VII. Clandestine Dream

                                    

                                          

                    Maya couldn't look Sirius in the eye. The train was closing in on Kings Cross station, and she'd barely uttered a word to the boy, choosing instead to sit in the corner, staring out of the window. Lily and Remus studied her curiously and James and Sirius' attempts of cheering up her unusually quiet mood (she usually was the one corralling the group together after spats) went sour.
     "Alright," spoke Remus as he leaned forward to look at Maya who was absentmindedly twirling shapes into the air on the opposite seat.
     They were the only two ones left in the compartment. Lily and James had gone off somewhere, probably to snog (James was always insatiable when it came to love), Sirius had gone to change and most likely get Peter from wherever he'd wandered off to (Sirius was rather... persuasive: he would usually just annoy you until you in) and back to their compartment in order to carve his name next to the rest of the group. Lily's group of friends (Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows, Mary McDonald and Alice Fortescue) had already come in earlier and done theirs as well.
    "What is it? Who is it?"
     Maya looked up, confused as she planted her sock—clad feet gently onto the floor, tucking them into the pair of trainers she'd kicked off earlier so that Remus couldn't see the way her toes curled up. "What— What do you mean, who or what is it, Moons?"
     "Is it Regulus?"
     And Maya was glad she did because she saw those similar hazel eyes that represented her own take a quick peek before they settled on her hands that had relinquished their tight grip upon themselves in that split second, the crescent shaped indents beginning to fade from a dull purplish red to her regular mocha coloured skin.
     "I— I don't know what you mean," she muttered, gaze fixated with a purpose upon the loose thread that hung from the strings of the metallic button of Remus' old denim jacket. "It's nothing, I'm just going to miss you knuckleheads."
     Well, what she told him wasn't a lie, per say. She was going to miss them, definitely. They'd finished their schooling lives and were free to join the world outside, fight for the greater good, be idiots, be happy and in love.
     Maya could sense that Remus didn't belive what she meant entirely, but before he could comment on the lack of conviction the words that fled her lips in a nervous flutter held, Sirius pranced back into the compartment, a scurrying Peter following behind. His sandy blond hair flopped over his eyes as he tried to hold himself upright in Sirius' tight grip over his hand, who pushed him towards the scribing in the corner.
     "Are you sure about this?" panted the younger Black, breaths harsh and warm against the exposed skin of the Chekhov's tanned neck, curls being pulled ruggedly at her response, or lack thereof.
    Maya let out a groan, head slumping back as she sucked in harsh breaths while trying to bring back an equal fitting of dominance in between them, but her stare lacked the power it needed: her hands were still held behind her back and Regulus' body stood in between her legs as she sat upon the desk in an barren and abandoned, dark classroom.
     "I need answers, angel."
     Whimpering at the sudden tug at matted brunette curls, Maya nodded, cheeks red and glowing with glistening sweat as Regulus moved a hand to pull down the straps of her top, the thin silk falling off her shoulders with ease as they rested over her elbows, the front of the piece of clothing fell.
     "God angel, you have no idea what you're doing to me."
     A continuous prodding brought the witch out of her thoughts. It was James and Lily, the two having returned from wherever they went as they pretended to act normal. Lily settled down next to Maya while James took his usual spot next to Sirius, who was pestering Remus for something that Maya hadn't been paying attention to. Peter seemed to have slunk back to the new friends he'd made.
     No sooner than did the girl snap out of her repetitive fever dream of hot skin and sinful breaths (something that was unfortunately forbidden for her), did hazel doe-like eyes fall upon the cobble stoned walls and platform that was Platform nine and three-quarters as she felt the Hogwarts Express slow down to greet the awaiting faces of every parent who wanted to know of how the children's school year went, and siblings who watched the steaming engine arrive with childlike innocence in their admiring gazes.
     Following out the rest of the loud group that was one of the last ones off the train, Maya smiled fondly at her friends, they all were as close as could be and now, she was left alone for a whole year, while they chased their dreams with a firm grip and broad grins of success.
     She stood at the side while the boys wished each other goodbye as if it was the last time they'd see each other (it wasn't, James and Remus and Sirius had gotten flats near each other) and the girl watched the overly dramatic Black, the laughing Potter and the amused Lupin with fondness in her hazel eyes, when she noticed something familiar in her peripheral line of sight.
     Seemingly trying to get a glimpse of Sirius, Regulus had poked his head through the crowds and was watching with hooded eyes, a disdainful frown tugging his lips downwards as he stood next to Evan Rosier, the pureblooded boy (Maya thought he wasn't fit to be called a man, even if he was of age) with a disgusted sneer that he directed at his old friend (yes, Sirius had known the boy).
     When Maya's gaze fell upon them, Rosier leaned towards the lanky Black, whispering something that made Regulus let out a jolly smirk as the two watched the girl with similar devious grins. The Chekhov girl watching them, unimpressed.
     When Rosier turned to leave, the proud look at once dropped from Regulus' face, grey eyes still watching hazel as he sent a practiced smile that rivalled Sirius' when he charmed his way to get out of trouble.
     The look on Regulus' face quickly morphed into a flirtatious look with his sly smirk and the twinkle in his eye as he sent a roguish wink her way before turning to leave had her stomach in a nervous flutter. She looked after his retreating figure with a bashful shade of crimson upon grinning cheeks and the tip of her nose.
    As soon as Maya had theatrically expressed her aideu of missing her friends and no sooner than did the lot of them part from the station for a last time (minus Remus, who always helped Maya back to her dingy foster home) Maya sighed, wondering whether Remus would pester her until no end. However,  nothing of the sort ever left partly bitten lips as the two walked side by side and to hail a taxi to reach their destinations.
     Stepping out of the taxi a quick ride later, she nodded Remus a goodbye, before uttering something that shocked the both. It was finally a truth, not the fervent dream she kept seeing it as.
     "I slept with Regulus."