Indago:3

Chapter Twenty


“Maia.”

Looking up from her book, Maia saw her dad walking towards her. She looked at her two friends and started cleaning up their study materials.

Harry reached them just as Maia was turning to leave. “Hi, girls. I’m going to borrow Maia for a minute.”

“Okay, Professor,” Siebel said with a smile, ignoring the glare she got from Maia.

Maia allowed her dad to pull her into an outer corridor that opened onto the path to the Quidditch Field.

“What?” she asked nastily as she raised an eyebrow.

Harry sighed. “You can stop the attitude anytime now. Save it for when you are older, right?”

“Fine. Can I go now, Professor?”

Harry pressed his lips tightly together before speaking. “Look, Maia, I know you are angry. I know that you blame us for every evil that has ever befallen you and that what we have given you or done for you means nothing in your eyes right now. But I need to talk to you. So if you’ll just hold the attitude for a brief moment, I’d appreciate it.”

“If this has something to do with school, fine. But if you’re here as a parent then you need to make a visitation appointment with the Headmaster.”

Narrowing his eyes, Harry grabbed Maia’s arm and pulled her further outside. “You know, I am really tired of your mouth. You are not quite grown up enough to talk to me like that, madam.”

“Oh, is one Subicio not allowed to talk to another like that? So, if I were like Father, I could talk down to you all I want?” Maia asked while trying to tug her arm free.

Harry let her go.

“Maia, you had better listen to me and listen well! I know you are angry and frightened at all that is happening. I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it’s like. Believe me, I know.”

“No, you don’t!” Maia snapped and turned down the path away from Harry. He came right after her, pulling her around to look at him.

“Yes, I do! I have been exactly where you are! You are watching everything you had planned on disappear. You are angry that someone you barely know has the ability to control you. It sucks. It’s awful. And there is nothing we can do about it.” Harry cupped her cheek. “I know, Maia. I know.”

Glaring, Maia pulled away. “There is nothing to do about it?” she asked accusingly. “Oh, yes, there is! I may have been given fewer options, but I’m not conceding without a fight! Or, at the least, a treaty!”

“Maia, listen to me,” Harry pleaded. “You don’t quite understand what it is you are going up against. There isn’t any fighting. This is about who we are, what we are. I was a bit more prepared for such a demanding position and I kick myself for not preparing you. But you have to listen to us.”

“How can I when all you are telling me to do is run and hide?” Maia demanded. “For Merlin’s sake! Father was going to have us hide in our house indefinitely! How ridiculous!”

“That was planned if you and the boys were smaller,” Harry explained in Draco’s defense. “And no, it wasn’t the best plan, but that is how much your father loves you. He wants to protect you.”

“He wants to control me! And I will not be controlled!” Maia turned and stomped away and again Harry was after her.

“Damn it, Maia! Could you drop the ‘Malfoy Pride’ crap! It’s never done anyone any good!” Harry shouted as he walked behind her.

Maia stopped and spun around. “Now you want my name and pride, too? Was this the plan all along, then? Make me believe I was someone and then rip it all away from me? Gods, I hate you!”

Harry drew back, hurt. “Maia! Don’t. That isn’t…”

“It isn’t? Well, then, you tell me how else I’m supposed to see this entire situation! You kick yourself for not preparing me? Well, that’s great, Dad. I’m glad you can sit there and feel badly about ruining my life.”

Harry shook his head, his eyes wide. “I… Maia, I … I just wanted to keep you safe. I made… I made some bad choices, but I did my best.”

“Well, your best wasn’t good enough!”

“Maia!” Harry’s worst nightmare was coming true. Maia hated him. Maia hated him and blamed him. He swallowed hard and chased after her again. “M-Maia, please! Fine, I… I wasn’t the best father. I… But you have to listen to me!”

“No, I don’t!” Maia shouted over her shoulder. “I’ve made my decision, without your sage advice!”

“What?” Harry asked dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”

Maia spun around. “I was right from the beginning and you were not. I’m going with Kellas. I will finish school and then she and I will leave together.”

“What?” Harry gasped. “But you don’t understand—”

“You keep parroting that at me!” she shouted. “I do understand! Kellas and I understand each other!”

“She could be lying!”

“No, Dad, she is actually the only person in this entire mess that has told me anything worth listening to.”

“No, you can’t leave with her. What will you do? Where will you go?”

Maia narrowed her eyes at him and sneered. “It hasn’t anything to do with you anymore. But I will tell you one thing. I will take my name and my pride with me! You can’t have that!”

“M-Maia!” Harry watched her turn and stomp away. “Maia! You can’t leave!” he cried out. She ignored him as she continued down the path.

“Dad?”

Harry spun blindly and found Azeas coming towards him.

“Are you all right, Dad?” Azeas looked behind Harry and watched Maia walk away. “Is Maia being difficult?”

Harry cleared his throat and blinked rapidly, trying to clear the emotion from his face. “Just… just a bit. Why are you out here, Az?”

“I saw you and Maia from the window and Father and Sev said you both were supposed to have—”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I… um forgot there for a minute.” Harry drew a deep breath and tried to smile. “We better go get Maia, then, before your Father sees her out there by herself.”

They followed Maia down the path. She stopped at the edge of the Quidditch pitch and stood staring at it with her arms crossed.

“Run ahead and tell her to come back, will you, Az?” Harry asked. “She’s mad at me.”

“Okay.” Azeas walked towards his sister and Harry hoped he didn’t look like a coward. He hated that he was afraid of Maia’s anger and hate. He had been afraid of it since he had woken from his long sleep and had to deal with all that he had done. He could never forgive himself. How could he expect Maia to? She had every right to hate him, regardless of the fact that she didn’t know the reason.

And now she was planning on leaving. Harry didn’t want to think about it.

“Maia,” Harry heard Azeas call out. “You should come in. The next class period is about to start. Don’t you have Potions next?”

Harry smiled at his clever little boy. Maia said something to Azeas that Harry didn’t catch. He watched them both look toward the tree line. He immediately tensed as he started toward them while searching the forest.

A deer raised its head at his quick movement and took off.

Releasing the breath that he had been holding, Harry kept moving towards his children. He glanced back toward the castle, sure that he would see Draco storming after them. Draco had found any and all excuses to be on the castle grounds, even assisting in Snape’s class occasionally. Harry had teased him by laying out a school robe on their bed. He blushed as the memory continued with what they had done in that robe.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a figure on the path nearly a hundred feet behind him.

It wasn’t Draco.

“Maia! Azeas!” Harry turned and ran toward his children. He could see more movement in the trees and knew that he wouldn’t be lucky enough for it to be a deer this time.

“Dad!” Azeas shouted and pointed toward the castle. Two more figures were moving toward them.

If they got too close… If they rendered him useless…

Harry got to Maia and Azeas and grabbed their arms. “Move! Now!” He pulled them into a run. They were being blocked from the castle. When he moved toward the Quidditch pitch, another figure appeared from behind one of the stands.

Maia pulled her wand and threw a leg-tangling curse at one of them and he went down, but only for a moment.

“No, don’t! Don’t make them use magic!”

“What?” Maia shouted.

“Don’t make yourself a magical target! They are stronger than a wand!” Harry pulled them toward the forest.

“Dad, it’s the Forbidden Forest,” Azeas warned when they were nearly within it.

“I know. We need to hide.”

“Why? We can just—” Maia was cut off as they pushed through the tree line and were met with two men. Maia gasped and Harry had only a moment before the scent began to overtake him.

“Azeas…” Harry murmured.

“Lucked out when we got both of them,” one of the men said with an American accent. “I don’t like that French guy, but he knew how to round ‘em up, didn’t he?”

“Yep,” the other guy replied and stepped a bit closer. “Why don’t you go down on your knees like good little dolls?”

Maia fell to her knees immediately. Harry stayed up and stepped in front of his children.

The first man laughed. “We got a mama bear.”

“D-Don’t hurt my children,” Harry got out while looking at the men’s chests. He stepped closer and Azeas grabbed his hand.

“Dad, don’t,” he said with wide eyes.

Harry squeezed his hand and looked at the men. He closed his eyes briefly and then spoke softly, “I want to walk past now, please.”

Both Superos blinked and one of them nodded. “What do we get in return?” the second man asked.

“Anything you want,” Harry promised, lowering his head to the side, and baring his neck. The men licked their lips and stepped back. Harry tugged on Maia’s hand, urging her to get up. “Maia, now!” he whispered.

Fearfully, Maia rose and clung to Harry as they walked past while the men watched them the whole time with smirks. Harry felt their control lessen and when it was shaken off completely, he urged the kids into a run. At the same time, the men shouted and were joined by their fellows who had finally caught up.

“We need to go back to the castle!” Maia cried out as they ran.

“We need to get away first!” Harry called back as they ducked a tree growing sideways. “We can’t let them get that close to us again!”

Harry pulled the children further into the forest. Maia and he were able to move quickly, but Azeas was struggling to keep up. Finally, Harry quickly put him on his back and they ran and dodged, trying to outrun their pursuers.

“Through here,” he called out quietly and ducked between a copse of trees and a group of boulders. They splashed through a stream and scrambled behind more large boulders before Harry stopped them. They waited, their hearts beating in their chests and echoing in their ears as they struggled to hear any sounds that could be the Superos.

“Did we get away?” Maia whispered. Harry motioned for her to remain silent. Another minute passed before he let himself breath a bit better.

“I think we lost them at the stream,” he said quietly.

“What are we going to do?” Maia asked, clinging to Harry’s arm. “I don’t remember how we got here. How will we know how to get back?”

“It’ll be okay, Maia. We’ll just walk. I can’t Apparate us out of here due to the wards on the grounds. But I’m sure they don’t extend more than a kilometer into the forest, so we’ll just walk to the ends of them. Or the forest will end eventually. Maybe we’ll pop out in Hogsmeade and stay for dinner?” Harry suggested with a smile.

“The forest is big, Dad,” Azeas pointed out from his father’s back. “I don’t think we’ll make it to Hogsmeade in time for dinner.”

“Sure we will. Your father and I used to walk to Hogsmeade on our weekends here. It’ll be fine.”

“But what about… about them?” Maia asked fearfully. “They’re looking for us. Hunting us.”

Harry wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tight against him. “It’s all right, Maia. We’ll be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. Either of you.”

“Yeah, Maia. Dad is a hero.”

Harry smiled back at his son. “That’s what the papers say, anyway.” He looked down at Maia. “Besides, your father and Sev will be out looking for us right about now. Sev would have known something was wrong as soon as you didn’t show up for class. Don’t worry.”

“What if they double back and find us?” Maia asked, her eyes darting around them. “And the forest is haunted and it has horrible things in it.”

Harry nodded. “I know. But we’ll be okay. A lot of those things they tell you about are just to keep you out of here. They just don’t want students getting lost.”

They quietly started walking and eventually Azeas slid off Harry’s back. Maia kept her hand clenched in Harry’s shirt as she watched the forest around them.

“Dad, if they start spreading out, they might find us,” Azeas said as he played with a stick. “The ones chasing us, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed with a sigh. He had been searching the forest as hard as Maia had been. “We’ll be all right.”

“I don’t want them to get close to me again,” Maia whispered.

“I won’t let them,” Harry promised as he ran a hand through her hair. She looked up at him.

“How did you do that? How did you make them let us pass?”

Harry kept his eyes on the forest. “It’s something I learned years ago. Your father calls it ‘allure’. But it only works when I am close enough. Just like their scent can only work on us when we’re close.”

“Can you make them leave us alone?”

Harry smiled and hugged her close. “It’ll be okay, Maia. We’ll be all right.”

He held her tight for a moment, listening to the forest, and hoped that he had spoken the truth. Draco would tear the forest apart looking for them. They just had to hold out until then. There had been about seven Superos that Harry had seen. They might end up lucky in that some of them were not actual Indago and instead friends or family willing to commit kidnapping, but Harry wasn’t going to bet on it.

His eyes narrowed as something caught his attention.

“What is that sound?” Maia asked, looking around fearfully.

It came closer. A crashing sound, like the wind through the trees, but much stronger.

“Dad…” Azeas said nervously and grabbed Harry’s hand. “It’s… it’s all around.”

Harry could feel it prickling at his skin. Azeas started to shiver and Maia tried to bury herself into Harry’s side.

Harry looked to his right and saw the trees in the distance moving. Like a wave, the trunks began to sway, as if the entire forest was a waking beast.

“We need to go. Now. Move!” Harry grabbed Azeas, threw him on his back, and shoved Maia hard to get her moving.

“What is it? What is it?” Maia shouted over the roar of the trees.

“They’re using the trees to shake us loose! We need to get somewhere they can’t get us!” Harry tugged Maia out of the way of a low branch.

“The trees?” Maia screamed. “We’re in a forest! Where are we going to go?”

“Just keep moving!”

The roaring was all around them as the trees seemed to be reaching for them. Harry ducked and moved and had to pull Maia out of danger before a tree snagged her.

“Maia! Think of it like Quidditch!” he shouted at her as they leapt another small stream. “You’ve got the Quaffle! Move!”

Maia nodded and Harry watched her frenzied fear become focused. He would have kissed and hugged her when he saw her movements become more fluid and she was able to dodge and avoid everything in their way.

“Dad! There’s something up ahead!” Azeas shouted.

Harry and Maia both stopped as the trees suddenly ended. They stood at the edge of what looked like new forest. Burnt tree stumps stood like giant chess pieces, guarding the small trees.

“We can’t stay here. It’s too open.” Harry kept moving quickly through the field, walking cautiously around the charred remains of trees.

Maia gasped and fell back, grabbing Harry’s hand.

Looking to where she pointed, her eyes wide, Harry saw a skull half-buried in the leaves and debris on the ground.

“It is haunted,” she whispered.

Harry looked along the ground and found other bones that were human shaped. One nearly full skeleton laid on its front. One arm was missing.

“Do you think they are old Muggle soldiers or left over from when Voldemort was around? Was this where you battled him, Dad?” Azeas asked curiously.

“No.” Harry moved them along. “They were werewolves.”

“Werewolves? There are werewolves in the forest?” Maia asked fearfully.

“No,” Harry answered. “Not anymore. Come on, we have to keep moving.”

Harry and the children made it to the other side. The trees stayed still there and they cautiously moved back into the forest. The large boulders were getting more numerous and Harry hoped they were getting close to the hills and mountains that surrounded the backside of Hogwarts.

But as the forest darkened and Harry kept feeling for and not finding the edges of the anti-Apparition wards, he lost hope of getting to safety before nightfall.

“All right, we’ll need to find a place that is safe for the night.”

“The night?” Maia looked shocked. “We can’t stay the night here! Dad, we can’t!”

“We may have to. We’ll find a place that has rocks. I don’t think they can move solid rock. Besides, they wouldn’t want to hurt us too badly, so we should be safe there.” Harry began searching the clusters of boulders for a suitable spot.

“What about there, Dad?’ Azeas pointed toward a small cluster that looked to have a cave in it.

“Let me look.” He left Azeas and Maia and moved closer. He kept an eye on the kids while checking for any possible surprises. After thoroughly investigating, he waved the children to him.

“Is it okay?” Maia asked nervously, peering into the small opening.

“It’ll be tight, but that’ll keep us warm.” He looked around. “I don’t think we’ll be able to have any dinner.”

“Father will be here soon. Then we can go to Hogsmeade for dinner, right?” Azeas asked with a smile. Harry smiled back.

“Yeah, we’ll eat a huge meal and you can tell Bran all about it.”

Maia stood searching the forest, her arms crossed across her abdomen as she held herself. Harry gave her a hug. “It’s okay, Maia. We’ll just rest here. In the morning, we’ll head back towards the school.”

“But we don’t know where that is,” she whispered. “And those men are out there. What if they find us while we’re asleep?”

“I can keep watch,” Azeas offered. “If anything comes near, I’ll wake you up.”

Harry smiled at his son. “Thank you, Az, but I have another idea.”

He stepped away toward a large clump of bushes. He knelt down and began calling softly.

“What are you doing?” Maia asked quietly.

“Dad, that’s really brilliant!” Azeas crowed and came forward to bend down next to Harry.

There was a rustle before a diamond-shaped head slid out and looked at Harry. After a few minutes, Harry stood up and smiled at his kids.

“My friend here, and her friends, will keep an eye on things for us.”

“The snakes are going to keep watch?” Maia asked doubtfully. “Is that all right? Can you trust them?”

“Yes. They don’t like the commotion those blokes are causing and want them out of their home. They’ll keep watch and I promised that I’ll get their unwanted guests to leave.”

A strange cry rent the air at the moment and Maia jumped.

“Okay, let’s go inside and get comfortable,” Harry suggested as cheerfully as he could. They had to crawl on their hands and knees to get through the opening, but once inside, there was just enough room for them to sit up with Azeas in Harry’s lap.

“Are we going to be okay in here?” Maia asked again, staring at the opening as it got darker and darker outside.

“We’ll be fine,” Harry assured her. “With the snakes watching, we won’t need to use any magic that those men might find. So we’re okay.”

“How did they make the trees move?” Azeas asked.

“Superos have the ability to call on Nature itself. I’m not sure how they do it, but they are very strong magically. To do all that, though, they must have been working together. That’ll slow them down,” Harry explained calmly.

“I… I didn’t know that,” Maia whispered. “I didn’t know they could do that.”

“It takes a lot out of them,” Harry said. “It’s not very common.”

“Can Father do it?” Azeas asked, turning in Harry’s lap to see as best he could in the dimming light.

“Yes.”

“Has he?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe he can get the trees to fight those others and find us.”

Harry nodded. “I know he’ll try to get the trees to do what he wants. Your father will always come for you, Azeas. He’s very strong. He won’t let anything bad happen. He’ll be here.” He hoped that they didn’t realize he was reassuring himself as much as them. “Your Sev will be right there with him. They’ll find us.”

“And Kellas,” Maia whispered in the dark. “She’ll find us, too.”

Harry was glad that sight was impossible at that moment. He didn’t know what his face showed. “I don’t know her enough to say so.”

“I do.”

Harry frowned at the tone in Maia’s voice. “What do you mean? Have you been speaking together when you were supposed to be staying away? More than we saw?”

There was a long pause before Maia answered. “Yes.”

Harry tried not to let his emotions make his body tense. He didn’t want Azeas to know he was upset. “You… You shouldn’t have done that, Maia. It wasn’t very safe until we knew more about her,” he stated evenly.

“How was I supposed to know more about her unless I talked with her?”

“I meant that we, your parents, need to know more about her,” Harry replied. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “But… if you think she is a nice person, then we should probably have dinner with her or perhaps invite her to spend some time with us this Christmas.”

“Father won’t do that.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“Dad?”

“Yes, Maia?”

“What will happen when those men find us?” Maia’s voice was nearly devoid of all emotion.

Harry searched out her hand and held it tight. “They won’t.”

“If they do? What do they want?”

Harry closed his eyes and his hand squeezed Maia’s. “You know what they want, Maia,” he said quietly.

“I won’t let them get you, Maia,” Azeas declared firmly.

Harry hugged Azeas close. “No, Az. Listen to me, both of you. If they get close again, I want you to run. I want you to run until you can’t run anymore. Do you understand?”

“But, Dad, we’ve been running,” Maia protested.

“We should fight them.”

“That’s not very practical, Az,” Harry said.

“We’re just supposed to run?” Maia asked.

“Father would fight them,” Azeas added.

“Yes, I know. But I’m not risking you for a fight,” Harry stated firmly. “Maia, you know what will happen if they find you.”

“Can I learn how to use that allure?” she asked. “Maybe we could work together, like they are?”

“No. It’s… It’s something you learn after you’ve… become older.”

“You mean after I’m no longer a virgin?”

Harry winced. “Maia. Your little brother is here. Have some decency.”

“Dad. You… you can teach me how to use the allure,” Maia said quietly.

Harry was silent and still for a long time. Maia’s hand fidgeted in his.

“Dad?” she whispered.

“Was it Kellas?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” she whispered back.

Harry waited a moment before sighing and letting his head rest against the rock wall. “Oh, Maia,” he murmured softly.

“But now you can teach me how to do the allure,” Maia said quickly. “We can use it to get away.”

“First of all, I’m not sure I could teach it to you. I stumbled upon it and just instinctively use it. And second, Maia, you have made yourself more vulnerable.”

“How? I’m now an adult!”

“Exactly! Maia, we are only a day away from October. What does that mean?”

Maia was quiet for a moment. “L-Lustrum.”

“Yes. And if you are anything like me, what you have done has just primed your body in time for it. In fact, with our luck, I’m sure of it.”

“But… but you’re always your most independent during Lustrum,” Maia argued. “The scent doesn’t work on you then. That should be good.”

“Yes, but only for a few days. After that, we’ll be crav—” Harry bit off his words and continued more carefully. “We’ll want to be with the Superos. A lot. In adult ways,” he explained and hoped that Azeas would just let this conversation float over his head. Knowing Azeas, it wouldn’t.

Maia was quiet again. “You think we’ll be out in this forest for days?” she finally asked.

Harry sighed. “I… I don’t know. I don’t think so, but if so, this is not a good turn of events. You’ve now made yourself an easier target for them.”

Maia’s hand tightened around Harry’s. “This is stupid! I don’t know why I’m here! You… I’m just a kid!” she whispered in horror.

“Yes! Finally you have recognized that!”

It was quiet in the cave for a few moments before Harry heard Maia sniff. “Oh, love, don’t.” He pulled her close until she was resting her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair gently. “It’s all right, Maia. It’ll be okay. I know you’re scared. I won’t let anything happen to either of you. I promise. Do you believe me?” Maia sniffed and nodded. “Okay, then just let me take care of you. You’re growing up, but lean on me for just a little longer, yeah? Your old man is still useful.”

“I think you’re the best, Dad,” Azeas said quietly.

Harry smiled and pulled Azeas close until both of his children rested against him. “Thank you, Azeas. We’ll be fine. A little hungry, but fine.”

Harry listened to the forest at night and waited until his children both fell asleep before closing his eyes and resting.