When You Wish Upon a Star

[Maya Fergusson]

September

It had been quite a while since Maya had recieved a letter from her father whilst she was at school. Last year, she had been the one to start their conversations and for him to now change the dynamic and send her one, there was obviously something going on, something major, that the man felt the need to tell her about. However, the letter remained sitting on her lap as she stared down at it. She wasn't sure what she was afraid of, as there really was nothing to fear, but she, for some reason, felt compelled to not open it. She could only reason that her head was driving her insane from the sudden change of routine. It wasn't usually like this and now that it was, she had to admit that she wasn't as in control as she would have liked. There were really a number of reasons for this, least of all was because she felt the need to refrain from expressing too much desire to return to school when around her siblings and her father. After all they might get jealous and she certainly wouldn't want that to happen, she absolutely did not like the way jealousy made people act and she would hope that none of her brothers were mad at her for being able to use magic.

However the longer that Maya stared at it, the more she realised that she really was being quite silly and that she should just tear open the letter and be done with it. It was late in September, so whatever her father had to say was probably quite a recent development. What if one of her brothers had to go into hospital and needed a bone marrow transplant that she had to provide? She would need to go to the Headmistress right that moment and explain to her the problem so that it would be able to be sorted out in a timely fashion. Then of course there as the bonus fact that she would also need to tell her head of house, as this was important and she couldn't not be there, so she would be needing her homework delivered or filed away somewhere where she would get to it should she have any free time. Not that she had a lot of free time, she was usually quite busy after all. Blinking back her hesitation as she looked back down at the letter, Maya crossed her fingers and preyed that maybe her father was congratulating her on making it to her second year. He had thought for sure that she would drop out to go back home, not that he'd ever said it in front of her.

Opening the letter, Maya sat back gently as she began to read through the familiar scrawl of her father hands. Back before her mother had died, her father had worked as a miner, which meant he had spent a lot of time away from home, but now that her mother was dead, he had to quit his job and stay at home full time. He had no source of income except what they got from the Government and Maya only knew this because she had demanded her father tell her, though she was also pretty sure she knew absolutely nothing, still. The letter started off normal enough, it had one of her father's customary lame jokes, told her how the family was doing, how her animals were, how many times they had gone to visit her mother's grave and countless other things. However, soon it started to get more serious, the tone started to change and this all seemed to be building to something in particular, though she wasn't sure what as the letter abruptly cut off with her father explaining that it would be better he tell her in person then on a piece of paper because it was something major and would affect her to quite a large degree. So naturally, Maya was a slight bit more concerned then she had been before. "What did you do now, Dad?"

Either way, it didn't really matter anymore anyway. Shaking her head and stuffing the letter into the pocket of her shorts, Maya moved away from the sofa to sit in front of the fire. It was nice and warm and reminded her of home. If she tried hard enough she could even see her town through the flames, which was kind of scary and weird. Not that it seemed to matter when it came to her. Maya crossed her legs and slipped them underneath her as she moved forward to let the flames dance around her skin, though she was being careful to not let the actual open flame touch her hand. She just liked the tingly feeling after doing something stupid. Of course she wasn't about to make a habit of it and even as she leaned back, she vowed not to do it again. The pretty colours were a great addition, just not enough addition, she couldn't live with charcoal bricketts for limbs after all, that would be completely and totally silly and how would she walk around or anything. It would be the strangest thing that was walking around Hogwarts she was sure. Still, she was smart enough to lean back and just observe, because right now all she could think about was how badly she wanted to know what her father wanted to say.
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme Fergusson had never actually questioned why his mother had decided to let him come back to Scotland after being away for two years. It had been always her stand point that he was not to come back, that they didn't have the money and that his life was in New Zealand now, but to him these were just excuses thrown out the window when he had finally gone back home. He had spent time with his mother and he had enjoyed it. He had spent time with his old friends, and gone to all the old places that he had once spent hours in. He had visited his old favourite spots. Cycled his favourite routes. Swum in a sea which was much too cold. Everything had just been so perfect. It had left Graeme in such a good mood that he had honestly not realised that something was wrong. Why this time over all the others. Nothing had changed in their circumstance. His mother still worked the same job, and he still had to return back to school on his own. It had been less tricky this time around, but it was just such a long journey that despite it being September and him having been back for more than a few weeks, he was still sort of feeling it. He kept forgetting that it was winter and not summer. He kept getting the time wrong, since he hadn't switched his watch yet, but most most of all, he just knew that his accent was thicker than ever and there was little he was currently doing to make it less harsh. He always had what RHI had said lingering in the back of his mind, but he wasn't too bothered by it really. He tried not to be, though at times, admittedly it got a little tricky.

As the boy had been feeling this great little high from his life. That his life was on a good course that was still relatively undecided. He was feeling incredible, and this mood was bringing other parts of his life to an even greater feeling of joy. He was sitting in his common room, he had been doing a little bit of work on revising, when he'd hit a brick wall. All of his being away hadn't given him enough time to actually buy books for the new term, aside from the ones for the electives, and he was now in a situation where he lacked the very book he needed. Groaning slightly, the boy packed away his things and decided to head to the library to see if he could get the book he needed there. It wasn't like this would take too long in his mind. Once this was over, he was even thinking about doing something else. Rather than continue studying he had decided that he wanted to do something else. Perhaps he could go to the pitch and get some more practice done there. He smiled at this thought and headed to the library. It was a short walk from Hufflepuff to where he needed to be, and Graeme had a joyful smile on his face. He was in an excellent mood that was for sure. he stepped into the library and after a brief conversation with the librarian to find out where the book he wanted would be, he had darted off in that direction. While Graeme did spend a lot of time in the library, he didn't spend all of that time there, and not enough to easily find all the areas for whatever books that he needed. Happily the boy finally spotted the section of the area he darted into a sprint towards it.

As he stopped, he realised that this was an area of the library that was slightly cosier, it was almost like a common room, and he noticed someone stood there by the fire. Graeme looked towards the person, and then as he watched the person take a seat on the sofa, Graeme realised who it was. Maya. Graeme had grown to really like the girl. She was a lovely person, he liked her a lot, and he had been thankful for her to be able to reassure him in the Great Hall just after RHI had been released. He wandered over, and stood at the side, clearing his throat ever so slightly. "Hey, you mind if I join you?" he made an effort with her to make his accent less strong. He noticed that with her, it was the most he ever tried with anyone. Mostly, he believed this was down to the fact she was one of his only friends. However, not really waiting for a response, Graeme just took a seat, he noticed that she didn't seem too happy. "You alright?" he asked concern clear in his tone.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya was not normally one to mope about. In fact the very thought of doing so made her feel like she was not being true to herself. However, sometimes a girl just had to take some time to herself so that she could think about her life on her own terms. Of course that didn't mean that Maya preferred to be alone, she didn't, in fact she rather disliked being on her own, but sometimes she had no choice, because she couldn't just think when she was with other people. There were many reasons why Maya liked to sometimes be away, just to think. Some of them had to do with the absence of her mother. There were occasions, times or points in the day when Maya would feel her mothers absence most strongly, so of those even held with her the reality that she was in an entirely different country. She had no passport and no proper means of identification and the implications of such a feat made Maya question everything she had ever known to be true. She loved magic, she loved the atmosphere and she loved the interactions she had with the wonderful friends she had made in her time spent at the school. Franny, Ellie, Clara, Graeme and Sage. She knew other people too, but there was only a small group that she actually considered to be her close friends, these were the only ones she would go to should she feel the need to speak with someone about anything. However, sometimes, friends were not enough and one need the surrounding comfort of family.

Maya however did not have that luxury. She was possibly something like fifty million miles away from her family, maybe not quite that much, but that was how it felt. If she wanted to speak to her father or her brothers, she had to write them a letter, she had to physically write her feelings into words, send the letter across the ocean and then wait for them to reply. Ironically, it was the very thing she hated that was causing her to stop and think. Her father had never been the best with words, he was rather awkward and unassuming in that respect. People had told her it was what had first attracted her mother too him, though she never really understood what they meant, but it made trying to talk to him rather difficult at the best of times and now that he was actually worried about something, that he had something to tell her, but couldn't do it in a letter, meant that Maya was going to be spending a lot of her next weeks trying to figure out what could possibly be causing him so much turmoil. She knew she would have to wait until she could go home and speak to her father to actually figure out what was going on, but for now, she was going to just stare at this fire and try to picture what it was that might be going through her fathers head. Maybe if she could suss it out, she could give the man a nice little segue.

Maya heard a noise from beside her, but didn't bother to actually look up until she heard a familiar and very welcome, voice. Despite her mood, a smile grew on the girls lips as she watched him walk around to join her on the couch. Maya tucked her legs under her body and twisted around to face her friend. He seemed to have picked up on her mood, but Maya didn't really know what she should say. Her problems might be major for her, but what if they weren't such a problem for Graeme. Sighing into her hand, Maya shrugged. "Yeah, i guess... sort of." Who was she kidding, she wasn't alright at all. "No, i'm not really alright, but I probably will be." She shrugged again and smiled. "How was your day?"
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme was a little nervous being in front of Maya again. He liked her a lot, she was a nice girl, but it appeared like right now she wasn't doing too well. He'd been having a good term back, a really fantastic one. He was just happy with it all, and he didn't want to rub it in her face by any means, he knew that this was a little rude for him to do anything like that. When she seemed to be okay with him sitting down, he just took a spot next to him. He gave her a small, warm smile. Being able to tell that she needed something a little more calm than what he might be really feeling. Graeme gave the girl a warm smile, waiting to see what she would say in response to his second question. Graeme admittedly had been having a much better term than normal. The joy he felt over having been able to go home really was great. It had brightened the boy so much. It was easy for him to enjoy his home more having been away from it for so long. It was easy to feel happy when things had been going so well. it had been good for him recently, even being back at school was much easier for him ever since getting back from being at home. His homesickness had not come back in any form which left the boy feeling pretty damn happy about everything. He just couldn't hide the ease with which he was finding this year, but it appeared that Maya had been having a much trickier time than he had. It was just a matter to him to find out what was wrong with her, to see if he could do anything about it.

Her response to him seemed strange in a way, she started by saying she was fine, and then continuing by admitting that she wasn't but that she would be. He gave her a small smile, and then placed a hand lightly on her shoulder to show her a little bit of comfort. He didn't know whether to try to get more out of her on this matter or if she didn't want to talk about it with him. "You know you can talk tae me about it if you want?" he said with a small smile, before pulling away slightly, and then smiling before responding, "My day's been good, it's been nice" he said with a smile, "But, really, if you want to talk about it, whenever, I'm more than happy tae" he sad seriously, meaning what he was saying as he said it. He knew that she might not want to talk about it with him, but he counted Maya to be his friend, and as friends he wanted to help her. He liked her a lot, and with his great mood recently, he wanted to spread it to those who were maybe having a worse time than him. In a way, Graeme even thought that he might just owe Maya for it. She had comforted him at a time when the RHI had mentioned him. It wasn't a good thing. He was looking to help her back, make up for what she had done for him. It wasn't easy that much was for sure, Graeme had never been good at things like that. He had always tried to help his friends, he was loyal to each and everyone of them. But that was more just a thing which where he would listen to what Maya was saying and would help her in any way that he could. Graeme gave a warm smile at the girl, "How are you finding second year? Any easier than the first?" he gave a small encouraging smile, thinking if she didn't want to talk about what was wrong, then she might prefer to talk about how things were going currently for her. That was simpler.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya liked Graeme. He had been her first friend at Hogwarts. Randomly meeting in the common room because they had both been awake before the normal time. Maya had always been an early riser, but in her experience boys liked to sleep in. Graeme was thrashing all of her early stereotypes of boys. Considering she only had her brothers and father to compare him too, she supposed that it was hardly surprising either. Her Grandfather had been an early riser, until his death a few years back. But he was old and he hadn't liked Maya all that much. She wasn't sure why, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with who her father was. Her Grandmother had always been more accepting of things. Her Grandfather was most definitely an "old soul". Maya nodded when Graeme mentioned that she could talk to him. She knew it was true, but she was never sure what she was supposed to say, how much of her personal life was supposed to remain personal and how much of her problems could actually be labelled as problems. Back home, there was always someone to talk too. The school secret keeper, the counsellor (whom she had spoken to quite extensively when her mother got sick and eventually died), her friends, teachers, parents, but that were all muggles, like her. Graeme wasn't a muggle. Neither was Maya anymore apparently, but she knew she would always be considered one in her own eyes, that there were people that would always consider her one and that there were people whom considered her to be worse then a muggle. Still, Maya didn't mind. She was confident in who she was and nothing was going to change that. Though she was apprehensive about talking to new people these days, it was mostly because she wouldn't know their views on her muggle raising. But it hadn't stopped her from trying to make friends.

"I know, but I wouldn't know where to start. I's all kind of just nonsense on my part really." Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't, but Maya just didn't know how she felt about her father's letter. "My Dad wrote me a weird letter. He needs to talk to me about something in the holidays." She told him frowning. "I just can't think why he would need to talk to me personally. I mean... he's never had to before." Maybe he wanted to pull her out of school? Maya's face suddenly dropped as she thought about it. She wouldn't want to leave here. Not after all of the wonderful things she was learning and all of the lovely people she had met. If he wanted to pull her out she would simply refuse... well she would try, but she wasn't sure she would be able too. Please don't want to pull me out, Dad. I couldn't handle it! She looked back at Graeme and sighed. At least he was having a relatively good day. Unlike her,but she really didn't want to think about that. Halloween was coming around soon. Maya had already made preparations for what she was going to wear. Then there was the Yule ball, next year and many other chances to dress up. Unlike last year, Maya actually had a dress for the Yule ball this year. Maybe. She still wasn't sure she would go, but she had a good couple of months to think about that yet. "Yeah, its more relaxed now I think because I don't have to learn as much about this world. In first year I was still trying to figure out what the heck magic even was. Or whether they had gotten me mixed up for somebody else." She laughed slightly. "A whole year of preforming magic and talking to moving pictures has convinced me otherwise though."
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme watched Maya carefully, trying to gage from how she was holding herself as to any clues as to what was maybe wrong with her. She was a good person, and Graeme liked her a lot. A lot more than he liked a lot of others at this school. Though, Graeme was some what limited with his friends. He honestly had too few to really be picky about things. Though he was not, he just liked Maya enough that he was honestly incredibly bothered by the fact that she was upset. Graeme let the minutes drag past until Maya spoke to him. He had sat down next to her and was listening to what she was saying. He smiled warmly at her. He didn't think that it would be nonsense on her part, from what he knew about this girl. He thought that what ever seemed to bothering her so much was surely something that wasn't nothing or nonsense. But, instead of interrupting at that point he didn't say anything. He was more interested in letting her continue than being unhelpful and interrupting. While Graeme lacked manners in some places he didn't lack them in others. It was because of this that Graeme didn't say anything but continued to listen to Maya. Her father wanted to talk to her, that was a little ominous, surely her father loved her, and knew how strange that sounded. He had to admit if he'd gotten a little like that from his mother he would be freaking out too. Though he would just find a way to get a phone and try calling home. He wouldn't care how much it cost. "You have nae clue what it could be aboot?" he asked her carefully, wondering if perhaps somewhere deep in her mind she knew, but it did not appear to be the case in the slightest. "Maybe it's just because you're here at school, and he feels distant from you. It be nothing but him being unable to express in a letter that he just can't wait tae see you again, and chat with you like you used tae dae before?"

Graeme knew that was he said was like grasping at straws, there was no guarantee that any of that was what was happening. But, it was the only thing that the boy could think of. This girl knew her father better than anyone, so he wasn't going to try to tell her otherwise if she disagreed with him, but Graeme was at least going to try to say things that might make her feel better. He wasn't in the business of making people for worse. That was stupid. However, as the conversation moved to how she was finding second year, he gave a small smile. Second year was always simpler than the first. It was as easy, but with none of the pressure that he believed first year held. It was why he preferred this year and the year before to the first year. "That's good. I also found that second year was easier than the first" he said brightly, glad that she wasn't having to learn as much during this year. With that said, a thought then occurred to him. he wondered if Maya would even really be interested. "Maya," he started carefully and slowly picking his words. "I was wondering, if maybe you wanted tae go tae the ball with me?" Graeme didn't have a crush on Maya, he liked her a lot and thought she was a good friend, but that was it. "I think it could be fun, we could hang out, and dance and take your mind off everything" he told her brightly, "We can go as friends, two friends having a good time" he added, wanting her to know that he wasn't pressuring her into anything other than two friends hanging out at a ball. That was all. Which was good, if she was busy or had already been asked there would be no pressure, she could say no, and Graeme would not mind.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya shook her head again as Graeme asked if she had any idea what it could be about. She had absolutely no idea. Whatever it was, it had no grounds in anything she would know or perhaps understand. "None." It was more then a little concerning for her. She usually knew her father so well, they were inseparable when she was younger, but now, since she had been at Hogwarts, they had started to drift. It wasn't a very fun thing, not at all, but from what she could see, there was nothing she could do about it really, except hope that it didn't do too much. She shrugged as he continued and suggested that maybe her father just missed her and that maybe he just wanted to be with her again. Maya could only hope that was what it was, though she hadn't thought the letter was giving off that kind of vibe. However, Graeme's words were definitely making her feel better about it all and she was more or less resolved to waiting until she was at home for her father and herself to have this discussion. "I don't know, i hope that's what it is. Thanks for making me feel better anyway." Maya smiled at Graeme. She was lucky to have a friend that seemed to always be there when she needed him, or when she had nothing else to do. He was also in Hufflepuff, so she could talk to him whenever she needed too. None of her other friends were in Hufflepuff, unfortunately. Not that she minded. Maya had nothing against individual houses after all, that would be silly. The houses were not something that should be used to segregate others. At least not in Maya's opinion. She liked to judge people on who they are, not where they were sorted.

Maya smiled. Second year was definitely much easier then the first year. There were a number of reasons for it really. The homework was much easier for Maya, she was able to understand it more and she didn't have to try and figure out what the professor meant when they said to write two measures of an essay. Now she knew what it meant. Though she was still struggling with the magical aspect and the fact that he was away from home for the majority of the year, Maya was finding herself more and more comfortable in this world and it wasn't as terrifying as it had been in those first few weeks. Of course she still got lost around the castle and she still had trouble with those moving stairs, but she was always able to get back the the common room these days and she didn't find herself in out-of-bounds areas either, which was good. She didn't like being in those places. Maya smiled at Graeme as he called her name and turned her body to face him. "Graeme?" Maya tilted her head lightly in confusion as she wondered what he was talking about. The ball? What ball? It took Maya a second or two to actually figure out what he meant by 'ball'. The Yule ball was next semester, that was what he meant. Maya grinned and clapped her hands together. She would find a dress to wear this year. She had not had one last year, as she did not understand the formalities. She now knew how the yule ball worked. "Oh! The yule ball! Yes, that would be fun!" Maya really did love parties and dancing so it would be fun to go to the Yule ball with someone this year. She had been by herself last year, though she had seen a few of her friends which had been a lot of fun. The addition of being able to take her mind off of whatever her father had to tell her would be the big plus too.
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme wondered what on earth her father could want to talk to her about it. He was sure that it was nothing too bad. It would be something small and hopefully they'll have thought over it too much for nothing. For one thing Graeme knew that if it was something stupid, if it upset Maya more then he'd personally go to her father and not so figuratively knock some sense into him. Graeme liked Maya a lot, she was kind and he didn't like it when she was upset, so he wouldn't want to do anything that could get him into trouble but he wasn't going to stand around do nothing really. He smiled at her when she thanked him, he just shook his head at her. "I care about you Maya, I wish I could dae more tae help you" He was obviously annoyed about the fact that he couldn't do more for one of his closest friends. he was in such a good mood, such a high since the start of the term, and he wanted her to feel better too. He wanted her to be as happy as he was. Which was really the only thing that he wanted. Graeme didn't really know what else to do. He had no more words that she would find comforting or even remotely useful. It was tricky, he honestly wished he could do more for her. Happy that she was at least finding the school work easier than before. That was at least one good thing that was coming from this term. One of the few good things about it really. He was finding the work in third year, largely challenging, but also pretty good. He was really enjoying it. He was finding it interesting, and he was finding it good. Challenging in all the best ways.

With the Yuleball, Graeme smiled at the thought, the last two years he had gone alone. He hadn't been too interested to ask anyone, and he doubted that anyone would want to go with him, but he'd been thinking about asked Maya for a while now. They were good friends, and from what he saw with others in the Yuleball it didn't matter that they weren't dating, going with friends was just as good an option. And since he already had his kilt, he wasn't exactly pressed for something to wear. It was all depending on if Maya really even wanted to go with him. Which was why he asked. He liked Maya, and he thought that it would be fun the two of them. Since most of the time they spent together they spent talking, and this would be an opportunity to kick back and just have a little bit of fun just the two of them. Maybe they could talk with others, but it was an opportunity to take their minds of other things. He was therefore glad when her reaction was incredibly positive. She said yes, and he grinned happily at her. "Good! It will be" He gave her a warm smile as he spoke. "You'll see me in my kilt, and family tartan" he told her brightly. Now finding himself really looking forward to it. It wasn't the usual thing that he really wanted to go to, but it was nevertheless good. And he was very clearly excited by it. He was sure that he would have fun with Maya, that they'd have fun together. "I'm glad my ma persuaded me taw bring it with me. I was going taw leave it at home, but my ma told me tae take it. I'm glad now" he laughed lightly, he'd thought about leaving it there mostly since it was pretty heavy, but, his mother had given a whole load more things to take with him. Most of his belongings were now with him New Zealand. Few he was yet to realise were left in Scotland.
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