Secrets and unknown truth revealed

These past few months have been going actually very well, she was getting closer to her family despite her parents still wanted her to 'settle down,' she was actually enjoying spending with her family.  Maura felt bad after she graduated to travel the world, but she needed to find herself, even now she still hasn't found herself.  Although now that it was a new year, Maura made a vow to see her family and spend more time with them, she was lucky to have parents and family not many people had them even if they drove her the wall at times.  Lately Maura been keeping up with her vow for the new year seeing her family lately, but she couldn't help but wonder what Ryo been up to lately, it been awhile since they spoke but she figured that they been busy lately.  Although she wasn't going to tell her parents, she missed hanging out with him, it was always a good time when they were hanging out together as friends.

Although she didn't know if Ryo was going to busy, she send him a owl telling him that she was Diagon Alley getting some more quills, ink and parchment for work, but she didn't expect him to show up and that was ok.  He had a busy life and schedule, and it didn't involve around her, and it shouldn't in all honesty.    What was suppose to be shopping for ink quills  and parchment ended up being a lot more then that, but it really wasn't anything that she really didn't need, although the color changing ink wasn't necessary it was more a want.  After shopping Maura decided to go to The Leaky Cauldron for a nice Butterbeer, she wasn't much of a drinker, and hated the smell and taste of Firewhiskey.  Besides, a butterbeer tasted better and was better for you anyways, it didn't lead you to make stupid choices and decisions.


Walking into the dim lit pub, Maura went to find herself a spot not that far from the door and ordered herself a nice butterbeer, before she realized that she was hungry she looked at the menu to see what they have     'Hm.... what to have?' Maura thought to herself biting her lip still looking at the menu, she never ate here and wondered if it was a good idea to do so, but she was starving.  'I don't think it's going to hurt anything, if so I'm a healer I can get some potions for it, or have someone heal my sickness.' Maura thought to herself.  She decided to get some beef stew, it looked and sounded good, besides it couldn't be worse then some places she ate at.   As the waiter came and asked what she wanted, she ordered a butterbeer with some crackers as the waiter wrote down her order, Maura smiled and said  a simple 'thank you!' before she pulled out a book and started reading.


After few minutes, Maura was brought back to reality as her stew and Butterbeer was set in front of her as she smiled and started eating, taking a bite of her stew, she thought it wasn't bad it was actually very good.   Getting out her phone she sent Ryo a simple text, 'Hey I'm in The Leaky Cauldron, if you're not busy, if so it's cool.' She didn't expect him to show up, he been busy lately, and she understood. Maura herself been busy herself, from work to hanging with her family, she had her hands full a lot lately.  Maura opened her book and started reading while she was eating,  it was a good book, and she couldn't put it down.

It was at times like this when one wished they'd made more friends during their school years, so that they could have more to do when there was.. well, nothing to do.

This was the case for one Ryo Hiroku, who more often than not had found himself alone, thanks to his (and all of his friends') busy working lives. Hell, even his youngest friend, Anabelle Mulciber, was always busy with her apprenticeship at the Ministry. They were both working at the Ministry right now, yet they rarely ever saw each other.

It really sucked.

There was so much that he wanted to talk to the younger girl about, which was weird since he never had the urge to really talk to anyone about anything, so when he'd noticed that they were both taking their breaks at about the same time he'd decided that he'd finally catch up with her on things.

He was sure she'd want to know about how things were going with Maura.

The vampire had been walking down the corridor toward the department of Law Enforcement when that thought had entered his mind and he found himself stopping as he thought. How things were going..? That almost sounded like he was trying to win her over for some reason. Like he was trying to date her or something. An embarrassed laugh escaped his lips as he thought about it and he shook his head, his blonde locks bouncing around and falling into his eyes.

"What's so funny, Ry?" A voice sounded from a little ways down the corridor and it sounded like it was fast approaching. Ryo swept his hair out of his eyes and smiled as his gaze fell on the exact seventeen year old he was just on his way to look for. He shook his head again as the distance between the two of them lessened and the girl stood right in front of him.

"Oh nothing, nothing. Just remembering something funny." he lied, a smirk lifting one side of his mouth.

"Alright, fine. Don't tell me then." she shrugged, a glare being sent Ryo's way. "Anyways, what're you doing here? I thought you'd be working right now." The glare almost immediately turned into a curious gaze. Ryo studied her face for a bit before answering, she looked overjoyed to see him (though she was trying really hard to not look like that) and that made him happy.

"You're on your way to get lunch right? I am too, so I thought we'd go together. How about it?" He smiled gently as he offered and Hit nodded her head excitedly, immediately falling to step next to him as they walked out to the street to look for somewhere to eat. The Ministry Cafe wasn't going to cut it today, he didn't think.

A vibration coming from his left pant pocket prompted him to take the cell phone hidden in it out in curiosity. With another curious gaze being sent his way from Hit, he looked at the text he'd just gotten and smiled at the phone, causing Hit to step closer to him. "Who is it? Why're you smiling so much? Oh! Is it Maura?" she asked excitedly, a smirk now pulling a side of the girl's mouth up.

I'm on lunch right now, with Hit. We'll meet up with you in a bit.

He wasn't sure how either of them would feel about finally meeting each other, but he couldn't just ditch either one of them. "Want to meet Maura?" he asked, his own question answering Hit's.

Her eyes lit up, "Duh!" was the response he got from the Gryffindor and with a laugh, Ryo nodded and apparated them to The Leaky Cauldron. Hit seemed like she was going to explode from the excitement and he honestly wondered what was going through her mind at the moment to make her so excited about meeting a friend of his. They both entered the pub and Ryo's eyes scanned the area to look for Maura.

He tugged on Hit's sleeve when he found her, telling her to follow him and when he looked down at the girl, there was something like a mischievous smile on her lips.

Oh no.. It might have been a bad idea to bring her.

Maura caught up in reading her book, was snapped back into reality a vibration that came from the left pocket of her jacket prompted her to take the cell phone out and look at who was texting her, taking it out curiously she smiled when she seen it was Ryo. Why was she smiling so much? They were just friends, but the way they been spending time together made Maura happy,  she couldn't help but shake her head and laugh at herself.  It was like she was falling for him or she liked him more then a friend, she shook her head at the thought of it, nether of them were into dating but maybe just maybe Ryo was changing her mind about it.  The thought kind of scared her a bit, that Ryo was breaking down her walls she tried so hard to keep, and somehow didn't know how he was doing it but it scared her to let someone in.

Finishing her beef stew, she texted back, ' Oh. I finally get to meet the famous Hit you talk so much about? Cool, can't wait to see both of you.

She instantly cursed at herself as she sent the text, why did she say she couldn't wait to see both of them, why couldn't she just act normal?  I'm just excited to see  him that all, yeah... that's it, it been awhile since I saw him! Maura convinced herself. She laughed at the thought that it was something else, they were just friends and that's how it was going to stay, despite what everyone thought.   Her friend Anya and her parents were counting the days until her and Ryo were a couple,  despite that she insisted that they were just friends, they told her this was the first time she smiled about something in a long time. Ok... in her defense she smiled but it wasn't a bright and happy smile when she sees Ryo text her or when she was with him.

Ok... maybe she was slowly but surely falling for him, but she couldn't help how she felt, although this was the last thing she expected that was for sure.  Although she knew that Ryo liked her as  a friend and that was how it was going to be, they were friends, nothing more then that. Besides she was weird and odd, who liked something who was weird and odd, although Maura thought she was weird and odd in her own unique way.  Maura was an odd one that was for sure, but she more oblivious about the things around her, and didn't care about what people thought about her.  Why should she care about what people thought? She knew that she was awesome and cool in her own way, she why should she care about what people think about her? she shouldn't that was the thing.

Looking up from her book once again, she seen Ryo and Hit walking towards her and smiled.  "Hey you, long time no see."said Maura smiling up at Ryo seeing how she was still sitting down.  She looked at the young girl who seemed to be sixteen or seventeen years old at the most, and smiled.  "You must be the famous Hit Ryo talks about all the time, nice to finally meet you."said Maura. Maura looked at them and laughed.  "Well... you two going to sit down or what? I promise I don't bite, well... not hard anyways."said Maura chuckling.

There was no way she was going to be able to hold herself back.

She could already tell that Ryo was nervous, and she was sure it was the fact that both her and Maura were in the same place that was making him as nervous as he was. Hit really did know Ryo too well, she could tell just by looking at him that he was worried about her embarrassing him and she was sure that he knew her well enough to know that she was definitely going to.

"Ry! You didn't tell me she was this cute! Merlin, you keep all the cuties a secret!" She half yelled and threw herself down next to Maura.

"Hit!" Ryo started, his pale features becoming more pinkish as she laughed at Maura's words. "Oh, he talks about me? That's sweet Ry, but you shouldn't be talking about other girls when you're with Maura. That's rude." she winked at the vampire, sticking her tongue out at him to tease.

Ryo blinked in surprise. Who was this girl? She was like a completely different Hit than the one he knew, but obviously there was a reason for that. She was trying to embarrass him, or get him to ask her out that moment, or trying to scare her away. Nah, the third wasn't a possibility since she wanted him and Maura to date. But she was going about it in a way that was so unlike the usual meek Anabelle Mulciber that he knew so well.

'I'm sorry.' he mouthed to Maura as he sat opposite both of them, and glared at the younger girl. A wide smile tugged at the girl's lips as she looked back at her older friend, a sparkle in her eyes. Ryo's eyes widened at the sight. She was.. having fun. This was the Hit he never saw because she was always sad or concerned about something. He felt a little bit like a jerk as he looked at her, his expression softening.

I can't ruin this for her.. But she's embarrassing me! Ugh, I don't know what to do..

He wanted to be a good friend, but at the same time he didn't want Maura to get the wrong idea. But why was he getting so flustered over Hit's gushing over her? Did he actually like Maura in a way that more than just a friend? Nah, no way. He'd sworn he wouldn't, he was too busy. But maybe.. just maybe, something was happening. And did that mean that he was jealous of Hit being closer to Maura than him at that exact moment?

Wait..

Maura looked up at Ryo and noticed that he seem a bit tense and nervous about something, she didn't know him long, but knew that he didn't usually look this way. Maura wondered what he was so tense and nervous about, she never seen or known Ryo to be nervous about anything, it was quite amusing to see. Maura was now starting to see sides of Ryo she never seen before in the months that she known him, but they were starting to get to know each other more and more, and were great and close friends.


Maura laughed. "Why thnkyou Hit, but I wouldn't say that, I'm just me."said Maura simply.

Maur looked from Ryo to Hit and giggled. "What's wrong Ryo, you bit a bit flushed in the cheeks, are you ok?"Maura asked him. "Um... no one called me cute or anything before, I don't really know how to act."said Maura honestly. Maura laughed in amusement with a sparkle of amusement in them, she thought this was funny, all too funny in her opinion.


Maura looked at Ryo and laughed her eyes sparkling with a certain happiness and amusement. She noticed that Ryo was looking at his young friend with shock, like he never seen this side of her before or something. She knew that she was clearly embarrassing him, she wasn't stupid by any means, she knew what was going on. Her brother used to do the same to her when she was on dates her parents set up for her, so she knew all too well what was going on, and couldn't help but not to shake her head and laugh.


' It's ok, I'm not the one who's getting embarrassed.' Maura mouthed back. "So... how long are you and Hit on lunch break for?"Maura asked taking a drink of her butterbeer. Maura looked at Ryo and seen that he was back to his normal self, although shooting glares at his younger friend before his expression softened, she giggled. "Now... now... Ryo, she's just having some fun, what fun is it to tag along and not pick on her best friend?"Maura aksed him smirking.

'Hm... I wonder why she's embarrassing him though, although it's quite amusing, why she is? Maura asked herself.


Maura wasn't getting the wrong idea by any means, she knew that Hit was just being playful and teasing to Ryo, so she wasn't worried. Maura didn't think Hit was gushing over her, she thought she was just being nice and friendly towards her, which she was quite pleased and thankful about. She was glad that she was making a good impression so far, she didn't want Hit to hate her or not like her, she didn't want that at all. Maura knew that she was falling for Ryo, although she tried to tell herself that she was too busy to date and wasn't the dating type, there was something about Ryo that she never seen in any other guys before and it scared her. Maura was actually having a connection with Ryo, even if they were friends, it was still something she never had with any other guys she went on dates with. Was she falling for him? She might very well be doing so, but did she honest want to that was the question she was at a two way street with herself, one side of her wanted to, and the other side was telling her that she was too busy to date and didn't have time for it.

It was funny, the way she was having fun with teasing Ryo the way she was now. If he had been the one to do something like that to her, she would have probably killed him by now, but he wasn't like that. Though he might not look it sometimes because of the image he likes to set up for himself, Ryo was actually a very calm and caring guy. The only time he would ever lose his cool was when it came to someone he really cared about being in danger or having a request he thought impossible made of him.

Like that one time she had asked him to turn her because she was angry about something with her family. He'd almost lost it because she asked him to turn her; Hit didn't think she'd ever seen him so angry. That was probably one of the only times he'd ever yelled at her, too. She remembered being hurt by his words but at the same time he'd had a point that she wouldn't have seen otherwise had he not yelled at her to get it through. She was grateful to him, though she still sometimes wished she could become a vampire like him.

Ryo's attention shifted from her and the teasing to Maura, and Hit blinked curiously when she realized that Ryo looked at her in a certain way. A way that she'd never seen him look at anyone else. There was a weird expression on his face as he looked at her and Hit's eyes widened when she made the realization that Ryo was falling in love but he didn't want to accept it. That was what the expression was, he was trying to fight it.

"I have about an hour for break. What about you Hit? I forgot to ask when we met up." Ryo asked, his gaze flickering to the girl when he spoke.

"Same thing." she shrugged, looking at Maura. Her eyes studied her face, she was definitely pretty and she seemed really nice, so it wouldn't be a bad thing if Ryo fell for her, right? It couldn't be, considering she was the first girl that came around Ryo that she was like this with. Normally she would be very protective of Ryo when a girl was around and it usually led to those girls thinking she was crushing on him, which wasn't the case at all. Then, suddenly it hit her.

Ryo brought her along for a reason other than to let her meet Maura. He wanted to see how she would react to her, to see if her reaction would be the same as with the others. So that was it, he wanted to see if it would actually be okay to date her, if it ever got to that. Her best friend was actually starting to like someone, to love. Maybe love was a strong word right now, but Hit was happy for him.

"Do you like Ryo?" she suddenly blurted, her eyes still on Maura.

"Hit!" Ryo gasped, though he quickly quieted down when she looked over at him with such a serious look.

She wanted to know how Maura felt. Even if she lied, Hit would be able to pick something up and that would be enough for her. Ryo knew that if she found something bad about Maura, she would tell him and that that was probably what she was trying to do right now.

Maura looked between Hit and Ryo and seen the amusement on Hit's face as well as her eyes, it was clear that she was having fun teasing him.  Although she could tell at the same time that if the shoe was on the other foot, Hit would have probably killed him by now,  but he didn't see Ryo as the dangerous type even if he really was.  Although Maura only knew what she knew about him, but she didn't think he was dangerous, more sweet and caring then dangerous. Maura was very observant towards things and although she was oblivious towards things around her, she wasn't when it came to observing people.


Maura never really lost her cool other then with her parents, she lost her cool with them all the time, although she tried not to.  Maura was never really angry at anyone before, it took a lot for Maura to lose her cool, she was very calm and collective. Maura didn't like losing her temper or cool, although she does sometimes when she's pushed over the edge, like she was with Ryo's friend Kelley or whatever her name was.  Maura just snapped on her and didn't care, it was very unlike Maura but she could be cold hearted when she needed to be.


Maura looked at Ryo and smiled before winking at him.  "Don't worry it's fine Ryo, no damage done of course!"said Maura chuckling.  There was a sparkle in her eyes that was never seen before, a sparkle that no ever seen before, a sparkle of happiness and love? Nah... that wasn't possible, she swore not to fall for that, she was too busy for love.  Maura tried to convinced herself that she wasn't in love with him or falling for him, but here was falling for him, even when she tried to deny it.  What was worse, she realized it, but she tried to keep herself from it.  Maybe fear and rejection was her worse fear, especially seeing how this was the first time she felt something this strongly towards someone.


"Oh... so I have you for an hour huh, how did I mage that?"Maura asked him smiling as her eyes widened at what she said.  "I..I mean the both of you, h..how did I manage that, god is it hot in here or is it just me?"Maura asked them fanning herself.


Maura looked at Hit and seen that she was very protective of Ryo as he was to her, one wrong move and she'll make sure she'll never see him again.  She had to be careful, and remain on Hit's good side, she wanted to see more of Ryo he made her happy.  Ryo was the only person who truly made her laugh and smile, and what was weird, that she didn't care if he did.  He broke down the walls she tried so hard to keep up, those walls she tried to remain strong and thinking that she didn't need love to be happy, boy was she was wrong.


Maura looked between Hit and Ryo and took a drink of her butterbeer trying to act as calm and collective as possible, but it wasn't working out too well, she was secretly freaking out.  She bit her lip and flicked her hair out of her eyes and looked at Hit and smiled.  "Ryo told me you're working on being an Auror, how's that going for you?"Maura asked her curiously.  "I was going to be a Auror myself, but I fell in love with healing and helping others, which I love doing."said Maura.  Maura was just being honest, she wasn't trying to impress her by any means,  it wasn't how Maura was.


Maura's eyes widened at her question, although she knew that it was going to come, she knew all too well.  "I... I... um... I... feel something Hit, something I never felt with anyone other guys before,  and I only feel that when I'm around him."said Maura.  "M...maybe I do like him, I..I don't know, like I said I never felt like this before."said Maura honestly. Maura looked down at her eyes not looking up at any one of them, she couldn't after she told them that, she was too embarrassed to do so.

He had no idea what to do with himself. If he was being honest, he wanted to just crawl into a hole and stay there forever where no one could ever find him ever again. There was no way Hit had just asked Maura what she had. The usually calm and collected vampire was internally freaking out after the younger Gryffindor's question to Maura.

How could he not? It was something both important and embarrassing at the same time.

For some reason, though, her answer caught him by surprise. He'd honestly been expecting her to laugh it off or something, or to change the subject. That would have been what he'd done if he had been put into that situation, but then again if he'd been put into that situation his playing it off would have been a clear sign of how he felt. He wouldn't have been able to hide his feelings anyways, which to him was kind of lame on his part.

It was obvious Hit had completely missed Maura's question about her working as an Auror, she no doubt, had been invested in trying to figure out how to ask her if she liked him. Ryo looked at Maura, who had her face down and he sighed. Great, now Hit had embarrassed Maura and himself and he didn't know how he was supposed to make it better. He looked over at Hit to see her smirking about something and his eyes widened when her gaze locked onto his.

Oh no.

"So, Ry.." the twenty-five year old winced at the start of Hit's sentence. He knew what was coming and he honestly couldn't believe that he was reacting this way to what she was going to say. It was like he was a dumb, gullible teenager again. But then again, Ryo had never been good with telling people his feelings so that was probably why he was freaking out and why Hit was so good at making the situation so awkward and honest. "... How do you feel about Maura?"

There it was.

Ryo swallowed hard, a bead of sweat falling from the side of his face and he glanced between Maura and Hit. "I.." like her. "..don't know." He couldn't bring himself to tell the truth, even though he knew Hit could tell by his reactions what his feelings were. "She's a good friend, and she's pretty and all.. And I might feel... something, but I don't know." He didn't know what else he was supposed to say.

How about 'I like her. A lot more than I've liked anyone else..' ? There was no way he could say that.

Maura didn't know how she was going to get out of this one, she felt like going into a hole and dying right then and there, did Hit ask to get the truth out of her or to embarrass her? Either way, she succeeded at doing both she couldn't even look at them without her cheeks growing red or feeling her  face growing red.  This was the most embarrassed she ever been in her life, and that was saying something due to her being embarrassed by her brother before. Although it wasn't like this, she felt like dying right at that very moment would be better then what she was facing now.


It was an important question both of them probably wanted to know, but it didn't meant that it wasn't embarrassing to her because it was.   Admitting her true to feelings to him like this wasn't the way she wanted it to be,  although she really wasn't sure how she feels to be honest all she knew that she felt something. Although usually Maura would laugh it off, but it was like Hit could see through her, no matter how much she tried to lie she had a feeling she couldn't.  Although Maura couldn't lie to save her life, although she was very oblivious she was horrible at lying, and she couldn't lie well.

Maura's eyes widened at Hit obviously not hearing her question or let alone anything she asked her, must be here to find out if she was worth Ryo liking or so,  although Maura was a very honest person and had nothing to hide.  Maura looked up at Hit and seen her smirking, why was she smirking for?  Was it because she gotten the answer she wanted from her or just wanted to embarrass her in front of Ryo and expose he true feelings towards him?  Ugh... one thing for sure this girl beside her was sure a fiery little thing that was for sure, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind something Maura liked about her.


Maura looked up from behind her hair that was hiding her face as Hit talked to Ryo as if she didn't do anything wrong, which it was obvious that she did, Maura was sure that she knew what she did.  Maura didn't know how to tell people how she really felt about them, she was odd and weird and telling people how she felt, was a odd and weird thing for her to do.  Maura looked down at her hands fumbling with them once again,  focusing on one spot on the table she looked down at the spot biting her lip, biting it so hard  that it was close to biting in nervousness.

She wanted so badly to run of this pub and not look back, but for some reason she was stuck to her spot, like a deer stuck in the headlights.  Maura's head shot up in surprise she definitely didn't expect him to say what he just said, it definitely shocked her.  She was expecting him to laugh it off as well or change the subject himself, sure definitely not this that was for sure.  Maura looked at Ryo surprised by his words, but for some reason she didn't feel like running anymore, she just looked from Ryo to Hit lost in words.

"Merlin, you're such a liar, Ry."

Ryo's attention had been on Maura, who's head had almost shot up from Ryo's words, when the Geyffindor's voice had broken through the awkward silence the three of them had found themselves in after Hit had made him and Maura basically expose how they felt about each other. He felt like he'd kept his cool a little better than Maura had, though, but she didn't have Hit to throw her under the bus like he did.

Hit knew full well how he felt about Maura but he hadn't expected her to try to get everything out there the moment she met the other girl. Maybe that had just been wishful thinking on Ryo's part. No, it definitely had. He should've known better. He knew how Hit felt about his dating life, and how she felt about him always being alone.

That brought up another question in Hit's mind.

Did Maura know about him? About what he was?

Hit's eyes met Ryo's and without having to verbally ask, she got the question through to him. That was how you knew the two of them were close, they knew what the other was thinking; most of the time. The vampire shook his head, drawing his eyes away from the younger girl's. He hadn't gotten to telling her, then.

But Ryo's reaction made Hit think. Did he not want her to know? It was kind of hard to hide that you were a vampire, especially when you had to drink blood on a regular basis. There was no way Maura hadn't noticed something yet. Whether he wanted to or not, eventually Maura would have to know about that.

But she understood Ryo when it came to that. He was really self-conscious about being a vampire. He'd been turned against his will, and even though he's learned to live with it, he'd sometimes ended up losing control and almost going on rampages. It had gotten a lot better now that he was older, but he was basically a menace when he was a teenager.

Hit hadn't forgotten about her previous statement though, about Ryo being a liar. And neither had he. They stared at each other, moving on from what his species was, back to his feelings. Hit was challenging him, and he wasn't going to back down. But, that meant that he might ruin how things were going with Maura.

"Tch, whatever." Ryo finally sighed after minutes of their unspoken conversation. He ran a hand through his messy blonde hair and placed his arm on the table in front of him, leaning forward with his hand on his cheek and said, "You win, Hit. I'll say it. I do like her."

He sounded defeated, but relieved at the same time. Hit was probably overly pleased with herself, but she wasn't too happy with the way his response had come out. "Careful, you sound like you aren't interested." She reprimanded. "Although, I know that's not true." She finished, sticking her tongue out at him.

Ryo had to at least keep his image for something like this.