Death followed Maria Black wherever she went.

Whether it was at the orphanage or at Hogwarts, there were always dead people around to bother her. Most times, she absolutely despised her ability. It was depressing to see dead people wherever she went and to know that somewhere, a family was grieving for that person's death while she could see them as clear as day.

That wasn't the worst of her gift. The worse was when she saw death. It was the reason she always wore gloves and covered up as much skin as she possibly could. Most of the time, whenever she touched somebody, she could see their death. More often then not, the person would live to be old and pass away peacefully in their sleep. Sometimes, however, the person would die a gruesome death when they were younger and Maria would have to experience every second of it.

The first person's death Maria ever saw was her brother's. It had been shortly after she had been resurrected when she had seen the horrific scene. Even six years later, she still had nightmares about his death and it would haunt her for the rest of her life. 

She could do nothing to stop his death from happening, so she tried to spend as much time as possible with him. Maria wanted every second with him to count before she lost him again. She knew she would still be able to see Perseus as a ghost, but she knew it wouldn't be the same as having him alive.

On days like today, however, being able to see her mother who had died when Maria and Perseus were three years old was a blessing to her. It was the only part of her gift that she loved with all of her heart, but she sometimes found herself wondering if it was worth all the pain she had to go through.

"Mum," Maria whined as she swatted her mother's ghostly hand away from her.

"I don't know why you don't do something with your hair," Eleanor Black sighed as she reluctantly pulled away from Maria's frizzy and messy hair. "I'd think you'd want to look more presentable on your first day of school."

Maria let out a small huff before she used the blood-red scrunchie around her wrist to pull her hair back. She rolled her eyes at her mother before she went back to packing her suitcase for Hogwarts. 

Perseus watched as Maria seemingly talked into empty space, but he knew somewhere in the room was the spirit of their mother. Watching Maria have a full conversation with his mother, even though he could only hear half of it, he felt a small pang of jealousy in his chest. 

He was quickly ashamed at the sudden thought as he watched his sister pack her belongings with a straight face. Ever since they were eight, Perseus had only seen his sister smile once. Her eyes, which used to be filled with so much happiness, only contained sadness and misery now. He could see the toll her ability was taking on her, and he often felt useless as he could do nothing to help ease her pain.

"Mum says you look very handsome, Perseus," Maria pulled Perseus out of his thoughts as she relayed their mother's message to him.

Perseus sent a small, obviously forced, smile in Maria's direction. Maria didn't say anything as she watched her brother turn and shove the rest of his clothes into his suitcase. Letting out a small sigh, she turned back to her mother whose lips quirked into a sad smile.

Eleanor Black knew the torture her children went through every day and it hurt her to know that as a mother she could do nothing to ease their pain. She watched, every night, as Perseus tossed and turned in his sleep, muttering nonsense under his breath. Eleanor could only watch as he replayed his twin sister's death over and over in his sleep until he shot up in his bed, breathing heavily as he awoke from his nightmare. 

Eleanor Black worried about Maria the most. Her once sweet and caring daughter was only a shell of what she was. Eleanor would never quite know what had happened when her daughter had died, as Maria had never gone to the other side with her, but it had been enough to suck the joy out of the girl. She never smiled or laughed and her childhood was taken away from her. Maria had visions of death and held more conversations with dead people than the living. If Eleanor could do anything to stop her daughter's pain, she would, but she was only a spirit and could do nothing but watch her children suffer.

"You should write to your father," Eleanor suggested to her daughter. Maria wanted to protest, argue that she didn't have enough time and they would be late for the Hogwarts Express, but the look on her mother's face stopped her.

It wasn't that she didn't love her father, but she didn't really know the man. All she heard was stories from her mother and even that wasn't enough for her. The man was a complete stranger to Maria and Perseus, who couldn't even remember what his face looked like. Eleanor always described their father as looking like Perseus, although Perseus was always offended by the comparison. 

Maria nodded her head as she searched through her belongings until she found a piece of parchment and a quill before she began writing her letter.

Dear Dad,

Mum told me I had to write to you before I left for school. I don't even know if you get my bloody letters in Azkaban but I suppose it can't hurt.

My summer wasn't very exciting, as usual. There isn't much to do at the orphanage and there are only so many times one can play exploding snap before they get sick of it. The other kids don't like to play with us either because we're 'freaks' but I think they're quite boring anyway.

Today, I head back to school for my fourth year at Hogwarts. It'll be interesting to see what happens this year as Harry Potter will be back again and he seems to bring trouble wherever he goes. I feel quite bad for the poor kid as he always seems to be uncomfortable with all the attention he gets. 

This year, I'm going to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Perseus says I would make a pretty good beater, but the Weasley twins already hold that spot. I think I'll try out for Chaser this year and sees what happens. Mum told me you were the best Chaser in your year when you were at Hogwarts.

Anyways, I have to go now. We're already running behind and I don't want to miss the Hogwarts Express. I'll try to convince Perseus to write to you but no promises. Despite what I've told him, he still doesn't believe in your innocence. I know you didn't do it and I hope one day I'll be able to see you in person.

Love Always,

Maria Black

Maria tied the letter to her owl and sent him off to deliver the letter, unsure if it would ever even reach her father. She sighed as she grabbed her suitcase and dragged it over to the fireplace. She allowed Perseus to use the floo network to the Hogwarts Express first before she hurridly grabbed some floo powder and followed after him, excited for the year to come at Hogwarts.

Little did she know, far away in the small prison cell of Azkaban, the large grin that graced Sirius Black's face as he read the letter from his daughter.