aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

08.

AS MUCH AS SHE LOATHED THE MAN, AQUILA could not lie; Slughorn knew how to throw a party. His office was larger than usual on that night, whether it be by charm or because he had cleared out most of the junk that usually cluttered it. The room was decorated just as nicely as the rest of the school, no doubt the work of the house elves, and there was an extravagant meal placed on the long table that they would soon be dining at. Music was playing at an appropriate volume, loud enough that they could hear it but soft enough that it did not make it a difficulty to have a conversation.

"You clean up nicely, Lupin," Aquila said teasingly, a smile gracing her lips as she made her way to her date. The boy blushed, his cheeks turning a soft pink, "You don't look so bad yourself, Black."

As oblivious as Aquila liked to act, she wasn't in Ravenclaw for no reason; she knew that Remus fancied her (most of Hogwarts' male population fancied but he just happened to stand out the most) and in all honesty, she didn't think he was all that bad. The only thing that kept her from going out with the boy was the fact that Sirius would have skinned his best friend alive if he knew that there was a possibility the two were in any type of relationship.

Not like Sirius cares anymore.

So the moment that it was implied to her that Remus John Lupin, in all his tall and lanky awkwardness, wanted to go to Slughorn's party with her, Aquila said yes.

Remus couldn't believe his ears when Gideon delivered the news and the twins had to repeat it to him several times before it sank into his head that the Aquila Phoenix Black, sister of his best mate, wanted to go to Slughorn's party with him.

The girl came in the room and, as cliché as it sounds, time stopped. She was wearing a simple dark blue dress but it still made Remus' heart climb into his throat. The dress ended just above her knees and seemed to cling to her every curve. Aquila kept her hair loose, letting it stay in its natural unruly waves that fell under her shoulders. Remus' eyes ventured to her face, which she had kept bare for the occasion with the exception of a dark red lipstick that, when combined with the dress, made her skin seem fairer than usual.

The duo stood next to each other, bright smiles on their faces as they made small talk. Then, Slughorn cleared his throat, announcing that it was time for the dinner.

Aquila took a seat next to Remus which incidentally happened to be across from Regulus. The younger Black rose an eyebrow at his sister's choice of date but said nothing as she shot him a deadly look.

The meal began and while Aquila ate, she took the chance to analyse who was in the Slug Club. Apart from herself, Regulus and Remus (who was also in the Slug Club, no doubt for his overachieving intelligence and remarkable grades), the group consisted of Mulciber and Avery (another seventh year Slytherin that she only knew because Regulus was always hanging out with them), Severus Snape and Lily Evans (a Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively, both in Sirius' year), Gilderoy Lockhart (a Ravenclaw bloke in her year that she found extremely annoying) and a young girl in Hufflepuff that looked like she was only in her third year.

She had managed to go a few minutes of Slughorn talking to everyone at the table excluding her but eventually (and unfortunately), he turned his full attention to her, "And Aquila, I hear from Professor McGonagall that you're at the top of the Transfiguration class."

With a forced smile, the girl nodded, "Yes, Professor. I owe it all to my brother really, he's taught me all I know."

Excitement grew in the man's eyes as he rapidly turned to Regulus, "Why, Regulus. I never knew you were that skilled at Transfig-"

Cutting him off, Aquila corrected, "No, Sir. My older brother, Sirius."

At the mention of the elder brother (the only Black that was not in the Slug Club which was another thing Aquila envied about him), Slughorn's mood instantly deflated. With a failed attempt to not show how dejected he was, the man tried to move the conversation to another person.

Avery snickered, not doing much to lower his voice, "Surprised that poor excuse of a Black could teach anyone anything, to be honest."

Aquila's jaw clenched and with no regard to Slughorn, she said, "Why don't you say that a little louder, Avery? I didn't quite catch that."

The older boy looked at the girl with a smug grin was on his face, "I said, I'm surprised that your disgrace of an older brother could do anything that would be of any good; though it shouldn't be expected of him, what with the half-breeds and Mudbloods that he keeps in his company."

Avery's gaze seemed to fall on Remus and Lily Evans before it flickered back to Aquila. The girl stood up, drawing everyone's attention to her as her eyes darkened.

"Do not speak of my brother that way, you insufferable little git. Just because you lack the things that would make you a man doesn't mean you have to try to talk bad about those that don't. If I were you, I'd ask Mulciber what happened the last time he crossed a Black and know that my treatment would be something much, much worse."

She watched as his face slightly paled and taking a deep breath, she turned to the Professor who looked just as shocked by her outburst (which she was having a lot of these days), "Thank you for the invitation, Professor. It's been a lovely dinner but I'm afraid I have to leave before the amount of trash in this room suffocates me."

Aquila left the room, the only person daring to follow behind her being her younger brother.

"Why do you keep defending him?"

The words stopped her and she turned to him, her eyes still burning as she answered, "Because Regulus, unless you've developed brain damage and forgotten, Sirius is family."

The younger boy looked down at his sister (because he was taller than her) and asked, "What has that have to do with anything?"

"Family defends each other, especially when the person isn't there to defend themselves."

Regulus gave her a look and his next words made her wince, "Just like he defended you the other day in the Great Hall? Completely useless older brother if you ask me."

Mortified, Aquila dropped her voice to a whisper, "Reggie, how can you say that about Sirius? He is your brother, your blood, your fam-"

The Black boy laughed, something strikingly similar to the way Aquila laughed in the Marauders' compartment on the train ride to Hogwarts, "Are you so blinded by this vision you have of Sirius that you don't realize what's happening? Sirius left us, Aquila. He left you. He made his choices and one of them was to replace us with his new friends. Sirius may be blood but he stopped being family a long time ago. I thought you of all people would know that, seeing as he left you behind over the summer."

Aquila's eyes widened and her brother nodded, "Yes, I know about that. I'm not dumb but clearly you are. Wake up and smell the bloody roses, Aquila. He doesn't care anymore. If he did, he would've been there for you instead of leaving the job to Peter."

With those words, Regulus left Aquila alone in the hallway to return to the party. Tears brimmed the girl's eyes and threatened to flow but she blinked them back, thinking, No, I've cried enough tears over Sirius.

Shaking her head, she slowly made her way back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

Meanwhile, two of the Marauders stood behind a pillar speechless. Hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, James Potter watched as his best friend paled after hearing the words that his younger sibling had to say about him. Sirius stepped out from under the cloak and with his back against the wall, slid to the floor.

"I never- I never knew," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. James knew not what to say to console his friend, so instead he opted to sitting beside him and nodding his head. Sirius, however, could not be bothered by his friend's lack of words as only one thing ran through his mind.

How was he going to make things right?