aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

16.

DEAD.

One word. Four letters.

Dead.

How could this happen?

Dead.

Aquila had tired her mind to a new point of exhaustion, trying to wrap it around the idea. Only three months ago, there was so much life and energy flowing from the body. Now, it lay still and stiff as a board six feet under in a casket.

Dead.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she entered her dormitory. A room that would never be the same again, as the bed across from Aquila's would always be empty.

Dead. Eliza Canning, dead.

Aquila had found it odd that she hadn't heard from her best friend in two weeks but she put it down to the fact that Eliza's parents often carried her all over the continent and not always could she respond to Aquila's owls.

Kidnapped. Maimed. Tortured. Killed.

The anxiety only kicked in when Aquila Black boarded the train on September 1st of 1978 to see that her best friend was nowhere to be seen. Still, she managed to tame her nerves for the entire ride to Hogwarts; overthinking and panicking would not do anyone any better. For all she knew, Eliza could've been late and missed the train so she would be arriving later.

But Aquila knew in the back of her mind that while Eliza was a lot of things, late was never one of them.

The carriage pulled up in front of the large doors of Hogwarts and none other than Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was standing on the top step, awaiting them. When he stopped the group (that consisted of Aquila, Peter and Remus) and asked to speak with Aquila alone, she knew.

He had pulled her to the side, just around the corner. In hushed whispers, he told her the exact words she had been dreading. Her best friend, the person who'd been there for her through every pain in her teenage years, had been murdered.

"Details," Aquila had demanded, "I want to know what happened."

Kidnapped.

Eliza Canning and her Muggle parents were taken from their home in downtown London on the 19th of August 1978 in the middle of the night. There were signs of a struggle (suggesting that Eliza tried to fight back, because Aquila knew that her best friend would not go down without one) but nothing that would alert any Muggles in the area.

Maimed.

Scars littered the young girl's body, some small and faint while others long and deep. A few had already scabbed over and turned light, giving the impression that they had been given at different times.

Tortured.

There were also signs of the Cruciatus curse being used on the girl multiple times in the two weeks that she had been missing.

Killed.

Whether the girl had bled out, given into the torture or been Avada Kedavra'd is unsure but her body was found in the outskirts of London by Aurors and she was dead.

Dead.

Her best friend had died and Aquila had done nothing about it. She had put off her friend lack of replies as nothing when if she had taken action about it, maybe Eliza would have been alive today.

It was all my fault, Aquila thought to herself.

All my fault.

All. My. Fault.

And then, she snapped.

Aquila screamed, and it was such a loud and painful noise that it echoed throughout the entire of Ravenclaw Tower. It didn't matter though, because there was no one to hear her. Everyone was still in the Great Hall, enjoying the feast. No one, no one but Aquila and Dumbledore, knew that one of their own had been murdered in cold blood.

With her back against the door that was locked behind her, Aquila slid to the floor and put her head in her hands.

"All my fault," she muttered as she banged her head against the door, "This is.. this is all my fault."

Aquila was sobbing and she could feel her chest constrict as her breathing became labored. Her world spun around her as it felt like the ground had been pulled from under her feet.

"Aquila," someone called out from the other side of the door. They tried to turn the knob but swore loudly as the door was locked, "Alohomora."

The lock clicked open and the Black girl had just enough time to throw herself out of the door's way when the door flew open, revealing her older brother who bore a similar expression to hers.

"Aqua," he murmured, dropping on the floor beside her and reaching out for her as she choked on her sobs.

"Sirius, she's gone." Aquila bawled, her head buried in his neck as his arms wrapped around her shaking body. He nodded his head and whispered in her ear, "I know, Aqua. I know."

The two siblings stayed like this for a while and Aquila was not sure when she had fallen asleep but she knew she had felt safe in her brother's arms. All she knew was that not long enough after she had passed out, Sirius awoke her with the news that Dumbledore wanted to speak to them all.

When the offer to join the Order of the Phoenix was given to them, Aquila was the first person to say yes. Why wouldn't she? They had made this personal.

Eliza Canning may have been dead but she was not going to go down without being avenged.

Aquila would make sure of that.