aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

19.

CHRISTMAS HAD ONCE AGAIN ARRIVED AT HOGWARTS AND this year, Aquila was dreading going back to Grimmauld Place more than anything. She knew her mother would have it in for her as the girl had made no attempt to patch up the relationship with Evan Rosier. Memories of last year's holidays flashed through the girl's mind and she shivered. Chills ran up and down her spine as she remembered the tingling sensation she was left with after she was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse. 

Aquila made her way down to the kitchens, dragging her feet as she went. She tickled the pear and was not surprised to see that the Marauders were already there, sitting around the table and laughing like they had no cares in the world. 

"Hey Aqua! Come take a drink with us before you go back to Death Eater Paradise!" Sirius called out, laughing as he took another sip of his drink (undoubtedly firewhiskey by the way his words were slurring). The rest of the boys laughed as well, most likely just as tipsy as their eldest friend, and Aquila had to force a halfhearted chuckle. 

If only he knew how close that is to becoming a reality.

She slowly walked over to the table, opting to take a seat between Remus and Peter. The former rested a hand on her knee which caused her to watch into his cool green eyes. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Is everything alright?"

The girl shrugged, nibbling on a cookie that a house elf had offered her, "Just dreading going home, is all."

Remus leaned into her and smiled, "Don't think about it too much. You'll be alright and back at Hogwarts before you know it."

She nodded and took another bite of her cookie, her mind still faraway as she thought about the curses and tortures her mother would have waiting for her. 

"You know, Aqua. You could just stay here for the holidays if you're that worried about your mother," Sirius said, taking another gulp from his cup. Aquila noted how nonchalantly he spoke and also how he said your mother as if he himself was not related to her. 

"Yeah, but that would definitely equate to me getting disowned," she said with a sigh, putting her head in her hands.  The four watched the girl in silence before Peter murmured to her, "But is not getting disowned worth having to go through the Cruciatus Curse?" 

Aquila turned to him, her gray eyes staring intently into his crystal blue ones, "I survived it before and I can survive it again."

He looked like he was about to say something and Aquila rose an eyebrow at him, daring him to challenge her when Sirius spoke, "Aqua, seriously. You should stay at Hogwarts. So what if you get disowned? It'll be good for your mental health."

She shook her head and spat, "Yeah, and then where'll I go? Sorry to say but my best friend is dead so I can't really run away to her place."

Everyone stopped talking to look at the girl and she sighed in exasperation, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just, if I don't go back and I get disowned, I'll have nowhere to go and-"

"You can stay with me and Peter," Remus said as he took a sip of his butterbeer. 

Silence. 

The entire group looked at the boy with different emotions on their faces, Aquila being the first one to break the quietude, "What?"

The young werewolf froze, his drink in his hand as he watched all of his friends' expressions. He began to stutter, "Well-well, my parent s are getting me my own place after graduation and me Peter were gonna stay together, you know because James and Sirius already have their flat. I just thought, you know, you could stay with us because we'll have the space but you don't have to if you don't want to, yeah."

Aquila was stunned. She knew that she and Remus were close but she never expected that he would offer her a place to stay so readily. She looked at the brunette boy that she also considered a brother, "What do you say, Pete? Up for having me?"

The boy nodded, "When am I not?"

Sirius, though he was apprehensive about having his sister and the boy she was interested in room together, clapped his hands, "Very well then, since that's settled, you might as well go tell Professor Flitwick that you'll be staying here."

And that was what Aquila did. Surprised the man was when she said she was not going home but that made her realize something. Even if she returned to Grimmauld Place, she would not have been returning home. Home isn't the place that you reside in, it's the place that you feel safe in; where you felt happy.

Aquila's home was Hogwarts and she had finally realized it. 

The girl stumbled back into the kitchen, her mind in a jovial daze and James clapped his hands together, "That's cause for a party, let's do this!"

extremely short and extremely terrible but it's almost over (i never expected the book to be this long anyway)

merry christmas to all and to all, a merry christmas