aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

21.

CHRISTMAS MORNING CAME AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, Aquila was actually very excited. She had gotten what she thought were good gifts for the boys and she hoped that they would all like them.

She entered the Gryffindor common room with the password (Peter always gave it to her in case of emergencies) and with a sack over her shoulder, bounded up the stairs into the Marauders' dormitory.

"GOD REST YE MERRY HIPPOGRIFFS!" Aquila shouted as she burst through the door. There was a collective groan from all four beds and the girl huffed, "Well, that was less enthusiastic than I expected."

All of the boys stayed unmoved and dropping the bag carefully to the floor, Aquila climbed into the bed that was closest to the door (which just so happened to be Sirius'). She poked him a few times and when the boy made no attempt to get up, she started screaming the lyrics to Celestina Warbeck's song, A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love in his ear.

"I'VE GOT A CAULDRON FULL OF HOT STRONG LOVE."

"THAT'S ABOUT TO BE UNFURLED."

"GOT A FLAVOR THAT BEATS ANYTHING."

"YOU'LL FIND IN THE MUGGLE WORLD," Peter had joined in from his bed which caused the rest of the Marauders to complain.

"Wormtail, don't encourage her," James groaned, pulling back his curtain to reveal messier-than-usual bed hair and squinted eyes. The boy reached for his glasses on the bedside table and stretched, "Good Godric, Aquila. It's six in the morning."

She smiled, "Never too early for presents."

Each boy snapped awake at the mention of gifts. Aquila rolled her eyes but got up and picked up the sack, emptying its contents one by one.

"First, to Padfoot and Prongs: a new pair of two way mirrors since I know that Walburga had thrown out your old pair."

She handed the boys the mirrors and they watched her like they couldn't decide whether to hug her, kiss her or cry. Those mirrors had helped the boys survive separate detentions and plan great pranks without the teachers knowing but when Sirius had left, he had misplaced his.

"Thanks Aquila, just.. wow, thanks." James stuttered out as he held the mirror delicately. Besides being highly useful, he knew that these mirrors were highly expensive and knowing that Aquila was now disowned, she couldn't be spending money all willy-nilly.

This thought seemed to cross Sirius' mind and he opened his mouth to say something when she cut him off with a wink, "You're not the only one that has family members that love them. Andromeda gave me a good bit of money after I last owled her."

He rose an eyebrow and she smiled, "She went to the vault and cleared out a good piece of it for me before Mother even noticed."

Moving on, she pulled out Peter's gift, "Next, for Wormtail: a Complete Guide to Becoming a Healer along with a full Potions kit."

She pulled it out of the sack and undid the shrinking charm from earlier on, handing the boy a huge box.

Stunned, he took the box and put it on his lap. He stared at the cover for a few moments before resting the box down and getting up, throwing his hands around the girl. He raised her up slightly and spun her around, screaming 'Thank you, thank you, thank you' until Aquila erupted in giggles.

"Pete, it's nothing. I'm glad you like it."

He rest her down, "Like it? I love it. Good Godric, my gift is so much shit compared to this."

She smiled at him, assuring him that his gift was probably better, before she turned to Remus. The boy was still in bed looking slightly pale (the full moon was tonight) and Aquila's heart hurt at the prospect of Remus being in pain on Christmas day. Still, she put on a bright smile for him, "And last but certainly not least, Moony: to you, I present a trunk in which I hope you have the best of travels."

Aquila pulled it out of the sack and used the Engorgement Charm once again, returning the trunk to its usual size. She put it on the bed next to him and waited for him to realize what was special about it.

Remus froze, "I love it."

Her grin only grew, "I thought you would."

The other boys were confused, what was so special about a trunk? It wasn't until the werewolf spun the trunk around for them to read the tag did they understand. Written in gold cursive letters on the front were the words Professor R. J. Lupin.

Despite the aching in his bones, Remus leaned forward and pulled Aquila into him, crashing his lips to her in a kiss. She seemed shocked at first but soon melted into it, the way she did with every kiss.

Sirius cleared his throat, "Could you not swallow my sister in front of me, please?"

But the two ignored him, Aquila pulling the curtains closed instead.

"Oh no," Sirius said, pulling the curtains back open and breaking the two apart, "I want no closed anythings with you two, not after the other night."

After the duo's unforgettable night in the Astronomy Tower, they had fallen asleep there in each other's arms. The next morning, even Remus couldn't explain to Sirius why he was just getting back to the common room after he and Aquila had disappeared with hickeys decorating his entire upper body.

Remus groaned when Aquila got off of him as she complied to her brother's wishes. Seeing his disappointment, the girl leaned forward and whispered in Remus' ear, her breath giving him goosebumps on his neck, "Maybe tomorrow, we can spend some time in the RoR, just us?"

He flushed and nodded, causing the girl to laugh when she saw his face. Sirius noticed the exchange and shook his head, "Oh no, you are not going anywhere to defile my little sister again. You two are now on official lockdown."

Aquila shook her head at her brother's antics and her amusement was only interrupted by a loud crash on the window. Everyone watched and James (who was closest to the window) opened the window and let the sleek, black owl in. It dropped both a letter and a small package at Aquila's feet before the owl left through the window.

She picked up the package and opened it, a necklace falling out with a charm of a star. There was no doubt in her mind that it was from Regulus and she smiled, her hear warming that even though she kind of abandoned him, he still cared about her.

However, what Aquila didn't know yet was that in the letter was the last piece of her brother's innocence. It was his signing off and she was shook when she took in every curve of each letter that he wrote.

Regulus had become a Death Eater.