aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

epilogue

AQUILA PHOENIX BLACK, AGED EIGHTEEN, OF RAVENCLAW HOUSE was dead. She had gone with her younger brother on a mission, one that would help them win the war, and had sacrificed herself to save him. Unfortunately, her sacrifice had only given the boy little time for as soon as he left the cave, the effects of the potion that Regulus had taken doubled, killing him in mere minutes. 

In his last moments of life, the boy had given Kreacher the Horcrux to destroy and Apparated straight to his brother's apartment where, conveniently, the entire band of Marauders had already gathered. They seemed to be in the middle of relaxing, each with a beer in their hand, when Regulus appeared. The younger boy was pale and sweaty, looking half-dead on his feet. Sirius was instantly at his brother's side, holding onto the boy as if there wasn't years of feuding between them. 

Peter was next to him as well, trying to use his Healer training in order to help the boy. As Peter worked, Regulus spoke, his voice scratchy and dry, "It doesn't matter, I'm going to die anyway."

His gray eyes had turned glossy as had Sirius' and Regulus coughed out dark fluid, a mixture of his own blood and the potion. 

"Sirius.. Aquila."

They all froze as everyone was hanging onto the boy's every word. Coughing again, he muttered, "She's dead. I got her killed." 

The reactions were different but all the same. Everyone's heart broke but they showed it in different manners. Peter kept working on a reversal potion, James went to get the firewhiskey (he thought that they would be needing it, whether Regulus survived or not), Remus left the apartment (he went out into the hall and banged his head against the wall) and Sirius just clung onto Regulus tighter, tears running shamelessly down his face.

"It's all my fault," the younger Black croaked out, "I'm... sorry."

Regulus Arcturus Black's last words.

The boy's face relaxed and his entire body went still. His breathing stopped and his pulse discontinued as he lay dead in his brother's arms.

"Reggie, no. Reggie, please come back. I love you, please come back!"

That was the first time his friends had ever seen Sirius fully break down. The boy Apparated back to his childhood house, leaving the body with Kreacher and his mother, before he returned to his place and retired to his room. He spoke to none of them as he did so and they all listened with breaking hearts as they heard their best friend cry out in excruciating pain. Things were being broken but none of them could care about the damage of the physical property because Sirius had just been broken inside. 

Peter was devastated. The girl that he had called his sister, dead. All of their midnight kitchen runs when one couldn't sleep, all of their three a.m conversations in the Astronomy Tower where they talked about their hopes and dreams, all of the times they cried on each other's shoulders and celebrated each other's wins. All of these memories that would never be recreated because she was gone.

Remus didn't know what to do with himself. The girl of his dreams, the girl he had spent more than three years chasing after, the girl who had seen him for more than he was, dead. Their last moments together flashed through his mind as he struggled to refrain from breaking down himself. The way her soft lips curved into a smile before she tiptoed to place a gentle kiss on his forehead, the way her small and delicate hands traced the scars on his back as they lay side by side, the way she laughed, an angelic and melodious sound, after he told her a terrible joke.

No, he thought to himself, You can feel sorry for yourself later, Sirius needs you.

The werewolf got up, James and Peter watching him as he did, and made his way to the door to Sirius' room. He pushed it open and the sight before him tore his insides apart. The room was completely demolished. Curtains and bedsheets ripped apart, picture frames and cologne bottles broken on the floor, clothes scattered all over as he had flung his closet across the room. 

"Sirius," Remus said, his voice cracking. 

The Black boy was sat in the middle of all the chaos he created, his head in his hands as he rocked back and forth on the spot. Small cuts littered his face and arms as blood trickled slowly from his body to the ground. Sirius did not care though, because no amount of physical pain could amount to what he was feeling inside. 

"Leave me alone, Remus."

Remus shook his head, "Afraid I can't do that."

The tall, lanky boy carefully guided himself into the room, stooping down beside his friend. Sirius was crying shamelessly, shaking his head as he sobbed, "It's all my fault."

Resting his hand on Sirius' shoulder, Remus said, "Sirius, you know it isn't your fault."

"But it is. I'm their older brother, I'm supposed to protect them. I was supposed to be there for them AND NOW THEY'RE BOTH DEAD!"

His screams echoed off the walls of the apartment, a painful cry into the silence that was rarely there. Remus lowered his voice, speaking in a soft whisper, "Sirius, you couldn't have known what was going to happen. You didn't know where there was going and we both know that there was no way to stop Aquila from going once she made her mind up. She would've gone anyway."

Peter and James were now stood by the door, watching the two boys. Remus noticed their presence and he stood up a little straighter, addressing all of them as he spoke, "We all know who Aquila is ...was, who she was as a person. She wouldn't have wanted us all here, crying over the fact that she's gone when we know she died for a good cause. Wars have casualties, she just happened to be one."

Sirius looked up at the boy, his face tear-stained and contorted in hurt. His eyes still glistened with tears as he whispered, "How can you say that? Didn't you love her?"

Remus' jaw tensed and he spoke deadpan, "I love her enough to respect what she would have wanted. Do you?"

They all stopped, soaking in his words. Though he did not want to admit it, Sirius knew that Remus was right. The Black silently cursed himself for his moment of weakness and stood up shakily. His friends were instantly at his side, ready to help him steady himself. The foursome left the destroyed room and went back into the living room. 

For the first time in forever, complete silence was amongst the boys. The only noise being the occasional clinking of ice against glass or the reopening of the bottle of firewhiskey. It was on that day that the Marauders had each become more mature. This was their first loss out of Hogwarts and it showed them just how brutal and cold the war really was. Looking at the group, you could see that they were each determined to not lose anyone else for the war had already taken so much. 

Little did they know that this was only the beginning.

a/n:

so this is the end of aquila > marauders' era.

this book had started off as a oneshot that i wrote during an exam (though that never made it into the book) as i had a vision of sirius having a little sister.

i thank you all for reading this (over 1 k reads, really?!) and i hoped you enjoyed the short adventures of aquila.

check out silent night > golden trio era if you want to hear about the child of peter pettigrew (it's got some things to do with this book)