What if the sword of Gryffindor never appeared? What if Neville never killed Nagini? What if the seventh horcrux was never destroyed? What if The Boy who Lived couldn't defeat the Dark Lord with an Expelliarmus? What if Voldemort won the war? What i...
Aquila frowned as she kept recalling the weird vision in her head. She did consider telling Draco but thought not to seeing as he might panic and do something Aquila didn't want him to. She was afraid he might tell his father which in turn might tell his Dark Lord. (Aquila found it funny that the wizard Lucius called 'master' was technically his brother-in-law) She quietly sat up on her bed. She needn't be quiet though, since she was the only one in her private room. Being a Riddle had its perks. Lucas, her pet snake, was soundly coiled on Aquila's pillow. He had grown a few inches in the past four years. His black scaly skin seem to glisten in the moonlight. A loud howl erupted, muffled by the windows and doors. Her red, Gryffindor walls bounced of the howls till it reach Aquila's ears. 'Probably a werewolf,' Aquila thought. It was a full moon after all. She pulled out 'The Art of Horcruxes,' from her sling bag and began reading once more, hoping to find some sleep later.
She read the first chapter explaining in detail, how horcruxes can destroyed, 'Destroying it beyond repair is the only way that I have discovered to destroy Horcruxes.' Aquila learnt in that chapter that there was 'Tom Riddle' (Probably related to her since her last name was also a Riddle. Perhaps there were a few Riddles around in the Wizarding World like Blacks. Riddles were after all, a pureblood line). Had created five horcruxes, a diary, a ring, the Hufflepuff cup, the diadem of Ravenclaw and the locket of Slytherin and he intended on making one more. She soon finished reading the first chapter she started reading the next, unaware of the amount of sleep she would be missing out. Something was drawing her to read more and more of the book.
'Tom Riddle,' that spot stung once more, 'knew little of what he was doing and there was nothing I could do to stop him. He had chosen a path of Dark Magic from which there was no return. I could blame the kid though. He was conceived under the effect of a love potion and thus was cursed to never love. Without love of any sorts to fill that void in his heart, he rampaged on his journey of power and Dark Magic. His mother was from the Gaunt family, a descendant of the Salazar Slytherin...'
Aquila stopped reading and furrowed her brows together. Gaunt. Where had she read that before? She knew she was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin but she always assumed it was from Voldemort's father's side. So they were related to Gaunts who were also purebloods. She always thought the Riddles were descendants of the Slytherins. She wanted to know her family tree now more then ever. She knew all purebloods were related somehow. When you are trying to stay pure, your options get limited. 'Gaunt. Where have I read the word Gaunt,' Aquila thought. That's when it clicked. She had hastily picked up 'The Gaunt Family Tree,' from the bag too. It was almost as if the library was edging her on onto finding something important. Teasing and Attracting her to the important books and letting her leave the unimportant once. She wasted no time and opened that book and started skimming through the various branches for Tom Riddle or Voldemort.
She stopped when she found Tom Riddle below Merope Gaunt with Pureblood written in cursive under Merope. There was a double gold line connecting her and a certain Tom Marvolo Riddle Sr. and a line connecting both of them to Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. She frowned and disbelief and fury filled her as she read the cursive underneath the father, 'Muggle.' ‐———— It is strange how one word could change your entire world. One word could change your entire view on a person. Voldemort wasn't just some bald homicidal maniac with a pet snake and no nose, but he was also a hypocrite. He was killing hundreds of Half-Bloods every week yet he himself was half-blood. Riddles weren't some pureblood family like she had always thought. Riddles were Muggles. She was half blood and nobody knew it. He was a hypocrite that no nose serpent. A hypocrite. Aquila took two whole days to process it and it still didn't relieve her shock. She was fuming. Her life had been a lie for Salazar's sake. She was mad. Even Scorpius had gotten worried looking at the fuming expression on Aquila's face. When she figured that Merope had only one child with the Riddle, she also realised that Tom Riddle Jr. and Voldemort were the same person. But the fact about him having horcruxes was forgotten with the fury she held as she marched across into DADAJ (Dark Art and Defense Against Jinxes).
Her sister's concerned expression turned to fear when Aquila banged her books on her table. "Quilly, something wrong," she asked. She was terrified whenever Aquila got mad because she had their father's temper. "Nothing," Aquila said faking sweetness in her voice. Delphini quickly nodded and turned around to write the topic for the day. The class was mildly amused seeing their teacher being scared of a student. The day blended into one another and by the end of the week, her anger had yet not subsided. she wanted to tell someone, anyone. Aquila thought watching the Gryffindors practice quidditch would clear her head. On that very Sunday afternoon, she grabbed her coat, since it was already late November and headed to the Quidditch Stadium. She hadn't tried out for the team, she planned on doing it next year. People said she had a seeker's eye but they also liked to butter her a lot, trying not to get on her wrong side. She was thankful that her sister had managed to convince Voldemort to not change anything about Quidditch, let everyone play fair and no ranks while in the stadium. Voldemort could care less about Quidditch.
The Gryffindor team consisted of Rose Weasley, the keeper (quiet an excellent keeper. Doesn't let a single Quaffle in. Hasn't let a single Quaffle in since second year), Franky Longbottom (The Longbottoms had managed to stay in Rank 2 through god knows what methods but Aquila knew better that anyone that they would revolt against Voldemort when the y got the chance) a Chaser, Ryder Hallow (Rank 3 Chaser), Sahaj Sagar (Rank 2 Chaser; he and Aquila had had a chat once in a while. Nice bloke. Said he was from a pureblood wizarding family in India), Fred Weasley II (He was a beater, took it from his father), James Potter II (Another beater, people were surprised at Beater skill, People assumed he would be Seeker, Chaser at best) and Scorpius Malfoy (Seeker. He was also a captain of the team but let most of the captaining to Frank. She was a better captain).
She spotted Albus Potter in the stands watching them practice too. They spotted each other and he gave a shy wave. Aquila's heart suddenly started pounding in her chest and her stomach seemed to have fluttered. Pink dust settle on her cheek as she waved back. It was cold. Yes definitely the reason. She watched as Albus gave her lopsided dorky smile and accidentally dropped a book from his lap. He sheepishly picked it up as Aquila giggled. Now the thuds and giggling could be heard since they were on opposite side of the field but the interaction was worth the effort.
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