aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

18.

THE NEXT DAY, AQUILA'S ENTIRE LIFE CHANGED.

The post came and she was given both a small scroll (from Slughorn, another invite to the Slug Club) and a crimson red envelope that she just knew was from her mother.

"Looky look, Black's got a Howler!" someone at the Ravenclaw table called out. The entire Hall fell into silence as everyone awaited the girl's next move. Sirius had gotten loads of Howlers in all his years of school and even Regulus had gotten one or two for failing a subject but Aquila had never gotten one. Everyone wanted to see what this was about.

The girl took a deep breath and cautiously opened the envelope, her mother's screams filling the void of silence that was in the Great Hall.

"AQUILA PHOENIX BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH THE BLACK NAME BY ACQUAINTING YOURSELF WITH MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS! YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE DONE NOTHING MORE THAN GIVE YOU AN AMAZING LIFE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US. IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, YOU WILL APOLOGIZE TO EVAN ROSIER THIS INSTANCE AND PRAY THAT HE TAKES YOU BACK, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING CHILD. IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SECOND YOU WILL GO DOWN THE SAME PATH AS YOUR BLUNDER OF AN OLDER BROTHER, YOU ARE UNDOUBTEDLY MISTAKEN. I WILL HAVE NO MORE OF THIS NONSENSE. NONE OF IT. SO EITHER YOU FIX YOUR ERROR OR CONSIDER YOURSELF AS DISOWNED AS THAT PIECE OF SCUM YOU STILL CALL YOUR BROTHER."

The letter exploded in her face, leaving a pile of ash on the table in front of her. No one in the Hall dared to make a sound until Evan Rosier burst out laughing. From across the room, he called out, "Guess we're back on then, Black?"

Aquila turned and smiled at him in such a sickeningly sweet manner that anyone could tell it was fake. She got up and left the hall, not knowing that someone was following right behind her.

"That's it, then?" Regulus spat, causing his sister to turn around.

"What are you on about, Regulus?"

"You're just gonna get yourself disowned?"

Aquila sighed in frustration, "I don't know, maybe. It's damn near impossible to please Mother and I don't think I can do it anymore."

"You don't think you can or you don't want to?"

"BOTH!" she yelled out, startling both Regulus and herself. Taken aback, Regulus nodded, "Alright, so you're going to abandon me, aren't you?"

Shaking her head, Aquila said, "You don't have to stay, you can come with me."

"Come with you where? To stay with Mudbloods, blood traitors and half-breeds? I'd rather not." Regulus sneered, their parents' teachings showing in the way he spoke. Aquila should have known that he wouldn't agree to abandon the life they had back at Grimmauld Place but she had still hoped.

"Reggie, you can't honestly think that what Mother and Father say is in the least bit right. Come with me, we can get away from all of that."

The younger boy laughed, "You really like to play daft, don't you? There is no getting away from this. Don't you see people are dying? Your best friend is dead, for crying out loud! Forget the marriage with Evan! If you get disowned, especially now, there will be much bigger consequences than your name being burnt off a tapestry. You'll have a target on your back. The only way we'll be safe is if we join him."

Aquila gasped, "You're not planning on doing that, are you Reggie?"

The boy's set face and tense jaw showed that his mind had been made up a long time ago. She shook her head, "Regulus, there are other ways to be safe."

"What? You think Dumbledore can stop him? That's about as realistic as Pettigrew actually getting it on with McKinnon and you know it. Somewhere in the back of your mind, your Black intuition is telling you that the better option would be on the Dark Lord's side. I just hope you realize that soon enough," Regulus said, finishing his big speech.

"Where is all this coming from?" she asked, shocked that Regulus could say such things. Last time she checked, Regulus was young and innocent (well, as innocent as you can be while living in the Black household). Now, he looked mature, experienced; like he was ready for whatever the world threw at him.

"This is coming from the part of me that wants to survive this war."

"But you don't have to do it alone," Aquila whispered.

"What do you mean 'I don't have to do it alone'? I've always been alone. It's always been you and Sirius and then just me. I've been doing it for fifteen years and I've survived this far; I figure it'll help me survive the war too."

Shaking his head, Regulus stared into his sister's eyes. The two identical shades of gray met each other in an intense stare, one pleading while the other refusing to stand down.

"I just hope you figure out a way to survive as well," he said before he left her alone, going back into the Great Hall.

His words shook her. How out of it had she been? Even her little brother, little Regulus who was afraid of thunderstorms and being in the dark alone, was ready for this war. How naive could she be? She needed to get her zest back because Aquila would not survive unless she acted like a true Black.

She had to be cunning. Agile. Sharp.

She had to survive.

The only thing that plagued her mind was whether or not Regulus was right about the way in which to go about doing it.

Was she on the good side? Yes.

But would the good side prevail? That was a completely different question. They were not living in a fairy tale. Anything could happen. They had already started to see casualties and they had not even left Hogwarts yet. What awaited for them when they left these hallowed halls?

The thought haunted Aquila as she laid in her bed in the quiet Ravenclaw Tower.

Is the Order really the best option?