Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Four |*|

Aquila had gotten into plenty of trouble while she was at her home (whether it was sneaking outside to stargaze at night or throwing her food at Nash during lunch), and she wasn't scared to face the punishment. The look on Madam Hootch's face was the same face that Vega had always given her at home. Basically, Aquila couldn't care less about what would happen to her.

Madam Hootch led her and Carlos (who was surprisingly uninjured from the fall) to Professor Snape's office. Because he was the Head of their House, he got final say on the punishment for their childish behavior.

"Do you know why you're here, Miss Whitman?" Professor Snape asked. His voice was ice cold and full of disappointment. Normally, the Slytherin first years were more well-mannered and reserved. However, the dark haired girl was far from it, and the professor subconsciously wished she was Sorted into a different House.

Aquila and Carlos were in his office. Aquila was innocently smiling as she picked grass and twigs from her dark hair. She wasn't concerned with the professor in the slightest, and she looked around the room at all of the potions and books with a newfound interest.

"Because he fell off his broom," she said sweetly. She tried not to gag at the putrid smell of the dungeons.

"Because you pushed me off!" Carlos yelled.

"You can't possibly believe him, Professor," she told Snape. "Why would I hurt a fellow housemate?"

"I ask the questions here, Miss Whitman," Snape announced. Even though his voice was dark and menacing, it had no effect on Aquila. "Did you or did you not push Mr. Blake off of his broom?"

"I did, but only because he tried to push me off my broom," Aquila said quickly. She wasn't going to deny her actions, but she would justify them to the best of her ability.

"Is this true, Mr. Blake?" the professor asked. He turned his attention to Carlos.

"It was an accident!" he insisted. "I was about to fall, so a grabbed her broom for support!"

"Um, no!" Aquila yelled. "You grabbed my broom to try and make me fall!"

"But you didn't fall!"

"Because I pushed you!"

"Silence!" Snape commanded. The two first years stopped arguing and looked up at their professor. "Since you were both clearly flying without Madam Hootch around, I see it fit that both of you get detention tonight. Be here at eight o'clock sharp, or your grades go from an O to an E."

"Yes, sir," the students grumbled in unison.

"You may go," Snape excused them.

Carlos and Aquila exited Snape's office and joined their classmates in the common room. Carlos hadn't spoken a word to Aquila on the way there, and the silence almost killed her. Once she got to the common room, she found Nash sitting alone by the window reading a book titled How to Brew a Polyjuice Potion with a Low Budget.

"Nash, I need help," she told her brother.

"What is it, Quil?" Nash asked with a sigh. He didn't look up from the book he was reading.

"I got detention," Aquila said innocently.

Nash slammed his book shut, and he exclaimed, "You what?!"

|*|*|*|

Apparently, Aquila's parents wouldn't be too happy with her. According to Nash, when he got his first (and last) detention in his third year, their parents sent three Howlers in one day. Nash promised not to tell them about her detention that time, but he wouldn't hesitate to if it happened again. Aquila wasn't planning on getting in trouble again, but she had a funny feeling she would.

At eight o'clock, she and Carlos cleaned Snape's entire office without looking at each other or talking the whole time. The only time Aquila liked the silence was when she was stargazing. She really wanted to see the stars again, and waiting for Astronomy on Wednesday felt like torture. However, there was nothing she could do about it. There were no windows to look out of, and there were very strict curfew rules at Hogwarts.

After serving her detention, Aquila went to sleep. She missed the stars. She wanted to see them again; she wanted to talk to them again. She wanted to see the Soup Spoon Siblings and the Man with Sticks and the moon again. It was like she was separated from an old friend for a very long time.

Before she pulled the covers over her tired body, Abby and Alexis stood by her bed with their hands on their hips. "You got Carlos detention," Abby stated. She spit a little when she spoke, and Aquila wiped her nose in disgust.

"Way to state the obvious," Aquila said, beginning to shut her eyes. She thought that if she ignored them, they'd stop being so rude. That tactic often worked on Nash when they were arguing.

"He's not to happy about it," Abby continued.

"I know," Aquila told her. "Now I really must be sleeping."

"He's gonna get you for it," Alexis said.

"Tell him I said good luck," the sleepy girl said. She yawned and pulled the covers over her eyes. "Night Greenwalls."

|*|*|*|

All Aquila could think about the next morning was dying her hair. She felt like she had been putting it off for too long, and she had to find someone who knew how to do it. She was sure Nash could, but she knew he'd want nothing to do with her rule breaking and report everything back to her parents.

So, logically, she asked the first student she met on the way to breakfast. A Ravenclaw seventh year, was nice enough to magically dye it, and Aquila walked into the Great Hall with bright green hair. She sat down at the end of the table, away from Alexis, Abby, and Carlos.

As the students filled into the hall, some of them glanced in the green-haired girl's direction. She smiled at them all and waved, and when they waved back, her smile brightened. Maybe people from the other Houses will talk to me. Maybe there are more nice people like Cedric, she thought.

It wasn't long until Cedric entered the hall and saw her new look. "Notice anything different?" Aquila asked.

"You got new shoes?" Cedric asked.

"I did, but that's not the big picture here," Aquila told him.

"Your hair looks amazing!" Cedric exclaimed. "I can't believe you actually dyed it."

"It's permanent," Aquila stated. "My hair will be green no matter how long it gets!"

"Super cool!" her friend said. Suddenly, his expression changed. "Why are the Greenwalls giving you dirty looks?"

"Because I'm talking to you," she explained. "Apparently, talking to Hufflepuffs is against Slytherin regulations. They all hate me, and I have no friends except you."

"Don't worry about them," he told her. "They're idiots."

"But they have really great hair."

"Yours is better, and they're still idiots. Who needs them?"

Aquila smiled, "Not me, because I've got you, and that's plenty."

|*| awe I ship them so hard tbfh and the story's just begun... |*|