Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Forty Three |*|

Everything was confusing Aquila that night. She never questioned her ability to move stars before. She never even thought about it. She just thought it was something cool that she could do.

But Cedric made her question everything. The telekinesis theory was a bit too much of a stretch, and she knew it wasn't right at all. It was unrealistic.

She decided it was just a strange gift and wasn't going to think about it any further.

"Ced," Aquila said, breaking the calming silence between them after the telekinesis conversation.

Cedric grumbled, sitting up in the grass. "Yeah, Quil?"

"Why is the sky blue in the morning, but black at night?" she asked.

"Is this supposed to be a riddle of some sort?" he asked.

"No, I was just curious," she said.

Cedric smiled, looking out at the sky. "I bet they're still dancing in there," he said.

"It is a ball, Ced," Aquila said. "They're obviously dancing."

"I guess I should be more specific, then," he said, standing up. "Lady Aquila, would you do me the honor of a dance?"

"A dance, Sir Cedric?" Aquila asked, standing up. "Why, I can't dance..."

"Oh, fair lady, I'm certain you can," he said. "I know you dance wonderfully."

"If you insist, kind sir," she said, grabbing his outstretched hand. "I shall do you the honor of a dance."

Cedric smiled and brought Aquila closer to him. "Got a spell to conjure up some music?"

"No," she said. "But let's use Sir Ethan's preferred soundtrack." Aquila took a deep breath, "Annnnnnd one, two, three! One, two, three! One, two, three; and, one, two, three!"

"You know how annoying that is, right?" Cedric asked. "And you remember during our dance lessons with Ethan when I threatened to cut off his lips?"

"Yes, and then I reminded you that he can still talk without lips; you should go for the tongue instead," Aquila said. "But it's all the music we have, I'm afraid."

She took in another breath, but Cedric covered her mouth, "No, Quil. No."

Aquila sighed in defeat, but when Cedric took his hand away, she continued, "ONE, TWO, THREE! ONE! TWO! THREE! ONE! TWO! THR-"

"For the love of Merlin, stop!" Cedric yelled.

"Fine," she said. "I knew you hated that sound, but I didn't know it was this bad!"

"Well, it is!" he yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop!" she shouted. "No need to release the Hufflepuff inside you!"

"Can we just... can we just dance now?" Cedric asked nicely.

"That can be arranged," Aquila said.

As the two danced around in the moonlight, a thousand things flew through Aquila's mind. Oh crap! It's a full moon! That means werewolves!

I should probably apologize for insulting Ching Chong and Carlos and Calvin and Cassie-wait! No, not Cassiopeia. Never Cassiopeia. But I should apologize for getting my own punch. He did say I shouldn't do that...

"Ced, I'm sorry," she said.

"About what?" Cedric asked.

"Wha-Cedric! You know what! Everything I did tonight to Chi-Cho and Carlos's little brother, and I think probably Carlos too. But, most importantly, I want to apologize to you."

"To me?" he asked, "Why?"

"Because you have to put up with me and all of my rebellious punching and insults and-"

"Quil, I don't have to put up with you," he said matter-of-factly. "I choose to put up with you. I really like everything about you. I like your smile and the way the stars reflect in your eyes. Sometimes your insults are funny, and I like seeing you stay true to yourself. I know you don't want to hurt anyone; you just want to stick up for yourself. And that's what I love about you."

"Awww!" Aquila gushed. "You love me! I knew it!"

"Quil I meant I love your fire!" Cedric defended. His cheeks reddened.

"I know what you meant!" Aquila said laughing. "But, one problem... since I'm in Slytherin, I'd prefer if you call my fire my venom. You know, like a snake. Hisssssss!"

"You just spit in my eye!" Cedric shouted, wiping his eye.

"Oh crud! I got my venom in your eye! You're going to get the Hufflepuff knocked outta you!"

"Since I'm in Hufflepuff, and our symbol is a badger, I'd prefer if you call my Hufflepuff my Badger."

"Okay, Badger Boy," Aquila said.

"Alright, Venom Girl."

"That's not clever at all."

"And Badger Boy is?"

"Alliteration," Aquila said. "I remember learning that somewhere."

"Probably in school," Cedric guessed.

"The only thing I ever learned in school was Astronomy and how to get away with murder."

"What!?"

"Ced, they made us buy a Defense Against the Dark Arts book, remember? Well, if you keep flipping through that book, there's some hexes and jinxes that, if paired with either fire, water, or gravity, can prove to be quite deadly and easy to pass off an an accident."

"Like what?" Cedric asked. "Dumbledore wouldn't let us learn curses like that!"

"Remember the first spell we learned?" Aquila asked. "The levitation charm? Levitate a person over a cliff."

"Aquila!" Cedric gasped.

"What? It's true," she said. "And it's simple."

"Almost as simple as giving you detention."

Aquila and Cedric slowly turned around and saw their favorite potions professor standing a few feet away, a frown glued onto his face.

"Lovely, evening isn't it, professor?" Aquila asked.

"You two shouldn't be out here," Snape said. "You do realize the risks-"

"Yes, were aware that there are werewolves out on the full moon," Aquila interrupted. "I was hoping to find one and keep it as a pet."

"It is rude to interrupt," Snape said.

"Ah, sir, but you interrupted us, so we're even," Aquila said.

Professor Snape wasn't amused.

|*| crapple |*|