Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Seventy Two |*|

Vega had no idea where Aquila went. She searched Nash's house for her, but the green haired girl was nowhere to be seen. "Nash, where did she go?" the woman asked her son, who was pacing around in his living room and biting his nails.

"I haven't the slightest idea," Nash told his mother. He was glad Aquila and Cedric had made it out of the house undetected, but he wished she would've left him a note or something about where she went. He knew Aquila was a strong girl, but he was still worried about her being alone.

He tried to reassure himself that she was safe. She's with Cedric, he thought. I trust Cedric. He's got good judgement. She's going to be fine.

Suddenly, he wasn't so sure Aquila was even with Cedric. What if Cedric had left for his home, but Aquila was hiding out somewhere else? He wanted to search the entire perimeter of the house-the entire neighborhood if he had to. He wanted to make sure Aquila was okay; he needed her to be okay.

Aquila was the only source of sanity Nash had left, and the thought of loosing her drove him insane. He was going mad, ripping out his hair. She was the only sane person in his life, and if she was gone, he might as well have committed suicide. He couldn't deal with his mother marrying him off and his boss acting like the Minister for Magic. He needed Aquila to talk to; she was his safety.

"You'd better find her, Nash," Vega scolded her son. "I thought you were more responsible than this."

"She's an adult now, mother," Nash defended. "She'll be fine no matter where she is."

"Nash!" Vega screeched. "Get in here!"

He ran into Aquila's room where Vega stood, pointing to the open window. Outside of the room, laying in the grass, was a pile of clothes. Upon closer inspection, it was quite clear that the clothes didn't belong to a seventeen year old girl; they belonged to a seventeen year old girl's boyfriend.

"What in the name of Merlin is this?" Vega yelled. "Whose clothes are these?"

"I..." Nash couldn't bring himself to tell his mother that Cedric had been in his house. He knew she'd probably kill him for letting the Hufflepuff boy in his house. She'd probably take the house away from him; he was only living there because his parents were paying the rent. "They're mine."

"What are your clothes doing in the lawn?" his mother asked, crossing her arms.

"It's this joke," he lied. "Aquila and I have been... tossing each other's clothes out of various windows of the house. It's a bit of a... bonding exercise..."

"Bonding?" she quizzed. "Why ever would you need to bond?"

"You did say I have to be the one to convince her of her duty to the Dark Lord. After that night when she found out, she didn't seem convinced. She wasn't quite ready to accept her purpose."

"Yes, yes, I suppose that's a good idea, but must you trash the place? Your father and I paid a great deal of money for you to live here; the least you could do is keep it clean!"

"Yes, mother."

"Clean this up," Vega said. "And when that girl gets back, you'd better end this little game."

|*|*|*|

"Can I stay over for the rest of my life?" Aquila asked Amos Diggory at dinner. She was still at Cedric's house, and she didn't plan on returning home until she knew for certain that Vega had left. The last thing she needed was her mother planning to pair her off to some pureblood family with no morals or emotions or feelings of love whatsoever.

Aquila knew exactly what she wanted; she wanted someone like Cedric. She knew there was a possibility of her and him not ending up together; she couldn't possibly imagine it, but she knew it could happen. After all (according to the dinnertime conversation), Amos Diggory dated his fair share of girls during his time at Hogwarts before marrying Cedric's mother.

If things with Cedric ended up taking a dive into a vat of lava (which she didn't want in the slightest), she wanted to find someone like him. Someone with a great family; someone who made her smile all the time; someone who would help her conquer her fears. Cedric had set the standards way too high for anyone else who could possibly come after him.

"The rest of your life is a long time," Amos told her, putting his glass on the dining table and smiling at Aquila. "But, you can come visit any time."

"So," Aquila said, "every day?"

Amos chuckled, "Might as well just move in now."

"I'll go get my things," she laughed.

"In all seriousness, Aquila," Cedric's father told her, "our home is open to you whenever you want to stop by. Living here, however, it isn't really an option. Besides, didn't you say you were living with your brother? What did you say his name was, dear?"

"Nash," she answered. "And yes, I'm staying with him for the summer. It's hard to believe this is going to be my last summer before Hogwarts..."

"Ah, yes," Amos reminisced, "I remember the summer before my seventh year... I was just like you, you know. I couldn't believe it was the last time... One day, your own children will be saying the exact same thing, and you'll suddenly notice how fast the time flies..."

"We've gotta make it count then," Aquila said, "before it's all gone."

"Yes, indeed. The time will pass, but the memories will always remain."

Cedric had been sitting next to Aquila for the duration of the conversation. He watched his father look over to him and then over to Aquila and smile at them.

"You are going to make some wonderful memories this year," Amos said.

Aquila smiled back at the man, "It's getting late, Mr. Diggory. I should really be going soon."

"I suppose you should," he nodded.

"Before you go," Cedric said, "can you show my dad what you can do with the stars. He's been wanting to see for some time now."

Aquila's smile brightened, "I'd love to! Come on; the stars are calling!"

|*| stars cannot be trusted |*|