Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Seventy Nine |*|

Aquila avoided Ethan like the plague. At first, Cedric had no idea what was going on with her; didn't she apologize to him? He didn't know where this new animosity came from, but he knew it wasn't for no reason. At first, he believed Ethan had said something at make Aquila mad, but after a talk with Ethan, Cedric found out that the two never spoke.

When confronting his girlfriend on the issue, all she did was scowl and curse Ethan's name. She never gave a definite answer. That left Cedric to try and put all of the pieces together himself.

He went to Jennifer Trelwaney and asked her if she had any visions, but the bushy haired Ravenclaw hadn't had any visions in weeks. She then promised him that if she did have one later, she'd let him know, but the probability was very unlikely.

But Cedric didn't stop there. He then went to some of Aquila's Slytherin friends (first Alexis; second Carlos) and asked them if they had any idea what was going on. Alexis told him that Aquila never stopped calling Ethan a "backstabber," and Carlos informed Cedric that the green haired girl constantly spoke of an unnamed "she." Sometimes Aquila even called this unnamed girl "bitch." Cedric thanked the two Slytherins, but the information still wasn't enough for him to make any valid assumptions.

He tried asking Aquila once more, but all he got out of her was, "That backstabbing bitch thinks it's funny, but she'll pay. You mess with the eagle; you get the claws! Or, rather, the talons..." Her spoken sentences sparked an idea inside her mind, and she smirked at Cedric. "And that's exactly what she's going to get," Aquila promised. "The talons."

Cedric had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but he soon found out. The next day in transfiguration, Aquila stayed after class to ask Professor McGonagall some "hypothetical" questions about becoming an Animagus. Luckily, the professor didn't give her a lot of information, but it was just enough for Aquila to spend an entire evening in the library, not speaking a word to anyone. She wouldn't even let Cedric sit with her, so he let her be.

Days turned into weeks, and Christmas break was approaching. Aquila had tapped Cedric on the shoulder one morning at breakfast and smiled at him like a child who had just broken an expensive object. "Can I help you?" he asked his girlfriend, afraid of what she might ask for.

"Yes, actually," she said. "You see, hypothetically, do you think there is a way to sneak into the greenhouse and steal a few leaves?"

"What kind of leaves?" he asked skeptically.

"Mandrake leaves," she specified.

Cedric crossed his arms, "No." He knew that mandrake leaves were directly associated with becoming an Animagus, and he knew for sure that if she did become one, she wouldn't do it legally.

"It's only a hypothetical question," she promised. Cedric knew she was lying, but he let her continue on. "But, if you could, when do you suppose the ideal time would be? Sometime at night when it's dark, or after class? Maybe just grab it while Sprout's back is turned or something."

"Hypothetically," Cedric said. "I'm not going to help you."

Aquila sighed. "Fine," she said. "I'll just ask Lexi."

Cedric tried to stop her, but the green haired girl was at already at the Slytherin table, sitting down next to the blonde twin. "She's going to get herself into trouble," he muttered, turning back to his toast. "I'll stop her after breakfast."

|*|*|*|

In Herbology, which Aquila fortunately didn't have with the Hufflepuffs, the green haired girl was going to get her plan into action. She stood close to the mandrake plants during the lesson, and once the professor turned her back, the Slytherin plucked a single leaf off of a plant.

She didn't expect the plant to start crying. It began shrieking, and Aquila ducked down and covered her ears. She quickly stuffed the leaf into her robes as Professor Sprout walked over to soothe the plant. All that Aquila could do was think, Oh crap, oh shit, oh crap...

Luckily, the professor didn't suspect anything. She said that sometimes they will randomly cry, and it was no fault of anyone in the class. Aquila was able to catch her breath, and she stood back up. All throughout the rest of the class, she kept one hand on the mandrake leaf.

After class, she bolted back to the Slytherin dorms and ran to her bed. She took the leaf out of her robes and placed it securely in her trunk. She locked the trunk quickly and stepped back. Aquila looked around the room to make sure that it had indeed been empty, and once her conscience was clear, she jumped onto her bed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I have to tell Nashy," she decided out loud. She rolled off her bed and grabbed a quill and some parchment from her bag. Then, she found a comfortable position and wrote her brother a letter.

Dearest Nashy,

It is I, Lady Aquila, writing to you with urgency. I can't help but recall that you are one who likes to read, and, as I'm certain you know, I am not. So, I am writing to ask you about a certain topic I am certain you have read up on.

In transfiguration today, Prof. McGonagall brought up a most interesting topic: Animagi. I was simply wondering-for educational purposes-if you happened to know more about the process of becoming an Animagus. It is very interesting to me, and I only wish to know more.

How long does this process take? Does it work one hundred percent of the time? How would one be able to tell what their Animagus would be before hand? And (just for fun) do you think that mine would be an eagle? You know, because my name means 'eagle'?

I do hope you're doing well. It must be going swimmingly back at the Ministry ever since Prof. Umbridge has come to Hogwarts. Yes, she is just as wonderful as you described.

I patiently await your response.

-Lady Aquila of House Slytherin

"I think that turned out splendidly," Aquila decided after she finished up writing it. She gently placed it inside an envelope and began walking out of the dorms to the owlery. There was about twenty minutes to curfew, so Aquila wasn't worried about confrontation with a professor. She made it to the owlery and gave her owl the letter. The majestic bird flew off into the moonlit, starry sky.

Aquila watched it fly away; it got smaller and smaller and eventually became as small as the stars above. She looked around the sky and saw the words, Stay a while.

"I wish I could," the girl whispered, "but I'm afraid I should be getting back. Someone might come looking for me."

I highly doubt that.

Aquila shrugged, "If you insist, I suppose I'll stay a while longer." She sat down and looked up at the sky. They talked for hours and hours until Aquila grew so tired that her eyes fell shut and wouldn't reopen until the sun rose the next morning.

|*| bitch she bout to be an Animagus boii |*|