Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Ninety Six |*|

Aquila was in Herbology when she felt something burning in her robes, and she yelped at the sudden heat, dropping a hand shovel on her feet. The entire class stared at her, making her cheeks turn red. "Miss Whitman, are you alright?" Professor Sprout asked.

Aquila nodded hastily. "Oh, yes, Professor. I've never been better." She looked anywhere but at the woman's eyes, and the class erupted into laughter. "One of the snapping plants made a noise, and it startled me."

"The snapping plants are all asleep," Abby Greenwall pointed out. Aquila shot a glare of daggers in her direction.

"That's what they want you to think," the green haired girl said, scanning her eyes around the room. She caught sight of Ethan staring at her with observant eyes, and her tone darkened. "At any second, one of those little buggers'll jump right at you! Chomp!" She made a snapping notion with her hands, and the class laughed harder.

"I do appreciate your humor, Aquila, but we must get back to the lesson," Professor Sprout said. "And do be more careful with the equipment. Had that been sharp, you'd be mending a broken foot in the infirmary right now."

Aquila nodded, saying nothing more. She silently cursed Hermione Granger for setting the coin off during classes. She made a note to tell her about the disruption during the DA meeting.

For the remainder of the period, she could feel eyes on her, and thinking they were Abby's, she pushed the suspicion away.

|*|*|*|

"Granger, you're the worst! The bloody worst!"

Before the evening's DA meeting commenced, Aquila gave poor Hermione Granger an earful. "It might be your free period, but some of us are repotting magical plants and need full concentration. Feeling a coin burning into my skin did not go well for me today!"

"Will you please keep your voice down?" the Gryffindor asked. "I've got a horrendous headache from hearing Malfoy talk about his accomplishments with the Inquisitorial Squad, and I've no tolerance for much else at the moment."

"You should wait until lunch for the coin thing," Aquila went on, lowering her voice only a bit. "What if I had been in Snape's class taking an exam? That would've been dreadful. At least send us a warning."

"Yes, a warning," Hermione repeated bitterly. "Like you warned us when the flock of angry birds caused chaos in the Great Hall? You couldn't've given us a little heads up?"

"What are you on about, Granger?" Aquila asked, trying to keep her voice level. She had no idea how the fifth year had found out she was behind the attack, but she would try and play it off as best as she could.

"When you flew in during breakfast with the mail owls. It would've been a clever plan except for the fact that no one in Hogwarts owns a mail eagle. Especially not one with a remarkably distinct green spot of feathers."

"I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about, but I'm flattered you think I conducted the shit on Umbridge. Those birds were bloody brilliant. Does make me wonder who trained them all."

"Play dumb all you want," Hermione told her, "but the truth always comes out in the end."

"This is only the beginning, Granger."

|*|*|*|

Cedric was disappointed but not surprised by Aquila's behavior towards Hermione, and he insisted that she apologize to the Gryffindor, but Aquila refused to hear it. "Let's just cast these damn patronuses and leave for the day."

The two seventh years willed themselves to recall their happiest memory. Aquila thought of Christmas with Cedric. She thought of being with his family-the only family she ever felt like she fit in with. She pictured Amos and his wife in the kitchen, doing as they normally did. The happy family made Aquila feel bubbly inside, and she was able to successfully produce her patronus, an eagle.

It was no surprise to either of them, and especially not to Hermione, who took in the winged predator with a stern warning in her eyes.

Cedric's patronus, however, came as a huge surprise to Aquila and nearly everyone else around them. "Ceddy, that is absolutely amazing," the green haired girl said with a laugh. "Who knew I was such a psychic?"

Standing before them was a large, whispy bear. Aquila couldn't help but laugh upon seeing that it was also a female bear-a mother. Cedric sighed, "You always said I was the mom friend."

"This is probably the most amazing thing I've seen in my life," she said. "Now Ceddy Bear has a whole new meaning. Merlin, imagine you as an Animagus."

"Funny you should speak of Animagi," Hermione said as she walked by. "Congratulations, Cedric. It's a beautiful patronus." With that, the bushy haired girl walked away.

"She already knows," Cedric whispered to his girlfriend. "You might as well tell her. You've gotten your revenge."

"No I haven't," Aquila protested. "Cassie was unharmed and un-shitted upon. I need to get vengeance!"

"Don't you think you're being a bit petty?" he asked.

"That's my middle name," she informed him.

"I thought it was Vega."

"And my mother is the pettiest person I know. Point proven."

Cedric sighed. "You should tell them. Tell everyone in the DA."

"I don't trust half of the kids in here," she said, keeping her voice uncharacteristically low. "Gryffindors aren't known for their secret keeping abilities."

"You can trust them," he repeated.

"No, I can't," she stated. "There will come a time when the big pink bitch finds this group. Whoever tells her, will also reveal that I'm an animagus, and that's a simple fact. The less they know, the better. I'm doing this for us."

"Us?" he asked.

"If they find out about me, they'll question you. I don't want you to be involved with this."

"You can be a huge help to them."

"I'm a better help if I stay hidden."

"At least tell Hermione. Keep it between you two. That way, if one of the others does tell, they won't know about you."

"I don't know about this..."

Cedric grabbed her hands gently. "When have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Never," she whispered.

"Do whatever you want, but I'm telling you, this is the better option. You can really help."

She nodded. "I'll think about it."

Cedric smiled. "Look over there," he said. "Who knew Richard's patronus would be a monkey?"

"It suits him well," she said with a laugh. "I was kinda hoping someone got a penguin."

"Why?"

"So my eagle could eat it."

|*| hermione gonna cause some drama drama (me from the future: no she isn't) |*|