Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| One Hundred Six |*|

Aquila couldn't find any sort of peace during the time she spent with Nash. For an entire week, she didn't speak a word to him or his wife, and she only looked at him when absolutely necessary. She felt like he was a walking reminder of how her life would be-arraigned marriage, Dark Mark, sorrow and pain-and she couldn't bare to think of it.

She sent Cedric an owl, asking if she could stay with him until she was able to afford her own place, but he was in Ireland for a monthlong Quidditch seminar. She couldn't stay with Alexis because she was staying with Fred and George at their joke shop, and there was barely enough room for the three of them as it was. And even Carlos couldn't take her in because he was still living with his large family. So, Aquila was forced to stay with Nash and Ashley.

Whenever she could, Aquila stretched her wings and flew around the forest that was a short walk from Nash's house. She would fly around as an eagle for hours, but it got lonely even surrounded by animals. They all feared her and cowered in the shadows, and she was left alone in the trees.

She cursed her animagus form. She cursed her own name and the names of her parents. She cursed Nash and the world and anything she could think of.

She was alone for the first time in her life. She didn't have Cedric or Alexis to turn to; didn't have a brother she could rely on; didn't have anyone to lean on.

And she couldn't escape her future either. She couldn't just run away because they would find her. Her mother was sending owls every day, urging her to come around, or they'll use force to make her comply. No matter where she ran to, they'd find her. She already tried-twice.

The first time, she went to board a train to anywhere that caught her interest, and her mother was at the station, watching her. Aquila was forced to go back to Nash's house, and she didn't tell anyone about what happened at the station or that she planned to leave at all.

The second time, she tried Apparition. She popped up in the middle of nowhere and pitched a tent, and in the middle of the night she woke up to a fire in her tent and a message in the flames. "Watching." It was them, and in the shadows, she saw her mother again.

She didn't even tell Cedric about these encounters, and it tore her insides apart keeping it in. She was scared of what her future held, and she wasn't ready to accept it. She couldn't accept it.

The only time she truly felt safe was while she was the eagle. It seemed that no one knew of her animal identity except her friends and Nash, and she would keep it that way for as long as possible. If it was true they were watching her, it was only a matter of time before they figured out her winged form's existence.

For the time being, she flew above the trees, trying to collect her thoughts and regain the optimism she once had. She was at a loss. The world was dark, and it would be forever.

When she returned to Nash's house after her flight, he handed her a letter without saying a word. She reluctantly took it and opened it, not bothering to glance at who sent it.

Aquila,

Your avoidance ends now. You will do your duty to not only our family name but also the entire wizarding world and help the purge of mudbloods and half-breeds. It is your only destiny, my child.

If you fail to arrive at my doorstep at midnight one week from today, we will come for you ourselves, and trust me when I say we won't let you go easily.

You must reform yourself into the woman and witch you are meant to be and rid yourself of your old "friends." Those in particular that you cannot associate with include the Greenwall traitor and that boy you are so fond of. Love doesn't last, Aquila. This new life will truly make you happy.

Join us willingly.

-Your mother

Aquila crumbled the letter up and raised her wand to it. "Incendio!" she yelled, and the paper erupted into violent flames. Nash rushed in and shouted at her, but she ignored him. She raised her wand to him and threatened him before running out of the room in angry tears.

She fell to her knees in her room; her hair wrapped around her body, covering her in a blanket of green. She had never felt so small, so vulnerable, so powerless.

She heard the door open, and Nash walked in. He wrapped his arms around her, and she let him, crying into his shoulder. "Nash," she managed to speak through sobs. "I... I don't know wh... what to do."

"You have to be strong," he said.

"How can I be?" she asked. "Especially... especially now?"

He pulled her closer. "Let me help you. We'll do this together."

"I'm scared, Nash," she whispered.

"I know," he said. "I know."

|*|*|*|

The week was almost over, and Aquila has made up her mind. She knew what she had to do, and there was no lay around it. Even Nash and Ashley could find no loopholes, and Aquila couldn't stop what had to happen.

"Are you ready?" Ashley asked her.

Aquila shook her head. "I don't have a choice." She looked out the window longingly. "He's here."

Nash gave her a hug. "It'll all be over soon," he told her.

"No," she said. "It'll all start soon."

And so the green haired girl left the house and greeted her boyfriend to end the beginning and start the end.

|*| youll all hate me after this hehe |*|