Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| One Hundred Thirteen |*|

Aquila was faced with an impossible choice: alert the Death Eaters that Abby's (and possibly Ethan's) position at Hogwarts was undoubtably compromised or let the letter go through, pretending she had no idea about the secret message it held.

There was no way anyone would know that she solved the mystery, but she would be breaking the oath she took to the Death Eaters. If they ever found out about this, the penalty would be death by torture. The Dark Lord was not kind to traitors.

However, a part of her was practically yelling to be heard. She had friends in Hogwarts. Some of them couldn't even attend school because of the assumption that they were muggleborns. She knew how gloomy they all felt because she felt it too, and if the Dark Lord did win the final battle against Harry Potter, this was how the world-not just Hogwarts-would end up feeling. Gloomy.

That letter in her hands could help make the world less gloomy, and she couldn't pass the opportunity. And who knows? Maybe Ginny wouldn't figure out the secret code that her brother sent to her. Aquila might come out clean.

The letter was undoubtedly sent by either Fred or George due to the mentioning of the joke shop, but the question in her mind was, "How had he found out?" Who told him that Abby was at Hogwarts? Did he know about the others? Did he know about Ethan and Aquila by association?

Her first thought was that there was a spy inside the Death Eaters' ranks, but she knew pursuing that assumption might lead to her own disloyalty being brought to the table. She wasn't technically a spy, but was she completely with the Dark Lord? It was hard for her to answer that, even to herself.

She decided to keep her head down and investigate this on her own. Until she found out just how this information was found out, she would keep the letter hidden. She had to find out if everyone's positions were compromised, and if so, she had to tell the others.

Aquila kept the letter to herself, tucked in the pocket of her robes. When Amycus Carrow asked her if she'd found any suspicious mail, the letter to Ginny never came up.

|*|*|*|

The day ended quickly, and before she knew it, Aquila was back with Cassie, Abby, and Ethan in their meeting room, discussing the day's events.

"We asked every Gryffindor we saw-from first years to seventh years-but we didn't get much in the way of results," Abby told the group.

"Nothing," Ethan corrected. "We got nothing."

"You wasted another day?" Cassie asked, her words more turned towards Abby than Ethan. "The Dark Lord would be disappointed."

"It's not like you've made any progress, Cassiopeia," Aquila butted in. "Is Daddy proud that you still can't cast the Killing Curse? Or does he not know the truth?"

"Does the Dark Lord know you pretend to converse with stars every night? Or have you just forgotten to tell him you're delusional?"

"I wonder which of these issues would concern him more..." Aquila paced around. "The rumors about a person talking to the sky, or that a Death Eater is too chicken to kill."

"I am not a coward!" Cassie bellowed. She raised her wand on Aquila, but Aquila didn't flinch.

"If you're going to curse me, get on with it," Aquila told her calmly. "I've got places to be."

"I'll do so much worse than curse you, Star Girl," Cassie threatened. "I'll kill you."

"Go on then," Aquila growled. "Or are you planning on pushing the tip of your wand through my neck instead of actually using it."

Cassie put her wand back inside her robes. "The time will come, Whitman, when I take your life."

"Don't make yourself sound heroic," Aquila said, pushing past her. She then addressed the entire group. "I'm supposed to report our progress to Snape in three days, and if you three don't get any information of value, you'll be answering to him."

"And what about you?" Abby asked. "You're a part of this too."

"I have information," Aquila informed her.

"Care to share it with us?" Abby asked.

"I share information on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know," she said. "I must be off-don't screw this up."

|*|*|*|

Aquila spent her night patrolling the outside of the school, watching through the windows of the common rooms for suspicious activity. The only people who were still awake were a few Gryffindors in their dorm. Because the window was open, she was able to fly in and perch under one of their beds, remaining unseen by all of them.

"There are imposters within Gryffindor," Neville Longbottom told his dorm mates. "Ginny thinks they're Death Eaters."

"We have to tell the others," an unfamiliar voice said. "They need to know about this."

"We can't do that," Neville said. "If word gets out that we know, who knows what the Carrows might do to us? We already know their detentions are just torture sessions-and that's only for wearing your shirt untucked."

"You're right," another voice said. "We can't let anyone else get hurt. A first year is in the Hospital Wing for the third time this week, and all she did was ask the kid next to her to borrow a quill."

"And we don't want to cause any more reasons to be afraid," Neville said. "There's already dementors guarding the building, and on top of that, this mysterious Dark Eagle has been spotted around here about ten times already."

"Do you think that eagle is connected to You-Know-Who?" someone asked.

"It's gotta be," Neville said. "But until we know for sure, we should be cautious of that bird too. Anything could be working for him-especially now."

Aquila wanted to step out from under the bed, but she couldn't give herself away. She was working for the Dark Lord, and giving herself away to Neville and the other Gryffindors was not a smart idea. No doubt Cassie was watching her, waiting for her to slip up and expose her to the master.

But she had to let the students know that the Dark Eagle was on their side somehow. She couldn't stand by while children were being tortured by the Carrows. She wasn't informed of their methods; she was just told to follow orders.

If she'd known how the Death Eaters would be treating the students, would that have changed her mind? Would that have stopped her from taking on the task? She wished she could have said it would've, but saying no would cost her life.

She flew out of the dorm, leaving no traces of her ever having been there behind, and Aquila went to sleep and think about what her next move should be. She was trapped between what she was told to do and what she knew was right, and she had to make a choice eventually.