|*| Sixty Five |*|

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|*| starkid is my shit |*|

Aquila did not want to go home that summer. Her parents were going to give her hell for dating Cedric, and she knew they'd bring up recruiting her as a Death Eater more than once. With the news of Voldemort's return, Aquila was certain her parents were already congregating with the other Death Eaters and planning secret meetings to break out those who were in Azkaban.

Aquila wanted nothing to do with such talk, so she wrote to her brother, Nash, to see if he'd let her stay with him that summer. He'd gotten a job at the ministry in Improper Use of Magic Office, and he had literally nothing kind to write about his boss, Dolores Umbridge.

Unfortunately, Aquila never received a response to her letter, and she boarded the train in Hogsmede Station wondering whom she'd be spending the summer with and praying it wasn't her parents.

She wasn't afraid of her parents-not in the slightest. It was the fear of disappointing them that she didn't want to face. Although she wanted above everything to stay true to herself, she couldn't deny that she cared about her parents' opinions most, no matter how flawed they were. She didn't want to be a disappointment to them. They gave her everything all of her life, and the least she could do was be what they wanted her to be.

"I don't want to go home," Aquila confessed to Cedric and Ethan after they sat down on the train. "My parents are not going to be pleased with me after this year."

"Didn't you dye your hair in spite of them in our first year?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, but how is this relevant?" she asked. She didn't like it when Ethan didn't connect all the dots for her; he could sometimes be very confusing.

"So, why are you concerned with what they think?" Ethan asked. "You're of age now, so you can do whatever you want."

"They're my parents, Ethan," Aquila stressed. "I've gotta care about what they think; they brought me into this world, and that means something. I owe them for my entire existence; the least I can do is make them happy."

"But in the end," Ethan told her, "you've gotta make yourself happy. Are you happy when you're with Cedric and I?"

"Yes, but not always with you," she told him. "You can be annoying after a while."

"Same with you, Quil," he laughed. "But you can't concern yourself with other people's opinions if it makes you unhappy."

"But they're my parents, Eth!" Aquila exclaimed. "I can't just ignore their opinions! Cedric, back me up here!"

Cedric, who hadn't spoken since they boarded the train, didn't agree with Ethan. He was totally on Aquila's side, and not because she told him to be. He valued his father's opinions above everyone else's, so he understood where Aquila was coming from. All of his life, he did everything he could to make his father proud. He tried out for quidditch and entered the tournament not only for himself, but for his father. Amos was a proud man, and Cedric wanted to give him a son to be proud of.

"I totally agree with Aquila," he said. "Their opinions matter above everybody else's."

"I couldn't care less what my parents think," Ethan said. "All they care about is my stupid genius brother. I'm living in the shadow of someone shorter than me. I won't respect my parents' opinions if they were the last opinions on the planet."

Both Cedric and Aquila knew how Ethan got when he talked about his family, and they both wanted to change the topic of conversation as quickly as possible. However, when Ethan was talking about his family, he didn't just drop the subject.

"Promise you'll write this summer," Cedric said.

"I promise," Aquila said. "I've got my own owl now. It was a Christmas present from my parents. I named it after you, Ced."

"You named the owl Cedric?" Ethan asked. The topic had been successfully shifted away from families and onto more important news, owl names.

"No," Aquila said. "I named it Eyebrow Sweat."

"Of course you did," Cedric muttered.

"But now I realize that owls don't have eyebrows," she continued, "so if either of you have other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them."

"How about Responsible Mom," Cedric suggested. "I heard owls are very responsible."

"I say you name it after me," Ethan suggested. "Test Dummy."

"How about we combine them?" Aquila suggested. "Test Mom? Oh! Responsible Dummy!"

"I like that," Cedric said. "It's ironic."

"You know me," Aquila said. "I'm always ironic."

"No you're not," Ethan piped up.

Aquila sighed, "No I'm not. Indeed."

|*|*|*|

"I don't want to say goodbye to you guys!" Ethan exclaimed. The train had pulled in to the King's Cross Station, but Aquila, Cedric, and Ethan were still on the train. "I don't want to see you go!"

"But it's not forever," Aquila sighed.

"Not forever," Cedric agreed.

"Even if it was, you know that I would never let it get me down," Aquila said.

"You're the part of me that makes me better," Cedric told him, "wherever I go."

"I'll try not to cry," Ethan said.

"But no one needs to say goodbye!" Aquila exclaimed. "Because we're going back to Hogwarts next year, and it's gonna be totally awesome. It's our seventh year, and no one's gonna die."

"That's gonna be totally awesome," Cedric agreed.

"And we'll find some new jokes," Ethan added, suddenly excited.

Cedric glared at him.

"Well, I find that hilarious," Aquila laughed. "You've really got to be more appreciative, Ceddy Bear."

"I'm quite relieved to be getting a break from you people," Cedric said.

"I love you too, Ced," Ethan said.

"Like a brother I hope," Aquila said, "because Ceddy can only have one lover, and that's me."

"You just made this weird," Ethan announced. "Bye guys."

"Wait!" Aquila called.

"For what?" Ethan asked.

"Group hug!" Aquila exclaimed. "The first group hug we've ever done to mark the end of a totally awesome year at Hogwarts."

"Group hugs are so cheesy," Ethan muttered as he wrapped his arms around Cedric and Aquila. None of them ever wanted to let go.

|*| hugs never last tho |*|

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