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It seemed like Tom Riddle had had enough.
Over the next few days, two muggle villages were burnt down, and the body count revealed thirteen wizards living in hiding in those villages. How he found out, no one knew. And that was what made everyone so afraid of him.
Aquila and Regulus had finally moved out of the clutches of their parents, settling in a cozy flat near the entrance of Diagon Alley, close enough to be called for help, far enough to have some semblance of peace.
Rowan and Aquila remained on cordial, if not awkward terms, and reunions with the four friends were happening less and less. Regulus had not told Aquila about his frequent visits to meet with Adrian in dark corners of alleyways, not that Aquila had time nowadays. Her hours at the Alchemic Academy stretched from dawn to late at night, leaving her to only have the barest energy to remove her shoes before passing out in her room, or sometimes even the sofa.
Even though it was called the Alchemic Academy, her work generally revolved around potions, antidotes and their properties.
Regulus was dreading the day the Dark Mark summoned him to a Death Eater meeting, and he had restrained himself from telling Aquila about this fear. Currently, the mentioned girl was passed out on the sofa, her soft snores echoing in the apartment, making Regulus want to throw a pillow at her.
He threw a pillow at her. "Stop snoring, shitcake. You're waking the dead," he groaned, walking into the kitchen, putting a kettle to heat.
"Did you know that one of the people nearly died because they crushed the leaves of Aconite and some of the venom smoke was inhaled," Aquila mumbled into the pillow, snuggling deeper into the sofa.
Regulus clicked his tongue, levitating two cups and turning to Aquila as the kettle poured the water into the cups, the teabag in them colouring the water. "Stop drooling on the pillow, you animal, and get up before I throw this tea on you."
"Dad's head came in the Floo earlier," Aquila mumbled, softly blowing into the cup to cool the tea.
Regulus hummed, setting his legs on the table. "What'd he say? Mum finally dead?"
"Don't say things like that! I want to be there when she dies!" Aquila gasped mockingly, bumping his shoulder.
"You think we'd be in her will?" Regulus asked, stirring the spoon with a twirl of his finger.
Aquila shrugged. "I think so. Maybe she'll give all her wealth to Bellatrix and we'd be left Kreacher."
"That's good. We don't need money, anyway."
Aquila sniffed. "Speak for yourself, peasant. I require much in the way of material comforts."
"You're the worst," Regulus said, taking a sip.
Aquila unfolded her legs from under her and got up, running a hand through her hair which she had decided to keep short because of the highly toxic materials she worked with. She was entering her bedroom when she paused on hearing Regulus call out.
"Rowan and Adrian are coming over tonight," he said, swirling his cup.
Aquila leaned against the doorway. "Lads' night?" she asked casually.
"No, friends' night. You're coming too," Regulus said sharply.
Aquila groaned. "You can't force me into doing anything I don't want."
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"Hey, Adrian, long time no see," Aquila squealed with a giddy grin, wrapping her arms around the tall boy, who peeked around her head to wink at Regulus, who was leaning in the hallway.
"Good to see you, Aq," Adrian smiled, ruffling her hair. He moved aside to reveal Rowan, who was looking anywhere except at Aquila. He pursed his lips and rocked on the balls of his feet.
"Hey, Ro," Aquila said softly. Rowan's lower lip trembled slightly, and he hesitantly stepped into Aquila's open arms, receiving her hug. He hugged her tightly.
"It's good to see you, Aqi," he said into her hair.
Aquila took a deep breath. "You too, Ro."
As the four settled in, an awkward silence fell over the sitting room in the small flat. With Regulus and Adrian secretly making moon eyes at each other and Rowan and Aquila looking anywhere but at each other, it was definitely not the same.
"So, you're looking good, Aquila," Rowan suddenly blurted out, taking in her hair and the signet ring on her thumb which marked her as a member of the Academy.
Aquila scratched the back of her neck, her eyes flashing with alarm. "Er, yeah, you too, Rowan," she said.
You're the one making it unnecessarily awkward, Regulus informed her, picking a strawberry from the table.
He was the one who said I looked good! Aquila said incredulously.
Regulus internally snorted. Like he hasn't said that before.
Yeah but back then, we didn't get a marriage offer for us, she said.
"How's the job going, Aq?" Adrian asked, leaning an arm on the back of the sofa, coincidentally where Regulus was sitting, making a faint pink bloom across his cheeks and fidget.
Aquila sat up straighter, running her hands through her hair. "It's rather fun actually. The hours are long, co-workers are a bore, ingredients are toxic, but fun," she said brightly.
Adrian made a face. "How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?" And it was like an invisible barrier had been broken between them all, the atmosphere relaxing its hold on the tense shoulders of all present members.
Rowan leaned forward and grabbed a cracker from the array of snacks. "How's the security and all? If it's anything like the rooms at Hogwarts, it's going to be awesome."
Aquila shook her head. "There's this charm they're using. The Fidelius, I think? It's so cool," she said, leaning forward with a spark in her eyes, and for a moment it was like they were back in Hogwarts and Rowan and Aquila were sitting on Rowan's bed and discussing weird conspiracy theories, like the time they were convinced Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin had a bad breakup.
Regulus lightly smiled at Adrian, who subtly traced a finger on Regulus' palm. Despite being a very tight knit group, they had chosen to not tell their best friends (and twin, for Regulus) about the new developments in their relationship, fearing judgement, because society's fears were deep rooted in the hearts of even the ones closest to them.
"And then, the owl dropped off the letter, and he shat on his head!" Rowan cackled, narrating the story of his Department Head getting bird poop all over his hair. Rowan leaned forward and his sleeve slid up and Aquila's attention darted to a black line peeping out from under it.
Before anyone could react, Aquila had grabbed Rowan's arm and pushed up his sleeve.
Just seeing the Dark Mark again made her feel sick. She felt fear bubbling in her throat, letting go of Rowan's arm in a haste and retreating to the comfort of Regulus' side.
"When?" she whispered at Rowan, who was looking at the Dark Mark like he had never seen it before in his life. "When?" she screamed, her vision blurring with tears.
Rowan's face paled at Adrian's terror-wide eyes and Aquila's tear streaked face. "I-I didn't get a choice," he whispered, his voice trembling. "You have to believe me," he said, his face distraught.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Regulus asked softly, pulling Aquila behind him, hiding her almost completely.
Rowan's eyes widened. "Wh-why are you hiding her? I would never hurt her," he said softly, his face scrunching up with the effort to keep his tears from spilling.
"Why didn't you tell us," Regulus asked in a stern voice.
Rowan's eyes begged the three of them to understand. "You're a Black, Regulus. H-he would never hurt you. I'm just a Mulciber. I don't hold any standing with him. He will kill me," he said. "I'm only seventeen, Reg, I don't wanna die yet," he said, his voice thick with unshed tears.
"You could've told us," Adrian said, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.
The grief in Rowan's eyes turned to anger in a split second. "What, like you could've told us about you and Regulus?" he said, his jaw clenching.
Aquila stepped out from behind Regulus. "What?"
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yooooo. wtff i forgot to update
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