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It was like a bucket of cold water in her face, she quickly disapparated with no concrete location in her mind, which was so very dangerous, but relied on her bond to Regulus to quickly take her to the location where he needed help.
The Longbottom residence.
Either Dumbledore was stupid enough to remove the Fidelius charm because 'Voldemort was dead' or it was a very weak charm because Aquila waltzed right in. The house was in a better condition than the one at Godric's Hollow, the one which Aquila refused to think about. She refused to think about anything other than the fact that Regulus needed her help right now. Refused to think about the only man she had ever fallen in love with, lying dead with his bright eyes absolutely dull.
Not as she heard the unmistakable whoosh of spells firing throughout the house. A loud cackle echoed through the house as the same green halo that was going to be burnt behind Aquila's eyes till kingdom come surrounded the house.
The Death Eaters were here, and they had killed someone.
Aquila hurried in to where the gate was torn apart from the hinges. She shut out the image of the broken gate in Godric's Hollow.
"Aquila!" Regulus shouted from the top of the staircase, a very bad position to be in, as he fought Bellatrix and a young boy.
She immediately responded to her brother's call, going up from the other side and standing next to him. "Who's the lad?" she shouted over the voices and sounds of spells firing and hitting.
"Barty Crouch Junior," Regulus said, grinning. "Reckon old man Crouch is gonna get a right shock when he finds out."
Aquila felt the adrenaline of the battle drown out her sorrow, releasing all her frustration into her spells, making each one hit harder than the last.
For Lily. A jet of red light from her hands.
For Alice. A scream from Crouch Jr. as he's hit.
For Frank. A stray piece of wood flying to knock down the Death Eaters coming.
For Neville. Sweet, little baby Neville. A spell chaining one masked Death Eater to a pillar.
For Harry, a baby whose life was destroyed before he even learnt how to walk.
For James. Her James. James that would never fly on a broom again, never wink at her when he shoots the quaffle through the hoop, never send her random flowers or learn facts about poisons to make conversation with her.
And then, she allowed the tears to break free, sobbing uncontrollably as she shot spell after spell at the Death Eaters, the people who blindly followed the man who killed a man who was so kind, so beautiful and so happy. Who killed a girl who was so brave, so fiery and so giving. Who manipulated a man into betraying all his friends, the ones who had taken him in at the age of eleven, defended him from his bullies and trusted him with their lives.
And she showed no mercy.
Kindness was a patient practice which they had taken away from her.
Ruthlessly, she fought, never caring whether it was her cousin or long lost uncle or dead mother. As long as they were here, and they were hurting her and her loved ones, they were dead.
Half an hour later, there was almost a pile of bodies, all 'taken care of' by Aquila and Regulus. They stood there, their hands and clothes covered in blood, theirs and their enemies'. Not everyone in the pile was dead, of course, but quite a few were.
Alice and Frank were also okay, Frank was limping and Alice most likely had a concussion, but they were alive. And so was Neville.
Regulus hugged his friend, Frank, his most unlikely friend. The friend who had wanted him to be his secret keeper. Who had trusted Regulus enough. Who had seen the mark on Regulus' forearm and not flinched away from it. Who had made him his son's godfather.
Regulus came back, and put his arm around Aquila's shoulder. It made her tear up again as memories of the night drowned her. She clutched her brother's shirt and sobbed into his chest, shaking her head as if it would wipe the memory.
"He's gone, Reg, he's gone, what am I supposed to do?" she cried.
Regulus ran a hand down her back. "I'm here, Aq, I'm here, we'll get through this, we will," he said, soothing her.
But a spell hit her in the back of the head, and she fell unconscious.
- - -
It wasn't a good feeling, having chains dig into her wrists. She was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, and she really did not want to deal with Bellatrix laughing again.
The sound gave her a headache.
"Ah, you're awake now?" Bellatrix cackled. She turned her gaze next to Aquila, where Regulus was in a similar position. "Itty, bitty twinsies," she mock-pouted. "I told auntie dearest what would happen if the two of you didn't submit." She grabbed Aquila's hair and pulled it back, baring her neck to Bellatrix's wand. "I told you you'd regret everything," she whispered in Aquila's ear before dropping her hand from her hair.
"Now you have a front seat to the show!" she shrieked, clapping her hands.
Barty Crouch Jr, the boy who was a year below Aquila at Hogwarts, looked where Frank and Alice were bound and gagged on the floor. He smirked at the scene, and wordlessly, a red light shot out of his wand, hitting Frank square in the chest.
Frank screamed out loud, and along with him, Regulus and Alice. Aquila could only watch in horror, as she saw the visual effects of what the curse did to her every time Bellatrix hit her with it.
Speaking of her cousin, Bellatrix took inspiration from the younger boy and shot a Crucio at Alice. Sweet little Alice Longbottom who made sure her uncle gave them free ice cream every time. Who was now screaming and crying next to her husband, their only crime being being on the good side.
Aquila didn't know for how long it went. It could have been hours, or it could have been days. All she knew was that Frank and Alice were murmuring something unintelligible now, and Regulus was still screaming.
Bellatrix was still cackling in delight. "We've broken them!" she said, laughing maniacally. Regulus screamed expletives at her, and Aquila felt his anger like a torrent wave in her heart.
She knew she felt his anger, because it spiked up, and it crashed down.
As a jet of green light came from Barty Crouch Jr's wand, directed towards her twin, and then Aquila's chest felt empty.
Regulus fell silent.
He fell on the floor.
He didn't look up.
Aquila felt as if someone was cleaving a knife down her chest, fingers digging in the cavity till they found her heart and squeezed it for what it was worth. And the found a way to keep her alive and do it all over again.
Regulus.
No.
He was her brother.
Not him.
Anyone but him.
Only - only a few moments ago — they had been laughing, hugging each other, and Regulus was promising he would be there for her.
But he wasn't and the small place in her mind where they were connected and the large space in her heart where he was and the same part of them, their magic, it was all gone and it was filled with a dull roaring and she couldn't walk away.
She wanted Crouch to fire the same spell at her. Fire it away and be done.
Anything was better than this pain.
Because first they took away her James and now they took away her Regulus.
And there was not an ounce of fight in her.
Because on that Halloween night, along with James and Lily and so many other innocents and Regulus, oh dear Merlin, Regulus, the part of her that wanted to fight was also dead.
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