Aquila took out the small photograph when she found that she had a moment alone. Oliver was clearly quite grumpy, and he was trying to block the camera with his hands. Drops spattered on the surface of the photograph. She swiped at her eyes, realising that she was crying. She hadn't seen Oliver in five years now. It would only be half a year now for Oliver, but she was with the fairies, and time was inconsequential here. The human part of her felt the two years sharply, missing Oliver and her family dearly. But the fairy part of her wanted to stay here forever, never aging. Her blood would have allowed her to remain forever young, and she would become more like her fairy brethren over time. But she was there for a reason, she couldn't stay. She couldn't abandon Oliver.
"Who is that boy?" a voice asked, from over her shoulder. She turned languidly, making sure to keep the dreamy expression the fairies expected.
"He is a boy that I knew." she said, in something of a sing song voice. The tall, willowy fairy queen sat down next to her in the bed of flowers.
"Do you not know this pretty boy anymore?" The fairy queen touched her long, thin fingers to the photograph. Fairies liked beautiful people the best. They couldn't help themselves. Especially if these people were young. She had to be careful now, so the fairies wouldn't get the idea to seek Oliver out and take him to make Aquila happy. They didn't understand that they would steal years of his life and make him an old man.
"I don't know him anymore. He is a part of my past. A past that is gone and should remain gone." The fairy Queen cocked her head, stared at the photograph for a moment longer, and then stood.
"We have come to a decision, Starry-Eyes. The rest of the folk have requested she-who-speaks-for-Dumbledore." Aquila carefully tucked the photo of Oliver away into a pocket and rose.
"We have heard of Dumbledore many times in the long years. We have heard what he did for the water-people." Dumbledore had been striving for increased rights for the mermaids, particularly those in the Black Lake of the castle.
"He thinks we should all be the same." Aquila said, cautiously, as she walked with the fairy queen through the starry trees of the grove that this clan lived in. The way the fairies saw things was as though the stars had come down to live among them. Everything glittered and sparkled in a way that was impossible, even in the wizarding world. When she arrived amongst a gathering of many fairies, the hum of talk and singing grew louder, all of them reaching out to brush their fingers against her as she passed. They had given her a gown of delicate silver thread, as though she were a princess. She smiled serenely at them all. She crossed her fingers, hoping and praying that she could leave here at long last. Hoping that she could complete her mission and go home to him. To Oliver.
"Starry-Eyes." the fairy Queen said, once she was seated in her willow tree throne. "My people are all in agreement about your request of alliance." Aquila held her breath.
"I thank you all for your kind consideration." She beamed around at them all, but her insides were twisting with trepidation.
"This council has deliberated only a short time." the fairy queen began. Aquila almost laughed. "But we have decided this." Aquila dug her fingernails into her palms, but she kept her face perfectly calm. "This court of fairies will ally with the wizards known as the Order of the Phoenix." Aquila sighed with relief, and she almost cried at the thought of returning home. The queen looked quite sad.
"I am afraid that we must ask you to leave so that you may convey this to your Dumbledore. We do not want you to leave!" the queen cried. Aquila's heart was pounding, but she had to make sure her face was the appropriate picture of sorrow.
"My heart shall break to part from you all, but I must serve the greater good." The fairy queen stood and embraced her, looking the epitome of heartbreak. "Goodbye, Starry-Eyes." she whispered. All the colour seemed to drain from the world, and everything lurched just beyond her sight. She fell onto her knees, her hands sticking to the autumn leaves that littered the forest floor. She stood up in a cirlce of fly amanita mushrooms, feeling dizzy and incredibly ill. She held her stomach for a second, and waited for the world to stop spinning.
Oliver felt the wind being driven from him by the force of quaffle that was nestled in his arms.
"We'll call that a day! Great save, Wood!" Smith called out from halfway across the pitch. Oliver straightened up on his broom, and held the quaffle under his arm as he descended.
"That was a great practice team. Oliver, you're playing out of your skin. Well done." Oliver nodded at the praise in thanks, but it didn't penetrate. He was numb to it. He could feel the captain's eyes lingering on him, concerned. Oliver had just shown up to practice one day six months ago in a sullen silence, and he hadn't said much since. Oliver knew his performance was improving with time, but his mood was worsening. He was incredibly numb to everything that happened around him. Everything he was perfunctory. His teammates would try to talk to him, and he would reply, and be friendly, but he just couldn't engage himself anymore. He gathered up his belongings, said not a word, and apparated back home. Every time he felt that squeezing sensation, a small hope kindled within him, thinking that maybe she might be there waiting for him when he got home. But when he dropped his gear bag, he was met only with silence and darkness. He felt like his heart broke every time she wasn't there.
Six months ago she told him she had to go. She didn't know when, but she would be gone, and it could be for a long time. When he had woken up that morning, she'd been gone from his side. He thought maybe she'd be back that night, that she wasn't gone on her mission just yet. But she hadn't returned, and here he was, standing in the kitchen, staring at a photograph pinned to the fridge with a magnet of a rubber duck. It was a photograph that his father had taken of himself and Aquila sitting by the edge of the lake. He watched himself turning around to his father, scowling, but Aquila turned around and smiled beautifully. Oliver had to close his eyes and scrunch up his face to fight back the pressure that welled up behind his eyes. He took a steadying breath and walked away. He opened his eyes and stopped short.
A woman, taller than he remembered stood before him. Long wild black hair flowed all around her, with sparkling silver flowers braided around her crown. She wore a dress of starlight, and her face was sharp and striking.
"Oliver!" she gasped. Tears streamed down the woman's face. Oliver stared at her dumbly. She looked like something otherworldly. The woman threw her arms around him, and cried onto him. He stood in shock for a moment more before folding his arms around her.
"Is it really you?" he whispered. She looked up and took his face into her hands. She examined every inch of his face, before kissing him very softly and lovingly.
"I missed you." he said quietly, fighting back tears. Aquila didn't seem to care to fight her tears.
"It's been years for me. And not a day went by that I didn't think of you." He didn't understand, but he didn't need to. He clutched her tightly to him, stroking his fingers through her tangled hair.
"Did everything go as planned?" he asked. He knew he could not know the details of what she had been doing, but he had an idea. She nodded.
"Yes. I made it all work." She had been with the fairies. That was the only way to explain why it had been years for her.
"I thought you were never coming back." Oliver said, his voice small and frightened. She held him at arms length, looking fierce.
"Nothing could keep me away. Nothing."
As they held each other in the darkness of their home, a bright slivery light suddenly burst into the room. A big shaggy dog stood in the room panting and staring at them. Then came a voice.
"Hogwarts has been breached. Come at once." Oliver looked down at Aquila, who was staring sternly at the spot where the dog had been.
"I need to go." she said, clutching her wand.
"I'm coming with you!" Oliver said at once. She looked as though she was about to protest, but she closed her mouth and nodded.
"We'll need brooms."