She sighed in content as the sun flitted across her face. A heavy arm was around her middle and holding flush against a body, giving her a sense of protection. Merlin, and her head hurt. The events of last night rushed forward and she quickly concluded who was spooning her. Dudley. Merlin, her mother was going to kill her. The notes she had written in the wee hours of the night hopefully reached who they needed to, and since Angelina Johnson did live in Surrey, she knew her mother would hopefully believe that story. Doubtful, but at least she wasn't the type of mother to go knocking on every door in order to find her daughter.

She, at least, trusted Aquila to make it back home where she would be reprimanded.

Dudley wasn't awake, she could tell by a quiet snore that left his body. Not loud or obnoxious by any means - it certainly hadn't woken her. His breath fanned across her shoulder, warm, yet giving her goosebumps at the same time. As she shifted to get into a more comfortable position, she felt ... well, just how a male reacted when they were in a compromising position with a girl. It was impressive. Not something to write The Prophet about but certainly a destined satisfier.

But she had to go to the loo to pee. But then again, she didn't want to run into Petunia or Vernon... or Harry. They'd think that the two of them had gotten into something and... well, she didn't want them to hate her. She wiggled again and Dudley groaned, his arm tightening around her. She could feel his other arm move under the pillow under her head. Okay, so she was going to have to wake him, then.

"Dudley," she hissed quietly. She didn't want to be too loud. "Dudley-"

"What?" he muttered, burying his forehead against her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. She could still smell it herself.

"I need to use the loo-"

"Bloody hell!" he gasped, and immediately he pulled away from her, falling out of the bed and taking the blankets with him. She flushed and hurriedly pulled her dress down from where it had ridden up while she slept. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," she waved him off, standing. "Was pleasant, actually." She bit her lip uncertainly though as Dudley seemed to refuse to move from the ground. "Um, your parents are still here, yeah?"

He glanced at the clock on the nightstand before shaking his head. "Church. No need to sneak around."

She glanced at the clock herself, finding that it told her the time in numbers, which was strange. 7:23. It was ridiculously early. How early did they even leave for church. "It's seven in the morning."

"It's a long drive. About a half hour, and they meet some friends for breakfast," he shrugged. "They stopped making me go once I started secondary school."

"Oh," she murmured. She'd never been to church. She didn't even know what religion Muggles worshipped. Was it those people in the telly's? Katie Bell, a Gryffindor in her year, had Aquila stay over once and her father did nothing but sit in front of the telly the entire visit. "Right, be right back, then."

She found the loo with ease and did what she needed to do before glancing at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a bit haphazard, but she smoothed it down carefully before fixing her dress so that it was presentable. On her way out, she nearly ran into the Boy-Who-Lived. "Oh, sorry, Potter," she winced, stepping away from him.

"S'alright," he muttered. "I can't believe you shagged Dudley."

She narrowered her eyes, "We didn't do anything. I was drunk, there was no way I would have even made it to my house because I fell asleep in that device that moves whole groups of people-"

"Cars," Harry informed her.

"Yes, and I went to bed after I scribbled a few notes... Er, thanks for sending those. My owls at Angelina's house since the move, and I haven't got it back yet," Aquila said awkwardly.

"Since when were you friends with her?"

"Girl Quidditch players stick together," she winked. "I'm friends with Katie, Angelina, Alicia, well I was with Cho, and ... well, yeah, basically. Sadly, Slytherin has no girl players, so I can't have that whole united house going, but it's a nice thought." She stepped past him to go to Dudley's room. "My mother didn't write back did she?"

"No. Should she have?"

"She must have been asleep, then," Aquila murmured thoughtfully. "Which means she hasn't noticed I was gone."

"But Hedwig came back without a note."

"Oh," she winced. "Right, well, then I best make this believable."

He tried to ask what she meant but she only entered Dudley's room and shut the door behind her. "Is it custom for everyone in your family to wake early?"

"Only the idiots," he muttered. He was back in the bed, the blankets spread out, staring up a the ceiling. A flush was still on his cheeks. She approached him cautiously and slid back into the empty spot on the other side. "How's your head?"

She grimaced, mimicking his position but with her eyes closed against the sunlight. "Awful. I don't know what you put in beer, but it's foul tasting and ridiculously sloshy feeling."

"It's yeast, that's gone bad, and left in a jug for a few months or something," he admitted.

"That sounds horrendous. Firewhiskey's made from fire of a dragon heating up a vast ... pool, if you will, of tears of merpeople."

"Dragons?" Dudley asked quietly. She hummed in affirmation. He shifted in the bed and muttered a harsh, "Ow!" Her eyes flew open to find him holding up a stick... well, not a stick, her wand. "That's yours."

She giggled, taking it from his hand as he eyed it wearily. "Must have fallen out of my dress," She shrugged. She stared at it a moment before dropping her hand, and letting it rest beside her. "Thanks."

"No problem... All my life, I've been taught magic's weird, you know? I mean, magic is weird, still, but it's not bad, is it?"

"Depends on how it's used," Aquila admitted. "There's some good people in the world. They can save lives with just two words. And then there are bad people. They can use a different two words to end a life in a heartbeat."

"Are you good or bad?" Dudley asked quietly. It was a good question. She was quiet a moment as she considered it, her eyes closing.

"My family's not very good. My mother tried to make things right, going good, but she married a bad guy... who turned good as he died... It's all very complicated. But I come from an ancient family that has always... valued their pride over their sides. Most of their pride rested in the Dark side. Personally..." She turned her head towards him, her eyes opening. He wasn't looking at her, didn't seem to notice, but his eyes were closed and he was almost peaceful looking. "I'm a good person. I want to help people, I want to save lives and... do good things. I hope that makes me a good person. I don't murder or torture."

"Now that last bits a lie," he insisted, a smirk on his face. "You in that dress is torture."

She laughed lightly and soon he joined her. Her light giggles turned into a full out laugh and she shoved his arm lightly. "What about you? Are you good or bad?"

The smile fell from his face and his eyes opened as he stared above him. His jaw tensed and she wondered why. He wasn't a Death Eater. He wasn't a serial killer - well, at least she strongly suspected he wasn't by the posters of sports people on his walls. But then again, serial killers could like sports. There was no law against it - not in the Wizarding World at least. "Well... I'm certainly not a murdering lunatic." He spoke carefully, as if she was a wild animal he would scare away. He spoke like he didn't want to cause a misunderstanding, wording things in a clear way. "I, well, I used to-" He paused. "That's a lie. I bully people a lot. I fight a lot. But I mean, I wouldn't see some three year old kid in the road and punch him in the face or anything. So I'd say... A bad guy that's trying to be good."

"You don't like bullying?" she asked him, her head turning to the ceiling as she thought over what he said.

"It was fun at first. I was little, maybe seven or so. And I liked the... the power it gave me. Kids looked up to me, you know? I liked that. And as the years wore on, well... It wasn't just bullying anymore. As you get older you have a reputation to keep up. Start to slack or do something that doesn't fit what others see you as, you start to lose that power." He glanced at her and she glanced at him in response. "Piers, Dennis, Malcolm... The whole lot has, uh, been apart of this gang clique since grade school. There's no cool kiddie birthday parties anymore, it's parties and drugs and girls and crime and... it's just like a vortex."

"Is that why you hide your intelligence?" She hadn't meant to say it and she quickly backtracked. "I mean, from the moment I met you, I knew you were smart. But Potter doesn't seem to think so, nor does ... well your friends." He gave a shrug. "What is it you really want to do with your education?"

"I'm going to study accounting-"

"Not what your dad wants you to study," Aquila interrupted softly. His eyes didn't waver from hers. "I mean, what do you want to do?"

"I like sports," he stated. "But I don't want to be a professional player or anything. I'm not that good at rugby... It's not really a career, is it?" He winced. "In your world, I guess it is, but here it only lasts a couple of years before you're replaced with a new, younger, and more athletic player." Aquila nodded in agreement. "But I want to be a doctor. Not a surgeon, I have a horrid steady hand, but like a real and proper doctor. Works in hospitals and treats people."

"You've never told your parents this?" she asked quietly. He shrugged. "You should. Can you transfer what you study in those schools of yours? Into something more relavent in what you want to study? I'm sure they must be supportive of you."

"Dad wants me to take over Grunnings, so-"

"Do you want to take over Grunnings?" she questioned.

"Well, no."

Aquila nodded quietly to herself. "Will you ever tell them?"

"Probably not." He paused. "Maybe. Sometimes I think about just blurting it out, sometimes I stop myself just as I'm about to."

"How long have you wanted to be?"

"Since I broke some kids arm when I was thirteen."

She snorted in surprise, immediately regretting it as her head hurt. "Bloody hell... well, if you can cure this headache of mine, I'll start calling you Doc, alright?" He laughed but she groaned at the sound and clutched her head. "Okay, bad idea. Merlin, I need like a potion or something. Potter probably doesn't have any and he's not smart enough to know how to brew it..."

"Well, I don't know about potions, but we have Advil."

Her eyes sprung open. "What's that?"

"I can't believe I'm getting out of bed willingly before it's even noon," he muttered as he rolled out of bed. "Stay there."

She obeyed, curling on her side and burying her face in the pillow. It still smelt of his cologne, which she would admit she was starting to really like. She knew the door was still open, and Potter was probably snooping, but she didn't care. She was almost an adult, for Merlin's sake. She was allowed to do whatever she wanted. If that included sleeping in her neighbor's bed so what? She just couldn't let her mother find out. Simple.

She had almost accidentally drifted off to sleep when she heard footsteps approaching. She opened her eyes and lazily looked over towards the door where Dudley was approaching with a glass of water and a different plastic container that rattled as he tossed it towards her. She caught it immediately, her Quidditch reflexes kicking in. She read the front label carefully and sat up, ignoring the pounding in her head as best she could. She took the glass from him as he sat beside her and tried to figure out what to do.

"What is this?"

"You take two of the pills. It makes your headache go away."

"Is this Muggle medicine?" she asked, fascinated. "And does it actually work?"

"Yeah."

She struggled to get the bottle open, but eventually Dudley stopped laughing at her and took it, opening it with ease. He shook out two pills and passed them to her. She narrowed her eyes at them but eventually put them on her tongue. "They don't dissolve," she said carefully, grimacing as it began to taste bad.

"You swallow them whole," he explained. Oh. She did so, and sipped from the water to help them down. She didn't feel any instant relief and she waited a moment, staring off into the distance, as if that would change. "It doesn't happen right away. It takes about a half hour."

"Oh," Aquila murmured. That didn't mean it worked, then. Worked to her meant right away. "Well, then." She sipped from the water again, unsure of what to do with it. Muggle medicine... How did they survive? It was so odd.

"How late can you stay?"

She smirked as she glanced at him. "How late am I allowed to stay?"

He shrugged. "No time, really."

"Well, what are your plans for today?" she asked him, watching him closely. He seemed more comfortable around her than he had been before. She didn't know if it was the fact that she had drunkenly crashed in his bed, or the fact that she had gone to the party with him in the first place, but whatever it was, she was glad to see it.

"I usually sleep in until about one or two on Sundays and then watch telly, so pretty much nothing. Why? Do you have an idea?"

"Well, not really," Aquila admitted. "You can help me fix up my room, if you'd like. You don't have to, of course. I have a few posters and whatnot to put up and I need to paint the walls... But I'm open to other options-"

"That sounds great, actually," Dudley nodded. He paused then and glanced at the clock. "But not before noon?"

"Bloody hell, of course not." She fell back on the bed, holding the glass of water and staring at it as she rested it on her stomach. "I can crash here until noon, right?" she asked hesitantly.

"I would have said otherwise," he replied with a shrug. She knew he would, but she had years and years of her mother's pureblood this and that shoved down her throat. She took her wand from her lap and contemplated a spell to use. "So... how does your... magic stuff... where do you get it from?"

"No idea," she admitted. "No one knows. Some witches and wizards can have children that are born without magic, whereas some Muggles can have children with magic... We tend to believe that all humans once possessed magic, and as time wore on, the amount of magic diminished as squibs were born - er, nonmagical folk from magical parents. And that was how you lot came about. Years and years of squibs marrying squibs until the magical gene ran dormant... Of course, that's only a belief. No proof."

He nodded carefully. "Are you done with that glass?"

"What? Oh, yeah." He took it from her before she could ask where to put it and dropped it on the nightstand beside him. Aquila played with her wand carefully, contemplating what she'd do. "Does it freak you out when I use magic? Like at my house or a few days ago when I cast the impervious charm?"

"Not really... It's hard to see. It sort of looks like a ripple in the air."

"You mean you can't see the sparks?" she asked curiously. She turned on her side abruptly, giving him her full attention. "Just ripples?"

He nodded. "Should I see sparks?"

She frowned, "I suppose not..." He closed his eyes and relaxed into the bed. "Right, well, sleep." But even after he had begun to snore softly, Aquila bringing the blankets back to cover them both, she found she couldn't. She had slept a while, if her calculations were accurate. So she rested her head on the pillow and watched each breath he took. And if she was still long enough, she could almost hear his heart beat. Muggles... they had no idea what sort of threat was bring thrown in front of them. Voldemort was not going to be kind. He'd kill the Dursley family just because of Potter, regardless of if Potter liked them or not. It would still make Potter feel guilty, and if anything could make Potter feel guilty, then he'd be weaker with grief.

She knew she sat there for hours staring at him, thinking and plotting, replotting, and then planning. And then she grew bored with that and began to devise Quidditch strategies, aware that the boy wonder across the hall could potential try to get into her head and steal them. But she doubted he would. He was, after all, not even a fifth year. Dudley turned his body towards her and they were mere inches apart. It felt like electricity between their bodies. Merlin, she barely knew the guy. Her eyes stared at his own, despite his being shut, and she just watched him quietly, as she had been doing. Aquila hesitantly lifted her hand to touch the chain that was hanging from his neck. She was careful not to wake him as she turned it so that she could read what it said.

But it was just a bunch of numbers. Was this some Muggle form of identification? She had no idea. Petunia didn't wear any, and from what she could tell, neither did Vernon. Perhaps it was just a piece of jewelery? She went to drop it his large frame moved closer to her until his arm was firmly around her waist, pulling her face into his chest. She knew he was probably exhausted - how much sleep did he have the night before? She could have sworn it was only around ten or eleven when they left the party. And it was nearly ten now. Twelve hours of sleep? Unless he stayed up last night while she was sleeping. She didn't know... Merlin's beard, he was holding her, and she was allowing it.

The last time she had been in this situation... well, Cedric was just announced as the Triwizard Champion for Hogwarts, and he had snuck her into the Hufflepuff dormitory. For Hufflepuff's being loyal, he certainly wasn't. How many times had he slept with Chang? She didn't even bother to ask. She knew, because Cho Chang would sneak out some nights to no doubt see him. How dare she betray her friend like that? How dare Cedric betray Aquila? How dare either of them betray her. Cedric at least could have had the decency to break up with her first, but no.

She didn't know how long she was being held by Dudley, but when he finally awoke, she pretended to be asleep. He slowly retracted himself from her, muttering under his breath. "Sorry, sorry-" It would have been amusing, but she fought the smile from appearing on her face. When he was finally detachted from her, her fingers slid from his chain and he rose from the bed. She heard him leave and wondered if he was just going to leave her to wake up on her own, but she heard the shower running and when he was back, it was after the shower had cut off, and a fresh scent permeated through the room. She opened her eyes when she was sure he was decent and sat up in the bed. Glancing at the clock, she noticed the time was perfect for her to head home and claim a sleepover.

Dudley raised an eyebrow as she climbed out and raised her wand to her dress. His jaw dropped as it began to transfigure into something more modest - a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She fluffed her hair, using her fingers to comb it through, and shrugged at him. "The dress was too fancy for my mother to believe."

"Right," he murmured. He drew his eyes away from her and played with his hair. She noticed the chain sticking out from his shirt, the same chain as before. It was wet. Did that mean he didn't take it off? Odd.

"That chain on your neck," she said as she sat on the edge of his bed, using her wand to make it. "Is that sort of like an identification card?"

"Er, sort of," he admitted carefully, as if it was a touchy subject. "It was my Uncle's. He and I were close."

She sensed that this Uncle was no longer around. "Oh."

She strummed her fingers along her knees as he did a few things that seemed to be a daily practice, before she watched him face her. "Want lunch?"

She hesitated. "I don't want to-"

"Potter!" he barked into the hall with a quick smirk her way. "What's for lunch!?"

She smiled at that and stood from her seat, following Dudley down the stairs to the kitchen, where Potter was banging around. He cooked? "Do you want help?" Aquila offered. "I don't know how to make much, but-"

"Er, yeah, sure," Harry blinked in surprise. No one helped him? Aquila smiled brightly and cracked a few eggs onto an already sizzling pan.

"Breakfast for lunch, Potter?"

"Well, you did just get up," he defended. Aquila laughed quietly and did as he instructed, making casual conversation she was sure to include Dudley in on. "Erm, well, there were apparation sounds about an hour ago, I'd say." Aquila looked to him in surprise. "They went to your house."

"Probably a friend of my mother's," Aquila admitted quietly. "Maybe some Ministry officially that's insisting upon my marriage to his eldest son, heir to the fortune of Blah and House of No-One-Cares. The Ancient and Noble House of Black would be most honored to marry the house of No-One-Cares and the House of Black would be most delighted to inform Aquila that her marriage must result in a successful production of an heir by the second anniversary," she scowled bitterly. She flipped the bacon with more force than neccessary. "Ugh, honestly, I should just elope and watch her stroke out from the surprise. No doubt Ev's already done that."

She turned off the stove once the bacon was done and Potter moved to plate it as she wiped off a few grease burns on her wrist. She grimaced at them as they burned, but it wasn't that bad of pain. She got worse in Quidditch. She glanced at Dudley, "I loathe marriage, just so you know. I don't know if Potter already does know that about me, but it's entirely unneccesary in the Wizarding World. I've seen how broken my mother was after dad died, and I refuse to get that close to someone." She smirked as she glanced down at a plate Potter passed to her. Food. "I already made that mistake once and it hurts more than I'd care to admit. Love is pain and pain is Quidditch. Therefore my one and only true love will remain Quidditch."

Potter laughed. "We should fly sometime."

Aquila frowned as she sat at the table. "Can't. My broom's been locked up and heavily warded."

Potter winced. "Really?"

"As well as all potion ingredients and whatnot."

They ate quickly, avoiding the topic of magic, and Dudley explained to her what Rugby was, before she offered to do dishes and she did them. "You still want me to help paint your room?" Dudley asked.

She grinned, "Sure, Doc." He snorted at the unexpected nickname. "Well, you did make my hangover go away. And if Mum has a guest, well, she can't blow up about me not coming home last night." She glanced at Potter. "What are you up to, today?"

"Potions essay."

She wrinkled her nose. "Have fun, then."

Dudley followed her and she giggled as they reached the sunshined street. "If we run into my mum, you're helping me on a Muggle Studies project."

"A what?"

She winked at him, "Muggle Studies. It's a class. Can you tell me the distinct purpose of a toaster?"

"Er, yeah, that's easy."

"And what about a television?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Then she'll believe it," Aquila smiled at him. He was confused, but she opened up the front door and blinked in surprise at the dark skinned woman sitting on the couch uncomfortably. "What are you doing here?" She pulled Dudley in and shut the door.

"Who's this?" The woman smiled, looking over the boy. "Moving on so fast?"

"This is Dudley," Aquila said carefully. "He lives down the road. He's helping on a Muggle Studies project."

"Some project," Angelina Johnson agreed. "That's why you left my house early this morning and had to retrieve him, hmm?"

"Of course, Ange," Aquila winked. "We're going to decorate my room. Join us? Dudley, this is Angelina Johnson. I spent the night at her house last night." As the smile lit up Aquila's face, Angelina laughed and shook her head.

"Him?"

"Like I said, Muggle Studies," Aquila laughed. She led the both of them up to her room. "You know, Potter lives nearby, right?" Aquila called back to the woman. "You could like talk Quidditch strategy or something."

"I have to think of strategy first, any tips?"

"Sod off, Johnson." Her mother's door flew open as she got to the top of the stairs and Aquila faltered slightly. "Um, I mean, please, Angelina, would you make yourself at home?"

"Last minute- If you went to that party-" Her mother began.

Aquila gave a heart-warming smile. "Of course not, mother. You told me not to go. I went to Angelina's instead and we just talked about school and did a few projects-"

"You know it's dangerous to travel."

"My parents have strong wards up, Mrs. Black," Angelina said easily. "And our land has enchantments from the founding of our house-"

"Very well," Euryale said stiffly. Her eyes flittered to Dudley. "You-"

"Muggle studies project," Aquila said quickly, grabbing Dudley's arm and pulling him into her room. She slammed it as soon as Angelina followed and locked it, letting the seventh year put a strong ward up. "Bloody hell."

Angelina laughed brilliantly and glanced at Dudley, who looked a bit uncomfortable. "How was that party then?"

"I learned a new game for our own parties," Aquila informed her.

"Yeah, she's actually pretty wicked at it," Dudley said hesitantly. Angelina grinned. "We aren't going to paint your room, are we?"

Aquila snorted and opened up the trunk at the foot of her bed. It was empty, all her magical items stored in another trunk in the cupboard under the stairs. But she waved her wand to remove a glamour and Angelina whistled as she saw the steady supply of firewhiskey. "Where did you get this?" she asked the owner. Aquila passed her a bottle and glanced at Dudley.

"Want to try wizard alcohol?" she asked. "Or are you alcohol'd out?"

He took the bottle from her and read the label. "Firewhiskey?"

"Burns on the way down, but does wicked things for your head. No drinking, there's always just pretending we're up to no good to piss of Mum." Aquila glanced at Angelina and winked. "Kinky stuff and what not. Us Quidditch players can be really limber."

"Drinkings good," Dudley admitted.

"That's the spirit," Angelina grinned. "I quite like this one. Where did you pick him up?"

"He helped me move in," Aquila shrugged, shutting her trunk once she placed the glamours back on and broke the seal, sipping from it with a slight grimace. "I say we get pissed, and Angelina can inform me why she's here in the first place." It was agreed and Aquila took satisfaction in the fact that he didn't sputter when he drank from his own bottle, but instead seemed to be intrigued by the unexpected burn of the alcohol.

"Is this the stuff that was made by dragon flames and mermaid tears or something?" Dudley asked. She grinned at him pleasantly, sitting beside him on her bed. Yes, he was an intelligent one, wasn't he?