Aquila giggled as she collapsed on her bed, Angelina a fit of giggles herself, and Dudley was slurring rather horribly. As Aquila calmed down, she watched Dudley carefully. He seemed rather comfortable. He was sitting on her trunk, Angelina on the ground, and Aquila sprawled across her bed. And he seemed... happy.

A sharp knock on the door caused Aquila to jerk, but giggle helplessly.

"Aquila, what are you doing in there?"

Aquila quickly flicked her wand to the two occupants and they were instantly sober, the three bottles burying themselves under the bed. Aquila flicked her wand so the door could open and Euryale walked in suspiciously. She eyed Dudley distastefully before glancing at Angelina. "Just talking about the World Cup. Angelina's wicked excited. She reminded me of last year with the Leperchaun gold."

"You know it's dangerous-"

"We've had these tickets for nine months, Mrs. Black!" Angelina protested. "Aquila has to come! I can't go with George alone! I don't trust my actions alone with him. Aquila will at least keep things professional."

"I don't like the idea of you camping out... You know what happened last year."

Aquila glanced at Dudley, sighing. "Death Eaters won't attack two years in a row. The Ministry will place extra protections. Besides, it's not the World Cup, it's just the British Isles finals. Ireland and Wales!" She surged forward on her bed so that she was kneeling, facing her mother. "I need to get Quigley and Connolly's autographs on my bat. And I need Aidan Lynch to sign my jersey! Mum, I have to go. That entire team is entirely Ravenclaw! It's basically my team-"

"Then I'll accompany-"

"My parents will be going with us," Angelina Johnson began, knowing Aquila's mother hated her parents. "They're going to be charming the tent so only we can enter. And we'll have wards on top of the Ministry's wards-"

Euryale pursed her lips. "Who else is going?"

"Well..." Angelina seemed uneasy. She glanced at Aquila. "Cedric was going to go, with Amos and Miranda Diggory, but... but I don't think that's going to happen." Obviously. "George and Fred Weasley, Alicia Spinnet, me, my parents, Aquila."

"Seven. That's a large party. And only two adults?"

"George, Fred, and I will be of age as well. So five."

Euryale wasn't convinced. "I expect a very lengthy discussion later, Aquila."

Aquila nodded and glanced at Dudley. "Leave the door open."

Aquila sighed as her mother stormed away and she gave an apologetic smile to Dudley. "So, my room." He chuckled as Aquila grabbed the bottles from under her bed and distributed them before she moved towards the last box in her room. Paint and posters. She rummaged in it before sipping her firewhiskey. And then cracked open a paint can. "You might want to duck, mate," she heard Angelina say just as Aquila flicked her wand. The paint flew out of the can and lathered the walls in a thin coat, covering the ugly and yellowing wall paper. She cast a drying charm before unrolling some posters and sticking it to the walls.

"They move," Dudley murmured in fascination as he eyed the Quidditch posters. The largest poster, of the Irish Quidditch team, was racing around the insignia. Aidan Lynch, with his perfect smile and his shaggy black hair was gorgeous, floating in the middle of the poster as his team flew behind him. Dudley seemed to look at it a little longer than necessary.

"That's Aidan Lynch. Ireland's best seeker!" Aquila said excitedly, leaping off the bed to approach the poster. Dudley followed while Angelina stayed on the floor, nursing the bottle as she drank from it again. "He graduated my third year. He taught me everything I needed to know about flying. Best bloody bloke in the school. He's a seeker, meaning he has the most important role in the pitch. He has to catch this little flying ball, the snitch. It's worth a hundred and fifty points. The team with the most points, when the snitch is caught, wins." She took his arm and pulled him to another poster. Beaters. "Connolly and Quigley. They graduated my first year, so I never got to play on a team with them, but they're spectacular. They play beater on Ireland's team. That's my position. You have to hit these balls-" she pointed to the rogue bludgers that were swirling around the back of the poster as Connolly and Quigley, "-with these bats. They're an amazing team."

"Aidan's like every girl's wet dream," Angelina sighed. "I'd totally try to go for him, if George wasn't my boyfriend. Second year, we won with him and Fred's talent alone. We stood no chance with Charlie down for a while. Against you 'claws, it was brutal. Had to knock out the whole team."

Aquila laughed, "I remember that match. Didn't Charlie get dragon pox or something from his dragon internship that Christmas break?"

"Bloody horrible," Angelina muttered. "You guys are lucky even your reserves have brains. You guys have the tactic. We have pure talent."

"Talent?" Aquila barked out a laugh. "More like foolish risks." She pointed to another poster. "That's Barry Ryan, Keeper. He guards the goals. Wicked fast. No one's faster. Not even Wood."

"Wood?" Dudley repeated.

"Barking mad captain of Gryffindor a few years ago." She glanced at Angelina who gave out a mournful sigh. "Angelina was absolutely drooling over him. He never took notice. He's so focused on the game that girls are a second thought." She giggled and pointed to the last poster, the widest, but also the smallest. It had the three Chasers side by side. "Mullet, Troy, and Moran. Absolutely deadly chasers. They almost killed that Ugandan player about five years ago. And that was purely accidental!" Her fingers traced the last thing hung on her wall. The Irish jersey. It was signed by everyone but Lynch. "I went to their match a few months ago, during Easter holidays, and Lynch was knocked out cold before I could get an autograph. The rest of them signed it, though. And Lynch owes me a favor."

"Oh?" Dudley asked.

"Yeah, I introduced him to this Muggle girl I met a few years ago," Aquila shrugged. "They dated for a while, almost engaged, but she was fascinated with his gold, and dumped him, taking half of his salary for a year in gold and gifts with her. So he was upset." She shrugged again. "I also got him in touch with the Ireland's team manager, so he owes me for that too. A signature would be nothing."

"Muggles can date your kind?" Dudley asked, surprised.

"Yeah," she said like it was obvious. "We're all humans. It's not like we're incompatable. It's just the matter of secrecy, but the Ministry grants vows with Muggles if things are serious. And once they break up, depending on the character of the person, they're more often than not obliviated, so they don't remember the wizarding world at all, just the person." She shrugged, glancing back at Angelina. "It's not uncommon, but it's not something that happens everyday, right, Ang?"

"My uncle married a Muggle," Angelina put in. "Total surprise to the entire family. We thought the girl was completely magical until the wedding. Of course, the family can't know, but the bloke can." She giggled. "That was a surprise when my grandma accidentally put out a fire with magic and we had to obliviate all the witnesses."

"Oh," he seemed unsure of what to say.

"Well, anyway, yeah. So if it works out, the Muggle's fine. Not, well, it depends." Aquila shifted uncomfortably. "On a happier note-"

"But are the kids like... I don't know... magical?"

"Magic gene's dominant," Angelina input. "The kids are always magical. There's the odd ball that's a squib but-"

"Squib?"

"Nonmagical person, sorry. They come from magical parents," Angelina admitted. "Anyway, there's always that chance, but there's that chance with anyone. My parents both had Squib siblings, but they were killed in the first war by some Death Eaters."

"And the Death Eaters are the bad guys."

"Hun, they'd kill you if they had the chance," Angelina admitted before giggling. "They don't even have to know you. Hell, if you've ever seen the Prophet, our newspaper, you'd be surprised how many Muggles they have access to in a day."

"What do you mean?"

Aquila moved past him, shouting into the hall. "Mother, where's the Prophet. I want to see the Quidditch scores from yesterday!"

"You couldn't do that at Angelina's?" her mother shot back.

"Her parents don't get the Prophet. It's full of sh-crap!"

Angelina laughed loudly, covering up Aquila's almost slip. Yes, her mother would not take kindly to that. "On my nighstand!" Her mother called.

"Thanks."

Aquila quickly retrieved it and was surprised when she returned and flipped it open. The front cover was covered in reports of Muggles. "It has only been a month since he's come back," she informed Dudley as he got closer to look. She pointed to the center article. "Five in Bristol." Another. "Seven in Liverpool." Another. "Fifteen in London." She pointed to another further down the page. "Eight in Leeds." And the last. "Twenty three in Dublin. Whole apartment complex."

"How come we don't notice this stuff?" Dudley asked. "I mean, don't you think we'd notice these?"

"They're so well done that nothing can be thought of them. So far apart it can't be considered organized by your world." She turned the page and Cedric's eyes were there. She faltered slightly, seeing Amos crying over his son. The TriWizard Tournament. "But when we found out he was back, we started to up our, uh, police patrols. The Aurors tracked them but we can never get there in time. It's more difficult to save them than to find them. Death Eaters are discreet. We have wizard folk - mostly people that are growing up in the Muggle world - working in the police departments and Muggle Ministry. They can cover things up." She gently touched the article with Cedric's face on it, almost as if she was remembering something, but she was just trying to get rid of the image of his dead body. "That's Cedric. Too hot for any girl to properly handle. I certainly couldn't." She paused, wondering if Dudley was going to ask any other questions, but he didn't. He seemed to be letting her have her time. She moved to the next article. "And there's Potter. Look at him, so... happy for his win." He didn't look happy in the slightest. He was still mourning over Cedric's body, the press giving no time for him to grieve.

"Were they close?" Dudley asked. Aquila vaguely noticed that Angelina had gone silent, probably still thinking of the boy that had been just a year above her. They were no doubt close, as Aquila took him to Quidditch parties and they were often in matches together.

"Harry and him? Nah." She lightly touched the article, reading briefly about how Harry was possibly responsible for his death. That he was lying. "He and Cedric did the ... the noble thing." He seemed confused by that, but didn't speak. "There's this cup that he has to get to win. Any of the champions do, really. And well, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour were eliminated from the task, so to speak... it was just Cedric and Potter so they grabbed the cup together." She paused. "It was a portkey, I guess. That's all I could hear Potter shouting once they came back. Eventually the rumor mill got around and I found out that they were teleported to this graveyard... This rat killed Cedric and-"

"A rat?"

"Er, we can transform into animals, if we're trained enough," Aquila explained. "This guy was the same guy that killed Potter's parents. Well, not the same, but apparently the same guy that caused Potter's parents to die. So... he killed Cedric and Potter just managed to bring the body back... Somehow Cedric asked him to. To bring it back to Amos and Miranda, his parents."

"How can he ask...?"

"Ghosts," Angelina said carefully. "You know, like the whole soul lingers behind. But apparently only for a second. His soul departed from the world. That was his unfinished business."

"That must have been hard," Dudley said quietly.

Aquila shrugged and turned the page, glad it was over. "They bonded, Potter and him. I guess going into life or death situations does that." She was silent a moment as she skimmed the Prophet. Nothing of too much importance. She paused over the article of Aidan Lynch. Single again. "Oi, Angelina, if you're willing to dump George, Aidan's single and ready to mingle."

"No way!" Angelina cried. She hopped up off the floor and appeared on Dudley's other side. Aidan's smiling face appeared as Dudley shifted out of her line of view. Yes, Aidan was single. "Look at this! He says some Hogwarts friends are coming to the match and he hopes to reconnect with them! That's got to be us!"

"I'm not sleeping with Aidan," Aquila said simply. "He's like... a friend, if that. I mean, totally idolize him, but I'm not looking to reconnect with him in that way. And you're practically married to George. Don't you think, oh, I don't know, he'd not like this?"

"George knows I love him," Angelina murmured. She finished reading the article before Aquila turned the page.

"So yeah, the, uh, pictures move if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed. How?"

"Magic," Aquila grinned towards him. He chuckled and sipped from the bottle in his hand. When she reached the gossip section she scowled and quickly flipped it over. "My mother's favorite section - gossip. She wants any blackmail she can get."

"Oh." He swallowed in fear, though he had no reason to be afraid. It wasn't like he was a bad person. And Aquila already knew he bullied. Hell, everyone bullied. She finally reached the Quidditch scores.

"Fucking hell, Poland lost to Bulgaria again. Means that it'll probably be Ireland and Bulgaria again," Aquila groaned. "No way."

"Bulgaria team's good?"

"Best," Angelina commented. "Viktor Krum, their seeker, about killed Lynch in the match last year. They're bloody beasts out there. Aq, you still got the Bulgarian posters in your trunk-?"

"Yes, but when I was forced to choose who would win last year, I couldn't just hang them both up. That's like treason to Ireland-"

"Do you just have national teams?" Dudley asked.

Aquila shook her head, pointing to the bottom of the page. "Yes, but it's almost training season again, so the matches are just ending for the year. Usually cities end around the beginning of June but Holyhead Harpies, Chudley Cannons, and Puddlemere United just finished some charty matches against minor league teams." She grinned at him. "Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain that was absolutely obsessed with Quidditch, plays keeper for Puddlemere now. Positions for pro quidditch careers are always open. I would love to play for Ireland one day." She glanced back at the scores, blushing. "But that's not going to happen, so... Puddlemere's won the European Cup twice, and Jocelind Wadcock has the highest number of goals ever scored - Chaser, she is. Ireland and Puddlemere are basically the best teams to ever grace the air with their brooms." She blushed when she caught him looking at her. "You probably have no idea what I'm talking about and are amazingly bored right now."

"No, I'm actually interested," he admitted. "Potter doesn't talk about your world at all... Dad's never liked hearing about it."

"Oh, well, okay..." She glanced at Angelina, who was grinning at the younger teen. "Um, well, try outs for the year are during the end of the July, so basically this month. They're open to the public but I need a good excuse to go, because mum hates it when I do. Basically, it's every amazing Quidditch player ever going to one big pitch for an entire week trial. And they do runs and people bet on where they'll end up. It's usually no retrys for professional positions unless you want a different spot or you seriously mess up and are in danger of being replaced. Once you're on the team, though, it's really hard to be kicked off. You have to be dedicated."

"Aquila here is so obsessed with Quidditch," Angelina input. "So if you have no idea what she's talking about, it's usually because of that. She was the only one of her house to attend the Hufflepuff Slytherin game. Everyone knew Slytherin would win, but she still watched that match like it was unpredictable."

"It's a bit embarrassing, really," Aquila admitted. "I can't seem to shut up about it. It's really bad." She shot Angelina a glare. "As I was saying, it's hard to get kicked off. And once you're on, you're basically on until you retire. On the Italian team, there's a fifty seven year old man that plays beater. Wicked arm. And he's going again on the team next season. And Viktor Krum, seeker on the Bulgarian team, he was sixteen when he began to plan on the team. He's only eighteen now. No real age requirement, really. Just skill." She shut the Prophet shut and smacked at Angelina's arm as she tried to find Aidan Lynch's picture. "Hell, Ang, you're like a randy bunny. Stop that."

"I haven't seen George since school got out."

"Then why are you here? Go see him!" Aquila shooed.

"After I get your Krum poster out. Merlin, you should have gone to the ball with him last year."

"He asked Hermione Granger," Aquila insisted. "And Hermione was absolutely stunning. Merlin, she really is gorgeous, but she hides it so well when she does absolutely nothing to herself. I think the entire school wanted her then. Krum showed Weasley and Potter what they always are missing." She glanced at Dudley. "Besides, I'm sure Dudley doesn't want to see the poster of Viktor last year."

"You got it signed!" Angelina insisted, heading for the closet. "And you were the only semi-normal fan that approached him, that's why he actually hung out with you last year." Angelina glanced over her shoulder. "Viktor and a few of his buddies, as well as a French Wizarding school, came to Hogwarts for that tournament. All the guys went barmy for Viktor. He caught the snitch in the World Cup. It's not every day. And since Aquila is so well connected to the world of Quidditch, he had heard of her through Aidan and well..." She presented a poster, unrolling it. Signed and a long note that took up a small section of the poster. "They became good friends."

"He's, uh... rather rough looking, isn't he?" Dudley asked.

"Muscled," Aquila corrected. "But completely daft. Not a single brain cell he can rub together. All he knows is Quidditch - can't even add. That's why they lost the World Cup, because he caught the Snitch too soon." She glanced at the poster. "I talk Quidditch with him, that's it. Honestly, Ang, you make it sound like something he's not. And he's dating Hermione, so-"

"You need to find a boyfriend. We all know Diggory cheated on you with Chang. But she's not invited to the parties, is she? We know what she did and she knows it too. She was your best friend and she just stomped all over that trust." Angelina rolled up the poster carefully. "She's a right backstabber and I hope she realizes it and apologizes. But you really need to start dating again. You don't want to be shipped off somewhere, do you?"

Aquila wrinkled her nose, taking the poster from her friend angrily. "It's already happening. Italy. Joyous, isn't it?" Aquila stormed to her closet and threw the poster back in the box after making sure it wasn't damaged.

"What?" Angelina gasped. "Since when?"

Aquila turned and her eyes met Angelina's dark ones, seeing them shocked and almost taken aback. "Since Diggory, when do you think? A single girl can't be single too long according to my mother. Off to marry the first person that puts up as many galleons as it takes for my mother to get a new wardrobe."

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Know, I know," Aquila sighed. She glanced at Dudley. "This is about the eighth time you've heard me talk about this. Sorry."

He shrugged. "It's stupid, yeah. I'd rant about it a lot more if I were you."

She smiled at him and he smiled back timidly. It was pleasant. Something he needed to do more often. "But she can't do that!" Angelina protested. "That's so middle ages!"

"I'm aware," Aquila sighed again. Leaning against the dry wall, she crossed her arms. "I don't know, she's talking about Blaise Zabini's cousin, Marcello, but I've seen pictures and I'm not spending the rest of my life with that."

"But you can opt out, right?" Angelina insisted. "Like, refuse to marry."

"Women get no say in their marriage contract, Aquila. That's how it was for your father and I, and I learned to love him very much. That's how it will be for you and your husband," Aquila mocked, rolling her eyes. "Oh, don't forget, Aquila, there's another family if Marcello doesn't want you. Nice family, very rich. They'll make you happy until your gradchildren are gray." She glanced at Dudley to see his brow furrow. "Oh, my favorite one, really. Aquila Cassiopeia Black, don't you dare think about joining that team. Your husband expects you to stay at home and you give him many babies. I don't want this Black line dying out, and since your brother can't be contacted, you're the last hope. That Tonks girl, nice girl, is interested in that werewolf and eugh-" Aquila mimicked a disgusted expression. "And Draco Malfoy. Oh, Aquila, you really must have a respectable marriage. It's only proper."

"But you can't! Quidditch! That's been your dream since you were two! Your dad taught you how to fly. He wanted you to fly the rest of your life." Aquila looked at Angelina, shrugging. "I refuse to let you just give up that talent! You're going to be captain this year! You can't just-It's your dream!"

"Yeah, well, my dream isn't going to come true," Aquila said carefully.

"As a concerned friend..." Angelina winced slightly. "You're always more than welcome to come to my place, if you want? Run away-"

"And disinherit anything I'll gain in my dad's will once I'm seventeen?" Aquila asked quietly. "I can't do that. My dad was the last male Black to have children... I have no other family. I can't just-"

"And Sirius Black? Potter's convinced he's innocent. You even told me you ran into him... Stay with him-"

Aquila shook her head, "I need to stay with mother...I'm the last Black-"

"Screw the Blacks, Aquila," Angelina cried. "You're a human being. You live your own life."

"As a Black, I have to keep the bloodline-"

"But if you marry a Zabini, your bloodline would become Zabini, not Black. Your children, regardless of who you marry, will not be under the Black name. Therefore I see no point in you keeping the name."

"I just... my mother and-"

"You know what I think?" Angelina asked quietly. "I think you're terrified. You hate marriage, you know that?" Aquila glanced away from her. "You have galleons up your ass and you know that. So, you know what? I say what? What's the big point? Every guy you've ever dated has been a beautiful human being, inside and out, and you could have married any one of them. But you don't even entiertain the thought because you're so terrified about how your mother thinks of them. The only time you've ever disregarded your mother's wishes for a break up was Diggory-"

"I don't bloody know what I do wrong, okay? Every fucking guy I've been with ends up with them cheating on me!" Aquila insisted. "What am I supposed to do? I don't know what I do wrong! They get sick and tired of me half way through a relationship and spend the rest of the time trying to figure out how to end it. And I thought Diggory was different, okay? I thought Cedric was the one, but he wasn't, was he? Because behind my back, he's fucking my best friend and - and I never knew why. He would never tell me what went wrong. I never knew what I did. And they always do it. They always see someone else behind my back and I'm so blind. I believe the best in everyone and when I see the best, that's all I want to see because their best is who a person is. Their worst is their best. And I don't know, maybe I'll just marry this guy becaues it's guaranteed he won't cheat on me. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? I'm terrified of getting married to someone because I know they'll get tired of me, just like every other guy out there. And wizarding marriages are for life, but a man is allowed to have a mistress, but awoman's not. So if he gets tired of me, I'm stuck in this frigid marriage with whatever kids he wants and he's off fucking little miss perfect maid because he doesn't want me anymore and I can't leave-" She sucked in a breath and put her hands to her face. "Merlin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... to blow up."

"You need to," Angelina said quietly. "Diggory loved you. They all loved you-"

"They cheated on me. They don't love me if they cheat on me."

"You didn't..." Angelina groaned. "Merlin, did you have sex with him?"

"I-" Aquila faltered. "I don't want to answer that."

"You did!" Angelina accused. She sat heavily on the bed. "I take it your mother doesn't know."

"Of course not," Aquila muttered. "She'd throw a fit."

"What's so bad about that?" Dudley asked, confused. "I mean, it's normal, isn't it? Human emotions and reactions and what not."

"In the wizarding world... especially pureblood society, it's a... it's a very sacred thing. A pureblood man expects his pureblood wife to be a virgin when they marry," Angelina explained quietly. "If she's not, the marriage can be void and she'll be shunned."

"But that's ridiculous."

"I didn't know he was going to die," Aquila insisted, tears in her eyes. "He kept telling me how he was talking about marriage and he loved me and... and I thought we were going to get married. He said he picked out the ring and everything. And then-" She frowned. "And then he found Cho Chang. And I kept telling myself he was different because he... he told me we'd get married and it was right before the first task... I don't know... I was so worried for him. The dragons and stuff and he kept telling me it'd be fine and-" She trailed off as she noticed Dudley shift uncomfortably. "Sorry. Merlin, okay, topic change. That's really awkward and inappropriate."

"No, I'm good," Dudley said, but he really wasn't.

"Merlin's beard, Aquila... You know you can't go through with these marriage contracts because of this," Angelina whispered.

"I know," she muttered. "But my mother would be so disappointed and... and I have no chance, have I? Without this. I'd rather be stuck in a loveless marriage than one that ends in heartbreak and loneliness."

"Bloody hell, you need a hug." Angelina pushed off of the bed and hugged Aquila tightly. "You have to tell her. She can't make these contracts."

"After the World Cup," Aquila stated firmly. "Because that's after Quidditch trials. And she can legally lock me up until I'm seventeen."

"That's just three weeks," Angelina sighed. "Alright. But you better hope she doesn't find out."

Aquila nodded and stepped away from the woman. She glanced at Dudley. "So, any suggestions on what to do next?"

"Er, not really, no."

"I've made the night awkward," Angelina sighed. "Sorry."

"No, I think you two need to talk, so I should probably go." He nodded to the bottle. "Thanks for the, er, mermaid tears. That's actually really good stuff." A giggle left Aquila. "Right, see you later."

"Bye," she nodded. He moved to leave, but he turned to face her suddenly, a little nervous.

"Uh, you doing anything tomorrow?"

Aquila glanced at Angelina, but the girl shook her head. "There's a match on," she shrugged. "Ireland versus Northern Ireland."

"Oh," he shifted. "Right-"

"But I'm willing to read about it in the papers if you have something planned," Aquila offered, interrupting him from saying something about leaving. He seemed to perk up a bit and nodded.

"Yeah, uh, Mum left a note under my door. She wants you over for dinner tomorrow. That is, if you're up to that. But, uh, before that, if you want to like head to the park or something-"

"That sounds great," she smiled in what she hoped was hopeful. He nodded.

"Great, great," he trailed off, thinking. "Uh, how's..." He scratched the back of his neck as he thought. "Three?"

"Perfect," Aquila nodded.

"Right, bye. Uh, nice to meet you, Angelina."

"You too, Dudley!" Angelina called. He shuffled out and Aquila waited until she heard the front door close before she turned to Angelina.

"Merlin, Mum's going to hate me."

"You like that boy, don't you?" Angelina grinned.

Aquila shrugged. "He's sweet.. I mean, yeah, I do like him. I don't know about any future romance or anything, but he's really a gentleman. His mum adores me, even after my own mum went a bit ballistic on them."

"Again?"

"I'm not taking her anywhere anymore," Aquila sighed. "Anyway, yeah so... I feel like it's better if we're just friends... I mean, I just... the contract thing and I don't want to get hurt because I think he has a reputation as... being around."

"He's cute. I mean, he's not gorgeous or anything, but... if he spruced up a bit, he could be a hidden gem."

"I mean, his looks don't bother me. He's really smart," Aquila admitted, sinking on her chest. "He's a great guy. Listens when I drabble, and he asks questions... I could see us going somewhere, but... I don't want to get hurt."

"So, you'll just never move on from Diggory, instead?"

She elbowed Angelina. "Aren't you supposed to be finding George?"

"Off the radar. I told him to owl me and we can meet up, but not heard from him yet." She shrugged, brushing her black hair back. "I'm worried about you, Aquila. That's why I came today?"

"Are you still keeping my owl hostage?"

"Yeah, because you aren't unpacked yet. She could be crushed by a box or something. I'm only looking out for her," Angelina winked. "But I'm serious."

"I know... I just... I don't know. I just want to make it through the two Quidditch weeks."

"You know, you have an extra ticket for the match... you can bring Dudley," Angelina offered. "I'll ask dad to get Ministry approval-"

"I-I don't know if he'd want to, I mean, he barely knows you guys."

Angelina just grinned. "Ask him. If he says yes, I'll arrange for you lot to visit my Manor for a few days before. Quidditch trials, too, if he wants. You know how we camp out in the stands and usually just head over with some of the guys over to the match."

"Aidan's still saving us seats?" Aquila asked, biting her lip.

"Yup, and according to him, there's a spot open next year. If you think you can balance Quidditch and school..." Angelina grinned. "He said to tell you to try out. It's beater. Quigley's retiring. He's starting to get some bad beater's arm."

Aquila's eyes went wide. "No!"

"Just try out. You make the team, you make it. You don't, you don't." Angelina shrugged. "If you make it, well... You have a whole year to train. We'll all get you ready this year, if you want. George and Fred would be more than happy to, you know."

"You're giving me a heart attack, Ang," Aquila admitted. She forced herself to breathe. "I mean, I ... I would love to, you know that, but Mum-"

"It's your dream, Aquila, remember that. Sleep on it. I need to head home."

"You're going to make me sit by myself all day?"

"I think you need it," Angelina admitted. "Just make it through the weeks and Floo me when you find out. I'll have to get Dad's approval right away."

"Right, I'll do that," Aquila murmured. "Angelina?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. It means a lot that you ... you stopped by."

Angelina laughed. "What are friends for?" But when she left, Aquila didn't feel too helped at the moment. She had to avoid her mother for three weeks. Once that was up, she'd be ... well, she could tell her.