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"Oh, hell, Quilly, I'm so sorry," James Potter said softly, quickly hugging the Slytherin girl, putting a hand on the back of her head and stroking her back as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Not that this isn't nice and all, but why are you sorry?" Aquila asked, her voice muffled by James' robes.

James drew back, holding her at arm's length. "I know the anti-Slytherin thing has been really bad, but I swear, we've been trying to get people to stop."

Aquila took a deep breath. "It's not that bad for us, you know? The ones who can defend themselves. It's horrible to come to a school you've heard your whole life is the best and will be your home and you'll have family there, and just, get hung upside down for being in a certain house," she shrugged. "I remember when we were ten and Sirius' letter came home and you could barely read it because his handwriting was so shaky and there were blotches all over the paper. He said he'd been to McGonagall to get his house changed but apparently, that wasn't possible, and he told how Bellatrix shot a hex at him that made it difficult for him to walk straight," Aquila swallowed, trying to fight the tears.

"He didn't even mention he had any friends till the third or fourth letter, the first few were just full of apologising and how he'd understand if they decided to send him to Durmstrang. Reg and I cried the whole night and in the morning we wrote a letter to Sirius in terrible, terrible handwriting and we told him we were proud of him and we asked him to tell stories of the lessons at Hogwarts, and when we didn't get a reply for days, we were so worried, Dad caught us one time standing in front of the fireplace with Floo Powder in our hands," she laughed.

James drew her into his lap and removed her cap, gently brushing his fingers through her hair. "What did your Dad say?" James asked softly, not wanting to disturb the calm atmosphere formed.

She looked at him. "He just laughed and helped us design a card for him, and he charmed it to roar like a lion everytime it opened."

James frowned and removed a strand of hair from her face. "I don't recall Sirius getting any such cards."

"He was an unorganised boy, must've lost it somewhere," Aquila shrugged, setting her head on his shoulder.

James racked his mind for Sirius ever receiving any such thing during their first year, but he could not recall anything like this happening. In fact, if he remembered correctly, Sirius barely received any mail at all during the initial days and that was the reason for him to send so many letters in one sitting. "Love, have you maybe considered your dad never sent it?" He asked slowly.

Aquila sat up and frowned. "He won't do that," she said, then paused, "would he?"

James ran a hand down her back, partly to comfort her but partly because he didn't know what to say. He hadn't meant to plant a seed of doubt in her mind about her parents (not that they'd left much to do) but to ruin a childhood memory? Also, even if her father had done something like that, James certainly didn't want to be the one to have told her about this. It was a family matter.

Aquila didn't say anything after that. A minute passed. Two. She suddenly sat up and began gathering her stuff and put on her cap. "I- need to leave. Goodbye." Before James could say anything, she had rushed out of the room, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.

- - -

"If it's true, it might actually give us an explanation for a lot of things, I think," Regulus said, running a hand through his hair, mussed from sleep.

Aquila had immediately come towards the dungeons and shouted in his mind to WAKE UP QUICKLY AND MEET ME IN THE COMMON ROOM, NOW, REG! Regulus had come up grumbling and rubbing his eyes only to find his sister pacing the common room, her cap lying on a nearby armchair and running her ringed fingers through her hair.

"What is it? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where? Should I get-" Regulus approached her, coming to a stop after seeing her bloodshot eyes.

"Have you ever heard Sirius talk about the lion card?" Aquila sniffled.

Regulus frowned. "No, why? Where's this coming from, Aqi? You're really freaking me out."

Aquila put her hands on his shoulder and shook him. Hard. "Don't you get it?" she said.

Regulus widened his eyes as the truth dawned on him. "The old man never sent it, did he?"

"Oh yeah? Explanation for what else?" Aquila asked, setting her cheek on her fist.

Regulus shrugged. "I don't know, just felt cool to say."

Aquila glared. Regulus suppressed a laugh. "And you're saying James thought of this?" He leaned back, setting his feet on Aquila's chair.

"Yeah, he was the one who came up with this," she yawned, then glared pointedly at his feet, "and I don't recall giving you permission to occupy my chair."

Regulus promptly moved his feet to her lap and wiggled his toes on her stomach, tickling her.

"I'm gonna start calling you Ronnie," Aquila said abruptly.

Regulus immediately withdrew his toes. "Is it because I tickled you?"

"No. Well, partially, but imagine how much it would confuse the fuck outta people," Aquila said, wiggling her fingers and watched as green colour painted itself across her brother's toes. Regulus craned his neck slightly to look at his feet and hummed in appreciation.

"Why Ronnie, though?" Regulus asked, wiggling his toes again.

Aquila shrugged and snapped her fingers and two of his toenails painted black. "It's such a Muggle name it's gonna give a heart attack to many people."

"It's weird," Regulus said. "I like it."

"That should be our motto. It's weird, but we like it."

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this gif is making me uncomfortable

also, james calling aquila 'quilly' made my heart do a ~thing~

ALSO I BELIEVE 15K READS ALLOW FOR A DOUBLE UPDATE.

even tho y'all dont vote :(

SO SURPRISE!

bahahah im so nice y'all

༻hy༺