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Okay, dammit. Regulus had left precisely eleven minutes ago and Aquila was already panicking.

It's not everyday your twin goes to meet up with the guy who outed him and was your almost fiance and also your ex best friend and also your tiny crush for a little while.

So, uhm, yeah. Not everyday.

She supposed it would all be fine, but Aquila couldn't shake off the unease that chewed her up inside. Nothing in life was ever as happy and dandy as this.

And let's be honest, Aquila knew Rowan well. Mostly because they were the same side of the coin, and Aquila knew that if she was in Rowan's position, she would never apologise for what she did. It was terrible, but so were they.

So when she got Regulus' loud panic slamming in her head, she was nearly not surprised as she grabbed her coat and fought the anger inside her.

Her apartment building rattled with the force with which she slammed the door.

She tried contacting Regulus again, her frustration building up as she sent thoughts against a wall. The Dark Lord had found some way to block their connection, and she was not happy about it.

So when a very angry girl showed up at the Leaky Cauldron, the barkeeper had the good sense to not question anything and tell her everything that had happened.

- - -

"I never thought you would be into chains, brother," Regulus said, spitting out the blood in his mouth from when a random Death Eater had punched him.

Rowan stood to the side. "I was always Slytherin to the core, Regulus. I would always self-preserve before anything else."

How could he, in the presence of his master? Oh yes, the ever-so-mighty Tom Riddle was here too.

The aforementioned Riddle smiled lightly. "I have always admired this charming snark that is ever present in the Blacks. Unfortunately, your sister's bravado seemed to diminish the moment I took out my wand, and rest assured, Mr. Black, you'll find the same happening to you."

The temper in Regulus' eyes flared up visibly at the mention of Riddle's wand on Aquila, and so, Regulus just smiled grimly, stared the creep in the eyes and spat on the spotless white floor, making pale, idiotic little Lucius Malfoy cringe. "Aquila may have been afraid when you put your wand on her without her fucking consent," Regulus snarled, the chains rattling, "but when she comes for me, and she will, she'll hang you and every one of your measly little soldiers by the balls."

Some of the people who were in school with the twins physically cringed, including Rowan. Regulus knew Rowan wasn't happy about this turn of events, but Regulus also knew Rowan could very well be acting.

The Manor shuddered as Lucius clutched his chest, the wards around the house linked with his own life. "She's here," Lucius said, his gaze unwillingly cutting to Regulus who was now grinning through the blood in his mouth.

Tom Riddle's face pulled up into a grimace. "Bellatrix, take who you think is the best and guard the door. I should not see her face in this room unless it is on her dead body."

Bellatrxi bowed her head. "Yes, my lord."

It still made Regulus cringe how Bellatrix was willing to bow down to this man, how she raised her wand on her own cousins, and Regulus wondered, not for the first time, how easy life would've been if they had just run away with Sirius when they had the chance.

The Manor shuddered again, and Lucius slid down to the floor, his temple beading with sweat. "She's shaking the wards from the core."

"She should not be able to get in, not unless she kills you," The Dark Lord said coolly.

"Don't worry, she'll do that too," Regulus said.

Suddenly, the manor went deathly quiet. Regulus saw Bellatrix and her group eye each other, then the front door on which all of them had their wands raised. No sound came from anywhere, no one spoke, even nature had gone quiet.

And then the door flew off.

It landed on one of the Death Eaters, who raised his wand in an attempt to stop the door from falling on him, but it seemed as if the door had a life of his own and was intent on pressing down the man.

Bellatrix cackled with glee as Aquila's hands were wreathed in crimson fire, her eyes glowing red. Literally.

Regulus looked at Tom Riddle, who merely looked bored. Lucius looked green with the amount of strain on his wards, and also maybe because Regulus was pretty sure Aquila had cleaved apart the wards with her bare hands.

Before Bellatrix could fire a spell at her, Aquila hissed in anger, and with a small flick of her fingers, Bellatrix hit her head on the wall and fell unconscious. "You deserve so much worse than this, and I'll make sure I'm there the day you die," Aquila snarled, her voice not sounding human.

Now Riddle looked a bit worried. He tried to mask it under a mask of arrogance, but damn if Regulus didn't know how to read a person. In front of him, Aquila simply snapped her fingers together and Regulus' chains gave away, making him slump down in the mess of spat-out blood and spit he'd created.

Regulus cringed at his past self for spitting in a perfect position.

Nearby, he saw Tom Riddle take out his wand and elegantly push his sleeves up, as if he was about to ask a lady for a dance, not duel with one. Aquila turned to Riddle as if he was a magnet, and a cruel smile curved on the corner of her mouth.

For a moment, Regulus met Rowan's eyes across the hall, and a similar terror passed through them.

Riddle whipped his wand around, creating a spark of red lightning, twin to Aquila's, skitter on the floor. Aquila met his sparks with ones identical of her own, making a small fire blaze in the centre of the hall.

Back and forth, back and forth, their spells danced, and if for a moment it seemed like one was winning, the other would quickly make them draw back.

It seemed like the duel would go on forever, when suddenly one of Aquila's spells hit Riddle on his arm, making a portion of his shirt sleeve hiss as it burned. He looked at it with his eyes blazing, and looked up at Aquila, who was standing ready for another spell.

To everyone's surprise, Tom Riddle simply bent his head a little in her direction, a smile playing on his lips. With a roar of magic, he lit the room on fire and disappeared out of there.

"Fucking coward!" Aquila screamed, her eyes dimming back down to their original colour, and she ran towards Regulus, a shield protecting her from the fire. Regulus was slumped on the floor because of the anti-magic potion the Death Eaters had given him, the chains draining his energy.

"Reg!" Aquila shouted. "I can't disapparate! What's the way out?"

Weakly pointing towards the fireplace, Regulus muttered. "Floo."

Aquila nodded and heaved Regulus up with her magic. From the other side of the fire, Rowan and Lucius were also screaming for help.

Lighting up the fire, Aquila pushed Regulus into there and sent him to the house James and Sirius were living in. Somewhere out of the fire, Rowan ran towards her, panting.

"Aq!" he panted. "Please don't leave me, I swear I had no choice!"

Aquila dug through what had happened since the moment her brother left the house in Regulus' memory, and one scene caught her attention.

Grabbing a pinch of Floo Powder, Aquila slid into the fireplace, mentally keeping her location in mind.

"I was always Slytherin to the core, Rowan. I would always self-preserve before anything else," she hissed, and vanished in a roar of green smoke. 

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tadaaaaaa

im so sleepy rm but here you go, hopefully i can get you guys the next chapter this week as well

HOPEFULLY

can anybody guessssss what's gonna happen with harry's birth?