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Adrian had asked to meet with Regulus.

Naturally, Regulus fell sick to the brink of death a day before they were supposed to meet, meaning Adrian didn't get the chance to apologise or betray him.

Any way the wind blows.

Either way, Regulus had been hesitant about going, considering what had happened last time he had listened to an old friend's plea. Aquila had surprisingly been in support of the matter, saying that Rowan was his friend, Adrian was his. . .significant other. There was no need for Adrian to betray anyone, considering he didn't even have a Dark Mark.

But Regulus had insisted that Aquila go, to which Aquila had reacted by splashing cold tea in his face.

"He's your boyfriend, I'm not going to go ask him 'why did you want to meet my brother'," she said incredulously.

"But I dobt wabt him to thibk I'm avoiding him!" Regulus said, wiping his face with a towel, his voice heavy with his cold.

"Aren't you?" Aquila snarked, whacking him on the head with a towel.

Regulus whined. "You're bot allowed to hit me, I'm sick."

"I will hit you if you say stupid things," Aquila said from the kitchen, bringing out the smoking small cauldron she had kept on the stove. "Drink up," she said gently, tipping the contents of the cauldron into Regulus' mouth. His nose instantly cleared, his mind more alert.

"Is that Pepper Up?" he asked, drawing his sleeves over his hands. Aquila shook her head.

Sifting through the mail, her fingers grazed a letter with a black envelope, or rather, a Black envelope, with their family's seal in red wax on the flap. The letter was addressed to Orion Black in a fancy cursive that could only be Walburga's.

"Received mail addressed to our dad from our supposedly dead mother," Aquila said, her mouth full of a sandwich.

Regulus scoffed. "Go deliver it," he said, sliding into the blankets. "Take James with you. Make a day out of it," he said, mockingly waving his hands in the air.

Aquila pointed the letter at him. "Just to spite you, I will do just that."

"You forget he's a Quidditch star!" Regulus called out in his cold-ridden nasally voice.

Aquila grinned, tossing a flask at him which contained his next dose of potion. "You forget I'm his girlfriend."

- - -

"Come on, then," James said, running his hands through his rain-drenched hair. "If I don't leave soon, Sykes might actually drag me by the ear."

Aquila squinted up at the sky, which was as grey as you expected the London sky to be. "Why does he want you out?" she asked him as he came by her side, sliding her warm hands into his, his calluses brushing against her soft pads.

James slung an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to kiss the top of her head. "He doesn't want me out, I had to fight to get an off today," he grinned.

Aquila leaned more into his side, the rainy weather settling a chill on her bones. "Do you want to get something to eat? I can feel your ribs," she said, poking at his stomach.

"You said you wanted to go to your house?" he deflected, swatting her hands away.

Aquila nodded, taking out the letter. "Drop this off to Father, listen to his old man speeches, then reach home before midnight," she said, ticking off the items in her head.

"Why midnight?" James asked, frowning at the sky which was looking like it was going to rain.

"I've got to give Regulus his dosage," she replied, shuffling closer to him as a crowd of muggles emerged from a building.

He tucked her into his coat. Internally, Aquila went 'aww!' Externally, she smiled at him like a normal person would.

They went into a little pub sort of place, a place where everyone minded their own businesses, and they had a quite date in one of the booths at the back, until James had to go, and Aquila had to go, and they both bid each other a kiss goodbye, and went on their ways. For now, everything was well.

- - -

"You are the weirdest couple I've ever seen. You lived alone in a house for years, and you communicate by letters from the grave?" Aquila asked her father, who was looking at the letter gingerly, his cup of tea levitating in the air next to him.

Orion shrugged. "Might as well open it. Worse comes to worst, it could be a howler."

Aquila lifted a shoulder, grabbing for her tea with a snap of her fingers as her father opened the letter, cringing in case it was a howler.

Good news — It was not a howler.

Bad news — It was written on red paper.

"So either that is a Valentine's Day card or something really disturbing," Aquila observed, taking a slurping sip of her tea.

Orion gave her a disgusted look at her slurp. "I feel both options are disturbing enough," he said, opening the letter with hesitant fingers.

Dearest Orion,

I hope you are not upset by my will-reading. I would give flimsy excuses you would not believe, and it would lead to dissatisfaction, something that neither of us want.

If I have delivered this letter to the correct address, then one, if not all three of our children are present with you, I hope.

On the back of this letter you will find an address which is of a house that belonged to my late grandmother. Should things go south with Regulus, Aquila and Sirius, I wish for all four of you, along with any others our children wish to bring, to go to that house and stay there until things have settled down and you are out of danger.

While I do not doubt the ability of my children, I will still keep their best interests at heart and always protect them.

With love,

Walburga.

"Well, that's a load of crap," Aquila snorted as Orion heavily put down the letter. "Are you crying?"

Orion sniffled lightly. "She was my wife, Aquila. Whatever she might or might not have done in your childhood doesn't change the fact that she gave birth to you and she is the reason you and Regulus can be witch and wizard without a wand."

Aquila scoffed. "Should I be thankful to her that she and you stood by and did nothing while your brother's sister tortured the crap out of us? Should I be thankful that she drove my elder brother away from the house and away from us?"

Orion stood up in anger. "What happened to you as a child made you stronger," he said, his low voice communicating his anger more than his shouting could.

Aquila smashed her cup on the ground. "We didn't need to be strong, we needed to be safe," she hissed. Letting out an incredulous laugh, she turned towards the door. "You know, every time I think that we can go back to the times where you were actually a parent, you say shit that fucks up all my hopes," she said, and slammed the door shut.

It was late evening now, having spent more time at the Black Manor than she had anticipated, and Aquila opted to walk to her apartment to clear her head.

But of course, there was a war going on, and Aquila was a young witch with a magical ring on her finger and a very, very powerful magical signature. So she wasn't exactly surprised when she felt the presence of someone or something behind her.

"This is a dangerous time to creep up on people, Professor," Aquila called out, shifting her head just enough to catch the silver beard in her peripheral vision.

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore appeared beside her, his hands behind his back and the cry of a phoenix in the distance. "I consider it bad manners to creep up on people in general, Miss Black, but I trust your instincts enough."

Aquila sighed, having no time for the old fool's nonsense. "What can I help you with, Professor?"

She turned to face him as she reached her apartment building, the lights in her apartment switched off, Regulus most likely down for the night.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as his phoenix settled on his shoulder. "I want you to join the Order of the Phoenix."

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hello 

HELLO

I AM BACk

with hopefully frequent updates since im in a writing sort of mood nowadays

also one of you commented that there wasnt enough james-aquila moments nowadays, so here you go!

it's not very james potter-esque for a jp fanfic if we're bein honest but oh well

also wattpad flagged my fic?? for carrying sensitive images?? on the dark mark gif thingy??

idk how it's bad, but im sorry if  it bothered anyone, ive taken it down!