Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
—"3 BUTTERBEERS." BLAISE ORDERED AS THEY SAT DOWN IN THE THREE BROOMSTICKS. It was finally a Hogsmeade weekend, meaning that the students could relax all day. As the waiter left, Draco and Blaise immediately started getting into a conversation, but Rigel tuned them out.
"—and then that mudblood comes over and—"
Rigel rolled his eyes at his cousin's 'superiority'. Honestly, Malfoys have egos bigger than their bank accounts, and that was saying something, considering how rich they are.
His eyes roamed around the pub, eyes stopping on a certain 6th-year who just walked in with his friends.
Thomas Gaunt.
Tom, who didn't notice this, sat at a table and got in a conversation with his friends.
Rigel frowned, realizing something. Why is.. Voldemort.. so heartless and mean to others.. but not to him and his family?
Was it because he asked for their safety or because Tom genuinely cares about them..
Rigel let out a huff full of disbelief. Lord Voldemort caring for something.. never. Right?
"—and I was like 'I think it's time we teach Weaselbee how to respect his superiors'!" Draco finally finished.
Blaise let out a snort, which turned into full-blown laughter. "That's hilarious!"
Draco rolled his eyes, but joined in on the laughter.
Rigel sighed, taking a sip out of his butterbeer. It was times like these that he wondered why he could never.. laugh.. or smile.
To others, it may only look like a mask. But it wasn't. The only times Rigel smiled were when he was around Remus and Sirius, and that was it.
Never had anything made him laugh wholeheartedly.. and he honestly never knew why.
However, sometimes he would join in on the laughter between his friends, and that was rare.. This was one of the rare times..
"—and why am I not handsome?!" Draco feigned hurt, while Blaise was rating people's looks.
"Your face is just fine, but we'll have to put a bag over that personality."
Rigel choked on his butterbeer, letting out a half-hearted laugh with Blaise joining in, which just made him laugh harder.
Draco looked extremely offended— not that the boys could notice; Blaise was holding onto Rigel, laughing on his shoulder, while Rigel kept trying to drink his butterbeer, but failed because of his own laughter, which made Blaise laugh even harder.
Tom, who was pretending that he was listening to his friend, started to look around the pub rapidly, trying to look for the sound that made his heart beat faster.
His eyes widened comically when he noticed it was Rigel. Why had Rigel's laugh made his heart beat faster? Surely this was just a coincidence..
Rigel, who felt someone's eyes on him, looked around, his smile vanishing and turning into his usual emotionless face when he noticed who it was.
Tom immediately looked away, nodding along to what his friend was saying.
"I'm going to go take a walk," Rigel announced, standing up when Draco and Blaise nodded.
He walked to the door and stepped outside of The Three Broomsticks, looking around the village.
••
Rigel walked into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. Coming to Hogsmeade, even though he disliked what most people came there for (candies, dates, etc..), was a bad idea, maybe.
However, he needed a quill.
Rigel was always delicate with his letters. From his neat cursive writing to his neat Black family crest, he took great care of his letters.
Nobody knew this except for Sirius and Remus, who were the only ones to get letters from Rigel, so that explained it.
However, they didn't know why. It was just a letter.
Rigel didn't care, though. Writing had always relaxed him, be it an essay, a story, or a simple letter.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the shopkeeper asked, "What kind of quill would you like, Mr...?"
"Black." Rigel monotonously replied, enjoying the flash of fear and awe in the man's eyes. Everyone knew about the great heir Black, of course. They all knew what kind of a great pureblood he was, and how he acted, looked, and everything— so this was nothing new to Rigel.
"Right— Mr. Black." The man finally snapped out of his state. "We have many kinds of quills, but I think you might like this one."
Rigel looked at what the man was pointing at. It was a plain black quill.
"It can have the family crest if you'd like, Heir Black."
"I'll take it. How much?"
"8 galleons."
Rigel pulled out the money and gave it to him, snatching the quill out of his hands, and putting it in the inside of his coat.
••
Rigel walked into Honeydukes Sweetshop after taking a walk around the village alone. He was now looking for Blaise and Draco, and Honeydukes seemed like the only place the two would be at.
He was right when he heard the two bickering, making him rub his temples.
Someone putting a hand on his shoulder made him pull out his wand immediately and turn around.
"Woah," Tom raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't scare me." Rigel glared, putting his wand back in his pocket.
"Sure."
"What are you doing here?"
Tom pointed to a few 6th-years in the shop, which were his 'friends', or 'followers'— Rigel didn't know, nor did he care.
"They wanted to come here. I, however, hate candies."
Rigel rolled his eyes, but didn't answer.
Tom let out a sigh, wanting one simple answer to a question that has been bothering him for so long. "Why do you hate me so much?"
Rigel stilled. He stayed silent for a few seconds, which made Tom look at him questioningly.
"..How can I not?"
"That isn't a question you're supposed to be answering with another question." Tom said, trying to ignore the way his heart cracked a bit.
"I don't care." Rigel rolled his eyes, wanting nothing more to leave already, but when he looked at Draco and Blaise, who were still arguing about what kind of candies were the best— he realized that it wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
"Right." The older boy nodded.
"Your friends are leaving. Better leave with them." Rigel nodded towards the 6th-years that were waiting up on Tom.
Tom didn't answer, merely letting out a sigh, and walked out of the shop with his friends.
