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—THE PAST FEW MONTHS WERE GONE IN A BLUR. Rigel had been having detentions with Umbridge everyday. Dumbledore was supposed to be under arrest, due to the army Hermione created, but he escaped and Umbridge was now headmistress.
If you pulled up Rigel's sleeve, you'd see many different sentences cut into there. Some examples were,
'I must not tell lies.'
'I must respect my teachers.'
And the worst— 'I am a disgrace to the Black family.'
On the third one, though, when Rigel was first told to write that, he quite literally threw the bloodquill across Umbridge's office, shattering a few plates that had the pictures of cats on it— Umbridge liked that she had another reason to give him detentions, threatening to make his friends go through the same thing if Rigel didn't write that line.
Rigel's sexuality was now all over the daily prophet and everything because he had refused to go on a date with girls who wouldn't leave him alone (Ginny Weasley being one of them) so he just confessed— merely shrugging whenever someone gave him the daily prophet.
He actually liked that he was now no longer hiding his true self.
Umbridge, however, was a homophobic bitch and would find small reasons for Rigel to have detention with her, meaning that the third line was because of this.
••
It was now Yule break.
Rigel walked into 12 Grimmauld place after being apparated there by Sirius, and immediately rushed to his room, not wanting to deal with the Weasleys.
He shut the door closed, starting to feel lightheaded for some reason.
Feeling something drip down his arm, he pulled his sleeve up, sighing when he realized his wounds had opened somehow.
The door opened, making him pull his sleeve down immediately.
"You're back." Tom stated, walking in his room.
Rigel rolled his eyes. "Obviously."
Tom frowned, noticing his pale face. "Rigel, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." He immediately said.
"Right..." Tom nodded, still looking suspicious. "Rigel."
Rigel hummed.
"You're bleeding." Tom pointed to his sleeve, which was covered with blood.
Rigel cursed and stood up, immediately looking for a different sweatshirt.
Tom walked over to him, grabbing his arm.
"Watch it!" Rigel hissed angrily.
Tom didn't reply, pulling his sleeve up. "Who did this?" He asked after a few seconds of silence, his voice dangerously calm.
"Umbridge."
"Why haven't you told anyone?!"
"What am I supposed to do?! Everyone thinks that I'm claiming that Voldemort's back and they don't believe my 'claim'! Who was I supposed to tell?!"
"Sirius—!"
"What was he going to do, Riddle? Nothing. He can't do anything."
"Then you should've told me!" Tom exclaimed angrily.
Rigel frowned deeply, looking shocked and hurt. "You don't care for me—"
"Bullshit." Tom cut him off. "That's complete bullshit. I have never cared for anyone more."
Rigel scoffed. "Sure."
Tom was about to answer, but the door opening again caught their attentions.
Sirius and Remus walked in, both of them stopping at the sight of Rigel's bleeding arm.
"Ri—?!" Remus stepped up, looking alarmed. "Are you alright?"
"Yes."
Sirius walked over, grabbing his arm, earning a painful hiss from the boy. "..I must not tell lies..I must respect my teachers— I AM A DISGRACE TO THE BLACK FAMILY?!" Sirius immediately lost his calm look.
"Sirius—"
"Who did this, Ri?" Sirius asked.
"It doesn't matter. You're making a big deal out of this—"
"Umbridge." Tom cut in, walking out of the room and looking at Sirius. "Coming?"
"Paying Umbridge a visit?" asked Sirius, earning a nod from Tom. "Fuck yes."
••
"Pwetty!" Cierra giggled, pulling on Rigel's hair.
Rigel didn't even look fazed, his face never leaving his book.
Remus sighed, "Ri?"
His son hummed, looking up from his book.
"What's bothering you?" Remus asked, sitting next to his son and daughter, who was on his son's lap.
"Nothing. Why?"
"You look like you've got something on your mind, and somehow, you're not minding the fact that your sister's annoying you."
Rigel looked at his sister, who was still pulling his hair. "Cierra? Play with this instead." He said, wandlessly accio-ing a toy block and giving it to her.
Remus sighed, pulling out something from his pocket. "Anyways, here. Soak your hand in that, it's a solution of strained and pickled Murtlap tentacles, it should help."
"Thanks, Rem."
••
That night, Rigel was laying on his bed, not even bothering to sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep properly in... ages. Heck, the last time he slept peacefully was probably before third year.
Someone knocking on the door caught his attention. "Come in."
Tom opened the door and walked in.
"Oh, you're back." Rigel mumbled. "What happened to her?"
At that question, Tom smirked. "I made her write with her blood-quill for an hour, then Sirius almost cruiciod her to death, only stopping when I asked him to. She's dead now, though."
Rigel gaped. "You know when people find out about this, they'll know that you're Lord Voldemort." He pointed out.
"Oh, yeah." Tom nodded as if it was nothing. "The portraits in the headmaster's office witnessed everything. They know who I am now... anyways, we better start packing."
"Right." Rigel rolled his eyes, then stopped. "Tom."
Tom stopped, trying not to look shocked by the fact that he was called by his first name. "Yes?"
