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—IF RIGEL WERE TO BE HONEST, HE DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THE MONTHS THAT FLEW BY. It was now the first day of Summer break. Rigel woke up, frowning at the clock.
It was only 5 A.M
Why the bloody hell had he woken up so early.. again?
He sighed and sat up, walking to the bathroom.
He washed his face and brushed his teeth, not bothering to change outside of his sweatpants or put on a shirt, he walked out of his room.
••
Rigel walked into the kitchen.
"You're awake early," said Tom, looking up from the daily prophet, his heart immediately hammering in his chest when he realized Rigel was shirtless.
"Nice observation skills, Riddle." Rigel rolled his eyes.
"No, but really— why're you awake so early?"
"I could ask you the same."
"Raid planning." Tom pointed to a few papers next to his breakfast. "You?"
"Dunno." Rigel shrugged, taking an apple from the table and bit into it once, immediately throwing it away.
"Rigel, are you feeling alright?"
"Why do you care?" Rigel retorted immediately without thinking, frowning when Tom's face fell. "Sorry— it just came out.."
"It's alright." Tom nodded as if it were nothing.
Rigel sighed, feeling disgusted with himself for some reason, and walked out of the kitchen
••
"Here." Tom said as he sat down in front of Rigel at the library, pushing a few parchments, a quill, and ink towards the boy.
"What's this?"
"Write."
"Write?" Rigel asked, looking confused.
Tom nodded. "Write. Whatever you're feeling— write. Writing relaxes you, does it not? Go ahead. Do it."
"I.." Rigel stopped, at a loss for words. He merely nodded and put the book in his hands away, taking the quill, dipping it in ink, and started writing.
Tom watched his every move and laid down, frowning when Rigel moved on to another parchment already, not even stopping once.
Just how much was Rigel keeping it inside?
And for how long has he been keeping it inside?
About 30 minutes later, Rigel finally stopped, looking at the parchments. His eyes widened slightly when he realized that he wrote on 4 parchments.
"Now what do I do?" asked Rigel.
"Burn it."
"Burn—? Tom— what?"
"I've had my fair share of feeling alone, Rigel." Tom shrugged. "Just trust me."
Rigel nodded, wandlessly burning the parchments.
"Feeling better?" asked Tom.
"A little." The young boy admitted. "Thank you."
"Anytime." Tom said, trying not to look shocked at the fact that Rigel had just thanked him with no hesitation.
••
"Cierra—" Rigel stopped and sighed, not having the heart to tell his sister to leave him alone.
"C'mon, Cierra. Let's leave your brother alone." said Remus, picking his pouting daughter up and walking out of the room.
Sirius sat down next to his son, who was blankly looking at the fireplace. "Alright there, Ri?"
