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—THE WEEKS PASSED BY. It was now November and Rigel hadn't been seeing Tom for months, since the older boy was almost always on raids.
However, Rigel had been getting.. better.
He now could eat a normal amount of food without feeling nauseous.
And he had been spending more time with his sister and Remus— not Sirius, though, because he was always on the raids Tom went to.
"—yes, that's pink." confirmed Rigel when his little sister pointed to the color pink in the book he was holding.
Cierra clapped excitedly, giggling when her brother started kissing her all over her face.
Remus smiled softly, watching his older son play with his daughter.
Times like these were rare.
Especially because of the fact that Rigel felt extremely alone almost every second of everyday.
However, it was slowly starting to change, and Remus kept praying that it wouldn't go back to the way it was before, because he needed Rigel to know that he was never alone.
••
"Tom?" asked Rigel in shock as Tom walked in, stumbling.
He stood up and rushed over to him, catching him as soon as he fell. "Right. What's wrong?" asked Rigel, then his eyebrows rose as he realized what was happening. "You're drunk aren't you?"
He sighed, watching the older boy lay down on his bed like he had just told him to do.
Conjuring a class of water, he gave it to the boy. "What's wrong, Tom?"
Tom drank the water, looking at the wall with no emotions portrayed on his face whatsoever. "Honestly? Even I don't know what I'm feeling."
Rigel shook his head in disbelief and shock. He stopped when he realized the older boy was now passed out on his bed.
Sitting down next to him, Rigel pushed the boy's hair away from his face and played with it, eyes never leaving his face.
••
When Tom woke up to somebody running his hands through his hair a few hours later, he groggily opened his eyes, breath hitching when he noticed Rigel sitting down next to where he was laying— reading a book, and playing with his hair, but not noticing he was awake.
Feeling like he was at peace, Tom closed his eyes again, knowing he couldn't fall back to sleep, but the feeling of Rigel's hand through his hair relaxed him and he knew he couldn't get enough of it.
"I know you're awake." stated Rigel, not looking away from the book in his hands.
Tom opened his eyes again and sighed. "What happened?"
"You walked in while you were drunk." replied Rigel, putting his book away and looking at the boy, who was laying down, hand still running through his hair. "What happened? Why were you drunk?"
Tom groaned and sat up, clutching his head tightly.
Rigel's lips twitched upwards. He conjured a glass of water, giving it to the boy next to him, who took it and thanked him.
When he was done drinking the water, Tom sighed, feeling a bit better. "All I remember is drinking a bit too much in my bedroom." He said thoughtfully, "I'm so sorry for somehow coming here."
"It's alright." said Rigel comfortingly. "There's nothing to be sorry for."
Tom stood up, thanked him one last time, and walked out of the room, leaving Rigel looking thoughtful.
••
"So?" asked Sirius, sitting down in front of his son. "I hear you're getting better."
Rigel smiled slightly, finally telling the truth when he replied with, "I think so."
"That's great, Ri!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly, giving his son a crushing hug.
Rigel let out a fond chuckle. "Sirius, I'm not even sure." He pointed out.
"Well, no matter what, I believe in you. We all do."
