the sun is up and shining

It starts, as some things do, with a teaching position.

It's a well known fact that the Hogwarts DADA teaching post is cursed and most are terrified of filling the post. But Hogwarts needs a Defence teacher, so Dumbledore sighs in the quiet of his office and begins the long process of writing letters.

"You should do it." Marek says, sweaty after yet another spar and nursing a wound on his shoulder. They're dirty and dusty and Leo can't help but think of what Harry would say if she was here. 

He smiles at some stall owners as they greet him and offer him goods. The sun is up and shining, the birds are chirping, Harry's at school, and Leo is confiding in his friend.

He hums noncommittally and smiles at Grace who was two months along.

”Maybe.”

"God knows you need a break." His ma says, not unkindly while healing a bruise he didn't notice he had when he came over for advice and a listening ear. She's wearing her usual outfit and looks stressed. It's been a busy morning for her.

Leo snorts at the words. He doubts taking up the teaching post would be considered a break and from his ma's wry smile, she knows so too.

Leo loves the alleys. They're all family to him.

Yes, there are murderers and rapists, knives and violence. There is maiming and fighting, but, as Rispah once said on a sunny day to a naive girl who dreamt of potions, there is life in the alleys. They're all one big family. There's smiles and hugs and the understanding that life isn't fair and life is hard.

There are people lying for strangers because they care. People who give out food for free because they care. People agreeing to some insane, nonsensical plan without questions because they care.

Leo would do anything for them. But just because he would, it didn't mean he could. So when Dumbledore makes an offer he can't refuse, he accepts and makes arrangements. 

Usually he wouldn't go to Hogwarts even if someone paid him. He wouldn't be within a 100 mile radius of it. Hogwarts equaled politics and he didn't do politics. Life in the alleys had made him prefer to deal with problems without any backstabbing or manipulation.

But really, he thinks while packing, ignoring the pit in his chest and guilt of leaving behind the alleys, this experience holds more good than bad.

Leo isn't blind, he can see that Harry is always more withdrawn and spacey in the breaks fresh out of school. It must be the stress and worry, he reckons. It might do her good to know that Leo is there to try and keep Rigel safe.

He just wishes he didn't have to leave the alleys behind to fend for themselves.

Hogwarts is... extravagant. Pretentious. Showy. It practically screamed of riches and magic. He's never had the chance to go to Hogwarts before, but he could see himself making a home here- not that he would want to- if he had been forced to come.

There's just something so welcoming about the ever constant hum of magic weaving through the air and settling on shoulders like a well worn blanket, not that many would notice. It makes him think of home. 

On the subject of magic, his core hums. Magic is sentient, Leo knows, which is why he listens to what it's trying to tell him and looks over to where it's pointing him to. It's the Slytherin table, where Harry's cousin is.

Archie or Rigel or whatever name he chose to have at that moment stared at him, colour rapidly disappearing from their already admittedly pale face. Leo wondered why it was, surely he wasn't intimidated by him, before-

Oh. It wasn't Archie.

It wasn't Archie, no matter how much physical appearances said so otherwise.

It wasn't Archie. It was Harry. Harry stared at him. When the lass was supposed to be in America. And was supposed to be a female. And have green eyes. And why was she-

He blanched.

It all clicked into place, like a curtain lifted for the first time in years, letting some much needed sunlight to stream through. It made sense- the silence, the stress, the telltale sign of someone being overwhelmed by a large secret. The stoic-ness, secretive tendencies, alertness and joy to be somewhere where no one knew who she was. 

It all made sense.

Leo slams his Occlumency shields up. Suddenly dumped in an ice cold sea of worry, fear, concern and anxiety. He hadn't planned for this. He hadn't planned for anything like this. Granted, he didn't plan much at all but it was the thought that counted. Yes, he had a few safe houses, it was clear the lass needed help. But this...

He took a breath. Took another and another until his breathing pattern settled and he reluctantly admitted that he wasn't as shocked as he could be. In a way, this was exactly the type of thing she'd do.

If he wasn't so shocked, he might have thought sappy lines of poetry about her. Like her ambition and determination and admirable courage. But he was still processing this influx of information so he didn't quite have time to sing praises.

"Is something the matter?" Asks a silky voice. His eyes snapped to Master Severus Snape.

Oh, lass. 

And his mind is churning and he feels a pit in his stomach. His hands are clammy and he feels a wand's breadth away from throwing up. He's worried for her, fear grips his heart with ice cold hands.

"No, just curious about Hogwarts." He lies easily, pasting on a charming smile and angling his shoulders so that his body language is warm and welcoming in an attempt to hide the unease that lurked underneath.

Leo didn't like to lie but he knew how to. It was an invaluable skill in the alleys. Inwardly, his mind was racing, coming up with back up plans, contingency plans. How to confront her, her reactions, safe houses and the works.

Harry might not want his help but he was going to give it to her.

Because Leo would do anything for the alleys, and Harry was one of them.

Pandora 'Pansy' Parkinson is not an idiot. In fact, she is a well educated, sophisticated pure blood heiress who has more than enough talent in the art of deception. Rigel has a secret. It's with him all day and night. All year and all time. It swallows him up and pushes him down like a never ending wave.

He's a pure blood that sometimes acts like he's never been taught manners before. And the ones he does have are stilted and text book. He doesn't have a mother but he never seems upset when other people's mothers are mentioned. He's an enigma, a mystery. 

He rushes into situations when his moral obligations tell him to but won't even entertain the thought of putting them in danger. He's oblivious but that's what makes Rigel, Rigel. His heart is in the right place but sometimes, Pansy wishes he would give them a choice.

But she understands keeping her cards close to her chest. It's what she does, after all.

Pansy treasures her friendship with Rigel, which is why she was immediately on guard when she saw him growing pale at the sight of their new Defence teacher during the Welcoming Feast.

He's young. The Professor blanches too. The two, the man and Rigel, stare at each other, both pale and shocked.

"Are you alright, Rye?" Asks Draco, evidently worried. Draco shoots a quick glare towards the new teacher while examining Rigel with unnerving intensity.

Draco cares for people, he really does. He has many bad qualities: narrow mindedness, pride, arrogance, a one track mind and the like but he was caring. 

She observed with a tinge of amusement that Draco was named quite aptly. Dragon indeed. He was protective over his loved ones like a mother dragon for her eggs.

Up on the table, Pansy sees Professor Snape interrogating the new Defence teacher.

Perhaps, in another world, they would be talking about politics. In another world, Rigel would have snapped and said bold, dangerous words. In another world, their part of the table would grow silent before Pansy would hastily change the subject.

In this one, Rigel is pale and silent. In this one, talk doesn't turn to politics.

Pansy Parkinson wipes her lips daintily with a black napkin and makes sure to give Rigel support without outright saying it. Rigel gives them a smile, a small, obviously fake smile. Colour was returning back to his face.

"Of course, Dray. Why wouldn't I?" He lies. For someone who lied a lot and was in Slytherin, her friend really needed to brush up his deception skills.

It reminds her she still needs a nickname for Rigel.

No one believes Rigel but no one pushes either. 

He's plotting, any Slytherin worth their house title would know so.

“You know we're here for you, right?" Pansy would ask later as they go back to their common room, green light illuminating their faces slightly, shadows cast across their faces from the flicking fire in the common room.

Rigel would just nod and give her the smile she's come to know so well in 3 going onto 4 years of friendship.

Fake and insincere.

Pansy understands.

Rigel had a plan.

Inside her mind, Dom laughed at her misfortune. The git.

Rigel had multiple plans.

Rigel had hundreds of half formed thoughts and ideas racing through her mind but none of them seemed quite right. The one she favoured the most was also the one that was least likely to work out. It went like this:

1. Avoid Leo

That was all there was to it. Admittedly, she could come up with better plans than that but in the middle of the Slytherin table with an empathy sensor, someone who was a master at reading faces and social cues and wonderful nosy and caring friends, she was panicking.

She had never thought something would happen like this. Surely she had made a plan for this specific scenario. Surely. Right? She wasn't above begging for a miraculous solution. Mother magic, please-

Calm down, she tells herself, finishyour food, talk to Archie and figure out the next course of action.

Admittedly, this wasn't much of a plan but it was still better than the measly two words she had before.

Perhaps, in one world, she would be apologising to her friends in the common room about losing her temper in public. In this one, she fends off questions and pretends to sleep and waits for the others to fall asleep so she can call Archie.

" Harry ." She hisses because she could never be too careful even with silencing charms up. Archie doesn't answer and it's with sudden shock that Rigel remembers time zones exist.

So Archie wouldn't be able to give her advice. That was... fine. She could deal with it. She would deal with this. So she hides the mirror under her pillow, straightens out the bed sheets, dawdles around thinking of plans and scenarios until she recognises and accepts she's stalling.

Rigel waits a few more minutes to make sure her dorm mates are all asleep. They're all usually fast sleepers, or just really good at faking. She can hear the soft breathing, sees where Blaise has buried himself under his blankets and Draco and Theo are sleeping. Outside, she can hear some kind of bird coo.

When she's sure they are asleep, and even then she's not completely sure about Blaise, she gets up, puts on shoes and grabs her wand, cloak and map. Unfurling the map and taking care to create as little sound as possible, she takes out her wand as well and taps it.

" I solemnly swear I am up to no good. " She breathes, making sure to stay quiet so as to not wake anyone.

The common room door opens and closes with no one there. Or so it would seem to anyone in the common room.

When she gets there, Leo opens the door before she's finished knocking and doesn't look surprised to see her, only concerned. Evidently, he's been waiting for her. It's strange to see him out of his everyday wear and in robes. He looks restrained.

She doesn't like it. She didn't like a lot of things about this situation but she assumed his clothes were like her boots. So that dislike made it in the top 3.

"Mr. Black." He greets, smiling like he hadn't just caught her committing a capital crime and summoning bottles of muggle beer and milk.

"L- Professor Hurst." She stumbles to correct herself. That was going to be awkward. Leo smiles at her, reassuring and calming and she finds herself relaxing minutely. Leo wasn't mad at her. She hadn't even known she was worried about that.

It continues with a whispered story at 1 in the morning, two figures nursing cups of their respective drinks.

"-I can't exactly tell you much about second year." Harry says, because in the privacy of the office with one of her most precious people, she can be just Harry. Harry of the alleys. 

"I took a vow to not reveal anything about it."

Leo, wonderful, accepting Leo, just nods.

She spins a tale of two children, naive and innocent, with dreams and goals. About a series of events, about being rude in hopes of not befriending them. About a series of attacks and the raw, visceral fear and desperation she felt of the realisation she might never brew potions again.

She talks about the hopeless urgency to save a cherished person's life and the wracking guilt of it being her fault. About sleeping in clothes and petrifications. She talks as much of second year as she can.

It's not much.

She talks about suspicions of a rock, about being kidnapped and put through hell for two weeks. Tells Leo about the intricacies of travelling through time and lying through her teeth to her loved ones. About dabbing her cousin's sweat on her and meeting a snake.

Harry talks about sentient magic and doubles back a couple of times to add in some details she forgot to say. She talks about the frustration of living in a cave for two weeks and the hunger and shaking and trembling while trying to survive.

She tells him about the plans Archie and her had made for the inevitable reveal. Harry recounts a web of lies and double the intended amount of homework and the reason she bought a house.

It's freeing, she recognises.

"There's also something else about the Dominion jewel." She says the said jewel is just there, giving her silent support during some harder parts of her retelling, occasionally urging her to add a detail or two.

It's freeing, but odd. Harry is so used to... just, not telling the truth that being honest is odd. She has a constant urge to lie, to deflect and be obtuse. She's tense and alarm bells are ringing at talking about the secret. She feels vulnerable. Stripped of all her masks. 

But it's freeing.

So Harry tells Leo about how it's living inside her mind. How it's been helpful-

“No, Dom is not going to possess me. At least not without consent."

"Ominous. Dom?"

"Yeah, Dom."

-with her Occlumency and she talks until she can't and then talks some more. It's the most talking she can remember doing in a long, long time. With every word, it's like weight is lifted off her shoulders. It was like coming up to breathe for the first time after being beaten down by relentless waves.

Leo just sits there, processing it, occasionally taking another sip of the muggle beer he had. The silence stretches on and a normal person would shift uncomfortably but this was Harry and Harry wasn't known for being normal. So she sits there, occasionally sipping at her milk.

The first words out of Leo's mouth aren't ones she expected or planned for.

"I can get someone to Polyjuice themselves at you in the alleys." He suggests and Harry does a double take.

Harry asks, confused, because she's an emotionally stunted idiot who doesn't know the basics of human communication, why Leo was helping her. Why he wasn't scolding her for her recklessness. Why he wasn't telling her to stop.

Leo, with a steady stare, puts his mug away with a flick of his hand, holds her hands and says, very gently, like stating a well known fact. Like you should take a cauldron off the fire before putting in the quills and how Hipogriff's hearts are useful in most, if not all healing potions.

"Because I want to help you, lass."

And it's at this point that Harry starts crying because she's so relieved that a weight she didn't even know she held was lifted off her shoulders. Cries because she's slowly been drowning in a sea of lies these past few years. 

And she trusts Leo.

It's a novel experience, unloading her feelings on someone who isn't an accomplice to the ruse. She feels guilty about thinking of Arch that way but she brushes it off. Or rather, just ignores it. Represses it. She's had too much practice doing that. Leo just exists there with her.

They aren't ever going to be love interests in this world. Harry isn't made to love romantically and Leo understands. Maybe in another universe they would have fallen in love but in this one, it's laughably one sided.

Potions and boots are the only ones for her.

"I have a magic suppressor." She confesses, sure there's a more official term for it but not caring. Leo tenses because no one should ever be afraid of their magic. No one should ever suppress their magic. It's such an intrinsic part of them, but he doesn't judge. Doesn't frown or anything.

Harry will never be able to put into words how grateful she is for that.

"You've changed." Draco remarks one day. And it isn't accusing or anything. Because this time, it's not because she feels angry and ready to shape and take on the world on her own.

It's a good change.

They're in the common room, hidden away from the world in their own, not-so-private corner. Rigel is reading while Pansy knits and Draco plays Exploding Snap with Blaise.

"You seem lighter." Pansy remarks with a small, warm smile. She is knitting a unicorn this time. There are sounds and movements of agreement from where they've all formed a loose, shapeless circle. Theo snaps a quill as he glares at his essay.

And even though Rigel won't ever trust them enough simply because of the circumstances and risks to tell them, she smiles too. Because she is so very grateful for friends and she doesn't know how she ever thought she would be able to live without them.

In their first Defence lesson, neither Rigel or Leo acknowledges they knew each other outside of Hogwarts. Rigel does a good job and Leo does an okay job. There are many many suspicious but not completely unfounded gazes thrown at the teacher.

"Yes, —Professor Hurst." Rigel said, trying to not let her discomfort show over that title. She would never get used to addressing him formally.

Leo tries to not cringe at being addressed like that.

Rigel tries not to cringe at addressing him like that.

They fail and everyone notices.

Leo teaches them basic defence moves and never once tells them to take parchment and ink out. He's a great teacher- patient and encouraging, Rigel makes sure to never act too familiar with him.

"I believe in a more practical and hands-on approach to defence. How are you ever going to learn anything if you don't try it?" Leo asks rhetorically, walking across the room in a show of endless energy, smiling at them.

The class gets into positions, settling into stances as Leo walks around and corrects them.

By the end of the lesson, most agree that Professor Hurst is an excellent defence teacher. They're all out of breath but satisfied with what they have accomplished. Leo sends them off with a nice smile and a chocolate frog.

Tom Marvolo Riddle ( I am Lord Voldemort, in another world .) sweeps in in all his Parseltongue, sly and charming glory to announce the coming of the Triwizard tournament.

Rigel hates him. Hates the tournament. Hates her menstrual cycle.

In one world, she would have headed over to her mentor's place and been cornered by Riddle. In this one, Leo is the first on her mind and together, they make a plan because Leo had grown up in politics to some degree as well.

He tells her what the tournament is really about and in this world, she's prepared to be in the tournament. He tells her that Riddle is going to make her join no matter what. And Rigel knows that Riddle is dangerous. She's not stupid.

She tells Archie about it. This time, she calls Archie at a different time. The butterfly effect is a strange thing so Hermione never hears about it. Never becomes the champion. Never goes to Hogwarts.

( This is going to become a problem, as you will see.)

Rigel avoids Riddle as best as she can by going to places she doubts he would go. She visits Binny and does Flint's homework in random places with books piled up high in a precarious tower beside her.

She visits Leo in his office and spars with him in the Come and Go Room. She helps people with homework and reads books on animagi and rants to Archie in the privacy behind her curtains but she can only avoid him for so long.

She goes jogging with Pansy and Draco and attends classes with them, Plays exploding snap with her friends and learns about runes with Blaise. She visits the lively Gryffindor common room for Percy's help and gets kidnapped as per tradition without warning by Fred and George.

Riddle corners her in a dramatic flair and Parseltongue and, to Riddle's shock, she agrees. They make a deal and Rigel demands more equality for half bloods and muggle borns. Leo smiles at her, her friends nod supportively and the Weasley twins kidnap her again to congratulate her.

She hates it already. She hates it in all worlds.

Rigel becomes the Hogwarts champion. Because, in every universe where there is a Harry Potter and there is a Triwizard tournament, it's unavoidable. Rigel just thinks the fates are laughing at her.

Then, because fate had it out for her, on the day when everyone was due to arrive, she finds out Archie is a competitor. He arrives in a group with other students, spots Rigel staring at him amongst a sea of green and silver and makes his way towards her, uncaring of disguised sneers.

Dom laughs hysterically at her luck. Draco and Pansy smile sympathetically at her when her expression made it clear she was in frustration and worry. Her Slytherin acquaintances all congratulate her. 

“Did you know Heiress Potter was coming?" Draco asks, Rigel blinks, grey eyes narrowif just the tiniest bit at the grinning face of her cousin.

"If I did, Harry wouldn't be here."

Dom just keeps on laughing inside her mind, his laughter echoing throughout all the crevices and curves of her mind mountain, booming and filling her thoughts annoyingly. The unhelpful git. Leo tells her to resign herself to Professor Snape finding out.

Archie arriving had certainly changed things. Number one being the need for an hour or two of planning and plotting.

In most worlds, Defence Association is held in the room of requirement. 

"It's simple," Rigel says, optimistic as ever and with eyes bright and mind racing with plans and lies. "I'm just going to become Harry whenever you meet up with Professor Snape and go back to Rigel when the sessions are over.” 

It was a horrible plan but she didn't survive this long and not master the art of denial.

She's in the room of requirement, sure that there isn't a DA session. It's afternoon, she has a free period and Draco and Pansy are under the assumption she is brewing potions. She feels the familiar twinge of guilt that comes with every single one of the numerous lies she has told.

Leo is there, too, hanging in the back and shooting sympathetic glances because all of them know that there is going to be at least one more person figuring out the ruse that year. Rigel, however, as already mentioned, has long mastered the art of denial.

Archie grins and rubs his head sheepishly. He's nervous but there's steel in his eyes that tells her he's going to defend himself against her if it comes down to it. "About acting, I actually have something to tell you..."

Rigel finds out about John Kowalski. She listens about Chess and Hermione and the tracts. She hears about Quodbot and Neal Queenscove and so many other things she's never heard of before.

She hears about papers to live in another country and Archie's love for acting and because Leo knows too, she's more understanding of someone else knowing about it than she would have in another world.

And they never have an argument. Instead, Rigel asks to be introduced to Chess and Hermione. Their inventions are fascinating and the academic in Rigel is never going to forgive her if she doesn't check the inventions out.

It continues like that for a week. And then Snape calls in a session with Archie while Rigel is hanging out with Draco and Pansy so she never hears about it.

In the end, Professor Snape figures out the ruse, too. There's a lot of screaming involved.

("Of all reckless things to do-"

"Sorry, sir."

"You astound me with your absurdity, your brains are tinier than crushed scarab beetle shells-"

"Of course, sir."

"Harry, have you no self preservation instincts, how are you in Sly-"

"Shut it, Black. I see you've inherited more than desired unflattering traits from your insolent father. You two are imbeciles, I have never heard of anyone with more stupidity with you, Gilderoy Lockhart would find it hard to beat you because your bar is set so low-"

"Of course, sir."

"This doesn't excuse you, Rigel, or should I say, Harriett?"

"Just Rigel, sir. Less chance of-"

"Shut up, Harry!")

But it's out of concern, really. Snape trains both of them mercilessly after that and everyone shoots questioning glances at the two when Snape keeps glaring daggers at them.

"What did you do? Poke Uncle Sev with a stirring rod?" Draco asks one morning as he's sitting beside Harry as Rigel, making small talk with the Slytherin's who aren't that much of a jerk.

Archie thinks back to acting on instinct when Snape exploded some glass vials on the other side of the room and accidentally attacked Snape with a stirring rod.

"Something like that." He, as Harry, replies airily. Beside him, Harry as Rigel twitches, Dom's booming laughter echoing through her mind again annoyingly and completely on purpose.

Professor Snape is invaluable. He glares at her and tells her he'll be testing her Occlumency shields at random times throughout the day. He makes good on that promise. He talks with Leo and trains her and Archie and pushes them to their limits for the first task.

Archie has a quick crash course on potions and Professor Snape scowls at Archie a concerning amount. He keeps up with the unnecessary but petty daily reminders on how they're both idiots and that they should be glad their 'foolhardy, reckless ruse' hadn't fallen apart yet.

It's out of concern, though. Really. Even as much as Professor Snape would deny it.

The private gathering is full of splendours, small luxuries and politics. Archie hates it. Small talk, chatter and the delicate clinking of cutlery fills his ears. The smell of mint? Lavender? Something pleasant drifts through the air. Clearly, someone spent a lot of money on this.

They get introduced to the other champions, there are three Newbloods, three Purebloods and three Halfbloods.

He's met all of them except one.

Wandering through the crowd, the two try and spot who the last competitor is. The person, Eleanor Lakehedge, has brown hair and green eyes. She's really nice, Archie strikes up a conversation about Herbology with her. Eleanor has an interest in Herbology and is really nice.

She's just... nice. It's like her one personality trait.

Perfect for a background character, not that anyone knows that.

"My dad freaked out about my being in the tournament." She laughs sheepishly. "I didn't want to be here but my family struggles with money and the prize was too much to ignore.” She says and Archie realises that not a single one of the champions actually want to be here.

Interesting, he thinks.

And then the first task is upon them.

The first task , Archie thinks, is insane . He teams up with Harry and sees for the first time just how much Harry has grown. He had known before in a distant, second handed sort of way. But seeing it himself first handedly is... it's something else.

They're walking through the forest, attempting to be quiet. He thinks of the letter he received at the very start of term from Aunt Lily and Uncle James and a twinge of guilt overcomes him as he thinks of their family staring at the screen and worried.

Harry hisses and the snake- Treeslider- around her neck hisses back. It's mildly disconcerting, seeing his cousin communicate with a snake like that but undoubtedly useful.

Harry blasts away an Acromantula. 

It dies and, keeping up with 'Potions Fanatic' facade, the two collect the venom. Treeslider hisses at Archie and Archie just stares at him helplessly, not sure what the snake wants him to do.

It's smooth sailing, for a bit. That is, until the pair comes across a werewolf.

Archie feels sick, he's glad Uncle Moony isn't here to witness this. It's inhuman, the fact that there is a werewolf here in the first place. Of course, he has no doubt that the werewolf wasn't meant to be here in the first place- they weren't that dumb- but that only left two more options:

1. A) The werewolf deliberately put itself here to feed on children for they had set out before it was completely dark or b) someone had ordered the werewolf to do it.

He doubts it was an accident or coincidence.

Both made him sick. How could anyone do that? Harm people that easily. They might have things to gain but was it worth it? Possibly ruining a child's life because of whatever motives they had. It was disgusting.

Hypocrite, a voice at the back of his mind whispers. Archie pushes it away with ease.

Harry handles a werewolf efficiently. Archie helps, of course but it's Harry who does most of the heavy lifting. He's extra sure to act like Harry during it. Making sure to mind every word because their family is watching.

She takes out bottles of potions and walks around in a slow circle, while holding up the fortis shield. Archie creeps around the other side, dripping the potion as well and stops the werewolf from making marks on the ground.

The forest is dark and Archie feels like he's about to trip every two steps. He is so, so grateful for the light. Without it, he would have probably tripped and broke his neck. He swears there are yellow eyes staring at them all around.

And then they encounter a dragon, which Archie seriously disapproves of and really wants to heal the wing because it's a bit torn up at the side. They, side by side like they've been, being and will be their entire lives, throw up fortis shields to defend themselves against it.

Archie doesn't feel as alarmed as he recognises he should be. He blames it on Harry and her crazy stories- once you hear about a supposed extinct creature attacking a school, nothing surprises you anymore.

Archie isn't sure how to feel about that.

The fireproof oil thing. That thought floats through his mind as the two hide beneath the fortis shield, every second bringing them closer to certain death. He wonders what would happen if they really died. The thought (the oil, not dying) is important so Archie grabs on to it, drags it down and makes it coherent.

Well, people always did say testing things practically was the best way to go. And with that thought in mind, he steps out of the cover of the fortis shield and realises he's going to receive a very bad sunburn.

Harry glares at him, alarmed and giving him the most incredulous glance she could summon while holding up a shield. He's being blinded. As ingenious as this spray was, it was still warm. More than warm. It was downright hot.

Perhaps, in another situation, he would have said to Hermione that obviously it was hot, he was there in a joking tone and Hermione would slap him playfully while he grinned. But this wasn't another situation and 'Mione wasn't here.

Talking about Hermione. Which led to AIM. Which led to his classes.

Archie was a healer. He has learned all the organs and how they affect each other. How to heal them, to break and reset them. How to mend and set broken bones and the works.

Waving his wand, he uses the bone moving spell, used to reset minor fractures and the like he had learned way back in first year. He doesn't want to break anything, only move it so it shifts just so that the dragon crumples. The dragon's kneecap shifts ever so slightly, just at the right angle and immediately crumples to the ground.

He winces sympathetically.

It was hardly noticeable. Unless you were specially trained to look after dragons. And had a not so insignificant grasp and not so shallow knowledge in the area of healing.

Using a particularly strong sedative spell, he knocks it out and rights the kneecap to where it was originally. He's still a healer. Harry lets down the shield and together, they continue. It took five minutes.

It's suspiciously easy and anticlimactic. Archie wants to wish the whole tournament would be like this but he doesn't as that would jinx it and with Harry's unique brand of luck, some villain trying to hijack Harry' body again would attack and Hogwarts would fall or something along those lines.

Trekking through the forest, making no sound and straining their ears and eyes for any sign of danger, they encounter a whole ass troll and, with a flick of her hand and an impressive display of wandless magic, Harry knocks it out with a flying branch.

This was actually, really, very, extremely, suspiciously easy. Too easy. Far too easy. He had no doubt some maniac was going to try and kill Harry later. He wasn't even worried that he was going to jinx it. It would happen either way.

Finally, finally , the two reach their end goal. It's just a stupid chest. It's elegant and furnished and pretty but it's all for show. He hates it. Wants to let out his inner pyromaniac and burn the damn thing down and set the whole forest on fire.

Huh.

The Black family madness was really showing itself.

But he doesn't. Harry deciphers the runes easily. Elements. Cool. Together, they shoot off different spells until the chest unlocks itself so that they can grab their respective ribbons.

"All this way just for some fancy ribbon." Harry as Rigel grumbles, staring at Archie's headband with a deadpan.

Archie disagrees. "It's not fancy. It's just a ribbon." He tells her, raising his eyebrows and letting the edges of his lips tilt up a bit in a show of mild patronising amusement.

Harry rolls her eyes and takes a step forward.

And everything explodes.

Draco was irritated. At that moment, he disliked Rigel immensely. Rigel was a reckless, foolish idiot with absolutely zero sense of self perseveration and how he ever got sorted into Slytherin was beyond him.

( He ignored the worry.)

Draco was fascinated. What was the spell Heiress Potter used? And how did she survive the dragon's fire? He had good guesses to both of his questions but he didn't like the answers because acknowledging the most likely answers meant shattering the beliefs his parents had drilled into him again, and again, and again.

( He ignored the concern.)

Draco was worried and concerned and fascinated and irritated. He was confused and upset and worried sick for his friend. His gift was picking up waves of emotions everywhere. Anticipation, excitement, relief and more.

He tried to block off an oncoming headache.

And then there was an explosion.

For a moment, Rigel panics. She's blinded, she's disorientated and the only word running through her mind was Archie, Archie, Archie, ArchIE -

What was happening?

Why- what-

She stumbles, her ears are- she can't hear- can't see- can't breathe- and she's back in the cave again, helpless and in pain and she can't- won't -

(Not again. Never again.)

Dom is saying something but she can't focus and-

"-gel... R... Lis...R...Can y... RIGEL!"

And then it all comes running back- a smile, a step, an explosion. Archie. The tournament. The dragon. Not in the cave. Not the cave. Memories of the past few minutes hit her like a bludger.

Archie doesn't look injured and he's holding his wand over her, he's evidently healed himself. He's rambling, most likely to focus on healing. She forces herself to relax through Occlumency and let's his chatter rush over her like a well worn blanket.

CrAcK -

Rigel flinched as white hot pain shot through her arm but it's better than what Pettigrew did to her- stop, don't think about him- and Archie winces. "Sorry, but I need to do this quickly because that explosion probably attracted a lot of magical creatures and in any other situation I would have done a numbing spell on you but I always suck at those and-"

"Ar-ry." She saves just in time. Dom is strangely silent.

"It's alright, let's go." She says as she sweeps some of her magic through herself to check for anything her cousin may have possibly missed, however unlikely it was. She trusts Archie like no one else. Archie nods, and, like they weren't just attacked by some random explosion made to possibly maim, the two hurries away from the place.

Swallowing and putting her Occlumency skills to very good use, she shoves her stupid feelings in an itty bitty small box and ignores it.

( Rigel shivers, feeling like something, someone was watching her.)

Sousa is disqualified for taking drugs. No one knows where he got the muggle drug. Or if he took it himself in the first place.

The after party was wild. And somber. Most know that the explosion wasn't part of the tournament but as more get drunk, the lighter the atmosphere becomes. People congratulated Rigel and Draco stood by, guarding him like a dragon.

That was a horrible metaphor. Draco stood guard like a Kneazle would to their gold. Better, but still not good enough.

Draco stood guard like a Slytherin would for their secrets.

Perfect.

"You were astoundingly absurd." Pansy told Rigel flatly from his right, her blue eyes narrowed and her hair perfect as always, not a strand out of place. She's worried, upset and unsettled. They all are.

Draco snorted unflatteringly, forgetting all of his pureblood etiquette training. "He was incredibly idiotic." He mutters, trying to forget the pure panic in Rigel's expression when he was disoriented.

Rigel frowns playfully, his grey eyes flashing with the challenge and protests with: "I was reasonably resourceful."

"Stupefyingly stupid." Pansy contradicted, turning her nose dramatically up in the air. They need this. Need the playfulness. Need fun and small, petty word games.

"Grossly Gryffindor." Draco agreed, a small smirk on his face.

Rigel argued with: "Undeniably uninjured."

"Unsurprisingly unreasonable." Draco countered.

"Reasonably reckless." Rigel compromised.

"I suppose it was extremely efficient." Pansy sniffed.

The three friends grinned. That round of alliteration wasn't the best or the most sophisticated group of words but it got their point across.

"Romantic Rigel no more, it's now Reckless Rigel." Some drunk Slytherin declared, the smell of firewhiskey dominating whatever other smells there might have been in his breath, Draco didn't envy the inevitable hangover most were bound to have in the morning.

Draco laughed, the sound light and carefree in a way it hadn't been for a long, long time.

Beside him, Rigel groaned.

( Rigel looked at the screen in panic and desperation. )

Pansy and him exchange looks.

The second task was...creative.

The Sun was up and shining, the birds were chirping and Severus watched as Arcturus 'Archie' Black masqueraded as Harry Potter leapt over a block, his (fake) green eyes flashing, a dull mockery of what the real colours would be. His expression was set in a look of concentration and determination.

The boy was wearing practical clothing, easy to move around in. He was carrying some sort of device which was odd as it restricted his movements but Severus had no doubt it was meant to help him or something like that.

He has done well so far. Conquering most blocks easily, except for a select few. He had a scratch on his face that he had healed almost immediately and the only way one could tell he had exercised and was leaping around like a reckless monkey over platforms suspended in the air was the light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Severus had already cast a muffling charm on himself in order to save him from a burst eardrum from the announcer's loud, overexcited voice. Beside him, sat Lionel 'Leo' Hurst. Severus ignored Hurst and Hurst ignored Severus. As far as they were concerned, they were only connected by Ri- Harriett. Or Harry.

Black advanced slowly, cautious and wary. He was halfway through the course already. His fake green eyes assessed the blocks warily. In his hand, he held some kind of paper.

"He can't use those very well but it gives him an advantage." Hurst noted. Why he chose to speak aloud was lost on Severus. It was a useless, obvious observation, Severus scowled lightly at it and grunted in acknowledgment.

Most at Hogwarts most likely had no idea what it was and the papers packed quite a punch, as already demonstrated when small balls of fire had started bombarding Black.

Hurst was a man who obviously didn't take after his father. Instead, Severus was certain that Hurst was involved in the lower alleys. He knew, he knew he knew and he knew he knew he knew. But neither of them said anything.

"Astute observation, Lionel." He replied, making sure to add a drawl to emphasise his sarcasm, taking some sort of satisfaction at the grimace on the face of Hurst. Evidently, he disliked his name. Understandable, Severus did too.

Black leapt over a block which had some kind of jinx on it, how he knew it, Severus had no idea. He suspected that Black either had some kind of invention that AIM had created- for AIM were known for bringing new things to the field- or he had picked up magical sensory.

Severus was certain that it was the former.

A minute passed before Black reached the fork. He chose the left one. Black kept on muttering under his breath, spells of all kinds shot out, Severus recognised most of those on sight and experience.

The next tile exploded in Black's face. Almost immediately, he swayed. It was the senses blinding mist. Black waved his wand slightly and immediately continued on like it didn't affect him. Severus guessed that the AIM healing track really did their job of teaching correctly.

The potions master was almost impressed by the level of skill Black showcased. The poison was meant to be extremely fast acting, almost instantaneous. Severus would know, he was the one who made it, after all.

Black continued, not seeming to be bothered by the fact that he had no visible net below him. Confidently, like his mutt of a father, he stepped on to it. The first explosion went off and Black immediately grabbed the device he was carrying around and then there was a ward.

There...was a ward.

Severus frowned. That was, quite frankly, near impossible. Black didn't cast any enchantments and a ward or that quality would have taken at the very least, 30 minutes to make.

Black kept on walking. The ward held.

The two were full of surprises. Not exactly always good surprises, though. He still grimaced at not seeing through their ruse sooner, a large part of it was their supposed genders. He had associated Rigel with males so the possibility of them masquerading as each other seemed downright absurd. Although the gala should have been one big red alarm.

He had been furious. Or, he had made sure to be furious in order to ignore the concern in him. Although he had promised himself, once upon a time, that he would do whatever it took to give R-Harry what she deserved. Concern and feelings that weren't disgust or annoyance at anyone still made him slightly uneasy.

( Severus was not a man who made two mistakes in the same area. This was no different.)

He had stayed up all night thinking about it and downing a couple of fire whiskeys and then ignored Hurst for two days afterwards. He had to admit he was grudgingly impressed at the sheer nerve and cunning it would have taken to pull it off.

But , he considered, thinking back to all the clues and obvious hints, the freak out in first year, the cut off sentences and mild discomfort over Greengrass' revealed heritage in second, the half blabbered confessions that weren't coherent and didn't make a lick of sense in third year. Am I really that surprised?

No. No he wasn't. This was such a R-Harriett thing to do. Blinking, he realised that he had zoned out for the entirety of Black's one, though it looked like he had passed it. Rige-Harriett was already going ahead.

Scowling, he felt a tinge of irrational annoyance at his habit of calling Harriett by Rigel and for not being able to change it immediately after 3 years of calling hi-her it.

Rig-Harriet continued on, ducking under arrows, throwing down potions ingredients and the like.

His apprentice was an imbecile.

But, Severus admitted to himself, somewhat fondly in the deep recesses of his mind, did he expect anything else?

No. No he didn't.

Lily Potter neé Evans suspects something, how could she not when Archie and Harry told them to not watch? She looks at the pair, both so similar and hides her doubts, her worry and concern behind a mask of understanding.

But that's all it is, a mask.

She doesn't understand, not really. She wants to, she very badly wants to. Wants to relate to her daughter. Wants to comfort her and ask her what's wrong. But she doesn't.

Her magic crackles inside of her, swirling but unable to act upon her fears because of her suppressor. The suppressor. There's a healthy amount of self hatred for ever planting the idea of suppression in her daughter's mind.

Why was her child so distant? Looking at Harry, her daughter and Archie, someone she treated and looked at as a son, she can't help but feel twinges of melancholy. She doesn't... she sees a stranger. When did they all become so distant?

Her daughter shut up in the potions lab, distant and only coming out for food. Occasionally just to talk, she cherished those moments. Cherished when the conversation flowed naturally and it turned to how her daughter was doing and the like.

Archie holed up reading books on healing, looking so stressed and tired and guilty sometimes throughout the day. It broke her heart to see her children like that. Diana would know what to do. Diana would be able to do what was right.

Sometimes, it's like Harry never went to AIM as well. Her stories are all wrong. She talks about Quidditch more than Quodbot and doesn't mention tracts at all. Archie talks as if he was coming up with his own stories, unnatural pauses between sentences as if searching for details.

She doesn't understand why they would participate in the tournament. Why her daughter chose to be a boy in school. But she keeps her mask of empathy and understanding and uses it as an anchor in the sudden wave of self doubt and uncertainty that's been with her ever since she's come into the world of magic.

Ever since she stumbled upon people hating her because of her blood. Ever since she's found out the real reason her parents feared her.

The smiles on their faces are relieved afterwards, when the four adults agree to stay away. It breaks her heart more than she'd like to admit. Why were they happy about them not being there? She doubted the excuse- however believable- was the truth.

Lily feels helpless. She feels trapped between wanting them to have their independence and attempting to help them. She wants an answer to... to fix this. Wants to make things like it used to be.

A look at Sirius, Remus and James told her they felt the same.

What did they do? What could they do? How do they fix it?

Lily Potter née Evans didn't know.

The third task was duelling.

Rigel tore through them all with surprising ease. It had been exactly 3 minutes and 42 seconds since Rigel started his first duel. Draco had been counting. He had known Rigel was talented but he had never realised just how skilled he was.

The girl was no match for Rigel, her magic was decent and, with grudging admiration, he admitted it was better than his. Shang threw a barrage of spells of wind and other elements at Rigel but Rye either dodged or combatted it with his own spells.

Without even breaking a sweat, Rigel ended it with a small expulso at Shang's feet which caught her off balance and from there, Rigel strode over to Shang and pressed his wand to her neck.

Fast, efficient and a clean win.

Rigel doesn't look happy about it.

Shifting where he was sitting, Draco leaned forwards to get a better look at the screens. Heiress Potter was giving Rigel a thumbs up as he stepped off the duelling area after helping Shang up. He pursed his lips in displeasure almost imperceptibly- he was in public- at the thought of Potter.

A few weeks ago, he had... had a healthy amount... of ... envy... at Heiress Potter... for... Rigel's... attention.

He now understood how stupid he had been, his cheeks pinked a little at the memory of his irrational and childish behaviour.

Pansy had taken him aside, with a stare that made him cower and sighed 'boys' every two minutes as she tore him a new one about Heiress Potter. His flight or fight reflex now activated every time she said 'boys.'

Pansy was terrifying when she wanted to be.

But enough of his feelings. Rigel looked completely in his element. Focused and with no extra movements. If he didn't know better, he would have thought Professor Hurst looked proud of him.

But that was ridiculous.

Or was it?

Heiress Potter who insisted on everyone calling her 'Harry' used some kind of new invention against Owens. Owens' timing was perfect. The shield flickered and no spell of Potter's that she casted by wand reached him.

So she used the device. It cast spells and wards almost impossibly fast and Draco was definitely investing in one later.

Owens stayed in one spot like the moron he was, Heiress Potter had most likely not had much experience in duelling before, judging from her slight hesitation. It was still better than average but it was obvious her experience was limited.

Draco had no doubt Rigel had taught Potter some moves.

With a sudden shock, Draco realised Rigel was going to have to fight against Harriet and would probably forfeit. He furrowed his eyebrows. Would the vow insist on Rigel dueling with Harriett 'Call me Harry' Potter?

He would have gone further into trying to predict the outcome if not for the fact that Heiress Potter won with surprising ease, most of it was due to the strange contraption she carried. He wondered who had created it, the Blacks? Potters? Some other pure blood?

Or, some voice in his mind asked, a halfblood or Mud-Muggleborns? Draco didn't want to entertain that thought but he had promised Rigel himself to be more open to Halfbloods and Mu-Muggleborns.

And really, it was likely a Halfblood or M-Muggleborn, Muggleborns, Muggle, Muggleborn Muggleborns. It was likely a Halfblood or Muggleborn had created it, with the amount that went to the American Institute of Magic.

Thethoughtisn't that bad, Draco attempted to scold himself. He wasn't an idiot, he could tell that Rigel was in firm belief in Pro Muggleborns. For Rigel, he would attempt to be more open to those who weren't pure bloods.

Looking up again from where his eyes had glazed over in thought, he saw that Rigel was currently duelling Antiope.

He was doing well. It was like Rigel had fought against free duellers before, Draco would honestly not put it past Rigel to have done that though. He wouldn't be surprised if Rigel said he himself could freeduel. Rigel was just that type of person.

Antiope's footwork was flawless, Draco recognised that her footwork was perfect and he was probably not appreciating it enough due to him not having enough experience himself. But from his limited duelling experience, he could admire her impeccable footwork. From Rigel's expression, Rigel could too.

He was doing well, attacking and defending and never ceasing in moving.

And then Rigel used blood magic.

The idiot. How dumb could Rigel get? What kind of complete and utter idiot used blood magic in front of thousands of people? Rigel, that's who. Draco would be gaping or some uncouth thing like a Weasley if he weren't a Malfoy.

He was going to have to team up with the Weasleys for some PR again. The idiot. The oblivious, resourceful, grudgingly impressive idiot. A complete Gryffindor. How did he even get into Slytherin?

Rigel was impressive and skilled and talented but Rigel was an idiot. Beside him, Pansy looked like she fully agreed. The pair watched as Rigel completely obliterated Antiope, and what kind of name was that?

Behind him, Blaise sighed and muttered something under his breath. Most likely insults. Not that the idiot didn't deserve it. Rigel stepped off the podium, looking as though he had not just used blood magic in front of thousands of people.

The oblivious idiot. Using something that had a horrible reputation. He was bound to lose support over that.

Harriett call me Harry duelled Tahill the animagus. Yes, apparently he was an animagus now, it was just one surprise after another. Tahill lunged as Potter raised a shield a split second too slow. He bit down on her shoulder and he could have easily torn Potter's arm off but it was obvious he was holding back.

Potter used her wand and stupefied him but Tahill shook it off. Draco wondered if he should attempt to become an animagus. She then proceeded to use the device she was relying on far too much and quickly finished the match.

He was definitely going to invest in one of those.

Rigel dueled Krum and although Krum had a not so insignificant repertoire of spells at his disposal, he was still no match for Rigel. Krum shot spell after spell and Rigel retaliated with the same.

The whole thing was a fast paced spell casting tournament, except as Krum's spells steadily grew bolder and had more firepower, Rigel relied on finesse and cunning. It was at times like these Draco appreciated the Slytherin side of his (crush) friend.

He just wished it would extend to public image.

Rigel used tripping jinxes when Krum shot bone shattering hexes. Sneezing hex to blood boiling curses. Rigel and Krum moved around the arena both shooting spell after spell relentlessly.

It was a never ending volley of spells. They both cast wordlessly- wandlessly as well. Spells of all colours flew around the podium, ricocheting off shields, being absorbed and shattered and dissolved.

Rigel seemed like he was casting faster. It wouldn't be obvious to a spectator with no duelling experience but Rigel was slowly gaining ground, he kept up the gruelling pace even as Krum began to slow down.

Rigel backed him into a corner and won. There was something dark. Something vicious about how Rigel won the duel with some kind of satisfaction. With some kind of furious pride, Draco clapped as hard as he could for Rigel. Beside him, Pansy raised an eyebrow but clapped along anyways.

And then it was time for Harriett and Rigel's duel.

Silently, Draco cheered for Rigel.

Pansy realised what was going to happen before it happened. The sudden hush that fell over the crowd when Harry and Rigel stepped up upon the podium was understandable. It was rumoured they saw each other as family.

They were probably closer than most siblings. Unfortunately, that meant it would be difficult for them to fight each other.

So they didn't. Rigel put away his wand and Harrie-Harry put away her wand. There was murmuring, questions of what was happening, gossip and rumours and derogatory comments about Harriet, fearful comments about Rigel, admiring comments about the device Harriet used and more.

Pansy pursed her lips in order to stop from laughing.

The two raised their fists and Pansy could see it on everyone's faces when they realised what was going to happen. Beside her, she could see out of her peripheral vision that Draco looked positively appalled. Blaise snorted and she could hear some people muttering, a couple chuckling.

"Sprite, Dragon, Thestral!"

Rigel chose Sprite, Harry chose Dragon.

And so the third task's outcome was concluded.

Beside her, Draco choked and Millie muffled a snort from somewhere to her left.

"No. Change your dress." Rigel said irritably, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, shifting as she attempted to find a comfortable position.

The sun was up and shining, the birds were chirping and it was the day of the Yule ball and Archie didn't know the meaning of the appropriate dress code.

The person of which her irritation was directed to looked at her, aghast. "The Yule Ball is in an hour!" He cried dramatically. Forcing himself to cry (he was a good actor) and dramatically making his cheeks red to show his indignation. (Thank you, metamorphmagus powers.)

"Transfiguration is a thing." She sighed as she tried to stop her lips from twitching upwards over her cousin's antics.

"But-" Archie tried to say, only to be interrupted by her.

"Three words: Remus's Red Robes." She threatened. A wonderful thing about having known Archie her whole life was the fact that she had a startling and worrying amount of blackmail on him.

Unfortunately, so did he.

"It's a mutual destruction, cousin." He warned, suddenly tense, eyes narrowing, "Need I remind you of Aunt Lily's curtains?"

Oh. He was going down that path, wasn't he?

She paused and tried to think of a suitable counter to that. After a good, long, ten seconds, she finally decided to pull out all the stops. "Chocolate Frog Incident." She said simply, laying all the ingredients on the chopping board.

It was low. She knew it, Archie knew it. Archie paled and this time, she doubted it was because of his gift.

"That's low." He hissed. "I thought we agreed to never bring it back up again?!" He continued, staring at her incredulously, eyes widening in shock and horror as he dramatically backed away, the perfect picture of an indignant maiden who encountered something so indescribably horrible that no words could possibly capture it perfectly.

"You look like the perfect picture of an indignant maiden who encountered something so indescribably horrible that no words could possibly capture it perfectly." She told him as his back hit the wall, a low thump echoing throughout the room. Hos hands covered his chest, his eyes watered and his lips trembled as if he was about to cry out of anger and indignation.

Rigel called bullshit. Mercilessly, she stared back.

The two, Rigel and Archie both stared at each other, neither willing to back off. But it seemed like Archie was far too cowed by the threat of the Chocolate Frogs Incident that he caved. She hid a smirk behind the sleeves of her robes.

"Ok, ok ok!" Archie grumbled, taking out his wand and completely disregarding all wand safety rules. "No need to threaten me!" Rigel smiled smugly at Archie, a spark of mischief and amusement dancing in her eyes as Archie sulkily transfigured the dress and shrunk down his chest.

"Happy?" Archie asked sulkily, putting his wand away to who knows where and doing a small twirl. Seeing Archie in a dress was... weird. She had seen Arch in dresses before but he had never put on Makeup.

This Archie had gone ahead and out on the works, eye shadow, lipstick, etc, etc. How he had gotten those things, Rigel didn't understand as it certainly wasn't his metamorphmagus skills.

She suspected Pansy.

She examines him with a sceptical eye and decides it's good enough.

Rigel's on top of the world. The tournament isn't as bad as she thought it would be, no one had died, she has Leo and Professor Snape in her corner, mutual destruction isn't going to happen and her parents won't suspect anything as they're staying away.

She shrugs and holds out her arm.

They've trained for the dance. Hours and hours in the come and go room ever since they heard about the Yule ball. They could be better, though. She's trying to figure out if Snape would appreciate her gift when Archie speaks.

"Have you... have you ever thought about how our parents and parental figures would feel?" Archie asks, suddenly sombre and subdued.

Rigel doesn't answer.

Hogwarts is extravagant. So much more decorative than AIM. Harry and Archie get into position, it's weird for Archie, being in the female position. He's usually in the male one.

I wonder why , a voice suspiciously like Harry's sounds out in his mind.

He's a little hurt by the way Harry brushed him off earlier in her own world but he gets it. As they twirl around the dance floor, he thinks of all the possible consequences.

Archie's been doing that a lot lately, ever since Hermione accused him of pretending to be a boy because he wanted the privileges that came with it. He's not going to back out now, though. It's far too late for that and even if he could, he wouldn't.

But it doesn't stop him from feeling guilty. Whenever he thinks of Hermione and her unwavering, unquestioning trust, of dad and his laugh, of Uncle Moony and Uncle James and Aunt Lily. Some days, he physically can't get out of bed because of the crushing guilt.

He's always felt things a lot more than others. Perhaps it's what makes him such a good actor. They twirl across the dance floor, one wrapped up in their guilt and the other one in another world. Archie's bored already.

"Did you know that Malfoy totally has a crush on you?" He asks her cheekily for the sake of not being silent any longer. She raised an eyebrow at him sceptically. Their family is there, having a good time. Uncle James and Aunt Lily are dancing, the pair make a stunning couple.

Dad is chatting with some people Archie doesn't recognise and Uncle Remus is there, pale and drinking butterbeer. He spies Malfoy out of the corner of his eye, glaring at Harry and himself as they dance. Beside Malfoy, Parkinson is there, most likely making small talk.

Malfoy was glaring at him a lot, Archie guessed he really did treasure Harry. As Rigel. A Pureblood.

He frowned, finally letting himself ponder about Malfoy. They were good friends, Harry and him and it was obvious they would all die for each other but... what if they found out Harry was a half blood?

Would Malfoy, Parkinson and co still accept her? They were all prejudiced bigots who thought blood mattered. Archie knew that Harry was going to have to cut all ties with them one day. It was an unacknowledged piece of knowledge they both unanimously agreed to not say anything about.

Harry would be hurt by it. She cared, beneath the apathetic, oblivious facade, she cared. She was one of the most altruistic people he knew, self sacrificing and willing to bear the brunt of their ruse.

Sometimes, Archie wished she could have come to AIM with him. Seen the possibilities, the fact that blood didn't matter. Experienced the wonderful feeling of being accepted and not having to hide her gender, her name, her blood and how she was born just for an equal chance.

Archie hated Britain.

It was at this thought that Archie paused, it was... it was true, though. Acknowledging it had made it... real. He hated Britain and it's corrupt ministry. The politics and inbred prejudiced snobs and the system. He hated the oppression, the narrow mindedness of it all.

He hated Britain.

Rigel had a bad feeling.

The fourth task is swimming. That was an oversimplification. Fred, one of the Weasley twins, someone Archie had interacted with most that wasn't Rigel was gone. George was glaring at the judges. Inwardly, she smiled at the blatant show of loss at what to do for Archie.

Draco was gone too. Archie has gillyweed, he's chewing furiously. To add some spice to this situation, Rigel makes sure she has a different method of surviving being underwater. She has Liberespiraire. She inwardly thanks Caelum.

They had unanimously, without talking, agreed that for this, they were going to go their separate ways, not that it was a hard decision. The task required them to collect 3 objects and a person. Rigel made an educated guess and assumed that she was supposed to 'rescue' Draco from the water.

The signal to start sounds and the competitors leap into the water. Rigel refuses to think of the thing Archie bought for her just...sitting there.

She regrets ignoring that bad feeling. Looking ahead, she resolves to never ignore any bad feelings again and immediately ignores the bad feeling she was feeling at the current moment.

Things go the same. Rigel swims. She keeps swimming. If it were a movie, Finding Nemo or whatever song sung by dory would play. Grindylows grip at her and she blasts them away. Logically, she had known that Draco was underwater and probably incapacitated. However, just because she knew that in a passive, distant way, it didn't mean she fully understood it.

Swallowing harshly and determinedly ignoring the feeling of the Thing, a fresh wave of anger, something that had settled immensely ever since Leo and Professor Snape found out about The Ruse washes over her. It's a familiar feeling, welling up from three years of lies, deceit and life or death situations.

She nearly drowns a few aurors. Yes, plural.

All in all, mostly uneventful.

It was a few days after the task. Draco looked at it, disgusted. "Theo! Why is there a... that thing in our dorm?" He asked the most likely suspect.

Theo's eyes widened. "I never bought that!"

"Are you implying that you bought other things?" Blaise asked, amused as he watched the drama from where he was sitting. It was nighttime and Rigel was away brewing last minute potions. Or talking to Potter.

"Shut up, Blaise! Merlin's pants!" Theo swears, staring at the... thing with wide eyes. It was certainly something that could be found in Merlin's pants.

Because Blaise was one of those people who liked to watch others fight, he decided to escalate the situation. "You should ask Rigel." He suggested, looking down at his book on runes. Or it may have just been the cover transfigured. Draco didn't know, he didn't want to know.

He had long since learned not to ask questions when he asked what had happened while he was unconscious and had been faced with the reality he had been tangled up in the giant squid and nearly died from an explosion and dragged to the surface where he was left lying for a good couple of moments while Rigel panicked.

"He shies away at the mention of nudity, what makes you think he has anything to do with this?" Draco snaps, forcibly erasing the thoughts from his head. there was a knock on the door and Pansy poked her head in, worried.

"I heard shouting?" She asked, blue eyes narrowing and scanning the room. Blaise on his bed, Draco and Theo in the middle of the room. Her eyes landed on the ... thing. She shut the door. Pansy truly was the only one with brains in their year.

"Maybe Rigel finally began to... explore his... urges." Theo waggled his eyebrows in an especially undignified manner and Draco flushed, refusing to think of his best friend as that.

"Or maybe you're just too embarrassed to own up to it." He retorted.

Blaise hummed thoughtfully, "How do we know if it wasn't you?"

The dorm dissolved into chaos again as Rigel entered.

"RIGEL! DID YOU BUY THE P-"

"I got the diadem."

"I got the locket."

The two paused as they stared at one another. It was a Sunday morning, Leo was at the alleys, Professor Snape was most likely marking assignments and the rest of her friends were doing who knows what. The ever constant twinge of guilt rushed over her as she realised she had no clue what her friends were doing.

"It's drugs." The two said at the same time and looked at each other in surprise, Rigel grinned and Archie smiled.

"We're going to have to either build up a tolerance which is unlikely or learn how to flush drugs from your system, we've already learned that so I can teach you." Archie chirped, already planning out how to explain. Perhaps he ought to become a teacher.

"Sure, have you been to the kitchens yet?" Rigel asked, already moving as Archie shook his head.

"It's a set of rings." Archie said as Rigel took one and put it on.

"For?" She asked, fingering the ring. It was quite small, obviously not intended for decoration and Rigel was pretty sure it was for protection. She put it on, trusting her mother's inventions.

Shrugging, Archie gave her a crooked grin. "Guess we'll have to find out."

A few hours later, Snape berates them for experimenting with it on their own.

( In one world, Rigel accepted the invitation because she felt the need to escape. In another world, Archie was there with her, mocking her about the animagus transformation she hadn't yet achieved.)

"I didn't know her that well. I don't think I've ever exchanged more than a word with her, she wasn't exactly the type of person I would socialise with." Draco said, face set in a blank mask.

They were sitting at the Slytherin table, as always. And Nymphadora Tonks was dead. Gone. Bled out. There wasn't a healer at the soirée.

Rigel stared at her Godfather's handwriting blankly. It spoke of years of calligraphy lessons, however much Uncle Padfoot had tried to change it. Tried to reject his upbringing. 

There was a funeral next week. She had no clue what she was feeling, sorrow? Sadness? She wasn't feeling anything, really. She didn't know Nymphadora Tonks very well.

Beside her, Archie was quiet.

"The funeral is on a Saturday." She murmured, poking at her food, all appetite gone.

Harriet Potter wasn't going to the funeral. Andromeda was close to Sirius Black, not James and Lily Potter. She wondered how Andromeda Tonks née Black and her husband were faring. Perhaps she ought to send them a fruit basket.

Rigel breathed out steadily as she tried to flush it out as much as possible, all of the champions completely ignoring the orders of not doing anything about it until they started the task.

In. Out. In. Out.

The helpful tips said aloud. A numbing feeling in her brain, settling in and filling out all the curves and creases of her mind, seeping through the cracks and making her brain feel like static.

"Up." Someone said, "Up you get." They said, dragging the competitors up.

Half cut off words and sentences drifted through the air as she stood there, unsure what to do. There was a noise there that steadily grew louder as she focused on it.

"-IMB! CLIMB!"

Why was there a crowd? Why were there towers? Why? Why? Why?

And slowly, ever so slowly, she reached out and hauled herself up, eyes blank and unseeing as she tried to figure out what the ever living heck was going on.

Archie breathed in and out. He had an unfair advantage over others.

There was a time, when the class was covering drugs, that some students asked what they were to do if they knew they couldn't flush the drugs out in time. Hermione frowned at the extensive and extremely long list of poisons that were unfortunately common enough there was a real risk of not being able to flush it out long enough to receive treatment at their skill level.

Wonderful, paranoid Hermione came up with the conclusion that they were to practice flushing drugs out of their system out of class time even though the teacher wasn't teaching them this much this soon.

It was probably the only reason he wasn't dead yet. Archie, being Archie, someone who had a natural inclination towards the subject of healing was adept at it, his studious habits helped. He was coherent enough to realise that, oh, dammit, he was given an amount that would kill him if he were a girl.

Luckily, he was a male and had had extensive training in the subject of healing. So, stumbling forward and forgetting all etiquette lessons, he dragged himself up to climb.

It was an excellent poison. But Archie had Hermione as a friend.

Draco wanted to strangle someone. Preferably the genius who had the amazing idea for coming up with this. It was torture. From a young age, he was taught to not be squeamish but this?

Inch by inch, like a snail, Rigel dragged himself up. 

Slipping multiple times, his heart jumped out of his mouth each time that happened and Pansy had actually reached around to hug Blaise and thank him for giving the gloves to Rigel. No one was cheering. It was torture, pure and simple. Torture.

His friend reached the top, moments after their cousin who had paused-

And-

And-

And there was a ward.

A blood ward.

Draco doesn’t know what happens next, but he does remember the tower crumbling down and Rigel’s face of pure panic.

And you know how the story goes.

(Or do you?)

There is a maze-

"I hate mazes."

There is an acromantula, sentient hedges, life or death situations, a duel. There is a race between two cousins-

Rigel had sworn to do the best they could to win the tournament. Archie knew that he could not let Harry win.

Harry is a prodigy, a studious scholar of all areas of magic. But that was a bad thing as much as it was good. Archie had been taught primarily healing. Of course he was superior in terms of healing.

He knows charms and the like that Harry doesn’t know because of his extra studies. And the cousins had agreed that they must not let Rigel Black, pureblood extraordinaire, win the tournament.

So Archie stops her, using his studies and sends her to sleep.

And then he is trapped.

Archie blinks, disoriented and confused. He doubted this was part of the tournament, what, with the creepy army of vampires and-

Vampires. Army. Archie’s brain short circuited for a moment before automatically counting how many there were. About 25. Maybe more. His breathing quickened, his hands became clammy as he realised he might die.

Blinking, he realised a vampire was monologuing. He was at Hogwarts grounds, the trophy was lying there innocuously on the grass a metre to his right, there were a bunch of vampires and he was going to die.

Arcturus ‘Archie’ Black was going to die.

And then the world exploded.

Lily Potter felt sick. Her daughter was lying there, looking completely terrified. Her magic roared inside her, begging to be unleashed and let out and to rain destruction upon all.

She shared a look with James, her husband, the father of her daughter and he looked like he was thinking the exact same thing as her. They needed to do something.

Magic is volatile. It reacts with your emotions. Accidental magic happens when you're a child more because you don't have as good a grip on them as you do when you’re older. However, accidental magic does still happen when you’re an adult.

Lily’s suppressor is there to remind her everyday that although magic was wonderful, she had nearly hurt her husband because of it. Nearly blinded him. She needed to use magic every day just to keep it under control even with a top notch suppressor.

Harry’s magic reserves became deeper even with the short amount of time she had the suppressor. Lily has been wearing hers for years. Harry’s magic came from her mother, and Lily’s magic was as wild as the waves, made to be as free and endless as the stretch of skies on a warm sunny day.

James magic, for the first time, feels as volatile and wild as hers.

All these little things add up, and Lily realises that even though the suppressor is there to protect her loved ones, her magic does a better job.

As if watching from a third point of view, she sees the tan line on her finger when the suppressor comes off. Sees her daughter’s panicked face. Feels her magic stretch and flex and be let wild for the first time in years and-

And Lily’s magic completely obliterates the wards.

Because magic is a wonderful thing, even with the negatives and Lily Potter is a mother.

Archie breathes and the world falls into chaos.

A wave of magic- stronger than anything he has ever felt before washes over him, cloaking him in a hug and practically flinging him into a safe spot. A beat passes, Archie blinks and it's like that's the signal.

Vampires, a dozen of them but no less deadly than an army of wizards snarl. Aurors and Dumbledore and Riddle rise up, the leader who was monologuing looks startled and snarls as well.

Archie’s stomach drops as he realises vampires has just been unleashed on a place with hundreds of people, of defenceless people who couldn’t apparate because they were in Hogwarts and-

And-

And Archie springs up because someone casts a spell at him and he thanks his training, his studies, his everything and he moves. He isn’t an idiot. He knows he couldn’t possibly battle a single vampire. So he moves and helps the best way he knows how.

Sirius Orion Black loved deeply. He would die for James. For Remus, for Lily. He would have died for Diana. He would die for Harry, for his son. And he would have died for his biological brother.

(He still would .)

Regulus Arcturus Black. Sirius remembered a time when he loved him. A time when Reg's face was full of adoration and innocence. A time when they were still brothers. He had loved him. Loved his questions at stupid o clock. Loved his stupid pretentious way of talking. Loved the distinctive way he signed his letters, always using his initials.

Sirius once had a brother and he had loved him.

( Perhaps he still thought of him as one. )

His son was named Arcturus because of his grandfather who was an alright person.

( It wasn't because of Regulus Arcturus Black, it wasn't.)

Sirius was never one for tradition but he reckoned he didn't want to break this one.

( And it wasn't because some part of him still missed Cissy. Missed Reggie. Missed Bella and, in some sick, twisted way, missed his parents. )

You don't just heal from abuse like that. Sirius loved his mother in a sick, twisted way and he hated the fact that he always would despite the many, many scars he gained from her.

( Disappointment. Blood traitor.)

Sirius had a brother once. He had been naive and curious and had looked at Sirius like he could save the world. Lily understood the feeling, they had bonded over estranged siblings and the guilt of what if-

("I always wonder what if I had tried harder." Sirius confessed. Present tense.

Lily smiled, small and sad and understanding. "I do, too.")

Sirius had lost a brother once. He couldn't- he wouldn't lose another.

( But, in every universe, James or Sirius died. Perhaps they were destined to lose a brother. )

So he didn't, he didn't lose another brother. Because his heart couldn't have handled it. Couldn't have handled the pressure on his already cracked heart. 

They were fighting side by side, James with his prodigious transfiguration and Sirius with his curses as smooth and deadly as poison. They had fought many battles side by side together before. But they had never been able to not apparate, never had to defend thousands of defenceless students and guests.

They had never had to fight against an army of vampires.

Even Albus Dumbledore who could probably take out half the forces was limited and restrained by the crowd of panicking people. He couldn’t harm them and they were everywhere. The vampires moved fast and within seconds, people were dying.

James shoots a spell at a vampire behind Sirius but in doing so, he left himself open for a millisecond. And even a millisecond was enough.

The vampire lunges at James.

And Sirius defends his brother in all but blood (and even that was a bit iffy) by dying himself instead.

Because Sirius knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep moving if he lost James, his longest supporter, too. No more. He had promised himself once. 

No more.

It ends with… grief.

The sun is up and shining, the birds are chirping and Archie’s father is dead.

Archie mourns his father. His loving vibrant father who supported a Slytherin version of his son. Who he had lied to for so many years.

He would never be able to be forgiven, he realises. And he can’t even cry, because he’s too empty to. He would never be able to smile at his dad as he becomes an official healer. Never be able to hug him. To ask for forgiveness about his lies. He is an orphan. 

He mourns, and he pushes it away after he’s allowed himself a few hours of wallowing. He is needed. He can mourn later. He has to do things now, to throw himself into studies and devouring medical texts and healing and-

“Archie?” Asks a voice and he looks up, recognising his cousin’s voice.

“C’min.” He mumbles, voice hoarse. Harry comes in, maintaining the ruse even after everything. He almost wants to laugh. And he does. Laugh, that is. He laughs and laughs and laughs and he thinks that this must be the famed Black Madness he’s read about so much.

“He’s dead.” He informs her, and he laughs at that because she already knows. “He died slowly.” He adds, because he saw the body. Harry crawls into bed next to him, face blank but Archie has grown up with her and she’s an extension of himself.

“ Harry.” He says, blank once more. “He’s. He’s-” And his voice trails off. “He’s dead.”

Harry’s shoulders shake and Archie feels his clothes becoming damp. 

“I know, Archie. I know.” She chokes out.

The sun is up and shining, the birds are chirping and Archie’s father is dead.

Archie doesn’t know what to do. So he laughs.

Cut out Pt. I

It's a normal Sunday afternoon, or, as normal as it could be in a magic castle with moving staircases that could easily break children's neck and with Arithmancy not being a compulsory subject- for Leo when Harry marches in, slamming the door opening and closing it with a flourish unlike what she normally would do.

"I'm possessing Harriett."

His heart skips a beat, thinking back to Harry reassuring him that she wouldn't be getting possessed.

It was an odd sentence to hear out of his friend's mouth in one of their weekly catchup sessions. Leo glances up from his book, sees Harry smiling a smile that didn't look natural on her face and decides not to ask.

He fails to go through with the decision almost immediately. "Dom?" He asks mildly, already having a good guess of why was happening before going back to his book. His hand inching towards his knife subtly.

He doesn't trust the rock. But he trusts Harry's trust.

"Yes." Harry, or, Dom, declared smugly, the smile growing larger and smugger. It was definitely unnatural on her face. Dom as Harry... Dorry. Ham. Darry. Harm. Leo gave up.

Dom-as-Harry was wearing ...their? Their. Their signature potions robes. Their grey eyes-fake- flashed in the sunlight streaming through the window, creating a small, cozy circle of light.

Leo floundered for an answer, unsure how to react to a maniac rock apparently sane and not so murderous possessing his friend's body. With the lack of an answer, he settled on a generic, uninterested and dismissive answer in hopes of trying to make sense of the situation.

"Nice."

There was silence for a moment, Dom-as-Harry waiting for him to say what was on his mind and possibly attack him.

"Why did you possess Harry?" He asked, flipping a page and twirling his hollow knife so that he looked vaguely threatening.

Dom-as-Harry smiled serenely, not seeming bothered by the light glinting off the edge of the knife, sharp and ready to maim. "Don't worry, it was completely consensual." They chide, grey eyes glinting in amusement.

Leo stares for a moment, not willing to acknowledge how weird the sentence was. His mind raced through the possibilities and decided that Dom-as-Harry wasn't lying.

Silently, he sent a silent good luck towards Archie to deal with this. Dom-as-Harry strides out of his room almost dramatically, excluding confidence on every step and looking the opposite of everything Harry was.

He flips to the next page of 'How To Look Passive Aggressively Threatening.'

Cut Out Part II.

It was the day after the night of the Yule Ball. It had been pleasant, laughing with her friends and dancing with her mother. She had drank and ate her fill, Archie had been distracted but she had figured it was most likely him trying to memorise the surroundings to give their stories more background and base.

It had been a wonderful day, perhaps it should have been a warning. She had woken up after a good night of sleep, didn't have any nightmares and gone to the Apothecary to spend an hour browsing around the shop. The lizard skins had had 50% off and she had come home to her parents laughing care freely, playing with Addy and blowing bubbles.

Until it had happened.

Staring at her father, she tried to find a good name, her mind had blanked, all common sense and logic had flown out and it took her a good few seconds to regain her bearings.

"...Dominic Potter." She decides. It's not her best lie.

Her dad is staring at her. "Dominic Potter?" Her dad asks, questioningly, looking up to the roof as if asking some otherworldly forces of nature just what was going on. She doesn't blame him, she would too, if the roles were switched.

"Dominic Potter." She confirms, giving her dad a small smile. Beside her, Dom is grinning unrepentantly at them all. They've fashioned his hair into something more like the Potter mop and his eyes are the same shade as Leo's. He doesn't have a wand, Harry's counting on the fact he doesn't need one.

James gapes at her. His mouth opening and closing a few times as he tries to find something to say "He's not on the family tree." He finally settles on, eyes wide open with a very clear expression of incredulousy. She relaxes, her dad is going to accept this.

"I accidentally adopted him." She says, pulling out her 'I'm innocent' face. She learned it from Pansy two days ago. It had been very useful. She purposely makes it look fake and unbelievable.

There's a long silence as her dad adjusts to this and processes the fact. She knows he's not going to believe it. But she also knows he's not going to question it.

"Please?" She adds, widening her eyes further and using the face Rispah taught her. The one where her eyes watered and her lip trembled and she looked the perfect picture of 'I'm absolutely going to start bawling if you don't agree.'

Her dad folds like wet tissue. "Okay, as long as whatever you're up to isn't illegal." He finally acquiesces, not being very subtle or discreet when shooting suspicious, narrow eyed glances towards Dom. Perhaps his lenience had something to do with the fact that Archie was brandishing his wand behind Dom threateningly.

"This technically isn't." Archie chirps, answering for Harry before she can say some vague and unclear answer by reflex, thus making her dad more suspicious of her and reconsidering his choices.

But it's true. Harry's checked, there aren't any laws against sentient rocks acquiring a body of their own, however questionable the methods are. But that's the methods, not the body part.

Her dad strides away, humming a tune in a transparent attempt to get them all to be quiet and stop digging themselves a deeper hole." I don't wanna hear it." He declares, grabbing a handful of floo powder and stepping through it in one smooth motion.

This situation was a little strange but it was all Leo's fault. Really. He had asked to meet Caelum, there had been a very awkward meet and greet and Caelum had shown off some potion. She had accidentally ingested it and somehow, Dom had... appeared.

Did this mean he was technically her son?

"You know what? I don't really want to be a he. My pronouns are they/them now, Harriett." Dom declares. She shrugs and nods agreeably. If Dom wanted to be non-binary, he would be non-binary.

Caelum had taken one looked, muttered some foul curse under his breath and flooed away, promising to come back for answers after he's downed some firewhiskey. Leo had stared at it, was about to say something but he had reached inside his pocket to pull out a small knife and said he needed to go and would be back.

She wonders how Caelum's going to drink firewhiskey, considering the rune sequence on his tongue and everything.

Archie, on the other hand, had taken on look and started cackling. "It's-It's like *gasp* you're in a-a-a f-fanfic, cuz, some-sometimes, the most *wheeze* absurd things h-happen *cackles* to you." He had said between gasps of laughter he wasn't really trying to repress.

It warmed her heart to know he could still laugh like that, but instead of showing it, Harry ignored him with all the dignity she could pull together at that current moment. Which wasn't much.

But whatever.

Looking around, Dom smiles and takes a step, making his way to-

He promptly and without warning falls down.

Cursing in some language unknown to her, he gets back up and tries again. It was like he was a newborn. It only supported the son theory. Frowning, she banished that thought and locked it in a box with the help of Occlumency. She's only just realising how strange it feels without Dom in there.

In one cauldron, she was happy for him. It couldn't be nice been trapped inside her mind all the time. In the other cauldron, however, he was still once a megalomaniacal rock. Besides, he was more useful in her mind. And it would be difficult to explain his sudden appearance.

Archie cackles in the corner as Dom tries and fails to fall down, offering advice every now and than and trying (and failing) to be encouraging. Meanwhile, Harry's waiting impatiently for Caelum.

What exactly was that potion? She had her suspicions, of course, but she would like them confirmed. As if her thoughts had summoned him, Caelum comes through the floo, grumbling about how runes made everything harder.

"What was the potion?" She asks because it's fun to see Caelum puff up at the knowledge he knows something she doesn't.

( That potion was his only potion of that kind. In one world, Voldemort would have used it to gain a body, in another, in this one-)

Draco and the others had been ever so slightly weirded out when the pair had ushered them out, muttering about indecency and how odd it was for Rigel to not be bothered by it.

She had ignored it and Archie had, as Harry, said airily that they grew up together and Rigel was Sirius Black's son-

It would be the truth had Rigel not being Harry and Harry not being Archie. "Well, what do you suggest I do?" She asked irritably. He smiled and Rigel- for she was Rigel again- regretted asking.

"You'll see, cousin dear!" He chirped, giving her a grin and walking away with a bounce in his step. Rigel ignored the bad feeling.

Cut Out Part III.

There was a fox in Rigel's lap. Draco and Pansy stared at it as Rigel gave them a 'well, what do you do' shrug.

"Why is there a fox?" Pansy, ever straightforward and calm asked, already reaching over to spoil the creature.

Rigel shrugged and smirked, passing the fox to Pansy, it was a strangely well mannered one. "Why is there a human?"

The smirk was... Pansy stiffened, unnoticeable to the naked eye and Draco frowned, wary. Tension, so thick you could cut it with a cutting hex filled the room, choking them and making the walls feel closer.

"Relax," Not-Rigel said, waving their arm and smirking that smug smirk that was completely unnatural on his face. "This possession was completely consensual."

"Oh?" Pansy asked, ever the compromiser. One would think her a middle child. "And where's the proof?" She pressed, stroking the fur of the fox as she tilted her head towards Not-Rigel questioning and completely disregarding the fact that, you know, why was Rigel being possessed in the first place?

Though, it was Rigel.

"I'll switch us back, if you'd like." Not-Rigel offered, closing Not-Rigel's eyes and a moment later, they snapped open the face settled back into the blank mask Rigel tended to wear.

"You met Dom." Rigel said lightly, as Pansy and Draco stared questioningly as Rigel, blithe and calm like it happened every day. Draco wouldn't put it past Rigel. He had probably met vampires before and befriended a couple.

Pansy frowned, calm, collected and like she wasn't freaking out on the inside. Girls were strange creatures. "Dom?"

The name was like domination or dominion. It was ominous, short and Draco thought the name horrible and decided that Rigel was most likely the one who came up with it.

"Dom." Rigel confirmed, and like it happened everyday, the two proceeded to ignore whatever that was and moved on with conversation, leading Draco to wonder if he was the only sane person in the room.