ICARUS ↝ H. GRANGER

[12]

Rigel stood on the steps outside the Great Hall, watching as students poured outside of the castle and into the snowy morning, piling onto carriages to be pulled by invisible horses down the hill to Hogsmeade Station for their journey back to London for the Christmas holidays. While he'd never admit it to anyone who asked, he couldn't help but look around for a familiar head of bushy brown hair, though she was nowhere to be found.

Since Rigel had discovered the secret room where "Dumbledore's Army" had been practicing on the seventh floor of the castle earlier that week, he'd actually looked forward to seeing Granger in Potions that next morning, to let her know he was onto her and her friends. However, she'd been nowhere to be found, nor had her cousin Tonks, Potter, or any of the Weasleys, for that matter, leaving Rigel to sit alone at the table for class that day, and they still had yet to return.

"There you are," Willmar's voice boomed from behind Rigel, and he turned to see the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad approaching from behind him, the shiny medal pinned to the front of Draco's shirt, even if they were on their way home for the next two weeks. "We were beginning to think you'd already left without us."

"Wanted to stop for a quick bite of breakfast." Rigel lied easily, falling into step next to Blaise as the boys exited the castle, the chilly December air instantly biting Rigel and turning his breath to ice.

Rigel fell into his usual silence as he trudged along towards the carriages, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat. Although he knew she was most likely not anywhere near the castle at the moment, he still caught himself looking around for a glimpse of Granger, or even a hint of her chatty, know-it-all tone, but she was still nowhere to be seen.

She wasn't at Hogsmeade Station, amidst the hustle and bustle of students trying to get on the train before its departure.

She wasn't on the Hogwarts Express, when Rigel did a quick sweep of the train after excusing himself from his friends to use the restroom during the journey.

And she wasn't at King's Cross Station on Platform 9 3/4, when families rejoiced at seeing their children who had decided to come home for the holidays.

"Welcome home," Narcissa greeted the two boys each with a kiss on the cheek, causing Rigel to give his aunt a small smile in return. "I trust the journey went well?" 

"Same as always." Draco assured her, looking around for the missing member of their family. "Where's Father?"

"Your father is back at home." Narcissa explained simply, reaching forward to smooth out the shoulders of Draco's shirt. "He had a few... guests over, and the meeting ran late."

Rigel's blood turned cold at the thought of whatever guests might still be lingering about as Narcissa held out a hand to each of them, and the boys took them. Rigel shut his eyes tight as the three of them Disapparated with a crack, only to touch down outside Malfoy Manor less than a second later, and he opened his eyes slowly, taking in the hulking figure of the dark house. A few less than shady characters stood outside for a moment in the dark night air, bidding each other goodbye before Disapparating, and Lucius waited on the front porch, a smile gracing his face as he took in his wife, son, and nephew. To what Rigel found to be relief, the Dark Lord himself didn't seem to be anywhere around, most likely already having departed for the evening if he'd been present.

"We'll give you boys a chance to get settled." Narcissa said as the boys followed after her up the steps, into the dim light of the manor's foyer. "The elf should have dinner ready very soon."

Rigel trudged up the creaky stairs of the old manor, following the familiar path to the last room on the right at the very end of the hall. Inside, the black wooden walls were bare, a four poster bed pushed up against one wall with a matching wardrobe on the opposite side of the room. Rigel looked around for a moment before shutting the door behind him and crossing the room to sprawl across the bed, crossing his arms behind his head and looking up to where a familiar carving was etched across the wooden canopy.

The constellation of Orion stretched across the wooden canopy of the bed frame, each star etched in an X from when Rigel swiped a knife from the kitchen when he was seven years old. At the bottom of the carving, a star was etched bigger than the rest, for the brightest in its constellation, Rigel. The sixteen-year-old followed the line of stars with his eyes, allowing his mind to wander back to the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind over the past few weeks at school.

Granger and her friends had been hiding something, that much he'd been right about. Dumbledore's Army, they had called it. But why?

Although the rest of the wizarding world scoffed at the idea that the Dark Lord had returned, Rigel knew all too well about what was really going on behind the scenes, of the shady figures that paraded around his own house as if they owned the place, the only people they feared being Lucius Malfoy and the Dark Lord, himself. Harry Potter was labeled as a complete nutter in the Daily Prophet, but if he'd managed to get the classmates on that list hanging on the mirror to believe him, then maybe it was an army of their own built to fight against the Dark Arts, especially with a professor who didn't do much in the way of teaching.

He couldn't help but think about how stupid his classmates were being, fighting for a cause they knew next to nothing about. While he didn't know the entirety of what the Dark Lord and his own army had planned, Granger and her friends were going to get themselves killed in the process trying to stop them.

"Rigel!" Narcissa's voice called from the hallway, jolting the boy from his thoughts. "Dinner's ready, dear."

Rigel rose from the bed, dusting off his clothes and giving the constellation one last look before exiting the room. "Coming."