ICARUS ↝ H. GRANGER

[1]

"Rigel," Narcissa said, knocking gently on the boy's half-open bedroom door and peeking her head inside. "time to go, Love."

Rigel turned, meeting his aunt's eyes briefly before she disappeared back into the hallway, leaving him alone in his bedroom once more. He crossed over to the doorway, grabbing his trunk before giving the room one final glance and shutting the door behind him.

As Rigel descended the staircase, conversation between Draco and his father seemed to echo off the walls, words thrown back and forth about Harry Potter being cleared of all charges after his trial with the Wizengamot. Word had spread about the boy being expelled for using magic in the presence of a muggle, causing celebration in the Malfoy household at the thought of the boys no longer having to deal with the tosser at school.

"Ah, Rigel," Lucius said, changing the subject as he and Draco looked up to catch sight of the boy. "ready?"

Rigel nodded, stepping over towards the other two men, Narcissa not far behind as they all joined hands. Almost instantly, Rigel felt as if he were being pressed in on from all sides, the air being forced out of his lungs as the familiar feeling of Apparition overtook his senses. Finally, they landed back on solid ground, the deafening whistle of the Hogwarts Express flooding his eardrums.

"We'll see you boys at Christmas," Narcissa said, giving Rigel a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before moving onto Draco. "don't cause too much trouble now."

"Safe travels, boys," Lucius said with a nod in their direction before taking Narcissa's hand in his, the couple immediately Disapparating.

"Lestrange!" a barking voice called, startling Rigel as he turned to find the source, seeing none other than Willmar Kordin strutting towards the two boys with the usual cocky grin written across his face. The sight of his friend caused Rigel to smile as Will reached him and Draco. "Where've you been, mate? Thought you two were going to miss the train. Blaise is waiting for us inside."

"Fashionably late, Kordin," Rigel shot back, a low chuckle escaping from his throat. "just didn't want to put up with your arse for a second longer than necessary."

The three Slytherin boys pushed their way through the crowd still waiting to board the train, ignoring any glances thrown at them from the other students as they stepped onboard, looking for where Blaise Zabini was sitting in the back waiting for them. When Rigel caught sight of him, he and Draco took their seats across from Blaise while Will slid into the seat next to the other boy.

"So," Will began, lowering his voice. "I saw Potter boarding the train with that blood traitor group."

"Pathetic, isn't it?" Draco asked. "Thought we'd finally be free of the nutter and he'd be off to rot in Azkaban. They were mad not to expel him."

Rigel sighed as the train let loose one final whistle before it started with a jolt, backing out of Platform 9 3\4 and leaving King's Cross Station. Draco continued to rant about his misfortunes over Harry going free while Rigel turned to stare out the window, watching as the countryside began to pass them by on their way to school.

While Rigel always claimed school wasn't for him and that there were better things he ought to be doing with his time, he couldn't shake the feeling that this year was going to be different for him. Whether it was the return of You-Know-Who, or Harry Potter seeming to have gone mad after the end of the Triwizard Tournament, Hogwarts was no longer going to be the school the boys had grown accustomed to. While it had been relatively bright and cheery over the past few years, after the events of this past summer, Rigel knew of the darkness that would await them once they arrived.

Over the summer was when Rigel had met the Dark Lord for the first time. It was brief, Narcissa claiming the boys needed to stay in their rooms while the small group met in the dining room of Malfoy Manor. The Dark Lord had simply stated Rigel took after his mother before dismissing him and turning back to his subjects. After that fateful day, the group continued to meet in private, and Rigel hadn't caught a second glimpse of the infamous Dark wizard taking base within his own home.

"Alright, Malfoy, ladies first," Will said as soon as the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade Station, and Draco rolled his eyes, leading the four boys off the train and onto the platform.

Shortly ahead of them walked Harry Potter with two others, one of them Ron Weasley, a member of the redheaded blood traitor family their group had always despised. Next to them was the mud-blooded girl with light brown hair, her eyes catching Rigel's as the group passed them and a small frown curling down the corners of her moth. Although, for the life of him, Rigel could never seem to remember the girl's name. He could vaguely recall it being something unusual, though it always ended up slipping from his memory.

"Surprised the Ministry's still letting you walk around free, Potter." Draco scoffed as the boys passed them. "I expect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it."

Harry rushed towards the boy, causing Rigel to smirk as Draco flinched and jumped back a bit, but Ron caught hold of Harry, holding him back as the Slytherin boys walked away towards the carriages.

"See what'd I tell you?" Draco asked, gesturing back towards Harry as if to prove his point. "Complete nutter."

"Just stay away from me!" Harry exclaimed, causing Rigel to look back once more, his eyes locking with the brunette's again briefly before he shrugged it off and looked away.

Rigel was the first to board the carriage, the invisible horses carrying them off on the path towards the castle. Draco continued to ramble on about Harry's outburst until they reached the school, following the group in through the front doors, where they were met with the lively chatter of the portraits hanging on every inch of the stone castle walls, welcoming the students back home. Rigel shrugged off the chatter, walking into the Great Hall and taking his usual seat at the back end of the Slytherin table where the other boys joined him.

"Who do you reckon that is?" Blaise asked the group, pointing over to the faculty table where a woman sat, decked head to toe in all pink. "New Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

Rigel studied the woman, who sat surveying the crowd of student pouring into the Great Hall with a proud smirk on her face.

"Doesn't even look like she knows what Dark Arts are." Rigel scoffed. "This oughta be fun."

Hey everyone!

Hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of 'Icarus'! I've had so much fun writing this already and I'm so excited to see where the story goes from here. Special thank you again to Arrowmaster90 for allowing me to write this beautiful plot, and if you're in need of some new story ideas, the hogsmeadecommunity plot shop is beyond amazing! Every one of their plots is wonderful and unique.

Thanks for reading!

-xoxo Liv