CHAPTER ONE | TWO MOCKINGBIRDS

"It's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

~ Harper Lee

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Honestly, Rigel A. Black cannot help, but compare muggle-borns to mockingbirds. His grey eyes linger on the impure families hugging each other on the platform with large smiles on their face before directing his gaze onto the excited little first years buzzing about starting Hogwarts. There is a sense of sadness in his heart at the sight of the pure happiness and joy in their eyes. The children are surrounded by this aura of innocence that Rigel knows will soon disappear as soon as they enter Hogwarts. For the last few years, the darkness within Hogwarts has grown. The muttering about blood purity is louder than ever before, people's acceptance for those who are different is deteriorating at a fast pace, and the separation between the houses are only making matters worse between everyone. Their innocence will be killed during their schooling, they will be exposed to situations that they should never have to face such as dealing with racism and supremacist thinking whether that is based on their blood status, sorting of house or skin color. The world truly ruins any form of innocence people may have especially now with how corrupt their culture is.

Rigel flinches in surprise when a gentle hand is softly placed on his shoulder. He glances towards the source, locking eyes with his twin brother. Regulus eyes Rigel with concern shining in his eyes and a hidden message in his expression: "Are you okay?" For a split second, he wants to say no aloud for everyone to hear including his parents (who are muttering darkly under their breathes about the Evans). He dismisses that and shrugs Regulus's hand off as he sharply nods his head. Sometimes, Rigel wishes that Regulus did not know him as well as the older male did. There are times where Rigel believes Regulus knows him better than he knows himself, and it terrifies him.

"Boys," the twins subconsciously straighten their posture and smooth over any emotion on their face, "this year is very important for the both of you." Walburga grins at her sons yet they could see no love or warmth in her eyes. Orion does not even look at them, busying himself by engaging the Rosier family in a conversation. "I expect you both to be at the top of your year. I want only amazing feedback from your professors and be on your best behavior." Rigel understands the message between the lines she is trying to convey. He could not ignore the amount of people that have been staying at his house or how late they stay speaking to each other downstairs. All conversation usually stops when the twins appear because, according to their mother and father, they are simply too young to be apart of their meetings; however, if they prove themselves this year during the school year, they will be permitted to participate in the meetings. Rigel has a sinking feeling he already knows exactly what goes on in those meetings.

"We understand, mother." Rigel and Regulus simultaneously state in the same exact monotonous tone. The grin on her face sharpens into a dangerous smile.

"And I do not think I have to remind you both to not speak to that filth," she spats hatefully, "because the consequences will be dire." Rigel restrains himself from rolling his eyes at his mother's words. Ever since Sirius ran away and was disowned, she's been referring to him as filth and not by his actual name. Their father avoids speaking of Sirius, acting as if he never even existed. Suddenly, a familiar laugh echoes in the air and Rigel can feel the hair on his body stand up. He uses his peripheral vision to gaze at Sirius. Rigel would never admit it, but he misses hearing that laugh almost as much as he misses his brother's presence in general. He snaps out of it when Regulus slyly nudges him while their mother continues to lecture them about the proper behavior they need to exhibit at school.

"Mother, the train will be leaving soon. We should be boarding." Regulus interrupts her before she could notice the drifting mind of Rigel.

"You're right," Walburga kisses their cheeks, "write to me." The brothers nod their head, grabbing their trunks and nod goodbye to their father before rushing onto the train. They barely walk onto the train when they hear their names being shouted.

"Blacks! Get over here!" Evan Rosier shouts, waving at them from his position within a compartment. The twins exchange a look before heading towards the male. They ignore the looks they gain from the people in the compartments they pass and the way people start to whisper at the sight of them. Rigel and Regulus have gotten use to the attention from basically everyone at Hogwarts. The opinions others have on them do not deter them in the slightest. The girls think they're handsome and want in their pants, the boys are envious and want to be them, while everyone outside of their friends  thinks they're downright bastards; however, there a select few that think nothing of the twins and merely view them as Sirius's little brothers.

"You know, you don't have to scream like a bloody banshee to get our attention." Rigel informs Evan as the brothers take a seat across from Evan, Mulciber, and Wilkes. The three males are truthfully the only ones the twins could stand in their house.

"Oh, but darling, how else would you know it was me?" Evan pouts, his brown eyes gleaming with slight glee at his successful attempt at annoying the twins.

"By your shitty hair," Regulus remarks and he eyes the disheveled brown hair on top of Evan's head.

"He's got a point. You should at least try to make yourself look presentable." Wilkes agrees as he briefly glances up from his drawing to stare at Evan.

"My hair isn't that bad." Evan scoffs, running a single hand through it which messes it up more. "How excited are you two to start fifth year?" He wiggles his eyebrows at the fifteen year olds. "I hated how strict the teachers were last year," he groans.

"That's because you never did any of the homework and fell asleep in class." Wilkes comments.

"Meh," Evan shrugs, "still passed my O.W.L.s."

"With Acceptables in everything, but DADA." Mulciber takes a bite out of the candy bar he brought with him to eat on the train since he has never enjoyed the trolley's food.

"The only Outstanding I got." Evan snorts. "It's not like you did any better, Wilkes."

"I got Exceeds Expectations in basically everything while getting Outstandings in DADA and Potions." Wilkes smugly smirks at the brief look of annoyance that appears in Evan's eyes.

"I can't wait to take the exams and prove that I'm the smartest in this friend group." Mulciber mumbles.

"Smartest?" Rigel repeats in disbelief. "You're the strongest out of us, but I wouldn't say you're the smartest."

"You wound me, Riggie." Mulciber jokingly places a hand over his heart with a pout on his lips. Rigel goes to say another smart comment when a knock at their compartment door stops all conversations. The group of Slytherins immediately turn their head towards the culprit, locking eyes with a Gryffindor girl. Rigel can feel a lump in his throat as he stares at her since he is always caught off guard by her beauty. Mary MacDonald gazes at them in annoyance and slight fear while cautiously eyeing Mulciber. Last year, Mulciber attempted to perform dark magic on the girl simply because she rejected going on a date with him.

"Mary! What a surprise." Mulciber sickeningly grins at her. Rigel has to retrain himself from punching his friend to wipe that smile off his disgusting face. "Why are you here?" Once again, Regulus is staring at Rigel as if he knew exactly what thoughts were going through Rigel's mind.

"Most definitely not for you," She snarls before directing her gaze onto the twins, "Professor Slughorn is wondering what's taking you so long to join us." Rigel emits a low groan causing the other males to snicker quietly at his pain. Professor Slughorn teaches students Potions, and he made a club full of students he likes, believes will go on to do great things or had connections in the wizarding world.

"Come brother, we shouldn't keep him waiting." Regulus sighs and stands up. Rigel rolls his eyes before copying Regulus's movements.

"Have fun getting your arse kissed!" Evan shouts at their retreating figures. Rigel responds by holding up his middle finger at him. He can still hear Evan's roaring laughter as they walk down the aisle and to Compartment C.

"How was your summer, Mary?" Rigel politely inquires, ignoring the burning look his twin sends him.

"My family and I went to North America for the summer." Mary replies and playfully winks at Rigel without Regulus seeing. Rigel bites the bottom of his lip, not wanting to accidentally disclose their semi-relationship to his brother. "I met a few boys from Ilvermorny. They were incredibly rude and kept trying to shag me, but I already have a boy I want in mind and I couldn't do that to him." Regulus narrows his eyes in suspicion at the light redness on the tip of Rigel's ears.

"Such loyalty." Rigel dryly states earning a laugh from Mary.

"It's one of Gryffindor's greatest traits." She jokes.

"Expect loyalty is a Hufflepuff trait." Regulus informs her, wanting to put an end to her playful banter with his younger brother. Mary and Rigel sense Regulus's sour mood at how easily they're speaking to each other and quiet down. The rest of their journey is in silence.

"Rigel! Regulus!" Slughorn happily exclaims as soon as the twins set foot into the compartment. Rigel quickly sweeps the compartment to see who all came to the first meeting. Dirk Cresswell is in the corner with Eldred Worpie and Gwenog Jones who is speaking vibrantly about the upcoming quidditch season to the males. Lily Evans is quietly whispering with Wendy Slinkhard while Mary makes her way over to the girls. Severus Snape, Avery, and Nott are silently leaning against the wall. "How have my number one students been?" Slughorn questions with a large grin plastered on his face.

"Wonderful, Professor." Rigel welcomes the hug Slughorn gives him meanwhile Regulus merely shakes his hand. "I read that book you gave me over the summer. I must say, it was truly an amazing book."

"Ah yes, Harper Lee was one of my best students. I'm thankful she gave me personal copies of her book." Slughorn joyfully laughs. "I never expected the woman to become a writer. She had such a way with creatures, I truly thought she would be working with them."

"Sometimes people stray away from the path of life they were originally going to take." Rigel shrugs. Slughorn does not seem to understand the underlying meaning to Rigel's words, but Regulus does considering the sharp glare he sends his younger brother. 

"That reminds me, have you decided on what career you want to pursue?" Slughorn curiously asks. That one innocent question causes both brothers to tense. Rigel places a strained smile on his face.

"I've been leaning more towards becoming a healer than anything else." Rigel truthfully admits; however, in his mind, he wonders if he'll ever be able to complete that dream due to the rising tensions in the wizarding world. Regulus blinks in surprise at Rigel's answer, not knowing anything about his dream career.

"I can certainly help you with that, Rigel. I do know quite a few accomplished healers that will be more than happy to mentor you. I can set up tutoring sessions with Herbert Spleen on the weekends so you can get an Outstanding on all of your O.W.L.s." Rigel feels his strained smile turn into a real one at the mention of the renowned healer, Herbert Spleen. Slughorn pats Rigel's back before directing his gaze onto Regulus. For whatever reason, the twins noticed early on in their schooling that Slughorn favors Rigel over Regulus. "And Regulus, my boy, what will you be doing with your life?"

"I plan on becoming a professional seeker." Regulus answers.

"What team are you hoping to be apart of?" Slughorn inquires.

"I'm aiming to join either Barnton or Bigonville Bombers." Regulus replies, no emotion or actual expression on his face.

"Unfortunately, I don't know any of the members on those teams. I can get you a meeting with Galvin Gudgeon on the Chudley Cannons." Slughorn suggests.

"Thank you for the offer, sir, but I am going to decline that offer." Regulus falsely smiles.

"Well then," Slughorn clears his throat, "go mingle with the others and enjoy yourselves. I have to go speak with Eldred about his latest writings."

"You never told me about wanting to become a healer." Regulus comments as soon as Slughorn out of hearing range.

"We both know that it'll never come true." Rigel whispers. The twins stare at each other for a moment before heading towards the other Slytherins. They stand there in silence, observing the other members of the club. Rigel and Mary continuously lock eyes as they attempt to slyly sneak glances of the other.

Unfortunately, the looks went unnoticed by everyone, but one person in the room.

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"Nobody learns without getting it wrong first, Laura." Rigel heaves a tired sigh as he strolls besides Laura Zabini. The woman immediately glares daggers at him.

"A Zabini never fails," Laura grumpily curses, "that potion shouldn't have failed."

"So what the little potion you tried to make didn't work as you intended? Keep trying, keep fixing little things until you make it work." He comments while helping her up into the carriage before climbing in after her. Neither of them take any notice of the other people in the carriage with them, continuing their conversation as it begins to move.

"I am trying to make a potion that gives the consumer the abilities of a metamorphmagus, but it only ever changes the skin or eye to one color instead of it changing according to your moods." Laura seethes. "What am I possibly doing wrong?"

"Maybe you're not putting enough love into the potion," Rigel snorts and dodges the shoe Laura throws at him.

"I bloody hate you." She crosses her arms over her chest.

"The feelings mutual." He makes a kissy face at her. She rolls her eyes at his antics, but allows a small smile to grace her lips. He hands her the shoe back and glances at the others in the carriage. He tries not to snort at the expressions of utter confusion and horror staring at them. The fifth years accidentally got into a carriage full of second years by the looks of it. "Hello dearies, excited for another year at Hogwarts?" The children quickly nod their heads. Rigel and Laura exchange a glance, both desperately wanting to laugh. The carriage comes to a stop and Rigel hops it before helping Laura step down. "Maybe you shouldn't wear heels all the time." He comments, letting her cling to his arm as they walk to the school together.

"Honey, I look drop dead gorgeous in heels." Laura dramatically flips her hair. The duo continue to discuss her beauty and her failure of a potion until they finally stroll into the Great Hall. "This is where I leave you." Laura plants a kiss on Rigel's cheek before heading towards the very end of the Slytherin table where her friends are sitting. Rigel sits across from Mulciber and Wilkes while sitting in between Regulus and Evan.

"I heard there's not a lot of first years attending Hogwarts this year." Avery states, sitting next to Wilkes with Nott and Snape following.

"Why not?" Emma Vanity asks from a little down the table.

"Parents have heard the rumors about the Dark Lord, they're scared. Most of the first years are being sent to a different school not in Europe or are being homeschooled." Avery wiggles his eyebrows and dangerously grins. "I wonder how true the rumors are. Got anything to say, Blacks?" Rigel and Regulus narrows their eyes at the male in pure hatred. The twins and Avery never got along very well. Before they could defend themselves, the doors to the Great Hall open and Professor McGonagall leads the small group of first years to the stool. Rigel quickly counts the number of new students, furrowing his eyebrows when he counts only fourteen children. Usually, there's nearly forty students to be sorted.

"I am the hat that's seen them all, Each and every student to pass through this hall; I've sorted the great and the good as well as those of evil mood; Wear your house colours with pride, and now let's see where you'll abide; Ravenclaw with colours bronze and blue, a house of those clever and studious in hew; Hufflepuff with colours yellow and black, a house where friendliness is the knack; Gryffindor with colours red and gold, a house of those brave and bold; Slytherin with colours silver and green, a house where great power is seen; So put me on and then you'll see if your colours are opposite or complementary." Everyone applauds the sorting hat song as Professor McGonagall steps forward holding a shirt roll of parchment.

(a/n: i found the song on fanfiction.net, i cannot link the story for some reason, but i do not own the song. also, i know the sorting is in alphabetical order but i'm writing this very late at night and i wasn't in the mood to write out the names and organize them.)

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she commands. "Roosevelt, Killian."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Sasson, Loretta."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"MacDonald, Cindy!" Rigel sees the nervous expression on Mary's face from across the Great Hall. She tightly holds Marlene McKinnon's hand as the duo stare at the eleven year old girl.

"SLYTHERIN!" Rigel frowns as the other houses sneer and whisper when she is sorted into Slytherin. The look of utter heartbreak on Mary's face only furthers his frown. Rigel starts to clap the loudest and the rest of the Slytherin table immediately joins in. There is one thing a Slytherin will learn quickly at Hogwarts: that a Slytherin is only ever safe with other Slytherins. Slytherins are taught to always bind together and protect each other no matter because it is them against the world basically. Cindy nervously sits down next to Laura, the older woman already acting as a maternal figure to the child. Despite clapping, most of the Slytherin house have expressions of disgust or shock because everyone knows that Mary is a muggle-born which means Cindy is too. People sometimes forget that those not from pure blood are still able to be sorted into Slytherin if they have the right amount of ambition. Cindy will face the wrath from the other houses for being a Slytherin and the wrath from Slytherins for being muggle-born. By the way Mary is staring at him in absolute dread, it seems she also connected the dots and realized what will happen to her sister.

"Bakker, Rosary!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Shirley, Minda!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Scheer, Michael!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Scheer, Doug!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Caywood, Cheryl!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Attaway, Fritz!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Tadlock, Everette!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Zubia, Emile!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Reiner, Mira!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Granger, Lizeth!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cresswell, Monte!"

"SLYTHERIN!" Rigel openly snorts at the expression on Dirk's face from his position at the Hufflepuff table. Despite clapping, most of the Slytherin house have expressions of disgust or shock once again because everyone knows that Dirk is a muggle-born which means Monte is too. It is amazing that two muggle-borns have been sorted into Slytherin this year especially with the hatred for them being at an all time high. Rigel is not one to believe in destiny or fate, but this was too much of a coincidence for him to dismiss the sortings. Rigel feels saddened by the confused looks on the new Slytherin's faces every time someone mockingly hisses or boos at them. The eleven year olds had no idea why the other houses were doing that. They couldn't understand what was going on, but soon, they will. They'll understand why Slytherins travel in packs. They'll understand why Slytherins stay quiet and in the background. They'll understand everything.

Rigel can feel a pain in his heart because mockingbirds are already being killed and classes have yet to begin.

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Rigel stares at the wall full of papers and pictures from himself and his roommates. Initially, Evan started it because he posted a piece of paper on the wall to remind Rigel to do his potions homework. After that incident, the wall became where everyone would post reminders for the others. Then one day came where Rigel posted an inside joke on the wall, and the very next day, more inside jokes between the group got posted. The items on the wall started to pile up from simple reminders and jokes to pictures and artistic works. Rigel never knew Wilkes could draw until he posted a drawing he did of the twins or that Mulciber could string words together to create beautiful lines of poetry. This wall brought the gang of Slytherins closer together and Rigel found himself a family at Hogwarts much like how Sirius found one with his friends in Gryffindor. Rigel lets his eyes stray to the one picture that fills him with happiness no matter how bad his day was. A gentle smile comes to his face, watching the moving picture from his position on his bed. Severus Snape was the one that took the photo as Regulus and him were dunking each other in the Black Lake after taking their first year exams and Evan decided to join in. He preceded to dunk both twins with a large grin on his face. He still remembers the taste of the water on his lips, the laughter and pure happiness surrounding them, and the way he felt truly and completely free.

Rigel wonders for a brief second when his mockingbird was killed: did his family already kill it before he came to school or did it die during his schooling?

"Rigel," he turns to see Regulus standing in the doorway to their dormitory. He slowly strolls across the room and sits next to Rigel on the bed. "Two muggle-borns." He whispers in disbelief.

"What an unfortunate time for them to come to Hogwarts." Rigel snorts.

"You're going to protect them." It's more a statement than it is a question yet Rigel still nods his head yes in response to it. "Why?"

"They're innocent."

[ "Atticus,
he was real nice."

"Most people are, Scout,
when you finally see them." ]