CHAPTER SIX |
MAGPIE

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

~ Wayne Dyer

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The start of the new school year scares Rigel A. Black. He stares at his left forearm that is covered by a long black sleeve. He knows he has to hide the shame branded on his arm from Mary. He worries how she would react if she ever sees it. The mark that branded him as a member of the same people who are hunting down people like her and killing them. He wonders if she even thinks about him anymore due to the way he acted towards her since Christmas happened. Every time he looks at her, he sees the screaming woman he tortured and killed. He regularly avoids her at all costs now in order to forget his horrible deeds. Would she still love a monster like him? Would she accept him despite what he has done? Would she even be alive long enough to decide any of that or will his new 'friends' get to her before then? Rigel knows if he was in her shoes, he would not hesitate to run in the opposite direction after seeing the mark. He slowly rolls his sleeve up and watches the snake dance around the skull. Regulus was the one that pointed out that it moves whenever the Dark Lord is close to them. Unfortunately for the twins, the Dark Lord basically lives in their house so their marks are always moving and burning. At least he will get a break from that when he gets to school. His left pointer finger traces the mark, his thoughts about Mary still running through his head.

The cry of a bird startles him out of his thoughts and he glances up to see a magpie emitting its cries on a branch by his window. He gets up from his bed, moving towards his window. He cracks it open and gently reaches his hand out to the magpie. The magpie stops its crying and curiously tilts its head at Rigel before chirping and hopping onto his finger. Rigel smiles, reaching his other hand up to stroke its' feathers.

"It must be wonderful to be able to fly wherever you want. You have all the freedom I wish I had, but instead, I am a caged bird." He whispers. The magpie lets out a cry as if it understood him. "Fly far away from here. It's not safe here for even you." He stops stroking its' feathers and gently places the bird back on the branch. The magpie releases one final cry before flapping its' wings and flying away. Rifle watches the magpie map the sky with its' wings and he secretly imagines himself as a bird. He would fly very, very far away from here to a beautiful place where blood purity does not exist. That is unfortunately too much to ask for in today's age with the current generations of wizards and witches.

"Rigel," Rigel closes his window and turns to see Regulus standing in his doorway. Regulus wears a very solemn expression on his face. "I'm so sorry." He mumbles which confuses him until the Dark Lord and his mother waltz in behind him.

"My lord," Rigel immediately greets while trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"Rigel, it has come to my attention that you do not have a secure pureblood wife." The Dark Lord wickedly smiles. "You do not have to fret anymore for I have found you the perfect match." He claps his hands and Euphemia Rowle walks through the doorway with her mother and father standing on each side of her. The trio looks incredibly deadly and Rigel swears he notices a small trail of blood coated on the father's knuckles. "The Rowle family have always prioritized blood purity and loyalty over everything else. They have been very supportive members of my cause. It would be absolutely splendid if the two most loyal families to me have their children wedded." The Dark Lord states. "Let's leave the two newly engaged couple to themselves so they can get better acquainted." Regulus sends one final solemn look to his twin before leaving the room. Euphemia Rowle stares at him with her unnaturally cold blue eyes and blonde hair framing her face. The green dress on her does not seem very flattering and he assumes she only wore it to please him.

"Hello, Mr. Black," she curtsies to him. He nearly forgot how proper pureblood women are to pureblood men due to how they are raised. Even in the pureblood society, women are often oppressed and abused. No one gives them the respect they deserve. At a young age, the girls are sent off to boarding schools that teach them how to be proper wives and mothers. They never truly get to have an original thought or feeling.

"Please call me Rigel." He comments, warily eyeing her perfect posture and emotionless facial expressions. He silently compares it to the way Mary slouches in her chair and how she expresses everything she feels on her face. Regulus and Rigel have seen her father at their meetings. He always seems to be egging on the violence and has blood somewhere on his body. "How old are you?" He has never seen her at school so she either has to be much younger than him or much older than him.

"I am twelve." He almost throws up in his mouth at the thought of such a young girl being promised to him. He will be entering his sixth year and she will be just starting her second year of Hogwarts. How can someone so young already be so damaged?

"Do you have friends here?" He asks. She slowly nods her head. "Go enjoy your time with them."

"Mr. Bl-" she stops and corrects herself, "Rigel, we are supposed to be getting to know each other for our future together. I refuse to disappoint my parents and the dark lord simply because you do not wish to know me." The urge to change the way the wizarding world works gets stronger with each word that leaves her mouth. Who makes a child believe that their whole purpose in life is to please their parents? Rigel's thoughts come to a pause as he slowly realizes that he is like her just in a different aspect. She is following society's role by being the perfect pureblood wife and pleasing her parents. He is following society by being in Slytherin and now becoming a Death Eater. He made sure he was placed in Slytherin, he didn't protest as much as he should've when the mark was given to him, he does whatever his parents request in order to please them such as not talking to Sirius anymore and he wishes he lost that mindset at a young age. He decides at that moment that if there's one last good thing he can do in his life, he is going to help Euphemia become her own person.

Rigel wishes someone did that for him.

"Euphemia, you are a child. You are too young to understand the cruel reality of the world. You should not feel the need to please your parents and fear disappointing them. This is your life, not theirs. Stop letting them dictate you around and start doing what you want. Start living life as you have always envisioned as a young child. Go enjoy your youth." He narrows his eyes at her. "That is an order from your future husband." She huffs and leaves the room. Immediately, Regulus enters and observes Rigel.

"Are you okay?" Regulus questions.

"Am I okay?" Rigel humorlessly laughs. "A poor twelve-year-old child will never be able to experience love and boyfriends and normal things girls her age go through because she is already promised to me. This is so sick!" He angrily shouts and suddenly, the pictures next to him explode. He blinks in surprise that he lost control of his magic.

"Rigel, you can't be losing control like that." Regulus nervously glances at the door. "What if someone sees the mishaps? What do you think he would do if one of his most promising member is having magic outburst?"

"Hopefully he'll realize it's because him and the whole pureblood population are sick-minded people." Rigel collapses on the bed and holds his head in his hands. Regulus sits down next to him, gently rubbing Rigel's back. "What am I going to do when Mary finds out?" He whispers.

"You need to leave Mary in the past because that is where she belongs if you wish to protect her." Regulus sternly states.

"How can I leave such an important part of my life in the past?"

"You'll learn."

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For the very first year, their compartment on the train lays silent. No one speaks due to being stuck in their own thoughts. Evan and Wilkes are now seventeen and in their last year of Hogwarts while the other three are entering their sixth year. The twins and Mulciber don't even brag about how well they did on their O.W.L.S. to their friends. The twins ended up getting Outstandings in all of their classes. Mulciber did not prove he was the smartest in the group, but he did prove he was smarter than Evan and Wilkes with his three Outstandings. Usually, their compartment would be full of jokes and laughter and of Mulciber and Evan's arguments yet nothing emits from their mouths besides their breaths. They all endured the same thing last school year. The daunting tasks the Dark Lord assigned them in order to meet his expectations of them practically damaged them all. Rigel does not even tell him about his new bride that the Dark Lord appointed him, but he believes they know with the pitying looks they keep sending him every now and then. They startle when a knock sounds at the door and glance over to see a younger, fellow Slytherin.

"Excuse me, are you Rigel and Regulus Black?" The twins nod. "Professor Slughorn is wondering if you would be joining him and the rest of the club in  compartment C."  The other three glance at the twins, briefly wondering if they're up to it. Rigel secretly wants to say no and stay in the tense silence with his friends. He is not in the mood to see how happy every other house is and listen to random people boast about the wonderful things their families have done. What does he have to be happy about and what has his family done that he can boast about? Rigel and Regulus exchange a look. Rigel can tell Regulus does not want to go either but his look says, 'What if Slughorn gets suspicious?' 

"I suppose." Regulus states and stands up. "Are you coming?" Rigel sighs before nodding his head and standing up as well. It is not like he could let Regulus attend the meeting without him. They walk past their friends, mumbling a quick goodbye while heading to the compartment. "Who do you think Slughorn will be boasting about this year the most?"

"Who knows." Rigel comments as his thoughts drift off once more. Mary will be there. She's probably standing with Wendy, talking about the Gryffindor boys they like and how much they hate the Slytherins. He winces, imagining the hate spilling from her lips about him. They enter the compartment and Rigel immediately sweeps the room to see who is all there. He nearly forgot that Sirius and his year graduated Hogwarts until he notices that Lily Evans, Dirk Cresswell, Severus Snape, Avery and Nott are missing from the usual group. Rigel spots Mary speaking to a group of new girls, obviously reassuring them about the club and that Slughorn isn't that much of a creep.

"Rigel!" Slughorn exclaims in pure happiness while leaving the person he was speaking to in order to walk towards the twins. He pulls Rigel into a hug, and pats his back before letting him go. "I do hope you've chosen to continue with advanced potions because you did amazing last year on your O.W.L.S."

"Of course I did, professor. How can I not take one of my favorite classes with one of my favorite professors?" Rigel chucked.

"One of your favorites, who are your other favorites?" Slughorn jokingly asks.

"Professor Sprout is my other favorite," Rigel replies with a smile. "She's been very helpful throughout my years here."

"With your aspiring healer goals, that does make sense. Have you reached out to Herbert Spleen yet? I made sure to owl him over the summer and tell him all about you. He's excited to meet someone as passionate as he is about healing." Slughorn questions.

"Yes, I did. Herbert and I have been exchanging owls when we can. It's truly a privilege to learn such insightful knowledge from one of the bests. Thank you for your help." Rigel wholeheartedly expresses his thanks. If last year has gone differently, Rigel would've continued his correspondence with Herbert and be starting his training to be a healer next year.

"You're very welcome, anything for my top student." Slughorn then turns his attention to Regulus as if just realizing he was standing there. "I have welcomed a few more quidditch players if you want to talk to them." He gestures to a small trio in the corner. "Mr. Felix over there has a cousin who plays on Barnton, he may be able to set you up a meeting up with the coach."

"Thank you for letting me know, sir." Regulus politely smiles.

"Oh, Rowan! There you are! Have a good time," Slughorn leaves to go greet another member. Rigel and Regulus decide to hide in the corner by the food table.

"Herbert Spleen?" Regulus questions.

"It was wishful thinking, I stopped owling him back the closer the school year got." Rigel states. Regulus hums and the two go back to merely staring at the people in the room. Rigel can't help that his eyes keep straying over to Mary. He watches the way her eyes crinkle when she smiles and how her nose scrunches up as she laughs. He observes how she flips her hair over her left shoulder, how she bites her bottom lip as she thinks about what to say next, and how her eyes seem to constantly flicker down at the floor when someone else starts talking. He wishes desperately that he could head over to her and talk to her. Maybe he could explain what's going on and what has happened. Maybe she wouldn't hate him.

Rigel turns his attention away from Mary and to the outside where he can see a flock of birds flying.

He wishes he was no longer in his cage so he may do as he wants.

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"I didn't even think it was possible for you to look more depressed than you usually do." Laura tilts her head to the side while warily eyeing Rigel. Rigel rolls his eyes at her and walks by her towards the carriages. "Okay something is definitely wrong." Rigel cannot help but hold some resentment towards Laura considering her parents did not follow the Dark Lord. Her parents did not force her to join the cause or to get the brand on her arm. She did not perform horrible deeds in order to gain the Dark Lord's favor. She got away scot-free while the rest of them suffered. "Rigel?"

"Leave me alone, Zabini." Rigel snaps, not even taking a moment to pause and look at her as he continues his strides to the carriages. He hears her footsteps falter and can only imagine what she must be thinking. The two have never fought about anything, only jokingly fighting when they felt like scaring second years. They have always been someone to confide in yet Rigel cannot find himself doing that anymore. He finally glances at her when he sits down in the carriage and tries not to wince at the hurt look in her eyes. She stares at him, confusion written on her face with sadness and hurt reflecting in her eyes. The carriage begins to move and she stays standing there in the middle of the pathway with other students walking around her. The two continue to stare at each other until eventually, she is out of sight. Rigel heaves a tired sigh and leans his head against the side of the carriage. He watches the scenery pass by them as they get closer and closer to the castle. Laura will have to find a new potion partner. She will have to learn to read directions and follow them without him there to guide her. He cannot be seen being friendly with a pure-blood who has rejected to join the Dark Lord. He could face punishment. 

"Rigel!" He blinks and turns to see Cindy sitting across from him with a huge smile on her face. "Monte and I are so excited to start our second year, we get to join the quidditch team finally." She gushes. Rigel does not pay her any mind and instead focuses on the figure sitting next to Cindy.

Mary MacDonald is staring directly at him.

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Mary MacDonald likes to think of herself as a simple girl. She came from a loving muggle family with an older sister, Tabitha, and one younger sister, Cindy. She attended Burke's elementary school where she enjoyed her sciences classes much more than anything else. She always dreamt of being a scientist and conducting experiments to better understand the world they live in. She wanted to explore and discover new things. She enjoyed the feeling of rain pounding on her skin. She enjoyed peanut butter toast and a cup of hot tea on a cold day. She liked the color grey because it was neutral and showed how there was no true good or evil in the world. She hated insects especially cicadas because of how loud they are. She went to bed around eight every night and woke up at seven every morning. She enjoyed looking at the night sky and tracing the constellations. She liked annoying her sisters and stealing their clothes. She liked how her life was ordinary, but one day, she would make it extraordinary. Her name would be written in history books, schools would teach generations to come who she was and what she accomplished in life. 

The day she got her Hogwarts letter was a day of complete shock. Mary's vague understanding of the world got flipped upside down and inside out. No one in her family knew about magic and her father thought it was a joke until Professor McGonagall appeared on their doorstep to take Mary's school supply shopping. Her parents and younger sister were ecstatic about having a witch in the family; however, her older sister was not. Tabitha quickly grew jealous of the attention Mary got from the rest of the family. Their parents overlooked the fact that Tabitha was graduating high school and going to college and focused solely on getting Mary ready for her magical school. Mary always felt a bit guilty with leaving her family behind in the muggle work until she came to Hogwarts.

Mary finally felt like she belonged when she first stepped foot in the large castle.

She met others who experience strange magic outbursts as she did. She met others who shared the same passions and morals as her. She met others who enjoyed the same hobbies as she did. She met Lily who comforted her and told her about how Lily's own sister, Petunia, acted exactly like Tabitha. It made Mary feel a bit better — knowing it was an unfortunate common occurrence in muggle-born families and that is wasn't solely because of her. She got sorted in Gryffindor where she learned that deep down, she was brave and courageous. She assumes she has to have those qualities in order to leave behind everything she ever knew to come to a whole new world full of strange opportunities.

Despite all the good things about Hogwarts, she also met a lot of negative people. She was judged by the other kids because of her house. She was greatly judged on her blood status. She was judged on the darker tone of her skin. She was the victim of relentless bullying from pure-blood supremacists. She remembers when a group of bulky Slytherins had her cornered in the Transfiguration corridor. She remembers the sneers on their faces and the clear disgust in their eyes. She truly thought she was going to meet her death that day with how viciously they were shouting spells at her until suddenly, they grew deadly silent.

That was the day she met Rigel Black also known as one of the Slytherins' Princes. She always imagined that he would be cold, deadly and full of poison, the perfect embodiment of a snake. But her assumptions were proved wrong.

He told them to leave her alone and they surprisingly listened. They left her alone with him, laughing because they thought he was going to take cursing her in his own hands but the opposite happened. He helped her up and told her how to deal with the bullies. She didn't see any deadliness, coldness, or poison in him as she saw in the other Slytherins. She saw kindness, loyalty, and warmth emitting from him. She briefly wonders how such a person got sorted into Slytherin.

Rigel Black was the first pureblood Slytherin to show kindness to her and she would never forget that.

The two quickly assumed a private friendship. They met up late at night after dinner ended in secret passageways and dark corridors to talk. That friendship blossomed into something more as they grew up. Mary started seeing him less as a friend and more as a future partner. She adored the way he put family first above all. She adored how determined he was when it came to getting good grades. She adored how passionate he was about becoming a healer. She adored how he tried understanding the muggle world and how simple appliances worked for her. She adored how his eyes lit up whenever they entered the greenhouse and saw professor Sprout. She adored how he would try to cover his mouth with his hand whenever he laughed or smiled. She adored how highly he would speak about Sirius despite all the bad blood between them. She simply adored everything about him.

And she knows he once adored everything about her as well (she wonders at night if there is a chance that he still does). 

She honestly thought their relationship would continue to blossom into something beautiful until last school year. She does not understand what happened over Christmas but whatever it was, it completely changed Rigel. He started ignoring her and avoiding her any time he saw her. She noticed how he would deliberately go the long way to class in order to not run into her in the corridors. It truly upset her seeing how quickly he went from being a doting almost-boyfriend to this pureblood jerk.

She honestly thought she would feel nothing but hate when she would see first him during their new school year. She thought she would be able to ignore his existence just as well as he ignores her existence yet that did not occur. As soon as he entered Compartment C with Regulus, her eyes were drawn to him. She knew something was wrong with them by the protective way they stood next to each other as if any second, one of them could drop dead.

Her suspicions of something being wrong are only further confirmed as she stares at Rigel sitting across from her in the carriage. His eyes, once so full of life and yearning to explore and learn, are now so dark and full of horrors and poison. She no longer saw the twelve year old boy who saved her from the bullies during her first year. She no longer saw the boy she adored and would sneak off in the night to stargaze with.  She only saw a shell of the boy she use to know.

She wishes Rigel would sing his story a little louder to her so she could hear and help him escape the cage he was trapped in.

[ "Even the strongest, most independent people need a little help sometimes." ]