{Great Hall, Hogwarts}
{13th Oct 1991}
{3rd person POV}
...
Rigel looked around the room, and everything had been typical moments before. The owl deliveries changed that. One of the most common types of deliveries that owls make to Hogwarts is of the Daily Prophet, and by the looks of the bold black letters printed onto the front page of today's paper, he knew the day would be interesting.
'''SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT! EXONERATED OF ALL CRIMES'''
'''In a shocking term of events, the Ministry of Magic revealed to the press that Sirius Black is now considered a free man. Apparently, all the charges levied onto the Black Family heir were fake as he was framed by the dark wizard named Peter Pettigrew, who was the spy that He-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED planted into Potter's house.
While the real story behind the capture of the illusive death eater remained unknown to most, a clue into the man behind the capture of Peter Pettigrew is revealed. Later during the day, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge put forward the name of Rigel Black for an Order of Merlin Class 2...'''
'Fuck, why did he have to reveal my name on the same day, now I have to deal with the increased attention.' Rigel moaned. He looked around, and already Daphne was giving him a raised eyebrow. He was pretty sure she was going to pester him about it, so he gestured her to wait. He could deal with her later, but his immediate concern was the fact that Harry Potter was making a beeline toward him after reading the paper.
A frown etched onto his face as he disregarded the scowls he was getting from the majority of the Slytherin table. I put down my sandwich and cleaned my hands with the hand towel. As I stood up, I held up my right hand to stop Harry before I stood up and walked over to him.
"I know. Just follow me." I interrupted him before he could begin. He didn't look pleased with not knowing the answers sooner, but he still nodded as he walked along with me. Under the scrutiny of the whole school, our contrasting robes fluttered as we walked out of the Great Hall, and I took him straight toward the second floor.
"The paper said you found this Dark Wizard, the one responsible for the death of my parents," Harry said as soon as we were walking up the stairs next to the great hall.
I looked at him and nodded, "Just wait. I'll tell you the story."
We arrived on the second floor, and I directed him to a locked door. I was expecting another classroom, but this room was surprisingly empty.
'Hmm, no tables to sit at.'
"Yeah, I found Pettigrew and used him to free Sirius." I nodded. Harry nodded back, looking a little overwhelmed by the whole situation.
"What's on your mind?" I asked. This Harry Potter was quite unfamiliar to me.
"I don't know. I kind of want to look him in the eye, see if he had any remorse or something..." He mumbled the last part as his eyes dipped down to the floor.
"Dude, don't worry about Pettigrew. He's a rat, the worst of the worst. Your parents trusted him, and he gave them up. Tell you what, I have a present for you," I said before I called out, "Kreacher!"
Harry had a weird look in his eyes as he looked up suddenly, but his attention was distracted by a loud pop as Kreacher teleported into the room.
"Master Rigel. What can Kreacher do?" The house elf looked at him with a hopeful expression.
"Can you get Sirius here?" Rigel asked. The elf looked disappointed, but he still adhered to his command as he disappeared.
"You can teleport into Hogwarts?" Harry asked, surprised at the obvious loophole in the Hogwarts security.
"Only the house elves can—" Rigel was interrupted by another pop as Kreacher returned, this time accompanied by a black-haired man. He looked a lot better after eating right and getting ample rest. Rigel could also see the questions in the man's eyes, but his attention shifted to Harry, and he froze.
"James???" Sirius's voice had a hopeful tone, which caused Harry to back away slightly. The small shift broke Sirius's dazed look as he came back to his senses.
"Harry?" Sirius questioned as his eyes took in the Potter heir. He took a step forward, and Harry took a step back. Before this situation escalated, Rigel decided to intervene.
"Let me make the introductions. Sirius, this is Harry Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans." Rigel's introduction got a grateful look from Harry before he turned to point at Sirius and continued, "Harry, this is Sirius Black, adopted brother to James Potter and best man at the wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans."
Harry's eyes snapped to Sirius, searching for something before he took a step toward him. Rigel watched as they each closed the distance before they hugged. While the bromance was sweet to watch, Rigel backed away. He had plenty more interrogations to go through. Before he could sneak out, though, Sirius noticed his movements and spoke without breaking the hug.
"Where are you going? I have several questions for you. Where did you find Pettigrew? I was looking everywhere for him." Sirius spoke as he let go of Harry.
"It's not important-" Rigel began to dismiss, but Harry interrupted him this time.
"You said Pettigrew's a rat. Scabbers has been missing for a few weeks now..." His words contained an unasked question.
Rigel sighed. They both looked like they would not let this go, so he stopped backing away and pulled out the map from his pocket.
"I swindled this from the Weasley twins. It's how they pulled all of their pranks together." I opened the map and showed Harry all the names of people just sitting in the great hall.
"The Marauders map..." Sirius whispered, his eyes having that same glossy look as when he mistook Harry for James.
'Hmm, maybe he needs to see a proper healer. Should I rope Pomfrey to take a look at him?' Rigel thought.
'I would have to talk to Dumbledore again, don't I?'
...
----------------------------------
AN - A couple of slow chapters before we move onto magic, sex, and then the Ritual.