{Pomona Sprout's Office, Hogwarts}
{5th Oct 1991}
{Amelia Bones POV}
"Sorry about that, Pomona, family emergency." Amelia apologized, getting a concerned look from Pomona.
"Do you need my help with anything?" Pomona immediately asked. They were both quite close, which was one of the reasons she was able to sneak into Hogwarts like this.
"Yeah, don't tell Albus that I'm here..." Amelia replied, getting a frown from the herbology professor, "...I'll meet with him after, I promise."
"...Alright," Pomona agreed after a moment.
"Thanks!" Amelia smiled at her and then indicated to her door before she walked out. The main door was open as always, and Pomona was one of the few teachers in Hogwarts who had an open-door policy sans curfew.
She walked out of the office and arrived at the Greenhouses. The walk to the Hufflepuff common room was quite long, as the Greenhouses were isolated at the northeast end of the castle. She had to walk through a courtyard and then a handful of moving staircases just to arrive at the central part of the castle. A sharp left took her to the Viaduct Bridge, and even though she was just halfway to the common room, it had taken her over five minutes of walking already.
'I should have asked Susan to meet me here. At least the Slytherin common room and the Hufflepuff common room are quite close, so we don't have to take a detour,' Amelia thought. She kept her mind off the topic discussed in the letter. Too much thinking about any possible wording that Susan had written could cloud her judgment.
'Susan is a second-hand source. Even though I always taught her to pay attention to the words, she could have missed something.'
She didn't want to mess this up since it was an important clue and her final lead. As she walked through the Hogwarts hallways, the paintings were already eyeing her, and by the looks of it, quite a few of them recognized her before they disappeared from their frames.
'Dumbledore would soon know that I'm here. I need to wrap this up quickly before I go to meet him... I don't want him to intrude on this meeting and force Rigel to hide some stuff...'
Amelia understood that if Rigel wanted to meet her instead of Dumbledore, he likely wouldn't talk with the old man around. Her eyes traced the large wooden doors of the entrance hall as she took the staircase going down, one floor underground, and followed the hallways to the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchen.
During her time at Hogwarts, she hated and loved the fact that Pomona's office was so far from the common room. Before she took the position as the Head of the Hufflepuff House, it wasn't a problem, but the stubborn woman didn't want to leave her plants behind to occupy the original office that all the Heads of Hufflepuff House used, creating this large gap.
'The only reason she could manage is that most of the Hufflepuff aren't a mischievous bunch...'
Amelia's eyes caught Susan standing outside the entrance to the common room. She seemed unable to contain herself, considering the magnitude of the information she knew.
"Not here." Amelia instructed immediately as she swished her wand and chanted, "Expecto Patronum~"
'''Meet me in the abandoned classroom number 212 on the Second floor.'''
A white glowing rabbit burst out from the tip of her wand, and after a few hops, it disappeared through the castle walls. With the message sent, she motioned for Susan to follow as she double-backed on her footsteps and started walking back.
"You arrived quite fast," Susan murmured as she ran the last few steps to meet her steps.
"Of course, any information he might have could become useless any second," Amelia replied. She could see that Susan was fidgeting beside her.
"Speak!" Amelia instructed. Seeing the heir to an Ancient and Noble house hesitating was quite unsightly.
"Can I sit in the meeting with you?" Susan finally asked after hesitating some more.
'Hmm, I guess I am to blame for her curiosity. But not on this one. This one is a little too close.'
"Not this one, sweetie," Amelia replied, she didn't want to sound too harsh and crush her curiosity, "Any other case and it would have been fin-"
"But please... I got you the lead. I talked to him, and I won't say a word about it in the meeting or to anyone else." Susan pleaded.
Amelia stared at her briefly, then sighed, "Fine, but you will have to ask Rigel for permission."
"Don't worry about it. He owes me a favor," Susan grinned cheekily.
"...don't waste a favor on this right away. First, ask him about it. Only if he declines initially should you mention the favor," Amelia replied. She had taught her niece a lot about the world and magic, but it seemed like some lessons in politics and bureaucracy needed to be put on her schedule for the term break.
"Alright, tell me about Rigel. What do you know about him?" Amelia asked. This would give her some information and keep her mind busy.
"Well..." Susan hesitated, "...he's quite reclusive, and there are a lot of rumors surrounding him, from being the next dark lord to being a pervert to everything in between."
"Pervert? Is this about the ritual?" Amelia asked. She told Susan that it was up to her if she wanted to do the ritual or not, and although Susan had tried to be nonchalant about it, she could tell that her niece was quite interested in that.
"Kind of. He has been linked to a couple of witches already, and rumors are that either Evelyn Rowle or Pansy Parkinson spends the night in his room daily." Susan shrugged.
'Daily? He's quite active, and his reputation is quite similar to that of Blacks.'
Before her thoughts could plunge into another depressing sea of memories, she saw him. He had the same hairstyle and cheekbones, even though his eyes were slightly different, like Sirius's little brother.
"Aunty?" Susan's voice broke her dazed expression as Amelia controlled her emotions.
'He looks so much like him, no wonder there are so many rumors going around...'
...
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AN- Switching back to Rigel's Perspective, next chap!
P.S: 50+ advanced chapters on P.atreon, along with Amelia's dress and photo!
{2nd Floor Corridor, Hogwarts}
{5th Oct 1991}
{3rd person POV}
"... It's okay." Rigel heard Amelia whisper as the two parties met. His eyes trailed along her figure as he got ready for this meeting. This important meeting must be carefully controlled if Rigel wants everything to go according to the plan.
'She's hot though, her figure as tantalizing as Narcissa's...' Rigel thought, but it was her dark red hair that Rigel identified as the main attraction. If he compared their figures, Narcissa had the edge anyway.
"Lady Bones, how may I address you today?" Rigel asked. First, he needed to deal with the pleasantries to make a favorable impression. But it seemed like Amelia had other plans.
"That depends on what capacity I am talking to you in. If it is an informant, then you should address me as Auror Bones." Her tone was level, and no emotion leaked through. Her eyes were already scanning Rigel's visage.
'She's strict, alright. Then again, I was expecting at least this much resistance,' Rigel thought. His eyes met Susan's, who was looking at him curiously. Unlike before, she did not seem nervous anymore.
"What if I'm just your niece's friend, a friend who needs some guidance and is not quite sure how the legal system in the wizarding world works? A friend who's afraid that if what he knows gets out, then some people with high authority would try to hide and suppress that information to save their hide..." Rigel laid out the bait. And he was pretty sure that he got to her as her eyes were fixed on him.
...
"...Susan's friends call me Aunty Amelia," Amelia conceded, attracting Susan's surprise look.
"Of course, thanks for meeting me, Auntie. Given that you called me to an abandoned classroom, I believe it is a secure place to talk?" Rigel asked.
"Follow me!" Amelia instructed. Getting her bearings once again, she walked over to the locked door and used her wand to tap at specific areas. Rigel noticed that this particular door was a little different, as a different set of runes was marked onto the doorframe, with some strokes and language that were entirely different from Hogwart's runes.
'Was this her hiding place when she was in Hogwarts?' Rigel could see that this was where she asked him to come, which made him hesitant to step foot in that room. Rigel was quite aware of the advantages that a home field, with wards and runes protection, gives during a negotiation.
"Nope," Rigel said, deliberately popping the 'P' to catch her attention. "I'm not setting foot in a room fortified by something other than Hogwarts wards."
Amelia turned around to look at Rigel. Seeing his firm denial, she thought about pushing through it for a moment but then decided on a different approach, "I'm not going to harm you, Mr. Black. You are Susan's friend, remember?"
Rigel looked at her amusedly before he shook his head and pointed at another abandoned classroom on the other end of the hallway. "We'll use that one," he said.
"Are you sure? I won't be able to guarantee that our conversation will be kept private otherwise?" Amelia insisted.
"It's alright. I am willing to take that chance," Rigel spoke as he walked over to the door and cast the unlocking charm. A soft click signified that the spell worked as the door opened. Rigel pushed the door open and stepped aside, "Ladies first!"
His charming smile was met with a snort as Amelia stepped into the room, wand at the ready. Rigel was about to close the door after entering when Susan stepped forward, her intentions clear.
Rigel gave her a raised eyebrow, to which she cheekily replied, "I'm worried too, you know. I wonder what troubles ails my friend." Rigel snorted and stared at her for a moment. The redhead met his stare with a raised eyebrow of her own.
"Do you know Occlumency, Miss Bones?" Rigel asked.
"Susan," Susan corrected, "We are friends after all... and no, I don't know Occlumency, but I have an artifact that protects my memories at all times."
Rigel looked at her hands and noticed the bracelet she was showing off. After staring into her eyes once more, he relented and stepped aside, Susan skipped past him into the room, and Rigel followed, his eyes straying at her plump ass for the moment as Amelia went through with a slew of detection charms around the room.
"Colloportus~" Amelia chanted, the only spell she cast verbally at the door. Her intention was clear: She made it known that the audible spell was for his benefit.
"Thank you," Rigel reciprocated her intent and then sat down on one of the desks. Amelia followed his example and settled on another after using an overpowered cleaning charm at the old desk.
"So, Mr. Black, enough with the fanfare. I was told you have some information about where Sirius Black is hiding?" Amelia spoke as she settled down.
"Of course," Rigel spoke before he gave her a confused look, "but I never mentioned anything about me knowing where Sirius Black is hiding?"
The atmosphere in the room froze, as did Amelia's face before she glared at him and then at her niece, "...be very careful with your words, Mr. Black. I don't have time for games and pranks."
'Who said anything about pranks?' Rigel wondered as Susan spoke up, "What are you talking about." Her face set in a frown, "I clearly remember you saying you know the location of where Sirius Black is..."
"Nooo..." Rigel stretched out the words as he turned to look at Susan and replied, "I told you that I know the location of the fugitive who is accused of being a mass murderer and is on the run. I never said it was Sirius Black."
Susan's mouth snapped shut with an audible snap as she glared at Rigel. Amelia, though, quickly caught onto the fact that at least Rigel knew something, so she decided to pressure him, "And who pray to tell is this man, this mass murderer is?"
"Why Peter Pettigrew, of course!" Rigel replied with absolute confidence. His only reply was two dead stares locking onto him.
'Okay, so maybe I'm not as charismatic as I thought I was.'
...
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AN: And so it begins!
P.S - 50+ Chapters on P.atreon!
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