In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin."Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy would say in a loud whisper as Professor Lupin passed. "He dresses like our old house elf. " Rigel took his wand out while reading his textbook and sent a small jink that knocked one of the legs off Draco's stool making his cousin fall off his seat causing many to laugh.

no one else cared that Professor Lupin's robes were patched and frayed. His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After Boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed: in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten lost. From Red Caps they moved on to Kappas, creepy. water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds. Rigel has also informed his head of house he could now perform the patronous charm meaning he could defend himself against himself against dementors. she agreed he could leave the castle  for Hogsmeade but not for the qudditch games.

Charms was still one of his best subjects and found the work both challenging and fun. Professor Flitwick even had him teaching some of the other students including Fred and George. he was also enjoying ancient runes and Arthamancy and still got surprised when Hermione would appear out of no where. he also found time to meet up with Ron in the owlry to have some alone time together.

as it approached October Rigel began to enjoy the coolness of the weather enjoying the peace and relaxation of the Gryffindor common room. Rigel was reading a book by the roaring fire. Rigel hadn't noticed how tired he became and fell asleep and began to dream.

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Rigel saw a baby in a crib in a rather large nursery. He went over to touch the baby's cheek but it was like he was touching a ghost. he heard a door open and turned and saw a beautiful woman enter. the woman walked over to the crib and picked up the baby. "how is my brightest star" she asked smiling at the baby she was holding. the baby gigged at the woman's touch. "Kreacher" the woman called.suddenly in a pop a house elf appeared. "yes mistress Bella" the old elf said smiling. "me and Rodolphus have matters to attend to and while we are gone you will look after Rigel do i make myself clear" she said. Rigel went wide eyed and turned to the woman. this woman was his mother Bellatrix Lestrange. "of course kreacher look after master Rigel as if he was his own" he said. "good" she said before handing him the baby and leaving.

the scene then changed to Rigel standing in a nursery to standing in a lavish living room. "i still cant believe  that you two gave birth on the same day" a voice said to Bellatrix and a young blonde woman who he believed to be his aunt Narcissa. "where are the children" a woman asked. "in the lounge room mother playing" Narcissa said. he saw Bellatrix checking her pockets. "Bella whats wrong dear" Druella asked. "its probably nothing but i cant seem to find my wand" she said. "you left the manor with it" a man said. "thank you rodolphus im well aware"  she said. suddenly they heard crying coming from another room. the four adults got up in a hurry and left with Rigel following. when he entered he saw two baby's and a play pen with a burnt whole in it. Rigel saw the blonde baby crying and the dark haired one waving a wand and starting small fires and smashing things.

"oh draco whats wrong" Narcissa said picking up the blonde baby whos face was red from crying. "at least we know where my wand went" Bellatrix said. "well would you kindly control your demon spawn before he burns down the house" Lucius said. "dont you dare call my child demon spawn" Rodolphus said. "at least are son isn't a potential squib lucy dear" Bellatrix said. Rigel saw the baby pouting and pointed the wand at Lucius and suddenly a small fire started on Lucius cloak. Lucius screamed and baby him started to clap and giggle. Bellatrix walked over and picked him up and took the wand from Rigels hand. "good boy" she said before kissing his forehead.

The Scene changed again this time Rigel was in a place he knew well he was standing in his living room back home. he saw baby him in a play pen looking sad a six year old Tonks looking at him and his uncle ted reading the daily profit. "whats wrong little guy" Tonks asked the baby. all the baby did was turn around causing Tonks to pout. baby Rigel turned and looked at the daily prophet. and began to smile. "mama" he smiled and waddled over to the edge of the play pen and held out his arms. "mama want mama" he said."ohh you miss your mommy little guy. "mama want mama"  he replied. "hey dad can i borrow the paper" Tonks said. "why do you want the paper" he asked her. "well just the front page" she said. Ted gave her the paper and she tore out the picture of Bellatrix  and handed it to the toddler. "here you go little guy" she said. "mama" he cried and took the picture and began to hug it with one arm and suck his thumb with the other.

suddenly Rigel began to feel lightheaded and knew he was waking up.

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when Rigel woke up he saw Ron. "are you ok" Ron asked. him. "yeah i guess i just fell asleep reading" Rigel said. "Are you alright" Hermione asked. "you look like you've been crying" Harry said noticing the tear on Rigels cheek."oh its nothing" Rigel said wiping it away. "well if it cheers you up the first Hogsmeade trip is on Halloween" Ron said. "great Halloween" Rigel said sarcastically. "oh cheer up" Hermione said. "and can i ask how were your parents tried on Halloween" Harry asked. "it was a year after the downfall of you-know-who they were able to hide for months until they caught my uncle Rabastian who revealed where they were" Rigel said looking away. "besides being tried as death eaters they were tried for something so unforgivable they got sentenced to life in azkaban" Rigel said. "what was their crime" Harry said. "cant say as it not only affects me" Rigel said going up to his dormitory.

"you know sometimes i forget how much hes suffered because of you-know-who" Ron said as he watched his boyfriend head back up to the dormitory.

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The next day in Herbology Rigel barely talked to anyone Ron tried to cheer him up by sending him notes in class all that did was make Rigel send him a smile. Rigel tried to pay attention to his work drowning out everything else around him. His behavior had not gone unnoticed by his classmates he could hear them whispering "whats wrong with Rigel", "is he sick", "who knows hes a Lestrange after all"

when class finished he quickly packed his things up and headed to his next class Transfiguration. Rigel payed no attention to the crying lavender he stood back from the the whole scene.

Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at that moment, and when they got into class, Rigel sat down at the back and not with Harry,Hermione and Ron.

"One moment, please!" she called as the class made to leave. "As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"

Neville put up his hand. "Please, Professor, I -- I think I've lost --"

"Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. "She seemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may leave expect for Mr Lestrange can i have a word with you" she asked. everyone but Rigel,Ron,Hermione and Harry left the classroom. "out you three" she said to the three. "but professor harry has something to ask" Ron said before being interupted. "then wait out in the corridor i need to have a word with Mr Lestrange" she said. the three left the classroom. "Mr Lestrange i have been made aware lately you've become distant" she said to the boy who didn't seem interested in listening. "would it have to do with what is coming up" she said. Rigel knew what she meant and nodded. "i always get this way this time of year" Rigel said.

"your friends and other teachers have become concerned" the old witch said. "i know this time of year must be hard for you but you must not dwell on the past" she said. "and look forward to the future" she said to him. "you may go now" she said. Rigel nodded and left. as he walked away her word rang in his head and he began to think maybe he shouldn't be so down just because of what time was coming up.

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On Halloween morning Rigel as usual was the first one up. he took a look in the mirror and did something he did not expect himself to do he smiled. he saw Ron began to wake up. "morning Ronny boy" he smirked. Ron went wide eyed at the sight of Riguel smiling. "y-your smiling" Ron stuttered. "yeah i thought i should try and cheer up after all today is the day of our first date or did you already forget" Rigel pouted. Ron giggled at his boyfriends pout.

When everyone was awake they all headed down to breakfast. We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione, looking desperately sorry for him.

"Yeah, loads," said Ron. "if Ron doesnt eat them all" Rigel teased. "hey" Ron whined
"Don't worry about me," said Harry, "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time. "

Harry accompanied them to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going.

"Staying here, Potter?" shouted Malfoy, who was standing in line with Crabbe and Goyle. "Scared of passing the Dementors?". Rigel pulled out his wand and sent Draco flying with flipendo. "take that cousin" Rigel said putting his wand away.

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Ron and Rigel were currently sitting alone in the three broomsticks drinking butter beer and giggling while Hermione was away getting books from the book shop. "aww look boys its the Lestrange and the weasley princess" a voice said. they turned and saw Draco with Pansy and Blaise. "its disgusting" Pansy shrieked. "and such a shame" Blaise said. "Can you three idiots go away we are on a date" Rigel said. "oh we know it makes me sick that my baby cousin is with a weasley fairy" Draco said looking at Ron in disgust. Ron was about to get up but Rigel grabbed his hand and stopped him. "at least im not dating a pug" Rigel retorted. "how dare you" Pansy looked ready to tackle him but Draco stopped her. "lets go if i stay here any longer ill loose my breakfast" Draco said leading Blaise and pansy out of the building. "Rigel is it at all possible that Draco was dropped on his head" Ron asked. "its a possibility" Rigel said close to laughter.

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it was dusk by the time Rigel,Hermione and Ron had gotten back to Gryffindor tower. "There you go," said Ron. "We got as much as we could carry. "

A shower of brilliantly colored sweets fell into Harry's lap."Thanks," said Harry, picking up a packet of tiny black Pepper Imps. "What's Hogsmeade like? Where did you go?". "it was great until Draco decided to try and ruin our date" Rigel said to Harry."The post office, Harry! About two hundred owls, all sitting on shelves, all color-coded depending on how fast you want your letter to get there!"

"Honeydukes has got a new kind of fudge; they were giving out free samples, there's a bit, look --" Ron said."We think we saw an ogre, honestly, they get all sorts at the Three Broomsticks --"

"Wish we could have brought you some butterbeer, really warms you up" Rigel said."What did you do?" said Hermione, looking anxious. "Did you get any work done?". "No," said Harry. "Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in. He told them all about the goblet. Ron's mouth fell open. "Lupin drank it?" he gasped. "Is he mad?"

Hermione checked her watch.

"We'd better go down, you know, the feast'll be starting in five minutes They hurried through the portrait hole and into the crowd, still discussing Snape. "But if he -- you know --" Hermione dropped her voice, glancing nervously around, "if he was trying to -- to poison Lupin -- he wouldn't have done it in front of Harry. "

"Yeah, maybe," said Harry as they reached the entrance hall and crossed into the Great Hall. It had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant water snakes. "i think Snape would know better than to directly poison someone he doesn't like" Rigel said.

The food was delicious; even Rigel,Hermione and Ron, who were full to bursting with Honeydukes sweets, managed second helpings of everything. Rigel thought he couldn't move with the amount he had eaten.

The feast finished with an entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great success with a reenactment of his own botched beheading.

It had been such a pleasant evening that Rigels good mood couldn't even be spoiled by Malfoy, who shouted through the crowd as they all left the hall, "The Dementors send their love, Potter!" Rigel was shocked at how good this Halloween had been.

Rigel,Harry,Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed with students.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously.

Harry peered over the heads in front of him. The portrait seemed to be closed.

"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password -- excuse me, I'm Head Boy --". "and no one cares you homophobic git" Rigel shouted causing people to laugh.

And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick. "People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.

"What's going on?" said Ginny, who had just arrived. "no idea" Rigel said.

A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait; the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and Rigel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was.

"Oh, my --" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. "woah" Rigel said as Ron grabbed his hand

The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him.

"We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady. "

"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice.

It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle. "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing. " he added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. " Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black. ". "we are fu" Ron quickly covered Rigels mouth.