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QFLC Contest
Beater Pride of Portree
Prompts; notorious, Prewetts
Look at the mighty Rigel Arcturus Black.
A sixteen-year-old teenager shook her head at the thought, tears leaking from her eyes onto her cheeks. She had taken refuge in a secluded classroom on the third floor of Hogwarts to hide from her tormentors. In the corridors outside were the remains of her school trunk. It had been thrown onto the ground by her former dorm mats, its contents spilled all over the floor.
"Why did Dad decide to marry me off to some half-wit?" she muttered to herself, tears
She had never felt so broken. For the last six months, the prospect of an arranged marriage had hung over her, tainting her sixth year at Hogwarts. Every day that passed felt like doom was ever closer and the burden of NEWT schoolwork hadn't helped. She curled into a fetal position as tears poured down her cheeks. Is there any hope left for me at all?
"Are you okay?" a masculine voice said.
Rigel squeaked and scurried into a corner. She curled into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible, her wand all but forgotten. "Please don't hurt me.".
"Lumos." a second masculine voice said.
Rigel gasped when she saw who it was. Gideon and Fabian Prewett stood over her, grinning identical smiles. She knew them only by their reputation among the student body. The two were notorious for their moral compass and bravery. Even seventh-year Slytherin students gave them a wide berth because of their prowess in Defense Against the Dark Arts. What they weren't known for was hospitality, and Rigel had been hostile to them on more than one occasion.
"I swear I didn't do it," Rigel said, hands held up in surrender in front of her.
"Did what?" Fabian asked.
"What? No 'better than thou'?" Gideon mocked.
Fabian swatted his brother on the shoulder, while Rigel winced at his comment. She knew what he said was true. Many Slytherin students were especially ruthless, often jinxing first-year students for no reason. Rigel hadn't done anything like that, but she still had done her fair share of pureblood pride.
"What happened?" Fabian asked.
The two sat down on either side of the broken teenager. To prod her to talk, they Summoned all her belongings back into her trunk and pulled it into the classroom. Unused to such kindness, Rigel didn't know what to say. She looked at Fabian, a question burning into her eyes.
"We can't help if you don't spill it."
It came out like the flood of Noah. Rigel never meant to open her heart to strangers, but she was so starved for kindness that she couldn't help it. Rigel sobbed for an hour, her story leaking out between gasps of emotion. Gideon (who was forced into it by Fabian) kept conjuring tissues for the distraught girl. By the time Rigel had exhausted herself emotionally, a mound of wet tissues lay all over the floor.
"I thought arranged marriages died in the Middle Ages," Rigel finally finished. "How could my parents try to make me marry a..a..a.."
"Power hungry, pureblood loving, hypocritical moron?" Gideon offered.
"Yes that," Rigel said, choking on her tears. She didn't know whether to laugh or to start crying again
"We know," Fabian said. "We're lucky to have been born to a good family. Our grandfather though still mired in the old ways."
"Can you help me?" Rigel asked. She would've never asked such a thing of a Gryffindor or a blood traitor. But the Slytherin had nowhere to go and nothing to lose.
"We can, but we expect something in return," Fabian said.
"What?" Rigel asked, fearing the answer.
"No more snide comments. No more 'Slytheriness' nor lies. You side with us."
Rigel paused knowing what their demands entailed. She'd be turning her back on everything that she had known for the last sixteen years. To her surprise, her decision didn't take more than a minute to make.
"Okay," Rigel said.
The Prewett brothers and their friends quickly found her new quarters (an abandoned classroom near Gryffindor Tower). Compared to her dorm, the accommodations were similar to that of her family's house elf. A donated chest of drawers and her trunk were the only decor. Her bed from made from broken wood that had been clumsily magicked together to create a rough bed.
When the Prewetts had left, Rigel flopped down on her new bed and lay there, her hair flowing out from her head like the delta of a river. She pondered her predicament, turning over the events of the day in her mind. The more she thought, the more angry she became. Rigel got up and rummaged through her trunk, pulling out her pictures of her friends and family. She threw them onto the ground, the glass shattering as they impacted the ground.
"Reducto!" Rigel bellowed.
One by one, she blasted her family and friend albums to smithereens. When the last one was destroyed, she collapsed back to her bed. The tears came again, but they weren't of sadness but relief. I can never go back.
"I'm sorry, Father," she said to no one in particular. "Your perfect Pureblood daughter is never coming home."
She rolled over onto her left side, eyes fixed on the chairs stacked against the wall. I need a new identity, a new name. Her eyes alighted on a file cabinet against the wall. In the flickering candlelight, she could just barely the letters above it
"Muggle Borns," she read aloud.
Seized by a sudden desire Rigel couldn't explain, she flung herself off the bed and raced over to the filing cabinet. She flung it open and began to ruffle through the papers. Names came and went, but she didn't like any of them. "Come on, come on, something very Muggle."
The papers were sorted alphabetically and Rigel went from the A's down the alphabet until she hit the M's. None of the names appealed to her.
"Come on, Morgana, wait, Molly," Rigel said. "Molly. Molly."
Each time she said the name, it filled her with strength. This is me. Never will I be a Black again. Rigel opened up a new dairy and began a new entry. The first entry only had four words on the page; My name is Molly. Placing it onto her bed, she felt a wave of exhaustion overcome her. She collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep without changing her outfit.
The next morning, Gideon and Fabian Prewett picked her up at the classroom. She was ready this time. She had a different aura about her this morning, and her Hogwarts robes lacked Slytherin green. Gideon and Fabian exchanged looks as the three walked down a deserted hallway. For someone who had been a pureblood fanatic just a day prior, it was extraordinary how much she had changed. The two locked eyes and exchanged a single thought; it's time.
"Rigel," Gideon said. "You see our services do come with a fee."
"Don't call me that!" she snapped, causing both Prewett boys to jump.
"What?" they said together.
"Call me Molly please," she said. "I don't want to be a Black anymore. And I'm sorry for everything. So, what is that you want?"
"Well, we need to get into the Slytherin Common Room,
"You need the password. It's 'Tojours Pure.' The motto of the hypocritical House of Black. Now, I have my fee."
Gideon and Fabian Prewett blinked already knowing how they were going to respond. In their minds, this was a one-time transaction, a necessary move to get into the Slytherin Common Room.
"I don't want to be called Rigel anymore. My new name is Molly," Rigel informed them.
"Funny name," Fabian said. "So why did they reject you from the Slytherin Common Room?"
Molly fidgeted. She knew the true reason behind would sound lame. "Turkish Delight. My all-time favorite."
"Because of a treat is why you are here?" Fabian said, not believing what he was hearing.
Molly shrugged her shoulders. "They planned to poison the ones going to the Gryffindor table. I couldn't stand it, so I tipped off Dumbledore. Over thirty Slytherin students are in detention and five have been expelled. Somehow they found out and I rejected my father's marriage plans. So..."
Gideon couldn't believe it. "So what are your plans now?"
"Easy. Together we are going to take down Slytherin House. Foil all their plans for the rest of the school year."
Gideon and Fabian Prewett couldn't believe their luck. At the same time, they were still wary of their new ally. They resolved to be careful until she could earn their trust.
"Well," Gideon said. "Let's begin. What are their plans?"