Chapter Text
The Unbreakable Vow flared to life in his blood, the intensity of the magic strangling his words in his throat. Power coursed through his veins; on its heels, heat and pain. For one burning instant, Tom thought he had miscalculated. Was the boy not coming? Had he chosen death after all? But—the bond flared one final time and… broke. The hold the magic had in his chest went slack all at once, and no amount of mental groping could locate the bond any longer. In disbelief, he looked to his wrist, but there were no fresh markings. Rigel had not broken the Vow. He had satisfied it.
*
Standing at the counter of his own potions lab at home, Severus stumbled backwards and fell to his knees on the hard stone floor, dropping his platinum knife in the process. Since the end of that disastrous school year, he had dived into potions experiments in between doing Albus’s bidding for Order business. Anything to still his mind from going down on darker paths. Now though, his whole being—including his soul, and wasn’t that impossible with everything he had done in his life—felt awash in a light so encompassing he thought he was going to combust. One moment, Severus was standing in the eye of a storm born of wild Fiendfyre and the next, his vision almost went black at the release of such powerful constraints. His limbs were heavy, but he felt light; floating almost. Used to cataloguing every sensation he put his body through for the sake of experiments if nothing else, Severus could only say it was as though he'd been dosed with the most potent Elixir of Euphoria while being struck with lightning.
He chased the elusive tail end of the feeling before it could disappear and with a shocked gasp, realisation dawned on him. The Vow made to Tom Riddle all those years ago. Gone. It was gone. Severus was free. An odd feeling suffused his chest, just like the first time Lily had given him a present for his birthday, forever sealing his fate to the witch.
Wonder.
Then the wave came crashing on the shore, no longer gentle and playful but devastating with the understanding it brought. Understanding of just what his apprentice had accomplished.
Rigel had fulfilled the Vow.
Anger ran hot on the heels of the fear suddenly coursing through his veins, seizing his heart just as fast as the sight of that deadly green light washing over his student had done. Severus knew today was the Crowning Ceremony, just like he knew he could not be present for a multitude of reasons; even though it cost him immeasurably.
Stupid, foolish, impossibly idiotic dunderhead of an apprentice! Severus roared in his own mind. And yet, had Rigel not shown himself today, his worst fears would have been rendered true with the boy dropping dead who knew where.
Severus exhaled loudly, slamming back down his occlumency walls with uncomfortable ease. He would deal with this when he had the deceptive little fiend in his grasp. For now, he had a potion to salvage and Albus Dumbledore’s soul to plumb for news of his apprentice’s whereabouts.