They must have made a funny picture, Rachel often thought much later. Herself sitting on the couch, in barely more than her underwear, cereal and the broken pieces of the bowl by her feet, him standing beside the couch wearing only his boxers, his black hair ruffled, his expression shocked and bewildered.

Rachel had never thought it possible, but she was actually speechless. Sirius was staring at her, the cheerful twinkle in his eyes had vanished, he looked angry. After he had finished his speech, he slowly calmed down and leaned back in his chair again.
“Or maybe”, he said suddenly, “you don’t want to see me with another girl for completely different reasons …”

Tomas made no move to do so. “I want another shot”, he hissed between his teeth.
“I don’t think so, Coyle”, she said. “You had your shot. This is the last time I’m telling you this. Leave. Now.” 
Tomas let out a strangled growl and advanced on her, looking ready to hit her in the face.

Sirius’ eyes fell on her and his look of dislike mirrored the one she wore. His eyes seemed to narrow as they fell on Jason across from her.
He came strutting over to her and Jason, pulling the tall blonde along. 
“Well, if it isn’t my favourite little girl”, Sirius smirked, as soon as they had reached the table. “And with company, no less ...."

Rachel smiled slightly, stood up and walked to the front of the class, the poem in her hand. Her eyes scanned the room and waited until everyone was looking at her, then she said clearly, “my poem is titled, ‘The attention seeking idiot’.”

“Sirius”, she breathed. “Sirius, don’t go further, don’t…”
“What are you talking about, Rach?”
“Don’t go this way, Sirius, it’s not good, it’s not good!”

“It depends on who the reason is that you’re happy”, he continued.
“It’s not you.”
“No, I wouldn’t have imagined it to be. It’s my brother.”
She said nothing.
“For someone who used to hate Sirius, you sure are spending a lot of time with him now, aren’t you?"

Jason paced up and down in front of her bed. “Don’t make me look like a fool. For the past weeks you’ve been talking about nothing but him. It’s Sirius here and Sirius there. It’s Sirius said this and Sirius thinks that … You spend practically all your time with him. And next thing I know, I walk in here to find him all over you.”

“Then you should put the past behind you! He didn’t hurt you while you were friends, why should he when you are going out? He cares about you, more than he cares for anyone else. And it’s not like you’re getting married or anything. You would be together, and I really think it would do you good. Look, Rachel, we’re in bad times. People live in fear. It would be good to have someone by your side. You shouldn’t be alone in these times, Rachel. And to you, I think he could, and would be the perfect boyfriend.”

"...Everyone needs love and the fact that on our side, love exists, is the fact that gives me hope. I need you all to stick together and stop love from disappearing. Keep it growing. It is our only strength.”
The hall was silent as Dumbledore finished his speech and sat down again.
Rachel felt worse than ever.

Lily and Dorcas exchanged a look. Then Lily took a deep breath and said slowly, “Do you … do you love him?”
Silence filled the room as Rachel let herself fall back on her bed, pressing the pillow to her face.
“Oh Rachel”, Lily said quietly. “Oh no.”
“I wish I didn’t”, Rachel’s muffled voice came from under the pillow. “I wish I didn’t love him … but I do … you have no idea how much.”

Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and responded to his kiss fiercely. His arms around her waist pulled her closer to him and their kiss became a mixture of sweetness and passion.
When they finally broke apart, it took them both several moments to get back to their senses. Then, with a bright smile at her boyfriend, she entered the classroom, not noticing Regulus staring angrily at her.

He had grown much more violent since the beginning of the year, when she had easily been able to push him to the ground. Now there seemed to be nothing left in him that might stop him from violence, and in the furious glimmer in his eyes there was pure malice and unrestrained anger. He was strong and something had turned him completely evil.

Sirius had left the castle the night of the thunderstorm.
Rachel was worried sick, and when, late at night, she didn’t dwell on memories for once, she wondered where he was, or what he was doing right now, whether he was alright, and whether he was thinking of her. And then she used to press her face into her pillow, pretend it was Sirius’ shirt, and let the tears flow, fear and sadness clawing at her.

She couldn’t see anything; her vision was blocked by a mass of dirty wolf hair. The growling of the werewolf resounded in her ears. The werewolf’s claws dug into her arm painfully and she could feel blood tickle down her arm. The foul smell almost made it impossible for her to breathe.
The werewolf bared it’s teeth and howled, as it went to bite her.

“You know I’ll do it, Sirius,” Regulus growled. “You know I will. It is your choice – you can leave quietly now and she’ll live, granted, she’ll be injured, but she’ll live, or you can come just one step closer, and she’ll be dead. "