Author's Note:
Chapter One: Normal on the Outside
On the outside, she seemed utterly ordinary. Intelligent brown eyes peeked out under the stray wisps of brown hair that she'd missed in her hastily-pulled-back ponytail. She sat on her ordinary bed in her ordinary room doing what appeared to be ordinary homework.
With a quill. A big, brown, eagle feather quill. A pretty quill, in fact. But a quill. No, that wasn't ordinary. And had one happened to glance at her homework over her shoulder, they would have beheld a length of slightly yellowed parchment paper bearing the title: "The Purpose and Methods of the Fidelius Charm". No, no ordinary at all. The book lying closed on the covers next to her bore the title "A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration by Miranda Goshawk" with a name emblazoned in gold lettering in the bottom right-hand corner: Rachel Schickling.
"Rachel?" a voice called down the hall for her.
Rachel set aside her quill after neatly punctuating the end of her essay on the Fidelius Charm. "What, Mum?" she called back.
"Dinner's ready, sweetheart," came the reply, "and you have mail," her mother's voice added, as an afterthought.
With a slight groan as her legs protested the sudden use, Rachel set her books, parchment and quill aside and heaved herself off the bed. Padding down the hall, she blinked a little in the kitchen light, which was brighter than the one in her room. "Where's my mail?"
"Right here," her mother replied, pointing a slender wooden stick at a stack of envelopes, which flew across the room to land in Rachel's open hands.
"You could've let me come over and get it myself, instead of rubbing in the fact that I'm not old enough to do magic yet," Rachel grumbled, frowning slightly.
"Just another month, dear," her mother replied breezily.
Rachel made a face at her mother, which caused them both to laugh. "What time does Dad get home?" she asked idly, rifling through her letters. "One from Hogwarts, one from Kelly in Mexico, two from Cedric, one from the Ministry of Magic – oh good, that'll be my Cup ticket… took them long enough."
"Did you get a seat with the Diggorys?" her dad asked, coming in the door and dusting off his long green robes.
"Yeah, we ordered together… I think. That must be what Cedric's writing about. Anyway, they're pretty decent seats. Cost an arm and a leg to get them though. My whole year's savings, plus Grandma's Christmas money." She frowned a little, remembering the depressing feeling of emptying her pockets onto the Department of Magical Games and Sports official's waiting palm.
"Oh well, dear," her father said bracingly. "The Quidditch World Cup's well worth all the galleons you spent on it."
She grinned. "I know, Dad."
"Dinner," Mrs. Schickling announced, setting the food on the table and summoning the place settings with her wand.
Rachel sat down at the table and tore open one of Cedric's letters.
Rae,
Cho's coming over for dinner with her family, so I'll be quick. Got our tickets today. Box XXXVII, row I. Make sure yours matches. See you in a week. Ced
Rachel checked her ticket, satisfied to see that it did match. She opened Cedric's other letter.
Hey Girl,
How's your summer vacation? Having fun? I've hung out with Cho a few time and ran into Professor Sprout at the Apothecary in Diagon Alley the other day when Mum went to get some more supplies. She said to say hello to you. Did you finish the Potions homework? Snape's essay on Amortentia was a killer. I'd better do well on it, for all the work I put into it. Anyway, I was in a rush earlier, but the Changs left early, so I'm sending this letter too. Dad's got a tent and a site reserved for you, next to ours. We'll help you set up. Oh, and the nearest Portkey leaves from Stoathead Hill, meet us there. Cedric.
Rachel smiled and tucked the letter back in its envelope. She reached next for the letter from her American pen pal, who was vacationing in Mexico and had sent regular updates throughout the summer. Her letter this time went into great detail about a French boy she'd met that week who went to Beauxbatons School of Magic. Rambling about boys was one of the rather endearing traits of her pen-friend, whom she had met two summers ago when Kelly traveled to London with her father on business.
Her letter from Hogwarts contained the customary notice of start-of-term and the list of books she'd need for the coming school year.
"I'll pick those up next time I go shopping, dear," Mrs. Schickling said, peering over Rachel's shoulder to look at the list of books and supplies. "Is there anything else you need?"
"I don't think so. Just a present for Ced's birthday in a couple of months, but I can get that myself."
"That dear boy!" Mrs. Schickling said, "I always knew he'd do well in school! I remember when you two were first years together and practiced spells on each other so much that the nurse wrote home to complain about the number of times she saw you in the hospital wing…how come you two haven't started dating by now?" she suddenly asked, changing topics in mid-sentence.
"Mum, I told you, Ced's just a friend. We don't like each other that way."
"Are you sure he feels the same way you do?" her mother pressed.
"He's been dating Cho Chang since summer started!"
"All the same," Mrs. Schickling sniffed, "I think you two are meant for each other."
Rachel rolled her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to convince her mother to change her mind. "Whatever, Mum."
So what did you think? Yes, she's an OC, but I prefer writing them... it keeps me interested, and I try to keep mine as real as possible. Rachel's actually one of my personal favorites, for reasons you'll see in later chapters. Review, please!