Chapter 21: Annoying Ex-Boyfriend

Rachel decides to spend the rest of the journey alone in her compartment. Santana is right; she needs to get her mind off her girlfriend and on to the holiday spirit. However, no matter how hard she tries, the blonde's upset pout would always pop into her head.

"Stupid Quinn…" she mumbles, "Stupid Quinn with her stupid pout… It's her fault…"

Just then, a familiar goofy grin appears, knocking the door to her compartment.

'Stupid Finn and his stupid grin…' she thinks to herself, 'Ugh… why do their names sound familiar? Stupid parents…'

"Can I come in?" The boy slides the door open.

"Is there anything I can assist you with, Finn?" she asks impatiently.

The goofy boy steps into the compartment; he nearly bumps his head on the ceiling. "Well, I saw Brittany and Santana in a compartment with a bunch of Hufflepuffs and was just wondering where you'd be."

"Well, I'm here. Anything else I can help you with?"

"I was wondering whether I could stay here with you."

Rachel frowns, "Aren't there any other compartments you can go to?"

He shakes his head, "Every where else is full. I mean… it is Christmas. Everyone wants to go home."

The diva furrows her eyebrow, 'Not everyone, you idiot.' She is definitely in a foul mood. "What about Sam and Blaine?"

Finn shudders, "I don't even want to know."

"Finn, they're not together. Even if they were, both of them wouldn't do anything in public."

"Still, I don't want to share the same compartment as them so… can I stay here?"

Rachel blinks as she tries to think of an answer. 'What makes you think I want to share one with you?'

"Well?" Finn asks as he sits down next to her.

The diva rolls her eyes. "Sure, you can stay." She stands up.

"Where are you going?" the boy looks confused.

"I'm going to look for Sam and Blaine." Rachel shuts the door behind her and walks through the narrow corridor of Hogwarts Express.

The diva looks into every compartment that she passes and one catches her eyes. There is Karofsky sitting with his elbow perched on the foggy window, looking out into the snow as he rests his chin on his fist.

'At least he won't be bothering me.' Rachel takes a deep breath and knocks on the window softly.

The Slytherin turns his confused face towards the door.

Rachel gives him a small wave before she slides the barrier open. "Hey, can I…" The diva nearly shrieks in horror when she realizes that the Slytherin is not alone. Her eyes widen at a figure in front of the boy; she turns towards him with narrowed eyebrows. 'Who's that?' she mouthed.

Karofsky looks at the concerned figure and shrugs. "Probably Lupin. Security measures."

Rachel nods in understanding and sits next to the boy. "Do you mind if I stay here?"

The sleeping figure moves and grunts before dozing off to deep slumber once more. The diva looks warily at Karofsky and whispered, "Why didn't he go with the other teachers?"

The Slytherin shrugs, "He was on the train on the way to Hogwarts too, remember?"

Rachel nods as the memory of the dementor attack plays in her mind. "You don't think they'll attack again, do you?"

"Doubt it. Probably plan B," Karofsky says, referring to Lupin who is snoring lightly.

Silence falls once again between them.

"So can I stay here?" Rachel asks again.

"Sure. Might have to come up with an explanation though." He points towards the both of them.

The Gryffindor knows what the boy is talking about. If anyone are to come across their compartment, there would be questions in their head, 'Why is the son of a death eater sitting in the same compartment as a muggle-born?'

"We'll just say the other compartments are full and I feel quite safe with Professor Lupin around," Rachel says to the boy.

Lupin snorts loudly as he changes positions and dozes off again.

"Even if he is… sleeping," she adds quietly.

Rachel wakes up abruptly when she hears the sound of a door slamming.

"What are you doing?" Finn comes bursting in the compartment.

Karofsky looks unfazed as he stares at the tall Gryffindor.

"Huh? What?" Rachel sits up and realizes that she has been leaning on the Slytherin in exchange for a pillow.

"What are you doing here?" Finn hisses, "He's a death-eater!"

The diva rubs her eyes and stifles a yawn. "Finn, you're going to wake up professor Lupin," she says quietly.

The boy glances towards the other end of the compartment and then turns back to his ex-girlfriend. "Rachel, do you know who he is?" he points at the quiet Slytherin.

"Even if I didn't, does it matter?" she says unenthusiastically; she isn't up for an argument.

"Of course it does!" Finn comes closer towards the Slytherin and holds him up by the collar. "What have you done with her?" he spits out.

Karofsky's face scrunches up in anger; he looks like he is holding his emotions back.

"Finn, leave him alone." Rachel stands up quickly and tries to pull the aggressive boy away from Karofsky.

"You don't know what he did while you were sleeping, Rach."

"And why would you assume that he did anything?"

"Because!" Fire dances in Finn's eyes as he stares hard into Karofsky's hazel ones.

"You have no proof and I can not allow you to assault a fellow student!" she shrieks, "If anything were to happen, professor Lupin would definitely have done something. He's a teacher and he wouldn't let any harm come to his students."

"Look at him, Rach! He's still asleep! What makes you think he…"

"Quiet down," says a gruff voice, "Kids these days…" Professor Lupin turns to his side and pulls up his jacket closer to his face.

"See?" Rachel lowers her voice, "I can assure you that Dave hasn't done anything I don't approve of."

"You don't know that," Finn hisses.

"Yes I do, Finn. Now will you let go of him? Stop causing a scene, Finn. We don't want professor Lupin reporting us," she warns him.

Finn shoves Karofsky violently back to his seat. "Come on, Rach. Let's find another compartment," he says to the shorter brunette and grabs her by the hand.

Rachel takes away her hand quickly and folds her arms; she scoffs, "Finn, you manhandled Karofsky and you think I'll go anywhere with you? Even he didn't grab my hand like you did just then. Please leave quietly," Rachel demands.

"You're going to regret this," Finn glares at the Slytherin, "Don't come crying to me when something happens."

"I assure you, nothing will happen."

With that, Finn turns and leaves the compartment, mumbling incoherently to himself.

Rachel sits back down next to Karofsky and sighs, "I'm really sorry about that." It is then that she realizes there is a small blanket pooled at her feet. She grabs it and holds it up with a confused look on her face. "Was I using this?"

Karofsky nods as he settles his elbow back on the windowsill. "Thought you'd be cold."

Rachel smiles at the considerate gesture, "Thanks, Dave."

The boy doesn't reply and the Gryffindor doesn't need to hear anything.

"By the way… I'm sorry I slept on you."

"No problem. At least you don't drool like Quinn does," the boy smirks .

Rachel giggles quietly. "Thanks, Dave," she repeats. "I'll just stay on this side…"

The diva wakes up again when a big gentle hand shakes her by the shoulder. "Berry."

"Huh?" Rachel sits up and realizes that she has been sleeping on Karofsky's upper arm, again.

"We're here," says the boy.

She rubs her eyes again and sees a familiar platform outside the window. It is dark outside and families gather by the train, waiting for their loved ones to come home. Rachel stretches and realizes that Lupin is no longer in the compartment. "When did he leave?"

Karofsky shrugs, "About ten minutes before we arrived. Said he needed to secure the perimeter… or something…"

"Hmm…" Rachel hums as she stares out the window.

Students are already hustling and bustling in the corridor, trying to find their way out.

The Gryffindor stands up and is confused when the boy doesn't get up. "Aren't you coming?"

"It's still crowded," he replies.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you round then, Dave?"

Karofsky nods curtly, "See you round, Berry."

The moment Rachel steps out of the train big arms enveloped her and crushes the air out of her lungs. She giggles gleefully, "Daaaaaaad, I can't breathe!"

Leroy laughs heartily, "Well, that's what you get when you leave your dads for months!" He lets go off his daughter and picks up her bag.

"Where's daddy?" she looks around to see her other dad talking to a house-elf.

Hiram finally approaches them while they are busy loading Rachel's luggage on to a trolley. "Daddy." She goes up to the short balding man and hugs him tightly. "I've missed you."

"I would have missed you too if you were as short as that house-elf," Hiram chuckles.

"Daddy, I don't need any of that… I get teased enough by Santana at school…" Rachel pouts.

"It was a compliment." Her dad lets go of his embrace. "I nearly stepped on him earlier and I'm quite sure that people have kicked him more than once."

Hiram points at the spot where the elf is. Rachel sees the tiny creature dodge students with difficulty. She also notices that the elf is wearing a green sweater with a picture of a hawk. "That's a free elf, daddy," she comments.

"What do you mean?" Hiram asks.

"Well… house elves are slaves for wizarding families and usually they were scraps of clothing as a sign of their enslavement." Rachel pouts at the thought, "I've heard families can be quite cruel to their servants but this one looks healthy and he or she even has a piece of normal clothing on him."

"Does that make a difference?"

Rachel nods, "Elves are freed when their masters have no more use of them and give them a piece of clothing, be it sweaters or socks, it's considered a sign of their freedom."

"Why would anyone free a servant? God knows I need help around the house with Hiram always working," Leroy laughs.

"Dad! You know how I feel towards house-elves under employment," Rachel pouts.

"I was only kidding, sweetheart." Leroy wraps his arm around his girl's shoulder. "Ready to get out of this magical place?"

The diva nods, "I need to clear my mind."