A/N: Hellooooooooo. I'm back with another chapter! Longer this time, 1900 words :)

"Where are we?" was the first thing out of Rachel's mouth once Sirius had Apparated the two of them to safety.

"Your house," he replied.

Rachel turned to gape at him. "Are you crazy?"

Sirius's face turned into one of confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"This is not something I want to deal with right now!" Rachel exclaimed. She sighed. "And do you think it'll help the situation if I stroll in and say: 'We just got attacked at Sirius's apartment which is the one I want to move into'?"

"Ooh, I was going to yell at you, but you've had a rough morning," Rachel heard Dorcas say from somewhere behind her.

Rachel turned around quickly and spotted her friend. "Yeah, you could say that," she muttered.

"Well, who attacked you?" Dorcas asked.

"My brother and Mulciber," Sirius replied.

"D'you catch them?" she questioned.

"Oh yeah," Rachel answered easily. "And then they got away," she added quietly.

"You're a brilliant Auror, Rachel," Dorcas praised sarcastically.

"Oi, don't you be making fun of me!" Rachel exclaimed. "We took them down in a jiff, I'll have you know!"

"And you clearly didn't disarm them," Dorcas noted.

"Well, the only one that brought out his wand was Regulus, and I was fairly sure he dropped his wand when he fell…" Rachel recalled.

"Okay, don't worry about it," Dorcas said with a sigh. "The big thing is that you're safe. The other big thing is what the fuck are we supposed to say to your parents."

"Well, when I look back on it, they have no reason to freak out," Rachel said. "Yes, I am their daughter and I just got attacked by Death Eaters, but I am also a grown woman that kicked some Death Eater ass and plans to do so for the rest of her life."

"So either way you're chasing trouble," Sirius commented.

"Very precisely put," Rachel confirmed. "Just don't say that in front of my dad."

"This is the dumbest thing ever," Dorcas muttered. "There's a full-fledged Wizarding War going on around us and we're worrying about what your parents will think if you move in with your boyfriend."

"What?"

Rachel's face fell as she whipped her head to see who had spoken. Maybe, although she wasn't entirely sure, it was pure guilt she felt in that moment. She didn't quite understand why she would feel guilt. But Rachel knew one thing. It was going to be bloody difficult to explain the situation to her parents now.

"Well this really isn't how I expected this conversation to go," Rachel muttered to herself.

"Mr. Fredricks, great to see you!" Dorcas exclaimed. "I'm guessing you probably heard that last part and got a head start on the conversation. Good for you!"

"Rachel, explain please," her dad said slowly.

Rachel sighed. "Look, I was thinking of moving out anyway, you know?" she started. Her heart was beating like crazy and her nervousness was increasing dangerously quickly. Rachel paused to try and calm herself. This wasn't as big of a deal as she was making it out to be. "It's just, I'm a grown woman now. I know it's tough to believe but… it's true."

"It is tough to believe," her father said quietly. "It was difficult enough to hear about you moving in with Dorcas but—"

"Dad, please listen to me," Rachel interrupted. "I'm in a great relationship, okay? I have someone I can trust. And this is important to me. I know it sucks, but I can't be six years old for the rest of my life. And this doesn't mean I'm gone from your life forever."

Rachel's dad looked at her, his gaze focused and still distant, as if he was concentrating on many things at once. Slowly, his eyes moved to Sirius and Rachel noticed him letting out a small sigh. "You're a nice bloke," he said to Sirius. He turned back to Rachel. "And you are a grown woman. I can accept that."

"Yes!" Dorcas exclaimed. She turned to Rachel. "I am so totally going to be badgering you every single day from now on!"

"Now, hold on one second."

Rachel smiled when she saw her mother. "Hey Mum, you'll—"

Her mum, however, was not paying attention to Rachel. "Do you honestly think this is a good idea, Tom?" she asked Rachel's dad.

"Wait, what?" Rachel questioned, her happy demeanor quickly disappearing.

"Yeah, I don't quite understand so much myself," Dorcas added, crossing her arms.

With a sigh, Rachel's mum grabbed Tom's arm and led him just a bit farther off. Far enough so that their hushed whispers were out of earshot of Dorcas, Sirius, and Rachel. Rachel looked over at Sirius; worry was beginning to etch itself on her face and reflected onto Sirius's face. She'd be damned if her bloody abandoner of a mother would ruin this.

Rachel was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice when her parents came back to the three of them. Rachel's head shot up and she gave her parents a questioning look.

"You know something, Rachel?" her father started. "Really thinking about this, I don't think it's such a great idea anymore."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked slowly. "Just a second ago you were all for it. What are you talking about?"

A moment of silence came. The only ones brave enough to make a noise where the crickets hiding in the grass. But then her mum stepped forward, a stern look on her face.

"You're not moving in with him," she stated simply.

"I'm sorry, I think you may have misunderstood," Rachel replied venomously. "I was talking to my father."

"Rachel!" her mum gasped.

"I agree with your mum, and that's final," her dad said suddenly.

Rachel paused. She let out a small sigh and stood up straighter. "What if I want to?" she asked quietly.

"Well then you're choosing him over your own parents," her father replied.

Rachel felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop. "W—what?" she stuttered. "Dad, you can't possibly…"

"It's simple, Rachel," her father said.

"But—but you can't tell me what to do!" Rachel exclaimed. She felt hot tears pricking her eyes, but fought to keep them back. "I'm a grown woman and I've nearly got a steady career going. And you can't bloody well make me choose like that!"

"I think it's clear what choice you've made," her dad said quietly. He turned around and walked back to the house, slamming the screen door behind him.

Rachel couldn't stop the tears from flowing out of her eyes. What she'd feared was exactly what had happened. In a time of war when she could loose her loved ones the very next second, she left said loved ones on a terrible note. But suddenly, Rachel's mind dug a little deeper. She frowned slightly as thoughts raced through her mind. He was fine with me moving in with Sirius, she thought to herself. And then… and then… and then he talked to mum.

Rachel looked up and straight at her mother. She felt the tears running down her cheeks and choked out a sob. "How dare you?" she suddenly screamed. "How dare you take what I want away from me and make my father hate me?"

Her mum stormed up to her. "Despite what you think, you are not a grown woman," the older woman hissed. "You are a child and you do not understand these relationships."

"I'm bloody nineteen!" Rachel shouted. "And I've got a fucking better career than you've ever had!"

"Do not speak to me like that," her mother said through her teeth. "And you ruined what you and your father had."

"How can you say that?" Rachel asked shockingly. "He was letting me on my own to make my own bloody decisions! He trusted me! And then you talk to him and he makes me fucking choose between the two people I care most! My father would never do that deliberately."

Rachel's mum sucked in a breath and fixed a stony look on her face, setting her eyes on Rachel. "You belong at home," she said slowly, her fixed gaze softening. "At home, where we can take care of you. We're your parents, Rachel, that's what we're supposed to do. You should never leave."

Rachel felt her jaw drop slightly in surprise. She stumbled back slowly, and then quickened her pace as she reached behind her, searching for Sirius's hands. She immediately felt his warm skin meet hers and felt a million times better, but her mind and her gaze were still ultimately focused on her mum.

"You're crazy," she finally breathed out. "Un-fucking-believable. I can't believe you ruined my relationship with one of the few people that actually cared for me because you're too loony to realize that you fucked up big time and missed my whole entire childhood."

"Shut up!" her mum suddenly shrieked. The older woman's eyes widened and she took a step back. "I'm sorry sweetheart," she said quietly.

Rachel looked over at Dorcas and gestured for her to leave. She turned her eyes back to her mother and felt tears at her eyes again. "Please take me away," she whispered to Sirius.

And then they Apparated.

Rachel was bundled up in a big wool blanket and sitting on the couch in Sirius's living room. She gripped the warm fabric close to her and ground her teeth together nervously. The worst things she could imagine had just happened to her and she had no bloody idea what she was going to do now. People always said prepare for the worst, but no one actually ever did. And it was always so hard to know what the worst could be.

Sirius sat gently next to her and passed her a cup of warm tea. Rachel snuck out one hand from under the blanket and grabbed the heated cup. She took a gentle sip from it and felt Sirius wrap his arm around her and pull her close to him. Rachel immediately melted into him, relishing in the contact.

"You're bloody amazing, you know that?" she whispered to him.

"Thanks for saying that," he replied quietly.

"It's true," she said. "You were an absolute tosser in school, I'll admit, but you seem to not only have changed, but utterly outdone yourself, Sirius. You are the most amazing bloke I've ever known."

"'Course I've changed," he said, looking down at Rachel with a smile. "I changed 'cause of you, love."

"And why would you do that?" Rachel asked quietly.

Rachel suddenly felt Sirius's warm breath on her ear and felt small tingles dance along her fingertips and spine. "Because you mattered a bloody whole lot," he whispered to her.

Rachel turned her head and kissed Sirius. It was one of those special kisses. Not heated and needy like when they've drunk too much Firewhiskey, but passionate and slow, like when… like when you love someone.

Rachel pulled away and let out a shaky breath. She looked up into Sirius's grey eyes and smiled. "Oh, Merlin, I can't believe it," she whispered. "Someone help me, because I think I love you, you prat."

Sirius laughed quietly. "I wouldn't have expected you to admit it any other way," he said jokingly. "Love you too. I fell for you a long time ago, love."

And then they were kissing again. Just for those blissful moments with Sirius, Rachel was able to almost forget. To almost forget how terribly things were going.

Already brewing some ideas for next chapter :) Hope you enjoyed this one!

-Grammar/spelling?
-Realism of the whole situation... it's a bit crazy, I know.
-For anyone wondering, at this point, Regulus has got just less than a year of his life left (sad, I know)

Thanks for reading! :)