Rachel woke up late on her birthday.

She'd been awake well into the early morning hours, her mind caught up in half finished thoughts about Sirius Black. How had her parents been such good friends with him that they'd named him her godfather? How could they not have known he was a spy? How could he have betrayed them when he knew it would mean their deaths?

She had spent some time with her photo album, looking at all the pictures that had contained him. There were a lot of them. He was in almost all of the photos of her parents' wedding. He was in several of the photos of her father and his friends. He was also in the group photo of the Order of the Phoenix.

Rachel couldn't imagine one of her friends betraying her, but she supposed that was the point. No one could see that sort of thing coming until it happened. She still couldn't help but wonder what had the Dark Lord offered Sirius Black? For that matter, what had he offered Severus to make him join?

"Happy Birthday. Would you like pancakes?" Severus asked as she came into the kitchen.

"Yes, please," Rachel said, taking a seat at the table. There was an envelope with her name on it and the Hogwarts seal, which had already been opened. Apparently Severus had been serious about opening all her mail. She opened it and found her booklist. She needed new books for Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense, as well as books for her new subjects.

"The Monster Book of Monsters?" she read aloud, wondering exactly what she'd gotten herself into when signing up for Care of Magical Creatures. Monsters hadn't exactly been what she'd had in mind.

"An interesting choice of textbook, to be certain," Severus said, bringing her a plate with pancakes on it. Cooking with magic was much faster than cooking muggle-style.

"Do we have syrup?" Rachel asked.

"In the refrigerator," Severus said as he sat down with his own food.

Rachel retrieved the syrup and returned to the table. She made a puddle of it on the plate next to her pancakes so she could dip the pieces of pancake into it - she found that pouring syrup directly onto the pancakes made them rather soggy.

"I imagine there was a permission form to visit Hogsmeade included with your booklist," Severus said.

She put down her fork and picked up her booklist. Sure enough there was another piece of parchment, requesting the signature of her parent or guardian. "Oh. I suppose I can't really go, can I?" Rachel asked, feeling a little bit disappointed. She had been looking forward to going to Hogsmeade with her friends.

"There is perhaps another solution," Severus said. "I could sign the permission form with the annotation that as long as Black is at large, you would require my supervision to go into Hogsmeade. I know it is not ideal, but as you are not able to apparate away to safety, I'm not comfortable with you going there with just your friends."

"You'd go with me?" Rachel asked, brightening. "You don't mind?"

"I don't mind going with you, though your friends may not appreciate my company," Severus said.

Rachel was pretty sure her friends wouldn't mind Severus coming with them if it was the only way she could go. "I think it will be alright. If you're sure?"

"I am. Pass me the form," Severus said.

Rachel handed over the form and watched as he signed it and made a note at the bottom.

"Would you like to open your presents after breakfast?" Severus asked.

"Okay," Rachel agreed, digging into her pancakes.

Twenty minutes later they were in the sitting room. "You have a number of gifts from your friends. This is from me," Severus said, passing Rachel a small box with a ribbon around it.

Rachel unwrapped the ribbon from around the box and found that the box had a hinge. She opened it and found a silver bracelet inside. It had runes engraved on the inside.

"That is solid silver. It has numerous protection charms on it. While it won't act as a Shield charm, it will help you to evade offensive spells, giving you an extra moment to move or to put up a defensive spell from a distance. It won't stop spells from reaching you from a close range," Severus explained.

"Thank you," Rachel said. She slipped the bracelet onto her right wrist and noticed that it resized itself slightly so that it rested against her skin. There was no way that Severus had bought this since last night, so there must be something else he was trying to protect her from.

"In addition to the bracelet, I will also take you on a shopping trip to Flourish and Blotts so you can buy some new books," Severus said.

"Thank you," Rachel said again. She pulled the box that had the rest of her presents in it closer to herself and reached in.

Her first gift was a tin of homemade fudge and a card from Ginny. Rachel was tempted to try it right away, but figured she shouldn't eat sweets so soon after breakfast - at least not in front of Severus.

She set the fudge aside and reached in the box again. This one was a package from Hermione with two books inside along with a note. 'I discovered these over the summer and thought you might enjoy them as much as I did. Happy Birthday!' The books were both by someone named Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards! and The Colour of Magic.

Her next gift was a familiar one - a box of chocolate frogs from Millie, and a new set of colored self-inking quills from Theo, which Millie had sent since Theo wasn't able to send and receive mail from them.

Luna had sent her a necklace with butterbeer bottlecaps on it that seemed to be homemade. It wasn't the sort of thing Rachel would wear, but she appreciated that Luna was a little bit eccentric.

Rachel picked up her last present, a brown paper wrapped gift that was clearly from Hagrid, but froze when she felt it move in her hand. Surely Hagrid hadn't sent her something that was alive?

She pulled off the wrapping in one go and then jumped up onto the couch with a yelp when the book snapped at her. The book fell off the couch and started scuttling away on the edges of its cover.

Severus was on his feet and a bolt of red shot out of his wand at the book. The book flopped over and was still.

"Did you kill it?" Rachel asked, peering down at the book.

"I do not believe it was alive, it just has an Alivening charm set into it. I will dispel it," Severus said, picking up the book and touching the tip of his wand against the cover. "There, it should be safe now."

Rachel accepted the book back and was able to read the cover. "The Monster Book of Monsters. I guess Hagrid knew I'd be needing it," she said.

"That seems likely," Severus said, shaking his head. "I don't know how he expects muggleborns to be able to deal with that book. We have a few hours before we're due to leave for the Longbottom's. However, I suggest you try to tame your hair before we go. Do you have clean robes?"

"Yes, I do," Rachel said as she gathered up her gifts.

"If you need me for anything, I'll be in the cellar," Severus said.

"Okay," Rachel said. She didn't mind, she had a bunch of thank you letters to write before she went to see Neville.

Rachel straightened her robes the best she could with one hand, her other hand busy cradling Neville's gift. She had worn her hair back in a plait to try and contain her curls. She only hoped she looked respectable.

Severus knocked on the Longbottom's front door, his own robes perfectly neat.

"Professor Snape sirs, and Miss Snow. Please come in, I will show you the way to the sitting room," the House Elf who answered the door said.

Rachel and Severus followed the House Elf through the house, Rachel aware of the portraits on the wall that were watching them - some were making quiet comments.

Neville stood up when they entered the sitting room. Rachel thought he might already be taller than when they'd left school in June.

"Professor Snape and Rachel Snow, I'd like to introduce you again to my Gran, Augusta Longbottom," Neville said. "Gran, you remember Professor Snape and Rachel?"

"I certainly do," Augusta said as she stood. "I'm glad you could join us. I imagine that if James and Lily had survived, Rachel and Neville would have often spent their birthdays together as children."

"We appreciate the invitation. I believe Lily and James would have ensured that Rachel and Neville were good friends from a young age," Severus said, inclining his head.

"Yes, of course. It's good to see you, Rachel. Are you doing well?" Augusta asked.

"Yes ma'am," Rachel said quickly.

"Good. We still have an hour before dinner. You and Neville can run along until then," Augusta said.

"Thanks, Gran," Neville said, motioning to Rachel.

"I'll see you at dinner, behave yourself," Severus said, looking at Rachel.

"I will," Rachel said and then followed Neville out of the room. "Happy birthday."

Neville accepted the plant Rachel was holding. "Borago officinalis, good choice. Happy birthday to you too. Come on, your present is upstairs in my room."

Rachel followed Neville upstairs and down a hallway to his bedroom.

Neville made room for his new plant in the window and then handed Rachel a wrapped gift.

Rachel opened it and found that it was a book called Potions They Won't Teach You At School. She grinned. "I'm almost afraid to show Professor Snape this."

"It's all silly stuff, but it's fairly interesting. You did mention you now had a new place to brew potions and that he'd let you under his supervision," Neville said.

"We do, in the cellar. Professor Snape used magic to put it all together. I wish they'd teach us those sort of spells. He doesn't even speak, he just waves his wand," Rachel said, remembering how smoothly everything had fallen into place.

"Well, we'll start learning non-verbal magic after our OWLs. But I know what you mean. What we can do now still feels really limited," Neville said. A soft thumping noise caught their attention. "Hagrid sent me that for my birthday, can you believe it?"

Rachel looked at Neville's desk. There was a copy of The Monster Book of Monsters done up with a belt. "He sent me one too, I guess we need it for Care of Magical Creatures. If you want, we can ask Professor Snape to take the Alivening charm off. He did it for mine."

"Yeah, that would be good. I don't know how they expect us to read it otherwise," Neville said. He sat down on the edge of his bed. "Have you heard about Sirius Black?"

"Yes," Rachel said, hesitating. It had been all over the front page of the newspaper that morning.

"It's a little bit scary. No one has ever escaped from Azkaban before. If he could find a way to do it, what's stopping other people?" Neville asked, looking very serious.

Rachel remembered that the Death Eaters who tortured Neville's parents were in Azkaban. She sat down next to Neville. "I'm sure their top priorities are getting Sirius Black back and figuring out how he did it. Maybe it was a problem with his particular cell."

"Maybe," Neville said. "I had always felt a certain sense of safety, knowing that the Lestranges were locked in Azkaban, like they could never get me. I suppose it's not likely they would come after me though, even if they did get out. What would be the point?"

She wanted to tell him about what Severus had told her about Sirius Black, but at the same time she didn't want to make Neville worry even more. "I'll bet they've doubled security at Azkaban now. If they're making this much fuss about one Death Eater escaping, they'll do that much more to stop other Death Eaters from escaping," she said.

"You're right. The Ministry definitely wouldn't want to deal with that. My Gran says it's an embarrassment to the Minister that Sirius Black even escaped. She thinks they'll find him soon," Neville said, nodding.

"Good. It sounds like everyone is after him," Rachel said, glad that she could help, even a little.

"Come on, let's go have Professor Snape deal with my book, and then I can show you what I've done with the greenhouse so far this summer," Neville said as he stood up and went to fetch his book.

"Okay," Rachel said, relieved for a change in subject. She'd tell her friends about Sirius Black later, assuming he didn't get caught first.

"Have some tea, Severus," Augusta said.

A House Elf appeared with a tea tray and placed it on the table next to the chair Severus was sitting in. "Thank you," Severus said, picking up a cup.

"I have to say, I'm pleased at the influence Rachel has had on Neville," Augusta said, pausing to take a sip of her own tea.

"Oh?" Severus asked. He hadn't been aware that Rachel had any undue influence over Neville.

"Yes, he speaks of her often in his letters to me, and the rest of their friends as well. Minerva reports that Neville has been doing much better this year, and I don't believe it's just because he has a new wand. I assume you've found that he's doing better in your class, given his grade?" Augusta asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Severus.

"I have found Neville's efforts to be improved, yes," Severus agreed. After all, he had given the boy an Exceeds Expectations in his class. "However, he still has more work to do if he wishes to get into my NEWT class, assuming he wishes to pursue Herbology seriously."

Augusta gave a sharp nod. "That does seem to be the case. I'm glad that he has discovered a talent, though I do wish he'd pursue a career with aurors like his father."

Considering what had happened to Frank Longbottom, Severus couldn't fathom why Augusta would want her grandson to follow the same footsteps. "Not everyone is suited for the work of an auror. We need people making advances in Herbology and Potions, and even in Charms and Transfiguration, to support the work the aurors do."

"Yes, of course. I meant no offense, Severus," Augusta said, waving her hand. "Speaking of which, how is Rachel after all that fuss at Hogwarts?"

Severus wasn't sure if Augusta was referring to the Chamber of Secrets being opened or to what Leander Wickes had done. In either case he was mildly offended. "She is doing as well as can be expected," he said. It had become his standard answer to these inquiries as it implied Rachel was doing well without revealing anything specific.

"I'm sure she's a strong child. She'd have to be, given the circumstances. Neville is too, in his own way," Augusta said. "It's not too early to be thinking of their futures."

"Indeed, Rachel has already been asking me for career advice," Severus said, not seeing the harm in revealing that much.

"Careers yes, but in more personal arrangements as well. Neville and Rachel seem to get along well enough, they would be a good match for each other. I imagine that James and Lily would agree," Augusta said, setting her empty teacup aside with a soft clink.

Severus felt his eyes grow wide as he realized what she meant. "They've only just turned thirteen, I think these matters are beyond them at this stage."

"It's never too soon to be making these kind of arrangements. Don't get me wrong, I loved Alice, but I should have made arrangements for Frank while he was younger. Neville is at the age where he would understand the necessity," Augusta said.

"I intend to allow Rachel to date and marry as she chooses," Severus said firmly.

"Do you really think that's a wise idea, considering her status?" Augusta asked. "There will be people pursuing her simply because of who she is and she'll have no experience to understand what is happening. She must be protected, Severus."

That much they could agree on. "I will advise Rachel in matters of dating. I assure you, I will not allow anyone to take advantage of her."

"I expect you will find that harder than you might like. Once children have decided they are in love they will hear nothing else," Augusta said. "I found that out the hard way."

Severus hadn't realized that Augusta had so much animosity towards Alice.

"Professor Snape?"

He looked up and found Rachel and Neville peering in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Could you dispel the Alivening charm on Neville's book the way you did mine?" Rachel asked. Neville held up a book that had a belt cinched around it.

"Yes, of course," Severus said, taking out his wand. "Bring the book here."

"Thank you, sir," Neville said as he brought over the book.

Severus made quick work of the charm and the book stopped moving. "You should be able to read it normally now."

"Thank you," Neville said again. "We're going to go out to the greenhouse."

"Be back in before dinner," Augusta instructed.

"Yes, Gran," Neville said, leading Rachel back out of the room.

"At least think on it, Severus," Augusta said. "Neville's a good boy and I know he cares for Rachel. They would do well together."

"If, when they are both older, they choose to date, I would have no problems with that," Severus said. Why did everyone assume just because they had become teenagers they were ready to start dating? In his experience, thirteen was an age where children vastly ranged in maturity - some were ready to begin dating and others were still more like children. He suspected Rachel was not yet at the stage where dating had crossed her mind.

"Very well. I assume you saw the news in the Daily Prophet. I couldn't believe it myself. Escaped from Azkaban. What is the world coming to?" Augusta shook her head.

"What indeed," Severus said, bracing himself to talk about Sirius Black. He suspected he was going to have to do a lot of that before the man was caught.

The process of developing film had been more tricky than Rachel had first expected. She'd wound up having Severus read the book on film development and then he had to transfigure a few things for her to begin. They also had to brew two separate potions, one for developing the film itself, and one to put the film onto the photo paper.

Rachel had brewed both potions herself under Severus' watchful eye. She had yet to show him the book Neville had got her - she didn't think he'd find it as amusing as they did.

It had taken both her and Severus to figure out how to safely unwind the film and get it into the Developing solution, and she'd wound up using the strings he'd strung to dry plant ingredients from the garden as a place to hang the film to dry.

The Developing solution had done its job - that was immediately evident as she could see the tiny images moving around on the film. She saw moving pictures all the time in the Daily Prophet and sometimes in books, but it was still weird to know that the people moving about in these photos were herself and her friends.

The next day they worked on developing the photos on photo paper. The spell was relatively simple and all she had to do was hold her wand to the film above the photo paper and wait for a minute. Then the photo paper went into the Exposure potion for a minute and then was rinsed before it was hung to dry. It was a time consuming task and she'd asked Severus to make a holder for the film so that her hands didn't shake and blur the image as it was transferred to the photo paper.

Early the next day, after breakfast, Rachel went down into the cellar and started pulling down the dry photos. Most of them had come out pretty well. She put them all in a stack and carried them back upstairs so she could look at them in the light from the windows.

She stood by the kitchen window and began to look through them. She had group photos from Luna and Millie's birthday parties, as well as individual photos of both of them blowing out birthday candles. All of them were laughing and smiling, and Luna seemed to practically glow from the light of the candles. She decided to make separate copies of these ones to give to Luna and Millie.

In March she'd given Theo and Millie her camera and asked them to take a few photos of the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match. They had done a good job. There was a photo of Draco scoring a goal, and a photo of Imogen hitting a Bludger at a Ravenclaw Chaser. There was also a photo of Rachel, her hand outstretched as she grabbed the Snitch. She watched that one a few times. She'd never seen herself flying before and she found that she didn't quite recognize herself.

Rachel had also taken some photos around the school, trying to capture the feeling the Hogwarts gave when the corridors were quiet. Her favorite of these photos was of the Great Hall during a heavy snowfall. She'd also gotten a photo of Hagrid and Fang coming out of Hagrid's house.

The last photo was a group photo of the entire study group. Rachel had asked an upper year Hufflepuff to take it while they were outside by the lake. She was going to have to make multiple copies of this one too - she thought that the entire study group would like to have it.

"Can I see how they turned out?" Severus asked.

Rachel handed Severus the stack of photos and watched as he went through them.

"Conjured candles?" he asked, pausing on the photo of Luna blowing out her birthday candles.

"I'm not sure, Theo had them," Rachel said.

Severus nodded and continued looking through the photos. "These are quite nice. Was this your first time using a camera?"

"Yes," Rachel said. Her relatives would have never let her touch something as expensive as a camera.

"You did a good job. If you're enjoying the hobby, I think you should continue to take photos, especially of you and your friends. It will help you remember these times, later on," Severus said, handing Rachel the photos back.

"I would like to take more photos," Rachel said. "Is it alright if I use the cellar again today? I want to make some copies of these for my friends."

"That's fine, I believe you can do that part without supervision," Severus said.

"Thanks," Rachel said.

"Would you mind making me a copy of the one of you catching the Snitch?" Severus asked.

Rachel dug it out from the stack. "You can keep this one. I'll make another one for myself."

"Thank you," Severus said. "Are you planning to go directly into the cellar?"

"No, I'm going to fly first before it gets warm. I'll probably go down after lunch, unless you're planning to brew then?" Rachel asked.

"No, that's fine," Severus said.

Rachel smiled and went to put the photos away. It was nice to be able to set her own schedule.

"How was your birthday?" Torey asked.

"Good, I went to go see Neville. His grandmother is really strict," Rachel said. "Oh, and Severus got me this."

Torey leaned forward to look at the bracelet Rachel was showing her. "Very pretty."

"It has protection charms on it, which is a little weird because I think he got it for me before Sirius Black escaped," Rachel said, turning the bracelet on her wrist.

"What do you mean?" Torey asked.

"Well, we only found out about Sirius Black escaping the night before my birthday," Rachel explained. "So he wouldn't have time to have gone to get it after that, which means he thinks I need protection from something else."

"Charmed jewelry isn't an uncommon gift. It may just be that he wishes protection for you in general, rather than from someone specific," Torey said.

"Well, from Death Eaters, I think," Rachel said, pulling her legs up onto the couch so she was sitting cross-legged. "But also Sirius Black."

"Are you worried about Sirius Black?" Torey asked.

"A little bit," Rachel said, playing with her bracelet again. "I think Severus is more worried than I am. But our house is safe, no one knows where it is, and Severus said that Professor Dumbledore will put protections around Hogwarts if Sirius Black isn't captured by the time we start school again."

"That seems reasonable. And I don't see why Sirius Black would want to go to Hogwarts at all. I would think he'd want to stay away from places where witches and wizards congregate, in order to evade capture," Torey reasoned.

"Maybe, but he was talking about Hogwarts while he was in Azkaban, and Severus and Professor Dumbledore thinks he wants to come after me because he got my parents killed and he's upset that I'm the one that caused the Dark Lord to disappear," Rachel explained.

Torey blinked and sat back in her chair. "What do you mean, he got your parents killed?"

"He was their secret keeper and he was a spy for the Dark Lord. He's the one who told the Dark Lord how to find them," Rachel explained. "He was friends with my parents and he was their best man at their wedding. And he betrayed them. He told the Dark Lord where they were, even though he knew it would get them killed. I don't understand why."

"I think he's probably the only one who can answer that question," Torey said gently.

"I think my father must have really trusted him, in order to make him my godfather," Rachel said. "How are you supposed to know when people will do something like that?"

"I don't think that you really can, not without evidence that there's something else going on. That's one of the reasons why trusting people can be hard. By doing so, you open yourself up to the possibility of betrayal," Torey said. "But there's a lot of good things that come with trust too."

"I trust my friends. I feel like I know them. But, my father trusted his friends too," Rachel said. She wanted to trust her friends. She was sure her father had felt the same way.

"I'm glad you trust your friends. From what you've told me about them, they are really good friends to you," Torey said. "Only Seers can predict the future, and even they have a very unclear and imprecise vision of what will happen. I wish I had something more concrete to tell you."

Rachel nodded. She had kind of known there wasn't an easy answer. "I wonder if my parents had enough time to know he'd betrayed them, before they died."

"I don't know. I suspect they were more concerned about trying to get you and themselves to safety," Torey said.

"I don't think I'd want to know. I think I'd rather die not knowing," Rachel said. "Do you think people still know things after they die?"

"I don't know what happens after we die. I like to believe that our souls go somewhere and that it's peaceful and we can meet people who have passed before us, but I honestly don't know. What do you think?" Torey asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think I believe in God. But I kind of want it to be like you said, where you can see people again after you've died. I think my parents would be glad I'm living with Severus now. I think that's what they'd have wanted for me."

"That's a nice thought. I believe Severus said that he knew your parents," Torey said.

"Yeah, he's told me a little bit about them. I don't think he likes to talk about them, I think it makes him sad," Rachel said. She'd seen it multiple times now, the way Severus grew stiff and sort of withdrew into himself when he talked about them.

"That's a common reaction when people have passed," Torey said.

"Is it weird that I miss my parents, even though I never knew them?" Rachel asked.

"Not at all, especially now that you know more about them. I think it's possible to miss the life that you would have had with them, and miss getting to know them," Torey said.

Rachel bit her lip. "My aunt said a lot of things about them, but Severus says that what she told me isn't true."

"It seems to me like Severus might be a more reliable source of information regarding your parents than your aunt was," Torey said.

"That's probably true. I think my aunt hated my mother, and maybe that's why she hated me," Rachel said. It made sense, because Rachel must have reminded her aunt of her all the time.

"Maybe, but that's not an excuse for the way she treated you," Torey said. "Regardless of how she felt about your mother, you were a child in her care and she should have taken care of you appropriately. If she felt she couldn't do that, she should have brought you to a safe haven so that you could have been placed in a different home."

"People can do that?" Rachel asked. She'd never even considered the possibility before.

"Child abandonment is illegal in England, but since you weren't her birth child, she could have brought you to Children's Services if she didn't want to raise you," Torey explained.

"Then why didn't she?" Rachel asked. All her life the Dursleys had told her how much they didn't want her. Why hadn't they just gotten rid of her?

"I don't know. Maybe she didn't realize it was an option," Torey said.

"I guess not," Rachel said, a little disappointed. She could have had a different family, somewhere she was wanted, if her aunt had known.

"We're just about out of time for today. Do you mind if I call Severus in? I'd like to ask him a few questions about Sirius Black," Torey said.

"Okay," Rachel agreed. She waited on the couch while Torey invited Severus in.

Severus sat down next to Rachel. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I just wanted to ask you about Sirius Black," Torey said as she sat back down. "I understand that he may be a threat to Rachel."

"Yes," Severus said. "We have reason to believe that he may be targeting Rachel."

Torey nodded. "Have protections been put into place to ensure Rachel's safety?"

"Our home is heavily warded, so Rachel will be safe there. At Hogwarts, the Headmaster is in the process of making arrangements to protect the school. Our main goal is to keep Black away from Rachel," Severus explained. "When Rachel is not at home or at Hogwarts, she will be with me and I will safeguard her."

"That seems reasonable. Rachel, are you comfortable with those arrangements? Can you think of anything else that would help you feel more protected?" Torey asked.

Rachel thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. "I think Severus can protect me. As for Hogwarts, we'll have to see what the protections are."

"I will be coordinating with the Headmaster as well to ensure the protections are adequate," Severus said.

"I'm glad to hear it. Do you have any questions for me?"

Rachel shook her head.

"No, thank you. I'll bring Rachel again next Saturday," Severus said.

"I'll see you then," Torey said.

"Bye," Rachel said, bounding up. She was ready to go home and go flying for a bit.