It was near the end of the second week of July that Rachel went to headquarters to visit Sirius and Remus again. Severus had declined to enter the house, indicating that he'd be back for her at five, but to send her Patronus to him if she wanted to leave earlier. Sirius and Remus had made fairly significant progress on cleaning and now the entire ground floor was clean and safe, though they had left the furniture for now.
After spending the morning cleaning out one of the bedrooms on the first floor they'd had Chinese take-away for lunch, Sirius and Remus telling her stories of their time at Hogwarts while they ate. Most of these stories were about various pranks they pulled and the incredible amount of trouble they'd gotten away with.
Rachel had just finished the last of her lo mein when the fire in the fireplace turned green and two men stepped out in succession.
"Sturgis, Kingsley, good to see you," Sirius said as he stood up. "We've got food, come sit."
"We can't stay long," the man in blue robes said, pausing and looking at Rachel. "Miss Snow."
"Hello," Rachel said, not entirely sure what to do.
"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt, he's with the aurors," Remus said as he got to his feet. "And that is Sturgis Podmore, he was a few years behind us at Hogwarts. Rachel, why don't you go wait for us in the sitting room."
"Okay," Rachel said, standing up and leaving the kitchen. War business, obviously. And while she was curious, there was also a good part of her that didn't want to know. Hearing about what the Dark Lord was doing would just make it feel more real, more like Death Eaters could attack at any moment.
While she didn't trust the Daily Prophet, she thought that they would have published about any attacks that had taken place, even if they didn't blame the Death Eaters. But there was nothing. It was like the Dark Lord had just vanished again. If she hadn't seen him herself, she didn't know that she would believe it.
She was about to sit down on one of the stuffy sofas in the sitting room when she heard something odd. She took a few steps forward and saw that one of the cupboard doors was open and there was a muttering sound with words she couldn't make out. "Hello?"
The muttering stopped and Kreacher came out of the cupboard.
Rachel knelt down on the floor, grateful that the carpet had been cleaned. "Hello Kreacher. How are you?"
"She talks. She talks to me," Kreacher said, looking anywhere except at Rachel.
"My name is Rachel. Is it okay if I call you Kreacher?" she asked, realizing that she was making Kreacher uncomfortable but not sure what to do about it.
"Kreacher. I am called Kreacher. Is it the girl? The girl who brought down the Dark Lord?" Kreacher asked, taking a glance at Rachel before looking away again.
Rachel certainly wouldn't put it that way. "The Killing curse he cast reflected off me and took his soul out of his body. The Dark Lord is back now," she said, not sure if this would upset him further.
"I've heard. I've heard the traitors talk, the filthy werewolf and the man who betrayed my mistress and my master," Kreatcher said, shaking his head. "They bring mudbloods, and blood traitors, and half breeds into my home. The home of my mistress."
"Your mistress was Sirius' mother?" Rachel guessed.
"Yes, yes, my mistress. She is silenced now, but I can make her voice return," Kreacher said, seeming a little bit happier. At least he had stopped jerking around.
"And your master was Sirius' father?" she asked, deciding that this was a good topic for now.
"No, no. Regulus was my master. I was a good House Elf to Master Regulus, but I couldn't - I tried but I couldn't. I tried everything." Kreacher had resumed his jerky movements.
Deciding that was clearly upsetting him, Rachel tried to change the topic again. "Are you safe, Kreacher? Do Sirius and Remus treat you well?"
"They take my mistress' things and vanish them. They change the house. They bring in filthy half bloods and blood traitors," he said, pulling on his ears.
"Well, we have to get rid of the dangerous and cursed things. But maybe we can give some of the other things to you, things that you'd like to keep to remind you of your mistress," Rachel offered. She couldn't see why not, if they were just vanishing them, they weren't worth anything. "Do you have a room or a space of your own?"
"The boiler room is my den, so I'm close to the kitchen," Kreacher said, shaking his head.
Rachel frowned. There were lots of unused bedrooms and they were keeping Kreacher in the boiler room? So he could be close to the kitchen to work? She felt a strange feeling come over her that she couldn't quite identify. "Do they feed you Kreacher?"
"I take food from the pantry, I take it from the traitor and the werewolf," he said, looking away from her again.
"But they don't give you food?" she pressed.
Kreacher shook his head and swayed in place.
Rachel exhaled and realized that she was shaking and that she could feel her heart beating. "And you can't leave, even if you wanted to?"
"This is my home," Kreacher said simply.
"Rachel, I told you to stay away from him."
Rachel startled and quickly got to her feet. "I was talking to him."
"He's not safe, you can tell him to go to another room if you want to be in here," Sirius said.
Rachel had the realization that the emotion that she was feeling was rage. "You can't treat him like this! He's a person!"
"He's just a House Elf," Sirius said, glancing at Remus.
"No. It's not fair, he can't even leave, and you keep him locked up and starving," Rachel said, clenching her hands to try and stop them from shaking.
"Rachel, no one is keeping Kreacher locked up, you can see he can go around the house," Remus said.
"But his room is in the boiler room and he has to steal food to eat. You can't do this to people, it's wrong!" Her voice was starting to crack now and she felt close to tears.
"Kreacher, go to another room," Sirius said.
"You can't do this," Rachel said again, fighting the panic that was building in her chest. "You're supposed to be better. You're not supposed to be like them!"
"Like who, Rachel?" Remus asked.
"Like them. Like my relatives. You're supposed to be good people," she said, feeling a tear escape and run down her face.
Sirius and Remus looked at each other and Sirius took a step forward. "Try to calm down, it's not the same. I think the situation is a little more complicated than that."
"It's not," Rachel said, folding her arms and moving to sit down on the sofa. "Give him a proper room, let him have things that are safe to have, give him food, and don't yell at him or hurt him. It's that simple. It's that easy to be a good person."
Remus sat down across from her. "Kreacher isn't well, but you're right, we should try to help him. I'm not sure we could get him to stay in one of the bedrooms, House Elves usually have a space tucked away near where they work."
"At least offer it to him, let him know he can have it if he wants it. One of the clean ones too. And for God's sake give him some clothes, that loincloth is disgusting," Rachel said, rubbing at her eyes.
Sirius started to chuckle. "You have no idea how much like Lily you sound. She would be proud of you."
"And we can't give Kreacher clothes. To give a House Elf clothes is to dismiss them from their service. That would probably kill Kreacher at his age," Remus said, motioning for Sirius to sit down.
"Then give him a clean tea towel like the ones they wear at Hogwarts or something," Rachel said, thinking that it was besides the point.
"We can do that," Remus said evenly. "Rachel, when you said that we're not supposed to be like your relatives, what did you mean by that?"
Rachel looked down at the floor. She hadn't meant to say that, it had just come out.
"I think she meant that her relatives were just as shitty people as my parents," Sirius said after a moment of silence. "And you're right. I don't want to emulate them. Not in any way. I should be trying to do the opposite of what they would have wanted, always have in the past."
"So you'll do something about Kreacher?" Rachel asked.
"I will. We'll clean the back bedroom on the first floor for him. And I'll set aside food for him and tell him it's his," Sirius said with a nod.
"And something clean to wear, and maybe he can have some of the things you don't want to keep. Nothing dangerous, just keepsakes that he wants," Rachel said, not willing to negotiate.
"As long as he keeps them out of sight in his room, that's fine," Sirius agreed.
Rachel nodded. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good start.
"Now that we've got that settled, are we cleaning another bedroom or are we relaxing for the rest of the day, play some Exploding Snap or gobstones or something?" Sirius asked.
"Let's clean the bedroom you were talking about, for Kreacher," Rachel said, getting to her feet.
"You've got a mind on you, alright," Sirius said as he and Remus got back up. "I wasn't lying when I said Lily would be proud of you."
"James too," Remus added.
"Good," Rachel said. If she could make her parents proud then she was doing a good job.
"Do you have your wand and your money pouch?" Severus asked when Rachel came back downstairs.
"Yes, in my pocket," Rachel said, patting the side of her skirt.
"Let me see how the potion on your scar turned out," Severus said.
Rachel reached up to touch her forehead. Severus had given her a jar of thick paste to rub over her scar. When she looked in the mirror she couldn't even tell she had a scar, it just looked like smooth skin.
"Good, try not to touch it too much," Severus said. "Now for your hair, I was thinking black would draw the least attention to you while still concealing your identity."
"That's fine. It will change back, right?" she asked, eyeing Severus' wand.
"It will, in about forty eight hours. Hold still," he said.
She obligingly held still, watching the swishes of his wand.
"There, let me take a look at you," Severus said.
Rachel pulled her hair over her shoulder and examined it. It was now as black as Severus' hair.
"I think it will work, though not with anyone who knows you," Severus said, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a small box. "You will wear this the entire time you're away from home. The only reason you should take it off is if you're using it."
Opening the proffered box, Rachel found a silver jewelry chain with a silver pendant in an angled shape that she recognized from her Ancient Runes class as the othala rune. "Homestead," she translated.
"Yes. Clasp your hand around the pendant and say 'Take me home' and it will bring you to the Hogwarts gates. From there, go inside and immediately send your Patronus to me. If necessary you can take people with you by having them hold onto the chain," Severus explained.
"Thank you," Rachel said, undoing the clasp and settling the necklace around her neck.
"I think you're as ready as you can be. If you need me, get to a place where you can be alone and send me your Patronus with your location and I will be there as soon as I can," he said, looking her up and down.
"I'll be alright," she said. It was just a shopping trip and the chances of running into another witch or wizard - let alone a Death Eater - in the muggle shopping center near Hermione's home were miniscule at best. She told herself this again, trying to get rid of the nervous voice in the back of her head.
"Are you ready?" Severus asked.
"Yes," Rachel said. At the very least she was looking forward to seeing Hermione and Millie. She took Severus' arm and a stomach rolling moment later they were near the doorstep of a brick two-story detached home. She checked the number near the door and saw that they were at number five, just like Millie had said when she'd sent her address.
They went up the front walk and Rachel knocked on the door.
"I'll get it!" came from inside, followed by the sound of running footsteps. The door opened and Millie smiled at them. "Professor Snape. Rachel, is that you?"
"It's me," Rachel said, smiling back at Millie.
"Dad, I want to go too," came another voice from further in the hallway.
"Isobelle, you can't go. I'm going with my friends," Millie said, turning around. "Dad."
"Isobelle, we're going to go shopping in Diagon Alley another day. Millie, let me speak to your professor for a moment," Mr. Bulstrode said, stepping forward.
"Mr. Bulstrode, good to see you," Severus said.
"You as well. I understand you won't be accompanying the girls on their shopping trip?" Mr. Bulstrode asked.
"No, Hermione Granger's mother, Mrs. Jean Granger will be accompanying them," Severus said.
"And you've met her?" Mr. Bulstrode pressed.
"I have, on more than one occasion," Severus said.
"And you'll be collecting the girls from Hermione's house after dinner and Millie will be back by seven?" Mr. Bulstrode asked.
"Dad, it will be fine," Millie said, clearly embarrassed.
"I'll have her back by seven, yes. Also, Rachel has a tutor's exemption and can contact me via Patronus if they need anything," Severus said.
Mr. Bulstrode nodded and turned to Millie. "I expect you to be on your best behavior. Stay with Mrs. Granger and your friends, no wandering off."
"I will, dad. I promise. Mom said I could go," Millie said with a pleading look at her dad.
"Alright. Home by seven at the latest," Mr. Bulstrode said. "Be good."
"I will," Millie said, hurrying out onto the doorstep. "Let's go."
"Take my arm," Severus said, offering one of his arms to Millie and the other to Rachel.
Rachel grabbed on, nodding to Millie, who took Severus' other arm. Another gut wrenching moment later and they landed in the Granger's back gardens.
"Whew," Millie said. "For a moment there I didn't think he was going to let me go. Sorry about that."
"Your father was being reasonable, it's entirely understandable that he was concerned about who would be accompanying you," Severus said.
"Hello Professor Snape, hi Millie...Rachel, is that you?" Hermione asked as she came out of her back door.
"Miss Granger," Severus said with a nod.
"It's me, just a temporary change, just in case," Rachel said, reaching up to touch where her scar was covered.
Hermione nodded. "Well, we're going to the Brent Cross Shopping Centre, so I'd be very surprised if we ran into anyone who would recognize you, but it's good to take precautions. Please come in."
They followed Hermione inside her house and found themselves in the sitting room.
"What's that?" Millie asked, pointing at the television.
"That's the television, they've talked about it in some of the books I've lent you," Hermione said.
"Oh. I guess I just didn't imagine it like that," Millie said, walking over to it and getting a closer look.
"I thought your dad is a muggleborn. Did he not keep anything from before he joined the magical world?" Hermione asked, turning on the television so Millie could see what it did.
"It's complicated," Millie said, frowning at the news program that was playing.
Rachel exchanged a glance with Hermione, wondering what that meant exactly. She wouldn't press Millie on it, Millie could tell them if she wanted to, but she was a little surprised that Millie wasn't familiar enough with muggle technology to recognize a tv.
"It just keeps going?" Millie asked after a moment.
"It does, and there are other channels with different things on them," Hermione said, changing the channel to what appeared to be a cooking show.
"Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked as she came into the room.
"They're here now," Hermione said. "Mom, you've met Rachel, though she looks a little different right now. This is Millie Bulstrode, and you remember Professor Snape."
"Yes, of course, nice to see you again," Mrs. Granger said, glancing over them. "You're planning to pick them up after dinner?"
"Yes, I'll be here a little bit before seven, though if you'd like them to leave sooner, just let Rachel know and she can send me a message," Severus said.
"No, no, we're happy to have Hermione's friends with us," Mrs. Granger said, smiling at him. "We're going to take a trip out to Brent Cross and I'll bring them back here for dinner."
"That sounds fine. May I use your back garden again to leave?" Severus asked.
"Yes, of course," Mrs. Granger said.
"Be good, let me know if you need anything," Severus told Rachel.
"I will," Rachel said. "I'll see you just after dinner."
"I'll be here," Severus said. He opened the back door and left.
Rachel found herself feeling a little more nervous without Severus being there, but also a little bit excited. She hadn't been out into the muggle world without him since she'd come to Hogwarts.
"Well, let's get going. I understand you want to go to some clothing stores and a bookstore of course, anywhere else?" Mrs. Granger asked.
"Is there a store there where they sell music?" Rachel asked.
"There is," Hermione said.
"That sounds fine," Mrs. Granger said. "Anywhere special for you, Millie?"
"No, I just want to see stuff in general," Millie said.
"We can take a walk around the shopping center, that way you can see everything," Hermione said, turning off the television. "Let's go get in the car."
They followed Hermione and Mrs. Granger out the front door and to the dark grey car parked at the side of the road.
"How does this work?" Millie asked.
"My mom will drive, we just sit in the seats," Hermione said. "It's pretty safe, I've never been in a car accident."
"Have you never been in a car before, Millie?" Mrs. Granger asked.
"I've been on the Knight Bus, but I think that's a little different," Millie said.
"It really is a different world, isn't it?" Mrs. Granger asked, looking at Hermione.
"A little bit," Hermione said. "The three of us can squeeze in the back."
A few minutes later, after showing Millie what to do with the seat belt, they were on their way.
"Rachel, what about you, have you been in a car before?" Mrs. Granger asked from the driver's seat.
"Yes. I was raised outside the magical world. Professor Snape didn't adopt me until I came to Hogwarts," Rachel said, hoping Mrs. Granger wouldn't press further.
"That's right, Hermione mentioned that her professor is your adoptive father. I imagine it's nice that you get to spend time with him while you're at school. Roger and I do miss Hermione very much while you're all at school," Mrs. Granger said.
"Mom," Hermione said.
"Well we do. We never would have chosen to send you to a boarding school," Mrs. Granger said, her attention still focused on the road. "Rachel, Hermione was telling me that you wound up having to participate in that competition at your school."
"Uh, yes. I did. Hermione helped me a lot with preparing for it though," Rachel said, looking to Hermione for help. She knew Hermione didn't tell her parents everything that went on at Hogwarts, but she wasn't sure just how much Hermione had told them.
"Rachel did very well and we all learned a lot of new spells for it too. And we found a wonderful practice room at the top of the castle," Hermione said, giving Rachel a tight smile. "Remus, who was our Defense professor in third year, said we'd gone beyond OWL material."
"Well I'm glad you got something out of it," Mrs. Granger said.
Rachel glanced to her other side and found Millie glued to the window as she watched cars and buildings go by. She seemed pensive, almost worried, and Rachel wondered what she was thinking about. "Alright?" she asked quietly.
Millie turned to look at Rachel. "I didn't realize it was so big. That there were so many muggles. I mean, I knew, I just never really put it together."
"Your parents have never taken you into muggle London?" Hermione asked.
"When we've traveled we've always stayed in wizarding areas. We apparate into Diagon Alley, we don't take the entrance through the Leaky Cauldron, same with King's Cross," Millie said, looking around the car. "This place where we're going, it's like Diagon Alley?"
"A little bit, it's all inside and there are a lot of shops," Hermione said. "The shops aren't quite as interesting as the ones in Diagon Alley though."
Millie turned again as they pulled into the entrance for a car park and Mrs. Granger rolled down a window to take a ticket. "What does that do?" she asked.
"It tells the attendant how long we've been parked, so we know how much to pay them," Mrs. Granger said. "I imagine with the way you travel you don't ever have to bother with such a thing."
"Some places charge you to use the floo, and the Knight Bus costs money too, but people who can apparate usually just apparate to where they're going," Millie said.
"Are there some people who can't apparate? Besides underaged witches and wizards?" Hermione asked.
"Some people just never manage it, there's a good reason they don't teach it to us until we're nearly done with school," Millie said. "My mom's sister won't apparate, not even by side-along. She says it makes her too sick."
"It is unpleasant at first," Rachel agreed.
"I'm looking forward to learning it, it seems really useful," Hermione said as Mrs. Granger pulled the car into a parking space. "Here we are. I was thinking we should go to Fenwick's first and get clothing out of the way."
"That sounds fine," Mrs. Granger said.
They all got out of the car and made their way to the large blocky concrete building that was the shopping center. Rachel glanced around them as they walked, but everyone they passed just seemed like ordinary muggles either who had just finished shopping or were on their way in. She patted her wand in her pocket, but after getting a better look she felt it was very unlikely they'd run into Death Eaters here.
Mrs. Granger led the way through the department store, Millie twisting around to get a look at everything as they walked.
"Are all the stores this big?" Millie asked.
"No, there are lots of smaller stores that specialize in only one or two things, but the department stores have a lot of different things. So let's start with bras and then we can work our way to the other sections. I'd like another jumper or two," Hermione said.
Rachel felt a little overwhelmed when they stepped into the section with bras. There were so many of them and almost all of them looked really weird.
"Here, let's go over to where they have some that are more directed at young girls," Mrs. Granger said. "You're very small in general, so I think you're going to wind up needing a training bra at first."
Rachel followed her but puzzled over that phrase. There were apparently a lot of things about bras that she didn't know. She was incredibly glad she wasn't doing this with Aunt Petunia.
"I suppose they have so many because they can't adjust them?" Millie asked as she looked around.
"Is that how they do it in the wizarding world?" Hermione asked.
"The witch at the shop does tailoring charms so it fits you, and they usually have a few dozen you can pick from in different fabrics and styles," Millie said.
"That must be convenient," Mrs. Granger said. "Rachel, come pick out some of the ones you like in different sizes so you can try them on and see what fits. You'll need two or three so you have something to wear while the others are being washed."
Rachel examined the bras in the section that Mrs. Granger had brought them to. At least the bras here looked a lot less intimidating, they looked more like the top of a two piece swimsuit. She picked out a few, in white and light grey so they wouldn't show under her shirt, and then Mrs. Granger brought them over to the fitting rooms.
"You want something that feels snug around your chest, but not tight. It shouldn't feel like it's squeezing you or making it harder for you to breathe," Mrs. Granger directed. "You shouldn't notice it much, just like you don't notice your underpants much."
More than a little embarrassed, Rachel ducked into the fitting room and tried on the bras. She could tell what Mrs. Granger had meant about one being too tight, so she tried the next size and found that it didn't feel too bad. She thought she could get used to it. She tried the other style in the same size and found that it was okay too.
"Everything okay?" Mrs. Granger asked when Rachel emerged.
"Yes, these will work," Rachel said, holding three bras.
"Let's do women's clothing next," Hermione said.
They spent a while wandering the racks, holding up different shirts or trousers, sometimes giggling over the sillier clothes they found. Millie found a shirt that didn't have shoulders and they guessed at which professor would take points first if they saw one of them wearing it. Rachel thought that Professor McGonagall would, but Hermione thought it would be Professor Snape.
They went back to the fitting rooms again, popping in and out to show each other the different clothes they were trying on. Hermione wound up with a jumper and a light long sleeved shirt, while Millie got a pair of jeans, saying they were hard to find in the wizarding world. Rachel also got a jumper, wanting something warm for spending winter in the dungeons, and a new nightgown since she'd forgotten to get one last year.
"The bookshop then?" Hermione asked, once they'd stepped out of Fenwick's and into the shopping center.
"I'm going to sit in the cafe with a cup of tea. Come find me in an hour, or if you're done with the bookshop sooner than that," Mrs. Granger said, pointing out a small cafe with some tables out front.
Rachel and Millie followed Hermione into the nearby bookshop.
"It's not as big as the second hand bookshop that's about thirty minutes away, but it's closer," Hermione said. "Fiction or nonfiction?"
"Fiction," Rachel said, eager to see what they had.
"Yes, I want something that's about the muggle world, something that Theo can read too," Millie said.
"Maybe a mystery?" Hermione suggested.
"Maybe," Millie said.
They browsed the aisles for a long while, reading back of books and Hermione offering her thoughts when it was a book she had already read.
"This is nice," Millie said. "Not having adults hovering over us all the time."
"It is," Rachel said, reaching up and touching her necklace. And it was safer than either she or Severus had thought it would be.
"Well, we have Hogsmeade weekends to look forward to, and we'll be seeing everyone for Ginny's birthday party," Hermione said.
"That's true. I hope things are still okay enough with Theo that he can come this time," Rachel said.
"I hope so too," Millie said, shaking her head.
Millie wound up buying Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Hermione bought two new Terry Pratchett books, Soul Music and Maskerade, promising Rachel that she could borrow them later. Rachel decided to try something new and bought a boxed set of three books by an American author named Stephen King with what was called The Dark Tower series. Hermione had asked if she could borrow them when Rachel was finished, saying she'd read another book by Stephen King and that it had been scary, but good.
After the bookshop, they went to look for Mrs. Granger at the cafe and found her with today's copy of The Guardian and an empty tea cup.
"Where to next?" Mrs. Granger asked, looking over them.
"We could walk through the shopping center, I think the music shop is on the other side," Hermione suggested.
"That sounds fine," Mrs. Granger said.
They walked slowly, taking time to pause and look in the various windows of the shops. There were lots of different places selling a variety of things, such as shoes, home decor, furnishings, clothes, and toys.
"Where does all of this come from?" Millie asked as they left the window for the toy store.
"Factories, mostly. There are people all around the world whose job it is to make all of this. I imagine the wizarding world's production system is much more closed," Hermione said, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"I don't know. I never really thought about it. Some things, like broomsticks and artifacts, are made special. Nimbus is a British company, and the Comets come from France. I don't know where the rest of it comes from," Millie said, peering into the window of the next shop where mannequins were on display.
"Professor Snape orders from apothecaries in other countries sometimes," Rachel said, which was about as much as she knew about production in the wizarding world or in the muggle world.
"That makes sense, some things can only be grown or found in certain environments," Hermione said.
After about thirty minutes of wandering they wound up in front of a music shop. It was much more posh than the shop Severus had taken her to in London last year.
"Eventually you'll have to upgrade to a cd player, they have portable ones of those now," Hermione said as they entered the shop.
"Maybe one day, I like my Walkman," Rachel said. She saw that the shop was just about evenly divided into cds and cassettes.
"There's a lot here. How are you going to pick something?" Millie asked as she slowly turned around to look at everything.
"I don't know, last time a shop clerk helped me pick some things out," Rachel said.
"Well, I can probably help a little bit," Hermione said. "And we can ask a shop clerk for suggestions based on what you already like."
With Hermione's help, and then the help of a young woman who was running the shop, Rachel picked out three new cassettes. One was ABBAs Greatest Hits, which Hermione recommended, saying her parents listened to it a lot when she was younger. The shop clerk suggested an American band called Nirvana that had a popular album right now called Nevermind, and the new Rolling Stones album called Voodoo Lounge.
Rachel was glad that Severus had given her muggle money as an early birthday present and had specifically told her to pick out some things she wanted.
"Let's walk back on the other level of the shopping center, that way you can see the rest of the shops," Hermione said as they left the music shop.
"We can do that, but we should leave in the next hour, I still need to put the roast in the oven," Mrs. Granger said.
"Thank you for taking us shopping," Rachel said, realizing that they were probably wearing Mrs. Granger out.
"Yes, thank you," Millie said.
"It's no problem. I'm just glad that Hermione has the opportunity to see her friends a little bit over the summer. She talks about you all the time," Mrs. Granger said.
"Mom," Hermione said, blushing lightly.
"It's true. I hope I get to see more of your friends soon," Mrs. Granger said with a fond smile.
"Maybe," Hermione said. "It's easier for some of them than for others."
Rachel nodded. Maybe Theo would be able to visit Hermione. She thought that he would be interested in all the muggle things in her house. And it would be good for him to be able to see any of them over the summer now that he wasn't with his father.
They made their way back through the shopping center, stopping occasionally to comment on the various stuff they saw. Rachel thought that it had been a very nice day and, with no Death Eaters in sight, a very calm one too.
Back at Hermione's house they spent some time examining various muggle things that Millie hadn't seen before. They used the vacuum cleaner, pressed buttons on the microwave, put a tape in the VCR, and opened various programs on the computer that sat on a desk at the back of the sitting room.
After they finished they went up to Hermione's bedroom and looked over Hermione's bookshelves, Hermione telling them what she thought about the various books that they pulled out. Rachel sat down on Hermione's bed next to Hermione, thinking that if she kept buying books and receiving them for birthdays and Christmases she was going to need another bookshelf, just like Hermione. Hermione's bookcases were almost literally bulging with books - some of them stacked in piles, all of them double layered, and with the odd book sticking out here and there.
Millie sat down on Hermione's desk chair. "I guess you probably want to know why I don't know about muggle stuff," she said, looking a little bit nervous.
"Only if you want to tell us, you don't have to," Rachel said. She definitely knew how it felt for people to want to know more than she wanted to say.
"It's okay, Millie. We're here if you want to talk about it, but we don't want you to feel like we're pressuring you," Hermione added.
Millie sighed heavily. "It's complicated. And it's not. My dad is a Ravenclaw muggleborn. My mom is a Slytherin pure-blood. They were in the same year at Hogwarts and they started dating in secret. This was during the war, but before things got really bad."
"Do you know what year they were born?" Rachel asked. "My parents, and Professor Snape, were all born in 1960."
"They were born in 1956, so they would have been a few years ahead of your parents at Hogwarts," Millie said. "Anyway, my dad told his family about what was happening in the wizarding world. About You-Know-Who, about the Death Eaters, about the war. The summer after his sixth year, they told him that he couldn't go back to Hogwarts, that it wasn't safe for him, and that the entire family would be leaving Britain. There had been attacks on other muggleborns' families and they were scared. My dad wanted to finish his seventh year at Hogwarts, and he loved my mom. He knew that if he left with his family he'd probably never see her again. He was of age, so he told his parents that he was staying. And they told him that if he did, that was it, they'd never see him again and he wouldn't be part of their family. So he went back to Hogwarts for his seventh year and he hasn't ever heard from them or seen them since."
"My god, just like that?" Hermione asked, clearly aghast.
Rachel felt similarly. It was one thing for the Dursleys to want her to leave and to never see them again, she wasn't their child. But for someone's actual parents to do that, it was horrible.
Millie nodded. "I've never met my grandparents or my aunt on my dad's side of the family. We don't even know where they are. My parents married right out of Hogwarts, much to my mom's parents disapproval, and my mom went into the Healer Training Program while my dad worked to support them. And they decided that they wanted their children to be raised in an entirely magical household. My dad pretends that he's a half-blood, that he doesn't know much about muggles, and we don't have any muggle things in our house. My mom told me all of this, my dad won't even talk about it."
"That must have been really hard for him," Rachel said, not wanting to think about what she would do if Severus sent her away like that. It would be awful.
"It is disturbing, isn't it, to think that people can do that. I mean, as bad as Theo's father is, at least he actually wants Theo," Millie said, frowning. "Not that we want him to have Theo."
"I think it's much better for Theo if he is safely away from his father," Hermione said, looking worried. "There are things I haven't told my parents because I don't want them to take me out of Hogwarts."
"The Dark Lord returning," Rachel said, remembering that Hermione had not wanted to tell her parents about that.
"That, and what happened to Professor Quirrell in our first year, and the basilisk and the petrifications in our second year. I couldn't avoid telling them about Sirius Black because he was on the front page of both The Guardian and the Daily Prophet. I mean, really, Hogwarts isn't particularly safe. Especially for you, Rachel," Hermione said, looking at Rachel.
"I think I'm less threatened than people think," Rachel said. She did not want her friends acting as bodyguards again this year. "Professor Snape said that the kids with Death Eater parents aren't likely to attack me outright."
"It's not always the kids of Death Eaters though," Millie said, echoing Hermione's worried look.
Rachel grimaced and looked down. "I think after all we learned last year we're pretty ready to defend ourselves against any student who tries something."
"That's true. We're much better prepared than we were even a year ago," Hermione said. "And I think that's what I'm going to have to tell my parents if it comes down to it. I'm prepared."
"How are you going to tell them you've been keeping things from them though?" Millie asked.
Hermione shrugged. "I'll just make things sound like they're more recent developments than they actually are. I'm not planning on telling them unless the Death Eaters become a threat to them. Rachel, do you think the Order would be able to help set up some wards around my parents' house if it comes to that point?"
"I hope so. I mean, I can ask," Rachel said.
"Not just yet, but I may ask you to ask them if the situation changes. Have you heard anything? About the war?" Hermione asked.
"No, they generally don't hold those conversations around me. I know that the Order has been reformed, and they have headquarters now. Sirius and Remus are helping, and Professor Dumbledore asked Professor Snape to stock an infirmary at headquarters, so they're expecting to fight. That's all I really know," Rachel said. She had wanted it that way, but now she was wondering if that was the right idea after all. Should she want to know about the war effort? Was it better to know?
"From the news in the Daily Prophet it sounds like they're going to oust Professor Dumbledore as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot when they meet on Saturday," Hermione said.
"The position itself doesn't do much, but it means a significant portion of the Wizengamot is standing against him," Millie said, shaking her head. "My dad said that he never thought he'd see the day when Professor Dumbledore fell out of favor. Hermione, what are you going to do if your parents don't want you to go back to Hogwarts?"
"I don't know. Try to convince them, I suppose. I don't want to go to Beauxbatons, or leave Britain. I guess I just have to keep telling them that Hogwarts is really the safest place I could be," Hermione said, glancing at her closed door. "And I suppose we really don't know how long it will be until the war starts in earnest. You-Know-Who could possibly hide for years while he's making plans and recruiting."
Rachel didn't think that he would. She didn't know why, but there was something inside her that said that the Dark Lord was eager to regain what he'd lost.
"Girls, wash up and come down for dinner," Mrs. Granger called.
"Mom made roast," Hermione said, getting to her feet. "Not as good as at Hogwarts, but still pretty good. She makes her own gravy."
"Good, I'm hungry," Millie said.
Rachel followed them downstairs, her mind tumbling with thoughts of wars and families being torn apart.
Severus sat on one of the stools in his cellar lab, watching as Rachel brewed the first steps of their modified Dreamless Sleep potion. They were leaving out the Sopophorous bean entirely and substituting dried and powdered fluxweed. Rachel had come up with the modification, and while Severus doubted that they would get a viable potion from it, let alone a functional potion, the objective was to let her experiment safely.
She had just added the powdered lavender and sage when she turned to Severus. "Should I have substituted something for the lavender as well?"
"While lavender can lead to a more relaxed mind while sleeping, which is why it's used both in the Sleeping Draught and in Dreamless Sleep, it does not have the principle effect of drowsiness. I think you can safely leave it in," Severus explained. "Besides, to start with, we only want to make direct substitutions. If those fail, then we can consider multiple substitutions or partnered substitutions."
Rachel nodded and turned back to her cauldron. "I wasn't watching the clock, but I think it looks right for me to stir now."
"Start stirring and tell me how you knew," he directed.
Rachel started counting her stirs, all the way up to twelve, set the stirring rod aside and carefully turned down the heat. "The color and the formation of small bubbles on the surface. If it had been boiling we would have ruined the potion entirely."
"Good," he said, pleased that she had been paying close enough attention while brewing to realize these things.
She added the chopped valerian, watching the cauldron closely. "Did you know Millie's parents while they were at Hogwarts?"
"I don't believe so, I don't recognize them if I did know them when I was a student," Severus said. He hadn't realized they were young enough that he would have been at Hogwarts with them.
"They would have been four years ahead of you, but Millie's mom was a Slytherin," Rachel said, glancing at him before peering back in the cauldron.
"The upper year Slytherins had very little to do with the lower years while I was at school, for the most part." That was true, except for the few occasions where older students were recruiting younger students. "Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering if you knew what they were like," she said, somewhat cryptically, before picking up the stirring rod and stirring the potion at a gentle pace for two minutes.
Severus let her finish stirring and adding the crushed wormwood before he spoke. "Is there a situation with Millie's parents that I should know about?" he asked, hoping that the situation was not like Theo's. He hadn't seen anything that would suggest that it was, but he knew he didn't see everything.
"No, not really," Rachel said, she added the flobberworm mucus, stirred again, turned the heat up, and then sat down facing Severus. "She told me and Hermione why she doesn't know much about muggle stuff, even though her dad is a muggleborn. His family abandoned him when he said he wanted to keep going to Hogwarts. He never saw them again."
"That's unfortunate. Some families have an easier time with one or more of their family members being magical than others," he said gently, knowing this was a difficult subject for Rachel.
"It makes sense that the Dursleys didn't want me. I wasn't theirs. But for someone's actual parents to just leave their child and say that's it, when they didn't even do anything wrong," Rachel said, checking her watch and then looking at the cauldron. "I know that families are hard, but that's just messed up."
"It is. And I think it's very uncommon. Most families would not do that. I would never do that to you," Severus promised, not sure if Rachel needed that reassurance.
"I know," she said, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. "But you're a better person than a lot of people."
Severus didn't know about that. He had no disillusions that he wasn't still paying his penance for crimes he committed and would be for a long time to come. He decided to change the subject. "Near the end of the coming school year you'll have a career counseling meeting with me. This is mostly so you can decide what NEWT classes are appropriate for you to take. I'm telling you ahead of time so that you have the opportunity to think about it."
"I still don't know." Rachel checked on the potion again and then her watch. "What if I do a mastery in something and decide I don't want to work in that field?"
"Then you find employment that uses your skills in a different way. If you did a Potions Mastery you would be qualified for a number of positions, with even more options if you score well on various NEWTs. However a Potions Mastery isn't your only option," Severus said. He thought Rachel would do very well in a Potions Mastery, but he didn't want her to do it simply because he was a Potions Master.
"Maybe Ancient Runes, but I don't know." She bit down on her lower lip and looked worried.
"Ancient Runes and Arithmancy together can make a powerful combination of what it is possible for you to do, both magically and career wise. You still have plenty of time, and you will have the option to take NEWT classes that are outside of your chosen career path." He hadn't intended to make her worry with this conversation.
Rachel nodded. "I'm definitely dropping History. And Astronomy."
"That's fine, most people do. You'll need to drop more than that though. You cannot take eight NEWT classes," he said as firmly as possible. The maximum any student was allowed to take was seven, and he did not want Rachel to do that even.
"I'll see how I do on my OWLs. I might not make it into some of the classes." She checked the cauldron again.
"I sincerely doubt that. You have always done very well on your examinations." Severus wanted to stop her anxiety about the OWLs before it began. "I will be pleased however well you do on them."
"What if I don't get into your Potions class?" she asked.
"Then if you still wish to pursue Potions I will teach you privately," he promised. "However, I do not think that will be necessary."
"Maybe," Rachel said, checking her watch and then the cauldron.
"Do you wish to be a prefect next year?" He asked this even though he already suspected he knew the answer.
"No, I actually don't. Is that okay?" She looked at him as if checking to make sure he wasn't upset.
"That's fine. You certainly have the grades to be made prefect, but I generally want my prefects to spend more time in the common room than you typically do," Severus said. He intended to make Pansy and Draco prefects, despite their families, because they were the only ones in their year with decent grades and who were social within the House. He would, however, be watching them very closely. He certainly wasn't going to let the Death Eaters recruit from his students the way they had while Slughorn was Head of Slytherin House.
"Probably Pansy then. I think she'd be a good prefect," Rachel said with a nod.
"That was my intention as well. Do you wish to continue as Quidditch Captain?" He suspected he knew the answer to this question as well.
"Do you think I'm doing a good enough job?" She looked worried again.
"I do. The team performed very well last year, and not just because you had Viktor Krum on your team. Are you planning on resuming the Seeker position?"
"I am. And, if you think I'm doing okay, I'd like to be Quidditch Captain," she said. "As long as it's not just because you adopted me."
"It's not. I offered you both the prefect position and the captain position because you have the skills for both, I simply did not wish to add burdens to you that you didn't want," he explained.
"Thanks." Rachel smiled at him and checked the cauldron again. "So this is where we'd usually put in the juice for the Sophorous bean. So time for the fluxweed?"
"Let me put the barrier ward in place and then you can add the fluxweed." He stood and drew his wand, quickly placing the barrier ward at the edge of the counter. "Go ahead, but move back quickly."
Rachel reached around the barrier ward and dumped the powdered fluxweed into the cauldron before pulling her hand back. For a moment nothing happened, but then the cauldon began to smoke. "Oh gross," Rachel said, covering her mouth and nose.
Severus didn't disagree, the fumes were noxious. He reached his wand around the barrier ward and vanished the potion. "I have ventilation charms around the lab, but we should go upstairs while they clear the air. Any theories as to why that happened?"
"Do you know?" she asked.
"While I didn't know that it was going to happen, I have an understanding of why it did. Take a while and think over it and we'll discuss it when you're ready," he said as they came up into the cleaner air of the kitchen.
"Are you mad at me?"
Severus turned to face her. "Not in the slightest. This is both how potions are invented and how learning is done. I fully expect that we will produce many unviable results before we find something that can even be tested. The invention of new potions can sometimes take years of testing variables, with most of them resulting in an unusable potion and often a mess as well. What you do learn is what not to do and why."
Rachel seemed to cheer up a little bit. "I'll think about it. And then we'll come up with something else to try?"
"Exactly," he said, pleased that she understood.
On the morning of the Holyhead Harpies vs the Ballycastle Bats match there was a large headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet: 'Dumbledore removed from Chief Warlock role in historic 46-14 vote'.
Severus was frowning down at the newspaper when Rachel entered the kitchen.
"Do the Death Eaters really have that much hold over the Wizengamot?" she asked, looking at the picture of Professor Dumbledore very calmly standing in the Ministry.
"Lucius Malfoy and a few others either bought votes or used other means to persuade people." Severus' frown deepened. "Although a fair portion of this is Minister Fudge's doing."
"Is the Wizengamot really that corrupt?" Rachel looked away from the newspaper and considered Severus.
"Some of it, yes. Maybe even most. There are few things that enough money will not buy, for most people. And when money fails, threats and other measures will often succeed. Come have breakfast. I'll make eggs," he said, setting aside the newspaper.
Rachel didn't volunteer to cook as Severus was already heading toward the fridge with a set expression on his face. "What does this mean, practically speaking?"
"In terms of losing the position of Chief Warlock, almost nothing will change. However, it sets the stage for future Wizengamot votes. There will be a faction that will vote with Albus, but if he can't break the two thirds majority, measures will pass that we don't wish to pass," Severus explained as he cracked eggs into the frying pan.
"Measures against muggleborns?" she guessed.
"Among others. Albus is offering protection to members of the Wizengamot, but most have rebuffed him." Severus moved his wand over the eggs and they popped and sizzled while they cooked.
"And this is the Dark Lord's plan?" she asked. She had pictured something bigger. Something more violent.
"One of many. The Ministry was in shambles in the last war. I imagine he'd rather keep it functional for his takeover this time. Here, ketchup is in the fridge," he said, handing her a plate of eggs.
Rachel got herself a fork, the bottle of ketchup, and a glass of milk. "I think I know what went wrong with our potion."
"Tell me," Severus said, looking away from the eggs he was cooking for himself.
"We replaced the liquid of the Sopophorous bean with a dry powdered fluxweed. It unbalanced the properties of the potion," Rachel said. It had taken her reading a chapter on ingredient substitution from one of Severus' books in order to figure it out.
"That's one reason, yes. Do you want me to tell you the other?"
"Yes, please," Rachel said. She was going to spend the rest of the summer researching it if she had to figure it out herself.
"The liquid of the Sopophorous bean is a base. Fluxweed has acidic properties," he said, turning back to the stove and moving his wand again.
"Balance," she said, stabbing her eggs with her fork.
"Precisely. Have you had any thoughts about what you'd like to try next?" he asked, pouring his eggs onto a plate and returning to the table.
"Not yet. I need to think about ingredient properties more. I do think it is the Sopophorous bean we need to replace though," Rachel said, swallowing her bite of eggs first.
"What about the Valerian sprigs?"
"They're used in Dreamless Sleep and in Sleeping Draughts, and they're used in things like the Draught of Living Death and the Draught of Peace. It seemed to me like the Sopophorous bean was what was causing the inability to stay awake, while the Valerian sprigs just caused a more general drowsiness," Rachel explained.
"However Valerian is a sedative. Do you know why the Sopophorous bean is used in Dreamless Sleep?" he asked. "Think about the properties of the Sopophorous bean more closely."
Rachel sighed. "I'll have to look it up. But if they're both sedatives, then won't we have to replace them both?"
"The juice from the Sopophorous bean is the more powerful sedative, so it's possible that removing only that will allow the drinker to enter a more natural sleep. However, look up the properties of the juice of the Sopophorous bean again and we can discuss it in more detail," Severus said.
"I will," Rachel said, annoyed that she was missing something.
"Are you looking forward to today's game?" Severus asked.
"I am," Rachel said. She'd been wanting to see the Holyhead Harpies play for a long time. "Thank you for taking me."
"You've already thanked me, numerous times if memory serves," he said.
"Still. I know Quidditch isn't something you really enjoy. So I really appreciate you taking me." And she did. Severus was too nice to her, even if he wouldn't just tell her the properties of the Sopophorous bean.
"I'm glad to do it. However, I'd like for you to go in disguise again, just as a precaution. And for you to wear the portkey necklace that I gave you in case we get separated in an emergency."
"Are you going to be disguised as well?" she asked. She hadn't forgotten that the Dark Lord was after him as well.
"Yes, I'll be using Polyjuice. It would be too obvious that you were with me if I attended as myself," Severus said.
"Do I have to use Polyjuice too?" She hoped not. She really hadn't liked it last time.
"No, I think just changing your hair and covering up your scar will be fine. Don't wear your Hogwarts robes, I don't want any students to approach us," he said. "We'll leave at around one thirty, after lunch."
Rachel nodded. That gave her time to look up the Sopophorous bean and see what the problem was.
Rachel closed the potions book and tossed it toward the end of the bed, not really caring that it slid off and hit the floor with a small thump. How could she have missed this? If Theo and Hermione knew what she was doing they'd probably be laughing at her right now. She knew Severus wanted her to learn by doing, but he could have said something before they'd actually tried to brew the potion.
She sighed heavily. Severus probably thought she was an idiot.
"Rachel? Are you ready to go?" Severus called from downstairs.
"Almost!" she called back, getting up. She still needed to apply the concealing potion to her scar. She had her wand and her money pouch in her pocket already.
In the bathroom she took a fingerful of goo from the container that Severus had provided and rubbed it over the left side of her forehead. It was gross, but it did the job. At least it was better than Polyjuice. She washed her hands and went downstairs. "Dreamless Sleep doesn't actually cause you to not dream, does it? It just makes you forget that you were dreaming?"
"Yes. Come here, I need to change your hair," Severus said, already holding his wand out.
"You could have told me that," Rachel said, though she obediently went over to Severus and let him change her hair color. She had tied it back today, though she hoped it wouldn't be too windy.
"I could have, but I think the lesson is more effective this way," Severus said.
"Is the lesson 'don't be an idiot'?" she asked.
"There are a number of lessons I had in mind that this could cover and I can assure you that's not one of them," Severus said, pausing to drink from a hip flask.
Rachel watched as he transformed. He was in a different body than the one she'd seen him in last time. He was slightly taller, with wavy brown hair that only came down to his ears, and his eyes were a slightly deeper brown than his hair. "What happens if someone knows the person you are Polyjuiced into?"
Severus nodded. "That is always something you should consider when you select hairs from people, as well as general size and shape. In the magical world it is usually safe to go as a muggle. Do you want to talk about the potion now or at a later time?"
She sighed again. "I feel like an idiot."
"You're not. You learned something new and now you can take that into consideration for the next steps," Severus said, offering her his arm. "You have your wand?"
"Yes," she said, patting her pocket.
"And your emergency portkey?"
"Right here," she said, tugging down the collar of her shirt so he could see the chain of her necklace.
"Let's go then. Stay close to me, I don't wish to be separated," Severus said.
Rachel grabbed onto his arm and a few moments later they were standing to the far side of a large stadium in the middle of a Welch moor. "What lessons did you have in mind?" she asked as they started walking toward the entrance of the stadium.
"Knowing all the properties of each ingredient in a potion you're planning to modify would be one," Severus said.
She nodded. That made sense. "Okay. What else?"
"Not relying on the name of the potion to tell you what it does. Many potions have misleading names, or names that only describe the effect and not how they create the effect," he said.
"The effect being that you believe you didn't dream, but the effect is created by making you forget what you dreamed," Rachel said. "I don't understand why Valerian sprigs are used in a Forgetfulness potion then, and the Sopophorous bean isn't. You'd think it would be the other way around."
"The Sopophorous bean's effects are forward acting. If you were just to just ingest the juice of a Sopophorous bean - which I suggest you don't - you wouldn't have a memory of the next thirty minutes. In Dreamless Sleep, this effect is spread out through the length of the potion, if you take a full dose, you'll have no memory of the next eight hours while you are asleep, if you take a half dose, you'll have no memory of the next four hours. If you take a Wideye Potion, it will reverse both the effects of the sedative and prevent additional memory loss," Severus explained. "Depending on the strength of the Forgetfulness potion, you'll forget anywhere from the last five minutes to the last two hours. Can you tell me what the Valerian sprigs are doing in the Forgetfulness potion?"
Rachel frowned as she thought over the other ingredients in the Forgetfulness potion. "It's added directly after the Lethe River Water. And the Lethe River Water is what is causing the memory loss, but in the past instead of going forward. So the Valerian sprigs are doing the exact same thing they're doing in the Dreamless Sleep, they're spreading the effect out."
"Precisely. The buds on the Valerian sprigs will determine the strength of your Forgetfulness potion - when they're in full green, the potion will last the full two hours, when they're barely sprouted, the potion will have a much more limited effect," Severus said.
"So that still leaves us with replacing the Sopophorous bean, but finding something else to either prevent dreaming or cause the same type of memory loss that the Sopophorous bean juice causes," Rachel said, looking around as they joined the small group of fans that were lined up to enter the stadium. That was a much more difficult problem than just changing the Sopophorous bean for something that wasn't a sedative.
"You may need more than one ingredient to cause that effect," he said.
"I suppose if it were simple you would have just done it," she realized, hoping that the stadium stairs weren't going to be narrow or crowded.
"For this potion, I would have, because if we can make a functional potion it would be beneficial for you. It's something we can work on together," Severus said.
A moment later they reached the front of the line and Severus handed over their tickets. The man touched them with the tip of his wand, turning the gold parchment to green, and handed them back. "Up two flights and to the left."
Rachel took a deep breath and followed Severus inside. It wasn't quite as narrow as the steps to the Quidditch stands at Hogwarts, but it was still pretty narrow. She kept her hand on her wand as she followed Severus up the stairs, glad that there was a little bit of space between groups of people at least. She exhaled when they stepped out into the stands themselves. She had made it.
"Alright?" Severus asked, watching her closely.
"That wasn't too bad. Do you mind if we stay a bit after the game so they can empty out again?"
"That's fine," he said. He led the way to their seats and they settled in. They had a pretty good view of the pitch and were almost in the middle.
Slowly the stadium filled up and the mascots appeared out on the pitch, getting cheers from the crowd. "Are harpies real?" she asked Severus, realizing she didn't know.
"They're a myth, but we think the myth comes from people not understanding what veela are," Severus said.
A man dressed as a fruit bat was flying overhead, shooting off scarlet fireworks from his wand while people cheered "Barny" as he passed by.
Rachel smiled. Quidditch was a little bit strange sometimes.
The game began shortly after that and Rachel was relieved that while it was faster and a little more rough than what they played at Hogwarts, it wasn't anything like the World Cup game they'd seen last year. "Thanks for taking me," she said, watching as Morgan scored another goal for the Harpies.
"So you've said," Severus said. "You don't have to keep thanking me."
"I just want you to know that I appreciate what you do for me," Rachel said, shifting on her seat. There probably wasn't going to be a better time to ask, and it probably was better to know now, before she made any sort of plans. "What would you say if I hypothetically wanted to play Quidditch for the League after Hogwarts?"
"I would, hypothetically, say that's fine, if that's what you want to do. I would also, hypothetically, suggest that you consider some additional schooling to go along with it. Playing in the League isn't a full time position," he said.
Rachel turned to look at him. "Really?"
"Yes, I believe only the British National Team is a full position," he said.
"No, I mean, you really wouldn't care if I wanted to play Quidditch?"
"I want you to pursue what you want to do, not what I want you to do," Severus said.
Rachel looked back out at the game. "I wouldn't be disappointing you, or letting you down?"
"No, you wouldn't be. Rachel, the only things that I want from you are this. I want you to be alive, safe, healthy, moral, and to use good judgement. Everything else is negotiable."
She considered this. "You don't think playing for the League would be bad judgement?"
"Not if you had additional plans to go with it. Playing for the League isn't a lifelong career, most Quidditch players transition to another field in their thirties," he said.
"So it's possible I could both play Quidditch and get a Potions Mastery?" she asked hopefully.
"As long as you found a team and a Potions Master or Mistress who would work with your schedule, I don't see why not. You'd likely have to stretch your mastery out over three years rather than the traditional two, but that's common enough," Severus said.
Rachel watched as captain Gwenog Jones sent a Bludger toward the Ballycastle Seeker, preventing him from catching the Snitch. "I think that's what I want to work toward then," she said, taking another glance at Severus.
He nodded. "I'll do whatever I can to assist you with your goals."
Rachel smiled, feeling a little bit excited about the future. It felt strangely good to have a plan. "Thank you."
They were a circle with holes, places left for those who could not join for one reason or another. In the center, a man lay on the floor. He had stopped screaming some time ago, now only occasionally releasing a low keening sound, and there was an acridic smell from where he'd soiled himself.
"I have shown mercy tonight."
The masked circle looked as one, their gazes heavy even with their eyes hidden.
"I see some of you are wondering how this is merciful. Some of you know better. When I catch the traitor, you will see what I am truly capable of. The man before you was weak. Weak of mind, weak of body, and weak of faith. I see that same weakness now."
A few in the circle shifted. One looked down.
"There is still much to be done. Those of you who are faithful to me know what to do. Avada kedavra!"
"Wake up!"
Rachel lashed out at the hands holding her upper arms, barely aware that the screaming she heard was coming from her.
"Rachel. Rachel, sit up and open your eyes. Now!"
She clamped one hand to her forehead, trying to contain the pain, and closed her mouth as she was pulled into a sitting position. A dream. It had been a dream. Or a vision. Or whatever they wanted to call it.
"Are you with me now?" Severus asked, his hands still tight around her upper arms.
"Yes," she said, her voice a little hoarse. Her head was pounding and her scar was still burning. The light in the room made it worse so she tried to shield her eyes.
He let go and took a step back. "Your scar hurts? And your head? Anywhere else?"
"No," she said, though she had the strange idea that it should. She didn't feel right somehow.
"I'll be right back, stay here and stay awake."
If Severus thought she could fall asleep while she was in this much pain, he was crazy. She tentatively closed her eyes, not sure if it would bring the dream back, but there was nothing but blissful darkness. The dream - vision? - had felt like it had gone on forever.
She heard light footsteps, in the hall and then in her bedroom. "Take this first, it should ease the pain in your head," Severus said.
Opening her eyes just enough to see, Rachel took the potion vial in the hand that wasn't clutched to her forehead and drank it. It tasted horrible but after a moment the pain lessened considerably.
"May I see your scar?"
Rachel reluctantly removed her hand and closed her eyes as Severus moved closer to her.
"It's very clearly inflamed. Hold still for a moment, I'm applying some Healing salve," he said.
A moment later she felt a cool and slimy substance being applied to her forehead. It eased the burning enough that she didn't immediately want to put pressure on it again.
"Are you still in pain?"
She opened her eyes and looked up at Severus' concerned expression. "I can still feel it burning, but it's much better than it was."
"I don't wish to experiment on you, but I will see what else I can find that may work better on these occasions," Severus said. "I need to ask, do I need to contact Albus immediately?"
"No, it's too late," Rachel said, looking down. "I'm not sure there was anything the Order could have done anyway. I mean, we don't know where they are, do we?"
"We don't. May I sit?" he asked, motioning to the end of Rachel's bed.
She nodded, feeling oddly guilty as she thought over what had just happened.
Severus sat down, his expression grim. "If you'd rather write down what you saw, and have me read it before I deliver it to Albus, that's an option."
"I had just kind of hoped that it wouldn't happen again now that he has a body," Rachel said.
"I had hoped as well." His gaze was steady. "May I check your occlumency shields?"
"Yes," Rachel said. It was better to know if that was the problem. She stared at him, remembering what he had told her about trying to visualize him in her mind. She still didn't really understand what he meant by that - she understood about picturing him, but how was she supposed to know what her mind looked like? Did minds even look like anything?
"Everything is just as it was the last times I checked," Severus said after a moment. "I suppose I should have checked while you were sleeping, but my concern was with waking you up."
"Can you use legilimency while someone is sleeping?" she asked.
"It is very difficult to do without eye contact, but it can be done. With your permission, if this happens again and you are still asleep, may I attempt to check your occlumency shields?"
"Yes." If that was the problem it seemed like a relatively easy fix, she just had to learn to keep her occlumency shields up while she was asleep and Severus could probably help her with that. "They tortured and killed Professor Karkaroff."
Severus nodded. "I'm afraid that it was inevitable that they would find him. Perhaps if he had asked for protection from Albus, instead of fleeing."
"It didn't take them very long. It's only been a month sinceā¦" Rachel looked away.
"And I can assure you that we have a great deal more protection than Karkaroff had. It would be very difficult for the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord to reach us."
After what she'd just witnessed, somehow 'very difficult' didn't seem good enough.
"I won't ask you for details that you don't want to give, but in the morning do you think you can write what you remember for Albus? Details about where they were, how many were there, anyone you could identify?" Severus asked.
Rachel nodded. She understood why it was necessary, even though she didn't think she'd seen anything particularly useful. It wasn't like they were next to a map or a road sign.
"Do you wish for me to stay with you for now?"
"I think when I'm seeing these visions, I'm the Dark Lord," she blurted out, feeling a little bit afraid of what Severus might think, but unable to keep the idea to herself any longer without getting more upset.
"That's not surprising," he said steadily.
She blinked at him. "It's not?"
"Albus and I suspect that the Dark Lord is currently unaware that he is linked to you in this way, that he is sending these visions or dreams. As such, it would make sense that they are directly from his perspective," Severus reasoned.
Rachel thought about that. It was true that she couldn't control anything that happened while she was in the dream, it was more like she was just along for the ride and seeing out of his eyes.
"I assume the Dark Lord was the one who cast the Killing Curse?"
"And the Cruciatus curse," she said.
"Then this matches what we've seen from your other connected dreams as well," he said, pausing for a long moment. "Are you feeling the pain from the Cruciatus curse while it's being cast in your dream?"
"No. I don't feel any pain until I wake up," she said, relieved that was the case. The Dark Lord had tortured Karkaroff until he was broken.
"It seems that your body does feel something while this is happening, you were screaming in your sleep for nearly five minutes before I was able to wake you," Severus said with a frown. "If you hadn't woken when you did, I would have called for Albus."
Rachel frowned. That was going to be problematic if this happened while she was in her dorm. "If the Dark Lord isn't aware that he's sending these visions, if I get a vision where I'm not in his body, would that mean he's sending it on purpose?"
"I don't think we have enough information to judge that. For the time being we should take each dream, or vision - though neither is really the correct terminology, I'm not sure there is an established terminology for what is happening - as it happens. It's possible that any of them may be a combination of true and false information."
"I don't think there's any reason for the Dark Lord to want us to think Professor Karkaroff is dead when he's not," she said as she turned the idea over in her mind.
"No, I don't think there is either. I do not believe the Dark Lord would allow Karkaroff to return to him," Severus said.
They sat in silence for a few minutes and Rachel noticed that the burning in her scar was starting to dim. She felt strangely exhausted, like she'd run a very long distance. "Is it wrong if I go back to sleep after seeing someone killed?"
"No, it's not. I'm sure that was a trying experience for you. It makes sense that you're tired," Severus said.
Rachel pressed her lips together and bit down on the insides. "But it should mean something more, I should feel something different after seeing that."
"However you feel about it is alright. These are not ordinary circumstances, and I suspect that feeling rather numb is a common occurrence after you've witnessed someone die," he said, meeting her gaze.
"Is that how you've felt about it before?" she asked, thinking that it made sense that he knew how she was feeling if he had felt it before.
"Under some circumstances, yes." Severus nodded and he looked very distant for a moment. "It's likely you will feel differently about it at different times."
"I didn't know him very well." She frowned as she tried to make sense of it.
"I knew him at two very different times in my life. He was not a good man, but there are very few who deserve to die in the way that he did."
Rachel wondered who exactly Severus thought did deserve to die like that.
"Feel about it however you feel. No matter what that is, there is nothing wrong with it," Severus said again.
She didn't know how exactly she felt. Maybe a little frightened. But mostly tired.
"Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"
"No," she said. She didn't think she could sleep with Severus sitting there. "Thank you."
"Alright. Please knock on my door if you do want company," he said, getting to his feet and watching her for a moment more. "Shall I turn off the light?"
"Yes, please," Rachel said.
She waited until it was dark and she heard Severus' footsteps retreat and his door close behind him. She wasn't exactly sure she was going to sleep, but she did want to lie down again. After a moment of digging in her blankets she found her stuffed bunny and cradled it to her chest. Was she going to witness every murder the Dark Lord performed from now on, or only the ones he really cared about?
Not particularly wanting to think about what she'd dreamed, Rachel tried to focus on the third animagus meditation. She'd been working on it every night for the past two weeks, but she didn't feel like she was any closer. It was settling enough that she could close her eyes, and she fell back asleep with her breathing causing the ocean's waves.
The next morning after breakfast Rachel wrote out what she remembered from her dream. She didn't include much detail about Professor Karkaroff being tortured and how he had broken before the Dark Lord killed him. She didn't particularly care to try to describe it, nor did she want Severus and Professor Dumbledore to know what exactly she'd witnessed. Severus already worried about her too much as it was.
She still hadn't decided how she felt about it or how she was supposed to feel about it, let alone if they were the same thing. It had been horrible, there was no denying it, but she felt very separated from it as well. It didn't make it easier that she hadn't exactly liked Professor Karkaroff. The one thing she did know was that she didn't want to see something like that happen again. She just wasn't sure that she was going to get a choice in the matter.
"I'll see to it that Albus gets this," Severus said, once he had finished reading it. "Do you still wish to go to headquarters today?"
"I do, unless you don't want to take me," Rachel said. She didn't mind spending the day cleaning at headquarters, and she wanted to check on Kreacher.
Severus shook his head. "I have things to do at headquarters today as well, I just wanted to know if you preferred to stay here and rest."
"No," Rachel said immediately. The last thing she wanted was to be left at loose ends. "What are you doing at headquarters?"
"I'll be setting up an area for brewing and for an infirmary for the Order," Severus said. "Albus has informed me that the cellar is now in habitable condition."
Rachel thought habitable might be stretching it for the condition headquarters was currently in, but she nodded.
"Do you need to retrieve anything before we go?"
"No, I've got my wand," Rachel said, patting her pocket.
Severus hesitated. "I want you to get in the habit of wearing the portkey necklace anytime we aren't in the house. Just as a precaution."
"You think something might happen at headquarters?" she asked. "Isn't it under the Fidelius charm?"
"It is, and it should be safe, but if it became necessary to evacuate headquarters for some reason, we could be separated."
"Just as a precaution," Rachel repeated.
"Yes. I think we can't take too many precautions right now," he said with a nod.
"I'll go get it," Rachel said, heading upstairs. She had the feeling that Severus was once again going to tell her she had to be careful to stay with her friends at school. There was such a thing as being cautious, and then there was being paranoid. She wasn't sure what side of the line Severus was on, but she was leaning a little bit to paranoid at the moment. Then again, after what she'd just seen, maybe not.
She put on her necklace, tucking it under her shirt collar, and went back downstairs. "Ready."
Severus offered her his arm and moments later they were on the narrow step in front of 12 Grimmauld Place. He aimed his wand at the front door, where there was no handle, and no lock, and they could hear the clicking as the internal locks released.
Rachel had just enough time to be surprised that the Weasleys were there before chaos erupted.
A loud explosion reverberated in the hallway, immediately followed by a bright light and Severus shoving Rachel behind him while aiming his wand.
"Filth! The vile filth in my house! Blood traitors!"
Rachel ducked and managed to pull out her own wand as she tried to figure out what was going on.
"George Fabian Weasley! What have I told you about those infernal fireworks!? In the house!? What were you thinking!?"
Severus shot down the bright light with his wand and the burning ember fell to the carpet.
"Shaming the house of my fathers! My traitorous child, begone! Begone!"
Sirius and Remus had hurried into the hallway and were now trying to pull green velvet curtains over a screaming portrait of an elderly woman.
Severus still had his wand at the ready, one hand behind him to keep Rachel back.
Rachel could feel her heart hammering and exhaled in relief when the portrait was finally quiet. At least now she knew exactly why they were supposed to be quiet in the ground floor hallway.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked, turning back to look at her.
"I'm fine," she said. She was kind of glad that he had done that - he had given her time to get her wand out, which would have been useful if they'd actually been under attack.
"Let's move this into the kitchen," Remus said, glancing over everyone.
"Turn out your pockets, both of you," Mrs. Weasley said to the twins as soon as they were in the kitchen.
"Mom!"
"We're seventeen!"
"Then act like it. Pockets. Now." Mrs. Weasley's face was bright red.
"Hi Rachel," Ginny said, coming over to her.
"Hi Ginny, when did you get here?" Rachel asked. She hadn't expected to see Ginny until her birthday party in August.
"Just a little bit ago. Mom volunteered us to help clean up headquarters, since she would be here and she didn't want to leave us home alone," Ginny said, seemingly unconcerned about the standoff between the twins and her mother.
"Hi Ron," Rachel said, hoping that things between them could be at least a little less tense than they had last year. She had plenty of enemies, she didn't need her friend's brother to be one of them.
"Hi Rachel, Hi Professor Snape," Ron said, his gaze moving between Rachel and Severus and then looking back at where his mom was still scolding the twins.
"Mr. Weasley," Severus said with a nod.
Remus approached. "Severus, we finished cleaning the worst of the cellar, but it will need some work before it's fit for brewing. We already renewed the ventilation charms, so it should be tolerable down there now."
"I'll see what I have to work with," Severus said before turning to Rachel. "I will be in and out of headquarters while I fetch what I need for the cellar. As usual, send me your Patronus charm if you need something."
"I will," Rachel said, a little bit excited that she was going to get to spend at least some of the day with Ginny.
"Rachel, how are you?" Remus asked, the lines on his face easing a bit when he turned to Rachel.
"I'm fine," Rachel said. It was mostly true. Or at least, it was mostly not a lie.
"We're going to tackle the drawing room today and that will finish off the first floor. I'm going to show Severus where the cellar is and then I'll join you and the Weasleys," Remus said with a smile.
"Okay," Rachel said. "Hi Sirius."
"Hello. I'm sorry that was your introduction to my mother, though I suspect any introduction would have been about the same. Maybe with fewer literal explosions, although we can always arrange some of those around here," Sirius said, the corner of his mouth quirking up.
"I'm sure," she said. She suspected that if Sirius' mother wasn't a pure-blood bigot and Aunt Petunia didn't hate magic, they would have gotten along very well.
"What's in the drawing room?" Ginny asked.
"Well, at the moment, doxies, chizpurfles, other vermin, and a lot of junk," Sirius said. "We'll tackle the doxies after lunch, no reason to fill our lungs with Doxycide before we eat. I think your mom is almost done, then we can head on up."
Rachel glanced at where one of the twins had his arms folded and the other was scowling. Both of them had gone bright red like their mom. "How do you tell them apart?" she asked Ginny.
"Oh, easy, Fred has three freckles just below his left eye, and George has a small mole on his neck. Don't tell them I told you though," Ginny said quietly.
"Okay." Rachel smiled. It was sort of a fun prank of their own.
"Are you both quite finished?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Neither of the twins responded.
"Alright then," Sirius said a little too loudly. "The drawing room is at the front end of the first floor. I suggest you avoid unsettling the curtains for now as they are buzzing with doxy swarms."
They followed him up the stairs and past the bedrooms and bathroom that were already cleaned. The drawing room looked like it must have been quite elegant at one time, though now it was dark, musty, and filthy.
"Fred, George, since you can use your wands, start on the sofas and the armchairs. Ron, you can help me over here. Ginny, you can start sifting out junk in the cabinets - show Sirius anything you're not sure about. Hello Rachel dear, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley, how are you?" Rachel asked.
"Well enough," Mrs. Weasley said, her eyes darting to Fred and George. "Why don't you help Ginny and Sirius with the cabinets?"
"Sure," Rachel said. She'd rather do that then deal with vermin anyway.
Rachel and Ginny followed Sirius over to the first of two large cabinets that dominated the walls.
Sirius conjured two large cardboard boxes. "Trash, cursed objects, and old potions in here. Other junk in there."
"For Kreacher to look at?" Rachel asked hopefully.
"Yes. You'll be glad to hear that he has settled into the back room on this floor," Sirius said, meeting her eyes.
"I am. Thank you," Rachel said. She still wanted to check on him, but at least he wasn't in the boiler room anymore.
"Show anything to me that seems even slightly suspicious and be very careful not to knick your skin on anything, just in case," Sirius said.
"We will," Ginny said, opening one of the frosted cabinet doors.
Rachel joined her, it was more fun working together even though they probably would have worked faster if they'd each tackled a section.
"Eww, is this blood?" Ginny asked, pointing at a large crystal vial filled with a dark reddish-brown substance.
"I'll take that," Sirius said, popping in at the question. "Some things should be disposed of a little differently."
They began sorting through faded pieces of parchment, a snakeskin that neither of them wanted to touch, an assortment of daggers, which looked sort of cool, but had been tossed into the cursed pile just in case, a set of small silver boxes, which Sirius had told them to throw away immediately, and other bizarre odds and ends.
"You know you could probably sell some of this stuff," Ginny said as they looked at a cursed golden bracelet with intricate engravings.
"I'd rather not be responsible for increasing the amount of dark artifacts and cursed goods floating around on the market, besides, most of this would not be legal to sell," Sirius said, vigorously wiping his hands to get off some powdered substance that was clinging to his skin. "Here, let me see that."
Ginny handled over the bracelet and Sirius worked at it with his wand for a few minutes while they watched.
"There, harmless, and you can keep it. Consider it a thank you for helping with this mess," Sirius said, handing it back to Ginny.
"You don't have to," Ginny said immediately.
"Trust me, I don't want it. It's going in the trash otherwise. Same to you, Rachel, if you see something you want, just tell me," Sirius said.
"Okay," Rachel said. She didn't think she wanted any jewelry that had once been cursed, but it was a nice offer.
Ginny considered the bracelet for a long moment and then slid it into her pocket. "Thank you."
It was almost lunch time when Rachel noticed that Kreacher had slipped into the room and was taking things out of the box that had been set aside for him. He left with his arms full.
"I'll be right back," she told Ginny. Sirius had gotten distracted with something Mrs. Weasley was showing him, and Remus was helping the twins with the upholstery.
"Be careful out there. Maybe the toilet is cursed," Ginny said, grinning in amusement.
Rachel smiled back and quickly left the drawing room. "Kreacher."
The House Elf startled and dropped the things he was carrying and Rachel hurried to help him pick them up.
"Master said I could have these," Kreacher said.
"Good, I'm glad," Rachel said, kneeling down to help him. "Let me help you take them back to your room."
She picked up a silver thing that she wasn't quite sure what it was, a heavy golden locket with an S in green gems, and a picture frame with cracked glass. "Here, I can fix it for you. Reparo." The glass in the picture frame became clear and Rachel was surprised that she recognized the person in the photo - it was Bellatrix Lestrange as Rachel had seen her as Neville's boggart form almost two years ago. She absently ran her finger along the S shape of the locket, feeling the edges of the gems that made up the S.
"Miss didn't need to. Miss didn't need to help. Miss doesn't need to help the blood traitors either."
"I want to help," Rachel said. "Which one is your room?" She wanted to see for herself that Kreacher had somewhere nice to be, though at least she could see that they had given him a tea towel to replace the dirty loincloth he'd been wearing.
"This one, down at the back," Kreacher said, having gathered up the rest of his things and leading the way down the hall.
Rachel followed him into the room and other than the random piles of stuff lying around it seemed like it was a decent place. She set down the items on the dresser and knelt down again. "Kreacher, are they treating you better? Are they giving you food?"
"They sets out food for Kreacher twice a day. They says I can have my master's and my mistress' treasures," Kreacher said, rocking slightly as he stood, still clutching his items.
"Good. Is there anything else you want? Anything you need?" she asked.
"My mistress," Kreacher said unhappily.
That was one thing she couldn't help him with. "It's hard, when people die," she said tentatively.
"Kreacher is alone now. Kreacher be alone. Go, Miss," Kreacher said, his rocking increasing.
"I'll check on you again later," Rachel said, backing out of the room and pulling the door closed behind her. At least the situation was somewhat better.
She was almost back to the drawing room when Sirius emerged. "There you are. We were just talking about lunch. What sort of take-away do you want?"
"Oh, anything," Rachel said. She didn't have a lot of experience with take-away food. Aunt Petunia thought it was low class.
"Let's do that Indian place again then. I'll just nip out. Better get washed up, you don't want to eat with the residue of anything you've touched on your hands, not until we've finished cleaning," Sirius said, taking off down the stairs.
Rachel detoured into the bathroom. Like much of the rest of the house it was very old fashioned, but the hot water tap worked immediately. She tried to wash a dusty smudge off the side of her face after she washed her hands.
"It's a losing battle, deary," the mirror told her.
Rachel jumped. She had heard of talking mirrors, Hermione and Ginny said there were ones in the girls bathrooms in the Gryffindor dorm, but she hadn't encountered one until now.
"Thanks?" she asked, wiping her face again and then retreating from the bathroom.
"Sirius is getting take-away for lunch," Ginny said once Rachel came back out into the hallway. "Is it bad that this is sort of fun? I know the Order is serious business. But this part is sort of fun, right?"
"It is," Rachel said, smiling at her. It was better to have something to do than to think about the nebulous state of the war at least.
Severus paused in the doorway of the sitting room in 12 Grimmauld Place, watching as Rachel joined the Weasley children in a game of Exploding Snap. While he would have preferred less rambunctious companions for her - and to have kept her away from the Order entirely - this would do for now.
Rachel was smiling as one of the twins dealt cards to her and then she leaned in to giggle with Ginny over something. She seemed almost like an ordinary child, for the moment, and he was loath to do anything to unbalance what little peace she had.
He watched a moment longer and then went down the hall and to the kitchen where the meeting was taking place. Albus was standing in the far corner, his head bowed as he listened to whatever Kingsley Shacklebolt was telling him. About a fourth of the Order was gathered in the room, some standing, most sitting around the long dining table. They had learned from the last war to somewhat segregate members, so that if someone was captured they couldn't compromise the entire Order.
Regardless, Severus knew the names of most of the members and attended most of the meetings. He occasionally wondered if that meant that Albus thought Severus wouldn't break under torture, or if Albus believed he was too well guarded to be captured.
Tonight they had the Ministry crowd. Black and Lupin sat at one end of the table, talking easily with Arthur Weasley. Molly Weasley was nearby, sending a teapot and a plate of biscuits down to where Sturgis Podmore was sitting with Mad-Eye Moody. Further down the table sat Emmaline Vance, Hestia Jones, and Nymphadora Tonks.
Severus stood against a nearby wall rather than join them at the table.
Shacklebolt finished his conversation with Albus and moved to stand nearby.
"Thank you, everyone, for joining us this evening," Albus said as he took a step forward so that the light from the fireplace was flickering over him. "We have a few things to discuss, but I will keep my comments brief. First, there has been a disappearance from the Ministry. A muggleborn witch named Anilus Pepperage, from the Department of Magical Transportation did not return to work three days ago and her house was found to be abandoned. While this is not confirmed to be the work of Death Eaters, it is highly suspect. Kingsley has just let me know that the MLE has no leads on the investigation at this time."
"Any idea why they'd want someone from Transportation?" Jones asked.
"We have no theories at this time," Albus said. "Second, Igor Karkaroff, the former Headmaster of Durmstrang, was tortured and murdered by Voldemort himself."
This caused a small stir in the group and Severus was sure that he heard Moody mutter something that sounded suspiciously like 'good riddance'.
"This was obviously a targeted attack, but suggests that the Death Eater network is spread far and wide since they were able to locate him so quickly," Shacklebolt added.
"With that note, I must remind you to use the utmost caution while carrying out your duties. While we've provided what protections we can, it is far safer if you remain undetected," Albus said, nodding his head. "This is of vital importance to what I am going to ask of you next. We have reason to believe that Voldemort is seeking to enter the Department of Mysteries to retrieve a prophecy that was given about him. We must prevent that from happening."
Severus froze in place as his mind raced. Why did the Dark Lord want the prophecy now? How could he have known that there was more to the prophecy than what he'd heard?
"How will a prophecy help You-Know-Who?" Tonks asked, raising her hand like she was still in school.
"What Voldemort believes is ordained will guide his actions. We do not want him to hear this prophecy," Albus said firmly.
Severus nodded resolutely. As much as the Dark Lord wanted Rachel dead already, he would stop at nothing once he heard the prophecy. And he would know that only Rachel could kill him. Severus dreaded to think what the Dark Lord might do with that knowledge.
"You know what the prophecy says?" Emmaline asked.
"I do, but it is necessary that I do not share it with anyone," Albus said. "I would like to propose a rotating guard duty in the hallway to the Department of Mysteries. It needn't be guarded during the day, only after hours. The purpose of the guard is not to fight, but to send an alarm at the sign of a Death Eater or if Voldemort arrives."
"Would You-Know-Who really enter the Ministry?" Molly asked, sounding aghast at the idea.
"If we continue to thwart him, we may drive him to do just that," Albus said. "I fully believe that Voldemort will go to great lengths to retrieve the prophecy. We should be prepared for subterfuge as well as a direct attack. The next item is a bit more problematic. We were warned that Voldemort is planning to retrieve his loyal Death Eaters from Azkaban. At this time we have no additional information, but I have to believe that an attack is imminent. I have already attempted to warn the Ministry, and I'm sure you're aware of the results."
"Not much we can do there. Guard duty for Akzaban is drawn out six months in advance. We can't infiltrate," Moody said gruffly.
Albus inclined his head. "Unfortunately that is true. For now, we will attempt to find a solution. Now, please let me know what you've discovered."
Severus leaned against the wall as he listened to the reports from various Order members - Death Eaters they've watched, signs of recruiting within the Ministry, early drafts of laws that would be brought before a hostile Wizengamot. It led to a very grim picture.
Albus met Severus' eyes as the meeting was dismissed and Severus waited. He nodded to a few of the Order members as they left and when the kitchen was nearly empty he crossed to join Albus. He felt the familiar magic of a privacy ward being cast around them.
"How is Rachel?" Albus asked.
"Well enough. She has reported that her scar has what she describes as a prickling sensation on occasion, but nothing else since the night of Karkaroff's death," Severus said.
"Thus far the connection seems to be based on Voldemort's emotional state. Please ask her to continue to monitor her scar and note if the sensations last longer times than others or change," Albus said.
Severus frowned. They could not use Rachel as a barometer for the Dark Lord. "I believe it would be ideal if we could find a way to block these sensations and dreams entirely."
"I don't disagree with you, but I have not yet found anything that suggests a way to do that. Everything I've studied suggests that occlumency should prevent the connection. You indicated that you tested Rachel's occlumency directly after the dream?"
"I did and it was just the same as any other time I've tested it. She's given me permission to test it next time she is having one of these dreams," Severus said.
Albus appeared to think about this for a long moment. "I'm not sure that is wise. Having another mind probing the vision might alert Voldemort to Rachel and to you."
"It might," Severus said. "Or it might help us determine how to block the connection."
"That is also a possibility, but it is a calculated risk. If Voldemort learns to initiate and control the dreams it could be devastating to Rachel's mind," Albus warned. "Please give me some time to consider all of the ramifications before you proceed."
Severus nodded once. He would defer to Albus' judgement in this - Albus had a much better understanding of mind magic than he did.
"Is Rachel aware of the existence of the prophecy?" Albus asked.
"She is not, nor is she aware of the circumstances around it. I felt that she was too young." There was a certain amount of selfishness to it as well. As much as he did want to shield her from the prophecy, he was also uncertain how she would feel about what he had done those sixteen years ago.
"I feel the same, but I think we must prepare ourselves that she may need to know sooner than we wish," Albus said.
Severus wasn't sure what would necessitate Rachel needing to know at this juncture, but he understood that the possibility was there if the Dark Lord was pursuing the prophecy.
"I'll be in touch," Albus said, dismissing the privacy ward with a wave of his hand.
Severus nodded and left the kitchen. He paused again in the sitting room doorway, watching Rachel. She was sitting on the couch and chatting with Ginny. How could he place one more burden on his child? He could only hope that circumstances wouldn't require it.
