(a/n: sorry this one took awhile---I got a bit of writers block on how to express some of my ideas—happy reading though! R&R and tell me what you think!)
Chapter 6
Her heart was racing, and she was frozen to the spot. They were drawing closer….
"Gotcha." he whispered, and with a wink ran off down the hall.
"PAUL LUPIN! YOU ARE THE BIGGEST JERK IN THIS WHOLE SCHOOL!"
She turned angrily around, nearly knocking over Madam Pomfrey, who appeared to have returned from lunch.
"Can I help you my dear?" she asked, with a small smile on her face.
"No, erm, sorry," Rachel said, embarrassed, and picked up her bookbag. She looked at her watch, and was alarmed to see that it was two minutes till Care of Magical Creatures. Oh, if she was late because of him…
As Rachel listened avidly to Professor Grubbly-Plank go on about the many creatures that inhabited the Forbidden Forest, she noticed a piece of parchment had just flown through the crowd and landed in her lap.
Rachel-
How about we look over that parenting book prof. Flit gave us after tea? We've got astronomy tonight.
--Paul
She looked over at Prof. Grubbly-Plank, "Flobberworms are actually vitally important to a forest's eco-system…", and turned the parchment over.
Paul—
OK I guess—wouldn't want our "kid" turning out like you. How's 6 o'clock sound?
--Rachel
She crumpled the parchment and aimed, hitting Paul squarely on the side of the head.
He smiled and made a kissing sound with his lips. She crossed her arms and gave him a look of death to rival Snape. The parchment flew back over.
Rachel my love —
Grand idea. Oh, and Sirius reckons you fancy me.
--paul
Paul darling—
I would rather love the backside of a hippogriff than you. No offense of course. You can tell Sirius to stick his enlarged head up his, well, you get the idea. See you tonight.
--Rachel
To her extreme annoyance, he smiled slightly at her response, and returned to his note taking. They didn't speak the rest of the class, and at the bell Rachel grabbed Cathy and hurried to meet Jackie and Angelina, who were exiting greenhouse 6. She quickly filled them in on the happenings of the afternoon, carefully leaving out the part about the almost-kiss.
As they entered the Great Hall, Jackie immediately walked over to the Ravenclaw table and plopped down, to Rachel's horror, right across from Paul. There was no point spending the afternoon alone, so Rachel grudgingly sat down also. Cathy left for her dance club meeting, Angelina for Quidditch practice, and Henry muttered something about Gobstones that made Sirius snicker madly and fall off his chair. Rachel, Jackie and Will spread out along the table.
"So, we're still on for tonight, right Rachel?" Paul asked innocently, a sly grin on his face.
Jackie gave an unmistakable snort, and when Rachel turned accusingly towards her she immediately collapsed into a fit of laughter. Paul raised an eyebrow at this, and looked back at Rachel, obviously waiting for an answer.
"Yes, Lupin, our studying session is still on. I asked Madam Pince yesterday if she had anything that we could use, and there's a section on this particular spell back by the Magical Creatures books."
"Cool. Well, I best be going, got lots of homework to do you know…." he trailed off, winked at Rachel, (causing another round of laughs from Jackie) and headed out the Great Hall.
"I KNEW it!!" Jackie remarked, so loudly that Sirius jumped.
"Knew what?" he asked questioningly.
"Rachel fancies Lupin. They've got a date tonight."
"Is that all? You're way behind. He's always had a thing for her."
"OH MY GOSH! I do NOT fancy Paul and we are NOT going on a date!! We're working on our project for Charms!" Rachel shouted. A few heads turned her way.
Jackie and Sirius seemed unfazed however, and were babbling merrily about little Lupin's running around with Rachel's unmistakable hair.
"The poor kids could house birds in that hair," Sirius remarked, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. Rachel glared at him, and then glanced at her watch.
"Too bad. It's 2 already. Don't Gryfinndors have Binn's class now?"
Jackie looked at her own schedule, nodded, and winked at Rachel.
"Don't get into too much trouble with that Paul now Rachel," she remarked, and half-drug Will off to class.
"Yeah, no snogging on the first date," Sirius said slyly, and picked up his own bag, "Madam Pince'll have your head." Rachel threw her book at him, which he dodged easily, and tossed back. She decided to return to the common room and take a nap before their studying session—she knew they would be up most of the night in Astronomy anyway.
As she passed the Hospital Wing, Romulus emerged, eyebrows in tact. He gave her a small smile and ran off to class, followed strangely by Mrs. Norris, who appeared to have been waiting for him.