Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters!

Chapter 15: Enjoy Every Day
Adele Fleur felt sick. Very sick. Rolling onto her side, she threw up what little food she had
in her stomach. She was starving; she hadn't eaten since she had arrived, but had no idea how
long ago that had been. She closed her eyes wistfully, wishing for her warm bed and a cup of
tea. Sitting up awkwardly, she called Sirius again. He answered quickly.

"Adele?" he asked softly. 

"Yeah..." she mumbled.

"How are you doing?"

"Er... a little better," she lied. Sirius sighed.

"Hang in there sweetheart, I'm sure they're coming soon..."

"I wish I could die," she mumbled, covering her face and lying back on the floor of her cell.
The last time they had tortured her, she had felt pain beyond imagination. It was as if the
feeling would never leave her. She spoke again to Sirius.

"Who else has crossed over to your side? How many other Order members?"

"Well, the most recent was Sturgis, he arrived a little before me... You were still there when
Gideon and Fabian Prewett died, right?" Adele mumbled something that sounded similar to a "yes."
Sirius continued. 

Well... Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Dorcas Meadowes... and Marlene."

Adele's eyes snapped open. "Marlene? McKinnon? She's dead?" she whispered.

"Hello, Adele," came a sorrowful female voice, the laughter and mischief that Adele remembered
gone.

"Marlene..." Adele murmured, managing a smile. "Don't sound so worried... The prophesy says I 
have to die, I'll be with you soon." Marlene laughed softly.

"Enjoy every day you have while you still can. Have you talked to Remus?"

"Not yet," Adele answered. "I suppose that I will, if and when they ever rescue me..."

"They will," said Marlene's voice softly. "You will get to see Remus again, and say your goodbyes
before the prophesy takes effect. I can see it in your future. Being on this side of the veil
gives you a very different perspective of life on Earth."

Adele smiled, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you," she replied quietly.

**************************

Harry paced the common room floor, running his hands through his hair. It was dark in the common
room and about a quarter past midnight. Remus Lupin stood, unseen by Harry, in the shadow of the 
doorway. Merlin, he looks just like James when he does that, Remus thought to himself, smiling. 
He cleared his throat quietly. Harry still didn't turn around.

"Harry," he called softly. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face him.

"P-Professor Lupin," Harry stuttered, obviouly relieved but at the same time frightened. "I just had
a bad dream, about an hour ago... But I didn't want to wake anyone up, I didn't want anything to 
happen like... last time..." He trailed off.

"What happened in the dream?" Remus asked curiously, sitting on one of the common room chairs. Harry
sat down also.

"Well," he started, running his hands through his hair again, "I was in this really dark place, at
first I thought it was the dungeons in Hogwarts, but I don't think it was..." Remus nodded as if
he understood. Harry plunged ahead. "So there was this person on the ground, but she wasn't moving,
but everyone around her was fighting... all of the Order members and some Death Eaters... There were
a lot of bodies on the ground..." He rapidly told the story, hoping that it would not come true. 
Remus sighed.

"Well Harry, then you know exactly what I have come to tell you. The Order has just gotten back from
a very risky mission to rescue Adele Fleur. It was successful. She has been put into a dreamless 
sleep for the time being, because she is very sick." There was a hint of bitterness in his tone.
"Although we managed to rescue her, there were many injuries; Nymphadora Tonks, Hestia Jones, and 
Bill Weasley are all at St. Mungo's right now in stable condition. They aren't quite sure how bad
the injuries are but they don't think they will be life threatening." Harry led out his breath, 
not even realizing he had been holding it.

"But everything's going to be okay?" Remus smiled at the question.

"Yes, Harry. Now get some sleep." Harry nodded and went to bed, but didn't fall asleep until the 
early morning hours, after tossing and turning all night.

************************

Harry was groggy and exhausted the next morning. He managed to tell Ron and Hermione about his late-
night conversation with Remus but he wasn't sure how he did, as he was so tired he hardly remembered
it. His day of classes went by as one huge blur, ending with his 9:00 PM prefect duties. Even more
exhausted and just wishing he could go to sleep, he wandered down the hallway with Ron and Hermione
as they walked to the staircase where the prefects met before starting their duties. Reaching the
stairwell, Harry felt his stomach drop. Rachel was sitting on the steps, her blonde hair falling into
her face and her back slightly hunched as she studied a notebook in front of her. Harry's mind began
to work faster than it had all day. He knew that each night on duty, the prefects roamed the hall
in pairs; all he would have to do would be to make sure he was with Ron instead of Rachel. Oh please
please please...." he thought to himself, glancing at Ron and trying to make eye contact with 
him. Instead, Ron gave him a sly look and winked. "Ron!" he hissed, as they stopped at the stairs.
Ron cleared his throat.

"Well, I think that I will go with Hermione tonight, so I guess that leaves you two. We'll be doing
the first three floors and the dungeons, you guys can do the rest." Ron winked, taking Hermione's hand
and dragging her along away from Harry and Rachel. Harry stared nervously at the ground.

"Umm, so where did you want to start?" he mumbled. She looked up at him, smirking.

"Harry Potter. Well, for the most famous wizard alive, the "Boy Who Lived," you're a little shy, don't
you think?" She laughed. He stared at her, confused; his mind still was not working because of
lack of sleep. She grabbed his arm. "Come on, we'll start at the top and work our way down," she said,
pulling him up the steps. He came, albeit reluctantly. Rachel, he soon found out, was not at all the
quiet girl he had thought she was. In fact, she wouldn't shut up.

"...so anyways, no one really likes that Macalester lady, seems like a bit of a hag to me, she is
always ordering us around and pretending that her class is so hard, but she never assigns any real
homework, I haven't quite figured out what her deal is..." After about five minutes, Harry shook his
head and looked her in the eye. 

"Do you always talk this much?" he asked irritably. She laughed loudly, holding onto the wall for
support.

"Ah, see, THERE'S the real Harry Potter! Not shy at all. I truly believe that life needs a little
sarcasm now and then!" He looked at her and rolled his eyes, causing her to laugh harder. 
Well, he thought to himself. At least she's keeping me awake during my prefect duties...
On the fifth floor, Harry and Rachel came across a group of second years playing a game of Exploding
Snap. 

"Now, now children, off to bed! We don't want to take away ten points from Ravenclaw, do we?" Rachel
asked in a sing-song voice, mocking Professor Macalester. The second years fell onto the floor with
laughter, tears running down their faces at Rachel's impersonation of their least-favorite teacher.
Rachel winked at Harry, and resumed her normal tone. "Really guys, it's past your curfew. Back to your
common room, all of you!" Still laughing, the group headed off to their rooms. Harry looked at her,
amazed. 

"You let them all go? Hermione would have given them all a week's detentions for 'disturbing the 
peace' or something!" Rachel laughed. 

"Yeah, that's probably the reason they didn't make me a prefect the first time around... Dumbledore
knows I won't be enforcing any real rules." Harry laughed at this. Rachel smiled. "Anyways, it's
more fun this way."

**************************

Heading back to his room after the round had been completed, Harry fell into his bed, still exhausted.
As he closed his eyes, he thought of Rachel. Sure, she had been fun to hang out with, but she was 
definitely not his type. I would never date a girl like that, he thought to himself. Ron was
wrong, really wrong... After determining that he would have liked to have borrowed some of 
Rachel's energy, Harry fell into a dreamlessly dark sleep.

*************************


I am trying very hard to make Rachel "different" - not the normal Mary Sue fanfiction-type
character! If it doesn't seem like it yet, hopefully it will soon!