Hello! Thankyou for the reviews! I'm having troubles with my BF at the moment and those reviews brightened my day! anyways, back to the point! Well, here's chapter 12. I'm not too sure about this chappie. There's a part where i've written it in Sirius's province. (it was easier to write this way) Once you've read that bit you guys will probably thing OMFG! but dont worry! Things will get better for Rach! but not just yet! hehe! Also, Lily/James action will come up in later chapters. So please review and tell me what you think:)

Chapter 12 Holidays, Serious thinking and too much fire whisky

Instead of starting the morning off to a miserable start, having to go to classes and see everyone who thought you were a monster, Rachel awoke to the peaceful surroundings of her bedroom in the Potter Mansion. The sun was shining through her light blue curtains and not a sound could be heard. She was glad to be back home, away from her troubles at Hogwarts. However, the peace didn't last for much longer.

"UP!" James said as he came running into Rachel's room wearing only his boxers.

"James!" Rachel screamed while glancing at her watch to see the time. "It's only 7:30!"

"Come on, we gotta make the most of our holiday!" James said getting impatient. "Don't make me drag you out of bed!"

Rachel sighed. "Why so early?"

"Mum wants us up for breakfast early because they're off to France to see Lib."

Rachel sighed. Olivia Potter was Rachel and James's cousin who lived in France. Both James and Rachel despised her. She had the perfect life. She lived in France with her fiancée and was a famous flutist. Mrs. Potter had got the idea that both her children should be as successful as Lib. "We don't have to go do we?"

James shook his head. "Na, thank god!"

Rachel sighed of relief. She did not fancy spending her entire holidays with her spoilt cousin.

"Now get up!" James said marching out of her room.

'Stupid family breakfasts." Rachel muttered as James left. She sauntered over to her wardrobe and picked out what she was going to wear for the day. She wished she could stay in her pajamas for the entire day but she didn't want her mother to have a reason to fuss. Reluctantly Rachel forced herself into a nice skirt and black tank. It made her look skinnier, black always did. She brushed her hair a couple of times before leaving her bedroom.

"Aw Rachel it's so nice to see you!" Kate Potter said as Rachel entered the dining room. Both her parents had been asleep by the time Rachel and James got home last night.

"Hi mum." Rachel said while giving her mum a hug.

"Don't you look nice!" Kate complemented.

"Hmm," Rachel muttered. "Hi dad." She said giving her dad a hug.

Rachel sat herself down next to James who had finally put some decent clothing on, the seat Sirius would normally be in.

"Don't I get a hug too?" James asked Rachel innocently as if he had missed out on a huge treat.

Rachel smiled. "The only thing you're going to get is this!" she whacked him around the head lightly. "Why are you going to see Lib anyway?" Rachel asked her parents. While looking around the table for something to eat. There was nothing suitable for her.

Kate stuttered and glanced at David before answering. "To help her with weeding arrangements." She said hastily.

"If you say so." Rachel replied not interested in the conversation at all.

The subject changed to James. Kate was shooting him with questions about being head boy. Rachel was tempted to tell them that James nearly forced Lily into a cupboard for making out, but decided to save her brother the torment.

Rachel looked endlessly at the food on the table. She wished she could take the tiniest bit of bacon, or a sausage, or basically anything on the table. Everything looked divine. Rachel sat with an empty plate in front of her, deciding she would steal fruit from the kitchens once her parents had left.

"When are you leaving to see little miss perfect?" James asked while slouching back in his chair.

"Lib," David corrected him. David glanced at his wristwatch. "Kate, it's time to go now."

Kate nodded and rose from her seat. 'Now, when we get back I expect the place to be in a clean and tidy state," she said looking at James. "NO parties, no flying broomsticks in the house, and no being mean to your sister." Kate said.

"And no alcohol!" David said warningly.

James raised his eyebrows in shock. "Since when did I fly in the house?"

"Oh were not stupid!" Kate said.

Rachel smirked.

"Goodbye." Kate and David said giving their children one last hug. They grabbed their bags and appareated into thin air.

"Now," James said in perfect mock of his mother. "How about some fun!"

Rachel looked back at him with a smirk on her face. "How do you fly inside?" she asked deviously.

Back at Hogwarts things weren't so peaceful.

"Padfoot what is the matter with you?" Remus asked. The 3 boys were in their dorm getting ready for the day.

"Moony, for the last time, nothing is wrong with me!"

"Then why are you being so horrible?" Remus said, obviously not giving in.

"Oh, not you too!" Sirius whined. "I've had this lecture from Prongs already, not to mention her sister and her friends."

"Well, nothing seems to be sinking in," Remus huffed. "Have you got any idea how much you've hurt her."

Sirius stopped what he was doing and looked at Remus. He spoke slowly and calmly. "I don't care. It's her fault for getting so involved. I don't get why she cares so much!"

Remus stopped what he was doing too. "No, you wouldn't get that part."

"Do you know something?" Sirius asked him.

"Oh yes," Remus said. "But it's something you have to find out for yourself."

Sirius looked at Remus as if he was crazy. "How do I find out?" He asked. "Do I have to read 100 books about girls or be really good at reading minds?"

"No," Remus said simply. "Nothing of the sort."

"Argg," Sirius said as he hit his bedside table in frustration. "I give up!"'

Remus sighed.

"Ash would you hurry up!" Riley screamed while banging on the bathroom door. Riley was already fully dressed in her shortest mini skirt that Rachel always said should be classified as a belt and a warm cardigan.

"Oh honestly. What's the rush?" Came Ashley's voice from behind the bathroom door.

"I want to get my hands on Black!" Riley screamed with a tint of excitement in her voice.

Ashley emerged from the bathroom with her hair in a perfect ponytail. "Let's find Lily first."

Lily had awoken to a very quiet room for the first time. James wasn't here, meaning there was no noise of the shower, or footsteps running up and down the stairs making the noisiest sound. Lily was very much enjoying the peacefulness. She decided to catch up on some reading. She had barely opened her book when Riley came running through the door, with Ashley in close tow.

"Don't let her do anything crazy." Ashley yelled warningly.

"Lily," Riley said with a smile. "Are you in the bitchy mood?"

Lily looked at Riley. "What's that suppose to mean!"

"Oh its simple," Riley said. "Are you in the mood for tormenting Black?"

'Riley!" Lily said seriously. "The answer is not abuse, I think we should talk to Black calmly and seriously," Riley gave her a look as if to say that's not going to work! "And if he doesn't cooperate then we attack!"

Riley smiled. "Excellent."

"You two, we could always tickle him to death." Ashley suggested.

"What do you mean: you two?" Lily asked confused.

Ashley blushed. "Well I promised Bret I would spend the say with him."

"What about us?" Riley asked puzzled.

"Im really sorry." Ashley said sounding sincere.

"Don't worry about it." Lily reassured her friend.

"Well come on then," Lily said abandoning her book and her idea of a quiet Saturday. "Lets go and find him." She said to Riley.

"Where?" Riley asked.

"The dormitory." Lily said deviously.

"Have fun!" Ashley yelled behind them.

"What are we going to do today?" Peter whined. The boys were still in their dorm.

Sirius thought for a moment. "We could always pay the dear old Slytherins a visit."

Remus sighed. "Sounds good." Peter said.

"What are we going to do to them?" Remus asked half interested.

Sirius smirked. "Prongs and me found a spell that automatically dresses a person into a chicken outfit and they cant get it off for an entire week!" Sirius said excitedly.

Both Remus and Peter smirked. "That could be interesting, what's the spell?"

Sirius's eyes lit up. "Mentesium," he said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Just then the door swung open. "Oh you're not going anywhere." Said a voice at the doorway.

Sirius spun around and spotted Riley and Lily blocking the doorway. He sighed. "Here we go again." He muttered.

"Now," Riley began, her voice serious for once. "Black, we would like to talk to you."

Sirius scowled at both Riley and Lily. "A bit of support." He asked now turning to look at Remus and Peter.

"Sorry mate, im with them." Remus said defiantly.

Sirius sighed. "Fine."

"Good," Riley said with a glint in her eye. "Follow me."

Sirius followed Lily and Riley out of the dormitory. He was nervous. He hated to think what they had install for him.

They arrived in the common room, which was deserted. Riley took a seat next to the fire and motioned for Lily and Sirius to sit down. Sirius had a sour look on his face, as if he would rather be anywhere with anyone else at this moment. He expected Riley to start yelling at him and hitting him. He was shocked when she spoke calmly.

"Black we are going to talk." Riley said looking directly at Sirius.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her. He kept his mouth shut, deciding to listen rather than speak.

"Your attitude sucks Black," Riley began. "Rach has tried to come and talk to you, and all you do is reject it her apologies. Your remarks and sneers tear her up inside. You have no idea how much you've hurt her. You're not the one who has to see your best friend beside herself in tears. Black, you have no idea." Riley finished, giving Sirius a chance to talk.

"Why does she care so much?" Sirius asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

Riley and Lily steered at each other a bit unsure of what to say.

"We will leave that question for you to find out on your own." Lily said, deciding that was the best way to put it.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak but Riley interjected. "Have you seen her?" she began. "Have you seen how miserable, sad, depressed, worried, scared, and oh the list goes on, she's been? She's not herself."

"Not my problem," Sirius replied. "She's the one who called my girlfriend a bitch."

"Oh and do you want to know why that is?" Riley asked furiously, unable to keep her anger inside her for much longer.

"Riley," Lily said calmly. "Listen Black, we all shared our opinions about Suzy that night. Not just Rach, and I suppose Rach had more of a right to call Suzy names than us. God, Sirius, have you seen the stuff Suzy comes out with about Rach?"

"So?" Sirius asked.

"So why aren't you telling your dear old girlfriend to shut up about Rach?" Riley asked a bit too loudly. "Oh I know… is it because you think Suzy is prettier than Rach? Or is it because Suzy is just another one of those dumb girls who are willing to sleep with you? And you decide to take it all out on Rach because she is different than basically every other girl in Hogwarts, she isn't going to drop down at your feet and beg for you to go out with her." Riley yelled.

This took Sirius off guard. He was mad at Riley for making that comment. Although, it was something he wasn't going to forget in a hurry.

Lily shot Riley another glare. "What we are trying to say is why cant you and Rach both say sorry and forget about the entire thing?" Lily said hopefully.

"There's no way im saying sorry to her!" Sirius said defiantly.

"Not even after all you've done?" Lily asked hopefully.

'Listen, I've got nothing against you guys, its her. Ok?" Sirius said.

"Too bad we don't care if you like us or hate us," Riley said sincerely. "It's Rach who cares, not us."

Sirius got up. "I don't have to listen to this anymore."

And without further ado Sirius walked out of the Gryffindor common room, he needed some time to be alone, to think things through.

"Well we tried." Lily said miserably while relaxing in the comfy chair next to the fire.

"Well, we have tried being nice, now it's time to play dirty!" Riley said happily.

"Sorry Rach," Lily said helplessly. "What do you think she's doing right now?" Lily asked.

"Probably doing something darn right stupid with James." Riley said laughing.

"Most likely." Lily said as she thought of the weirdest things the pair of them could be getting up to.

"James what if we break something important?" Rachel asked. "Mum would die if we broke the statue!"

"Them we are officially dead!" James laughed.

James, so far had been doing a perfect job of keeping Rachel distracted from her problems. He had introduced Rachel to a whole new opportunity – flying indoors. It was much harder than flying outside; there were more obstacles you had to watch out for. Rachel and James however, were in their element.

"Are you ready?" James asked with a grin.

Rachel smirked. "Course!"

James smiled back and shot off from the ground. Rachel followed his lead. James went up the stairs and around the hall way, he did all these little tricks, as if he had done this one million times.

"Stop showing off!" Rachel screamed. "Lily's not here, so what's the point?"

"Na, im trying to impress you so you will tell Lily how good I am!" James yelled back as he flew above Rachel.

Rachel turned around and followed after him, taking the lead. She dived down into the dining room and through into the lounge. She crashed landed on the couch in giggles.

"That…was…so…fun!" She said between giggles, half out of breathe.

James same souring into the lounge like Tarzan on a broom and landed next to Rachel in a more elegant fashion.

"Yeah, we should try it at Hogwarts next!" James said laughing.

Rachel snorted. "Oh Mcgonagall would love that." She replied sarcastically.

"Piff, yeah," James said. "Rach, have you tried fire whisky before?" James asked with a smirk.

"No, but I know you have!"

James nodded his head. "Come on!" He grabbed Rachel's head and ran in the direction of the kitchens. "I know where dad hides it!"

"James!" Rachel yelled as he dragged her along.

"The things you find out when your 13," James yelled. "Amazing!"

"Typical!"

"I know!" James said laughing.

James led Rachel into the Potter Kitchens. 6 house elves stood around kitchen tops cooking and cleaning. James walked right past them and headed for the far wall at the end of the kitchens. He tapped the bricks 3 times and it automatically opened to reveal shelves beyond shelves of various sorts of wizard alcohol.

"Bloody hell." Rachel said half stunned.

James paid her no mind; instead he headed for the second shelf and pulled out a bottle of fire whisky. He scanned the rest of the shelves quickly before turning around.

"Come on." He said grabbing Rachel by the hand again and dragging her out of the kitchens.

"Ya no, I can walk by myself!" Rachel complained as James continued to drag her.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly letting of her.

James plonked himself down on the nearest sofa in the lounge. Rachel sat next to him. He unscrewed the top off the fire whisky and drunk some straight out of the bottle.

"James!" Rachel screamed disgusted. "Give me some!"

James handed her the bottle. Rachel took it in her hands; she raised it in front of her and muttered. "To a week with no worries." She took her first sip of fire whisky.

It was like nothing Rachel had ever tasted. It burnt her mouth in a way that made her want more. The actual stuff tasted so strong.

"Bloody hell that's good!" she said happily drowning some more.

"Lets see who gets drunk first!" James suggested taking the bottle from Rachel and drowning some himself.

(Sirius's Province)

I walked down the deserted Hogwarts corridors alone. Everyone else in the castle seemed to be having a good time; it was the holidays after all. I however was not having a good time. I had to escape everything and everyone; I needed some time to be alone. I headed out into the grounds to find a quiet place to think. No one was outside in the grounds it was far too cold. I didn't mind if it was completely freezing. The cold was the least of my troubles. I sat myself down on a rock near the lake front and watched as the tide swept in and out. I found it hard to concentrate on the water at all; everything else was racing through my mind so fast.

I don't even know what all the fuss is about! I don't care about Rachel. If she cares what happens then it's her problem. Yes, this is all Rachel's fault. She called my girlfriend a bitch, her fault. But so did Riley, Lily and Ashley said a voice in my mind. No, but Rachel, Rachel uh meant it. I said blocking the little voice in my mind. Suzy, I began to think of Suzy. She's the girl I've stayed with for longest. But why? Why have I stayed with her? She's hot. Said another voice in my mind. I agreed. Yes, she is hot. But why else? Nothing came to mind. I forgot about Suzy and thought quickly about Rachel and they people I had hurt and surprised. The whole school was gossiping, James was mad at me; Rachel's friends constantly nag me. Oh the confusion I feel, and the guilt I carry.

"Guilt?" I thought out loud. Why am I feeling guilty? The vision of Rachel lying on the corridor floor in tears flashed through my mind several times. I did that. But it's her fault for getting so uptight. Why? Why does she care so much? This brought me back to whose fault it was. It was Rachel's. She shocked me, confused me, and has made me feel guilty.

I stood up. "This isn't my fault. I refuse to accept it's my fault! Why should I feel guilty?" I said, my anger getting the better of me. I started to head back up to the castle. She's not getting the better of me anymore. Im fighting back, to everyone, anyone who talks about her, to me, will pay!

(End of Sirius's province)

"James," Rachel said groggily as she slowly got up from where she was lying, the surroundings not being familiar. "What happened?"

James slowly arose from where he lay on the ground next to Rachel. "Sis, I think we got drunk."

Rachel sighed. "That would explain my huge headache," she said miserably. "How did we get down here?" She asked looking around. They were sitting on the bathroom floor.

James smiled. "Don't you remember when you vomited from too much whisky?" he asked with a smirk.

Rachel frowned. "It's not the kind of thing I remember," she said bitterly. "More importantly how do you get rid of a hangover? You should be the expert at that. The amount of times you and Siri- I mean marauders have gotten drunk." Rachel said hastily.

James smirked. "Well we always used to drink more," he said feeling stupid. "But I suppose we should have coffee." He suggested.

"Where did you go?" A voice asked as Sirius came into the Gryffindor commonroom looking miserable.

Sirius looked over at how had talked to him. He was glad to see Remus and not someone who was going to question him about his little argument.

"For a walk." He said simply.

"Why?" Peter asked stupidly.

"Felt like it." He said not wanting to admit he had been thinking his life over.

"Oh don't lie Padfoot," Remus said. "Why don't you just apologize?"

"Lay off Moony," Sirius said giving Remus the flick. "I don't want to talk about it," Sirius said more angrily than he had intended. "I'm going to find Suzy."

Remus sighed as Sirius turned around to leave. "You wont be able to avoid it forever." He muttered.

Sirius walked out of the Gryffindor commonroom again. Great. He thought. Remus is in a shit with me now.

He headed for the library. Suzy would most likely be there, studying with her friends. Sirius hoped he could drag her away from her friends for some "quality time".

Sirius entered the library doors and began wandering around the shelves and tables in search of his girlfriend.

Girls smiled and giggled as Sirius came past. A few more confident ones flashed him their cutest smile or said hello. Sirius just smiled back, not really in the mood for fan girls.

After a while he spotted Suzy sitting with a group of friends at a table. It didn't look like any of them were doing work. One of Suzy's friends noticed Sirius arrive.

"Hi Sirius!" A pretty girl called Charlotte said happily.

"Hi girls," Sirius replied not as happy as Charlotte sounded. "I was wondering if I could take Suzy for a few hours?" Sirius asked cheekily.

Suzy giggled and got up from the table. "Sure," She said happily. "Later guys!" She said turning around to her friends, still with a broad grin on her face.

"So what's up?" Suzy asked as the pair walked down the corridors, heading nowhere in particular.

Sirius sighed. He didn't want to talk to Suzy about what he had been up to. In fact he didn't want to talk about much to her at all. He didn't feel like Suzy would be the person to understand "Nothing." he said quietly.

Suzy smiled. "So shall we head back up to your dorm?"

"Sure." He said smiling. In Sirius's mind there wasn't a better distraction that shagging a hot girl.

Yes, i know Sirius is probably getting on your nerves right now! But things will get better for Rach!

Next chapter - James and Rachel return from term break. Remus is having girl problems and Rach begins to look skinnier!

Please review!

x Rach