After most of the school went home for Christmas break Rachel moved back into Professor Snape's quarters, even though Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle had stayed over the break. She spent a little time in the common room with Draco, but mostly stayed in Professor Snape's quarters in the evenings. She went to the library during the day and spent some time with Ginny in their study room since the Weasleys had stayed over the break as well.
On Christmas morning Rachel woke up and couldn't help but feel a little bit excited. She knew she'd at least get some presents from her friends, and if things were the same as last year she'd probably get some presents from Professor Snape as well. She showered and got dressed in clean clothes, plaited her hair and then slipped out into the main room.
Sure enough there was a pile of presents and a stocking hung from the mantle.
"Happy Christmas," Professor Snape said from his armchair.
"Happy Christmas," Rachel said, smiling back at him. This was what Christmas was supposed to be like. It wasn't just the presents, though that was nice too, it was knowing that all these people cared about her enough to want to give her presents.
"Stocking first?" Professor Snape asked.
Rachel nodded and went and unhooked her stocking from the mantle. She sat down on the couch and began taking things out of it. There was a thick candy cane made of all different colors, an orange, a spinning top that flashed with colored lights when it was spun, and another set of quills. She examined the quills and found that these ones had silver, gold, and a glittery black ink. When she upended her stocking a bunch of individually wrapped sweets came out.
"Thank you. I especially like the quills," she said. They would go well with the colored ones she received last year.
Professor Snape nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Rachel slid down onto the floor and began looking through her presents. She wanted to open the ones from Professor Snape first. She found a large present in green and gold wrapping that didn't have a name on it and she assumed it was from him. She opened it to find a thick winter cloak.
"I had the Slytherin crest placed on it so that you can wear it with your uniform. It should keep you warmer than your standard school cloak," he said as he watched her examine it.
"Thank you. It will be nice for going out to Herbology and to Quidditch games when I'm not playing," Rachel said.
She opened another present, this one in a box, and found a new pair of shoes.
"I know they're practical gifts," Professor Snape began.
"They're perfect," Rachel said quickly.
"Open the envelope," he suggested.
Rachel opened the envelope and found that Professor Snape had set her up a gift account at Flourish and Blotts.
"I thought we might go to Diagon Alley over the break. You can pick out a few books and see the holiday decorations," Professor Snape said.
Rachel smiled up at him. "I'd like that. Thank you."
Professor Snape nodded.
Rachel got to her feet. "I'll be right back." She went into her room and retrieved the present she had purchased for him. She'd had Hermione send it to her this week.
She went back out into the main room and handed it to him.
He unwrapped it, methodically opening the wrapping paper. "This is a favorite of yours, I presume?" he asked, holding the book.
"Yes. When I read it, Matilda reminded me a lot of me," Rachel explained.
"I look forward to reading it then," he said. "Thank you."
Rachel sat back down on the floor. She wished there was more she could give him, but she didn't know what he would want.
She began opening presents from her friends. Hagrid had sent her a tin of homemade treacle fudge. Rachel had sent him a book with pictures of dragons at the various stages of their development.
Hermione had given her a set of books called The Lord of the Rings. Rachel had given her another gift account at Flourish and Blotts, knowing how quickly she went through books.
"Your mother was fond of those," Professor Snape said when he saw the titles. "She said that Albus reminded her of a wizard named Gandalf."
Rachel smiled and decided to read them over the remainder of the holiday break.
Neville had given her a box of chocolate frogs and a short book about the history of chocolate frog cards. She had given him a gift account at a magical plant nursery so that he could pick something to put in his family greenhouse.
Theo had given her a book on Quidditch teams in the United Kingdom. Rachel thought that was particularly sweet because she knew Theo wasn't much of a fan of Quidditch. After some consulting with each other, Rachel and Hermione had pitched in together to get Theo a set of silver scales for measuring potions ingredients, because Theo had mentioned earlier that he had wanted a set because they were more precise than the brass scales they'd been instructed to get. The entire group had given Theo his gifts early and instructed him to open them when he was on his own on Christmas, since they couldn't send the gifts directly without Theo's father realizing they were more than just acquaintances.
Millie had given her the brand new Horath Bogtrotter book, Horath Bogtrotter and the Yule Escape. Rachel set it with The Lord of the Rings and planned to read it over the holiday break as well. Rachel had sent Millie another hollowed out book with more sugar quills, since Millie had mentioned that her hiding place for sugar quills wasn't big enough.
Luna had sent her the strangest present she'd ever received. It was a pair of silver clip-on earrings that were shaped like snakes dangling from their tails. The snakes were wiggling about. Rachel wasn't sure she'd wear them, but she appreciated the thought. She had given Luna a box of Ice Mice, since they were Luna's favorite sweet.
Pansy had sent her a big bar of Honeydukes Best Chocolate and Daphne had sent her a set of pretty hair ties. Rachel had sent them a large bag of peppermint toads, and a package of caramel cobwebs respectively.
"It's good that you like books and sweets," Professor Snape commented.
Rachel nodded. "Do you like sweets?"
"On occasion," Professor Snape said. "I generally prefer desserts that are a little more tart or sour. Custard, as well."
Rachel decided to remember that information for later. It was good to know what sort of things people liked.
"Save room for the feast, it's in a few hours. Do you want breakfast?" he asked.
"Maybe something light," Rachel said.
"Clean up your things and I'll speak to the House Elves," he said as he got to his feet.
Rachel quickly gathered her things so she could put them away and smiled. Christmas was especially nice when there were people to celebrate it with.
The day after Christmas Rachel was in the Great Hall eating lunch with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle when most of the Weasleys approached - the Weasley boy who was a prefect was not among them.
"Want to have a snowball fight after we eat? Gryffindors against Slytherins. We each have four people and a girl on each team, so it's fair," one of the Weasley twins said.
Draco sized the Weasleys up. "Alright, we can take you."
Rachel looked at Ginny, who was putting together a turkey sandwich, and then looked at all the boys. She wasn't entirely certain she wanted to be involved in a snowball fight. With Dudley she'd always wound up getting sat on and having snow shoved down her clothes. Of course, she'd been the only person on her team and Dudley's whole gang had been there.
"You're on," Ron Weasley said as he sat down next to his sister and started serving himself food.
Rachel decided that she would at least go to the snowball fight and if it was too rough for them, she and Ginny could leave together and that would give Ginny a way out too.
They finished eating in silence and then the Slytherins went back down into the dungeons to get their winter things. Rachel went into Professor Snape's office while the boys continued further down the corridor to the common room.
She went into her bedroom and put on her boots, her brand new winter cloak, her winter gloves, her hat, and her Slytherin scarf.
"You're going out? Are you playing Quidditch or going to see Hagrid?" Professor Snape asked, looking up from the potions journal he'd been reading.
"We're going to have a snowball fight with the Weasleys. Slytherins against Gryffindors," Rachel explained.
Professor Snape frowned. "Do not feel obligated to play with them."
"I'm not. I thought it might be fun, at least for a little while," Rachel said.
"Very well. Come in if you feel any part of yourself going numb from the cold or if your clothes get wet. You remember how to perform a Warming charm and a Drying charm?" he asked.
"I do," Rachel said.
"Seek Poppy or myself if you should become injured," he said.
Rachel nodded, though she hardly thought she'd get injured during a snowball fight. Even with Dudley, the worst she'd gotten from a snowball fight was bruises and wet clothes. "I will."
Professor Snape nodded and returned to his reading and Rachel took the opportunity to escape before he could worry any further. She went up into the entrance hall and found everyone waiting.
"Let's go to the slope near the Whomping Willow, we can set up sideways so each of us has a low ground and a high ground," one of the Weasley twins said.
"Each side gets ten minutes to set up fortifications. No using wands. No hiding ice lumps in snowballs. If someone goes down, stop attacking them and let them get back up," the other twin said.
"Deal," Draco said, though he rolled his eyes when the Weasley twins turned their backs.
They trooped out into the cold and trudged through the snow, Rachel and Ginny hanging toward the back so they could walk in the boys' footprints.
"Crabbe, Goyle, start making a pile of snowballs. Rachel, help me build a wall. Let's stay near the top of the slope," Draco instructed as soon as they'd chosen a place on the slope.
It was Rachel's turn to roll her eyes. She didn't particularly appreciate being bossed about, but those were the tasks that needed to be done so she got to work with Draco building a mound of snow that they could hide behind.
"Two minutes left!" called one of the twins after what felt like a very short period of time.
They scrambled and managed to add another two inches to their wall before all four of them crouched down behind it. Rachel and Draco were small enough that they were completely hidden, though Crabbe and Goyle stuck out a little even though they were hunching.
"And go!" one of the twins shouted.
Goyle was the first to get pelted in the back with a snowball, but it didn't take very long for all of them to be hit.
Rachel peeked up and managed to time a throw so that she caught Ron in the shoulder. Draco, with his Chaser skills, was also an accurate shot, getting one of the twins a moment later.
Before long they fell into a pattern of Crabbe and Goyle laying down cover fire and building more snowballs while Rachel and Draco took more precise shots.
The Weasleys also had an effective strategy, with the twins concentrating their efforts on a single person at a time while Ron and Ginny took care of whoever might be aiming their direction.
The snowball fight went on for quite some time and Rachel could feel herself getting colder and colder through her cloak. She watched as Ginny took a snowball to the face and saw that she looked particularly worn out.
"Time out," Rachel called holding up her hands in surrender before she got to her feet. "I'm cold. I'm going back to the castle. Ginny, do you want to come with me?"
"Yes," Ginny called back, getting to her feet. "We're off limits."
They walked together back to the castle, using the same footprints they'd used to get out onto the grounds.
Just inside the entrance hall, Rachel stopped Ginny with a hand on her arm. "Let's dry off here so we don't track snow and water all over the floor," she said. She cast a Warming charm and a Drying charm on Ginny before casting them on herself.
"Thanks, you're going to have to teach me those," Ginny said as she undid her cloak.
"Of course," Rachel said. "Do you want to go down to the kitchens for some hot cocoa so we can get warm?"
Ginny hesitated, but finally nodded.
Rachel led the way down the passageway that led to the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchens. She tickled the pear and turned it when it became a door handle and they stepped through where the painting had been hanging.
A pair of House Elves approached immediately. "What can we be doing for misses?"
"May we have some hot cocoa, please?" Rachel asked.
"Right away," one of the House Elves squeaked and hurried away.
A few moments later a House Elf came back - Rachel couldn't tell if it was the same House Elf or not - with mugs of hot cocoa with huge dollops of whipped cream on top.
"Thank you," Rachel said, accepting one of the mugs.
"Thank you," Ginny said, taking the other.
Rachel looked around and turned back to the House Elves. "Would it be alright if we sat by the fireplace while we drank our cocoa?"
"Of course, misses," one of the House Elves said.
Before they could even arrive at the fireplace there were two stools in place waiting for them.
"Thank you," Rachel said again. She took off all of her winter gear except for her boots and placed them beside the stool before she sat down.
Ginny did the same. "It's good to be warm. I bet the boys are still out there freezing."
"Probably," Rachel agreed, she blew on her hot cocoa and took a sip. It was at the perfect temperature for sipping.
"The next time the twins brag about getting stuff from the kitchens I'm going to tell them I've been there too. They'll sure be surprised," Ginny said. "They wouldn't believe me if I couldn't describe it."
"Theo is the one who showed me, and he said his father was the one who told him about it," Rachel explained.
Ginny nodded and took a sip of her cocoa. "I'm sorry I didn't get you a Christmas present. I don't really have any money. When I'm at home with my mom I can make stuff for people in the kitchen, but I couldn't this year."
"It's okay, I don't mind," Rachel said honestly, feeling bad for Ginny. She had given her an assortment of Honeydukes candy, but hadn't expected anything in return. "I kind of know what that's like. When I was living with my relatives, I didn't have any money either, and so when other girls would invite me to their birthday parties, I'd have to tell them no because I couldn't get them a gift and my relatives wouldn't let me go, and they stopped inviting me."
"Were your relatives poor too?" Ginny asked.
Rachel thought about that. They weren't exactly poor, they had a house and a car, and they always had food to eat - or at least the rest of the family did. "Not very poor, but children are expensive."
"They are," Ginny agreed. "I'll never know why my mom had seven of us. The only thing I got new for school this year was my wand. None of our family wands worked for me. My mom even got my uniforms from a second hand shop."
"My Aunt used to get my clothes from a second hand shop too," Rachel said.
Ginny looked up from where she'd been studying her cocoa. "Is that why you were adopted by Professor Snape, because your relatives were too poor?"
Rachel shook her head and looked down. "No. It was because Professor Snape made me have a medical exam and they didn't like the results."
"You were sick?" Ginny asked.
Rachel shook her head again. "Madam Pomfrey made me take some different potions, and they took me to a Healer to find out why I couldn't talk. And that's why I see Torey on some Saturdays, because she helped me be able to talk and they don't want me to stop talking again."
"You talk alright now," Ginny said.
"I do, but I couldn't before this summer," Rachel said, shifting uncomfortably.
"I used to wish I could go live with my aunt, she doesn't have any kids," Ginny said. "I don't mind as much now though. Two of my brothers have moved out, and Percy only has one year left."
Rachel nodded. She couldn't imagine having that many siblings, especially if she didn't get along with them.
"I suppose the person I should be thanking is Hermione, but you too. Thanks for letting me in your study group," Ginny said.
"Of course, we're glad to have you," Rachel said. She hoped that Ginny became more comfortable like this with all of them as time passed.
Severus continued down deeper into dungeons, pausing every meter or so to cast a Revealing charm. He had little hope that he would actually find the Chamber of Secrets, but Albus had asked them to search again now that far fewer students were in the castle.
The fact that there was a Chamber of Secrets was still something that astonished him when he thought about it. It had taken Pomona quite some time to comfort Justin Finch-Fetchley after he'd been roused by the Mandrake Restorative Draught, though he had eventually told the gathered teachers what he'd seen - a giant snake that had frozen Justin as soon as he'd seen it. It seemed Rachel and her friends had been correct in guessing that Slytherin's monster was a basilisk. It was extraordinarily lucky that Mr. Finch-Fetchley had been conversing with Nearly Headless Nick at the time, and he had only seen the snake through Nick's near-transparent body.
Since it was assured that whoever was opening the Chamber of Secrets had gone home for the holidays - the Weasleys were obviously not suspects, nor any of the second year Slytherins that had remained - Albus had wanted them to use this time to conduct a thorough search. If they could find out where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was they could possibly prevent the basilisk from leaving and attacking more people, and they could find out who was approaching the Chamber to release the basilisk.
Surely Salazar Slytherin would have done something to hide the Chamber that couldn't be discovered by a simple Revealing charm or the other standard discovery charms, but Severus was at a loss for how else to look. Somehow the instructions for opening the Chamber had been passed down for over one thousand years, which also led new credence to the theory that there was an Heir of Slytherin. If the instructions to opening the Chamber had been written down in a book certainly Albus would have found it by now.
Severus reached a door and cast the Unlocking charm. He opened the door and lit his wand - it wouldn't be uncommon for boggarts to be lurking around damp unused places and he didn't particularly care to be caught off-guard. When he didn't spot anything he went inside and began to look around. At some point the room had been used for storage and much of the dusty furniture he saw could probably be classified as antiques. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and leveled his wand, only to find that he had spotted his own reflection in a half-covered mirror.
While the furniture was old, it likely didn't go back to Salazar Slytherin's day, so Severus ignored it in favor of examining the walls. He found nothing of note, returned to the hallway, and locked the door behind him. There was no sense in leaving it open, though any curious student could simply use the Unlocking charm just as he had.
He continued on his tedious trek, wondering what the Founders had been imagining when they had created the castle. With the enchantments on the castle it was difficult to tell what had been there in the founders' time and what had changed over the years. Rooms changed location and occasionally disappeared entirely, hallways rearranged themselves, and the staircases moved.
In the 1600s the school had sported battlements. In the 1400s there had been a moat and a drawbridge. Less than two hundred years ago the school had taught students doing their Masterys as well as students doing their primary education. Given the disuse of the dungeons beyond the first level, it wouldn't be surprising if the castle rearranged the space into another tower at some point.
Severus checked his pocket watch two corridors later and discovered it was almost time for lunch and past time for him to turn back. He liked to be present at meal times in case Rachel needed something from him, and he preferred to see her at meal times regardless to ensure that she hadn't fallen while playing Quidditch or run afoul of something in the castle.
"Find anything interesting?" Albus asked when Severus sat down.
"No, nothing of note," Severus said shortly as he looked down the table and ascertained that Rachel was sitting with the Weasley girl.
"Pity. I think there is still much to be learned from the castle," Albus said. "I've heard rumors that Headmaster Vindictus Viridian's lost personal library is still somewhere in the castle."
Severus served himself some of the casserole and inclined his head.
"Certainly there is much to be found, however there has been no sign of what we're looking for. I've been through the entire Gryffindor Tower to no avail," Minerva said quietly.
"And I through Ravenclaw's, though it wouldn't make much sense for the entrance to be in one of the towers," Filius added, his voice hushed as he looked over at where the students were eating.
"We must keep looking," Albus instructed in a near whisper. "We must stop them before the basilisk attacks again."
"We will continue to look," Severus agreed. Albus was right about one thing - whoever was opening the Chamber must be stopped.
"Let's go flying," Draco said as he finished the last of the food on his plate.
"All of us?" Rachel asked, looking at the Weasleys and Crabbe and Goyle.
"No, just you and me. We can get some practice in before the team gets back," Draco said.
"Alright, I need to go get my cloak and boots," Rachel said. She wasn't entirely looking forward to flying while it was snowing - a quick glance up at the Great Hall ceiling confirmed that it was still snowing - but she supposed it was good to practice flying in all sorts of weather.
Draco nodded. "Me too."
Rachel finished her last bite of casserole and followed Draco from the Great Hall. She went as far as Professor Snape's office and paused. "My stuff is in Professor Snape's quarters. I'll meet you outside his office?"
"Alright," Draco agreed.
Rachel went inside Professor Snape's office, through the wall to his quarters, and then into her own room. She changed into her corduroy pants and then put all her winter gear on. Her broom was waiting for her in the Slytherin girls locker room.
"Quidditch, sir," Draco was saying when Rachel opened the door to Professor Snape's office on her way out.
Professor Snape turned to look at Rachel. "Do not stay out long, there is supposed to be an incoming storm."
"We won't," Rachel said.
Professor Snape nodded and then motioned Rachel to the side so he could enter his office. "Fly carefully."
"We will," Rachel said, smiling and hoping Professor Snape wouldn't redact his implicit permission.
"Bye, sir," Draco said.
Rachel and Draco made it up to the entrance hall before Draco spoke. "He's so protective of you."
Rachel knew the answer to this from their summer dealings with Death Eater families. "Professor Dumbledore told him he had to be."
It was hard to tell under his hat, but Rachel thought Draco had raised his eyebrows. "I expect he would be anyway. My father says Snape always takes his responsibilities very seriously. He's a serious type of person."
Rachel thought that was probably true.
They made it through the piled snow and to the Quidditch pitch. After she retrieved her broom from the locker room, Rachel flew up into the air and felt the snowflakes sting against her face. She thought it wouldn't be long before the snow made it difficult for her to see out of her glasses.
"Here!" Draco called, throwing a Quaffle at Rachel.
Rachel caught it and took off in the direction of the far rings, Draco right behind her. They went through the familiar motions of Quidditch practice, passing the Quaffle back and forth and scoring goals. It wasn't long before Rachel felt quite hot beneath her cloak, though her face was freezing.
After a full set they stopped to catch their breath at one of the goals.
"Rachel?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Rachel said, when he didn't continue.
"How are you doing it?" he asked.
"Doing what?" Rachel asked. She got the feeling he wasn't talking about her ability to act both as a Seeker and Chaser.
"Opening the Chamber of Secrets," Draco said. Though his cheeks were bright red from the cold, his expression was serious.
Rachel sighed. "I'm not."
"But you can speak Parseltongue, we all heard you," Draco said.
"I didn't even know I could speak Parseltongue until that night. I'm not opening the Chamber of Secrets. Why would I? I like Mrs. Norris. I'm friends with a muggleborn," Rachel pointed out.
"Maybe you didn't mean to attack Mrs. Norris, maybe it happened on accident. And Justin was all upset with you, and the Hufflepuffs too," Draco reasoned.
Rachel rolled her eyes and nearly dropped the Quaffle. "Then it would be really stupid of me to attack Justin when the whole school knew he was being a pain. I would be the obvious suspect."
"Or," Draco said. "It was a warning for people not to mess with you."
"Draco, I swear to you I am not opening the Chamber of Secrets. I don't want to attack anyone. I'm not the Heir and I don't have enemies," Rachel said, her tone irritated now.
"Well, you're wrong about at least one of those things. You're the Girl-Who-Lived. You have more enemies than you know," Draco said, his expression solemn.
Rachel felt chilled. Draco was probably right about that. "Are we going inside or are we playing Quidditch?" she asked.
"Quidditch," Draco said after a moment, clearly understanding the ultimatum.
Rachel tossed him the Quaffle and took off flying, but it didn't feel nearly as good as it had ten minutes ago.
On the Tuesday after Christmas, Rachel and Professor Snape flooed to The Leaky Cauldron. Professor Snape had nodded to the man behind the bar and then they went out into the little area behind the pub and he tapped the brick to let them into Diagon Alley.
Just as Professor Snape had promised, the shops were still done up in decorations for Christmas. Garlands and wreaths decorated the outside of the shops and all of the window displays were done up in lights.
"Are these real fairies?" Rachel asked when she got close to some lights on a neatly cut window hedge.
Professor Snape leaned in to see. "Yes. They don't mind being used as decorations. They're quite vain and they're not very intelligent."
Rachel took a closer look and was amazed at how small they were. She followed Professor Snape down the street and he allowed her to pause as often as she wanted to look in the windows. There was a lightly falling snow that completed the scene and with everyone done up in their cloaks Rachel could imagine that they had gone back in time several hundred years and were in a quaint magical street.
"Do you need to visit Gringotts?" Professor Snape asked.
"No, I'm alright until summer," Rachel said, peering at the security trolls in front of Gringotts. They were both wearing Father Christmas hats.
"Alright then, where would you like to go?" he asked.
"Flourish and Blotts and the sweet shop," Rachel answered immediately. Then she paused as she tried to formulate her question. "Do some people in the magical world have cameras?"
"Yes, they do. Our cameras are very much like muggle cameras, though with some improvements. We don't have video cameras however," Professor Snape explained.
"How is it that the pictures move then?" Rachel asked.
"The film is developed in a potion called a Developing solution," he said.
Rachel nodded. "Are cameras very expensive?"
"I don't know, I wouldn't think so as several students have them. Would you like a camera?" he asked.
"I'd like to look, at least, if that's okay?" Rachel asked.
"Of course," Professor Snape said. "Let's try Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment."
They went through the alley until they found a dark blue storefront with telescopes and hourglasses on display in the window.
Professor Snape led the way to the front counter. "Excuse me, do you sell cameras?"
The young woman behind the counter smiled at them. "Absolutely. We have a few models in stock. Is this for you or for your daughter?"
"For my daughter," Professor Snape answered.
Rachel found herself blushing a little bit. She knew Professor Snape was her guardian, but that didn't really make her his daughter, did it? She wouldn't have imagined he thought of it that way.
"We have a very good student model. This takes 35mm film and has a single lens and automatic exposure. It comes with a strap and a case," the woman said as she brought them over to the far end of the counter and took out a black camera with metal on the top.
"Come take a look," Professor Snape said.
Rachel went up to the counter and examined the camera. "How does it work?" she asked quietly.
"If you open the back flap here, you can put in the roll of film. Then, after the film is inside, close the flap and twist this knob to get the film into the right place. Hold the viewfinder up to your eye to see what you want to take a picture of, and then press this button here, and then twist this knob again so you have more film in place for your next picture," the woman explained. "You'll need film, photo paper, and Developing solution in order to take and develop pictures."
"Do you sell all those things?" Professor Snape asked.
"We do," the woman said.
Rachel looked over the camera, opened the flap and saw where the film went in, and looked at the lens. "How much does it cost?"
"The camera is ten Galleons. Film is one Galleon per roll, photo paper is one Galleon per pack, and Developing solution is one Galleon per flask," the woman explained.
That seemed pretty reasonable.
"Do you want the camera?" Professor Snape asked.
Rachel nodded.
"How about this: I will pay for the camera as a Christmas present, you can purchase your own film and paper? We don't need to purchase Developing solution as we can brew it," Professor Snape said.
"You don't have to, you already bought me Christmas presents," Rachel pointed out, very aware that the woman was watching them.
"Not very many, and if I'd known you wanted a camera I would have bought you one," Professor Snape said.
"Okay," Rachel agreed, mostly because she was uncomfortable having this conversation in front of someone.
"I'll purchase the camera and she will purchase the supplies," Professor Snape told the woman.
"That sounds fine. How many rolls of film and packets of paper do you want?" the woman asked.
"Two of each," Rachel said. That should be more than she could use before summer and she was sure they would return to Diagon Alley during the summer.
They paid for their purchases and went back out into Diagon Alley. Rachel was glad she'd worn her winter cloak as it was quite cold. "Thank you for the camera," she said.
"You're welcome. The sweet shop first and then Flourish and Blotts?" Professor Snape suggested.
Rachel agreed and they went back up the Alley to Sugarplum's Sweets Shop. She purchased sugar quills for Millie, a box of ice mice for Luna since her birthday was coming up in February, and jelly slugs and chocolate frogs for herself. She'd read that sometimes different shops had different chocolate frog cards and she suspected that Neville had been purchasing the ones he had given her for Christmas from Honeydukes.
"I assume that's not all for yourself?" Professor Snape asked when she went up to the counter to pay.
"No, I share with my friends," Rachel said. "Is it too much?"
"No, I simply do not wish for you to make yourself sick with sweets," he said.
"I won't, I promise," Rachel said, remembering Dudley with a shudder. There had been many times he'd eaten so many sweets that he'd thrown up.
"Very well," he said, nodding his approval.
Rachel purchased the sweets and then they went to Flourish and Blotts. She had enough on the gift account Professor Snape had given her to get several books.
"This might take a little while," Rachel said as she looked around at the shelves.
"That's just fine. I meant for us to have the day out," Professor Snape said. "There's no rush."
As she browsed the shelves she decided that Madam Pince was probably very lucky - she bet that Hogwarts let her purchase whatever books she wanted for the library. One day, when she was an adult, Rachel wanted a library like Professor Snape's, and a place to live that had bookshelves built into the walls.
After picking out three books, she turned to Professor Snape. "Can some of the money on the gift account be spent later, in case a book comes out that I want?"
"That's just fine. Do you have everything you want for now?" he asked.
Rachel nodded. She had two books that were stories set in the magical world - which Rachel was eager to read after finishing the latest Horath Bogtrotter book - and she had a book that was about taking pictures and developing film.
"Would you like to stop in The Leaky Cauldron for a meal before we head back to Hogwarts?" Professor Snape asked.
Rachel smiled up at him. "That would be nice." She found herself thinking about how lucky she had been ever since she'd come to Hogwarts. She had good friends and a very good guardian.