Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything else that may be referenced in this chapter. The bold, italic, underline text are direct quotes from the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets books respectively.

A/N: Enormous thank you to you all for reading, reviewing, following and favouring and I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)

Twitter: Prof_McGonagal

Chapter 2: Letters and Lies

Exhaling, Rachel read over her writings about and comforted by the fact that though she couldn't help from feeling hurt and upset, she no longer felt as much like bursting into tears, set her book and quill on her bedside table, switching off her bedside lamp and taking off her glasses and setting them down, too, before settling down in her bed and closing her eyes. The evening had been far from fun, yes, but tomorrow was another, and hopefully much happier, day.

Rachel got up very early the next morning, showered and dressed quickly, and then stayed in her bedroom for a great deal of time longer than she would normally do the following day; wanting to make sure her parents had left for work before she went downstairs. To her surprise, upon opening her bedroom door at half-past ten, Rachel found Marcus emerging from his own room, fully dressed as she was, looking about cautiously.

"Morning." She said.

"Good morning," Marcus replied, falling into step beside her as she made her way down the stairs. "Have you seen Mum or Dad this morning?"

"No- I've been trying to avoid them this morning, actually."

"Yeah, me too," Marcus ran a hand through his hair. "After you went to bed I had a bit of a row with Mum."

"Oh, Marcus, you didn't!" Rachel cried, sighing in exasperation as Marcus nodded sheepishly, "I appreciate you sticking up for me, I do, but thought we agreed that one of us should have a good relationship with Mum and Dad."

"I know, but well, it wasn't a row as such," Marcus said, "I told her that however she may feel about you, it was really low of her to make a snarky comment like that in front of everyone just to try and put me in my place- then went upstairs to bed. I couldn't help it- what she said last night about Mary being an open book- the way she said it and in front of everyone, too, it just wasn't right."

"Good morning Master Marcus; Mistress Rachel," Ceesy greeted the two, as they entered the dining room, apparating the room after them with a loud CRACK!

"Morning Ceesy," they replied.

"Are Mum and Dad in?" Marcus added.

"No, sir- they both left for the Ministry at seven-thirty this morning," Ceesy replied, shaking her head. "What would the two of yous like for breakfast?"

"Er… how about egg on toast; and pumpkin juice?" Marcus asked, looking at Rachel.

"Sure," Rachel shrugged, sitting down at the table, "Thank you, Ceesy." She added, smiling.

"Yes, thank you." Marcus agreed as he sat down, smiling, too.

Ceesy smiled back, curtseying as she left the room, "You is welcome Master; Miss."

Marcus and Rachel had only just finished eating when the doorbell echoed through the house. Pausing, they looked at each other.

"Who could that be?" Rachel wondered aloud as Ceesy passed the dining room to open the door; there was no chance of it being a Muggle, she knew, for her mother had placed a couple of charms on the front path that lead up to the door to deter Muggles from approaching; one that made them suddenly forget about whatever business they thought they had in approaching their house and another that made them believe that they had something to attend to elsewhere.

"Master Marcus," "Oliver Boot is here- he wants to see you."

"Er," Marcus hesitated. "…Sure," he said after a moment, draining the last of his pumpkin juice, getting to his feet and following Ceesy from the dining room, leaving the door open.

"Hey," Rachel heard him say as he entered the foyer.

"Hi," Oliver replied, "Look, have I done something to offend you, or something? I feel like you've been avoiding me for months."

"No I haven't," Marcus replied, though he did not sound entirely convincing. "We've hung out this summer."

"Yeah, but sparingly," Oliver pointed out, "you've cancelled our plans at least once a week every week of the and you were avoiding me before exams, too- you can't deny that."

"I-I got a bit caught up with studying- and you know what it's like between Rachel and my parents- I've had to, you know, be a bit of a moderator…"

Rachel frowned into her almost-empty glass of pumpkin juice. This did not quite ring true. Certainly, Marcus had tried to bring her into conversation with their parents'; comforted her after her parent's actions and stuck up for her; but she would hardly say he had acted as a moderator… and the only reason she had ever heard for Marcus not hanging out with Oliver was that the latter had to go and visit his Mother in St Mungo's- why would he conceal- or never mention- the fact that he had decided to cancel plans and have some time to himself?

"…Look, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel as though you'd done something wrong," Marcus went on. "…You know, we never did get that dragon skeleton Rachel got me for Christmas last year to fly as high as it said it would on the box; and the neighbours behind my house and on the next part of the street will be at work and the kids at other's houses, and Edith Dawson next door is away, so if you want, we could go out into the back garden and fly it."

"…Okay," Oliver agreed and after a moment, Marcus poked his head back into the dining room.

"I'm going out into the back garden for a bit with Oliver."

"That's fine," Rachel shrugged, smiling back. "…Remind me- when exactly have you acted as a moderator? Recently, I mean."

Marcus flushed bright red. "Oh, you know," he mumbled evasively and rather defensively, Rachel thought, ducking out of the room.

Rachel raised an eyebrow after him, perplexed. Why Marcus would lie to Oliver in the first place, never mind avoid giving her a straight answer, she really had no idea…setting the matter aside for later thought, Rachel drained the last of her pumpkin juice and stood up, gathering up the plates, cutlery and glasses she and Marcus had used and carrying them into the kitchen, the thud of Marcus and Oliver racing upstairs echoing in her ears.

"Oh, Mistress Rachel you shouldn't!" Ceesy cried, looking dismayed as Rachel entered the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it Ceesy- you can still wash them up and tidy the dining room; you're still a brilliant House-Elf," Rachel said; setting the plates, cutlery and glasses down on the draining board by the sink. "…Are you, er, planning on doing any baking today?"

"Yes, Mistress," Ceesy nodded. "Mistress Susanne has asked Ceesy to make a chocolate-flavoured cake that she can take to your Grandmother's tomorrow morning."

"I see… Would you mind if I helped- and you taught me how to make it?"

"Not at all Mistress," Ceesy beamed. "You must let Ceesy do all the clearing up, though- Ceesy is proud to be a good House-Elf!"

"I will Ceesy- thank you," Rachel smiled back.

"You is very welcome, Mistress."

Rachel tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed to the sink to wash her hands as Marcus and Oliver entered the kitchen- the former carrying the flying miniature dragon Rachel had bought him for Christmas- grinning excitedly and looking very much as though things were back to normal between them.

"Your mother sent me a message- she's going to be working late tonight, helping keep the Muggles unaware of some raids," Flavius announced as he sat down at the dining table that evening, having come home from work rather later than usual that day. "Now, Marcus," Flavius went on, turning to his son. "Your Mother and I have been talking."

"Yeah?" Marcus asked, slightly cautiously.

"Yes," Flavius nodded. "and we've decided that now that you're thirteen it's time that you start to take on a bit more responsibility, so after work today I went to Gringotts and opened you your own vault. Vault 546 is now entirely yours to use however you wish, here is your key." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled a small gold key from within and pushed it across the table to Marcus.

"Well- thank you," Marcus smiled.

"You're welcome," Flavius smiled back, sobering as he went on, "Having your own bank account is something one ought to be wise with… We hope that you will wizen-up accordingly."

Marcus's expression hardened; and Rachel could tell that he had been visited by the same thought she had: that their parents hoped that the responsibility of a bank account would help Marcus become more mature- and, perhaps in turn, see that she, Rachel, was manipulating him and drop her. But, imagining how useful having a vault would be and supposing it would be difficult to get one without parental permission while underage, Rachel caught Marcus's eye, silently willing him to take the key as his gaze flickered to her. Marcus seemed to understand her expression, and after a moment, he picked up the key and pocketed it. "Thank you." He said curtly.

Flavius nodded with a smile, clearly noticing nothing.

"…Positive relationship, remember?" Rachel reminded Marcus, looking up from the book she was reading as he sat down beside her on the sofa in the living room with his holiday homework after the meal; Flavius having retired to his study.

"Yeah, but, I know you thought the same thing I did," Marcus said, opening his Transfiguration textbook, "That aside from wanting to give me more responsibility they hope that the maturity will lead to me excommunicating you, too."

"Yes, but you can ignore that bit," Rachel pointed out. "Focus on the responsibility stuff- and there are lots of advantages to having your own vault; somewhere to keep money and valuables and everything- and it's yours forever."

"Very true," Marcus nodded, smiling, unrolling a new roll of parchment and picking up his quill. Rachel returned to her book losing herself in the Tales of Beedle the Bard in a way she had not done since she was little; forgetting her surroundings completely.

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap!

Early in the evening just over a week later, Rachel started from her thoughts, looking across her bedroom in the direction of the glass in her bedroom window to see what, exactly, was tapping at it. Moments later, she had set aside her Potions holiday homework, got to her feet and was hurrying over to the window, for perched atop the still outside was a large and regal looking barred owl called Miranda, who belonged to Rachel's friend Pansy, and carried a letter addressed to Rachel.

Smiling, Rachel opened the window and allowed Miranda admittance, taking the letter and opening the door to the cage of her own, brown, owl, Artemisia- who was out hunting- to allow Miranda to drink. As Miranda gulped down water, Rachel sat down on the end of her bed and opened Pansy's letter.

Dear Rachel,

How are you? Sorry I haven't been able to write much, but it's been very busy here- Eliza has been showing us around her favourite places in France- today we went to this big Muggle tower called 'the Eiffel Tower' and it really is amazing- especially in the evenings when it's all light up, though I think it would look better with real fairy lights. Eliza won't hear of even a murmur of complaint against it, though- she loves it so much that she's taking a summer-long course in hairdressing at a nearby Muggle hairdressers' so she can walk past it every day- and because she's always had an interest in hair styling. Tomorrow we're going to see Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, the school she works at- though only from the outside, as it's closed for the summer holidays.

We're coming back to England on the 15th of August, and Mum and Dad say that you and Millicent can come and stay on the 20th until the 26th, provided you get your parents' permission of course. Let me know what they say and if they agree Mum and Dad say you can come round anytime after ten o'clock, though preferably before midday like last year.

Hope your holidays are going well, and that you get permission,

Pansy :)

Rachel finished reading and looked up, now biting the inside of her lip slightly anxiously. Going to Pansy's Manor for six days would be brilliant-she would get to see and have fun with Pansy and Millicent, as well as have a very welcome break from feeling like a sort of ostracised leper, as she very often had these holidays. The thing was, she had made such an effort to stay out of her parents' way, and they had been so unpleasant to her on multiple occasions, that she couldn't imagine that they would be inclined to do her any favours. On the other hand, letting her go would mean that she would be out of the house for almost a week, something she rather thought would be very agreeable to both her parents.

Folding up Pansy's letter, Rachel got to her feet, straightened her clothes and glasses and ran a brush through her hair to neaten it; making herself look as presentable as possible. Picking up Pansy's letter from where she had left it on her bed, Rachel went in search of her mother, closing her bedroom door behind her.

Susanne had spent most of the week laying on the sofa in the sitting room- she had been struck in the kneecap by a wayward hex during the last of the nine raids she had been asked to assist with by obliviating any passing Muggles the previous week, and had been told by the Healers at St Mungo's that though they had reversed the swelling and healed the damage, she would need to take it easy for a week, and thus she had taken to the sofa. It was there that Rachel found her, reading Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart and drinking a cup of tea. Gilderoy Lockhart, a very good-llooking wizard with bright blue eyes and wavy blonde hair, grinned and winked cheekily over at Rachel from the front cover of Travels with Trolls as she approached her mother rather tentatively.

"Er- excuse me, Mum?"

Susanne looked up from her book. "Yes?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Um- my friend Pansy, you know, she's just written to me, inviting me to say with her," Rachel said, handing Pansy's letter to her mother. She waited a few moments, as her mother read the letter through. "…and I was wondering- can I go, please?"

Susanne said nothing, nor did she look up from the letter. Rachel shifted slightly where she stood, her hopes falling more and more the longer she waited…

"…Yes, you may go," Susanne said at last, handing the letter back. "You are to leave here at ten-fifteen on the morning of the twentieth, and return no later than a quarter to six in the afternoon on the twenty-sixth via the floo network, like you did over Christmas last year."

"I remember," Rachel nodded, relief crashing over her. "Thank you," she smiled.

But Susanne had already turned back to Travels with Trolls. Folding up her letter, Rachel left the room, doing her best to ignore the wave of upset she felt at her mother's attitude. At least she had not been nasty, and had given her permission to go. A broad grin spreading across her face at the thought of going to stay with her friend, Rachel ran upstairs to write back to Pansy.

The following morning, Rachel was eating breakfast with Marcus in the dining room- Flavius was at work already and Susanne was upstairs getting dressed- when a flurry of tapping on the window caused them both to look up. Two important looking owls stood on the window-still, letters in their beaks. Marcus got to his feet, crossed the room and opened the window, taking the letters from the owls.

"Hogwarts letters," he said, as the owls flew off, having refused his offer of water. "Here's yours," he slid one of the letters across the table towards Rachel.

"Thank you," Rachel picked up her letter from the table and opened it, pulling out two pieces of parchment.

Dear Miss Belby,

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.

A list of books for next year is enclosed.

Yours sincerely,

Professor M. McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Turning to the second piece of parchment from her envelope, Rachel couldn't help but raise her eyebrows as she looked down her booklist.

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

"Merlin, I reckon I've got every book Gilderoy Lockhart's ever written on here." Marcus said as he sat back down beside Rachel.

"So have I- look," Rachel handed him her booklist.

"Must be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Marcus said, looking down it before handing it back. "She must be some kind of super fan."

"What have you got there, Marcus?" Susanne hurried into the dining room, dressed in her Obliviator uniform.

"Hogwarts letters have arrived," Marcus said, handing her his booklist. "And, er, I've been sent a permission form, for Hogsmede visits. Will you sign it, please?" he pulled a third piece of parchment from behind the letter he still held and held it out to his mother.

"Yes of course." Susanne nodded at once with a smile, took her wand from her pocket and flicked it; moments later, a quill came flying into the dining room. Susanne plucked it from mid-air, took Marcus's permission form and signed it with a flourish.

"Thank you." Marcus smiled, taking back the form.

"There's no need to thank me- I'm your mother," Susanne smiled back at Marcus; clearly, she had forgotten whatever issue she and Flavius had had with him, "and as for you school books… We'll go to Diagon Alley next Wednesday," she said decisively. "Your father has to go to a conference in France, but it's my next day off, and with Ceesy's help we should be able to manage everything just fine. Now I have to go or I'll be late. Have a good day."

Dropping Marcus's booklist down onto the dining table, she kissed him swiftly on the top of his head, taking no heed of his protests, and left the dining room, ignoring Rachel completely. Moments later, a small pop! echoed faintly back into the dining room from the foyer, announcing Susanne's departure.

"Er, I'm sure that goodbye was meant towards you, too," Marcus said, turning to Rachel.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel shrugged, pushing down the upset she felt. "…Talking of mum's attitude, though," she went on "Why did you tell Oliver that you'd been acting as a mediator between Mum, Dad and I when you haven't; not really?"

Marcus looked up from his food so suddenly Rachel was slightly alarmed. "None of your business," he snapped angrily, "and you know, I wouldn't make a habit of eavesdropping on other people's conversations."

"I don't plan too, and in any case, you left the dining room door open, I couldn't help overhearing." Rachel shot back coolly. "I wouldn't normally comment, for your information- I was only asking this time in case you wanted to talk about anything! I mean, you told me that the reason why you weren't spending time with Oliver is because Oliver went to visit his mother in St Mungo's; and I can't think why you'd keep the fact that you wanted time to yourself secret."

"Well I don't want to talk," Marcus said harshly.

"Fine," Rachel shrugged slightly defensively, going back to her food. "Excuse me for caring about you."

"…Look, I'm sorry for snapping," Marcus said after a moment, sounding genuinely remorseful. "I know you're only asking because you care. It's just I've been a bit- a bit overwhelmed with schoolwork and exams and holiday homework and I'm only just relaxing after it all- that's all. I didn't mean to be secretive, I was just concentrating, you know?"

"…Yeah," Rachel nodded after a moment. "Well, if you ever want to talk about anything, I'll listen." She smiled.

"Thanks, I'll remember that," Marcus said gratefully, smiling back, though whether he would actually taker her up on the offer he wasn't sure. "Same goes for you- if you ever want to talk, I'll listen."

"You're welcome," Rachel said, "and thank you, I'll remember that."

"You're welcome," Marcus grinned amusedly.

Rachel grinned back with a laugh and the two returned to their breakfasts, all ill feeling between them forgotten.

But as she left the dining room ahead of her brother, Rachel half thought she saw the corners of Marcus's mouth turn down slightly out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked over her shoulder to check, Marcus smiled at her as easily as ever. Putting her thoughts down to a ghost of her previous concerns, Rachel smiled back and continued upstairs to get ready to go to the town square near her home for the day.

A/N: Please review! :)