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 Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Philsopher's Stone books respectively.

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

Twitter: Prof_McGonagal

Chapter 3: The New Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher

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.

Marcus sighed, closing his bedroom door behind him and flopping face down onto his bed, defeated. Why… why did everything have to be so bloody complicated?

Things had been going so well. He had managed to get a handle back on his… on everything, after his encounter with Irma Zabini before the start of the last school year had wrenched it from him, and then, a few days after his thirteenth birthday, it had all started to come to the surface again… until he needed a break… and now he had been rude to Rachel and lied to Oliver and her- little, white lies, but lies nonetheless.

Knock-knock!

Marcus hastened to sit up. "Yes?" he called out.

The door to his bedroom opened slightly and Rachel looked in. "I'm going to the square now," she said, "do you want to come?"

Marcus shook his head, feeling he needed a bit of time to himself. "No, thanks. What time will you be back?"

"Er," Rachel glanced at her watch. "Two o'clock."

Marcus nodded, "See you then," he smiled

Rachel smiled back. "See you," she replied, ducking out of the room. No sooner had the door clicked shut behind her than Marcus flopped back down onto his bed, pillowing his head with his hands and closing his eyes as he dove back into his thoughts; attempting to think his way out of the mess of lies he had thought himself into.

Rachel took her time getting to the square; it was bright and sunny outside and aside from a few unnerved stares from a group of Muggle children who were no-doubt frightened of her thanks to Marcus and Oliver having got into a fight with a Muggle boy on their first day of year one and turned the boy's hair blue, and made his skin break out in large, painful boils with accidental magic, her walk was very pleasant indeed.

When she reached the square, she was surprised upon glancing through the window of Sugar-Free Sensations Tearoom to see Hermione Granger sitting in the very back corner of the shop, a book of thin-looking white parchment, a quill-like object with no feather and a book with a dust jacket proclaiming it to be called 'A Beginner's Guide to Dentistry; Molars and Malocclusion', on the table in front of her- the book propped up against two salt and pepper shakers. But judging by the way Granger appeared to be copying down a quote from the book, and the fact that the pages of said book looked to be very much the same colour and thickness of Rachel's own school books, Rachel couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Granger wasn't studying dentistry- which was, Rachel presumed from the title of the book, something to do with teeth- at all… But surely, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's friend, the girl who had topped the year last year, wouldn't risk her place at Hogwarts, never mind breaking the Statute of Secrecy, over something as trivial as doing homework in a Muggle café? As Rachel continued to walk past the window, a slim, intelligent looking woman with green eyes and dark brown hair tied back in a thick, rather frizzy looking plait came out of a door behind the café's counter and approached Granger, clearly asking her a question. Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise and Granger looked up and made no effort to cover her writings; on the contrary, she turned the notebook towards the woman. Perhaps she, Rachel, was wrong; maybe Granger really was studying teeth after all. Pushing her glasses up her nose, Rachel adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and continued on her way to the library.

The following Wednesday morning, Rachel, Marcus and Susanne apparated onto the main street in Diagon Alley, the former two with their booklists in their pockets and the latter with an empty moneybag in her handbag. Susanne dropped Rachel's arm the moment their feet hit solid ground, leaving the girl to regain her balance by herself- fortunately she was able to grab hold of the rim of a large, sturdy cauldron on display outside Potage's Cauldron Shop to steady herself.

"Gringotts' first," Susanne announced, letting go of Marcus once they both had regained their balance, ignoring Rachel and setting off down the street towards the bank.

"All good?" Marcus asked Rachel as she fell into step beside him.

"Fine thanks." Rachel nodded, pushing down her upset at her mother's actions as they followed their mother down the street; Susanne was, as far as she, Rachel, knew, still paying for her school things, and she wasn't about to do anything to jeopardise her education- though how it could be jeopardised she wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to risk it.

Diagon Alley was as brightly coloured and as packed with witches and wizards of all ages as ever, a fair few of which were stopping outside of Flourish and Blotts, looking up at a large banner that had been stretched across the shop's upper windows:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

today 12.30- 4.30 pm

"Well, would you look at that!" Susanne gestured to the banner, her face alight. "If we leave your textbooks until last, we should be in time to meet Gilderoy Lockhart himself. I'd say that would be very interesting- especially as he wrote the vast majority of your booklist. How about it?"

Marcus nodded, moving forwards and looking up at the banner. "Yeah, sure."

"Excellent," Susanne said as Rachel started to nod, too; taking absolutely no notice of her daughter whatsoever. Rachel's spirits dropped further, but she tried not to let it show, her earlier thoughts prevalent in her mind. Despite her thoughts, her spirits rose as Marcus fell back, pointedly, into step beside her; and she couldn't help but smiled at him faintly, but gratefully. Marcus grinned easily back as they climbed the set of white stairs that lead up to a set of large bronze doors flanked by a scarlet-and-gold-uniformed goblin, passed through them, and then approached and passed through a second, silver set, which was this time flanked by a pair of uniformed goblins and decorated with a poem (Enter, stranger, but take heed/Of what awaits the sin of greed/For those who take, but do not earn,/Must pay most dearly in their turn./So if you seek beneath our floors/A treasure that was never yours,/Thief, you have been warned, beware/Of finding more than treasure there), and entered the bank behind their mother, who, whether fortunately or unfortunately, appeared to notice nothing of her children's interaction.

Rachel exhaled with relief as her mother handed the shopkeeper at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary a small handle of sickles and knuts, paying for both her and Marcus's new Potions supplies. Though her mother had eyed the ingredients Rachel had placed on the counter with a rather pinched expression, as though she would rather they not be there, she had paid for them, and for that Rachel was both grateful and relieved. Next they went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, wherein Rachel needed nothing, but Marcus got new robes, as his old ones were several inches too short.

"Do you need anything else?" Susanne asked, glancing at her watch as they walked down the street, Ceesy having apparated away with Marcus's robes.

"Er- yeah," Marcus said, "I need some more rat treats for Newt."

"And, er, I need some treats for Artemisia, please," Rachel spoke up slightly nervously.

Susanne's lips thinned. "Okay- well, let's go and get them now before we go to Flourish and Blotts." She said rather tersely, leading the way along the street to the Magical Menagerie.

It was rather busy inside the shop. Witches and wizards swirled about the shop floor, chatting away as they looked around at the various pets and pet supplies, occasionally raising their vices to be heard over the din that echoed around the shop from various cages. A gigantic tortoise with a shell encrusted with glittering jewels stood in a glass cage near the window; a couple of enormous purple toads sat nearby it, gulping wetly and devouring dead blowflies; Venomous orange snails were creeping slowly up the side of their glass tank, their black eyes gleaming in such a way that reminded Rachel unnervingly of Marcus's pet rat, Newt- she was not the biggest fan of rodents- their small dark eyes had always somewhat spooked her- a little way along from the snails, a large white rabbit kept shifting into a silk top hat, then back into a rabbit again with a loud POP! Cats of every colour lined the walls; purring and eyeing a noisy cage of ravens and a few distinguished looking owls in the corner hungrily; a basket of what looked like funny custard-coloured furballs stood near the large counter, humming loudly; and up atop the counter itself, stood a huge cage of sleek black rats who were playing some kind of skipping game with the aid of their long, hairless tails. Rachel shuddered slightly, turning away and heading over to a tall display of owl treats in the corner near the cages of owls and ravens; as Marcus and Susanne walked to the rat treats on the other side of the shop.

Spying large packets of Artemisia's favourite brand of owl treats on one of the higher shelves, Rachel reached out, her arm, stretching up onto the tip of her toes, but she was only able to brush the packaging with her fingers before she lost her balance and was forced to drop back onto her heels. She was able to catch hold of the bottom of the packet on her second attempt, but failed to get it off the shelf. Her third and fourth attempts yielded identical results. Rachel huffed angrily, falling back onto her heels and glaring at the owl treats.

"Need a hand?" a vaguely familiar voice sounded behind her.

Rachel turned around. A wiry boy with thick blonde hair, lightly tanned skin and startlingly bright blue eyes, stood behind her, smiling. He looked very familiar and after a movement Rachel placed him- it was Terence Higgs, a Slytherin from the year above.

"Oh, hello," Rachel smiled.

"Hi," Terence smiled back. "Do you want a hand getting those down?" he pointed to the owl treats Rachel had been trying to reach.

Rachel glanced up at the owl treats and nodded after a moment, admitting defeat. "Yes please."

As he was slightly taller than Rachel, Terence was able to reach up and get a hold of the treats with only a little difficultly.

"How many packets would you like?"

"Er- two please… Thanks." Rachel smiled gratefully, taking the packets as he passed them down to her.

"Don't mention it," Terence grinned, dropping down onto his heels and leaning back against a nearby stand, which half stocked with cat food. "Have you had a good summer so far?"

"…Yeah, pretty good," Rachel replied carefully, nodding. "You?"

"Yeah, it's been great," Terence replied enthusiastically. "I got back from America last we-"

"Higgs." Marcus seemed to materialise out of nowhere holding two large packets of rat treats and frowning slightly.

"Belby." Terence turned around, his tone suddenly rather less than friendly.

"You should probably hurry up and get to choosing some before they're gone," Marcus said curtly, nodding towards the stand of cat treats Terence was leaning against.

"I don't have a cat," Terence replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "And, actually-"

"There you are, T," Terence broke off as a long, straight blonde haired, brown-eyed girl approached them- she was the same girl, Rachel realised, who had been giggling at Terence's impression of Professor Quirrell's stutter in the library the previous school year. "Did you find them? It's just that my mum's waiting."

"Oh, er, no- but don't worry El, I'll order them from Eeylops," Terence ran a hand through his hair. "Good to see you again," he added, smiling at Rachel.

She nodded, smiling back, "You too."

"T," Marcus said rather mockingly with a nod, smirking. The girl- El- narrowed her eyes, but Terence ignored him and turned away; after a moment El turned away, too, seeming to decide to drop the matter; and Terence fell into step beside her, slipping his arm around her shoulders as they left the shop.

"Are you friends with him?" Marcus asked Rachel, looking after the two. "Higgs, I mean- I remember you walked into breakfast with him and your friends once early last year."

Rachel shook her head. "No, we're not really friends," she answered. "He showed us where the Owlery is that day and just helped me get these bags down; we've only ever spoken a few times."

"Good," Marcus brushed his hair from his eyes with his free hand. "I'd keep it that way, if I were you."

"Why?" Rachel asked, suddenly feeling slightly defensive. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's arrogant and boastful; always banging on about his travels; and I've heard he's unreliable," Marcus said. "Borrows people's stuff and struggles to return it on time- and I've heard he acts like he's Merlin's gift in lessons and stuff, too. Trust me, Rachel, he's not someone you can reply upon."

Rachel shrugged non-committedly, adjusting her grip on her packets of owl treats as Susanne squeezed through the crowd and approached her children.

"There you are- have you got everything?"

"Yeah," Marcus nodded; Rachel did the same, but her mother did not look in her direction.

"Good- if we pay for these now we'll have enough time to get your school books before Gilderoy Lockhart's signing."

Going to Flourish and Blotts before Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing proved to be a good idea; though there were still fifteen minutes until the author was due to arrive, the shop was packed with customers, mostly witches a few years older than Susanne.

"Go and get your books, then, and I'll wait for you here," Susanne said, joining the crowd of women jostling around a table piled with copies of Magical Me by Gilderoy Lockhart.

Gilderoy Lockhart's other books were piled on tables and shelves dotted around the rest of the shop, too, likely due to the onslaught of Hogwarts students that would be purchasing them; and, at the head of the shop, adjacent to the counter, a table and chair had been set up, the former lined with several shining framed photographs of Gilderoy Lockhart's face, every one of which beamed and winked cheekily out at the shop. Rachel and Marcus edged past the table and squeezed past the other shoppers, picking up a copy each of every Lockhart book, with the exception of his autobiography, mentally checking them off their booklists as they went. Marcus also picked up copies of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 and Numerology and Grammatica, as he was starting Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures that year- the required text for the latter was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was a book all students purchased in their first year. Marcus went to pass on his books to Susanne as Rachel made to pick up a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2, before a familiar voice made her stop in her tracks.

"Hi Rachel!" Rachel looked up in surprise. A tall, athletic square-jawed girl with thick curly black hair, stood before her, grinning- her friend, Millicent Bulstrode.

"Millicent- hi!" Rachel grinned back. "How are you?"

"Good- Mum and Dad have hired a Quidditch coach for me, and he thinks I should be ready to play on the Slytherin team soon," Millicent replied. "How about you? How have things been? You haven't really said much in your letters."

"Yeah, I know- I like to try and keep them cheerful," Rachel said. "Are you going to Pansy's tomorrow, too?"

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it." Millicent said, "This new booklist is a bit intense isn't it?" she said as the two girls picked up copies of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2.

Rachel nodded. "I think it's about every book Gilderoy Lockhart's ever written."

"Nothing wrong with that," a familiar voice spoke from behind them and Rachel and Millicent turned; a round faced girl with mid-length wavy brown hair and dark green eyes stood behind them.

"Pansy, hey!" They exclaimed, grinning.

"Hey," Pansy grinned back. "I didn't think I'd see you two until tomorrow."

"Hey, Rachel," Marcus squeezed through the now very large and jousting crowd inside the shop and approached his sister. "Sorry to interrupt, but Mum wants to pay for our books before Lockhart shows up and things get mad. I'll take your books over to her, if you want."

"Yeah, thanks." Rachel smiled, handing over her textbooks.

"Don't mention it." Marcus smiled back, turning and squeezing back through the crowd.

"Has everything been okay?" Millicent asked Rachel, looking at her in concern.

Before Rachel could reply, however, she, Pansy and Millicent were forced to move away from the standard book of spells books and across the shop front as a large group of teenagers came in search of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 5, and the crowd inside the shop swelled seemingly tenfold.

"This is mad." Pansy said, looking around them and standing her ground as a young girl tried to push past her.

Rachel nodded. "Well deserved though- seeing as Lockhart wrote practically the entirety of our booklist."

No sooner had she finished speaking, when she heard a scornfully amused and none to pleasantly-familiar snicker from behind her. Whipping around, her teeth already on edge, Rachel's eyes narrowed as they were greeted by the entirely unwelcome sight of Blaise Zabini.

But there was something different about him; that much was evident immediately. He was slightly taller, yes, but aside from the way he was smirking mockingly at Rachel, the haughtiness and arrogance that made up his demeanour was more apparent than ever; and the cut of the Muggle jeans, t-shirt and shoes he wore were clearly very expensive indeed; even his buzzed haircut looked particularly precise and somehow expensive, too. His mocking smirk, however, was exactly the same as ever, and it annoyed Rachel to no end.

"Can I help you?" she demanded.

"No," Zabini shook his head. "You see, Belby, you need a brain to help people and evidently you don't have one."

"Really?" Rachel arched an eyebrow, glaring at him. "Well, perhaps part of your brain that controls your memory might care to remember that my- apparently brain-less- self came third in the year overall last year, whereas you- well, you came fifth: two ranks below me."

Zabini glared back at her, but before he could retort those in the shop around them burst into applause. Turning, the four Slytherins saw Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes made of a forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes and his wizard's hat at a jaunty angle atop his wavy hair, walk slowly into view, and sit down behind the table lined with photographs of his face. Instantly, Zabini turned around and started to shoulder his way through the crowd behind him towards the shelves were the Standard Book of Spells books were held. An irritable-looking A short, irritable-looking man pushed his way to the front of the crowd, jostling it and bumping into people left and right as he started taking photographs of Lockhart with an enormous black camera that emitted clouds of purple smoke with each blinding flash. A few moments later, Irma Zabini squeezed past Rachel, her arms full of what looked to be Lockhart books, a Rune Dictionary, Ancient Runes Made Easy, and, on the very top of the pile a textbook titled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles by Wilhelm Wigworthy. Irma followed her younger brother through the crowd, rolling her eyes as Gilderoy Lockhart jumped to his feet, shouting: "It can't be Harry Potter?"

The section of the crowd near Rachel, Pansy and Millicent divided, whispering excitedly and bursting into applause as Gilderoy Lockhart dived forward, and pulled Harry Potter by the arm into the space between the crowd and the table he, Lockhart, had previously sat behind; away from where Potter had clearly been standing with the Weasleys, Hermione Granger, a tall, rather bemused looking man who looked very like Granger- they had the same shade of brown hair and eyes; Rachel assumed he was Granger's father. Beside him stood a slim, intelligent, and also rather bemused-looking woman with green eyes and thick, bushy dark brown hair- it was, Rachel realised with a jolt, the same woman who had approached Granger from the backroom of Sugar-Free Sensations Tearoom the previous week. If the man was Granger's father, and Rachel was certain he was, then the woman must be Granger's mother; that would explain why Granger showed her her notebook in the tearoom without any apparent reservations. But what was Granger's mother doing in the backroom of the tearoom, when her business, Granger's Dental Practice, was next door?

A sudden flash of light and a cloud of purple smoke distracted Rachel from her thoughts completely and she looked around, blinking rapidly to see the photographer snapping photos of a very red faced Potter and a beaming Gilderoy Lockhart as the latter shook the former's hand vigorously, all the while beaming straight at the photographer, who was now taking photographs at an almost alarming rate, sending thick clouds of smoke over the crowd. Lockhart's lips moved slightly as he grinned, murmuring something to Potter, but what it was wasn't clear.

After several minutes of posing for photographs, Lockhart finally released Potter's hand; Potter attempted to slip back over to the Weasleys and Grangers, but Lockhart threw his arm around the boy's shoulders, pulling him back and clamping him to his side, rather tightly, too, it looked.

Raising his arm, Lockhart waved for everyone to cease to applaud. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he cried loudly "What a truly extraordinary moment this one is! It is the the perfect moment, in fact, for me to make a small announcement, one that I have been sitting on for some stretch of time!

"When young Harry Potter here entered Flourish and Blotts today, he wanted only to buy my autobiography– a copy of which I am very happy to present to him now, without any charge -" burst into applause rang around again. "He had absolutely no idea," Lockhart went on, shaking Potter slightly and making his glasses slip down to the very end of his nose, "that he would very soon be a great deal much more than my autobiography, Magical Me. He and his schoolfellows will, in fact, be getting the actual magical me. Yes, my dear ladies and gentlemen, I have great pride and pleasure in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the teaching position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The cheers and applause at these words were positively tumultuous; beaming, Lockhart presented Potter with a pile of his works. Taking them, Potter staggered away from the head of the shop bacj over to the Weasleys and Grangers, and Rachel saw him tip the books into a cauldron, beside which a small girl of about eleven with flaming red hair Rachel remembered from her going with her parents to drop off and pick up Marcus from Platform nine and three-quarters the year before last as the young girl who had stood with Ron Weasley and a woman who Rachel assumed to be his mother on the platform. At the same time, Rachel caught sight of a slender boy around her age with sleek white-blond hair, grey eyes, a pale complexion and rather sharp, pointed features walking over to Potter, sneering- it was Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin boy in her year.

"Rachel," Rachel turned as Marcus came over to her, squeezing past an elderly witch with a large monocle. "Mum's about to get her copy of Lockhart's autobiography signed, she's paid for our books and she has we're to wait for her outside and call Ceesy."

"Okay," Rachel pushed her glasses up her nose and massaged her hands; they had become slightly numb from all the clapping. "See you tomorrow," she said to Pansy and Millicent, grinning excitedly at the thought.

"See you then," they replied, grinning excitedly back.

Rachel followed Marcus as he slowly squeezed his way through the shop, passing where Harry Potter was standing with the Weasleys and Grangers. Draco stood before them; and a man with a pale, pointed face, pale blond hair and cold grey eyes stood behind him with a hand on Draco's shoulder. He was clutching a very old, battered, second-hand copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, and such was the extent of the resemblance between him and Draco that he could only be the boy's father. He appeared to be having a very unpleasant conversation with a thin, balding red-haired man who could only be Weasley's father- his face was twisted into a sneer identical to Draco's as he looked in the direction of Hermione Granger's parents- who looked rather scared- and Mr Weasley's face was bright red, as was Ron Weasley's- Potter and Granger had a hold on his jacket- and the young Weasley girl's.

"Almost there," Marcus said over his shoulder to Rachel as they neared the door, squeezing through the large crowd-

THUD!

CRASH!

Rachel and Marcus whirled around curiously as great ruckus sounded from behind them. Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy were punching and fighting like Muggles on shop floor; the caldron the Weasley girl had been standing beside had been knocked over as had a bookshelf, and books surrounded the two men as they lashed out at one another.

"Yeah get him, Dad- go on!" one of the Weasley twins shouted in delight; a short, plump woman with red hair who Rachel also remembered from her going with her parents to drop off and pick up Marcus from Platform nine and three-quarters the year before last to be Ron Weasley's mother shrieked, "Arthur- no, Arthur, no!", looking furious; the crowd around them stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over; Rachel caught sight of Millicent's mother grabbing at one of Pansy's mother's many scarves to steady herself; Isabella Parkinson flailed, holding onto her large, floppy sunhat; Gilderoy Lockhart was on his feet, watching the scene with an expression of ever-increasing delight-

"Gentle- gentlemen-, please - please!" the shop assistant cried, coming out behind from the cash register, and then, over all the noise-

"Break it up over there, gents, come on now, break it up-"

Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts' gamekeeper, waded towards the fight through the sea of books on the floor. Over eleven-foot tall, with a long mane of shaggy black hair and a beard that covered most of his face, and kindly beetle black eyes; Hagrid was three times a wide as a normal man. His feet were like dolphins in their boots; and his hands were the size of dustbin lids and in an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy away from each other. Mr. Weasley had a large cut in his lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by a copy of Encyclopedia of Toadstools. He was still holding the old Transfiguration textbook, which he thrust at the young Weasley girl, his cold grey eyes glittering, full of malice.

"Here you go, girl- take your textbook - it's obviously the best your father can get you -" Wrenching himself from Hagrid's grip, he beckoned to Draco and the two swept out of the shop.

Rachel and Marcus stared at each other.

"What was that all about, d'you think?" Marcus asked.

"I'm not sure- Mr. Malfoy looked like he was sneering at that scared looking man and woman with brown hair; I think they're Hermione Granger's parents- they're Muggles, I'm pretty sure they live near us; I've seen Granger and the woman about the town square," Rachel replied.

Marcus looked over at them. "Yeah, I think I've seen them about, too."

"There you two are, take your school books, go on," Susanne came over to her children, holding Magical Me by Gilderoy Lockhart in one hand and levitating her children's many schoolbooks over her head Flicking her wand, Susanne make the books divide into two piles and fall slowly down to Rachel and Marcus. The two hastened to do as they had been told, pulling the piles from the air. "What a horrific scene that was," Susanne went on when they had their books, leading the way out of Flourish and Blotts, "shocking display of Muggle dueling- come on, let's summon Ceesy and go home and you can sort all your books out properly… Ceesy!"

Ten-fifteen the following morning found Rachel saying goodbye to Marcus before going to Parkinson Manor. The two siblings stood before the fireplace in the kitchen with Ceesy, Rachel with the packed bag she had used the previous Christmas over her shoulder and her right hand clenched tightly around a lump of floo powder.

"Have fun, yeah?" Marcus said. Both Flavius and Susanne had left for work before either Marcus or Rachel had woken up, and given that Rachel was leaving for almost a week, their absence hung thickly in the air.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, "You too."

Almost involuntarily, she glanced towards the kitchen door, hoping against hope that one, or both of her parents would walk through it; or a Patronus or a note or something would appear from one or both of them, saying goodbye; but nothing happened. "…And, er, tell Mum and Dad I say goodbye."

"I will," Marcus promised, "…Don't worry about them," he added gently after a moment, glancing briefly towards the door, "and don't worry about Artemisia; she's in safe hands," he went on, turning back to Rachel with a smile.

Rachel smiled back gratefully. "Thank you."

"Now go," Marcus gestured towards the fireplace. "See you on the 26th."

"See you," Rachel replied, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder with her free hand.

"Bye Mistress." Ceesy smiled brightly at Rachel, curtseying.

"Bye Ceesy," Rachel smiled back.

Throwing her fist-full of floo powder into the fireplace, Rachel took off her glasses and fumbled for the the pocket of her bag. Finding it and tucking them safely inside, Rachel squinted to see through the blur of colour that was her natural vision rather pointlessly; reaching out for the wall beside the fireplace to guide her, and, following the wall and the sudden, blurry flare of green light, Rachel stepped into the fire and screwed her eyes tight shut. "Parkinson Manor Oxfordshire!"

A moment later the sensation of being pulled down an enormous drain of Floo travel eclipsed her and Rachel found herself spinning faster and faster through the floo network, the deafening great roaring noise that her elbows pressed tightly to her side; then cold blasts of air were slapping her in face as she passed fireplace after fireplace; she was spinning faster then ever- then she stopped spinning abruptly and tumbled out of a fireplace. Managing to catch herself before she fell, Rachel opened her eyes and, squinting to see, made out dark purple walls and two darked haired blurs that spoke with what looked like smiles and with the voices of her friends Pansy and Millicent respectively.

"Hi."

"Hi." Rachel replied with a smile, hastening to retrieve her glasses from her bag and putting them back on. The large white staircase, glass-paned front doors bookended by large green plants, dark wooden doors of other rooms, dark purple walls, dark wooden floor and white faux-fur hearthrug of the foyer of Parkinson Manor came into focus, as did Pansy and Millicent, who were standing in front of her, smiling, the latter with the same black bag she had had the previous Christmas over her shoulder. "I haven't kept you waiting around, have I?"

"No- I only got here a few minutes ago." Millicent replied.

"Come upstairs- you can put your things in your rooms- they're the same as before." Pansy said, leading the way up the stairs to the yellow and blue guestrooms of Parkinson Manor. "We're home alone- Eliza decided to stay in France this summer and my both my parents got called to St. Mungo's and meetings respectively this morning, otherwise they would be here as well," Pansy went on as Rachel dropped her bag in the yellow guestroom and Millicent the blue and the girls continued on their way to Pansy's light purple bedroom, half of which was devoted to Pansy's passion for designing and making clothes. "They say hello and welcome back, though- dump the books on the floor; I forgot to move them." Pansy added as they entered the room and saw that half of her bed was taken up by her textbooks for the upcoming school year.

"Wasn't it mad yesterday?" Millicent asked, as the girls moved the piles of books to the floor and sat down on Pansy's bed. "Draco and Weasley's fathers fighting in Flourish and Blotts?"

"Yeah- and Gilderoy Lockhart's small announcement." Rachel nodded.

"I can't believe he's going to be teaching us," Pansy said, handing around a packet of sugar quills from her bedside drawer. "I mean- he's done so much; we're bound to learn loads."

"Don't you think it's a bit strange though?" Rachel asked, frowning slightly as a thought occurred to her. "Don't get me wrong it's amazing that someone with his life experiences is going to be teaching us to defend ourselves, but the thing is- he's a professional author- he's probably made enough money to live on comfortably for the rest of his life already; why suddenly become a teacher?"

"My parents were talking about that last night," Millicent said, "and my father said that Lockhart probably sees it as a challenge. See, apparently the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is jinxed."

"Jinxed?" Pansy and Rachel echoed, staring at her.

"Uh-huh," Millicent nodded knowledgeably. "My father said that no one has ever lasted longer than a year in the Defence Against the Dark Arts job for years, so everyone thinks it's jinxed. No one knows if it's actually jinxed or who jinxed it if it is, but my father reckons Lockhart thinks he's going to be the one who breaks it."

"That makes sense," Rachel nodded, breaking off the nib of her sugar quill. "Do you think he will?"

"Possibly," Pansy replied. "I mean, look at everything he's done," she gestured around at the pile of books beside her bed. "If anyone can change things and lift the curse surely it's him… speaking of change," she added, leaning back over to her bedside table and pulling a copy of Witch Weekly from within. "Last week's Witch Weekly has some very interesting horoscopes, Millicent," she smirked.

Rachel laughed; Millicent rolled her eyes exasperatedly, then grinned good-naturedly as Pansy flipped open the magazine. "Alright then- let's have it."

The next six days of the holidays were Rachel's favourite by far. The weather was warm and sunny, and so she, Pansy and Millicent spent a lot of time at the large, circular lake that ran through the very bottom of the grounds of Pansy's Manor. It never quite froze over enough to play on in winter, Pansy said, but in summer it turned the perfect mix of warm and cool. Rachel took Pansy's word for it- she was an absolutely appalling swimmer- so much so that it was embarrassing, and truth be told, she couldn't really swim at all; so while Pansy and Millicent swam around the lake, going underwater and floating on their backs, Rachel lay rather away from the bank, as she was very nervous of large bodies of water; watching her friends, reading and basking in the sun.

"Are you sure you don't want to go in?" Millicent asked as she and Pansy emerged from the water on the first day of her and Rachel's stay.

"Positive," Rachel nodded, smiling, looking at her friends from over the top of her book. "Trust me, I'm really not the swimming type. I had lessons when I was younger, but I never got the hang of it- at all, really."

"Okay," Millicent nodded, smiling back as she and Pansy flopped down onto the grass beside Rachel. "You're reading Gadding with Ghouls?" she asked, catching sight of the cover of Rachel's book as the girl set it aside.

"Yeah," Rachel replied, "I thought I might try and get ahead- it's quite good."

"…You never answered my question yesterday, you know," Millicent said carefully after a moment. "Has everything been alright at home?"

Rachel hesitated, pushing her glasses up her nose. She didn't want to dwell on the largely unpleasant situation that was her home life, wanting to get used to it and deal with it when it happened and move on when it wasn't, but she didn't want to lie to her friends either. "Not exactly…" she admitted and told tale of her parents' ignoring her coming third in the year academically; their ignoring her in general; her grandmother's acting as though she didn't exist while heaping praise upon her cousin Mary, in her certainty at her Ravenclaw future; Mary's gleeful taunts; her mother's carefully worded comment to Marcus about open books; and her mother's evident distaste at having to purchase her, Rachel's, school things. Despite her resolve that her parent's- and indeed, her extended family's- treatment of her wasn't going to change so she might as well get used to it, by the time she finished speaking, Rachel's throat was uncomfortably tight, her stomach was churning sickeningly and tears were blurring her vision, staining her glasses as they rolled down her cheeks and she fought to keep from sobbing.

"Oh, Rachel…" Pansy and Millicent stared at her, dismayed.

"It's alright," Rachel sniffed, taking her tearstained glasses off and wiping her eyes with her palm. "Well, I mean it's not alright, but it's what's normal now. I said to Marcus- my parents are never going to accept me. They've had months- an entire school year to get used to my being in Slytherin; to think and to come around and yet they still treat me like something they'd rather forget existed, so, you know, I- I might as well get used to it," she finished harshly, finally managing to regain control of her emotions and fight away her sobs. But still her stomach churned and her throat was tight and Rachel couldn't help from sniffing a second time as more tears formed and rolled down her cheeks. "…Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though."

"Of course it's going to hurt," Pansy said sympathetically, slipping her arm comfortingly around Rachel's shoulders. "You know you can put this stuff in your letters, if you want to- you don't have to put on a brave face with us; we're your friends."

"Yeah," Millicent agreed. "I know you said you like to keep your letters positive, but you don't have to worry about depressing us because you won't- we want to be there for you through the tough stuff. So if you ever want to tell us in your letters, know that you can."

Pansy nodded, squeezing Rachel's shoulder. Rachel gave them both a rather watery smile, wiping her glasses as clean as she could on her t-shirt and wiping her eyes and cheeks behind them as she took a deep breath, pushed down her upset and slipped her glasses back onto her nose. "Thanks girls. I'll keep that in mind." she said gratefully, and the matter was left alone.

As well as spending time at the lake, swimming and lounging in the sun, Rachel, Pansy and Millicent divided their time between playing Exploding Snap; filling out quizzes in old copies of Witch Weekly; dancing wildly to the Weird Sisters on the Wizarding Wireless Network; going for walks around Pansy's neighbourhood- occasionally glimpsing the one or both of the Patil twins, who lived nearby; though they did not interact with them- and modelling various dress robes, skirts and jackets that Pansy had designed and made herself. They were carefree and full of girlish high spirits with nothing to dampen them, and thus the days flew by in a whirl of fun and laughter.

All too soon, a quarter to six in the afternoon on the twenty-sixth had arrived, and Rachel was faced with having to return home. She was looking forward to seeing Marcus and Artemisia and Ceesy again, yes, but not returning to feeling like a leper when around her parents.

Everything seemed to fly by very quickly; one moment she was thanking Mr and Mrs Parkinson for having her; the next she was saying goodbye to Pansy and Millicent in the foyer; then she had tucked her glasses safely into her pocket and was spinning through the Floo Network, faster and faster, her eyes squeezed tight shut-

"Oof!"

Rachel caught her foot on a log as she was expelled from the floo network and opened her eyes, flailing as she struggled to find something to steady herself when she couldn't see-

"Careful Mistress!" As Ceesy's voice squeaked from Rachel's right, a small, bony hand closed firmly around her wrist, guiding her to what felt like a kitchen counter steadying her; then Ceesy's hand let go of her wrist and Rachel felt the elf feel along her bag, find her glasses, take them from the pocket and tug her bag from her shoulders. "Ceesy will attend to your things; here is your glasses." Rachel felt Ceesy press her glasses against her hand and closed her fingers around them, grateful.

"Thank you, Ceesy," she said breathlessly, recovering her composure; smiling at Ceesy as she slipped her glasses onto her nose and the world came back into focus.

Ceesy beamed back at her. "You is welcome, Mistress! How is you?"

"I'm good, thank you," Rachel replied. "How are you? Is anybody else home?"

"Ceesy is fine thank you, MIstress; and yes, Mistress, your parents and brother is home," Ceesy nodded.

"Right," Rachel nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose; feeling slightly nervous at the prospect of seeing her parents again. "I'll, er, go and say hello."

"Yes, Mistress."

Rachel was halfway across the foyer, heading towards her father's study, when the door opened and her parents stepped out, both of them carrying large stacks of papers under their arms. They stooped short upon seeing Rachel, who did the same at their sudden appearance; though, unlike her parents, she smiled in greeting. "Hello," she said, feeling slightly awkward. "I'm home- on time, obviously; thank you for letting me go."

"…Yes." Susanne said stiffly after a moment, the corners of her mouth turning down as she did so. Rachel's spirits sagged, her throat tightening despite herself.

Flavius said nothing. He was looking at her oddly- the same way he had when she got back from Parkinson Manor during the Christmas holidays, Rachel realised, as though expecting her to say something, but once again, Rachel couldn't quite place what is was…

"Hey, Rachel- I thought I heard your voice!" Marcus appeared at the top of the stairs suddenly, smiling. "How was your time at the Parkinsons'?"

"Hey, Marcus," Rachel smiled back. "It was lovely, thanks, I had a lot of fun." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her parents glance at each other at her words, their expressions sour. Her smile faded.

"Great," Marcus grinned; his grin fading as he, too, glanced in the direction of their parents and caught sight of their expressions. "…Er- I was just feeding Artemisia- I think she's about to go hunting, so if you want to say hello I'd come now."

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, hastening to cross the foyer and hurry up the stairs. Her parent's attitudes stung, but Ceesy's friendliness and the warmth of Marcus's greeting comforted Rachel considerably; especially when combined with the fact that in just a few days, the summer holidays would be over, and she would be going back to Hogwarts.

A/N: Please review! :)