A/N: Chapter 5 everybody, it really is here! :) I hope you've been enjoying the story up until now and that I'm not being too dull. Please don't hesitate to leave some suggestions or an outright, "Amelia, you're screwing it up. ABORT MISSION."

Yeah, I'm weird, but it's ok :)


Sirius watched Rachel walk away from the cauldron looking rather confused and angry. He let a small smile slip imagining whatever it was about the love potion that could have got her so fuming. A few persons later, and he was standing in front of the infamous potion. He leaned forward and smelled it.

Sirius smelled an herb garden, the smell of the grass on the Potters' Quidditch field, and… the slight scent of wild violet. Sirius didn't think he'd ever even seen a wild violet flower before in his life.

He brushed it off and went to join James in making another failure of a potion, but not before catching a smell of something else. It was a much stronger scent and seemed ever so familiar and welcoming, but he just couldn't place it.

He shook his head and walked off, thinking to himself how tired he must be.


Marlene and Dorcas were waiting outside for Lily, Alice, and Mary. The two of them both got below E on their OWLs in Potions and were particularly happy about it. They both had separate plans for their futures that fortunately (in their eyes, anyways) did not include Potions.

"Hey!" Marlene greeted. "What did you guys do today in boring Potions?"

"Amortentia," Mary replied. That mischievous glint that Rachel hated appeared in Dorcas' eyes. "Oh, and Herbicide."

"Amortentia? You don't say," Dorcas said. "And? What did you guys smell?"

"Odd things, odd things indeed," Lily muttered.

"All right, poet Evans. Don't go all philosophical on us," Rachel laughed. Lily was snapped out of her reverie.

The topic prior was dropped. Thank Merlin.

The five of them walked into the Great Hall and sat down for lunch. Rachel had just barely taken a small gulp of her warm and welcoming soup when a frowning James ran up to her and stole the bowl straight from under her nose. He took her spoon as a precaution. He sat down next to her as he pushed the food away. Lily seemed happy that it wasn't her this time.

"Well, that's rather rude treatment to your reserve Seeker," Rachel sniffed. "I'd expect better from you, Potter."

He didn't laugh or even crack a smile. The same frown was on his face as he said, "Well, maybe you'll be my only Seeker…"

"What was that?" Rachel asked, panicked.

She did not want to be Seeker. She was fine on reserve. Sure, she liked flying, but Quidditch was a whole other game. You had things and people flying at you and it was bad enough that she had to verse that prat Regulus come Saturday. She just barely understood the rules.

She just wanted a top-notch resume, for Merlin's sake.

"Nothing," James replied. "Let's go see Fletchley in the infirmary."

Rachel stood up from her spot at the table with a scowl and followed behind James. This was really the cherry on top for her day. She couldn't think of much else worse then being deprived of a long awaited lunch.

Once she caught up with James, she gave him a good whack on the shoulder and asked, "What's this all about? I'm missing my lunch for this."

"Wormtail got into some trouble and I was talking to Madame Pomfrey," James began explaining. "I decided to ask her about Fletchley and apparently the little twit only had a small sprain in his ankle. He should have been back by today."

"So?"

James turned toward Rachel sharply. "So? He's a lazy half-wit and he can't do his job right! Plus, he lied."

"I can think of two other lazy half-wits in this school that never fail to anger me and always lie," Rachel replied smartly. "I'm sorry for not understanding you, Potter. Are you trying to be serious about something?"

"Did someone say Sirius Black?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, can I catch a break?"

"Hey, Padfoot, why don't you come along with us?" James said. "Then you can help me give Fletchley a good whack."

"Can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be, Prongs," Sirius replied.

Those boys and their stupid nicknames, Merlin.

"I could probably come up with about ten other places you'd rather be," Rachel muttered resentfully as she followed after the two boys.


Once they arrived in the infirmary, James quickly stormed over to Fletchley's bed, which was surrounded by various candy wrappers. James turned even more furious, if that was possible, when he saw Fletchley lazing about and taking the situation for granted. Rachel really couldn't blame him.

"Blimey, he seems angry," muttered Sirius from where he was standing right next to her. Rachel may have felt her hear quicken a bit when she noticed how close he was and when he brushed his hand along her arm.

But not that she really noticed. Because she did decide she was not going down the Black Alley.

She just was not.

"… You think you can just get away with this?" she heard James say sternly to Fletchley once she'd snapped out of her reverie. "You get a small sprain and—"

"It's not just a small sprain, Potter," Fletchley snapped. He grabbed onto his leg suddenly as his face distorted into one of pain. His groans of pain would have been believable to a mountain troll. Rachel grimaced at the pitiful boy.

"Bloody hell, he's really laying it on thick," Sirius muttered, more to himself.

"Yeah, not the expert liar," Rachel said. "May need some pointers from the Marauders."

Sirius smirked ever so slightly.

At that moment Madame Pomfrey walked in. Her face changed from content to annoyed when she saw Fletchley. She stormed over to him and ripped off his blankets. She stood over him with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face.

"And this," Rachel started, "is when the fun part comes in."

"What is the meaning of this?" Madame Pomfrey snapped at the Seeker. "You get a small sprain that healed long ago, yet you stay and take up all my beds. I don't think so, son! Out with you! A muggle would be up and running from that petty injury!"

Fletchley got so scared by Madame Pomfrey's sternness that he jumped out of the cot in fear. He stumbled backwards and grabbed onto a bedside table to balance himself.

"Ah, he walks," said Rachel. "And I am now liberated of my Seeker duties. All is well. Now, if you don't mind—"

"Not so fast," James said. He walked up to Fletchley so threateningly that the poor Seeker flinched. "You lied, you wasted my time trying to train someone for the game against Slytherin, and you sit around here eating your sweets like nothing bothers you? You're mad if you think I'm keeping you on the team."

"Now hold up—"

"No, no!" Fletchley exclaimed, interrupting Rachel mid-sentence. "Please, Potter, I'll do anything to make it up to you!"

Rachel stepped in. "Honestly James, I really don't want to be Seeker."

"And I don't want a lazy prat on my team," James said. "Sorry, Rachel."

Well, that was it. She was subject to James "by three hours I mean five hours" Potter for the rest of the school year.

She hoped she wouldn't kill herself first.


"This is terrible," Rachel whined to her friends. "I don't want to be on the team! The only other girl there is Alice, who's nice and all, but then I still have—" she leaned in closer and sighed. "—Then I still have to deal with Sirius," she hissed.

"I don't know why he's such a problem," Marlene stated. "You said yourself that you were pretending it never happened."

"Yes, but that doesn't expel the fact that he's a prat and I hate being within his prescence," Rachel stated. Which was half-true. Not like she would admit the little jumps her heart did when Sirius stood really close to her. She hadn't even admitted that to herself yet.

"Oh, you'll survive," said Dorcas. "He hasn't got dragon pox, for Merlin's sake!"

"Not that we know of, anyway," Lily muttered dramatically. Rachel turned to glare at her and Lily cracked up laughing. "Honestly, you're taking this too seriously."

Rachel only sighed and leaned against the bookshelf behind her.

Marlene, Rachel, Lily, and Dorcas were sitting down on the floor in the library in between some bookshelves. Monday afternoon was always when everyone started to get back onto their feet from the parties of the weekend and get back to work. And, every Monday, the four girls would sit on the library floor between a 'Potions and Maladies' bookshelf and a 'Herbology' bookshelf and attempt to do their newly assigned homework.

'Attempt to' being the key phrase of course.

They would always veer of topic and talk about any and all other unimportant things. Except for Lily, that is.

"Well, I can't help but say that Lily is right," Marlene said, "as always."

Rachel sent a quick glare her way, but Marlene had long ago changed the subject.

"Look!" she hissed. "It's that bloke that I was talking about!"

Rachel, Dorcas, and even Lily looked up to see Marlene's next week. He was definitely good-looking. He had a strong build, sharp features, and thick honey hair that probably made all the girls in the library want to run up to him and run their hands through his locks. Because that was Henry Macmillan and every girl in the school already wanted him.

And now there was Marlene.

This was the part Rachel really enjoyed.

"See you later, girls," Marlene muttered with a smirk.

She delicately flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder and walked over to Henry. One small bat of her eyelashes and a slow blink of her green eyes and Henry was gone. There was no saving him now.

Honestly, Marlene should have written a book or something. Marlene McKinnon's Foolproof Ways to Snag a Wizard.

Rachel sighed. If only she had Marlene's powers. Then she could grab a fit guy and put Black in her past.

However, no matter how hard she tried, he stuck around.


Heh, this one was longer... yay me! ;) So, I know I missed a day... but next weekend I have three days off so more time to write! :)

-Grammar/spelling?
-Favourite line?
-Is this getting dull? Moving too fast? Let me know! :)

Amelia xx