A/N: So, this is longer and a little... vague... when it comes to the S.S. Sirchel :) If anyone cares... I possibly failed my History final, along with my elections speech. Meep. But I got a 96 in Math (yay).
Rachel woke with a start, cold sweat covering her face from a nightmare that was quickly slipping away from her. Once she had calmed down, she sighed heavily and let herself fall back into the plush mattress of her four-poster bed.
After lying there completely still for a while, Rachel discovered that she wasn't going back to sleep. She pushed aside her curtains and stepped out of bed.
And now what? she asked herself. Would she sneak down to the library to read? Or perhaps sneak down to the kitchens to smuggle some food (that being the most tempting of her ideas)?
Would she go to Sirius?
No, she would not. That she was sure of. What she was not sure of was whether Sirius even wanted a relationship with a nearly seventeen year-old girl that couldn't go back to bed after a nightmare.
Maybe he really did just want to snog her. It did seem like the most believable option to Rachel.
So she got dressed, cast a disillusionment charm on herself, and set off for the kitchens.
On the way, she passed a clock that said it was four in the morning.
That night became routine for her. Along with the nightmares.
Rachel entered the great Hall a few hours later to see it filled with fully-rested students bustling about and eating breakfast. Rachel tried to listen in to the regular breakfast blab. Breakfast was usually when most rumors got around and Rachel wanted to know if she had to do any damage control. She wasn't putting it past Sirius' crazy fan club and the Spotter Club to stalk Sirius everywhere.
Fortunately, she heard nothing.
And when she sat down at the Gryffindor table and Sirius barely acknowledged her from a few seats down, her heart may have cracked just a bit, but she would never admit it.
Rachel attempted to push all of her negativity and tiredness out of her head as she sat down next to Lily and across from Marlene. Dorcas quickly appeared beside her, followed by Mary and Alice.
"Out of bed before us again," Marlene observed. "What on earth is going on with you? Do you have a fever or something?"
"Nothing!" Rachel replied defensively.
"That's the 'I'm hiding something' tone," Lily noted smugly.
"Really?" Rachel asked. "You always seem to be using that tone."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded.
"She wants to know if you're frolicking into anyone's bed," Dorcas stated bluntly, the ghost of a smile oh her face. "Potter, specifically."
"Oh, I already know enough," Rachel teased with a smirk. In all honesty, she knew Lily wasn't even slightly interested in James, but it was fun to watch her squirm.
"So Alice," Rachel began, "what's new with you?"
Alice sighed sullenly and rested her elbows on the table, her hands supporting her chin. "Nothing," she replied sadly. "Still in the same rut with Frank."
Rachel gave her a sympathetic look and turned to Mary.
But before she could say anything, the doors to the Great Hall smashed open and the body at the entrance fell over, hitting the cold stone floor with a resonating thud in the silence if the Great Hall.
Rachel quickly got over her initial shock and was one of the first to stand up and run towards the fallen girl, along with Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Alice. The murmur started soon after, quickly escalating into a ruckus.
Rachel ran right up to the fallen girl and tried to help her as much as she could. She lifted her head from the stone floor and Rachel recognized her as a fellow Gryffindor. It was Emmeline Vance. She rarely talked to her, but Emmeline was one of the kindest people she knew.
She heard McGonagall running up behind her before the professor ordered, "Out of the way, we must take her to the infirmary."
Lily gently helped Rachel up in her socked state and they watched Emmeline be carried up to the infirmary by Hagrid. Rachel couldn't speak. She didn't really no what to think or why this happened, but she did know one thing.
Emmeline was a muggle-born. It was about time that everything from the Prophet about You-Know-Who started coming to life.
Rachel looked up and her gaze shifted to the Slytherin crowd. Standing near the front with his nose in the air was none other than Lucius Malfoy. Rachel desperately wanted to just slap that smug look off of his face. At the same time, however, she felt the smallest inkling of fear growing in her, as his deceitful gaze was steady on her.
With her jaw set, she turned away and walked out of the Great Hall, brushing right past Sirius.
Who, unfortunately, did not attempt to stop her or speak to her.
When Sirius followed after Rachel and her friends and saw the bloodied form of Emmeline Vance on the stone floor of the Great Hall, hate and guilt bubbled up inside him like an overheated potion.
His hate was directed at his family, his brother, the whole Slytherin house, for Merlin's sake! When people heard his name, they would think of this; a muggle-born girl that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His hate, however, was also directed towards himself. He hated that he was Sirius Black. In that moment, he would've given anything to be anyone else.
And the guilt, it pulsed inside him like an overshadowing monster. He knew this would happen; he heard his parents' talk of 'the Dark Lord's first strike will be small, but mighty'. But he didn't want to listen to his father's angry bouts, when he told Sirius that he'd end up just like all the other 'mudbloods' in that 'bloody school of yours'; murdered and trampled on.
All of this suddenly bubbled into anger as he looked up and saw his brother standing next to Malfoy like a little minion. Sirius' icy glare stayed focused on Regulus, who only blankly stared back. How could Sirius possibly be related to him?
Regulus narrowed his eyes at his brother. He didn't seem scared or fazed by Sirius' glare, He just seemed… unmoved. As if nothing of what just happened affected him.
Sirius felt someone push past him and that was when he caught Regulus scoff and look away. After a moment's hesitation, Sirius averted his gaze from his brother and turned to see who brushed past him, but saw no one.
Rachel nervously stood next to Emmeline's bed with her arms crossed. She'd been waiting for the girl to wake up. Rachel had been in the kitchens early that morning when she decided that a better way to spend her time would be to go see Emmeline.
And now, at seven in the morning, the wounded girl slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see Rachel standing at her bedside. Rachel smiled when she saw that Emmeline had woken up.
"How're you feeling?" Rachel asked, sitting on a chair next to her.
"Fine…" Emmeline responded slowly. "Did everyone else die except for the two of us or…?"
Rachel laughed. "No… unfortunately," she replied. This time Emmeline laughed. "But I thought I'd drop by to see how you're doing."
"I'm all right, considering I was attacked," Emmeline replied.
"Do you remember—?"
Rachel was cut off by a shriek as someone ran into the infirmary.
It was Irene. Well, it was about time. She'd been quiet for too long.
But Rachel was too on guard because of yesterday's event, so she stood up quickly and asked, "What? What happened? Is everything okay?"
"You'll never guess!" Irene shrieked. Happiness seemed to be her primary emotion. Rachel became confused.
"I won't, so tell me," Rachel said, clearly confused.
"Okay, so, like, I was just walking around and, like, minding my own business, right?" Irene started. "But then, like, you won't guess what I heard!"
"For Merlin's sake, Irene!" Rachel exclaimed. She was seriously peeved by now.
"Okay, so, Sirius Black—"
"Are you kidding me?" Rachel interrupted. Irene stopped talking abruptly, her face clouded with hurt and confusion. "People are getting attacked and all you care about is the next piece of gossip about Sirius Black?"
"But this is—"
"No! I don't care if he's actually a dog that likes to roll around in mud and plays fetch with giant spiders!" Rachel interrupted. "Why can't you ever take life serious—no, ugh, that's not—forget it!"
Irene crossed her arms with a 'humph' and narrowed her eyes at Rachel as she said, "Someone clearly has an inactive sex life."
Behind her, Rachel could hear Emmeline snort, trying to keep down her laughter. In shock and amusement, Rachel's jaw dropped.
"Did you…" Rachel tried to form words, but she couldn't because the next thing she knew, her and Emmeline were laughing like idiots.
Irene stood there staring at the two of them, dumbfounded. An angry expression came over her face as she shrieked, "I insulted you and you laugh?"
Through her laughter, Rachel managed to form a reply, "Irene, you need to learn something about me: You-Know-Who himself can come here and spew all the insults he wants and I still won't give a flying fuck."
Irene's expression turned offended and angry as she turned around to stomp off, but she stopped abruptly and seemed to have been shocked still. Emmeline and Rachel didn't notice this as they were still laughing.
"Inactive—oh Merlin!" Emmeline laughed.
"Sex!" Rachel laughed.
"… What?"
Rachel stopped laughing and turned around to see the reason Irene was still standing there.
Brilliant Sirius Black chose the perfect time to step in, didn't he?
Rachel smirked. "We were talking about your inactive sex life." She could hear Emmeline's stifled giggles behind her.
"Excuse me, I'll have you know that—"
But he was interrupted because Rachel and Emmeline started laughing again.
"Why'd you get so offended, Black?" Emmeline asked through her laughter.
"I didn't get—" Sirius shook his head. "What's wrong with the two of you, anyway?"
"Why don't you ask Blabber Mouth over here," Rachel replied, gesturing to Irene, who still hadn't moved or said anything.
"Why are you here, Sirius?" Irene sputtered out with a smile on her face.
"Erm… I, uh, needed to talk to Madam Pomfrey…" Sirius muttered.
"Pretty bad lying for a Marauder," Emmeline whispered to Rachel. Rachel nodded in agreement, a smirk on her face.
"She's not here!" Irene replied, still smiling. She stepped closer. "Anything I could do to help?"
"You could give him a sex life," Rachel muttered, smirking. Her and Emmeline tried to stifle their laughter. Sirius glared at her, but he was hiding a smile as well.
Irene turned sharply towards Rachel and then she ran out of the infirmary.
Sirius turned to Rachel. "Well that got rid of her pretty quick," Rachel observed, surprised. "I thought she'd stick around for the offer."
"Yeah, I should be a Marauder; professionally avoiding slags since Merlin's days."
"Oh, more like since the days of Godric Gryffindor," Emmeline said.
"Yes, well said," Rachel replied. She turned to Sirius. "Anyways, why are you here?"
He gave her a pointed look. Rachel frowned as confusion clouded her face.
"Yes…" she coaxed. "When one desires to speak, they must open their mouth and make noise using their vocal chords."
Emmeline was quick to realize what was going on, but said nothing. She only sat back in her bed and poked Rachel's back. Rachel turned to glare at her and Emmeline only rolled her eyes.
Sirius sighed exasperatedly. "Lily wants to talk to you and she asked me to get you."
"Oh… okay," Rachel stood up and followed after Sirius, waving goodbye to Emmeline. Why would Lily ask Sirius to get her? This didn't seem right.
Once they had exited the infirmary, Sirius grabbed her hand and led her to a more hidden hallway.
"Wait, what's happening?" Rachel asked in confusion. "Where's Lily?"
Sirius turned to her with a smirk. "You had a tough time understanding that I needed to talk to you so I used my handy dandy Marauder skills."
"Sorry, I don't speak facial expression," Rachel replied sarcastically, crossing her arms and facing Sirius. "Anyways, what is it you wanted to talk about?"
"What do you think?" Sirius asked.
After a long pause, Rachel replied, "I can't understand telepathy either."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "The lake, Rachel. What else?"
"Oh. Right. That."
"Why'd you snog me back?" Sirius asked quickly.
Rachel frowned at him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, Fredricks," Sirius said with a smirk. He leaned in closer and Rachel immediately recognized his teasing attitude. She raised an eyebrow. "You know me. And I know that we have different interests."
"Why'd you snog me in the first place then?" Rachel asked.
Sirius smirked. "Maybe I was looking for a good time."
"Maybe I was too."
"No you weren't."
Rachel stepped back. "What makes you so sure?"
"Good question."
They stood in silence for a moment. Rachel spoke first when she quietly asked, "What happens now?"
Sirius looked up at her and simply shrugged.
Rachel was let down by him once more. So she simply turned around and walked away.
Next chapter is the last of sixth year... heh, almost got you on that one :)
-This kind of leaves a huge, gaping hole in the S.S Sirchel... LIFEBOATS EVERYBODY!
-Grammar/spelling?
-Thoughts?
-Any other guesses on who the spy might've been? (someone was right last chapter, but I'm not going to say who)
Hasta la vista, muchachos :)
