A/N: Here it is! Took me some time (what with school and all), but it's up :)
Rachel pushed open the door to her and Sirius's flat late that evening. She was shocked to find that the lights were still on and Sirius was still up, sitting on one of the couches in the living room. He had some pieces of parchment and was reading them over when he looked up to smile at Rachel.
"Lily and James sent us another letter," he informed her.
Rachel smiled. "Really? How are they?" she asked.
"They say fine," Sirius responded. "And they sent some pictures."
Rachel walked up to Sirius and sat down next to him. He passed the photos to her and Rachel flipped through them. "Wow, Lily's huge!" Rachel exclaimed with a smile. "I just wish we could see them."
"We probably might if Dumbledore let's us babysit once the little scoundrel's born," Sirius commented.
Rachel sighed. "Yeah, maybe," she muttered. "This is so annoying though."
Sirius shrugged and wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders, pulling her close to him. "Better safe than sorry," he said.
"Yeah, I suppose," Rachel admitted.
"Anyways, how was work?" Sirius asked.
"Bloody miserable," Rachel replied. "Had to Obliviate some poor Muggles."
Sirius sighed. "I wish this would all just end," he said.
Rachel scoffed. "Tell me about it."
"Do you sometimes think that it won't end?" Sirius asked.
Rachel frowned and turned to face him. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is: do you ever think that it'll just keep going like this, or maybe that we'll lose?" Sirius clarified.
Rachel turned away and remained silent for a while. "I try not to," she whispered in reply.
"Yeah, me too," Sirius said.
Rachel clearly remembered the first night she had seen Sirius sad. That night, both of them had faced a large shock.
It was fairly early in the morning. They had just returned from some Order patrols together and were eating dinner leftovers in front of the telly. Rachel noted he had seemed a lot more quiet and distant than usual. He hadn't made any jokes or said much at all.
"Are you all right?" Rachel finally asked.
Sirius sighed. He knew he couldn't have kept it from her for too long. "No, not really," he replied. He turned his head to face her. "Did you know that my brother died?"
Rachel's eyes widened. "What?"
"Did you know?" Sirius repeated, his demeanor unchanging.
Rachel realized what he was thinking. "Sirius, I swear that if I knew anything about your brother, I would've told you," she said. "He was fairly off the grid. We didn't have much information on him and we certainly didn't know he was dead."
"Yeah, well it wasn't recent either," Sirius continued. "I just found out, but he died about a year ago."
Rachel allowed a moment of silence to fall between the two of them. "Are you all right?" she finally asked quietly.
"Of course I am," Sirius replied. "I didn't even like him that much."
He paused for a moment. Rachel stared uncertainly at him.
"No, I'm not," Sirius said all of a sudden. "He was my brother and I never let him know I care. So no, I'm not all right."
Rachel saw it on his face. Sadness and regret. She nodded lightly. "Good to know you're human."
Sirius smiled slightly. "Thanks."
There was a knock at the door and both of them jumped up and grabbed their wands off of the coffee table in front of them. They approached the door cautiously and silently. Rachel pressed herself next to the door frame and Sirius reached for the doorknob.
He pulled the door open.
Sirius immediately relaxed. "Mooney, glad to see you," he breathed.
Rachel moved next to him and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Merlin," she said.
Remus, however, didn't look as relieved as the two of them. In fact, he looked very tense and angry, which was very unusual for the young man.
"Come in," Sirius ordered. Remus quickly shuffled in and the door was closed behind him.
"So, why the early morning visit?" Rachel asked. "Want some tea?"
"No thanks," Remus muttered. "I came here to tell you something," he added quietly.
"Oh?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms. "What's that?"
Remus clenched his teeth together and Rachel couldn't help but grown nervous. Sirius frowned slightly.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked worriedly.
Remus gave her a sad look.
"Dorcas was abducted," he said quietly.
Rachel's eyes widened in shock. "What?" she exclaimed.
"She was on patrols with Dearborn and they got attacked by about twenty Death Eaters," Remus replied. "Dearborn was killed on the spot, but they took Dorcas captive."
"Well, when's the rescue mission?" Rachel asked.
Remus sighed. "We have no leads, no witnesses, and it was five in the morning," he said quietly. "We can't go on a rescue mission."
"That's bullshit!" Rachel shouted. "You could rescue me, but not her?"
"That was a lot easier to trace," Remus explained calmly. "We had loads of witnesses and it was in broad daylight. We can't—"
"So you're telling my that not one person in the Order can do one fucking thing to save the first friend I ever had?" Rachel asked.
"Rachel—"
"Just forget it, Remus," she interrupted. "I'll see you later."
Remus nodded and left silently. Rachel sat shakily in a chair close by. She buried her face in her hands and tried to hold back the tears, but she already felt them running down her cheeks. A sob escaped her throat and she felt Sirius's hand on her back.
"I know you want to do it, but don't," she heard Sirius say. "You'll get yourself killed."
"I didn't want to do anything," Rachel muttered, clearly lying.
She felt Sirius's hands grip her shoulders and looked up to meet his gaze. "I know you," he said. "You want to go rescue her yourself. Well, I'm not letting you."
Rachel stared blankly at him. I'm still going, she thought stubbornly.
"I don't know if you get this or not," Sirius continued, "but you are my last family. I consider you family, because I have no one left. James is in hiding somewhere and my real family is dead. So don't even think of doing something so rash."
I guess that's my evening plans out the window, Rachel thought with a bit of guilt. She would never want to hurt Sirius.
Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her nose in his shoulder. The tears started running down her face more and her sobs came more often.
"It'll be fine," she heard Sirius whisper. "Nothing we can't handle, love."
It was a small ceremony. Very few people attended, but Rachel feared that was because there were very few people left. This was her sixth funeral since graduation. She never in her life imagined it would be Dorcas.
The casket was buried, the tombstone was up, and everyone else had gone, but Rachel remained, Sirius still standing patiently by her side. She didn't want to move. Deep inside, she hoped Dorcas had some unknown superpowers of immortality. Rachel couldn't accept that she was actually dead.
It must've been hours until Sirius finally spoke. "It's getting dark," he said. "We might get attacked."
Like I bloody give a fuck, Rachel thought bitterly. Her closest friend had died. She couldn't care less, even if it was that cowardly git Malfoy that took her life.
But she wouldn't do that to Sirius. So when she felt his hand grasp hers tightly, she willingly turned and walked away from the tombstone alongside him.
At least now things can't possibly get any worse, Rachel thought.
Hope you liked it! :)
-Grammar/spelling?
-Kind of taking a turn towards angsty... did it work for Sirius and Rachel?
-Overall?
Thanks for reading! :)
