A/N: Hey guys, I have some sad news... this is the last chapter. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this and I want to thank you all for reading this story and sticking with it. Lots of love to everyone :)
September 1, 1994
The Great Hall was bustling with talk as students dug into the feast prepared for them. Rachel's eyes slowly dragged over the students' faces. Some looked familiar, but only because it was simple to tell who their parents were. Like that blond boy at the Slytherin table was most certainly Lucius Malfoy's son. If only he let his hair grew out the two would look exactly the same.
And then there was Harry.
Rachel knew she couldn't exactly approach him. What would she say? Oh, hi, I was your mom's best friend and your godfather's girlfriend, so how's life? Didn't exactly seem like it would be the smoothest conversation ever.
Anyways, after Mad-Eye's grandiose entrance, there seemed to be a lot of hushed talking the Great Hall, both among the students and the teachers. Rachel considered talking to Moody and had actually planned to have a nice conversation over dinner with her past mentor, but he seemed a bit on edge. Rachel knew from experience that it was best not to talk to the man in that state.
At the same time, he seemed quite joyous when he took a heaping bite out of a chicken leg.
With a sigh, Rachel's eyes continued skimming over the Great Hall from the corner she was standing guard at. Maybe she should thank Dumbledore for putting her in this working position. It seemed pretty relaxed to her.
February 23, 1994
Five months Rachel had been stationed at Hogwarts, and now she finally understood why Dumbledore asked her to do this. The revival of the Triwizard Tournament wasn't exactly the safest thing in the world. Having a few ready and armed Aurors at have may have been a smart idea.
Especially when the Boy Who Lived was at the center of attention.
It absolutely infuriated Rachel that Dumbledore would allow this. How could she just let a fourteen year-old boy participate in some of the most dangerous games of the Wizarding World? In the end, Rachel supposed Harry was the only reason she stuck around in her post at Hogwarts. She felt this responsibility to protect him.
And then there was something else that bothered Rachel. Moody was acting a bit strange. She had known the man since she was seventeen, and while in the past few years she had only spoken to him through letters, she knew him well enough to know that something was definitely up with him.
However, Rachel had other matters to worry about. Like Harry. She had to keep a close eye on him and make sure he didn't get into any trouble. By now he'd probably spotted her lurking around him often. If Harry didn't, then his friend Hermione surely did. But besides, Rachel's lurking paid off. She was fairly sure that Harry was in contact with Sirius.
Which now brought her to Sirius, her other worry. They had been exchanging letters and Sirius managed to fill her in on everything going on with him as best as he could using code. Sometimes, the code took hours to decipher and sometimes it took Rachel mere seconds. Despite that, every letter was comforting and assured her that he was alive, which was enough for her.
With all of these things on her mind, Rachel wasn't sure she could keep track. When her mind would think of one thing, it would then wander to another and she'd get distracted. At least her Auror life wasn't too exciting.
Rachel strolled through the halls of Hogwarts and passed by Moody's office. In a last-minute decision, she knocked on the door lightly and pushed it open. Rachel stuck her head in and smiled. "Hello, Moody," she greeted. "How are you doing today?"
Moody looked up suddenly, his face blank. In a split second he let out a grunt in greeting. "Fine, and you, Fredricks?" he asked.
"All right I suppose," Rachel replied. "I was just wondering—"
Suddenly, the large, old chest in his office shook violently and a loud scream came from it. Rachel's eyes widened. "What the bloody hell is in there?" she asked.
"You don't want to know," Moody answered. "Let me tell you though: it was more than an eye for an eye."
Rachel nodded slowly. "Right…" she said. "Well I guess I'll see you around."
August 2, 1995
Honestly, Rachel was an idiot. She had been telling herself so for two and a half months.
How the hell did she not connect Moody's oddness to him just not being Moody? Rachel had to face the truth: she was getting old.
Nevertheless, she'd have to stop letting that whole situation with Barty Crouch Jr. bug her so much. At least the matter had been resolved and Harry hadn't been hurt. Although, now there was a new problem at hand: Voldemort was back, even if the Ministry was denying it.
And this was possibly how Rachel found herself as part of the Order all over again.
Honestly, if Rachel knew that after years of devoting herself to having a calm and peaceful life she would just end up in the same whirlwind as before, she wouldn't have even bothered. However, this was another thing she'd just have to let go. Rachel didn't have the time to let these things bother her.
"So, where are the new Order headquarters anyways?" Rachel asked as her and Emmeline turned onto a small Muggle street with low-rise apartment buildings.
Emmeline smirked. "You'll see," she said.
Rachel sighed. "Tonks, you want to tell me?" she asked, turning to the younger woman.
"Sadly, I was sworn to secrecy," Tonks answered. "But honestly, I don't see the big deal."
"That's because you don't know, Tonks," Emmeline insisted. "Anyways, we're here."
Rachel looked around. "Where?"
With another smirk, Emmeline thumped her broomstick against the pavement three times, each hit echoing into the night. Suddenly, the apartment buildings numbered '11' and '13' started being pushed apartment as an old, narrow house numbered '12' appeared.
"Welcome to 12 Grimmauld Place," Emmeline said. "Let's go."
Rachel followed after Tonks and Emmeline into the house. Rachel was immediately surprised by the narrow hallway. Honestly, you'd think wizards would use their magical abilities to make some more space to walk on the inside. Rachel was glad when they reached the foot of the stairs and they were able to stand together so she could see both Emmeline and Tonks.
"So this place is really old and musty, huh?" Rachel said observingly. "What happened? Does the Order suddenly have a really low budget?"
"FILTHY MUDBLOODS!"
Rachel jumped and screamed loudly as a scratchy, high-pitched voice shrieked behind her. She ran straight into Tonks and turned around to see a pair of curtains pulled apart revealing a painting of an old woman dressed in black.
"Wow, these are some really smart headquarters," Rachel said, still trying to steady her heart rate. "You'd never guess the Order gathers here."
"ALL OF THIS FILTHY BLOOD IN MY HOUSE!"
"Yeah, um, speaking of," Rachel said, turning to face Emmeline and Tonks. "Whose house is this anyway? It could use some serious sprucing up. This place is just downright depressing."
"Uh, funny you should bring that up—"
"HOW COULD YOU BE SO IGNORANT OF THE ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK!"
"The ancient house of—?" Rachel suddenly paused as realization dawned on her. "Wow, you guys are unbelievable. Em, you are the worst friend ever."
"I'm sorry, did you just say 'best friend ever'?" Emmeline asked. "Yes, I thought you did."
"How could you not tell me—?"
"Oi, just shut up and come up here, will you?"
Rachel's mouth clamped shut and her head slowly turned and looked up the stairs. Her mouth dropped open again as she saw Sirius standing at the top of the stairs. There he was, just ten feet away from her. He was so close and there was no reason they would suddenly be pulled apart again. Her face broke out into a large smile.
And then she ran up the stairs and crashed straight into Sirius, her arms wrapping around him right away. He immediately hugged her back and pulled her as close tom him as he could.
After a long moment, Emmeline asked, "So how long are you going to stand there like that?"
"How's fourteen years?" Rachel replied, her voice muffled by Sirius's shoulder.
Emmeline rolled her eyes. "I'll be in the kitchen, eating," she said. "Come on, Tonks. These two have some serious catching up to do."
"Wait, they were—" Tonks paused. "Aw, come on, Rachel. You mentored me for over a year and never mentioned this once?"
"Tonks, move it," Emmeline said threateningly. "Or I'm calling you by your first name."
Tonks grumbled something about always being in the dark and followed after Emmeline.
Rachel pulled away slightly and looked at Sirius. Her eyes skimmed over his face. He had aged, but he still had that same smirk on his face and that same look in his eye when you could tell he was up to something. Looking at him, Rachel couldn't believe that he was in her arms again.
"So, here we are—" Sirius started.
"—just bloody kiss me, you idiot," Rachel interrupted.
Sirius smirked and leaned forward to meet their lips. The kiss was exactly what it should've been. All of the things they ever felt in one simple action. Slow and gentle but at the same time there was something about the way their lips moved that seemed passionate and needy.
And even after all that time, Rachel still felt tingles go up her spine.
When they pulled apart, they were both smiling at each other uncontrollably. "How about we do it right this time?" Rachel asked.
"Oh? How so?" Sirius asked.
"Well, we've found ourselves in another Wizarding War," Rachel started, "but we'll fight through it. What I mean is, no more obstacles between us getting married. I swear to Merlin, if one more thing comes up, be it Azkaban or whatever, someone will get hurt and I will tear that bloody obstacle to the ground."
Sirius laughed. "Basically, we're getting through this together, no matter what," Sirius concluded.
Rachel smiled. "No matter what," she repeated.
July 3, 1996
Moody sighed as he dropped the two files on his desk. He had been torturing himself with them for a while now. The man had seen many things in his long career as an Auror and been through a lot of hardships, but for some reason, nothing hit him quite as hard as this one event. He felt guilty for some reason, like he had not met his responsibilities.
He sat down and opened the first file and read through it:
Name: Sirius Orion Black
Appearance: 5 f 10 in, black hair, grey eyes, 160 lbs
Blood Status: Pureblood
Wand: 15 inches, Birchwood, unicorn hair core, flexible
Profession: -
Loyalties: Gryffindor House, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, The Order of the Phoenix
Date/Location of Birth: November 1, 1959; St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, London
Date/Location of Death: June 18, 1996; Death Chamber, Ministry of Magic, London
Cause of Death: The Killing Curse, executed by Bellatrix Lestrange
Moody closed the file and pushed it aside. He opened up the other one and sadly skimmed through it:
Name: Rachel Morag Fredricks
Appearance: 5 f 6 in, light brown hair, hazel eyes, 120 lbs
Blood Status: Halfblood/Muggle-born
Wand: 13 inches, Pine, dragon heartstring core, hard
Profession: Auror
Loyalties: Gryffindor House, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, The Order of the Phoenix, Ministry of Magic
Date/Location of Birth: June 25, 1960; Crichton Royal Hospital, Scotland
Date/Location of Death: June 18, 1996; Death Chamber, Ministry of Magic, London
Cause of Death: The Killing Curse, executed by Bellatrix Lestrange
Moody closed file and pushed it away as well. He let out a sad sigh. He could've prevented this. Rachel had been his favourite student and she had been happiest with Sirius, and they were both gone now at the hands of one Death Eater. What was worse was that Harry had started to get along with Rachel. He had welcomed her as family.
Moody knew he had to move on from this. There were plans to be put into place. A new war was dawning on the world and they had to be prepared, and there was one thing Moody could promise.
This war would be won and Rachel and Sirius would be damn proud.
So, that was it. I didn't have the heart to write out Rachel watching Sirius die. it made me so sad and I honestly couldn't handle it.
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