Hi. So we have arrived at the final chapter to 'Finding Magic'. There will be a full list of thanks at the end of this chapter, but for now just sit back and relax as you enjoy the final chapter in the second Rachel Evans tale.

Chapter 22

"Jennifer? Jennifer can you hear me?" Rachel opened her eyes to Poppy Pomfrey's voice. The older woman was kneeling over her, whilst Rachel still lay on the floor of her bedroom.

"Oh thank goodness. You scared a young girl senseless Jenny." Before Poppy could finish her sentence Rachel had crushed her in a bone crushing hug. Poppy was taken aback, but none the less she hugged back.
"Jennifer, are you alright?" Poppy asked worried.

"I'm not Jennifer." Rachel said directly into Poppy's ear. The older woman froze.

"What do you mean?" She asked trying desperately not to get her hopes up. Rachel let go of the woman and placed her face directly in front of Poppy's.

"It's me Poppy; Rachel." Poppy gasped. She took in the woman in front of her. Whilst she still looked like Jennifer, there was something different about her eyes. They seemed older, full of memory.

"You checked me over when I was injured fighting Severus's dad when I was 15. You were the first person to discover Severus and I had Soul Marks." Rachel said to the shocked woman. Poppy looked back at Rachel.

"What did I say when you showed me your mark?" Poppy questioned, wanting so desperately to be right in what she thought. Rachel laughed.

"Well first you said there was nothing there cause I forgot to take my charm off, then you said nothing, your eyes just nearly popped out of your head."

Poppy couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was her, it was Rachel.

"Oh darling." Poppy returned the pair to the bone crushing hug, and felt tears falling down her face. "You came home. What happened to you?"
"Spell went wrong and I got trapped in my own mind." Rachel summed up. Poppy gasped.

"Trapped in your mind?"
"Yeah, Jenny helped me get out though. Then she became part of me again." Rachel explained.

"Poppy,"
"Yes?"

"Where is she? I want to see her." Poppy instantly knew who Rachel meant she wanted to see.

"She's in the hospital wing, but I think you should see a certain little girl and dog first, because you scared them senseless." Poppy waved her wand and opened the door to the bedroom. Chloe and Lola came bounding in.

"Is Jenny ok?" Chloe asked, her eyes red and blotchy. Lola meanwhile spotted Rachel and bounded over to her and began licking her to death. Rachel laughed and hugged the dog.

"See for yourself Chloe dear." Poppy said getting herself up off the floor.

"Hey Chloe." Came Rachel's voice. Chloe bounded over to the woman and joined Lola in hugging her.

"Hey hey hey, I'm not going anywhere." Rachel reassured her.

"I was so scared, I thought you were dead Jenny." Chloe cried.

"Chloe look at me. I will not leave you, ever. Do you understand?" She stared her directly in the eyes as she spoke so compassionately to the young girl. Chloe nodded and returned to hugging her. "I've just got one request for you. Can you stop calling me Jenny?" Rachel asked her. Chloe looked confused, before Rachel smiled at her. Chloe gasped.

"You got your memories back!" She cried. "Didn't you?" Rachel nodded.

"Yeah I did. Turns out Dumbledore was right after all." Chloe smiled at her teacher.
"So what do I call you now?" She replied with her cheeky grin that Rachel had seen a lot of within the last few hours.
"Rachel, you can all call me Rachel."

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office his deputy facing him as he told her everything of the conversation he had shared with Jennifer and Chloe only a few hours before.

"Albus if she wants to leave, you know that we can't stop her." Minerva reasoned with the older man she considered a friend.

"I understand that, but how can you be so calm about this? Lily and Severus will be devastated."

"Yes they will, but in the long run wouldn't they be happier knowing that Rachel could still be out there and not just settling for Jennifer?" Albus was just about to reply when he spotted something in Minerva's eyes. They were twinkling and sparkling like he hadn't seen in a while. He remembered the jokes she used to play in school (although she wouldn't admit it, but a young Minerva could have given the Weasley twin's a run for their money), that look was evident on her face all the time during her youth.
"Why are you smiling?" He couldn't help but ask. Before Minerva could answer Poppy Pomfrey came rushing through the door almost dragging a laughing Jenny and Chloe behind her, Lola barking her way along with them.

"Poppy you have got to slow down, the students were staring at us the whole way here!" Rachel laughed.

"Poppy what on earth…" Albus started but Poppy interrupted before he could finish.

"She's got her memories back!"

Albus and Minerva stared at the young woman standing in the room trying to get her breath back. She smiled.

"Tell them!" Poppy cried, "tell them what you told me."

"My name isn't Jennifer," She said once she could talk and breathe, "My name is Rachel Evans." Albus gasped, Minerva's smile got bigger.

"And she can prove it too!" Poppy said her excitement levels raising.

"You can?" Albus said hoping not to get his excitement levels up but finding it hard not to.

"Sure," Rachel said with a smile, "You gave me the book 'Myths and Legends through Time' when I was 11, after I told you what I did to Lucius Malfoy on the Hogwarts Express the first time I came here." Albus's smile got bigger, Rachel turned to Minerva.

"And you, you carried me through the castle and put me back to bed after I finished crying in this office after that meeting, and I do apologise for making your shoulder wet with my tears." She smirked. It was then that Minerva noticed Rachel had the wand she had placed in her room earlier that day, in its holder strapped to her arm. Minerva couldn't stand it any longer and embraced the woman in a hug, Rachel hugging back tighter than she had ever hugged before.

"Oh darling, welcome home." Minerva cried into Rachel's shoulder.

"What happened to you that night?" Albus asked the burning question.

"Long story short, someone tried to erase my memory, spell went wrong and I got trapped in my own mind." Rachel summed up again. Minerva let the woman go and Albus claimed her for his hug.

"Look it's not that I'm not enjoying this re-union," Rachel started. "But can I see my sister please?"

"Of course, what were we thinking keeping you, to the hospital wing." Albus commanded as he pushed all the females towards the fireplace in his office. Rachel was still laughing, as Albus squeezed in with the 4 females, Chloe grabbed hold of Rachel's waist, and she held the young girl close.

Lily was working in the hospital wing that afternoon. Maddie was seeing to the remaining patients, whilst Lily had taken to re-organising the supply cupboard in order to keep away from everyone. Poppy had been called away a little while ago, Lily wasn't sure where, but she knew Maddie could keep order on her own for now, she would call if anything happened. She knew she had hurt Jennifer badly, and probably lost the only woman who had come close to being her twin in nearly 9 years. Tears welled up in her eyes and she thought about what she'd done. Not only had she ruined any relationship with Jenny, she had seriously damaged her friendship with the others in their little group. James hadn't spoken to her for a few days once he discovered what she had done, Alice and Frank couldn't look her in the eyes without Lily seeing disappointment in their eyes, and the same could be said for Remus and Tonks. Sirius had just sighed and left the room when he found out what she done. Maddy had tried to help her friend but even she was still wary of Lily. Severus had just stopped talking to Lily altogether, that hurt a lot, but she knew she deserved it. There was a rumour going around that Severus had fallen for Jenny, but Lily knew better. She knew that the man she loved like a brother could never love another until he discovered what happened to his one true love: Rachel. She suddenly heard a squeal from the main hospital wing which she recognised as Maddy's voice. Grabbing her wand she rushed out half expecting Maddy to be hurt, instead she stopped instantly when she saw the sight in front of her. Albus, Minerva and Poppy stood to one side watching like proud parents as Maddy and Jenny hugging tightly. She recognised one of the students Chloe Harris standing aside from Jenny and Maddy, Minerva had a hand on one of Chloe's shoulders.

"Lily?" Maddy said as she spotted the other witch from over Jenny's shoulder. Lily saw Jenny tense in Maddy's arms, then she turned slowly to face Lily. Lily half expected Jenny's face to be a mask of anger, but she saw something else instead; happiness and joy. Before Lily could process what she had seen, Jenny had crossed the room and engulfed Lily in the tightest hug Lily had ever felt. Unsure of what to do Lily froze, until she heard a familiar voice in her head.

"Hey big twin, you miss me?!"

Rachel held onto her sister as if she was going to disappear, when she felt Lily freeze, she knew what she had to do. Using their telepathic link she reached out to her sister and spoke a sentence that would leave Lily with no doubt as to who was hugging her. She realised instantly the second Lily heard her voice. Lily pulled herself out from the hug and stared the other woman straight into the eyes. The brilliant blue stared back at her, tears forming in them.

"Rachel?" Lily managed to stutter out barely holding her own tears at bay, her voice was breaking and cracking as James, Frank, Alice, Tonks and Sirius hurried into the room, obviously having been alerted by someone, Albus or Minerva most probably.

"Lils?" James called out, as Lily reached for Rachel and pulled her close finally letting her tears fall.
"Oh god it is you!" She cried out as Rachel held her sister close.

For a while nobody dared go near either of the girls, they both had sunk to the floor holding each other crying into each other's shoulders. The other Marauder's slowly edged their way forward Maddy holding back, as she knew what the reunion was over. James coughed breaking the sisters out of their embrace. Lily looked up at her husband.

"She's home." Was all she managed to stutter out. Tonks gasped as she was the first to wrap her head around Lily's words. Her hair turned a bright pink and Rachel laughed.

"Come here Nymphadora." For once Tonks didn't correct her name, and just launched herself at Rachel who had just managed to stand, and suddenly found herself off balance as she caught the younger woman. Alice soon began laughing and sandwiched Rachel between herself and Tonks, both girls laughing their head off.

"So much for you being Dumbledore and McGonagall's illegitimate child." Alice laughed. James and Sirius looked at each other and mouthed 'what is she talking about?' Both men shook their heads as if to say 'no idea'. Remus was the next to join in the hug and soon James and Sirius joined in also and Rachel was sandwiched in the middle of her oldest and most dear friends.

"I've missed you all so much." She cried from the middle of the hug.

"Jen…Rachel" Chloe corrected herself, "what about professor Snape?"

Rachel froze in the middle of the hug.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"He's probably still teaching." Alice replied looking at her watch as the group broke apart.

"I need to see him." Rachel said turning to Lily as she spoke. Lily just nodded and grabbed hold of her sister's hand and the pair rushed out of the hospital wing, with James, Sirius, Maddy, Tonks, Remus, Alice, Frank, Chloe, Albus and Minerva rushing after them.

Severus was in the middle of his last forth year class of the term, his Gryffindor and Slytherin mixed class. Something felt wrong with the day. He couldn't put his finger on it precisely, but something felt off. He had felt a wave of pain wash over him earlier in the class prompting one of the students to ask if he was ok. He had responded with a grunt and told the class to get on with their work.

There was only 20 minutes left of the lesson, when there was a noise from the corridor outside the potions classroom, some of the students lifted their heads towards the door, but turned quickly back to their work when Severus barked at them. He was just about to rise from his desk to shout at whoever was disturbing his class, when the door flew open and in burst Lily and Jenny, red in the face, breathing deeply and holding hands. Closely following them was the rest of the Marauder's, Chloe, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" Severus shouted as all the students in the class turned to face the adults now pilling into the room. Lily opened her mouth as if she was about to speak, but suddenly something stopped her. She turned to Jenny and muttered something inaudible to the rest of the room. Jenny laughed.

"I'm waiting." Severus reprimanded. There was something about the way Jenny was looking at him that made him feel something funny was happening. Before he could get another chance to speak, Jenny had let go on Lily's hand and was making her way towards him. Severus tried hard to keep his icy persona up, but something in her eyes was making him stop and stare. He could hear some of the students in his class murmuring to each other as Jenny made her was ever closer to him. She stopped inches away from his face, her smile getting bigger by the second. He could see her eyes were red most probably from crying, why she had been crying he didn't know.

"Hi." She said. Severus was confused.

"Hello?" He said, a puzzled expression forming on his face. Jenny giggled. The students gasped in unison as she raised a hand to Severus's cheek and placed on his skin. The room was engulfed in silence as Severus turned his glare towards the woman standing in front of him. He went to bat her hand away, and his hand caught her wrist in his. The warmth that immediately spread through-out his body was instantaneous. Severus and Jenny pulled away from each other instantly both grabbing their wrists and holding them tightly as they both hissed in pain. The heat was radiating from either of their wrists. Maddy and Alice both went to rush forward towards the pair but Lily and Albus held them back.

"What in merlin's name?" Jenny said. Severus froze. Her voice sounded different. His attention was suddenly changed when he realised what wrist was hurting him, the wrist holding his tattoo. Jenny seemed to have the same thought as him and rolled up her sleeve, Severus doing the same. Both were shocked to see their tattoo's burning brightly on their pale skin. Severus lifted his head and caught sight of the mark on Jenny's wrist. His mouth dropped open.

"Rachel?" He stammered out. The students stared at him. Nobody knew why had had just called Miss Matthews Rachel, her name was Jennifer.

Rachel looked up when she heard Severus call her name. His eyes were wide and staring directly at her. She smiled back and dropped her sleeve as she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Severus wrapped his arms around her and held her tighter than he ever dared dream.

"Is it really you?" He murmured into her ear.

"Of course it is you daft twit." Rachel whispered back. Both pulled apart from their embrace and their mouths met in a fusion of passion. The rest of the room was blocked out as the two loves got lost in themselves. Neither heard the gasps and whispers of the students from Severus's class, neither heard the cheering and clapping from their friends and family, neither heard the click from the camera Lily magic'ed up and used to take a photo, and neither heard Dumbledore's booming voice as he commanded the students to pack up their belongings and leave the classroom in a quiet and orderly fashion, waving his own wand to place all the unused ingredients back into their appropriate places and vanishing the caldrons. Then he and Minerva ushered out the remaining students and adults, leaving Rachel and Severus to each other, locking the door as they left.

Rachel and Severus were simply lost in each other as their kiss became more desperate and they held each other closer. Severus was the first to break for air, with Rachel soon following. They soon realised the classroom was empty and laughed.

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming." Severus spoke his voice on the verge of breaking. Rachel placed one hand on either of Severus's cheeks and turned his gaze to match hers.

"This isn't a dream," She spoke. "I am back, and I'm not going anywhere." The pair smiled to each other, before their lips met again. Unable to hold in his desire for his witch any longer, Severus used all his strength to lift her from her feet, automatically Rachel wrapped her legs around Severus's waist and held onto him, as he walked towards the entrance to his quarters at the side of the classroom, kissing Rachel all the way. He had spent 9 years being without Rachel, and now she was back, nothing on this earth or any other planet was going to stop him from being with her; nothing.

And there we have it, she's home to stay. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has liked, followed, favorited and review my story. I really appreciate the interest, and it makes me feel like I am a good writer.

So that is unfortunately where I am going to leave you for now. Don't worry Rachel will be back, but I need to get some other stories sorted before so it maybe a while before I post again, but she will return. Until then, please feel free to read my other stories and I am always open to suggestions for ideas for new stories and ideas to incorporate into my current stories.

As per the norm by now, please read and review, and I'm sending virtual cookies to everyone, thank you and I love you all :)

Beth xxx