Rachel sighed as she glanced around her mental connection to the Dark Lord. One thing she had to work on was seeing if she could wake herself up from these dreams. In the rest of her mental architecture it was as simple as concentrating on her body and opening her eyes. She tried that now, reaching for her body. She couldn't feel it anywhere. It was like she was completely disconnected, which was disturbing in a whole new way.
The Dark Lord approached, his expression unreadable.
"Is this what things look like on your end?" she asked, trying to take control of the conversation from the start.
"In what manner?" the Dark Lord asked.
Rachel waved her hands around. "This dark misty place. We are in my mind, aren't we? What does the connection look like on your end, in your mental architecture?"
"There is no connection on my end," he said.
She couldn't tell at all from his expression if he was lying. He had to be, didn't he? "If there's no connection on your end, then how are we talking like this?"
"You are open to me. I've felt you on the edge of my mind for the past two years. There is a connection, but it is entirely in your mind."
She stopped himself from asking if he could feel her emotions, because that would make it obvious that she could feel his. "What do I feel like?" she settled for asking.
"Like a pair of eyes on me. I trust you and Dumbledore have attempted to close this connection in your mind."
"We've tried, but no one seems to know anything about it at all." She felt she could be honest about that.
"It does appear to be something unique to us. I have also searched for an understanding of how it works and how to use it, but have been left to trial and error. Presumably it has to do with you surviving the Killing Curse, as no one has ever done that before either." The Dark Lord frowned as he appeared to study her. "You are otherwise unremarkable, at least on the surface. But if that was true, you would be dead already. You want to live, surely?"
"I suppose."
"I have already told you that I know when you lie. Take care to speak truthfully or you'll regret it."
Rachel stared at him as she tried to figure out if she was supposed to tell him that she wanted to live or that she wanted to die. "Let's just say that I understand that my lifespan is likely to be limited and have adjusted my expectations accordingly."
"You expect Dumbledore to use you as the sacrificial lamb. Does Severus know?" he asked, raising his brow.
"No," she said, knowing that was the answer he expected.
"What would Severus do if he found out his master intends to kill his child? Everyone says Severus is overly attached to you. Clearly he views you as a replacement for your mother." The Dark Lord waited for a long moment. "Well?"
"Professor Dumbledore says that he's going to protect me," Rachel tried, wishing to skip the subject of Severus.
"But you know better."
Rachel nodded and wondered, just a little, if Professor Dumbledore really believed she could kill the Dark Lord. She wasn't even sure she could remember him saying as much.
"And Severus is as blind as ever. You could save him, if you wanted to," the Dark Lord said, looking at her for a moment before wandering in the direction of Rachel's manifestation and the hole in the wall that led to the rest of her mind.
Rachel followed. "You would truly forgive him for betraying you?"
"No. I do not forgive betrayal. The only thing forgiving a betrayal will get you is to be betrayed again. However, I could be convinced to let him live. Tell me about this." He had stopped and was staring at her manifestation.
"My manifestation? I don't really know much about her. She was already in my mind when I first came in. She's not very friendly."
"My manifestation will render an intruder mind damaged. Likely dead. Interestingly, he is also a younger version of myself, though certainly not as young as yours," he said, tilting his head slightly as he observed Rachel's manifestation.
"How did you get yours to do that? Mine just kicks people out. She's sort of useless." Worse than useless, in some ways. She knew her manifestation was guarding the connection, and while she was glad she was keeping the Dark Lord out, it would be much better to close the connection entirely.
"I built mine with specific functions. If your manifestation doesn't do what you want her to do, you can simply deconstruct her and try again. It's an unpleasant process, but necessary for the optimal protection of your mind." The Dark Lord turned to look at her again. "I'm told that is one of your weaknesses."
"The lack of protection of my mind?" she asked, unable to imagine who might have suggested that to him. As far as she knew, everyone who even knew about mind magic thought her mind to be well protected.
The Dark Lord shook his head ever so slightly, his red eyes fixed on her. "No, your lack of ruthlessness. You aren't willing to hurt someone, even to defend yourself."
That was true enough. She didn't even really like casting the training spell at people and she was getting nowhere with the Killing Curse despite Severus attempting to teach her again. "I don't like hurting people," she said.
"Even people who are trying to kill you?"
Rachel nodded.
"What about when you were a child? Didn't you want to stop them? Didn't you want to hurt them for hurting you?" the Dark Lord pressed.
Now they were back to her childhood again and she really didn't want to go there. "I wanted them to stop."
"Remember what I told you about lying to me," he warned.
"I did want them to stop. I just didn't think there was anything that would make them stop. I couldn't hurt them. There wasn't a way for me to hurt them," she insisted.
"There is always a way. You simply weren't intelligent enough to see it."
Rachel reminded herself that she wasn't going to argue with the Dark Lord. Her only goal could be ending this conversation with as little given to him as possible.
"I pity you. That is why I am here. To give you another option. You have been kept all your life in a box. A cupboard, if you will. You believe Dumbledore let you out of that box, but all he did is give you a bigger box. I am offering you a way out. You don't have to be the sacrificial lamb. Continue to give it some thought. Tell Dumbledore that the Wizengamot should hold an election now instead of in a year. It is in everyone's best interests."
"I'll tell him," Rachel promised. A moment later, she woke up.
After turning on her lamp and placing a warming charm on her blankets, Rachel drew her knees up to her chest and considered what she was going to write down. Any references to her wanting to die were completely out. It wasn't that she wanted to die. She was going to die and she accepted that. She felt it was a good thing that she was thinking of the upsides to her dying instead of focusing on fear and how much it would hurt people.
She was hesitating over the idea that Professor Dumbledore would sacrifice her. It didn't exactly help that she'd wondered that herself, and she thought that Severus was wary of the possibility as well. Finally she decided that part didn't matter so much. If Severus and Professor Dumbledore had a conversation about it, Professor Dumbledore would say that he planned to protect her and that the Dark Lord was trying to manipulate them. Which he certainly was.
Rachel didn't believe that the Dark Lord would leave Severus alive either, no matter what he said. After all, he'd told Severus that he'd leave Rachel's mom alive, and look how well that had turned out. On second thought, she decided she was leaving the Dark Lord's observations about her and Severus' relationship out too. She did not need to have that conversation with Severus.
She opened her book and began to write, doing her best to both recall the Dark Lord's phrasing and to stitch together the conversation with her omissions. It wasn't perfect, but any irregularities could be covered up by saying she simply didn't remember the whole conversation. She could make this work.
Gladys' hoot alerted Rachel to the kitchen window as she finished making her scrambled eggs, where two tawny owls were making their way in with a large package each.
"On the kitchen table," she told them, since most owls seemed to have a grasp of basic instructions. They landed and Rachel took some of her cooked egg in her hands and carefully gave each of them a snack. They joined Gladys on the perch to take a drink out of her water bowl and Rachel approached and gave Gladys a piece of egg as well so that she wouldn't feel left out.
After washing her hands and putting what remained of her scrambled eggs on a piece of toast, Rachel returned to the kitchen table and cast a few detection charms on the packages. Everything came back clear, so she unwrapped them and found her two new textbooks and seven NEWT guides from the Ogden's Preparatory series.
"I want you to be more moderate in your studying this year. You have a lot of things on your plate right now. I presume you wish to continue Defense training during the school year?" Severus asked as he eyed her books.
Rachel set the books aside and sat down. "Yes, that's the plan. We're nowhere near ready at this point."
"And you intend to run your own Defense club?" he pressed.
"Yes, assuming we can get a professor to sponsor us," she said, taking a sip of her orange juice.
"If the new Defense professor will not sponsor your club, I will. And you'll be doing your lessons with Albus. And you are captain of the Quidditch team. And animagus lessons with Minerva. And you are taking seven NEWT classes," he listed.
"I'm aware," she said, knowing that Severus was trying to get her to drop a class. "Most of my classes aren't that much of a burden on me, and I need to be doing the rest of the things that I'm doing."
"If you do not wish to return to classes at all, that is an option. You can self study and receive tutoring in the subjects that you need assistance with. You'd still be able to take your NEWTs at the end of the term."
Rachel raised her eyebrows at him. "I want to go back to Hogwarts. I am going back to Hogwarts," she said firmly. It wasn't entirely true that she wanted to go back, or at least that want was tied up with a lot of dread, but she was going back.
"What about having Tonks accompany you?" he asked.
"Let's see how things are first. I'm in a fairly good position to defend myself from other students. I assume you'll be checking the upper years for the Dark Mark when we return?" she asked.
"And after any holidays when students go home. However, people can still get instructions from Death Eaters without being Marked."
"I know. I'm not exactly planning to go around making friends with people I don't know, and I trust the people that I'm close with. I can avoid the common room and I'm comfortable with my dormmates. I will be on my guard. Have you heard anything from Pansy?" she asked.
"I have not. I think we should assume that no news is good news. Before you see the paper today, we should talk," he said.
Rachel set down her toast. "What could they possibly be saying about me now? I literally haven't done anything all summer."
"It is not directly about you. You were mentioned as being the target of the attack in June, but that was all. Hestia Carrow's trial was yesterday. She was sentenced to ten years in Azkaban for attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, and Death Eater activities. The other students involved were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and were fined, placed on probation, and released. The MLE will be watching them closely," he explained. "They're hoping they'll be able to lead them to more Death Eaters."
She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about any of that. Vaguely guilty, because this was the third person that had been sent to Azkaban from something she'd been involved with. "Do you think they'll return to the Death Eaters?" she asked.
"Not if they're smart. They know they're being tracked, they'll have monitors on their wands for the next five years. Every spell they cast will be recorded and reviewed. The MLE will also be able to tell the location where those spells were performed. I do not believe they are likely a threat, and neither does the MLE or they wouldn't have released them. Are you concerned about them attacking you again?" he asked, looking at her with an assessing gaze.
"Not really, and I certainly didn't want them to go to Azkaban. I think we need a different prison. There has to be a way to keep magical people imprisoned in a way that isn't torturing them," she said, frowning down at what remained of her toast and eggs.
"There are undoubtedly other ways. The difficulty will be convincing the Wizengamot and the Ministry that the way they are doing things now isn't working. Perhaps that is something you can champion once you take your seat on the Wizengamot. I suspect you could convince Albus to take up the issue as well. You already have a point in your favor. One of the purported benefits of Azkaban is that it is supposed to be impossible to escape. Now that Black, Crouch Junior, and a dozen Death Eaters have all escaped, it is easy to say that Azkaban is not the perfect solution," he said, nodding once.
Rachel doubted she'd ever get to take her seat on the Wizengamot, but she supposed she should be prepared for that in case she did. "Did you read about my conversation with the Dark Lord? His message to Professor Dumbledore?"
"I did, this morning. The Dark Lord knows that if he has to kill his way through the Wizengamot in order to take control, he will lose some purebloods who otherwise might have either joined him or stayed neutral. Obviously the Wizengamot will not allow an early election, I doubt the issue will even be raised," he said. "You are clear that the Dark Lord is trying to manipulate you?"
"Very. He'll never let either of us live and I know that."
"Good. For now, allow him to continue his efforts to recruit you. Be slightly skeptical, but like you are at least not dismissing everything he says out of hand. You're doing well not to confront him or respond negatively to him. It's interesting that he denies the connection on his side, but says that he can feel you watching him." Severus looked puzzled for a moment but cleared his expression as he picked up his teacup.
"I thought that was strange too, but it made me think of something. I've had the feeling of being watched for a while too, but I always associated that with other students at Hogwarts. Maybe it's not something I'm noticing there, maybe it's the same effect that he's feeling from the connection?" she suggested. She'd thought of that while trying to fall asleep last night again after the conversation.
"That's a possibility. As your connection is unique, it's hard to tell what may be a side effect of it. It also suggests that the Dark Lord has been experimenting with the connection. Obviously we don't want him to do that, but I'm curious if his false vision to you regarding your godfather was deemed a failed attempt. Maybe he believes you didn't see it and that's why he never repeated it. Either that or the process was so difficult or cumbersome that it didn't bear repeating."
Rachel nodded. "My intent right now is for him to think the only visions I get from him are of him killing people. I also tried not to do anything to let him know that I can feel his emotions. I was hoping that he would tell me whether or not he could feel mine, but that didn't seem to work."
"He'd likely want to either keep that information to himself or considers it to be unimportant. I'd recommend against revisiting the subject unless he brings it up."
"Alright." It wasn't that important anyway. She thought the only thing he'd be feeling from her was the constant low buzz of anxiety.
"Shall we do training in the late afternoon?" he asked.
"That works for me." She intended to read through her new textbooks and then take a peek at the NEWT guides, but she had plenty of time for training. She picked up the newspaper and began to skim the headlines for signs of what the Death Eaters were up to. As much as she didn't trust the Daily Prophet to inform her, it was also helpful to know what people at large were being told.
"How are you and Rachel?" Arthur asked, holding a cup of tea in Severus' direction.
Severus quickly glanced around the room before turning his attention to Arthur and accepting the cup. This had not been a scheduled meeting, so Severus was a little surprised to receive a Patronus asking him to come to Headquarters early this morning - it wasn't quite seven yet. Minerva and Poppy were there, as was Black and Lupin. Molly was sitting with Bill. Moody, Emmaline, Shacklebolt, and Tonks were gathered together at the opposite end of the kitchen. Everyone looked exhausted and Severus could guess that there had been an attack last night.
"Well enough," Severus said. "And yourself?" he asked, though he almost felt he shouldn't ask. He couldn't imagine what Arthur and Molly must be going through.
"We're managing," Arthur said. "There was something I'd like to speak with you about, if you have a moment."
"Certainly," he said, though he wasn't sure what he could do to help.
Arthur looked pained for a moment before he resettled his expression. "Ginny has told us that Rachel saw the attack on the Ministry."
"Yes, she did," he supplied when Arthur paused for a long moment.
"She suggested that Rachel might be willing to talk to us, to tell us what she saw. Molly and I would like to hear how Percy died, but we didn't feel comfortable approaching Rachel about something so sensitive without your permission. I'm sure it must be very hard on her, to see what she's seeing. We didn't want to hurt Rachel," Arthur said haltingly.
Severus considered that. He could understand why Arthur and Molly would want to know what had happened to their son. However, he didn't want Rachel to feel like this was something she must do either. "If you'd like, I can speak with Rachel about it and see if she feels comfortable enough to tell you what she saw," he offered.
"I think that would be best, neither Molly nor I want to pressure Rachel. We'd just like to know, if that's possible. How is Rachel?"
"She is nervous about the coming school term, but I think I am managing to be more worried for her than she is for herself. She insists on returning to Hogwarts," Severus admitted, feeling that wasn't too personal to share.
"I have long felt that Hogwarts was the safest place for my children, though I can understand why you would be worried. I know money changed hands for some of those students to wind up with probation instead of a prison sentence." Arthur shook his head. "They had enough evidence for Eddie Carmichael to be charged with attempted murder, and they should have had the others on more than conspiracy."
Severus had expected as much. As long as money spoke higher than truth in their legal system, there would never be real justice.
"Do you know what the plans are to better protect Rachel and the other students this year?" Arthur asked.
"We're nearly finished doing a deep search of the castle. The Death Eaters should not have another way in. All of the Heads of Houses are checking their upper year students for the Dark Mark upon their return to school and after holidays. Their trunks will be searched upon arriving at Hogwarts. The mail is being monitored far more closely this year. Hogsmeade weekends will continue to be held in the Great Hall until the war is over. Two junior aurors will be stationed at Hogwarts this year, and we'll have aurors on the Hogwarts Express whenever it runs," he listed. It didn't seem like enough. He still had to do something about his House, but he hadn't had any brilliant ideas that would convince students who supported the Dark Lord of their folly.
Arthur nodded. "And we know the wards are the strongest in the country. I'm not sure what more you can do. And our children are being trained in defense. I suspect they should be able to handle themselves against other students. Ginny has always been a bit overpowered when it comes to her magic, and Ron gets good marks in Defense. I know Rachel does well also, along with their entire friend group."
Severus wondered how this conversation had turned to Arthur reassuring him. "Their group consists of some of the best students both in Rachel's and Ginny's years. They are all capable with their wands and the training they're doing now should give them an advantage over other students. Even the children of Death Eaters aren't typically taught combat skills at home." It wouldn't stop him from worrying, but he could see Rachel improving from their time training. She still hesitated, but he was working on getting her to simply find a target and cast a disabling spell. Their work on the Killing Curse was entirely unfruitful.
The conversations around the room came to a stop as Albus entered. He looked almost angry.
"I would like to thank everyone for their efforts last night. We all did what we could. Where do we stand on our wounded?" Albus asked.
"They're resting. Cedric and Dedalus will both make a full recovery, I expect they'll be back on their feet tomorrow," Poppy said.
"I already let Robards know that Cedric was with us defending the Macmillans. He's off the duty roster for three days while he recovers," Shacklebolt said.
"The Macmillans?" Minerva asked, looking at Albus.
Severus looked too, though he was already expecting the worst.
Albus nodded. "Wizengamot member Raphael Macmillan, his wife Gloria, their two children, Raphael's sister Pippa, Raphael's brother Howard, his wife Angela, and their two children Ernest and Hollis, were all murdered last night. We responded to the breach on the wards on Rapheal's house along with the MLE and then sent Order members to check on other family members. Ernest would have been a seventh year at Hogwarts and Hollis would have been an incoming first year. Raphael's children were not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts."
Minerva took a step back and closed her eyes.
"How did they get past the wards on Raphael Macmillan's home?" Severus asked. As a Wizengamot member, the wards should have been difficult to get through. They certainly had the money for it.
"They didn't. They erected an anti-apparition ward in the area surrounding their home and then used Fiendfyre. By the time we got there all we could do was contain the flames. There is an investigation at the MLE to determine why they weren't able to floo out," Shacklebolt explained. "It took longer for us to disable the anti-apparition ward, by the time we got back out again, the Death Eaters had already finished at the other homes and they stopped long enough to fight us before they apparated away."
"Does Pomona know?" Minerva asked.
"That's my next stop, I'd like to tell her before she reads in the newspaper that one of her students has been killed," Albus said. He looked over all of them. "This will happen, but we must not give in. We must not lose hope. I have a meeting with Amelia and Rufus later today to discuss what additional protections we can give Wizengamot members and muggleborns and their families. We must also consider what we can do about Voldemort being willing to unleash Fiendfyre in occupied areas. If he attacks areas that are heavily populated with Fiendfyre, the casualties could be catastrophic."
Severus didn't see what they could possibly do about that. There were some muggle accounts of fires that looked alive as they moved, but they were all dismissed as the hyperactive imaginations of people who were experiencing something traumatic. As long as Fiendfyre could reasonably be explained away, there was nothing stopping the Dark Lord from using it in muggle populated areas.
"Gird yourselves. Rest while you can. I'll let you all get to your days," Albus said.
Severus made his way over to Albus and erected a privacy ward around them. "You saw the message the Dark Lord left with Rachel?"
"To call for an early election? I did. I'm not intending on revealing that message to anyone. For one, I would rather we not reveal that Rachel is in communication with Voldemort until our hand is forced. And we need the elected seats, most of them stand with us," Albus said.
"I understand," Severus said. He would also prefer for no one to know Rachel could speak with the Dark Lord in her dreams. And if they lost the Wizengamot, they were a short step away from losing the Ministry.
"Does Rachel feel as though she is a lamb being led to slaughter?" Albus asked.
"Rachel believes that the Dark Lord will kill her, and nothing that I've said to her has seemed to make an impact, however I do not believe that she blames you for those circumstances. She is aware the Dark Lord is attempting to manipulate her away from you and we are allowing her to appear uncertain in the dreams to prolong the inevitable," Severus explained. It wasn't something Rachel would discuss with him, but he knew her views on it well enough. He could understand her concern, the Dark Lord was very powerful, but he worried that her fatalism would lead her to being less proactive than she could be.
"Keep pointing out his manipulations to her. I want her to see them for what they are."
"You fear Rachel will be tempted?" he asked, a little offended on her behalf.
"I fear Rachel will wish to act to save lives. Voldemort knows she doesn't want to kill and he will play off that. Right now he's tempting her with different things to see what she responds to. Eventually he will find something. Voldemort is an incredibly skilled manipulator. The more we teach her to recognize the more subtle manipulations, the better off she'll be," Albus said.
That much Severus agreed with. He doubted that Rachel would be tempted, but it was better for her to recognize the more subtle manipulations behind the obvious manipulations. "I will make certain that she is aware of his tactics. Do you have a return message for the Dark Lord for her to give him?"
Albus looked thoughtful. "Have her tell him that I am considering his offer and will make a decision at a later time."
"You don't think that will encourage him to kill more of the Wizengamot to hasten your decision?"
"No. He will know what I have decided and will find a way to make his offer known to Rufus or the Chief Warlock," Albus said. "I simply don't wish for Rachel to have to deliver an outright rejection on my behalf."
Severus nodded, grateful that Albus was considering the impact on Rachel. "What do you think Scrimgeour or the Chief Warlock will do?"
"They will reject the offer. They are both aware of what is at stake."
That was a relief. "Thank you. I'll leave you to your day. Pomona is with her family currently?"
"Yes, but I know where to reach her. Given Charity and Sturgis' deaths I am urging the staff to either stay in the castle or to place their homes under the Fidelius charm. Our new Defense and Muggle Studies professors will join us on the twenty fifth, I have them both hidden away for the moment. We can expect you and Rachel around that time?"
"We'll return in the morning on the twenty fourth," Severus said, which was only a few days away now. The summer had gone by quickly.
"I look forward to seeing you both then," Albus said.
"You as well," Severus said, dismissing the privacy ward and stepping away.
He went to where Poppy and Minerva were standing together. "Do you need anything brewed for the infirmary here?"
Poppy shook her head. "No, we're in good shape. I had everything I needed for Cedric and Dedalus."
Someone had been stocking the infirmary cupboards this summer then and it hadn't been him. He did not mind, that was one less burden he had to deal with while he was at Hogwarts and he could always brew if they needed something specific.
"I'm going to go around to Pomona this afternoon. She'll need someone to sit with her," Minerva said. "I can't believe this is all happening again. It's been over a decade since the last time a student has died, and now two in two months. We've convinced a number of muggleborn students' families to flee. I expect we'll have a slightly smaller student population this year than we're used to."
"Better that they flee while they can," Severus said, though he was aware of just how difficult it was to convince muggles of how much danger they were in.
"I don't deny that, but it's still a shame," Poppy said.
"I should go before Rachel wakes and finds me absent. I'll see you both in a few days," Severus said.
They nodded and Severus excused himself, left through the front door, and then apparated himself back home. He'd just made himself a cup of tea when the newspaper arrived and the death of the Macmillans was all over the front page along with dire warnings that the Wizengamot was being targeted. Severus sighed. It was only going to get worse from here and they all knew it. He wanted the war to be over, but he was terrified of Rachel facing the Dark Lord. Right now they still didn't have a workable plan for her to kill him and he would not let things proceed until they did.
"Were you gone?" Rachel asked from the doorway.
"Briefly. I was summoned for an Order meeting early this morning. I didn't mean to wake you," he said.
"I just heard your footsteps on the stairs and then I didn't hear the kettle. What happened?" she asked, taking a seat across from him.
"The Macmillan family was killed last night," he said, watching her closely.
Rachel blinked a few times. "All of them?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so, including your classmate Ernie."
She sat quietly for a long moment. "Is it bad that I'm glad that I didn't see that?"
"No, it's not bad at all. It's completely understandable that you don't want to see anyone die," he quickly assured her.
"I wonder why he shows me some deaths and not others."
"I'm still not convinced that he has control of what he shows you in the visions. I have a related question for you, but we don't have to discuss this right now if you don't want to."
"What's the question?" she asked warily.
"Arthur and Molly would like to hear about how Percy died. They are aware you had a vision of what happened in the Ministry. You are welcome to say no to them, they would understand if you didn't wish to speak of it," he said.
Rachel shook her head. "I can talk to them, it's fine. I mean, I offered to Ginny and said that she could tell her parents too. I just…I'm not entirely sure what I should say to them. It happened so quickly."
"The truth will be fine. Mostly they will want to know that it was quick and that Percy didn't suffer. If you can remember anything specific about Percy, what he said or did, they will want to know that, but it's alright if you don't recall." He did not like putting Rachel in this position, but he could understand Arthur's request. He would want to hear about Rachel, if the situation was reversed.
"I don't think he suffered. There simply wasn't time." Rachel's mouth twisted before she frowned. "I was glad it was quick for him, but I wish it hadn't just been that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. They killed him just because he was there, not because of who he was."
"Unfortunately that happens more often than we'd like to believe. Sometimes people are hurt or killed because they just happen to be at a location where something bad happens. There's not necessarily a rhyme or a reason to it," he said, wishing that Rachel did have to face these facts while she was so young.
"They killed Ernie because his uncle was on the Wizengamot, didn't they?"
"Yes, his uncle Raphael held an elected seat."
"And then they killed his whole family just to make a point." She grimaced.
"The Dark Lord will try to convince some of the Wizengamot to flee or to voluntarily step down from their positions," he agreed. "Most of them would do a great deal to protect their families. Albus told me the response he wants you to give the Dark Lord's message to him. He will consider his offer and will make a decision at a later time."
"Is that true?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"No. Albus will not suggest they call for an early election, and neither will the Minister or the Chief Warlock. The Dark Lord knows this."
"Then why bother offering?"
"Because then he can tell his followers and would be followers that he offered and the leaders chose to gamble with the lives of the Wizengamot," he explained, shaking his head slightly.
Rachel shook her head. "I am glad I'm not involved in politics."
"You will be involved in politics soon enough. I will give you a primer on the Wizengamot next summer before you take your seat, and Albus can take you through who you should know," Severus said. "Let's have breakfast."
"Alright," she agreed. "I just want porridge today."
"That's fine. Try to have some fruit with it. We have blueberries in the fridge," he said, moving to make his own toast.
"I will," she said.
Relieved that Rachel was no longer fighting him about eating, Severus made himself some eggs and allowed himself to begin preparing for the day.
"Wow," Rachel said as she looked around the new library in the attic. It was much bigger than she'd been expecting. The ceiling had been magically raised, there were large magical windows at intervals between the built in floor to ceiling bookshelves. In the center of the room there were a set of four large desks for people to work at. On either side of that were tables with chairs for people to work as a group. And further down on either side were armchairs and sofas for people to sit comfortably while they read. There were stacks of books everywhere. "It's perfect."
"I've always wanted a library," Remus said as he looked around with a satisfied expression. "Obviously we'll add more books over time, but this is a good start. Hermione and I picked out some muggle literature and non-fiction; I'm going to designate that far wall for muggle books so that the muggles here will know where to look for something familiar. These two walls will be magical non-fiction, divided into subjects. And that wall will be magical fiction. I've got a card catalog set up. Our big task for today will be creating a card for each book and then placing the books on the shelves. Obviously this is more than a single day job."
"Oh, I don't have my charmed quill to write things out," Rachel said.
"No need, come over here," Remus, picking up a book from a stack. He took a blank card from the pile on top of the card catalog and opened the book to the title page. He placed the card on the title page and then held a quill on the card and his wand in his other hand. "Photostacium."
The quill quickly wrote out the name, author, publisher, publication year, and subject matter of the book on the card.
"And now, we link the card to the book, so that the card will lead the person holding it to the book." He closed the book, tapped his wand against the spine of the book and then on the card. "Librus locus. And now the book can be shelved, and the card goes into the drawer by subject matter and then alphabetically by author's last name. If you place the books in a pile here, Kreacher can bring them to the shelves, as they're already labeled."
"That's really cool," Rachel said, pulling out her wand. "Kreacher doesn't mind helping us?"
Kreacher appeared with a small pop. "Kreacher helps Miss and the wolf. Kreacher puts the books on the shelves."
"How are you, Kreacher?" Rachel asked.
"Kreacher is Kreacher. Kreacher cleans. Kreacher cooks. Kreacher takes care of the house. Kreacher stays out of the attic."
"One of the muggles was a little upset upon seeing Kreacher, even after we told them about him. We decided it was a good idea to keep Kreacher out of the flats that were housing muggles," Remus said.
"Do you want to be doing those things, Kreacher?" Rachel asked, thinking it probably was best for everyone if Kreacher did stay away from the muggles.
"Kreacher wants to work. Kreacher is a good House Elf." Kreacher picked up the book and looked at it for a long moment before he sent it floating to a shelf with his hands outstretched.
"As long as it is what you want, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," she assured him.
"Kreacher wants to work," he repeated. "Does Miss want a tea tray?"
"No, thank you, I'm alright." Rachel picked up a book from the nearest stack and found it to be a book on Divination. "How did you pick the books to buy?" she asked as she took a small stack of catalog cards so she could do a few books at a time.
"I tried to get good overviews of a number of subjects as I anticipated we'd likely wind up with a number of Hogwarts students here over the summer months. For things like Defense and artificating, where I'm a little more familiar, I bought some good books on specializations. I bought a lot of fiction books that I was familiar with and Hermione was a good resource on both magical and muggle fiction that was accessible for children and young adults. I am sorry that you weren't able to go shopping with us," Remus said.
While Rachel kind of wished she had been able to go, she simply had no desire to leave the wards any more than she absolutely had to. "It's alright, I'm getting to help now and see all the books you have. I might have to borrow a few things."
"You're welcome to borrow whatever you'd like. We can always exchange books through the owl post," Remus said, nodding to her. "How are you doing? Do you feel ready to return to Hogwarts next week?"
"I'm alright. A little nervous about going back. The Slytherin common room is probably going to be a bit unpleasant. Well, maybe more than a bit. There were fights breaking out last year. I'm going to pretty much avoid it entirely," she said as she worked. After a few times of feeling the cataloging spells she could now do them non-verbally.
"I'm sorry that you don't feel comfortable in your own House. Do you feel that you fit in Slytherin?" Remus asked.
"I was mostly okay with my House until six months ago. The attack on Hogsmeade divided our House. Those who felt the Dark Lord was wrong blamed those who had associations with him, and everyone else took sides based on what they believed. Most of my House are not future Death Eaters," she said firmly. She was tired of people associating Slytherin with Death Eaters. While it was true for some of them, it wasn't for all of them. "And I fit pretty well in my House. I've made some really good friends there. I think I would have struggled in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff probably would have been alright."
"That's alright. I'm not trying to suggest that you should have been a Gryffindor. I just wish for you to be as safe as possible under the circumstances. I trust Severus is doing everything he can to mitigate the situation within his House?"
Rachel handed another book to Kreacher, the last in her stack, and went to go file the cards. "He is. He's been working a lot with his students to discourage them from becoming Death Eaters and to get them to not just blindly follow what their parents say. But there are some people who don't want to hear anything different. I don't think there was anything he could have done about the Carrow twins."
"Which, I'm sure, is frightening in its own way. I know you are sensible and that you're careful not to go anywhere alone and that you have multiple avenues for reaching for help if you need it. That being said, if you need help, or someone to talk to, or a place to stay, or anything at all, all you have to do is ask. Sirius and I want to be here for you," Remus said, looking up from the book he was working with.
"Thank you. I appreciate that. But I really do want to go back to Hogwarts." Mostly.
"Miss needs help?" Kreacher asked, coming over to Rachel. "Kreacher will help."
"I don't exactly need help. We're just being cautious. I'll be returning to Hogwarts soon and I won't really be around here, but you can always send letters and I'll write back to you," she promised.
"There are bad people after Miss. Miss needs watching," Kreacher said.
Rachel couldn't exactly argue with that. "Thank you, Kreacher, but I've got Severus watching over me at Hogwarts. I'll let you know if I do need anything."
"Tea? Miss wants tea? Or to rest?" Kreacher asked.
"Not right now, thank you," Rachel said. "Maybe after we've gotten some work done here."
"Kreacher will help," he said firmly.
"Kreacher does seem to have grown attached to you," Remus said, watching them.
"I want to help him if I can," she said, getting back to work.
"I think you've helped him a great deal already."
Rachel hoped that was true. She still wanted better for Kreacher, but she wasn't certain how to accomplish that. For the time being she examined the books as she cataloged them and tried to figure out what she had time to read within the next year.
"Take a moment to connect to your body. Slow your breathing. Relax your muscles," Professor Dumbledore instructed.
Rachel reached for her body and exhaled slowly. She could feel it in the lounge chair, her head tilting slightly to the side. This was her fourth Looking through space practice session with Professor Dumbledore and she was beginning to worry that she simply wasn't good enough at mind magic to do it. They'd already been trying for a while today, though it was difficult to judge how long when she was in her mind.
"When your body is relaxed, refocus here in the mist."
She exhaled and inhaled a few more times, pretending that she was trying to relax herself in order to go to sleep. Her sleep hadn't been very good lately. There was part of her that wondered if she would ever simply be able to sleep through the night. When her body felt as good as it was going to get, she looked back at the mists. "I'm here."
"I want you to close your eyes, but stay here in your mind instead of returning to your body. Picture the ocean. The waves lapping on the shore, the swell as it moves in and out. The water rushes to the shore and is then propelled back out again. Each wave that reaches the shore is different. As you move toward the horizon, you see that the ocean is more vast than you could see before. The ocean stretches around you, carrying you on its waves," Professor Dumbledore directed, his voice soothing.
Without having actually seen the ocean a few weeks ago, Rachel thought she wouldn't have really been able to picture it. She remembered the sound of the waves. She hadn't expected it to sound like that, even with the descriptor of waves crashing. The way her feet sunk into the sand. The sun glinting off the water. And the waves in an endless series. "Okay," she said, trying to hold it in her mind.
"The shore is your mind, the water is the mist. Allow the mist to carry you out of your mind, away from the shore, and into the ocean beyond."
Rachel imagined stepping into the water, walking deeper and deeper as the waves rushed cold water up her legs. When she couldn't reach the bottom any longer she leaned forward and let herself float half submerged. "Shouldn't the waves be pushing me to the shore?" she asked.
"In real life close to the shore, perhaps, but not here. Here they are moving you outward."
She imagined the water pushing her along, one wave at a time. After some time she looked back and saw that she couldn't see the shore at all. She opened her eyes and found herself floating in a mostly dark place. Alone. "Uh. Professor Dumbledore? Are you still here?"
"I am here, in that we are still connected through mind magic," came Professor Dumbledore's voice. "Tell me what you see."
"Darkness, mostly. There are dots of light. There's two nearby. There are more further away. There are…" she trailed off, trying to put words to her experience. "I don't know. Things."
"Things?" he asked.
"Lights, but different lights," she tried. "The two lights near me are balls of white light. And so are some of the others, but they're more distant. And then there are other lights, like little colored flames, maybe. A lot of those are still, and there are a lot of them, but some of the balls of light are moving."
"Souls. You are seeing souls of those nearby. The balls of white light near you are your soul and my soul. The others will be other people in the castle. The flames will be magical impressions from this world. Objects imbued with some sort of magical power, such as ghosts or portraits."
"Is this what you see?" she asked, trying to manipulate her body while she was floating and discovering that she could essentially fly just as though she were on a broomstick. She supposed that was because she expected that she could.
"No, but I will not tell you what I see, because I do not want to influence what you see. Try moving upward and see if you can get a sense of Hogwarts as a whole," he directed.
Rachel wanted to fly upward, so she did. Her soul stayed where it was while she moved away, which was a little unnerving. "I can see the general shape of the castle, but it doesn't stay the same. It's like a shadow in the darkness, but it's moving a bit. Not moving places, transforming," she explained, wishing she had a better vocabulary for describing what she was seeing. It was kind of creepy.
"Go higher still and get a look at the land around you."
Upward was easy, though it was hard to tell how high up she was when there didn't seem to be a bottom. From up here she could see that the shadows sort of formed what she might expect to see if she was flying on her broomstick high above Hogwarts in the dark. The contours of the shadows formed the forest, there was a particularly dark spot for the lake. In the distance there were the mountains. She could see the small white dots of souls just about everywhere below the horizon. That must be all of the souls of the animals that lived around Hogwarts. "I can see it, I can kind of make out where things should be."
"Good. I think that's enough for today. Come back down to where your soul is," he instructed.
Rachel wondered how she was going to tell which one was hers. She flew downward, which felt strange because there was no wind and no gravity, and then she flew through where the castle walls should be. There were far fewer souls in the castle, but far more of the magical impressions. It was easy to make out which halls were lined with portraits. She wandered for a little bit, it was harder to define the shadows when she was up close, but eventually found Professor Dumbledore's office, which was filled with magical impressions, and their two souls. "I'm here."
"Now imagine your mists. This is the reverse of what we were doing before. You're riding the waves back to shore, back to your own mind."
She closed her eyes again and called up the ocean imagining she'd been using before. "This…I don't know what to call it."
"The term we generally use is guided imagery," he supplied.
"It's not the real way to do this, is it?" she asked.
"It is a suggested beginners method to mind magic that I adapted for use with Looking through space. I'll have to recommend it to my colleagues in mind magic, considering how much success we just had with it. Focus on your waves. We'll worry about a more direct way of doing this another time."
That made sense. After all, Severus had spent a lot of time describing her doors before she was able to find them, and it took longer than that to actually access her own mind. Now she didn't have to do anything other than close her eyes, picture her doors, and imagine her hand on the wood grain and she could access her own mental architecture.
She refocused on the ocean waves and imagined them carrying her back to her doors on the shore. It was a somewhat slow method of travel, and she didn't think she should open her eyes in the middle of it, but eventually she opened her eyes and found herself in her mist. She walked through her doors and then focused on opening her eyes in her body.
She felt exhausted. She was pretty sure if she closed her eyes again she could fall asleep right here.
"Well done," Professor Dumbledore said.
"I'm not sure it's well done yet," Rachel said.
"It is. We have made the first of many steps, but it was a big step. Now that we know you can Look through space, we can work on identifying your interpretations there. We knew going in that this would take some time. Now, we've been here for four hours, I expect Severus will be rather anxious to see you. Do you have any questions before I summon him?"
"Does this get easier as you practice it?"
"Easier in that you will be more readily able to access the world, and that you will learn to interpret what you are sensing. Unfortunately the physical effects do not get easier. I suggest you sleep for a few hours, eat a large meal, and then sleep again." He also looked weary.
"Alright, thank you," she said. She supposed she could live with that.
"That's it, we're done. Come to the south wall for a debrief," Kingsley called.
Rachel exhaled, pocketed her wand, and smoothed her hair. Her hands were shaking even worse than usual. They'd been working on covering someone while they retreated and then the other person in the pair covered the initial person's retreat. The objective was for the person in the process of retreating to not get hit with any spells, and that was harder than it seemed.
As they did this, Rachel had become very aware that while they were making small amounts of progress, it wasn't very much. She was also very aware that the Death Eaters would be casting far more harmful spells at them than the training spell. It was good they weren't practicing with something more harmful, she didn't think that would help them, but they were nowhere near ready to face Death Eaters.
She and Severus had arrived at Hogwarts this morning and it had felt a little nerve wracking to be there. Even just sitting in Severus' quarters had reminded her of last year and the year before. And the year before that, really. Things hadn't been calm for her at Hogwarts since her name had been pulled from the Goblet. She was trying not to bother Severus about what they were going to do about Slytherin House. He was also a little on edge, she could tell just from the way that he stood and looked over things.
She wanted to tell herself that she wasn't going to be attacked at Hogwarts, but that fell a little flat. She knew they were doing everything possible to keep the Death Eaters out, but the problem with magic was that it left a lot of possibilities. Pettigrew had been at Hogwarts for three years as a rat. Crouch Junior had been in and out of the school all of fourth year with Polyjuice potion. Then there was Umbridge, who might as well have been a Death Eater considering her views. And then last year, the Death Eater attack on Hogsmeade and then the Death Eaters coming in through the vanishing cabinet on the first floor. It was difficult to feel safe at Hogwarts after all of that.
They gathered as a group at the south wall.
"That was harder than I thought it would be," Millie said. "We do a similar exercise with the DA, but it's not so direct."
Tonks shook her head. "This is hard stuff, most people aren't in a position to learn it. It's generally only taught to the aurors and the MLE patrol, because most people aren't in situations where they need to do this."
"She's right. This is military strategy. It's hard in here because it's hard out there. What we want to teach you is the right way to respond and then reinforce that so your impulse is to do it even in times of chaos," Kingsley agreed.
Rachel frowned. "Is there a military? Like for fighting other countries?" She'd never heard of such a thing in the magical world.
"Not in Britain; not in most countries. The war with Grindelwald was somewhat of a fluke. Most wars in the magical world are civil wars, at least in this day and age. There's not much point to trying to invade or occupy someone's country when the magical world comprises around a twentieth of one percent of the population. Occasionally the ICW puts together a fighting force composed of the member countries' capable fighters to depose a government that is breaking the Statute of Secrecy, but that hasn't happened for nearly forty years," Kingsley explained. "When I say military strategy and tactics, I generally mean strategy and tactics that are used in battle, whether it's a fight between ten people or a hundred people."
"A hundred people. Do you think the Death Eaters have a hundred people?" Ron asked.
"Definitely," Draco answered. "But not all of them are people the Dark Lord will use in a fight."
"And a battle on that scale is entirely unlikely. The Death Eaters usually operate in small teams, usually fielding ten Death Eaters for a target of a handful of people, especially when they're focusing on civilians. They brought around thirty people to the Ministry in June. We captured or killed seven of them. For the Death Eaters, that's about as big of a fight as it gets. Chances are very good that if you encounter Death Eaters and they're directed at you, probably not more than ten," Kingsley said.
"Do you know the aurors who are going to be stationed at Hogwarts this year?" Rachel asked.
"You've got Lewis and Walsh, both junior aurors. They were in the auror training program class right after mine. They're good people," Tonks said.
"You'll be alright with them, they're very sensible and they won't get distracted by the general hubbub that is Hogwarts," Kingsley said.
"And we'll both be on the Hogwarts Express next Monday, though some of you should be in the groups that we're concerned enough about that you'll be going by floo," Tonks said, looking over them.
"Is running the Hogwarts Express right now wise?" Theo asked.
"Right now we believe that it's safe enough. The Death Eaters haven't moved to attack the general populace of Hogwarts. They could have killed a lot of people at Easter and they didn't. If we get information that suggests a change in strategy, we'll help to make arrangements so that students aren't taking the Express," Tonks said.
"You-Know-Who only typically kills pureblood and half-blood children when he's either making a point by killing an entire family or when an adult family member has crossed him, then he kills the spouse and children and leaves the person who crossed him alive." Kingsley scowled for a moment.
Rachel thought that was worse than the entire family dying. That was a type of torture all on its own.
"All of you are targets to varying degrees for one reason or another. We're aware of that. Lewis and Walsh both know to keep an eye out for all of you," he continued. "We won't meet next Sunday so that you can spend the day getting ready to return, but we'll meet at Hogwarts the week after. Tonks tells me you have a secret training room?"
"We do, we can show you what it does in two weeks," Hermione said.
"We won't have to use furniture for cover any more either," Ginny said.
Rachel almost dreaded the idea of Kingsley coming up with places for the Room. He was sure to come with something tricky.
"We'll do this exercise again next time. Keep working on your Shield charms. Keep working on your awareness. If someone enters the room, even if your back is turned, you should be aware of it. Practice sneaking up on each other in stocking feet. Draw your wand when you hear someone coming up behind you, get in that habit," Kingsley instructed. "Your next steps are cover, assess, respond. Keep practicing. We're done for the day."
"Somehow I don't think my family is going to take too kindly to me drawing my wand whenever they enter the room," Millie said as Kingsley and Tonks left the room.
"Might have to hold off on practicing that until we're back at Hogwarts," Neville said. "Probably wouldn't hurt for us to have our wands at the ready in Hogwarts anyway."
"Unfortunately that's probably true," Theo said, looking over all of them. "What's our strategy this year?"
"Try to keep people from killing us," Luna suggested.
Hermione sighed. "Well, yes. That obviously should be our priority, along with studying. I'm not fully sure what we can do beyond what we've been doing. We can walk Luna back to Ravenclaw Tower every night. And Ginny and Luna will be able to stay together most of the time now that they'll have most of their NEWT classes together. Do you have a plan for managing the Slytherin common room?"
"Staying out of the common room, for the most part," Rachel said.
"The biggest areas of threat to us are the halls in the dorm and bathroom areas and the corridor leading from the dungeon up to the entrance hall," Theo said.
"Rachel and I always head into the bathroom together. Maybe this year we should meet in the common room at eight o'clock and go up to breakfast together," Millie suggested.
"I'll be waiting for Pansy, and Daphne is usually with her," Draco said.
"Then I'll meet the two of you at eight." Theo nodded to Rachel and Millie. "And I guess we'll have to see how it goes with the bathrooms. I've been setting up wards before I shower, so that should be safe enough. And Draco, Blaise, and I can set up wards around our beds at night."
"Do you think you'll be attacked in your own dorm room?" Neville asked.
"If it weren't for Goyle, I'd say no. But after that-" Theo glanced briefly at Rachel. "I don't want to underestimate Crabbe."
"Better safe than sorry," Hermione agreed. "And the corridors will give us a good opportunity to practice the listening and alertness skills we're being taught."
"Rachel, were you still planning to speak with my parents today?" Ginny asked.
She nodded, still feeling uncertain about it. But after she'd told Severus that she would, he'd made the arrangements with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to speak with them today after training. "Yeah. I suppose they're in the kitchen."
"I'll walk down with you," Ginny offered.
"Everything alright?" Luna asked.
"Yes, just a private thing with my parents," Ginny said. "I think they'll be using the sitting room, so I'll meet all of you in the library."
"Let's meet in the library up here, it's nice," Hermione said.
"I still don't understand why they need two libraries," Draco said.
"Can you imagine muggles looking into the books in the Black library?" Theo asked as Rachel left with Ginny. "They'd be horrified at some of that stuff."
Rachel thought it was a good idea to keep the families they were sheltering out of Sirius' library. It was much more like the Restricted Section in content and some of the stuff she'd seen in there was instructions on the Dark Arts. She was a little surprised that Sirius had left some of those books in there, but when they'd cleaned the library, he hadn't wanted to deal with any of the books beyond getting the dust off of everything.
Downstairs Rachel and Ginny found Sirius and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen having a cup of tea. She hesitated in the doorway, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do.
"Mom. Dad. Rachel is ready to talk to you," Ginny said, going to her mom's side.
Mrs. Weasley nodded, but she looked a little ill.
"You can use either the sitting room on this level, or you can find privacy in the drawing room on the third floor. I'm sure all the kids know not to bother you and our house guests generally don't come down this far unless they need something," Sirius said.
"Why don't we go in the sitting room," Mr. Weasley said as he stood.
Mrs. Weasley stood as well and Rachel backed out into the hallway and then led the way into the sitting room. Mr. Weasley pulled the door closed behind them and cast a spell at it that shimmered briefly in the air.
"Let's sit. How are you, Rachel? Looking forward to your seventh year?" Mr. Weasley asked.
Rachel sat in the same armchair she'd used last summer and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat across from her on the sofa. "I'm well, thank you. I'm a little bit nervous about going back to school, and about my NEWTs, but it will be alright."
"It will, and I'm sure you'll do fine on your NEWTs. Ginny has told me how dedicated you all are," Mr. Weasley said. "I want you to know up front that you can stop this conversation at any time. Molly and I don't mean to pressure you and we're sure that this is hard for you."
She shook her head. This conversation would be much harder for them. "I'll be alright, but thank you. I'm not sure where to start. Or what…I don't know what to tell you."
"Why don't you begin at the beginning, dear?" Mrs. Weasley said, her eyes already wet. "We're not really sure how your…how what you see works."
"Oh. Well, I have a connection to the Dark Lord that sometimes allows me to see what he sees. Usually it happens while I'm asleep, but during the attack on the Ministry, it happened while I was awake. I started hearing the sounds of fighting, and when I realized what was happening, one of my friends went to get help while my other friends moved me to the hospital wing. While I was in the vision, it was chaos. There were Death Eaters, quite a lot of them, and the Dark Lord. They were moving up a staircase in the Ministry, casting the Killing Curse. I could hear the sounds of fighting behind us." Rachel paused and exhaled as she tried to put her thoughts together. "We…They arrived in a hallway and there were aurors guarding a set of doors. The aurors took down one of the Death Eaters, but there were more Death Eaters. They killed the aurors. And then we were inside the Minister's office. Percy was there, along with five other people, but not the Minister. The Death Eaters killed the people in the room. It happened very quickly, they didn't have time at all to respond. And then the Dark Lord found the secret exit. There were aurors there too, but he killed them. Minister Fudge was trying to floo away, but he couldn't. The Dark Lord killed him too."
"It was quick? There was no torture?" Mr. Weasley asked.
Rachel shook her head. "It was very quick, they didn't have time to realize what was happening. They weren't stopping to torture anyone." She remembered what Severus had told her that they'd want to hear. "Percy had a quick and painless death. It was over so fast. The entire vision was maybe only a few minutes."
Mrs. Weasley was crying openly now and Mr. Weasley had his head bowed.
"Thank you, for being willing to tell us," Mr. Weasley said after a long moment.
Mrs. Weasley nodded wordlessly, still holding onto her husband.
"If you don't mind, we just need a minute," he said.
"Of course," Rachel said, getting to her feet. "I'm very sorry for what happened." She excused herself and pulled the door shut behind her. There was part of her that was glad she didn't recognize the other people in her visions. She didn't think she'd be able to do that time and again.
She knew she should go join her friends, but she wanted to go home. She went into the kitchen.
Sirius looked up at her. "It was brave of you to talk with them like that."
She shook her head. "I just wanted to help."
"Even so. The next time I see you should be the first Hogsmeade weekend. Assuming nothing else is happening, Remus and I will come by and have lunch with you," he said, standing up and moving toward her.
Rachel hugged him. "Stay safe."
He hugged her back. "You too. You can always come here. Keep in touch with the mirror."
"I will," she said. "Every other Sunday night still work for you?"
"That should be fine, but don't panic if I'm not there. Things are a little dicey right now. If I'm not there on a scheduled night, I'll send you a note the next day so you know not to worry," he said, releasing her.
Rachel let go. "Thanks. And if I'm not there, assume something weird happened and I'll write you the next day."
"It's Hogwarts, there is always weird stuff happening. Try to stay out of it as much as you can. And try to take it easy. I know it's your NEWT year and Hermione is already tied up in knots about it, but you don't have to spend every waking second studying. Take a break. Live a little."
"I'll try," she said.
"And I want to come see one of your Quidditch games if we can swing it. I've been free three years now and I still haven't gotten to see you play. To hear Draco talk it's like the Quidditch gods have blessed you." He now sounded amused.
"I don't know about that. I'll write you with the dates of the games, but I think you'll have to be the one to convince Professor Dumbledore."
"Not a problem, the man owes me," Sirius said. "You staying for a bit?"
"No. I need to go. I have things to do," she said, though she didn't have anything specific that needed doing just yet.
"Try to do fewer things. Be careful," he said again.
"I will. You too," she said, knowing that his job with the Order was far more dangerous than her attending Hogwarts. "I'll talk with you the Sunday after next."
"Sounds like a plan."
Rachel flooed through to Severus' quarters and found him in his armchair with a stack of parchment. "Schedules?" she guessed.
"Yes, just checking that everyone has the scores they need for the classes they requested. You're a bit early. Did everything go alright?" he asked, peering up at her.
"Fine. I don't know that I actually helped Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," she admitted.
"You did. Even though that was difficult to hear, what you told them will be a comfort to them. They need some time," Severus said.
Rachel wasn't sure that time was the cure all that people seemed to think it was. "I'm going to go outside for a bit. I'll be back by dinner."
"That's fine," he said, returning to his schedules.
She retrieved her broom and put her Potions NEWT guide in her bag along with her Walkman. She could fly, study, and listen to music. Hopefully one of those would be a sufficient distraction from all the worries clouding her mind.