Early on Thursday morning Rachel flooed to the Greengrass' home. She found Pansy, Daphne, Astoria, and a woman who must be Mrs. Greengrass waiting for her.

"Welcome to our home, Wizengamot Member Snow. It's a pleasure to have you here," Mrs. Greengrass said. She had the same blonde hair as her daughters, though hers was neatly tied back.

"Thank you," Rachel said, wishing she knew what to say to that sort of thing.

"How are you?" Daphne asked.

"I'm alright. I heard you got the internship you wanted, congratulations," Rachel said.

Daphne smiled. "I'm not quite doing what I want to do yet, they don't give me anything really interesting, but I'm just starting out. It's a step in the right direction at least."

"That's great," Rachel told her. "How were your OWLs?" she asked Astoria.

Astoria shrugged. "I got into all of the classes I wanted, which is good enough for me. I got an Outstanding in Defense though. They were impressed with my Patronus."

"Well done," Rachel said.

Mrs. Greengrass shook her head, but she was smiling. "I'm having the girls teach me and my husband the Patronus charm. We're so very proud of them. Now, let's give Rachel and Pansy some privacy. Pansy, would you like to use the office?"

"Thank you," Pansy said. "Is that alright with you, Rachel?"

"That's fine," Rachel said. She figured this conversation was best to have as privately as possible.

She followed Pansy through the house, noting the airy hallways and the tidy rooms. It looked like a nice place to live. They went into an office and Pansy pulled the door shut and then drew her wand and cast a privacy ward around them.

"Thank you for coming, I wasn't sure you would," Pansy said.

"Of course. We don't stop being friends just because we've finished school," Rachel said.

Pansy nodded, her expression tight with worry. "I need to ask you a favor. A really big favor. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

Rachel tried to keep her expression neutral. Despite Severus' warning, she had been hoping Pansy wouldn't ask her this. "Okay," she said when Pansy didn't continue.

"My mother needs help. I need help. The MLE…she didn't do what they're saying she's done. There was faulty Veritaserum or they tricked her or something has gone wrong, and I need your help to fix it."

Rachel could feel that all of her muscles had coiled and that her heart was beating faster. "Do you know what the MLE is charging her with?"

Pansy's throat bobbed as she swallowed. "She's being charged under the Unforgivable Curses Act and for Death Eater activities. I can see why they would charge her for Death Eater activities, I know she was at meetings. But that doesn't carry a life sentence in Azkaban. The Unforgivable Curses Act does. They made a mistake."

Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out what to do. "The charges are correct," she finally said. She couldn't let Pansy go into this trial not knowing the truth.

"No, my mother wouldn't use an Unforgivable Curse, I know that. She didn't want this. She was scared, she didn't hurt people," Pansy insisted.

"I can't speak to her state of mind, I'm sure she was scared. But I know that she used an Unforgivable Curse."

"How can you possibly know that?" Pansy asked, wringing her hands. "Rachel?"

Rachel pressed her lips together. She didn't want to do this. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes. Yes. I need to know. How could you possibly know a thing like that?"

Rachel swallowed, trying to find the will to speak. "When I was abducted…at Malfoy Manor…When I was there, the Death Eaters used the Cruciatus Curse on me. Both of your parents participated." There, that was about the best she could do.

Pansy stared at her for a long moment and then shook her head. "No. Draco would have told me. He would have seen that and he would have told me."

"Neither of us wanted to hurt you," Rachel managed to say. "If you want, I'll try to see if I can get your mother re-interviewed."

Pansy's shoulders had risen up around her chin and she shook her head again and left the room without saying another word.

Rachel sighed. That had gone poorly. She wasn't sure how she could have made it better though. She left the room and managed to make her way back out into the room with the fireplace. Mrs. Greengrass was still there.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Mrs. Greengrass asked.

Rachel nodded. "May I use your floo?"

"Of course. You'll have to visit again sometime. I'll have Daphne send you and Professor Snape an invitation for dinner," Mrs. Greengrass said.

Rachel thought that would be a very awkward dinner. "Thank you. I'll let Severus know." She took a handful of floo powder from the proffered container. "Twelve Grimmauld Place." A moment later she stepped out into Sirius' kitchen and found most of the study group there looking at fliers about flats. A quick glance told her that Hermione had made a comparison chart, marking off the pros and cons for each flat.

"You alright?" Theo asked, looking at her.

Rachel shrugged and took a seat next to Draco. "You might want to talk to Pansy at some point. She's pretty upset about the situation with her mother. I had to tell her that the charges were correct."

"What are they charging her with?" Draco asked. "Pansy didn't know the last time I spoke with her."

"Death Eater activities and the Unforgivable Curses Act. I had to tell Pansy that her mother had used an Unforgivable Curse."

Draco nodded his understanding and stood. "I'll be back later, keep going without me." He flooed to the Greengrass' home without saying anything else to them.

"Is Pansy okay?" Millie asked.

Rachel shook her head. "Right now she's not."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so. Her father is dead and her mother is going to go to be imprisoned for the rest of her life. I don't know how we can help with that," Rachel said.

"If she wants people to sit with her, we can," Neville offered.

"Or just to provide a distraction or company," Millie said.

Rachel nodded. "I think Draco will know better than anyone what might help. He knows her best. And she has Daphne with her, which will hopefully help."

"Well if anyone figures out something we can do, we'll do it," Hermione said. "Rachel, take a look at this and tell me what you think."

Rachel accepted the piece of parchment and looked down the list. It had everything from the number of floors and bathrooms, to floo access and electricity, to built-in appliances, and location.

"This is after we weeded out the ones that were obviously not going to work. We're planning on looking at a few of the ones that are better candidates on Saturday after your Wizengamot meeting," Theo said.

"It looks good to me," Rachel said. She was willing to let the group take a larger role in choosing a place to live. She trusted that they'd make the best decision for all of them.

"We'll have Draco give the realtor the list of the ones we're looking at on Saturday then and ask them to be flexible with the time since we don't know how long the Wizengamot meeting will go. Any idea what the agenda is?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Dumbledore has called for a review of what was passed during the war to determine if the current Wizengamot wants to uphold those decisions," Rachel said. She expected the meeting to be both long and boring. At least she wouldn't be sitting next to Selwyn for this one.

"That's probably a good thing, the Wizengamot was a bit of a mess those last three years," Theo said.

"Hopefully the current Wizengamot will be able to direct things a little better," Hermione said.

"We can only hope," Millie agreed.

Rachel wasn't entirely sure about that, the divides in the Wizengamot still seemed deep, but she'd do whatever she could to help make it right.


"How was your week?" Torey asked as they settled in.

Rachel made a face. "I have another Mastery interview this afternoon. I had one yesterday. I did two tryouts on Monday. And I have my interview with Head Auror Robards tomorrow. Hopefully that will be the end of that."

"What sort of interview with the Head Auror?" Torey asked, looking slightly confused.

Oh. Right. She'd forgotten that she hadn't told Torey about wanting to join the aurors. For a reason. Too late now. "I am interviewing to see if I can join the auror team that's hunting the remaining Death Eaters."

Torey blinked at her a few times. "I see. When we've discussed your career prospects over the years, I don't think joining the aurors ever came up. What about your Mastery?"

"I'm asking to put it off for a few months, maybe as long as a year if that's how long it takes to sort out the Death Eaters. I wouldn't try to do the aurors and my Mastery at the same time, that would be crazy." She watched as Torey's eyebrows rose slightly. Over the years she'd become very good at reading the minute changes in Torey's expression and she knew she hadn't succeeded in hiding how busy her schedule was going to be.

"Let's come back to that in a minute. Why do you want to join the aurors?"

Rachel sighed. "Everyone is acting like I'm stupid for doing this."

"I don't think you're stupid. I don't think you think you're stupid either. I know Severus doesn't think you're stupid, I think he's probably worried that you're going to get hurt or killed."

"I don't think I'm going to get killed."

"You don't believe that the Death Eaters want to kill you?" Torey asked, her eyebrows raising again.

"I know they do. As you said, I'm not stupid. I'm not. I am doing what I need to do."

"Why do you need to join the aurors?" Torey rephrased her initial question.

"Because the war isn't over and it needs to be. I can't-" Rachel cut herself off, hearing how crazy she was about to sound.

Torey waited, holding still like she thought that moving was going to interpret Rachel's thought. "That sounded important, what was it?" Torey finally asked.

"The Death Eaters want to kill me. Maybe now more than they did when the Dark Lord was around. I'm sure some of them are relieved and going to hide somewhere, but not all of them are content to just go back to their lives. I don't want to sit here waiting for them to come to me. I'm not in school anymore. I'm not a child. I want some control over my own life."

Torey nodded. "A lot of control has been taken away from you, both when you were a child and as a young adult by your connection with the Dark Lord. I can understand why you would want more control over your life, but I don't know that joining the aurors is going to give you what you're looking for."

Rachel thought it seemed fairly straightforward to her. Stop the Death Eaters. Then she didn't have to spend every waking minute worrying about what they were doing or how they were going to try to kill her or the people she cared about. "I'm not even sure they'll let me join. Severus seems to think they won't let me."

"He might be right. You could potentially be endangering yourself and other members of the team just by being there and that's something they're going to have to weigh when they decide."

"I can wear a disguise. I could even use Polyjuice." She didn't particularly want to use the Polyjuice Potion as it was rather uncomfortable, but if that was how she could join the auror team then she'd do it.

"I think something we both can agree on is that if you join the aurors you will not be able to keep that a secret, right?" Torey checked.

Rachel nodded. It seemed inevitable that the news would make its way to the newspaper eventually.

"Then that might tell the Death Eaters that you could be anyone among the teams that are showing up to fight them. They might purposefully lure the team into battle to try and reach you. The Death Eaters might be more willing to kill, knowing that they have a chance of killing you, instead of retreating."

Of all the arguments people had made against her joining the auror team, this one seemed like the most realistic and problematic to her. "How can I stop them from doing that?"

Torey looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure, but I think you need to acknowledge that if you go out there, yours is not the only life that you're risking."

Rachel sat with that. She couldn't do this if it was just going to get more people killed. That was the opposite of what she wanted. She supposed she would have to ask Robards tomorrow and if he said that it wasn't possible, then it wasn't possible. "I need help with something. With something else."

"What's that?" Torey asked.

"Did you see the newspaper article about Selwyn?"

"I did. It sounds like the MLE wants to pursue this to trial. Has that changed?"

"Madam Bones said they wanted to bring it to trial and that him claiming to be under the Imperius Curse actually won't affect all that much because they already know how most people are voting." Rachel frowned. "Which is kind of wrong in its own way, isn't it?"

"How so?"

"That people already know how they will vote before there is even a trial. Isn't the whole point of the trial to hear evidence and then decide if someone is guilty? I hate the idea that people are being sent to Azkaban because voting breaks down upon political lines. That's wrong."

"I don't think people are necessarily being sent to Azkaban because of voting along particular lines, I think it's more complicated than that. Generally the MLE doesn't bring something to trial unless they have the evidence showing guilt and they believe there is a good chance a guilty verdict will be reached. For most trials people are voting with the evidence and that's to be expected, though there are occasional hold outs. The Death Eater trials are a little different because it's essentially the extreme end of a political party being put on trial," Torey explained.

Rachel thought about Sirius and how he'd been imprisoned without even a trial. "If the MLE knows who is guilty, then why do we even bother with trials? It seems like it's just theatrics."

"Tradition. The magical British legal system has worked like this for centuries. Before the Wizengamot, people were tried by the Wizard's Council. And it's not good for the police to be the ones deciding who goes to prison. Trials are supposed to be checks and balances so that all of this isn't done in secrecy."

"Even though the head of the magical police is on the jury, essentially?" Rachel pointed out.

Torey made a face. "That's something they wouldn't allow in the United States. They have specifically chosen judges and juries that can't be police officers because it's considered a conflict of interests."

Rachel nodded and decided to get to her point. The legal system - the Wizengamot and the Ministry both - were far from perfect, but that part she couldn't change. "Madam Bones and I talked about the possibility of me speaking at Selwyn's trial. I'm not sure I can do it. It kind of went wrong today."

"What do you mean? What happened today?"

Sighing, Rachel rubbed at her face and straightened her glasses. "I've told you about my friend Pansy, right?"

"She's the one who you were helping to give information to her parents, because they're Death Eaters, right?"

"Yes. Her father died in the battles, we don't know which one he was at. Her mother was captured and is in a Ministry holding cell. She's being charged with Death Eater activities and the Unforgivable Curses Act. Pansy asked me if I could help her mom, and said that she knew her mom hadn't used an Unforgivable Curse, and I had to tell her that I knew that her mom had. She was pretty upset. She left before we could finish our conversation. I'm not sure what I could have said differently. Should I not have told her?"

Torey frowned slightly. "Pansy's mom was one of the people who hurt you two years ago?"

Rachel nodded. "Both of her parents. And that's the problem too, because Theo's father…" Rachel trailed off. "I don't want to hurt Theo the way I hurt Pansy. And if I can't talk about this to them, how am I supposed to talk about it in front of the whole Wizengamot? I can't…I haven't even told you about it."

"Is that something you think you're ready to do?"

Her shoulders slumped. "I don't know how to be ready to do that. I want to be ready."

"I think you take it a little bit at a time. It's your choice who you tell, but as we've talked about, just by the fact that this is going to trial, at least some of it will be revealed to the public at large. If you do speak at the Wizengamot, then you get to decide what you say. You don't have to tell them everything. You don't have to be detailed. I would suggest you request to meet with a victim's advocate at the MLE. They can help you choose what you want to tell people," Torey said.

"I guess I don't really know what to say about it," Rachel said. "Can the victim's advocate help with that?"

"They should be able to, though we can talk about that here too. What you say to the Wizengamot and how you say it will be different from what you say to your friends, just by the nature of the conversation. As to what happened with Pansy, I'm not sure there was a better way to approach that. She knew her parents were Death Eaters, but it sounds like she was in denial about what that means. You helped her the only way you could, by telling her the truth, and it's unsurprising that she was upset by that. What remains to be seen is if she chooses to remain in denial."

"I think Pansy could use some help. Like with a Mind Healer or something."

"That might not be a bad idea. I have a list of recommended Mind Healers who work with grief if you'd like the list to send to Pansy, or you can have Severus send it, if you think she'd be more receptive to that."

Rachel nodded. Maybe she could slip the list to Draco and Theo as well.

"It sounds like you're specifically worried about Theo's reaction, can you tell me why?"

"Theo…" Rachel closed her eyes. "Theo's father. He was the one who used the Flaming Whip curse on me, because he said that I seduced Theo away from him."

Torey was quiet for a moment.

"I didn't. I didn't at all. I know Theo likes me, or at least he did, I don't know if he still feels that way, but Theo has been against his father and the Death Eaters from his first year, from before he joined our study group. He told Hermione he didn't have any problems with muggleborns or half-bloods before he even joined."

"I know you didn't do anything to sway Theo away from his father, and even if you had, that's not an excuse for what Theo's father did," Torey said steadily.

Rachel opened her eyes. "I'm just afraid I'm going to hurt Theo by telling him. His father is dead. His father died during the battles, just like Draco's parents did and Pansy's father did. I just…His father will never go on trial. Is this something Theo needs to even know? But I don't know what is going to come up in the trial. I don't want Theo to learn about it in the Daily Prophet."

"I can't say what's going to come up in the trial or what will be reported in the Daily Prophet. I don't think there's a way we can know that in advance, and we do know from experience that they are very callous in regards to what they will print about you. If you don't want Theo to learn it from the paper, I think the best way to prevent that is to tell him yourself. And I think it's possible that this will be hurtful to him, but it also helps clear the air between you. You've been keeping this heavy secret from him for two years now. I think it's also important to remember that your actions are not the ones hurting Theo, it's what his father did that's hurting Theo. If you could ask Theo if he wanted to know, what do you think he'd say?"

"I asked Pansy if she really wanted to know. She said yes."

"I'm glad you asked. And that's something you can ask Theo too. Let him know it's about what happened that night and involves his father, and you can ask him if that's something he's ready to hear. Maybe he won't be ready right away," Torey suggested.

Rachel nodded. "I think I need to tell Severus. I don't want him to read it in the paper either. Any of it."

"He might be a good person to start with since he already knows some of the basic facts about the situation. Are there other people in your life that you'd rather tell directly?"

"Sirius and Remus. Probably my friends. I'm just not ready yet."

"You still have some time. Has a trial date been set?" Torey asked.

"Not yet. I'll ask."

"That would be a good thing for you to know, because it gives you a time frame to work with."

"How do I become ready?" she asked.

"A little bit of it is practice. As you tell your story, you'll find the words that you want for it. Some things you might decide to keep to yourself and that's perfectly alright. Listen to yourself. Your body and mind will tell you when it is time to stop pushing."

"If I have an anxiety attack, I can stop?" she checked.

"Definitely, but you don't have to wait for a full blown anxiety attack. Listen to your body. You know how your body feels when an anxiety attack is coming. Let yourself feel some anxiety but stop before it overwhelms you. Maybe tell people in advance that you're not sure how much you can tell right now and you might need to try multiple times. That's okay too. You can do this a bit at a time. You don't have to be ready for all of it at once," Torey said. "Be compassionate to yourself."

Rachel sighed. Self compassion was not something she thought she was getting better at over time. Both Severus and Torey had told her more than once that she was her worst critic, and she understood that. But no one else was inside her head either. "I'll try," she settled on."

Torey nodded. "And if you want to try here first before you try anywhere else, that's fine too."

"Not today," Rachel said quickly. She had said plenty for today.


Rachel arrived at the MLE just before ten in the morning on Friday, wearing black trousers, a blouse, and dark green robes. She wanted to be taken seriously and felt her usual fare of lighter clothes made her look younger.

It wasn't that she was having second thoughts about joining the aurors, she still wanted to, but what Torey had said about her possibly getting people killed simply by being there did worry her.

She entered the area with the auror offices, uncertain if she was just supposed to go knock on Robards' door or if he had a clerk she was supposed to check in with.

Kingsley made his way over to her. "You have an interview with Robards? For the auror team?" he checked.

Rachel nodded. "Am I supposed to knock or should I check in with someone?" she asked.

"I'll take you. Are you certain that you want to do this?" Kingsley asked, pitching his voice low.

"Not if it's going to get people killed. I want to help, but if I'm just endangering other people, then maybe this isn't a good idea."

"I'm more worried about you being targeted than getting other people killed," Kingsley said. "You're a high priority target, possibly even more so than you were during the war. Many of the Death Eaters will want to focus on you as the reason they are being hunted and the reason for their downfall."

"Do you think it's possible to hide me being on the team, so the Death Eaters don't know it's me?" It was a long shot, but it was the best thing she'd been able to come up with.

"Honestly, no. There are too many people in and out of here. Even if you were disguised it wouldn't take long for people to realize something is up. I-"

Rachel looked at him, curious because she rarely ever saw Kingsley hesitate.

Kingsley drew his wand and cast a privacy ward around them. "I'm concerned Robards is going to use you as bait, to draw the Death Eaters."

"Would he do that?"

"If it got the job done, he would. One of our problems is that the Death Eaters will retreat rather than get captured or killed. With you there, they might be willing to stay put for a chance at killing you, giving us the opportunity to grab more of them. I don't think I have to say what sort of danger that puts you in. I want you to think long and hard before you make the decision to join," Kingsley told her.

Rachel nodded. Now she didn't know what to think.

"Robards isn't a bad man. He just has an objective and he'll use whatever means he has to get it accomplished. He doesn't want to get you killed, he knows how important you are, but if you join the aurors he'll expect you to do the job and to follow orders, just like anyone else. Your orders might be to become a prominent figure in the aurors," he continued.

"Do I have to make a decision today?" she checked.

"No. After the interview, if both you and Robards decide you want to proceed, you'll join the tryouts next week where we check to see if everyone who passed the interview has the basic skills they need. I'm not worried about that for you, I know you have those skills. After that, Robards and I will make a list, and then you'll need to make a decision."

That gave her a little time at least. "Thank you."

"Come on, I'll bring you to Robards' office. He values punctuality," Kingsley said as he dismissed the privacy ward.

"He doesn't have a clerk?" Rachel asked as they went directly to the door.

"He does, but he generally prefers to manage his own appointments. Just answer his questions truthfully, that's all you need to do," Kingsley said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Rachel said again. She knocked at the door and a few moments later a voice called for her to enter. She let herself inside and found Head Auror Robards sitting behind his desk.

He looked her up and down as if testing her for fitness for the task. "Please have a seat, Wizengamot Member Snow."

"Thank you, sir," Rachel said, taking a seat in a chair in front of his desk.

"Why do you of all people want to join the aurors?" he asked, apparently willing to be blunt.

"Because the war isn't over. I want to stop the Death Eaters. I want to make sure this ends," she said, not sure if it was the right answer, but it was the truth to her.

Robards' nodded slightly, but his expression didn't give away what he thought of her answer. "With your NEWT scores you could join the Auror Training Program directly. Is there a reason you didn't apply?"

Rachel wasn't sure this answer was any better than the last, but it was also the truth. "I'm not planning to stay with the aurors long term, I want to do a Mastery in potions. Joining the aurors wasn't in my career plans until I learned that the Death Eaters were still out there."

"You know we won't get all of them?" he checked.

"Yes, but at least we can stop the ones who are attacking people."

He nodded again. "I'm told you're an animagus."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's see."

Rachel stood and changed into her form. Robards' office smelled like meat for some reason and it made her salivate. She sniffed the air, distinguishing Robards' from his surroundings. He smelled a bit like ink, but there was also something deeper that she couldn't place.

"Come on back, Miss Snow," he said, having stood to see her on the floor.

Rachel changed back and resumed her seat.

"Good for hiding, not so much for fighting, but sometimes hiding is necessary. You've had a year of training from Tonks and Shacklebolt?"

"Yes, sir. We trained once a week from July of last year through June of this year."

"You've faced the Death Eaters more than once."

Rachel pressed her lips together. Her encounters with the Death Eaters had usually wound up with her hurt and fleeing. Probably not what he wanted to hear. "I have."

"And You-Know-Who, of course. What was that like?" he asked, his gaze heavy on her.

"What do you mean?" she said, not at all sure how to answer that question.

"When you came up to You-Know-Who. You were terrified? You were calm? What was going on?"

"Well, I had just come back from the dead, so I was actually fairly calm. A little bit nervous, but I understood what I needed to do and how to do it. I guess you could say that I was purposeful," Rachel hedged.

"Not many people can face down You-Know-Who with purpose. Most people are terrified out of their socks."

"I think that's understandable. Most people don't survive an encounter with the Dark Lord."

"But you did." That wasn't a question either, but his gaze was still holding her in place.

"I mean, after he'd already killed me, yes. And it wasn't a fair fight. I snuck up on him while he was dueling Professor Dumbledore. It was actually kind of underhanded," Rachel pointed out.

"Good. A fair fight gets you killed. You can't think of it as a fair fight, you have to think of it as doing whatever it takes to keep yourself and your team alive. Sometimes that means taking someone out from behind, or disillusioning yourself and going around the side of the battle, or using a partner to take down their shield and take their legs out from under them. We don't fight fair, we get the job done."

Rachel nodded her understanding. While she didn't particularly like it, they were dealing with Death Eaters. Death Eaters were willing to go straight for the Killing Curse, so they had to be willing to take them down first.

"You know the Death Eaters are fixated on you, right?" Robards checked.

"I know. That's nothing new. The Death Eaters have been acting against me for four years now."

"You seem to have gained a certain peace with that. Most people who are being targeted by the Death Eaters are huddled in fright, waiting until it's safe to come out."

Rachel shrugged. "If I stayed hidden behind the wards I wouldn't get anything done. I've spent enough time hiding. I'd much rather go to the Death Eaters than have them come to me. It's possible I could wear a disguise while we fight Death Eaters, if you think that would help."

"No need. Wouldn't work anyway," Robards said dismissively.

She wondered if Kingsley was right and Robards did intend to use her as bait.

"Tryouts are on Wednesday at one o'clock. Come prepared to fight. Did you have questions for me?"

"Do we have a general timeline on capturing the Death Eaters? Do we know who we're looking for?"

"It takes as long as it takes. If it follows the pattern from the last war, we'll be rounding up spare Death Eaters for the next nine or ten months. By then everyone will have been captured, killed, fled, or gone so deep in hiding that we're not going to find them. We've got a list still, you'll see it once you're on the team. We're still missing some people that we'd like to have in custody, or dead, we're not picky. Bellatrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch Junior are both on that list and I know you've had run-ins with both of them. Among those we're missing, they're probably the most dangerous and most likely to rile the other Death Eaters into action. We know Crouch will be willing to bide his time, but Lestrange will be willing to act. There's already been sightings of her."

Rachel nodded. "About how many Death Eaters are we looking for?"

"Around thirty known Death Eaters, but there will be some people with them that we don't know about."

"Do you know when Selwyn's trial will be?"

Robards shook his head. "End of October, maybe. We're doing the trials roughly in the order people were arrested in. It will be a little bit, but we're keeping him in custody here in the Ministry cells, so no need to worry about him being loose."

"Thank you," she said. She had some time then, but not a lot.

"Anything else?" he checked.

"No, sir. Thank you for seeing me today."

"Take a few days and really consider if you want to do this, Miss Snow. It's not without significant risk to you."

"Am I going to get other people killed just by my being there?" she asked.

"The Death Eaters might be willing to stay longer and fight if you're there, but that's what we want them to be doing. Everyone knows the risks when they join up. I can't promise that no one will die, we're fighting Death Eaters, but if they do, it won't be just because you were there," Robards said.

Rachel nodded, though she wasn't sure how much she believed him. "Thank you," she said as she stood.

"I'll see you Wednesday then," he said. "Just send a letter if you decide not to try out."

"I will," Rachel said. She let herself out of Robards' office and started in the direction of the Wizengamot floo. She had a lot to think about these next few days.


It was three o'clock in the afternoon when Rachel arrived at Anglesey Stadium. She'd received a letter early yesterday morning acknowledging the receipt of the signed contract and instructing her to join them at three on Friday so she could be fitted for uniforms and attend her first practice. Rachel was grateful for the distraction.

Seren met her outside the stadium again and instructed her to touch her wand to the door that led to the Harpies' locker rooms and equipment areas and adjusted the wards so that Rachel could get in on her own.

"It will be a while before you see your first real game. Glynnis has been holding things together for the past year and a half without a reserve and she'll want a break soon, but we'll give you some time to adjust," Seren said as they went further inside. "We'll do uniforms and pictures now, but that's probably all we have time for before the practice. I ordered your uniforms small, but given your size, I expect we'll need to make a few adjustments. The photographer is already here."

"Okay," Rachel said, though she wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of having her picture taken. At last she'd know who was taking the pictures this time.

"This is your locker and your changing area. Let's start with your reserve uniform first and we can make adjustments, then we'll do your regular team uniform and we'll do pictures," Seren said. "Just come into my office when you're changed, I'll be down the hall."

Rachel set down her broom, closed the door to her changing area and found that she was relieved not to have to change in front of people. Scarlett and Viola had never commented on her scars, but she was close friends with both of them. She wasn't sure what people who didn't know her would say. She wasn't even sure that most people were aware she had scars.

The dark yellow uniform with green trim was first and Rachel found that while the top fit, except for where it hung down over her hands and kind of drooped off her shoulders, the pants were so baggy she had to hold them up. If she had a traditional Seeker's build - as so many people had told her - then why didn't the uniforms come smaller? She knew the answer to that was because it was easier to tailor clothes to be smaller than it was to have to enlarge them in specific ways.

She pulled her wand and got to work. Severus had taught her tailoring charms a few years ago and they came in handy because most clothing didn't fit her right off the rack. Magical shops would tailor clothes when they were purchased, but a lot of the things she bought in muggle shops she had to adjust at least slightly.

Thankfully there was a mirror, which made the process much easier, and about ten minutes later, she had a uniform that fit, including boots and robes. She went down the hallway and found Seren in her office with a young woman with a camera.

"Oh, you did the tailoring yourself, you didn't have to do that," Seren said, looking a little surprised.

"It's fine, I do that for a lot of my clothes," Rachel said.

"Turn, let's see," Seren said, twirling a finger.

Rachel turned and held out her arms.

"Looks good. Let's see the team uniform then," Seren said.

Rachel went back to her locker and changed into the dark green with gold trim uniform, repeated the tailoring process, grabbed her broom, and went back to Seren's office.

Seren looked her over. "That works for me. It fits okay?"

"It's fine," Rachel told her.

"Make-up," the woman with the camera said.

"Make-up?" Rachel repeated.

"Just for the photos, we don't expect our players to wear make-up," Seren said

"The lights wash out your complexion. I'm Cassie, I photograph most of the League. If you read any of the Quidditch focused magazines in Britain you've seen my photos," she said.

Rachel nodded. "I subscribe to one. It's your photos in the Daily Prophet too, in the sports section?"

"Either me or Daniel. Between us we cover photographs for all the Quidditch stuff in Britain, though they won't let us on the grounds to cover Hogwarts games, unfortunately. I hear you beat Glynnis to the Snitch in your tryouts."

"It wouldn't have happened like that in a real game," Rachel said quickly, feeling herself blush.

"I'm glad you know that, but the fact that you did it at all says a lot. Let's get started, we should be done with the individual photographs before the rest of the team gets here," Seren said.

"Come sit, won't take long. I need a lighting sample, then I'll know what I need to do," Cassie said.

Rachel sat as directed and watched curiously as Cassie messed with a light she carried with her and looked through the lens of her camera.

"You're planning to keep the glasses?" Cassie asked.

"For the time being," Rachel said. She was considering the potion and spell to reshape her eyes so that her vision would be perfect, but she was a little bit nervous about the procedure. She figured she'd work up the nerve to do it eventually, or get sick of wearing glasses. Whichever came first.

"Probably should keep them at least for a while, they're part of your image," Seren said. "I presume you have no trouble flying in them."

"No, I've been wearing glasses forever." Well, since her primary school teacher had sent her home with a note saying that Rachel could read a book but couldn't read the chalkboard.

"As long as they work for you," Seren said.

"Alright, I'm going to bring in some color to your cheeks, your lips, and highlight your eyes a bit. Go ahead and take your glasses off," Cassie said, picking up a large case.

Rachel did so, tolerating and managing not to flinch too much as Cassie did her make-up. She wasn't sure why she needed to be photographed wearing make-up when she wasn't going to play a game wearing make-up, but she supposed she did want to look nice if lots of people were going to see the photographs.

She did flinch when Cassie pointed her wand at her face, her hand immediately going to her robe pocket for her own wand.

"Sorry, just setting your make-up. I don't want it to smudge when you're in the air," Cassie said.

"Okay," Rachel said, though she left her hand on her wand. She felt a slight pressure against her face and then Cassie tucked her wand away.

"Let's start with some portraits, then we'll go out on the pitch," Cassie said, standing up.

Rachel put her glasses back on and followed Cassie and Seren down the hall to another room where there was some lighting set up and a backdrop.

"Okay, one of you just standing, then one of you holding your broom, and we'll go from there with different poses," Cassie said.

She did so, trying to smile naturally, though she felt a little bit like a show pony.

"Shoulders relaxed, you're not facing an execution," Cassie said from behind her camera.

Rachel tried to loosen her shoulders, though she suddenly felt uncertain what to do with her arms.

"Put one foot forward a little. Pull your plait over your shoulder," Cassie directed.

She did so, glancing at Seren, who just smiled back at her. "I know. You only have to do this at the start of seasons and when we need more promotional materials. Don't worry about it. You'll be on the pitch soon enough," Seren said with a tone that suggested she talked her players through this on a regular basis.

As she was directed through various poses, some with her broom, some without, Rachel realized how glad she was that the Quidditch season at Hogwarts was so low-key and wondered about Viktor tolerating this while he was still a student. She wondered if they'd made him wear make-up. Maybe she could find a way to write to him and ask him how he was. Fleur too. She expected Viktor was still with the Bulgarian National Team, so she could probably reach him there, but she had no idea what Fleur had gotten up to after she'd finished school. She thought Viktor would like to hear that she was playing professionally.

"Alright, let's get some shots of you up in the air and we'll see if we can get a picture of you catching the Snitch," Cassie said after what seemed like absolutely forever and hundreds of photos later.

Being in the air was easier and Rachel was instructed to fly back and forth, to dive, and to do all sorts of poses there as well.

The rest of the team, both the main team and the reserve team, had filtered out onto the pitch by the time Rachel was after a Snitch. Fortunately Rachel had kept close track of it when it was released and it only took about five minutes for her to hunt it down and swoop through the air to catch it.

Someone on the pitch whooped for her.

"Catch it that fast and we won't have time to show off!" one of the reserve Chasers called.

Rachel landed by Cassie and Seren. "Anything else?"

"No, that's fine. I'm going to talk with Firebolt about contracting a promo with you on their broom, they'll like that," Seren said. "Go talk with Glynnis, you're training with her today."

"Nice meeting you, Rachel. I'm looking forward to seeing you play a game," Cassie said.

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you too," Rachel said, reminding herself to be polite even if the woman had put make-up on her and made her pose for a camera. She took off flying again and found Glynnis up in the air. "Seren says I'm flying with you today."

Glynnis nodded. "Let's go through our paces, see if you can keep up."

She took off and Rachel followed eagerly. As they zoomed across the pitch, Rachel thought that this was why she'd joined a Quidditch team, not to have her picture taken.

Two hours later Rachel landed, Glynnis landing next to her. "I'm going to give you a compliment and I don't do that very often. You kept up. Nice work."

"Thank you," Rachel said. "You're a very good flier." She couldn't ever remember working so hard just to keep up with someone while flying.

"Talent, practice, and skill. You've got the first, and you've clearly done some of the second, but we'll improve on that. Stick to it and you'll be dominating the Seeker scene in the League in the next five years. Do that and you can probably take the Seeker position on the English National Team when it opens up," Glynnis said.

Rachel nodded, though she already knew she didn't want the position on the national team.

"Go on then. I'll see you on Monday afternoon and then we'll really fly," Glynnis said.

"Thank you," Rachel said again. She left, feeling a little weary and also ready to go home and have dinner. It took her a moment for her to realize that what she was feeling was hunger. She literally couldn't remember the last time she'd felt hungry. Maybe she just needed to push herself more often. And be late to dinner.

She chatted only briefly with a few of the reserve team members, getting more compliments on her flying, and then changed into her regular clothes, left the stadium, and apparated home into the sitting room.

"Rachel? Is that you?" Severus called from the kitchen.

"It's me. What are you making? It smells good," Rachel said, going into the kitchen with her broom still in hand.

"It's just a stew," he said. "How was your practice?"

"Pretty good. Glynnis is a very good flier. It will be good to train with her."

Severus looked over from the stove and then his brow furrowed. "Are you wearing make-up?"

"Ugh. Yes. They made me." Rachel rubbed at her face.

"The Quidditch team made you wear make-up?" he repeated, looking confused.

"For pictures, for promotions and advertising. I'm pretty gross. I'm going to go shower and try to get this off of me," she said, realizing that she probably smelled.

"Alright, dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, but it can sit for a little bit," he said.

"I'll be back soon." She left the kitchen, intent on a shower, some food, and then sitting still for a little bit.


The Wizengamot meeting on Saturday lasted for six hours, with an hour break for lunch. By the time Rachel came back to her office and changed her robes she was feeling a little restless.

"The next meeting will be the start of the trials. September's schedule isn't set yet, but I'll send you the schedule as soon as I have it. Trials start on the twenty fifth. You'll want to be here at eight and I'll bring you to the courtroom on level ten," Booker told her as he followed her into her office. "I'm not sure we'll see new proposals during the trials, I think you can expect September's meeting to be fairly brief."

Rachel now knew that 'brief' for the Wizengamot meant at least a few hours. "Okay, thank you."

"I have some preliminary research on Azkaban and I'm still getting more. Do you want that now or do you want to wait until I have something more substantial?" he asked.

She glanced at her desk, which was momentarily free of papers. "Um, hold it for a bit. I'll look at it next time I'm in unless it's something urgent."

"It's not urgent. We should plan to meet at some point in the next week to review things that are incoming. It might help if I had an overview of your general schedule so that we can coordinate better."

"My schedule is still a little bit up in the air and will be until I get the results of a few interviews. I can write out my schedule for the upcoming week if that will help," Rachel offered.

"That will do for now," Booker said.

Rachel sat and began to write, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Would you like me to send them away?"

"Uh, see who it is and what they want. I'm supposed to be meeting with some people soon," Rachel said. "If it's something quick, I can see them."

She went back to writing out her schedule for the next week. She had Quidditch practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. She had her tryout with the aurors on Wednesday. Other than that she just had house hunting stuff with her friends. She knew they were hoping to pick a place today and then prepare to move in another week or two.

Booker returned to the inner office. "You have Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Longbottom. They indicated they were here to pick you up."

"They couldn't wait five minutes?" Rachel asked, mostly to herself. She handed Booker her schedule. "That's what I know so far. I'm already planning on being in the Ministry on Wednesday, so if it works for you, I can come here in the morning and be with the MLE in the afternoon."

Booker looked down at the piece of parchment and then up at her with a startled expression. "You're joining the aurors?"

Rachel shrugged. "We'll see. I'm not sure if they'll accept me or not. I might be a liability just because of who I am."

"Is this wise?" Booker asked. "You're already in a great deal of danger."

"If I'm already in danger then I'm not sure I'm actually in more danger by confronting the Death Eaters. At least then I'll be expecting them," she pointed out.

He did not look particularly convinced.

"Anything else for today?" she checked. If she wasn't justifying her decision to Severus, she certainly wasn't doing so with Booker.

"That's everything. You know how to reach me if you need me," Booker said. "For now, we'll plan on meeting on Wednesday morning."

"Alright, thank you," Rachel said. She followed Booker out of her inner office and found Draco and Neville waiting for her. "What's the plan?" she checked as Booker left.

"Flooing back to Sirius'. I've already sent a Patronus message to the realtor letting him know we're just about ready. We're meeting him as a group at the first address," Draco said.

"This is your grandfather?" Neville asked, nodding to Monty's portrait.

"Yes. Monty, please meet my good friends Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom," Rachel said.

"Pleased to meet both of you," Monty said as he looked down at them. "Neither of you are courting my granddaughter, are you?"

"No, sir," Neville said, flushing. Draco shook his head.

"Monty," Rachel complained. "We're just friends."

"The Wizengamot is awfully young this year," Monty said as though Rachel hadn't spoken. "Longbottom. I knew your grandfather, I believe. And Malfoy, I knew your grandfather as well. Everyone knew your grandfather."

"We're the last in our family lines," Draco said, his chin jutting out in a challenge.

Monty nodded. "A sad state of affairs when we've lost so many of our families. Rachel was telling me twenty seven seats were elected this year. In my day it was fourteen."

"Wizengamot members were targeted in both of the wars. They killed my family six months ago," Neville said, his expression tight.

"I am sorry for your loss. For the loss of both of your families, though I suspect they were perhaps on different sides of the war. But loss is loss. I know you both will proudly carry out your family's name."

"We will," Neville said.

"We will. I intend to improve my family's name. By the time I'm done, no one is going to associate the Malfoys with Death Eaters and the Dark Arts," Draco said.

"Good. Good. That's a noble aspiration. Now, did I hear something about looking at houses? Who is moving out?" Monty asked.

"We all are. I'm going to live with a group of my friends from Hogwarts," Rachel said.

"A group of young men and young women?" Monty asked.

"Yes, it will be fine. But we need to go, we're running late," Rachel said. She did not want to have a discussion about it being inappropriate to live with a mixed gendered group.

"And how does your adoptive father feel about that?" Monty asked.

"He thinks it's fine, he's known all of my friends for seven years. It's fine. I have to go. I'll see you Wednesday," Rachel said, ushering Draco and Neville to the door. She pulled the door shut firmly behind them before Monty could say anything else.

"Honestly, I'm surprised Millie's parents don't have a problem with us moving in together," Draco said as they began to walk towards the Wizengamot floo.

"I don't see why it's a problem at all," Rachel said. "It's not any different from when we were living in the dorms except we have individual bedrooms."

"It's different," Neville said. "My Gran would have had a problem with this."

"My parents would have too," Draco said. "You're sure Professor Snape doesn't have a problem?"

"His concern is the wards. He knows all of you. And he knows that we're adults and can make decisions about what we want to do," Rachel said.

They reached the room with the floo and went back to Sirius' kitchen where they found the rest of the study group waiting.

"How was the meeting?" Theo asked.

"Boring as hell," Draco said.

Rachel couldn't find it in her to disagree. They'd spent hours rehashing everything that had passed in the Wizengamot in the last three years. They'd voted six times. Rachel hadn't said anything, because she felt she didn't have anything constructive to add, and neither had Draco or Neville.

"Anything we should know?" Hermione asked.

"Death Eater trials start on the twenty fifth," Rachel told her.

"Fun for you," Ginny said sarcastically, but with sympathy.

"Any idea when they're looking at trying Selwyn?" Draco asked.

"End of October. He'll be kept in custody until his trial," Rachel said. She was sure she wasn't imagining that Draco looked relieved about that.

"Does the realtor know we're ready?" Millie asked.

"They know. They're waiting for us at the first house. Hermione, what's the floo address?" Draco asked.

"Fifteen Barton Road," Hermione answered without having to look at her parchment.

They went one by one through the floo and stepped out into an unfurnished sitting room.

"Wizengamot Member Malfoy," the man who was waiting for them said, glancing over all of them before focusing on Draco.

Draco stepped forward. "Mr. Whittaker. We appreciate that you were available on such short notice."

"Of course. I've made arrangements for us to see all three houses on your list today. If you'll follow me, I'll show you through the property," Mr. Whittaker said, though his gaze landed briefly on Rachel.

"Please do," Draco said, though his gaze had traveled from Mr. Whittaker to Rachel as well and for a brief moment he looked uncertain.

"On this level you have the sitting room, which should be large enough for your purposes," Mr. Whittaker said. "As you can see there is a floo connection and electricity is available throughout the house. You can see the plug there in the walls."

"Where?" Neville asked, looking around.

"Here," Hermione said, stepping forward and pointing out the outlet. "Technology has plugs that go into these outlets, that's where the power comes from."

"Like the television and the computer," Millie said, nodding.

"That's right, though really just about anything that needs power that doesn't use batteries has a plug," Hermione said.

They followed Mr. Whittaker into the kitchen, which wasn't quite as spacious as the sitting room.

"We're going to need some space expansion charms in here, I think, if we're going to have a table that's big enough for all of us," Theo said.

"That's probably true for almost any house in London though," Hermione said.

"There's a room for the House Elves just off the kitchen," Mr. Whittaker said, pointing to a door. "How many are you planning to keep?"

"Two should be enough for all of us, I think," Draco said.

"I don't see why we need House Elves, we can cook and clean on our own," Hermione said. "How exactly are we planning on paying for House Elves anyway."

"Sirius would like me to take Kreacher," Rachel said. "I still need to talk with him about it, but I think this would be a better environment for him and that would help Sirius a bit too."

"And we can borrow one of the Malfoy House Elves, not a problem. They won't have much to do without anyone in the Manor," Draco said.

"Well we still have to pay them," Hermione said.

"You don't pay House Elves, you purchase them, and we don't need to do that," Draco said.

Hermione had a slow look of horror. "Excuse me?"

"They're slaves," Rachel said, putting her hand on Hermione's arm. "It's complicated and we can talk about it in more detail when we're in a private place."

Hermione glanced at Mr. Whittaker, who was watching this exchange with a dour look, and then nodded. "Once we're in private."

"Shall we continue?" Mr. Whittaker asked.

"Yes, please," Theo said.

They went upstairs and found three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first story. There was a door that led out to a small patio that overlooked Barton Road. On the second story was another three bedrooms and a bathroom.

"Well, the girls could have one floor and the boys the other, but we're going to need more bedrooms," Ginny said. "And maybe a second bathroom on the floor for the girls."

"I think that's doable," Theo said. "Expand the space, put up some walls. Sirius and Remus will know the specifics of what we'd need to do."

"There's also a cellar, if you would like to see that," Mr. Whittaker said.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Rachel said.

They went all the way back downstairs and into a fairly decently sized cellar.

"We could brew down here, after cleaning it up a bit and putting in some ventilation charms," Draco said.

That had been Rachel's intention as well.

"Is there anything else you'd like to see about this house?" Mr. Whittaker asked.

The group looked around at each other. "I think that's everything," Luna answered when no one spoke.

"Shall we floo to the next location?" he checked.

"Yes, please," Theo said.

After touring two more houses they wound up back in the kitchen at Sirius' house.

"What did everyone think?" Draco asked as they sat down.

"The first one needs the least work. Adding three rooms and expanding two others shouldn't be difficult," Theo said.

"The first was in a nice location as well," Neville said.

"And the third didn't have electricity and I think that's going to be difficult to add, so I'm not sure that's an option," Rachel said.

"How does it get to the plugs?" Luna asked.

"Wires in the walls and underground," Hermione answered. "Why did no one tell me the House Elves were slaves? They don't pay any of them? Not even the ones at Hogwarts?"

Ginny shrugged. "I supposed it never crossed any of our minds that you didn't know."

"Rachel?" Hermione asked.

Rachel shook her head. "I only found out about three years ago and by the time I saw you again we were talking about the war and Umbridge and then things just went downhill from there. I never thought to bring it up because it just never came to the surface of my mind while we were dealing with everything else. It is something I intend to do something about."

"You do?" Luna asked.

"I do. My first priority with the Wizengamot is doing something about Azkaban, because that's where the most suffering is right now. After that I want to tackle House Elf rights and werewolf rights. I'm sure there will be other things that come up too," Rachel said.

"Freeing the House Elves is a bad idea. Most of them don't want to be free," Draco said. "Besides, you'll never get that through the proposal phase."

"It's not about freeing the House Elves-"

"It's not?" Hermione asked, her voice high pitched.

"It's about giving the House Elves a choice. Those who want to leave their families should be given the option to do so. Those who want to stay can do that too. Plus I want more protections for House Elves so that people aren't allowed to hurt them, and stipulations that people who own House Elves are providing for their care. If the purebloods are so certain that they're treating their House Elves well, they should have no problem with that," Rachel said.

"If we're having House Elves in our home then we're paying them," Hermione said firmly.

"They won't accept the money," Neville said.

"Then we can put it aside for them if they decide they want it for something," Rachel said. "We don't have to give the money to them directly if they won't accept it."

"What are House Elves going to do with money?" Draco asked.

"And," Hermione said. "We're asking the House Elves if they want to stay with us, or if they want to be free, and they're only doing the work that they want to do."

"It will be alright. We'll make sure our House Elves are well taken care of and that they're comfortable with everything," Theo said. "Rachel, do you think Kreacher will be okay with this?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not sure he's going to want to leave the Black family home, to be honest," Rachel said. "I need to talk with him and see what he wants."

"I'd like to talk with him too, if he'll talk with me," Hermione said.

"We can try," Rachel said. Kreacher still struggled a bit with muggles and muggleborns. She was going to have to talk with him about the language he used with Hermione as well.

"I liked the first house," Luna said. "If we can make it have enough room for all of us, that would be my favorite."

"That would be my pick too," Neville said.

"It needs a little fixing up, but we can make it work," Draco said.

"I preferred the first one," Rachel agreed.

"Me too," Millie said. "Though we might want to see if we can add windows to the middle bedrooms."

Ginny shrugged. "Any of them looked okay to me, but the first one is fine."

"That works for me," Theo said.

"The first one has everything we were looking for, except the additional rooms, which we could add. None of them had enough rooms, so that's a little besides the point. I suppose the next question I should ask is how we're paying for this. I'm sure a house in London doesn't come cheap," Hermione said.

"Don't worry about it," Draco said. "I have the funds for it, the Malfoy estates and vaults have already been transferred to me and Whittaker said I could sell it when we're done with it for a profit."

"We can pay rent," Hermione offered.

"No, I don't want your money. Use your money to pay for your training and your masteries. I promise, the cost of this house won't make a dent in the Malfoy family vault and the money would just be sitting there otherwise. Please," Draco said.

"If that's what you want," Theo said after a moment.

"I do," Draco said. "So we're settled on the first house? Fifteen Barton Road?"

"It sounds that way," Theo said, getting nods from around the table.

"I'll put an offer in with Whittaker and tell him we'd like it taken care of as soon as possible. The house isn't currently occupied, so it should be quick," Draco said with a nod.

"How quick? In the muggle world this sort of thing can take months," Hermione said.

"We should be able to finalize everything and be ready to take possession of the house in a week, assuming there's no hiccups," Draco said.

That was fast, but Rachel remembered Severus purchasing a house during the summer before her second year and that had gone very quickly as well.

"Is everyone set for September?" Theo asked.

"I start the Healers Training Program on the thirty first," Hermione said.

"My mastery starts that Monday too," Neville said.

"Mine starts on the seventh. I had two offers, but I finally picked one," Millie said.

"Mine starts on the thirty first as well," Theo said.

"I have the tryouts for the auror team on Wednesday. You too, Rachel?" Draco asked.

Rachel nodded. "Same here, and I've already started Quidditch practices."

"How is it?" Ginny asked.

"Pretty good. Glynnis is a great flier," Rachel said. "They took a ton of pictures of me though, it was kind of embarrassing."

"I bet there will be an article about you in one of the Quidditch magazines next month," Ginny said.

Rachel sighed. "I'd rather have that than another article in the Daily Prophet. If they want to talk about me catching the Snitch, they can do that."

"I really hope I get a spot in the League," Ginny said, looking a little wistful.

"I bet you will, you're a good Seeker," Rachel said.

"Luna, you're doing a Care of Magical Creatures mastery after Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"That is my plan," Luna said. "I'll likely need to do two apprenticeships to be a magizoologist."

"Sounds like everyone is set on what they're going to do," Theo said, looking around at everyone. "I think under the circumstances, we've all done very well. These last few years haven't been easy for any of us, but we made it."

Rachel nodded, though she felt that it wasn't really over yet. They'd made it through the bulk of the war, but there were still Death Eaters, there were still trials. There were still people suffering. She felt like she still had a lot to do before she 'made it'.


Severus was in his armchair on Sunday evening. The house was quiet, though Rachel was home. She'd been out more and more often lately, which he knew was the right thing for a young adult to be doing, but it still worried him a fair amount. She'd already told him that they'd found a house that they wanted, and that was daunting too. He'd spent seven years taking care of Rachel and he found himself wanting to insist that she wasn't ready to leave home yet. He also refrained from doing so, because he knew that Rachel needed to have some of the independence that she hadn't been allowed as a teenager and that she could always come home if she needed to.

He turned the page in the book he was reading. It wasn't his usual fare of mysteries, classics, or books about potions. This was a book about running a business, which was essentially what he would be doing now that he was brewing independently. He was currently in the chapter about accounting and while it was certainly doable, he had half a mind to hire someone to do the accounting for him. Maybe once he was operating full time he would. He had two short term brewing contracts set up and they both had the potential to become longer term if they worked out. That was enough to start out with while he was inventing as well.

Rachel came down the stairs and sat down on the sofa.

The first thing Severus noticed was that she wasn't carrying a book, which meant she was here to talk rather than to simply have company. The second thing he noticed was that she looked almost frightened. He kept his eyes on his book, waiting for her to decide when she was ready to speak, though he wasn't sure what the topic would be.

It took about ten minutes before she spoke. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course," Severus said, setting aside his book without noting the page number.

She was quiet again, her gaze focused around her knees. "There's a reason I'm doing this," she finally said.

"What is it that you're doing?" he asked when she didn't elucidate.

"Talking to you about this," she said, somewhat unhelpfully.

He nodded, hoping that Rachel would get to the subject at some point. She usually did if he let her talk herself around to it.

She sighed heavily. "I don't know how to do this. I told that to Torey too, and she said I'd figure it out as I did it and that the more I did it, the more I would figure it out."

"Most things tend to work that way. What is it that you're trying to do?" he asked again.

"I need to talk to you about what happened that night."

"The night at Malfoy Manor?" he checked, since she only ever referred to that so obliquely.

Rachel nodded. "I'm not sure what they're going to say about it in the newspaper, and I'd rather you heard it from me. And I might wind up speaking at the trial, so I need to figure out how to talk about this."

Severus was of two minds about this. He wanted Rachel to be well enough to talk about what happened, especially if she was considering speaking at the trial, but he also did not want to push her if she was not ready. "Do not push yourself on my account. I will be alright if I read about it in the paper. But if you'd like to speak with me about it, if you feel ready to, I'm here."

Rachel rested her hand on her mouth and seemed to be conflicted. Finally she shook her head. "I really don't know what to say."

"Does it help to know that I have a fairly good idea of what happens at that sort of Death Eater meeting?" He felt like he had an understanding of what had happened to Rachel, even if he didn't know the precise details.

She shook her head again. "I mean, I know you do. But…"

He waited as she put her thoughts together.

"There are parts of it that you don't know. And parts of it that only Draco knows. And now Madam Bones and Head Auror Robards, I guess. But they seemed to treat me alright. When I had my interview with Robards, it didn't seem to bother him that I'd been tortured. He still agreed to let me try out. He didn't even reference it," she said, seeming like she was having a revelation.

Severus nodded, knowing that she'd had this difficulty with other parts of her past. "What happened is part of your experience, but it isn't all of you. They know that. They see you as a whole person, just as I do, just as the other people who care about you do. This one experience does not determine who you are."

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "I guess I know that you wouldn't look at me any different. And my friends wouldn't either. They've heard worse things about me, and so have you."

He didn't like the way she termed that, as though what had happened was her fault or some fault within her that she was trying to hide. At the same time, he also understood wanting to hide the things that had caused him pain. There was something uniquely vulnerable about telling someone about how you'd been hurt.

"He didn't even question me. The Dark Lord didn't even look at me. It was like he'd dragged in a hunk of meat for his lions and he was just interested in the show."

"He wasn't treating you like an opponent. He didn't believe you were worthy of questioning. Likely he was also wary of something similar happening as happened in the graveyard," Severus suggested.

"I would have told him. I would have told him the prophecy. I would have said anything to get them to stop," she said, meeting his eyes for the first time since she'd come downstairs.

Severus nodded. "Anyone would have. No one is invulnerable to torture. There's no shame in that." He thought they were actually incredibly lucky that the Dark Lord hadn't questioned Rachel. If he'd heard the full prophecy right then he wouldn't have bothered with torture, he would have simply killed Rachel immediately.

"You didn't. Professor Podmore didn't."

"The Dark Lord never tortured me for information, only for punishment. I knew that I would only make my torture worse if I told him what I knew. If I were being questioned while being tortured, it was entirely likely that I would break, which is why Albus limited what I knew during the war. That's why we limited information and groups as much as possible in the Order, because the potential for capture and torture was there for anyone. As for Sturgis, I do not expect he was tortured in the same way that you were," Severus said.

"The Dark Lord was the one who tortured him. It went…quickly. It's hard to tell. Maybe ten minutes. Professor Podmore wasn't really coherent after maybe five minutes or so," she admitted.

"Then the Dark Lord truly did not expect Sturgis to have information that he needed. He would have ensured that Sturgis had the capacity to answer if he'd expected him to give information," Severus told her, feeling a twinge of regret for Sturgis. They'd never found out how he'd been captured, and he suspected that anyone with that information now was probably dead.

Rachel was silent for a long moment, her eyes fixed on the table between them. "I was just a show to them. After dinner entertainment. There wasn't a point."

"His point was humiliating you and proving that he was powerful over you. You proved him wrong by surviving."

"Surviving had nothing to do with me. If you hadn't sent Draco in, I would have died that night. I think all of that seriously messed Draco up. Like as badly as it messed me up," she said, looking at him again. "I'm trying to get Draco to see a Mind Healer. I think Pansy needs to see one too. I have a list for them, but Pansy is pretty upset with me right now."

"What happened with Pansy?" he asked. Rachel hadn't spoken of it other than to confirm that Pansy had wanted Rachel's help with her mother and Rachel hadn't been able to provide it.

Rachel pulled her feet up on the sofa and tucked her knees up to her chest. "I told her that her parents cast the Cruciatus Curse on me. I didn't want to hurt Pansy, but she was saying that her mother hadn't used an Unforgivable Curse, and that the MLE was charging her wrong. I had to tell her, didn't I?"

"Under the circumstances, that was probably the right thing to do. Unfortunately, Pansy needs to face the reality of the situation and she needs to understand that the MLE is charging Ambrosia with things that she actually did. It might take her some time to accept that. Pansy cares about her parents a great deal," Severus said, wondering if there was anything he could do that would help, but other than getting Pansy grief assistance with a Mind Healer, he wasn't sure what he could do in this situation.

"I'm worried about Theo too," she said.

"Theo's father also cast the Cruciatus Curse on you?" Severus checked, knowing that it was likely, but also feeling a flame of hatred at the man and a certain frustration that he was dead. He would have liked to take his revenge personally, though the situation had not allowed for it.

Rachel was pressing her lips together and finally she shook her head slightly. She was now hunched into a ball with her arms wrapped around her legs. "He was the one who used the Flaming Whip curse. He blamed me for seducing Theo away from him. I didn't. Theo has known since his first year at Hogwarts that he didn't want to join the Death Eaters."

"I know you didn't. This was not your fault. Ignatius' actions are not your fault," Severus said, curling around his own anger.

"I don't know what to tell Theo. I'm not sure I even should tell him. Won't that just hurt him?" She was looking at him again, seeming deeply worried.

"It's your choice as to what you want to tell Theo. I think it's likely that Theo already knows what his father felt about him leaving and that Theo already suspects that his father was involved in torturing you. If anyone knows what Theo's father was capable of, it's Theo," he said, though he could understand her reluctance to tell him. That sort of information had the capacity to change any relationship.

"I just feel like I'm keeping it a secret from him. I'm tired of carrying secrets. Torey said I could ask him if he wants to know."

"That might be a good idea. Theo could let you know when he is ready for that information," Severus said. He suspected that Theo had his own grieving to do for his father, but it might be some time before he was ready to feel it.

Rachel sighed and her shoulders slumped. "This didn't really work out how I was expecting it to. Torey said I should speak with a victim's advocate."

"That would be a good idea before you make a decision about speaking in front of the Wizengamot," Severus agreed, annoyed that he hadn't thought of it before now.

"What will they do?"

"They'll let you know what your options are and what to expect over the course of the trial. They'll help you put together a statement and they'll know what sort of language will be most helpful for you to use. When you're speaking to the Wizengamot, it is different than if you were speaking to me or to Torey. You'll have a specific purpose that you are trying to get across to the Wizengamot, to influence their votes, and the victim's advocate will help you craft that purpose."

"They'll help me figure out what to say?"

"Yes. You will have the final decision about what you say, but they'll help guide you to what will be most useful," he said, not wanting her to think that she didn't have any input.

"You know what happened, right?" she asked. "I mean. I just don't know how to describe it. Saying it was painful seems utterly stupid. But I don't see how I can put words to that experience. There aren't words that really describe what happened. I can tell you what people did or said, but it doesn't mean anything. Not really."

Severus nodded in understanding. "The realities of torture cannot be described. It's not something that can be conveyed with words, at least not in my experience. Either you've experienced it, and you know what it's like to be tortured, or you don't, and nothing can replicate that knowledge."

She seemed to relax a little at those words and let her legs fall down to the sofa. "I knew. I knew you were coming. I knew I had to stay alive as long as I could."

"You did exactly right," he told her, though his own emotions were tangling, with his remembered terror that he wouldn't get her back, his horror at the condition he had found her in, and a relief that she had trusted that he would come for her. "I'll always come for you."

"Well, hopefully I won't need you too. I'm a lot stronger now than I was at fifteen. I know more. I've trained more. I know you don't want me to join the aurors. I really know that. But I think that I can do it."

He felt his mouth twist. She was right that he did not want her to join the aurors. "I do not doubt your abilities, Rachel. I know you are capable. I simply don't want you to be facing the Death Eaters under any circumstances."

"I'd rather be facing them when I was expecting them than having them show up at random."

"They may do that too," he pointed out.

"But maybe not. If they know I'm coming out with the auror team, they think they have an opportunity. But we're expecting them. Why would they go through more trouble to seek me out under other circumstances when that would be more difficult?"

"Because the Death Eaters will know that you're expecting them. Do not ascribe stupidity to all of them. There are some very crafty Death Eaters out there that I have not yet seen death notices for," he warned.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is still missing. So is Barty Crouch Junior."

Severus nodded. "I haven't heard that Rookwood is dead, though they may be suppressing the news of his death." Then again, Severus would be surprised if Rookwood wasn't on another continent by now if he was still alive.

"I know the Death Eaters are dangerous. If anyone knows that, it's me."

Severus refrained from asking why then she was insisting on seeking them out. "Your tryout is on Wednesday?"

"That's right. Hopefully after that I'll sort of know what I'm doing. Both Gregg McDonald and Emlyn Clough said they'd wait for me. I'm sort of leaning towards Emlyn. Is that okay?"

"That's fine. Emlyn is a good woman. She'd be a good teacher for you," Severus said.

Rachel sat quietly, her head tilted back against the sofa. "Someday it will be over, won't it? The Death Eaters will eventually leave me alone, won't they?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I think it won't always be as dangerous as it is right now, but I don't know that the danger will ever fully pass. You will always need good wards and to be cautious in public spaces."

"That's just reasonable precautions for anyone. I can live with that," she said. "I want to go to a bookshop."

"We can do that," he said.

"And I want to see the Snow family vault at some point. It's safe enough to go to Gringotts now, isn't it?"

"It should be. Why don't we have a trip out tomorrow afternoon?" he suggested, wanting Rachel to do things that she wanted to do instead of stressing herself over the Wizengamot and trials.

"In disguise," she said after a moment.

"Not inside Gringotts, but you can wear your disguise cloak up to the doors," he reminded her.

"It should be okay, shouldn't it?"

"I think it will be alright. If it is not, we will leave."

Rachel seemed to consider this and finally she nodded. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life hiding. I want to be able to do things."

"You will be able to do things," he promised. He would make sure of it.