Rachel had a notebook and quill with her as she traversed the Department. She had started tallying how often she saw each room, as well as which rooms connected to which and in what order. At some point she wanted to recruit some people to her project and have them draw maps and tallies to find out if the Department was leading them to different places.
One thing she had noticed was that the Department had stopped taking her to the Morsius Pensieve as soon as she stopped trying to go there. She hadn't come to that room once since Patrick had told her she could stop using it. That made her curious what other rooms the Department was hiding from them. Part of her research was going to be going through other people's writing on the Department and see if they mentioned rooms she hadn't been to and then finding a way to go there.
This wasn't necessarily why she'd signed up to be an Unspeakable, and she wasn't adding something particularly important to the base of knowledge, but she found it fascinating and Patrick had seemed approving when she'd told him about her project. Actually, what he'd said was most Unspeakables spent some time investigating the Department, so Rachel figured her curiosity was normal and expected.
From what she could tell, some Unspeakables had a wide variety of projects and subjects that they dabbled in - Patrick always had something new when she came by his office - but others were focused entirely on one subject or on a single project. Rachel liked to go in depth on a topic, like her sleeping potions, but it was nice to have a secondary project for the times she stalled out or was waiting for results. She was also learning about explosives with Cyril, which she found enjoyable, though she often found herself asking him what he intended to do with his projects. As far as she could tell, he just enjoyed blowing things up.
Finding herself in the bone room, Rachel made a tally mark on her notebook and checked her map. This room could lead to a few different places. At some point she was going to more thoroughly explore the bones, though she still didn't know what they were being used for. There were bones that she could identify as being human. There were a few labeled with their species and the date they were collected. And there were some that didn't look like they belonged to any creature she recognized. She took a brief moment to wonder what magical people thought of dinosaurs. It had never come up with anyone and she didn't know any magical archeologists. She supposed she'd have to ask.
She went to the door and opened it, pausing when she found herself in a room she recognized but hadn't been in very often. She hadn't been here since she started making her map. Taking a slow breath, she stepped inside, letting the door close behind her. The Veil always creeped her out a little, in part because of the room itself.
The room was similar to the room they used for full Wizengamot trials on level ten, with rows of seating rising around the room. In the center was the dais that held the Veil. She could imagine centuries ago the Wizard's Council gathered here to watch as people were executed. At the very least, she supposed she should be grateful that execution was no longer a sentence in magical Britain. With the removal of Azkaban and the end of the use of Dementors as guards, she had also managed to get death by Dementor's Kiss as a potential sentence removed from law. Surprisingly, that hadn't been as difficult as getting her prison proposal passed. Apparently other people were uncomfortable with that as well.
Somehow, she thought they might be comfortable with shoving people through the Veil, if they knew it was a possibility. It was a bloodless death that at least on the surface looked painless. There was a part of Rachel that felt the deep seated urge to know what happened on the other side of the Veil, but she didn't see any practical way of finding out without going through it herself.
She walked down to the dais, the stone steps bigger than her natural stride. Sitting on the edge of the dais, she consulted her notebook, added this door as a possible connection to the bone room, made a notation on her index, and then went to a clean page for this room. She wrote down the brief amount she knew about the room and the Veil and did a few sketches. Later she planned to bring her camera into the Department and fully document everything she could find - her sketches were a little lacking.
Slipping her notebook and quill into her robe pocket, she approached the Veil, listening intently. There were definitely voices in there. "Hello?"
As far as she could tell, there was no response to her voice. She stared into the Veil, trying to see something, anything. Taking a slow breath, she evaluated herself. Yes, there was still a strange part of herself that wanted to step into the Veil, but she was more cautious about that now that she knew an Unspeakable who had been using the Morsius Pensieve had committed suicide that way. For some questions, the answers were simply unknowable.
"Mom? Dad? If you're listening, I'm not going to come here anymore. It's not safe for me. I think about you often and I'll write to you tonight. I love you," she said, in case they were listening.
She backed away from the Veil and climbed off the dais. "I can't keep coming here. It's not safe. I'd prefer if you didn't bring me to this room again until I say that I think I'll be okay with it," she said, looking up at the Department.
There was a shift in her mind, but it was impossible to say how much the Department had understood. It had understood enough that the Morsius Pensieve had been hurting her. Maybe it would understand about this as well.
"Let's go back. I'm still working on a way for us to converse," she told the Department.
There was another shift and Rachel began her trek back out of the Department. This was a terminal room so she had to go all the way back out if she wanted to go anywhere else. She was looking forward to seeing what else the Department could show her.
It took another week after making her decision about agreeing to marry Theo for her to feel ready to approach the topic with him. It wasn't that she wasn't sure, she just needed time to feel out how that conversation might go in her head.
In the end, she decided a blunt approach was best. They had already talked about this enough that she wouldn't be surprising him with the topic. She just needed to let him know that she was ready.
She had waited for a Saturday, not wanting to do this after they'd both had long days at work. After breakfast, Theo had settled into the sitting room with a book and she had sat next to him and let Feverfew and Dingbat crowd them on the sofa. Part of her mind was trying to anticipate what would come next. It felt to her that once they made the decision to get married there were a lot of things that followed that. But, for now, she was trying to focus here on this moment.
Theo had set his book down and was absently petting Dingbat as the cat pressed against his thigh with a rumbling purr. Feverfew was sitting on Rachel's other side.
"Can we talk about something?" she asked, trying not to sound uncertain.
"Sure. What's on your mind?" he asked, turning to look at her.
Rachel took a slow breath. "I've been thinking about what we've been talking about these past few months."
"Marriage?" Theo checked after a moment.
She nodded. "Given everything we've discussed, I think it's a good idea." Rachel glanced at him nervously and found that he was smiling at her.
"Really? I don't want to push you into anything."
"You're not. I've had plenty of time to think it through. It's not really changing us, it's just the next step of permanency," she said.
"We don't have to let it change anything we don't want it to change," Theo promised.
"I know. And I trust you," Rachel said, reaching around the cat to take his hand.
He shifted closer, forcing Dingbat to stand and climb over Rachel's lap, and they hugged.
She rested her head on his shoulder, feeling assured that this was the right thing to do. She wanted Theo with her for the rest of their lives. They stayed like that for a few minutes and Rachel felt something in herself settle. She wanted this. Whatever complications came with it, she wanted this.
"I'll be right back," he said, standing up when they released each other.
Bemused, Rachel watched him hurry from the sitting room and pet Dingbat, who was disgruntled at having her cuddle interrupted by their marriage discussion.
Theo returned about two minutes later and knelt down in front of Rachel before pulling out a small box and opening it. A ring was sitting inside. "Rachel, will you marry me?"
"Yes, of course," she said, feeling herself flush at the proposal as she smiled. In some respects, Theo was a traditionalist. She didn't need a traditional proposal or a ring, but she didn't mind that Theo had done so. She held out her hand and let Theo slip it onto her fourth finger and then use his wand to size it.
"That feels right?" he checked.
"It does," she said, both meaning the fit of the ring and how having a symbol of their engagement felt.
"Good." Theo stood and joined her on the sofa again, settling against her side.
Rachel examined her ring. The band was silver, which was the metal she typically wore when she wore jewelry, and there were three stones. The one in the center was the largest and it was an oval shape and there were small circles to either side. The smaller circles were clearly diamonds, but she didn't recognize the green tinted stone in the center. "What stone is this?"
"Moss agate. I thought you might like something a little different from the usual diamonds. Agate symbolizes strength, protection, and courage, which I thought was a good fit for you," he said.
"It's perfect," she agreed. He was right that she liked this better than a traditional diamond ring. "How long have you had this?"
"A few years," he admitted.
"Years?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
"I've known that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you for years. I was just waiting until the time was right," Theo said.
"Thank you for waiting." She was glad he knew her well enough to wait. She wouldn't have been ready for this a few years ago, or even last year.
They sat cuddled together, Dingbat moving in so she could sprawl across both their laps and Feverfew settling against Rachel's thigh for a nap. They were a family. That had been true for years.
Rachel smiled as she slowly exhaled. She was happy here in their home. She was happy with Theo. What more could she possibly ask for?
"What do you think he's going to say?" she asked as they finished lunch.
"I think he's going to be happy for us," Theo said steadily. "Do you think he's going to be upset?"
"No." She couldn't see Severus being upset about the fact that they were going to get married. He hadn't been upset when she'd started a relationship with Theo, or when they'd broken up, or when they'd gotten back together, or even when they purchased a house together.
He raised his eyebrows. "I get the feeling that people have been expecting this from us for a long time."
"People who don't know us, maybe," Rachel said. She'd never given any indication to anyone that she wanted to be married. "I don't know that anyone was expecting that Millie and Natalie would get married."
"I think everyone expected that too, it was just a matter of when."
Rachel hadn't been expecting it until Millie had told her she was thinking about proposing. Then again, she hadn't been anticipating any of the engagements in her friend group, so maybe it was just her. She just didn't think about marriage that often. She supposed she would be thinking about it a lot now.
"You do realize that I asked Severus' permission years ago?" Theo asked.
"You did?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes. It's the done thing. You ask someone's parents before you propose to them."
"Somehow I don't think Natalie asked Millie's mom," Rachel said with a small smile.
He laughed. "No, I don't think she did. Probably wisely."
"Probably." Rachel suspected that Millie had gotten married the same way she'd gotten her mastery and guild position - by deciding what she was going to do and doing her best to ignore her mother. "What did Severus say when you asked him?"
"He said the person I needed permission from was you and that I had his blessing as long as it was what you wanted," Theo said.
She smiled. She was glad Severus didn't think that he had any say in who she married. As far as she was concerned, the only people who should have a say in a marriage were the people who were getting married. "Then I guess he'll probably take it alright."
"Probably. Do you want to go see him?"
Rachel nodded. "I'd like that. He should be the first to know. What do you think about telling Sirius and Remus?" Not only was Sirius her godfather, but he and Remus had somewhat been surrogate parents to Theo as well.
"Probably wise. Maybe brunch tomorrow with everyone else?" Theo asked.
"Yes. I want to tell the people we care about before it makes the newspapers."
Theo closed his eyes. "I hadn't thought quite that far ahead yet."
"It's going to be a disaster," she told him, because she had thought that far ahead. "Our wedding is going to be the political event of the decade."
He shook his head slightly. "We'll make it work. Somehow. Let's not worry about a wedding just yet."
"Agreed." Wedding thoughts were for later. "Ready to see Severus?"
"If you are," he said.
She nodded, watching as their lunch dishes disappeared, which meant the House Elves were listening. All three of them had been excited to hear about the marriage, though Dobby had been the most vocal about his enthusiasm. The impression she got from Kreacher and Tomsi was they thought it was about time. She thought they'd be getting that a lot.
They apparated directly into Severus' sitting room and Rachel listened for sounds of Severus. Usually he was home on the weekends. "Severus?"
"Down here," he called, his voice distant.
Rachel knew that meant he was in the cellar, so she led the way through the kitchen and down the steps. They found Severus in front of a cauldron and some notes, but he didn't have anything brewing just yet.
"This is unexpected," he said, turning to look at them. "I'm not forgetting that we had a lunch planned?"
"No, it's unexpected, in more ways than one," Rachel agreed, unable to help her smile.
"I assume an explanation will be forthcoming?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.
She took a slow breath. "Um, Theo and I…we're engaged."
Severus smiled, his smile both broad and genuine. "I'm happy to hear that. I take it this is a recent development."
"Just this morning. We've been talking about it for a while, and we, well I, finally decided," she said, stepping forward to hug him.
"I'm glad," he said, squeezing her tight before releasing her. "Congratulations," he said, shaking Theo's hand.
Theo looked mildly bemused. "Believe me, I know I'm very lucky."
Rachel didn't know about that. She felt she was the one who was lucky.
"Let me put things away and we can sit down and celebrate," Severus said.
She peered at the counter, curious about what he'd been preparing to brew, but that could wait. Right now was about her and Theo.
They arrived at Grimmauld Place after spending the early afternoon with Severus, mostly just catching up on what had been going on in their lives. Severus hadn't pressed for details of the wedding, or even a timeline, which Rachel was grateful for. She was also grateful that she'd had so many friends get married and who knew how it was done.
They let themselves in the front door - Sirius had told them they could come over whenever and not to bother knocking - and wandered through the entryway. The sitting room and the kitchen were empty, so Rachel held out her hand and cast the Patronus charm. "To Sirius Black. Are you at home? Theo and I wanted to see you."
Her doe trotted off, heading up the stairs, which was a good sign. If Sirius hadn't been home her Patronus would have simply gone through the wall in the direction that Sirius was in.
Sirius and Remus appeared at the top of the staircase a few minutes later. Rachel was glad Remus was here as well. He spent a lot of his days down at the werewolf reserve now.
"We weren't expecting you today, were we?" Sirius asked. "I'm not missing a meeting or something?"
"No, it's a surprise visit," Rachel said. "Are we interrupting something?"
"Not at all. We were just getting things squared away. How is your committee section looking?" Remus asked.
"Good so far. Several people have volunteered for the committee so we're going to be making final selections on that in the next few weeks. We'll go from there," Rachel said, leading the way into the sitting room. She and Theo took adjacent armchairs while Sirius and Remus settled onto the sofa.
"Sounds like the situation is under control. We'll see what the committee can do. I'm still not sure how we're going to staff this department for the House Elves," Sirius said.
Rachel wasn't sure about that either, but they'd figure out something. She'd do it herself, but she simply did not have the time. She had to focus her efforts where she could be most impactful, which was usually the Wizengamot. "We actually had something non-Wizengamot related that we wanted to talk with you about."
"What's that? Not some new disaster, is it? I think I've had all the disasters that I can handle for this year," Sirius said.
"It's only June, we have time for more disasters," Rachel told him.
Sirius shuddered theatrically.
"We don't think this is a disaster," Theo said with a glance at Rachel.
"No, rather the opposite," Rachel said, though she did anticipate that their wedding was going to be a disaster.
"We're all ears," Sirius said.
Rachel reached for Theo's hand, finding this more difficult than telling Severus. "Theo and I are engaged."
Both Remus and Sirius' eyes widened in surprise. "After all this time?" Remus asked.
Theo shrugged. "Took us a little while to get there. We wanted to wait until we were ready."
"We're surprised, but we're happy for you. I've already given you the lecture on taking good care of my goddaughter, so I'll say it to you now. Take good care of Theo," Sirius said, looking at her.
"I will," Rachel promised.
"Congratulations," Remus said, smiling fondly at them. "When was all this decided?"
"This morning, actually. We wanted to tell everyone before the newspaper got ahold of it," Theo said.
"Wise," Sirius said with a nod. "You know they're going to be all over this?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I anticipate the speculation is going to run rampant," she said.
"Not just speculation, but all of the details about your wedding ceremony and everything else. People are going to want all the romantic details," Remus said, looking sympathetic.
"We'll figure it out. Somehow," Theo said.
Rachel didn't find the story of her and Theo's engagement to be particularly romantic. It had mostly been an uncertain negotiation about what being married would look like for them. She might have to edit that for the press.
"Do you have any plans so far?" Sirius asked.
"Not yet," she said, shaking her head. "It's all very new."
"Take your time with it. Neither of us have been married, but if we can help in any way, we want to," Remus offered.
"I can manage the Wizengamot side of things for you, if you'd like," Sirius added.
"That might be wise. Thank you," she said, knowing that the political ramifications of this would echo far and wide.
"I'm not expecting a great godchild, am I?" Sirius asked. "I know contraceptive charms can be tricky-"
"No!" Theo and Rachel blurted out together, causing Sirius and Remus to laugh.
"Just checking. This is rather sudden," Sirius said.
"No children here," she said, blushing furiously.
"We're not having children," Theo said.
"People are going to expect it now that you're getting married," Remus said, his tone somehow neutral despite the amusement in his eyes.
"They can expect it all they want, it's not happening," she said firmly.
"Just expect the question to be asked," Sirius said.
Rachel wondered how they explained in a press release that she had no intentions of having children and that she wasn't pregnant. Maybe she'd just try to avoid the issue.
"Will you stay for dinner with us?" Sirius asked.
She glanced at Theo and he nodded agreeably. "We can do that. We don't have anywhere pressing to be." She was happy enough to spend the early evening chatting with them. She didn't get to see them often enough when they weren't discussing the Wizengamot.
The House Elves had elongated their dining table in anticipation of having guests. Their home was just barely big enough to accommodate their entire group of friends, though it was still a tight squeeze around the tables. Kreacher set the table with a snap of his fingers, the plates, silverware, and glasses all appearing in two neat rows. Dobby and Tomsi were in the kitchen finishing preparing brunch.
Rachel had decided on casual robes. These were her friends, she didn't need to dress up for them any more than she'd needed to dress up to go see Severus and Sirius. She kept catching glimpses of her ring. She wasn't used to wearing rings so it caught her eye every now and then. It was pretty, but it was more the symbolism that kept catching on her mind. She and Theo were actually doing this. The whole thing was a little bit exciting and a little bit scary.
Luna and Rolf were still on safari, but the rest of their group would be here in a few minutes. Rachel planned to send a Patronus to Luna later so that she heard the news, though she knew Luna and Rolf weren't going to see anything in the newspaper until they returned to Britain. Hermione was still in England at the moment, though she was preparing for another trip, this time to Bulgaria. Rachel knew Hermione was intending to get in touch with Viktor while she was there. Viktor was still playing for the Bulgarian National team. He wasn't much of a correspondent by letters, but Rachel got the occasional postcard from him while he was on the World Cup tour and she replied.
"We look about ready," Theo said, sticking his head into the dining room.
"I think so. Dobby said he and Tomsi are just about done," she said, joining him to wander back toward the floo.
"How are we handling telling everyone else?" he asked.
"Tell whoever you want to know before the newspaper knows in the next day or two. Once people see me wandering around with a ring, it won't take long for news to get out," Rachel told him. The Wizengamot were incurable gossips. She anticipated they'd see an article in the Evening Prophet tomorrow or the Daily Prophet the morning after that.
She would tell Monty and Booker tomorrow and whoever in her faction happened to drop by her office. Everyone else could find out from the newspaper.
"Hello?" came Millie's voice from the floo.
"Come on over," Theo called back.
Millie and then Natalie popped out a moment later. "We don't usually do brunch," Millie said, brushing off her robes. "Special occasion?"
"We just wanted to see everyone," Theo said with a glance at Rachel.
She nodded. They could tell everyone as a group.
They didn't have time for more than that because Neville and Hannah arrived next, Neville holding Sarah while Hannah held Lisander. Lisander immediately reached for Theo, Theo gently bounced him in his arms. "He's getting bigger," he said.
"And heavier," Hannah said, looking a little weary as Neville set Sarah down.
"Are the kitties here?" Sarah asked.
"Over here," Rachel said, leading her to where Dingbat was lounging on the sofa. Dingbat tolerated children much better than Feverfew did.
Hermione arrived after that, followed by Ginny, then Draco, Astoria, Scorpius, and Cygnus.
"Is it a party?" Scorpius asked. He had a birthday party coming up so his mind had been on parties lately. Scorpius had a July birthday, just like Rachel and Neville.
"It's a brunch party," Rachel told him.
"Cake?" he asked.
"No cake, but french toast with whipped cream and strawberries," she said.
He nodded, seeming content enough with that.
They managed to herd their chatting friends into the dining room and Rachel and Theo sat together at the head of the table. Scorpius quickly took a seat on Rachel's left hand side and Draco sat next to him.
"Is this a special occasion?" Astoria asked once they were all seated and the food had appeared. They had platters of french toast, eggs benedict, pastries, and bowls of fresh fruit. They also had a variety of juices out and there was champagne waiting in the kitchen.
"It is," Theo said. "We had something we wanted to tell all of you."
"Something good, I hope?" Ginny asked.
"Very good, at least we think it is," Rachel said, glancing at Theo. He nodded to her. "Theo and I are engaged."
The response was immediate as their friends cheered and offered their congratulations. Rachel felt herself flushing but she was pleased that everyone was so happy for them.
"What does engaged mean?" Sarah asked, looking at Hannah.
"It means they're going to get married in a little bit," Hannah said.
"Today?" Scorpius asked, his eyes wide.
"Not today," Rachel said quickly. "Probably not for months."
"Ring? Let's see the ring," Millie said.
Rachel held out her hand so her friends could see.
"Oh, that's so pretty. Non-traditional, but it suits you. What stone is that?" Hermione asked, leaning closer to look.
"Moss agate set between two diamonds," Theo told her.
"When did this happen?" Ginny asked.
"Just yesterday. We wanted to tell everyone before the newspaper got there first," Theo said.
"Oh no," Astoria said. "They're going to be all over this."
"And so is the Wizengamot and the Ministry," Neville said with a sympathetic look.
"We know. We'll figure it out." Rachel needed to figure out some way to balance her political duties with maintaining some semblance of privacy about all of this.
"It would be polite to inform the Minister before he reads about it in the paper," Draco told her.
Rachel sighed. "I can probably do that." She could ask Booker to check if Rufus had a spare five minutes tomorrow afternoon.
"Do you have wedding thoughts?" Natalie asked.
"Not yet, I think?" Theo said, looking at Rachel.
"Not yet. We'll get past the hurdle of letting everyone know and then start figuring out how we're going to do this. I don't particularly want to invite the entire Wizengamot to our wedding, but that might not be possible," she said.
"Well, you can have all the contact information from the people we used if it will help," Millie offered.
"Thanks, we'll probably take you up on that," Theo said.
Rachel smiled as she looked around at her friends. She was happy to have them here with her to celebrate. They didn't need to think of wedding planning just yet.