"Rachel." Hermione sighed clearly distressed. She walked over and sat down on the old sofa opposite Rachel. "She did it again."
"Who did what again?" Rachel mumbled not looking up from her copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Donavon called her a mudblood again." Harry hissed angrily as he stormed over to Hermione and Rachel in the common room.
"Oh."
"Oh? Is that all you're going to say?" Harry scoffed.
"Well what do you want me to say?" Rachel put the newspaper down and scowled at her brother.
"That Donavon has only been here for two weeks and she's been nonstop calling Hermione a mudblood!" Harry barked angrily.
"What do you expect?" Rachel rose her voice getting very irritated. "Kayla Donavon is a pureblood, raised the same way as Draco plus she's a Slytherin and hangs around with them! Of course she's going to say stuff like that!"
"Stop calling him Draco!" Harry pulled a disgusted face.
"That's his name isn't it?" Rachel spat. "God sometimes I wish I hadn't disagreed to go in Slytherin!"
"What do you mean?" Harry breathed furiously.
"The sorting hat nearly put me in Slytherin, I'm only here because of you!"
There was a moment of silence as Rachel and Harry glared at each other.
"I'm sorry." Hermione meekly said.
"Don't be sorry!" Harry turned to Hermione. "Rachel go talk to Donavon."
"No." Rachel said. "I am not going to tell my best friend who I've known longer than you guys to back off."
Hermione and Harry looked up at her shocked.
"Just stay out of her way and she'll stay out of yours." Rachel concluded before storming up to her room ignoring everyone.
She threw the dorm door open and grabbed her school robes and tie off her bed. With that she rushed out of the common room all together making it obvious she was angry.
Not that Rachel blamed her, but ever since Kayla had stated Rachel was more of a Slytherin than she realised, she had defiantly gained an attitude. Rachel, within the past two weeks, had hung out with that crowd more than usual. She was now great friends with Theodore Nott and was incredibly close with Kayla. Kayla had explained to the other Slytherin's that it was Harry's "fault" she was a Gryffindor.
Rachel hurried round to the second floor girls toilets, otherwise known as Moaning Myrtles bathroom. The ghost Moaning Myrtle haunted the toilets after she was murdered in there by a basilisk over 50 years ago. The bathroom tended to be very quiet seeing as no one could put up with Myrtle's constant howling.
But this didn't bother Rachel, she entered the bathroom and rushed to a mirror. She put on her robes and attempted to do her tie. Once she had done that she took a step back from the mirror as she held her wand up in her hand. Remembering the spell Fred had taught her at the beginning of the year, she charmed her Gryffindor robes to turn into Slytherin. It felt wrong to admit it but Rachel loved the Slytherin robes.
It seemed stupid, but Rachel smiled at herself. Slytherin brought out a different side to her that she seemed to like, an almost dark side. Not necessarily evil but it was not like the side Gryffindor bought out in her. For some reason the dark green made her eyes pop with a hint of mystery. She just seemed to look more mischievous and suspicious than before. Rachel loved it.
She sighed and changed her robes back to the Gryffindor colours and sank to the floor.
"Admiring Slytherin are we?" Myrtle the ghost chortled as she flew very low to Rachel's head.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Rachel sighed. "Oh who am I kidding, I wish I was a Slytherin."
"Why?" Myrtle pulled a face as she settled next to Rachel.
"They understand me and my attitude. Harry and all of them think I'm being rude or something but I'm not, it's just how I am! It is how all Slytherin's are." Rachel explained fiddling with her tie.
"I guess." Myrtle mumbled. "But imagine if you were a Slytherin. Those Weasley twins wouldn't have befriended you."
Rachel said nothing, instead she stood up to leave.
"They like me for me. So being a Slytherin shouldn't matter." Rachel left the bathroom and traipsed off to a quiet part of the castle to enjoy the peace.
The sky was a rosy pink as Winter nights began to lighten. The sky was streaked with colours of red's and blue's, the wind whipping through the pane-less windows cooling Rachel down.
"Rachel?" Lupin called out as he walked down the corridor.
"Oh. Hey Reemy." She greeted.
"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing her distress and irritation.
"I don't think I should be in Gryffindor." She said looking at her hands. .
"What makes you say that?" Remus paused.
"Well, Kayla kind of pointed it out that I'm more like a Slytherin I guess. Since then I really have noticed how I act and I'm having so many arguments with everyone in Gryffindor." Rachel began to explain. "Even you have to agree I should be in Slytherin, I'm only in Gryffindor because of Harry."
"What I think is, yes, you are very much like a Slytherin. Yes, because of Harry you were more likely to be placed in Gryffindor but you truly are one." Remus half smiled encouringly.
"How?" Rachel pouted leaning against the stone wall.
"You are an incredibly brave girl." Remus insisted.
"But I've never had to be so brave about anything!" Rachel argued.
"I disagree. What about that night when you got that scar?" Remus signalled to Rachel's stomach which she placed a hand over self consciously. "I've never known anyone so brave, you treated that yourself all the while I ran around tearing things apart."
"Yeah I suppose but most people would do that." Rachel mumbled.
"What about on the train? You took on that Dementor and that was only your third time using that spell!"
"How does that make me brave?" Rachel scoffed.
"Listen, the Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes. Where you're placed is where you belong, regardless what others think." Remus sighed. "The Sorting Hat has never made a mistake."
"Well it did this time." Rachel hissed before walking away.
She grumbled under her breath as she entered the common room and found herself thinking if you could move houses. Rachel decided she'd have to ask Hermione but then she remembered that Rachel had shouted at Hermione and Harry.
She crossed the common room, ignoring the looks she got off Harry and Ron. Her feet stomped up the cold stairs and down the small hallway to her room.
Hermione was awake holding a book in her hand, glancing at the door. But upon seeing Rachel her eyes quickly diverted to the book.
Rolling her eyes, Rachel prepared for bed and climbed under the duvets. She lay still for a moment pondering whether she should talk to Hermione. After deliberation she decided against it and fell asleep.
***
"Rachel wake up!" Hermione was shaking Rachel's shoulders.
Rachel awoke suddenly from the nightmare she was having and glanced up at Hermione, panting slightly.
"You were screaming and thrashing around." Hermione explained biting her lip. "It's okay though, it was only a nightmare."
"Yeah... thanks." Rachel nodded and wiped her sweaty face. "I'm just going to grab a shower." She quickly scuttled off into the shower and the turned the water on.
The hot water ran down her body as she still shook from her terrifying nightmare. She had relived the night she had received the scar on her stomach. Rachel glanced down and saw the scar, it was quite bad. It ran from her belly button to her left hip but it had faded after time. Not enough for Rachel's liking.
It had been so frightening for her, she was a hair away from becoming a werewolf if it had not been for her kick to Remus's werewolf face. The terror seized her once again and she was not sure whether it was tears running down her cheeks or the hot water from the shower.
Rachel scrubbed the sweat off her and slowly climbed out before wrapping a towel around herself. She plonked herself down on the toilet seat to think about today. She needed to talk to Hermione, it aggravated - not to mention really upset - Rachel when they argued. And it usually was Rachel's fault.
So sheepishly she opened the bathroom door and padded over to her bed, fiddling with the towel wrapped around herself. Grabbing her uniform she quickly got dressed before she sat down on her bed and looked at Hermione.
"Look I'm sorry I'm being so moody lately. I've turned into a bit of a cow lately." She admitted.
"It's fine." Hermione nodded back.
"It isn't. But you do have to remember Kayla and some Slytherins are my friends."
"Of course! To be frank it doesn't bother me, just Harry and assumingly Ronald."
"Yeah that's what's annoying." Rachel mumbled throwing her hair up into a messy ponytail.
"Have you heard?" Hermione quickly interjected.
"Heard what?" Rachel said as she applied her eyeliner.
"That Kayla is meant to be dating Malfoy."
Rachel's arm jutted and a thin line of eyeliner spread across her right cheek.
"What?" Rachel almost screeched.
"Oh um... well I've heard things... not to mention seen things." Hermione stuttered.
"She's been here two weeks!" Rachel exclaimed bewildered. "How did you know this and not me?"
Hermione felt as though the question was rhetorical and did not answer as Rachel scrubbed the eyeliner off her face.
"Should have known." Rachel muttered applying more eyeliner. "I'm going to find Kayla... guessing you're not coming?"
"We're not exactly friends." Hermione sadly smiled. Rachel nodded and picked up her school bag and headed off feeling guilty of leaving Hermione behind.
Rachel obviously could not get into the Slytherin common room so she went and stood relatively near where she thought it was. The Slytherin's had seemed to almost accept her and only a handful threw her dirty looks. But she took that as a compliment, at least they weren't hexing her.
After about 20 minutes of waiting and subtle nods to acquaintances of Slytherin, Kayla appeared. Her hair in a messy bun made it look like as if she had golden streaks because of her ombré.
"Oh!" She said shocked. "Rachel what are you doing down here?"
"Came to see you actually." Rachel replied with a smirk and fell into footstep with her friend as they walked to the great hall.
"So what can I do for you?" Kayla asked applying some lip balm with her pocket mirror in her hand. When she finished she handed it to Rachel who did the same.
"Well what's this about you and Draco?" Rachel said handing the lip balm and mirror back to Kayla. She said nothing at first but took a bit of breath as if she was trying to think of something to say.
"It's complicated."
"And how so?"
"It's only been two weeks. I mean he's good looking and all but... I hardly know the kid." Kayla scoffed. "I'm only doing it because it'll make our parents proud. Pureblood lines and all."
Rachel paused for a moment. "Why do you care so much what your parents think anyway?"
"Are you dumb?" Kayla rolled her eyes. "Malfoy's and Donavon's are purebloods, it's important to us that we keep it clean."
"You make it sound like not being a pureblood is a bad thing." Rachel gave her a look.
"You have magic blood in you." Kayla rested a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "You're better than any other mudblood. Potter's are a pureblood family. We'll just choose to ignore your mother's side."
Rachel shoved Kayla's hand off her. "Don't talk about my mum." Rachel turned to carry on walking. "And stop calling muggle borns mudbloods. You sound like a Nazi."
Kayla scoffed. "You know I was raised this way, Rachel."
"Doesn't excuse it" Rachel said as they approached the Great Hall. "Look, Hermione is one of my closest friends. Stop calling her a mudblood. It's so... mean. She's a lovely girl and you'd like her if you gave her a chance."
"Fine." Kayla rolled her eyes. "Don't expect me to be her best friend though."
"I'm not." Rachel glanced. "I just don't want to fall out with you... and I can't excuse how you talk to her. Also, get your boyfriend to stop being a pureblood Nazi too." Rachel gestured to Draco.
"No promises." Kayla smiled and headed over to him, kissing him on the cheek.
Rachel groaned and slid next to Fred and George who were sat together. Lee sat just next to them too.
"Hey boys!" She greeted with a smile.
"Hey." They all said back.
"So..." Rachel started. "How's life?"
"Great..." George said slowly, raising his eyebrow.
"What?" Rachel said noticing the look George gave her.
"Nothing, nothing." George mumbled waving his hand.
"Okay..." Rachel half laughed and reached for some toast.
"How's your Slytherin buddies?" Lee asked leaning forward to look at her with a smug look.
"Fine." Rachel said putting her toast down. "How's your Hufflepuff buddy?" She smirked causing Lee to fluster.
"Hufflepuff buddy... wait what?" Fred asked with an amused look.
"Shall I tell them?" Rachel mocked looking at Lee. "Well Lee here has been messing around with a Hufflepuff sixth year by name of Ellie Hammond."
"ELLIE HAMMOND?!" The twins screeched with laughter causing the girl herself to turn around. Lee was a bright red and his face was buried into his hands.
"How the hell did you find out?" Lee scowled angrily.
"I borrowed the Marauders map, went for a walk and saw your name with Ellie so I was going to scare you. It turned out you scared me!" Rachel laughed with the twins who were banging their fists on the table.
Lee's head flopped onto the table making the others laugh even more.
*
"It's no good." Rachel huffed. "I can't do it!"
"No, no you can you're just flourishing your wand too much!" Aspen enthusiastically nodded.
They were in transfigurations together and Rachel was getting seriously annoyed about not being able to change a frog to a teacup.
"Well my bloody teacup exploded!" Seamus pouted. "Poor frog, it's gone now."
"How the hell did you do that?" Rachel laughed as she looked at Seamus.
"God knows." He muttered before going to get another frog and explain to McGonagall what had happened.
"Aspen are you alright?" Rachel wondered noticing her slightly flustered face and not to mention she seemed very daydream-y today.
"I'm fine." Aspen snapped out of thought but continued looking in a certain direction. Rachel followed her gaze and saw her eyes set on Seamus McGonagall's desk.
"Seamus huh?" Rachel smirked slowly realising what Aspen was staring at.
"How do you know it's him?"
"Well I doubt it's old McGonagall!" Rachel scoffed.
Aspen blushed suddenly and looked down.
"W-well... he's not th-that bad." She stuttered.
"Oh you totally fancy him!" Rachel giggled.
"Shh!" Aspen hushed. "He might hear!"
"You're not denying it." Rachel pointed out looking smug.
"Don't tell anyone." Aspen begged as Seamus started to walk back.
"My lips are sealed." Rachel winked.
*
After school, Rachel found herself at Quidditch practise; training for the upcoming Ravenclaw match.
She found out not too long ago that Aspen Collins was the new Ravenclaw keeper. Apparently she was good too so Rachel thought it would only be wise if she brought that information up during practise.
It all went well as the three chasers - Rachel, Angelina and Katie - were able to devise a routine of getting the quaffle in the hoop nearly every time. The three formed a triangle and constantly passed the ball to each other but hiding it under their robes.
The inspiration for this came from Katie who was a half-blood like Rachel, she remembered a type of trick that muggles did. It involved several cups that had a small ball hidden under one of them. The person in charge of the trick would swap the cups around to the point where one could not tell where the ball was.
It was the same for this manoeuvre. They key to it though was they all flew together at the hoops so the keeper would not know which chaser had the quaffle. It was a powerful, clever and effective use of teamwork that was sure to help them during the match.
The match was just under a month away so the team had lots of time to practise. Unless of course Snape let the Slytherin's have the pitch for the day. The Gryffindor's needed Oliver to book the pitch quickly which seemed to add pressure to him. He accidently booked the pitch for six weeks, three days a week.
"Better make the most of it." He huffed realising how much he had booked it for.
Oliver Wood was as enthusiastic and passionate about sport as humans were about breathing oxygen. It was as though it was apart of his life, he lived the sport. But two hour sessions, three times a week for the next six weeks seemed a bit unbearable. Even for him.
None the less he encouraged everyone and reminded them that it meant the other teams had less days available.
"Well of course it does." Fred interjected.
"You booked all the bloody days!" George continued earning the boys a smack behind the head from Rachel.
Everyone dispersed leaving Oliver to lock everything up. Rachel hung behind to help him out as she helped lug the Quidditch ball trunk out.
"They all think I'm an idiot." Oliver sadly laughed locking up the Quidditch cupboard.
"No they don't." Rachel huffed. "They don't understand the pressure you're under."
"Neither do I to be honest." Oliver rubbed the back of his neck. "There is quite a lot of pressure for captains, you've got to coach six people to a high standard. You have to organise matches. Hire the pitch. Play the games all the while trying to do school and homework!"
"Well I'm proud of you." Rachel gave him a small smile. "Honestly I am. It's unbearable to coach Fred and George let alone six people!"
Oliver chuckled. "You're right there."
-