I waited on the couch for
Rachel to come out of the girls' dorms. We were going to breakfast
together, and show the whole of Hogwarts that we were together.

I wasn't the least bit ready
mentally. I looked good, I guess (As good as a werewolf can get), but
the thought of walking into the Great Hall holding hands with a girl
as if I was on stage...I wasn't ready.

Right then, Rachel walked
into the room, her robes billowing behind her. She looked amazing.
Her brown waves were half up, half down, with a blue flower pinned on
the back of her head. She looked – perfect.

“Hey!” she said, smiling.
I smiled back.

“Hey,” I said. “You
ready?” she sighed a little.

“As ready as I'll ever be.”
I took her hand and we walked out of the common room and through the
corridors. She was almost skipping.

“What are you so excited
about?” I asked, grinning a little at her.

“Last night, my friends
gave me this whole big speech about how horrible you were - all that
stuff. They made me choose between you and them. Wasn't a hard
choice.” she said, sweeping her hair back and smiling.

“Are you saying you don't
have any friends now?” I asked. She shook her head.

“No, I have you and the
rest of the Marauders, and Lily.”

“Lily's not mad anymore?”

“No. She decided that I was
going to do what I wanted and she couldn't get in my way. Good
choice. Anyway, she said she 'shipped us tremendously.'” she said,
smiling.

“What's shipping?” I
asked, feeling stupid.

“I don't know, honestly. I
think it has to do with us being together though.” I felt heat rise
up in my cheeks. She knew we were together, the Marauders did – how
many other people know about us?

“How many people know, do
you think?” I asked her. She shrugged.

“Right now, I don't know.
But in a few seconds, everyone will.” Right then, we walked into
the Great Hall, holding hands. I was sure I looked extremely stupid,
with bright red cheeks and stiff movement, but Rachel looked amazing,
as usual. She strode to the Gryffindor table, ignoring all the
stares. We sat together beside the Marauders, Lily sitting by Rachel.

“What an entrance,” James
muttered to me. I rolled my eyes.

“She made me,” I said,
gesturing towards Rachel, who was talking animatedly with Lily about
studies. Sirius smirked.

“You actually did your hair
today,” he said, looking at my head.

“Did you expect me to walk
in with bed head?” Sirius and James both nodded. I rolled my eyes.

“Well, I didn't.”

“I'm happy for you, mate,”
James said. “I never thought that you would get a date before I
did, but hey, she's good-looking.” I rolled my eyes and began to
eat my pancakes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I leaned over Sirius,
scribbling notes onto his paper.

“You should do this
yourself,” I muttered angrily.

“Why should I, when there's
you?” he answered, grinning. I sighed and copied the chart on the
board that Professor Slughorn was writing. I saw Lily and Rachel
glance at us from a few seats away. Lily looked away, rolling her
eyes, but Rachel laughed a little.

“Looks like you've got her
attention,” James whispered to me. “Tell me how you do it.” I
rolled my eyes and kept on writing notes for Sirius.

Finally, Professor Slughorn
dismissed us and we headed to lunch. Rachel walked over to me.

“So, we're gonna stay after
class in Herbology?” she asked. I nodded.

“To talk to Professor
Delrid about your curse.” she looked at me sadly.

“Remus – I had a dream
last night,” she said carefully.

“About what?”

“It was today – after
lunch, talking to Delrid, and he said -” she choked on her words.
She set her jaw and looked up. “he said that anyone who knows about
the curse except me has to – has to die.” she wiped her eyes
furiously and looked at me.

“What
do you mean – has to die?” I asked, trying to stay calm.

“They'll
be killed. Before they turn eighteen. It's – it's part of the
curse.” she said, looking at me helplessly. Deep down, I knew I
couldn't help her. My birthday was in two weeks.

But I
hugged her, let her lay her head on my chest.

“Don't
die – don't die please,” Rachel whispered.

“Never.”
I answered, rubbing her back soothingly. Knowing that I was straight
out lying to her.