Smile - Book One of the RP Saga

Dog ( 20 )

"He's been sighted, he's been sighted!" Seamus cried, running into the Great Hall waving a newspaper around.

The students nearby swung their heads round. A couple stood up to look at Seamus as he ran in, his face red with exhilaration. Seamus came to a stop by the group of Gryffindors.

"Who?" Ron threw himself up from the table, his eyes widening.

"Sirius Black!" Seamus shouted in reply, he slammed the newspaper onto the table.

The students craned their necks to look at the newspaper. Rachel twisted it round so she could read it properly.

"Dufftown? That's not far from here..." Hermione mumbled.

"You don't think he'd come here do you?" Neville stuttered nervously.

"With dementors at every entrance?" Ron questioned.

"He's already slipped past them once... he could easily do it again." Rachel pointed out

"Yeah, but they'll catch him, surely?" Ron frowned.

"Not bloody likely!" Rachel scoffed.

"It's like trying to catch smoke, like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." One Gryffindor said.

Harry nervously looked at the newspaper, his eyes glued to the picture of Sirius Black. No one knew what to say to each other.

"We'll just have to stick close together." Rachel said, sitting back down. "We shouldn't let anyone go anywhere by themselves... it's too dangerous."

A chorus of agreements soon followed as they discussed their strategies in more depth.

Later that day, Rachel and Harry met with Remus for a walk. They were stood on the bridge that connected the school to the Forbidden Forest. Rachel leant over, looking down, a rush of vertigo hitting her in the face.

"What was mum like, Remus?" Rachel asked out of the blue.

Besides her Remus smiled in thought, he sighed. "Your mother was the nicest witch I ever knew, she had a power of seeing beauty in people. Even when they couldn't see it themselves. She only had to say simple words for you to feel better about yourself, so caring and good natured. Something she passed onto you I hear." Remus said, leaning against the bridge and pointed at Harry.

Harry gave a small smile, and it was true. He was definitely like his mum that way.

"You really look like your mother..." Remus sighed looking at Rachel. "You really do."

Rachel grinned. She might have had Lily's looks, but she certainly had James' smile.

"What about dad?" Harry asked.

"Well your dad, lets just say he had a talent for trouble. He was always sticking up for what he believed in and was an incredibly loyal friend. No doubt about it that McGongall frowned at us, but that's because of James, I reckon." Remus said, recalling memories of when he was younger.

Minutes turned into hours and they were soon briskly hurried off to the castle. Recently they had been shutting and locking the doors in fear of Sirius Black getting into the school. It was almost impossible to sneak out now. Rachel lay in bed, her duvet wrapped around her listening to the teachers talking in hushed voices below them in the common room. As she turned over she could see out the window, glancing at the stars. She loved the maze of tiny dots in the sky and how people had constellated into shapes.

She soon fell asleep, her mind dreaming about flying through space.

A month had passed and Rachel had truly settled into school, she had begun to take walks by herself around school grounds. Sometimes, she felt like alone time was best; away from the common room. Heading outside, Rachel took a deep breath of fresh air and happily walked in the direction of Hagrid's hut

As Rachel got closer to the Forbidden Forest, she heard a cry. It was faint but she heard it. Nervously, Rachel walked on to find the source of the noise, her wand concealed. She got closer and saw Malfoy being attacked by a dementor.

He was being pushed against a tree, his soul being sucked out from him. Rachel shook her head and pulled out her wand.

"Expecto patronum!" She shouted, clearly.

The bright light that came from her wand banished the dementor away with a hurry. She ran up to Draco with concern.

"Are you alright?" Rachel gasped. "What happened? Why did it-"

Malfoy went a paler colour and shakily lifted a finger, he was pointing behind Rachel. She glanced in the direction he was pointing and froze. There stood a dog. Big and black. She knew instantly it was Sirius Black.

"Draco, run." Rachel hissed taking off in the opposite direction.

Draco ran next to her, not bothering to stop. They both knew they weren't powerful enough to stun the Sirius Black. Their only option was to run. Draco was weak after his dementor attack but he knew he couldn't stop.

The trees around them grew taller, their trunks became thicker and the sky got darker, the leaves blocking out all light. The two were growing tired, Draco more so after his attack. Rachel turned and grabbed his hand to drag him along.

"Draco, if we don't make it, I think you're an alright guy!" Rachel breathlessly shouted, with a laugh, squinting through the darkness and just ducking in time to miss a tree.

"Rachel, honestly this isn't time!" Draco shouted back, his hand gripping hers tightly.

They had managed to put some distance between themselves and Sirius Black, his angry barks green quieter and quieter. All they could hear was the sound of their feet pounding across the soil. Rachel spotted a hiding place and guided Draco down to it, helping him sit down so they could rest.

The animagus form of Sirius Black trotted across where the two had just ran, he paused for a second and looked their way. For a moment, Rachel thought they had been spotted but Black soon walked off. Draco and Rachel let out a breath of relief.

"Uh, Rachel..?" Draco whispered, signaling to his hand, which Rachel still held.

"Oh," Rachel dropped it, "sorry."

They paused for a while, to make sure the coast was clear, before standing up and edging back the way we came. Draco led the way, a glowing light came from his wand. Rachel followed closely, when she could suddenly hear something running and then pain. Pain surged up her leg from her ankle and made her fall to the floor. She couldn't help but let out a scream, which made Draco turn around in horror. Rachel looked at her ankle to see Sirius Black biting her and dragging her away.

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