A Walk Down Memory Lane With Rachel

Rachel's up next? Harry wondered. He had been hoping that there might be some explanation as to the reason Hermione hated him so much. Of course, it appeared as if Harry would have to wait when it came to that; Rachel Potter was up next when it came to the memories. Harry peered over at Vega and Malfoy, who appeared to be engaged in deep conversation with the younger Potter. "But, wasn't Rhapsody supposed to go next?" she asked.

"I am quite aware of that fact, Sol," Malfoy answered. "But, it seems as if Rhapsody decided that she was going to show her memories earlier today. I doubt she showed him all the memories that were planned though. There's one memory she flat out refused to show him, for whatever reason."

"I have a very good reason," Vega remarked. "Telling Harry about that would be extremely stupid, so I chose not to show it to him. So, don't you worry about that. The memory you're referring to will be revealed when the time is right. Now, Ray, we need you here."

"Can we wait until tomorrow?" Rachel asked. "I'm sort of in the middle of something here."

"I'd rather it get done now," he insisted.

"Hold on them," Harry heard his sister say. "I'll be right over."

The mirror was put away and the Slytherin turned to face his Gryffindor cousin and friend. "Your sister is on her way over here. She has a few memories to show you," Malfoy explained.

"I sort of figured that," Harry scoffed. Of course Rachel would be coming here to show me memories of my life. I can't think of a reason she wouldn't. He sat there waiting for his younger sister to arrive, wondering what memories she would show him. In viewing Rachel's memories, Harry could gain a better understanding of his life before entering Hogwarts. Thus far, he knew a little of it, but that was to be expected as very little of his home life in this world had been revealed. They mostly focused on Hogwarts at the moment. But, with Rachel, he might actually find some answers regarding his home life and what that was like.

Rachel arrived ten minutes later. "Why," she asked, "did you insist that this be done now, Draco? It could have been done at any time. I was with…" she cast a glance at her brother, "…a friend."

"Oh, yes," Vega laughed. "Your friend!"

Harry eyed the three of them in confusion. They seemed to be talking in code, discussing a topic that he was not yet allowed to know anything about. He coughed, reminding them of his presence. "Oh, yes, Harry," his sister remembered. "Almost forgot you were standing there."

"Almost forgot?" Harry questioned. "You do realize that I'm the reason you're here, right?"

"Yes, I know," she replied. "Now, regarding the memories." Rachel removed a memory and dumped it into the Pensieve before turning to face her older brother. "The first memory I have to show you is that of my Sorting, the first day I ever caught a glimpse of Hogwarts. So, peer in, older brother, and take a look at what my first day at Hogwarts was like."

Though it was not really on the top of his to-do list, Harry looked into the Pensieve and was sucked into his younger sister's memory of two years prior. After he hit ground, Harry soon realized that Rachel jumped in with him to view the memory alongside her older brother. Before the Potter children moved any further, Harry questioned Rachel about what was going on "Why," he asked his sister, "are you showing me this memory?"

Rachel shrugged. "The odd result of the Sorting caused Ri and me to have to show you the Sorting. Several generations of Gryffindors—yourself included—run in our family. No one quite knew why I would be the exception to that. So, it was suggested that I show you."

His sister's reasoning was good enough. The confused teen wondered how Rachel became a Hufflepuff compared to a Gryffindor as Harry and both their parents were. "Okay then, Ray; lead the way."

As she stepped off the Hogwarts Express with the rest of the Raiders—Harry, Draco, Vega, Hermione, and Brianna—Rachel stood there for a moment. This was the first day of Hogwarts, the day she and Brianna had been waiting for since Dad first began telling them stories of Hogwarts seven years ago. Harry turned to his sister. "Sol, you and Mist will have to stay here for the moment. The groundskeeper, Hagrid, should be over here momentarily to lead the first years up to the castle." He and the older Raiders headed towards a carriage. "See you up at the castle!" he called as he stepped into the carriage and headed to the castle.

Rachel glanced over at Brianna. "Let's go find Hagrid."

The younger two marauders meandered around for a moment before locating a large man. Rachel could have sworn he was a giant. Or maybe it just appeared that way because she was only eleven. She couldn't say for certain if this was Hagrid though, until she heard him speak in a deep booming voice to the thirty-seven—she counted—students waiting around. "Firs' years this way!"

Rachel and Brianna melded into the group, talking with each other as they stepped into one of the boats that would take them across the lake. "Wow, would you look at that?" Brianna said in awe.

"It's magical," Rachel agreed.

"Hogwarts is going to be fun," Brianna murmured.

"With the Raiders around," the young Potter said, "Hogwarts won't ever be the same. It'll be like the Marauder years all over, only even worse since we're three years younger."

"A full decade of Raiders?" Brianna asked. Rachel nodded and her friend laughed. "It's going to be absolutely torturous at Hogwarts now. Especially now that cats, dogs, wolves, foxes, otters, and lions have been unleashed upon Hogwarts. They'll never know what hit them now that Mist, Sol, Tiberius, Rhapsody, River, and Sahara have been created."

The group of thirty-seven students docked their boats and headed up to the school. Rachel and Brianna cast a glance at each other as a severe-looking woman stepped forward to lead them to the Great Hall. Rachel could see her brother and Vega seated at the Gryffindor table along with two red-headed boys Rachel knew as Fred and George Prewett as she passed. Potters were known for being Gryffindors, so she expected the same out of her Sorting. With Brianna, Rachel knew, the result wasn't going to be that simple; her father was a Gryffindor, her mother a Slytherin. No one, not even Brianna, quite knew how the Sorting would turn out for the young Lupin. Rachel hoped that the younger two Raiders would not be separated, that they would both be in Gryffindor by night's end.

Several names were called by the woman who brought them in, who introduced herself as the Transfiguration teacher Professor McGonagall; eventually a name Rachel wanted to hear was called. "Brianna Lupin!"

Rachel's best friend headed up to take a seat on the stool, the Sorting Hat getting placed on her head. Brianna spoke with the hat for a few minutes before a result was called out. "Slytherin!"

"We've been separated," Rachel whispered, watching as Brianna skipped over to sit beside Draco. "It looks like Brianna and I may end up in rival houses because of this. Even if Harry and Draco were able to defy such a thing, there's only ever one exception to every rule. Our childhood friendship may not be able to last because of what happens with the Sorting."

Rachel went up several names later. "Rachel Potter!"

The younger Potter set herself down under the Sorting Hat. "Ah!" the Sorting Hat declared. "You could go to one of two places. Gryffindor, like your parents and brother before or…"

"No!" Rachel insisted. "Not that."

"Not Gryffindor?" the Sorting Hat asked.

As much as Rachel wanted to be in Gryffindor like her family and Vega, there was no way that Rachel wanted to lose her friendship with Brianna over it. They had been friends since they were little, the offspring of two Marauders. "I can't lose my friend because of it," Rachel said.

"Loyalty to your friends? And, your brother?" the hat asked.

"We will always be siblings," Rachel replied.

"Loyalty to your brother as well!" the hat exclaimed. "Rachel Potter, I do believe I know exactly where you belong. Unwavering loyalty to your friends, but even still to your family. HUFFLEPUFF!"

As the newly-minted Hufflepuff skipped off to the Hufflepuff table, she caught a glimpse of her brother and Vega exchanging confused glances. It seemed as if Rachel would one day have to explain all of this to her older brother, why Hufflepuff became her destination rather than Gryffindor. "I'll tell him at one point," Rachel said quietly. "He needs to understand why this happened."

"Hi, I'm Annie Harper," a blonde girl said.

"Rachel Potter," she responded, taking a seat between Annie and an older boy with dark brown hair. She looked past a girl with curly black hair and a tall boy with golden brown hair to see Brianna chatting away with some of the people at her table, Draco included. Now that she was in Hufflepuff, Rachel could remain friends with Brianna without any trouble; Hufflepuff and Slytherin had not the rivalry that Gryffindor and Slytherin had. The Raiders, now separated into the four houses, would find a way to stick together as a result of this.

Harry and his younger sister returned to the Room of Requirement. "Now do you see why I'm a Hufflepuff?" she asked. "Though I would have done well in Gryffindor—like any other member of the Potter family—my loyalty to my friends and family proved my worth as a Hufflepuff."

"I think I get it," Harry shrugged.

"Okay," Rachel said, pulling out a new memory. "This next one is one of my favorite memories. It should help you understand what type of personality I have." She dropped the memory into the Pensieve and turned to her brother. "Look in, Harry, and see why I love this memory."

Not wasting any time, Harry peered into the Pensieve and was sucked into the memory, her sister once again following behind him. "What is this memory anyway?" he asked his sister.

"The end of my first year, just after finals," Rachel explained.

Realizing that he was not about to get much more of an answer from his sister, Harry turned to the memory, seeing Memory Rachel, Fred, and George talking amongst each other.

The young Hufflepuff was exceeding pleased that Fred and George would think to include her in this latest prank. Rachel always admired their pranks. Whereas the Raiders were the purveyors of peace and house-unity, the Prewett twins were a lot like the original Marauders; pranksters extraordinaire. "Are you two ready over there?" Rachel asked.

Fred and George stood at the entrance to the castle, their wands pointed at the two buckets hovering in the air, one filled with fish guts, the other filled with glitter. These two buckets—the fish guts over Fred and the glitter over George—were set to fall on two unsuspecting targets as they headed outside. In Rachel's eyes however, they were targeting the wrong ones with each bucket. The twins wanted to toss the glitter on Professor Snape while the fish guts landed on one of the students; it didn't matter who. "Yeah!" they called.

Rachel muttered a spell to swap the contacts of the two buckets as Cedric Diggory rounded the corner with Professor Snape. The Hufflepuff ran over to watch the prank. "Fred! George! Now!"

Chaos ensued as the buckets' contents were dumped, though not in the way that the Prewett twins expected. While the fish guts landed on Professor Snape, Cedric, not realizing what had happened, continued walking, only to realize that he was sparkling in the sun. Rachel laughed as he freaked out. "AHH! I'm a vampire! Someone please help me! I'm a VAMPIRE!"

"Completely worth it," Rachel muttered as she watched the scene play out; a scene that eventually ended with Cedric jumping up and hiding in a tree. "Cedric Diggory would never look good in fish guts. It's much funnier to see him running around in glitter, like a vampire."

"Yes," Fred agreed.

"Much funnier," George finished.

"Prewett! Prewett! Potter!" Snape yelled.

"Yes, professor?" they asked.

"Forty points from Gryffindor. Twenty points from Hufflepuff."

The trio of troublemakers shared a glance. "Completely worth it!"

The Potter siblings shared a glance in the Room of Requirement before Harry burst out laughing. "Cedric ran across the courtyard yelling that was a vampire?" he asked his younger sister.

Rachel nodded. "Funny thing is that Cedric went out into the Muggle world a little while later and began portraying a vampire who sparkles. I couldn't stop laughing for a good hour when I found out. The twins too. Our little joke became a whole career for him," his sister explained.

One good thing that had come out of Voldemort no longer existing was that the people he cared about hadn't died. Harry had nightmares for weeks about Cedric's murder. So, it was good to see that Cedric was able to have a life, rather than the death that awaited him in his own world. It was relief seeing all the pain and suffering that Voldemort caused reversed; it would allow the Wizarding World to have a normal life, a more carefree life. Harry nodded. "Okay. Are we done then?"

"One more memory," Rachel informed him.

"And, what is that memory?" Harry inquired of his sister as she removed the memory from her head and dumped it into the Pensieve. "What's so important that you must show this memory?"

"Just watch," Rachel told him. "I'll explain in the memory."

Only because his sister agreed to explain what was going on did Harry look into the Pensieve. Rachel soon joined him. "Okay, Ray, what is it? What's the point of this memory?"

"My last birthday," Rachel replied. "My thirteenth was a very important one. I need to show you the events that transpired that day. If you don't know about this, Mum and Dad might suspect something."

"How come?" Harry asked.

Rachel eyed her brother, her hazel brown eyes sparkling. "There are certain things mentioned within this memory that you need to know. No, not might; definitely," she replied. "Mum and the Marauders are sure to suspect what's going on if you have no knowledge of this." Rachel stepped forward, almost stepped through the wall; Harry followed his sister, confused as to what was going on and hoping for a possible explanation.

When the emerald-eyed teenager reached his sister, Harry found himself and the rest of the Raiders sitting in a version of the Room of Requirement. This time, the Raiders were seated around a small table…well, all except his sister; Rachel was getting led into the room for something.

The sole Hufflepuff Raider meandered into the room, getting led in by her best friend; before starting their trek down here, Brianna decided that she was going to blindfold her friend. Rachel wondered what was going on today, on this Wednesday afternoon. It was around four o'clock in the afternoon when Brianna blindsided her. As the dog animagus got blindly led around the castle, Rachel wondered what was going on. Under normal circumstances, Rachel would start the day speaking to one of the Raiders; that didn't happen this morning. The only contact Rachel had with any of the Raiders was when Brianna came to blindfold her.

"How much further do we have?" Rachel inquired.

"Not much further," Brianna assured her.

Though it couldn't be seen beyond the blindfold, Rachel rolled her eyes; she didn't believe that. She already spent perhaps ten to fifteen minutes under the blindfold, not all that fun. "Seriously, Ri, where are we going?" the Hufflepuff questioned. "What's going on?"

"Think about it, Ray," Brianna laughed.

A few moments passed before the blindfold was removed. Rachel looked about the room only to find that the remaining for Raiders were seated at a table, slightly lackadaisical regarding everything that was going on. A stack of items and a cake was on the table. "I should have known," Rachel muttered. Today was her thirteenth birthday, and Rachel had to admit that it started rather weird. Presents were not stacked at the bottom of her bed when she woke up that morning, as they had in previous years. Not even the ones from the Marauders were there. And, that surprised her since no one could gain access to her gifts. She eyed her brother warily, wondering how this happened. "How are all my presents sitting in here?"

"Annie and Gabby got them to us before you woke," Vega replied.

The second-year nodded. Rhapsody's logic made sense; they conspired to throw what appeared to be a surprise party. Someone—she wasn't sure who, though it appeared to either Vega or Brianna—must have spoken with her roommates about what was planned this afternoon. "Clever," Rachel murmured.

"Well, we had to get you somehow," her brother declared. "We do this to everyone at least once during Hogwarts. "No one knows exactly when it occurs, a tradition we picked up from the Marauders to see just how much each one of us pays attention. Thus far, only Draco has come close to figuring it out."

"I never knew that," Rachel intoned.

"You wouldn't," her brother replied. "It was only ever mentioned to me by Dad when he and Padfoot did so on my twelfth birthday. That was when Dad informed me of the tradition the Marauders began."

"And, where are the twins, Annie, and Gabby?" Rachel asked.

"Not sure where the twins are, but Annie and Gabby are on the couch," the resident Ravenclaw stated, pointing to the couch where two girls decked in yellow were seated. The girl with goldenrod-colored hair was Annie Harper, the first person Rachel met upon getting sorting into Hufflepuff. Short curly black hair belonged to Gabby Lancaster, who Rachel was seated across from during the feast. The three became rather close, though not as close as Rachel was with Brianna and the other Raiders. No matter what, they would always be the closest to the younger Potter. "I can't believe you two were in on this," Rachel mumbled. "How were they able to convince you two to pull such a stunt with them?"

"We just wanted to surprise you," Annie replied.

"Thought it'd be fun," Gabby piped up.

"And, you decide to team of with the Raiders in order to do so? That seems a rather odd way to go about something like this." She eventually let it drop, moving on to something else that was on her mind. "Now, where could Fred and George be?" Rachel wondered. The Prewett twins were definitely two of her favorite people that were not a part of the Raiders. Somehow, Rachel's personality was always appeared to be more like the Marauders than any of the Raiders ever were, more like her father's and Padfoot's personalities than Harry, Vega, and Brianna ever were. She enjoyed pranking students, her favorite being last year when she and the twins decided to prank Cedric Diggory. The Raiders were never pranksters as the predecessors were; they were more for house-unity than being pranksters.

The trio of Hufflepuff second-years adjourned from the couch over to the table and arranged themselves in the empty seats around the table. At the head of the table was where Rachel situated herself with her brother and Draco on either side of her. Hermione was seated on the other side of Draco while Vega sat on Harry's left. Annie, Brianna, and Gabby were looking over Rachel's shoulder as the Hufflepuff prepared to open her presents. Upon opening her gifts to find assorted books, sweets, and clothes from her friends, parents, and the other Marauders, Rachel found that the cake was levitated in front of her. Rachel set all the gifts aside as the cake was lowered in front of her. It was at that point that the Raiders, Annie, and Gabby started singing Happy Birthday to her.

"Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Rachel.

Happy Birthday to you!"

As the six people around her finished singing, Rachel noticed that Brianna, Annie, and Gabby had shifted to join Harry and Vega. Rachel, of course, still felt someone standing behind her. Draco and Hermione were still sitting opposite of her brother and Vega, so that left only one conclusion: the twins. "Fred! George! What are you two up to behind me?" She spun around to find the Prewett twins standing behind her, looking seemingly innocent.

"How'd you know?" Fred asked.

"We were sure you wouldn't," George added.

Rachel grinned. "I've been around you two since I was eight year-old," the Hufflepuff reminded them. The first time Rachel ever met the Prewett twins was when Vega happened upon them during a trip to Diagon Alley just before Harry went for his school supplies. He went on to prepare for his first year when Vega happened upon the twins. After that meeting, the Prewett twins spent at least a week with the Marauders and Raiders, a fact that eventually helped Fred and George become some of the best pranksters that Hogwarts had seen in twenty years. Trying to scare people by standing behind them was one of their specialties. And, it was not about to work on Rachel Erin Potter.

"Drat!" George exclaimed. "We were so sure…"

"…that our plan would work," Fred finished.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Rachel mused. "Now, what do you two have for me?" The twins were the only ones who had yet to give her a gift. And, knowing Fred and George, it would most likely be something prank related. Fred and George exchanged a glance before two gifts were handed over to the younger Potter. She set them on the table and got ready to open them.

Before Harry could see what the twins were giving his younger sister, Rachel elbowed him. "The Marauder/Raider tradition of the surprise party is occurring over the holiday," Rachel informed him. "Vega's birthday is on December 23rd, just two days before Christmas. It's imperative that you know that as it was decided that this would be Vega's year for the surprise party. Everyone except Vega is aware of what we intend on doing, so, had we not informed you of this, Mum, Dad, Padfoot, and Moony would get suspicious. You were the one to suggest it be Vega's year, so it might seem a little odd that you know nothing about the plan. That's why I had to show you this memory, Harry."

"Makes sense, I suppose," Harry shrugged.

"Good; the only way I could tell you about this was within the memory," Rachel said. "The fact that Vega and Draco are sitting out there in the Room of Requirement prevents anyone from telling you."

"I got it," Harry murmured. Rachel was giving her brother a lot more to worry about with just this memory. And, it almost seemed as if his younger sister was hiding something more from Harry. The fact that Rachel wasn't all that forthcoming with specific information was disconcerting; he needed to know what was going on, not have secrets concealed from him. Rachel, Draco, and Vega seemed to be dancing around at least two different topics, refusing to speak of them.

"Harry, there's a little more to this memory," his sister stated.

"Okay," the confused teen replied.

Upon analyzing the two gifts the twins handed her, Rachel pushed one aside and began tearing at the other one. Rachel knew that at least one of the gifts was a prank and she was pretty sure that it was the one she pushed aside. A large portion of the wrapping paper fell away from the flat package and the Hufflepuff stared down at what she found inside. A large wooden box sat in front of her, with four different letters inscribed into the top of the box in gold script: RP, FP, and GP. "Boys, what's in here?" the Hufflepuff inquired of the Prewett twins. She had her suspicions, but couldn't be sure that it was the truth. The fact that her initials—as well as the twins—were engraved onto the box may have cemented the idea in her mind, but there was no guarantee that this was what she expected it to be.

"Just open it, Rachel," Fred prodded.

"And you will see," George grinned.

The Hufflepuff shrugged and removed the top of the box, only to find a single piece of paper sitting inside. Rachel removed it and read the note carefully, wondering what was going on.

Stay back after everyone else leaves;

We'll show you what cannot be seen.

Fred & George.

It was a rather curious message for them to leave, almost as if the other Raiders and her roommates were not allowed to know what the twins' true gift was. And, if this was a gift no one was allowed to see, it appeared as if the other gift might not be exactly what she thought it was. Rachel retrieved the second gift and opened it to find a lock and key staring back at her, a second note attached.

You'll know what to do with this in time.

Glancing between the box and the lock, Rachel suspected that she did know. But, the Raiders, Annie, and Gabby would have to leave the Room of Requirement if she wished to be sure. Rachel doubted in would take very long; Annie and Gabby was already getting rather fidgety. And, the Raiders would soon follow allowing Rachel to find out what the twins were up to.

The group of ten gobbled up their cake and filed out of the room about an hour later, leaving the twins and Rachel. Annie and Gabby carried their roommate's presents—excluding the ones from Fred and George—back to their dorm. Rachel was quite insistent about keeping the twins' gifts with her, choosing not to reveal why. Once she was sure that everyone had gone, Rachel turned to face Fred and George, box in hand. "The box, boys; what's in the box?"

Both boys pulled their wands out to tap the box. "Specialis Revelio."

Rachel removed the top and found that the previously empty box was now filled with several joke products. "Did you really just give me this?" Rachel asked, her eyes lighting up.

"We did indeed," Fred stated proudly. "We want you to help us market our products: Prewetts' Prankster Purveys. Your father and his friends, from what we've heard, were legends at Hogwarts. Since the others refuse to help us, we thought you might like to help; you always did admire our pranks, even helped last year," George explained.

"Yes, I did," Rachel laughed, recalling Cedric Diggory's vampire transformation at the end of last year. It was one of the proudest moments of her young life. She took one look at the box and nodded. "I'll definitely help; I'm like one of the old Marauders, wanting to prank people throughout my days at school." Though Mum's lessons in self-control did help ground her a bit; she wasn't as reckless as the Marauders. And that would help her over the years.

"Excellent!" the twins declared. "Now, one question; how do I keep this," she pointed to the box's contents, "hidden from everyone. Someone could find out that I have it and try to confiscate it. Especially if it's Filch or Snape." They were primary Marauder targets and the pair of them liked to make hers, Harry's, Vega's, and Brianna's lives miserable. Snape's hatred of them—especially for her and Harry—ran far deeper and Rachel wondered why that was. In any case, she was not about to let the Potions Master confiscate this box; it would do her no good to lose it.

"Hand me the lock and key," George said. Rachel did so and the lock was attached to the box. As he turned the key, a spell was uttered. "Specialis Occulto. That should do it. The key is what will activate the magic to hide the purveys and keep anyone from learning about this."

Rachel nodded. "Thanks."

Before the memory ended, Harry turned to his sister. "Did you really agree to help the twins with their business?" he questioned the third-year Hufflepuff that was his younger sister.

"Yeah," she replied, "the twins thought it would be prudent to have someone in Hogwarts helping them. The Prankster Purveys would more than likely get sold to Hogwarts students anyway, so they want someone on the inside after they leave this year. I was the best person for the job."

Harry chuckled. "In my time, the twins are Weasleys; they referred to their business as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Though, they were definitely banned once Dumbledore became aware of it."

"Looks like some things remain the same in either world," Rachel mused.

"Yes, I suppose so," Harry stated. Though a lot of things are different. Such as the fact that you, Vega, and Brianna don't even exist. Malfoy and I hate each other and Hermione is one of my best friends. The emerald-eyed teen turned back to the memory and watched the rest of it play out.

With the box tucked securely under her arm, Rachel bid goodbye to the twins and headed off to the Hufflepuff common room, passing Annie and Gabby on her way in. She quickly waved to them and swiftly rushed to their dorm to hide the box. The next five and a half years were going to be FUN! Helping the Prewett twins would help Rachel get through the rest of her Hogwarts tenure.

The Potter siblings emerged from the Pensieve to find Malfoy and Vega talking. "Dragon, Lyre, I've finished showing him the memories!" Rachel called. The cousins looked up from their discussion and glanced over the Potter siblings to listen to Rachel's commentary. "Everything-" at this, Harry noticed that his sister raised an eyebrow in Draco's direction, "has been discussed with my brother." A message had to be conveyed to the Slytherin in secret; Vega could know absolutely nothing about the plans for the holiday

"Okay, good," Vega replied. She glanced over the clock. "Brianna's and Hermione's memories will be done tomorrow. There isn't must time before curfew. Seven o'clock tomorrow, I'll be waiting here along with Brianna and Hermione. Then, we can finish with the Raider memories."

As Vega disappeared, Harry started to follow her when he heard Malfoy and Rachel start talking. "Ray, did you inform him of that thing that Vega didn't want to tell him?" the Slytherin pressed.

"Uh, no," Rachel replied, biting her lip.

At hearing this, Harry was intrigued. What's he talking about what did Vega—and Rachel—decide not to tell me? Whatever it was, it seemed as if Malfoy disagreed with what they were doing; he had a scowl plastered on his face upon hearing what Rachel did, or rather didn't do.

"Why not?" he questioned.

"Because Vega's Marauder/Raider tradition is far more important at the moment," Rachel reminded him. Harry's eyes rolled. Not necessarily. "I can always inform Harry of that after we take care of tradition."

"Not a good idea," Malfoy muttered. "Your brother needs to know. You and Vega are making a mistake in not telling him about that. If Lily, Padfoot, and Prongs realize that he doesn't know, it might cause some major problems. Bear that in mind, because I will be right."

"And, what of your situation?" Rachel asked. "If we need to tell my brother about that, you should think about doing the same. And, we both know you don't intend on doing so. Take your own advice, Draco."

"My situation is very different from yours," Draco reminded the younger girl. "Whereas Harry was at least okay with yours and Vega's situations, it was made very clear that he was not too fond of my situation; and you know it. Ever since he found out about that, Harry's been doing everything he can to eliminate it. It's far better for this to remain under wraps."

"Hypocrite!" Rachel exclaimed. Harry eyed his sister, wondering what the Hufflepuff third-year meant by her statement. "You're so insistent that Rhapsody and I inform Sahara of everything that's been going on, yet you refuse to do the same. Again I say hypocrite!"

Malfoy scowled. "Fine, I'll tell him. But, you and Vega must also inform your brother about what you've been hiding. That's the only way I'll ever discuss any of this with Harry."

"Agreed."

Harry left the Room of Requirement shortly after listening in on that conversation. There was nothing more that seemed relevant to this situation, or anything of the like. And, as he headed up to Gryffindor Tower to join Vega, he wondered what his sister and best friend were talking about back there. What was it that they were hiding from Harry? And why? What was so bad about the information that they opted to keep it to themselves, rather than informing as they should have? Something very odd was going on around here; secrets were being concealed from him, yet again. He refused to stand for such a thing, however; so many secrets were concealed from him over the years that he was quite sick of it. So, come morning, Harry intended on figuring out exactly what secrets Malfoy, Vega, and Rachel hid from him. He was determined to know exactly what they were.

Author's Note: When I started writing this story at Rachel's request, I had no intention of writing the last memory mentioned within this chapter. It was a spur of the moment decision based on what day this is. And that brings me to something important I must say: Happy Birthday, Rachel! I hope you enjoyed your birthday present. The fourteenth chapter on your fourteenth birthday; what the hell was I thinking? And, I really couldn't help the Cedric prank and the subsequent statement made about him. It was the best way for me to make fun of Twilight and Robert Pattinson.

This last chapter introduces an idea I've been playing with for awhile. Rachel, you know what I'm talking about. That will be revealed gradually over the course of the next few chapters. Harry always seemed to get angry when secrets were concealed from him that I thought this would be the perfect way to do reveal my idea.

Next up is Brianna's memories, including her version of the Sorting.

Leave a review.