Chapter Text
They had woken early on the Sunday of Millie's wedding to find the skies clear. Rachel hoped they stayed that way.
The morning seemed to pass in a blur. Between getting herself ready and getting Millie ready, there wasn't much time for anything else. Rachel found herself standing watching Millie coming down the aisle before she'd really had time to process much of anything.
Millie was smiling broadly as she walked down the aisle, her face flushed with pleasure. Natalie seemed just as pleased when she came down the aisle and took her place opposite Millie. When they looked at each other, it seemed like they were encompassed in their own world. They had everything they needed right there.
Rachel found herself feeling strangely guilty. Why didn't she want this?
She understood why she didn't want to have a wedding. Given who she was, it would wind up being a huge political affair. She'd have to invite all of the Wizengamot, plus their spouses, plus the Department Heads in the Ministry, plus a number of other people. It would be less of celebration and more of a grand political event reminding people of who she was and why they should vote for her proposals. The entire idea made her feel a little ill.
But what Millie and Natalie had, shouldn't she want that?
She cared about Theo. Deeply. She couldn't picture her life without him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. So why did the idea of marrying him fill her with such dread?
There was a strange part of her that felt guilty at the idea. It felt like she wouldn't be living up to her obligations. She felt like Theo should have more.
Sex was completely off the table. They had tried, around seven years ago, and it had gone very badly. She hadn't been able to stop crying. Theo had promised her that he didn't need to have sex in order to be happy and that he wanted to be in a relationship with her anyway, but she still felt guilty about it.
She couldn't see any good reason for Theo to want to marry her. Her life was inherently political. Everyone in Magical Britain knew who she was and had some sort of opinion about her. She was the nation's final defense against any overwhelming threat that appeared. She was a weapon in human form.
Rachel could never be 'just Rachel' for him. There was always something. She sought him out in the crowd gathered in the pews. It wasn't hard to find him. He was sitting with Neville and Draco. She met his eyes and he smiled at her. She smiled back, still feeling strange.
She wanted to live the rest of her life with Theo. Did that mean she should marry him? Was it wrong to want to stay with him without marrying him?
These were, she suspected, questions that most people didn't have to ask themselves. Most people got married when they were in love. Rachel had never really been able to define love. She loved Severus. She loved her parents. She loved Sirius and Remus. And she loved her friends, including Theo. That seemed to be very different from being 'in love'.
Everyone referred to Theo as her partner. The Wizengamot had eventually gotten over the scandal that she was living with Theo without marrying him. Most of them, at least.
She didn't know who she was supposed to ask about this. She didn't know anyone with this kind of problem. Severus had never married. As far as she knew, he didn't date. He said he was settled by himself and that he always had something to keep him busy.
If she asked, she suspected that Severus would tell her to do what was best for her. Rachel didn't know what that was or how to figure it out. She didn't know what being married would change. Would Theo then want children? People often had children after they got married. It wasn't something that they'd ever discussed together.
Rachel did not want to have children. She would not purposefully bring a child into the chaos of her life. She'd been very careful to keep media attention off Scorpius. She didn't want to make his life more dangerous or difficult by being his godmother. Having children of her own was just not on the table for her.
The minister finished his speech and Millie and Natalie kissed to the cheers of the audience. They led the way out of the chapel, the wedding party following in their wake, and Rachel was pleased to see the blue sky and feel the pleasant spring breeze. They'd made it through the ceremony, now it was time for a brief break while people changed if they wanted to, and then they had dinner and the party.
"What did you think?" Theo asked, showing up at her side.
"It was nice," Rachel said. "They seem happy."
He followed her gaze to where Millie and Natalie were receiving congratulations. "They do seem happy. It was a good ceremony."
Rachel nodded, stepping closer to him in the crush of bodies gathered in front of the chapel.
Theo rested a hand on her arm, moving so that he was sheltering her from everyone else.
She wanted this. She wanted Theo by her side. Maybe there was a way to somehow reconcile that with the idea of marriage.
*****
Grateful that the dining plan had seated Millie and Natalie with their families, Rachel was having dinner with Theo, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Astoria, Scorpius, and Cygnus. Cygnus was in a high chair but Scorpius was sitting next to Rachel, on his knees so he could properly reach the table. The venue was filled with friends and family and while Rachel knew many of the people here, she didn't know all of them. That was always a little bit of an uncertain situation for her. Many times people didn't realize who she was until they got a good look at her. How they responded from there varied based on how they felt about her politically.
Rachel didn't know which was worse: the people who fawned over her and wanted her autograph, or the people who wanted an argument. She tried to avoid both.
Theo had been by her side for most of the evening, except for when Rachel had darted off to do what needed to be done with the other bridesmaids. She appreciated that, though she felt it was a little silly. People were often more thoughtful about what they were saying to her when Theo was looming at her side. She was the dangerous one, not him, but people seemed to forget that somehow. She was the one who had killed the Dark Lord, and while she didn't want people to be remembering that when they looked at her, it would be nice if people didn't see a petite young woman when they looked at her and then assume that she was harmless or easily threatened. Somehow she suspected that Professor Dumbledore never had this problem.
"You were at Hogwarts with Aunt Millie, weren't you?" Scorpius asked, his mashed potatoes falling off his fork and onto the table cloth.
Rachel watched as he smeared the tablecloth trying to get the potatoes back on his fork and then discretely vanished the mess with a small wave of her hand when he was finished. "Yes, Millie and I shared a dorm at Hogwarts. And Theo and your father were in the boys' dorm." Scorpius had had a lot of questions about Hogwarts lately, though they'd told him he still had plenty of time before he had to worry about that.
"And you were all friends," Scorpius continued, half of his attention on his dinner.
"We were," she agreed, which was the simpler answer. They could wait until much much later to explain why Draco had taken most of their years at Hogwarts to join their friend group. That one was a question for Draco to tackle, not her.
"I'm going to be in Slytherin and on the Quidditch team. Just like you and daddy," he said, glancing over at her.
Using her Quidditch honed reflexes, she deftly moved his drink away from where it was about to meet his forearm. "You won't know what House you'll be in until you're Sorted. You could be in any of the Houses."
"No. Everyone is in Slytherin," Scorpius said firmly.
"Ginny and I were in Gryffindor. Your aunt Luna was in Ravenclaw," Hermione pointed out. "Aunt Natalie was in Ravenclaw too."
"Mommy and Daddy were in Slytherin and so was Auntie Rachel and Uncle Theo," he protested. "I'll be in Slytherin."
"I think you're fighting a losing battle," Draco told Hermione with a tired smile.
"Well, you know me. Losing battles are my speciality," she said, undeterred.
"I don't know whether you got that from Rachel or Rachel picked it up from you," Theo said, getting Ginny to snort in her wine glass while Astoria hid a smile.
"I think Hermione and I are both independently stubborn, thank you very much," Rachel said with a small smile.
"Am I stubborn?" Scorpius asked.
"Yes," Draco and Astoria said in unison to the general laughter of the table. Cygnus seemed delighted and slammed one of his hands down in his potatoes and gravy.
"I think we're done with that," Astoria said, using her wand to quickly vanish the mess from the plate and then from Cygnus.
"You very much take after your Auntie Rachel. If it wasn't for the hair, I'd think you were her child," Draco told Scorpius. Both Scorpius and Cygnus had the same straight blond hair as their parents.
"And for the fact that you saw me give birth to him," Astoria pointed out.
"There is that," he agreed pragmatically.
"And I'm going to be a Seeker," Scorpius said, looking up at Rachel.
Rachel smiled at him. "You'll be a great Seeker."
"I'll accept anything but a Beater," Draco said.
She looked around the table, happy to see her friends happy and relaxed. She'd say that things hadn't changed that much since they were at Hogwarts, but everyone seemed happier now. Hogwarts had been a lot of things for Rachel. It had been where she'd met the people most important to her. It had been her first real home. It had brought her to her father. And while these were all good things, she couldn't help but feel that their time at Hogwarts had been overshadowed by the trauma of the war. She hoped that Scorpius' time at Hogwarts was easier than theirs had been.
They finished their meals, chatting mildly and answering questions for Scorpius. The dishes cleared themselves, which told Rachel that the venue used House Elves, and desserts were set out. Rachel had never truly regained her taste for sweets after being ill when she had been sixteen, so she nibbled on a few forkfuls of chocolate cheesecake before setting it aside.
"Alright, attention everyone. It's time for this party to get started," Isobelle called, her voice amplified to reach everyone. "We are going to start with tossing the bouquets. We've got two brides and two bouquets, so double your chances. Unmarried witches, gather up."
"Come on," Ginny said, motioning to Rachel and Hermione.
"This is undignified," Hermione complained, but she stood.
Theo gave Rachel a nudge and a knowing smile, so she stood as well and went to join the group of women gathering in the center of the room. Pansy and Daphne were there, along with a few people that Rachel recognized as being friends with Millie and Natalie at the Spell Crafting Guild. Altogether, there were about fifteen of them.
Millie and Natalie were both grinning as they turned their backs and got ready to throw the bouquets.
Rachel had no intention of trying to catch one, even if her reflexes were good.
"One. Two. Three," Isobelle counted down.
A moment later Rachel was whacked in the head with something and she instinctively grabbed it, realizing a moment later that it was a bouquet of flowers. Hermione was standing opposite of her, looking equally dismayed at the flowers she was holding.
"Oh, I think that means there's a wedding in the future," Isobelle said, sounding excited.
Rachel just shook her head, but the other women were congratulating her and Hermione.
"I don't even have a boyfriend," Hermione exclaimed.
"Well, now you have to look for one. I know some people I can set you up with," Daphne said, looking pleased.
"That means Rachel and Theo are next, it's about time," Pansy said.
Rachel shook her head slightly and met Hermione's eye and laughed. She couldn't think of two worse people to have caught bouquets at the moment.
Millie and Natalie joined the group, smiling and laughing with them. Millie grinned at Rachel knowingly and Rachel couldn't help but smile back. If nothing else, she was happy to be here when Millie was so happy. She'd take all the memories of happiness that she could get.
*****
"What would you like to speak about today?" Greg asked once Rachel was settled in a chair.
Rachel raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't have a set agenda? You're the one who wanted me to be here."
Giving a slight shrug, he continued to watch her. "I don't have an agenda with anyone that I see in a professional capacity. That's not the purpose of having a Mind Healer for the Unspeakables."
"What is then?" she asked. She still wasn't sure why Greg wanted her here.
"As a rule, the Unspeakables tend to attract people with a certain intensity to them."
"You mean obsession," Rachel said.
The corners of Greg's mouth turned up. "That's one way of putting it. People here sometimes forget to care for themselves while in pursuit of their research. There's a reason we require everyone to leave by eight in the evening and not to come in before six in the morning. There are those that would live here if they could."
Strangely, she understood that. She felt more at home with the Unspeakables than she did with the Wizengamot, the aurors, or the Potions Guild. She felt almost anonymous here. When she talked with people, it was never about the Wizengamot or her proposals or politics or anything else. It was always about research. What was she working on? What had she discovered? What projects was she considering? She liked that.
"You don't have to worry about that with me. Unfortunately I have other obligations that I need to see to that prevent me from being here as much as I'd like to be," she told Greg.
"Are you happy being a Wizengamot member?"
Rachel sat with that question for a moment. "It's not about being happy. I don't think anyone is happy as a Wizengamot member. Not anyone who is doing the job right, at least."
Greg raised his eyebrows at her and waited.
"Can I ask you about something else?" She didn't particularly see the need to go into details about the stresses of the Wizengamot with him.
"Yes. Anything."
"What do you know about marriage?" she asked.
"That's a very broad question. Do you mean in terms of Unspeakables being married?" he asked, not showing if he'd been taken off guard by her question.
"Sure," she said since she wasn't sure what she was trying to ask exactly.
"Most Unspeakables don't marry. People tend to have difficulty with their spouses keeping so much of themselves a secret. It takes a very understanding spouse to simply accept that they'll never know anything about what their partner does for a living. And I'm afraid that many Unspeakable are married to their work. There are many people here who prefer research to social interaction, which is one of the reasons why we have group research meetings. I fear some people would never speak to anyone if we didn't arrange it."
"You don't have to worry about that with me. Being here is actually a nice break from having to speak to people," she told him.
"I imagine the Unspeakables might be a relief compared to some aspects of your life," Greg agreed. "I understand you have a long term partner."
"Yes. Theo."
"Are you considering marrying him?" Greg asked.
It was a reasonable question under the circumstances, so Rachel tried to quell the defensive feeling that rose up. "I don't know. I suppose that's why I'm asking you."
"Would it make more sense to ask him?"
"No, he's the one who brought it up," she explained.
"Ah, I see. I take it there are some concerns there for you," he prompted.
Rachel sat, looking down at where her hands were resting on her lap as she tried to sort through her concerns well enough to ask. "Do all married people have sex?"
A brief widening of Greg's eyes was the only thing that showed he was surprised by the question. "No, they don't. There are many reasons for partners not to have sex, regardless of their marital status."
"But you don't think that married people should be having sex?" she pressed.
"There's no should about it. Whether or not someone wishes to have sex and under what circumstances they will have sex is entirely a personal decision. I will say that people who are considering getting married should discuss whether sex will be part of their lives and what form that will take if so."
She supposed that was true, though she knew that Theo knew she wasn't interested in having sex. He'd never tried to bring it up or suggest that they should have sex. He'd never tried to touch her in a way that she hadn't told him she was comfortable with.
"Can I infer from this conversation that you are concerned about the possibility of having sex?" Greg asked when a minute or two had passed.
"No. I simply don't want to have sex. It's not that I'm afraid of having sex," she said, feeling the urge to clarify. "But it's just something I'm not interested in doing and Theo knows that. I just don't understand what is supposed to change if we get married. We already live together. Our home is owned together."
"Maybe you should ask Theo what he wants to have change," Greg suggested. "Do you experience sexual attraction to anyone?"
"No. Never. It's just not the way that I see people. One of my previous therapists suggested that I am asexual. It kind of seems like something people don't talk about." She'd never heard of anyone else being asexual.
"That was in fact what I was going to suggest. You're right that people don't discuss it much. Many people are uncomfortable discussing sex in any setting. But you're not the first person to not be interested in having sex. You're not even the only person in the Unspeakables to feel that way," he told her. "Has this been a problem in your relationship with Theo?"
"No. We tried once, but…" Rachel shook her head. "Maybe it's not fair to him, but I just don't want to do that."
"Theo is the one who has to decide whether or not that's something he can accept in a relationship. Given that you are long term partners and that you live together, it sounds like it's something he's at least respected."
"Theo's always been very respectful of me. Even when we were young, he was always looking out for me. I do care about him, but I'm not in love with him. Shouldn't people be in love before they get married?" she asked.
"People marry for any number of reasons, not necessarily limited to love. It sounds like you've known Theo for a long time," Greg said, not quite asking.
"We were in the same House and year at Hogwarts. We've been friends since we were eleven years old. I trust him with most everything. He's been at my side through all of the insanity that comes with being me, even when it means his name gets dragged through the press."
Greg nodded. "So you don't have any doubts that he's interested in you because of your status or the fact that you're a Wizengamot member."
"Never. That's never been a consideration in our friendship. If anything, he and our friends should have been avoiding me," she said, shaking her head.
"Why's that?"
"Being around me tends to attract a certain level of danger. The attack on our home by Crouch Junior was the latest in a long line of incidents. Theo, and many of my other friends, have been in life threatening danger just because they associated with me. They've never left my side, even though I wouldn't have blamed them if they wanted to be somewhere safer."
"It sounds like you have some very good friends," he said.
"I do. The best. I've been very lucky." She knew that was true despite everything in her life. If she hadn't been lucky, she would have died at least a half dozen times, or been left alone, or any number of horrible outcomes.
Greg nodded. "There is a balance to that. You can acknowledge the good things in your life while also allowing that some things are less than ideal."
"Sure. In some ways this is not the life I would have picked for myself, but I believe that I'm doing what is important."
"What would you change if you could have picked?"
Rachel tried not to grimace. "I wouldn't have inherited the family Wizengamot seat. I believe in what I'm doing there. I know it's important. I know it's necessary and it's a fight worth fighting. But it wouldn't have been my choice."
"Politics does have a way of weighing on a person," he agreed. "What else?"
"It's hard to say. Part of me wants to say that I would have chosen for my parents not to have died, but that feels like completely erasing the person I am today. I don't want to do that. I value what I have in my life."
"That's understandable, but it's also understandable for you to wish that your parents had been there for you growing up," Greg said. "I believe you were adopted."
"By Severus, yes, when I started at Hogwarts. And I wouldn't trade Severus as a father. He's been a wonderful father to me, even when we don't always agree on things. I like my father, and my friends, and my House, and my career in potions. I don't think I would have had those things if I'd grown up with my birth parents," she explained.
"Your life would be different, that's certainly true. I think it's good that you are spending time valuing what you have here instead of investing in a path that's not possible."
She nodded. She knew better than to do that.
"It sounds like the marriage issue is currently at the forefront of your mind?" he asked.
"It's been brought up a lot lately. My friend Millie was just married. I was one of the bridesmaids."
"Do you think you can have a conversation about what Theo would want if you were married? Sometimes the direct approach is the easiest all around," Greg suggested.
"At some point. I want to sort out my own feelings about it before I have a conversation with him about it," she decided after thinking about it for a moment.
"Well, if you'd like my thoughts on any given aspect of marriage, I'm happy to provide them. I've been married three times," he said.
Rachel considered that and decided not to ask. At least she knew that Greg knew about marriage if she came up with a way to put her questions and concerns into words.
*****
It wasn't too often that Rachel hesitated about writing her articles for Witch Weekly. She generally had a gamut of ideas of things that magical people should be aware of, though sometimes she wound up asking her friends for their perspectives on them. Her article on batteries had been particularly challenging since there simply wasn't an equivalent in the magical world.
In general, she aimed for a mix of articles. She touched on things like fashion, travel, and technology, but also on social issues. She'd never considered writing about something so personal before and she wasn't really where to start.
She'd never heard of asexuality being discussed outside of a Mind Healer's office. Not everyone had access to a Mind Healer, which was a stigma she had tried to dispel as well by being open about the fact that she had seen Mind Healers. Surely there had to be other people who were asexual. It couldn't just be her or there wouldn't be a name for it.
As far as she knew, she'd never met anyone else who was asexual. But at the same time, the only people who knew she was asexual were Severus and Theo. She'd never had a reason to talk to anyone else about it before. It wasn't anyone else's business if she didn't experience sexual attraction.
Rachel would guess that other people felt just as alone, because no one talked about it. There had to be other people like her. What did they do when they were in a relationship with someone? Did any of them get married?
Feeling a little awkward, even though she was in the privacy of her home office, Rachel opened her laptop and waited while it booted. She opened her internet browser and thought for a moment before just typing the word 'asexual' in and hitting enter.
The first result brought her to the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. Since that sounded exactly like what she was looking for, she clicked on the link and began to read. There was a frequently asked questions section and she felt herself biting down on her lower lip as she read through and found that other people had the same questions that she did about their sexuality and relationships.
She was interested to learn that not everyone who was asexual had the same feelings about sex as she did. Some people who didn't experience sexual attraction still had sex. The words sex-repulsed made immediate sense to her. Repulsion was a good word for what she felt. She didn't feel that there was anything morally wrong with sex, or think that people shouldn't have sex, but she herself didn't want to have sex. And apparently she wasn't the only one.
Reading the relationship questions section also shed some light for her. Sometimes, like her, asexual people were in long term relationships. They even got married. Some people didn't want that and some people did, just like everyone else.
Romantic attraction was separate from sexual attraction. People who didn't experience romantic attraction could and did still love the people in their lives, but they didn't experience the stereotypical emotions that were associated with romance. Rachel thought that fit her as well. She did love Theo. She wanted to spend her life with him. But she didn't find their relationship to be romantic. Partners felt like a fitting term for them.
She found the link for the forums and began reading, seeing some questions that had often crossed her thoughts and others that had never occurred to her. What she really noticed though was all these people posting had made their way here with the same questions and fears that she had. She really wasn't alone.
Could she write an article about this for Witch Weekly? Would Witch Weekly even publish it?
Did she even want the magical world to know that she was asexual?
She hesitated over that longer than she wanted to admit. She knew that her stepping forward and bringing the issue to light would be meaningful to other people who identified this way. Most magical people didn't use computers and the internet. They didn't have the option to learn this information by searching the web.
But she also feared what people would say about her. She was afraid people would say that it was because she'd been abused as a child or that there was something wrong with her or question her relationship with Theo.
Rachel had weathered a lot of things from the press over the years. The Daily Prophet had gotten better - for the most part - but they still weren't overly flattering towards her. Her proposals and positions were often unpopular. She'd learned over the years that while almost everyone would say that they were in favor of rights for the oppressed, that quickly changed when it became some sort of imposition or disadvantage to them.
She didn't know if she was ready to do this.
Sitting quietly, she continued to read through the forums, learning about people navigating relationships and telling their families and trying to decide whether or not they wanted to have sex. There were a lot of people out there. More than she'd ever imagined.
A knock on her door frame drew her attention and she jolted slightly before glancing over. "I didn't realize you were home," she said, resisting the urge to close her laptop.
"Only got in about twenty minutes ago. Busy?" Theo asked.
"No, just researching. Is it late?" Rachel checked the time and was surprised to discover that she'd been sitting here reading for the better part of three hours.
"Late enough. Are you taking a break for dinner?" he asked.
"I am," she said, closing her laptop. She could make a decision later. "How was your day?"
"Not bad. Pretty deep in research myself. We're starting to get letters from people who are coming up on finishing their masteries and I'm going to pick someone new for my team," Theo said as they went downstairs for dinner.
Rachel nodded. "Anyone standing out yet?"
"Not yet. We'll interview their masters and mistresses as well. They usually can give us a less biased opinion. How was your day?"
"Quiet, thankfully. Spent most of it researching various things and writing," she said, deciding that she wanted to keep this research to herself for a moment while she figured out how she felt about it. "Want to watch a movie tonight?"
Theo smiled. "I'd like that. Did you have something in mind?"
"You pick," Rachel said, taking her place at the dining table. She took a moment to look at Theo, noting their ease in their end of day routine. This was what she wanted, marriage or no marriage.
*****
Rachel stood on the moor, feeling the spring wind ruffle her clothes. She wasn't in robes today. Broom racers didn't wear robes because it slowed them down. Swimming and broom racing were about the only times it was polite not to wear robes, though that mostly applied to adults. When she had been at Hogwarts, maybe thirty to forty percent of students had eschewed robes on weekends when they weren't in uniform, though the younger you were the more acceptable it was to be without robes.
Most of the time, Rachel didn't think too much about being in robes any more. It was just an automatic part of getting dressed in the morning. She changed robes based on what she was doing that day. No one wore nice robes to brew potions or to tend plants. No one went into the Wizengamot chambers in their grubby work robes. Robes in the Unspeakables tended to be varied. Those who primarily worked desk jobs tended to dress neatly. People who expected their experiments to blow up who went rummaging around in the Department wore clothing they didn't mind if it got destroyed. Cyril's robes were often a bit singed at the edges. Rachel wasn't sure he even noticed.
Then again, she had found most of the Unspeakables tended not to notice earthly matters all that much. Just the other day one of the people over in ward crafting asked if she was really Rachel Snow and how long she'd been an Unspeakable. She'd told him steadily that she really was that Rachel Snow and she'd been an Unspeakable for ten months now. He had looked at his watch, as if trying to ascertain what month it was, and then nodded an absent welcome before wandering away. She didn't mind. It seemed like the Unspeakables were finally the place where she really could just be a researcher that no one paid much attention to.
She jolted slightly as Anyssa suddenly appeared.
Anyssa was holding her Firebolt and had her hair neatly plaited just like Rachel's. The last thing anyone wanted in a broom race was for their hair to be in their face. "Am I late?" she asked.
"No, I was just enjoying the sunshine and the breeze," Rachel said.
They were at the Bodmin Moor in Cornwall today and they had plenty of space to fly without disturbing any muggles. Broom races were typically held only five meters off the ground, while Quidditch was played a fair bit higher to account for the audience.
"It is nice after all that rain," Anyssa said as she looked around. "I've been looking forward to this all spring. Are you sure you won't join the professional races?"
"I'm sure." It was a conversation she and Anyssa had had often over the years. "Just think of what the Minister would say."
"Since when do you let the Minister tell you what to do?"
Rachel smiled. "I don't, but I know I set his and Amelia's mind at ease when I left the professional flying scene."
"And then immediately joined the Unspeakables," Anyssa teased with a smile. "If you don't think that makes both of them sweat, you're up in the night."
"The Unspeakables really aren't that dangerous. I tell everyone that, but no one believes me."
"It wouldn't be a secret if it wasn't dangerous," she pointed out.
"I was in far more danger with the aurors than I have ever been with the Unspeakables," Rachel said, undeterred.
"Don't go around saying that or the Minister will try to get Draco to resign again," Anyssa said.
They both grinned at each other. Anyssa had spent many years pulling at Draco's proverbial pigtails just to get a rise out of him. These days it was rare she got more than eyeroll. They'd all grown up a little.
"I'm sure Draco is fine." She actually strongly suspected that Amelia and Gawain were judicious about what situations they sent Draco into. It would be a disaster for the entire Ministry if a Wizengamot member was killed doing auror work. Looking back, she was mildly stunned that Amelia and Rufus ever let her and Draco join the MLE in the first place.
"Shall we?"
Rachel looked around and nodded. "Let's fly."
They mounted their brooms and boosted themselves up into the air, Rachel feeling something inside of her settle. Flying was always a good way to push away her worries and stress. Even at Hogwarts, in the air had been her favorite place to be. They paused to put on goggles, since the air at these speeds would make their eyes water and run if they didn't.
"Try to keep up," Anyssa called before taking off.
She didn't bother to retort and simply leaned forward into a more streamlined position and flew. The moor flew by beneath them and Rachel took the time to appreciate the real freedom that flying provided. She had done a few articles for Witch Weekly about muggle methods of flight, but she'd never found anything that the muggles could do that compared with this. One day she wanted to go parachuting, but she still hadn't quite worked up the nerve. She'd still never been in an airplane. If she was traveling somewhere too far to apparate, she took a portkey.
There was still morning mist clinging to a nearby valley. Not wanting to get wet, by unspoken agreement they went up and over the hillside.
Maybe it was the rush of air in her ears, or the feeling of cutting through the wind, or just the land laying open before her, but she felt a weight lifting off her shoulders as she flew. Despite everything else, she could still find some peace here.