Hello! Welcome to the first installment of The Lion, The Raven, and The Empty Classroom! I just started writing this one while my other story is on hiatus. I'm hoping to update about twice a month, but I ave school and two jobs so I will do my best! Well I hope you enjoy!
*DISCLAIMER* NOTHING YOU RECOGNIZE IS MINE. I only own the OCs.
"Rebecca Edwards! What is taking you so long? We need to leave right now young lady!" Genevieve Edwards yelled from the lower level of the family's large manor. The girl rolled her eyes at her mother as she threw the last of her clothing into her trunk.
"I'll be down in a moment! I'm just finishing my packing!" Rebecca yelled back as she fastened the locks on her trunk and went to check her appearance one last time in her adjoining bathroom. She took in her appearance; her brown hair was in their usually bouncy curls and her sapphire eyes sparkled against her lightly tanned skin. She straightened out her purple v-neck and smoothed her tight jeans, giving herself one last look over. The girl walked back into her room, grabbed the handle of her trunk, grabbed her guitar in it's case, and walked out to the hallway. She dragged her things down the stairs to her waiting mother.
"Why must you always wait until the last moment to pack, you're a sixth year for Merlin's sake." The skinny blonde woman scolded as she tapped her fingers on the wooden banister, receiving a shrug in response from her daughter. The woman sighed, "Well let's get on with it."
"You have everything you need?" Rebecca's mother asked for the third time as they stood on the crowded train platform.
"Yes mum. I've got my books, my supplies and most importantly, my broom and dads guitar." The girl responded, pushing her mother's hand away from its primping. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes and blinked them back.
"You remembered to pack your formal dress, right?" Genevieve asked with wet eyes.
"Oi, calm down woman, we've been through this five times already." Rebecca sighed, pulling her small mother into a hug.
"I know, but you're my only child. I get so lonely when you're gone. Especially after this summer." Her mother said as she squeezed her daughter tightly.
"I know, I know." The girl said, pulling her mother off of her. "We'll write each other all the time. I love you."
"Of course my darling. I love you too" Genevieve said, placing a kiss on Rebecca's cheek.
"I'll be back before you know it." And with that, the girl lugged her items up the stairs of the train and found an empty compartment, putting her things out of the way.
"Well you're definitely a sight for sore eyes." Rebecca heard from the doorway. She turned and found herself face to face with object of her affection for the last year.
"Hello to you too, Roger." Roger Davies, not only was he her Quidditch captain but he also happened to be the one of the most attractive boys in her house. The tall boy flashed her a winning smile as he slid the door closed behind him. The train lurched forward, causing Rebecca to lose her balance and started to fall only to be caught by the strong arms of the chaser.
"It's been only a minute and you've already found your way into my arms." He said with a light chuckle, pulling her up against him. Her bright blue eyes met his light brown ones and she felt butterflies in her stomach. Within seconds his lips were on hers, kissing her enthusiastically. He forced his tongue past her lips to explore her mouth as he turned and pushed her against the door. Her hands found their way into his brown mane and pushed herself closer into him while his hands roamed her body. He trailed kisses from her lips to her neck where he licked and nibbled, causing a light moan to escape her lips. Roger smiled into her neck as he worked on leaving a particularly dark love bite right in the crook.
When the brunette couldn't handle it anymore, she pushed the boy off of her lightly and onto the seat. Suddenly, the couple heard whistling and catcalling from the other side of the door. They turned and found themselves facing two smiling Gryffindors, Lee Jordan and one half of the Weasley twins, Fred from what Rebecca could tell.
"Oi, get bent!" She said with an embarrassed blush, eliciting wider smiles and thumbs up from the two boys. Rebecca sent a very rude gesture their way before pulling the curtain down over the door window.
"Well that wasn't very nice, Edwards." Roger said with a smirk, enjoying her embarrassment. "Have you given any more thought to my question? Most guys wouldn't wait 5 months for an answer."
Rebecca's heart sped up at the question. Roger had asked her to be his girlfriend that May, but her father's passing had kept her from giving him an answer. She had given it a lot of thought but she didn't think the boy would like the answer.
"I don't think it's be a good idea, Roger. You're my Quidditch captain, I don't want the rest of the team thinking that I'm getting special treatment because I'm your girlfriend." She explained nervously.
"We already spend all of our time together and we practically are a couple already, let's just make it official! And when we're on that pitch you know I treat you exactly the same as everyone else." He defended. The girl sighed.
"Just give me a little bit longer to think about it?" Rebecca asked, looking at her feet.
"I'll be waiting. I know you'll see things my way." Roger said with a wink. "Now how about we continue where we left off?" He finished, patting the seat next to him. Rebecca smiled and followed his suggestion and his lips were on hers again within moments.
George Weasley sat alone in the compartment that he saved for his twin and best friend, lost in his thoughts. He was excited for a new term to start, not for the actual learning part but because of a certain girl he's had his eye on for the last year. Rebecca Edwards was nearly perfect in every sense of the word. Not only was she gorgeous with her bouncy brown hair and stunning blue eyes, but she was smart, funny and was an amazing musician. Her band of other Ravenclaw half bloods and muggleborns played at all the secret parties that the students would throw. She was also the best beater at Hogwarts. Every time their teams played he had a hard time concentrating.
"You'll never believe what we just saw." George heard Lee say as he and Fred walked through the door. The ginger looked up just in time to see his twin elbow their friend in the ribs with an alarmed look.
"What did you see?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow at the exchange.
Lee looked up at Fred in confusion, then looked back at George. "We saw Roger Davies and Rebecca Edwards snogging in a compartment. They had the curtain of the window open for the whole train to see." He said with a laugh.
George felt his heart drop at the news. He had heard rumors about the two Ravenclaws spending extracurricular time together other than just Quidditch, but he thought they were just rumors. "Oh..." He responded, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's alright George, it doesn't mean anything officially." Fred tried to reassure, sitting next to his twin and clapping a hand on his back.
Lee say across from the brothers and looked between them in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"George fancies Edwards." Fred explained. "He's almost useless whenever we play against Ravenclaw, he almost fell off broom once when she flew too close to him."
"It's not that bad!" George exclaimed in defense.
"You missed the doorway once when she said hello to you on our way into Charms." The twin laughed. George felt his face go pink at the memory. "But this doesn't mean anything. Don't give up."
"I wasn't planning on it. I'm going to talk to her at the party tonight." The boy said. Every year the fifth to seventh years throw parties; Halloween, Valentine's Day, end of exams, any Quidditch match, but the biggest party is always the back to term party.
"Good for you George!" His brother said. "I can't wait to see Angelina myself."
"We know." Lee and George laughed together.
"Becca! Are you ready for the party tonight?" Rebecca heard from the doorway of her dormitory, she turned to see a small girl with champagne colored hair.
"Hello Prudence. I think so!" She responded, pulling an amplifier from her magically enlarged trunk. "What about you? You brought your guitar right?"
"Of course! I just checked with the boys and they brought all their supplies too! Tonight is going to be wonderful!" Prudence exclaimed excitedly. In Rebecca's fourth year she and a group of other half-bloods and muggleborns found that they all played music when they were home and decided that Hogwarts needed a band. With a lot help from Rebecca's father they magically altered their equipment and instruments to run without electricity, last year they premiered their group, The Ravens, at the start of term party. Now they play at every party that the upperclassmen throw.
"Did you ask the house elves to come get our gear?" Rebecca inquired, pulling out her bass guitar and cords.
"Sure did! They'll be here in fifteen minutes which leaves us about 30 minutes to set up before the festivities start." Prudence said, following suit and pulling gear from her trunk.
"Thank you again for coming to dad's funeral, he would have loved our song." Rebecca said, teary-eyed.
"Oh, of course Becca!" The small girl said, walking over and pulling her friend into a hug. "You're my best friend! I'd do anything for you and your family."
"I know and I love you for that." Rebecca said, returning the hug and fighting back her tears for the hundredth time. "Let's get going, we have a party to get to."
"Yes, I get by with a little help from my friends. With a little help from my friends." Rebecca and Prudence sang together as they strummed the last chords of their cover of Help From My Friends by The Beatles.
"Well that's all we have! You've all been great! Let's have a great term!" Prudence yelled to the crowd of students as they cheered. The kitchen was full of the upperclassmen from all four houses, who had been dancing and drinking for the last two hours as the band played. The band wrapped their cords and gave their gear to the house elves to be transported back to their dorms.
"We were brilliant!" Max Bishop, the drummer, exclaimed as he pulled the band into a group hug.
"We're always brilliant!" Oliver Brady, the keyboardist and vocalist, stated as he pulled out of the hug.
"That was one of the best performances we've ever had!" said Peter Kelley, the second guitarist.
Rebecca smiled as she nodded in agreement, walking back to her pile of gear. She found her father's acoustic guitar in it's case and lifted it out of the mass before the house elves took it away.
"Are you staying?" Oliver inquired quietly next to her. Rebecca looked up to the boy, and gave him a small smile.
"No, I don't think so. I'm going to go back to the tower." She said in a small voice. The boy raked a hand through his shaggy black hair and met his hazel eyes to her blue ones.
"You should have a little fun Becs." He said with a frown.
"I'm not ready just yet." She responded, looking at her feet.
"I understand, but please promise me that you won't stay up in that dorm all year." Oliver said, pulling her into a hug. She dropped the guitar and wrapped her arms around the boys waist, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'll do my best." Rebecca promised quietly.
"That's all I can ask for." The boy said before placing a kiss on her cheek.
"I'll see you in the morning." The girl said, pulling out of the hug and picking up the guitar.
"Of course. Sleep well." He smiled at her.
"You too." She said waving to the rest of the band. She made her way into the crowd and found the exit.
"They were great, weren't they?" Fred said to his twin, taking a drink of his Firewhiskey.
"Always." George said flatly, as he watched Rebecca and Oliver Brady from across the room.
Fred followed his brother's gaze and sighed. "Are you going to talk to her?"
"Once she's alone, I don't want an audience." The twin responded, sipping his own drink.
"George!" The boy heard from his left.
"Oh, no." He said before turning to face the speaker. Anna Cummings came running up to him and threw her arms around him.
"Oh George, it's so good to see you!" The girl said with a big smile.
"Ah, you too Anna." George responded stiffly. From the corner of his eye he saw Rebecca walk into the crowd and towards the exit. He was missing his chance. He pulled her off of him gently. "Actually, I have to do something right now. Sorry."
Anna frowned slightly. "Oh, okay. Well, let's chat a bit later okay?" She asked with a shy smile.
"Yeah, sure." He said, putting his drink on the counter next to them. "See you around." And with that he made his way into the crowd.
He made his way to the quiet corridor outside the kitchens. The silencing charm one of the Ravenclaw seventh years had placed on the room was holding quite well and the party behind the doors was undetectable. The ginger made his way to the Grand Staircase and taking the steps two at a time.
He couldn't find Rebecca anywhere on the staircase and found himself on the seventh floor. He was about to give up and go back down to the party when he heard a noise coming from an empty classroom nearby.
Rebecca sat in the dark room with her guitar in her lap, quietly strumming one of her father's favorite songs in a slow tempo.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise." She sang to the empty room. The tears came again, this time she let them fall freely. She sobbed out the lyrics and played the chords she had heard all her life.
George listened from the corridor to the sad song as the girl cried, his heart breaking with every pluck of the strings. All he wanted to do was go in there and comfort her, but she would know that he had been listening in. He just leaned on the wall next to the door and listened for half an hour until he heard her faint sniffles. He heard a chair move from inside the room and ducked behind a statue nearby.
Rebecca walked out the door and towards the Ravenclaw tower, guitar in hand and whipped the last of her tears off her cheeks. George wanted to say something to let her know that she wasn't alone, but he could find the words. He watched her walk to the opposite end of the corridor and disappear around a corner. He decided he didn't feel much like returning to the party and found his way back to his dorm.
Rebecca placed her guitar in her trunk along with all her other gear before changing and flopping onto her bed. She was asleep within moments.
Okay! There is the first chapter! I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it! Reviews would be really lovely and helpful! Thank you!