Rebecca woke up to Kimba licking her face and she sat up and ran her fingers through his long fur and stretched.
"I'm up." She sighed as she pulled the covers off of her and she pulled them back on as the cold air stung her like needles.
"Forget that. God why is it so cold?" She gasped quietly as she looked around. Lily's hangings were already pulled back and her bed was made. The shower was running in the bathroom and steam escaped from the crack in the door. Kimba licked her hand and she pushed him away from her as she grabbed her shower stuff and walked in to the bathroom and started up her shower.
"Early riser as well?" Lily called over the stall.
"No, Kimba wakes me up and I find it impossible to go back to sleep. He will start pawing at my face if I don't get up quick enough." She said and stepped in to the shower and sighed as the hot water ran over her and she started to soap her hair.
"Would you like to eat breakfast with us this morning?"
"Yeah sure, I would love to."
"Great, I usually head down after my shower and Tessa and Jenny usually make their way down after me."
"Sounds good, I have to find Andrew though, he has my schedule."
"Alright that won't be a problem." Lily said and turned off her shower.
"I'll meet you downstairs, just come down as soon as you're ready." Lily said as she stepped out.
"Alright see you downstairs." Rebecca said and continued with her shower.
She got out and got dressed and walked downstairs with her backpack over her shoulder.
"How come you don't use a book bag?" Lily asked as she looked at the backpack and Rebecca looked down at the bag that hung down by Lily's side.
"I don't know, I find this more practical and it is less likely to wear down one of my shoulders. With all the books I am carrying, I am taking all NEWTs."
"How many are you taking?" Lily asked.
"I think I am taking 6 NEWTs I think and another classes, I would have to check my schedule to be positive." She said and saw Lily looking up at the boys staircase.
"What are we waiting for?"
"Remus, he usually walks down with me. I hope you don't mind."
"No not at all, Remus is very nice."
"Yes he is, I have no idea why he hangs around the likes of Potter and Black."
"I don't think their friendship is something someone outside could understand. I sat with them on the train and it's not the kind of friendship that normal friends would have, its something a lot deeper." Rebecca said and Lily raised an eyebrow at her.
"It's just something I have observed, I'm good at observing people, its kind of my thing." She said with a smile and a door closed upstairs and soon Remus came downstairs.
"Good morning Lily. Becky." Remus said with a curt nod to each of them. "Shall we? I am starved." He said and Lily nodded and grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder as they headed out of the tower and walked down to the Great Hall.
"This castle is amazing, just how big is it?"
"Big enough to get lost and never be found." Michael said as he walked up on the other side of her and she raised her eyebrows at him.
"What?"
"He is kidding. You would get found eventually." Tim said as he came up on the other side of Michael. "Good morning." He said with a smile at Rebecca.
"Good morning. So just how big is it?"
"No one is really quite sure, it always seems to be changing but lets just say its fairly sizable." Remus said and she nodded.
They reached the Great Hall and Tim and Michael both went off to join their friends and Lily, Remus and Rebecca all took their seats by each other. Rebecca sat next to Lily and Remus sat across from them.
"So what is this supposed to be?" Rebecca asked as she looked at a bowl of mushy brown stuff. "Please don't tell me this is oatmeal." She said as she jiggled the bowl and set it back down.
"You know if you would just try eating it instead of staring at it, you might like it." Remus said and she frowned and sighed.
"I miss the warm cinnamon buns and omelets, orange juice." She said with a sigh as she picked up a pot and smelled it.
"What's in here?"
"Tea."
"Really? You drink tea with breakfast?"
"They drink tea with everything, you should know that Becca." Andrew said as he sat down next to her and held out a piece of paper to her.
"I think that might be an exaggeration." Remus said with a light smile.
"Uh Lily I don't think you have met Andrew, Andrew this is Lily, Lily this is my best friend Andrew." Rebecca said and Andrew reached around the back of Rebecca and extended his hand out to Andrew.
"Nice to meet you." Lily said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you as well."
"Andrew." Someone called and Andrew groaned and turned around to the Ravenclaw table.
"I saved you a seat next to me."
"I'll be there in a moment." He said and turned back around.
"She will not leave me alone. I came downstairs this morning and she was waiting for me." He said and Rebecca laughed.
"Well, for once Andrew doesn't like the girls hanging all over him." She said and he rolled his eyes.
"Girls did not hang on me."
"What did you call Tasha and Natalia?"
"Stalkers." He said blandly.
"You liked Tasha though."
"Natalia was creepy though."
"Andrew." The girl called again and he sighed.
"I'll see you in class, enjoy your breakfast, it was nice meeting you Lily." He said as he got up. "Remus." He said with a nod and walked over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down next to the girl.
"Here come Tessa and Jenny." Lily said as she looked up as the two girls walked into the Great Hall and staggered over.
"You guys should have gone to bed sooner instead of gushing over those guys in the magazine and gossiping." Lily said as they sat down next to Remus.
"Please Lily, not this early in the morning, I haven't had my coffee." Jenny said as she poured herself a cup.
"Coffee stunts your growth you know?" Rebecca said as she got some eggs and toast on her plate.
"No that's a myth." She mumbled.
"You are pretty short Jen." Tessa said and Jenny glared at her and Tessa got herself some tea.
"That's because of my genetics- oh I don't have the energy to continue." She said with a sigh and went back to her coffee.
"Oh god." Lily groaned as she looked past Rebecca and rolled her eyes. Rebecca turned and saw James walk in with Sirius and Peter who all looked about as bad as Tessa and Jenny did.
James almost walked past Lily and she let out a small sigh of relief and then James paused in step and turned to her.
"Hello my beautiful Lily flower how are you this morning?" He asked sleepily.
"I told you not to call me that Potter." She growled at him.
"Will you." He said and paused as he started to yawn. "Go out with me?" He asked in the middle of the yawn which sounding like a moan.
Sod off Potter."
"Love you too Evans." He said and walked down to the middle of the table and sat down with Sirius next to him.
"I should go; I'll see you guys in class." Remus said as he got up and joined his seat next to Peter across from James and Sirius.
"I am so tired, why do we have to be up so early?" Tessa asked as she yawned and stared in to her cup of tea.
"Like I said, you should have gone to bed sooner; you might not be so tired." Lily said as she put some jam on some toast.
"We'll just sleep in class." Jenny said and Tessa nodded.
"You guys need to pay attention in class."
"Sleep deprivation is a very serious thing Lily, it can greatly affect you health Lily, you wouldn't want us to be unhealthy would you?"
"You should have gone to bed earlier. A little more sleep wouldn't hurt."
"Kimba attacks my face if I don't get up early enough." Rebecca said with a shrug. "Unless I lock him outside or something. But the sneaky bastard always finds a way back inside." She said and looked up as hundreds of owls flew in to the hall, dropping off packages and letters to the students.
"Wow, that's a lot of birds." She said as she looked up at the birds in awe.
"You might want to close your mouth; you never know what might fall in to it." Tessa said blandly as she opened up a letter. A newspaper landed in Lily's lap and she gave the owl a piece of bacon before it flew out of the hall and she opened up the newspaper and frowned as she looked at it.
"More killings, this is so awful." She said and Rebecca leaned over and saw a picture of a house with a snake in a skull hanging over the house.
"This time it was a whole family that's awful." Lily said with a gasp and bit her lip.
"Lily don't worry, your family will be fine."
"I can't help but worry about them, they are muggles, and they're defenseless."
"Who is this He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Rebecca asked as she looked at the article.
"You don't know?" Lily asked as her voice lowered.
"Well I mean I have heard something here and there but not a whole lot."
"He is an awful man who thinks that muggle borns and muggles should be eliminated."
"Kind of like Hitler right? With the Jews?" Rebecca asked and Lily paused and nodded.
"Yeah kind of like that."
"So basically a psycho-maniac out to kill the world and make it pure?"
"Pretty much." Lily said with a sigh and folded the magazine.
"So what is this thing above the house?" Rebecca asked as she looked at the picture.
"That's the dark mark, its his symbol."
"Kind of daunting don't you think?"
"When they kill people they put this above their bodies, its really awful." Lily said and flipped over the paper so the picture was no longer visible.
"Are you worried about your family?"
"Yes, they have no idea what things are like out there and no way to defend themselves." Lily said with a sigh.
"I'm sure they will be alright Lily." Jenny said as she gave a small smile to Lily who returned it with a weak smile and a nod before continuing with her breakfast.
"Oh here comes McGonagall to hand out our time tables." Tessa said as McGonagall walked over to them.
"Hello Miss Evans, how are you?" She asked as she sorted through some papers and pulled one out and handed it to Lily.
"Very good, how are you Professor?"
"Just fine. Ah, Miss Bayliss and Miss Mills." She said and handed Jenny and Tessa their time tables. "And Miss Walcott, welcome to Hogwarts." McGonagall said as she handed Rebecca her time table.
"Thank you Professor." She said and McGonagall continued down along the table.
"Can I see your time table?" Lily asked as she leaned over and held out hers.
"Yeah sure." Rebecca said as she handed it over to Lily.
"We have most of our classes together, save a few. Tessa, Jenny can I see yours?" Lily asked and they both handed them over and Lily looked over them.
"You're taking Divination Jenny?" Lily asked as she looked up.
"Yeah." She said and Lily sighed.
"Jenny you know that's it's a bunch of poppycock."
"No it isn't."
"How can you expect to tell your future from leaves floating in tea?"
"It's an art Lily." Jenny said as she took back her schedule.
"Well we all have most of our classes together so that's good. Would you guys like to head down to the dungeons now?" Lily asked as she put her schedule in her bag.
"I haven't finished my breakfast yet." Tessa said as she spread butter on her toast.
"What about you Jenny?" Lily asked.
"I think I'm going to wait for Tess." She said quietly as she looked at her food and Lily looked at Rebecca.
"Yeah sure." She said and they both got up.
"Want me to save you guys seats?" Lily asked as she looked at Tessa and Jenny.
"Yeah sure." They said and Lily and Rebecca started out of the hall.
"So what do you guys do in this castle for shits and giggles?" Rebecca asked as she looked at the portraits as they passed them by.
"Padron?"
"You know for fun?"
"Oh, well we study, well the ones who are smart study, unlike a few individuals." She muttered and rolled her eyes. "Some people do their homework, join clubs, walk around outside."
"Is that what you like to do?" Rebecca asked amused and Lily bit her lip with a smile and nodded.
"What do other people do?"
"Well quidditch is a big thing, everyone goes to the games." Lily said with distaste.
"You don't like quidditch?"
"I think it's a very barbaric sport."
"I think its fun."
"You play quidditch?"
"Yeah, I play chaser. Andrew plays too, Keeper though."
"Oh, I would not have pegged you as a quidditch player; you don't seem…the type."
"Why not?"
"Well…there actually aren't many girls on the teams, there was one on Ravenclaw two years ago though, she was a wonderful seeker, as much as I hate to admit it. There was also a beater last year but she graduated."
"Most beater girls I find are a bit more…masculine then I would ever want to be." Rebecca said with a smile.
"Yeah she was kind of, I guess masculine." Lily said with a laugh.
They got down in to the dungeons and Rebecca looked around cautiously.
"Its creepy down here. Do we actually have classes down here?"
"Yeah, the Slytherin dorms are down here as well."
"People live down here?" Rebecca asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah they say its under the lake."
"What happens if like something crumbles and the dungeons flood?"
"Good riddance I always say." Someone said from behind them and they turned around and saw Sirius and James.
"Go away Potter." Lily said with a scowl and turned back around.
"You guys don't like Slytherins?"
"No one does." Sirius said as he came up next to Rebecca and James came up on the other side of Lily who rolled her eyes and turned her head away from him.
"Come on Evans, cant you try a little civility?" He asked and she glanced at him as he smiled at her.
"Will you go out with me?" He asked and she groaned and picked up the pace and walked away from him with him following after her.
"They are quite the interesting pair I must admit." Rebecca said with a smile at Sirius who was staring at her and he blinked and nodded.
"Yeah they have been going at it since first year, I cant tell you how many times Evans has sent him to the hospital wing or both of them ending up in the hospital wing."
"I think she likes him secretly." Rebecca said with hushed tones as she looked at him.
"Yeah so do I." He said with a laugh.
"So what's all this not liking Slytherins?"
"They are evil and vile and think they are better than everyone. You'll understand when you meet one." He said bitterly.
"They can't be that bad-."
"Oh believe me they can." He said and they turned down a hall and saw James and Lily arguing outside the classroom and when she spotted Rebecca she grabbed her arm and pulled her in to the classroom.
"That wasn't a no Evans." James said as he poked his head in to the classroom.
"NO Potter." She growled at him and sat down and Rebecca rubbed her arm as she sat down.
"I'm sorry; I just couldn't stand one more second. Are you alright?" Lily asked concerned and Rebecca smiled.
"Yeah I'm fine." She said and opened up her backpack and got out her potions book and a notebook.
"Hey Evans." James said as he sat in the row behind them and she clenched her fists and took a deep breath and looked at Rebecca.
"What's your favorite subject Becky?"
"Probably Defense or Potions." She said and looked to the door as Andrew walked in with the same girl by his side and he smiled at Rebecca and took the seats next to her.
"Hey." He said as he got out his things.
"Hey yourself, can I see your schedule?" She asked and he nodded and reached in to his bag and pulled it out and handed it to her.
"Claire uh this is Rebecca. Becca this is Claire Donner." Andrew said as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Oh you must be the Rebecca he doesn't stop talking about." She said with a false sweetness in her voice and Rebecca could have sworn she saw a death glare between the smiles.
"Yeah I probably am." Rebecca said with a forced smile and Claire raised an eyebrow at Rebecca.
"Well it's nice to meet you." She said and turned back to her bag to get her things out. Rebecca looked at Andrew with a raised eyebrow at him and he bit his lip and mouthed 'after class' to her and she smiled and nodded. Soon Jenny and Tessa came in and took their seats on the other side of Lily. They gave Rebecca excited smiles as they glanced at Andrew and she smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Andy, that over there is Jenny Mills and Tessa Bayliss." Rebecca said as Andrew glanced behind Rebecca and Lily.
"Hi, nice to meet you." He said with a smile and they laughed.
"Guys this is Andrew Fuller." She said and they gave him small waves before Rebecca looked up as Remus walked in and gave him a smile as he took the seats next to James and Sirius. The rest of the students came in and soon the teacher entered.
"Welcome back class its good to see you all again." He said and Rebecca's eyebrows rose as she stared at the man. He looked like a walrus with his mustard colored robes that were a little snugger than they should have been, he had a light brown mustache that matched his hair that was covered with a cap, his eyes seemed to be bulging as he looked around the room with a wide smile and greeted the students by names.
"Lily he looks like a walrus." Rebecca whispered and Lily looked at her amused and bit back a laugh as he greeted her happily.
"Ah we seem to have two new students this year." He said as he spotted Rebecca and Andrew next to Lily.
"Might I speak to you both after class?" he asked and Rebecca and Andrew nodded as he smiled and walked to the front of the class.
"Welcome to NEWT Potions everyone, all of you are here because you acquired at least an E on your OWLs and all of you are here because you have chosen to be here." He said and looked around at everyone. "The grade you receive in this class will help to determine whether or not you will be allowed to continue in to your desired profession which requires knowledge in Potions, with that said the grade you receive in this class is very important and is not for those who choose to slack, it will not be easy in this class. We will be working on such difficult potions such as Everlasting Elixirs, memory potion and possibly even Draught of Living Death." He said as he smiled. "Your intellect will be challenged greatly and hopefully most of you will come out with a decent grade." He said and gave a small little laugh as he looked around at everyone. "Alright with that said, I believe we should start class, will you please turn to page 14 everyone in your potions book, I trust everyone has their required materials for this class so please retrieve your cauldrons and your potions kits and please get started on the Sleeping draught." He said and everyone got up to retrieve their things.
"Have you noticed that our teacher greatly resembles a walrus?" Andrew asked Rebecca as she took her seat with her cauldron.
"I did notice." He said as he started cutting up the valerian root into small bits.
"Do you remember that time you accidently added the lacewig fly wings to the exploding solution?"
"And it exploded all over my face."
"Which gave you boils for weeks?"
"Yes I remember Becca, it wasn't one of my most fond moments in potion brewing." He said blandly and she smiled.
"Or when you shoved a bowl of billywig stingers down the back of my shirt?" She asked and he laughed.
"Yes, I remember you hexed me so badly I wasn't walking for a week." He said and she laughed.
"Remember to crush the juice out of the leaves with the stone instead of the knife." She said as he reached for his knife to crush the ginger leaves.
"Right." He said as he nodded and grabbed the small ceramic crushing bowl and dropped some leaves in to it.
"Andrew." Claire said from the other side of Andrew and her and Rebecca looked at her.
"Do these roots look alright?" She asked.
"They are supposed to be chopped not minced Claire." Rebecca said as Claire glared at Rebecca and then looked at Andrew sweetly.
"I was asking Andrew." She said and he looked at the roots.
"Like she said, they are supposed to be chopped, not minced."
"They are chopped." She said as she looked at the tiny pieces of roots.
"No, these are chopped." Andrew said as he pointed to Rebecca's roots.
"Well yours look like mine." She said as she looked at Andrew's roots.
"Well she is a little better than me with a knife but mine aren't minced like yours, you'll have to start over." He said and she pouted.
"Do you think you could cut the roots for me so I don't ruin them again?" She asked with a sweet smile.
"Shouldn't you know how to do this? I mean this is 7th year Potions and you had to pass with at least an E in the class." Rebecca said and Claire looked at Rebecca with a death glare before getting up and walking to the ingredients cupboard.
"You don't have to be so mean Becca."
"I don't like her." Rebecca said with a frown.
"She is pretty nice, and she is cute." He said as he looked across the room at her.
"Please, aren't Ravenclaws supposed to be smart?"
"She is, she is just playing the dumb card to be cute." He said with a smile and Rebecca laughed.
"So why are you hanging around her?"
"I don't know, she is pretty nice actually and she makes interesting conversation." He said and she sighed as she shook her head.
"You've sunk really far Andy." She said with a smile and he leaned over.
"From you, you mean?" He asked and she smiled.
"We promised not to talk about that again, oh here she comes." Rebecca said with a smile as she nudged him and he looked back over at Claire as she set the roots out and picked up her knife and he picked up his and started to cut the roots for her before letting her take over.
"Thanks Andrew." She said with a smile.
"You're welcome Claire." He said with a returning smile and went back to his potion.
After class everyone started to leave and Lily turned to Rebecca.
"Do you want me to wait for you?"
"If you don't mind, I don't think that this will take long." Rebecca said as she packed up her things.
"Alright I'll be outside." She said and walked out with James following her and Rebecca walked up to the front and saw Claire talking to Andrew.
"I'll wait for you if you'd like." She said and he stood up and put his bag over his shoulder.
"Alright, wait for me outside, this will only take a moment." He said and Claire turned on her heel and walked out of the classroom as Andrew and Rebecca stood in front of the desk and the teacher looked up from a paper he was reading.
"Right Miss Walcott and Mr. Fuller, I was going to discuss anything you might not understand in the class but it seems that you guys are fairly caught up on the material, do you have any questions?" He asked as he looked at each of them and they exchanged looks and shook their heads.
"Alright then, off to lunch with both of you, if you do have any questions, do not hesitate to ask." He said and they both nodded.
"See you later professor." Rebecca said and he smiled at her as they backed up.
"Have a good day Miss Walcott." He said and they turned on their heels and walked outside of the class room and saw Lily and Claire talking and Claire threw Andrew a smile as she came to his side.
"We should get to lunch; Viv and Kayla will be waiting for us." Claire said and Andrew looked at Rebecca.
"Actually I will meet you the Great Hall, save me a seat, I'm going to walk with Becca and Lily." He said and Claire frowned but covered it up.
"Alright then, I'll see you in the Great Hall." She said slowly and started down the hall and Andrew walked next to Rebecca with Lily on the other side.
"Who the hell does she think she is? Honestly she is throwing me all these dirty looks if I so much as look in your direction." Rebecca said and Andrew sighed.
"She does seem rather possessive but I really don't want to hurt her feelings and her friends wouldn't be too friendly if I said anything bad, if you think Claire is scary, her friends are worse. It's like some sort of competition here."
"Would you like for me to say something?"
"No because I foresee that turning in to some sort of fist fight like before."
"Hey she threw the first hex."
"Yes and I still don't understand why you threw your wand at her and started to punch her face."
"You what?" Lily asked surprised and Rebecca grinned at her.
"One of Andy's ex girlfriends, she cheated on him and I punched her in the face."
"Multiple times." Andrew added. "She may look all cute and innocent but I swear she is the devil in disguise."
"I think that's rather mean to say about Lauren." Rebecca said and he laughed.
"I wasn't talking about Lauren." He said and Rebecca pushed him.
"It's a blessing is disguise. Embrace it Andy." She said and pinched his cheek.
"So how long have you guys known about each other?"
"Since we were little, Andy is my neighbor." She said as they walked out of the dungeons and made their way towards the Great Hall.
"You guys both seem rather talented in Potions, I couldn't help but notice." Lily said as she glanced at them.
"Yeah, Andy's mom is a cook-."
"Chef Becca." He corrected and she sighed.
"Same difference. Anyways she taught us to cook, Andy makes a mean Thanksgiving dinner, turkey and all. But Potions is kind of like cooking I suppose."
"Well you guys are very good, very precise with your cutting and mixing."
"Thanks." Rebecca and Andrew said as they reached the Great Hall.
"You can come sit with us if you want?" Rebecca said as she looked over at Claire and two other girls looking over at Andrew and waving him over.
"Its not all bad, I've got Malcolm and Trent to keep me sane. Malcolm is Viv's boyfriend and Trent is Kayla's cousin. They are both rather nice. How about we go walk around outside before classes start again." He said and Rebecca nodded and he walked over to Claire and her friends and Rebecca followed Lily back over to sit with Tessa and Jenny.
"He is even cuter up close Rebecca." Jenny said as she looked over at him.
"And that accent." Tessa said with a sigh.
"You guys do know that you are talking about my best friend, its kind of disturbing." Rebecca said as she looked at the food on the table.
"What's this?" Rebecca asked as she looked at a particular dish with a brown yellow crusting on the top.
"Steak and kidney pie, it's good." Tessa said as she got herself a helping.
"Like real kidney?" She asked as she looked at it.
"Lamb or pig, I am not quite sure which they use at Hogwarts, my mum makes it all the time." Tessa said as she handed it to Rebecca and she smelled it.
"That's disgusting, kidneys." She said and pushed it away as she looked for something else. "I think I will just stick with a ham sandwich and water." She said and got herself two sandwiches. "Which I am very surprised you have, I thought it would be tea or pumpkin juice."
"Pumpkin juice is usually served at dinner and tea during breakfast and lunch."
"Right." Rebecca said and then dug in to her food.
After she finished her lunched she looked back at Andrew who motioned to the door and she got up.
"I'll see you guys in class, I'm going to go for a walk." She said as she wiped her mouth and headed out of the Great Hall with Andrew soon following.
"What do you think of the food here?" He asked as they reached the entrance hall.
"Different I suppose, I don't know how I am going to last with out a burger, coke and fries." She said and they sat down in the courtyard.
"I am sure you will manage. Is that a lake?" he asked as he looked across the grounds and stood up.
"Let's go down to the lake." He said and looked back at her.
"Do you think we will have time to get back?"
"Maybe if we run, race you down there." He said with a raised eyebrow and a grin.
"I am wearing a skirt mister; I won't be doing any running." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.
"What if I threaten to tickle you, might that change your mind?" He asked as he took a step towards her and held out his hands in a motion to tickle her and she stood up.
"Tickle me and you're going to die." She said as she backed away from him and held up her wand and he gave her a deflated look.
"Alright then, let's just walk around then." He said with a sigh and stuck his hands in his pockets as she put her wand away.
"Malcolm said there is a giant squid that lives in the lake, also mermaids and a bunch of other water creatures. Giant squid, imagine that." He said with a laugh.
"It sure is a lot nicer here than Salem don't you think?"
"Oh so much better, a lot greener, not to mention bigger." He said as they walked around the courtyard.
After walking around for 20 minutes they headed back inside and walked around inside on the first floor before the bell rang signaling to get to class.
"I'll see you at dinner alright?" He asked and she nodded as they reached the Great Hall and Rebecca spotted Lily.
"See you later, have fun, learn lots." She said and he looked at her amused.
"Alright mom." He said as Claire came up and took him by the arm and glared at Rebecca and walked off with her group.
"We need to hurry or we'll be late." Lily said as she came up by Rebecca's side and Tessa and Jenny came up on the other side of Lily as they all walked to class.
They walked in to the classroom and Rebecca looked at the ghost floating around the room, greeting students and Rebecca looked at Lily.
"Is that really a ghost?" She asked.
"Yes, he is the teacher."
"You have a ghost for a teacher?" She asked as they took their seats in the middle of the classroom.
"Yes, if you don't fall asleep after 5 minutes you might learn something." Tessa said with a smile and Jenny groaned and laid her head on the table.
"What's wrong?"
"We have class with the Slytherins, hopefully Binns will put them to sleep today, otherwise they tend to cause trouble." Tessa said and Rebecca looked on the otherside of the room where students with black robes and green ties with Slytherin crests on their robes sat.
"Do you guys always split up houses like this? It wasn't like this in Potions this morning."
"With Slytherins yes, you don't generally want to sit with Slytherins. They don't really like other houses, they are civil to most Ravenclaws but other than that they get along horrendously with other houses, especially Gryffindors." Lily said and got out her book and parchment to write notes on.
"Why do you use parchment for everything? Its expensive and too thick?"
"I don't know, its just what we use, its not that expensive." Lily said as she got out her quill as well.
"And quills?" Rebecca asked with eyebrows raised. "You guys are so old school." Rebecca said with a laugh as she got out her notebook, pens and pencils.
"You don't use quill and parchment?" Tessa asked as she leaned over.
"No, waste of time and money, its so much easier to take notes with a pen, you don't have to keep dipping your quill. There were only a few people at Salem that still used parchment and quills but most of us used pens, pencils and paper."
"Why don't we?"
"Because the teachers prefer the quill and ink and parchment that's why." Lily said as the rest of the kids came in before the bell rang.
"Hello everyone. Welcome back to History Of Magic NEWT." The teacher, or ghost said and Rebecca sighed as she listened to his monotonous voice drone on about the year and what they would be covering and she instantly understood what Tessa meant if she could stay awake, what about going insane? What kind of person could sit here day after day listening to a ghost drone on about things in the past that no one remembered? This was going to be a very long year.
"Becky, wake up." Lily hissed as she nudged Rebecca who had started to doze off, her pen lying lazily in her fingers as she leaned against the palm of her hand and she opened her eyes and glanced at Lily.
"You need to pay attention."
"To what? The drone of his voice? I'm trying very hard not to throw a chair at him and tell him to speak normal."
"The chair would just go right through him Becky." Lily said as she jotted something down and Rebecca gave a dry laugh.
"Hardy har, how much longer until class is over?" She asked as she tugged on her hair.
"30 more minutes, can you please stay awake, I've already given up on Tessa." She said as Rebecca looked at Tessa who had her head down on the desk and drool slipping out of the corner of her mouth.
"Yeah she has the right idea. Which I would be doing if you would stop poking me." She said as she clicked her pen and sighed and clicked it again, then again, then again, until students started to look over at her.
"Becky stop that, its annoying you're drawing attention to yourself." Lily said in low tones.
"So, it's a hell of a lot more interesting than Casper up there."
"Did you really refer the teacher to a cartoon?" Lily asked and Rebecca smiled and nodded as she looked down at her notebook where she had doodled and put a few notes down as she continued to click the pen.
"Would you cut that out? It's really annoying." Someone from Slytherin said and Rebecca looked up.
"Sorry what?" She asked as she looked at a boy leaning back in his seat.
"Whatever that is you have in your hand." He said dully and the ghost continued to talk.
"This here in my hand?" Rebecca asked obviously as she looked at the pen and the boy gave her a death glare.
"Yes that there in your hand. It's hard to concentrate."
"Becky just stop." Lily whispered and Rebecca smiled.
"You want me to stop clicking this?" She asked as she continued to click it.
"Yes." He said as he gripped the desk.
"Oh so you would like me to stop clicking this because it's hard for you to concentrate in this class where everyone is sleeping? Or was I interrupting your sleep?" She asked and the teacher stopped talking.
"Do it one more time, I dare you." He said and she held up the pen with her thumb on the end.
"Don't do it Becky." Lily said as she rubbed her temples.
Rebecca smiled and clicked the pen once again and the boy got up with his wand out but Rebecca already had hers out and put up a shield as he shot a hex at her and it bounced off her shield and hit another Slytherin student who fell out of his chair with boils erupting all over him.
"Expellarmius." Rebecca said as the wand shot out of the boy's wand and a few of the other Slytherin students got their wands out and the Gryffindors got up with their wands out.
"Give me back my wand." He said as he pushed his hair back. Rebecca held up her pen and clicked it again and he lunged for her and she went to jump away but her grabbed her around the waist and they toppled to the ground as he tried to get his hands around her throat, bumping the back of her head against the hard floor, making her slightly dizzy.
"Get off me you fat jerk." She yelled as she threw a punch in to his face and he fell over holding his face.
"Ooo oke my nose ooo ilthy bitch, ooo oke my nose." He said as she scrambled to get up and held her wand out to him as she rubbed the back of her head and felt a small bump forming.
"Stop this at once." Someone from the doorway yelled and everyone looked up at a teacher.
"Thank you Professor Warner." Professor Binns said.
"You two to the hospital wing and you with me." He said as he pointed to the Slytherins and then to Rebecca.
"Leave your stuff." Professor Warner said as she went to grab her things and Rebecca looked at Lily who motioned she would get it as she bit her lip and looked away and the boy picked up his wand and glared at Rebecca before walking out with the boy who had the boils all over him and she walked out with Professor Warner.
She found herself waiting in Professor McGonagall's office and she looked around as she tapped her foot and soon the door opened and Professor McGonagall walked in and took her seat behind the desk.
"Your first day here and you have already managed to get yourself in trouble. I have already spoken with Mr. Lestrange's head of house and he has already been punished accordingly. Do you have anything to say Miss Walcott?"
"People here are very tense." She said and McGonagall took a deep breath and sighed.
"Three days detention and 20 points from Gryffindor for fighting in class, you will be reporting here for the next three nights at 8 o'clock, do you understand?" She asked and Rebecca nodded.
"Miss Walcott." She said as she folded her hands on the desk and Rebecca looked up at her. "You only have so many chances here before you are sent back to Salem Academy do you understand? I suggest you take this to heart and make sure you stay out of trouble from now on." She said and Rebecca stared at her. "Are we clear?" She asked and Rebecca smiled.
"Crystal. May I go? I am already late for my next class."
"Yes you may go, remember to report here at 8 sharp otherwise there will be further punishment." She said and Rebecca nodded and walked to the door.
"You wouldn't by any chance know where the Charms classroom is would you?"
"4th floor." She said and Rebecca smiled.
"Thanks a bunch. Have a good day." Rebecca said with a forced smile as she exited the office and headed up to the Charms classroom.
She found it soon enough and took her seat next to Lily.
"I was talking with Professor McGonagall, sorry I am late." Rebecca said to the small little man teaching the classroom.
"Quite alright, we were just discussing NEWTs, please get your materials out." He said and continued with his lecture.
"What happened?" Lily asked under hushed tones.
"Three days detention and 20 points, whatever that means." Rebecca said with a shrug.
"20 points?" Lily exclaimed which caught a few students to look over and she put her head down.
"I told you to stop."
"I was incredibly bored, I can not control my actions when I am bored." Rebecca said with a smile.
"I can't believe you lost us 20 points."
"What does that mean?"
"I'll tell you later, pay attention." She said and turned forward and Rebecca glanced around the room and met eyes with Sirius who gave her a thumps up and a wink and she gave him an odd nod and turned back around and leaned back in her chair as she listened to the teacher go on about the importance of NEWTs.
After class Rebecca started to head out and James and Sirius came up to her.
"We heard about what happened with Lestrange today, I can't believe you got in trouble already."
"Word does sure travel fast here doesn't it?" She asked with a sigh.
"Did you really break his nose?" Sirius asked with a grin.
"I sure hope I did, my hand still hurts from it."
"So what did you get for slugging him in the face?" James asked.
"Three days detention."
"Really? She let you off easy, last time we got in a fight with a Slytherin we got a week detention each and 50 points taken away."
"Yeah I got 20 points taken away too, I don't know what that means."
"Oh that must be why Evan's eyes were bugging out of her head." Sirius said with a laugh.
"My eyes do not bug out thank you very much Black." Lily said and James ruffled up his hair and smiled at Lily.
"No Potter, don't even ask, I am not in the mood, I need a serious talk with Becky and don't even start that pun Black." She snapped as she looked at James and Sirius and they shut their mouths and looked at each other and Lily took Rebecca's arm and pulled her off down the hall.
"I can not believe you got in a fight already, Becky why didn't you just drop it? I mean 20 points is going to take forever to make up." Lily said with a sigh.
"Sorry, I don't know what really got in to me, I guess I was just trying to get a rise out of him."
"Becky, he is the kind of Slytherin you don't want to mess with, he is dangerous, the whole lot of them are, you don't understand." Lily said with a whisper.
"What do you mean?"
"They are rumored to you know…be dark." She said as she glanced around.
"Like a dark wizard?" Rebecca whispered and Lily nodded.
"You really don't want to get involved with these types of people."
"Alright I'll try to stay away and not purposely piss them off alright?"
"Thank you."
"So what's with this whole point thing that got you so riled up?" She asked and Lily launched in to the House point system as they headed to the library to start working on some homework.
As Rebecca, Lily, Jenny and Tessa all walked down to dinner that night Rebecca spotted Andrew outside the Great Hall with Claire and Kayla and he immediately broke away from them when he spotted her.
"Did you really already get in trouble?" He asked her and she shrugged.
"Becca you promised you would be better behaved here." He said and she sighed and held up a finger.
"Actually I said I would try."
"But seriously, the first day, you're not even trying."
"History was boring."
"Yes I agree but did you really need to start a fight?"
"I'm sorry, I'll try harder to not cause any more fights." She said and he smiled.
"Thanks, did you really break his nose?" He asked and she laughed.
"The way my hand hurts I hope I did." She said and he held out his hand to hers.
"It's fine really." She said and he frowned at her and she rolled her eyes and held her hand out to him. He pushed back her sleeve and frowned further at her.
"This is not fine, you should get this looked at." He said as he looked at her swelled up knuckles.
"It can wait." She said as she pulled her hand back.
"Becky you didn't say anything." Lily said surprised.
"It's nothing." She said and looked at Andrew. "It's nothing." She said and he gave her a knowing look.
"Fine I'll get it checked out, after dinner. I need food right now."
"No grab a quick bite and we'll go up to the hospital wing."
"Is there room to compromise?" Rebecca asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Afraid not babe." He said and she sighed.
"Fine." She said with a groan and they walked in to the Great Hall and Andrew went to his table and sat down and Rebecca went to hers.
"Why didn't you say anything Becky?" Lily asked as they sat down.
"It doesn't hurt that bad, it's just a little uncomfortable." She said as she looked around at the food and tried to debate on what looked good. She helped herself to some pork chops, seasoned potatoes and peas with a glass of water and she nibbled on her potatoes as she listened to Jenny and Tessa go on about something in one of their magazines that they had and Rebecca looked across the hall and spotted the boy she had punched earlier and at that moment he looked up and glared at her and she raised and eyebrow and stuck a potato in to her mouth and chewed it before looking at Lily.
"What do they usually assign as detentions?"
"Lily wouldn't know, she has never had a detention in her life." Tessa said with a sly smile and Lily frowned at her.
"I have had a few, thanks to Potter. But they usually have you clean or something."
"That's not too bad I suppose."
"Try not to make it a habit of getting detentions please." Lily said and Rebecca smiled.
"Don't worry I won't, if I keep getting in trouble they will send me back to Salem, I like it here, I am not ready to go back quite yet." She said and frowned at the dull pain in her hand as she picked up the pork chops and nibbled on them.
After she finished eating and got up and looked over at Andrew and he excused himself and they walked out together.
"You don't think I broke it do you?" She asked as she examined her hand.
"No, I think you just bruised it badly, that was stupid of you to start a fight."
"Yes I got this from Lily and McGonagall already Andy, I know what I did was dumb and I'll try to not let it happen again." She said dryly and he sighed.
"So other than the fight how was your first day?"
"It was alright I suppose, its just review right now so I guess its pretty simple. What about you? How was your first day?"
"It's a bit more challenging here than Salem, the teachers are smarter." He said with a laugh. "I couldn't believe that they have a ghost teaching history, also McGonagall is super strict, and she reminds me of Professor Harrison." He said and she gasped and nodded.
"You're right, she does. She has that kind of look that sends a shiver down your spine." She said and he laughed.
"Kind of."
They reached the hospital wing and saw a kid sitting on a bed with a bucket in his lap puking up slugs while his friend seemed to be trying to comfort him by rubbing his back.
"Hello?" Andrew called out as a woman came from the backroom.
"Yes what can I do for you?" She asked. She was a rather young woman with white robes and her hair pulled back in a bun with a white cap on her head. She looked almost about as strict as McGonagall did as she walked up to them briskly.
"I hurt my hand punching some guy's face." Rebecca said blandly and the woman frowned.
"You must be the one who punched Mr. Lestrange." She said with a frown and Rebecca nodded.
"Go sit down; let's take a look at it." She said and Rebecca and Andrew went over to the bed and sat down.
"Roll up your sleeve please." She said as she walked up and Rebecca pushed her sleeve back and the woman frowned.
"It's bruised, why didn't you come in earlier to have it examined?"
"Professor Warner took me to McGonagall's office and left me there telling me to stay until Professor McGonagall came to see me. I have a detention in half an hour, will I be alright?"
"I'll be right back." She said and left the area and Rebecca lay back on the bed.
"How would you like to be confined to this place?" She asked and heard the kid throw up again and she cringed.
"That sounds disgusting."
"Just be happy that it isn't you." He said with a smile and there was silence before she heard the kid clear his throat.
"Madam Pomfrey I think its-." He said and threw up again and groaned. "Never mind." He said and threw up again.
Madam Pomfrey returned with a small bowl full of yellow paste and a brush.
"Please hold out your hand." She said and picked up the brush and swabbed a generous amount on to Rebecca's hand.
"That stuff sticks." She said as she held her nose as far away as possible.
"I'll be back in a few minutes to take it off and you may go." She said and turned on her heel and walked over to the boy.
"I wonder what kind of awful task I am going to have to do for my detention." She said and examined her hand.
"Cant be as bad as Mr. Warmbeck making you shingle the locker rooms." He said and she groaned. "I hated him; he had it out for me."
"It probably doesn't help that you gave him a pig tail."
"That was an accident."
"It was not."
"So." She said with a pout as Madam Pomfrey came back over with several cloths and a bowl of water and she took of the yellow paste, leaving Rebecca's hand good as new.
"I don't want to see you in here again do you understand?" She asked and Rebecca looked at Andrew with a doubtful look.
"I can't make any promises but I will do my best, thank you very much." Rebecca said as she got up. "Good night." She said and Madam Pomfrey gave her a nod and a small smile before turning to tend to the other patient as her and Andrew walked out of the hospital wing.
"I should head down to McGonagall's office, I think she might lose her head if I am late." Rebecca said with a laugh as they reached the stairs.
"You alright to get to wherever you need to go?"
"Yeah I'm fine, its on the floor above here, I'll see you later, see you tomorrow at breakfast?"
"Sure thing, have fun in detention." He said and she rolled her eyes.
"I am sure I will have the time of my life. Later." She said and walked up the stairs towards McGonagall's office.
She came around the corner and saw James and Sirius sitting outside the office talking and they both looked up at her.
"Hey." She said as she walked up. "Do you guys have detention?" She asked and they nodded.
"What did you do?"
"Hexed a few Slytherins." James said simply and Sirius laughed.
"You should have seen it, it was priceless, though I would have paid money to see you bust up Lestrange's face." Sirius said as they heard sharp footsteps around the corner and they both got up from the floor and dusted off their robes as Professor McGonagall came around the corner with a somewhat surprised look on her face which she covered up quickly.
"You boys are on time." She said as she opened her office.
"We couldn't wait to see you." Sirius said with a charming smile and McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him as she walked in.
"Mr. Black you will be helping Mr. Filch clean the hallway which Peeves so graciously decided to decorate with paint and Mr. Potter and Miss Walcott will be with Professor Slughorn cleaning cauldrons that were not cleaned over the summer." She said and Sirius gawked.
"Filch hates me."
"I suggest you report to the 1st floor corridor to meet with Mr. Filch to start your detention." She said and looked at James and Rebecca. "You two to the potions classroom, when you are finished you may go." She said and Sirius groaned and walked out and James and Rebecca followed. They walked down to the dungeons without a word between them until they reached the classroom and he motioned for her to go first.
"Ladies first." He said with a bow and she smiled and pushed the door open and walked inside with James following.
"Hello Miss Walcott, Mr. Potter, I assume you are here for your detentions?" he asked and they nodded.
"The cauldrons are over there, the cleaning supplies are here, and I will be at my desk grading if you need something. Also this is to be cleaned by hand and not by magic." He said and James sighed and grabbed the bucket, soap and scrubber and walked over to the pile of cauldrons and he grabbed a seat and sat down and started to clean. She pulled up a chair and grabbed a cauldron and dripped some cleaner in to the cauldron and started to scrub the inside of the hard crusted concoction that was cooked on to the inside of the cauldron.
"So how was your first day at Hogwarts?"
"I think it could have been better if that's what you mean? I hate cleaning cauldrons." She muttered.
"Sounds like you have done it before." He said with a smile.
"Looks like you have too."
"Sirius and I hold the highest amount of detentions so far."
"So do I, I tend to get in a lot of fights, pranks and such."
"So do Padfoot and I." He said with a smile.
"So how long have you been quidditch Captain?"
"This will be my second year. How long were you?"
"Just one year, I wouldn't have done it this year though. Even if I hadn't come here."
"Why not?"
"Most of the team graduated last year and I didn't want to deal with new people. Most people didn't like my style."
"What was wrong with it?"
"Nothing, it was actually pretty good, I was co-captain the year before and I helped with the training, we did a month of conditioning before school started, people didn't like the idea of losing a month of summer to go to training."
"What kind of training?"
"Like running, weight training, swimming. It was hard work and people weren't as commited as I would have liked them to be so I agreed to only be captain for one year, lots of arguing, lots of fighting, it wasn't worth it, especially after we lost the finals because one of my beaters and one of my chasers got in to a fight before the game and decided to try and hit each other with the quaffle and bludgers."
"You're kidding." He said as he looked at her surprised.
"No, we got disqualified and lost the finals after they hit the ref with a bludger." She said bitterly. "So I am hoping that your team is a little more mature than mine was."
"Uh yeah, I don't think they have ever done anything like that. They are usually pretty well behaved.
"Thank goodness." She said with a smile.
They continued to talk about Quidditch for the next hour as they continued to clean until they were finally done and were able to go up to the tower
Please rate and review =)
It might be a little while until i get the next chapter up, i am just getting back to school and i have a butt load of work to do, but hopefully it will be up within a week, thanks for reading
