****DISCLAIMER****

Ok, let me make this abundantly clear.

Rebeca is mine. I made her up. The story she is in and the characters and situations that surround her belong to J.K. Rowling.

It's incredibly obvious.

****DISCLAIMER****

Chapter 3

Under The Canopy

All Rebeca could do was stare. She stared at the serene country road, she stared at the twinkling night sky, She stared at the surrounding fields, she stared at Dumbledore and back again. And even though she was staring as hard as she could, she could still not believe what she was seeing. How had they got here? Where was here? How had she been unaware that it was possible for a night sky to be filled with so many stars?

She was tremendously confused.

"What… what happened?" she asked, dumbfounded.

Dumbledore twinkled down at her. "I brought us here using Apparition. Wizards are able to use this means to travel from one point to another almost instantaneously. To put it simply, Miss Barlow, I 'Proved it'."

He certainly had. Rebeca nodded, pocketing the knife. Dumbledore smiled at this.

"I see that you are finally beginning to trust me."

Rebeca shrugged as she looked up at the stars, marveling at the unbelievable magnitude of them all.

"Excellent!" Exclaimed Dumbledore "We're making headway! Come, stroll with me. We have much to speak of, and what better way to discuss serious matters than when walking beneath a canopy of stars.

With that, Dumbledore set off along the road. Rebeca, startled by his sudden movement hurried after him, trying to match his long strides.

"Now," said Dumbledore after Rebeca had caught up " I take it you have decided to accept your position at Hogwarts?"

Rebeca hadn't been aware that she had had a choice. She thought about it for a moment. It had been so long since she had attended school. And she didn't have exactly fond memories of the place. But this was no ordinary school. This was a school of magic. If she knew magic she would never have anything to worry about again. She could fix every thing.

"Well… Yeah" she said to Dumbledore

"Splendid." he said, pleasantly, "We shall get your school things tomorrow."

An alarm bell went off inside Rebeca's head.

"I haven't got any money," she said quickly. Although, she thought, she could get some for tomorrow, but not enough to buy a whole year's worth of school supplies.

"Not to worry," said Dumbledore, drawing a small leather pouch from his pocket and handing it to Rebeca. "There is a fund at Hogwarts that provides gold to those students who are in need of assistance."

Rebeca's ears pricked up at the world 'gold'. She opened up the pouch and looked inside. There were a number of oddly shaped coins. There were some small brown ones, a few larger silver ones and, sure enough, gold pieces. She closed the pouch and quickly squirreled it away.

"You may have to buy some of your things second hand, but I can help you find all the things on your list."

Rebeca looked up at him startled. "Are you coming with me, then?"

Dumbledore looked down at her, frowning curiously once again. "Of course, if you wish it."

Rebeca imagined walking down some busy street with Dumbledore. Him pointing out all the best shops and her clinging to his hand, following him, listening to him, trusting him, depending on him.

"No." she said, "I think I can manage on my own."

She didn't want to depend on anyone. The people she depended on always ended up leaving. At any rate, Dumbledore struck her as the kind of man who caused a spectacle wherever he went, and Rebeca preferred to go unnoticed.

Dumbledore frowned at her for quite a while before he answered.

"Very well." He told her exactly how to get from her attic to a pub called the Leakey Cauldron. Rebeca vaguely noted that it was very close to Fletcher's Corner where she had just been only hours before.

"…Once you get inside, ask for Tom, the barman. He'll let you through."

Rebeca nodded solemnly. She couldn't help but think she had hurt his feelings, refusing to let him accompany her. But she was certain that she had to do this alone.

"Now," said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly again, "We have found ourselves in the very unfortunate situation of you being without a legal guardian." Rebeca nearly stopped dead in her tracks. She did not like the direction this conversation was headed. "Hogwarts is a boarding school," Dumbledore continued, "so you will stay there during the school year. The question now remains where will you go during the holidays."

This time, Rebeca did stop moving. Her hand went into her pocket and closed around the knife. "I'm not going back," she said in the firmest voice she could muster. Dumbledore stopped and looked back at her.

"Back where?" he asked.

"The orphanage."

Dumbledore surveyed her. "There are other options beside the orphanage." He said, gently.

"I'm fine on my own." She said.

"I'm sure you are," said Dumbledore "But don't you agree that you would do better with someone looking after you?"

Rebeca shook her head, fervently. She knew she was coming across as childish, but he didn't know.

"It's safer being alone" she said.

Rebeca and Dumbledore stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence.

"Very well. You may continue living where you are, on the condition that you will be checked on periodically by an adult wizard to make sure your living conditions are up to par."

Rebeca frowned but nodded. It didn't seem like she had much of a choice in the matter.

"You are still under age and therefore need a legal guardian," said the old man firmly.

Rebeca opened her mouth to protest, but at that moment, a scruffy brown owl landed on top of Dumbledore's head.

"Ah yes" said Dumbledore, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. He detached a scroll from around the owl's leg and the disheveled creature flew off as Dumbledore unrolled the scroll and read it.

"Good, good" said Dumbledore, folding up the parchment and tucking it away in an inside pocket of his suit. He noticed the stunned look on Rebeca's face and smiled.

"Wizards send each other letters via owl post. It's rather handy."

Rebeca nodded absently.

"Well, Miss Barlow, I will review your case and come up with a solution that will suit us both." Dumbledore reached into his suit and pulled out a silver pocket watch.

"Goodness! Is that the time?" As he examined the watch it glimmered from the reflection of the moonlight. Rebeca felt her fingers twitch. She watched carefully as the watch disappeared into its respective pocket.

"I do believe it is well past time to be off." said Dumbledore, smiling down at her and extending his arm. Rebeca took it, carefully positioning herself next to him. She wrapped her other arm around Dumbledore's waist, as though for added support, strategically placing her hand as she did so.

The squeezing, crushing sensation came over her once again. In the midst of all this, Rebeca forced her hand into Dumbledore's pocket, closing her fingers around the watch. As suddenly as it had before, it all stopped.

Rebeca spun away from Dumbledore, inhaling deeply and working to regain her footing. As she did so, she slipped the pocket watch into her pouch. She was very proud of the stealthiness of the way she had done that.

"Well now," said Dumbledore, "I think we have been over everything. Ah yes! One last thing. We must discuss your thieving."

Rebeca's heart skipped a beat. She took an involuntary step back from Dumbledore.

"Now, because of your special circumstances, I will excuse all thievery up to this point. However, be warned. It must stop."

Rebeca could only look at him. He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. She couldn't just go up to Bob and tell him she wasn't going to steal for him anymore. She was going to have enough trouble explaining her sudden scholastic aspirations. There was no way Bob would let Rebeca affiliate herself with the gang if she was away for most of the year and not be stealing when she was here. Without the protection of the gang, there would be no way she could survive on the streets.

"It's not that easy" she said finally.

"I realize that" said Dumbledore "however, if the thievery continues, and I will know if it does, I will have no choice but to expel you from Hogwarts. The decision is yours. Now, if you would kindly return my watch, I will be on my way."

He extended his hand. After a moment, Rebeca reached into her pouch, pulled out the watch and placed it in Dumbledore's outstretched hand.

"Thank you" he said. Rebeca watched as the prize slipped back into Dumbledore's pocket, where she would never see it again.

"I assure you Miss Barlow," said Dumbledore, noticing her gaze, "This particular watch would not have fetched you much on a muggle market."

"I wasn't going to sell it," said Rebeca under her breath.

Dumbledore, however, herd her and frowned.

"Please remember, Miss Barlow, all things worth having are worth working for. I urge you to get out of the habit of filching anything that catches your eye. That kind of magpie-like behavior can only lead to trouble." Dumbledore glanced in the direction of the old shoebox, then back to Rebeca.

"I hope to see you soon, Miss Barlow. It was… quite a pleasure to meet you."

With that, he turned on the spot and vanished with a faint pop.