Chapter 86
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"Which one of you did this?" Pansy seethed as she sat down at the Slytherin table one morning after they got back to Hogwarts, hair a blazing bright yellow with black stripes instead of the normal black. "Draco…"
"Not this time," He swore, lifting his hands in surrender before smirking at the sight of her hair.
Blaise shrugged, popping a grape into his mouth. "Not me."
"Smart enough not to do it," Logan said as Theo shook his head and ate a grilled cheese and ham sandwich.
"Rather stay alive," Astoria piped in, plopping a handful of chicken salad onto her plate.
"Would have turned it blue if it was me," Tracey smirked, chin resting on her hand as she had her elbow on the table as Daphne nudged her elbow until it fell off the table.
"Watch your manners, Tracey," Daphne scolded. "We're at school, not at the Dursley's. We need to act like we belong."
"Like we're better than everyone else," Tracey sighed. "I know."
"It's hard to pretend that we're better than everyone, Tracey," Draco sighed. "But there are certain expectations set upon Purebloods. If we get called Bloodtraitors, it could sabotage everything we've been working for thus far."
"Being a Halfblood is even worse at times," Tracey mentioned. "Either we're a traitor to the Magical community, or to the Muggle. We can't win."
Rebekah agreed sadly, "If we can't win with them, we're supposed to join them but I say fuck that. We've got ourselves and our friends and families, we don't need a whole community when we are the Crown with a Court behind us."
"I'll toast to that," Blaise said, lifting up his goblet of orange juice as they all suddenly prefered it to pumpkin juice. "To the Crown."
They all lifted their goblets an inch, not letting others overhear as they muttered,
"To the Crown."
There was a long pause broken by Rebekah's admission, "I did it."
Rebekah grinned, springing out of her chair and took a piece of grilled cheese sandwich to go as Pansy lunged forward. The group laughed as Rebekah was quick enough to jump out of the way, shifting into a lioness and getting out of the Great Hall as fast as possible.
"I knew it!" She screeched lowly, shifting into her Animagus form before gliding to attack playfully at the running lioness "Get back here, Potter, and fix this! I look like a bleeding bumblebee!"
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When Tom Riddle was extremely happy in the mindscape, Rebekah wondered why but she found out the next morning.
MASS BREAKOUT AT AZKABAN, the Daily Prophet said, BELIEF THAT DEATH EATERS ARE BEING RALLIED UP FOR YOU-KNOW-WHO.
The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban.
Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening, and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.
"We find ourselves in the most unfortunate circumstances today," Fudge said. "This breakout is unrelated to the other breakout that occurred with Sirius Black two years ago. That one has been sorted but the extra security measures have not worked this time. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, but we do not have leads on how or who would help them. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals and beg the Magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached."
Rebekah just put her head on the table.
"Umbridge is going to be a bigger pain in the ass now," Tracey muttered, watching the pink toad scan the crowd for faces. Tracey just smiled politely at her when Umbridge looked at the Crown. "I still hate her for the Dark is Evil conversation last term."
"I remember that," Logan said, his face holding an expression of disgust. "I've never seen a Witch so wrong about something she thought she was right in."
"I don't remember that," Rebekah said, her eyebrows furrowing together. "When was this?"
"Any detention with her." Blaise rolled his eyes, buttering up his toast. "She repeats herself a lot."
"Ah, I didn't get a detention from her yet." She lifted her head. "Umbridge likes me because she thinks I'm on her side."
Blaise hummed, chewing on his mouthful before he yawned and covered it with his hand. "Lucky you. I've had two."
"I've had five with her," Pansy leaned forwards. "So did Draco and Theo. Draco, are you okay? You've gone pale."
Draco Malfoy had indeed gone pale, paler than normal but he shook it off as he dropped the Daily Prophet onto the table. His lip curled back in disgust, the picture of his aunt taunting him from the black and white pages.
"The mad bitch is out," He slumped in his seat. "My mum's going to be horrified. She thought she didn't have to deal with her anymore but I guess not."
"Good luck to her," Theo said. "And you. I rather not have to deal with the likes of her insanity. My dad is bad enough."
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The months passed quite quickly.
February was upon them sooner rather than later, and that meant Rebekah and Cho were having a date
Cho wore a dark purple dress that went down to her knees and had a layer of lace over all of it. The sleeves were also lace with a closed collar. The colour set the slight shades of blue off in her black hair, making her prettier than ever as she had her hair in a high ponytail with the end over one shoulder. Just enough makeup to accent her features and not hide them, Cho was beautiful and when Rebekah commented as such, she blushed.
Rebekah had a bright red bralette under a darker, almost burnt red silk shirt. It was tucked into a skintight black skirt that hit the middle thigh but had a slit on either side that went up a couple of inches. Tights and a pair of heels finished the look.
She had pulled her hair out of the way and into a loose french twist at the base of her neck.
"You look amazing, Cho," Rebekah smiled. "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried about myself, I'm more worried about having to beat off others when they see you," Cho laughed, taking Rebekah's hand as they began the trek down to Hogsmeade. "Are your friends going to join us later? Fifth, Sixth and Seventh years are having a party in the Room of Requirement. I thought it would be a nice thing to end the night."
"Sure," Rebekah grinned, letting her smile falter a little as they both felt the rain begin to trickle. "We should probably find somewhere."
"Do you like coffee?"
"Love coffee."
Cho beamed. "Then let's go to Madam Puddifoot's. Have you been before?"
"I don't believe so," Rebekah said as Cho gently guided her to a small tea shop that reminded her too much of Umbridge's office. Dozens of golden Cherubs hovered over the small tables, chucking pink confetti over the occupants as they sat with their dates.
They found a table in the window, both sitting down near Roger Davies and his date. Davies looked them both down, then looked to Cho, giving her an approving nod and smile. They laughed lightly at her.
Madam Puddifoot was a stout woman with a shiny black bun at the base of her head. "What can I get you, m'dears?"
"Latte," Cho said.
"White Americano, please,"
"Alrightie," Madam Puddifoot said, leaving them.
It was surprisingly easy to talk to Cho. It wasn't uncomfortable and their conversations moved from normal, date topic to Quidditch. They compared techniques, even talking of practises and the funniest things that would happen during them.
"You get used to being the only girl on the team," Rebekah shrugged, sipping at her sugary coffee with a happy sigh.
"But isn't it kind of sexist?" Cho asked, leaning forward. "Aren't there any other girls that try out?"
"Of course there are but they don't meet the cut. We strive for perfection and we want the best," She said. "A lot of Slytherins are traditionalists. Most of their parents believe it isn't proper for a girl to play Quidditch with boys. Bullshit but understandable. We give them all chances regardless of gender."
"I suppose as long as the trials are fair…" Cho hummed and nodded before smiling softly. "I still remember that time you almost fell off of your broom."
She laughed. "I wasn't having a good day."
"I could tell," Cho said, looking over to Roger Davies before going back to Rebekah. "Are you going to the party?"
"Uh, maybe,"
"We would have had it in the Astronomy Tower, our Head of House allows us to host parties sometimes, but he said it was a bad idea because of Umbridge," Cho said, her tone going a little cold at the mention of the pink toad. "Regardless of that, the Sixth and Seventh years still wanted to have a party. It just means no one below Fourth year can come, and then only Fourth years can come with an older student."
"Are all the Houses welcome?"
"Of course," Cho said. "And wear a Purple glow stick. You'll find out the meaning."
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The Crown spent an hour getting ready, not including having to try and find outfits for each other.
They showed skin. Boys wore dark jeans or trousers with tight shirts or open button ups with a tank top under it.
Draco and Blaise wore black slacks with button ups with differently hued shades of green, Blaise's being closer to cooler emerald green to Draco's warmer forest green. Logan and Theo were similarly dressed in dark jeans and tight button downs with a couple buttons undone for a wild look.
The girls were dressed more differently compared to each other than the boys.
Tracey had jean shorts that hugged her legs with a tank top that barely covered her, though she had another open mossy green plaid shirt to keep her modesty. The black slip dress Pansy had on complimented her figure and her silver heels, small emerald gemstones hanging on her earlobes. Daphne had on a mint green wrap dress that accented her blonde hair with a pair of black flats. Astoria went for a silver two part dress, a crop top and mid thigh skirt made up her outfit along with black heels. Rebekah's halter top was tight and cropped to a couple inches below her bust, letting the two seperate pieces of fabric that made up the top go from under each side and over the chest to link behind her neck. Her back was on show, as was a large portion of her scar. She swapped her skirt for a pair of high waisted black short shorts. She wasn't going to bother with heels, so she went for a pair of low heeled ankle boots.
Their personalities seemed to be reflected in their outfits more than anything.
Makeup and hair took the longest because Tracey had to redo hers twice because she wasn't happy with it. They had even convinced Blaise to put a dash of lipstick on, it was more of a cherry gloss but it did wonders for him and he approved, even adding a dash of silver glitter to his eyelids to accent his dark eyes.
Tracey had her hair in two high ponytails, slicked back and clean. Pansy and Rebekah went for loose hair, letting it naturally fall in their straight and wavy styles respectfully. Astoria and Daphne had their hair in updos, showing off long necks and matching silver necklaces.
They all dressed for themselves and not anyone else, but they did cover up with long robes to hide their outfits as they made their way to the Room of Requirement.
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The double door opened a foot wide, a head peeking out and looking at the Crown. It was one of the Seventh years, a Ravenclaw judging by his navy shirt and the blue glow stick bracelet. There were small wisps of dark mist floating on the ground, and the music was very low and barely hearable outside.
He nodded to Astoria. "Fifth years and above. She with you?"
"I can vouch for her," Daphne said instantly.
He opened the door wide and nodded for them to move. "Get in. Straight on is the glow stick stand, get the colour for your House."
Cho had said that they should wear colours that reflected their House, and they did. Rebekah held out the bottomless clutch, letting everyone put their robes inside of it so they didn't have to hold them all night.
They walked onto a platform that oversaw the rest of the room, a table was sitting in the middle with a staircase on each end that curled down to the dance floor. Boothes lined the edges as the middle had the dancefloor with the other end of the room had a small stage. Loads of balloons were conjured up to the ceiling, covering it but also let off a pink and blue hue in areas.
"Evening," Fred and George Weasley grinned at the table with the glowsticks, a bright red one hanging from one earlobe on opposite sides. Fred had one on his left ear while George had it on the right.
"What are you doing in a place like this?" George grinned.
"To have a bit of fun," Pansy also grinned.
Fred nodded loosely, waving a hand to the large piles of different sized glow sticks. "Take your pick of size. We have necklaces, bracelets, waist bands, and earrings.
"Take a green for your house, and take a white, if you're single," George nodded.
"Pink if you're taken," Fred continued.
"Orange for it's complicated," George said. "And purple for, ah, fun, if you get my meaning…"
While they all took a green one to signify their House, they also took another one for their relationship status.
Draco took a white bracelet as did Daphne and Astoria. Pansy put on an orange necklace as the twins looked at her with a shared grin which she returned with a wink. Logan and Theo went for pink necklaces, with Tracey getting an orange waist glow stick in the loops of her jeans. Blaise and Rebekah took two purple bracelets each, but altered them so they hooked onto their biceps each.
Blaise had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, showing off his forearms before shrugging the bicep bracelets onto his arms. They fit comfortably and didn't move from where they were placed. Rebakah didn't have any sort of sleeves so the glow of the bicep glow sticks made her scar shimmer in the dark lighting.
"There's been talk of some people spiking drinks with love potions," George said as he handed the glowsticks out. "Make sure you all watch your drinks. Don't need one of you killing another student cause they spiked one of you."
"I bet Rebekah's gonna get spiked," Draco said as a lot of the group agreed. "Girl-Who-Lived and all."
"Malfoy name holds some power, dragon breath," Rebekah winked. "Bet on it?"
"Twenty Galleons," He stuck his hand out.
"Deal." They shook on it.
"And twenty if neither of you get spiked," Pansy added.
Logan snorted. "I bet on both."
"Deal."
"Meet back up in an hour?"
They more or less split up after they got down to the floor. Theo and Logan went their own way, Tracey and Pansy went another, Daphne and Astoria went to save a booth, and Draco followed Blaise and Rebekah.
The music was a strange mix between Muggle and Magical music, changing between songs that left a great beat to dance to. There was a drink station to the side with food where they could go from to a booth to eat and drink without being hit or jabbed into.
They didn't intend to dance just yet, getting drinks from the drink stand before onto a part of the room that was more people mingling than actually dancing. Blaise had an arm slung across Rebekah's shoulders and the Witch leaned into him, hugging her cup to her chest.
"I hate people," She muttered, already feeling the effects of a love potion in her drink. She had to block the effects with her Occlumency training, the more basic potions could be ignored with a strong enough Occlumency shield.
Blaise sighed as he took away Rebekah's spiked cup and vanished the contents. "Some people are horrid. There are bad people in the Muggle and Magical worlds alike."
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Draco," She said as Draco came back to them with new drinks after finding that the ones they had were spiked. "Guess we both lost to Logan."
"I guess so," He shrugged but let a small smile onto his lips. "Do you have an antidote for the potions?"
"Yes," She said, quickly expanding her clutch and rummaging through to get the clear potion glasses. "Here. Blaise, take one too. Just in case."
He nodded, "Bottoms up."
They drank them easily, letting Rebekah and Draco shake off the effects.
"Let's get them to the others too," Draco said. "If there's enough."
"I try to keep nine of everything," Rebekah mentioned.
She handed them two each to give to the others. While Draco went over to Theo and Logan, and Blaise went to Pansy and Tracey, Rebekah waltzed over to the booth where Daphne and Astoria sat. They all made sure that the others had finished the antidotes. Having them in their system wouldn't harm them, and would pass through without any effects. It would interact with any sort of love potion and make it useless, but otherwise it might as well have been water.
The three of them regrouped on the already lively dance floor, having convinced everyone to dance. The hued lights from the balloons intensified, beams pouring down as they swayed to the music. It became louder, almost deafening. Rebekah wanted to dance, Blaise wanted to dance, Draco wanted to dance; as a result, everyone else wanted to dance as well.
It seemed like everyone suddenly appeared on the dance floor. Theo and Logan to one side, looking after Astoria as the younger Witch was twirled around by them. Daphne was laughing along with Tracey as they twisted and twirled, swaying to the beat with belliful laughs. Pansy had found Fred and George, dancing with both of them equally with a cheeky grin shared between them.
Instead of letting strangers, even if they stayed with them for most of the year, Draco and Blaise decided to dance with Rebekah.
The Witch didn't mind, she liked them enough and they were both attractive. But when Cho found them a few minutes into the dance, she had replaced Draco as the Malfoy heir excused himself and went to find another drink for himself before he dehydrated.
When Cho looked up to Blaise, there was a flirty smile on her lips. It was shy and unsure but flirty nonetheless. Both Slytherins just smiled warmly and agreed to her dance.
Cho moved until Rebekah was between her and Blaise, almost taking her by the hips to a dance and extending a hand for Blaise to lean into Rebekah's back. She leaned back into him a little as Cho swayed with them. They danced this way, swayed that way, loving the adrenaline the music forced through them.
After several minutes, Rebekah had to excuse herself because she was getting thirsty. Cho and Blaise began to dance together after telling her to hurry back. Rebekah bumped into Daphne at the drink table with Astoria.
"Having fun, aren't you?" Astoria eyed her with a raised eyebrow that said she approved.
"Wrap it before you tap it, Potter," Daphne warned as she pulled the Witch aside with Astoria. "Same goes for you, little missy."
"What do you mean?" Astoria pouted with fake innocence.
Daphne narrowed her head and did the little knowing shake of the head. "I see the way you look at Draco. Don't mess our friendships up because you get a little bit of attention."
"Ah, slight problem there, sister of mine," Astoria said sheepishly. "Kinda already started getting serious…"
"Did you want to or did he force you in any sort of way?" Daphne asked, suddenly becoming deadly serious.
Rebekah lost all her fun then. "If he even made you consider saying no, I will kill him myself."
"No, no!" Astoria had to calm them down. "We haven't got to that part yet! My Merlin! He tried to convince me not to because he doesn't think we're ready, he doesn't want to pressure me but I want to. I might actually like him more than I have anyone else…"
Both Witches took a breath.
"Good." Rebeka said, suddenly placing a hand on Astoria's shoulder. "Take Daphne's advice, wrap it before you tap it. Hex it before you sex it."
Astoria groaned out of embarrassment but Daphne just laughed.
Rebekah finished her drink and got back to the two she wanted to dance with, getting back into the groove of dancing.
After finding out that Ravenclaw Tower was split into small dorms, one for each student like the Dungeons, Rebekah, Blaise, and Cho headed for Cho's dorm.
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They left with satisfied faces and loosely dressed. They headed down to breakfast the next morning without even going back to their dorms to change properly.
Rebekah had her shorts from last night on with Blaise's button down tied into a crop top, the sleeves were long so she bunched them up to her elbows. Blaise had the vest he wore under his shirt still on along with his slacks and shoes.
Rebekah and Blaise walked to the Slytherin table where their friends sat, or most of them. Theo and Logan weren't there, and wouldn't be until later that day. Astoria, Draco, Daphne, Pansy and Tracey were there, sitting there at different stages of tiredness.
Pansy, Astoria and Draco looked the most tired, though Pansy moreso with a sureness about her.
"We lacked a few members in the dorms last night," Tracey smiled sneakily as she buttered a piece of toast. "I wasn't expecting any of you back until lunch. Pansy got back at like, what three am?"
"Four thirty," Pansy muttered with a sly smirk. "What a good night…"
"Are twins as alike as they say they are?" Rebekah prompted with a knowing grin of Pansy's activities last night.
"More alike than I would have thought," Pansy blushed a little in memory. "I'm exhausted."
"I don't know why," Draco said sarcastically. "I wonder what you were up to, or rather who?"
"Shut it!" Pansy laughed, chucking a piece of buttered toast from Tracey's plate.
"Hey, that's mine!" Tracey said. "Take Rebekah's, she doesn't eat toast in the mornings."
"Speaking of Rebekah…" Draco suddenly turned to her and Blaise. "Looks like you had good fun last night."
Rebekah laughed and nodded. "Yeah, it was. Good fun for us all. You can't talk, dragon breath."
He smirked towards Astoria as the Witch just blushed and hit him in the ribs. "I didn't do a walk of shame to breakfast."
"Ah, the walk of shame," Rebekah nodded to herself. "Only shameful if you're ashamed of having sex. I'm surprised with how relaxed the Wizarding world is with sex and that stuff. Muggles always seem to shy away from the topic."
"As soon as we turn eleven, we get the talk," Pansy said. "It's a natural thing. Why do you think we get a menstruation potion at the first of every month on our bedside tables? After the first time I bled, I rather never have to again."
"I wish I had known of those potions when I started at home," Rebekah said. "I didn't know they existed until I started my period at school and suddenly I got a potion each month. And it gives us protection."
"We're teens, hormonal teens with a sex drive," Blaise shrugged. "Muggles believe a lot of things are shameful, especially when it comes to the body. Sex is a natural thing. As long as it's safe and consensual, there shouldn't be a problem. Our age of consent is lower than the Muggle at fifteen instead of sixteen since we mature at seventeen instead of eighteen."
"Nothing to be ashamed of."
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(note: Age of consent is at 16 in the UK, and adult age is 18. I lowered the age for consent for the Wizarding world to 15 because their adult age is 17. Just made sense.)