Chapter 9

friendship \Friend"ship\, n. [AS. fre['o]ndscipe. See Friend, and -ship.] 1. The state of being friends; friendly relation, or attachment, to a person, or between persons; affection arising from mutual esteem and good will; friendliness; amity; good will.

There is little friendship in the world. --Bacon.

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. --Rambler.

Preferred by friendship, and not chosen by sufficiency. --Spenser.

2. Kindly aid; help; assistance, [Obs.]

Some friendship will it [a hovel] lend you gainst the tempest. --Shak.

3. Aptness to unite; conformity; affinity; harmony; correspondence. [Obs.]

Those colours . . . have a friendship with each other. --Dryden.

There was no mention of the Potters from Voldemort for a long time. Rebecca began to almost believe that the Dark Lord had changed his mind. Except that she still lived in Muggle London, her life began to take on an aspect of normalcy.

There were still the clandestine meetings with Severus, of course. Voldemort was still acting amused at her angry outburst, but she did not doubt that he would not hesitate to kill her on sight.

Her days stretched, long and uneventful, before her. She now had time to ponder something that had been nagging at her since her confrontation with Voldemort. Her ring. When he had cast the crucitus curse on her, the tiny circle of her finger where the ring had been had been untouched. Gingerly, she rubbed the tip of her right index finger, where the burn she had gotten touching the ring was just starting to fade.

She sank into a chair and held her hands out in front of her. The ring had somehow absorbed part of Voldemort's curse, protecting her. A sudden thought occured to her. Where did Severus get this ring? If it had come from someone else, then it was likely that it contained a protection spell, but if it was new. . .

She let her mind wander over the possibilities. If it was new, either Severus had put a protection spell on it, the trust charm he had used to shield the Slytherin crest from those who would betray them had produced these unexpected results, or there was something else, something more powerful than the two of them.

Had their love for each other manifested itself in the ring? Or was the ring made from blessed or cursed metal? In Severus's years of making potions, had he splashed just the right combination of ingredients on it to produce those effects? Rebecca's head was beginning to ache with the possibilities.

Suddenly, a familliar voice rang out. "Rebecca! You're awake! Talk to me!" Rebecca turned, surprised, to the fire, where Remus Lupin's head hovered.

Smiling, Rebecca slid out of her chair onto the floor to talk to him. "I've been awake for several days now, Remus. I was only asleep for a week. It's not like I took Sleeping Death or something."

Remus frowned. "You might as well have. I almost thought I'd have to go to Snape for an antidote. I didn't believe Merl when he said you were fine."

Rebecca snickered, "I would have loved to see you begging Severus on your knees for a potion. Where have you been that you didn't know I was awake?"

"It was a full moon, remember?"

"Oh," Rebecca winced. How could she forget something like that? Now that she and Severus had released their wolfsbane potion to the public, she no longer had to brew monthly batches for her friend, but she still should have remembered.

Seeing the look on her face, Remus said softly, "It's all right. You were a bit, er, distracted."

She blew a strand of hair out of her face and replied "Did Lily ever tell anyone what I said to her?"

Remus's head shook, almost comically. "No. James is worried, though. He is even thinking about coming to see you."

Glaring at the floor, Rebecca spat, "It won't do him any good. I couldn't tell him if I wanted to. Which I don't. I can't tell anyone. It doesn't matter anymore." Her voice was full of venom and tears. Deep down she loved Lily, but at the moment, she was so angry with her for accusing her of being a Death Eater, for not knowing her, that her love was almost buried.

After a long pause, she added, "Tell her to be careful, though, would you, mate?"

Remus nodded, his disembodied head bobbing strangely, then he murmured, "take care of yourself," and disappeared from her fireplace.

For several minutes, Rebecca sat, pensively watching the flames, irresolute, then she stood and walked into her room. Inside her magical closet, she donned her invisibility cloak and disapperated, reappearing just outside Hogwarts.