A/N: This was another fun chapter to write. I think I'm going to stop saying that because every chapter is fun to write really. They just take awhile to write because they are so long. But I like them long. Doesn't it irk you when people have chapters that are only like a page long? That's not a chapter, that's a page.

Anyway, enough with my ranting! Have fun reading!


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Chapter 6:

The Aurora Pendent

(GRYFFINDOR)


Five days. That was all she had left, five days. The dance was in five days and she still didn't have a date. She was just a loser without a date, yup, that's what she was. On top of that, her birthday was in three days and she really didn't want to turn thirteen. See Rebeka had a thing about age, she hated the fact that she had to get older. To her, thirteen was ancient, a teenager. She was going to be a teenager. She hated getting old, so much so that she didn't even tell any of her Gryffindor friends about her birthday, not like they ever asked. Last year around this time when all the presents began coming in she just told them it was because her parents were so proud of her getting into such a special school. It seemed to work; no one asked questions after that. The only people who knew about her birthday were her parents, her sister, her Muggle friends back in America (Who thought she was in a boarding school in England somewhere), and Vinesah. Vinesah had found out accidentally, reading her mother's Happy Birthday letter. Rebeka didn't think Vinesah knowing was a huge deal since she was in the Hufflepuff house and she kept it very quiet. Though when she found out she went right out and bought a big book of fairy tales. In fact, Rebeka was trying to read the book as she sat in the Gryffindor common room after her classes that day. Hardly anyone was in there because most still had classes at that time, but her schedule allowed her a little more time - at least for today.

Rebeka wasn't reading though, she couldn't seem to focus her eyes, she was just kind of staring at the big book. In fact, she had been staring at it for the last half-hour. Sighing, she closed the book and went up to her room to put it away. When she entered the room it seemed so empty, she couldn't hear the sound of Vidal's gentle hooting or the ruffling of her feathers. Rebeka had put Videl in the Owlery about a week ago and she was starting to miss her beloved pet. She walked over to the bed and put her book in the now empty cage (Which she was using as a make shift bookshelf), then walked back to the common room. Sitting in her seat was Beth, who looked up and smiled at her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Rebeka asked her, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I'm done, just got out of potions with Professor Albackle," Beth shrugged, "He's kind of a strange guy, but I love his accent."

"I like your accent." Rebeka smiled and sat down next to her.

"I don't have an accent," Beth laughed, "You Americans have an accent, and a strange one at that."

Beth and Rebeka had an ongoing fight that started last year over who had the accent, it was hilarious and all in fun. The two would probably be old ladies before it was settled who had the accent.

"Americans don't have accents," Rebeka argued, "We are devoid of all accents, we live to far away, You guys are the ones who sound all snooty… 'ALLO, 'OW AWR YOO?"

"That is a horrible impression of a British accent… and we don't sound snooty." Beth leaned back in her chair, "See, we were first, then you Americans came along - therefore you made you own accent and since we are the originals we have no accent …Ain't that right, Dawg?"

"Nice inner city lingo." Rebeka laughed, "Maybe we should stick with our own accents."

"I don't have an accent," Beth argued then gave Rebeka a big smile.

"Are you two arguing about accents again?" A male voice said from the corner of the room. Both looked over and saw Chad smiling at them with his charming smile.

"Hi Chad!" Beth waved to him and shot him her own dazzling smile, "Wanna join us?"

"H-hi Beth." With those few words, Chad's confidence seemed to drain out of his body as he walked over to them. His eyes never seemed to leave the pretty blond sitting next to Rebeka.

"Nice to see you too Adonis…" Rebeka muttered through gritted teeth as he sat across from her. He gave Rebeka a quick glance and a small smile, but then quickly turned his attention back to Beth.

"So how is it going Chad?" Beth asked him.

"Could be better, but it's going at least." He answered and looked down at his feet. Rebeka hardly ever saw Mister Confident like this, it was almost weird, "So have you two found dates for the dance yet?"

"I'm supposed to go with Tom," Beth sighed, "But Vidar was so mad about the loss to Slytherin that he is being a wanker and giving them extra practices. He just might make them practice that night. I would never do that to my team."

"Vidar…?" Rebeka mumbled.

"Captain of the Ravenclaw team." Chad quickly told her and Rebeka nodded her head.

"Oh, it's so hard to keep all the names straight."

"So, what about you Rebeka, do you have a date?" Beth suddenly got very perky and her eyes began to glisten.

"No, I don't have a date." Rebeka shrugged, "Guess no one wants to go with me."

"OH GOODY!" Beth slammed her hands together and practically jumped off of her chair.

"Goody?" Rebeka leered at her, Beth began to blush.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that I just know someone who wants to go to the dance with you!" Beth exclaimed.

"Who?" Both Chad and Rebeka asked, both kind of shocked. Rebeka quickly noticed Chad's reaction and turned to him.

"Don't act so shocked that someone wants to take me." She told him, he smiled.

"You're shocked too!"

"Well, I'm allowed to be Mister! You are not!" Rebeka smiled at him and turned back to Beth, "Now who?"

"Griffin!" Beth gave her a wink, "He told me during your sister's game, he thinks your cool. Kept going on and on about how smart you are and how good you are at Quidditch."

"Griffin?" Rebeka began to think about the prospect. Griffin Dominic was another Chaser on the team. They had gotten on really well during practices, but she didn't think he would want to take her to the dance. Griffin was pretty cute though, with his sunken blue eyes and messy black hair he had kind of a mysterious quality. Plus he was also one of the best players on the team, and he was a 3rd year, "He wants to go…with me?"

"Yes!" Beth exclaimed, practically gitty from excitement, "Would you go with him if he asked you?"

"I…don't see why not," Rebeka smiled, "Not like anyone else would ever ask me, you know?"

"Gee's, you are so down on yourself." Beth sighed in disappointed, "You just don't realize how pretty you really are."

"Tell that to the guys. I'm not the one with the boyfriend," Rebeka argued, then looked at Chad, "Or have guys drooling all over me."

"Well, I have a boyfriend who may not be able to go to the dance with me, but don't worry. You don't need swarms of guys chasing after you, you just need one special one." Beth looked over to Chad, "Speaking of swarms, I heard Callie Richards asked you to the dance…along with 20 other girls! Who are you going with?"

"I haven't decided yet." Chad shrugged.

"Chad, you know there is only five days left!" Beth gasped, "You need to make a decision!"

"Yeah, I will." Chad told her in a monotone voice. What Beth didn't know is that he wanted to go with her, but Rebeka thought it best not to tell her that. Beth smiled and stood up.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go find Griffin and tell him to ask you! This is so exciting!" Beth began walking away, "Just wait till I tell Cryssy! She'll be so excited! I'll see you later Beka! Bye Chad!"

"B-bye…" Chad waved a little bit. When Beth was gone and out of hearing distance Rebeka began to laugh hysterically.

"Oh my god you are such a doofus around girls!" She laughed and held out her index finger and thumb in the shape of an L, "Loser."

"Is that an American thing?" He tilted his head to the side, "It's very unbecoming."

"It's never gonna happen Chad," She said, "Why don't you get over it and find someone else to go with?"

"I'm…not…" He didn't finish, he just looked away from her with a sheepish look on his face, "So, you really want to go with Griffin huh?"

"Why not, he's nice, he's cute, and he wants to go with me." Rebeka smiled widely, "No one else wants to go with me."

Chad looked over to her, "Beth's right, you really are too down on yourself."

"Well, do you know anyone else who wants to go with me? I would love to know any names, then I can be like you and Beth…" She asked him with a smug look on her face, he just gave her a blank stare.

"Yeah, well…" Chad leaned back into the big red chair, "I have to decide who I'm going with."

"Aw, that should be such a hard task for you too." Rebeka replied sarcastically, "Must be a pity to have more than one person ask you to the dance. Woe is you, Woe is you."

"Ha, ha. I forgot just how funny you are." Chad rolled his eyes, Rebeka just sighed, "It's not as easy as you think, you know."

"I should go, I have some homework I need to finish for transfiguration." She stood up to leave and get out of the commons. She was pretty angry with Chad for being so heartless. He didn't care about the fact that she could never find a date; he only cared that he couldn't get Beth.

"How come you never told us about your birthday?" Chad suddenly said, making Rebeka stop in her tracks.

"Excuse me?"

"Your birthday, you never said that September 25th was your birthday…," He said a little too quietly, almost like he was hurt it was never mentioned.

"I have my reasons." She turned to look at him, but all she saw was his profile as he stared at the flames in the fireplace.

"And you say I'm secretive…" He looked at her then, and she sighed.

"How did you know? Who told you?"

"No one told me, I figured it out." He lied, she knew it was a lie, but Chad was loyal and would never tell where he had gotten his information so she didn't argue it, "Why didn't you tell us? I mean it is just a birthday."

"It is not just a birthday." She glared at him, "It is the time you realize you're another year older and another year of your life has just passed you by. What is there to celebrate about that?"

"The fact that you didn't die." He joked, making Rebeka smile.

"Well, I don't see it as such a happy occasion, so now that you know, you can't make a big deal out of it."

"Hey, you know me, I don't make a big deal out of anything." He laughed, "Though I would watch out for Cryssy, who knows what she has up her sleeve."

"Wonderful, how many people know?" Rebeka asked with disappointment in her voice.

"Cryssy, Me, and Tony…though I'm sure Cryssy has told Beth by now." Chad answered.

"Great…" Rebeka rolled her eyes and walked away from Chad and toward her room to do her homework, "Just Great."


* * *

The next morning Rebeka gingerly made her way down to the great hall for breakfast. She was really tired because she had practically stayed up all night and she didn't feel like going to any of her classes, but she drug herself anyway, to get ready for a new day. It was Tuesday, but the way she felt it was like Monday all over again. Only two days until her birthday, she wanted to punch something. When she sat down next to Chad and Tony hundreds of owls swept above her head, they had brought the day's mail. About four or five owls headed in her direction and dropped five different sized packages, with a letter attached to the one in blue paper. People around her began staring and wondered what they packages could be, Rebeka blushed and smiled at all of them, but didn't answer their quizzical looks.

"What are those?" Chad muttered so no one else could hear.

"Birthday presents." Rebeka sighed and ripped open the letter from her parents:


Becki,

These are the letters and birthday presents from your "Muggle" friends (see that, I'm learning the lingo)in America and London. We had them all send or bring them to us so we could send them off. They didn't ask questions, I guess they thought we were saving them on postage. It's lucky your friends have no idea what's going on. We will be sending our presents tomorrow, so you should get them soon after these arrive. We'll be using Trunks so you can say Hello to him. By the way, your father hates that name and is trying to rename him Conan, but he'll only answer to Trunks. He tried putting a spell on him, but poor Trunks only turned into a toad. Lucky we quickly learned how to fix it! But now Trunks is very angry and very loud, I don't know how wizards hide these creatures from Muggles. Well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Tell Hollie hi for us and send back Videl to let us know you got these. DON'T OPEN THEM UNTIL YOUR BIRTHDAY!

Love, Mom

P.S. Your father says don't turn anyone into a toad, unless they bug you.


"You have Muggle friends?" Chad asked after reading the letter over her shoulder, she glared at him, "That's not what I meant and you know it. I just never met anyone who knew any Muggles…heck, I've never met a muggle that didn't have a witch or wizard in the family. What do they get you for your birthday?"

Rebeka laughed, "Well, weird and freakish Muggle stuff of course. Nothing you would be interested in I'm sure."

"On the contrary," Chad argued as he scooped some food onto his plate, "I find it fascinating how Muggles live without the use of any magic at all."

"Well, we have our own special kind of magic." She winked at him and looked down at her presents.

"You said 'we', you're not a Muggle."

"I have lived as one most of my life, I still haven't lost that Muggleness quite yet." She looked over to him and noticed a big smile come across his face.

"You say some of the weirdest things sometimes." He told her, "Must be an American thing."

"Yeah, that's what it is." She looked at her presents again, "The only reason I like birthdays, all the presents."

"You are a very strange girl." Chad stared at her for a second then went back to eating his food. She didn't know whither to take that as a compliment or an insult. She shrugged and started grabbing some food for herself. The whole time she was eating she kept eyeing the presents. Pretty soon, they were all that were on her mind; she went from class to class thinking about nothing but the presents. Even when she was in potions, her favorite class, all she wanted to do was run back to her room and open them. She had a hard time paying attention to Professor Albackle as he talked about Charm potions. Of course it didn't help that her and Vinesah were talking about what kind of neat stuff could be inside. Even with being a wizard she still could find the appeal in a writing journal or a Cd.

When the class was finally over, for the first time it had seemed to drag on forever, Rebeka and Vinesah walked out quickly, not even noticing that Chad and Kirsten were desperately trying to keep up with them. They were too engrossed in the conversation to notice anything around them…

"Rebeka?" Griffin was waiting for her at the end of the long hallway. Rebeka jumped a little bit, not expecting him to be there.

"Well, HELLO." Vinesah muttered, "He is cute."

"SHHH." Rebeka hissed then smiled at Griffin, "Hi Griffin, what's up?"

Griffin looked at the other three with Rebeka and began to turn a pinkish hue, "Can I talk to you alone for a second?"

"Sure, why not." Rebeka smiled and looked back to her friends, she noticed Chad roll his eyes, "I'll see you later."

She walked away with Griffin and when he thought they were far enough from her friends he stopped and turned to her.

"Um…I was kind of wondering… Something." Griffin wasn't known for getting nervous, yet there he was… getting nervous, "I talked to Beth you know…"

"Uh-huh." Rebeka looked down to avoid his gaze.

"So, do you wanna?" He asked her, "Go to the dance with me, I mean."

"I…I would love to go!" Rebeka answered, "I mean, yeah…I guess so."

Griffin smiled, "Really?"

"Of course, Really."

"Wow, cool." Griffin's smile grew wider, "We'll have fun I promise. Um, I have to go to my next class now but I'll se you later."

"Okay, see ya." Rebeka waved him off and he walked down the hall. She ran down the opposite direction to get to her next class.

Over the next two days more presents arrived by owl (From her parents and her grandparents), but she was to excited about the dance to pay any attention that her birthday was right around the corner. She had practically told everyone about her date being Griffin. He was totally cool and in those two days both of them had gotten to know each other really well. Tony finally got the nerve to ask Tifnee, a Slytherin who was friends with Lee, and she said yes of course. Who wouldn't go out with a Prior? Vinesah was going with Alex Guttiara, the team captain of Hufflepuff. She had asked him during a short period of bravery and he said yes. Rebeka finally got to met Jack, Hollie's date and really liked him, except that he was a little too quiet for her taste, but this was Hollie's choice so Rebeka didn't mind too much. Rebeka's parents heard about the dance from Hollie and had sent Hollie a baby blue dress robe that they had bought just for it. It was very pretty and Rebeka hoped that one of her presents from them would be a maroon dress robe so she could look nice too. Excitement was in the air as the dance crept closer and closer, then (as if time had skipped two days) it was Rebeka's birthday. Rebeka wanted so badly to go and open her presents that were waiting for her, but she had to sit through her classes first.

"Okay class, I still don't see any pin cushions!" McGonagall yelled to them all as they tried to turn porcupines into pincushions. Usually not getting it by now would make Rebeka very angry, but she was too busy thinking about other things. She did manage to turn her porcupine into a brown ball of yarn though; it made her laugh until she got reprimanded by McGonagall herself. Everyone else thought it was pretty funny though and began to laugh right along with her.

Finally, finally, finally, her last class ended and she made a mad dash toward the Gryffindor tower. When she got to the entrance the fat lady in the pink dress was smiling at her.

"Hello dear Rebeka." The fat lady greeted, Rebeka waved.

"Tallonius Figs!" Rebeka said the password and the picture swung open. Rebeka quickly got inside - where Cryssy, Vinesah, Griffin, Hollie, Beth, Kirsten, and Tony were waiting for her with a small sign that read "It is no one's birthday!" People who saw it looked at them strangely, but Rebeka laughed.

"Hiya No One!" Hollie waved and walked over to her.

"How did you get in here?" Rebeka asked.

"We got permission from Professor McGonagall," Vinesah smiled, "We're lucky she likes Cryssy."

"Yeah! I wanted this birthday to be special, even though you hate them." Cryssy was beaming; Rebeka could tell it was all her idea. She smiled widely and looked around the room, she noticed Chad was no where to be seen.

"Where's Chad?" Rebeka asked, rather disappointed.

"He has a class or something, he couldn't make it." Beth answered, "But he gave you a card, said he didn't want to make to big a deal out of your birthday."

Rebeka smiled, Chad really did listen to her.

"Come on! Your presents are waiting!" Hollie exclaimed and took off toward the girl's side of the tower.

"Are you sure we can go up there?" Tony asked, talking about the two guys.

"Don't be a chicken Tony, you won't get in trouble, I promise!" Cryssy grabbed his hand and began to drag him, he flinched like something was going to happen to him, and when nothing did he sighed happily "First years, I swear. We got permission from McGonagall, you two can come up just for today."

"I'm not a chicken!" Tony answered, but his weak voice was telling them other wise. When they got into Beth and Rebeka's room she saw about 15 presents sitting on the bed, waiting for her to open. All of them ran over and Rebeka quickly grabbed for one.

"Oh! Who's it from?" Kirsten asked, "Don't open mine first!"

"You guys didn't have to get me anything!" Rebeka told them, they all blushed a bit, "But thanks!"

"Who's it from!?" Hollie yelled, getting a bit impatient.

"This one is from Sarah, my Muggle friend in America." Rebeka quickly opened it up, inside was a photo book, to keep photographs in.

"What an ingenious invention." Beth remarked, "Muggles can be so smart sometimes."

Rebeka opened up the rest of her Muggle presents (A journal, a pen set, a calendar, and a new watch) and the people around her oohed and aahed over the strange Muggle things. Well, except for Vinesah, who was explaining what each thing did ("See the calendar keeps Muggles up to date on the day and month, we also use it to write down our daily plans"). Rebeka then got to the good stuff, the wizard things. She picked up her parent's presents first. Inside was a potion set and the maroon dress robe that she was hoping for.

"Oh Griffin, your date is gonna look good for the ball!" Cryssy exclaimed, making both Rebeka and Griffin blush. Rebeka went for her Grandparents gift. She ripped open the envelope and saw 50 Galleons come pouring out. A little note was attached that read;




Couldn't think of what to get you, so we splurged. Tell Hollie we'll do the same for her.

Grandpa and Grandma.

"Yeah, they better do the same thing for me." Hollie muttered under her breath, then she smiled, "Open mine! Open mine!"

"Okay," Rebeka grabbed the one wrapped in baby blue wrapping paper. She unwrapped it quickly and saw a magical camera, "Wow!"

"Now you can take those cool wizardy moving photos!" Hollie proclaimed happily. Rebeka then went from present to present (A book of Wizard folklore from Vinesah, a cute figurine of a broom and a Quaffle from Beth and Cryssy, a self writing pen from Kirsten, A framed picture of Videl from Tony, and a small charm bracelet from Griffin) and thanked everyone for their great gifts.

"You guys really didn't have to." Rebeka laughed as she opened up Chad's card, "I mean, Chad only got me a card."

"Yeah, he can be such a jerk." Vinesah mumbled, but Rebeka just smiled.

"I told him not to make a big deal out of my birthday! It's okay." She looked down and started to read:


Beka,

Even though you're scared, I think you'll make a fine thirteen-year-old. You're a good person, so don't worry. It'll all turn out okay in the end…at least I hope so.

Your Pal, Chad


She passed it around so everyone could read it, they had to admit, it was short but sweet. He was a good guy even though he didn't show it a lot.

"Okay, so he can be sweet…sometimes…" Vinesah smiled, "Is that all of the presents?"

"Yeah, I think so, that's all we brought up," Beth shrugged. Rebeka smiled and looked around, sitting on her pillow was a small gold box.

"What's this?" Rebeka asked as she retrieved the box. She showed it to everyone, they all just looked confused.

"I didn't bring that up…" Cryssy told her, Beth shook her head as if to say she didn't either.

"Are you sure you guys?" Tony asked, "You two were the only ones who brought up the presents."

"Positive, I would have remembered bringing up something that shiny." Cryssy said.

"I wonder where it came from." Kirsten wondered a loud.

"Screw that, who is it from?" Hollie asked, Rebeka looked around for a name, but there was nothing on the box.

"I don't know, it doesn't say." Rebeka mumbled.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, open up the blasted thing!" Cryssy yelled and everybody nodded their heads in agreement. Rebeka sighed and took off the small gold twine that was keeping the box together then opened it. Inside was a small diamond like jewel in the shape of a teardrop dangling from a delicate golden chain. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. She picked it up out of the box to show everybody, they all gasped.

"It's so pretty…" Hollie murmured.

"It's much more than pretty." Beth exclaimed, almost breathlessly, "That is an Aurora Pendent…"

"An A-what-a Pendent?" Hollie asked.

"I can't believe it… who sent this to you?" Cryssy seemed in awe too; this had to be some pendent.

"What's an Aurora Pendent?" Rebeka asked as she dangled the pretty jewel in front of her face.

"An Aurora Pendent is made from the Aurora Gem." Vinesah spouted out, "In the Wizard world it's more sought after and more valuable than a diamond."

"Really? Why?" Rebeka looked toward the group who was staring at the necklace.

"Put your wand to it and say Lumos." Beth told her. Rebeka shrugged and grabbed her wand, putting it to the small jewel.

"Lumos" As soon as the light hit the jewel it seemed to absorb it, causing the gem to light up, shining a brilliant white light. Then, the colors changed from red to blue to green to orange to purple. The gem was changing colors right in front of her eyes, lighting up beautifully. She gasped, it was so beautiful.

"Wow, I've never seen one in action before." Kirsten sighed, "I've only seen them inside fancy wizard jewelry stores."

"Are they expensive?" Hollie asked and Cryssy began to laugh.

"Extremely, whoever bought this for your sister defiantly thinks she is something special." She answered, and Rebeka looked at her.

"I can't take this." Rebeka mumbled, "It's too much…I have to find whoever gave it to me and give it back."

"Maybe that's why they didn't put their name on it, because they knew you would do that." Kirsten exclaimed, "Oh, how mysterious!"

"Kirsten has a thing for enigma's." Vinesah told everyone.

"I want one!" Hollie yelled, "You can give it to me!"

"Hollie, no." Rebeka smiled as she stared at the Pendent, "I don't understand, who would do this…?"

"Maybe you have a secret admirer." Tony suggested.

"Yeah, a really rich secret admirer." Cryssy joked.

"Well, he's not going to the dance with her whoever it is." Griffin piped up defensively, "I'm doing that."

"Hmmm… still don't you guys think this is a little strange?" Rebeka asked them, "Whoever it is I at least have to thank them."

"At least!" Beth proclaimed, "This guy must really dig you."

Rebeka put her wand to the gem and it stopped glowing, returning to its diamond like glitter and luster. After much coaxing, Rebeka put it on as they went down to the commons room to talk about the dance some more. Rebeka every once and awhile reach up and feel the necklace, wondering who got it for her. Whoever it was, she had to thank them. Of course that meant figuring out who gave it to her in the first place.

"Rebeka, you should wear the necklace to the ball!" Vinesah told her, "It would look so pretty all lit up and stuff."

"Totally, it's yours now, you need to use it!" Beth smiled, "Show it off a little."

"I don't know…" Rebeka mumbled.

"Yeah, you should, " Griffin looked over to her with his deep blue eyes, "It looks really pretty on you."

She blushed, "Okay, I will. Are you sure none of you bought me this?"

Everyone answered with a resounding no, which made Rebeka wonder even more who bought her the danged thing…


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A/N: This IS a mystery. Because, as you know, if it's a guy who gave her the necklace, how the heck did he get up the stairs? Clearly states in the fifth book that boys can't go up there. Hmmm, maybe he had help? HMMMMMMM. Anyway, next chapter is the ball! Whoot! Whoot!

As always, Thanks for reading

Review if you want to!

Read Aftershocks!

Keep making that face and it will stick like that!

^_^