The next day Rebecca woke up a little later than she usually did. Rebecca
got ready and walked down to breakfast by herself.
She found the only open spot, which happened to be next to Charlie. She was starting to fill her plate when mail started to come.
Rebecca didn't pay attention, because she never got mail in the morning. Stacy's letters always came at night. Today was an exception though.
An owl swooped down and dropped a package right in her oatmeal. Rebecca had food fly towards her from the landing. Some hit her in right in the face.
Charlie grabbed his napkin and leaned over towards her. As he helped her clean her face, he whispered, "That's one way to clean your plate."
Rebecca started to laugh and finished cleaning up.
"So Rebecca, who is the package from?" asked a curious Colin who was sitting right in front her.
"Oh, um." Rebecca looked the address to see if she could figure out sent it.
"Oh!" Rebecca excitedly shouted out. "It's from my friend at Beauxbatons!" Everyone smiled at Rebecca's reaction, because she had never shown that emotion since they had known her. Rebecca was so happy that she was grinning from ear to ear, but then she looked at her watch. "Oh look at the time. We're going to have to head to classes soon. I guess I'll open it later," she said disappointed that classes were starting so soon.
Rebecca ran up stairs and put the package on her bed and headed to class.
She decided it would be best to wait until after supper to open it because she didn't want to rush going through the box. All through classes Rebecca kept thinking of the package making the day seem to drag on.
Finally, Rebecca had a free period where she contemplated going up to her room and opening the package, but decided she better go to the library and look up something for charms instead so that she didn't have to do it later.
Rebecca walked into the library and headed to the charm section. As she looked at the books in one of the aisles, she heard a voice.
She rounded the corner and saw it was Russel looking at a book that didn't look like it exactly belonged to the section and muttering to himself softly.
'Must be reading to himself,' she thought as she stepped into the aisle. Rebecca said hello and continued to look at the books.
"How are you doing?" asked Russel staring at her.
Rebecca looked at him and noticed his gaze. She felt uncomfortable, but went ahead and answered, "I'm fine."
"No more headaches then?"
"No, I haven't had one since Friday. I think I was just stressed out," Rebecca timidly answered still looking for her book. "Oh here it is," she said pulling a book of the shelf and flipping through it.
"Do you get headaches often?" Russel asked.
"It depends. If I have lot to do or am doing something I really don't like, I am more prone to having them. Well I got to get going." Rebecca said as she turned to go.
She made it to the end of the aisle and then turned around much to the surprised to Russel.
"Um, I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for Lauren when the boy called her that name," Rebecca said, as she looked Russel straight in the eyes. Russel's face softened more than Rebecca had ever seen as he said, "Oh, it was nothing."
"I know that it may not seem like it was important, since Lauren didn't know what it means. But I also know that boy knew she didn't and there wasn't anyway that I or anyone else with me for that matter could say that was going to convince that boy there that he should apologize to her. You got him to apologize and that was something." With her final comment turned and left.
As she walked away, she looked at the book she just got off the shelf and started to feel a headache coming on. 'Great! I am already starting to stress out over charms. Why can't this be one of my strong subjects?'
Rebecca finished up her homework during her free period even though she had a splitting headache. She went to dinner and still had the headache she was glad when she made it up to her dorm room to take her medicine.
After she took her medicine, her attention turned to her package from Beauxbatons. Rebecca untied the box and found it full of cards and photos.
After emptying the contents out on her bed, Rebecca picked up a letter from Stacy
Dear Rebecca,
Sorry it took me so long to get this together, but everyone wanted to send you something and it took us a while to get all the pictures that we wanted. Hope everything is going well at school. Everything is going well here. I am going to make this a short letter and let everyone else tell you what is going on.
Later,
Stacy
Rebecca laid back on her bed and read the other letters. They were full of the news about what was going on at her old school. All of her friends wrote her a letter telling her to continue writing them because they loved her letters. Everyone ended with "We miss you!" Rebecca missed them too and felt even more painful when she saw the photo of her friends waving to her.
There was also one with Stacy wearing her straight black hair down so that Rebecca could see that the length was just below Stacy's shoulder standing next to a tall, dark, and handsome boy. 'Must be Ty,' Rebecca thought as she put the picture down and picked up another one.
Colleen with her straight blonde hair and Kevin with his jet black wind tousled hair stood in the photo holding hands smiling at her while they waved.
Scott with his sandy colored hair and Gwen wearing her long dark brown hair in French braids were in another photo. Gwen was signing 'We miss you' in the photo as Scott switched between fake crying and waving with a big smile.
Then Rebecca picked up a picture with only a boy in it. His short white blonde hair had a just out of bed hair style. As Rebecca stared at the photo, the boy pulled a sign from behind his back. It said,
I know you do.
He then flipped it over so the sign read,
I miss you too!
Rebecca weakly smiled at the boy because it was her best guy friend, Ben, and he always knew what she was thinking.
That was the breaking point. Rebecca had been able to hide her feelings of longing to be there. In fact she was purposely trying not to get close to anyone in particular, because she didn't want to make close friends here, and then be told that her parents' will said that she had to leave. As she fingered through the photos and read some more letters, tears started rolling down her face.
'I've been able to buried these feelings for so long. Why can't I do it now?' she thought to herself. She laid on her bed for a long time looking at everything and eventually fell asleep.
Charlie and his friends confronted the next morning Rebecca at breakfast.
"Hey what happened to you last night?" he asked as he took his seat and looked at her from across the table with a concerned look on her face. Rebecca looked at everyone and saw that they all had the same look in their face.
"Oh I just fell asleep looking at what my friends sent me," Rebecca replied nonchalantly and continued eating.
"You know you fall asleep in your clothes a lot," observed Colin with a joking tone in his voice.
"Oh leave her alone, Colin," said Jacquelyn giving a look that told him she was serious. "Come on we have to go get mental ready for class." Jacquelyn got up and left with James, Sara, Greg, Colin and Cathrine right behind her.
Rebecca got up shortly after them and Charlie got up on the other side. Rebecca was about out the door when Charlie started to speak.
"You didn't have another headache again, did you?"
Rebecca turned around and gave him a puzzled look. "What?"
"I know you said you just fell asleep, but I can't help but wonder if you did it because you had a headache." Charlie had a very concerned look on his face so Rebecca wasn't overly offended that he questioned what she had said.
"I had a headache earlier when I was working on my Charm homework, but it stopped before I fell asleep."
"Okay I just didn't want you to be passing out on your bed all the time from headaches and no one taking you to the infirmary to get it checked out."
Rebecca smiled and said, "Thanks for your concern."
She turned to continue walking and about ran into Ryan and his group.
"You had another headache?" Ryan questioned her.
"It wasn't that bad I was in the library working on my charm homework and I must have been stressing out about it. It went away, so don't worry about it. Okay?" Rebecca gave Ryan a look that let him know that she was fine.
"Okay, then I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye." Rebecca continued to walk and caught a glance of Russel who looked at her surprised by something but she couldn't figure out what as they passed in the hall. Rebecca made it to transfiguration and took her seat pondering what could have been so surprising.
Transfiguration class went the same as usual. McGonagall had a lot of notes for the students to take, and by then end of the period, everyone was tired of writing.
While they were all packing up their stuff, McGonagall reminded them that they would be taking O.W.L.S. at the end of the year and that if they wanted to lighten their studying later on they should start studying now. Most of the students groaned, but Rebecca, who was still feeling lonely from her friend's card, saw an opportunity in this.
'I don't want to get attached to anyone here and have to leave them like my friends in Beauxbatons,' she thought. 'If I start studying for O.W.L.S. now, maybe I can keep myself distracted and not get attached to anyone.'
Rebecca walked up to McGonagall and asked, "Professor, I was wondering what you would suggest studying for the O.W.L.S.?"
McGonagall looked at Rebecca and smiled. "Well, Ms. Carter, congratulations on taking the initiative to start getting ready for the tests. I will put together a list of general topics for you to go over and if you have any questions just come and ask."
"Thank you every much, Professor," said Rebecca and she walked out of the room.
Rebecca walked to the next class ecstatic that she had a plan. She was tried of having people leave her or having to leave people she cared for. No, she was going to try something new. She was going to keep to herself and not let herself get to close to anyone.
McGonagall came through with the list that she promised Rebecca. With the list, Rebecca was able to through herself head first into studying every chance she got. Not much changed in many respects other than Rebecca always had a book in her hand and she didn't initiate any conversations. However, Rebecca talked to anyone who talked to her and helped anyone that asked still so she was as popular as she was before. Rebecca didn't care because her goal was not get close to anyone no completely alienate herself from the school.
The studying did take its toll on Rebecca though. Her headaches were getting more prominent. At the Halloween feast, after she talked to Ryan and Russel and made her way to her seat her head started pounding. She sat down, closed her eyes, and propped her head up with her hand. Charlie sat down beside her and kept offering her food but she barely ate anything.
Then one Saturday in early November after Rebecca was talking to Ryan about what she had been doing, she turned around to walk away and she felt a headache starting. She continued to walk passing Cassie and Russel who were walking over to Ryan. All of the sudden, Rebecca's head felt like it was going to explode and she felt extremely dizzy.
She started to faint in the hall, but someone caught her before she hit the floor. Rebecca looked up to see it was Charlie who had her.
"Are you okay?" he asked as she steadied herself.
"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy. I must have turned around to fast. Thanks," replied Rebecca and she walked into the great hall for breakfast.
Rebecca sat down in a seat surrounded by first years. Charlie walked in behind her and looked to find a seat near her. Lauren finally left with Aisha and Carolyn and Charlie grabbed her seat.
"Are you going to the quidditch game today?" he asked. Rebecca looked at him she had forgotten about Slytherin and Ravenclaw quidditch match.
"Um. Yeah I guess so," Rebecca stammered out.
"Can I go with you?"
"What?"
"I'd like to go to the game with you."
"Why?"
"Well I don't want to be a fifth wheel with my friends. Don't get me wrong, I like being around them but there is times when I get left out because I am not dating anyone and no one else is single. Plus I want to keep an eye on you since you also most passed out in the hall." Charlie muttered his last sentence, but Rebecca knew what he said.
"Um. okay," she said and they took off to go to the field.
Rebecca felt better at the match. She sat back and enjoyed the game surrounded by the Gryffindor team.
The game started with Colin was announcing of course. ". and Slytherin's Seeker is Russel Flint," Colin finished telling the team members.
"Flint?" repeated Rebecca. Charlie looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I never knew his last name," Rebecca timidly explained. Charlie shook his head and turned his attention to the field.
The game was fast and furious. Colin got yelled at by McGonagall when he made a bad remark about Slytherin's game strategy which sent everyone in the stands that weren't in the Slytherin house in to a giggle fit. Rebecca laughed right along with everyone else and really enjoyed the intensity of the game.
Ravenclaw was winning but not by much when Ryan scored the tying points. After that Russel started to fly around the field at a furious pace. The Ravenclaw seeker was in close pursuit, but a bludger sailed right at in the path so the seeker maneuver around it.
"Now that is timing," A.J. commented on the Slytherin beater's ablity to send the bludger right in front of some on to slow them down, knowing full well that the beater was meaning to hit the other player with it instead.
That slow-down costed Ravenclaw the match, because a few seconds later Russel caught the snitch and ended the match. Slytherin celebrated and everyone headed back to the castle.
As the rest of the Gryffindor students went to the common room to relax, Rebecca went up to get her books and head to the library.
"Hey where are you going?" James asked when he saw her walk down the dorm room steps with her arms full. Charlie, Colin, Cathrine, Greg, Sara, and Jacquelyn who were sitting around the fire with James turned around to see who he was talking to.
"Oh, I am just going to the library to get some work done." Rebecca replied as she walked across the room towards the portrait. She really wanted some time alone, but it wasn't to be.
"That's a good idea. I should do that too. I'll see you in the library," Sara called after Rebecca as she got up and headed to get her own books.
"We all should do that," Greg said as he went to get his books. With that the whole group gathered up their books and headed to the library.
Rebecca passed Russel on her way to the library.
"Hey, what did you think of the game?" he asked with a smile as they neared each other.
"It was a good match. Congratulations on the win," Rebecca said stopping herself from continuing to walk on because Russel stopped in his tracks and it would have been rude of her not to also. "Where are you headed?"
"Oh, I am just going the library to study."
"Really? ..." Russel stopped talking and glared down the hall.
Rebecca turned around to see what he was looking at and gave out a quiet sigh. It turned out it was just Charlie and the others.
"Hey Rebecca, see you in the library," Charlie said as he passed. Charlie looked over at Russel and gave him a questioning look as he passed.
Rebecca smiled slightly as she nodded at Charlie and then looked back at Russel to say, "Well I got to get going."
"Yeah, I'll probably see you later. I was planning to go to the library today, too. Bye."
Rebecca went into the library set her books with the others since it was the only available spot in the library and she headed off to find a book on potions.
It took her a little while, but she found the book and started to walk out of the section. Russel was standing with a book at the end of the aisle Rebecca was walking up and muttering to himself. Rebecca was absorbed in the book she found and didn't notice him. In fact she almost bumped into him when she passed.
"Sorry," Rebecca said glancing up from the book and continuing her way back to the table.
She took a few more steps and felt a headache starting. Rebecca was almost to the table when her vision went fuzzy. The next thing she knew she was falling, but she didn't hit anything.
Charlie had caught her for the second time that day. He helped her to a chair and knelt next to her to check her out. Everyone else got up to look at Rebecca in horror. Her color in her face had drained so that she was sheet white.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.
"Um. I think that I need to get back to the room," Rebecca said softly.
Charlie looked at the group and everyone went into action. Charlie picked Rebecca up while everyone else gathered up all the things they brought.
They were about to walk out when Russel appeared and asked, "Is everything okay? Rebecca, what happened?"
"Oh, she isn't feeling well. We're going to take her back to room," responded Cathrine for Rebecca.
The whole group moved out of the library and by the time they got through the portrait Rebecca was feeling better. Charlie finally let her down in a chair and knelt beside her look at her in the face.
"Are you sure you feel okay?" he asked concerned that he should have taken her to the infirmary instead of back to the common room.
"Yeah, I just need to sit here for a while," Rebecca softly said.
They studied in the common room for the rest of the day. No one let Rebecca get up until suppertime.
After the incident in the library, Rebecca decided to start to carry her medicine around with her until these headaches get under control. Rebecca had success the next couple of weeks with taking medicine whenever she felt a headache coming on. She made it through the rest of November without having a headache that would make her pass out.
The first week of December was different matter. Rebecca had a headache all the time. She passed out in potions one day, then in lunch the next day, and in the hall the day after that while walking past Ryan and Russel.
Charlie caught her every time. Rebecca didn't even know that Charlie was around but he always right there when she was about to collapse.
On Thursday of that week, Rebecca passed out in the hall again. Charlie had came out of the blue and caught her once again. Ryan, who always had his back to Rebecca the other times she passed out, saw it happen this time and came up to Rebecca.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Charlie looked at Rebecca to see how she was going to answer Ryan.
"I passed out from a headache." (After a quick glance at Charlie, who had a 'go on and tell him' expression on his face) ". um, I've, um, been doing it all week," Rebecca admitted. Ryan's jaw dropped and he stared at her. "I always feel better after, though, but I can't figure out why I keep getting the headaches when I have been getting them lately."
"Maybe you should go to Madame Pompfrey," Ryan stated. Charlie gave Rebecca a look to tell her 'see I am not the only one that thinks it.'
"Guys, I have been to numerous wizard doctors and they can't do anything for my headaches. I have had better luck when I use muggle medicine, but sometimes that doesn't work either. There really is nothing that can be done, okay?"
"Okay, I guess," Ryan said with a disapproving look, but he knew there was no arguing with her about it, at least not right now.
Rebecca didn't pass out again until the next day. She woke up feeling great and forgot to even take medicine with her to class, but felt that she better go get it when she had a chance. Rebecca had to rush up to her medicine from her nightstand before lunch.
As she rushed down to the great hall, A.J. walked past her and said, "With that speed, you could give Charlie a run for his money if you decided to try out for seeker." Rebecca smiled at him and kept going, because she was really hungry.
She passed Ryan and his group at the top of the stairs and then all of the sudden she got this horrible headache. Rebecca gasped and fell head over heals down the stairs. She tumbled down to the bottom of the steps.
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, Rebecca heard a lot of commotion around her. The Slytherin group had raced down the stairs, Cassie was hysterical and Ryan and the rest of the group were busy trying to get her calmed down so that she didn't get in the way of Rebecca getting help.
Charlie had rushed over about as soon as Rebecca hit the last step. He knelt down and tried to wake her up, but no success. Charlie ended up scooping her up in his arms and taking her to the infirmary.
Rebecca woke up in the infirmary late Friday night. She looked over to see Charlie was sitting by her bed.
"Hello," she said quietly and gave him a sweet smile.
"Hello, you gave us quite a scare," he said as he tucked a loose strand of Rebecca's hair behind her ear and giving her a sweet smile.
"Why am I here?" she asked and Charlie started to tell her what happened. As he talked, Rebecca tried to prop herself up on her arm to see if anyone else was there, but her whole body ached and she quickly dropped back into the bed. "Cassie went hysterical when you didn't get up. Ryan tried to calm her down, but it took Russel and him taking her by the arms and dragging her off. Russel looked upset, too," Charlie continued with the story.
"I bet it took them a while to get Cassie settled down," Rebecca said and they both chuckled, because they knew that Cassie was high maintenance.
Madame Pompfrey came in and ushered Charlie out so that Rebecca can rest.
Rebecca looked over as Charlie left to see that her bed side table was full of cards. There was one covered with smiley faces. She picked it up and saw that it was from Cathrine. Greg, Sara, James, Jacquelyn, and Colin had done individual card for her also. Charlie left a card for her too. There was also a get well card from the rest of the quidditch team. Aisha, Lauren, and Carolyn got together and made her one too.
There were cards from Gryffindor students from each year telling her to feel better soon. Even the students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sent a card from each house. Rebecca was surprised when she saw the Slytherin get well card was signed by more than just Ryan, Russel, Cassie, and Kirsta. She fell back to sleep looking at her cards happy that she was actually cared about in this school.
The next day Rebecca was release from Madame Pompfrey's care shortly before lunch. She got more medicine because she was sore and would be for a while.
As Rebecca was about to walk out, Madame Pompfrey said, "It's amazing that you didn't break anything with that fall. If it wasn't for the fact that you have a history of these headaches, I would have said someone was casting a spell on you."
Rebecca gingerly walked out of the infirmary and headed towards the Gryffindor tower with what Madame Pompfrey's theory running through her mind. Ryan came up to her to see how she was doing. Rebecca ended up telling him the theory about her. Ryan looked shocked and was about to say something when Cassie came up. Cassie inquired on how Rebecca was and then dragged Ryan to lunch.
Rebecca continued on her way passing Bill who gave her a smile to let her know he was glad to see her up and moving.
A.J. saw her in the halls and said, "Glad to see your up and moving. If you need anything, let me know." Rebecca smiled and continued to walk afraid to stop now, because the pain she was feeling might be worst when she tried to start walking again.
She was almost to the stairs to get to the tower when she saw Charlie and Greg were leaning up against the wall talking in the hall. Charlie saw her first and he smiled at her. Rebecca smiled back.
"Hey you're up and going," he said and Greg looked over and gave her a smile.
"I'll be right behind you just in case," Charlie said with a wink. Rebecca appreciated what he said and flashed a grateful smile at him.
Charlie followed her up to the common room and watched Rebecca go up the stairs to her room. She had made it up to there with a lot of pain. Rebecca couldn't believe how sore she was, but when reflecting on the fact that she fell down a flight of stairs she felt lucky she hadn't broke anything.
For the rest of the weekend Rebecca didn't do too much. She went down to the Great Hall for meals but didn't go any where else. Rebecca worked on her homework but couldn't sit down for any length of time so she had to do it in spurts.
Eventually Monday came and classes were going to start up again. Rebecca wasn't looking forward to them at all. She was still sore and had trouble sleeping because she couldn't lie in one position for a long time. This meant that she was tired all the time. The only good thing that happened in Rebecca's eyes was that she hadn't had a headache since Friday. She was able to walk to her classes by herself confident that she wasn't going to pass out again; because of the medication she had to help control the soreness she was experiencing would take care of any headaches she could be having. After lunch on Monday, Rebecca gathered up her book on the table to start for class.
She was just out of the Great Hall, when Charlie walked and took her bag from her and said, "I'll see you in class." Charlie walked off and joined with his friends as they headed to class. Rebecca was stunned for a moment and then had this sense of relief. Her books felt so heavy to her right now and it was nice not to have to carry them around right then.
When Rebecca made it to class, she found her books at her seat. She looked over at Charlie, who was busy talking to James. Charlie did glance over to see Rebecca looking at him. They exchanged smile and Rebecca whispered, "Thank you."
Rebecca fidgeted all through class. Class was finally over and everyone packed up to leave. Rebecca was just glad that she could get off her chair. It took her a while to pack up so she was the last student to leave. She gingerly walked out and once again Charlie walked up, took her bag, and told her that he would see her in class again.
'I must look like I am total pain, if Charlie is taking my books to class for me without me saying anything. . It is really sweet of him,' Rebecca thought to herself as she walked to the next class. Charlie continued to take her books from Rebecca and by Wednesday Rebecca was no longer surprised when he did so. Charlie didn't even say anything anymore he would just take her bag and walk away.
On Thursday, Rebecca was talking to Ryan when Charlie came up, took Rebecca's books out of her hands, and walked away. Ryan was shocked at what he saw. Charlie didn't ask Rebecca and she didn't even stop talking to Ryan to see what Charlie was doing. Ryan couldn't help but question Rebecca on this.
"What was that about?" he asked. Rebecca looked at him wondering what he was talking about.
"Huh?"
"Weasley just walked up and took your books from you and you didn't bat and eye about it. In fact he didn't even say anything to you at all," Ryan said getting a little hot under his collar.
"Oh," Rebecca said as she looked around to see if she could see Charlie. "He has been taking my books to class for me since my accident."
"Why? Did you ask him to?" Ryan's voice got more intense with every word.
"No," Rebecca said wondering what Ryan was going to accuse her of. Before Ryan could ask another question, Cassie came waltzing up to him and Rebecca.
"You are so lucky, Rebecca. Charlie is very attentive to you," gushed Cassie. She then turned to Ryan and said, "Don't you think that Charlie and your cousin would make a good couple?" Cassie smiled at him and Ryan put on a fake smile as Rebecca slightly blushed at the comment. Cassie may not have realized Ryan didn't like what she said, but Rebecca knew Ryan was keeping his true feelings hidden.
"Well I have to get going. I'll see you later," Rebecca said with a smile and left them in the hall.
Ryan fumed for a while about the situation. He was mad enough that he asked his friends what they had seen and to observe a little how Charlie and Rebecca interacted with each other.
At dinner Friday, the observations came back bring Ryan to the conclusion that there was really nothing going on between Rebecca and Charlie. They were not really around each other a lot and barely talked at lunch when they were around each other the most.
"What about in the Gryffindor tower?" asked Ryan second guessing his first conclusion.
"Kirsta said that A.J. said that they aren't around each other that much when he is in the common room. He's with his friends and she is helping some younger students usually. Besides, dude, your cousin wouldn't go for a guy like that?" Russel piped in, trying to calm Ryan down.
"Yeah, I guess, but."
"But what, Weasely was just being nice to her. She isn't falling for him. She is around him enough to know he is a loser."
"You really don't like him on or off the field do you, Russel?"
"What can I say? I can see through what everyone else can't."
"Anyways, I guess you're right. If they were dating we would see them around each other all the time even," Ryan finished and stared over to the Gryffindor table to see who Rebecca was talking to. When he saw it was A.J. that Rebecca was talking to, he turned his mind else were and forgot about the Rebecca and Charlie situation.
Everyone finished up eating and the students went back to their respective common rooms. Rebecca was tired and tried to get to bed early, but couldn't get comfortable. She grabbed her medicine bottle and went down stairs to the common room to get a glass. There weren't too many students in the room so Rebecca decided sit down on the couch to sit for a while.
Bill was close by sitting in a chair flipping through some books that did not look like regular text books. Rebecca hadn't had much interaction with him since that day at Diagon Alley, but they had talked a couple of times when some first years had asked for help for potions and Bill walked them over to Rebecca so he could go on rounds.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he said with a friendly smile.
Rebecca smiled back and responded with, "I'm not as sore as I was at first, but I am really tired now from being sore before that and not being able to rest. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Why don't you head up to bed, if you're tired? I know that it is early but it might be good for you to get some extra sleep." Bill gave her the same concerned look that Charlie had been giving her while she was having all those headaches.
"It's a good idea, but I was just up stairs and I couldn't get comfortable. In fact, I came down here to take my medicine and sit awhile so that I'll feel comfortable when I do go up to bed."
"Sounds like you have a plan. Here do you want to look at this while you are sitting down here?" Bill handed her a book on Defense against the Dark Arts written by the same wizard who wrote the other defense book he had gotten off the shelf for her at the end of August.
"Thanks," Rebecca said as she started flipping through the book.
Rebecca became fixated on the book. As she read, Rebecca put her feet up on the couch and laid her head on the arm rest. This was a really comfortable position for Rebecca. In fact, it was about as comfortable as she had been the whole week. Rebecca looked at the book for a while longer, but ended up falling asleep on the couch.
Bill was completely absorbed in to his book and didn't realize Rebecca was sleeping until Charlie came walking up until to talk to him.
"Hey Bill, What do you think of this?" he asked handing Bill a book. Charlie glanced over at the couch. He did a double take when he realized Rebecca was sleeping on the couch. He pointed at her and asked Bill, "How long has she been like that?"
Bill looked over at her and said, "Um, I don't know. She sat down there about three hours ago and who know when she drifted off to sleep."
"Well I guess we better wake her up and send her up to bed." Charlie knelt down next to Rebecca and shook her shoulder softly. "Rebecca. Hey, Becca," he softly said. Rebecca blinked and saw Charlie next to her.
"Hey," whispered Rebecca.
"I think it is time for you to get in your own bed." Rebecca nodded and started to get up. Charlie took her hand and they both stood up together.
Rebecca muttered, "Night," as she walked away.
"Night Becca," Charlie said.
"Good night, Rebecca," added Bill as he looked at Charlie strangely.
When Rebecca hit the stair, Charlie turned around to talk to his brother about what he came to talk about in the first place, but Bill had something else he wanted to talk about. "What was that about?" Bill asked giving Charlie a menacing smile.
Charlie sat down on the couch and looked at Bill confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on. 'Hey Becca,' and 'Night Becca.' As far as I know no one else calls her by that name. What is going on with you and her?"
"Nothing is going on with us. I am trying to be her friend that's all. You know I shorten names without even thinking. I call Ginny, Gin. Cathrine, Cat. Angel, A.J. and some time I just call him A or J. I would call Jacquelyn, Jackie if I didn't think that she would stop helping me with my homework if I did."
Charlie was acting nervous like he was hiding something by naming off all the shortened names, so Bill asked, "So nothing is going on?"
"Yes."
"You just want to be her friend?"
"Yes. Isn't that what I just said?"
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Bill laughed.
"What?"
"Nothing you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Whatever," Charlie said exasperated. Can you look at that book in your lap?"
Bill was still smiling as he looked at the book and started to help Charlie.
Rebecca heard bits and pieces of their conversation as she made her way up the stairs, but was too tired to make any sense of what they were saying. When she made it to her bed, she climbed in and fell right back to sleep.
She found the only open spot, which happened to be next to Charlie. She was starting to fill her plate when mail started to come.
Rebecca didn't pay attention, because she never got mail in the morning. Stacy's letters always came at night. Today was an exception though.
An owl swooped down and dropped a package right in her oatmeal. Rebecca had food fly towards her from the landing. Some hit her in right in the face.
Charlie grabbed his napkin and leaned over towards her. As he helped her clean her face, he whispered, "That's one way to clean your plate."
Rebecca started to laugh and finished cleaning up.
"So Rebecca, who is the package from?" asked a curious Colin who was sitting right in front her.
"Oh, um." Rebecca looked the address to see if she could figure out sent it.
"Oh!" Rebecca excitedly shouted out. "It's from my friend at Beauxbatons!" Everyone smiled at Rebecca's reaction, because she had never shown that emotion since they had known her. Rebecca was so happy that she was grinning from ear to ear, but then she looked at her watch. "Oh look at the time. We're going to have to head to classes soon. I guess I'll open it later," she said disappointed that classes were starting so soon.
Rebecca ran up stairs and put the package on her bed and headed to class.
She decided it would be best to wait until after supper to open it because she didn't want to rush going through the box. All through classes Rebecca kept thinking of the package making the day seem to drag on.
Finally, Rebecca had a free period where she contemplated going up to her room and opening the package, but decided she better go to the library and look up something for charms instead so that she didn't have to do it later.
Rebecca walked into the library and headed to the charm section. As she looked at the books in one of the aisles, she heard a voice.
She rounded the corner and saw it was Russel looking at a book that didn't look like it exactly belonged to the section and muttering to himself softly.
'Must be reading to himself,' she thought as she stepped into the aisle. Rebecca said hello and continued to look at the books.
"How are you doing?" asked Russel staring at her.
Rebecca looked at him and noticed his gaze. She felt uncomfortable, but went ahead and answered, "I'm fine."
"No more headaches then?"
"No, I haven't had one since Friday. I think I was just stressed out," Rebecca timidly answered still looking for her book. "Oh here it is," she said pulling a book of the shelf and flipping through it.
"Do you get headaches often?" Russel asked.
"It depends. If I have lot to do or am doing something I really don't like, I am more prone to having them. Well I got to get going." Rebecca said as she turned to go.
She made it to the end of the aisle and then turned around much to the surprised to Russel.
"Um, I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for Lauren when the boy called her that name," Rebecca said, as she looked Russel straight in the eyes. Russel's face softened more than Rebecca had ever seen as he said, "Oh, it was nothing."
"I know that it may not seem like it was important, since Lauren didn't know what it means. But I also know that boy knew she didn't and there wasn't anyway that I or anyone else with me for that matter could say that was going to convince that boy there that he should apologize to her. You got him to apologize and that was something." With her final comment turned and left.
As she walked away, she looked at the book she just got off the shelf and started to feel a headache coming on. 'Great! I am already starting to stress out over charms. Why can't this be one of my strong subjects?'
Rebecca finished up her homework during her free period even though she had a splitting headache. She went to dinner and still had the headache she was glad when she made it up to her dorm room to take her medicine.
After she took her medicine, her attention turned to her package from Beauxbatons. Rebecca untied the box and found it full of cards and photos.
After emptying the contents out on her bed, Rebecca picked up a letter from Stacy
Dear Rebecca,
Sorry it took me so long to get this together, but everyone wanted to send you something and it took us a while to get all the pictures that we wanted. Hope everything is going well at school. Everything is going well here. I am going to make this a short letter and let everyone else tell you what is going on.
Later,
Stacy
Rebecca laid back on her bed and read the other letters. They were full of the news about what was going on at her old school. All of her friends wrote her a letter telling her to continue writing them because they loved her letters. Everyone ended with "We miss you!" Rebecca missed them too and felt even more painful when she saw the photo of her friends waving to her.
There was also one with Stacy wearing her straight black hair down so that Rebecca could see that the length was just below Stacy's shoulder standing next to a tall, dark, and handsome boy. 'Must be Ty,' Rebecca thought as she put the picture down and picked up another one.
Colleen with her straight blonde hair and Kevin with his jet black wind tousled hair stood in the photo holding hands smiling at her while they waved.
Scott with his sandy colored hair and Gwen wearing her long dark brown hair in French braids were in another photo. Gwen was signing 'We miss you' in the photo as Scott switched between fake crying and waving with a big smile.
Then Rebecca picked up a picture with only a boy in it. His short white blonde hair had a just out of bed hair style. As Rebecca stared at the photo, the boy pulled a sign from behind his back. It said,
I know you do.
He then flipped it over so the sign read,
I miss you too!
Rebecca weakly smiled at the boy because it was her best guy friend, Ben, and he always knew what she was thinking.
That was the breaking point. Rebecca had been able to hide her feelings of longing to be there. In fact she was purposely trying not to get close to anyone in particular, because she didn't want to make close friends here, and then be told that her parents' will said that she had to leave. As she fingered through the photos and read some more letters, tears started rolling down her face.
'I've been able to buried these feelings for so long. Why can't I do it now?' she thought to herself. She laid on her bed for a long time looking at everything and eventually fell asleep.
Charlie and his friends confronted the next morning Rebecca at breakfast.
"Hey what happened to you last night?" he asked as he took his seat and looked at her from across the table with a concerned look on her face. Rebecca looked at everyone and saw that they all had the same look in their face.
"Oh I just fell asleep looking at what my friends sent me," Rebecca replied nonchalantly and continued eating.
"You know you fall asleep in your clothes a lot," observed Colin with a joking tone in his voice.
"Oh leave her alone, Colin," said Jacquelyn giving a look that told him she was serious. "Come on we have to go get mental ready for class." Jacquelyn got up and left with James, Sara, Greg, Colin and Cathrine right behind her.
Rebecca got up shortly after them and Charlie got up on the other side. Rebecca was about out the door when Charlie started to speak.
"You didn't have another headache again, did you?"
Rebecca turned around and gave him a puzzled look. "What?"
"I know you said you just fell asleep, but I can't help but wonder if you did it because you had a headache." Charlie had a very concerned look on his face so Rebecca wasn't overly offended that he questioned what she had said.
"I had a headache earlier when I was working on my Charm homework, but it stopped before I fell asleep."
"Okay I just didn't want you to be passing out on your bed all the time from headaches and no one taking you to the infirmary to get it checked out."
Rebecca smiled and said, "Thanks for your concern."
She turned to continue walking and about ran into Ryan and his group.
"You had another headache?" Ryan questioned her.
"It wasn't that bad I was in the library working on my charm homework and I must have been stressing out about it. It went away, so don't worry about it. Okay?" Rebecca gave Ryan a look that let him know that she was fine.
"Okay, then I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye." Rebecca continued to walk and caught a glance of Russel who looked at her surprised by something but she couldn't figure out what as they passed in the hall. Rebecca made it to transfiguration and took her seat pondering what could have been so surprising.
Transfiguration class went the same as usual. McGonagall had a lot of notes for the students to take, and by then end of the period, everyone was tired of writing.
While they were all packing up their stuff, McGonagall reminded them that they would be taking O.W.L.S. at the end of the year and that if they wanted to lighten their studying later on they should start studying now. Most of the students groaned, but Rebecca, who was still feeling lonely from her friend's card, saw an opportunity in this.
'I don't want to get attached to anyone here and have to leave them like my friends in Beauxbatons,' she thought. 'If I start studying for O.W.L.S. now, maybe I can keep myself distracted and not get attached to anyone.'
Rebecca walked up to McGonagall and asked, "Professor, I was wondering what you would suggest studying for the O.W.L.S.?"
McGonagall looked at Rebecca and smiled. "Well, Ms. Carter, congratulations on taking the initiative to start getting ready for the tests. I will put together a list of general topics for you to go over and if you have any questions just come and ask."
"Thank you every much, Professor," said Rebecca and she walked out of the room.
Rebecca walked to the next class ecstatic that she had a plan. She was tried of having people leave her or having to leave people she cared for. No, she was going to try something new. She was going to keep to herself and not let herself get to close to anyone.
McGonagall came through with the list that she promised Rebecca. With the list, Rebecca was able to through herself head first into studying every chance she got. Not much changed in many respects other than Rebecca always had a book in her hand and she didn't initiate any conversations. However, Rebecca talked to anyone who talked to her and helped anyone that asked still so she was as popular as she was before. Rebecca didn't care because her goal was not get close to anyone no completely alienate herself from the school.
The studying did take its toll on Rebecca though. Her headaches were getting more prominent. At the Halloween feast, after she talked to Ryan and Russel and made her way to her seat her head started pounding. She sat down, closed her eyes, and propped her head up with her hand. Charlie sat down beside her and kept offering her food but she barely ate anything.
Then one Saturday in early November after Rebecca was talking to Ryan about what she had been doing, she turned around to walk away and she felt a headache starting. She continued to walk passing Cassie and Russel who were walking over to Ryan. All of the sudden, Rebecca's head felt like it was going to explode and she felt extremely dizzy.
She started to faint in the hall, but someone caught her before she hit the floor. Rebecca looked up to see it was Charlie who had her.
"Are you okay?" he asked as she steadied herself.
"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy. I must have turned around to fast. Thanks," replied Rebecca and she walked into the great hall for breakfast.
Rebecca sat down in a seat surrounded by first years. Charlie walked in behind her and looked to find a seat near her. Lauren finally left with Aisha and Carolyn and Charlie grabbed her seat.
"Are you going to the quidditch game today?" he asked. Rebecca looked at him she had forgotten about Slytherin and Ravenclaw quidditch match.
"Um. Yeah I guess so," Rebecca stammered out.
"Can I go with you?"
"What?"
"I'd like to go to the game with you."
"Why?"
"Well I don't want to be a fifth wheel with my friends. Don't get me wrong, I like being around them but there is times when I get left out because I am not dating anyone and no one else is single. Plus I want to keep an eye on you since you also most passed out in the hall." Charlie muttered his last sentence, but Rebecca knew what he said.
"Um. okay," she said and they took off to go to the field.
Rebecca felt better at the match. She sat back and enjoyed the game surrounded by the Gryffindor team.
The game started with Colin was announcing of course. ". and Slytherin's Seeker is Russel Flint," Colin finished telling the team members.
"Flint?" repeated Rebecca. Charlie looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I never knew his last name," Rebecca timidly explained. Charlie shook his head and turned his attention to the field.
The game was fast and furious. Colin got yelled at by McGonagall when he made a bad remark about Slytherin's game strategy which sent everyone in the stands that weren't in the Slytherin house in to a giggle fit. Rebecca laughed right along with everyone else and really enjoyed the intensity of the game.
Ravenclaw was winning but not by much when Ryan scored the tying points. After that Russel started to fly around the field at a furious pace. The Ravenclaw seeker was in close pursuit, but a bludger sailed right at in the path so the seeker maneuver around it.
"Now that is timing," A.J. commented on the Slytherin beater's ablity to send the bludger right in front of some on to slow them down, knowing full well that the beater was meaning to hit the other player with it instead.
That slow-down costed Ravenclaw the match, because a few seconds later Russel caught the snitch and ended the match. Slytherin celebrated and everyone headed back to the castle.
As the rest of the Gryffindor students went to the common room to relax, Rebecca went up to get her books and head to the library.
"Hey where are you going?" James asked when he saw her walk down the dorm room steps with her arms full. Charlie, Colin, Cathrine, Greg, Sara, and Jacquelyn who were sitting around the fire with James turned around to see who he was talking to.
"Oh, I am just going to the library to get some work done." Rebecca replied as she walked across the room towards the portrait. She really wanted some time alone, but it wasn't to be.
"That's a good idea. I should do that too. I'll see you in the library," Sara called after Rebecca as she got up and headed to get her own books.
"We all should do that," Greg said as he went to get his books. With that the whole group gathered up their books and headed to the library.
Rebecca passed Russel on her way to the library.
"Hey, what did you think of the game?" he asked with a smile as they neared each other.
"It was a good match. Congratulations on the win," Rebecca said stopping herself from continuing to walk on because Russel stopped in his tracks and it would have been rude of her not to also. "Where are you headed?"
"Oh, I am just going the library to study."
"Really? ..." Russel stopped talking and glared down the hall.
Rebecca turned around to see what he was looking at and gave out a quiet sigh. It turned out it was just Charlie and the others.
"Hey Rebecca, see you in the library," Charlie said as he passed. Charlie looked over at Russel and gave him a questioning look as he passed.
Rebecca smiled slightly as she nodded at Charlie and then looked back at Russel to say, "Well I got to get going."
"Yeah, I'll probably see you later. I was planning to go to the library today, too. Bye."
Rebecca went into the library set her books with the others since it was the only available spot in the library and she headed off to find a book on potions.
It took her a little while, but she found the book and started to walk out of the section. Russel was standing with a book at the end of the aisle Rebecca was walking up and muttering to himself. Rebecca was absorbed in the book she found and didn't notice him. In fact she almost bumped into him when she passed.
"Sorry," Rebecca said glancing up from the book and continuing her way back to the table.
She took a few more steps and felt a headache starting. Rebecca was almost to the table when her vision went fuzzy. The next thing she knew she was falling, but she didn't hit anything.
Charlie had caught her for the second time that day. He helped her to a chair and knelt next to her to check her out. Everyone else got up to look at Rebecca in horror. Her color in her face had drained so that she was sheet white.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.
"Um. I think that I need to get back to the room," Rebecca said softly.
Charlie looked at the group and everyone went into action. Charlie picked Rebecca up while everyone else gathered up all the things they brought.
They were about to walk out when Russel appeared and asked, "Is everything okay? Rebecca, what happened?"
"Oh, she isn't feeling well. We're going to take her back to room," responded Cathrine for Rebecca.
The whole group moved out of the library and by the time they got through the portrait Rebecca was feeling better. Charlie finally let her down in a chair and knelt beside her look at her in the face.
"Are you sure you feel okay?" he asked concerned that he should have taken her to the infirmary instead of back to the common room.
"Yeah, I just need to sit here for a while," Rebecca softly said.
They studied in the common room for the rest of the day. No one let Rebecca get up until suppertime.
After the incident in the library, Rebecca decided to start to carry her medicine around with her until these headaches get under control. Rebecca had success the next couple of weeks with taking medicine whenever she felt a headache coming on. She made it through the rest of November without having a headache that would make her pass out.
The first week of December was different matter. Rebecca had a headache all the time. She passed out in potions one day, then in lunch the next day, and in the hall the day after that while walking past Ryan and Russel.
Charlie caught her every time. Rebecca didn't even know that Charlie was around but he always right there when she was about to collapse.
On Thursday of that week, Rebecca passed out in the hall again. Charlie had came out of the blue and caught her once again. Ryan, who always had his back to Rebecca the other times she passed out, saw it happen this time and came up to Rebecca.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Charlie looked at Rebecca to see how she was going to answer Ryan.
"I passed out from a headache." (After a quick glance at Charlie, who had a 'go on and tell him' expression on his face) ". um, I've, um, been doing it all week," Rebecca admitted. Ryan's jaw dropped and he stared at her. "I always feel better after, though, but I can't figure out why I keep getting the headaches when I have been getting them lately."
"Maybe you should go to Madame Pompfrey," Ryan stated. Charlie gave Rebecca a look to tell her 'see I am not the only one that thinks it.'
"Guys, I have been to numerous wizard doctors and they can't do anything for my headaches. I have had better luck when I use muggle medicine, but sometimes that doesn't work either. There really is nothing that can be done, okay?"
"Okay, I guess," Ryan said with a disapproving look, but he knew there was no arguing with her about it, at least not right now.
Rebecca didn't pass out again until the next day. She woke up feeling great and forgot to even take medicine with her to class, but felt that she better go get it when she had a chance. Rebecca had to rush up to her medicine from her nightstand before lunch.
As she rushed down to the great hall, A.J. walked past her and said, "With that speed, you could give Charlie a run for his money if you decided to try out for seeker." Rebecca smiled at him and kept going, because she was really hungry.
She passed Ryan and his group at the top of the stairs and then all of the sudden she got this horrible headache. Rebecca gasped and fell head over heals down the stairs. She tumbled down to the bottom of the steps.
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, Rebecca heard a lot of commotion around her. The Slytherin group had raced down the stairs, Cassie was hysterical and Ryan and the rest of the group were busy trying to get her calmed down so that she didn't get in the way of Rebecca getting help.
Charlie had rushed over about as soon as Rebecca hit the last step. He knelt down and tried to wake her up, but no success. Charlie ended up scooping her up in his arms and taking her to the infirmary.
Rebecca woke up in the infirmary late Friday night. She looked over to see Charlie was sitting by her bed.
"Hello," she said quietly and gave him a sweet smile.
"Hello, you gave us quite a scare," he said as he tucked a loose strand of Rebecca's hair behind her ear and giving her a sweet smile.
"Why am I here?" she asked and Charlie started to tell her what happened. As he talked, Rebecca tried to prop herself up on her arm to see if anyone else was there, but her whole body ached and she quickly dropped back into the bed. "Cassie went hysterical when you didn't get up. Ryan tried to calm her down, but it took Russel and him taking her by the arms and dragging her off. Russel looked upset, too," Charlie continued with the story.
"I bet it took them a while to get Cassie settled down," Rebecca said and they both chuckled, because they knew that Cassie was high maintenance.
Madame Pompfrey came in and ushered Charlie out so that Rebecca can rest.
Rebecca looked over as Charlie left to see that her bed side table was full of cards. There was one covered with smiley faces. She picked it up and saw that it was from Cathrine. Greg, Sara, James, Jacquelyn, and Colin had done individual card for her also. Charlie left a card for her too. There was also a get well card from the rest of the quidditch team. Aisha, Lauren, and Carolyn got together and made her one too.
There were cards from Gryffindor students from each year telling her to feel better soon. Even the students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sent a card from each house. Rebecca was surprised when she saw the Slytherin get well card was signed by more than just Ryan, Russel, Cassie, and Kirsta. She fell back to sleep looking at her cards happy that she was actually cared about in this school.
The next day Rebecca was release from Madame Pompfrey's care shortly before lunch. She got more medicine because she was sore and would be for a while.
As Rebecca was about to walk out, Madame Pompfrey said, "It's amazing that you didn't break anything with that fall. If it wasn't for the fact that you have a history of these headaches, I would have said someone was casting a spell on you."
Rebecca gingerly walked out of the infirmary and headed towards the Gryffindor tower with what Madame Pompfrey's theory running through her mind. Ryan came up to her to see how she was doing. Rebecca ended up telling him the theory about her. Ryan looked shocked and was about to say something when Cassie came up. Cassie inquired on how Rebecca was and then dragged Ryan to lunch.
Rebecca continued on her way passing Bill who gave her a smile to let her know he was glad to see her up and moving.
A.J. saw her in the halls and said, "Glad to see your up and moving. If you need anything, let me know." Rebecca smiled and continued to walk afraid to stop now, because the pain she was feeling might be worst when she tried to start walking again.
She was almost to the stairs to get to the tower when she saw Charlie and Greg were leaning up against the wall talking in the hall. Charlie saw her first and he smiled at her. Rebecca smiled back.
"Hey you're up and going," he said and Greg looked over and gave her a smile.
"I'll be right behind you just in case," Charlie said with a wink. Rebecca appreciated what he said and flashed a grateful smile at him.
Charlie followed her up to the common room and watched Rebecca go up the stairs to her room. She had made it up to there with a lot of pain. Rebecca couldn't believe how sore she was, but when reflecting on the fact that she fell down a flight of stairs she felt lucky she hadn't broke anything.
For the rest of the weekend Rebecca didn't do too much. She went down to the Great Hall for meals but didn't go any where else. Rebecca worked on her homework but couldn't sit down for any length of time so she had to do it in spurts.
Eventually Monday came and classes were going to start up again. Rebecca wasn't looking forward to them at all. She was still sore and had trouble sleeping because she couldn't lie in one position for a long time. This meant that she was tired all the time. The only good thing that happened in Rebecca's eyes was that she hadn't had a headache since Friday. She was able to walk to her classes by herself confident that she wasn't going to pass out again; because of the medication she had to help control the soreness she was experiencing would take care of any headaches she could be having. After lunch on Monday, Rebecca gathered up her book on the table to start for class.
She was just out of the Great Hall, when Charlie walked and took her bag from her and said, "I'll see you in class." Charlie walked off and joined with his friends as they headed to class. Rebecca was stunned for a moment and then had this sense of relief. Her books felt so heavy to her right now and it was nice not to have to carry them around right then.
When Rebecca made it to class, she found her books at her seat. She looked over at Charlie, who was busy talking to James. Charlie did glance over to see Rebecca looking at him. They exchanged smile and Rebecca whispered, "Thank you."
Rebecca fidgeted all through class. Class was finally over and everyone packed up to leave. Rebecca was just glad that she could get off her chair. It took her a while to pack up so she was the last student to leave. She gingerly walked out and once again Charlie walked up, took her bag, and told her that he would see her in class again.
'I must look like I am total pain, if Charlie is taking my books to class for me without me saying anything. . It is really sweet of him,' Rebecca thought to herself as she walked to the next class. Charlie continued to take her books from Rebecca and by Wednesday Rebecca was no longer surprised when he did so. Charlie didn't even say anything anymore he would just take her bag and walk away.
On Thursday, Rebecca was talking to Ryan when Charlie came up, took Rebecca's books out of her hands, and walked away. Ryan was shocked at what he saw. Charlie didn't ask Rebecca and she didn't even stop talking to Ryan to see what Charlie was doing. Ryan couldn't help but question Rebecca on this.
"What was that about?" he asked. Rebecca looked at him wondering what he was talking about.
"Huh?"
"Weasley just walked up and took your books from you and you didn't bat and eye about it. In fact he didn't even say anything to you at all," Ryan said getting a little hot under his collar.
"Oh," Rebecca said as she looked around to see if she could see Charlie. "He has been taking my books to class for me since my accident."
"Why? Did you ask him to?" Ryan's voice got more intense with every word.
"No," Rebecca said wondering what Ryan was going to accuse her of. Before Ryan could ask another question, Cassie came waltzing up to him and Rebecca.
"You are so lucky, Rebecca. Charlie is very attentive to you," gushed Cassie. She then turned to Ryan and said, "Don't you think that Charlie and your cousin would make a good couple?" Cassie smiled at him and Ryan put on a fake smile as Rebecca slightly blushed at the comment. Cassie may not have realized Ryan didn't like what she said, but Rebecca knew Ryan was keeping his true feelings hidden.
"Well I have to get going. I'll see you later," Rebecca said with a smile and left them in the hall.
Ryan fumed for a while about the situation. He was mad enough that he asked his friends what they had seen and to observe a little how Charlie and Rebecca interacted with each other.
At dinner Friday, the observations came back bring Ryan to the conclusion that there was really nothing going on between Rebecca and Charlie. They were not really around each other a lot and barely talked at lunch when they were around each other the most.
"What about in the Gryffindor tower?" asked Ryan second guessing his first conclusion.
"Kirsta said that A.J. said that they aren't around each other that much when he is in the common room. He's with his friends and she is helping some younger students usually. Besides, dude, your cousin wouldn't go for a guy like that?" Russel piped in, trying to calm Ryan down.
"Yeah, I guess, but."
"But what, Weasely was just being nice to her. She isn't falling for him. She is around him enough to know he is a loser."
"You really don't like him on or off the field do you, Russel?"
"What can I say? I can see through what everyone else can't."
"Anyways, I guess you're right. If they were dating we would see them around each other all the time even," Ryan finished and stared over to the Gryffindor table to see who Rebecca was talking to. When he saw it was A.J. that Rebecca was talking to, he turned his mind else were and forgot about the Rebecca and Charlie situation.
Everyone finished up eating and the students went back to their respective common rooms. Rebecca was tired and tried to get to bed early, but couldn't get comfortable. She grabbed her medicine bottle and went down stairs to the common room to get a glass. There weren't too many students in the room so Rebecca decided sit down on the couch to sit for a while.
Bill was close by sitting in a chair flipping through some books that did not look like regular text books. Rebecca hadn't had much interaction with him since that day at Diagon Alley, but they had talked a couple of times when some first years had asked for help for potions and Bill walked them over to Rebecca so he could go on rounds.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he said with a friendly smile.
Rebecca smiled back and responded with, "I'm not as sore as I was at first, but I am really tired now from being sore before that and not being able to rest. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Why don't you head up to bed, if you're tired? I know that it is early but it might be good for you to get some extra sleep." Bill gave her the same concerned look that Charlie had been giving her while she was having all those headaches.
"It's a good idea, but I was just up stairs and I couldn't get comfortable. In fact, I came down here to take my medicine and sit awhile so that I'll feel comfortable when I do go up to bed."
"Sounds like you have a plan. Here do you want to look at this while you are sitting down here?" Bill handed her a book on Defense against the Dark Arts written by the same wizard who wrote the other defense book he had gotten off the shelf for her at the end of August.
"Thanks," Rebecca said as she started flipping through the book.
Rebecca became fixated on the book. As she read, Rebecca put her feet up on the couch and laid her head on the arm rest. This was a really comfortable position for Rebecca. In fact, it was about as comfortable as she had been the whole week. Rebecca looked at the book for a while longer, but ended up falling asleep on the couch.
Bill was completely absorbed in to his book and didn't realize Rebecca was sleeping until Charlie came walking up until to talk to him.
"Hey Bill, What do you think of this?" he asked handing Bill a book. Charlie glanced over at the couch. He did a double take when he realized Rebecca was sleeping on the couch. He pointed at her and asked Bill, "How long has she been like that?"
Bill looked over at her and said, "Um, I don't know. She sat down there about three hours ago and who know when she drifted off to sleep."
"Well I guess we better wake her up and send her up to bed." Charlie knelt down next to Rebecca and shook her shoulder softly. "Rebecca. Hey, Becca," he softly said. Rebecca blinked and saw Charlie next to her.
"Hey," whispered Rebecca.
"I think it is time for you to get in your own bed." Rebecca nodded and started to get up. Charlie took her hand and they both stood up together.
Rebecca muttered, "Night," as she walked away.
"Night Becca," Charlie said.
"Good night, Rebecca," added Bill as he looked at Charlie strangely.
When Rebecca hit the stair, Charlie turned around to talk to his brother about what he came to talk about in the first place, but Bill had something else he wanted to talk about. "What was that about?" Bill asked giving Charlie a menacing smile.
Charlie sat down on the couch and looked at Bill confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on. 'Hey Becca,' and 'Night Becca.' As far as I know no one else calls her by that name. What is going on with you and her?"
"Nothing is going on with us. I am trying to be her friend that's all. You know I shorten names without even thinking. I call Ginny, Gin. Cathrine, Cat. Angel, A.J. and some time I just call him A or J. I would call Jacquelyn, Jackie if I didn't think that she would stop helping me with my homework if I did."
Charlie was acting nervous like he was hiding something by naming off all the shortened names, so Bill asked, "So nothing is going on?"
"Yes."
"You just want to be her friend?"
"Yes. Isn't that what I just said?"
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Bill laughed.
"What?"
"Nothing you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Whatever," Charlie said exasperated. Can you look at that book in your lap?"
Bill was still smiling as he looked at the book and started to help Charlie.
Rebecca heard bits and pieces of their conversation as she made her way up the stairs, but was too tired to make any sense of what they were saying. When she made it to her bed, she climbed in and fell right back to sleep.