Rebecca woke to an empty dorm room that Saturday. When she first opened her
eyes she thought she was missing a quidditch match, but then she remembered
it was December and there were no matches during the month. She looked
outside to see that the grounds were covered with a blanket of snow.
'There's no way that there would very be a match with all that snow,' she thought as she turned to go and get dressed. After she was done, Rebecca wanted to take her medicine to help combat the pain she felt. The soreness was lessening each day, but Madame Pompfrey told her to take all the medicine even if she thought she could go without it.
Rebecca went to get the bottle, but it wasn't in the room. She remembered she had taken it to the common room and so she headed down the stairs to find it.
There weren't that many students in the common room. In fact it was mostly first and second years, like Lauren and Aisha, down there. Charlie was sitting by the fire reading, but he was the only older student that Rebecca saw.
Rebecca started to look for the medicine, but it wasn't on any of the tables. She began to look under the tables and chairs in case it had gotten knocked on to the floor from where ever she had left it.
Charlie looked up from his book and saw her. "Hey what are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm looking for my medicine. I brought it down here last night, set it down some place, and forgot to take it back up with me. Now I can't find it," Rebecca said continuing her search.
"Would you like some help?"
"Um, yeah, that would be nice." Rebecca looked up and smiled at him.
They both started to look. In a matter of moments Charlie announced, "I found it."
"Thank you," Rebecca said as she walked over to Charlie.
Rebecca went back up to her room to take her medicine, then put it away, and came back to sit down with Charlie. After looking around the common room, Rebecca turned to Charlie and asked, "So, where is everyone, today?"
"Oh, they went to Hogsmeade," Charlie responded as he flipped through his book.
Normal Rebecca would have taken the answer and not ask anything else so she won't disturb what the person was doing. However, this time she was so shocked that she found herself asking, "You didn't go with them?"
Charlie closed his book, looked directly at her, and said, "Well, they were going to by each other Christmas gift. You know boyfriend and girlfriend stuff. I was going to be a fifth wheel in the group, so I decided to stay here. Bill actually asked if I wanted to go with him, but he seemed to have something up his sleeve when he asked so I declined," Charlie paused for a moment and just looked Rebecca. "You've never been, have you?"
"No," Rebecca said and then thought for a moment "Do you want to go with me?"
Rebecca was surprised herself with the question she posed to Charlie, but his response was an immediate "Yeah, let's go."
They both grabbed their cloaks and scarves and headed out of the castle talking about whatever came to there minds.
They made it to the front entrance of the Hogwarts and Charlie suddenly stopped.
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked looking at the door.
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking. Why don't you tell me where we are going?"
"Do you want to get lost?"
"Well if it means that we get to talk a lot then Yes, I want to get lost." They both laugh alittle.
"How about you lead and we make an agreement that as we answer any questions that the other one asks?"
"Sounds good to me," Charlie said leading the way, "I'll start. Do you remember when we first met?"
"Yeah, you and your family helped me on to Platform 9 ¾."
"No when we actually got to talk to one another."
"Yeah, we were in the carriage on our way to the castle."
"Well I asked you a question and you never answered me."
"Really?" Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks. "What was it?"
"I asked you why you transferred to Hogwarts, but you were too infatuated by the sights that you didn't hear me."
"Oh I'm sorry. I guess you want me to answer it now," Rebecca said giving Charlie a mischievous smile.
Charlie threw a snowball at Rebecca and shouted "YES!" in a playful voice.
Rebecca threw one back as they started a full fledged snowball fight.
After a few minutes of laughing and throwing snowballs, Rebecca realized that she couldn't win the 'fight'. So before Charlie could get another snowball off, she ducked behind a large tree. Charlie started to walk around the tree but Rebecca started walking the other way so he couldn't see her. The snow was crisp so there was a crackle sound when someone up their foot down in the snow, so Rebecca could hear which way Charlie was going and go the other way.
After a few times around the tree, the snow was so beaten down that there was no sound from the Charlie's step anymore. It was time to start guessing which way to go. Rebecca tried to go one way, but ran into Charlie. He grabbed her arm and held a snowball over her head.
"Truce," shouted Rebecca through her laughter.
"Tell me the answer to my question," Charlie laughed.
"Get rid of the snowball first," Rebecca cried through her laughter. Charlie dropped the snowball and they laughed for a while.
When they calmed down they continued on their journey to Hogsmeade and Rebecca answered the question. "My parents' will has different stipulations in it for my up bringing. One was that I went to different schools and that is why I transferred," Rebecca said soberly.
"What?" Charlie stopped and looked at her with a little concern at how she spoke those words.
"I get instructions on what I am going to do through the will." Charlie didn't say anything so Rebecca continued. "I know it sounds funny, but I don't really remember it being any other way. I get a letter with the stipulation that my parents set up and I follow the instructions. After everything I do, I go to the next step. Wadsworth used to tell me that it was to make me a well rounded person that is worthy of my destiny. Whatever that means? Anyways, I've done a lot of different things and learned a lot of different things over the years. I usually get a freedom from it, kind of like I take a test before I can do something without having to ask. It has been pretty cool, because it is kind of like my parents are guiding me through life even though they aren't right here with me." Rebecca smiled at the last thing she said.
Charlie felt more comfortable with Rebecca smiling and said, "I'm sorry about your parents and your guardian." He paused for a moment as Rebecca smiled at him and then he playfully added, "I think that my mother should take some points. A note telling me exactly what she wants me to do is better than getting told a million times. I think she thinks that I can't remember she told me anything. It might even work for my dad too. He."
"What's your family like?" Rebecca asked all of the sudden when he mentioned his parents. She had been dying to know about them since she had seen them on the street at Diagon Alley.
Charlie started tell her of his family and they started walking again. They were laughing as he told stories of his siblings. Rebecca had all the names and ages of Charlie's family down in a very short time.
They were almost to Hogsmeade when Rebecca slipped on some ice. Charlie caught her before she hit the ground and helped her stand up right. Rebecca was laughing when Charlie took her by the hand and said, "I better keep a hold of you so you don't hurt yourself."
They continued walking hand in hand and talking as they headed into the village. "Let's go into the Three Broomstick and get warmed up, before we go explore the town. Sound good?" Charlie said looking at Rebecca as the past the first building of the village.
"That sounds great. Let's go," Rebecca excitedly said.
Rebecca and Charlie walked into the Three Broomsticks. It was crowded with students. After a moment, Charlie spotted a table for two and they headed over to it.
Ryan was with his group of friends were in the tavern and saw Rebecca walk in with Charlie. Russel saw them too and walked with Ryan over to intercept Rebecca on her way to the table.
"Hey, Rebecca! . Why are you wet?" Ryan asked.
"Oh, hey," Rebecca said with a smile, "um, Charlie and I got into a snowball fight on our way here." Russel glared at Charlie when she said this.
"You came with Weasley?" questioned Ryan.
"Yeah, he was nice enough to bring me here," answered Rebecca and she started to explain to them how she woke up late and no one was around, but Charlie. They decided to come down here because it was where all the students were.
"Oh well wasn't that nice. . Um, I got an idea why don't you come around with my friends and me for the rest of the day? I'm sure Charlie would like to catch up with his friend and we can show you around then," Ryan suggested. Russel who actually started to smile to show he approved of the proposal.
Rebecca gave them a smile, but said, "Actually, Charlie only came because I asked him to so I think I will stay with him, maybe some other time." Russel stopped smiling and Ryan looked confused when Rebecca turned and walked away them.
Rebecca made it to the table and found that Charlie had already ordered them some hot chocolate. Rebecca took her seat and looked at Charlie. "Thanks. I needed something warm to drink," she said.
Charlie smiled mischievously and said, "Well it does come with a price."
"And what is that?" Rebecca laughed knowing that Charlie had something up his sleeve.
"You have to answer another question for me."
"What's the question?"
"Why were you so surprised that you were put into Gryffindor at the beginning of the year?"
Rebecca looked at Charlie shocked and stuttered, "I. I. just didn't think that I belonged in the house. I could see qualities of the other houses in me but when it came to the brave Gryffindors I didn't think I had what I needed in me to fit. I never felt brave about anything, so when the sorting hat called out 'Gryffindor,' I felt like there was a mistake."
Charlie looked at Rebecca right eyes and said, "Why did you ever think that? You are one of the bravest people I know. You switched schools this year and had to make all new friends. The person giving you guidance in life died and you still keep going. You stand up to people and even though you're a very independent person, you ask for help when you really need it. You raised your hand in Snape's class and even if you didn't have any other example of bravery that is more than enough to prove that you are a very courageous person."
"I never thought of it that way." 'What a guy! He knew exactly what to say,' she thought to herself. 'Can't believe he remember my reaction to the sorting.' Rebecca smiled and took a sip of her hot chocolate.
They continued to talking as the sipped on their drinks. Charlie somehow got Rebecca to admit that all the changes in her life made her never take anything for granted, even if all the clues point in the same direction. Sometimes she believed that she was just seeing things that didn't really exist.
Eventually, their conversation turned to quidditch when Rebecca told Charlie of what she had first thought when she woke up that morning. Rebecca admitted to Charlie that she didn't know too much about the sport.
Charlie was in disbelief and said, "But you act like you understand what is going on at the last match."
"I get the rules, I just don't know much else about it like what certain maneuvers are called and the history behind it," Rebecca responded.
"You've never read Quidditch through the Ages, then?"
"No, I don't even own that book."
"I'll let you borrow my copy."
"I'll hold you to that."
They both smiled and sipped on their hot cocoa.
After talking some more, they were warmed up and their clothes were dry. "You ready to explore the town?" Charlie asked when their mugs were finally empty.
"Yeah, let's go," said Rebecca excitedly.
"Do you know where you want to go?"
"Everywhere!"
"Okay," Charlie laughed. "How about we go to Zonko's, the joke store, first, then we will go to Honeydukes, the candy store, and then see what else there is to see. Sound good?" Rebecca nodded and they got up.
Ryan and Russel didn't notice them leave even though they had been keeping an eye on them for most of the time, because Cassie was making a fuss about Christmas presents and demanded their attention.
Rebecca and Charlie walked across the street and were almost to the door when Charlie slipped on the ice. Though he didn't fall, Rebecca took his hand and playfully mimicked Charlie as she said, "I better keep a hold of you so you don't hurt yourself." She pause briefly thinking and then added, "Of course if you fall, you'll probably take me down with you."
Charlie, who had been smiling at her since Rebecca repeated his words, busted up laughing with her last comment. Rebecca started laughing too and they walked into the store hand in hand.
In the joke store, they continued to laugh as they walked around the store looking at all the items. They spotted Colin and Cathrine looking at different items, whispering to each other, and then laughing. "Looks like some people are getting ideas for new pranks, we better keep an eye on them when we are all back at the castle," Charlie said as he lead Rebecca past them giving them a smile. Colin and Cathrine flashed innocent smiles at him and then went back to their planning.
As they continued down the aisles, Charlie picked up an assortment of tricks. "My brothers, the twins, will love these," Charlie said as he bought them.
"Will your mother?" Rebecca asked smiling.
"No, I'll probably get a howler when they finally decide to use them." They both laughed and started towards the door passing on their way out Ryan and his Slytherin group.
"Now, which way?" Rebecca giddily asked when they got out the door.
"This way," Charlie pointed and they started walking to Honeydukes hand in hand.
They walked around the sweet shop looking at the selection and talking about what they liked and didn't like. They ran into James and Jacquelyn and told them "Hi," but continued on through the store by themselves.
Charlie started to pick up items as he looked. "I think this is what Ron likes," Charlie said as he picked up some sweets for Christmas presents. "I always forget who likes what."
"Do you always give your siblings candy for Christmas?"
"Yeah, it usually is part of the gift I give them. You must think these are a lot of gifts for me to buy?" Charlie said as he headed to the register to pay for his gifts.
"No, it must be nice to have someone to buy presents for," Rebecca said as she joined Charlie at the check out counter. Even though she was smiling, Charlie could see there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"You don't have anyone to buy gifts for," Charlie said as he paid.
"Not anymore," Rebecca softly said as she started to think about Wadsworth and what she got him last Christmas.
It was in that moment that Charlie realized how lonely Rebecca was and how lucky he was to have a family. He turned to Rebecca and suddenly said, "Well, let's exchange gifts then."
"Are you sure?" Rebecca said hesitantly. She knew his family didn't have a lot of money and adding a new person to his list might make things financially tighter for him.
"Yeah," Charlie said with a soothing tone in his voice that made Rebecca more relaxed about the idea.
She smiled and said, "That would be nice," as they walked out of the door.
They stood outside, set a price limit and a time to meet back at the Three Broomsticks. They then headed separate directions in search of gifts for one another.
Charlie knew exactly where he was going and what he was getting Rebecca, so he went to pick up some more gifts for his family before he would get Rebecca's.
He ended up running into Sara on his way to the bookstore. "Hey Sara, How's your day going?"
"Hey, Charlie. It's going pretty good. I got Greg's gift while he went off to who knows where. . Um, I thought you weren't coming today?"
"Well, I wasn't but Becca woke up and asked where everyone was at and since she had never been here before I brought her down."
"Where is she at?" Sara asked concerned that when looked around for Rebecca there was no Rebecca to be found.
"Oh she is off doing some Christmas shopping."
"By herself?"
"Yeah, she is buying a gift for me so I can't be around when she gets it and besides it gives me a chance to get her gift."
"You guys are getting each other gifts?"
"Yeah, Rebecca doesn't have anyone to buy gifts from so since we're friends I suggested that we exchange gifts."
Sara nodded wondering what was going through Charlie's head and asked, "So what are you going to get her?"
"A book"
Sara rolled her eyes and muttered, "How romantic?"
"What?"
"Oh, um, I was just wondering what Rebecca was going to get you. Well I got to go and meet Greg. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, Bye," Charlie said as Sara left. 'I wonder what Rebecca is going to get me," he thought to himself heading into the bookstore.
Rebecca had an idea of what she was going to get, but didn't know where to get it. She wandered up the street looking at the different store windows to see what they sold.
Finally, she found the store with a broomstick in the window. She was walking in as Greg walked out. "Hey Rebecca, what are you doing?" he said smiling at her.
"Oh just looking around," she responded looking at her shoes for a second.
"Are you here with anyone?"
"Well, Charlie and I came together, but we separated so we could do some Christmas shopping."
"Oh well that's cool. Too bad Charlie didn't come this way."
"Really, why?"
"Their having a sale on quidditch arm pads in there and he needed a new set. He might be able to get a better pair than he was expecting to."
"Well, maybe he'll come down this way."
"Maybe, but I think he was going to have to wait until after Christmas to get them anyways. Well I got to get going and find Sara since she was off shopping by herself. I'll see you later."
"Yeah, I'll see you." As Greg walked away, Rebecca skipped into the store. Greg told her exactly what she wanted to know.
Rebecca walked in and found the right section for arm pads. She was looking at the different types of arm pads when someone walked up behind her.
Rebecca jumped a little when she heard a male voice say, "Thinking of taking up Quidditch?"
She turned around found it was Russel. "Oh you scared me. Um no, not exactly, I was looking for a Christmas present. Unfortunately, I have no clue what I am looking for in quality or anything else for that matter."
"Well I can help you there." Russel started going into the different brand and which were high quality arm pads. In about a half an hour, Rebecca had a high quality set that she really like and really wanted to get Charlie but they were over the price limit. After about a minute of just staring at the set, Rebecca decided she didn't care about how much they cost. Charlie had done so much for her this year she needed to show him that she did appreciate it and that he was a really great guy.
She bought the pair and walked out of the store with Russel close behind her. "So Rebecca who are they for?" he asked once they were outside.
"Oh they're for Charlie. . Well, I got to get going and find him. Thanks for your help. I'll see you later," said Rebecca as she started back towards the Three Broomsticks leaving Russel standing there just staring at her.
"I help her pick out a gift for him," he angrily muttered to himself
Charlie met Rebecca at the front of the tavern. They both had their bags behind there backs so that the other couldn't see what they had gotten.
"Ready to go," Charlie asked as Rebecca came closer.
"Yeah," Rebecca said. "So, what'd you get me?" Rebecca gave him a mischievous smile.
Charlie looked at her and parroted back at her, "What'd you get me?"
"It's a secret."
"What a coincidence, so is what I got you." Rebecca playfully dropped her jaw to act like she was shocked and then started to laugh.
They, then, took each others hand and stepped on the slippery path back to Hogwarts.
Charlie and Rebecca tried get a glimpse at what the other one had gotten them the whole walk back to Hogwarts and laughing when they got caught doing so.
Before they knew it, they were in at the gate. They passed on their way up to the castle some first years who were sledding.
After they made it up to the Gryffindor and hide the gifts in their rooms, Charlie and Rebecca meet back in the Common Room. "So what should we do now?" Rebecca asked seeing that they were the only ones that were back from Hogsmeade.
"Well we could study."
"Ugh!"
"We could sleep."
"I'm not really that tired, right now."
"That's good, because neither am I. How about we go sledding?"
"Sounds good to me." Charlie and Rebecca smiled at each other and headed back outside.
The two were sledding for a long time and Rebecca was having the best time. She hadn't laughed so much since she left Beauxbatons. Finally, the other students started coming back from Hogsmeade so Charlie and Rebecca decided they better go in and get warmed up.
Rebecca threw a snowball at Charlie and dashed off towards the castle laughing. Charlie was in pursuit of her laughing all the way. Rebecca was almost to the front door when she slipped on an ice patch and fell. Charlie dropped down beside her.
"Are you alright?" he asked touching her face softly.
"Yeah, I just slipped," responded Rebecca.
She tired to get up, but Charlie scooped her up before she could even sit herself up. Charlie walked into the castle and up to the common room, before he let Rebecca down. He sat her in the chair next to the fire.
James and Jacquelyn were sitting on the couch and looked at them curiously. With in a second, Colin, Cathrine, Greg, and Sara came up to see what was going on. Both Rebecca and Charlie were not aware that they had an audience. They were just staring into each others eyes. Rebecca couldn't believe that Charlie carried her all the way up there.
Finally, Charlie whispered, "You are sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," Rebecca whispered back.
"Well I think we need to get out of these wet clothes then."
Rebecca nodded and started to get up with Charlie's help. James and the rest of the gang started to act like they hadn't been paying attention when Rebecca started to move.
As soon as Charlie and Rebecca were out of sight, they started to whisper to each other about what they saw and speculating whether Charlie and Rebecca were a couple now or not.
"Did anyone else see Charlie or Rebecca or both of them at Hogsmeade?" Sara asked looking around the group.
"We saw them in Zonko's," Colin volunteered.
"Yeah, Charlie had a hold of her hand as they walked past us," added Cathrine.
"We saw them at Honeydukes. They were holding hands there as well," Jacquelyn said.
James thought for a moment and said, "You know it is sort of funny that Charlie only said 'Hi' to us. Usually if he is doing something he'll invite us to join him. It was like he just wanted it to stay only him and Rebecca walking around."
"Well, I don't know. I saw Rebecca by herself outside of the quidditch shop and nothing seemed that out of the ordinary. She was just going to do some shopping," stated Greg.
Sara looked at him and stated, "She was buying Charlie a gift."
"What?" Greg said looking at her surprised.
"I saw Charlie outside of the bookstore. When I asked him what he was doing since he said that he wasn't going with us this morning, he said that Rebecca wanted to come so he came with her. Rebecca wasn't around so I asked where she was at and he told me about how they were exchanging gifts and that they separated to shop for each other," Sara informed the group.
"Huh? Then they must be going out now," said Cathrine.
"I don't think so. When I talked to him, he referred to them as friends. And we all know that Charlie would say girlfriend if they were actually dating," stated Sara.
"It is so obvious that they would be perfect together. Why can't Charlie see that?" wondered Jacquelyn.
Colin then got a mischievous smile on his face and said, "Maybe Charlie needs a little help seeing it."
"Oh, yes, I bet we could come up with some great pranks that would get them together," Cathrine excitedly added.
Greg could see that Colin and Cathrine's minds were already at work formulating plans and he need to get them to slow down, so he said, "Um guys we don't know what transpired when they left Hogsmeade. They could have changed from just being friends to a couple after they left. Let's watch them and see what is going on before we start meddling."
Everyone agreed and started talking about other things as Charlie and Rebecca finished changing up stairs.
Rebecca got changed and looked at the clock. There was an hour before dinner, plenty of time to get a little studying done. Rebecca walked down to the common room with some of her books. Charlie met Rebecca on the stairs with some of his books.
"Going to study?" he asked playfully.
"Yeah, that was my plan. It looks like you read my mind," Rebecca laughed. Charlie laughed and followed Rebecca into the common room. They found some seats together and started to study not aware that their friends were watching them closely.
Soon it was time to go down to dinner. Rebecca and Charlie walked down to dinner together and got a lot of looks from the other students.
"Wonder why they're all staring?" Rebecca asked looking at Charlie with a puzzled face.
"Who knows? I guess we'll find out at dinner when the rumor comes through the grape vine." Charlie said looking around at the students.
He and Rebecca walked in to the Great Hall. As Charlie proceeded to the table, Rebecca was stopped by Ryan who was waiting for her.
"Hey, Rebecca how was your day?" he said.
"Hey Ryan, my day was great. I had a lot of fun. How was yours?" Rebecca said with a smile barely able to contain any of her enthusiasm for the day.
"Um, I had a good day. Listen Rebecca, I heard that Weasley carried you into the castle," Ryan said nervously.
"Oh, that must be why everyone was looking at us," Rebecca said with innocent smile.
"What?!"
"Charlie and I went sledding this afternoon when we came back from Hogsmeade. When we were coming back in, I slipped on some ice and fell. Charlie picked me up and brought me in."
"Did he carry you all the way up to Gryffindor tower?"
"Yeah? Why?"
Ryan was getting frustrated with Rebecca's attitude towards the situation. 'She is acting like it is an everyday occurrence. Why?' he thought. Ryan was about to ask round of questions when Cassie and Kirsta came up, so he had to cool off.
"Hey. How are you, Rebecca? That was so sweet of Charlie to carry you into the castle. You're so lucky to have him. ... Come on Ryan let's go get a seat," Cassie said as she scooted Ryan towards the Slytherin table.
Rebecca was so glad to see Cassie. She couldn't grasp what Ryan was getting upset with, but Cassie was able to settle him down. In fact Cassie was always the one that could get Ryan off her back. 'I have a new favorite person,' Rebecca laughed as she took her seat for dinner and started to talking to Charlie some more.
After dinner, Charlie and Rebecca walked up to the common room together. They ended up talking about Charlie's favorite class, Care of Magical Beasts. He was going on and on about dragons when they made it to the room.
"Where did you get this fascination of dragons from?" Rebecca asked amazed at Charlie's knowledge of dragons. She had never seen a dragon and had not learned a lot about them in her lifetime.
"Hold on a minute," Charlie said as he dashed off towards the bed rooms.
Rebecca sat down on the middle of the couch and looked out the window. It was snowing again and Rebecca smiled. Ever since she was little she loved it when it snowed, because snow falling was the most magical thing to her.
After a couple of minutes Charlie came back down and sat beside Rebecca. "Hey I thought you left me here," Rebecca joked.
Charlie smiled and said, "Sorry, it was deeper in my trunk then I thought." He showed Rebecca a book with a tattered cover and broken spine. "I got it for my 10th birthday from my grandparents. I can't even tell you how many times I've read it or even just looked at the pictures," he said as opened the book.
Rebecca sat back and leaned over to get a better look at the book. She and Charlie sat there for hours talking and looking at Charlie's old book. Rebecca started to get tired but didn't want to go to bed.
'It's been a perfect day. I don't want it to end just yet,' she thought to herself as she laid her head on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie smile to himself and kept on talking about dragons They sat there for another hour until they decided it was time to go to bed.
'There's no way that there would very be a match with all that snow,' she thought as she turned to go and get dressed. After she was done, Rebecca wanted to take her medicine to help combat the pain she felt. The soreness was lessening each day, but Madame Pompfrey told her to take all the medicine even if she thought she could go without it.
Rebecca went to get the bottle, but it wasn't in the room. She remembered she had taken it to the common room and so she headed down the stairs to find it.
There weren't that many students in the common room. In fact it was mostly first and second years, like Lauren and Aisha, down there. Charlie was sitting by the fire reading, but he was the only older student that Rebecca saw.
Rebecca started to look for the medicine, but it wasn't on any of the tables. She began to look under the tables and chairs in case it had gotten knocked on to the floor from where ever she had left it.
Charlie looked up from his book and saw her. "Hey what are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm looking for my medicine. I brought it down here last night, set it down some place, and forgot to take it back up with me. Now I can't find it," Rebecca said continuing her search.
"Would you like some help?"
"Um, yeah, that would be nice." Rebecca looked up and smiled at him.
They both started to look. In a matter of moments Charlie announced, "I found it."
"Thank you," Rebecca said as she walked over to Charlie.
Rebecca went back up to her room to take her medicine, then put it away, and came back to sit down with Charlie. After looking around the common room, Rebecca turned to Charlie and asked, "So, where is everyone, today?"
"Oh, they went to Hogsmeade," Charlie responded as he flipped through his book.
Normal Rebecca would have taken the answer and not ask anything else so she won't disturb what the person was doing. However, this time she was so shocked that she found herself asking, "You didn't go with them?"
Charlie closed his book, looked directly at her, and said, "Well, they were going to by each other Christmas gift. You know boyfriend and girlfriend stuff. I was going to be a fifth wheel in the group, so I decided to stay here. Bill actually asked if I wanted to go with him, but he seemed to have something up his sleeve when he asked so I declined," Charlie paused for a moment and just looked Rebecca. "You've never been, have you?"
"No," Rebecca said and then thought for a moment "Do you want to go with me?"
Rebecca was surprised herself with the question she posed to Charlie, but his response was an immediate "Yeah, let's go."
They both grabbed their cloaks and scarves and headed out of the castle talking about whatever came to there minds.
They made it to the front entrance of the Hogwarts and Charlie suddenly stopped.
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked looking at the door.
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking. Why don't you tell me where we are going?"
"Do you want to get lost?"
"Well if it means that we get to talk a lot then Yes, I want to get lost." They both laugh alittle.
"How about you lead and we make an agreement that as we answer any questions that the other one asks?"
"Sounds good to me," Charlie said leading the way, "I'll start. Do you remember when we first met?"
"Yeah, you and your family helped me on to Platform 9 ¾."
"No when we actually got to talk to one another."
"Yeah, we were in the carriage on our way to the castle."
"Well I asked you a question and you never answered me."
"Really?" Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks. "What was it?"
"I asked you why you transferred to Hogwarts, but you were too infatuated by the sights that you didn't hear me."
"Oh I'm sorry. I guess you want me to answer it now," Rebecca said giving Charlie a mischievous smile.
Charlie threw a snowball at Rebecca and shouted "YES!" in a playful voice.
Rebecca threw one back as they started a full fledged snowball fight.
After a few minutes of laughing and throwing snowballs, Rebecca realized that she couldn't win the 'fight'. So before Charlie could get another snowball off, she ducked behind a large tree. Charlie started to walk around the tree but Rebecca started walking the other way so he couldn't see her. The snow was crisp so there was a crackle sound when someone up their foot down in the snow, so Rebecca could hear which way Charlie was going and go the other way.
After a few times around the tree, the snow was so beaten down that there was no sound from the Charlie's step anymore. It was time to start guessing which way to go. Rebecca tried to go one way, but ran into Charlie. He grabbed her arm and held a snowball over her head.
"Truce," shouted Rebecca through her laughter.
"Tell me the answer to my question," Charlie laughed.
"Get rid of the snowball first," Rebecca cried through her laughter. Charlie dropped the snowball and they laughed for a while.
When they calmed down they continued on their journey to Hogsmeade and Rebecca answered the question. "My parents' will has different stipulations in it for my up bringing. One was that I went to different schools and that is why I transferred," Rebecca said soberly.
"What?" Charlie stopped and looked at her with a little concern at how she spoke those words.
"I get instructions on what I am going to do through the will." Charlie didn't say anything so Rebecca continued. "I know it sounds funny, but I don't really remember it being any other way. I get a letter with the stipulation that my parents set up and I follow the instructions. After everything I do, I go to the next step. Wadsworth used to tell me that it was to make me a well rounded person that is worthy of my destiny. Whatever that means? Anyways, I've done a lot of different things and learned a lot of different things over the years. I usually get a freedom from it, kind of like I take a test before I can do something without having to ask. It has been pretty cool, because it is kind of like my parents are guiding me through life even though they aren't right here with me." Rebecca smiled at the last thing she said.
Charlie felt more comfortable with Rebecca smiling and said, "I'm sorry about your parents and your guardian." He paused for a moment as Rebecca smiled at him and then he playfully added, "I think that my mother should take some points. A note telling me exactly what she wants me to do is better than getting told a million times. I think she thinks that I can't remember she told me anything. It might even work for my dad too. He."
"What's your family like?" Rebecca asked all of the sudden when he mentioned his parents. She had been dying to know about them since she had seen them on the street at Diagon Alley.
Charlie started tell her of his family and they started walking again. They were laughing as he told stories of his siblings. Rebecca had all the names and ages of Charlie's family down in a very short time.
They were almost to Hogsmeade when Rebecca slipped on some ice. Charlie caught her before she hit the ground and helped her stand up right. Rebecca was laughing when Charlie took her by the hand and said, "I better keep a hold of you so you don't hurt yourself."
They continued walking hand in hand and talking as they headed into the village. "Let's go into the Three Broomstick and get warmed up, before we go explore the town. Sound good?" Charlie said looking at Rebecca as the past the first building of the village.
"That sounds great. Let's go," Rebecca excitedly said.
Rebecca and Charlie walked into the Three Broomsticks. It was crowded with students. After a moment, Charlie spotted a table for two and they headed over to it.
Ryan was with his group of friends were in the tavern and saw Rebecca walk in with Charlie. Russel saw them too and walked with Ryan over to intercept Rebecca on her way to the table.
"Hey, Rebecca! . Why are you wet?" Ryan asked.
"Oh, hey," Rebecca said with a smile, "um, Charlie and I got into a snowball fight on our way here." Russel glared at Charlie when she said this.
"You came with Weasley?" questioned Ryan.
"Yeah, he was nice enough to bring me here," answered Rebecca and she started to explain to them how she woke up late and no one was around, but Charlie. They decided to come down here because it was where all the students were.
"Oh well wasn't that nice. . Um, I got an idea why don't you come around with my friends and me for the rest of the day? I'm sure Charlie would like to catch up with his friend and we can show you around then," Ryan suggested. Russel who actually started to smile to show he approved of the proposal.
Rebecca gave them a smile, but said, "Actually, Charlie only came because I asked him to so I think I will stay with him, maybe some other time." Russel stopped smiling and Ryan looked confused when Rebecca turned and walked away them.
Rebecca made it to the table and found that Charlie had already ordered them some hot chocolate. Rebecca took her seat and looked at Charlie. "Thanks. I needed something warm to drink," she said.
Charlie smiled mischievously and said, "Well it does come with a price."
"And what is that?" Rebecca laughed knowing that Charlie had something up his sleeve.
"You have to answer another question for me."
"What's the question?"
"Why were you so surprised that you were put into Gryffindor at the beginning of the year?"
Rebecca looked at Charlie shocked and stuttered, "I. I. just didn't think that I belonged in the house. I could see qualities of the other houses in me but when it came to the brave Gryffindors I didn't think I had what I needed in me to fit. I never felt brave about anything, so when the sorting hat called out 'Gryffindor,' I felt like there was a mistake."
Charlie looked at Rebecca right eyes and said, "Why did you ever think that? You are one of the bravest people I know. You switched schools this year and had to make all new friends. The person giving you guidance in life died and you still keep going. You stand up to people and even though you're a very independent person, you ask for help when you really need it. You raised your hand in Snape's class and even if you didn't have any other example of bravery that is more than enough to prove that you are a very courageous person."
"I never thought of it that way." 'What a guy! He knew exactly what to say,' she thought to herself. 'Can't believe he remember my reaction to the sorting.' Rebecca smiled and took a sip of her hot chocolate.
They continued to talking as the sipped on their drinks. Charlie somehow got Rebecca to admit that all the changes in her life made her never take anything for granted, even if all the clues point in the same direction. Sometimes she believed that she was just seeing things that didn't really exist.
Eventually, their conversation turned to quidditch when Rebecca told Charlie of what she had first thought when she woke up that morning. Rebecca admitted to Charlie that she didn't know too much about the sport.
Charlie was in disbelief and said, "But you act like you understand what is going on at the last match."
"I get the rules, I just don't know much else about it like what certain maneuvers are called and the history behind it," Rebecca responded.
"You've never read Quidditch through the Ages, then?"
"No, I don't even own that book."
"I'll let you borrow my copy."
"I'll hold you to that."
They both smiled and sipped on their hot cocoa.
After talking some more, they were warmed up and their clothes were dry. "You ready to explore the town?" Charlie asked when their mugs were finally empty.
"Yeah, let's go," said Rebecca excitedly.
"Do you know where you want to go?"
"Everywhere!"
"Okay," Charlie laughed. "How about we go to Zonko's, the joke store, first, then we will go to Honeydukes, the candy store, and then see what else there is to see. Sound good?" Rebecca nodded and they got up.
Ryan and Russel didn't notice them leave even though they had been keeping an eye on them for most of the time, because Cassie was making a fuss about Christmas presents and demanded their attention.
Rebecca and Charlie walked across the street and were almost to the door when Charlie slipped on the ice. Though he didn't fall, Rebecca took his hand and playfully mimicked Charlie as she said, "I better keep a hold of you so you don't hurt yourself." She pause briefly thinking and then added, "Of course if you fall, you'll probably take me down with you."
Charlie, who had been smiling at her since Rebecca repeated his words, busted up laughing with her last comment. Rebecca started laughing too and they walked into the store hand in hand.
In the joke store, they continued to laugh as they walked around the store looking at all the items. They spotted Colin and Cathrine looking at different items, whispering to each other, and then laughing. "Looks like some people are getting ideas for new pranks, we better keep an eye on them when we are all back at the castle," Charlie said as he lead Rebecca past them giving them a smile. Colin and Cathrine flashed innocent smiles at him and then went back to their planning.
As they continued down the aisles, Charlie picked up an assortment of tricks. "My brothers, the twins, will love these," Charlie said as he bought them.
"Will your mother?" Rebecca asked smiling.
"No, I'll probably get a howler when they finally decide to use them." They both laughed and started towards the door passing on their way out Ryan and his Slytherin group.
"Now, which way?" Rebecca giddily asked when they got out the door.
"This way," Charlie pointed and they started walking to Honeydukes hand in hand.
They walked around the sweet shop looking at the selection and talking about what they liked and didn't like. They ran into James and Jacquelyn and told them "Hi," but continued on through the store by themselves.
Charlie started to pick up items as he looked. "I think this is what Ron likes," Charlie said as he picked up some sweets for Christmas presents. "I always forget who likes what."
"Do you always give your siblings candy for Christmas?"
"Yeah, it usually is part of the gift I give them. You must think these are a lot of gifts for me to buy?" Charlie said as he headed to the register to pay for his gifts.
"No, it must be nice to have someone to buy presents for," Rebecca said as she joined Charlie at the check out counter. Even though she was smiling, Charlie could see there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"You don't have anyone to buy gifts for," Charlie said as he paid.
"Not anymore," Rebecca softly said as she started to think about Wadsworth and what she got him last Christmas.
It was in that moment that Charlie realized how lonely Rebecca was and how lucky he was to have a family. He turned to Rebecca and suddenly said, "Well, let's exchange gifts then."
"Are you sure?" Rebecca said hesitantly. She knew his family didn't have a lot of money and adding a new person to his list might make things financially tighter for him.
"Yeah," Charlie said with a soothing tone in his voice that made Rebecca more relaxed about the idea.
She smiled and said, "That would be nice," as they walked out of the door.
They stood outside, set a price limit and a time to meet back at the Three Broomsticks. They then headed separate directions in search of gifts for one another.
Charlie knew exactly where he was going and what he was getting Rebecca, so he went to pick up some more gifts for his family before he would get Rebecca's.
He ended up running into Sara on his way to the bookstore. "Hey Sara, How's your day going?"
"Hey, Charlie. It's going pretty good. I got Greg's gift while he went off to who knows where. . Um, I thought you weren't coming today?"
"Well, I wasn't but Becca woke up and asked where everyone was at and since she had never been here before I brought her down."
"Where is she at?" Sara asked concerned that when looked around for Rebecca there was no Rebecca to be found.
"Oh she is off doing some Christmas shopping."
"By herself?"
"Yeah, she is buying a gift for me so I can't be around when she gets it and besides it gives me a chance to get her gift."
"You guys are getting each other gifts?"
"Yeah, Rebecca doesn't have anyone to buy gifts from so since we're friends I suggested that we exchange gifts."
Sara nodded wondering what was going through Charlie's head and asked, "So what are you going to get her?"
"A book"
Sara rolled her eyes and muttered, "How romantic?"
"What?"
"Oh, um, I was just wondering what Rebecca was going to get you. Well I got to go and meet Greg. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, Bye," Charlie said as Sara left. 'I wonder what Rebecca is going to get me," he thought to himself heading into the bookstore.
Rebecca had an idea of what she was going to get, but didn't know where to get it. She wandered up the street looking at the different store windows to see what they sold.
Finally, she found the store with a broomstick in the window. She was walking in as Greg walked out. "Hey Rebecca, what are you doing?" he said smiling at her.
"Oh just looking around," she responded looking at her shoes for a second.
"Are you here with anyone?"
"Well, Charlie and I came together, but we separated so we could do some Christmas shopping."
"Oh well that's cool. Too bad Charlie didn't come this way."
"Really, why?"
"Their having a sale on quidditch arm pads in there and he needed a new set. He might be able to get a better pair than he was expecting to."
"Well, maybe he'll come down this way."
"Maybe, but I think he was going to have to wait until after Christmas to get them anyways. Well I got to get going and find Sara since she was off shopping by herself. I'll see you later."
"Yeah, I'll see you." As Greg walked away, Rebecca skipped into the store. Greg told her exactly what she wanted to know.
Rebecca walked in and found the right section for arm pads. She was looking at the different types of arm pads when someone walked up behind her.
Rebecca jumped a little when she heard a male voice say, "Thinking of taking up Quidditch?"
She turned around found it was Russel. "Oh you scared me. Um no, not exactly, I was looking for a Christmas present. Unfortunately, I have no clue what I am looking for in quality or anything else for that matter."
"Well I can help you there." Russel started going into the different brand and which were high quality arm pads. In about a half an hour, Rebecca had a high quality set that she really like and really wanted to get Charlie but they were over the price limit. After about a minute of just staring at the set, Rebecca decided she didn't care about how much they cost. Charlie had done so much for her this year she needed to show him that she did appreciate it and that he was a really great guy.
She bought the pair and walked out of the store with Russel close behind her. "So Rebecca who are they for?" he asked once they were outside.
"Oh they're for Charlie. . Well, I got to get going and find him. Thanks for your help. I'll see you later," said Rebecca as she started back towards the Three Broomsticks leaving Russel standing there just staring at her.
"I help her pick out a gift for him," he angrily muttered to himself
Charlie met Rebecca at the front of the tavern. They both had their bags behind there backs so that the other couldn't see what they had gotten.
"Ready to go," Charlie asked as Rebecca came closer.
"Yeah," Rebecca said. "So, what'd you get me?" Rebecca gave him a mischievous smile.
Charlie looked at her and parroted back at her, "What'd you get me?"
"It's a secret."
"What a coincidence, so is what I got you." Rebecca playfully dropped her jaw to act like she was shocked and then started to laugh.
They, then, took each others hand and stepped on the slippery path back to Hogwarts.
Charlie and Rebecca tried get a glimpse at what the other one had gotten them the whole walk back to Hogwarts and laughing when they got caught doing so.
Before they knew it, they were in at the gate. They passed on their way up to the castle some first years who were sledding.
After they made it up to the Gryffindor and hide the gifts in their rooms, Charlie and Rebecca meet back in the Common Room. "So what should we do now?" Rebecca asked seeing that they were the only ones that were back from Hogsmeade.
"Well we could study."
"Ugh!"
"We could sleep."
"I'm not really that tired, right now."
"That's good, because neither am I. How about we go sledding?"
"Sounds good to me." Charlie and Rebecca smiled at each other and headed back outside.
The two were sledding for a long time and Rebecca was having the best time. She hadn't laughed so much since she left Beauxbatons. Finally, the other students started coming back from Hogsmeade so Charlie and Rebecca decided they better go in and get warmed up.
Rebecca threw a snowball at Charlie and dashed off towards the castle laughing. Charlie was in pursuit of her laughing all the way. Rebecca was almost to the front door when she slipped on an ice patch and fell. Charlie dropped down beside her.
"Are you alright?" he asked touching her face softly.
"Yeah, I just slipped," responded Rebecca.
She tired to get up, but Charlie scooped her up before she could even sit herself up. Charlie walked into the castle and up to the common room, before he let Rebecca down. He sat her in the chair next to the fire.
James and Jacquelyn were sitting on the couch and looked at them curiously. With in a second, Colin, Cathrine, Greg, and Sara came up to see what was going on. Both Rebecca and Charlie were not aware that they had an audience. They were just staring into each others eyes. Rebecca couldn't believe that Charlie carried her all the way up there.
Finally, Charlie whispered, "You are sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," Rebecca whispered back.
"Well I think we need to get out of these wet clothes then."
Rebecca nodded and started to get up with Charlie's help. James and the rest of the gang started to act like they hadn't been paying attention when Rebecca started to move.
As soon as Charlie and Rebecca were out of sight, they started to whisper to each other about what they saw and speculating whether Charlie and Rebecca were a couple now or not.
"Did anyone else see Charlie or Rebecca or both of them at Hogsmeade?" Sara asked looking around the group.
"We saw them in Zonko's," Colin volunteered.
"Yeah, Charlie had a hold of her hand as they walked past us," added Cathrine.
"We saw them at Honeydukes. They were holding hands there as well," Jacquelyn said.
James thought for a moment and said, "You know it is sort of funny that Charlie only said 'Hi' to us. Usually if he is doing something he'll invite us to join him. It was like he just wanted it to stay only him and Rebecca walking around."
"Well, I don't know. I saw Rebecca by herself outside of the quidditch shop and nothing seemed that out of the ordinary. She was just going to do some shopping," stated Greg.
Sara looked at him and stated, "She was buying Charlie a gift."
"What?" Greg said looking at her surprised.
"I saw Charlie outside of the bookstore. When I asked him what he was doing since he said that he wasn't going with us this morning, he said that Rebecca wanted to come so he came with her. Rebecca wasn't around so I asked where she was at and he told me about how they were exchanging gifts and that they separated to shop for each other," Sara informed the group.
"Huh? Then they must be going out now," said Cathrine.
"I don't think so. When I talked to him, he referred to them as friends. And we all know that Charlie would say girlfriend if they were actually dating," stated Sara.
"It is so obvious that they would be perfect together. Why can't Charlie see that?" wondered Jacquelyn.
Colin then got a mischievous smile on his face and said, "Maybe Charlie needs a little help seeing it."
"Oh, yes, I bet we could come up with some great pranks that would get them together," Cathrine excitedly added.
Greg could see that Colin and Cathrine's minds were already at work formulating plans and he need to get them to slow down, so he said, "Um guys we don't know what transpired when they left Hogsmeade. They could have changed from just being friends to a couple after they left. Let's watch them and see what is going on before we start meddling."
Everyone agreed and started talking about other things as Charlie and Rebecca finished changing up stairs.
Rebecca got changed and looked at the clock. There was an hour before dinner, plenty of time to get a little studying done. Rebecca walked down to the common room with some of her books. Charlie met Rebecca on the stairs with some of his books.
"Going to study?" he asked playfully.
"Yeah, that was my plan. It looks like you read my mind," Rebecca laughed. Charlie laughed and followed Rebecca into the common room. They found some seats together and started to study not aware that their friends were watching them closely.
Soon it was time to go down to dinner. Rebecca and Charlie walked down to dinner together and got a lot of looks from the other students.
"Wonder why they're all staring?" Rebecca asked looking at Charlie with a puzzled face.
"Who knows? I guess we'll find out at dinner when the rumor comes through the grape vine." Charlie said looking around at the students.
He and Rebecca walked in to the Great Hall. As Charlie proceeded to the table, Rebecca was stopped by Ryan who was waiting for her.
"Hey, Rebecca how was your day?" he said.
"Hey Ryan, my day was great. I had a lot of fun. How was yours?" Rebecca said with a smile barely able to contain any of her enthusiasm for the day.
"Um, I had a good day. Listen Rebecca, I heard that Weasley carried you into the castle," Ryan said nervously.
"Oh, that must be why everyone was looking at us," Rebecca said with innocent smile.
"What?!"
"Charlie and I went sledding this afternoon when we came back from Hogsmeade. When we were coming back in, I slipped on some ice and fell. Charlie picked me up and brought me in."
"Did he carry you all the way up to Gryffindor tower?"
"Yeah? Why?"
Ryan was getting frustrated with Rebecca's attitude towards the situation. 'She is acting like it is an everyday occurrence. Why?' he thought. Ryan was about to ask round of questions when Cassie and Kirsta came up, so he had to cool off.
"Hey. How are you, Rebecca? That was so sweet of Charlie to carry you into the castle. You're so lucky to have him. ... Come on Ryan let's go get a seat," Cassie said as she scooted Ryan towards the Slytherin table.
Rebecca was so glad to see Cassie. She couldn't grasp what Ryan was getting upset with, but Cassie was able to settle him down. In fact Cassie was always the one that could get Ryan off her back. 'I have a new favorite person,' Rebecca laughed as she took her seat for dinner and started to talking to Charlie some more.
After dinner, Charlie and Rebecca walked up to the common room together. They ended up talking about Charlie's favorite class, Care of Magical Beasts. He was going on and on about dragons when they made it to the room.
"Where did you get this fascination of dragons from?" Rebecca asked amazed at Charlie's knowledge of dragons. She had never seen a dragon and had not learned a lot about them in her lifetime.
"Hold on a minute," Charlie said as he dashed off towards the bed rooms.
Rebecca sat down on the middle of the couch and looked out the window. It was snowing again and Rebecca smiled. Ever since she was little she loved it when it snowed, because snow falling was the most magical thing to her.
After a couple of minutes Charlie came back down and sat beside Rebecca. "Hey I thought you left me here," Rebecca joked.
Charlie smiled and said, "Sorry, it was deeper in my trunk then I thought." He showed Rebecca a book with a tattered cover and broken spine. "I got it for my 10th birthday from my grandparents. I can't even tell you how many times I've read it or even just looked at the pictures," he said as opened the book.
Rebecca sat back and leaned over to get a better look at the book. She and Charlie sat there for hours talking and looking at Charlie's old book. Rebecca started to get tired but didn't want to go to bed.
'It's been a perfect day. I don't want it to end just yet,' she thought to herself as she laid her head on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie smile to himself and kept on talking about dragons They sat there for another hour until they decided it was time to go to bed.