For the next week, Rebecca tried to avoid Russel and practically all other
Slytherin, but not with much success. Every time she turned around Russel
was there. She couldn't figure out how he always seemed to be there where
she was when she was trying to stay away from him. Nothing happened when
Russel came near Rebecca, but she still didn't feel comfortable.
She found that her only safe place was with Charlie or in Gryffindor tower. Wood had the quidditch team training extra hard, so Charlie was around less and less at night. This caused Rebecca hang out in the tower and worked on her homework so that she wouldn't have any run in with Russel without someone with her that Russel might fear.
By Friday, Rebecca was tired of watching her back for what seemed to be nothing other than paranoia. Saturday was going to be a wonderful day in her mind because she didn't have to leave the tower other than for meals.
Saturday morning came and Rebecca woke up to find that it was raining. Rebecca got up and joined her friends to head down for breakfast. They barely got anything eaten because Cathrine and Colin were doing their best impression of James and Jacquelyn arguing over a homework problem. James spurred them on as Jacquelyn blushed until the two mimics did something so over the top that she could not help but join in on the laughter.
By the end of the meal the whole Gryffindor table was watching Cathrine and Colin and laughing. No one from the other houses could understand what was so funny, because they had never experienced the late night fights the two would have in the common room over their homework.
They went back up to the common room and relaxed and did some light homework during the hours between breakfast and lunch. After lunch it was still raining just harder than before so everyone sat in the common room talking. Rebecca started to yawn, a result of a mixture of being tired and the relaxing sound of the rain.
She had just gotten up and announced that she was going to go take a nap in her own bed when Professors McGonagall and Snape came into the room.
"We didn't do anything," Cathrine and Colin said in unison.
McGonagall and Snape gave them a suspicious looks and McGonagall said, "Thank you for that, but I am not here to tell anyone that they are in trouble."
Colin and Cathrine looked at each other knowing that they just caused themselves problems as McGongall continued, "Attention everyone. We are here to announce that the Slytherin common room and several of their other rooms are flooded."
"Oh, we really didn't do that," Colin stated to Cathrine.
McGonagall shook her had and the said, "so students from Slytherin will be sharing space in this house and the other two. It has been decided that first, third, and fifth years will be assigned to Gryffindor. Please help in making them feel welcome. And before any of you ask me how long this arrangement will be, let me just say that until the pipes are fixed in Slytherin the arrangement will continue and I don't know how long that will be. Thank and have a good afternoon."
With that Snape and McGonagall walked out of the room. All of the Gryffindors were stunned.
"I might as well move into the infirmary now?" Rebecca mutter looking down at her left wrist, which had just recently been deemed healed by Madame Pompfrey, and thinking of what years were going to be moving in.
Sara tried to laugh a little at Rebecca's comment and the others started to discuss the bad side of this situation.
Rebecca walked to the stairs to go to her room. She passed Lauren on her way and saw that Lauren was petrified.
"Don't worry about it. Harvey won't try anything while he is here or else one of the guys here will get him," Rebecca said giving Lauren a reassuring smile.
Lauren looked at her and asked, "What if other Slytherins get into it?"
"We only have to put up with 3 years worth. They have 7 years of Gryffindors to deal with."
Lauren smiled and looked relieved as Rebecca went to her room.
Rebecca fell asleep, but woke up soon after because someone jumped off her bed and ran out the door. After trying to fall back to sleep, Rebecca decided to get up and see what was going. She looked down at her hand to discover that there was a new wrap around her wrist that had her fingers bond together. The new wrap was secured with what looked like a smiley face sticker.
"Cathrine," muttered Rebecca with a smile as she walked out the door.
She stopped for a moment outside the door when she noticed that there was a new door to the left of her dorm room door. It was open so she glanced in side and noted that it was decorated in green and silver.
'Looks like we at least won't have to share rooms with them,' Rebecca thought as she continued walking.
She walked down the steps to the common room and looked around for Cathrine. The Slytherin students were moving in so the room was very crowded, but Rebecca located Cathrine on the couch in front of the fire with everyone else. Hiding her hand behind her back, Rebecca walked over.
Cathrine looked over as Rebecca approached and asked in an innocent voice, "So how was your nap?"
"Oh it was good," Rebecca responded. "Um, Cathrine, did you go up to the room while I was asleep?"
Cathrine tried to look as innocent as possible as the rest of the group looked at her and she asked, "Why?"
"Because when I woke up my hand wrapped like this." Rebecca revealed her hand and started to giggle. "I feel like I have a claw now."
"I was just trying to save you a trip to the hospital wing," Cathrine started to chuckle as everyone joined in.
Rebecca took a seat in between Cathrine and Charlie. Cathrine took off the wrap on Rebecca's hand as they all laughed and talked about the benefits of a having a claw.
They were still laughing when Russel, Ryan, Cassie, and the other fifth years came into the room. Ryan and his friends stared at them for a moment, but left to find seats somewhere else in the room.
As the afternoon progress, more and more Gryffindors came over and joined the group until everyone in the house was in the vicinity. Their conversation had turned from Cathrine's prank to Colin and Cathrine's performance that morning.
They both got up and did an encore of it sending everyone into hysterics. Eventually, it turned into a talent show. Aaron Wood brought down his guitar and played while Lauren sang. All the Gryffindors cheered when they finished. Aisha and Carolyn got up and told some jokes, which lead to tears of laughter. The Gryffindors settled down as the girls found places to sit on the floor.
There was a slight pause to see who would be the next to then Cathrine said, "I think Rebecca should be the next to sing."
Rebecca's jaw dropped and she stuttered, "H-how did you know I sing?"
"I heard you one night. I don't even think that you realized you were even sing," Cathrine replied.
It was true that sometimes when Rebecca was by herself that she would start singing without even knowing it especially if she was really concentrating on something like homework, but eventually she always realized that she was and she didn't think she had done that here. She only really remembered singing when she was upset about Charlie being so secretive.
Then it hit Rebecca. 'Cathrine must have made that noise that night that made me stop,' Rebecca thought as several people voiced their agreement with Cathrine's nomination.
"I really don't feel like speaking in front of everyone right now," protested Rebecca nervous enough that she really meant to say 'singing' instead of 'speaking.'
Cathrine caught Rebecca slip and responded, "You're not going to be speaking; you're going to be singing."
"Come on Rebecca sing," encouraged Greg.
"Yeah sing," added Jacquelyn and Sara in unison.
Rebecca looked over at Charlie who was nodding his head for her to go on; for he didn't know she could sing and was dying to hear her now
After taking a deep breath and looking at all of her fellow Gryffindors, Rebecca said, "Okay, I'll sing. . Wood, may I borrow your guitar, please?"
Aaron nodded as he got up to hand her the guitar.
"Okay, I am going to sing a song that I use to sing with my butler. . I am going to try to sing it right, but I always sung harmony so I am not making any promises."
Everyone laughed a little and Rebecca started to play the guitar hesitantly at first since she didn't know whether her wrist would affect her playing, but it didn't seem to so she played on.
As she played the intro she felt some tears form as she remember the last time she sang the song with her beloved butler, so she closed her eyes and sang:
"You got to leave me now, you got to go alone
You got to chase a dream, one that's all your own
Before it slips away
When you're flyin' high, take my heart along
I'll be the harmony to every lonely song That you learn to play
The low buzz that that had been in the room during everyone else's performances died. It seemed that even the Slytherins were in awe off Rebecca's singing voice.
When you're soarin' through the air
I'll be your solid ground
Take every chance you dare
I'll still be there
When you come back down
When you come back down
I'll keep lookin' up, awaitin' your return
My greatest fear will be that you will crash and burn
And I won't feel your fire
I'll be the other hand that always holds the line
Connectin' in between your sweet heart and mine
I'm strung out on that wire
And I'll be on the other end, To hear you when you call
Angel, you were born to fly, If you get too high
I'll catch you when you fall
I'll catch you when you fall
Rebecca continued to play, but looked up at Charlie and gave him a smile. She closed her eyes and started to sing the bridge:
Your memory's the sunshine every new day brings
I know the sky is calling
Angel, let me help you with your wings
When you're soarin' through the air
I'll be your solid ground
Take every chance you dare
'I wonder if she knows how good she is,' Charlie thought to himself as he forced himself to take his eyes off of Rebecca and look at his other housemates. All of them rapt with her performance. Charlie smiled and then turned back to watching Rebecca.
I'll still be there
When you come back down
Take every chance you dare,
I'll still be there
When you come back down
When you come back down"
("When You Come Back Down" By: Nickle Creek)
When Rebecca finished she opened her eyes and through blurry eyes looked at her audience. Everyone was just staring at her in awe.
No one said anything until Charlie whispered, "Wow," and then everyone started to clap and cheer. Rebecca smiled as she gave the guitar back to Aaron and sat back down and wiped her eyes.
It was then Heath's turn to show off his hidden talent. As they all watched Heath show them his juggling ability, Charlie leaned over to Rebecca and whispered, "Got any more secret talents that I don't know about?"
Rebecca looked at him, gave a mischievous smile, and answered, "Yeah, lots. You got any I know don't know about?"
"Yeah lots." They kissed and turned back to Heath as he finished. After a round of applause, Heath sat down and it was time of a new performer. Everyone looked at each other to see who hadn't did anything yet.
Greg said, "Hey Charlie why don't you sing for us." Rebecca turned to Charlie and gave him the same look as he had given to her when she was asked to sing.
Charlie sighed, thought for a moment, and said, "Sure, why not. Captain, come here for a second."
Aaron got up and moved through the crowd to Charlie. Charlie whispered something to Aaron. When Charlie finished, Aaron nodded with a smile and then returned to his seat. Aaron picked up his guitar and started to play.
All eyes turned towards Charlie as he started to sing:
"I'm finding my way back to sanity again
Though I don't really know what I'm gonna do when I get there
I take a breath and hold on tight
Spin around one more time
And gracefully fall back to the arms of grace
Charlie looked right at Rebecca and gave her a wink.
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
Its where I wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be
Rebecca sweetly smiled at Charlie who was still looking at her. 'He picked his song probably because of my slip up earlier, but it sounds like what he wanted to say when I was so worried and didn't want to talk about it,' she thought to herself.
I'm looking past the shadows in my mind into the truth
And I'm trying to identify the voices in my head
God wish won't you
Let me feel one more time what if feels like to feel
And break these caluses off me one more time
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside of your door
And listen to you breathing
Its where I wanna be, yeah
Charlie reached over and tucked a strained of Rebecca's hair behind her ear. At this, the younger girls wished that Charlie was their boyfriend and noticed little thing like a strain of hair in their face and do something about it.
Oh I don't want a thing from you
Bet you're tired of me waiting for
The scraps to fall off of your table to the ground
La da da da...
Cause I just wanna be here now
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
Its where i wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be
Charlie took a hold of Rebecca's hand and sang directly to her.
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
Its where I wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be"
(Lifehouse's Breathing)
Charlie finished and Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug as the rest of the crowd cheered for him. Charlie kissed Rebecca and turn to start egging Greg into performing. Rebecca was about to turn around but she saw Ryan and Russel were glaring in Charlie's direction. She turned back to the entertainment wondering what was going through those two's heads.
After Greg got up and told some hysterical stories, Sara was pressured into singing. Everyone from Gryffindor took a turn and then it was time for dinner. They all walked down together to the great hall. All through dinner there was a constant laughter at the Gryffindor table about that afternoon's show.
After dinner they all headed back up and took seats in the common room. There were several different groups of Gryffindor scatter through out the room when the Slytherin group final came up from dinner.
After looking around the room, Ryan loudly voiced, "And where are we suppose seat?" Ryan looked over and saw Rebecca, Charlie, Bill, Greg, and Sara were looking at him.
"Well, we are your guests," Ryan stated directing it towards Rebecca since she had a look on her face that he didn't approve of. Rebecca raised her eyebrows and looked away.
Charlie had feeling that Ryan was trying to pressure Rebecca into something muttered, "It's not like we asked for them to be in here."
Rebecca, Greg, and Sara heard Charlie's statement and shook nodded head in agreement, but Bill who heard it too elbowed Charlie in the ribs to let him know that he needed to settle down.
Ryan noticed the interaction between the Gryffindors and snidely asked, "What was that you said, Weasley?"
Knowing that Ryan was just trying to pick a fight, Rebecca rolled her eyes and looked at Ryan.
"Why don't you just ask someone if you can join them where their sitting?" asked Rebecca giving Ryan a look that told him that he was being over dramatic.
Ryan was a furious at Rebecca for her statement and shot back, "Well it's not like you all were overly friendly with us this afternoon."
"What?"
"Your little all house talent show."
"You could have joined in. All you had to do was walk over and join the group and even if you weren't right in with the group if you would have gotten closer than we would have made you join in."
Ryan was about to say something nasty back at Rebecca when Bill intervened and said, "Listen, we'll try to be more inclusive next time. But you all need to realize that if you want to be included you need to show interest and join in on things that happen at the spur of the moment. No one from this house knew that we were going to be having a talent show this afternoon. If we knew we would have told you about it and let you know that you were welcome to participate, but it wasn't planned and no one had an invitation to join, they all just did. That happens around here so don't complain that you didn't get an invitation when no one else did."
Ryan walked off in a huff. Dan, Sam, and Hans followed him.
Russel on the other hand walked over to the couch where Rebecca, Charlie, and Bill were sitting and asked, "May I take a seat with you?"
They all look at each other and then slowly moved over giving him a seat at the end next to Bill.
"So you obviously don't feel the same way as Malfoy, do you, Flint?" Greg questioned Russel as he took the free seat.
Russel glanced over and saw that everyone was looking at him to see what he was going to say.
"Nope, I think Weasley had the right idea if we want to be included we should be close enough so you guys think we have interest in what is going on." Russel saw to his delight to see Rebecca nodding her head in agreement of what he said when he finished and then asked, "So what were you all talking about?"
Bill, Charlie, Rebecca, Greg, and Sara looked at each other with confused expressions on their face and finally Sara asked, "What were we talking?"
"Um," Greg started. "I think it had to do with hidden talents."
Charlie broke into a smile and said, "Yeah, we were trying to get Rebecca to tell us some more hidden talents that she has."
"No we weren't," protested Rebecca looking at him with big eyes.
Bill started to laugh as Russel asked, "Well, why don't we try now?"
Rebecca looked over to Sara for some help, but she was laughing and wasn't much help.
Suddenly the portrait to the common room open and Lauren ran in with tears streaming down her face. She went straight up the steps not saying anything to anyone along the way.
Sara's laughter stopped the second she saw Lauren going up the stairs. Rebecca and Sara looked at each other for a second. Sara whispered, "Where's.?"
Before Sara could finish, Rebecca turned her head in the direction of Harvey who was sitting on the floor talking to Marcus, Alannah, and the other first year Slytherin students. Sara looked over and saw Harvey. He was staring up the stairs, but he had settled down at that spot when the Slytherins came in after dinner and hadn't moved yet.
Sara and Rebecca looked at each other again and stood up. As they started to walk away, they told the guys that they would be back.
Rebecca and Sara headed up the steps to the first year girls dormitory. They were followed by Aisha and Carolyn who were just as worried about Lauren as they were. The girls knocked on the door and slowly opened the door.
"Lauren?" Rebecca asked as she walked into the room. Lauren raised her head from her pillow and looked at them through her tear filled eyes.
Rebecca and the other girls climbed up onto Lauren's bed as Carolyn asked, "What happened, Lauren?"
"Sean broke up with me," Lauren sniffed.
"What?" the other girls gasped.
"We were walking out from dinner and he just said, 'I think we need more space.' And that was it. He didn't say why or anything. He just said that and then left."
Lauren turned her head back into the pillow and started crying again.
Rebecca patted Lauren on the back and said, "I am sorry about that kid."
"Yeah," added Aisha and Carolyn together.
"Is there anything that we can do for you?" asked Sara.
Lauren shook her head no and said, "I just want to go to bed and not get up until Monday when I have to go to classes."
"Well as nice as that seems, it isn't that practical," Rebecca said. Lauren looked up at her with a puzzled expression as did the other girls. Rebecca continued, "You have to eat sometime and if you're not in the infirmary then you have to go to the Great Hall to get food."
Lauren gave out a sigh and put her head back down. Rebecca looked at Sara and the other girls and shrugged her shoulders.
After a moment Rebecca said, "How about we do something fun tomorrow for breakfast?"
Everyone looked at her wondering what she had in mind.
"Well since tomorrow is Sunday, let's go to breakfast in our pajamas," Rebecca started.
"What?" Lauren asked turning her face from her pillow.
"You don't want to get out of bed, but have to get something to eat, right? So let's all stay in our pajamas tomorrow morning go to breakfast and then afterwards you can go back to bed without even think about it."
Sara started to laugh and soon all the girls were laughing including Lauren.
"That would be great," Lauren finally said.
All the girls smiled and started to talk about the next morning. The girls sat there for about an hour talking as Rebecca French braided Lauren, Carolyn, and Aisha's hair into pigtails.
When Rebecca and Sara felt that Lauren was okay and that Carolyn and Aisha would be okay with her by themselves they went back down to the common room. They found the guys still sitting where they had been but Russel had left the group.
"Hey, we were just starting to form a search team for you two," Bill joked as the girls took their seats.
The girls laughed and Charlie asked, "Is Lauren okay?"
Rebecca looked at Sara and then said, "Yeah, she just suffered her first heartbreak, but I think she'll be fine."
"Poor kid, wish there was some way to cheer her up," Greg commented.
Sara started to smile and said, "Well there is. . We're going to wear our pajamas to breakfast tomorrow, why don't you guys do it too?"
"What?" Charlie asked giving the girls a questioning look.
Rebecca started to explain everything that happened up stairs and Sara added a few comment here and there. By the time the girls were done, the guys were all for staying in their pajamas the next day.
"I think is it a good idea. We should get everyone in on it." Bill said as Percy came over to ask him a question. Percy was told about the 'dress code' for breakfast and to tell his friends about it.
As Percy left, Cathrine, Colin, James, and Jacquelyn walked over and joined the group. Immediately they were informed on Lauren's situation and the event planned for the next day.
"That's a great idea. I have to go tell Anna," Cathrine said as she rushed off to tell Anna who was with A.J. and some other seventh and sixth year Gryffindors. Jacquelyn got up and informed some other groups as James walked up to a group of third years that were playing wizards chess. In a matter of a half of an hour, all of the Gryffindor student knew the plan and were excited for breakfast.
Carolyn and Aisha came back downstairs to tell Rebecca that Lauren had fallen asleep when they were informed that everyone was in on the pajama plan.
"Lauren will love it," said Carolyn.
Aisha added, "Yeah, know she won't feel like we stick out of the house."
Cathrine came back after talking to Anna with a smile, but suddenly had a puzzled look on her face.
"What's the matter with you, Smiley?" Colin asked.
"Aisha, how did you get your hair up in braids like that when your hair is short?" Catherine asked not paying attention to what Colin said.
Aisha smiled and said, "Rebecca casted a spell that made my hair grow longer as she braided."
Everyone turned and looked at Rebecca.
"What? It will go back to the way it was when she takes her hair out of the braid," she told everyone as if she was in trouble.
Charlie shook his head and said, "No, we want to know how you knew how to do that?"
"Oh, um, well I have been doing it for years. I found the spell one day in the library at my old school by chance and thought that it was an interesting spell so I copied it down. I didn't use it for several months and then my best friend, Stacy, got some gunk right in her hair. Needless to say, it had to get cut out and she had this really short hair cut from it. It was a cute hair cut, but some people made fun of her which made Stacy miss her long black hair. So I pulled out the spell and tried it. After the first time, I got the hang of it and started doing it on my hair too." Rebecca explained as more girls came over to see Aisha's hair.
"Why your own hair?" asked Jacquelyn looking at Rebecca's shoulder length hair.
"Well, until last year I always keep my hair cut up to my chin, sometimes shorter, so to get different styles at school I would cast the spell and as I arranged it," Rebecca replied.
"So you could do that to my hair?" asked a blonde haired first year girl by the name of Beth. Rebecca shook her head and motioned for Beth to come over so she could French braid her short hair.
After she finished, every girl in the house wanted their hair braided.
"You should make that part of tomorrow's dress code," Colin said as Cathrine's hair was being braided.
Russel walked over to see what is going on and asked, "What dress code?"
All the Gryffindors turned and looked at him wondering who was going to tell him what was going on. Bill took charge and responded, "We are going to go to breakfast in our pajamas tomorrow morning. Any Slytherins that want to join us are more than welcome to."
Russel looked over at Rebecca to see if she was looking to see how he was going to respond, but she had already turned back to braiding Cathrine's hair.
"I'll think about it," Russel said as he walked away. Rebecca gave a sigh of relief when Russel was far away.
"You okay?" Charlie whispered to her.
Rebecca turned to him and whispered back, "Yeah, I just don't feel that comfortable around you know who. Truth be told I was glad when I left to check on Lauren and came back and he was gone."
"Don't worry he can't do anything to you in here."
Rebecca gave a slight smile and shook her head understanding that the guys of Gryffindor were watching out for her. She went back to braiding hair and didn't finish until late at night. The last head she did was her own and then she went to bed.
She found that her only safe place was with Charlie or in Gryffindor tower. Wood had the quidditch team training extra hard, so Charlie was around less and less at night. This caused Rebecca hang out in the tower and worked on her homework so that she wouldn't have any run in with Russel without someone with her that Russel might fear.
By Friday, Rebecca was tired of watching her back for what seemed to be nothing other than paranoia. Saturday was going to be a wonderful day in her mind because she didn't have to leave the tower other than for meals.
Saturday morning came and Rebecca woke up to find that it was raining. Rebecca got up and joined her friends to head down for breakfast. They barely got anything eaten because Cathrine and Colin were doing their best impression of James and Jacquelyn arguing over a homework problem. James spurred them on as Jacquelyn blushed until the two mimics did something so over the top that she could not help but join in on the laughter.
By the end of the meal the whole Gryffindor table was watching Cathrine and Colin and laughing. No one from the other houses could understand what was so funny, because they had never experienced the late night fights the two would have in the common room over their homework.
They went back up to the common room and relaxed and did some light homework during the hours between breakfast and lunch. After lunch it was still raining just harder than before so everyone sat in the common room talking. Rebecca started to yawn, a result of a mixture of being tired and the relaxing sound of the rain.
She had just gotten up and announced that she was going to go take a nap in her own bed when Professors McGonagall and Snape came into the room.
"We didn't do anything," Cathrine and Colin said in unison.
McGonagall and Snape gave them a suspicious looks and McGonagall said, "Thank you for that, but I am not here to tell anyone that they are in trouble."
Colin and Cathrine looked at each other knowing that they just caused themselves problems as McGongall continued, "Attention everyone. We are here to announce that the Slytherin common room and several of their other rooms are flooded."
"Oh, we really didn't do that," Colin stated to Cathrine.
McGonagall shook her had and the said, "so students from Slytherin will be sharing space in this house and the other two. It has been decided that first, third, and fifth years will be assigned to Gryffindor. Please help in making them feel welcome. And before any of you ask me how long this arrangement will be, let me just say that until the pipes are fixed in Slytherin the arrangement will continue and I don't know how long that will be. Thank and have a good afternoon."
With that Snape and McGonagall walked out of the room. All of the Gryffindors were stunned.
"I might as well move into the infirmary now?" Rebecca mutter looking down at her left wrist, which had just recently been deemed healed by Madame Pompfrey, and thinking of what years were going to be moving in.
Sara tried to laugh a little at Rebecca's comment and the others started to discuss the bad side of this situation.
Rebecca walked to the stairs to go to her room. She passed Lauren on her way and saw that Lauren was petrified.
"Don't worry about it. Harvey won't try anything while he is here or else one of the guys here will get him," Rebecca said giving Lauren a reassuring smile.
Lauren looked at her and asked, "What if other Slytherins get into it?"
"We only have to put up with 3 years worth. They have 7 years of Gryffindors to deal with."
Lauren smiled and looked relieved as Rebecca went to her room.
Rebecca fell asleep, but woke up soon after because someone jumped off her bed and ran out the door. After trying to fall back to sleep, Rebecca decided to get up and see what was going. She looked down at her hand to discover that there was a new wrap around her wrist that had her fingers bond together. The new wrap was secured with what looked like a smiley face sticker.
"Cathrine," muttered Rebecca with a smile as she walked out the door.
She stopped for a moment outside the door when she noticed that there was a new door to the left of her dorm room door. It was open so she glanced in side and noted that it was decorated in green and silver.
'Looks like we at least won't have to share rooms with them,' Rebecca thought as she continued walking.
She walked down the steps to the common room and looked around for Cathrine. The Slytherin students were moving in so the room was very crowded, but Rebecca located Cathrine on the couch in front of the fire with everyone else. Hiding her hand behind her back, Rebecca walked over.
Cathrine looked over as Rebecca approached and asked in an innocent voice, "So how was your nap?"
"Oh it was good," Rebecca responded. "Um, Cathrine, did you go up to the room while I was asleep?"
Cathrine tried to look as innocent as possible as the rest of the group looked at her and she asked, "Why?"
"Because when I woke up my hand wrapped like this." Rebecca revealed her hand and started to giggle. "I feel like I have a claw now."
"I was just trying to save you a trip to the hospital wing," Cathrine started to chuckle as everyone joined in.
Rebecca took a seat in between Cathrine and Charlie. Cathrine took off the wrap on Rebecca's hand as they all laughed and talked about the benefits of a having a claw.
They were still laughing when Russel, Ryan, Cassie, and the other fifth years came into the room. Ryan and his friends stared at them for a moment, but left to find seats somewhere else in the room.
As the afternoon progress, more and more Gryffindors came over and joined the group until everyone in the house was in the vicinity. Their conversation had turned from Cathrine's prank to Colin and Cathrine's performance that morning.
They both got up and did an encore of it sending everyone into hysterics. Eventually, it turned into a talent show. Aaron Wood brought down his guitar and played while Lauren sang. All the Gryffindors cheered when they finished. Aisha and Carolyn got up and told some jokes, which lead to tears of laughter. The Gryffindors settled down as the girls found places to sit on the floor.
There was a slight pause to see who would be the next to then Cathrine said, "I think Rebecca should be the next to sing."
Rebecca's jaw dropped and she stuttered, "H-how did you know I sing?"
"I heard you one night. I don't even think that you realized you were even sing," Cathrine replied.
It was true that sometimes when Rebecca was by herself that she would start singing without even knowing it especially if she was really concentrating on something like homework, but eventually she always realized that she was and she didn't think she had done that here. She only really remembered singing when she was upset about Charlie being so secretive.
Then it hit Rebecca. 'Cathrine must have made that noise that night that made me stop,' Rebecca thought as several people voiced their agreement with Cathrine's nomination.
"I really don't feel like speaking in front of everyone right now," protested Rebecca nervous enough that she really meant to say 'singing' instead of 'speaking.'
Cathrine caught Rebecca slip and responded, "You're not going to be speaking; you're going to be singing."
"Come on Rebecca sing," encouraged Greg.
"Yeah sing," added Jacquelyn and Sara in unison.
Rebecca looked over at Charlie who was nodding his head for her to go on; for he didn't know she could sing and was dying to hear her now
After taking a deep breath and looking at all of her fellow Gryffindors, Rebecca said, "Okay, I'll sing. . Wood, may I borrow your guitar, please?"
Aaron nodded as he got up to hand her the guitar.
"Okay, I am going to sing a song that I use to sing with my butler. . I am going to try to sing it right, but I always sung harmony so I am not making any promises."
Everyone laughed a little and Rebecca started to play the guitar hesitantly at first since she didn't know whether her wrist would affect her playing, but it didn't seem to so she played on.
As she played the intro she felt some tears form as she remember the last time she sang the song with her beloved butler, so she closed her eyes and sang:
"You got to leave me now, you got to go alone
You got to chase a dream, one that's all your own
Before it slips away
When you're flyin' high, take my heart along
I'll be the harmony to every lonely song That you learn to play
The low buzz that that had been in the room during everyone else's performances died. It seemed that even the Slytherins were in awe off Rebecca's singing voice.
When you're soarin' through the air
I'll be your solid ground
Take every chance you dare
I'll still be there
When you come back down
When you come back down
I'll keep lookin' up, awaitin' your return
My greatest fear will be that you will crash and burn
And I won't feel your fire
I'll be the other hand that always holds the line
Connectin' in between your sweet heart and mine
I'm strung out on that wire
And I'll be on the other end, To hear you when you call
Angel, you were born to fly, If you get too high
I'll catch you when you fall
I'll catch you when you fall
Rebecca continued to play, but looked up at Charlie and gave him a smile. She closed her eyes and started to sing the bridge:
Your memory's the sunshine every new day brings
I know the sky is calling
Angel, let me help you with your wings
When you're soarin' through the air
I'll be your solid ground
Take every chance you dare
'I wonder if she knows how good she is,' Charlie thought to himself as he forced himself to take his eyes off of Rebecca and look at his other housemates. All of them rapt with her performance. Charlie smiled and then turned back to watching Rebecca.
I'll still be there
When you come back down
Take every chance you dare,
I'll still be there
When you come back down
When you come back down"
("When You Come Back Down" By: Nickle Creek)
When Rebecca finished she opened her eyes and through blurry eyes looked at her audience. Everyone was just staring at her in awe.
No one said anything until Charlie whispered, "Wow," and then everyone started to clap and cheer. Rebecca smiled as she gave the guitar back to Aaron and sat back down and wiped her eyes.
It was then Heath's turn to show off his hidden talent. As they all watched Heath show them his juggling ability, Charlie leaned over to Rebecca and whispered, "Got any more secret talents that I don't know about?"
Rebecca looked at him, gave a mischievous smile, and answered, "Yeah, lots. You got any I know don't know about?"
"Yeah lots." They kissed and turned back to Heath as he finished. After a round of applause, Heath sat down and it was time of a new performer. Everyone looked at each other to see who hadn't did anything yet.
Greg said, "Hey Charlie why don't you sing for us." Rebecca turned to Charlie and gave him the same look as he had given to her when she was asked to sing.
Charlie sighed, thought for a moment, and said, "Sure, why not. Captain, come here for a second."
Aaron got up and moved through the crowd to Charlie. Charlie whispered something to Aaron. When Charlie finished, Aaron nodded with a smile and then returned to his seat. Aaron picked up his guitar and started to play.
All eyes turned towards Charlie as he started to sing:
"I'm finding my way back to sanity again
Though I don't really know what I'm gonna do when I get there
I take a breath and hold on tight
Spin around one more time
And gracefully fall back to the arms of grace
Charlie looked right at Rebecca and gave her a wink.
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
Its where I wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be
Rebecca sweetly smiled at Charlie who was still looking at her. 'He picked his song probably because of my slip up earlier, but it sounds like what he wanted to say when I was so worried and didn't want to talk about it,' she thought to herself.
I'm looking past the shadows in my mind into the truth
And I'm trying to identify the voices in my head
God wish won't you
Let me feel one more time what if feels like to feel
And break these caluses off me one more time
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside of your door
And listen to you breathing
Its where I wanna be, yeah
Charlie reached over and tucked a strained of Rebecca's hair behind her ear. At this, the younger girls wished that Charlie was their boyfriend and noticed little thing like a strain of hair in their face and do something about it.
Oh I don't want a thing from you
Bet you're tired of me waiting for
The scraps to fall off of your table to the ground
La da da da...
Cause I just wanna be here now
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
Its where i wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be
Charlie took a hold of Rebecca's hand and sang directly to her.
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
Its where I wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be"
(Lifehouse's Breathing)
Charlie finished and Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug as the rest of the crowd cheered for him. Charlie kissed Rebecca and turn to start egging Greg into performing. Rebecca was about to turn around but she saw Ryan and Russel were glaring in Charlie's direction. She turned back to the entertainment wondering what was going through those two's heads.
After Greg got up and told some hysterical stories, Sara was pressured into singing. Everyone from Gryffindor took a turn and then it was time for dinner. They all walked down together to the great hall. All through dinner there was a constant laughter at the Gryffindor table about that afternoon's show.
After dinner they all headed back up and took seats in the common room. There were several different groups of Gryffindor scatter through out the room when the Slytherin group final came up from dinner.
After looking around the room, Ryan loudly voiced, "And where are we suppose seat?" Ryan looked over and saw Rebecca, Charlie, Bill, Greg, and Sara were looking at him.
"Well, we are your guests," Ryan stated directing it towards Rebecca since she had a look on her face that he didn't approve of. Rebecca raised her eyebrows and looked away.
Charlie had feeling that Ryan was trying to pressure Rebecca into something muttered, "It's not like we asked for them to be in here."
Rebecca, Greg, and Sara heard Charlie's statement and shook nodded head in agreement, but Bill who heard it too elbowed Charlie in the ribs to let him know that he needed to settle down.
Ryan noticed the interaction between the Gryffindors and snidely asked, "What was that you said, Weasley?"
Knowing that Ryan was just trying to pick a fight, Rebecca rolled her eyes and looked at Ryan.
"Why don't you just ask someone if you can join them where their sitting?" asked Rebecca giving Ryan a look that told him that he was being over dramatic.
Ryan was a furious at Rebecca for her statement and shot back, "Well it's not like you all were overly friendly with us this afternoon."
"What?"
"Your little all house talent show."
"You could have joined in. All you had to do was walk over and join the group and even if you weren't right in with the group if you would have gotten closer than we would have made you join in."
Ryan was about to say something nasty back at Rebecca when Bill intervened and said, "Listen, we'll try to be more inclusive next time. But you all need to realize that if you want to be included you need to show interest and join in on things that happen at the spur of the moment. No one from this house knew that we were going to be having a talent show this afternoon. If we knew we would have told you about it and let you know that you were welcome to participate, but it wasn't planned and no one had an invitation to join, they all just did. That happens around here so don't complain that you didn't get an invitation when no one else did."
Ryan walked off in a huff. Dan, Sam, and Hans followed him.
Russel on the other hand walked over to the couch where Rebecca, Charlie, and Bill were sitting and asked, "May I take a seat with you?"
They all look at each other and then slowly moved over giving him a seat at the end next to Bill.
"So you obviously don't feel the same way as Malfoy, do you, Flint?" Greg questioned Russel as he took the free seat.
Russel glanced over and saw that everyone was looking at him to see what he was going to say.
"Nope, I think Weasley had the right idea if we want to be included we should be close enough so you guys think we have interest in what is going on." Russel saw to his delight to see Rebecca nodding her head in agreement of what he said when he finished and then asked, "So what were you all talking about?"
Bill, Charlie, Rebecca, Greg, and Sara looked at each other with confused expressions on their face and finally Sara asked, "What were we talking?"
"Um," Greg started. "I think it had to do with hidden talents."
Charlie broke into a smile and said, "Yeah, we were trying to get Rebecca to tell us some more hidden talents that she has."
"No we weren't," protested Rebecca looking at him with big eyes.
Bill started to laugh as Russel asked, "Well, why don't we try now?"
Rebecca looked over to Sara for some help, but she was laughing and wasn't much help.
Suddenly the portrait to the common room open and Lauren ran in with tears streaming down her face. She went straight up the steps not saying anything to anyone along the way.
Sara's laughter stopped the second she saw Lauren going up the stairs. Rebecca and Sara looked at each other for a second. Sara whispered, "Where's.?"
Before Sara could finish, Rebecca turned her head in the direction of Harvey who was sitting on the floor talking to Marcus, Alannah, and the other first year Slytherin students. Sara looked over and saw Harvey. He was staring up the stairs, but he had settled down at that spot when the Slytherins came in after dinner and hadn't moved yet.
Sara and Rebecca looked at each other again and stood up. As they started to walk away, they told the guys that they would be back.
Rebecca and Sara headed up the steps to the first year girls dormitory. They were followed by Aisha and Carolyn who were just as worried about Lauren as they were. The girls knocked on the door and slowly opened the door.
"Lauren?" Rebecca asked as she walked into the room. Lauren raised her head from her pillow and looked at them through her tear filled eyes.
Rebecca and the other girls climbed up onto Lauren's bed as Carolyn asked, "What happened, Lauren?"
"Sean broke up with me," Lauren sniffed.
"What?" the other girls gasped.
"We were walking out from dinner and he just said, 'I think we need more space.' And that was it. He didn't say why or anything. He just said that and then left."
Lauren turned her head back into the pillow and started crying again.
Rebecca patted Lauren on the back and said, "I am sorry about that kid."
"Yeah," added Aisha and Carolyn together.
"Is there anything that we can do for you?" asked Sara.
Lauren shook her head no and said, "I just want to go to bed and not get up until Monday when I have to go to classes."
"Well as nice as that seems, it isn't that practical," Rebecca said. Lauren looked up at her with a puzzled expression as did the other girls. Rebecca continued, "You have to eat sometime and if you're not in the infirmary then you have to go to the Great Hall to get food."
Lauren gave out a sigh and put her head back down. Rebecca looked at Sara and the other girls and shrugged her shoulders.
After a moment Rebecca said, "How about we do something fun tomorrow for breakfast?"
Everyone looked at her wondering what she had in mind.
"Well since tomorrow is Sunday, let's go to breakfast in our pajamas," Rebecca started.
"What?" Lauren asked turning her face from her pillow.
"You don't want to get out of bed, but have to get something to eat, right? So let's all stay in our pajamas tomorrow morning go to breakfast and then afterwards you can go back to bed without even think about it."
Sara started to laugh and soon all the girls were laughing including Lauren.
"That would be great," Lauren finally said.
All the girls smiled and started to talk about the next morning. The girls sat there for about an hour talking as Rebecca French braided Lauren, Carolyn, and Aisha's hair into pigtails.
When Rebecca and Sara felt that Lauren was okay and that Carolyn and Aisha would be okay with her by themselves they went back down to the common room. They found the guys still sitting where they had been but Russel had left the group.
"Hey, we were just starting to form a search team for you two," Bill joked as the girls took their seats.
The girls laughed and Charlie asked, "Is Lauren okay?"
Rebecca looked at Sara and then said, "Yeah, she just suffered her first heartbreak, but I think she'll be fine."
"Poor kid, wish there was some way to cheer her up," Greg commented.
Sara started to smile and said, "Well there is. . We're going to wear our pajamas to breakfast tomorrow, why don't you guys do it too?"
"What?" Charlie asked giving the girls a questioning look.
Rebecca started to explain everything that happened up stairs and Sara added a few comment here and there. By the time the girls were done, the guys were all for staying in their pajamas the next day.
"I think is it a good idea. We should get everyone in on it." Bill said as Percy came over to ask him a question. Percy was told about the 'dress code' for breakfast and to tell his friends about it.
As Percy left, Cathrine, Colin, James, and Jacquelyn walked over and joined the group. Immediately they were informed on Lauren's situation and the event planned for the next day.
"That's a great idea. I have to go tell Anna," Cathrine said as she rushed off to tell Anna who was with A.J. and some other seventh and sixth year Gryffindors. Jacquelyn got up and informed some other groups as James walked up to a group of third years that were playing wizards chess. In a matter of a half of an hour, all of the Gryffindor student knew the plan and were excited for breakfast.
Carolyn and Aisha came back downstairs to tell Rebecca that Lauren had fallen asleep when they were informed that everyone was in on the pajama plan.
"Lauren will love it," said Carolyn.
Aisha added, "Yeah, know she won't feel like we stick out of the house."
Cathrine came back after talking to Anna with a smile, but suddenly had a puzzled look on her face.
"What's the matter with you, Smiley?" Colin asked.
"Aisha, how did you get your hair up in braids like that when your hair is short?" Catherine asked not paying attention to what Colin said.
Aisha smiled and said, "Rebecca casted a spell that made my hair grow longer as she braided."
Everyone turned and looked at Rebecca.
"What? It will go back to the way it was when she takes her hair out of the braid," she told everyone as if she was in trouble.
Charlie shook his head and said, "No, we want to know how you knew how to do that?"
"Oh, um, well I have been doing it for years. I found the spell one day in the library at my old school by chance and thought that it was an interesting spell so I copied it down. I didn't use it for several months and then my best friend, Stacy, got some gunk right in her hair. Needless to say, it had to get cut out and she had this really short hair cut from it. It was a cute hair cut, but some people made fun of her which made Stacy miss her long black hair. So I pulled out the spell and tried it. After the first time, I got the hang of it and started doing it on my hair too." Rebecca explained as more girls came over to see Aisha's hair.
"Why your own hair?" asked Jacquelyn looking at Rebecca's shoulder length hair.
"Well, until last year I always keep my hair cut up to my chin, sometimes shorter, so to get different styles at school I would cast the spell and as I arranged it," Rebecca replied.
"So you could do that to my hair?" asked a blonde haired first year girl by the name of Beth. Rebecca shook her head and motioned for Beth to come over so she could French braid her short hair.
After she finished, every girl in the house wanted their hair braided.
"You should make that part of tomorrow's dress code," Colin said as Cathrine's hair was being braided.
Russel walked over to see what is going on and asked, "What dress code?"
All the Gryffindors turned and looked at him wondering who was going to tell him what was going on. Bill took charge and responded, "We are going to go to breakfast in our pajamas tomorrow morning. Any Slytherins that want to join us are more than welcome to."
Russel looked over at Rebecca to see if she was looking to see how he was going to respond, but she had already turned back to braiding Cathrine's hair.
"I'll think about it," Russel said as he walked away. Rebecca gave a sigh of relief when Russel was far away.
"You okay?" Charlie whispered to her.
Rebecca turned to him and whispered back, "Yeah, I just don't feel that comfortable around you know who. Truth be told I was glad when I left to check on Lauren and came back and he was gone."
"Don't worry he can't do anything to you in here."
Rebecca gave a slight smile and shook her head understanding that the guys of Gryffindor were watching out for her. She went back to braiding hair and didn't finish until late at night. The last head she did was her own and then she went to bed.