Chapter 63
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Rebekah was mortified enough to drop the glass mortar and pestle, cracking the glass with the distance the mortar fell.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO DANCE?!" She grasped the side of the table, turning her knuckles white. All the time, keeping her eyes on the potion bubbling to the side and the little miniature Hungarian Horntail next to it.
The mini Dragon reminded her of a cat, a proper and mischievous cat that kept pawing at her instead of simply sleeping like Emperor would.
"It is the Yule Ball, Potter. What else did you expect?" Snape sneered a smile, a rare feat as he flicked the little Dragon away from one of the ingredients before it could splash into the watery ink of squids. "Did you expect to sit it out and simply look pretty?"
"You think I look pretty? Aww," Rebekah teased and couldn't help her grin when Snape's glare turned cold. "Well, I didn't expect to be told that I have to open the bleeding Yule Ball! I am so grateful that my dress looks amazing. But why can't i just go with my friends? Do I have to have a partner?"
"You do. No other option, Potter. You may, however, split up after the dance is fulfilled so don't worry about your group of friends being without you,"
"I don't dance, sir,"
"Well, you'll have to find a way to get yourself into the dancing mood, with a partner," He said and watched as Rebekah began to pout and sulk.
She already had an idea for who she wanted to go with. She didn't care if they started off on a bad foot, Rebekah could see them as friends but nothing more. Too alike to get along for a relationship.
She just had to convince the bastard to go with her.
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Rebekah didn't have the time, or realistically the patience, to deal with the Golden Egg until after the Yule Ball. It sat on the coffee table, untouched and unmoved from the day she got it. she hadn't even opened it but she had an idea that whatever was inside was very loud. There was a rumour that said that whatever was inside would scream so badly they had to shut it straight away.
The Hufflepuff House was not quiet with what happened within its walls.
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At around one in the morning, Rebekah donned her running clothes and went down to the kitchens led by Talpey. The HouseElves watched in fascination as Rebekah asked for a huge slab of meat, and began to chop it all up with a butcher knife without a thought.
She cut into one of the extra long pieces, taking a bit off before handing it to the little hungry Dragon on her shoulders. Enyo, as the Dragon was named after the Greek goddess, ate happily away at the bloody meat, uncaring for the blood which splat onto Rebekah's cheek.
Rebekah tapped her cheek where she felt the blood, alerting the Dragon to where she should clean up her mess. Enyo did so, licking up the blood quickly as one foot held onto the now tiny piece of meat before going back to eating it.
"Emperor, can you grab me a scrunchie? I left it by the bed, I think," Rebekah said as she felt bits of her now short hair go into her face yet again.
Emperor slowly got up from his lying position, grumbling a little under his breath before taking a step and disappearing into the shadows. By the time Rebekah was finished packing up the meat into the satchel, Emperor was back and dropped the black scrunchie into her waiting hands. She gave him a good ear rub and passed him some meat, letting him devour it before heading out of the kitchen and into the fields of Hogwarts.
The Thestral tried to snap at her hand to grab the juicy meat.
"You do not bite people, Tenebrus!" Rebekah snapped back. "Especially me when I'm trying to feed you. I will give Tatia your food instead if you do."
He gave her a look of disbelief and she sent him a look which said she was serious. Tenebrus shoved his face into hers and huffed twice. The form of his sister, Tatia, came tumbling into his side, huffing and puffing in mock anger.
Rebekah paused, the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She turned sharply to one side as the Thestrals also paused, their chests flaring as they breathed in the semi familiar scent.
"Who's there?" Rebekah called out, her wand in her hand already as her eyes scanned the treeline for any visible form.
Viktor came out of the shadows of one of the trees, his hands held up in surrender as he smiled. "It is Viktor."
Rebekah sighed with relief, lowering her wand before tucking it away to her braclet. "I swear to Morgana and Merlin, what were you doing out here alone, Viktor?"
"I could not sleep. Too much thinking about the Tournament. Needed to clear head," He said before narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing with Thestrals?"
"Same as you. I have an idea about the egg but I haven't even opened it yet." Tatia nudged her ribs harshly, begging for more meat before Rebekah fed her another bit, petting her boney head. "Someone has to feed these guys. Hagrid is trying to recover from a burn he got from the Dragons."
Viktor cringed with a slight nod. "Egg open and sounded like unholy scream. Horrible, horrible sound. Never again."
Rebekah snorted. "Cedric opened his in front of everyone in his house, we could hear the screams from the Dungeons."
Her ears, even in her human form, were always keen and listening, so when a bundle of little whines and keening sounds came from Viktor's shoulders, right in his hood, Rebekah turned to him with a question.
Viktor grinned broadly before using a hand and taking a small grey bundle into his palm. It was as long and fat as his hand, the mini Harbour seal just proudly sat on there and barked much like a small dog.
She gasped. "Aww… May I?" She gestured to the seal. Viktor nodded and the little seal jumped from his hand to hers, tilting his head up to be pet. "Look how cute that little face is! And I swear to Merlin and Morgana…" Fidele began to slither up her side to rest on her shoulder while Enyo hid in front of her top. "If either of you even think of eating this, I'm feeding you to Paladin."
"His name is Maxim, means greatest," Viktor said. "He is like Emperor, Familiar. Does not change size, only shape. He prefers to be seal."
Rebekah just rubbed Maxim's head before Emperor decided to jump onto Viktor, taking up just as much space as the little seal did. He tried to make her jealous but gave up when she didn't pay him attention, Emperor knew that they wouldn't ever be seperated. The only thing that could separate Familiar and Master was the true death and that was it.
Emperor was small as he placed with Maxim, never becoming too big as to keep him safe as they played in the tree roots as their masters walked and fed the Thestrals.
"Some of us Quidditch players were thinking of doing a mini tournament," Rebekah smiled, knowing she got his attention fully now. "Friendly competition and it would allow us to blow some steam off before doing the next task. Would you and the Durmstrang lot be interested? I don't know about the Beauxbatons yet, I haven't asked."
"Sound like fun," He nodded. "I will ask everyone if they like the idea. When would it be?"
She shrugged. "I was thinking Friday night, and if everyone likes it, we could continue doing it every week. We'd miss next friday, Yule Ball and all. Speaking of Yule Ball, a little serpent told me that you want to ask a certain bushy-haired Witch."
He just grinned and shrugged. "A little seal told me you want to go out with a certain Durmstrang boy."
She smiled sheepishly. "At least we can help each other in this little affair."
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For the last four hours, Rebekah had been running as a Lioness.
Her Familiar just followed her at a good pace as Rebekah tried to get all of her emotions, her frustration, anger, fear, disbelief, out of her system before she did something self-destructive. It was something she had to do every few twenty four hours, she didn't consider a day a day anymore. The Time travelling had messed up her internal clock.
The cold air was fresh against her fur as she breathed in the misty air. By the time she had finally stopped running, the night had turned to early morning and the sky lightened enough to show off the curves and creaks of the forest.
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Her Animagus form was becoming stronger with age and knowledge. She was no longer the skinny Lioness she was in her second year, or the too tall Lioness like her third year. She had filled out in all the right areas, strong legs with thick fur which lightened from a simple burgundy to a colour which replicated blood.
A hare, long eared and alone appeared in Rebekah's eyesight and the thrill was upon them instantly. It wasn't like Rebekah was actively hunting it to kill and eat it, no, she just wanted the thrill of the hunt. The adrenaline that would course through her veins was enough motivation to begin chasing after the hare.
Dodging each tree trunk, leaping over the roots, ducking below branches, Rebekah followed the hare with ease as she let the frustrations of not being able to sleep go. They drained out of her with each pump of adrenaline filled blood, letting her instincts take over for a few minutes.
She needed to relax like everyone else. While she was an extraordinary Witch with a sharp wit and sly tongue, she was still human and could burnout after a time. She couldn't keep pushing herself beyond her limits without some sort of consequence, so her nightly runs were helping.
When she came to the line, which was less a line and more like a feeling, that was the Centaur territory, Rebekah did not dare step over it.
Snape and McGonagall warned her every year to never pass the line that separated the territories, or be prepared to be bombarded with detentions from both teachers. Rebekah listened, she got enough detentions from trying to correct her teachers already.
"Is this the only moments you will listen to warnings, Young Lioness?" A voice appeared from the side, Rebekah simply turned her head to look at the newly arrived Magorian, the leader of the Centaur Colony of the Forbidden Forest.
"I owe the Centaurs a small debt," Rebekah said, inclining her head. "I may not have been saved but one of your colony saved my friend from the creature known as Voldemort in my first year."
"And how many years ago was this?"
"This is my fourth year at Hogwarts,"
"Yet you are nearly of Wizarding age with the use of a Time-Turner,"
She hummed. "My education is my priority."
"Regardless of the laws placed upon Magic?"
"Those laws were placed upon Magic, not by Magic. I will not play by the rules of man until they know that Magic is a privilege, not a right."
"You may follow me," He gestured as he slung his bow over his broad shoulders. "I have to patrol the land line. We can continue speaking if you wish."
"I'd like that,"
"What is Magic to you, Miss Potter?"
"Magic is all around us. It has been with the Earth since the beginning. Wizardkind only came to be by a mutation in the Muggle bloodlines."
"So Magic is natural?"
"I believe Magic is energy. Wizards can use the energy from within their bodies with wands while Muggles needed to find a way to harness it from the outside, creating electricity."
"The mutation is the reason you have Magic," It was a statement, confirming Rebekah's theories from the past few years.
"I use my privilege wisely," Rebekah said slowly as they descended into the darkness of the forest. "So many people don't even try to advance their Magic. It is a shame and a waste of their potential."
"And you are trying to achieve what those before you could not, or very few have achieved," Magorian said, inclining his head. "Everything Magic has to offer."
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Theodore slung his arm over Rebekah's shoulders as the Witch watched from a side wall, hiding from Viktor and Hermione's views. Hermione looked shocked as Viktor presented her with a bouquet of mixed begonias flowers. Now Viktor knew, courtesy of Rebekah, that these were Hermione's favourite flowers.
"You aren't as big of a bitch as we all think," Theo said, his lip twerked knowingly.
"Oh, I'm still a bitch," Rebekah patted his hand gently without looking at him. "But I'm not as mean as people think I am. Just because I'm selfish doesn't mean I am a bad person."
"Even as an eleven year old you were a menace,"
"You wouldn't believe the things i've done to keep myself safe,"
"Like what?"
"Remember Travers?" Rebekah turned her head to meet his eyes. "I'm the reason she screams at night. Why she doesn't like to go anywhere near me. And why she always seems to clutch her arm as if something was carved into it."
As Hermione nodded and turned bright pink as she accepted the flowers, Theodore Nott paused as Rebekah smiled fondly before disappearing down a corridor.
He had always known she was ruthless in her achievements of victory but he never realised that she was willing to go beyond the extreme to get what she wants. It was always herself over others, the group knew this from the start. They also knew that they needed to keep her on their side, or realistically, they needed to stay on her side.
There was a war brewing in the upcoming years and they knew it, their parents becoming uneasy as the time went by.
They wanted to survive and the best way to survive was to stay within her good graces.
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