Chapter 95
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"You're her," Horace Slughorn said, watching as the young Witch dressed in a familiar black leather jacket with a tiny Dragon wrapped around her neck like a choker, stood next to Dumbldore with her arms crossed. "You're Rebekah Potter."
"That I am," She said, walking to the other side of the room as watched as everything in the room was put back into place with the wave of a wand from Dumbledore. The house looked like it belonged to a rich old woman with how everything was arranged.
Rebekah sat down before the fire, easily making herself at home and taking up presence in the room. She noticed the wards on the walls, almost feeling them there. They were a dozen wards piled on top of one another, some days old, others almost reaching a year. They needed to be removed and recast but she doubted the man had enough time to even think about that.
"I know that jacket, even after all of these years," Slughorn sighed, an almost fond look coming to his eyes. "That jacket belonged to Sirius Black, your GodFather, didn't it?"
Rebekah played clueless, tugging at the lapels and looking at them with a curious eye. She leaned into the back of her chair, moving her right foot until her ankle rested on her other knee and she could relax.
"He said it was too cold to leave in just a crop top and shirt."
Over the last couple weeks, Rebekah had enough of the heat and began to wear more crop tops during the day, pairing them with a shirt over it when night came.
Her crop top was one of Sirius' old Black Sabbath t-shirts, the hem and neckline cut down a little to make it bearable. Originally, she was wearing a green tartan button up over the crop top but she had taken it off and wrapped it around her waist instead as she wore Sirius' jacket and a pair of light wash jean shorts with boots.
Sirius had taken one look at her in her crop top, shirt and shorts and summoned his old jacket, forcing her to wear it out because it wasn't warm enough to wear out what she originally had on. She didn't complain, actually liking how the outfit came out.
Rebekah dug her newly painted nails into the dirty leather of the armchair, picking at it without having to worry about ruining her now dark smokey grey nails.
Her three rings, watch, bracelet, and the chains of her Time turner and locket glittered in the firelight.
"You're Horace Slughorn," Rebekah said, feeling Emperor's tail wrap around one of her ankles as she raised her chin an inch as she looked at the Wizard in front of her.
"I am. My Merlin!" He muttered, taking in her appearance. "You look like the perfect mix between your mother and father."
"I've been told," Rebekah said back with a simple bow of the head. Her fang earrings swayed as she tilted her head to the side when Slughorn stepped forward.
"Who's this?" Slughorn gestured to Emperor and Enyo, the Familiar sitting at her feet while the Dragon was wrapped around her neck like a loose choker.
"Emperor is my Familiar and I recieved Enyo from the TriWizard Tournament in my fourth year," Rebekah gently used a finger to pet Enyo's head, just behind her left ear where she liked it best.
Dumbledore excused himself to the bathroom, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Slughorn shook his shoulders aggressively.
"He's trying to use you as a way to get me back into Hogwarts," Slughorn said, frowning as he crossed his arms. "I had to try and keep my House in line and even then I failed in some respects. I don't see the point in returning."
"Which was your House?"
"I was Head of Slytherin," He said before wagging a finger at Rebekah when he saw her raise an eyebrow. "Don't go holding that against me! You'll be Gryffindor like her, I suppose? Yes, it usually goes in families. Not always, though. Sirius Black didn't fit in his family's House."
"Actually," Rebekah said in a calm tone like she had rehearsed this line for months. "I'm a Slytherin. And I know when I'm being used, I don't need someone to tell me anymore. Dumbledore wants you to teach at Hogwarts, that much I understand. But why don't you want to return? Hogwarts is one of the safest places at the moment."
"It's all good and well for him to talk but if I took a post at Hogwarts, I might as well be declaring that I have pledged my allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix!" Slughorn said in a fast breath.
Rebekah didn't blink or even give notice when Emperor jumped into her lap and sat down with his bum on the arm of the chair and his legs draped over hers. "You needn't join the Order of the Phoenix. I haven't. Dumbledore knows this and still allows me freedom. Take the position as a way to get back into teaching, say you've been in hiding for the last year to plan your lessons and get better materials. You don't have to say what you've actually been doing, make it up as you go but make it believable."
"You truly are a Slytherin."
"I'm glad you see that…"
It was a moment of silence before Dumbledore came back into the room. He looked from Rebekah to Slughorn back to Rebekah and then again Slughorn. As Rebekah nodded once, Dumbledore asked the question.
"Are you coming out of retirement, Horace?" He asked and smiled when Slughron nodded.
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Rebekah was in love with the new manor.
After their wedding, Remus and Sirius had moved into the Black manor, now dubbed the Black-Lupin abbode. It was a lot more comfortable than Grimmauld Place with plenty more room and space outside.
The front area of the manor had warm wood flooring with long pillars holding up archways that lead off of the main area. Many pieces of the furniture were wood, stone, or an assortment of metals. The grand staircase ascended downwards to the middle of the blocked off entrance area. The doors were open so they could be seen.
The next morning, as always, Rebekah was up before anyone else in the manor.
She'd been spending most of the summer at the manor now, especially in the greenhouse alcove area on one side of the manor.
Rebekah donned clean clothes before going down the three sets of staircases that led the top floor to the next and then to the bottom. She placed a Disillusionment Charm, though not as strong as Dumbledore's but still quite strong, on herself before beginning her daily run.
Somehow, the Ministry had forgotten to request the Time Turner back at the end of last year, resulting in Rebekah keeping it over the summer. It was a great time saver, literally, as she could study and review everything much easier than normal. Though she had to explain why there were around two or three versions of herself at different levels of exhaustion throughout the day to the Dursleys and Weasleys.
She was running down one of the long hills that the Black-Lupin manor was set onto. It was beautiful to run on, especially as the sun was barely rising and allowed a strange glow on the water. Rebekah sat down eventually, just crossing her legs as she sat on the grass and watched the sun rise.
"Mistress Potter may want to return to the manor," Kreacher's voice suddenly said from the corner of her eye as he appeared. "Master Sirius Black is requesting your presence. Weasley Mother is screaming the house down, wanting you home."
She sighed. "I'm coming. Thank you."
Rebekah nodded as Kreacher popped away again.
She returned to the Manor at a jog. She entered from the back, going straight to the kitchen as she was hungry and wanted food. If she had gone through the front, she would have been greeted by all of the portraits of the Black Family members and her own portrait which she shared with Sirius and Remus and Emperor over the staircase.
She opened the fridge as she shoved her nose into a book again, this time it was one of her older books, The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy. Rebekah remembered buying this book in her second year in that strange store with the Hand of Glory and many more illegal items she was sure she could find if she looked a little bit closer.
Necromancy was, for the most part, illegal, atleast to use it on a Human. It was known that some Darker families used Necromancy to keep their beloved pets 'alive' past their due dates on Earth. In itself, Necromancy wasn't actually that dark, but because it was used with corpses and was more like just reanimating it to act like how it was before, it could be dangerous.
After all, Necromancy could be used to make Inferi by placing the flower of Nightshade in the—
"Hey!" Rebekah snapped as her book was snatched from her hands. A coffee cup sat by her hands, a floating jug of milk poured the white liquid in before a spoon stired in the right amount of sugar for her tastes.
Molly Weasley was fuming with her face as red as her children's hair. "Where have you been, Rebekah? I went to wake you and I found your bed empty. Empty! And what are you reading? Necromancy? Necromancy! Disgusting stuff! I will never understand why Sirius lets you read this."
As Molly pulled the book away from her completely, Rebekah grabbed the edge of the book and brought it back to the table. She slapped a hand on top of the book as Molly crossed her arms with a wand in her hand.
"I went for a run," Rebekah said calmly as she stood up from her seat at the table, always taking Sirius' seat at the head unless he was there to take it himself. "And before you try and say that that was irresponsible of me, I know what I'm doing and I'm not changing my habits just because a mad man wants me dead. And second, Sirius doesn't let me do anything. There isn't anything for him to let me do. I'll read what I want."
Molly huffed and turned even more red, if that was possible, before turning around sharply and storming to the stairs. "Sirius, sort your GodDaughter out! She will get herself killed!"
"Not before you bring the house down with your voice," Rebekah mumbled as she sat back down and sipped her coffee.
Thankfully, the Weasleys no longer stayed over at the Black-Lupins'. More often than not, they visited a couple times a week and took advantage of Sirius and Remus, or Molly took advantage.
Last night, they all slept over because it had gotten late and Molly didn't want to make the trip home, which would have only taken a few minutes with Floo.
She didn't understand why Sirius and Remus allowed the Weasleys to stay, she liked them and all but she didn't like Molly. Rebekah didn't like Molly because she tried to act like her mother, she didn't need another one. Rebekah had Petunia and that was amazing.
It only took another ten minutes before the rest of the house was downstairs. They all still wore their pajamas as they grumbled downstairs. Sirius, Remus, Molly and Arther were the only ones to be dressed in any sort of clothing that wasn't sleepwear, besides Rebekah.
The Dursleys would arrive later in the day to have lunch at the manor.
Rebekah migrated from her seat in Sirius' chair to her own at his right.
Most people were half asleep as they ate breakfast. Ginny used a hand to keep her head propped up as she yawned with each bite of toast. Ron was ready to fall back asleep at the table. Hermione wasn't there, she was at Viktor's for the summer again.
As soon as the owls came, everyone was awake.
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Pass Grades: Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades: Poor (P), Dreadful (D), Troll (T)
Rebekah Lilianeth Potter has achieved the following:
Ancient Runes: O
Arithmancy: O
Astronomy: O
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Charms: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Divination: O
Herbology: O
History of Magic: E
MuggleBorn Studies: O
Potions: O
Transfiguration: O
"That's annoying," Rebekah muttered, half frowning, half shrugging at the E between all of the Os.
"Did better than me, Cub," Sirius said.
Remus snorted. "Love, James of all people did better than you. Pass the butter."
Sirius glared at him for a second before rolling his eyes, lifting the butter tube and passing it over. "So, Cub, who're you inviting for your birthday party?"
"The Crown," She said as she grabbed for the newspaper he was reading because he was finished with it. "Perhaps Annie and Luna too, Neville maybe. Probably a couple people from the Higher Court."
"Higher Court?" Remus asked. "Are those the ones that attended your little mission for the prophecy?"
"Partly. Ginny, Luna and Annie are going to be part of the Higher Court, along with Neville. and Ron."
"You're creating quite the following there, kid," Sirius piped in, giving her a narrowed little look which was falsely accusing her. "Death Eaters and Order members, Dark and Light, you're creating a whole new grouping. Anyone else you're thinking of adding to it?"
"Hermione has started to speak to Viktor Krum, and Logan's sister is at our school, she's teaching some of the younger years that need extra help with Transfiguration," She said. "We've got some of the graduated ones but they're less likely to become part of the group since they left."
"If you want, you can invite most of the prospective Higher Court members here and inform them of what's happening," Remus asked.
Rebekah nodded with a thankful smile. "We've been meaning to meet up again."
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