The Ambitions Of Rebekah Potter

Chapter Twelve

Rebekah opened her eyes, letting the dim light in. The Infirmary ceiling. She had been transferred from the Forbidden Forest to a bed in the Hospital ward.

Getting onto her elbows, she saw that she was alone save for the two creatures. The Thestral dam slept on the floor, quiet and still. Emperor settled himself on her back, in his tiniest kitten form.

How was the dam allowed in the ward? Then it dawned, not everyone could see her, and if they did, they would not speak of her.

She sat up without a pain, surprising herself and Madam Pomfrey.

"Miss Potter?" Madam Pomfrey shouted. "Lie back on that bed, or so help me, I will charm you to it!"

"Madam, I feel fine!" Rebekah shouted, stretching her back and arms. "I'm not in any pain anymore, it's just sore."

"Now that is very strange," Madam Pomfrey said, crossing her arms as she stood next to the bed and the sleeping creatures.

"What?" 

"These two," She sighed with an amused smile. "I tried to make her leave, but she refused. Always leaving my sight when told, but she always snuck right back in after I looked away."

"Strange," Rebekah commented. "Animals and creatures alike are drawn to me. I've had this problem for years."

"I need to do some more examinations, then I'll call Professor Snape to escort you back to your room," She said, taking her wand out of her apron pocket. "There isn't a need for you to collapse on your way back."

Rebekah nodded, her voice stuck in her throat. She waited until Madam Pomfrey before shuffling off the bed and closing the curtains. Draping her arms around the dam's neck, she cuddled the creature.

The Thestral drought her neck up and lowered her head until it laid on the girl's shoulders.She nodded off quickly, once again returning to the endless void that was her subconscious.

It wasn't long before Snape tore the curtains open, then sighed at the sight of the trio. 

This girl really had a knack for animals and creatures of all types. From bonding with a Familiar within a few months of meeting, to meeting the Omens of the school, and befriending the merpeople. 

She was an anomaly, a Potter in Slytherin House, but she was a Witch under his care foremost. A student with a whole universe of possible magic to learn, and an endless thirst for knowledge, and the ambition to achieve everything impossible.

But, for now, she would need heavy guidance to achieve her goals without allowing history relapsing the third time.

Snape waved his wand silently, a small twinkling sound erupted and woke her up with a jump. She gasped in shock with wide, alert eyes, before groaning and yawning.

"Hello Sir," She said with a sheepish smile, getting up carefully from the floor as to not disturb the animals. "What time is it?"

"It is around seven in the morning, Madam Pomfrey has insisted on you not attending lessons today." He said, "But Dumbledore has stated that you will have to attend your detention. Now come, I want you to rest for the rest of the day. Breakfast will be brought to your room when you ask."

On the way back to the dungeons, she wasn't herself, Snape realised.

She was silent, hesitant, wanting to keep whatever her mind might sprout that would cause her to hysterically breakdown into sobs. Too many emotions were bundled inside of her chest, weaving between the few positive and so many negative emotions that she feared they would tumble out of her mouth unmeanfully.

Snape stopped before his office, gesturing for her to come in. She walked in, standing by his desk.

The room was much like his classroom. The walls had shelves lined with large glass jars, though they only covered a single wall while the rest had bare and bleak shelves awaiting ingredients, and potions, and trinkets. A single row held an array of books, textbooks and journals Rebekah thought.

"Now, Miss Potter," He said, glaring down at her with no heat. It held an air of care and delicate wonder. "What did you see?"

She fiddled with the hem of her robe sleeve, twinkling it between her fingers. "I fear that if I speak, I'll return to a blubbering mess of tears and sobs. I-I don't want to remember any of the things I saw flash before my eyes."

Snape understood but he wanted to know what caused this shy demeanor of hers to surface. "Of what nature were these things? People? Words? Creatures? Or memories?"

"Memories, perhaps people and words. Mum and Dad are dead. Screams. Green light. Anger. Grey. Black. Death. Snake. Man. Darkness." 

Her breath quickened until she heaved them out. Snape was quick to silence the room as she began to scream with all her might as the flashes returned. He poured a Calming Draught down her throat and then a Dreamless Sleep one too, hoping it would calm her enough.

Snape couldn't believe the pain the young girl was in. It was too much for someone her age. It was too similar a pain for him to react.

It took her only moments to calm down. Her gaze was glazed over, as if possessed but she returned soon enough. She used the back of her hand to whip the running tears from her face, looking at the moisture that welled in her palms. They stopped.

"The thing I say, what was it? I mean the creature, not the flashes." Rebekah said, her gaze low and tired.

"The creature, we don't know what it was. It sought after the blood of the unicorn, entering a state that ensured eternal life with a cost. The creature drank but caused itself to lose the humanity it has left."

"Eternal life?"

"It could heal a person an inch from death,"

"What if they died? Could the blood resurrect them?"

 He flinched at her words. Rebekah's thoughts tumbled in her consciousness. Why did he flinch? Was he scared or intimidated by one or the other?

"No, death is death."

"I remember doing some light reading, Hermione Granger recommended it," She said, fiddling with her sleeve. "I read of a stone that could resurrect, is it real?"

"Where did you read this book?" Snape stared. His gaze was intense with emotions but hidden behind that was fear and, could it be called approval?

"Library. I think it was called the Resurrection Stone, or the like?" Rebekah frowned.

It was silent for a moment.

"Sir," Rebekah broke the suffocating silence. " I don't know if I should say this. But the creature, when it came towards me, I was in so much pain. This pain keeps occurring and occurring, again and again. The only recurring thing that links them is one person."

He stifled his snort, crossing his arms loosely to convey his impatience. "Come, Miss Potter, who do you believe is the cause of this."

She looked up from her hands, drawing her gaze to Snape's. He already knew, she bet. He knew for some time now. Rebekah took a breath in and looked through her dark lashes, her eyes calm, calculated and cold.

"Quirrel."
He had a self satisfied grin, making her grin in response. "Why do you think that?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Rebekah's timid and shy demeanor disappeared and her true self came out. "Day one, my stomach said not to trust him. Quidditch match, my eyes said that too. And yesterday, before the detention, I went to get some books. Quirrel was walking out of a classroom, muttering to himself and fixing his turban. I thought I saw a face on the back of his head. From what I understand, all my pain has linked to him. Why?"

"I can't say that I know," Snape said, almost shuddering at her suddenly harsh gaze. "Off to your dorm, now. Rest until the detention tonight."

Rebekah was a very grumpy, grouchy and gravitated girl for the rest of the day. Emperor stuck his nose up at her, refusing to respond until she apologised to him with catnip in one hand and a squirming mouse in the other.

Eventually, when dinner began and she knew everyone else was eating,  she snuck out of the dungeons, up the stairs and down the corridors.