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For some reason, Rebekah hated birthdays.
She didn't like having so much attention on her, it was a lot usually because her friends were like that. They saw birthdays as something to be celebrated because they were born, but as the years waned on and they were nearing seventeen and almost died a couple of times, the Crown realised birthdays were about not having died yet.
They now each celebrated their births as spitefulness towards death, refusing to give up just yet and living until the next year.
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Her birthday would have been the day before Lughnasadh, a celebration of the harvest season beginning. Instead of celebrating her birthday, they celebrated Lughnasadh or Lammas as it could also be known as.
It gave the Black-Lupins a reason to celebrate something and allowed Rebekah to have a large amount of the Court at the Black-Lupin manor without it being suspicious to their parents.
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The Crown sat in an empty room, all sitting at a long table as Rebekah sat at the head with Daphne at her left and Blaise at her right.
A large paper sat in front of them, a long list of the members of the Court there. All of the members were there, at least those that would be attending school with them. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Fred Weasley, and George Weasley were not attending, the former two finishing last year and the latter no longer attending Hogwarts.
They had to decide who was going to be in the Higher Courts still, wanting to be fair but stern about it.
Some people were easy choices. Annie Shaw, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom were already loyal, but people like Ron, Hermione and many others they had to be careful of.
Even if they all signed a document that would tongue-tie them into silence, they were still wary about it.
The Crown didn't want unneeded people knowing things they shouldn't.
There were so many members of the Court.
If they didn't count themselves in the numbers, there were almost twenty-five people in their year and a few below. More than half were in their year alone, but it was actually most of the people in their year.
Most of the Court were now Sixth years and were in Rebekah's year in school. Eight Slytherins were the Crown, with seven Gryffindors, four Ravenclaws and four Hufflepuffs. They were all Sixth year now.
There were four members from the year below, Ginny, Colin, Annie and Luna, with Colin's brother being in the year below them.
There had been some interest expressed by some Fourth Year Slytherins, all vouched by Annie as good students. One of Annie's friends also wanted to join, a boy named Alec Flinton. There were some other people from the other Houses who wanted to join, being vouched for by some of the older members.
"We've got to be careful about these new members," Blaise said. "We don't know their intentions."
"We started the Court as a way to know Defense," Logan commented. "Now it's turned into something like the Order or Death Eaters. We're becoming a little too political for my tastes."
"Can't be helped," Rebekah said. "Times are changing fast and we need to act. Kreacher."
The HouseElf popped into the room with a stiff nod of his head. Rebekah turned to him.
"Please bring in these members," She handed him a piece of parchment with a list of names.
Ten people were brought into the room within a few minutes, grouped into sitting with members of their Houses.
Four Gryffindors; Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley.
Three; Ravenclaws; Anthony Goldstein, Micheal Corner and Luna Lovegood,
Two Hufflepuffs; Hannah Abbot, Justin Finch-Fletchley
One Slytherin; Annie Shaw.
The Crown had chosen these people because they found them to be the most useful out of the Court, having either brains, power or social status that would help in the long run.
The Crown had explained as such, or they had said it all in much nicer terms, before sending them all back to the party that was roaring to life.
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"Welcome to the Black-Lupin manor," Sirius greeted the whole ballroom as he stood on a raised level with Remus, both dressed quite smartly in suits and robes.
The ballroom was huge and looked almost like something out of Beauty and the Beast with how it was decorated in the warm hues of gold and cream. The rising crescent moon was behind them, highlighting their features as they stood in front of a large set of double doors that led to a balcony that sat over the ocean.
Many members of the Order and Court stood around the raised level. Many parents of the Court members were also attending, glad to be invited to an event like this. It wasn't formal enough for everyone to wear full suits or regalia of their houses, but it was festive with thin robes and flowy dresses.
The Dursleys and Weasleys were also attending with Petunia and Molly staying away from each other as their husbands just prayed to God or Merlin that a fight wouldn't break out.
"Right now, we're celebrating Rebekah's birthday, and as soon as midnight strikes, it will be Lughnasadh!" Remus said, toasting a cup of FireWhiskey up. "You're sixteen now, Cub. A year from now you'll be an adult. Cherish your childhood, Cub. And everyone, you're welcome to food and refreshments as we celebrate these wonderful two events."
They toasted before everyone began to socialise.
And like usual, the Crown were up to mischief as soon as the adults' backs were turned.
Instead of staying inside and socialising like they should have, they snuck away right after the speech.
Narcissa just sighed, going through her own bottomless clutch and took out a pair of navy swim trunks. She handed them to Draco with a cautious look and a finger wag, looking at Mrs Zabini as she just handed her own son a conjured suitcase, along with several others for the Crown members that were 'staying at the Zabini's' for part of the summer.
The Crown all told their parents, at least those who were Death Eaters or aligned with Voldemort, that they were at the Zabini's household for the summer.
Bless Mrs Zabini, she wasn't a great mother but she was a good woman.
The doors to the ballroom were rammed open, a moose and a mare galloping in as a Gryffin and raven flew a metre or two behind them. A finger monkey hung on for dear life on the mare's mane. Tracey and Blaise were on the mare's back, hanging on as Daphne galloped. Rebekah sat on the moose, watching as a gecko bounced on the moose's back with each new step.
The still Human members wore swimsuits. Rebekah in a black bikini while Tracey wore a navy one-piece and Blaise had on green trunks.
They volted through the ballroom, forcing the people in there to move out of their way as they ran to the balcony doors.
"Really?" Remus gave Sirius a dark glare, hiding the amusement as his husband just grinned. "I hate you sometimes."
"You love me truly..." Sirius sniggered, waving a hand to make the balcony doors open. "It's a lovely night for a midnight swim."
Remus stepped away, narrowing his eyes. "Don't you dare. Don't even— SIRIUS ORION BLACK, I WILL SMOTHER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP IF YOU JUM— AHH!"
Sirius tackled him, gathering the Werewolf into a bridal hold before he ran full pelt at the balcony before chucking his husband over it, following him right after.
The Animagi had already jumped into the waters below, being quickly followed by the Weasley twins, Ron and Ginny.
"Not gonna happen, Viktor," Hermione told him.
"Please, Hermione," He said, pronouncing her name correctly. "Nona will be joining them in a minute, and the Weasleys have already. I doubt Fleur will do it."
"Fine," She sighed, transfiguring her dress into a modest two-piece in dark red to match Viktor's trunks.
The drop from the balcony was large, taking a good half a minute before they hit the cold waters below. Sirius and Remus had already made sure that the waters would be safe, clearing out any sharp rocks or dangerous sea creatures as even they knew this would have happened at least once during the Crown's stay at the manor.
"Right," Tonks said, becoming louder as she addressed the whole ballroom. "We should take this party to the waterside, I think. Kreacher, please help. I can't do much in my condition right now."
Kreacher appeared instantly, nodding easily before having the other HouseElves help him take food, drinks, and make an appropriate venue at the beachside where the swimmers would reappear eventually.
Everything was moved and a wooden floor was put on the sand, creating a level place to stand and socialise. On wooden poles that lined the sides, glowing white flowers allowed there to be light.
A small feast was prepared as midnight came, letting the swimmers come back to shore to get food.
"Why aren't you coming in, Tonks?" Rebekah asked, leaning against the table as she held a plate of food in nothing but her black bikini and slippers. "I'd've thought you would've gone in right after us."
"Right..." Tonks piled food onto her plate, calling over Sirius and Remus quickly. She gestured to Rebekah. "Tell her."
Rebekah placed her plate down, saying "Tell me what?" as she crossed her arms under her bust. She gave the two men a look that said she wanted to know, something they both realised was something she would not back away from.
"We're adding a member to the Black-Lupin household," Remus said.
Rebekah had an idea of what he could mean.
"And?" She picked up a piece of buttered bread from the plate.
"Well," Sirius grinned. "You're gonna be a GodMother, Becky-boo."
She licked her fingers clean, freezing halfway. "Wait. What?"
"We're having a kid, 'Becks," Remus said, concern lining his features. "We thought you would be happy..."
Rebekah shook the shock off. "Of course I'm happy for you! Oh my Merlin and Morgana. You're having a little Black-Lupin! When are you due?"
"Easter Holidays, some point then," Tonks grinned. "I don't plan to have kids myself but it doesn't mean I can't give another a kid if they can't have them. I still can't believe they're making you GodMother."
"With Sirius as a father, and me as a GodMother..." Rebekah smiled and laughed. "That kid is gonna need as much good influence from Remus as possible."
"So true," Tonks laughed, nudging her lightly. "I'm so gonna be the wine aunt when the kid pops out."
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The night started to quieten as time went on.
"You don't like that scar, do you?" Luna's airy voice said as she came up to Rebekah to look outside. "The one on your thigh, I mean. You don't mind the other one."
"Yeah," Rebekah muttered. "I don't like having more scars from Voldemort than I need to. I'm thinking of getting it covered with a tattoo but I haven't decided on the design yet."
Luna thought for a second, watching as Fidele began to slide up Rebekah's body to lay his head on her shoulder for a pet as the rest of him was curled around her torso.
"Why not Fidele?" Luna suggested. "He's conjured, meaning technically he is Magic and thus his form can be manipulated."
"Really?"
"Yes. You could probably make him into a tattoo, making the tattoo become like a pocket dimension for him to stay with you," Luna said. "It would hide the scars."
"How'd you do it?"
"A bit of Magic, of course." Luna smiled, and then showed her how.
It resulted in Fidele's form being etched into her thigh, wrapping around her thigh twice while his main body and tail hid the bottom two scars with his head covering the top one. It was beautifully detailed and looked like he was actually wrapped around her thigh.
The colouring was a perfect match to him, the tattoo would grey when he was summoned outside the little pocket universe that was her Magic.
Rebekah never wanted to look at another reminder of Voldemort.
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The night continued, somehow ending up with the Crown sleeping in their Animagus forms on the wooden floor of the venue while the guests left.
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