As much as it were true, Helena didn't know what to do now that she had accepted the fact that she liked her Hufflepuff friend. She wanted to tell him but didn't want to risk their friendship if the boy rejected her.
No, she was going to keep quiet and hope for the best.
I'm gonna die alone with ten Pygmy Puffs, she thought that night as she went to bed.
Nina didn't know how to handle the whole love subject. Sure, she had tiny crushes on boys through the years, but nothing as serious as how she felt right now for Cedric.
On the first day of winter break, most of the students had left Hogwarts to leave for their homes to spend Christmas with their families.
Helena was one of them.
The Weasley twins and her were sharing a compartment on the train to London, Fred and George discussing which product ideas for their business they would try out at home.
"You better not try them near your mother," Nina warned, eyeing them over the book she was reading.
"Don't worry, Nina," said George, "we'll be extra careful to not get caught."
"Mother doesn't like us wasting away our time on joke products," explained Fred, crossing his legs. "Only last week she wrote to us reminding she wanted several O.W.L.s from both of us so we can get good jobs."
"I understand her point," Nina commented, "but honestly, I can see Weasley Wizard Wheezes being successful business."
"You really think that, Hell?" Fred asked raising an eyebrow, surprised their school-oriented friend was saying that.
"Yeah, I mean... you both seem passionate about it. You are kinda meant for this. And I would be depressed if I had to work on something my heart isn't in," Nina said truthfully.
The girl leaned her back on the wall next to the window, proping her legs up on the long train seat. Outside, the meadows and tree lines they were passing were convered in snow, a soft wind pushing some of the leaf-less branches to the side.
The purring sound of the train on the move was making Helena consider taking a nap, but fought through it since it wasn't long until they arrived to their destination.
"What do you wanna do when you get out of Hogwarts, Nina?" asked George, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, Hell... Why study so hard for O.W.L.s?" said Fred doing the same as his brother.
"Promise me you won't laugh," Helena arranged herself to sit straight again, holding her hands together to not fidget. "But I want to be an Auror."
"Why would we laugh at that?" Fred stared at her with his head slightly tilted to one side and turned to look at his brother.
"I can picture you as an Auror," said George matter-of factly, leaning back looking thoughtful as if he were analizing her.
"So, you don't think it's odd... for me?" Nina asked with a glint in her eye.
She had never told anyone about her dream job, other than her father and Professor McGonagall. Helena liked to keep to herself and that is one of the reasons why she didn't feel like she had strong friendship connections with other students.
But opening up to the Weasleys now gave her some sort of relief, a sense of bonding she rarely felt before she started hanging out with them.
"It's a cool job, if you ask me!" said Fred with a warm smile. "Aurors get to catch the bad guys so people like us," he signaled to himself and George, "can worry about the fun stuff!"
"Oooh... Is that why you are so interested in why Sirius Black escaped?" George asked intrigued, "do you want to catch Black yourself?" he grinned pointing at her.
Nina swatted away George's accussing finger, laughing at the thought.
"I'm not crazy enough to think I can!" she rolled her eyes. "But I am curious to know how he even broke out of Azkaban. All those dementors..."
Helena thought being surrounded at all times by the black cloaked creatures must be terrifying, and could not imagine the state of the prisoners that lived there.
"Maybe he had an Invisibility Cloak or something to get past those bloody things," Fred said.
The redhead suddenly got up from his seat next to George and walked over to Nina's side, sitting on the girl's lap. Both his brother and Helena gave the boy questioning looks.
"Ummm... Fred?" she said to his back.
"Yes, dear Hell?"
"Do I look like a chair to you?" Helena was tempted to push the boy off of her.
"No," he said casually, gazing out the window at the passing trees. "Just wanted to sit here and I know you wouldn't switch with me, so we're sharing now." Fred crossed his long legs, letting out a deep sigh.
"You are one weird boy, Fred Weasley."
Nina placed her hands on his back and pushed him to the side and off of her, knocking him on the floor.
"Geez, Hell! I see chivalry is dead," he joked.
When they arrived at King's Cross Station, Helena said goodbye to the twins and got out of platform 9 and 3/4, crossing the magical wall where she spotted her father who was chatting with another Hogwarts parent, the latter eagerly wanting to leave the conversation to pick up their child on the other side of the platform.
"Hiya, kiddo! How was the train ride?" Andrew Rosemund hugged his daughter, the other parent taking the opportunity to leave.
"It was... interesting." Nina left it at that.
"Guess what I'm wearing right now?" Her father pointed excitedly to his feet, lifting the hem of his pants a bit, showing off the red socks with the Snitch she had bought at Hogsmeade.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When they arrived to the small apartment, Nina was surprised to see so many Christmas decorations placed all around the rooms, a short pine tree filled with colorful tiny lights, sitting on the corner of the tv room.
"Looks great, dad! Really outdid last year," she beamed, dropping her luggage in her bedroom and stepping into the kitchen. "Ah, you got those glassed outmeal cookies I like!" Helena said, grabbing a handfull of the treats off the counter and stuffing one in her mouth.
The next few days were spent like most winter breaks; Nina did some school work in the morning to not get behind it, then her father would take her to visit local museums, even when they already had them memorized.
The day would usually end with the two of them watching movies in the living room, snacking on whatever they could find in the kitchen.
One evening, after going to the mall for some last minute shopping and now resting their feet on the couch infront of the television, Helena brought up a topic both of them had avoided all these years.
"Dad?" she asked quietly, not sure how to approach the subject.
"Yes, hun?" Her dad was focused on the movie they had on.
"I miss m-mum." She choaked on her words, her eyes starting to water instantly, ignoring how she just blurted it out.
Andrew Rosemund turned off the television, his gaze on his daughter who now looked so small and fragile at the mention of the woman who was taken away from them too soon.
Helena's father was speechless.
There wasn't a day he didn't think about his wife, his daughter reminding him of what he had lost whenever he looked at Nina. Not only did she had the same dark messy hair, she also had her mother's strong personality, even when the girl didn't see it.
But he did.
And as he was seeing her, crying silent tears, he wished the woman he loved was still here so they could both comfort their daughter.
"I miss her too, kiddo," he spoke softly. "So much and I..." He took a deep breath, not wanting to break down infront of Helena. "No girl should be without her mother."
The man sniffed, swallowing the knot in his throat.
"I would bring her back if I could," he continued. "But she hasn't left us... not really."
Nina looked up at her father, wipping her face dry with her sleeve, her nose and eyes red from the crying.
"She lives in you. Every time you laugh, when you talk, the way you think differently, even when you speak without saying a single word..." the man smiled at her. "You have so much of her in you, it's impossible to deny that."
So whenever you miss her, remember she is still with you. Always." He embraced her in a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. "I know I'm not the most emotionally open person," that's where she got it from, "but I'll do my best if you want to talk more in the future."
"Thanks, dad." Helena felt much better, her father's words bringing her the inner peace she'd been longing for.
On Christmas morning, Nina woke up with a big grin, running to the living room, knocking on her father's door on the way to wake him up.
Christmas was her second favorite holiday, Halloween being number one.
She kneeled beside the small tree, wrapping herself in the blanket she brought from her bed and observed the presents on the floor, waiting for her father to arrive.
"Alright, alright... I'm here! Go ahead!" the man prepared himself a cup of coffee to help him wake up.
Helena reached for the biggest box that was from her father and tore it open, revealing a pair of leopard printed ankle boots.
She squealed with joy.
"To match the coat," the man smiled, taking a sip from his mug.
Nina continued to unwrap the gifts, receiving a small necklace from one of her aunts that lived outside the country and a book from Hermione, Charms for the Charming.
She noticed she'd gotten more presents than usual, picking up a box that was filled with almost every candy from Honeydukes, courtesy of Angelina; another book about hexes, this one from both Harry and Ron, with a note that said "To use on Flint or Malfoy... or my brothers," Ron had added with his handwriting, making the girl laugh.
She also got a gift from Cedric, a long black velvety cape with a Christmas card saying,
"For your evil reign. P.S. I owe you your army of Pygmy Puffs."
But hidden underneath the fabric, was a golden charm bracelet that had a tiny lion that shook its mane if you pet it.
Nina immediately adored the small animal, putting on the piece of jewelry on her wrist.
The last present under the tree had been wrapped with lots of ribbons, all different colors, making the package seem like several rainbows intertwined with each other.
Helena loved it.
Carefully opening a slit to not mess with the wrapping, she took out a bright yellow knitted sweater that had a big letter 'H' in dark red in the center of it.
Nina put it on at once, pushing aside the blanket that was covering her and instead warming up with the soft material of her new jumper.
It was unmistakenly, a Weasley jumper. Helena had seen the Weasley sibblings wearing one at some point, and also Harry.
She felt honoured to have one for herself.
Helena picked up the envelope that had fallen off when she grabbed the present. When she saw the back of the envelope, she knew who had written on it, reading...
"To Hell"
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a/n THE STORY TITLE !!! lol, I just had to! I was planning on doing it later on, but I couldn't resist!
Hope you're liking the story so far :)