Getting back to the Burrow after the chaos that followed the Quidditch World Cup brought some peace to Helena, especially when she thought about how she would be back at Hogwarts in a few days.
The sight of the Dark Mark had released mayhem at the Ministry of Magic. Mr. Weasley and Percy would spend most of their day at work as the Ministry was dealing with thousands of complaints from the witches and wizards that attended the Cup and witnessed the skull and the snake in the sky.
News of the story were immediately plastered all over the Daily Prophet. There was an article writen by Prophet correspondant Rita Skeeter, accussing members of the Ministry, including Mr. Weasley, that it had been their fault that the security of the World Cup had been poorly managed.
Helena wrote to Cedric as soon as she got to the Burrow to make sure he was okay. Mr. Weasley had rushed them to their Portkey the morning they left the campsite, and did not have time to talk to the brunette. Cedric had wrote back to her, saying how he felt terrible for losing her in the crowd but was glad she had reunited with her friends before anything bad happened.
On her last day at the Burrow, Helena spent most of it reading several of the books for sixth year Mrs. Weasley had bought for her at Diagon Alley to get an idea on what her adnvanced classes would cover. Hermione was doing the same, sitting on the other couch of the living room as they both shared the room in silence.
"Nina, could you help us up here with something?" yelled Fred from the third floor, interrupting her reading.
She got up from her cozy spot, leaving a quiet Hermione to her book of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 4, and went upstairs to the room Fred and George were sharing with Harry and Ron, only to find just one twin there.
"Where's George?" Nina asked looking around. "You said 'help us'."
"I lied to make you come up here," he confessed without guilt. "You've been acting weird all week. What's wrong?"
She had been spending time with the twins like usual, either helping them fill out forms for their joke products or just messing around, but whenever someone would bring up the World Cup and what happened after, she would fidget with her fingers or excuse herself and find a nook to read. Most of them thought seeing the Dark Mark had upset her, but Fred and George knew something else was bothering her.
"Nothing... why would anything be wrong?" she said airily, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Fred arched his eyebrow.
If he didn't knew her, he would had believed her calm behaviour but he noticed the small habit she had whenever she was nervous or uncomfortable.
And Nina was aware tucking her hair had been a giveaway to the boy.
"Okay, yes. Sorry for acting strange. I'll stop," she muttered, "It's just..."
She shut her mouth close, arguing with herself if she should bring up the subject or not. Fred stared at her, as if he knew what she was thinking about.
"It's just that...you feel weird because I kissed you," he said quietly.
"No... Okay, yes! I mean... You're my best friend and it took me by surprise, of course. I know you said it was in the spur of the moment, but still," she was having a hard time putting into words how she had been feeling all week. "Friends are just... friends."
"Right."
Nina paused, thinking how she didn't want this to keep her from hanging out with Fred.
"Can we just forget about it and pretend nothing happened? I promise I'll stop behaving weird?" she smiled with a shrug.
"I--"
Fred looked down at his feet for a second before he returned the smile, nodding at her.
"Alright. But only if you catch George," he said.
"What? What are you t--"
And right then, out of nowhere, George came running through the door frame at full speed and jumped on her back, making her shriek as they both went down to the hard wooden floor.
"That's for acting weird!" George laughed next to her.
"Yeah, yeah..." she groaned, slowly getting up, "lesson learned, idiots."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On the rainy morning they were to leave for Hogwarts, there was an air of excitement, especially since they would all find out what the big event that was taking place there would be about. They all tried to get information on it from the three eldest Weasleys all week, but Bill, Charlie and Percy refused to spoil the surprise.
When everyone was packed and ready to leave, Mrs. Weasley called some muggle taxis from the nearest town. Mr. Weasley wouldn't be joining them since he had gotten a message from Mr. Diggory, saying how he was needed to calm down Mad-Eye Moody.
"Who's Mad-Eye Moody?" asked Harry.
"A complete nutter," said George.
"He's an Auror, Harry," informed Nina. "Dark wizard catcher."
"Still a nutter," commented Fred.
"Half of Azkaban is filled because of him," added Charlie. "He made himself loads of enemies, though...the families of people he caught, mainly...and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."
Three taxis soon arrived and it was obvious the drivers were not that pleased to carry seven heavy trunks into the cars, not to mention the owl cages and a grumpy Crookshanks.
Bill and Charlie tagged along, sharing the cab with their mother and Ginny since it was the least crammed. Harry, Ron and Hermione shared another while Helena, Fred and George took the last one.
"Mind scooting over there, Hell," said Fred as he tried to shut the close the door of the cab while also struggling to keep his luggage inside the car.
"I would if George does!" Nina growled, her trunk crushing her legs. "I shouldn't have packed those extra books," she muttered.
"No...you... shouldn't!" gasped George as part of Nina's luggage rested on top of his when she moved so Fred could shut the door.
It was a relief for everyone when they arrived at King's Cross, even when the rain got worse, at least they were out of those taxis. Helena's owl, Alfie, kept fluttering in his cage when she got him out of the back of the car and had to calm him down by giving him some M&M's she had laying in her pocket.
"Don't get used to it," she whispered to the owl.
Getting to platform 9 and 3/4 was one of the best parts of heading back to Hogwarts for Helena. Just the sight of the shiny scarlet train was always exciting. Parents were dropping off their kids, wishing them a good year; friends were reunited, glad to see each other; and a sense of joy to go back to the magical school seemed to bring everyone to a pleasant mood.
"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.
"Why?" said Fred keenly.
"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it...it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."
"Just tell us already, Charlie. You're torturing us!" Nina said, not liking how they were leaving them in the dark of it all.
"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.
"Why?" said George impatiently.
"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."
"A bit of what?" said Ron.
But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley hurried them toward the train doors.
"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.
"It was very nice. Had a great time!" chirped Helena, poking her head over Hermione.
"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.
"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but...well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with...one thing and another."
"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What d'you three know that we don't?"
"C'mon, guys. Let's go find seats," said Nina to the twins, giving up on finding out what the big secret was.
It took them longer than usual to get a compartment all for themselves since Helena stopped to help a group of nervous first years find seats, letting them know they needed to change into their school robes before they got to Hogwarts.
"I'm amazed they haven't made you Prefect, Nina," commented Fred once in their compartment, putting his feet across the other seat.
"Those kids looked lost. I couldn't just leave them," said Helena, putting her bag over her seat.
"Imagine having a Prefect for a friend," said George with a glint in his eyes.
"You had one for a brother," she reminded him.
"Yeah, but Percy didn't really help us, did he?" said Fred. "I think he enjoyed watching us get detention."
"Of course he did," laughed Nina, "it's Weatherby we're talking about."
The three of them sniggered, remembering the name Fudge had called Percy back at the World Cup.
"By the way," said Nina, wipping a tear from laughing so hard, "Did you get your bet money from Bagman?"
"We did--"
"--But then it disappeared," said George disappointed.
"Been trying to contact him...with no luck, that is," Fred slumped on his seat.
"Why don't you write him a letter--"
"We've done that, Nina. He doesn't answer back," said George.
"You didn't let me finish," she said leaning closer to them, putting her hands together to share her plan. "Write him another letter and threaten to share his cheating gambling ways to the Daily Prophet. They're already giving him a hard time for what happened at the Cup... this would not help him at all."
"Threaten Ludo Bagman?" asked George considering the plan.
"You're quite evil, you know that?" chuckled Fred, smiling proudly at her.
"I've been told," laughed Nina. "Bagman is okay, but he shouldn't have given you fake money. So, my evil ways only come to life when needed."
"Maybe the Sorting hat got one wrong," said George.
"Yeah, Hell. You have some Slytherin tendencies, there."
"Oh, please!" she waved her hand to dismiss their comment. "Although I do look good in green."
Helena reached for Fred's arm since he was wearing an olive colored jumper, and held his arm next to her head, batting her eyelashes dramatically.
They both locked glances at each other a bit longer than normal, until Helena let go of his arm and turned to look at the window instead.
After sharing some Cauldron Cakes Helena had bought from the trolley, she excused herself to go find Cedric, telling the twins she would catch up with them later.
"Don't take too long with Diggory, Rosemund!" yelled George as she left.
On her way to find Cedric, she had a quick chat with Luna Lovegood, grabbing a copy of The Quibbler at the end and being entertained by the tiny leprechauns in a moving picture in honor of Ireland's win at the World Cup.
Paasing several compartments filled with other students, Helena finally spotted Cedric with his friends and waved him over.
"Hey, beautiful!" he greeted, kissing her on the lips and taking her to a more private area. "I'm guessing you've heard rumors about something happening at Hogwarts."
"Yep. And still have no clue what it actually is," she chuckled. "Hope we find out at the Start of Term feast, though! Well... after it, because I'll be starving when we get there."
"Whatever it is, it sounds like it's going to be something to remember," said Cedric putting his arm around her shoulders.
The both of them talked for what was left of the trip, sharing one of the booths in the dinning cart, holding hands over the table and discussing the classes they would take together.
The rain got heavier and the day quickly darkened as the train approached its destination. Helena left Cedric to change into her school robes, bumping into the first years she had met who were all happy they were about to arrive. Once changed, she walked back to the compartment where Fred and George were joined by fellow Gryffindors Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson.
"Hello, Lee... Angelina!" smiled Helena at the two.
"I came here thinking you'd be with these two," Angelina pointed to the twins.
"Sorry. I was with Cedric," she blushed.
"Still dating Diggory?" Lee asked intrigued. "Huh..."
"How's Pretty Boy?" mocked Fred when she took the seat across from them. "Probably talked about this year's classes, I bet."
"We don't just talk about school, you know," Nina said crossing her arms over her chest as she covered herself with a small blanket she had brought along in her bag.
"Of course not," said Angelina, "you can't make-out if you talk."
Helena went red in the face and pretended to tie up her shoes, even when they did not have laces. She just wanted to kill some time so her face would turn back to its normal color.
"Someone please change the subject," she pleaded with a nervous laugh.
The other four exchanged looks.
"I know what's happening at Hogwarts," smiled Lee wickedly.
The rest whipped their heads towards the boy so fast, it startled him.
"What's happening?!"
.
.
.
.
.
.
a/n that tiny moment Fred and Helena shared hehe
idk why but I remembered the one Ron and Hermione had in POA movie, in their class with Buckbeak when I wrote it.
Anyway... I hope the story isn't getting boring (if it is I'm sorry and i'm doing my best to not make it so!!)
Thanks for reading cuties :)