AN: Pride of Portree

Optional Prompts: (song) 'Hello' by Evanescence, (quote) 'Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.' - Emily Bronte, (dialogue) "I'm still here."

Also written for the bingo on Diagon Alley II #40 Ravenclaw Tower & the Emotions Challenge - Guilty.

Locked Character Challenge - Helena Ravenclaw

Famous Witches and Wizards Cards Challenge: 1,215 words

Rejected Repentance

The children filtered out of the classrooms every hour on the dot. There was no bell or anything to alert them that their lessons were over aside from the clock. Teachers and students had become more vigilant; in his life, classes had often finished late, for the students had always been immersed in their learning. Perhaps the curriculum had gone downhill. From what he had heard, the Ministry certainly had. An incapable government led to an incompetent new generation.

Today, at midday, the children left their classrooms to get their lunch. Upon seeing him, some of them froze, others gawked and many even ran. It had been rather amusing at first, but the novelty of being fearsome had long worn off.

The Bloody Baron was what they called him. Immature students who had named him so crudely. Did they not know who he had been in his life? He had been a man of power—rich and influential. How ironic was it that he was now 'Slytherin's House ghost'? Some kind of cursed mascot to be gawked at by wide-eyed students. In death, his influence was non-existent. The only things he could control now were the students and the poltergeist, Peeves, and that was just by fear. How the mighty had fallen. He watched as children entered and left the castle. There were many who flaunted their power, even at such young ages; he had been the same. It was tempting to appear before them, telling them how proud people bred sad sorrows for themselves, but he never did. Often, he wondered, would any of these students meet an end—or no end—like he had?

He moved over to the window at the end of the corridor. Looking outside, he could see the students racing across the grounds; grey clouds were shrouding the normally bright green landscape in a gloomy atmosphere. The Baron turned away with a grimace, making a young boy who was walking by jump in fright. His reaction barely registered with the Baron, who was trying desperately not to think of the past. It was of no use.

Dark clouds were all he could see through the gaps in the trees above him. A distant rumble of thunder sounded. Where was Helena?

Moments later, he entered a clearing. "Hello?" he called out. He hadn't been expecting a response; his intent had been to shake the feeling of doom hanging over his head. He felt as if something was going to go terribly wrong—and he prided himself on his intuition.

However, the moment he saw a woman standing in the clearing, he forgot about the feeling. For it was none other than Helena Ravenclaw—the woman he had set out to find.

"Helena!" he exclaimed.

The woman spun around at the mention of her name. When she saw the man who had spoken it, she scowled. "What are you doing here?"

A thunderclap from the present tore him from his flashback, and he was distinctly aware that he had been howling and clanking his chains. He sagged against the wall he was standing next to, only to fall through it, finding himself outside the old castle.

How long would he suffer like this?

She's dead. She's not breathing.

His eyes opened and he found himself at Hogwarts. A dream! It had all been a dream.

But then he saw her—translucent and ghostly grey. He wasn't sleeping.

"Hele—"

"Do not speak to me. Leave me be," said the apparition that could not possibly be, yet was, Helena.

He had left her for all of those years, hoping that one day she would appear before him and break him free of his chains. She never had.

He realised now that he must take matters into his own hands. He would never be able to forgive himself and move on if she didn't do so first.

Where would he find her?

He had spent so much time avoiding this area of the castle in particular—Ravenclaw Tower. Sometimes, it was safe to wander here whenever she was not there. She was 'Ravenclaw's house ghost', nicknamed the Grey Lady. He knew that it irritated her. Whilst they had been alive, she had never taken kindly to nicknames. Although they had only met once in this… existence, he knew that it wouldn't have changed. They had been rather similar in that respect. At least there were some students that actually knew her name—many of them even interacted with her. The children only ever rushed away from him; they probably wondered how much of a brute he had to be to be able to control the unruly poltergeist.

"Oh, a Baron turned murderer! What a surprise… Tell me, how does it feel to murder the woman you love?" The poltergeist cackled and flew in a circle around him.

"I did not—"

He was interrupted by Peeves. "But you did! There's no shame in it. Was her blood w—"

The Baron cut off the poltergeist with a roar and rushed at him, making his chains rattle noisily. "Never speak about this again!"

"Why not? Does the guilt run through you? Is it so overwhelming that you want to… die?" Peeves screeched, a noise that the Baron almost mistook for a pained sound. It was only a moment later that he realised the poltergeist was laughing.

The Baron set his jaw. "No. It is because I know the founders of this school and, if I ask, they will not hesitate to banish you."

"Of course, they'd want to help you," Peeves' voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You murdered the daughter of one of them!"

"Do you think they'd want to hear you parroting the fact?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound unsure. When the poltergeist didn't respond, he continued, "You'd be banished before you could say another word."

Today, he entered the tower with only the briefest bit of hesitation. He would not be held back from his search for atonement.

"I told you to leave me be," said a voice the moment he entered.

He halted. How had she known he was there? He hadn't made any noise; he was a ghost. Despite his confusion, he replied, "You never specified how long I was to leave you alone. I thought you should know that I'm still here; you seem to have forgotten."

"The hope was that you would leave me alone forever," she said dryly. "Why are you here? I'm sure that reminding me of your existence wasn't all you wanted."

She turned around and the way her hair, once dark, now grey, swung with her made the Baron feel the full weight of what he had done. How could she ever forgive him?

He couldn't answer her.

"Leave me be. Do not speak to me. This time, I will make it very clear; I never want to see you again." And with that, the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw sped past him, leaving him alone in a room full of resources to make students more like her mother—more like her.

How he howled that night, mourning the loss of everything from the woman he loved to his former standing in life.

It would seem that he was destined to roam these cursed corridors forever, remaining a figment of days long gone. And it was all his own doing.