But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here,'- p. 558 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Abandoned Children
'Hey, Helen… can we talk for a second?' Lily asked hesitantly as Helen was about to follow Remus into their compartment.
'Sure,' Helen shrugged, going with Lily into an empty compartment.
'What's wrong?' Helen frowned, noting Lily's nervous behaviour.
Lily bit her lip and looked up hesitantly at Helen.
'Why is James being so… nice to me? Are they going to pull a prank on me?'
Helen looked at Lily curiously.
'What do you mean by 'nice'?' she asked, trying not to sound as amused as she was.
Lily sighed and slumped into the seat behind her as the train started to move.
'He hasn't asked me out since before your birthday… he never says suggestive things to me anymore he's just… nice. Is he making fun of me?' she frowned, looking to Helen for her opinion.
Helen bit her lip so as not to laugh.
'Er… well, James has always been 'nice', as you put it… perhaps he's just realised that his continually asking you out was futile as you'd just turn him down anyway,' she suggested.
Lily nodded quietly and looked out of the window.
'I guess it's… I don't know. I just became so used to it all these years, even though it annoyed me… does he have a girlfriend now?' she added in, as though it were a casual question of no real importance to her.
'No, not that I know of,' Helen replied, trying to stay serious.
It had just hit her for the first time that Lily actually had feelings for James and Helen was so happy for them both.
Lily nodded.
'Oh, well, that's…' she trailed off, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Helen said nothing. She knew how delicate Lily's feelings were at present and did not want to say anything which would possibly push her back into denial.
Thankfully, there was a knock at the door and it opened without either Lily or Helen responding.
'Oh, come on. You're not going to see us for a whole two months. Are we that repulsive that you can't even spend the train ride back with us?' Sirius demanded, more of Helen than Lily.
Helen looked to Lily who caught James' eye and looked away quickly, blushing.
Helen rolled her eyes.
'We just needed to have a little chat, that's all,' she said evasively, standing up. 'But we've finished, so we'll join you now,' she added brightly, smiling encouragingly at Lily.
'A chat about what?' Sirius asked, eyeing Helen suspiciously.
Lily's eyes widened.
'Never you mind,' Helen said, patting him on the shoulder condescendingly.
'Were you complaining about me again?' he sighed.
'Believe it or not, mon cheri, the world doesn't revolve around you,' Helen said sarcastically.
Sirius pouted.
'Of course it does!'
Lily and James stood to the side awkwardly whilst watching this display. Eventually, James cleared his throat.
'Yeah, it's nice to know you love each other and all, but you do have an audience,' he pointed out.
Helen and Sirius stopped arguing and turned to look at Lily and James, as though they were surprised that they were still there.
'I'm going to… I need to… say bye to Mary and… the others,' Lily said hesitantly to Helen.
Helen nodded.
'Well, don't forget me before you leave,' she said, smiling slightly as Lily and James looked at each other quickly as Lily exited the apartment.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
'Just snog her already and get a move on with life,' he drawled.
Helen shot Sirius a dirty look.
'James, you are doing a very good job- don't listen to this idiot over here. He has no idea,' she said turning to James.
'Sure… if I had no idea I would never have…'
'Those girls don't count. They weren't proper girlfriends,' Helen interrupted.
Sirius smirked.
'I was actually going to point out that I must have some idea if I got you,' he said, folding his arms.
Helen stared at Sirius for a moment.
'You're 'getting me' was a matter of pure luck, mon cheri. Imagine if Remus had taken me to the ball that night! You and I would still be mortal enemies,'
'Still are,' James muttered, staring at the two of them.
Helen and Sirius were once again forced to remember that they were in company.
'Honestly, is this how it always is between you two?' he asked exasperatedly.
'What?' Helen asked.
'We were just talking,' Sirius said defensively, confused as to what James found so abnormal.
'You call that talking?' James asked incredulously.
Helen and Sirius stared at James.
'You know what? I think I'll go back and join the others… more normal people. Come back when you've decided to get over yourselves,' he said, leaving.
Helen and Sirius stared at the door.
'He's changed, you know that. He's become… like Remus- but worse,' Sirius said with a shudder.
'You know that being like Remus isn't such a bad thing- you would do good to take a few leafs out of his book,' Helen said reprovingly, 'but he has changed,' she conceded.
'He didn't even want to do our traditional 'end of term' prank!' Sirius said sadly, as though mourning the loss of his friend. He slumped into the seat.
Helen laughed.
'Oh well… you'll have many chances for that next term,' she said reassuringly, patting his arm.
'Not if he ends up going out with Evans,' Sirius said, his eyes becoming wide. He turned to face Helen suddenly. 'She'll take every ounce of Marauder out of him!' he said in a horrified voice.
Helen shook her head at Sirius.
They sat in silence for a while.
'Why are you even going home? I don't get it,' he said miserably.
'I wouldn't expect you to,' she said quietly. 'Anyway, why are you upset about these holidays? You're completely free from your family meaning you'll have unlimited time to plot and plunder with your fellow Marauders.'
Sirius gave a closed smile and turned to look out of the window at the passing country greenery.
'Yeah, I know… but they… they have their families and will end up going home at the end of the day to their parents. They think it's cool because I've got my own place and I can do whatever…' Sirius paused and laughed bitterly. 'What I wouldn't give to have parents like James' or Remus' or Peter's… you know what I'm talking about,' he said quietly, still staring determinedly outside.
Helen looked at Sirius and understood exactly how he felt.
'But you're like a son to the Potters- Mrs Potter looks at you like a second son,' she said.
Sirius shot Helen a knowing look. She nodded.
'It's not the same thing, I know,' she said heavily, thinking of her own situation.
She would often spend time wondering what her mother, Selene, was like. There was so much she wanted to know about her and yet she knew so little.
'Anyway, I'll miss you…and if you choose to leave home early, please come and stay with me,' he added offhandishly.
'You were serious about that?' Helen asked quietly.
Sirius nodded, looking into her eyes.
Helen smiled and leaned forward, her lips brushing Sirius'.
'So you will?'
There was a pause.
'Yes,' she whispered back, smiling as he kissed her properly now.
Helen walked in the bathroom to get changed out of her robes. In there, Marina was washing her face; her eyes red and puffy.
'You okay?' Helen asked uncertainly, approaching where Marina was standing.
Marina looked up suddenly to see Helen.
'Y…yes,' she hiccoughed.
'Evidently,' Helen said, giving Marina a knowing look.
Marina took a deep breath and composed herself.
'Are you going back?' she asked, sitting down next to the sink.
'Yes. You?' Helen asked, sitting next to her.
Marina shook her head.
'As Dad's dead now there's no point,' she shrugged.
Helen's face fell; she never knew that Marina's father had died.
'I'm sorry,' she said sympathetically.
Marina shrugged.
'Cirrhosis- not really surprising considering he drank like a fish,' she said disinterestedly. 'It's okay… but I still miss mum...'
Helen nodded.
'When did he…'
'Die? Two weeks ago,' Marina said simply.
Helen nodded- Marina's absence from exams now explained.
'What will you do?' Helen asked eventually.
'I'll have to get a job and try and find a cheap place to stay, I suppose. I've found a few offerings to work as a barmaid…'
Helen made a noise.
'I know… but what can I do? He left me next to no money and jobs like that pay well for someone who's not even a qualified witch,' Marina sighed.
Helen looked at Marina. Even though they weren't friends, she still cared for her wellbeing.
'Well be careful, okay?' she said eventually.
Marina nodded.
'I'm pretty neat at hexing, so I'll at least be able to ward off anyone who's drunk,' she laughed sadly.
Helen squeezed Marina's hand and stood up.
'If you do get into any trouble, though, you can always owl me,' she said.
'In Australia?' Marina said ironically, also standing up.
Helen shrugged.
'I doubt I'll be staying the whole holidays…' she said sadly, knowing that what she was seeking was a hopeless case. 'But there's always Lily and the boys.'
Marina smiled and hugged Helen quickly.
'Thanks anyway- and good luck,' she added as she left the bathroom.
Helen held her breath as she reached the 'Arrivals' gate. She saw him waiting for her wearing his formal suit as always. His face was unsmiling.
Sighing, Helen, pushed her trunk forward.
'Hi dad,' she said hesitantly, kissing him on the cheek upon reaching him.
He nodded curtly and took the trolley from her as they walked out of the airport. Helen gathered that he probably had no recollection of the 'confunding' incident of last year.
He cleared his throat.
'How did you go in your exams,' he asked in Greek.
'Good,' Helen nodded.
'How good?'
Helen sighed.
'Top of my year, dad.'
He grunted in approval as they reached the car.
This was much more affection than Helen had been hoping for.
'Where's everyone else?' Helen asked as soon as they arrived home to an empty house.
'Christina has a piano lesson. Your mother is with her now,' he said simply. 'You will have to cook dinner tonight,' he added, heaving as he lifted up her trunk.
'Oh, it's okay, I can take that upstairs now,' Helen said, flicking her wand as it soared up the stairs.
She smiled a little as she saw her father's eyes widen in surprise, but adopted a sombre face as he turned to face her.
'I don't want you to do any of that in front of Christina. She is a nice Christian girl and should not be influenced by your devil-work.'
'But, dad, it's got nothing to…'
Helen was silenced with the look her father shot her.
'Okay dad,' she conceded, bowing her head and walking back to the kitchen.
An hour later, the front door opened and Helen came out from the kitchen to see her mother and Christina, holding her piano books, enter the house.
'… you will have to practise your Nocturne again tonight because it was not good enough in your lesson today,' her mother lectured Christina in Greek.
'Yes, mama,' Christina chided dutifully, before looking up to see Helen.
'Eleni! You're back!' she smiled, going up to hug her older sister.
Helen smiled.
'Yeah, I'm back. How've you been? Look at you! You've grown so much since I last saw you!' she laughed.
Mrs Asteria cleared her throat and both the girls looked up, their smiles fading slowly.
Evidently, even if Helen's father had forgotten last year's incident, her mother had not.
'Have you prepared dinner?' she asked coldly.
'It's nearly ready; the meat's just needs ten more…'
'Why is it not ready?' her mother demanded.
Helen's face blanched.
'It just needs ten more minutes,' she said reasonably.
Helen's mother shook her head.
'Can't do anything… who will want to marry you if you can't even cook properly- what is this?'
'Salad,' Helen said, thinking it was obvious.
'Where are the olives? Where is the fetta? What kind of salad is this?'
Helen pursed her lips to refrain from responding that Garden Salads existed.
'Ridiculous,' her mother continued. 'Your father has a business client coming tonight and you expect us to serve this?'
'Deep breaths, deep breaths,' Helen thought.
'And what dessert did you make?'
'I didn't know we were having a guest, mama,' Helen said earnestly.
'No dessert?' her mother repeated, shaking her head.
'I can make one in five minutes if you would let me use magic,' Helen muttered mutinously.
'Go to your room and get dressed. I shall try and fix your blunders in the kitchen,' she said, turning her back to Helen with contempt and tying an apron around her.
Sirius sat and drummed his fingers on his kitchen table. It was nine in the evening and he had nothing to do. It was too early to go to bed, too late to call on anyone, too early in the holidays to do any study- that idea wasn't appealing to him anyway- too late to go anywhere…
But he was bored.
He thought he might take a walk and check out the nearby village. At least it would kill some time.
Sirius had been to Halls Valley during the Christmas Break. It was a small wizarding village and Sirius thought it best to go there considering that he didn't have any muggle money on him. Most of the shops were shut at this hour, but the pubs were open so he went into 'The Singing Goblet' and sat at the bar, brooding in his boredom.
'What can I get you?' the barman asked.
'A firewhisky,' Sirius said disinterestedly, fiddling with a napkin.
'Hi there.'
Sirius turned to see a blonde woman of around nineteen sitting next to him. She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
Sirius cursed himself under his breath for going to a bar in the first place and getting himself into this situation. He turned determinedly back to his drink.
'You expecting someone?' she persisted.
'He already has a girlfriend so beat it,' a voice snapped from behind them.
Sirius looked up, surprised, to see Marina carrying a tray of drinks.
'It's only been two days. Did you forget about Helen already?' she asked shrewdly, going behind the bar.
'No,' Sirius muttered mutinously. He didn't think he needed Marina, of all people, to remind him about Helen.
'So what the fuck were you doing chatting that girl up?' she demanded, setting two gillywaters in front of a couple further down in the bar before returning expectantly for Sirius' response.
'I was not 'chatting her up',' he said heatedly. 'She just came and sat next to me- I didn't even talk to her.'
Marina pursed her lips.
'So what are you doing here anyway?' she asked, drying butterbeer mugs.
Sirius shrugged.
'Had nothing better to do… what about you? What're you doing working in a place like this?' he asked.
'Pays well,' Marina replied evasively. 'I'm two nights a week here, one at the Hog's Head, and three at the Druery- that's in Malrone,' she added.
Sirius nodded. It felt rather awkward speaking to Marina given both his history with her and her own strange relationship with Helen.
Marina surveyed Sirius.
'So, you heard from Helen yet?'
'Nope. She told me not to write in case her parents got a letter first.'
Marina nodded.
'Yeah, they're scary her parents- really strict. I met them once and I always told her to come to my place after that,' she said, shuddering as she remembered the incident.
Sirius furrowed his brow.
'You met Helen's parents?' he asked incredulously.
Marina fell silent.
'Helen never told you that we used to be friends?' she asked quietly.
Sirius raised his eyebrows, thinking that this was a rather far-fetched statement.
Marina shrugged.
'We were- from when we started primary school until just before we left for Hogwarts. We were really close, but…' she trailed off. 'I did something to her which was terrible and she hated me after that so we went to Hogwarts as enemies, rather than best friends, as we were once upon a time,' she said sadly.
Sirius stared at Marina in disbelief.
'You used to be best friends with Helen?' he repeated, thinking it to be impossible.
Marina nodded slowly.
'What happened?' he asked, wondering why Helen herself never told him this.
Marina sighed.
'I… she gave me her journal to read and… it was the biggest mistake of my life,' she said earnestly. 'I was stupid and wanted to 'fit in' amongst the other girls at school, so… I read it out to the class,' she said heavily. 'After that, I don't think she trusted anyone for a long while.'
Sirius stared at Marina. He still couldn't believe that Helen had once been so close with her… yet it all made so much sense as to why Helen had issues with trusting people. He remembered her saying something about it… 'Because the last time I allowed someone to read something as personal as that is, it ended very badly- and I trusted them even more than I trust you.'
'She never deserved that,' Marina continued.
'No, she didn't,' Sirius said shortly. He would never forgive any of his friends if they betrayed him like that. 'Why has she forgiven you?' he demanded.
Marina looked at him sadly.
'She hasn't forgiven me… we've just agreed to stop fighting, that's all,' she said, before clearing her throat and taking another round of drinks to a group of rowdy men.
'Hey sugar, why don't you join us?' one of them asked, grabbing her around the waist.
Marina tried to prise herself out of his grip.
'Yeah, I got a place around the corner here…' another said, winking at her.
'Let go of me,' Marina said through gritted teeth.
'Let go of her,' Sirius said, coming up to the group.
The four men turned to face Sirius as he pulled her away from them, before turning to their drinks and laughing drunkenly.
Sirius surveyed Marina shrewdly.
'What time do you finish?' he asked heavily.
'Half an hour,' Marina breathed, still recovering from the incident.
Sirius nodded.
'I'll wait.'
---
'Thanks for this, you didn't have to,' Marina said as she and Sirius arrived at her flat.
Sirius shrugged.
'I don't think they would have left you alone otherwise,' he said grimly.
'Do you want to come up?' she asked after a pause.
Sirius stared at her, hoping that she didn't mean what that question usually implied.
'No, I think I'll be getting back now,' he said.
Marina nodded.
'Well, thanks again,' she shrugged, giving a small smile and turning and going inside her building.
Dinner the next evening was a quiet affair. Helen's father was silent towards her, Christina had been at school all day and had been practising piano for a recital she had later that week. Helen's mother had ignored her for the entire day; not that Helen minded. She had called Mark and talked to him for a good hour and had spent the rest of her day finishing her homework.
'Your mother tells me that you have plans of working once you finish school,' Mr Asterios said to Helen.
'Yes,' Helen nodded.
'As what?'
'A doctor,' Helen replied in terms which he would understand.
He nodded in approval.
'It is a respectable job for a woman,' he said, taking a sip of his wine.
Helen smiled meekly, feeling rather warm at this approval from her father.
'Of course… you had the opportunity to make it as a pianist… but you gave all of that up,' he shrugged, turning to look at Christina with pride.
Helen chewed her lip and said nothing,
Suddenly, an owl swept into the house and dropped a letter in Mr Asterios' lap, flying away immediately. Helen's face paled; she had told everyone not to owl her unless it was an expressed emergency.
'What are owls doing flying in the house?' Mrs Asteria screeched at Helen.
'I… I don't know,' Helen stammered, before looking to her father who had just opened the letter.
Helen saw the envelope- it was addressed to him. His face was expressionless as he looked at the letter. He got up and left the room and they all sat, waiting in trepidation until he returned a minute later.
'Eleni,' he said, his voice shaking with anger. 'Who is this boy?' he said thrusting a photograph into her trembling hands.
Helen's breath caught as she saw it was a photo of her and Sirius; kissing.
'Who sent you this?' she whispered, her voice trembling as she knew what was to happen.
'It didn't say…I don't know and don't care,' he shouted at her.
Helen frowned at this; someone was trying to sabotage her.
'Who is he?' he shouted.
Helen flinched.
'My…friend,' she said hopelessly.
Mr Asterios stared at Helen.
'Get out,' he breathed.
Helen stared at him; he had just said what she had so desperately hoped not to have heard from this visit.
This was not the way she had planned for things to turn out.
'Get out of my house. You are no daughter of mine- behaving like a slut at that school of yours. Take your things, get out of my house, and never come back here again,' he shouted.
Helen stared at them all for a moment before running up the stairs. She packed all of her possessions with the flick of a wand, and went down the stairs to see them all waiting for her at the door.
'D…daddy,' Christina pleaded with him.
'Christina, this is no sister of yours. You are never to speak to her again, do you understand?' he ordered her.
Christina broke down in tears and, after looking at Helen for a moment, ran away sobbing.
'Goodbye,' Helen said shortly to the people who had raised her.
They did not even look at her.
Helen took a deep breath and walked out of the door which Mr Asterios had already opened. She did not look back at them; she could not. They had been her supposed parents and yet they had turned on her- the people who had told her that the only people you could truly rely on and trust were your family.
It stung Helen as she looked, for the last time, at the house in which she grew up in, that she was now completely without a family.
-Eleni is 'Helen' in Greek.
So I'm back. Yesterday I found out that I got into med and then realised that I probably won't have much time to write once uni starts so I thought that I would cut my 'holiday' short now. Heh... that, and I found it hard to not write. Weird eh?
Anyway, so someone sent Helen's 'dad' a photo. Hmm. Who was it? Guesses anyone?
Now that I have a semi-formed next chapter, I can finally give you a teaser:
The Dark Lord would be very pleased with her tonight.
So, show me that you're glad that I'm back (early) and review away, my darling readers!
Lots of love, Anya
