Disclaimer: No copy nor infringement is intended by the makings of this story. The Harry Potter logo belongs to J. K. Rowling and all other associates.
Notes: I decided to edit this story and make it what I originally wanted. The gang here is 24 years old and each have their own respective jobs.
Far from my love
HermioneHarry
Chapter 1:The Past
"Sinclair: "We were outnumbered and outgunned, we never had a chance. You say we could have won, but you weren't there. You did not see them. When I looked at those ships, I did not just see my death, I saw the death of the whole damn human race."
Knight One: "Then why did they surrender!"
Sinclair: "I don't know, maybe the universe blinked, maybe God changed his mind - all I know is that we got a second chance."
Sinclair, Commander Jeffery David
To Knight One
"Now Phoebe, I'll be gone for three days. Take care of the house. There should be no parties, do not read any books, and definitely do not take out my dog."
Phoebe blushed at the mention of Helga's champion dog, Ruby. She remembered the last time she took out the dog, which ended up a statewide search for the poor mutt. For two weeks Helga was irritable and on edge. In the end they found Ruby in the home of an old woman, eating off the plate of Friskies with four other cats.
"Aw come on, Helga. You're not always going to hold that against me are you?"
"Damn well I am." she narrowed her eyes. "My dog was gone for two whole weeks with what, cats? She wasn't the leader of some doggy mafia, like I always thought she would." Then she lowered her voice and said the next words as if it were a curse. "She thought she was a cat for weeks! She wouldn't eat anything else other than cat food. My dog was trained to kill, not to run around playing with a yarn ball! Honestly, Phoebe."
"There are dogs who befriend cats, its actually not very unusual. For example, last week I read-"
Helga's eyes blazed. "My dog's a rottweiler!"
"Well, miracles can happen Helga…"
Helga got out her black coat and sunglasses and put them on with a huff.
"Good bye, Phoebe."
Phoebe grinned as Helga stepped through the main entrance of the house, but then Helga thought better of it and came back.
"Oh yes, tell that husband of your to not empty out the kitchen. I actually want to come back home and eat."
She then turned around and left.
Phoebe stood there as Helga walked down the ceramic steps and watched as Jack, Helga's chauffeur, opened the door for her and let her in. He then closed it and walked to the other side and got in in his seat.
Soon the engine came to life and they were out of the main gates and into the real world.
Phoebe closed the door and walked through the main entrance to the T.V. room.
The room was made completely of wood; from the floors to the walls and the furniture. Except for the ceiling which had a ceiling/window enabling anyone to see the weather.
Her husband was sitting on the soft wooden sofa watching a live football game and deeply enthralled in it. He then noticed his wife.
"Is she gone?"
"Yes."
"Er…I just got a call from Arnold-"
Phoebe snarled. "What has she done this time?"
"Lila wants to have the lodge all to herself to wait for her parents. She says she needs some 'alone time' to contemplate and think."
"And she can't do that in her own apartment?" Phoebe snapped. "There are times Gerald, when I think Arnold is completely dense with women. Sure he's a genius in the company, but he's a lost case involving the other half of the population."
She sighed.
"So, what else has he said?"
Gerald hesitated, but continued. "Arnold says that he doesn't want to go to a hotel-," Phoebe narrowed her eyes dangerously and Gerald tried desperately to convince her. "-and that he really wants to see us. I mean, we haven't seen Arnold for months and he wants to talk to us about the wedding plans-"
"What?"
Eyes now turned to slits, Gerald courageously continued. "Well, I mean, he could stay here and visit us or-"
"Gerald. He cannot come."
Now it was Gerald's turn to narrow his eyes. "And why not?"
"Because this is Helga's house." Then at remembering Helga, Phoebe's eyes opened wide as in a sort of horrible realization. "Oh no, Helga! If she found out we were trying to bring him out here she would murder me, and then she would castrate you for even mentioning it! This is bad Gerald, very bad. What did you tell him? Tell me."
"What was I supposed to say? 'No, Arnold I'm sorry but I can't invite you over because I'm currently babysitting Helga's House. Yeah, you remember her, the girl with the unibrow and the two pigtails who always made fun of you at school? Yeah, her, Helga Pataki.'" He looked at her angrily. "Arnold's my friend. I would never say no to him." Then he changed his facial expression and tone to a more convincing one. "Phoebe, I know you hate Lila, and I hate her too. So, I came up with a plan."
Phoebe groaned.
"No, listen. What if we allow Arnold to come out here and stay until Helga comes? Or maybe we can slowly give him clues to who this house belongs. Or whatever. I just want him here and look at Helga and actually talk to her. I hate that Lila woman. She's just using Arnold for his money. And he's too smitten with her to actually see it, the idiot. If he marries her, then she'll have infinite amounts of cash and waste it all on her stupid hair and nails. She has him wound around her finger exactly the way she wants it." Gerald's face had that maniacal glint to it that it strongly reminded Phoebe of how Gerald would get when he found some new fact about a new bacteria. He wouldn't eat nor sleep until he found the answer to why the specimen did it. Usually he works himself until he falls ill. Phoebe suspected that if she wasn't married to him, Gerald would work himself to death. So then at this moment, she knew that he wasn't joking around.
"I can't let that happen Phoebe. Not now, not ever. Helga's your best friend. Well, Arnold's mine. And I want the best for him and the best for him right now is to come here." His tone changed. "Phoebe, Helga loves Arnold. She's been fawning over him ever since we were kids, you told me that yourself. Though she's too stubborn to admit it, which will be her downfall, if you ask me. If Helga finds out that Arnold's going to get married, she'll become bitter and marry someone else who only wants her money.
"We have to think about these things, Phoebe."
Phoebe asked, " What makes you so sure they'll end up together?"
"Last time I went to the lodge, Arnold asked me about Helga, I think he was trying to be sure that I haven't heard of her at all. He told me that he's thinking of hiring a Private Investigator to find her and bring her back. He misses her, you know."
He smiled and looked up enquiringly at Phoebe.
"So, can he come?"
"Gerald, I don't know…he can come to our condo…"
"No, he has to come here."
Phoebe sighed and nodded resignedly.
Gerald stood up, supped his wife's face and leaned down to kiss her. They stood in a calming embrace.
But then Gerald remembered something.
"Er…Phoebe?"
"Mhmm?"
"Where's Ruby?"
Eyes snapped open and then a gasp was heard.
From the T.V. room's ceiling, one could see Phoebe's cry of despair as she looked at the open double porch doors. Gerald was standing on the other side, looking for the mutt. All the gardeners were out and about searching for her. That is to say, everyone was. All the seven maids were looking everywhere inside the house and even the chef's were, too. All of them were looking for Helga's prized champion dog and wincing at their fate if the Lady of the House ever found out.
Let's hope she never will.
Phoebe winced as she sat down after an hour of searching for the dog and finally finding her in the freezer, eating some fish.
"Honey, you have to go upstairs and change. Arnold will be here in an hour."
Phoebe groaned and looked up at the sky above. "Why do I have to be punished this way? Is it because I ate the last crumpet? Because I cheated on my work hours? Or because I think my husband is completely dim?"
"Hey!"
"Oh, shut up. I can come over there and beat you up, you know that."
Gerald's eyes opened wide in silent laughter. "You, beat me up? Darling, a lettuce can hit me better than you."
A load satisfyingly smack was heard.
"Ow!"
"Be careful Gerald, or I might have to sic Helga on you."
"Oh, playing the Helga buttons now, are we? Well, don't. I'm scared of that woman, its just not natural in the way she moves when she fights…and her reflexes! You know, that reminds me of the time I tried to scare Helga silly. I was literally on the floor in a second."
Phoebe looked up at the sky once more and said, "See? Dim."
She lowered her gaze. "Gerald, you know you can't mess with Helga. Don't do it."
Then, out of morbid curiosity, Gerald asked his questions. "Phoebe, how does she get the money for this house…everything? Comes to think of it, what does she do for a living?"
Phoebe looked at him suspiciously and then looked around the room to see if there were any maids cleaning about. None. Good.
"You promise not to tell another living soul?"
He nodded.
"When we were younger around the time we were eighteen or so, Helga was poor. She already moved out of her house by that time, so she decided that until things got better, she would steal. Helga only stole the necessary items to survive: food, clothes, make-up, etc."
Gerald raised his eyebrow, eyes dancing.
"Make-up? 'An item to survive?'"
"Yes it is." Phoebe scowled then continued. "After awhile, when Helga could get those things in her sleep, she decided to give herself a little challenge. Cars, TVs, stereos, and jewelry. After awhile, Helga marveled at how easy it all was." Then her voice became desperate. "She became addicted to it all and I tried to get her to stop and see reason, but she wouldn't let herself be lowered. So every night she went out, I just had to pray to God that she would be safe and not get arrested."
She stopped and ordered her mind to remember.
"Soon she became a pro at that so she decided to take out the big guns. She decided that stealing cars, stereos, and all the other things was lowly so she bought herself a computer and slowly became a hacker. Add to that, Helga started renting movies where they rob banks and museums and you will not believe this, but she studied them.
"After that she bought herself one of those things that look like a wooden playground and put it in a storage house. That thing trained her to avoid laser beams, how to go through vents, how to climb up vertical walls… everything. When she wasn't there, Helga went to her next target: The Museum of Old Jewelry; Helga wanted to steal the Diamond of Ophelia. She stayed there and studied the security guards, what were their daily shifts, the type of alarm they have, where she would have to come in…
"Oh, Gerald, she knew it all. And it would surprise you at how much she learned." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I tried to convince her to turn back, but she wouldn't budge, Gerald. She wouldn't budge. Everything was going smoothly and then came the night when Helga thought she was ready."
Phoebe closed her eyes and remembered and gave a low laugh. "She bought herself a black leather suit, you know the kind you see in the movies and all her equipment to it. Helga seemed so…alive that night. I tried one more time to get her to stop. She just looked at me and asked me if I were willing to watch her progress. I agreed. When she got in, she got the diamond perfectly, just as she calculated. Thing was, she wasn't counting on a back up silent alarm and the police came within an instant. Apparently, that museum was as protected as the president himself!" She gave another nervous laugh and Gerald winced at the sound of it.
"They arrested Helga that night. As it turned out, the CIA has been after her for a long time. They interrogated her non-stop for two days. No sleep, no bathroom breaks, nothing. She looked awful, all that life she had before, had been gone."
She stopped and simply let herself remember this time. And Gerald let her.
She remembered how she yelled at Helga for being so stupid and careless. Helga just looked at her and said, "What can I do, Phoebe? I'm not as smart as you, I can't write anymore. Tell me what can I do? I'm a thief, Phoebe. That's all there is to it."
"The CIA was very interested in her. They wondered how she got in, how did she blend herself so well, how she knew basically everything. So they gave her an ultimatum. Either she goes to jail for life or she worked for the government. She chose to work for the government only after I begged her."
A pause.
"So that's how she can pay for this?"
Phoebe shook her head. "No, they barely even gave her enough to buy food for herself. I had to jump in and pay for us both. We became poor again and Helga became lifeless once more. The CIA watched her day and night for any slips for over a year. But then the terrorist attack came and they decided they needed someone of skill and who was sly enough to watch over the president and protect the top secret government files. They assigned Helga to it. She started to get a decent wage and started to open up to me once more.
"The CIA gave her her own private airplane to fly off to the president or anywhere she need be. Helga then knew everything about the U.S. government. No one messed with her. And then came the day when her great grandmother died and left her a small fortune. I was happy for Helga, she seemed so too. I was so happy, Gerald. So many good things were happening to her. Maybe she'll came back like the old times. Then on her spare time, Helga got inspiration to write. Do you know how long that took, Gerald? My Helga was coming back."
She laughed tears falling freely now.
"The Nayimi Conswa series." Gerald whispered.
Phoebe nodded like a mother proud of her child's accomplishments.
"Yes, she became an instant success. I suspect she can rival Harry Potter." she grinned.
A maid came running in. "Mrs. Johansen, there's a jaguar outside waiting to be let in by the name of a Mr. Arnold-" The lady frowned as she tried to remember. "I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten…"
"No need. Please let him in and lead him to the main living room."
The woman nodded and left.
"Well it appears that your plan has begun. I hope this ends out good."
They got up and started walking to the main living room.
"Phoebe my darling, things have to end out good. Or else I have Helga to respond to, and I really don't want that."
Their laughter was heard throughout the hall.