AN: Check the first chapter for disclaimers. And all praise Lord 1saaa. (Indigo curtsies)
This is the last chapter of the 2nd year and covers the time period from January to the end of the year. There is a small 'gory' scene near the end, which is marked, so if you want to skip, you can, without missing any plot.
Now, enjoy the longest chapter I've ever written by far.
"You're not truly British unless you've stabbed someone." - 1saaa (a brit himself) XD
Helen etched the last few runes on the Charcoal stick delicately, taking care to not break the brittle material. Once she was done she placed it in the slot, connecting the whole system. The experimental communications network that she had set up here in Room of Requirements consisted of ten handheld mirrors, which acted as input/output devices. For now, she was only going to activate the audio channels and if they were successful, she would turn on the video function as well. Once everything was connected she gave the setup a once over. Satisfied, she took a deep breath and activated two mirrors first.
The devices were working properly and the audio was clear. Buoyed by the success she started activating more mirrors, checking the stability of the communication hub after every mirror and the clarity of transmission on each device.
It was after the sixth mirror was activated, she noticed a problem. The transmissions were fine but the charcoal stick seemed to have disintegrated around the edges. As she activated more mirrors, the disintegration sped up and by the time all the mirrors were activated, there was barely any material left. Soon that was gone too and the devices abruptly disconnected.
Slightly disappointed, but not completely surprised, Helen started the experiment again with another stick. An hour later she only had a few sticks left, but now had a lot of useful data to analyze. While she had expected the sticks to burn out, she was still happy as the transmissions had finally occurred and had been able to communicate in more than just pairs. She had tried various combinations, linking several mirrors together for a conference, connected one mirror to others in quick succession, tried calling an already engaged mirror via another mirror and getting a prompt on the said mirror about the incoming call, without disconnecting the ongoing call. Every combination was successful, indicating to her that she was on the right path, she just needed to go a bit further.
The issue was that the Charcoal, while a perfect material for the central hub of her comms network, was not very durable and the accumulation of the excess magic into it ended up disintegrating it very quickly. It was the reason she didn't even try video communications yet, as it would have a much higher magical flux that would immediately dissolve the material.
So now, she needed some way to dissipate the excess magical energy, while keeping the magical connection up through the stick. She had some idea of how to do it, but she would need materials that were only available in muggle scientific labs. There was a certain item she had read about that muggles were experimenting upon these days, and she thought it would be perfect to solve her problem.
Still a bit distracted, she packed up her experiment with a wave on her wand and walked over to Padma who was done reading up on the chapter Helen had asked her to read from an advanced charms book.
"So, give me a summary," Helen asked as she sat down on a high back chair that appeared in front of Padma, unconsciously smoothing her circle skirt.
Padma gathered up her thoughts and started describing what she had learned about patronus charm from the book. Helen already knew the theory behind the charm, but had never cast the spell herself. She knew that Voldemort was unable to use this spell for two different reasons. First was that he couldn't bring up the emotions or feelings required for the spell as he had never actually felt them. The second was that even if he somehow was able to produce the emotions, his magic was too much lopsided towards the dark that he still wouldn't be able to cast the spell.
Well, that wasn't completely true, Helen thought to herself as she only paid half of her attention to Padma. Magic was neither dark nor light, it was just magic. There was no alignment to magic, but there certainly was to intentions and emotions. Both of those could be light or dark, and too much of either would start to affect the soul. For example, Voldemort had so much darkness in him that he couldn't possibly use the so-called light spells anymore.
The light or dark spells or magic, as people generally thought of them, were actually called so because of the emotional requirement to cast these spells. Patronus spell, for example, required a feeling of love or belonging along with a protective feeling. Helen was going to attempt it in a few moments, as she tried to bring forward the right emotions in her mind. The reason she was doing so was to keep her soul unaligned to dark, because recently she had been performing a lot of 'dark magic', especially with the regular fun she was having with Lockhart.
Bringing the right emotions was difficult for her, as her every action was done with a thought of personal gain and her recent thoughts had been turning darker and darker with each session with Lockhart. Especially after the last time she had tortured the man, she had almost tied Padma and Hermione up and had her way with them. So, she needed to use some 'light magic' to cleanse herself, so to speak.
Every positive human connection she had, be it Padma, Hermione, Cedric, Luna or even Colin, was made for some sort of personal benefit. However, she tried to argue with herself, unlike Voldemort, who found everyone dispensable, Helen liked the people she had around her. She felt they belonged with her, to her. Not exactly what was required for the spell, but she twisted the thought and came up with the conclusion that the reverse should also be true, that she belonged with them as well.
With that thought fixed in her mind, she stood up, cutting off Padma, and pulling her wand out incanted "Expecto Patronum"
A bright white light started emitting from the tip of her wand and formed into a round wide shield. Slightly disappointed at not getting a corporeal Patronus, Helen poured more power into the spell, but didn't do anything apart from making the shield a bit wider. As Helen started getting frustrated, the shield began to waver, giving Helen an idea. She let the spell go and concentrated again, ignoring the 'You did it on your first try!' from Padma.
She raised her wand again and cried "Expecto Patronum" again, but this time focusing on the emotions that the belonging aspects of her relationships raised within her. She thought of how being with Cedric or Hermione made her feel and how she wanted to keep them safe and protected.
Again white light started to flow out of her wand, but this time instead of forming a shield, it started molding into a shape. Soon, the shape became clearer and Helen realized she was looking at herself, or rather her animagus form. The Patronus took the shape of a Raven, exactly like she had pictured in her mind while determining her animagus form. The bird spread its wings, and started to fly in a circle around Helen and Padma. After a few rounds it came to land on Helen's shoulder and lightly head-butted her jaw.
Helen dispelled it with a smile and sat down again satisfied, while Padma continued to stare at her with a gaping mouth.
XXXXX
Helen had been wanting to do something nice for Severus for a while, and had gotten him a couple of gifts on Christmas. First one had cost her a pretty knut and a significant amount of time to arrange. It was a collection of rare ingredients mostly from southern and eastern Asia and she had asked Padma and Su's help to assemble that gift. The second gift was a more personal one, an album of non magical photos of Severus and Lily when they were kids. At the end of the album, she had added a few magical photos of him and herself together, either walking side-by-side or discussing something. She had employed Colin to snap these pictures and had lent him her Cloak for the purpose.
Helen had known that the gifts were very well received after she met the man for the first time after holidays. The look he had given her was so earnest, it felt completely out of place on Severus's face. Her subtle message in the form of their photos together was also understood, with the way his eyes had lingered on her figure when she had removed her robe to start working on a potion.
Severus explained to Helen how the mastery system worked. In order to even be considered for a potions mastery, first, one had to get either an O in potions NEWT or at least Es in both potions and herbology. An E or above in CoMC also helped but it was not integral for admittance. Then, any aspirant had to get a nomination from a potion master to even appear before the mastery council. Severus had promised her that he would do so for her whenever she was ready.
Then came the really difficult part. To get a mastery, one had to clear an exam conducted by the council, which included a written exam, a practical portion and a viva conducted by a five member panel. All three of them were grueling in length and difficulty, each taking at least a complete day, with the practical part sometimes taking up to a month, depending on which potions you were assigned to brew.
Once one cleared all these exams, they were finally given the opportunity to prove that they are master material. In order to do so, one had to either create a new potion or modify three existing ones. The modification had to be complementary in nature, that is, for example, either simplify the process of making the potion, or add a coinciding effect, or reduce the ingredient requirement and so on and so forth.
Severus had informed her that for over two centuries now, every master had achieved their mastery by the second method i.e. modifying three potions, and all the new potions that were discovered since then were done by them after they achieved mastery.
So, Helen was practicing multiple potion brewing simultaneously right now with polyjuice potion, veritaserum and an antidote for mixed poisons. After working continuously for over an hour she finally sank into an armchair next to Severus'. The antidote was complete, the polyjuice would be next week and the truth potion the next after. Tomorrow she will be here again to start on wolfsbane potion, so that its completion coincided with that of polyjuice.
She had already brewed wolfsbane a few times, but was now working on modifying the potion to improve upon its effects. If she was successful, it would go as one of the modifications required for her mastery. For the other two, she was planning to simplify one of the more complex potions and add a complementary effect to one of the simpler potions.
For now, she was discussing the basics of alchemy with Severus, something she already knew but couldn't tell him. This was her way of legitimately getting introduced to Alchemy and the rest would be taken care of by her curious nature as a Ravenclaw. By next year, she could justify her fairly intermediate knowledge of the specialized subject easily. Later as she was leaving, Helen lightly grazed her fingers from one of his shoulders to the other, touching the bare skin of his neck. Severus had flinched pleasantly at the unexpected touch, but hadn't reprimanded her and had given her a barely restrained look of need when she had huskily whispered to him a 'Good Night' with a promise to see him tomorrow.
XXXXX
Apparently, diary Riddle was not satisfied with the level of panic in Hogwarts. By the time January came to an end, there had been two more attacks, which ended up petrifying a first year Gryffindor and a sixth year Hufflepuff, both muggleborn. After the winter holidays, the news had obviously spread in the wider magical community as children were bound to tell their parents about the chamber of secrets and Dumbledore was feeling the resulting heat. After the first year Gryffindor was attacked, the Minister had Hagrid arrested as to be seen taking some action. After the sixth year Hufflepuff was attacked though, the board had suspended Dumbledore, much to the glee of Helen.
Despite all that, school continued on, mostly normally albeit with far stricter rules. The second set of Quidditch matches arrived and Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff narrowly 180-160 in a one-sided match. The score didn't exhibit the one-sided nature of the game as Cedric caught the snitch, otherwise the Griffs probably would have closed the gap to Ravenclaw.
The Ravenclaw-Slytherin match ended up as one of the highest scoring matches in Hogwarts history, with both teams going on an all out attack. The match ended when Helen caught the snitch, quite easily in the end, taking advantage of the flaw in Malfoy's broom, and the game ended with a score 560-390, in favor of Ravenclaw, giving them an insurmountable lead of 590 points over second placed Griffindor, virtually ensuring them the Cup.
It was hours after the match and Helen was lying face down completely bare, with only a sheet covering her derrière, while Lockhart's strong hands massaged the aches out of her overworked muscles. Helen thought letting him touch her naked body was a good enough reward for the good work he had done during the winter holidays. To her surprise, the man had various oils available for the massage as well as talent and experience from his research for his book Holidays with Hags. She didn't want to think about the details of that, hags and massage... urgh! However, she still thought this might become a regular activity during the next few months.
After an hour of relaxation, where she might even have dosed off, Helen finally got up, wrapped the sheet around herself, collapsed into the couch and leaned into the armrest, her bones still feeling soft. Lazily, she started discussing the progress on the Potter Manor with her slave. Earlier, she had sent her approval as well as her plans for the reconstruction of the manor to the goblins, when Lockhart had so generously decided to fund the project.
She had planned several modifications to the original design of the manor, so Lockhart was going to spend almost all of his acquired wealth on it, while the rest of it was going to a couple of other ventures, including her partnership with Madam Malkin. She had let him take over the interior designing as he had good taste for that, while she herself had concentrated on the structural and the exterior designs as well as the entirety of the basement.
The manor was expected to be completed by the start of the summer holidays but, unfortunately, she couldn't move in completely due to her status as a minor. It wasn't a big problem however, as she doubted she would be remaining in the country for anything longer than a few weeks.
She then switched topics to public relations and the correspondence he was helping her maintain with Howard Robinson, the main radio presenter of WWN, as well as Bernabus Cuffe, editor of Daily Prophet. The Witches Weekly and the Teen Witches Weekly had printed very complimentary articles about Helen, with the former writing about her modern taste in clothing, with Madam Malkin's positive reviews on them, while the latter discussing her new relationship with Cedric and how good they looked together, with several pictures of them together from the new year's party and their quidditch matches.
Helen left half an hour later, after promising a bigger reward if he managed to finish the manor before the school term ends.
XXXXX
Luna had gone back to Ravenclaw tower with Padma and her friends, so Colin thought she was safe enough for now and he didn't have to follow her. He decided to find what Helen was doing, having seen her leave with a fifth year girl, Arya Williams, a few minutes ago. He quickly washed down the last of his dinner with some water and went about searching for Helen.
After searching for a while, he heard some sounds coming from an abandoned room on the fourth floor. Moving carefully now, Colin slowly approached the door and listened carefully. He heard a girl breathing heavily and moaning. Thinking she might be in trouble, he carefully tried the handle, found it unlocked and slowly opened the door slightly, without making any noise. He peeped inside and found a most astounding sight, leaving him completely frozen.
The petite fifth year girl, Arya, was lounging on a couch wearing only her skirt. It was, however, the other occupant of the room that had Colin's complete attention. Helen was in a similar state of dress and was bent over drinking wine off the skin of the other girl. She was taking small licks and working slowly down Arya's chest and on to her breasts. Arya leaned back to allow Helen have easier access and let out a moan of pleasure at the gentle, intimate attention Helen was giving to her. Helen hunted for every last drop of the liquid, on her chest, her cleavage, the underside of her breast and finally around her nipple. The brunette let out another moan and pushed her chest up towards Helen.
Helen kneeled on the couch between her legs, wrapped one of her arms around the girl bringing her closer, with her other hand on the other breast, and started sucking gently at the nipple in her mouth, making the brunette cry out in pleasure. Soon, they were kissing passionately and their remaining clothes were divested, leaving them completely naked.
They moved around a bit and were lying on the couch lengthwise, with Helen on the top. Helen started leaning down, but looked up at the last moment to connect her vivid green eyes to Colin's own brown ones, causing him to suddenly fear for his life. But, he seemed to have dodged a metaphorical bullet as after a second, she gave him a smirk and a wink, and resumed kissing the fifth year girl. One of her hands slowly crept downwards between the other girl's legs and Colin decided to leave before the other girl also discovered their audience.
He wandered around for another half an hour, thinking about a sudden jealousy for the fifth year girl, and how to apologize to Helen for stepping into her obviously private moments, as well as a sadness when he realized that Helen was with a girl and not a boy. But wait, wasn't Cedric her boyfriend? Feeling even more confused now, he proceeded to Ravenclaw tower.
On not finding Luna in the common room, he went to the second year oval, sure he would find her there. And indeed she was there, cooing at her beautiful snowy owl Hedwig, who he thought was too intelligent, even for a magical owl. In fact, Luna and Helen were the only two girls the owl allowed to groom herself. He had tried petting her head once and had earned multiple scratches in return. He spent another half an hour there before returning to his room to turn in for the day.
As he turned around after shutting his door, he got a scare, finding two vivid green orbs glowing from the dark corner.
"Helen," he whispered and fearfully moved forward. As he stepped further into the room, he could see her more clearly now. Helen was sitting in his chair, which he realized was transfigured to look more regal, almost like a throne, with a high back and dark red cushioning. She was wearing her own version of school uniform, a short sleeved form-fitting shirt with a couple of buttons unfastened at the top. The shirt was tucked under a skirt which ended above her knees, which were crossed with her right leg over her left and her right black heeled toe was pointing in his general direction. She was wearing stockings as she usually did instead of socks. Her robe was draped over the chair's back while her tie was missing. Her arms were resting on the armrests on the chair and she slightly tilted her head as she replied, "Colin"
Colin, in the back of his mind, thought of how she managed to look down at him when he was the one who was standing, but matters on the forefront of his mind were quite different. He thought she was the most beautiful person in the world and that she even paid any attention to him was a blessing he was undeserving of. That she had made an effort to be here in his room, for whatever reason, was the sign of her divinity. He wanted to kneel in front of her and pray to her, to beg forgiveness for his earlier transgressions. Realizing that no one was stopping him, he did so.
"I'm sorry, Helen" he started while sinking to his knees, "I didn't want to intrude in your personal matters. Luna had gone with Padma, so I thought she was safe enough and I started wandering around looking for you. When I saw you there I just couldn't move. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll never do anything like this again. Just please forgive me..." He rambled on and on for a few minutes as tears ran down his face, imagining that she would certainly order him to leave her alone.
So, it was a total surprise when one soft hand slowly held his chin and firmly lifted his head up, making him look up at his... at his... goddess. The green eyes looking back at him were not angry as he expected, but amused and... seductive?
"Colin," she spoke in a compelling voice as she leaned back releasing his face, "there is nothing to forgive. I knew you were there even before you entered the room. I had a perimeter charm set up in the corridor, so I knew of your presence as soon as you entered the vicinity. Now, what does it tell you, when I didn't stop even after I became aware of your presence, hmm?"
Colin breathed a sigh of relief when he realized she was not angry with him and thought of her question. After a few moments he replied, "You didn't mind me seeing you like that? You weren't offended?" he asked hopefully.
Helen nodded serenely, "Yes, but that's not all of it. I like you, Colin. And I can see the look in your eyes whenever you look at me. You desire me. You Worship me. Don't you?"
Slightly embarrassed that Helen had so easily uncovered his truth, he nodded meekly, "Yes, Helen."
"Hmm" Helen said thoughtfully and looked deeply into his eyes for a minute. Colin thought that he was being X-rayed with the way her eyes intensified but couldn't look away from the mesmerizing orbs. After a minute, the intensity lessened but she still held his eyes. Then she spoke up.
"I want you to read a book called, Magical Oaths, their meanings and uses in the library tomorrow. You will understand why I want you to read that book once you read it. Afterwards, you will have to make a decision which has the potential to completely alter your life. You can ask Padma about that decision after you have read the book, she can clarify any doubts you have."
Helen paused and her expression turned sensual and her voice husky, "As for the other matter, you are too young now Colin, but when you are older, I might fulfill your desires, if you make the right decision." She caressed his cheek with the tips of her fingers, leaving a trail of fire on his skin and left, with him still kneeling on the floor, touching his cheek, remembering her touch.
XXXXX
Three days later Colin had come to a decision. He had asked Padma about it and she had confirmed to him that she had given her own magical oath to Helen. It was early in the morning now, about the time when Helen would leave for her magical practice. He knew he was one of the very few people who knew about that. He got up from his bed and quietly moved to the second year oval.
He was right in time, as he saw Helen's door open soon after he entered the room and she stepped outside, still dressed for bed in a creamy silken camisole nightdress. She didn't seem surprised by his presence and calmly greeted him, "Good morning, Colin," and she then looked at him expectedly.
He didn't waste words with small talk or explanations as they would become redundant shortly. Instead, he took a deep breath, pointed his wand at his heart and clearly enunciated, "I, Colin Creevey, pledge my magic, my body and my life to follow and support Helen Lilian Potter, in any way I can. I promise to hold all her secrets and to aid her in all her endeavors. I will hold this pledge until the time she releases me from this Oath."
He looked at her with earnest eyes as he waited for her decision. He didn't have to wait for long as Helen stepped in front of him and replied with a wicked smile, "I, Helen Lilian Potter, accept your oath, Colin Creevey."
XXXXX
Ever since the chamber was opened, Helen had ramped up the intensity of the training for her fellow 2nd year Ravenclaws. That was several months ago now and the results spoke for themselves. The Ravenclaws were far above the rest of their year in all the wand based subjects. In fact, what they didn't know was that they were almost at par with the third years and beyond them in DADA. Padma was on top of this group, even further ahead of Hermione, due to her extra training in the early morning with Helen.
This advanced group also included Hermione, Daphne, Susan and Blaise. Tracey and Hannah had started but could not cope up with the extra workload so they had dropped out quite early. However, they still got regular help from the members of the training group and they were still near the top of the class as well.
Everyone had a branch of magic they excelled at. Padma had grasped the few healing spells Helen had taught her on her first try and was now doing her independent studies in the subject after Helen had encouraged her to do so. Susan, Anthony, and Blaise were best at combat spells with Susan and Blaise more proficient at offence while Anthony was able to do better in defence. Daphne, Hermione and Sue were best in Transfiguration while Mandy, Morag and Lisa were in Charms. While all were proficient in Potions, Terry was the best in the group, followed by Tracey. Micheal was a jack of all trades, though his best fields were combat and transfiguration, where he was just behind the top students of the subject.
Recently, Luna and Colin had also started learning from Helen and Colin had recently started advancing even further. Only Padma knew the reason for that, apart from Helen and Colin of course. Helen had Colin join her during her morning training sessions and wouldn't stop training him until he couldn't even lift an arm anymore. The result of this was the rapid development of Colin Creevey, both magically and physically, to being the top student of his year.
Both Padma and Colin had performed a few rituals as well. Both of them had undergone the Akkadian magical capacity ritual and the Nahuatl body strengthening ritual, though the latter was done with Re'em blood (bought using Lockhart's money) instead of Troll's blood, Helen didn't want more hedonists running around. Apart from those, Padma had finally done the Sumerian magical channels ritual, Helen judging that she had enough control over her magic to do it successfully.
Today though, only Colin was present, because Helen had something special planned. Colin had been surprised when he arrived at the room today because instead of the usual dummies and shooting ranges, there was a bed present in the center of the room. Helen was sitting in an armchair close by and directed him to take the one in front of her. She was wearing a floor length night-gown which failed to hide anything, neatly displaying the short nightdress which Helen was wearing underneath.
Helen gave him an amused look when she noticed his wandering eyes but had turned serious once she explained what she wanted them to do today. Colin, on hearing her explanation had immediately agreed, this was something similar to what he had wanted for sometime now. So he stood up and went to the bed, taking a deep breath he then took off his shirt and laid down on the bed, looking towards her with yearning eyes.
Helen slowly got up and approached to stand right beside him. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," he replied, his voice full of conviction.
"This is my first time. There will be pain and blood."
He took her hand in his own hand and replied, "I'm sure we can handle it."
She looked into his eyes for a few moments and then gave herself a determined nod. Taking a deep breath herself, she removed her gown as well as her wands, she wouldn't need them for what they were going to do. Helen then climbed on the bed and straddled him with her hands on his chest.
Slowly, her right hand started moving and came to rest right over his heart, feeling his steady heartbeat. She gave him a smile and moved her hand a bit further up, to finally rest on his chest. Helen closed her eyes and arched her body up.
"Ravnensdystre!"
Colin immediately felt an intense burning right underneath her palm on his chest. He failed to remain silent when sharp piercing pain started accompanying the burning sensations, causing the boy to let loose a ghastly scream. The pain was the most intense thing he had ever experienced, it was like an acid was eating away at his skin while it was being burned and cut using a dull blade. Thankfully, it was localized only at one location and not all over his body. However, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, there was a sharp pain at the back of his head, like he was being hit with a bat on the back of his head. Before he could fall unconscious though, the pain suddenly stopped as Helen rocked forward with her long hair whipping at his face. He remained there, sweating profusely, watching Helen as she was hunched over him, supporting herself with her hands on his chest.
Slowly, she straightened up and opened her eyes to look at his chest right above his heart. He followed her gaze and awkwardly tried to see the results himself, even though it was upside down from his view, covered in blood, and surrounded by angry red swollen skin. His tattoo was a work of beauty, it was a red Helenium flower with orangish-yellow tips and a purple center, with a curvy vivid green stem that ended where his left nipple started. The flower seemed to be alive with energy, as the colors pulsed with his heartbeat.
When he asked about that, Helen replied breathily as if she had just run a marathon, "It's doing so because I'm in contact with you. It will stop pulsing as soon as we stop touching, and the further away you are from me, the more yellow the flower will be."
Helen demonstrated the effects by getting off of him, causing the flower to stop pulsing. Colin felt disappointed at that and restrained his urge to touch her again. Helen cast a few healing spells on him and gave him a skin soothing cream to apply on it. As he applied the cream, she explained to him that he could will the mark away with just a thought anytime the situation required. Then she sent him back to the common room to sleep off the rest of the morning.
Helen absently watched the door close behind Colin as she thought of the mark she had just given him. She contemplated how the mark compared to the dark mark of Voldemort. Unlike the dark mark, which was a purely runic tattoo under the snake and skull, her mark was a combination of enchantments, runes, charms and wards. The dark mark was much simpler in design and it had a very few functions. It worked as a rudimentary muggle pager, which told both Voldemort and his death eaters where to go whenever one summoned the other. It also had a kill switch built in it, that could be used to remotely kill any death eater instantly by Voldemort.
Her mark on the other hand, did a lot more and thus required a lot more energy to be made. It would notify her whenever one of her followers turned sides against her as it was linked to their mind. She could also take several actions using the mark, like making the mark disappear, using it to track down the turncoat, or even kill the bearer exactly like the dark mark. Her mark could also be willed away by the bearer whenever the situation required it, for example, if Colin was to go swimming, he could will the mark away and no one would know of its existence.
Her followers could find her as well, using the color of the mark and triangulation methods. The flower would be almost completely red with only the tips of the petals yellow whenever she was within half a mile distance. At around one hundred miles and over, the petals would be mostly yellow with the red receding to a narrow line right at the base of the petals. Helen could turn off this function whenever she wanted to not be found, in those cases the petal would turn into the mostly yellow state, whatever the distance. In addition to that, the mark would let Helen know about the general health of her followers.
There were several more functions it performed and because it was such a complex piece of magic that was connected to the minds and bodies of the bearer and herself, she wouldn't be able to give the mark to a lot of people. So she was going to design another mark, which would be similar to the dark mark, to be given to the rest of her followers, with the Helenium reserved only for her inner circle.
XXXXX
Time flew by and soon the last set of Quidditch matches were upon them. Ever since Dumbledore was suspended, there had been no more attacks so students were feeling relatively safe and thus their spirits were high. The weather had been gradually improving and now in the second week of May, almost no one was wearing robes, with it being warm and sunny outside.
Slytherin had won over Hufflepuff 290-180 last week, with Cedric catching the snitch to again save Hufflepuff from a humiliating defeat. Their chasers had scored only five goals all season while their defense had let in sixty-five goals in, having the most terrible fall from grace for a house who won the Quidditch cup last year, with Cedric being the only ray of hope for them.
The Ravenclaw-Gryffindor match started with a very fast pace, though for the first time in the season Ravenclaw were behind after an hour of play with Gryffindor leading 100-70, as Ravenclaw tried their best to close the points gap between the two teams. However, it was all for naught, as an hour later Helen successfully maintained her 100% record of catching the snitch, finishing the match 290-220 to Ravenclaw, winning them the Quidditch cup with the second largest margin in the history of Hogwarts.
Later, while the party was in full swing in the Ravenclaw common room, Helen snuck out with Cedric to an abandoned staff quarter. Half an hour later both were topless with Helen lying on top of Ced, the pair making out furiously as their hands roamed freely, exploring the bare flesh with abandon. Helen's hands had just reached his belt when McGonagall's sharp voice was heard throughout the Castle, "Everyone is to report to their Common Rooms immediately. Your Heads of Houses will give you further information there. You have ten minutes."
Helen and Cedric froze, looking at each other, as the instruction was repeated. They quickly got up, dressed and were scrambling to their respective common rooms after sharing a kiss. Helen quickly reached Ravenclaw common room, where Flitwick was already present looking solemn. As soon as everyone was gathered, he started speaking
"There has been another attack. A double attack this time. One of our own and an honorary member of our house, seeing that she spent most of her time here." Helen lost all the color from her face in horror as she realized who Flitwick was talking about.
"Miss Hermione Granger and Mr Colin Creevey were attacked a short while ago when they left the library. They have both been petrified and currently are in the Hospital wing with the rest of the victims. Thankfully, the Mandrake Restorative Draught will be completed soon so they will be back among us in a few weeks time. Now, because of this recent attack more stringent rules will be applicable from this point on." Helen fazed out as he explained the stricter rules that were being placed while Padma and Luna came to her either side, giving some comfort to Helen.
As Professor Flitwick finished giving the instructions he called up, "Miss Potter, if you would join me."
Helen sluggishly moved towards Flitwick, who was standing with the door to the corridor outside open. As soon as they were out, Flitwick started speaking, "I know you are very close to both Miss Granger and Mr Creevey." Helen nodded and he continued, " could you perhaps shed some light on something peculiar?" Seeing her confused look, he continued, "Both Miss Granger and Mr Creevey were found with mirrors in their hands looking around the corner using them. Do you have any idea what that is about?"
Helen kept her face still as she realized what had happened. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she carefully replied, "I don't know what that's about, Sir. Last I saw them was at the party here in the common room, when I had ahh..." she blushed a little and continued, "Ahh... gone out with Cedric to... er... enjoy the sun, yes, enjoy the sun."
Flitwick gave her an amused look and responded, "Oh well, we shall have to wait for them to wake up to know that mystery. If you find out something please inform the staff immediately. You should know there is a possibility that the school might be closed if the attacks continue and the perpetrator is not found soon," he ended sadly.
After a pause he continued, "In the meanwhile, please refrain from enjoying the sun too much," with that last quip he turned around and left a slightly blushing Helen behind.
Her blush didn't last for long though, as her face turned even redder in anger. It was known to everyone that Hermione stayed mostly in the Ravenclaw tower now and that she was friends with Helen. Colin was also a known associate of Helen's. Ginny Weasley had to know these facts and from her so did Tom Riddle. This attack was specifically against her and only the presence of mind from her two friends had saved their lives. They both knew of the Basilisk and that a reflected stare petrified the victims instead of killing them.
Helen leaned against the wall right next to the Ravenclaw common room entrance and planned her next action. Fifteen minutes later she appeared in her oval and beckoned Padma to join her in her room.
Later that night a raven flew out of a window in the Ravenclaw tower and circled around the Hogwarts castle, it then descended in height and finally landed on an open window on the second floor. It looked around for a few moments before it spread its wings once again and flew inside, flying silently along the corridor towards the girls toilet. Once inside, it landed on a partition and looked around, locating a ghostly figure sitting on a toilet. Quietly the raven turned into a girl who pulled out her wand, pointing it towards the toilet, while standing out of the line of sight.
Helen fired a spell at the door, banging it open, startling the ghost girl inside, who came rushing out, right into the path of her second spell 'Relego Manes' which banished the ghost from the room, without her being the wiser.
Without wasting a second, she started casting various detection spells all over the toilet, and didn't find any monitoring charms or such. After placing a couple of her own monitoring charms in place, she proceeded to the sinks in the center.
She whispered an 'Open' in Parseltongue at the tap with a snake symbol on it and watched as a section opened up with darkness in the space behind. She again cast the same spells, and on finding nothing whispered 'Stairs' in the serpent language. She levitated a mirror, which would act as the 'camera', right in front of the entrance and stuck it on the opposite side on the dark wall with a sticking charm and turned it invisible. Then, she started descending the spiral stairs that projected out from the walls as she whispered a 'Close' towards the opening, closing it again.
As the spiral stairs ended, she summoned Dobby and asked him to bring a live rooster to her. As he popped away, Helen proceeded towards the tunnels. A few minutes later, she reached a solid wall with two entwined snakes carved into it, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
She waited here and soon Dobby arrived with a rooster frozen in his hands. Taking the rooster she sent Dobby away and hissed 'Open' at the carving.
The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Helen walked inside calmly with a stiff cock in her hands. She quickly walked through the long dimly lit chamber where towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness.
As she drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue as high as the Chamber itself came into view, standing against the back wall. It was ancient and regal, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor.
Disillusioning the rooster, she hid it behind her back and clearly stated in Parseltongue "Slytherin!"
Slytherin's gigantic stone face started moving. Its mouth started opening wider and wider and Helen saw something move inside. That was all the cue she needed as she unfroze the rooster with her wand. As the basilisk appeared into the mouth of the stone statue, the rooster crowed. The Basilisk froze for a second and immediately started thrashing around, breaking the ugly statue with its immense weight. Panicked by the sound, the rooster crowed again, further increasing the thrashing of the overgrown snake until it crashed on the floor and stilled, dead.
Not feeling amused, even by the rather anticlimactic death of the Slytherin's monster due to a cock in her hands, Helen set about searching the place for any clues. Half an hour later, she came back to the main chamber empty-handed and conjured a bed to lie down in wait.
She knew that as soon as Riddle heard about closing of the school, he'd hasten to complete whatever plans he had and would eventually come here. She estimated it'd take at most two days for him to appear here again, so she was going to wait for him to come and finish him once in for all. She had left a few strands of her hair with Padma as well as all her supply of the Polyjuice potion. If her presence was required, Padma would impersonate her. She would do so until Helen returned, Since tomorrow was a Sunday they had no classes to deal with, making her task easier.
While searching the place, she had placed a few more monitoring charms in the tunnel as well as the carved snake door, so that she would be ready when Ginny Weasley finally appeared.
XXXXX
The next afternoon, Helen's monitoring charm in the second floor girl's bathroom triggered and notified Helen that two people had entered the place. She pulled out the paired mirror from her pocket, waiting for the entrance to open. It did a few moments later, and what she saw didn't make any sense to her. She stared at the live images before comprehension slapped her across the face, making Helen want to bang head at the nearest pillar.
She had been so stupid.
So utterly moronic, so un-Ravenclaw-ish.
Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!
She had made a hypothesis and had assumed that her assumption was correct without corroborating the facts. She knew one of the Weasley children had to be the possessed entity and she had guessed it was Ginny Weasley, the youngest child. Ginny Weasley was at the entrance, but she could hardly be the culprit of anything whilst unconscious.
Levitating the unconscious girl was Ron Weasley, who happened to have glowing red eyes, was hissing parseltongue and carrying a diary in his left hand. Huffing to herself, Helen got up and got into position, disillusioning herself. As she waited, she remembered Ron's behavior throughout the year. He had been even more troublesome than last year and had several bursts of anger multiple times in the year. If she wasn't wrong, Ron's grades had also fallen to Crabbe and Goyle levels of bad, not that they were very high in the first place. He had been especially bothersome to her, more so than ever, probably under the influence of the diary. She didn't know the boy well, but should have recognized his odd behavior as a result of some sort of psychological trauma.
Finally, she heard the inner door open and saw them approaching. Ron crossed the last pillars and stood, dumb-founded at the sight of the dead basilisk and a rooster running around. Before he could even move though, Helen quickly stunned him from behind. As both Ron and Ginny collapsed on the floor, she summoned the dairy from his hand and took it to the Basilisk's mouth. Using a levitation spell, it was soon pierced by a Basilisk fang, leaking out a black liquid mass and letting loose a shrill wail.
Turning around, she looked at the Weasleys behind her, thinking about what to do with them. She could simply kill them, the blame easily falling on the Slytherin monster or maybe she could just remove their memories. However, before she could decide, she noticed that Ron's hands were red. On close inspection she found it to be blood, probably some animals. Remembering the message from earlier in the year, she guessed Tom had left another one, as this was the first time he had brought a victim with him.
Needing more information, she flipped the boy around, making him face up, Rennervated him and hit him with a 'Legilimens'. She came out a minute later, immediately stunning him and thinking how to use this new information. Ten minutes later she had a plan. She pointed her wand at Ron and muttered 'Obliviate'.
XXXXX
Ginny awoke and immediately became aware of sounds around her. She thought it was spellfire but she couldn't be sure. The redheaded girl was lying sideways on a cold surface, probably the floor. She tried moving around but her body refused to cooperate. However, with an enormous effort she managed to open her eyes and saw professor Lockhart firing spell after spell at someone behind her. To her horror, he was bleeding from his side and seemed to be losing to his opponent. However, seemingly gathering some hidden reserves of strength, he suddenly struck forward with a white beam of light and shouted, "Die Slytherin's Monster!"
There was a loud deep thud of something falling behind her, as she saw Professor Lockhart collapse, clutching his side, his clothes completely soaked with his blood. He took a raspy breath and dragged himself towards her. Seeing her conscious and looking at him, he tried to smile at her, but it looked like a grimace to her.
"Don't worry little one, the monster is finally dead," he said breathily, looking behind her.
"Now, how to get you back to the castle proper." He thought aloud in front of her, before looking at her with gleaming determined eyes.
"I'll send you back near the entrance, but I don't think I can make it. Too much blood loss you see, along with my magic almost completely exhausted. No, I think not. So, here's what I'm going to do, I'll use what I've left to send you back, I'm not letting a child die on my watch." He struggled shifting in position to point his wand at her.
She tried to say that he should save himself but she was losing her consciousness again. Then she heard him whisper something before he spoke again, "Goodbye, Ginerva Weasley."
She came to consciousness again, this time lying on a soft warm surface. Recalling her last memories, she sat up with her eyes open to see that she was in a bed in the Hospital wing and Ron was lying in another one beside her. Headmaster Dumbledore was by her bed between herself and Ron. She immediately opened her mouth, "Headmaster, you have to save Professor Lockhart! He's dying after his fight with the Slytherin's monster!"
XXXXX
Later that day, Lavender Brown heard from one of her more reliable gossip sources that Professor Lockhart had died defeating the Slytherin's monster while saving Ginny Weasley's life. The monster had possessed Ron Weasley earlier in the year and had been spreading terror using him as a vessel. He had taken Ginny to the chamber to do a dark sacrificial ritual, while leaving the message on the wall stating that her skeleton would lie in the Chamber forever. Professor Lockhart had then come to her rescue, he had somehow deduced where the chamber was and had confronted the monster in the chamber before it could sacrifice Ginny. He had fought with the monster, defeating it but getting mortally injured during the fight. As his last action, he had somehow transported both Ginny and Ron to a safe location, not allowing harm to come to them, even as he laid his own life to save theirs. No one knew the identity of Slytherin's monster, and now they could not find out as all those who knew the details were gone forever. Ron had huge gaps in his memories and he couldn't remember anything from when he was possessed.
XXXXX
*Flashback*
As soon as Ginny was unconscious, Lockhart got up, dispelled the illusions and walked up to Helen. Kneeling in front of her, he looked at her with bright eyes, knowing he had done a good job. Helen acknowledged his success with an approving smile, "You have done well, Gilderoy," using his name for the first time.
"Thank you, Mistress," he replied happily, basking in his Mistress's praise. Eager to earn more he spoke up proudly, "I have more good news Mistress. I received a letter from the construction company today, the work on the manor is finished and it now stands complete."
Pleasantly surprised, Helen praised him further, "That is very good news, Gilderoy. You have done very well," she caressed her slave's cheek with her hand. He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes and giving out a pleasured sigh.
"I recall promising you a huge reward if you managed to complete the manor before the term ended. You have also done extremely well at this," she waved her hand around the chamber , "I think you have earned whatever reward you desire. So tell me Gilderoy, what do you want?"
His heart jumped upon hearing these words. Astonished he looked up at his mistress, into her glowing vivid green eyes. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he dared and whispered, "I wish nothing but to please you Mistress. However, I wish... deeply wish, to please you... with my body."
He saw an expression flash through her face, but it was gone before he could identify what it was. His Mistress continued to look at him for a few more moments and he thought she would deny his wish, but she finally replied, "I will grant you your wish but at the end of term. However, since you are officially dead now, you will remain here till I return. My house elf, Dobby, will provide you with food, clothes and books to pass the time. I may have a couple of jobs for you as well, where you will go out disguised into the world to do my bidding. If you follow all my instructions, you will have your desired reward."
*End Flashback*
XXXXX
A couple of weeks had passed, and the castle had been mourning the passing of their beloved professor. Dumbledore was restored as Headmaster, but had taken severe political hammering and had kept his positions only by the skin of his teeth. Tales of Lockhart's bravery and skill were traded among students and staff and various quotations from his books and interviews could be heard several times during a day. Slowly, the mood in the castle lightened and soon the petrified students were awakened, each house then welcomed them back with huge parties in their respective common rooms.
Hermione joined the Ravenclaw party an hour after it started, escaping the far more rowdy Gryffindor one. Soon, the second years plus Colin and Luna had snuck into their ovals, changed into their nightwear and had gathered in the second year oval for a more private party. The Slytherin trio had also joined them, though the Hufflepuffs couldn't attend as they had their own party going on. They enjoyed the cozy environment with games, butterbeers and some dancing.
Later as the party started winding down, Hermione followed Helen to her room that they had been sharing for the past few months. Hermione was nervous as she wanted to do a couple of things and she was unsure if she'd get another good opportunity to do them.
Hermione entered Helen's room after her and proceeded inside as Helen closed the door and started getting ready for the bed. Helen took off the night robe she had been wearing for the slumber party revealing an almost sheer black chemise which had an extremely short hemline, just enough to cover her derriere without hiding the beautiful body under it at all. Hermione could see the small lacy G-string Helen was wearing under it and the fact that that was all she wore apart from the chemise didn't help one bit. The noodle straps of the chemise reached quite low and ended in lace work, which hid Helen's nipples but left no illusions about the rest of her breasts.
Hermione gulped at the visual feast she was getting and forced herself to concentrate on what she wanted to do, apart from ogle at Helen like a buffoon. She pulled out her wand, getting a raised eyebrow from the other girl as she approached her and stood in front of her. With a final deep breath, which didn't help her much with her concentration as she got a whiff of Helen's sensual fragrance, she raised her wand, pointing it at her heart and said, "I, Hermione Jean Granger, pledge my life, my magic, my mind, my body and my soul to follow and support Helen Lilian Potter in any way I can. I promise to hold all her secrets and to aid her in all her endeavors. I will hold this pledge until the end of times."
Helen stood there flabbergasted at what Hermione had just done. Did she even understand what she was pledging? Instead of accepting the oath right away, she asked in a controlled calm voice, "Do you know what you are doing, Hermione?"
The said girl looked straight into her eyes, determined, and replied "Yes, I know. I did my research. I'm pledging everything I am to you, for this life and beyond. From the moment you accept my pledge, I'll belong to you. I'll be yours in all the ways possible and I will not be able to break that connection with you. As there is no exit clause in this oath, I will be yours forever."
She paused for a breath and continued with a slight blush forming on her face, "This oath doesn't change anything for me, as my heart tells me that I belong to you anyways."
With that said she closed the gap between them and raised on her tiptoes to gently peck the taller girl on her lips, leaving no misconceptions about what she meant. Hermione stepped back, having done both of the things she wanted to do and now waited for the other girl to respond.
After a few moments, a wand slipped into the redhead's hand which she unnecessarily raised to her own heart and said the words Hermione had been waiting to hear, "I, Helen Lilian Potter, accept your oath, Hermione Jean Granger."
There was a light glow around both their bodies indicating the acceptance of the oath. As soon as the light faded they both rushed forward, their bodies smashing into each other in an entanglement of arms and legs, while their lips and tongues tried to taste everything on the other's face at once.
Hermione's robe was ditched quickly, leaving her in a pair of matching light pink slip and hot pants, while Helen's chemise seemed to have disappeared by the time they had landed on the bed with their mouths still attached to each other and their hands having a will of their own as they explored the smooth flesh on the other's body.
There was a brief moment when she felt Helen wave her hand towards the door, but Hermione didn't care much about it, as Helen's other hand had slipped under her slip and had started playing with her nipples. She was straddling in the taller girl's lap, who was sitting with her legs stretched out and with support of the backrest, their lips locked. As Helen's fingers worked their magic on Hermione's breasts, she drew away to gasp and Helen took advantage to attack her neck, drawing another gasp from her. Helen necked her for a while as her hands kneaded her breasts, during which Hermione was completely lost to the sensations and was unaware of the sounds she was making.
Some time later, Hermione's mouth was latched to Helen's left nipple while the taller girl was lying down and held her to her chest with a hand on her head while her other hand caressed her bare back. Helen had brought her to an orgasm earlier just by stimulating her breasts, and now Hermione was trying to return the favor. The redhead had limited them to second base only, meaning nothing below waist and had resisted when Hermione tried to push Helen's hands towards her hot pants.
Ten minutes later, Helen made a deep moan, signalling that Hermione had finally succeeded. They laid there in each other's arms for a while, exchanging occasional kisses and sweet nothings. Some time later, Hermione raised herself on her elbows to meet the taller girl's eyes. She momentarily felt a flash of pleasure when those beautiful green eyes slid down to inspect her now exposed breasts, but Hermione refused to let them distract her, "Thank You for earlier, when you stopped us at second base only. I thought I was ready for it, but now I realize I wasn't. It seems you know me better than I do," Hermione said with a wry chuckle.
"Well, I know you would have regretted it if our first time was done in the heat of passion instead of gentle love-making. I know you are a romantic that way. Besides, now we have all the time in the world," Helen replied, kissing the brunette's palm assuredly.
Hermione smiled at her, but then hesitated to ask her next question. Helen caught her expression and gave her a look. The brunette relented and asked, "I know I shouldn't ask, and it doesn't matter to me anyways, but I am curious," she ignored Helen quipping with a, 'when are you not curious?' and continued, "Have you gone all the way with Cedric?"
Helen raised an eyebrow at the question, making Hermione blush and duck her head, but replied nonetheless, "No, not all the way. Just where we are, even not that as my bra was still on, though I was planning to go a bit more than this but we got interrupted." Helen responded as she tenderly tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, Hermione didn't ask what interrupted them, having a pretty good guess. Hermione leaned into the touch of the hand, closing her eyes. Soon she was sleepy, so she placed her head on the other girl's chest and let her consciousness fade.
XXXXX
Most of the end of year exams were already over now, while the fifth and the seventh years only had a couple of exams left. Cedric had been busy studying for the past few weeks, only managing a few minutes to spend with Helen. Helen had spent most of her free time studying for her A levels. The time she was not studying was spent either working on her businesses or launching her modelling career in the muggle world. She had employed Colin to take various muggle style pictures of her in different styles of clothes with different modelling poses inside the room of requirement, and had been sending them to her aunt who had been acting like her manager.
She already had a few jobs lined up due to her connections and with the help of some of her 'skills' she would be a top teen model soon enough.
She had been corresponding with Madam Malkin's as well and her first job was actually in the magical world, modelling for her own line of clothes, Spark, which was launching in the first week of holidays. For now though, she was making her way towards the second floor girls bathroom under her cloak. It was afternoon, when most of her friends were enjoying the weather outside. She had made some excuse and was on her way to the Chamber.
Lockhart was out completing an errand for her, so the chamber was empty. Helen took off her cloak and found a nicely lit empty spot, not a difficult task in the chamber, and started her work. Half an hour later, she stood up and looked at the results of her efforts. There was a round mattress on the ground covered with a deep purple silken circular sheet, surrounded by a few candles. The head of the makeshift bed was indicated by a pillow of the same color.
She stood there looking at her work, but not seeing it as her mind was on what she was going to do. She was still standing there when Lockhart and Dobby arrived with a 'pop'. Lockhart immediately brightened up and started speaking, "Mistress, I've done what you ask..." he stopped mid-sentence, having noticed the addition she had made.
Eyes wide he looked at her and whispered, "Mistress, is that...? Are we... ?"
"Dobby, you're dismissed," Helen ordered the house elf. As he popped away, she turned her eyes towards Lockhart and spoke up, "Yes Gilderoy, Today I'll reward you by fulfilling your desires."
Lockhart's face turned completely joyful as he barely contained his happiness and excitement. She ordered him to clean up, which he did so immediately, waving his wand over him, removing all dust and sweat he had worked up while on his errand. Helen absently waved her wand over her performing the same spell. She then moved forward, swaying her hips and approaching Lockhart, placing her hand on his chest. With a wave of her wand she removed his robes, shoes and shirt, leaving him only in his trousers. She traced her hand over his chest, admiring the beautifully sculpted body. He shivered as her fingers flicked at his right nipple, while she kept their wands at the nearby side-table. Her wand hand, now free, reached for his belt, while the other also made its way there, trailing down his torso to help remove the offending article. Soon she unbuckled the belt and undid the trouser button and zip.
She slowly trailed her fingers on his skin to his sides and hooked them under his pants. Then she slowly went down to her knees, taking both the trousers and pants with her, finally freeing him of his restraints. He sprang up already hard like a pole and once again she admired his size and girth. Once he was completely bare, she caressed her way up his strong legs and took him in her soft hands.
Looking at him in the eyes, she slowly leaned forward and took him in her mouth. Lockhart moaned as she took him further in until he hit the back of her mouth. She relaxed herself and pressed forward, taking him further until he hit the back of her throat, making him stumble a bit as he groaned in ecstasy. She slowly started moving her head back and forth, sucking on occasion, or swirled her tongue over his head, while her hands played with the sack or even the shaft when she was concentrating on the head. She occasionally licked him from base to tip and back causing his breath to shorten. Soon she had him right on the edge and he cried out a warning, "Mistress, I'll be coming soon."
She moved her head back so that only his head was in her mouth and stroked his shaft with her hand while her other hand gently massaged his balls. She looked at him as she swirled her tongue and sucked on his head, making him finally lose his control. He came with a roar, filling her mouth with his hot seed, which she swallowed immediately, without letting a single drop fall. He came for several moments, his hardness jerking and pulsing in her hands and mouth. Soon she had sucked him dry and let him go. She stood up and trailed a hand on his stomach as she started walking towards the makeshift bed.
At the edge of the bed, still facing away from him, she reached back to her neck and untied the strings holding her short summer dress, letting the garment fall to the ground, displaying to him that it was all she wore. With a wave of her hand, she lit up the candles around the bed and looked over her shoulder towards him.
He was staring at her derrière and looked up when she looked back. She raised an eyebrow and slightly tilted her head, nodding towards the bed, her intention obvious. Lockhart immediately started moving and was at her side within moments. She took his hand and guided her slave to the bed. Turning around to face him, she reached up to tenderly comb through his soft hair with her fingers. While caressing each other's bodies, they folded their knees and were soon on the bed, with Helen lying on her back as Lockhart hovered over her.
She guided his head towards her breasts and he immediately latched onto her right nipple, gently sucking and flicking it with his tongue as his hands started kneading both of her breasts. He spent a few minutes on each of her breasts, leaving her wet and breathless. She gently pushed his head down and he complied to her signal, by trailing kisses over her ribs and flat stomach to finally reach her core.
After giving her one last look, he reached down and with the tip of his tongue, gave her a lick from bottom to nub, making her moan. He then started lapping her lower lips making her wetter and hornier. Then he reached with his fingers and gently pulled the skin on the top, exposing her bundle of nerve endings. He reached up and started licking it furiously, making her cry out in pleasure. Soon his tongue started plunging in her, as his fingers took its previous job. With so many stimuli, Helen was coming in no time, crying her release to the empty chamber and he lapped up everything she gave to him.
He gently brought her down, with tender flicks of his tongue on her lips, without touching her nub. Once she was back, she gently tugged his hair upwards, pulling him up.
He came up supporting himself on his knees and palms, hovering over her, with his hardness grazing over her hot and wet core. She slowly trailed her fingers downwards and took hold of him, placing the tip right at her entrance. Looking up she gave him a nod and he pressed forward, forcing her outer lips open and slowly entered her. He entered for a few inches when he stopped, having encountered her barrier. She made him pull out and repeat the motion a few times, getting her used to the fullness. At last, when she was ready, she gave him another nod and he again pushed into her. This time however, he did not stop at the barrier and pushed through it, tearing it apart, sheathed himself completely inside her and stopped.
Helen gave out a cry in pain as she lost her virginity and a few tears escaped her eyes. She had felt the hymen tear up inside her and the sharp pain that accompanied it. Lockhart rained down kisses over her neck and chest as the pain slowly receded, while he remained motionless below his pelvis, with his manhood still buried inside her. Once the pain was gone, she signaled him to start moving again. He slowly pulled out and when only the tip was left inside, he pushed in again slowly, causing her to cry out again, but this time in pleasure. He repeated the motion several times, slowly building excitement for both of them.
Once she was comfortable, they started moving faster as Helen wrapped her legs around his waist. Their tempo increased further, bringing them closer to the edge. Soon Lockhart shouted about being on edge, so Helen immediately stopped their motions. They remained still for a few moments, as Lockhart retreated from his edge and gave her a nod.
Instead of continuing right away, Helen flipped them around and straddled him with her knees on his either side and her hands resting on his chest. She looked down at him seductively from her new position on top and slightly raised herself on her knees. When only the head remained inside her, she slammed down, causing him to groan. Slowly, she set a rhythm and they again started reaching their previous heights. She continued her movements for several minutes, occasionally changing her motion or angle, until they got close again.
"Together," Helen whispered to him before arching backwards, as Lockhart took hold of her hips to support and direct her motions. Helen increased her tempo as her hands went back behind her to the edge of the mattress between his feet to support her. At this angle he was hitting her right at the spot, and she was going to come any second now.
"Mistress" Lockhart cried, "I can't hold much longer."
Helen further increased her pace, crying "Almost... Almost..." as she tightly gripped the edge of the sheet.
A few seconds later he cried, "I'm coming".
At her last thrust Helen came as well with an ecstatic cry. As she came, she buckled, bringing her torso forward and plunged a ritual knife into Lockhart's heart.
*Gory scene*
Lockhart cried in pleasure, shock and pain. He continued to come warm inside her core and started to come warm outside on her fingers as well. He pulsed inside her, shooting his seed all over her insides, in rhythm with the beat of his fading heartbeat, which caused the blood to pour out of the knife wound in harmony with the pulses of his hardness.
Had he been in any state to notice things, Lockhart would have seen the flame of the candles turn blue and flared up to become over a foot long blazes. He would have also noticed the ground had lit up in purple around the bed, in the shape of a five point star, within a pentagon, within a circle, the light permeating even through the mattress and the sheet. Also the candles were placed at the points of the star, but he couldn't possibly notice that. Just before Lockhart lost his consciousness, he did however notice his mistress having a second orgasm, even as his rapidly softening hardness slipped out of her.
As Lockhart's life spirit faded, another orgasm rocked through Helen due to the magical overcharge with highly sexual flavor. The orgasmic magic would continue to pulse until she completed the ritual, bringing her an orgasm every few seconds. So, she had very little time to complete the ritual or she would be lost to the magic induced pleasure and the energy released from the sacrifice would fade away.
Thus, with a titanic effort she pulled out the knife and stabbed Lockhart again, severing his aorta from the heart, causing fresh red blood to start flooding out. She plunged her knife again and again, shredding the skin and the muscles to ribbons, until the rib-cage was open and the heart was completely disconnected.
She threw the knife away as another orgasm rocked her, making her moan, and plunged her hands inside the hole she had made, pushing the broken ribs to the side. Finally, after a lot of slipping and maneuvering Helen managed to pull the heart out, squeezing it to get rid of the blood in the chambers.
Once that was done she grimaced at the last requirement of the ritual and brought the heart to her mouth and bit into it. She raised her Occlumency shields to the fullest, knowing that otherwise there was no way she could do this, and tore off a piece before swallowing it directly. Once that had gone down she took another bite.
*Gory Scene end*
Later, Helen cleaned up the place, having already vanished the body, removing all evidence of the ritual she had performed. Finally satisfied, she cast a few scourgify on herself and conjured an armchair to sit down, thinking about the ritual she had modified to her needs. The origins of the original ritual were unknown but it was not supposed to be performed by a woman. The original ritual involved a man taking the virginity of a willing girl before killing her during orgasm and eating her heart. The girl had to be unaware of the ritual and her forthcoming death, with her attention only on her carnal pleasure until the knife was introduced between her ribs. The man would get a significant boost in magical channels and storage capacity as well as in the life force, elongating their natural age significantly and making them difficult to kill.
Helen had to modify the ritual to make it viable to be performed by a virgin girl. While the basics remained the same, the arithmancy of the modification required several extra steps. The virgin girl, in addition to losing her virginity, had to have the seed of the sacrifice in her stomach as well as her womb. Additionally, the element of fire was required to make the ritual possible in its modified state, hence the candles. The effects were similar to the original with an additional affinity for fire elemental magic. Since Helen already had an affinity for fire elemental, it didn't make much of a difference, except for making fire magic even easier for her. Unfortunately, she couldn't remove the part of eating the heart, so she had to employ Occlumency to perform the disgusting act.
Since the ritual involved the sacrifice of a human life, it was certainly 'dark'. Had Helen not been refraining from dark intent magic for months and specifically focusing on light intent spells, she would have not been able to cast any light based magic right now. As it was, she still could not produce a fully corporeal patronus, being only able to produce a light shield. She reckoned it would take her several months to reach an ideal balance again.
Nonetheless, the virgin sacrificial ritual would help slow down her accelerated aging and now she probably would age similar to a sixteen year old witch, as she was now physically, but with an extremely long lifespan.
She also felt vindicated after exacting her complete revenge on Lockhart. She had turned him into her slave, drained his fortune, made his contacts hers and now had taken his life for her advancement. However, she swore to herself to never do any other ritual that had such... drastic requirements.
After casting the Patronus charm for half an hour, Helen summoned her underwear from the clutch, re-dressed and made her way back to the castle. On her way, she absently wondered who could be taught to give her massages, probably Blaise or Micheal. Or maybe even Colin.
Wow! Another year ends.
No cookies for identifying the inspiration for the lemon scene, it's so obvious :D
I had originally written a much more horrifying ritual scene, but ended up toning it down, because it made even me a bit queasy.
The longest chapter by far, over 13K words in it. In fact this chapter is almost as long as the first five chapters combined, probably longer. I thought of dividing it into two, but couldn't find an obvious break, so you guys end up with this gargantuan monster.
I just read through the story from the beginning and I can see that I have improved in writing stuff. Though the frequency of mistakes is still more or less the same. Thus, I'm still looking for a beta, anyone interested please PM me.
I'm really excited about this summer break, as a lot would be happening in it, I have already given a few very obvious hints. A little teaser: We are going to the mainland and will meet a few future semi-major characters there.
Also, now that Helen have done it, she will be doing it a lot more, with a lot of people, including several fan-favorites, though no one else will be sacrificed anymore (no promises about that though :P). Also, physically she is now almost 18 because of her rituals and thus there will be more detailed descriptions of her physicality and her physical interactions, something I've tried to keep to only a moderate level till now.
Please R&R.
Rest in Peace, Chadwick Boseman.
Wakanda Forever!
