Disclaimer: The rights to the Harry Potter series go to J.K. Rowling. All original ideas present in this belong to me.
Chapter Ten | A Very Sirius Summer
Throughout the last few weeks I've been working my arse off getting a handle on my wandless magic. Experimentation and tinkering in the Room of Requirement has taught me that it's not so much casting as it is controlling. I have to want the magic to do what I require and then push my own at it, changing it into what I need. It's sort of like crossing your fingers and then asking the universe to do what you tell it to.
Charms, conjuration, and hexes don't come easily this way, if at all. I've found that those fields are too… strict for wandless magic. They require an additional focus like a wand to fashion the spell into something specific and rigid. The wandless magics on the other hand, they're free. I like to think of it as incredibly dangerous sculpting.
The most interesting thing I've discovered is that I may be able to control a spell that's already been cast, pushing it away or directing it if it misses its target. The sheer possibilities of redirecting or guiding a spell is just incredible. Miss an opponent with a curse? Pull it back at them from behind before it fizzles out. Want to spread out a spell? Stretch it after it's cast so that it hits a wider area. Stop a spell in its entirety? Still working that one out, but I've noticed that I can slow down hexes shot at me from the training dummies in the Room to a noticeable degree. My leg still smarts from being struck by a couple of the hexes though. Goddamn Room.
What's throwing me off though, is the magics that Death all but ordered me to go out and learn. I'm really starting to understand just exactly why Necromancy and Blood Magics are restricted or outright banned by the Ministry. It's not due to how dark they are, well- I mean, they are pretty bloody dark. They're also pretty bloody complicated. What's the worst that can happen if you misfire a leg locking jinx? Someone stumbles and breaks their jaw. Big deal, easy fix in the wizarding world.
Fuck up blood magic? Well, now you're an especially unattractive pile of meat and you've blown up your house to boot. Bit of a difference.
Most of the Blood Magics are theoretically simple, rituals near identical to the one Rockseeker carried out on me. Carving runes into one's body to augment it in different ways depending on the ritual. The ones that have so far caught my eye are relatively simple: increased endurance, near superhuman strength, or even immunity to poisons.
The downside to the poison immunity is that I'd never be able to get drunk. I may not have ever gotten drunk per se, but I don't want to really write out a whole future of potentially hilarious bad decisions.
The complicated Blood Magics involve sacrifices, give up your life blood, do something cool and incredibly dangerous with it. The most useful spells I've come across manipulate an enemies blood, causing strokes, aneurysms, and other fantastically terrible ways to die.
The problem with those spells is that I need to have some of that person's blood and use it for the spell. Ignoring the difficulties involved in simply procuring that blood, it would make it incredibly convenient to… how should I say this? Take someone out of the equation? Yeah that works. It'd make it a lot easier to eliminate some poor Death Eater at any time without having to even be near the guy. I'm starting to get uncomfortably comfortable with the idea of killing people. I'm sure when it comes down to it I'll probably panic, but after five years of fighting for my life in some insane excuse for a 'premier school of magic,' my morals have taken a decent hit.
Maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with the school. Really, anyone who was raised by the Dursleys would probably lack in some way, particularly when it comes to something like hurting others. I was never taught how to understand my own emotions and others, so its not so surprising to find that I don't particularly mind the idea of making Lucius Malfoy choke to death on his own tongue.
Forgetting my growing antisocial tendencies, I'm going to have to hunker down and start pouring over some ancient runes books so that I can get cracking on those augmentation rituals, which might be easier to understand now that I have a passable handling on Latin. I've heard that learning a second language makes it much easier to learn a third, then a fourth, and so on. I wonder if being a parselmouth counts towards that?
Necromancy on the other hand, that's where it gets gritty. From the few chapters I've been able to translate, it's not for the faint of heart. I thought Blood Magics were going to make me sick, but they have nothing on Necromancy. Sure, you technically have to bathe in your own blood for an extended period of time and then suck it all back up into your body like some demented magical silly straw. Necromancy though?
A lot of the 'art' involves planning, and I'm using the term art incredibly loosely.
The not so aptly named art involves the act of creating and composing an undead army and then binding it to yourself so that it may be summoned when you require. I don't know the how or why of the summoning yet, so I'm going to say that it's magic, although that saying defeats the purpose in a magical world.
The creating and composing (or decomposing) aspect of it doesn't sound to be pleasant in the slightest, as it's going to involve a lot, and I mean a lot of graverobbing. I'm going to look and see if there's a digging charm somewhere so that I don't have to mine for corpses with magical explosions.
There are massive benefits to living at Hogwarts though. It's an old castle, and what happens at castles? Battles. Lots of them. After surreptitiously casting a few spells to see if there were any nearby 'resources' on the school grounds that I could work on in the future, I was overwhelmed.
Thousands of bodies, from every which race you could think of are buried around Hogwarts and I imagine, up into Hogsmeade. Humans, Goblins, Giants, Elves, Dwarves, and everything else under the sun has apparently died at this castle. I'm going to have no trouble finding enough bodies to animate.
Thankfully, Necromancy isn't just limited to corpse hunting and psychological warfare. Apart from giving your enemies severe PTSD, there's plenty of lovely spells involving rots, blights, and other methods of inflicting necrosis. Spells to turn a limb gangrenous, crush their organs to mush from the inside out, even a spell that looks like its effects would be remarkably similar to the face melting scene that happened in Raiders of the Lost Ark. You know, real tasteful and friendly magics.
I've finally been able to open up communications with Sirius these last few weeks as well, and it seems Azkaban did even more of a number on him than I thought it did originally. The poor guy has been stuck with mind healers for the last month and a half since his release, trying to recover from whatever hell he's gone through. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to see him until the summer, but the letters have helped a lot. Here's hoping he comes out a lot healthier than he did last time. Sirius has been through a hell of a lot and I'd love to see him happy and healthy, both physically and mentally.
As long as he comes out of it even close to as healthy as he did last time, I imagine things are going to go pretty well.
Unfortunately, the Ministry has somehow, and I don't even know how they did this, covered up Voldemort's wraith wreaking havoc in the school in the middle of lunch. A statement in the paper from Fudge detailed how a 'malicious spirit' somehow invaded the school and was promptly taken care of by the authorities. I hate bureaucrats. A lot. Bureaucracy is an insidious, quiet type of evil that should be eliminated in it's entirety so that we don't doom yet another generation to the challenges of loopholes, lobbying, and brown nosing.
I will swear until my dying day that Fudge is the unfortunate love child of an impotent Dark Lord and a mentally deficient yes-man. Hell, I'll probably carve that into his grave when he eventually kicks the bucket, even if I'm the one who eventually kills him out of sheer exasperation.
-:-
The last few months don't rush on by. Christ, they're the most bored I've ever been in my life. Even with my impromptu dark magic studies taking up my time the school year dragged on by.
I really should have asked Death if I could come back, I don't know, during my third year? That would make a bit more sense. I'd be able to attain Sirius' freedom, nab Pettigrew, and start planning and preparing for the fight with Voldemort in my fourth year instead of having to wait for four goddamn years to fight the guy. Yeah sure, I'd be less prepared, but the waiting is absolutely dreadful!
Damnit.
I blame it on hormones. I'm not used to this whole estrogen thing. That must be what's driving me crazy. Was I like this in the last life? I was probably worse to be honest. All that brooding, fussing, and whining. Hell! Looking back on it, I spent my whole fifth year bitching and moaning until I accidentally killed myself.
You know what, this doesn't seem that bad in comparison.
Thankfully, apart from things being terribly, terribly boring, life has been good. Without Quirrel stuttering his way through Defence Against the Dark Arts the class was slightly enjoyable, as Dumbledore stepped in to teach for the remainder of the year. As much as I loathe the man for what he's done to me I must admit he's a fantastic teacher. Even though I'm completely familiar with everything covered he offered some different insights into topics that I never would have thought of before. Not that often that someone can put a few surprisingly creative uses of a stinging hex.
Looking around the compartment I smile seeing the new gang laughing and joking amongst each other. Never thought I would ever end up becoming good friends with two Slytherins, let alone Daphne and Tracey, as well as Hermione become good friends of theirs as well. The group works together fantastically, Padma and Lisa's boisterousness bouncing off Daphne and Tracey's very, very dry senses of humour, with me and Hermione in the centre to balance it all out.
Okay I sort of fall more on the uncomfortably sarcastic side of things, but Hermione is there to reign me in.
The ride back goes by quickly, the conversation flowing freely as we all plan our summers out. Things are going to be interesting, as Sirius is going to be staying with the Greengrasses and myself over the summer, with Hermione, Padma, and Lisa visiting for a week or two. We're a diverse little group and I'm excited to see where things go over the next couple years, we could really do some good to the divide in the wizarding world if we're all still chummy after graduation.
Shouts and banging on the compartment door cause us all to snap our heads up at the commotion, Tracey opening the blinds to peer outside and figure out what's going on.
"It's just Draco out there," she chuckles, closing the blinds.
"Good thing I sealed the compartment earlier, otherwise the git would probably be in here getting himself embarrassed again," I respond.
"Being friends with the famous Helene Potter does come with it perks," Daphne says, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Just don't get too full of yourself, alright Potter?"
"Me! Full of myself? Why I never!" I gasp in faux horror. "I'm quite the humble person, I'd have you know. Have I ever bragged about anything?"
"Not from what I've seen, but it doesn't hurt to nip it in the bud and prevent any future head swelling."
"Pfft. I wouldn't look for fame if my life depended on it. Okay, only if my life depended on it. You wouldn't catch me acting like that snob Lockhart."
"What do you mean by snob Helene? He's an accomplished wizard! Why… his fights with the vampire colonies, they're outright incredible!" Hermione interrupts.
Putting my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud at Hermione, I clench my fist and take a deep breath. "Hermione… don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, alright?"
Her features turn stern momentarily, before she nods, still frowning.
"Lockhart, well. Lockhart is a fraud. Read over his books again when you have the chance. He'd have to be in four places at once to accomplish the feats he said he did. Additionally, the way he defeated the vampires is completely outlandish. Garlic? That's an old superstition, vampires can only be killed by beheading them, or by completely destroying their body with magical fire."
"But… why would he… oh come on! Is every author in the wizarding world a liar or fraudster?" She shouts, waving her hands in the air. "I'm getting a return on those books as soon as I can, as well as the books that are about the 'Famous Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived.' I'm sure mum and dad will be happy to get their money back after I tell them about it… why, they'd have a heart attack knowing how ridiculous wizarding publishing is! The nerve! When I get to Flourish Botts I'm going to show them just what it means to- to- desecrate books that wa- "
Slapping my hand over her mouth, I send a knowing look over to Padma and Lisa.
"Hermione. Breathe, okay? From what I've seen there's not exactly too much investigation that takes place in the wizarding world. If you really feel it's important, send a letter off to the Daily Prophet detailing why you think Lockhart is full of it and maybe they'll write an exposé. Actually, you know what? They'll definitely write an exposé. I can guarantee they will. That paper lives for that kind of thing."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione settles herself. Slightly calmed down, she crosses her legs, one foot tapping quietly against the floor. Wait shit, did I just inadvertently turn the Prophet into a gossip rag with my suggestion? The evil you know and all that rubbish. Let's hope that doesn't blow up in my face.
"I don't like it one bit, but if that's what it takes to let people know that he's a liar then that's what I'll do. I just hate it when people lie to get famous! I thought it was bad enough seeing psychics and people like that on TV, but I have to deal with it in a world where there's actually psychics? He's taking advantage of people and lying to them!"
"I know, but there's nothing we can do while we're sitting here on the train. Take care of it when you get home if you have to, alright Hermione?"
Still frowning, she nods her affirmation and slumps into the seat, pulling out a book. I smile as I notice her foot slowly stops tapping as she becomes more and more engrossed in the novel.
-:-
Sirius cradles his face in his hands, sighing in exasperation. "So… you died and came back in time after I got myself killed?"
"Yes."
"And Dumbledore may be genuinely insane, evil, senile, completely uncaring, or all of the above?"
"Yes."
"And nobody in a position of power believed you when you said Voldemort came back?"
"Ye- well. Not nobody. There were a couple people like Dumbledore or McGonagall, but he doesn't really count and she's a school teacher. So yeah, I guess nobody incredibly important believed me."
"Well fuck."
"Exactly what I thought Sirius," Octavius intones, pouring out a glass of brandy for him, which Sirius tosses back unceremoniously before grabbing the bottle and taking a swig. "Hey! Don't disrespect my liquor!"
"I've been wrongfully imprisoned for over a decade and it turns out my goddaughter is a suicidal time traveler who only died because of my own ego, I'm going to drink however the hell I want Octavius."
"Not in front of her you won't!"
"I am technically sixteen," I interject.
"Doesn't matter, my house, my rules. Sirius, give me the Merlin be damned bottle."
Sirius being the rational, completely sane and in no way emotionally damaged man child that he is holds tightly to the bottle before jumping out of his chair and running out of the sitting room, squealing in fright.
"I think Azkaban really did a number on him," Octavius mutters, watching as he tucks tail and runs.
I scratch my head, wondering why he's so different from how I remember him. "Yeah, he wasn't this… well. He wasn't like that last time around. I think the extra two years he spent in Azkaban in my last life may have given him a personality update. Is that what he was like at Hogwarts?"
Octavius laughs, wiping something unseen from the corner of his eye. "Gods no. He was even worse then. Honestly that wasn't all that bad, I'd put it at a six on the scale. I just didn't expect him to drink brandy. He's always hated brandy. Poor man must have been through hell."
"Wow. You know what, I love Sirius, but thank god he didn't actually adopt me last time."
"Wait, he was going to adopt you?" He asks incredulously.
"Yeah, could you imagine what a nightmare I would have been? Snape's head would have exploded on my first day back to Hogwarts. The poor guy would have probably hung himself in his laboratory by winter break."
"Although you probably would have done much better during the Tri-Wizard Tournament with his back up. Honestly, trying to out fly a dragon? If you weren't obscenely lucky you would have been eaten, right then and there."
"That tactic was recommended to me by Moody. I mean, he was fake Moody, but I didn't really know at the time."
"Fair enough. I should probably go fetch Sirius and make sure he's not trying to burn the house down."
"Does he set things on fire when he drinks?"
"He tends to set things on fire regardless of how inebriated he is. I'll see you at dinner Helene."
"Good luck!"
-:-
June sweeps by in a flurry of pranks, hijinks, and general tomfoolery. Sirius, untrue to his name, decides to use the summer as an additional stage of his recuperation via complete and utter immaturity. After the fifth time my hair is dyed pink and ram's horns sprout out of my forehead I begin to, how do you say it? Lose my shit.
"Sirius, you childish son of a bitch get over here!" I shout as I chase after the giggling madman. "This has to stop! You're driving the whole bloody house insane!"
"It's just a little fun Helene! Marauders promise!"
Snapping out my wand I fire a binding hex at Sirius, watching it catch him around the ankles as he tries to dash around a corner, his legs flying into the air as he slides into the ground. I hear a muffled cry of, "Nice shot!" Sirius' legs kicking furiously as he tries to get up.
"How the mighty have fallen! Why Padfoot, it looks like you got caught by a child!" I cackle, sparks flying from my wand as I stare down at him and conjure more ropes, tying him securely.
"You're full grown evil packed into a little body! That's cheating and you know it!"
"All's fair in pranks and war my friend, now hold still or this is going to hurt."
A couple of quick spells and Sirius is now sporting a lovely neon green mullet, antlers, an eye patch, as well as a terribly scruffy beard in the same enchanting shade as his new haircut. Firing off a mobilicorpus, I levitate Sirius into the dining room and pin him to the table.
"Hey! Uh, you think you'd be able to give your godfather the benefit of the doubt and let me go?" He begs, tugging uselessly against his restraints. "Just this once? Huh? What do you say?"
Scratching my chin, I pretend to think deeply before flicking Sirius on the nose, summoning an apple that I immediately stuff into his mouth.
A quick sonorous charm and an announcement of, "Dinner is ready!" and the dining hall quickly fills up. Astoria immediately falls over squealing in laughter and clutching at her sides at the sight of a stuffed, neon Sirius stuck to the table, while Daphne tries her damndest not to smirk at the poor man.
Octavius on the other hand has already conjured a brush and is doodling a mustache on Sirius' face.
"Sirius, I told you not to mess with Helene, she's a bona fide pranking expert. You've got to leave things up to the next generation old man," Terra says beratingly, smirking all the while.
"Hmm-mmmhm!"
"What was that Sirius?"
"Mmhmm!"
"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that. What were you trying to say?"
Sirius angrily mumbles through the apple before chomping a bite through it, bits of fruit flying through the air as he screams "I give up! These kids are downright evil!"
"It's about time you figured it out Padfoot, like Terra said, it's time to pass on the torch," I laugh, dispelling the charms and bindings on him.
Giggling he rolls off the table and reaches over, letting Octavius haul him back up to his feet before patting me on the back.
"Bloody good one kid, you'd do your father proud." He congratulates me, patting me on the back.
I smile at him, loving the praise. "Thanks Sirius! Although I'd imagine mum is having a fit if she's watching us right now."
"Nah, your mum would probably have high fived you for that one. Speaking of dinner though, I'm hungry as hell. Octavius, what's cookin'?"
-:-
"Okay so what the hell was the plan again?" Sirius whispers, stooping down uncomfortably.
"Arthur is going to get into a fist fight with Malfoy. Before the fight happens, he's going to try and drop a diary into Ginny's cauldron. It's a little plain thing, black leather. During the commotion I'm going to steal the thing."
"What do we do after we get the diary?"
"Tell Lockhart he's a stuck-up smarmy shit, then we get out of here. I don't want to cause too much of a scene, and I already bought my school supplies last week. I don't know why everyone waits until the last bloody minute to get theirs considering Diagon Alley is a nightmare this time of year."
Sirius nods excitedly, ready to cause some mayhem. "Sounds good pup, let's fuck shit up."
"Sirius stop saying that, otherwise we're never going to the movies again," I chide, pinching my nose tiredly.
"But it sounds so cool!"
"Not if you say it three hundred goddamn times."
Sighing, Sirius pouts a bit before we see the scuffle begin, Arthur taking a swing at Lucius after his inane and derogatory comments towards the Weasleys impoverished status. No wonder Draco is such an obnoxious little git, he's basically a clone of his father.
"Mission is a go. Let's do this, you break up the fight, I grab the diary," I say, locking eyes with Sirius. Smirking, the two of us move in. I sneak past the scuffle, going unnoticed as I tip toe through the crowd. Meanwhile, Sirius quickly and confidently pushes through the jeering crowd, grabbing both men by the scruff of the neck and pulling them apart.
"What the hell are you two doing? Act like adults, not petty teens getting into a schoolyard scrap!"
Stopping myself from giggling at the hypocrisy I sneak up and pocket the diary in Ginny's cauldron, walking up to Sirius and tugging on his sleeve. "Let's get out of here," I whisper surreptitiously.
Smiling wickedly, he releases Arthur and Lucius, the two of them straightening out their robes as they stare daggers at one another, Lucius huffing loudly as he leaves the store with Draco tailing him obediently.
As if he's been waiting for his queue, Gilderoy strides over, chest puffed out and a conceited grin plastered on his face, robes billowing behind him as he places his hands on his hips.
"Now now, everyone! Let's not fight!" He lectures, hands spread wide like an American preacher. "Life is too short to allow these rivalries to divide us- why, it reminds me of my new book, Magical Me! I don't want to give too much away, but let me give you a sneak peek and tell you of how I united two quarrelling Veela colonies with nothing but a few charms and a quick smile!" Of course, the largely single and post-menopausal crowd is now swooning at the gibbering idiot.
I grimace as Lockhart's eyes widen comically as his gaze sweeps over me. "My oh my! Is it? Could it be? Helene Potter!" He pushes through the crowd and grabs me by the shoulder, aggressively hauling me to the stage. I squeak quietly in shock, Lockhart being much pushier than he was last time. Before Sirius or I can protest, I'm pulled on stage as cameras flash blindingly in my face, my eyes tearing up and stinging at the offensive fireworks show. His hand on my shoulder lowers uncomfortably, tracing down my arm and cradling me uncomfortably around the waist, fingers digging into my side as he yanks me closer towards him. Damnit! I can't believe I forgot about the git noticing me last time!
"Smile Helene, you and I will make the front page," he says, beaming over the squealing crowd, the sensation of his thumb rubbing over my back making me want to retch. The bastards hand lowers even more, letting go of my waist and moving towards my backside.
"Get your filthy hands off my goddaughter you bastard!"
Before I can even react, Sirius has leapt onto the stage and is unceremoniously beating the tar out of Lockhart. The coiffed bastard screams in pain and fright, the dull thud of Sirius' fist echoing throughout the now silent shop.
The cameras begin firing at an incredible speed, a machine gun of paparazzi capturing the incredible display of ex-convinct, now famous bachelor Sirius Black knocking the pieces out of Gilderoy Lockhart's famous smile.
I curse under my breath for allowing the man to get so close to me, deeply unsettled by the way that he touched me. "Beat the shit out of him Sirius!" I cry, aching to get revenge on the circumspect man.
With a smile that promises pain and suffering, Sirius does just that, one good swing to the solar plexus and Lockhart is painting the photographers and his fans with his lunch, the crowd of ancient women diving out of the way to avoid the oncoming stream of what looks to be mostly digested shepherds pie. I sincerely hope the photographers got that picture, as Lockhart deserves any embarrassment he can get.
Grabbing Sirius and yanking him off of the now comatose Gilderoy, we push our way through the crowd and dash back to the apparition point, before popping back to the Greengrasses.
-:-
"Helene did you really attack Gilderoy Lockhart at his book signing? I know I said I don't like him but wasn't that a bit too much?"
Hermione is staring me down over the newspaper headlines, such a classic sight. The blend of concern, frustration, and that little hint of self righteousness? She's slowly growing into the woman she'll eventually be, and I feel a little bit proud to see her steady evolution.
"I didn't, Sirius did. Anyways, the guy was getting disgustingly handsy with me. I'm still pissed that he's teaching at Hogwarts after the articles that I imagine you had a hand in," I reply, smirking as she tries to look innocent.
"It's absolutely disgusting that that man is allowed near children," Tracey scoffs, Padma nodding furiously at her statement.
"After last years teacher a creepy bastard is probably a smidge better," I add, weighing the two cons in my head. I'd prefer a sleazy middle-aged washout over the Dark Lord who's been out for my blood since I was an infant. "I mean, the wraith of Voldemort was our teacher of most of the year."
"Didn't the Prophet just say that it was a wandering spirit?" Lisa asks, confused.
"The Prophet doesn't know up from down unless Fudge tells them where to point, I saw the so called 'spirit' get banished through the atrium when we were being evacuated," Daphne reasons, nodding her head towards me. "Not to mention Helene was the one who was the closest. I distinctly remember hearing Dumbledore proclaim that it was You-Know-Who's wraith."
"How did you hear that?" I ask.
Daphne smiles. "I was hiding just outside the doors of the Great Hall, leaving them cracked open. Dumbledore was quite loud, and nobody remembered to put up a silencing charm."
"Well, not too much to argue about there."
Reclining into my seat I start to plan ahead for the next school year.
I've got an ancient basilisk to either convince to be friendly, or heroically kill some time within the next ten months. In addition to that, I've got to get rid of the diary and I imagine its going to be a tough artefact to break. Sirius and I tried to set the thing on fire, stab it, crush it- hell, we'd try and drown it if we could. I'm going to try some more creative methods when I get back to Hogwarts
You know, at least things are looking up for me. Sirius is out of prison and even though he's genuinely insane I love the madman to bits. The Greengrasses have been absolutely fantastic, and I'm really enjoying my time with them all.
I smile to myself, realizing that I've actually got a family now. As much as said family resembles a terrible sitcom, it's my family, and there's no chance in hell I'm letting anything come in the way of that.
I mentally smack myself in the head. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Practice combat magics, wandless magics, as well as offensively dark and disturbing rituals so that I can defeat Voldemort in just over two years.
If I have to kill the basilisk can I animate it?
I've been getting PM's and reviews asking if this fic is going to involve a lesbian relationship after the fifth chapter, with Helene and whoever I finally decide on for the final pairing. Most of these PM's or reviews are insulting and bigoted, and I'm not going to dignify them with an individual response. Instead I'll say this:
Yes, Helene is going to date women.
No, she's not going to date men.
As mckertis said so eloquently in his review: 'is this just an excuse to jam some homo-shit down our throats?' Then I'll respond with a resounding yes, there is going to be some homo-shit. Actually, I'm planning on there being plenty of homo-shit, an abundance of homo-shit. I'm not here to shove it down people's throats. I'm a lesbian, I'm going to write lesbian characters. It's much easier for me to write out a believable romantic plot when it's something that I can understand and feel passionate about. I'm slightly reconsidering my stance on sex scenes, lemons, whatever you want to call them.
It's very likely that it will just be inferred, but not explicit, but I'm beginning to feel that having a sex scene or two may be necessary to solidify the future romance. There will be sapphic romance as part of the driving plot later in the story, and it will be used to flesh out the characters involved. If you're a bigot or have any problem with a sprinkle of gayness in your fanfic just stop reading the story.
Additionally, I'd like to mention how OOC Helene/Harry has been and will be throughout the story. Harry in canon was never an exceptionally clever character in my view. He never used everything he had or made rational decisions, and he trusted or distrusted people way too easily. He would constantly rush into situations with bare bones information and planning, and somehow come out of them in one piece.
In this story Helene is currently at a crossroads. She's discovering who she is as a person, and what she wants in life. She's trying to do her best to not make the same mistakes she did in her previous life, but she's still mentally fifteen years old and is by no means a wise or worldly person. She's going to continue to make mistakes, gloss over things that may be important, make rash decisions, and have a tendency to overreact to something negative, just as any other fifteen-year-old would.
-lisbeth00
Edited, 25/05/18.