The Holidays
Helena lit up the coal fire in the living room of her house. It immediately illuminated the entire house and basked it in warm heat in contrast to the dark, frosted street outside. They had just been on the long ride of the Hogwarts Express. They were both exhausted, yet not tired enough to sleep properly. Anna had been extremely tired and slept on Helena's lap all the way through the ride, making Helena's legs numb. Anna does make things extremely awkward for her. Yet the black cat doesn't seem to mind at all. Though, Anna did mind when Helena told her to get off of her as they had arrived at the Train Station. Ultimately, Anna fell out with Helena after bothering her and she wont answer to Helena no matter how hard she tries to make it up to her. Katie told her to leave her alone, and so she did.
They both sat down on the old, but cushiony sofa which Helena had repaired at least a dozen times. Anna strutted off up the stairs, upset at Helena's betrayal. Helena was too exhausted to even care about it anymore.
"Helena?" asked Katie tirelessly.
"What?" Helena snapped.
"Feels weird to have Christmas here, doesn't it?" she asked, ignoring Helena's snapping.
"I suppose," she replied vaguely. She did not wish to expand on her sentences. She just wanted to go to sleep.
"Let's go to bed."
Helena agreed, and she put out the fire with a flick of her finger. They clambered up the stairs and went into their bedroom. Anna wasn't there.
They both quickly got changed and fell into a deep sleep.
x
The next day, someone was hammering on the door. Both Helena and Katie were still asleep in their bed. Anna was rushing down the stairs, curious to see who the noisy person was. Then, she scurried back out the stairs and hid under the bed, forgetting her grudge with Helena. The darkness beneath the bed masked the cat hiding beneath, her sharp, glowing green eyes piercing the dark. Then, she realised this and closed her eyes to stop them from showing.
Katie stirred, then she woke up at the banging of the door. Helena woke up alongside her.
"What's that?" asked Helena. She heard Anna crying under the bed. "Anna, what's wrong?" she asked.
Anna didn't answer.
Helena got up, and with a flick of her wand, her set of clothes were on her. She went down the stairs, tired.
She rubbed her eyes and saw who was at the bleeding door. It was Lord Voldemort.
"Jesus Christ," she said. She dreaded what was going to happen. So, she made him wait. She made coffee in the kitchen for herself and one for Katie, if she wanted one.
She then took a big gulp of hers when it was still hot. Then, she answered the door.
"Hello, Hel-"
"Why are you here?" she asked immediately, cutting him off. She showed no indication of doing so.
"Just dropping by."
"Ok. You've dropped by. You can leave now. Ok bye." She nearly shut the door on him but he blasted it off.
Helena was indifferent and pretended to shut the door fully.
"Ha, ha. Very funny, Helena. So extraordinarily funny," he said sarcastically.
She took a deep breath and sighed deeply.
"What do you want?"
"To question you."
She put her hand to her face, rubbing her eyes.
"Of course you do," she muttered.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"I don't know, can you?"
He glared at her. He was about to step in.
"I never said you could come in," she said sharply.
"Just watch me," he snarled.
Helena turned her back and he stepped in.
"I didn't watch you," she remarked childlessly.
"So Helena," he ignored her previous comment. "Why weren't you chosen as a Champion?"
She was silent for a mere second. Then, she started laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?" he asked, irritated, by her sudden burst of laughter.
"Nothing," she gasped. She spoke very strangled, attempting to talk through her sheer joy. "Nothing," she repeated. "Nothing is funny. It's just... You actually attempted to make me come out of the Goblet of Fire? You seriously attempted to force my name out of it so that I could torture Muggle-borns? The Goblet of Fire is extremely hard to confund, though I expect you're capable of doing it yourself. I'm generally surprised that I didn't come out of it, quite frankly. So, why are you asking me why I wasn't chosen as a Champion? After all, I have nothing to do with it. If anything, I'd make it less likely that I didn't fire my name out of it."
"Don't hold your breath, Helena. You and I know fully well that you'll be chosen next time."
"I know," she said coolly. "You're going to make me come out of it and then I'll probably have to torture Muggle-borns or something like that."
"Do you really expect me to give you as something as basic and as straight forward as that? No, I'll attempt to make it a lot more worse. And, of course, you will have to do it and undoubtedly you will try to avoid it."
"Yeah right, don't hold your breath," she slightly teased.
He ignored her.
"Where's Katie?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Helena, don't answer questions with a question."
"You don't tell me what to do," she snarled.
"Why, would you want me to?"
"No."
He chuckled in a high-pitched laugh that Helena despised.
"She's upstairs, I presume? After all, both you and I value my detours and surprise visits much more than she does."
"Who said I valued them? One of us has to keep you occupied."
"Yes, I suppose you do. Well, I have nothing more to enquire about."
"That's unusual," Helena replied swiftly.
"I must be leaving. Good day."
"You already ruined my day," she mumbled.
He apparated away.
"Is he gone?" called Katie.
"Yes," Helena called back.
"What did he want?"
"Not much. Just pestering me like usual."
"You can say that again."
"Just pestering me like usual."