January - February 2013

The Second Task was nearing now that the long, Christmas holidays were over and the ground took on a blanket of snow, ice, and frost. Most people wore gloves and scarves to brace themselves for horrible, ice-cold, gusty winds that appeared on several occasions on the grounds. Helena and Katie both came to an agreement to not go outside unless it was absolutely essential, like perhaps attending Herbology classes. Most of their free time, they just sat in the Ravenclaw Common Room in front of the hot, burning, flickering fire that illuminated the blue and bronze room. Not forgetting to mention that their hearts were warming up as well.

In other news, the clue to the Second Task finally came upon Helena's grasp. She found it rather vague, as it could mean anything and be interpreted in many ways.

For the Task,
You must prove
How worthy
You make of
Yourself,
And convince
The enemy that
You truly deserve
To belong here.
You have ten minutes to aspire power and creativity.

The first words to escape Helena's lips were,

"What even?" she was scowling in confusion.

"What?" answered Katie subconsciously.

"It hardly makes any sense."

"That's why it's a riddle," Katie said simply.

"No, no. That's not it. The words themselves don't make no sense."

"Maybe he wanted it to be like that."

"All I can make sense of it is that they have to prove how worthy they are in front of the enemy. Who's the enemy?" pondered Helena aloud.

"I don't know, the Dark Lord?" said Katie sarcastically.

"Maybe he did it from our point of view, as we consider him to be the enemy but no one else does."

"Perhaps."

"Not to forget that it says 'They need to prove that they belong here', does that mean that if they don't do what's expected of them, then they'll be kicked out of the Tournament?" asked Helena.

"But what if... He's scouting for Death Eaters?" theorized Katie.

"What?" she replied, not believing her.

"Think about it. The First Task was to receive orders, now it's obviously time to give them. To dictate other people!"

"It doesn't mention anything like that..."

"Just look at it, Helena!" Katie said excitedly. 'You must prove how worthy you are.' Don't tell me that doesn't sound like he's seeing how well they perform. Not forgetting that it says to use power, which could be force, and creativity, so it might be covered up easily. He also gives it away by saying they need to prove that they have what it takes to become a Death Eater."

Helena glared at her in a trance, phased by her speech, taking in her words. She nodded and blinked slowly.

"Ok... It seems...," she shook her head, coming to her senses. "Katie, you are brilliant!" she exclaimed.

"Not really, you've just grown on me," said Katie, blushing.

"You're just being modest. Jesus. That's remarkable! I don't know how to explain it."

"Then, you don't have to," murmured Katie.

"You're right," Helena said quietly.

She placed her hands on both sides of Katie's face and when she was about to ask what Helena was doing, Helena pulled her face closer to hers and kissed her on the lips. Then, she released her, it only lasting a mere second.

Katie's green eyes were wide with shock. The atmosphere around them became so clear, so intensified that they seemed to notice every little aspect. The smell of burning wood and the sound of flickering of the fire, Anna breathing softly in front of it, the soft snow dancing merrily outside, barely touching the wide windows. Katie could see the light of the comforting fire in Helena's wide eyes.

Katie truly realised how beautiful Helena was. She leaned over towards Helena, and kissed her on the lips once more, a lot more longer this time. Her mouth was starving for Helena's tongue and her tongue explored her mouth seductively, running over the smoothness of her cheek tissue. They were both deep into it, with their hands running over each other's bodies.

Abruptly, the Ravenclaw Common Room door opened and came in none other than Lord Voldemort. He stood there motionless, with a confused expression across his inhumane face. Katie was the first to notice and pulled away as Helena's hand was on her right breast. They both looked towards the entrance of the Common Room and Helena saw Voldemort. She then hastily took her hand from Katie's breast, even though she enjoyed the firm, perky feel of it.

Helena cleared her throat.

"Umm. Hi?" she said uncertainly to Voldemort.

"Please, Helena, don't make this more awkward than it already is," replied Voldemort slightly cruelly.

"I wasn't the one who made this awkward."

"So I'm just going to go..." said Katie quietly and she got up from the sofa.

"Not so fast," said Voldemort. He simply put up his hand and she got forced to sit back down on the sofa. "This concerns both of you."

"Seriously? You talked to me not that long ago. Last week, actually. So what could you possibly -" Helena got cut short as Voldemort had lifted his index finger and Helena became gagged immediately.

"I just felt like announcing that I've been eavesdropping on the pair of you and I'm surprised you haven't found out about it. But no matter. And you're quire right, Katie, about the Second Task. And to think I was beginning to lose hope in you. Good day to you both."

And he marched out of there.

Katie and Helena recovered from the confrontation.

"What did you think he meant when he said 'I was beginning to lose hope in you'?" asked Katie.

"Never mind about that. How did he manage to eavesdrop on us?"

"I don't know, magic?" suggested Katie sarcastically.

"Now's not the time for jokes. How did he become so powerful?"

"Maybe he's always been that powerful, but we just under-estimated him."

"No... Definitely not. I've challenged him before, trust me. It seems like he's recently come upon the power."

"But where did he get it from?" asked Katie.

"I don't know," Helena concluded.

The snow continued to fall.