AN: Check the first chapter for disclaimers

This a long chapter for you guys as an apology for the long absence.

However, I'll be forthcoming and say that it will be a common occurrence (the long gaps, that is) as I've signed up for an extremely tough exam (CFA, if anyone is interested) which will take around 2 years if I clear them in the first attempts. This is on top of my job (which involves a lot of travel), being a (responsible) mother to a baby, and the trap that is the fanfiction world with its wonderful content.

Remember, the full version of the story is available on ao3. Speaking of ao3, for some reason, my story is flagged as complete there, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to correct it. If someone knows, please comment or PM me.

"Helen, did you feed Padfoot? He likes ham and cheese sandwiches." Luna asked out of the blue, before taking a bite out of a… yes, a ham and cheese sandwich.

Bewildered, Helen looked at her and asked, "You know Padfoot?"

"Of course I know Padfoot. He's a cute doggie, who is always hungry and loves getting his head scratched." Luna replied, unaware of Helen sweat-dropping next to her.

"Uh-huh," replied Helen intelligently, not knowing what else to say. She wanted to ask how Luna knew she had taken Padfoot away, but refrained herself, knowing she would not get a straight answer and it would only cause her a headache. Instead, she turned to her own plate and concentrated on eating dinner, which thankfully had neither ham nor cheese nor bread for that matter.

When they got up to leave the great hall, Luna asked, "Will you let me play with him? I want to teach him fetch?"

She turned her wide pleading eyes towards Helen with an eager and expectant expression on her face.

Shaking her head, Helen agreed, wondering how she would make that happen, and made her way to her room in Ravenclaw Tower, where the Weasley twins were working. Ever since the holidays, Helen had started working on them, trying to turn them into her way of thinking. As it turned out, it wasn't that difficult of a task as the twins were almost neutral in their stance, unlike the rest of their family. So, Helen had only needed to nudge them slightly to arrive at the perspective that Helen liked. From there it was only a hop, skip and jump to get them to swear an oath to her.

She opened the door and found them bent over a desk, working out the arithmancy for one of their joke products. Though, judging by the open bottle of Firewhiskey between them, Helen thought they weren't making much progress.

Stepping out of her heels, Helen threw herself on the couch with her feet dangling over an armrest and asked, "What are you guys up to?"

Fred turned and appreciated the view of her stocking-clad legs before answering, "We are working on Canary Creams. We've managed to turn the head of the victim into a canary but the rest of the body still remains human, which is still hilarious, but also dangerous. We want the cream to completely turn the eater into a giant canary temporarily with a scattering of feathers around for an extra funny effect."

"Hmm, show me your work," Helen asked, beckoning them with a hand.

George gathered all the parchments and approached her. Helen took the sheets and started going over the formulae the twins had created. The potion section of the formula looked correct, so she moved on to the runic schematic and the transfiguration part of the formula. There she found the problem. Waving her hand for the twins to take a seat, she collected the sheets as the twins sat on her either side, with her head resting on George's thigh and her feet on Fred's lap.

Helen began by pointing at the first parchment, "Your potion is fine, it will trigger the change as soon as it's swallowed, that is not the problem." She placed that sheet on her lap and pointed at the incorrect section on the second sheet.

"See this here, this is one of the problems. The transfiguration sequence here is not focused enough, resulting only in a partial change. That is why it is only turning the head and not the rest of the body, which is very dangerous as such a partial transfiguration can be lethal, if not reversed immediately. I'll help you correct that."

Putting aside the second sheet, Helen turned to the last one. "Now, even once you have corrected the transfiguration, your cream will not work properly as you are trying to do sequential activations, which require more stability in the base material than a cream can provide. What you are attempting to do is, first transfigure a person into a canary and then plucking their feather for the comical effect. My point is why are you complicating things by plucking the feather when you can conjure them? If you conjure them, it will also make the cream painless, because, in its current state, it's more of a torture device than a joke item if it succeeds. So, my suggestion is that instead of plucking your victim's feathers, just add a rune cluster to conjure them. This will also simplify the overall formula as instead of activating two connected clusters one after the other, now you have two separate clusters, which can be activated simultaneously and your cream can hold them easily."

Fred and George looked at the parchments with understanding dawning on their faces, realising that Helen was indeed correct. Once they agreed to the changes, Helen started guiding them through the corrections. After half an hour, she left them, as they worked on the kinks in the schematic, to change out of her uniform into something comfortable.

Helen returned wearing black shorts and a black tank top, just as the twins finished their work. To celebrate their success, Helen summoned the Firewhiskey bottle and took a swig directly from the bottle, not that she could get drunk, before passing it onto Fred. The three of them took turns drinking from the bottle as the twins excitedly talked about the joke products they had already developed.

Eventually, the conversation changed to the problems the twins had faced before Helen had started helping them. "You know you are the first person who actually supports our idea of opening a joke shop," Fred told her.

"Yeah, our mother was completely against it and actively tried to destroy our projects. We've lost count of the number of projects she's torn apart." George said.

"Yeah, by the end of our third year, we had created a lot of products to help students skeeve-off classes and were planning to start selling them last year. However, as soon as we reached home, Mother discovered the products and destroyed them all, including the research and formulae sheet." Fred seethed, taking a long swig from the bottle.

"We had invested a lot of time and all our saved money into those products. We had even borrowed some from Lee and couldn't work on making new products last year, as we had to return his money, leaving us without any resources." George told her glumly.

"We had even talked to our dad, but even he wasn't supportive. There was no point in asking Bill and Charlie for help as they had already escaped abroad and Percy would never help us."

Helen, judging their spiralling sad mood, put an arm around both their necks and tried cheering them, "Hey, that's all in the past. Now, you've got me and you don't have to worry about resources."

"True, but what do we do when we have to return home? Mother will try to destroy our work again." Fred asked.

"Well, since it's my investment, I think you should keep your work at my home. You can keep the resources and products in one of the storerooms in the basement of the Potter Manor and continue your work in one of the rooms there." Helen replied, before adding, "If you ever need a place to stay, you are welcome to stay there as long as you like."

Seeing their astonished look at the offer, Helen continued guiding them toward her ultimate motive, "Though you might see some questionable things there, so I would require that you do not disclose any of my secrets to anyone."

George looked at her shrewdly, "Things like why all your closest friends suddenly turn skillful and strong."

Fred continued, "Or how they almost always look to seek your approval before acting on something important?"

Helen played the nonchalant act and replied, "Maybe something like that."

George turned to her, looking into her eyes, before speaking "Helen, we spend a lot of time in this oval, and with you, and we see that the rest of your yearmates look up to you. Not only that, but they also seek your approval. It might not be evident to people outside your group but it is to us."

Fred continued "You know you can trust us, we'll never spill your secrets. After all, you're the only one who believes in us."

Helen thought about it for a minute and decided to tell them some nuggets of truth to see their reaction. If they reacted negatively, she could always force them to her service through the contract or obliviate them to try again. But she wanted them to turn to her on their own because a willing follower was much more productive than a forced one. She proceeded to tell them about the oaths her followers had given to her and the reason behind them. She told them how Voldemort wasn't really dead and would soon be back and how he will target her after returning. She also hinted that she wasn't as 'light' as the world thought her to be.

After hearing her words, the twins looked at each other long, having a silent conversation between them as only twins could do. After a few minutes, they nodded simultaneously and asked her about the wording of the Oath, much to Helen's delight.

After they had sworn themselves in, the three again celebrated with the liquor and soon the twins were passed out on her bed. Helen reflected on her triumphant endeavour having bound the two most creative wizards she or Voldemort had the fortune of knowing, on her side. While they were not great fighters, they were a perfect supporting cast. With their imagination and creativity, the two of them could come up with some very nasty surprises that could help change the tide of a battle. They would surely come in handy.

Thrilled at her latest acquisition, Helen joined the passed-out brothers and went to sleep cuddling between the twin terrors.

XXXXX

Ever since finding Sirius, Helen had frequently been checking the Marauder's map to locate Pettigrew, however, she had only seen glimpses of him near the boundaries of Hogwarts on a few occasions. The rat was rattled by consistent attempts from Sirius to capture and murder him and had escaped from Ronald to hide on his own. He had remained in and around Hogwarts though, which Helen believed was because he thought it was the safest place for him, considering the high alert in the castle as well as the dementors patrolling the boundaries.

Helen had enlisted the twins to help her capture the traitor, after informing them of his real identity. Soon between the three of them, along with the help of the map, they found him hiding in Hagrid's cabin. They had together trekked there, and while the twins distracted the half-giant, Helen captured the rat, who was hiding in a ceramic jar. Once that was done, they made excuses and made their way back to the castle.

As Helen turned back after waving goodbye to Hagrid, the twins asked her what she was planning to do with the rat. She told them about her plan to prove Sirius Black innocent as they made their way back to the castle. Halfway through though, they were interrupted by none other than Ronald Weasley.

"Oye, What are you doing with my pet?! Give Scabbers back to me!" he shouted loudly, pulling out his wand. The twins tried to placate him, but soon everyone had their wands out, much to the annoyance of Helen, who had wanted this operation to be done without any interference. Pettigrew took advantage of the confusion, bit Helen's hand, and made his escape toward the forbidden forest. Before Helen could give chase though, Ron, surprising everyone present, quickly banished Fred several feet away and tied up George in ropes before turning his wand onto Helen.

As Helen casually deflected his spells, her irritation grew, as by now wormtail would have certainly reached the tree line, making it almost impossible to find him again and by the time Helen would have dealt with Ronald, the rat would be out of the anti-apparation ward range.

Angry now, she stopped playing around, and soon Ronald was flying away backward before hitting a tree hard. Next thing he saw another spell coming towards him, which left him petrified but conscious. Helen gathered Ron's brothers and they left him there out in the cold alone.

Over the next remaining months of the school year, Ron experienced several 'accidents' and cruel pranks, which left him in the care of the school nurse often. He couldn't prove it but he knew it was Potter who was behind all his misfortune, making his hatred for the red-headed Raven grow.

XXXXX

The weather had turned pleasant and there was no sighting of Sirius Black for months now. The Dementors were also keeping their distance, so Helen had decided to host a party. It was on a Saturday afternoon, a few hours after lunch and the party was likely to last till late in the night.

Helen had invited all her followers, friends as well as a few more important students. However, she had limited herself by inviting only her yearmates otherwise the party would become unmanageable. Everyone had been told to come to the fourth floor, where at the end of the corridor a door would appear if they would think of Helen's party. In reality, the party was being organised in the room of requirement. Helen had hidden the real entrance and used the room to create an alternate entrance on the fourth floor, because it was equidistant from all the houses. At the end of the party, the exit would drop the students near their respective dorms, as Helen didn't expect them to find their way in the inebriated state. She had, with the help of Weasley twins, arranged quite a lot of liquor, including tequila and firewhiskey but also several crates of butterbeer. She had also talked to the elves, who would subtly keep the snacks table stocked.

While inviting the guests, Helen had suggested they dress casually as there would be games and other fun activities. Most of her year mates were invited with a few exceptions like Crabbe, Goyle, Weasley, and the like, who either weren't important enough or mature enough to not cause trouble at her party or keep it under covers from the professors.

Helen herself was wearing a revealing black halter top that showed off her arms and shoulders and left most of her back bare. She had paired it with black tights which were tucked under her knee-high boots. All of the Ravenclaws were already there, as they were helping Helen organise. Micheal was wearing a loose sleeveless shirt with a pair of skinny jeans, which showed off his muscular body. Terry and Anthony were wearing an untucked casual shirt and jeans combo. The girls were also all in casual attires. Padma was wearing a playsuit with a striped pattern, Sue had skinny jeans with a spaghetti top, Morag was wearing a tank top with jeans shorts while Lisa was the only girl wearing a skirt, a tight denim one with a sleeveless top. Mandy was certainly the standout of the group, wearing a daring cut-off dungaree whose straps were navel deep, with a fluorescent pink tube top.

The Hufflepuff contingent was the first to arrive with Susan leading her housemates in black leather pants and a bright purple crop top that bared all of her flat stomach. The Slytherins were next led by Blaise and Daphne. Blaise, like Susan, was also wearing leather pants but with a loose white shirt that had a few buttons open at the top, showing off his chiselled chest. Daphne had gone for a simple but fetching T-shirt and shorts combo. The rest of the snakes were dressed sensibly as well, which surprised Helen somewhat, as she had expected them to come in robes. The Gryffindors were the last to arrive and were the smallest group there. Hermione led her housemates wearing blue skinny jeans with white cotton knotted top, which showed a few inches of her slim waist. While the two boys following her, Neville and Seamus were dressed sensibly. Parvati and Lavender had gone for a showoff and Helen thought that by the end of the party, they might end up showing off more than they had planned for. Lavender was dressed in a LBD, a little black dress, with an emphasis on little while Parvati had worn a micro mini skirt with a tight sleeveless top.

Helen welcomed everyone and started the party by turning on the DS which she had brought for this purpose and it started playing party music. Everyone started mingling or gravitating towards the drinks table. Soon everyone had their preferred drinks in their hands and the dancing started.

After about an hour of dancing, Helen brought forward the games she had planned for the party. Since there were twenty six of them, they all couldn't play together in one game. So she introduced various games, including beer-pong for those who were drinking butterbeer, King's cup for those who really wanted to get pissed, and a combination of drunk Jenga and attached to the hip for those who were feeling adventurous. Helen ended up playing the Jenga combo game with Micheal, Blaise, Daphne, Draco, Hannah, Lavender, and Neville.

Drunk Jenga was a party game like Jenga but with a dare written on each block. If the player collapsed the tower by pulling a block, they had to take a shot and do the dare written on the block they pulled. Attached to the hip was another party game in which one player's hand had to stay on a specific body part of their partner and if they failed they had to take a shot. They decided to not pair up along the house divide and the pairing ended up being Helen & Draco, Daphne & Micheal, Lavender & Blaise, and Hannah & Neville. They spent the first ten minutes writing the dares on the Jenga blocks. Once that was done they all drew chits on which body parts would be attached and ended up with funny combinations.

For the first round, Helen's hand had to be on Draco's ear, while Micheal had to hold Daphne's feet and Neville had to hold Hannah's stomach, much to the Hufflepuff girl's delight as she was wearing a crop top similar to Susan's, showing off her flat belly as well. Depending on whose point of view you looked at, Blaise and Lavender had the most fortunate or unfortunate combination as Lavender had to keep her hand attached to Blaise's arse. And since they had to switch every round, the next round Blaise would have to fondle Lavender's bum, which by the looks of it, he was really looking forward to.

The game started with each team taking turns to pull a block from a complete level and placing it on top while maintaining physical contact with their partner. Since a player could only use one hand to pull the block, they had decided that the teammate whose hand had to hold their partner would be the one moving the block. This gave Helen and Draco a clear advantage while Micheal and Daphne were handed a handicap. The other pairs also didn't have it too difficult, however, they both had a disadvantage each. Both Neville and Hannah would give an involuntary shiver every time Neville had to touch Hannah's bare stomach, while Blaise was missing no chance to share an innuendo whenever Lavender had to place her hand on his bum or give her a fondle when it was his turn.

Lavender ended up being the first person to topple the tower, to no one's surprise, as she was the most drunk and most distracted of them all. Both Blaise and Lavender took a shot and Lavender read out the dare.

"Do 20 Jumping jacks." Lavender read, relieved to get an easy one. She took off her heels and performed the dare with some difficulty considering her attire rode up with every jump. After unintentionally flashing the whole group, she adjusted her dress and sat next to Blaise, who immediately groped her behind and gave a fake innocent expression when she gave him a look.

The game continued for a few rounds with each team doing their best not to topple the tower. Hannah on her last turn almost did, but by some miracle, the tower stayed upright. Helen's turn was next and she mock glared at Hannah, who smiled sweetly because there was no way the tower wouldn't fall. On its inevitable fall, both Helen and Draco took a shot and Helen read out the tile "Never have I ever"

After thinking a bit, Helen spoke "Never have I ever gone skinny-dipping" and downed her shot. Surprisingly, only Neville and Daphne didn't take a shot. As Hannah blushed under Neville's wide-eyed gaze, Helen turned to Draco and smirked mischievously, "My, my, having a little bit of rebellion against daddy's rule, are we?"

Draco's ears turned red and he replied, "It was with a girl in France, and that's all I'm going to say."

A few rounds later, Daphne and Micheal took a shot and Micheal read his block, "Strip 1" and promptly took off his shirt, causing Daphne to blush while appreciating the view.

Hannah was next "Nibble your partner's ear" she read happily and delightfully performed her dare, turning Neville into a tomato.

Draco had to eat a lemon without making a face. He failed and both he and Helen had to take two shots each. Lavender had to lap dance for Blaise next, much to his delight, while Daphne lost both her sneakers when she drew 'Strip 2'. Helen and Draco had to perform a tap dance for a minute while balancing a shot glass on their forehead. Of course, they ended up drenched and had to take two more shots each. Neville drew a body shot and feeling brave under the influence of alcohol, took a shot from Hannah's navel. Blaise had to lick a body part of Lavender and he chose her leg, giving her a long sensual lick from ankle to top of her leg, making her moan loudly.

An hour later, Neville quit the game with both he and Hannah having lost their tops and they soon left with Hannah's lips attached to his. The rest too decided to finish the game, as Blaise and Lavender were already not paying much attention to the game, with their tongues duelling each other. Daphne and Micheal were also trying to dry hump discreetly, though Draco and Helen had rolled their eyes at their pathetic drunken efforts of concealment. Helen, who had spent the last few rounds in just her adhesive strapless bra donned her top which she had lost a few rounds ago, and looked around to find that all of the King's Cup players were passed out on a round table, in various stages of undress, with Seamus only wearing a hat, thankfully not on his head. Beer-pong had also taken its toll and various people were either passed out on a couch nearby or drunkenly singing the horrible Hogwarts song together, Hermione was in the latter group, thankfully dressed. Here too Helen saw a few pieces of clothing articles lying on the floor, she was pretty sure one of them was Hermione's bra and there was also the complete outfit Parvati had worn. Terry and Padma were snoring softly under a blanket together while Anthony and Lisa were busy making out furiously in a dark corner.

Shaking her head in amusement, Helen went to freshen up and rejoined Draco who was also looking around the room, smirking hilariously at the humorous sight. Over the last year, he had matured quite a lot and didn't sprout out pureblood dogma all the time. In fact, as Helen had observed during the game by watching him interact with Micheal, who was a half-blood, these days Draco behaved almost cordially with the muggleborn and half-bloods. He was finally turning into a proper Slytherin, and Helen wondered how the change came to be. Taking a guess, Helen asked, "How's your mother doing these days?"

Draco looked at her suspiciously, "She's fine. She is usually helping out at St. Mungo's when she has the time." Helen was aware that Narcissa was trained as a Healer, however, she had never taken the Healer's oath, with its being impartial, so she was not officially a healer. Instead, she spent her free time as a consultant in the hospital. So, Draco was telling the truth.

Helen replied, "Ah! I was wondering why she didn't come to the apparel shop during the winter break. Madam Malkins had told me that your mother usually spent a lot of time at her shop during the winter special launch season."

Draco nodded, "Yes, usually that's correct." And because he was carrying a strong buzz he added without realising, "However, lately she has been spending a lot of time with me, teaching me about the Black family."

Helen perked up and she sent a weak probe towards him, almost undetectable. In his intoxicated state, Draco didn't realise Helen had entered his mind and made a connection.

Helen asked, "Might I ask why?" while also encouraging him to answer truthfully through the link.

"With Sirius Black on the run from the Dementors, there is a likelihood that I might become the next heir for the house of Black, if or rather when he's caught and kissed. So, Mother is teaching me about the Blacks in case I have to lead the house one day."

Helen hummed, internally thinking that it was unlikely. Draco continued unaware of her thoughts, "Though, you might as well get the title, as you are next in line after me and Sirius Black is officially your Godfather."

Helen replied, "Well, I hope you get the title, I already have to carry one. However, by some chance if I get it, I hope there will be no hard feelings between us, Cousin" and she then implanted the same idea deep within his mind.

She watched him adopt the idea as his own and broke the connection, knowing that her work was done. Eventually, he consented, "No hard feelings, Cousin." and presented his hand. Helen instead did the girly thing and gave him a hug, surprising the blond boy. He returned the hug after a second and they started chatting about school and classes. Helen had, of course, been lying about him getting the title and now would make sure that the Black headship came to her. Having the current head hidden away on her private island would certainly come in handy.

After chatting for an hour, Helen got up and started rousing passed-out people with Draco's help. Helen had found a ridiculous sight of almost nude Parvati, Megan Jones from Hufflepuff, Morag, and Pansy piled together, with no idea what they were up to. When Draco commented "Hogwarts house cooperation" Helen nearly ended up in the pile, laughing so hard. They found the least drunk person from each house and had them take their housemates to their respective dorms. Hermione took the lions, and Padma guided the ravens, with Draco doing the same for the Snakes. Helen willed the room to drop the copulating couples, of which there were a few, namely Blaise & Lavender, Micheal & Daphne, and Anthony & Lisa, in separate abandoned classrooms and left the RoR herself after collecting all the remaining booze, which wasn't much. She found the Weasley twins working in Fluffy's old room, gave them the booze to do with as they wished, and went down to Hufflepuff's dorm to check if Neville and Hannah were alright. Finding them passed out in Hannah's bed, she returned to the common room and ended up snuggling with Cedric, enjoying his company.

XXXXX

Helen had to leave Hogwarts for the Easter holidays as she had a lot of prior commitments to keep. She had a lot of photoshoots lined up, in fact, there were at least a couple of them for each day of her holidays, sometimes more. Several of her followers namely, Colin, Susan, Fred, George, and Hermione were also coming to Potter Manor with her, though the staff and parents were told different stories. Fred and George had told their family that they were going to Lee Jordan's house, Colin and Hermione, being muggleborns, had an easier time getting out by just saying festive times to McGonagall. Cedric was also leaving but he was going to his home to celebrate the birth of his younger brother, though he would join the rest for the last few days. The reason she had asked all of them to come was because she wanted to teach them all in dark arts as well as to mark Susan.

The R&D of the next product from GWC, the MagiPhone, was also in the final stages and Helen needed to finish it off so that they could start mass production to create stock before launch. While Helen had started developing the MagiPhone first, she and Howard had decided to launch the DS before it, because in their opinion the magical population wasn't prepared to handle or accept a mobile communication device. They had to be eased into it and the DS was a perfect way to do it, making them used to visually seeing media on screens. Now that the DS had already permeated into most of the magical households, Helen and Howard thought the market was ripe for the introduction of the MagiPhone. Adrastia had agreed with their assessment as well.

While the device itself was mostly done, it was the communication network that required the final touches from Helen. Tonight she would finish it off so that they could start setting up communication hubs around the world, but first Helen had to attend a photoshoot for a very popular American denim brand. Before the holidays were over, her pictures wearing denim jeans and shorts were going to be on billboards around all the major cities in Europe and the rest of the Western world.

Later that night, an exhausted Helen stepped into her bedroom, to find Hermione sleeping peacefully in her bed. As Helen stripped off and joined her girlfriend in the bed, she thought back to her day. After the photo-op, Helen had gone to the GWC compound and worked till around midnight to complete all the work required for the launch of MP. Tomorrow her production team was going to start producing all the required items needed to set up GWC's new communication network. Helen had estimated that the communication network would very soon outgrow the DS network and she wanted to later merge both of them by absorbing the DS one into communication's one to make a single unit for better monitoring, maintenance, and control.

XXXXX

The next day, early morning found two redhead girls currently residing in the Potter Manor in the dungeons. Susan was dressed in a training bra and shorts, looking ready for some physical training but that wasn't the agenda for her today. Soon, Helen had conjured a raised platform and Susan eagerly laid on it, facing her fellow redhead. Helen looked at her smiling encouragingly, before closing her eyes and placing her hands on the soft exposed skin of her midriff. She was concentrating, gathering her magic, and once she was ready, she clearly invoked "Ravnensdystre".

A sharp scream escaped Susan's mouth as Helen's magic seeped into her skin, starting the process of creating her mark, before she clamped her jaw shut, enduring the pain, even enjoying it a bit.

As the mark started taking form, Susan felt a mental connection form with her friend. She was sure that from now on she would be able to tell where her friend was all the time and vice-versa.

As Helen's magic finished its work, she was overwhelmed by emotions.

She now belonged.

There was a person who was now connected to her permanently, the mark was proof of that. And not only that, she was not alone, there were already four others just like her, and knew that she wouldn't be the last.

As Helen opened her eyes, Susan's eyes teared up as she was finally overcome by emotion, both hers and those in the brilliant emerald eyes that looked into hers. She finally belonged. Holding back a choke, Susan lunged forward, bear-hugging her sister in all but blood tightly and let the dam burst.

An hour later, a much composed Susan was standing next to Helen, as the latter explained and demonstrated various dark combat hexes and curses to the rest of her followers who were staying with them.

After a mock duel between the two redheads, where they displayed various curses and their counters, Helen left for another of her modelling jobs, leaving Susan in charge of training the rest, a task that she would perform proudly and efficiently.

XXXXX

It was the second to last day of the Easter holidays and Helen had completed both her shoots early, leaving her with nothing to do in the afternoon, so she decided to take care of the Slytherin locket while she had the time.

Helen called Tinny and gave her all her stuff, keeping only her wands with her. After sending the elf back, Helen apparated near the rocky shore where the cave was hidden. Helen could already feel the magical transportation disruption field Voldemort had set up in the area just ahead of her, so if she attempted any magical means of transportation she would meet a very horrible and very lethal accident. So instead she made the treacherous climb down to the water and after transfiguring her clothes into swimwear, swam across the choppy water to the entrance of the cave.

Arriving there, Helen absentmindedly undid the transfiguration and dried herself while looking at the schematic of the entrance. It required a blood offering to open and the blood could be used to identify the person later on. Voldemort had put this particular scheme on the entrance as he wanted to know who was able to find and enter his secret place so that he could interrogate them on how, unless they were already dead of course. Since he wasn't around these days, Helen didn't mind using her own blood.

Making a small cut on her left pinky finger, Helen dabbed the entrance with her blood and the cave opened up. She carefully entered the dark cave, in case the inferi were somehow active inside, but that wasn't the case. Looking across the unnaturally still lake, Helen could see the faint glow of the basin which contained the locket. Within minutes she was hovering over it, having crossed the lake using the boat.

Helen gave the parseltongue password which drained the potion into the basin, revealing the locket, and frowned at it. That was not Slytherin's locket. She cast a few diagnostic charms on it and on finding nothing dangerous, picked it up. Opening it she found a small letter.

To the Dark Lord

I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.

- R.A.B.

Regulus Black, Helen thought. This could swing either way, something which Helen didn't like. If Regulus had succeeded in destroying the locket, unlikely though it might be, Helen would still have to make sure about it. If not, well, she still had a task. Either way, that wretched elf of his has to be the starting point of her investigation, though finding him would be difficult. Thankfully, Helen had the current Lord Black in her pocket, figuratively speaking.

XXXXX

It was the day of the last Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw, and whoever wins the match would most likely take the Quidditch Cup as well. The reason was that while Hufflepuff had won their last match, the overall lead that they had was easily beatable. As of the day of the match, the standings were as such:

Hufflepuff first with a point difference of 180, Gryffindor second at 150, Ravenclaw third at 110, with both the Lions and Eagles having a game in hand. Slytherin were dead last with probably their worst point difference at -440.

A win with a decent margin for either the Blues or the Reds would see them becoming the champions. Coincidentally, it was also either Captain's last game in Hogwarts and they were desperate to win it. Robert had pushed the team incredibly hard over the last three weeks and had grilled them on their strategy every night till each player could follow it in their sleep. They were not going to use their usual strategies which either involved fast counterattacks with solid zonal defending or long ball strategy to take advantage of their excellent fliers. That was because the Gryffindor chasers trio and their beaters were excellent players too who all were fast enough to negate any counterattacks. In fact, discarding Morag, every player in Gryffindor was either equal or better than Ravenclaw. Ginny was almost the same level as Helen, Angelina Johnson was the same as Roger Davies, while Spinnet was slightly better than Cho. While Chester was marginally better than the twins, the latters' teamwork was way ahead of anything Chester and Robert could come up with.

This match also involved three players who already had offers from Quidditch league teams or broom companies. All three seventh years already had professional work waiting for them as soon as they graduated. Gryffindor keeper and Captain, Oliver Wood was going to join Puddlemere United as a reserve keeper while Chester White was joining the reserves of Tutshill Tornados as a beater. Robert Hillard was already recruited by the Nimbus Racing Broom Company as he had the experience of flying in all positions, being the ultimate utility player that he was. His experience in all positions meant that he knew what was needed and required of brooms specially designed for specific positions, something Nimbus was rumoured to be trying to do. It was also the reason Helen had bought a small share of the company, despite the new firebolt brooms being the best in the market.

The game started with Gryffindor catching the Quaffle first. Soon, however, they realised that the Blues were not using their iconic zonal defending in their own half, instead, the Eagles were in Griff's faces, pressing aggressively to break their plays. This worked too as soon Katie Bell lost the Quaffle to Roger Davies. Once in possession, again the Ravenclaw didn't go for quick attacks, instead advanced as a team, passing the Quaffle between them at a lightning-fast pace.

"Davies, Chang, Morag, Davies, Morag, Chang, Morag, She goes for IT… GOAL!" exclaimed the lead commentator, a professional, while his partner, Lee Jordan, groaned audibly into his mic.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing. The team that is known for their solid defense and quick counter-attacks, is playing the pressing and passing game. I almost had a flashback to the last Irish game in the World Cup quarter-finals, the Ravenclaws just reminded me of the best national team in the World."

"Unfortunately, I agree with you. The Eagles have caught the Lions by surprise with their quick passing and… Oh, no." Lee Jordan groaned once more as this time Chang had gotten past Wood to quickly put Ravenclaw in a 20-0 lead.

Over the next fifteen minutes, the Eagles slaughtered the Lions, before a time-out was called by Wood at the score of 80-0. If the game continued in the same style, it would be effectively over as a match within the next quarter of an hour.

"The Blues have deployed a completely different strategy in this game, taking a huge risk to leave their primary setup behind. A risk that has paid off massively, I must say."

Lee agreed glumly, "Yes, indeed. They are playing like the Slytherin team, but are utilising the strategy much more effectively." His comments earned him boos from the green-clad crowd, which cheered him up a bit.

Soon, the game restarted and it seemed that Wood agreed with Jordan, as the Lions started to play like they did against the Slytherin, by starting pressing right back at the Blues. However, this was what the Eagles were waiting for.

As soon as the Reds started pressing, the Eagle chasers would pull them out of position, creating a temporary gap behind them, into which one of the remaining chasers would fly, to receive the long ball from the chaser in possession, creating a perfect counterattack. So, basically, the Ravens had turned Gryffindor over, causing them to ditch their own strategy in order to counter the Raven's pressing and passing play. Since the new Gryffindor game was especially vulnerable to counterattacks, the Ravens had immediately switched to their tried and tested primary style.

The end result of all these plays and counter-plays was that after three-quarters of an hour's worth of play, the score was 200-20 in favor of the Blues. Since Ginny was also being deployed into pressing, she had no chance once the Snitch was spotted by Helen. By the time the younger redhead could react, the Emerald-eyed girl had already caught the tiny golden ball, sealing the match and the Cup for Ravenclaw. The score at the end was a massive 350-30 and the Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup for the second time consecutively with a massive point difference of 430 points. The huge defeat meant that the Gryffindors tumbled down to third behind Hufflepuff, who were cheering as well on getting second place, despite having the weakest team.

XXXXX

After showering, Helen dressed up for the victory party that was soon starting in Ravenclaw's common room. Ten minutes later, she was dressed in a black spaghetti crop top that covered her breasts and ribs but ended well over her navel while leaving her shoulders and upper chest bare. She had paired it with a wine-red leather mini skirt with a black belt and knee-high black leather boots. The whole assemble left tantalizing displays of her beautiful skin, occasionally interrupted by small clothing articles, all done in a manner to tease men around her and make them pause as they mentally removed those interruptions. After doing her hair and make-up, Helen was ready to go. As she left the lockers and walked by the showers, Helen smirked on hearing the sound of grunting and screaming coming from inside. Since Morag had already left with Micheal, the screams had to be Cho's. Helen peaked in to confirm her assessment, and sure enough, she saw Roger's firm arse flexing as he pumped into Cho against the shower stall wall, both enjoying a celebratory fuck.

Laughing to herself, Helen left the Quidditch lockers and made her way up to the Ravenclaw tower, expecting several more couples doing the same soon in the Eagles' tower. On the way she saw that her attire had the desired effect, as several boys stopped what they were doing to stare at her with lustful eyes, undressing her mentally. She also got some vindictive fun when Weasley lost his footing staring at her and tripped down the staircase, without her even casting a spell. The crunch of bone breaking was especially satisfying and the following scream was music to her ears.

An hour later Helen was dancing along with the rest of her house as they celebrated the win. The win also ensured that the Ravenclaw would take the House Cup as well, for the third time in a row. This meant that the party was all Ravenclaw so Helen didn't have Cedric or Hermione to enjoy it with, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it. Right now she was writhing between Chester and Robert. After dancing for a few more minutes, she leaned up to whisper something in their ears and left the common room climbing up towards her dorm. She was not the first person to leave as several people had left already, with exams so close, while others had left as couples, seeking a more… private party.

Soon, there was a knock on her door and the two senior-most members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team joined her.

ff version

"Hey boys, come on in." She said smiling deviously, knowing that she was going to relish the next several hours enjoying not one, but two warm muscular bodies against hers.

full version on ao3

As Helen fucked the two of them through the night, she experimented with her Ardor power and found that her initial assessment was wrong. Earlier she had thought that Ardor was nothing like Allure, but that wasn't the case. As she experimented further with Ardor, she realised that it was somewhat similar to Allure, though unlike Allure, which by default was 'on' and a veela had to learn control to ream it in, Ardor was by default 'off' and Helen had to activate it to make it work. It was also much, much weaker than Allure and only acted as a supporting power to Helen's natural attraction, unlike Allure which was the primary power of attraction in a Veela. For example, an active Allure would leave the boys drooling in a Veela's wake while Ardor acted like a sexy backless mini dress that would have boys turn their heads to get a second appreciative look at Helen's body.

Deep in the night, Helen also realised she could actually kill with Ardor, when she sucked too much energy from Robert, leaving him unconscious. Had Helen continued pulling his energy out from him, he would be dead, instead of just fainting.

Not much use though, Helen thought to herself while analysing the lethal aspect of her power, as it would require some sort of sexual contact for her just to even activate the energy absorption. There were much simpler ways to kill an enemy than to sleep with them.

AN: The idea of Ardor is taken from another book series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter.

Beta read by 1saaa.