𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 | 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚

Chapter 15 - The Half-Blood Prince

The following Saturday morning dawned cold and clear, and a paper-thin dusting of snow over the grounds gave cause for much excitement for not only the students, but Helena as well. Christmas was well on its way, just a little over two weeks from then, and though she would be spending it at the castle, there was still a great bit of enthusiasm for the festivities, which seemed to be cresting over an imaginary horizon at a much slower pace than she would have liked.

"What do you mean you're not staying for Christmas!"

Now, this hadn't come as a surprise, but Helena still could not help to burst out in distress right at the breakfast table. Harry had just informed her--awkwardly, as she had just rambled about her fantasizing about what a wonderful break they were going to have together--that he would not be staying for the Christmas holiday. Quickly, Helena cleared her throat and cowered back down.

"I'm sorry, don't know what came over me. Don't know what I was expecting--of course you would be going home to Ginny. Dunno why I didn't think of that before. . ." She picked over her food, dejected.

"I'm sorry, Hels." Helena didn't know why, but the nickname sounded different coming from Harry's mouth. She felt the back of her neck bristle just slightly--a funny sensation, considering she wasn't even angry at all. "I s'pose I should have just made that more evident." He seemed genuinely apologetic, and for this she waved him off.

"No, no," she dismissed, still a tad embarrassed by her outburst. "It really should have been a given. I'm sorry."

Harry opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a cheery voice; Neville had just arrived, and he looked quite rosy in the cheeks. Helena guessed he must have just made the walk up from the greenhouses, in the bitter cold. Nevertheless, there was still a bright smile plastered on his face as he greeted, "Morning!"

"Well, you look happy today," Harry directed his attention to the herbologist. He prodded him with his elbow. "What's got you like this?"

"I've got some Christmas roses blooming down in one of the greenhouses," Neville explained, picking out some bacon. "They may be common, but they sure are beautiful."

At this, Harry and Helena shared a look, grinning slightly--it was a unique experience, always, to see Neville in his element.

"And what were you lot just talking about?" Neville asked them, likely noticing how quiet they had gotten since he'd arrived at the table.

"I've just devastated Helena," Harry sighed, looking regretfully at her again. Helena didn't know how else to put it--when Harry acted this way, it was as if a puppy was moping for being reprimanded. "I had to break it to her that I won't be here for the holidays."

"Oooooh," Neville nodded.

"But you'll be here then, right?" Helena practically begged Neville to know.

"Er--" Neville's eyes flicked to Harry, hesitant. "Uh, no. I'm sorry, Hels."

Helena gaped, then shut her mouth just as fast, feeling slightly as if some of the air had been sucked out of her. She tried not to let it read on her face, otherwise she'd have to deal with Harry's puppy eyes again.

"It's alright," she said, though her voice sounded moody. There went her Christmas bubble, popped. She tried to remind herself that there were other things she could do, even if they didn't involve the boys. . . right?

"But I'll be back on New Year's Day," Neville tried to add on, the note of positivity in his voice a little overdone for her sake. "We can have a fire, some hot chocolate. . ."

At this, Helena gave a little smile. "That sounds good," she admitted, some of the upset from before eased. "I could even invest in some Firewhiskey, if you want."