To Hell ~ Fred Weasley

Chapter 61.

"Alfie, you're blocking any air from coming through!"

Helena lay on the floor of her bedroom under the ceiling fan, watching how her owl stood in front of the window with his wings spread open to freshen up on yet another hot summer day. She had the lightest pieces of clothing on her to endure the sizzling weather, sporting baggy green cotton shorts, and a tank top to let her skin feel what little air the fan in her room could produce.

The brown owl hooted with annoyance at her request, putting his wings down but still standing next to the window to freshen up.

"Ugh, I can't think of a spell to help us get cool. My brain is probably melted," the girl said looking at her wand on her bedside table. "Isn't it funny, Alfie? I can freely do magic now but I can't think of anything to take advantage of that. Sad."

Helena shook her head, getting up from the floor and heading for the kitchen to grab a popsicle from the box her father had bought to make the summer more bearable.

"Where are you going?" Andrew Rosemund asked, popping his head out of the bathroom as he was getting for work. "Do you need something from the store?"

"I'm just getting a popsicle, dad," she said pointing at the freezer as she retrieved the treat.

Ever since Andrew Rosemund was notified that Helena had gone missing last school year, he had promised himself to not let his daughter out of her sight when they found her. At the end of her sixth year, he was the first parent waiting at King's Cross station on the day of her return to London.

During all that time she was missing, he spent restless nights wondering what had happened to her and where she was. When he got a letter that appeared floating in the living room out of thin air, he was beyond relieved reading the news coming from Professor McGonagall that Helena was found.

After that incident, Andrew Rosemund had become strict about letting his daughter out of sight.

A bit too much for Helena's liking.

"Dad, it's been almost two months," the girl pleaded. "Can I visit my friends? Just for one day... please! It's bad enough I spent my birthday by myself. I'm allowed to do magic outside of school now, so I'm prepared to defend myself if something happens... I promise."

She didn't know what else she could say. They've had this conversation before over the summer... several times.

Helena was determined to not be weak if she were in a dangerous scenario. If she wanted to be an Auror, she had to rely on herself to overcome any situation. That's what she repeated herself every night.

"That doesn't make it any better, honey," her father said with a half smile. It also pained him to have her locked up like a bird in a cage, but he didn't know how else to protect her from a world he had no experience in.  "I don't want you in situations where you have to defend yourself. Not with You-Know-Who in the picture."

The first week of her being home, Helena had filled her father in on everything he needed to know surrounding what happened at the third task during the Triwizard Tournament and her disappearance. Andrew Rosemund had heard about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when his daughter mentioned the name for the first time after the incident in the Quidditch World Cup she attended with her friends. So when he found out Helena had seen the dark wizard in person, that was enough for the parent to put him on edge on the subject.

Now Helena regretted having shared too much information.

Does Hermione have these talks with her parents?