To Hell ~ Fred Weasley

Chapter 16.

As much as it were true, Helena didn't know what to do now that she had accepted the fact that she liked her Hufflepuff friend. She wanted to tell him but didn't want to risk their friendship if the boy rejected her.

No, she was going to keep quiet and hope for the best.

I'm gonna die alone with ten Pygmy Puffs, she thought that night as she went to bed.

Nina didn't know how to handle the whole love subject. Sure, she had tiny crushes on boys through the years, but nothing as serious as how she felt right now for Cedric.

On the first day of winter break, most of the students had left Hogwarts to leave for their homes to spend Christmas with their families.

Helena was one of them.

The Weasley twins and her were sharing a compartment on the train to London, Fred and George discussing which product ideas for their business they would try out at home.

"You better not try them near your mother," Nina warned, eyeing them over the book she was reading.

"Don't worry, Nina," said George, "we'll be extra careful to not get caught."

"Mother doesn't like us wasting away our time on joke products," explained Fred, crossing his legs. "Only last week she wrote to us reminding she wanted several O.W.L.s from both of us so we can get good jobs."

"I understand her point," Nina commented, "but honestly, I can see Weasley Wizard Wheezes being successful business."

"You really think that, Hell?" Fred asked raising an eyebrow, surprised their school-oriented friend was saying that.

"Yeah, I mean... you both seem passionate about it. You are kinda meant for this. And I would be depressed if I had to work on something my heart isn't in," Nina said truthfully.

The girl leaned her back on the wall next to the window, proping her legs up on the long train seat. Outside, the meadows and tree lines they were passing were convered in snow, a soft wind pushing some of the leaf-less branches to the side.

The purring sound of the train on the move was making Helena consider taking a nap, but fought through it since it wasn't long until they arrived to their destination.

"What do you wanna do when you get out of Hogwarts, Nina?" asked George, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, Hell... Why study so hard for O.W.L.s?" said Fred doing the same as his brother.

"Promise me you won't laugh," Helena arranged herself to sit straight again, holding her hands together to not fidget. "But I want to be an Auror."

"Why would we laugh at that?" Fred stared at her with his head slightly tilted to one side and turned to look at his brother.

"I can picture you as an Auror," said George matter-of factly, leaning back looking thoughtful as if he were analizing her.

"So, you don't think it's odd... for me?" Nina asked with a glint in her eye.

She had never told anyone about her dream job, other than her father and Professor McGonagall. Helena liked to keep to herself and that is one of the reasons why she didn't feel like she had strong friendship connections with other students.

But opening up to the Weasleys now gave her some sort of relief, a sense of bonding she rarely felt before she started hanging out with them.

"It's a cool job, if you ask me!" said Fred with a warm smile. "Aurors get to catch the bad guys so people like us," he signaled to himself and George, "can worry about the fun stuff!"