To Hell ~ Fred Weasley

Chapter 22.

It was bewildering to Helena how she had not thought of it before. At that moment it was the obvious answer and they all agreed it was their best shot to help them share the news to Sirius.

Pushing their Weasley Wizard Wheezes plans aside, they used the time to write a short letter to the man saying that Pettigrew, in rat form, had been apparently eaten by Hermione's cat and that he needed to lay low until he figured out what to do next.

Then, putting their Transfiguration knowledge up to the test, transformed their letter into a small blue bird that fit in Helena's palm and immediately send it flying towards the Shrieking Shack.

Days have passed and Ron was still upset about the loss of his pet rat, unaware that it had been a man in hiding for years. Helena made a pact with the twins to not tell Ron or anyone about Pettigrew's life as a rodent since it would involve mentioning Sirius Black and how he is in hiding not so far from Hogwarts.

Ron and Hermione could not be more angrier at each other than they were now, as the boy blamed her and Crookshanks for the death of his rat.

Nina made sure to keep the girl company whenever Harry would leave and join Ron instead. Helena did not blame the raven haired boy, for he seemed to be having to choose sides very often.

"Ron's grieving, Hermione," said Nina softly as the two of them sat on the stairs that lead to the girls' dormitories. "But he shouldn't be rude about it, I can tell you that."

Helena understood that the boy was sad but he would not stop reminding Hermione how much he blamed her and that only made the bushy haired girl frustrated.

"First they blame me for the Firebolt, now Scabbers, and they are both blaming me for everything I do!" Hermione cried out.

Nina felt sorry for her friend. She knew Hermione was just upset that her best friends seemed to be ganging up on her and Ron's glaring did not help.

But his mood began to change after he'd come back from the Quidditch pitch with Harry, having borrowed the Firebolt and take it for a ride.

To prepare for the upcoming match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Oliver Wood trained the team harder than ever, with Madam Hooch supervising the practice, reminding them how they still had a chance at winning the Cup if they won this game.

At the Weasley twins' request, Helena attended the practices while she polished some of her school work, sitting in the stands and catching glimpses of them waving at her and doing faces whenever Oliver would shout a change of tactic.

"Harry, I'm letting the Snitch out!" Wood called from the ground.

Nina was glad the boy had been given his broom back. Now that he'd been using the Firebolt, it seemed to have inspired the rest of the team, performing their best moves. Seeing how fast Harry caught the Snitch over and over again with no problem whatsoever did the thing to lift everybody's spirits up.

"I swear this is the first time Wood hasn't made a single criticism!" George pointed out to Helena when the practice ended.

The team gathered on the ground, with Nina and Ron standing by, Oliver looking proud by their performance.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tonorrow!" said Wood. "Not unless... Harry, you've sorted out your dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah," said Harry looking at the ground.

"The dementors won't turn up again, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic," said Fred confidently. "And besides... If they do show up, they won't stand a chance agaisnt the Firebolt."