Shadow of the Prophecy

Ch. 15 - I Had a Bad Feeling

Helena Haggerty

Christmas Break, 6th Year

In all the years Helena has been on this earth, there are few times her father has put down his newspaper in the morning; even in the company of guests. It was the one break from etiquette that her mother allowed. All people have their vices, and to an accountant, news of a change in the market is too important to miss for decorum. To keep the family afloat, nothing could be more important than her father's career.

Yet, the minute Theodore and Helena arrive in the dining room for breakfast, Helena finds her father forswearing his paper to greet them and engage Theodore in idle conversation. It is such a break from the typical routine that it keeps her silent as Theodore pulls out her chair before taking a seat of his own.

Though her father is gracious and kind to guests, such steadfast interest and eagerness to connect is not a normal state of affairs for the man. It leaves Helena flicking her eyes back and forth between her father and Theodore as she pilfers a tea cake from the place before her and nibbles it, something niggling in the back of her mind. Theodore accepts her father's conversation enthusiastically, and while Theodore had taken on the reserved air of respect he usually did with authority figures the previous morning, he seems to have shrugged it off in the night. He pours himself a cup of coffee and refills her father's cup as he answers each of her father's questions fully; only pausing to search for a way to describe something in terms her father will understand.

They talk back and forth about the Wizarding world and its politics. What the Ministry was like, a more detailed explanation of what an Auror's job might entail, and so on. A study in the conversations Helena had with Anne in Sallow Hall but in reverse. All the while, the thoughts in the back of Helena's mind that evade her continue to niggle and squirm.

What she is witnessing is far past trying to connect, and Helena only notices her mother's smile as she serves Helena tea to go with her cakes. She is immensely grateful for it, nonetheless, as Helena is not and never has been a morning person. Such drastic changes that provoke deep thought at an early hour are best watched and ruminated from over the rim of a teacup. One can, after all, never be sure what kind of expression they will need to hide in such cases.

It is not that she is unhappy they are connecting. She wants nothing more than for her parents to see and like the man she loves. There is a sort of pride she takes in the man Theo is, and the opportunity she has to show him to her parents. In her eyes, there is no man better. Yet, that he is here at Haggerty House is daunting and brings complicated emotions to the surface.

If their relationship ever came to a close, her parent's questions about the end of his formal suit, as was Theodore's intention in coming, would sting.

Theodore says that he loves her, but as Helena had hinted to Anne Sallow during their meeting, not just the Ravenclaws but all the students of Hogwarts have their own intelligence. Their own beliefs as well. So far those around them have tolerated their relationship, but formal courting or anything more would cause the other students to turn a more discerning eye on them - especially when the subjects of courting come from different social standings.

Then, of course, there is Nott. Theodore had told her he had terminated the marriage contract and to trust him. Yet, trust is difficult to maintain when one has never seen their partner under peer pressure over a relationship. She has no understanding of what led to the break between them. For all she knows, she could very well end up angering Theodore in the same way.

There is also the issue of status. There is nothing her family could give him that a pureblood wizard would want. Any money would be modest in comparison to what a pureblood witch could have given him. Anne had seemed to like her, but would that change? Surely anything more between them would harm all three of the Sallow siblings.