Chapter 626 - The Third Harvest Moon Ⅵ (1/2)

The light fades away to reveal a candlelit chamber that is decorated with bronze metalwork and blue furnishings. The carpeted floor is a blue carpet with delicate bronze-colored threads. A pale wane figure lays on the bed, her once dark salt-peppered had turned white overnight. Her dark eyes are closed as she breathes shallowly, and a light sheen of cold sweat can be seen on her forehead. Her once beautiful but austere features have faded away from illness and sorrow. The once proud and mighty Rowena Ravenclaw now stood at the precipice of death.

Standing on either side of the bed are two figures, one is that of Marcellus, and the other is that of a round, plump witch with long brown hair streaked with silver in a braid, Helga Hufflepuff. Helga's warm and cheery blue eyes are filled with sorrow and weariness that had not been present before. Her usual warm smile is gone from her face and instead wears a somber expression. She forgoes her usual brown or gold dress and instead wears a dark color of mourning in lieu of the death of Rowena's daughter and that of the Baron.

Holding back her emotions, Helga reaches over to dry the cold sheen upon the brow of her dear friend, Rowena, who does not move nor seem to feel the movements around her. Helga withdraws her hand, before pulling the blue curtains decorated with bronze eagles shut and around the outstretched prone figure of her friend.

With the bed curtains firmly shut, Helga turns her head to see the worried figure of Marcellus. ”Where is Godric?” She softly asked lest they disturb Rowena's rest. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/a-bend-in-time_14576125306898605/the-third-harvest-moon-%E2%85%B5_50675878169990908 for visiting.

Marcellus tiredly shakes his head and says, ”I could not stop him, Helga. He departed with no known return on a fool's errand that holds no hope of being achieved.”

”We will never see him again, Helga,” Marcellus whispered in painful honesty as he met with Helga's blue stricken filled eyes.

”That rash temper of his,” Helga whispered in pained exasperation, ”it was always worth far more trouble than its worth.”

Helga paused, ”Is there truly no hope in Godric returning from his quest?”

”No,” Marcellus truthfully answered. ”We failed to united much less divided. And we are the few that remain for now.”

Helga sighs and brushes a straying hair back and behind her ear. ”Then what can be done now, Marcellus? Surely, there is something.”

”Nothing more can be done, Helga,” Marcellus said without hope. ”All that is left to wait is for our deaths. And it will have triumphed over us.”

”I refuse to believe that Marcellus!” Helga loudly retorted in a determined fashion and narrowed her eyes at Marcellus. ”There is always something to be done! Now I ask ye again, what can be done?”

Marcellus stares foolishly at his plump friend before a resolute expression appears on his face. ”We ward Hogwarts and bind the land as best as we can for generations to come.”

”Good,” Helga said, before turning to stare at the closed curtained bed of Rowena. ”I am not blind nor a fool, Marcellus. I know that foul thing seeks to enter these grounds.”

Marcellus's expression is one of surprise as Helga continues, ”I have felt it once before on those terrible nights and once again.” She paused to turn and stare him right in the eye. ”And I also know that is why Salazar left and what Godric seeks to achieve even if that ultimately results in his untimely demise.”

”I wasn't certain,” Marcellus finally answered after a period of silence.

”Rowena is not the only one, who can hide her thoughts,” Helga replied with a glint of mischief in her eyes before her gaze turns solemn. ”But I digress, and so I must ask now, Marcellus, what will you ask of us?”

”That which can be freely given,” Marcellus sincerely replied.

Before Helga can reply, the bed curtain is suddenly pulled assigned to reveal the pale, white-haired figure of Rowena. ”Then I shall gift what is left of my intellect and wisdom,” Rowena gasped as Helga hurried over and aided her weak friend into sitting and resting against her pillows.

”There is no need, Rowena,” Marcellus moved to decline.

”I must rectify what my blindness and arrogance have cost,” Rowena wheezed before a fit of coughing overtakes her. Gasping for air, she breathlessly says, ”My time is nearly at an end, my friends. And I must atone for my past faults which have led up to this day.”

Coughing once more, Helga summons a chalice filled with water and holds the cup to her friend's lips to drink. Panting, Rowena drinks, before resting against the pillows in exhaustion. ”Please Marcellus,” she implored for the first time in her life.