AN: And another chapter. Actually surprised myself getting this one out. There is some more backstory into Selina's past with the Potters and Sirius here. Thanks to those of you who reviewed and added this story. For those who are wondering, while Ron and Harry are not on current speaking terms with each other I will not be bashing the character. I simply have had the two of them grow apart. It unfortunately happens in friendships and with Ginny becoming a squib in this AU I can see Ron erroneously blaming Harry for it-remember, he's a child so logic is going to fail a bit. And yes, Ginny will remain a squib for the duration of this story. I really don't have any use for the character so it was more or less a way to write her out without bashing her or having her disappear with no explanation.

Chapter 10: Grim Thoughts

Selina Kyle was upset.

No. She was beyond upset.

If what Leslie Tompkins was saying was true, her baby was dying.

There was a toxin attacking his cells, his white blood cell count was through the roof.

"It's not a surprise that no one has noticed that Harry is being affected by poison," The doctor had told her. "What ever is affecting him isn't a normal organism."
"Normal?"

"Yes, normal." Leslie said, "Meaning something identifiable."

Something had happened to Harry in the wizarding world.

Selina hadn't really had a chance to talk to her son about his life in the wizarding world—hell, they hadn't really had much time between Joker killing Petunia and kidnapping Dudley.

Selina frowned. At the time she thought her revenge had been flawless. Let Joker take out his vengeance on her sister. Of course, she'd knew there be repercussions, but she didn't think he'd still be on the rampage once he killed Petunia. She wondered if he suspected her true identity…doubtful.

She had made sure that Catwoman and Selina Kyle were two different entities. She had always tried to make her alter ego seemed more worldly and older than she actually was—hence, why she thought her frame up with Petunia could work.

Of course it was laughable thinking that her sister was worthy. Selina frowned as she thought about her recently deceased sister. How different Lily and Petunia were. One was so understanding, the other so prudish. One was willing to take Selina's child in, the other abused him.

That still made her blood boil, and it always would. She still had no idea how Petunia ended up with Harry. Lily and James both mentioned something about having a will.

Of course, she was named in the will, but what about Sirius?

She frowned as she thought about James's best friend, Harry's godfather, and her…well, she wouldn't know exactly what she'd refer Sirius as.

She sighed heavily as she thought of James's best friend. As much as she had tried to forget about Sirius, he was a hard person to forget. Handsome, brash, dark, a bit brooding, but with a wicked sense of humor he was just Selina's type.

And he was also one of the only people who knew about Harry's true origins. As far as she knew the only one, not even Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew knew the truth about Harry.

She had met Sirius when she was about four months pregnant. Back then the home in Godric's Hollow was reportedly one of the safest places in England. Apparently, though it ended up not being as safe as James had bragged about.

Selina inwardly rolled her eyes as she thought about her deceased brother-in-law. Such a goofball, he wasn't all dark and broody like Sirius though.

God, what was with her and the dark and broody types. First Batman, then Sirius, at least Bruce wasn't anything like that. Not that there was anything between her and Bruce.

Yes, she knew how it looked. Yet, romantically things were dead between her and Bruce as far as she was concerned. He wasn't even her type at all: he was way too stable.

God knows, she wanted stability, but it was something a girl like Selina could never hope but to achieve.

She frowned as she thought about Batman and Sirius. Though, whatever it was with Batman she'd hardly call that a relationship. It was a fling at best. Sex and dash, she thought. That night was one of the most embarrassing in her life, even though it resulted in the best thing in her life.

Her relationship with Sirius was a little bit more complicated…God knows, she had tried to get him out of her mind for years and now her son was asking questions about him.

How could Selina even answer those questions? Did she ever want to answer them or for that matter would she be able to answer them.

A part of her wish she wouldn't have been so rash to leave the wizarding world. Obviously, for multiple reasons.

She frowned if she wouldn't let her insecurities and her heartbreak get to her maybe her sister would've been alive. Maybe she could explain to her what was wrong with their son.

Yes, their son. Even though Harry was hers by blood, Lily was as much as his mother as she was even without the ritual.

Her sister would've known how to handle this…

"Selina," Leslie said noticing Selina's current state.

"Sorry," Selina said. "Did you say something?"

Leslie sighed heavily, "I know it's a lot to take in. I was asking if you had any idea if Harry had come in contact with a meta?"

Metas.

Of course they'd think it was a meta that had effected her child. Never mind that metas and magical beings were different, albeit minor differences.

"I have no idea," Selina said. "I do know he's been sick on and off all summer. He said that my sister had taken him to the hospital in the U.K."

Leslie nodded, "The toxicology reports look like its been in his system for awhile. I'd say about four weeks. It seems like his body is trying to fight it and that's part of the problem whatever it is."

"You can treat him though, can't you?" Selina asked.

"It would help if I knew what exactly was affecting him." Leslie said, "Even if I did…whatever is affecting his system is affecting it fast, even though he's fighting it I'm not sure how much time we have left."

"Surely, there has to be something?"

Leslie frowned, "We could try some experimental treatments. I think Wayne Enterprises might have something. Of course what I'm thinking of is hardly FDA approved…"

"I don't care if it's FDA approved," Selina snapped, "I just need you to save Harry's life."

She had finally calmed herself down enough and was going to go into Harry's room when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Selina inwardly flinched.

She couldn't help it, usually when people touched her from behind bad things happened. Only it was just Bruce.

His eyes were filled with something sympathy and something else, something Selina couldn't pinpoint.

"We need to talk," He said his voice was quiet but there was definitely no room for argument.

Selina nodded as he led her to his study. There was a cozy feel in the room, even though it was imposing with mammoth stacks of books Bruce had all over the room. It was odd, she never really thought of him as much of a reader.

"I need a drink," He said, "And I think you'll need one too."

She nodded, "Leslie told me his diagnosis. I'm assuming she told you."

"Yes, she did. Even though it was apparently a HIPAA violation, per Harry."

"Did he really say that?" Selina asked.

Bruce nodded as he poured some vodka into a glass.

Bruce nodded, "I'm sorry to pry. I am concerned about the boy, he has grown on me. And…and I'm sorry, Selina."

She sighed heavily, "Leslie said your company might have something to help depending on what the toxin is."

He nodded, "And I know what the toxin is, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Are you aware that Harry is a wizard?"

He knew.

Selina was shocked. "He told you?"

"I sort of tricked him into telling me, but yes." Bruce said, "The toxin is from a basilisk."

"A what?"

"A giant magical snake," Bruce clarified, "Apparently, its stare is deadly as well as its bite. They're actually mentioned in old European mythologies and legends a bit. Surprised you haven't come up with it in your studies since it is quite popular in medieval Christian art. Harry told me he fought it at the end of school last year and somehow survived."

Selina felt herself getting dizzy, she had actually heard of a basilisk before. Not that she corrected Bruce on that. "Harry was bitten by a giant poisonous snake. How could that happen? Lily always said that Hogwarts was the safest place in Europe?"

Bruce sighed, "It's a long story."

"One that you were obviously privy to know, but not me. I'm his aunt. Do you think Petunia knew? Do you think that's why she threw him away with trash because she knew he was going to die?"

She was babbling.

Selina Kyle of all people was babbling.

She had never been a babbler in the past. She was mostly quiet. As Catwoman she was daring, maybe a bit sarcastic, but still not too much of a talker. But here she was babbling.

Bruce shook his head, "I don't know. I'm taking it you knew about the wizard thing?"

Selina shook her head, "Family is usually allowed to know. The question is how do you know?"

"Being a billionaire has its perks," Bruce said, "You find out some of the government's secrets and magic is one of them. Of course, I still can't get a concrete answer on Roswell, but considering that Superman exists it's obvious there's a cover up."

That last part was obviously suppose to be a joke, but when your son was dying you really couldn't crack a smile.

"Selina?" Bruce asked.

"Sorry," She said, "I'm still trying to wrap around my head what Leslie said."

"Look, I can make some inquires." Bruce said, "I'm sure a magical healer can help and if not, Wayne Biotech might have something."

"Leslie said something about something experimental…"

"I'll get on it," Bruce said.

There was something different about the way he was acting, something Selina couldn't quite pinpoint. He wasn't acting like Bruce. Or at least the Bruce she knew.

Bruce Wayne the playboy.

Bruce Wayne the lazy CEO.

Bruce the irresponsible ex-boyfriend.

This Bruce seemed responsible, seemed to give a damn. Actually, he had seemed to be giving a damn a lot lately. And it irked her. She had broken up with him because she was so sure that he gave a damn and God knows she had sworn off on men like that.

No, Sirius had cared.

He cared but it hadn't been enough to make him stay…

Why was she even thinking of him?

She hadn't given a damn about Black in years and now she was thinking all about him today. Of course, what she should be thinking about was her son.

"We'll find something or someone to help him, Selina." Bruce said seeing the look that had come over her face. "I can promise you that."

"What happened at Hogwarts?"

She was blunt about it. No need to beat around the bush, especially since this was a life or death situation.

"I'm sure Bruce already told you." Her son said with a noncommittal shrug.

Sometimes he reminded her way too much of his father.

Odd that was, how he could remind her of someone whom she had only limited interactions with, someone she barely knew. Yet, the way he was being coy right now was something that he would do. It was also something she would do, which she didn't really want to admit.

"I'd like to hear about it from you." Selina said, "Actually, I'd like to hear about everything."

No loopholes. She knew that if he was anything like—well, like the both of them—he'd try to find one.

"Everything?" Harry said.

"Yes," Selina said, "Everything. That includes your time with the Dursleys and your first two years of Hogwarts."

Harry groaned.

"Yeah," Selina said. "I thought so, you don't want to talk about it. And trust me, I will know if you don't tell me everything."

Harry looked at her, "I don't see what talking about it will do."

"You talked about it with Bruce."

"Because he tricked me," Harry said, "Also he says I'm sick because of the basilisk. Is that true?"

"Bruce wouldn't lie to you." Selina said not wanting to go into further discussion with her son about his prognosis.

Harry sighed, "It doesn't make sense Professor Dumbledore and even Riddle himself said Fawkes tears would heal me."

There were so many things about that sentence that felt wrong but one word rang out, "Riddle? As in that homicidal maniac that killed Lily and James, he's still alive?"

"You know his real name?"

She gave him a look, "Your parents fought against him. Your mom was brilliant at research and knew all about the wannabe Hitler's past. They never called him by his fake name."

She remembered Lily telling her about the war: the war that caused her to become infertile, the war that ultimately took her life.

She heard all about Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort a wizard that made Joker look like Santa Claus. She wasn't exaggerating with Harry when she compared him to Adolph Hitler. It was the closet thing Lily could think of when finding a muggle figure that was similar.

Selina hadn't realized the severity of the wizarding war at first. Lily and James, and later Sirius had done a fairly decent job sheltering her from it. Then again, she never really had ventured into the wizarding world because of it.

For most of her pregnancy she had been held up in the Potter residence and then there were those few blissful weeks in France with Sirius.

Don't think about him, Selina…

She shouldn't even had mentioned the man to Harry now Sirius Black was all but on her mind when she wasn't thinking of her son on that bed…

Damn wizards.

"Aunt Selina?" Harry said noticing her silence.

"Sorry, kit, I thought you destroyed Riddle when…"

"I didn't kill him, at least that's what Professor Dumbledore said."

The illustrious Albus Dumbledore. Another name that Selina was familiar with. He was James and Lily's former headmaster and the leader of the resistance group that they had been a part of.

He also had an obsession with her son from the time he was in the womb. Albeit, he had thought Harry was in Lily's womb not Selina's.

She remembered how clever they thought their charade was. Lily and James had even performed an old adoption bond, part of which allowed Lily's body to mimic Selina's pregnancy so that they could hide Harry's non-wizard origins as well as allow him and Lily to bond through a magical connection established prior to birth.

When Lily had first discussed the adoption bond ritual with Selina she was a little bit confused about the whole thing.

"An adoption ritual?" She said, "So what are you saying, you're changing his DNA."

James gave her a confused look while Lily shook her head in disagreement. "It's not like that at all, Selina." She said.

"Then what is it?"

"The bond will allow James and I to share a connection with our son, he'll magically become as part of us. Of course, the DNA tests will still reveal that he's yours and the biological father's, but James and I will become the baby's magical parents of sorts."

"And what is this about you sharing the pregnancy?"

"The baby will feel a connection to me as well as you," Lily said. "It will obvious still be in your womb since…"

Since Lily was infertile.

Selina still felt so bad about that. Her sister was fighting a war that took away one of the dreams she knew she had desperately wanted.

"So, it will still be mine biologically then."

Lily nodded. "Yes, the baby will be yours biologically. But the ritual will by all intents make me a second mother. While I'll be exhibiting the same status of pregnancy that you are, the baby will not be in my body for obvious reasons. However, it will still have a connection with me through the bond."

Selina had agreed to the bond, not knowing how much it would change things. That her son would become a wizard in part because its connection between her sister and her husband, that it would make her son a target and ultimately kill her sister and brother in-law. If she knew it she never would've agreed to it.

Though, she still didn't regret how happy Lily looked when she agreed to accepting the bond, how Lily was ecstatic every single one of the pregnancy symptoms of Selina's that she had inherited from Selina, especially when she felt Harry kick for the very first time.

Selina had no idea the ritual would be that drastic. Within minutes after performing the ritual, her sister's body had went from being definitely not pregnant to mirroring Selina's pregnancy. Lily's "bump" was roughly the same size as Selina's, her ankles were just as swollen, she had the same odd cravings, and mood swings. By all intents and purposes, save for the fact that Harry was in her belly and not Lily's, Lily was carrying Harry.

She knew a part of it was to establish a bond. As much as Selina hated to admit it, carrying Harry for all those months had made her develop a connection. And she could tell as soon as Lily felt this connection the bond she already felt with her child, grew deeper.

Selina had resented it back then, of course now…not so much. She just regretted that it made her son and her sister targets for that maniac.

And she had told Lily so much when she heard about the prophecy.

"I don't regret the bond," Lily told her when she heard her sister would need to go into deeper hiding. "Harry is the best thing that happened to me, and I am grateful that you shared him with me."

"I made you a target," Selina said.

"I was already a target. They made that perfectly clear a long time ago." Lily then put her hand near where Selina knew her womb should be.

Her sister had once confided in her that her uterus had been liquefied in a duel with a death eater by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I'm lucky I'm alive," Lily said, "Bellatrix thought she was so coy using a family curse. Too bad Sirius is a Black and knows all their dirty secrets."

Sirius had saved Lily's life and thus knew that there was no way that Harry could be Lily's due to the Black's nasty family curse.

"Aunt Selina?" Harry asked again.

"So, Dumbledore is still around." She said putting her memories to the side, "Typical. You know he doesn't know everything, Harry."

In fact, she sort of thought the headmaster was a hack. She had told as much to Lily. She really wished that Lily wouldn't have trusted that idiot's advice. She might've still been alive today if she hadn't.

Funny, she forgot he was the headmaster at Harry's school. Maybe she really should transfer him to some magic school in America if he made it.

No, she couldn't think that way. Harry was going to make it. And she was going to make her son transfer schools.

"That's not what everyone in the wizarding world says." Harry said.

Selina rolled her eyes. She knew Dumbledore didn't know the truth about Harry's origins. Lily and James had made sure no one would know about the fact that their son was adopted. They had even went as far as making an unbreakable vow and having Sirius make one well. Of course Selina being a muggle couldn't exactly make such a vow, but since no one knew about her…well…it wasn't really necessary.

"I saw him both this year and last year," Harry said.

"Saw who? Dumbledore?"

"No, Riddle." Harry said, "I saw his younger self this year which was why I ended up in the chamber. And, well, last year he was trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone and I stopped him."

"Okay," Selina said caught off guard. "You have confronted Riddle twice?"

Harry nodded, "I'm taking it you want to hear it from the beginning…"

"That would be nice."

If she was her sister Selina would be throwing blasting charms at anything and everything right now. As it was, she wanted to get out the old leather cat outfit and kick some ass. Preferably, a geriatric wizard with a very long beard who had terrible taste in fashion's ass.

She didn't care how reverent Albus Dumbledore was amongst the wizarding community. He made a terrible headmaster.

One thing she was sure of after hearing about her son's first two years in Hogwarts, he would not be returning if she had anything to say about it. Although, convincing Harry likely would be difficult.

The boy did seem to have good friends there. Though, he and his friend Ron seemed to have a falling out.

It was sad really. Something else she blamed the headmaster for. Ron's little sister should've been in that chamber in the first place. That school should've been shut down after that giant snake had attacked the first student.

A basilisk.

And from what her son had told her the creature had been terrifying. Eyes that killed and a bite that should've been deadly.

But he had been saved, or so her thought from a phoenix.

Although, whatever the bird had done had only delayed the deadly effects if what Leslie had told her was true. She knew her son was dying…

She had no idea why the healer at his school didn't do anything. She had asked Harry if the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, had known about the bite.

"Oh, she knew." He said, "She insisted I stay overnight, but it really just a precaution nothing else."

She hadn't really even examined him per Harry. Of course her son, being twelve years old, thought there was no need because he felt perfectly fine. But he wasn't…

He needed a real magic healer. And she couldn't wait for Bruce to find one.

She frowned. She didn't really know anyone outside of the magical world that was alive except for maybe Sirius. And while Sirius had been able to save Lily's life and perform some healing charms, she did remember mentioning he hadn't exactly passed all of his certifications yet.

Still though, he was her only hope.

Frowning Selina began writing a letter:

Sirius,

I hope you get this. I hope you are alive. It's me, Kat. Harry and I need help. Magical help, and I don't know who else to turn to. If you don't want to come that's fine, I remember how we left things. However, I beg that you send someone here to help heal our godson.

Kat

Selina sighed heavily as she looked for Harry's bird. She needed to send this before she lost her nerve. Her son might've been a brave Gryffindor, but Selina was anything but, especially when it came to dealing with her ex.

Chapter 11 Preview: I'm toying with a couple of things but more or less it's likely it's going to be in Harry's POV. I think we'll be hearing more about what's going on in the wizarding world so another chat with Hermione might be in order. Selina's letter may also cause someone's post prison plans to change.