A/N: So this is basically another filler chapter, I think. I would really like to thank my reviewers for making this story what it is today, especially Dirty Little Half-Blood for their continued support of this story's growth. Thanks to everyone who reads this too!

Now, on with the update!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Selena stood there, tear stains on her face, watching the room with a frown. Evelyn noted that there was a brighter light in her adopted sister's eyes, a much happier light. It was like she had reached out and accepted some peace.

Father and Dumbledore must have talked some sense into her, Evelyn thought, idly picking at the feathers on the feather duster in her hands.

"Well?" Selena pressed with a hard edge.

"Well what?" Evelyn handed her feather duster over to Fred.

Selena stepped further into the room and looked Evelyn in the eyes. Evelyn wasn't fast enough to get her walls up before Selena had entered her mind. Images flashed by her mind's eye as Selena sifted through the Metamorphagus' memories. There were images of her body entwined with the body of a ginger and the whispered message of a secret plan with the other three people in the room at the moment. Evelyn tried to push Selena out of her mind, but she wouldn't be moved until she knew all about what was going on.

"You lied to me," Selena said finally. "You all lied to your family."

"Selena, we can explain." Harry moved to stand in front of Ginny as if to shield her from Selena's simmering anger, but Evelyn knew he couldn't. "I love Ginny. Fred loves Evelyn."

"That's not much of an explanation Harry," Evelyn pointed out. She looked at her sister once more. "Selena…Harry and I came up with the plan during the Umbridge era. We were to pretend to be in love to protect the ones we actually did love. Our thinking was that You-Know-Who would go after us together instead of going after the actual people we love." Her hand found Fred's. "We couldn't bear the thought of losing the Weasleys should we fail in killing your father…Death in a lie seemed like a better option."

Selena stared at the two mismatched couples, her anger permeating the room. Evelyn felt Fred squeeze her hand in support. She held her breath and waited for Selena to say something.

"You are all idiots," Selena muttered, glaring at all of them. "And I don't mean that in a good way, Fred!" she added, watching him start to raise his hand. "You're not outsmarting Voldemort with this plan. And you're not going to save anyone this way."

"But-" Ginny began, but Selena cut her off.

"Get your heads out of your asses and pay attention!" Selena snapped withdrawing her wand. "My father is the king of deception; he'll see right through this fake love between Evelyn and Potter and probably already has. If you're going to do anything to protect your love, then fess up to it and be together…The best thing you can do is not have any secrets because you'll look like imbeciles when this has blown over."

"But you keep secrets," Harry pointed out, allowing Ginny to take his hand.

Evelyn watched Selena's eyes narrow and darken for a moment. "He's got you there sis."

The dark haired witch shook her head and looked away. "There are some secrets that are meant to be kept hidden from children."

"Really?" Fred asked, smiling brightly. "Wow, I didn't know you were an old woman and I'm a child, being two years older than you…"

Selena glowered at him and turned on her heel, heading out of the room. "Just tell people the bloody truth, you morons."

Evelyn waited until she heard the front door close before sighing. "That…could have gone worse…"

"I don't see how it could have gone any better," Fred said, looking after Selena for a moment. "Unless she started singing 'Joy to the World' and danced around…naked like that statue in the backyard."

"Fred!" Evelyn growled, smacking him on the arm. "That's my sister you're talking about. I don't want to see her naked and neither do you."

Fred smiled slightly. "Oh really?"

"Typical boy answer," Ginny muttered, returning to her cleaning. "Harry probably wants to see her naked too."

Harry held up a hand. "I plead the fifth."

"Harry, we're in England. The US Bill of Rights doesn't apply to you," Evelyn pointed out, taking her duster back from Fred. "Let's just get this stupid room cleaned up quickly, so I can go chase down Adele's ghost and chew her ass out for telling Selena about me and Fred." She noted the looks on the others' faces. "Oh yeah, that's right. You guys didn't meet her yet."

"Meet who?" Harry asked.

"Adele, Selena's grandmother. Selena killed her by accident when she was three, but the woman had left a mark on the world and hasn't been able to get away from it." Evelyn's eyes took on a sad light. "She's awful lonely here and I don't see how she hasn't gone insane being alone for over ten years. Selena hasn't visited her since after Dad took her in…If I was her, I would have liked to keep at least some reminder of what life was like when she was living in the good times."

"I don't mean to sound rude, but don't you think that it was impossible to live in the good times when You-Know-Who's influence was strong in her life?" Ginny glanced at Evelyn. "Her grandmother was dead. Her mother was a bitch. Her stepfather was probably not any better. And her father was the reason for all the disastrous things that were going on in Europe. I'd say the good times were long gone by the time she was adopted by your father. "

"I'd rather not get into the details anymore," Evelyn muttered, turning her back on her friend. "Let's just get this over with."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Selena sat outside in the garden, just looking up at the clouds and thinking. She didn't know if she should be happy that she was there at the place where she accidentally killed her grandmother. Had she known any better back then? Not really. All she wanted to do was end Adele's pain. The Curse had come to her lips the same way it came to her mother's when the woman wanted to grant peace to what Selena later discovered were her mother's victims.

Adele seemed fine with the results, except that it meant she hadn't been around to save Selena from the hands of her stepfather and mother before they went to Azkaban. Everything was supposed to be all fine and dandy. At least, that's what her elders were telling her.

This just makes my life harder, Selena thought, slowly breathing in the light fragrance of the flowers all around her. Wouldn't it be easier if I could just vanish from the world and not be a problem for anyone else?

Her Mark burned suddenly and Selena quickly closed off her mind from outside contact. She wasn't going to let Voldemort into her head again. Not after all the pain she had caused for the others. Selena drew her breath in as a hiss and gripped her forearm where the Mark burned. She hoped with all of her heart that this house's location would remain off of the maps like Hogwarts, so that no one could find it but her and the Order members she had told about it

"Father, why are you so persistent?" Selena asked quietly. "According to the ruse, I don't even know about my connection to you, haven't made the contact, and therefore haven't a clue about what you want with me. Why do you still persist?"

She suddenly became aware of another person standing in the garden when they let their breath out in a hiss of air. With a look of alarm, she realized that it was Snape and that he was covered in blood. She leaped to her feet and hurried over to him, pulling her wand out as she went. His eyes were glazed over with pain and he was favoring his right leg.

"Severus, what happened to you?" she demanded, guiding him towards a bench next to a small pond.

"That is none of your concern," Snape replied quietly though he did not stop her from helping him down onto the bench. His eyes roamed over her face, taking note of the remnants of tears. "Who made you cry?"

Selena smiled slightly as she turned a rock into a bowl and filled it with water. "That's none of your concern."

She caught the hint of a smirk on his face at her answer. Snape ripped a non-blood covered section off his cloak and held it awkwardly in his hands. She took it quickly and dipped it into the rock-bowl.

"Severus, my father did this to you, didn't he?" Selena asked, not meeting his gaze as she dutifully cleaned the blood from his right leg where his pants were shredded. "Only he could have left such damage behind or would dare attack you…" She rolled her eyes when he drew in his breath sharply as she wiped the blood away from the more tender areas of his leg. "Or he could have ordered Bellatrix to do it…she's crazy enough to do something like this."

Snape muttered something under his breath, his words inaudible to Selena's ears. She dropped the cloth in the bowl and gently pulled the shredded part of his pants up so she could assess the damage more easily. His wounds were deep and she realized they had been inflicted by magic. Magic hurt him and her magic would heal him…she hoped.

"You should not do this," Snape said, once more speaking to her. Selena ignored him, calmly rubbing off the congealed blood off of his leg. "I can take care of myself, stupid girl."

She rolled her eyes and continued to clean his wounds. Snape wrenched his leg away from her, causing his wounds to reopen. Selena frowned at him and crossed her arms.

"Look what you've done now Severus," she chided as if he was a child. She pulled her wand out and pointed it at him. "Get your leg back over here and let me heal you before you bleed out."

Snape attempted to climb to his feet, but the weight on his injured leg caused him enough pain to force him to remain where he was. "This is not your job."

"Yeah, but no one else wants to help you. Not even Molly because she's busy doing other things. Even the Boy Who Lived won't help you and I wouldn't let him do it if he would. His magical healing spells are lacking in the healing department." Selena pointed at herself. "It's me or you're going to pass out."

It was Snape's turn to frown. Selena took that as permission to aid him once more. She pointed her wand at the wounds and whispered a healing spell. The wounds closed, but blood remained in their wake. Selena grabbed the piece of his cloak once more and quickly wiped his leg free of blood. She prodded his pants' leg with her wand and it was immediately mended.

"There. That didn't hurt too much, did it?" Selena asked, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "You'll need to rest for awhile because of all the blood loss…and you'll need to eat something…"

Snape stood up and started to move away from her. Selena cleared her throat, causing him to stop.

"Do I get an explanation now?"

The Potion's Master hesitated. "The Weasleys' house is now a pile of ash and rubble...The Dark Lord is furious that the Order got away and commands that I find out the address of the Order's new base."

"You won't tell him."

"Of course…I am under an oath to you and Albus, not to reveal the location to anyone. It was a blood oath and…use your brains to figure out the rest, stupid girl."

Selena pointed her wand at his throat and closed the space between them. "Do I have to repeat myself to you, Severus Snape? I am not a stupid girl. You know it because I passed my N.E.W.T.S with high scores and passed your most advanced potions class."

"And yet, you make so many blundering mistakes," Snape commented, causing Selena's eyes to narrow slightly.

"Yeah, well…the only reason we didn't win the Quidditch Cup for the three years I was at Hogwarts is because I hated our team and told the Gryffindor team where to find the Snitch first." She put a hand on her hip. "I absolutely hate Slytherin. The two of us – me and you – should have been sorted into Gryffindor…"

Snape looked at her as if she'd suddenly grown an extra arm. "As I said…stupid girl."

Selena kicked him as hard as she could by planting her boot into his stomach, causing him to fall down. He stared up at her in confusion, though he wouldn't let her into his mind to see what he was actually thinking. Her boot stayed planted on his chest as she looked down at him.

"Don't call me stupid. You know you wanted to be in the same house as Lily Evans…you know where I was sorted was a mistake due to my bloodline…We were trapped even before we knew it…"

Snape was silent, breathing through his nose as he regarded her. Selena pointed at his leg with her wand.

"Say 'thank you' to me for healing your leg," she ordered in a mocking sweet voice. "And then go about your day, reporting things and brewing potions as you normally do."

"Thank…you," Snape muttered, watching her eyes.

Selena lifted her foot of his chest and pocketed her wand. She turned and started walking back towards the place she had been before Snape had entered the garden. Snape however, drew her attention back to him.

"Who made you cry?"

"That Snape…is a tale for another time…" Selena whispered, disappearing behind some flowers as she plopped back down on her rock. "A much later time…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: Not much happened here and as you can tell, I'm totally against the real plot of the seventh book. This is called creative license and I believe many of you enjoy it as you have continued to follow me thus far.

I will not force you to review me. I am leaving the option floating in the air because I know no one likes to be forced into anything. Just know that your review will help me figure out what you like about the story and how much you remember of the story so that I leave no loose ends in the wind.

Thank you for reading. ~ Scarlet