A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating this story, but I've been through some rocky weeks for awhile now. I included a small character in here that has been ripped from my life and I hope you understand that this was a difficult chapter for me to write.

Enjoy.

(Just so you know, Selena can see in the dark…don't ask.)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Selena sat down, perching herself lightly on the edge of the guest bed. Her eyes never left his face, so tired and worn looking these days. The slightest hint of wrinkles on his pale, unreadable features told stories of nights spent worrying over matters she was not privy to. He had gone through Hell and back before she ever became conscious of his existence. She envied his strength.

"I…I don't know if I can do it," Selena muttered, brushing back a tendril of her dark hair. "I mean I could do it, but I don't have a motive." She sighed and looked down at her toes. "Okay, so my father's implicit death threat should be motive enough, but I can't see myself killing Albus…He's been a great – if not really weird – gay uncle."

The resident of the room regarded her with dark eyes. "Yet you didn't shed a tear when your sister passed away. Or should I say when she was murdered?"

Selena immediately bristled with anger. "You can't prove that I had anything to do with that. I was in the hospital when it happened, absolutely nowhere near the bitch." Her eyes remained shadowed in the dark room because they had both neglected to turn on a light. "Though I wish I had…so I could have tortured her to the point she felt the same as I did." She looked out the window where silvery clouds blocked the moon. "You probably think I'm insane now, Severus."

Snape shifted as he took a couple steps away from the door, finally removing his hand from the doorknob. "You sound like a normal woman who grieves for her unborn…" His eyes turned away from hers when her gaze flitted in his direction almost as if he sensed their movement. "I am surprised you didn't ask me to kill her."

"Would you have?" Selena asked, her voice hushed as she regarded him once more.

Snape was silent.

Selena sighed and slipped a hand onto her stomach almost without thought. "I forgot...You would have done anything I asked you to…just not anymore." She winced when pain shot through her body. "Dammit."

Her former Potions master moved over to the closet, feeling his way in the darkness. Selena watched him open the closet door and pull out a vial of purple liquid. The name of the potion was scrawled so tiny that she couldn't tell what it was until he uncorked it, the smell wafting around the room.

"Sleeping Draft?" she asked as he closed the closet door once more but not before she saw a potion simmering away in a cauldron inside of it. "Where do you find the time to make it? Or do you have a stock of it made just for reasons like this?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Snape held the vial of potion out to her and she took it carefully as if unsure that she needed it. Snape – having been at the hospital with her – knew how little she slept. Whether she admitted it or not, she needed sleep to heal from the pain and the Sleeping Draft would let her have a restful, dreamless sleep…Something his haunted past refused to let him have no matter how many nights he had taken the Draft.

"Severus," she said, slipping the vial into her robe's pocket. "What do I do?"

"Take the vial and drink the liquid within, stupid girl," Snape ordered, crossing his arms over his chest. "And let me discuss this new…problem of yours with Dumbledore." He walked over to the window and peered out at the moonlight that bathed the outdoors in a soft, silver light. "You are one problem after another…Some would say you were a Mary-Sue…" He smirked at her. "We can't have that, can we?"

Selena crossed her legs and her reflection frowned at him. He was finding it more and more pleasurable to irritate her as she had done to him before. A twinge of guilt stabbed at his heart and he sighed. The two of them had been through so much in their years together that he knew it was wrong to goad her.

"I shall speak with Dumbledore," he stated, turning her face her slightly, "tomorrow, but be prepared to do whatever necessary to satisfy the Dark Lord."

Selena's expression darkened. "You think Dumbledore will allow me to murder him? That's the only way the Dark Lord will be happy…if Dumbledore is dead, where does that leave us?"

Snape did not wish to say anymore about the subject until he had spoken with Dumbledore. From within another room a baby cried, its voice muffled by the walls of the house. Snape noticed how rigid Selena's back had become, her shoulders hunched near her ears, and sadness and anger mixing in her eyes.

"It…it isn't…fair…" Selena whispered, hugging herself as if she was going to fall apart at any moment. "Why is Death always hovering around me? No matter how much I try to do the right thing, something bad and deadly always happens to the people I hold dear…" Selena bowed her head and covered her eyes with one hand. "I have killed so many people, Severus. Innocent people, horrible people, indifferent people…Maybe – maybe this is God's way of telling me that I'm not worthy of being anything but a killer…I couldn't even save my own child!"

Snape stood there helplessly as he realized she was crying. He was never prepared to see a woman cry, but he knew he had to do something. Selena was hugging herself once more, her hair providing an effective curtain around her face.

"Life is not fair," Snape mused quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. "It never was and never will be…but no one would want you to be a killer forever, Selena. Especially not God – if it brings you any comfort to pray to some Eternal Being, do so, but don't blame yourself." He put a hand on her shoulder, lightly as if she was a fragile piece of glass. "If there had been any way – any way at all – to save your child, the doctors would have found it…"

Selena looked up at him with dark watery eyes. Snape gently brushed away a tear that fell down the curve of her cheek. He caught the smell of another man on her just as he thought about leaning in to kiss her, reminding him that she was already called for. Snape turned his face away from her, unwilling to look at her as she rid her face of the crystalline tears that had fallen on it with the sleeve of her robe. He hadn't felt this helpless around a woman since his school years…and that night sixteen years ago that he couldn't escape.

Selena sniffled one final time before standing up slowly, her hand grazing his as she pushed herself off the bed. "Thank you," she whispered before vanishing from the room.

Snape listened carefully after the door closed, but heard nothing more than a baby crying. He wondered if all of this was a dream and he sighed, climbing under the covers of the guest bed and falling back to sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Selena didn't get out of bed until lunch was served and even then, she was unwilling to leave the comfy warmth and support of the bed. She laid there on the bed, staring at the ceiling and feeling content to let it rot on top of her whenever it felt like it. However, it appeared that someone didn't agree with that idea.

"'Lena?" Fred's voice said from the doorway. "Wake up and smell the horribly miscalculated concoction that my better half made."

"If it's another joke product, I'm not interested in testing it out," Selena grumbled, rolling onto her back so she didn't have to look at him fully. "And if it is food…tell Molly or whoever made it that I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat sometime," Fred commented, taking a step into the room. "George wouldn't like it if you starved yourself…especially with the night time adventures you two -"

"Fred, there'd better be a reason why you are in my room," Selena cut across him, "besides talking about my sex life with your twin."

Fred crossed over to the bed and Selena could smell the French toast and fried potatoes on the tray he'd brought with him. "I come bearing a peace offering, dearest 'Lena," he declared, setting the tray down and pulling a small backpack off his back. "You're favorite breakfast meal with coffee instead of tea because I know you hate tea by experience…and a present to cheer you up." He smiled slightly. "A baby…"

Selena sat up in alarm when she saw that the backpack was moving and making a small whimpering noise. "Fred! Why would you put her in there?!" she exclaimed, staring at him like he was madder than the Mad Hatter. "You're not supposed to treat babies that way!"

Fred looked surprised and a little hurt. "Do you actually believe that I would put my baby in the bag with no air holes?" He opened the bag and looked into it. "I don't think she wants you, little guy…Can you actually believe that she accused me of-? Of course…I'll ask her." Fred looked at his future sister-in-law again. "He wants to know if it'll be all right with you if he comes out now."

Selena settled back against her pillows in a reclined position. "He who?"

Fred reached into the bag and grabbed something by the scruff. Selena watched him pull a cat out of the backpack. It was a beautiful white cat with two brown patches on him – one on his head and one larger one on his back all the way down his tail. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green and were surrounded by "eyeliner", giving him an exotic look. He was big, fluffy, and obviously didn't like being held by his scruff because he started meowing and squirming in protest.

"Aw! He's so pretty!" Selena exclaimed, taking the cat from Fred. "Much prettier than Crookshanks…" She kissed the cat on the top of its head. "And so much sweeter, aren't you, MJ?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fred smiled down at Selena as she cuddled with the cat he'd found for her. He'd never seen her act this way around anything before. Not one baby, child, or even George. He wondered if it had something to do with the motherly hormones that she still had raging in her system or if it was a coping device to love the cat as if it were the same as her unborn child.

"I know it's an awful cliché to give a cat Animagus a pet cat, but maybe he'll look past it," Fred commented, reaching down to scratch the newly christened MJ between the ears. "So what do you think? Will ya keep him clutched tightly to your perky bosom or do I have to send him to the farm?"

Selena smiled the first true smile he'd seen on her face since the attack. "Yes, I'll keep him." The cat butted his head against the underside of her chin wanting more attention. "And it's not that big of a cliché." She reached out and hugged Fred with one arm. "Thanks Freddie."

"Any time 'Lena," Fred said, hugging her back. "Who knows? You might turn into the crazy cat lady…" His smile became teasing. "Probably like Madame Toad…"

"You are ridiculous," Selena said with an eye roll. "There is no way in Hell that I'm going to turn into anything similar to that hag. I just like cats."

"And have a sweet evil side to your personality," Fred commented, shoving his hands in his pockets. His smile fell and he looked down at his feet, scuffing his shoe on the floor. "Listen Selena…I'm sorry about what happened, even the stuff I thought was harmless sibling squabbles. I didn't think that Evelyn would go that far."

Selena's smile fell and she hugged the cat to her chest, petting its back with a frown on her face. "Neither did I," she mumbled, "but that's a sociopath for you…"

"I'll admit that probably the only reason I fell so hard for her and kept our relationship going was because she had the ability to change her appearance." He let out a small laugh. "An exotic beauty any time I wanted to role play…It's probably something you don't want to hear about or care to."

"Fred -" Selena began.

"I just can't see how I could have let her do it," Fred said, cutting across her. "I was right there. I saw her pull something out of her pocket…I saw the knife and…I had my wand inches from my hand…I should have stopped her…"

"Fred!" Selena said loudly, startling him out of his ranting spell. "It wasn't –and isn't – your fault. No one knew she was going to resort to Muggle violence. You couldn't have known that she was going to snap and try to murder me and my child. It isn't your fault." She set the cat down on George's side of the bed and threw her legs over the side of the bed, rising to her feet. "And even if it was, I'd forgive you."

The Weasley twin looked into Selena's eyes and saw sincerity. "…Really?"

Selena nodded and put her hands on his shoulders. "Yes because you're a stupid boy…"

"No one's stupider," Fred agreed.

"And you only think with your penis…"

"All the time."

Selena smiled up at him and placed a kiss on his forehead. "And that's why I love you."

Fred beamed. "All the girls do." Fred glanced down at her and cleared his throat. "Would you like to put on something other than the robe you're wearing? Your "points" are showing."

Selena pushed him towards the door, "Get out of here then. Let me enjoy my brunch with my new pet."

"All right, all right…I know when I'm not wanted." Fred turned and started out the door.

"Fred!" Selena called and he turned slightly to look at her. "Thanks for everything."

Fred smiled and performed a curtsy that made her laugh. "Any time…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: Thank you for your patience with this story. I plan to keep it going for awhile longer, but the next update may not happen until next year because I have other obligations that must be dealt with first. I'll try to get one up sooner, but this author's note is just in case I don't get one up before this year ends.

And thank you for allowing me to share MJ with you. He was a very special cat to me and so much like family. He died on October 10, 2012 at 6:15 a.m. here where I live and I was the last one to hold him and talk to him. He's in a better place now.

Please read and review as you normally do. Be positive and be yourself. Keep smiling! ~Scarlet