Disclaimer: I do not own Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, or any other recognizable character for the Wizarding World universe. I own, however, my OCs the Selwyns and several minor OCs. The plot had been written purely for entertainment value.

Chapter fourteen: House arrest

Autumn 1995. 12, Square Grimmauld.

Selene had to count nine days before she received her first meaningful visit. After Dumbledore had basically ordered Sirius to put her into a cell, her cousin had brought her to Regulus' bedroom, of all places.

At first, she'd thought he honestly believed it'd have pleased her, but it wasn't the case, as he grimaced as he opened the door and said, apologetically, "This is the only room that nobody has touched, yet. Sorry. I wish I could have given you a guest room…"

She'd stared at the name etched into the door, and nodded with pursed lips. "It's a prison, Sirius. I think it's fitting that I'd be stuck in the middle of painful memories…"

He had sighed, taken her wand with another apology, and bolted the door with several charms she couldn't hope to defeat in her wandless state.

Every day, someone she didn't see would bring her meals. The door would open, a tray would be slid into the room, and the door would close. She didn't see who it was, and didn't see Sirius again. The charms he'd placed on the room had certainly included a muting one, because she couldn't hear anything from the lower levels, ever.

Instead, as she had told her cousin, she lost herself in painful memories.

Regulus had favoured his Hogwarts House colours when decorating his teenage bedroom. Despite having been engaged to marry him for years, Selene had never entered it. Propriety among Purebloods, and all that.

The walls were covered in a peeling green and silver wallpaper with volutes on them, elegantly framing the four-poster bed. The bedspread was a deeper green, more bottle-green than forest-green, while the pillows were black. The wardrobe and chest of drawers were both in mahogany with silver details in the wood; and Regulus had hung several papers above his desk. When she'd inspected them, Selene found they were either newspaper clips regarding Death Eater 'exploits' or schematics of Potions or spells.

She hadn't touched anything, as if the room itself was cursed.

For nine days, she sat on the bed and thought hard. About her current situation, about what had brought her there, and most importantly, about how she could get out of there.

She was furious that Professor Dumbledore believed her evil and stupid enough to be on her brother's side, even unwittingly. She hated the fact that he couldn't for one moment believe she'd be agreeable to his side of this upcoming war.

More than that, she found herself loathing the fact that Sirius hadn't come to see her. Remus could perhaps not know she was there – thought it was doubtful – but her cousin and friend knew, and hadn't tried once to come to distract or help her. She was a Slytherin, he was a Gryffindor: both those things meant he was bound to try something. But he didn't.

She lost track of time for a bit, counting the times the sun would set on the other side of those dirty windows, and started wondering if her disappearance would worry anyone. Certainly not Aurus, but perhaps a colleague? Oh, who was she trying to kid; nobody would miss her, either at the Ministry or elsewhere…

On the ninth afternoon of her captivity, the charms on the door were lifted and the door opened to reveal none other than Remus Lupin himself. He was visibly accompanied by someone who he shared a word with before his companion bolted the door behind him.

For long minutes, Selene stared at him in silence from her perch on the bed. She was torn between elation and rage. She was happy to have a visitor; and she was angry beyond belief that it'd taken him that long to come.

Apparently, he clocked the emotions she must have let transpire on her face, for he sighed deeply, taking a pace towards the bed and her. "I'm sorry, Selene. Albus didn't want us to come see you. He gave us orders not to."

She was decided, then. Rage it was. Pursing her lips, she coldly countered with a "And, of course, you both obeyed like the good dogs you both are…" The jab was cruel, but didn't have much effect on the werewolf.

Surprisingly, he seemed as angry as she was. "I know, it's completely unfair…" He sighed again, and sat on the edge of the bed. A puff of dust rose into the air, and Selene stared at it before his next question. "How are you holding up?"

She huffed. "I'm slowly losing my mind, thank you for asking…" Suddenly feeling the need to put distance between the two of them, she stood, crossing her arms as she went to stand by the window. "I'm a prisoner in a house I have never liked, in the bedroom of a person I both cared for and abhorred, and I've been alone for Merlin knows how long, not knowing what is going to become of me… Not to mention I haven't had a change of clothes in days, and I stink."

She heard Remus stand as well. She felt him come to stand behind her, although he didn't try to touch her, for which she was grateful. Feeling his strength nearby was good enough for now. "Albus knows next to nothing about you. He didn't know about your friendship with Sirius or…me." He seemed to lose his breath at that, and she didn't blame him: it was an appalling understatement. "He thinks you've always been loyal to Voldemort and your family. He doesn't know…what you did for us."

She turned, finding him close enough to touch, and raised her gaze to him, feeling powerless. "What good would it do to tell him all my secrets? I'd be baiting in the panther…"

Remus shook his head. "You can trust him. Dumbledore is a good man. If he knew…he would trust you."

Selene huffed again, rolling her eyes. "How naïve you are, Remus. Albus Dumbledore has always had his own agenda concerning everything. And if he hadn't, Harry Potter wouldn't be the Boy-Who-Lived."

Remus' eyes turned introspective, as if he was somehow agreeing with her.

Silence fell for a moment between the two of them. Selene suddenly remembered the last time they'd seen each other. The sunset, their talk…their kiss. A blush rose to her face, and obviously, he clocked it.

His hand rose to her cheek, but he didn't touch her, for someone opened the door and said, in a voice she didn't recognize, 'Time's up, Remus'.

The werewolf dropped his hand, but before he left, he still asked "Does Sirius know everything?"

Selene shrugged. "He knows most of it."

He nodded once, added a quiet "I'll ask for water and clothes to be brought up" and left her alone again.

It was only after she had calmed down enough to pay attention to her surroundings that she noticed the pile of books he'd put on the chest of drawers near the door.

Distraction.

Two more days passed in that fashion. Nothing changed, except for the fact that Selene now received a jug of water everyday to clean herself with, along with a clean dress she suspected had belonged to her dreaded Aunt.

Remus didn't come back, but she hadn't expected him to.

She was a prisoner, she doubted she'd be let out of this hell-hole before the War was over.

The War. Sometimes, in-between re-reads of the books the werewolf had brought her, she wondered what was going out outside of 12, Grimmauld Place. Had the Dark Lord attacked? Was the world in disarray? Or had nothing changed?

Some other times, she caught herself rubbing at her left arm, where the Dark Mark would have once been branded. Her unmarred arm was, to her at least, proof that she had never truly been a part of that world.

At least she hoped.

After her midday meal was carried out of the room by the still faceless person she had started nastily calling her 'House-Elf', the charms were lifted once more, this time, revealing her god-forsaken cousin.

Sirius had the decency to look ashamed of himself as he came inside, gritted his teeth as he took in his younger brother's room and its decorations before settling his grey gaze on Selene.

He looked like a contrite puppy, but that didn't stop her from crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Has Dumbledore ordered you to come here, doggy?"

Sirius huffed, and rubbed at the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "No, he hasn't. Just…told me I could visit. I couldn't before, he wouldn't let me. Or Remus."

"Remus came to bring me books," she countered cruelly.

He chuckled. "Albus asked him to check on you. Trusted him more than me. He still thinks I'll try to smuggle you out of the house." He raised his hands then. "They've taken my wand for now."

Her brow furrowed. "They don't trust you? What kind of allies are they?"

Sirius grinned, that mad-dog-like grin that she had grown up around. It felt good seeing it again. "You should ask them that."

She snorted in a way she hadn't done since she'd been a teenager, uncrossing her arms, however. "As if they'll let me out long enough to see their faces."

"They might," he said, very seriously now.

She was puzzled enough to tilt her head to the side and let the matter of her imprisonment drop for now. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Remus mentioned what you did you help our side during the First War. That talking about it might make Albus and the others trust you."

Selene shrugged. "He seems to think so. I doubt it'd change anything."

"S," he said, the nickname making her look back at him intently, "Dumbledore needs to know what he owes you. It might save your skin."

"Any other day, I would jump on the occasion. Any other day, saving my skin from your side would be the top of my priorities. But unfortunately for you, Sirius, there are far more dangerous people out there than you and your gang. And when they know what I've done, they won't kill me, they'll destroy me." She let herself drop on the bed, defeated.

"Aurus will not touch a hair on your head, S, I promise."

"Aurus doesn't scare anymore. His friends, though…" she shivered.

Sirius sat at her side, puzzled now. "Who?"

"Malfoy," she seethed, " that little snake. And Macnair, and Rowle, Crabbe, Goyle and Yaxley… The best of the bunch."

"You haven't mentioned our darling cousin…"

Selene stared at him. "Bellatrix is in Azkaban. And thank Merlin for that."

He concurred silently.

After a few moments of peaceful conversations and even some laughter, there was a knock on the door, and none other than Hogwarts' Headmaster entered the room, making Selene bolt to her feet.

"Professor!" she said, surprised and a bit alarmed to see him, to say the least. Sirius appeared surprised as well, but didn't budge from his perch on his brother's bed.

"Miss Selwyn," the old wizard greeted coldly, nodding towards the heir of the house before turning back to her. "Mister Lupin was just telling me some very interesting things, and I thought I ought to discuss them with you."

She felt all colour leave her cheeks. The very topic she'd wanted to avoid. For protection. As long as everybody remained oblivious to her actions in 1980 and 81, she was safe. Why oh why has she told Remus? Idiot!

"Did he?" she countered haughtily.

This didn't please the man. "Miss Selwyn, I'm going to make matters clear. Remus seems under the impression that you helped the Order of the Phoenix quite a bit during the First Wizarding War and before Voldemort's apparent demise. Although I fear that you have manipulated the poor man into believing you, I wish to know what part of what he said is true."

Selene felt offended to her very bones. If she had been in possession of her wand, she wouldn't have hesitated to jinx her former Headmaster. "You appear to have a rather precise opinion of me, Professor. So why don't you just leave with your prejudice and let me be?"

Apparently, her defensive tone made him pause, for his piercing eyes stared at her as a brow raised. He turned to Sirius, and asked "I suppose you were her contact at the time, Sirius?"

The Black stood then, taking his place next to his cousin, showing he was on her side no matter what. "Not all the time. But I was."

"Explain yourselves. I won't ask again. Your freedom depends on whether I believe you or not."

Selene huffed, turning to the window.

She was trapped.

Between her wish to leave these walls behind…and her self-preservation instincts.

Strangely enough, the first one won.

"Very well…" she uttered, still looking through the dirty glass.

For the next hour, Sirius and Selene regaled Dumbledore with tales of her meddling with the War. She told him all about how she'd managed to convince her father that she was too weak to take the Mark, and how he'd sneaked her inside the Ministry all the same, hoping she'd be useful.

She told him how she heard things, from both sides. How she caught wind of various operations, either planned assassinations; or rescues, and warned Sirius when it was necessary.

Amelia Bones and her family were still alive because she had told the Order – although she had ignored the name of their organization until that very morning – that Death Eaters were coming after her. She'd consistently given false intel to the other side but she'd made sure to give them correct information from time to time not to blow her allegiances.

Sirius told Dumbledore all about their friendship forged during their Hogwarts years. How she'd been the only one never to doubt him after James and Lily's murder.

At one point, the Headmaster asked for access to certain memories, to check their authenticity. Selene gave them willingly, trapped now in the memory of her doings.

Sirius hugged her tight before leaving with the old warrior, a promise of a later visit on his lips.

The following day, Dumbledore came back, flanked by Sirius and a young witch Selene had never seen before and who had bright pink hair and a too-wide smile.

"Miss Selwyn," he started, a weird little smile on his lips, "I've decided to trust you…for now. You are free to leave." He handed her her wand, which she stared at unbelievingly for a long moment. "You can come and go as you please, but I will ask that you notify Sirius ahead of time. I will not allow you to be present during our meetings, but you can meet our members. I now consider you an ally."

He nodded to her, apparently finished with his announcement. She stared at him, as if waiting for something that visibly wasn't going to come. So, she asked, acidic as ever, "Aren't you going to apologize for keeping me prisoner for weeks?"

Sirius muffled his laughter poorly, while Dumbledore pursed his lips. "No, I'm not. I have to return to my students. Good day to you all."

Selene hissed at his retreating form before her cousin assaulted her for another bone-crushing hug. "You're free, S! It worked!"

"So it did," she coughed, freeing herself from his embrace. "And, if you don't mind, I don't want to remain in this room for another minute."

He grinned. "'Course. Come on, I'll ask Molly to make you a cuppa." She didn't know who 'Molly' was, but she had a hunch it wasn't the young witch who kept staring at her as if she was the hot wizard on the cover of Witch Weekly.

"Good…day," she said, monotone.

Sirius laughed, and finally thought of introducing the two women. "Oh right! S, this is Tonks. Tonks, you know Selene."

"Does she?"

Said 'Tonks' grinned too. "Yeah! We're related!"

Selene doubted she could be related to someone who dyed their hair pink, but she humoured the girl. "Are we?"

Sirius wrapped an arm around her shoulders, making her wince. "Don't worry, Tonks, she's always this delightful. S, Tonks' first name is Nymphadora. She's Andromeda's daughter. Our cousin."

Selene's eyes widened. Andromeda Black. Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange's sister. Hadn't she married a Muggle? She pursed her lips, but nodded in greeting. "Well…nice to meet you, Nymphadora."

The young woman shook her head annoyingly. "Nope, never use that name again, I hate it!"

Apparently, she also hated remaining discreet, as she tumbled down the stairs and woke Walburga's infuriating portrait…