I want you to vote for me and all my sons in good time

I want you to pay your dues, what's yours will now be mine

I'm your god and I have the power, I will make things right

You nod your head and say yes

You've made it to the rat race

You've lost face, your life is shit

You call yourself the best

You nod your head and say yes

You've made it to the rat race

You shake your head, your life is shit

You try and be the best

"I am always right" - Raghav Meattle

Chapter 1

Selene kicked a stone in the park. She was on a walk.

Anxious. Very anxious.

And bored out of her mind.

Selene had finished all her homework within the first month of summer. She had thrown herself into education as if she had a fever. She had read every book she owned. She now understood her fourth year books better than she had before. But she was bored. Bored because of lack of anything that was stimulating enough to avoid the reality that surrounded her. Voldemort was back and he was out for her blood.

Well, he had already gotten her blood. The protection of Lily Potter's sacrifice ran into his veins as surely as it ran in her's. He had resurrected himself. The anxiety over what Voldemort was doing was pushing her over the edge. She was driven to watching the muggle news, the terrifying cycle of panic that was the daily news. She didn't know what crimes committed were Magical or Muggle and she had no way of confirming anything. What with Fudge not accepting Voldemort's return, the Daily Prophet was spreading vitriol against her and Dumbledore. She knew this. She knew this because she was so bored that she was reading the newspaper. She had started running in the morning to tire herself so that she wouldn't think.

She sat down on a swing and put her face in her hands. A soft groan escaped her throat. She felt like crying. The summer had not been that bad, really. The summer had been quiet pleasant actually. The Dursleys had left her alone, actively avoided her even. Dudley had made some scathing remarks about her non-existent lovers but coming from him that was basically concern.

She had written to everyone. Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus. Even Dumbledore. They had given her scraps of information, and worse, it sounded like they were all living together. They had left her out in the cold. They had sent her food, but they had not sent her anything to ease her nerves. Dumbledore had not responded at all. Sirius had just warned her to keep her eyes peeled and not go anywhere, away from the Dursleys. She'd snarled when she had read it. Even on her birthday, they had not sent news.

"Look who's here!", Selene raised her head to watch as Dudley grinned at her viciously. Four bulky boys followed him. Selene narrowed her eyes and didn't respond to him.

"Little Leeny is a meany", Dudley's second-in-command said some Timmy or whatever his name was, "Too good for us, are ya?"

"Leave me alone, Dudley", Selene said flatly ignoring the others.

"Or what?", a boy behind Dudley who was hidden behind Dudley's huge girth laughed.

"Going to yell for your boyfriend, are you?"

"Didn't know you put out Leeny"

"Heard you scream his name at night"

"Cedric, please don't kill Cedric!" Dudley laughed in a high-pitched voice. Selene's eyes burned. Something desperate burned in the pit of her stomach and before she could think she was off the swing. A second later, her wand was in her hand, digging into Dudley's neck. Dudley looked uncomfortable.

"You don't want a repeat telecast of Aunt Marge, do you?", Selene sneered at him. Dudley took a step back from her. His friends laughed, likely thinking Dudley was only pretending to be scared.

"This is boring", Dudley snapped, his eyes trained on her wand. He ran out of the park, his minions following him. Timmy gave her a leering look as he followed.

Selene sighed. She crossed her arms and stared at their retreating backs until it was clear that they had left. Selene sat back down on the swing feeling a wave of a strange exhaustion. Her elbows on her knees, she put her head in her palms. For the first time, she noticed that the bangs she chopped monthly to hide her scar were soaked in sweat. Her fingers carded through her hair, noticing the sweat on her scalp and on the back of her head. It was summer, but the evening was not hot enough for this. She jumped off the swing, grabbing onto the frame of the swing when the sudden movement made her vision a bit hazy. Selene closed her eyes for a few seconds and looked again. Normal. The dry grass of the park looked as mundane as usual. She looked up at the sky and noticed that it was starting to darken. It was likely close to 7.

Selene started to make her way back to Number 4 Privet Drive. Her Aunt may have backed off from being a constant pain in her arse but that didn't mean Selene didn't need to make dinner for the family 'like a young girl of the proper sort'.

Instead of worrying about what was going on in the wizarding world, Selene tried to think of her friends. She imagined Ron lazing around the burrow, eating home cooked food made by Mrs. Weasely. She imagined Ron and his siblings playing quidditch while Hermione lounged under the tree that was next to the lake behind the burrow. She imagined Cedric joining them for a game, she imagined Fred and George giving him a hard time.

Selene found herself kicking a stone on her path before she actively thought about it. The resentment she felt over being out of the loop left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Selene shoved her hands in her pocket and felt for the crumpled bit of parchment that was the letter she had received from Hermione this morning.

We're terribly busy. We do want to tell you what is going on but Dumbledore has told us not to! Please stay calm and stay close to home Selene!

Selene scowled at the last bit. Stay home. Oh how she longed to raise her wand and call the Knight Bus and leave Privet Drive behind. She would go to Diagon Alley and -

"We don't know where that foolhardy girl is!", Selene heard Aunt Petunia's shrill voice almost screech as she entered Dursley's home. She paused.

"How can you not know where she is?", she heard a note of hysteria in a deeper voice that she knew.

"What's going on?", Selene asked from the end of the hallway, barely peeking into the living room where she saw her Aunt standing at the far corner and the silhouette of a tall figure with a head of brown hair she could recognize anywhere.

What was he doing here?