There's Something About Selina
The school year had begun and Harry was glad to get away from the Dursleys. Hermione was in the corner helping a frustrated Ron with his Charms homework. It was a peaceful night in Gryffindor tower until dinner that night...
Everyone in the Great Hall was having the time of their life, laughing and eating. To them, it was just a normal night with nothing out of the ordinary. But for the Gryffindors, it was about to change as Professor McGonagall came over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a lovely 15-year-old girl.
"This is Selina Stella Sun. She is a new student to Hogwarts and has been sorted into our house. I trust you will show her a good time and make her feel comfortable," Hermione nodded seeming to be the only one listening because Ron and Harry were looking curiously at the new girl. She had strait, shocking silver blonde hair a little bit past her shoulders and was dressed in the most peculiar way. Instead of the black dress code for Hogwarts, she wore white robes. Her eyes, though, were the most enchanting part about her. They were bright blue and sparkled mysteriously like stars as if there were millions of secrets locked behind them. She gave the trio a mysterious smile. There was definitely something different about this girl.
Harry awoke that night to a big thud on the floor. He was glad he had woken up, too, for he was having the worst nightmare.
"Owe," by the sound of Ron's voice Harry knew Ron had fallen out of his bed.
"You OK?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," came Ron's voice again, "Hope I didn't wake you up," Harry turned and, his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw Ron rubbing his head.
"I'm glad you did, I was having the worst dream,"
"Yeah? Me too. Hey, how about we go downstairs and talk about it?"
"Sure," Harry agreed.
When they got downstairs, they saw that someone was already there. Hermione was sitting in front of the dying fire with her head in her hands.
"What's wrong, Hermione?"
"Nothing, just a dream," she mumbled through her hands.
"A dream? Like a nightmare?" Hermione nodded.
"Ron and I had a nightmare, too. Mine had that new girl in it. I know this sounds weird, but Vold- uh, You-Know-Who was just about to kill me and she was standing there, letting him!"
"I had that same dream, except he was trying to kill me!" Ron declared. Hermione looked up, shocked.
"Me too... I don't know what's going on here, but I know that that girl has something to do with it,"
The next morning the three friends went downstairs, groggily, for breakfast. As Professor McGonagall headed to the staff table, Hermione stopped her.
"Excuse me a moment, Professor, but I was wondering... About Selina, where is she from?"
The Professor seemed startled but pleased to hear this, "Anchorage, Alaska. Why do you ask?"
"Well, it's just that she hasn't spoken yet and ... What else do you know about her?"
"Why, Miss Granger, you should ask her," McGonagall started to walk off again but Harry caught her.
"You're right, Professor, but as Hermione said, she hasn't spoken yet,"
"Well why don't you find her and strike up a conversation. She's probably just shy," And with that, she left.
"Shy, right," Hermione mumbled
"Maybe McGonagall is right, maybe we should ask her. I mean, why should she get suspicious? We're just making conversation, riiight?" Ron stretched out the 'i' in 'right' and added the slightest bit of coercion to his voice.
"Yeah. Hey, there she is! Selina, we didn't introduce ourselves properly. I'm Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger," To Harry's surprise, Selina's face didn't light up with excitement when she heard the name "Harry Potter." Instead she just smiled her mysterious and mischievous smile and said, "Hello, Harry, Ron, and Hermione," she did have an accent but Harry couldn't place his finger on where it was from. 'Maybe it's an Alaskan accent,' Harry thought.
"Um, so, tell us about yourself," Hermione said, a little nervously.
"Well, I was born in Anchorage, raised in Anchorage, and schooled in Anchorage,"
"Where did you go to school before this?" Ron asked.
"ASW; Alaskan School of Witchcraft. It was an all girls' school. I've heard of your adventures, you three. Like in your first year? That whole thing with the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone. And the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in your second year. You three lead fascinating lives,"
"More than you know- Oof," Ron said as Hermione jabbed him in the stomach.
"Hey look! Potter's got a new girlfriend! Malfoy called from the Slytherin table. Harry ignored him.
"Um, what about family?"
"Only child,"
"Witch or wizard Mum and Dad?"
"Nope,"
"You mean you're muggle born?"
"Oh I wouldn't say that..." just then, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown came over and engaged in conversation with Selina.
"SHE LIED! IT WAS ALL A LIE!" Hermione came screaming to Harry and Ron.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron asked.
"I've been in the library for hours looking to see if there really was an 'ASW' and there isn't one! She lied! She obviously has something to hide!"
"Now, Hermione, aren't you overreacting a little? Maybe she went to another school with a bad reputation and didn't want to tell us. If you came from a school with a reputation worse then Durmstrang, would you want people to know about it? I mean, she seemed nice enough," Harry pointed out.
"Wormtail seemed nice enough to Sirius to put your parents life in Wormtail's hands! And what was that last thing she said? 'I wouldn't say I'm muggle born,' or something like that. What did she mean?"
"Hermione, you're taking this a bit to seriously. Maybe she was embarrassed about being muggle born. All you have to prove that she's evil is a silly dream that we all had," Ron said.
"Dreams can mean a lot, Ron. And I'm muggle born and I'm not ashamed of it,"
"Hermione, that's you, we're talking about her,"
"Yeah, and I thought you didn't believe in all that Trelawney stuff anyway about dreams and seeing the future and stuff,"
Hermione took in a deep breath, "I don't it's just more then once a friend of mine-" she glanced across the room to Lavender, "-has had dreams and they came true! I have proof! Like once, she told me that she had a dream that a black dog started chasing a mouse and then she saw us try and save the mouse. Then, we tried to kill it along with the dog, but it got away! That was in our third year when Sirius was on the loose, and that wasn't the first time!" she defended.
"Let's sleep on it for now, OK, Hermione? You'll feel better in the morning," Harry suggested.
The next morning, Hermione was more rested and had calmed down. So much in fact that she didn't show frustration or give Neville a lecture about being more careful with spells when he asked her to turn Trevor back into a toad instead of a snail that ate flies. It seemed she didn't care about her outburst the night before which was very unusual because she was usually very stubborn about these kinds of things. Harry and Ron decided not to mention it in case she would burst out about it again. Everything was fine until when Harry was on his way to Tansfiguration and was about to turn the corner when he heard Snape's voice.
"Really I don't know why Dumbledore let you in here. You're more trouble then Potter and his friends. You and your kind are all alike! Causing trouble wherever you go. I know that you're here to protect Potter but why is it that you insist on causing havoc while you're at it. Dumbledore will have fun with you, won't he, Miss Sun..."they're voices trailed off. Harry ran all the way to Transfiguration.
"You'll never believe what I just heard!" he told his friends.
"Potter, not in the middle of class thank you. You may have plenty of time when class is over," McGonagall scolded. Harry waited in anticipation to share what he had heard out in the hall. His mind wasn't on his work and so, he turned a rabbit into a fox with bunny ears instead of a black top hat.
"I knew it! I knew it all along!" Hermione voiced following a long moment of silence after Harry told his news in the Gryffindor common room that night, "That girl is evil!"
"If she's evil, why would she be here to protect Harry?" Ron asked as much to himself as to his friends.
"Hmmm, a troublemaking protector? Never heard of that. Hermione, what do you make of it?" Harry said.
"Well, she could be a nymph. They don't protect, but they sure love to goof off... No, I doubt she's a nymph,"
"Then what could she be?" Ron asked what Harry was thinking.
"Why can't she be human?" Hermione asked.
"You heard what Harry said Snape said, 'you and your kind' what else could it mean?"
"Maybe he meant trouble makers,"
Harry had been silent for a long time while Hermione and Ron debated. He thought he should ask Sirius. He'd know.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked, as Harry got up.
"I'm going to write to Sirius,"
Only when Hedwig disappeared from view did the three leave the owlry to go back to the common room. Unfortunately, they met two people they didn't want to meet but the surprising thing was they were laughing and enjoying each other's company.
"Potter!"
"Harry!" Malfoy's voice was angry and full of abhorrence and Selina's was surprised. Ron stifled a laugh despite the situation.
"What are you doing here?" Harry, Hermione, Stella and Malfoy all said together.
"Draco and I were having a pleasant walk and conversation around the campus,"
"Nothing's 'pleasant' about Malfoy," Ron muttered under his breath.
"And what were you doing?" Malfoy asked.
"Sending a letter," Harry replied, truthfully.
"Well then, you three should get back to the common room," Stella said, as calm as could be. And so they left.
"Malfoy? With a Gryffindor? He hates every single person in our house! And not only a Gryffindor, but her!" Ron laughed.
"D'ya think he's finally found a girlfriend?"
"If so, they make a perfect match. Aside from the fact that she's actually kinda beautiful whilst he is repulsive!" Ron couldn't stop laughing. It was Hermione's turn to be silent. They could here her muttering to herself.
"Selina Stella Sun... Blonde... Bright blue eyes... Protector... Why? ... For what? ... Malfoy...Moon star and sun... Moon star and sun... MOON STAR AND SUN! THAT'S IT!" and off she ran to the library leaving a stunned Harry and Ron to stare after her, bewildered.
"Why is it Hermione is always the first one to find these sort of things and never bothers to tell us before she runs off to the library?" Ron asked a week later as Hermione poured through another book.
"That's Hermione for you," Harry responded
"Have you read what Sirius wrote?"
"Yeah, it just says I shouldn't worry about her, not to ask anymore questions about her, and that she's here to help," Harry shook his head, "I don't know Ron..."
The morning passed slowly as Hermione had promised to speak with Ron and Harry at lunch, but as Harry was about to go to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures, he heard a cry from the forbidden forest.
"Hagrid, did you hear that?" Harry asked.
"'Ear what?" Hagrid asked.
"Nothing," Harry said, still looking at the forest. Ron was looking at the forest as well, "Did you hear it Ron?" Ron nodded absentmindedly. As the rest of the class headed for lunch, Harry and Ron lingered. When Hagrid went back into his cabin, the two went strait for the forest.
"Let me go you good-for-nothing RAT!" Harry and Ron could hear a familiar voice call from behind the trees.
"Expeliarmus!" Came another voice. There was the sound of a whoosh and a thud.
"Owe, thanks,"
"I wondered where those two were during class," Ron whispered to Harry. As they came to a clearing, they saw Hermione, standing wand poised at an unarmed Wormtail and Selina getting up off the ground. Hermione turned her head, saw them and gasped. In this brief moment while Hermione was distracted, Wormtail changed into a rat and scurried as fast as he could towards Selina.
"BACK!" she screamed and incredibly, he started walking backwards. Harry and Ron, too were even taking a few steps back. Hermione gave a little giggle and Harry and Ron stopped and looked at her.
"I'm sorry, it's just it's so funny to see it work on you guys,"
"What?!" Harry and Ron had no idea what she was talking about.
"This is not the time nor place for explanations. Selina, he's coming again!" Now Selina stood up and shook her head at the mouse,
"You never learn. Now, I want you to go to your master and- OH!" in the middle of this, a cold hand slid like a serpent around Selina's neck.
"I don't take commands from Starlings,"
Now Ron and Hermione were really backing away from that cold evil voice. Harry, however, stood his ground.
"LET HER GO!" He demanded. Voldemorte stepped into the light with his hand still threateningly around Selina's neck. He smiled.
"Well, well, a two for one," A swarm of Death Eaters stepped out of the darkness behind Voldemorte. The four wanted to run, but they were too deep into the forest. If they did run, it would have been in circles.
"I know now, not to play games," Voldemorte said, "bring me the girl!" Wormtail, human again, proceeded towards Hermione.
"Expeliarmus!" Voldemorte shouted, driving Hermione's wand from her hands. Hermione stared wide-eyed at Wormtail.
"MOVE!" Harry and Ron shouted, but she stood stock-still. Harry pulled up his feet that seemed to have been rooted to the ground and dived at Hermione.
"No!" she screamed, fighting to get back to the place she was.
"Venenumous!" Cried Voldemorte aiming at Harry. He hit Hermione instead and she was thrown across the forest and slammed into a tree, a small stream of blood leaked out under her hairline. Harry turned to Voldemorte with hatred in his eyes.
"What did you do to her?!" he demanded. Voldemorte lifted Selina off the ground and her hands were struggling to loosen the tight grip of his hand, her feet kicking in the air. There was a sizzling sound and Selina screamed.
"Let them go, it's me you want, not her or Hermione or Ron,"
"You know what, you are right. I don't want your stupid friends. However, I have been looking for this one since I knew what a Starling was,"
"What's a Starling?" Harry looked at Ron who could barely shrug he was so terrified. He kept staring at the unconscious form of Hermione.
"'Arry! Ron! "'Ermione! Selina!" they heard a loud voice call. Ron looked up at Harry and his eyes widened, if possible, even more.
"It's Hagrid!" he choked.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" they heard Professor McGonagall cry. Voldemorte looked around uneasily.
"Grab Potter and kill the other one. Leave the girl!" one Death Eater pointed his wand at Ron and three grabbed Harry and forced him over to Voldemorte. The world around Harry blurred and the last thing he heard was Ron's horrible scream. Everything went black.
"NO!" Harry screamed when he woke up and the world became solid again, "You killed him! You killed my best friend!" He tried to reach for his wand but realized it had been taken away from him. He was tied to a tree in a graveyard. Voldemorte's ugly distorted face came into view. Harry looked around. He saw Selina tied to a tree as well. She was already awake and was scowling at Voldemorte. There was a new addition to her appearance. She had a deep red burn on her neck in the shape of a hand. Harry knew it was the scar from when Voldemorte had burned her in the forest.
"You sicko!" was all she could think to say. Voldemorte walked over to Selina with a dagger.
"I need your blood,"
"Are you obsessed with blood and bones?" Harry asked. In his first year, Voldemorte had drunk unicorn blood. In his forth year, he took the bones of his own father and the blood of Harry himself.
"Not in your life!" Selina spat.
"I need the blood of an immortal and what better then a Starling?"
"What is a Starling!?" Harry asked angrily.
"Me," said Selina, "I can control the stars and see the future. My kind and me are what makes the universe work. We are seen as Gods among the centaurs," Selina grinned wickedly, "and not only can I control the stars to read what the future holds, I can bend the rules a bit. Make them turn out the way I want. Make people do what I want them to do. But the stars are only controllable to a certain length. They are alive and they are mischievous. And sometimes, they don't listen to their masters. This was not supposed to happen, but Voldemorte has made sure that it did. I was here to protect you and to change the alignment of the stars if they were not in your favor. To keep you away from him. In that, I have failed,"
"Miserably, might I add. I am so sorry to cut into your meaningful conversation, but I have to kill you know," Voldemorte brought up the dagger and embedded it deeply into Selina's chest. She let out a painful scream and her head rolled and fell on her shoulders. Wormtail came rushing up to his master with a cup of some liquid. He then added Selina's blood to the mixture and handed it to Voldemorte. As Voldemorte reached for the glass, however, Wormtail took it away and dropped it on the ground. It bubbled like acid and then sank into the ground.
"You fool!" Voldemorte cried, "Do you know how difficult it is to get the elixir from a fairy's wing?"
"I'm sorry master, but it wasn't me! I didn't mean to do it," Harry knew it was impossible, but Selina's face now held a grin that hadn't been there before. Voldemorte turned his back to Harry and Selina's arms twitched then she broke free of her bindings all together. She grabbed Wormtail's wand.
"Adnihilo!" she screamed at Wormtail and he fell to the ground, unconscious, "I have demolished his brain. He is in a coma. Mr. Riddle, did you forget that immortals can't die? No Starling will ever die at a dagger to the heart. There is one way alone to kill us and if you think I am going to tell you what that is then you're crazier then the stars read!"
"Asinine Starling! Out of my way!" Voldemorte threw Selina across the yard, "You don't deserve a simple death. You deserve to be tortured! Crucio!" there was not one muscle in Harry's body that didn't feel pain. He began convulsing. The pain was like a hundred knives penetrating the skin all over his body and having a horrible acid-like burning poison being shoved down his throat at the same time. Then the pain stopped. Through his blurred vision since his glasses had fallen off and his eyes were clouded with pain, he could see Selina, staggering to stay up right. She held Voldemorte's wand in her hand. Harry gathered that Selina had used the disarming spell. Unable to stand on her feet any longer, she slumped to the ground. Harry had no idea what was draining her energy, but he didn't know then that she happened to be contacting someone mentally. A woman named Elspeth Gordie that Harry had never met yet. The strain on her mind had been so great that she finally fell unconscious. Voldemorte picked up his wand and pointed it at Harry again.
"No more games," he promised, for the second time that night.
"Avada Ked-"
"EXPELIARMUS!" a male voice cried. Selina was still unconscious. Harry could see no one with his faulty vision. All he knew was that he was suddenly being lifted up into someone's arms and being taken far away from where he was...
Harry awoke in the hospital wing. He found it slightly ironic that at the end of each year he would somehow end up here. His vision was still fuzzy but he reached on the bedside table and found his glasses. He put them on and looked around the room. He saw Hermione, her head bandaged yet still unconscious, but that was all. No one else. No Ron. The drama was over and now Harry could finally grieve for his lost friend. A tear streamed down his face.
"Professor, Harry's awake!" Harry frowned, confused. He looked over at the door. A young redheaded teenage boy was there, grinning at Harry.
"Ron?" Harry asked.
"Harry, we need to know what happened in the cemetery," Dumbledore entered the room.
"What's going on? I thought Ron was... And Hermione! What's wrong with her?"
"All in due time, my boy, in due time," Dumbledore sat next to Harry with Ron by his side.
"Selina will tell you," Harry mumbled, too tired to explain.
"No, actually, she won't. Harry, Selina had left. She said to say goodbye for her and she was positive you would see her again,"
"What about that other man... the one who found me. Why can't he tell you?"
Dumbledore smiled, "Harry, there was no other man," he said, "a black dog found you and returned you to me," Harry sighed. So it had been Sirius.
"I understand. But what happened to Voldemorte?"
"He was alone in the graveyard? No Death Eaters around?"
"No, he was alone. What happened?"
"Selina recovered as you fell unconscious and surprised Voldemorte from behind. He lost his wand to Sirius and was being watched by a Starling. It isn't like Voldemorte to flee, but he did anyway. Even I do not know what he is thinking or planning," Ron had been practically holding his ears for those last few lines. Harry had noticed and gave him an apologetic smile. Ron smiled back. It was good to see him smile again.
"Professor, I must insist you let this poor boy rest!" for once, Harry was glad for Madame Pomfrey's interruption.
"Just give us a few minutes, Poppy," Madame Pomfrey gave Dumbledore a disapproving look but he seemed not to notice, "So Harry, what happened?" and so, much to the dislike of Madame Pomfrey, Harry explained the happenings of the day turned to night.
"I suppose it is Ron's turn to explain," Dumbledore said, looking at Ron.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right. When the Death Eater was going to kill me, I kicked him in the-"
"We don't need it to be that detailed, Ron," Dumbledore smiled.
"Right. Well, I kicked him, anyway and it hurt him so much, he dropped his wand. Then Professor McGonagall showed up and they took care of the rest,"
"What about Hermione?"
"Hermione? Oh..." Ron trailed off.
"What happened?"
"She has a concussion, Harry, and she has blood poisoning," Dumbledore replied.
"How did she get blood poisoning?"
"Well, remember that spell You-Know-Who did? That did it," Ron answered, shifting in his chair, uneasily.
"She won't die from it; it isn't life threatening," Dumbledore reminded him, "And it isn't anything Madame Pomfrey can't fix," Harry nodded, understanding.
"If that is all, I think this child needs sleep!" Madame Pomfrey ushered Ron and Dumbledore to the door.
***
"Where are they?"
"Are they OK?"
"What happened?"
"Was it You-Know-Who" The questions were hard for Ron to answer when he entered the Gryffindor common room. Ginny was crying quietly in the corner. Ron decided it was a good idea to go and cheer his sister.
"It's OK, Ginny," he comforted.
"Are they all right?" she asked. Ron had never seen her this distressed and didn't know why.
"Ginny, what's wrong?"
"It's just that... Oh Ron!" she burst into tears and he put his arms around her, "It was me," she breathed, "it was me," and Ron had no idea what she was talking about. The whole common room was watching the two, now, and Ron didn't like it.
"Don't you have other things to do?" he demanded. And they scattered upstairs at the tone of his voice, "What do you mean, Ginny?"
"Well, it all started with Selina. She told me what she was and she asked me to do her a favor. She... She asked me to tell Hermione to meet her in the forest when you had Care of Magical Creatures. She told me to tell her that Selina was going to tell her everything about herself. And so I did and I was so curious I followed. But Selina knew I was there. She knows everything! She told me to hide and I did. When Hermione came, they had talked for no longer then one minute when he showed up. He found me and he made Hermione save my life. When Hermione was distracted, he grabbed Selina and that was when you came in. It's all my fault!"
Ron was startled. He thought it was more then that, "Harry's fine," was all he said.
"Hermione?" she asked.
"She... Will be fine,"
"Oh now that's my fault too!"
"How can it be your fault?"
"I... Hermione was hiding me. She didn't want to run. When You-Know-Who said 'bring me the girl,' he was talking about me. She was protecting me. I was wearing Selina's invisibility cloak!"
"What?! But he was aiming for Harry!"
"No, he was aiming for me. I was right next to Harry and it looked like he was aiming for him. That was why Hermione was so reluctant to move. It's all my fault!"
"Why was he after you?"
"I was a witness. And Selina said he just didn't like me. I don't know! Do you think it's possible to read peoples' minds?!"
"Oh, Ginny, don't blame yourself!"
"If I hadn't have come..." she muttered, "If I wasn't there, maybe she'd be OK," Ron held his sister close in his arms.
***
"Owe... I hate this! My head still hurts!" Hermione muttered a few weeks later when she had finally awoken.
"Madam Pomfrey was supposed to stop the head aches," Ron said.
"How? With magic?" Hermione asked, doubtfully. Harry nudged Ron.
"She still thinks she's a muggle. Madam Pomfrey didn't want to do anything magically until she realizes she's a witch. And at least she cured the blood poisoning," he whispered.
"Oh. How can she forget five years?" Ron said, still disbelieving.
"I wish I knew!" Hermione declared, "I can barely remember your names!"
"That means she won't remember anything for exams. When she gets her memory back, she's going to be a little mad," Ron said.
"Exams? On what? Math? Science?"
"What? More like Transfiguration, Charms-"
"RON!"
"Sorry! Why can't we just tell her?"
"Because Madam Pomfrey-"
"Since when do you listen to Madam Pomfrey?"
"Who's Madam Pomfrey?"
"Please, Harry, this is annoying! I hated her being a know-it-all but I also hate Hermione not knowing anything at all," Ron frowned in thought, "Did I just say 'Hermione' and 'not knowing anything' in the same sentence? That doesn't sound right,"
Harry smiled, "She'll remember. And when she does, she'll get you for that,"
"You know, it's rude talking about someone in the third person when they're in the room," Hermione looked her old self for a minute with her hands on her hips.
"Her memory's coming back already,"
The school year had begun and Harry was glad to get away from the Dursleys. Hermione was in the corner helping a frustrated Ron with his Charms homework. It was a peaceful night in Gryffindor tower until dinner that night...
Everyone in the Great Hall was having the time of their life, laughing and eating. To them, it was just a normal night with nothing out of the ordinary. But for the Gryffindors, it was about to change as Professor McGonagall came over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a lovely 15-year-old girl.
"This is Selina Stella Sun. She is a new student to Hogwarts and has been sorted into our house. I trust you will show her a good time and make her feel comfortable," Hermione nodded seeming to be the only one listening because Ron and Harry were looking curiously at the new girl. She had strait, shocking silver blonde hair a little bit past her shoulders and was dressed in the most peculiar way. Instead of the black dress code for Hogwarts, she wore white robes. Her eyes, though, were the most enchanting part about her. They were bright blue and sparkled mysteriously like stars as if there were millions of secrets locked behind them. She gave the trio a mysterious smile. There was definitely something different about this girl.
Harry awoke that night to a big thud on the floor. He was glad he had woken up, too, for he was having the worst nightmare.
"Owe," by the sound of Ron's voice Harry knew Ron had fallen out of his bed.
"You OK?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," came Ron's voice again, "Hope I didn't wake you up," Harry turned and, his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw Ron rubbing his head.
"I'm glad you did, I was having the worst dream,"
"Yeah? Me too. Hey, how about we go downstairs and talk about it?"
"Sure," Harry agreed.
When they got downstairs, they saw that someone was already there. Hermione was sitting in front of the dying fire with her head in her hands.
"What's wrong, Hermione?"
"Nothing, just a dream," she mumbled through her hands.
"A dream? Like a nightmare?" Hermione nodded.
"Ron and I had a nightmare, too. Mine had that new girl in it. I know this sounds weird, but Vold- uh, You-Know-Who was just about to kill me and she was standing there, letting him!"
"I had that same dream, except he was trying to kill me!" Ron declared. Hermione looked up, shocked.
"Me too... I don't know what's going on here, but I know that that girl has something to do with it,"
The next morning the three friends went downstairs, groggily, for breakfast. As Professor McGonagall headed to the staff table, Hermione stopped her.
"Excuse me a moment, Professor, but I was wondering... About Selina, where is she from?"
The Professor seemed startled but pleased to hear this, "Anchorage, Alaska. Why do you ask?"
"Well, it's just that she hasn't spoken yet and ... What else do you know about her?"
"Why, Miss Granger, you should ask her," McGonagall started to walk off again but Harry caught her.
"You're right, Professor, but as Hermione said, she hasn't spoken yet,"
"Well why don't you find her and strike up a conversation. She's probably just shy," And with that, she left.
"Shy, right," Hermione mumbled
"Maybe McGonagall is right, maybe we should ask her. I mean, why should she get suspicious? We're just making conversation, riiight?" Ron stretched out the 'i' in 'right' and added the slightest bit of coercion to his voice.
"Yeah. Hey, there she is! Selina, we didn't introduce ourselves properly. I'm Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger," To Harry's surprise, Selina's face didn't light up with excitement when she heard the name "Harry Potter." Instead she just smiled her mysterious and mischievous smile and said, "Hello, Harry, Ron, and Hermione," she did have an accent but Harry couldn't place his finger on where it was from. 'Maybe it's an Alaskan accent,' Harry thought.
"Um, so, tell us about yourself," Hermione said, a little nervously.
"Well, I was born in Anchorage, raised in Anchorage, and schooled in Anchorage,"
"Where did you go to school before this?" Ron asked.
"ASW; Alaskan School of Witchcraft. It was an all girls' school. I've heard of your adventures, you three. Like in your first year? That whole thing with the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone. And the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in your second year. You three lead fascinating lives,"
"More than you know- Oof," Ron said as Hermione jabbed him in the stomach.
"Hey look! Potter's got a new girlfriend! Malfoy called from the Slytherin table. Harry ignored him.
"Um, what about family?"
"Only child,"
"Witch or wizard Mum and Dad?"
"Nope,"
"You mean you're muggle born?"
"Oh I wouldn't say that..." just then, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown came over and engaged in conversation with Selina.
"SHE LIED! IT WAS ALL A LIE!" Hermione came screaming to Harry and Ron.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron asked.
"I've been in the library for hours looking to see if there really was an 'ASW' and there isn't one! She lied! She obviously has something to hide!"
"Now, Hermione, aren't you overreacting a little? Maybe she went to another school with a bad reputation and didn't want to tell us. If you came from a school with a reputation worse then Durmstrang, would you want people to know about it? I mean, she seemed nice enough," Harry pointed out.
"Wormtail seemed nice enough to Sirius to put your parents life in Wormtail's hands! And what was that last thing she said? 'I wouldn't say I'm muggle born,' or something like that. What did she mean?"
"Hermione, you're taking this a bit to seriously. Maybe she was embarrassed about being muggle born. All you have to prove that she's evil is a silly dream that we all had," Ron said.
"Dreams can mean a lot, Ron. And I'm muggle born and I'm not ashamed of it,"
"Hermione, that's you, we're talking about her,"
"Yeah, and I thought you didn't believe in all that Trelawney stuff anyway about dreams and seeing the future and stuff,"
Hermione took in a deep breath, "I don't it's just more then once a friend of mine-" she glanced across the room to Lavender, "-has had dreams and they came true! I have proof! Like once, she told me that she had a dream that a black dog started chasing a mouse and then she saw us try and save the mouse. Then, we tried to kill it along with the dog, but it got away! That was in our third year when Sirius was on the loose, and that wasn't the first time!" she defended.
"Let's sleep on it for now, OK, Hermione? You'll feel better in the morning," Harry suggested.
The next morning, Hermione was more rested and had calmed down. So much in fact that she didn't show frustration or give Neville a lecture about being more careful with spells when he asked her to turn Trevor back into a toad instead of a snail that ate flies. It seemed she didn't care about her outburst the night before which was very unusual because she was usually very stubborn about these kinds of things. Harry and Ron decided not to mention it in case she would burst out about it again. Everything was fine until when Harry was on his way to Tansfiguration and was about to turn the corner when he heard Snape's voice.
"Really I don't know why Dumbledore let you in here. You're more trouble then Potter and his friends. You and your kind are all alike! Causing trouble wherever you go. I know that you're here to protect Potter but why is it that you insist on causing havoc while you're at it. Dumbledore will have fun with you, won't he, Miss Sun..."they're voices trailed off. Harry ran all the way to Transfiguration.
"You'll never believe what I just heard!" he told his friends.
"Potter, not in the middle of class thank you. You may have plenty of time when class is over," McGonagall scolded. Harry waited in anticipation to share what he had heard out in the hall. His mind wasn't on his work and so, he turned a rabbit into a fox with bunny ears instead of a black top hat.
"I knew it! I knew it all along!" Hermione voiced following a long moment of silence after Harry told his news in the Gryffindor common room that night, "That girl is evil!"
"If she's evil, why would she be here to protect Harry?" Ron asked as much to himself as to his friends.
"Hmmm, a troublemaking protector? Never heard of that. Hermione, what do you make of it?" Harry said.
"Well, she could be a nymph. They don't protect, but they sure love to goof off... No, I doubt she's a nymph,"
"Then what could she be?" Ron asked what Harry was thinking.
"Why can't she be human?" Hermione asked.
"You heard what Harry said Snape said, 'you and your kind' what else could it mean?"
"Maybe he meant trouble makers,"
Harry had been silent for a long time while Hermione and Ron debated. He thought he should ask Sirius. He'd know.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked, as Harry got up.
"I'm going to write to Sirius,"
Only when Hedwig disappeared from view did the three leave the owlry to go back to the common room. Unfortunately, they met two people they didn't want to meet but the surprising thing was they were laughing and enjoying each other's company.
"Potter!"
"Harry!" Malfoy's voice was angry and full of abhorrence and Selina's was surprised. Ron stifled a laugh despite the situation.
"What are you doing here?" Harry, Hermione, Stella and Malfoy all said together.
"Draco and I were having a pleasant walk and conversation around the campus,"
"Nothing's 'pleasant' about Malfoy," Ron muttered under his breath.
"And what were you doing?" Malfoy asked.
"Sending a letter," Harry replied, truthfully.
"Well then, you three should get back to the common room," Stella said, as calm as could be. And so they left.
"Malfoy? With a Gryffindor? He hates every single person in our house! And not only a Gryffindor, but her!" Ron laughed.
"D'ya think he's finally found a girlfriend?"
"If so, they make a perfect match. Aside from the fact that she's actually kinda beautiful whilst he is repulsive!" Ron couldn't stop laughing. It was Hermione's turn to be silent. They could here her muttering to herself.
"Selina Stella Sun... Blonde... Bright blue eyes... Protector... Why? ... For what? ... Malfoy...Moon star and sun... Moon star and sun... MOON STAR AND SUN! THAT'S IT!" and off she ran to the library leaving a stunned Harry and Ron to stare after her, bewildered.
"Why is it Hermione is always the first one to find these sort of things and never bothers to tell us before she runs off to the library?" Ron asked a week later as Hermione poured through another book.
"That's Hermione for you," Harry responded
"Have you read what Sirius wrote?"
"Yeah, it just says I shouldn't worry about her, not to ask anymore questions about her, and that she's here to help," Harry shook his head, "I don't know Ron..."
The morning passed slowly as Hermione had promised to speak with Ron and Harry at lunch, but as Harry was about to go to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures, he heard a cry from the forbidden forest.
"Hagrid, did you hear that?" Harry asked.
"'Ear what?" Hagrid asked.
"Nothing," Harry said, still looking at the forest. Ron was looking at the forest as well, "Did you hear it Ron?" Ron nodded absentmindedly. As the rest of the class headed for lunch, Harry and Ron lingered. When Hagrid went back into his cabin, the two went strait for the forest.
"Let me go you good-for-nothing RAT!" Harry and Ron could hear a familiar voice call from behind the trees.
"Expeliarmus!" Came another voice. There was the sound of a whoosh and a thud.
"Owe, thanks,"
"I wondered where those two were during class," Ron whispered to Harry. As they came to a clearing, they saw Hermione, standing wand poised at an unarmed Wormtail and Selina getting up off the ground. Hermione turned her head, saw them and gasped. In this brief moment while Hermione was distracted, Wormtail changed into a rat and scurried as fast as he could towards Selina.
"BACK!" she screamed and incredibly, he started walking backwards. Harry and Ron, too were even taking a few steps back. Hermione gave a little giggle and Harry and Ron stopped and looked at her.
"I'm sorry, it's just it's so funny to see it work on you guys,"
"What?!" Harry and Ron had no idea what she was talking about.
"This is not the time nor place for explanations. Selina, he's coming again!" Now Selina stood up and shook her head at the mouse,
"You never learn. Now, I want you to go to your master and- OH!" in the middle of this, a cold hand slid like a serpent around Selina's neck.
"I don't take commands from Starlings,"
Now Ron and Hermione were really backing away from that cold evil voice. Harry, however, stood his ground.
"LET HER GO!" He demanded. Voldemorte stepped into the light with his hand still threateningly around Selina's neck. He smiled.
"Well, well, a two for one," A swarm of Death Eaters stepped out of the darkness behind Voldemorte. The four wanted to run, but they were too deep into the forest. If they did run, it would have been in circles.
"I know now, not to play games," Voldemorte said, "bring me the girl!" Wormtail, human again, proceeded towards Hermione.
"Expeliarmus!" Voldemorte shouted, driving Hermione's wand from her hands. Hermione stared wide-eyed at Wormtail.
"MOVE!" Harry and Ron shouted, but she stood stock-still. Harry pulled up his feet that seemed to have been rooted to the ground and dived at Hermione.
"No!" she screamed, fighting to get back to the place she was.
"Venenumous!" Cried Voldemorte aiming at Harry. He hit Hermione instead and she was thrown across the forest and slammed into a tree, a small stream of blood leaked out under her hairline. Harry turned to Voldemorte with hatred in his eyes.
"What did you do to her?!" he demanded. Voldemorte lifted Selina off the ground and her hands were struggling to loosen the tight grip of his hand, her feet kicking in the air. There was a sizzling sound and Selina screamed.
"Let them go, it's me you want, not her or Hermione or Ron,"
"You know what, you are right. I don't want your stupid friends. However, I have been looking for this one since I knew what a Starling was,"
"What's a Starling?" Harry looked at Ron who could barely shrug he was so terrified. He kept staring at the unconscious form of Hermione.
"'Arry! Ron! "'Ermione! Selina!" they heard a loud voice call. Ron looked up at Harry and his eyes widened, if possible, even more.
"It's Hagrid!" he choked.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" they heard Professor McGonagall cry. Voldemorte looked around uneasily.
"Grab Potter and kill the other one. Leave the girl!" one Death Eater pointed his wand at Ron and three grabbed Harry and forced him over to Voldemorte. The world around Harry blurred and the last thing he heard was Ron's horrible scream. Everything went black.
"NO!" Harry screamed when he woke up and the world became solid again, "You killed him! You killed my best friend!" He tried to reach for his wand but realized it had been taken away from him. He was tied to a tree in a graveyard. Voldemorte's ugly distorted face came into view. Harry looked around. He saw Selina tied to a tree as well. She was already awake and was scowling at Voldemorte. There was a new addition to her appearance. She had a deep red burn on her neck in the shape of a hand. Harry knew it was the scar from when Voldemorte had burned her in the forest.
"You sicko!" was all she could think to say. Voldemorte walked over to Selina with a dagger.
"I need your blood,"
"Are you obsessed with blood and bones?" Harry asked. In his first year, Voldemorte had drunk unicorn blood. In his forth year, he took the bones of his own father and the blood of Harry himself.
"Not in your life!" Selina spat.
"I need the blood of an immortal and what better then a Starling?"
"What is a Starling!?" Harry asked angrily.
"Me," said Selina, "I can control the stars and see the future. My kind and me are what makes the universe work. We are seen as Gods among the centaurs," Selina grinned wickedly, "and not only can I control the stars to read what the future holds, I can bend the rules a bit. Make them turn out the way I want. Make people do what I want them to do. But the stars are only controllable to a certain length. They are alive and they are mischievous. And sometimes, they don't listen to their masters. This was not supposed to happen, but Voldemorte has made sure that it did. I was here to protect you and to change the alignment of the stars if they were not in your favor. To keep you away from him. In that, I have failed,"
"Miserably, might I add. I am so sorry to cut into your meaningful conversation, but I have to kill you know," Voldemorte brought up the dagger and embedded it deeply into Selina's chest. She let out a painful scream and her head rolled and fell on her shoulders. Wormtail came rushing up to his master with a cup of some liquid. He then added Selina's blood to the mixture and handed it to Voldemorte. As Voldemorte reached for the glass, however, Wormtail took it away and dropped it on the ground. It bubbled like acid and then sank into the ground.
"You fool!" Voldemorte cried, "Do you know how difficult it is to get the elixir from a fairy's wing?"
"I'm sorry master, but it wasn't me! I didn't mean to do it," Harry knew it was impossible, but Selina's face now held a grin that hadn't been there before. Voldemorte turned his back to Harry and Selina's arms twitched then she broke free of her bindings all together. She grabbed Wormtail's wand.
"Adnihilo!" she screamed at Wormtail and he fell to the ground, unconscious, "I have demolished his brain. He is in a coma. Mr. Riddle, did you forget that immortals can't die? No Starling will ever die at a dagger to the heart. There is one way alone to kill us and if you think I am going to tell you what that is then you're crazier then the stars read!"
"Asinine Starling! Out of my way!" Voldemorte threw Selina across the yard, "You don't deserve a simple death. You deserve to be tortured! Crucio!" there was not one muscle in Harry's body that didn't feel pain. He began convulsing. The pain was like a hundred knives penetrating the skin all over his body and having a horrible acid-like burning poison being shoved down his throat at the same time. Then the pain stopped. Through his blurred vision since his glasses had fallen off and his eyes were clouded with pain, he could see Selina, staggering to stay up right. She held Voldemorte's wand in her hand. Harry gathered that Selina had used the disarming spell. Unable to stand on her feet any longer, she slumped to the ground. Harry had no idea what was draining her energy, but he didn't know then that she happened to be contacting someone mentally. A woman named Elspeth Gordie that Harry had never met yet. The strain on her mind had been so great that she finally fell unconscious. Voldemorte picked up his wand and pointed it at Harry again.
"No more games," he promised, for the second time that night.
"Avada Ked-"
"EXPELIARMUS!" a male voice cried. Selina was still unconscious. Harry could see no one with his faulty vision. All he knew was that he was suddenly being lifted up into someone's arms and being taken far away from where he was...
Harry awoke in the hospital wing. He found it slightly ironic that at the end of each year he would somehow end up here. His vision was still fuzzy but he reached on the bedside table and found his glasses. He put them on and looked around the room. He saw Hermione, her head bandaged yet still unconscious, but that was all. No one else. No Ron. The drama was over and now Harry could finally grieve for his lost friend. A tear streamed down his face.
"Professor, Harry's awake!" Harry frowned, confused. He looked over at the door. A young redheaded teenage boy was there, grinning at Harry.
"Ron?" Harry asked.
"Harry, we need to know what happened in the cemetery," Dumbledore entered the room.
"What's going on? I thought Ron was... And Hermione! What's wrong with her?"
"All in due time, my boy, in due time," Dumbledore sat next to Harry with Ron by his side.
"Selina will tell you," Harry mumbled, too tired to explain.
"No, actually, she won't. Harry, Selina had left. She said to say goodbye for her and she was positive you would see her again,"
"What about that other man... the one who found me. Why can't he tell you?"
Dumbledore smiled, "Harry, there was no other man," he said, "a black dog found you and returned you to me," Harry sighed. So it had been Sirius.
"I understand. But what happened to Voldemorte?"
"He was alone in the graveyard? No Death Eaters around?"
"No, he was alone. What happened?"
"Selina recovered as you fell unconscious and surprised Voldemorte from behind. He lost his wand to Sirius and was being watched by a Starling. It isn't like Voldemorte to flee, but he did anyway. Even I do not know what he is thinking or planning," Ron had been practically holding his ears for those last few lines. Harry had noticed and gave him an apologetic smile. Ron smiled back. It was good to see him smile again.
"Professor, I must insist you let this poor boy rest!" for once, Harry was glad for Madame Pomfrey's interruption.
"Just give us a few minutes, Poppy," Madame Pomfrey gave Dumbledore a disapproving look but he seemed not to notice, "So Harry, what happened?" and so, much to the dislike of Madame Pomfrey, Harry explained the happenings of the day turned to night.
"I suppose it is Ron's turn to explain," Dumbledore said, looking at Ron.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right. When the Death Eater was going to kill me, I kicked him in the-"
"We don't need it to be that detailed, Ron," Dumbledore smiled.
"Right. Well, I kicked him, anyway and it hurt him so much, he dropped his wand. Then Professor McGonagall showed up and they took care of the rest,"
"What about Hermione?"
"Hermione? Oh..." Ron trailed off.
"What happened?"
"She has a concussion, Harry, and she has blood poisoning," Dumbledore replied.
"How did she get blood poisoning?"
"Well, remember that spell You-Know-Who did? That did it," Ron answered, shifting in his chair, uneasily.
"She won't die from it; it isn't life threatening," Dumbledore reminded him, "And it isn't anything Madame Pomfrey can't fix," Harry nodded, understanding.
"If that is all, I think this child needs sleep!" Madame Pomfrey ushered Ron and Dumbledore to the door.
***
"Where are they?"
"Are they OK?"
"What happened?"
"Was it You-Know-Who" The questions were hard for Ron to answer when he entered the Gryffindor common room. Ginny was crying quietly in the corner. Ron decided it was a good idea to go and cheer his sister.
"It's OK, Ginny," he comforted.
"Are they all right?" she asked. Ron had never seen her this distressed and didn't know why.
"Ginny, what's wrong?"
"It's just that... Oh Ron!" she burst into tears and he put his arms around her, "It was me," she breathed, "it was me," and Ron had no idea what she was talking about. The whole common room was watching the two, now, and Ron didn't like it.
"Don't you have other things to do?" he demanded. And they scattered upstairs at the tone of his voice, "What do you mean, Ginny?"
"Well, it all started with Selina. She told me what she was and she asked me to do her a favor. She... She asked me to tell Hermione to meet her in the forest when you had Care of Magical Creatures. She told me to tell her that Selina was going to tell her everything about herself. And so I did and I was so curious I followed. But Selina knew I was there. She knows everything! She told me to hide and I did. When Hermione came, they had talked for no longer then one minute when he showed up. He found me and he made Hermione save my life. When Hermione was distracted, he grabbed Selina and that was when you came in. It's all my fault!"
Ron was startled. He thought it was more then that, "Harry's fine," was all he said.
"Hermione?" she asked.
"She... Will be fine,"
"Oh now that's my fault too!"
"How can it be your fault?"
"I... Hermione was hiding me. She didn't want to run. When You-Know-Who said 'bring me the girl,' he was talking about me. She was protecting me. I was wearing Selina's invisibility cloak!"
"What?! But he was aiming for Harry!"
"No, he was aiming for me. I was right next to Harry and it looked like he was aiming for him. That was why Hermione was so reluctant to move. It's all my fault!"
"Why was he after you?"
"I was a witness. And Selina said he just didn't like me. I don't know! Do you think it's possible to read peoples' minds?!"
"Oh, Ginny, don't blame yourself!"
"If I hadn't have come..." she muttered, "If I wasn't there, maybe she'd be OK," Ron held his sister close in his arms.
***
"Owe... I hate this! My head still hurts!" Hermione muttered a few weeks later when she had finally awoken.
"Madam Pomfrey was supposed to stop the head aches," Ron said.
"How? With magic?" Hermione asked, doubtfully. Harry nudged Ron.
"She still thinks she's a muggle. Madam Pomfrey didn't want to do anything magically until she realizes she's a witch. And at least she cured the blood poisoning," he whispered.
"Oh. How can she forget five years?" Ron said, still disbelieving.
"I wish I knew!" Hermione declared, "I can barely remember your names!"
"That means she won't remember anything for exams. When she gets her memory back, she's going to be a little mad," Ron said.
"Exams? On what? Math? Science?"
"What? More like Transfiguration, Charms-"
"RON!"
"Sorry! Why can't we just tell her?"
"Because Madam Pomfrey-"
"Since when do you listen to Madam Pomfrey?"
"Who's Madam Pomfrey?"
"Please, Harry, this is annoying! I hated her being a know-it-all but I also hate Hermione not knowing anything at all," Ron frowned in thought, "Did I just say 'Hermione' and 'not knowing anything' in the same sentence? That doesn't sound right,"
Harry smiled, "She'll remember. And when she does, she'll get you for that,"
"You know, it's rude talking about someone in the third person when they're in the room," Hermione looked her old self for a minute with her hands on her hips.
"Her memory's coming back already,"