Author's notes: Yay! I'm finally updating again! Sorry for the longer
than usual delay, like I said in the last chapter- I went to Italy, and was
away for a total of 12 days. Then, after that, I was one of the lucky ones
who got the "trip to Italy curse" (at least 3 of us got a bad cold upon
return), so I was struggling with that (finally basically got rid of it
last night). And then my mom's on holidays, so I've been putting up with
my siblings who are being more annoying than usual, if that's possible
(which it seems it is). Anyhoo, on with the chapter, and don't' forget to
review! (Please! I beg you!)
-An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin: Lol, once again you're my only reviewer-
thanks! Lol, you love you, I love you..in a non-sexual way that is.
Anyways- you love Selina, huh? She'll be happy to know that, but Eric
might be jelous..or mad..we all know Eric. Anyways- enjoy (now that I've
updated, lol)

Chapter 22: Selina's Quest

Selina spent the next few days doing research in the library. Nobody knew
exactly what she was up to, but they assumed that it was for the good and
did not question her. Everyone, that is, but Kevin. He was quite curious
as to why Selina was suddenly spending so much time in the library, and
watched her every day. He kept himself hidden of course, but searched
through every book she used, trying to find out what she was looking for.

After a few days of this, Kevin got his answer. He caught sight of
Selina frantically writing something down, then running off and abandoning
the book she had been using. Kevin immediately looked at the abandoned
book, which was still open to the page Selina had been using, and was quite
shocked at what she found. He quickly hurried off after her.

Selina, on the other hand, was headed deep into the Forbidden Forrest. She
stopped and spun around when she heard a twig snap behind her.
"Kevin! What are you doing here?" She asked in shock, as she found that
he was following her.
"I've been watching you, and I came to help." Kevin replied honestly.
"You've been watching me? How dare you!" Selina exclaimed, not entirely
herself.
"Look, I'm sorry. I just wanted to see what you were up to. Who is this
vampire that you're trying to change back?" Kevin asked.
Selina completely lost control of herself and slapped him. "It's me you
idiot! And if you don't back off and leave me alone, I'll bite you, then
you'll be in the same situation!"
Kevin looked quite hurt and turned to leave.
"I was only trying to help." He muttered.
Selina felt terrible.
"Kevin! Wait! I'm sorry. It's the vampirism talking, not me. I didn't
take the potion to keep me normal this morning, and am acting like this as
a result. Please don't go." She said with tears in her eyes.
Kevin came back and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.
"There there, it'll be alright. You're just going through a tough time
right now." He said, trying to calm her.

"Well well well, so there really is someone else in your life. And I
thought Eric was just being paranoid." Isidora's voice came from the trees
just behind them.
"What are you doing here?" Selina asked, gently pulling away from Kevin.
"Well, I figured you'd be trying to get the last ingredient to make the
potion to change yourself back, so I came to stop you. But now it seems I
must stop you from doing more than just that." Isidora replied, showing
herself.
"You can't stop me from doing anything!" Selina shouted, reaching down to
grab the plant that she needed.
Isidora grabbed Kevin and held him tightly.
"Don't you dare! If you do, I'll kill him, and put the blame on you!" She
threatened.
"You wouldn't dare!" Kevin exclaimed.
"Wouldn't I?" Isidora grinned.
"You'd never do that to a family member, would you...Isidora?" Kevin said
with a slight smile.
"How do you know who I am?" Isidora asked in shock, loosening her grip a
little.
"Just because you ran away when you were ten doesn't mean we've all
forgotten you. But you've obviously forgotten us." Kevin replied.
"Kevin?" Isidora asked in surprise, figuring out what he meant.
"Or perhaps you haven't. Nice to see you again, sis." Kevin replied.
"Oh be quiet! You're no longer family, so I don't care. I'll kill you if
she doesn't' stop." Isidora said, tightening her grip again and
positioning herself to bite him, showing Selina how serious she was.
"Selina, just save yourself, don't worry about me." Kevin said.

Selina had taken some of the plant and tucked it into her pocket
unnoticed while Isidora and Kevin had been talking. She now stood up and
made it seem as if she was abandoning the plant.
"No, my life wouldn't be worth living without you around. Let him go."
She said.
Isidora eyed her suspiciously. "Why so anxious to save him?"
"Because I couldn't live without him." Selina replied.
Isidora immediately released Kevin and went over to Selina, her eyes
glowing.
"How dare you speak like that!" She shouted, slapping Selina across the
face. "How dare you betray Eric! He is your fiancé! Does that mean
nothing?"
"Isidora, stop!" Kevin shouted.
"Kevin, just stay out of it. She's right, and I deserved that." Selina
said with a slightly saddened look on her face.
"Selina, what's happened to you? The Selina I knew was never like this,
she was a lot stronger mentally. Has Eric changed you so much?" Kevin
asked.
Selina remained silent and hung her head, knowing what he said was true.
"Kevin, just leave her alone, you can't be with her anymore- she's
practically a married woman. Come on Selina, it's getting late." Isidora
said, pulling Selina away.
Selina looked back at Kevin longingly, but allowed herself to be pulled
away, knowing there was nothing she could do. Kevin waited a few moments,
then followed them out of the forest at a distance, more determined than
ever to get Selina back.

That night, Selina stayed up rather late making the potion to change
herself back, wanting to finish it before Isidora found out that she had
taken some of the plant after all. The potion making went faster then she
had expected, and was finished by midnight. When the potion was cool
enough to drink, Selina drank it, then went to bed and hoped for the best.

At ten o'clock the next morning, Eric returned to Hogwarts and found Selina
to be fast asleep. He smiled to himself at the sight of her, then gently
shook her awake.
"Selina dear, I'm back."
Selina rolled over and opened her eyes.
"Eric? But how?" She asked tiredly, wondering if this was a dream.
"The courts ruled that I did nothing to your child as it wasn't born when
it died, and, therefore, it wasn't a child yet." Eric replied.
"That's very true too. Oh, it's wonderful to see you again." Selina said,
not entirely telling the truth, but not yet lying either.
"And look at you! You've even cot your colour back." Eric said, placing
his hands on her cheeks. "Isidora certainly did a good job."

"Actually, she did that on her own...with a little help from Kevin that is."
Isidora said with a smirk from the doorway, suddenly making her presence
known. She had been there for quite a while, but decided to let Selina and
Eric have their time together until the time was right.
"What do you mean?" Eric asked.
"She made the potion. Kevin helped her to get the last ingredient by
distracting me while she got it. You know which potion I mean." Isidora
replied, quite enjoying the change of expression on Selina's face as it
went from happy to worried.
Eric was silent for a few moments, but his anger was quite apparent in his
eyes.
"All the more reason to kill him then." He said calmly. "Thank you for
your help, Isidora. I'll come and visit you soon to properly thank you, as
will Selina." He finished, leaving the room in a rush.
Isidora smirked at Selina, then left as well to return home.

The truth in what Eric had said slowly sank into Selina, and she
immediately took off after Eric when it dawned on her as to what he was
about to do.

She found him cornering Kevin in a nearby hallway.
"You're never going to have the chance to get near her again!" She heard
him shout.
"Eric, no!" She called out, running over to him.
"Selina, just stay out of this- he's no longer your problem." Eric
replied, not taking his eyes off Kevin.
Selina turned him towards her and looked up into his eyes. "Please don't.
I love you, not him. That's always how it's been- I don't know why I even
left you to begin with. Don't make a murderer of yourself just because of
him- he's not worth it."
Eric pulled her into a hug. "You certainly know how to work my heart. All
right, I won't. But only because your eyes show that you speak the truth."

Kevin looked completely heartbroken and ran off with tears in his
eyes. Selina saw this from over Eric's shoulder and felt awful. She
hadn't meant a word of what she said, yet Kevin had believed every word.
She had only been trying to save his life. She silently cursed herself for
being too good a liar.

"Why did you take that potion?" Eric suddenly asked.
"I just couldn't stand that life anymore." Selina replied honestly.
"Well, I suppose it's alright. It's too late now, and I know what you
mean. There are days when I wish I didn't have this life anymore. But
that doesn't matter now. You're all mine now, and always will be, and
that's all that will ever matter." Eric said greedily.
Selina forced herself to ignore his last comment.
"There's some of the potion left if you'd like it." She said.
"Hmm...perhaps that's not such a bad idea. We can be the same again." Eric
said.
"Alright, let's go then." Selina said, leading him back to their room.

When they arrived, Selina gave the rest of the potion to Eric.
"The book recommended getting some sleep after taking it so as to only have
minimal pain. It defiantly worked for me." She said. "I plan on taking a
nap anyway, as I'm still tired due to my rude awakening this morning" She
said with a playful smile.
"Well, perhaps I should join you as punishment then. A decent sleep
couldn't' hurt, being as I didn't' get much of any kind of sleep in
Azkaban." Eric replied.
"I still feel bad about that." Selina said.
"Don't. If anything you should feel good for giving me hope when you
visited." Eric said.
Selina smiled a little.
"And you know what? All the other prisoners from the nearby cells kept
telling me how lucky I was to have someone as beautiful and caring as you.
None of them got a letter, let alone a visitor like you." Eric continued.
Selina was now blushing a rather deep red.
Eric laughed. "That's a nice colour on you, but I suppose we should get
this over with, huh?"
Selina nodded and let out a slight yawn. "I'm going for that nap now."
She said, crawling into bed and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the
pillow.
Eric smiled and drank the potion, then crawled into bed beside her. He put
his arm around her and soon fell asleep as well.

Another author's note: Aww...such a touching chapter. Well, not really- it's
actually pretty sad, don't you think? Anyway, I just realised that this
chapter is slightly longer than the usual one (just over 3 pages..longer
once I finish this and my review replies), so I hope that makes up for the
delay (lol, yes I know Jamie (did I get that right this time?) NOTHING
could make up for that delay, right?). Haha, I also just realised that I
used quite a few examples of..uhm...what's that English term again? Not
alliteration...no, with – I think it is alliteration (an example from the
story would be "...said slowly sank into Selina..."). Lol, anyways- don't
forget to review!