CHAPTER FOUR
~*~
Past Revealed
Harry sunk into one of the velvet armchairs by the fireplace, his head still facing the porcelain saucers on the wall. He slowly moved his gaze from the plates and stared at the wall in front of him where shards of light danced on it. He continued his gaze, mesmerized by the colors of the light from the setting sun floating in different directions.
"I'll start by talking about my mom." Harry was jerked out of his trance as these words suddenly reached his ears. He fixed his eyes on Selene as she continued, "My mom is a native of England. When she was eleven she began her education in magic at Hogwarts. She was in the same house and year as the Marauders, as she called them." Harry saw her wink in Lupin's direction, who was leaning on the back of the sofa on the other side of the room.
"Her best friend was Lily Potter. My mom was the connection between the boys and the girls because, well, she was accepted by both. She was a tomboy if you will, and was the female Marauder. Always around them and pulling pranks, but she knew when enough was enough. And even though she was one of Remus's closest friends, she didn't find out about his being a werewolf until the end of her seventh year.
"As I said at dinner, after she graduated she went to Auror School in America where she met my dad. My dad made the Sweetwater All Stars as Chaser and dropped out of school. After she graduated from that, they got married and moved to a nice home.
"Soon after I was born, my parents began a small business, I guess. They began helping werewolves, and when I was old enough, I helped them help the werewolves by making potions and painkillers.
"When I was eleven I was accepted into Griffonwings Academy of Magic. In my third year I became Seeker for my house team, Aidanadolfor. We Quidditch players were shunned and hated by the other students."
"How could anyone hate Quidditch?" Ron asked. Harry looked at him out of the corner of his eye as Selene answered.
"They hated Quidditch because in America, most people like Quadpot. I think it's a stupid game, but my classmates were angry at us because our games took up 'valuable Quadpot time.'" As she said this she made gestures with her fingers to mock he importance of Quadpot. "Quadpot is like a game of Hot Potato on brooms. Eleven people throw a ball that'll explode at any moment to each other attempting to get it into a pot at the end of the field. If it explodes in your hands, you're out." The twins exchanged grins.
"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, third year. I mastered Animagism that year; the whole Artemis line has consisted of Animagi."
"Can you show us?" Ginny chirped.
"If I must." She said playfully. Harry watched as Selene transformed into a beautiful white wolf with a black feature circling her neck that ended with a marking shaped like the jewel on her choker. Her grey-blue eyes had stayed with her in her animal form. After leaping back onto her chair she changed back into her teenage girl self.
"You see," she continued, "my third year was my best and worst year. I had mastered Animagism and had gotten onto the Quidditch team, but one night my father's life was changed.
"My father and I were out running during a full moon that summer. It had just stopped raining and the sky was pitch black so we had to smell our way in the dark. We found a werewolf in a clump of bushes and we stopped to approach it. About ten feet away from it we untransformed, and Dad shouted to it, asking if it had taken Wolfsbane. It nodded so my dad and I moved in closer. The clouds decided to part just then, and our faces were illuminated by the moonlight. The werewolf growled and leaped on my dad and bit him. It must have been a Quadpot fan getting his revenge on my father for taking up 'valuable Quadpot time' in the official Quidditch slash Quadpot stadium. I chased off the werewolf and brought my dad home, helping him walk all the way."
"How horrible," said Hermione. Harry then realized that he was gaping and he silently closed his mouth.
"We were able to keep it under control and create some new medications for my father. He was an expert at making potions and often tested his creations on himself to see if it could help our other patients."
"Why'd you come here?" Ron asked stupidly.
"My dad was traded to the Irish team last year, so I was transferred to Hogwarts, and we all decided to move to London because it was a nice city and my father could Apparate his way to Ireland. We all needed a change from the lives we had in America. The ridicule from my class mates had really gotten bad, and it wasn't so easy for us when the press found out about my dad. So, we rented a boat to have our own little adventure on our way to London. Well, we had a bigger adventure than we planned."
Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Here it is, he thought.
Selene let out a long slow sigh and her wispy pranced around in the air. "Voldemort attacked us. He used me as a bargaining tool. He wanted something from my parents, and he killed my father right in front of me as he was trying to disarm Voldemort. I bit his hand to get away from him to prevent the same thing from happening to my mother. She was killed anyway."
Harry could see tears forming in Selene's eyes. Should I tell her about her mom?
"Lily Potter was my godmother. My godfather was killed by a Bludger before my first birthday. Since both of my godparents were dead, my mother appointed Remus as my guardian if anything were to happen. Well, that's my story I guess. Any questions?"
Hermione asked, "Did a relative of yours invent the Wolfsbane potion?"
"Yup. My grandfather invented it."
Harry heard a faint scratching noise coming from upstairs. Selene's eyes grew wide and she jumped up from her chair and ran up the stairs. "Sorry! I'll be right back down!" she shouted as her shoes clunked on the wooden staircase. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. Fred and George exchanged looks and Disapparated. Everyone else left the room. "Harry," Hermione said, "you're hiding something."
"What are you talking about?" Harry motioned to the staircase and Ron nodded. They both took off before Hermione could follow. They ran up the staircase until there were no more flights to go. There was a single door at the end of the hallway that was ajar. Light spilled out of it, and Harry could hear the calls of an animal. They both crept silently to the door.
"I wish we had an extendable ear," Ron said. Harry felt a hand come down on his shoulder and he whipped around pulling out his wand at the same time.
"Relax, mate," Fred said.
"It's only us," said George.
Harry put his wand away and the four boys silently crawled towards the door. Harry peered inside, through the crack, to see Selene holding a box to Buckbeak, the hippogriff's, mouth. A static voice sound came from the box. Harry heard whimpering coming from behind him, and he turned around to see Ron grimacing.
"What is it?" he whispered.
Ron feebly pointed to the door. A spider was slowly crawling down the side of it. Then the hallway filled with light and Harry was momentarily blinded as the door behind him was opened. When Harry's eyes adjusted he found Selene looking down at him.
"If you guys wanted to help all you had to do was ask. Spying doesn't get anything done." She reached out her hand to help Harry up. He took it and straitened himself out meeting her eyes. She smiled and led the boys into the room. It smelled of hay and horse poop, Harry's nose began to itch.
Harry bowed to the magnificent creature standing in the center of the room. Its golden eyes stared at him as it bowed back. The three red-haired boys followed Harry's action and they each received a bow from the hippogriff.
"Buckbeak misses Sirius," Selene said to them.
"How can you tell?" asked Ron.
"He told me through this." She held up the purple thing; it looked like a speaker box close up.
"What is that?" Harry asked.
"This is called a Doolittle. You know the story, the man that could talk to the animals? He was a great wizard. He invented this so that wizards and witches without his gift could converse with our fellow animals.
"He's also hungry." Selene said, changing the subject back to Buckbeak. "Can someone bring up some leftovers?"
"I'll get it!" George said. He winked at Selene and left with a pop. Selene smiled. She yawned and pressed her palms to her eyes.
"An hour of sleep isn't the healthiest thing the world." She casually leaned on Buckbeak and scratched his head. "You need to be groomed. Can someone grab me that bucket in the corner? Sorry for being so lazy."
"I'll get it!" Fred said, as he copied his twin brother's gestures. "It's no problem at all." He ran to the corner, snatched the bucket and nearly skipped back over to Selene.
"Thank you, Fred," she said as she calmly took the bucket from his hands.
"How'd you know I was Fred?"
"You have more freckles than George, and George has darker hair." Another pop sounded and George appeared holding a plate of scraps. His hair really is a darker shade of red, Harry thought.
"How'd you see that?" Ron asked. "I'm their brother and I never saw that before."
"I dunno, I just noticed it." She took a rubber comb from the bucket and made circular motions on Buckbeak's fur, sending dust and dead hair into the air. Harry shuffled over to her and pulled a second rubber comb out of the bucket, and copied what she was doing on the Buckbeak's other side. The dust made Harry choke and he began to cough.
Selene let out a small giggle and tossed the rubber tool back into the bucket at Buckbeak's hind foot. Harry looked to his left to see Ron, Fred, and George tossing pieces of food at Buckbeak, who would snatch it in its beak and swallow the scrap whole. Harry started to walk behind Buckbeak to the other side, but Selene stopped him. "You have to put your hand on him while you're walking around so that he knows he's behind you."
Harry obediently put his hand on the soft grey fur and walked to Selene. "Why did I have to do that?"
"Because if he hears something behind him and gets spooked, he'd kick, and you don't want to be kicked by any of these guys." Selene bent over and handed Harry a coarse brush. He carefully walked around back to his side and began flicking his wrist just like Selene, sending even more dust into the air.
The food ran out and Harry and Selene both put away the brushes. Buckbeak started to squawk happily. Selene held the Doolittle to his beak and a fuzzy voice came through the speaker, "Thank you! I'm very happy now. I'll always miss the black dog though." Selene patted Buckbeak's silver feathered head and led them out of the room into the dark hallway. They walked down the stairs and each went to their own rooms.
"Good night, guys," Selene said as she walked to the very last door on their level and slipped quietly inside.
Harry could hear Ginny and Hermione talking excitedly through the door leading to their room. "Won't she get in trouble?" he heard Ginny ask. Then the floorboard beneath his foot squeaked and the girls fell silent. Harry silently dashed to his rooms and shut the door quickly behind him. The lights turned on. The ebon hissed in its cage. Hedwig hooted to quiet the black bird.
Harry walked over to his bed and took off his shirt. He threw it on the floor and sat on his bed, he did not feel like putting on his pajamas tonight. He noticed a card on his pillow. There was handwriting not familiar to Harry on it.
Welcome home, Harry.
It wasn't Sirius's writing, or Mrs. Weasley's. Selene must have written this, he thought. Harry placed it gently on his dresser and crawled into bed; it was warm and welcoming. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind but he couldn't. He laid there for hours as it seemed staring at the ceiling. He whispered, "Lights off please," to the ceiling, and it immediately obeyed. A few minutes later, Harry drifted off to sleep.
Harry dreamed of two huge grey-blue eyes crying and floating in a white mist. In the reflection of the tears, Harry saw the silhouettes of human bodies lying on the ground. All around him a bought of dark laughter began. A chill ran down his spine. He reached out to wipe away the tears from the eyes, but he was jerked out of his dream by the pain in his hand. Harry looked around, and on the floor was the ebon in its ruby cage. It was squawking and biting at the bars madly.
Harry said, "Lights on." He picked up the cage and placed it on his dresser; he then began to rummage through his trunk to see if any of the rope he had used was in there. To his luck he found some and he tied it to the topmost bar of the cage. He made a loop with the twine and hung it from the hook that had appeared on the wall.
Harry sat down on his bed again. Suddenly, a muffled noise reached Harry's ear; it sounded as if some one was crying. Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and crept out of the room. A strip of light lay upon the floor leading to Selene's room. The sound got louder and angry shouts reached him. "Why'd he have to kill them?! Why did he have to leave me all alone!? What did I do!? What if I didn't receive them after they died!? Who would he have killed then!?" Harry heard a crash of glass against the wall. He pulled the door open to see Selene pound her fists on the back wall. Her back was toward him, and he stared as she slid to the floor, her head pressed against the wall. She curled herself into a ball and held her head in her bloody hands.
Harry took a step forward, the floorboard creaked, Selene's head snapped up. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, running lines through the spots of blood her hands had left behind. She sniffed and wiped the edge of her eyes with her forefingers. "Sorry," she said in a raspy voice. "I didn't mean to wake you if-"
"You didn't wake me," Harry interrupted, "My ebon's cage practically broke my hand when it fell off the dresser." Harry could see this wasn't comforting her and he grabbed the box of tissues residing on the bedside table. "Here." He walked over to and sat down next to her. He presented the tissues to her and she took one and wiped her face. Harry took her hands and started to rub the blood off. Selene flinched as the tissue ripped. Harry squinted and found a piece of glass sticking out of her palm. He pinched the shard with his thumb and index finger and slowly pulled it out of her hand.
"What happened?"
"I had a nightmare. I have absolutely no idea what happened to my mom, and I think the thought is haunting me." Selene looked up from her hand and into Harry's eyes. His mind flashed back to his dream as another tear spilled over her lid. He looked away. "I know it's been only a day, but I'm so angry and scared. I grabbed that glass cup," she pointed to the pile of glass in the corner of the room, "and I smashed it. I needed to take my anger out on something. Why did he have to kill my parents?"
"All things happen for a reason," he answered as he stared into space. "Selene," he turned his head to face her, How do I tell her? How about we get her off the floor first? "Here, let's sit on the bed." Harry got up and helped Selene to her feet. They walked over to the bed together and simultaneously sat on the bed. Selene snatched another tissue and put it on the spot where the glass had been; she applied pressure.
"There's something I have to tell you."
"Yes?"
"I saw your mother die."
"How? How could you have been there?"
Harry sighed, Even more explaining than I thought. "Ever since Voldemort was reborn, his emotions and mine have been connected. Sometimes, I can see what he's doing, when he's doing it, in my dreams. I don't plan for it to happen, it just does if I don't clear my head before I go to sleep. I think he can see what I see too, so if he likes what he sees I'm suddenly happy, otherwise I'm extremely angry, and it's only like this with these two emotions."
"Talk about your invasion of privacy," Selene said, letting out a small choked laugh. Harry grinned with her, and then his face grew sad again.
"Your mother committed suicide."
Selene looked at Harry. "What?"
"After you bit Voldemort, your mother was brought before him. He asked her something about living as long as the moon and threatened your life, she said, 'Be the moon' and she said that you would never be found. She killed herself before Voldemort could say anything else."
Selene lowered her head, and stared at the tissue that was becoming red with her blood. "I can still taste his blood," she whispered. "It was ice- cold and it tasted like-"
She stopped. Harry looked in her direction; the cage containing the ebon was rolling into her room. "Death," she breathed.
~*~
Past Revealed
Harry sunk into one of the velvet armchairs by the fireplace, his head still facing the porcelain saucers on the wall. He slowly moved his gaze from the plates and stared at the wall in front of him where shards of light danced on it. He continued his gaze, mesmerized by the colors of the light from the setting sun floating in different directions.
"I'll start by talking about my mom." Harry was jerked out of his trance as these words suddenly reached his ears. He fixed his eyes on Selene as she continued, "My mom is a native of England. When she was eleven she began her education in magic at Hogwarts. She was in the same house and year as the Marauders, as she called them." Harry saw her wink in Lupin's direction, who was leaning on the back of the sofa on the other side of the room.
"Her best friend was Lily Potter. My mom was the connection between the boys and the girls because, well, she was accepted by both. She was a tomboy if you will, and was the female Marauder. Always around them and pulling pranks, but she knew when enough was enough. And even though she was one of Remus's closest friends, she didn't find out about his being a werewolf until the end of her seventh year.
"As I said at dinner, after she graduated she went to Auror School in America where she met my dad. My dad made the Sweetwater All Stars as Chaser and dropped out of school. After she graduated from that, they got married and moved to a nice home.
"Soon after I was born, my parents began a small business, I guess. They began helping werewolves, and when I was old enough, I helped them help the werewolves by making potions and painkillers.
"When I was eleven I was accepted into Griffonwings Academy of Magic. In my third year I became Seeker for my house team, Aidanadolfor. We Quidditch players were shunned and hated by the other students."
"How could anyone hate Quidditch?" Ron asked. Harry looked at him out of the corner of his eye as Selene answered.
"They hated Quidditch because in America, most people like Quadpot. I think it's a stupid game, but my classmates were angry at us because our games took up 'valuable Quadpot time.'" As she said this she made gestures with her fingers to mock he importance of Quadpot. "Quadpot is like a game of Hot Potato on brooms. Eleven people throw a ball that'll explode at any moment to each other attempting to get it into a pot at the end of the field. If it explodes in your hands, you're out." The twins exchanged grins.
"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, third year. I mastered Animagism that year; the whole Artemis line has consisted of Animagi."
"Can you show us?" Ginny chirped.
"If I must." She said playfully. Harry watched as Selene transformed into a beautiful white wolf with a black feature circling her neck that ended with a marking shaped like the jewel on her choker. Her grey-blue eyes had stayed with her in her animal form. After leaping back onto her chair she changed back into her teenage girl self.
"You see," she continued, "my third year was my best and worst year. I had mastered Animagism and had gotten onto the Quidditch team, but one night my father's life was changed.
"My father and I were out running during a full moon that summer. It had just stopped raining and the sky was pitch black so we had to smell our way in the dark. We found a werewolf in a clump of bushes and we stopped to approach it. About ten feet away from it we untransformed, and Dad shouted to it, asking if it had taken Wolfsbane. It nodded so my dad and I moved in closer. The clouds decided to part just then, and our faces were illuminated by the moonlight. The werewolf growled and leaped on my dad and bit him. It must have been a Quadpot fan getting his revenge on my father for taking up 'valuable Quadpot time' in the official Quidditch slash Quadpot stadium. I chased off the werewolf and brought my dad home, helping him walk all the way."
"How horrible," said Hermione. Harry then realized that he was gaping and he silently closed his mouth.
"We were able to keep it under control and create some new medications for my father. He was an expert at making potions and often tested his creations on himself to see if it could help our other patients."
"Why'd you come here?" Ron asked stupidly.
"My dad was traded to the Irish team last year, so I was transferred to Hogwarts, and we all decided to move to London because it was a nice city and my father could Apparate his way to Ireland. We all needed a change from the lives we had in America. The ridicule from my class mates had really gotten bad, and it wasn't so easy for us when the press found out about my dad. So, we rented a boat to have our own little adventure on our way to London. Well, we had a bigger adventure than we planned."
Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Here it is, he thought.
Selene let out a long slow sigh and her wispy pranced around in the air. "Voldemort attacked us. He used me as a bargaining tool. He wanted something from my parents, and he killed my father right in front of me as he was trying to disarm Voldemort. I bit his hand to get away from him to prevent the same thing from happening to my mother. She was killed anyway."
Harry could see tears forming in Selene's eyes. Should I tell her about her mom?
"Lily Potter was my godmother. My godfather was killed by a Bludger before my first birthday. Since both of my godparents were dead, my mother appointed Remus as my guardian if anything were to happen. Well, that's my story I guess. Any questions?"
Hermione asked, "Did a relative of yours invent the Wolfsbane potion?"
"Yup. My grandfather invented it."
Harry heard a faint scratching noise coming from upstairs. Selene's eyes grew wide and she jumped up from her chair and ran up the stairs. "Sorry! I'll be right back down!" she shouted as her shoes clunked on the wooden staircase. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. Fred and George exchanged looks and Disapparated. Everyone else left the room. "Harry," Hermione said, "you're hiding something."
"What are you talking about?" Harry motioned to the staircase and Ron nodded. They both took off before Hermione could follow. They ran up the staircase until there were no more flights to go. There was a single door at the end of the hallway that was ajar. Light spilled out of it, and Harry could hear the calls of an animal. They both crept silently to the door.
"I wish we had an extendable ear," Ron said. Harry felt a hand come down on his shoulder and he whipped around pulling out his wand at the same time.
"Relax, mate," Fred said.
"It's only us," said George.
Harry put his wand away and the four boys silently crawled towards the door. Harry peered inside, through the crack, to see Selene holding a box to Buckbeak, the hippogriff's, mouth. A static voice sound came from the box. Harry heard whimpering coming from behind him, and he turned around to see Ron grimacing.
"What is it?" he whispered.
Ron feebly pointed to the door. A spider was slowly crawling down the side of it. Then the hallway filled with light and Harry was momentarily blinded as the door behind him was opened. When Harry's eyes adjusted he found Selene looking down at him.
"If you guys wanted to help all you had to do was ask. Spying doesn't get anything done." She reached out her hand to help Harry up. He took it and straitened himself out meeting her eyes. She smiled and led the boys into the room. It smelled of hay and horse poop, Harry's nose began to itch.
Harry bowed to the magnificent creature standing in the center of the room. Its golden eyes stared at him as it bowed back. The three red-haired boys followed Harry's action and they each received a bow from the hippogriff.
"Buckbeak misses Sirius," Selene said to them.
"How can you tell?" asked Ron.
"He told me through this." She held up the purple thing; it looked like a speaker box close up.
"What is that?" Harry asked.
"This is called a Doolittle. You know the story, the man that could talk to the animals? He was a great wizard. He invented this so that wizards and witches without his gift could converse with our fellow animals.
"He's also hungry." Selene said, changing the subject back to Buckbeak. "Can someone bring up some leftovers?"
"I'll get it!" George said. He winked at Selene and left with a pop. Selene smiled. She yawned and pressed her palms to her eyes.
"An hour of sleep isn't the healthiest thing the world." She casually leaned on Buckbeak and scratched his head. "You need to be groomed. Can someone grab me that bucket in the corner? Sorry for being so lazy."
"I'll get it!" Fred said, as he copied his twin brother's gestures. "It's no problem at all." He ran to the corner, snatched the bucket and nearly skipped back over to Selene.
"Thank you, Fred," she said as she calmly took the bucket from his hands.
"How'd you know I was Fred?"
"You have more freckles than George, and George has darker hair." Another pop sounded and George appeared holding a plate of scraps. His hair really is a darker shade of red, Harry thought.
"How'd you see that?" Ron asked. "I'm their brother and I never saw that before."
"I dunno, I just noticed it." She took a rubber comb from the bucket and made circular motions on Buckbeak's fur, sending dust and dead hair into the air. Harry shuffled over to her and pulled a second rubber comb out of the bucket, and copied what she was doing on the Buckbeak's other side. The dust made Harry choke and he began to cough.
Selene let out a small giggle and tossed the rubber tool back into the bucket at Buckbeak's hind foot. Harry looked to his left to see Ron, Fred, and George tossing pieces of food at Buckbeak, who would snatch it in its beak and swallow the scrap whole. Harry started to walk behind Buckbeak to the other side, but Selene stopped him. "You have to put your hand on him while you're walking around so that he knows he's behind you."
Harry obediently put his hand on the soft grey fur and walked to Selene. "Why did I have to do that?"
"Because if he hears something behind him and gets spooked, he'd kick, and you don't want to be kicked by any of these guys." Selene bent over and handed Harry a coarse brush. He carefully walked around back to his side and began flicking his wrist just like Selene, sending even more dust into the air.
The food ran out and Harry and Selene both put away the brushes. Buckbeak started to squawk happily. Selene held the Doolittle to his beak and a fuzzy voice came through the speaker, "Thank you! I'm very happy now. I'll always miss the black dog though." Selene patted Buckbeak's silver feathered head and led them out of the room into the dark hallway. They walked down the stairs and each went to their own rooms.
"Good night, guys," Selene said as she walked to the very last door on their level and slipped quietly inside.
Harry could hear Ginny and Hermione talking excitedly through the door leading to their room. "Won't she get in trouble?" he heard Ginny ask. Then the floorboard beneath his foot squeaked and the girls fell silent. Harry silently dashed to his rooms and shut the door quickly behind him. The lights turned on. The ebon hissed in its cage. Hedwig hooted to quiet the black bird.
Harry walked over to his bed and took off his shirt. He threw it on the floor and sat on his bed, he did not feel like putting on his pajamas tonight. He noticed a card on his pillow. There was handwriting not familiar to Harry on it.
Welcome home, Harry.
It wasn't Sirius's writing, or Mrs. Weasley's. Selene must have written this, he thought. Harry placed it gently on his dresser and crawled into bed; it was warm and welcoming. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind but he couldn't. He laid there for hours as it seemed staring at the ceiling. He whispered, "Lights off please," to the ceiling, and it immediately obeyed. A few minutes later, Harry drifted off to sleep.
Harry dreamed of two huge grey-blue eyes crying and floating in a white mist. In the reflection of the tears, Harry saw the silhouettes of human bodies lying on the ground. All around him a bought of dark laughter began. A chill ran down his spine. He reached out to wipe away the tears from the eyes, but he was jerked out of his dream by the pain in his hand. Harry looked around, and on the floor was the ebon in its ruby cage. It was squawking and biting at the bars madly.
Harry said, "Lights on." He picked up the cage and placed it on his dresser; he then began to rummage through his trunk to see if any of the rope he had used was in there. To his luck he found some and he tied it to the topmost bar of the cage. He made a loop with the twine and hung it from the hook that had appeared on the wall.
Harry sat down on his bed again. Suddenly, a muffled noise reached Harry's ear; it sounded as if some one was crying. Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and crept out of the room. A strip of light lay upon the floor leading to Selene's room. The sound got louder and angry shouts reached him. "Why'd he have to kill them?! Why did he have to leave me all alone!? What did I do!? What if I didn't receive them after they died!? Who would he have killed then!?" Harry heard a crash of glass against the wall. He pulled the door open to see Selene pound her fists on the back wall. Her back was toward him, and he stared as she slid to the floor, her head pressed against the wall. She curled herself into a ball and held her head in her bloody hands.
Harry took a step forward, the floorboard creaked, Selene's head snapped up. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, running lines through the spots of blood her hands had left behind. She sniffed and wiped the edge of her eyes with her forefingers. "Sorry," she said in a raspy voice. "I didn't mean to wake you if-"
"You didn't wake me," Harry interrupted, "My ebon's cage practically broke my hand when it fell off the dresser." Harry could see this wasn't comforting her and he grabbed the box of tissues residing on the bedside table. "Here." He walked over to and sat down next to her. He presented the tissues to her and she took one and wiped her face. Harry took her hands and started to rub the blood off. Selene flinched as the tissue ripped. Harry squinted and found a piece of glass sticking out of her palm. He pinched the shard with his thumb and index finger and slowly pulled it out of her hand.
"What happened?"
"I had a nightmare. I have absolutely no idea what happened to my mom, and I think the thought is haunting me." Selene looked up from her hand and into Harry's eyes. His mind flashed back to his dream as another tear spilled over her lid. He looked away. "I know it's been only a day, but I'm so angry and scared. I grabbed that glass cup," she pointed to the pile of glass in the corner of the room, "and I smashed it. I needed to take my anger out on something. Why did he have to kill my parents?"
"All things happen for a reason," he answered as he stared into space. "Selene," he turned his head to face her, How do I tell her? How about we get her off the floor first? "Here, let's sit on the bed." Harry got up and helped Selene to her feet. They walked over to the bed together and simultaneously sat on the bed. Selene snatched another tissue and put it on the spot where the glass had been; she applied pressure.
"There's something I have to tell you."
"Yes?"
"I saw your mother die."
"How? How could you have been there?"
Harry sighed, Even more explaining than I thought. "Ever since Voldemort was reborn, his emotions and mine have been connected. Sometimes, I can see what he's doing, when he's doing it, in my dreams. I don't plan for it to happen, it just does if I don't clear my head before I go to sleep. I think he can see what I see too, so if he likes what he sees I'm suddenly happy, otherwise I'm extremely angry, and it's only like this with these two emotions."
"Talk about your invasion of privacy," Selene said, letting out a small choked laugh. Harry grinned with her, and then his face grew sad again.
"Your mother committed suicide."
Selene looked at Harry. "What?"
"After you bit Voldemort, your mother was brought before him. He asked her something about living as long as the moon and threatened your life, she said, 'Be the moon' and she said that you would never be found. She killed herself before Voldemort could say anything else."
Selene lowered her head, and stared at the tissue that was becoming red with her blood. "I can still taste his blood," she whispered. "It was ice- cold and it tasted like-"
She stopped. Harry looked in her direction; the cage containing the ebon was rolling into her room. "Death," she breathed.