CHAPTER 17
All of the Order wasn't there; but Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Tonks, Moody, Hermione and the Weasleys were.
"Bloody hell mate! Four times in one week!" Ron exclaimed as Harry and Remus entered. When Selena came in, all the Order members jumped out of their seats, wands pointed at her.
"What did you do now, Potter?" Snape hissed. As Harry opened his mouth to reply, Selena put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I will explain," she said quietly, and took a step forward.
Not even blinking at the nine wands pointed at her chest, Selena whipped out her own wand and tossed it to Moody in one movement. The grizzled auror caught it, and then she disarmed herself further.
She dropped five concealed knives onto the table, and set several potion-filled vials on the table also. "Careful with those," she said as Dumbledore picked them up. He nodded and handed the bottles to Snape for inspection. The last thing she set on the table was a second, holstered wand. As Tonks picked it up and began to take it out, Selena reached for it, "Don't-" she began, but Tonks kept pulling. Luckily, Dumbledore snatched the holster from Tonk's grip before she could completely take it out; Harry assumed there was an alarm or trap set on it incase it was stolen. "Anything else?" Moody growled, magical eye whizzing over everything.
Selena looked at her possessions, "Hmmm… ah, bag." She pulled out a deck of cards from her robe pocket, and touched a finger to the lid, causing it to transform back into her duffle. "That is everything," she said in a bland voice.
"What, no pets?" Remus joked, though none of the Order had lowered their wands.
She raised an eyebrow, "I hate pets, you should know that by now."
"What's your business," Moody growled, "Your name, and how the hell'd you get here?"
She crossed her arms, "Visiting; Epans; and Harry Potter—respectively."
"Epans?" Bill repeated, she nodded. "Not one I know, anyone else?"
Hermione raised a timid hand, "Yes Ms. Granger?" McGonagall said.
"Well, during last summer, I'd gotten a few letters from Victor Krum; he mentioned his potions teacher at Durmstrang was called Epans." She said, blushing as Ron looked at her.
"Victor was a good student," Selena commented, "Better at spells than potions I'm afraid."
Snape looked at her carefully, "What is the third requirement of the masters' exam?" he asked.
She raised an eyebrow, "There are only two—the third is optional."
He nodded, "What is your first name?"
She thoughtfully tapped her chin, "What was it again?" she muttered; earning several wary looks "Ah yes—'Only one color but not one size, stuck at the bottom yet easily flies. Present in sun, but not in rain; doing no harm, and feeling no pain."
"What in the name of Merlin is that supposed to mean?" Moody growled, all the others were thinking the same thing—except Snape.
He'd taken a step back and lowered his wand, surprise and doubt was written all over his face. "Severus," Selena greeted, a crooked smile on her face.
Charlie caught the vials as Snape dropped them. "Selena?" Snape whispered.
She nodded, and Harry noticed the mischievous gleam he'd seen in the picture of her family, return to her eyes; she looked much like she had then.
With a grin, Selena offered a hand. Snape braced himself, then hesitantly took it after saying, "Watch out," to Remus. Lupin moved out of the way as Selena sent her brother flying over her. To everyone's surprise, Snape was doing something no one had lived to tell about since his third year—Severus Snape was laughing.
Selena joined in the laughter and caught Snape with one arm to keep him from crashing into the other room. She hugged her twin, oblivious to the stares the others were giving them—Harry and Remus included. "You still can't reverse it," she teased, releasing him.
"And you are still predictable," Snape retorted, a smile appearing on his face for the first time in many years.
She smiled back, and the others were visibly startled at the similarity between the two. Selena was two inches shorter than Snape's near-six feet, and wasn't as pale, but they both shared the same build, mouth and jaw. Their speech was even similar; precise in tone and words. "I honestly didn't think I would see you again," she told her brother quietly, then made a face when she had to tilt her head up a tiny bit to meet Snape's eyes. "Who's the short one now?" he asked, noticing her reaction. Selena sneered at her brother, though her heart wasn't in it, and Harry noticed it was the same sneer as Snape's.
Ron also noticed this, because he jerked back in his chair with a "Whoa!"
The two siblings both snapped their heads in Ron's direction, and both went for their wands. Simultaneously, they hid their embarrassment quickly as they remembered that there were others in the room, staring at them in shock. Snape released his wand, and cleared his throat. "This is Selena, my twin sister." He explained, avoiding their eyes, "Some of you might remember her; she—left—after out third year."
"Good gracious, are you really?" Arthur Weasley asked, lowering his wand. She nodded.
"I don't know why I didn't recognize you!" McGonagall said, the tiniest of smiles appearing on her face.
Selena shrugged, "I was not expecting you to Professor," she replied. Harry was amused to see that Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the Weasley twins were staring, open-mouthed, at the two Snapes.
Selena fidgeted with the sleeve of her robes as she looked at Dumbledore, who was observing her, his eyes twinkling in full force. "Is there something you wanted Headmaster?" she asked.
He beamed, "How did you know?"
"You have the same look Headmaster Ilvgont had when he asked me what I was planning to do for a job," she answered, somewhat stiffly.
"We headmasters are all alike, wouldn't you agree?" Dumbledore asked innocently.
Selena let escape a tiny sigh, "What job is it?" she asked tiredly.
Remus chuckled when Dumbledore didn't answer right away. "My old one, that I resigned from." Lupin said.
She raised an eyebrow, and then looked at her brother. "Which would be?"
"Defense Against the Dark Arts." Snape answered.
Those not in the Order were shooed from the room, including Harry. Fred and George disappeared into their room once again, but the trio and Ginny remained in the living room.
"So mate, why'd you go out and search for Snape's sister?" Ron asked as they say down.
Harry sighed, "Well, I figured she was the reason Snape's so bitter; and bringing her here ought to make potions more bearable—hopefully."
Ron and Ginny laughed, "Good luck with that one mate!" Ron cried.
"Is there another reason Harry?" Hermione inquired. He bent over and uneasily whispered into her ear about the family tree he'd found. Her eyes went wide, "Are you serious?" she whispered, while the two Weasleys continued to laugh.
Harry nodded, "Unfortunately. He'll kill me if he finds out though."
Hermione giggled, "Oh—I can imagine the look on his face!" she cried gleefully, "I won't tell though."
"Thanks," Harry replied gratefully.
"Would you calm down already?" Charlie said in exasperation as he stuck his head out the door. "I swear, you're worse than newborn Chinese Fireballs!" Ron and Ginny kept laughing until the older Weasley quietly threatened to being Snape out there to have a nice 'chat'; they stopped instantly.
Ginny went to find the twins, Ron and Hermione played chess while they talked, and Harry wrote a letter to Alex, explaining what he'd been up to lately, and asking how she'd been.
Hedwig appeared on top the fireplace just as Harry finished. He chuckled, "You're a smart girl," he told her, "I don't know what I'd do without you." She trilled her pleasure, and took the letter with a burst of flame. Several moments later, the adults came out of the dining room, Selena racing for the stairs with Snape right behind her, an annoyed look on his face.
"What was that about?" Harry asked Remus.
Lupin chuckled, "Severus mentioned the Wolfsbane potion he was making for me, and Selena went to nitpick at it to make sure he didn't 'botch it completely', as she said."
"But he's one of the best at it," Harry said, "There's nothing to pick at…"
McGonagall came over, a wicked grin on her face. "Don't tell Severus I told you this; but Selena was the one who taught him everything he knows about potions—she'll find something to nag him about, I guarantee it."
He stared at his two professors, who both nodded. "It's true," Remus said; Harry began to laugh.
Harry spent the mornings and afternoons of his last four days before school at The Hideaway with the founders, and his evenings at Grimmauld Place with his friends.
The night before they would travel back to Hogwarts, Harry found Dumbledore alone in the dining room. Taking a breath, Harry went in.
"Good evening Harry." Dumbledore said.
"'Evening Professor," Harry replied, and sat down.
"Is there something wrong?" the Headmaster asked.
He shook his head, "No, just something that needs to be clarified." Harry looked in the older man's eyes. "Sir, I know it's been a rough summer—with Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and me disappearing, but I wanted to talk to you about what you said when I first showed back up; what you said about trust.
"You see Professor, you didn't completely loose it, a lot of it yes, but not all; you mainly lost me. I still trust you some, you're my Headmaster, and we're on the same side. I can take care of myself, this summer has proved that. You've helped me out for my entire life, thanks. But if we're going to win this war, it's going to take more than me trusting you. Professor, to win this war, you have to trust me. I need you to believe that I can make decisions for myself; I value your advice Sir, you're one of the best wizards out there, but some things I've got to do for myself. Like the prophecy; it says I have to kill Voldemort, or I have to die by Voldemort. No one else can do that, no one but me. If I don't make my own choice at some point in time, this war will never end."
Dumbledore looked at Harry with a mix of sadness and respect. "You've grown into a great wizard Harry," he said, "You've learned things in your sixteen years that have taken others hundreds to understand. We do disagree on some things, and that is something I understand, and now I can see how this war is going from your point of view. Thank you."
Harry nodded, "Your welcome Headmaster, thank you for hearing me out." With that, he got up, and went upstairs.
He was going up to Ron's room to make sure he had everything he needed from The Hideaway, when someone pulled him into the room opposite—Snape.
"Did you need something Sir?" Harry asked, massaging the shoulder Snape had grabbed.
The potions master crossed his arms, "What I say will not be repeated, unlike the conversation we had earlier," Harry straightened with a slight tinge of color on his cheeks, and Snape continued. "All I am going to say is this:" he stopped, hesitant, and Harry got the idea Snape wasn't really comfortable doing this. "Thank you, for finding Selena." Harry froze, Snape just thanked him? Snape turned away and began to pack, leaving Harry still staring. "Are you planning to stand there all night Potter? Or do you think others' privacy is beneath you?"
Back to normal, Harry thought will and inner smile, and left quickly.
Coming Up:
Belated Birthday
The Hogwarts Express
Power the Dark Lord Knows Not
(A/N: The riddle Selena said was not one I thought up, just so you know. That brilliance belongs to someone else. Can you guess the answer? But the reason I put the riddle in there is because it was something that Selena knew Snape would understand, I didn't write it down, but in my mind it was a riddle that the two were taught growing up)
Review Response:
Skuld's Sentaro3: Yes, there will be a Harry/Alex pairing, as it is already there. There will be NO student/teacher pairings, I personally find that more than slightly…odd. I have plans for a Selena/character-who-will-remain-unnamed pairing already, but you will have to read the sequel (which I'm already working on by the way) to find out who that will be; I am not sure if it will be a major part of the story or not just yet. (response to review of ch.16)
(A/N: As for the sequel, when the next and final chapter of this story comes up, either today or tomorrow, the first chapter of the sequel should be up; just a heads-up for the readers. Thank you, A.S.Leif)
