If I hear one more ghost singing carols off-key as they soar around the halls, I'll go mad.
Term was coming to a close. Soon, the children would board their little train and go away for a few weeks. It couldn't come soon enough, in Selene's mind. She couldn't wait to simply sleep, get up, finish a pair of articles for submission, and look at the stars for sheer enjoyment.
Not to mention find any way possible to get out of going home.
Her hands walked over books in the stacks of the library, tracing old, leather-covered spines, the titles deeply embossed. Many of the titles were familiar, having used them in research over thirteen years of teaching.
One of the privileges of being at Hogwarts. One actually had the time to pursue academic interests.
Finally, she found the one she'd been seeking, pulling the dusty, fragile book from the shelf, settling down at a nearby table with it. Although a preservation charm was on the book now, it had already arrived in a fairly deteriorated state, and even Madam Pince could restore it completely. Of course, the book itself was older than the school that housed it, so all in all, it was in a rather miraculous state.
Finding the section she was looking for, Selene tried to settle fairly comfortably in the wholly uncomfortable seats at the entirely unpleasant table nearest the astronomy section. She hated having to look at some of the books here, but because of their age, they had to remain in the safety of the library's Restricted Section. A stack of her own notes, as well as a quill, lay beside her on the table.
An hour later, footsteps echoed behind her.
"Ancient Greek?"
Selene's eyes barely left the page as black robes swirled into her peripheral line of sight. "I wasn't aware the Potions division was in this corner of the Section."
"It's not. Alchemy, however, is." Severus held up a copy of 'Alchemic Compositions, volume 143'. "Related subjects."
"Ah." Selene stretched, an hour pouring over ancient astronomical observation making her neck feel sore. "And yes, Greek. Fairly ancient, but not terribly so."
"I would have thought an Italian would read Latin."
"I do. But many Astronomy texts older than a few hundred years are often in Greek."
"Wouldn't they have been translated by now?"
"Sometimes, things are lost in the translation."
He smirked slightly, a sardonic glint in his black eyes. "Very true." His eyes swept the page, looking down and slightly over her shoulder, noting diagrams interspersed in the paragraphs of what appeared to be handwritten text. "I'm almost surprised to see you here and not in your tower, especially on a clear night like this."
Selene groaned. "The only time this room is quiet is at night, I can't abide chatter when I'm trying to focus, and I have been told on pain of torture from Madam Pince that this book is not to ever leave this room. Which is utterly frustrating, when you're trying to compare your notes to those of a man who observed the same comet as you over 1200 years ago. And considering it's almost midnight, I'm surprised to see you in here, Professor. Thought you were an early riser."
"I am. However, I was working on lesson plans, and decided my sixth years need to be reminded that they cannot merely coast through classes just because there may or may not be a war going on around them." His observing gaze took in her sudden shift in posture, the tense lines her shoulders took, and the almost-inaudible intake of breath. "My apologies. I didn't mean to…"
She waved him off, rising, gathering her notes and closing the book, replacing it in its correct spot. "No need. Really. I just don't like thinking about the idea of a war, that's all. Silly, really."
"I don't see what's silly about it." Severus watched her, adding one last book to the pile in his hands after letting the gargoyle at the end of the section see the book he was taking. "After all, war is never an easy subject to deal with."
Selene nodded, still avoiding his eyes, her head kept fairly down. "Hence why I tend to avoid the topic when at all possible. The more I can avoid it, the happier I tend to be."
Her words triggered a recall of the evening she ran into him, leaving Dumbledore's office.
I wasn't aware her loyalty would come into question.
Everyone has a past, Severus.
The thoughts made him wonder, as they inexplicably had for several nights now. What kind of past would an Italian astronomer have that would cause questions like those?
And why do you find yourself intrigued enough to want to know?
Selene turned her head to give him a puzzled stare. "What?"
"Excuse me?"
"You went completely silent there for a moment and you're staring at that hideous painting of Mordecai the Morose."
Severus focused for the first time ahead of him and cringed. He'd always hated that painting, the goblin staring out of the canvas with a look of painful sadness, covered in gore. Rather distasteful, honestly. "Sorry. I was merely thinking."
Selene sighed, watching the guarded look return to his face. "I see. Well, I'll leave you to your thoughts."
"You don't have to, you know."
Selene stopped, turning back to face him, her arms full of parchment and quill. "I know."
"You do?"
"I assumed if I wasn't welcome to stay in your company, you would have said so, or not approached me in the first place." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to drive her point home so clearly even a man could understand it. "However, it's late for you, and I'm sure both of us has work still ahead of us. Besides, just because I don't have to leave your company doesn't mean I shouldn't. You clearly have a lot on your mind, and you don't require me distracting you from it."
The words came out of his mouth before he realized he'd even thought them.
"What if I want you to distract me?"
Selene dropped her books.
"You don't. Trust me."
Severus stared at her, taking in the sudden rigidity of her posture, the little color draining from her face, paling her beyond her usual fragile coloring. However, now that he thought about it, she'd looked paler than usual before his ill-timed comment. Not that the pale grey robes helped, but contrasting with her black hair, her skin had a rather white pallor to it.
It was then that his eye caught one tiny sliver of color. A red streak on her robe sleeve, almost to her wrist.
It took him a moment to realize it was blood.
Selene followed his eyes to her arm, seeing the blood seeping through the gauze that wrapped around her forearm. Damn it, I thought I'd be alright for another hour or so.
Severus reached for her arm. "What happened? Why haven't you had Madam Pomfrey look at that?"
Selene jerked back her arm before he could reach it, cradling it to her torso, out of his line of sight, her dark eyes wide, a look of panic reflected within. "It's nothing. Galileo just scratched me earlier when I startled her. It looks worse than it is. Really, I'll be fine."
Her voice sounded uneven and forced even to her.
"Are you sure?" Severus kept his voice low, trying to reassure her. That can't be a mere scratch. She's managed to bleed through however many layers of cotton, and her robe sleeve as well. Why didn't she at least do a small healing charm? Why won't she let me help her?
Selene nodded, gathering her dropped books, her eyes kept as far from Severus' own as possible. "I'll be fine. I promise. I…I have to go."
He stood there for several minutes after she swept from the library, the complete change in her demeanor unsettling to him.
And this is why we don't try to reach out to others, Severus. Too many walls surround us all, and it requires far too much effort to tear them down.
In the hallway, she paused, leaning against the brick wall, tears pricking her eyes.
He wouldn't have hurt you.
But I couldn't let him know.
Why can't you trust him?
Because I haven't trusted anyone since I was twenty-one.
He's not them.
She wandered the halls to her apartments, tossing the papers and books unceremoniously on the coffee table, then sank down onto her couch, Galileo immediately leaping into her lap. Her hand shook as it unwound the gauze wrapping, exposing the two small puncture wounds on her arm.
I could never let him see me like this.
False dawn was breaking as Selene stepped out on the observation deck again, taking her wand and pointing it at the snow covering the stone, melting it to give her clearer footing. The chill in the air was biting, but she barely noticed it. The glass in her other hand was
frosting over, the red wine already losing its heat.
Still, she didn't care.
Sliding her wand back in her robe pocket, Selene pulled on the ribbon holding her hair back, letting the wind whip and tangle her hair as it pleased. She stood there, feeling her robes and skirt flap around her, her eyes staring southward with a harsh intent gleaming in them, the faintness of light to her left barely enough to illuminate the trees and lake below.
The anger that burned in her was enough to keep her warm in the December cold.
Selene, please. You know Claudius is right. The time to hide behind your telescope and books is over. The world has changed, irrevocably so, and you must change with it. You and I both know that, soon enough, you'll be put in a position where you're forced to
act, where indecision could be dangerous. Please, little sister. Mama is worried sick. The twins are constantly on edge with fear. That castle you call home can't keep you safe. Not like we can. Please, Selene. You've been away long enough. Come home.
Julius' letter had arrived hours ago, but it still felt like she'd just broken the seal. Claudius was always pompous, and the twins always overprotective, but Julius had been her confidant since she had been able to speak a coherent sentence.
If Julius thought her world was coming to an end...
They couldn't understand why she never came home. Why she'd left Italy behind. Why she stayed at Hogwarts despite the cold and the loneliness and the hours of solitude. Why she kept her distance. Why she isolated herself to her books and her research and almost never let anyone close to her.
Somehow, she knew in her heart they never would.
The faint moonlight caught the marks on her arm, just above her wrist, and Selene cringed as she re-examined the twin wounds, healing but clearly visible. The pain of what they represented to her still lingered, even though the physical pain had long ago ceased to bother her.
They were another sign that she'd never be able to accept friendship from anyone.
He didn't know, Selene. He saw you hurting and he offered to help. That isn't such a terrible thing.
Of course it is. What if he'd seen? He'd know me for who I am. I can't let anyone know. It was the promise I made when I came here. If I did…
You don't give him enough credit, girl. The man isn't exactly the average closed-minded wizard. Besides, you know far more about the demons in his closet than he does about yours.
Or so I think. He's not like Claudius…
You're right. He's a better man than your brother.
Isn't that rather presumptuous of me to think?
You need to listen to your heart more, girl. And stop hiding in the tower.
The tower keeps me safe.
The tower also keeps you alone.
The stars still twinkled to the right of her, deep in the west, the slight pale tint to the eastern sky telling her that the false dawn would soon enough give way to the real one. The coming light brought with it the end of another day.
Another day, alone.
Maybe I should just go home. At least there, I won't have to hide.
But if you go home, your life won't be your own, anymore.
It's not fair…
It's also no one's fault.
She swirled the wine glass, letting the red liquid slosh inside, warming it slightly. All she wanted was peace. To forget. To lose her pain. Sadly, that meant the wine. With a sigh, and eyes closed tight against the tears that wanted to come, she raised the wine glass to her lips.
When she hit the stone below her, she barely felt it, the blackness consuming her completely.
The wine glass crashed down with her, shattering beside her crumpled form.
One of these days, I'm finally going to accept this is insomnia and actually make a sleeping potion.
Severus walked the hallways, the skies still dark through the windows, only the tiniest sliver of light to the east hinting as to the early hour. More often than not these days, he found it harder and harder to sleep, his mind wrapping around complex thoughts.
Dangerous thoughts.
Footsteps fell behind him and he spun on his heel, wand held in fist, ready to spring if necessary. The white hair and beard, barely visible in the darkness of the hallway, made him relax his guard ever so slightly.
"I am forced to wonder, Severus, what our High Inquisitor would say about your sneaking around the halls at such an early hour of the day. And so far from your dungeons, as well."
"Probably not as much as she'd have to say about you doing the same, Headmaster."
Dumbledore smiled faintly at the sharp cold edging the retort, having expected no less from his Potions Master this early in the day. "Very true, Severus. However, I've learned how to answer her queries and still give her nothing. A trait, it seems, you also possess." He walked over to a window, staring out at the trees across the way, swaying snow-capped in the breeze.
Severus jerked his head at the comment, eyes narrowing at the implication hidden far beneath the words. "Is there something you'd like to come out and say to me, Headmaster?"
Dumbledore paused, collecting his thoughts, as if he planned to take the younger man up on his offer, when a soft rustling of air broke towards them. With a start, he stared at the look of fearful concern on the ghost before him. "Milady. Whatever is the matter?"
The Grey Lady of Ravenclaw Tower hovered before him, her hands wringing themselves, her usual calm demeanor anything but. "Headmaster, it's the Professor. Something's happened to her. I think she's ill. She won't waken. And I can't leave the tower itself to see to her."
Snape stared at the ghost, the words making little sense. Dumbledore, on the other hand, seemed to understand perfectly. "She collapsed on the landing?" At the ghost's nod, he stared out the window, a wave of concern and fear crossing his eyes, making Severus stare in even more confusion, before turning to the Astronomy Tower stairs, climbing them at a rapid pace.
Severus stared in confusion at the Astronomy doorway, mind reeling. Who won't waken? Why would the Grey Lady try to wake her? Why would she feel the need to leave the tower to do anything?
The answer came from his lips rather than his mind. "Professor Sinistra."
He flew up the stairs without another thought.
Dumbledore was kneeling in a thin layer of snow, bent over a pile of black robes sprawled on the stones under the sky, snowflakes covering it quickly. When he looked over his shoulder to stare at the man standing in the doorway, Severus finally saw the long black hair, the pale skin, the splash of red wine and broken glass. "I can't wake her. Her breathing is shallow, her heartbeat faint. We have to get her inside, quickly."
Severus immediately swept over to them, checking Selene's head, finding a bump where she hit it on the stone. "We can't. She's unconscious. She could be hurt worse." He stared at the Grey Lady, floating just inside the doorway. "Go fetch Pomfrey."
"No!" Dumbledore's shout echoed back, making Severus jerk his head, jaw hanging. "Milady, don't fetch anyone. Please, stand guard, and alert us if anyone tries to enter the tower."
"Are you mad? She's injured and unconscious. She needs a medi-witch. I'm not qualified..."
Dumbledore glared harshly at Snape, his blue eyes boring into the man's black ones. "You're uniquely qualified to care for her. She's not waking because she's been poisoned." At this revelation, Dumbledore picked up a shard of the wine glass, handing it to Snape, who first sniffed, then licked cautiously at the residue.
"Wolfsbane? Someone poisoned her with wolfsbane?" His mind raced, staring down at the woman who refused to regain consciousness, her lips edging with blue, scarcely breathing. "But diluted wolfsbane's not fatal to humans..."
Dumbledore cut him off. "We have to get her inside, Severus. The sun is rising. When she's safely indoors and stable, we can discuss this all you wish, but for now we must get her indoors."
"But moving her might injure her further..."
"And leaving her here will kill her!" Dumbledore's voice was iron.
As Severus fumed, he aimed his wand, levitating the witch in order to cause the least amount of further injury to her. As he did, her body shifted, her head rolling back slightly, her mouth parting open, causing him to almost release the spell and drop her.
A tiny pair of fangs caught the edge of sunlight.
Every piece of the puzzle, from the secrecy to the need to get her inside to the effects of the wolfsbane, snapped into place.
Circe's song. She's a vampire. No wonder the wolfsbane's making her unconscious. It's in her blood by now…and Dumbledore knew – that's why he was insistent on getting her inside before sunrise.
If Umbridge finds out about this…
His imagination was a little too talented on occasion.