Ceased Sympathy

"Why in the hell did you bring him here?" She was looking up into the eyes of the huge man. Standing over her, he looked down with an angry face. He lashed out at her, pushing her down to the ground with a strong punch. It was morning and the light of dawn was only making Greyback angrier. He hated this man; why in the hell did she think he would help her? "Take him back with you; otherwise I'll just carry out the duty of killing him myself."

That was the only thing that echoed in Selina's mind now; she couldn't get away from the fact that she was supposed to carry out the deed that Greyback, or the other man had almost been so close to doing. She would not be able to go back there, ever again; otherwise she would be, on the command, attacked and probably killed unless she took the chances of seeing Greyback and only him alone.

Her mind turned over to watch her father's laborious breathing, seeing that his chest had only risen and fallen once in a minute. His body, broken and hurt, laid upon a hospital bed, had been beaten severely, and breathing in smoke had not been the best thing for him. Her eyes wandered over to his other visitor who had hardly said a word, only a short hello and nodding at her short, clipped story, that she only remembered parts of, blurred and disfigured, of the previous night.

Hair usually bright and spike, now limp and tedious at her shoulders, eyes usually sparked and excited, she had gone from daring, carefree, and energetic, since the last time she had seen her, to dreary and melancholy in a matter of seconds, or over a span on twelve hours during which she had heard the news.

Suddenly Selina felt like lashing out, to make her go away, leave her alone, but she hadn't been doing anything except for staring at various parts of the room for five to ten minutes and then returning her gaze either to Remus or Selina.

Her thoughts slowly wondered to something else, for she no longer wanted to remain in the present.

She could hear the water of the shower, pounding down against the shower, her father's breathing in the bed, and stepped carefully, strategically, across the floor, trying not to wake him, standing in front of the bathroom door. She wondered silently, her thoughts trying to figure out what she would say without starting a fight or rise panic.

She listened quietly, intently. She could still hear her father's breathing, heavy, deep, which was a good sign, over the rainy sound of the shower. Soon, very soon, the threat would be in place, and soon, she would be able to make her father the most miserable person in the world. Soon, everything would go just as she had planned.

She opened the bathroom door at least five minutes later still worried that something could go wrong, but as the door swung open on its hinges, silent as she knew it would be, she was confident enough to go through with what she was thinking over in her head.

The shower curtain suddenly swung back and she saw, in a blur, someone, with scared, shocked eyes, jumped back and land against the back wall of the shower. She immediately started to speak in a menacingly low voice as she silently, quietly registered that she closed the door. Her eyes never left those of the one, who seemed so scared of the sudden appearance, but Selina kept to speaking, only when she finished did she turn away from the bathroom and walk silently to her bedroom. The words stayed in her head.

"Stay away from my father… he's mine and mine only!" That was when she knew it had worked. Everything was working perfectly now, and she knew that her dad would play his role perfectly, for she knew how the woman would relay the message. Just as she had suspected, Tonks would no longer think fondly of her, and that was what she wanted. Since she was ruining the plan that had been foreseen to for so long, ever since she was old enough to realize what she was doing at certain times of the month, she had disliked her and did not want to be appreciated by one who did not realize what in the world she was doing.

So she continued on with what she was doing, knowing that everything was right, in its right place for the time being, and that was just how she wanted it. Because the plan was going to go right, because everything was right, she was happy, and that was the only thing she cared for at the time.

"I'm serious, Remus, her eyes were burning and they were so scary—" the soft voice, was cut off with a firm reprimand, but the voice had been soft, conversational, as if he had been pondering something, and hard.

"I'm sure she's just jealous and worried that I'll forget about her when you move in. That's probably what she meant—"

"But it's not. It was a threat. You have to listen to me, trust me; no one would barge into a bathroom, nearly rip a shower curtain off the wall, and threaten someone to stay away from their parents!" She fought for her opinion, but it didn't work, at least not for long.

He looked thoughtful, but he still continued on with voicing his own thought, his opinion, "Trust me, Nymphadora, she didn't mean anything by it, I assure you." And so she didn't fight.