Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Thank you to ObsessedwReading for reviewing.

Over the next half-term that passed, Selena tried to forget about the incident on Hallowe'en night, but no matter how she tried to bury it, the pain of pulling on the fur drifted into the forefront of her mind. But it was not the pain that had hurt her, for she could not truly remember how it felt. It was knowing that the pain should have been impossible and that she had felt it nonetheless. It was the fear of the unknown.

When all the new-found friends of the little first years bid teary farewells to each other, Selena clung tightly to Fred, not wanting to be parted from him, even for only a couple of weeks.

"But it won't be a couple of weeks, silly!" he exclaimed, when she explained this to him through her hiccups. "I'll see you at Christmas and at New Year, at Granny's."

Selena was elated at the thought that she could see Fred twice through the holidays, but remembered with a heavy heart that she would spending Christmas and New Year with her own grandmother, Andromeda Tonks. She could not be in two places at once and she could not leave her beloved grandmother alone; after the horrors of the Second Wizarding War, she and Teddy were all that she had left.

Even so, Selena found herself resenting that she should be separated from her friend just because she had not been born into the family. Harry and Ginny always told her that she was a Weasley as well as a Lupin or a Tonks, but this just showed that they had been lying. 'People always lie to orphaned children.' she thought bitterly. 'So I guess I shouldn't be surprised.'

After the hustle and bustle of life at Hogwarts, the escape to the rural village in which Andromeda lived should have been a peaceful break from all the noise that accompanied their everyday life. But Selena had come to love the vibrancy and once she returned to the countryside, she found herself at a loss as to what she could do.

Within three days, all of her homework for the holidays had been completed, and the seven rolls of parchment scratched in inky black served only to emphasise her boredom. Teddy seemed to be perfectly content in their rural setting, or had at least not turned to completing his homework to pass the time. 'I doubt that he would ever do his homework before he had to, though.' Selena thought with a smirk.

Boredom having almost consumed her entirely, Selena walked out into the garden. If there was one thing she loved about the countryside, it was the abundance of fresh air and wonderful scenery. It helped to clear her head, although there was not a great deal to clear. If there had been, perhaps she would not be as bored as she was.

The fresh-fallen snow crunched beneath her boots, a sound she had always loved, but elsewhere, everything was still and quiet. There was only the distant tweeting of an owl.

Suddenly, a brown speck appeared on the horizon, moving at intense speed in her direction. For an instant, she was scared, but then she recognised the shape as an owl. Around a minute later, when it came to rest on the windowsill beside her, she recognised it as one of the owls belonging to the Weasley family.

Immediately, a smile broke out on her face. Unable to contain her happiness, Selena snatched the letter from the owl's beak, casting an apologetic glance at the bird when it screeched in complaint at her sudden movement. She was normally conscious of the code of conduct with owls, but her excitement at the familiar handwriting on the envelope had been too much to contain.

By the time the barn owl reached the horizon, Selena had read well over half of the letter. She ran her eyes greedily over the words, soaking up every piece of news like the plot of a favourite book she had returned to after years of not reading it.

Dear Selena,
I know it's only been a week, but I still miss you so much, and I can't wait to see you on Saturday for the New Year's party. It's going to be really fun; Uncle Charlie's bringing some special fireworks over from Romania, made with real dragon fire! He says that they're amazing and I know you'll love them.
It seems like the one year I have someone to talk to about it was the one year that we had an incident-free Christmas. Of course, the little ones ended up breaking half their presents and Grandma burnt the edges of the potatoes, but that happens every year! Oh, and Uncle Percy's beard caught fire, but that's another story (to be honest, I think that was Dad having a laugh!).
I know you're probably busy, so I'll talk to you on Saturday,
See you then,
Fred.

Selena read the letter a couple of times over, then folded it up and tucked it safely away in her pocket. She didn't want Teddy to read it; not that there were any secrets to be kept, but this was her letter from her best friend. She had shared everything with Teddy since the day she was born, as she should do, but now... it was intoxicating just to have something of her own.

Bounding up to her room, she orchestrated a brief reply, telling Fred that she could not wait until the party either, but that she would tell him about her holidays then- in truth, there was almost nothing to tell, apart from Teddy's sprained finger. Then she sent it to the Burrow, clutching in the beak of the snowy owl Andromeda always kept in her front room, and watched the bird until it could no longer be seen.

In the haze of excitement the letter had brought, Selena had forgotten all about the incident on Hallowe'en, and it had become just an irrational fear on a night when all the world was meant to be scared. That was all it was for her. At least, for now.

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