It takes two | Sirius Black

79.

Selene wakes up sweating and shaking, gasping for air as memories flood her mind. She was here to betray her family. Her Dads but for what? She feels sick, has done for weeks ever since the memories started to resurface. She wishes her stupid brother would have kept them, she was happy with Remus and Tate, she didn't want to do anything she had agreed to previously. Did the unforgivable vow still count if her memory was wiped? It must do because she can feel the magic coursing through her veins as she thinks about it. Dark magic. She has no choice but to keep distance between herself and the true chosen one.

Most wizards and witches had heard the whispers about Harry Potter being the chosen one but the werewolves had heard differently. Whilst wizards and witches had seers and divination, werewolves, centaurs and other creatures had the stars and whispers in the wind. There was no way of knowing which was correct, especially as the centaurs claimed they had seen both written in the stars for different reasons.

Fenrir Greyback had killed many in an attempt to seek answers, centaurs were murdered for not knowing all as the seers claim to. He wanted to prove himself valuable to Lord Voldemort, all werewolves knew Voldemort only used them. They would never be viewed as equals to him, which Selene always thought ironic due to the rumour that Voldemort himself was a half-blood.

Selene felt protective over the chosen one, but she knew any contact that she had with them would somehow be known of. She didn't want to cause any harm to her, Marlie was after all Zion's baby sister and she would never let something happen to her. Not after the loss they had already experienced.

Zion was always looking over Marlie, maybe it was annoying and overbearing sometimes but he adored her more than anyone. Now Zion was gone and Phoenix had joined the dark side and all Selene could do to help was stay out of the way. Stay as far away from the chosen one as she possibly could.

She still wasn't convinced, she wasn't sure if it was Marlie or Harry or both, but she chose to shut them both out for the greater good. She ignored Marlie's tear stained letters, she avoided talking about either friend to her Dads whenever they brought them up. If she kept a distance, they would both be safe.

It wasn't until she had been reading her Dads collection of wizarding books that she learnt the extent of the Unbreakable vow. If she broke her promise, she would die. Truthfully, she didn't fear death but she feared the pain she would leave behind her. She had watched a family fall apart entirely when Zion died and although her Dads hadn't raised her, she loved them and she knew they loved her. The idea of dying, breaking their hearts and making them separate hurt a lot. She could handle dying, she just couldn't handle causing other people any pain.

                                   *******

Barty jolts awake violently, making Reggie sit up groggily from the armchair in the corner of where Barty slept in bed. Being back with the death-eaters had caused severe paranoia and night terrors, due to lack of sleep- Barty was starting lose his mind again. The time he spent in Azkaban, surrounded by dementors sucking every happy memory from him and feasting on his sanity had caused him to be..broken. Situations such as the one he had dived head first into was bound to be a trigger, his anxiety heightened and the fear making him forget again.

He laughs when he lays eyes on Regulus, his white face gleaming with sweat as he stares at the man who was supposed to be dead. His entire body is shaking with adrenaline as Reg gets up and cautiously gets closer, he reaches his hand out and Barty uncertainly reaches his own out and touches Reggie's solid human hand.

"You're not a ghost." He says, his eyes filling with tears, "You're not dead?"

"I'm not dead." Regulus confirms calmly, despite having done this every single day for a week now.