Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 22 - The Other Wizarding Schools

The next several weeks of class were of a rare form – that is to say, they were quite normal. Selene had made every effort to occupy herself with graded essays and constellation memorization in an attempt to keep her mind off of worrying about her husband's safety whilst he travelled back to Hogwarts. Every morning, she scanned the Daily Prophet in search of any news about Sirius, breathing in a sigh of relief when his name was absent from that day's edition.

She finally felt like she could relax when she received another letter from him, meaning he had safely returned.

Dear Selly,

I'm writing to let you know I've made it back near the Hogwarts grounds, so you can rest easily (I'm sure I can safely assume you've been worried). I'll write you when I feel I have the opportunity to see you, so be on the lookout for future owls.

Keep an eye on Harry.

With much love towards my beautiful wife,

Sirius

Selene had rolled her eyes at his last comment, sure that he was trying to be funny.

"What are you smiling at?" came McGonagall's voice briskly.

Selene picked her head up from the letter, blinking. "Was I smiling?"

"Certainly," said McGonagall. "It's the first smile I've seen on your face in weeks."

Selene shrugged noncommittally. They were standing in one of the corridors, and the older woman was continuing to stride away from her, so that Selene had to hurry after her to continue the conversation.

"Never mind that, anyhow," McGonagall said, not looking at Selene. "Are you prepared for the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?"

"As much as I can be," Selene said promptly. They had made it into the entrance hall.

Selene stood back as students began to file in, and their Heads of Houses began filing them into lines, shouting commands imperiously.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," barked McGonagall. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair." She began ushering them out to the front of the castle. "Follow me, please," she said. "First years in front... no pushing..."

Slowly but surely, within ten minutes the entirety of Hogwarts stood quietly out on the grounds in front of the castle, staring around in waiting.

"This is exciting, isn't it?" Selene said absentmindedly, looking up towards the night sky alongside Professor McGonagall, who kept checking her pocket watch anxiously.

"More like a fat lot of unnecessary trouble," the older professor muttered under her breath.

Selene chuckled. "Well, you know us at Hogwarts, we like to keep things interesting."

She could've sworn that McGonagall's face broke into a quick smile, before Dumbledore called out, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

Selene whipped her head around, much like many of the students, gazing around for the French school's arrival. She found it rather quickly, a speck in the sky growing larger by the second, before it became a large blue carriage touching down on the ground before them, pulled by a dozen large flying horses. As soon as they had hit the ground, the door to the carriage sprang open, revealing the largest woman Selene had ever seen.

"Does Hagrid know this lady exists?" Selene muttered before she could stop herself.

"Professor Black!" McGonagall said roughly from beside her, elbowing her sharply.