Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 26 - Harry Fights a Dragon

The days leading up to that upcoming Tuesday flew by, despite Selene's great anxiety towards the first task. She was simply dreading it, and she knew Harry was too. Despite being sure that there would be people on standby to make sure that Harry wasn't gravely injured, she couldn't help but worry that something might go wrong.

To add to this worry, she discovered something in a bathroom mirror on Monday afternoon that shocked her to her very core.

"Is it – is it darker?" Selene whispered to herself, glancing around the empty bathroom before holding her forearm close to the mirror and staring at the shameful tattoo that was on her skin.

At Voldemort's demise, it had faded, not out of view, but at least so that it was not as noticeable on her skin. She had taken heart at its faintness, hoping that one day it would fade altogether – but its mere presence still being there suggested to Selene that Voldemort was not permanently vanquished.

However, at that very moment, Selene thought that it could've been a darker grey, and her stomach twisted at the thought.

"Perhaps – perhaps it's a trick of the light?" she whispered to herself, turning her arm about, as if its appearance would change.

It was unsettling. She knew that weird things were happening at Hogwarts, but if Voldemort was truly gaining power – things were more dire than they had realized.

Selene shook her sleeve back down, backing away from the mirror. Hoping that she was imagining the tattoo's changed appearance, she left the bathroom, making her way down to the Great Hall for lunch.

She was flagged down as soon as she entered the Entrance Hall by Harry and Hermione, who were looking breathless.

"Selene, can we borrow your classroom this evening?" Hermione said quickly.

"Sure, I won't need it this evening," Selene said. "Why?"

"We were hoping to use an empty classroom so that I could teach Harry Summoning Charms," Hermione said quickly.

"Moody's given me an idea on how to fight the dragon," Harry said with anxious expression.

"With a Summoning – hang on, Moody?" Selene said, taken aback by this offload of information. "What're you doing exactly?"

And so Harry dove into a hasty explanation, as students past them to go into the Great Hall for lunch. By the time he had finished, Selene was scratching the back of her neck, astonished.

"Blimey," she said finally. "That could work. You're a brilliant flier, Harry, and you're quick enough that you could outrun the dragon and perhaps even come out unscathed."

"That's the idea," Harry said.

"Of course, you can use my classroom," Selene said. "I wish I could help more, but it's against the rules. I think Hermione is a good enough teacher to get the job done, though – probably even better than I could."

Hermione blushed. "Thanks, Selene."

Selene grinned.

Before Selene knew it, the first task was upon them. Towards the end of lunch on Tuesday, Selene strode into the Great Hall, where Harry was sitting at Gryffindor table with Hermione, staring at his filled plate.

Selene walked up behind Harry and tapped him on the shoulder with a shaky hand.

"Selene?" he said wearily, looking over his shoulder at her.