Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 106 - A Gentle Place

Selene's POV

After coming inside from visiting Eliza that morning, Selene sat down to feed Hope, and Remus set to work in the kitchen making breakfast. It was the routine that their little bustling family had happily fallen into the past few weeks, and Selene loved it.

After setting Hope down for her morning nap, Selene came back into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her husband from behind and sighing contentedly.

"Hi," she said softly against his back, his soft t-shirt brushing against her cheek.

"Hi," Remus chuckled. "Did Hope go down easily?"

"So easily," Selene said. "I dread the days when she gets old enough to start fighting her naps."

Remus grinned. "We'll take advantage while we still can."

CRACK.

The loud sound caused the two to pick their heads up sharply. It had come from outside, and it was followed by a flurry of voices and the muffled sounds of movement.

"What was that?" Selene asked sharply. "It sounded like someone Appara –"

One of the voices  crying out in anguish caused her to fall silent.

"DOBBY!"

Remus and Selene exchanged a startled look, and Selene let go of Remus and backed away towards the door to the kitchen.

"That sounded like Harry," Remus said quickly, his feet already moving to follow after her.

They scrambled out of the kitchen and through the front door, where they were met with the sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and – to Selene's intense surprise – Draco. Harry was kneeling on the ground, holding something in his arms, and as they got closer, Selene could see that it was the very lifeless body of Dobby, the house elf.

The elf was still and silent, laying in Harry's arms like a motionless rag doll. There was a dark shadow spreading on the front of the once-clean white tea cloth that he wore wrapped around him, and Selene could see the shiny hilt of a knife protruding from his chest.

Selene gasped, falling to her knees next to her son. "No!"

"Mum?" Harry asked dimly, tearing his eyes from the house elf to meet hers. They were full of tears, and his voice was shuddering as if barely concealing a sob.

"Oh, Harry," Selene whispered, and she threw her arms around him. On Harry's other side, Remus sank to his knees, his eyes on Dobby.

"I didn't know, I didn't know, Mum," Harry was saying, his voice trembling. "He saved us, and I let him die –"

"Harry, Harry," Selene only whispered, holding him tighter. She had no idea where they'd come from, or what had happened – only that whatever had happened had been disastrous. "This is not your fault, it's not your fault..."

"It is my fault," Harry said. "I called him there, I asked him to help us..."

"Potter, it wasn't your fault," Draco said, catching Selene by surprise. "It's Bellatrix's fault that he's dead. She's the psycho that imprisoned all of you, tortured Granger, and killed a house elf. She's to blame. Not you."

Selene's eyes widened. How had they come into the clutches of Bellatrix? And Hermione being tortured? What had happened?

"Draco's right, Harry," Remus said, gripping his son's arm. "It was Dobby's choice to help you. You can commend his bravery, and you can grieve him, but you can't blame yourself for his death. Dobby wouldn't want you to carry that burden."