Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 17 - The Dark Mark

"Wouldn't it be so cool to be a professional Quidditch player?" Harry asked Selene as they began their exit from the stadium, the game having ended with an Irish win.

Selene nodded enthusiastically. "I know! I had always wanted to play for the Holyhead Harpies," she paused thoughtfully. "I was so excited when they offered me a spot after I left Hogwarts."

Harry stared at her, scandalized. "I still can't believe you didn't take it."

Selene smiled sadly. "Well, when I graduated, Voldemort—" A couple of people ahead of them jumped and turned backwards to stare at Selene. "– was beginning to take over, so I wanted to fight. I became an Auror."

"What's an Auror?" Harry asked, looking confused.

"Oh, right," Selene said. "An Auror is a Dark wizard-catcher. They work for the Ministry."

Harry looked taken aback. "And you did that?"

She nodded. "Just for a couple of years, before I decided to make a career change and become a professor at Hogwarts."

They had just exited the stadium, making their way through the woods to their campsite.

"Why'd you want to be a professor?" Harry asked curiously.

Selene pursed her lips. "Er... well, I honestly hadn't really thought about it before Dumbledore came and offered me the job. The previous Astronomy professor had just retired, and I had always been good at the subject in school... I guess Dumbledore just thought I was well suited for the job..."

Privately, Selene thought that Dumbledore had always had an ulterior motive for having her at Hogwarts, and she knew it had to do with Harry. What role specifically she had in Dumbledore's secret plans she had no idea, but it was a major reason that she didn't like him very much.

Before Selene knew it, they were back at their tents. She immediately crawled into her bunk, groaning tiredly.

"I could sleep for a week," Ginny said in response. "I think our early morning is finally catching up to me."

"Tell me about it," Selene said, muffled by her pillow.

Selene closed her eyes, and soon drifted off to sleep. She began dreaming of a vivid memory, the day she was offered the Astronomy professor job.

"Mrs. Black, forgive me for my impatience, but we have been sitting in the same silent position for an hour, and I must say, I have other duties that I must take care of," Albus Dumbledore said gently, peering at the young woman from over his half-moon-shaped spectacles.

Selene didn't meet his eyes, her own boring a deep, dark hole in the carpet. However, she spoke for the first time since sitting down in the headmaster's office an hour previously. "That's fine, I'll go then."

Professor Dumbledore merely half-smiled. "I would rather get to the point that I called you here for."

Selene's expression didn't change. "Look, I don't have time for this. If you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy picking up the pieces of my life back together, and I honestly think that speaking to you is a waste of my time."

The headmaster was not angry by her words; in fact, he didn't react at all. "You have every right to feel that way. However, the matter to discuss at hand is rather urgent."

"Well, I really don't care," Selene said, uprooting herself from the armchair she had been sitting in.

"Mrs. Black, it is unwise to let bitterness become a part of who you are," Dumbledore said as she tried to make her way to the door.