Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 25 - Sirius Gets a Haircut

Selly and Harry –

I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted – we need to talk face-to-face. Can you both ensure that you both are by fire in Selly's office at one 'o clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?

I know better than anyone that you can look after himself, Harry, and while you're around Selly and Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose.

Be on the watch, Harry, and you too, Selly. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can.

Sirius

Selene had come back to her office after the Wand Weighing Ceremony to find that letter tied to a patiently waiting owl's leg. She'd gone back to find Harry at once to show him what Sirius had said. Together, they sent him back a reply that said that they would indeed be able to meet with him at that time and date, and then they had waited.

And wait they did, for the next fortnight all either of them could think about was their meeting with Sirius. Selene was excited just to speak with him at all, even though it would probably be a serious and hurried conversation.

She truly did miss him, more and more with every passing day. It had taken her a while to adjust to the fact that Sirius had not actually betrayed them – that he was still the same Sirius she was married to, although now haunted by years spent in Azkaban. However, through the letters that they had sent back and forth, Selene had become acquainted with the fact that her best friend was back in her life, and she could finally admit, after all these years, that she had missed him.

Therefore, the night that she and Harry were supposed to meet with Sirius, Selene sat in front of her office fireplace, where she had already been waiting for an hour and a half. She was half-asleep on the rug, leaning against the front of an armchair, with her head resting on her arm. Her eyes kept drooping closed, and no matter how hard she tried to keep herself awake, she could feel her mind begin to quiet with drowsiness. She, somewhat dimly, hoped that Harry would wake her when he got here.

However, that wouldn't be necessary... apparently.

"Selly!" a voice hissed.

Selene jumped violently, wider awake than she thought she'd ever been in her entire life. She looked around for the source before realizing, with some semblance of relief, that there was a head in her fireplace.

Sirius' head.

"Sirius!" Selene said, scrambling from her place by the armchair and leaning as close to the fire as its heat would allow. "You're early! I wasn't expecting you until one o'clock!"

Sirius looked entirely different from the last time Selene had seen him; he looked more like the man she had married, the man she was used to seeing. His hair was shorter and tidier, and his face was cleanshaven. His eyes were different, though. Sirius had always had warm, dark eyes, but now they looked deadened, haunted by the ghosts of his time in Azkaban.

However, as he looked at Selene, she couldn't help but smile widely.

"I wanted some time alone with my lovely wife," he said softly, a faint grin on his face. Selene blushed and rolled her eyes. "How are you doing?"

Selene frowned. "I'm alright. I'd be better if I wasn't worried about Harry all the time. Sirius, you and I both know this is no coincidence."

"You're right about that," Sirius said grimly. "We ought to be ready for anything."