Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 85 - In the Hospital Wing

Remus' breath caught slightly at the sound of the hospital wing doors opening again.

"Where's Mum? Where's –"

Selene forced her eyelids open.

"I'm here, Harry," she called out weakly.

Harry approached her bedside followed by Ginny, the both of them looking pale. "Mum... are you – are you –"

"I'll be fine, Harry, I promise," she said, extending her hand, which he seemed to take instinctively. "Greyback apparently got around this evening... but Bill's far worse than me..."

"Are you all right?" Remus asked him quickly, as Selene's voice drifted off tiredly.

Harry nodded. "I'm fine... How is Bill?"

Remus didn't answer straight off, providing enough time for Hermione and Ron to walk up to approach them. They all cast a look down at Bill, who was at the other end of the wing.

"Can't Madam Pomfrey fix him with a charm or something?" Harry asked.

"No charm will truly work," Remus said quietly. "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey has tried everything she knows, but – but there's no cure for werewolf bites."

His gaze flickered down to Selene, who felt Harry's hand squeeze hers tighter.

"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," Ron said, staring over at his brother. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill and – and Selene – they won't be real –?"

Ron looked to Remus once more.

Remus exhaled, the sound sharp and shaky. "No, I don't think that – that they'll be true werewolves, but it's hard to say... Selene and Bill's cases are significantly different... There will certainly be some contamination... and I'm not sure the wounds will ever heal fully..." His voice drifted off for a moment, before he pressed on. "Selene may be more minutely affected, but Bill may have some rather wolfish characteristics from now on."

"Dumbledore might know something that's work, though," Ron said. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state –"

"Ron – Dumbledore's dead," Ginny said softly.

Selene's blood ran cold, and Remus said, "No!" and looked between Ginny and Harry as if they might suddenly change their minds and say they were mistaken. When they didn't, Remus collapsed in a chair by Selene's bed, his hands over his face.

"How, Harry?" Selene asked quietly. "How did he die?" She had no idea where Harry had been that night, no idea what he'd been doing, only that he knew what they didn't.

"Snape killed him," Harry said. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was... Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak – and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him –"

Selene's breath shuddered as she held back a sob, her heart shattering into icy, knife-like pieces, and Harry continued to hold onto her hand like a lifeline. From beside him, Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth, and Ron groaned.

"– more Death Eaters arrived – and then Snape – Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra."

And then his voice died.

The hospital wing was silent. It seemed that everyone there had been listening to Harry, even those who stood on the other end, tending to Bill.

No one knew what to say, what to do. Their greatest leader was gone, and to them, it signified a major blow to their revolution. But to Selene –