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.
"Harry," Selene said, attempting to sound nonchalant. Her voice betrayed her; it came out slightly feeble. "The champions are heading down to the grounds... it's time for the first task."
"Oh," Harry said, standing rigidly from the table. "Okay."
"Good luck, Harry!" Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"
"Yeah," Harry said in an odd voice, following Selene's lead out of the Great Hall.
There was a slightly awkward silence as they made their way out to the grounds. Selene wanted to say something encouraging to him, but she was so nervous herself that she had trouble using her voice.
Eventually, she finally forced out, "Are you nervous?"
"Nervous? Of course not," Harry said, in a slightly higher pitch than he normally spoke in. "Why on earth would fighting a dragon make me nervous?"
Selene smiled faintly. "I wouldn't blame you for being nervous... but there are wizards standing by just in case things go sideways. You just need to get through this."
Harry sighed. "That's seeming impossible."
Selene halted in her tracks, causing Harry to spin around. She gripped his shoulders like a lifeline. "You can do this, Harry. I believe in you. You're a fantastic wizard, and I am so proud of you, no matter the outcome. Your parents would be so proud as well."
Harry smiled gratefully at her and, with a force that almost knocked her over, seized her around the middle in a tight embrace. Selene, after a moment of surprise, gripped him back tightly.
"Potter?"
They broke apart, looking towards the source of the new voice.
Professor McGonagall was standing near them with a rare anxious look on her face. "Potter, it's time to go to the tent where the other champions are."
Harry nodded wordlessly, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Selene. She gave him a shaky smile, waving him off with McGonagall.
Then she turned on the spot, making her way to the stands, hoping for the best.
"Harry!" Selene gasped, throwing open the entrance to the first-aid tent and stumbling in. "Harry!"
Her messy-haired godson turned to his head to her as best as he could while Madam Pomfrey fussed about him, muttering things like "dragons" and "what were they thinking?" as she did.
"Selene!" Harry said somewhat breathlessly, grinning at her. "How'd you think it went?"
If Selene was being honest, she was just glad it was over. Harry had, in fact, done an impressive job, but with every near-miss with the dragon, Selene thought she'd lose her lunch. She hadn't doubted her godson's skills for a second, but when he'd stepped into the arena and raised his wand in the air to summon his broomstick, she couldn't help but cover her eyes and wait for the show to be over. Through every whoop, scream, and cheer, she could only bring herself to peer through her fingers at Harry's progress with the dragon; that is, until the Weasley twins pried her hands off of her eyes just in time to see Harry narrowly miss a column of fire issued from the dragon, the dangerous heat only grazing his arm. She'd screamed loudly, almost falling off her seat.
When Harry finally swiped the golden egg out from underneath the dragon, she'd shot up from her seat and had immediately run to greet him in the first-aid tent.
"Oh, it was fantastic, Harry!" Selene said, wrapping her arms around him as Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the way. "I knew you could do it! I could only imagine your father's face if he'd have watched you fly away from a dragon on your broomstick!"
Harry hugged her back just as tightly. "I feel like my parents wouldn't be too pleased."
"Your mother would be furious, no doubt about that," Selene said, laughing, "but your father would be so jealous. I'm pretty sure fighting a dragon was on his bucket list."
Suddenly, two more people rushed into the tent.
"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione squealed, Ron at her heels. "You were amazing! You really were!"
Selene grinned, but Harry didn't say anything. He was staring at Ron, his mouth pressed into a tight line.
Ron noticed. "Harry," he said, "whoever put your name in the goblet – I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
Harry stared at him coldly. "Caught on, have you?" he said. "Took you long enough."
Hermione and Selene met eyes and winced. This could get bad, very fast.
Ron opened his mouth awkwardly, presumably to apologize, but before he even could, Harry sighed and waved a dismissive hand, cutting him off.
"It's okay," he said.
"No," Ron said, "I shouldn't've –"
"Forget it," Harry said, shaking his head.
The two boys grinned at each other.
In between them, Hermione burst into tears, and Selene rubbed her back comfortingly.
"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry exclaimed, looking between her and Selene in confusion.
"You two are so stupid!" she cried, stomping her foot on the ground. With tears rolling down her face, she threw her arms around both boys, hugging them tightly, and then released them, running out of the tent and sobbing even harder.
Selene smiled sympathetically. "It's okay, Hermione! Boys are stupid! I get it!" she called after her.
Ron and Harry stared after their friend awkwardly.
"Barking mad," Ron said, shaking his head. "Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores..."
Selene trailed behind the two boys, letting them have their moment. Even though she knew that just because today went well did not mean that their troubles were over, she knew this would make Harry feel loads better. Harry, Ron, and Hermione reminded Selene of James, Sirius, and Remus. Their friendship went deeper than any problem they could have.
They reached the arena just as Ron took a deep breath after his retelling of the other champions' battles with their dragons that Harry had missed.
Selene raised her head up the judges' table, where it seemed they were getting ready to release Harry's scores.
"It's scored out of ten for each judge, Harry," she said, as Harry and Ron looked at the judges as well. "Whichever champion has the most points at the end will be in first place and win this task."
Harry nodded.
At the judges' table, Madame Maxime was raising her wand in the air, and from her wand tip, a silver ribbon shot into air, twisting itself into an 8.
"Not bad!" Ron said as a polite applause smattered around them. "I suppose she took marks off your shoulder..."
Mr. Crouch rose his wand into the air next. He gave Harry a 9.
"A nine, Harry!" Selene exclaimed. "That's fantastic!"
Dumbledore was next. He shot a 9 into the air as well.
After Dumbledore was Ludo Bagman. He gave Harry – Selene couldn't believe it – a 10.
"Ten?" Harry said in disbelief. "But... I got hurt... What's he playing at?"
"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.
Selene, however, agreed with Harry. As excited as she was about Harry's good scores, she couldn't deny that a ten was going above and beyond. She supposed that maybe he was going easy on him because he was the youngest champion. But even so...
Karkaroff was the last judge to give a score. He raised his wand in the air, and –
"What?" Ron bellowed. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"
Selene set her teeth on edge. "Oh please, he just wants Krum to win! What a tool!"
Harry merely grinned.
As Ron uttered a few choice words towards Karkaroff (he looked uneasily towards Selene after he'd said them, but she was nodding along with him in agreement), Charlie Weasley came running up to them.
"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" he exclaimed. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened – but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah – and they told me to tell you've got to hand around for a few more minutes... Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."
Harry nodded.
Charlie met eyes with Selene. "What's up, favorite cousin? Anything you want to add for my mum?"
Selene grinned. "Nah, I'll send her my own owl later. But thanks anyways, cousin."
Charlie laughed and ran off, and Harry looked towards Selene and Ron.
"I guess I'll go see what Bagman wants to talk to us about," he said.
"We'll wait for you," Ron said.
Harry nodded and walked towards the champions' tent, disappearing under the tent flap.
Ron and Selene sat in silence for a moment, while students dispersed from the arena around them. Then, Ron spoke up.
"I would've thought that I'd be the favorite cousin," he said ruefully, glancing up at Selene. "You know, instead of Charlie. I am best friends with your godson after all."
Selene laughed. "Charlie is not my favorite cousin. Although, I'm sure that I'm his."
Ron looked up hopefully. "Then who is?"
Selene grinned. "Your mother, who else?"
Ron shook his head relentingly, smiling. "Why am I not surprised?"