Selena's Choice

Author's Note: After a boring weekend, I decided it was time to sit down and think about some of my original characters, and I decided to start with Selena Rosa, even though she hasn't yet made her appearance in Harry Potter and the Locked Door. Selena's past worked out to be put together and used as an entry to this challenge, and so, here is the product. So, I present for your enjoyment, Selena's Choice.

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Selena's Choice

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"The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself."

~ Garth Brooks

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Part I

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Massive storm clouds blanketed the sky, rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning promising rainfall sooner or later, and by the looks of things, it would be one of the harshest storms in months to plague the country. No one was venturing outside their homes, and even the animals were fleeing for cover. Mothers and fathers hurried to get their children inside their warm and safe houses. It was almost as if people everywhere were expecting something horrible to happen, and no one wanted to be around when it did.

Not everyone was heading for home, though. A few people were, instead, gathered together in their department's headquarters, awaiting the order to go to work.

They all stood in silence in the small chamber, many thoughts raging through every mind as the six individuals prepared for their mission. Some were mentally reviewing spells that might be required, while others made sure that their wands were in full-functioning order. There could be no room for mistakes, no room for failure. In their job, mistakes and failure usually meant fatal injury . . . or worse.

"Hey, Selena, you okay?"

Selena Rosa abruptly turned around as she heard the voice, placing a quick smile on her face as she did so. "Yeah, Roger, I'm fine," she answered, her voice clearly betraying the slight feeling of nervousness that she had tried to suppress. Stop it, Selena, she thought, mentally rebuking herself for even having those emotions. You've done this before. An Auror mission is nothing new, and you are not a rookie at this. Get it together! "I guess I'm just feeling a little anxious, that's all."

Roger Folan gave a reassuring smile as he sat down in an empty chair beside his partner. He had trusting, bright blue eyes, and his light blond hair was still worn loosely, falling to his shoulders and around his face. His physical appearance differed greatly from his partner's, whose long, silky black locks fell down the length of her back, the dark colour of her hair contrasting greatly with her pale complexion. Though he was around six years her senior, Selena had developed a very close relationship with Roger during her years as an Auror. He had been there when she entered the program, and had helped guide her through the training and deal with the stress that sometimes came with the job. She felt safe with Roger watching her back; he'd never let her down before, and she had no reason to believe he would ever do so.

Of course, there were other reasons that caused Selena to feel safe with Roger, though none of them were romantic, unlike what many of their colleagues thought. No, the real reason was much more personal than that. In short, Roger Folan reminded Selena of her twin brother, Leo. They both had the same trusting eyes and warm smile; they both had a fantastic sense of humour, but could be serious, caring, and understanding when it mattered; and they both had the amazing ability to make a person feel welcome, even if they'd only just met each other. Well, Leo used to be like that, anyway, Selena thought. I'm pretty sure he's changed by now. People usually do when they join the Death Eaters. No one knew, of course, and the few who did didn't say anything about it. She'd dropped the ending of her surname after her brother made his decision; within a week, Selena Rosalynn had become Selena Rosa, Auror for the Ministry of Magic.

Selena had not seen her brother in two years, and if she was perfectly honest with herself, she was in no hurry to see Leo again. Leo's decision had basically destroyed their parents. Her father, who had already been getting on in years, died within three months after Leo disappeared. "It was old age, Mrs. Rosalynn," the Healers had told her mother. "His body simply couldn't last any longer." The loss of her husband and her son's disappearance combined to torment Selena's mother. Within five or six months, she had fallen ill herself, and all the Healers could do was just make her comfortable. "Her mind is pretty much gone, Selena," they told her. "She'll probably never recover." Selena shook her head slightly to try and rid her mind of the thoughts currently plaguing it, but Roger rescued her from their assault instead.

"What's the problem?" he asked, drawing her attention away from her thoughts once again.

"It's nothing, really," she answered, "I'm okay, I promise."

Roger hesitated for a moment, looking like he was struggling on whether or not to push Selena. In the end, though, he decided against it. Of course, his decision might have been influenced more by the fact that Kingsley Shacklebolt had just entered and was preparing to go over the plan for the upcoming mission than by a strong regard to spare Selena's feelings.

"All right, everyone," said the tall, black Auror, causing all eyes to focus on him. "This mission is pretty straightforward. We go in, we arrest, and we leave. There's not supposed to be much opposition; our sources supply that no more than four Death Eaters are going to be present. So just stay close to your partners . . ." (Here, Kingsley looked at Selena and Roger, Juan Rodriguez and Susan Hillis, and Tonks and Melina Gregory) "and we should be back here within two hours. Any questions?"

Selena looked around the room, but no one seemed to have anything to ask. Tonks and Melina stood over next to Kingsley, all three of them going over the numerous diagrams and blueprints of several warehouses posted on the wall; Juan paced back and forth across the small Apparition chamber that they were gathered in, mumbling under his breath a long stream of incantations as he did so, while Susan just sat in a simple wooden chair, staring out of the window at the scurrying Muggles outside; Roger was still reclined in his chair next to Selena, who had gone to fiddling with her wand, twirling it through her fingers. Everything's pretty straightforward, she thought, trying to calm the anxious nerves inside of her. There are six of us, and there's only going to be four of them. There's nothing to worry about; nothing should go wrong . . . nothing at all.

But of course, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong . . . and on that day, well . . . things went wrong.

----

"GET DOWN! NOW!"

"Juan! Roger! Move left!"

"They're coming out! Tonks, look right!"

The scene before the Aurors had quickly become a massive realm of chaos, suddenly turning into a great free-for-all battle between the Aurors and the Death Eaters, the latter group numbering far more than four. Something's wrong. Selena knew it the moment that they had all arrived and seen the dozen or so Death Eaters coming out of the surrounding warehouses, encircling the small group of six Aurors. There's too many . . . far too many. Voices shouted incantations, commands, and warnings from both sides, though in the confusion surrounding them, it was impossible to tell who was shouting what.

"Melina, look out!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"SUSAN!"

"HILLIS!"

Susan Hillis did not even see the beam of green light hurling towards her from a Death Eater to her left, and she fell to the ground amidst yells and fighting. From out of the corner of her eye, Selena saw Juan drag his partner out of the main fighting, leaving her behind an old and broken down bus to re-enter the fray himself, decapitating Susan's killer with a well-placed spell within seconds. Selena ducked into one of the warehouses surrounding the fight between the Death Eaters and Aurors, barely dodging a Cruciatus Curse as she did so. She wasn't able to dodge the curses that came from those gathered inside the building, however.

"Crucio!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The Killing Curse was the only one that the Auror was able to dodge, though in dodging the green light, Selena fell right into the path of the torture curse. She was hurled backwards into the far wall and collapsed to the floor, her body screaming in pain. Fighting the intense urge to scream, Selena fired a couple of curses at the approaching Death Eaters, hitting one of them in the leg. The other, however, was unimpeded by her spell and, silently waving his wand, sent a spell towards her. The spell succeeded in getting through Selena's diminished shield and struck her in the chest, causing her hearing to suddenly cease and her eyesight to immediately blur, eventually disappearing all together.

Everything was plunged into dark silence, and Selena's breath momentarily caught in her chest as she realised that she was no longer grasping her wand. Shit! she thought, her hands groping and searching the cement ground around her. Where in the hell is it?! Finally, her shaking fingers wrapped around the cool wood of her twelve-inch mahogany wand, but it was too late. Another wand was held pressed against her throat and a hand was wrapped tightly around her wrist --- the wrist of her wand arm.

"Drop it," a harsh voice hissed in her ear, the Death Eater pressing the tip of his wand even harder into her throat. Selena twitched as she suddenly realised that she could hear again, though her eyes still only saw blackness. She strained her hearing, desperately seeking assurance that other Aurors were in the warehouse with her. But it was useless. There were no sounds of a battle raging within the warehouse, and that could only mean one of two things: Either there had been Aurors and they were all defeated, or she was alone with who knew how many Death Eaters; neither option boded well for her.

"I said drop the wand," the Death Eater spat again and, though her Auror instincts and training-honed skills shouted at her to keep the wand and try to fight, Selena felt her wand slip from her loosened grasp and clatter noisily to the cement ground at the Death Eater's feet. The next thing she felt was her head slamming roughly into the thick wall behind her, and this time, a scream did escape her lips. It echoed around the abandoned warehouse, its sound drifting out into the battle currently taking place outside between the two opposing forces. As Selena struggled to get up and away from the Death Eater, rocks and rubble cutting into her knees and pieces of broken glass embedding themselves in her already cut hands as she crawled, she heard her name shouted from what seemed like miles away.

"SELENA!" shouted Roger. Selena heard the warehouse's door bang open and a flood of pounding footsteps running through the building. "Selena, where are you? Answer me!"

But before she had the chance to issue any words from her mouth, to yell for Roger's assistance, the Death Eater who had struck her blind hit her with another spell.

"Petrificus Totalis," he muttered, and Selena's efforts to move were immediately ceased as she collapsed where she was, the spell locking all of her limbs frozen in place. "You're coming with me," the Death Eater whispered as he reached in his pocket and placed a small, round mirror in her hands. Selena had never used a Portkey without her eyesight before, but she felt the jerk behind her naval that signalled the magical instrument was working. As she left the warehouse behind, she could have sworn that she heard Roger cry her name out one more time.

----

The torrents of rain that had remained in the sky now fell towards the earth in harsh and violent winds. Lakes and oceans swirled terribly, creating some of the largest waves that had been seen in years. Rivers swelled over their banks, and streets flooded with the icy water as people ran for cover, scurrying like rats into their homes to get out of the weather. The entire country was assaulted by the storms, even a small, old manor house that sat imperiously upon a tall hill. Inside the house, streams of rain fell through a broken window, coating a young woman with long black hair as she slept.

----

Rain thundered down upon the roof of the manor, and thunder rumbled loudly from outside, the sound like a massive dragon's roar. The weather had remained the same the entire time; it never changed, and the storms never ceased. They continued their assault, sometimes even seeming to swell in intensity as the time went on.

Time . . . Time had passed slowly after the disastrous Auror mission in mid-February. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and still, no one came for Selena. No one at all . . .

She had remained alone . . . alone and abandoned. That is, until someone opened the door to her prison --- someone whom she had hoped to never see again.

----

"Leo," she whispered as she watched her brother walk towards her. He was cloaked in elegant black robes, and his face no longer bore the smile that it used to wear. The trusting eyes had turned cold and distant; the overall lightness that had once filled his heart and soul had disappeared. Selena just stared at the man before her, realising abruptly that her brother really had gone . . . The tall figure in front of her was now no more than a stranger.

"Hello, Selena," muttered Leo, lowering his hood to reveal shoulder-length black hair just as elegant as his sister's. His voice is even different, Selena thought, and she was right. Leo's voice had grown like his eyes --- colder. There was no light emotion or joking manner behind it anymore; instead, it was completely serious and distant. Silence reigned throughout the room for awhile, until Leo broke it by continuing to speak. "It's been almost two years, sister, and yet you have nothing to say to me . . . nothing at all to say to your twin brother?"

"You are not my brother," replied Selena, her voice hoarse after almost three weeks of not having to use it. But once she had begun talking, she suddenly felt the overwhelming need to let everything out . . . to tell Leo exactly what she thought about him. "My brother would never have joined him; my brother would never have made a decision that destroyed our family . . . a decision that killed our father and caused our mother such grief that her mind is all but completely gone; my brother, the Leo I knew, would never have fled and abandoned his life . . . abandoned me. . . . You are not that Leo," finished Selena, her dark eyes welling up with salty tears that she steadfastly refused to let fall.

Leo had made no move to interrupt his sister as Selena vented at him. He just stood in front of her, his feet planted firmly on the ground, and listened to her. He watched as tears began to fill her eyes, and he watched her fight them back. She's still as stubborn and proud as ever, he thought. That could make this a problem.

"The Leo that you remember, Selena, is no longer," he said. "I've changed a lot in the past two years; I've grown and learned more in the last couple years than I've ever been taught before, even at Hogwarts." Leo walked forwards, taking a seat in a simple wooden chair that he'd conjured and faced his sister directly, his cold eyes boring into hers. "We could be together again, you know . . . All you have to do is say yes."

Selena started at her brother's words. The entire time that Leo had spoken, she had been refusing to look at him, turning her gaze in the opposite direction when he tried to make eye contact. It was just too much for her, to see her brother like this. Every time she looked at him, her heart and mind yelled in anger, her soul wishing over and over that Leo could come back. And now, had she heard correctly? Was he really telling her that things could be like they were? Was it even possible? Hadn't he changed too much?

Yes, she thought. My Leo is gone, and this Leo is a stranger. It isn't possible. It never was. But still, the hope, however slight it was, burned within her, and Selena could not stop herself from wondering.

"Say yes to what?" she asked. "What could possibly bring my brother back?"

"Say yes to the Dark Lord," answered Leo, his voice sounding like he had simply just stated the time of day. "Join him, agree to serve him, and we no longer have to be enemies with each other. Our mother won't have to die knowing her children never made up, and it's possible that she could even be cured. Don't you see, Selena? If you take the Dark Mark, everything can go back to normal. Yes, I've changed, but so have you in these past couple years. We aren't the same we were then. But ---"

"NO!" exclaimed Selena, abruptly standing from her sitting position on the cold and wet floor, backing away from her brother the whole time until her back came up against the wall. "How can you even think that I would agree to such a thing? Is that why I've been trapped here for weeks? Did he think that by leaving me alone that I would crack or break or something? It was your decision to join him that caused Mother to fall ill in the first place! How would me making the same terrible mistake make her better?"

Leo just watched her as she fell away from him, supporting herself on the wall behind her. Her arguments just flew through his mind; he had expected nothing less from his stubborn sister, anyways. "Selena ---"

"I said NO!" she screamed. "There is no way in hell that I would agree to join that monster! I would die first before ---"

"Then I'm afraid it's come to this," Leo mumbled under his breath as he turned and walked back towards the door. For a split second, Selena thought of trying to overtake her brother and make a run for it, but the idea disappeared almost the moment she thought of it as she caught sight of what were located right outside the door.

Or, more truthfully, she saw some and felt the others.

Three Dementors glided into the room when Leo stepped clear of the doorway, and the creatures converged on Selena, who collapsed to the ground amidst screaming and crying in her mind.

"I joined the Death Eaters, Mother . . . I joined because I believe in the Dark Lord." . . .

"Susan!"

"Look out!"

"Selena!"

Through the voices and fog in her head, Selena was able to discern more voices in the room besides her brother's. One she'd heard recently before: It belonged to the Death Eater who had captured her in the first place, but the other one had the ability to send a chill down her spine: The voice of Bellatrix Lestrange was never welcome.

"I'm sorry, Selena," she heard her brother say, though his voice sounded oddly distant and quiet. Of course, that could have mainly been caused by the Dementors separating the two. "But you have a choice to make: to join the Dark Lord or not . . . and I hope you choose the right one." With that said, Selena faintly heard Leo leave the room, his diminishing footfalls followed by the sound of the heavy wooden door slamming shut behind him.

The last image the 28-year-old Auror was able to discern was Bellatrix leering down at her, the witch surrounded by a trio of Dementors, before the blackness took her.

----

"Will you serve him?"

"No."

Pain ignited all over Selena's body, her vision blurring with the salty tears that ran from her eyes. She could feel the blood flowing down her skin from her many lacerations and cuts, but still, she wouldn't give in.

"Join him!"

"Never."

Heavy pressure crushed her ankle this time, joining the numerous other broken bones Selena had accumulated. She screamed as the agony engulfed her, her mind desperately seeking the realm of welcome unconsciousness and relief. But the relief never came soon enough.

"Give it up, Rosa!" The voice belonged to Bellatrix; it always belonged to Bellatrix. Her order was met with silence . . . silence that was soon followed by more screams. "Crucio!"

Selena screamed, but she never gave in. She was never tempted to; that is, not until the Death Eaters started playing on a whole other level.

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Author's Note: I decided to break this up into two parts, as it was quite lengthy when it was all one. Anyway, let me know what you think!

~Megan