Serena Black || 𝑳𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒔

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

• Serena Black •

„A drop of ink
may make a million think."

Wrapped up in warm clothing, Serena stood at King's Cross station. As she did so, she had stood on tiptoe to look out for her mother. This time the Hogwarts Express had not been searched, but the icy snowflakes liquefying on her warm skin made her think back to the cold of the Dementors.

"Serena!"

Katherine Parker's cry of joy was impossible to miss; Serena could hear her several yards away, despite the loud din around her at the King's Cross station tracks.

"Hey, Mum." She let her mother hug her tightly, beaming with joy, before she let go of her and looked at her instead, worriedly, "I was so worried when I got the news that," she faltered for an abrupt moment and lowered her voice, "That.... Sirius has broken into Hogwarts."

That was the first time she had spoken his name aloud in front of Serena, no, that she had spoken of him at all. Surprised, the dark haired girl looked at her and finally murmured, "No harm done, the portrait stopped him."

"The portrait?! You're trying to tell me that my daughter's safety depended on a portrait?" she remarked in horror, staring at her with such widened eyes that Serena feared for a moment they might fall out of her skull. Immediately she regretted what she had said, for least of all did she want to risk a scene at the crowded station, "There was no one in the tower at the time," she lied, trying to calm her upset mother down.

"And if it had been you?" By now her mother's face had turned an unhealthy shade of red and her eyes were sparking. Serena looked at the curious faces of her classmates who had turned to look at her, "Mum, can we please go."

"Serena..."

"Mum, please."

Slowly but surely her mother's complexion returned to normal and the red marks faded, much to her relief, "All right, I'll stop already. To celebrate, I thought we could go to your favourite restaurant, what do you think?"

Serena nodded in agreement and exhaled in relief. After all, she had hoped to escape it all by going home. So it didn't suit her very well that her mother was now also haunting her with this very topic. Fortunately, she seemed to have left it alone and never mentioned her former partner again until they drove home in the early evening.

A wave of happiness rolled over Serena when she finally entered her room. It was always strange to return after so long, everything felt strange and familiar at the same time. She would probably never get used to this most peculiar feeling of contrariness.

Exhausted, the Gryffindor threw herself onto her bed and enjoyed the peace and quiet, for at Hogwarts she had hardly any privacy and often enough felt like an animal at the zoo. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but her mattress seemed much softer than usual. The springs nestled against her back as if they had adapted to her body after all these years and the duvet felt as heavy as if it was filled with stones. Faster than she could help it, her tired dark eyes had also fallen shut.