[Book 3]
❝ 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. ❞
Voldemort is back, only the Ministry just wouldn't see it. Instead, they send the Pink Plague to Hogwarts and accuse Serena's father, the acquitte...
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"Promise me you'll love me someday."
The parlour at Crystal Cottage had been beautifully decorated, with Serena and Tonks taking on the task. The furniture stood against the walls, revealing an area that was to be used as a dance floor that evening and where the first guests were already milling about.
Serena wore a white Marilyn Monroe dress and her dark hair fell over her shoulders in neat curls. Nate had joined her with a drink in his hand and silently watched the hustle and bustle around the dance floor. "Have you got a date for tonight?"
"Cancelled," she muttered, still trying to convince herself that it was for the best if Edmund didn't come. But she couldn't banish the slight feeling of disappointment from her heart. "And you?"
Her oldest friend nodded and she stared at him with wide eyes. "Just tell me we're finally going to find out who your secret crush is!"
"I think it's about time," he sighed, but he didn't seem particularly comfortable in his own skin and kept glancing over those present as if he wanted to make sure they were all authorised to know his secret.
Serena did the same and kept an eye on the door, where a person she hadn't expected was standing. "Who invited him?"
"Me," Nate finally said, and she stared at him in confusion for a few seconds before she thought she understood the relationship between her best friend and Timothy Barnes, "You mean...?" Words were failing her and she didn't have the faintest idea what to say. How had she not noticed? They had known each other for almost ten years and she had never noticed anything. Maybe she was a bad friend, or maybe she'd just been too preoccupied with herself, which would be the same thing. But what was she supposed to realise? After all, no one carried something like that around with them written out visibly on their forehead. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" she finally asked a little accusingly, burying her head in her hands in embarrassment, "And I've been asking you which girl you'd go out with all this time too."
"I guess I just wasn't ready yet," the Ravenclaw finally admitted with a shrug. "And the right moment just hasn't presented itself until today. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologise," Serena whispered, noticing how Nate became increasingly nervous as Timothy approached him with a shy smile. "I don't think anyone here will even think of judging either of you."
"I know." He smiled and tightened his posture. "That's why we don't want to keep it a secret anymore."
"Go get him, Casanova," she laughed as he walked towards his boyfriend and thought she heard him mumble that he still didn't know what that meant. Slowly, Serena turned away from the couple and turned round, almost bumping into Hailey, who must have been standing behind her. Her expression was expressionless and her bright pink lips trembled. It was a look Serena rarely saw on her and at that moment, it couldn't mean anything good at all. "Hailey?"
