Author's Note: Please read :)

I'm really sorry if you cannot comment on this, wattpad is being a bitch 😭. Hopefully it'll work later on but I'm really sorry for the constant updating, I'm trying to fix the problem :(

~~~

❁❁❁

The last week of term seemed to stretch on forever. Serena, against her original disposition, was excited for the Yule Ball. Perhaps it was Ramona's obvious enthusiasm for the event, or how the entire Hogwarts Castle became increasingly boisterous as the week progressed, but the high energy was rubbing off on Serena.

Rumours about the ball were flying everywhere, from Dumbledore buying eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta to Filch, the caretaker, being seen asking Mrs Norris dance. If anything, Serena thought the last was much more likely. However, it was a definite fact Dumbledore had booked the Weird Sisters to perform. Though Serena was a bigger fan of the Hobgoblins, she had heard enough songs of theirs playing from Maisie Mallard's radio to look forward to them.

Some teachers, like Professor Flitwick, gave up on trying to teach his classes anything, as their minds had clearly drifted elsewhere. Instead, he let the sixth years take a break and play games. Hagrid was rather cool, too and paused their study of Glumbumbles in favour of a few rounds of Exploding Snap. Whether it was because of the ball or because he was grateful the few twenty-five students remained in his sixth-year class, Serena didn't know but didn't complain, either.

Other teachers, however, were not as generous. Professor McGonagall and Moody kept them working on their non-verbal spells until the very last second of their classes. And something as trivial as a ball would never deflect Professor Snap. He would no sooner let them play games in class than buy a bottle of much-needed shampoo. Nastily staring at the sixth years, narrowing his black eyes once he passed over Serena, he reminded them they would be tested on the poison antidotes the very last lesson of the term.

"I honestly cannot believe Snape. A test on antidotes on the last day? Is he trying to fail me?" Serena huffed, walking beside Ramona and Magnolia.

"We've established this already. He wants everyone to fail N.E.W.T. Potions, otherwise, he'll have to deal with us next year," Magnolia said, nose wrinkled in annoyance.

"At least it's on that weirdly pink potion," Ramona said. "We can use our Golpalott's Third Law essay as a study tool."

"Well, I certainly cannot. He gave me a troll on it. Wanna know what he said after he returned those stupid essays?" Serena, not waiting for an answer, put on a soft and silky voice, mimicking Professor Snape. "I must say, your essay was difficult to read, let alone grade. An absolute horrid summarisation on the intricate and detailed Law that is Golpalott's Third. I am afraid to say if someone were ever to be poisoned in your presence, they will surely perish faster from your antidote."

Magnolia stifled a laugh, while Ramona looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sure after study hall, you'll do much better! If you want, you can use Nolie's or my essay as a guide."

"Can't, because I'll have dear 'ole Professor Sevy breathing down my neck, looking for even the slightest grammatical error to penalise me for." Serena sighed, waving goodbye to her friends. "See you lot when I'm back from hell."

"Bring me back a cute pair of horns!" Magnolia called, while Ramona pushed her forward with a shale of her head.

Serena laughed, entering the Great Hall to see Snape whip around at the sound of her voice. "Quiet, Mallard, you've got an essay to rewrite," he said irritably.

"I haven't even sat down yet..." Serena said before spotting Angelina and Alicia at the Gryffindor table. "Hey, you two, what are you working on?"

"Redoing that awful Potions essay," Alicia answered, making sure to keep her voice at a whisper.

Angelina nodded. "Stuck doing this, and haven't even started working on the actual antidote we'll have to make."

"Wow. So he's failing all of the Gryffindors, huh. Prejudice at its finest," Serena said, her fellow chasers trying hard not to laugh.

Serena looked up, noticing Fred and George sitting across from them, surprisingly working on their homework. Just then, Fred's eyes meet her own, and she smiled. Much to her confusion, however, Fred completely ignored her, focusing back on the notebook in from of him.

"Well, that was odd," she muttered, before pulling out a roll of parchment. For the next hour, she silently worked with Angelina and Alicia, hastily turning back to their own work whenever Professor Snape walked behind them.

Serena was, shockingly, nearly finished with her revised essay. She only had one more paragraph to write, perhaps cross out any mistakes, and she'd be done!

Suddenly, a paper ball went flying through the air, sticking Angelina in the shoulder. Surprised, she accidentally ran her quill over her essay, much to her annoyance. She turned, trying to find who threw the paper just to see Fred grinning at her. Serena curiously looked up from her essay. She felt a presence behind and turned, nearly having a heart attack at the sight of Professor Snape standing right behind her. Looking back at Fred, she wondering what in the world could he possibly need to ask when Snape was clearly watching.

"Oi, Angelina," he whispered.

"What?"

Happy that he had her full attention, Fred rose his hands up in the air as if he were dancing, a silly grin on his face. "Do you. Want to. Go to. The ball. With me?"

Serena froze. Surely she had misheard. Fred was whispering after all, so maybe she was simply overthinking again. Perhaps he didn't ask Angelina to the ball and wanted an answer to Herbology or something.

Except, all of Serena's doubts were confirmed when Angelina giggled. "To the ball?"

Fred nodded fervently, not sparing a single glance in Serena's direction.

Angelina shrugged, though a hint of a smile was still evident on her face. "Yeah, alright."

Serena's heart stopped, unable to process what just happened. A rush of emotions swirled out of control, and the girl couldn't understand any of it. Why was she suddenly so angry at her two best friends? Why did she feel like she was going to cry?

Why did she feel so... broken?

She glanced up, seeing Angelina whisper excitedly to Alicia before turning to her. "That was a bit shocking, wasn't it?"

Serena, not trusting her voice, but down on her lip and nodded. The Gryffindor was afraid that if she spoke, she would say something she'd regret.

"Are you alright, Serena?" Alicia asked quietly. "Do you need any help with the last paragraph?"

"You can take a look at mine if you'd like-"

"No, thanks. I'm done." Serena interrupted Angelina rather harshly, to which the girl frowned.

The girl hastily packed up her stuff. Serena still hadn't finished her essay, but she honestly couldn't care less. If she stayed any longer, her emotions would get the better of her.

Just as she stood, Hermione rushed past her, bushy hair flying as she stomped out of the Great Hall.

Slamming a notebook shut and stuffing it into her back, the entire Gryffindor table watched as Serena picked up her essay before marching toward Snape. They exchanged no words as he snatched the rolls of parchment out of her hands, Serena swiftly turning around.

"Wait, Serena!" George quickly stood, but the girl never looked back. He sat back down and sighed; with a disapproving glance at his brother, he slapped him at the back of his head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

George only rolled his eyes. "For being the biggest prat in the world."

Unfortunately for the twins, Snape was displeased with their loud voices and smacked them across the head with a notebook.

Serena kept her head down as she sped through the entrance hall. She didn't want to talk to anyone, but simply crawl into bed with the sheets over her head. It was just her luck to bump into someone.

"Oh, hey, Serena. We were just looking for you." Serena didn't need to see the person talking to know it was Magnolia.

"We weren't sure when study hall was over, so we decided to stay out here until you were done," Ramona said brightly.

"Glad you're out here, saved us a lot of unnecessary time waiting for you," Magnolia said. "Anyway, we were looking through a few books at the library to figure out what happened with Cedric during the first task and- are you crying?"

"Huh? What?" Serena lightly touched her cheek. Sure enough, it was wet. "N-no I'm not, listen, I've got to go."

Serena pushed through the pair, but they did not easily let her go as Magnolia gently grabbed her shoulder. "Woah, what's going on?"

"Rena, are you alright?" Ramona's hazel eyes were creased in worry.

"I'm fine," she said behind gritted teeth. "Just leave me alone."

Magnolia stood in front of the curly-haired girl, gently lifting her face. Wiping away a tear, she looked at her best friend. "You aren't fine. And we aren't leaving until we know what's wrong."

"We're your best friends, Serena," Ramona smiled at the girl. "Tell us what happened."

With a sigh, Serena led them to out of the entrance hall, down a corridor and into an empty classroom. Closing the door, she jumped on top of a desk, fiddling with her fingers. She felt all choked up, sure that if she were going to speak, the tears would unwillingly fall. Serena didn't know why this affected her so much.

Her friends were patient, however. Serena simply needed time to feel comfortable enough to talk.

Taking in a deep breath, Serena finally said, "Fred asked Angelina to the ball."

Ramona and Magnolia's reaction was the same as always. "He did what?"

"Just now... in study hall," said Serena.

"Why would he ask her?" Ramona said. "It's obvious he likes you, so it's only expected that he would ask you."

Magnolia got up from the wall she was leaning against. "You know what, I think I'll go have a word with Fred."

Serena hastily shook her head. "Wait, please don't. It'll only make things worse. It... it was wrong of me to assume he would ask me. Quite foolish, actually."

"No, he made it quite obvious how he felt about you. You were too oblivious to see it," Magnolia said, reluctantly leaning back against the wall.

Ramona crossed her arms. "I mean, really Serena, he flirts with you all the time. Remember what you told us about your midnight kitchen trip with him? And not to mention what happened at Hogsmeade?"

Magnolia shot up at that. "Right! He very nearly kissed you, Serena! And you mean to tell me he doesn't have feelings for you?"

"Yes! Because he didn't ask me to the ball, now did he?" Serena shouted. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. I just don't know why I feel this way." She sighed, jumping off the desk to pace around the room. "I feel so angry, and also like I'm going to cry. I hate that Angelina said yes, but I should be happy for her! I am so mad at Fred, but I don't know why! Well... maybe I do. It's my fault. I should never have expected him to ask me just because I wanted him too."

"What? No! He led you on, Serena!" Magnolia said.

Ramona stood up from her seat, gently stopping Serena from pacing. "If Fred didn't like you, he certainly has a funny way of showing it." Lifting the girl's right hand, she tapped the bracelet on her wrist. "He got you this for your birthday, right? What boy buys a girl jewellery as pretty as this if he didn't feel some sort of way about her?"

Serena looked down at the golden bracelet, the Gryffindor house charm dangling from it. She remembered how nervous Fred looked when he pushed the jewellery box into her hands. How he was slightly pink as she had hugged him. She remembered the giddy feeling when she put the bracelet on. Looking at it now, she felt a sudden urge to take it off. She sighed again, looking back at Ramona.

"A boy that gave it to the wrong girl." Grabbing her books, Serena paused before opening the door. "I'm... I'm not going to the ball. I'll just return the dress Mum got me. I didn't open the package, anyway."

And with that, she left.

"Well," said Magnolia, dramatically stretching her arms, "now that she isn't here, I think I'll pay Fred a much-needed visit."

Ramona held the brunette back. "No, you won't. We shouldn't meddle with their business."

"You don't expect me to just do nothing, right? I want to know what that prat is playing at." She irritatedly crossed her arms. "Serena doesn't cry often. And if she crying over a guy, that means it hurts her a lot more than she lets on."

"No, Magnolia," the Hufflepuff said sternly. "Serena will be even more mad if we ask Fred about it. We have to leave it to them to work it out."

"And if they don't? You know how Serena'll act."

Ramona smiled. "They will. They've been friends since first year. So they will."

Except, they didn't. Serena couldn't tell whether she was more sad or mad. So she settled on remaining neutral. It was the easiest option. To remain completely impassive, and act like it doesn't bother her. Because it shouldn't. Fred clearly had feelings for someone else and can go to the ball with whoever he wants.

So whenever Fred and Angelina were by, she would act like they weren't even there, so they wouldn't remind her how she spent the last week anticipating the ball, and wouldn't even be going.

Her emotions, however, were always much more prominent than Serena though. "Alright, I've had it, Rena," Magnolia said, slamming shut a copy of When Fortunes Turn Foul. The three girls were in the library, scrolling through a few Divination books to find some sort of explanation of what went down during the first task, and why Cedric had gotten burned when he shouldn't have.

They were working peacefully when Angelina had walked in, not noticing the trio. Serena, who had previously been focused on a jotting down notes from one of the many textbooks on their table, stiffened, obviously angered by her mere presence. "Had it with what?"

"With you," Magnolia deadpanned.

Serena was utterly confused. "Erm... what did I do?"

"You're looking all mad again."

"What?" Serena quickly glanced back to where Angelina was looking through a bookshelf. "No, I'm not. I'm not mad at all."

"Well," Ramona began, "you do look rather annoyed."

Serena's eyes widened. "I do?"

Magnolia scoffed. "You know what, I think it's time for a little personality analysis because you two don't know yourselves." Sitting up in her chair, the Ravenclaw pointed at Ramona. "Mona here is a sweet cinnamon roll that can't bear to hurt anyone's feelings. However, when she's mad, and I mean mad because she doesn't get mad often, she'll act like me. Impassive and cold. Though I have a little more personality than that.

"Serena, on the other hand, you express your emotions without meaning to. So when something bothers you, you either blow up or act like it does not affect you. The latter applies to your situation with Fred and Angelina. Except, dear Serena, your facial expressions betray you. Rather than looking unbothered, you look murderous. Scary, if I'm being honest."

Serena was stunned, while Ramona looked rather impressed. "You are really good at reading people."

The brunette shrugged. "I know."

"She's right, Rena. Take DADA for example," said Ramona. "When Fred asked to borrow a quill from me, your entire demeanour changed. You looked like you hated his very presence."

"Well, shit," Serena sighed, putting her head down on the table with a bang. "I couldn't control my damn emotions so now they know them."

Magnolia shook her head. "Serena, you don't need to control your emotions and bottle them up. I do that because I can't express them, you can. So what you need to do is be straight forward and tell Fred how you feel."

"Are you mental? You want me to tell him I'm mad he asked someone else to the ball when I'm just overreacting?"

"No." Magnolia stared straight into Serena's brown eyes. "I want you to tell him you like him."

"But I don't like him-" Serena paused. If she didn't have some type of feelings for free, she honestly wouldn't care who he went to the ball with. But she did care, a lot. So much so that she felt a pang of sadness every time she saw Fred with Angelina.

Did Serena like Fred? Was that why she couldn't control the way she acted around him?

"Doesn't matter if I do or don't," the Gryffindor said. "He likes Angelina. And that's the end of it."

"Serena, I'm just as oblivious as you are when it comes to Cedric," said Ramona. "But I can tell you this. Just as you said Cedric likes me, my an outsider's perspective, Fred is absolutely in love with you. It's the way he looks at you. You don't notice, but we do."

Serena put her hands up. "Okay, woah, calm down. No one loves anyone yet. We're too young for that."

"Listen," Magnolia said as the three placed the books back where they belonged, finished with their the unsuccessful search for the day. "All I'm saying is that you have got to talk to Fred and tell him everything. You can't hold it all in and act as nothing bothers you because... you just end up lying to yourself."

"I'm not blunt like you, Nolie. I can't just confront someone like you would."

"Correction, you can't if they affect you emotionally. You were the one that gave Montague that pretty pair of antlers a while back but can't face Fred because that is accepting your feelings for him, which is a change. And you don't like change."

"Okay, you know me so well that it's frightening."

Magnolia grinned, blue eyes twinkling. "I'm a people person."

"I thought you hated people," Ramona muttered.

Uncharacteristically, the Ravenclaw wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders as they walked out of the library. "Other people, but you two just so happen to be my favourites."

Ramona chuckled before looking at Serena. "So... please tell me you've reconsidered your decision to not go to the ball?"

"Well, when I tried returning my dress to Mum, she sent it right back, threatening to apparate here to force me to go the ball. Then told Iyla to make sure I go and 'have fun.'" The girl shrugged. "I'm still not going, though."

"Oh, Serena!" Ramona looked rather disappointed as she held the curly-haired girl's hands. "Please come with us! It'll be so much fun! You don't need a date to enjoy it!"

"Easy for you to say, you're going with Cedric," Serena sighed with downcast eyes. "Least Magnolia and I don't have dates."

"Erm... well, not exactly."

Serena and Ramona whipped around to face the brunette. "What?"

"You know the person I went to Hogsmeade with? Well, I guess you don't know because I never told you who they were. Anyways, I'm going with them."

"Who is it?"

"How come you never told us?"

The girl in question shrugged. "All will be revealed in due time."

Serena groaned, flailing her arms around as she spoke. "This is just great! You two both got dates, and I'm the only one with a dress but no one to go with."

"Well, I haven't got a dress either," Ramona said, a frown on her face. "My parents would never buy me a dress for a wizarding ball."

Magnolia chuckled. "Eh, no need, I've got your dress already."

"W-what?"

Magnolia laughed harder at the Hufflepuff's astonishment. "Yeah, and I think you'll love it. Yellow is a pretty colour on you."

Before Ramona could reprimand the Ravenclaw for wasting money on her dress, Serena groaned once more, flailing her arms around as if to emphasize her frustration. "Brilliant. You two have got dates, dresses, and I'll be stuck in my lonely tower probably rewriting that stupid Potions essay for a third time because Snape won't let my failing grade slide right on by. Unless some guy pops out of thin air and asks me, I honestly think I'm going to die alone- ouch!"

Serena, in her rant, flung her arm back, connecting it the large pile of books someone was carrying. Her hand throbbed as the books and rolls of parchment dropped onto the stone floor with a crash. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, let me help you," Serena said, bending down to help the boy pick up his belongings.

"No, no, it was my fault, I did not mean to stand so close to you," the boy apologized in a thick French accent.

"No, I wasn't aware of my surroundings, as always." Serena reached for one of the boy's quills just as he did. Their hands touched until they hastily pulled away. "Ah, sorry..."

"You are alright," he said as he got up from the floor.

Serena stood as well, taking in his light blue uniform. "You're from Beauxbatons?"

"Yes." He stuck out his hand. "My name is Timothée Chalamet. And yours, mademoiselle?"

The girl shook his hand, which she noted was rather soft. Looking up to smile at him, the Gryffindor nearly choked- he was beautiful. Fluffy dark brown hair curled in every direction with pretty hazel eyes and white teethed smile. She coughed. "Oh, erm... Serena. Serena Mallard. That is my name, yes."

Timothée grinned. "What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

Ramona and Magnolia, who were watching from the sidelines, giggling, though Serena ignored them. As she stared at the ethereal man, something in her mind clicked. "Wait a minute. Weren't you the guy that laughed at me when I threatened to give that Hufflepuff kid a pair of antlers?"

The French boy chuckled. "I did not laugh at you, but more so with you. It was quite hilarious if I do say so myself. I also saw what you did to that Montague fellow, and I was impressed."

"Oh, well," Serena flipped her long, curly hair behind her shoulder. "I know my way around hexes."

Suddenly, the French boy was blushing, an embarrassed smile on his face. "I have taken a liking to you, Serena Mallard. I thought you were rather cool and wanted to get to know you better since then, but have not gotten a chance. So... would you be willing to accompany me to the Yule Ball?"

Serena's eyes widened. This was only her second encounter with the boy, and she hadn't even talked to him with the first. However, he was the one guy that was actually interested in her. Besides, she shouldn't stay stuck on someone that obviously didn't want to go with her. And he had the most adorable French accent.

And he was super cute.

So, as Ramona and Magnolia urged her to say yes, Serena turned back to the French boy with a smile of her own. "I'd love to."

❁❁❁

Author's Note:

An extra-long chapter (4k words) because I am extra-late in updating!

But thank you all for almost 4k reads!! This gives me much needed motivation to fix my previous chapters to make it more enjoyable!

And I know I'm gonna be clowned for adding my love Timothée Chalamet but I don't care I don't care. 🤩 I wanted this character to be French and he was the first person I thought of so deal with it :)

Anyways, thank you all for reading and voting on my book! I hope you liked this chapter.

Well, until next time,

~Lena