• Serena Black •

„Things we lose have a way
of coming back to us in the end,
if not always in the way we expect."

A glaring light penetrated Serena's eyelids and slowly dispelled the feeling of numbness. She wanted nothing more than to sink back down into the comforting darkness where she had felt light as a feather and nothing mattered. Not her grades, not her name, and not even wizards turning into animals. Her limbs now felt as if they were filled with lead and her eyelids were far too heavy to open.

It was as if she were floating in dark and viscous water that made it impossible for her to even stir her little toe. Like a bug caught in the congealed mass of Jell-O. A sharp pain that travelled along her spine and ended in a headache suddenly jerked her upwards. Almost to the surface, but not far enough to open her eyes. The sensation was as if thousands of tiny needles were being pressed into her back.

The girl gasped in fright and noticed how something increased the pressure around her left hand. Finally, she managed to open her eyes and was first relentlessly overwhelmed by the glare before she noticed the outline of Remus Lupin to her left.

He was looking at her in anguish, his face adorned with numerous new scratches. The dark circles under his expressionless eyes accentuated his utterly exhausted expression. Serena's gaze wandered to the sterile ceiling and across the bright room where there were numerous beds with equally clinical bedding and in one of them she lay herself.

All at once, the events of that night dawned back into Serena's consciousness. Jerkily, she tried to sit up and looked down at herself, but she was no longer wearing the jacket that Scabbers was in. Gently she was pushed back into the bed. She groaned as she lay back on the soft mattress, for every slight movement sent a new wave of stabbing pain through her body.

A deep voice reached her right ear and only now did she also feel the pressure on her right hand. "Easy, you need to lie still."

Serena turned towards the source of the voice and looked into her father's worried storm-grey eyes. She couldn't help but stare at him. He looked rejuvenated by many years and seemed to have had a couple of decent meals, as well as fresh clothes. His black hair fell freshly cut on his azure cloak and his beard was trimmed too. Serena wondered silently how long she had been unconscious.

"You got a few bruises on your back and a few ribs are cracked, but it's nothing Madam Pomfrey can't fix." Encouragingly, he smiled at her and winked with twinkling eyes. "She gave you a painkiller that knocked you out for a few days."

But the Gryffindor had other things to worry about first. She slowly released her hand from her father's grip and felt under the duvet for her jacket, but there was only the sheet and the duvet. Restlessly, her dark eyes flew around the room until she finally discovered the garment, carefully laid over the back of a chair. The pockets hung limply down with no sign of anything inside. Panic overtook her. "Pettigrew," she gasped.

A shadow flitted across her father's face and he didn't dare look at her, instead staring out of the window behind which the sun was shining. "He got away."

"No," she breathed, feeling the duvet over her grow heavier. Almost as if it were filled with all the sorrow, grief and pain that threatened to crush her. Her gaze flew to Lupin, who had lowered his head into both of his bruised hands. "Serena, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."

The Gryffindor tried to sit up again. "We have to get to Fudge!"

She tried in vain to fight back against the strong arms that were pushing her back into the hospital bed from both sides. "Serena, calm down! We'll explain everything to you." Professor Lupin cleared his throat briefly before continuing, "I'm sure you noticed that Hermione was taking a lot of classes at once, though she couldn't possibly have been in all of them at once?"

Serena didn't know where the story was going, but she nodded anyway and her godfather then continued, "Well, she could be in all the classes at once, with the help of a Time Turner."

"But how...?"

"Professor McGonagall gave it to her. Anyway, Hermione, Harry and Sirius were attacked by Dementors after I.... After you fell unconscious. Fortunately, however, they were chased away."

"By wh..."

He waved her question away impatiently. "I'll get to that later. You were right about someone looking for you after curfew. Professor McGonagall found you, Ron and Snape by the willow. She brought you and Ron here. Snape, meanwhile, was looking for the others. He tied Sirius up and locked him in the highest tower. Harry and Hermione were also taken to the hospital wing. When they woke up, they used the Time Turner to catch Peter. In the process, they also managed to save Buckbeak."

Serena had been hanging tensely on his lips when Madam Pomfrey came through a small back door and interrupted her godfather, "Mister Black, Mister Lupin! You were supposed to call me as soon as she wakes up! I'll get a sedative and then you'll be out! That poor girl..."

With these words she scurried away and Lupin hastily continued with the story before the healer would send him and his friend away. "When they arrived at the Whomping Willow, they saw that you had caught Peter. They chased away the Dementors who had attacked them earlier and quickly ran back to the hospital wing to retrieve the rat from your bag. They eventually took him to Fudge and got him to show himself. Otherwise the minister would probably never have believed them. At last I suppose he thought it necessary to use Veritaserum." Fleetingly, his gaze flew to Sirius, whose eyebrows furrowed grimly. After all, even this had been denied him at the time.

"However, in a moment of inattention, Peter unfortunately managed to turn into a rat again and disappear," Professor Lupin sighed, but a faint and relieved smile danced around the corners of his mouth. "However, not before he had made a confession."

"These Ministry people are just good for nothing," Serena's father muttered, shaking his head. Presently she tried to process the words. It took her a moment, for her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. "You are free," she finally whispered.

A smile stole onto her father's face now, "Yes, I am free, thanks to you."

Despite a new wave of stabbing pain, Serena hadn't felt so relieved in a long time. Yet, in theory, she had only known the man since yesterday. Because the one she had thought he was before didn't even exist.

"You should have seen Snape's face when Fudge took the Order of Merlin Second Class away from him again," he then laughed and even Serena now managed a smile.

At that moment Madam Pomfrey returned with a large bottle in her hand. Professor Lupin made room for her so that she could approach Serena's bed. She filled the cup that was on the bedside table with a steaming liquid from the bottle and finally handed it to Serena. The Gryffindor eyed the transparent liquid critically at first, but she knew it was useless to refuse it. Especially as the pain in her head and back was increasing by the second.

Fortunately, the potion tasted exactly as it looked; like nothing. A gentle anaesthetic drove away her discomfort and slowly Serena sank back into the comforting darkness of cotton wool. The last thing she was aware of was someone taking her hand again and squeezing it gently. "I promise we'll be a proper family."

The words echoed in her head as she surrendered to the blackness. Even if Pettigrew had managed to escape again, at the end of the day only one thing mattered; Sirius Black was a free man.

_________________

I hope yall enjoyed this story!
The Sequel is out now! 🥰

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All I can say is: Drama is coming go Hogwarts