• Serena Black •

"Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house,
knowing what you're about to find inside..."

Serena's eyes widened in horror and focused on the darkened sky with its ominous motif. The green-coloured clouds, twisting like a snake, were reflected in her brown iris. The dark mark stretched across the village in its huge shape and people screamed in the distance. It was the second time Serena had seen this sign, but it was so much bigger and more menacing than it had been at the World Cup. Dismayed, she exhaled the air she had unconsciously been holding and made an effort to walk around the lake, but two arms blocked her path. "There's nothing more you can do," Edmund whispered to her without looking at her, his eyes instead fixed on the now dark surface of the lake.

Avery looked at her apologetically, as if he had just opened up to her about something, like detention for an hour and not the murder of someone presumably innocent. "The Aurors are about to arrive."

"I have to go home," Serena mumbled in a weary voice and hoped that there really wasn't anyone else in the forest who needed help. But she probably wouldn't be able to do much anyway. Not against the Death Eaters she had already seen in battle.

"I'll walk with you," Edmund said quickly and came towards her with long strides, completely ignoring the unannounced visitor. He just stared at her hesitantly, as if he had something against the suggestion, but then nodded. "I'll let Elijah know about this."

"No!" the blond called out abruptly and seemed to have noticed Serena's confused look, which was why he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Please just say I'll be right there."

"You'll just talk to him yourself later," the Death Eater replied coolly and was gone the next moment. Serena took a deep breath and pressed the blanket, which had previously served as a seat, against her body as if it could calm her agitated mind.

"Shall we go?" Edmund asked in a gentle tone that suggested that he had not forgotten the argument that had taken place earlier. But the Gryffindor hadn't either, which is why she didn't give him a glance, "I can find my own way home." she returned defiantly and walked at a brisk pace along the path they had come. She felt her wand ready for action in her trouser pocket, but as a precaution, she pulled it out to arm herself for what might come.

Serena wondered if her absence had been noticed yet. After the sign of Voldemort had appeared in the sky, they were probably already looking for her. She couldn't blame them, because she would be worried too. The dark-haired woman only realised late on that Edmund had followed her. How could it be otherwise? He hadn't left her in peace since fourth year, "I told you to leave." She hissed at him and didn't even bother to turn round. In any case, she was sure that he had understood her perfectly.

"Please don't be like that," he pleaded, visibly annoyed, and grabbed her upper arm, roughly bringing her to a halt. "We've already talked about this."

"I didn't realise that you wanted to carry on like before," Serena admitted quietly and didn't really have any more nerve for this discussion at that moment. She had to and wanted to get home as quickly as possible. She quickly pulled her arm away from him and set off home again. Her paranoia made her see a human being in every shadow of a tree and every rustle, however faint, made her cringe. Suddenly she was overcome with fear that the Death Eater victim might have been someone she knew. What if someone had found out that she was no longer at Crystal Cottage and had been looking for her?

The thought lodged itself in her stomach like a tough lump and was yet another reason to return to the house immediately to see what was wrong. She had almost forgotten about Edmund, who was still running after her like a stranded duckling. "I don't understand why we can't just carry on like last term. My extracurricular activities didn't bother you either."

"Oh, you mean before I found out we were engaged and you told me you loved me." Serena bit her lip; she hadn't really meant to say the latter. In any case, the Slytherin had already confessed to her that this wasn't true and yet it still bothered her that he had wanted to use these words in his favour.

"Can you please stop taking everything so seriously?" he growled, having caught up with her by now. Again Edmund tried to get her to stop, but Serena continued to run ahead mercilessly. "When you stop being such an arse," she merely replied, almost unable to believe that he had nothing better to think about in light of recent events.

"You're being unfair," the blonde remarked gruffly, his turquoise-blue eyes glaring at her impassively.

Serena snorted and had to stifle a heartless laugh at this statement. "I'm being unfair? When things were still going well with me and Maxon, you did everything you could to end things between us and sometimes not by fair means. And that was a real relationship. But if I ask you to pull yourself together a little, is it reprehensible or what?" She had come to a standstill after all, her collar had burst.

"Exactly," he replied tonelessly. "What I'm doing is completely insignificant, nothing like a real relationship. But for a girl like you with a higher pedigree..."

"Of higher descent," Serena repeated incredulously. "To you, I'm just a blood traitor and not even a pureblood. Actually, I should be on your hit list."

"Then you're lucky it's not like that." They had soon reached the end of the forest and the lights of the first houses shone through the dense bushes, although it was only late afternoon. But the thick, dark clouds that had suddenly appeared with the ominous news made any sunlight virtually impossible.

"Oh yes, great," she replied sarcastically and was about to add something else when Edmund suddenly put his index finger to his lips. He actually seemed to have heard the footsteps crunching the leaves as they approached earlier than she had. He grabbed her arm again and pulled Serena behind a tree trunk that was so thick that he could easily hide them both behind it.

The Gryffindor's heart began to beat faster and she hoped to all Merlin's beards that it wasn't Bellatrix Lestrange. She was still watching the first encounter with her and knew that it had only been luck that she had escaped with nothing more than a scratch.

"Who's there?" a female voice suddenly asked in a threatening tone. Apparently, the two students had not been as unnoticed as they would have liked. Still, Serena exhaled the pent-up air with relief and made to step out of her hiding place, but Edmund stopped her.

"It's just Tonks," the Gryffindor hissed at him, but still he seemed unfazed and held her close.

"Show yourselves with your hands up!" she demanded again and Serena wrenched herself from Edmund's grip. With wobbly knees, she stumbled out from behind the shelter of the tree, even though there was no danger from her third cousin, the shock was still deep. Serena almost didn't recognise them because Tonks didn't look like Tonks anymore. Her once pink-coloured hair was now mouse-brown and her appearance was completely different. Suddenly she looked ten years older than she had a few weeks ago. The war seemed to be tugging at her nerves too.

"Serena?" she asked, completely dumbfounded, lowering her wand as Mad-Eye, who had been standing behind her, limped towards Serena, still with his wand drawn. The dark-haired girl stared at him with wide eyes as he held the wand directly in her face. "We have to test her first," he grumbled, looking at her suspiciously with his normal and glass eyes.

"What?" Serena croaked with a dry throat as Tonks approached her and the test fortunately seemed to consist of only one question: "What were the first words Walburga Black said to you?"

"I...erm..." She tried hard to think and was a little overwhelmed at first before she remembered. "S-she asked me about my blood status," she finally replied, only to hear Moody mutter that anyone could probably have answered that question correctly, but he lowered his wand as well. Serena turned to the tree behind which she had been crouching only minutes before and looked at Edmund, who had now also left the hiding place.

"Oh Mr Hall, what a surprise here at the crime scene," Mad-Eye grunted, his voice dripping with contempt. "Probably wanted to see your father and brother's work up close, eh?"

Edmund remained silent and stared darkly at the ex-Auror, who had now returned from his retirement. "We were just out for a little walk," Serena interjected hastily, returning the look the Slytherin gave her. "And he was just leaving anyway."

He nodded. "Pleased to meet you," he said dryly and in a tone that would not convince even the most naive person of its truth. In fact, he then began to turn round on himself at breakneck speed and although it was almost impossible for him to hear, Mad-Eye shouted a few last words to him: "You can tell your father that we'll get him. No matter how much money he pours into the Ministry and buys his innocence!"

Serena looked down at the floor, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. She felt Tonks' gaze on her, which seemed to pierce her. "Do you actually know what's going on at home?" she asked presumptuously. She didn't sound angry or disappointed, but rather reproachful. "Everyone's looking for you. Even Sirius and Remus stayed there instead of bringing those responsible to justice."

"I'm sorry," she stammered, stepping awkwardly from one foot to the other. She was going to get into a lot of trouble, she knew, and the desire to go home had evaporated in an instant. In the meantime, Tonks had drawn her wand and started to conjure up a Patronus. Serena looked with interest at the large animal, which at first glance resembled a dog, but at second glance looked much more like a wolf.

"I've found Serena and I'm taking her home now. The situation has been defused, all the Death Eaters are gone. Her victim was Emmeline Vance, she was probably overpowered during her patrol." The former Hufflepuff's voice sounded busy, but the slight tremor in it was hard to miss. After all, Emmeline Vance had belonged to the Order of the Phoenix. Serena looked after the wolf, concerned, as it disappeared from her field of vision as an ice-blue arrow. A guilty conscience almost tightened her chest and she was on the verge of asking Tonks if she could spend the night at her place. But sooner or later she would have to face her parents anyway, even if she wished it was long behind her.

The Gryffindor trotted silently behind the two Aurors, not even bothering to think of any excuses. Presumably nothing could justify the fact that she had lied so blatantly anyway. Eventually all lies would be exposed, as her mother had always taught her, and slowly Serena began to believe that she was right. But would Edmund's lies also come to light at some point? She knew that he was still hiding something from her, because his behaviour was just too strange for it not to be. But did she really want to know? Probably not.

All too soon, the bright and otherwise friendly mansion loomed before her. But at that moment, it seemed strangely threatening to Serena. The area around the house seemed quiet, but she knew that a force nine storm was probably raging inside. To her surprise, however, she didn't hear a sound as she crossed the threshold. Serena swallowed hard, but forced herself to keep her gaze steady as she entered the parlour. All eyes were on her, Molly was staring at her from the kitchen, Remus and Mr Weasley were sitting on the couch at the back of the room while her parents sat at the long dark table. No one said a word, but she would almost have preferred it if they had shouted at her.

_______________________

Merry Christmas! 🎄

Do you celebrate Christmas? What are your traditions? We always make Fondue on Christmas Eve ❤️