***Annalise Basso & Walker Scobell as Seraphina Potter & Durante Knightley, Year 3. The story continues . . . .***
***Sera's hairstyle***
***Sera's pajamas***
***Apologies for the lack of Serante (their ship names. Thx @disney_fanatic36 for helping me out with choosing their ship name!) moments! But I promise that Dante will become a more important character, especially in books 4-8! It'll get there, I promise! Please be patient with me!***
Sera and her family had decided to spend the rest of their summer vacation at the Leaky Cauldron after their visit to Egypt to see their brother Charlie. Both Sera and Charlie were close, even before Hogwarts. He taught her all the magic she needed to know - without the use of a wand - so that she could be ahead of her other peers at Hogwarts.
Charlie was thrilled when she told him that she had finally found her long-lost twin brother after ten years of searching. And most importantly, Charlie had accepted Dante as family, once he heard that his own cousins had disowned him for being born to ex-Death Eaters and being sorted into Gryffindor House.
Sera sat in the bedroom on her bed. A fire glowed in the grate across from her, crackling and roaring. She sat on her stomach, flipping through her new Transfiguration book she had just gotten. She might as well go ahead and flip through her books, just so that she could get an idea of what they were going to be learning about in their upcoming year.
A light knock interrupted her. She looked up expectantly before calling the person to come in. She was surprised to see Tom the landlord standing there, hunch-backed. But he gave her a toothy grin all the same. His eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Do you need anything, Tom?" Sera asked, confused.
"I don't need anything, no," the landlord answered. "But I need you to come with me. Someone just arrived, and I'm pretty sure that you would like to greet him before everyone else got the chance before you did."
He winked. Suspicious, Sera slid off the bed, landing lightly on her feet. She grabbed her house robe and followed Tom quietly down the hallway. She was even more surprised when they stopped in front of room eleven, which so happened to be the Minister of Magic's headquarters.
Tom opened the door, letting it swing open on its own. A boy with messy dark-brown hair, a pair of round glasses, and bright blue eyes caught her attention. Her breath caught in her throat when he spun around to face him before her eyes lit up in excitement.
"HARRY!" she screeched excitedly. Before she could stop herself, she broke into a sprint before tackling him into a hug, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Harry laughed, hugging his twin sister tightly in return. "Oh, my God! I'm so glad you're okay!"
"I figured that it was about time you saw your twin sister again, Mr. Potter," Cornelius Fudge chuckled, smiling at the pair. "Tom will show you to your room. But Miss Seraphina will have her own room still. She came her just a couple of days ago. Tom has also got your books all ready for you. You may leave."
Sera returned to her room, feeling more elated than ever. She couldn't stop smiling about the fact that she could see her brother again! She was so excited that she could not study her Transfiguration book any more!
Her excitement got toned down, however, when her bedroom door opened. A tussle-haired Ginny Weasley came in. Sera frowned and sat up.
"What's up?" she asked.
"It's Dante. He had another nightmare. I've tried asking him what's wrong, but he won't answer me. I think that, if you tried, he would listen to you."
Sera pondered over this for a moment. Finally, she nodded and sighed. She slid off her mattress and slipped on her slippers before following Ginny Weasley out of the room.
When Sera got to Dante's room, she hesitated. At first, she couldn't hear anything. But seconds later, she heard the sound of someone hyperventilating. She finally knocked on the door.
"W-Who is it?" an anxious voice answered on the other side.
"Just Sera, Dante. Can I please come in?"
There was a brief pause. "Okay. You can come in."
Sera gently pushed opened the door. Her eyes landed on Dante, and her heart immediately reached for him. She wanted to cry for him.
He looked rough. The front of his pajama shirt was soaked in sweat, and his face looked red and puffy. Tear streaks stained his red, puffy cheeks. She knew exactly what had just happened.
She walked slowly towards him, not wanting to startle the traumatized boy. When she sat on his bed, she immediately opened her arms out so that he could hug her. He did not hesitate to fall into her embrace.
That was when he officially lost it. Sera could hear him beginning to hyperventilate, his shoulders heaving. He gripped the back of her nightshirt tightly. She could feel his tears begin to stain her shoulder.
But she didn't care. She just wanted to hold onto him, to reassure him, and make sure that he felt safe in her arms. She didn't blame him for freaking out all of a sudden. His second year of being at Hogwarts had been a rough one with some traumatic events, and being Lord Voldemort's puppet throughout the year. She knew that he would probably be effected by those events for most likely the rest of his life.
She shushed him gently, cradling the back of his head with her hand, holding him close to her.
"It's okay, Dante," she gently reassured him, keeping her voice as quiet as she could. He nestled his face more deeply into the crook of her neck, still gripping the back of her shirt tightly. She rubbed his back gently. "Take deep breaths. It's okay. You're okay. Voldemort's gone. And even if he did come back, I'll do everything that I can to protect you. I will never ever let him hurt you the way he did last year, again."
Her words relaxed him. He allowed his grip on the back of her shirt to relax. All he did now was snuggle up against her, looking worn out and exhausted. When his body began to feel heavy against Sera's, she shifted.
The boy sat up, rubbing at his puffy face, trying to hide the tearstains. Sera sighed and took his face in her hands, wiping his tears of stress away from his face. He breathed in a heavy sigh, staring at the girl with a small smile.
"Are you ready to go back to sleep now?" she finally asked.
Dante looked hesitant. His face suddenly burned, and Sera could see a blush forming on his cheeks.
"I think that I'd be fine," he answered, his voice barely above a whisper. "But can you maybe stay with the rest of the night."
He suddenly felt shy as he put his gaze to the blankets that covered his mattress. Sera chuckled and smiled gently at him.
"Of course I'll stay the rest of the night with you," she responded.
The blonde boy's shoulders relaxed. He then got himself snuggled in his covers and Sera gently laid down next to him. Dante moved a little closer to Sera for extra protection. Dante fell asleep before Sera did. Sera watched the gentle rise and fall of Dante's shoulders before allowing her eyes to close, and she, too, fell asleep.
***A little cringy, ngl, but I wanted Sera & Dante to have a little moment together before the book officially starts 🫶🫶🫶***