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The only thing on Serena Mallard's mind was Fred Weasley.
For the rest of that Saturday, she mentally cursed herself for being so clumsy at the worst possible time. For the rest of the weekend, all she could think about was what would have happened if she hadn't dropped that stupid book on her foot. Maybe her foot wouldn't be in so much pain. Or perhaps, she would have kissed her best friend, throwing all common sense out the window in the process.
The girl avoided Fred like the plague, making sure she wasn't caught dead in the same room as him. Because every time she saw him, the scene in the bookstore would flash through her mind, and she would involuntarily cringe at how incredibly dumb she looked. Serena was more than embarrassed, she was mortified.
Fred Weasley avoided Serena, too. Each time he saw her, his face would immediately blush red, and he'd hurriedly look away, trying to stop what happened at Hogsmeade from replaying in his head. George and Lee did their best to coax whatever happened between the two out of him, but he simply refused to talk about it, saying he was just over exaggerating and she probably didn't even spend a minute of her time dwelling on it.
Except, she did. The only reason Serena stopped reliving that humiliating Hogsmeade trip was because of Ramona.
The Hufflepuff thought she was getting better. When she first hit her head a few weeks back, Ramona could not stand straight on her feet. She would sway from one side to the other, and Magnolia and Serena stayed glued to her in fear she may fall at any second.
The two eventually hauled her to the Hospital Wing, much to Ramona's dismay, as she stated the whole way there she was just fine. Though reluctantly, the auburn haired girl drank the potion Madam Promfey whipped up for her, intimidated by the matron's glare.
Much to her friends' relief, the effects of Ramona's head injury seemingly disappeared after the hospital visit. That was, until Monday morning.
After meeting each other in the entrance hall, Serena and Magnolia had went down toward the Hufflepuff common room in the basement, waiting for Ramona to emerge though the door. Finally, after a long stream of Hufflepuffs, Ramona was the last to come out. "Hey!" she said with a bright smile. "I hear they have pancakes for breakfast this morning! Let's go get some before they run out!"
The two nodded, and were about to follow Ramona up the stairs when she suddenly froze, grabbing the back of her head, a hand out to steady herself. "Er... are you- Ramona!"
It was as if the whole world had tilted on its side. A pulsing pain erupted in Ramona's skull, pounding on it without mercy. She fell against the closest wall, sinking down onto the floor with her arms wrapped around her head. Magnolia and Serena were crowded around her, but Ramona couldn't hear a thing as her friend's faces faded from view.
Suddenly, Ramona was no longer standing in the basement, but was in the middle of a large crowd, hundreds upon hundreds of blurred faces surrounding her as the November wind whipped her face. They were all screaming at the top of their lungs, pointing down at something below. Ramona turned her head and stumbled back in shock, the breathe knocked right out of her. In the middle of the large ring stood a monstrous dragon, a blueish-grey colour with narrowed, yellow eyes. Its wings were shaped like spikes, expelling a brilliant blue flame from its nostrils.
Ramona choked on her own breathe when she saw Cedric Diggory standing in front of the dragon. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she started pushing her way through the crowd, trying to get to him as fast as possible. She didn't know whether this was reality or not, but she didn't care to figure that out; all that mattered was keeping Cedric out of danger.
She managed to jump down a few of the stand when she glance back at the arena once more. Diving out of the way of the vicious blue flames, Cedric drew his wand and pointed it at a rock, which morphed into a white Labrador. Ramona paused in her haste to get to Cedric, watching as the dog ran around, successfully distracting the dragon.
Cedric ran as fast as he could, headed toward an unguarded golden egg sparkling in the clutter of its cement-coloured counterparts only a few feet away. Ramona looked back at the dragon, which was still preoccupied chasing the little animal. When she turned back, Cedric had the gold egg clasped in his gloved hands, raised above his head as the crowd roared in celebration.
Ramona cheered with the crowd, jumping up and down, clapping until her hands hurt. Cedric had gotten through the first task, without even a scratch!
Something glittering in the sunlight caught Ramona's eye. She looked straight ahead, squinting at something in the distance. Blocking out the noise all around her, she focused on the light blue sky that almost seemed to bend out of shape.
Then, there was a ripple. It was as if a boulder had been thrown in the middle of a still ocean, spreading in waves. Each was more powerful than the one before, distorting all corners of the arena, the obscure outlines of the spectators folding in on each other. Ramona frantically spun around, watching as a black mass crept forward, consuming the people, the stands, the arena, threatening to do the same to her.
She shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, waiting for the darkness to envelope her in its cold claws when she suddenly heard voices.
"Okay, Nolie, grab her legs, and I'll grab her arms, then lift on three."
"No, I'll grab her arms, you'll for sure hit her head."
"Excuse me! I am perfectly capable of carrying her without causing further harm, thank you very much!"
"Rena, will you just grab her legs?"
Ramona stirred. "That won't be necessary." The Hufflepuff looked up to see her friends bent down in front of her, eyebrows creased in worry.
Serena engulfed the girl in a tight hug. "Don't scare us like that, Mona! We very nearly dragged you to the Hospital Wing!"
"And I don't think we would have made it up those stairs without Serena dropping you halfway," Magnolia said with a laugh.
Serena scoffed. "And why would I be the one to drop her?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one that dropped the Monster Book of Monsters on your foot last year, and ended up getting half your shoe chewed off?"
Serena's glare hardened. "Sod off, Magnolia!" She then turned to Ramona, with a much more gentle smile. "Are you alright? What happened?"
"Truthfully, I don't know." Ramona said as she stood. She rubbed the back of her head, but it was no longer aching. It felt completely normal. "My head started hurting, then it was like the world just flipped on its side."
Magnolia leaned against the wall, looking down at Ramona with a slight frown. "Does it still hurt? Your head, I mean."
"No... that's the weird part. There was this sharp, throbbing pain, but now it's completely gone."
Serena shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Madam Promfey needs to check you out right away."
"No, that's not-"
Magnolia interrupted Ramona's protests. "She's right, you know. In case that potion Madam Promfey gave you didn't work, you have to go back and make sure nothing else is wrong."
Before either of her friends could pull her forward, Ramona quickly said, "I saw something."
Serena and Magnolia shared a glance before the former spoke. "Saw... what?"
Ramona looked down, taking in a deep breathe. "The first task tomorrow. It's dragons."
"What?"
"Dragons?"
Ramona didn't need to look at their faces to see the shock written all over them. "The Champions have to get past a dragon to retrieve a golden egg. A dragon that shoots fire."
"And... you saw this in a vision?" Magnolia asked carefully.
The girl nodded. "It was Cedric. He was the one facing the dragon, a Swedish Short-Snout. He transfigured a rock into a Labrador, and used the distraction to get to the egg, virtually unscathed.
"But... this vision was exactly like the one I had at the World Cup. I couldn't tell if it was real or not. It was so vivid, like I was really there watching from the stands."
"So you mean to tell us that the first task, which is tomorrow, is to get past a bloody dragon, and Cedric was still in one whole piece by the end of it?" Serena asked with wide eyes, to which Ramona nodded.
Magnolia snorted. "And you still don't think you're a Seer?"
"Nolie, I've already told you, it's impossible for Muggle-borns to be Seers. You have to have some sort of magical ancestry."
"And as I've told you, there's a first for everything."
Ramona shook her head. "We can talk about that later. Now, we've got to warn Harry and Cedric."
"No, you're going to the Hospital Wing." Serena said, crossing her arms.
"Rena, I swear I'm fine-"
"You just collapsed, Mona. If that's fine, then I'd hate to see you when you aren't."
Magnolia stood up straight, standing beside her friends. "Okay, how about this. Serena, you warn Harry, since you're a Gryffindor and all. I'll go with Ramona to talk to Cedric, and we'll all meet at the Hospital Wing after our first class, okay?"
Under Magnolia's stern gaze, Ramona nodded rather reluctantly. "Oh, alright."
"Okay, I'll see you two after class." Serena said before taking off to find a certain green-eyed fourth year.
Just as she entered the entrance hall, she spotted a figure with messy dark hair and glasses dashing down the marble staircase and out onto the lawn. Serena nearly tripped over her robes trying to catch up to him. "Harry! HEY, HARRY, WAIT UP!"
The boy finally stopped running, looking back to see Serena tottering down the steep hill towards him. "Hey, Serena, I'm sorry, but I'm in bit of a hurry for Herbology-"
"The first task is dragons."
"-and I've really got to speak with Hermione and Iyla- wait what?"
Serena nodded fervently. "You have to get past a dragon to get a golden egg. I dunno why, but that's what you'll have to do. Thought you should know."
The boy shook his head. "No, I meant how?"
"How?"
Harry slightly blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, what I mean is, how do you know that? Did... Hagrid show you, too?"
Serena furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, you already knew? Hagrid showed you the dragon?"
"Erm... well, if I told you Hagrid unknowingly led me into the Forbidden Forest to see them, would you believe me?"
Serena grinned. "No. And if I told you I just so happened to stumble across said dragons on a late night walk through the Forbidden Forest, would you believe me?"
Harry smiled up at the girl. "Not for a second."
"So, we won't question each other on our sources?"
"Sources? What sources?"
Serena couldn't help laugh. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Harry. Better get to Herbology before you're late, huh?"
The boy nodded with a grin before speeding down toward the greenhouses, while Serena ambled over to Hagrid's cabin, where yet another disturbing and rather frightening creature awaited her.
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Author's note:
Hi lovelies!! This was a rather short chapter, and I wanted to make it longer, but I didn't get a chance too. :(
I hope you enjoy it, though! Especially the interaction between Serena and Harry, it was quite hilarious. ☺️
Thank you for being patient with me and my updating schedule. It'll either be every other day, or maybe every three days (depending on whether I get my act together and actually finish my school work in time).
I hope you all have a great day! With much love,
~Lena