Serena Black || 𝑳𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒔

𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

• 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.