|Red ➼ Fred Weasley|

➼chapter 24; stupid books and suspicious sources

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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.