Harry Potter and Co., sadly, don't belong to me.
""Speech
Thought
Love and obsession
1 The attack
Serena looked attentively to her reflexion, intrigued by her appearance. With her heart shaped face that was framed by a cascade of golden locks, a perky nose and full red lips, the girl should be considered beautiful by anyone that saw her; so why didn't they? A pair of big green eyes revealed to Serena a great pain hidden beneath her long lashes as she blinked back the tears that threatened to escape.
She wouldn't cry, she would never cry again because of it. She had cried too much already and for what? None of her tears, not a single one in that sea of loneliness that she called life had ever changed anything, why would it make any difference now.
Brushing away a stray tress from her eyes Serena extended her hand to touch her reflection.
Sighing, the girl dropped her hand to her side.
Who I'm I kidding?
As much as she tried, her mind never waved too far from that matter. On the TV and on magazines she had seen pictures of girls just like her and she always heard the other girls in the orphanage saying how much they wanted to be like those pretty girls in the pictures. But to her dismay, in her case, they said exactly the opposite. She was ugly.
She wasn't stupid, she had thought about the possibility of the other girls being envious of her appearance, but having overheard, in more than just one occasion, many girls and staff members pitying her looks, she had resigned herself to the truth; she wasugly.
Maybe it was her porcelain skin the reason for her ugliness, her flawless skin that persisted in continuing being of a marble white tone in spite of all the time she spent out doors. Or could it be because of her roused cheeks, or even because of her hair's golden waves that she wore down her back?
She turned her face this way and that. Her skin continued to be too pale for her taste, why, she didn't know. After all she enjoyed to spend her days perched in the orphanage grounds' many trees reading any new book she could find in the little orphanage library (Serena wasn't very keen to think in the small room where the orphanage books were dumped as a library, the significantly small variety and quantity of books had already started to make her have to reread some of them).
As for her hair, as much as she tried, she wasn't able to find anything that could have made the other girls lash at her their nasty remarks.
She shook her wavy hair making the honey locks bounce around; Serena just wished she had been more the wiser about it when she had been younger.
When she had been of about four years or so, she had loved the way her gold ringlets cascaded all the way down her back as well as the way, when she walked, the tip of her hair lightly kissed her heels, but because of the teasing remarks of the other children about it resembling a rat hole she had locked herself up in one of the bathrooms and cut a great part of her hair with a pair of scissors crying desperately as she did so. She had loved her hair so much!
Serena watched as the usual bitter smile settle over the face reflecting back at her when the old memory skipped across her mind. She had been grounded for a month without being able to go outside. She still remembered very clearly the sting she felt when the orphanage headmistress slapped her across the face and called her a bothersome brat.
It couldn't be because of my clothes, could it? After all I don't dress myself all that differently from the other girls, do I?She mulled as she looked herself over.
With a black t-shirt, jeans and sneakers she didn't appear to be any different from any other fifteen years old girl, not as interested in fashion as the majority of them but even so she didn't think that that could be the reason for her being shunned by everyone she'd ever known.
Shaking her head Serena turned her back to the store window that had been serving her as a mirror and closed her eyes as she raised her head to the sun to bask in its heated caress. It was a waste of time thinking about that matter.
It's time to get back. She didn't want anyone to take notice of her absence, not that that was likely to happen, after all, everyone in the orphanage just kept their distance. If anyone noticed she wasn't around they would probably think she'd had just took off around the orphanage grounds.
As she crossed the street, Serena noticed that there was hardly anyone in sight. Which wasn't all that surprising, due to the heat? This was being one of the hottest days she could recall.
Maybe I can rest a little before I go back?
She took a look around, trying to find a good spot to sit for a while. She found a small park two blocks from where she stood. The sight of the benches below, quite some big trees were more than just a little appealing to the overly hot girl.
Just perfect!She thought as she directed herself to that very same spot.
…...
Wiping the sweat from his brow Dudley sighed. Damn heat. This heat wave was probably one of those wizard freaks doings. They certainly weren't proper people. Wasn't his cousin's godfather a convicted felon? And convicted of murderer no less! And what does his freak of a cousin do when he becomes aware of that little fact? He acts as if it was Christmas! Thatwasn't normal.
Freak!
"Dudley let's just go to your house and play some video games. It's too hot to stay outside!"
"Yeah, lets."
"And if we get bored with the video games we always could boss your cousin around:"
His friends' interjection in his disturbed thoughts couldn't come at a worst time. He would love to kick the shit out of his cousin, but with his murderer godfather still at large he wasn't about to do something that could make the man interested in making him a visit one of this days.
Dudley had been able to keep his friends away from his cousin since he had found out how much of a freak he really was, that way avoiding his friends finding out the change in his cousin sleeping arrangements, among other things, and he sure as hell wasn't going to allow for that to be discovered now.
Before the boy could say anything about the matter that was occupying his mind at that time he forgot what they were talking about when he found himself caught off guard by an impressive vision.
Right in the other side of the street he and his gang were now passing thru, in the small park that adorned that street he saw the most gorgeous girl he had seen in the fifteen years of his life.
In one of the many dispersed benches that where located beneath a giant oak tree, the seemingly slumbering girl had seated herself, leaning against the majestic tree trunk.
If it weren't for her modern clothes he would think he had come face-to-face with one of the fairies of the stories his mother had read him about when he was younger.
The, just a little-too-large, t-shirt and worn down jeans she was wearing didn't hinder him from seeing the already womanly curves the girl possessed. Could she be the daughter of some new neighbors? His parents hadn't commented anything about it.
Not wanting to lose the opportunity of making himself friendly with the unknown girl he decided to silently follow towards her.
"Dudley do y..."
"Shush, you dick head, do you want to wake her up? Just stay here, all of you." He said as he glared at them.
Turning his back to them he resumed his course towards the sleeping beauty. They were his friends, but sometimes they were a nuisance.
…...
Serena was resting peacefully, completely unaware of the boy's increasing proximity until he had the very stupid idea of brushing one of her cheeks with his hand so he could feel if they were as soft as they looked.
Not accustomed with being touched and scared with the unexpected feeling as well as the, too close for comfort, unknown boy she reacted in a not at all exaggerated manner. She kicked him in the groin.
Bloody hell!
Bloody hell!
Although, the same thought passed thru both their minds, their reasons for it couldn't be more different. Serena was feeling guilty for the sick expression the boy was wearing and Dudley was using all of his might so he wouldn't just give up his though facade and just let himself fall to the floor crying like a new born baby.
After some very long, and awkward, moments in which they just stared each other silently, Dudley managed to collect himself (read – finally stopped from wanting to call for his mummy) and decided to have some balls (thankfully it seemed she hadn't caused permanent damage) and get right to the point.
"Sooo.. I don't think I've see you around her before. Did you just move?"
Okay, now this it's getting weird. Did I just get transported to another dimension or is this guy hitting on me?
Normally the boys didn't grant her a second glance and now this unknown boy was trying to flirt with her? She had never been hit on before, but by the way boys reacted around the other girls in the orphanage she was sure as hell this one was doing it.
Could it be he was just trying to make fun of her with his friends? Serena didn't fail to notice the other three teens that stood some distance away.
Narrowing her eyes to the boy she said sharply as she lifted herself up from the park bench,
"No I didn't. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get going."
No way am I going to let her leave like this!
"Hey, wait! Dudley dodged towards her as he tried to reach the sprinting girl. Finally managing to catch up with her he grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him again.
With an irate look, the girl didn't waste time in berating the insolent boy.
"Look here, I don't know who you are nordo I care, but I'm completely uninterested in whatever you want to say to me, soif you could detach your hand from me..."
As the boy did as she had 'asked', she thought he had finally understood that she wasn't interested. She turned to leave just to find her way blocked by the very same teens she had noticed earlier.
With a pang of fear creeping thru her she realized that she probably should have had more control over her temper.
Oh boy!
…...
Not far away from where Serena was confronting this unexpected dilemma, a boy thought about the recent events of a too complicated life for someone of merely fifteen years old.
The sleepless nights he had been enduring, were finally, taking its toll on him. The constant nightmares he had been having were preventing him from sleeping thru the night.
Sighing, the raven hair boy, passed a hand thru his always ruffled hair.
Many could think that the nightmares were because of the return of his parents' murderer, Voldemort, but that was only a part of the answer.
A great part of his nightmares were about his incapacity to do anything to save Cedric Diggory's life.
He hadn't been able to forget the other boy had only been present in that dammed graveyard, because of his stupid sense of right and wrong.
After all, if he hadn't decided to share the title with Cedric he would still be very much alive.
And the look in Mr. Diggory eyes when Dumbledore told him what had happened haunted him in every single nightmare. The wizard had said to be proud of his boy, but it wasn't a secret that he would have preferred to have his boy by his side when he said those words.
The wizard didn't blame him for what had happened, but he knew the man wouldn't see him the same way again.
Ron and Mione's silence had left him worried at first, but after a second thought he reached the conclusion that Dumbledore had asked them to not try to contact him in any way. One could never know who might get their hands on their friend's letters and switch their missives.
It wouldn't be very difficult for some mal-intentioned person to send to any of them a false message to lure them into a trap.
Raising his hand to feel the shape of his famous scar, Harry couldn't stop himself from wondering why it remained strangely painless. He had assumed that now that Voldemort had really returned he would have to deal with a continuous headache, but as if to make him fall into a feeling of false security, he hadn't felt anything.
The sound of close voices broke Harry's reverie
Paying close attention to the voices, that seemed to come from the other side of some bushes, he managed to identify one of the voices as belonging to his cousin Dudley. The others were probably of the couple of retards he called friends.
I'm sure they're looking for some unlucky kid who they could beat up.
"Let go of me!"
That isn't a boy?
Not wasting any more time Harry hastily raised himself from the swing sprinting to where he thought the sound was coming from.
…...
"I already knew how much you like to beat up little kids, but it never crossed my mind you would be capable of forcing yourself on a girl."
The calm tone in which Harry had spoken was far from showing the inner turmoil the boy was feeling. He always knew that Dudley was a moron (especially because he had been his preferred target for a very long time), but not even in his worst moments had Harry thought his cousin could be capable of a thing like the one he was about to do.
Surprised with the unexpected appearance of his weirdo of a cousin and scared out of his mind with the look he saw in Harry's eyes, Dudley took a step back.
What the hell is wrong with the freak!
"Dudley what's wrong?"
"Yeah Dudley, what's up? Why are you backing out?"
"Dudley, are you afraid of that loony bin?"
His friends' inquiries made the gulping teen look to where they stood with the girl. The surprised looks on their faces were the only proof he needed to know they weren't just joking off. They really were starting to get suspicious of his attitude. Not wanting his buddies to see thru his facade he came to a solution:
Fuck it!
"What are you doing here you freak?" Dudley bit out.
Seeing thru Dudley's fake facade, Harry simply didn't pay him any attention and spoke directly to the unknown girl.
"Are you alright?"
Harry could see the tense posture in which the girl stood among the group of four teens. Her narrow eyes and pursed lips that formed a thin line were more than enough confirmation of her discomfort.
Serena, scared when first seeing the raven hair boy, thinking he was only one more member of the group of hooligans who was trying to intimidate her, felt surprised at hearing what kind of words the two teens launched at each other. She finally let herself relax a little; not only because of the kindness the boy was showing towards her but also because of the concern she noticed in his voice.
"I'm okay, thanks."
Without even knowing why, Harry found himself smiling at her.
Serena, confused with the boy actions, couldn't stop herself from blushing profusely.
Enraged by the easy way his cousin was making the girl open to him, Dudley decided to intervene and end whatever game his cousin was playing.
"Don't be fooled by his friendly appearance, he's nothing more than a trouble maker. He even goes to a boarding school for lost cases."
Taking a better look at the guy, who not so long ago seemed to have come to her rescue the first thing that caught her eyes was the boy's big beautiful eyes of a not so common tone of a deep forest green (not so different of her own). Not even a pair of glasses had managed to deprive them of their beauty. The second was his unruly midnight black hair. Lastly she surprised herself at noticing his hand me down clothes, that made his already slim body seem almost skeletal.
All in all, he was far from looking like any kind of hooligan (though, the same couldn't be said about the boys that had stopped her from returning to the orphanage).
Feeling uncomfortable with the girl scrutiny Harry averted his eyes from the girl to his second hand sneakers. He knew what she was seeing, a flimsy boy with second hand clothes (not the best sight in the world he was sure) nothing like his cousin's well keep and quality clothes. A trace of envy crossed Harry's mind at that thought. The girl would probably turn her back at him now.
Suddenly aware of his cousin, now, shy endeavor Dudley (feeling encouraged by Harry's sour expression) sniggered as he said to Harry.
"You should know your place by now, this doesn't concern you, you freak."
"SHUT UP!"
All boys founded themselves caught by surprise by the girl's outburst.
"Don't ever call him that again!" Serena practically roared to Dudley.
"You..." Before Dudley's friends could be able to give free ride to the rage Serena's words caused, all of them stopped in their tracks and looked around as a feeling of dread washed over them.
"Wha.., what's going on?"
"What's happening?"
"Du...Dudley?"
Scared out of their wits, the three teens rapidly took off leaving Dudley behind.
Hurt because the boys he thought as friends had just left him alone with his insane cousin he turned his frustration in rage and confronted Harry.
"STOP THIS YOU FREAK!"
Harry turned his back at him and hissed.
"For once in your life do something useful and shut the hell up!" He needed to concentrate and Dudley rambling and complaining in his ear wasn't helping.
This overwhelming sense of fear, it can mean only one thing...
Desperately scanning the, increasingly darker, sky Harry wished with all his heart to be mistaken.
But, like always, life preferred to make the boy suffer. Harry saw his worst fears be confirmed as at least a half a dozen dementors started to appear thru the fog that seemed to have materialized from nowhere.
No, no, no, no. NO. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! Not here... Notnow!
What is happening?Dudley couldn't stop from asking himself as he desperately tried to stop shaking like a tree in the middle of a storm. What was his cousin trying to do? Was he going to do something against him? He couldn't do that, could he? Even not being proper people, the ones of his kind must have some kind of rules, shouldn't they?
"Stop it if you don't stop..."
"Dudley now is not the time!" Harry said without even looking at him, he needed to be full alert if he wanted to bare even a little chance in keeping them all alive.
From the place where she stood, behind the two boys, Serena tried with all her might to not let herself be vanquished by the fear wave that had washed over her. The girl could only guess the cause of the terrifying feeling was those 'things' sudden appearance.
She couldn't help from taking a step back as she noticed as they, almost imperceptive, started to close down on them. As those spectral figures came more and more close to them, Serena felt as the vice grip around her heart was squeezing making the feeling almost unbearable to her.
Closing her eyes tightly she fought the weakness that tried to make her black out; she couldn't let herself lose her senses now.
Concentrated in the dementors approach, Harry was incapable of defend himself from the punch his cousin thrown at him right before he took off into the dark fog.
"Dudley you're a moron!" Harry said overwhelm by his cousin stupidity, as he frantically searched the ground for his wand and glasses that had fallen when Dudley had attack him.
Serena holding on desperately to her remaining will power straightened herself and hiding her pain behind a mask of fear she rushed herself to the raven hair boy's side.
"A... are you alright?" She said as she helped him to get up.
"Yes." He needed to go after his cousin, the dementors were after him, but Harry was sure those things wouldn't deny themselves a free meal. Looking to his side he tried to ascertain the state of the girl. Although he knew he couldn't leave his cousin in the hands of those...beings he also knew the girl was probably too scared to even move, but he simply couldn't left her alone either.
What do I do now?He sighed as he looked to where his cousin had fled in a try to see him thru the fog.
Noticing to where the boy's gaze had wandered Serena took a decision.
"Let's go!"
"Wh... what?" Harry managed to mumble as he looked the girl in the eyes.
"That boy, the one that just took off, he's in danger, isn't he?"
"Yeah but..."
Shaking her head Serena cut him off before he managed to say another word.
"Them, let's go, now."
"Aren't you afraid?" He asked surprised.
"I never felt this afraid in my life." She said with a sour smile. "But we need to go...now!" Something told her they haven't much time.
When the two teens were about to dash foreword, Serena suddenly remembered something and grabbed Harry's arm.
"Wait."
"What's the matter?"
"Give me your hand."
"What. Why?"
"The fog, it wouldn't do us any good if we get separated."
"You're right." He said as he took her hand in his. "Let's go."
Before they got far, they heard a scream near them.
"Dudley hang on, we're coming."
Serena found herself overwhelmed by what she was seeing in front of her. One of those specters things were bending over that Dudley boy's face and seemed to be kissing him, but the terrified look in the boy's eyes was more than enough proof that whatever that thing was doing to him it was killing him.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM" Yelled Harry desperately, aiming his wand to the dementor that was slowly killing his cousin. Dudley could be a jerk but he would never abandon him to such fate.
The strong spell not only destroyed the dementor that was feeding from Dudley but also two other that had lingered close to the visibly sick boy.
Serena rushed to the raven hair boy's side when he stumbled to his knees.
"Is everything alright?" She asked as she tried to lift the boy up.
"I...I'm fine, I just...overdone myself a little. I just need to rest for a while"
Before any of them could say anything more another half a dozen dementors come flying their way, full speed.