Serena
Disruption
1 year earlier...
The room was full of sparkling light and loud music as Serena entered, her heels clacking against the tiles. She had never seen so many people gathered in one place before, but now was not the time to be afraid of that. The chandeliers hung majestically from the ceiling, casting a bright aura across the floor. She noticed how the ceiling appeared to be covered with clouds and stars, a bewitchment that would surely come in useful someday. Godric had been talking about it an awful lot.
Her blue eyes flicked to her wrist as she absent-mindedly twiddled with the gleaming, silver bracelet her mother had given her. The jewels glinted magnificently, as they always did, and the emerald stone in the very centre stood out like a great eye watching everything around it. She looked up again, letting her eyes wander over every small group that stood talking together. A lot of witches wore black dresses, though some wore beautiful whites and pinks too. Serena suddenly felt out of place with her jade-coloured dress contrasting against most clothing in the room. The wizards wore various suits, some in maroon, some blue, some in midnight black. But there was no mistaking the brightly coloured group that were gathered in a tight clump a few feet away from her.
Helga and Rowena wore their trademark sapphire and golden dresses, both of them trailing to the ground delicately. Godric was standing with his back to her, talking to the two women with a glass of merlot in his hand. He wore exactly what Serena had expected him to wear: a maroon-coloured suit with black trousers, and his black hair brushed back to form a slight tip at the top.
It was then that Helga noticed the woman, her face suddenly lifting. "Here she is."
Godric turned abruptly to face Serena. Gosh, he does look handsome, she reluctantly thought, noticing the way his brown eyes studied her intently but also gently. She mentally cursed herself for having such a thought. She didn't even like Gryffindor very much.
"You look beautiful, Serena," he commented, nodding at her green dress.
She followed his gaze, not smiling, but simply raising her eyebrows. "It's nothing much. I didn't feel the need to make a huge effort tonight."
Serena saw Rowena give a roll of her eyes indignantly, making a tinge of annoyance sting inside her.
"Well, it turns out you may not even need to, Miss Slytherin," said Godric, a smile playing on his lips, "considering your taste in dresses and jewellery." He gestured to the sparkling bracelet on her wrist.
She flinched and brought her wrist closer to her chest, as if someone was going to try and take the bracelet. Godric looked somewhat guilty, but Helga merely laughed. "You're an odd one, Serena, I'll give you that." She stepped forward, her sun-coloured dress audibly brushing against the floor, and took one of Serena's hands in hers. "Now are you going to behave properly this time?"
Serena glared with her aqua eyes, her fingers feeling tense next to Helga's. "What do you mean?" she snapped.
The brunette chuckled again. "You know. Mingle with the guests more? Make yourself noticed? Not standing in a corner for the whole evening waiting for everyone to go away? It's clear that parties aren't your thing, Serena, but there's no harm in trying to talk to people. You hardly even talked to us last time."
"What makes you think I care?" Serena retorted sharply. She earned a surprised look from Godric and Rowena, but Helga, not fazed, shrugged the words off.
"I know you have a spark in you somewhere. You just have to let it out. For one thing, you're wonderful with magic. You could show off with some charms tonight, maybe even do some decorating. It'll do you good."
Serena finally snatched her hand away. "I'm not some child for you to pander over. I'm quite content at parties, I can assure you."
Godric smirked. "Oh, we're definitely sure of that," he said.
"All we ask is that you don't hide away where no-one can see you," Helga continued. "A beauty like you deserves to be shown to the whole world, as well as your magic skills."
Serena had scoffed nonchalantly at Helga's advice, and yet for the rest of the night, the words played around in her head. Was she a beauty? And because of that, would she get attention for it? She hated that idea, and if it was true, she hoped that it wouldn't happen.
She made the effort to have small-talk with a few guests, but for the most part, she lingered near the buffet table, taking a small nibble of food occasionally to distract herself and ease her nerves. It was true that she could be cold and unkind, which was one of the reasons why she kept herself away from other people, but behind that lay a vulnerable interior, just wanting to run away from the world and never come back. It had existed ever since she was young, explaining where her shy nature had come from.
As she grew older, her shyness, as well as her supposed 'good looks', had encouraged people to try and befriend her. Josie Weasley was one of them, and probably Serena's favourite. But in huge crowds like this, she found the old shyness creeping back into her. If her beauty was such a magnet, then she couldn't be out in public like this again. She knew she would end up being unpleasant to people, and that would surely disappoint Godric, Helga and Rowena (not that she cared for their opinions at all).
As she chewed softly on a small cauldron cake and let her eyes wander around the room, she spotted a familiar face coming in through the door. She stopped chewing instantly, her blue eyes turning round with anger. Why was he here? He wasn't allowed here! He's not one of us…she thought malevolently.
Her nervous nature quickly rippling away, she stepped out of her corner and drew her wand. She ignored the startled looks from the guests as she stepped up to the teenage, dark-haired boy and pointed her hawthorn wand directly at him.
"Why are you here, Mudblood?" she snarled, scorn dripping from every word.
The crowd gasped collectively, some witches putting hands to their mouths. The boy put his hands up, his body suddenly trembling with fear and a sign of tears in his eyes as he focused intently on the tip of Serena's wand.
"Well? Answer me!" she hissed.
She felt the shuffle of movement near her, guessing that people had begun to draw their wands. She wasn't sure if they would be directed at her or the boy, but she didn't care.
"I…" the boy stammered, his hands not moving from the air. "I was invited by… Mr. Gryffindor…"
Serena shifted her eyes around to look for Godric, but didn't see him, so guessed he had left the room. "Mr. Gryffindor needs to choose his guests more carefully."
She raised her wand, the words of an incantation ready on her lips.
"Expelliar-"
Before the spell could shoot from her wand, she was grabbed forcefully from behind by female hands, pulled away from the boy and her wand snatched from her hand.
"Get off me!" she cried, thrashing in the woman's grasp.
"You've gone too far this time, Slytherin!" Serena recognized the woman's voice to be Rowena's, and that only angered her further.
She managed to wrangle herself out of Ravenclaw's grasp, but was unable to grab her wand again due to the sudden spell being fired at her. She was knocked to the floor, her back aching from the impact, and a tear formed in the hem of her beautiful dress as she tried to get on her feet. The spell-caster was a wizard, suddenly looking terrified as he met her gaze. Clearly he had thought her a threat and acted on impulse. Now very nervous, he ran from the room.
As Serena looked around, she saw the teenage boy being escorted gently out of the building by a couple of adults, while the rest of the crowd was dispersing in different directions: some were out of the door, while others moved to neighbouring rooms. She noticed one person running directly towards her in a flurry.
It was Godric, his black hair quite dishevelled from running. He stared at Serena on the floor, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to form words.
He turned to Rowena and Helga who had gathered behind Serena. "What the hell's going on?" he asked anxiously. "What happened?"
"It was her!" Rowena accused, stabbing a finger at the blonde woman. "She tried to attack a young kid – she called him Mudblood!"
Godric looked to Serena, completely dismayed. She didn't know what to say to him; whether to deny it, or proudly admit what she had done. She was also tempted to let her anger out and fly at Rowena for deliberately snitching on her.
Instead, she chose none of those options. She gave a loud, frustrated yell, picked herself up clumsily and ran out of the building, her torn dress flailing behind her.
I hope you liked the second chapter! I worked really hard on this and I can't believe I got it done in just over an hour! (Yes, you read right. XD)
Please leave a review! They inspire me to keep writing! And don't worry: mysteries will be revealed later on. ;)
P.S. You probably noticed I changed her name to Serena. I've been debating on whether to call her Selena or Serena since I like both names, but I think Serena's better, so sorry for any confusion. xD
