Disclaimer: I do not own SM or HP.

Hogwarts Secret Scandal 26

World Wide Prophecy

The field trip was cut short due to Serena's accident. Everyone was quiet on the bus back to school. Students wondered if Serena should go to St. Mungos but Darien had to take the other students back home until there were more attacks. He was in the front seat with Serena. She was unconscious and cold but otherwise all right. Students tried asking him questions about the dementors but Darien told him to leave him alone with Serena so he could monitor her until they got to school.

"Serena," he whispered, "please be all right."

Mina was conscious but still distraught. She didn't want to talk about happened. Harry gave her all the chocolate he had on him. She felt better after she ate it but she wasn't ready to explain the ordeal. She was trying to get her head around it. It made no sense. Harry understood that she didn't want to speak about it so he just let her sleep on his shoulder until they got back to school.

"I haven't seen dementors act like that since you feel from your broom that year," Ron said to Harry. "Only this was scarier."

"It doesn't make any sense," Draco said, "we were all prepared by thinking bad thoughts. The dementors shouldn't have had so much effect on us. They are attracted by happy emotions."

"Maybe Serena and Mina were thinking of something happy before they were attacked," Ron suggested.

"It wouldn't have attracted all of the dementors," said Hermione.

"Then what did?" Harry demanded. "All of the dementors just left Azkaban and went after Serena and Mina. Why didn't it attack us?"

"Wish I knew," said Draco.

"It's a good thing Serena did that Patronus," said Ron, "I've never seen one like that before. It was cool."

"That wasn't a Patronus," said Hermione.

"What do you mean it wasn't a Patronus?" Ron demanded. "It was silver and it got rid of the dementors, didn't it? That's what Patronuses do!"

"Yes," said Hermione, "but Patronuses require the use of a wand and Serena's wand was inside her robes the entire time. Patronuses don't make you glow silver and they don't make you float in the air and they don't cause your hair to grow really fast either."

"Well if that wasn't a Patronus, then what was it?" Ron asked, confused.

"I'm not sure," Hermione said, "I've never seen anything like it before."

"It doesn't matter what it was," Harry said as he looked at Mina's face. "I'm just glad it worked."

Mina woke up a few minutes before they got back at Hogwarts. She sat up straight and smoothed her hair.

"You all right?" Harry asked her.

"Not really," she answered and looked out the window. "How long until we get to Hogwarts?"

"We should be back soon," Draco replied.

"How's Serena?" Mina asked, peeking above her seat.

"She's been unconscious since we left," Hermione explained.

Mina frowned. "This is a nightmare. I don't know what happened. The dementors just swarmed us. Now I know how you feel when the dementors attacked you." She shivered against him. "I still feel cold inside."

"What did you see when the dementors got near you?" Harry inquired.

"I'm not sure," Mina replied, "I think the dementors were playing with my mind. The things I saw and heard weren't like any of my memories. It was almost like being in somebody else's head."

When they arrived at Hogwarts, Darien told the students to go immediately to their dormitories and he picked Serena up in his arms.

"I'm coming with you, Professor!" Mina exclaimed, rising to her feet.

"Yes, very well," Darien said with a nod.

"You want me to come with you, Mina?" Harry asked.

"No thanks, I'll be all right," Mina said, "I just want to be with my cousin and I suppose Madame Pomfrey will want to treat me too."

"Okay," said Harry and Mina hurried off the bus with Professor Shields. Mina gasped when she saw Serena's face.

"She still looks so pale!" Mina cried. "Is she going to be all right, Professor?"
"I believe Madame Pomfrey can handle this," Professor Shields said calmly, though he didn't feel very calm at all. "Mina, please get the door for me."

"Yes, sir," Mina said shakily as she pulled the door open for Professor Shields. They hiked up to the hospital wing and Darien laid Serena down on a bed. He quickly explained the situation to Madame Pomfrey and she started to examine her. "I've never seen anything like this. When did this happen?"

"About three hours ago," Darien answered, "we didn't let her stay at the infirmary on the island. We rushed back her as soon as it happened."

"It usually takes a few minutes for a person to wake up after an encounter with a dementor," said Madame Pomfrey. "Was this the first time Serena has seen dementors?"

"Y-yes," Mina mumbled. "They didn't bother her earlier when we were inside the prison. We left the prison and walked around the island and then all of the dementors just attacked us."

"I've never seen dementors act that way before," Darien said.

"Miss White will need to stay here until she wakes up," Madame Pomfrey stated and she looked at Mina. "You should stay here for the night Miss Lovegood. I'll get you some chocolate. Thank you for your help, Professor. You may go now. I think you should tell the headmaster about this."

"The headmaster," Darien said and he felt his heart sink to his stomach. "Yes…of course."

Darien slowly exited the hospital wing and walked down to Dumbledore's office. How was he going to explain this to Dumbledore? What was Dumbledore going to do? Would he fire him for putting the students in danger? I should've been more careful, Darien thought. Serena could've died because of me.

So many thoughts were running through Darien's mind and emotions flowing through his body. He couldn't recall the last time he felt so nervous, so afraid. There was far too much excitement for one day. When Darien got to the gargoyle, he paused and took a breath before giving the password. The gargoyle moved once he gave the password and he stepped onto the spiral staircase, still pondering what to say. He got to the door, knocked on it and waited.

"Come in," said Dumbledore.

"Headmaster," said Darien as he entered the office. "I have bad news."

"You're back from the field trip already?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, sir," said Darien, "there was an accident involving one of the students."

"What kind of accident?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Dementors," Darien said, "they attacked Serena White and Mina Lovegood. They are both in the hospital wing. Mina is a little shaken up but otherwise all right. Serena however hasn't woken up since the accident." Darien tightened his hands into fists and his chest heaved. He couldn't remain calm anymore. This was a disaster! What kind of teacher was he?

"Professor, I tried to keep the trip safe for everyone. I didn't expect this to happen." Darien sunk into a chair and put his hands to his head.

"Calm down," Dumbledore said, "I'm sure Serena will be all right. Many people do go into a state of shock after seeing dementors at first."

"I know, but I've never heard of people being unconscious for hours at a time. I know that Harry Potter fainted after seeing one but he woke up in about a minute after the incident. Serena's condition hasn't changed since we've returned. I am very sorry. This is my fault. I should have been more careful."

"You're blaming yourself what happened?" Dumbledore asked.

"I planned the trip at Azkaban," Darien said, "I should have known it would've been too dangerous for Hogwarts students. The Ministry may have been a better choice."

"It is not your fault," Dumbledore assured him.

"But it is…it is…" Darien groaned. "I was so careless. I should've brought more chaperones with me, or made consent forms in the least."

"We have already talked about consent forms," Dumbledore said, "the seventh years do not need them. They are of age now."

"They're still Hogwarts students," Darien argued, "I must resign. I know that the parents of these girls would want me to."

"I will not have you resign," Dumbledore said firmly. "You made a simple mistake, Darien. Other wizards have made more mistakes. You brought everyone back in one piece, even Mina and Serena. I'm quite impressed that nothing else happened at your stay at Azkaban."

"You…still want me here?" Darien inquired. "Would the other teachers insist on me leaving, or the parents?"

"It is not for them to decide who will teach here," Dumbledore insisted with a small smile. "Is it?"
Darien returned the smile. "No, I suppose not."

"I appreciate you telling me," Dumbledore said, "but there's nothing to be guilty of. You took care of the situation just like any teacher should. Accidents can happen in any class, you know."

"Yes, that's true," Darien agreed, "I should go now. Goodnight, Professor."

"Goodnight."

Darien stood up and left the office, feeling somewhat better. However, he still wondered what Serena would think when she woke up. Dumbledore might have forgiven him but what would Serena say? Would she blame all of this on Darien? Would she demand to Dumbledore to have him sacked or would she leave Hogwarts? If that was going to be the case, he would never forgive himself.

--

After hearing about Serena's dementor attack, Trista and Amara decided to go France to meet with Aimee. Instead of going by broom, the pair was riding in a threstral drawn carriage.

"Giants, heliopaths," said Amara, "and now dementors. Something isn't right."

"Yes, especially since the girl was able to ward off the dementors without a Patronus," Trista stated, "these rods must bring out a certain magic that only we can use. Serena was able to show a little bit of that in Azkaban."

"Which is exactly why we have to meet this Aimee girl," said Amara. "She's already used her renovation rod and she might know who sent them. All of this isn't adding up."

Trista peered out of the window. "All of this reminds me of a legend I studied about. Nine female warriors with powers unlike ordinary witches. They were all named from the planets and the moon." She smiled and looked back at Amara. "Perhaps we are those warriors."

"I'd need more information than just a legend," Amara sighed and leaned back. "When are we going to get there? This isn't nearly as fun as broom riding."

There was a roar and before the women could comment on it, the carriage swerved to the left and they fell from their seats.

"What the--?" Amara demanded.

Trista looked out. A dragon was chasing the carriage and the threstrals were trying hard to avoid it. "A dragon!"

"Dragon?" Amara gasped. "What do we do?"

"The threstrals are trying to get out of its way," said Trista, "we'll be all right as long as there's…no!"

A second dragon came flying at the threstrals from the other side. The threstrals snorted and dove out of the way just as the second dragon blew smoke and fire at the carriage. The women braced themselves to keep from falling out of the carriage.

"I don't think we can get away," said Amara. "What do we do?"

"This may be a good time for us to use our sticks," said Trista, "together!"

"Right!"

But before they could even reach into their pockets for them, the carriage caught fire, one of the threstrals was injured and they were thrown out of the carriage. As they were falling, they did the only thing that they had in mind. They called on the power of their transformation rods.

"PLUTO PLANET POWER!"

"URANUS PLANET POWER!"

Amara was caught in a whirlwind and Amara was standing by a large gate. Their fukus appeared on their bodies along with sets of wings. Amara had the wings of a falcon and Trista the wings of a raven. They had become Eternal Sailor Pluto and Eternal Sailor Uranus. Instead of hitting the ground, they used their wings to swoop up back into the air.

"Let's make this quick," Uranus said.
"Agreed," said Sailor Pluto, "PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!"

Pluto sent her attack at the first dragon who countered her attack with a blast of fire. The two scouts flew out of the way.

"URANUS WIND TRAP!"

Uranus sent a wave of wind at the dragon and the wind circled around two dragons.

"Get rid of 'em!" Uranus urged Sailor Pluto.

"Right. LOST IN TIME!" Sailor Pluto opened the time gate and sucked the dragons in.

Pluto and Uranus turned to each other. "Now we have dragons to worry about," said Pluto. "I wonder what really is going on here."

"Yeah," Uranus stated, "but if it weren't for those dragons then we wouldn't have been awakened. I wonder how long it's been…how did we get here?"

"I don't know," Pluto said, "do you still want to go to look for the others?"

"Yes," Uranus answered, "but I think we should be with Serena. She is the Moon Princess and it is our responsibility to protect her."

"It is," Pluto nodded, "we'll owl the other scouts and let them know we've been awakened."

"Good idea," Uranus said, "let's go."

The scout of time and the scout of the skies flew back to Hogwarts.

--

Serena's cousins hardly left her side. Serena was asleep for five days. Mina was with her when she started to wake up. Mina leaned forward.

"Serena?"

Serena's eyes continued to flicker and her arm twitched. Serena let out a moan and her eyes opened all the way.

"Serena!" Mina took Serena's hand.

Serena turned her head to her cousin. "M-Mina? Where am I?"

"Hospital wing," Mina answered, "we were so worried. You were asleep for five days."

"What happened?" Serena asked. "Last thing I remember we were at the field trip."

"The dementors," Mina explained, "they attacked us and you went unconscious. We came back right away. Professor Shields carried you into the hospital wing."

"He did?"

"Yes," Mina answered.

"I think I remember now," Serena said, "I didn't know dementors could act that way. Can you get Professor Shields for me? I have some questions for him."

"Sure," Mina replied.

"Thanks."

"I'm glad you're up," Mina said, "we were so worried!"

Mina hugged her cousin and Serena choked. "Mina…not so tight!"

"S-sorry," Mina chuckled as she backed away. "I'll go get Professor Shields. He was asking for you earlier."

Mina got up and headed for Professor Shield's office. She thought it was odd for Serena to ask for Professor Shields the moment she woke up. What kind of questions was she going to ask him? Mina knocked on Professor Shield's door when she arrived at his office.

"Come in," he said.

Mina stepped into the office. Professor Shields was sitting at his desk, looking pitiful. His office was an entire mess. He had trashed it after coming back to Hogwarts and didn't bother to clean it up. He had to take his frustration out on something.

"Professor?" Mina asked.

"Oh, Miss Lovegood," Professor Shields straightened up. "What can I do for you?"

"Serena's awake," Mina replied, "and she wants to see you.

"She is? She…she does?"

Professor Shields stood to his feet, looking relieved, confused and excited. Serena was finally awake and she asked for him? Did this mean she was not angry with him?

"Yes," Mina answered, "she has some questions for you."

"I'll be there immediately," said Professor Shields, walking past her. Mina had to step to the side to let him though.

"He's surely in a hurry," said Mina.

By the time Professor Shields got to the hospital wing, Serena was sitting up in bed eating bits of chocolate. Darien looked at her filled with joy. He smiled wildly.

"Serena, I'm glad that you're finally awake," he said.

"Me too," Serena said, returning the smile. "Thanks for coming so quickly."

"Of course," said Professor Shields, sitting down at her side. There was no place he'd rather be. "Mina said you wanted to speak with me. Anything wrong?"

"I have questions about dementors," Serena said, "I don't know why they attacked me. I wasn't feeling any happiness and I wasn't near the fortress when they attacked me. Mr. Riley is too far away and I thought you'd be the next person that would know about them, since you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and all."

"Oh," said Darien. He wasn't expecting her to be asking questions about the dementor attack. But why was he expecting something more from one of his students? He cleared his throat.

"I was wondering about that," said Professor Shields, "and I've never seen dementors act that way before. My theory is that they just got excited with all the young blood on the island and chose to go after you. I'm not sure why they targeted you when there were more students in the fortress already."

"Hmm, it's very strange," Serena said softly.

"I'm sorry about this," said Professor Shields, "it's my fault. I shouldn't have let this happen."

"What are you talking about?" Serena demanded. "You didn't know this was going to happen."

"I was responsible for your safety," Professor Shields told her. "You could've gotten really hurt."

Serena shook her head. "If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I'm the one who asked you arrange a field trip. I guess I just didn't want to do the extra work. But I'm glad nobody else was hurt."

"Me too."

"I'm glad we went to Azkaban," Serena said, "even though I was attacked. I learned a lot going there and speaking with the prisoners. I could get into their minds and see what it was like for them. I feel sorry for them."

Darien was so impressed with her attitude. She was being so graceful. She nearly had her soul sucked away and she was thinking of others. She wasn't crying and feeling sorry for herself.

"Professor, where do dementors come from anyway?" Serena asked, turning to him. "Did they used to be human?"

Darien was surprised by Serena's question. No one has ever asked him that. Darien put his hand to his hand and thought. He really wasn't sure. He didn't bother to find out on his own. After all, he was an Auror, not a dementor specialist.

"I'm afraid I don't know," said Darien, "but I'd hate to think they used to be human. We'll have a lesson on dementors once I'll learn more about them."

"Okay, I look forward to it," Serena said.

Professor Shields remained with Serena for a while and they talked about their lives. It was a very interesting conversation. When Professor Shields stood up to leave, a golden locket fell out of his pocket. Serena leaned over the bed.

"Professor, you dropped something."

"What?" Darien turned around and went down to pick his locket. "Oh, yes, I should be more careful with it."

Serena gazed at the locket in his hand. It looked so beautiful, so familiar. "May I see it?"
"Certainly," Darien replied, handing it to her.

Once the locket was in Serena's hands, she felt like a new person. It looked and felt familiar to her. She opened it up and it began playing a peaceful melody.

"It plays music," Serena said, "it's so beautiful!"

"Yes, it's comforting," said Darien.

"Where'd you get this?"

"It was an anonymous Christmas present," Darien answered.

"You don't know who sent it?" Serena asked, taking her eyes off the locket to look at him.

Darien shook his head.

"Weird, I got an anonymous present too," Serena said, nodding to her brooch on her nightstand. "I wish I knew who sent it to me so I can thank them." Serena held the locket out to Darien and thanked him for letting her look at it. He looked at it for a moment but didn't take it.

"Actually, why don't you keep it, Serena?" Darien asked. "I might lose it anyway."

"Are you sure?" Serena questioned.

Darien nodded. "I've got the tune memorized."

"Thank you, professor!" Serena exclaimed.

"You're welcome," said Darien. He stepped to the bed, lowered his head and kissed her forehead. It was short but it still triggered something in the both of them. He brought his face back and stared down at her. Serena was looking into his eyes and something made her arms reach up and take hold of the front of his shirt to pull him back down. Her eyes closed and her lips puckered up. Darien put his hands on the mattress and his lips touched Serena's. His feelings began to stir. He'd forgotten that he was a teacher and that Serena was a student. Somehow he felt that he had tasted these lips many times before. He didn't want to stop. Serena didn't want to let go. She felt so safe that Darien was with her.

They broke away, staring each other and they returned to reality. Even though he had enjoyed it, Darien couldn't believe what just took place. He had just kissed a student. What if someone had spotted them?

"I'm sorry," he murmured and he rushed out of the hospital wing leaving a confused Serena behind. Serena looked down at the locket in her hand.

"What was all that about?" she asked herself. "Did I really…?"

She put her finger to her lips. He could still feel the warmth of Darien's lips. She felt like a changed girl. She tried to put it out of her mind but she couldn't. What was she going to do?

--

Serena's friends were happy to see that she was released. She was glad to be back as well. She never thought she would grow sick of eating chocolate all of the time. Serena's mind often wandered back to the kiss with Darien, even in classes.

She was sitting in divination and Professor Trelawney was talking about tarot cards. Trelawney's misty voice and the perfumed room made it were easy for Serena's mind to wander—under Trelawney's voice suddenly changed. It was hard and cold. Her body stiffened and everyone looked at her in concern.

"Professor Trelawney?" said Parvarti. "Are you all right?"

"The planets are aligning," muttered Professor Trelawney, "The guardians of universe are reforming. The Earth and Moon shall become one. The gold and silver one shall reunite to rid the universe of all evil."

"What's she talking about?" Dean wondered out loud.

"Shh!" hissed Parvarti.

"The dreams shall become reality. Two worlds shall become one. Black and white. Magic and non magic. The forgotten memories shall return to the minds. It has already begun."

Trelawney's head fell on her chest. The students stared, leaning forward her. Lavender reached to shake her shoulder and Trelawney's had jerked up, startling everyone.

"Oh my," said Trelawney, "dear me, have I dozed off? I'm sorry."

"P-Professor," Parvarti whispered, "what was that you just told us about?"

"About what, dear?"

"Something about the gold and silver one reuniting?" Serena said, looking confused.

"Gold and silver…" Trelawney said, "I said that?"

The students all nodded.

"I do believe I heard my great grandmother has said the same thing," Trelawney said thoughtfully, getting out of her winged armchair and approaching a bookcase. "Ah, here's her journal. Yes, my great grandmother said the same prediction. How very strange for me to repeat it…"

--

Professor Trelawney wasn't the only one to repeat the great seer Cassandra Trelawney's prediction of the gold and silver one reuniting. Martina stood up in her transfiguration class and stated it. Grégoire made the same prediction and seers all over the globe said the same exact thing, even a Death Eater in Voldemort's circle, who happened to have some talent as a seer—only she didn't know it.

"Ah, thank you for sharing this information with your master, Bella."

"I hope you may find it of some use, master," Bellatrix LeStrange said, keeping her head bowed.

"I believe I will," said Voldemort, "we need to find the gold and silver ones. I believe I may already know who one is. Potter, they call you The Chosen One, don't they? You may as well be golden too…."

--

Serena had to admit that Trelawney's prediction was weird and made no sense but there was something else that she had to make sense about: her kiss with Darien. She couldn't' get it out of her head. Professor Shields became distant after that. He wouldn't look at her during class and wouldn't even call on her if she had a comment or a question. Serena decided that the only way to make sense of this whole thing was to talk to Darien. But how could she if he wouldn't even talk to her? She tried everything: pushing things off her desk when he was walking around the room, hoping that he would pick it up; throwing stuff across the room and even disturbed the class in an effort to get detention.

"Ow!" Ron yelled after getting hit in the head with a paper ball. "Serena!"

"I'm sorry," Serena said, "it was an accident. I was aiming for the rubbish bin."

"Professor, Serena hit me in the head," said Ron.

"I didn't see anything," said Darien, his eyes on the board.

"Dang it," Serena ripped a piece of parchment from her notebook, stood up and threw a paper ball at Darien's head.

"Serena, what are you doing?" Ron demanded.

"Miss White," said Darien, not bothering to turn around, "did you just throw something at me?"

"Yes sir, I did," Serena said, "what're you going to do about it? Give me detention?"

"No but I'll take fifty points away from your house," Darien said coolly.

"Thanks a lot, Serena," Ron grumbled.

"Sorry!" Serena moaned, sitting back down and sighing in defeat. What was it going to take?

"I want you to use the rest of the period to write a short essay on the excerpt we just read," Darien said, "that is to be handed in after class."

"After class?" Ron moaned. "That's too soon!"

"Then I suggest you get started, Mr. Weasley," Darien told him.

Serena worked on the essay using notes from the book. Then an idea came to her. It was her last resort. She had to somehow get Professor Shields to talk to her. After writing a small three sentence essay about the chapter read in class, she wrote a note asking him to meet with her in the Room of Requirement after dinner. The bell rang and she turned her essay over before walking away from her desk. She had done her part. It was all up to him now.

Darien picked up all the essays and he read Serena's note. His eyes opened wide after reading it.

She wants to meet with her? Darien thought. What should I do?

--

Locket in hand, Serena paced the room. She had waited for ten minutes and Darien hadn't come yet. Was he ever going to show up? Was she wrong to set up this time?

"Maybe he had some last minute meeting he had to go to," Serena told her, "professors are busy people…come on, Serena, don't lose it. Just be patient."

Serena took a deep breath and sat down to listen to the music of the locket. It calmed her down for a while but she was still impatient. Fifteen minutes passed. Twenty minutes. Thirty. He clearly wasn't coming. She was crazy to ask a teacher to meet her this way.

"Oh, what was I thinking," Serena said as she got up. "What's there to talk about? I only kissed a teacher…I'm sure it happens all the time. Might as well get to the common room."

As Serena approached the door, it opened and in walked Professor Darien Shields. She stood stunned.

"Y-you came," Serena whispered, "I thought that you wouldn't come."

"I don't know what brought me here," Darien said, "I left my office and I somehow wound up here."

He looked around the room. It looked nice and cozy with a loveseat in the middle of the room, a small table with a music player playing soft jazz. When Serena came to the room she thought of a nice place to talk. Darien must've been thinking of the same thing.

"What did you want to see me about, Miss White?" Darien asked. "And why did you ask me to come here? You could've just come to my office."

"I tried," Serena said, "but you were never there. I wanted to talk about that day in the hospital wing. When you…kissed me."

"Oh," Darien said, "think nothing of it. It was a mistake."

"Mistake or not, I can't get it out of my head!" Serena exclaimed. "I keep thinking about. Keep dreaming about it. That was…my very first kiss!"

"I-it was?" Darien questioned.

"Yes," Serena said, "and even though you're a teacher and I'm a student and it probably wasn't appropriate, I liked it."

"Serena…?" Darien murmured.

"I want to understand why…why I can't get you out of my mind!" Serena yelled. "Ever since you kissed me, I can't get you out of my head! I wanted to know why I came to Hogwarts and this may be crazy, but maybe I'm here to see you."

"You do?" Darien questioned.

"Yes," Serena said with a small smile. "I know, silly, isn't it? But since I met you I just have been having these feelings that I know you." She sighed and sat down.

"I've been having the same feelings," said Darien, walking loser into the room and sitting down next to her.

"Oh, really?"

"I've had them for a while," Darien said. "That's why I was giving you detention so many times, so I can be with you."

"Whoa, Ron was right," Serena said to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Serena exclaimed. "Professor, perhaps we should see where this leads us."

"WE can't," Darien said, "You could be expelled."

"So?" Serena said. "I never wanted to come to Hogwarts anyway. You can give me detention whenever you want!"

"I'm serious," Darien told her.

"So am I!" Serena took Darien's hand. "Professor, we may have something here, something beautiful but how will we know unless we pursue it? Maybe we belong together. Maybe we can be really happy with each other. I have to know what these feelings are all about or I'll just go crazy!"

Darien stood up and sighed, rubbing his head. This was all too much to take in. He somehow wished this would happen but know that it has, he wasn't sure what to do.

"Professor?" Serena asked.

"It isn't safe to try anything right now," said Darien.

"I know, it's weird," Serena said as she got up, "you being a teacher and everything but this is my last year. School's almost over. What does it matter? I'm willing to get expelled over it because…I really like you."

Darien turned around. He and Serena looked at each other for a long time. Serena looked so hopeful.

"You could be expelled and I could be fired," said Darien.

"I know, but if we do belong together," Serena said, "don't you think it's worth the risk?"

Darien smirked. "Oh hell, I never wanted to be a teacher anyway!" he walked to Serena, swept her into his arms and kissed her with fervor. Finally, he was with the girl he wanted and he was ready to risk everything to be with her.

TO BE CONTINUED