Thursday, 9 June 1994
"Thanks a lot, Gwen," Roberta said, holding Gwen's right hand for some seconds in hers, when the latter had scrambled down from Amber Dancer's back. Gwen's stomach gave a funny little lurch, and she got goosebumps.
"I'll go on to Hogwarts. I talked to Pomona Sprout by fire-call yesterday, and she said that, despite the exams, it would be no problem to meet Larissa after lunch." Larissa was Roberta's niece who was currently studying in second year.
"You needn't thank me," Gwen shook her head. "Ihave to thank you for giving me a lift."
She rubbed her ice-cold fingers, and stepped from one leg to the other, since they, too, felt stiff and frozen. Her stomach felt funny and weak after the long flight through the skies. But it's still better than Apparating several times in a row, and losing my way. And Rob has been simply gorgeous.
"But it was on your initiative that we came here," Roberta beamed. "Perhaps I can do something for Buckbeak. The appeal is scheduled for two o'clock. I need to hurry. Where shall I pick you up afterwards?"
"I'll probably be in the Three Broomsticks." Gwen had told Roberta that she was going to meet Jon for "professional reasons", which was, more or less, the truth. And Gwen didn't want Rob to think … well, what Mrs Beresford thought by now.
"But we can't agree on a time, can we? Neither of us knows how much time it'll take us,"
Roberta frowned.
"You can't miss me in Hogsmeade," Gwen waved her hand. "We'll meet sooner or later. Where will you leave Amber Dancer?"
"I'll leave him near the village, in a spot in the forest where I always leave him when I come to Hogsmeade", Roberta whispered, "it's always a bit difficult to station a hippogriff, you know, a lot of wizards don't like them."
"Good luck to you, Roberta."
"And to you, Gwen. See you later."
Gwen turned, lit a cigarette, and trudged along the Hogsmeade High Street. Every few seconds she looked around as if to make sure that no-one followed her. Why am I so nervous? she thought and inhaled deeply. The sun was shining. Relax, she ordered herself. At least there aren't any Dementors today.
She decided to visit some shops. When Roberta had heard that the appeal was set for two o'clock she had wanted to start their journey very early in the morning, but Jon wouldn't turn up until afternoon. So, she had some time to herself.
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~
At three o'clock Gwen collapsed onto a chair in the Three Broomsticks and ordered a shepherd's pie and a fresh gillywater from Madam Rosmerta, who tottered away on high heels to fetch it. Gwen took off her glasses, cleaned them as usual, put them on and looked around. Three goblins were discussing in whispers with two witches, and a very old wizard was standing at the bar, drinking a butterbeer and humming softly to himself.
Gwen rummaged in her shopping bags. She had bought some lilac-coloured robes at Gladrags Wizardwear, a hawk-feather quill and parchment at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, some chocolates (for Miss Carthew and Isabelle) and fudge (for herself) at Honeydukes, and a sneakoscope at Dervish & Banges, even though it was probably useless, since the often low-quality security devices didn't work properly in the Department of Mysteries.
When Jonathan finally entered the pub, she beckoned him to sit with her. He flushed deep scarlet and joined her at her table.
"Hi Gwen," he said awkwardly, obviously not daring to look into her eyes. Gwen felt more stupid than ever.
"Hi Jon," she tried to sound cheery.
Madam Rosmerta brought Gwen's food and the gillywater and took Jon's order – a bottle of butterbeer.
"I am really eager to know what you have to tell me," he said, looking pointedly at a spot behind Gwen's shoulder. "Mrs Beresford made some … strange insinuations."
"Never mind her," Gwen tried to laugh. "I only told her that I wanted to talk to you in private to put her at ease." She lowered her voice and took a forkful of the minced lamb and potatoes, trying to ignore Jon's disappointed look. "I wanted to tell you some things that concern the murder case in our Department."
"Oh, I thought you…," his voice broke. "But why didn't you tell her? She's all right, I told you so." His hands trembled slightly.
Gwen put her hand on his. "Now, Jon, what's the matter?" she asked kindly.
"What…? Well, she said she had the impression that you missed me, and I thought…"
"I did miss you." Gwen said soothingly. "And I prefer talking to you than to her, I know you much better. And I like you."
He took a deep breath and withdrew his hands. "Sorry, Gwen, I've always liked you a lot, you know." He rubbed his forehead. "But I suppose I am a bit under stress right now. First the murder down in London, and now this Sirius Black business, you know – me and the others lying low all the time, not to mention the Dementors hovering around."
"Is Black here?" Gwen whispered, trying to change topic.
Jon shrugged, looking around cautiously. "We suppose he's hiding somewhere near Hogsmeade or Hogwarts."
His butterbeer arrived, and he took a swig from the bottle, wiping his mouth afterwards.
"Now tell me," he said, "what is so important that you come here to see me?"
Between forkfuls of pie, Gwen told him about Archibald Dusk and Jacobus Mayfield probably working on horcruxes, her worries about Archie's colleague Jacobus Mayfield being either involved in the murder or in equal danger, and about the stolen vial containing one of Archibald Dusk's memories.
Jonathan listened with rapt attention. "Who told you about the horcruxes?" he asked after some minutes of silence.
"Never mind, I can't tell you that." Gwen's expression became stern.
Jonathan sighed. "I'll never get used to all this secret-mongering in your Department."
"What did Mayfield tell you about all this?"
"Well, Gwen, I can't tell you that either," he grinned.
Gwen shrugged and drank from her gillywater. "By the by, do you know what time Archibald Dusk was murdered?"
Jonathan rested his head on his hands. "Well, the murder was reported at a quarter past eight. Timothy Oakden said that he entered his office at about eight o'clock, and that he didn't hear or see anyone, nor did he notice anything unusual. And he's right – there was nothing: We didn't find any traces of a fight. Timothy said he was quite sure that he was alone in the Death Chamber."
Gwen made a mental note of the information Jon had given her. "And what does Pluto Beckford say about the time of the murder?"
"You are a clever witch, Gwen," Jon looked at her appreciatively. "But it is impossible to tell what time exactly an Avada Kedavra is committed. Didn't you know that?"
"So it could have been anytime between seven and eight o'clock in the morning?"
"Yes. How do you know?"
"I heard Eleanor say that she left her husband at seven o'clock."
"Good girl."
Gwen felt embolded. "I've also pondered over the wand I found on the steps leading to the Arch. I suppose you used Prior Incantato on this wand?" She didn't mention that Evelyn had told her that it had been Mayfield's wand.
"Of course," replied Jonathan, taking another swig and smiling, slightly amused.
"And?" One forkful of pie hovered in mid-air.
Jonathan put his bottle back on the table. The goblins on the table nearby stood up and shook hands with the two witches, who put on their cloaks and left the pub. The three goblins shouted for some butterbeers.
A crowd of underage witches and wizards entered and looked around curiously. They were obviously Hogwarts students. What are they doing here? Gwen suddenly thought, isn't it exam time?
"You know that you may never ever tell anyone that I told you all this," he whispered, wagging his finger at her and looking stern. She looked at him.
"That goes without saying," Gwen smiled. "I'm glad to see you adopting our secretive ways."
As both Gwen's glass and Jonathan's bottle were empty, Madam Rosmerta asked them whether they wished anything else to drink. Gwen ordered a red-currant rum as a digestif, and Jonathan another butterbeer.
"Funny you asking that. The Prior Incantato revealed that the wand was used to cast the Dark Mark, but not the Killing Curse. That must have been done with a different wand."
They sat together amicably until after sunset. Gwen joined Jon in drinking a butterbeer, and smoked a cigarette, while Jonathan pondered to find a connection between the horcruxes and Archibald's death. She suddenly remembered that Jonathan perhaps didn't know about the memory of Macnair and Dusk, and told him about that, too. Jon extracted a quill and made some annotations. The pub was filling with wizarding people, and the noise-level was rising steadily.
Time was flying by. Gwen enjoyed talking with Jon about everything under the sun. It was so easy. He's a nice guy, she thought. Outside, beyond the windows, darkness was falling.
"One more thing," Gwen added, hating herself, "Macnair knows Manisha Cullen, who works the Death Chamber. Formerly she worked in the Spirit Division, which is near the Beast Division." She really liked Manisha, and wouldn't want her to get into trouble, but now she'd seen her talking to Macnair several times, even though reluctantly. "But I don't think that she likes him. It's always him who addresses her, and she always seems to be trying to get rid of him."
Jon's eyebrows shot up: "That is strange. She didn't mention that." He frowned, pondering this information.
All of a sudden, Roberta was standing in front of them, beaming: "You won't believe what I have to tell you!"
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~