James

I couldn't sleep. Sure I hadn't been sleeping properly since that day I saw Louis kissing Gwen. But tonight was different. Other nights I had gotten to sleep but woken up multiple times. Tonight I just couldn't get to sleep.

I was sure that it was past midnight by now and I couldn't see myself getting to sleep anytime soon. The other guys were all asleep and I could hear them snoring.

I got up, grabbed the map out of my trunk and decided to head down to the kitchens. Maybe I was just hungry.

As I got down the steps into the common room I heard a sniffle coming from the corner of the room.

"Lumos." I whispered lighting the end of my wand.

There was a ball curled up in the corner as I got closer I noticed the colour of the long hair that fell all around her. That deep brown looked familiar.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly.

The girl looked up at me. It was Gwen. Her eyes were a solid blue. It was a colour I'd never seen before. I didn't need to know what the colour meant though. It was clear what she was feeling.

"Doll, are you alright?" I asked her.

"Go away Potter." She said her voice breaking as she spoke.

She was trying to be strong, that much was clear. She looked so broken. I didn't know what to do.

"Gwendolen are you alright?" I tried again losing the pet name as I knew now wasn't the time.

"James, I said go away." She said her voice becoming even shakier than before.

I stood in shock. She never called me James. There must be something seriously wrong.

"Gwen, when have I ever listened to you?" I asked as I knelt down beside her.

She didn't respond turned her head away from me. I helped her up and over to the couches. It couldn't have been comfortable sitting on the floor like that. I helped her sit down on the couch and walked over to the fire.

"Incendio." I muttered relighting the fire that had died out once most of the other students had gone to bed.

I sat down beside her. I didn't dare ask her what was wrong again. She would tell me if she wanted to.

It was then that I noticed a piece of paper in her hand. Paper? It must be a letter from home. I knew her mum acted like a muggle and her dad was one. But if it was a letter from home why did it have this effect on her?

That must have been the letter she'd gotten during dinner. It had come while we were eating but hadn't wanted to open it at the time as she didn't was to draw her attention away from the conversation.

I watched her. She opened her mouth as if to say something but quickly closed it and turned away. She couldn't actually say what it was. She handed me the letter that she was holding.

Dear Gwendolen,

We didn't want to write to you but I'm afraid we have to. Your parents are dead. There was a car accident. A truck hit them while they were coming to pick up Ivy. She's fine. We're looking after her. She's staying in Felix's room. There isn't any other space here. We won't have place for you so we'd advise you make other arrangements for your summer break.

Best wishes,
Harold and Hazel Garcia

Best wishes? Were these people serious. There were no words.

"Gwen." I said softly.

What could I say? There wasn't anything that sounded right.

"I'm so sorry." I said after a what felt like forever.

I placed my arm over her shoulders. It wasn't like any of the other times I'd done it. Those times I was trying to pull her closer. Those times I was trying to ask her out. This time I wasn't. I just wanted to be there for her. I needed her to see that I wanted to help.

That was when she broke. A loud sob found its way past her lips and she threw her arms around my neck. She was nearly sitting in my lap as she cried. I wrapped both my arms around her, holding her tightly as I rubbed circles on her back.

I wanted to whisper words of encouragement to her but it just felt like it wouldn't be sincere. Right now all she need was to let everything out. There was no telling how long she cried for but eventually I felt it slow and her breathing levelled out. She had fallen asleep.

As much as I wished we weren't on the couch, as it was really rather uncomfortable, I wasn't going to move. Gwen needed me. Slowly I readjusted our position so we were lying on the couch rather than sitting. It was slightly more comfortable although I knew my back was still probably going to be sore in the morning.

I summoned my blanket knowing the fire would eventually die out again. I laid it over us and closed my eyes. For the first time in almost two months I slept well, even if it was on a couch.

"Can someone please explain to me how this happened?" Molly asked as she looked down on me.

I opened my eyes to see Molly, Louis, Fred and Parker standing in front of us. They were all looking at me and Gwen. Oh no. What were they thinking? This can't be good.

I felt Gwen begin to move around in my arms. She pulled her face off my shoulder where she'd been sleeping and opened her eyes looking at me. They were her normal brown. Good. She was feeling better. They flashed orange for a second before fading to blue again. I felt so bad for her.

Her bottom lip began to quiver. I could tell she was going to start crying again. I pulled her close once again just as she was about to let out a sob.

"Do you want me to tell them?" I whispered to her.

I felt her nod. She didn't trust her words.

I looked up at our friends. I was about to tell them then I realised we were in the common room. Anyone could be here. Anyone could hear and spread it around the school.

"Can we go up to the dorm?" I asked her. "So that it's just our friends.

I felt her nod again before pulling her face away and wiping it enough to get us out of the common room.

"Let's go to the dorm." I told the others. "I'll explain everything."

As I got up off the couch I noticed the letter on the floor. It had been hidden under the edge of the blanket. I picked it up. It might be useful to have that.

We walked up the stairs to the dorm I shared with the other guys. When we got there I sat down on my bed. To my surprise Gwen sat next to me and placed her head on my shoulder again. I quickly put my arm over her shoulders and held her.

The others were completely lost for words. None of them had expect this. I hadn't even expected this. I thought she'd go sit with Louis and Molly who had both sat on his bed.

"Last night she got this letter from her aunt and uncle." I said holding up the paper. "It says that her parents were killed in a car accident."

"Don't be nice about it James." Gwen said softly her voice still rather shaky. "They weren't."

The others stared at her. This was the first time Gwen had ever said anything remotely kind to me.

"They told her that they'll look after Ivy, her little sister, but Gwen is to find other arrangements for the summer." I finished explaining.

No words were spoken. The only sound that could be heard were Gwen's soft sobs.

"I'd say come live with my family." Louis said. "Vic just moved out to live with Teddy. The only problem is we live in France and mostly speak French."

Gwen nodded knowing that wasn't a reasonable option.

"We all know how my dad is." Molly muttered.

She was right. Uncle Percy, although less of a prick than he had been based on the stories I'd heard, was rather uptight and I couldn't imagine him allowing someone else to move into their house. No matter the circumstances.

"I'll go see McGonagall later in the day." I told Gwen. "See if I can go see Mum and Dad and speak to them."

She nodded but moved closer to me. She didn't want me leaving right now. Thankfully it was a Saturday so we didn't have class.

Molly and Louis got up from Louis' bed and began to head to the door. I looked at them confused as to why they were leaving.

"We're going to go see Professor Longbottom." Molly said before the two left.

That made sense. Maybe Neville would be able to help. He would certainly be able to help me speak to McGonagall about speaking to Mum and Dad.

"Are you sleepy?" I asked Gwen.

She nodded before turning to lie down in my bed. I went to get up so she could rest. I wasn't going to leave. I was just going to sit with Fred while she rested.

"Don't leave me." She said.

She sounded so scared. Her eyes, the pale blue from before was growing even lighter until it was nearly white.

"I'm just going to sit with Fred." I explained.

She looked at me. I could see she was about to cry again. I looked at Fred who jerked his head in Gwen's direction. He wanted me to listen to her. I looked down at Gwen again before lying down next to her and wrapping my arms around her again. She snuggled in my chest and fell asleep.

I was amazed by how she was acting. I'd never thought this would happen. Never. It didn't take long before I fell asleep too.

The next time I woke up the first thing I saw was both Professor Longbottom and Professor McGonagall looking at me. Neither of them looked very happy. I opened my eyes and moved to get out of my bed to speak to them when an arm pull me closer. Okay. Gwen was a little bit clingy when she was sleeping. At least, I'm pretty sure she was still sleeping.

I shuffled around enough so that I could sit up to talk to the professors. I knew it was probably a better position for me to be in than lying down. After I sat up Gwen began to shuffle around so her head was in my lap. I'm not sure why she did that but I began to pet her head. I think it was a comfort thing for both of us.

"James Sirius Potter, would you mind explaining what's going on?" Professor Longbottom asked me.

He was clearly unimpressed by the position they had found Gwen and I in. He was probably still unimpressed with the position we were currently in.

I looked over at Fred who was sitting on his bed watching what was going on. It didn't take long for Fred to realise I wanted him to give Professor Longbottom Gwen's letter. As Fred got up, letter in hand, I began to explain the situation to the professors.

"Last night I couldn't sleep properly so I went down in the common room to…stretch my legs in hopes that I could fall asleep afterwards." I told them. "When I got down there I found Gwen in the corner, almost crying but not letting herself. She showed me this letter. I stayed with her as she was very upset by the whole situation. This morning we came up into the dorm with Fred, Louis, Molly and Parker so I could tell them what happened."

"Professors, both Fred and I have been in the dorm with them all morning if that's what you're worried about." Parker said quickly.

The professors took in turns reading the letter then looked at Gwen. Fred and Parker both looked at Gwen and I. They were surprised she was still asleep. They didn't think she would be able to stay asleep though all the talking that was going on. They also didn't think she would be able to stay asleep through the constant petting of her head. But somehow she was.

"Well, it appears we have some rather interesting circumstances." Professor McGonagall said. "I thought we had stopped dealing with this sort of situation after the war ended."

"Things like this are always going to happen." Professor Longbottom responded.

"Please, would it be possible for you to get Dad to come here?" I asked them. "I want to speak to him but I really don't think I should leave Gwen right now."

Professor McGonagall turned to Professor Longbottom. I could tell she agreed with my second statement. I think she had worked out why I wanted to speak to Dad as well.

"Neville, if you would go fetch Harry." Professor McGonagall said. "There is another student I need to see right now who is experiencing the same situation."

Carter. I don't think he'd even crossed Gwen's mind. I wasn't going to be the one who mentioned him to her. I think she needs to come to terms with everything before she starts worrying about someone else.

I know Rose will certainly take care of him. Al will be there for support. Milla seems like she'd be a supportive friend. Not so sure about that Malfoy kid though. Who knows what he'll do. Carter had friends though. He'll be fine.

I watched as both Professor Longbottom and Professor McGonagall left. I was a little more relaxed now that I knew Dad was coming to Hogwarts. Hopefully he would see the similarities between the situation he was in and the one that Gwen is in.

I don't know what I'd do if Dad can't help Gwen. I can't just leave her on her own. It's not fair.

"What took you two so long?" Fred asked Louis and Molly when they came back into the dorm.

I had been so deep in thought I hadn't even noticed them.

"We were telling Rose and Milla what happened." Molly said. "Carter's their friend, we thought they needed to know."

"They're heading down to the Slytherin dorms to check on him." Louis explained.

"Is someone going to remind Gwen she has a brother?" Parker asked.

"No, don't." I said. "If you do she'll start worrying about him and not give herself time. We can get updates about Carter from Rose and Milla. That way we'll be able to tell her if she asks."

They all stared at me. No one realised the extent I was going to in order to make sure Gwen was okay. I wanted her to be able to be the same person she was before. I didn't want this to be too hard on her. She needed support.