After work the next day, she decided to go to Grimmauld Place to help the Weasleys, Lupin, Sirius, and Tonks clean the dingy house.
Well, if she was completely honest, she just wanted to see Bill.
To her disappointment, Bill was still at Gringotts, but he would be back in two hours for dinner, according to his mother. She assigned her the task of going upstairs to the attic, where Buckbeak the hippogriff lived, and helping Sirius clean, to her displeasure.
She opened the attic door to see Sirius, not cleaning, but drinking from a bottle of firewhiskey. Excellent.
"I can't even get a knock," Sirius muttered.
"Mrs. Weasley told me to come help you clean," Gwen said rather harshly, not feeling sympathetic for the man.
Black scoffed and waved his hand around in a drunken fashion. "Come take a seat. It's pointless to clean up here. That thing-" He gestured towards the sleeping hippogriff. "-always makes a mess of it again." She looked at the hippogriff intently as she sat down on the floor beside him, secretly glad to not clean. She was never the helpful sort.
"Why do you have a hippogriff in your attic? Are owls not good enough?"
He looked over at the beast lovingly. "We're both wanted criminals," Sirius said, with a melancholy tone to his voice. "We ran away together and now we're in hiding together." He laughed, nearly maniacally, and Gwen was tempted to get up and go. She didn't know what to make of this man. He then cleared his throat. "Sorry if I was rude to you yesterday. Some days it just hits me that I'm trapped here indefinitely and I can be a bit snappy."
She didn't know if it was the liquor talking or if he was being genuine, but she accepted it either way. Might as well try to get along with him. "Don't worry about it. I'd go mad if I was trapped in this house all day." They smiled at each other. He offered her the bottle and she accepted and took a chug. Bad rum.
"We're probably going to have a few parties, according to Mrs. Weasley. It was Tonks's idea. I used to go out and party all the time, before I was arrested. So Tonksy thought it'd be nice to bring the parties to me."
"Tonksy?" Gwen raised an eyebrow and grinned.
"Ah, don't go all reporter on me! She fancies Remus."
"Does she really?" Gwen was a little surprised. She usually caught such things.
"And you fancy Bill Weasley."
"And you say I'm going reporter?" Gwen retorted.
"Oh, it's obvious, Gwennie- can I call you Gwennie? I think I'm rather drunk. You look at him the way Tonksy looks at Remus." Gwen started to laugh and she snatched the bottle away from him. "Oi! What are you doing?"
"I'm going to pour this down the sink while you clean. Mrs. Weasley is going to check on you, so you best be starting. Besides, this is disgusting!" Sirius pouted playfully, but he was too drunk to get truly angry. He started waving his wand around pointlessly, making dust fly around the hippogriff and Gwen rolled her eyes and went downstairs.
She went to the third floor bathroom and dumped out the contents of the drink into the sink when she heard muttering from behind her.
"Filthy half-bloods, mudblood, half-breed scum in the house of my mistress, how dare they, how dare they…"
Realizing it came from behind the shower curtain, she whisked it to the side and pointed her wand at the sound. There was an old, wrinkly, and absolutely hideous house elf hiding in the bathroom. "Oi! Merlin!"
"Scum, scum, scum," he kept repeating like a broken record, staring down the drain. She dashed down the stairs to find Mrs. Weasley.
"Mrs. Weasley, did you know there's a house elf hiding in the third floor bathroom?" she exclaimed breathlessly. Lupin and Ron started laughing at her surprise.
"Yes, dear, he hides everywhere, don't worry about Kreacher," she said nonchalantly as she finished cleaning up the dining room table. Gwen sighed in relief and grasped onto the chair in front of him.
"He is wretched!" She declared. Ron was still laughing until his mother hissed at him.
"Come, Gwen, let's go to the kitchen and you can help me."
So she followed the Weasley matriarch into the kitchen and the two women started working to prepare supper. "So," Mrs. Weasley started. "How have you been, dear?"
"I've been alright. Work has become my life, I'm afraid." Mrs. Weasley rang out a fake laugh.
"Very nice. Do you have a boyfriend?"
How awkward. Gwendolyn gave Molly a sideways glance. "Uhm, no."
"How funny! None of my boys are with anyone either!"
"Mrs. Weasley, please…"
"Oh, I'm sorry, honey," she apologized. "It's just… you and Bill were so good for each other and if he hadn't gone ramping around Africa, I might have some grandchildren."
She had been slightly worried that Mrs. Weasley would have some grandchildren about a year ago. Bill had come home from Africa for the first time since graduation for the World Cup and after their rendezvous…
"You don't mind him being here? Bill? You're friends, right?" Mrs. Weasley asked eagerly as Gwen awkwardly washed some lettuce.
"Yeah, we're friends." Mrs. Weasley would have been thrilled if she knew of Gwen's true feelings for Bill. But Gwen felt that saying anything would make her look pathetic. It was pathetic, wasn't it? Being in love with your high school boyfriend so many years later...
"Well, see! That's nice! He'll be home soon, you know. From Gringotts. He works very hard, Bill does."
Gwen wasn't sure what to say next, but luckily, Tonks came dashing into the kitchen and slipped on some water and collided with Gwen. The lettuce went everywhere and the two girls ended in a heap on the ground, covered in salad. Mrs. Weasley started shouting ferociously while they were laughing.
"And these are our brave soldiers who will defeat the Dark Lord- covered in lettuce."
The noise in the room died down at Snape's comment from the doorway.
"Ah, sod off, Snape!" Tonks snapped, waving her wand and making the lettuce disappear. They got up quickly. "What are you even doing here?"
"I need to speak with Black."
"He's with the hippogriff," Gwen informed him.
"That's exactly what I need right now, Gwendolyn. A vague response. Wonderful." Snape muttered. Gwen felt like a student in his classroom again.
"How was that comment necessary?" She asked rather briskly. There was a deranged laugh from behind Snape and drunk Sirius pushed his way into the kitchen.
"Did ya hear that? Aw, Gwennie doesn't like ickle-Sevikins either!"
"Sirius Black, are you drunk?" demanded Mrs. Weasley furiously.
Snape nearly smiled. "Isn't this fantastic? Nevermind. I'm sure the Headmaster will be absolutely thrilled when I tell him I could not obtain the information he needs from Sirius Black because he is intoxicated." Snape left the kitchen abruptly and in a few seconds, the front door slammed shut.
"What an arse!" Tonks exclaimed, helping the wobbly Sirius to a chair.
"Sirius Black, you best have cleaned that attic or I will have your head!" Mrs. Weasley warned.
"Calm down, Molly, you sound like my mother!"
"I will not calm down!"
"I think you all should be a bit nicer to Severus," said Remus, who had obviously heard the whole ordeal from the hallway. "He puts his life on the line for us everyday and he may not be the nicest person in the world, but he deserves our respect." Gwen remembered when Bill explained everyone's roles in the Order the night before and Snape was certainly important.
"I don't like him much," Bill had said. "Not sure if I trust him. But Dumbledore does and that's what matters, I suppose."
"I'll give respect when I get it!" declared Tonks.
"What do you think, Gwennie?" asked Sirius, his words slurred, a lopsided grin on his face.
She shrugged and raised her hands in defeat. "I don't think he's worth even discussing. He's in the Order, we've got to put up with him."
The conversation drifted from Snape, as conversations do when someone says something like that. They all talked and soon enough, Arthur, Bill, and Kingsley got off work and joined them for dinner. Mrs. Weasley made absolutely sure that Gwen was seated beside Bill, to Gwen's silent delight. The group tried to not talk about the war, for that seemed to be all anybody ever talked about. Around nine, the children went upstairs to talk amongst themselves, and Kingsley went home. Arthur and Molly went to their room at around ten and Sirius went to bed to sleep off his drunk headache.
Bill, Gwen, Remus, and Tonks were sitting in the sitting room, playing cards and drinking from a mead bottle they found in a closet. It was then, at that sweet moment, at nearly midnight, when she was dozing off by Bill, and felt tipsy from the mead, that she felt everything was alright.
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"There she is!" Cuffe exclaimed, walking towards Gwendolyn's cubicle the following Monday. "My absolute favorite adventure-seeker!"
Gwen did not look up at him, but continued to check the article she was proofing. The article's author needed it back in fifteen minutes.
"So you know how you're always drawling on about how you wish you could do adventurous stories and blah blah blah?" Cuffe said vibrantly, ignoring the fact that she had not replied.
"If you want to refer to my carefully chosen words as "blah blah blah", then yes, I suppose. Dammit!" She had blotted a bit of red ink on the parchment. Damn quills. Muggles used pens. She liked pens. She even had a few of her own. But quills wrote prettier and thicker than pens and that was how people liked their articles edited.
"Well, I have a story I need you to write! We want to know if the shops in Diagon Alley are as nice as Knockturn Alley!"
She dropped her quill and turned to look at her superior. "You need someone to write an article about that to tell you? You can just look down the dingy street and you already know!"
"Yes, but do any respectable people go there to see for themselves? No! So nobody really knows. So your assignment is to go there and have a story about what you've seen on my desk Wednesday morning!"
"And how is that adventurous?" she muttered, turning back to finish her work.
"Knockturn Alley is sketchy. Full of uhm, mild danger. You'll love it!"
Gwen finished her work and stood up. "I'm sure," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
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It was nearly seven when Gwen finally left work and went home to change for her "adventure". She lived in a little flat in Hogsmeade, which was extremely convenient seeing as she worked in the village. But she was planning on moving to Muggle London, since wizarding communities were too small and everyone always knew about her business. She didn't like that.
She changed into black robes and replaced her work heels for boots. She tucked a notepad and a pen into her robes and Apparated into Diagon Alley. The streets were alive for a Monday night, she noted, scribbling it down. She had always liked the Alley, but it never seemed like a place with active night life. It was August, so the sun wouldn't be setting quite yet. She always felt safe alone anywhere as long as the sun was up.
She finally reached the little nook where Knockturn Alley was. Why did it seem so much darker down there compared to Diagon Alley? She walked down the few stairs and put her hood up over her head. She knew she was safe, but still, there were some sketchy characters here. Looking around, she took mental note of all the shops. They looked dingy and dark and run down. She knew Hagrid had gone to one of the apothecaries to stock up on stuff you couldn't find anywhere else. Maybe she would take note of that. Too bad Hagrid was in the mountains with the giants.
"Hello, sweetheart," someone said from behind her. She turned around and an old hag was smiling eerily at her.
"Hello," she said quietly.
"What beautiful eyes you have," the woman cooed. Of course she would take note of her eyes- everything else was covered in robes. "Blue as wine."
"But wine is-"
"Bluuuueeeee as wiiiiine." The woman started to screech and Gwendolyn quickly walked away, deeper into the alley. Who would want to come here? Not exactly where to take your kids school shopping! She would write that down later.
She stepped into a few shops. Some had creepy store owners staring blankly at the wall. Others had creepy store owners who stared at her. Only one had other customers- two goblins were buying cauldrons at Potage's. But just about every store was full of dark objects and things related to the Dark Arts. This must be where Voldemort finds all his recruits. She smirked to herself. Obviously. Everyone knew that. This was a waste of time.
After into a shop where the shopkeeper wasn't even present, she decided to get writing before she headed home. But where could she write? She eyed a pub a little down the road.
"The White Wyvern," she whispered to herself as she read the sign. "Nothing white about this place."
She peered inside the window to see the pub was full. She had learned full pubs were better to hide in than empty ones, so she stepped inside.
The pub was full of oddballs. She quickly avoided everyone and sat at an empty table and started to write. She talked about the contrast of the Alleys, of the creepy wizard folk that lurked here, of how unwelcoming it was. Writing was magic, she believed. And writing brought the truth to people. Even when it was silly little truths, like Knockturn Alley being a bad place. It was still something.
She wouldn't give up her job for the world.
She couldn't tell if it was dark out because the whole alley was dark and covered in a grey mist. If I was Minister, I would have eradicated this place years ago!
The pub smelled of cigarettes and odd drinks she had never smelled before. She looked around at people's glasses and saw brightly colored liquids. Odd. The darkest alley in England and they have bright drinks. They look almost neon!
"What can I getcha?" coughed a grimy looking man, who standing met her eye level while she was sitting.
"Uhm, do you have firewhiskey?" she asked, trying to sound tough. Firewhiskey was the most hardcore thing she had ever ordered.
"Lady, if you want girly drinks, go to the Leaky Cauldron," he spat loudly, turning a few heads. She blushed, but nobody could tell since it was so dark in the pub.
"Right, okay, thanks," she said, gathering her things. The man wobbled away and Gwendolyn felt a sudden urgency to leave.
But as she was standing up, someone jolted her back down. She looked up to see three men at her table.
"Don't let him bother you, sweetheart," one of them said, smiling and revealing very yellow teeth. Her heart was pounding rapidly.
"Thanks, uhm, well, I'm fine, bye," she said, standing up. But they wouldn't let her through.
"You sure?" said another man. "He sure looked like he was botherin' ya."
"No, he wasn't, I'm fine!" Gwen said, louder this time. "Excuse me, please!"
"Not so fast. You look like a nice girl. What are you doing around this parts?"
"I need to go! Let me pass!" She started pushing her way through, but the men started grabbing her, and pulling her and one of them pushed her down to the floor.
"I heard a jingle! Where's the money?"
"I want more than money!" shouted another.
She tried to stand up, but they kept pushing her. She desperately tried to get away, knowing that anyone else here would probably help them and not her. She started to scream as one of them picked her up, probably to shake the money out of her. Suddenly, she was dropped to the floor and the men disappeared and someone was pulling her by the arm out into the alley.
"Let me go! Stop pulling me!" she shouted desperately. She squirmed and squirmed but she was unable to free herself of the grasp, until he let go.
"What the hell were you doing in there?" Snape yelled. "Do you know how dangerous it is for people- especially women- to lurk around these parts? What were you doing?"
"Snape," she whispered, a wave of relief rushing over her. It was Snape. "Oh, Merlin." She sunk to the floor.
"Get up!" he hissed, pulling her by the arm.
"Okay, enough with the pulling!" she snapped, moving away from his touch.
"It is imperative that we get out of here right now." He started up back towards Diagon Alley and she hurried to match his stride.
"What did you do to them?" she asked, terrified.
"I punched one and stunned the other two. Luckily, nobody there tonight runs in my circles. Nobody but dunderheads and lowlives go to Knockturn Alley pubs on Monday nights." He was trying to take a dig at her.
"And yet, both of us were there tonight," Gwendolyn snapped. She could slowly see the happy gleam of Diagon Alley in the distance, but she could hear shouting from the pub behind her.
"You still haven't answered my question. What were you doing there?"
"None of your business!"
"Oh, Gwendolyn, it's very much my business," he said in a low voice. "For a member of the Order to be in Knockturn Alley, a prime recruiting spot for Death Eaters, when she was not assigned to be there."
"And how do you know I was not assigned to be there?" she countered. They were walking faster, the promise land becoming nearer. They passed the old hag she had met upon coming in and suddenly the shouts from behind her seemed louder and closer. She grabbed onto Snape's arm in fear that she would be grabbed.
She felt herself being sucked into a straw and they were in front of Gringotts. Snape had Apparated there. He turned to face her.
"Because I was assigned to be there."
Well, that made sense. "I was too… but not by Dumbledore. By Mr. Cuffe, my boss. He wanted a story on Knockturn Alley so he sent me there."
Snape raised his eyebrow. "He sent a woman alone in Knockturn Alley at night?" She nodded and started readjusting her robes. "What a bright man you work for. Where do you live?"
"Hogsmeade," she said quietly, suddenly feeling very stupid at the sense of safety she had felt upon entering the alley. Snape was right, as Cuffe had been. It was not a safe place.
"We can Apparate there together," he said, offering her his arm. She took it and they were outside the Three Broomsticks. "Close enough?"
"Yeah, my place is right around that bend." She gestured in the direction of her flat.
"I'll walk you to the door," he insisted.
"It's-" She was about to object when she realized her insistent bravery about walking around alone in dark places was what got her into this mess. "Alright."
They reached her flat quickly. "Good night, Gwendolyn," Snape said, about to leave.
"Snape, wait." He turned to look at her. She was tempted to ask him why he had been so rude towards her the other night at Grimmauld Place. She didn't consider him a friend, but after the Yule Ball, she had thought they had some sort of silent truce. But she shook the thought away and instead said, "Thank you. Merlin knows what would have happened to me had you not been there." Her voice was filled with extreme gratitude.
He suddenly didn't look so cold and he simply nodded. He turned down her street and back towards Hogwarts and Gwendolyn sighed with a smile and went inside.