Gwen,

I know we said we would play cards tonight, but we can't. Something's come up. See you Saturday and remind Bill to bring his Egyptian wine.

-Tonks

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She had initially only hung round with members of the Order because Bill was there. He liked to keep Sirius company, liked to spend time with his family because he had been away for so long.

But now she had started to really enjoy the company of their little group, so much that even when Bill wasn't around, she would still stay at Grimmauld Place. Sirius Black was much friendlier towards her now, drunk or sober. She and Tonks had grown much closer. Tonks was so spunky and fun and Gwen adored it. Besides, having another young woman her age in the Order was comforting.

It disappointed her a bit that they wouldn't play cards. However, she had left that night's work at Headquarters the night before, so she needed to go to Grimmauld Place to pick it up.

She had eerie feeling about going this night. The moon was high and full in the sky and she walked cautiously and hurriedly to the house. Ever since that night in Knockturn Alley, her paranoia had been amped up.

She reached the house and slipped inside. They should really keep that door locked, even if it was protected by a spell. Whatever. She rushed upstairs to "her room". Ever since the Weasley children, Hermione, and Harry had gone back to school and their parents had gone back to living in the Burrow, she had kept a room at Sirius's house, in case she got too drunk to go home. She slipped inside and grabbed the paperwork when she heard a fantastic and ear piercing howl from below.

"What the-" Heavy thuds, howls and barks suddenly shook the house and she dashed down the stairs to the main floor. "Sirius!" she shouted. "Tonks"

"Gwen, what are you doing here?" exclaimed Tonks, who had been in the kitchen. "I told you we couldn't play tonight!" She seemed almost angry with her.

"Didn't you just hear that?" Another ferocious howl rang through the house. "It's coming from the basement!"

"Gwen! You shouldn't have come!"

"Why don't you seem frightened by what's happening?" Gwen screamed over the howls and barks. "There's a beast in the basement!"

"That isn't a beast," Tonks murmured softly. "That's Remus."

All fell silent and it was if the animal downstairs knew it was a time to stop howling. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Remus is a werewolf," Tonks confessed. "I would've rather he had told you himself. But I forgot that it was tonight. That's why we had to cancel cards." Tonks sighed and ran her hands through her lime green hair.

"So he… he has to go through becoming… vicious… every month?"

"No," Tonks said, walking with her to the sitting room, where they sat on the couch. "Snape usually makes him a Wolfsbane potion each month so he can keep his human mind when he transforms. But something went wrong with the ingredients this month so I locked Remus and Sirius in the basement."

"Sirius is a werewolf too?"

"No, he's an Animagus. He transforms into a dog and helps keep Remus calm."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence and all that could be heard was the ticking of the clock. "I'm sorry. I forgot my work for tonight here and I just came to fetch it." It was only midnight. "You're staying up all night? Alone? Waiting for the moon to set?"

"That's the idea," Tonks sighed, bringing her knees to her chest.

Gwen put her papers on the table. "I'll stay with you. Are you any good at proofreading?"

Tonks grinned. "I got an A in English in Muggle school."

"Then let's get to it!"

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Betty and Gwen walked down the streets of Muggle London every day during lunch in September, unless it rained. "I'm going to move here," she said dreamily. London was her favorite place.

"You say that every day!" Betty waved her off. "Let's get something to eat! I'm starving!"

They found a small café on the side of the road and got sandwiches and chips. "Sometimes, I love being single," Gwen mused. "If I had a family, I couldn't spend money on lunch every day."

"Are you sure you're single?" Betty teased with a wink.

"Yes," Gwen snipped playfully. She ate a chip and thought about it. "Though, I'm not quite sure how long it'll last."

"Have you guys shagged?"

"You're so rude- you don't just ask someone something so personal!"

"That rule doesn't apply to best friends," she pointed out. Gwen rolled her eyes. Betty was too blunt.

"No, Betty, we have not shagged since… Hogwarts," she lied. Mentioning the Quidditch World Cup wasn't necessary. "But we've gone out to eat. We spend lots of time with his friends and family."

"I know, you're never free anymore," Betty complained. "You know, Andy was asking for you last week. Everyone at the office went clubbing and you were with your new friends you met Merlin knows where and he was inquiring after you." She stuffed a few chips in her mouth. "So if this doesn't work out with Bill, you always have Andy."

"Great," she said sarcastically.

"So do you guys snog?"

"No."

"Then you're not together," Betty said matter-of-factly. "I would think that makes it obvious."

"I know we're not together. I'd like to be."

"So snog him somewhere!" Her friend said, sounding exasperated.

They paid and continued their stroll. They passed the Leaky Cauldron and considered going to Diagon Alley, but decided against it. "I haven't gone there in the longest," Gwen said, waving it off. "Not that interesting."

"You wanna know what I heard?" Betty exclaimed suddenly. "I forgot to tell you about it when it happened- but someooonnnee told me that youuuu went thereeee with Professor Snape!"

"What- who told you that?" Gwen was shocked. They had to have been visible in the Alley for no more than two minutes!

"So it's true! A reporter always good sources!"

"I saw him there when I did that stupid Knockturn Alley story," she muttered. She hadn't told anyone of her experience in the pub there. "I merely spoke to him for a moment. What a load of rubbish you are, gossipping about me and Snape!"

"Oh calm down, Gwen!" Betty said, slapping her arm playfully. "I heard about it from Rita, though I'm not sure how she found out. She's been wanting to do a story on him for Witch Weekly for ages. But she's banned from the school, you know, so she's waiting to see if anyone gets close to him so they can get the facts for her."

"Snape isn't interesting enough for a story."

"Nothing and nobody is interesting enough for you," Betty whined. "Except, of course, Bill Weasley." She winked at her again.

"I'm going to move here someday," Gwen said again, getting lost in the essence of London and the thought of Bill Weasley.

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September faded into October and Gwen was growing impatient. Two months of these games and she still had not snogged Bill, nor was she sure if they were getting back together. His tentativeness was odd- seeing as they shagged after seeing each other for two hours a year ago. But she didn't want an emotionless shag with Bill. She wanted something more.

After learning about Lupin's "furry little problem", a barrier was broken in the group and things seemed much more comfortable. Time seemed to fly! Work and the Order and spending time with friends- new and old- and figuring out Bill Weasley- it all completely stuffed her schedule. It was shocking when it was suddenly Halloween and the day of the party Sirius had been looking forward to forever.

It was also when Gwen would snog Bill Weasley again.

Well, she was going to try.

"Your hair," she said to Tonks as they got dressed in her room at Grimmauld Place. "Looks so cool."

Tonks flipped it and flashed a smile. Her hair was in curls, some black, some orange. It took her a while to morph it perfectly, but now she looked stunning. Her dress was black and sparkly and she was wearing big orange pumps. "You think so?"

"You look like the queen of Halloween!" Gwen winked at her. "Remus will definitely love it."

"You and Sirius are annoying," Tonks groaned. "I don't fancy Remus!"

"Sure, sure."

"What about you and Bill?" Tonks countered.

"I don't lie," Gwen replied, looking at herself in the mirror. "I fancy Bill."

"Well, he'll like what you're wearing," Tonk said with a low whistle. Gwen had on a red dress and black heels, her long brown hair straight down her back.

"Please, I would give anything to have fun colored hair without damaging it to hell!" They left the room to go downstairs. From the sound of it, there were quite a few people there.

"Gwen, you've got to help me," Tonks said worriedly. "I can barely walk with sneakers on." Tonks gripped Gwen's arm as they carefully hobbled down the stairs. By the final flight, Tonks felt rather confident and nearly made it to the bottom. Nearly. She tripped on the last step and fell hard on the floor. Remus went to pick her up quickly, to Tonks's delight. She blushed when she noticed Gwen looking at her with a sly grin.

By ten, Sirius was already drunk and had turned on a little radio and was dancing with everyone as they finished eating their helping of Mrs. Weasley's grand feast. It was eleven when Gwendolyn was dancing with Kingsley and Sirius started imitating Dumbledore dancing. Tonks fell into Sirius, tripping on seemingly nothing and the two lay on the floor laughing for what felt like forever.

It was twelve when she finally was dancing with Bill in the sitting room. Mostly everyone was in the kitchen or the study- or upstairs doing Merlin knew what. She felt a little tipsy and so did everyone else. Sirius had passed out in the corridor. She and Bill were finally alone.

"I haven't felt like this in ages," Gwen sighed, staring into the sparkling light blue eyes.

"Like what?" he said softly with a smile.

"Exhilarated," she breathed, brushing the messy red hair out of his eyes. "I feel wonderful!"

"As do I," he said softly. The song was slow and smooth and Gwen had heard it many times before. And she knew it was coming to an end.

It was time.

She put her hands around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He was still smiling.

"May I?" she whispered and he nodded slightly.

And she kissed Bill Weasley. If it had been a fairytale, beams of light and gusts of wind and flower petals would have swirled around them, entwining them together forever. She was lost in his kiss, as she had been so many times.

But it was not a fairytale and nothing magical swirled around them, though, to her, it felt like that. They broke apart and started laughing. Like kids who just snuck to the Astronomy Tower to have a snog, giggling and looking around.

And they kissed again.

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