Her dreams were plagued with darkness that night. Flashes of red tore through her vision and she heard screaming - a sound that made her blood run cold and the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge. It was more vivid than any dream she's ever had, like she was there but her vision was obscured, broken only by the flashes. She felt weightless, like she was floating, unable to feel her own body. Not even her feet were grounded.

Gwen woke up in a cold sweat, her clothes sticking uncomfortably to her skin. Her heart was thudding against her chest, thumping her ribcage so hard she could feel it vibrating through her body.

Sitting up and pulling aside the curtain surrounding her bed, Gwen checked the grandfather clock to see it was almost 2 a.m. She sighed, running her fingers through her messy hair and resisting the urge to scream into her duvet. Looked like she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

Though there was always one thing that would make her feel better.

Hot chocolate.

She needed hot chocolate.

She climbed out of bed, careful to stay quiet as to not wake her roommates. Gentle snoring could be heard from Alice's bed and though the other beds were quiet, the curtains were all drawn so she presumed they were all still asleep. Alice probably forgot to put a silencing charm around hers.

Gwen stayed light on her feet as she changed into shorts and a shirt. She held her wand and watched as it softly lit up, keeping her thoughts quiet so it wouldn't accidentally turn into a blinding light that would wake everyone in the room. She kept it lowered as she descended the stairs of the tower, though a few of the portraits hanging on the walls grumbled at her. She mumbled apologies to them under her breath.

She slowed down and drew her eyebrows together when she saw light coming from the common room. She sometimes ran into other students if she was awake at this time but it was rare, unless there was a party then Gwen usually avoided leaving her room altogether. It was strange for someone to be awake, especially on a Tuesday at 2 a.m.

She stepped through the archway at the end of the stairs, keeping her feet light. Two heads of hair were hunched over what looked like a piece of parchment, their backs to her as they spoke in low voices.

It was Remus and Sirius. Of course.

The light of her wand faded and she moved to the kitchenette. She levitated the kettle to the stove and cast Aguamenti to fill it with water. It wasn't until the sound of flames she conjured echoed through the room did the boys realise they weren't alone.

"Who is that?" Sirius asked, straightening his back.

She glanced over her shoulder to see their heads perked, squinting in her direction. "I'm not gonna tattle about whatever you're doing," she said. "I'll be gone in a minute. Don't worry."

"Gwen?" Remus asked. "What are you doing awake at this time?"

"I could ask you the same question," the girl remarked, moving towards the fireplace. She didn't miss how Sirius hovered over the parchment him and Remus were working on as she drew closer. Her eyes rolled. As if she cared whatever antics they were up to.

She flicked her wand and a brick to the left of the mantelpiece came loose, hovering in the air.

"What...?" Sirius muttered as she reached in the hole, grabbing a sachet of hot chocolate. "Did she...?"

She heard the brick fall back into place as she made her way back to the now whistling kettle, using Accio to bring a plain mug towards her.

"Is that Conjure Cocoa?!" Sirius yelled, appearing suddenly behind her.

"Merlin, Black!" she exclaimed, holding a hand over her chest. "Do you want to wake the whole bloody castle screaming like that?"

"Sorry," he apologised, not sounding it at all. "Where the hell did you get Conjure Cocoa from? It's only sold in America!"

Gwen swiped her wand and the flames underneath the kettle vanished. "My Father is the Minister of Magic," she reminded him as she levitated the kettle to pour water in the mug. "He's friends with the Headmaster at Ilvermorny and they like sending each other gifts."

Her eyes moved to Sirius and he looked both in awe and confused. He watched her pour the sachet into the chocolate and charm a spoon to mix it together. "How much do you have? How-" He spun around then. "How the hell did you keep it hidden there?"

Gwen blinked and he was gone, darting towards where she hid her stash and bending down to analyse the bricks.

"Um." Remus approached her then, awkwardly crossing his arms over his chest. "Hi, again."

Gwen sent him a small smile. "Hello."

"Can't sleep?"

Her smile quickly faded, recalling the woman's screams and red flashes. "Something like that," she answered, turning her head away from him. "You up to no good again, Prefect?"

Remus' lip twitched into a smile. "It's better to know what my friends are up to than be kept in the dark," he said. "I... try not to encourage them."

"So you're up at this time helping Sirius study, then?" she asked.

"Something like that," he replied. Gwen couldn't help but laugh softly at that. She'd never understand why McGonagall let him be Prefect with his group of friends.

"Hey, Crouch!" Sirius yelled from across the room. "What charm did you use?"

Remus rolled his eyes with a sigh as Gwen responded, "One you won't be able to figure out."

He scoffed, looking over his shoulder at her with narrowed eyes. "Yeah, alright. You're aware I know every counter-charm, right?"

She cocked an eyebrow at his arrogance. "Even if that were true, you'd get a nasty hex to the face if anyone but me tries to get in." Which wasn't a bluff. She remembered last year when a first-year accidentally sent a spell to the brick and he was puking slugs for hours. Gwen had to adjust and improve the charm to avoid that happening in the future. "Feel free to give it a go, though."

Sirius straightened up at that. "Is that a challenge?" His eyebrows raised and he had a dangerous glint in his eye. A glint that said he wanted to make bad decisions.

"Think of it as a warning."

He grinned at that.

It was odd how fast the boy could go from seemingly hating her, to apologising to her after being forced to by his friends, and now him being... friendly with her? He was nice to the majority of the student body, excluding a lot of purebloods and Slytherins, but it felt weird being on the receiving end of his boyish grin.

"Hey, is that a Kiss shirt?" Sirius asked out of the blue.

Gwen frowned, looking down at her clothes. "Kiss?" she asked. The shirt had four Muggle men printed on it, very punk-looking with heavy eyeliner, white face-paint, and over-the-top wigs that she thought looked cool. They were a heavy rock band that she'd never had the chance to listen to. "Do you mean Kizz?"

"Ki- Kizz?" Sirius echoed with wide eyes, acting like she just grew a second head. "You call them Kizz?"

"Well, yeah."

"It's Kiss," he reiterated. "K-I-S-S." He pointed to the words on her shirt. "No Z's."

Gwen's frown deepened as she twisted her shirt to get a better look. "Then why are they shaped like backward Z's?"

"Because it's part of their aesthetic! It's supposed to look like lightning bolts- you- I- you know what?" He sighed and shook his head. He must've been a fan of them. "Never mind. What's a pureblood doing with a Muggle band on her shirt, anyway?"

"I got it when-" she cut herself off, recalling when she actually bought it. When Father had too much to drink, got angry, and Barty took me to a Muggle shop to cheer me up. "It was a present from one of my Mother's Muggle-born friends." Her lips pressed together as her jaw tensed.

Sirius' eyebrows drew together. "Are you-?"

"I should go," she muttered, swallowing nothing but air. Her throat felt scratchy. "Have fun with whatever you're doing." She swiped her mug and brushed past Remus to return to her room, not looking back as she ascended the stairs.

Remus and Sirius watched silently until her footsteps could no longer be heard.

Sirius looked at his friend. "Did I say something?" he asked.

"No." His friend shook his head, a gentle crease appearing between his eyebrows. "I think she's just having a bad night."

"Her mood switches just like that, huh," he commented. To anybody else's ears, the words would seem offensive, ignorant even, but Remus could tell he was concerned.

The thing about Sirius was that he was often misguided. Although he didn't inherit his family's ignorance and blatant racism, he did have a tendency to make assumptions and run with them without much thought. He hated a lot of purebloods - like he said to Lily before, he didn't like how Gwen was never obvious in her disdain for people who hated Muggles. He needed to be told outright that she did things to defend Lily, Frank and probably others, and that the harassment from Malfoy was because she was a so-called blood-traitor, too. Not just because of her Father.

Another thing about Sirius was that he was loyal - more loyal than anyone Remus knew. When he met James on his first day at Hogwarts, he sat with him on the train and refused to leave his side. When he saw Remus and Lily being harassed by Slytherins, he defended them and asked if they wanted to sit with him and James at lunch. When he found Peter being beaten up by a couple of third-years, Sirius sent them to the hospital wing with hexes. Ever since that eventful first day, Sirius stuck by them and never left.

He was just as protective towards people outside their immediate group. Marlene, Alice, Mary, Frank... he was similar to Gwen in that way, and Remus had an appreciation for her brashness just as he did with Sirius. There were occasions that he hated how impulsive Sirius was, when he pulled a prank without telling anyone and getting caught for it, but when it came to defending Muggle-borns and hexing the likes of Snape and Malfoy he couldn't be more grateful.

"She's been a lot more talkative this year, hasn't she?" Sirius continued, bringing Remus out of his thoughts.

He shrugged. "Maybe things are better at home now that the stuff with her brother has calmed down," he suggested. "The newspapers have eased up on her Dad, after all."

"Yeah, maybe." Sirius nodded minutely, though he didn't seem convinced. Neither did Remus, if he was being honest. "Anyway," he shook his head, snapping him out of whatever he was thinking, "we need to work on this map. I made a bet with Prongs that I can charm it to insult anyone but us that tries to open it."

"Anyone but us?" His eyebrows raised. "You mean every student and teacher at Hogwarts, including the new ones?" Sirius nodded, a wide smile on his face. Remus sighed. He really did resemble an overexcited dog sometimes. "Fine. I better get half of whatever he owes you."

"Yes!" Sirius pumped a triumphant fist in the air and planted a kiss on Remus' head. "That's five sickles each for us, Moony!"

The next morning, Gwen was exhausted. She tried going back to sleep but couldn't, the fear of revisiting her dream far more frightening than whatever punishment she would get for falling asleep in class.

She had breakfast in the common room and took time to catch up on what she missed in Transfiguration. McGonagall, despite her strictness for punctuality, had always shown kindness towards Gwen. She never berated her if she was late to class, not since second-year when Gwen actually began to take the time to catch up on classes in her free time. As long as she was prepared for the lesson there were never any issues, even if her grades weren't stellar.

Gwen ate her croissant while her eyes skimmed through the Vanishing Spell section in her textbook. A lot of it was theory which was rather boring, and she had to force her eyes to stay open as she read through the paragraphs over and over again, while her charmed quill took notes for her. Charmed quills generally were not allowed in classes unless Flitwick was feeling generous, so she always took the opportunity when nobody was around.

The common room was mostly empty, but there were a couple of sixth-years lounging on the sofas. Sean Estes and Angelica Cole, two of the Gryffindor Prefects, and the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain, Charlie Wood.

Gwen used to attend all Quidditch matches during her first few years at Hogwarts with Barty. As they were both in Gryffindor, they had to sit on the side-lines when their house wasn't playing and resist picking favourites. Cheering for anybody but your own house in Quidditch was frowned upon and she didn't want to risk being further ostracized from her peers.

At the end of second-year during the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, Hufflepuff won against Slytherin due to Charlie Wood, a seeker before he became Captain, catching the golden snitch. Gwen and Barty stood, shouting in victory with Hufflepuff. Neither admitted it but they sometimes enjoyed watching Hufflepuff over their own house.

When Charlie Wood swung his broom to where Gwen and Barty were cheering and handed her the snitch, Gwen was so bewildered that she couldn't find a thing to say. She could only turn to Barty who was staring daggers at the boy. Handing someone the snitch like that was often saved for romantic couples.

Charlie only laughed and winked at Gwen before flying away to celebrate with his team, leaving her covering her smile with her hand like an idiot.

Later that night, Gwen snuck out of her dorm with a group of girls to the party celebrating Hufflepuff's win. Charlie found her before she could even take a moment to admire the beauty of the common room and sat down with her on the sofa. She tried giving him the golden snitch but he refused with a smile. They chatted the entire night.

He was her first kiss, as well as the first boy that showed any real interest in her. The couple of weeks that they dated consisted of trips to Hogsmeade and kissing in hidden alcoves in the castle. The relationship - if you could even call it that - ended mutually before they left for the summer holidays. There were no hard feelings but Gwen always felt awkward in his presence after that.

Like he could sense he was being watched, Charlie's eyes left his friends and met Gwen's, pinning her to her seat. He smiled and sent a small wave towards her, to which she quickly darted her eyes away and felt a flush creeping up her neck. Merlin, he was even more handsome than she remembered.

Time to go.

She wiped crumbs off her mouth and threw the remains of her croissant in the bin, stuffing her textbook in her knapsack. Glancing at the clock, she realised she had five minutes before Transfiguration started. She rushed out and made her way to the South Tower.

Gwen knew she had Transfiguration with Lily because of their conversation in Potions yesterday, and Lily said she'd save her seat if she was going to attend.

She opened the classroom door only to see that the seats next to the redhead were taken. One by Marlene and the other by James.

Of course.

Gwen couldn't help the crestfallen expression take over her face, nor the clench of her jaw as she tried not to react. She promised she'd save her a seat, so why...?

You're pathetic. Stop being pathetic.

A shoulder knocking her against the doorframe snapped her back to reality when the bruise on her arm pulsed in pain. She was met with Lucius Malfoy's sneer, because of course she was.

"Get in everyone's way, why don't you," he said. "Your boyfriend's calling you over, moron."

Gwen followed Lucius' line of sight and saw Remus beckoning her over to take a seat between him and Sirius. Glancing around, she saw she only had the choice of sitting next to a Slytherin girl in front of Lucius or alone at the back, which McGonagall wouldn't allow.

So, she threw her knapsack on the ground between Sirius' and Remus' stools and took a seat.

"I tried to stop him, I promise," Remus said. "Lily said she wanted to sit with you."

She blinked.

Lily wanted to sit with her.

Merlin, Gwen felt like an overdramatic idiot. They had a nice time yesterday and Lily was nice - she wasn't two-faced and she always showed kindness to Gwen. Godric, she was an actual idiot.

To prove her point, Lily turned and mouthed, 'sorry' when she locked eyes with Gwen. She nodded to an oblivious James who was still talking and rolled her eyes, to which Gwen stifled a laugh.

"He wants to take her to Hogsmeade this weekend," Remus continued.

"Yeah, to bloody Madame Puddifoots," Sirius added, fake-gagging. "On Alice's advise, no less."

The only students who liked going to the tea shop were over-romantic second-years who thought they were in love. It was rare to see anybody above third-year there, besides Madame Puddifoot herself.

"That's a bad idea," she chimed in.

Sirius scoffed. "You try telling him that."

McGonagall entered at that moment, striding between the tables with her green robes flowing gracefully behind her.

She stopped and turned at the front behind her desk, narrowing her eyes at James' seating choice before snapping her eyes to Sirius at the back. The boy grinned and blew a kiss to the teacher, which she dutifully ignored.

As she began the lesson, briefly going over yesterday's lesson before going on to speak about the intricacies of the Vanishing Spell, Sirius leaned in to whisper.

"So, has anyone asked you to Hogsmeade yet?" he asked in a whisper.

She frowned, darting her eyes to make sure he was actually talking to her. "What do you think?" she asked, matching his low pitch.

"Well, your charming personality and sweet tone of voice tells me you've got guys lining up to take you."

She stared at him flatly, ignoring the amused smile on his lips. "You don't need a date to go to Hogsmeade, you know," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," he shrugged, "but tradition, right? Usually if a guy asks a girl then he's not just doing it as a friend."

"That's presumptuous," she muttered, before pausing. "You... Um... You're not asking me, are you?"

Sirius jolted like he'd been burned. "Merlin, no!"

"Mr. Black," McGonagall stopped her lecture to reprimand him. "If you could cease your chatter while I teach."

"Sorry, Minnie," he apologised with an easy, somewhat strained smile.

McGonagall shook her head and as soon as she turned her attention back to the class, he continued. "Um, no offence," he said. Gwen resisted rolling her eyes. "Like... don't get me wrong, you're... you're not ugly-"

"Setting the bar high," she interjected, though it hardly offended her.

"I didn't mean it like that," Sirius defended himself, chewing his lip. "I-I... Okay, you're pretty, but..." He glanced around them and leaned in closer as he lowered his voice. "I think Moony wants to ask you to Hogsmeade."

Gwen jerked away in surprise. "What?"

"Keep your voice down." He nodded his head to where Remus was listening intently to McGonagall as he wrote notes. "He talks about you a lot. I think he's sweet on you."

"Sure."

"I'm serious!" he whisper-shouted, earning the attention of their teacher once again. Instead of saying anything though, she simply raised a single eyebrow until Sirius moved away from Gwen.

She was the one to talk once McGonagall turned her back on them this time. "Just because someone's nice to you doesn't mean they're interested."

"Come on," he dragged out, keeping his eyes forward like Gwen to not attract the Professor's attention. Still, he tilted his head towards her to prevent Remus from hearing. "All I want is to see my best friend happy. I don't think I've ever seen him with a girl since I've known him, and you two get along pretty well."

"And getting along pretty well doesn't mean we need to date, Sirius," she retorted. "Even if it was true, you can tell him I don't like him like that."

"Woah." His eyes widened. "You're a real heartbreaker, Crouch."

She sighed. "Gwen," she murmured under her breath.

"Huh?"

She swallowed, blinking as she tilted her head to meet Sirius' gaze. "Call me Gwen," she elaborated. "I don't like Gwendolyn or Crouch."

He smiled; not quite a grin or a smirk, but something softer as he nudged her shoulder. "You got it, Gwen."

They regressed back into silence, more comfortable this time once she loosened her shoulders.

"Hey," Sirius whispered after a couple of minutes. "Are we... Are we okay, now? All forgiven?"

Gwen bit back a smile and nodded. "Yeah," she said.

A/N: Added an important note for the first chapter, including some context and triggers, so please scroll back to the start and give it a read! Let me know if there's any mistakes and REMEMBER THIS IS SUPER SLOW-BURN! Like, it's ridiculous.

HisLordFluffiness: Thank you again for the lovely review! Lily is so underappreciated and it's so satisfying getting to write her as a badass bitch who takes no shit. Unfortunately, I'm no longer going to be writing Existence. As much as I love Alex and the story I had planned, it was more of a practice for this fic than anything else. Hope you liked this one:)

misterloluv: Gwen is a sweet bean and I would absolutely die for her. Glad you're enjoying!

lotttieifif: Thank you so much! I know it might've seemed like a sudden change of character for Sirius but I hope this chapter gave some context:)

Guest: Thank you for the corrections! It's usually 3 a.m. when I write these and I'm dyslexic as hell so my mind tends goes blank haha. I'm glad you're enjoying!