"I got bit by a werewolf." Gwen finally caved in. Nat stood abruptly and left. Shania followed suit with a glare at her twin. He just sat there, deep in thought. Gwen watched him anxiously. Would he betray her too? The girls had hurt her, but she had suspected they would act that way. They only hung out with Gwen because she was popular. But Shane, he was her friend, her confidant. Gwen didn't know what she'd do if he rejected her too.
"So that's why you couldn't touch the silver necklace." Gwen didn't reply. She knew he was just thinking out loud. He nodded. He had made up his mind. Gwen waited for him to leave. "What do your parents think of all this?" Gwen was so happy she could barely contain herself. He accepted her! He didn't hate her!
"They disowned me. I'm living with this strange old werewolf who found me yesterday morning. He's cool." Realization hit her like a two-ton hippo. "I didn't tell Sirius what time I needed to be picked up!" Shane grabbed her arm before she totally spazzed out.
"Relax. I'll give you a ride home." He offered.
"But won't Shania be rather uncomfortable about that?"
"Yeah, but she'll deal with it. And don't worry about her or Nat spilling you secret. They'll hate you, but they know you'll be killed if people find out."
"K-k-k-killed?" Stammered Gwen, looking decidedly green.
"That's what people do to werewolves, Gwen. Hasn't this Sirius told you that?"
"Sirius isn't the guy I'm living with. I'm living with a Remus Lupin. He was asleep this morning, so his friend Sirius Black gave me a ride here." Gwen made it through the rest of the day with plenty of help from Shane. She almost laughed at the look on Shania's face when she got in the car. Mrs. Callavetti just smiled. She was used to giving Gwen a ride home. She was like a mother to Gwen. Sometimes, Gwen's parents would refuse to take her to school and she'd get a ride with the Callavettis. She was lucky that day. She remembered how to get back to Remus' house. She walked up to the door. It coughed at her and cleared its throat.
"Password?" Sirius had taught her the password and introduced her to the door, whose name was Holly, earlier that morning.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." It was the Marauder's pledge. Sirius had made her a Marauder: The Next Generation last night.
"Nope."
"What? That was the password this morning!" Gwen began kicking the door. Surprisingly, it opened. A tall handsome man was standing there, smiling down at her. He had black hair, green eyes, and a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Gwen gulped.
"Yes, you have the right house. That is, if you're Gwen Blakely?" She nodded. "Good. I'm Harry Potter, Sirius' godson. Remus is currently at the Ministry, pulling all sorts of strings so that he can adopt you. You should really tell those muggles to go home." Gwen turned around. Shane was walking toward her. She ran over to him and told him to scat, she'd see him tomorrow. Harry was sitting in the kitchen, staring into a cup of tea. He looked up when she entered and began making herself a sandwich. She knew Harry was watching her, but she ignored him, figuring he'd speak when he wanted to. She put a pot of water on the stove to boil and sat down across from Harry.
"Doesn't it bother you that some guy you don't know, who says he's a friend of some guy you only met yesterday, is sitting in a house, alone, with you?" Gwen grinned. He'd spoken, alright.
"Well, I trust Remus. He got me away from my parents. He likes you. So I figure you must be okay. And what Ministry?"
"The Ministry of Magic. They do all sorts of useless things like making sure muggles 'forget' any magic they see and regulate the use of magic. They also keep tabs on dark creatures, like vampires and werewolves." Harry was pleased when she didn't shudder at the word, 'werewolf'. Someone wouldn't find out her secret unless she wanted them to. Gwen ate in silence, putting pieces of information together in her head. It bothered her slightly that werewolves were referred to as 'dark creatures' but she supposed that that was life. Remus had warned her that, although people were more accepting of werewolves now than they had been, lycanthropy was still considered a terrible disease. Without warning, Remus appeared behind Harry and the fire roared, signaling Sirius's arrival. She hugged Remus. It felt to feel him hug her back. Gwen was excited. It was like she had suddenly gained a father.
"What'd you do?" She asked.
"Do?" Asked Remus.
"Yeah. You just appeared out of nowhere."
"Oh. I Apparated. Grown wizards are allowed to, if they pass a test." Sirius entered the kitchen. Gwen opened her mouth, but Sirius clamped his hand over it.
"And now you're going to ask why I can't Apparate. It's 'cause I'm an escaped convict. The Ministry let me off, but I still can't do a lot of things that normal wizards can do. And it took forever to convince the Ministry to let Moony take the Apparition test." Gwen grinned. Sirius could read her mind, they thought so much alike. Harry looked ready to jump in with an 'it's not fair' speech, but Remus held up a hand to stop him.
"I have some very good news. Gwen, you are now my daughter. And, to the surprise of all, you've been accepted to Hogwarts." And astonished silence reigned. It was unexpected that Remus would be allowed to adopt Gwen, and even more unlikely that she was a witch. Everybody started talking at once.
"But I can't be a witch!"
"She can't go to Hogwarts yet, she's too young!"
"Hooray! The brat won't have to live with me!"
"I'm so excited! What's Hogwarts like?"
"Oh you'll love it!"
"It's got ghosts and secret passageways"
"And a huge forest and a lake with a giant squid in it"
"And you can play all sorts of pranks on Slytherins"
"And they have the perfect accommodations for your transformations"
"And there's an Astronomy tower where you can make out with guys"
"Padfoot! My daughter is not going to go to the Astronomy tower!"
"Well at least not until she's in her fourth year." At that last comment, Remus took off after Sirius while Harry and Gwen stood there laughing at the comical sight of the two old men chasing each other. A roar was heard from the fireplace. An agitated female voice rang out through the house.
"Harry! Harold James Potter!" Harry paled considerably. "You come home right now! The kids are acting up again. The twins somehow got your broomstick out of the closet and I just now got them home and we have to watch little Harry. He and Ron have decided that they're Marauders and took the cloak and I can't find them anywhere! Get your ass home right now!"
"Yes dear!" He shouted and disappeared. Gwen grinned.
"What was that?" She asked a Sirius who had large, green feathers sticking out all over. Sirius muttered the counter-curse and went back to normal.
"Harry's wife. She's got him whipped. He loves her to death. They have about a trillion kids."
"Only four, Padfoot. Well four and a half."
"I think it's four and three quarters. They're expecting twins." Gwen gaped, open-mouthed.
"Yeah, they're second set of twins. Let's see. The oldest is Harry Jr. He's starting Hogwarts this year. Then comes the twins, Lily and James, who're eight. Ron is about four. They have a cousin named Harry, too. Things get very confusing, especially since they all live in one house." Gwen was still gaping. "You're catching flies." Gwen closed her mouth, but only so she could glare at Sirius.
"Okay, I'm going now." Sirius threw something into the fireplace that made the flames turn green, yelled out 'Godric's Hollow' and stepped into the fire.
"Sirius forgot to mention that he lives with all of them. It's like one big happy family." Gwen looked at him questioningly. "I've been offered a home there many times, but I like the quiet here. Plus, I don't want to be their problem. I don't want to risk biting one of the children. You'll be spending a lot of time there this summer, unless you don't want to, of course."
"Well I don't really have anything to keep me here. My close friends all rejected me. Except for Shane."
"So you told them?"
"Yeah. We used to talk about stuff like that. You know, wonder if it was real. We're sci-fi freaks, really. I thought they'd accept me because they always used to say how it would be cool to be a werewolf. We never thought it would hurt so much, or be so horrible. But the reality was very different. Nat left as soon as she heard. Shania followed her. They were just greedy bitches who were friends with me because I was popular. I was friends with Shania's twin Shane. We used to prank the other two all the time. We always try to top each other in everything. I wish he was going to Hogwarts with me."
"He sounds like a really good friend." Gwen nodded emphatically. "We need to talk about the adoption. Do you mind that I want to adopt you?"
"No. Remus I've only known you for a day and already you're being a better father to me than my real dad."
"Do you think they'll be a problem? They have to sign the adoption papers."
"They'll just be glad that they'll never have to see me again. And I agree with them. Good riddance to bad rubbish I say!"
"Do you want to change your name?" Gwen thought for a moment, and then nodded.
"If you don't mind sharing it. I rather like the sound of Gwenhwyfar Lupin. Catchy, don't you think?"
"I'm sure Sirius would agree. It'll make things at Hogwarts easier, too. Slytherins rather dislike witches who are muggle-born. They gave Harry hell because his mother was a muggle-born witch and his father came from perhaps the oldest wizarding family. Then they gave him more hell when he married into another of the oldest, but also the poorest wizarding families. Slytherins have a tendency to be evil." Once again, Remus and Gwen stayed up late into the night, talking about Hogwarts and their lives. After all, werewolves are practically immortal, so their lives had to be planned very well.