Episode Fifteen
Part One
She might have known it was almost too good to last.
It started when Draco Malfoy took a particular interest in his fellow Slytherin's relationship to a certain Gryffindor. His blond helmet of hair gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the Great Hall's high windows as he stared blatantly at the two of them sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table. He'd noticed that Graves had been taking meals away from his house table more and more often. When he noticed the older boy was eating with Guenivere LeFey he was enraged.
She was friends with Harry Potter.
He started to form a plan in his oily little brain. He was going to rip those two apart if it was the last thing he did. No self-respecting Slytherin would ever eat at the Gryffindor table, let alone date one of them. His mind cranked out idea after idea, but nothing seemed quite right.
Maybe if Graves found Gwen kissing someone else. Oh that's mature, Malfoy thought. No, it needed to be something more terrifying. He could easily knock her against a wall a few times with the help of Crabbe and Goyle. but physical violence seemed just too easy. Perhaps this was one of those instances where all those awful curses and hexes he'd been working on would come in handy.
He smiled as the gears began to turn in his head.
Part Two
It was so easy for Malfoy to find Gwen alone. When she wasn't surrounded with her new friends she was sitting on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, gazing into the depths of darkness. She spent glorious amounts of time there, just looking at the interplay of shadows and light on the leaves of the trees.
Perhaps Gwen remembered that night she and Harry had stolen into the woods and was looking back into the past, or maybe she was searching for something in the darkness, hoping it would reveal itself and clear her mind of any confusion she might still have. She wasn't sure, but she thought something lay waiting within those woods. It called to her and Harry that night when they went running about reckless and free. It was still there, still waiting for her.
The darkness was seeping beyond the forest and Gwen realized the sun was setting. It was about time to head back to the castle. She stretched as she stood, a little sore from sitting so long. She didn't even see it coming.
Malfoy had his wand out, pointed at her and ready to do mischief. And while his hex was no where near any of the Unforgivable Curses it was bad enough. A 5th year Slytherin's extensive knowledge of the dark arts comes in mighty handy, he thought.
Gwen was thrashing about for hours afterward in the hospital wing, trying to think of a way to get him back while Madame Pomfrey tried to soothe her.
Part Three
It wasn't long before everyone had heard about the attack. Gwen hadn't told anyone it was Malfoy yet, she wanted to deal with him on her own terms.
"Did he hurt you?" Graves said, pulling her aside in the Charm's corridor.
"No, Graves. I'm ok. It was nothing really." Gwen said, trying to erase the achy tension still present in her body. He had hurt her, but she wasn't about to tell Graves that.
"So it was Malfoy?"
"You're not to tell anyone." She said hurriedly.
"I can't believe he put his greasy little hands on you. I'll kill him."
"Graves, he's nothing I can't handle. You know I'm a very capable witch. If I find I'm in over my head you'll be the first person I call."
"Gwen it's not that. It's that he's trying to get to me through you."
"Are you sure?"
"Slytherins are the type of people that only look out for themselves. There is no loyalty in that house, not even to a fellow Slytherin. Draco would kill me if he thought it would advance him at all."
"Would it?"
"Not now, but you know that dark forces are brewing right now. He doesn't even hide it that his father is a death eater anymore. It's only a matter of time before he has the dark mark and then, who knows?"
"I don't know. I thought maybe it had something to do with Harry."
"Oh him." Graves said. He fully understood the extent of Gwen's relationship with Harry Potter. It wasn't that he didn't like the guy. It was more that he coveted his relationship with Gwen more than he had coveted anything in his entire life.
"So tell me something." He said softly. "Are you and Potter an item?"
"What?" Gwen said incredulously. That was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard.
"Are you?"
"No. We're just friends."
"Just friends that hold hands?"
"Yes. You've never held hands with your female friends before?"
"No." He said, anger flickering over his face like flames.
"Why are you getting so upset?" She said suddenly concerned.
"Maybe I care."
"About what Graves?"
"About you." He said looking away from her. He was upset enough to cry and he hadn't done that since he'd been a very young boy. He didn't want to start again now.
She reached out tentatively to rest her hand on his arm. Before she could say anything he had her wrapped in his arms tightly. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart, beating out apologies and trying to find words to explain what it felt for her.
