Episode Sixteen

Part One

            Gwen knew Graves' feelings for her. She was fairly certain she knew what was going on with Harry. Now she had only to sort out her own feelings.

            She resumed her post by the Forbidden Forest. There was something inside pulling her, calling to her again. Maybe it held some answers, maybe it only held another mystery. She wasn't sure, but it didn't seem to matter. She was going to wait until she could sneak in without being seen.

            The shafts of sunlight peeking through the edge of the forest faded slowly and soon she was enveloped in inky black darkness. She stepped one foot after another into the woods. There was no path, only a feeling. The more intense the feeling the closer she was to her destination.

            Soon she was so deep that any sounds fell dull and dead, dampened by the thickness of the trees set so close together. The feeling in her belly was quickly becoming an ache. She took one more step and felt a slight rise in the ground. She stepped back, pulled out her wand and illuminated the tip so that she could see better.

            She had found a mound of ground, a slight curve of earth, a tiny hill surrounded by a circle of birch trees.

            Gwen had just stumbled on a Faerie Mound.

Part Two

            Suddenly there were lights all around her. Tiny pin pricks of light circling and dancing. She didn't understand it at the time, but these were her relatives and they were protecting her from the dark beasts of the forest. They had been with her for the entire journey through the woods, covering their lithe bodies with bits of black fabric so they didn't blind her.

            Now they were lighting her way home.

            She noticed a tiny patch of discolored grass sticking out from under the snow on the mound. When she reached down to touch it she found that it was merely an illusion and that this was the opening into the hill of earth. She stepped cautiously into it and felt a pleasant tickling sensation as she sank into the earth.

            "Welcome home." A voice said quietly from behind her.

            She turned around and standing before her was a beautiful woman who reminded her very much of her father. Was it possible that her great-great-grandmother was still alive?

            "Yes, it's possible.' The beautiful woman replied as if reading her thoughts.

            "And you are?" Gwen asked hardly believing she wasn't back in her bed dreaming again.

            "I am. You can call me Gemma. It's what your father's great-grandfather called me."

            "Why did you call me here?"

            "I called you because I can sense your confusion. You need advice do you not?"

            "Yes, but it hardly seems to matter. It's only boy trouble."

            "That's the only kind of trouble in the world." Gemma laughed and the sound reminded Gwen of bells tinkling from the harness of horses tied to a sleigh.

            "It's just that I love them both. As friends. I don't know if I want anymore than that from either of them."

            "There's nothing wrong with that." Gemma said with a smile.

            "I know, but Graves can't stand it when I'm around Harry. And Harry well. He frightens me quite frankly."

            "Why does he frighten you?"

            "He's the great Harry Potter. It never seemed like a big deal before I realized that he was real."

            Gemma smiled at her great-great-granddaughter. "I think you've solved this one on your own."

            "How?"

            "Harry scares you and you can't enter a deeper relationship with someone you're terrified of."

            "No, I suppose not, but there is something there. We have a deep connection already."

            "Well if you can figure out why he scares you exactly, then maybe you can get over it and explore this deep connection you have."

            "I suppose."

            Gemma smiled. "Yes. Well, you should get back to the school before you're missed." She kissed Gwen on the forehead, leaving a bit of a protection spell over her. Gemma sensed the dangerous shift in the air of late and didn't think it could hurt to give the girl a little more shielding.

            And while Gwen was still confused as ever, she knew she only had to figure out why it was that Harry made her so damn nervous.