Episode Twenty

            Harry knew something was wrong when Gwen returned to the mostly empty common room that night. Her cheeks were smudged, her eyes rimmed with red and the entire air about her felt stifled. She looked fierce, like she was ready to break something (possibly Malfoy).

            He stepped up to her quietly and she fell into his open arms. She cried until there were no more tears and then she sat down and explained everything to him. Everything. Everything she'd been feeling for both he and Graves, the entire saga with her mother, meeting Gemma. She told him all of it. And when she had purged her soul she sat quiet, somehow relieved that Harry was just listening.

            He looked at her a long time before saying anything. The gears kept turning in his head. He could tell her how he felt for her. She had provided him with an opportunity to bear his soul as well. He sighed softly trying to decide where to start.

            "Gwen." He said softly but he was to be interrupted by a great crash from the boy's dormitory upstairs.

            "What the…" Gwen said.

            The Weasley twins stumbled down the stairs with big grins plastered on their faces.

            "Oy Fred, I didn't think it was going to be that strong."

            "I'm just please it worked." Fred replied, patting his brother proudly on the back. He noticed Gwen and Harry, looking fairly well morose but instead of leaving them alone he decided to cheer them up. He pulled a Canary Cream out of his pocket, swallowed it and burst into feathers.

            Both of them broke into a fit of giggles. For the time being, Harry's feelings would have to wait.