Episode One Hundred and Eight

Part One

            When Gwen finally returned to the castle she was beleaguered with questions and scolding from Harry, Graves, Minerva and surprisingly Draco. He remained at the castle, surprising all of them. He volunteered as a friend of the Order and was immediately put to work.

            Gwen was not so surprised that he stayed. She was very surprised that he cared enough to yell at her for wandering off.

As yet she hadn't told anyone what had transpired in the secret chamber and she certainly hadn't told anyone that it had to do with the Dark Lord. She wouldn't even allow herself to think on it. He had given her many things to think about and all of them led to unanswerable possibilities.

            Draco kept bugging her about it and she always managed to change the subject. One sunny afternoon they were cleaning up the mess on the front lawns of the school, knee deep in melting snow and almost frozen ground, making an icy mud that caked their robes.

            He had been pestering her about it on and off for they had picked to work on a small plot of ground together. They were filling in the giant holes that had been left by the battle, trying to bandage the wounds of the earth.

Finally she turned to him and asked "why," as Draco wiped his hands off on his muddy black robes.

He looked at her. "Why what?"

"Why do you care so much to know what's going on with me?"

"You showed me a lot of mercy in school. I guess I owe you the chance to become friends and I think you owe me the chance to care about you." He gave her a sidelong look as she wrapped her arms tight about her, hugging in what warmth she could muster. "You know you weren't too far off the mark about me."

"How's that?" She asked, shivering.

"I'm a big coward, the malice is all pretense. I'm just trying to be like daddy." He smirked and some of the softness that had made him seem so harmless moments ago was eaten away. "But we all have our reasons for doing what we do."

He shoveled another pile of dirt into the giant hole they were trying to fill and closed his mouth for the rest of the day. So far as he was concerned, the subject was closed for the time being.

Part Two

The next week was spent in a roundtable discussion about the return of Dumbledore and the disappearance of Voldemort.

Gwen still hadn't spoken to anyone about her encounter, but it was commonly assumed that he had simply vanished, something she knew to be true. Dumbledore was another matter. She had been to see him with Harry two days prior. The sight of him was something terrifying.

"He's gone bananas." Harry said, his voice faltering.

"It would appear so." Gwen said, shocked at the very idea. She would never equate senility with the great Dumbledore, but here he was stuttering and shuffling about like a doddering old man.

"Someone worked some pretty powerful magic on him." Madame Pomfrey quipped over their shoulders. "It'll be awhile before he's back to his usual self."

"But he will be back to his usual self?" Harry implored.

"Yes, within a month or maybe more, but he will be ok."

Harry hugged Madame Pomfrey and the wizened woman blushed unexpectedly. She bustled Harry and Gwen out of the infirmary, embarrassed at the exchange, but pleased that someone like Harry was still capable of such displays.

It was strange to see someone so strong, so stoic, transformed so completely.

She was thinking so as she stepped out of the meeting and walked slowly down towards the Great Hall. The school was still housing wizards and witches of the Order. It was Minerva's hope that students would return as early as the coming fall. It was an optimistic outlook considering the school was still housing criminals of war and the grounds were an absolute mess.

"What you did for Draco, that was really nice." Said a soothing voice behind her, breaking into her thoughts.

"Mage." She said softly without turning. She had only heard that voice once before, but that once was enough to ingrain it in her memory forever. When she did turn she was surprised to see the young woman wearing a splendid gown, as if for a fancy dinner engagement. She crinkled her brows in curiosity, admiring the fine beadwork along the hem and seams. It was pale violet, silky material which clung to the lithe figure.

There were several straps on each shoulder, leaning around her neck in smooth curves. The waist was empire, lined with more pale blue, purple and pink beads. The skirt was mid, length running down to the top of her calves. Her feet were laced up in matching violet shoes that had strings tying up her elegant legs.

Her hair was set in a simple bun at the back of her neck and she was wearing a single bangle bracelet on her left arm. She looked simply amazing and left Gwen speechless. She wasn't necessarily attracted to her, but she could easily appreciate the beauty of other women.

Mage smiled. "Thank you." She said, knowing the complimentary thoughts running through Gwen's head.

"You're welcome." Gwen said, only mildly disconcerted that Mage knew what she was thinking. Mage reached out to touch the thin band of silver on Gwen's hand but Gwen backed away, her hand over her chest.

"I won't hurt you." Mage said softly.

"I'm sorry. I'm just on edge."

"I know." Mage said. Gwen looked at her for a long time. Mage could see a question forming in her mind, but she couldn't see what. "Why don't you just ask?" She finally said.

"Why did you come to me? Dumbledore told me you speak to no one."

Mage looked at her, truly put off. Of all the things Gwen could have asked that was the last she expected. And being a true seer, that was really saying something. Gwen could sometimes hide her thoughts, though Mage didn't want to tell her this straight away. She assumed correctly it was something the fey could do.

"I came to you because you'd lost your direction."

"I don't think I ever had a direction." Gwen said keenly. "And honestly, it's not anything I miss."

"You like wandering around from day to day, having no idea what to do next?"

"Well, when you put it like that, no. But it doesn't hurt either."

"It does hurt. Someone with your potential shouldn't be wasting it away, confused and hurt. I thought that if I spoke with you you'd try and do something. I thought you'd try to find out the truth."

"I have tried to find out. But every clue leads to another dead end and another after that. I don't know anymore and I just don't care to." Gwen said, anger surging from a place she didn't recognize within herself. She hadn't even realized that she felt that way until she had spoken those words.

A deep gulf of silence swallowed them as they stood, unnoticed on the stairway. Gwen looked at Mage quietly trying to figure out how to present her next question.

"It's true." Mage said softly.

"What?" Gwen said. "Oh. Yeah. I forget you can read people's minds." She shook her head. "So, did you see mine?"

"No. I didn't."

"How's that? You see everyone's deaths. Why not mine?"

"I thought that would be obvious. It's because you can't die."

Had Gwen been drinking something she would've done a spit-take. As it was she was choking on something like disbelief. She knew that the fey part of her might have some properties close to immortality, but she couldn't believe that she couldn't die.