3: Friend or Foe
Monday mornings were Hermione's favourite time of the week. She always felt eager to get back to her lessons, and the reluctance of her friends always mystified her. Pushing the sheets off she wriggled to the end of her bed to get her uniform for the day. A further advantage of this hour was the fact that almost the entire dorm laid in, leaving the room beautifully empty for her to read lazily while getting ready without the incredulous glances of her peers.
When she lifted her head she was greeted with a sight that shocked her enough to stop her current train of meditative thought. There was someone in the end bed. She could just make out a curled lump with blonde hair tangled up in the sheets that had been vacant for four years. Hermione blinked, she was sure that no one slept there and yet how could someone get into their dormitory without the headmaster being aware of it? Thoughts of Sirius Black came tumbling frantically back into her mind as she reached for her wand.
The blonde head rose off the pillow. Grinning drowsily it croaked forlornly. It cleared it's throat; "Hi." It said, still grinning. Gwen sat up, pulling the sheets up around her shoulders, "I'm Gwen, I'm new...and I'm not really a morning person." She laughed hoarsely. Hermione just looked at her suspiciously. "Could you tell me where the bathroom is so I can change back into Dr. Jeckyll?" Hermione regarded the intruder with scepticism; she had never been one for literature but the reference was strangely reassuring. Her inbuilt manners, the result of years of tuition from her grandmother, took over and she led the way to the nearest bathroom, making introductions as they walked.
Gwen slipped thankfully into the bathroom; the other girl was definitely not giving off happy vibes. But then again, she was like that first thing in the morning too. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. Boy was she looking rough. Taking out her toothbrush she began to get ready, afterall your first impression may be your last impression as her mother was fond of saying.
It took her until she reached for the soap in the shower to realise that she was supposed to have magical powers. Living in a muggle world, she had never really tried to do anything by magic because she had known that there was no such thing. Not only that, but there had been no accidents where sparks flew out of her fingers and she accidentally did magical things either, thank god.
Praying that there hadn't been some terrible mistake, she put her hand over the soap on the floor of the shower and willed it up into her hand. It just sat there, disdainfully staring up at her.
Gwen tried again, attempting to visualise the soap flying. Suddenly, it jolted upwards and shot past her hand only to fix itself onto the ceiling instead. She sighed in relief; there was magic at least.
No less than half an hour later, Gwen had it all worked out. It had taken her a while, but she was now reaping the benefits of a bit of concentration. After making a pink sponge wash her in the shower, she got out and conjured her hairdryer into the room, powering it with magic. She cleansed and applied some basic makeup before emerging from the bathroom, unable to resist a proud smile spreading across her face. Happily she tripped down to the dormitory to get changed.
Meanwhile, Hermione was filling Lavender and Parvati in on 'the new girl'. There were ecstatic that someone new and exotic was in their dorm, after all, they had had to put up with Hermione's cultivated squareness for four years.
Humming something gaudy, Gwen made the door to the dorm open before her. Lavender and Parvati squealed as Gwen entered smelling of roses and jasmine, 'Show off," Hermione muttered.
"Hermione!" Gwen beamed, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Lavender and Parvati were already introducing themselves.
"I'm Lavender - "
"And I'm Parvati."
"Do you want to come to breakfast with us?"
"We can introduce you to the rest of the house!"
"It's so exciting to have someone new come to Hogwarts!" the two girls chattered away to themselves, not seeming to notice Gwen's absence, as they headed for the bathrooms. Gwen was left alone with Hermione.
"Phew!" Gwen rolled her eyes at the other girl, "What a pair!"
Hermione smiled and turned around to pull on her robes. Gwen took out a tie and some woollen tights. She grimaced, ugh what a horrid uniform!
Hermione was just beginning to think that perhaps the new girl wasn't as bad as she had first thought when she turned around to find her rolling up her skirt to above knee-length and singing the first chords of 'Baby One More Time."
Gwen laughed at Hermione's expression, a full-bodied laugh that made Hermione smile against her better judgement, "I'm sorry, this uniform makes me feel a bit like Britney Spears, what do you think?" Slipping into a pair of black suede trainers, she twirled on the spot and followed Hermione down into the common room, laughing to herself.
Harry and Ron had spent most of the night discussing who was going to be on this year's Quiditch team, Harry sharing with him his hopes to be Captain. Of course, they also spent a long time discussing the mysterious new pupil who Snape had greeted on Platform Nine and they hadn't seen or heard of since.
"Probably his daughter or something, she looked a bit shifty to me." Ron screwed up his face, "But then again, is Snape capable of getting a daughter?"
Harry laughed, "No! Ewww, just the thought of it!"
"Imagine him trying to get a girlfriend!" Ron snorted, "Just think what his chat-up lines would be like!" he put on a very bad fake deep voice, "Would you like to come back to my lab?" he raised his eyebrows in an exaggeratedly flirtations gesture. Both boys burst into hysterical laughter.
"Seriously though, I didn't like the look of her. Why wasn't she brought here in the first year?"
"Maybe there was a mistake."
"Dumbledore doesn't make mistakes. Not unless he was trying to keep her out."
"Why would he want to do that?"
"Well did you see her Harry? I mean her nose is so turned up it practically joins her eyebrows! She had Slytherin written all over her." Ron made the word seem filthy as he spoke it.
"Did she? I thought...well I thought that...that she looked, well, nice."
"Nice? What happened to Cho?"
"Well, she wasn't interested was she?"
"Hello Harry. Hello Ron." The two boys turned around in their seats to see Hermione, closely followed by Gwen.
"Hullo Herm...oh, it's you."
"Ron! Where are your manners?"
Harry smiled shyly at Gwen, "Hullo."
"Gwen, this is Harry, and the rude one's Ron. Ron, Harry, this is Gwen. She's a new addition to our house." Hermione spoke with the commanding tone of one making it clear that Gwen was to be accepted without any fuss.
"Pleased to meet you." Gwen caught Harry's eye and smiled at him from under her lashes. Harry went red and sunk back into his chair so she couldn't see him. Ron turned and scowled at him.
"Gwenny!" Lavender and Parvati swirled into the common room. "Come down to breakfast with us!" they linked their arms through each of Gwen's and dragged her down stairs, chattering away as they did so. Gwen had only a split second to send an amused look in Hermione's direction, who smiled back in return.
The portrait closed behind them, "Blimey Hermione, that's the first time you've smiled properly since Viktor left." Ron looked confused, "And look at him!" he pointed at Harry who was smiling blissfully, "What's got into him?!"
Hermione giggled, "It must be love at first sight!" She pulled at the two boys' arms, "Come on let's see what the rest of the house makes of her."
'The rest of the house' was soon won over by Gwen's charms. The boys liked her easy flirtations and the girls did too. Her quick wit, ready smiles and relaxed laughter brought round even the most reluctant pupils. Except Ron, of course. He couldn't see in her what the other Gryfindor boys did; she wasn't even good looking. He scowled stubbornly.
Gwen was having the time of her life. She had already taken a fancy to Harry and now that she was seated in the middle of the Gryfindor table she was spotting many an eligible bachelor, so many in fact that her she had completely forgotten the enigmatic Professor Snape.
"Hermione? What lessons do we have today?" Gwen absently took some more eggs from the pile in front of her.
"Oh." Hermione's face clouded momentarily, "I don't know if you'll be having the same classes as us, afterall this is technically your first year." She had a point, Gwen may have mastered magic but she had no idea about what the rest of the school had learnt in the past four years. Her face fell.
"Fear not, Miss Silverine." A tall stern faced woman dressed in emerald green robes placed a hand on her shoulder, "You shall be with your fifth year friends for all lessons. Here is your timetable." Gwen turned around and beamed at the woman behind her. "I am your Head of House. You may call me Professor McGonnagal."
Gwen grinned, "Thanks Professor." She gratefully took the timetable offered to her as well as the slight reassuring squeeze on her shoulder from the maternal older woman.
Once everyone was settled and munching cheerfully away, the headmaster stood up to make his announcements for the coming term. "Welcome back." His eyes glittered over each house, "There are a few announcements to make before you head off to your lessons. Firstly, we have a new pupil come to join us this year, Miss Silverine would you stand please." Gwen stood up, trying not to blush as all eyes turned to her. A table to the far left was whispered excitedly.
"Thank you. I am sure you will all give her a warm welcome." Gwen sat down thankfully. "All pupils please note that the Astronomy Tower is out of bounds due to repair work and as usual the Forbidden Forest is completely prohibited for all students." He glanced at two redheaded twins on the Gryfindor table, "Thank you, you may return to your breakfasts."
The elderly Headmaster sat down shakily and the pupils started to leave for their morning lessons. Hermione dragged Gwen out of her seat, eager not to be late for the first lesson of the new term as well as take some guilty pleasure in having someone other than Harry and Ron to sit next to.
Monday mornings were Hermione's favourite time of the week. She always felt eager to get back to her lessons, and the reluctance of her friends always mystified her. Pushing the sheets off she wriggled to the end of her bed to get her uniform for the day. A further advantage of this hour was the fact that almost the entire dorm laid in, leaving the room beautifully empty for her to read lazily while getting ready without the incredulous glances of her peers.
When she lifted her head she was greeted with a sight that shocked her enough to stop her current train of meditative thought. There was someone in the end bed. She could just make out a curled lump with blonde hair tangled up in the sheets that had been vacant for four years. Hermione blinked, she was sure that no one slept there and yet how could someone get into their dormitory without the headmaster being aware of it? Thoughts of Sirius Black came tumbling frantically back into her mind as she reached for her wand.
The blonde head rose off the pillow. Grinning drowsily it croaked forlornly. It cleared it's throat; "Hi." It said, still grinning. Gwen sat up, pulling the sheets up around her shoulders, "I'm Gwen, I'm new...and I'm not really a morning person." She laughed hoarsely. Hermione just looked at her suspiciously. "Could you tell me where the bathroom is so I can change back into Dr. Jeckyll?" Hermione regarded the intruder with scepticism; she had never been one for literature but the reference was strangely reassuring. Her inbuilt manners, the result of years of tuition from her grandmother, took over and she led the way to the nearest bathroom, making introductions as they walked.
Gwen slipped thankfully into the bathroom; the other girl was definitely not giving off happy vibes. But then again, she was like that first thing in the morning too. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. Boy was she looking rough. Taking out her toothbrush she began to get ready, afterall your first impression may be your last impression as her mother was fond of saying.
It took her until she reached for the soap in the shower to realise that she was supposed to have magical powers. Living in a muggle world, she had never really tried to do anything by magic because she had known that there was no such thing. Not only that, but there had been no accidents where sparks flew out of her fingers and she accidentally did magical things either, thank god.
Praying that there hadn't been some terrible mistake, she put her hand over the soap on the floor of the shower and willed it up into her hand. It just sat there, disdainfully staring up at her.
Gwen tried again, attempting to visualise the soap flying. Suddenly, it jolted upwards and shot past her hand only to fix itself onto the ceiling instead. She sighed in relief; there was magic at least.
No less than half an hour later, Gwen had it all worked out. It had taken her a while, but she was now reaping the benefits of a bit of concentration. After making a pink sponge wash her in the shower, she got out and conjured her hairdryer into the room, powering it with magic. She cleansed and applied some basic makeup before emerging from the bathroom, unable to resist a proud smile spreading across her face. Happily she tripped down to the dormitory to get changed.
Meanwhile, Hermione was filling Lavender and Parvati in on 'the new girl'. There were ecstatic that someone new and exotic was in their dorm, after all, they had had to put up with Hermione's cultivated squareness for four years.
Humming something gaudy, Gwen made the door to the dorm open before her. Lavender and Parvati squealed as Gwen entered smelling of roses and jasmine, 'Show off," Hermione muttered.
"Hermione!" Gwen beamed, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Lavender and Parvati were already introducing themselves.
"I'm Lavender - "
"And I'm Parvati."
"Do you want to come to breakfast with us?"
"We can introduce you to the rest of the house!"
"It's so exciting to have someone new come to Hogwarts!" the two girls chattered away to themselves, not seeming to notice Gwen's absence, as they headed for the bathrooms. Gwen was left alone with Hermione.
"Phew!" Gwen rolled her eyes at the other girl, "What a pair!"
Hermione smiled and turned around to pull on her robes. Gwen took out a tie and some woollen tights. She grimaced, ugh what a horrid uniform!
Hermione was just beginning to think that perhaps the new girl wasn't as bad as she had first thought when she turned around to find her rolling up her skirt to above knee-length and singing the first chords of 'Baby One More Time."
Gwen laughed at Hermione's expression, a full-bodied laugh that made Hermione smile against her better judgement, "I'm sorry, this uniform makes me feel a bit like Britney Spears, what do you think?" Slipping into a pair of black suede trainers, she twirled on the spot and followed Hermione down into the common room, laughing to herself.
Harry and Ron had spent most of the night discussing who was going to be on this year's Quiditch team, Harry sharing with him his hopes to be Captain. Of course, they also spent a long time discussing the mysterious new pupil who Snape had greeted on Platform Nine and they hadn't seen or heard of since.
"Probably his daughter or something, she looked a bit shifty to me." Ron screwed up his face, "But then again, is Snape capable of getting a daughter?"
Harry laughed, "No! Ewww, just the thought of it!"
"Imagine him trying to get a girlfriend!" Ron snorted, "Just think what his chat-up lines would be like!" he put on a very bad fake deep voice, "Would you like to come back to my lab?" he raised his eyebrows in an exaggeratedly flirtations gesture. Both boys burst into hysterical laughter.
"Seriously though, I didn't like the look of her. Why wasn't she brought here in the first year?"
"Maybe there was a mistake."
"Dumbledore doesn't make mistakes. Not unless he was trying to keep her out."
"Why would he want to do that?"
"Well did you see her Harry? I mean her nose is so turned up it practically joins her eyebrows! She had Slytherin written all over her." Ron made the word seem filthy as he spoke it.
"Did she? I thought...well I thought that...that she looked, well, nice."
"Nice? What happened to Cho?"
"Well, she wasn't interested was she?"
"Hello Harry. Hello Ron." The two boys turned around in their seats to see Hermione, closely followed by Gwen.
"Hullo Herm...oh, it's you."
"Ron! Where are your manners?"
Harry smiled shyly at Gwen, "Hullo."
"Gwen, this is Harry, and the rude one's Ron. Ron, Harry, this is Gwen. She's a new addition to our house." Hermione spoke with the commanding tone of one making it clear that Gwen was to be accepted without any fuss.
"Pleased to meet you." Gwen caught Harry's eye and smiled at him from under her lashes. Harry went red and sunk back into his chair so she couldn't see him. Ron turned and scowled at him.
"Gwenny!" Lavender and Parvati swirled into the common room. "Come down to breakfast with us!" they linked their arms through each of Gwen's and dragged her down stairs, chattering away as they did so. Gwen had only a split second to send an amused look in Hermione's direction, who smiled back in return.
The portrait closed behind them, "Blimey Hermione, that's the first time you've smiled properly since Viktor left." Ron looked confused, "And look at him!" he pointed at Harry who was smiling blissfully, "What's got into him?!"
Hermione giggled, "It must be love at first sight!" She pulled at the two boys' arms, "Come on let's see what the rest of the house makes of her."
'The rest of the house' was soon won over by Gwen's charms. The boys liked her easy flirtations and the girls did too. Her quick wit, ready smiles and relaxed laughter brought round even the most reluctant pupils. Except Ron, of course. He couldn't see in her what the other Gryfindor boys did; she wasn't even good looking. He scowled stubbornly.
Gwen was having the time of her life. She had already taken a fancy to Harry and now that she was seated in the middle of the Gryfindor table she was spotting many an eligible bachelor, so many in fact that her she had completely forgotten the enigmatic Professor Snape.
"Hermione? What lessons do we have today?" Gwen absently took some more eggs from the pile in front of her.
"Oh." Hermione's face clouded momentarily, "I don't know if you'll be having the same classes as us, afterall this is technically your first year." She had a point, Gwen may have mastered magic but she had no idea about what the rest of the school had learnt in the past four years. Her face fell.
"Fear not, Miss Silverine." A tall stern faced woman dressed in emerald green robes placed a hand on her shoulder, "You shall be with your fifth year friends for all lessons. Here is your timetable." Gwen turned around and beamed at the woman behind her. "I am your Head of House. You may call me Professor McGonnagal."
Gwen grinned, "Thanks Professor." She gratefully took the timetable offered to her as well as the slight reassuring squeeze on her shoulder from the maternal older woman.
Once everyone was settled and munching cheerfully away, the headmaster stood up to make his announcements for the coming term. "Welcome back." His eyes glittered over each house, "There are a few announcements to make before you head off to your lessons. Firstly, we have a new pupil come to join us this year, Miss Silverine would you stand please." Gwen stood up, trying not to blush as all eyes turned to her. A table to the far left was whispered excitedly.
"Thank you. I am sure you will all give her a warm welcome." Gwen sat down thankfully. "All pupils please note that the Astronomy Tower is out of bounds due to repair work and as usual the Forbidden Forest is completely prohibited for all students." He glanced at two redheaded twins on the Gryfindor table, "Thank you, you may return to your breakfasts."
The elderly Headmaster sat down shakily and the pupils started to leave for their morning lessons. Hermione dragged Gwen out of her seat, eager not to be late for the first lesson of the new term as well as take some guilty pleasure in having someone other than Harry and Ron to sit next to.