Chapter Ten
Harry was writing furiously, his quill scratching on the parchment; he had an essay due for Professor McGonagall the next day.
He looked over at his soft bed and wrote faster; his hand was cramping up but he didn't care.
He couldn't stand it, if McGonagall took points off Gryffindor for not having done the homework. He continued to write, gripping the quill tighter, making his knuckles turn white. As he came near to finishing, he heard it, a soft coo.
He turned and saw Hedwig perched on the window still, a letter was hanging from her beak.
He looked at his essay and scanned it over quickly; he then added something, rolled it up and shoved into his bag.
"Now.," he turned to face Hedwig and removed the letter carefully from her beak. He opened it and read quickly:
"Dear Harry,
Just checking up on you, hope everything is fine. Can you meet me behind Hagrid's hut at midnight on Friday? Send a reply asap.
Sirius.
p.s Bring some food."
After reading the letter, he quickly screwed it up and shoved into his robes, to be burnt the next day. He then scribbled down a quick reply and handed it to Hedwig.
She flew off, her wings hardly making any noise.
He then lay back on his bed and wondered whether he should tell Ron and Hermione, he hadn't seen Sirius for a while.
He turned and looked at the snoring red head and decided that he'd prefer to see his godfather alone; they'd understand.
***
Gwen opened and closed her eyes, before sighing heavily and turning onto her back; she couldn't get to sleep.
Gwen looked up at the ceiling and wanted to scream, she'd been stuck in the hospital wing for nearly two weeks and she was bored.
Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let her out, until her temperature had returned to normal, at present it was only a few degrees below normal and so Pomfrey had confined her to another day in bed.
She was itching to go to Hogsmeade and buy her Christmas presents for Maggie, Nancy and Alfred.
Christmas was only 3 weeks away and that didn't leave a lot of time. She also wondered, whether she should get presents for Dumbledore and Professor Trelawney.
Her head was spinning and she fell asleep, with galleons floating around in her head.
"Gwen!" Madam Pomfrey shouted, drawing back the covers.
"Huh?" Gwen mumbled sleepily.
"Get up. Your temperature's back to normal. You can go. Now, up," Pomfrey said, pushing the girl out of bed.
Gwen at the mention of being able to leave, leapt up and got dressed.
She waved at Pomfrey, who merely nodded and began to make up the empty bed. Gwen hummed to herself, walking back to her room, to get a change of clothes and also, to have a shower.
She was starting to smell slightly.
***
"Hermione, can you please get your book off the table," Ron shouted, pushing the book with his elbow.
Hermione looked up from her book, "I can but I won't." She turned the page and began to read again.
Ron grunted and miserably shoved some toast into his mouth. Harry stared at them and wondered whether they'd ever stop arguing.
"Hi," Gwen said cautiously, stopping at the Gryffindor table.
"Gwen.how do you feel?" Harry asked, looking up at the girl.
"Oh, I'm fine. How are you, Ron? Can you still play?" She asked.
"Yeah, unfortunately," George added, joining the conversation.
"Hey!" Ron said jokingly, throwing a roll at his older brother.
"So, are you staying here for Christmas?" Hermione said, popping her head out of the book.
"Probably. Don't have anywhere else to go," Gwen replied.
"What about your three guardians?" Ron asked, taking the opportunity to slam Hermione's book closed.
"Oh, they're getting the last of the order.," Gwen stopped; she'd almost said something about the Order of the Phoenix.
"Yes.," Hermione said sweetly, before viciously punching Ron on the arm.
Ron squealed and shot Hermione a vicious stare.
"Umm.they're busy. Any of you staying?" Gwen said quickly, trying to change the subject.
"Yup. Harry, her." Ron said, glaring at Hermione, "me and the rest of the Weasley family."
"Good. I won't be alone," she smiled at everyone, "well I'd better get some breakfast," with that she walked up to the top table.
***
Gwen woke up, sweat on her forehead, she'd had another nightmare.
This is getting ridiculous, Gwen thought to herself. She put her black robes on and placed her flute in the pocket.
Lately, she'd been sleeping with the thing, it made her feel better; it was like having her mother with her.
Gwen walked out of her room and started to wander around the corridors, trying to get the dream out of her head.
As she did, she looked out the window and caught a glimpse of something.
Someone was creeping around near Hagrid's hut.
She looked closer and saw a huge black dog, sitting behind the hut waiting. Then a person appeared and she recognised it as Harry.
She wondered what he was doing.
As she watched, she saw him disappear into the Forbidden Forest with the black dog.
Gwen couldn't control her curiosity and hurried down, to follow them.
***
Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak and followed Sirius into the forest. They slipped quietly into a nearby clearing and stood looking at each other, while Sirius transformed into his human form.
Sirius looked a little better than the last time, Harry had seen him. He thought back to last year and remembered Voldermort's face in his; he was so, close to death.
"Is that for me?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Harry answered, handing him the bag, full of food.
Sirius hungrily reached into the bag and pulled out a ham sandwich, which he shoved into his mouth greedily.
Harry smiled at the sight of his godfather and he then realised he didn't have a lot of time left.
"So, was there something that you wanted?" Harry asked, sitting on a nearby tree root. He placed his lantern next to him.
"Yes," Sirius replied, between mouthfuls of food, "I've found a place to live, somewhere to live for now."
Harry smiled even more, he hoped this meant that he could live with Sirius and not the Dursleys. They were becoming more unbearable each year and seemed to be showing less and less concern and more and more contempt for him.
"So, this summer.," Harry started, but Sirius had stopped eating and was looking at the floor. Harry took this as a no.
Another Summer, with the Dursleys wouldn't hurt him, but Dudley might not be so lucky, Harry thought to himself.
***
Gwen stopped and hid behind a tree and watched the scene.
She nearly screamed when the black dog transformed into Sirius Black and then when Harry had handed him some food, she'd almost fainted.
What is wrong with the world?
Why is everyone being nice to an escaped murderer? She thought.
But she continued to watch the scene.
***
"Sirius, was there anything else that you wanted?" Harry asked, wiping something off his robe.
Sirius looked up and carefully removed a letter from his pocket. "I want you to give this to Dumbledore for me."
"What is it about?" Harry asked, reaching over to take the letter.
"Order of Phoenix stuff."
"SNAP!"
Gwen glanced down and saw a broken twig.
"What was that?" Sirius said, standing up straight.
"It came from over there," Harry said, pointing to the tree that Gwen was behind.
"Bugger," Gwen whispered.
She searched around and finding a rock, threw it away from her. The rock landed with a thump and both Harry and Sirius went over to see what it was.
As they walked off, Gwen saw that Sirius had dropped the letter, when he'd transformed back into a dog. She took the opportunity and rushed out and grabbed the letter.
"Gwen," Harry said, looking at the girl. Gwen hastily put the letter into her pocket.
"What you.,"
"Harry. it was.," Sirius cut in, but stopped when he saw Gwen.
All three stood watching each other, Harry was in a panic. He could see from the look that Gwen was giving him, that she knew who Sirius was.
"Gwen, maybe I should explain.umm.this is Sirius Black.," Harry stuttered, he didn't know where to start.
"I know who this is," Gwen spat. Her eyes and face had darkened with hate.
Sirius looked at the girl and something about her, looked familiar.
Maybe it was the look of disgust on her face; he'd seen so many others wear.
"Ok.well, Sirius is my.," Harry continued. "He's my godfather." He paused and waited for a reaction.
"WHAT!" Gwen yelled, her voice echoed in the forest.
"Maybe, I can explain.," Sirius said, stepping forward.
"Stay out of this, death eater!" Gwen hissed.
Sirius's face fell into a frown and he glared at the girl.
Harry seeing his godfather's face, started to talk again, "Gwen, he's not what you think he is. He's one of us," Harry searched her face for some sign that she was believing him but was met with an icy look.
"I can't believe it," Gwen said quietly, trying to take in all the information.
"Well, it's true," Sirius replied, looking at the girl more intently.
Gwen threw him a vicious look. "So when you broke out of prison, you decided to leave your master? He can't be too happy," Gwen sneered.
"I was never in league with that.thing." Sirius snapped back.
Harry could see the tension building between the two.
"Whatever," Gwen said, shrugging off the comment, "just don't think about crawling back to him."
"Look, why can't you just believe me?" Sirius said loudly, walking towards the girl.
Harry followed quickly, not really knowing what to do.
"Hmm. let's see, escaped from prison, meeting Harry in the forest, alone. Oh yeah and being accused of murdering all those muggles and also your best friend. Wonder why I don't trust you?" Gwen shouted, her face turning red from anger.
"That was a mistake," Sirius said, moving towards the girl.
"Don't come any closer," Gwen said.
"Look, let me explain," Harry said, stepping between the two.
"If I had a wand, I'd kill you on the spot," Gwen yelled, knowing that a death eater was in front of her made her blood boil.
It was people like this, that had killed her mother and she would never forgive them.
"Really?" Sirius scoffed, taking another step forward.
Gwen started to back away, seeing the look in Sirius's eyes. But she failed to see the tree root behind her and fell over backwards.
As she did, the flute that was in her pocket, flew out and started to roll towards Sirius. He bent down and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.
Harry, meanwhile was helping Gwen to her feet.
"You alright?" Harry asked, pulling Gwen off the ground.
"I'm fine," she said huffily, pushing him away.
"Hey, give that back!" Gwen shouted, seeing what Sirius was holding.
"How did you get this?" Sirius said, his voice had turned into a hoarse whisper. But he was still clutching the flute tightly.
"It was my mother's. Now, give it back," Gwen said forcefully, striding towards Sirius.
"Your mother?" Sirius said, gazing down at the flute.
"Yes. Maybe you've heard of her, Victoria Aldan?" Gwen said, snatching the flute from him. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears, as she remembered the woman from her dreams.
"Vicky was your mother?" Sirius repeated, staggering back. Obviously this news was a shock to him.
Gwen walked forwards, turning her back on the pair and shoved the flute back into her robe.
"We'd better get back. Coming, Harry?" Gwen said, walking away quickly, trying to hold back her tears.
"Yeah," Harry replied, watching Gwen disappear between the trees, "I'll send you an owl soon," he said to his godfather, who seemed to be very distracted.
"Sirius?" Harry said, nudging the man.
"Yes, ok. I'd better be going," the man replied, as if waking from a dream.
He then transformed back into a dog and bounded away.
Harry stood for a minute before grabbing his cloak and rushing after Gwen.
***
"Gwen.," Harry hissed, from underneath his invisibility cloak.
"What?" Gwen said, slightly annoyed.
She turned around, but couldn't see anybody. Then from nowhere, a hand grabbed her.
"What.where.," Gwen said, she studied what she had been pulled under.
"Sssshhh!" Harry said, pointing to the figure that was coming. It was Filch.
They ducked down another corridor, but could still hear Filch's footsteps.
"Where's your room?" Harry whispered, looking out for Filch.
"Umm. this way." Gwen said, a little embarrassed about how she'd acted before.
They carried on walking in silence, both looking out for Filch.
"This is me," Gwen said, when they reached her door.
"Ok.," Harry whispered.
"Look, about the thing with Sirius.," Gwen said, looking at the floor.
"Meet me in the library at 8 tomorrow and I'll explain everything," Harry said quickly.
"Ok."
"Good," he said, running down a corridor.
Gwen quickly walked back into her room and fell onto her bed, thinking about what had just happened.
Harry was writing furiously, his quill scratching on the parchment; he had an essay due for Professor McGonagall the next day.
He looked over at his soft bed and wrote faster; his hand was cramping up but he didn't care.
He couldn't stand it, if McGonagall took points off Gryffindor for not having done the homework. He continued to write, gripping the quill tighter, making his knuckles turn white. As he came near to finishing, he heard it, a soft coo.
He turned and saw Hedwig perched on the window still, a letter was hanging from her beak.
He looked at his essay and scanned it over quickly; he then added something, rolled it up and shoved into his bag.
"Now.," he turned to face Hedwig and removed the letter carefully from her beak. He opened it and read quickly:
"Dear Harry,
Just checking up on you, hope everything is fine. Can you meet me behind Hagrid's hut at midnight on Friday? Send a reply asap.
Sirius.
p.s Bring some food."
After reading the letter, he quickly screwed it up and shoved into his robes, to be burnt the next day. He then scribbled down a quick reply and handed it to Hedwig.
She flew off, her wings hardly making any noise.
He then lay back on his bed and wondered whether he should tell Ron and Hermione, he hadn't seen Sirius for a while.
He turned and looked at the snoring red head and decided that he'd prefer to see his godfather alone; they'd understand.
***
Gwen opened and closed her eyes, before sighing heavily and turning onto her back; she couldn't get to sleep.
Gwen looked up at the ceiling and wanted to scream, she'd been stuck in the hospital wing for nearly two weeks and she was bored.
Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let her out, until her temperature had returned to normal, at present it was only a few degrees below normal and so Pomfrey had confined her to another day in bed.
She was itching to go to Hogsmeade and buy her Christmas presents for Maggie, Nancy and Alfred.
Christmas was only 3 weeks away and that didn't leave a lot of time. She also wondered, whether she should get presents for Dumbledore and Professor Trelawney.
Her head was spinning and she fell asleep, with galleons floating around in her head.
"Gwen!" Madam Pomfrey shouted, drawing back the covers.
"Huh?" Gwen mumbled sleepily.
"Get up. Your temperature's back to normal. You can go. Now, up," Pomfrey said, pushing the girl out of bed.
Gwen at the mention of being able to leave, leapt up and got dressed.
She waved at Pomfrey, who merely nodded and began to make up the empty bed. Gwen hummed to herself, walking back to her room, to get a change of clothes and also, to have a shower.
She was starting to smell slightly.
***
"Hermione, can you please get your book off the table," Ron shouted, pushing the book with his elbow.
Hermione looked up from her book, "I can but I won't." She turned the page and began to read again.
Ron grunted and miserably shoved some toast into his mouth. Harry stared at them and wondered whether they'd ever stop arguing.
"Hi," Gwen said cautiously, stopping at the Gryffindor table.
"Gwen.how do you feel?" Harry asked, looking up at the girl.
"Oh, I'm fine. How are you, Ron? Can you still play?" She asked.
"Yeah, unfortunately," George added, joining the conversation.
"Hey!" Ron said jokingly, throwing a roll at his older brother.
"So, are you staying here for Christmas?" Hermione said, popping her head out of the book.
"Probably. Don't have anywhere else to go," Gwen replied.
"What about your three guardians?" Ron asked, taking the opportunity to slam Hermione's book closed.
"Oh, they're getting the last of the order.," Gwen stopped; she'd almost said something about the Order of the Phoenix.
"Yes.," Hermione said sweetly, before viciously punching Ron on the arm.
Ron squealed and shot Hermione a vicious stare.
"Umm.they're busy. Any of you staying?" Gwen said quickly, trying to change the subject.
"Yup. Harry, her." Ron said, glaring at Hermione, "me and the rest of the Weasley family."
"Good. I won't be alone," she smiled at everyone, "well I'd better get some breakfast," with that she walked up to the top table.
***
Gwen woke up, sweat on her forehead, she'd had another nightmare.
This is getting ridiculous, Gwen thought to herself. She put her black robes on and placed her flute in the pocket.
Lately, she'd been sleeping with the thing, it made her feel better; it was like having her mother with her.
Gwen walked out of her room and started to wander around the corridors, trying to get the dream out of her head.
As she did, she looked out the window and caught a glimpse of something.
Someone was creeping around near Hagrid's hut.
She looked closer and saw a huge black dog, sitting behind the hut waiting. Then a person appeared and she recognised it as Harry.
She wondered what he was doing.
As she watched, she saw him disappear into the Forbidden Forest with the black dog.
Gwen couldn't control her curiosity and hurried down, to follow them.
***
Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak and followed Sirius into the forest. They slipped quietly into a nearby clearing and stood looking at each other, while Sirius transformed into his human form.
Sirius looked a little better than the last time, Harry had seen him. He thought back to last year and remembered Voldermort's face in his; he was so, close to death.
"Is that for me?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Harry answered, handing him the bag, full of food.
Sirius hungrily reached into the bag and pulled out a ham sandwich, which he shoved into his mouth greedily.
Harry smiled at the sight of his godfather and he then realised he didn't have a lot of time left.
"So, was there something that you wanted?" Harry asked, sitting on a nearby tree root. He placed his lantern next to him.
"Yes," Sirius replied, between mouthfuls of food, "I've found a place to live, somewhere to live for now."
Harry smiled even more, he hoped this meant that he could live with Sirius and not the Dursleys. They were becoming more unbearable each year and seemed to be showing less and less concern and more and more contempt for him.
"So, this summer.," Harry started, but Sirius had stopped eating and was looking at the floor. Harry took this as a no.
Another Summer, with the Dursleys wouldn't hurt him, but Dudley might not be so lucky, Harry thought to himself.
***
Gwen stopped and hid behind a tree and watched the scene.
She nearly screamed when the black dog transformed into Sirius Black and then when Harry had handed him some food, she'd almost fainted.
What is wrong with the world?
Why is everyone being nice to an escaped murderer? She thought.
But she continued to watch the scene.
***
"Sirius, was there anything else that you wanted?" Harry asked, wiping something off his robe.
Sirius looked up and carefully removed a letter from his pocket. "I want you to give this to Dumbledore for me."
"What is it about?" Harry asked, reaching over to take the letter.
"Order of Phoenix stuff."
"SNAP!"
Gwen glanced down and saw a broken twig.
"What was that?" Sirius said, standing up straight.
"It came from over there," Harry said, pointing to the tree that Gwen was behind.
"Bugger," Gwen whispered.
She searched around and finding a rock, threw it away from her. The rock landed with a thump and both Harry and Sirius went over to see what it was.
As they walked off, Gwen saw that Sirius had dropped the letter, when he'd transformed back into a dog. She took the opportunity and rushed out and grabbed the letter.
"Gwen," Harry said, looking at the girl. Gwen hastily put the letter into her pocket.
"What you.,"
"Harry. it was.," Sirius cut in, but stopped when he saw Gwen.
All three stood watching each other, Harry was in a panic. He could see from the look that Gwen was giving him, that she knew who Sirius was.
"Gwen, maybe I should explain.umm.this is Sirius Black.," Harry stuttered, he didn't know where to start.
"I know who this is," Gwen spat. Her eyes and face had darkened with hate.
Sirius looked at the girl and something about her, looked familiar.
Maybe it was the look of disgust on her face; he'd seen so many others wear.
"Ok.well, Sirius is my.," Harry continued. "He's my godfather." He paused and waited for a reaction.
"WHAT!" Gwen yelled, her voice echoed in the forest.
"Maybe, I can explain.," Sirius said, stepping forward.
"Stay out of this, death eater!" Gwen hissed.
Sirius's face fell into a frown and he glared at the girl.
Harry seeing his godfather's face, started to talk again, "Gwen, he's not what you think he is. He's one of us," Harry searched her face for some sign that she was believing him but was met with an icy look.
"I can't believe it," Gwen said quietly, trying to take in all the information.
"Well, it's true," Sirius replied, looking at the girl more intently.
Gwen threw him a vicious look. "So when you broke out of prison, you decided to leave your master? He can't be too happy," Gwen sneered.
"I was never in league with that.thing." Sirius snapped back.
Harry could see the tension building between the two.
"Whatever," Gwen said, shrugging off the comment, "just don't think about crawling back to him."
"Look, why can't you just believe me?" Sirius said loudly, walking towards the girl.
Harry followed quickly, not really knowing what to do.
"Hmm. let's see, escaped from prison, meeting Harry in the forest, alone. Oh yeah and being accused of murdering all those muggles and also your best friend. Wonder why I don't trust you?" Gwen shouted, her face turning red from anger.
"That was a mistake," Sirius said, moving towards the girl.
"Don't come any closer," Gwen said.
"Look, let me explain," Harry said, stepping between the two.
"If I had a wand, I'd kill you on the spot," Gwen yelled, knowing that a death eater was in front of her made her blood boil.
It was people like this, that had killed her mother and she would never forgive them.
"Really?" Sirius scoffed, taking another step forward.
Gwen started to back away, seeing the look in Sirius's eyes. But she failed to see the tree root behind her and fell over backwards.
As she did, the flute that was in her pocket, flew out and started to roll towards Sirius. He bent down and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.
Harry, meanwhile was helping Gwen to her feet.
"You alright?" Harry asked, pulling Gwen off the ground.
"I'm fine," she said huffily, pushing him away.
"Hey, give that back!" Gwen shouted, seeing what Sirius was holding.
"How did you get this?" Sirius said, his voice had turned into a hoarse whisper. But he was still clutching the flute tightly.
"It was my mother's. Now, give it back," Gwen said forcefully, striding towards Sirius.
"Your mother?" Sirius said, gazing down at the flute.
"Yes. Maybe you've heard of her, Victoria Aldan?" Gwen said, snatching the flute from him. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears, as she remembered the woman from her dreams.
"Vicky was your mother?" Sirius repeated, staggering back. Obviously this news was a shock to him.
Gwen walked forwards, turning her back on the pair and shoved the flute back into her robe.
"We'd better get back. Coming, Harry?" Gwen said, walking away quickly, trying to hold back her tears.
"Yeah," Harry replied, watching Gwen disappear between the trees, "I'll send you an owl soon," he said to his godfather, who seemed to be very distracted.
"Sirius?" Harry said, nudging the man.
"Yes, ok. I'd better be going," the man replied, as if waking from a dream.
He then transformed back into a dog and bounded away.
Harry stood for a minute before grabbing his cloak and rushing after Gwen.
***
"Gwen.," Harry hissed, from underneath his invisibility cloak.
"What?" Gwen said, slightly annoyed.
She turned around, but couldn't see anybody. Then from nowhere, a hand grabbed her.
"What.where.," Gwen said, she studied what she had been pulled under.
"Sssshhh!" Harry said, pointing to the figure that was coming. It was Filch.
They ducked down another corridor, but could still hear Filch's footsteps.
"Where's your room?" Harry whispered, looking out for Filch.
"Umm. this way." Gwen said, a little embarrassed about how she'd acted before.
They carried on walking in silence, both looking out for Filch.
"This is me," Gwen said, when they reached her door.
"Ok.," Harry whispered.
"Look, about the thing with Sirius.," Gwen said, looking at the floor.
"Meet me in the library at 8 tomorrow and I'll explain everything," Harry said quickly.
"Ok."
"Good," he said, running down a corridor.
Gwen quickly walked back into her room and fell onto her bed, thinking about what had just happened.
