Sweet Misery
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She turned to hit the knob on the tree to shut the door, and as her hand was about to pound down, the werewolf leapt out of the dark passageway. It knocked Gwynn backwards, and held her down with its paws. It growled and bared its fangs. Gwynn screamed as the werewolf sunk its fangs into her shoulder.
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"Gwynn!" Lauren shouted, sitting bolt upright in her bed breathing heavily. She looked around franticly and jumped out of her bed running over to Gwynn's bed. She yanked open the hangings and found the bed still neatly made. Gwynn hadn't returned last night. Lauren grabbed one of her robes and threw it on over her pajamas as she ran out of the room. Lauren practically jumped down the whole flight of stairs at once. She was running across the common room when the portrait swung open. Lauren skidded to a stop when she saw that it was Gwynn.
"Gwynn! Are you okay? Where were you? Are you hurt?" Lauren asked, running over to her.
"I'm fine," Gwynn replied. "Just very, very tired."
"Are you sure? You don't want to go see Madam Pommedeterr?"
"No, I'm just going to go up and sleep."
"Wait, where were you Gwynn? We were all worried about you."
"I just went out for a walk last night, came back late, fell asleep, woke up early, and went down to the kitchens to get some food."
"You didn't return to the dorm."
"I fell asleep on one of the couches. Excuse me while I go back to sleep."
Gwynn walked past Lauren and went up to the girls' dorm. Lauren just stood silently watching her go. Lauren looked towards the window to see that the sun was just rising. She rubbed the back of her neck and sat down in a chair.
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Gwynn grabbed a change of clothes and took it to the bathroom. Pulling off her black robes revealed a blood soaked vest, torn at the shoulder and across the chest. She gingerly pulled off her vest, trying not to move her left arm too much. She pulled her blouse off just far enough to see the makeshift bandages that covered her shoulder. She gently ran her fingers over the bandages. Her gaze in the mirror slowly drifted from her reflected shoulder to the scratch that ran across her chest. A few more bite marks were hidden from sight by more bandages on her upper right arm. Gwynn tore her eyes from her wounds and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. She wrapped the bloody uniform in the robe and clutched the ball of clothes tightly as she left the bathroom. She stuffed the clothes deep into her trunk and climbed into bed, falling instantly to sleep.
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Gwynn woke in extreme pain. She groaned as she sat up. Instead of finding herself in her bed and the past night's happenings all a dream, she sat on the floor of the Shrieking Shack. She placed a hand on her shoulder finding it covered with a black material. This material also covered her chest and her right arm. She had been resting under her robes and her blouse and vest were lying next to her. Sh grabbed her blouse and pulled it on as fast as her wounds would let her. She looked around as buttoned up her blouse. In a corner of the room, away from whatever light that flowed through the boarded windows stood Remus, his back towards her.
"Remus?" Gwynn said. Remus looked over his shoulder at her. He looked away almost instantly. He rubbed his forehead.
"I could've killed you," said Remus. "I stopped myself after I dragged you back here. Your wounds were so bad; you could've died before I transformed back. I would have to live with that for the rest of my life."
"It's my fault," replied Gwynn, pulling on her vest.
"No it's not."
"Yes it is. I didn't leave when you told me too."
"You never do as your told."
"Of course I don't."
"Everyone's probably worried about you."
"Yeah."
"You should get back. They'll be waking up soon. Just be back here tonight." Gwynn nodded and stood up. She wrapped her robes around herself to cover her bloodstained clothes and left through the passageway.
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Lauren sat in the common room for a while after Gwynn had went up to the dorm. Her dream seemed so real. She kept telling herself that it was only a dream, but she couldn't make herself believe it.
"Maybe it was a premonition thing," Lauren said aloud. She laughed at herself. "Yeah sure, Mum's right. Divination is real. Bunch of psychos is what those 'seers' are."
"Talking to yourself again, Ren?" Lauren looked up and saw Sirius standing next to her chair.
"Yeah, well, I'm just insane that way," replied Lauren.
"Did Gwynn ever return last night?"
"She said she did. She told me she came in late, fell asleep on a couch, got up early and went down to the kitchens for some food. She's sleeping now."
"Well, as long as she got back."
"Yup."
"Nice outfit by the way." Lauren looked down at her pajamas. The shirt came a little lower than she normally wore and the bottoms barely even came to her mid thigh. She closed her robes around her.
"You don't look half bad yourself. I'm very sure that striped pajama pants and t-shirts that say 'The Tutshill Tornados rock my socks' are all the rage in London."
"Point taken."
"I thought so."
"This isn't my shirt by the way."
"Really now? Is it Gwynn's?"
"No, Liam's."
"How sweet, wearing your brother's hand-me-downs with pride!"
"Yeah, yeah."
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A little later after Sirius and Lauren had gotten changed and met up with the others (except Gwynn who was still sleeping); they went down to the great hall for some breakfast. When they returned, they found Gwynn standing by the window, with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. She seemed transfixed by something outside the window.
"Sleep well?" said Lily.
"Where were you last night?" Sirius asked.
"Hmm?" Gwynn replied looking away from the window. "Oh, no where special. Just out by the lake."
"Is something wrong?" said Lauren.
"No, I'm fine," Gwynn asked, smiling.
"That's good to know," replied James. "Hey, who's up for a game of exploding Snap?" They all agreed to play and sat down around a table in the common room.
"We get our exam scores tomorrow don't we?" Lauren asked, as the deck exploded on Sirius.
"Yeah, will Remus be back by then?" Lily asked.
"I th-think s-so," replied Peter.
"Oi, Gwynn!" Sirius said snapping his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh? Oh, my deal," she said.
"What's on you mind?" Lily asked.
"Nothing," replied Gwynn.
They continued to play Exploding Snap until lunch when they headed down to the Great Hall for lunch, with the exception of Gwynn, who said she wasn't feeling well when they reached the Entrance Hall and went back to Gryffindor Tower. She though, didn't head straight back. She slipped into the Hospital Wing and managed to knick some clean dressings without Madam Pommedeterr seeing her. Stuffing the dressings in her pockets, she went back to Gryffindor Tower.
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Later that day, Lily, Lauren, and the Marauders were all sitting in the common room talking about their summer plans since the last day of school was tomorrow. Gwynn came running down the stairs to the common room and walked quickly across the common room.
"Gwynn, come and sit down," Lily said, motioning to an empty chair.
"No, I must be going," replied Gwynn.
"Where you going?" asked Sirius.
"A walk. A long walk," said Gwynn.
"Sounds great, I'll join you," said Lauren, standing up and walking over to the portrait hall.
"No, no, stay here," replied Gwynn. "You'd have a much better time staying here." She glanced towards the window.
"Oh come on Gwynn, why wouldn't I have a good time with my friend."
"Lauren, I highly suggest you stay here." Gwynn made for the exit, but Lauren quickly blocked her.
"You're not actually going for a walk are you? Where are you going?"
"That's not important, please move." Gwynn made to go around her but Lauren grabbed her shoulder.
"Gwynn you've been acting weird all day!"
"Let me GO!" Gwynn shoved Lauren back and ran out of the common room. Lauren fell into a table, knocking it over causing everyone in the common room to look up. Lily and the others ran over to her. Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
"Thanks Sirius," she said.
"What's wrong with her?" James asked.
"No clue, she's acted like that before," replied Sirius.
"M-maybe w-we sh-should l-let her w-walk it-t off," stuttered Peter.
"That'd probably be best idea," agreed Lily.
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Lily and Lauren sat up late that night in their dorm waiting for Gwynn to return. Lauren drifted off to sleep around midnight. Lily followed in suit around one. The next morning, they both woke up around seven and there was still no Gwynn. Lauren and Lily quickly packed their trunks and dragged them down to the common room to wait for her. The rest of the Gryffindors slowly appeared within the next hour.
"Hey, did Gwynn come back last night?" Sirius asked sitting down next to Lauren.
"No, and she still hasn't showed up," replied Lily. James and Peter sat down. "I hope she's okay."
The portrait swung open and in walked Remus and Gwynn.
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"Thanks for helping me through that Remus," Gwynn said, climbing through the entranceway.
"No problem," he replied.
As they walked into the packed common room, Gwynn froze and started to look around nervously. Remus turned when he heard her breathing heavily. Remus quickly walked her through the common room. They went mostly unnoticed except by the Marauders, Lily, and Lauren. Sirius was the first out of his seat and ran to the stairs where Remus was trying to calm her down.
"Gwynn calm down," he said. "Deep breaths. You're going to have to calm down. They don't know, and they won't. Just calm down."
"Remus!" Sirius called out running towards the dorm steps. "What's wrong with Gwynn?"
"Nothing," replied Remus, smiling in an assuring way.
"My morning run seems to have caught up with me," Gwynn said still breathing heavily. The others caught up with them.
"You okay Gwynn?" Lily asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, her breathing returning to normal.
"What was up with you last night?" said James.
"I needed to be alone, that's all," she said. Gwynn smiled at her friends but faltered slightly when she saw Lauren looking suspiciously between Remus and Gwynn.
"I'll be right back," Lauren said.
"Where are you going?" Gwynn asked.
"Just to the library for a moment," Lauren replied. "I'll be back before we have to leave for the station." Lauren ran through the common room and down to the library.
"Remus, can I talk to you a moment?" Gwynn asked, with a sense of urgency.
"Sure," he replied and followed her as she led him to an empty corner of the common room.
"Remus, she knows!" Gwynn said. "Oh no, oh no, she knows. How could she know?! No one at all saw my bite marks, how could she know?!"
"Gwynn, calm down," Remus said. "Who knows?"
"Lauren! Didn't you see the way she was staring at us?"
"That doesn't mean she knows! Calm down. You need to control yourself. You can't go panicking over every little thing!"
"You're right…"
"Of course I'm right." Remus smirked. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you." Gwynn rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder. She and Remus walked back over to Sirius, James, Peter, and Lily.
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Lauren pushed open the doors to the library and strode quickly to the stacks.
"Hello Madam Strife," she said passing the librarian, who watched her walk by with a curious eye. It's not usual for her to have students looking for a book on the last day.
Near the back of the library she found the book she was looking for.
"Symptoms include increased violence, increased aggression, unprovoked rages, restlessness, nervousness, and insomnia," Lauren read. "Well, the aggression and nervousness fit... What if that dream was true?" Lauren slammed the book shut and slipped it on to the shelf. She looked down at her watch and rushed out of the library and back up to Gryffindor tower to grab her trunk.
"Sorry I took so long!" Lauren said, running past Gwynn and Lily towards the dorms.
"Ren," said Gwynn.
"Yeah?" she answered, skidding to a stop.
"Lily and I brought your trunk down."
"Oh, thanks! Where are the guys?"
"They left already," Lily replied, brushing her owl's feathers. "I do believe they said something about 'Snape', 'Malfoy', and 'Giant Squid'..."
"Aw, I'm gonna miss it," complained Lauren.
"We might be able to see the giant squid waving them around if we leave now," said Gwynn.
"Let's go then!" Lauren announced as she grabbed her trunk and started to lead the way when Lily quickly said, "I'll lead the way."
"Good thinking," said Gwynn.
"Fine," Lauren said.
Lily grabbed her trunk and lead the way through the corridors.
"Two nights ago," Lauren said, then looked at Gwynn.
"What happened then?" Gwynn asked.
"Remus 'left'."
"What do you mean 'left'? He did leave. His father was sick."
"Isn't it strange that it also happened to coincide with the full moon? And also everytime he left before that?"
"Coincidence."
"Gwynn, I know. I know where Remus goes. I know you followed. I know you were bitten. I know about you and Remus. I know you're both werewolves."
"I knew it! You knew!"
"Knew what?" Lily asked turning around.
"Umm... uh..." Gwynn stuttered, wringing her robes. She stared at the ground and continued walking.
"What'd you say to her?" Lily asked.
"Not a whole lot," she replied.
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Gwynn walked quickly down the corridors and out the oak doors. She sighed as she lifted her trunk into to an empty carriage. Gwynn shut the door behind her and the carriage started to move down the path. It stopped abruptly when the door opened. Gwynn looked up as a trunk was shoved on and Remus climbed in.
"Lost your comrades, I see," he said, shutting the door.
"She definitely knows," Gwynn replied, after a pause.
"Lauren? How?"
"I don't know... But she knew about me following you, and about the bite."
"You sure she didn't follow you that night?"
"Positive, she was with the others."
"This could become a problem."
"Yeah."
"Do you know how you are going to handle this over the summer?"
"Haven't thought about it yet."
"You're going to have to tell your parents."
"I know, don't remind me. It's hard enough to cope with it myself."
The carriage pulled to a stop and Gwynn and Remus climbed out. They placed their trunks on the train and found the compartment they normally sat in.
"Sirius is going to know," Gwynn said, breaking the silence.
"Best if he finds out before you change," said Remus. "I'm sure Hogwarts doesn't want three werewolves to take care of."
"Two is bad enough."
A few minutes later, Lily, Lauren, and the other Marauders came into the compartment.
"Gwynn, are you okay?" Lily asked sitting down next to her.
"I'm fine," Gwynn replied.
"No you're not," retorted Lily. "You freaked out back in the corridor."
"It was nothing," said Gwynn. "I'm alright."
"Okay," Lily said, dropping the subject.
"You two have been rather close today," James stated.
"And?" Remus asked.
"Is there something going on between you two?"
"What? No!" Gwynn shouted. "James, don't be daft."
"Just asking," he replied, raising his hands.
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When the train pulled into the station, they climbed off and grabbed their luggage. Lauren pulled Gwynn off to the side.
"Good luck over the summer," she said.
"Thanks," Gwynn replied looking at the ground.
"Don't forget to write me and we should get together sometime soon too."
"You still want to be around me?"
"Why wouldn't I? You're one of my best friends."
Gwynn looked up, smiled gratefully, and hugged Lauren.
"Gwynn, come on! Mum and Dad are here!" Sirius shouted.
"Bye," Gwynn said to Lauren and ran towards Sirius. "Bye!" she shouted passing the others.
Sirius and Gwynn greeted their parents and left to go home.
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When they got home, Gwynn spoke up, "Mum, Dad, Sirius, Regulus, I have something to tell you all. It'd be best if you'd all sit down." Her parents and brothers sat down and just as she was about to tell them, the front door opened and Liam walked in.
"Liam!" her mother said, standing up. "I thought you weren't coming for another week!"
"Didn't you get my owl?" Liam asked.
"Just the first one," she replied.
"Hey! This is important!" Gwynn said from the living room, watching her mother and Liam talking.
"Oh, sorry dear, what was it you needed to tell us?" her mother asked as she and Liam sat down in the living room.
"Um... well," Gwynn stammered as she sunk into a chair across from the couch where her family was sitting.
"Well, Gwynn?" her father asked.
"I guess there's no way to beat around it," said Gwynn, staring down at her knees to avoid her family's reactions. "Two nights ago... I... I was bitten... by a werewolf."
"What?!"
"How?!"
"A werewolf!"
"No way!"
"Are you sure it was a werewolf?!"
"I'm positive it was a werewolf. I know for two reasons. One, I saw him transform, and two, I was one last night."
"They let werewolves walk freely at Hogwarts?" her mother asked, shaking.
"No, Mum, of course not. If that happened, half the school would be werewolves. I just followed him..."
"Why would you follow a werewolf?!" her father shouted.
"I didn't know! He hadn't transformed yet!" Gwynn shouted back, looking up for the first time. Tears threatened to fall as she glared at her father. "I would never have followed him if I had known! I'm not stupid!"
"Following some guy, you most likely didn't know, just to see where he was going? I call that stupid!"
"He wasn't just some guy!"
"Who, who then?!"
"It was... He was a friend okay?" Gwynn stood up from her chair. "I can't take this! If you can't accept this, too bad! I'm leaving." She stormed out of the living room and out the front door, slamming the door behind her.
"Way to go Dad," Sirius said sarcastically.
"Shut up and get your sister," he snapped. Sirius got up and quickly walked after her.
"Gwynn!" he shouted, but she didn't seem to hear him or she just didn't care. "Gwynn! Gwyneth Black! Stop right there!"
"Why do you do that?" she said, turning around.
"Because I know being called Gwyneth annoys you because you think it makes you sound like one of those classy stuck up rich types."
"Well Sirius, why have you come all this way?"
"Our dear father wants you to come back."
"I don't feel like heading back."
"Me neither."
"Great. I know where we can get some ice cream."
"Let's grab James."
"Great."
Sirius and Gwynn a few blocks over to the Potter's home, which up until last year would've been referred to as just another house. They ran up to the door and pounded on the door shouting, "Hey! Open up! Hurry!" James's father opened the door, looking quite startled.
"What's wrong?" he said.
"Nothing," replied Sirius.
"Is James home?" Gwynn asked. Mr. Potter rolled his eyes.
"Wait here, I'll get him," he said. "James, the beasts are here."
"I believe he doesn't like us," Sirius joked.
"That wasn't very nice," said Gwynn, hurt by what he called them.
"Aww, poor Gwynn." Sirius gave her a quick hug.
"Thanks."
"Hey," James said coming to the door. "Sorry bout my dad... I guess he doesn't like it when you pound on the door making it sound like an emergency."
"He has no sense of humor," said Sirius.
"We're going for some ice cream and making our father worry, wanna join us?" Gwynn asked.
"Sure," replied James. The three walked off to an ice cream parlor a few blocks over.
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A/n: Gaaaahh… another chapter done. That "Gaaaahh" is for how long it took me to write the opening. That normally doesn't take so long. Except when I'm purposely procrastinating. Oooo… shouldn't've said that… okay, I was procrastinating. Making quizzes, drawing, and all that whatnot. Fifteen should be done soon. I hope… Have fun.
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