Sweet Misery
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
An owl tapped repeatedly on the window of Malfoy's room at the inn early one December morning. By an owl's standards, it was never too early to deliver a letter. Especially if the sender got up at five in the morning just to sneak up to the owlery.
"I'm coming, you ruddy owl," Malfoy mumbled, walking over to the window as he put on his bathrobe. He opened the window letting the owl and the frigid air in. The owl dropped the letter on the bed and flew right back out again. Malfoy picked up the letter and headed over to the fireplace. He sat down in the armchair next to the fire and opened the letter. A smirk grew as he read over the letter.
"Well done Pettigrew…" Malfoy said beneath his breath. "Well done." He crumpled up the letter and tossed it into the fire before changing into his robes.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
"Hey Lily!" Gwynn shouted, bursting into the near empty common room with Lauren close behind her. Lily looked up from her large pile of books, parchment, and quills.
"No I have not seen nor do I have your Arithmancy book," she said. "Please check with the information desk to see if they have confiscated any lost items. If they do not have your book, then just admit that you aren't responsible enough to own a book at this time. That is your problem, not ours."
"No, that's not what this—hey, how'd you know I was missing my Arithmancy book?" Gwynn asked.
"No reason," replied Lily, shifting some papers on the desk to cover a book.
"I'll want that back later, but anyway, we're heading out."
"Where?"
"The guys found a new secret passage to Hogsmeade, and we're heading out there, you wanna come?" Lauren asked.
"No, I really want to finish this essay," replied Lily, looking back at a thick book on Centaurs open in her lap.
"But it's the holidays! You more than enough time to finish it!" said Gwynn. She grabbed her wrists and tried to pull her out of her chair. "Come on!" She released Lily's arms and she fell back into her chair.
"I'm on a roll. I only have thirty more centimeters to go," Lily said, opening her book again and flipping to the page she had been on.
"Fine," stated Lauren. "We'll just have to stay with you so you won't be lonely. We don't have to go to Hogsmeade."
"No, go ahead. You don't have to be bored because of me. Go! Have fun!"
"Are you sure?" asked Gwynn.
"Yes," answered Lily. "Positive."
"Okay," said Lauren.
"Could you bring me back some chocolate frogs and a sugar quill?" Lily requested.
"Sure thing!" replied Lauren and Gwynn.
They left the common room and ran down to the third floor. They came to a statue of an old croon where the Marauders were waiting.
"Lily's not coming?" Remus asked.
"No, she wanted to finish her Care of Magical Creatures essay," replied Gwynn.
"She's working?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "Over the holidays?"
"If I knew she was working on her essay, I would've asked her to start mine!" James said.
"L-let's g-get g-going," squeaked Peter, eager to get to Hogsmeade for only one reason, and it wasn't to stock up on pranks for the rest of the school year.
Sirius pulled out his wand, tapped the statue's hump, and muttered "Dissendium." The statue's hump opened up to reveal a small hatch. "Come along now! Chop chop!" Sirius said, clapping his hands and ushering them into the passage. "One at a time now… no pushing." James gave Peter a small shove. Sirius automatically went into full-out kindergarten teacher mode. "James I mean it! Keep going now. James, what did I just finish saying about pushing?" Remus took Gwynn's hand and gave her a playful nip. "No biting! Stop it! Remus, I mean it! Don't put a spell on Remus, Gwynn!"
"But I wasn't—" Gwynn started, hiding her wand behind her back.
"No buts young lady and don't lie to me!" Sirius interrupted in a tone that could have rivaled that of Professor Turco's. "James stop pushing Peter! Hurry up Lauren, we haven't got all day!"
"Yes we do, actually," replied Lauren, who had just entered the passage.
"Don't talk back! Gwynn no! No casting spells on Remus! Don't do it! Quickly now, quickly! Remus, your turn. Peter, no! Don't hit James! James, I'm warning you, don't push Peter again! Go ahead Gwynn. Stop that! If you push Peter one more time, you are not coming to Hogsmeade! That goes for you too Peter! Do I make myself clear?"
To the relief of the others, Sirius finally stopped when they had all gotten into the passage.
"Did you enjoy that?" Gwynn asked.
"Tremendously," he replied.
"Well, as long as it was fun," she said, shrugging.
"Where in Hogsmeade does this one lead?" Lauren asked following closely behind Sirius.
"Not sure, all we know is that it leads to Hogsmeade," answered James, leading the way.
"How do you know it goes to Hogsmeade if you don't even know where in Hogsmeade?" Gwynn asked.
"A-a l-little b-birdie t-told us," said Peter.
"By 'birdie' he means Robin Conners, that seventh year who talks too loud for his own good," explained Remus.
"Oh, okay," replied Gwynn.
"You guys should really make a map with all these passages on it," suggested Lauren. "You know, so you guys don't forget."
"You mean so you don't forget," corrected Sirius.
"No," replied Lauren. Then she added sheepishly, "So I can find them."
"Th-that m-map id-dea i-isn't h-half b-bad-d," said Peter.
"It could be used to keep the school full of little trouble makers," said James.
"And keep the memory of the Marauders alive in Hogwarts," added Remus.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
After exiting Honeydukes, the Marauders, with the exception of Remus, immediately sped off towards Zonko's to blow their money on pointless tricks.
"Remus, you can go," Gwynn said letting go of his hand.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, go on," she replied. "Lauren will keep me company."
Remus gave her a quick kiss, then ran off to catch up to James, Sirius, and Peter.
"Meet us back here at three, sharp!" Gwynn shouted at the backs of the running guys.
Sirius turned and shouted back, "Quit acting like Mum, you stupid git! We don't need you to look after us! That's what Remus is here for!"
"Hey!" Remus said.
"That was rather rude," said Lauren commenting on Sirius's statement towards Gwynn, placing her hands on her hips and watching the retreating backs of the Marauders. Gwynn shook her head, and she and Lauren turned and started to walk to the Three Broomsticks to get some butterbeer.
"With some luck, there might be some cute guys at the Three Broomsticks," said Lauren.
"You do remember that I have a boyfriend," replied Gwynn.
"Remus won't have to know," Lauren said. "Besides, we'd only be flirting. You know, meaningless flirting?"
"Lauren…"
"Gwynn! It's just harmless flirting; you won't have to make out with anyone! Please? It won't hurt!"
"I'll go with you, but I won't flirt."
"Fine."
Lauren and Gwynn walked down the streets of Hogsmeade, occasionally stopping to look at things in the shop windows. When they reached the Three Broomsticks, Lauren instantly found the cutest guy there.
"Check him out!" Lauren whispered.
"I guess he's kind of cute," replied Gwynn.
"Kind of cute?! He's hot!" Lauren said.
"I'm going to get us some butterbeer."
"And I'll get us a table close to his." Gwynn rolled her eyes and got two butterbeers.
An hour later, Lauren was at the hot guy's table, leaving Gwynn alone. After finishing her third butterbeer, she tapped Lauren on the shoulder.
"I'm heading down to Honeydukes," she said, putting on her cloak.
"Okay, I'll be there in a half hour," replied Lauren, then turned back to the guy. "So, Greece, huh?"
Gwynn stepped out of the Three Broomsticks and on to the unusually silent street. It was never this calm right before Christmas. These streets were normally packed with people rushing around doing some last minute Christmas shopping. She pulled her cloak tight around her to keep warm. She took her time so she could admire to freshly fallen snow blanketing everything in sight. Gwynn pushed her hands deep into her pockets to keep them from freezing. She shuffled her feet through the snow leaving long trails behind her. She looked up at the clouded sky. Snow began to fall softly but swiftly. She smiled and thought, Oh, how per- Her thoughts were interrupted when she ran into someone.
"I'm sorry," said Gwynn, straightening out her robes. "Excuse me." She stepped to her right to go around the cloaked figure, but he stepped to his left and blocked her. She moved again, but he just moved to block her once more.
"Excuse me," Gwynn repeated. She tried once again to go around him, but he continued to refuse to let her pass. "Excuse you, but what is your problem?" Gwynn glared at him waiting for a reply. The hooded man said nothing and just stood in front of her. Gwynn sighed and turned on her heel to head the other way. She could find another was down to Honeydukes. But no sooner had she taken four steps, another hooded figure appeared out of a shop. Gwynn froze. She looked from the first person to the second. With a quick 'pop', another person hidden beneath a cloak appeared on her right. A fourth person stepping out of an alley on her left followed him. It suddenly hit her who these men were. They were Voldemort's followers… Deatheaters. The four Deatheaters began to advance on her. Gwynn didn't know what to do. Out of panic, she ran as fast as she could between two of the men, knocking them down. Adrenaline pumping, she sprinted towards Zonko's.
"Help me!" she screamed. She looked over her shoulder to see how far the men were behind her. She only saw two of them, but she was too frightened to wonder where the other two had gotten off to, just as long as she got away from the two following her. She dug into her pockets and pulled out her wand. She saw the Deatheaters follow it suit. "Expelliarmus!" Gwynn shouted. But instead of emitting a scarlet light, the wand fizzled for a moment. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted again, desperate for it to work. The wand fizzled again, but this time instead of the fizzling dying out, it exploded with a large scarlet flare. Gwynn's wand flew out of her hand and high into the air and the explosion knocked her in the opposite direction. She lied there for a moment, trying to comprehend what happened. She snapped to her senses when she heard the shouts of the Deatheaters ("Quick! Don't let her get away!"). She scrambled to her feet and saw Peter standing in front of her holding her wand, which had broken in half, only held together by the veela hair within it.
"Peter!" she shouted.
"Gwynn, what's wrong?" Peter asked with out his well-known stutter. Since escaping was the only thing on her mind at the moment, she didn't notice.
"Oh Peter," replied Gwynn, "thank Merlin! There are these two Deatheaters chasing me! We've got to go! They'll be here soon!" Gwynn started forward, but was pulled back by Peter.
"And that's a bad thing?" Peter questioned.
"Peter, what wrong with you?! They're Deatheaters, and they're after me for who knows what reason!"
"Maybe you have done something to anger them."
"Peter..."
The two Deatheaters who were following her caught up to them. Gwynn tried to free her arm from Peter's grasp, but he turned out to be much stronger than he appeared. The other two men, who had disappeared a while ago, reappeared out of an alleyway between two shops. They took Gwynn from Peter, each holding tightly on to her arms.
"Let go of me!" Gwynn shrieked, trying to kick them. "Someone help me!" Why isn't anyone coming? Gwynn thought looking around. She could see people through the shop windows but they didn't seem to care. "HELP ME!" One of the Deatheaters holding her covered her mouth.
"Man, she's annoying," he said.
"Good job Pettigrew," said the cloaked figure closest to Peter. "You'll make a fine Deatheater one day."
"Thank you sir," Peter replied, a small smirk on his face. Gwynn's eyes widened at this. She looked at Peter with complete shock. Peter? A Deatheater? Why would he do such a thing? The Deatheater who spoke grabbed Gwynn's chin and forced her to look at him.
"You have a choice," he said.
"What are you doing?" another Deatheater whispered to the first one, so Gwynn couldn't hear. "We're supposed to kill her."
"She could be some use to us," he muttered back.
"But Voldemort specifically said—"
The first Deatheater ignored him and returned his attention back to Gwynn. "The same choice as Pettigrew had. You can either join us and help bring the destruction of your dear friend, or you can die and still help us kill your friend. Either way, we win. There's nothing you can do. So why don't you just spare yourself and help us."
The Deatheater removed his hand from over her mouth. Gwynn shook from terror. Who is he talking about? Gwynn thought. Never the less, she couldn't—wouldn't help them by becoming a spy. The Deatheater pulled out his wand and held it against her chest.
"Well?" he growled.
She looked him directly in the eyes and replied, with more courage than she felt, "I will never betray my friends like he did!"
"If you insist," hissed the lead Deatheater. He turned and walked a few steps away before whipping around with his wand pointed directly at her. "Avarda Kadavera!" were the last words Gwynn heard before the flash of green light. The Deatheaters shoved her body into the alleyway. The four Deatheaters disapparated, while Peter ran to Honeydukes which was where he told the other Marauders he would be, dropping Gwynn's wand as he ran.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Around three-thirty, James, Remus, and Sirius came to Honeydukes to find Peter and Lauren, but no Gwynn.
"Where is she?" Sirius said, fuming.
"She said she'd be here," Lauren said, looking at her watch.
"M-maybe she w-went b-back t-to th-the c-castle," suggested Peter in his all too familiar stutter.
"I know she wouldn't do that," snapped Sirius. "She'd be standing right here waiting to tell us off for being late."
"She's probably at the Three Broomsticks downing as much butterbeer as she can," said James.
"She could've headed back down there, I guess," Lauren said.
Sirius nodded, unable to shake this strange feeling he had. He couldn't describe it, but he knew something was horribly wrong.
The group walked down to the Three Broomsticks and saw no sign of Gwynn. On their way back to Honeydukes, Remus saw something lying in a small hole in the snow that seemed to have just melted away. He picked it up and his heart practically stopped when he realized what it was.
"What's up Remus?" Sirius asked.
"It's Gwynn's necklace," replied Remus. "The one I gave her for her birthday last year." Gwynn almost never took it off. They instantly knew something had happened to her when Remus showed them the necklace. The pendent was broken.
"Gwynn?!" they shouted hoping to god she'd answer. Peter didn't say a thing but made it look as if he was looking for her.
"Oh god..." James said suddenly.
Remus, Sirius, and Lauren looked over at him.
"What is it James?" Remus asked starting over towards him, with Sirius close behind.
"Stay there," commanded James. "You don't want to see this."
Remus and Sirius ran over to where James stood.
"No…" Remus said clapping his hand over his mouth and braced himself against the side of a building. Sirius stood rigged where he was. Lauren quickly walked over and nearly fainted when she got there. There laid Gwynn, face down in the snow. Sirius dropped to his knees next to her and rolled her over. Her brown eyes stared blankly at the sky.
"Gwynn?" he whispered, knowing the truth, but not wanting to believe it. James slowly stepped backwards, then ran off to get help. With much effort and pain, Remus tore his eyes away from Gwynn and slumped down crying. Lauren braced her self against the side of a building. Sirius grasped Gwynn's hands in his tightly, unable to cry. All he could do was stare horrified at Gwynn's body lying ridged in the snow.
His mind began flashing every memory he had of Gwynn. Most of them included them bickering or pulling pranks on each other. There were a few rare memories of Gwynn smiling and laughing when he was with her. Then came the last words he said to her echoing through his head.
"I can't believe those were my last words to her!" he shouted breaking the silence.
"Wh-what?" stuttered Peter.
" 'Quit acting like Mum, you stupid git! We don't need you to look after us!' " He said with much disdain. He pounded his fist into the ground then placed his head in one of his hands, sobbing, while he held tightly to Gwynn's hand with the other.
James returned shortly with an auror. The auror placed a hand on Sirius's shoulder.
"Son, I need you to back away," she said. Sirius didn't move. "Son, you need to back away." Sirius wiped his tears and slowly let go of Gwynn's hand, as if doing so would erase any and all memories he held within him. Sirius stood up slowly and stepped back. For the first time since he got there, Sirius tore his eyes away from Gwynn. He looked around at his friends. Remus was now standing back where he was and James had his face hidden by his hand.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
"My Lord," Evett said entering Voldemort's study.
"Have you brought me good news, Evett?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes, my lord," replied Evett. "She is dead."
"Good, I'm now one step closer to ruling this infested world."
"What do you wish of us now?"
"Just wait. The time has not come for the second part of my plan."
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+