"What's eating you, Moony?" Peter asked. He and his three friends had overslept again, and were now stuffing their potions books into their bags rather than going down to breakfast.

James and Sirius took a close look at their friend for the first time in that hectic morning. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well—even though it was the middle of the month, and it wasn't time for him to be looking so worn-out just yet.

"Gwen and I… Uhm, we had a fight last night," Remus said quietly, concentrating on fitting his books into his bag.

There was silence in the room for a moment. "I'm sorry, mate," James said, equally quietly. Remus looked up and managed a strained smile. He would have to apologize to Gwen and hope she wasn't too mad at him to forgive him. Maybe he could catch her after potions again.

But Gwen didn't come into the classroom with her friends. Remus waited a few minutes as everyone set down their bags and chatted, hoping that she would come in. But it was two minutes until class started, and she hadn't come in yet. Gritting his teeth, Remus made his way over to Gwen's friends.

"Isn't Gwen coming to class?" he asked Eunice.

She shrugged in response, her expression bewildered. "I thought she'd be here right now. You mean she wasn't with you this morning, skipping breakfast?"

"No." Remus began to feel worried.

"I'm not sure she slept in her bed last night," Lily chimed in, also looking concerned. "We figured she'd come in late and left early, but…"

Remus could have cursed. She had stormed out last after their fight and not come back in again. Maybe she had met with some sort of accident?

Remus made up his mind. He dashed out the door a moment before Professor Gumboil came into the classroom from his office.

Sirius saw him go, and seeing an opportunity, asked Professor Gumboil if he could go to the loo, and was grudgingly given permission. He caught up with Remus at the outside door.

"Where are you going?"

"I saw Gwen go out these doors last night, and she hasn't come back yet, for all I can see. I'm going to go see if I can find her."

Out in the snow, Remus picked out Gwen's footprints, heading away across the grounds. They followed them, pulling their robes closer around them against the cold wind.

"If she's smart, she's somewhere inside," Sirius said blandly. "It's bloody cold out here."

The footsteps meandered aimlessly across the grounds—at one point, Gwen had even paced back and forth a few times. Finally the footsteps led back to the castle, to a flight of stairs which descended to a door.

Sirius saw the marks of a fall and the crumpled form at the bottom of the stairs first. "Remus!" he called urgently, and made his way quickly down the slippery steps to kneel beside Gwen.

"Oh God," Remus choked, running to join him.

Sirius was checking her pulse when Remus made his way to her side. "She's alive," he said tightly.

TBC