Gwen lay on her side, her left arm pinned beneath her. Her breathing was ragged and irregular, her skin cold and alarmingly pale in the wintry morning light. They gently turned her onto her back, and Remus saw a splash of crimson on her forehead.

"She's bleeding." Or at least, she had been bleeding. There was no way of telling how long she had been lying here. With some difficulty, Remus lifted her limp form.

Sirius tried the door in front of them. It was locked. "Alohomora," he said quickly, and opened it up. Their quick progress through the corridor and up the stairs was conducted in anxious silence.

Reaching a corridor they recognized, Sirius turned to Remus.

"I'll run ahead and warn Madame Rue. You sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah, go," Remus said quickly, and Sirius sprinted toward the infirmary. Remus followed as fast as he could without jolting Gwen.

Later, the entire experience was a big blur in his memory. He was maneuvering up stairs and down corridors, desperately thankful that classes were going on and there was no one around, and then the next thing he knew, he was in the infirmary placing Gwen on the bed that a flustered Madame Rue indicated and stepping back so that the matron could check her over.

"Remus? Remus," Sirius said commandingly, putting his hand on Remus's shoulder. Remus jumped and looked dazedly at his friend. "Come over here and sit down," Sirius commanded, steering him over to a chair. At that moment, Madame Rue pulled the curtains around Gwen's bed, cutting her off from his sight.

In a few minutes Madame Rue reappeared. "She's going to be fine," she said kindly, and Remus's shoulders slumped in relief. "She's just taken a nasty knock on the head. She should come to in a couple of hours, if you'd like to wait?"

Remus found his voice. "You go on," he told Sirius. "I'll stay."

"Are you sure?" His friend looked concerned.

Remus summoned a smile. "Yeah. Besides, you've got to take notes for me."

"Okay." Sirius stood and gave him a last pat on the back, then was gone.

Remus moved his chair inside the screen and took up a place next to Gwen. He took her hand. Whatever Madame Rue had done had warmed Gwen up quite a bit, but her hand was still cold. Remus covered her fingers with his other hand and tried to ignore the beast of guilt that gnawed at his insides.

000

It was an hour and a half before Gwen stirred. She made a sound in the back of her throat and moved her head. Remus leaned over her anxiously.

"Gwen?"

She mumbled something unintelligible and opened her eyes, looking up at him blankly.

"Gwen—are you okay?" Remus asked in concern.

Gwen's lower lip crumpled, and she burst into tears.

"Jenny?" Remus leaned closer, alarmed. "Jenny, what's wrong? Does your head still hurt?"

"Remus, I'm so sorry!" Gwen sobbed, covering her eyes with her hand. "I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" Remus asked gently.

"For lying to you!" Gwen wailed. "And not telling you the truth, and bugging you to tell me your deep, dark secret when I didn't tell you mine!"

"I'm sorry too," Remus said quietly. "I should never have said what I did. I know perfectly well you'd never use your powers on me."

"But I did," Gwen said despairingly, picking at her blanket and refusing to meet his eye.

"What?"

"The night before the Christmas holidays, when we were looking out the window," she sniffled miserably. "I could feel how scared you were, and I was so sorry that you couldn't enjoy the look of the moonlight on the snow, that I—that I took away your fear," she finished all in a rush. "I am so sorry. Will you forgive me?" She looked up at him fearfully.

"Forgive you?" Remus said with a laugh. "I might just ask you to do it again!"

Gwen looked startled, then began to smile.

TBC

AN: I discovered whilst writing this chapter that Madame Pomfrey was actually the nurse during Remus's school years. Drat.