Sorry this took so long... shakes fist stupid computer! But blast my computer not me... I did everything I could to hurry this along. So enjoy... Angel. ;)

Chapter 13

Gwen sat in the long ago abandoned common room at a small table with a parchment rolled out to send a note to her mama. The room still held the remembrance of the party that had made the now-fast-asleep Gryffindors fall one by one. Streamers and wrappers and old empty cups lay strewn this way and that. And a banner hung crookedly between the dormitory stairways proclaiming, Gryffindors Are Winners!

Staring bemusedly at the blank piece of parchment in front of her, Gwen sighed. Her mind buzzed to and fro as she held her quill in her hand. The ink had long ago dried on the tip and as she stared at the paper nothing appeared. Kismet meowed and then rubbed against Gwen's leg impatiently when she didn't get her mistress' attention right away.

Setting the quill down Gwen pulled her up into her lap and then sighed again. "Kismet, what am I going to write? How can I tell her everything and still make her understand?"

But of course Kismet couldn't give her an answer. She purred and then lay full-length on Gwen's lap. Stroking Kismet's soft fur she sighed again. Then the dormitory door swung open and she turned to look up and saw Lily and Raven slipping into the room. Smiling she watched as Lily sat down and saw she had Artemis on her shoulder.

"He wouldn't let us get to sleep until we got him out here." She said and then lifted him from her shoulder and handed him to Gwen. "He knows what you're doing and he wants to be ready."

Gwen took him and then snuggled him to her face before taking him back and patted him soft head. Then she looked up at her friends and watched as Raven took Kismet, who had deserted Gwen without a look back, into her own lap and scratched her thoughtfully behind her ear.

"I don't know what to write, you guys. I want to tell her about everything and yet I know she won't read it… She'll read that I'm not coming home and then she'll just… she won't read the rest…" she hugged Artemis to her for a moment and then sighed. "I know it."

"So don't tell her that you're not coming right away." Raven said talking for the first time since she had sat. "Tell her about Hogwarts first. Tell her about the places you've seen and the people you've met. Tell her about us. About… the magic of this place. Tell her about everything that you saw or that you still want to see. Make her see this place herself. Give her a view that isn't biased. Tell her about yourself. Tell her what you want. What you would like to do. Who you are… Tell her the truth."

Gwen sat Artemis down on the table and he fluttered across the desk knocking the quill so it rolled into her lap. Then he hooted softly and she looked into his eyes. Then she turned and looked at her friends and then she smiled. Nodding she picked up her quill and dipped it into the ink again. Putting her hand over her stone she felt it glow and knew that she could make her see.

"Thanks," she murmured to Lily and Raven but they only shrugged.

"Hey, I just don't want you getting another Howler. My ears are still ringing from the last one, thank you." Raven stood and then patted Kismet on the head when the cat threw her a dirty look for dropping her unceremoniously onto the floor. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to sleep."

Lily giggled at Raven then stopped as a wide yawn caught her unawares as well. "Oh my… I think I better join her. Sorry to leave you but you have a letter to write. Oh! And we have that test for Charms tomorrow! G'night."

"G'night, Lily. Night, Raven!" she called after her but the only response she got was a grunt.

She laughed to herself but then Kismet jumped onto the table and plopped herself down over the parchment and the laughter stopped. "I have to write it, Kismet. You know that. Now, move."

Kismet gave her another dignified sniff and then stood and sat just a little ways her dark eyes watching Gwen very carefully. And Gwen sighed and she picked the quill from her lap and dipped it in the ink. "Well, here we go…"

Four days later, after a long night's sleep and a test which she knew she had passed in "flying colors", literally as she had mastered her charm with no problem, the letter she had sent Artemis away with around midnight was the last thing on her mind. She felt happy and free. Tomorrow was a whole new day with a whole new experience next. But then she walked into the room and what she saw was astounding. Perched on the top of the chair that Gwen and Sirius had sat in only a few short nights before was Artemis.

In his beak he didn't hold a Howler at least but a rather thick envelope and the burning in Gwen's stomach told her that it wasn't a short note telling her she could stay and would be seen at the beginning of summer.

Raven nearly bumped into as she walked into the common room behind her and looked to where she was staring and then backed away from the owl in an almost comical way. "Oh no… Not another one."

"It's not a Howler…" Gwen managed then she walked forward and pulled the letter from Artemis' beak. It wasn't so heavy she supposed. "It's from Mama."

She turned and faced the others who had walked into the room behind her. Then she searched their eyes until they finally landed on Sirius' reassuring silver ones. He nodded and then moved past the others to stand beside her.

"What did she write?" Lily asked as she anxiously pushed forward as well.

Almost as if a spell had been lifted all of her friends moved at once crowding around as if to shield her from whatever it was. "I…I… I don't know. I haven't opened it."

"Well, open it already." Raven said impatiently.

Gwen's fingers shook as she broke to family seal and split the envelope opened and then she unfurled the two thick pages of parchment. The earth smell of her mother's perfume filled the air and for just a moment Gwen could see it all so quickly in her mind. The old rug that lay on the living room/ dining/kitchen floor with its many different colors and interweaving and separating lines that made up a web. She saw the walls that were covered in the numerous pictures and papers. The shelves in the kitchen that were littered with herbs dried, bottled and fresh. The smell of home… The peace she had left behind to see this place, to find something new, as her great-grandma before her.

Then she was back in the Gryffindor common room. Around to see the varying expressions upon her friends' faces and her heart filled as she realized that if she could go back and change everything she wouldn't… she couldn't.

If she hadn't met all these people her life would have changed so much and she… she wouldn't have the courage to fight her mom for what she wanted most as she was doing now.

"What does it say, Gwen?" Raven asked, again impatiently and Gwen smiled and then looked down at the parchment where her mother's large bold letters screamed out at her then her face turned serious and she moved to the chair and sat down as she began to read the letter aloud…

Gwendolyn,

I have read your letter and I now know just how bad those people have influenced you. Gwendolyn you must come home. Things here have run amuck since you so callously ran away from your heritage and life here in Farrar. I cannot simply allow you to do as you please. And who is this wizard boy you mentioned in your letter? Sirius Black? Is he another conspirator to keep you away from your duty? I forbid you to have anything to do with him. I shall not have a daughter of mine tarrying with a wizard. We shall not have another mishap as the one I had to endure. So if you shall not come home of your own accord then I shall come and get you.

Your mother,

Carina Rend Ernst Junta Farr

The paper fell to the floor as she stared incomprehensively at the words. Then she came back to herself and looked around at them. "She's coming… here."

Gwen felt her skin grow cold and a thin spiral of dread seemed to span throughout her stomach. If her mother came then Dumbledore would find out she hadn't been allowed to actually come and she would be sent back home. No, not home… Hogwarts was home. She would be sent back to… to a place that she had ran away from in the first place. Her heart started to pound harder and tears filled her eyes. She dropped her head down and she shook her head.

"Gwen?" Lily's voice drifted through her misery like the light of a lighthouse cut through the cloudy nighttime for a wandering ship and she forced herself to look up. "We won't let her take you away."

She said it so confidently that Gwen could do nothing but agree. Then she glanced around at the rest of them and a smile came to her face. All of them were nodding in agreement and James and Raven had the looks of being lost in thought as if they were coming up with ideas to stall or stop her mother.

Finally her eyes rested on Sirius and she smiled and then nodded her head as well. "I won't let her either. I can't… this is my home…"

Sirius grinned and then he hugged her to him quickly before pulling back to look her in the face. "So I'm that wizard boy, am I?"

Gwen laughed and then she turned sober again. " 'Fraid so." But the serious expression didn't last as the giggles overtook her and she hadn't even noticed that Remus had taken the parchment and was now tossing them and the envelope into the fireplace.