Laughter echoed across the halls of Gryffindor as the six of them walked arm in arm up to the common room. Icy coldness of the outdoors graced all of their cheeks and Gwen knew her eyes sparkled from laughter. All day the six of them had stayed together. Even Lily and James' animosity had long been forgotten for the sake of Gwen.
Gwen felt so happy, so full of joy. She glanced at Sirius with a smile as James went on with his jokes and the six of them laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she had had so much fun. "Okay, okay. I got another one. What's big as a house and worth twice as much to its owner?"
"Your head." Lily said with a moments pause but without as much bitterness as usual. "Honestly Potter, couldn't you be a little more creative?"
"Ha ha, very funny Evans… but that's not the answer. The answer is Gwen's heart." He turned and grinned at her and Gwen laughed just he knew she would.
"James, would you stop it."
"Oh, come on Gwen. Forget about Sirius. Run away with me. Just us two… Living as we please, free with no one telling us when or where we go…"
Gwen laughed but Sirius growled. "Back off, Potter. Or I might have to break one of those antlers the next time we go around."
"Antlers? James doesn't have antlers…"
Everyone stopped as she said that and looked at her and then Raven's expression cleared. "Oh, that's right. You never told her. Did you Sirius?"
"Told me what?"
"Well… You see the truth is…"
"Meow…"
The six heads came up and looked down the hall at a small little kitten. Its fur was fluffy and a sort of a brown, orange, black color that looked mottled and ugly. Its eyes were an eerie red-yellow color. For a moment Gwen had thought it was Kismet but then she had seen the eyes. She'd never seen this cat before. The six of them remained frozen for a second and then Gwen walked forward holding out her hand.
"Come here, kitty… Good kitty…"
The cat meowed again and slowly walked towards her. Kneeling down Gwen held out her hand and slowly let her hand come to rest on the cat's soft fur. She petted her for a second and an uneasy feeling overcame her. She didn't know what it was but she closed her eyes for a second and let the images from the cat come to her. She saw the Argus Filch's face and then she heard him whisper some words.
"You'll help me catch those meddlesome kids, now won't you Mrs. Norris…?"
She opened her eyes and then turned to see her friends staring at her."Let's get out of h-" Footsteps echoed along the halls and Gwen knew it was Filch. Leaping to her feet she raced back to the others. "It's Filch. We've got to get out of here. Mrs. Norris there is his new watch cat. Is there another way around?"
"Uh…" James seemed to be thinking.
The footsteps echoed closer and...
"Never mind. Hide." The six of them turned and separated. Raven and Remus hid behind a statue and James and Lily slipped behind the tapestry that hung on the wall. Which left Sirius and Gwen with the other statue of a twisted old Hag. It was the way they had come in and the only place left. Gwen leaned back and listened but unfortunately the little kitten had taken a liking to her.
It walked towards them its meows getting more and more insistent. Then it came about a foot from them when she started hissing. Gwen looked around the corner and then leaned back and looked at Sirius. "Does this have something to do your secret?"
"Uh… yeah, you see, let's just say cats don't like me much."
"You're going to explain this later. And then you owe me, major time." She whispered and turned around. "Distractus felina…"
A spark flew from her fingertips and she sighed. "Knickers."
"What?"
She frowned as she turned around. "I forgot… I haven't honed my energy enough… I need… a siphon…" her face cleared and she pulled her wand out. "Let's hope this works…"
She turned and faced the kitten once more. Its eyes had turned almost completely red and its fur was puffed out in the basic form of an agitated cat. Her heart was pounding and the footsteps were getting closer. She couldn't do this… she couldn't…
Sirius' hand rested on her back and she took a deep breath uttering the charm her mother had taught her work on all things as long as she knew what she faced. It was a fairy's greatest weapon. "Distractus felina…"
Sparks flew from her wand and then in a flash they transformed and changed into a small mouse toy. The winding toy shot from the wand and wheeled around on the floor. Distracted the small kitten took after it completely ignoring everyone and everything. It meows started again but this time they had changed. Then the footsteps became distinct and Sirius pulled her around and held her to him.
Gwen couldn't move. She didn't know if it was the sound of the footstepsor the fact that Sirius held her so close. Not that he hadn't held her close before, the hug at Hogsmeade attested to that but this time… it was different. They way he held her now was as if… As if just by holding her he could protect her. He could stop it all from happening. Warmth bloomed in her heart and she smiled. Suddenly she could move and she wrapped her arms around him stiffening as she heard Filch's familiar voice.
"Where are they, Mrs. Norris? Where are them meddling kids?" then his steps stopped and Gwen could almost see the confused light in his eyes. Because Mrs. Norris was laying on the floor contentedly playing with a small wind up cat's toy. For a long time the halls were silent as if he was looking around. The lamplight lit the corner behind the statue where Gwen and Sirius were hiding. "Come on, Mrs. Norris… they couldn't have gotten far."
He turned and marched down the hall his torchlight slowly fading. For a moment no one moved until the footsteps had receded down the hall. Then as if someone had sent a jolt of electricity of through them they ran down the hall and straight to the common room. When they awoke the fat lady and got inside they all stared at one another no one saying anything. Then James started laughing and like wildfire it spread and soon they were all laughing.
Sirius swept Gwen up into his arms and spun her around before setting her back on her feet. "You were wonderful!"
"I…I was, wasn't I?" she smiled. Glad she had gone with them in the end.
"What spell did you use to distract that cat? I've never heard it before. What was it? Di-Destruct- Fulani…uh… something like that…" Raven said waving her hand in the same way that Gwen just had.
"Distractus Felina…" Gwen said and a spark flared from her wand from a second. "Oops, I forgot. Uh…" she put her wand back in her robes and smiled at them. "It's one of the most basic Fae magic there is. It's a distracting spell. After all why do you think that so few muggles have ever seen a fairy? Or if they have they blame it on something else?"
"So that's how it works. I always wondered about that… Do you know anymore Fae spells."
"A few… not many really." Gwen moved to the couch and sat cross-legged pulling a pillow in front of her before she lay back. The others moved and sat down. Lily and James on one couch, this time a little closer than they had been the first time. Remus and Raven on the other and Sirius sat beside her. "Fae magic has very few things. Mostly it's the same magic that you learn. I learn how to levitate, how to make potions, destroy harmful plants… All like you do. But also, I learned about our history and a few other spells, like the distractus."
She frowned. "I also learned another one, two actually. But I'm not very good at them."
"What are they?"
"Well, one is size-changing spell."
"So… You could make like… Ravenzilla?" Raven said her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Uh… no, sorry. It's more for smaller size stuff. Remember how I told you my mother could change sizes and make her wings appear and disappear? Well… I can too."
"Wait a second, are you trying to tell me you have wings too?" James said looking skeptically at her back.
"Yes…"
Sirius put his hand on her back and felt around from something. "But there's nothing there."
"Of course, not she just said she could make them disappear." Lily said matter-of-factly and then she looked confused. "But wait, wouldn't they still be there just not seen."
"No… when I said I make them disappear I meant completely disappear. They… they shatter, I guess…into fairy dust. And when I need them again. Well… maybe I should show you…" she stood and then walked to the place right in front of the fire place. Sitting cross legged again and faced. "Now… I'm not very good and I haven't done this in a while so it might take a bit. Plus I've only done it three times. Twice as practice and once before I came here."
She closed her eyes and placed her hands in her lap folded almost as if in prayer. Then she opened one of her eyes and stared at her friends. They were all leaning forward as if to see her better and she could almost feel the nervousness rushing from them. "Would you try not to be too stressed? I need all the peace I can gather and with so much nervous energy in the room, it won't work…"
They leaned back and she felt the energy of nervousness fade and become calm. She smiled then and took a deep breath mutter some fae words to herself. And then she felt it happening. At first it was merely a tingling sensation along her shoulder blades. Then it was as if something was being pulled from her back. Her breathing became labored, a ripping sound filled the air and she winced in pain. Then they opened and the pain was gone. She opened her wings and stood.
As she opened her eyes she almost smiled at the looks on her friends faces. The wings were about four feet long, almost as tall as she was and gossamer white, like a butterfly's, diamonds of purples of all shades graced them and as she turned around for them to get a better look she noticed the tears her wings had made.
"Oops… I forgot about that." She said and then turned to smile at them. "It's easier to put them away plus better on the clothes I think. Well, I don't think I'll be wearing this sweater ever again."
"They're… They're beautiful, Gwen. Why do you hide them?"
Gwen looked down at her hands and her eyes saw the fairy stone that still hung around her neck. "Because… It is my duty… And more than anything, I just want to fit in. Walking around Hogwarts with four foot wings would definitely make me stand out." She looked up at him and smiled. "Just a little."
"No one should have to hide who they are."
"And in a perfect world, no one would have to. But you of all people, Sirius, should know. This world is far from perfect…" she closed her eyes and the wings disappeared in a flash of purple and white streaks.
Then she stepped forward just barely catching herself before she toppled over. "Gwen!"
Her friends stepped forward and she waved them away. It's all right. I… I'm going to bed. There's been a lot of adventure today and I'm just… Just tired."
She moved towards the door and tripped landing on her knees. Sirius ran to her side and though she tried to stop him the moment he touched her to pull her up a vision filled her mind. Sirius in a cell… traitor to his friends… James… dead… Lily… dead… Peter… dead… Remus… alone…
She snapped back and stood on her own to feet. "I'm fine. Really."
She nearly ran up the steps and changed into her pajamas jumping into the bed and snuggling down. But she didn't sleep. She couldn't sleep. Could Sirius really betray his best friend?
A chill ran down her back and she snuggled deeper into the covers. She heard the dormitory door open and closed her eyes. She didn't want to talk to Lily and Raven. Too much had happened already and she needed some time to think.
"Gwen?" she heard Raven's voice through the thick of the night but she didn't open her eyes. Eventually Raven gave up and she heard her soft tread walk across the floor and to her bed. As the noises in the night slowly became the deep easy breathing of the other girls Gwen sat up and took out her fairy stone.
"Show me Sirius." She blew and the sparks shimmered in the darkness showing her a small window.
He was standing in the common room pacing back and forth. Beside him James was seated on one of the couches and Remus was sitting across from him a book in his hand.
The door to the boys' dormitory door opened and she watched as Peter scurried into the room. Since the first day she hadn't seen much of him. Now and again he'd be tagging along behind James but otherwise the only time she'd had to really look at him had been the first day they had met.
He slid onto the floor sitting just below James as if he was a small dog waiting for a scrap of something. Gwen shook her head. Something about him she still didn't like but he was Sirius' friend. She should still give him a chance. She looked at the boys. All of them so different and yet…
Her eyes went to Sirius… could he betray James? Kill his friends for his own good… the sparks slowly faded and Gwen thought to the laughter in his eyes. The obvious love and friendship between him and his friends…
No… he wouldn't…
The image fixed on Peter and his flitting eyes…and then faded.
But could Peter...?