It was August, and Gwen had turned 15 a month ago. There were two weeks before school started. Her room had changed a bit in the past four years. There were two bookcases: one containing school books, other magic books, and books on healing; the other was packed with Muggle fantasy novels. She had a stereo on top of her dresser and a CD tower next to it that housed her large CD collection; she favored Muggle rock music, mostly American bands. There was a television in one corner, sitting on a small entertainment center that held her movies. Her walls had been charmed to reflect her teenage emotions; just then it was a little rainy in her forest.
She had been to see her cousins again, and she didn't get along with them any better than she did nine years ago. They disapproved of her Muggle obsession, ignoring the fact that she was a brilliant witch. Gwen had a serious interest in healing and had done lots of reading on the subject. She did well in Transfiguration, Herbology, and especially Potions, despite Professor Snape's apparent dislike for Gryffindors and generally nasty disposition. In fact, he never had anything to criticize about her work and therefore avoided speaking to her altogether unless absolutely necessary. Gwen did well in most subjects, except Divination which she dropped the year before.
There was a knock on her bedroom door. She turned to see none other than Oliver, her best friend in the entire world. He didn't need the rainy walls to tell she was upset, and he knew she had just been at her cousin's house.
"Not them again, Gwen," he said, frowning. Gwen sighed and sat on her bed. "I don't know why you let them get to you. Because of this?" He gestured to the stereo and television as he walked toward her. "Ah, come on. You've got skills they can't compare with." She looked up into his smiling face and knew it was true; the rain subsided but it was still gray. Oliver sat down next to Gwen and hugged her. "That's better. The pool my parents just put in is finally finished. Why don't you come for a swim?" he suggested.
Gwen smiled and her room was sunny again; he could always cheer her up. "All right," she agreed. "Meet you down there in ten."
Oliver smiled back and left, closing the door behind him. Gwen changed into her swimsuit, which complimented her lean, fairly well-developed body, and slipped on some terry cloth shorts. She brushed out her golden brown hair, which had the slightest hint of red in it, grabbed a towel, and headed next door to the Wood's backyard.
Oliver had already changed and was waiting in the pool, wearing red swimming trunks. For the first time, Gwen noticed his hard, muscular chest, abs and strong arms. Oh, what wonders those years of Quidditch had done to his body. His brown hair was wet and messy. He looked... Wait, was I just checking him out? Oliver, my best friend who's practically been a brother to me? No way, I couldn't have been...
Gwen shook off the feeling and tossed her towel on a lounge chair. For a second, while she was removing her shorts, she thought he was checking her out. She looked down at her feet as she slipped into the pool. Man, is this water cold. Oliver's eyes went a little wide because he noticed the effect the water's temperature had on her.
"Water's cold," Gwen said to break the silence.
He almost seemed startled by her voice. "Yeah... it'll be fine after a few minutes..." he responded, looking straight into her eyes.
The awkward moment passed. Gwen had never had an awkward moment with Oliver, not since they were eight and he offered to "show her his." But he was joking then... After swimming a few laps, they decided to play one-on-one volleyball in the pool. Muggle Studies was one of Gwen's favorite classes and she taught Oliver how to play. They just hit the ball back and forth across the net, diving to keep it out of the water.
"I think this is Gryffindor's year for the Quidditch Cup," Oliver said.
"Oliver Wood, do you think of nothing but Quidditch?" Gwen asked, laughing. "It used to be only when you got on a broom or looked at a broom, but since you made the team, it's all you talk about it. Especially since you made captain!"
"So what if I'm dedicated?" he responded in a mock hurt tone. "Those Weasley twins have proved to be excellent beaters."
"But Charley's gone; you need a new seeker."
This seemed to shut him up, at least for a minute.
"Well... I'm sure we'll find a great one at tryouts."
"Whatever you say, Oliver. I think it's time for dinner."
They had been in the pool for a couple of hours, and it was about five o' clock. Gwen got out and reached for her towel, but couldn't help noticing the water running down Oliver's body. His muscles were well toned and not too big; she didn't like the body-builder type. She didn't realize that she was frozen in the act of picking up her towel.
"Gwen? Are you all right?" Oliver asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
She snapped out of her trance and looked up into his gorgeous, chocolate brown eyes.
"What? Yeah, I just... zoned out for a minute. I, uh, suddenly remembered I have some homework to finish." She quickly dried off and threw on her shorts, and walked away as quickly as possible.
Oliver stared after her, watching the way her hips moved as she walked. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes before heading to his own room. "Homework?" he muttered.
Up in her room, Gwen decided to write to her boyfriend Michael Havelock, a Gryffindor in her year, and tell him how much she missed him. She couldn't wait to see him on the train. She wrote while trying to rid herself of the odd feeling in her stomach.
A week after the pool incident, Gwen headed to Diagon Alley for some last minute shopping. She had written her boyfriend Michael and he was going to meet her there. Oliver told her last night that his girlfriend Katie Bell would be there, too. Katie was also on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Whatever Gwen was feeling for Oliver last week was gone and they were back to being best friends. She figured that she was just missing Michael, Oliver was the closest guy, and that was it. Nothing to worry about. Right?
Having to wear a skirt every day at school made Gwen more comfortable in them, so after her shower she slipped on a long white one with a tank top and flip flops.
Gwen and Oliver traveled by floo powder since they had to go all the way to London to meet Michael and Katie at Florean Fortescue's for ice cream. The four friends chatted happily about school and the summer break while eating. Gwen couldn't believe this would be her fifth year. She had received an owl from Percy Weasley announcing his appointment as Gryffindor Prefect. The two of them dated third year, but things just didn't work out like that. He was always too worried about schoolwork and didn't spend much time with Gwen. They broke up after a couple of months, but remained friends. Things were much better that way. Gwen told the group that Percy was prefect and none of them were surprised.
"He was always strict about following rules," Oliver said.
"Gwen, didn't you date him?" Katie asked. Michael looked shocked.
"Yeah, but he just wasn't my type. He's a pretty good friend though," Gwen answered.
The friends walked around together for a bit, stopping in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies, where a bunch of kids were staring at a broom in the window.
"Oliver, you've got the Nimbus 2000 at home, you can gawk at it there," Gwen teased.
"You know, Gwen, I don't know why you never tried out for the Quidditch team," Michael said, squeezing her hand.
"Because I'm not that skilled and I don't have Oliver's dedication. I don't know how Katie can listen to him drone on at practice and still want to date him," Gwen laughed.
Katie seemed offended, but Oliver knew that Gwen was joking. He kissed her cheek and told her not to worry about it. "I don't need anything, so I guess we can move on," he said.
Gwen had already gotten her books and robes and so had everyone else, but she needed some quills and ink. Gwen bought them and then Katie remembered that she needed broom polish. She and Oliver headed back to Quality Quidditch Supplies.
"Oh, I need owl treats for Pegasus," Gwen said suddenly.
Michael laced his fingers with hers and led her through the crowd to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Clutching the bag of owl treats in one hand and Michael's hand in the other, Gwen strolled along and then stopped to sit on a bench. He leaned forward and kissed Gwen softly on the lips, brushing her hair behind her ear. She put one hand on the back of his neck and returned the kiss. This continued for a few minutes until she felt his tongue running along her bottom lip. She was about to part her lips when she heard a loud cough.
Gwen turned her head, leaving her hand on Michael's neck and her forehead resting on his. Who else would it be but Katie and Oliver? Oliver was the one who coughed and was looking a little pink. Katie stifled a laugh.
"We've been looking all over for you," she giggled, "but I guess you didn't want to be found."
"We, um, better head home," Oliver said awkwardly, but only Gwen noticed.
She kissed Michael on the lips again. "I'll see you on the train next week."
Everyone headed home and Gwen started packing her trunk already. Books, cauldron, potion ingredients... all but her wand and robes. When she finished, she laid back on her bed staring at the ceiling.
Gwen rolled over onto her back and slowly opened her eyes. She found herself staring into two chocolate brown orbs. Being still sleepy and her brain not yet fully functioning, she sat bolt upright and banged heads with the person leaning over her, causing her to fall back down.
"Merlin, Oliver, what the hell are you doing?" Gwen yelled, rubbing her forehead.
"Waking you up. Didn't think it'd hurt this much," he said, massaging his own skull.
"Waking me up? By scaring me half to death?"
"Yeah, well, it's more fun that way. Now get out of bed and get some breakfast. It's September first, you know."
Still grumbling about the manner in which he chose to wake her, Gwen followed him downstairs for the traditional back to school breakfast: pancakes, turkey bacon, and orange juice. Then it was back upstairs for a shower. Gwen threw on dark blue, slightly loose, flare leg jeans and a band tee, socks with monkeys on them, and navy blue suede sneakers. Slipping her wand into a special deep pocket of her jeans, Gwen tossed her uniform and robes into her trunk and dragged it downstairs. They got to the station at 10:45, said goodbye to their parents, and boarded the Hogwarts Express. Gwen and Oliver started searching compartments for Katie and Michael.
"They should be here by now," Gwen said. Suddenly Michael's blond head popped out of a doorway and waved at her. "Here they are, Oliver." She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the compartment. She hugged Michael and kissed his cheek before sitting by the window, pulling him down next to her. Katie greeted Oliver in a similar fashion and they sat across from the other couple.
They had just seen each other last week, so they were all caught up on each other's summer. "Hey, Katie, I've worked out some new Quidditch tactics." Oliver grinned as Katie groaned. "They won't be completely finished until I meet our new seeker. Gwen, you should try out," he teased.
Gwen stuck her tongue out at him. "You know I don't have the attention span to fly around looking for a little golden ball." They continued on like this for about an hour, until the compartment door slid open. It was the Weasley twins.
"Fred! George! How are my beaters? Had a good summer I hope?" Oliver asked.
They seemed very anxious. "Yeah, great-"
"-but-"
"-guess who's on the train-"
"-just guess-"
"Umm..." Oliver began.
"Harry Potter!" they exclaimed together. "Our brother Ron's in his compartment.
Fred was interrupted by a kindly witch knocking on the door. "Anything off the trolley dears?" she inquired. Oliver got some chocolate frogs, Gwen bought a couple of licorice wands, and everyone else bought cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The last Gwen tried to avoid after eating a vomit-flavored one when she was seven and promptly doing just that.
When they finished their snacks, the six of them played Exploding Snap for a while. The compartment door slid open again and a bushy-haired girl stuck her head in, already in her school uniform.
"Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one," she said haughtily in a British accent.
"Nope, sorry," Gwen replied. The girl obviously disapproved of the noise because she sniffed loudly before leaving. "What's her problem?"
"Who cares?" asked George.
"Let's get back to the game," said Fred.
Eventually it was time to go change so Fred and George returned to their compartment and the rest of the group headed off to the changing rooms.
"You know that robe hides your gorgeous legs," Michael said to Gwen upon her return. She blushed; she did in fact have long, slim legs. She sat in his lap and he started rubbing her calf. Gwen heard a cough and turned to see Oliver, so she slipped out of Michael's lap. Michael didn't seem happy about that.
Why does Oliver keep interrupting? Gwen thought to herself, but she wasn't exactly angry.
"There you are Oliver. Why didn't you wait?" It was Katie who spoke.
"Oh, I, uh, thought you might have been down here already," he mumbled.
She eyed him suspiciously, put her clothes away, and sat. It was getting steadily darker as the train approached its destination. Before Gwen knew it, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station and the four of them were fighting their way through the crowds to get to the carriages. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, everyone filed into the Great Hall to sit at the house tables, waiting for the first years. Gwen and Michael sat together across from Oliver and Katie.
Professor McGonagall came in from the Entrance Hall leading a long line of first years. At first everyone went quiet, but then murmurs broke out among the crowd.
"Did you see him?"
"Harry Potter!"
"The boy who lived!"
Soon everyone, including Gwen, was craning his or her neck to get a good look at a scrawny bespectacled boy with black hair. The sorting ceremony continued and the children were divided among the four houses. The bushy-haired girl from the train joined the Gryffindor table, as well as Harry Potter. "We got Potter!" Fred and George yelled, standing and pointing to him. Last was a red-haired boy Gwen immediately recognized as a Weasley. He also joined her table and sat with Harry. Dinner passed with much whispers and glances toward the Gryffindor table.