She was in a forest. It was very dark despite the full moon in the sky above. Looking around, Gwen realized she was in a clearing surrounded by pine trees.
"No!" she whispered into the night as she sat upright in bed. "Not again." Gwen looked at the clock; it read 2:12 a.m. Throwing the covers back, she slid out of bed and walked across the room, out the open bedroom door. She continued down the hall and stopped outside Oliver's door.
About a minute passed, and she still stared at the closed portal. He probably doesn't want to be bothered. Another thirty seconds went by before she turned around and returned to her room. Reluctantly, she crawled into bed and pulled up the covers, drifting off to sleep a second time.
She was in a forest. It was very dark despite the full moon in the sky above. Looking around, Gwen realized she was in a clearing surrounded by pine trees. Suddenly she noticed an older man in front of her; one who was vaguely familiar.
"Grandpa!" she exclaimed, trying to get his attention, but he didn't seem to see or hear her. He appeared to be listening intently for something. Gwen heard a rustling and another figure stepped into the clearing hooded and cloaked. It shouted something... there was a bright green light... her grandfather lay dead on the ground. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she knelt by the lifeless body.
Gwen awoke crying and alone, quickly getting out of bed. Maybe it's this room. In the bathroom, she flicked on the light and turned on the cold water at the sink. She cupped her hands and held them under the faucet, letting it form a small pool. She took a sip before splashing it on her face.
"Gwen, it is three o'clock in the morning. What are you doing?" Oliver appeared at the door rubbing his eyes, his hair a complete mess. She dried her face and hands and rested them on the counter.
"Can't sleep. What are you doing?" She kept her eyes down, watching the water drain from the sink.
"I woke up and heard the water running. You look wide-awake. What's wrong?"
She didn't answer, and he studied her for a moment. They had known each other for almost ten years, more than half of their lives, and he knew her like the back of his hand. Gwen could almost say the same of him, though he was more guarded, even with her. Still, there was an uncanny connection between the two. When she remained silent, he took a guess.
"Did you have that dream again?" Nothing got by him. After a few seconds, Gwen nodded but didn't look at him.
"Twice." She heard the patter of his bare feet across the tiled floor and felt a hand on her back. "But the first time I woke myself up before it really got started." Finally, she brought her head up to look at him in the mirror. "It didn't end at the light this time. I was kneeling by his body before I woke up." He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, folding his arms around her. She buried her face in his bare chest.
"You need to get some sleep. C'mon," Oliver said, leading her back down the hall to her room after shutting off the bathroom light. He tried to move forward, but she stopped in the doorway.
"I can't go back in there. I can't sleep in that bed." Gwen started crying and shaking, wanting to get away from the room that used to belong to her grandparents.
"Shh... okay, its okay. You don't have to go in there then. Will you be all right in one of the guest rooms, or do you want to go home?" he asked with concern. She looked up at him with wide eyes that were bright with tears.
"Can I sleep with you?" She almost whispered the request. He hesitated. "Please, I can't sleep alone." He gave in and she followed him to his room. The sheets were sort of messy, as though he had been tossing and turning in his sleep, but at the moment, she was too distraught to ask about it.
Gwen crawled into bed and Oliver closed the bed curtains, as though trying to shut out her nightmares. Pulling the blankets up to her chin, she settled her head on his chest. She was so afraid to go to sleep that she was almost lying on top of him, one leg hooked over his. He stroked her hair until she finally drifted off.
She was in a forest. It was very dark despite the full moon in the sky above. Looking around, Gwen realized she was in a clearing surrounded by pine trees. Suddenly she noticed an older man in front of her; one who was vaguely familiar.
"Grandpa!" she exclaimed, trying to get his attention, but he didn't seem to see or hear her. He appeared to be listening intently for something. Gwen heard a rustling and another figure stepped into the clearing hooded and cloaked. It shouted something... there was a bright green light... her grandfather lay dead on the ground. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she knelt by the lifeless body.
The hooded figure stepped forward into the moonlight, chuckling. He kicked Peter over onto his back and lowered his hood, looking down at the body in disgust.
"You should have chosen a different profession, Grey. One that would have let you live out your days in peace." Infuriated by the murderer's condescending attitude, Gwen looked up into his face, wanting to burn it into her memory so she would know him when she saw him.
He was tall and looked to be very strong, a sturdy, well-built man with a set jaw. He had dark hair and a thin mustache to match. There was a cruel glint in his dark eyes. She stood, but the scene began to fade.
"I saw him," Gwen said, opening her eyes. She lay on her back, her arms and legs bent and folded from tossing and turning.
"Saw who?" Oliver asked from the other side of the bed. "Are you all right? You've been rolling all over the place for the past five minutes." He was sitting up and one of the curtains was pulled back to let in some moonlight. "I tried to wake you, but you just kept tossing and turning."
"I saw him," she repeated, sitting up herself. "I saw my grandfather's murderer."
They sat in silence for a moment, leaning against the headboard, the bed curtains on Oliver's side drawn. Pale blue moonlight flooded in.
"Are you sure what you saw was real?" Oliver asked. Somehow, she sensed his doubt.
"One hundred percent positive," she responded. "I know that was him. I'll find him if it's the last thing I do." Gwen rubbed her eyes. "I really can't sleep now." Hopping out of bed, she grabbed her pillow and pulled the comforter off the bed, dragging it with her.
"Where are you going with my blanket at four a.m.?" Oliver called.
"Outside," she said simply as she walked out the door and into the hall.
"Why? Hey, wait for me!" She heard his footsteps following her.
Gwen continued through the various rooms, making her way out to the soft, green lawn behind the house after grabbing her wand. She lay the blanket flat and set her pillow down on one side. Then, she raised her wand and cast a bug-repelling charm above and around the blanket so she would not bothered on what was left of the warm summer night.
"Where's your pillow?" she asked Oliver, who watched her in a state of confusion.
"Uh... inside. I didn't know I'd need it."
"Well, are you staying or going back inside?"
"You stole my blanket, so I might as well stay," he laughed. Gwen smiled and conjured him a pillow, which he then laid down near hers. "Why are we out here again?" He watched as she lay on her back.
"To watch the stars." She crossed her ankles and folded her hands on her belly. With a smile, he copied her posture. Away from the city, like they were then, a billion stars sparkled in the dark blue sky.
"Do you remember my first Quidditch game?" Oliver asked suddenly after fifteen minutes of stargazing.
"You mean the one when you took a Bludger to the head and spent a week knocked out in the hospital wing?"
"Yeah, that'd be the one. I didn't even last five minutes," he chuckled.
"I'm glad you can laugh about it. That was the scariest week of my life." She rolled to her side and focused her attention on him.
"What do you mean?" He obviously didn't understand. "I was all right in the end."
"I spent every spare moment in the hospital wing next to your bed." She frowned, thinking about it, and resumed her supine position. "I was afraid you were never going to wake up. I didn't want to lose my best friend."
Oliver propped himself up on one arm and moved over until he leaned above her. She turned her head away, hoping he could not see the tears starting to build up in her eyes.
"Look at me, Gwen," he said softly, reaching out to lightly touch the far side of her face. She turned her head back and he made eye contact with her before continuing. "You'll never lose me, Gwen." He placed her hand on his bare chest. "As long as my heart is beating, and even after that. I'll haunt you if I have to," he added with a smirk.
"Promise?" she asked as a tear escaped the corner of her eye.
"I promise." He let go of her hand to wipe the tear away with his thumb, then brought his pillow closer to hers, and put his head back down. He patted his chest and she accepted the invitation, using him as her headrest. He pulled the blanket over to cover their bodies and they resumed their stargazing.
"Look!" Gwen exclaimed as a shooting star streaked across the sky. "Make a wish!" Her eyes followed the meteor as she took her own advice.
"What did you wish for?" Oliver inquired, causing her to lift up her head.
"I can't tell you that," she smiled.
"Why not? I thought we told each other everything."
"If I tell you my wish, it won't come true." She moved her head closer to his.
"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow. "In that case, I won't tell you mine either." His arms wrapped more firmly around her, one hand moving up toward her head.
With one swift movement, Oliver rolled Gwen over onto her back. Grinning, she brought her head up to kiss him, not minding his weight. His left hand stayed under her head while the right rested on her hip, her arms wrapped around his neck. He lowered his head so she could rest hers on the pillow again. His tongue slid into her mouth; he got straight to the point. Gwen couldn't remember hooking her legs around his, but his hips fit nicely against hers.
With his groin pressed firmly against hers, Oliver certainly felt ready to go. The kisses got longer and harder as his hand rubbed her hip and started sliding around to her bottom. Gwen's hand on the back of his neck pulled their foreheads together as she gently broke lip contact.
"I must say, Mr. Wood, that you have never before approached me with such ardor," she said in a low voice, eyes half-closed. He ever so slightly ground his hips and she gasped.
"I know." He grinned at her reaction and reattached his lips to hers. And to think that less than 10 hours ago he ran away for what Gwen was feeling right now. Her fingers tangled in his hair while their tongues danced. He squeezed her butt and her eyes fluttered open. However, it was the sight before her and not his hands that elicited another gasp.
"Oliver, look," she breathed, his lips on her cheek, making their way to her neck. He seemed a little too caught up in the moment to realize she was not really responding to him anymore. "Oliver," she tried again, pushing gently on his shoulder.
Finally, he looked into her spellbound face, staring up at the heavens. He saw what was reflected in her eyes and rolled to his side, becoming transfixed by the dozens of meteors streaking across the sky.
"Gwen, that's beautiful and all but..." He trailed off and shifted uncomfortably. Despite the fact that she had a very aroused Oliver next to her, pressing himself against her leg to try to get her attention, Gwen couldn't seem to lower her eyes from the sky. It was as though she was under an enchantment, the scene so stunned her. "Gwen?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you mind..." She could sense his inner conflict. On the one hand, he was an extremely horny teenage boy, lying next to his girlfriend with no parental supervision. On the other hand, he lay next to his life-long best friend. After a long debate, a winner emerged.
"Where are you going?" Gwen asked as he stood up and headed toward the house.
"To take a long, cold shower."