"C'mon, Wood, we'll be late for--" The male voice stopped abruptly as the curtain on the left side of the bed opened. Light flooded in and Gwen pulled the blankets up to shield her eyes. "--breakfast. Hey, Alex, have a look at this."

"Good morning, Gwen," a second male voice said. Oliver stirred at Gwen's back.

"Bugger off," he muttered in his thick Scottish brogue, tightening an arm around her waist.

"Good thing Percy already left," the first voice said. Gwen threw the covers off her face and tried to sit up, but Oliver's arm held her down. Nathan, that's his name.

"So, Wood, what's this girl doing in your bed?" Alex asked curiously.

"I was sleeping," she told him. "C'mon, Oliver, we have to get up." He rolled over and nearly fell off the bed, causing Gwen to laugh. She opened the curtains on the other side of the bed and swung her legs over just as the dormitory door creaked open.

"I forgot my-- Gwen!" Percy exclaimed, a shocked expression behind his horn-rim glasses. "You can't be in here! And certainly not in Oliver's bed!" The prefect badge on his chest gleamed.

"I don't recall any specific rules against it," Gwen said slyly.

"Well--" He cut his words short when he failed to summon a rule, involuntarily touching his badge.

"I was able to go up the stairs, so obviously girls are allowed in the boys' dormitories. I didn't disturb anyone. And, most importantly, nothing happened to produce any sound but a snore." The other boys hid their grins as she talked her way out of trouble.

"Fine, I'll let you off with a warning, but only because we're friends. But if I ever catch you in here after a night in that bed, I'll have to deduct points for immoral conduct and inform Professor McGonnagal," Percy said.

"Very well, then," Gwen replied. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go get dressed." She could feel Oliver's eyes on her back as she slipped out the door.

Inside the dorm room, three sets of eyes swiveled from the door to Oliver, who was now standing next to his bed.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Oliver asked innocently.

"Let's have it, Wood," Nathan said.

"Out with it," Percy demanded, puffing out his chest.

"She told you what happened," Oliver answered, and began looking for clean clothes.

"Bull." Alex crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a bedpost.

"Look, I don't know why she came in here." Oliver looked from one of them to the other, holding their eyes. "She came in around two and said she couldn't sleep, so I let her get in bed with me." He raised his voice when Percy threatened to interrupt. "As you all saw, we were both still dressed when you opened the curtain. And none of you awoke to the sound of any... disturbing noises. Just like Gwen said."

"But if you had...?" Alex began.

"Let's just say you definitely would have heard something." Oliver concealed a grin by returning to his trunk.

The hallways were abuzz with talk of the writing on the wall and the stiff body of Mrs. Norris found hanging from a sconce. None of the professors were very forthcoming, which did nothing to improve the situation. Finally, in History of Magic on Tuesday, a very persistent student drew the story of Hogwarts' founding from Professor Binns. Gwen prodded Oliver from his boredom-induced stupor to make him pay attention. No one was surprised that Slytherin didn't play nice with the other founders. Binns insisted the story of the chamber was pure myth, but no one believed him.

Oliver wanted to get in one last Quidditch practice before the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match, so the Thursday evening prior he dragged the team down to the pitch. Gwen, of course, remained in the common room to practice Transfiguration. She was supposed to be able to change the color of her hair, and she has had a slight difficulty making it purple. Hermione watched her from a nearby chair with interest.

"Ooh, so close!" she said. "Red that time. Try it again."

Gwen closed her eyes and concentrated, envisioning the color purple while she tapped her head. Cautiously, she opened one eye and looked in the mirror. "Blue!" she exclaimed. "I think I've gone through every color of the rainbow. Well, at least the color is even now. I've never really liked purple, you know. Maybe if I had something purple to look at," she said, her frustration rising.

"Hang on a tic!" Hermione yelled excitedly and dashed up the girls' stairs. Gwen glared at her blue hair in the mirror, and moments later Hermione came bounding down the stairs, a purple scarf in her hand. "Here you go, Gwen!"

"Hermione, I think I love you," Gwen laughed, taking the scarf from the second year girl and facing the mirror again. "Let's see how this works." Gripping the scarf in her left hand, she stared at it before closing her eyes, keeping the image in her mind. With her wand in her right hand, Gwen tapped her head again.

"Gwen, you did it!" Hermione shouted jubilantly, clapping her hands. Gwen quickly opened her eyes to find her hair a perfect shade of purple.

"Thanks for the help, Hermione. You really are brilliant." Gwen was trying to remember the reversal spell when her thoughts were interrupted.

Gwen!

She whirled around, searching for the source. That was Oliver's voice, but it sounded like it was in her head. She dropped the shield that kept her from distracting Oliver at practice, trying to discern his location. Judging by distance and direction, he was still at the pitch.

"Gwen? What's wrong?" Hermione asked nervously. Without answering, Gwen rushed out of the common room, pushing past Harry and Ron on the other side. A little further down the corridor, she slipped between Fred and George, ignoring their greeting. Or was it a question about something? She ducked behind a tapestry in the next hallway before reaching Angelina and Alicia, taking the secret passages shown to her by the twins in order to get out of the castle quickly.

Oliver was becoming increasingly panicky, and she reached the Entrance Hall as quickly as possible. Bursting through the open front doors, she set off for the Quidditch pitch at a run. Following the invisible trail, the locker room door flew open before her. She rounded the corner into the boys' section and immediately spotted Oliver, whose back was against the wall opposite her.

"Gwen!" he called out with relief. It was then that she noticed Katie standing in front of him. She didn't know how she missed her in the first place, since her hands were halfway to winding around his neck. She quickly dropped them and turned around to face Gwen.

"Oh, Gwen, I was just..."

"Stuff it, Bell," Gwen hissed. "What are you doing in here?"

"Maybe you should ask Oliver," Katie said slyly. Gwen raised an eyebrow at her audacity and drew herself up to her full height. Oliver quietly slipped out from behind Katie and moved closer to Gwen. "He said he wanted to see me after practice."

"I said I wanted to talk to you after practice," Oliver objected heatedly. "Talk. About your performance on the pitch. I felt it was slipping today."

"Oh, is that all?" Katie said, her tone implying that there was more.

"Yes," Oliver answered tersely, his voice hardening. "If you pull a stunt like this again, you're off the team. And you better shape up before Saturday's match."

"You can leave now." Gwen jerked her head toward the door, the necklace that she pulled out from under her sweater glowing angrily. Katie must have remembered the day Gwen attacked Flint, because she picked up her broom and scampered out of the locker room. The door shut with a bang behind her.

Suddenly, Gwen rounded on Oliver. "You could have let me say something, you know!"

"What?" He seemed stunned.

Gwen sighed in frustration "It's a girl thing. She's in here making moves on my boyfriend, and I hardly got to tear into her!"

"Well, I do need her intact and able to play Saturday," Oliver protested. Gwen's eyes bulged and she rubbed her temples. Remember who you're talking to. Breathing deeply, she tried to calm herself.

"Fine. So what happened?" She looked him straight in the eye, daring him to leave out a single detail.

"You heard most of it already. All right!" He threw his hands up defensively. "She wasn't doing well at practice, so I said I wanted to talk to her afterward. Once everyone else left, she came in here. I was half dressed so I threw on my sweater and sat down on the bench. She sat too close, and every time I moved away, she moved closer. I tried talking to her about practice and she swooped in and kissed me. Needless to say, I jumped up and away from her. I tried reaching out for you."

"I heard you," Gwen interrupted.

"Heard me? But I did it mentally."

"Yes, but I heard you, in my head." Oliver furrowed his brow, but Gwen thought back to the day when they were first bonded. He was really worried about her, and she could hear his thoughts... "Anyway, what happened next?"

"She kept saying things like... she misses being with me, and she shouldn't have let you 'steal me away.' She was going to kiss me again, I think, when you showed up. Thanks, by the way."

Gwen studied him for a moment, though she already knew he wasn't lying. "It better never happen again." Oliver simply nodded, knowing she meant it for Katie, who wasn't present. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes while Gwen regained her composure.

"So," Oliver began tentatively, "why is your hair purple?"