Chapter 2: Howler

September 2, 1971 Thursday, 8:10 AM

Early the next morning, Gwen went down to breakfast with Narcissa and Aquila. They opened the large wooden door and quickly skipped over to the Slytherin table where the boys were already eating their breakfast.

"Here, Gwen. You got a letter from your parents," said Rabastan, handing her a envelope with the Black crest encrusted on it.

"Thanks," Gwen replied, taking the letter from him.
She carefully opened the envelope and grinned as she read her parents' letter which held congratulations on her making Slytherin.

Gwen looked up as she heard a explosive sound coming from the Gryffindor table and her eyes widened with surprise as she saw Sirius apprehensively holding a large red envelope. A Howler.

"No…she wouldn't," Gwen whispered with horror.

The next moment, Mrs. Black's magnified voice could be heard all over the Great Hall.

"She would," Gwen groaned.

"SIRIUS BLACK!!!! HOW COULD YOU!!!! GRYFFINDOR?!?! GWEN GOT INTO SLYTHERIN AND YOU HAD TO RUIN EVERYTHING FOR HER-Gwen groaned at this statement; as if Sirius wasn't feeling guilty enough, she had to make him feel worse by rubbing it in his face- AND OURSELVES BY GETTING INTO GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!!!THE CURSED HOUSE FULL OF DIRTY MUBDLOODS AND BLOODTRAITORS!!!! OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN IN SLYTHERIN FOR AGES, HOW COULD YOU DISGRACE OUR FAMILY LIKE THAT?!?!?! I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU!!!!

Sirius wasn't kidding when he said that Mother would go ballistic. I guess I overestimated her capacity for understanding, Gwen thought angrily, before following Sirius who had run out of the hall.

She found him in a empty corridor by himself, looking suspiciously close to tears, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sirius?"

Sirius tensed as he felt her hand on his shoulder and quickly turned around then relaxed as he saw that it was Gwen.

He abruptly pulled her to him and hugged her fiercely.

"I can't believe this. How could this happen? Why Gryffindor? Ever since I can remember, when I thought about Hogwarts, I would always be in Slytherin with you. I never dreamt that I would be in Gryffindor. I never thought that I could end up all alone like this…" Sirius burst out.
"What if…we drift apart because of our House rivalries? Like Bella said…" he finished softly.

"You're not alone Sirius. Sorry to disappoint you but twins are stuck together for life," Gwen said cheerily.
"I'll always be your best friend, no matter what. No amount of House rivalry can keep me from you," she said solemnly, dropping her cheery tone.

"And the rest of the Slytherins will just accept that you're in Gryffindor once they get over the shock. Things will go back to normal, I promise," Gwen tried to assure him.

I was wrong; his old life was gone forever. Everything was different now. Hogwarts would mark the end of his old life and the beginning of a new life.

June 16, 1972 Friday, 1:24 PM

Their first year passed quickly and before they knew it, summer had come upon them and they were on the train back home.

"I'd better go find Sirius now. See you guys later," Gwen said to her friends as she headed out of the compartment.

Gwen looked through the compartment window and a feeling of nostalgia came over her for a moment. Lucius, Aquila, Narcissa, Rabastan, and Magus were still there but in a year's time, Sirius' place had been taken by Severus and Evan.

"Hey guys," Gwen said cheerfully as she entered the compartment in which Sirius, James and Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, two other Gryffindor boys of their year that they had befriended, were sitting.

"Gwen, finally! I thought you'd forgotten about me," Sirius said with mock distress, giving her a bear hug.

"Aww, I missed you too, Siri," said Gwen, hugging him back.

---

"There's Mother and Regulus," said Gwen as she spotted them waiting at the train station.

"And Dad too," she added with surprise.

"Hi Dad, don't you have work today?" greeted Gwen.

"Yes, but of course I have to see my twins back from their first year," said Orion, pulling them both into a hug.

"Mother," greeted Gwen as her mother hugged her.

"Sirius," Walburga said coldly as she turned to Sirius.

"Walburga!" Orion said sharply.

"Regulus!" Gwen and Sirius turned to him and tackled him at the same time.

"Hi guys!" Regulus laughed.

"It was so boring without you two. I can't wait to go to Hogwarts with you this year," said Regulus excitedly.

"I hope you get into Gryffindor so we can be in the same House," Sirius said earnestly.

"He will not," Walburga interrupted coldly.

"One blood traitor in the family is more than enough," she said nastily.

"Walburga, not another word," said Orion warningly.

"Mother, how could you? As if that Howler wasn't enough!" said Gwen reproachfully, as both Sirius and Regulus looked crestfallen.

"Howler? What Howler?" Orion asked, his voice dangerously soft.

"It's nothing, Dad," Gwen said quickly.

"What Howler, Walburga? Did you send Sirius a Howler?" Orion pressed.

"Yes," Walburga finally murmured.

To the children's relief, Orion merely sent Walburga one last quelling glare before heading out of the train station.

---

Gwen woke up with a start and sighed with relief as she saw her surroundings.

It was just a dream. Just a bad dream, she told herself as she lay back in her bed.

The scene from her dream kept repeating in her head and Gwen sat back up, unable to fall asleep. Getting out of bed, she quietly creaked opened her door and began to tiptoe down to the staircase. Pausing at Sirius' door, she slowly opened the door and peeked in.

Sirius was sleeping soundly, with a slight smile on his face and Gwen watched him for a moment, comforted by the smile.

After a minute, she continued on to the staircase and quietly headed down to the kitchen. As she passed her parents' room, their muffled voices could be heard in the silence and Gwen stopped as their voices steadily rose higher.

"Lucky I was there today. I hate to think how nasty you would have been to Sirius if I hadn't been," Orion was saying furiously.

"How can you take this so calmly? What if he turns out like those disgraceful Potters? We shouldn't have let them stay in contact with him!" said Walburga.

"They're his aunt and uncle. We can't keep the child away from the only family he has left in the region."

"Only family? Only family?" said Walburga furiously. "Sirius has us!"

"Besides, the Potters aren't—"

"Not another word, Walburga," said Orion.

"We should have brought Sirius sooner. He was almost six when he came to live with us; he had too much influence already as a child! Gryffindor indeed," her mother declared angrily.

Gwen gasped in surprise. What did Mother mean by 'brought'? Surely it didn't mean that Sirius was adopted?

He was her twin… Did that mean that she was adopted too? She almosthoped she was.
Anything but that…she pled silently.

"Don't you realize what sort of affect he could have on our children? Gwen absolutely adores him and Regulus practically idolizes him!" Walburga nearly shouted.

"Keep your voice down!" Orion commanded.

"What's done is done. There's nothing that can be done by moaning about it. And you're right; Gwen and Regulus do adore him. That's why we must be cautious on the matter. We cannot risk having them nor anyone else hear this conversation. We did not put a memory charm on the children for nothing."

Gwen rushed back to her room as quietly as she could, then collapsed unto her bed.

Sothat was why she had no memory of Sirius being adopted…
And…and Sirius wasn't her twin. Her 'beloved twin' was of no relation to her…

They weren't twins after all; they were not siblings or even half brother and sister.

Anything but that, she had pled. Because it meant that they were nothing to each other.

Gwen burst into a sob as the realization hit home, and burrowed her face against her pillow to muffle her cries. When she had finally managed to control her tears, Gwen crept to Sirius' room so as to not wake him up, then quietly slipped into his bed beside him as she usually did whenever she needed comfort.

"Gwen? What's wrong, Starr?" Sirius asked sleepily.

'Starr' was Gwen's middle name which only Sirius was allowed to call her by. Both Sirius and Regulus were named after constellations and she felt that her mother had gone a little too far in the 'name your child after a star' thing in naming Gwen. Apparently, her father had thought so too since he had put his foot down when her mother had wanted to name Gwen 'Starr' instead and she had had to settle for having it as Gwen's middle name.

"Nothing. I just had a nightmare. The worst I ever had…" said Gwen with a slight shudder.

"It'll be alright. I'm here," Sirius comforted her as he put his arm around her protectively and gently kissed her forehead.

Yes, it would be alright. She would make sure it was. Sirius must never have to bear the shock and pain she had gone through tonight. Sirius must never discover the truth, even if it killed her to hide it, Gwen resolved.

She realized that it didn't matter that they weren't really twins. All that mattered was that they loved one another as much as twins did.

That night, Gwen had felt shock, hurt, sorrow, yet also relief. She didn't understand that particular emotion until much later when she realized that the love she felt for Sirius was more than just the love for a brother.

Much more.

Second Year

September 9, 1972 Saturday, 9:43 AM

Gwen sighed nervously as she waited for her turn to try out.

It had been a week since school started and try outs for the Slytherin quidditch team was being held today.

Gwen was trying out for the Seeker position and normally, she wouldn't have been worried since she had played Seeker for years.

But the Slytherin quidditch captain was Kendrick Travers and he had been holding a grudge against her ever since Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor last year.

"Black," announced Travers and smiled coldly at her.

Without warning, he suddenly threw the ball and Gwen immediately went into a dive and managed to catch the ball two feet before it reached the ground. Travers growled and threw the next ball, which she also managed to catch. He threw ball after ball in every direction, his face growing angrier with every ball she caught.

"Next. Malfoy," he finally finished.

Gwen sighed in relief and flew towards her cousin, Bellatrix, who was with her friend Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Relax, you were the best out there today," said Bella as she smiled at her with pride.

"Thanks, but Travers has been holding a grudge against me since the beginning of last year," Gwen said gloomily then proceeded to explain the incident with Travers and Sirius.

"Don't worry about it. We'll confront him if he tries anything," Rodolphus assured her.

"Thanks," she beamed.

"Anything for my favorite little cousin," replied Bella, tousling her hair.

A week later, Bellatrix and Rodolphus watched as Travers began to organize the final list for the quidditch team.

"Why did you eliminate Gwen? She's clearly the best Seeker we got. And you've seen her fly in the past. You've admitted yourself that she's the best Seeker amongst us," Bellatrix said angrily.

"You always used to pick her to be on your team whenever we played quidditch. You're not eliminating her just because of some stupid grudge, Travers," added Rodolphus.

"And if I do?" Travers inquired smugly.

"Then I'm dropping out," said Bellatrix and Rodolphus at the same time. They turned to each other and smiled then turned back unto Travers and continued to glare at him.

Travers glared angrily at them then gave in. They were the best players on the team and how would he fill two Beater positions before their upcoming match with Gryffindor?

Hehad to beat Dominic this year. This was his last year and he would not be beaten by that bloodtraitor again. And he had to admit, that Black girl considerably improved his chance of winning the quidditch cup this year.

"Fine. She's in," he growled.

Bellatrix smirked and said smugly, "I knew you would see it our way, Travers."

September 18, 1972 Monday, 2:45 PM

Sirius and James were waiting for Gwen, who had gone to her common room to see the new quidditch team list, under the willow tree along with Remus and Peter.

Sirius had also tried out for the quidditch team, along with James, for the position of Beater. However, their new quidditch captain Marlene Dominic had privately told them that they had made the team, right after try outs, so they weren't worried.

Sirius quickly stood up as he saw Gwen head out and waited apprehensively.

"Sirius! Sirius! I'm on the team," Gwen yelled out happily as she ran towards him. Once she had reached the tree, she jumped into his arms and he spun her around, laughing.

Travers who had been walking past made a disgusted faced and smirked nastily, "Why are you two so happy? You have to play against each other."

His words had the desired effect and they immediately stopped laughing.

"I forgot about that," said Gwen solemnly.

"It's going to be the first time we go against each other," Sirius said wistfully.

Whenever they had played with teams, Sirius and Gwen had always been together.

Always.

January 14, 1973 Sunday, 10: 20 PM

Sirius snickered as he and Gwen flew towards the window of their Potions Professor's class on the 3rd level.

Slughorn, with his jolly and obnoxious nature, was one of the Marauder's favorite targets for their pranks.

Remus, who had gone to Slughorn on the pretense of needing extra help due to his 'illness', hid a grin as he spotted Sirius and Gwen.

Gwen fluttered a white plastic shower curtain by the window, which was Remus' cue to point towards the window and curiously say, "Look at the window Professor! What is that?"

Being the nosy person he was, Slughorn hurried towards the window to get a closer look and Remus took the chance to hide his wand.

Gwen carefully raised the curtain so that the end was at shoulder level and Slughorn promptly took the bait and pulled the end of the curtain into the room.

Immediately, Sirius poured a bucket of ice-cold water unto the curtain and Slughorn emitted a roar of surprise as he was instantly drenched.

Slughorn stuck his head out to look for the culprits but only succeeded in nearly falling out the window, and probably would have had Remus not pulled him in.

Remus who had been trying to look innocent and bewildered the entire time nearly burst out laughing when Slughorn turned around.

"The look on his face!" Remus laughed, once the Marauders were back in the safety of their dormitory.

Slughorn began to look for his wand and turned to Remus. "Have you seen my wand?"

"No, sir," Remus said innocently, speaking in a respectful tone, whilst he kicked the wand further away from view.

Slughorn sighed. "I must have left it in my chamber," he muttered "Do you know how to do a drying spell then?"

"I left my wand in my dormitory, sir," said Remus.

"You must keep your wand with you at all times," Slughorn said impatiently.

"But sir, you left your wand too," Remus replied slyly.

"I suppose I'll have to return to my chamber," Slughorn said hastily.

Once Slughorn has gone back inside, Sirius took out the two-way mirror which Uncle Charles had given him and James for Christmas.

"James, are you ready yet? He just left," he said into the mirror, as Slughorn ushered Remus out of the classroom and headed to his sleeping quarters to retrieve his wand. Before Remus was out of the room, Gwen carefully 'accioed' Slughorn's wand and placed it under his desk.

"Yes, we're ready," James said.
"He's here; he's shivering," he snickered several minutes later.

Sirius who had flown over to Slughorn's window carefully peeked in. Slughorn was practically ripping his room apart, trying to find his wand. Finally, he resignedly headed to the bathroom.

"He's heading to the showers; I hope he doesn't take a long time," Sirius said with a bored sigh.

"He's out," Sirius finally said and grinned evilly, "All fresh and clean and dry."

James who had filled a large pail, the size of a garbage can, with water carried the pail to Slughorn's door with Peter and Remus' help.

James leaned the pail against the door then knocked loudly and rushed around the corridor where Peter and Remus were hiding under the cloak.

As Slughorn opened the door, the pail fell in, flooding the room and drenching him with water once again.

The Marauders howled with laugher as he let loose a pitiful roar of helpless aggravation.

Sirius and Gwen who were peeking in through the window nearly died laughing as they saw the look on his face when he turned around.

"He looked ready to cry," Sirius later said to the other three Marauders.

"The poor dear," laughed Gwen.

May 26, 1973 Saturday, 7:40 AM

It was the last match of the year; Slytherin against Gryffindor.

The two Houses were close in running for the Quidditch cup which meant that this match would determine the winner of the Cup.

The Slytherin quidditch team was gathered at their table eating breakfast when Sirius quickly approached them, with the majority of the Gryffindor table watching him.

"Go Gryffindor!" Sirius yelled then proceeded to use his wand like a Muggle water gun to squirt water at the Slytherins.

Needless to say, the Slytherins weren't amused but chose not to bother with him.

"Go Gryffindor!"

"Go Gryffindor!"

"Go Gryffindor!" Sirius repeated several times, as he continued to squirt water, and the Slytherins grew increasingly annoyed.

"Sirius!" Gwen finally shrieked and began to chase him out of the hall, with her own wand drenching him with water.

"Those two…" Bella chuckled, shaking her head.

After breakfast, they headed to their locker rooms then headed out unto the quidditch field.

"Here comes the Slytherin team; Travers, Lestrange, Black, Nott, Wilkes, and the newest additions to the team Malfoy and Black," announced Dorcas Meadows, a Ravenclaw second year who was doing the commentary.

"And the Gryffindor team; Prewett, Yaxley, their new additions Black and Potter, Prewett, Dominic, and Vance."

"Gryffindor in possession, Dominic heads for the goal and –she scores!"

The hour passed in a blur with Gryffindor scoring a record of fourteen goals making the score a hundred forty to ten.

Marlene had always been Gryffindor's star Chaser but combined with James' natural talent and they were practically unbeatable.

"Gryffindor in possession again with Potter; (Bella aimed a Bludger at James, making him drop the Quaffle) Slytherin in possession, Malfoy aims–and once again Prewett saves the goal!"

Gryffindor scored two more times making them lead by a hundred sixty to ten and Gwen had yet to catch more than brief glimpses of the Snitch.

If she were to catch the Snitch now, Slytherin would end up tying with Gryffindor.

Travers would blow his top if they tied with Gryffindor.

"Ihave to beat Dominic," he had said numerous times with that maniacal gleam in his eye.

Really, Gwen thought dryly, it was like some sort of obsession with him.

Gwen watched anxiously as Theodore Nott, Slytherin's star Chaser, made his way to the goal. If he didn't make it, nobody would. Slytherin was doomed to lose the match if he didn't make a goal soon.

"And he scores!" Dorcas announced to loud applause from the Slytherins.

Now would be the perfect time to catch the Snitch, Gwen was thinking anxiously, when she saw a golden glimmer by the stands about a foot off the ground.

Gwen casually flew over to the stands then immediately, without warning, went into a dive. Emmeline Vance, the Gryffindor Seeker, followed suit and dived for the snitch as well.

Emmeline began to close in and Gwen silently urged her nimbus 1500 to go faster until finally-her hands closed around the small golden Snitch and she quickly pulled out of the dive.

However, while she had been going into her dive, James and Marlene had each made a goal, making Gryffindor lead by a hundred eighty to a hundred seventy.

"Incredible! Slytherin catches the Snitch but Gryffindor wins the match. The quidditch cup goes to Gryffindor!" Meadows announced.

Beaten by Dominic again, Travers thought furiously.
"Iwill get my revenge some day," he murmured threateningly to Marlene.

When we meet again, Dominic, I won't be beaten.