Author's Note
Sorry it's been so long since the last update! Anyway, here the next chapter. If I don't update before Thursday, everyone have a nice Thanksgiving!
Disclaimer- Blah blah...I own none of the characters...

Much later, after classes and dinner and some planning in a dark corner of the common room, Gwen and Harry were sitting together in front of the fire when the clock struck 12:00. Hermione had already turned in, and Draco and Ron had both gone to bed as well after a long game of wizard's chess.
Neither of them could sleep, it had been a long day, but they both had too much on their minds.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you earlier, we could have been partners in potions class. Draco or Hermione should have waited, one of them could have worked with Tom." Harry apologized.

"Don't worry about it, someone is eventually going to have to become acquainted with him. How else are we going to get the diary? It may as well have been me." She said, yawning. "Besides, it's good that Hermione and Draco are working together, I think they're rather enjoying each other's company."

Harry gave her an incredulous look.
"What did Slughorn want earlier when he stopped you after class?" he asked.

"Oh, to invite me to some Halloween party he's having and to tell me how amazing I was." Gwen rolled her eyes.
"You're a part of the Slug Club then. Wow, that only took about an hour. Nice job." Harry said sarcastically.
Gwen frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Slughorn just has a tendency to take advantage of his friendships with his students. My sixth year, he came back to teach and made me a part of his little club. Tom's his favorite you know?"

"Yes, he did mention him earlier." She yawned again.
Harry leant forward and brushed a strand of hair out of Gwen's eyes, his hand lingering a bit on her cheek. "We just…have to be careful, that's all."
His eyes burned into her nearly identical ones.

"I know." She said quietly, and leaned into him, kissing him softly and feeling his hand squeeze hers tight.

"Good night." She told him, and kissed him on the cheek before making her way up the stairs. He watched her until she had turned the corner and was out of sight, before making his own way back to his bed and falling dead asleep.

The next couple of days passed in a less frantic daze than the first had. It was agreed that Gwen should continue this so-called "friendship" she had begun with Tom. Gwen joked that soon he would be asking her if she wanted to become a Death Eater and go over to the dark side with her, but the rest of them weren't laughing.

After Gwen had informed them of the Halloween party that Slughorn was throwing, it was decided that while Tom and Gwen were gone the rest of them would find and destroy Tom's horcrux, the diary. Hermione had the task of researching how one could obtain Basilisk venom, since that had been what destroyed it the first time. Plus, Harry didn't fancy going down and fighting Nangini a second time in order to get the poison.

"Gwen, I believe there are a few hippogriff talons left in the ingredients closet, second shelf up, if you'd like to go fetch some for the rest of the class?" Slughorn asked.

"Of course." She replied, secretly wishing she wasn't one of his favorites now.

"Tom, go help her would you? It's very messy in there." The potions master asked him after Gwen had ducked into the small closet. Harry watched Tom make his way to the closet.

Gwen nearly dropped the bottle she had just picked up when Tom entered.

"Slughorn sent me to help you. Find it yet?" he asked, peering at the labels of each bottle and jar.
"No, too bad they're not alphabetized or something. They all just seem to be randomly thrown in here." She replied.
"Ah, here they are. Hippogriff talons. You go ahead, I'll follow." He motioned to the door.

The closet was very small. So small that Gwen could barely squeeze past Tom, their bodies pressing rather close as she made her way past him to the door.

"Find everything okay in there?" the professor asked, once they both had emerged.

Gwen smiled politely. "No problem at all." She told him, before hurrying over to finish her own potion and hoping Harry hadn't noticed how uncomfortable she was.