Heavenly Waters||Sirius Black

Chapter 5

Gwen took pride in her relatively serene perspective on life.

She had her routine, drank out of the same cup every morning, placed her toothbrush in the same exact place on the left side of the sink. She even pushed her chair in the same way. She liked certain things a certain way.

But other things were messy. Her writing desk, her now overgrown garden, her rusted bike. She didn't hate the mess, as long as it was a mess that she had chosen to create.

Her luggage was one of those things.

She crinkles her nose slightly when she has to hurriedly slap a hand over her suitcase, holding it shut despite the clothing that spills out of the sides. Her trunk hovers behind her as she walks up the path from Hogsmeade, far too heavy to drag behind her with one hand while trying to keep a hold of her suitcase.

She'd sent some things ahead, actually shipping them via owls to Dumbledore, much to her chagrin. Dumbledore was messy in the way that all Gryffindor's were, and she didn't like the idea of him throwing her things up in her office in a way that she deemed too chaotic for her liking.

Though she soon realizes that there's a mess that she hadn't reckoned with in some time.

Standing there, the birds chirping and the slight wind blowing in the last breezes of summer. Standing there, is Hogwarts.

Her home.

Her throat feels uncomfortably tight. She stares quizzically at the castle before her, wondering why she'd thought it would have changed. It hadn't. Though perhaps she had.

She chews anxiously on the inside of her cheek, shifting back and forth on her feet as familiar haunting memories of laughter and music and voices fill her mind. A mess. A complete, angst inducing, tear jerking mess.

Gwen sucks in a quick breath to ease the weight in her chest, lowering her head and continuing onward. She just had to keep moving. She needed to keep moving. If she stopped now, she was certain she would flee not only Hogwarts, but the country. She'd yet to craft a contingency plan, her escape act if necessary. That was quickly becoming the number one item on her to do list.

She trudges up the hill, her anxiety yet to fade. It only grows as she approaches the castle. She's grateful she'd gotten here early enough to reacquaint herself with the stone walls and all of the things within. She missed the portraits, the ghosts. She was rather eager to see what had changed, who was still there.

Though when she sees the person waiting for her at the large front doors, she forgets for a moment about the mess in her mind, the way that Hogwarts was the only ghost she had ever been afraid of.

Gwen let's her trunk and suitcase hit the stone floor with a thud, her lips twitching as she approaches her old friend. It's surreal, standing here. She blinks a few times before saying simply,

"Professor."

Filius Flitwick had never looked so full of holstered emotions in his life. He was practically brimming with excitement, pride, and perhaps a slight bit of sadness. His mustache moves when he smiles, staring up at his old student as he greets in reply,

"Professor."

Gwen can't fight her faint smile, though it only grows as his shocked expression when she says calmly, "I suppose it's a good thing I never gave you my five year plan. I couldn't have dreamed up probation."

He opens his mouth to say something she's sure is sympathetic and kind, but she can't stop now. That's what she always needed Dorcas for, someone to tell her when to stop.