Haunted by her second year and now with a murderer on the loose, Gwenevere Everill finds herself facing more battles that she does not think she can win.
Tormented by dementors and struggling under the impact of her new studies, will Gwen be able t...
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As January faded into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather, Gwen found herself seeking out Theo more often. She couldn't explain why, but whenever she had a spare moment, she'd look to make eye contact with him, or pass him in the corridor, or send him a smile across the Great Hall.
The match against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer, and with too much else to think about, Gwen found it difficult to put much thought to Theo. Harry had still had no news of the Firebolt, and Gwen and Ron would wait after every Transfiguration class while Harry spoke to McGonagall about when he could get it back.
On the twelfth time this happened, Harry emerged once again, looking downcast and repeating the same thing that McGonagall had told him since the first time he'd asked. Professor Flitwick and Madame Hooch were still working on it.
With Harry's low mood and the game approaching, both he and Gwen were struggling more and more in their Anti Dementor lessons with Professor Lupin. Harry didn't pass out anymore, but he was getting progressively more drained after every lesson. For Gwen, while Tom's voice was now just a static in the back of her mind, the energy would completely flood from her body every time she cast a Patronus.
'You're expecting too much of yourself,' said Professor Lupin, in their fourth week of practice. 'For two thirteen year old wizards, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement.'
'I thought a Patronus would-- charge a Dementor down or something,' said Harry as he and Gwen took a seat across from Lupin. 'Make them disappear--'
'A true Patronus does do that,' said Lupin. 'But you;ve both achieved a great deal in a very short amount of time. If the Dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, you will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground.'
'You said it's harder if there's loads of them,' Gwen said.
'I have complete confidence in you both,' said Lupin, smiling. 'And together, you're a force to be reckoned with. Here-- you've earned a drink. Something from the Three Broomsticks, Harry, you won't have tried this before--'
He pulled three bottles out of his briefcase.
'Butterbeer!' Harry blurted. 'Yeah, I like that stuff!'
Lupin raised an eyebrow.
'We brought some back for him,' Gwen said quickly, 'Me, Ron and Hermione.'
'I see,' said Lupin, though he still looked slightly suspicious. 'Well-- let's drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I'm supposed to take sides, as a teacher...'
They drank the Butterbeer in silence, until Gwen voices something she had been wondering for a while.
'What's under a Dementor's hood?'
Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully. 'Hmm... well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor only lowers its hood to use its last and worst weapon.'
