THE TRUTH UNTOLD | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

𝘅𝘅𝘃𝗶 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸

  'Here, try one of these,' he said, holding out the box. Both Gwen and Ginny took one, popping their sweets into their mouths. Ginny seemed to enjoy hers, opening her mouth to speak when, instead of words, vanilla scented bubbles left her lips. She giggled, blowing bubbles at Colin Creevey and another Gryffindor first year.

  Gwen, however, did not like hers. It tasted stale as she ate and she grimaced at George, who was only smiling at her mischievously, then, as she went to tell him that he needed better taste in sweets, fire came from her mouth.

  She screamed, jumping back and almost knocking over a bookcase, while George only laughed at her.

  'What was that for?' she gasped, when the fire subsided. 'What is that?'

  'Ah, I can't share my secrets,' he grinned, offering her another which she blatantly refused. 'I'll tell you one day, if I can trust you.'

  Gwen mocked offense. 'I'm very trustworthy.'

  'Hmm,' George hummed. 'We'll see.'

  The Gryffindor party only ended when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net at one in the morning to insist that they all went to bed. Gwen said goodbye to Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins, and joined Lavender, Parvati and Clara up to their dormitory, chattering animatedly.

  'Oh, wait,' Gwen whispered as they got to the door, 'Hermione might be asleep.'

  Nodding, the other girls followed Gwen quietly into the dorm, and sure enough, the curtains around her bed were drawn. Gwen whispered Hermione's name as the other three went to brush their teeth, but there was no response, not even a movement, from behind the curtain, so Gwen got changed and climbed into bed.

  She was buzzing so much from the excitement of the day that she was awake for ages after the other girls fell asleep. Gwen tossed and turned, trying her hardest to get some rest, but eventually, she gave up, took a book from her nightstand and crept down to the common room.

  In her cosy pyjamas and fluffy socks she'd received for Christmas, she curled up in front of the dying fire, opening her book and settling in.

  She nodded off, after a long time, but it might not have been that long because she'd only read a few pages. She dreamed of a big black dog, brushing past her as she lay on the sofa. It sniffed her, and she opened her eyes through the dreamy fog, reached out to stroke its head, and then it wandered away and up to the dormitories.

  That was funny, it looked like it had a knife clutched in its teeth.

  Her dream was empty for a while, with nothing but the crackle of the dying fire reaching her ears, and then--

  'AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH! NOOOOOOOO!'

  Gwen woke suddenly as though she had been hit in the face-- she jumped up, startled, scared, her body slipping off the sofa and onto the floor, the dim fire being her only source of light as she blinked herself awake--

  She was sure she heard a door slam somewhere upstairs, hurried footsteps--

  She was on her feet, alert, wide awake--

  And there. There he was.

  The next five seconds passed in a lifetime. Standing there, grubby, dirty and stick thin, hollow eyes focused directly on Gwen, was him. His clothes were hanging from his body, baggy and torn, ripped in several places, shabbier than she'd ever seen before, shabbier than his photos... and in his right hand, he clutched a blade.

  Sirius Black stared at her-- a million thoughts ran through Gwen's mind in a split second--

  Her wand-- it was on her bedside table-- Oh, Merlin, how could she be so stupid? She always had her wand on her--