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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With the promise that she may never have to hear Tom Riddle's voice again, and the fact that Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match, Gwen's prospects began to lighten. She felt as though there was something to actually look forward to now. Gryffindor were not out of the league, however they could not afford to lose another match, so the Anti-Dementor lessons were looking to be very important. Dumbledore's fury during the last match had made it clear to the Dementors that they were not to come onto the grounds, and there was no hint of them when Wood pressed the Gryffindor team to play harder than ever in the chilly haze of rain that continued into December.
Two weeks before the end of term, the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling white and the muddy grounds one morning were covered in a dusting of glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick had decorated the Charms classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be fairies.
The students were all happily discussing their plans for the holidays. When McGonagall came round with the list of names who would be staying at Hogwarts that year, Gwen, Ron and Hermione all put their names down almost instantly. They came up with excuses of course, for Harry's sake, but they were really doing it to keep him company over the holidays.
There was also to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of term.
'We can do all our Christmas shopping there!' said Hermione. 'Mum and Dad would really love those Tooth Flossing Stringmints from Honeydukes!'
So on the last weekend of term, once again with Harry absent, Gwen, Ron and Hermione went to Hogsmeade. Gwen tried to ignore the skeletal horses when they climbed into the coaches. She didn't mention them again.
As they did last time, upon arriving at Hogsmeade, Gwen, Ron and Hermione set off into the shops to get the things Harry had liked most. The thatched roofs of the Hogsmeade buildings were covered in a thick layer of snow and the candles that dotted the trees were bathing the streets in their warm glow. As they stepped out onto the high street, of course, they began with Honeydukes.
They filled their shopping bags once again, getting as much as they could carry. They went through each section, grabbing their own sweets and some for Harry.
'Oh, Harry liked the Pepper Imps,' Gwen said, tipping four bags of the sweets into Harry's shopping bag.
'And a Honeydukes Mix, can't go wrong with that,' said Ron.
They shuffled around the shop, picking and choosing from the different categories.
'What about these?' said Ron, picking up a bag of hard, red bonbons which Gwen couldn't even pronounce.
'Urgh, no, Harry won't want those, they're for Vampires, I expect,' Hermione said.
'How about these?' said Gwen, picking up a jar of Cockroach Cluster.
