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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No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They all knew that the castle was being searched and the whole house stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Gwen and Ron sat on the sofa together, both pale and shaking, answering everyone's curious, frightened questions until Professor McGonagall came back at dawn to tell them that he had escaped, again.
Everywhere they went the next day, there were signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognise a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down corridors, blocking off everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes, and, to the Gryffindor house's secret delight, Sir Cadogen was sacked. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been fully restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had only agreed to return to her job on the condition that she was given extra protection. For that reason, a bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the sizes of the clubs.
It was the statue of the one eyed witch on the third floor that concerned Gwen the most; it remained unguarded and unblocked, and it seemed that she, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Fred and George were the only ones aware that it was there. Gwen tried to remind herself that if Sirius Black had gotten in through the Honeydukes cellar, there would have been some sort of news that the shop had been broken into.
On the other hand, Gwen and Ron had become instant celebrities. It was the first time that Ron was receiving more attention than Harry, and he was basking in it. Gwen, however, had had her taste of school fame when she had been found out as the person who had opened the Chamber of Secrets, and was not so keen on it.
The two of them had been pulled into Professor McGonagall's office for interviews the day after it had happened. Ron told his story first, just as Gwen had heard over a hundred times in the last few hours.
'... Was asleep and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But there was this draught... I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down... I rolled over... and I saw him standing over me... like a skeleton with loads of filthy hair... holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches... and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scarpered.'
Professor McGonagall's lips were tight. She scribbled something on a piece of parchment, then turned to Gwen.
'Why were you in the common room, Miss Everill?'
'I go down there sometimes when I can't sleep,' Gwen said.
Professor McGonagall nodded. 'So you would have seen Black enter?'
'No,' said Gwen. 'I was asleep, and woke up when I heard Ron screaming.' She told the rest of her story, in great detail, explaining everything from Black appearing at the bottom of the staircase, to the books flying across the room, to her launching herself at him.
