Chapter 4: The Leaky Cauldron

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"Finally! I was freezing out there." Sebastian stated as the group entered the Leaky Cauldron.

The inn was busier than it was in the afternoon, and the savoury smell of the cooking dinner filled the air.

"I'm going to put everything in my room," Gwen called out to Sebastian who took off his jacket and sat down around the table with some of the Weasley's were. Sebastian replied with a measly thumbs up.

The girl looked down at all her endless amounts of bags. Gwen tried to carry them along with tiny Atlas in her arms.

"Here let me help," George said as he walked up to the struggling girl.

"Oh, thanks Geor-" Gwen stopped. She expected him to help her with the bags but instead, he grabbed Atlas. Gwen looked at him, clearly annoyed.

George must have felt her stare as he rose his head up. "What? Come on! You don't get a kitten and not expect me to hold him whenever I can!" Gwen simply sighed.

"Here I'll get your bags for you," Fred said as he took a couple from her hands.

"Okay, let's go to room number 15," Gwen said as they started to climb the stairs.

Things were going well until the last step when Gwen suddenly lost her balance and tumbled back. She closed her eyes waiting for her to hit the other two but the fall never came.

Gwen opened her eyes and turned around to see what happened. Fred had instinctively wrapped one of his arms around the girl's waist and helped her stand up properly.

Gwen let out a sigh of relief and wiped some hair out of her face. "Thanks, Fred." Fred nodded gently. "Don't mention it."

The three made it to room number fifteen without any serious injuries. As soon as Gwen entered, she dropped the bags on a chair and took off her shoes.

The twins wasted no time in making the place their own as George was lying on the bed with Atlas and Fred went into the bathroom to check himself in the mirror.

"Hey, George? Can I please have Atlas back?" George groaned and reluctantly handed Atlas to her. "Fine, have him. But you shouldn't let him in this room at all. Athena might eat him. I think it's better if we keep him in our room." George said with a sickly sweet smile.

"Nice try but Athena won't eat him. Isn't that right?" Gwen asked turned to ask her owl who was placed on top of her cage trying to clean her feathers. Athena hooted.

"See George. Besides, the poor creature needs to stretch his legs." Gwen placed the kitten on the ground and watched as he took small, slow steps.

Fred finally came out of the bathroom and walked towards the trunk lying on the edge of the bed. Fred opened it and started to flip everything in it as if searching for something specific.

"What are you doing?" Gwen questioned Fred as she took out some of Atlas' new stuff. Sebastian was right, the paw patterned sheets were cute.

"I'm looking for something. You have a lot of stuff you know, it's hard to find anything. Quills, parchment, socks, books... ooohh your undergarments." Fred said as he continued to rummage through. Gwen felt her blood run cold and quickly ran up to him to slap his hand away.

"I'll stop as soon as I find it. Aha! Here it is." Fred exclaimed as he took out Gwen's Hogwarts letter which was at the very bottom. "Look what I just found," Fred told his brother. George slowly bolted upright, his eyes wide in amazement.

"Is that it?" He asked Fred. Fred nodded and took out the Prefect badge. Both looked at it in disgust.

"Ughh. I'm about to throw up." Fred stated "So am I. One of the only reasons I'm still Gwen's friend is because of Atlas."

Gwen snatched the envelope and red badge away from Fred's hands.

"Okay, that's enough. I need to pack especially now that someone messed up my trunk." She said glaring at Fred.

Fred sighed as he gazed at his brother. "She's talking about you George." Gwen rolled her eyes and started folding the clothes.

"Have you ever wondered why people say a pair of underwear when it's only one article of clothing?" Fred stated after only a few seconds of silence.

George and Gwen both turned around to look at him without saying a word. Fred looked at his twin and then at Gwen, back and forth.

"What? Don't tell me you never thought about it?" Fred asked. Gwen turned back to continue packing her messy suitcase. But that didn't work since only a few seconds after she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"That's one of the stupidest things I ever heard," Gwen stated as she grabbed the bags where her new school items were.

Gwen took out her Cauldron, parchment and quills then her new books.

Gwen eyed the Monster Book suspiciously and kept it a certain distance away. It was brown furry and purring at her, two things that a book should never be. "This thing is scary. I mean look at it. It's moving." Gwen told the twins.

"We were fine using Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I wonder what made Professor Kettleburn change it." Fred wondered as he also started to look at the book that laid in her hands.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We should open it." George said as he took it from Gwen's hands. He was grinning at it, seemingly clueless yet intrigued about what was going to happen.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Gwen reached out to take the book back, but George moved out of the way.

"Come on! What's life without a little risk?" Gwen was about to reply and tell him to stop but he already unlocked the lock on the book.

Then, not so surprisingly, the book started attacking George.

The three of them screamed and jumped onto the bed, away from the terrifying book. "I TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS A BAD IDEA!!" Gwen yelled at George as the book started chewing on the curtains.

"YOU SHOULD'VE KNOWN BY NOW THAT THE MORE YOU TELL ME TO NOT DO SOMETHING, THE MORE I DO IT." He yelled back just as loudly.

Fred laughed at the two who were quarrelling with each other.

"SHUT UP!!"

"GEORGE! GO GET THE BOOK!" Fred yelled as he tried to get his brother's attention.

George shook his head violently. "WHAT? NO. IT'S GWEN'S BOOK, SHE SHOULD GET IT.

Gwen turned to look at him and hit him on the back of his head. "WHOSE IDEA WAS TO OPEN IT? YOURS!"

"NO, I'M NOT GOING TO GET IT, I DON'T WANT TO.." George whined.

The mess was just getting worse. Bits of paper were sprinkled everywhere like confetti and Athena flying in circles around the room and hooting loudly.

Then suddenly the book started chasing a very terrified Atlas.

Gwen started shouting and was about to jump for him but George beat her to it. "HEY DEMON BOOK!! LEAVE THE POOR CAT ALONE!!" George grabbed a random book to use as a weapon and ran after it.

After a few seconds, the book stopped and turned around. It paused for a few moments before then went after him, George's eyes opened wide and he started running away from it. He was running in small circles and the book was on his trail while he was screaming bloody murder.

"This is brilliant," Fred said from next to the Gwen. She looked at Fred in surprise. "BRILLIANT? IT'S GOING TO KILL YOUR BROTHER. I'M COMING GEORGE!"

Gwen quickly grabbed a belt from the trunk and jumped onto the book. She held it down with great difficulty as it tried desperately to escape from her hold. "Stop moving.." Gwen commanded through gritted teeth.

When she stood up, the book tried to leave but Gwen stomped her leg preventing it from doing so.

"Fred, do something useful and tie it up," Gwen said as she handed him the belt without taking her eyes off the demon book.

No one was sure how it exactly happened or how, but they managed to tie it shut. Gwen threw the book in the trunk carelessly and closed it shut.

"Let's find that kitten. You guys know where he went?" She asked while taking a good look around the room. "Oh yeah, I saw him running under the bed," Fred replied.

The girl sighed and bent down on her stomach to look under the bed. In the corner, there was Atlas, rolled up in a ball and trembling with fear. Her heart ached for him.

"Hey, Atlas." Gwen cooed and the kitten turned to look at Gwen. "It's okay. Fred, George and I captured the mean book. You can come out now." Atlas slowly and carefully walked towards Gwen. When he was in her reach, she reached out and scooped him up.

Gwen climbed slowly back on her feet. "Well at least we're all good and nothing was broken." She said while looking down at the kitten. "No, nothing was broken," Fred stated. "But your shirt on the other hand." George continued.

Gwen was confused by what they meant by it. She looked down at her shirt and noticed that the front of it was shredded. "Oh, man... I love this shirt." She stated, looking at it in sadness. "Well, you loved that shirt." George continued.

"Here take him. I'm going to change." She handed George the cat causing his eyes to light up with happiness and grabbed a shirt.

When she opened the trunk her eyes immediately fell on the demon book. "Did you see what you did? I hope that you're happy now."

Fred snorted as Gwen banged the trunk shut. She was about to enter the bathroom when someone knocked on the door.

A head of red hair barged in, holding onto a shoe. "What happened? Who attacked? Did you have to kill anybody because in that case then we need to hide the body as quick as possible." Ginny Weasley was looking frantically around the room, trying to find anything out of the ordinary.

Gwen chuckled at the sight. "No nothing happened, Gin. Just dealing with the problems your idiotic brothers caused." That explanation seemed more than enough to fill Ginny in.

"Anyway, it's nice to see you." She stated as she wrapped her arms around her. "Nice to see you too," Ginny replied as she let go of the shoe she was holding.

Gwen looked at the shoe she just dropped. "Wait, so you enter this room five minutes after the screaming stopped thinking that we were attacked and you thought that a shoe would save our lives?" Gwen questioned Ginny.

Ginny's gaze flickered from the shoe to Gwen. "Yes, basically." Gwen's eyebrows raised at that.

"What? I was in the bathroom doing my business when I heard you shouting and I couldn't just leave. So I waited until I was done and ran out of the room with the first thing that I found."

"Of course you did. Listen, Ginny. Can I talk to you in private?" Gwen asked Ginny and she nodded her head. She grabbed her gently by the arm and directed her towards the bathroom.

"Where are you two going?" Fred and George said together. "Need privacy. Have to talk about girl stuff." Gwen simply replied.

"You can talk about it in front of us. We won't pay any attention." Fred insisted. Gwen swore silently in her mind. "No! It's a very personal question!" Gwen continued.

"So? You don't have to be embarrassed by us." George added as he cradled Atlas to his chest.

"I can't since I need to take off my shirt because lately, I've been thinking that my boobs seem uneven and I need to ask what Ginny thinks of them." She finally snapped at the two causing them to shut up.

Ignoring them, Gwen dragged Ginny to the bathroom. As she closed the door, she heard Fred call out to her. "They look fine to me!"

Gwen sighed before turning to Ginny who was eyeing her boobs. "I don't know what you're seeing. They look good to me." Gwen shook her head frantically.

"That's... that's not what I wanted to talk about. How are you keeping up?" Gwen asked vaguely, referring to the diary incident the year before.

Ginny knew immediately what she was talking about as her face fell slightly. "Surprisingly good. I mean the trip took my mind off it."

"That's good, great actually. But listen to me and believe what I'm about to say. If you need someone to talk to, I'm always available no matter what. And I mean no matter what. During classes, when I'm doing my homework or studying, during detention and even in Quidditch practice. I'll be there for you."

"Thanks, Gwen." Ginny was thankful just for the fact that she had asked her.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Gin? Give me a hug." Gwen exclaimed as she opened her arms wide. Ginny chuckled and instantly reciprocated it.

"OY. YOU TWO DONE TALKING? BECAUSE WE NEED TO GO DOWN TO DINNER." One of the twins yelled.

Gwen changed her top quickly and ran out of the bathroom at the mention of food.

"Hey, can we bring this little guy with us? He's been telling me that he's starving." George exclaimed as he was tickling Atlas' furry head.

Gwen took her kitten out of his arms into her own. "Yes, but I'm holding him," Gwen said and gave the cat a small kiss.

"Oh, he's adorable..." Ginny said, she too was petting the cat.

"Okay, he's the cutest creature on this damn earth. Can we go eat now?" The three of them rolled their eyes in sync.

The four of them walked out of the room and descended the wooden staircase. When she arrived, the Hamilton girl noticed that the remaining of the Weasleys had joined as well.

Apart from the Weasley clan, Hermione Granger was there as well as Harry Potter who was shaking hands with Percy.

The twins shared a smirk and went up to Harry.

Fred elbowed Percy out of the way and took Harry's hand. "Harry! Simply splendid to see you, old boy.."

"Marvelous," said George this time, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand.

"Absolutely spiffing."

Percy scowled as he looked at his brothers and Gwen chuckled.

"That's enough now." Said Mrs Weasley. Fred turned to look at his mother and a grin appeared on his face as he took her hand too.

"Mum! How really corking to see you..."

"I said that's enough you two." She heard Mrs Weasley say as they settled down around the table.

"Hello, Harry, Dear. I suppose you heard our exciting news? Second Head Boy in the family!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed proudly as she wrapped her arms around Percy's shoulders.

"And last," Fred said under his breath.

Mrs Weasley frowned. "I don't doubt that. I notice they haven't made you two prefects."

George looked at his mother revolted. "What do we want to be prefects for? It'd take all the fun out of life." Ginny giggled at this. Mrs Weasley was about to comment something else before Fred cut her off.

"Plus, how could we become prefects when Gwen over here got chosen for that special honour."

Gwen's head immediately whipped towards Fred who simply gave an innocent smile in response. Mrs Weasley's smile returned on her face.

"Gwendolyn, why didn't you tell me earlier? That's fantastic. Come here so I could hug you."

An enormous smile crossed Gwen's lips as she walked up to Mrs Weasley and hugged her. It felt good to have someone that treated you as if you were one of their children.

"Congratulations! I wish you or your brother would have told me earlier. I would have bought you something." Mrs Weasley stated with guilt written all over her face.

"You don't have to worry. It's not a big deal. Plus Sebastian already bought me Atlas as a gift." Gwen reassured with a smile as she turned around to point at her new pet cat who was once again in George's arms.

"Well, of course, it's a big deal, Gwendolyn! Being made a prefect shows a sign of responsibility. People will show you more respect. And the fact that the staff at Hogwarts chose you to represent your house means that they think that you have what it takes to be a leader." Percy added from out of nowhere.

Gwen gave him a fake smile. She didn't want to argue that being a prefect would probably affect nothing.

"And who knows, maybe you can straighten out these two for me." Mrs Weasley added while giving the twins a stern look.

Gwen involuntarily let out a nervous giggle and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Mrs Weasley, but I can safely say that there is no hope of getting those two boys out of the hole that they let themselves fall into."

Mrs Weasley smiled and whispered so Gwen would be the only one to hear. "Well, it doesn't kill me to hope now, does it?" The smile came across Gwen's face once again.

Dinner was about to start so everyone sat in the first free seat that they could find. Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair.

Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlour, and the seven Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and the Hamiltons ate their way through five delicious courses.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred from next to Gwen as they dug into some chocolate pudding. "The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr Weasley.

Everyone looked up at him. "Why?" said Percy curiously. "It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously.

"And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them-"

"-for Humongous Bighead," said Fred.

Everyone except Percy and Mrs Weasley snorted into their pudding.

"Why is the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice. "Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr Weasley, "-and as I work there, they're doing me a favour-"

Mr Weasley talked as if it was nothing but Gwen could see that his ears were turning slightly red from the pressure.

However, no one mentioned anything. "Good job, too," Started Mrs Weasley and everyone turned to look at her. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? Nice sight on the Muggle Underground."

"Oh, look at the time, I better go," Sebastian stated as he stood up from his chair. "What? Already?" Gwen asked as her eyes quickly met his.

He nodded as he pulled on his jacket. "Yes. I have to work tonight." Gwen's spirits fell slightly but refrained from saying anything. She had no idea that he had to leave without seeing her off the next day.

"But don't worry. I'll send you plenty of letters and if you happen to have forgotten something at home. Well... Too bad." Sebastian exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. I get it. Don't die?" Sebastian shook his head. "I won't... At least I hope not and if I die don't worry I won't leave you. I'll stay and haunt you as a ghost."

Gwen snorted. "Trust me, I know. But seriously, be careful." Sebastian opened his arms and gave his sister a hug which she quickly returned.

"Don't worry I'll be okay. Stay safe, study hard, stay out of trouble and don't forget to take care of Atlas." Sebastian and Gwen pulled apart as he went to grab his case.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too, Seb."

Sebastian gave his sister one last final smile and sighed as she watched him go.

When he finally left, Gwen turned back to the dinner table and took her seat. "You okay?" Fred asked from next to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about him that's all." Gwen was sat staring at her plate as she fiddled with her fingers.

Her attention switched to Fred as soon as she felt him grab her hand. "Don't worry he'll be fine." He reassured her as he gave a small squeeze. Gwen merely nodded her head.

"Time for you all to go to bed." Mrs Weasley said grabbing everyone's attention. "Make sure that you're all packed. We won't have enough time tomorrow."

With that, all the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Gwen rose from the table to make their way upstairs.

"Ugh... I barely did anything today and I'm so tired." Fred exclaimed from behind Gwen. "That's because you're lazy." She muttered but it was barely audible.

At the same time, George exclaimed: "We should mess with Percy and his badge!"

"Yes!" Fred said, apparently his tiredness lifted off of him.

As they arrived in front of Gwen's room she turned to look at them. "Well, you two go do whatever you want while I go into my room and sleep."

"Goodnight." The twins both muttered and George passed Atlas to his rightful.

She entered the musty room and set Atlas on the floor so he could run freely. She got her nightwear out of the trunk and her potions book.

Gwen flopped into the bed (and stubbed her toe on the way there) and started reading through the book carefully.

Gwen came across the recipe for Calming Draught and read the small description. "A Calming Draught was a potion used to calm a person down after they had suffered a shock, trauma, or emotional outburst."

She could already tell by now that she was going to need that.

Gwen put the book down after she heard Athena hoot. "Yes, I know that I have to go to sleep."

Athena hooted twice more. "Okay, okay, I'm going to sleep right now. Merlin, the year hasn't started yet and I'm already going crazy by talking to an owl." She hooted once more.

"I said I was going to sleep and I'm going to do that. Goodnight Thena, Atlas." Gwen placed the Potions Book on the nightstand and pulled the covers over her body.

Gwen gazed outside of the window and stared at the moon and stars in the sky. She couldn't go to sleep. She thought of the stress she was gonna going to endure that year.

She also couldn't help but think back to her brother. Gwen knew that Sebastian was a smart and talented guy, but the mere thought of losing him had her scared to death. She didn't know what she would do if something happened to him.

Gwen didn't want him to end up like the rest of their family. He's all that she had left.

"Hoot!"

"Alright, Alright!" Gwen exclaimed as she turned slightly to glare at her annoying owl.

Gwen closed her eyes, and Athena left her alone even though it took her quite some time to drift off to sleep.

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