"How did this happen?" She asked quietly as the tears began to subside.

"She was found dead this morning. The authorities believe it was an attack by a group of death eaters."

Gwen felt incredibly cold. It wasn't quite a numbness, it was more an intense ache, like the kind when your limbs fall asleep and it's too painful to move. She stared listlessly at the wall for a long time before speaking again.

"Where will she be buried?"

"The plot where your father is, in France. He wanted to be buried with his ancestors and your mother agreed to be buried there as well. It's all in her living will."

She nodded softly, but she hadn't really heard anything. She was screaming at herself inside for never apologizing. She stared at her fingernails as if they held some universal truth, her brow furrowed. She would never understand why people had to die and grieving while she was well accustomed to it was not her forte.

She had been taking to the common room more often than not. She needed the company. She kept up her studies, continued her visits with Dumbledore, but there was a hole now where her heart had been and everyone noticed the deep grieving that she had fallen into. There was to be a Hogsmeade trip that weekend and Harry thought it might be good to get her out of the castle. He took Gwen's hand gently in his own. "We should go."

She listened to the happy chattering going on about her and her own breathing, deep, slow, rhythmic. "We should." She affirmed.

Minerva had her concerns. "I don't know if that's a good idea." She said when Gwen told her she would be going.

"Aunt Minerva, I can't just sit around here and be sad anymore. I need to get out."

She finally agreed and the trip was on.

The students filed through the main hall, ushered into the carriages by a less than friendly grunt from Filch. Before long they were stepping down from their slightly moldy conveyance and into the magical town. Gwen, Harry, Hermione, and Ron descended on Honeydukes and loaded their pockets with sweets.

They visited the Three Broomsticks to warm up with a bit of butterbeer. Harry was glad to see that Gwen looked almost cheerful and that she smiled for the first time in days. After that they visited the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes which was doing quite well considering that it was located right next to Zonko's Joke Shop.

The Weasley twins had been excellent business men however. They were perfectly gentlemanly and worked in conjunction with Zonko's, offering products that the other could not and advertising for the other store when they didn't have something in stock. The students were especially fond of the ton-tongue toffees and canary creams. They were the highest selling products at the shop.

Ron joked about with his brothers as Harry and Hermione gazed in amazement at a giant contraption stashed in the corner. "What does this do?" Hermione asked.

"Ah, that's the catapult." Fred said.

"We're still working on it." George added.

"We're looking to reduce the size."

"And increase the power."

"Before long, every wizard in the world will own one."

"What for?" Harry asked.

"Essentially it's for gnome tossing. It's not really a joke." George answered

"Mum would be proud." Fred laughed. "Our first practical product."

Gwen was gazing out the window and jumped back into Fred as a wizard flew past the window. There was a giant commotion out in the street and all six of them rushed to the press against the window to see what it was.

The death eaters had descended on Hogsmeade and were making a regular festival out of the havoc they were causing. They had sent bodies tossing left and right, stormy winds before them and the stink of death behind. They hadn't killed anyone yet, but they had several students cornered.

All Gwen could think was: "How dare they?" She ran out of the shop and jumped into their midst her wand out before she really thought about it. She sent "stupefy" and "expelliarmus" all around her, breaking down their main circle and causing much confusion in their order.

What she had done was extremely brave and very helpful to the people trying to contain the death eaters, but she had left herself nearly defenseless.

She heard someone shouting "Crucio." Her knees buckled, legs fell out from underneath her. She was doubled over from the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. Her eyes were blinded by white hot flashes of agony; the noise had become deafening.

Just as suddenly as it had come upon her it had stopped. She felt nauseous and dizzy, unable to stand. She lay on her side, staring through the legs of several people. She saw Harry standing his wand out as well. She reached out for him but realized that her hand was empty.

Her wand lay three feet away from her, shattered into thousands of tiny fragments. She focused on it, it seemed to be the only thing that wasn't moving and therefore eased some of her dizziness. But another wave of pain was crashing down upon her as another death eater performed the Cruciatus curse.

They were cruel and merciless, more death eaters joining in on the torture of the foolish little girl who had tried to tackle them. She heard a cacophony of shrieks, laughter and "Crucios." The shrieks she realized were coming from her own mouth, a most unearthly sound and she no longer had control of her body.

Once again the pain stopped instantly, but this time it was different. Every sense, every thing had faded into a dim, dull grey. She found that she could not move, but she was not frightened. She was breathing, which meant she was still alive.

To be continued in Episode Forty Eight