Gwen Bennett Song didn't surround herself with many people. She didn't go out of her way to make new friends or to be seen by others. She actually preferred to remain in the shadows and unnoticed. She was fine with what she already had; a small grou...
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Gwen sat with her legs crossed underneath her, her pen scribbling away across the paper within her notebook as she waited. She tuned out Oliver's whining about the time and about how they'd be late. She knew that in reality, he was just itching to see Fred and George again and discuss all the hell the two must've gotten up to during the summer.
However, she did look up for a moment as she heard her fathers commenting on the tiny boot that sat in the middle of the grass. Their comments about it being so tiny and having to transport so many people made her wonder whether it would all work out for a moment. But before she could ask the question on her mind, excited yelps sounded behind her. Gwen turned her head just in time to see the twins and Oliver greeting each other happily while the rest of the arriving group was still climbing up the hill.
With a small smile coming over her face, Gwen packed away her notebook and pen back into their designated pocket before standing to her feet. Her actions seemed to be perfectly timed as she stood to her feet just in time to be pulled into a happy hug of greeting from one of her best friends.
"Would you look at that? She's alive." Cedric said jokingly, making Gwen giggle in amusement as she returned his hug. "Honestly, you both need to learn how to send letters more often. I felt so lonely not hearing from you every day." Cedric continued to whine, sending looks to both Olivia and Gwen.
For a moment, Gwen sent Liv a curious look. While many could understand Gwen's lack of letters, as she spent much of her time with her family after everything that happened last year, Liv's was surprising. Gwen realized she too didn't get nearly as many letters from the younger girl as usual. But before she could ask anything about it, Liv spoke up instead.
"Merlin, you're so needy. Move aside, it's my turn." Liv shook her head at the older Hufflepuff, practically dragging him away from Gwen so that she too could reunite with the girl she hadn't seen all summer. Surprisingly enough, Cedric didn't protest much, allowing the red head to pull Gwen into a tight hug as well, one that the Song girl reciprocated happily.
"It's good to see you. How was your summer? How are you?" Liv asked a string of questions, her voice quiet enough for Gwen to hear, but not Cedric as he got pulled into a conversation between Amos and Nicholas as he greeted Gwen's fathers.
"You too, and my summer was okay. I'll tell you all about it later, okay?" Gwen replied as she and Liv pulled apart, the brunette sending her friend a reassuring smile, silently saying she was okay.
"It's a minute off, we better get ready." The sound of Arthur Weasley's voice reached over their group, alerting them all to the time and bringing the many reunions to an end as the Weasleys started to go towards the manky old boot. Gwen quickly gathered her backpack and jacket from the floor before rushing towards it as well.
As all of them carried bulky backpacks, crowding around the boot was quite hard, many squished together quite uncomfortably. And Gwen didn't find her brother poking her stomach in a teasing manner of much help. So as Mr Weasley started to count down the seconds, Gwen resorted to the only way she thought she could stop him, smacking him on the head. And it worked, just long enough for her to grab the boot as Mr Weasley reached the number one.
She felt the pull just a second later. It felt almost as if she were a fish caught on a hook and being pulled forward as her feet left the ground and the boot started to spin. Her surroundings turned into a mix of colours, hair flying all around her face so much that Gwen regretted not tying it into a ponytail before this. The idea of removing her fingers from the boot seemed impossible, the two feeling completely glued together as they flew through the air. And then it stopped.
Gwen felt her feet smash into the ground, the force so sharp she found herself stumbling into the person who landed in front of her and bringing them both down to the ground almost instantly. A small yelp escaped her as her feet tangled with those of her victim, making the crash impossible to stop. It was in that moment that she was grateful for her heavy backpack as it managed to break her fall, while the person next to her wasn't so lucky. And they were both unlucky when it came to people seeing the disaster of their fall. Both of his and her brother were in tears from laughter.
"Oh, how I wish I had taken a picture of that." Oliver slapped his knees in amusement, not even bothering to help Gwen to her feet. Both of the fallen sent the two glares before Gwen turned to the twin next to her with a sheepish smile.
"Are you okay? I'm really sorry." She apologized, being the first to get to her feet and extend a hand to him to help him to his feet.
"It's fine Gwen, really. See? Good as new." George sent her a reassuring smile once they both found themselves back on their feet. He even made a point of jumping around her a couple of times to show he was perfectly alright, the sight making her let out a small giggle of amusement once she was sure her clumsiness hadn't caused any harm.
"Come on you four, we don't want someone to claim our tents as their own if we're late." Henry walked past the four sixth years with an amused look on his face. They proceeded to follow him, Oliver quick to speak up after.
"So, how did it go? You have to tell us everything." Oliver said excitedly, Gwen's brows furrowing as she wasn't sure what exactly her brother was talking about.
"You should have seen it, best product yet." George said gleefully, his eyes almost shining as he remembered the events of yesterday when they accompanied their father to the Dursley's home.
"I'm sorry, why do I have to hear this?" Gwen asked. Not only was she unsure of whether she actually wanted to hear it, but she wasn't really used to either of the three openly sharing stories about their products in front of her. At least not the ones that they were still creating.
"Fred, George, Oliver, don't drag Gwen into your troublemaking!" Arthur scolded, his eyes mostly focused on his own sons, but not even their third part was spared.
"But we have to, Gwen is the main reason the Ton-Tongue Toffees work." Fred explained, although the reaction to his word wasn't one he thought through. Nicholas and Henry almost fell over their own feet while Cedric sent Gwen the look of complete shock. Even Hermione, Ron and Harry shared surprised looks amongst themselves.
"You had to say it, didn't you?" Gwen shook her head in disappointment.
"How many times did we tell you not to trick your sister into helping you with your pranks?" Nicholas scolded Oliver almost instantly, the ginger gaping at his father in surprise.
"Dad, it's not his fault, really. I, uh, I did it voluntarily." Gwen admitted, not wanting Oliver to get in trouble when it really wasn't his fault.
"Oh dear Merlin, we're losing her to the dark side." Olivia acted as if she were horrified.
"You're not losing me! Helga help me with your dramatics. Come on, I don't want to hear the story of whatever poor victim they chose." Gwen rolled her eyes at Olivia, grabbing her shoulders and starting to lead her away from the twins until Harry spoke.
"It was Dudley." Now that made Gwen hesitate just a tad bit.
"Yup, we're losing her." Cedric nodded his head in defeat, the words making multiple people laugh in amusement. And the laughter only increased as not just Gwen, but Olivia too, actually decided to hang around the twins to be able to hear the story of the success of the product and what exactly it did to Harry's cousin. After all, it was a good story.
