Gwen: The Beginning

Chapter One

As the day hit her window, Gwen felt better. She'd had the dream again, the one where she was standing in front of someone, who, she could never make out. All she knew was that there was a lot of pain and suffering surrounding her. In one hand, she held a small dagger and in the other, a long wooden stick.

Then softly she whispered, "Goodbye," plunging the blade into her chest and then.... She always woke up at this point.

Gwen felt the spot where she'd stabbed herself and felt safe in the knowledge that it was just a dream.

"Gwen! Breakfast!" Carrie Whitely called from downstairs.

"Back to reality, back to life." She thought to herself.

Gwen slowly drew back the covers and dragged herself out of bed; she then slowly walked down the stairs, to have breakfast, quickly forgetting about her dream.

"What we got to eat then?" Gwen said, falling into a chair at the kitchen table.

"Is that all you ever think about?" Annabelle said, giving her a fake smile.

"Well, it beats fashion and boys, any day," Gwen replied, flashing her teeth back at her.

Although, Gwen and Annabelle were the same age, they were worlds apart. Annabelle was blonde, with big blue eyes and only concerned herself with whatever was fashionable. Gwen on the other hand had dark hair and dark eyes and concerned herself with whatever was not fashionable.

"Come on you two," Carrie said firmly, bringing two plates of eggs and bacon over.

"You know, the way you two carry on, you could be sisters," she continued.

"Aren't we meant to be?" Gwen questioned.

"Yeah, but we're not and never will be, ever," Annabelle said viciously, staring at Gwen.

Miss Whitely sighed heavily, brushing her silver hair out of the way.

"No talking like that now, Annabelle."

"Whatever," Gwen said, stuffing the remaining pieces of her breakfast into her mouth and getting up.

"Where you going?" Carrie asked, worried that Annabelle's comment might have upset her.

"Upstairs, to read," she replied coldly, walking out of the room.

Gwen slowly walked back up the stairs and in the distance could hear Annabelle's voice, screeching,

"She's always reading. What a sad girl. I mean it's the summer holidays, you would think..." Then the abrupt,

"Ssshh..." from Carrie.

"Just another 3 years of her. Then you can leave," Gwen said out loud.

But where would she go? She didn't have any parents, family, the only thing that she had, was a big fat nothing.

Gwen Aldan had been dropped off at "Little Woods Orphanage" when she was just 2 years old. She was left by a young woman who said nothing, except what the baby's name was. Then she made a quick exit, without saying another word. All she left with Gwen was a birth certificate, a blanket and a necklace. Gwen then had spent about another year and half there, before she'd been sent to live with Carrie Whitely and Annabelle.

Carrie was a social worker who had dedicated her life to children, but had ironically never found the time to stop and have any of her own. However, Carrie didn't really mind, she adored Gwen and Annabelle... they were her life.

Annabelle Strande was also an orphan, but much less concerned about it than Gwen. She adored the idea that she was alone in the world, that she was unique; she said it would go wonderfully in her autobiography, when she was rich and famous. Gwen often laughed at this, whenever Annabelle would mention it. Annabelle however, didn't find it quite as funny.

So, it had been like this for 15 years, just the three of them, an unconventional family. But this was about to change.

Gwen clutched the necklace in her hands, the only thing that she had of her parents. It was made of silver and at the end of the chain, hung the eternity symbol. She had always wondered what her parents had meant by leaving her this, maybe that she'd be eternally loved or maybe, that she'd be eternally alone. As thoughts of her parents entered her head, she quickly pushed them to the back of her mind, and instead engrossed herself in the world of Jane Austen.

***

"We have to go tonight," Maggie said loudly, slamming the rolling pin onto the table.

"We can't," Alfred said bluntly, fiddling with his fishing rod.

"But...we've already done so much already. Why not, finish it?" Maggie pleaded.

"No. Not yet." Alfred said firmly, pretending to cast, "Damn rod." He muttered, throwing it onto the floor.

"I think we should go," Nancy said, looking up at the other two.

"I've said no," Alfred said, louder this time.

"And I said yes," She replied softly, gazing into the old man's eyes.

"But..." Alfred began, but thinking better of it, stopped.

He looked at the two women and sighed deeply, before collapsing into his chair. Maggie smirked and began to make the final preparations while Nancy simply hummed, wondering if the weather would improve.

***

"Are you sure, you don't want to come with us?" Carrie asked, placing a hand on Gwen's shoulder.

"Nah. I just want to hang here. Have some quiet," She replied, smiling warmly back at the old woman, who had cared for her, for the past 15 years.

"Come on, let's go! Otherwise, we'll miss the trailers!" Annabelle called, tapping her foot.

"Ok, love," Carrie called back. "Got the number?"

"Yes. Go, before Annabelle blows her top," Gwen said, pushing her out the door.

"Ok. Bye, dear," the old woman said, giving Gwen a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye," Gwen called, before walking back into the house.

As she closed the door, Gwen suddenly felt scared, scared that she'd never see Carrie again, but as soon as the emotion was felt, it disappeared again, leaving Gwen feeling slightly confused.

"Hmmm... What to do?" she said out loud, "TV? Reading? Food? Decisions, decisions..." she walked into the kitchen and fell into a wooden chair.

As Gwen peered round her kitchen, she suddenly heard the familiar whistling of the kettle.

"Funny, I don't remember putting it on," Gwen thought to herself.

As she walked over to the stove, she smelt a rich chocolate smell and standing on the counter was her red mug, filled with chocolate powder.

"Hmm...Carrie must have left it for me," Gwen thought to herself, as she poured the hot milk into her cup.

As Gwen looked into the mug and breathed in the rich aroma, she felt so happy, with this thought in mind, she greedily drank the warm liquid.

"Mmmm..." she hummed, as she placed the mug in the sink and began walking towards the lounge.

Then for no reason, Gwen suddenly felt sleepy and her eyelids started to close, then with a final yawn, she tumbled onto the couch, in front of the warm fire.

"Sleep..." Gwen mumbled softly, before closing her eyes and going into a deep slumber.

"Is she asleep?" Nancy whispered, cautiously coming out from behind the lounge door and walking towards the sleeping girl.

"I think so," Maggie answered, looking at Gwen with an inquisitive stare.

"Ok. Quickly now," Alfred said, picking up the sleeping child, and walking towards the fire.

"Oh, it's so exciting," Maggie squealed, tiptoeing around the room, like a prima-ballerina, her black cloak, streaming behind her.

"Maggie! Stop that!" Alfred shouted.

"Ssshh...You'll wake the child," Nancy said sharply.

"Sorry," Alfred said, smiling weakly. "Now, where's the Floo Powder?" he asked, turning to Maggie.

"Umm...here," she replied, taking out a purple velvet pouch and tossing it gently towards Alfred, who tried to catch it with one hand but missed. The pouch fell onto the ground, spilling some of its contents.

"Maggie!" Alfred said loudly.

"Sorry, sorry," Maggie mumbled, rushing forward and scooping the powder back into the bag, except for a small amount, which she threw into the fire. This caused the fire to flare up and turn a bright emerald colour.

"Here, you can take the child," Alfred said, unloading Gwen into Maggie's arms, who took a step back, not used to the weight.

"But...Alfred...I wanted..." Maggie whined.

"No Maggie. This is too important, you'll fudge it up," Alfred replied firmly, pushing Maggie towards the fireplace.

"Fine. Alfred Arthur, you were always a spoilsport," Maggie said, before turning to face the flames.

"Scarlett Wood," she said in a clear voice, before walking into the fire with Gwen.

"Nancy, you go get her belongings and I'll do the photographs and other things," Alfred said, walking towards the mantle piece and picking up the family portrait. He shoved a hand into his robes and pulled out his wand. He tapped the frame with it and said in a clear voice,

"Eraderemus."

Alfred's arm tingled; he hadn't used magic for so long. Gwen's figure in the picture started to fade and soon, it was gone, leaving the smiling faces of Annabelle and Carrie in the picture.

"Now, for the others," Alfred said, walking out of the room.

Chapter Two

Dawn hit Scarlett Wood and the inhabitants were awake. Well... almost all of them.

"Isn't she awake yet?" Nancy said, rocking gently in her chair, with her sewing in her hands.

"Not yet," Maggie replied, stirring the mixture that was in her bowl.

"How much sleeping drug did you put in it?" Alfred replied, turning the page of his "Daily Prophet."

"Umm...a teaspoon, I think, or was it 1 tablespoon?"

"TABLESPOON!" Alfred yelled, leaping out of his seat. "That would put the girl out for a week!"

"Oh dear...I'm pretty sure it was a teaspoon."

"I...I..." Alfred muttered, too angry to speak.

"Calm down, dear," Nancy said, soothingly. "I'm sure it was a teaspoon and that Gwen will be up in a minute."

"You're probably right, my love," Alfred said, smiling nervously, before returning to his paper.

The three settled back down into their routine, until, "AAAAHHHH!" the scream echoed round the kitchen.

"Oohh...that must be Gwen now and right on a minute as well," Nancy said, peering down at her watch.

Gwen opened her eyes and as soon as she opened them, she closed them, just as quickly. The ceiling was covered with blue stars, that seemed to twinkle, and the covers which were tightly wrapped around her, were a deep purple. Her ceiling was bare and her covers had flowers on them. I must be dreaming, Gwen thought. She pinched herself and nothing; the stars still twinkled down at her. Where am I? Gwen thought, the words going round and round in her head. She sat still for a few moments and then threw her head back and screamed.

"Stop that, dear. You'll lose your voice," Maggie said, walking towards the screaming girl.

Gwen stopped and looked at the three people that had just entered. The one that had told her to stop screaming was quite tall and slim, a woman of about 60 or more, with grey hair, which was tied up in a messy bun. She had large blue eyes, which seemed to twinkle like the stars on the ceiling and she was wearing a long black skirt, a cream blouse and a massive red apron, covered in flour.

The man next to her was big, built like a brick house. He had white hair, which was sticking up in tufts on his head and small blue eyes, similar to the apron woman's, but more subdued. He was wearing a white shirt, a faded green waistcoat and brown trousers. He seemed the least friendly out of the three, Gwen thought to herself.

The last person was a woman about the same age as the first one and she was very petite. She had a long flowing black dress on and it hung off her, like it was a size too big but still it seemed to suit her that way. This woman also had grey hair, but it seemed finer and softer than the other woman's and her brown eyes were similar to her hair, very soft looking. She looked like she could have floated out of the window, if there had a strong enough breeze.

"Umm...who are you and where am I?" Gwen said, finally finding her voice.

"Oh, how rude of us," the man began, "I'm Alfred Arthur," he held his hand out to Gwen and she took it. He seemed less scary now.

"This is my sister, Maggie Lark," gesturing to the apron woman, "And this is my wife, Nancy Arthur."

The other woman took a step forward and smiled warmly at her.

"You are at Scarlett Wood," the man concluded.

"Did you kidnap me? Am I prisoner here?" Gwen said quickly, searching their faces for an answer.

"Technically, yes. We did kidnap you," Alfred said. "But you are not a prisoner here."

"So, I can leave?" Gwen asked.

"If you want," Maggie answered.

"Fine, I'm leaving. I'm going back home to Carrie. She's probably so worried," Gwen said, getting up.

"I don't think that would be wise," Alfred said, standing in her way.

"But..." Gwen said, sitting back onto the bed.

"She won't remember you," Nancy said quietly.

"Why? I haven't been away that long, have I? Who am I, Rip Van Winkle?" Gwen said, laughing a little. Although she didn't really find it funny at all, she was actually quite scared.

"We put a memory charm on her, to make her forget. We put them on all the Muggles that you know," Nancy said, putting a hand on Gwen's.

"Muggles? What are they?" Gwen asked, she was now scared and confused.

"Non-magic folk," Alfred replied, turning to face the window, obviously thinking about what to do next.

"Did we get everyone?" Maggie asked, suddenly looking concerned.

"I think so," Alfred said. "Carrie, Annabelle, the orphanage people, neighbours, shops..." he counted them on his fingers.

"Non-magic folk? Memory charms? You're lying, aren't you?" Gwen shouted, but as soon as she had said it, she knew they were telling her the truth.

"School?" Maggie offered.

"I was home schooled," Gwen said quietly, not believing that she was believing them. But deep down, somewhere, she knew it was true.

"I know, this is scary for you. But you have to believe us. We are here to help you, help you with your new future and help you, with your past," Nancy said, squeezing Gwen's hand gently.

"My future? What's this got to do with my future and past?" Gwen said, turning her head to face Nancy.

"Maybe this will help you, to believe us," Nancy said, handing a photograph to Gwen.

Gwen looked down at the photo and recognised the dark hair and the necklace, her necklace.

"It's my mother isn't it?" Gwen asked, she'd never seen a picture before.

"Yes. You can keep that," Nancy said.

"What was her name?" Gwen asked, clutching the photo tightly.

"You don't know?" Maggie asked, clearly surprised.

"I asked but they said I couldn't know, not until I was older. I don't know anything about her or my father. They wouldn't even let me see my birth certificate."

"I knew, we'd forgotten something," Maggie chimed.

"We'll deal with it later," Nancy said coolly.

Maggie nodded gently and fell silent again.

"Her name was Victoria Aldan," Alfred said, still facing the window.

"What about my father? Do you have a picture of him as well?" Gwen asked, quickly, she could hardly believe what was happening.

"I'm afraid; we don't know who your father is. Your mother would never say, saying it would be safer that way," Nancy said quietly. Gwen noticed her eyes seem to water slightly.

"Well I found a mother today, so I guess that's enough, for now," Gwen added, but still one question still need to be answered.

"Is she still alive?" Gwen asked, hoping for the best.

Maggie glanced at Nancy, who in turn glanced at Alfred.

"She's not, is she," Gwen said, feeling like her heart had been ripped out, "How long has she been dead?"

"13 years," Alfred replied sadly.

"I was two," Gwen said, piecing things together. "I was two, when I was left at the orphanage..." she paused for a second before carrying on. "Did she die, the same day she gave me up?"

"I'm so sorry, you had to find out this way," Nancy said, putting an arm round Gwen.

"Hey, don't worry," Gwen said. "How can you miss someone you didn't know?" Gwen smiled, but she knew she wasn't convincing any of them, most of all herself.

"Well, I think, we should go downstairs," Alfred said, walking towards Gwen and gesturing her towards the door.

"Yes. I was just about to make pancakes," Maggie said excitedly.

"Pancakes?" Gwen said, getting up and for now, hunger took over her confusion and sadness.

* * *

Wormtail scurried across the floor towards his master and handed him a gold cup. Voldemort snatched it from Wormtail's hands and drank it down, before throwing the cup onto the floor.

"News?" Voldemort hissed, sitting down in a nearby chair.

"Umm..." Wormtail stuttered.

Voldemort took out his wand and started to point it slightly at him. This jumpstarted Wormtail and he started to babble quickly.

"Yes, umm... we now have information, that says the rumour is true and that..."

"Where's the child now?" Voldemort snapped, cutting off his servant.

"Umm...the guardians have her."

"WHAT! Why didn't you inform me of this earlier?" Voldemort screamed, bringing his face up to Wormtail's.

"I..." Wormtail's mouth went dry and he could hardly form the words.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Voldemort repeated, in a softer tone, which frightened Wormtail more.

"I only just found out," Wormtail spat out, looking down, he couldn't bear to look at his master's face.

"Fine. We will just have to watch her, closely. I want to be informed of everything, as soon as it happens," the Dark Lord sneered, grabbing the back of Wormtail's neck. " Because when I'm not informed, it makes me angry and we both know what I'm like when I'm angry, don't we?"

"Yes..." Wormtail whispered, scared to breathe a breath.

Voldemort laughed and threw the snivelling man onto the floor.

"Yes, we do know," he laughed again, twirling his wand in his hands.

* * *

"I'm a what?" Gwen said, stuffing another pancake into her mouth.

"You're a witch," Alfred repeated again.

"What? Riding broomsticks, black cauldrons, spells, that kind of witch?" Gwen said, shocked at what she was hearing.

"Yes..." Alfred started.

"But you're special," Maggie cut in, unloading another pancake onto Gwen's plate.

"Yes, you are," Alfred said, shooing Maggie back to the stove.

"You're a Merlin."

At that moment, the three guardians froze, to see the reaction on Gwen's face. Gwen looked back at them, not knowing what to think but knowing that it must be very important.

"What's a Merlin?" Gwen said, wishing she already knew and didn't look so stupid.

"Well, normally a witch or wizard gets or starts to show their powers at 11," Alfred said.

"Oh, so Merlin is code for a late starter, is it? Great," Gwen said, feeling depressed.

"No, Gwen," Alfred started again, "what I mean is that, there are rare cases when a witch or wizard doesn't get their powers till they're 16. These people are called Merlins."

"Why are we called Merlins?" Gwen asked, feeling better.

"Because..." Alfred said slowly.

"Because you're descended from Merlin," Maggie squealed.

Alfred turned his head to face Maggie and rolled his eyes.

"I was just about to say that."

"Merlin, as in King Arthur's Merlin?" Gwen said, barely moving, in case she would float back to reality.

"Yes."

"But I didn't know, he had any children?"

"He did, a daughter called Inogen."

"So, were my father and mother witches too?"

"Yes, they were," Alfred said, gently.

"And good ones," Maggie chipped in.

"So, how do you, Nancy and Maggie fit into this?"

Gwen asked, pushing her plate out of the way and leaning on the oak table.

"Well, we're your guardians. The people that are going to teach you, how to use your powers and protect you from..." Alfred said, but letting his voice fade.

"From who?" Gwen asked, slightly scared that there was someone she had to be protected from.

"Well..." Alfred said, getting very uncomfortable.

"Gwen," Maggie said loudly, distracting her, "did you know that we all knew your mother?"

"Really? You all, knew my mother?" Gwen said, excitedly, this was the closest thing she had to real family.

"Yes. She was a very, special woman," Alfred said, smiling.

"And now, we know you," Maggie said, beaming at the new witch.

"I guess, that makes you the closest link to my real family. Before this, all I had was Carrie..." Gwen's voice trailed off. Carrie, she'd almost forgotten about her. At that point, Gwen hated herself, how could she forget her surrogate mother for 15 years, the smile faded from Gwen's face.

"Is there something wrong?" Nancy said.

"No...it's just, I never even got to say goodbye and now she won't even remember me. It's like, my whole life has just been erased," Gwen said, looking at the floor.

"Well, you've got a new life," Maggie said smiling, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

But do I want this new life? Gwen thought to herself.

She started to ask another question but was cut off by Nancy.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get changed? Hmm...?"

"But..."

"Go. Your clothes are in the drawers," Nancy said, indicating the door with her sewing needle. Gwen didn't put up anymore of a fight and quietly went upstairs.

"She's so like..." Maggie began but stopped, there was no point saying it, the other two had already thought it too.