Willow sat alone in the garden as she did most days, away from the other kinds. She was the oldest one there, seeming to be around her early to mid teenager years. After being at this place for so long, the girl longed to leave, and for good.
She had few friends here and very few belongings. Though among them was her prized possession, she wore it all the time, only taking it off when she went in water, not wanting to ruin it. This was a sterling silver locket, it had an engraving on the back and it read:
"Love you always, Mum & Dad"
Ever since the teen could remember she had worn this around her neck, and for as long as Willow could remember, she could not open it. But since it had never been open, she assumed that it was just an empty heart-shaped locket. Much like her own heart, Willow had never been close with anyone, afraid or getting hurt as she did many times in her childhood. She could count numerous times where she gained a friend, only to have them be adopted and have them taken away from her. While Willow knew that they would be happy with their new families and she was happy for them, the dark-haired girl couldn't help but feel abandoned. For all she knew, this could be the very reason she was in this horrid place.
Willow's blue-green eyes wandered about her surroundings. The grass was a crisp green and she knew the aroma of freshly cut grass was evident. Perched upon a large boulder, She had her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and her chin rested comfortably on her knees. The mid-June summer breeze rolled through, making her auburn tresses dance in the wind as she watched the sun that was ready to set. She'd made up her mind. Willow was finally going to run away from this hell hole and she wasn't going to come back this time.
Sliding off the rock, she packed her bag quickly and ran a brush through her hair, that had a very slight wave to it. Not even taking a last look, She headed to the door. Walking through the large, very white lobby, passed the empty receptionists desk to the glass doors. Willow stopped with her hand on the handle. A large pudgy, hand gripped her shoulder and she looked down to see sausage-like fingers in time to be whipped around harshly against the glass doors. "Calloway." She locked eyes with the large man who towered over her by a good amount. This was the 'man' that gave her scars on her arms that looked self-inflicted, even though they weren't, the 'man' that used the Cruciatus Curse on her. Good thing after so long I learned to throw it off. She thought grimly. Unlike most there, she wasn't intimidated by him. Not anymore.
"Girl, you have a lot of nerve, didn't you learn your lesson the first few times?" He spat, grabbing her small wrist roughly and revealed her scars as if trying to remind her of the consequences.
"It just eats you up that I'm not cowering in fear, that I'm not afraid of you doesn't it? That I haven't told anyone about all of the things that you do to me. She broke from his grip and got out the door staring back at him for a brief moment with nothing but pure and fiery hatred in her eyes.
"I'm not taking you back!" Calloway shouted at Willow's retreating form.
She ran down to the corner and made sure that she was out of sight. Willow waited a moment or so and then doubled back, going around the back way and to where they kept the wands. While everything else was horrid, they did teach them magic and they were very strict about learning it and being able to do spells and potions in your sleep. Setting her back carefully on the ground, she crept into the room where they were all kept. Most were kept in little boxes with the person's name on it on the wall. But in special cases, there was a place where they went, a safe.
Willow quietly grabbed someone's wand and whispered, "Alohamora." The door to the small box opened and revealed a box that was labeled 'Willow A.J.' This was her first name and her middle name. When she was old enough to know, one of the older, nicer women told her that when she was left here, there was a note with her name and birth date. Sighing, she removed her wand, 12 ¼ inches Redwood with Phoenix feather and unicorn hair core, and then put the other one back where it went and shut the box silently and snuck back out.
Grabbing her bag, she made a dash to get away again, just in case she were to get caught. Once the teenager was sure that she was far enough away, she stuck out her right hand, her wand hand to the street, and within seconds there was a vehicle in front of her. A navy, triple-decker bus stood before her. This was The Knight Bus. A young man looking to be no older then the mid-twenties stepped out. He had red hair that was very messy, going this way and that way. He was fairly skinny and very tall standing around over six feet, Willow would have guessed.
" 'Ello! Mark Turnpike at your service with the Knight Bus!" He said with a smile on his face. Oddly enough, it sounded like he was being genuine, not like he'd rehearsed it. Willow stood there for a moment. "Well don't just stand there! Welcome aboard!" She nodded with a small smile as she got onto the large bus. "Where to, Miss?"
This was a good question. "To the suburbs please." she said politely. Immedietly, she was forced to sit on one of the beds and hold on, as the bus bolted into action, making the beds and everything else slide about. Taking in her surroundings, Willow saw people sleeping on a few of the beds, even as they moved around. Something about that just seemed to baffle her a bit.
After a few more stops Mark sprang to life again. "Suburbs! Step lightly please. And just because you're so pretty, this one's on me." The man winked at her.
"Erm… Thanks." She said quietly, as she hastily got off. As soon as she was, it sprang to life again and was gone, as quickly as it had come. Willow knew that it was gone but just to be sure, she sprinted away. After getting what she thought was a safe distance away, she slowed to a walk, catching her breath, glad for once that the orphanage made them run two miles a day, well okay, just the older ones. Either way, she was in very good running shape.
Willow took in her surroundings. It was now pitch black outside. Great… she thought. "Well at least I can see fairly well in the dark." she grumbled. Something occurred to her as she passed some large houses, What do I do now? She'd gotten far enough away now, but she had no where to go. Maybe She should have stayed… No, she couldn't go back, she wouldn't. At that moment, she passed a house that must have had a sort of alarm, although Willow was unaware until the sound of what she was fairly certain was a dog reached her ears, and sounded like it was chasing her. Taking up to running again, she made a mad dash away from the noise. Looking back while she ran she saw nothing but kept going anyway. Turning her gaze back in front of her, Willow's head collided with a low branch of a tree. Everything went blurry and then black.
Two teenage boys walked out of a house walking beside one another. The first had untidy dark hair and glasses. He was of athletic build, the other boy was as well. The second was a bit taller then the first, but both were fairly tall. The second had longish black hair that fell just over his eyes, his name was Sirius Black. The first went by the name of James Potter. They were best friends, fellow marauders and now Sirius lived with James.
Sirius' family, the Blacks, were pureblood wizards and they were not the best sort. They believed that Half-bloods and muggle-borns should not be part of the wizarding world at all. Ever since he was sorted into Gryffindor in his first year, Sirius' family treated him badly, and often called him a 'blood-traitor'. His younger brother Regulus was always favored over him, but since Regulus got into Slytherin like the rest of the Black family, he was the cherished child, and Sirius got fed up with all that he could take and left.
"Are you glad you finally left?" James asked his friend of almost 5 years now. Sirius seemed to be in thought.
"Yeah I guess. But It's like I forced myself on you and your parents." Sirius felt a hand grip his shoulder and stop.
"Hey, you know my parents think of you as another son. Don't think on it." James gave his friend's shoulder a squeeze and started walking again with Sirius beside him. Soon they saw a figure on the ground a ways in front of them. At first they assumed it was just some brush or something but getting closer they realized that it was a person. "Bloody hell!" James exclaimed. The boys looked to one another and then sprinted to the person. Dropping to their knees when they reached them the first thing they noticed was that she was female.
"Who do you think she is?" Sirius asked, thinking perhaps James knew her since they weren't far from his home.
"I dunno, but we should get her to Mum." James answered brushing her dark hair out of her face, which revealed a cut on her forehead above her right eye. Sirius carefully picked her up in his arms while James grabbed her bag. "Watch out for the branch." James told him.
"Well that explains what happened, though I don't know how she ran into it, must not have been looking I reckon." Sirius commented with a light chuckle. Swiftly, the boys made their way back to James' house, with little conversation at all surprisingly. James opened the door and Sirius made for the stairs and went into one of the guest rooms, setting her down gently on the soft bed.
"Mum!" James shouted urgently. Mrs. Anna Potter stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. Seeing the look on her son's face she got worried.
"What happened?" she asked in her clear motherly tone.
"We found a girl, she was unconscious, not far from here and she has a cut on her head, Sirius and I thought you may want to take a look at her or something." James explained. Mrs. Potter was a healer at St. Mungo's and James knew she would be able to help. Leading her up the stairs and to the first bedroom at the top, where he knew Sirius had brought her, James wondered who she was and what she had been running from. Upon entering the room, James found Sirius with a rag and a bowl of, what he assumed was warm, water. He was cleaning the cut on her head, for once not being mischievous and pranking.
"Where did you say you boys found her?" Anna asked. They both told her that she was just a few blocks down. "James would you see if there is an I.D. card or something in her bag?" she asked, having seen it when she got into the room.
James nodded and looked through her bag and gave a small laugh at the first thing he saw. Holding out her wand he said, "Well, she's not a muggle. She's got a wand." Finding a card in one of the smaller pockets, he read aloud, "Dreamer's Orphanage. Willow A.J." He handed the card to his mother. She set it down for the time being. She held a point at the girl's wrist as she looked at her own watch.
After a moment she set her wrist back down. She had noticed some scars on her arms but made no visible reaction. "Well I think she just hit her head, she should be fine once she wakes up." The woman looked at her I.D. card and looked angry, reasoning that she hadn't been paying attention when James read it. She shook her head.
James frowned at his mother. "What is it?" he asked.
"This place, Dreamer's Orphanage, its right awful. The owner Ron Calloway abuses the kids. Everybody is too afraid to go against him and anyone that does, seems to disappear. Nobody can touch him." she answered looking at the teenage girl with sympathy.
"That's horrible!" Sirius hissed angrily.
"Yes it is but there's not much we can do." Mrs. Potter paused, thinking. After a couple of moments she spoke again. "I wont force her to, but if she will, I would like her to stay here. Your father feels the same way about that place as I do, and we have plenty of room, so there shouldn't be any problems there. Plus, another girl around couldn't hurt."
Sirius finished cleaning her up and set the bowl and rag on the nightstand while Anna put a small bandage on her cut. "Now we just have to wait for her to wake up." Sirius said, sitting on the cushioned bench with James, that was placed on the wall across from the bed. Moments later, Willow's blue-green eyes fluttered open as she waited for her vision to slowly clear as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings.