"Ow," Willow muttered as she limped through the halls to the hospital wing. The team and all its supporters had gone straight to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate. None had noticed that one of their Beaters was limping from a bludger to the knee. She stopped to rest against the wall on the third floor and blinked back tears of pain.

"One more floor, then it will all be good," she whispered to herself. "One more floor."

"Do you need some help Will?" she looked up to see Remus.

"Could you help me to the hospital wing?" he nodded and put one of her arms around his neck, putting his around her waist.

"Why aren't you celebrating with the others?"

"I was, then I noticed that you hadn't come back yet. So I came to find you."

"I'm glad that you did."

"I'm surprised that James didn't notice first."

"We don't talk all that much anymore. He spends most of his time with Black."

"I'm sorry to hear it. From what I could gather, you were the only person who had any sort of control over him."

"yeah, I'm sorry too," they had reached the hospital wing. Remus put her on a bed and got madam Pompfrey.

"Remus, please don't tell anyone? I want to see if they will notice on their own."

"okay. But if they are totally oblivious in the morning and start to ask me if I have seen you I won't lie to them."

"I understand," she waved to him as he walked away. Madam Pompfrey tutted as she waved her wand over Willow's leg.

"you will be here for a few days. If this had been seen to immediately you would be allowed to go after a few minutes. But no, you had to decide to walk all the way here. Drink this," Willow did as she was told and drank the potion. It put her to sleep instantly.

"Have you seen Will?" James looked up as Lily asked Mary the question.

"No, she didn't return to the dorm last night either."

"I think we should go find her," he watched the two girls walk out of the hall and helped himself to some bacon and eggs.

"Lily and Mary just passed me, I heard them talking about Will," James said as Remus and Sirius sat down. "they said that she didn't go to bed last night."

"Of course she didn't. She barely made it to the third floor without help," Remus snapped, not caring that he had told Willow that he wouldn't tell anyone without being asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"She took a hit to the knee during the match. She limped from the pitch to the third floor. I noticed that she wasn't at the party and went looking for her. I had to help her to the hospital wing. I guess madam Pompfrey thought that it was serious enough to keep her overnight."

"Are you joking Remus?" James' voice shook a little, his eyes were wide and he was a bit pale.

"Not at all," James jumped up and ran from the hall, drawing a few stares.


Willow didn't talk to any of her friends for a week. After that first week she started talking to Alice and Remus. She fought with Black, but that wasn't unusual in the least. She was hurt that none of her friends even noticed her missing from the party. She didn't blame Alice as the Ravenclaw girl hadn't been at the party. Alice and Remus brought her homework and studied with her to keep her from going insane from lack of company. But she still refused to talk to any of the others, it was starting to take its toll on her and the ones that she refused to interact with. Alice understood and she was glad that Willow wasn't forcing her to pick between friends, like some friends had done to her once. James started bugging Remus about Willow and Remus refused to say anything on the matter. He knew that Willow was just hurt and that she would eventually start to talk to her friends again, but he wasn't so sure about James. The relationship that they had come to school with had changed dramatically since the end of their second year. Something had happened over the summer holidays and Remus bet that it had something to do with Sirius spending the holiday at the Potters'.

"Please, Will?" Mary begged.

"We're so sorry," Lily added.

"We just got caught up in the excitement," Martha explained. Aisling nodded. The four girls were getting desperate and they looked at her pleadingly. Willow sighed and relented.

"Okay, okay. I forgive you. And I'm slightly sorry for taking my frustrations about Potter out on you lot," she was enveloped in a multi armed hug. There was a boom in a distant part of the school and Willow's eyes widened.

"Oops, that wasn't meant to go off for another hour," she muttered to herself. Her friends laughed and she grinned at them. They all went down to the great hall for lunch. About twenty minutes later Lucius Malfoy and his posse stormed into the hall and over to the Gryffindor third-year girls.

"I know that this was the work of you Stark," he growled at her. She was hard pressed to keep from laughing, she could hear her friends trying not to laugh as well. Lucius looked like he had been dunked in a bath full of liquid soot, every part of his body and hair was black.

"I don't know what you are talking about Malfoy. I've been in the library since breakfast. You can ask madam Pince, or the numerous Slytherins that have been passing through all morning," she pointed out six that she had had a very long conversation with, if you could call verbally insulting each other a conversation. He scowled at her and the Slytherins walked away.

"What was that about?" Willow turned away from the person who had asked the question, still not ready to talk to them yet.

"We would really like an answer to that question Stark."

"Bite me Black," she snapped.

"Ooh, someone's in a temper."

"Go away, dog boy."

"Why don't you make me?"

"I don't make trash, I bury it," he was silent and she smirked.

"Would you like some ice to go with that burn Black?" Mary asked with a snicker.

"Sod off MacDonald," Sirius went and sat down next to James. The two boys watched the girls as they pulled out a tattered note book and started flipping through it. They stopped on a page and the girls looked at Willow in awe.

"You planned this all on your own and then executed it alone?" Mary and Lily asked together.

"Uh-huh. My timing was a little off as you can guess by the bloody prat confronting us, but other than that it went off perfectly. He shouldn't be able to sleep in his room for a few months at least."

"that's brilliant Will. Remind me to never piss you off to that extent."

"Don't worry. He had this coming from the time that he said that purebloods were above pranks, that was eight years ago."

"Wow, you sure do hold a grudge."

"you don't know the half of it," they all laughed and finished their lunch before going to watch Will at Quidditch practice.


Willow walked around the corner and crashed into Black. She sighed as she stood up again.

"Why don't you watch where you're going Stark?" he sneered at her. She just gave him a glare and made to move past him.

"What? Got nothing to say? Scared that mommy dearest will send you a howler if you fight?" he knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he had said the wrong thing.

"No, I don't ever have to worry about getting a howler from my mom. She's dead. Happy now?" she turned and walked back the way she had come. Sirius could see the tension in her shoulders and cursed himself. He saw her again later that day and she looked very depressed. James seemed oblivious to this and Remus was also watching her with concern, but he kept glancing at James, as if expecting him to notice. Lily and Mary stormed over to them.

"Which one of you is responsible?" they demanded, looking at Sirius. He looked away, guilty. James looked between them.

"Responsible for what?" the girls stared at him, then pointed at Willow. He looked and his eyes widened. He made to stand but Lily pushed him back down.

"You don't get to be all concerned when didn't even notice that she was upset in the first place. Is it not bad enough that you have ignored her for most of the year? She doesn't need added heartache," Lily turned and walked over to Willow. Mary turned to Sirius.

"We will be have words with you Black, but right now, we are busy fixing whatever damage you caused," she went over to Willow. The three girls went up stairs. Martha came down a moment later and walked out of the common room. She returned half an hour later with chocolate and Alice, Alice was carrying a tray with six hot chocolates on it. They went up the stairs and James just stared. He turned to Sirius.

"What did you say to her?"

"I might have asked her if she was scared of her mother sending her a howler when she didn't snap back at me," James groaned and put his head in his hands.

"It has been exactly a year since she died, how could I have forgotten?"

"You don't exactly talk to Willow anymore," Remus said and James looked up at him.

"Shit, you're right," they watched as Aisling walked into the common room and grabbed the three boxes of tissues that were in the room and went back up the stairs.

"Brilliant, she's crying," James muttered, he went up to the boys' dorm and collapsed on his bed.


"See you in two months," the six girls said at the same time and laughed. They hugged each other and went to their families.

"Hi papa," Willow said as she walked up next to him.

"Hello Willow. Have you been practicing your swimming?"

"Yes, nearly every day," there was something different about her father, but she couldn't put her finger on it. He was being all formal with her and that confused her, he was never formal with her, even at a formal occasion.

"That is good. This holiday we are going to a beach house that I purchased on the coast of Spain, in the little coastal town of Xivares."

"Really? Cool," they left the platform.