As October began, I focused myself on school, Quidditch and avoiding Lockhart. After going through his fan mail, I think I lost all patience for the man. Even during class, I can barely look in his direction. I believe he has gotten tired of me correcting him without even looking up from my book.
"You're going to hurt yourself," George whispered from his side of the bed. It was midday and we were lazing about the castle. Fred and Lee had gone with Angelina and Alicia to Hogsmeade for the day. I would have gone but I may or may not have pulled a prank on Filch that took my privileges to visit the town this weekend.
George had volunteered to stay behind with me so I 'won't be missing him terribly', as he put it. So, as it was beginning to grow colder, we decided to take a nap and stay in from the frigid winds.
He clamped a hand around mine when I hissed in pain. I had thought he was asleep but I guess my slight groans and hisses must have woken him. I had continued practicing on changing myself into some type of animal, encouraged by McGonagall to reach a new height.
My hands had formed into fuzzy, humanoid lion paws for only ten seconds before they painfully snapped back into their normal shape.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," I mumbled and turned onto my side so I was facing him. He was turned away from me slightly with his arm bent back to hold my hands. He shook his head and pulled my hand so my arm was wrapped around him.
"Go to sleep." He dropped my hand and pulled the blanket up. I blushed, debating on whether or not I should pull my arm away. Yeah, we've cuddled before but normally it was him holding me and I had usually just woken up from a nightmare or was needing comfort.
This time though, none of that was there to distract me from the fact that he was so close. He was so warm and the feeling of his breathing and his heartbeat was so relaxing. I found my eyes sliding close with my forehead resting against his upper back.
In exactly one week I will be fourteen. I should be more excited, but it just meant another year without my dad. And with a darker, heavier feeling weighing me down, I couldn't bring myself to be as excited as Fred and George were.
I couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen once again on my birthday. After the troll incident last year, even though no one got terribly hurt, and other past occurrences, I wondered if my birthday was just cursed.
I thought back to my twelfth birthday, my first year here at Hogwarts. I had been outside with the twins when a branch that was above us broke and landed on us. Each of us had suffered from broken bones.
And before that, the kitchen at the Burrow caught fire the second I walked in for my birthday dinner.
The year previous to that, Ron had to go to St. Mungos because he fell down the stairs as I walked by and split his eyebrow open.
There were many other things that happened over the years, but the worst was when Lily and James Potter died.
I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and clung to George's body.
I don't want to think of what could possibly happen this year.
"Happy Birthday, Willow!" Fred picked me up the second I walked downstairs, still dressed in my black and white plaid pajama bottoms and maroon t-shirt. I let out a tired groan as I was set back on the floor after being spun like a ragdoll.
"It's too early." I rubbed my eyes. I had stayed up late, or early depending on how you see it. I felt like I had only gotten a few minutes of sleep.
"It's already noon, Wil." George slung an arm around my shoulders, pinching my cheek. I smacked his hand away.
"Too early," I said. He laughed and pulled me to the couch and pushed me down into the seat.
"Early or not, you have to open your gifts!" Fred passed me a box he picked up from the coffee table.
"WAIT! WAIT! DON'T START YET!" Katie's voice could be heard from the spiral stairs to the girls' dorms. Suddenly she was whizzing down the steps with Angie and Ali on her heels. She skidded to a stop and plopped down on the couch on my right just as Lee sauntered in from the boys' dorm.
"Well, now that we're all here! Go ahead!" Fred waved me on and I began to tear open the brown paper. It was from Molly and Arthur. Inside was fudge and a whole bunch of other sweets. I popped a cube of fudge in my mouth, savoring the sweet, almost nutty, flavor. Eating another I made grabby hands for the next brown paper wrapped gift.
Fred passed me the next one, saying it was from him and George. It was a journal with an enchanted lion on the front, letting out a silent roar. The spine was detailed with golden vines and leaves, while the back had an inscription. 'Mischief Managed'. I smiled and gave them both a side hug before moving on.
Lee got me more candy and had drawn an impressive portrait of himself, striking a provocative pose. I rolled my eyes but loved the gift nonetheless.
Angie gave me a cute black top with a studded skull on the front. Alicia's gift consisted of tapes of muggle punk bands. Katie got me some black boots to go with the shirt.
After we had gotten through my gifts, I went upstairs to change into my new outfit so we could all go to Hogsmeade.
We spent most of the afternoon wandering around the shops, seeing what new products Zonko's had, stopping for a butterbeer, and hanging around the Shrieking Shack. A pretty standard birthday… so far. I still had the nagging feeling in my gut that something dark was approaching…
Currently, we were walking back to the castle, dinner was quickly approaching and we were starving, having only drank butterbeer and a few sweets from The Three Broomsticks.
Fred and Lee sang wildly at the front, hanging off each other, swaying like drunks. The girls walked behind them, laughing loudly and teasing the two.
George and I walked a bit back, taking our time. His gloved hand held mine and swung it happily. I had a small smile as I watched my friends.
"Did you have fun today?" George smiled down at me, squeezing my hand.
"Yeah, I did. It was nice to get out of the castle and not see Lockhart's face for once." He laughed at this.
"He is a haughty twat, isn't he?" I scoffed and smacked his arm.
"Language, Georgie, there are children present." I pointed ahead of us as Fred and Lee, who had since stopped singing and were now grappling each other, awkwardly making their way to the castle.
"I heard that!" Fred hollered over Lee's shoulder, sending me a mock glare.
"You were meant to!" I shouted back with a grin. The banter that pursued eased my mind. Dinner was in a few and everyone was fine. Maybe this birthday won't be so bad?
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
Wrong. So, so wrong. My white eyes were locked on the lifeless body of Mrs. Norris who hung by her tail from a torch post. George gripped my hand tightly, worriedly looking at me as my body shook. The smell of blood was overwhelming, I'm surprised no one else was reacting the same.
The worst of it was the three who stood in front of the crowd, nearest to the bloody message. Ron, Harry, and Hermione all stood in shock. Blood rushed in my ears. Not again. I knew there was no way that any of them could have done this. But not many others did…
Ripping my hand from George's I shoved my way through the crowd towards Harry. My fingers had just landed on his shoulder when Filch's voice filled the hall.
"What's going on here? What's going on?" At his already aggressive tone, I held myself in front of the three.
"Willow-" I cut him off with a hiss.
"Shh. Don't say anything." I held his wrist and blocked him from Filch as the caretaker's gaze landed on his cat.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" The pain and grief that filled his voice had me wincing. As much as I dislike the two, I would not have wished this on them. Not that Filch knew this. For the second his eyes found me, he pointed an accusing finger.
"You!" I tensed as he took a step closer, ready to push Harry out of the way. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"
"Argus!" I didn't relax even as Dumbledore entered the hall. I herded the three second-years behind me as Dumbledore passed us and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch post. My gaze was still warily locked on Filch.
"Come with me, Argus." Dumbledore had tucked the lifeless cat in the crook of his arm with care. "You, too, Ms. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger." I nodded and led the way after him to Lockhart's office.
As we passed through the hushed crowd, my eyes caught the worried ones of George's and Fred's. I gave them a tight smile, trying to reassure them that I would handle it. They didn't seem too convinced.
George
I nervously paced the carpet of the common room. Fred had already gone to bed, saying they were fine. But it was already past midnight and Willow and the others were still not back. What was taking so long? Were they in more trouble than I originally thought? I chewed my thumbnail.
Something had been up with Willow all day. She thought she could hide it but she can't hide anything from me. She kept looking over her shoulder and would randomly zone out throughout the day.
And her reaction to Mrs. Norris… The white eyes and the tips of her purple hair turning white as well had me thinking of the other times she was scared. Ever since we were small, she would literally go white when she was terrified. So deeply frightened of something that it seemed all joy was sapped away from her. It made my stomach churn.
She must have known what that message meant. She must have…
I jumped slightly when I heard the portrait door swing open. Willow led the way in, looking positively exhausted. Her feet dragged and her lavender hair was limp, not in the usual curls.
"Willow, what happened? Is everything alright?" I rushed up to her, grabbing her by her upper arms. I looked at Ron when she didn't answer.
"Mrs. Norris was Petrified, not killed," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I guess Professor Sprout and Snape are gonna made a potion to cure her or something…"
"Snape and Filch tried to blame Willow and Harry, but Dumbledore just dismissed us. I don't see how they can believe that Willow and Harry did it! She wasn't even there until everyone else got there and Harry was with us a the deathday party and-"
"Leave it, Hermione… What's done is done." Willow interrupted the younger girl. With a heavy sigh, she continued, "We just need to leave it to the professors and they'll take care of it."
I'd never heard Willow sound so defeated. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "Let's all just go to sleep and let the professors deal with this," I suggested. "We don't need any more stress for a while."
Willow nodded and trudged toward the boys' dorms. "I'm stealing some clothes."
"Of course, what else is new," I said in a light-hearted tone, trying to defuse the heavy tension in the air. But it sounded dry in my ears. Bidding goodnight to my brother and his friends I followed after my best friend.
After entering the room, I tossed her some pajamas and allowed her to change on the bed, with the curtains drawn. I waited patiently while watching Fred pick his wedgie in his sleep. I snorted softly. Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned to see Willow's hand poking out of the closed curtain.
A small smile spread on my lips as I gripped her soft fingers. Her hand was so small in mine. She pulled me into the enclosed space, wrapping her arms around my neck once I was kneeling in front of her.
I held her just as tightly, burying my nose into her neck.
"Why does this always happen, Georgie? Why can't we just have a normal school year and celebrate a normal birthday?" I didn't reply as she clung to me, quietly ranting to me. I knew right now she didn't really want an answer. She just wanted to complain. And that was just fine with me.
I will be here for her as long as she needs me. And even after then.
Slowly, I lowered us to lay on the bed, tangling our legs together. After a while, Willow had finally drifted off.
And while watching her eyelids flutter as she dreamt, and her small hands fist into my shirt, I came to a realization. Such a realization that Fred will laugh in my face if I tell him.
I am deeply in love with Willow Black.