Chapter 48: Winners are Grinners

Willa stood in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch, her broom in hand and still in her uniform. She was in disbelief.

Gryffindor had won, Gryffindor had won by the two hundred and ten points that they needed to win. They had beaten Slytherin and won the Quidditch Cup.

She stood there and had celebrated with the rest of her team, even her friends as they made their way out to where the stand was. A large smile on her face as Cedric approached her with his congratulations.

But it was Leighton's reaction that she was mostly worried about. It was just a shared look and a nod of the head between the two cousins before he disappeared with the rest of the Slytherin team. Willa knew her cousin, and she knew he would approach her in a few days to give his praises, but for now, he would wallow with his team and friends.

She didn't shower when she had finally managed to break away from the crowd and enter the team room. She sat in the corner of the female change room and slowly polished every inch of her broom waiting until every single last student had cleared out allowing her one last moment on the pitch by herself to truly let the win sink in.

She looked over at the same part of the stands where the recruiters sat watching the game and analysing every single one of the players that played today. She just hoped her skills were enough.

"Willa?"

Willa turned at the sound of her mother's voice, a smile still placed on her face. "Hi, mum."

"You aren't going to celebrate with your friends?" Octavia questioned.

"They'll be celebrating all night, I just wanted a moment of peace," Willa responded, looking back at the stands. "Which recruiters were here today?"

"Magpies, Arrows, Ballycastle, Falcons and Puddlemere," Octavia responded, and Willa's head snapped around so fast.

"Puddlemere was here? The Puddlemere recruiter was actually here, who were they interested in?" Willa questioned, she hadn't heard anything of Puddlemere United being in need of new Reserve players.

She had heard the rumours for the other four, they all had senior players looking to retire, but she hadn't heard anything about Puddlemere United and was curious as to who they were looking into.

She knew that trades weren't mentioned until the season was over, but it was always in the works before the season ended. The player in question went to management in hopes of their club attempting to beat the offer that was on the table or management let them go. Female players moving to the Holyhead Harpies was a regular one to be done without question.

"No baby I don't know, I was too busy watching my daughter and nephew play a spectacular game. Speaking of the game, how is your neck?" Octavia questioned, and Willa's hand automatically went to her neck, rubbing it softly.

"A little sore, I planned on seeing Pomfrey after I had a shower," Willa responded.

Willa was in complete and utter shock after what Montague did. She couldn't believe he had grabbed her head instead of the Quaffle. She was in even more shock when she had come out of it still sitting on her broom.

"Stand still," Octavia spoke, stepping forward with her wand in hand.

Willa knew that her mother knew basic healing spells, it was required when they were in the war, but she had a feeling there was something else to it. She hadn't questioned it figuring it was one of those things she would be told at some stage when she was older. Half of this stuff, she didn't even know how old she had to be to find the answers.

"Better?" Octavia questioned, and Willa nodded.

"Thank you." Willa had no idea what her mother did but her neck didn't feel as stiff anymore and her head snapping around as it did at the mere mention of Puddlemere United didn't help.

"Now why don't you shower and head inside to celebrate with your friends, you have OWLs soon. I know you believe you will do well and I have no doubt about that, but your friends will need you. You need to keep Fred and George in check and make sure they study." Octavia spoke, placing fingers underneath Willa's chin to look at her.

"History of Magic is the main one, I've only done what I needed for our essays. Binns doesn't assign quizzes and OWLs cover five years of work." Willa argued.

"You're talking like I haven't taken my OWLs, I have. I have lived the whole Hogwarts experience, during a much darker time than you have baby. Go up and celebrate with your friends before everyone starts panicking about exam time. I'm incredibly proud of the game you played today. You could have easily fallen and played the same dirty tactics that Slytherin did. I'm so proud of you." Octavia spoke, a warm smile on her face and Willa beamed up at her mother.

Willa dropped her broom to the ground before closing the gap between the two of them and hugged her mother.

"I'll see you around mum," Willa spoke as she pulled away, picking up her broom and heading towards the change rooms to shower before going up to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate with her friends for finally winning the Quidditch Cup.

.oOo.

The weekend consisted of a continuous party in the common room flowing with sweets and butter beer which of course caused everyone to ask where it had all come from. Willa even witnessed Fred and George whisper something regarding the Marauders to Harry.

She had questioned them when they first gave Harry the map, about if they had told him of how her parents were involved, but they swore up and down that they didn't.

But now the weekend was over, and it was Thursday afternoon. The fifth year Gryffindor and Slytherin students were sitting in their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom waiting for Remus to arrive.

Next week was the beginning of their exams. The Fifth and Seventh years had their exams before the rest of the students. They took up the first two weeks of June with theirs and right now all they wanted was to go over the topics they had covered in previous months beforehand.

It was when Willa was leafing through her textbook the night before, unable to sleep with worry over Remus because it was a Full Moon that she noticed one particular subject that they hadn't covered yet.

While they sat there waiting for Remus, Willa flicked through her book and opened it to the page she was after before pushing it closer to Fred.

He looked at the page before looking at her. "How hasn't he covered this? He would be the most knowledgeable of every single Defence Professor we've had since first year." He questioned, and Willa shrugged, looking around the room.

"This could also potentially be the only year that has knowledge of them. You, me and George grew up knowing about them. Over the years I've answered our friend's questions and look at who is in Slytherin. Selwyn and Nox parents' run in the same circle as Amycus. Pucey's parents would surely have some idea. It just leaves four students. A pretty easy subject to cover don't you think?" Willa spoke, explaining her theory and Fred nodded.

The door opened, and everyone turned around, quickly noticing it was Snape that entered. Willa shared a look with Fred. Ever since the incident with Snape assigning the third years a werewolf assignment Octavia had been taking Remus' missed classes where possible, but sometimes her classes clashed with his and someone else had to take them.

"Your OWLs begin next week, surely you have covered everything you need too. I suggest you all read over your notes to not ruin the work we as your Professors have put in, I suggest starting with this class." Snape ordered as he walked to the front.

Fred had to put a hand on Willa's arm to stop her from standing up. She knew exactly what Snape meant by that underlying comment. She knew that Snape was badmouthing Remus' teaching practises.

"It's not worth it," Fred hissed. "He's pissed Slytherin lost."

Willa looked up at Snape and narrowed her eyes. She didn't know what Snape could do to her now especially since the match was over and with the win, it gave Gryffindor the boost in House Points they needed to gain an advantage in the House Cup.

The door opened once more, and everyone turned in one movement. No one entered Snape's classroom when he was teaching, regardless of which subject it was but quickly noticed it was Octavia standing there.

"What are you doing in here? I believe I am taking this class." Octavia spoke calmly, but Willa knew her mother was pissed.

"You were late."

"Are you going to give me detention or deduct house points? No, I'm a Professor just like you. I, in fact, was just with Professor Lupin to find out what he wished for them to learn in their last class before their exams." Octavia spoke, defending her actions even though Willa believed she didn't have too.

"You just gave me my next defence, their last class. There shouldn't be anything left for them to learn," Snape spoke, and Octavia headed towards the front of the room.

"Leave," she ordered, and the two of them went into a glaring match.

Willa watched the two Professors. She could see her mother's lips move but couldn't hear what was said but whatever it was caused Snape's face to twist in anger before he turned and left. That added another thing to the list of stuff that she had to one day ask her mother about.

Octavia turned and faced the class giving them all a smile. "Right sorry about that, Professor Lupin is feeling under the weather, and I've been asked to take this class for two reasons. One, I believe I'm better company than Professor Snape and two, well I have more knowledge is this one particular topic you have yet to cover."

"Should you being talking about another Professor like that?" Selwyn questioned, and Octavia looked over at him.

"Depends, do you want me to remind everyone here that my daughter gave you a black eye when you were eleven?" Octavia responded with a smirk, and the Gryffindor side of the classroom snickered at the comment. "Good, all quiet. Now, who would like to begin the discussion on the topic of Dreamers?"

Willa grinned and looked at her friends. Over the years she's answered what questions she had about her mother and her gift when it came to magic but there were some questions she couldn't answer because she didn't know. To her, her mother was still her mother. She didn't know that there were any differences out there. So now her friends would be able to have all the answers they want regarding her mother and her abilities as a Dreamer.

.oOo.

Willa banged her head on the table and let out a groan, "why?" she muttered to herself.

"Oh come on Willa," Fred spoke, and Willa lifted her head to look at her two best friends.

"You asked me to help you study, but yet you keep messing around. These exams are serious or do you both not see that?" Willa spoke, and they shared a grin. "Don't; I don't want to hear it."

"Come on Willa,"

"We have Charms tomorrow,"

"We need to pass,"

"We need your help."

Willa narrowed her eyes at them. It had been like this all week, and the only reason she kept putting up with them was because they were her best friends.

She shook her head and placed her face in her hands. She took a deep breath before looking up at them. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

They shared a knowing grin before looking at her. "Well, we have this idea but can't quite work out the spell," Fred explained.

"No, no pranks." Willa snapped, taking a deep breath. "You asked for my help with OWLs, so we are going to study. Your mum will be furious if you don't do well and honestly, do you want to repeat fifth year? Have to do this all again next year." She spoke, reminding them of what would happen should they fail their exams.

"Having fun over here?" Angelina's voice came, and they all looked up to notice the rest of the fifth years joining them at the table.

"No, it's not fun helping them study," Willa complained, and they all laughed.

"It's why you three are such good friends. You aren't exactly the best person to study with." Alicia pointed out, and Willa pretended to be offended, this wasn't the first time she'd heard this before.

She knew that at times her friends didn't like to study with her, her memory made it too easy for her to recall the topics and as such, she got bored too quickly and began distracting all her friends from their own studying.

"So what are you studying?" Veronica questioned.

"Well, we have this idea for a prank," George spoke.

"No, no pranks," Angelina spoke, and Willa grinned smugly at the twins.

"We're studying Charms," Willa explained, and the others nodded, pulling out their Charms books. They all began studying together with Fred and George dropping their questions on their prank ideas.

.oOo.

Willa sat in the kitchens ignoring the noises as Elves placed a large amount of plates of food around her. She only wanted a sandwich while she studied. Because she had an extra subject compared to her friends (and obviously the rest of the students in her year) she had a clash of exams and as such, she had to take her Care of Magical Creatures OWL examination on a Saturday afternoon. What was even worse, everyone else had finished their exams.

She knew she would do well. Willa knew her creatures and had been receiving O marks all year, but she was still worried about what would happen once she was in the room. She couldn't believe she got nervous like she did when it came to her Potions practical. She had thrown the wrong ingredient in and as such ruined her first attempt. She was just glad that it was still early and she still had enough ingredients sitting in front of her that she was able to empty her cauldron and start over again. She may not have finished her potion completely, but she was pretty sure the stage she did get too was enough to get a decent grade.

"Misses Willa?" a voice came, and when Willa lifted her head she found Dinky standing in front of her, she was confused as to why Amycus' elf was standing in front of her in Hogwarts of all places.

"Dinky what are you doing here?" Willa questioned.

"Master Amycus asked me to bring you these, said they will help you with the last owl," Dinky spoke, holding up a plate and Willa immediately saw the ice cakes sitting there. She wouldn't have been surprised if Dinky made them fresh herself.

"Thank you Dinky," Willa smiled at the elf and waved her hand to request that Dinky placed the plate on the table in front of her.

"You're welcome Misses Willa," Dinky spoke before she disappeared.

Willa reached over and grabbed one of the ice cakes before focusing on her notes in front of her.

She ignored the noises once again as someone entered the kitchens, this not being the first time someone had come since she had been in here.

"I see Dinky brought you a present," Leighton's voice interrupted Willa's thoughts, but she didn't look up to face him. "Dad had her bring me cockroach clusters last year."

Willa looked up to face him, a look of disgust on her face. "I still can't believe you like those disgusting things."

Leighton grinned at her before reaching over and picking up one of the ice cakes, "and yet you enjoy these."

Willa reached over and grabbed the cake from him, "then don't eat mine. You don't see me eating the sweets that Dinky sends you."

"That's because she sends you your own, along with Emerson," Leighton spoke with a grin.

"I have an exam to study for," Willa spoke, looking back down at her notes.

"How long have you been in here for? Don't you need a break?"

Willa didn't respond. She just tuned Leighton out as she focused on her notes. She didn't want to freeze like she did in Potions, this was the subject she needed, this was her backup plan.

"When is your exam?" Leighton questioned, and Willa flicked her gaze up at him for a second before back at her notes.

"2 o'clock." She responded.

"Perfect, lots of time to come for a fly before you have to be there. It will help you relax and focus better." Leighton spoke, but Willa stayed silent.

"Come on Willa let's go," Willa jumped in her seat as Emerson's voice was directly in her ear.

"Merlin Emerson, how long have you been in here?" Willa questioned, glaring at the girl in question.

"What do you mean? I entered with Leighton." Emerson had an identical grin on her face to Leighton and Willa looked between the two of them.

"How did you even know I was in here?" Willa questioned, the whole time during the OWL and NEWT examinations she had been in the Gryffindor common room helping her friends study for the exams but fear had set in for her final exam, and as such, she had decided to hide for the day.

"Went to dad and he let me have a look at the map," Emerson spoke smugly, and Willa narrowed her eyes.

She had gone to Remus and asked to have the map, even requested to borrow the thing but Remus wouldn't let her, he always claimed she just wanted it to cause some mayhem. She didn't want to admit that he was right.

But it was then she realised that Leighton didn't question 'the map' comment. She looked over at Leighton and studied him, but he just continued to smile at her.

"He knows about the map," Emerson spoke, and Willa looked at her. "He was with me when we went to dad. He doesn't care said he made it through five and a half years of pranking you without it and it proves that he's better than you because you've obviously been cheating."

Willa wasn't pleased with this comment, but she knew that having both Leighton and Emerson in here she didn't stand a chance. She would have to give in and go with them because they both honestly had her best interests at heart.

She took a glance at her watch and realised just how long she had been sitting in here. She thought she had only been an hour, maybe two tops but it had been so much longer. Maybe she did need a break.

"Alright fine let's go," she spoke softly before turning and facing the house elves. "Can I please have my ice cakes placed in a box to bring with me?" none of the house elves responded, but it took seconds for a box containing her ice cakes to appear in her hands.

Emerson looped her arm through Willa's once she had collected her things and Willa knew that it was so she couldn't escape but she allowed them to lead her out of the kitchens and towards the Quidditch Pitch where they could all get a fly in before Willa had to attend her final exam.

.oOo.

Exams were over, even the rest of the years would finish their exams as of this afternoon, and there were only a couple of days until it was the end of the term. They would all return home for the summer where the fifth years will eagerly await their OWL grades while the freshly graduated Hogwarts students fought tooth and nail for their dream job.

But Willa had other concerns on her mind; today was the day that Buckbeak's execution was set. Yes, Hagrid had been given another chance to appeal the case, but she knew with Lucius Malfoy being the one that wanted the beautiful creature killed she knew he didn't stand a chance.

She had been in her mother's office all night last night trying to persuade her to do something, to do anything that would help save Buckbeak. Octavia promised to do what she could. She just made Willa agree not to go down there and witness it all.

Willa did, she assured her mother she wouldn't be down there at Hagrid's hut when it happened. Instead, she sat here on her broom in the sky watching. She had heard from her mother that Hagrid had lost the appeal like they knew would happen and the execution was going to occur at sunset.

She had the same uneasy sinking feeling in her stomach that she had last year when Ginny went missing but just assumed it was because of the injustice that Buckbeak was about to receive.

Willa was able to see as the figures emerged from the Castle and made their way towards Hagrid's hut. The tears built up in her eyes as she watched them walk towards the small home. She wanted to turn around and not witness it. She didn't want to see the death of Buckbeak, but she had too.

Willa was confused as she watched three figures emerge from Hagrid's hut. She knew they were Hermione, Harry, and Ron since she remembered the three of them were helping Hagrid with the appeal along with her mother and she couldn't believe what she was seeing as Harry threw something over them and they all disappeared.

She couldn't believe they had access to an invisibility cloak of all things!

Willa faltered in her spot, tightening her grip on her broom as she watched Harry appear from the edge of the forest by Hagrid's hut.

She swore she saw him disappear with his friends, but then again she had no idea where they went since they were invisible, but whatever they were doing, whatever they had planned she wouldn't stop them; especially when she caught sight of Harry walking closer to Buckbeak.

A grin appeared on her face as she realised what was happening. He was helping Buckbeak escape so he could live the life he deserved.

When Harry and Buckbeak disappeared back into the line of trees Willa turned and left, she knew if she were caught up in the air there would be questions and she would be expected to answer them.

She landed on the steps heading inside, her broom still in hand since she didn't even want to risk being caught out on the grounds. She could claim she was bringing her broom to her dorm to pack.

Willa would question Harry and his friends tomorrow as to what they did with Buckbeak and where he had gone.

.oOo.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who continues to read, set alerts and review my story it means a lot to me but reviews mean even more as they let me know what you enjoy.

Any guesses as to what comes next?

Thank you EmilinLove for being my Beta.

Thank you to bookdragonslayer and Raven that flies at night for reviewing, it means a lot to me.