"Willow? Willow! Wake up!"

"I'm awake!" Willow suddenly said, sitting up straight. She swiped a few strands of hair out of her face. "M'fine, just tired."

Every single Gryffindor Sister fixed her with a stare that screamed B.S. Willow gave them a dirt-eating grin and stuffed her face with more rolls, burying herself in a Daily Prophet article. The silence from the opposite side of the table grated on her nerves, though, and before long, she slapped it down on the table, letting out a pent-up sigh.

"Fine! What do you want from me?"

"You weren't in bed this morning," Fay said. "How long were you up?"

Willow tilted her head back in thought. "Uh...since four thirty, I think? Don't worry, I did sleep, contrary to popular belief."

"For all of four and a half hours!" Hermione scolded. "Willow, you know better than that! Parvati keeps a sleeping potion on her night stand for any of us to use at any time! Why didn't you ask her for some?"

"Because...I didn't think of it?"

"Rubbish! You had a nightmare again!" Lavender accused.

"I don't think I did, actually, I just happened to- "

"Come off it, Willow, we all know that you sleep like a rock," Parvati interrupted. "You only run off in the middle of the night when something serious happens."

"Oh, would you look at that? I think it's time for me to go grab my books," Willow said calmly, stuffing two pounds of bread and sausage into her pockets. "I'll see you guys in Herbology."

"Willow Lucia Guerrero, get you butt back- !"

Before Mia could finish her sentence, Willow slipped into the entrance hall, then darted up the stairs, taking them two at a time to keep herself awake. Luna and she had spent the entire morning with the thestrals. Most of the time, they were silent, simply relaxing in the presence of such innocent, docile creatures, but every once in a while, they'd strike up a conversation, mainly about casual subjects such as school and family. Willow enjoyed how deep Luna's words could go even though the Ravenclaw spoke in simple terms. The girl was emotionally intelligent, for one thing, and her common sense beat out nearly everyone she knew. Willow was glad to have found such a unique friend.

Jogging up the steps of the Owlery, Willow entered to find a ridiculous amount of energetic raptors hooting above her head. Iris let out an excited chirp when she saw her and dove onto Willow's outstretched arm. The Gryffindor smiled, fondly stroked her tawny owl's feathers, then tied a parcel full of food to Iris's foot. Fidget climbed onto Willow shoulder, and Iris nuzzled the bowtruckle with her beak, almost cooing.

"Who would have ever thought my creatures would actually get along?" Willow chortled. She guided Fidget back into her pocket, then gave Iris her usual treat. "You be careful, you hear me? I don't want you giving Sirius away."

Iris hooted indignantly, like she was shocked that Willow would even need to mention such an obvious thing, then took off into the sky, disappearing into the clouds within minutes. Willow checked that she hadn't been followed, and once she was sure she was alone, she quickly descended the spiral steps of the Owlery and jogged to the greenhouses. She arrived just in time to start the lesson. Oliver, Neville, and Sam instantly descended upon her, insisting that she had to be their partner. She rolled her eyes. As if it were a question.

"Ugh, what is this stuff?" Sam said, taking note of the plant they'd been given.

"Oh, sweet, bubotubers!" Willow exclaimed. "We get to remove the pus from them! Sam, you're going to love this, watch!"

Sam most definitely did not love it. In fact, he looked closer to throwing up than smiling when Willow popped a large, black, slimy pod on the bubotuber plant, and a yellowish pus came spewing out of it. Neville collected it in a glass container for them. Sam gagged, complaining that it smelled awful. Oliver couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

"How many plants do we get to work on?" he asked.

"As many as it takes to get Sam to vomit," Willow teased, earning her a slap from the strawberry blonde. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! We're supposed to do one plant each, I think. Stand over there, Sam, and you won't have to smell it as much."

"I can't stop smelling it. It's in my nose now," Sam whined.

"It gets better after a while, don't worry," Neville encouraged him. He nearly dropped a glass, and Willow caught it for him. "Thanks! How about you just pop the pods? You'd be good at that."

"As long as I don't pass out, sure."

Willow took care to work as quickly as she could, darting between the boys whenever they were about to drop something. They ended up doing some extra plants, then still managed to finish early, much to Sam's relief. Madam Pomfrey gave them ten house points each for their work and sent them to their next classes early. They all headed to Care of Magical Creatures and waited patiently on the hillside above Hagrid's house. Sam flopped on the ground and sprawled out in the grass.

"I am so done with today already," he groaned.

"Why? Bubotubers kick your butt?" Willow teased.

"That should not be legal to teach, with how bad they smell. But no, I'm actually worried about Sally. She was acting odd on the train ride here, then when I asked her about it this morning, she blew me off. We always tell each other everything. Why change now?"

"Maybe it's something super personal that she'd rather deal with on her own?" Neville offered.

"No, it can't be, she'd still tell me," Sam said.

"Then maybe she's dealing with a girl issue? You know, romantic things?" Oliver tried.

Sam grimaced. "If that's it, I'm going to throw up. She might keep that stuff to herself, because we've never talked about it. I'd say I hope that's what it is, but if she brings a guy to me, I'm not sure if I can do that stupid protective brother thing."

"Then don't. Sally can defend herself," Willow chortled. She patted Sam's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll talk to her about it if she keeps acting weird. I've dealt with drama in Gryffindor Tower since day one."

"Thanks," Sam said, looking rather relieved.

Willow heard the bell ring to signal the end of class. The four made their way to Care of Magical Creatures, where Hagrid was excitedly bustling about a massive crate. When the rest of the class gathered around, they made the unpleasant discovery that they would be doing a class research project on a new breed of magical creature called blast-ended skrewts. Even Willow had to admit that they were rather repulsive. They smelled ten times worse than bubotuber pus, their back ends exploded every once in a while, and some even had stings. Willow had a newfound appreciation for her own magical creatures by the time class ended.

It was a nasty shock walking from the perfectly cool outdoors into the stifling heat of Professor Trelawney's tower. Willow desperately wished that she was allowed to wear shorts and a t-shirt around the castle instead of the hot, sweaty robes that were a constant requirement. She picked a table with Oliver, Cypress, and Neville far from the crackling fire, next to an open window. Only Oliver seemed to be okay with the extreme temperature, but even he was rather red in the face.

Right off the bat, Professor Trelawney resorted to her mystical self, explaining the trials and tribulations of learning Divination through the movements of celestial bodies. Willow soon learned that she was born under Jupiter, and it reminded her of her mother's lessons on the stars. She quickly lost herself in a very good memory, when she was no more than five years old, sitting under the stars with her mum as she explained the astrological signs. She particularly enjoyed her description of Sagittarius, which was Willow's own sign. It was definitely a Gryffindor sign, that much was clear...

Suddenly, Willow found herself standing in front of her mother, but this was a different version of her. This was Grace Fawley, not the Guerrero woman Willow had grown up knowing. Willow stumbled about for a few moments in shock, wondering how on Earth she'd managed to get here when she'd been in the North Tower, then realized that her mum was staring at her. The wind grazed Grace's hair as the woman stared directly into her daughter's eyes. Willow wondered if she was frozen until Grace suddenly turned on her heel and walked away.

Racing after her, Willow discovered that she was on the Fawley lawn, and it was greyer than ever. Grace was walking calmly but purposefully towards the mansion. Willow followed her at a distance, still confused. Was this a dream? Was this a memory? Or was she somehow here, really present at the Fawley Manor? She swallowed her fears and continued to follow Grace. She was here, so like it or not, she'd figure a way out of the situation.

Grace stopped at the edge of the mansion. She pulled out a wand and tapped it to a door, then stepped back as it transformed. Willow didn't recognize this part of the house. It had an awkward brick wall that butted up against brown siding, and the black door jutted out like a rotten tooth. Willow watched as the wall shifted to swallow up the door entirely, revealing a dark, spooky passageway. Grace ducked inside and lit her wand. Willow followed, heart beginning to pound against her ribs. Was this a trap?

She marched through winding passageways for what felt like miles before finally coming to a stop. Grace had reached a dead end, and now she turned to face her daughter, presenting a very odd-looking item. Willow peered at what appeared to be some sort of magical creature. It looked like someone had taken a hydra, mixed it with a runespoor, then bred it with a tiger. Willow didn't recognize it to be any hybrid creature she'd read about. The token was hand-carved, though, and it looked like the artisan had taken a great deal of time to make sure the details were correct.

Grace's sad eyes found Willow's once more, and she nodded affirmingly at her daughter. The older Fawley disappeared, leaving Willow alone with the token. She panicked when the light dispersed along with her mother. This was a trap! Why else would her mum guide her beneath her very own mansion? But why would Grace show her the token, then? What was the purpose of it all?

With a sickening groan, then a massive crack, Willow felt the mansion far overhead collapse. The dirt piled on top of her, crushing, suffocating, deafening, and there was nothing she could do. Willow scrambled in the pitch-black darkness to find something, anything to pull herself out with, but her wand was nowhere to be found, and her lungs were filling with debris. The oxygen slowly depleted until she was left gasping for air, only drawing in more soil into her dry mouth. She was dying...

And then she was back in the North Tower.

Willow blinked slowly, realizing she was on the ground. Oliver, Cypress, and Neville were standing over her, Professor Trelawney's dewy gaze not far away. Cheeks flooding with blood in embarrassment, Willow sat up, quickly jumping to her feet. She inconspicuously dusted herself off, but there was nothing unobtrusive about the way the whole class was staring at her. Willow cleared her throat and sat down at her table. Professor Trelawney looked like she was about to say something, then closed her mouth, for some reason thinking better of it.

"Broaden your minds!" she encouraged, walking among the students once more. "Embrace the clairvoyant vibrations of the room!"

"Willow, what just happened?" Oliver asked. "You were fine, and then you passed out, and you looked like you were struggling to breathe. I was worried Cypress accidentally poisoned you or something..."

"I would not do that!" Cypress protested. "I'm very careful about which potions I slip into her pumpkin juice!"

Oliver shot him a look. "You tested a strength potion on her last year that almost resulted in another ceiling collapse."

"That's different!" At another glance from the Hufflepuff, Cypress folded his arms across his chest and pouted like a little kid. "Hey, I'm not the one that volunteered. She wanted to have upper body strength for once in her life."

"That's true," Willow chortled. "But no, I wasn't poisoned this time."

"'This time'?" Neville yelped.

Cypress waved his question away. "Long story. What did you see, Willow? Was it another weird vision?"

"Weird would be an understatement. I was back at the Fawley Manor, and Grace was there. She didn't say anything, though, just walked to a part of the house I didn't recognize. It transformed into a sort of tunnel, and I followed her in – don't give me that look, Oliver, I know I'm stupid – and it led me to a dead end. Grace showed me this carving of a hydra-runespoor-tiger thing, and then disappeared, and all of a sudden the tunnel collapsed, and I nearly suffocated before waking up."

"Willow, how many times do we have to remind you not to walk into obvious traps?" Cypress said.

"As many times as it takes to get through my thick skull." Willow tapped her chin. "I don't know what it means. It hardly seemed like a vision at all, more like those twisted warnings that I sometimes get at night." She yawned widely. "Ugh, for all I know, I accidentally fell asleep, and it was nothing more than a dumb dream. I certainly have no idea why my mum would show me something like that, anyway. I've seen every part of the house, and I didn't recognize this wall. It had to be a dream. It had to be."

"As long as you're sure..." Neville said nervously. "I hope it's not a warning for something worse."

"Knowing me, it probably is," Willow snorted. She rubbed her aching head, the fumes of the room getting into her sinuses. "Merlin, I hope that class gets out soon. Divination messes with my head. Oliver, remind me later to go out and work with Cebba on getting rid of these stupid visions. I've been meaning to shake off the unnecessary powers for a few years now, but I never got around to it."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Oliver asked, eyes clouding. "These warnings have helped you recently."

"If you mean helped me get into deep trouble, yes, you're correct, which is exactly why I need to get rid of them," Willow insisted. "Trust me, if you saw your whacked-up mum in half your visions, you'd want to get rid of them, too."

Oliver squeezed her hand. "I trust you."

"I don't," Cypress said.

"Liar," Willow chortled.

"You do walk into fire..."

"Cypress, I'm going to test Fred and George's newest pranks on you if you make one more snide comment."

"Snide comment."

Willow rolled her eyes. At that moment, the bell rang, and the friends shoved their things into their bags and ran for the ladder. They parted ways and headed to their separate lessons, Willow and Neville specifically ending up in Transfiguration. Willow struggled to pay attention for the majority of the lesson. Miranda lit his desk on fire at one point ("It was an accident, Professor, I swear!") to get her to participate in a conversation. Willow ended up entertaining her friends by letting Fidget and her fire-dwelling salamander play together on her desk. Something about the vision had really messed with her, and now her mind was clouded with worry. She knew she should have switched to a different elective this year. Even Ancient Runes had to be better than Divination at this point.

Willow's cloudy mood followed her to the Great Hall for dinner, where she ate in near silence. Her Gryffindor Sisters pestered her to talk to them, so she moved further down the table, where Ginny and Colin were chatting amiably. Willow noted that a familiar blonde Ravenclaw had joined them. She grinned to herself when she saw Luna's eyes light up as she talked. Ginny and Colin hung onto every word, apparently baffled and intrigued all at once by the way she blessed the air with interesting words. If Willow could paint an image of Luna's speech, it would be a collage of every color the world possessed. It was brilliantly beautiful.

"Willow, come have a seat, Luna was just telling us about wrackspurts!" Colin invited.

"Wrackspurts?"

"Invisible magical creatures that float in your ears and make your head go fuzzy," Luna explained, smiling. "My father talked about them all the time when I was young. I think your head is full of them at the moment."

"My head's full of something, alright," Willow muttered.

"Did something happen?" Ginny asked. "Luna's right, you look distracted."

"Oh- I'm fine. Divination and Transfiguration back to back, that's all. Two of my worst subjects." Willow threw a beam on her face. "It's nice to see that you guys got along so fast. I only introduced you this morning, didn't I?"

"Yes, but we had Herbology and Potions today, and those are both with Ravenclaw, so we got to partner up all afternoon!" Colin cheered. "Luna's brilliant at potions! Even Snape has nothing bad to say about her!"

Willow arched an eyebrow. "Really? Absolutely nothing?"

"No, though he didn't appear very happy one day in my first year. He seemed upset, and I made a positivity tonic instead of a cure for boils..." Luna said dreamily.

"Wow. I bet Cypress would like you. He's my Slytherin friend that's a potions genius."

"Is he the one that's always around Oliver Rivers?" Luna asked. When Willow nodded, her silver eyes sparkled. "He's mad for Oliver. Wrackspurts are all over him when they're together."

Willow laughed. "I know, right? I hope he finally makes a move this year, because Oliver is way too shy to ask him."

"Aw, do you think they'll finally be a real couple this year?" Ginny said. "They've been putting it off for ages! They've been acting like they're together since the beginning of last year! Have you ever seen them not glued to each other's side?"

"Once, but that was a life-or-death situation," Willow said. "That was my fault. Oliver was too busy kicking Molly's butt for me."

"Ooh, look, it's Professor Moody!" Colin suddenly squeaked, pointing to the other end of the Great Hall. "I wonder what he's doing? We haven't had him yet, but I've heard he's- "

"...bouncing a ferret?" Ginny said.

Willow stared in utter confusion at the scene. Harry was standing near the Gryffindor table with his wand out, the shoulder of his robes smoking. Moody had pulled out his wand and was now bouncing a ferret ten, twelve, fourteen feet in the air, the poor thing emitting squeaks of pain all the while. Willow noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were standing nearby, looking utterly helpless. It took her a few moments to put two and two together, then, with a great sputtering gasp, she burst into laughter, along with the rest of the Great Hall.

"That- that's Draco!" Willow wheezed. "He's turned Draco into a ferret! Oh, I don't care how much crap happened today, I'm in the best mood I've been since June!"

"Professor McGonagall appears unamused," Luna said, though there was a small smile on her face, too.

After a brief exchange between a very frantic McGonagall and Moody, Draco was transfigured back into himself and ushered into the dungeons to confront Snape about his behaviour. Willow said a hasty goodbye to her friends and ran up to Harry and Ron, who were still struggling not to laugh.

"That was awesome! What even happened?" Willow said breathlessly.

"Well, Draco was rubbing a Daily Prophet article in our face, about Dad, actually," Ron explained, still laughing between pauses. "He was being a real prick, and Harry insulted him right back, so Malfoy fired a spell at him, and Moody caught him doing it."

"Brilliant!" Willow exclaimed. "Even Snape can't look past Draco's behaviour when Moody personally escorts him down to his office. Maybe he'll finally you alone for a second."

"I give him two days, and he'll be back, but I've got loads of ammunition now," Harry chuckled. "I can't wait."

"Just wait until you have a class with him," George said, passing by with his twin. "He's really been there, knows what happens in the real world. I'll bet he knows how to defend against every dark spell there is."

"Really? Cypress is going to love him," Willow remarked. "He's always wanted to learn a bit of dark magic."

Fred grimaced. "That bloke's downright terrifying when he gets to his experimenting. Don't let him get too close to Moody, or they might take over the Ministry."

"Nah, Oliver won't let that happen. He has Cypress wrapped around his little finger."

"Speaking of your friends, you're being summoned, Willow."

Before she could even protest, Willow was kidnapped. She rolled her eyes, recognizing Miranda's pale arms around her middle, dragging her along the corridors until they reached the marble staircase. Miranda shot her a cheeky grin.

"Long time no see. You're lucky I didn't prank you in the middle of the Great Hall."

"There's still the rest of term," Willow reminded him.

"Don't give me any bright ideas."

"Hey, Mandy!" a boy called. Willow tensed up when Miranda visibly winced. "Did you get fed up with dresses and flowers? I thought girls were supposed to have– "

Before the boy could finish his taunt, Miranda raised his wand, and without even looking, he aimed it over his shoulder at the boy and blasted him into the opposite wall. Willow's eyebrows shot up. The boy groaned and slumped to the floor, looking like he'd been hit by a truck. Miranda, still not facing the boy, struggled to contain his laughter. He bit his lip, but it couldn't conceal the beam spreading from ear to ear. Willow put her arm around his shoulder.

"It's almost like I'm rubbing off on you."

"Almost," Miranda chortled.

"MIRANDA BROCKLEHURST!" McGonagall roared.

"That's our cue!" Willow said quickly.

The pair ran for it, darting up the marble steps in front of them. They tore down the corridors, even though McGonagall had not given chase, and didn't stop until they got to Ravenclaw Tower. Miranda answered the riddle before Willow could even blink. They entered the tower, stopped for a moment to marvel at a painting a sixth year had just completed, then proceeded to the winding staircase that led up to the girls dormitories. Willow was about to follow Miranda when the stairs suddenly turned into a slide, tossing the boy head-over-heels back into the common room.

"Miranda! What just happened?" Willow squeaked in surprise.

To her bewilderment, Miranda was laughing. "I'm sorry, I forgot about that! The staircases do that to anyone of the opposite gender unless they're accompanied by a friend of the correct gender. It happens all the time. Sometimes, on confusing days, I use it to figure out whether I'm male or female."

Willow furrowed her brow. "So if someone's non-binary...?"

"They'd either have access to both or get rejected all the time."

"The second option would suck." Willow walked up the first few steps, then held out a hand to pull Miranda to his feet. The stairs didn't change this time. "Sweet! Let's go spend some quality time with friends, shall we?"

Padma, Sue, and Lisa were all waiting for them in the dormitory. Within the next ten minutes, Cypress, Oliver, and the Smith twins also joined them. They all exchanged fiercely loving hugs, then proceeded to catch up with one another. Sue had spent the summer in Japan visiting family. Her cousins that went to Mahoutokoro allowed her to join them on a trip to study zouwus travelling between China and Japan. Padma and her twin Parvati had simply had a relaxing time at home, and Lisa spent the majority of her summer reading and visiting historical Muggle sites.

Cypress and the Smith twins, however, had a completely different summer. Sally and Sam had gone on vacation to a place in America called Disney World in Orlando, Florida. They went on and on about the fairy tales coming to life in live shows, singalongs, various rides, and themed dining options. Willow wondered how she'd been to New Zealand, but not Disney World. Carlos had some explaining to do! Before she could get up and owl her father, though, Cypress launched into a funny story of how he tricked his parents into buying him a beautiful potions set that they believed to be for what Muggles called chemistry. He came up with multiple concoctions over the summer and couldn't wait to try them out for real in his lab down in the dungeons.

Willow couldn't help but notice that Cypress and Oliver were super close the whole time they talked. Oliver was practically in Cypress's lap, and the blonde subconsciously held Oliver's hand. When she thought about it, Willow couldn't remember the last time Oliver and Cypress were in the same room and not touching. And those weren't the only two sitting suspiciously close. For some reason, Lisa and Miranda were mere millimeters apart from one another. Whenever Miranda talked, Lisa's eyes shone with a light that Willow had only seen in Oliver's when Cypress was complimenting him. Was she going to have not one, but two couples to look after by the end of the year?

About halfway through their time, Sally abruptly got up and announced that she had to do homework. No one said anything, but one look around the room told her that everyone was thinking the same thing: what the heck was up with her? It was natural by this point for the friend group to do their homework with one another when they hung out for longer than fifteen minutes. In fact, Lisa and Padma had already pulled theirs out! Was Sally...avoiding them?

"Okay, something's up," Miranda said when Sally had gone. "We all know it. Sam, any ideas?"

He shook his head. "None. Willow and Oliver tried to help me figure it out earlier, but we've got nothing."

"Well, it's definitely not because of a boy, because she always tells us about that," Lisa deducted. "So it has to be something else."

"Did anything happen to her?" Willow asked. "She looked awfully shaken up last night."

"No, she would have said something."

"Huh. I guess we'll have to wait and see, then, because I'm not about to confront a Gryffindor," Miranda said.

"Wise plan."

The group descended into a comfortable silence, then eventually started their homework, already complaining about the markedly heavier load. Willow pretended not to be aware she was doing everyone's History of Magic paper for them, and Oliver was apparently not telling everyone the answers to the first half of the Herbology assignment. It was a wonder they never got caught "helping" their friends like this. When Willow came upon Cypress's Defense Against the Dark Arts paper, she gasped.

"You're doing research on the Unforgivable Curses?"

"Yeah. You haven't had Moody yet?" Cypress asked. Willow shook her head, and his eyes lit up. "Oh man, have you missed out. Wait until his first lesson. It's brutal, but worth paying attention to."

"That's what I've heard!"

"You don't pay attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Lisa said, eyes wide.

"Only when it suits my plans for world domination." At a look from Oliver, he flopped back on the bed, sighing. "Ugh, fine, it's not world domination, it's world redistribution of power. That better?"

Oliver grinned and ruffled his hair. "Yes."

"You two are so cute," Sam remarked.

Oliver reddened profusely, but Cypress only smirked. "If you mean Oliver's stolen all the cuteness for himself, you're one hundred percent correct. Aw, dang it, he's even cuter when he's blushing! Oliver, stop making me smile! I can't conquer the world if you keep looking at me like that!"

"Then I'm going to keep looking at you like this forever," Oliver chuckled.

"Wow, you couldn't care less if the whole of the world was firing spells at you, but Oliver takes one look at you and he brings you to your knees?" Miranda said. "That's so adorable and sad at the same time."

"It's a Slytherin thing," Cypress grumbled.

"Leave it to a Hufflepuff to tame a Slytherin," Sue said.

"Can you tame a Slytherin, though?" Willow asked. "I mean, a Gryffindor, absolutely not, but a Slytherin?"

"Let's face it, we're both insufferable," Sam admitted.

"Now that is the one and only thing Gryffindors and Slytherins will ever agree on," Cypress said.


Willow tapped her foot on the floor. Charms was always a fascinating subject, but when she had a double period of it, the extra practice got kind of boring. That, and she couldn't wait to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts. She needed to get another read on Moody, a thorough one, before she could judge the man. Sure, he seemed sporadic and dangerous, but hey, wasn't she? If everyone judged her for her face value, she wouldn't have any friends. She had to keep an open mind about this guy. Besides, from the way everyone was talking, he had a special treat lined up for them.

The bell finally rang, and Willow was the first one out of the door. She raced through the corridors, waved hello to a few friends along the way, and finally arrived outside Moody's classroom. The Professor himself arrived minutes later, and Willow followed her classmates into the room, peering excitedly at the new decorations. Moody had collected all sorts of old, new, and mysterious contraptions. There was an odd-looking mirror that displayed wispy, ghost-like faces that Willow didn't recognize, and in the farthest corner, a bigger version of what appeared to be a sneakoscope spun like a top on its own accord. The desks had been arranged into the classic rows and columns with a big aisle down the middle. The bit of natural light the windows let in seemed cold and impersonal. Unlike Lupin's style, this room was not exactly warm and welcoming, but it didn't scare anyone away, either.

Miranda, Lisa, Sue, and Padma took their seats behind Willow. She sat in an aisle chair, learning from previous experience that a quick getaway was a necessity when dealing with Dark arts. Catastrophe, whether her own fault or not, almost always occurred on a weekly basis. Willow made herself comfortable, putting her feet up on the desk like a punk. She noted that Moody's magical eye swivelled in her direction, but failed to call her out on her behaviour, instead making the announcement that they wouldn't need their books today. Willow smiled to herself. She was going to like this guy.

Moody called out the names of each student, then proceeded to the lesson. Willow nearly fell out of her chair when the professor said they would be studying curses right away. She wasn't expecting him to be so straightforward, but then again, this was the man that marched into the Great Hall amid a lightning storm and managed to ignore hundreds of curious eyes. Moody was a true veteran of magical law enforcement. Of course he would teach them about Dark magic straight away; if they wanted to defend themselves, they needed to know what they were up against!

Moody pulled out three jars of spiders. He placed one on his palm, then asked for the class to tell him the first of the three Unforgivable Curses. Ron gave the correct answer: the Imperius curse. Willow laughed along with all the others as Moody sent the spider into a series of acrobatics she doubted a free-willing spider would be able to perform. It even did a tap dance at Moody's command. The professor didn't laugh, though, and soon, the class realized why. Moody explained that he had complete control of the spider, and if he wished, he could make the spider launch itself out the window, drown itself, or even toss itself down one of their throats.

Willow knew this already, of course, as her father had taught her all about the Unforgivable Curses after Grace left, but the sudden shift in mood got to her. If any one of them was under the Imperius curse, they'd be in serious danger. Willow had seen the effects of the Imperius Curse firsthand, and she didn't know if she'd ever stop reliving the moment, wondering what was going on in the victim's head. It was awful, the things a Dark wizard could make an innocent wizard do. Murderers could take the blood off their hands simply by making someone else perform the task. Willow suddenly felt like her breakfast wasn't going to stay down.

Fidget poked his head out of her pocket, sensing her cloudy mind. She quickly tried to shove him back in, but Moody's magical eye had already swiveled in her direction, and his eyes narrowed. Willow gulped as he paused, the moment stretching out farther than time should have allowed, the class beginning to look in her direction in confusion. But Moody looked away and continued the lesson without giving her a second glance. That was the second time he'd let her get away with something. He had already called out two students for doing Divination homework during the lesson, yet he allowed her to have an illegal pet in his classroom. What was up with this dude?

The sound of Neville's voice yanked Willow out of her thoughts. Moody praised him for knowing the name of the Crutiatus Curse. Willow sucked in a sharp breath when he uttered the incantation. She fortunately had never seen the curse or been its victim, but she'd come close last year at the Ministry. They tortured her and Grace with horrible spells that caused enormous amounts of pain. She couldn't imagine the agony of a literal torture spell, but with the spider writhing in pain before her very eyes, she had an idea of what it would be like.

Willow's hand shot to her head when her powers practically electrocuted her temple. She glanced to her right to see Neville sitting across the aisle from her. At first, she wondered why she'd been warned, as he was whispering something to Dean and Seamus, but when he turned back to face the front, she gasped at how pale his face had turned. Neville gripped the sides of his desk with white knuckles. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the spider, being tortured mercilessly by Moody's curse. Hermione had apparently noticed, too, because she pleaded with Professor Moody to stop, and he finally released the spell. The damage had been done, though. Neville still stared at the spider, eyes wide, horror draining the color from his skin. Willow recognized that look, and it broke her heart.

That's what she looked like after a nightmare.

Willow swallowed her own pain at seeing Neville so terrified, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. She listened intently to Professor Moody's speech to drown out her own thoughts. She wished she hadn't, though, when she realized there was only one more curse left to show them. Willow dug her nails into her arm to ground herself. She'd seen it before, all right, but for some reason, the atmosphere of the classroom was getting to her. It felt like she was sharing the worst of her memories with the entire class. Her Gryffindor Sisters tried to get her attention to distract her, but Willow's eyes were glued to the spider, waiting for the inevitable, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

Moody aimed his wand at the spider. "Avada Kedavra!"

There was a brilliant flash of green, and as if she was watching in slow motion, Willow saw the spider topple over, sensed the life being snatched from its body, and witnessed it landing upside-down on Moody's desk. It was dead instantly.

All of a sudden, a tightness filled Willow's chest. Her mouth went dry. She tried to inhale but found her airways blocked. It was like someone had stuffed cotton balls down her throat. Willow desperately tried to move air through her chest, and again was unsuccessful. Her brain raced a thousand miles a minute. Sweat dripped into her eyes. She tried to close them and only saw that bright green flash, this time illuminating her brother's innocent face. Panic gripped her like an iron fist. She needed to get out. She had to escape, and now.

"Willow, are you okay?" Miranda whispered, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Willow jerked away. "Please – don't touch me right now – I need to go – I need to get out of here– "

"Willow, what– ?"

Before she even knew what she was doing, Willow was on her feet. Professor Moody called for her to sit down, but she hardly heard him, instead making a beeline for the door. Willow ran through the corridors. Black dots danced in front of her eyes, and her legs felt like jelly. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. All she felt was the swish of the spell as it brushed past her, hitting the one person she cared about more than anything in the world, and she kept reliving it, over and over and over, maybe a hundred times in a single moment. She had to save him – but it was too late – she should have acted sooner – he was dead, gone, right before her eyes–

And then Willow found herself in the girls' lavatory, all alone. Her stomach heaved, and Willow ran for the nearest toilet, where she lost her breakfast. She stumbled over to the sink and washed her mouth and face. She turned off the faucet when she was done, then leaned on the sink, her hands shaking violently as they supported her seemingly heavy weight. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her face had gone ghost white. She couldn't tell whether it was water or sweat dripping from her forehead. Everything was a blur. Everything was a mess. She was a mess.

Willow didn't know how long she stood there, staring at her reflection, but one moment she was there, and the next moment, she was hyperventilating on the floor, her memories threatening to swallow her. She tried the shut them out, to force them away, but today they had gained the upper hand. Willow relived it all from beginning to end, again and again, minute after minute. She wanted to cry so badly but couldn't summon the tears. She was wrapped up in her own panic.

Rion was sleeping – his face was so angelic in the moonlight – Willow smiled – then there were voices – footsteps echoed off the walls – the door burst open – there was screaming – a blinding flash of green light – Rion's eyes snapped open – then the light disappeared – Willow could see the stars in his eyes – she tried to scream – her voice caught in her throat–

"Willow. It's okay. You're safe."

Willow felt her voice grow hoarse and realized she was screaming. She shook her head, hovering between her memories and the present moment, feeling her soul trying to split apart.

"You're at Hogwarts. You're in the girls' bathroom. It's quarter past four, and you just finished Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You're safe."

Willow's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was a warm pair of brown eyes. Then she noted the wavy brown locks of hair. She felt two pairs of arms around her. She finally recognized Paige, then on her other side, George. Willow gasped and sat upright, scooting back from them, her body shaking from head to toe. She gripped her chest and realized she could finally breathe again. Willow propped herself up against the wall, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"What just happened?" she panted.

"You were having a panic attack," Paige said softly.

"What? No. Absolutely not." Willow shook her head, letting out a mirthless laugh. "Heck no. I don't get those."

"I hate to say this Willow, but I think you actually do," George sighed. "Sam came to get us. He said that you freaked out after Moody showed you guys the Killing Curse."

"Freak out is a much better definition," Willow said.

"No, Willow, it's not," Paige said firmly. "Jewel has them every once in a while because of her abusive parents. I learned a few tricks to help her with them. That one there? That was called grounding. It seemed to help you pretty well."

Willow's face reddened. "I do not have panic attacks. I'm fine."

"I think that's the closest you're going to get to a thank-you, Paige," George chuckled.

Paige rolled her eyes, but she gave Willow a certain look. "Fine. You're coming to dinner, though. I'm keeping an eye on you."

"What? No, I'm not even hungry." Willow got to her feet, instinctively backing up toward the door. "I had a really big breakfast – don't look at me like that, I skip lunch all the time – and I'd rather get a head start on homework."

"Are you seriously running off because you're embarrassed?" Paige scoffed.

"I'll admit to that as long as you stop saying I have panic attacks!" Willow called over her shoulder as she took off towards Gryffindor Tower.

George tossed a Puddle Pod at her, soaking her to the bone. Willow rolled her eyes. At least he knew how to lighten her mood after such an emotional breakdown. Willow avoided all the main passageways, preferring the quiet back way to Gryffindor Tower. She tried to block out the emotions surging within her. She would never admit it, but that was definitely a flashback, and even though she wouldn't call it panic attack, it was something equally horrible. Her throat was already sore from struggling to breathe so long. The last time something like that had happened was Halloween second year, and before that, months before her first year. Why did the Killing Curse affect her so much now, of all times? What if she'd broken down in the middle of class? Everyone would have heard her screaming to Rion! She could have outed her darkest secret!

Willow clenched her hands into fists as she jumped over the disappearing stair in the tapestry staircase. She had to get this under control. If everyone found out her secret...she'd never recover. Everyone would see her as weak. The professors would coddle her. Her fellow Gryffindors would try to comfort her at every turn. Willow clenched her fists as she stepped through the portrait hole. She was going to get rid of these flashbacks if it killed her!

Willow's senses picked up faint sniffling. She cast around the common room, then realized it was coming from upstairs. She climbed the spiral staircase until she reached the fourth year floor. Willow did a double-take when she realized someone was crying in the boys' dormitory. She quietly waited outside for a few minutes, then noiselessly pushed the door open, accidentally scaring Neville.

"Oh! I'm sorry – didn't expect to see you– " Neville stuttered.

"Neville? Are you okay?" Willow asked.

"Y-Yeah." Willow shot him a look, and he relented, slumping against the frame of his four-poster. She noticed the red rim around his eyes as he spoke again. "No, not really. Not at all."

Willow sat down beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Neville paused. "I...I don't know what happened. I saw Moody perform that curse on the spider, and I guess, I dunno, it freaked me out a little because of what happened – because of what happened with my, uh...parents."

"Your parents?" Willow had never heard Neville talk about his parents before, but she'd never wondered why until now.

"I don't really tell anyone this, but...they were in the Order of the Phoenix, when the wizarding war against Voldemort started. A Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange tried to force information out of them. They wouldn't give in. She used the Crutiatus Curse on them, but they still refused to give up, and she tortured them into insanity. They live in St. Mungo's, and that's why I stay with my grandma. I'm proud to be their son. It's just..." Neville sniffled. "It kind of sucks, when the parents that sacrificed everything for me don't recognize their own son."

Neville broke into quiet sobs. Willow put her arms around him, drawing the boy closer to her side. Neville clutched her shoulders like he'd fade into nothing if she let go. Willow's heart shattered into an infinite number of tiny pieces. She never thought to ask why Neville lived with his grandmother, and now she felt terrible about not supporting him sooner. She thought her life was bad with one crazy parent and one real one...Neville had none.

"I'm so sorry, Neville. No one should have to go through that," Willow whispered.

"It's not your fault," Neville whimpered. "I guess seeing what they went through, even in an educational setting, really got to me, made what happened to them real. I normally can handle talking about them, but...what happened to them was so much worse than anything I could have imagined."

Willow drew in a slow breath. "Neville, can I tell you something? I think it's only fair, since you spilled your guts to me."

"You don't have to..."

"Well, Oliver would want me to, so I'm going to." She exhaled to calm her racing heart. "When I saw the Killing Curse just now, I had a horrible flashback, about the day my mum went crazy. That's why I ran out of the room. I thought I was long over having flashbacks, since it happened so long ago, but I was wrong. I relived everything. What I'm trying to say is that there's no rhyme or reason to this kind of thing; it kind of comes and goes as it pleases, leaving us feeling like crap."

"I didn't know you had flashbacks," Neville murmured.

Willow let out a mirthless chuckle. "Well, it's not exactly something I like to talk about. I feel like others would see me as weak if they knew. I can't be seen as weak. If people don't respect me, then how am I supposed to be a leader?"

"Willow, people wouldn't see you as weak. They might think of you as more human, actually." Neville looked at her through broken eyes. "Having emotions is what keeps you human, you know."

"I do know, which is why I ignore them. I'm not human. I'm– " Willow paused. "What do you call a witch that's cursed with phenomenal powers and a prophecy?"

"A doomed human."

"Damn it, Neville, stop characterizing me as human," Willow chortled. A ghost of a smile touched Neville's lips. "I know, I'm a hypocrite. I say that it's okay for everyone else to be emotional, then refuse to cry myself. I actually haven't cried in months."

"That's not healthy."

"No, it's not. But it's how I deal with my emotions. I've learned to keep them in emotion bottles and eventually chuck them at someone or something. It's a very dysfunctional way of doing things."

"We're Gryffindors. Isn't that our forte? Dysfunctional?" Neville snorted.

"Is that a smile I'm detecting, Longbottom?" Willow gasped.

"Absolutely not. I'm all doom and gloom. How dare you insinuate me being happy."

"Now that's the happiness-and-rainbows Neville I know." Willow ruffled his hair. "Seriously, though, if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen. I have no qualms about running right out of class to help."

"Well, don't get yourself detention, but thanks."

Willow heard the first group of Gryffindors reenter the Tower. She hugged Neville one last time, then left the dormitory, hoping to make it to the secret room before her friends could intercept her. She was thankfully successful, and slipped inside just as the majority of the Gryffindors returned from dinner. Griffin and Phoebe tackled her immediately. Willow laughed when V, Felicity, Patch, and even the fire-dwelling salamander jumped on top of her, too. Fidget fought his way out of her pocket and climbed on Griffin's head, chirping ecstatically.

"Hi, guys, I know you missed me," Willow chuckled. "How are you all doing? Did you get lonely already?"

Griffin bobbed his head up and down as if to say yes, he did get lonely, even though he saw more people on a daily basis at the castle than he did at home. Willow rolled her eyes and noted the collection of paintings, easels, and various colored pencils, pens, chalks, pastels, and paints that had somehow found their way into the room. The vast majority of the paintings were images of the creatures at play, whether individually or all together. Willow marvelled at the incredible detail the artist had put into his work. Dean and Seamus had obviously been spending a great deal of time in here. A few of Neville's exotic (probably semi-illegal) pet plants were scattered throughout the room, too. Willow was glad to be able to share the room with the Gryffindor boys.

A buzzing on her wrist alerted Willow to an incoming call on her watch. She tapped the screen, and Sirius's face appeared in it. Something was wrong, though. He looked like he was ready to jump through the screen.

"Sirius, what's wrong? Did you– ?" Willow began.

"YOU HAD A PANIC ATTACK?!"

"What? No, I didn't– damn it, Paige!" Willow groaned. "They tattled on me, didn't they? I should have known they had their own watches!"

"Are you okay? You haven't had a panic attack in nearly two years!" Sirius visibly paced around a small area. "They shouldn't be teaching you about Unforgivable Curses so young. They should have cleared it with all the parents first. You had no warning! Of course it caused you to have a panic attack, it would probably set me off, too– "

"Sirius, I'm fine," Willow interrupted. "It wasn't a panic attack, either, it was a flashback."

"Same thing!"

"No, it's not. I'm fine, I got a refresher on what I'm up against with the Fawleys, and I got another emotional breakdown out of my system. I should be good for another five, six months now."

"Willow, that's not how emotions work."

"Sure they do! For me, anyway."

Sirius gave her a look. "Joking around isn't going to get you out of this conversation."

Willow sighed, her fakely happy expression melting away. "Fine. But I'm not calling it a panic attack. I just had a not-so-wonderful reminder of what happened to Rion. I got to relive it more times than I ever do in a dream. It was...not great. I saved my pride by running out of the classroom, but Paige and George obviously saw me, so...yay. Now they're going to coddle me."

"They're not going to coddle you, Willow, they're just going to make sure you're okay – you know, something good friends do. I'd be concerned about your choice in friends if they didn't keep an eye on you."

"Well, I don't want them to worry about me, okay?" Willow snapped. "I don't deserve their concern! They need to worry about themselves!"

Sirius blinked. "Willow...are you sure you're okay?"

She slumped down next to Griffin, the anger melting away into numbness. She rubbed her hands down her face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. That's on me. Yeah, I'm okay, though. I have to be okay. I've got to save the world by the end of my schooling, right? I can't do that if my past gets the best of me all the time."

"It's okay to not be okay, you know."

Willow swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know."

"I really wish I could hug you through this screen."

"Yeah, well, I'm not much for hugs, but that's probably why you want to," Willow said, a ghost of a smile touching her lips. "I miss you. Siriusly."

"Did you just– ? You know what, I'll let that joke slide, just because it's a superior joke." Sirius gave her a reassuring smile. "I miss you too, Willow. Hopefully we'll get to see each other soon."

"Doubt it."

"There's that cheeky optimism I missed." Sirius sighed, the happiness draining from his expression. The sun was beginning to set in the background. "I've got to go. Don't do anything stupid without me."

"I'll try not to. Bye, Sirius."

Willow stared at the screen long after Sirius's face disappeared, the sadness lingering in her heart until well after she left the room.


The days dragged by. Willow missed Sirius more than ever. She talked to her friends and hung out with her Gryffindor Sisters frequently to offset the pain, but it couldn't replace the second father figure in her life. Willow desperately wished that Sirius could clear his name, that he would be safe wherever he went, that maybe, just maybe, he could move into the Guerrero mansion and not have to look over his shoulder, yet that wasn't the reality of the situation. The moment he came out of hiding, the Ministry would send a horde of aurors and dementors, and Sirius would be without a soul before she knew it.

So Willow lugged herself from class to class, bogged down with immeasurable amounts of homework, even on the weekends. She threw herself into each and every task with the hopes that it would quiet her raging mind. She learned all about various goblin wars, useful charms, deadly potions, tricky transfiguration methods, and interesting plants. Only Divination could bore her to death, with its planetary movements predicting her death at every turn. Willow was glad she didn't believe it.

A few weeks into term, Professor Moody decided that it was time to practice curse-breaking. The students pushed their desks to the sides of the classroom and put all their books and quills away. They weren't even allowed to use a wand. Moody lined them up, and one by one, he placed the Imperius Curse on them. The students suddenly became very talented, doing tap dances on desks, singing beautiful opera songs, and even performing perfect cartwheels across the room. So far, the only ones able to fight the curse were Miranda and Harry, and the latter had fully broken the curse after several rounds of practice. Willow certainly hoped she would break it; she was one of the few students in the whole school that practiced occlumency. Maybe that would factor into curse-breaking.

"Ready, Guerrero?" Moody barked.

Willow pulled her head out of the clouds. "Yes, Professor!"

"On the count of three. One...two...three! Imperio!"

The strangest sensation Willow had ever experienced befell her. Her mind went very fuzzy. She couldn't string two thoughts together. It reminded her of being in full flashback mode, but without the panic. She'd gone blissfully ignorant. Numb, that was the better word. Willow began to wonder why she was in a classroom, and why there were so many people watching her.

Do a handstand.

Willow furrowed her brow. Who was talking to her? Why should she do a handstand? The last time she'd done one of those was when she did gymnastics, and that was when her brother was doing it with her. Rion was always better at–

Do a handstand, now!

Willow bit her tongue. She was about to yell back at the man. She didn't want to do a handstand! The students around her watched intently, and their gazes seemed to bore into her skull. She'd fall and embarrass herself if she did a handstand! Willow growled at the man in front of her. Moody. That was his name. And he was holding a wand, which he'd used to...what had he done to her?

DO A HANDSTAND!

NO! Willow screamed in her head. She was busy trying to figure out what was going on! What had Moody done to her? It was some sort of spell...and a bad one, too...the Imperius Curse! That's what it was! He was controlling her mind! Which meant...she was supposed to do what he said? No, wait, she was supposed to fight it!

"I'm not going to do a handstand today, thank you very much," Willow said. She could feel the bubble of numbness pop. The bliss that had accompanied the spell faded away, and she was grateful to have her independence back. "Wow. That does feel weird."

Moody clapped his hands. "Well done, Guerrero, well done!"

Willow blushed when the rest of the class clapped. "Uh, that's not necessary, I'm just– "

"One more round, and you'll break it right away!"

"Wait, what?"

Before Willow could blink, Moody had cast the curse on her once more, and the fog swirled in her brain. She cut right through it, though, this time remembering what she had to do within seconds. Willow pushed back against the oppressor, forcing her way through his commands, desiring complete, total independence. She couldn't stand being under anyone else's command! She closed her eyes and reached out in her mind, finally finding that tether that was tying her to Moody, and she pulled back on it. The ropes were under her command now. Willow yanked hard on the invisible cord, and a sensation of cold water splashing over her head snapped her eyes open.

Moody was doing a sort of happy jig around his desk, a deranged glee on his face. Willow clapped a hand to her mouth when she realized that was her fault. The curse had somehow rebounded onto its caster when she fought back. Willow desperately closed her eyes and willed for it to stop, mentally severing the rope. The bubble popped once more, and this time, when she looked to Moody, the man had stopped dancing. Instead, he was frozen in place, staring at Willow with both eyes.

"You rebounded an Unforgivable Curse," he growled. "That's near impossible. Do you have any idea how powerful your magic has to be to do that?"

Willow shrugged, trying to brush off all the stares of her classmates. "Oh, I'm sure it's a mistake, my magic can't be that powerful– "

"Oh yes it is, Guerrero. Only the most powerful of witches and wizards can rebound an Unforgivable Curse."

Willow couldn't take it anymore. "I'm just...gonna go now..."

She picked up her books in one swoop and hurried out of the room. Willow thanked God that the bell rang less than a minute after she left, and she was able to blend in with the crowd. She placed her free hand over her racing heart. How did she do that? How did she know to do that? Moody sensed the power in her. If he got too curious, he could discover her lineage, and even her extra powers. She knew she should trust her professors, but with Moody, she wasn't sure when to trust him and when to not.

Willow raced to the Great Hall and sat down between George and Paige. To her relief, they didn't say a word, obviously seeing her distraught face. She ran a hand through her hair and dove into a roast beef sandwich.

God, I need a therapist.