"Willow, please!" Mia begged.
"No."
"But it's Halloween!" Fay whined.
"No."
"But your hair and clothing would fit the occasion so perfectly!" Lavender reasoned.
"Ugh, fine. Do whatever you want with me," Willow gave in.
She regretted her decision at once. It was the morning of Halloween, and everyone in Gryffindor, including Hermione and Parvati, were insisting upon dolling Willow up. Apparently, her dark features would go well with the holiday. Willow didn't see how her complexion had anything to do with dressing her up on certain days of the year.
"Hey, Parvati, can you grab my curling iron?" Fay asked, brushing out Willow's hair.
"Curling iron?" Willow said, raising her eyebrows.
"Be quiet! Do not interrupt my artistry!" Mia commanded.
Willow obeyed, allowing the girls to pull her hair every which way, cover her face in funny-smelling stuff she had never even heard of before, and pick out her clothes. Hermione stood by and watched the whole time, covering her mouth.
"It's not funny, Hermione," Willow grumbled, looking ridiculous with a grumpy expression on her makeup-coated face.
"I'm sorry, I'm really trying not to laugh," Hermione giggled.
"Willow, oh my God!" Parvati gasped. "Your nails are beautiful!"
"Paint them at once!" Fay ordered.
Parvati didn't need encouraging. She raced to her dresser, pulled out a nail kit, and began painting Willow's nails with a pitch black color. Willow pretended to be enjoying all the fuss. After what seemed like a millennia of gritting her teeth and enduring the torment of getting her hair and nails done, Willow was sent into the bathroom to put on her special Hogwarts uniform that Lavender had selected.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she thought aloud.
Willow took a deep breath, put on the skirt and fancy shirt, and stepped back into the bedroom.
"How do I look?" Willow breathed.
There was a long pause of silence. Everyone's jaws had dropped to the floor. Willow glanced in the mirror, then did a double take.
Staring back at her was the perfect face of a young girl Willow had not seen in a long time. She had slight warmth in her cheeks, her freckles left exposed. Her hair was in slight curls that had been brushed out to be more wavy than anything. Willow's nails were striking, and her green eyes were more brilliantly stunning than she had ever seen them before. Her clothing was completely black except for a Gryffindor patch on the sleeve and made of expensive-looking material. She glanced back at the girls. Lavender seemed as if she could explode, tugging hard with excitement on Fay's arm.
"AMAZING!" Mia finally squealed.
"Our work here is done!" Fay declared. "We have created a goddess worthy of the best heroes the world has to offer!"
"Th- Thank you," Willow stuttered, still overcome with emotion with how much these girls had done for her on a whim.
"Group hug!" Lavender announced.
Everyone gathered around Willow and nearly tackled her into the ground, ecstatic that all their hard work had paid off. Hermione dragged Willow out of the dorm and into the common room.
"I can't wait for everyone to see you!" Hermione said, uncharacteristically excited about Willow's appearance, something she normally didn't have an opinion of.
"Oh God, what have I done?" Willow thought out loud.
"Hush up, Willow! Everyone's going to love this!"
The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement. Halloween was always a fun time, and the teachers showed it by lightening up on the homework for a day. Most everyone, though, was looking forward to the Halloween dinner more than anything. Willow had been told they decorated the Great Hall specially for the occasion and brought in special food. She was happy for the change, having had a rather monotonous past two months.
"Listen up, everyone!" Hermione announced when they reached the Gryffindor table. "I present to you version 2.1 of Willow Guerrero, the Halloween Special."
Harry, Ron, Neville, the twins, Lee, and Paige turned to find themselves gaping at this gorgeous new Willow. Hermione couldn't stop grinning at the blush deepening in Willow's cheeks. Neville seemed to have lost his voice, and Paige regained her composure rather quickly, raising her eyebrows.
"Blimey, Willow! They've done a number on you this time!" Fred exclaimed.
"About time," Paige teased.
"Paige!" George said.
"No, it's fine," Willow chuckled, relieved that at least one person knew how to make her not feel awkward about being dressed up. Hermione and she sat down, the rest of their dormitory exploding into the hall and finding their seats as well.
"So, do you have any takers yet?" Maia asked.
"What? No!" Willow said.
"Oh, please, Willow, take your chance!" Lavender rolled her eyes.
"Guys, I don't- "
"We know, we know, 'I don't like anyone yet! I'm only eleven!' Branch out!" Fay scolded.
"Come on, just try to flirt, for our sake? Please?" Parvati begged.
"No, and I'm actually an awful flirt," Willow admitted.
"Really? I don't believe a word of it," Mia said.
"Pretty please?" Lavender insisted, batting her eyes at Willow.
"Fine, I'll try it later," she promised.
The girls squealed and enveloped Willow in more bone-crushing hugs. Willow wondered how she was still intact. She was about to begin picking out what she wanted for breakfast when an apple landed on her plate. Turning quickly, Willow saw that Draco Malfoy was standing behind her, a smirk on his face.
"Did I already scare you today, Wisp?" Draco drawled.
Willow lifted her eyes to the heavens. "No, but I'll have plenty of opportunities to scare you later, Blonde."
Draco snorted. "Like that's going to happen."
"I guess we'll see."
"We will. Enjoy your apple, Wisp."
"Enjoy your day while you can, Blonde."
Draco waltzed back to the Slytherin table. Everyone around her at the table was staring, wide-eyed, except for the twins and Paige, who were scowling after the rich boy. Willow furrowed her brow, confused.
"Why are you all staring at me like that?"
"You...you just talked to Draco Malfoy. Without hitting him," Neville said in disbelief.
"Or him bullying you," Ron added.
"Since when are you two friends?" Hermione gasped.
"Um, excuse me? Friends? Think about what you're saying!" Lavender squeaked.
"Draco totally likes you, Willow!"
"Woah, slow down, what?" Willow said.
"Willow, think about it!" Maia said. "He's totally into you. Plus, you've already got cute nicknames for each other! Willow, with a boyfriend like that, you would get whatever you wanted!"
"You'd have him wrapped around you little finger!"
"Guys, I already told you, I'm not into anyone, especially not elitist pricks like Malfoy," Willow groaned.
"Alright, suit yourself, but I would be all over that opportunity..." Fay trailed off.
Willow shook her head, picking up the apple and spinning it in her hand a few times. All the first years continued to gossip under their breath about Malfoy and her. She couldn't care less, though. Draco might prove to be a great friend in the future, but for now, she was content to simply get into his head. Willow had met her share of ignorant little twats. She knew that she was more than capable of handling Malfoy.
"Are you seriously going to eat that?" Lee questioned, breaking Willow's train of thought.
"I don't know, why?" Willow replied, picking up the apple.
"It's Malfoy," Fred emphasized, disgusted. "He must have poisoned it or something."
Willow shrugged. "If it's poisoned, don't let him have the satisfaction of watching me die."
The twins gawked at Willow as she took a bite of the apple while Paige couldn't stop the proud grin the spread across her face. Willow chewed it slowly, swallowed it, and smirked.
"Nope, no poison. I'm not dying any time soon," she declared.
George scowled at the Slytherin table. "I'd be careful with that sort, Willow. They're crafty and cunning. Malfoy could be trying to use you for something."
Willow's heart rate spiked as she remembered that Draco still had yet to reveal what he had read two months ago. She had almost forgotten about it until then. Trying her best to stop the color from draining from her face, Willow nodded.
"He might be. But I know what I'm doing. Plus, he's quite afraid of me, and Draco doesn't strike me as the type to risk his neck."
Breakfast ended shortly after, and Willow headed to her Charms class. She noticed that Harry and Ron were poking fun with each other while Hermione trailed behind them, scowling. Willow wondered what it was like to keep a grudge for that long. She had tried to hate the people that had bullied her in Muggle school, but it took so much time and energy to keep that up that she gave in and forgave her after less than a day. It was much easier to forgive. Willow had a bad habit of forgiving people too quickly, allowing for them to continue walking all over her. As a result, Willow found it hard to trust anyone until she spent quite a long time with them. Willow could count on her hands how many people she trusted with her life at that point.
"H- hey, Willow!" Neville greeted, appearing beside her. "You- You look really pretty today."
Willow felt the blush returning to her face. "Thank you, Neville. Your face is as cheery as ever."
Neville couldn't speak for a second, then awkwardly said, "Thank you, Willow. You're very nice."
Willow laughed at the redness creeping into Neville's chubby cheeks. Poor Neville, always so disorganized and cursed with clumsiness. Willow sympathized, having been in his position before. She nearly slapped herself when she thought about how cute Neville looked in his oversized robes with a bit of ruddiness in his cheeks.
The two arrived in Charms, rescuing Willow from her runaway train of thought. Professor Flitwick stood on his usual pile of books, again reminding Willow how short he was. The Gryffindors mainly migrated to the right side of the room while the Hufflepuffs gathered on the left. Neville found a place next to Dean Thomas and left to talk with him. Someone with a familiar Hufflepuff crest caught Willow's eye.
"Oliver! Happy Halloween!" she called.
Oliver turned around, his green eyes shining. "Hi, Willow!"
"May I sit with you today?"
"Sure!"
Willow and Oliver found themselves in the corner of the room. The lesson began, and Professor Flitwick announced some exciting news.
"Today, we are going to do a levitation spell. I believe you are all ready and fully capable of conjuring this simple charm."
A ecstatic buzz went around the room, making Professor Flitwick wait a few moments.
"It's all in the wrist. Swish, then flick! Practice it, go on!"
Willow and Oliver drew their wands. Upon seeing his, Willow gasped.
"I didn't know we had the same wand wood, Oliver," she said.
Oliver blinked, then smiled. "I guess we do. So, what is the motion again? I wasn't paying attention."
Willow chuckled. "Swish, then flick!"
The two copied Flitwick's motions with his wand, Oliver failing miserably before it got anywhere close to Flitwick's. They began play-fighting with their wands, pretending they were swords, getting Oliver to laugh for the first time since Willow had met him.
"You have an amazing laugh, Oliver," Willow observed, the sound music to her ears.
Oliver's face remained neutral, unlike Neville's. "Thank you. I get that a lot."
Flitwick then handed out feathers to each pair of students, telling them the magic word. A chorus of "Winguardium Leviosa!" went up around the high-ceilinged room. Willow let Oliver try first, who didn't make anything happen to the feather.
"How hard is it to levitate a feather?" Oliver puffed.
"I don't know; my grandparents taught me this spell before I came. Maybe I can try it later after you," Willow suggested.
Oliver flinched when Willow mentioned her grandparents, but hid it quickly. "Hopefully I can get it to do something. This is impossible."
Willow decided to explore a little into this sudden behavior, filing that bit of information away for later.
"So, I never got a chance to get to know you properly, Oliver," Willow began, changing the subject. "Are you a half-blood?"
Oliver shook his head. "Pureblood."
"Do you live with your parents?"
"No, do you?"
Willow raised her eyebrows. "I live with my dad. My mum lives with her family in a different part of the London area."
"Oh, are they divorced?"
Willow shook her head. "I honestly don't know at this point. My father isn't home much, working at the Ministry and all, and he doesn't like to open up about his marital issues."
"I don't blame him."
"Do your parents live in a different country?" Willow asked.
Oliver's face fell, turning away. "No. They're...they died when I was really little."
Willow's heart broke for him. "Oliver, I'm so sorry. If you don't want to answer any of my questions, just tell me. I won't be offended. You have a right to keep parts of your life private."
Oliver stared at Willow with a new light in his eyes. "Thank you. I'm sure you have some things you don't want to answer either, don't you?"
Willow nodded. "Sadly, yes."
Oliver sadly smiled. "I guess we both have parental issues, don't we?"
"You can say that again."
"I guess we both have parental issues, don't we?"
Willow chortled. "You're goofy. Come on, let's try and levitate this feather. Hermione just did it."
Oliver glanced at the Gryffindor side of the room, where Hermione was proudly pointing her wand at a now hovering feather, Ron angrily gaping in disbelief. Willow wondered if Hermione would ever make up with Ron and Harry.
"Alright, let's do this," Oliver said, twirling his wand in his fingers. "Winguardium Leviosa!"
Both Willow and Oliver gasped as the feather floated a foot off the desk. They glanced at each other, shocked.
"I didn't think that would work," Oliver admitted.
"My turn!" Willow exclaimed.
When the feather returned to the table, Willow executed a perfect levitation charm and the feather ascended until it hit the ceiling. Oliver quietly applauded her as she guided it back to their desk.
"That was amazing, Willow!" Oliver exclaimed. "You have definitely used this charm before."
"I have, actually, but I didn't know I was good at it. The only spell I'm good at is the stunning spell, stupefy, which my grandparents taught me just in case I needed it. Ironically, I used on a wizard that was trying to kidnap me the next day," Willow said before thinking.
"What?" Oliver blurted, practically having a heart attack at the sudden turn in events. "Someone tried to kidnap you?"
Willow cursed herself for being so stupid. "Yes, but it wasn't that bad," she lied. "I got away."
"You'll have to tell me that story sometime. I'd love to hear it!"
Willow glanced at Oliver with a newfound appreciation. He wasn't going crazy about her safety, he didn't press the matter right away, he just wanted to hear a cool story about how his new friend escaped a kidnapping. Willow grinned with enthusiasm.
"I'll hold myself to it."
The rest of class, Oliver and Willow continued to joke around, Willow figuring out that Oliver was extremely ticklish when she levitated the feather around his face. She could have cared less about all the stares that they were getting. When the bell rang, Willow was actually sad to go. Oliver was turning out to be an interesting friend in the making.
"I'll see you later, Oliver," Willow said.
"Bye, Willow!" Oliver called over his shoulder.
Willow stared after him, noticing that he wasn't walking with anyone. She wondered if he had any friends at all in Hufflepuff. Her thoughts were interrupted by her roommates surrounding her on her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Willow, that was perfect."
"I think your hair helped, if you ask me."
"What are you talking about?" Willow asked, confused.
"Duh, your flirting with that adorable Hufflepuff boy!"
"He's so dreamy..."
"Woah, guys, enough with the flirting thing!" Willow said. "I'm not old enough to date. Plus, he's just my friend. We can relate to each other, that's all."
"Of course you would say that," Mia droned. "Why don't you let yourself go, create some drama? We all love a good bit of gossip."
"Guys, I don't want to date anyone," Willow chuckled, amused by their efforts.
"Who wouldn't want to date the cutest guy in our year!" Fay exclaimed.
"Willow, apparently," Parvati said.
"Please, Willow, every girl in the school is drooling over him," Lavender dramatized. "You're the only one so far that's been able to get a peep out of him!"
Willow froze in her tracks. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, didn't you know that? He's super shy, which makes him even cuter..." Fay trailed off.
"It does."
"So even the Hufflepuff guys can't get him to talk to them?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, he hasn't spoken hardly a word since he arrived here."
"The poor boy. I would personally volunteer to keep him company."
"No, he's mine!"
"I called him first!"
Willow was deep in thought as the Gryffindor girls fought over who would get to date Oliver. He had seemed so laid back and easy to talk to during Charms. Now that she thought about it, Oliver had been in the corner, far away from everyone else. Maybe he was just super shy, but that didn't explain why he would suddenly talk to Willow. Yes, she had prevented him from getting a beating from Crabbe and Goyle, but that wasn't significant enough to make him open up a bit, was it?
Willow noticed that Hermione was not among the Gryffindor girls as they reached Quirrel's room. She spotted Ron and Harry glancing uncomfortably around the room, whispering to each other. Willow thought they might know where she had gone.
"Ron, Harry, do you know where Hermione is?" Willow asked.
"I don't know, she's run off," Ron answered much too quickly.
"She was crying. Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Harry suggested.
Willow got the vibe that these two were guilty of making Hermione cry, but she didn't interrogate them. Instead, she dumped her stuff at a desk and ran off to the nearest restroom.
"Hermione?" Willow called from the doorway.
"Go away!" an angry voice shouted.
"Hermione, what did Ron do?" Willow asked, hoping she was correct in her assumption.
"That pig-headed idiot made fun of me during class and afterwards said something that I won't repeat," Hermione sniffed. "It's not bad or anything, but it hurt."
"Hey, do you mind if I come in?"
"Yes. Stay away from me. I don't want you to see me like this."
Willow nodded, understanding. She hated to be seen at her weakest, too.
"Do you want to talk about it, then?"
"Not really."
"I'll take that as a yes."
Willow heard a small chuckle escape Hermione, but it was quickly covered by tears.
"So, whatever's on your mind, spill it," Willow said. "Spill it all out. I don't care how winy or dramatic it may seem, I'll listen. Just get it out of your system."
Hermione took a few deep breaths, calming her voice before she spoke. "I'm sick and tired of the Slytherins berating me about being a Mudblood. They do it when none of you are around me, see. It's truly hard to keep taking the beating each time and pretend it doesn't hurt. It does hurt."
Hermione coughed. "My parents are amazing, really. I don't find any fault in them being Muggles. They work hard at their dentistry business, and they passed that drive onto me. I always tried my best in school, and I was always successful. But I guess my parents never told me about knowing too much. It seemed like every question I answered correctly reduced my chances at making friends. I always come off as a know-it-all, and nothing anyone says is going to change that. For some reason, I don't understand it. I just..."
Willow sighed. "I had that same problem. Most of my friendships only lasted the school year. Each year, I had to start over again and make new friends. It really is hard to be smart and have everyone else be jealous of you, isn't it?"
"It is."
"The hardest part is not coming off as a know-it-all. I had to teach myself to watch every word that comes out of my mouth, analyze every aspect of every sentence, and decide whether it might offend people or not. It sucks, but it's what we smart people have to do."
Hermione sniffed. "I wonder every day why the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor. I'm not brave, I'm not courageous, I'm just smart. Where did it ever get the idea that I'm worthy of this house?"
"Courage has a funny way of revealing itself, Hermione," Willow said, flashing back to the summer.
"I wish mine would tell me what's going on, because right now I'm too scared to even face my problems," Hermione said bitterly. "Instead, I just cry like some dumb girl."
"But you're not a dumb girl. You're a strong, smart, independent young woman. Not every aspect of you is there yet. Trust me, it will be there, right when you need it."
Willow heard Hermione sigh. "I just wish that I could make friends. You don't have a problem with it."
That one made Willow laugh. "There's where you're wrong. I have serious trust issues. For some reason, I can only open up to certain people. I've only got a bit of luck on my side that I met all the people that I did. People like you, Hermione, are the few that I trust."
"Really?"
"Yes. I know, social life is hard, but sometimes you've got to tough it out, and it gets better. We're only eleven, after all. I'm sure that you'll be making friends left and right before you know it."
Willow peeked around the door frame and saw that Hermione was half-smiling, her mood lifted by a little bit.
"I'm going to go to class, okay, Hermione?" Willow said. "I don't think Professor Quirrel will punish you. In fact, he's probably afraid of the word 'detention'."
"Go on, Willow. I think I'm going to stay here. There's no way I could clean myself up in time to go to class."
"Alright. Bye, Hermione."
"Thank you, Willow."
Willow made her way back to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Parvati and Lavender bombarding her with questions when she walked into the room.
"Did you find Hermione?"
"What's wrong with her?"
"Is she okay?"
"What happened?"
"Hermione just needs some alone time right now," Willow explained.
"Was Hermione crying?" Lavender gasped.
Willow nodded. "I think she'll be okay. She needs some time to get it out of her system."
All through Defense Against the Dark Arts, Willow silently took notes for both her and Hermione. Quirrel was exceptionally fidgety that day. She got to chat with Sue, which had become a regular thing, as they had that class with Ravenclaw. Sue's mood and outlook on Hogwarts had improved dramatically over the past two months. She was becoming less and less affected by the snide comments Slytherin would say loudly while passing her in the halls. Willow enjoyed her company, and every once in a while Sue's friends would join in their conversation. It was a lovely way to make the class less dreary than usual.
When the bell rang, Willow was starving, as she had only eaten an apple for breakfast. Willow was plenty happy to fill her plate with rolls, chicken, and several cooked vegetables. She was already reaching for seconds by the time the twins, Lee, and Paige made their way to the table.
"God, Willow, slow down," George joked.
"Since when have you known me to do anything at a normal pace?" Willow countered.
"Never. All you ever do is run, play soccer, take really good notes, and get into trouble faster than we can blink," Lee said.
"Have you ever actually seen my notes?" Willow questioned.
Lee grinned. "I may or may have not made some copies- and a little extra change for when we go to Hogsmeade."
Willow made a sound between a laugh and a cough. "Lee!"
Lee glanced at Paige. "Hey, you haven't even asked for any yet. You sure you don't want any?"
"No," Paige said.
"I'll give you a discount."
"Screw off, Lee," Paige said.
"Fine, grumpy as usual, I see."
"Do you want me to bite your head off?" Paige threatened.
Willow covered her mouth before she could explode. Of course, Paige wasn't the best of friends with Lee yet, and she was an absolute monotone statue to anyone who tried to get her to do anything. Paige was definitely an odd character, that was for sure. Willow still couldn't get over the night and day difference between how she treated the twins and her compared to everyone else.
Paige pulled out a copy of The Daily Prophet and ignored everyone. That was another thing Willow had begun to notice- Paige always had something with her, whether it be a book, some writing supplies, or even a magical trinket, that allowed her to ignore everyone. She would instantly fold up into her own little world when someone like Lee was pestering her and wouldn't leave until at least ten minutes had passed since the annoyance. Paige was Paige. Willow couldn't find any other way to describe her.
"Hi there, Willow," a loud voice boomed behind everyone.
Willow turned around to find Hagrid beaming down at her. She returned the gesture. "Hi, Hagrid. Did you want me to help with the decorations?"
"Yes, that woul' be good. I'll be in me hut, waitin'."
"I will be out as soon as I can," Willow promised.
Hagrid lumbered off, his enormity causing a bit of a disturbance as he exited the Great Hall. Willow finished up her food as quickly as possible, bade goodbye to her friends, and left. Hermione was still no where to be found.
Willow was one of the few crazy students to still have exposed skin at that time of year. The cold weather had always been her favorite, as she overheated and couldn't breathe as well in the summer. She almost never got cold, only putting on a jacket when temperature fell below seven degrees Celsius. It drove Paige mad, as she was almost always cold. Paige always accused Willow of making her cold by just looking at her.
Hagrid was waiting in his hut, as promised. Willow was met with the sweet scent of pumpkins when she stepped through the door. There must have been around two hundred candles line up along Hagrid's entire house. He was manually taking the tops off of pumpkins and placing the candles inside.
"Ah, there ya are, Willow," he said as she shut the door. "It's time ter teach you a bit o' extra magic, eh?"
Hagrid taught Willow a spell to remove the top of the pumpkins, and she interchangeably used the levitation spell and her bare hands to move the candles inside the pumpkins. It took forty-five minutes at the most.
"Look there, all done!" Hagrid said. "Now I've just got ter load these up in ter that there cart outside."
Willow's magical levitating of the pumpkins helped tremendously in loading up all two hundred or so pumpkins. Hagrid dragged the cart up the hill, Willow following.
"Thank you, Willow. I'll have to give ya summat fer all this help you've bin givin' me," Hagrid said.
"Oh, you don't have to do that, Hagrid," Willow politely countered. "I enjoy helping you."
"I know ya do, but it woul' be my treat. Just name summat and I'll get it fer ya. Within reason, o' course."
Willow thought for a few moments before requesting, "Can you teach me how to take care of Fluffy?"
Hagrid stared at Willow for a moment, then said, "Did Harry tell ya 'bout him?"
"Yes, and he sounds wonderful, Hagrid," Willow replied.
"I'm not sure, Willow. Dumbledore will be heavily against it. It's supposed to be top secret, ya know."
"Please, Hagrid? I promise I won't ask about the reasoning for him being there or anything like that. I only want to take care of a three-headed dog. It would be a remarkable thing to do, since they're so rare."
They arrived at the castle, Flitwick waiting at the entrance hall. Hagrid dropped the cart, then turned to Willow.
"I'll think about it," Hagrid promised. "Thanks again, Willow. Don't be late fer class, now."
"Thank you, Hagrid!"
Willow's spirits soared. She really did want to learn how to take care of such a fearsome creature. In reality, she would keep to her word, not asking any questions about what Fluffy was guarding, but she never said anything about observing and gathering all the information she could.
The rest of the evening flashed by in a blur. Her History of Magic class was stressful, as she didn't normally take notes and wrote down the key points afterwards, but since Hermione always took notes and still hadn't shown up, Willow scribbled everything down as fast as she could. She couldn't wait for dinner. When it finally did come, and Willow stepped into the Great Hall, she was rooted to the ground in shock.
The hundreds of jack-o-lanterns she had created floated above the five tables, replacing the traditional candles, turning slowly as to give them a better effect. Thousands of bats, live or fake, Willow couldn't tell, streamed through the windows in black blurs. The smell of baking pumpkin was melting her on the spot, more aromatic than it had been all day. Black and orange decorations dotted the enormous room. Flitwick had outdone himself for sure that time.
"Come on, Willow!"
"The feast will start soon!"
Two redheaded twins dragged Willow to the Gryffindor table, snapping her out of the temporary paralysis. Willow couldn't help the goofy giggling that threatened to overtake her when she saw the twins' hair.
"What did you guys do to each other?"
"We found an old charm book that has some spells for hair," Fred explained.
"And we tried them on each other."
Willow couldn't contain it any longer and burst out laughing, the sight of the twins' hair being too much. They had black ghost shapes dotting their fiery orange hair, the hair itself sticking up in random places. Paige arrived at that point. She took one look at the twins before nearly tripping herself, then unsuccessfully stopped herself from joining Willow's guffawing.
"What did you guys do?" Paige chortled.
Willow was distracted for a moment as the twins filled her in. Paige's laughter still rang in her ears, vibrating in her bone marrow, it felt like. Her chest felt unusually warm and jumpy, as if she were nervous, and that warmth circled around her heart and rocketed through the rest of her body. Willow was super confused the whole ten seconds that the sensation lasted. When it subsided, she shook her head, trying to clear it and make sense of what just happened at the same time. Paige's laughter was probably as rare as it was powerful.
"We also found some other charms," George said, yanking Willow back into the present.
"Would you like us to use them on you?" Fred offered.
"You're going to use Willow as your test subject?" Paige questioned, raising her eyebrows.
"Don't worry, we've already tested them on each other."
"They worked a lot better than the last one did."
"Sure, then, I don't mind," Willow said, knowing that she wouldn't care if they messed up. Her roommates would spend every last second of their lives finding the spell and fixing her hair if it became a disaster.
"If you screw her hair up, I swear..." Paige trailed off.
Fred drew his wand, spoke the magic word, and moved the tip across Willow's hair. She felt it grow slightly heavier. When Fred announced that he was finished, Paige handed Willow a small mirror that she kept in her pocket.
"Wow!" Willow exclaimed upon seeing herself.
There were tiny orange pumpkins spread throughout Willow's waving, dark hair. They showed up well against the shade of brown. Paige seemed mildly impressed.
"She looks good. Well done for not destroying her hair."
"That means a lot, coming from you, Paige," George remarked.
"Well, I may not have screwed up for once, but Willow always looks beautiful no matter what, so I couldn't mess it up, could I?" Fred reasoned.
Willow glanced at Fred. "Did you just- ?"
"Fred Weasley, I swear to God," Paige interrupted.
George began play-fighting and teasing his brother after Fred winked at Willow, causing her to gape at Paige.
"Don't ask me. I have no clue what goes through that messed-up head of his," she said.
Willow shook her head and tried to pretend her cheeks were not burning bright red.
Suddenly, Professor Quirrel burst into the Great Hall. He was absolute mess, his purple turban askew on his head, his face pale white. What made Willow most worried, however, was the rip in the sleeve of his robe and the massive bruise that was only visible when he flashed past Willow. He ran up to Dumbledore, said something about a troll, then fainted.
Everyone was screaming. Food was thrown from children's' grasps, Malfoy hid behind Crabbe and Goyle, and a stampede to get out of the Great Hall began to form. Dumbledore shot several purple firecrackers from his wand to silence them all, then instructed everyone to go back to their common rooms.
"Come on, Willow, let's go," Fred insisted.
"I'll catch up with you in a second. I need to make sure Hermione is in this crowd somewhere."
Both of the twins gave her a glance with a clear message: Don't you dare go after that troll. While they headed off towards the common room, Willow caught up with Harry and Ron, who were heading in the direction of the restrooms.
"Hermione?" Willow asked, reading their intentions.
"Yep," Harry replied, on the same wavelength.
"She has no idea there's even a troll here. What if it finds her?" Ron fretted.
"We'll get it before it finds her, don't worry," Harry reassured him. Willow suspected that Ron felt responsible for sending Hermione into her little fits. A sound brushed her ears.
"Woah, stop!" Willow commanded sharply. "I hear something."
The boys froze in place. Willow turned her ear in the direction of the sound she had heard, but it was coming from two directions.
"You guys go on towards Hermione. I think there's a troll heading that way," Willow instructed.
"Where are you going?" Ron squeaked.
"To find the other one," Willow said. "I hear two of them, and they're in opposite directions.
"What!" both boys hissed.
"You are not taking on a troll alone."
"I have to. You guys are going to have your work cut out for you as it is, because the bathroom is a dead end. There's no where to run. You'll have to fight it fast, and two wands are better than one to get that accomplished."
Harry and Ron glanced worriedly at Willow.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? The teachers should be taking care of the trolls soon, you know."
"What kind of person am I if I don't try to prevent a second troll attacking my friends?" Willow countered.
Harry sighed. "Stay safe, Willow."
"Good luck, guys."
The boys took off down the corridor, while Willow dropped to the ground and pressed her ear against it. There were two sets of footsteps, alright, and one of them wasn't far to her right. If she could surprise it, maybe she had a chance of defeating it.
Willow cautiously stole around the corner, creeping along the wall. Her sensitive ears were picking up more complex sounds about the troll now, like the dragging of something that weighed a considerable amount, and slow, heavy breathing. Her nose was not liking the scent emanating from it. When she got to the end of the hallway, she paused, listening.
Willow could only hear the sound of her own breathing. Her heart hammered against her rib cage. She could still smell the foul creature. Why couldn't she hear it anymore?
Swiftly came the answer to Willow's questions with the swinging of a club. Willow yelped and jumped away from the wall, where a club had missed bashing her head in by mere inches. The troll appeared from around the corner, snarling in all its ugliness. Willow growled in a mixture of hostility and fear.
"You really think it's going to be that easy?" she snarled.
The troll apparently did, because it raised its arms for another blow. Willow saw it coming and easily sidestepped the club. She sized up her opponent as she dodged several attempts to crush her. The troll was tall, strong, and aggressive, but very slow. Willow realized what she had to do.
"Hey, blockhead!" Willow taunted. "Over here!"
The troll stumbled towards her, swinging its club wildly. Right before it reached her, she jumped sideways, calling out in her head.
Help me with this! she pleaded to the voice.
Willow focused with all of her willpower that she possessed, then commanded herself to change with such authority that the transformation was instant. She flapped her new wings, trying not to fall out of air.
You have already helped yourself! the voice chuckled.
You can shut up any time now! Willow shot back.
She danced around the troll, clawing at its eyes, flapping her wings hard enough to dislodge feathers in its face. The troll scrambled into the walls, dazed and unable to make any sort of frontal attack. Willow perched on its head at one point. It swung the club at itself, ending up cracking itself on the skull, as Willow had flown off already. The troll began to lose consciousness.
Uh oh, Willow thought.
Dashing out of the way, Willow watched from above as the troll fell face-first into the stony floor. Willow celebrated with a few loops in the air before touching down, transforming back into a human. She stared at the club that had rolled out of the giant's hand.
That would have been bad.
Willow shuddered, not wanting to think about what would have happened had she been hit with the spike-reinforced weapon. She began to make her way back to the common room when the beast stirred once more. Whipping around, Willow saw the troll standing up already, club in hand. It was angrier than it had been before.
Great. Why can't it just stay asleep?
Willow willed herself to change once more and was a hawk within seconds. She spread her wings and shot towards the ceiling, aggravating the wildly aggressive creature. Willow barely missed a thundering blow from the club.
Adrenaline pumped through Willow's veins. She dodged another wild swing, lashing out with her talons at the troll's exposed eyes. It roared in anger. Willow was struck with a glancing blow to the wing, causing her to veer into the wall. She fell to the ground. The troll only managed to step on her wing, then Willow tore herself free and took flight again, the pain dulled by her adrenaline rush.
Willow jabbed the troll in the butt, causing it to spin around, then nipped it on the wrist that was holding the club. She barely avoided a nasty cut by one of those spikes. Feathers flying everywhere, Willow scrambled out of the way as the troll growled and lunged for her.
Her head was scattered. The effects of her adrenaline were numbing her ability to make knowledgeable moves on the troll. Willow was losing energy fast, having never been in an animal form for that long. The troll pulled out a handful of feathers again as she flew by. Willow squawked in pain, falling to the ground. She was watching the scene with blurry vision as the troll picked up the club again and raised its arms above its head. The kill blow was coming. Willow took off at the last second, the rush of air from the swing grazing her tail feathers. She didn't stay airborne, though, and crash-landed back onto the floor, exhaustion creeping into her veins.
What's happening? Why am I shutting down? Willow screamed into the abyss of her mind when she could finally form complete thoughts.
You have to practice. I told you.
Stop pulling that with me! This is life or death right now!
Willow unwillingly was back into human form after a few seconds. It was awkward and weird, as she had not commanded the transformation to occur. She recovered quickly, though, and was on her feet before she could think. The troll lumbered towards her, menacing and terrible. Willow cursed herself for ever coming after this thing.
What can I do? Willow asked the voice.
You can try, and maybe succeed. It all depends how much you want it.
Willow jumped out of the way as the club came within inches of her face. She began to notice her ragged breathing, which meant she was running out of time, and quickly.
I'd say I want it a lot, and NOW!
Willow focused so hard that her mind began to hurt. She gritted her teeth, determination overriding everything else trying to take over her body. Willow's limbs extended, forming rock-hard muscles, her hands becoming padded and tough. Fingernails were replaced with claws, teeth with fangs, arms with forelegs. A tail was grown, her nose shortened, and grew whiskers. Her hair lengthened and thickened into pitch black fur. Panther Willow growled and flashed her fangs at the troll. It roared and threw its club at her, its rank smell now overpowering with her new sense of smell. Trying not to gag, Willow leaped out of the way and galloped down the corridor faster than she had ever been able to run before. The troll followed, giving her an idea.
Do you think it will work? Willow wondered.
That all depends on whether you're killed first.
Thanks. Your sarcasm is really helping right now.
Willow stopped at every corner she rounded, waiting for the troll and catching her breath at the same time. Her body was forcefully trying to change back into its regular human self. Willow was constantly fighting against the agonizing pain it caused, relying on pure willpower to stay as a large cat. She wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.
Willow flashed by a small knight dressed in armour. She descended down several passageways that she barely remembered, the troll stupidly chasing her the whole way. It wasn't getting anywhere for all the racket it made. Willow fatally glanced over her shoulder and accidentally crashed into a portrait, causing her to yowl in pain. The loss in focus immediately made way for her to transform back into a human. She clutched her shoulder, warm blood seeping between her fingers. The troll caught up with her and smashed the painting to pieces, leaving her exposed. Willow didn't know whether she screamed in pain or fright, because both were equally evil forces at the time. She closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to shape-shift one more time.
There's too far left to run! I'll never make it on human legs!
Well, transform, then, you big oaf!
God, I will never let you forget how much you taunt me in serious situations. You are so unhelpful sometimes, you know that?
Oh, I definitely know it.
God help me.
Willow managed to scramble to her feet, her legs jelly, and began running down the corridor. Her chest was threatening to explode, her heaving breaths not helping matters. Willow forced air through her lungs, whether they liked it or not, and steadied what was left of her breathing. She somehow shifted into a panther on the run. The troll, which had gotten within striking distance, was left in the dust as Willow's panther muscles propelled her forward inhumanly fast. It shouted and grunted in frustration and again kept tracking her through the hallways.
Almost there, almost there, so close... Willow encouraged herself.
Actually, you have about two more corridors and one more flight of stairs to go.
Screw you.
Willow sprinted down another flight of stairs, then emerged into a darker corridor. She had made it to the dungeons. The troll stomped down behind her, raging and spitting. Fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins, causing her legs to shake. Willow would have cursed had she been capable of it. She slowed down slightly.
When Willow reached the pear's picture, she flashed back into a human and tickled it as fast as she could. It was then she realized the little blip in her plan that her brain would have foreseen had she not been so full of mind-blocking adrenaline. She would get smashed like a bug! The troll stormed closer and closer, Willow frantically yelling at the laughing fruit to hurry up. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours. The troll was a step away when the door appeared. Willow swung it open and jumped into the kitchen.
Then, she found herself being flung into a wall.
Willow yelped as she hit the bricks hard, her head ringing. Her vision was fuzzy and danced with black dots. Slumping on the floor, half-conscious, Willow was at the mercy of the troll. She limply tried to move her arms but to no avail. Willow's eyes could only focus on one thing: the troll smirking down at its next victim.
Everything happened in slow motion. The troll raised its club above its head, the spikes glinting in the light of the braziers. It grumbled and snorted, as if laughing at Willow. She almost wanted to laugh with it, thinking that this was all a dream, that she wasn't dying tonight, that someone would suddenly come to her rescue or the troll would drop dead of its own accord. But that didn't happen. Willow watched incomprehensively as the troll slammed the club straight into her stomach.
A second passed, then two. Willow stared at the club as the troll pulled it out of her stomach. Suddenly, the pain hammered into her like a tsunami's gale-force winds ripping a building from its foundation. She screamed a high-pitched scream, tears running down her face as her stomach burned with unimaginable pain that she didn't know existed until then.
Her senses went into high alert. Willow gave everything up to her survival instincts. While her body tried to repair itself and dull the pain, Willow shot to her feet, hand over her stomach, and surprised a gleeful troll by staggering into the kitchen. Warm, sticky blood was everywhere, soaking Willow's shirt, dripping onto the floor, pressing hard against her hand. Willow could barely feel anything anymore. She was in too much shock not to. All she could feel was the beating of her heart, pounding quickly but steadily as if it were one of those drums used at a ceremony, waiting to reveal something important. Willow couldn't even process what she was doing as she did it.
Her hand grabbed a knife of its own accord. Then, her legs pressed forward, towards the troll, towards the only barrier between life and death at that moment. She didn't think anything of the troll's shocked face, the way it stared stupidly with fear and cowardice at her livid face as she jumped on it.
Willow was definitely no longer in control of her actions, as she discovered later when she mulled over the events that took place after that moment.
Knife gripped firmly in her hand, Willow wildly slashed at every centimeter of hideous troll skin within sight. The beast roared and thrashed, yowled and screamed. Willow didn't feel anything at the sight of crimson covering the floor. She only kept going, using her wobbly legs to crawl all over the creature, her shaky arms uncontrollably marking the thing's body with slice after slice. Willow wondered later why she didn't target vital parts of the body, like the heart or the brain, but adrenaline does that to a person. She was in a complete and utter survival rage, unable to do anything but defeat the threat to her life. After only a few short minutes of this, Willow's body gave out, unable to do any more. She swayed against the wall, painfully coughing up blood. The troll stared at her with menacing eyes. They were black as coal and as emotionless and unsympathetic as Willow had ever seen. Without a second thought, Willow summoned the last of her strength and drove the knife home.
Willow held the handle of the knife tight in her hand, not letting the pressure go until the light left the creature's eyes. Then, she staggered a few paces back, not knowing exactly what she had done, and stared at the beast.
Suddenly, the situation slapped Willow across the face with stinging reality. She found herself sobbing. It wasn't because she was sad about killing the troll- she was dying, and alone, without a way to say goodbye to anyone. Her entire body was ghostly white. Scarlet spread everywhere across her cold, sweaty body. She gripped her stomach, the agony that it brought forth causing her to shout sharply in pain. Willow knew she didn't have much time before she bled out.
But she couldn't move. Her feet were rooted to the spot, every last bit of her energy spent. If she tried to move, it would make her bleed more, and besides, she wouldn't be able to make it far without falling, anyway. She was stuck down here. Willow knew she was about to die down in the dungeons.
I'm sorry, Dad, Willow thought. I'm sorry you didn't get to say goodbye to me- or Mum. I'll miss you.
Willow hacked up another bought of blood. She sniffed, her breathing now coming in haggard, uneven gasps. Her crying wasn't helping matters. Willow's vision was slowly dimming on her.
"Willow, what did you do?" a voice squeaked, unnaturally high-pitched.
Barely processing what she saw, Willow heard running footsteps, and a person stood in front of her. The only way she knew him was by his perfect blond hair.
"Hey, Blonde," Willow greeted weakly, deliriously grinning. Draco's face was in horrified shock.
"You stupid Gryffindors, always looking for trouble," he spat.
"And you Slytherins never have any fun."
Willow coughed again as Draco shrilled, "Fun? You call dying fun?"
Willow's mouth was unable to form any more words. Her vision was swallowed up by blackness, but she could still somehow hear.
"My God, Willow," Draco gasped. "How much blood have you lost? Never mind, you can't speak. Just don't die, okay?"
Willow almost imperceptibly nodded her leaden head. She heard Draco's voice rise in panic.
"Okay, Wisp, you're going to be fine. You hear me? You are going to be fine. Although, you did lose a lot of blood. That's not good. But who cares? I can't lose any more opportunities to embarrass you, can I?"
Willow smiled at Draco's attempt to be cool, even in the dire situation. Draco's feet began pounding the stone floor as the rest of her sense of hearing was about to give out.
"I'm going to get help. Don't you dare die, stupid Gryffindor!"
Willow laid there for several minutes. Her vision and hearing gone, she was only able to tell that she was still not passed out by the rapid rising and falling of her fleeting breaths within her lungs. The blood still flowed, though her hands were able to stifle it. Willow was practically a ghost already.
I'm sorry, everyone, she thought. I should have never been this stupid. Goodbye for now, I guess.
The last thing Willow felt before she totally lost consciousness was someone enveloping her in a full-body hug.
Willow gasped as she woke up.
"What- who- where am I?" she panted, cold water running down her face.
"If you thought you were in Heaven, think again."
Willow glanced to her right to find a familiar blond boy smirking at her, a glass of water in his hands. She groaned and relaxed herself.
"Of course, people don't wake up angels by throwing a bucket of cold water on their faces."
"Mr. Malfoy! I told you not to do that yesterday!" Madam Pomfrey scolded from across the room, where she was tending to another student.
Draco merely rolled his eyes. "Merlin, does she ever let up?"
"Never. Even when the Smith twins were awake, she wouldn't let me see them the whole first week they were here."
The Smith twins had actually been spending most of the past two months in the hospital wing, only receiving visitors for an hour per day. Willow cursed Madam Pomfrey for not letting her see them more often, but she was the healer, not Willow. They had made a slow recovery. The whole school had heard about them, and stories from those who claimed to know them were dark and not enlightening. Madam Pomfrey was surprised that they had made it to Hogwarts alive at all. They were in such bad shape, it had taken them several days to walk again. Willow had only been cleared to gently tutor them on what they had missed in class a month after they were found. In fact, only the week prior, they had been released to take all their classes on the condition that they were checked up by Madam Pomfrey every weekend.
Draco snorted. "Pity. Speaking of visitors, there's been three very unruly third years demanding to see you for the past two days. They've made several attempts to break the doors down, actually, and I think they've actually shouted some expletives at me..."
Willow's eyes widened. "Why hasn't Madam Pomfrey let them in?"
Draco raised his eyebrows. "You're seriously more worried about your friends caring too much about you than being out for two days?"
"Yes. I can catch up in my classes, and of course I'd be out for a while, I nearly died."
"You say that way too nonchalantly."
"What? Was it really that bad?"
Draco glanced at his shoes, not wanting to meet Willow's eyes. "You actually did die, Willow. I told you not to, but you did, you dimwit. Why won't you listen every once in a while?"
Willow sat bolt upright, clutching both sides of the bed. "I died?" she exclaimed, ignoring his extra comments.
"Yeah, you stopped breathing and everything. Madam Pomfrey had to use Muggle techniques to bring you back."
Willow let out a shaky laugh. "I was wondering why I saw bright lights."
"You are so pathetic. I can't believe Madam Pomfrey had to resort to non-magical methods."
"Of course, you'd be just so appalled because anything Muggle isn't worthy of a pureblood," Willow taunted.
Draco sighed exasperatedly. "Only joking, Wisp."
"Admit it, I scared you."
"What? No," Draco said much too quickly.
"Liar. I thought you said nothing could scare you?"
Draco threw a pillow at Willow. "Nothing scares me. I knew you were going to live. Besides, it was Halloween. I was expecting you to try and pull a stunt to scare me."
"Oh really? Then what was the, 'Don't you dare die on me, stupid Gryffindor!' thing?"
Willow pointedly stared at Draco. He let himself fall backwards on the bed he was sitting on.
"Fine, you worried me. Okay? Case closed."
Willow smiled. "That sounds like one point for me."
"Is this a competition, now?"
"I'll make it one if you want. Or if you don't. Either way, it's on."
"Are we tied then?"
"Nope. One point Wisp, negative one Blonde."
Draco sat up and scoffed. "Negative one?"
"Yep. And there's not a dang thing you can do about it," Willow declared, crossing her arms in mock toughness.
Madam Pomfrey walked over, a stopwatch in her hand. "Mr. Malfoy, your time is up. Run along now, she needs to rest."
Draco shot Willow a look that said, I told you she was crazy. Willow's mouth twitched up in a smile.
"Thank you for not letting me die, Draco," Willow said.
"My pleasure. You owe me big time for this."
Draco smirked at Willow's shocked face, then left. Willow watched him go, shaking her head, then shifted her gaze to Madam Pomfrey.
"When can I leave?"
"Definitely not tonight," Madam Pomfrey replied. "You were impaled, Willow. It will take at least another day until you're cleared for classes."
"Wrong answer."
Willow got up, ignoring the pain in her stomach, and marched towards the door. Madam Pomfrey nearly blew a gasket.
"Willow Guerrero! Get back in bed this instant!"
"No."
Willow pushed open the double set of doors, hearing the sound of Madam Pomfrey storming after her. She was surprised to find a pair of red-headed twins sitting against the wall. They jumped up and engulfed Willow in a passionate hug when they saw her.
"Willow! You're awake!"
"Took long enough!"
"WILLOW!" Madam Pomfrey shouted, interrupting the moment. "GET BACK IN BED!"
"No!" Willow shot back, standing with her arms crossed. Madam Pomfrey threw up her arms in exasperation.
"You children and refusing to heal properly!" she grumbled. "Don't make me put you in a full body-bind curse."
"Thank you for that suggestion, Madam," Willow said. She walked right past a flabbergasted Madam Pomfrey, grabbed her wand off the nightstand beside her bed, and pointed it at the poor woman.
"Sorry about this, Madam," Willow apologized. "Petrificus Totalus!"
When the jet of light hit Madam Pomfrey, she was suddenly locked in a straight position, then fell backwards onto the floor as if she were a statue. Willow grimaced, remembering how helpless she had felt when Alex cast that spell on her.
"Woah, Willow, what did you do to her?" George asked.
"Is she dead?"
"No, silly, she's not dead, just temporarily paralyzed," Willow said. "Come on, let's go."
"That's bloody brilliant, Willow!"
The twins took Willow away from the hospital wing, all three apologizing to Madam Pomfrey on their way out. Willow grimaced in pain, but knew by some unknown reason that there was nothing more any healer could do. All she could do now was let her body repair itself.
"The whole school's heard about the troll attack. They couldn't believe there were two let in, and that four first years went after them," George informed Willow.
"Are they alright, the other three?" Willow suddenly blurted out, not having seen them in the hospital wing.
"Yes, there were no injuries among the three," Fred answered.
"Thank God," Willow breathed, relieved.
"You, on the other hand, sustained enough injuries for all three of them."
"What were you thinking, Willow?"
"You knew that you shouldn't have done that!"
Willow turned red as a tomato. "I knew I shouldn't have. But I had to. I don't think I couldn't have gone after it even if all of the world pinned me down."
"Why, though?"
Willow thought about it for a moment. Deep down, she knew the answer, but it made her want to puke. Willow's voice got very quiet when she said, "Because I thought it might impress my mum."
To her surprise, Fred and George's eyes were ones of empathy, not disgust.
"We'd know all about that, wouldn't we, Freddy?"
Willow suddenly saw a different side to the twins that she had never seen before. Of course, she wouldn't have realized it at the time, but she thought she should have recognized it sooner. These were two boys in a large family where everyone had some special niche but them. Bill had been head boy, Percy was a prefect, Charlie was working with dragons, for crying out loud, Ron was the youngest boy, and Ginny was the only girl. The twins had nothing special about them to get attention except being, well, twins. So they became pranksters, causing all sorts of trouble to even get attention. They made their own niche. The only downside to this was that they had a hard time impressing their mother, and to get praise from her meant the world to them. Willow realized she had a lot more in common with them than she had thought.
The sad moment of understanding passed nearly as soon as it had come, and the twins were again on their game for causing laughter and happiness.
"How long do you think you'll get detention for?"
"A day?"
"A week?"
"A month?"
"Two years?"
"I doubt that I'm going to get it easy because I'm injured," Willow said.
"You know, Paige has got detention for the next week. You'll probably be joining her."
"Really? What did she do?"
Fred and George had to hold in their laughter so that they could answer her. "She started a fist fight with another student, then threw several desks across the room at the professor when he told her off. I think she said someone insulted you for going after the troll."
Willow nearly exploded with shock. "Since when does she care about anyone that much, especially me?"
"Apparently since you nearly died."
"I'd watch out, she might still be in a murderous rage."
The three had reached the Gryffindor common room. Fred gave the Fat Lady the password, then went through the tunnel, George and Willow not far behind. Her ribs throbbed. She wondered if they would ever stop hurting after a blow like that.
There was a sudden silence as Willow stepped into the room. When she looked up, Willow realized that several people were staring at her, making her shift uncomfortably. Their faces were all of admiration and wonder. Then, they all broke out into ridiculous grins.
"She's not dead after all!"
"Are the rumors true?"
"What was it like?"
"Calm down everyone, calm down! Give her time to breathe!" Fred ordered, him and his brother trying to restrain the swarm of Gryffindors from overwhelming Willow. They were the sole reason she even made it to the armchair in front of the fireplace.
"Back up everyone, back up! Don't suffocate her!" George insisted, shooing everyone away from a very shy, scared Willow. "She'll tell the tale later."
"Come on, please?"
"We've been waiting several days!"
"The other three have already- "
"WILLOW LUCIA GUERRERO," a voice boomed.
Everyone suddenly went silent as they craned their necks to see Paige standing at the back of the crowd. They scrambled to make a pathway for her as she purposefully marched towards the eleven-year-old. Willow wanted to curl up into a ball and hide.
"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?" Paige shouted. "You don't speak to me all day, you act like everything is fine, then nope! You go and chase after some dumb troll thinking you're a damn hero! And you didn't even say a thing! NOTHING AT ALL! You were impaled! You could have died! WHAT WERE YOU DOING?"
Willow gaped, unable to form any sort of intelligible sound. Paige angrily towered over her, radiating waves of pure rage and fury.
"Why did you do that, Willow? Why? ANSWER ME!"
"I- I couldn't help it," Willow stuttered.
"That's it? That's really it? You couldn't help it? YES YOU COULD! All you had to do was march your butt back to the common room like everyone else and let the teachers handle it!"
"I'm sorry," Willow squeaked.
"SORRY ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT," Paige yelled.
Everyone slowly began backing away, fearful of this small fireball of rage that could explode at any moment. Willow sighed, trying to calm herself, not wanting to start a verbal war.
"Look, Paige, I really am sorry. I thought I could handle the troll. They were heading towards Hermione, and I had to redirect at least one of them. I picked the wrong one. That one was rather nasty. If I had known what it was capable of, I wouldn't have gone after it."
"You and I both know that's a complete lie!"
"Yeahyou'reright," Willow said, practically blending her words together.
Paige stopped shouting now, her anger dissipating by the second. "I can't believe you, Willow. You could have gotten killed, and without even saying goodbye. That was selfish and stupid."
"I know."
"Don't you ever do anything at that level of stupidity ever again, you hear me?" Paige said forcefully, her hands on her hips.
"I promise, I won't."
"God, first years..." Paige trailed off.
The rest of the Gryffindors began filtering back into the side of the common room where Willow was, the danger cleared for the present. Paige sighed, exhaling the remainder of everything trapped inside her.
"You scared me to death, Willow. Don't ever do that again."
The entire common room gasped in extreme astonishment as Paige bent down and gave Willow a long, endearing hug. Willow was too shocked for a second to hug back. At length, Paige stood up again, glaring at the rest of the Gryffindors.
"If you think for one moment this means that I'm getting emotional or empathetic, then stop. Don't even think I won't hesitate to break a desk over your heads."
Everyone resumed normal activities at a record speed after that announcement, not wanting to get Paige fired up again. She flew up the stairs to her dorm, slamming the door. Willow turned to the twins, who were both wide-eyed and staring at the space Paige had just left.
"That was..."
"...unlike anything I've ever seen from Paige."
"What just happened?" Willow asked, blinking uncomprehendingly.
"I don't even think Paige knows at this point, Willow," Fred said.
The three sat there in silence for a while, completely shell-shocked. It took a harsh pecking at the window to snap them out of it.
"Iris, what are you doing?" Willow questioned her owl.
Iris hooted and flapped her wings, pecking once more at the window, leaving a few scratch marks this time. Willow let her in after seeing that she was bearing a letter.
"Thanks, girl," Willow said, letting her fly back out the window before closing it.
"Oh no."
"Ickle first year Willow is about to get her first detention."
"What's it going to be?"
Willow didn't like how the situation was turning out when she saw that Dumbledore had sent the letter. Her eyes scanned the piece of parchment before she collapsed back into the armchair, instantly regretting it when pain shot through her ribs.
"Ouch," Willow complained.
"What? Your ribs or the letter?"
"Both. My presence is requested at Dumbledore's office immediately."
The twins were silent a moment, then pretended to be all grim and dark.
"Goodbye, Willow."
"Nice knowing you."
"Hopefully your death won't be too painful."
"Oh, shut up, both of you," Willow chided. "I better get going. See you later."
"See you on the other side."
"Shut it already!"
The twins' laughter was cut off when the Fat Lady sealed the tunnel shut. Willow walked off in the direction of the Headmaster's quarters, wondering if she had even explored that part of the castle yet.
The evening sun was turning everything to a beautiful shade of red, painting the castle in scarlet. Its rays were still warm, and Willow stopped to rest in them every once in a while. Her ribs were throbbing more than she had let on. She had a twinge of regret at leaving the hospital wing, but it disappeared as fast as it had conjured itself. Madam Pomfrey was a bit ridiculous when it came to healing. Willow was one of those children who could never be held down, especially when they were injured. If she hadn't forced her way out, Madam Pomfrey would have kicked her out before long because of how intolerable she would become.
That was another thing weighing heavily on Willow's mind. Was she really getting detention, or was she heading into worse? Willow knew that she had broken at least fifteen rules in the past few days, from ignoring a school-wide lockdown to essentially attacking a teacher. There was a chance she could get expelled.
Willow felt strongly about being sent home from Hogwarts. The castle had become a part of her in the time she had been here; it was almost a second home to her. It certainly beat being locked in her mother's dungeons, starving to death and being berated by family members that would love her had they not been mixed up in the things they had gotten into. Willow loved everything about Hogwarts, from the diverse staff and students to the Forbidden Forest itself. She was just beginning to make some new friends, too. If Willow left now, she knew with certainty that Oliver would retract into his shell, Sue would go back to being super self-conscious and hide her true self, and Willow would never meet Sue's friends properly. She wouldn't be able to bear leaving such a place. Her heart would never be complete again.
Willow reached Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall was waiting, ready to take her up. She spoke a password to a statue, then helped a stunned Willow follow her up the stairs that spiraled up from the floor. They made it inside his office without any trouble. Dumbledore himself was waiting, staring at Willow with an expression she could not read.
"Ah, here's our prime troublemaker of the week," Dumbledore said. "Have a seat, will you?"
Willow allowed McGonagall to guide her to a pair of chairs that were across from Dumbledore, who was sitting at his desk. She gulped as she and McGonagall seated themselves.
"You broke a good deal of rule this week, young Willow," Dumbledore began. "As a result of that, you were badly injured by a troll. Had it not been for Draco Malfoy, you would have died. Madam Pomfrey is only equipped with magical remedies. We have learned a valuable lesson about Muggle techniques this week, you see."
Willow's stomach flipped. The way Dumbledore put it, he made it sound like Draco had been the one to save her. Now that she thought about it, there was no other way to interpret that statement. Why had Draco not told her? She struggled to hide her surprise.
"Speaking of Madam Pomfrey, we found her in a rather...tough position."
Willow winced, remembering how she had so easily disarmed Madam Pomfrey. What kind of monster had she become?
"Now, punishments must be dealt with in order to prevent this from happening again," Dumbledore continued. "If you are wondering whether you are being expelled or not, put that matter to rest. You have not done anything worthy of discontinuing your magical studies."
Relief washed over Willow. She wouldn't be going home after all! However, Dumbledore's next words quenched the hope left in her heart.
"Professor McGonagall will be in charge of punishing you accordingly. It would do you good to prepare yourself for little free time in the near future, Willow."
Willow nodded, her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach. The only thing that kept her hopes up was that she would be sharing the pain with Paige for at least a week. Dumbledore excused Professor McGonagall, but commanded Willow to stay for a moment.
"That was a great deed you did, Willow, but a foolish one," Dumbledore said. "Very seldom do first years defeat a mountain troll of high status among their kind. You would do well to remember that not all power can be contained. Control is necessary if one does not wish for an early demise."
Willow's eyes nearly popped out of her head. How did Dumbledore know about her powers? The Headmaster gave her a knowing look over his spectacles, then yawned.
"It is getting late, Willow. Off to bed with you. Goodnight."
"G- Goodnight, Professor."
Willow exited the office, feeling as if she had just announced to the whole world that she was a shape-shifter.
Why does everyone seem to know more about me than I know about myself?