Willow did earn herself one of the longest detention sentences she'd ever heard of- one week. It was rather odd, though. Instead of writing lines or doing grunt work for Filch, McGonagall gave her the task of keeping watch at night with the prefects and teachers. Madam Pomfrey threw a fit about it, asking McGonagall if she was trying to get Willow killed, being reckless as she was with danger, but McGonagall insisted that it would keep her busy. It was an incredible turn of events. She wasn't expelled! Professor McGonagall surprised her when she least expected it. Maybe it was out of sympathy for the emotional state Willow was in after Hagrid's sack, but she suspected it had more to do with personal hatred for Lockhart than anything.

Willow was given the west wing to patrol in a not-so-group effort with a Hufflepuff prefect and Professor Flitwick. It was the morning shift, but even with the preparatory nap she'd taken that afternoon and little bit of sleep she'd gotten, she was exhausted by four in the morning. Willow found herself falling asleep on her feet. She was forced to transform back and forth between a cat, a dog, and herself to stay awake, but even that wasn't doing much. Willow would be about as much help when presented with the monster as bringing a knife to a gunfight. She wished McGonagall had just given her a thousand lines to write instead; this was torture, and she had to endure it for an entire week.

Thankfully, by five, the sky began to lighten in the east, and Willow automatically felt energy rush into her veins. She didn't trip up the stairs anymore and actually managed to recognize where she was walking. Fidget yawned and slowly shook off sleepiness in her pocket. He entertained himself by swinging from a strand of Willow's hair, humming a high-pitched tune that sounded suspiciously like her favourite song. Had Fidget been paying that close of attention to her? She decided not to go mental and let him be.

By seven, the Gryffindors were beginning to flood the west wing on their way to the Great Hall. Willow received some friendly hello's and good morning's, but whenever a Gryffindor Sister passed by, they looked at her sorrowfully, then turned away and stormed off, apparently angry that she'd ruined their chances with Lockhart. Neville, Dean, and Seamus simply gave her a wider berth than usual, Sam being the only one brave enough to act as if nothing had happened. Harry and Ron didn't even show up. She wondered what that was all about, but didn't get time to ponder it.

Something had caught her eye. One of the knights in the Gryffindor Tower's hallway, which was usually standing tall and proud, was bent over and missing a few chunks of armor. Willow suspiciously stepped closer to inspect it, but heard something sizzling. She recognized it as gunpowder and instinctively jumped backwards. It was just in time, too, as the suit of armor suddenly flew into the air and exploded into a million separate sections of breastplates, gauntlets, and helmet. Each piece showered down as a new colour- bright pink. Willow realized only two very shameless pranksters would have timed this so perfectly and made it a blast from the past at the same time.

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but you looked awfully bored tramping around the castle this morning," Fred said dramatically, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"We had to give you something to do," George added.

"Ha, ha, very clever, but you've forgotten that I know you guys far too well and have prepared for such an occasion," Willow countered. She pointed her wand at the mess. "Reparo!"

The armor reassembled itself in seconds, but the discolouration remained. Willow considered fixing that as well. In the end, she decided that if Professor McGonagall wanted her to guard the castle, she couldn't expect her to fix everything, too. Filch had to keep himself busy somehow to take his mind off of Mrs. Norris.

"Can you believe how much trouble you've got into since the first day of last term?" George asked.

"Unfortunately, I can, knowing the kind of company I keep," Willow responded smartly.

Fred's hand flew to his chest in mock hurt. "You might as well have shot me! Do you really think that lowly of my genius?"

"I'm pretty sure it's my genius, Freddy," George corrected light-heartedly.

"Yeah, only if we get in trouble," Fred snickered.

"Freddy! You promised to alternate!"

"You seriously have to alternate who takes the blame each time?" Willow chortled. "That's pretty sad. I mean, it's one thing to pull pranks all the time, but to get caught that often? You guys need to step up your game."

"You're the one that blatantly threw a punch at a teacher in the middle of class!" Fred exclaimed.

"And it's not like it's that hard to figure out who does all the pranks. We've practically patented them. Have you heard about-"

"Wow, word gets around fast," Willow whistled. "So you've already heard about my little- well, big- breakdown yesterday? Let me guess: everyone's slightly altered the story so much that it makes me sound like I took Lockhart's face off."

"Well? Did you?" Fred pointed out.

"Hey, why didn't you- "

Willow rolled her eyes. "No, I just gave him a beautiful bruise that Madam Pomfrey could unfortunately heal within seconds. Regrettably, I didn't do anything that would last."

"Is it 'ignore your twin' day?" George said.

Willow and Fred turned around and chorused, "Yes."

George threw up his hands in exasperation. "It's official, I've been replaced! Leave me to wallow in self-pity for the rest of my life!"

"Yeah, like you're capable of reaching my level of being depressing and irritable," Willow snorted. "I doubt you'd even be able to frown and sit in negative thought for more than sixty seconds."

"Oh yeah? Watch me!"

They reached the Great Hall. George made it a point to sit quietly and stare off into space, forcing himself not to smile. Fred bet Willow a sickle that he'd fail. She started her watch, and it was all of twenty seconds before George broke into a grin and started laughing so hard he was wheezing, trying to say something about a Ravenclaw girl's dumbfounded face. He noticed the exchange of the sickle and pouted.

"Fred, you're supposed to have my back!" he whined.

"Not when I have an opportunity to win bets, I'm not!"

Willow shrugged. "He's got a point. When you know who you're betting on, use it."

"Wait...you thought I might actually do it?" George asked.

Willow nearly choked on her pumpkin juice. She doubled over with laughter. "Oh, Merlin, no! Have you ever not been smiling a second in your life? I had zero hope for you. The only chance I had was if someone knocked you out."

Fred burst out laughing again while George's face slightly fell. He perked right back up, though. "Yeah, you're right, I can't take life seriously."

"It's nice to see you facing the truth every once in a while. How do you do it?"

"As if you don't get down with doom and gloom every single day. Don't look at me like that! You know you're horrible about being pessimistic one minute, then optimistic the next!"

"Yep. I'm as bipolar as they come- especially when it comes to food. Pass me the whole pile of roles, will you? I hardly ate anything yesterday. Tengo mucho hambre!"

"What does that mean?" George asked.

"I'm going to kill you in your sleep," Willow said, voice laced with sarcasm. She smiled. "What did you think it means? I'm dying of hunger over here! Surrender the rolls or your life!"

"You and your bloody bread...Mum would love you. She tries to get us to eat more of her homemade bread all the time."

"Would she really love yet another reckless Gryffindor blowing up random objects for their own entertainment, though?"

"On second thought, you better visit when she has the most patience," Fred said.

Willow smirked. "There it is."

She went to use her spoon to scoop some blueberries onto her plate and dropped it. The clattering startled everyone around her. Willow winced and retracted her hand, which was throbbing from the movement. It still felt super stiff and heavy. She glanced down to see that it was swollen and purple around the knuckles. George took her hand in his and examined it.

"Wow, did you do a number on Lockhart's face, or did it do a number on you?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "His cheekbone was the same colour as my fist, duh. There's no other way for it to go down."

"Obviously, there is," Fred said. He watched as the swelling tried to heal fast, then stopped. "What's the matter with your powers here? Are they not working, or are you dying?"

"Whoever said I was melodramatic needs to meet you two," Willow said, shaking her head. "It must be the extreme heat from yesterday's- well, let's just say I may have accidentally super-heated my entire body and burnt some stuff. The dragon is strong within me. My hand probably swelled up super bad after the initial impact with all that added heat, and it's been trying to heal since."

"That's too much thinking. I couldn't do it," George said.

"We'll get there...eventually."

"Is that supposed to be an insult to my intelligence?"

"It depends on what you make it out to be. For all you know, I'm complimenting you."

"Yeah right. Willow Guerrero, handing out compliments like chocolates on Valentine's Day."

"Ugh, don't get me started on Valentine's Day. That was a complete mess. And I absolutely hate giving out chocolates to people. I'd rather buy them cheap the day afterwards and hoard them for myself."

"Speaking of Valentine's Day..." Fred trailed off.

George suddenly realized he was still holding Willow's hand. He dropped it, blushing slightly. "Sorry about that. I don't know how that transition made any sense, Freddy, but thanks for nothing."

Fred shot George a look, but George shook his head. Willow wasn't following the conversation. It must be one of those silent conversations only twins are capable of having, she decided. The bell rang to signal the end of breakfast, but before they could even get up, two letters were dropped in front of each of the twins. A familiar photo of a hot pink suit of armor and a condescending letter from Filch detailing a detention sentence were given to both. Fred and George high-fived each other.

"Looks like we might see you around the castle tonight, Willow."

"We've got cleaning duty again. Every suit of armor, trophy case, and relic in the west wing gets to be scrubbed down tonight."

"Sounds terrible," Willow chuckled. "I'll see you at ungodly hours of the morning."

The twins ran off to harass Lee and Paige; in other words, beg them for notes so they wouldn't fail their History of Magic test. Willow collected Oliver and made her way to Charms. Sally, Sue, and Cypress showed up shortly after, and just before the bell rang, Draco and his goons stumbled in, appearing very disgruntled about waking up before midday. They sat in their usual seats, which were right in front of Willow, and her out-of-house friends went towards the back of the classroom. Oliver commenced his usual pep-talk to wake up Cypress while Professor Flitwick began the lesson. Willow found herself drifting off every now and then, but her quill seemed to keep up enough to take pretty good notes. Lee would still be able to sell them- not that it was her first priority. As long as he was spending the money on Fred and George's pranks and parties, she didn't care how many copies of her notes he sold.

"Hey! Wisp! How did detention treat you last night?" Draco asked, smirking. "I heard all about your blow-up with Lockhart. Wasn't that quite literal? It's a shame you didn't blast him all the way to Venus."

"Ha, ha, I'm so entertained," Willow said. "Detention was perfectly boring, thanks. I regularly try to be an insomniac."

"Yeah, right. You're lucky you didn't get expelled. If Snape was Headmaster, you would already be pulling into King's Cross Station as we speak! My father thinks you're an idiot now. He was holding out hope you might turn out alright, but after that, there's no way he'd ever be able to change your mind about Hagrid and other oafs."

Willow whipped out her wand and held it to Draco's throat. "Say something that stupid again, and you'll see how stubborn I am about where I stand on this issue."

Draco glared at her, though there was a satisfying sparkle of fear in his eyes. "Fine, I'll shut up. Merlin's beard, Wisp, what's the matter with you?"

"Oh, only the small facts that the most caring person on Earth is currently being tortured while serving a false sentence, one of my best friends is petrified in the hospital wing, nearly every one of my friends is in danger, and you're being a complete arse to everyone."

Draco snorted. "And that's my problem how?"

"Because your father is the one causing all of this, and you haven't done a thing about it!"

Draco's eyes narrowed to slits. "You really think I could do anything against him? Sure, I might make a little bit of progress, but what happens when he finds out, Wisp? Have you ever thought of that?"

"Getting disowned is a small price to pay for saving hundreds of lives, Draco. Oh wait, I forgot, you don't care about anyone but you!"

Draco crossed his arms and slumped in his chair. "And they thought I was insensitive..." he muttered.

"Did you have something to say to my face, or are you too much of a coward to do it?" Willow growled. When Draco was about to say something, she interrupted him. "Save it. You know I can hear you well enough. Next time, don't miss your chance to say it like you mean it."

Draco turned away and scribbled furiously on his notes. The quill tip nearly broke he was pressing so hard, and ink was bleeding through some of the pages. Willow couldn't have cared less. If he was going to be such an arse, he could bring about his own destruction. At least she could say she tried to point it out to him. Flitwick had them practice a few charms on their partners about halfway through the class. Willow and Oliver managed to easily make each other speak in Swahili on their third tries, but Draco only caused Crabbe and Goyle to scream out operas and other embarrassing tunes. Professor Flitwick had to swoop in and undo the damage before they could be permanently singing "Phantom of the Opera" at the top of their lungs.

"Having trouble there, Draco?" Willow teased.

"You're next, dimwit," he hissed.

Willow wanted to say it was more likely he'd be doing cartwheels all the way to History of Magic, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want any more people to get stuck singing because she was firing Draco up. Seriously, there wasn't much talent in the singing arena in her year. The bell mercifully rang a few minutes later. They made their way to History of Magic in a tight-knit group following Professor Flitwick. When the Gryffindors arrived, Harry and Ron looked dreadful. They were falling asleep on their feet. The other Gryffindor boys were naturally tired, but not nearly as decimated as Harry and Ron. As to be expected, the Gryffindor Sisters wouldn't so much as look in Willow's direction. She hoped they would get over the petty fight soon. It was starting to grate on her nerves.

Draco purposely sat as far away from Willow as possible. She was honestly about to do the same. Harry and Ron sat to her right, and the rest of the Gryffindor boys and her exchange friends filled in the seats around her. They exchanged news from Charms and Transfiguration while they waited for Professor Binns. The unfortunate news that exams were not cancelled shocked everyone but Sue, who had been studying since last month for them. Seamus said something about taking one of Cypress's potions to make himself "sick" so he he had extra time to study. Cypress was perfectly fine with it as long as no one forced him to study. Oliver reluctantly agreed. Willow knew he would definitely study a lot around Cypress until he gave in. While Sally commenced her usual bickering and teasing of Sam to get his energy levels up before the boring subject, Willow sharply prodded Harry and Ron in the sides to wake them up.

"Bloody hell, you don't have to literally make it a rude awakening," Ron grumbled. His eyes snapped open. "Are there more of them?"

"More of what?" Willow asked.

Harry yawned. "Spiders. Ridiculously large, hairy spiders. The biggest ones could talk to us."

Willow blinked. "Was this a dream or you actually following the spider dirt road?"

Ron trembled in his seat, eyes wide. "Giant spiders everywhere- they could talk- spiders shouldn't be able to talk- I don't want to talk to a big bloody spider- Hagrid and his bloody beasts- "

"Whoa, whoa, are you sure you're okay to pay attention today, Ron?" Willow questioned.

Ron nodded stiffly, but he was still obviously reeling from horrible memories. Willow snapped her fingers loudly in front of his face. Ron jumped and looked from side to side, then relaxed, crossing his arms.

"I'm bloody fine, thanks for asking," he said.

Willow glanced at Harry, who shrugged unhelpfully. "If he says so, he's fine. It's not like he really pays attention anyway."

Willow frowned. "That's not a good thing, Harry."

"Neither is almost getting eaten by giant spiders, but something good actually came out of that nightmare," Harry said, lowering his voice to a whisper. Willow leaned closer. "We found out that when these attacks happened fifty years ago, a girl died in a bathroom. Who do we know that haunts a bathroom today?"

Willow gasped. "Moaning Myrtle! Harry, you're a genius!"

"Only if we're right about this," Harry said, slightly embarrassed.

Willow ruffled his hair. "We'll find half a brain in there someday, don't you worry."

Harry rolled his eyes and fixed his hair. Professor Binns finally floated through the chalkboard, and his monotonous voice began class. Willow took extra good notes so Hermione could study from them once she was unpetrified. Harry and Ron fell asleep again within five minutes. Willow smiled and levitated a stack of books under each of their heads. Cypress did everything but take notes: staring out the window, staring at Oliver, reading through One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, staring some more at Oliver when he fell asleep, and making faces at Professor Binns to see if he would notice. He didn't.

For once, Professor Binns ended his lecture early, and they had ten minutes of free time until lunch. Willow immediately got out her homework and began answering questions as fast as she could. Cypress cast a bored glance over her shoulder.

"Why would you do homework during class? Procrastination is the only way to get it done," he said.

"Spoken like a true master of procrastination," Willow chuckled, still writing away. "I've never been one to procrastinate in the first place, but I've actually got a lot to do tonight...and tomorrow...and the next week. I need every second I can get."

"You sound like you need insomnia. I'm pretty sure I could figure out a potion for that in two hours."

Willow laughed. "Unless you've got a powdered Hodag horn, I don't know if anything could induce insomnia long enough."

"As a matter of fact, I do have one of those," Cypress said, smirking.

"Let me guess: it's not technically yours, but if it's in Snape's private office, it's technically fair game, too."

"You said it, not me."

The bell rang, ending their conversation. Professor Binns wordlessly floated out of the classroom, not even bothering to check if everyone was behind him, and lead them to the Great Hall. Willow was reunited with a very unhappy Paige. She vaguely glared at a section of the Slytherin table, then pulled out a book and melted into it. Willow knew better than to ask what was wrong. Whenever Lee did that, it usually ended with him getting hexed, jinxed, cursed, or all of the above.

Willow spent the majority of her lunch getting homework done. Her exchange friends were unusually quiet and subdued. They eventually joined her with textbooks, note pages, and tests galore. Exams had surprised everybody with the state Hogwarts was currently in. As far as Willow knew, Hogwarts was one of those schools that enjoyed cancelling exams as much as possible. Teachers didn't like grading them, students didn't like taking them, and Filch certainly didn't want students sticking around by repeating years. Cancelling exams was a win-win, if you asked Willow. Cypress asked them why they would study so hard for something they should all know. Sue responded with an oral essay on how studying improved scores, reinforced learning standards, and correlated directly with future work ethic. Cypress almost seemed impressed.

Willow realized when the bell rang again that she hadn't even eaten anything. She grabbed an apple and flew to her next class, which was fortunately Transfiguration, one of her better classes. Professor McGonagall reminded them firsthand of exams. Anyone that hadn't already heard was thoroughly disappointed, but when offered the alternative Troll mark, they quickly changed their attitudes. Willow succeeded easily in the transformation of the day with Oliver and did it a few more times just to prove it to McGonagall, then buried herself in studying and more homework. Oliver helped her out with a few of the more textbook questions from Herbology and she in turn taught him a few Astronomy points. They'd nearly formed a study session with Sue and Sally by the end of Transfiguration.

"Hey, you know what we should do?" Sue suggested. "You guys should come to the Ravenclaw common room tonight with anyone that wants to study a little extra. We might actually make some headway with this mountain of homework."

"That sounds like literal Heaven right now," Willow sighed. "You'll find me there."

"Count me in, too," Sally added. "I would never get anything done otherwise. Sam will be forced to come as well."

"I can probably be there," Oliver said. "Cypress? Are you going?"

Cypress scoffed. "I don't need to study. I'm plenty smart the way I am. Learning definitions out of a book isn't going to prepare me for world domination. Potions should be the only exam I have to take."

"Well, it doesn't work that way, but I guess you'll do fine," Willow said, smiling to herself.

The rest of the day was a blur. She took a short nap in the Slytherin common room, which turned out to be a mistake, as Cypress stole her camera and took several embarrassing photos of her. It was a good thing she was a peaceful sleeper. Soon after that, Willow sprinted out to Hagrid's hut, fed Fang, let him tramp along beside her while she took care of some gamekeeper duties, nearly got herself poisoned by a strange venomous plant in Greenhouse Three, and returned a sleepy Fang home. Then, she stealthily snuck into the secret room in the Gryffindor common room, got tackled by Griffin, refreshed his memory of the training they'd done so far, argued with V, and checked to make sure Patch and Felicity were healthy, too. Finally, already exhausted and wishing she'd taken a longer nap, Willow made her way to the Ravenclaw common room, gave an unflattering answer to the bronze eagle, and pushed through the door, finding her Ravenclaw friends and Oliver already sprawled out with a million textbooks and notes on the floor.

"There you are! We thought you'd fallen off the face of the Earth!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Did you? I have a bet going with her," Mandy said eagerly.

"No, but I wish I could," Willow sighed, collapsing to the floor beside her. "I've been up for seventeen straight hours if I don't count the hour-long nap I took after class today."

"Are you sure you're okay to study, then?" Oliver asked, worry etched into his face. "You could get sleep deprived, and then you could get sick, and you don't need to be getting sick."

Willow smiled tiredly. "It's okay, Oliver. I won't get sick. I'll make sure I get at least six hours."

"Is that enough?"

"Well...no, but it's the bare minimum, and it's all I've got time for at the moment. Thanks for caring about my well-being, though, unlike some people," Willow said, pointedly staring at Mandy, though the corner of her mouth was pulled slightly upwards. Mandy winked and grinned. Willow rolled her eyes, glancing over the textbooks. "What do we have here? The world's worst assortment of subjects ever to exist?"

"You could say that again," Lisa said, biting her lip when she noticed the extensive Astronomy notes. "I feel like I haven't even heard of half this stuff before. What are we going to do?"

"I say we create a cheat sheet," Mandy suggested.

"We can't cheat on an exam, Mandy!" Sue gasped. "We'll get expelled!"

"Not a real cheat sheet, I'm not stupid enough to do something that obvious. I'm talking about a simplified list of the main topics in each subject. If we pretend it's a cheat sheet, we'd end up keeping it as short and concise as possible, just enough to jog our memories. We could study off of that, and whenever we don't remember something, we mark it down and study it a little more, then check off the list as we go," Mandy explained. She crossed her arms and smirked. "How's that for a smart idea?"

"It's brilliant! I always knew you were!" Lisa exclaimed.

"I agree! Why didn't you just call it a study guide, though?" Sue asked.

Mandy shrugged. "It's much more fun to watch your reactions. Your faces are priceless."

"I think we should go with your idea," Willow suggested, already finding a sheet of parchment for each subject. "What if we each took a subject and broke it down? We'll get through it much quicker that way."

"Astronomy, Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic...we're short a person," Oliver concluded.

"Not anymore," Mandy said, pointing at the entrance of the common room. Sally and Sam appeared behind a prefect, obviously agitated about having to answer a riddle. "Smiths! You've got History of Magic!"

Sam pretended to leave, but Sally yanked him back. "Oh no, you're helping me with this one, Sam."

Sam begrudgingly complied. Papers and textbooks and notes and random items flew everywhere as they gathered what they needed for each subject. Willow was assigned Potions. She already had problems with writing far too much on everything she did, but with Potions being the most in-depth subject they'd studied so far, she was doomed. Mandy was eventually hired to slap her every time she wrote in flowery details or made it too story-like. "Just the facts, Willow!" Mandy exclaimed at one point. "You're writing a study guide, not a novel!" Willow finally figured out how to make it more like a list with bullet points underneath by the time her left forearm was bright red. A little unorthodox, of course, but it worked. After half an hour, the group convened with their separate study guides. Willow thanked her lucky stars that they all had good handwriting.

"Alright! Now what?" Sally asked.

"Now we go over what's written and discuss the topics, asking and answering questions, shouting out mnemonic devices, memory tricks or rhymes, filling in missing information, and anything else we need," Sue said.

"How is she so smart? Why am I not that smart?" Sam said.

"You were born with a...er...differently-functioning brain?" Sally tried.

"Yeah, we all know you're trying to be nice, Sally," Mandy said. She slapped Sam on the shoulder. "And that's for breaking our rule of not hating on ourselves. You're smart, Sam, we've just got to figure out how to apply that to books instead of football teams."

"But- but- why else would I exist if not to love Manchester United and memorize every single stat?" Sam spluttered.

Willow patted him on the back. "I understand, but even those guys have to memorize the definition of velocity and viscosity at some point." Her friends glanced at her quizzically. "It's a Muggle science thing. Now are we going to study before I fall over dead?"

The hours went by in an exhausting blur. They went subject by subject, unit by unit, note by note, until everyone had all the information at least presented to their brain. Willow had to give full lectures on some History of Magic units. Mandy was again hired to keep her on track, slapping her every time she got off topic and related it to unnecessary Muggle history. Oliver and Lisa happened to love the flowery details that she put in and convinced Mandy to back off on those ("If you can remember small details, the actual big ideas should be easy, Mandy!"). By the time the clock struck midnight, Willow's voice was practically nonexistent, Sam was asleep, and the rest were dead tired but full of knowledge from the year. They decided to meet every night for the next week- with shorter time spans, of course- until exams took place on June 1. Willow hoped she would make it through.

Sally teamed up with her to drag Sam back to the common room. He barely woke up enough to walk back. Willow wondered if Sam would move faster if she turned into a porcupine and chased him through the halls. She decided she was becoming delusional and probably shouldn't use her powers in her state. They finally made it back to the common room around quarter after, and trudging up the spiral stairs, they made it to their dormitories, where everyone else was asleep. Sally went to the bathroom to shower, but Willow simply collapsed in bed, passing out before her head even hit the pillow.

The next four days were like hitting a repeat button for Willow. Her day started out with getting up at one in the morning, sluggishly walking about the west wing, eating hardly anything at breakfast and lunch, pinching herself to stay awake during classes, doing homework before, during, and after classes, studying during meal times, taking a short nap, sprinting outside to do gamekeeper duties, taking care of Griffin and company, and giving lectures to her friends about History of Magic, then hardly sleeping a wink before she had to do it all over again. At least the first night she had Fred and George to keep her awake, but McGonagall caught them trying to get in trouble for the sole purpose of entertaining Willow during her sentence and confined them to the Gryffindor common room from the hours of 7pm-7am. Willow wished she would have let them get on with it, because she sure could have used their help the other nights.

Three days before exams, she was so tired after yet another eventful morning of patrolling the west wing that she fell asleep at breakfast. A loud chorus of cheering jolted her awake. Willow blearily glanced around, wondering what all the commotion was about. She got her answer when Parvati teared up and said, "We're finally getting Hermione back!" Apparently, the Mandrakes were being harvested today and the petrified students would be revived. Willow was so happy that she actually felt her energy levels rise above negative five. Colin, Hermione, Penelope, Justin...they were all coming back!

Suddenly, a small redhead brushed by. Willow saw Ginny's crimson cheeks and glanced in the direction where she had come from. She realized Harry and Ron were staring after her, confusion etched onto their faces. Willow's stomach jolted. Had Ginny finally told Harry in person? She shot to her feet, nearly tripping herself on the bench, and streaked after Ginny, who was quickly attempting to leave the Great Hall. Ginny paused when she heard pounding footsteps coming after her. Her face lit up in recognition.

"Willow! It feels like I haven't talked to you in ages!" she exclaimed, hugging her. A frown worked its way onto her face. "You look like you didn't sleep at all last night! What happened?"

"Oh, I...uh...I may or may not have attacked Professor Lockhart for dissing Hagrid," Willow admitted, wincing. "Professor McGonagall was kind enough not to expel me, but she wasn't about to lighten up on my punishment. I've got three days left of morning corridor patrols."

Ginny's eyes widened. Was that...guilt in her expression? "Willow, I'm- I'm so sorry! I didn't realize you had to do that."

"That's no matter. I brought this upon myself," Willow said, waving away her concern. She took Ginny's hands in her own, eyes alight with excitement. "What matters the most right now is what just happened with Harry and Ron. Did you finally tell him? How did he react? I have to know!"

Ginny's hands slightly trembled in her own. "Oh- no, I didn't tell him. I was trying to say something...but it didn't work. I was too scared."

"Aw, that's okay! You'll get brave and do it eventually! Look at it this way: if you were this close to it now, how much easier will it be in a week's time? Maybe even a little longer?" Willow hugged Ginny. "You've got this! You're so much braver and stronger than I'll ever be."

Ginny's face lit up with a ghost of a smile. "Thanks. I hope I can prove that to be true."

"Did you hear that Colin's coming back today? I can't wait to catch him up on everything that's happened since he was petrified! How long ago was that? It was several months ago, at least..."

Ginny paled slightly. Was she sick or something? "Yeah! I can't wait to say hi to him again! We've all missed him."

Willow felt Ginny's forehead. "Are you okay? You're more pale than usual. Do you need me to ask Madam Pomfrey to whip up one of her famous Pepperup Potions?"

Ginny shook her head, though much more stiffly than usual. "I'm fine. If anything, you need to see Madam Pomfrey about sleeping through a morning class tomorrow. You're going to catch something awful with zero sleep!"

Willow shrugged. "Hey, it will all be over in three days. I'll manage until then."

Ginny gulped. "Yeah, three days...I hope you do well on your exams if I don't see you before then, Willow!"

"The same for you, you smart little cookie," Willow said, ruffling Ginny's hair.

Ginny smiled thinly, then ran off to the bathroom. What was up with her? She looked more sick than ever. Something about the way that she said "three days" was putting Willow off. Something was obviously wrong, but what? Willow shook her head. Ginny was a big girl. She could handle herself. Willow meant it when she said Ginny was the strongest girl she knew. If there was anything standing in her way, she'd blow right through it like it was nothing. Willow was probably loopy from lack of sleep, too. She might be seeing the changes over Ginny as worse than they actually are. Willow's stomach growled, so she sauntered back into the Great Hall, grabbing a piece of toast to eat while she went over another unit in Potions. When the bell rang, she formed up with the rest of the exchange students, traveling to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Throughout the beginning of class, Willow was just awake enough to pay attention. Lockhart cast many a wary glance in her direction. Whenever he said something about Hagrid, Willow would shoot a glare at him, and the colour would drain from his face. He began to retract some of what he said about Hagrid, even moving onto the only other topic he cared about: himself. Lockhart began to share one of his most self-appointed heroism stories in the middle of the hour. Willow rolled her eyes and laid her head down on her desk, falling asleep within seconds. A sharp jab in her side woke her up.

"Hey, what- " Willow blinked to clear her vision. A downcast-looking group of girls she recognized as her Gryffindor Sisters were staring at her. Willow raised her eyebrows "Why aren't you guys trying to talk to Lockhart?"

"Willow, we're sorry for the way we've been treating you over the past few days," Lavender apologized.

"We had no right," Mia said.

"We didn't realize that you attacked Lockhart because he was saying terrible things about Hagrid," Fay added.

"All we saw was our chances with him getting ruined," Parvati said, wringing her hands. "You saw it a long time ago, and now we see it, too. Hagrid would never do any of those things Lockhart is talking about. He's a liar and a self-absorbed git, exactly like you said. We can see that clearly now. Sally pointed it out."

Willow glanced at Sally. "You did?"

Sally nodded. "I may have a thing for dazzling smiles and perfect blonde hair, but when it comes to dishonesty, that's the make-or-break quality. Lockhart is a phony, and the worst kind."

Willow sat up straight, smiling. "I knew you guys would come around eventually."

Her Gryffindor Sisters squealed and surrounded her in a group hug. A few people stared, but no one questioned them, already knowing of their insanity. Eventually, they pulled away, Mia and Fay getting a little emotional.

"So...apology accepted?" Mia sniffed.

Willow nodded. "I'm supposed to get through my Hogwarts years with a little drama, right?"

Fay barely held in a scream. "I knew you'd come around eventually!"

The bell rang, and Lockhart reluctantly guided them to their next class, History of Magic. Harry and Ron mysteriously dropped away and disappeared, but Willow had a feeling they knew exactly what they were doing. They'd be fine. The Gryffindor Sisters spent the entirety of the journey making faces and rude gestures towards Lockhart, giggling quietly to themselves whenever he turned around and barely missed them by milliseconds. He seemed awfully suspicious of Willow, but didn't say anything, instead divulging yet another false story onto his enraptured Slytherin girl audience. Willow and her sisters practically sprinted into the History of Magic classroom to get away from the grossly self-centered tale. She hardly got to sit down for a second before someone gripped her arm tightly.

"Outside, now," he growled.

"Hey, what are you- !" Willow was dragged into the corridor, where she found herself face-to-face with Draco. She yanked her arm out of his grip. "You better have a really good explanation for this."

"I do, actually," Draco shot back. Willow noticed for the first time how pale and weak he appeared. "I got a letter this morning that you might be interested in. If you don't want to read it, I'll gladly shred it."

"What? No, let me see it!"

Draco pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to her, gray eyes stormy. Willow quickly scanned the page, her heartbeat thumping faster with each sentence. She wanted to pass out by the end. The exhaustion lifted from her limbs, and adrenaline seeped into her veins.

"Draco, you're sure he meant every word of this?" she asked. "There's absolutely no doubt about the plan?"

"No, why else would I show you?" Draco retorted. He suddenly shivered. "It's happening today, Wisp. I thought he was just doing this out of spite, hoping to get rid of Dumbledore and some of the staff, but this...this is too far. Someone is going to die, Wisp! I had no idea! Who it is, how it's being done, where, I have no clue, but- "

Suddenly, an announcement thundered throughout the school. Willow covered her ears from the intensity of McGonagall's voice. Students streamed out of classrooms and flooded the corridors, racing to get back to their common rooms. Draco and Willow exchanged a look of panic.

"Wisp, it's happening now," Draco said, voice pitched. "You have to do something."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you're the one that's used to saving the school!" Draco hissed. "You know how to drop everything, jump into action, and save the day! I don't!"

"You mean I'm the one that's willing to get expelled," Willow said. "You're right, though. Now how do we stop this?"

"I- I don't know," Draco said quietly.

"What do you mean, you don't know? You're the one who knows the most about the situation!"

"Wisp, if I knew how, I would have already told Snape the moment I received this letter and gotten rewarded like a hero, alright? My dad isn't stupid. He doesn't tell me anything I could use to my advantage. All I know is everything I've told you already!"

"So what do I do? Where do I even start?"

"You're the bloody Gryffindor! You figure it out! You've got plenty of Ravenclaw friends to help you!"

"That's not- " Willow sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. But if I die, you are so getting haunted for the rest of your life. Thanks for the information. Now go to your common room before we get trampled by these sixth years!"

They parted ways. Willow sprinted through the corridors, dodging a number of older students who were pushing and shoving each other along. Prefects tried to restore order and calmly get everyone back to their common rooms, but it was no use. The paranoia that had begun months ago all came crashing down at once. Students were crying, begging for the monster not to kill them, screaming whenever they saw a shadow flit across the ceiling. The moving staircases saw students falling off and barely being caught by other classmates far below.

A group of first years screamed as three of them fell over the edge of a staircase, shoved aside by some burly fifth years. One of them was bawling her eyes out. The other two were barely managing to hang on with a few scrapes on their knees and arms. Willow vaulted over some toppled third years, dodged a large pack of terrified boys, and found herself directly in front of the first years. Their two friends were managing to pull one of them up, but the other two were slipping. Willow grabbed a boy and pulled him up, setting him on the ground when his legs wouldn't hold him up any longer. She moved onto the next boy, but when she tried to grab him, his hands slipped and he began to fall.

Time suddenly slowed down. Willow's heartbeat thundered in her ears. She put one foot over the railing. She put the other one over. She shoved off. She was free-falling. People screamed everywhere. The boy was inches away. Willow grabbed his hand. Another staircase raced towards them. Willow wrapped the boy in her arms. She flipped around. She braced herself for impact. She collided with the staircase with an enormous CRACK! The boy rolled over, and Willow lay there, stunned.

Time suddenly resumed. Searing pain shot up and down her spine. Willow could feel her powers incinerating her pain sensors, trying to heal her as fast as they could. The staircase around her was worryingly riddled with gaps and cracks. When she sat up, she was very light-headed, dizziness capturing her balance and replacing it with vertigo. The movement of the staircase underneath her didn't help any. A single student approached and helped her to her feet. Willow stumbled a bit, rubbing her temples. She hadn't hit her head very hard, but it still hurt, and she couldn't seem to regain her balance.

"Are you okay? Hey, talk to me, are you okay?" the student asked.

Willow nodded, though the motion hurt. The student looked vaguely familiar. She had long, wavy, beautifully dark hair, and dark brown eyes that stared straight into her soul. When the student cupped her hands around her face, Willow suddenly recognized the touch.

"Paige...?"

"Yeah, it's me. Hang on just a second." Paige balled up her fists in a rage, pointed her wand to her throat, and whispered a spell. She cupped her free hand over her mouth.

"ENOUGH!" she shouted. Her voice was surprisingly magnified and bounced through the space. The entire room fell silent and stared at her. "EVERYONE, SHUT UP, STOP RUNNING, AND GET TO YOUR DORMITORIES CALMLY! THE MONSTER IS NOT IN THIS AREA, OR MCGONAGALL WOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING! SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET HURT FOR NOTHING! SHUT UP AND MOVE CALMLY!"

The students' faces turned red. It was utterly silent as they paraded slowly up the stairs and filed into the Gryffindor common room or headed towards Ravenclaw tower. Paige picked up a very unwary Willow and made her way upstairs. People stared at Paige's livid face as she stormed by, but when she glared at them, they suddenly became interested in their shoes. She was given a clear path to go into the Gryffindor common room. Willow was set gently on the couch and given some water, then rolled over so Paige could check on her back.

"Wow, there really is a spine in there," she joked. "All this time watching you bend yourself in half with that flexible back, and it turns out you do have a backbone. It's just made of jello. Bruisable jello, unfortunately." Paige sighed. "Why do you always have to do heroic things that get you hurt?"

"Just to make sure you care," Willow chuckled, though the movement hurt.

Paige rolled her eyes. "I do care. Deep down in that pit that I don't show on the surface. It's somewhere around here. Just give me a year to dig it out."

Willow smiled and relaxed into the couch. "How bad is it? My jello spine, I mean."

"Uh...healing unnaturally fast. I think you broke a rib or two as well, but they must have been clean breaks, because they're in position and trying to heal already. I should probably wrap your ribs."

"Go for it."

Paige brought out a makeshift wrap and had Willow sit up. She carefully, almost tenderly, wrapped the cloth around her ribs, making sure it wasn't too tight or too loose. Willow had never seen this gentle side of her before. It was almost more beautiful than her outer looks, and that was saying something, because she was drop-dead gorgeous already. Wait...why was she thinking about that?

"There, feel better?" Paige asked.

"Good enough to run a marathon," Willow teased. She saw something out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, what's up with Fred and George?"

Paige glanced over, too. Their hearts sank at the sight. The twins and Percy were gathered in the corner of the room, on the verge of tears and hugging each other. Willow had never seen Fred and George so deflated. Normally, even when they were a bit sad, they were good at hiding it and going off to prank someone. Right now, they were barely holding it together. Fred sat with his knees up to his chest. George had his arm around his brother, staring forlornly at the wall. Willow painfully rose to her feet and hobbled over to them, Paige on her tail.

"Guys, what happened? Where's Ginny?" she asked.

Fred buried his face in his knees. George couldn't even bring himself to look at Willow. "She's gone," he said hoarsely.

"What do you mean, 'she's gone'? Where could she be?"

George's voice was shaking now. "The monster from the Chamber. It took her. There's a bloody message on the wall and everything. She's dead, Willow. We'll never see her again."

The words hit her in the chest like a mallet. Willow forgot all about the pain in her back. It felt like someone had taken a knife and stabbed her right in the gut. Her legs gave out, and Willow sank to her knees. She had just seen Ginny this morning. Was that what she'd been trying to tell her? Did she know something bad was going to happen to her? No, she couldn't have. She would have said goodbye, right?

"Mum and Dad are going to be here soon. Tell them...tell them we're not in the mood to say hi," George said. He grabbed his twin, slowly, numbly making his way upstairs, where they locked themselves in their dormitory and shut off the light. Percy just sat where he was, lost in thought. Willow felt the gravity of the situation falling onto her shoulders. This was real. This was really happening. The plot that Draco had told her about was being executed on one of her best friends. And it was all because Lucius thought Ginny was a blood traitor. Willow felt a pair of arms wrap around her as a hot tear fell down her cheek.

"We're going to figure it out, Willow, I promise," Paige whispered. "We'll figure it out."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, we'll figure it out. We have to."

She allowed Paige to guide her back to the couch. For at least a half hour, Willow sat there, traveling through memories of Ginny from the past year while Paige ran a hand through her hair. How could she help Ginny now? She was probably dead already, lost in the Chamber forever. No one had a clue where the Chamber even was, so how could she even try to save Ginny? Draco's letter and revelations were no help now. She couldn't fix anything. They were stuck. Willow was helpless to save her best friend, and there was nothing she could do to alleviate the pain. Eventually, her Gryffindor Sisters and the Gryffindor boys, minus Harry and Ron, showed up, surrounding her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sam asked.

"Like I just jumped off the staircase again," Willow replied.

"We saw you save that first year. That was super brave of you," Fay said.

Willow flashed a ghost of a smile. "Yeah, I call it more of a tragic necessity."

"We're really sorry about Ginny, Willow. We know how much she meant to you," Dean said.

Willow sniffed, her voice hoarse. "I'll be okay eventually, right?" She let out a mirthless laugh. "It feels like we should be happy today, celebrating the revival of all those petrified people in the hospital wing, but this happens, and even more hope is taken away from us than we had to begin with. They're closing the school tomorrow. We've lost everything."

A sad silence settled over the group. Mia started crying, burying her face in Fay's shoulder, who looked close to doing the same. Everyone seemed like they were holding back tears. Neville wiped his eyes, Dean and Seamus were squeezing each other's hands, Sam and Sally were embracing each other, and everyone else was staring off at the wall, lost in though. It was the saddest moment Willow had ever lived through. Not only had they lost Ginny, but their future as well. The last scraps of hope they had been clinging onto evaporated in the blink of an eye. What were they supposed to do now? Where would they go for schooling? Would they ever finish their magical education?

Willow wanted to march straight up to the Minister of Magic and demand answers, but she knew that wouldn't change anything. The school was closing for their own safety. If only she had tried a little harder to find the monster and stop it, maybe they wouldn't be having this moment. Ginny wouldn't be dead, Colin wouldn't have missed half the year, Draco wouldn't be trapped between his father's actions and his own opinions, and Hagrid wouldn't be in Azkaban. Willow tried to tell herself it wasn't all her fault, but it didn't do any good. She just felt so...lost. She'd always had an internal compass, directing her onto each path as easily as she chose what she wanted to eat for breakfast. Maybe it was the exhaustion from staying up four nights in a row, maybe it was her depleting mental state, or maybe it was teenage hormones, but no matter what, Willow couldn't shake the feeling that she had missed something, that she hadn't tried hard enough, that she had let all this happen without lifting a finger. It was driving her back behind a wall she hadn't raised since she was very young, one that had taken two years to remove. Would she had to go through all of that again?

"Well, since the school's closing tomorrow, and we're probably never going to see each other again, how about one last game to get all the juicy secrets out?" Lavender croaked, breaking the silence. "One last round of Truth or Dare to call it for good?"

Everyone nodded numbly. They gathered around in a circle, collapsing on the comfy couches, chairs, and carpet that they had come to love as their own. Willow could hardly believe she would be leaving it all behind the next day. She never would have thought, waking up that morning, that she would be ripped away from her second home. That morning, she'd been complaining about tramping around the corridors during a time she should have been sleeping. Now, she wished she could memorize every last detail of the castle, remember every nook and cranny, recall every last place where she and her friends had hung out, caused mischief, and lived. Willow never would have thought when she woke up that morning that she would lose Ginny so fast. She'd taken all of her friends for granted for so long. She didn't realize how much she was living compared to a few short years ago. Glancing around the circle of second years and Paige, Willow wondered how on Earth she was supposed to say goodbye.

"Alright, cheer up, you lot, we've got a lot of scandalous secrets to uncover," Fay announced, though her smile seemed forced. "If you haven't played before, you'll catch on quickly. The only new rule is you've got to call on someone who hasn't gone yet. I'll start." She turned to Mia with a knowing grin. "Mia, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Mia said.

"How much had you studied for exams this year?"

Mia burst out laughing. "Like, three hours! I almost forgot about them, and this late in the year, I decided to call it quits. Guess that was...an unfortunately lucky decision." Mia's expression clouded, but she shook it off. "Sam, truth or dare?"

"Uh...dare?"

"I dare you to arm wrestle that fifth year over there. Yeah, that big one in the corner."

Sam's eyebrows shot up, but he still rose to his feet and walked over to the big fifth year girl. The second years excitedly gathered into a tight cluster to watch from afar. Sam pushed as hard as he possibly could, but the older girl simply yawned, looking bored, and crushed Sam's arm after ten seconds. Sally busted a gut, enjoying her twin's demise, and for the first time since the announcement, the second years had a little colour to their faces, some of them even snickering. Sam's cheeks were beet red by the time he sat back down.

"You all...didn't see anything," he said. Sam narrowed his eyes at his still laughing twin. "Sally, truth or dare?"

Sally suddenly stopped laughing, eyes wide. "Truth!"

"How many boys have you kissed this year?"

Sally's eyes widened further than humanly possible. "You little snake! You know exactly- Ugh, fine, four, but none of you are to repeat that! Sarah Brown would absolutely murder me if she caught wind of that!"

"Thanks for the inside information," Lavender said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Sally groaned. "I hate you guys, you know that?" She cast around the room, then grinned evilly. "Willow, truth or dare?"

"Definitely truth."

"Were you the one that made Daphne Greengrass act so funny all year?"

Willow smirked. "I had a little help, of course."

An eruption of noise met her response. Cries of "I knew it! I called it months ago!" and "You owe me two butterbeers!" startled the older students sitting in tight groups around the room. The second years were completely unapologetic, though. They were just starting to have fun again. The game picked up after that, the questions and dares becoming increasingly bold until it was almost too much for some people. There were red faces all around by the time Lavender called the final round. She had Paige begin, as she volunteered to be the final victim of the game at the end of the round.

"What? None of you are going to get to me. Take that as a challenge, if you will," she said in response to raised eyebrows.

"But we already know the person you fancy is in this room! You said so last round!" Parvati pointed out. "We have ammunition against you now! You better choose carefully!"

Paige rolled her eyes. "You know I take everything in stride. Pretty much everyone knows who everyone liked at every point in their Hogwarts career by now. Let's see...who's the next victim...oh, Willow, don't kill me, but truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Bold of you to assume I'll let you off easy," Paige said, smirking. She pointed to a girl playing a guitar next to the large window overlooking the Forbidden Forest. "Convince her to give you the guitar, then sing us a song. You have to actually try, too."

"Aw, Paige, you're so mean!" Willow whined. She sighed. "Fine, but you owe me big time."

Willow's friends cheered her on as a collective group as she received the guitar from the girl. She hoped her dad's Spanish guitar lessons had remained in her head and plucked a couple of chords to make sure she remembered them correctly. Then, she began to sing a song she'd kept close to her heart ever since she was very little, something she'd created with her mother long before she went crazy.

"Away, away, we go away

I see the meadow's fawns

Traveling along the river's edge

The current sings its song"

Willow's voice carried across the common room, drawing stares from every single person in it. She felt her cheeks redden and her voice slip, but she kept going, her fingers remembering the feel of the guitar her dad had given her all that time ago. Everything was so familiar, the images in her head, the embarrassment of performing in front of friends, the beat of her heart falling in rhythm with the music...

"I carry life upon my back

Father, Son, Holy Spirit to please

I run, I jump, I swim, I leap

Returning to the cherry tree"

Willow's mind dove back into happy memories, before all the darkness descended on her life. She closed her eyes and remembered the real-life place that had inspired the song. The park was still there in her mind's eye. She could still feel the moist soil as she planted rows and rows of flowers, still taste the sweet berries growing on the lush bushes, still smell the wild onion in the nearby forest, still hear the gentle rustling of leaves in the trees, still see her mother's face heavenly face. She was wreathed in sunshine, her smile a million times brighter than the beams of light that lit up her cheeks. Willow used to joke that she was an angel and the sun was her halo. Her mother was still there, playing tag with her in the park, hugging her dad as she watched Willow walk ahead on the path, loving like she'd never been hurt before...

"Life's not all about happiness and sorrow

It's all about love and laughter

No matter if we fall, or can't bring ourselves to walk at all..."

Willow continued through the rest of the song, the lyrics flowing off her tongue as if she was born singing them, the music dancing around the common room and filling it with love. People were visibly crying. Willow had always loved how emotional the song was. Despite its childish, easy lines and simple chords, anyone could relate to it, and that was what made it her favourite of all time. If she was ever feeling down, she could always run back to the song, remembering a time when everything was perfect, cherishing all the happy moments of her childhood. Everyone needed that little pick-me-up every once in a while.

"Away, away, we go away..."

Willow struck the final chord, and the room slowly filled with clapping and cheers. There were many instances of students giving each other tissues. Willow's cheeks were blazing red. She clutched her locket, which had grown warm against her chest. Willow knew she could strike emotion in her own heart with her music, but she didn't realize it was nearly good enough to receive the same outcome with an audience. She was tackled in a tearful hug by her Gryffindor Sisters.

"That was the best thing you've ever done," Mia sniffed.

"I always knew you were hiding a unique talent from us," Parvati sobbed.

"That was the best dare we've ever had!" Lavender wailed. "You should do it again!"

"No, I think we should finish the game before we run out of tissue boxes," Seamus suggested, though he was obviously fighting back sadness as well. "We're down to two."

"Well, Willow, it's your turn, then," Sam said as they reformed the circle. He turned away to wipe away an obvious tear. "Who do you think can top that dare?"

The game continued on, but this round, it was much more grounded in reality. Dares and questions were more about a last goodbye than a fun, scandalous time, like they were having before. Paige smirked and whispered, "I always knew you were a singer, I just had to shove you over that cliff of your comfort zone." Willow rolled her eyes and playfully punched her in the shoulder. She almost wished she could have kept playing the guitar. It seemed to be helping everyone take their mind off the situation, and although her nerves were shot, it was worth making everyone happy for one last night.

"Alright, last two!" Sally squealed. "Mia, truth or dare?"

"Truth!"

"What is one thing you will never forget about Hogwarts?"

Mia tipped her head to the side, the smiled, her eyes far away. "Food."

Everyone burst out laughing. Willow had to agree. The food at Hogwarts had never been a disappointment. In fact, it had been downright phenomenal. She personally wanted to thank all of the house elves for all the fine work they did.

"Alright, Paige, this one is for the very last question of the very last round of the very last game of Truth or Dare!" Mia sang. She giggled, hardly able to contain herself. "Truth? Or? DARE?"

Paige shrugged. "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss the person you fancy!"

Paige blinked. "...What?"

"You heard me! Kiss him! He's here, all you've got to do is go for it! It's your last chance!"

Paige's eyes appeared panicked, like a cornered animal. Willow had never seen her caught so far off guard. She looked like she wanted to melt into the floor on the spot. "Can I...not?"

"Nope! You have to do it! We have to finish the year strong!"

Paige forced a smile. "Okay, fine, but only on my conditions. Everyone has to close their eyes, and you can't tell a soul about this, or you're all dead. I will personally hire a mercenary to murder you."

Everyone groaned. "Fine, but we'll pester you until you tell us who all the way home!"

The group closed their eyes. Willow squeezed her eyes tightly shut, hardly believing what was happening. Paige was stepping outside of her comfort zone! With no preparation, totally surprised, she was on the spot. It took all of her willpower not to peek. Willow was practically shaking, she was so excited by the turn of events!

Suddenly, there was a tap on her shoulder. Willow opened her eyes to see Paige in front of her.

"Okay...this is going to be really hard to explain," the older girl began. She gritted her teeth, seemingly fighting with herself, then sighed. "Do you...do you remember how I told you about my parents? How they kicked me out because of something?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with- "

"Lower your voice!" Paige hissed, glancing around to make sure no one was peeking. It didn't seem like anyone had heard, nor did anyone open their eyes. Paige turned back to Willow. "They kicked me out because- because I'm..." Paige winced. "They kicked me out because I'm gay, Willow. I'm a lesbian. I like girls instead of boys. They couldn't deal with the fact and gave me the boot. I...haven't been able to tell anyone yet."

"Oh, that is hard to explain," Willow said. She put a hand on Paige's shoulder, and the older girl flinched. That was odd, but considering the tense circumstances, she understood. Paige wasn't touchy to begin with. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that for so long. I wish I would have known, because I'm hanging out with Cypress, and he's the most flamboyant gay boy in all of Europe, so that should tell you how easily I accept you."

Paige let out a sigh of relief, though her eyes were still filled with conflict. "Good, but that's not what I'm worried most about."

"What are you- " Willow suddenly gasped. "You're worried she doesn't know, or that she isn't into girls! Oh my God, Paige, I'm so sorry they put you up to this!" Willow couldn't contain a smile. "I have to ask, though, who's the lucky girl?"

Paige gazed directly into her eyes. "I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Willow...I should have told you a while ago, but...it's you. You're the one I've been talking about all this time. I tried to summon the courage to tell you earlier this year, but I got too scared, and now...we're here, stuck with this dare."

Willow stared at Paige, shocked to her very core. Me? How could anyone ever like...me?

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You don't have to like me back. I've dealt with this before and been able to move on."

Willow blinked slowly. Suddenly, everything made sense. The way Paige was acting so weird lately. All her flirty comments on her Spanish-speaking. The conflict in her eyes the other night. It was like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle suddenly put itself together. Willow barely stopped herself from gasping.

"So...are you okay if...will it make you uncomfortable if...you know, the dare..." Paige stammered.

Willow shook her head. "You've got to follow through, right? It's just a little kiss."

Paige nodded, apparently trying to convince herself. "Yeah, just a little kiss...you're right..." She swallowed hard. Willow had never seen her so nervous, so defenseless. Paige edged closer. "So...you're absolutely sure?"

Willow smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Paige stared at her lips, fighting something inside of her, then closed the distance between them. Willow's chest fluttered and sparked. Paige's touch was so soft, so gentle, that she thought she must have imagined it. Willow could have described it as magical. She closed her eyes and let the moment unfold. She'd never felt this way before. It was so weird, so foreign, yet so familiar. She couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Paige eventually backed off, cheeks blazing crimson, staring at Willow's freckles. She returned to her spot in the circle and announced that everyone could open their eyes. The second years immediately bombarded her with questions, begging to know exactly who she'd kissed. Willow, meanwhile, sat on the floor in shock, raising her fingers to her lips, wondering why they were still tingling. The game finally disbanded, and the boys and girls separated to chat amongst themselves on last time in their dorms. Willow absent-mindedly declined, telling Mia that she'd catch up in a minute. What was wrong with her? Why was she so stunned?

Then, it hit her with the force of a hurricane. Willow audibly gasped. The fluttering in her chest, the staring, the pleasant dreams...it all made sense at once. There was a reason Paige's laughter rang in her ears even hours afterwards. There was a reason Willow always thought about Paige in her free time. There was a reason Paige's sarcasm and snarky comments always cheered her up when she was at her lowest. How had she not known it all this time?

Paige had kissed her.

And she liked it.