Paige lingered only a moment longer with Willow, then headed off to the common room, armed with a full-proof lie to keep McGonagall calm and Madam Pomfrey satisfied. Willow's heart was still racing from their interaction. She stood rooted to the spot where she'd last spoke with Paige, fuzziness clouding her mind. She knew she should really get going, with Pomfrey on her tail and all, but she just couldn't bring herself to end that magical moment. Was this what it felt like to fancy someone, she wondered?

"Wow, I did not see that coming. Willow Guerrero is a lesbian. How long have you two been dating?"

"HOLY crap," Willow yelped, whipping around. Her heart beat even faster when she saw who was standing behind her. She was surprised she didn't have a heart attack, with everything that was happening at once. "Sirius! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course! You didn't come back very fast," he hissed, crossing his arms. "You made me worry! I thought you might have passed out and died somewhere!" He shook his head. "Let's get back to the Power House. And keep your voice down! I'm lucky I haven't gotten caught yet!"

"You're damn right you are! Go, go, go!"

Sirius shrank into his dog form as Willow transformed into a cat. They bounded through the corridors, frantically glancing over their shoulders every few seconds for staff members, even though they were unrecognizable in their new forms. Willow picked up the pace past the dementors and finally was able to relax when they reached the treeline. The Forbidden Forest welcomed them home with a strong gust of wind and a dark sky. Willow didn't mind the dark for once, however, as she preferred that to getting caught in broad daylight. They returned to their human forms when they got back to the Power House and kicked their shoes off outside, scraping off as much mud as they could. Sirius quickly ushered her inside and locked the door behind them, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's not exactly the homecoming I'd expected," he joked.

"Sirius! Are you out of your mind?" Willow scolded. "You could have gotten caught! Why would you come after me like that?"

Sirius shrugged. "Had some energy to let off. Thought I might as well make it productive. I found you, we didn't get caught, and besides, now I've got ammunition to tease you with. What's her name?"

Willow spluttered. "What- she's not- Sirius, I'm talking about something much more important right now!"

Sirius scoffed. "Nothing's more important than true love," he teased, dramatically emphasizing the last two words. "Soooo, I'm still wondering, what's her name? How did you meet? These are important details, you know."

"De- Sirius, I'm trying to make sure you don't get killed!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, spare me the spiel, you already did this yesterday. The past is in the past. I didn't get caught. I'm still waiting on my answer, by the way."

Willow was about to protest that he could easily get caught at any time, that he was bloody foolish, that he was stupid to go after her- Dumbledore was at Hogwarts, for Merlin's sake, nothing would happen to her- but she begrudgingly shut her mouth. She would have done the same thing for Sirius. She needed to stop being such a hypocrite.

"Well? What's her name?" Sirius asked.

Willow blushed. "Paige, but we're not dating. We're just friends. I don't know whether I fancy her or not."

"Oh, I'll help you answer that question. You do, and it's obvious to the entire world. I could have seen that from Mars." Willow reddened even further. "So, when did you meet? How are you planning to ask her on a date?"

Willow's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Date? Oh, no, that's not happening yet."

"The keyword is yet," Sirius said.

Willow rolled her eyes. "I met Paige when Fred and George did a prank in the Great Hall my first year. She and I just...I guess, became friends, and...yeah. Boring story."

"B-o-o," Sirius said. "Come on, you've got to make a pretty powerful move to make up for that boring of a meeting story. What's your style here? Flowers? Singing? Middle of a quidditch game? Ooh, you could do a visit to Hogsmeade and challenge her to a butterbeer drinking contest, and if she loses, she has to go out with you."

"What?! Sirius, I'm not asking her out!"

He huffed. "Fine, live a disappointing life waiting for the other one to make a move. It won't happen, by the way."

"Oh, you don't know Paige. She would be the first one to make a move. She wouldn't put up with never being able to live down being asked out first."

"Ah, so she's a top."

Willow choked on her own air. "Sirius! Okay, changing topics, I don't have anything more to say- " Sirius grinned victoriously- "I'm not avoiding my friends anymore. I just faced a boggart and realized my worst fear is holding myself back when the world needs me most. So, yeah, I'm officially taking on this stupid prophecy thing."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I didn't see that one coming either. Are you sure you didn't hit your head recently?"

Willow gently slapped him. "Yes, I'm concussion-free, as Madam Pomfrey would have chained me to a hospital bed otherwise." She cleared her head to focus. "I need to start on this prophecy thing right away. I've got limited time to figure it out."

"I'll help, since I'm going to die if it fails anyway," Sirius said quickly, irises burning with an exhilarating type of excitement. "We need to talk to someone about this. Do you know anyone that could help?"

Willow thought for a moment, then suddenly shook her head ecstatically. "Cebba!"

"Who?"

Willow called out for Cebba, reaching deep within her to pull out the spirit. It didn't take much time at all. With a single internal cry, Cebba's presence once more filled Willow from head to toe, warming her up from the inside out, and without warning, the familiar pulling sensation yanked the spirit out of Willow's soul and into the open, and Cebba's ghostly form was standing before her once again. Sirius gripped his chest and sank into a nearby chair, eyes wide.

"This- what- who is this?" he gasped.

"This is Cebba, my...how would you describe our relationship?"

"Strained? Intolerant? Shaky?" Cebba teased, receiving a stuck-out-tongue from Willow. The ghostly woman smiled. "I missed our banter. It took you long enough to summon me again! What have you been doing all this time?"

"Uh...I'll explain that later."

"Have you been up to no good?" Cebba inquired, peering disapprovingly at Willow.

"No! Well, yes, per usual, but nothing noteworthy!" she protested.

"Hey! You never answered my question," Sirius said, crossing his arms. "Who is this, and why are you talking to her?"

Cebba walked over to Sirius, glancing him up and down. "Hm, you seem like the riff-raff sort, but if Willow approves of you, I guess you're okay...I'm Cebba, her ghostly guide to these incredible- well, incredibly annoying at times- powers."

"Just okay?" Sirius scoffed.

"Not now, Sirius!" Willow scolded. "Cebba, what was the first part of the prophecy?"

"The One born of powers will in eleven years' time-"

"No, the next part!"

"Receive the burden of the coming war-"

"No, you doofus, you know exactly which part I'm talking about! What's the part that's talking about my quest, you know, the first step to complete the prophecy?"

Cebba giggled. "I love riling you up. Unless she follows the descendant of Hogwarts' great; The trail blazing of a life born of joy is the path she shall take."

"The descendant of Hogwarts' great? What does that mean?" Willow asked.

Cebba shrugged. "I don't know everything, Willow, contrary to popular belief. And even if I did know, I couldn't tell you, because that's not how prophecies work. You can't outmaneuver them."

"Dang it, I was totally planning to get a prophecy for my life and do the exact opposite," Willow said, her voiced laced with sarcasm. Cebba lightly slapped her. Willow blew raspberries at her, then actually focused, tapping her foot. "Hogwarts' great...Weren't there four founders of Hogwarts?"

"Yes, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin," Sirius chimed in.

"But which one would be Hogwarts' great?" Willow wondered. They all glanced at each other, exchanging bewildered expressions. Willow groaned and rubbed her hands down her face. "This is going nowhere, then, until we find out more. I'll start searching the library tomorrow."

"Um...Willow? It is tomorrow," Sirius said, wincing. "I didn't get around to telling you that you were in the castle for quite a while. It's about two in the morning."

"Then I'll start searching the library today."

"No!" Sirius and Cebba chorused. They looked at each other, then at Willow, then back at each other, and finally said, "Not it."

Willow stared at the two of them, fighting giggles. "Are you two fighting over who gets to yell at me for being stubborn again?"

"No, I'm just going to forcibly make you stay here, because you've got no reason to go running off while you're ill," Sirius said. "Stay here and rest before you get even more sick."

"I'm not sick!" Willow insisted, then sneezed.

"Sure," Cebba said, shooting her a look. "I promise, I'll be ultra aware of your surroundings for you, so if I find anything, and I mean anything that might be helpful, I'll let you know. Until then, I'm returning to you, because I'm sapping your strength. Nice meeting you, Seriously."

Sirius rolled his eyes as Cebba disappeared, dousing Willow's insides with icy cold water. She shivered and sat back, relishing the warmth of her robes as Cebba's spirit merged with hers once more. She'd missed being able to feel Cebba's presence within her. It was a huge mistake sending her away when it turned out that was the time she needed Cebba most.

"Well, I guess we go to sleep now," Willow said, yawning.

"Yes, and don't you dare get up before nine," Sirius threatened. "You'll get a splitting migraine from all the sleep you're losing out on."

"Yeah, I'd rather not have that..." Willow murmured, leaning into the couch. A fuzzy thought popped into her head right before she dozed off, though.

"Hey Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Will it make you mad if I start sleeping in the Gryffindor common room? You'll be all alone..."

Sirius grinned sadly. "No. I'd rather see you making others happy than ditch them for my sake. You should stay with them from now on. They need you."

Willow smiled. She laid down on the couch, stretching her stiff muscles. With a slight yawn, she curled up into a tight ball, then threw a blanket over herself. Sirius made sure she drifted off to sleep, then sat down in his usual chair and reclined it, sighing as he stared out the window.

"It won't be any different than before," he whispered.

The next day, Willow got up noticeably later than usual, around nine thirty in the morning. But when she opened her eyes, her heart was lighter, her mind was clearer, and she was so much happier than before. She received stares from some Gryffindors when she actually spent the entirety of breakfast in the Great Hall. Without skipping a beat, Willow spent the morning with the Weasley twins, who were obviously confused at this turn in events, but knew better than to ask. She was once again made into a test subject for multiple pranking devices. The Puddle Pod had finally been perfected. They were working on their newest invention that Sunday morning, though, and it was much worse than simply being drenched in water. The twins were rolling out their newest product, called the Robe Rearranger. Like the Puddle Pod, it was a projectile pellet, but when it hit the person, it immediately caused the robes to attack the person in a non-harmful way (at least, for the most part). Willow supposed she deserved a bit of rough-housing after all she'd put them through.

When the clock struck eleven, Wood summoned the quidditch team for an announcement. He appeared as if he'd been through some horrible nightmare. His eyes were sunken, his skin was colourless, and his usual manic spirit had evaporated completely. Wood didn't speak at all when they arrived and instead marched them towards the hospital wing. Willow glanced between her teammates, exchanging confusion, but they finally understood when the only patient left in the hospital wing looked up upon their entrance.

"Harry!" Willow exclaimed, running towards him. "How are you? Are you okay? Did Madam Pomfrey make you drink that horrible potion?"

"Whoa! Give him some space, Willow!" Angelina said.

"Sorry!"

Harry laughed half-heartedly. Willow could hear the hollowness in his voice. "It's okay. I'm awful lonely up here. It's nice to see someone without a disgusting potion vial."

"Gross, you had to take that too," Willow said.

"I'm never drinking it again."

"Me neither. I don't think I could even look at it one more time."

"Ahem, we'd like to see the famous Harry Potter too," George teased.

Willow rolled her eyes, but stepped back, allowing the quidditch team to chat with Harry. Fred and George teased him and joked with him to get his spirits up to only depressed instead of half-dead. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie made sure that he was telling them the truth about feeling okay, then Alicia promised to punch a dementor in the face for him, which alarmed the other two girls. Willow only smiled. She had to agree with Alicia. After what they did to Willow, Harry, and the rest of their friends, she would have very much loved to physically relieve herself of the need for revenge. Wood finally stepped up to say his last bit to Harry.

"Hey, I know we lost the game, but- " he paused for a moment, as if the memory of losing was too much to bear- "but you played really well, Harry. You would have caught the snitch in time had it not been for those dementors. It wasn't your fault."

Harry made an obvious effort to appear as though he believed him. "Thanks, Oliver."

Madam Pomfrey suddenly came bustling through the doors. "Out, out! You've had plenty of time to talk to him! Too much more of this and he's going to have a relapse! Out!"

The quidditch team left, but Willow dove under the nearest bed, watching their slow, lethargic footsteps take a right and disappear down the corridor. She felt horrible for not going with Wood to cheer him up, but it was even more important that Madam Pomfrey did not see her. Pomfrey couldn't be very happy with her at the current moment. Willow waited in a tense silence, biting her lip, until Pomfrey left, then gradually reappeared, much to a grinning Harry's delight.

"Thank you for that," he said.

"Well, it's more of a selfish reason, but I wanted a moment longer with you, too," Willow explained.

Harry sighed. "Let me guess, you went after the dementors, they attacked your friends, then they attacked you, so you passed out, disappeared, weirdly ended up here an hour or so later, and bust out when Madam Pomfrey threatened a weekend of bedrest."

Willow thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, that sums it up perfectly. Who told you?"

"Oliver, before he left this morning."

Willow smiled. "I'm glad. I was not about to recount the entire story. It's exhausting and way too long."

"You know, you still owe me an explanation," Harry reminded her. Willow shot him a quizzical glance. "Remember? Before the quidditch match, you promised to actually talk afterwards. Well, it's after."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, you're right." She paused, then shook her head. "Looks like I better get used to long and exhausting stories. So, it started during the first Divination class of this year..."

Willow went on to tell Harry everything, beginning to end. She told him about the prophecy, how she tried to figure it out, failed, and fell into a terrified state. She told him about the Power House- leaving out Sirius, of course- and then the previous night. She told him about how her worst fear made her realize she had to suck it up and be strong for her friends, so she's not hiding anymore. Harry's jaw was hitting the floor by the time she finished.

"You dealt with all of that alone?" he said in disbelief. Willow nodded. "Wow, Oliver was right, you are bloody stupid at times. I know, I know, I'm being a hypocrite, but what made you think that was ever going to work out in your favor?"

"Uh...I didn't think, most likely," she replied. "At least, I didn't put enough thought into it. I jumped to conclusions."

"You're even worse than me."

"Yeah, and I'm willing to admit that I need a little help now," Willow said. "I'm going to meet with my friends in the Ravenclaw common room to sort things out and apologize. Hopefully it goes well."

"It will. If they're all anything like Oliver, they'll be happy for you."

Willow half-smiled. "Thanks. I hope so too." She caught sight of Harry's cloudy eyes, her senses immediately picking up on a jumble of negative emotions. "What's bothering you?"

Harry furrowed his brow, feigning confusion. "What do you mean? I'm fine."

"Harry, you do realize I have magical powers that can sense people's emotions, right?" Willow said, lightly chuckling. Harry knowingly half-smiled. "And I don't need them to read someone's eyes and know they're hurting."

Harry stared at her for a second, then leaned back in his bed, running his hands over his face. "Alright, fine, but I'm only giving in because I know you'll pester me to no end for an answer."

"You know me too well. Now spill."

Harry sighed. "I keep having nightmares about those stupid dementors."

Willow sat bolt upright. "You do?"

"Yeah, I keep remembering the one on the train, when it attacked me. I saw its hand when it unlatched the door. It was absolutely disgusting, but terrifying at the same time."

Willow put her hand on Harry's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay to have a fear of those things. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any scarier than a decaying, revolting creature that literally feeds on your happy memories while forcing you to relive the worst ones. To be honest, I'm pretty terrified of them myself. You've got to have an absence of fear itself to not freeze up when one is near, and I don't trust anyone who doesn't fear something. You're pretty brave if a dementor is what you fear the most."

Harry considered her point. "I guess you're right."

Willow ruffled his hair. "It's okay to not be okay, Harry. I've learned that over the past few days."

"You know only too well you're going to say that, then turn around and not believe a word of it when you're not okay," Harry said, of which Willow didn't deny, only smiled knowingly. "But thanks nonetheless. It makes me feel a little better, at least."

"Anytime. Just send word, and I'm here, whether Pomfrey likes it or not. Speaking of the devil," Willow said, enhancing her auditory senses, "she's coming right now. I've got to get going before I have to serve more detention...I'll see you around, Harry, okay?"

"See you."

Willow darted into the corridor and turned the nearest corner, thankfully before Pomfrey had a chance to spot her. She tiptoed through the castle all the way to the Gryffindor common room, where a large group of people had gathered, as it was still rainy and dark outside. Willow couldn't find anyone she knew, so she sat down on a random couch, entertaining herself by watching the crackling fire. The warmth of the flame soothed her aching back, which had become sore from sleeping on a couch so much. Some first years to her right were chattering excitedly about a new charm they'd learned. A few sixth years were whooping and hollering about an article in the Daily Prophet. Willow smiled inwardly. She'd missed just spending time in the Gryffindor common room, doing nothing but watching other people go about their daily lives, their joy radiating off of them in waves. Combined with the scent of pinewood burning on the fire grate, Willow felt a sort of elation bubble up in her chest that she hadn't felt in a long time. It was care-free happiness. She missed being able to discover new nooks and crannies of the magical world with her fellow Gryffindors. It had been a long time since she'd let the worry of her destiny off her back.

Speaking of her fellow Gryffindors, Wood and Percy had reappeared from their dormitory, arguing loudly at the top of the stairs. Willow groaned and covered her ears with two pillows, but she was so relaxed that her sensory powers were at their peak. She could clearly hear every word they said through the thick fabric. Percy was angry with Wood for destroying a project of his, and Wood was just all-around pissed about the match, so he had apparently broken several things in the dormitory. Willow wished that Wood would get a grip and get over it already. Yes, it sucked that they'd lost the match, but it was over and done with. They still had a chance at the quidditch cup so long as Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in their coming match.

"You lied to me, Wood! You said you would never go near my Transfiguration homework!"

"I didn't lie to you! It was an accident!"

"You literally went up into our dormitory and smashed everything that wasn't glued down to bits!" Percy shouted incredulously. "How is that an accident?"

"I was mad!"

"You were mad? Everyone gets mad, Wood! Not everyone goes around smashing other peoples' homework in retaliation, though! Get a grip on yourself and get over it!"

"We lost the match! How am I supposed to get over that?" Wood yelled miserably. "We might have no shot at the quidditch cup now! Ravenclaw is good, but if they don't beat Hufflepuff by at least two hundred points, we're out of the race! This is my last shot at the cup!"

"It's a stupid trophy that you'll forget about in a couple years!"

Wood's face went slack. "Stupid trophy? Forget? How could I forget about the one thing I've been dreaming about since I came to Hogwarts? I would never stop smiling every time I look at it!"

"Wood, it's just a game!"

"No, it's not! It's everything!" Wood roared. "It's spending days in the howling wind and pounding rain just to get used to adverse weather. It's getting hit by a bludger and still playing, even if you're in the worst pain you've ever felt in your life. It's stopping a shot from the other team to the roar of the crowd. It's winning the game and tackling your teammates in a mud-covered hug. It's losing the game and- and- "

Wood suddenly couldn't speak anymore. Willow looked up to see him turned away from Percy, hands over his face as he sobbed uncontrollably. Her heart went out to her team captain. She'd never seen him so absolutely miserable in her life. He looked like he'd just received news of a family member dying, he was crying so hard. Was this what it was like for all the other quidditch captains when they lost a game? Did it actually hurt them that bad?"

Then, to her extreme surprise, Willow watched as Percy gently put a hand on Wood's shoulder, then brought him into a hug. Her jaw dropped to the floor. Percy, the snobbish Head Boy, was comforting Wood, the maniacal quidditch captain? She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, but the scene remained unchanged. Willow glanced around to see that multiple people were watching with raised eyebrows. Since when did Percy not care about who was watching him? The Head Boy simply murmured semi-helpful, positive encouragements to Wood until he was able to stop crying. They went into their dormitory together afterwards to talk it out in private. Willow raised her eyebrows. Could this day get any weirder?

"What the bloody hell was that?" George asked, he and Fred walking up beside her.

Willow spread her hands. "I have no clue, but I think someone kidnapped your brother and replaced him with a Hufflepuff."

Fred whistled. "You know, I'd like to say he's never going to live this one down, but I'm almost curious to see what would happen if we let him go. Would he do that again? I'd like to think not, but if he can calm down Wood, I'm pretty sure he could do just about anything."

Willow stared at the scene. "Yeah, I call throwing Percy at him from now on. Not it."

"Not it," the twins chorused.

"Can we at least steal his Head Boy badge and turn it into a Wood Management badge?" Willow asked.

George smirked. "Like that's even a question."

After getting chased throughout the common room by an enraged Percy Weasley, Willow and the twins finally escaped to dinner, where they met up with Lee and Paige. They had an incredible time. Willow finally gave in and let Lee copy some of her notes for selling purposes, as he'd already found half of them anyway. Paige and George were even civil with each other for once. Fred tossed mashed potatoes in Lee's face at one point, and a small food fight erupted between the boys. Willow and Paige watched with many giggles as the twins and Lee covered each other in buttered broccoli, corn casserole, and dinner roles. Professor McGonagall swept by and ordered them out of the Great Hall before a huge food fight could break out. When dinner ended, Willow told Paige she would be back before nine and headed to the Ravenclaw common room. It was exactly seven by the time she figured out the apparently complicated riddle. She walked in only to be slammed into the nearest wall.

"Ouch! What- Cypress! What are you doing?" Willow coughed.

"You lied to us!" he accused, blue eyes terrifyingly electrified.

"What do you mean?" Willow wheezed.

"You told Oliver and I that you had an argument with Cebba, but then you turned around and told everyone else that you had a migraine! What's going on, Willow? What's the real reason you had to go and lie to my face?"

It took a moment for Willow to remember that day after Divination. "I- I can explain!" she promised.

"Cypress!" Oliver exclaimed, appearing behind the blonde boy. He slapped Cypress's shoulder. "You don't need to hurt her! She was lying for a very good reason!"

Cypress suddenly released Willow, still glaring at her. "It better be a damn good reason then, because you know how much I hate being lied to, Willow."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. I probably deserved that. Come on, let's get this show on the road so I can explain everything to you."

Cypress begrudgingly stepped aside to let Willow enter the rest of the Ravenclaw common room. Mandy, Lisa, and Sue had apparently cleared out the leftmost edge of the common room for them, as all the other Ravenclaws were sticking to the middle and far right. The three girls were sitting in window seats when she got there. They shifted their gazes to her when she stepped into the room. Sam and Sally were already there, too, though it took Mandy clearing her throat to get them to stop staring out the windows. Oliver gently guided Cypress to a seat, making him face Willow, and kicking him softly when he wouldn't meet her eyes. When everyone was settled and attentive, Willow took a deep breath, then began her spiel.

"Okay, so, I'm starting from the beginning. During the first divination class, I had a vision, and it was kind of confusing, kind of terrifying. At first, I was just stuck in the classroom. I wasn't really...there, though, if you know what I mean. Someone walked right through my like I was a ghost. Then, I was suddenly in Professor Lupin's classroom, and all I saw was him, rather beat up, as he was on the train ride here, so it didn't make any sense. Next, I was in Snape's classroom, and he was brewing something strange. I caught a glimpse of his notebook, but all it said was something about Sirius Black. I'm guessing he's trying to catch him. I hope he doesn't turn anyone in, though, because it said he was going to turn someone into Dumbledore if all goes well...whatever that means...anyway, I was finally whisked back to the North Tower, and I was on the floor, back in my regular body. But it wasn't long before some ringing prophecy came screaming into my head, and I haven't been able to get it out since. Basically..."

Willow lost her voice to a second. Was she really telling this to her friends? Taking a deep breath, Willow very painstakingly continued. "Basically, you guys, my family, and my magical creatures are cursed to die because I exist. Cebba explained it to me recently as a balance for the amount of power contained in me. It's not fair whatsoever, so the creator can go- " (she said something that made Mandy giggle). "So...yeah. I've been hiding from you guys ever since, trying to break our friendships in order to save you, but that's not how friendship works. I love you guys way too much for that to happen. I'm vowing to take on this prophecy, even if it kills me, because I'm not ready to let you guys die. And...I'm really, truly sorry, for the amount of crap I've put you through over the last two months-ish. You didn't deserve one second of it."

"We forgive you, Willow," Sally said.

"We can understand why you did it," Mandy added.

"That's...extremely bullheaded, idiotic, and completely stupid of you, but...I have a temper, and I hate being lied to, and I do over react, but I always apologize," Cypress said, uncrossing his arms. He looked at Willow rather meekly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted." He sighed and nudged Oliver. "Happy now, Ollie?"

Oliver blushed at the nickname, especially as Mandy and Sam raised their eyebrows at him, but he managed to reply, "Yes. Can we figure out the prophecy now?"

"Oh, yeah, that brings me to the initial problem that caused me to run away from it in the first place," Willow said. "The first two stanzas are stuff that has already happened. The next ones, though, all the way to the end, make absolutely no sense. I've got nothing for the next line. It goes, Unless she follows the descendant Of Hogwarts' great; The trail blazing of a life born of joy Is the path she shall take. Anyone got any ideas? Because I'm still stuck on the first part. Who the heck is Hogwarts' singular great?"

Mandy shrugged. "I don't pay attention in History of Magic."

"Me neither," Cypress replied.

"Maybe it's one of the four founders?" Sue suggested. "Wait, that might be a bit obvious...you've already tried those options, haven't you?"

Willow nodded. "There's no record of any descendants from any of the founders that I'm aware of. If they do turn out to have descendants, then I'll check it out, but until then, there's most likely another option."

"We'll start looking, Willow," Lisa promised. "I'll search every shelf in the library if I have to."

"I'll pitch in if I'm not falling behind on homework again," Sam said. "Oliver, you up for it too?"

Oliver nodded. "We've all got to try and help, right?"

"Right," Sally said. "I'll tell the Gryffindor Sisters what happened. When we're not busy- I'll make sure we pause the dating initiative- we're going to be scouring our textbooks for possibilities. We've got your back, Willow."

"Just promise us you'll never lie again?" Cypress said, staring pointedly at her.

Willow smiled. "Never again. Lying sucks."

"There's our Willow Guerrero," Mandy said, smirking. "Thanks for not being late for once. We're going to meet here every Sunday night at seven from now on, okay? There is way too much to discuss without collaborating."

"Agreed." Willow checked her watch. "Alright, I've got to get back to the common room before Paige murders me. I'll see you guys later."

"Let us know when she finally asks you out!" Sam teased.

"Guys! Stop it!" Willow chuckled, blushing on her way out of the common room. The laughter of her friends followed her as a melodic tune all the way down Ravenclaw Tower.

Monday was usually a good day for Willow, but it ushered in a Potions class that she would unfortunately remember. Snape seemed to be in a gleeful mood from the result of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match- which meant, of course, that he was more than generous with his punishments for Gryffindors to rub it in. Willow walked into the classroom and could practically touch the sinister vibes hanging in the air. She glared at Snape, who didn't even look at her. When class began, she wasn't surprised to find him switching partners, purposely placing people together that had formed even deeper rivalries over the past few weeks, all of which she was sure Snape had been paying very close attention to for this very purpose. It sickened her to think that she'd respected this man two years earlier when he'd saved her. Why did she ever trust him, especially with sifting through her memories on last year's Halloween? The good soul she'd previously seen was now buried so deep beneath darkness and petty revenge that it was completely obscured from view.

Cypress, for his part, was thankful for the seat change. He'd been furiously ignoring Malfoy since the first day of school, instead opting to create new explosive potions on his own in hopes that he could "accidentally" drop one near his former partner. Cypress got paired up with Hermione, which was a strange turn of events. Willow decided that Snape was betting on the two smartest students in his class fighting for the number one spot. It wasn't going to happen, of course, as even Hermione commented on Cypress's potion-making prowess. They simply started their potion right away when Snape wrote down the ingredient list on the board. Snape watched the pair nearly the whole time, glowering when the most heated the conversation got was fast-paced whispering about whether or not to follow the steps in order. Willow shook her head. Since when were teachers pettier than students?

Willow envied her Gryffindor Sisters' assignments. They all got paired up with at least semi-competent Slytherins, albeit ones they individually hated for various reasons. Willow would have given anything to be back with Tracey. At least she would have been able to focus. Now, she was back with Draco, stuck against her will with a partner that was now at his peak annoyance. Draco commented loudly how incredible it was that Hufflepuff had managed a victory against Gryffindor. Willow saw Cypress break a potion vial out of the corner of her eye when Draco mentioned something negative about the Hufflepuff house. She grinned, hoping that the next potion vial would happen to break over the Slytherin seeker's head.

Her expression quickly evaporated, however, as Draco happened to be in an extra bold mood. He decided to celebrate having the full use of both arms again (as if he hadn't for the last several weeks) by reenacting Harry's fall on the quidditch field. Willow tried her best not to snap, but she was extremely close to throwing her entire cauldron at the idiot when her hand slipped and she spilled some of it on herself. She cursed loudly, drawing a few scandalized stares, then went to the stone gargoyle fountain to wash off her hands before the potion ate through her skin. She was just about to fix her potion when a small warning signal was set off in her brain. Willow glanced to her left to see Ron, infuriated, gripping a crocodile heart far too tightly.

"Ron, you know he'll try to get you expelled," Harry whispered to him anxiously.

"I'm not really sure I care at this point," Ron fumed. "At least I'll be far away from this obnoxious git."

"Ron, don't- !"

It was too late. Willow ducked just in time as a large, slimy crocodile heart sailed over her head and slammed into Malfoy's face. She couldn't help busting out into laughter as Malfoy freaked out, yelling at Crabbe and Goyle to get it off of him. Several Slytherin girls around Malfoy screamed and ran away. Harry and Willow, however, high-fived Ron, despite a livid Snape striding towards them.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor," he growled, wiping the elation off their faces. "Clean it up, Mr. Weasley, or I'll have you in detention for a week."

Ron rolled his eyes, but begrudgingly complied. Willow walked over to help him, as she suspected a fist-fight would break out if a mediator didn't separate the boys. Ron grabbed the crocodile heart as quickly as he could- sparing gentleness, of course- and threw it to Harry, who caught it and dropped it into Ron's potion, then returned to his own before Snape could find a reason to remove more points from Gryffindor. Malfoy glared at Ron, cheeks bright red. Ron scowled at him as well, refusing to back down. Willow stepped in between the boys and placed a hand on Ron's shoulder, turning him away and guiding him towards his cauldron, where there were plenty of towels to clean himself up with.

"Don't let him get to you," she whispered. "Trust me, it never makes you feel better in the end. All you're doing is stooping to his level."

Ron still stared at Malfoy with an icy expression. "How am I supposed to let him off without him walking all over me?"

Willow smirked. "Trust me, he's embarrassed out of his mind right now. You're not letting him walk all over you. Take this win and prepare yourself for the next one, because I doubt he's going to turn around and be all nice to you."

Ron huffed. "Fine. But next time, if Snape isn't watching, we're having a rematch from first year."

"I'll cheer you on the whole time- not that I'm promoting violence, but I would love to see that git get what he deserves. One of these days, Ron, you'll get your chance. The perfect moment will come. For now, bide your time, and let me be the one to get detention. Have fun finishing your potion."

"I won't."

Willow checked on her cauldron, adding the final ingredient, then made her way to the stone gargoyle once more, where Malfoy was washing off his face. He looked up when she stood in front of him. Willow noticed that the crocodile heart had left a small bruise on his left cheekbone. It was already beginning to purple, blacks and blues swirling into the colourful array. Multiple pieces of whatever the crocodile heart had been stored in still remained on Malfoy's face. He quickly washed them off, then wiped off the excess water with his sleeve. Willow silently watched his eyes as they became cloudier and stormier, lighter than the clouds outside, but fervent with electricity, lightning striking every time he blinked.

"Happy now?" Draco grumbled.

"Not necessarily," Willow replied shortly.

He stared at her a moment, then said, "You planned that, didn't you?"

"No, actually. I had nothing to do with it."

Draco looked away to where Harry was hard at work on his potion. His eyes darkened. "That imbecile deserved to fall off his broom. Parading around the castle every time he won...he didn't even work that hard. People practically jump out of the Chosen One's way."

Willow whipped out her wand and advanced on Draco, backing him into the fountain. "Are you really willing to continue that train of thought? Because I'd love to judge every word of it."

Draco took another step backwards, having to balance himself on the fountain with one hand, but clenching the other one into a defiant fist. His irises still crackled with fury. "Oh, I'd love to, seeing as it would cost you Merlin knows how many house points."

Willow raised her eyebrows. "You really think I care about a stupid cup?"

"I think you care about your reputation more than you let on," Draco growled. "And seeing as you hate being a disappointment, I'd hate to let you go down that path of failure."

Willow gritted her teeth to prevent herself from shouting obscenities in his face. "Fine, I see how you're going to play this. Let me explain to you exactly why I'd be willing to sacrifice house points. Do you know what I hear every time those dementors come near me? Screaming, Draco, absolutely terrified, heart-wrenching screaming. Do you want to know what it's from? That's my dad, yelling for my mum to stop, but she couldn't, because her family was horrible, and they turned her into the monster she is today. The Fawley family is the reason my mum did what she did four years ago, but my mum still went through with it. She tore apart my family with a single curse. I lost everything that night. And I get to relive that memory every time they come near me. I get to relive the guilt, the suffering, and the pain, in excruciating detail, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Willow's hands had begun to glow with the intensity of her rage. Draco's eyes flickered with fear, reflecting her furious expression. Willow saw it but didn't care.

"If you think that's bad, Draco, it's even worse for Harry. His worst memory is ten times worse than mine will ever be, because he lost his entire family. I only lost some of mine. He can't ever have his back. So when I tell you to back off about the dementors, you back off, because your pampered arse will never know the true pain that life can bring."

Willow backed up a pace from Draco, lowering her wand. He stared at her with a confusing array of emotions in his stormy grey irises. There were too many too read. Willow wished she could have had the time to sift through them and at least understand something that was going on in that imbecile's head, but Draco lowered his eyes, instead staring at his shoes.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, almost inaudible.

Willow set her jaw. "Do you really mean it?"

Draco looked at her for a very long time, then abruptly turned away, leaving Willow to wonder if she'd ever find the boy beneath all that hate.

The weeks began to pass exponentially quicker in a haze of bone-chilling rain. Willow, her Gryffindor Sisters, and her out-of-house friends all tried their best, but even after scouring the shelves, combing every section of the library, and even tricking Professor Binns into a few Restricted Section books (courtesy of Mandy and Cypress, of course), they'd come up with nothing. It increasingly weighed on Willow, but at the same time, it gave her hope in an odd sort of way. Maybe this whole prophecy thing was meant to come whenever it came. Maybe she wasn't supposed to throw herself into it, but it was supposed to throw itself upon her. She had a very good feeling that her time was coming to figure out this prophecy, that all she had to do was wait, and it would guide her along her predestined path.

Sirius was settling into life very well at the Power House. Willow had managed to grab him a few things from Hogwarts, such as extra soap and desserts, and she'd even located a nearby stream in which he could at least wash his face in. Sam had grown suspicious about the amount of Gryffindor robes disappearing from the boys' dormitory, but Willow bought some extras to replace them and managed to convince him that the house elves had simply lost them in the laundry. She had been spending a great deal of time with her friends to make up for the weeks she'd avoided them. This meant, of course, that Sirius was left alone more than ever, and it tugged on Willow's heart strings. She eventually found a compromise- she spent every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday evening with him, of which time she could easily claim she spent practicing her powers alone. Sirius was perfectly happy with this compromise and eventually grew healthier as Willow smuggled more food out of the Great Hall. She was surprised how easily she got along with the escapee. One time, she even chuckled to herself at the idea of owling her dad about spending her evenings with a mass murderer. His reaction would be priceless. She wasn't about to give him a heart attack, though, and easily kept the secret.

Ravenclaw absolutely annihilated Hufflepuff in their next quidditch match, which gave hope to the long-depressed Wood. The Gryffindor quidditch team resumed practices with a new determination. They still had a chance to win the quidditch cup after all. Things were looking bright by the time the clouds cleared with two weeks to the end of term. Willow was buckling down on her studies, especially with Divination, as she'd been physically attending classes now, but was still unable to focus during any of the classes for fear of a repeat of the first day. She and her out-of-house friends turned their seven o'clock meetings on Sundays into study sessions. They had made great progress and their spirits were high by the time the last Hogsmeade visit of the term rolled around. Paige and the Weasley twins promised to take her to the little village with them, as this was her first time. Only Paige was there, however, the morning of the trip.

"Where's Fred and George?" Willow asked, finding Paige among the crowd of students.

"Oh, they're going to be running a bit late, but they'll meet us there," she said with a knowing smirk. "In the meantime, I've been instructed to take you around the village and present to you all your options for the day."

Willow's face brightened. "Awesome!"

Professor McGonagall called for silence, then took attendance, gathering all the students on the front steps of the Entrance Hall. A blustery breeze whipped through the crowd while she was just finishing up. Paige stole Willow's Gryffindor scarf, much to Willow's amusement, as she'd brought it along expecting that very thing to happen. Soon, Professor McGonagall began to lead the way to Hogsmeade, down a worn, cobbled path that led directly to Hogsmeade Station. Paige shivered, her breaths becoming mist in the wintry air.

"Stupid cold," she muttered.

Willow laughed. "Do you need my extra robes?"

"You're never going to get me to say yes...but I wouldn't refuse if you happened to place them on me."

Willow rolled her eyes and unbuttoned her outermost robes, re-buttoning them around Paige, who finally stopped shivering. Willow smirked at the older girl, to which Paige stuck out her tongue. Snow began to fall in fat, heavy flakes around them. It piled up on the path and soon was crunching under their boots. Willow imagined that they were in a snow globe, the snowflakes obscuring the views around them so that all they could focus on was the scene directly in front of them. The snow swirled and danced above their heads, as if invisible, graceful dancers were wishing them happy Holidays. Willow caught a few snowflakes on her sleeve, enjoying their unique tiny patterns. She dumped multiple flurries in Paige's hair. The older girl playfully scooped up some snow and sprinkled it all over Willow's head. Willow laughed and threw some snow back at her. Paige didn't start an all-out snow war, thankfully, and simply stared at Willow with a content smile.

"You know, snow looks really good in your hair. It stands out against the dark brown," she said.

"It does for yours, too, now that I look at it," Willow noted, trailing her eyes down Paige's beautifully wavy hair.

Behind them, a voice whispered, "Can I please ship it already?"

Willow and Paige furrowed their eyebrows, glancing at each other in confusion. Neither one of them offered anything to the other, so they looked back at Mandy and said, "What?"

Mandy groaned and huffed dramatically. "Clueless Gryffindors..."

"I'm...not going to take that as an insult?" Paige said.

"Just go with it," Willow suggested.

They walked the rest of the way to Hogsmeade in a peaceful silence. Before they knew it, Hogsmeade Station faded into view, a vivid droplet of red paint against a pure white canvas. Some pine trees began to dot the landscape, then became thicker until they surrounded the path, providing a brief shelter from the freezing wind. With the snow now falling only gently, Willow could see farther down the path. She peered at the end of it, enhancing her eyes ever so slightly, and saw only a bright end to the tunnel of dark pine nettles. It was only minutes, however, before they reached the entrance to Hogsmeade, and Willow's eyes were blinded by the bright winter sunlight reflecting off the snow-covered ground. She rubbed her eyes, blinking hard, and ever so slowly raised them to adjust to the lighting. When her vision cleared, she clapped a hand to her mouth.

Hogsmeade sprawled out before her, quaint and incredible as it could possibly be. Row upon row of wooden buildings butted up against each other, but each seemed to retain their own sense of uniqueness. Some were lopsided, others appeared upside-down, and still others looked as if they were built for the Minister of Magic. Many of the houses were decorated with strings of colourful lives fairies. Their reds, greens, whites, and blues reflected off the snow, creating a beautiful combination of the festive shades. Most of the buildings had a chimney lazily puffing out smoke every now and then. Willow appreciated the snow buildup on each and every exposed surface, once again reminding her of being inside a snowglobe. It was the comfiest setting she'd ever seen.

Paige watched her awed expression with a slight grin. "Wait until you see the inside of Honeydukes. Your life will never be the same."

Willow raised her eyebrows. "In a good way or a bad way?"

"How can masses of every candy imaginable sound bad to you?"

Willow's eyes lit up. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Paige guided her through the streets of Hogsmeade, every once in a while lightly leaping to the side to avoid a sledding child. Multiple resident families were out on their front porches. They were amazingly friendly, waving with a rosy-cheeked smile at every passerby. Paige waved back at most of them. Willow couldn't believe the amount of magic casually employed around her. There were pots and pans washing themselves outside, shutters flapping all on their own to relieve themselves of snow, and floating arrays of all products imaginable in shop windows, some stuffed animals even giving a welcoming wave to the occasional passerby. Paige turned and opened the door to one such shop, one that was already packed with multitudes of students. It didn't take long for Willow to realize why.

Honeydukes' heavenly aroma encompassed her senses and melted her into a puddle of dreamy scents. There was the dark, velvety chocolate, the tangy sour lollipops, the sweet, smooth taffies, and much more. Willow's eyes were unsure where to look. Every nook and cranny of the shop was chock-full of delectable, colourful sweets. Willow saw the barrels of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, filled to the brim with every colour and taste imaginable. She noticed a portion of the shop dedicated to suckers of every shape and size. There were chocolate frogs attempting to escape their packaging on one hectic shelf and enchanted taffies glowing neon pink just below them. Willow couldn't take her eyes off the case of homemade toffees, fudges, and rock cakes that were likely to give Mrs. Weasley a run for her money. The sound of multiple students chattering, whispering excitedly, and squealing in delight reminded Willow of her childhood visits to the Muggle candy store. Regular candy, however, couldn't hold a candle to Honeydukes' array of magical delicacies.

Paige and Willow decided to splurge and sampled multiple holiday specialties, such as peppermint pops (which audibly popped inside their mouths) and chocolate chicks (magically animated chick-shaped chocolates). They challenged each other to try flavours that they knew they didn't like, such as mint (in Willow's case) and green apple (in Paige's case). The two drew many pairs of eyes with their laughter upon seeing each other's reactions to the "awful" tastes of the sweets. Paige was in the middle of dramatically pretending to be poisoned by a green apple caramel sucker when Fred and George inexplicably appeared. They joined in the fun, naturally, and even managed to find something that all four of them hated. George and Paige were being suspiciously civil with one another. Willow shrugged it off, hoping they'd managed to make up, at least for the Holidays.

The four traveled from store to store, their final shopping destination being Zonko's, as Fred and George relentlessly burned through their pranking supplies throughout the year- sometimes quite literally, as Willow had experienced firsthand, especially with the Filibuster Fireworks. Zonko's was just as bright, if not brighter, than Honeydukes. Every pranking need imaginable was taken care of by this single store. There was everything from nose-biting teacups to explosive textbooks. Fred and George chatted with Bilton Bilmes, the owner of the shop, for nearly half an hour. Bilmes almost talked them into the latest invention, a portable, self-levitating carrier that held multiple different pranking supplies. Finally, exhausted from shopping in the cold of December, they decided whether to head back to the castle or not.

"I'm done, since we've got all our supplies," Fred said. "How about you, George?"

"Ready to go when you are, Freddy."

Paige waved lightly at them. "Okay. I'll see you back at the castle. I'm taking Willow to the Three Broomsticks- you know, just in case she decides to die over the Holidays before getting to taste real butterbeer at least once in her life."

Willow raised her eyebrows. "There's a difference?"

"Come on, Willow, everything's better when it doesn't come out of a bottle," Paige said, nudging her giddily. "Madam Rosmerta- that's the main waitress- brings you a tankard of warm, freshly brewed butterbeer, so fresh that it's still foaming. You haven't lived until you've tried it."

Willow smiled. "Let's go, then!"

"We should probably go too, then!" George said quickly, Fred nearly running into him as he stopped on a dime.

Paige shot him a bewildered look. "I mean, you don't have to, but if you really have a change of heart, I'm not going to keep you from going."

"We'll definitely go! You can't take Willow all on your own, right? There's some random weirdos out here, aren't there, Freddy?"

Fred stared at his twin like he could have disowned him then and there. "That had to be the least smoothest transition I've ever heard in my life. You really need to work on that jealously."

"Yeah, because it's completely unnecessary at this point," Paige added.

George's grip tightened on his Zonko's bag. "Is that supposed to mean anything?"

Willow glanced back and forth between Paige and George. Why were they fighting? Was it because of her? They were fine just minutes ago, but now that they were talking about something lightly related to her, they were arguing. Why did that always have to happen? Couldn't they be friends and get along?

"Should I...go?" Willow whispered to Fred.

Fred shook his head, watching Paige and George argue with raised eyebrows. "Not yet, but if it gets too far, I'm leaving with you."

"Are they arguing over me?"

Fred sighed. "Do I really have to answer that obvious of a question?"

"Oh." Willow furrowed her brow, trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation, possibly even end it. She suddenly got an idea as she saw a fellow classmate walk by. Lightly elbowing Fred, she motioned for him to prepare himself. He stared at her confusedly, but Willow skipped towards her classmate, knowing that he'd figure it out.

"Hey, Neville!" she called.

Neville turned towards her, cheeks bright red and wind-burnt, but dimpled with a goofy smile, a Honeydukes bag in his hand. "Hey, Willow! Where are you headed?"

"The Three Broomsticks! Want to come along?" Willow asked.

"Oh- sure!" Neville said.

Looking back to wave goodbye at a furious Paige and George (Fred was keeled over, hysterically laughing), Willow linked arms with Neville and walked off to The Three Broomsticks. She knew for a fact, of course, that they'd angrily bust down the door to The Three Broomsticks and force her to sit at a table with them, but it was worth it for the priceless look on their faces. Holding the door for her friend, Willow entered the pub, spirits higher than they'd been in a very long time.