Abuela was there in an instant, almost as if she knew exactly what had happened. Armed with a loaf of freshly baked homemade bread, a half-gallon of butter and jelly, and a box of chocolate, Abuela swept up Paige and placed her at the kitchen table. The older girl was still hardly holding herself together. Abuela rubbed her back soothingly, expression clouded with concern. Willow and Oliver sat down in a trace-like state across from Paige. Abuela looked up at them.

"Who do I need to hex out of existence?" she said, voice trembling, but not with sorrow.

"My mum," Willow whispered.

Abuela's expression contorted with fury, flushing a deep shade of scarlet. She clenched her fists so hard that Willow feared she might break her knuckles. "I'd be happy to take on those- " she said a word that even Willow couldn't help raising her eyebrows at- "and your mother, too. A duel with my former daughter-in-law has been long overdue."

"No one's firing off spells at anyone," Abuelo said. The four turned their heads to see the older man hobbling down the stairs. "That would only make the situation worse, as much as I'd like to take a shot at Grace myself. What she did to our son is unforgivable."

"Exactly why I should be allowed to blow her head off..." Abuela muttered.

"Whoa! Who pissed Mum off this time?" Tío Cisco asked, he and his brother entering the room.

"Those- God- forsaken- Fawleys," Abuela snapped, obviously censoring her language by the abrupt pauses between words. "They hurt my future daughter-in-law. They're going to hurt for it."

"Mamá, cálmate," Carlos soothed, shutting the patio door behind him. "Everyone knows I get the first shot at the Fawleys. But now is not a good time to outright attack them. We need to build up some evidence to make a case of self-defense and conspiracy- you know, just in case the Ministry and its pureblooded idiots that it claims are worthy political leaders come knocking down our door, since we might dig up some dirt on half the community in that disgusting house."

"Fine, but I get the second shot at Grace when we get the chance." Abuela gently stroked Paige's hair, taking a deep breath. She glanced between Willow and Oliver. "What happened, anyway?"

Willow's heart dropped like a stone. The pain of the previous hour still stung as a fresh wound. "Oliver, please say it for me."

Oliver nodded, though he didn't look much better-off than Willow from the ordeal. She promised herself to repay him later. Oliver took a deep breath, then launched into the story, sometimes stringing words together because he was talking so fast. He explained how Paige had contacted her nana, then about the terrifying letter she received back. He told them all about their journey to her log cabin, choked up a bit at the happy reunion part, and returned to seriousness for the next part. The Guerrero's jaws were to the floor when Oliver revealed how Paige was related to a very powerful family, that her nana was actually her aunt, and that her entire family was being hunted to extinction by the Fawleys. Abuela was so riled up that Carlos had to take her outside for a moment. Abuelo became quite misty-eyed during the retelling of Paige's heroic parents in their final hours. When Oliver finished with a recap of the scary moments before they left, Willow couldn't help but remember the final words Deandra had whispered in her ear.

"Willow, what's wrong?" Carlos asked.

Willow was suddenly snapped out of her trance. "Huh? Nothing," she lied.

"B.S. What happened?"

Willow groaned, laying her now aching head on the table. "You don't want to know. You really don't. It will only make the situation worse for you guys."

"I'm p-r-e-t-t-y sure it can't get any worse," Tío Cisco said.

Willow picked her head up to see her entire family staring at her. Even Paige was now staring at her, the smallest of fires kindling in her blank eyes. Willow shrank beneath their gazes. They deserved to know the truth, she guessed, even if it was as confusing as it was concerning. She sighed, running her hands down her face.

"Deandra whispered something to me, right before she sent us off," Willow admitted. "She knows that I'm the War Child, and she even said she believes in me. She told me to go do right in this world."

"What? How could she know that?" Paige said.

"She seems to know quite a lot, actually," Abuelo observed. "I'm not surprised she knows about Willow, considering she's running from the Fawley family."

"But even the Fawleys don't know that Willow's the War Child," Carlos pointed out. "Grace thought- well, they think the War Child's dead." A flicker of pain passed over every Guerrero's face. "Deandra would have gotten her information from somewhere else. Did she say what your last name was, Paige?"

"Terrell," Paige replied instantly. The name flowed off her tongue quite nicely.

"I don't recognize it, but that makes sense, considering they're gone underground," Tío Leonel said. "It's yet another mystery."

Paige sat back in her chair. "It doesn't matter. Willow's safe if my aunt believes in her. She's an incredible person, and she'd never let Willow's destiny slip to anyone. The real question is what we're supposed to do now."

"Search and observe," Abuela said. Everyone looked to her. "It's obvious, isn't it? Paige's grandfather is the Fawley's next target. We've got to find him before they do. Boys, you have to keep an eye on the Fawley mansion, and as close as possible. We have to track their movements to their exact footsteps now. Your father and I will do the searching for Grandpa Terrell. We have to save your grandfather, Paige, if we're ever going to stop this family warfare. Too many people have died for this to go on."

Paige's mouth was slightly open. "You'd...you would do that for me?"

Abuela hugged the older girl. "Family is family, Sweetheart. Anything for my future daughter-in-law."

Paige smirked at that thought as Willow blushed deeply.

Paige ended up staying with the Guerreros for the remainder of the Holidays. Abuela was in much better spirits, what with the optimistic prospect of finding Paige's grandfather, getting to treat Paige like royalty, and teasing Willow about her future wedding every second she could spare. Willow could have sworn her cheeks never managed light pink. Paige celebrated New Year's with the Guerreros, then went back "home" the morning of January 2, promising to meet them at King's Cross Station. Willow and Oliver (once again) rushed around at the last minute to pile everything into the car. This time, in addition to Willow's hefty amount of magical creatures, Oliver was totting his magical plants that he'd received for Christmas. He was planning to store the majority of them in the Secret Room, but a few of his favourites were going to remain in the always-sunny Hufflepuff common room.

Willow and Oliver arrived at King's Cross Station at approximately quarter til eleven, but between lugging their trunks and transporting their now invisible magical flora and fauna, they barely managed to shut the door to the caboose before the train lurched into motion. The Hogwarts Express gave a familiar whistle, and soon they were chugging along the countryside, a trail of smoke lazily floating behind them. Willow and Oliver had been joined by Paige and the Gryffindor boys, and it made for an entertaining ride back to Hogwarts. Seamus managed to nearly blow the roof off their train car after only three minutes of experimenting with a new charm he'd learned from his parents. Dean and Neville, still rather full of sweets from the Holidays, fell asleep halfway through the train ride. Sam was talking like a rabbit with its butt on fire about the prank he and Sally had pulled on their Mum. Sarah Brown reacted positively to their antics, however, unlike Molly used to, and they'd made an occasion out of going to Diagon Alley to purchase a new magical apron (the Smith twins had destroyed Sarah's old one with dragon cookies). Paige, Oliver, and Willow listened in silent captivation of his surplus energy.

At length, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station, and they were home. Willow ran all the way up the path to the castle, racing Paige, who was definitely not a long distance runner. The older girl eventually gave up and lagged behind with Oliver, who was only running because he couldn't feel his toes, and even at that, Oliver slowed to a walk. Willow was far too excited, however, to take her time getting to Hogwarts. She sprinted across the snow-laden ground, boots crunching the flakes into tell-tale footprints. Adrenaline coursed through her system. Everyone else was heading up to the castle, but Willow's heart had another destination in mind. She waited until she was completely out of sight, then ducked under the trees, sprinted to where the pines butted up against Hogwarts' vast grounds, and followed the treeline all the way around the Black Lake. Her turnover increased as she neared her destination. She wore the world's biggest smile on her face. She'd been waiting the entire Holiday for this.

At long last, Willow found familiar, enormous footprints in the snow, a telltale sign of Hagrid's Holiday whereabouts. Then, excitement coursing through her veins, she found a smaller, less-noticeable path, barely discernible under the heavy blanket of snow- but she had walked down it so many times, she could find it blind. Willow had a certain spring in her step as she ran among the icy tree trunks. Her feet didn't even make any marks on the ground- her anti-compression charm was working well! Heart soaring, the unassuming sight of a tightly-knit cluster of trees called her name. She stomped her boots, kicked them off on the "porch," and flung the door open.

"SIRIUS! HAPPY BELATED CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND- oh, there's no other holidays we celebrate."

Sirius grinned broadly from across the room. "Happy Holidays to you too!" Felicity fluttered from the ceiling onto his shoulder. Sirius patted him. "Thanks for Felicity, by the way. He was great company."

Willow beamed. "I'm glad! He's quiet- obviously, he's a jobberknoll, he can't make noise- but he's very receptive to people, I've noticed."

"Something he inherited from his caretaker, I'm sure," Sirius said, a hardly passive, hinting gleam in his eyes.

Willow chuckled. "That's definitely your way of saying you want me to notice something. What did you do this time? Break into Honeydukes? Sneak a mug of butterbeer from Madam Rosmerta?"

"Even better!" Sirius squealed.

Willow scoffed. "What's better than freshly-brewed butterbeer?"

"A firebolt," Sirius said, hardly able to contain himself.

Willow furrowed her brow. "What?"

"IgaveHarryabroombecausehedoesn'thaveoneandnowhecanbeatSlytherinbecausehehasthebestbroomever!" Sirius shrieked, practically skipping across the room. "Harry has a firebolt! That's a state-of-the-art broom, international standard! No one's going to be able to catch him now, no one! He'll be a blur on the quidditch pitch!"

Willow's jaw dropped. "You're joking!"

Sirius shook his head enthusiastically. "Nope! I didn't steal it, either! I was walking around Hogsmeade as an animagus, hoping to find something for Harry, when a kid came running by and threw the broom at me, saying it was a piece of junk, that it didn't work! But when I tested it out, the only problem was the kid didn't let the thing calibrate! It's in perfect condition, brand new, and now it's Harry's!"

"Sirius, that's incredible!" Willow laughed, hugging him. "How on Earth did you get it up to Gryffindor Tower?"

"To be honest, I don't really know. On Christmas Eve, I left it below the Fat Lady's portrait- it's still that godawful Sir Cadogan, unfortunately, and he's truly as annoying as you say- and the next day, when I was hanging around the Entrance Hall, I heard Harry and Ron shouting about it from the Great Hall, so the house elves must have taken it up or something. Either way, Harry can't possibly loose with that amount of speed in his corner. I can't wait to watch him!"

"Me neither! Wow...a firebolt! He'll be the talk of the school!"

Sirius sat down in his chair, dramatically pretending to be exhausted. "Yes, but I'm sure it won't be far from normal. He's always doing something that reignites his popularity. He gets it honestly, though. James did the same thing."

"You knew his dad?" Willow gasped.

"Of course I did. We were best friends when we were younger," Sirius scoffed. "It's ironic, though. James sought attention, but hardly ever got it, while his son seeks peace and quiet, but never gets it."

Willow chortled. "I know how he feels."

"I'm sure you do. What did you do for the Holidays? Burn your mansion down?"

"What? No! I went- " Willow's face fell. "I'd rather not talk about it, actually. It's depressing. Did you get my letters?"

"Excuse me, I'm the only one that's allowed to be depressed, between the two of us," Sirius said. "Yes, I got your letters, and they did brighten up my Christmas, but what happened?"

Willow bit her lip. "Well...we found out who Paige's biological family is."

Sirius shot to his feet. "What? I thought her parents were dead! That's what you told me her adoptive parents told her!"

"Um...well...that's not wrong," Willow admitted. Sirius stared at her in shock. "Her parents died protecting her. Her nana, it turns out, is actually her aunt, one of her only two remaining relatives. Paige's grandfather and aunt are both in hiding. They're...they're being hunted by my- former family. Grace's side- the Fawleys."

Sirius's face went slack. He sat back down. "You're kidding."

Willow sighed. "I wish I was. But it's all true. Deandra- that's her aunt- was attacked shortly after we found her. You would be amazed to see what she could do with a single spell...it was like watching something out of a story book. Deandra sent us back to my mansion right before the Fawleys attacked. I recognized a few of them...Paige is stable now, but she's still pretty torn up about losing her aunt so soon after finding her. We're clinging to dear life to the hope that we can rescue her grandfather."

Sirius sat down in the recliner. "That's...awful. Is she actually okay, or is she like you in that she's hiding how rough this is on her?"

Willow rolled her eyes, but didn't deny his point. "She's exactly like me, except she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve nearly as bad as me."

Sirius was quiet a moment. Then, his features suddenly lighting up in a mischievous glow, he said, "You know, it's terrible that Paige lost her aunt, b-u-t this is the perfect chance to play the hero. You could easily get yourself on her radar after something like that."

Willow choked on her own air. "Sirius, no!"

Sirius sighed. "You've got to make a move sooner or later!"

"Not like that! She would see right through me! No, I'd rather be a genuine friend for now, and maybe when I'm older I'll make a decision on asking her out."

"She'll totally do it first."

Willow groaned. "Not this again."

After several more minutes of entertaining banter, Willow realized she had better run up to the castle before McGonagall noticed she was missing. Willow left Felicity with Sirius and returned to the Gryffindor common room, smiling innocently to the world, as if she totally hadn't had a laughable conversation about her love life with a wanted mass murderer. She managed to slip inside the Secret Room to finish settling in her magical creatures; Griffin was in a mad fit of energy from all his napping and needed considerable exercise to calm down. Then, after finding perfectly sunny spots for Oliver's magical plants, she returned to the common room, which was buzzing noisily with post-Holiday spirits. The energy hit her in pleasant waves that made her eyes brighter and her smile broaden. She loved the atmosphere of Gryffindor Tower. Even just being away for a few weeks had hit her hard.

Inevitably, Willow's Gryffindor Sisters found her. She was kidnapped to their dorm and voluntold to become part of a scheme to set Parvati up with a cute Ravenclaw boy by Valentine's Day. Apparently, since Padma knew this boy fairly well, Willow was supposed to help Parvati's shy twin introduce the idea of hanging out with Parvati until he agreed. Willow had a feeling she was going to fail miserably- human interaction was not her strong suit, nor her favourite activity- but she was going to try for Parvati's sake. The squeals and exclamations of her Gryffindor Sisters were like honey to her ears after the stressful peace and quiet of the Guerrero mansion. She wasn't used to not being in a rambunctious atmosphere 24/7. Her energy levels were surprisingly low when she didn't have a constant source of it surrounding her.

Without warning, Sally suddenly shouted that they had to go. She grabbed Willow, flew down the staircase, and sprinted across the castle at a high speed. They were heading in the general direction of the Ravenclaw common room. At first, Willow thought it was Sally's way of kick-starting their plan, but she soon realized it was the first Sunday of the month, the time when her friends met up for their "club." Willow really hoped no one would dig into her about her Holiday mishaps as Sally somehow managed to correctly answer the riddle that the bronze knocker asked. They entered the Ravenclaw common room, which was as stunning as ever, and made their way to the corner they'd established as theirs (for the most part). Mandy, Sue, Lisa, Oliver, and Cypress were already there. Sam came stumbling in behind Willow and Sally as they crossed the room. They got settled, and Sally began the session as usual.

It was a very productive evening. This year, Sally promised, was going to bring changes to their usual meetings. They'd still accomplish some degree of studying and schoolwork, but now, instead of doing that the whole time, they were going to have one person share a bit about what's been going on in their lives to start off the meetings. They all agreed to never force anyone to share anything that was uncomfortable. In addition, there was no tolerance for self-deprecation. Sally threatened them all with bodily harm if they said one negative word about themselves. Agreeing to these terms, they all listened in as Sue volunteered to be the first sharer.

Sue launched right into a motivational story. She explained how she was born in Japan, then was suddenly uprooted and moved to Britain. Sue was constantly trying to learn English in addition to dealing with culture shock. It was extremely stressful, and on top of it all, most girls in her Muggle school were rude to her and asked her uncomfortable questions about her eyes and the food she brought for lunch. In addition, her parents were constantly telling her to forget about her Japanese past in an effort to assimilate their daughter faster, but how could she forget her childhood? Then, at the climax of it all was that letter from Hogwarts. She was so shocked that she possessed magic that her entire family didn't believe it at first. Eventually, though, they attempted a trip to Diagon Alley, and they successfully found the Leaky Cauldron after some trail and error. After that, it was a whirlwind of trying to cram as much magical culture into her already-stretched head, and she was off to Hogwarts.

Ravenclaw was an incredible house to be in, she said. She completely agreed with the Sorting Hat's decision. Sue felt very supported by the upper-year Ravenclaws, especially the prefects. But some Slytherins began to bully her, and it all came crashing down. Sue admitted that she never told her parents about anything that was bothering her, and she regretted it, because instead of sorting through her stresses, she let them accumulate until it was too late. She started dressing different. She changed her accent. She even gave up eating a combination of English and Japanese food, instead forcing the savory, heavy food of Hogwarts down her throat. Sue said that she reached a breaking point when Crabbe and Goyle destroyed a poster she'd made in Charms, calling her some unspeakable names. That was the same exact day that Willow found her crying in the bathroom and bolstered her confidence with a random act of kindness. Willow blushed, her heart warmed.

Since then, Sue was happy to report that she'd fully recovered. She took back her sense of self. She ate whatever food she was hungry for, talked with whatever accent she felt comfortable with, and dressed in whatever clothing she fancied that particular day. She performed her hobbies without shame. Sometimes, she would alter her robes to appear more traditional, similar to the kimonos that she would wear during formal occasions in Japan. Other days, mainly on the weekends, she would wear shorts and a t-shirt. Sue was happy with who she was and the lifestyle she'd created for herself. It was a perfect balance of England and Japan, her two homes.

Sally clapped afterwards, commenting that if anybody else could tell a story as beautifully as Sue, they should be a speech-writer for the Ministry. Willow laughed at that. Sue truly was an amazing storyteller. They discussed important points of Sue's story afterwards, encouraging her and praising her for the progress she'd made in her life. Willow blushed furiously any time Sue tried to owe all her success to the Gryffindor. Sam thankfully voiced her inner thoughts, though, and made it clear that Sue had picked herself up off the ground, brushed herself off, and fixed her own problems. With quiet applause so as not to disturb some hard-at-work Ravenclaws scattered between bookshelves, the group moved onto some last-minute Holiday homework that they'd "forgotten" to do (all except Lisa, of course, who was always on top of things). A few hours later, they began to drop off, hoping to get one last night of good sleep in before term resumed. Only Lisa and Willow were left by half past ten. Willow yawned and realized she'd better get to sleep. She began to gather her papers and textbooks, but something stopped her from leaving. She stared at Lisa for a very long time before she summoned the courage to speak what was on her mind.

"Lisa?" Willow whispered, voice almost catching in her throat.

Lisa looked up from her book and smiled. "Yeah?"

"I...I'm really sorry, for running away after what happened to you," Willow said, guilt gently washing over her heart. "That was uncalled for. When you needed me most, I ran away, and I didn't even apologize. I'm so, so, sorry."

To Willow's surprise, Lisa's smile never faded. She grabbed Willow's hand and squeezed it.

"I did that to myself. You don't have anything to be sorry for. Just because I'm having a hard time doesn't mean you aren't, too. You need to take care of yourself every once in a while."

Willow exhaled. "Yeah, that's probably true."

Lisa giggled. "It is true, Willow. You were forgiven before you could even say sorry."

Willow almost cried. She hugged Lisa, then, knowing the smaller girl would understand, hurried out of the Ravenclaw common room before her emotions could get the better of her, beaming uncontrollably.

The next day, after a rather hearty breakfast of an egg and sausage sandwich, Willow joined her fellow third-year friends and braved the outdoors for Care of Magical Creatures. Mandy and Oliver immediately began to shiver because of the biting wind. Willow, however, was hardly affected. If anything, her energy levels shot to their peak as she skipped from foot to foot on the frozen ground. Hagrid greeted them with an uncharacteristically (of late) broad grin. Willow noticed that his arms were full of firewood.

"I've got a nice treat ter warm yeh up," he boomed. "Follow me towards the fores'!"

Exchanging raised eyebrows, the third years huddled closely behind Hagrid as he walked to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Some concerned whispers that Hagrid had gone mad and was taking them past the towering treeline circulated like wildfire. But their worries were averted when their unconventional professor took a detour and stopped at least fifty meters from the ancient oaks. Willow watched with rising excitement as he threw down his bundle of logs, rearranged them into a well-oxygenated stack, and mysteriously lit them on fire (she could have sworn she saw a flash of pink dart into his pocket). Hagrid warned them all to stay put, marched back to his hut, and returned minutes later with a glowing bucket. He gently dumped out its contents into the bonfire.

Willow gasped when she realized that the contents were actually live animals. They were some sort of amphibian, judging by their slimy skin. But these were definitely magical creatures, as most amphibians did not relax when thrown onto a burning-hot coals. Willow watched in a curious wonder as the creatures stretched out their flexible bodies, calmly padded around, and sometimes even ate burning pieces of wood. Oliver squealed and pointed out a tiny, baby salamander. To no one's surprise, Mandy did the exact opposite, pointing out a salamander that had wrapped its tail around a piece of wood and was too old to turn around and detach itself. Willow slapped her for that, much to Mandy's amusement. The majority of the class was still in so much shock from receiving a lesson that didn't include flobberworms that Hagrid's sudden gleeful voice made them jump.

"These here are Fire-Dwellin' Salamanders," Hagrid explained, adding another log onto the fire. "They're interestin' creatures, these guys are. They change colour accordin' ter the flame they was born in, and they can't live outside it fer more 'an six hours, and 'at's with feeding 'em pepper and such. They can get scale rot, which makes their tales fall off. An' don't you be hittin' 'em with any water or cold spells, you'll kill 'em. Off you go, I got pepper righ' here if ya want ter try and feed 'em."

Willow, as expected, darted for the pepper. Oliver and Mandy followed her more calmly. They each chose a salamander from the fire (Mandy rescued the old salamander she'd spotted earlier) and coaxed them out of the fire with whole pepper kernels. Willow found a brilliant white and orange one that loved to dart around her collarbones, begging for peppercorn. She laughed and fed it several kernels. The salamander made a noise that would have been a purr, but coming from the salamander, it sounded much closer to a growl. It was the most adorable purr in the world, Willow decided, and she gently stroked the amphibian's back. The salamander seemed to enjoy the attention and collapsed on Willow's shoulder, lazily closing its eyes. Willow enjoyed the cool, moist feeling of the amphibian's tiny feet. Although its body should have been red-hot from the fire it lived in, the salamander was relatively cool, making her fall in love with it even more.

It didn't take long for multiple salamanders to find their way to Willow, and within minutes, she was covered head to toe in fire-dwelling amphibians of all shapes, sizes, and colours. Oliver made the comment that her spirit animal must be a salamander. Willow scoffed at that, but there was certainly something special about these flame-loving creatures that she couldn't deny. There was a sort of unexpected, inexplicable pull towards them that felt so familiar, yet so foreign all at once. Nevertheless, Willow continued to feed peppercorn kernels to each and every salamander that happened to climb onto her head and shoulders. She ended up returning them one by one into the fire to preserve their life span. A few clingy ones refused to leave her arm, no matter how hard she pried them off, so she gave up and kept feeding them. Oliver, she, and Mandy ended up having to help the Gryffindor Sisters when the vast majority of them screamed bloody murder about the salamanders touching them.

"Oh, gross, get it off of me!" Parvati squealed.

"Parvati, it's just a salamander, it's not going to hurt you," Willow chortled.

"Ew, get it off, get it off, get it off!" Mia shrieked.

Oliver and Mandy were struggling to hide their laughter as well as they removed a few sparkling red amphibians from Mia's and Fay's hair. "You know, they get cuter, the more you look at them."

"No- they- do- not!" Fay gasped.

Willow sighed. "Well, at least you know what creature not to keep as a pet when you're older."

"Aw, but they're adorable!" Lavender said, turning a few stunned heads. She grinned. "What? Look how pretty they are! They sparkle just like the hot coals if they were born in them!"

"But they're slimy!" Parvati protested, still wiping her arm on her sleeve.

"Beauty comes at a price?" Lavender offered, shrugging.

A sight over Oliver's shoulder caused Mandy's eyebrows to shoot up. She exploded into laughter. "Willow, get your camera out. I think you're going to want to see this."

Without asking a single question, Willow pulled out her camera and turned around, nearly dropping it with the explosive giggling that consumed her. Draco Malfoy and his two goons were going absolutely nuts. They were throwing salamanders off themselves in a screaming tirade, which only seemed to strengthen the resolve of the salamanders to torture the Slytherin boys. Willow fell to her knees with the strength of her giggling fits. She received multiple death glares from Draco for taking pictures of his terrified state, but she was more than willing to pay the price later. With a bit of urging from Oliver, Willow begrudgingly got to her feet, managing to collect the salamanders from the Slytherins with ease.

"How did you do that? Can you control their minds?" Goyle said stupidly.

"She can do mind control?!" Crabbe cried, equally as dumb.

"No, you idiots, she's just- ugh, I don't know what she is at this point, because I can't find the proper word for it!" Draco fumed, his hair resembling a rat's nest.

"Um, a thank you would be nice?" Willow suggested.

"Over my dead body," Draco grumbled.

"Wow. That's violent. Have you been having negative thoughts about yourself lately, Draco?"

"What- no! The only negative thoughts I've been having lately are about you! Why can't you leave me alone? I was handling those salamanders just fine on my own!"

"Bull. I have the pictures to prove it."

"Screw off," Draco spat. "I'm sure you had a wonderful Christmas, judging by your good mood."

"I didn't, actually. So I suppose yours wasn't much better?"

Draco's eyes flashed. "My Christmas was perfect in every way, actually. I got every single thing I wanted, down to the exact maker and brand, because my parents have more than two sickles to rub together."

"You don't need money and presents to have a good Christmas, idiot," Willow groaned. She sized Draco up. "What's gotten into you, anyway? You seem...off."

"I'm fine. You're the one that's off."

"I'm off? You're the one that's acting like an arse for no apparent reason!"

"Well maybe I do have a reason, then!" Draco said, taking a menacing step towards Willow, who didn't back down. "Have you ever thought of that, Wisp?"

"Yes, I've thought about you quite often, actually," Willow replied frankly, her voice taking on an acidic tone. "I've wondered how your home life is actually going. I've wondered how your father treats you. I've wondered how you can deal with your family telling you to believe the exact opposite of what you know is the right thing, and I've wondered how you haven't broken yet. I've been wondering if we'll ever get to be friends again, but I can't ever tell with you, Draco, because every time you win my trust back, you splinter it into pieces with a dumb reversion back to your old self."

Draco stared at her, though the furious storm in his irises had calmed to a gentle shower. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't know, Draco, because you don't care enough to even look at me in the corridors. Call me a liar."

Draco glared at her. "Liar."

"Then name the last time you asked me how I was doing."

"The same goes for you," Draco growled.

Willow blinked at him. "You know what? I don't know why I even bother caring about you anymore. All you do is take my offers for friendship and throw them away. I'm done with you, Draco. Have a nice life."

Willow began to storm away, her face blazing red. Draco wasn't finished with their conversation, however.

"If you're done with me, then why do you keep coming back?" he questioned, obviously trying to be a smartarse.

Willow paused, clenching and unclenching her fists. She took a deep breath, then whipped around, marched up to her former friend, grabbed him by the collar, and wrenched one of his arms behind his back.

"I would be thanking Hagrid for your life if I were you," she hissed into his ear. Draco struggled to free himself, but that only caused him more pain. "If this were any other class, you'd be lying on the ground with a few broken bones right now- real injuries for you to go crying to your precious father about. You want to know the reason I always come back to you? Because I'm hoping against real hope that you'll finally change so I can stop kicking you back into place. It never happens, though, Draco, and one of these times, I'm never going to come back. For real. You'll regret everything that day, but there will be nothing you can do about it, because you made your choice a long time ago. So, if you have a change of heart, I'd love to hear about it, but for now, go take your whiny arse and complain to your 'real' friends."

Willow released Draco, who fell to the ground in a heap, then quickly scrambled to his feet. When his eyes met Willow's, however, there wasn't fear in them. There wasn't even anger. She stared straight into those half-empty gray eyes unflinchingly until Draco turned away and stomped off with his cronies. Willow's heart felt colder than the weather away from the bonfire. She didn't care, though, and unhappily returned to the fireside, feeding some more peppercorn to the salamanders, staring into the depths of the fire.

He'll never come around, will he?

Willow was still fuming by the time she climbed the ladder in the North Tower for Divination. Why did she let Draco under her skin anymore? All he did was hurt her, no matter whether he meant to or not, and it made Willow question every experience she had with him all over again. Was he ever genuine with her? Would he ever let her help him? Would he ever help himself?

A few fire-dwelling salamanders caught her attention by flicking their tails on her forehead, as if to let her know they were there. Willow couldn't help but smile. The little guys had decided to tag along despite her best effort to clear them off. Hagrid had given her a small ember from the fire in a glass box in the hopes that she would manage to keep them alive until she had a chance to return them. The glowing, vibrantly-coloured amphibians had an undeniably adorable nature that made Willow's heart sing. She was very close to calling them her own and naming them at that point. As she sat down, she grabbed a piece of parchment and tore off a few pieces, throwing them in the glass box to light them on fire. The salamanders dove for the incinerating paper. Willow giggled as they tried to eat the flaming parchment and ended up spitting it out, opting to just lay on the fire instead. All thoughts of Draco were shoved behind her for the time being.

She hadn't noticed while she was busy watching the salamanders, but Fidget had crawled out of her pocket. He was perching on Willow's shoulder, peering suspiciously at the fire-dwelling newcomers. Fidget huffed and blew raspberries at the salamanders. That finally got Willow's attention, and she couldn't help but laugh at his pouty-face.

"Fidget, come on now, you know you're my right-hand man," Willow said. Fidget sat down with an indifferent puff. "Fidget, you're being ridiculous. These are Hagrid's salamanders, not mine. You won't have to deal with them long."

Fidget didn't seem to think so. He stood up, slid down Willow's sleeve, armed himself with a crumpled-up scrap of parchment, and threw it to the salamanders. The salamanders glanced in his direction, but were more interested in the newly-burning piece of paper. Fidget stamped his feet until one of the fire-dwellers finally paid attention. Willow cautiously looked on as the salamander, twice Fidget's size, paced in quick circles around the bowtruckle, tipping its head from side to side in apparent confusion. Fidget blew raspberries at it once more. The salamander didn't seem to care, however, and padded up to Fidget, one foot raised in the air. The bowtruckle swiped at the amphibian, the latter of which jumped backwards in alarm.

"Hey! Be nice!" Willow scolded.

Fidget mimicked her in an annoyed murmur, but in doing so, he took his eye off the salamander. The fire-dweller stealthily pattered up to the bowtruckle and prodded him with a tentative toe. Fidget jumped in the air nearly twice his height and scrambled up Willow's arm, breathing heavily. The salamander seemed to think this was a game and jumped around in a circle, apparently enjoying the win. Then, it gave chase. Fidget was pursued all around Willow by a hyper-active amphibian. Thankfully, she managed to calm them down as her classmates conquered the North Tower's ladder, confining Fidget to her pocket and the salamander to the glass box. Professor Trelawney appeared seemingly out of nowhere minutes later and began the lesson.

"Today we will be beginning our first palmistry lesson of the year," her soft voice whispered, draping an extra, uncomfortable layer of sleepiness on her students. "Make no mistake, the palm never lies! Here, in your own body, you shall cast your gaze into the beyond, and see your futures!"

Willow rolled her eyes, but nevertheless, she turned to the correct page in her textbook. There were far too many palm lines to look at all at once. Cypress snapped his book shut with a dramatic sigh.

"I already know my future. I'm going to conquer the world," he said, stretching his back and yawning.

Willow jabbed him in the gut, causing him to recoil. "Not if you don't keep on the lookout for me!"

Cypress scoffed. "You're already appointed as my damage control so I don't kill all of the planet- just half of it. Besides," he added, batting his eyes at Oliver, "this one's the only one that could stop me."

Oliver grinned. "Yep!"

Willow smiled. "You're too cute. Can I please be your best man at your wedding?"

"As if that's a question," Cypress said, smirking at Oliver's immediate blush.

"We should- probably- try palmistry, at least?" Oliver suggested.

Willow raised an eyebrow. "Changing the subject? You're learned too much from me. Fine," she relented, glancing at her textbook once more. "I guess it'll be nice to know my time limit for stopping Cypress, anyway."

"Hey! You better not be planning to Caesar me!" Cypress protested.

Willow burst out laughing. "'Caesar' you? Wow, I might actually use that one in the future. Come on, let me read your palm so I can set a date with the Senate."

According to their textbooks, Oliver was the luckiest one out of them all. He was going to have an incredible, fruitful life in his future. Cypress had decently great things in store for him, but it was mainly centered around one main, big event. Willow, per usual, had the worst reading in the class, aside from Harry. Her lifeline appeared short- that might have been a mistake, though, it was awfully close to a sign of longevity- and there were many trials and suffering ahead of her. Willow, not surprised in the least, stuffed her textbook in her bag and made jokes about her "short" timeline until class ended.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a blur of fun activities to get their brains back into the learning mode. Willow couldn't even express with words how grateful she was that Professor Lupin was teaching them instead of that brainless git from last year. Afterwards, she retired to the common room, adding a log to the fire to warm up some freezing first years. She brushed the bark off her hands and shuffled to the other side of the now-hot room, finding Hermione hidden behind her usual mountain of textbooks.

"Whoa, how do you balance all of those?" Willow asked, pushing a teetering copy of Charms: Level Three back into place.

"With magic, of course," Hermione snapped, frantically scribbling a paragraph into her notes.

"I meant your classes, not the textbooks," Willow snorted.

Hermione shot her a look. "I do my homework every night until I go to bed, of course. I have to pass all my classes."

Willow raised her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure that won't be a problem. Your work rate is better than the whole world's put together. It is okay to take the hit on one assignment if it means you get an extra hour of sleep, you know."

"What? No, I can't possibly allow a failed grade!" Hermione shrilled, her forehead creasing. "That would be the end of my academic career! Then I would be kicked out of Hogwarts- and never do magic again- just live like a regular Muggle- "

"Hey, hey, one assignment isn't going to cause you to fail an entire class," Willow reassured her.

"What if I never catch up on the information? What if I fail those questions on the test? What if that's the section that the exams are most focused on? I could instantly fail the class!"

Willow stared at Hermione. "Um...are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione said sharply.

"Hermione, there's a very broad line that you cross between slightly stressed and over-worked, and you've clearly crossed it. You're, like, miles across that line already."

"I'm fine! I've been getting high marks in all my classes, every one of them!" Hermione protested.

"But when's the last time you got eight hours of sleep, not counting the Holidays?" Willow pointed out.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, conceding the point. Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and she buried her face in her hands, obviously making an effort to rein in her emotion. Willow, stunned, stood rooted to the spot. Eventually, she moved her numb limbs towards Hermione, wrapping her in a hug. Hermione's arms shot out and embraced Willow tightly.

"There's always too much to do, always!" she sobbed into her shoulder. "I never get it done! There's always one class I forget to go to, one question I can't finish- there's always too much!"

"Hey, it's okay, Hermione, everyone has a breaking point," Willow soothed, though the forgetting to go to class part concerned her. "You could always drop a class or two next year, or I can go to Professor McGonagall and sweet-talk her into allowing you to drop Muggle Studies this year, since you're acing the class anyway. I've seen the amount of perfect marks you've received."

The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched upward in a smile. "I probably could...but the class is so interesting, and it's nice to be able to provide extra information for the professor..."

"She can find that out from a slacker Muggleborn that doesn't want to take any hard electives," Willow pointed out. "I'm sure she'll manage on her own. She did that for years before you took her class, you know."

Hermione nodded. Willow's heart lifted in a ray of hope, thinking she'd gotten the over-worked Gryffindor to finally let go of her stress, but just as Hermione appeared calm, her expression dropped and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, I haven't gathered enough information for Hagrid's trial!" she squeaked. Hermione frantically began shuffling paper. "I need to help him out- I said I'd do some research- he needs a stellar defense against Lucius- "

"Hermione, I'm sure you've done plenty!" Willow protested.

"No, I haven't!" Hermione wailed, thrusting three full pages of notes at Willow. "See this? This is pathetic! Lucius would be able to destroy this defense in a heartbeat!" Hermione hiccuped. "Hagrid doesn't deserve this trial, and Buckbeak- he's such a good hippogriff, why does he have to be in the middle of all of this? Why does Malfoy have to ruin everything? Why!"

Hermione, at that point, was sobbing uncontrollably. Willow gently picked up her friend and walked her to the other side of the common room, then through the portrait hole, and away from Gryffindor Tower.

"I think we need to visit Hagrid's," Willow suggested, to which her only reply was more sobbing.