The Power House quickly came into view. Sally shot a questioning look to Willow, which she ignored. Willow took her shoes off on the front step and motioned for Sally to do the same. When she knocked, Sirius answered the door. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of Sally.

"Another one? Merlin's beard, Willow, how many friends do you have?"

"Enough to provide an army for you, that's for sure," Willow replied. "Come on, Sally, the wind is chilly."

Sally stepped across the threshold in a sort of trance. Her eyes never wavered from Sirius, who sighed and looked to Willow for explanation. Willow groaned, motioning for Sally to sit down.

"Okay, you're not as intuitive as Cypress, I've got to explain this to you before you blow up," she said. Sally plopped down on the couch, crossing her arms. "Lighten up, will you? I'm not keeping a murderer in my safe house. Sirius is innocent, Sally, so get over the whole manhunt thing. I've known him to nearly burst into tears when he bumped into Felicity."

"I did not cry!" Sirius protested.

Willow rolled her eyes. "Same difference. Anyway, Sally, meet Sirius, and Sirius meet Sally."

Sally narrowed her eyes at Sirius. "You're not lying? You really didn't murder all those people? Willow is easily manipulated, you know, and I'll have your head if you've been tricking her all this time."

"Why would I do that?" Sirius asked, horrified. "Willow's shown me nothing but kindness ever since I arrived at Hogwarts! Trust me, one of her magical creatures would have destroyed me and eaten me for dinner by now if I'd been lying."

Sally smiled. "Okay, now I believe you. Only Willow's close friends get to know about her magical creature army."

Willow clapped her hands. "There we go! Now that you're not going to arrest each other, I need you guys to do something for me. No, Sally, it's not exercise, you can stop looking at me like that." Willow wrung her hands. "You see...both of you seem to have a similar past, and both of you seem to be dealing with it in a very unproductive way. Sirius, you need to stop burying it. You may not like it, but you wear your heart on your sleeve, and not doing anything about it is not healthy."

Sirius scoffed. "This, coming from a hypocrite!"

"Sally, you need to stop pretending it never happened," Willow continued, causing Sirius to dramatically throw up his hands in defeat. "Covering up the past with a new persona doesn't work. You both need to talk it out, and if you actually try...I will tell you a little bit about what happened to me."

"Willow, Sam and I already told our story this month during our Sunday meetings," Sally reminded her. "Isn't that enough?"

"Sally. You spoke two words."

"Yeah...but...so did Cypress when he spoke in February."

"Sally, you realize Cypress has never had anything bad happen to him, right?" Willow chortled. "The worst thing that's ever happened to him is something I accidentally put him through, and that was nothing compared to the past you need to conquer."

Sally groaned. "You're incredibly annoying, you know that?"

"I share the sentiment most days," Sirius said, earning him a glare from Willow. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to share!"

"Good. You don't even have to go super in depth here, guys. Just go over the main points, talk it out, and force yourself to actually acknowledge what happened. If it hurts, say so. Get rid of any lingering emotion, or it's going to get so much worse. Got it?"

"Got it," Sally grumbled. She huffed. "I guess I'll start...my mum beat my twin brother and I all the time when we were younger. Most of the time, it was for nothing. She lost her mind after Dad died. Whenever she would even walk in the same room as me, she'd always be humming this tune, one that I've come to associate with pain and suffering. She never did it to Sam, only me, but she replaced the psychological torture with verbal abuse for Sam. Thanks to Willow, we survived. I still have to live with the fact that my 'mother' is out there, though, waiting to pounce on Sam and I again...she's relentless, and I don't know if we'll ever be free from her."

Sirius nodded. "I didn't have a twin brother, but my younger brother's name was Regulus. My mother always favored him over me, especially after I was sorted into Gryffindor, while he was sorted into Slytherin, the prized house of the Black family. I was one of the first Gryffindors in at least ten generations, if not more. My mum would often beat me for no reason at all, claiming it was for my tarnishing of the family name. I'll never forgive myself for allowing Regulus to get caught up in the pureblood mania they drilled into his head. I always assumed he would figure it out on his own, but...now I'll never know. Regulus is dead. He was executed by Voldemort despite being a Death Eater."

Sally sat bolt upright. "He was killed?"

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, he was. And I always hate myself for thinking this, but...I hold out the hope that somehow, someway, Regulus got himself killed because he realized how terrible he was becoming. It was his way of redemption. I don't know how, why, or what he did, but he had a sharp mind. I can only hope he used it for good in the end."

Willow's eyes watered from the amount of time she'd forgotten to blink. Her heart finally resumed beating when silence settled over the three. She'd guessed that Sirius had a troubled past from what he'd told her of his family; but his mother had beaten him? Sirius and Sally were more alike than Willow ever could have guessed. She cleared her throat to interrupt her own thoughts- as well as the quiet.

"Well...that went much better than I thought it would," she said. "That's really good for the first sharing. I think we'll stop there for today, unless you guys want to go on?"

"N-o," Sally booed.

"I'd prefer to curl up in my ball of self-pity again, thanks," Sirius said.

Willow gently slapped him. "I'll make you keep talking for hours if that's what you're going to revert back to."

"I'll just go back to brooding in silence, then."

Sally laughed. "I can see why you're a Gryffindor. You remind me a lot of Ron and Harry- all the drama, attitude, and straightforwardness, but you're still terrified of Willow."

Sirius's eyes twinkled. "I'm not surprised. Harry is definitely James's son. I haven't seen Harry since he was a baby...but based on what you've told me lately, he hasn't changed much. He's still moody and forgets to use his brain half the time."

Willow snorted. "I wish you could tell him that to his face. He might have the bravery to stand up to you."

"Are you calling me non-intimidating?" Sirius gasped.

"I think she's comparing you to a teddy bear, if you ask me," Sally chuckled.

Willow grinned. "That pretty much sums it up."

Sirius wagged his finger at her. "You better watch your back next time you run off to Hogsmeade, Willow! It's not my fault if a big black dog bowls you over in the middle of the trip!"

"Wait, what does that mean?" Sally squeaked.

Sirius transformed into a dog, then back into a human, smirking at Sally's astounded expression. He pretended to bow. "I'm an animagus. Yes, I know my form is beautiful, you need not say a word."

Sally clapped. "That's magnificent!"

Willow exasperatedly threw up her hands. "Wait a second, I can transform into any magical creature I want, plus hundreds of non-magical animals, and yet Sirius is the one to get a standing ovation?"

"I'm used to you, it's cool when someone else does it," Sally said, waving away Willow's comment.

Willow gave Sally a deadpan look. "Alright, I'm going up to the castle, since no one here cares about my emotional well-being. Don't come to my funeral when I die."

"Aw, woe is me," Sirius said, sarcasm lacing his voice.

"No, I'm saying that it's getting late, so if McGonagall catches me, I might literally die from the punishment," Willow chortled. She saluted Sirius. "See you later, knucklehead."

Sirius saluted her back. "Goodbye, smartarse." He quickly shook hands with Sally. "It was nice to meet you. Have Willow bring you down more often, will you?"

"Don't worry, I will, and one of these times we won't be stuck talking about feelings," Sally said, shuddering at the last word.

Willow groaned. "Merlin, I've spread a virus to you all...come on, Sally, I've skipped all my classes today, I have a boatload of homework to catch up on now."

Sirius beamed. "A Gryffindor after my own heart! Good luck with your work!"

"I'll need it..." Willow groaned.

She did not need luck to finish her homework, per usual. She simply BS'ed her way through it and called it a night. Sally declared her a smartarse out of spite.

For the rest of the week, Willow tied up all the loose ends she'd created on Monday. The issue with her Gryffindor Sisters was straightened out with no problem, Neville was feeling better within days, Sam and Sally were back on speaking terms and acting semi-normal, and Mandy was calmed down, though her unbidden metamorphs continued to occur. Willow checked in with her every day to see if the issue was getting any better. It wasn't. It was only getting worse.

The bulletin board announced that another Hogsmeade trip would be taking place that weekend. Willow invited all her friends to go with her, although she felt disgusting for going when Neville was left behind. She convinced herself that there was nothing she could do for the time being and moved on with life- which was necessary, considering how fast things were changing around her. Quidditch practices had increased once more, homework was being piled on with no end in sight, and with Ron and Hermione fighting every waking second, Willow had enough going on to distract her from her guilt. The only free time she had was either spent with her creatures in the secret room or in the Hufflepuff common room, chatting with Oliver and Cypress about random stuff. She may or may not have eaten half a cherry pie in place of breakfast on Thursday.

When Saturday morning finally came, Willow grabbed her friends and ran to the entrance hall, where Professor McGonagall was taking a head count. They managed to make it to Hogsmeade without losing anyone, then had free rein of the village. Willow's friends immediately got distracted by a choir performing in the street. Paige seized the opportunity per typical Paige fashion and stole Willow for the majority of the morning. The girls got butterbeer together, invaded Zonko's, and even visited the Shrieking Shack. Paige declared that she was tired (although that was her own fault for staying up far too late) and opted to sit on a bench outside the Hog's Head.

"Why are you always insistent on staying up until ungodly hours in the morning?" Willow chortled as Paige slouched in the bench, pretending to be dead.

"Why do you wake up at ungodly hours in the morning?" Paige countered.

"Touché. Still, at least I'm productive with getting up early. You waste the earliest morning hours doing nothing."

"That is false."

"Prove me wrong."

"If I say it's false, it's false."

"Paige, that's not how it works," Willow chuckled.

"Hm...how can I convince you that I'm telling the truth? Other than making you stay up with me," Paige added, rolling her eyes at the look on Willow's face. "I'm not that cruel."

"Are you, though?" Willow questioned, a teasing gleam in her brown eyes.

Paige gently slapped her, sitting up as she did so. "You're such a ray of sunshine, you know that?"

Willow tipped her head to the side, pretending to ponder Paige's statement. "Hm, I don't think I know that. Add that to the list of things you have to prove to me."

"Ugh, that's right up there with my burning passion for you," Paige sighed dramatically.

"More like burning hatred of my stupidity," Willow laughed.

"Nah, it's more of the other thing," Paige said lackadaisically, crossing one of her legs over Willow's. "I'm fairly certain about that one."

"You are, are you?" Willow said, raising her eyebrows. "Prove it to me."

Paige was practically in Willow's lap by this time. She wrapped her arms around Willow. The younger Gryffindor nearly lost herself in Paige's brown eyes before she yanked her own away, refusing to get caught staring. Paige smiled upon seeing that, which caused Willow's heart to fail for a moment. Willow couldn't help but notice how many butterflies were fluttering within her stomach. What was wrong with her? Why had she lost her confidence all of a sudden?

"Are you sure you want me to prove it?" Paige whispered.

Willow could feel the blood rush into her cheeks. Paige's lips were only inches from hers. "I don't know, to be honest."

Paige grinned mischievously. She pecked Willow on the cheek, then climbed off of the younger Gryffindor and onto the street. Paige offered a hand to Willow.

"Come on, I'll prove it to you later. We've got more chaos to cause today."

Willow blinked, fireworks still blossoming beneath her skin wherever Paige had been touching her. She abruptly stood up and brushed herself off, clearing her throat as she did so, hoping her mind would settle down soon. Willow ran after Paige, who was already several meters ahead. The older girl lightly shoved Willow and ran ahead, laughing as she did so. Willow beamed and took off after her. The twinkle within Paige's stunning brown eyes was picture-worthy. Capturing every detail of Paige's perfect face in her mind, Willow made a game out of chasing Paige between buildings, nearly running into several students on multiple occasions. Willow was having so much fun that she forgot to be sad for a little while.

Without warning, a shadow darted out in front of them. Willow was nearly bowled over by a massive animal. She flipped over the creature and landed hard on her back, much to the amusement of Paige. Willow shot a glare in her direction- which Paige promptly ignored- and slowly shifted into a crouching position. She was met with a panting dog standing less than a foot away, tail wagging when he made eye contact. Willow's heart leapt into her mouth.

"What- Sirius!" she hissed.

The shaggy black dog barked and spun in a circle. Willow glanced around, fear constricting her lungs. There were too many people around here! Sirius was going to get caught! Lunging for the scruff of his neck, Willow dragged the animagus into the nearest alleyway, Paige on her heels. Willow crossed her arms when the coast was clear.

"What did I tell you about coming here while I'm visiting?" she scolded. "You know you're too tempted to transform into yourself around me! It happens all the time back at the Power House, and that's on accident!"

In the blink of an eye, Sirius was standing before her in human form, dressed in nice robes. "Well, I'm sorry I couldn't make my point any clearer: I don't care. You're also forgetting that I warned you about this earlier in the week?"

"Sirius- turn back!" Willow whispered, shoving Sirius further out of view. "I'm not going to let some imbecile decide your soul is worth the galleons of rewards!"

"No," Sirius said defiantly, crossing his arms as well. "You've done much dumber things."

"I beg to differ!"

"I've been stuck in that house for weeks, Willow, and it's been months since I've been outside as a human instead of an animagus," he reminded her. "Come on, I'll be careful! Just cover my face and let me walk around the outskirts of town, at least!"

"NO!" Willow said.

"Uh, Willow?" Paige said, which caused the third year's lungs to rupture. "Have I got it right that you're talking to Sirius Black?"

"Um- no?" Paige shot her a deadpan expression. "Ugh, fine! Paige, meet Sirius Black, Sirius, Paige. He's not a mass murderer, get over it, be nice to each other."

"Wait, you're Paige?" Sirius asked, jaw dropping slightly. His expression broke into a giddy grin. "I've been wanting to meet you for ages! Willow talks about you all the time!"

"Wha- I do not!" Willow protested.

Paige smirked. "I'm not surprised. She's always talking about me to other people, too."

Sirius shook her hand, peering at Paige with a cautious expression. "Just to be clear, you're not about to turn me in, are you?"

Paige scoffed. "No way! Willow's friend Sally told me all about you- well, she was talking about you with Cypress and Oliver, and I just so happened to overhear. I don't eavesdrop. If anything, you're the opposite of a mass murderer in my eyes. You probably tried to prevent it and got slapped with the sentence, didn't you?"

Sirius shook his head enthusiastically. "I did!" He suddenly put his hands on his hips and turned to Willow. "Why didn't you introduce me to your girlfriend earlier? She's even more incredible than you say!"

Willow's eyes widened. "Wait- Paige isn't- we're not- "

Paige looped her arm through Willow's. "Come on, girlfriend, we've got sweet shops to raid. You might want to change to your animagus form, Sirius, it's quite busy where we're going.

Willow wanted to yell to the sky her frustrations, but she didn't want to further embarrass herself. She'd get Sirius later for this. Refusing to let Paige lead the way, Willow stepped a little ahead of her, leading them towards Honeydukes. Sirius trotted beside them the whole day, weaving in and out of the mess of students that had invaded Hogsmeade. He tried to nab a chocolate frog for them at one point, but Willow scolded him all the way back to the shelf. Paige thoroughly enjoyed the odd glances she received for walking with a massive dog that carried their gift bags for them. Willow had to admit she did, too, but she was preoccupied with making sure no one saw through Sirius's animagus.

Throughout the day, Willow's friend gravitated towards her. She, Paige, and Sirius were soon surrounded by no less than five Hogwarts students at any given time. Sally, Cypress, and Oliver continuously found ways to sneak Sirius some snacks and even a little butterbeer. By the end of the day, Sam, Mandy, Lisa, and Sue were also caught up on what was going on. They met in the closest alley to the Forbidden Forest at the end of the day. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief upon shifting into his regular human form once more. He was finally able to shake hands with all the new people he'd met along the way.

"It's nice to meet you all- Siriusly," he said, receiving multiple chuckles.

"Oh! I almost forgot, one of the witches at Honeydukes always gives me this special chocolate," Oliver said, pulling a gold-wrapped chunk of the sweet out of his pocket. "She used to be a Hufflepuff, so she tends to treat us really well. I figured you might like it?"

"Thank you!" Sirius exclaimed. He unwrapped a portion of the chocolate and ate a piece. "Oh. My. God. This is literally the best thing I've ever eaten."

Cypress ruffled Oliver's hair. "You're too nice to people."

Oliver shrugged. "I like making people smile."

Cypress was about to come back with some witty comment when an unfortunately familiar blonde appeared at the end of the alley. Willow instinctively stepped in front of Sirius as he transformed back into a dog, snatching his chocolate out of mid-air as she did so. The blonde froze, face going slack.

"Who was that?" he snapped.

"Who was what?" Willow shot back.

"That! The person standing behind you!" Draco said, exasperatedly gesturing behind her.

Willow glanced behind her, furrowing her eyebrows. "All I see are Mandy and Lisa. I thought you knew them by now. It's a shame. I make an effort to know your friends, and you can't even figure out how to politely ask my friends' names."

"I swear I saw a man!" Draco protested.

Willow let out a laugh. "Wow! And I thought I was having bad hallucinations! Siriusly, Draco, you should get a few more hours of sleep."

Draco's face darkened. "You're lying to me, and I know it! What's that dog doing behind you?"

Willow stepped aside. "It's yet another one of the creatures in my collection. Surely you know how attached I am to magical creatures?"

"Yes, I do, which is why I'm wondering why an experienced magical creature keeper would offer chocolate to a dog," Draco said smartly. He smirked at Willow's faltering expression. "You know it would kill them. So why are you feeding a dog chocolate, Willow?"

"I'm not feeding it chocolate, Draco, and there's no man here, so move on with your sorry life," Willow said. "We should get going, anyway. McGonagall's about to take a head count."

Draco glared at her. "I'm going to find out what's going on, Wisp, and you're going to regret the consequences."

"Wow, what a threat. I'm so scared.

"Piss off."

Draco stomped away, leaving Willow and her friends in relative safety once more. They all stared at her in fascination, as if she were some sort of famous person from the past. She looked at each one of her friends in confusion.

"Guys, what the heck? Why are you staring at me like I've sprouted another head?"

"Your relationship with Draco is the most complicated thing I've ever seen in my life," Mandy explained. "And I've solved a lot of complicated logic puzzles."

"Did he call you Wisp? You know, as in a nickname?" Lisa asked.

Willow groaned. "Yes, he did. We call each other nicknames- usually offensive- and we fight almost every time we see each other. I thought I cancelled our friendship, but apparently it has a lifetime guarantee. Stupid warranty."

Cypress laughed. "Never try to break off a friendship with a Slytherin. It doesn't end well for the friend."

"Clearly," Willow sighed. "Well, Sirius, we've got to leave you here. Thanks for putting up with staying as a dog all day- and carrying our bags. I'll bring you a ton of chocolate next time I visit."

Sirius barked, wagging his tail. Willow ruffled the excess fur on his head, then Sirius darted off, making a beeline for the Power House. Sam whistled and commented on his speed. Willow proudly explained more about Sirius's animagus as they gathered at the path leading back to Hogwarts. Just when she was about to tell a story about Sirius chasing down a wolf, Hermione came running to her, tears streaming down her face. Willow caught her as the curly-haired girl collapsed into her arms.

"Hermione- what happened?" she gasped.

"It's Hagrid!" she sobbed. "He lost the trial! Buckbeak's going to be executed!"

Willow's heart took an ax to itself.

On Monday, Willow couldn't bring herself to say a single word around Hagrid. She was too afraid of breaking down in front of everyone. Hagrid was understanding enough to allow Willow to hang out with Buckbeak during the whole Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Beaky seemed to sense her sadness. Normally hyperactive, he crooned softly upon seeing her, allowing Willow to approach him with only a half-hearted bow. She hugged him for the longest time, alone in the paddock. Buckbeak had to stay away from all the other hippogriffs now that he was on death row. Willow hated the unfairness of it all. She of all people knew what it was like to be forcibly isolated; the thought of an innocent magical creature suffering as she did made her stomach sick.

Willow sank to the ground next to an oak tree, staring up at the canopy of leaves. If she cried, it wouldn't help things. She couldn't cry. Beaky needed her to stay strong and put together a tough appeal. Although she knew, deep down, that the Committee for the Disposal of Magical Creatures was never going to listen to them, Willow felt as though she would lose her sanity if she didn't work on some sort of hopeful defense. Buckbeak curled up next to Willow and allowed her to stroke his feathers. She memorized their exact pattern, their perfect stormy gray hue, their downy-soft touch...how could they take this intelligent, sensitive, beautiful creature away?

Fidget peeped his head out of Willow's pocket. He chirped sadly and have her a tiny hug. Willow let out a half-hearted laugh, wondering how magical creatures instinctively knew what was going on with humans. Even her fire-dwelling salamander had poked his head out of his glass box, staring at her contemplatively. Willow wished she knew how to stop the trial verdict, but there was nothing she could do when Lucius Malfoy stood in the way. He'd tried to knock her down once, and she'd prevailed. Now, it was his turn to fire back, and he'd hit her where it hurt. Willow desperately wanted Lucius to march right up to Hogwarts and challenge her for a duel instead. Physical pain would be nothing compared to the crushing weight of Buckbeak's impending loss.

Fire surged through Willow's system. This was all Draco's fault! He'd done something stupid in an attempt to hurt Hagrid, but per usual, in the process, he hurt many more people than his intended target! He just had to go faking an injury, had to go crying to his stupid father, had to ruin her life whenever he possibly could! Willow's blood burned beneath her skin. She had no regrets about breaking off their friendship now. Draco was nothing but a vile, evil, waste of space. He was a virus to Willow's life, and she had finally gotten rid of him. Beaky perked his head up, as if sensing the surge of anger radiating from Willow.

"If only you were allowed to eat students, you'd solve a major problem for me," she muttered, stroking the hippogriff's beak. Beaky purred in response. "Yeah, it might even get you a little revenge. How many treats do you think it would be worth?"

At "treats," Fidget chirped and looked at Willow expectantly. She half-smiled, allowing Fidget to climb down her arm and onto her hand.

"Sorry, buddy, they're in the castle," she said. "I'll get them for you when I get a chance."

Fidget blew raspberries at her, then scrambled back up her arm, diving into her pocket once more. The fire-dwelling salamander happily greeted him with a flick of his tail. Fidget and his friend entertained themselves as Willow gazed around the paddock once more, her brief happiness quickly fading. Was her life ever going to allow her to live in peace?

She sighed, realizing the time. Slowly rising to her feet, Willow gave Buckbeak a quick hug goodbye, then shoved her hands in her pockets, holding back tears on her way out of the paddock. Hagrid was just finishing up his lesson when she got back. He began to march the students up to the castle a few minutes later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione surrounding him. Her heart crumbled even further at the sight of him blowing his nose in a handkerchief. Hagrid didn't deserve this much pain; why did the best people always get hurt the worst?

Speaking of the worst, Draco and his two goons were laughing and pointing at Hagrid, mocking the way he was wiping his nose. Willow's blood boiled with renewed rage. She was about to attack them when the most surprising thing she'd ever seen in her life took place. Willow's jaw dropped as Hermione marched towards them, raised her hand- and punched Draco in the face.

"What?!" Willow yelped.

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle immediately turned tail and fled as Ron and Harry tried to keep Hermione from attacking them again. They ducked inside the castle before they could get caught. Willow sprinted after them. Hermione was speed-walking away from the boys, face beet red. She finally caught up to the curly-haired menace outside of the Arithmancy classroom.

"Hermione, wait!" Willow panted, stopping in front of Hermione and gripping both of her shoulders. "Where did that come from?"

"That foal, loathsome, diabolical idiot got what he deserved!" Hermione raged. "I don't regret it one bit!"

"That was awesome! I mean, not to put you down or anything, but I never thought you had that in you. Now look at you, giving Malfoy a lasting reminder of his malevolence. I must be rubbing off on you- "

"-which is not a good thing- "

"-which isn't a good thing, of course," Willow repeated unconvincingly, "but paid off nonetheless. I'm proud of you, Hermione."

Hermione grinned evilly. "I'm proud of myself, too."

Willow patted Hermione's shoulder. "Wait until Lavender hears about this. She's going to think you're some secret boxing champion or something. Should I let that rumor spread?"

"Definitely."

Willow high-fived Hermione. "I'll see you in Charms. Don't forget."

"See you in an hou- five minutes," Hermione corrected.

Willow pretended to tip her hat to her Gryffindor Sister. "It's been a pleasure, m'lady."

Practically skipping all the way to charms, Willow joined her friends in producing Cheering Charms. She had to say, it was the weirdest sensation she'd ever felt. Willow wanted to describe it as artificial happiness, because although her worries were still there, she was giddy as all get out, constantly cracking jokes and laughing hysterically. The bubbliness began to ware off by the time lunch came around. Willow's thoughts were returned to her, and her immediate first thought was where Hermione had been the whole time. Instead of showing up as she'd promised, Hermione remained missing the entire class. Willow brushed it off as Hermione simply forgetting to attend. That happened every once in a while.

As it was, Hermione was present for divination later that afternoon, but it was the most interesting divination class Willow had ever attended. They began crystal gazing (which was not fun, as Willow saw nothing), and nearly everyone has having a hard time of it. For Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the hardest part seemed to be keeping a straight face. Willow was so distracted by their joking and laughter that she forgot what she was supposed to be looking for. At one point, however, when Professor Trelawney visited the trio's table, Hermione got into a bit of a row with the professor. She snapped that she was done and clambered down the ladder, much to the astonishment of everyone present. Willow wasn't surprised; Hermione hated that class. Dropping it meant one less hour of useless homework every night for the already-exhausted Gryffindor.

Unfortunately, that day of classes was the last fun day for weeks. Easter Holidays arrived much quicker than usual, but without their typical cheer. The third years were ready to tear their hair out with the amount of homework dumped on them. Willow had lost count of how many times she'd gone into her secret room just to chuck heavy objects at the wall. Griffin and Phoebe were great study buddies, however, and with their help, she finally got most of her Potions homework done- leaving several hours' worth of every other class. V and Patch had to help her by that point, and they never cuddled- unless a certain bilingual fourteen-year-old exploded into a useless rage only a Gryffindor was capable of.

Willow was almost happy for the Holidays to be over by Sunday. She went to the Sunday meeting with her friends to finish off her last assignment, then threw a miniature party in which she snuck in butterbeer for her out-of-house friends. Ravenclaw Tower had never been so lively yet so quiet at the same time. Padma even joined in (well, she was roped into the celebration courtesy of Willow), and they had a grand old time of venting all their frustrations from the past week. Eventually, lunch rolled around, and they all traveled to the Great Hall together, laughing and giggling and being all-around slap-happy because of their lack of sleep. They ate a ridiculous amount of food (including Lisa, as Willow gratefully noted) and Professor McGonagall almost docked points for being too loud. Willow made sure they kept it to a whisper after that.

George, Neville, and the Smith twins decided that now was an ample opportunity for relaxing time, so Willow led the way back to Gryffindor common room, positively beaming to herself. She was finally free from the burden of homework! Now she could spend some quality time with her friends and magical creatures, catch up on some writing, maybe even get out onto the grounds to play some soccer...the possibilities were endless! And with quidditch practices ramping up leading into this Saturday's quidditch final (the thought of its close proximity made Willow's stomach flip), she needed to use today to wind down.

Of course, per usual in Willow's world, relaxation was not permitted.

"Ah yes, and here we witness the idiot Gryffindor marching her weird friends down the hallway," a voice drawled behind them.

Willow froze. The scuff of her friends' rapidly halting feet grated against her eardrums. She turned around, gritting her teeth when she matched the annoyingly familiar voice to the person. Willow parted her friends to stand in front of them, glaring daggers at her former friend.

"Says the one obsessed with ruining others' lives," she retorted. "I'm pretty sure you're the weird one here."

"Ouch. Is the name calling really necessary?" Draco drawled.

"Is it necessary to make every meeting between us a spectacle?"

Draco dropped his persona. "Okay, there's no need to be rude back. What did I ever do to you?"

George exasperatedly chortled, running a hand through his hair and walking a few paces away. Willow ignored his reaction. She couldn't let him get involved in this too.

"It's long list, Draco," Willow said calmly. "In fact, it's so long that I ran out of ink trying to write it all down. You're a bully, and you're a coward; and you know it. Quit hiding behind your brainless goons. Stop targeting me when you know my friends are around to hold me back. What do you want from me?"

Draco appeared taken aback. "I don't want anything from you! All you ever do is make my life miserable!"

Willow scoffed. "I make your life miserable? You're the one that decided to try and get a dear friend of mine fired, then got his magical creature sentenced to death in the process! What kind of heartless bastard does that?"

"The hippogriff was useless," Draco muttered. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Willow's livid expression; he hadn't expected her to hear that.

"Congratulations, Draco," Willow whispered in a deadly quiet. "You've won biggest douche of the year award. Now I understand why Hermione gave you a wonderful bruise. You have to be the world's biggest douchebag to set her off like that. I bet you went crying to your precious father about a Muggleborn slugging you in the face, too. How is your face, by the way? Is it ready for another beating? Because I'd love to initiate round two."

The blood flooded Draco's cheeks. "I'd like to see you try."

Neville and the Smith twins tensed behind Willow. Even George stopped pacing for a moment. Willow narrowed her eyes at Draco.

"Never dare a Gryffindor into something you don't want to happen," she breathed.

Without giving him a chance to think, Willow sprinted forward, and in two bounds she had reached the Slytherin group. She raised her fist and brought it down on Draco's cheekbone with a satisfying crack! that sent him to the ground. Crabbe and Goyle reluctantly stepped forward, but at a glare from Willow, they opted to back down. Draco scrambled to his feet, robe askew, hair a mess, and blood trickling down his cheek. A maddened gleam sparked within his eyes. Lightning flashed in his stormy grey irises. Draco attacked Willow, and seconds later, it was an all-out brawl. They scratched, clawed, and punched at each other, drawing blood, tearing hair, and bruising bones. Willow's heart thumped in time with the adrenaline rushing through her system. Every ounce of hate, every second of grief, every sleepless night she'd ever spent regretting her meeting Draco- it all gushed out in that very moment. She didn't feel the pain. She didn't feel the exhaustion. All she could feel was her body relieving itself of the abuse she'd suffered for three long years.

Yelling and hollering alerted Willow to the fighting occurring between Crabbe, Goyle, and her friends. She ducked to avoid a swing from Draco, then darted to the spot where Crabbe was overpowering Sam. She sent the burly Slytherin to the ground with a powerful swipe of her leg, then shoved Sally and Sam backwards, urging Neville to stay away from George from Goyle.

"Don't get yourselves in trouble because of me!" she warned. "Go get Professor McGonagall!"

Sam begrudgingly nodded, restraining both himself and his sister from reentering the fighting. Neville fled with the Smith twins, down the corridor and out of sight. While Willow was paying attention to her friends, a stinging blow to the base of her skull sent her head into a fuzz. She fell to her knees. Willow had hardly turned around when another struck her face, then another, then another. She shouted and kicked Draco off of her. A shallow grunt told her that he'd fallen into the wall. Willow rubbed her eyes to clear her vision and shot to her feet, holding her arms in front of her face. Draco shakily rose to his feet in front of her, smearing his bloody nose on his sleeve.

"You're a maniac, Wisp!" Draco seethed. "All you ever do is punch your way through life!"

"And I'd say it's working pretty well so far!" Willow shot back. "Tell me, when's the last time cowering behind two blubbering idiots got you very far in life?"

Draco's face contorted, and he charged her again. Willow easily sidestepped, then kneed him in the gut, bruising his ribs with his own momentum. Draco lashed out at her and landed a minor scratch on her shoulder, but Willow finally found her opportunity. She grabbed Draco's arm, locked it into place, then whipped her legs out to unbalance him. As he tumbled to the ground, she wrapped her legs around his middle, securing him in a defenseless position. He struggled to free himself, but Willow only gripped harder, slowly hyperextending Draco's elbow. He cried out in pain and stopped fighting.

"Fine! I give up!" he relented. "I give up, Wisp, I give up!"

"No such thing," Willow growled. "Are you going to finish yourself off, or do I have to do the honors?"

"What- Wisp, you're talking like serial killer!" Draco pleaded.

"You know, after all that time of faking an injury, how about I give you a real one to go crying to Lucius about?" Willow said. "An eye for an eye, Draco. Getting Hagrid's hippogriff condemned to death deserves at least a broken arm, right?"

"No! Please don't, no!" Draco cried out, struggling to release Willow's grasp once more. "Please don't break my arm!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't- "

Before she could finish her sentence, a crushing blow crumpled Willow's ribcage. She shrieked and rolled over, releasing Draco in the process. Waves of agony coursed over her body, shutting down her muscles, crippling normal functions. Willow forced back sobs. Her ribs felt like they were stabbing her own insides as she rose to her feet, but she did so anyway. Blood dripped into her eyes and tinted her vision red. Through the hazy screen of burning pain, she saw George slam his elbow into Crabbe's temple only a few feet away. Crabbe crumpled to the floor. Goyle was passed out nearby. That only left one more opponent...but where was Draco?

In answer to her question, a foot missed her face by inches. Willow instinctively leapt backwards. Her middle exploded into pain once more, sending her to her knees. Draco advanced on her immediately. He threw a punch at her, which Willow dodged, but another wave of agony coursed through her system, threatening to shut it down. She incidentally collapsed to the stone-cold floor, which would have been comforting had Draco not rained down blows after that. Willow laid there and feebly attempted to block his punches, but it was no use. Draco finally had the upper hand. Willow waited for unconsciousness to take over with the utmost impatience...

But it never came.

Without warning, George flew in, throwing Draco off of Willow. The redhead's face matched his scarlet hair as he beat the living crap out of Draco. The Slytherin fell mercy to countless hits, kicks, and slaps, each one fueled even more so by pure hatred. Draco cried out for mercy, begged for it, even, but George wouldn't stop. Willow's heart faltered. She scrambled towards the pair, half crawling, half running, until she slipped right in between them. George wound up for another hit just as Willow blocked his trajectory.

"Move!" he demanded.

"No, you need to stop!" Willow said.

George's eyes burned with an inextinguishable fire. "And let this douche get away with this?"

"No, I'm trying- !"

Willow gasped as another wave of agony gripped her. Draco threw her off of him as he attempted to attack George once more. There was more carnage, more hissing and spitting, more bloodshed- and George had cornered Draco once again. Draco was now curled up in a fetal position, barely protected his head. Willow cried out, but not because her ribs hurt- her heart was physically throbbing. She had started this! She had to end this, and now.

Picking up a fallen piece of knight's armor, Willow took aim, apologizing internally. Sitting up, she whipped her arm back, then thrust it forward, sending the heavy metal directly towards its target- and crippling George with a single blow. The older boy fell to the floor in a heap, completely unconscious.

Willow collapsed onto her back, coughing. Her chest rose and fell heavily. Turning her head to the side, she saw a pair of dark, storming grey eyes, glaring right back. Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"I- hate- you," Draco panted.

"Be grateful I went easy on you," Willow spat.

As Professor McGonagall arrived on the scene, Draco and Willow quickly lost consciousness, and the world turned pitch black.

"-50 points each, they're lucky I'm not deducting more- "

"Minerva, if you could wait just one moment- "

"They need to receive their punishment before classes tomorrow! Poppy, they could have killed each other!"

"Minerva, they obviously have some explaining to do, but your shouting is not helping them rest. Please, leave them to heal until Tuesday, then you can punish them as necessary."

"Fine. I'll leave you to it, then. Make sure they don't leave their beds. Watch Miss Guerrero in particular; she's slipped through your fingers far too many times."

"They won't be any trouble at all. Good night, Minerva."

Willow heard the door shut, then an exasperated sigh from Madam Pomfrey. The witch quietly bustled around the room, filling up silver water jugs, covering some children with extra blankets, and readministering potions to certain patients. Willow's eyes fluttered open only to be met with near total darkness. Madam Pomfrey's outline was only visible because of the trickle of moonlight filtering through the hospital wing's enormous windows. Willow waited for Pomfrey to return to her quarters, then immediately threw off her sheets, trying to cool off her sweating face. She contemplated walking back to Gryffindor Tower, but bit her lip as McGonagall's comment nailed her once more.

I guess I can actually...stay here...for one night...Willow thought.

She sat up in bed, her stomach heavy and unsettlingly queasy from the movement. Willow placed both feet on the floor, then recoiled, its icy touch shocking her skin. She realized she was barefoot. When had someone taken her shoes? Also...why did someone change her into different clothing? Willow's skin crawled at the thought of even kind-hearted Madam Pomfrey invading her privacy like that. Her mind was racing so fast that she automatically stood up and walked across the room. Willow didn't even recognize her pacing until her soreness caught up to her. Like a slap in the face, her ribs suddenly ached, and she fell to the floor, accidentally banging her knee on the hard surface. Willow groaned and rolled onto her back, both her lower and upper body throbbing now. At least the chilly stone absorbed some of her heat, numbing her ribs a bit. Willow was just beginning to contemplate falling asleep there when someone else woke up.

"What are you doing down there?" Draco hissed.

"I don't know, why is the ocean blue?" Willow shot back.

Draco rolled his eyes. "You know, admittedly, you're pretty smart for a Gryffindor, but you're more of a smartarse than anything. The oceans's blue because it reflects the sky."

"I knew that," Willow muttered. "I was testing your intelligence."

"No you weren't."

"Actually, I was."

"No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was!"

"Draco, shut it!" George snapped, barely keeping his voice a whisper. He propped himself up in the bed next to Draco's. "If you don't have anything nice to say, shut up!"

Draco scoffed. "Like I'm going to listen to a Weasley like yourself!"

"Guys! Both of you, shut it, or Madam Pomfrey's going to go ballistic!" Willow whispered. "Draco, we'll sort this out later! For now, George, you went way too far!"

"What? You literally started a fist fight! How could I go too far?" George complained.

"You kicked Draco's arse far before I had to knock you out with a metal gauntlet. There was no need to prove yourself further."

"That's what that was? Man, all these weapons just sitting around Hogwarts, and Fred and I never knew about it..."

"George! My point is you don't need to defend me."

"That's literally one of the points of my existence!" George said.

Draco furrowed his brow, staring between the feuding Gryffindors. "Wait a second, why do you have to defend Wisp? Are you two, like...dating? Or...what's the relationship here? You're sending me mixed signals."

"What? No, we're friends- "

"-I mean, I've fancied Willow for a while- "

"-but we're not dating, or anything like that- "

"-we're great friends, that's all."

Draco sat back. "Wow. You really need to sort that out." Willow's cheeks reddened. "Anyway...why the hell did you try to kill me, Wisp? That was totally uncalled for."

"You've been the biggest douche in the world lately!" Willow exploded, embarrassment morphing into anger with the flip of a switch. "You have no heart! Buckbeak is going to die, and it's all your fault- "

"Whoa, wait! I didn't intend for the hippogriff to die, I just wanted to get Hagrid fired!" Draco protested. "Unfortunately for Buckbeak, he got caught up in it, and now the hippogriff is going to die, but Hagrid's staying as a staff member. None of it worked!"

"So you're letting the verdict run it's coarse, then, without batting an eye," Willow observed.

"No! I mean- actually, yeah," Draco said.

Willow painfully sat up. "If my ribs weren't shattered into six pieces right now, you'd be dead already, Blondie."

"Hey, you're not the toughest one anymore," Draco pointed out, crossing his arms and smirking. "I won that fight- you know, before Weasley here came and attempted to bash my brains out. Merlin, where did that come from?"

"First off, anyone is capable of doing damage to another human being, as long as they're mad," Willow interjected. "Second off- and most importantly- I won that fight. You couldn't finish what you started, and you had the most bruises, so therefore I win."

"That's not how this works, Wisp."

"It works how I say it does, Blondie."

"What the hell...?" George trailed off. "What- what is with the nicknames? I've never heard you use them before. Is that like...a pet name thing? Or...what the heck is it?"

"It's complicated," Willow and Draco chorused.

George raised his eyebrows. "O-k-a-y, that totally makes it less weird."

Willow groaned, laying back down on the floor. "It doesn't make sense. None of this makes any sense! I'm having a conversation with someone who doesn't even care about my well-being and another person that I apparently have a confusing relationship with. It's maddening! Can we all agree to shut up and go to sleep now?"

"Yes, goodnight," George replied, promptly rolling over and covering himself with blankets.

"Absolutely not," Draco said.

Willow flipped him off. "I hate you. What else is there to talk about?"

"The fact that you're being extremely bipolar and confusing."

"That's a statement of fact, not a discussion question."

"Wisp, why the hell are you shutting me out? What am I doing wrong?" Draco snapped.

"If you can't figure it out by now, then it's a little late, Blondie," Willow huffed.

Draco glowered at her. "You know, it's kind of hard to figure things out when you're being told two extremely different things, Wisp. A little explanation might be helpful."

"I don't owe you anything," Willow mumbled.

"Fine. We'll talk in the morning."

"Fine."

Silence ensued, in which Willow tried to agonizingly fill with thoughts other than those about how much Draco had changed. In the end, she had to stare out the window and count the stars to settle her mind down. Her eyes naturally found a familiar constellation. Heart throbbing, she purposely turned on her side to give her mind a different stimulus. Even the pain of her broken ribs couldn't drown out the memory, however, and Willow felt tears prick her eyes.

Why is it that every time I need you the most, you seem so far away? she screamed into space.

Her only answer was soft snoring.