She sat by the lake, leaning against a tree, while drawing in one of
her many notebooks. Her long black hair looked slightly blue in the
sunlight that got through the leaves. Her dark blue eyes kept looking up at
a group of boys known as the Marauders; one of them was her older brother,
Sirius Black. The other two were his best friends: James Potter and Remus
Lupin.
It was the Marauders sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and only her fifth. The school was the only place that she could call home, because it was far away from the hag that she was forced to call "Mother", it was the same for Sirius, but defiantly nothing like that with the youngest of the Black children. Regelus was Mrs. Black's favorite child out her three children, and in her eyes he was perfect.
Personally, I hate the little git, she thought to herself, trying to force her mother and Regelus out of her mind.
"Speaking of Willow," she heard Sirius say at the top of his voice to get her attention, "perhaps we should go talk to her; she is, after all, right over there." He pointed in her direction and stood, with James and Remus. The three of them neared her, and as they did she shut her notebook; but was too late. Sirius grabbed is out her hands and started looking through it.
"Give it back!" Willow yelled, reaching for the book but Sirius pulled it out of her reach.
"You should look at these, Rem" he tossed the note book to Remus, who caught it.
"Not with out her permission," he handed it back to a surprised Willow. She took it back, and shook her head to bring herself to her senses.
"Thank you," she said to Remus, then rounded on her brother, "If you ever, I mean EVER, take any of my notebooks again, you won't have hands to take anything with!" she stormed off, leaving Sirius to look amazed at how loud his sister can yell.
"You know, mate," James started a few moments later, "I think she's a bit ticked off at you."
"Really? You don't say?" Sirius stood, and ambled up to the castle, soon followed by James and Remus. All the while Remus was smiling at the memory of Sirius being yelled at by someone besides a teacher.
"Calm down. Will," mumbled a slightly frightened girl. She had cocoa colored skin, and dark brown eyes. Her name was Clarice Onay, a fellow fifth year with Willow, and a roommate.
"I know he's the only nice person that I know of in my family, but I cannot stand him!" Willow continued her ranting, and leaned onto her bed post, breathing heavily.
"I know how you feel; I can't stand my brother either," Clarice said, trying to make Will feel better.
"But your brother, unlike mine, has his own place, and doesn't come to this school. He doesn't even go to school," Willow sighed, and left the room. She walked down to the common room, where she found the Marauders laughing and joking with a bunch of stupid giggling fourth year girls. But the Marauders were missing one person.
Where is Remus? Willow found herself thinking. She left the common room and strolled to the library, hoping to find him there.
It was a cool clear night; the half moon shown brightly with the stars. Remus sat cross legged by the lake staring at the moon reflected into the lake. He was still thinking of Willow, but not just of what had happened that afternoon, but of the times she had been over to his house with his younger step-sister, Clarice. Like when she and Clarice tricked the local village boys into eating Cockroach Clusters, convincing them that they were candied peanuts. Or when she had comforted Remus when his girl friend, Katherine, had died of leukemia the year before. To Remus, Willow was one of his best friends, even if she didn't realize how close the two of them had become over the eight years they had known each other. But Remus was not about to tell Sirius about all the time he and Willow had spent alone; Sirius could be very protective of his younger sister. Remus had a feeling that even if he was Sirius's friend, he wouldn't want him seeing his sister. He sat there a few more minutes alone, and then he heard someone walk up behind him.
"Hello, Remus," said Lily Evans quietly. Remus turned around to face the young woman. She had long auburn hair that was currently pulled back in a pony tail; her bright green eyes looked at Remus with a certain depth in them.
"Hello, Lily," he turned back and looked at the lake again, sighing slightly.
"Can I join you?" Lily looked at him uncertainly. Remus nodded, but did not look at her when she continued talking, "Why are you out here? Its dark; you've never been one to be out at night."
"Needed to be alone and think," he muttered simply, frowning. He kept wishing that she was Willow, and he didn't understand why.
"Think about what?" she prodded, not sounding uncertain anymore.
"Stuff," he sighed heavily, wishing that Lily would stop being so nosy. Suddenly, he had an idea to get her to leave him alone. He looked up at the castle, and saw someone walking in his direction, he wasn't sure who it was but took a wild guess, "Hey James!" he called to the person. Lily looked up at the person, then got up and walked in the opposite direction, fearing that it really was James.
"Why'd you call me James?" Clarice asked as she sat next to her step- brother, raising an eyebrow.
"Trying to get Lily to go away. She kept asking me annoying questions," his voice sounded frustrated; and he was frustrated people kept interrupting his train of thought.
Clarice apparently noticed this change, and said, "Willow was looking for you," hoping that it would get him to be less frustrated.
He perked up a bit, "She was? Do you know where she is now?"
"I think she went to library, thinking you were there. That was an hour and a half ago though," she paused, "She might be back in the common room by now, either that, or she is wandering around the grounds," Clarice nodded her head vigorously. Remus stood, and started walking back towards the castle.
"Alone at last," Clarice muttered, putting her hands under her head and laying back on the cool grass.
Willow sat in a tree not too far away from the lake, but wasn't paying any attention to anyone that was near by. She sat on one of the inner branches leaning against the tree trunk, eyes closed and arms crossed over her chest. She was humming a nameless tune that she had heard earlier that day. But was interrupted by a low growl coming from the bushes near the Forbidden Forest, which was not too far from her either. She sat bolt upright on her branch, eyes wide and ears open. There was a rustle and a large wolf, no doubt an early werewolf, emerged from the forest.
Holy shiznick, Willow thought as the wolf came closer to the tree, and was sniffing the air, probably picking up her scent. Do I run from it? Or do I stay here? She thought over and over. She was trembling uncontrollably, and couldn't stay still any longer. She lept from the tree. Landing on her feet, she took off running before she even hit the ground. She could hear the pounding paws of the wolf behind her catching up; it was on her heel, then-
"ARGH!" she yelled as it bit her calf. She then felt an odd, fiery, tingling sensation, as though her body had been wrapped in flames and she appeared in the hospital wing. Her eyes wide, body trembling, and dripping with sweat, she collapsed on the floor.
"Do you know what happened to her?" Willow heard Sirius asking Madam Pomfrey in a low worried tone of voice.
"She was bitten," Madam Pomfrey answered, "by a werewolf."
"A werewolf? But its not full moon."
"There's a special breed of werewolf that roams at night every night; but when a human is bitten by this wolf, they are only affected by it on the full moon. Unfortunate though it is, she is very lucky she was only bitten, and not torn to pieces. I just wish I knew how she got away so fast," there was a pause, "I'm sorry, dear," she added and bustled off to attend to other patients. Willow heard Sirius drag a chair beside her bed and sit; he squeezed her hand trying to seek comfort, or to give it.
Willow opened her eyes to see her older brother, the strongest man in the world, in her eyes, crying his eyes out
"S-Sirius," she stammered, bewildered, "what's wrong?"
He looked up, eyes red and swollen, tears staining his cheeks, "I-I-I- was afraid," he stuttered, still squeezing her hand.
"Of what?" she was completely bewildered; Sirius Black wasn't afraid of anything.
"That I'd lost you," he wiped his eyes with his free hand and looked at his younger sister.
"It's only a bite on my leg, I couldn't die from that."
"It's a werewolf bite, and you lost a lot of blood," he sat up straighter, trying to act as though he hadn't just been crying.
"W-w-w-were wolf b-b-bite? No, it can't be, I can't have been bitten by a werewolf," she was frightened. Yes, she had thought it could've been one of the early werewolves, but she hadn't been sure. Tears welled in her eyes, and rolled hot down her cheeks.
"Will," Sirius began, sitting on the bed and holding her close to him," please don't cry, you'll be okay. I know someone you can talk to about it. You just get some rest, and I'll be back later with that someone, okay?" he pulled her away from him and looked at her watery eyes as she shook her head and laid back onto the soft pillow behind her. She fell asleep almost instantly; but her sleep was very disturbing. She dreamed of teeth, full moons, and blood.
"Remus," Sirius said sounding relieved, "I need to talk to you."
"'Bout what?" Remus turned to his friend, curious to find out why his voice was so urgent. Sirius's eyes were still slightly swollen and red from crying, "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying."
"It's about Willow-"
"What's wrong with Willow?!" Remus blurted out.
"She was bitten..by a werewolf. I was hoping if you could talk to her, tell her about you, and comfort her. Let her know she's not alone."
"Sirius, that's asking a lot of me. How do you know she wants someone to talk to about it? What makes you think she wants to talk to me?"
"Remus, you are her best friend, and you're the only one that can help her. No one knows what it's like being a werewolf except you. Please, Rem? For Willow?"
Remus studied Sirius for a while, unsure of what he should do. He thought a few moments, in which an awkward silence ensued. After a while he said, "All right, but only if she doesn't tell anyone."
"Believe me, I highly doubt she's going to be telling anyone anything," Sirius, yawned widely, having been in the hospital wing all night without sleep, "I'm gunna sleep for a bit, you go and visit her, she'll be wanting to see her best friend," he yawned again and stumbled up the stairs into his dormitory.
Her best friend? Remus thought to himself as he went to the hospital wing. When he got there he heard Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey talking about what they were going to do about Willow.
"What was she doing out at that time of night anyway?" McGonagall asked sternly.
"It was only seven thirty, and she was up in her tree, like she is every night," Professor Dumbledore replied calmly, "What we need to figure out is what to do with her on the full moon."
"Cant we just take her to the Shrieking Shack with Mr.Lupin?" Madam Pomfrey asked, shrugging.
"No, the two of them would tear each other apart.." McGonagall frowned slightly, "The dungeons?" "That's were the Slytherins are housed." Dumbledore thought a moment, "But we could seal off a section of the dungeons for her."
"Er, Professors?" Remus asked timidly, "Couldn't you just let her roam the Forbidden Forest?"
"I'm afraid not, if we did that we might not find her again," Dumbledore replied, looking at Remus.
"Oh, just thought I'd suggest something," he muttered as he walked past them towards Willow, who was sitting up in bed listening to the conversation, "Hey Will," he said sitting in the chair next to her bed.
"Remus, I was hoping you'd visit me," she smiled at the young man sitting next to her.
I love her smile, Remus found himself thinking, "Why wouldn't I visit?"
"I figured Sirius would've told you, and that you wouldn't want to talk to me," Willow had a look of deep sorrow in her usually cheerful eyes.
Remus looked around the hospital wings to make sure no one was listening, when his eyes rested on the teachers and Madame Pomfrey, the immediately walked into Madame Pomfrey's office, "Willow, Sirius came to me to ask if I could talk to you about being a werewolf. He wanted you to know that you're not alone."
"But no one else in the school is-"
"Willow, I'm a werewolf," Remus looked at her, hoping that she believed him. Her eyes widened as tears welled up and ran down her cheeks, "Why are you crying?"
"I-I-I-I have no idea," she sobbed, hiding her face behind her hands.
"Please stop," Remus laid a hand on her shoulder, he wasn't quite sure what to do, "There's no reason to cry, you'll be fine."
It was the Marauders sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and only her fifth. The school was the only place that she could call home, because it was far away from the hag that she was forced to call "Mother", it was the same for Sirius, but defiantly nothing like that with the youngest of the Black children. Regelus was Mrs. Black's favorite child out her three children, and in her eyes he was perfect.
Personally, I hate the little git, she thought to herself, trying to force her mother and Regelus out of her mind.
"Speaking of Willow," she heard Sirius say at the top of his voice to get her attention, "perhaps we should go talk to her; she is, after all, right over there." He pointed in her direction and stood, with James and Remus. The three of them neared her, and as they did she shut her notebook; but was too late. Sirius grabbed is out her hands and started looking through it.
"Give it back!" Willow yelled, reaching for the book but Sirius pulled it out of her reach.
"You should look at these, Rem" he tossed the note book to Remus, who caught it.
"Not with out her permission," he handed it back to a surprised Willow. She took it back, and shook her head to bring herself to her senses.
"Thank you," she said to Remus, then rounded on her brother, "If you ever, I mean EVER, take any of my notebooks again, you won't have hands to take anything with!" she stormed off, leaving Sirius to look amazed at how loud his sister can yell.
"You know, mate," James started a few moments later, "I think she's a bit ticked off at you."
"Really? You don't say?" Sirius stood, and ambled up to the castle, soon followed by James and Remus. All the while Remus was smiling at the memory of Sirius being yelled at by someone besides a teacher.
"Calm down. Will," mumbled a slightly frightened girl. She had cocoa colored skin, and dark brown eyes. Her name was Clarice Onay, a fellow fifth year with Willow, and a roommate.
"I know he's the only nice person that I know of in my family, but I cannot stand him!" Willow continued her ranting, and leaned onto her bed post, breathing heavily.
"I know how you feel; I can't stand my brother either," Clarice said, trying to make Will feel better.
"But your brother, unlike mine, has his own place, and doesn't come to this school. He doesn't even go to school," Willow sighed, and left the room. She walked down to the common room, where she found the Marauders laughing and joking with a bunch of stupid giggling fourth year girls. But the Marauders were missing one person.
Where is Remus? Willow found herself thinking. She left the common room and strolled to the library, hoping to find him there.
It was a cool clear night; the half moon shown brightly with the stars. Remus sat cross legged by the lake staring at the moon reflected into the lake. He was still thinking of Willow, but not just of what had happened that afternoon, but of the times she had been over to his house with his younger step-sister, Clarice. Like when she and Clarice tricked the local village boys into eating Cockroach Clusters, convincing them that they were candied peanuts. Or when she had comforted Remus when his girl friend, Katherine, had died of leukemia the year before. To Remus, Willow was one of his best friends, even if she didn't realize how close the two of them had become over the eight years they had known each other. But Remus was not about to tell Sirius about all the time he and Willow had spent alone; Sirius could be very protective of his younger sister. Remus had a feeling that even if he was Sirius's friend, he wouldn't want him seeing his sister. He sat there a few more minutes alone, and then he heard someone walk up behind him.
"Hello, Remus," said Lily Evans quietly. Remus turned around to face the young woman. She had long auburn hair that was currently pulled back in a pony tail; her bright green eyes looked at Remus with a certain depth in them.
"Hello, Lily," he turned back and looked at the lake again, sighing slightly.
"Can I join you?" Lily looked at him uncertainly. Remus nodded, but did not look at her when she continued talking, "Why are you out here? Its dark; you've never been one to be out at night."
"Needed to be alone and think," he muttered simply, frowning. He kept wishing that she was Willow, and he didn't understand why.
"Think about what?" she prodded, not sounding uncertain anymore.
"Stuff," he sighed heavily, wishing that Lily would stop being so nosy. Suddenly, he had an idea to get her to leave him alone. He looked up at the castle, and saw someone walking in his direction, he wasn't sure who it was but took a wild guess, "Hey James!" he called to the person. Lily looked up at the person, then got up and walked in the opposite direction, fearing that it really was James.
"Why'd you call me James?" Clarice asked as she sat next to her step- brother, raising an eyebrow.
"Trying to get Lily to go away. She kept asking me annoying questions," his voice sounded frustrated; and he was frustrated people kept interrupting his train of thought.
Clarice apparently noticed this change, and said, "Willow was looking for you," hoping that it would get him to be less frustrated.
He perked up a bit, "She was? Do you know where she is now?"
"I think she went to library, thinking you were there. That was an hour and a half ago though," she paused, "She might be back in the common room by now, either that, or she is wandering around the grounds," Clarice nodded her head vigorously. Remus stood, and started walking back towards the castle.
"Alone at last," Clarice muttered, putting her hands under her head and laying back on the cool grass.
Willow sat in a tree not too far away from the lake, but wasn't paying any attention to anyone that was near by. She sat on one of the inner branches leaning against the tree trunk, eyes closed and arms crossed over her chest. She was humming a nameless tune that she had heard earlier that day. But was interrupted by a low growl coming from the bushes near the Forbidden Forest, which was not too far from her either. She sat bolt upright on her branch, eyes wide and ears open. There was a rustle and a large wolf, no doubt an early werewolf, emerged from the forest.
Holy shiznick, Willow thought as the wolf came closer to the tree, and was sniffing the air, probably picking up her scent. Do I run from it? Or do I stay here? She thought over and over. She was trembling uncontrollably, and couldn't stay still any longer. She lept from the tree. Landing on her feet, she took off running before she even hit the ground. She could hear the pounding paws of the wolf behind her catching up; it was on her heel, then-
"ARGH!" she yelled as it bit her calf. She then felt an odd, fiery, tingling sensation, as though her body had been wrapped in flames and she appeared in the hospital wing. Her eyes wide, body trembling, and dripping with sweat, she collapsed on the floor.
"Do you know what happened to her?" Willow heard Sirius asking Madam Pomfrey in a low worried tone of voice.
"She was bitten," Madam Pomfrey answered, "by a werewolf."
"A werewolf? But its not full moon."
"There's a special breed of werewolf that roams at night every night; but when a human is bitten by this wolf, they are only affected by it on the full moon. Unfortunate though it is, she is very lucky she was only bitten, and not torn to pieces. I just wish I knew how she got away so fast," there was a pause, "I'm sorry, dear," she added and bustled off to attend to other patients. Willow heard Sirius drag a chair beside her bed and sit; he squeezed her hand trying to seek comfort, or to give it.
Willow opened her eyes to see her older brother, the strongest man in the world, in her eyes, crying his eyes out
"S-Sirius," she stammered, bewildered, "what's wrong?"
He looked up, eyes red and swollen, tears staining his cheeks, "I-I-I- was afraid," he stuttered, still squeezing her hand.
"Of what?" she was completely bewildered; Sirius Black wasn't afraid of anything.
"That I'd lost you," he wiped his eyes with his free hand and looked at his younger sister.
"It's only a bite on my leg, I couldn't die from that."
"It's a werewolf bite, and you lost a lot of blood," he sat up straighter, trying to act as though he hadn't just been crying.
"W-w-w-were wolf b-b-bite? No, it can't be, I can't have been bitten by a werewolf," she was frightened. Yes, she had thought it could've been one of the early werewolves, but she hadn't been sure. Tears welled in her eyes, and rolled hot down her cheeks.
"Will," Sirius began, sitting on the bed and holding her close to him," please don't cry, you'll be okay. I know someone you can talk to about it. You just get some rest, and I'll be back later with that someone, okay?" he pulled her away from him and looked at her watery eyes as she shook her head and laid back onto the soft pillow behind her. She fell asleep almost instantly; but her sleep was very disturbing. She dreamed of teeth, full moons, and blood.
"Remus," Sirius said sounding relieved, "I need to talk to you."
"'Bout what?" Remus turned to his friend, curious to find out why his voice was so urgent. Sirius's eyes were still slightly swollen and red from crying, "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying."
"It's about Willow-"
"What's wrong with Willow?!" Remus blurted out.
"She was bitten..by a werewolf. I was hoping if you could talk to her, tell her about you, and comfort her. Let her know she's not alone."
"Sirius, that's asking a lot of me. How do you know she wants someone to talk to about it? What makes you think she wants to talk to me?"
"Remus, you are her best friend, and you're the only one that can help her. No one knows what it's like being a werewolf except you. Please, Rem? For Willow?"
Remus studied Sirius for a while, unsure of what he should do. He thought a few moments, in which an awkward silence ensued. After a while he said, "All right, but only if she doesn't tell anyone."
"Believe me, I highly doubt she's going to be telling anyone anything," Sirius, yawned widely, having been in the hospital wing all night without sleep, "I'm gunna sleep for a bit, you go and visit her, she'll be wanting to see her best friend," he yawned again and stumbled up the stairs into his dormitory.
Her best friend? Remus thought to himself as he went to the hospital wing. When he got there he heard Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey talking about what they were going to do about Willow.
"What was she doing out at that time of night anyway?" McGonagall asked sternly.
"It was only seven thirty, and she was up in her tree, like she is every night," Professor Dumbledore replied calmly, "What we need to figure out is what to do with her on the full moon."
"Cant we just take her to the Shrieking Shack with Mr.Lupin?" Madam Pomfrey asked, shrugging.
"No, the two of them would tear each other apart.." McGonagall frowned slightly, "The dungeons?" "That's were the Slytherins are housed." Dumbledore thought a moment, "But we could seal off a section of the dungeons for her."
"Er, Professors?" Remus asked timidly, "Couldn't you just let her roam the Forbidden Forest?"
"I'm afraid not, if we did that we might not find her again," Dumbledore replied, looking at Remus.
"Oh, just thought I'd suggest something," he muttered as he walked past them towards Willow, who was sitting up in bed listening to the conversation, "Hey Will," he said sitting in the chair next to her bed.
"Remus, I was hoping you'd visit me," she smiled at the young man sitting next to her.
I love her smile, Remus found himself thinking, "Why wouldn't I visit?"
"I figured Sirius would've told you, and that you wouldn't want to talk to me," Willow had a look of deep sorrow in her usually cheerful eyes.
Remus looked around the hospital wings to make sure no one was listening, when his eyes rested on the teachers and Madame Pomfrey, the immediately walked into Madame Pomfrey's office, "Willow, Sirius came to me to ask if I could talk to you about being a werewolf. He wanted you to know that you're not alone."
"But no one else in the school is-"
"Willow, I'm a werewolf," Remus looked at her, hoping that she believed him. Her eyes widened as tears welled up and ran down her cheeks, "Why are you crying?"
"I-I-I-I have no idea," she sobbed, hiding her face behind her hands.
"Please stop," Remus laid a hand on her shoulder, he wasn't quite sure what to do, "There's no reason to cry, you'll be fine."