Quick Author's Note: Someone asked me about the title of this fic. It's from the Garth Brooks song, "The Dance" and especially a small stanza:
And now, I'm glad I didn't know,
The way It all would end,
The way It all would go,
Our lives are better left to chance,
I could have missed the pain,
But I'd of had to miss the dance.
If you really think about what it would mean for Willow to leave everyone behind and start a new life, not knowing where it would end or where it'd go... well... there's your title. It might change to something else down the line, but that's where it came from.
Author's Note (added 7/5): I have done some re-writing after two reviewers completely made me realize that I was doing some stuff wrong. And you know what's even worse? Having this almost completely unbetaread. I miss my betas, but I promised myself I wouldn't use them for this. I guess maybe I'd have been better off if I had, huh?
So the end of Chapter 4 has been re-written... again. And another note was added at the end. And part of Chapter 5 has been rewritten, too. Thanks to moonbunny77 and raven for their critical reviews. And I apologize since this is probably the fourth or fifth time I've changed this chapter.
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Chapter 4
Old Friends, New Enemies
- - - - -
It was just before ten when Willow arrived at the train station. She pulled her bag behind her, slightly put off by the fact that there were so many things tied to it. It was completely unrecognizable from the bag she'd arrived in England with.
In her left hand, she held a large hockey bag she'd managed to find in a second-hand store on the corner opposite that of The Leaky Cauldron. It was perfect to store her broomstick and all of those free supplies the store owner had managed to give to her.
When she'd left that morning, there had been a rush to get to the few taxi cabs that had lined along the street corner. Willow had completely bypassed those and had started toward her own chauffered car. It was a wonderful thing, she realized, to be treated like something special and out of the ordinary.
After living in Buffy's shadow for so long, it was nice to be distinguished as someone who deserved their own private chauffer.
He loaded her things into the trunk and she took the backseat, watching London sail by on the short twenty minute drive to the station. Once he'd gotten all of her luggage on a cart, he'd tipped his hat and returned to the car. Willow was left alone to stare at the different trains and the many people coming to and from.
It wasn't until she noticed a large group of people walking by and talking about Muggles and Spells that Willow realized she was in the right place after all.
As she stood up to move, another girl stepped in front of her. As the two collided, Willow fell hard onto the ground with a sharp cry. The other girl fell against the post but recovered long enough to help Willow stand again. "I'm really sorry about that," she said with a quick smile.
"Me too," Willow replied, brushing the dirt from her new clothes. "That floor was hard." The girl standing across from her had a sharp foreign accent. "Your accent..."
"You have one too," the girl replied, quickly glancing around to make sure nothing had fallen off the cart. Perched precariously on top was a large cage which rattled everytime someone raised their voice around it. "Yours sounds American."
"It is," Willow replied, checking her own luggage. "I'm from California. Where are you from? You don't sound English."
"It's Irish," the girl replied, tucking a lock of dark hair behind one ear. "Although I'm technically from Iceland."
Willow looked impressed as she gazed at the girl thoughtfully. "I'm Willow Rosenberg."
"Keira," the other girl replied, extending her hand. "It's quite good to meet you." The cage next to her rattled again and the girl giggled.
"What's under there?" Willow asked, her eyes wide.
"You know how on the requirements letter they told us we can bring a pet to Apocrypha, right?" Keira asked as she stepped forward and gingerly lifted the corner of the blanket. "I decided to bring me bird."
Willow's eyes widened further as she saw one amber eye staring at her from behind narrow bars. "You brought a raven?" she asked curiously.
"Ailis is no ordinary raven," Keira said, replacing the blanket and tucking it in neatly around the edges. "She has special powers, you know."
"Oh," Willow said, crossing her arms. "So in other words, you have a magical raven."
"Something of the sort, yeah," Keira said, stepping away from the rattling cage. "I noticed you didn't bring an animal."
"I really haven't had time to look for one," Willow admitted. "I've been so busy getting things that are actually required that I ignored the optional."
"There'll be time," Keira replied. "I heard the villages near the campus are extraordinary."
"Have you seen the campus?" Willow asked.
"No one has," Keira said, taking the handle of the cart and pushing it along. Willow quickly claimed hers and fell into step next to the Irish girl. "Have you gotten your room assignment?"
"No," Willow said, suddenly confused. "Don't they usually give you one before you get to the school so at least you have some idea where you're going?"
"Perhaps," Keira replied, tilting her head in thought. "But I heard that Hogwarts, that's the British school of Magic, had a sorting of sorts."
"A sorting?" Willow asked, confused.
"Apparently they were randomly chosen by a hat to be sorted into the best dormitory to suit them," Keira clarified as they reached the edge of a large crowd of people trying to get onto the midday train at Platform Nine. "Excuse me!" she said, calling out to a guard and handing him her ticket. "Perhaps you could tell us where we might find this platform?"
"Platform nine and three quarters, eh?" the man said, scratching the bald patch on top of his head. "Must have been a bad ticket. I could run you up another."
"Oh, no," Keira said, blinking, realizing she'd been in error to question a Muggle. "Thank you for your help though. My friend and I will find our own way. Thank you now. Thanks!"
Willow watched as the man melted into the crowd. She was so surprised about the Muggle not knowing what was going on that she completely overlooked the fact that Keira had called her a friend. "How about those people?" she asked, pointing to a small group of people standing between two posts. "Maybe they know."
Keira eyed them cautiously, but then her gaze relaxed. There were three of them, surrounded by two redheaded adults and a tall elderly woman. Two of them carried covered cages and the girl with the wild brown hair held a basket that was rattling even worse than Ailis' cage. "I wonder," she whispered as she hurried forward, Willow following close behind.
The elderly woman turned with a start as the two approached, but quickly relaxed when she saw they looked tired, frustrated and were absolutely loaded with luggage.
"Hello, there," Keira greeted them. "I was wondering if you by chance had any idea where Platform nine and three quarters was?"
"Right here," said one of the boys in the group, gesturing toward a solid post.
"I beg your pardon?" Keira asked, her dark eyes widening.
"Watch Ron," said the boy, turning to the other one standing next to him. The redheaded boy backed up with his trunk a bit, stared hard at the column, and began running directly at it.
Willow gasped. The boy had to be mad!
But miraculously, instead of smashing into it and fracturing bones, he disappeared.
"What was that?" she asked in wonder.
"The way to Platform nine and three quarters!" the woman replied with a tiny wink. "Why don't you two go on ahead? That way, if you have problems, we'll be behind to watch your backs."
Willow and Keira exchanged a troubled glance before pushing their carts forward.
"I'm ready if you are," Willow muttered.
Keira gave a nervous chuckle. "If this doesn't work, I'm going to give them a lashing like no other."
The two women broke into a quick run. Willow closed her eyes as they approached the barrier.
And suddenly she felt a shadow come across her face and stopped. Unfortunately, Keira was still running with her eyes closed and ran smack into her. Both women fell for the second time that day.
"Ow," Willow said, this time helping Keira to her feet. "Where...?"
Her question was lost as both women took in the scenery. They collected their carts and moved around the corner.
"What?" Keira asked faintly.
It was a large red train with a golden star at the front of the Engine, labeled 'Apocrypha One'. One of the conductors was moving through the crowds of people and finally arrived at the two women, still staring at the train. "I'll be having your tickets now."
Willow blinked and reached inside her purse, pulling out her golden ticket. Keira handed hers over and they both moved their carts to the edge. Both boys and girls were starting to pile inside, dragging their luggage. "Maybe we should get inside," she said uncertainly.
"It's what one normally does when they see a train," a cold drawl came from behind them. Willow turned to see Malfoy standing there, his arms crossed and smirking. "If it isn't the Little Red Riding Hood."
Keira crossed her arms and scowled.
"And her little sidekick!" Malfoy continued, spotting Keira for the first time.
Willow had the sudden intuition that Keira was going to attack the taller blonde and placed her arm out, blocking Keira's movement. "Don't."
"Oh, right, Red. Promote school and ethnic unity and all that," he said, his silvery eyes sparkling maliciously. "We'll see who really succeeds now, won't we?"
"If you hang out with those two brains that we consider dumber than toilet seats, you'll have no problem," a voice sang out from behind Malfoy. He turned, his eyes suddenly hardening.
"Well if it isn't Miss Granger," he taunted as she stepped forward, her hands on her hips. "You keep getting lovelier and lovelier."
"Shut up, Malfoy," she snarled before turning to the other two women. "Load and stow your things in a compartment and then find seats. The train leaves in fifteen minutes."
Keira and Willow wasted no time in getting their things aboard the train. Once they'd secured everything, they sat down to relax.
"This is definitely much better than all that waiting," Keira said happily, pulling the blanket off Ailis's cage and opened the tiny door. "And I hope you don't mind if I take her out. She's been cooped up since last night. What a horrible Muggle security measure."
"Not at all," Willow echoed as a small raven flew from her cage, circling their small compartment.
As the train began to move, the few stragglers left walked down the narrow hall, attempting to find a space for their things. Keira had opened her welcome packet and was now reading aloud when the door burst open and another woman stepped inside, breathing hard.
"Would you mind if I joined you?" she asked, her voice heavily accented.
"Not at all," Keira said, gesturing to the empty seat opposite Keira and Willow. "I'm Keira. She's Willow. And you're..."
"Aura," the girl replied hurriedly, stashing her trunk away quickly, but leaving her own cage on the floor. Ailis soared around happily above their heads. "Thank you."
"No problem," said Keira, lowering her welcome book slightly. "Your accent... you're not from around here, are you?"
"Cyprus," Aura replied quickly, sitting down and setting her cage next to her. "Whereabouts are you all from?"
"I'm from California," Willow said, crossing her legs and sitting up a bit higher on her seat. "Keira's from Iceland."
"Iceland!" Aura said, her emerald eyes sparkling as she turned to Keira. "What made you decide to attend Apocrypha?"
"My parents, mostly," Keira explained, setting the book aside. "They thought it would be a better experience than just becoming a Ministry employee like them."
"True enough," Willow said. "I came here out of curiosity."
Aura was nodding. "That was my reason for attending as well," she said properly, folding her hands neatly on her lap. "Have you two received your room assignments?"
"No," Willow replied, shaking her head. Next to her, Keira picked the book up and began flipping through the pages.
"Hey, girls," Keira said, reading from the book, "it says in here that you're sorted into your new rooms."
"Are you certain?" Aura asked in confusion as Keira lowered the book again. "I was given the assignment that I was rooming with an Hermione Granger."
"Granger..." Willow said thoughtfully. She'd heard that name before!
There was a movement outside their door and suddenly it burst open, admitting, to Willow's complete annoyance, Malfoy.
"What are you doing here?" Willow asked. Next to her, Keira tensed. Aura's look was plainly curious although she did sense that her two companions didn't exactly approve of this new arrival.
"I was coming to check things out," he told Willow coldly, his eyes flickering between Keira and Aura. "And from what I can see--"
"You won't finish that sentence," Willow said, standing up and facing him. "You're going to respect us and you're going to turn around and get the hell out of this compartment. Comprende?"
Confusion flickered across his face, but he understood the anger in eyes completely. "All right," he said, smirking at her. "Has anyone ever told you you're infuriating?"
"Once or twice," Willow shrugged. "Now get."
Once Malfoy had left, Keira grabbed onto her arm, pulling her down. Even Ailis quieted down and settled on Keira's shoulder with a soft whooshing sound. "That was ruddy brilliant!" she exclaimed, her dark eyes sparkling as she turned to Aura. "Wasn't that brilliant?"
Aura looked even more confused and lost than ever, causing both Willow and Keira to giggle. "Oh, Aura, I'm sorry," Willow said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "That was Malfoy. From what I can gather, he's a leech. He's best left to rot with the dogs."
"Oh," Aura said, and suddenly her eyes got very wide. "Oh."
Keira giggled again. "I never had this much fun with my friends at my other school," she said, her laughter dying away. "They were always too serious a group. How about you, Willow?"
Willow smiled as memories of Sunnydale came floating back. "Oh, you know," she said, waving her hand aside as though it were nothing. "The usual."
"What does that mean?" Aura asked politely.
"Well," Willow said, trying to figure out a way to explain it, "I had two really great friends. I kind of miss them, but I can tell they're happier there."
"It truly sounds like you miss them," Keira said with some concern. "It must be strange to be so far away."
"It really is," Willow confirmed as both women turned to Aura. "How about you? What is it like where you're from?"
A faraway glint came into her eyes as she started to explain, half in English and half in Greek, her own reasons for coming to Apocrypha.
She finally fell silent. Willow glanced out the window. It had been nearly two hours since they'd boarded the train.
A knock sounded on the door and a friendly face peered inside. "Hello, girls! Would you care for a bite from the snack cart?"
"What have you got?" Willow asked curiously as her stomach gave a frightening lurch. She'd been too nervous to eat breakfast that morning.
"Cauldron cakes, pumpkin pastries," the Witch said, glancing at the contents on the cart, "along with some candy bits."
"Can we try a little bit of each?" Keira asked curiously.
"Certainly," the Witch said, turning away and returning a moment later with a box loaded with snacks and brightly-wrapped packages. "That'll be six sickles and four knuts."
She was met by three empty stares. "What?" they asked together.
- - - - -
"This lot tastes almost as good as it did on the Hogwarts Express," Harry said, happily biting into a cauldron cake. "How about you two?"
"It definitely tastes good," Ron said, ripping into his second cake eagerly.
Hermione was just staring at the two of them and shaking her head, laughing slightly.
There was a knock on the door and soon they were joined by another former Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom.
If anyone had had the most drastic change during their seven years at Hogwarts, Neville qualified. He'd come a long way since being the quiet, shy boy many had thought he was. Certainly he was a bit daft, but it came from being raised without parents. His friendly, round face had transformed into an angular face that had been worn with anger and grief.
"Come in, Neville!" Hermione said in a friendly voice, since both Harry and Ron were chewing. "Sit down, have a cake. Please."
"I just made my way through the entire train," he said breathlessly. "Do you realize how many new students there are?"
"There would be, wouldn't there?" Hermione replied, lifting her own welcome book off her lap and continuing to read. "It's open to all around the world." She lowered the book slightly as she remembered the two girls who had had to endure Draco's taunting. "I saw two of them earlier. They were definitely not from Hogwarts because I'd never seen them before in my life."
"Wait," Ron said, swallowing hard, "are you talking about the same two Tonks was talking to?"
Hermione nodded.
"Right," he said, a smile breaking across his face. "There was a redhead and a girl with really, really dark hair."
Hermione tucked a lock of long hair behind her ear and returned to her reading. Ron and Harry soon got into an argument about whether or not Quidditch would be played at their new school. Neville had picked up another one of Hermione's books and buried his face inside. Hermione felt slightly sorry for him, considering all Ron and Harry ever did was discuss Quidditch.
Her thoughts were interrupted with the arrival of Draco. As he stood inside their compartment, his eyes coldly founds Harry's. "I should have known you were the last compartment," he snarled.
Harry glanced up, his eyes darkening. "Where are your thugs?" he asked darkly. "Or didn't they get past that little test where they actually had to read a sentence?"
Draco's mouth tightened. Then he smirked. "How's your girl, Potter?"
That was it, Harry decided, as he leapt to his feet. "You would best mind your own business," he seethed.
"Did I touch a sore spot?" Draco taunted. "I didn't know you still considered Ginny to be your property."
"Leave her alone," Harry said, his voice dropping dangerously. At hearing his sister was involved in the conversation, he jumped up next to Harry, wand in hand.
"Stay away from my sister," Ron said angrily, easily towering over Malfoy.
"Break it up, you guys," Hermione said in a quiet voice somewhere below them. "I thought you'd outgrown all of this."
"Some things never change," Ron said, his wand arm not wavering.
"I can't wait to see the look on your face when your sister comes to me," Draco sneered. "Because we both know she likes a bit of evil in her guy. Potter must have really dulled her up for her to go rebel."
"That's enough!" Harry said, pulling out his own wand and tipping it underneath Draco's chin.
The old Draco would have squirmed and ran away, but this newer, more confident Draco didn't budge. His eyes were still dancing with mirth as his hand came up and forcefully pulled Harry's wand from his face. "May the best man win," he said coldly, lifting his eyebrows suggestively as he backed out.
"I'll be back," Hermione said, using that moment to make her escape.
"Hermione," Ron said, taking her by the arm, "we really didn't mean it."
"Oh, grow up!" Hermione snapped, wrenching her arm free and disappearing.
"Looks like you guys really did it this time," Neville said, his tone bored as he tossed aside the pamphlet he'd been reading. "Anyone for Wizard's Chess?"
Harry and Ron exchanged an infuriated look. But neither one of them could pass up the opportunity for a good match now that they'd spent some steam.
Farther down the hall, Hermione caught up with Draco. "Malfoy!" she shouted. He stopped and turned to face her.
"What do you want, Muggle?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," she said, gesturing toward their compartment. "I'm actually ashamed that I was there."
"You don't need to apologize for them, Granger," Draco said coldly. "I'm sure they're not that stupid. They ought to know that part of the dictionary by now."
Hermione's eyes widened and her face reddened, as it usually did when her temper was getting the best of her. "You little..." she started, stepping so they were face to face. "How dare you?"
"I dare?" he asked with a laugh, crossing his arms. "And don't come near me again... I don't need your mudblood filth to wash away."
Hermione gasped.
The door to the compartment they'd been arguing in front of opened. "Oh, great," Draco moaned. "It's Little Red."
"That's right," Willow said softly, but her eyes were flashing dangerously. "Leave her alone."
"Yeah!" another voice said as Keira showed up, standing over Willow's shoulder. "What has she done to deserve the likes of you?"
Draco turned to Willow, who arched a single eyebrow, but didn't move a bit. "You don't scare me, Malfoy. I don't know you. I don't want to know you."
Hermione smiled slightly. This girl was really bold standing up to someone like Malfoy. Especially since all she seemed to know was his name.
Draco gave a quick huff, rolled his eyes, and backed away.
Willow mock-saluted him before turning her eyes to Hermione. "I heard him say your name. He said it was Granger."
"Hermione Granger," she said, walking closer to the two girls, who pulled open the door completely, letting her into the compartment. "And you are...?"
"I'm Keira," the dark-haired girl said, sitting down near the window, "and this is Willow." She indicated the girl who sat next to her. "And that's Aura... we think."
Hermione's eyes flickered to the third girl. She seemed to be sleeping. "Does she happen to be from Cyprus?" she asked softly.
The girl named Willow nodded. "She speaks like she is, too."
"Oh," Hermione said, quickly looking away. "Anyway, it was really nice to meet you all."
As she returned to the hall, the same Witch who'd been pushing around the lunch cart suddenly appeared over her shoulder. "You'd best be getting dressed, ladies," she said kindly. "We'll be arriving at the new campus in about ten minutes."
As she announced this, a bell could be heard in every compartment, along with the conductor announcing what the Witch had just informed them. Hermione thanked her and returned to her own compartment, where Harry and Ron were pulling on long black robes. Neville had already changed into his.
Inside the girl's compartment down the hall, all three managed to get into their long black robes before the train came to a stop. Keira quickly called for Ailis and locked her back in her cage.
"Would you look at that," she said quietly, suddenly spying a large wall appearing over the tops of trees. Willow and Aura quickly crowded near the window as a rocky wall appeared in the distance.
The train came to a halt and the three women straightened, moving to get their things and get off the train. But before they could even get into the hall, the bell rang again. "Leave your things on the train. They will be attended to and brought into your sorted rooms."
"Fair enough," Willow said, dropping her suitcase and the hockey bag happily. Keira grinned as she lifted Ailis' cage and the three walked into the hall.
"You never told us what sort of animal you brought, Aura," Willow said as Aura lifted her own cage, holding it delicately.
"I'd best show you once we get inside," she said, her heavily-accented voice full of pride. Willow shrugged and they both moved on.
Once outside, there were a long line of carriages. Students were happily grouping off together and moving to claim a carriage. Willow and Keira shrugged before heading off to their own carriage and quickly getting inside. Aura followed them, looking as though she were moving through a dreamlike state. Finally, all students must have gotten onto a carriage because at long last they started moving.
As the trees fell away, the large rocky wall appeared even more formidable. But as the heavy doors opened, they saw that the grounds in front of the wall were terraced, with rippled waterfalls delicately flowing into perfect pools below.
One by one the carriages entered the grounds. As Willow's carriage swept inside, she saw the most beautiful site yet. There were four large buildings, which greatly resembled towers, two on either side. They were connected by bridges from building to building and two large, arching bridges led to an even larger building in front of them. A large fountain sat in the center.
The carriages stopped on both sides and students quickly got down, looking around in confusion.
Keira hopped down first, taking Ailis' cage from Willow. She then helped Aura down and handed down her cage before joining them.
They were all waiting uneasily until the heavy doors to the largest building opened, revealing a tall, formidable woman. "If you would stand were you are, the faculty will be presenting themselves shortly."
The students started to break into groups and talk while everyone waited for their next set of instructions.
The woman pushed the doors open again, leading a large group of faculty and staff into the courtyard. She was none other than Minerva McGonagall, their former Transfigurations Professor and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts.
She clapped her hands. All of the students stopped talking, many of them in confusion.
"Now," Professor McGonagall began, "some of you might not recognize me, but my name is Professor McGonagall and I am currently residing at Hogwarts. Now, before we begin, I'll explain how you will be sorted into your new dormitories. There are four scrolls that will be placed outside each dormitory. You have been randomly selected to be placed into any building. Once there, some of you will notice you have already received information on a potential roommate. If you wish, you can keep that same person and live with them for the school year. Otherwise, you may choose someone else. It is really up to you. Now, before we begin that, I shall introduce you to the faculty and staff that will be educating you for this next year."
"Your Transfigurations Professor was handpicked by myself and is considered to be one of the top in her field. I am proud to introduce Professor Sabine Zolen from the Irish Ministry."
Ron was slightly put off when his own brother suddenly strutted onto the platform, his arrogant smirk almost warranting violence.
"Did you know your brother was teaching introductory lessons?" Harry asked Ron in a whisper.
Ron shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't have a clue."
Hermione shushed them both as Professor McGonagall turned back to the students. "As many of you have heard by now, we used to have a policy at Hogwarts of sorting students into Houses. You will be relieved to see that although you have been partially sorted, it is up to you to complete the rest. As I've said, for students that actually attended orientation at the Ministry, you will have received a book containing all of the students at the school and one that would have been recommended as a roommate. Whether or not you choose you room with this person is up to you. For now, you should see which House you've been assigned to. And then you can choose who you wish to bunk with. The four houses are the House of Summoning, House of Enchantment, House of Conjuration and the House of Invocation. We have dubbed them differently, of course, as Raven Hall, Dragon Isle, Golden Crest and sadly, we ran out of names."
The group outside tittered as a small chuckle swept through the group.
She lifted her wand and four small blue blurs lit the sky before being whisked out behind them.
A slight smile came to her face as she pocketed her wand. Turning to the students, she lifted her arm to dismiss them all. "Are you ready?"
- - - - -
Chapter 5 -- the sorting and the meeting with the Heads of House.
Author's Quickie: Once again, I hope you don't mind the change. I really needed to change this chapter so that it would fit better with the story. Thank you to the reviewers who pointed this out. I actually am throwing a new set of names at you. I know they're probably AS dumb... and I'm changing the story a lot... but bear with me! This is actually a birthday present for a beta reader. I need it to actually SOUND good. So thank you for your help. And many apologies if I offended you, moonbunny77.