Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the following story. They all belong to the very talented J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 2
Willow had been dismissed from the infirmary the next night. Cedric Diggory arrived to walk her back to the Gryffindor common room, but Willow seemed to already know where it was. More then once she corrected Cedric on which direction to turn or which corridor to take. Soon, she found herself outside the secret entrance to the Gryffindor tower, disguised as a painting of a heavyset woman in a pink dress.
"Good to see you again, Willow," said the painting before it swung open. Willow jumped at the voice. She was about to step into the room, when Cedric pulled her aside.
"I was really worried about you, Willow. But I'm really happy you're okay," he said, an embarrassed grin on his face, and a sparkle in his eye Willow had seen before. She put her hand on his arm, and smiled at him.
"Thank you, Cedric. For everything. I'm sorry I made you worry," Willow said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He turned beet red, and Willow stepped through the portrait hole. The painting had barely swung shut when the entire room turned to face her. Some gasped. Nobody rushed forward. Nobody moved at all. Willow could feel herself began to blush. She smiled awkwardly.
"Hi," was all she could manage before the room erupted with sudden movement and noise. More then half the room rushed forward at once engulfing Willow in a flurry of arms and robes. So many people hugged her, kissed her, and shook her hand it was amazing. It was as if a sudden party had sprung up. Everyone was shouting and whistling.
Soon the crowd dispersed and Willow saw three people who hadn't moved from their spots by the fire. A boy with messy black hair and glasses sat on a couch with another boy, who had shaggy red hair and a multitude of freckles. A girl with bushy brown hair was on her knees next to the low table, her back to the fire. All stared at Willow with wide eyes and bewildered expressions. After a moment, the two boys rushed forward, taking turns hugging her.
"It's great to have you back, Will!" said the red haired boy, a wide grin plastered on his face.
"Yeah! We were so worried!" exclaimed the other boy. They turned around to the girl, who was now crying.
"C'mon Hermione! Will's back!"
The girl crossed the room in three, wide strides, and wrapped her arms around Willow.
"Oh Will…"she whispered. She pulled away, wiping her tears on her sleeve. They all stood there, looking as if they expected something from Willow.
"I'm sorry," she began. "I know this is going to sound weird, but…I don't know who you all are."
"Oh, we know," said the redhead. Then, spotting Willow's quizzical expression, said, "Er, that is, Madame Pomfrey told us you would probably have amnesia. So we're prepared to fill you in on your life.
"My name is Ron Weasley. This is Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger. I'm your best friend. You and Harry used to date, but broke up…for some reason –" he gave Harry a sideways glance, but Harry had suddenly become very interested in his shoelaces "—You and Hormone are competitors in class. Fred and George – my twin brothers – are also your best friends and have a HUGE crush on you, but they think it's some big secret. Hormone can show you were you're dormitory, bed, trunk, excetera are. You have all of your classes with me, so I'll help you find all those. You'll learn you're way around in no time.
"We'll also need to get you on a broomstick as soon as possible and back on the Quidditch team. Angelina will be so glad you're back! The team needs you. Period. Anything I left out?" he asked Harry and Hermione.
"Uh yeah! Her band!"
Ron clapped his hand to his head. "Of course! You're in a band."
"I got that," said Willow. "Care to elaborate?"
"Well your band is called Electric Witch. It's you, Corey Hennessey, Billy Randall, and Lydia Vanderbrook. Corey's on drums, Billy on guitar, Lydia on keyboard and you're on bass and vocals."
"You're band rocks out loud," said a boy passing by. Willow smiled weakly at him, and went up the stairs.
"Dean's right," said Ron. "Your band does rock out loud. They probably miss you loads."
"WILL!" Willow heard two voices shout her name, and before she could turn around, two strong, tall bodies engulfed her. When they pulled away, she saw two men, older then her by about a year, with matching red hair and big, brown eyes. They were grinning foolishly.
"Hi. Fred and George I take it?"
"I'm Fred –" said the one on the right.
" – And I'm George," said the one on the left.
"I think I speak for both of us when I say we're so happy you're back Willow. We missed you a lot," said Fred. George nodded enthusiastically. Willow blushed. She thought the twins were adorable.
"Have you told Angelina she's back?" George asked Ron. Fred continued to smile at Willow.
"No, she was asleep when Willow got back."
"Hey, it's getting kind of late," said Harry. Willow glanced at him. If she didn't know better, she could've sworn Harry was scowling at Fred. "Hermione, maybe you should take Willow to bed." Hermione nodded, and before Willow could protest, she grabbed her arm and dragged her up the steps to the girl's dormitory.
"This is our dorm. We share it with three other girls. This is my bed. That's yours. That's your trunk. All your things should be in it," she said it all in a very steely tone.
"Hermione? Is there something wrong?" Willow asked, stepping toward her.
Hermione jumped out of Willow's grasp. " You scared the shit out of us Willow. We were sure you were going to die, or never wake up. Why the hell did you do it?" Her eyes were wide and full of anger.
"Hermione…I'm…I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it…" Willow started.
"Oh that's right. The amnesia. Just go to bed Willow. I'll see you in the morning," and with that, she climbed into bed and shut her curtains.
Feeling hurt and rejected, Willow walked over to her trunk. She could hear the other girls snoring in their beds. She suddenly felt very sleepy for someone who had slept for a week. She popped open her trunk, and was amazed at what lay in it.
At the very top, there was a broomstick. For a broom, it was beautiful. It was made of deep mahogany wood, with the words Nimbus Two-Thousand and One written in gold. After a moment, she set it aside and found a messenger bag that closely resembled the one she wore to school when she was ten. It was black, the front flap pierced with safety pins, the occasional tear and band patches. One of which was black, with the words Electric Witch written in a vibrant shade of green. She picked it up, with difficulty. It was laden down with many, many books. Some big and leather-bound and some small and paperback. She also found quills, inkbottles, and rolls of parchment. In a hidden pocket, she found a long, think piece of wood. She recognized the wood as being from a willow tree, like the one in her front yard. She picked it up, and immediately felt a strange tingling run though her body.
"I guess witches really do use wands," she muttered to herself. She put the wand back, and dropped the bag next to the broomstick. She had uncovered clothing. And jewelry and other accessories. Everything from a black cut-up skirt, to a long, flowing, and multi-colored skirt, to a pyramid spike cuff, to big wooden bangles were nestled inside her trunk. It was amazing, insane. She could make any outfit she wanted with no effort. In the jumble of clothing and jewelry, she could find other things. An iPod, a bundle of letters, eyeliner in every color of the rainbow, five different lip glosses, a couple Muggle novels and a large collection of necklaces.
At the very bottom of it all in the far, right corner of the trunk, Willow found a hidden compartment. She opened it, and wanted to close it just as fast. Inside was a small collection of razors. Some were obviously unused; others were covered with brown blood. Willow found a sock, and scooped the razors into it. She went to the window next to her bed, opened it and dropped the entire bundle.
She went back to the trunk, tucked her bag and broom away and pulled off her shoes. She crawled into bed, snuggling up under the covers, grateful for Cedric Diggory, for her friends and for being alive.
