Alright guys here's chapter six! I'm sorry I skipped last week and that I was late for this week but I had midterms and papers due, which caused my mental health to worsen.

However, I am back! I will try to get next week's chapter out on time, but until then, enjoy this one!

Happy reading

The fallout after they returned to Privet Drive from Diagon Alley was massive. Aunt Petunia paled when Harry came in with his owl, Hedwig. Petunia hated pets, she thought they were dirty creatures and refused to allow them in her house. But even though she was visibly upset about the owl, she remained silent. Clearly knowing that Harry was a wizard terrified her enough into staying quiet. However, both Petunia and Uncle Vernon almost had an aneurysm when Willow walked in holding a cage as well. Thankfully, she had the foresight to tell Sandor to go into his cage, which she hid in her trunk, until she told him it was safe. The moment that her aunt and uncle saw Willow's owl in the cage is when they decided to have their outburst. Harry was sent up to his room and she was made to stay in the living room so she could get screamed at. Uncle Vernon practically pushed Willow onto the couch and towered over her, yelling and shouting until he was purple. Petunia was standing behind him wringing her hands and her large pale eyes darted between Willow and Vernon.

Willow realized that he was trying to bully her into returning her owl and all of her other items that she bought. She refused to react though and stood her ground, putting on a very impressive, emotionless face as her uncle raged on and on.

She learned in that moment, amidst all of the shouting, that people who had to scream and yell weren't nearly as frightening as they hoped to be. Their bark was worse than their bite so to speak. It was like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders when she realized that she no longer felt intimidated by him. However, after a while, enough was enough and she pulled out her wand. She didn't point it at anyone or use it. She just twirled it in her fingers and stared at her uncle. He stopped mid-sentence and took a step back creating some distance between them. He seemed to debate silently with himself for a moment, staring at the wand in her hands, before he let her go, pale and tight lipped.

Willow quickly made her way to her cupboard and closed the door, setting her trunk on her bed and Arya's cage on her dresser. She looked around the small, dimly lit, space and sighed. How was she supposed to fit Sandor and Arya, their cages, and everything else in this room. There were trunks everywhere and she couldn't even get on her bed. She thought for a moment. Maybe Harry would let her keep her trunk in his room. She didn't see why he wouldn't, he had the room for it. She decided to wait until the Dursleys retired to their rooms to go up to Harry's room. There's no reason for him to say no.

Harry had said no.

Willow was astonished, she looked around his room and, while it was messy, there was indeed plenty of space. If fact there was space right next to his trunk for hers, and he would still have more space than he would need to move around. She kept asking and, after a bit of unnecessary begging and explaining, which she found very humiliating, he let her keep some of her stuff with him. He begrudgingly agreed that he had the room to do so.

Going back down to her cupboard Willow went through her trunk and pulled out what she wanted to keep. She decided to keep Arya and Sandor with her, leaving Sandor out of his habitat, much to his delight, as well as the books that she got from the bookshop and dragged her trunk upstairs. She thanked her twin again, and got a slightly annoyed grunt in response. Willow rolled her eyes and left the room, going back down to get started on reading some of the books that she got.

She climbed into her bed and pulled her potions textbook onto her lap. She hadn't even opened the book when Sandor slithered up her arm and draped himself around Willow's shoulders and neck. She smiled and, with Sandor around her neck, started reading her textbook. She had been reading for about 10 minutes when Sandor spoke up.

"What are you reading boss?"

"My potions textbooks, it's more interesting than I thought it was going to be."

"Do you have to use any spells?" She closed her book making sure to mark her page and turned her head to look at her scaly companion. Willow could tell that there was something he wanted to ask. But let him continue his questioning until he got to it, she was enjoying the conversation anyway and pushing him wouldn't do anything. Finally he seemed ready to ask the question that had been bouncing around in his mind.

"Say boss... do you think you could read to me." She gaped at him, bewildered. She wasn't expecting that. She recovered quickly and didn't even hesitate before answering him.

"Sure, why not." It wouldn't hurt. Plus, having to explain it to him would help her learn better.

"You're a real princess!" Willow laughed and looked and Sandor, noting how happy he looked and sounded. Arya hooted in agreement. Smiling at them both Willow opened her textbook and began to read it again, but this time in a language that only Sandor could understand, stopping and explaining whenever Sandor had a question which was often, but she didn't mind. It was nice.

That's how Willow spent the rest of her summer. She'd get up early and do the chores and the cooking until just after dinner when she'd go back into her cupboard to read to Sandor. To anyone else, it would've just sounded like a series of hisses, but he understood it. Even Arya would quiet down and listen. In fact, during these times, Willow would take her out of her cage, and Arya would perch on her shoulder or on the top of her head, hooting if Willow took too long of a pause in her reading. After a couple of hours, they both would fall asleep and Willow would put them in their sleeping quarters before continuing to read quietly.

The day before they were to leave for King's Cross, Willow changed her routine. Her and Harry both went to ask the Dursleys during breakfast and asked if they could take them there.

"Alright, but we're only taking you because we were heading that way anyway." Uncle Vernon huffed; she rolled her eyes. Secretly though, she was glad they had gotten their confirmation. Willow promised herself that next year she would try to find a more reliable way to King's Cross.

That night, instead of her nightly reading, she packed for the train to Hogwarts. She was grateful that she asked Hagrid how they boarded the train because she never would've known that they had to go through a wall. A wall. Out of all of the things. She explained all of this to Arya and a sleeping Sandor. The latter of whom Willow had to regretfully wake up so that she could explain how tomorrow was going to work. He wasn't happy that he'd have to be in his cage but was mollified once she promised him that she'd take him out once got to the station. Even still, she could've sworn that she heard a couple of sassy comments that he made under his breath. She huffed and climbed into the bed, laughing when Sandor immediately curled himself onto her chest, falling asleep immediately.

The next morning was an early one for Willow. She had gotten up, finished packing up her room, and got everything fully ready to go. She had even dressed in skirt and blouse from her uniform, knowing that Petunia's too big hand me downs weren't going to make a good first impression. All she needed to do was put everything in her trunk. She sat on her bed and read her textbooks to pass the time, ignoring the excitement building in her stomach. Before she knew it, Harry and the Dursleys were waking up and soon they were on the way to Kings Cross.

"So where is your platform anyway?" Aunt Petunia was the first to break the silence that dominated the car, turning to look at Harry. He fumbled for his ticket and answered her question.

"Platform 9 and three quarters."

"Nine and three quarters?! Hah! There's no such thing." Uncle Vernon looked incredibly pleased at that fact. Willow knew that he wanted them, or her really, to fail.

"There is for wizards." Uncle Vernon turned around to glare at Willow so fast that the car almost swerved off of the road. Aunt Petunia shrieked and frantically grabbed ahold of the wheel while pleading with her husband to turn around. Willow levelled a stare back at her uncle until he turned around and faced the road again. The car fell into an awkward silence. They weren't supposed to say "those kinds of words" around Vernon or Petunia, but at this point, she couldn't care less. Harry quickly changed the subject to something else to avoid a blowout from Uncle Vernon, deciding to comment on how blue the sky was, and their ride continued in a strained silence. Willow reached into her sleeve of her white, uniform blouse and felt her wand, sighing happily as it warmed and pulsed at her touch like it usually did. It re-assured her and gave her a boost of determination. Things would be different at Hogwarts, she just knew it.

They got to Kings Cross and Willow quickly got out of the car, eager to be away from that atmosphere. She grabbed her trunks and was about to leave when she noticed that Harry wasn't following her. She turned and looked at him. He was out of the car, but he looked torn between going with her and saying goodbye to the Dursleys.

"I'm going to go head to the train, take your time to say bye to them." She smiled tightly at him. Harry sighed, relieved and gave her a grateful smile before turning his back on her and facing the Dursleys.

Willow turned away from their fond farewell and headed into the station, shaking of the strange feeling of rejection that she felt. She wandered around King's Cross with only her ticket as her guide. It took her a minute, but she finally found the right platform, well what she assumed was the right platform. Willow stared at the blank, red brick wall, and found herself at a loss for what to do. At least, until she saw two students in robes with their carts run head first towards the wall and disappear into it. Willow was astonished. She cautiously walked up to it and touched it, relieved when her hand went through the red brick after only a second or two of resistance.

That must be why they have to run. That resistance could really hurt.

She took a deep breath and grabbed ahold of her cart. Readjusted her grip on the cart. Closed her eyes. Took one more deep breath. Finally, she ran towards the wall. She held her breath bracing for impact, but one never came.

Slowly she opened her eyes. On the other side of that brick wall was the "Hogwarts Express" train. She looked around at all the students and parents running around. Some were giving hugs goodbye and others waving to each other as the students climbed aboard the train. Willow watched as some students loaded their trunks into the train compartments and quickly copied what they were doing, pausing to take Sandor out of the trunk. She pushed her trunk into the storage compartments under the train and climbed aboard with Arya in one hand and her scaly companion on her shoulders.

Willow got a large number of stares as she went by each compartment, probably due to the large blue and green reptile wrapped around her neck like a piece of jewelry. She paid no attention to them and continued to look in the different compartments trying to find an empty one with little luck. She had gotten to the end of one of the train cars when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, you!" Willow turned her head towards the voice, a little disgruntled at being called 'you', and saw the boy from Madame Malkins. His platinum hair was gelled in the same helmet-like style as last time and his grey eyes were alight with excitement. She fully turned towards him. He faltered slightly when his eyes landed on Sandor, but he steeled himself and continued talking.

"You should sit with my friends and I." All Willow could do was blink at him, taken aback at his statement. She looked at Sandor for help and he just shrugged. Willow huffed in annoyance, Sandor had chosen this time out of all times to be silent, but agreed to sit with this boy's friends. As she followed the pale faced boy she realized that she had forgotten his name. She wracked her brain but could only come up with a last name, Malfoy. It wasn't much but it was something. The compartment he stopped at was one she had passed earlier but didn't bother to look in. Following Malfoy inside there were two other boys already sitting down.

Willow was very glad that she had the foresight to change into her part of her uniform early. Looking at Malfoy and the other two she couldn't imagine wearing her old clothes while these boys were wearing their suits with silk shirts.

"This is Blaise Zabini," Malfoy pointed towards the boy with coffee colored skin. Zabini looked at her and nodded his head, seemingly uninterested. She returned the gesture in the same manner.

"Theodore Nott," The boy, Nott, introduced himself before Malfoy was able to, holding out his hand. She shook it and introduced herself as well, he gave her a small smile and blue eyes peeked out from behind sandy blonde hair. She took a liking to him almost immediately, and Sandor did too, hissing his approval in her ear.

"So, you're a Potter, Draco told us you two met at Madame Malkins." Willow glanced over at Zabini. She had a sneaking suspicion that this was going to turn into an interrogation very soon.

"Your parents were killed by You-Know-Who?" She was right, and Zabini wasted no time.

"You mean lord Voldemort?" She watched curiously as the three boys flinched, but Willow continued like nothing happened, though she filed that reaction away in her brain.

"Yeah, they were. Well, according to everyone I've talked to at least, I don't remember much."

"Why aren't you in the history books like your brother?" Willow felt her eye begin to twitch at the continuation of Zabini's questioning, and even Sandor hissed out his annoyance.

"Well, I suppose that's due to the fact that he didn't try to kill me. You can't be celebrated for living if your life wasn't in danger." Her response was short and clipped but it seemed to appease them, and they sat in silence for a while.

After a bit Draco told everyone that he'd be right back and left the car suddenly. Willow's eyes followed him out, curious. She shrugged and let it go though, in favor of pulling out one of the books Professor Quirrell suggested: Earth Magic for the Curious. After getting a pointed look from Sandor, she began to read to him. She only got about five or six pages in when she just happened to look up to see Zabini and Nott staring at her, mouths open.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she sneered.

Nott was the first one to recover. "We apologize but where did you learn Parseltongue?"

Willow softened the look on her face as she closed her book. Both boys still looked very incredulous and impressed, and she was confused as to why.

"That's what it's called? I don't know I've always been able to speak it. I've been speaking it more since this one always wants me to read to him. He's very demanding." Willow had to pause her conversation to calm a very offended snake whilst trying not to laugh. She told him that she was just kidding, though that didn't seem to do much. Nott and Zabini followed the interaction between her and the snake in wonder, watching as the snake bared its fangs at the girl yet she simply said something back, stone-faced.

"So, you really are a Parselmouth" Zabini's words were full of awe.

"I guess? Is that a big deal?" Willow's eyebrows knitted together with her question. She didn't see it as such a big deal.

"A big deal? Of course, it-"

Zabini was interrupted in mid-sentence by the compartment door slamming open. In the doorway stood Draco, red faced and angry. He stormed in and fell dramatically into the seat beside Willow, oblivious to the wonder that his friends had just witnessed.

"Who does Potter think he his? He hangs out with a Weasley yet thinks that he's better than everyone else. I mean really, a Weasley..."

Willow picked her book up again and continued to read, only this time she read silently as Draco complained about her twin. It was funny really, she had never heard anyone talk about Harry like that, mostly because they were too scared of Dudley and the rest of the gang. Maybe they'll grow closer since he's out from under the influence of the Dursleys.

One can only hope, She thought to herself.

A comfortable silence blanketed the space after Draco finished his rant. Nott and Zabini kept looking at Willow as she read, and Draco was looking at all three of them in confusion. Their peace was soon disturbed when the door slammed open again but this time a girl with frizzy hair stood in the doorway. She looked at Draco and spoke to him ignoring the rest of the people in the compartment much to the irritation of Willow.

"You know that wasn't very nice, you don't want to get into a fight on the first day of school." Willow rolled her eyes. She was one of those students.

"You don't get to tell me what to do, you're just a mudblood." Willow looked over at Nott and mouthed the unfamiliar word that had left Draco's mouth

"Later," he mouthed back. She nodded and continued to witness the conversation go horribly. The girl flinched at the word, Willow guessed that it was that it was an insult, however she ignored it and pushed on.

"Well, I only came to tell you that the conductor said that we'll be there soon, so you should get your robes on." The girl stared at Willow and Willow stared back raising a single eyebrow, daring the girl with frizzy hair and buck teeth to even try to tell her what to do as well. The girl, Willow realized that she never got her name, looked away first, her eyes lingering on Sandor, and quickly made her leave. Willow sighed and closed her book again, this time putting it away and pulling out her her uniform tie, which was a weird grey color, and the robe she was supposed to put over the rest of her uniform.

"No matter how infuriating she seems, she's right, we needed to get ready." She set Sandor on top of Arya's cage, telling him that he'd have to stay there and that she would see him afterwards, and got ready.

The train slowly rolled to a stop and when the announcement was made that the first years were allowed to get off the train Malfoy and Zabini rushed out of the compartment, leaving behind an amused looking Nott.

"Are they always like that?"Willow asked as they waited for the horde of first years to pass. They wanted to avoid getting crushed in the stampede.

"For as long as I've known them. Yes. If they weren't I'd be worried." They both chuckled at that and Willow decided that this was a good time as any to ask about the Mudblood word.

When she asked, it sparked an entire blood purity conversation. Willow found it really easy to talk to Nott, anything he said was clearly and patiently explained, even if their topic was about blood purity. He even explained purebloods and half bloods as well, for context, he had said. In reality, he just seemed glad that someone was willing to have an in depth conversation with him about anything.

The flood of people finally died down some and, after kissing Sandor and Arya goodbye, she stepped out of the compartment with Nott by her side. They walked through the train this time talking about his life growing up in a wizard family, and soon she was stepping out of the train and taking her first steps as a student of Hogwarts

This is it, she thought to herself, Hogwarts isn't ready.

She'd soon realize just how right her thoughts were.