Look who's back! It's me. I actually really enjoyed going back and editing this chapter, hopefully it'll get me out of my writers block. This is where the story, I don't want to say picks up, but takes a different direction if you will. Feel free to ask any of your questions in your comments or PM me and I can answer them here in the little Author's Note section.

I've seen that in a couple of Fanfictions and I thought it was really neat, so I thought that I might try it out!

Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do.

Happy Reading!

Willow awoke to a pressure on her chest. She cracked open an eye and saw her six-foot snake curled into a ball on her chest fast asleep. She grunted, out of breath and leveled the sleeping Sandor with a tired glare, he was heavy as hell. She shifted him as carefully as possible off of her and sat up. She was making the effort to stand up and get out of bed when she felt a pair of eyes. Looking over Willow saw the girl in the bed next to her, staring. She squirmed under the stare, very uncomfortable and wishing she could just leave the room.

"Can I help you?" It might not have been the nicest thing, but it was too early for all of this. The girl blinked her big blue eyes like she didn't even realize that she was staring.

"Sorry, it's just… Is that your snake?" Willow glanced down at Sandor who had begun to snore and ran her hand over his head smiling lightly.

"Yeah, I got him at the pet shop in Diagon Alley, Magical Menagerie. You're Daphne Greengrass, correct?" Daphne nodded her head as they both got out of bed. Willow was silently relieved that she remembered, she really wanted to make a good first impression.

"And I know you're Willow. You caused quite a stir you know." A look of glee entering Daphne's eyes. "I still can't get over the looks on those Gryffindor faces, plus I thought that Dumbledore was going to faint." Willow chuckled a little and some tension eased out of her shoulders as Daphne laughed with her.

"Well they should know that people are rarely as they seem, aren't they?" She agreed and their conversation faded into a comfortable silence as they got ready to go to breakfast. Willow was grateful that the dorm rooms in the Slytherin dungeons only put two people per room. There was just so much space and, now that she wasn't overwhelmed with the newness of Hogwarts, she could appreciate it. The girls headed down the stairs to the common room together and decided to walk to the Great Hall together as well. They weren't very far from the dungeons when they joined by the same boy as last night. He wormed his way between the two girls and walked in step with them.

Ah, this is the crazy one, Willow remembered. Daphne said her good morning to him, and he inclined his head in acknowledgement, but he didn't seem particularly interested in her. He turned to Willow, a pompous sort of air about him.

"We weren't properly introduced last night. Marcus Flint." He held out his hand for Willow to shake and she took it, giving Daphne a look of 'what the hell is going on?' Daphne shrugged helplessly and trying hard not to laugh. Willow rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Marcus Flint.

"Well that certainly wasn't my fault, but I'm Willow Potter."

"I know, you and your brother are the talk of the school. I see you've made friends with Nott and Malfoy."

"Hmm somewhat." Willow knew that her and Nott would be pretty good friends eventually, but Malfoy? The world would have to see about that.

"That's good, their families are important, remind them to remember that, just in case." She was taken aback, confused, and a little uneasy and, judging by the look on Daphne's face, she noticed that her new friend was too.

"What do you mean, just in case?"

"Well there are only one or two teachers here that favor us over other houses, the majority of the teachers think we're below the other houses, and so if we're not treated as fairly it's not really a problem for them. Just remember, there are higher people and powers that are on your side." He opened the doors to the Great Hall and promptly split off from us to sit next to his friends. Daphne's eyes darted back from Marcus Flint's retreating form, to Willow, and then back to Marcus.

"Well that was weird."

"I agree, I'm telling you Daphne, he's not all there. However, if he is telling the truth then we'll need to be careful. We'll have to work harder than the other houses and I'm not sure how to feel about that." Willow took her place in between Draco and Nott like last night, the only difference being that Daphne sat across from her.

"Not sure how to feel about what?" At Draco's question Daphne launched into a play by play of what happened with Marcus and Willow shoveled food onto her plate, wanting a good breakfast before classes. Draco nodded his head slightly at Daphne's story, as if he had heard that specific conversation many times.

"That's about what my father said as well. I'm pretty sure the only one that's safe is Potter over here since her twin is in Gryffindor" To his credit, he only sounded slightly bitter.

His comment made Willow pause, her fork loaded with fruit halfway to her mouth. She set her fork down and looked over at the Gryffindor table where Harry was sitting with Ron. He was joking around with his fried without a care in the world, and she envied him for it.

"I don't think that's going to be the case," Willow said wryly.

Based on what she heard she wasn't going to get any slack. It wasn't fair, she thought that getting away from the Dursley's would solve this kind of favoritism issue. They valued Harry more than her, everyone was more important than her. He was more important than her, treated better than her. She was beaten while he was loved. It was. Not. Fair. She gripped onto her fork tighter as she glared daggers at her twin. The seed of bitterness that was always there woke from its hibernation and began to grow. Her magic pulsed at her anger, angry and unyielding.

"Are you all ready for charms?" Nott asked the question, suddenly changing the topic. He elbowed Willow as he did so, and everyone else nodded their heads. The jab of Nott's elbow was enough to pull her out of what ever hold her magic had over her. Coming back to the present was like trying to break through the rough waters of the ocean.

Almost impossible.

"Isn't that the only class we have today?" Daphne was rummaging through her bag, trying to find her time sheet.

"Yeah, we do, with the Ravenclaws I believe. Tomorrow though, we have two classes Transfiguration and Herbology with the Hufflepuffs." Willow took a deep breath, trying to fight down the bitter tone that was currently attempting to force its way out with every word.

She needed an escape.

"However, I'm going to go on and head to Charms, I want a good seat." Willow pushed her plate of untouched food away from her and stood up. She went to grab her bag when a voice surprised her.

"I'll go with you, I need to find my way around the castle anyway." It was Nott. She narrowed her eyes at him before swiftly turning away and began to head the Great Hall doors, letting Nott follow. They both remembered their manners and gave tense waves to their fellow first years. The rest of their friends waved goodbye to the pair of Slytherins oblivious to the turmoil, they were content to sit and eat for a couple more minutes.

As they exited the Hall, Nott turned his head towards Willow, unable to keep silent for long.

"Why did we leave so early?"

"Well I guess… I just really did not want to be late." She winced as she spoke the words, that was a shit lie and both of them knew it.

"So this wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you have had a pair of shitty Muggles as guardians. Or that Harry is getting everything while you get nothing, again. Well, his house is really, but its the principle of the matter." Her steps faltered as Nott spoke the words, she knew that he knew, she just didn't know that he'd bring it up so soon. Willow put on a mask of cool indifference in order to hide her inner battle.

"What's it to you, Nott?" She knew she was being borderline rude, but she couldn't find it in her to care. Thankfully though, he shrugged the comment off.

"Listen, I'm just saying that us Slytherins have to stick together. That's what my father said anyway, and I believe it." Willow huffed, seeing where this was going to go. "My point is, I have a feeling that you'll be apart of something big. And I'll be here to remind you not to stare at chicken." She looked at him, confused, before she realized that he was talking about last night. She laughed, an actual, full laugh, and lightly shoved him.

"Besides, you'll need me until people realize that just because you're a Potter doesn't make you a lesser Slytherin. Now if you were a mudblood..." even though there was joking tone in his voice, Willow still felt like she needed to defend them.

"If I was a mudblood I'd still be able to kick your ass! Just because you're a pure blood or the Boy-Who-Lived doesn't automatically make you better." Nott huffed in indignation at the first accusation but stayed silent with the rest of Willow's statement.

"Hey Potter," He finally broke the silence and looked at her. She sighed

"Yes Nott?"

"Could you just call me Theodore? Nott just sounds too formal, too much like my father." Willow looked at him in surprise but was quick to smile at him.

"I suppose, as long as you call me Willow. Potter makes me sound like a Gryffindor." She gave him a sideways glare before they both burst out laughing. He looked like he was going to ask something else but they had arrived at the Charms classroom. Like Willow had hoped, there were no students in the room yet. Thankfully for them the professor was already there, after a moment of debating, they chose seats in the front.

"Well, I've never seen two students willingly sit in the very first row." Their professor had stood up of his pile of books that were stacked on his chair and looked at them through bottle like glasses suspiciously. Like he was waiting for them to do something...evil maybe? Willow smiled brightly at him even though her eye twitched and her magic pulsed. Then it hit her, if Slytherins were going to be put at a disadvantage constantly she was going to have to lay on the charm starting with their charms professor.

"Well, the front is always the best place to be engaged in, what I assume would be, wonderful lectures." Theodore raised an eyebrow at the sound of her sugary sweet voice. Understanding lit up in his eyes when their professor, Professor Flitwick he told them, blushed at the compliment, and continued to talk to them about how he was glad to have two students willing to participate from the very beginning of class.

By this point students had started to fill in, the Ravenclaws were disgruntled that the pair had taken the front seats, giving Willow and Theodore a wide berth. Which meant that when the other Slytherins came in they would be around them too. Daphne and Draco sat behind them. They exchanged their hellos and turned to pay attention to Professor Flitwick as he started his lesson. The course turned out to be a pretty hands-on much to Willows's delight, which was probably due to the fact that the professor couldn't reach the board. Willow pulled out her wand for the first time since she boarded the Hogwarts train. She inspected the thorns as the professor went over how to cast the spell.

It seemed crazy to Willow to think that she was about to do her first bit of intentional magic with it, even though it was only levitating a feather. The was giddy with excitement, it was practically overflowing. Her magic pulsed again and the wand pulsed with it, almost like it was telling her that it was ready. Curious, Willow decided that she would ask about that later. She took a deep breath and concentrated on her feather.

"Wingardium Leviosa" She watched in delight at the feather immediately shot into the air and lazily danced about in the air, going where her wand directed.

"10 points to Slytherin! And Congratulations to Willow for being the first one to levitate her feather." She looked around and, sure enough, no one else's feather was up in the air yet, though Theodore's feather was starting to move around on the table. Willow ignored the jealous glares of the Ravenclaws as she smiled at Professor Flitwick. Maybe Marcus was wrong about this whole Slytherin vs the other houses. She didn't think it'll be anywhere near as bad as he said.

She was wrong.

When she woke up on Friday morning, Willow had already had it. Tuesday's transfiguration lesson was a disaster in Willow's eyes. Taught by Professor McGonagall, Willow had spent the entire class practically in shock when the professor refused to call on the Slytherin students unless they were the only ones to raise their hand. They didn't even share that class with the Gryffindors, who have her as their head of house. The first year Slytherins were with the Hufflepuffs who walked out of that class with far more points even though they answered fewer questions, after half an hour Willow even began to keep track. It only served to infuriate her more

She groggily put on her uniform in a less than stellar mood. Defense against the Dark arts on Wednesday morning was a joke to Willow and a big disappointment as well. She was really excited for his class but the man that taught it was not the man that she had spoken to in Diagon Alley. Professor Quirrell was a stuttering, frightened man who couldn't be understood enough to take good notes. Flying lessons that day was another spectacle entirely Willow recalled as she reached around Daphne to brush her teeth and comb through her hair. She refused to get too far off the ground the brooms didn't look all that safe and the idea of flying on a broom still terrified her. She wasn't about to injured over a magical cleaning supply. Not to mention, they could be cursed and she didn't even want to give someone the chance to put her in that position. Especially now, since Harry and Draco went off on some chase and Slytherin was the only house to lose any points. The older Slytherins might be out for blood just because Willow was Harry's twin, and she was not going to take that chance.

Thursday morning at breakfast there were whispers and rumors that, due to Harry's actions at flying lessons, he was going to be Gryffindor's seeker. Willow was furious all day about it, he broke the rules with Draco but he got rewarded instead of punished. It wasn't fair. Why should he get special treatment? Willow remembered that there was no point in asking why, everyone already knew the answer. It was that lightning shaped scar. It seemed to glare at her every time she looked at it.

On that Thursday, not even a full week at Hogwarts, that seed of bitterness had bloomed its first flower

She attempted to set that all aside though and tried to focus today's classes. Today was their first potions lesson with their head of house. As the rest of the Slytherins and Willow went about the rest of their classes, the excitement was building up and by lunch they could hardly contain themselves.

"What do you think it'll be like?" Daphne asked their group.

"He's our head of house so he favors us, plus I heard he refuses to fail a Slytherin." Malfoy replied.

"I heard that Snape absolutely hates the Gryffindors and that should be absolutely amusing." And with Theodore's comment they launched into a debate on whether or not the Gryffindors would manage to have negative points at the end of class which lasted until it was time to leave.

Walking into the potions classroom was a dream come true for Willow. She sat with Theodore near the front and, much to her displeasure, so did Harry and his friends. One of them being that Hermione girl from the train and Ron.

Willow leaned over towards her partner for potions.

"Next class we'll come early, they're sitting in the best seat." He snorted at her comment, baring his teeth in a sneer at the trio when they turned to look at him.

"Hey Willow." She looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye and gave him a small smile and said hey back. He looked as if he was going to say something else when his friend got his attention and started up a conversation. With the Snape not in yet, she began to listen in, elbowing Theodore when it got really interesting.

"Did you read the paper recently? They've been talking about a robbery at Gringotts." Ron attempted to whisper.

"Really? I thought no one could break into it?" Willow rolled her eyes at Harry's question, anyone could break into a place if they tried hard enough.

"Well, someone did, on July 31 according to the papers. They attempted to retrieve something from vault 713 but it had been emptied" That really caught her interest, not only did they break in on the day that her and Harry had visited there, but Hagrid had visited that vault "on Dumbledore's orders". Before Harry could say in return Professor Snape stalked in, the sound of his swishing black robe proceeding him. It would've been funny had the man himself not been intimidating. He stood tall, glaring at everyone with cold, black eyes. He began to talk and immediately Willow was hooked.

"This is Potions class. Most of you will think that this is not magic as there is not much in the way of frivolous wand waving or silly incantations here in this class.. Potions is a subtle magic, that requires brains and not the magical equivalent of brawn. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few who possess the predisposition... I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death."

He began the role and paced around the front of the room, going down the list. He called Harry's name and paused in front of him.

"Harry Potter, our newest celebrity," He sneered. Willow flinched, judging by the tone of Snape's voice, she knew that this wouldn't be good, for Harry at least.

"The Boy-Who-Lived. Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry looked at Snape in confused silence and Willow was glad that she had re-read the potions textbook the night before. There was a movement in the room and she turned her head to see that Hermione was frantically waving her hand in the air. Willow huffed and rolled her eyes. Snape sighed at the silence and continued, ignoring Hermione's hand waving

"Since you couldn't answer that one, where would I find a bezoar? … Not that one either, hm. What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry ground his teeth together and spit out an "I don't know, sir."

"Well it seems like fame isn't everything, is it Potter?" Willow winced, at that comment as Snape turned away from Harry to face her with a calculating look, daring her to make eye contact.

"Well Ms. Potter, do you know the answer?"

She looked him in the eye as she answered, confident that each answer was correct.

"Draught of the Living Death, Goat's stomach, and they are the same plant which also goes by aconite, Professor" A sort of pleased and knowing gleam entered his eye and he nodded, his eyes leaving hers first.

"It seems as if you are far more capable than your brother, though that doesn't seem to be a very high bar. 30 points to Slytherin." A wave of quiet laughter ran through the Slytherins and though Willow didn't laugh, she felt a sort of pleasure knowing that for once Gryffindor wasn't at the advantage. The rest of the class went just fine and she found that she actually had an affinity for potions making. Much to the Slytherin's pleasure, by the end of class Harry and lost his house most of their points and Willow had gained the Slytherins another 30 points.

Dinner came and went and Willow practically collapsed onto one of the high backed armchairs in the common room. She looked around the room, noticing that it was mostly empty. Everyone was still at dinner. She pulled out Magical Ties to the Earth and began to read, at least until her scaly companion moved across the page that she was reading and raised his head up to look her in the eye.

"You're neglecting me," he said frankly. She blinked at him

"And what makes you think that?" He gave an annoyed hiss at that and raised his tail to point at her book. His blue and green scales shone even brighter under the green lights of the common room which made him seem all the more menacing, even though she knew he'd never hurt her.

"You haven't read to me in over a week. I'm feeling left out. Its destroying my soul." He pretended to faint and continued about how he couldn't go on much longer. They both laughed at his dramatics, though his laugh sounded more like a dying bounce house.

"Alright," She conceded, still laughing "if it's to save your soul." Willow sat up straighter to support the huge snake that had draped himself over her shoulders and began to read.

As she read to Sandor, she began to relax, the tension of the week melting away. Her magic pulsed through her veins, Sandor was the only witness to her change in eye color, a ring of silver forming around her irises enveloping the green until her eyes were all silver. Willow clearly hadn't noticed and Sandor decided to drop it.

Soon she was too engrossed in the book to notice that the Slytherins were coming into the common room. She looked up as someone cleared their throat. Her eyes dilating back to their regular Avada green color. Those eyes looked at Draco standing in front of her, wide eyed. Willow cleared her own throat before making the attempt to speak English. The language was always a struggle to pull back.

"Do you need something?"

"You're speaking a different language."

"What a very astute observation. Was that all?"

"No, you're speaking Parseltongue. How did you learn Parseltongue? When did you learn it? Why are you speaking it?" Willow sighed and looked around, his questions had attracted a few other Slytherins, Theodore and Zabini among them. They both gave her knowing looks and walked over and stood on either side of the chair. The former put a hand on the part of her shoulder that wasn't covered by snake. Willow felt oddly comforted by this and turned her focus back to the mass of Slytherins.

"Listen Draco, slow down, I only really figured out what the language was called recently. All I know is that I know how to speak it naturally, I never had to 'learn' anything, and I'm speaking it now because I'm reading to my snake. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go back to my reading."

Willow cleared her throat again switching back into Parseltongue and continued to read. Though this time she was infinitely more nervous and more aware of the eyes on her. She straightened her spine an impossible amount and pretended that she didn't notice them. To her surprise though, instead of leaving Theodore and Zabini sat down in front of her. She raised an eyebrow but kept reading, watching out of the corner of her eye as a few more of the Slytherins sat down.

They wanted to listen to her… read?

The older Slytherins filtered in from dinner and paused as they saw the growing circle in the common room and sat down as well once they figured out what was happening. Willow knew they didn't understand anything that she was saying, but they still seemed entranced. Whether if was by the language or by her, she couldn't tell. It was still a powerful feeling.

An entrancing feeling.

They barely knew her or her name, and yet here they were. It was at this point that there was a shift in Willow, the Dursleys no longer mattered, the past no longer mattered, to her this was the start of a new era.

In fact, unknown to everyone, least of all to the two key players, this was the start of a prophecy, the prophecy that would change everything.

Whether they liked it or not.