Chapter 3: High School Never Ends

"The whole damn world is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex,
Who's got the money, who gets the honeys,
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess
And I still don't have the right look
And I still have the same three friends
And I'm pretty much the same as I was back then
High school never ends"

-"High School Never Ends" by Bowling for Soup

September 8, 2001: Hogwarts, Willow quickly discovered, was a lot like Sunnydale High. There were cliques, jocks, a fantastic rumor mill, and that one teacher that everyone (including the other teachers) hated. The only things missing were the monsters and the annual apocalypse (though she supposed it was still a little early in the year to tell with the latter). Since the September 1st had been a Saturday, Willow had had the whole weekend to prepare for her first class. The staff meeting Sunday afternoon had been interesting, to say the least. Remus and Charity had been especially helpful in making her feel welcome. Charity was well-versed in the who's-who's of Hogwarts and made sure that Willow was informed about certain trouble makers, specifically the Weasley Twins (fifth year Gryffindors) and the Dangerous Duo (a couple of third year Gryffindor girls named Mary Evans and Cassi Black), and "problem children," namely the Golden Trio of Gryffindor (third years Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger) and a certain Draco Malfoy of Slytherin, also a third year. In general, she got the impression that Gryffindor tended to produce troublemakers at an alarming rate, specifically in this year's third year class. She had spent the rest of the day with Remus, working on lesson plans and learning everything she could about witchy magic from the knowledgeable wizard.

Willow was terrified on the first day of classes, but Remus' quick wit and creative teaching style quickly put both herself and the students at ease. By the end of the week, nearly all of the students were raving about their new defense professor and the class was the new favorite amongst the student population. Willow was quickly falling into a routine at Hogwarts. She'd wake up and floo over to Hogsmeade, where she'd have breakfast with Oz and Lily, before flooing back over and going over the day's lesson plans with Remus. From there, depending on the day, the teaching duo had anywhere from one to six classes of varying ages and houses in any given day.

Willow made it through her first week at Hogwarts with minimal injuries and traumas. To celebrate her first week as an official teacher, she invited Charity and Remus (who'd had to decline, he wouldn't say why) to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade for a celebratory drink. Charity and Willow had bonded quickly over their love of muggle culture; as it was, Charity was a muggle-born who could never find it in her heart to leave either of her worlds behind, and so she had decided to pass on her love of muggle culture to the Hogwarts students.

XXXX

Saturday afternoon around two, Willow and Charity made their way along the streets of Hogsmeade. Willow, still unused to the cold of Scotland, was bundled up in a fuzzy pink sweater that was decorated with a smiling cat face (a piece of high school that she hadn't had the heart to get rid of). She endured Charity's teasing with an easy smile and carefree laughter. She knew there was no real bite to her comments; Charity was no Cordelia, after all. The women arrived at the Three Broomsticks with rosy cheeks and smiling faces to find a purple haired Oz and a giggling Lily waiting for them. Charity was instantly smitten with the tiny redheaded girl and spent a great deal of time playing peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake with her. This allowed the girl's parents to have a chance to catch up with each other's lives uninterrupted; it hadn't been the plan, but none of them really minded.

"How's the search for band members going?" Willow asked Oz as they waited for their lunch to arrive.

"Great. All I have left to find is a decent vocalist. I'm holding auditions next weekend."

"That's great!" said Charity, making funny faces at Lily. "If you want, there are a couple of Hogwarts students that I could talk to about trying out."

"Only if they're over seventeen," said Oz. "Really don't want to have to deal with minors. Wizarding World coming of age is seventeen, right?"

"That's right," said Charity, handing Lily to her mother. "I can definitely do that. I'm sure Dumbledore will be accommodating about allowing a few students into Hogsmeade for the day."

"Sounds great," said Oz, giving the brunette teacher a small smile. "Think you might know any of my band members?"

"That depends," said Charity. "Who are they?"

"Hey guys," interrupted Willow, "I'm gonna go change Lily. I'll be right back."

"Sure thing, Will," said Oz. He gave her a peck on the cheek as she left the table.

"So your band?" asked Charity.

"I play guitar," he said, "and I've got a Liv Vector for keyboard, Jackie Stewins for bass, Jay Marcusson for drums, and Alex Black for back-up guitar."

Charity frowned thoughtfully. "I think Liv is the niece of out arithmancy professor and I know Alex; he's engaged to our head girl this year. The other two names don't really sound familiar, but if they never took muggle studies, there's a good chance I never met them."

"Well, what can you tell me about Liv and Alex?"

XXXX

Willow, meanwhile, had finally found the restroom and was about to enter when out of the men's room came a pair of identical faces—identical faces she had become well acquainted with over her first week at Hogwarts. "Fred and George Weasley," she said in her most professorly voice. The redheaded twins stopped dead in their tracks, their backs still turned to her. "What are you boys doing here when I know there's no Hogsmeade weekend for students until October?"

The boys turned around, identical looks of sheepish chagrin on their freckled faces. "I don't suppose you could—"

"—just forget you saw us."

Willow was still getting used to the Ping-Pong way that the twins spoke, finishing each other's sentences. She narrowed her green eyes and them and pulled Lily up more securely on her hip. "Do you see this face?" she said. "This is my resolve face. You'd better get used to it, misters, because once it's on, there's no changing my mind about anything."
"Ya," piped in little Lily, twisting to face the twins and imitating her mother's face, "Momma mins buz-nus, mithters."

The twins were suddenly all smiles. "And who is—"

"—this little cutie pie?"

"I bees Ly Wiwwow," she said. "Who bees yous?"

"I'm Gred—"

"—and I'm Forge."

"We're Gred and Forge," they said together, bowing comically to the little girl.

"Momma," she said excitedly, patting Willow rapidly on the shoulder, "Ly wikes dem. Can wes keeps dem?"

Willow laughed. "Oh Lily-cub, you are too precious."

"Dat wadden an ansa, Momma."

Willow sighed. Sometimes her baby girl was too smart for her own good. "Lily sweetie—"

"Oh c'mon Miss Willow," said twin number one.

"We don't mind if the munchkin wants to keep us," said twin number two.

"Yes, well, you two are in oodles of trouble right now," said Willow, her anger deflating even as she spoke. She heaved a sigh. "As much as I hate to be the bad guy, I can't just let you two get off scot free." She looked into her daughter's emerald eyes and was suddenly struck with inspiration. "That said, I think I know what your punishment is going to be."

XXXX

"Sorry that took so long," said Willow, sliding into the seat beside Oz and pecking him on the cheek. She set Lily back into her high chair and continued, "I ran into a little problem on the way to the restroom, but it's been taken care of."

"That's alright," said Oz. "Your friend Charity was just telling me about a couple of my band members. Apparently she knows two of them."

"Former students?" asked Willow.

"What else?" said Charity with a grin. "His second guitar player is actually engaged to the head girl this year."

"No kidding," said Willow, digging into her spaghetti and meatballs, which luckily had not gone cold.

"Yeah, what're the odds," said Oz. "So this little problem of yours…"

"Oh, I just ran into a couple of students who obviously were out without permission."

"The Weasley twins?" said Charity.

"The Weasley twins."

"Are you gonna report them to McGonagall?" she asked.

"No, I came up with a more creative punishment for them."

"How so?" asked Oz.

"Let's just say that we've got free, no complaints babysitters for Lily for the foreseeable future."

"You didn't," said Charity in awe.

"It was actually Lily's idea," admitted Willow. "She met them and decided that she wanted to keep them. I thought my plan worked out best for everyone."

"The Weasley twins as babysitters," said Charity in wonder. "You realize you may live to regret that decision."

Willow shrugged. "I know, but Lily likes them. Besides, everyone deserves a chance. Sometimes that's all a person really needs."

XXXX

Fred and George made their way back to Hogwarts through the secret tunnel under Honeydukes. They hadn't been caught by a teacher in Hogsmeade like that since back in their first year. The fact that it was a brand new professor—assistant professor—who had caught them didn't really make them feel any better. They were grateful that she had agreed not to rat them out to McGonagall, but still…

"Babysitting?" said Fred incredulously. "Did we really just agree to free babysitting, Forge?"

"I think we did, Gred," replied George, shock evident on his face.

"It was Miss Willow."

"The face, right?"

"Was it just me or did that resolve face of hers—"

"—look familiar. Yeah, I got that too."

"So where have we seen it before?"

"No idea."

As the twins continued to discuss the strange encounter with their teacher, they made their way back up to the statue of the one-eyed witch without realizing it. Lucky for them, the corridor was all-but empty when they arrived or they would have been caught for sure. The only person there was their friend Lee Jordan, a tall black boy with dreadlocks. He was leaning casually against the wall across from the statue, waiting for them.

"Took you long enough," said Lee, unfolding his limbs and falling into step with the twins.

"Sorry mate," said Fred.

"Ran into a bit of trouble at the Broomsticks," said George.

"What kind of trouble?" asked Lee warily. "Do I need to have an alibi prepared for you?"

"Nah," said Fred.

"Already got caught," said George.

"Wait, what?" said Lee. "That hasn't happened since, like—"

"First year."

"We know."

"It was the new teacher too."

"Miss Willow, that is."

Lee let out a low whistle. "Miss Willow caught you? Harsh. What'd she do?"

"We've got babysitting duty—"

"—whenever Miss Willow and her fiancé need it."

"Harsh."

"Yeah," the twins said together.

"Mum never really let us babysit Ron and Ginny," said Fred.

"She thought we'd either corrupt them or kill them," added George.

"Help us, Lee?" they said together, turning puppy dog eyes on him.

Lee rolled his mocha colored eyes. "Oh fine," he said. "You're just lucky I've had a lot of experience with my little niece and nephew. You two owe me one…or ten."

Fred and George bowed dramatically to their friend. "We bow down to your superior babysitting experience, oh great and powerful Lee," they said together. "Teach us, Master, the ways of the sitting-of-the-baby."

XXXX

September 15, 2001: Oz groaned, downing a shot of firewhisky at the bar. He hated having to listen to people who thought they could sing, but really couldn't. He could only hope that Charity's group of students was more promising than the tone-deaf wannabes who had shown up thus far to audition. He heaved an audible sigh of relief when he spotted the Muggle Studies professor's familiar form heading toward him, leading a small group of students. He was set up to do the auditions in a small back room of the Hog's Head pub and he motioned for Charity and her students to follow him.

"So whaddya got for me?" he asked as he pulled out a chair for Charity at the small table he had claimed as his own.

"I brought ten kids," she said. "They're all seventh years, a mix from every house. They're mostly girls, but a few boys showed interest too. I wasn't really sure what you were looking for."

"That's okay," said Oz with a shrug. "I'm more of a figure things out as I go kind of guy."

Charity laughed. "Alright then. How do you want to do this?"

"Generally these things are done with copious amounts of booze, but I don't really think that's appropriate this time."

"Good call," said Charity dryly. "Do you want them one at a time or as a group?"

"One at a time is good."

One by one Charity called the ten students over to sing, except for a set of identical twin girls that absolutely refused to be separated from each other. Finally there was only one left. "I think you'll like this one," said Charity softly to Oz. "Melody Black was a child prodigy vocalist before she started at Hogwarts. She stopped singing in her first year—no one really knows why—but I finally managed to convince her to try out."

The girl who stepped into the room was tall and curvy in all the right places. Her hair fell in long waves of dark chocolate down to her hips, a few strands of deep black giving the color extra depth. Her skin was touched with the faintest hint of honeyed bronze, which was only accentuated by the pumpkin orange, cold-shoulder jumper that she wore paired with a pair of black skinny jeans tucked into calf-high black combat boots. Her eyes were a deep mocha…mostly. In those dark orbs swirled flecks of silvery-gray that gave the teen a certain air of mystery and aloofness. She certainly looked like she'd fit into his band, thought Oz, but could she sing?

Damn, the girl could belt it. Oz was soon lost in the lyrics as this mysteriously angsty teen sang on:

Wake up in a dream.

Frozen fear.

All your hands on me.

I can't scream.

I can't scream.

I can't escape the twisted way you think of me.

I feel you in my dreams and I don't sleep.

I don't sleep.

You belong to me,

My snow white queen.

There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over

Soon I know you'll see,

You're just like me.

Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you

"That's perfect," said Oz, uncharacteristically emotional. "You're just what I'm looking for. You want the gig?"

Melody shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure. Beats sitting around the castle all the time; I'm in."

"Great. We can hash out the details over lunch with your teacher. Charity?"

"Sounds great," the cinnamon-eyed brunette said. "I'll just get the others back up to the castle and then meet you at the Three Broomsticks in half an hour. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," said Oz. "Anyone else need to be there?"

"I'll grab Melody's head of house; she doubles as a guardian for things like this." Charity promised to be back soon and left with the other nine students.

"Fantastic," drawled Melody once she was gone. "Can we get this show on the road before I die of old age?"

Oz cracked a smile. "Sure thing, kid," he said. "We'll go meet my fiancée at the Broomsticks and we'll get you started."

"You're engaged?" She looked almost disappointed at that piece of information.

"Yeah, to your assistant Defense professor," said Oz. "Sorry, kid."

"I'm not a kid," she muttered.

"Right," he said. "You're still too young for me."

"You can't be that old. You're what, twenty-three?"

"Twenty-one, actually, but I'm a one woman kind of guy."

"You sure about that?" she teased.

"We have a kid."

"Ah. That's pretty serious." She stopped as they walked along the paved road in Hogsmeade. "I wouldn't actually try to break you up, you know," she admitted softly.

"I believe you," said Oz.

"You can call me Mel," she said. "That's what my siblings call me."

"Not your friends?" He cocked an eyebrow at her.

She turned her gaze to the ground. "I don't really do the whole friend thing, not with people who aren't related to me," she said. "I have trouble getting along with others. My brother says I have trust issues."

"Well, Mel, we'll see what we can do to fix that. I like to be friends with my fellow musicians; it makes things a whole lot more fun for everyone involved. You willing to give it a shot?"

Mel gave him a small smile. "Why not," she said. "Can't hurt, anyway."

"That's the spirit. Oh, and about what you said before?"

"The not breaking you and your fiancée up thing?"

"Yeah, that. I feel I should warn you; the last time someone tried to break me and Willow up, it didn't end well…for them."

Mel shivered at the fiercely protective look that passed through Oz's stormy blue-grey eyes. "Duly noted."

AN: The song Melody sings is "Snow White Queen" by Evanescence