The Difference in Reality [A Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Year 2: Chapter 16

Willow did earn herself one of the longest detention sentences she'd ever heard of- one week. It was rather odd, though. Instead of writing lines or doing grunt work for Filch, McGonagall gave her the task of keeping watch at night with the prefects and teachers. Madam Pomfrey threw a fit about it, asking McGonagall if she was trying to get Willow killed, being reckless as she was with danger, but McGonagall insisted that it would keep her busy. It was an incredible turn of events. She wasn't expelled! Professor McGonagall surprised her when she least expected it. Maybe it was out of sympathy for the emotional state Willow was in after Hagrid's sack, but she suspected it had more to do with personal hatred for Lockhart than anything.

Willow was given the west wing to patrol in a not-so-group effort with a Hufflepuff prefect and Professor Flitwick. It was the morning shift, but even with the preparatory nap she'd taken that afternoon and little bit of sleep she'd gotten, she was exhausted by four in the morning. Willow found herself falling asleep on her feet. She was forced to transform back and forth between a cat, a dog, and herself to stay awake, but even that wasn't doing much. Willow would be about as much help when presented with the monster as bringing a knife to a gunfight. She wished McGonagall had just given her a thousand lines to write instead; this was torture, and she had to endure it for an entire week.

Thankfully, by five, the sky began to lighten in the east, and Willow automatically felt energy rush into her veins. She didn't trip up the stairs anymore and actually managed to recognize where she was walking. Fidget yawned and slowly shook off sleepiness in her pocket. He entertained himself by swinging from a strand of Willow's hair, humming a high-pitched tune that sounded suspiciously like her favourite song. Had Fidget been paying that close of attention to her? She decided not to go mental and let him be.

By seven, the Gryffindors were beginning to flood the west wing on their way to the Great Hall. Willow received some friendly hello's and good morning's, but whenever a Gryffindor Sister passed by, they looked at her sorrowfully, then turned away and stormed off, apparently angry that she'd ruined their chances with Lockhart. Neville, Dean, and Seamus simply gave her a wider berth than usual, Sam being the only one brave enough to act as if nothing had happened. Harry and Ron didn't even show up. She wondered what that was all about, but didn't get time to ponder it.

Something had caught her eye. One of the knights in the Gryffindor Tower's hallway, which was usually standing tall and proud, was bent over and missing a few chunks of armor. Willow suspiciously stepped closer to inspect it, but heard something sizzling. She recognized it as gunpowder and instinctively jumped backwards. It was just in time, too, as the suit of armor suddenly flew into the air and exploded into a million separate sections of breastplates, gauntlets, and helmet. Each piece showered down as a new colour- bright pink. Willow realized only two very shameless pranksters would have timed this so perfectly and made it a blast from the past at the same time.

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but you looked awfully bored tramping around the castle this morning," Fred said dramatically, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"We had to give you something to do," George added.

"Ha, ha, very clever, but you've forgotten that I know you guys far too well and have prepared for such an occasion," Willow countered. She pointed her wand at the mess. "Reparo!"

The armor reassembled itself in seconds, but the discolouration remained. Willow considered fixing that as well. In the end, she decided that if Professor McGonagall wanted her to guard the castle, she couldn't expect her to fix everything, too. Filch had to keep himself busy somehow to take his mind off of Mrs. Norris.

"Can you believe how much trouble you've got into since the first day of last term?" George asked.

"Unfortunately, I can, knowing the kind of company I keep," Willow responded smartly.