The Difference in Reality [A Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Year 3: Chapter 3

"Hey, there she is!" a voice called. "I thought you would run off somewhere to brood in silence. You done breaking down, or am I still in the firing zone?"

Willow's heart leapt into her throat. She shot to her feet, trying to mask her expression with confusion. "Paige! I- uh- I'm fine, I've been fine. Since- I don't know, last month?"

"Yeah, you lie as good as you dodge bludgers," Paige said, ignoring Willow's offended scoff. She firmly wrapped her arm around Willow so that she couldn't escape. "Come on. I'm taking you somewhere."

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

Paige guided Willow through the corridors, glaring at anyone who dared to stare at her. She guided Willow all the way through the castle, past the library, and up onto the Astronomy Tower. Willow glanced at the older girl with a confused expression.

"Your powers still working?" Paige asked.

"Yeah- wait, why?"

"Good, because this won't end well otherwise."

Without warning, Paige two-hand shoved Willow off the ledge. Willow yelped and instantly transformed herself into a falcon, desperately flapping her wings, then finally stopped her momentum and flew up. Paige was standing against the railing, grinning to herself. Willow clumsily landed, panted heavily, and pointed at Paige.

"What the hell was that for?" she snapped.

Paige shrugged. "Like I said in Uganda, my solution to awkward situations is shoving you off a cliff- er, in this case, the Astronomy Tower. You were being sad and mopey, and I don't know how to deal with that, so I fixed it."

Willow threw up her hands. "What- Paige, that is not how you fix bad situations!"

Paige shrugged. "You're not all depressed and moping around anymore, so I had to have changed something, haven't I?"

Willow groaned. "You're impossible!"

Paige smirked. "I think you meant to say I'm possible."

"No- what- I mean- ugh, Paige, I was having a down moment, that's all," Willow explained. "My friend said something, and it shouldn't have bothered me, but it got through to me, and...yeah, that happened. They didn't insult me, either, it was just- how do I explain this?"

"You stop lying and hiding and start telling the truth," Paige said. "You claimed you were fine earlier, but now you're saying that you had a breakdown? Hm, seems like your story isn't adding up. What part did I miss?"

"The part where you're bad at math and added up my story wrong," Willow teased.

Paige scoffed, gently slapping Willow. "You little- I'm not bad at math! I got all passing grades in that class when I was in primary school! No, I'm not a genius- that's too much work- but I'm not so bad that I can't tell when someone is lying to me!"

"Well, I'm not lying, I'm- "

"-stretching the truth," Paige finished. Willow tried to protest, but she cut her off. "Don't deny it. Seriously, you don't have to tell me lies. I'm not going to ask you what's going on if it's that important to you to keep it a secret."

"You- you won't?" Willow stammered.

Paige carelessly shrugged her shoulders. "No. You'll eventually spill anyway. You're weird, like that, but in a really cute way."

Willow felt her cheeks heat up. "Uh...thanks?"

"You're welcome. Now don't hug me."

Willow scoffed. "Why would I hug you for that? I'm not a touchy-feely type of person. You're not either."