The Difference in Reality [A Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Year 1: Chapter 6

Willow didn't sleep that whole night. She found Hermione in bed and asleep by the time she entered their dorm. Willow threw off her covers after staring at the ceiling for an hour, giving up and deciding she needed fresh air.

Merely a half hour later, Willow was in the courtyard, streaking towards the trees on the horizon. She reasoned that no teacher would be up and expecting a student to suddenly appear outside castle walls in the earliest hours of morning. There was no wind, and the stars sparkled like diamonds in the night sky, leading Willow away from the castle. She relished the feel of a night time run, however unexpected and short, as it cleared her head from the hectic day.

Willow's senses were overloaded with nocturnal sounds when she reached the Forbidden Forest's edge. Crickets chirped incessantly, owls hooted, mice squeaked, and branches creaked despite the windless night. For some odd reason, Willow was unafraid of the dark tonight, instead following its call faithfully. She slowed her gait to a walk when she passed the boundary.

I am breaking so many rules right now, Willow thought to herself.

She didn't make it very far before she was distracted by a tree that had oddly twisting limbs very close to the ground. She squealed in excitement, having not climbed a tree in years. Willow scrambled up it, her hands remembering familiar movements, her strong legs propelling her higher and higher until she found a final handhold at the top of the tree. She emerged from the canopy and looked up at the sky. Willow gasped the moment she did.

"Wow," she breathed.

Willow stared in awe at the galaxy millions of kilometers away. The stars were brighter than she had ever seen them before, the moon glowing so fiercely that the blind must be able to see its light. With no light pollution to distort their projections, Willow could see every last space object within viewing distance for its true brilliance. She was in complete and utter awe.

"This is stargazing," Willow whispered to herself.

She didn't know how long she crouched in that tree's boughs, gaping at the wonderful world that she had missed all of her life. Willow studied it until she knew where every constellation was positioned. It was calling to her, although she had no idea why. The sky simply paralyzed her in its glory.

The map, the voice suddenly boomed.

Willow fell down a few branches, startled. What map?

The one you bought in Diagon Alley.

What about it?

Bring it next time, silly girl, the voice chuckled.

Oh. Why?

But the voice had gone. Willow hit a branch in frustration, but instantly recoiled. She rubbed her bruised hand in anger.

"Why can't anyone tell me anything?" she sighed.

Willow made her way to the forest floor again. She began walking back towards Hogwarts when a noise in the bushes startled her.

"Who's there?" Willow stiffly cried.

There was no answer except more shuffling. She began backing away, expecting the worse. Her fear of the dark hit her all too soon.

"Show yourself!" Willow commanded in a shaky voice.

An animal grunted, then puffed as it poked its head around a tree. Willow immediately leaped into the air.

"Merlin's beard! They're real!" she shouted.

The unicorn whinnied softly and shook its flawless mane. Its pearly white coat rippled as it was caught in the moonlight. The foot-long horn on its head shone brightest of all, almost creating its own light. Willow had never seen anything more beautiful before.