The Difference in Reality [A Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Year 2: Chapter 6

Willow couldn't sleep the whole night. She laid in bed so long, willing herself to fall asleep, but she didn't so much as slip in and out of fitful sleep. Her entire body was burning with anticipation of her first quidditch practice. It meant so much to her that Oliver Wood, upon seeing her fly just once, was willing to have her as a reserve player. He put her before all the other kids that didn't make it at tryouts that fall. She knew she was getting way too excited over barely anything, but nothing she told herself calmed her racing mind. Willow was going to play quidditch for the Gryffindor team, and though she was going to suffer the consequences of hours of long practice and play very little, she was ecstatic. Maybe it was the magic, or maybe it was her looking forward to hanging out more with Harry, Fred, and George. It could be neither of those. No matter what it was, Willow was just excited to be playing on a quidditch team at a magic school. She would never have even imagined the possibility of this two years ago, stuck in her Muggle primary school. How her luck had turned for the better!

The sun finally began to rise over the trees. Willow was down in the common room by that time, her equipment already piled next to her. She enjoyed the comforting warmth of the sun's rays on her face as they turned the canopy of the Forbidden Forest to a sea of beautiful scarlet. Some of the leaves were already in brilliant shades of warm colors. Willow thought back to her earliest memories of fall, back when her mother and father were together and her home life wasn't in pieces. They could have magically raked the thousands of leaves in their large backyard, but they preferred to do it as a family by hand. She would bounce up and down excitedly until Carlos handed her favorite rake down, which was bigger than she at the time. They would rake for hours, only to jump into the pile together. Willow held her locket in her hand, holding onto the memories that her mum's photo brought back with it. Those were the good times. But they were long gone. Now, she had a much different future ahead of her, a fateful path to follow. Eventually, she would have to move on. That didn't mean she had to yet, though, and she knew she was too stubborn to give in any time soon.

Willow sighed. She really needed to stop getting in so deep with her depressing thoughts. Cebba would yell at her soon if she didn't get a move on and stop feeling sorry for herself. Willow stuffed her locket into her shirt, shoved aside her melancholy, picked up her things, and made her way to the quidditch locker rooms. Harry caught up with her shortly.

"There you are! I thought you'd gotten a head start on me," he panted. "I can't believe Wood invited you on the team! You're really going to play quidditch with us!"

"Don't get too excited, it's not like I'm going to play in the matches," Willow said. "I'm simply a reserve player."

"Still, this is pretty exciting!" Harry insisted. "You're amazing, from what Fred and George told me! You can play every position, something about versil- vertils- oh yeah, versatile! George was bragging that he'd taught you everything, but that's rubbish. You've got natural talent and you worked hard to get here. I'm not sure if they know you're on the team yet, though, because they would have gone absolutely nuts about it. You'll be a nice surprise. Do you know what position you'll practice at?"

Willow smiled shyly. "Thanks. I'm hoping all of them, honestly. It's best to keep up my all-around skills for whoever gets hurt before the next game. I wouldn't want to specialize and end up filling in for a Beater when I've trained to be a Seeker, would I?"

"True, true," Harry said.

They reached the locker room, where Fred and Angelina were leaning against each other, half-conscious, George was downright passed out on a bench, Katie and Alicia were putting on their practice robes upside down, and Wood was excitedly drawing something on the board. Harry had told her how Oliver could talk for hours on end before a practice. She hoped dearly that today wouldn't be one of those days. After everyone was finally assembled, wearing their gear haphazardly, Wood began speaking like a rabbit with its tail on fire.