✿Backdated✿
August 4th, 2020

'Willow, Willow you've failed.'

'What- what did I fail? I'm home right?'

'And that's where you'll stay, yes.'

A sharp change of scenery as Willow dropped into her common room, out of breath, from the fall? No, as she blinked her eyes the scene continued to form in front of her. Smoke, fire. She was back on that day where the common room exploded. The fire seemed higher than she remembered, flames licking the ceiling and slowly closing in around her. Alone in a ring of fire. Until-

"Why'd you do it Willow?" What? Do what? What did she do? Her brows furrowed in confusion as Jack Warren stepped through the flames, but they still consumed him. She could barely make out his face. "Jack, I didn't mean to. I was trying to help us. The darkness- It was everywhere." Tears pricked at her eyes as she tried to reach out for him, but she could never get to him no matter how close she was. "You hurt me Willow. I ended up in the hospital because of you." Willow was shaking her head, at this point in a sprint towards Jack but she could just never get to him. It was like she was running in place even though she felt like she was moving. "Jack- Please-"

The floor dropped out from underneath her as she was plunged into darkness. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. When she finally hit the ground again, there was still darkness. But in front of her was Mr. Browne's desk. With Flash sitting on the edge. "Willow, you disappointed me. You failed." Confusion, again, why were they always so vague? "Durmstrang crushed you. The team would be better off without you." Her mind whirled, he would never say things like this. "Why- This isn't you, you're not him." He tilted his head slightly, the voice changing to the ominous one that had brought her into this nightmare sequence. "Not... who?" He melted into the darkness as she began falling again.

There she was left, attempting to scream, passing through fire, darkness, the London Quidditch Stadium, her sorting. Flashes of her first year passed consumed by the darkness that had seemed to swallow her whole at the end of her year. Mosps buzzed through the memories, attacking her friends while she was left hopelessly falling. Her wand was nowhere to be found.

She was useless.

"Willoooooow, Willow." The ominous voice surrounded her, echoing through the nothingness. Foreboding, it sent chills through her spine. "Willow, come on." What did it want from her? Her hair was whipping past her face, while it was short it still obscured her vision. "Sapling, we're here." Mom? "Come on little one, wake up." Dad, they were here.

With a sharp gasp, Willow shot up out of her bed. Covered in sweat from the nightmares. The blankets had been thrown off the bed. Her parents were on either side of her, faces coated in a concern that they had never had. Ever since Willow had come back from school she had had frequent nightmares that would leave her tossing and turning and occasionally talking in her sleep. She just brushed it off, saying that it was just about some monsters she had learned about in school, or that they were just vague nightmares of characters from movies she had been scared of as a kid. Her mother had briefly exited the room, Willow didn't even realize she had left until she walked back through the door with a hand towel to help dab the sweat away from her face and neck. Dorion climbed into her bed and pulled her into his arms wordlessly. It was a routine they had developed ever since she started having them.

Her mother gently brushed the hair that had come to stick to her face behind her ear. "What's going on sapling? You have to tell us what's going on or else we can't help." It seemed that it had gotten to the point where she had to come clean. Flash had just left their home two days prior, and she had vented to him about how she couldn't talk to her parents about anything. It made her feel like she was going to explode. She settled into her dad's arms, idly grabbing Lily, a white tailed deer her grandmother had knitted her, and Gerald, a purple squid stuffed animal, and holding them close to her chest.

"I don't like sleeping alone anymore." Her voice was barely above a mumble, but luckily her parents were in close enough proximity to understand. "Why's that? You've always loved your own space. What changed?" Her mother's voice was soft and soothing, calming her still racing heart from the nightmares. Her dad gently rubbed her back. It was a recipe for a calm child, and a calm heart. In this moment she felt like she wasn't 12 anymore. She felt like she was five years old, climbing back into her parent's bed because of a particularly bad thunderstorm that left her frightened. It felt like she had reverted all of the growth she did in that one semester at Hogwarts.

There was a silence left between them for a moment. There was never really an uncomfortable silence between them, until now. Willow wanted to tell them everything, but she didn't want to be pulled out of school either. She didn't know if the happenings of Hogwarts were an unusual occurrence for wizarding, or if this was the standard for all wizard schools. How would they feel about all of this being kept from them? Especially if it had harmed her psyche this much. "There... a lot happens at Hogwarts. Some really scary things. Magic is amazing, and I'm so glad I'm there but..." She fell silent once more, her father's voice rumbled beneath her ear pressed to his chest. She had always enjoyed listening to someone's heartbeat. It had a habit of calming her. Her father's was always steady, assured, just like him. "But...?" His voice was warm, like a comforting fire.

"In April... there was a fire in the common room. It practically exploded. Jack, the one I've told you about, he tried to get to me but he fell through the floor. I followed him down, to try and help him." She had to pause as her voice quivered, she had a hard time talking about it. Even if Jack had assured that he didn't hold it against her, she was never able to believe him. "We were surrounded by darkness, and it attacked us. It moved. It got Jack. I tried to help, but my spell failed and I set him on fire instead. Mr. Browne and Ms. Jensen came to help us eventually and get us out. But it was so scary." Her dad gave her a small squeeze. "There are scary creatures, mosps, that are like big bees, that attacked us during the Blossom Ball." Her parents exchanged concerned glances above her. "Does this... happen often?" Willow just shrugged.

Was it too often to be concerned? Was it enough for her to be pulled out of school? How much could she downplay this. "Just... just those two things. The ball was uh... not supposed to happen. But the students planned one anyway." She wouldn't mention the spider attack on Slytherin, or what happened to the Ravenclaws in the Forbidden Forest. Not that she really knew what happened to them. She just knew a late night walk went poorly. Her mother, who had long since stopped dabbing her face, spoke up once again. "That's what your nightmares are about?" Willow nodded, tears pricking up in her eyes. For lying to her parents, from still keeping so much from them while telling them some of it. For the fear that seemed to lurk in her heart, a gentle iron grip that plagued her dreams. For feeling like she was failing her family. She cried.

The dam that had been patched up countless time, worthless stitches that had been in place to just push the pain off a little longer, had finally broken. Her arms moved from clutching her stuffed animals to around her dad. Sobs wracked her body as she finally let it all out. "I- wanted- to- tell- you." Her words came out between gasps of air. "Shh, shh, shh. You're ok. You're home. You're safe." Her mom moved further onto the bed to sit beside Dorion and gently rub her hair. Just to let her know she was there. To provide additional comfort. They stayed there for awhile. Her parents slowly calming her down, reminding her how to breathe, while giving her the space she needed to get the emotions out.

Her body was sore, her face soaked, eyes swollen. She was the picture of a child who didn't know what was happening anymore. At least she had her parents to guide her through. Her mom brought her a glass of water for her to gently sip at once she had mostly calmed down. "Why don't you come sleep with us for tonight? We can talk about this more in the morning." Another wordless nod from Willow. Her dad moved to pick her up and carry her to their room. Of course, with Gerald and Lily in tow. They settled into their bed, as snug as the close knit family could get. Both parents curled around Willow protectively as if she was a caterpillar in a cocoon. Just waiting to become a butterfly.