Reopened Mending Wounds PV Willow Anderson

☁ Interacting ☁
@Opeila Winters
☁ Backdated ☁
November 21st

The healing internship in Willow's third year was the cherry on top of an already very busy year. Becoming a magical healer was in the cards for a future career, that and being some kind of divination person. There were a lot of options, but as time progressed the muggle options were closing off to her. The world she had spent three years in had become too irresistible to ever fully leave, the muggle world too bland to ever fully go back to.

Today was a day she had some free time, surprisingly, and instead of spending it in relaxation she headed down to the Hospital Wing. While there were no exciting Quidditch, Duelling, or Broom Racing Games that would surely fill the Hospital Wing it was just a regular day with regular injuries or illnesses. Willow didn't really have a ton of helpful spells, but her bedside manner was good and kind and she made herself useful when she could. Eventually the hours she spent in here would surely pay off in the end. It was in her blood after all.

She signed in with her less than pretty signature with the time that she arrived and looked around at awaited her. There were students here and there and she made her way around figuring out what was hip happening. Her hair was quickly moved into a ponytail so it would stay out of the way of her work. She heard bottles clinking and saw Opeila cleaning up one of the shelves. Willow didn't have much time these days for friends that didn't happen to be in the same extracurriculars that she was. She wasn't even... entirely sure if her and Opeila were friends. They had their moments, like Willow calming her down from some sort of breakdown in the courtyard and in the train to school. But there was also their altercation at the ball, and some remaining tenseness from that whole ordeal. Otherwise, they didn't hang out much unless they happened to be in the same circles, mainly with Flash.

It came as a mild surprise to her when Opeila approached her while she was making a bed that was just earlier abandoned by a student who was well enough to leave. She looked up from tucking the blankets underneath the mattress with a small polite smile. "Opeila, hi. I haven't seen you around much." She stood up and clasped her hands in front of her, rocking slightly on her heels. "I'm doing good! Staying busy this year. Kind of, all over the place. How are you doing?" She felt a strained politeness with her, she didn't exactly know how to interact with her. But she was just another student like any other, and despite their slightly strained relationship she deserved the same kindness as any other student that she might talk to.

@Willow Anderson

It was a relief to Opeila, when Willow returned the greeting in a rather friendly tone, although it carried the same tenseness that both the girls seemed to feel in every interaction since the failed Blossom Ball of 2020. Two years. Almost two years had passed since the incident and both of them had gone through some change, physical and surely mental as well. They were no longer those little eleven year old kids, but Hogwarts had pretty much forced them to mature, as it seemed to do with all the students.

No one survived several attacks by dark forces, some only just, and stayed the same. Was it the same strange sense of obligation that Opeila felt, that had made Willow become a Healer Intern? Both of them had been witness and target to attacks since their first year and while Opeila didn't exactly feel more powerful or more equal to face them, she felt like she needed to at least try and help.
And although the work in the hospital wing depressed her at times- so much pain, blood and fear- it satisfied her in a way. Often even a kind word helped to make people feel better, younger kids in particular.

"Yeah, it's been... Really busy. Taking all electives probably wasn't the best idea I ever had, but they are so interesting! How about you?" It wasn't a secret that Opeila was easy to impress and fascinate with magic. Having been a witness and at the same time cut off for eleven years in her home in Cambridge had made her infinitely curious. Less about the theory admittedly, but whether it was Runes or Magical Creatures...
She had thought twice about taking Muggle Studies and in the end she had taken it because of the Professor, whom she had really grown to like. Ever since the departure of Professor Vernatis she had felt a bit lost, but Professor Galim slowly began to fill at least part of the hole he had left.

Filling holes felt good. The wholes that the death of her family had left probably would never heal completely, but... metaphorically seen, they had stopped bleeding at the very least. Opeila's life was complicated enough in the present time, without scars of the past.
Her relationship with Willow could certainly be considered one of those, at least Opeila felt that way. They had never openly spoken about what had taken place in first year. She couldn't even really remember all the details anymore, if she was honest.

"Do you- Do you have a moment?" Whether Willow said yes or not, Opeila would continue. "It'll be just a second. I erm... I think I owe you an apology. It has been a while since er... You know. The ball. But... things were complicated back then and I guess they still are and everything... just went kind of wrong and what I said and did was just... stupid. Anyway, you have always been a good friend to me then and... I'd hate if that was gone." The more she said, the more stupid she felt. What kind of crappy apology was that? The third year almost regretted opening her mouth at all.

Anxious what Willow might say, she didn't even notice that the hairband holding her braid together slid off and fell on the ground.

☁ Interacting ☁
@Opeila Winters

Willow's eyes darted around the room, not really seeing anything that needed immediate tending to. Not that she didn't want to talk to Opeila. But she just wanted to avoid the awkwardness in general. The social Hufflepuff loved interacting people, but not like this. "Ah, I don't really have time for all the electives so I'm just doing divination and care of magical creatures. Don't really feel I need- muggle studies." She laughed awkwardly, her hands squeezing together to reassure herself. "Headliner, and prefect, and duelling kind of- take up the rest of my time." She shrugged, thinking maybe that would be the end of the conversation.

They had given small updates, the pleasantries, and now they should go off and do their little intern thing. She felt bad, all things given. They had an entangled past that would've lent itself well into becoming best friends. They had been through awful, awful things together. They had similar friends. It truly was all there. But. Ever since the ball... Willow was pulled out of her thoughts by Opeila speaking once more. She nodded politely, though she was only halfway through the nod before the girl continued.

She couldn't help the flush that flooded her cheeks when she mentioned the ball. "Ah..." The blur of fighting and spells, Flash attempting to protect her. The darkness. Ugh, the darkness. A small shudder passed through her body. Hoping it was unnoticeable to Opeila. "Yeah it was- a bad time. But you know, I got myself involved in things I didn't understand. So, that's kind of my fault too. But it did hurt- Um, but really it's ok. You know, we're different now. I would probably have done a lot differently." She shrugged again, her eyes catching the fallen hairband. She leaned down and grabbed it.

"Your hair fell out, hold on I can- fix it." It wasn't like they had to have their hair up when they were here. But it was something that both of the girls seemed to prefer. If Opeila allowed, she would go behind her to slightly unbraid her hair to redo it. "Have you dyed your hair recently?" She caught sight of some stark white hair. "It looks really good."

@Willow Anderson

The awkwardness made Opeila regret opening her mouth immediately. Willow didn't seem like she wanted to have this conversation- or any conversation with her?- and it made Opeila want to end it too. Only she wasn't sure how to. "Yeah, I was originally not planning to take muggle studies either but then I talked to Professor Galim for a bit and... she's really cool." She ended with an awkward smile and stayed silent afterwards- well, until she couldn't bear it anymore.

Opeila hadn't even noticed that she held her breath until she exhaled in relief when Willow answered something that sounded like she was accepting the apology. "Yeah... I think we all would have. We really were a bunch of silly kids, weren't we?" The chuckle that followed the question was a careful one, trying to take the tenseness out of the topic without insulting her classmate.

She was surprised to hear Willow speak up again when she turned away- The Slytherin hadn't even noticed her hairband falling out, one hand reached up to feel her braid that was now falling apart again. "Great, thank you." She would stand still with her back to Willow to allow the Hufflepuff to fix her hair. The question about the hairdye also hit her unexpectedly. "I have dyed my hair actually, but that was a while ago, beginning of second year. I didn't know there is still any red left, that's funny!"

☁ Interacting ☁
@Opeila Winters
☁ Backdated ☁
November 21st

There was something in Willow that softened in this conversation, something that slowly began to stitch it's way back up. Much like the leg that was torn open during the ball where their friendship seemed to shatter, but that was well healed by now. "Something tells me we're still silly kids, just with more- physical and emotional scars." Willow paused and a hefty sigh heaved itself out of her chest. "Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like, really who I would have turned out to be if I wasn't here, or didn't have magic. I think I would be- less sad, for sure. But ignorance is bliss or something that I've heard my parents say." She shrugged, there was an alternative timeline where she was just moving into Secondary School, seeing her parents every day.

The focus was really on the braid now any way, and Willow was trying to make it... cuter? Than it was. Not that the braid wasn't already cute, but she was braiding the stark white on its own to then be used as part of the three strand for the rest of her hair. "No no, you must need a wit-sharpening potion. Not red, white." Luckily that was when Willow had finished the white portion of the braid and moved it forward for Opeila to look at. "Maybe someone changed part of it with a spell on you as a prank or something, though it looks cute so it's not a very effective prank." She pulled it back to continue working on the braid, but only if Opeila hadn't taken it and freaked out about the random color in her hair that has mysteriously appeared.

@Dorion Anderson

A weight seemed to fall off of Opeila's chest when Willow picked up her weak joke. "I suppose we are. Maybe it would be different, had we been more prepared in our first year. I was far too trusting in the first months." Her thoughts lingered with a certain upper year Ravenclaw for a moment, then she shook off the memory. "That's a thought, maybe we should organize a self defense club for first years or something. Sometimes I think the only way they know how to help themselves is burning stuff down."
... Maybe she was onto something...

"Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like, really who I would have turned out to be if I wasn't here, or didn't have magic. I think I would be- less sad, for sure."

Opeila turned to her classmate. "Do you really think that?" In her first year, Opeila had been cursed, repeatedly attacked and more, but despite all of it... she was still sure that she preferred her life at Hogwarts to the one she had at home. Hogwarts was an objectively dangerous place, but the though of returning to the life she used to have in Cambridge filled her with dread.
She probably even preferred her new life in Finland, if she only had a way to contact her father. The more time she spent at Hogwarts, the smaller, more lonely the memory of her childhood felt. But of course, surely there were others who felt differently. Who would maybe even prefer going home. "Do you regret coming here?"

"No no, you must need a wit-sharpening potion. Not red, white."

"White?", Opeila repeated, stunned. For a moment she was confused, but then it dawned on her. She hadn't died her hair again and she was certain that no one else had, so... It only could be-
The third year turned her head, pulling her hair out of Willow's hands, and reached out with her own to verify what Willow had said. And then she saw it too. White as snow, clearly visible between the rest of her hair, that was still dark like her father's. Her father, who she felt she resembled so little, except for her hair colour... and now that was fading too?

She felt her throat close up. "... Oh no!" It was barely more than a whisper, but her voice betrayed the tears that were threatening to spill over. Lady Margary's hair had turned white young, she had been told, sometime in her mid twenties and she had also told Opeila that it was a late age really, that most seers' hair would turn white earlier. And yet somehow, Opeila hadn't thought that it would happen to her, not that early anyways. She wasn't even 14 yet, for Lady Margary it had taken ten more years!

And suddenly she thought of her classmates. Would she be mocked in class for her white hair? Opeila went over to a window and turned her head again, trying to see her reflection properly. Finally she looked at Willow again, an expression of despair on her face. "I am going to look old!", she called out, one hand pressed against the back of her head in a pointless attempt to cover the white strand.