Willow's Story

Willow's Story

Chapter 2

"Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer."

At midnight, the forest was silent. Not a peaceful silence like when you lie awake in your comfortable warm bed in the dawn. No. This silence was like the silence that precedes a thunderstorm. This silence was also comparable to the silence that dominates before a kill.

Willow was in her hiding place. She had found it after the man had left. It consisted of a hollow trunk of an ancient tree. The curious thing about this tree was that it was still alive. It was a strange sort of tree. Certainly not one that she had ever seen before. It had silver leaves and a golden trunk. But what was really amazing about it was that it talked. She had been so frightened when it had first talked to her. However it had just greeted her. In a strange way certainly, but it had greeted her nonetheless. In fact it had called her 'the one who watches' and 'Creirwy'. She didn't know why. But what was that she heard?

It sounded like a faint 'pop' then she heard the sound of a man talking to something. His language was nothing like English but she understood. She wished she could see him. As soon as this idea crossed her mind a window like hole appeared in the trunk of the tree. She saw a man. A tall man dressed in black. His back was to her. At his feet lay a titanic sized snake. She wondered who this man was. He turned around. She could se his face. He was no man. No human. She shuddered as his eyes passed over her hiding place. It was not so much the color and formation of his eyes that surprised her (who wouldn't be, they were red as blood and they had the shape of his familiar), no it was his aura. It was dark. It seeped into her bones, she felt powerless and lost. A hiss came though the air cutting as knife,

"Nagini my sweet, Wormtail made an excellent choice of a destination for this very special meeting, did he not? They should be coming soon. Very soon."

His laugh made Willow's blood curdle. Suddenly she heard a whole chorus of 'pops'. One by one other men in cloaks made their appearances. She recognized the man from the morning. He must be that Wormtail person.

Willow's eyes widened. All these people had a similar aura. They all had a different shade of darkness. Well, almost all of them. One man stood there. His aura was different. It was both reassuring and worrying.

The men formed a circle around the Snake-man. One by one they bowed down to the Snake-man. They all simpered in turn,

"Master, I am here, with you, I would die for you. I would do anything for you, anything at all!"

It was almost like a ritual.

The Snake-man's mouth's corners pulled into a semblance of a smile.

"My faithful family, all here. Good. I have summoned you for a reason. There is a child who is more powerful than anything. It has a power. A power that is stronger than mine. You all know who that is. Yes, Harry Potter, the bane of my life. But now I have found the way to killing him. You see the boy is just a boy, a boy who has emotions. If we manage to find out whom he loves and kill that person, then he will be a wreck. Our wreck to kill."

He laughed.

Willow found herself trembling with anger that this monster was going to kill a boy and his love.

The monster looked around and his mouth formed a snarl, "However, there is one thing that could hinder us in our mission. That thing must be exterminated. It's a species of the Hidden Race, one of The Ones Who Watch. It goes by the name of Willow Marsden and it's current home is found in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole."

Willow now was trembling with fear. Now she had to extremely careful, even if she didn't want to help this boy survive. But she did, she did want to help him. She didn't know why. The man was talking again.

"Now, my dear family, go. Go and kill this new enemy. If you manage to kill it, you shall be greatly rewarded. However if you betray what has been said at this meting, you shall have Lord Voldemort to deal with!"

The Monster laughed again.

Willow gritted her teeth. The cloaked figures disappeared once again with a chorus of 'pops'.

The Snake-man showed his fang-like teeth, "Lord Voldemort has the last laugh!"

He too disappeared with a faint 'pop'.

Willow climbed out of the tree. There was a light breeze blowing. It's small ferocity made ripples on the surface of the pool. Willow turned around back towards her friend. The tree seemed to be saying Goodbye. It's branches waving in the wind. She heard a voice.

"Farewell Creirwy! Go straight on into the woods. If you go far enough you will reach a haven. Good Luck Creirwy!"

Willow waved Goodbye. She turned around, started to run and felt her powerful wings starting to lift her up. Soon she was skimming over the treetops.

She could not see the end of the extent of the forest that was spread at her feet. She flew on. Near dawn she could see a breach in the forest. Still she flew on. The sun was up when she decided that she should return to the ground. She flew in tight spirals and landed, her legs were sprawled under her. Willow raised her head. What she saw almost gave her a heart attack. It was a face that illustrated great wisdom. It was an old man's face. An old man who had a scared all over and a big chunk of his nose was missing. However she wasn't frightened of him. His aura was light and reassuring. She knew that he wouldn't want to hurt her.

"Well, you certainly are a surprise! I wasn't expecting to ever see one of your kind ever again! What your name?"

"Willow, sir."

"Now, now, Willow, don't sir me! Please call me Alastor."

He looked around.

"You should come with me. It's not safe here."

He lead her the rest of the way out of the forest. They came to a little thatched cottage. Alastor reached into his pocket and got out a stick. Willow peered at it curiously. Alastor noticed what she was looking.

"It's a wand. By the way, I'm a Wizard."

Willow nodded. Alastor looked a bit surprised at her immediate trust. Then he remembered. Alastor turned his wand towards the door's lock.

"Alohomora!"

The door sung open uncannily. Willow stared. Alastor led her into the house. Willow followed him slowly; her eyes and mouth were wide open with surprise. She had taken her first steps into a new World, a new Life.