Snow White and the Seven Quirks

[Firestorm]

Willow sat down in the corner, staring intensely at the tree facing her. It was far enough to be the distance, but close enough to be part of the main scenery. It bugged Willow. She shuddered at the thought. There were bugs on the tree too. More than likely, anyway. Not taking her eyes away from the tree, she reached for her hat. Reaching under its soft brim, her slender hand pulled out a brilliant white hamster with gleaming red eyes. She placed him on her shoulder, keeping her hand close to it.

She knew full well that Hamsters were not a recommended animal to keep. But toads weren't mentioned in the letter and that Neville kid had owned one. Besides, a hamster was smaller than a Toad. And a cat or owl. Silly regulations. Even so, just because they weren't recommended, it did not mean that they were not permitted. Willow had taken it upon herself to go to Dumbledore when she transferred to Hogwarts the previous year. Of course, her previous hamster had not lived to see the end of the year.

She reflected on this for a while. Her brother had given her this hamster. The same brother that had caused all the hassle amongst the Hunter family. The same brother who would remain with her forever. The one she had intended to keep at Hogwarts was not white. It was not young. It was a frail, greying hamster with a sleek black coat. She guessed William had given her the white one for a reason.

She broke her gaze. She faced her hamster. She kissed it gently on the nose.

"I'm glad you're here Buzz," she said simply, smiling at her companion. She missed her friend. The last time she had seen him was at the beginning of the summer, her last trip to her parent's home. He had bought Buzz on her last day as a present. Willow was never given the time to thank him, and as she reflected on this, she felt the familiar pang of loneliness as she was brought back to her previous school, her last life.

[HeyShay]

Matt wasn't normally a resentful type of person. In fact, his shyness and quietness tended to dispell all thoughts of anger or indignancy from his mind as soon as they popped into it. Today, however, was the day that changed everything. Ever since he had been forced to transfer from the Washington School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to Hogwarts, he had felt both angry and indignant. He wanted to be with his friends again---most of all, he missed his best friend, Rosalie Ashby, terribly. She had stayed behind to finish her schooling without disruption, but Matt's parents (both of whom were Muggles) had decided to pick up a few job offers in London. And thus he was here.

Still, it wasn't all bad, Matt thought to himself moodily as he kicked a stray pebble out of his way on the pathway to the lake. Two other transfers from Washington School had accompanied him, both of whom Matt knew: Willow Hunter and William Anderson. They didn't talk terribly much back at school, but at this point Matt desperately wanted to hunt them down and talk to them, especially as they were his only link to home.

He was pleasantly surprised whereupon noticing a distinctly feminine figure sitting by the lake and noticing it was none other than the current object of his thoughts. Willow. A sort of smile formed on Matt's sallow face which had permanently worn a frown since he had first transferred, and slinging his bookbag over his shoulder more securely, he stalked off towards the lake.

"Is Buzz enjoying the new change of scenery any more than you?" he questioned, sitting down next to Willow by way of greeting before taking a finger and gently patting the familiar hamster on its head. "Because I'm positively missing home. School. Everything."

[Firestorm]

Willow looked up, shocked to hear a voice that to her was both a comfort and a relief to hear. She smiled, letting a small smile form on her features.

She turned to face Matt, crossing her legs as she spun round to face him. It had seemed like forever since they last spoke, expecially seeing as she was in a rush to return her textbooks back home. Back home. The words played on her mind for a while.

"I miss it too," she murmured. "But I suppose after a year you're supposed to get used to it." She allowed a sigh to escape from her lips. "Whoever said that was either lying, or heartless." She let the silence after her words hang in the air for a while, watching the almost distorted smile in his evidently pallid features.

"It's weird," Willow eventually said, twisting her long hair behind her back and pulling it into a loop with a hairband that had previously been wrapped around her wrist. It seemed like an appropriate action. "I never thought I would ever bring myself to call these walls home. I guess I just grew used to it, what with the other Ravenclaws being who they are. It'll never be the same though," she added, her smile sinking back into an enigmatic expression that was ill-suiting to her entire air.

"So what house did you get forced into?" she asked, hoping that he, at least, would be in the same house as her. Simply knowing that someone who was transferred from the same school as her had suddenly became irrelevant. It was like being given the chance to relive a dream, then to have it taken away from you, and the mere thought just made Willow regret ever moving.

[HeyShay]

Matt turned, smiling at her. It was as if his features had completely turned around: the pallid disposition of his face disappeared, his frown melted away completely, and his frigid brown eyes had melted into something more inviting. "We'll get used to it," he agreed, picking up a pebble thoughtfully and throwing it into the lake, watching as the ripples grew larger and larger before finally disappearing altogether. There was a small disruption in the calm waters by a tentacle floating out of the water, but soon all was as serene as it had been before.

He grinned wryly, before bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on top of them. "I'll get used to it, but I'll always miss home," Matt admitted. "The mountains, the school, the teachers, the people...it was all amazing." A reluctant sigh escaped from his throat, and he resisted the urge to slip back into a despondent mood.

"I know I've been here a while, but I can't help it. Every once in a while I get to thinking about home and, well," he shrugged, unwilling to dwell on that depressing thought any further. "Never mind."

He glanced at Willow curiously. "House? Oh yes." Matt looked down at the side of his bookbag where a bright blue Ravenclaw badge was stitched. "That one. Ravenclaw. Are you by any chance in that house?" he questioned hopefully, wishing for a familiar face to assist him in the ways of this new school. More than that, Willow was a link: a link to his past, a link to a past he never wanted to let go of. And even though letting go of the past was something Matt needed to do sooner or later, he desperately wanted to cling to it as much as possible before the dreaded time came.

"The school's rather big," Matt remarked. "Somehow, on my way to Transfiguration, I managed to end up on the seventh floor."

[Firestorm]

"I went back home last year," Willow stated, shivering as the light breeze that played around them grew stronger. "It was nice to be back, but it seemed like everyone had moved along without Robert and I." She adjusted her hat and leaned back against the wall. She was glad to look at someone as opposed to the tree opposite. Noticing Matt's happier disposition, she decided it would be better to avoid the subject of her family. She was almost certain he didn't know about Aaron, and it would make things easier if he wasn't brought hastily into a conversation.

"You'll always think of home," she continued, her features relaxing as she remembered the days back in Washington. "You won't change that."

She listened to Matt almost intently, clinging onto his every word. Not only did he go to her old school, but he was friends with her closest companion back in DC. William Anderson. She missed him. Although she had seen him six weeks previously, it had seemed like a lifetime.

Willow's face lit up immensely as she heard the word "Ravenclaw" leave Matt's mouth. All of her fears about being left alone here again had disappeared, and she looked up towards the sky, silently thanking whoever was in charge of their lives.

"I think this year just got a whole lot better," she replied, glads that she finally had someone she knew in her house besides the girls she had become accustomed to over the year.

"There's something up with the seventh floor at the moment. I think a lot of students end up there these days," she mused, playing with the hem of her combats in an automatic fashion. "I'll get you around to lessons though. Unless you have different subjects."