Disclaimers: J. K Rowling wrote the Harry Potter saga. I make no monetary profit from this writing.
Summary: The Whomping Willow makes a friend. Snape takes pity on her as he knows how she feels.
Author’s Note: This was a dream I had and made it into a fic. AU as Snape, Lupin, Tonks and George did not die at the end of Deathly Hallows. This fic is set before and after and during the Deathly Hallows
Rating: PG
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WIND IN THE WILLOWS
Shandra ran weeping across the Hogwarts grounds. She had come from a muggle school, where she was teased for being very different. When she had gotten her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, it had been like it had been sent from the Gods themselves, but alas the teasing had followed her here.
Up a hill she ran, stopping by a gnarly old tree, looking as forlorn as she. Shandra collapsed at the base of the trunk and cried, grateful she was far enough away not to be heard. Although the tree seemed to be listening. One if the branches touched her gently. The tree seemed to talk to her, comfort her.
It was dusk when she returned to the main school grounds.
“And where have you been?” Minerva McGonagall demanded.
When she saw Chandra’s red face, she softened. “Oh child, don’t let what they say get to you. Do you want to talk about it?”
Shandra was about to say no when she blurted, “It’s just that it’s so hard… I thought it would be better here than the muggle school. I thought I’d be accepted…”
McGonagall have an understanding nod. “Children can be cruel - in the wizarding world too, I’m afraid. However you much catch up on the classes you missed. It’s no excuse for lagging behind. Your OWL’s won’t care how you feel, I’m afraid, child.”
“Yes, Mrs McGonagall,” Shandra sniffed.
“Now get ot your dorm before I take points off for you been out so late,” McGonagall said, albiet with a small smile. He patted the girl on the shoulder.
Shandra managed to smile as well, her first smile in a since she arrived at Hogwarts. She’d first smiled, in awe of the huge, glorious castle and felt at home, but only the first night. The teasing had begun the very next day and not only from Slytherin students.
She was relieved when the teasing did not rear its ugly head that night. Fluffy, the three headed dog guarding Hogwarts treasures looked gorgeous compared to the ugly head of the teasing.
Shandra sat by the window looking at the gorgeous crescent moon. Knowing she had to get some sleep, lest she be groggy in the morning, retreated to her bed, though she lay awake most of that night listening to the crickets and the owls bringing late night deliveries.
She was groggy the next morning and none too happy she would have to work through her lunch hour for the next three days to catch up.
At her earliest opportunity, she went back to that gnarly old tree and began to talk to him. She poured out her heart and soul to his branches, her pains of the past and worried for the future and even asked how the tree was. The Whomping Willow regarded her with interest. She one of two people he had not whomped (without the effect of an immobilizing spell.)
Whenever she had free periods, spare time, lunch times and weekends, she’d confide by her tree. He comforted her as best he would. In the fifty five years he’d been rooted in the grounds, nobody had ever asked how he was.
This was one exceptional human being, the only one of two of her kind he didn’t despise, thinking they were above all. Not even the famous Harry Potter or his friends had bothered to talk to the tree, much less ask how he was and having that car crash into him hurt! He gave as good as he got, that car a denizen of the dark woods now.
Sometimes his new friend cried, other times she perked up and told him all the bright things about her life that she excelled at Potions, Herbology and Divination and she loved the magical world, despite the teasing. She told him things she’d never tell another soul. She even told him that she slept with a plush vampire toy called Carlisle and confided in him too. She had cried when students had taken him and McGonagall had made them return him and they did so, feeling guilty. At least that was something. She told him that Mrs McGonagall was kind to her the time she returned late when she had feared detention with Professor Snape, another of her favourite teachers. She figured he was firm, yet kind even if it wasn’t obvious. He’d never said an unkind world to her. Like McGonagall he’d taken pity on her plight as he had suffered a similar one when he was a Hogwarts student. She was the only one in his class that had not been given detention at some point or another. She had rather a knack for potions. She told the Whomping Willow all about the potions she mixed and how Professor gave Ravenclaw 5 points for a potion she mixed very well. The Professor hardly ever gave points to houses other than his own. The Whomping Willow remembered Severus Snape, the only other one who had come to him for comfort. He had confided in the tree, but not too deeply as Shandra had and even the now infamous Potions Master had never once asked how he was. The Professor seemed to have all but forgotten the tree’s comfort, but the Willow did not begrudge him. He was human after all, even if he was an exceptional one with all he had been through. The Professor’s visits had not lasted, but Shandra...Shandra stayed. He missed her when she left for her classes.
Today she was spending her lunch hour with him, munching on goodies form Hogsmeade and wicked looking things form Zonko’s that the Whomping Willow shuddered to think were doing to her insides.
As though she could hear him, she said, “Don’t worry they’re all natural ingredients.”
The Willow still worried. Not all things natural were good for you. He was natural and hardly friendly towards most humans. She’d even brought some magical water she’d made. He found it soothing and softening to his branches, like a meditation for a tree, nourishing his roots. She brought some every day.
Shandra had traversed the hill to get to her tree-friend. The teasing had been particularly bad today. Shandra stormed all the way to the tree, bitter tears running down her cheeks. She surmised she could do some serious whomping. Did they realise how much it hurt? She hadn’t realised in her bitter rage that she was being followed.
“Lookout! She heard someone yell. “Get away from there quickly!”
Shandra got such a fright she tripped over one of the Whomping Willow’s roots. The Tree felt a little guilty. Confused, she looked about but saw no danger and sat by the tree. She saw Professor Snape running frantically up the hill and she realised and was touched at his concern.
“It’s all right, Professor.”
“You have no idea what that tree is.” Come to me now.” His face showed his worry.
“It’s all right, Professor,” she assured again. “He won’t hurt me.”
“He?”
“The Whomping Willow. I come here all the time. The Whomping Willow is my friend.”
“Friend?” Professor Snape eyed her dubiously and saw she sat by his trunk unharmed.
The Willow extended a gentle branch to her and Snape sheathed his wand.
The Willow was somewhat upset but understood the Professor’s misgivings. Shandra smiled. The Professor gave her a nod, a little flustered. He looked at the tree and reminisced then nodded again. The Willow was sure the nod was meant for him and he forgave the Professor’s absence. He shook his branches at the man nonetheless.
Could the tree be upset that he left so long ago? Snape wondered, but then how could a tree feel? This was no ordinary tree; he knew that.
“See you’re back at your dorm at 5.30pm on the dot,” he told Shandra.
“Yes, sir.” She caught a wisp of a smile on his face, before he turned and marched down the hill, robes billowing behind him. She could tell the tree had a history with him, she could feel it in the roots upon which she sat, but was too afraid to pry. The Willow was heartened to see his old friend once more, but much preferred his new, loyal, caring friend and relished in her company.
The Willow made a mental note to nudge her gently when it was 5:15.
The Tree was cared for in a loose sense of the word by Filch, the groundskeeper, but he watered the tree from a distance and with a grunt, begrudging the task. The Whomping Willow had begun to loathe his existence until Shandra came. He dearly wished he could talk to her in words she could understand. He offered her a gentle branch in comfort when most got a thus without warning. He worried about her when she didn’t come for a while. He surmised she was studying her OWL’s. He missed her when she studied and went to retire for the night. He worried she would leave him to her own life like Snape had and forget all about him.
Relief traversed his trunk when he saw her traversing the hill and he shook his branches with delight. One would wonder how a tree sees without eyes. He saw her through his leaves and felt her footfalls and her words through his roots. He understood what she said in spirit. If he could smile, he would have – broadly. He didn’t shake his branches too vigorously. He didn’t want to frighten her off. He wanted to hug her, but again thought he may scare her.
He was happy not just to see her, but because she was a running toward him with a huge smile on her face, waving some parchment.
“I got 98% on my OWL’s,” she announced happily.
He wanted to congratulate her and shook a branch and offered a branch to her as if to shake her hand. She gently shook it.
“Thank you so much for being here for me. I couldn’t’ve done it without you. You made it so much easier for me. I hope I was a comfort to you as well.”
More than you know he thought, wanting to convey that to her with every fibre of his being.
Although he had missed her while she had been studying, he realised she had to do so in order to pass her OWL’s.
“I missed you when I was studying,” she said, as though she could sense his thoughts.
He was so proud of her. The girl who had first come to him was so lost, alone and forlorn, now she radiated and had come into her own. The Whomping Willow could not help feeling sad as well. Soon Shandra would leave Hogwarts and how long would it be before she forgot about him? If she chose to have children, would she introduce him to them when they came to Hogwarts? He sighed in his own way, sadly, but didn’t want to spoil the moment. He wanted it to last forever and ever, cherishing his time with her more than anything in the world and wished more than anything that he could talk to her.
She sat against his sturdy trunk, wondering if he understood her words. He offered her a welcoming branch. Maybe he would sense the meaning behind her words. She wasn’t sure a tree could be male or female, but the tree’s energy seemed masculine to her.
She didn’t want to think of the danger now Voldemort had risen. The Dark Lord was back. She had enough to deal with the relentless teasing, which had again reared its ugly head. She felt guilty indulging in personal moments when the teasing lessened. There were more important things in the Wizarding world right now than teasing.
The students and teachers soon became more concerned with Voldemort and the Death Eaters than her. She was as well. She as well as many others prayed to the ancient Gods and Merlin and other ancient wizards to protect them and Harry Potter on his quest to bring them down. She had high hopes for him, they all did. He had his hands full right now. Shandra was relieved that Harry and his friends never teased her. Hermione had once given her a comforting look when Millicent Bulstrode, a buxom Slytherin had laid into her. Shandra felt guilty about thinking about herself when there were much more important things at stake in the world. The entire world was at risk, not just the wizarding world. Little did she know to the Whomping Willow she was the world. Shandra shuddered to think what would become of the world if Voldemort succeeded.
He worried about her immensely in these grave times. She confided in her special tee in these times or dire need. He wished he could comfort her, little did he knew he was her only comfort. Fear gripped his roots and shot up his trunk, to every branch, every leaf. If Voldemort laid waste to the school what of Shandra? What of him? Part of him welcomed death. He had lived for over half a century of gnarly years, hated by most and used. It seemed the only two who cared had been Snape and now Shandra. She was his reason for wanting to live now. Even if Snape had seemed to have forgotten about him. He was touched when he heard on the grapevine that Snape had been very rough on Harry and Ron for the incident with the car and had had expressed concern about the tree and not at all swayed when Ron had said the tree had done more damage to them. His branches had recovered now, no thanks to them. Harry had once again come to the Whomping Willow, as had his friends and Snape with the incident with Sirius black, but Snape had just immobilised the Tree without a word, not even an acknowledgement. If he were able to break the spell, the Willow would whomp the Professor all the way down the hill. He wouldn’t’ve done any serious damage as, despite it all, he still cared about his once confidant. He wondered if Snape knew how much it had hurt him when he left. He surmised the now professor was hurting too, especially after the incident with Lupin in werewolf form, when he was a student too much to confide in him again.
Although the Willow was upset at his treatment, four years back, his thoughts were with Harry and his friends now and he hoped more than anything they would succeed in defeating Voldemort and his followers.
He didn’t want Shandra to stay out too late not with the clear and present danger and the fact she’d gotten herself more than one detention staying with him too late and returning ot the school after dark. She’d fallen asleep against his trunk a few times too. Sometimes she relaxed, other time she’d cried herself to sleep. He offered comforting branches.
She was with him a lot more than Snape had been. He was sure she’d not abandon him, but what of the danger? Perhaps Hogwarts would become too dangerous and the students evacuated. What when she started a family of her own? What if she was harmed or worse in the struggle against Voldemort? And even if Voldemort was defeated, would she be safe out there in the big, wide world? The other trees and plants of the land filled him in on the details of how went Harry’s plight. He sincerely hoped the boy and his friends succeeded making the world safe for everyone especially his love, Shandra. Yes, he knew it deep in his etheric heart. He was in love with her. So much so even if she abandoned him like Snape did he’d love her still and wish her well, although every fibre of his being would ache terribly and he’d be heartbroken, even if he didn’t have a human heart. He never knew if he had a heart or a soul until Shandra came to him. He had been deeply hurt when Snape had left and Shandra had touched him so much more deeply than that.
Hogwarts became ground zero, the shield was breached. The Whomping Willow’s roots gripped the ground, lest he be uprooted. If it wasn’t for Shandra he surmised that would have eventuality had its merits. He had learned that Harry Potter had been killed. No word on his love. He prayed to the spirit of Merlin that she was safe. He’d prayed to Merlin only once before that Snape would return to him. That never happened. But if Voldemort won, if she survived, how safe would she be? If she was killed, he wanted to die to be with her in spirit.
After days of wondering and knotted roots, she came to him. Bedraggled and bruised, but safe. He wanted to strangle in his branches the brutes who had harmed her and crush them with his mighty trunk. His entire being filled with joy to see her. He fussed about her, stroking her with his branches, hoping he would soothe her wounds.
“Thank you” she said, embracing his gnarly trunk. “I missed you.”
He wondered if she had any idea how much he had missed her.
“I was worried about you,” she said, which heartened him greatly.
He wanted to tell her how much he missed her and how worried he’d been. He wished more than anything he could speak to her, but it seemed she understood better than anyone.
They didn’t see them coming. It was over in a second. Her life ripped from her as a Death Eater fired the Avada Kedavra curse.
Back at Hogwarts, Professor Snape’s head jerked up. He thought he heard a scream beneath the ground and instinctively he knew what it was. He thought the Death Eaters had destroyed the tree, but the screaming continued. Snape winced at the painful sounds.
The Willow crushed the Death Eater who murdered his love by slamming his trunk on top on the man. He took out one other Death Eater in the same fashion and another he strangled with his roots, before he was immobilised, but not before he placed protective branches around the one he loved. He wanted more than anything for Harry to stop the Death Eaters and kill Voldemort, so no more innocent lives were taken, but how would he tell Harry that he wanted to die. The Lacarnum Inflamare curse was simple enough to engulf him in flames, but how would he ask to die? He wanted more than anything in the Universe to be with his beloved.
The spell had now worn off, but the Death Eaters and their leader too far away for his wrath. He prayed more than anything for it to be over soon and if no one have him a mercy killing that he did not live long so he could join his love.
Even the news that Harry had been faking his death and had killed Voldemort in the end did little to alleviate the tree’s incredibly heavy, aching heart and soul. His branches sagged, his roots lax and his trunk slipped a little into the earth around him. His reason for living now gone, nothing and no one to whomp over her death. Who could he confide in now? Who would veer confide in him again? He yearned for death, now a weeping willow, weeping for his lost love.
It was half a day before a contingent of professors and students, including Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, a host of other students and Professors Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, Madame Pomfrey and Madame Hooch came to the tree. They were astounded at what they saw. The Whomping Willow gently rocking the body of his love in his branches.
“I saw it happen.” Professor Snape said. “I hoped something could be done.”
Hermione and Harry had tears in their eyes, as did the professors and Madame Pomfrey. The fellow students felt immensely guilty about the way they had treated her. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna had never spoken to her, but had not liked the way she was treated.
“She always came here,” Hermione said. I followed her once, worried about her, but I think the Whomping Willow was her friend. “I heard her talking to it… him…”
Cautiously, Snape approached the tree. The Whomping Willow smacked him with a branch, hard enough to sting but not to draw blood. There had been enough blood spilled this day.
“Please allow me,” Snape said.
He used his wand to dig a hole in the ground and the Whomping Willow understood he meant to bury her. Gently Snape took the body from his now limp and devastated branches and placed it into the grave. Snape whispered a spell the Whomping Willow did not know. The girl’s body transfigured, then he used his wand to cover Shandra with the earth around her. Snape pointed his wand at the grave.
“What are you doing?” Harry asked.
Snape uttered the words of a rapid growth spell and from Shandra’s grave growing into full bloom, a Weeping Willow. He had transfigured her body into a seed. The Whomping Willow stood amazed at what had just transpired as Shandra’s branches gently wrapped around him. He now understood her words and her his, as their as their roots intertwined. He wished he could cry for joy and thank the Professor for returning his love in the only way they could now be together.
None of the gathering bothered to hide their tears. Tears even glistened in Snape’s eyes as Shandra’s branches, the ones she did not have around her love swayed gently in the breeze. The Whomping Willow returned her embrace. At last she could see, feel and hear the way he could. Sensing the new, happy couple wanted to be alone the humans respectfully left them in peace.
“What will you do now?” Happy asked Snape as they walked down the hill.
“Write a book. I’ve always wanted to but was never able to with the threat of Voldemort. Merlin knows I’ll pen an interesting one.”
“I’ll be wanting an autographed copy.”
“I’ll take points off for your cheek.”
“Sir.”
“That’s better,” Snape said with a smile and placed his arm around the boy’s shoulder for the very first time.
“You know I doubt it’d matter if you took points off since Hogwarts has all become one now. I guess this disaster brought us all closer together.”
Snape nodded. “Sad it took a disaster to do that.”
He looked and Lupin and Tonks holding each other after being badly wounded. Fred hugged George, now recovering.
Shandra wove her branches around her beloved, holding him close. He felt like he was aglow and she certainly was. He didn’t know how long he would live but with her, every moment seemed like eternity. He’d mostly despised company, but craved it at the same time. Now his love was beside him always to confide in, to love and protect.
* * *
Many magical folk paid visits to see the famous couple. Some came from other countries. Stories were written about them and taught to generations of magical students worldwide. The visitors were respectful enough to give the two Trees’ privacy when they wanted it. They were well looked after by Neville, who took over after Filch as Hogwarts groundskeeper after the old man had retired.
* * *
The Whomping willow’s tree-heart had never felt so light. He’d never felt so loved and wanted. And Shandra had never felt so loved and wanted. So at home
Now they were together for as long as trees naturally lived and then, he would be with her amongst the stars they now embraced under.
*