Chapter 3

"What have you got for me, Kings?" She asked quickly. She could hear bangs behind her in the room.

"Very little. All I've been able to find out is that they are extraordinarily strong, and resist the traditional stake-in-the-heart death. You'll need to decapitate them in order to vanquish them."

Three more heavy bangs sounded behind her. She could feel the nervous energy like a blanket around her.

"Thank you so much Kingsley. That helped a lot!" And she was gone before he could say "Quidditch".

She backed out of the fireplace and stood next to Buffy, in front of Ginny.

"He says you'll need to decapitate to kill." She muttered. Buffy made sure everyone knew the game.

In the next second, the door burst open and nearly snapped in half, revealing the Ubervamp on the other side. He stood mostly hunched, with bared teeth and a glint in his eye, quickly calculating who of this group is the weakest and the easiest to feed from. Ginny quickly sent a shouted "Stupefy" at the creature.

It did more harm than good, however, as the vampire smiled (she thinks) at the attempt and began to lunch for the redhead. Buffy took a step forward and landed a kick in the middle of its chest, sending him stumbling back for a moment. It quickly seemed to realize that this was no simple group of blood-filled sacs content on letting it overrun them.

One of the potentials shot out from behind the splintered door, slashing it's back with a rather large broadsword. Ginny shot more powerful spells at the thing, anything she could think of. Most bounced off except for a few red hot and electric purple curses she had learned very recently. The rest of the group danced around her spellwork, eager to take a hit at the now almost powerless Ubervampire. It spun around and around, trying to find an escape or a weakness. It lashed out at random, desperate to lay a scratch or a bite on anyone.

Buffy signaled everyone to back away, holding an impressive hand-axe and watching the vamp very closely.

"Enough playtime, girls. Time to say goodbye to the very good training toy. Its been great, really." She said conversationally to a very confused vampire. She raised her axe above her head, ready to finish the job.

In a split second, before the axe came down, the vampire made one last ditch effort by grabbing the closest person to him and dragging them to his teeth. Buffy hesitated, unable to gauge a safe way to kill the demon and not slice her younger sister in half. Dawn opened her mouth and closed her eyes to scream. Everyone was frozen in shock.

"Avada Kedavra!" A very commanding and controlled cry came from the witch. Her aim was true - the vampire was hit square between the eyes. She knew it wouldn't be enough to kill him, but she prayed it would at least stall him enough to get Dawn out of its grasp. The vampire stepped backwards and fell onto its back. Unconscious. Ginny reached out to take Dawn's hand and pull her back away from the now prone Ubervamp. Buffy fell out of her reverie and brought her axe down on the creature's neck. As everyone watched it turn to dust in silence, Ginny turned to the brunette and touched her face.

"Are you alright? He didn't nick you did he?" She grabbed her chin and examined the girl's neck. Dawn shook her head and stared out at something past Ginny's head. There was a flurry of commotion as Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, and Willow swarmed the shocked girl and led her away. Ginny stood for a few more moments, not sure of how to proceed.

The potentials stood next to the pile of dust on the floor.

"That was wicked," Kennedy said reverently.

"We actually helped kill a vampire."

"An Ubervampire."

They gaped, in awe of their accomplishment.

Ginny turned slowly and began to walk to the kitchen. The only person there was Buffy. She was leaning against the counter, staring at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Her head snapped up at Ginny entered the room and the redhead was surprised at the well of tears in the slayer's eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked anxiously. The only reason she believed Buffy would be crying is if Dawn -

"I'm fine. Dawn is fine," she assured, as if reading the witch's thoughts, "All thanks to you. I don't know what happened, my mind just blanked and I couldn't..." her voice trailed off and when she looked back at Ginny, a smile had replaced the tears.

"I can't thank you enough. You acted instead of thinking, and it saved Dawn's life."

Ginny didn't really feel like mentioning that she had been thinking and acting simultaneously - the war had taught her that much at least.

"No thanks, please. Dawn is important to all of us. I wouldn't think twice about helping her." The words fell easily from her lips, as though she was talking about someone she had known for years.

Buffy nodded, completely understanding the dynamics of things left unsaid. She pushed away from the counter and grabbed a broom from beside the fridge.

"My least favorite thing about killing vamps in the house is the mess they leave behind," she said as she walked away. The corners of Ginny's mouth turned upward and she suppressed a giggle.

Buffy then called everyone to the living room, after the Turok-Han's remains had been properly exposed of in the neighbor's trash can.

"Great job everyone. We did an amazing thing tonight. And I think it will go a long way to show you just how strong you could possibly be. Now, we've got another potential coming in tomorrow night and there will most likely be Bringers waiting for her, so I want everyone to stay here." There was a collective cry of protest from the whole room.

"Buffy, I'm not letting you go there alone."

"We just kicked an Ubervamps ass. I say we kick it up a notch and take out some of these Bringers."

"C'mon Buff. Like we're going to let you go by yourself."

"I don't care what any of you say. That's my decision and you would do well to follow it." Silence clouded the room as everyone awkwardly examined their shoes or pant legs.

"Good. Now, I know there's been a lot of excitement tonight, but try to get some sleep. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow." With that closing remark, Buffy exited the room.

It wasn't until they heard her door close that everyone leaned in to talk in hushed voices.

"She's insane."

"We'll have to try to convince her to at least take someone with her!"

"Maybe one of us should just tail her?"

"I think she would notice one of us following her."

"Buffy said she didn't want anyone to go with her in order to keep you all safe. And as flattering, I'm sure, as it would be for her to hear that you all don't trust the Slayer to walk a few blocks by herself, I would keep plans and schemes to a minimum. She basically gave us a direct order, and if we expect her to lead us, we can't go against her orders." Dawn said from her forgotten place on the couch. She stood to face everyone.

"She's been doing this longer than any of you have known that vampires are real, so I'm pretty sure she can pick up someone from the bus station and make it back alive. I know the town is going downhill, what with hellmouths and all, but geez. Giver her some credit."

And with that, she left, taking the stairs to her bedroom. Everyone sat in chagrined silence as her billowy hair snapped around the corner. Ginny stood and yawned, trying her best to shoo the awkwardness out of the room.

"Alright, everyone. You heard the girl - we've got a big day tomorrow. Let's see about some shut eye."

The crowd dispersed to their respective rooms. Ginny decided to sleep on the couch tonight in order to be close to the door. She set a few mild wards around her and tried to find a comfortable position for sleep.

She teetered for a long time on the edge of consciousness before finally succumbing to the wave of darkness in her mind.

Smoke from the mouths of dragons.

Red eyes glinting from the moonlight.

Long, brown hair.

A whisper.

A soft smile.

A well with black water.

A teasing laugh.

Falling...

Into the well...

The next morning, Ginny woke before dawn. She could remember flashes of images from her dreams, but not enough to connect them. She went to the kitchen to fetch herself some tea. But someone was already there.

"The early bird gets the worm," Ginny said softly so as not to startle the girl.

Dawn turned and smirked at the witch.

"The early girl gets the bathroom first."

Ginny set to making tea and the two girls lapsed into a comfortable lull. Dawn was eating cereal and swinging her legs under her chair, looking thoughtful.

"By the way, I never got the chance to thank you for last night. I was kind of in shock I guess. But anyways, thanks."

Ginny stared into the girl's eyes. She wanted to tell her "Don't worry about it!" or "It was no big deal. Don't mention it." But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Something about those eyes looking into her own. Something about those pursed lips. Something about the calculating expression and the confidence held evident in the way she squared her shoulders...

"You're welcome" she breathed. Dawn flashed her a smile. She quickly returned to busying herself in the kitchen.

Ok, Gin. There's no way you're going to start falling for the Slayer's younger sister.

She cast a sideways glance at the girl and watched in rapt attention as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, some of it refusing to be held back and falling back into her face. Ginny turned back slowly, very aware of loud and fast her heart seemed to be beating.

This can't be good.