Chapter 21

Buffy had been right – Augusta wasn't particularly happy with the fact that Buffy had 'detention', but there wasn't much the older girl could do but pout and hope that Buffy didn't get in trouble the next day. No one really thought much of the fact that Quentin left with Buffy that evening when she headed for her detention, and even less at the fact that he didn't come back.

The two Gryffindors were about halfway to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom when they were stopped by a tall, blond-haired boy, Slytherin judging by the patch on his robes. he also had a gleaning silver badge on his chest proclaiming his status as Head Boy. His name started with an "M" – Mallory? No. McCoy? Also no. Malfeasance? Still no, but Giles would have been proud of her to being able to think of that word.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" he asked, arching a perfectly groomed eyebrow at them. "Two Gryffindors out of their common room. Out for a romantic tryst, perhaps? I'd expect something like this from you, Summers, but Trimble, I'm surprised. I thought a prefect like you would have a little more class."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Buffy asked, her voice wary.

"Yeah, Malfoy, what are you on about?" Quentin asked.

"I know things about your dear Miss Summers that would ruin her," Malfoy – Buffy made a mental not of that – said with a smirk.

"Don't listen to him," Quentin murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "He's just trying to rile you up so you'll do something stupid."

"I don't think you should be telling her what to do," Malfoy said. "I heard she doesn't like that very much."

"What else do you know?" Buffy asked, narrowing her eyes up at Malfoy.

"You see, if I told you then I'd be showing my entire hand," Malfoy replied. "Even a Gryffindor like you should be able to see how deeply stupid that is."

"Is he human?" Buffy asked, turning her attention completely to Quentin and ignoring Malfoy for the time being.

"Yeah, he's just a nasty git," Quentin replied. "Why?"

"Doesn't matter," Buffy said with a sigh.

"You know, I could write you up for language like that," Malfoy said. "Take some points from you. Twenty each would be a good start, I think."

"Could you get on with it, then?" Buffy asked, sounding bored. "It's just that we have detention with Professor Giles in five minutes and dealing with you is really making me want to hurt something."

"Magic isn't allowed to be used in the corridors," Malfoy replied. "Besides, I heard you couldn't curse your way out of a paper bag."

"Who said anything about using a wand?" Buffy asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"This isn't over, Summers," Malfoy said, backing away. He turned and stalked off, his roves billowing rather impressively behind him.

"What the hell was that?" Quentin asked, staring after Malfoy as he stalked away.

"I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out," Buffy replied. "I don't think Riddle told him anything, do you?"

"He's a Slytherin," Quentin offered by explanation. "Does it make me a horrible person for half hoping he did so I can watch you beat the daylights out of him?"

"Yes, yes it does," Buffy replied. "Come on, Professor Giles will have our heads if we're late."

"Yeah, probably," Quentin agreed as the two of them walked as quickly as they could to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, where Professor Giles was waiting for them. She did not look impressed.

"You're late," she said, glancing at her watch.

"If we were allowed to do magic in the corridors, we would have been here much faster," Quentin replied.

"Or, y'know, violence against humans in my case," Buffy said with a shrug.

"No matter, you're both here now," Professor Giles said with a sigh. It was then that Buffy noticed that the desks had been pushed out of the way, leaving a large square of floor space to work with.

"So, we're training here?" Buffy asked.

"Astute observation," Professor Giles replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Are all of you Watcher types this snarky, or am I just lucky?" Buffy retorted.

"We are when we have to deal with smart mouthed American teenagers," Professor Giles shot back.

"You know, I think I liked my old Watcher better," Buffy said thoughtfully. "He might have been snarky, but at least he gave me cookies."

"Merlin save me now," Professor giles said, rolling her eyes heavenward in exasperation. "May I ask who your previous Watcher was?"

"What makes you think you would know who he was?" Buffy asked with a pointed look.

"Good point," Professor Giles said after thinking for a moment. "Now then, what kinds of fighting styles have you learned?"

"There are styles?" Buffy asked, a perplexed look on her face. Of course, she knew that there were different fighting styles, but most of the time she went with her instincts. Buffy-style was a mish-mash of different fighting styles she had seen, and she went with what was comfortable.

"I'm beginning to wonder how you've lasted so long," Professor Giles murmured to herself, causing Buffy to scowl slightly. "What kind of weaponry have you used?"

"Basic stake, longsword, battle axe, quarterstaff, crossbow," Buffy replied. She decided to keep mum about the rocket launcher. No need to get Quentin more excited than he already was. "You know, the staples."

"Why do I have this feeling you've had a rather interesting and unconventional training regime?" Professor Giles asked.

"Maybe you've been spending too much time around Madam Trelawney and her Seer-ness is rubbing off on you?" Quentin suggested. The glare he got for that had him cowering really quickly.

"Why do I have the feeling that response was due to your influence?" Professor Giles asked, rounding on Buffy.

"Can I use the Madam Trelawney defence too?" Buffy asked. Professor Giles narrowed her eyes at her. "I can't help it if I influence people! Blame the impressionable people, not me!"

"Hey, I'm not impressionable!" Quentin exclaimed.

"Are you two going to let me start this training session or not?" Professor Giles asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No one's stopping you, Professor," Buffy replied sweetly.

"I must have been completely off my rocker when I asked Professor Dippet if I could train you," Professor Giles said with a sigh.

She must be used to by-the-book Slayers, Buffy thought as Professor Giles walked across the room to a training dummy that was leaning up against a wall. She's in for a bit of a surprise.

"Now then," Professor Giles said as she poked the dummy with her wand. "This dummy can be animated with a spell that will cause it to react to attacks. It can go on the offensive and the defensive and use weapons. There are various difficulty levels that can be set by waving your wand a certain way."

"My old Watcher would have loved this," Buffy said, walking around the dummy, poking and prodding at it to see what it would do. It brushed off her contact, batting her hand away. "Would have saved him a ton of bumps, bruises and head injuries."

"Benefits of having a witch for a Watcher," Professor Giles said with a smirk. "Now, shall we begin? Some hand to hand combat for this evening should suffice to gauge some of your abilities."

"Great, slaying in a skirt," Buffy said with a roll of her eyes. "My favourite type of Slaying."

"Didn't you slay in a skirt before?" Quentin asked, curious.

"Nope, I wore pants," Buffy replied, which garnered a curious gaze from Professor Giles and a sort of shocked choking noise from Quentin.

"Weren't you cold?" Quentin asked, after he had recovered. "I mean, I know you lived in California, but I didn't think it was that warm."

"No… pants are usually warmer than skirts, because they're long and cover the entire leg," Buffy replied.

"I think this might be a case of culture clash," Professor Giles said. "You mean trousers, Miss Summers."

"Really? What was I talking about when I said pants?" Buffy asked, although she had a feeling she didn't really want to know.

"Underpants, Miss Summers," Professor Giles said with a hint of a smile.

"You were thinking about me Slaying in my underpants?" Buffy asked, rounding on Quentin. "Stop thinking about me Slaying in my underpants!"

"Believe me, I'm trying," Quentin said, rubbing his eyes.

"And on that happy note, let's get this evaluation underway," Professor Giles said brightly, prodding the dummy with her wand again. "You may begin now."

XOXOXO

"That was interesting," Quentin said.

"Please, being berated because I didn't know the various fighting styles was embarrassing, not interesting," Buffy said with a sigh. "And hearing that my training was woefully inadequate and that my Watcher shouldn't have been on active duty kind of hurt. Like, I'm sorry that I wasn't discovered until I was Called and not taken from my family at birth because I was a Potential, but was that my fault? No. Although she totally made it sound that way."

"So, why did you want to know if Malfoy was human?" Quentin asked.

"I'm not allowed to hurt humans, even the evil ones," Buffy replied with a shrug. "Thought I'd check, but this place doesn't really seem like the kind of place to let part-humans in."

"There's enough prejudice around here with blood purity," Quentin remarked. "I shudder to think how things would go if they let werewolves or other part-humans around here. I actually don't even know if werewolves are allowed. I mean, they're dangerous beasts, aren't they?"

"Not all the time," Buffy replied, remembering Oz. "They're only dangerous three days out of the month. If you think about it, I'm not a happy camper three days out of the month, either."

"And you would know this how?" Quentin asked.

"My friend's boyfriend was, is a werewolf," Buffy replied.

"What did you do to control him during his transformation?" Quentin asked, curious.

"Locked him in the book cage in the library," Buffy replied. "I got to stay watch. He couldn't get out and I was there in case he did."

"I suppose that would work, but since you're the first Slayer to attend Hogwarts – the first Slayer to exist in the wizarding world, at that – I don't think they'll be utilizing that method any time soon," Quentin remarked.

"Didn't think so," Buffy said. "So, what was up with that Malfoy guy anyway? Any particular reason why he was making like I was some kind of ho? It's not like I've been shoving my tongue down every guy's throat."

"No, but reputations can be ruined if you shove your tongue down the wrong boy's throat," Quentin pointed out. "And Malfoy has a rather… unfavourable view of anyone who has less than pure blood. Finds them uncouth, and less civilized. And can we please stop talking about your tongue? It's starting to make me feel uncomfortable."

"How does he know I'm not a pureblood?" Buffy asked with a snort.

"Well, are you?" Quentin asked.

"Well, no," Buffy replied. "I mean, I'm pretty sure. Neither of my parents showed any kind of magical ability as far as I'm aware. But still, how did he know? Is there, like, a secret handshake or something?"

"Purebloods just know," Quentin replied. "There are the big names that everyone in our world knows. Potter, Weasley, Malfoy, Prewett, Black, Longbottom… there are others, but those are the big ones. All you have to do, really, is look at the surnames of most of the Slytherins and you'll get a lot of the pureblood names. Well, the evil ones, anyway."

"So Tom's a pureblood?" Buffy asked.

"Not sure. I've never heard of the name, but that doesn't mean he isn't one," Quentin replied. "There are loads of smaller names; most people only know the main ones."

"So, it's kind of like the royal family, then," Buffy mused.

"Yeah, kind of," Quentin agreed. "I'm a half blood myself. Dad's Muggle-born and my granddad on my mum's side is a Muggle. It doesn't really mean anything, though. Magic's magic, and your blood has nothing to do with your power level."

"Spoken like a true Mudblood," said a voice from behind them. They turned and, sure enough, Malfoy was standing behind them. "You two ought to get back to your common room. Wouldn't want something… unfortunate… to happen to you."

"Not afraid of you," Buffy said, narrowing her eyes. She'd just finished getting berated for her fighting style and methods and was really itching for a fight to prove how effective her way was. Malfoy was looking pretty good as a punching bag right about now.

"You should be, you filthy Mudbloods," Malfoy sneered. "There will come a day where the purebloods will rule the wizarding world, a right long due to them, and filth like you will be our slaves."

"This conversation isn't going into disturbing territory, not at all," Buffy said sarcastically as Malfoy sneered at them again before turning and stalking off in the opposite direction.

"Okay, so that was totally random," Buffy remarked. "But I think he's got the right idea. Let's get back, I still have Charms homework to do."

"Good plan," Quentin agreed, and together they headed back up to the seventh floor, thankfully unhindered this time.

XOXOXO

The next morning, Buffy woke up with a mission in her mind. She had to track down ol' Tommy-Boy and set the record straight with him. If he'd gone blabbing about their nearly non-existent, but still very much real, relationship-slash-snogging sessions, there would be heads to bash.

"You look like you're going to kill someone," Minerva remarked as Buffy marched down the girl's staircase and into the common room. "I don't want to know. I don't want to go into the books as the Head Girl who was accessory to murder."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Buffy replied solemnly. "Have you seen Quentin? He's usually up before I am."

"Here I am," Quentin greeted, before Minerva could get an answer in. "You look like you're going to kill someone. Hey, if it's Riddle or Malfoy, can I watch?"

"I think you've been a bad influence on him, Buffy," Minerva said, looking pointedly at the girl in question. "He's never been this fascinated with violence."

"His favourite class is Defence Against the Dark Arts, one of the most violent branches of magic. The seeds were already there, I just helped them grow. Which is weird because I can't get normal plants to grow to save my life," Buffy replied, before turning to Quentin. "And there will be no killing. And no, you can't watch."

"You're no fun," Quentin said with a pout. Minerva just shook her head; she had learned fairly quickly that trying to understand their friendship was a lost cause. "You ready for breakfast?"

"I suppose," Buffy said with a sigh, although she wasn't actually going to eat anything. She doubted she'd have time.

They left the common room together and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast, joining the other students in their travels as they trickled down from their various common rooms for sustenance. When they reached the Great Hall doors, Buffy put a hand on Quentin's arm to hold him back.

"Before you go in, can you tell me if Tom's at the Slytherin table?" Buffy asked.

"I don't see him," Quentin replied, craning his neck to make sure. "Nope, I can't see the oily bastard."

"You go on ahead, then," Buffy said. "I have to deal with something here."

"Does that something involve ripping a certain Slytherin a new one?" Quentin asked deviously.

"Minerva's right, I have been a bad influence on you," Buffy said before pointing in the direction of the Gryffindor table. "Go eat some breakfast. You get cranky when you don't get your morning OJ."

"Yes ma'am," Quentin said, hanging his head in mock shame before he headed to the Gryffindor table. Buffy took up a post guarding the door to the Great Hall, waiting for her target.

She didn't have to wait long.

In the group of Slytherins he was laughing with, he was the closest to her. None of them noticed her; no one did, when she wanted to go unnoticed. The Slayer was able to blend into her surroundings in order to launch surprise attacks, and she needed that camouflage that day. She supposed it helped that the black robes and grey uniform helped her blend into the wall, but didn't really dwell on the implications of that.

As soon as Tom was close enough, she grabbed onto his wrist and bodily dragged him away from his friends. An indignant noise was silenced by a glare as she made sure they were in an area where they wouldn't be disturbed before she slammed him up against the wall, pinning him with a glare.

"Not so fun when it's happening to you, is it?" she asked, poking him in the chest.

"I never got violent with you, though," Tom reminded her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted to bruise a bloke. What's this about?"

"You. You and your blabbermouth," Buffy replied, poking him again.

"Come again?" Tom asked, confused. "I haven't the foggiest what you're talking about, Buffy."

"You! You and your spilling secrets and telling people private things that shouldn't be told," Buffy retorted.

"Those are kind of the same thing, love," Tom said with a smirk. "And I still have no idea what you're talking about. Explain, please."

"Ran into your friend Malfoy last night," Buffy replied. "Said he knew things about me that could ruin me. Made like I was some kind of ho-bag, shoving my tongue down every guy's throat, if his comments to me and Quentin were any kind of indication. There's only two people who know stuff that would ruin me. One is you, the other is Quentin. I know Quentin wouldn't betray me. So that leaves you. You have thirty seconds to convince me not to beat the snot out of you, starting now."

"Abraxas was probably talking out of his arse," Tom said, sighing at Buffy's puzzled look. "Malfoy. His first name is Abraxas. He was probably talking out of his arse, trying to rattle you. Unless he saw me snogging you the other day. Or at the Slug Club party. We weren't really being subtle about that."

"So you didn't tell him anything and make me out to be some kind of disgusting ho-bag?" Buffy asked.

"No," Tom said, attempting to step forward. Buffy poked him yet again, pinning him back to the wall.

"You're off the hook for that, but I'm still royally pissed at you," Buffy said, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're still an asshole, even if you're not a rumour-spreading asshole."

She turned and headed to the Great Hall, hoping to grab some breakfast before classes. What she didn't know, but probably should have expected, was that Tom was far from giving her up.

XOXOXO

Not entirely sure how much I like this, but I'll let you guys decide. Updates should be coming relatively quicker, because I've completed Slayer Shinigami and will be focusing on this fic over anything else. Updates should be coming every week or week and a half or so until its finished, as long as my work schedule and muse cooperate.

As always, feedback is much appreciated. Thanks for reading.