WordCount :- 38,497

A/N :- I'm really sorry about the time it took to update. Exams, Illness and far too much Rowing ate into my time too much and I'l like to thank those reviewers that gave me a kick to keep on going. My main problem is that I cant seem to get this chapter into a form I like... anyway here it is. Definately not my best work, but hopefully it'll let me get on with the rest. If you think its too OOC let me know and I'll try and revise it again/ get rid of it... anyway. Just to let you know I'm back.

Uses of Wormwood

She crept silently into the greenhouse so as not to disturb the spiel Professor Sprout was giving the class on the importance of the coming year and the exams they were to take at the end of it. Slipping into a space on the side of the greenhouse occupied by Ravenclaws, she found herself looking up into a pair of emotionless grey eyes.

The greenhouse was split into two with a long plant bed running down the centre. Though the two houses that shared this lesson had carefully chosen opposite sides of the plants to find a workspace; the start of autumn decay meant that the screen between the houses, which would be lush and impenetrable in spring, now had gaps through which the Slytherin students could sneer at the row of Ravenclaws.

Having heard many speeches on the importance of the exams she 'presumed' to take at the end of the year, she felt no need to pay attention to the Herbology Professors seemingly cheery warnings to the fifth years of her expectations. Though she seemed far more laid back than, for example, Professor Snape; chatting to her over the flowerpots had revealed that she had just as strong a reputation to uphold in her pass rate, and was determined to keep it impeccable.

"This year we will be looking in close detail at things that often come up in the OWL, for example…" most of the class listened, most with a slightly dazed expression as the lecture continued.

Instead, avoiding the glare that was being sent at her through the plants, Buffy took the time to look around Greenhouse four. Though she had befriended the portly professor, she had still not been allowed in areas of the Professors realm beyond the ones that students of her ability were normally admitted to, so after finally being allowed into one of these forbidden areas, she looked around eagerly. The plants in the section they were standing in weren't particularly dangerous, stronger breeds of the plants she had already covered while going over the work for the first three years.

"There are many plants here that are dangerous. Before you will be allowed in the southern end of the greenhouse I will have to agree that your essays on the plants in question and safety procedures to be taken around them are up to scratch."

Looking past the fence that, though only shoulder height, effectively split a third of the greenhouse into a separate section, she noticed some of the plants that had sparked her attention in her potions classes, a particularly strong breed of hellebore, the softly spiked leaves of which could render an elephant unconscious.

She was forced out of her observations by the movement of the class around her as they went about whatever task the professor had set and a sharp shout of surprise when Anthony turned to find her standing a few feet away from him.

"When did you come in? You'll need to let Sprout know you're here. She's marked you as absent" he said as they picked out pots and small bags of dragon dung fertilizer from the shelves under the plants.

Returning to her space she found herself once again being observed through the green screen that halved the classroom. When she met the eyes of the insulting Slytherin, he smiled languidly at her not attempting to hide the hunger in his eyes as they slid over her petite form. Frowning as she turned away from the intrusive stare, she looked back to the plants they were re-potting and harvesting. "I got here as soon as I could, but I got kept behind by Umbridge."

"You've had DADA already?" Padma exclaimed loudly from her space not far away eliciting a reproving look from Professor Sprout. She blushed as her classmates turned to see what the commotion was about and moved closer to Buffy and Anthony "What's Umbridge like?"

Buffy sensed the attention of the surrounding students still focusing on their conversation and tried to keep her voice down so as not to anger Sprout further by distracting her class. "All we did was read through the text book." Padma emitted a derisive laugh making Buffy smile, obviously someone else had noticed the pointlessness of their text "From the sound of it that's all we'll be doing. The Professor was really put out when someone asked when we'd be practising the spells."

"What d'you mean?" concern started to tinge Padma's tone as she thought of how an inadequate teacher in this year could effect not only their grades but their job opportunities.

"There won't be a situation in class when you need to use spells, so there's no need to practice." Those around her that could hear sniggered at Buffy's exaggerated imitation of Umbridge's sickly voice, managing to sound even stranger with the hint of an American accent that Buffy couldn't keep out of her tone. The only person who didn't seem to find amusement in her statement was Anthony, whose brow crinkled in a frown of worry.

"But how are we supposed to pass the practical if we never practise the spells? She's gonna make sure our entire year fails their…"

"Mr Goldstein could you please save your discussion until after class?" Anthony's outburst, which had slowly increased in volume as he grew more agitated was stopped by the Herbology Professor appearing behind the group of Ravenclaws. She turned to fix her stare on Buffy "It's good to see you've arrived Ms Summers, but considering your problems catching up the work, I hope you'll pay closer attention in class in future."

Others around them that had been listening in on their conversation had turned back to their work as soon as the Professor spoke making themselves look busy so it was Padma, Buffy and Anthony who were left blushing as they bore the brunt of Sprout's ire. Mumbling their apologies they returned to their respective plants, their embarrassment heightened by the muffled sniggers that could be heard from the Slytherins through the green screen.

Taking up a knife, Buffy reached to harvest some of the half formed fruit that contained the active ingredient of the small wormwood cuttings. Before she could make a cut with her blade she was interrupted by a derisive laugh.

"You're cutting it too close to the fruit. You need to take it off right at the stem." The grey eyes through the plants were shining with the amused scorn that his voice dripped with.

Buffy shook her head, discounting the boy's help as one of the Slytherin tricks she'd heard her housemates warn the first years of "To make an infusion they'll need to be dried and cut as close as possible to the fruit." She saw both surprise and admiration at her knowledge of the plant cross the boy's face and a strong flash of the lust that he had never attempted to hide, obviously seeing it as his right to look on any woman in such an objectifying way, before it returned to its carefully schooled distain.

"True, but these are to be used fresh and need to keep their moisture as long as possible. You might want to listen closer to the instructions next time." The patronising mocking that seemed to cloud his every sentence had returned. Suspicious of help from someone that had been so insulting Buffy glanced through the plants at his own harvested fruit and was surprised to see that he had cut it off the stem as he'd described. Her thanks for the help came out louder than expected with her shock at the sincerity of his help.

With the attention of those on both sides of the greenhouse drawn to the quiet discussion a sneer of disgust once again crossed the Slytherin boy's features "I just don't want to get marked down in potions later when I have to make deep-numb with wormwood fruit inferiorly harvested by ignorant Ravenclaws." He turned to the lump of a boy that had been with him in the carriage, continuing in a stage whisper that was meant to be heard by all around them "And I thought Ravenclaws prided themselves on their intelligence." He somehow managed to make a snort of disbelief sound refined and fixed his gaze on the plant in front of him.

On the way out of class Buffy failed to notice the put out look on the Slytherin's face when she failed to meet any of his surreptitious glances in her direction or even, it seemed, give him a second thought. Any of the Slytherin girls, hell, most of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws would have been delighted to receive half as much attention from the only son of such a prestigious family. He'd rarely been denied anything he wanted and no colonial witch would be allowed to ignore him.

"How do you know Draco?" Buffy turned to see Padma and a group of the fifth year Ravenclaw girls walking briskly to keep up with the slayers fast pace as she made her way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Draco?" Buffy asked, not remembering having been introduced to whoever these girls were talking about.

"Mr Tall, Blonde and Insulting" said a short mousy haired girl "Our resident Slytherin Prince"

"Oh, you mean the Pervy Prefect? He chucked me out of a carriage on the train. Seems determined to find faults in everything I do."

"Pervy?" Padma asked as the others giggled at the idea that anyone would dare use that phrase to describe the stuck up Slytherin.

"Yeah… he seams to treat any woman like they're his personal property to ogle at. I'm sure I haven't encouraged him."

This bought out another round of laughter from the girls who obviously enjoyed the ease at which this stranger insulted on of the most powerful boys in the school.

Finally containing her mirth, Padma tried to speak more seriously "You should look out for him. His family's not one you want to be on the wrong side of. Especially now." Some of the girls sent pointed looks at Padma at her last comment and the conversation trailed off for a while with Buffy unwilling to ask about what was obviously a delicate subject.

Padma broke the conversation with a derisive laugh "I doubt he'll still be so keen on you when he finds out you're a muggle born. Slytherins only like pureblood wizards."

"It won't make a difference. I'd never go for someone like him." Buffy thought of his barely covered lust and arrogance of his own importance; trying not to compare him to the man she had loved. That train of thought only lead to tears.

"Do you have a boyfriend? Back home, I mean?" one of the other girls asked, eager to find out more about the new girl while she seemed in a talkative mood.

It was strange that after all this time and all the pain that Angelus had put her through, her first, instinctive answer was still "Yes" followed by the adoring smile that belongs only to young lovers crossing her face. For a moment she could forget. Then the image of Angel would come into her mind, and even now it was impossible for her to see the face of her love without remembering his last moments he'd spent in this dimension. Buffy faltered, stammering slightly as the memory that haunted her dreams returned once more "I… mean… no." she looked around at the kind and curious faces, for a moment hating the girls around her for bringing up this subject. "He died. Just before I moved here." Unconsciously she started to rub her fingers over the spot that a ring would sit on her finger and murmured to herself "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here at all."

That was a frightening thought; she would be relaxing in her living room with the Scoobies, or researching in the Library either way, no doubt laughing over something with her closest friends, not surrounded by strangers. If it hadn't been for Angel… the past two years wouldn't have been worth living, and she doubted she would have lived through them, with the number of times he'd saved her or helped her out. No. There was no use going over the blame again. What's done is done, and here she was.

Her questioner watched as she came back from whatever place she had been inside her mind, and stuttered an apology. Forcing a smile onto her face, Buffy stopped their apologies "Don't. There was no way you could've known." Regardless, they fell silent, not sure how to continue that conversation. Buffy looked down at her hands, realising finally that they were moving of their own merit, caressing the finger onto which Angel had placed a Claddagh ring on her Birthday, heart pointing towards her to show that she belonged to someone… to him. Looking at the bare flesh of her ring finger, she felt a twinge of remorse. Angel may have been sent to a place where he would be eternally tormented, but she had no doubt that he still 'belonged' to her. That he still acknowledged his love for her.

In fact, Angelus had still worn the symbol of affection even after they had discovered his true identity, though she couldn't know whether this was merely a way for him to heighten his malicious joy in tormenting her or meant that in some way even the demon that inhabited the body of her love felt the force that drew them together. Guilt rose in her stomach as she remembered the last image she had of Angel, the one that haunted her dreams so often.

He reached out to her, with a mournful and disbelieving expression on his face; unable to believe that it was Buffy that had thrust a sword through his stomach.

This time the hand outstretched towards her became clearer, the Claddagh ring glowing in the swirling fires of the vortex to hell.

"I… I have to go…"

She ignored the stares and angry shouts of teachers as she rushed through the corridors to her dorm room, only stopping when she reached the trunk at the foot of her bed. She rummaged through until she found the jacket she'd worn when she'd ran away and searched through the pockets until she found the silver chain from which hung her only two physical reminders of her lost love. The silver cross that he'd given her at their first meeting… and the ring he'd given to her on the night he had been taken from her.

She felt a sense of relief and completeness as she slipped the ring back onto her finger. The initial pain of his betrayal had made it too painful to wear this token of his love when Angel had lost his soul; but it would still take time before her heart belonged to anyone but him.

A/N :- Please review. I'd love to know what you think of this. I'll start replies again in the next chapter.