Chapter Twenty-Nine: What Dreams May Come – Part 1: Soul Searching

Disclaimer: I don't own characters from Buffy or Harry Potter. Until the day I can con both Joss Whedon and JK Rowling into a poker game with their properties as the stakes, and even then I'd probably lose my ass. I suck at bluffing. The big stupid grin on my face always gives away my best hands.

Spoilers: Harry Potter through the end of Deathly Hallows, but set before the epilogue; Buffy starting near the end of the Season 4 episode 'The Harsh Light Of Day'

Feedback: Yes, please. Anything you can tell me will be appreciated, even if I'm too introverted to always respond. If you've got any questions about stuff I write in here, like names or what something may mean, feel free to ask in a review or in an email. I'll be happy to answer, within reason. Can't go giving away some of my secrets now, can I?

Author's Note: Next four chapters are a bit of a trip. Each will deal with a portion of the dreamstate our heroes have been sucked into. There are all sorts of images and ideas that are going to be floating through these chapters. Some of them are obvious, others subtle... some of them will carry on to events in Books 2 and 3 of the series, some are just there as misdirection. (Think the cheese slice guy) I'm looking forward to seeing some of the theories and speculation about what you guys think might happen.

Author's Note B: Okay, I know these chapters are going to be quite weird. Even I realize that. It might make reading them a bit difficult. For that, I apologize. That's why I'm going to try and get through them as fast as possible. Hopefully, it'll be like the actual episode, Restless, in that you can go back to it later and say "Hey! I see what he was trying to do there now!" On a side note, while they can be considered insane, these chapters are some of my favorites because they were so much fun to research and write.

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Willow awoke with a start to find herself in the dark. She reached her hand out for a light switch or lamp, only to bump it against the wall less than a foot away. She did the same thing on her other side, and found the same result. She took a step backwards and found yet another wall flanking her. She suddenly saw a sliver of light near the floor in front of her, and soon made out the shape of a door in front of her.

She stepped towards it and felt for a knob, only to find the door had no such thing. Panic was beginning to set in, and she felt up and down the surface for anything that might act as a release for the very obvious door in front of her.

When the search failed, she started hammering on the door and shouting for help. The last voice she expected called to her from the other side, "Willow?"

"G...Ginny? Is that you?" Willow asked tentatively.

"Yeah, what are you doing in there?" Ginny asked curiously. Willow paused a moment at that question. Where was she? Did it really matter?

"I don't know! Can you get me out of here?" Willow meekly requested.

"Hang on!" She was silent for several moments, "There's no handle! Let me... I don't have my wand!"

It suddenly occurred to Willow that she was a witch. She felt around her clothes for her wand, which would undoubtedly allow her to open the door before her in a way that required her magic. She was just as upset as Ginny to find that her wand was nowhere to be found, "I don't like it in here."

Ginny could tell the other girl was beginning to let panic overtake her, as her voice was growing frantic. She looked around the barren white room and wished there was something that would allow her to get the stupid door open. She didn't know Willow very well, but she didn't like to hear the increasing fear in the girl's words.

She realized there was nothing she could do, no tool she could use to pry open the door. Just as she was about to start kicking at the door, a gentle hand tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to see a demure-looking little blond, who she suddenly recognized as Tara, one of Willow's friends. Her first instinct was to demand the girl help free her friend, but the words caught in her throat for some reason.

The girl just smiled serenely at her, not unlike Luna, and gestured with her eyes to the door. Without a word, Ginny felt herself step back and allow the girl access. She took several timid steps forward and reached out her hand. As if on command, an intricately designed knob faded into view, which she immediately turned and pulled.

Light flooded into the tiny room where Willow was rocking herself gently back and forth to keep herself from freaking out. She squinted in the sudden brightness, throwing a hand in front of her eyes. She hopped up to her feet and lunged out of the room and enveloped the nearest body in a tight, thankful hug, "Ginny, you did..."

She paused, as she stared over the shoulder of the recipient of her hug and saw the embarrassed redhead looking at her, "You're... there... so I'm..." She jumped backwards instantly, and took in her would-be savior, whom she immediately recognized, "T..Tara?

Willow blushed a crimson to match her and Ginny's hair while glancing back towards the room she came from. Her eyes bugged out, shifting between Tara and the room, before she saw the closet door fade into the stark white wall.

Ginny said nothing, only watched as Willow had what appeared to be an inner monologue while the blond smiled at them kindly and silently. Suddenly, Tara turned away from them and proceeded across the room.

The girls meekly followed, curious to see where she was going. The room seemed to open up in a way that shouldn't have been possible. It seemed to grow by length and width as they walked, until Tara stopped on particular spot and performed an odd twirl that would have looked much less strange coming from Luna Lovegood.

As she finished her spin, a design wrote itself out on the floor, and she planted herself down cross-legged in the very center. None of the symbols meant anything to either of them, and they didn't have time to examine them further as their attention was drawn to the flames that rose up at various points of the design. None were larger than a balled fist, and their colors rotated from red on through to violet before beginning again.

From the flames, a multitude of insects began floating about; butterflies, ladybugs, fireflies, even beetles and moths. They traced paths around Tara, who was doing her best to concentrate on whatever task the ritual was intended to perform.

With a sudden rumble, the walls of the room began to shake even as they seemed to draw inward to an almost claustrophobic degree. As bare as the white walls were, Willow and Ginny could see them shuddering with the force of the assault on their opposing sides. It sounded as if a thousand attackers were trying to beat their way into the room from the outside. Neither girl knew if the walls would hold against them.

Tara startled them by speaking, her voice sounding just the slightest bit flustered, but loud and clear even over the racket from the walls, "They're coming for me soon." Before either of them could ask who they are, the circular design flashed as bright as the sun for a moment, and the flames became as black as midnight.

The peaceful and harmonious creatures which circled around Tara's form were sucked back into those flames, and in their place returned the blackest and vilest looking spiders, snakes, and scorpions. They began crawling towards Tara, who was trying desperately to retain her concentration. Willow and Ginny made a move to help her, but were thrown back by the boundaries of the circle.

It was when the creatures finally touched her and began to crawl on her that she could hold it no more. She slapped at the beasts, trying urgently to get them off of her. Another flash, and they disappeared just as quickly as they came. The design on the floor melted away, and the two girls again tried to approach Tara.

She screamed, throwing her hands in front of her face and backed away from them. Willow still persisted, "Tara, let us help you... you could be hurt!"

She screamed again, "Don't look at me!" She then took off straight towards one of the walls. The door Willow had been trapped behind earlier reappeared and flung itself open just long enough for Tara to pass through before it slammed again. Ginny led Willow in the pursuit towards the door, hoping it didn't disappear before they reached it.

Willow laid her hand upon the door and pulled it open with as much force as she could manage. What it revealed was the last thing either of them expected, another stretch of blank white wall. Willow cried out and pounded on the wall until Ginny pulled her back. The door had vanished again, but on the far side of the room a crimson drape had appeared and fluttered lazily from a imperceptible breeze.

The two girls looked at each other and nodded looping arms in a show of support as they moved towards the drapery. Simultaneously they grabbed at the material and pulled it to the side before stepping in.

Willow and Ginny suddenly saw themselves in what appeared to be the staging area of some sort of theatrical performance. The sudden rush of colors their new surroundings contained left them unsteady for a few moments.

They looked around to see a crowd of people rushing around, all dressed in costumes ranging from slightly odd to the downright absurd. It was as they examined the costumes that they began recognizing the people. Standing off to the side there was someone dressed in a full suit of shining white armor.

Upon seeing them, it took a step forward with an arm raised in greeting, before tripping over their own feet and falling flat on their face. The helmet popped off and revealed a shaggy head of dark hair that Willow instantly recognized as Xander's.

When he looked up at them, though, they both gasped as they saw his eyes were not the same as they remembered. His right eye remained thankfully the same, but his left held nothing but the remnants of a ghastly scar, sealing his eye away for all eternity. Still, he smiled at them as cheerily as ever, "Sorry, that keeps happening to me."

He was then hoisted back to his feet by a remarkably younger looking Giles. He was wearing what appeared to be a tweed suit, only it happened to have the sleeves cut off. It showed off his well-muscled arms as well as a rather large tattoo on his left one which read, "God Save The Queen – From Rock And Roll!" He grinned lecherously as he saw the two girls checking it out.

Another crowd of people stood nearby and caught their attention. The most recognizable of the lot was Buffy, who was dressed like a cavewoman, her hair matted and a paint-like substance smeared in tribal designs across her face. She grunted at them before crouching down and moving off on what looked like a hunt.

Standing right beside where she was, the dark Slayer Faith was dressed in what could be considered a naughty version of an angelic costume, although with a very noticable devil's tail protruding from her behind. The halo above her head seemed to look like a tiny ball of light traveling in a circle, rather than being solid. She smirked at them and rested her hands on her hips, "Hey there, Red."

Oz was standing next to her, but didn't appear to be wearing a costume at all beyond a name tag that read 'Oz'. He just waved at them and remained silent.

A repeated thumping noise drew their attention to another part of the staging area, and Ginny gasped as she saw "Mad-Eye" Moody dressed in the most absurd outfit she had ever seen. Willow recognized it as something worn by golfers decades ago, almost head to toe in argyle. Even his peg leg was themed, replaced by a gold club with a large wooden head.

He held a scroll in his hands and barked for everyone to gather around him, which they eagerly did. He pulled the scroll open in front of him, but his mad eye suddenly spun around and focused on Willow and Ginny, "Someone get the stars over here!" A round of applause passed through the giant curtain which bordered the stage.

Giles was suddenly behind them, and placed a hand on the small of their backs to push them forward. The crowd of performers parted before them until they stood directly in front of Moody. He looked at them with something akin to contempt, before suddenly grinning widely.

The crowd suddenly began booing. "All right, everyone! Pay attention! Now, everyone that these girls have ever met," His mad eye spun towards Willow and Ginny, "are out in that audience, including all of us. That means we have to be perfect!"

He returned both his eyes to the parchment and read from it, "Acting is not about behaving, it's about hiding. The audience wants to find you, strip you naked, and eat you alive... so hide." The crowd cheered fanatically.

"It's all about subterfuge. Now go on out there, lie like dogs, and have a wonderful time. If we can stay in focus, keep our heads, and these girls..." His eye flew to Willow and Ginny again, and spoke with a voice that wasn't his own, "...can keep themselves out of harm's way, I know this will be the best production of A Winter's Tale ever put together."

Willow looked completely panicked, and Ginny grabbed her arms to calm her. Suddenly, the crowd outside began chanting their names, "Willow! Ginny! Willow! Ginny!" Everyone backstage rushed to their side and began pushing them towards the stage.

Ron stood by the part in the curtain and gestured for them to come closer. He was dressed like something out of colonial times, with a mangy powdered wig atop his head. Inexplicably, he held a platter filled with eggs in one hand, while the other was wrapped around a golden rope, and he spoke dangerously, "It's time to begin."

As the curtain began to rise, Willow and Ginny finally took a look at themselves and they're horrified at what they saw. Willow was standing naked as the day she was born, causing her to squeak and throw her arms over her important bits. She tried to grab at the curtain to cover herself, but it was crawling too high for her to reach for it in a dignified manner, leaving her out for everyone to see.

Ginny found herself dressed in dark robes holding an intricate mask in her hand. She pulled it up to look, only to realize it was the mask associated with the Death Eaters. She threw the mask away, while Willow tried desperately to cover herself from the crowd, filled with rows and rows of faceless people.

There was an abrupt heavy-sounding thud nearby and both girls turned to see Harry lying on the ground, lifeless. Ginny was even more horrified to see her own hand pointing towards him, holding a wand with a tiny wisp of smoke rising from it, like the barrel of a muggle gun.

Another thud from behind them, and Ginny feared she'd killed another person, so she tossed her wand from her hand only to find it was stuck to her.

Apprehensively both she and Willow turned again to see Luna Lovegood standing beside an open casket stood on end, dressed appropriately as the Grim Reaper. She looked at them impatiently and gestured to the coffin, "Well? Time is running short."

The women stood rooted to their spot, both terrified to move. It was then that "Mad-Eye" Moody stepped up behind them and gave a hearty shove that knocked them both to the floor while a wispy white form erupted from them into the casket before the lid slammed shut.