*A/N: Thank you for your patience. I'd promised myself that I'd 'gift' myself and my devoted followers of this story with an update. I realize that it has been awhile since my last one, I can only contritely say that it's been a rough few months, making it hard for my muse to give me any love. So I'm hoping this update will make up for my poor efforts.
Happy Holidays and as always I'm continually inspired by all the feedback and kudos. Thank you!
*A/N As always, feedback is VERY much appreciated!
They found themselves in what was affectionately called the Scooby War Room with Bellatrix pacing, her magic sparking like angry fireflies from her body. Internally Narcissa was practically writhing in fear and distress for her son. She knew he would be leaving Hogwarts in two days to return home for the holidays. But now they had to figure out how to essentially 'extract' her son before any of Voldemort's minions, much less the Dark Lord himself, caught on.
The… story that Bellatrix told of Voldemort's new upgrade while alarming, was certainly not unusual for the Council. Of course, having a powerful wizard suddenly imbued with demon blood was disconcerting. For Purebloods like Bellatrix and Narcissa these latest developments was unheard of and unspeakable, and went against everything they'd believed in, or had been taught: which was blood-purity. For all of the Dark Lord's pureblood rallying cry, to allow himself and other Pureblood's to become tainted with vampire blood, would be synonymous in allowing Fenrir to infect them with werewolf blood.
Very soon, if not already, Voldemort had begun to realize that Narcissa was no longer returning to the Manor, to their ranks, and was likely looking to punish the remaining Black-Malfoy members – including the Fake-Bellatrix, and Draco. Considering she hadn't seen hide or hair of her husband within the past two weeks, Narcissa had begun to believe that either he was already dead, being kept in the dungeons for 'entertainment,' or now, given the recent developments something more sinister had befallen him.
Narcissa had stopped being… marginally worried from the moment she'd been told that Draco was to have a place in Voldemort's army. Feeling a growing sense of anguish and intense concern for her son, Narcissa stood up, startling everyone in the room.
"Sitting here discussing strategy will not save my son! The Hogwarts' train should be leaving within 48 hours. I must somehow get to him before anyone else does."
Her wand began to give off intermittent sparks as the intensity of her emotions grew. Willow so wanted to go over to and enfold Narcissa in her arms. But she couldn't be sure how… or what they were and somehow she suspected that her attentions wouldn't be welcomed.
"Ok! So we need to figure out how to save Drake-" Buffy was briefly interrupted by Narcissa.
"Draco!"
Rolling her eyes, the Queen Slayer continued. "…Draco without the Baddies realizing it. That about sum it up?"
"Oh! I have it! A gole-" "A golem might do it." While it was slightly unnerving that it would be Willow and Bellatrix coming up with the solution at the same time, it also spoke to their reputed power and brilliance.
Giles had removed his glasses for their perpetual polishing, while Buffy, Rona, and Vi looked confused, while Rowena look contemplative. Dawn, who'd just joined them, looked momentarily startled before nodding her head. Narcissa simply looked skeptical.
Buffy tentatively raised her hand. "For those of us who don't speak witch-speak 101, can you clue us in?"
Narcissa responded. "It is considered dark magic, but obviously like all magic, it is about intention. Essentially you create a creature from an inanimate object shaped to be an exact physical copy of someone. And if the spellcaster is powerful enough, they can even imbue it with the ability to use minor magic, enough to fool those who aren't look too closely."
Excitedly Willow chimed in. "Exactly. It is derived from Jewish lore, I believe a rabbi from Prague-"
"Got it Will, no need for the dissertation." Buffy said with fond exasperation. "So a replica of someone else. That should work, right? How long would it take to make one?"
This time it was Bellatrix who answered. "That is the only problem. It takes at least two weeks to create the potion. In the meantime, Draco cannot return home."
Buffy, Giles, Dawn, and even Rowena snuck a look at their in-house magical expert, shifting the attention of Bellatrix and Narcissa to stare confusingly at Willow, who simply blushed at the sudden stares. Sighing deeply, she answered. "I think I might be able to speed things up. And without a potion too."
Bella scoffed. "That is impossible. This isn't some simple earth spell of herbs and smoke mud-muggle. This is complex spellweaving."
Normally Narcissa might be inclined to step in and warn her sister about impending danger. But sneaking a look at her… lover, knowing her true identity within the magical community, even in Britain, she decided it would do Bellatrix some good to be brought down a notch or two. Sitting back slightly, as she shifted comfortably, Narcissa watched as Willow's eyebrow rose high, and her eyes darken slightly.
Willow held up her hand at Vi, Rona, and Dawn's indignation on her behalf, while Buffy simply sat back to watch the fireworks, wishing she had popcorn. "Perhaps, we should have done proper introductions. While my name is Willow Rosenberg, I understand I've been branded with another moniker: the Red Witch." Willow internally grew slightly smug as she watched Bellatrix grow pale before continuing on. "So I probably will be able to come up with something sooner than two weeks."
Buffy snorted. "Ah yeah! Listen crazy witch, I bet our witch against your witchiness any day of the week."
This time it was Giles chiming in, hoping to redirect the conversation back to the urgent matter at hand. Having two powerful witches posturing wasn't exactly conducive to the discussion or the issue. It was also essential to avoid any and all triggers for Willow because while Bellatrix Black might have had the reputation for being ruthless, cruel, and powerful, Giles was willing to bet that she'd have no frame of reference or means of dealing with White-Willow, much less Dark Willow.
As for the red-headed Wiccan, the urge to flare Power, her Power was strong, not to mention the constant Darkness wanted to crush this witch into nothing for her insolence. But Willow had learned to be a more humble, compassionate person, her path towards redemption never ending. After all, until Bellatrix truly began her own journey towards redemption, thereby becoming somewhat trustworthy, it wouldn't do to illustrate just how powerful Willow really was.
"Nevertheless, Narcissa if you would be so kind as to give us a detailed run-down of Draco's imminent departure time and day, his friends and associates, as well as a contact person within Hogwarts if Professor McGonagall is not appropriate." Buffy had switched to General-mode as she dropped her faux ditzy, California blonde girl act, in order to begin finalizing details for Operation Rescue Drake.
"I still think it wouldn't hurt to utilize Professor McGonagall since she is the Deputy Headmistress. At the very least she could assist in discreetly organizing our efforts on the departure side." Rowena suggested.
At that Bellatrix rolled her eyes once she stopped glaring at Willow. "If it were any other Gryffindor, I'd absolutely say no, but since it's McGonagall that might work."
This time it was Narcissa who pinned Bella with a glare with a huff of irritation. "Really Bella! We don't have time for your pureblood-inter-house ridiculousness! After all it was this kind nonsense that has brought us to this point, endangering my boy!"
Immediately, Bella launched to her feet in anger. "No, it was Lucy who got you into this mess! All while you-"
It was Dawn who slapped a large tome down onto the table, stopping the sibling squabbling in its tracks. "I don't know about you ladies, but it seems we are missing the point of the initial discussion. Which is rather crazy since it's only your son, and your nephew's life on the line." Then she smiled, shrugging indifferently. "But hey, if you all wanna hash out old shit instead of figuring out how to rescue Drakie, then be my guest."
Rowena dipped her head to hide her amusement, while Buffy and Rona let out barks of laughter. Following that and much glaring from Bellatrix, they managed to come up with a tentative plan to rescue Draco. Research, then Willow will figure out some complex magical game-plan, and then they'd arrive at Hogsmeade to essentially meet up or snatch Draco, activate his golem replacement, and then bring Draco to Council headquarters. Meanwhile, Narcissa had decided to send Draco an owl, directing him to pick-up something right before he got onto the train in Hogsmeade.
It had been decided to not tell Draco that they were going to rescue him for his own safety. It would be better for him (and others) to believe life was continuing on as usual. In addition, Faith would tail him from Hogwarts to the extraction point to ensure his safety. It was a good plan, but as with all things magic, Scoobies, and Slayers it'd be good to have a back-up plan.