A/N:- I didn't take 6 months! Yay. I think I might try to keep a fortnightly update schedule as my social calendar is rather full this summer so I know I'm incapable of more (it's nice to feel popular on occasion). Although… I can't promise that what I'm updating will be KttP – I keep getting inspiration for Chosen and a wonderful set of reviews of that story I just got aren't helping.
On that note… any of you who are pleased about the (relative) speed of this update should thank DemonKittyAngel whose interesting discussions have kept me on the straight and narrow. As most of you probably know by now I find it impossible to write both stories in tandem (I get too lost in whichever world I'm writing to easily switch to another) so you should be happy she's keeping me interested in Harry Potter… or, if you prefer Chosen, not I suppose… just let me know and I'll go indulge myself ;)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, reading your kind comments and intriguing ideas as ever helps inspire me. Thank you , EarwenTelrunya, sunraek, DemonKittyAngel, Fantasy-Manua31 and enchantedlight
sunreak (as the only reviewer I am unable to respond to in PM) - Thank you so much for your comments (and enthusiasm). I'm glad that my characters have managed to stay true to form. Feel free to let me know if I ever loose that.
Now onto the important bit...
That Which Binds Us
Afterwards Buffy didn't remember the rest of the lesson, she somehow completed the training exercise without drawing attention to herself, going through the motions of battle without any thought being involved. Her whole mind was instead focussed on what had been said, what Harry had seen.
It was happening now; that at least she had gathered from the Gryffindor's conversation, somehow Harry was able to see into the mind of the torturer as Buffy was there in the body being tortured. If the dreams weren't so similar she might have had doubts, believed the rumours that flew about the school spurred on by libellous comments in the wizarding newspaper. But they were, and if this wasn't a warning of a future she had to avoid then it had to be a call to arms, a call she had ignored for a fortnight while another girl was tortured nightly.
Buffy felt sick.
She would like to believe that she would feel this sense of fury, of urgency even without the dreams, but Buffy had to admit that feeling, living her counterpart's pain had added desperation to her need to find this girl.
Buffy tried not to let it affect her, tried to do a job that before had always involved many more minds, brains far superior to her own. To figure out what was going on, find out how to save a girl she had no chance of locating. And with the boy's history 'he' could only be You-Know-Who, the most feared wizard in their world, a wizard most were still claiming was dead and gone. Buffy considered going to the Headmaster, try to convince him that her dreams were real, that they needed to find the wizard responsible. But then even Harry hadn't had any hope that he could help, and there was the other reason, the memory of him sitting next to Snape at dinner that evening, grinning at the man's scowl.
Dumbledore, the wizarding world's famous champion laughing with a man affiliated with the people who have done this, who have captured a girl and tortured her for the better part of a month. The feeling of nausea grew and Buffy knew that she couldn't do it, cant trust a man who gives his friendship so freely to such a despicable person. But without help of better wizards, how was she supposed to find, let alone defeat, a wizard skilled enough that the whole magical world feared him, a world she still knew next to nothing about.
While she considering her options in the hard armchairs of the Ravenclaw common room she slipped in and out of uncomfortable sleep, her ever-fractured dreams confirming what she now knew to be true. Returning to that surreal place where she was in constant agony, where nothing felt quite right. Knowing that it wasn't her changed things; altered her perspective on what she saw. As the wizard attempted to force his way into the mind she hid within for the umpteenth time, fighting to break barriers down in search of what he wanted to know, fighting and failing. Always failing to control this body that, even in its current state, had walls as strong as Buffy's, instinctive wards against intrusion, preventing any outside control.
In a half awake state, stuck between the pain of the dream and the hopelessness of not knowing what to do she heard a thought that so closely mirrored her own and yet hadn't come from her. It came from the dream where a girl was being barraged by spells. Those words forced her to accept what she had been refusing to, admit how very familiar this body felt, how familiar the power flowing within it was and the harsh reality of what that meant.
'Giles will find me. They will come.'
The one and only person she could imagine having this connection with, the only one who would manage to live through the things she had experienced was meant to be in Sunnydale. Living in her mother's house, protecting her family.
Instead the other slayer, Faith, was bound in chains.
She wished Giles were here, any of the Scoobies. Someone to bounce ideas off, one person she could trust… she contemplated visiting the statue, but although Camilla was a fantastic trainer she wasn't good at making plans, still acting like the child she had been when she died.
Watchers… the image of an imposing building surrounded by high black railings flashed through her thoughts and she knew whom she should go to for help. Giles may not be here, but she was stuck in the land of tweedy librarians, and their headquarters were only a train journey away. Where better to find out where a slayer was than from those charged with the duty of aiding them in their battle?
"Good evening, Slayer."
In her rush she hadn't seen him, hidden in the dappled shadows cast by the cloud shrouded moon. Although how he had managed the feat eluded her, now that he had greeted her his white-blond hair and body stood out sharply against the dark of the night, some centaur trick she supposed.
"This is not the way to the Forest." Firenze commented, eyes following the path Buffy had been taking towards the gat out of school grounds.
"No… I wasn't…" She paused, wary. The centaurs seemed willing to keep her secrets, but this one was a teacher at the school and Buffy couldn't help but worry about where his loyalties now lay. Especially with the bruises of hoof prints still visible on his hide.
"Do not fear. I may have betrayed my kind by coming here, but I will not betray confidences, yours or theirs"
She found something recognisable in the sincerity of his eyes, in the soft tone that Buffy couldn't help but trust. "I… I'm going."
"Going?" he asked, that melodic voice encouraging confidence.
"I have to get out… get to London."
He nodded, looking over to the Forest but seemingly seeing further, through the cloud to something beyond, "Pluto rose early tonight."
The centaur stood like that for a long moment, staring off into the night lost in thought or perhaps seeing something she was unable to. Just as Buffy gave up on him saying any more and resumed her brisk walk he held out a hand to stop her, "Come, I know a quicker path."
He urged her on in a quick jog, trotting along beside her before coming to an abrupt halt as they neared the forest, searching for something in amongst the trees.
"How is this faster… I need" There was a sense of urgency in the discovery that this was happening now that hadn't been there when she thought it was something that might happen to her.
"Slayer" a new voice intoned, "I had not expected to meet you this night"
"Arno." Firenze greeted the other centaur cautiously, hooves digging at the ground in preparation for a quick escape if one was needed, watching Arno carefully as he came towards them from the shadows of the trees.
The dark centaur looked the new professor up and down, eyes settling for a moment on the still visable brusing on his flank before meeting his eyes, "Brother."
The familial greeting allowed Firenze to relax, his usually solemn face breaking into a relieved smile.
"Nice to see you again Mr. Centaur, but I really need to get…"
"You will not make it if you travel by foot." Firenze told her.
"I have until morning, if I can find a train..."
"You will be lucky to have a few hours beyond the boarders of this valley. Your magic is wild, barely tamed and it will quickly be found."
So that was how they had found her, tracing the raw magic flowing off an untrained wizard. If they could still sense her then they would capture her long before she got to London. Perhaps if she broke into the post office and used some floo powder… but there was nowhere she knew an open fire would be, "Then there's no point."
In her dejection, wondering who out of the teachers she would have to trust to get herself a trip to London, what lies or half-truths she could get away with telling, Buffy missed an exchange between the two centaurs; Firenze silently asking for permission from Arno who, after a moments consideration, nodded.
"Do not worry Slayer, there are other ways to travel."
Arno turned to her gracing her with a slight smile that, like his bright blue eyes, was the mirror of his brother's, "Follow me Slayer, we must hurry."
He galloped off with Buffy running close behind at a speed that was at the edge of even her abilities, stopping her frantic race after him when she realised that they were not heading out of the grounds.
"Where are we going?" she got out through laboured breaths, "I thought you couldn't apparate within Hogwarts grounds." She remembered seeing the trail of sixth years leaving the castle under the guardianship of Flitwick, heading outside the grounds to Hogsmeade where their Apparation training was to take place.
"What we will be doing is older than apparition, older than the parlour tricks humans now call magic. Their wards cannot stop it." Arno watched her for a moment, allowing her to recover from the gallop, "Come we have little time before dawn."
"What about Firenze?" Buffy asked, looking back to the pale form that had remained a safe distance back from the forest, watching them race away.
"My brother is no longer welcome within our herd and cannot venture into the forest." He entered the forest, moving at a brisk run but slower now that he had to navigate between the trees, "Be wary in future, his choice has angered many."
They eventually had to slow even this pace, moving into the denser forest where the centaur could no longer run and Buffy voiced the question she had wanted to ask the centaurs since first meeting them all those months ago. It was rare for her to meet them in the forest and rarer still to find one so amiable, this wasn't a chance she could let pass.
"Do you know why?"
"Your reasons for travelling are…"
"No" Buffy interrupted, "do you know why wizards forgot about slayers?"
He shrugged, a motion that rippled down powerful shoulders and along his equine back, "Their magic and your powers do not blend well."
"And?" Buffy prompted, hoping that the centaur's tendency for elusive answers wouldn't prevent him saying more.
Arno paused and looked at her closely with eyes that still seemed full of stars, of prophecy, "We do not know much of that time, the forests were larger and our races lived far apart. I have only heard what was read in the stars, that barriers were breached. Whatever happened scared the humans enough that they vowed to keep demons and wizards apart."
And they continued to walk. Finally after hours weaving through the trees, Arno paused again "Here we are."
Arno gestured ahead to a circular gap in the trees with a pool at it's centre that seemed to glow like a star, pure waters capturing the moonlight surrounded by magical beasts with a similar light shining from them. Buffy took inaudible steps forward, closer to the powerful creatures about the pool who, despite the lack of sound all paused their actions, frozen in fear. The largest of the unicorns, a stallion moved between the herd and the pair entering the glade, proudly lowering his horn in warning as, with a whinny, he directed those under his care to leave. Once all the others had fled, he left with a final neigh in Buffy's direction.
"I didn't realise Unicorns were so scared of humans." She commented, disappointed that these elusive denizens of the forest had not stayed.
"It is not humans that they fear, although they are wary of them also. They will not suffer the presence of your kind. Unicorns are pure, creatures of innocence, peace."
"And I am stained in blood." She took a step back, away from the beautiful glade. Did she have the right to corrupt a place so tranquil with her presence? But then Arno had brought her here, they must need this place to get her to London.
"Wait here," Arno ordered, "the others will be here soon."
"But when did you-" He hadn't contacted anyone as far as she could tell, and yet she could hear that his words were right, the faint rhythmic thumping of hooves drawing closer.
"They will come to see what has disturbed the glade, what scattered the Unicorns."
They stepped out from the trees into the clearing. Drawing closer to the pool she could feel the power radiating, not from the Unicorns that had surrounded it as she originally thought but from the glade itself. Buffy tried to place the feeling, the familiar taste of this power.
"This is the centre of all the power in the valley."
That was it, she realised. This felt like the ambient magic flowing through every brick of the school, but stronger. So much stronger.
"What are you doing with this Human?" The centaurs had arrived on the far side of the glade, a ring of warriors pointing their deadly poisoned arrows with ease in her direction. Buffy tensed, she might have been able to take a couple of them before any got in a shot, but even with slayer strength and speed you only need one nick for poison to enter your blood. No-one was that lucky.
"How dare you bring one of her kind to this place?" The origin of the voice came forward and Buffy realised that the arrows weren't only pointed at her but also at the centaur beside her. She edged to one side, prepared to prevent him from being punished for trying to help her, but Arno had no need for her protection.
He boldly faced the greying centaur warrior without a trace of apology, "She is not a Human, She is the Slayer."
The grumbles of the centaurs indicated that some of them, like the unicorns, saw this is even worse.
"She is allied with them, lives at the school" Their leader spat out the final word in distaste.
"And we owe her a great debt, or are we to act like them and forget our vows?" That idea seemed to shock the centaurs, some of the archers even lowering their bows at the power of Arno's words. Debts and promises meant a great deal to their race.
It hadn't rested well on the old centaur, the anger, and it was only when his face relaxed that she recognised him for the elder she had met the first time she had encountered centaurs in the forest. The one who had been so kind and understanding. Had Firenze's actions changed so much that it could turn one such as him against her, any human.
"You are here to seek reward for the deed you performed for us?" He asked formally.
"I…" Buffy looked at Arno, who nodded encouragingly, "There is another Slayer and I think she has been captured. I need to find her."
"Even with the power of this glade, we do not have what would be necessary to locate your sister." With the reminder of Buffy's recent help he seemed genuinely regretful that they were not able to aid her.
"No… I want to go to London. I think the Watchers…"
"Ah, yes. The Guardians must have a means of finding your kind." He paused, intense dark eyes looking over at Arno, trying to judge just what the younger centaur had revealed before finally giving in, "That we may be able to help you with."
This wasn't anything like the magic she was learning at Hogwarts, no simple words and instant reactions for the centaurs. Like their conversation they took their magic at a slower pace, carefully considering to ensure that words and intentions perfectly coincide.
The centaurs had lit fires on the rocky ground surrounding the pool, a pool which closer inspection revealed wasn't a rough circle as might have been expected but shaped like a star burst, points emerging around an almost perfect circle. This bizarre shape hadn't shaped by mortal hands, but was the natural formation of the rock in the glade, caused by the interaction of the powerful magic with the moon's light.
At each point of this burst of light a small blaze was kindled, burning woods and herbs, filling the glade with scented smoke as the centaurs chanted in an unknown tongue, a chant accompanied as only centaurs could by the stamping of hooves, their rhythm something akin to the beat of her heart. Arno was constantly moving about the clearing, directing the proceedings with the group of archers trying to follow his orders, these fighters unused to ritual.
Only Chrixon stood at the edge of the glade by Buffy watching the others. He confirmed her suspicions that her friendly centaur was a scholar among their kind, one of those more knowledgeable in the study of the stars and the magic of the earth. The elder centaur, though wise as his entire race appeared to be, could not, he said, have formed the spell they were now attempting to achieve.
Finally, as the skies began to lighten Arno approached the point where Chrixon and Buffy watched the preparations. "It is not quite as I would have liked, but we must try this now, before we loose the last of the moonlight. I will place you as close as we can, the magic there should help to disguise your presence."
"That's great, t..."
"Buffy," She turned to him, surprised at the use of her name when the centaurs had been so consistent in calling her by her title, "The method they use is most likely tied to your blood, to your power. If you do not wish to make your presence known, you will need to follow its pull."
"Thank you."
"You are welcome, Slayer. You did us a great service protecting one of our young. I am glad that we can also help you save one of your kind, although I fear if the one who has her is who I suspect, even the Guardian's may not be up to the task."
With Buffy still stewing over those final words, he lead her into the centre of the ring of fires and, at the edge of the still glowing pool that stood a clear void in the midst of the smoke that somehow surrounded but failed to encroach on it, gestured her forwards. A light shove, sent Buffy stumbling out into the pool, but she didn't fall into the deep waters below. Somehow the surface of the glowing waters held strong beneath her weight.
She slipped slightly on the glassy material but moved when urged by Arno to the centre of the starburst. There she could feel the full force of the power of this place, looking down into the currents of fresh water running through the silvery glow of the pool, dimmer now that the moon was setting in the west. It's light eclipsed somewhat by the lightening sky as the sun threatened to rise.
She waited as the thrum of chanting continued around her, muffled by the haze of smoke that hid those making the sound. It was distorted, twisting like the magic around her, flowing through her entering every fibre of her being. For a moment Buffy feared that this, this overwhelming sense of magic engulfing every part of her would waken the slayer, cause that thing within to fight this magic, but this was a benevolent power and the creature within her felt no need to rise against it. The magic, rhythm and chanting reached a crescendo and she looked up to find the last of the moon light shining directly into the pool from above.
In an instant the dawn that the centaurs had been racing in their ritual, speeding to get the spell completed before it broke and shattered the magic of the pool, the light that had been threatening to break over the forest dulled to dusky skies. She was in a flat grassy space, and for a moment, disorientated by what had happened Buffy was motionless, but then she remembered the warnings of the Centaurs, that the Ministry might trace her magic. If she wanted to get what she needed she would have to hurry, find it before the morning brought questions of her location and a reason to search for her.
Buffy quickly left the park she had appeared in and headed, not towards the front of the Watcher's Headquarters but to the road that ran alongside it. Any attempt to enter by the main door would no doubt immediately draw the attention of those within, and though she had come here for aid, she had spent too much time hiding this year to expect it to be easily given. Better to do as Arno had suggested, hunt down whatever it was they used to find Slayers and locate Faith herself.
As she clambered over the wall that guarded the Council's property she felt a wave of something pass over her, magic Buffy realised in surprise, but why would this place be protected by spells when no wizards were meant to know about her kind. The wards delved into her, tasting her power and a wave of dizziness passed over her, leaving her feeling weak as if she had just gone through an intense practical charms lesson. She paused, leaning against the wall but as ever the slayer power rose within her to fill the lack, giving her back her strength.
Over the last few months she had become used to this sensation, and though it still made her wary to feel the power that had overwhelmed her so completely rise up within, she no longer worried that it might take control again. It seemed that without the extreme circumstances that had occurred in the alley that night, the break down of the barriers of soul between her powers, they could not merge. Or was it that she hadn't reached that sense of desperation needed to trigger the animal hidden within, to trigger an Animagus transformation, Buffy wasn't certain why but she had come to accept that there wasn't any immediate danger of the slayer taking over again.
Feeling rejuvenated and oddly energised, Buffy looked around her, taking note of the strong defences on the windows and doors of the building. The Watchers knew that by helping the one who fought the demons of this world they were inviting attack and protected their home appropriately. The one area that appeared to be less well guarded was a structure that annexed onto the main building. It appeared to be a chapel, although Buffy couldn't see any religious symbolism on the outer structure, adorned instead with the insignia of the council. The windows were high and arched to the roof which stood over two floors above the ground and the heavy wooden door seemed remarkably badly secured compared to the sturdy metal gates and barred windows adorning the rest of the building.
Buffy crept to the doorway without alerting anyone behind the lit windows dotted about, Watchers apparently keeping Slayer's hours even without a slayer to watch. As she suspected the old door was only held in place by heavy bolts from the inside, with no attempts made to modernise the security in this place as it had been for the other entrances. She pulled hard, putting all her strength into it, and after a series of groans the bolts gave way, flying out of the wood and allowing the door to crash open.
She stepped through the doorway, quickly pulling the door to behind her to mask her entrance though the bolts that held it in place were gone, leaving it hanging ajar. Inside the space felt even more like a place of worship with it's vaulted ceiling and lines of benches facing a raised area at the far end, however still there was no sign of a crucifix, and on the platform instead of an altar there was a hexagonal stone table with a large bowl carved into it topped by a pillar that reached up to the roof. Buffy puzzled over what this could be as she turned towards where this space was joined onto the main building and found herself facing the back of a statue. For a second she thought Camilla had somehow followed her to London, so similar was the marble figure before her, but then Buffy realised that this statue was larger than life, double the size of Camilla and it was motionless, carved from lifeless stone.
Buffy walked in front of the statue, to where with a sword and knife drawn it guarded the entrance to this place from the Council headquarters, and looked back down the monumental room, finally realising what this place was. The shelves that covered every inch of the walls weren't merely for decoration, they held urns, and before most of these vessels were weapons, their metal dull in the dim light filtering in through tall windows. This wasn't a church; it was a mausoleum. A monument and resting place for Slayers.
And if the worn benches and paths were anything to go by, it was a place frequently visited by the Watchers, with many of the nearby pigeonholes containing flowers or candles in remembrance of the girl, the Slayer contained within.
She had spent too many of her teenaged years in graveyards not to have wondered how she would be remembered. If her accomplishments would ever be acknowledged or if her grave would just be seen as that of another mediocre teen dying tragically young. She had known that the diaries, Giles' record of her time as a Slayer would live on as a record for those few who might read them, but this, this memorial to the strength and courage of young girls called to duty, this declaration of love for their charges, was something she had never expected from reserved watchers.
Noticing an inscription on the base of the statue, Buffy moved closer, completely forgetting in her interest in this place that she should be moving on, quickly hunting down what she needed to find the other Slayer and save her from her torment, prevent her joining their sisters on those shelves. Before she could read the inscription the door behind her slammed open and she heard the unmistakable sound of a crossbow bolt being drawn into place.
"Turn around with your hands where I can see them."
~ to be continued… ~
A/N:- So I'm feeling all proud of myself because last night I figured out an aspect of Voldemort's plan that has been bugging me for a while (the only way I could think of doing it just didn't work… and now it does!). Yay. And in part related to this I thought I 'd ask a question… A few times I've found myself replying to reviews of emails with comments like 'you can figure it out if you think about what Voldemort wants' and one person sensibly came back to me saying essentially 'well that's all well and good, but it's what you think he wants isn't it?'. And yes, yes it is what I think he wants because… well this whole story likely mirrors my perceptions of the world (wizarding or otherwise). So anyway… the question is what do you think is (or should be) important to Voldemort?
To be honest your responses (assuming I get any) probably won't change the main plot I have planned… cause I like it and it fits in with my views of life, the universe and everything. It will let me know just how much a shock what's coming might be to you guys… and… well… any reviews are good at bashing me over the head with plot ideas… which encourages me to write (see where I'm going with this?).
Aaand… because apparently I like giving out homework this fortnight… I have one more question. I've been trying to write an appropriate inscription for the statue and can't come up with anything (well that's a lie I come up with many things… none of them good enough). I've been getting inspiration from inscriptions on war memorials… so if you know anything appropriate that might help I'd love to hear it. I keep end up going back to using (some variation on) Churchill's Battle of Britain speech 'Never was so much owed by so many to so few' (partly just because it's fun to reassign those famous words to watchers…).
Of course I would also, as always, love to know what you thought of the chapter itself.
