Life Is As Sweet As A Cinnamon Bun
6. Meet My Stake
I'd spotted the Slayer a few hours after sunset. She was roaming in the university surroundings with her friend, which was called Willow by what I'd heard. Discretely I followed them. I saw her stake two vampires - she was quite formidable. She killed them quickly and efficiently.
It must have been nearly midnight, when I lost the Slayer from sight. I continued walking on, hidden by the trees. But it was queer. She and her friend had suddenly turned back; I hadn't seen them for over half an hour. Where had they gone?
I heard something moving round. I turned round just in time to see someone plunging towards me! The stake missed me by inches. The Slayer rolled to the floor and got up again at lightning speed.
"Whoa, hey, I'm not a vampire!" I said loudly.
She lowered the stake. A little.
"Okay, you're not a vampire. What are you then?"
Of course she must have sensed I wasn't a Muggle. But, she did have a very sharp stake. By the time I could take out my wand she could well plant it in my heart. I wouldn't fall into dust, but I'd surely die a very painful death.
"I'll tell you if you put that stake down," I said.
She put the stake away, but what still on her guard. She asked me warily,
"Are you from England?"
"Yes. I need to talk to you about some important stuff."
"First tell me what you are, who you are and why you're here."
I grinned. She was extremely careful with strangers, and she had a right to be. For all she knew I could be the next demon coming out to take over the world.
"My name is Draco Malfoy. I've been sent from England, by the Ministry of Magic."
She blinked, slightly confused.
"You're a wizard?"
"Yes," I replied neutrally.
"Sorry, I can't really trust you. We've had problems with wizards before." She paused. "You know Giles?"
"Rupert Giles is your Watcher. That's different from a wizard, or a witch."
"First, Giles is no longer my Watcher. Second, I still don't know why you're here."
"That's quite a long story."
"Then make it quick." I did as she told, though I left out the part of working with Voldemort. I didn't really like this arrogant Muggle. I'd bring her back to England and not see her again, I hope.
"And it would be best if you took your decision quickly. If you do wish to help out, we'd need to leave within a few days."
"I'll check this with Giles."
"If he tells you this is true and you can trust me, will you come?"
"I don't know," she repeated. "You can leave me a bit of time to decide, can't you?"
"Not much."
"Well, I don't know. Sounds bad over there, but we have problems here too."
"You'll have far, far more if Voldemort takes over England. His next step will surely be here, being the Hellmouth. And, believe me, you do not want to be facing Voldemort, especially without any magical strength."
"Okay, I get the idea, but that's a lot to assume in a few minutes. I also need to ask my friends what they think about this, especially Willow."
"Fine, fine. But I'd need an answer within, a few days at most."
"The Bronze, Saturday, at nine?"
"Well, yes, all right," I replied wondering what the Bronze could be.
It had taken quite a lot of handiwork to get the fake chimney in my room to stand a normal fire. Nevertheless, after half an hour a fire was burning merrily and Dumbledore's face appeared in the fire.
"Hello Draco," he said, "How are things going so far?"
"Fine, I found the Slayer, but I don't think she quite grasps the seriousness of the situation," I replied irritably.
"Don't put to much pressure on her. She must come at her own will."
"Yes. I talked to Giles earlier on. He'd heard about Voldemort, I think he'll convince her more than I did."
"Fine. And I'd like to ask you; would you mind using your manor as a headquarter? It's quite near a large vampire hotspot - it'd be the most likely place where we might find information."
"Well, I don't mind. The problem is my mother."
"Ah, yes… I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your mother has apparently been missing, for several days. She missed several outings - dinners, appointments. There was no response to any owls sent. When a friend of hers came to see her, the whole house was found empty."
"Empty?"
"Apparently, all life is gone. Not even house-elves. But furniture, apparatus, even food was still there."
That was most strange - it certainly wasn't like my mother to suddenly leave in a big hurry, even less to dismiss all the house-elves like that. Where on Earth could she have gone?
"Did you find any house-elves that might have been dismissed, that could have given information?"
"No."
"Well, I suppose we could. I haven't got anything against having people over, but, Voldemort knows where I live, and, well, he could pretty much come barging in at any moment."
"I don't think so. I remind you that the Ministry has recently come up with brand-new IC detectors."
"IC, as in Illegal Curse, yes?"
"Yes. And, one last thing. You, and Buffy, are going to working on a major task-"
"So I'm very, very deeply into this, aren't I?"
"Quite. And, vampire hunting may seem something easy, but it is most important to deprive Voldemort of any allies, especially now. Voldemort's popularity has been lessening and very few people still wish to work alongside him. If he announces he has the vampire population on his side, well, you can imagine the effect."
"And your point is?"
"Well, it would be better if you had some more helping hands."
"Of course, I doubt merely Buffy and I could stake down the whole of the Clan. As long as it's not Harry Potter," I joked.
"Well, to be honest, that was the very person I had in mind."
Oh, God.
"Dumbledore, you know that I am totally incompatible with Harry Potter. We'd be more likely to stake ourselves than the vampires."
"Wouldn't you think it was time to get over your enmity and make peace?"
"No, I don't think it ever will be time for that," I replied dryly.
"Tell me, why do you hate Harry Potter so much? Where does this hate come from?"
"I…" I stopped. I hate Harry Potter because… Well, there is no real reason, come to think of it. Just why had I hated Harry Potter so much during those last nine, ten years? Well, gosh, there was no answer to that question. Maybe, I admitted to myself, I'd been jealous of him sometimes - when he got to enter the Triwizard Cup, but he nearly got killed several times, and all those Rita Skeeter articles? No thank you.
Dumbledore saw that he'd won, and continued,
"Draco, really, I should think you'd be capable of living under the same roof as Harry Potter. And…"
"What next? Why don't you bring in the whole of the Gryffindor lot, won't you?"
Dumbledore laughed.
"I think a bit of free time in California will do you some good, Draco."
"Chatting with nitwit Muggles on the beach does not sound like relaxation to me."
"There you are. You need to learn the sense of fun."
"And to be honest, I do not want to linger in a demon hotspot. You never know when the next Apocalypse might be planned."
"Well, that's fine with me," he said gently, "So when would you be back?"
"After tomorrow, at eight, in the evening? I need to keep the time change in mind. I'll apparate directly at the manor, just to get things organized."
"All right. Good luck, Draco," and Dumbledore's face disappeared from the fire. I was feeling very hot and took a drink from the mini-bar. I did not relish the moment I'd face Potter again, and… Somehow I would very embarrassed if he started spilling out my past life to Buffy. It would help a lot to work with someone who didn't watch your every move and suspect betrayal at any instant.