A/N: And the fic keeps rolling in and out… things are getting pretty dramatic now, aren't they? Aw well. Please review if you're enjoying this and feel free to yell at me if you're not! Bear in mind yet again that I'm a passing fan of Buffy so I'm bound to get a few things wrong. My bad, honest!
Dis: I don't own this, J.K Rowling and Josh Weldon do! If they don't, then, well, it's all owned by someone out there who probably isn't me. But I own all the bits that you don't recognise as anybody else's. Ner.
Harry Potter and the Slayer
The Battle
The highlight for many on that fatal Halloween was the weekend visit to Hogsmeade. The small, wizarding village was great fun all year round, but at Halloween it seemed to hold an extra magic of its own. Despite Giles' best protests, the need to relax and forget the impending test of the evening activities overtook Harry. So under the invisibility cloak he smuggled Buffy, Willow and Xander out of the castle and met up with Ron and Hermione in The Three Broomsticks.
While Ron took the orders, Harry and the gang found the most darkened corner of the pub and settled down for a quiet afternoon. Xander was still being wide-eyed and occasionally glancing over his shoulder, as if unsure of being in such a public place. Hermione leaned forward and whispered something in his ear which made him giggle and go as red as a beetroot. Ron looked furious. He slammed the drinks down, deliberately spilling Xander's and sat down next to Harry, taking a long gulp of the warming Butterbeer.
'Is this alcoholic?' said Willow, looking at the tanker Ron had presented her as if it were laced with poison, 'You know, strictly we're underage and…'
'Don't worry about it,' said Ron, taking a swig 'You'd have to be a house elf to even get tipsy on twenty of these. Ah, that's better.'
Willow still looked uncertain, but drunk it anyway. The others hadn't taken any notice of Harry and Buffy, now quietly glancing at each other at the far side of the table. Harry had felt at times that the vampire invasion was almost a practise run for the inevitable confrontation with Voldemort, and so required his full attention. Buffy obviously felt they were in the same boat. He found it wonderfully odd that this girl seemed to know so much about what is was like to be him. The silence seemed to confirm this mutual acknowledgement.
The afternoon passed away quickly and quietly, and before they knew it the gang were heading back to the castle for the feast. Harry's nerves settled in his chest heavily as he changed into more respectable robes, such as those with ample space for storing stakes and weaponry. They had agreed to meet Giles in his office fifteen minutes before the celebrations began to go over the plan. Ron, whose normally rosy cheeks were now pale with worry, seemed to share Harry's apprehensive mood as he followed him and Hermione out of the portrait hole towards Giles' office. Harry was even sure that he saw Ron place one hand on Hermione's shoulder for encouragement and comfort.
'Right,' said Giles when they finally reached his dimly lit extension of the library. 'I figured if we go down together and, er, cause the distraction to get everyone out, before sunset. They can only strike after sunset.'
He paused when Buffy, who was there with Willow and Xander, gave him a despairing look, half-smiling.
'Well, I suppose that's obvious.'
They went over the plan to secure final details. Harry was however still apprehensive. He'd never gone into something so prepared, so ready and knowledgeable. Yet normally this was far from the case. He wasn't one for studies: He wasn't like Hermione. He acted on instinct, he survived on it. It had helped him so far, and he would swear on his Godfather's innocence that he'd need it once again.
A nervous feeling began to move down into his stomach as he bid farewell to Hermione at the door of the great hall. She looked ghostly white when he took his seat at the Gryffindor table, Ron hanging back to speak to her before the plan prevented any more idle chit-chat. The sky outside had begun it's descent into the evening red, giving everything in the hall an illuminated orange glow that was reflected in the warmth of it's reception, the faces of the Hogwarts pupils revelling in the delightful feast that awaited them. Unaware. He waited.
Ten Minutes.
Ron had now joined him at the table, ignoring his sister's nagging about his pale looking complexion. Ron glared at Ginny, the red-headed girl take back by her brother's silent outburst, turning back to her friends muttering in puzzlement. The strain was obviously getting to him. More than previously, Harry noted, as Ron continued their subdued conversation with one eye on the door, watching for the plan to unfold. He was worried.
Five minutes.
The time frame they had was short. Everyone had to be out of the great hall with at least ten minutes to spare, to round up the unknowing stragglers into their appropriate common rooms and for them to be joined by their teachers. With this distraction, they wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
One minute.
A silence fell over the both of them, both clutching their wand, waiting for the signal to come.
Which was now.
The door of the great hall flew open, the breeze coming through enough to catch anyone's attention, as if the Cornish pixies didn't see to that first. The hundred or so elves that Hermione had cleverly rounded up from the forbidden forest streaked into the room, blue bolts of lightning flying everywhere in an instant. Their high pitched squealing were piercing to the ears and currently in direct competition with the screams and yells of the student body, now diving under whatever they could find to hide themselves from the furious onslaught of the innocence trouble makers. Pumpkin juice was flying everywhere, banners ripped down, tableware flung across the room, showering the great hall in a stream of silver with the destructive force of a small tropical storm. Harry could barely hear the yells of Professor McGonagall over the ever rising din.
'Please, calm down!' she bellowed as a Cornish pixie stole her hat and ripped it to shreds. 'Hurry back to your common rooms! Now!'
The students didn't need telling twice. The scramble for the door was immediate, Harry and Ron almost being crushed in the rush. The teachers herded up the pupils like a shepherd to sheep, holding back the rampaging pixies with whatever they could lay their hands on. Filch stood on the threshold of the hall, fuming at the war zone he'd have to spend half the night cleaning. This was their chance. With a quick glance around them, Harry and Ron squeezed through the panicking crowd and managed to dash into a not much used classroom. Harry could see the sky darkening out the window as he breathed, deep and heavily, leaning back against the wall and out of view of the passing Ravenclaws. Suddenly he heard a voice, which made him draw breath sharply and hold it, eyes wide and fearful.
'We'll just have to leave them to it, Argus,' Harry could here Giles say to Filch as they passed the door. 'Let them get it out of their system. The front door is open, they'll go back to the forest soon enough.'
Filch could be heard to mumble some form of insult under his breath as he stalked off down the corridor in search of Mrs Norris.
He was just about to let out a minimal sigh of relief when a shuffle from a few desks away made his heart pang in his chest, the blood coming to a halt in his veins.
'Who's that?' he hissed into the twilight.
'It's only me…' replied the voice. Hermione stepped out of the shadows, one eyebrow raised. 'I came in here after the pixies went berserk. I certainly didn't want to get caught up in that.'
Ron, somehow, managed a small smile for her, looking down at his now tattered robes.
'So, what's the beef?'
They spun round as Xander sneaked into the room, followed closely by Willow and Buffy who emerged from under the invisibility cloak, which was promptly handed back to Harry.
'Can I have the mail order catalogue for that?' Willow asked, jokingly.
'Marauder's clothing emporium' Harry laughed back.
But the time for laughter was at an end. They had all realised that. All they could do was go to the hall and wait for sunset. And that was exactly what they did.
It was like waiting for your worst nightmare to come true. Although the ten-minute gap was a little over pessimistic, still they waited for the attack. Hermione in particular was nervous, pacing the length of the great hall periodically. She expected to feel different somehow. But nothing. What if the potion hadn't worked? What if she'd just hadn't had enough fluids or something? She could see Harry thinking the same thing, Buffy looking at her more suspiciously by the second, Ron remaining expressionless, but staring at Hermione, consumed in his own thoughts. However, she was now far more understanding of Harry's plight. The demands, the constant expectation. The looks, the stares. And she hated every minute of it.
The strain was obviously showing. Ron came over to her at her current position on the steps of the staff platform. The room still looked like a war zone, but the pixies had soon got bored and sneaked back to the security of their wooden haven. They'd certainly left their mark, the tablecloths now stained orange by the spilt pumpkin juice jugs, tables smeared with the remainder of the first course, the second currently being served in the safety of the common rooms. Ron sat down beside her and stared at the floor intensely, as if afraid to look her in the eye.
Hermione was glad he was there. He didn't need to say anything. She just appreciated the company. He'd just inched a little closer to her when a crashing sound, like a clap of lightning, thundered through the timbers of the castle. Hermione jerked.
She leaped to her feet and turned on her heel, straight towards the side door of the hall. Buffy stood up and followed in hot pursuit. She grabbed Hermione's shoulder as she reached for the door handle. She spun round to face the slayer, her eyes flashing, as if everything had suddenly made sense.
'The tower…' she stuttered suddenly, 'They're in the tower…'
And with that she disappeared.
Harry couldn't think straight. He had to go after her. He sprinted out the door, past a rather baffled Buffy and sped up the corridor as he saw her begin to ascend the stairs of the astronomy tower.
'Hermione! Wait!' he cried desperately, 'You don't know what's up there!'
He finally reached her halfway up the tower, but barely had a chance to utter a word. Out of nowhere he felt something large and heavy hit the back of his head, taking him by surprise. He could hear Hermione screaming as whatever was attacking him struck another blow, but this time he was able to see his attacker as his vision finally cleared. The man was nothing like Harry had ever seen. His eyes were merely slits under a heavily furrowed brow, flashing an evil shade of green as he growled, baring his sharpened teeth as he glared at the crumpled figure of Harry, before, grabbing Hermione and dragging her back down the stairs. A vampire.
Harry pulled out his stake - one that Buffy had lent him, affectionately called Mr Pointy - and began to follow. He could feel his pulse racing as he crept down the silent corridor, wondering where everyone else was. Vampire or otherwise. Hermione had obviously sensed the source of the attack, but why was there only that one? Was he the ringleader? His thoughts however, were interrupted by a piercing scream that echoed down the corridor to his left, causing him to turn sharply and leap into the darkness of the hall.
He muttered 'Lumos' and the scene was soon illuminated. The vampire, his face twisted and turned, had hold of Hermione, struggling desperately to reach her wand before he bared his fangs to strike…
'Hey, tough guy!'
All the vampire could do was turn before Buffy thrusted her stake through his chest, dusting him, his faint outline fading into oblivion. Hermione, a little shocked, was not undeterred.
'Er… thanks.'
'No problem,' said Buffy, as casual as if she'd passed the breadbasket at Dinner. 'Where's the rest of these dudes? That wasn't much of an attack now was it?'
They heard the patter of running feet as Ron, Xander and Willow joined them, a little out of breath. Hermione's eyes widened over Xander's shoulder, who now turned and followed her gaze.
'Quick answer to that one.'
A group of twenty or so vamps were now out in force, but they were ready. Soon the six of them were enveloped in a flurry of dustings and fists, Harry finding his natural speed and agility a great advantage. The combination of the magical talents of the Hogwarts three with the experience of the Californian crew saw the situation right itself, at one point Hermione dusting a vamp that somehow reminded her of Pansy Parkinson as it pounced upon an unsuspecting Ron, who blushed at the embarrassment of Hermione yet again saving his bacon. As Xander staked the last vamp, much to his personal satisfaction, he surveyed the scene of dust and sparks with a smug grin on his face.
'Certainly not the traditional method,' he said, glancing form Buffy with her stake and Harry with his wand, 'But it definitely brings a sparkle to the proceedings.'
'We can't waste anymore time Xander,' said Willow, a pang of desperation in her voice, 'We need to get moving.'
'She's right,' instructed Buffy, now turning to Ron who was being helped to his feet by a ruffled looking Hermione, 'we need to split. You lot go and find Giles. We need to get the big boss dude.'
'Will you be all right?' Hermione muttered softly to Ron
Ron just smiled at this showing of genuine anxiety and nodded his head. He spoke in a silent whisper.
'Will you?'
Hermione couldn't answer. Instead she took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before following Buffy and Harry up the corridor, turning round for once last glance before they rounded the corner. It was now down to her.
The others could be heard to head down towards the Defence against the Dark arts corridor, the location of Giles' office, as their own small pack crept in the opposite direction, occasionally glancing at each other for guidance. Harry knew the school, Buffy knew the slaying, but it was Hermione who became the source of hope. Yet she still didn't know what to expect. Before, she was acting on instinct, a rare occurrence in such a normally sensible individual, but it felt no different. She was afraid of leading the people she cared about most in the world up the creek without the paddle, simply because for the first time in her life she was steering. She sensed that Harry could hold his own – He'd faced much worse than this in his short life, much worse than she'd ever want to wish on anyone. But Ron was different. He was – dare she say it - vulnerable. She found herself more concerned for him than her own well being. Harry had obviously read her mind.
'He'll be fine.' He said, Hermione not easily making out the twinkling green eyes in the darkness. 'He's a fighter. He'll treat any danger like those bludgers on the Quidditch pitch.' He smiled at the thought. 'No prisoners.'
However, Hermione's minute of reassurance was soon send up in flames by a pain so sharp and sudden that his made her collapse to her knees, her eyes watering in agony. The sense. It had taken it's hold, temporarily blinding her as pure evil came into detecting range, like a battle-cruiser into radar, with the same menacing presence. Buffy rushed to her aid with sudden unexpected compassion, and pulled her to her feet.
'Where?' she demanded.
Hermione felt a shiver go down her spine as she composed herself and led the group towards the divination tower, somewhere she hadn't entered since her little outburst in their third year. She'd never believed in that stuff anyway. But now she could feel the source, it was as if it was drawing her in, invading her bones and making them move involuntarily towards their fate. It was at the base of the tower that it happened.
'Look out!'
The vampires had now truly descended. Even Buffy looked a little freaked as she desperately tried to fight her way out of the corner, some vampires taking the hint and running off down the corridor. Hermione, casting a freezing spell at one individual before she applied a useful decapitating hex to him, kept looking around in vain for the ringleader. She may have already seen him. She had no way of knowing. The spell Harry had used, although appearing a blessing, was unheard of in the form she had absorbed it. She muttered a silent prayer as she returned to the fray.
Buffy was back on the job. She was dusting vampires left, right and centre as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Her hair, tied high back on her head, swung round after her as she launched into another attack, her victim instantly knocked backward at the force of her blow. He attempted to swipe at her feet, Buffy jumping the target effortlessly as she delivered an upper cut to his face, hard enough to kill a normal man and another that would have crackled a jaw. The vampire finally gave in as Buffy now staked his unconscious form.
Harry, meanwhile, was doing some serious slaying. He was able to block and easily avoid the clumsy throws of the vamps, although his aim with the stake was at times a little precarious. At one point, he almost speared the picture of Sir Calgeon on the wall, who had looked instantly horrified and so galloped out of sight towards the location of the Fat Lady. Harry meanwhile went straight for one vamp with a roundhouse kick that even surprised himself, allowing it to be dazed enough for Hermione to finish it off. However, the crowd seemed to be growing, and sop they only had one real option.
'Run for it!'
Harry and Hermione didn't need telling twice. They followed Buffy, now pelting it down the corridor towards the ruined great hall with the chasing pack, enticed by the only available blood in the passage. Harry could hear the crashing of armour and the ripping of tapestries in their wake, making his nerves jangle more so as his speed increased, knowing he'd have to face the angry mob.
They dashed into the hall, a clear 20 metres in front of the pack, to see Ron, Xander, Willow and Giles ready, instruments raised. The battle now really began. All they really had to do was stay alive long enough for Hermione to pick out the ringleader. And that wouldn't be any easy feat.
Everyone was locked in their own individual battles. Hermione, taking the liberty of placing locking charms on all entrances, was trying to keep out of trouble, her eyes ever watchful for the centre of the commotion.
'Repelliamus!' she screeched as one vamp came too close for comfort, sending him into a stone pillar that held up the magnificent ceiling, knocking him out cold. However, she failed to notice the particularly ugly individual who went ahead and grabbed her round the throat, his grip tightening as she struggled against the taker of her breath. She gasped as she felt a hand cover her mouth, muffling her cry for help. But that wasn't necessary – Ron was already on the case, jumping on the attacker's back, forcing him to release Hermione as he took him on one to one. Hermione regained her balance, dizzy from the lack of breath, to see Ron overcome with a rage she'd never witnessed, as if the vampire had violated his most precious possession and would therefore pay dearly. He picked up one of the torches that lit up the great hall and made a swipe for the vampire - he screamed with agony as the fire burnt his face - who staggered backwards onto the outstretched stake of Xander, instantly ending his reign of terror.
'That's what I love about this job…' he said smugly, 'teamwork.'
Willow, normally keen to leave the fighting to her friend when back in Sunnydale, was having what could almost be described as the time of her life. She found the power she had at the end of her fingertips astonishing, now able to manoeuvre her weapons with a swish of a wand. (bribed away from an unknowing first year earlier that day.) Nevertheless , the look on her face as she finished one vamp off who'd accidentally lost her arm in the proceedings was unmissable.
'Eww,' she squealed, wiping her hands on her now tattered jeans. 'Vampire goo.'
The fun and the games however, were soon to be over. As Harry battled his way across the hall to reach Hermione, chucking Giles a crossbow to save him from a pouncing vampire in close proximity, he heard Hermione gasp. She'd spotted him.
The feeling that had spread through her body was horrible – she felt like she'd swallowed a bottle of skelegrow in a cocktail with some polyjuice potion and some dodgy drink from the southern med. All warmth had seeped out of her as he came into view, heavily protected behind a shield of tougher looking vamps towards the centre of the hall, not bothered by the decimation that surrounded him. Harry had hurried over to Hermione's position behind the staff table and surveyed the scene: Once joined by Buffy, planned to strike. However, a yell of annoyance overrode the general grunts of battle caused everyone to stop dead in their tracks.
One vampire had pinned Willow to the wall with one hand, holding her borrowed wand in the other. He sniffed the air around her, the expression on his face portraying one of disgust and disappointment.
'She's a muggle!' He declared to his friends, throwing her weakened frame to the floor. 'No use for anything. We want the genuine article.'
This distraction had now been fatal to the gang, who were promptly taken by surprise and restrained, though it took five of them to constrain a determined Buffy, struggling against the strength of four of the ringleader's biggest bodyguards. The crowd parted as they were all slung at the feet of the ringleader, the pain in Hermione's chest now threatening to burst it open as she met his menacing glare.
'What do we have here?' he whispered, looking at the sight of the magnificent seven at his feet. 'Muggles at Hogwarts? I don't think Dumbledore would like that. I must mention that to him just before I suck him dry.'
Harry struggled against his restraints, angered by such a suggestion. Buffy decided to speak.
'I don't think you know exactly what you're up against, mister.'
Her ability to reject any form of authority never failed to amaze, whatever the circumstances.
'And who are you to say that?'
'The slayer.'
There was a murmuring in the crowd, an answer that obviously solved a lot of their queries. However, the ringleader held up his hand to command silence from his minions.
'Well, we'll just have to get rid of you and your friends now, won't we? Aw, this will be the icing on the cake. The wizard school drained, the slayer gone. It's as if my birthday came early.'
And with this he made a grab for Ron, too shocked to react, became numb as the ringleader stroked his pale, exposed neck, Ron now trembling and looking desperately from Harry to Hermione as his eyes began to fill with tears. The ringleader inhaled deeply.
'A wizard… hmm… that's interesting…' he muttered, running a white fingertip up and down Ron's neck. 'Well, I'll start as I mean to go on…'
However, as he bent down to pierce Ron's throat, he was interrupted by Hermione's scream of desperation as she finally broke out and threw herself at the ringleader's feet, exhausted by the effort. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and pleading for him to spare Ron's life. He paused.
Fatally.
At that point he let go of Ron and let out an almighty scream, louder and sharper than anything Harry had ever heard. He turned to Buffy, whose eyes widened at the events that were unfolding beyond her control. Although the restraints had now been forgotten, she found herself locked to the spot, unable to react at what fate had handed them.
The ringleader continued to scream, and Giles, now picking up his smashed and shattered glasses from the ground next to him, polished them and returned them to his face to greet the most welcomed sight in the world.
The ringleader was dying. He screamed with pain as his feet caught alight, the flames soon consuming his grotesque form as the ray of sunlight, coming from the dawn on the enchanted ceiling, moved up his body until, like a spotlight, it illuminated his face, now screwed up in pain and surprise. The smoke soon produced a haze round him as he withered on the spot, unable to move out of the beam of light that rooted him to the spot. He let out a final howl of pain before he began to disintegrate into dust on the cold, stone floor of the great hall at Hogwarts.
There seemed to almost be a delay. The ringleader, now merely a pile of ashes in the centre of his minions, could no longer guide them, so they stared in dismay at where he once stood. However, Buffy stood up and almost laughed.
'Time's up guys.'
The suddenly, one by one, the vampire disintegrated, their howls echoed right up to the enchanted ceiling, deflecting off the walls and amplifying in it's wake. As one made a last desperate swipe at Buffy, she dodged him and impaled him upon her stake, unable to stop the satisfied smile from taking over her face as he was finally dusted. The room began to rumble with the effort of the explosions, a domino effect of the death of their master. Giles was only just able to dive under the staff table with Harry, Xander, Buffy and Willow in time, as the screams reached breaking point. The suddenly, suddenly, it fell silent.
*