E-mail: Spikesluv666@netscape.net

Title: Twins of Peace Book Three: Time Hopping (working title)

Spoilers: all four HP books, Buffy up to the end of season six, and my two fanfics Twins of Peace books one and two

Category: General, Supernatural, Action/Adventure, and Romance

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Jesus people, if I owned this do you think I'd be bootlegging CD's 'cause I'm too cheep to pay the fifteen bucks?

Summary- Chapter Five: Well after a long time we're back to Piper. She was threatening me with painful curses if we didn't get back to her soon, but it does have a lot to do with Adrian as well 'cause I'm really into sadness right now and with this whole back plot I've created for him he's a perfect victim for it.

Authors Note: Just finished the new Anne Rice novel, God, I don't think I've cried that much over a book in a LONG time. Erm, so, seen the movie? C'mon people you know what, movie I'm talking about. Harry Potter! Go see it! And then when you're done, go see 8 Mile; that was excellent. And this week go see Treasure Planet, then see Star Trek Nemesis, then Lord of the Rings, then Daredevil! Go people, be my mindless drones! Make these movies some money! Ok, I'm finished with my unpaid solicitation, now onto the important stuff…READ THIS PART!!!! I've decided that this is the last chapter of this part, why? Well realized…hey, this really doesn't stand on it's own as a story. It's more of chapters twelve through sixteen of book two, so really what I'm saying is, this is the end of book two, not book three. But don't worry, there is more coming and everyone will be e-mailed when it comes out, everyone, even if you only reviewed once! As for the plot…heh heh, that's a secret let's just say the beginning involves a nursery and the whole thing involves Charmed.

Chapter Five: Decisions

Hermione and I walked out of the Hospital Wing from our daily lesson with a slight argument brewing between us. Leandra had casually mentioned that it might be good if we subtly tried to stop my brother from killing himself. Because according to her that's what was going to happen on his continued midnight excursions to the Forbidden Forest. She said he was either going to hurt him self intentionally, accidentally, or something else was going to do it for him. Something like the chimera that Hagrid said he'd spotted in the forest. Since I didn't think Adrian was suicidal in the least and seeing as chimeras are classified as known wizard killers, and are attracted to Greek wizards I was becoming a little more than worried.

We'd come back from our time travel adventures one month and five days ago. It was now well into March. Dad was free, and after the trial I was in that euphoric state that I've noticed comes after a particularly stressing event. I thought that everything was fine, and nothing proved otherwise. Pettigrew was having the play date from hell with dementors, Voldemort was keeping things on the down low, and every class except for potions was going well. Relationships were fine too. Candra and Oz were still gagingly affectionate, Harry and Dawn were still shy, Hermione and Adrian were still the most normal couple of us all, and Draco and I were still trying to not have sex (though I had found out Spike had lied to me about the legal age in England, but that didn't really tone down the threat). As Hermione had pointed out a moment before, we were all very caught up in our own happiness and hadn't noticed that Adrian was getting out of hand.

I was still being kept out of something. Hermione, Leandra, and every other adult and Scoobie knew something about my twin brother that I didn't, and it was damned near to really pissing me off. Not to sound conceited, but I am his twin. We're supposed to tell each other things. At least that's how it had been in the past. But not now, and I couldn't help but resent Hermione just the tiniest bit for it. Sure I knew he was running himself sick in the forest, but why. I figured something had happened at Adrian's second stop through the portal. I wished I could've been there. Instead I was with Draco in China during the Boxer Rebellion seeing the gruesome sight of Spike murdering a slayer.

The argument about to come between Hermione and I was completely my fault, a result of all the things I was feeling. I could've left well enough alone, but no, of course not. I wanted know, and I wanted to know as soon as possible. I'd have bothered Leandra except for the fact that she was doing something with Remus at the moment, and walking in on Buffy and Spike was bad enough.

"…And I don't think that it's my place to tell you. Why don't you just talk to him?" Hermione was saying. "He's your brother, he'll listen to you."

"Yeah he listens to me, but it's only in the most literal sense." I countered. "He listens, but that doesn't mean he takes my advice. Just tell me what the problem is."

"No! Why must you act like some petulant five year old?"

"Why do you have to use words like petulant?" Oh hell, where had that come from? That wasn't even a good comeback. All it did was open up room for more insults.

"You don't know what petulant means?"

Bingo. "I do too!"

I expected her to ask me to define it or something like that, but no she fired back, "do not!" Her cheeks were turning red with anger.

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Miss. Granger and Miss. Black having a 'do not, do too' fight? Perish the thought. While I don't have particularly high expectations of the two of you I never dreamed you would ever be reduced to throwing 'insults' of this caliber." Snape's silky, clear voice cut though Hermione's last 'do not'. Both of us stopped with our mouths agape.

Hermione and I both looked at each other at the same time and said, "She started it!"

Professor Snape simply rolled his eyes and continued to speak with a glare. "You two will accompany me now."

"Detention for a verbal disagreement?" Hermione said, outraged. I think she'd forgotten that she wasn't addressing me anymore.

"I said nothing about detention," God, even his voice sounded sort of like a glare. "But continue to talk to me in that tone and don't think I won't be happy to hand you one. You are coming with me to Professor Rosenberg's room. Something has happened."

"Is it Adrian?" I practically yelled.

"Yes." He replied with no emotion. "Mr. Black, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Winthrop are having a problem."

We continued behind Snape in silence for the rest of the way. It was like following a storm cloud. The only light parts of him were the pale skin of his hands and face; he wore black robes so one could only see a billowing cloud of black. At least Spike makes it look good; I wouldn't dispute with Candra there.

My fight with Hermione was placed to the side when we entered the History of Magic classroom. I was getting bad vibes from the room before we entered but they went off the scale when we entered and when I looked to the right I saw why. All the Scoobies were there and Leandra, Dad, Harry, Ron, and Remus. Hermione shrieked.

"It's ok Hun," Buffy was immediately at her side, stroking her hair lovingly. "Remember what I told you."

Spike was tied to a chair with thick ropes, and Angel was in a chair behind him also tied. Five feet away Adrian and Draco were tied in a similar fashion. Oh yeah, they were all in game face, so that was a bit of a problem. I gulped and stepped forward, but immediately Oz's hand was on my shoulder pulling me back. He was strong and pushed me back into my dad's arms.

"No soul, no soul, no soul…" Hermione was muttering in Buffy's arms.

"It's Voldemort, w-we put his number one into Azkaban. H-his only minion with Animagus p-power. It's r-revenge." Willow stuttered. "W-we d-did it, our goal, and now we're paying.  I flooed Giles."

"No soul?" I asked softly.

"No," Remus said. "The only one who isn't complete evil is Spike, but that's because he had a soul even when he didn't have a soul. Not literally, but mentally. He felt love and pain…Angelus never did and Adrian and Draco are going by instinct. Instinct says to feed and kill."

"Was it a spell?" Harry sounded almost disbelieving.

"Something… Oz has a tail, Remus has amber eyes… it was something that affects dark creatures, males to be specific." I looked into Remus' eyes as Cordelia spoke. The color had changed and the pupils were narrower. Oz was wearing jeans cut off at the knee. I saw the end of a brown tail sticking out of his left pants leg.

"Giles is looking for a counter curse that's not Angel's, we are too." Buffy said from where she was still with Hermione. She looked longingly at Spike, who with the rest of the men was unconscious. "He's still Spike."

Xander shook his head. "We can't un-stun him! Remember what un-souled Spike was like?"

"Yeah," Buffy frowned at Xander and spoke angrily. "He was the exact same person, and he still loved me."

"The words 'rape' and 'love' don't go together Buffy."

"Do not start that crap with me!" She yelled.

Willow stepped between the two of them before things started to get nasty and violent. She pointed her wand at Buffy and held her hand out to Xander. "We should wake Spike up, see if he feels different. He is tied to a chair after all, it's not a bathtub but it'll do. He hasn't had human blood to make him strong enough to break the bonds."

"Which means we can't wake up Adrian or Angelus." Said Dad.

"Why!?" I demanded. Hermione glanced up with her tear-streaked face and looked at dad like she couldn't take anymore. I wondered what was wrong with her, I knew she loved Adrian but she was taking this very badly, like it would never be fixed. Yet another secret that I was being kept out of.

"Yes why?" asked Ron nervously.

"There's a first year in the hospital wing suffering from massive blood loss. Leandra'll have her up in no time though." Willow answered. Averting our glances she pulled her want and pointed it at Spike. "Eneverate."

Spike came around quickly, sighing as he moved his neck. Buffy shook Xander's hand off her shoulder and walked across the room to him. She was talking to him, and I didn't try to hear. I didn't want to yet. Instead I turned to dad and Remus, who upon seeing the look on my face started to look slightly guilty.

"What is the matter with my brother?" I asked in my best 'Snape' voice.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "He's been cursed soulless."

"Not that!" I exclaimed flailing my arms. "The other thing! Whatever has Hermione breaking down."

"Could be that time of… Ow!" Dad stopped when Remus elbowed him sharply in the gut. "Hermione found out some things about Adrian the other day. Neither of them are over it yet, Adrian's been having the hardest time."

"And these 'things' would be?" I prompted irritably

"Past experiences."

Oz had been listening to the whole thing and gave a small growl in the back of his throat. "Piper, your sister Pru constantly shoved him under her bed for shifting into game face when he was younger." Oh. "He's been sleeping in bed with Hermione, and it helps the nightmares, but because he's physic he ends up sent fragments of things to Hermione, like now. She's probably seeing a lot of what he's thinking, and that can't be good."

As is the norm with me most of the important stuff didn't register at first, because first I thought 'damn, that's the longest think I've ever heard him say. Practically a speech.' Then I realized that I'd just been told what I'd wanted to know for the past weeks. I didn't like what I'd heard.

"I'll be back." I felt my features shift as I spoke. Quickly I turned out of the room.

"Oz…" I heard dad say.

"I'll get her." He said.

"The full moon's tonight," Remus said cautiously.

Oz's footsteps followed me into the hall.

*~*

I hadn't been back to South Orange, New Jersey since starting Hogwarts. There'd been no point. What was I going to do? Visit the old café, see Hayden's closed shop, visit my crappy High School? I don't think so; I have better things to do with my life. Of course now there was a point. See I was really pissed off. Because my former sister Pru had decided to put my brother under her bed when they were younger both he and Hermione were suffering. That didn't sit very well with me.

Traveling across the Atlantic by Floo Powder takes about two hours so when I landed in the fire place of my old house it was around four o' clock in the afternoon. I came out through the fireplace in the living room, which connected to the kitchen. I expected that there'd be someone in the kitchen that I'd have to deal with, but thankful there wasn't. In fact it didn't seem anyone was home. They were probably all at Apropos.

Oz came out of the fireplace next as I was hunkering down in a chair by the front door. I couldn't say I was surprised. He was here to talk me down. It wasn't going to work. He sat down across from me on the stairs the lead to the third floor.

"So how long 'till Pru gets here?" Oz asked, staring straight into my golden eyes. He seemed calm and relaxed, not scared at all.

"She leaves during the dinner rush; I'd say around seven." I said evenly.

Oz nodded it that strangely calm way of his. It was something I'd always wondered about him. How was he always so calm and quiet? He was always just there. "Well if you need any help I should be all grr and furry by then."

"Funny."

"No I'm serious, Adrian means a lot to me, you all do, and so I'm willing to help you hurt what hurt him."

I looked at him quizzically. "Dad and Remus didn't send you here to help me murder anyone, they sent you here to talk me out of it. You're not dong a very good job."

He shrugged. "I'm no negotiator."

"But…"

"Listen, I'm going to help whether you want it or not." Oz leaned back on the stairs giving me a small smile.

"You're up to something, I don't know what it is, but I'm not falling for it. Oz I know what kind of person you are, and you're not a killer." I shook my head and frowned. "You're not."

"That doesn't seem to be stopping you." He countered.

"I am a killer though," I said with force, convincing myself at the same time. "I got it from my mother and from Spike. I'm a vampire; it's what we're supposed to do. I-I've just never had the need to do it before."

Oz nodded. "Ok. If that's your excuse for being a killer then I have the same one. I'm a killer also. I got it the day I tickled my brother and he decided to bite me. I'm a werewolf, and we're supposed to kill and make werewolves."

"No!" I protested. "Remus would never-"

"Spike would never either." He cut me off. "And you wouldn't either, because it's not in you."

Though they weren't supposed to, in my mood his last words sounded like a challenge, one that felt ready to take. "I could take you right now!" I yelled, standing.

"Maybe," Oz shrugged once more and reached down to the banister pulling off one of the decorative wooden rods. It was about a foot long and the splintery tip made it look like a pretty good stake. He tossed the stake up once, and then looked at it thoughtfully. "But in the end I'd win. I'm willing to kill you; you're not ready to kill me. See, I'm a full dark creature; you're only a fourth. Sure your vampiric blood is dominant, but I'd get you anyway." His eyes flashed the amber brown of his wolf form and I started to actually think about what I was about to do. I was about to attack Oz. Oz was my friend, did I really want to do this?

"Listen," He continued. "I learned a few things while I was away from Sunnydale. I could shift now, we could go down to the café and kill Pru. Is that what you want…no, better yet, is that what Adrian wants?" Oz dropped his makeshift stake to the floor and crossed his arms.

"God, will you stop with the psycho-babble!" I said.      

"It's not psycho-babble, they're just choices." Oz said seriously. "You can kill Pru now and delve into life of darkness. You'll end up like the guys are right now back at the castle. You could let your magic side win out, and maybe kill her that way, but judging from the look on your face you want to taste blood, don't you? Or you could be Piper, you could be yourself. You could go home and cry in your father's arms, then maybe spar with Buffy to get your anger out. Which one?"

"I want…" I trailed off, and my face shifted once again. I'd wanted to say kill, but the woman who suddenly stood behind Oz was stopping me. She was glowing like an angel and slowly walking down the stairs. Oz turned around to greet her almost knowingly. The woman smiled and put a hand on his shoulder; her long brown hair fell tickling the back of his neck. 

"What do you want Piper?" She repeated Oz's question. "To kill with magic or malice, or to leave this place and return to Hogwarts and your family." Her voice was soft and gentle but it filled the room completely.

"Who are you?" I asked. My voice was clear again, no longer slurred by the presence of fangs.

Her smiled brightened. "My name's Tara."

"Oh…OH!" I yelled almost jumping. "You…you're dead!"

"Yes, but this isn't about my demise. It's about you. What are you going to do Piper?"

"What would you do?"

"Learn to forgive."

"She's right you know." Oz said. "We all have to at some point. Unlike Anya might tell you we can't just extract revenge on everyone who pisses us off. The whole world would be in chaos if we did."

"So I'm supposed to forgive Pru for traumatizing my brother, just like that? " I snapped my fingers. "It's not going to happen."

Tara sighed. "I've forgiven Warren, my parents, most of the people that have wronged me. It's hard, but it comes eventually. If you kill your sister now then you'll never have the time to forgive her, and you remember this isn't about you. The fact that you'd kill for your brother, it shows loyalty and love, but you have to let him heal himself. For Adrian the process has already started, and goes on even now as he's trapped soulless, but what you do hear tonight could change everything."

"Can you show me what will happen?"

"I wish I could, but it's forbidden. You have the free will to make your own decisions. Up above, we can only hope that you make the right ones." She explained. "I can tell you this, Pru is walking up to the back door now. She came home early today because she has an essay due tomorrow that still needs work."

I looked frantically at Oz. "D-Did you bring Floo powder?"

"O' course ducks."

I turned and ran to the fireplace, using my want to start a quick fire. "Good, we need to…what did you just call me?"

"Ducks, when has Oz ever said that much?" Where Oz had stood before Spike was now casually leaning against the banister. He reached around his neck and quickly unclasped the gold chain that hung there.

Spike handed the chain to Tara who held it carefully. "Because of your decision Piper, Angel, Adrian, and Draco have been saved."

"But Spike…"

"Spike was never cursed," Tara said smiling once more. "My mistress claimed that she worked to hard to get that thing in him, and she wasn't about to take it out. He was only tied up with the others because Xander and Willow reacted a little too rashly. He came disguised as Oz, for reasons that you need not know, just know that you have made the best decision." She glanced around. "My time's up, so I have to go. Please tell Willow…and everyone else I love and I miss them."

I looked at her glowing figure once more before it shimmered into nothingness. "I will. Thanks Tara."

I heard the key in the backdoor turning as Spike and I disappeared from New Jersey.