In the Shadow of the Willow
Chapter Four: Meetings and Musings
SillyBanna: Thank you for the exatly one review I got. ot meant a lot to me. Glad to hear that you are open to the slashy bit of my fic and don't worry, Willow and Tara will find out about each otehr soon enough! Thank you. This chapter's all for you!
Dis: I don't own Buffy, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings which I have decided to add. As with BtVS and HP, I will be messing withe the timelines a lot. That'll all get explained better later on.
Note: please review or I won't post any more here.
Professor Liam Ryan sat at the high table that evening watching in wonder as the tall boy with bright red hair was sorted into Ravenclaw. To say it was an unexpected surpirse is an unerstatment. Ture, there had been anoher boy who looked very similar, but there was something about this you man named Seth Wiles that made him think of some one he'd once known. It was there in the tilt of his head and the way his blure eyes took in everything with a nivie wonder. Then it hit him, Willow! He looked like Willow! Trying not to look like he was gossiping with another teacher he lened over to Tara.
"He could almost be Willow's son." She looked up at him in surpisrse and then he eyes ilkered over to the boy on the stool.
"RAVENCALW!" shouted the sorting and Tara grinned.
"If it is, he must have inherited her brain." Angel smiled but all throughout dinner, he couldn't stop looking at the boy. Tara too was having a hard time tearing her eyes away. The lightness of thei words belied the fact that, in their hearts, they so wished that it could be her son. A sign that she was alive. At least elven years ago. And as he sat there wit his new friends and housemtes, Angel couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of genitics.
***
Mrs. Wiles sat sown at the kitchen table on the morning of Spetember the second with a letter in her hand. When the owl had flown in her window late last night, she had thought only the worst but upon reading the letter over, once franitcly and another time a bit slower, she found that it was only a letter from her son. But now it was morning and she was realizing how much she missed having the little boy come bouning into her room in the morning with his sister tagging along behind. But Michele was still aslepp and Seth was off at school. Settling down in her chair with a cup of tea (how very Giles of her), she began to read:
Dear Mum,
Wow! Hogwarts is so cool! I got sorted into Ravenclaw. They say that all the really smart people go there. I mean here. Harlen (you know, the boy from the trian station) he's in Gryffindor. There are two other boys in my dorm. There's Frank and some kid named Mark matherson. He's strange. But Fredrick and Frank are really neat! They both have owls so I'm borwing Fred's. He says his older brothers can send a letter to his mum tonight. He'll send it tomarrow. He fell right to sleep but I'm too excited.
Mark has a toad. Puppy tried to eat him at first but he stopped that. How's Michele and dad? How are you? I miss every one! Tell ichele that I'll sendher some chocolate frogs but I don't have any left. I ate them all on the train. (Only thre. Don't worry!) Anywasy, It's really late now and every one's alseep. I can't wait for class tomarrow. We have this one teacher, Proffesor Ryan, he's cool looking. I don'' know why. And he was talking to the Charms teacher but I don't know her name yet. I'll tell you all about my teachers next time. Every one's saying that the two of them are going out. Eww... I don't want my teachers to be kissing... Well, I guess it's ok if they don't do it in class... I really miss every one and Puppy says meow!
Love, Seth
And Willow smiled.
***
Seth went into charms class the next morning firmly convinced that it wouldn't be his favorite class. That spot was held special by Defense ginst the Dark Arts because he got to take the class with his new best friend, Harlan Waesley.. But Charms did sound like a lot of fun. Professor McCaly seemd to be about his mother's age. She as taller, though, and pretty for a teacher. She smiled alot but her eyes semed sad.
"Today we are going to begin with the basic levatation charms. Now then..." ANd the class began. She gave no room for agument or anything. She was repsected right from the get-go and that's the way it had always been in her class.
But as she began her class that day, her eyes drifted over to where one of the Ravenclaw boys sayt. Seth Wiles. Angel was right, he could almost be Willow's son. In fact, the thught stuck with her and throughout the entire lesson, she kept one eye on the red-head. It was the most inatentive she had ever been while teaching. But there was something in his smile when he'd come into the room and there was that was he laughed when she'd told a small joke earlier. He was almost Willow herself only... there was something so very different about him. It was deep in his blue eyes. No one had eyes like that any more. Those were the type of eyes one saw in ancient painting of elves before fifth age of man. Not any more. Not almost a million years later. So She watched him all through class and he he walked out the door, he looked over his shouder and in those eyes, she could see that he had not failed to notice her watching him. He knew... But what did he know?
***
Seth saw Harlan just as he was coming out of the room across the hall. "What class did you have?" Seth asked his new friend.
""History of Magic. It was so boring. When do you have it?"
"Tomarrow. I just had Charms. The teacher's good but she's a little weird."
"Come on. We better hurry if we don't want to be late," said Fredrick coming up behind them. Mora Grey pushed passed them as they tried to get by. "Gee, wonder what's got her in a twist."
"She stayed up half the night reading that huge book in the common room. Any one'd be grumpy." Seth rooled his eyes as he said it. Harlan got a strange light in his eyes.
"And how do you know she was up all night? Seth, you have something you want to share with the rest of us?"
"Eww, you're sick!" said Fredrick playfully.
"Yeah, you are. But if you must know, she told me. At great lenghth. This morning at breackfast. She was reading about Harry Potter. Hey, isn't that your dad's friend?"
"Yeah, he was. He left and Dad's real mad at him. Come one, here we are."
The pushed their way into the class room talking about little things. Fredrick had changed the subject to Quidditch and Harlan was going on excitedly about how his whole family had played ont eh house team at one point. Even his older cousin was going to be on it this year.
The teacher stood at the head of the class watching them come in and checking his watch he called for silence. "Alright, class, my Name is Prfoosor Ryan. In this class we will be studying demons, such as vampires and all the myth and lore concering them. And we'll also be getting into some history. Not the same kind you have studied or will be studying in Prfessor Binn's class but the kind before the fifth age of man." A few hands shot in the air. "Yes, Miss... Grey."
"What's the fifth age of man, sir?" Her eyes sparkled with teh need to know and Angel could almost see a young Willow Rosenburg looking out at him.
"The world is devided up into Seven basic ages. The seventh and the sixth are the two that the muggle world calls BCE and AD. Before that, the earth exsisted almost to the point we are living now. That is to say that that was the first beginning. But then, there were many great wars because, you see, while this world was much like our own, there was very little peace. So these wars tore the world apart and it all had to begin again. But we'll get more into that later in the year. If you really want to know, you can come see me after class."
Mora looked excited about this. Harlan leaned over. "A whole Galeon says she stays after class." Seth didn't even bother answering. Fredrick tried very hard not to laugh.
"Well then, now for today's lesson plan. Today we're going to be studying something kid of fun. I say kind of because there's always a cathc with demons. I don't care how fun they sound. The peticular demon we'll be studying today is called Sweet, the singing demon." A few kids laughed but Angel continued. "He can be called by..." And so, by the end of the class, he had the entire class hanging on his every word. But he sent them on their way with warning of how badly things could go and they filed talking excitedly about the demon in question. And Angel watched as Seth left the room...
***
Oz made his way out into the world again the next day. This time, it was not to seek out the ministry or it's people, it was to think. Buffy was driving him crazy with her frantic decorating even after he reminded her that she too had come here for a porpuse. "Yeah, but I don't know what that is just yet." she'd said. So while she was hanging new curtains, Oz made his way through the streets of the city. The wind was blowing a little colder than yesterday and the sky spoke of rain but he didn't care. He needed to get out.
Spying a small pub off to his left, Oz made tracks for it if only to warm his hands for a moment. And yet, when he walked in the door, He felt it right off. That wips of power across his face hit him like a slap and the other man looked up with his eyes slightly narrowed. Oz gave a small smile to show he meant no harm and made his way over. Sitting down, neither said anything but gave eachother aprising looks. A waitress took his order for a gin and coke and Oz watched as the older man cocked his head to the side. "You're not from around here are you?"
Oz had to smile. "No." But nothing eles. The stranger waited until the waitress had brought Oz's drink before he spoke again.
"Well, do you come with ill-will?"
"No, I come with nothing at all save the clothes on my back the girl in my flat."
The other werewolf cuckled. "I'm Remus Lupin." He extented a hand to the starnger.
"Oz," siad siad person... err... werewolf.
"Nice to meet you. But not many weres coming into England or Eroup for that amtter any more. I take it you haven't heard of the round ups?"
"No, I'd heard. But I found something that could change that."
Remus raised an eye brow. "And what might that be?"
Oz debated how much to tell him. Deciding that the more wolves that knew, the better chance he'd have at tehis crack pot idea. "I found a way to keep comtrol of the transformations," he said in a low voice.
"You mean like wolfsbane?"
"No. I found a way so you don't change at all. took me sixtten years."
Remus gave off a low wistle. Oz smiled. 'I think I've made me a friend.' he hought as he began to quicetly tell the stranger al about it.
***
The fog was closing in just a scant inch closer with each passing year. They grew thicker and the peoples left int eh gray havens had found that as time went on, they had less room in their undying land then they had in centuries past. Many had considared goiing out once more into the world to see how it had changed. Spies that they sent out though rally came back and those that did brought only tidings of a world so different that it was almost better to stay in the land which grew ever small.
This was the home of the elves. The undying ones of old. Here too dweled the dwarves and hobbits. The wizards had long ago disppeared from the gray havens and the three culters of beings took a portaion of the land as their own. They rarly interacted but some had closer ties than others and the remainder of what was once known as the fellowship of the ring dwelled there in the highest form of peace.
But the encroachment had begun to cause much unrest. The people grew fearful that one day it might swallow them each whole. So more spies were sent out into the real world. They began to amass any knowlage they could. They began to learn that if they went a certain way through the forest, the came upon a grand castle and from these woods they could venture out into a land called England. The people of the gray havens rejoiced at this the the fellowship, who had begun to get a bit restless, decided that they too should go out into this new world.
On top of the encroching mists, they could feel a great evil stiring in the wind. The eldest beings there said it was nothing like they had ever felt. A great stiring of darkness. It was determined that a new fellowship should be formed to set out from their lands and find what it was. And, should it pose any great threat to thier own world, the elves of what was once middle-earth, would go and fight this great evil.
So they set out on November the twenty ninth by Shire reconing. Two elves, two hobbits and the only man yet breathing in the gray havens.
TBC......?
Chapter Four: Meetings and Musings
SillyBanna: Thank you for the exatly one review I got. ot meant a lot to me. Glad to hear that you are open to the slashy bit of my fic and don't worry, Willow and Tara will find out about each otehr soon enough! Thank you. This chapter's all for you!
Dis: I don't own Buffy, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings which I have decided to add. As with BtVS and HP, I will be messing withe the timelines a lot. That'll all get explained better later on.
Note: please review or I won't post any more here.
Professor Liam Ryan sat at the high table that evening watching in wonder as the tall boy with bright red hair was sorted into Ravenclaw. To say it was an unexpected surpirse is an unerstatment. Ture, there had been anoher boy who looked very similar, but there was something about this you man named Seth Wiles that made him think of some one he'd once known. It was there in the tilt of his head and the way his blure eyes took in everything with a nivie wonder. Then it hit him, Willow! He looked like Willow! Trying not to look like he was gossiping with another teacher he lened over to Tara.
"He could almost be Willow's son." She looked up at him in surpisrse and then he eyes ilkered over to the boy on the stool.
"RAVENCALW!" shouted the sorting and Tara grinned.
"If it is, he must have inherited her brain." Angel smiled but all throughout dinner, he couldn't stop looking at the boy. Tara too was having a hard time tearing her eyes away. The lightness of thei words belied the fact that, in their hearts, they so wished that it could be her son. A sign that she was alive. At least elven years ago. And as he sat there wit his new friends and housemtes, Angel couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of genitics.
***
Mrs. Wiles sat sown at the kitchen table on the morning of Spetember the second with a letter in her hand. When the owl had flown in her window late last night, she had thought only the worst but upon reading the letter over, once franitcly and another time a bit slower, she found that it was only a letter from her son. But now it was morning and she was realizing how much she missed having the little boy come bouning into her room in the morning with his sister tagging along behind. But Michele was still aslepp and Seth was off at school. Settling down in her chair with a cup of tea (how very Giles of her), she began to read:
Dear Mum,
Wow! Hogwarts is so cool! I got sorted into Ravenclaw. They say that all the really smart people go there. I mean here. Harlen (you know, the boy from the trian station) he's in Gryffindor. There are two other boys in my dorm. There's Frank and some kid named Mark matherson. He's strange. But Fredrick and Frank are really neat! They both have owls so I'm borwing Fred's. He says his older brothers can send a letter to his mum tonight. He'll send it tomarrow. He fell right to sleep but I'm too excited.
Mark has a toad. Puppy tried to eat him at first but he stopped that. How's Michele and dad? How are you? I miss every one! Tell ichele that I'll sendher some chocolate frogs but I don't have any left. I ate them all on the train. (Only thre. Don't worry!) Anywasy, It's really late now and every one's alseep. I can't wait for class tomarrow. We have this one teacher, Proffesor Ryan, he's cool looking. I don'' know why. And he was talking to the Charms teacher but I don't know her name yet. I'll tell you all about my teachers next time. Every one's saying that the two of them are going out. Eww... I don't want my teachers to be kissing... Well, I guess it's ok if they don't do it in class... I really miss every one and Puppy says meow!
Love, Seth
And Willow smiled.
***
Seth went into charms class the next morning firmly convinced that it wouldn't be his favorite class. That spot was held special by Defense ginst the Dark Arts because he got to take the class with his new best friend, Harlan Waesley.. But Charms did sound like a lot of fun. Professor McCaly seemd to be about his mother's age. She as taller, though, and pretty for a teacher. She smiled alot but her eyes semed sad.
"Today we are going to begin with the basic levatation charms. Now then..." ANd the class began. She gave no room for agument or anything. She was repsected right from the get-go and that's the way it had always been in her class.
But as she began her class that day, her eyes drifted over to where one of the Ravenclaw boys sayt. Seth Wiles. Angel was right, he could almost be Willow's son. In fact, the thught stuck with her and throughout the entire lesson, she kept one eye on the red-head. It was the most inatentive she had ever been while teaching. But there was something in his smile when he'd come into the room and there was that was he laughed when she'd told a small joke earlier. He was almost Willow herself only... there was something so very different about him. It was deep in his blue eyes. No one had eyes like that any more. Those were the type of eyes one saw in ancient painting of elves before fifth age of man. Not any more. Not almost a million years later. So She watched him all through class and he he walked out the door, he looked over his shouder and in those eyes, she could see that he had not failed to notice her watching him. He knew... But what did he know?
***
Seth saw Harlan just as he was coming out of the room across the hall. "What class did you have?" Seth asked his new friend.
""History of Magic. It was so boring. When do you have it?"
"Tomarrow. I just had Charms. The teacher's good but she's a little weird."
"Come on. We better hurry if we don't want to be late," said Fredrick coming up behind them. Mora Grey pushed passed them as they tried to get by. "Gee, wonder what's got her in a twist."
"She stayed up half the night reading that huge book in the common room. Any one'd be grumpy." Seth rooled his eyes as he said it. Harlan got a strange light in his eyes.
"And how do you know she was up all night? Seth, you have something you want to share with the rest of us?"
"Eww, you're sick!" said Fredrick playfully.
"Yeah, you are. But if you must know, she told me. At great lenghth. This morning at breackfast. She was reading about Harry Potter. Hey, isn't that your dad's friend?"
"Yeah, he was. He left and Dad's real mad at him. Come one, here we are."
The pushed their way into the class room talking about little things. Fredrick had changed the subject to Quidditch and Harlan was going on excitedly about how his whole family had played ont eh house team at one point. Even his older cousin was going to be on it this year.
The teacher stood at the head of the class watching them come in and checking his watch he called for silence. "Alright, class, my Name is Prfoosor Ryan. In this class we will be studying demons, such as vampires and all the myth and lore concering them. And we'll also be getting into some history. Not the same kind you have studied or will be studying in Prfessor Binn's class but the kind before the fifth age of man." A few hands shot in the air. "Yes, Miss... Grey."
"What's the fifth age of man, sir?" Her eyes sparkled with teh need to know and Angel could almost see a young Willow Rosenburg looking out at him.
"The world is devided up into Seven basic ages. The seventh and the sixth are the two that the muggle world calls BCE and AD. Before that, the earth exsisted almost to the point we are living now. That is to say that that was the first beginning. But then, there were many great wars because, you see, while this world was much like our own, there was very little peace. So these wars tore the world apart and it all had to begin again. But we'll get more into that later in the year. If you really want to know, you can come see me after class."
Mora looked excited about this. Harlan leaned over. "A whole Galeon says she stays after class." Seth didn't even bother answering. Fredrick tried very hard not to laugh.
"Well then, now for today's lesson plan. Today we're going to be studying something kid of fun. I say kind of because there's always a cathc with demons. I don't care how fun they sound. The peticular demon we'll be studying today is called Sweet, the singing demon." A few kids laughed but Angel continued. "He can be called by..." And so, by the end of the class, he had the entire class hanging on his every word. But he sent them on their way with warning of how badly things could go and they filed talking excitedly about the demon in question. And Angel watched as Seth left the room...
***
Oz made his way out into the world again the next day. This time, it was not to seek out the ministry or it's people, it was to think. Buffy was driving him crazy with her frantic decorating even after he reminded her that she too had come here for a porpuse. "Yeah, but I don't know what that is just yet." she'd said. So while she was hanging new curtains, Oz made his way through the streets of the city. The wind was blowing a little colder than yesterday and the sky spoke of rain but he didn't care. He needed to get out.
Spying a small pub off to his left, Oz made tracks for it if only to warm his hands for a moment. And yet, when he walked in the door, He felt it right off. That wips of power across his face hit him like a slap and the other man looked up with his eyes slightly narrowed. Oz gave a small smile to show he meant no harm and made his way over. Sitting down, neither said anything but gave eachother aprising looks. A waitress took his order for a gin and coke and Oz watched as the older man cocked his head to the side. "You're not from around here are you?"
Oz had to smile. "No." But nothing eles. The stranger waited until the waitress had brought Oz's drink before he spoke again.
"Well, do you come with ill-will?"
"No, I come with nothing at all save the clothes on my back the girl in my flat."
The other werewolf cuckled. "I'm Remus Lupin." He extented a hand to the starnger.
"Oz," siad siad person... err... werewolf.
"Nice to meet you. But not many weres coming into England or Eroup for that amtter any more. I take it you haven't heard of the round ups?"
"No, I'd heard. But I found something that could change that."
Remus raised an eye brow. "And what might that be?"
Oz debated how much to tell him. Deciding that the more wolves that knew, the better chance he'd have at tehis crack pot idea. "I found a way to keep comtrol of the transformations," he said in a low voice.
"You mean like wolfsbane?"
"No. I found a way so you don't change at all. took me sixtten years."
Remus gave off a low wistle. Oz smiled. 'I think I've made me a friend.' he hought as he began to quicetly tell the stranger al about it.
***
The fog was closing in just a scant inch closer with each passing year. They grew thicker and the peoples left int eh gray havens had found that as time went on, they had less room in their undying land then they had in centuries past. Many had considared goiing out once more into the world to see how it had changed. Spies that they sent out though rally came back and those that did brought only tidings of a world so different that it was almost better to stay in the land which grew ever small.
This was the home of the elves. The undying ones of old. Here too dweled the dwarves and hobbits. The wizards had long ago disppeared from the gray havens and the three culters of beings took a portaion of the land as their own. They rarly interacted but some had closer ties than others and the remainder of what was once known as the fellowship of the ring dwelled there in the highest form of peace.
But the encroachment had begun to cause much unrest. The people grew fearful that one day it might swallow them each whole. So more spies were sent out into the real world. They began to amass any knowlage they could. They began to learn that if they went a certain way through the forest, the came upon a grand castle and from these woods they could venture out into a land called England. The people of the gray havens rejoiced at this the the fellowship, who had begun to get a bit restless, decided that they too should go out into this new world.
On top of the encroching mists, they could feel a great evil stiring in the wind. The eldest beings there said it was nothing like they had ever felt. A great stiring of darkness. It was determined that a new fellowship should be formed to set out from their lands and find what it was. And, should it pose any great threat to thier own world, the elves of what was once middle-earth, would go and fight this great evil.
So they set out on November the twenty ninth by Shire reconing. Two elves, two hobbits and the only man yet breathing in the gray havens.
TBC......?