A/N: Okay, so, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Thanks to my first reviewer!

Chapter One - Arrival at Twilight

I was stained, by a role, in a day not my own / But as you walked into my life you showed what needed to be shown / And I always knew, what was right / I just didn't know that I might / Peel away and choose to see with such a different sight.

And I will never see the sky the same way and / I will learn to say good- bye to yesterday and / I will never cease to fly if held down and / I will always reach too high cause I've seen, cause' I've seen, twilight.

--Vanessa Carlton - "Twilight"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Giles walked into the house and found Willow staring out the window. He smiled and walked over to her.

"Willow?"

Willow kept looking out the window, as if searching for something.

"Willow, what is it?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I don't know. I feel something. It - it's bad. And it's coming. I - " she paused and looked at Giles. "I can feel her. She's coming too. She has a message."

Giles sighed. Willow was having dreams about Tara again, he thought. He tried to convince her to just try and forget about it. He just wanted to shake her until she snapped out of this trance that she was in. But he knew it wasn't that easy. And he didn't have the heart.

"Willow, I don't think - "

"No, not Tara." She looked back out the window. "Buffy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Buffy! Buffy get up - you have to see this!"

Buffy groaned at the incessant knocking at her bedroom door. "Dawn, its six o'clock in the morning. Unless the Hellmouth is open, I'm off for the rest of the day."

"But Buffy!" Now there were two of them.

Buffy groaned again and threw the covers off. She walked to the door. "What are you doing up at six o'clock in the morning and why does Kennedy have an owl on her arm?"

"Pretty, isn't she?" Kennedy said, petting the owl.

"Kennedy and I were downstairs and all of a sudden, this owl flew in the window, and sort of landed in my cereal bowl, but still, see?" Dawn pointed to the owl's leg. "It has a letter for you."

"So why didn't you just take the letter and let the owl fly away?" Buffy said, untying the letter from the bird's leg. This was the Hellmouth - she had seen weirder things then an owl delivering mail.

"Well, because it was addressed to you, and we didn't want to invade your privacy."

Buffy raised her eyebrow at Kennedy.

"That and the owl wouldn't let us."

"Thought so." Buffy said, opening the letter. She read it with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Kennedy asked.

"It's - I don't know exactly." Buffy looked at Dawn and then read the letter aloud.

Dear Ms. Summers,

I hope this letter finds you well, and that you do not mind my way of delivering this message. Wizards do things a bit different from Muggles.

I am writing to ask that you come and teach at the school where I am Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to teach our Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I am also asking that Willow Rosenberg assist you in teaching this class. I understand that, given the circumstances, you may not think that this is the right environment for Willow. However, I can assure you, this may be the best place for her.

Please, consider my offer, and get back to me as soon as possible. The term begins September first.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Buffy looked up from the paper and at Dawn.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Dawn asked.

"We?"

"Oh, c'mon Buffy! If you go, what are me and Kennedy going to do? Stay here by ourselves?"

Buffy looked at Kennedy who, from the look on her face, agreed completely with Dawn. "Alright, I'll consider it. Let me speak with Giles first, okay?"

"You can use the phone in my room." Buffy walked with Kennedy to "her bedroom" - one that belonged to Joyce, Willow, and Tara - and dialed Giles' number.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Giles looked at Willow, surprised. "Willow, are you sure?"

Willow nodded. "I'm positive. She's - "

The phone rang and Giles went to get it. "One moment Willow. Hello?"

"Giles?"

Giles paled slightly. "Buffy?"

"Yeah. Hi. Look, I know that this was unexpected, but - "

"No, actually, it's rather not."

"What do you mean it's not?"

Willow moved into the living room and sat across from Giles.

"I'll explain later. What was it you wanted to tell me?"

~*

Buffy glanced at Dawn and Kennedy. "Actually there was something I wanted to ask you. Can, uh - can Dawn, Kennedy, and I come to visit? In, like, a day or so? We can get tickets. My dad's wife works at the airport, in LA, so it shouldn't be a problem."

~*

"Come visit? Here?"

"Yeah, there's this message - well, sort of - that I'm supposed to give to Willow."

Giles shot Willow a look. For the first time in weeks, she had that familiar 'I told you so' gleam back in her eyes.

"Yes, well, could - could you hold on for a moment?"

"Sure."

Giles put his hand over the receiver, but Willow got up and pressed the hold button. "That's what that button is there for Giles." She said smirking.

Giles glared slightly. "Yes, of course. Uh - it seems that Buffy wants to come here to deliver a message for you. She wanted to know if it was okay with me, which it is, but - are you?"

Willow gave him a small smile. "I would be. I miss everyone. And - I don't know. Maybe I'll feel better if I know that they forgive me."

"Maybe then you can forgive yourself?" Giles offered.

Willow shook her head. "I don't know if that's possible."

~*

"What's going on?" Dawn asked.

"He put me on hold. He sounded a little...weird. Like - he wasn't too surprised I was calling."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know Kennedy. I mean - " Buffy sighed. "I just don't know."

"Buffy? Are you there?"

Buffy held up a hand. "Yeah, I'm here Giles."

"How soon can you be here?

Buffy grinned. "If things go well - August 27th."

"Tomorrow! We're going tomorrow!" Dawn said excitedly.

"Dawn!"

Buffy heard Giles chuckle. "I'll get the guest rooms ready."

"Thanks Giles. I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully."

"Yes, tomorrow then. Bye."

Buffy hung up the phone and dialed her father's number while Dawn and Kennedy already started to pack.

"Hi, dad? Yeah - it's Buffy. Look, I need to ask Tanya for a favor."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After a two hour conversation with Tanya, five hours worth of packing, and the two hour car ride from the airport to Giles' house, Dawn, Buffy, and Kennedy were exhausted.

"Where's the welcoming committee? Giles told me he'd be waiting for us with balloons."

Kennedy snickered. Buffy put her bag down and knocked on the door. "I think he was being sarcastic, Dawnie."

The door opened, although neither Giles nor Willow was behind it. A man, probably around Giles' age, maybe little younger, with black hair and dark eyes stood looking at them. Buffy could almost describe him as rugged.

"Hi - um - I'm looking for Rupert Giles. Does he live here?"

The man smiled. "Yes, you must be Buffy. I'm Sirius Black. I'm a friend of Rupert's."

Buffy nodded and then blinked. "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners with all the confusion, this is my sister, Dawn, and our friend, Kennedy."

"Nice to meet you. Please, come inside."

The three of them walked in and Kennedy commented right away. "Whoa, nice house."

"I'll say. So, where's Willow and Giles?"

Sirius sat down on the couch and gestured to the seat across from him. Dawn and Kennedy were already exploring. "They had to meet with the coven that Willow's been working with. You do know about - "

"Giles told me." Buffy sat down. "How's she doing?"

Sirius smiled. "Surprisingly well. Whatever she knows, she's happier then I've seen her in weeks."

Buffy smiled at that. "That's good. This may be intruding, but how do you - "

The door opened and the four of them looked over. Giles walked in, Willow in tow. She seemed shaky, but not nearly as despaired as she was when Buffy had first seen her off at the airport.

"Buffy. Are you early?" Giles looked at his watch.

"No, actually, we're an hour late, but who's keeping track?"

Giles smiled. "Hello Dawn, Kennedy. How's training going?"

"Really well." Kennedy said. "Buffy's doing a good job."

Buffy looked over to Willow, who was looking at her feet. "Willow?"

Willow looked up. "Hey Buffy."

Buffy cracked a smile and gave Willow a hug. "God, I've missed you. Are you okay?"

Willow nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little bit tired. So, you have a message for me, or - or something?" Willow asked hopefully.

"Yeah" Buffy pulled away. "But I would like to tell you privately. Giles, can we - "

"Yes, of course. Willow, why don't you talk in your room."

"Okay." Willow led Buffy up the stairs and into the last room on the right. It was small, but it had a balcony overlooking -

"Are those stables? With real horses? Like the kind you can ride?"

"It's nice and quiet out there. If you go a little off the trail, there's this really quiet clearing where I go to clear my thoughts. It's nice. And I'm repeating myself aren't I?"

Buffy smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Willow sat down on the bed. "So, what was it you came all the way to England to tell me?"

Buffy sighed. "It's quite a story, actually." Buffy told Willow exactly what happened, but when Willow read the letter, she panicked.

"Teach? At Hogwarts? W-With magic? Buffy, I - I don't want to. I - I'm not ready. It's too much."

"Willow." Buffy sat down in the bed next to her. "I know you don't think you're ready for this. But - this Dumbledore knows about what happened. And he trusts you. I trust you."

"How can you say that after what I've done?"

"Willow, we've all gone crazy at one point or another. Your turn was long overdue. Hell, I tried to kill everybody myself, remember? We've all made mistakes." She put her hand on Willow's arm.

"So, you forgive me?"

Buffy smiled. "I forgave you the day you left. Right before you got on the plane - I forgave you."

Willow looked like she might burst into tears.

"I love you Wills. And I know that you can do this. So - am I telling this Dumbledore guy that he's about to get two amazing new professors?"

Willow nodded.

"Great. By the way, who's that guy downstairs?"

"Oh, that's Sirius. He's a friend of Giles'. They went to school together - they went to Hogwarts actually."

"Giles went to Hogwarts and do you have paper so I can write this reply?"

Willow went over to the nightstand, still talking. "Yeah, Giles is five years older." She handed the paper and a pen to Buffy, who started writing. "He and Sirius were in opposing houses, and they hated each other, but they were forced to work together when Giles was in watcher training, and they somehow became friends. He told Giles about the coven I'm working with, called the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore is the head of it, but I had no idea he wanted me to teach for him."

Buffy finished the letter and folded it up. "He's kinda cute."

"And hello, like, fifteen years older."

"240 mean anything to you?" Buffy asked smirking as they walked down the stairs.

"Oh, yeah. He was old, wasn't he?"

"Willow!"

The two girls descended the stairs laughing. Giles glanced at Sirius and they smiled.

"Giles, do you have an owl?" Willow asked.

"No, but I could find one. Why?"

Buffy glanced at Dawn, whose face lit up. Kennedy silently mouthed 'Yes!'

"Hogwarts had better look out. Because the Scooby gang is coming to town."