Giles left word with Spike that a decision would be forthcoming in the morning. He had no desire to interrupt Grey and Willow, now that he knew she would be staying. Plenty of time for that later. He made his way back to his suite and scribbled out a lengthy letter for the morning post. With that finished, he sat with a cup of tea and stared at the fireplace.
Using a wand would help Willow adjust, he knew. It would slow her down, force her to learn control and start with the basics. But with Willow's power and aptitude, that would last only so long. Dumbledore and the rest could show her some focusing techniques to push it a bit further. But the truth was plain: she had come too far, too fast. By nature, she had always been an emotional girl, ready to help or defend her friends with little provocation. Dark magic twisted that tendency, used it against the wielder. It clouded her judgment; provocation no longer became a necessary precursor. Eventually, she would just lash out at everything around her.
After a lengthy brood, Giles let out a deep sigh. He was stalling. Lifting the cellular phone from an end table, he dialed the number from memory.
"Hello?" The familiar teenaged voice soothed his nerves a tiny bit.
"Hello, Dawn. Could I speak with your sister, please?"
"Hey, Giles! How's England? How's Willow?"
"Everything is quite fine, Dawn," he lied smoothly. "How is Sunnydale?"
"The usual. Monsters, mojo, schoolwork. Let me get Buffy. She's dying to hear from you guys. Oh, and say hi to Spike for me, will you? It's boring with him gone."
"I will indeed. Thanks." He heard some bustling in the background, and a series of footsteps.
"Giles?"
"Buffy. How are you?"
"We're okay. Took down the last of the Nerd Patrol finally. That guy Warren is seriously annoying. What's up with you?"
"I'm glad to hear that everything is okay there. We've had something come up here, and truthfully, I'm sort of at a loss as to how to deal with it."
"You? King of Answers?"
"Yes, me. It involves some rather tricky questions regarding Willow…" He explained about Harry's rescue, her outburst, and his proposed solution.
"I don't know, Giles," Buffy responded skeptically. "Maybe. It would be hard, though, to get her to go along. When Willow started using it all the time here, she just went berserk. It caused serious problems. You know about Dawn's arm and everything." Buffy sighed. "What do you want from me?""
"Well, you've been there for more than a year after I left, Buffy. I was hoping you could shed some light on whether it's likely to work for everyone involved."
"It could. I can probably help push it a little bit. So could Dawn. If you want?"
"I do, Buffy. The sooner the better, if you can. I can establish everything on this end."
"Should Xander and I come visit you? I don't know how we could afford it, but we could try."
"Actually, I don't think you should right away. Eventually, yes, and when the time comes I can arrange something less costly than air travel. For now, though, I think it would be best to correspond through the mail." He had explained about owl post in a previous letter.
"I can do that. I should talk with her, though. Let her know we're still here for her. Xander would too, I'm sure."
"I think that would be great. It's rather late here, however. Perhaps I can have her call you tomorrow evening?"
"That would be awesome, Giles."
"I will do that, then. And Buffy, thank you for your help."
"It's Willow, Giles. Of course we'll help."
"I just hope everyone feels that way. Good night, then."
"'Night, Giles."