The illusion melted before his eyes. The dress remained, but it miraculously adjusted as she shrunk. At the end, she stood an inch shorter than him. Her hair fell to her shoulders in brown and ebony ringlets. Her skin darkened from milk-white to a dusty taupe. The iris of her eyes expanded to cover them entirely. The sneer never wavered.
Grey hid his surprise with a nod and a half-bow.
"I wondered when I might see you again." A slow song began to vibrate through the hall. "How about one last dance, before you destroy a lovely party?"
"My pleasure," Jess said. He took her in his arms as he had a thousand times before. His hands still fit perfectly at the small of her back; hers wrapped easily into their place behind his neck.
He smelled vanilla and wished for cinnamon.
Forgive me this, Willow. I have to try.
"It's been a long time."
"I guess it has," she acknowledged.
"I'm going to die tonight, aren't I?"
"You don't have to." It came out soft. Her head was cocked as she watched his face. They swayed softly with the music. "You could join us."
"You know I can't."
"You could. You might not miss me, but I so badly miss you. More than you can imagine."
A solitary tear rolled off his face and splashed on the floor.
"You left, hon," he said gently. "I would have stayed with you forever, even if you never left that room. But you got up. You tortured me. You walked out." He paused. "You have no idea the depths of my missing you."
"I did what I had to do. I had power. I had a destiny. I still do. But we could have it together. He'll take you in, if you truly give yourself to it. We could be together. I want us to be together." Her pleading voice jolted him. How could he have forgotten how much he loved her? How much he loved that voice and the feel of her next to him? The smell of vanilla? Grey wondered suddenly if he should go with her.
Willow nearly pulled Spike's arm off to get his attention.
"Who the fuck is that?" Willow snarled. She watched as Grey took the woman in his arms. Across the room, Ron and Harry saw it too, and pointed it out to Hermione and Ginny. Suddenly, Harry's scar nearly tore his head off with pain. Ron and Hermione caught him before he fell over.
"Was that Elvira lookin' bint. Then she changed all of a sudden, and the Jedi asked her to dance." Willow saw Harry and began to worry.
"He did what?"
"He asked her to dance. Don't know who she is, though.
"It's her. Godammit!" Willow's eyes went black. Spike wrapped his arms around her and spoke into her ear.
"Red, you have to control it. You lose it now, and it's a bad scene. Everyone will see. Do you trust him?"
"Y-yes," she squeezed out. The black faded to green.
"Then trust him."
"Something bad is going to happen," she said, shrugging him off. She had her anger under control now; a second of pause did it. This was Grey. He had smiled at her. Now he was doing what he had to. So would she. "Get Giles. Make your way to the doors. I'll cover this side."
"How do you know?"
"Did you see Harry? His scar must have hurt bad for him to fall over like that. That means major evil."
"Or you can stay here," Jess said, interrupting his thoughts. She always did that, he remembered. "I mean, I can't offer you any spindly little redheads to fuck." Her body went rigid, but he held on to her.
"I never slept with her. We aren't together."
"You were about to. I've been watching you. That's our smile that you gave her. My smile." God, is she actually hurt? "How could you?"
"Nothing has happened between us yet. But when it does, it will be different than what we had. It isn't your smile. It's Willow's. Yours is for you alone." As proof, he gave it to her. She could see the difference, despite the darkness clouding her mind. Hers held an innocence the other had lost, a shyness burned away by her power. It was an old smile, its time already past. He was a different man, and it looked odd on his face. She wondered how he could still smile that way. "The real question is, how could you torture me like that? How could you say those things?"
"I had to make you understand what I was. What I am."
"That isn't what you are, my love. I know what you are. Know who you are. Know every inch of you. Come back to that. Let all this darkness go. They're helping Willow, they could help you. I could help you." He meant it with all of his soul. He hoped it would be enough. "Come back to me."
She pulled away and her eyes were green. Her lower lip trembled; it meant she was terrified beyond rational thought. He put his right hand on her cheek, his thumb softly stroking her lips.
"Could I? Would you really help me? Do you … do you still love me, David?" Her voice was a whisper, but it was the old voice. From before. He could feel the knot in his stomach untwist. He had her back. Finally.
"Of course. You know that. No matter what. You and I. Always." He pulled her into him, rubbing her back in lazy circles, hoping to calm the shaking that he knew from long experience accompanied the lip tremble.
He realized after a second that she wasn't shaking.
"You're still a fool, you know that?" Another voice said from his shoulder. She pushed him away and put her hand to his throat. The green eyes faded back to black and the power visibly rippled outward from her. Then three things happened at once:
She lifted Grey off his feet as they both floated into air. Her magical grip tightened and he began to die.
Several of the tables caught at the edge of the the power ripple bucked and heaved, as if they suddenly came to life and writhed under their own power. Most of them exploded, sending jagged wooden shrapnel into students and faculty. The rest merely flipped over.
Green bursts shot from Jess' free hand, encasing Willow, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape in green rings of energy. None of the four could move or speak as they slowly rose off the floor.
Then things went from bad to worse.
Everyone began screaming. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Neville ducked behind one of the fallen tables, frantically praying that the cover would be enough. The students began a mad rush for the door. Those that made it out came face to face with Giles and Spike in hand to hand combat. Their opponents, gnarled and hairy creatures called gnolls, stood six feet high and carried clubs. Their awkward, jerky gait and deformed bodies possessed a staggering amount of power.
Ten of the gnolls pushed the two Scoobies back towards the hall, battering the frightened partygoers as they clubbed their way through. Spike landed a few good punches, but realized they were vastly outnumbered and retreated into the dining hall. Giles tried to follow but took a club to the head. He fell without a sound.
When the gnolls burst through the door, the room had mostly emptied of mobile victims. Bodies of the dead and wounded littered the room. The beasts surrounded Spike, slamming at his head and torso with their crude weapons. He punched one more in the head, but the movement left him wide open for another two. The combined blow lifted him from his feet and pitched him onto the faculty dais. The clubs and the landing knocked him unconscious.
"I came back for you," Jess screamed at Grey in the center of the room. His vision began to go black from lack of oxygen. "I made him send me, so I could have you. And what do I find?" She waved her arm; he spun and fell headfirst into the floor. His skull audibly cracked as it hit the floor. "You've forgotten me. Me! I was everything to you! Do you remember saying that?" A bolt of red energy crackled as it left her eyes. It caught Grey in the chest, burning him and charring his clothes and skin. "Liar!" She gestured again, and a group of jagged black energy blades appeared in the air. They flew forward, slashing at him and cutting deep, then raking him a second time on the backstroke before dissolving.
Willow struggled against her bonds, watching helplessly as Jess tortured him. She knew, on some primal level, that she was stronger than the dark-haired witch. But, untrained and unused to her power, she could not overcome the vice that held her. Dumbledore and the others hung motionless in the air, the spell strong enough to knock them out.
Behind the overturned table, the rest of the group waited for an opening.
"We need to do something," Hermione hissed at Harry.
"I'm open to suggestions," he retorted. "None of us is powerful enough to fight her. Not even close."
"W-we could all hit her at once," Neville offered. He was so frightened he was shaking. "Maybe freeze her?"
"Fuck yeah. Let's try," Ron said. They all nodded.
"Me too," said a sixth voice. "That bitch hurt me bad." It was Draco Malfoy. He had huge splinters of wood in his right arm and thigh. Everyone looked at Harry, who nodded.
"Can you stand, Malfoy?"
"Not well. Can one of you pull this shit out of me?" No one moved. "Please?"
"Fine." Ron reached over and grabbed the splinter in his thigh. "This will hurt somethin' fierce as well." Malfoy nodded. Ron yanked and the wood came free. Gritting his teeth, Malfoy kept silent. Ron pulled the other one, and the pain nearly made the Slytherin pass out.
"Thanks, Weasley," he said grudgingly. "Potter, let's do this."
"Freeze her," Harry said. "Then go for those hairy guys. On three. One … Two … Three!" All six of them popped to their feet.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" they roared as one. The curse shot from six wands and hit Jess in the side. She flew backwards and landed against the wall.
Grey dropped to the ground in a heap. Still conscious, he could feel the shallowness of his own breathing. His chest burned, as it had months before when she first used the knives. But the pain now paled in comparison to the pain then. Willing himself to ignore it, he gathered the strength to stand. He had trained for this. He would see it through.
The evil witch came slowly to her feet. The curse stunned her, but it was gray magic, used with the intent to harm. The power soaked into her like a sponge.
"What now?" Ron shouted.
"Scatter!" Harry ordered. "Do what you can!" Malfoy, unable to run, began firing off curses he had only heard whispered about in his house. The other five ran in different directions, flinging curses on the move. Most missed; the others, lacking the combined might of the first, she harmlessly absorbed.
"You kids are really something," she said, impressed by their bravery. It almost made her regret having to kill them. She summoned lightning, channeling it through her hand and flinging it at Ron and Hermione, who darted towards the frozen teachers. Ron tackled the girl, in the process taking a bolt of lightning headed for her chest. He slumped atop her, and she screamed. On the other side of the room, Harry, Ginny and Neville began cursing the gnolls. Some hairy demi-humans fell, but the others advanced on them with frightening speed.
The bolt meant for Ron missed; it plowed straight into Willow. The contact ignited her dormant power. Summoning raw force with an ease she had never known, she tore the bonds asunder and floated towards the witch.
"That was a mistake you'll never live to understand," Willow growled. She lifted her hand and incinerated the remaining gnolls.
"If you believe that, you're more of a fool than your boyfriend," Jess said, her face twisted into an evil grin.
Grey staggered to his feet between them before they could trade magical punches.
"This ends now," he said, summoning his last reserves of strength. He looked at Jess. "Leave and never come back. We're finished." They both knew he didn't mean the fight.
"Or I could kill you all now," she said.
"We both know he doesn't want that. We know what he wants. Tonight, someone will die if you try and take her."
"Maybe that someone will be you."
Willow's power hissed and popped behind him. He couldn't see them, but clouds of black energy had gathered at each of her fists. If he moved a foot either way, she could loose it on Jess and finish this. It begged her to let it run free, called to her seductively with promises hidden in her dreams. The power cared not at all that Grey stood in the way. It demanded release.
She focused on the memory of his smile. The thought held her power at bay.
"Make the call."
Jess looked around. The four remaining kids had their wands out. Spike had risen shakily to his feet, but looked menacing enough in his game face. Giles, a large welt forming on his forehead, had a gnoll's club at the ready just inside the door. He stood next to Hagrid, who had come down from his house with Fang and an enormous crossbow. Fang growled and danced on the end of his leash. The witch floated behind Grey, an image of angelic power in the white gown.
Finally, she looked at Grey. Their eyes locked. She knew she could kill him, could kill them all, even the redheaded bitch who had stolen him. He knew it too. She didn't want to. Some part of her, despite all she had done to him, refused to deliver the killing blow.
She fled through the doorway and out into the night.