CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ADVICE
"Buffy?" Giles asked, the confusion evident in his voice. "What are you doing back here?"
Buffy turned to look at her mentor, tears in her eyes. She wiped at her eyes angrily. She couldn't believe how badly the day had turned out. One of the best days since the holidays had started and it had been completely ruined because of who her father was. Again.
"Long story," she whispered quietly, afraid that if she began to go into detail she would begin sobbing.
Giles took one look at her eyes and sighed. He had wondered whether her visit with the Weasley's would end badly. Obviously his worries hadn't been unfounded.
"I take it things went badly at the Weasley's," he said quietly.
Buffy breathed in a shuddering breath and nodded. "It wasn't all bad," she admitted. "Mr and Mrs Weasley are really nice, but…Percy, he…well, like you said, it went badly."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"If you don't mind, I'm just gonna go to bed. I'm kinda wiped," she explained.
He nodded and watched her go, feeling his own heart clenching in sympathetic sorrow. He had hoped that the Weasley's would have been more accommodating, but he'd obviously forgotten to take into account what Percy Weasley would think and do. He could only hope that the coming year wouldn't be as stressful as the previous year had been, but if this event at the Burrow was any indication, Giles was fairly certain that his hopes were unfounded.
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Buffy awoke after having cried herself to sleep the evening before. She'd had trouble falling asleep and had woken up several times during the evening. When dawn had rolled around, and she'd lain in bed trying to fall back to sleep with no luck, she finally rolled out of bed, donned a pair of jeans, a jumper and a warm jacket, and made her way outside.
She seated herself by the lake, content to warm herself in the early morning sun, watching the various inhabitants of the lake jumping in and out of the water gleefully.
"Miss Summers," a quiet voice said behind her.
She turned, somewhat startled. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised, but Professor Dumbledore had a knack of sneaking up behind her.
"Morning Professor," she greeted tiredly, turning her attention back to the lake.
Dumbledore somehow managed to gracefully settle himself beside her. She would never know if he'd sat cross-legged or on his knees, his robes covering his legs completely. She was somewhat surprised that the Headmaster of the school was out here seated beside her on the still dew-covered grass.
"Will you be returning to the Burrow?" he asked.
"You heard about what happened then?" she replied.
He nodded, an oddly serious expression on his face and in his eyes. It was very rare for him to be so serious, but she could tell that he was upset by something. She just hoped it wasn't anything that she had done.
"I heard. Young Mr Weasley, I'm afraid, was influenced by Minister Fudge's opinions all of last year. And, as you know, Minister Fudge was…"
"Not one of my biggest fans," Buffy finished for him. "Yeah, I know."
"I had hoped that Percy would have looked beyond all that," Dumbledore said, a disapproving note in his voice.
"I get why he's afraid," Buffy said sadly. "And I'm kinda used to it now, but…"
"It still hurts," he concluded.
Buffy nodded and wiped away a tear.
"I'd hoped that everyone would be over the whole fear thing by now," she confided. "I just…when are they gonna trust me?"
"That, unfortunately, is anyone's guess," he replied.
"Did I do the right thing?" she asked. "Leaving I mean? Should I have stayed and proven that I wasn't gonna kill everyone at the Burrow in their sleep?"
Dumbledore considered his answer carefully. On one hand, leaving had shown that she wasn't trying to make life for the Weasley's difficult. On the other hand, it looked as though she had run from a situation where she had the potential to lose control, thereby almost showing a lack of trust in herself.
"I doubt that Percy Weasley would have had even an iota of sleep had you stayed," Dumbledore replied. "And given your options, perhaps it was best for you to return to Hogwarts."
Buffy flinched noticeably. She hadn't really wanted to hear that from the Headmaster. She didn't really know what she wished to be told, but it hadn't been that.
"However, I do have to tell you that you will not be welcome at Hogwarts this evening," Dumbledore said, the sparkle returning to his eyes.
Buffy turned to look at him, a question in her eyes and on her lips. "What?"
Dumbledore chuckled a little and gave her the smile that she was so used to by now.
"This evening you are to stay at the Burrow," he explained. "I am effectively banning you from coming back to Hogwarts this evening."
Buffy smirked and shook her head. "I'm trying to work out whether to be horribly offended, or if I should just shut up and thank you."
"Miss Summers, the only way that you will ever get through life in the wizarding world as Voldemort's daughter is if you make people trust you. And whilst the option of leaving to make people more comfortable is somewhat noble, you will find yourself being trodden on," he advised. "To make people trust you, you have to give them a reason to trust you. By leaving, you're effectively taking yourself away from a situation, rather than staying and helping others realise that you are your own person, and absolutely nothing like your father."
Buffy took a moment to allow the words to sink in. She had to admit, Dumbledore did always seem to give the best advice. And his advice did make sense. She would never earn people's trust if she wasn't around long enough to earn it. She nodded and gave the headmaster a half-smile.
"Thanks Professor," she said, her voice significantly more cheery than it had been at the beginning of the discussion.
He nodded and stood up, moving far more gracefully than a man of his age had any right to.
"Now, if I'm not much mistaken, the Weasley's will be just sitting down to breakfast," he said with a smile.
She grinned and nodded. Within the blink of an eye, and with a small cracking sound, Buffy Summers disapparated from the Hogwarts grounds.
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Buffy stood outside the door to the Weasley's house. From the sounds of it, everyone in the house was already up. She listened carefully, wanting to make sure that Percy was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't hear his voice, so she assumed it to be fairly safe.
She let herself into the house, grinning at the people who sat around the kitchen table, most of them still in their pyjamas.
"Morning all," she greeted.
"Buffy!" nearly everyone cried out simultaneously.
Harry jumped to his feet, engulfing his girlfriend in an extremely tight hug. He'd been somewhat worried that she wouldn't turn up for the day after what had happened the night before, and to say that he was extremely relieved to see her now was an understatement.
"You came," he whispered.
She gave him a smile and a nipping kiss to his lips. "Of course I came. I had to come and see my favourite boyfriend."
He frowned slightly. "I hope I'm your only boyfriend," he said, his voice low, nearly a growl.
She just smiled impishly at him and dragged him back to the table, seating herself between Harry and Hermione.
"How goes things here?" she asked casually.
Fred and George gave her identical (strangely enough) looks of confusion. "How can you be so calm?" Fred asked.
Buffy just shrugged. "Well, you did warn me that Percy was a git."
They both cracked a smile and Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione breathed sighs of relief.
Mrs Weasley came bustling into the kitchen. "Oh Buffy, I'm so glad you could make it," she said warmly, smiling at the blonde girl. "You must be starving."
Buffy just sat back and let Mrs Weasley serve her up a plate of bacon and eggs, grinning the entire time. There was just something about the motherly nature of Mrs Weasley that Buffy couldn't help but think was absolutely adorable. Her own mom –Joyce Summers…not mom, she reminded herself- had been similar. Her real mom, Sara Lanstone, was not the matronly type, though Buffy supposed it was because she'd never really had to raise any children. Her own child had been taken from her, and she'd missed out on having to raise a child from birth.
"Thanks Mrs Weasley," Buffy said gratefully as she began eating the plateful of food.
"I'm so sorry about Percy, dear," Mrs Weasley said, giving the girl a sad look. "He really didn't mean anything by it."
"It's cool," Buffy said. "Honestly. And, yeah, he meant it, but it's okay. If I have to earn his trust, then that's what I'll do."
Mrs Weasley looked at the girl in shock.
"That's an awfully mature decision."
"Well, I won't take full credit for it," Buffy said with a smile. "A very wise wizard told me that if people aren't going to trust me, I'd just have to suck it up and keep on going, regardless of what they thought of me."
"Was that Professor Giles or Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Dumbledore of course," Buffy replied.
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K.