CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: THE RITUAL
Giles, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco were on their way to Hogsmeade, knowing they needed to be off Hogwarts grounds for any of the adults to apparate. Sirius was only going along to speed up the apparitions into muggle London. He wouldn't be staying once they'd arrived.
Harry was fidgeting nervously the entire time. On the one hand, he was grateful that his girlfriend had been found, and that she was alive. On the other hand, Willow's note had been somewhat frantic. Saying something about Buffy being basically unconscious. That was never something Harry wanted to hear about Buffy.
"She'll be alright mate," Ron assured him. "She has to be."
Harry nodded, still unable to keep himself calm. When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, he nearly began cheering. The six passengers got off the train and stood on the platform.
"Harry and Draco can go over first," Giles decided.
The two boys didn't argue. Harry moved to his godfather's side, and Giles clapped a hand on Draco's shoulder. With a loud crack, the four of them disapparated, leaving Hermione and Ron standing by themselves.
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Faith jumped, completely startled, when she heard a loud crack behind her. Within the blink of an eye, she was out of her chair and standing in a defensive position in front of Willow and Buffy. Her stake was drawn and she could easily see a crossbow in reaching distance if she needed it.
Faith stared at the four people in Willow's living room, about to demand that they explain themselves. Willow's loud exclamation stopped her.
"Giles!"
Giles, Harry and Draco raced to where Buffy lay on the couch. Harry felt tears sting his eyes. He hadn't really noticed the bruise on Buffy's face before, but he knew that it was from either Crabbe or Goyle.
"Did she say what happened?" Giles asked.
Willow shook her head, letting her tears finally fall, thankful that she had someone else to lean on for strength.
"She was already unconscious when Faith found her," Willow explained.
"Faith?" Giles asked.
Faith stepped forward and Giles looked at the brunette girl carefully.
"She's the new Slayer," Willow explained.
Giles' eyes lit up with sudden understanding.
Draco looked at the girl with interest. "You're a Slayer?"
Faith nodded. She couldn't help but be disappointed that the hottie blonde boy was far too young for her.
Sirius stepped forward and knelt beside Buffy. He placed a hand to the girls forehead and sighed softly.
"She was locked in with a Dementor," he explained. He gently lifted one of her eyelids, unsurprised to see Buffy's eyes completely blank of all emotion. "And I'm guessing that with a father like Voldemort, her memories aren't going to be the best. That Dementor probably did a lot of damage."
"What's a Dementor?" Willow asked in confusion.
"It's a terribly dark magical creature. It depletes a person of all their joy and all their happiness. It leaves them with nothing but their darkest and worst memories," Giles explained.
Willow winced, knowing that a lot of Buffy's memories hadn't been the happiest.
"I saw a lot of people at Azkaban go into a coma-like state when they were locked in with a Dementor," Sirius said. "They lock themselves inside their minds, trying to escape the bad memories. It just makes it worse."
"She keeps muttering something. Something about having no weapons, no friends, no hope…asking what's left," Willow said.
Giles looked to Harry and Draco, but both boys just shrugged. The phrase didn't mean anything to them. Giles stood, reluctant to leave Buffy now that she was in front of him and so obviously in need of help.
"Sirius, we need to go back for Hermione and Ron," Giles said.
Sirius hesitated. He knew how horrible being trapped with a Dementor was from his own experience. The worse memories that someone had in life, the more horrible the experience, and a seventeen year old had no hope of combating the mental effects that Dementors had. He still had nightmares about his time at Azkaban.
Sirius stood and the two men apparated out of the room.
"Okay, that's two weird ass things I've seen today," Faith muttered.
Harry knelt next to Buffy gently stroking her hair and whispering to her. "Buffy, wake up. Please…c'mon baby, open your eyes."
Willow felt her heart break for her best friends boyfriend.
Another loud crack startled Willow and Faith. Draco and Harry barely flinched. Ron and Hermione looked at their fiends worriedly. Hermione raced to Buffy's side, placing a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder as she looked down at Buffy.
"How is she?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head sadly. "Unconscious. Sirius reckons she's locked herself inside her mind."
Hermione frowned, worried for her friend. She leant forward when she heard Buffy mutter something under her breath.
"No weapons…"
"She keeps saying that," Willow said with frustration.
Hermione looked at the redheaded girl. "Has she said anything else?"
"Yeah. Something about no weapons, no friends and no hope. Then she asks what's left. She, uh…she replied-"
"Me," Hermione finished.
Everyone turned to look at the brunette girl incredulously. She blushed fiercely, not particularly liking everyone's attention on her.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked.
"When Buffy fought Angelus…he told her that she had nothing left," Hermione explained.
"No weapons, no friends, no hope," Willow said, suddenly understanding the phrase.
Hermione nodded. "He asked her what was left after that."
"Her," Harry whispered. He felt a sudden swell of immense pride for his girlfriend. He knew from speaking to her that Buffy had been horrified by the turn of events in her relationship with Angel. Hearing that she'd mustered up the strength and courage to fight back even when it seemed like she had nothing to fight for made him respect Buffy even more.
"Harsh," Faith whispered. She'd heard the tale of Buffy and Angel, and had initially been horrified by finding out about a Slayer dating a Vampire. But when she'd heard about the soul and the curse, she'd felt sympathy for the girl.
"So how do bloody well fix it?" Draco asked impatiently.
"I think I can answer that one," Willow spoke up. "There's a ritual, but…I'm no where near strong enough to do it."
"I'll do it then," Harry volunteered, not even hesitating a moment.
Sirius looked at his godson, worried about Harry's sense of judgement.
"Harry-"
"No. I'm doing this," Harry said adamantly. "I…she'd do the same for me."
No one could dispute that fact. They were fairly certain that Buffy would have done just about anything for any one of them, and they couldn't deny Harry the chance to get his girlfriend back.
Willow looked to Giles for final judgement. The Professor removed his glasses and nodded, bringing out a handkerchief to clean the lenses of his spectacles.
Willow moved to her bookcase and found the book with the ritual she'd been telling Faith about. She opened it to the right page and handed the text to Harry. He read over it and committed it to memory. It wasn't a particularly hard ritual, and he knew that he wanted to be the one to do it.
"I'll need most of you lot to clear out," Harry said, looking regretfully at his friends.
Ron and Hermione hesitated, but eventually nodded. Draco scowled, wanting to watch whatever was about to happen to his cousin. Before he could protest though, Giles clapped a hand on the boys shoulder and steered him out of the living room. Sirius followed Ron and Hermione. Willow hesitated, but eventually gestured for Faith to leave with her.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for the privacy that he finally had with his girlfriend. He pressed a gentle kiss to his girlfriend's forehead and stood up. He gently sat Buffy up on the couch and moved to sit beside her, linking both of his hands with hers.
He closed his eyes and willed himself into a trance, concentrating on feeling his power and reaching out into Buffy to find the core of her powers. He felt a sudden jolt and was shocked by the strength that he found within Buffy. He swallowed hard and continued on, breathing deeply.
He hit a well of darkness and his eyes snapped open. Instead of being in Willow's living room though, he was in a cold room with concrete walls. He took a look at his surroundings and easily found Buffy in the next room, scurrying backwards from a figure that was advancing towards her. Harry didn't even think, he just reacted. He raced towards them, wanting to help his girlfriend, unsure of who she was fighting, but needing to help her.
He went to grab Buffy's attackers arm, but he grabbed onto absolutely nothing. He tried again, but his hand went straight through the man's arm. He stepped back and looked at the dark-haired man in leather pants and the black silk shirt who stood with a sword dangling lazily in his hand, pointed at Buffy's friends.
"So that's everything then," the man said casually. "No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away and what's left?"
Harry yelled out in shock as he lunged towards Buffy with the sword, but to his compete shock, Buffy's hands came up to clap the swords between her palms and opened her eyes, completely calm and determined.
"Me."
She leapt up, grabbing hold of her fallen sword and lunging at her attacker. Harry could only watch helplessly as the fight continued until the dark man was forced to his knees. Harry didn't understand what was happening, but as soon as the man gasped for breath and looked up at Buffy with confused and loving eyes, Harry put all of the pieces together.
"Angel," the wizard whispered, simultaneous to Buffy's whispered question of the vampire's name.
Harry had never thought too much about Buffy's relationship with Angel. He'd known that they'd dated, that she'd slept with him and that she'd loved him greatly. He knew that she'd had to kill him. But he'd never known what it had meant. Understanding the words had never allowed him to understand everything behind it. Buffy had killed the man that she loved to save the world.
He watched as Buffy kissed another man, but instead of jealousy, he felt only profound heartache for his girlfriend. Tears welled in his eyes as he watched Buffy step back and plunge the sword into Angel. He swallowed hard and moved towards her.
"Buffy," he whispered quietly.
She turned to look at him, but Harry knew she didn't quite understand why he was there.
"Harry," she whispered.
The scene changed around them, and Harry found himself in an unfamiliar cavern, lit only by candles and torches. He blinked, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. He looked around and immediately recoiled as a leather clad vampire stepped out of the shadows. His ears were pointed, and his face aged, his mouth red-rimmed from what Harry assumed was blood.
He stepped back and turned to see Buffy at his side. She looked younger, her hair and make-up done perfectly. She wore a white dress with a black leather jacket covering it.
"Buffy, listen to me," he pleaded.
She looked at him, her eyes narrowed as though she was trying to work out why he was there with her.
"You have to leave," she said quietly. "You shouldn't be here."
"Neither should you," he replied forcefully.
She shook her head and took aim with her crossbow, sending a bolt flying at the ancient vampire. Harry turned to see if she'd made the mark, but the vampire had caught the flying object just before it could pierce his chest.
"Nice shot," the vampire taunted. "You're not going to kill me with that thing."
"Don't be so sure," Buffy replied.
Harry grabbed Buffy's arm and forced her to turn towards him.
"Buffy, this isn't real! It's all in your head," he tried to explain. "It's just a memory."
She looked up at him with terribly sad eyes and Harry was shocked into a heart-broken silence. He watched as Buffy took a step back. Except he was still holding her arm, and there were now two Buffy's in front of him.
"Buffy?" he asked quietly.
Buffy pointed to her counterpart and looked at Harry. "Watch," she instructed.
Harry did so, watching despairingly as the Master Vampire caught Buffy in his thrall and then proceeded to bite her. Harry lifted his hand and gently outlined the scar that marred Buffy's neck tracing his fingers over the white raised lines. His eyes went back to the other Buffy, and he watched as the Master shoved her away and allowed her to fall into a puddle of water, leaving her to die.
"I died," she whispered. "That's what everyone has always wanted me to do. The Ministry…they wanted to kill me when I was born. They just didn't have the guts to do it. The Council…they just used me as a Slayer even though I wasn't meant to be one. My real father…when I refused to stand next to him, he wanted to kill me. Vampires, demons…they all want me gone. And the Ministry hasn't changed at all. Everyone wants me dead."
"That's not true!" Harry yelled.
He had her attention. She looked at him sharply, her eyes practically begging him to convince her.
"Buffy…there are people who love you," he said quietly, touching his hand to her face and cupping her cheek. "I love you. I will always love you. But running away from things isn't your answer Buffy. You've tried it before remember? It didn't work. People still cared about you, no matter how much you tried to convince them not to."
A single tear slipped from Buffy's eyes, and Harry brushed it away with his thumb.
"I know you're tired," he continued. "And I know you're hurting, but…this isn't the answer. Reliving your memories isn't going to do anything except make the pain that much worse."
"The Ministry will never stop," she whispered, tearing her eyes away from Harry's and looking down.
Harry brought his thumb and his forefinger to Buffy's chin and tilted Buffy's head back up to make her look at him.
"And if you stay here, you're letting them win," he said. "You have to fight this."
"I'm so tired of fighting Harry. I just want to be left alone," she said.
"I am not leaving you here. Not while I'm still breathing. And I know for a fact that Malfoy would kick my arse if I let you just give up," Harry said. "Your friends, your family…they love you. I love you. Are you really just going to give up?"
He watched the play of emotions racing over her face, praying that her had pushed her in the right direction. He watched as Buffy completely crumbled, collapsing into his arms and sobbing, her body shaking and trembling. He rubbed her back and whispered sweet nothings in her ear, rocking them back and forth in an effort to calm her down. He kissed her temple softly and lowered his head to look into her eyes.
"You won't give up will you?" he asked gently.
She shook her head, not trusting herself to say anything in case her voice did embarrassing things. She concentrated on her breathing, trying not to hyperventilate. When she'd finally caught her breath and her heart rate had returned to normal, she looked brokenly at Harry.
"Take me home?"
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Soo…there's four more chapters to go! I've got a fair whack of the triquel ready to go, which is kinda exciting (well, maybe it is for me…)
Mega thanks for feedback and emails. And to John for telling me my shortcomings! *grins* Good on ya!
Toodles.
DKG,
PS. There will be another update tomorrow on both AWF and WYD, but that'll be it for both of them until the 30th of Dec. Going away for Chrissie, and will not have a computer *cries*. I'm resorting to pen and paper, how sad is that. Oh well. Hope a lot of you guys take pity on us all and update so we won't be tremendously bored over the holidays.