CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: FULFILLED
Sunday, 14th March 1999
The weekend came and went far too quickly for most of the students liking, and by the time Sunday dinner rolled around, most of the students were willing to beg for classes to be cancelled for the next day. Buffy had been fending off curious glances and incredulous looks all weekend, after the rumour of her Bludger catching had spread throughout Slytherin. She was just lucky that the Slytherins weren't known for sharing their secrets with other houses, otherwise the entire school would have known.
"Where'd the weekend go?" Draco complained from his seat beside Buffy.
Over the last month, he'd learnt to eat one-handed so that his other hand could rest on Buffy's waist, either tickling her slightly or gently caressing her hip, either of the two making her completely crazy. He loved making her squirm, but she knew how to retaliate. Her hand was placed on his thigh, drawing random patterns with a feather light touch that drove him wild.
"Ugh, I know," Blaise agreed, groaning at the thought of another weekend being waster. "Why does tomorrow hafta be Monday?"
Buffy grinned and looked at her friend. "Well, traditionally, it's because Monday is the day that comes after Sunday."
Blaise rolled her eyes and swatted Buffy's arm. "That was rhetorical smartarse."
"The weekends do seem to be getting shorter," Claire McNair commented from her position on the other side of the table.
"Maybe that's just because the Professors seem to be giving us more homework," Keeta contributed.
"Or maybe," Pansy said bitterly, "it's because you do nothing but complain about everything."
The group rolled their eyes, unable to believe that they'd ever revered Pansy Parkinson as though she was a goddess of some sort. Ever since they'd begun tuning her out, their lives had become far better. Pansy, however, was seething. Her stunt on the Quidditch Pitch had alienated her almost entirely. None of her 'friends' had saved her a seat at dinner, and she'd been forced to sit at the very end of the bench, entirely too far away from Draco for her liking.
"Well, at least first class tomorrow isn't entirely horrible," Buffy said. "As far as first classes on a Monday go, DADA is alright."
"As opposed to, say…Divination?" Draco teased.
Buffy rolled her eyes. Six weeks in, and Professor Trelawney still liked to remind Buffy that she was going to die, and soon. She could understand why Harry had become sick of it very quickly.
"There's only so many times I can hear of my death being predicted before it starts getting old," Buffy said dryly.
"It makes you wonder whether that woman's ever had a real premonition in her life," Keeta commented.
Buffy looked up, suddenly remembering the ominous warning that she had received from Trelawney that she'd been fairly certain was real. She'd been meaning to keep her eye on her calendar, but with everything that had happened recently, and the sudden cult-following she'd received from the younger Slytherin students, particularly the awed boys, she hadn't given it another thought.
As though by sheer thought of the prediction, Buffy felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, her spider-senses tingling with the familiar presence of what Buffy was certain was a group of vampire's. She hadn't felt this feeling since leaving Sunnydale, and feeling it again, she was certain she was right. She took her hand from Draco's leg and quickly pulled out the stake hidden in the back of her jeans. She hid it quickly in the sleeve of her coat and looked around the room, waiting for something to happen.
The doors burst open and Buffy stood on instinct. No one noticed though, because half of the other students stood at the same time. Fifteen vampires, all in game face strode into the room, sending the students rushing in the opposite direction. The vampires, however made no move to attack.
Someone clapped frivolously and Buffy looked at the vampire that suddenly moved to the front of the group. She held back a groan as the very familiar vampire Drusilla scanned the crowd.
"Where is she?" Drusilla asked. Buffy was almost startled by the nearly sane tone in her voice.
Buffy stepped over the bench and moved towards the group of vampires, somehow avoiding the mass rush of students fleeing. Draco tried to grab her wrist to keep her from going towards them, but he was caught up by the other students rushing to get away.
"What do you want Dru?" Buffy asked.
Drusilla giggled and pointed one long finger at Buffy.
"You…you ruined my happy home."
"Yeah, that was a real tragedy," Buffy replied sarcastically. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "How did you get in here?"
"No one lives in this part of the castle," Drusilla replied, swaying slightly. She looked up at the enchanted ceiling, gazing at the stars above them. She looked down again at Buffy, murder in her eyes. "Now we can play."
"Not gonna happen," Buffy said confidently.
Blaise grabbed hold of Draco as soon as she found him in the throng of people backed against the walls.
"What the hell is going on?" Blaise asked.
Draco shook his head, completely unsure of anything anymore. "I really wish I knew."
"Miss Summers, what exactly is going on here?" one of the Professors yelled out.
Dumbledore was quick to put a hand to the offending Professors wrist. "Let her handle this."
"I want you dead," Drusilla complained. "I want my sweet Spike to come back to me. You're floating all around him…laughing. You took him away from me."
"Hmmm…same old Dru, insane as ever. Y'know, I thought you left him for…what was it again…a Chaos demon if I recall correctly," Buffy taunted. She knew she was playing a dangerous game. She needed back-up and soon, and she knew that none of the students would be rushing to her aid anytime soon.
"So…what's with your flunkies? They all look as thick as bricks."
Two of the minions growled angrily and attacked without thought. They were obviously annoyed by the orders to not attack, and their sloppy lunging only got them killed. The Slayer half of Buffy Summers smiled contentedly. It had been too long since she'd killed anything, and the darker half of her nature prepared itself for the battle.
Drusilla glared angrily at Buffy. "You were meant to be weak. The stars said so…no more than a kitten, ready to be killed. They lied."
Buffy just shrugged and kept her eyes on the other twelve minions that surrounded the insane vampire. She was fairly certain that Drusilla wasn't going to attack her.
"Things change Dru."
The vampire had had enough of their conversation and she clapped her hands once more. "Kill her!"
The twelve vampires attacked her without hesitation. It had been too long since she'd fought, and whilst half of her revelled in it, the other half of her was protesting, knowing that even though she was still in shape, she was very out of practise. Apparently not that out of practice, she thought as one of the vampires impaled itself on her stake.
Her movements were quick, kicking, blocking, punching, dodging, attacking and counter-attacking with all of her strength. She wasn't going to lose this fight. Not against Drusilla. She still needed revenge on the vampire that had killed Kendra, and she planned to exact it this evening. Another vampire was staked.
Two of the remaining ten broke away, Buffy unable to stop them from heading towards the students as the other eight continued their assault. Both vampires made their way to the right side of the hall where the Gryffindor and Slytherin students were huddling. One of the vampires easily grabbed a student, the other holding the Slytherin girl still, trying to avoid being kicked and punched.
Buffy could see it out of her peripheral vision but could do nothing but hope that someone else went to the girls aid. Buffy ducked into a spinning kick and swept one of the vampires off his feet. She quickly staked it before it could regroup, and she jumped to her feet before the vampires could tackle her to the ground. Whoever Drusilla's minions were, they weren't the brightest, and she easily staked another, leaving six in the circle.
Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snnape all raced down the centre aisle of the Great Hall, their wands out, trying to think of spells that would help the Slayer, but not hit her at the same time. McGonagall was the first to shout out a curse.
"Vampirus imobulus."
The six vampires froze, making Buffy's job far easier. She quickly staked the six of them before they could regain their motor functions, and without hesitation, she raced to where the other two vampires were trying to get the girl to stop squirming so that they could feast. She grabbed one of the vampires and threw him completely over the Slytherin table, the vampire landing in a heap on the ground.
She pulled the struggling Slytherin girl away from the vampire, not even taking the time to register who it's victim was. Pansy Parkinson. The vampire, annoyed that it had lost it's dinner, kicked Buffy forcefully, sending her stumbling backwards. She was hit again, and she quickly backed up, trying to regain the higher ground. She did this by jumping up onto one of the benches and sending a stunning kick to the vampire's head, throwing it to the ground. She went to jump down, but was tackled from behind, sending herself and the vampire tumbling to the ground, her stake falling out of her hands, across the floor and out of her reach. She landed hard, the wind knocked out of her, and she was fairly certain that one of her ribs had just cracked.
She struggled to breathe, and tried to stand, only to be pulled to her feet by the vampire that had tackled her. He threw her harshly into the waiting arms of its companion, and before Buffy could regroup, she felt fangs sliding into her neck. She gasped and struggled, trying to free herself. Her mind went blank before she forced herself to stop being so stupid. She was the Slayer, she could get out of this. She quickly reached into her robes and pulled out her wand.
"Lumos solaire."
Sunlight shone from her wand and the two vampires in front and behind her crumbled to dust. She forced herself to stay standing, knowing that Drusilla hadn't been hit by the spell. She stumbled to the end of the Slytherin table and looked at the crazy vampire who had killed her sister Slayer.
"This isn't over Slayer," Drusilla said, her voice angry, but still tinged with insanity.
Buffy looked at the vampire and leant her weight heavily on the table that was keeping her from falling. She brought her hand up and suddenly slammed it down again, breaking through the solid table and creating a makeshift stake for herself. She threw it with deadly accuracy, hitting Drusilla's heart.
"Yes it is."
As Drusilla turned to dust, Buffy felt blackness overtake her, and she crumpled to the floor.
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Sorry for the delay! Sadly I've been in bed sick for the better part of the week, so….rahness. Anyways, mega thanks for all your emails and reviews and stuff! Greatly appreciate them. You guys make my day.
Toodles.
K.