CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: HEALING
Sunday, 14th March 1999
There was a sudden rush of people who ran to the fallen Slayer's side, Draco pushing his way through to get close to his girlfriend. He dropped to his knees and gently rolled her onto her back just as Professors Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall reached them. Snape gently pushed Draco aside and knelt beside Buffy, feeling for her pulse.
"She's alive," Snape said, almost surprised by how relieved he felt at finding a pulse. He wasted no time in over-analysing it.
"Get her to the infirmary," Dumbledore instructed.
Snape nodded and quickly conjured up a stretched, and floating it quickly towards the hospital wing. Draco and Blaise followed after the Professor, practically stepping on his heels as they rushed towards the hospital wing.
"Is she alright?" Blaise asked, the worry clearly evident in her voice.
"She should be fine," Snape replied sharply, not wanting to answer incessant questions from teenagers when he wasn't entirely sure of the answers himself.
"They were vampires, weren't they sir?" Draco asked.
"Yes they were."
"And Buffy's the Slayer?" Blaise asked.
"Yes."
"So Slayers really do exist," Blaise mused.
"Yes. Now cease your infernal questioning and let me get her to Madame Pomfrey," Snape snapped.
Blaise and Draco shared worried glances and followed in silence, hurrying to the hospital wing. As soon as they entered the room, Snape called out for Madame Pomfrey, his cry telling the medi-witch that something serious had happened.
Poppy Pomfrey had seen many things in her years as the Hogwarts nurse, but she'd never seen anything like the sight that greeted her now. An unconscious student with bite marks on her neck and bruises forming on her skin as well. Snape gently lifted the Slayer from the stretcher and carefully placed her onto one of the hospital beds as Madame Pomfrey raced around trying to find the correct potions.
Before she could even begin administering them to the ailing girl, Dumbledore arrived and stood beside Buffy's bed, conjuring a cloth and pressing it against the leaking wounds on Buffy's neck.
"You cannot heal her with potions Poppy," Dumbledore said regretfully.
"I'm sorry?"
"She needs to be treated in the muggle fashion," Dumbledore explained.
Draco and Blaise gave the Headmaster identical confused looks. Even Professor Snape wasn't entirely certain why the Slayer couldn't be healed with magic.
"Why ever not Albus?" Poppy asked, not entirely sure how to help this girl if she couldn't use magic.
"She can't afford to become reliant on magical remedies," Dumbledore explained.
"She could die!" Draco yelled, panic evident in his voice. The fear that he was experiencing wasn't making him entirely rational, and the fact that he'd just basically yelled at the Headmaster didn't really occur to him at all.
"And she will die if we treat her as a normal witch," Dumbledore replied gently, but still with force. "If her body accustoms itself to healing with potions, her own natural healing capabilities will fade. All it takes is one potion, and her body would begin needing magic to heal. She's a Slayer, Mr Malfoy. This injury will not kill her."
Madame Pomfrey gasped and looked at the injured girl with new eyes. She had, of course, been told about the newest Hogwarts student, but she'd been unaware that she was anything more than a witch who'd come into her powers later in life. It wasn't unheard of, particularly with muggle born students.
"How can I help her then?" Madame Pomfrey asked quietly.
"Pressure on the wound; rest and plenty of it. When she wakes up she'll need vitamins and sugar."
Madame Pomfrey nodded and set about trying to make the unconscious Slayer more comfortable. Dumbledore was still holding the bandage to Buffy's neck, so there was nothing more the school nurse could do in trying to stop the bleeding.
"I can't believe this," Blaise whispered quietly. "Slayers…they really do exist."
Draco hadn't taken his eyes off his girlfriend's still form. He'd known that Buffy had been hiding something, she made effort to hide the fact that she had a secret. He'd never even imagined that it would be something like this.
"She's the Slayer…she never told me."
"She was forbidden to tell you Mr Malfoy. Believe me, she did not wish to deliberately deceive you."
Draco nodded and swallowed hard, stepping forward to gently touch Buffy's hands. He looked at her knuckles and saw specks of blood tinging the tops. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a wet towel, gently cleaning the wounds. On closer inspection, he saw that it was only dried blood with no wounds beneath them. He could only wonder whether the blood there had belonged to her or to the vampires that she'd been fighting.
"But…if she's the Slayer, how can she afford to be at Hogwarts? I mean…shouldn't she be out fighting vampires?" Draco asked.
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "Although the legends of there being only one Slayer at a time are indeed true, there is always an exception to every rule. At this point in time, there are actually two Slayers. That is how Miss Summers can afford to be here."
"But why is she still here?" Blaise asked. She seemed to realise how blunt her question was when Draco looked at her with fire in his eyes. "Don't get me wrong, she's one of the best friends I've ever had, and I've only known her for like a month or something, but…she told us that she wasn't guilty of the murder that she'd been accused of. So…why hasn't she gone home?"
"The people who look after the Slayer, the Watchers, they do not believe her innocence," Dumbledore explained.
"Well, what about Veritaserum?" Blaise asked, looking to the Potions Master for confirmation.
"They require solid muggle proof," Dumbledore replied.
"Oh."
Before anyone else could say anything, they were disturbed from their semi-silence by someone shuffling uncomfortably near the door. They all turned to look, and Blaise and Draco's eyes narrowed as they saw their friend's enemy hovering in the doorway.
"If you've come to gloat don't even bother," Blaise said harshly.
She still hadn't forgiven Pansy Parkinson for the stunt on the Quidditch field two days earlier. Draco felt even more animosity to the girl than usual, and neither of the Slytherins could work out why Buffy hadn't even wanted to plan a revenge tactic.
Pansy shook her head. She hadn't come to gloat. She'd come to make sure that Buffy Summers was alright. There was an uncomfortable pit of guilt in her stomach, and a feeling of complete regret. She stepped closer and looked at the small blonde girl lying on the bed, deathly pale and completely still.
"She saved my life," Pansy whispered softly, as though unable to believe that someone she hated so much could do something so incredible for her. "After everything I did to her…after what happened with that Bludger…"
"What Bludger?" Snape demanded. He'd known of the hatred Pansy Parkinson felt towards Buffy Summers and never before had it bothered him, but now, after Buffy had extended to him an offer to let her earn his trust, he was worried that he would never be able to tell her that she had earned that and so much more. He had gained a new respect for the Slayer and hearing that one of his students had done something to harm this girl was making him more than slightly aggrieved.
Pansy shifted uncomfortably, guilt piling up in her stomach at her actions. Blaise scoffed and rolled her eyes. She looked to Snape, more than willing to give an explanation to their Housemaster.
"She cursed a Bludger during practice. She sent it flying, full-speed, straight at Buffy's head," Blaise explained.
Professor Dumbledore and Snape both looked at Pansy in shock. Neither of them had been expecting anything that violent to happen between the two Slytherin girls.
"I'll be dealing with you later, mark my words," Snape practically growled.
"That's how she caught it," Draco whispered in wonderment. The thought of his girlfriend's spectacular catch and subsequent throw had been plaguing his mind for days. The answer was now incredibly simple. "Supernatural reflexes."
"She caught a Bludger?" Snape asked, his eyebrows raised, clearly impressed.
"With her bare hands," Blaise gushed. "And then that throw…my gosh. Not even the World Cup Quidditch players could have thrown anything like that, and it was a Bludger too. No way anyone should have been able to make a goal with a Bludger from the other end of the field."
"I've been nothing but horrible to her since she came to Hogwarts, but she didn't even hesitate to save me," Pansy said quietly.
Dumbledore nodded and put a gentle hand on Pansy's shoulder. The Slytherin girl looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
"Buffy's a hero you see. When that vampire had you, you weren't the girl that has antagonised her for the last month. You were simply a girl, a victim. And Miss Summers, being who and what she is, was unable to let you die," the Headmaster explained.
Pansy let that information sink in slowly. She was still shaken from the attack, but more than anything, she was replaying her rescue over and over again. She'd felt the panic of someone who knew they were going to die, but her attacker had been thrown away from her, and in it's place was Buffy Summers, her eyes blazing with power and something else, darker and indescribable.
After several more moments, she turned and left, not wanting to stay any longer with people who didn't particularly like her. She mentally made a wish for the Slayer to come out of this alive, and made her way back to the Great Hall where every other student in the school was madly gossipping about what had just happened.
Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Dumbledore pulled Professor Snape aside as Blaise and Draco settled themselves into chairs beside Buffy's bed, both of them silently worrying about their friend.
"Will you inform Professor McGonagall that I'll be back within the hour. There's someone I feel will wish to see our young Slayer."
Snape just nodded and turned back to looked at Buffy as Dumbledore left the room, only to walk to the edge of Hogwarts grounds, leave the safety of the protective barriers around the school and disapparate away from England.
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Well, whoever suggested that maybe having Giles and Willow visit Hogwarts would be feasible, well…you were spot on. There's your sneak preview for next chapter! ;)
And to the person who questioned about Pettigrew being in Gryffindor…grr, I completely forgot about him being a Death-Eater. Mistake on my part, but I doubt I'll change it just cos I liked the line…. ;)
Toodles.
K.