CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: HOME AGAIN
Sunday, 21st March 1999
After a tearful farewell with her fellow Slytherins, and the several other people from different houses that she'd befriended over the previous months, Buffy lugged her belongings into the Entrance Hall, Draco hugging her tightly, wanting to spend his last few minutes with his girlfriend in his arms.
Professors Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall approached her and Buffy swallowed nervously. She turned her attention to the first three magical people she'd met in the wizarding world.
"Are you ready?" Professor McGonagall asked kindly.
Buffy shook her head. "No."
"My dear girl, you have definitely made an impact on all of us," McGonagall said. "I have no doubt that you will go far."
"Thank you Professor," Buffy whispered.
Professor Snape looked a little uncomfortable at the emotional display, but even he had been impressed by the Slayer. She had risen far above the expectations that had been placed upon her. He coughed slightly and reached into his robes, pulling out a small silver box and handing it to the Slayer. She opened the box curiously and was surprised to see two different vials of potions laying encased in velvet.
"What are they?" she asked.
"The first is to help you sleep," Snape explained. "The second is…incredibly rare. And very valuable, so don't lose it."
Buffy chuckled slightly at Snape's tone of voice. He was the perfect imitation of Giles. "But what is it?" she asked, holding the vial up to have a closer look at the completely clear liquid within the glass bottle.
"Phoenix tears," Dumbledore answered. "Phoenix's tears have immense healing capacity."
"I thought I couldn't use magic to heal," Buffy said.
"Fawkes' tears aren't exactly magical," the Headmaster said. "They're more mystical. And I wouldn't suggest using these unless you are in very real trouble and fear that your natural healing abilities will not help you."
"The glass has been charmed so that it is completely unbreakable. Even if you dropped it from fifty feet in the air, you wouldn't be able to smash the glass," Snape added
Buffy chuckled a little. She hesitated for a moment before stepping away from Draco and giving the Potions Master a very quick hug. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Draco all hid their smiles at the stunned expression on Snape's face.
"You turned out alright, Professor Snape," Buffy said genuinely.
Snape smirked. "As did you Miss Summers."
Professor Dumbledore handed Buffy a white handkerchief.
"Your ticket home," he explained, as Buffy unwrapped the white cloth to find a beautiful silver pen, engraved with the Hogwarts motto 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus'.
Buffy breathed in deeply and ensured that she didn't touch the item just yet. She turned to Draco and smiled at him as best as she could. She reached out with shaky hands to touch the single tear that had fallen from his eyes.
"You're crying," she whispered.
"That's cos you're leaving," he explained.
Buffy swallowed hard and hugged Draco tightly, their lips meeting for what they knew would be their last kiss for however long it would be before they saw each other again.
Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall quietly left the two teens alone, knowing that they didn't need an audience for their final farewells.
"Promise you'll write to me," Buffy whispered.
"Every day," he swore.
"And you'll think of me?"
"Every minute."
"And miss me?"
"Every second."
They kissed one final time before Draco finally and very reluctantly let her go. The Slyer stepped back and grabbed hold of her suitcase. Her eyes met Draco's, and neither teen looked away as Buffy removed the white handkerchief from the pen. Her fingers touched the cool silver and within the blink of an eye, Draco was alone in the Entrance Hall.
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As reluctant as Buffy had been to leave Hogwarts, suddenly appearing in the middle of the Sunnydale Library with the Scoobies gathered at the table, researching the latest demon was a soothing sight. She smiled softly and drank in the sight of her friends who had yet to notice her.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and placed her luggage down, the thunk of the suitcase hitting the floor startling the Scoobies out of their research.
"Buffy!"
The cry of her name was simultaneous from all four Scoobies as well as Giles. The five of them raced over to her, hugging her tightly. After tears and hugs and friendly kisses to the cheek later, Buffy was settled down at the table, her legs tucked beneath her in her favourite chair, a book across her lap and a smile on her face. In some ways, it was as though she'd never left.
Her hand absently went up to fiddle with the dragon pendant that Draco had given to her the week after they'd begun dating. Her hand closed around it, and the pain in her heart was a sharp reminder that she had been gone. She had formed friendship outside of the Scoobies and she'd had to leave them behind to come back to the 'real' world.
Buffy stood and walked up the stairs to hide behind the stacks, her excuse was to look for a new book. Willow glanced worriedly at the Scoobies before moving to follow the Slayer.
When the redheaded Wiccan found Buffy, the Slayer was sitting with her back leaning against a bookshelf, her knees around her chest as she looked at the silver dragon adorning the leather cord around her neck. Willow took a seat beside her best friend and laid a gentle hand on Buffy's knee.
"You okay?" Willow asked.
Buffy looked across at her best friend and managed to genuinely smile at Willow. While she may have been missing Draco and Blaise and Hermione and everyone else from Hogwarts, Sunnydale was still her home, and the Scoobies were still her family.
"Yeah," Buffy replied softly. "It's weird. For the first few weeks, all I wanted to do was come home, and…"
"And now that you're here, all you want to do is go back?" Willow finished.
"I want it all Will," Buffy admitted. "You and the Scoobs, Draco and Blaise and Hogwarts. Quidditch and Slaying and Potions and Sunnydale High. I want both worlds."
Willow nodded understandingly. She had seen first hand the way that Buffy had fit into Hogwarts. She had seen the love that Buffy and Draco shared, and she could understand that Buffy wanted to stay for that newly-formed bond.
"You'll see him again Buffy, I know it," Willow said, trying to assure her best friend.
Buffy nodded and wiped at her tears. "I know. I just…I just kinda wish that fate would be kind to me, just once, you know. Both times that I've found love, I've had to let it go."
"You aren't letting Draco go," Willow said. "You're just…you're just doing a long-distance relationship for a while. And, yeah it'll be hard, but…but I know you Buffy. You've always given your all for things you really want. And I know that you really want to be with him, so…so, you will be. And that's all there is to it."
Buffy smiled and leant her head against Willow's shoulder, taking the girls words to heart.
"I really missed you Wills," Buffy said.
Willow smiled and leant her head against the top of Buffy's. "I missed you too."
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"So," Buffy said, taking her seat at the table once more. "The invincible Mayor…what's happening there?"
The Scoobies all groaned in unison. Buffy laughed a little at their reaction and looked to Giles for an explanation.
"Well…thus far, what we've been able to gather about him is that he wishes to complete a ritual that is to take place on Graduation Day. He wishes to Ascend. That is, he wishes to become a pure demon."
"Pure?" Buffy repeated.
"The uh, vampires and demons that you've faced are merely hybrids. They're tainted with humanity, especially vampires. A pure demon is devoid of any human feature," Giles explained.
Buffy whistled softly under her breath. She had to admit that she hadn't been expecting that at all. When she'd been told that the Mayor was evil she'd been expecting something far less, like dark rituals to summon demons. She hadn't expected the Mayor to wish to become a demon himself.
"What demon?" Buffy asked.
Giles shook his head. "We're still researching. We've managed to uh…eliminate several possibilities, but-"
"But considering how many different types of demons there are, it's still not looking too good," Buffy finished.
Giles nodded. "Quite."
"And no-one's talking? Vamps, demons or whatnot?" Buffy asked.
"Nada," Xander replied. "Me and dead-boy checked out Willie's a coupla times, but…we came up with jack-squat."
Buffy sighed. Just what she needed. An end of the world party on her big homecoming.
"Well…I'll do a patrol tonight. Maybe the demons will start talking when they see the Slayer back in town," Buffy said, hoping that she was right. "If that fails, then…we'll be right back to where we are now."
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Buffy had gone home, and after a teary reunion with her mother, and a huge five-course meal, Buffy was finally allowed out of the house, reluctantly of course. She made a sweep through the cemeteries, surprised by how easily she was able to get back into the swing of things. 'Plunge and move-on' as Giles would say. She'd missed fighting, and being back in the thick of it was exhilarating.
"Slayer!" a vampire announced.
Buffy rolled her eyes, wondering why vampires seemed to want to keep reminding her of that fact. She turned to meet the voice and was surprised to see that she recognised the vampire that had spoken.
"Trick," she said flatly.
Trick bowed slightly before standing to his full height and straightening his tie.
"Welcome home," Trick said, an amused smile on his face.
"I can't believe you haven't been dusted yet," Buffy said in disgust.
The two foes began circling each other, Buffy tightening the grip on her stake. She'd fought Trick several other times before, and he'd always managed to escape. She hated that he kept slipping from between her fingers.
"I can't believe they let you come home," Trick retorted. "A felon such as yourself."
Buffy's eyes narrowed. "What the hell would you know about that?"
"More than you think," Trick replied cockily.
"What, is there some vamps monthly newsletter or something?" Buffy asked.
"Something like that," Trick replied, the first to strike out in their fight. Buffy ducked his fist and rallied with a jab to Trick's ribs, followed by a sweeping kick that Trick jumped. Buffy backhanded the vampire, sending him stumbling.
He regrouped and the two of them fought viciously, each of them giving all they had and holding back nothing. Buffy threw Trick into a nearby tree, a lose branch snagging a hole in Trick's suit. He looked down at the hole in dismay.
"This is a thousand dollar suit," he complained.
Buffy just rolled her eyes and took advantage of Trick's distraction. She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind the vampire's back, shoving him into a tree and pinning him so that he couldn't move at all.
"What's your secret, Trick?" Buffy demanded. "Tell me why you're still in Sunnydale. Who do you work for?"
"I work for myself," Trick replied, grunting in pain as Buffy slammed him against the tree. Buffy pressed her stake into Trick's back, aimed at his heart.
"Who do you work for?" Buffy asked again, quickly losing her patience.
"You're gonna kill me anyway, why bother telling you?" Trick asked.
Buffy sighed. She pulled him back and shoved him into the tree again, making him wince in pain. Buffy didn't know what possessed her, but she found herself patting the vampire down, searching for weapons or other such things. She found two manila folders at Trick's back. He protested as Buffy removed the folders from beneath the vampires jacket. She threw it to the ground, and Trick struggled even more to try and free himself.
"You were right when you said I was gonna kill you," Buffy said, her voice fairly cheerful for someone who was holding a vampire with an unbreakable grip.
Trick groaned and knew that this was the end for him. He felt the stake penetrate his back and his entire body began to crumble to dust. "Oh no…this is not good."
Buffy picked up the two folders, one of them belonging to a Professor Lester Wirth, and the other with the City Hall insignia on it. She opened up the City Hall folder and scanned the contents of it, a smile slowly forming on her face.
Buffy turned to look at the pile of dust, wondering if the Powers had finally cut her a break. She'd killed one of Wilkins' men. She had a set of files, which would hopefully lead them in the right direction. She flipped through the other folder that belonged to Lester Wirth, but couldn't understand a word of what it was saying. She shrugged and tucked it under her arm, knowing that Giles would hopefully be able to make sense of it.
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"You killed Trick?" Angel asked incredulously.
Buffy shrugged and nodded. "Yeah? Why?"
Angel shook his head. "No reason. I just…he kept eluding me is all."
Buffy just shook her head. She knew that Angel was about two seconds away from pouting childishly. She ignored it and turned her attention back to Giles who was flipping through the files that she'd taken from the now dusted vampire Trick.
"Interesting," Giles said quietly to himself.
"What's interesting?" Buffy asked. "All I understood from that thing was the commas."
"Whoever wrote this report was an archaeologist," Giles explained. "He…o-or she, discovered a very old set of bones at the bottom of a lava bed. They uh…they believe that whatever left the bones was a heretofore undiscovered breed of dinosaur."
"Dinosaur?" Willow repeated. "Why would the Mayor want a file on dinosaurs?"
Buffy shook her head. "He didn't."
"It wasn't a dinosaur," Oz finished.
"You mean…it was the demon that the Mayor's going to turn into?" Willow asked.
Giles nodded. "It's probable. Why else would the Mayor wish for files on this? He wished to keep us from discovering it."
"Cos he knows that the demon can be killed," Buffy said, her gut instinct leading her to the conclusion. "He's invincible now, but as soon as he ascends, he can be killed."
Xander snorted with laughter. "Anyone got a mountain of lava just lying around?"
Buffy rolled her eyes at the sarcastic remark, but knew that Xander was right. If it had taken a volcanic explosion to kill the demon the last time it had shown it's face, she wasn't entirely sure what it would take to kill the demon this time around.
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Sorry for the delay. Hope you're enjoying this thing!
Toodles.
K.
PS. Two chapters left. Huzzah.