Disclaimer: See chapter 1 for full disclaimer and notes.

Thanks to my reviewers from ff.net and Twisting the Hellmouth. The next chapter should be up next weekend.

Chapter 13: Played Out

Tara looked around, a feeling of dread building as she tried to figure out how she was going to get two grown men, both of whom were possibly seriously injured, all the way back to the school. She sat on the ground and mentally ran through possible spells until she decided on a basic levitation spell that only required some chanting and a lot of focused energy. As she began to quietly chant a few short memorized Latin phrases, first one, then both of the men began to levitate until they were as high as Tara's shoulders, their bodies stiff as boards, slightly swaying in the cold breeze.

Tara slowly stood, wrapping her coat around herself, never breaking the chant. The words became almost musical as she repeated them over and over. She stayed behind the men as she levitated their still unconscious bodies out of the forest and toward the looming castle.

As she trudged determinedly across the grounds, her breathing began to get more ragged with the intense amount of effort she was using to move both men at once. Their bodies drifted lower as her concentration wavered, until she finally had to stop, slowly lowering the men onto the frozen ground, with the front doors clearly in view.

Tara rubbed her eyes and sat down once more, gathering her energy again. She let out a frustrated groan at how much farther she had to take them, knowing she couldn't just leave them by themselves while she went to get help. As she debated the idea of running to get the groundskeeper while keeping the two bodies in her line of sight so that one of them could watch the men and one could fetch help, a small noise alerted her to the fact that someone else was present.

"Bless you," Tara said as she heard a second sneeze, peering nervously into the darkness surrounding her.

"Thank you," a voice responded automatically.

A very familiar voice.

Tara stood up hesitantly. "Ron?"

The only reply was the far off howl of some wild animal and her own labored breathing.

"Please, whoever you are," Tara said, still looking around for the source of the voice, "I need help."

There was silence a moment longer, and then Tara almost screamed as one, then two heads appeared a short ways away, floating next to Giles. The heads quickly turned into bodies, and Tara hesitated for only a moment before she decided that explanations could wait.

"Harry, you go get the nurse. Ron, go get the Headmaster. Quickly. They've already been out longer than I'd like."

Both boys nodded before disappearing again, this time into the school.

Tara kneeled next to Giles, muttering some more Latin under her breath and touching his head, hoping that she had enough energy left to heal his wound a bit before the cavalry arrived. She continued doing this at several points around his head for what seemed like hours, until finally the front doors burst open and Harry and the Headmaster hurried over to her side.

Tara gave the young student a quizzical look.

Harry shrugged, "I've been to the Headmaster's office before. Ron went to get Madam Pomfrey."

Tara nodded as the doors again burst open, this time revealing the two people in question.

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Pomfrey as she ran over to a now slightly conscious Giles.

Everyone watched in silence as she looked him over, and then moved on to the still unconscious Professor Snape.

Finally she told Dumbledore that they needed to be moved indoors immediately, and the Headmaster nodded, looking slightly confused about the whole situation, much to Tara's surprise. With a flick of his wrist, the Headmaster had both men in the air again, this time Giles's quiet groans filling the air. Tara followed the group into the school, her fatigue starting to set in, as she wished for nothing more than to curl up in her warm bed and sleep for a week. She knew, however, that first some explanations would have to be passed around.

As they reached the infirmary and Madam Pomfrey started to make the new patients more comfortable, Tara pulled Harry off to the side.

"You can make yourself invisible?" she asked.

Harry looked suddenly nervous, and Ron's eyes grew wide as he too heard the question from his spot closer to the beds. As Tara wondered if she said something wrong, Ron sent a few furtive glances around, relaxing after he saw that Pomfrey was busy with Giles and Dumbledore either didn't hear or was pointedly ignoring the conversation for some reason.

Harry pulled Tara back out of the room as subtly as he could.

Tara smiled at him with confusion, "I'm sorry if I said something wrong, I just didn't know that you could turn invisible. Are you not supposed to or something?"

"Er," Harry began nervously, "well, see, the thing is, um." he looked down the hall for a second before reaching into his robes and pulling out a large piece of pretty, slightly shimmery material.

He held it up for Tara to see, allowing her to touch it, but not letting go of it. As she turned it over in her hands, which suddenly weren't there anymore, she let out a gasp.

"Oh, this is amazing."

Harry beamed for a moment, before his nervousness took over again.

"Um, it's kind of a secret," he said, looking at her expectantly, biting his bottom lip.

"Okay," replied Tara, "I won't tell anyone, I promise. After all, it helped me out tonight."

Harry visibly relaxed and the smile reappeared on his face.

"I trust you," he said, leading Tara back inside, not noticing her brief frown.

~-~-~-

Within a few minutes, both injured men had regained consciousness, though Giles had a concussion and Snape was suffering from unusually high blood loss. After he had been assured that the men would be fine, Dumbledore began sorting out what had happened leading up to his own involvement in the night.

Professor Snape spoke in a hoarse voice, explaining all of the details of the attack that he could remember. Tara was surprised to learn that his encounter was a typical Sunnydale vampire attack- the usual growling and lunging, and a significant lack of useful threats or mentions of an evil mastermind.

"It's a warning," Giles spoke up after Snape had finished talking.

Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully. "Yes, I believe it is. As we've never had problems with vampires before, I'm afraid we must consider the possibility that your demon suspects Dawn's presence at the school."

After looking sharply over at Harry and Ron, Snape scowled as he realized that their lack of confusion meant they must have already been informed of Dawn and Tara's situation.

Tara glanced over to see the Headmaster looking her way, and realized it was time for her recounting of events. She quickly confirmed the part Snape had already run through, then continuing with her attempt to get the unconscious men to the infirmary, glossing over the part where Harry and Ron were invisible. Unfortunately for the two boys, Snape wasn't quite as willing to ignore their involvement.

"Why were you two out of your room after curfew?" Snape demanded in as strong a voice as he could muster.

"Er-" was all Ron could say, before swallowing loudly and deferring to Harry.

Harry, looking just as nervous, and slightly nauseous, managed to form a coherent statement. "We were going to say hello to Hagrid, but, um, he was asleep, so we were on our way back to our room when Tara heard, er, I mean, saw us passing by."

Snape scrutinized the nervous boys for a long moment, finally rasping out "twenty points each from Gryffindor for being out of your room after curfew. Especially with your current situation, Mister Potter."

Ron opened his mouth to protest, but Harry elbowed him in the side, nodding to a now exhausted looking Professor Snape.

As Tara observed the entire interaction, she began to realize exactly how different Snape the person and Snape the professor must be. She couldn't help but smile at the Potion Master's irritated expression moments later when Dumbledore ushered the boys out of the room, warning them of the dangers of being out alone, then awarding them twenty points each for "staying calm in the midst of a confusing situation".

"He always does that," Snape muttered, causing Tara's grin to grow.

After Giles had retreated to the nearest shower to prepare for his mandatory overnight stay in the infirmary and Pomfrey disappeared into an adjoining room that Tara assumed was her office, Tara bid the professor goodnight and began to leave.

"Miss Maclay," came an almost whisper from behind her.

Tara turned around to see Snape struggling to a sitting position. She walked back over to his bed, waiting patiently for him to continue. Finally, he found a comfortable position and looked up at her, his expression unreadable.

"I must apologize," he began.

Tara raised a questioning eyebrow.

Snape sighed, "I seem to have underestimated your abilities. From what knowledge I have of Wiccan magic, levitating two grown men all the way across the grounds must have taken an enormous amount of power. Not to mention your quick defeat of the vampire, which I would like to discuss with you later."

Tara shrugged, ducking her head in embarrassment, "not really. I know people who are much more powerful."

"That doesn't make you less so," Snape replied, frowning.

He studied her face for a moment, while she struggled to keep herself from breaking his gaze. Finally, he looked away, lying back down. Tara headed toward the hallway.

"Thank you," Snape said as she reached the door.

Tara turned around, but the professor's eyes were closed and he appeared to already be asleep, his long black hair covering half of his face.

"You're welcome," Tara replied softly, leaving the room.