Disclaimer: See chapter 1 for full disclaimer and notes.

Thanks to my reviewers from ff.net and Twisting the Hellmouth. We're getting to the end, and there will be an epilogue, which was actually where the idea for the story came from. I guess I did it all backwards. How typical. The next chapter should be up next week.

Chapter 22: No Refunds or Exchanges

"I must insist that I go look for her," Giles said as soon as he heard Dawn was missing.

"I'm going too," Tara added, her tone making it clear that arguing would be pointless.

Dumbledore looked lost in thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Of course. I will alert the Dementors. There should be no problem getting to Hogsmeade."

"Um," Tara spoke up, catching Giles as he turned to leave. "Could we bring someone with us who knows the area a bit?"

"Ah, yes," replied Dumbledore, "I believe Severus would be willing to offer his assistance."

The Headmaster went to the fireplace to floo Professor Snape.

"We'll find her," Giles said to Tara in a quiet voice, startling her out of her worried thoughts.

She gave him a weak smile in return and watched in fascination as the Potions Professor stepped out of the Headmaster's fireplace. He dusted himself off before looking around the room and locking eyes with Tara. She didn't even attempt to cover her worried expression as he crossed to her and hesitantly took her in his arms.

"We will find her," he said in her ear as she hugged him back.

She nodded and looked over at Giles, who was furiously cleaning his glasses. Giving him a smirk, she followed behind as he led them out of the office.

"Tara, could you gather up something of Dawn's before we head out?" Snape asked as they reached the hall.

"Something specific?"

"Any article of clothing that she has worn recently would be suitable. I will explain once we are on our way."

Tara nodded and jogged off in the direction of the room she shared with the missing teen. She grabbed the first thing she saw, which happened to be a thin jacket that Dawn had thrown on the floor in front of her bed, and ran back as quickly as she could. When she reached the two waiting men, she noticed that they both seemed to be avoiding each other's gazes and Professor Snape had a scowl on his face, not that that was particularly unusual.

"Will this work?" she asked. Handing him the jacket.

"It should be fine. Let's head out."

They walked toward Hogsmeade at a brisk pace, Tara and Giles waiting for an explanation. Snape finally began to fill them in when they were halfway there.

"I have a potion that will enhance the senses, so that we may be able to track her once we reach town."

"So like a scent dog or something?" Tara asked, finally understanding the point of the jacket.

"Like an animal tracks it's prey. Anywhere she has recently been, whomever takes the potion will be able to follow."

They fell into silence, all trying to walk a little faster, the only sounds their strained breathing.

As they rounded one of the last corners before town, Giles ran into someone running toward the school, and both of them fell to the ground, grunting.

"I'm so sorry!" Giles exclaimed, struggling to stand, and placing his glasses back on his face.

"Weasley?" Snape asked, in a worried voice, pulling the redhead to his feet.

The boy gasped and almost fell back down, cringing as his ankle gave out. "Someone took them," he said in a high, panicked voice, leaning to one side. "I don't know where. We need to tell Dumbledore."

"The headmaster knows Dawn is missing. Who else?" Giles asked, putting the boy's arm around him and supporting his bad ankle.

"Fred," the boy, George, Tara presumed, replied. "They knocked us over from behind and took our wands. I just ran. Maybe if I had stayed and helped-"

"We wouldn't even have this much information," Snape said, cutting him off before he could get lost in his guilt. "Don't blame yourself."

George looked at Snape in surprise, nodding. "What should I do?"

"You should go back to the school and let Madam Pomfrey inspect your ankle. It may be broken."

"Okay," George said.

Tara was surprised that he didn't object and try to come with them, but it seemed that Snape still had authority, even in as confused a situation as the current one.

Giles let go of the teen and watched him carefully and he put his bad foot down. "Do you think you can make it back on your own?"

"Yeah," George replied, cringing again, but managing to walk. "I think it's just sprained. I'll be fine. Go find Fred and Dawn."

Snape nodded and headed off toward town, not waiting to see if Tara and Giles were following. They jogged to catch up and soon all three reached their destination.

"We should start here," Snape said, pulling a bottle out of his robes. "If you would do the honors, Mr. Giles."

Giles took the bottle and swirled its contents around for a moment before downing them. He coughed once and dropped the bottle onto the ground, staring at nothing. Tara looked to Snape to see if it was supposed to affect him right away, and relaxed when the Professor held up a hand.

A minute later Giles came out of his trance and motioned that he was okay. He looked up at the sky and sniffed the air.

"Amazing," he said, looking around once, and then removing his glasses.

"Here," Snape said, handing him the jacket.

Giles held it to his nose and inhaled once. He handed it back to Snape and put his nose in the air again.

He pointed down the street in front of them. "This way."

"That's just odd," Tara said under her breath as she followed, Snape pulling up the rear.

"I can hear you, you know," Giles replied, still sniffing the air.

"That's odd too."

~-~-~-

A few minutes later, Giles held up a hand, motioning them to stop. He had led them past a row of small shops and off the main street to a side street that was slightly run down and shadier looking. Tara shivered as the wind picked up, cutting easily through her light jacket. She looked back as Snape put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. He gave her a small smile and rubbed her shoulder. She smiled back and turned around, to see Giles peeking around the corner of the building in front of them.

He motioned for them to follow, and they all walked as silently as they could around the corner, coming to a halt behind a stack of barrels. Giles held up another hand for them to stop and they fell silent, waiting. A moment later, a side door burst open and Tara almost gasped as a very familiar redhead was literally thrown out, landing on his back.

Snape's hand tightened on her shoulder, holding her where she was, as the door closed again. After what seemed like an hour, but was really only a few seconds, Giles motioned for Snape to grab the boy and come back to where they were hiding.

He walked quietly over to the unconscious boy, gathering him in his arms and bringing him back. He deposited him on the ground, placing Dawn's jacket under his head to make him comfortable.

"He is breathing normally and appears to just be knocked out," the Professor muttered, taking his outer robes off and laying them over the redhead.

"I can sense four creatures inside. One is Dawn, but none of the others are human." Giles whispered. "I suggest we try the door. The element of surprise has worked for us many times in the past."

"Alright," Snape muttered back.

He looked at Tara, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

"You know I'm coming too," Tara whispered, smiling when his expression turned to slight embarrassment. "I can help."

"Of course."

They all looked down at the unconscious Weasley twin one last time before heading toward the door.

~-~-~-

"You think you can just get away with this, little girl?" a calm voice said from inside the building.

Giles turned the knob, almost sighing in relief when he discovered that it was unlocked. He silently opened it and all three of them slipped inside.

"Get away with what?" Dawn's voice rang out across the large room, wavering slightly.

Tara looked around to discover they were in some sort of warehouse. She was almost amused at the normalcy of the setting. All in all, she could just as easily be back in Sunnydale, trying to save Dawn from the latest vampire threat. The only difference was that all of the items scattered around the room were unfamiliar to her, and there were no machines or vehicles to carry them around.

*Wizards can just levitate things. That would save so much money,* she randomly thought to herself. *I think I'm turning into Anya.*

Dawn's sudden yelp whipped her head around, and she peered through the shelves that were shielding them from view, trying to discern where everyone was.

She opened her mouth to ask Giles if he could see them, but was silenced with a slashing gesture. Giles them held his hands up to his ears.

*Vampires,* Tara thought, understanding immediately. *Superhearing.*

She looked around at Snape and Giles, waiting for an indication of what to do next. The Potions Professor held up his wand and indicated that he was going to lead the charge to rescue Dawn, who was now audibly crying.

Tara followed as they jumped out from behind the shelves. As soon as she was out far enough to see Dawn across the room, someone jumped Snape from the side, knocking his wand from his hand. His face hit the floor with a crunch and blood began to run down his face, from a now broken nose. The same person - vampire, Tara corrected after seeing his face- punched Giles in the face, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

"That's enough," a voice said from behind Dawn, who was still crying, but looking a little hopeful as her possible rescue party arrived.

The vampire snarled at Tara before turning and walking back over to where Dawn and the others were. Another vampire stood beside Dawn, and someone stood behind her, hidden from view.

"Doc," Tara said, guessing at the identity of the hidden person.

"Very good," he replied, stepping out from behind the now silent teen. "And you must be one of Sunnydale group."

"Yes."

"Then you understand why this must be done."

Tara glanced down as Giles let out a small moan, coming to.

"Why must this be done?" Snape asked, wiping his nose as best he could without making the break any worse.

"Why are you here?" Doc asked, instead of answering.

"I want to be."

Doc scowled, and shrugged his shoulders. He looked up at Dawn, who was slightly taller than him, and then back at Snape.

"She destroyed the Great Glorificus, and therefore she must repay the debt."

"A teenager who couldn't make a potion correctly if her life depended on it defeated this Glorificus?" Snape asked, his voice oozing skepticism.

"She had help," Doc replied, indicating the now completely awake Giles, who was struggling to stand.

"Ah," Snape replied. "But somehow she is to blame."

"Yes," hissed Doc, obviously growing irritated with the conversation. "And you three can watch."

Dawn's eyes widened as Doc pulled out a knife. Snape began to cross to her, but was stopped by two snarling vampires. Tara looked around desperately as Doc began to cut a shallow incision down Dawn's arm.

She almost screamed in frustration at the lack of wood in the room as Giles and Snape ran full speed at the vampires, tackling them to the ground and throwing punches.

"Tara!" Dawn cried as she struggled with the ropes holding her to the pole behind her and Doc continued to make shallow cuts.

Tara took a deep breath and gathered up all her energy. She tried something that had never worked for her in the past, hoping that some of the magic of the town would somehow reach her.

"Aduro a Phoebus!" she yelled, holding her hands above her head.

A bright flash made everyone look up, and then a small glowing ball appeared, floating a few inches above Tara's head.

Both vampires screamed as the turned to dust, causing Giles and Snape to fall to the ground where they had previously been.

Tara held up a hand toward Doc as the ball disappeared. His hand stopped a hair's breadth from Dawn's throat, and the knife clattered to the ground. He screamed aloud as Tara tightened her hand into a fist, causing him to collapse.

Just as his body hit the ground, Tara began to shake, and by the time Snape had recovered enough to stand, she was crying.

He walked hesitantly to her as Giles untied Dawn and made sure Doc was fully unconscious. He held out a hand, but Tara ignored it, instead grabbing him and hugging him tightly, still crying and shaking.

Snape heard her say something that was muffled by his clothing, where she had her face buried.

"What was that?" he asked softly, not quite sure how to deal with a crying female who has just been through something so traumatic.

She turned her head to look toward Giles and Dawn, finally resting her eyes on Doc's form, still unmoving.

"Is he dead?" she asked, unable to tear her eyes away.

Giles looked at Snape and opened his mouth, closing it again after a moment. Snape nodded in understanding.

"He wasn't a man," he said to Tara, holding her chin and forcing her to look him in the eye. "He was just like any other monster you have been forced to slay in the past."

Tara nodded, her crying ending. She was still shaking as Dawn ran over to her and hugged her.

"You saved my life," she said, trying to keep her cut arm away from her body.

Tara nodded.

"You did a good thing," Dawn said, frowning.

Looking past her at Doc's form, Tara nodded again.

She looked up at Snape. "I killed him."