A/N** Because it's been so long I'm posting this before I get it back from my beta-reader, who by the way is the best beta-reader in the world. Anyway as soon as I get my edited copy back from her I'm going to post it over this.
Title: A Broken Beginning Ch 10
Author: Nicki C.
Email: Nimacu@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: "It's all been done before"- Barenaked Ladies. I don't own Buffy. Nor do I own the world of Harry Potter. They both belong to Joss and J.K.
Summery: Something happens that causes the Scoobies to head to England.
Feedback: I used to think that I didn't need it and it wasn't very important, but then I got some and I really liked it, in fact the more feedback I got the more I wanted. I think you get the idea.
Setting: Later the same day
A/N* It's been awhile, I had a lot of family stuff going on and my mind was a far from Harry and Buffy as could be.
Thanks to…
Wild - I'm glad you liked both chapters; I wondered what happened to you.
angeleyes – I hope you like this chapter too.
Steph- I can't wait either, part of the reason this chapter was so hard to write is because I didn't feel as passionately about it as I do about some of the ones I already have the outlines written for.Jeanne- Your review really kicked my butt in gear to get this written. My eternal thanks.
Terrina- Sorry it took so long, hope you're still reading it. And this isn't quite what you were waiting for but you might like this chapter especially.Severus Snape looked around the infirmary and thought about how crowded the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry was for a Sunday Afternoon. There were two redheaded men pacing back and forth around a bed on which a redheaded woman slept, and occasionally they would throw furious glares at each other. He really wondered what good Dumbledore thought those two bumbling gits would do when they wouldn't even talk to each other. But he was sure that Dumbledore probably thought some lesson could be learned from working together and if there's a lesson to be learned then woe be anyone who tries to interfere.
Severus took another look at the girl on the bed; there was something about her that kept drawing his gaze. He wasn't even sure what it was, she wasn't stunningly pretty; but still he couldn't help but look at her. It was all such a mystery, sure they knew who and what she was, but why was she here? Why hadn't he known about her ahead of time? Had he been caught? Were they planning his demise at this moment? He needed to find out, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the hospital wing. But Dumbledore had ordered him too… Severus stood up from the chair and turned to the older of the two Wesley's; "Charlie, I have some things I have to take care of; I might be gone for awhile. If I haven't returned by this evening contact Dumbledore and your father immediately. And with that he walked out of the room.
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Willow looked around the empty room she was sitting in, she felt like she'd been there forever. It was such a lonely place, such an empty place. "I'm cold and I'm hungry, and I want to go home," she said out loud to herself. But the sound of her voice startled her. It seemed so strange to hear anything at all. She felt so sad sitting there alone; she felt like she'd never laugh again, never smile. She wasn't sure where she was or even how she got there. The last thing she remembered was that man in her room, and his laugh. Then she'd woken up here, or at least she thought she was awake. She couldn't really be sure. There was a "sense" about the place, like it wasn't real, couldn't be real. She kept hoping it was a dream she wake up from, because in this room she was so alone, she couldn't feel the magic she usually felt. The magic that she'd learn flowed through everything. She'd just been learning to embrace that, and now she was cut off from it. With that thought Willow curled on the floor and sobbed.
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"Have you ever met a wandless witch before Ron?" Harry asked intently as the two boys sat in their room discussing the mysterious Miss Rosenberg. "No but I've heard of them, Dad says that they are few and far between. Because most Witches and Wizards learn from a young age with wands so no one ever gets to see if they'd been strong enough to learn without one. Dad says that sometimes very old wizarding families will refuse to teach their children with a wand in hopes that they will develop wandless abilities, but most of the time it fails." Ron informed them. "I guess there'd have to be a whole lot of magic in a person to be a good wandless witch or wizard." Harry commented. "But then how would a muggle born get to be one?" Ron wondered out loud. Harry looked at Ron intently for a moment and then spoke "I'm not sure, maybe she wasn't Muggle born, or maybe there's special circumstances or maybe its just fate." The two boys looked at each other both thinking the same thing. Ron started to say, "Let's get Hermione" and Harry finished it with "There's research to be done." The two headed toward the common room.
When they came down the stairs Dean Thomas was the only person sitting in the Common room. "Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked him. Dean chuckled for a moment, and then spoke. "She was in here doing homework or something then Seamus came in and talked to her and she took off like lightning. Seamus seemed pretty unhappy with her and when she left she was the brightest shade of red I've ever seen. Do you think they had a lover's spat?" Ron and Harry exchanged a confused look and they both answered firmly answered "No" at the same time. "Do you know where she went?" Ron asked. Dean thought for a few seconds then answered "Well she left the tower and she had a load of books with her, so I assume she was going to the library; but I don't know for sure. Maybe you two should keep better track of her". With the last comment Dean who was amazed at his own cleverness winked at the boys and headed up to their room. "To the library Watson!" Harry turned to Ron with dramatic bravado as he left the room. Ron just followed shaking in head in confusion at the reference.
Harry and Ron arrived in the library to find Hermione sitting in front of a stack of books reading. "Whatcha doing 'Mione?" Ron asked her as the two boys sat down next to her. "I'm trying to find some information on wandless witches and wizards, there's lots of little bits of information but nothing really solid. I want to find out everything that I can about the Willow Rosenberg and her type of magic." Hermione paused before she continued, "I also want to find out more about the slayer and the Hellmouth, and I have a general idea of what they are but I want details." "I would have waited to come to the library until after I'd talked to both of you but certain insufferable people were bothering my reading in the Common Room." Hermione finished with a determined look on her face.
"Well we came down here to see if you wanted to help us do some wandless witch research. Ron was telling me all he knew about them and we decided we needed to know more." Harry told her. Hermione turned to Ron "Well what do you know about wandless witches?" Ron recapped what he told Harry earlier while Hermione listened intently. The boys could see a plan formulating itself in her head. After Ron had finished Hermione decided to share what she'd been thinking about. "Ron, Harry I think we should break down the research into three parts, each of us looking into a different part and finding all we can about it. As far as I can tell there's four things we need to research; One: Wandless Witches, Two: Hellmouths in General and the Hellmouth on Sunnydale specifically, Three: The Slayer, specifically "the girl who died twice", Four: the last name Rosenberg, we need to find out if she comes from an old wizarding family. I think it would be a good idea if you took the Wandless Witches research Ron." Hermione waited for Ron's agreement. He thought on it a moment and nodded his head in ascension. Hermione turned to Harry "I think you should look up the last name Rosenberg, find anything you can that would relate that girl to the wizarding world. And I'll look up the Slayer and the Hellmouth. Does that sound agreeable to everyone?" Hermione looked at both of the boys. They both nodded in agreement and the three teens headed away from the table to look through the shelves of books to find the information they so desperately wanted. As Hermione looked through the books she mumbled to herself "We didn't do nearly enough research last year."
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Remus Lupin sat in Minerva McGonagall's office looking at the older women with a curious eye. "What are we supposed to do now? Just sit here and wait?" He asked her impatiently. Minerva gathered her patience and pursed her lips together for a few moments reminding herself that the young woman's presence had made them all restless before answering the younger man. "Yes that's exactly what we are supposed to do, sit here and wait, and watch and protect. And most importantly to teach the children, to teach them like everything is normal. To make sure that things stay normal for them. I know that sometimes the most difficult job is to stay behind pretending everything is ok, that we're not worried. But often it is the most important job of all. She hadn't wanted to do it, but Minerva's advice painfully reminded Remus of Sirius. A chastised Remus nodded gently at this advice and left the elder teacher to herself.
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At that very moment when Remus and Minerva were in the office discussing the girl, the two red-headed men guarding Willow noticed something different about the girl. Tears were cascading down her cheeks. Both men stood staring dumbfounded for a moment before Percy gathered his wits and called loudly for Madam Pomfrey.
