Title: A Broken Beginning Ch 16 (And they finally see Willow)
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
Summary: 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.
Thank You,
Erak- thank you, and here's more.
Paz-54- you'll see in this chapter she's behaving a little better toward him. And I know a lot of people don't like that she's rude. But I'm trying to stay in character. And I believe that with Buffy respect is something that has to be earned.
Joyclene-As always your compliments honor me.
Dslguy14-thanks. Me too
Brandy- thank you for the constructive criticism
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Jinxy-your going to love this chapter
Brian-I appreciate your compliments and your grammatical corrections
Buffy paid no attention to Charlie and the other strangers as Dumbledore started to lead them toward Willow. She prayed that this was the real thing, not some elaborate hoax, that when she walked into the room that Willow would really be there. Like Dawn had said, if Willow was there, then everything could be ok. As long as Willow was ok then things would start to make sense. At the thought of Willow being ok, Buffy remembered how vague Dumbledore had been when describing Willow's condition, he told them that she was, "alive, barely, but alive." What did that mean? At the time she hadn't stopped to ask, there'd been so much new information to process. Dumbledore, a secret world, and the fact that Willow was alive and this strange man had her. She turned to look at Dumbledore, about to demand information about Willow's condition, but closed her mouth before she uttered a syllable. The thought occurred to her that she didn't want to know more. More information might be bad, and she'd had enough bad.
A few moments later they arrived outside of a door, Dumbledore opened the door pausing to explain.
"This leads to the school's hospital wing."
Buffy looked in Dumbledore's eyes searching for any hidden malice or deceit, almost hoping to find it, but instead, she only saw sympathy and weariness. Squaring her shoulders back, and holding her head high, she looked past him and walked through the doorway.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Xander listened to Dawn demand to see Willow, reminding him that they were wasting time here, time that could be spent after they'd made sure she was safe. He followed the rest as Dumbledore led them down the hallway. The last twenty-four hours had seemed so un-real to him. And that was saying a lot, considering almost everything that happened to him would be considered un-real to most people. Not being able to find Willow, and all that strange talk in town. Then the old man showing up on the doorstep with information about Willow with a wild story about secret worlds and then a magical trip to an invisible castle. And now on top of all of this there was this new guy, Carl or Chris or something like that. This guy who had dated Buffy, or almost dated. Something like that anyway. And it appears that this Chuck (maybe?) is apart of this 'wizarding world,' and at that thought Xander instinctively winced. Couldn't Buffy find a normal boyfriend? The Supernatural ones sure weren't working out for her. But then again Parker and Scott were 'normal' and they both broke her heart. Xander could feel the protectiveness welling up inside of him at that thought; Buffy had horrible taste in men. And if this guy had stood her up, he couldn't be that great either.
As Dumbledore stopped outside of a door and said, "This leads to the school's hospital wing." Xander could see Buffy scrutinizing the older wizard. Xander watched them, rubbing his forehead. He was so tired and this was all too much.
As he followed Buffy and Dumbledore through the doors, Xander let his eyes readjust to the brighter lighting. He looked around the room, but even before his eyes landed on her, he felt her. Willow lay on a bed in the center of the room, looking frail against the white sheets. She was safe. She was alive.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
She was safe. She was alive.
Relief flooded every fiber of Giles' being. Willow was really here and she looked ok, she wasn't awake, but she was ok.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
Thank God, she was ok. Dawn's breath became ragged as she looked at Willow lying in the hospital bed. She was so scared. She couldn't lose anybody else. Mom. Tara. Everyone she loved left. Willow couldn't leave too. She needed her too much.
~.~.~.~.~.~
"What's wrong with her?" Giles directed the question to Dumbledore.
The older man seemed to consider his answer before speaking. "Well, she's unconscious and we aren't exactly sure why, we haven't quite seen anything like this before. We think we know what happened to her but we're not positive."
"Is she going to be ok?" Dawn asked in a voice only slightly more than a whisper.
At that question a tall dark-haired man that they hadn't noticed before spoke, "We aren't sure."
"And you are?" Buffy demanded of him.
"Severus Snape." The man offered without a handshake or a smile.
Something in the man's voice irked Buffy. And she couldn't help snarkly remarking.
"Well aren't you a bundle of friendliness."
"Always," he replied without missing a beat.
"So can you tell us what you think happened?" Buffy redirected the conversation towards Willow.
At this question a stout woman who'd been standing near another door at the far end of the room spoke.
"We think she may have been hit with a killing curse."
"What's that mean?" Xander asked
The man who'd introduced himself as Severus answered him
"It's a curse that kills."
"Well I could figure that out, but she's not dead." Xander snapped.
The woman spoke again. "We know."
Giles imposed himself in the conversation questioned, "So what happened then?"
This time Dumbledore was the one who answered, "That we don't know."
Dawn, who'd been silent as they talked about the killing curse finally spoke; her voice breaking with tears. "They wanted Willow dead?" Before anyone could answer her, Dawn seemed to have lost whatever control she was maintaining and her body racked with sobs. Buffy, Giles and Xander gathered her between them, holding and comforting each other.
~.~.~.~.~.
Huddled around each other and standing next to Willow's bed is how Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Percy found the Americans when they entered the hospital wing. Dumbledore motioned with his finger against his mouth for them to be quiet as the stood just inside the door.
~.~.~.~.~.
Willow was still in the same room, she'd tried laying down to get some sleep, but it hadn't worked. It was so lonely and quiet and she was starting to get scared. It felt like she'd been there forever. She knew if she didn't get out of there soon she'd go crazy. She got up and started pacing back and forth across the floor. She thought things couldn't get any worse, but then she heard this sound and it took her a moment to recognize it. It was Dawnie, and she was crying. Willow felt the emptiness in her stomach fall out, replaced with the need to comfort Dawn. She clawed at the sides of the room, yelling for Dawn, trying to get to her.
~.~.~.~.~.
Dawn could feel the Wizards watching her as her family tried to calm down, but try as she might she couldn't reign in her emotions. In fact her sobbing was the only sound in the room until someone spoke.
"Shush…Dawnie, it'll be ok." A weak voice comforted from the hospital bed
A/N** It's a little short, but the next chapter will be out soon
