A week had passed since Buffy had met Angel, and she had not spoken a word to anyone about it. She had been patrolling four times since that night, but she had not bumped into Angel. Buffy did not plan to tell anyone about Angel, or about the cross that he had given her. Her friends did not mention Harry again; they had learnt their lesson from that night. It was three weeks till school started, and owls were not being delivered to the Summers residence, or, for that matter, anywhere on the Hellmouth.
"It's You-know-who isn't it! He has stopped mail being delivered to anywhere in the world, thereby causing major wizarding stress!" Willow rambled one morning in the Summers house. Hermione sighed, sipping her cup of tea.
"Does that even make sense?" Buffy groaned with her head in her hands. Willow glared at Buffy, and sat down once she realised that Buffy was not looking at her.
"It's too early in the morning for gibberish Will." Hermione said, smiling to her red haired friend.
Willow lay back on the couch and closed her eyes. "Why does Giles want us up so early anyway?"
"He might know something."
"How! All the owls in this Hellmouth have migrated! Gone to the South! Gone to escape winter!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows at her odd little friend. "It's summer Will."
"Whatever. You know, in Australia, it's like winter over there right now. How freaky is that?"
"It's the way the world works Will. If you got a problem, tell it to the guy upstairs. Besides, Willow is right Hermione." Buffy agreed, rolling her eyes at Willow because Willow had smirked at Hermione. "What does Giles want us up so early for anyway? He couldn't possibly have news, there are no owls-"
Buffy was cut short as a small tawny owl flew in through the open window and landed gracefully onto the arm of Buffy's chair. The three girls stared at it, bewildered.
"Hermione are you a Seer?" Willow said in a hushed voice.
Hermione scoffed. "Me? Don't insult me Wills!"
Buffy laughed as she opened the envelope the owl gave her. She read it out loud:
"Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg and Hermione Granger
The Living Room
Revello Drive
Sunnydale
California
Misses Summers, Rosenberg and Granger
Mr Giles has
received some important information from the Watcher's Council about Miss
Summers. At this moment, Miss Summers,
you are in terrible danger.
Please gather your things, along with you companions and be ready for Mr Giles
to port-key you to 'our house'.
Do not be alarmed, but be on alert, do not part from your wands, do not leave your house and do not let anyone in your quarters.
Albus Dumbledore."
Buffy glanced up at her two best friends, her throat dry and her fingers numb. Hermione looked back at her, her brown eyes wide, her slender fingers covering her mouth.
"Let's get our stuff then." Buffy whispered, glancing towards the window, looking to see if anyone was coming. Willow and Hermione nodded dumbly, and the three moved through the house, collecting their things quickly and in silence. Before long, Buffy was packed, which was a wonder because she felt she couldn't move. The worst possible reasons for Dumbledore to owl her flitted through her hectic mind. The worst reason out of all of them was that Voldemort had found out that she was the slayer.
The three young girls sat stiffly on chairs in the living room, one of them occasionally jumping at a small, insignificant sound. None of them made a move to talk about the letter, the same thought was running through their minds.
Voldemort knows that Buffy is the slayer.
Because of this thought, and because of the letter that Dumbledore had sent them, they all jumped up and grabbed their wands (for Buffy, she grabbed her wand and her dagger) and pointed it at the door when it opened.
Joyce Summers was very surprised when three girls pointed their wands at her in a defensive position as she bustled in through the door, her arms laden with grocery bags.
"Oh! Sorry mom!" Buffy cried, quickly hiding the dagger from the eyes of her mother. The three girls hurriedly took the bags from Joyce's arms and ushered her into the kitchen, Buffy closing the front door quickly.
Joyce watched as the three girls packed away all the food in the cupboards as fast as lightening, then, when they had finished, lined up against the counter, with forced smiles on their faces.
"Girls?" Joyce questioned, an amused expression on her face. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." The girls chorused quickly. Joyce raised her eyebrow, not believing them.
"Uh, why we sit down." Willow said, ushering Joyce into the living room.
"Will!" Buffy hissed, hitting the redhead on the arm.
Willow winced and rubbed her arm. "What?"
"She'll see the-"
"Honey!" Joyce entered the kitchen, a confused expression on her face. "What are these trunks doing down here?"
Buffy winced. "Uh, mom, I have something to-"
She was interrupted by the door opening again and Giles rushing through it.
"Will everyone stop interrupting me with all the entrances?" Buffy fumed. "First the owl, then mom, now Giles!" Buffy threw her hands up in the air. Once she realised that everyone was staring at her as if she had lost her mind, she lowered her hands and grinned sheepishly.
"Are you ready to leave girls?" Giles asked, pulling out a small broom, which would serve as a port-key, from behind his back.
"Go? Go where?" Joyce echoed, as the three girls gathered their things. "Can you please tell me what is going on?"
Buffy and Giles looked at each other, Giles' look saying tell her and Buffy's saying No way in hell. Giles sighed, he had asked Buffy many times to tell her mother about England, and who she really was, but Buffy kept on saying no, her argument was that she was already a disappointment to her mother, with what happened in her last school, and she wanted her mother to think that she was perfectly normal and was not battling the forces of evil every night.
Buffy pouted, knowing that would win over Giles. She was right. "We are needed in England, and we are leaving immediately Mrs Summers." Giles explained, telling the truth, but not expanding.
"Why?"
"Hogwarts matters. Nothing that bad, I assure you." Was Giles' answer.
Joyce paused for a moment, in thought, then a smile broke out on her face. "Well that's brilliant!"
"Huh?" Buffy gaped, her eyes wide, thoroughly confused, which wasn't a rare occurrence.
"Oh darling, this is perfect! I didn't want to tell you till nearer the time, but, I've sold the house and museum! I'm going to move to England!" Joyce squealed happily and pulled Buffy into a bone-crushing hug, not noticing that Buffy was limp with shock. "This is much better darling, so now you can come home for Christmas and you will be closer to your friends! Besides, I've always wanted to go to England, so if you just wait for me to pack and book a flight, we can all go to England together and see the sights, find a house. Isn't it perfect?" Joyce held her daughter at arms length, a large grin on her face.
"You're serious, aren't you." Buffy commented, in shock. Joyce nodded. "No."
"No?" Joyce let her arms fall down to her sides. "What do you mean no?"
"You are not moving to England."
"Do not take that tone with me, young lady!" Joyce answered, throwing her hands on her hips. "Now why not?"
Buffy was silent. If she told her mother why, it would mean telling her about everything, about Voldemort, about the slayer, everything. The reason for Joyce not to move was that if Voldymouth had found out that Buffy was the slayer, Joyce could be in danger. "Trust me mom."
"Tell me the truth!" Joyce demanded, as the three girls gathered their bags.
"I love you mom, but just do what I say, ok?" Buffy pleaded, tears in her eyes as she placed a hand on the broom.
Before Joyce could answer, Buffy and her companions were gone, and Joyce was left in the living room by herself, extremely distraught.
