This chapter I'll be focusing on what happens to Buffy during this time in the book as everyone knows what happens to Sirius and Harry, Ron and Hermione.

 Lol all my reviews were really hopeful for Sirius getting pardoned but as you will see I'm going to follow canon with this story, but don't give up hope because the sequel will be totally my own plot!

If it gets a bit weird at the end then I'm sorry, I was feeling a bit weird while I wrote this.

It doesn't look like I'm going to make the 300 mark, I need 23 more reviews and there's only this chapter and the next. If you're reading, then please review, at least I can try to reach it.

Thanks to:

Loubie

ScruffyWes

Charmedfanatic3000

Captinuv

Lost angel92

DivaRane

Tituba

Chrios

Kim

Harmoni9

Miz – lol then you're not going to be reviewing for quite a while! Please do, I promise that it will be sorted out eventually!

Jess S1

Sellser

Claudia

Chapter 34 – Concussion

 

Buffy reached the forest and swung herself up into the branches of a nearby tree. The werewolf leapt up beneath her, not jumping quite high enough to reach her. Buffy's heart was pounding in her chest with exhilaration as she watched the werewolf jump up at her. It stopped after a few attempts and sat watching her with shrewd yellow eyes.
Then it got up and took off running, out of the forest, towards the others that Buffy had left behind.
Quickly, Buffy leapt down from the tree.
 "Hey!" she yelled and the werewolf halted and turned to face her, snarling. It charged at her and she deftly jumped it. It wheeled around and leapt at her. She rolled over backwards, the werewolf reaching for her throat with its dripping jaws. She held it off with sheer strength and when they stopped rolling she threw it from her. It ran at her again and she kicked it off.
It snarled, teeth glinting in the moonlight and charged once more. Buffy jumped up and grabbed a tree branch above her. Using the momentum she swung back and the forwards, kicking the werewolf in the head as it reached her. It flew backwards and crumpled on the ground.
Buffy hopped down and dusted off her hands. She approached the werewolf and for good measure kicked it in the head to check it was out cold. It was, though still breathing shallowly.
Sighing, Buffy picked up the wolf and threw it over her shoulders. She began to walk out of the forest but tripped over a hidden root and sprawled to the ground. Lupin rolled off the shoulders and fell into a pile on the floor, still out cold.
Buffy placed her hands on the ground and pushed herself up but was stopped by the presence of someone's foot on her back.
 "Hey!" she exclaimed. "Get off!" She reached up behind her, and pushed the foot off, getting up. Behind her stood a vampire, game face one and snarling.
 "Geez," she muttered, brushing her hair out of her face. "Just what I need. And look at my sweater!" A large muddy stain covered the sleeve of her pale pink jumper. The vampire snarled and Buffy sighed.
 "Let's just do this," she said tiredly and the vampire ran at her. Almost casually, she pulled out a stake and kicked the vampire, sending it reeling backwards. It ran at her again and she punched it, then pushed it against a tree trunk and staked it deftly.
 "Almost too easy," she said to herself wearily. Then, she bent over and picked up the werewolf again, throwing it over her shoulders and continuing out of the forest.

When she reached the place where Lupin had transformed, she picked up the ropes that lay discarded on the ground. She continued towards the school, and upon reaching the main entrance, tied the werewolf to a nearby tree. Satisfied with her knots, she turned and looked the way that she had seen the others go.

She broke into a run; rounding the castle and seeing a large silvery lake gradually appear before her. Looking across the grounds, she saw Sirius, Hermione and Harry surrounded by black cloaked shapes, desperately trying to escape.

Buffy gasped and her heart quickened as she recognised the Dementors surrounding them. She sprinted towards them without thinking, but as she got close she stopped, her breath catching in her throat. In her fear she had forgotten the effect they had on her. She stopped and felt the coldness wash over her. In her head images washed through, following one another, no end, screaming in her head….her mother in her hospital gown….receiving the letter about the brain tumour…… 'Close your eyes'…..Angel being sucked into hell……being fed off by the master…..'I don't care'…….leaving Sirius….

Buffy fell to her knees, hands over her ears as if that would block out the bad memories. She was dimly aware, in some vague corner of her mind that still functioned that there were black shapes coming towards her and the screaming got louder, more intense.
Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.

Buffy awoke later, how much later she didn't know and found she was still outside. She was cold and her clothes were slightly damp from dew on the ground. She sat up groggily and her head swum. She ignored its painful protests and stood up shakily. She was deserted in the grounds, no dementors, no Sirius, no anyone. Her heart raced again as she recalled the images before she passed out, dementors surrounding Sirius and coming towards her. Her heart lurched and she heaved as the thought crossed her mind that they had got Sirius. She regained control a moment later as rationality took over. If they hadn't given her the kiss, it was likely Sirius was okay, someone must have saved them. Obviously she had been missed, left in the grounds alone.

Irritable at being ignored, she stomped round to the front of the castle. From the colour of the skies, it was a few hours on and she saw a strange shape in the sky that looked like a flying horse with two riders seated atop it. She squinted up at it and the riders appeared to notice her as they both pointed down at her. Looking even harder she recognised Harry and Hermione atop the creature which looked like a mixture between a bird and a horse. She rubbed her eyes and then scratched her head. Obviously she had hit it when she fell.

She reached the front of the castle and saw to her satisfaction that the werewolf was still tied up and very much asleep. She approached it and was a little worried that it wasn't breathing that she could see. Backing away, she picked up some loose pebbles and began to pelt the werewolf with them, hoping that it would wake up.
It opened one eye after Buffy had hit increasingly harder with a series of ten stones. It growled at her and leapt up, straining its muscles to reach this annoying stone throwing girl.
To Buffy's satisfaction, the rope and her knots held, probably something to do with the fact that it was magical rope. It still tried to reach her, but when it realised it couldn't, it stopped trying and watched her furiously.
Buffy turned away, head still swimming and wandered away. She didn't really know what she was supposed to or where she was supposed to go. And she was afraid for Sirius. She had seen Pettigrew get away, she could only hope that they had caught him, or if not they had believed the stories that Sirius, Harry, Ron and Hermione gave.

 She couldn't let him go back to Azkaban, she thought furiously, wandering across the Hogwarts grounds aimlessly. She would break him out if she did, someway or another. Looking up at the sky again she noticed a similar shape in the sky.

"Definitely a head trauma," Buffy murmured to herself. "I'm hallucinating." She watched her hallucination with interest as the rider wheeled it round in the sky. The bird/horse dipped, flying downwards towards her. As it got closer, Buffy saw that the rider was Sirius.
 "Yup, definitely crazy," she said tapping her skull. The creature drew closer and then landed, hitting the ground and then cantering towards her.
When it reached her, Buffy saw that the creature possessed the body, hind legs and tail of a horse but the front legs, wings and head of an eagle, with large brilliantly orange eyes that stared at her imperiously. The creature had a coat of stormy grey and possessed huge talons on its front legs, which Buffy eyed warily.
 "The things I imagine," Buffy muttered, quite impressed with the imagination of her subconscious. 

"Come on," Sirius said impatiently. "Bow down in front of me."