Sanity in Grey
Sorry it took so long and thank you to every one for reviewing, this chapter is longer than usual and I hope it isn't too slow.
Part 5
'What are you doing here Spike, I thought you were still in LA with Angel?' Willow was so excited to see him, he was the one person from her past that she could really relate to, and still liked.
'I left the poof's hotel about a month ago, came here to get wrecked, visit some friends and get wrecked again. How about you, I didn't even know you knew about this place, and why is that guy just standing there staring at us.' Spike looked towards the man standing a few metres away and watched his Red walk up and pull him firmly back with her.
'Severus this is Spike, Spike this is Severus. Severus is a Professor at the school I'm going to be teaching at. Oh and you really have to meet Harry, he's not here right now but he's amazing, he's my brother coz it turns out my parents aren't actually my parents and my mum was killed by my dad and there is this whole other thing which leads me to really hate my father and I'm babbling again. Spike you've known me long enough to recognise the signs, you should have stopped me.' Willow looked at Spike who just seemed confused, she then turned to Snape but found him staring at Spike with a calculating look in his eyes.
'Why would I want to stop you when you gave me so much new information.' Spike came out of his daze quickly and answered her demand.
'How exactly do you two know each other?' Willow could tell Snape was trying to seem indifferent but there was definitely an underlying curiosity.
'Oh, Spike tried to kill me a few times.' Willow answered with a smirk knowing that her answer although true was not close to enough information to explain their friendship.
'Yes I can see how that would cement a friendship.' Snapes sarcasm was evident.
'Oh come on Red luv, you know I'm sorry and I would never do that now.' Willow would have laughed as Spike turned his best puppy dog eyes on her, but he looked so unbelievably cute that she couldn't help but tease him.
'But I thought that once you got your chip out you were going to turn me, you can't just back out now I was looking forward to spending my unlife on a reign of terror with you.' Bad Willow, she really shouldn't flirt with Spike, oh well, its fun who cares if it's morally right.
'The offer still stands, you would make one hell of a vampire luv.' He gave her one of his patented smirks and moved closer. She couldn't believe he was making her feel all weak and fuzzy, no one did that to her anymore, it was her who played with them.
'So you are William the Bloody then?' Snape spoke up ruining their 'moment'. Willow didn't know whether she was relieved or disappointed, she didn't like feeling out of control but it had been kind of nice.
'The one and only.' Spike drawled out his answer. He had enjoyed his last month in Europe. No one here knew about his chip, they still feared him, it was a feeling he had missed.
'Are you going to be in London long, do you want to come while we finish shopping, look I got a wand, isn't it cute. Oh Goddess its your birthday soon isn't it, go away I have to buy you a present, I retract the offer to shop, you are no longer invited.' Willow's brain was working over time, 'never mind, you can still come shopping if you want, I can't think of anything to give you at the moment anyway, I'll have to get it another day.'
She turned to find Spike laughing softly, 'slow down luv, I'm having a little trouble keeping up, and this poor bloke looks lost. He's not used to your babble's you have to break him in gently, otherwise he'll just get lost.' She looked at Severus and found and recognised the expression of extreme confusion Spike had commented on.
She focussed her attention back on Spike giving Snape a little time to compose himself, she tapped her foot impatiently, 'Well?'
'Well what?' she was sure he was being deliberately obtuse.
'Are you coming?' she let her exasperation show in her voice.
'Wouldn't miss it for the world, this is just going to be too funny.'
BOOM BOOM BOOM
'What the hell was that?' Ron looked up from his Quidditch magazine and stared questioningly at Harry.
'I think someone's trying to kick your front door down, I'll get it.' Harry stood up slowly, hurrying up slightly as the banging on the door increased in power.
He opened the door and was almost knocked off his feet as Willow rushed through the door dumping an enormous number of bags on the hallway floor.
'Harry,' Willow breathlessly turned to talk to him, ' is Hermione still here?' in response to Harry's confused nod, Willow flew out of the room, he barely heard the muttered, 'thank the Goddess.'
Two seconds later however he heard her shouting, 'Hermione! Hermione!'
There was an almost panicked edge to her shout and soon the entire household, including Hermione and Harry were gathered round looking very worried.
'Thank God you're still here Hermione, you have to help me, I can't think of anything.' Willow was so worked up she could hardly get her sentence out.
'What is it Willow?' Hermione looked like she couldn't decide whether to be worried at the problem or proud that a teacher was asking her help.
'What can I possibly get a hundred-year old master vampire for his birthday. There is nothing I can think of that he won't have seen or had before, its an impossible task, you have to help me.' Willow didn't even register the alternating surprised and shocked looks of the others in the room, she was too busy hyperventilating. 'Spike's birthday is in two days and I haven't got him a present, what kind of friend am I?'
Hermione was the first to find her voice, 'You're buying a birthday present for a master vampire called Spike?'
Willow abruptly calmed down and began giggling, ' it does sound sort of crazy doesn't it, but he's on e of my best friends and it's been a long time since he tried to kill me and he apologised for it a couple of times. He doesn't kill people anymore either.' She looked up at their confused faces, 'I guess I should start at the beginning.'
She told them the entire Spike story, starting from when he first came to Sunnydale with Dru.
She finished speaking after about an hour of Spike history and was sat in silence while they all came to their own conclusions. Everyone jumped when she suddenly leapt out of her chair and bounced out of the room happily shouting Eureka to no one in particular.
Ron cut across the silence she left behind, 'Harry, no offence but are you sure your sister is completely sane?'
His comment earned him a smack on the head from Charlie who was very obviously infatuated with Willow, strange friends and all.
'What do you think she's getting him?' Ginny asked in a slightly worried tone.
'I honestly don't have a clue.' Was Harry's only answer.
It was two days later and Willow was preparing to leave the Burrow to stay at Hogwarts for the rest of the Summer. Harry was staying with Ron, as was Hermione.
Willow was just getting ready to leave to catch the night Express to Hogsmeade when she heard the doorbell ring. Since she was standing next to the door anyway she pulled it open, smiling broadly as she saw Spike on the other side.
'I thought you weren't coming, you promised to come right after sunset and now I'm only going to see you for a few minutes before I have to go.' Willow tried to look pissed off but failed miserably.
'I'm coming with you pet, that Dumbledore Headmaster guy sent me an owl inviting me to stay for a while.' Spike was almost flattened as the little red head jumped at him and hugged him in response. 'I take it you're pleased then.'
'Of course I'm pleased now wait while I go and say goodbye to Harry, in fact hold on a second, HARRY, we have to leave in about four and a half minutes or we'll miss the train.' She was back to being organised and Spike sighed resignedly knowing it was easier to just follow her plans when she was like this.
Harry came hurriedly out of the kitchen with Hermione, Ron and all the other Weasley's to find Willow talking to a blonde haired man. 'You're Spike right? I'm Harry.' He held out his hand, a little nervous knowing that this guy had probably killed hundreds of people his age.
'Nice to meet you. Well Red you fit right in here, you look like a member of the family, I didn't even know hair could grow that shade of red.' Spike looked at Ginny who blushed but held his gaze.
'I'm going to miss you all, but I'll be back at least once a week.' She hugged each of them in turn, including Charlie who held on for a little longer than the rest, which was duly noted by Spike. She then looked at Mr and Mrs Weasley, 'feel free to punish him in any way if he does something stupid, I completely trust your judgement. Goodbye all of you, I've got to go now. Bye' With one last wave she closed the door behind her and followed Spike into the wizarding taxi.
They sat in companionable silence until they reached the station, (it never ceased to amaze Willow how fast these taxis were.)
They followed Harry's directions to platform nine and three quarters and quickly found a cabin and waited for the train to set off.
Spike broke the silence saying, 'So Weasley has a thing for you.' It was a statement not a question and he waited impatiently to find out if anything was going on between them.
'I don't think Ron thinks about me that way, I'm his best friends older sister.' Willow gave him her most innocent look and turned to look out of the window.
'Don't act stupid, you know exactly which one I meant.' Spike knew she was enjoying this but he couldn't work out why he was so desperate for an answer.
'Oh you mean Charlie. We're friends, I think he would like us to be more, but I don't think about him that way, which reminds me, I have your birthday presents.'
'How did that remind you about my birthday, and wait…you actually got me a present?' Willow laughed, he just looked so shocked and adorable.
'Of course I did, I told you I was going to, you're one of my best friends.' She pulled out two small packages and passed them over to him.
He looked at them only beginning to unwrap them when Willow impatiently ordered him to. 'If you are just going to sit and stare at them I'll take them back.'
He opened the first one and found a small black box containing a quartz crystal. He looked at Willow in confusion.
'I put a spell on it, if you wave it over one of your bags of blood it makes it taste like human blood so no more moaning about how bad pigs blood tastes.' Willow suddenly found herself in a bear hug, not that she minded. 'Well are you going to open the other one?'
He pulled back and tore into the paper of the second present. It too contained a small black box but this time it had a ring inside. The ring was god with an orb of some black stone in its centre.
'It will protect you in the sun.' Spike looked at her, he couldn't believe it, no one had ever been this kind to him. Dru had given him presents, but nothing like this, Willow had given him the Sun. Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her gently. 'Thank you' he said as he pulled back, 'that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me.'
'Well I couldn't think of anything to get you and it just sort of came to me when I was talking about the Gem of Amara, you're welcome.' She was flushed and confused, how had he made her feel like that. With one small chaste kiss she had felt as thought the world was falling away, she had never felt anything so intense and amazing.
She fell quiet, trying desperately to figure it out and explain what had just happened, this was Spike, her friend, there weren't supposed to be all these other feelings.
Spike watched her quietly, she was confused, it was obvious even though she was fighting to hide it. She wasn't pissed of or disgusted though, that was a good sign.
Spike had realised when he saw her in Diagon alley that he had feelings for her and he intended to try and get her even though he was sure he didn't deserve her. 'What the hell, may as well go for broke.' He spoke to himself quietly enough that she didn't hear him.
He leaned forward again and this time let the kiss linger and deepen. He put all of his passion into the kiss pulling her to sit on his knee. She responded with equal energy and soon they were lost n each other.
They broke apart and Willow said breathlessly, 'that's the best thank you I've ever had.'
'So what do we do now?' Spike asked unsure of how she was going to react, or how she felt about him.
'Well we can just take it slow and see where it goes, I mean if you want.' Willow's insecurity was obvious and it was killing her, she just wasn't used to feeling uncertain anymore.
'That sounds good to me.' They spent the rest of the journey in a happy daze chatting and cuddling and doing other couple things.
They got off the train with Willow looking around with curiosity. She noticed a banner hung across the platform with 'Welcome Daughter' written across it in black lettering. 'Check that out, isn't that sweet.' Willow pointed to the sign and took Spikes arm and walked on.
'What luv?' Spike asked in genuine confusion.
'The sign, the one saying 'Welcome daughter'.
Spike turned and looked where she pointed and simply looked more confused, 'luv, there's nothing there.'
'What? You mean you can't see that?' it was Willows turn to look confused.
'If there is something there you are the only one who sees it, either that or there is a no dead people clause.'
Willow was silent for a second, 'looks like daddy's trying to tell me something.'
'Just who exactly is your father? You never told me and I'm guessing Potter's your brother on your mothers side.'
'You ever heard of a guy called Voldemort? Well the summarised version is that he raped my mother and then killed her a few years later. I didn't know about him and he didn't know about me until I went all evil and he felt it along with pretty much everyone else in the magic world. Anyway he's been trying to kill Harry and a whole bunch of other people so he's not my favourite person. I guess he's trying to tell me he knows who I am and what I'm doing.'
If possible Spike turned even paler than usual, 'your Voldemorts daughter, the one the everyones been so worried about, that's almost funny. You know they're not going to be happy if they find out who you are especially if they find out exactly how powerful you are. So what are you going to do now he's contacting you?' Worry filled his voice and he moved closer as though to protect her.
'Well,' she shrugged, 'if he comes near me or anyone I know any time soon, I'll introduce him to bad-ass Willow, if not, I'll make him pay in my own time.'
'I think you might be taking this a bit too lightly, do you know what this guy has done, how many people follow him, how much power he actually has.'
'Not as much as I have I don't think, but it doesn't matter, I wont let him hurt us and I will make him pay for what he's done.' She waved her hand in the direction of the banner, 'Damn I still can't get used to having a wand, I haven't used it once since I got it.'
'What did you do pet?'
'I left daddy a little message, don't look at me like that, all it says is 'Hello Daddy'. I even put cute little flowers in the background and there are teddy bears playing hide and seek behind the letters. It's a loving gesture from daughter to father.'
'Don't you think you're overdoing the sweet and innocent thing a bit?' Spike laughed at her description but still looked worried.
'Not at all, this is about showing him I'm not scared of him and that I'm strong.' Willow smiled happily, it felt good to have something to focus on, and playing with her darling father was a project she could really sink her teeth into.
'How does that show your power, no offence love but any half-wit with a wand can re-write a banner.'
'There were wards and spells keeping it from being changed, I broke them. Can we forget abut this just now, I want to see my new work and I'm kinda curious about why Dumbledore wanted to see you.' This was Willows less than subtle way of distracting Spike. A plan was forming in her head and she didn't want Spike to know, he would only try and stop her. She was going to destroy Voldemort from the inside out and make him suffer in a million different slow and painful ways for what he had done. Evil Willow was gonna have some fun.
The walked towards the quaint village they could see outside the station chatting easily about other subjects and were almost knocked over by a giant man running around a corner.
'I'm sorry 'bout that, are you Spike and Miss Rosenberg?' at their dazed nods he carried on, 'hello, I'm 'agrid, I'm the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, I was sent to get you, sorry I'm a bit late.' The pride in his voice when he talked about his job was obvious and it gave Willow an easy way to befriend him.
'Really, what kind of creatures do you work with, have you ever seen a dragon? I've always wanted to see one, Charlie promised to let me visit him in Romania and see his dragons.' The innocent enthusiasm in her voice when she talked about dragons was infectious and made Hagrid like her immediately. She did however notice that Spike looked less than pleased when she mentioned visiting Charlie, she filed that piece of info in the back of her mind for later use.
She listened carefully to Hagrid who could not stop talking about the creatures he obviously loved and surprisingly found herself quite interested. She slowly began to warm to Hagrid and think of him as a friend instead of someone she may need at a later date. He was a lovely person, more innocent than she could ever pretend to be.
Hagrid led them to a beautiful traditional horse and carriage, at least it would have been traditional if it had had horses. They drove slowly taking in the scenery with Willow and Hagrid chatting happily and Spike contributing at intervals.
A few minutes into the drive they were interrupted by a small hawk diving through the window with a message attached to its leg.
'Hey where did you come from?' Willow spoke more to herself than the hawk as she quickly unrolled the paper.
'Are you the lady who can talk to our kind, I have heard of you, I came from the snake-man in the village.' The hawk replied giving Willow a shock until she remembered her previous encounter with the owl.
'So he's here is he? Must want to keep a close eye on me. Do you want something to eat? I can summon something for you.' She guessed from the description that it was Voldemort who had sent the message and it was confirmed when she read it.
You are just as powerful as I had hoped daughter, however I am unsure if bears are an appropriately dignified symbol for ones with the power we wield. I shall be in touch.
'Some bacon would be nice, it's my favourite but no one seems to notice. Will you be writing back?' The hawk's words cut across her train of thought. She quickly summoned a couple of pieces of bacon from the nearest kitchen (where ever that was she hoped they didn't mind, scrap that she didn't really care.)
She looked up to find Hagrid and Spike looking at her questioningly, 'its from my dad,' she stated quickly seeing worry appear on Spikes face but seeing no ease in the confusion on Hagrids features.
'Willow were you talking to the Hawk, you were twittering.' Hagrid looked quite awed as though it was an amazing talent.
'Yes I discovered I could talk to magical birds when the owl came with the letter from Hogwarts, I'm not sure if it extends to all magical creatures of just the birds.' She paused for a second and turned to the hawk who was happily chewing on the bacon, 'I will be sending a reply, just give me a second.'
'She waved her hand to change the lettering on the message and found even stronger magic protecting this than the banner, Voldemort was obviously testing her. She broke through these with just a fraction more effort and tied her reply to the hawk who was now finished eating and flew out of the window with a quick thank you for the bacon.
