Part 3
"Oh, there you are," Xander said as he burst into Giles' office without knocking. "Buffy and I were worried about you when you didn't meet us this morning."
"Sorry, Xan. My parents wanted to talk to me this morning and I ran late."
Xander noticed the tired lines around her eyes and wondered if she'd had a chance to talk to Oz. Since the whole warehouse incident Willow had been trying to talk to Oz who was studiously avoiding her.
He touched her arm lightly, "You okay?"
Well no time like the present, Willow thought. "Umm, yeah but can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Why don't you use my office? I'll just put those books back." Giles squeezed Willow's shoulder in comfort as he left his office.
Xander sat down with a thump, "Oh god…it's bad isn't it? Another apocalypse? Angel is back being all stalker Angelus again?"
"No! It's about me."
Xander looked at her with wide eyes, "You said you were okay! You're okay right?"
Willow smiled sadly, "I'm fine, Xander. Nothing bad, at least I don't think it's bad. But Giles thought the place was an urban legend and we all know how those turn out. But Ms Calendar had heard of it so it can't all be bad right?"
"Um, Will? What exactly are we talking about?"
Willow held out her letter from Dumbledore, "I have an opportunity to go to a school for witches… in Scotland."
"Your parents are okay with you not going to college next year?" he asked as he took the letter from Willow. He had prepared himself with the knowledge that Willow would probably be leaving him and Sunnydale next year. His smile faded as the words penetrated. Two weeks?!? She was leaving in two weeks?
"I know it's kinda sudden but I only got the letter and confirmation last night."
Xander set the letter down on Giles' desk and closed his eyes. How would he survive senior year without Willow? When he looked up he saw the hopeful and slightly scared look on her face as she waited for his reaction. He wanted to kick and scream and rail against the fates but he knew this would be great for Willow. For once, Xander was determined to do the right thing… for once he was going to put Willow's wishes first.
Willow nervously bit her lip and twisted her hands as the silence dragged on.
"Two weeks huh? Well, we'll have to have a good-bye Willow blow out at the Bronze before you go. You'll write every day, right? I want to know everything you're doing, just like I'm there with you." Xander pulled Willow into a tight hug, "I won't lie, this is going to be hard on me. I can't imagine a day in Sunnydale without my Willow."
"Thanks, Xan." Willow whispered as she returned his tight hug.
A small smile crept across Giles' lips as he stood outside his office door. Sometimes Xander Harris rose to the occasion and gave glimpses into the adult he would become.
"Hey Giles! What's the what? Have you seen Xander or Willow they were supposed to meet me like five minutes ago?" She glanced over his shoulder and saw Xander and Willow hugging. Her eyes widened, "Hey guys!" Were Xander and Willow together now? She could have sworn that Willow said that she was going to try to get back with Oz. Did something happen and now Willow decided to be with Xander? A bright smile spread across Buffy's face. Not that she didn't like Oz, she did but there was just something so right about Willow being with Xander.
Xander slowly released Willow but he kept his hands on her shoulder as she turned to face Buffy. "Hey Buffy, Can we talk?"
Buffy waggled her eyebrows at Xander and Willow, "Got some news to tell me?"
"Um, you could say that."
Buffy's smile began to fade as she noticed the serious looks on both their faces. She glanced over at Giles and he was giving her "The Look". Oh god, she really hated when he gave her the Father/Daughter, Watcher/Slayer look. "It's bad isn't it?" She straightened her spine, she was the Slayer if she could face sending Angel to hell she could face anything.
Buffy reached over and took the letter from Willow. Well how bad could a letter be? She glanced down and the words swam in front of her eyes. Oh god, Willow was leaving. Yeah, okay she'd been spending more time with Faith and all but Willow was her best friend. She couldn't see Faith wanting to have a girl's night in and watch John Cusak movies while they did each other's hair. She couldn't see herself calling Faith at all hours of the day just to talk or discuss Angel, Xander and boys in general. She knew this would be great for Willow and maybe getting away from Sunnydale would help Willow become the woman that Buffy saw in her. But WAAAAAH she wanted her Willow to stay here. Tamping down on the selfish wish she turned to look at Willow. "So, you're going to come back and show us your new witch-fu moves? You have to write everyday, Missy. Plus tell me about all the Scottish hotties at the school." She turned to Giles, "There are male witches right? I mean she's not going to an all-girl school cause that would be bad." She hurriedly turned back to Willow, "Not that going there would be bad just the no boys part. Though there are probably boys in whatever town this is in and I'm sure you'll get to go out and mingle on the weekends. Okay, shutting up now."
Willow grabbed Buffy into a hug and then Xander smiled, "Group hug! Come on, Giles." Xander grabbed both Willow and Buffy into a tight hug.
"Hands, Xander." Buffy narrowed her eyes at Xander who smiled goofily at her.
The ringing of the bell interrupted their group hug as all three reached for their backpacks. "Ug, Mrs. Walters Geometry. Hey Will you think this school would take a Slayer? Cause I'm thinking I probably wouldn't have to take Geometry in a school for witches."
Giles watched as his three charges left the library. There were times such as these when he was very proud of his Slayer and her friends.
~~~~
Hermione glanced around the Great Hall and made her way over to where Ron, Harry, Neville and Ginny sat discussing their Quidditch practice. It had come as a pleasant surprise when Neville had decided to try out last year. He'd grown more confident since the battle in the Department of Mysteries and as a result his magic wasn't as sporadic. He had become a pretty good Beater as well.
Ginny waved to Hermione when she noticed her approach. She scooted a little closer to Harry on the bench to make room for Hermione next to Neville. She inwardly smiled as she noticed the faint blush that crept up the back of Neville's neck as Hermione sat down next to him. She had always hoped that her brother and 'mione would get together but they had realized they were much better friends than anything more.
Before Ginny could ask how Hermione's day was Dumbledore clicked the side of his glass for attention. "Just a few words before you go up to your rooms for the night. As you know we'll be expecting some new students soon."
With that announcement the Slytherin table began to mumble amongst themselves. Their house was slowly dwindling in number as most of the students had transferred to Durmstrang.
Ron felt the only reason Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were still here was to be inside information for their families when it came to what Dumbledore and Potter were up to.
"They will begin arriving within a week's time," Dumbledore continued. "I trust you will give them a hearty Hogwarts welcome when they arrive. They will be sorted into the various houses and a Welcoming ball will be held so they can meet their fellow students. And now bedtime, off you trot!"
Hermione stood and motioned for the Gryffindor Prefects to gather the first years who still hadn't learned their way around Hogwarts. As Head Girl it was her responsibility to make sure that the Prefects were doing their job.
She hung back a bit so she could talk to Harry and Ron, "That's what my meeting with Dumbledore was the other night. He wanted to let those of us that are picking up the new students know that they're going to be coming in four groups instead of trickling in. I think he's trying to gather them inside the walls of Hogwarts sooner rather than later. I think there's something more going on, Dumbledore was acting more mysterious than usual."
"Have you heard anything from Remus, Harry?" Ron turned to Harry.
"Not since last week. He's been pretty good about letting me know what's going on with everything." Kingsley Shacklebolt had helped them develop a code when sending owls or communicating by floo so anyone intercepting wouldn't see the hidden meaning. "Hagrid should be back from his meeting with the Centaurs soon maybe he'll know what's going on."
The Centaurs had finally joined Dumbledore's Army after the incident of last year. They had firmly stayed out of battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore believing it didn't concern them until Death Eaters attacked and nearly killed them all. After the near slaughter they formed an alliance along with some of the giants and goblins but not all. Some of the giants and goblins signed an alliance with Voldemort's Death Eaters.
