As one of my reviewers pointed out, Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in England, but however, there are Americans in England at that point in time, and we all know how neurotic Buffy was at one point about having a Thanksgiving. I think you'll find she's a little homesick and a bit of an American tradition is exactly what she needs now. This chapter has been written for about a week now, so I'll just give it and you can judge for yourselves. I wasn't insinuating they practice Thanksgiving, I'm just saying that with Buffy in England, it's a tradition she's struggling to uphold... with a bit of paranoia and hysterics thrown in for good measure.
Next chapter to be posted on Friday sometime... then look for 1-2 chapters a week from here on out.
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Chapter 14
Lion Vs. Eagle
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As the second week of November approached, announcements went up all over school announcing the return of Quidditch. For both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams though, it was a last-minute notice since their game was only six days away.
Harry was feeling a bit of panic but he knew it was far from what Ron, captain of their Quidditch team, was feeling. At their last team practice on the final Friday before the game the following day, Ron spent half the time time lecturing the new recruits about Ravenclaw's tactics, which were only known because Ginny Weasley and her friends had turned up at practices. Not that Ron didn't have a following of his own.
At Hermione's incessant, yet polite prodding, the Ravenclaws had finally confessed that the reason why Ron was so popular was that although he had helped Gryffindor defeat the Eagles the last year, he was still known as one of the best Keepers now. Even though the Slytherins loved every excuse to trip him up over the past week as he had gone on his way, his usual hoardes of giggling females followed him everywhere.
For that, Harry was silently thankful. This is exactly what Ron needed. Confidence. Katie Bell had given him some by handing him the reigns of their newly-reformed Quidditch team. And because of his new fan club, Ron's practices were running even more smoothly. Ginny, Katie and the third Gryffindor chaser, a third-year by the name of Wendy, all practiced flawlessly together. It was Ginny's tactics though that made the chasers that much more fun to watch.
But Harry was also worried about the Ravenclaw team. Now that Roger Davies had moved on, Cho Chang was now in charge of Ravenclaw's team and her first assignment in that role was to replace Roger. She had chosen Dawn.
Ginny had returned late on Wednesday night after Ravenclaw's second practice to report that Dawn was actually somewhat good. She also said she had a plan for attack, because she was able to see some of Dawn's weaknesses. Harry was pleased to see that Ginny had taken the initiative... but it was still scary nonetheless, since she carried some of Oliver Wood's, Ron's predecessor, intensity.
As Ron called the end of practice, Harry quickly dismounted smoothly, the snitch glittering in his hand. Ron edged closer to him and glanced at the empty stands. "I'm glad we were able to practice those new moves tonight without those Ravenclaw spies around."
Harry caught Ginny's eye as she, Wendy and Katie all headed back towards the dressing room. She was grinning at him, and he found himself grinning back. "No kidding."
Ron looked a lot calmer than he did at the same point in time last year when he was about to go and play his first game. "Are you sure you're ready to ignore 'Weasley Is Our King' if they choose to sing it again?"
"I don't think Malfoy would want to provoke the Ravenclaw end," Ginny said quietly behind them as she laced up her shoes.
"That git would do anything to upend us," Harry said bitterly as he set his broom down and grabbed his usual robes.
Ginny looked hesitant to explain, but when she found everyone, including the two new Beaters, staring at her, she looked down and grabbed her broomstick. "It's a bad distraction... not just to you, but to Cho too."
"If we don't score and Ravenclaw wins..."
"Slytherin is the next to play Ravenclaw," Ginny replied blithely as she gathered the rest of her things. "Besides, I think Malfoy wants to be easy on his new girlfriend."
Clunk.
Ron had dropped his broom as he turned curiously toward Ginny. "Malfoy has a girlfriend?" he asked, his eyes lighting up in a sharp resemblance to his older twin brothers.
The tips of Ginny's ears were bright red as she turned out the dressing room. Ron and Harry grabbed their things and followed quickly, as Ginny tried hastily to get away. "What aren't you telling us, sister dear?" Ron finally asked in a loud voice.
Ginny stopped and stared at him, squinting in the darkening twilight. "Well, he's going out with that Ravenclaw Keeper, if that's what you wanted to know."
Ron turned toward Harry, a look of completely overwhelming disgust on his face. "Dawn's going out with Draco? Dawn's going out with Draco?"
"That's right," a voice said coolly behind them.
It was Colum, the fifth-year Beater, who stood behind them. His eyes were narrowed to see the two shadows moving about in darkness before he whipped out his wand and muttered, "Lumos."
"Malfoy's been boasting about her for weeks now, saying how she was going out with him after Halloween."
"Fancy that," Ron mumbled in wonder to Harry as the two climbed the stairs back toward the common room. "I wonder if Hermione knows."
In fact, Hermione did know, as Dawn had come to her, distressed about all of the teasing she was getting in Arithmancy. Dawn had tracked her down in the courtyard and explained the situation to Hermione, saying she needed someone of intelligence to help her out, and since Dawn couldn't talk to her sister, Hermione was it. But when she went on and on about some guy who liked her, Hermione asked who it was. When Dawn had told her, Hermione had nearly freaked out, but had kept her head and told Dawn to relax.
"I told her not to worry about what other people thought," she said, casting a distrusting look at both Harry and Ron. "So leave her alone. This is between her and Malfoy."
- - - - -
"You bought a mail-order turkey?"
Buffy glanced up from the large stack of first-year assignments she'd been grading to see Willow standing by the window, a large peck of owls setting what looked like a coffin down on the table. In Willow's arms was a large, frozen bird wrapped in white plastic.
"What?" Buffy asked, setting down the quill and rising to assist her friend. "I couldn't exactly ask Giles to get me a fresh one and pluck it, you know."
"You do know that we're in England and they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, right?" Willow asked softly as they carefully untied the rest of the bundle and watched as the owls disappeared into the night. Buffy cheerfully ignored the question while prying open the large crate and gasping as she pulled out book after book and box after box.
"I suppose we'll have to do with canned peas. And canned cranberries. Ewwww," Buffy moaned as she set down an armload of cans. "I knew he'd come through for me."
"You had Angel send you a frozen turkey and all of the fixin's?" Willow asked in horror.
"Actually, I asked Wes," Buffy admitted as she took the turkey from Willow. "Where are we going to put this? Thanksgiving isn't for another week yet."
"I don't know," Willow said, thinking hard for a moment. "Maybe you could stick it in the dungeons."
"Good idea," Buffy agreed as she set the bird aside. Behind them, Tara entered the room, wrapping herself in a bathrobe.
"What's all the commotion?" she asked, rubbing her head with the towel wrapped around it. "Oh! We have... canned peas."
"He couldn't even spare me some real pumpkin filling?" Buffy asked in a voice full of mock-hurt as she turned over two cans of pumpkin pie filling.
"How did Wes procure all of this anyway?" Willow asked softly.
"Angel," Buffy replied happily when she saw two large plastic bags full of dried bread rinds. "At least the dressing will taste like Mom's."
"So, Buffy," Tara said carefully, setting her towel aside and picking up one of the cookbooks that Buffy had stacked on the end table, "we're doing Thanksgiving this year?"
"That's right!" Buffy replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She could feel both Willow and Tara eyeing her before she set the bag of frozen corn aside and sighed. "This is my first Thanksgiving without my Mom and without most of my friends and family. I just thought that since we're all so far apart, we could enjoy one last bond of friendship... i-in case anything bad happens. What comes next could kill us all. I just want to make sure that we had one point in time that we could look back on this and say, 'hey, I was there. I was in England and I was happy. Because for the first time in several months, I got a good home-cooked meal resting on a silly tradition involving birds and for a while, I felt safe.' That's all."
Willow smiled as she leaned back inside the box and picked up a large frying pan. "We should find somewhere to put all of this."
"We will," Tara said softly, starting to collect the cans and boxes of food. "Besides, I think we'll have enough here to feed a small army."
"That's the whole idea," Buffy said, her voice muffled behind a large stack of cookbooks.
- - - - -
Saturday morning approached quickly, bathing the grounds in vibrant light. As the students awoke, both Quidditch teams were already dressed and were down in the Great Hall, trying to muster down a good breakfast. It was Ginny's idea that they all sit huddled together, trying to channel their positive energy. Harry was starting to doubt the idea when the entire Ravenclaw team walked in single-file, broomsticks in hand, all with a look of eager anticipation on their faces did he lean closer.
Soon, the Great Hall was quite full, and even the Professors milled about the tables. He saw Professor Summers, with her cat in her arms, walking up and down the Ravenclaw table, looking immensely proud. He decided he needed to know who she was going to support.
"Professor Summers?"
She turned and grinned. "Harry Potter."
"Can I ask which team you'll be supporting?" he asked eagerly as the rest of his team gathered excitedly around them.
"I'm afraid I'm going to remain neutral on this front," Buffy said with a soft smile as the cat mewed softly in her arms.
"I'm going to be cheering most obnoxiously f-for Gryffindor!" another feminine voice said behind them as Tara stepped over, wearing a red and gold scarf and matching rosette. She was grinning, and a tiny lion had been painting onto her face.
"You are?" Professor Summers asked as the team moved out of the Great Hall.
"It's my old House," Tara said with a laugh as she straightened her scarf. "Besides, I know you'll be rooting for Dawn's team."
"Professor Summers, Miss McClay," an arched voice said behind them.
"Good Morning, Severus," Buffy said, turning to him with a grin. "I quite imagine you'll be cheering on Ravenclaw as well?"
"Obviously," he said, his eyes narrowed to the tiny lion on Tara's face. "Thank you, by the way, for letting us use your spare closet to store the turkeys and frozen goods in. It was most kind of you."
"Anytime," he said in his cold voice, lifting his arm as a means of gesturing them out.
Dawn stood in the changing room, a cold sweat breaking out over most of her body. Her eyes were wide with terror as she saw her panic-stricken expression on the mirror inside the locker. "Oh, God," she moaned, closing the locker and leaning against it, closing her eyes. Outside, racious cheers from hundreds of students making their way into the stands was only pushing her one step closer to illness.
"You'll be fine," Cho said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Outside the locker room on the Gryffindor end, Katie and Ron had just lead the team out and were waiting for the announcer to announce them. Since Lee Jordan, who had been Fred and George Weasley's best friend had graduated and left Hogwarts, a new announcer had been selected. Harry was pleased to see both Ernie Macmillian and Hannah Abbott crowded around the bullhorn. Apparently, for every game, each House had the opportunity to use someone to announce the game.
"And here they are!" Hannah was shouting over the roars of the crowds. "The Gryffindor Lions! We have... Weasley! Bell! Spencer! Chapman! Lansing! Potter! And the Keeper... Weasley!"
A louder cheer broke out as Ron's name was read off. He grinned into the sunlight and Harry could feel his spirits soar. He didn't think anything could stop Ron now.
"And on the Ravenclaw end, introducing the Eagles..."
Both teams mounted and flew into the air as Madam Hooch came from underneath, a large box in front of her and her broomstick in hand. "Captains, shake hands!" she yelled up at them.
Ron flew forward slightly and extended his hand to Cho who took it softly, and, Ron suspected, with a wink.
"And they're off!"
The quaffle had been bounced into the air, the bludgers and snitch had been set free. As the other players exploded into action, Harry pulled himself above the game, keeping his eyes on the field for any sign of the flicker of gold.
Cho was directly below him, slightly below the field of play. He knew that the shadows playing across the stands would make it easier for her to see the snitch, but only if she didn't see it in sunlight.
The only way he knew what was happening to the game was from Hannah and Ernie's play-by-play. "And Spencer passed to Weasley... who's hit by a bludger... quaffle goes to Ravenclaw!" Hannah was shouting.
Suddenly, there was an eruption of cheers from Gryffindor. Over them, Harry could barely hear Ernie cry out, "Weasley scores! Ten to nil, Gryffindor!"
Harry decided to mark his territory and flew to just above the Ravenclaw end, where he saw robes of red and gold flashing as Weasley, Bell and Spencer tossed the quaffle back and forth, almost as though playing a daring game. Soon, Gryffindor had scored twice again, before Colum Lansing accidently whacked a bludger at Dawn and hit her after the second goal was scored. One of the Ravenclaw beaters took the quaffle. Ron was waiting for her.
Gryffindor's crowd suddenly erupted into cheers. Ron had saved the penalty shot!
"How about that?" Harry asked, just as Hannah Abbott, far below, voiced that very same question.
As the game drew on though, the defenses on both teams seemed to harden until they were both sixty all. The game had already lasted three quarters of an hour and Harry knew he needed to find the snitch soon. He could tell by Ron's reflexes that he was tiring.
Harry swooped down into the shadows, squinting. Suddenly, he saw it, floating almost directly below Ron near the ground. Leaning forward slightly, his firebolt zoomed forward. To his left, he saw Cho, who had been undoubtedly watching him and waiting for him to move. Keeping his eye on the snitch, he took a wide right as the crowd gave a loud "oooh!" as Ernie excitedly announced that the snitch had been sighted.
But Harry knew that Cho wasn't stupid, but he knew that her broom didn't have nearly as fast a reflex. As he saw the snitch dive to right above the ground, he tilted into a sharp dive and spied Cho, now nearly behind him, doing the same thing. But just as he was about to hit the ground, he pulled it and sharply to the left, the snitch now within hands reach. Using the skill he knew ran inside his blood, he slowly raised up to a crouched position on the broom. As he leaned forward to grab the snitch, something hard pummeled into his back and he fell forward, his fingers barely grasping the struggling ball as he fell hard.
As he lay there breathing, the rest of his team crowded around him. "Harry? Are you okay?" It was Ginny, her eyes very wide.
Behind them, the thunderous cheers from the Gryffindors erupted the stadium as Ravenclaw dismounted and hurried forward. "Harry, are you all right?" Cho asked, stepping next to Ginny.
"Sorry," the Ravenclaw Beater apologized, stepping up behind Cho. "I didn't realize you nearly had the snitch."
"It's okay," said Harry, a faint flicker causing him to smile.
And then all went dark.
- - - - -
"But he's okay," Tara said softly to Buffy as they walked back toward Buffy's suite. "That was some game."
"I've never seen anything like it," Buffy replied. "I thought it was going to be like.. hockey... only in midair with maybe... a tennis ball?"
"And Gryffindor won!" Tara grinned. "Charlie Weasley was just a first year when I was nearly done... and you should have seen the skills that that boy had. I can't believe it's his brother and sister on that team!"
They turned the corner toward the suite when a polite voice started from behind them. "Excuse me, Professor?"
Buffy turned to see one of the prefects donned in blue heading toward her. "There were some Ministry representatives looking for you. I told them where they could find your room."
"Thanks," Tara said, as they both turned. Buffy quickly set down Willow so she could run ahead as Buffy and Tara broke into a full jog before coming up to their suite, and five dark shadows.
"H-Hello?" Buffy asked nervously stepping forward.
In the darkness, Willow mewed happily.
A figure stepped into the light. It was Xander, dressed head to toe in a long, crisp looking black suit, his shoes neatly polished, both dark eyes shining when he saw her reaction. "Hello, Buffy."
Behind him came Andrew, who was holding Willow. "This is such a pretty cat... is she yours?" he asked, turning to Tara, not fully understanding who she was.
Buffy didn't need to ask any more questions. "Why are you here?" she asked, suddenly feeling ever so glad to see him.
"We have a meeting with the Order faculty this afternoon," Xander replied. "I asked if I could come and see the Slayer. And they basically agreed, ever since... you-know-who... turned the place into geek-a-wanna-be central."
"Tara, do you think you could...?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah," said Tara with a smile, finally stepping forward into Xander's arms as he hugged her. "I-It's good to see you, Xa-Xander," she said with her soft smile, collecting Willow and disappearing into the suite.
On the way to the Staff Room, Buffy recounted that morning's Quidditch match and as they turned the last corner, their conversation turned to turkey and stuffing. The rest of the staff was waiting by the door. Xander stepped forward and introduced them. Buffy grinned when he introduced himself as 'Alexander Harris'. As Buffy stepped inside, she saw the look on Snape's face. It was a quite different change from the expressions she'd been seeing on him. It was a dark scowl, almost one of deep disappointment.
Xander launched into the meeting straightaway, which was basically a plan to make sure the older students were safe for the upcoming Christmas holiday. After Xander had finished, the Headmaster spent another half hour lecturing them about the safety concerns before they were all let back out.
"So, next Thursday, around eight," Buffy said as she and Xander disappeared down the hallway. "Double-oh-Alexander," she grinned as she took his hand before hugging him tight. "You have no idea how happy I am to see your face right now."
A throat cleared behind them as the rest of the Ministry officials past them, but Buffy had the fleeting glimpse of a long shadow falling further away.
She gave a tiny sigh.
"Who?" Xander asked, immediately alert.
"Severus," Buffy replied, shaking her head. "I don't want him to get the wrong idea... we've just recently become allies."
"I understand," Xander said as they walked together again.
"I thought you might," Buffy replied with a wry grin. "Before you leave, you want to stop back by my room? I don't think Willow would forgive you if you didn't say goodbye. It's been almost four months since we last saw our Xander."
"I don't see why not," Xander replied as the climbed the stairs. "Besides, I think we're dining with the staff tonight anyway!"
"Excellent," Buffy said as their voices lost some of their echo. "I can't wait to tell you about my perfect Thanksgiving dinner!"
"I can hardly wait... and I'm imagining that Giles can't either..."
- - - - -
To be continued...
Chapter 15 -- T'was the week before Christmas, and something's amiss,
That Yule Ball approaches, and it cannot be missed...
And a general heads up for Chapters following Christmas... things are starting to get dark now. Just wait until the New Year comes and certain choices have to be made. One last spoiler... Dawn finally befriends Harry and Draco gets a beautiful gift.