Okay, okay... backing off the really big "oh my god, what??" factor. It really wasn't my fault... it was more of a 'what if?' thing.

Here's the next chapter, back to lightness, fun and backing off of dark stuff... although it does continue to the second we left Checkpoint.

- - - - -

Chapter 23
The Quidditch Cup

- - - - -

"What?" Harry finally asked, realizing what Buffy was saying. "So you're saying that no matter what happens to me... I'll die?"

"We don't know," Willow said softly as she moved forward and took the amulet. "The spell you just saw, the incantation, bringing the vessel forth, was to secure your powers so you'll know more about them, for when the time comes. We're not saying you're going to die."

"The last... to wear that," Buffy said, as Willow put the amulet back into the box and handed it over to Harry, "died. But... he was... a vampire. He had a soul. But he didn't have a heart."

"Your humanity will save you," the strange brunette that Buffy had called Cordy said, stepping forward. "Willow and I made sure of that. Oh," she continued hastily, "I'm Cordelia Chase."

"Harry Potter," he echoed, turning his gaze back toward the Slayer. "Why did you tell me what it did?"

"You asked," she replied simply, standing up and stepping aside so that Dumbledore could address him.

"I have told you once and again, Harry, that love has saved you from great evil. And it will save you again. The power that these witches have given to the jewel are that of heart, warmth and spirit. The one who wore this before destroyed a great evil but at the cost of his life. You will not fall to that same fate," Dumbledore continued. "Besides, some might already call you a hero. Those who watched you fight Voldemort not once but four times would say that you have already gone above and beyond the duty of a champion. Your parents would have been proud of you. And so would Sirius."

Harry chuckled and glanced down at the box in his hands, tears blurring his vision. "So you're giving me this... weapon... telling me the fate of its last owner in the hope that I would use it to destroy evil."

"Basically," Buffy said, surprised Harry had caught on so quickly, but feeling a flicker of pride as well. "But the thing is... that amulet... the same amulet who killed my champion, brought him back to life. And that very Champion is on his way here now. So there is no telling of who will wear the stone when the time comes. Spike might want it back."

"Spike?" Harry asked skeptically.

"He's a friend from back home," Buffy explained hastily.

"So he might want my amulet back?" Harry asked, tightening his grip on the box.

"He won't take it," Buffy replied with a sigh, "but that doesn't mean he won't try. He gave it up because he knew it was more important here."

"Wait," the woman called Cordelia said slowly, turning to look at Buffy, "Spike was here?"

Buffy nodded. Behind her, Professor Snape scowled while Hagrid shifted restlessly from one foot to another. "Unless you have anything else, sir, are we done here?"

"One more thing," Professor McGonagall said, stepping into the center of the group. "We've decided to forego any further Quidditch matches save one. The current standings show that both Gryffindor and Slytherin will play for the Quidditch Cup."

"It'll be a good rematch from last year," Dumbledore agreed, his eyes twinkling.

"I'll be supervising practices with the help of my friends and, of course, the other Slayer," Buffy said, tugging Faith into the group. "This is Faith, Harry. She's my other equal Slayer."

"It's a bitch to explain," Faith chuckled.

Harry just shook his head in mild wonder as he stared at the box, only half-listening to the faculty and the Slayer's friends as they had a playful discussion on the outcome of the Quidditch Cup, exactly one week from that day.

- - - - -

Three days later, Draco returned from Quidditch practice to the warming grounds in a bad mood. Only the sight of Dawn, laying in the grass reading, lifted the dark cloud over his head. "I'll see you," he growled to Crabbe and Goyle, who watched him stupidly as he approached Dawn. "Lovely evening."

She glanced up, her hair in her face. "It's definitely not bad." She glanced at Draco and summed up his scowl and posture in one moment's glance. "Not that good for you though."

Draco watched as she sat up and closed 'Advanced Book of Spells, Grade 6' before answering. "I just don't think that with only a week we can bring up a good enough offense to bring down whatever Gryffindor throws at us is all."

"I don't doubt you, Draco," she said softly. "Harry definitely has the advantage. But you're forgetting one simple thing... they're playing without a Keeper. Ron is still in the ward and who knows if they'll let him out to play."

"It might be his last Quidditch match ever," Draco sighed, "of course he's going to play. I don't think centaurs or threstals or anything can hold him back. Not even a flock of rampaging hippogriffs could hold back that Weasley... or any Weasley for that matter."

Dawn smiled. "You know how hard it will be tomorrow."

"Who'll you be cheering for?" Draco asked as he helped her up from the grass before picking up her book bag.

"You know how I feel toward Harry, Draco," Dawn said in a low voice. "But you also know how I feel about you. And I think that's all the answer you need."

"Just don't cheer too loudly whenever we're scored against," Draco growled. "You might throw me off my game."

As they walked back into the school and trooped into the Great Hall for dinner, Dawn's laughter was enough to make his horrid day just that much brighter.

Across the room, Harry and Hermione had their heads bent together as they went over their latest Potions assignment. "I think you've got this part mixed up," Hermione was saying, while Harry watched Draco and Dawn walk by laughing. "I really don't think you've got this essence... Harry? Harry? What is it?"

Her gaze swung around to follow his.

"What does she see in him?" Harry asked, sounding perplexed.

"Probably something we don't," Hermione said in a testy voice, returning to Harry's essay. "Are we going to finish this before your Quidditch practice or not?"

Harry forced his attention back onto the essay.

After about five minutes though, they were forced to give up as Ginny ran into the Great Hall, her mane of red hair flowing behind her. "Harry! Harry!"

There was a smirk playing on Hermione's lips as Ginny ran smack into Harry, who had stood up to catch her, or at the very least slow her down. "What is it, Ginny?"

"Ron!" she said, her face shining as she turned toward the double doors.

They opened to reveal the other Hogwarts Weasley. Hermione stood up, her eyes widening in shock as Ron marched down the aisle amidst gasps and whispers from the other students. He was wearing his Quidditch Captain robes and there was a new light in his eyes.

"So... are we ready to practice team or not?"

"Ron?" Hermione asked, quickly running around the short edge of the table so that she could stand face-to-face with him. "Is it really..."

"I'm not dead," he said impatiently, brushing her hand off his face. "Please, Hermione."

She took a step back, her lip trembling.

"So," Ron said in a loud, redeeming voice as he swung around to see the other Gryffindor Quidditch teammates gathered behind him. "Are we ready to go and practice?"

- - - - -

No one could have asked for a better day for the Quidditch Cup. The sky was a deep cerulean blue, with floaty white clouds puffing in the air. The air was slightly warm and sung of the fresh spring grass and trees, pollen sweeping about in yellow tufts.

In the Gryffindor changing room, it was a completely different atmosphere.

Harry had never seen Ron look so alive or so empowered. It was as though he had been given a second chance at life. He didn't want to tell Ron what Professor Summers had told him, either. Not until he saw Ron hoisting the Quidditch Cup in his arms.

Next to him, Ginny was tying up her shoelaces, her broomstick lying next to her. "Ready?"

"Is that a challenge?" she asked with a grin, straightening and grabbing her broomstick. Her own eyes crackled with the electricity she apparently channeled from her brother.

Ron stepped forward, his chest puffed out in a very Percy-like fashion. But his voice was strangely hoarse. "Well, here we are team. I never thought I'd see the day when I would be out there playing for the Quidditch Cup, even if it's for the last time."

He pushed his hand into the center of their circle.

"I don't know about you," Ginny said with a grin as she slapped her hand on top of her brother's, "but I'm in the mood to kick some ass."

Both Harry and Ron oogled her as Wendy and the new Beaters clapped their hands on top of Ron's, nearly sending him off balance.

Next to Harry, Katie giggled. "You go, girl!"

And she brought her hand up from underneath, breaking the grip as they all let out a loud, obnoxious whoop before seizing their broomsticks and heading out to the doors.

Outside, a familiar voice boomed in the megaphone.

"It's Fred and George," Ginny whispered excitedly, tugging on Ron's sleeve. Ron grinned, his eyes glowing as his team mounted their brooms.

"Here they are!" Fred shouted amidst the applause and cheers from the Gryffindor end and the underwhelming sound of boos from Slytherin. "Weasley! Bell! Spencer! Chapman! Lansing! Potter! And the reincarnated Keeper... Weasley!"

The Gryffindor team made a full lap around the pitch before settling into position as the Slytherin team was introduced. Now both teams faced each other, face to face.

It was not hard to look into the faces of the Slytherin players and read the fear in their eyes. Gryffindor had probably never carried themselves on the field with so much confidence or energy before. It seemed to be contagious because the spectator noise doubled the instant the quaffle, the bludgers and the snitch were released in the air.

"And they're off!" George shouted above the cheers as Ginny swept in to take the quaffle, airlessly tossing it to Katie who handed it off to Wendy while dodging a bludger.

Harry circled slightly above them, listening to the constant cheering as Gryffindor scored three times in the first five minutes.

Once Slytherin had taken control of the quaffle, Ron sat in front of his middle hoop, his eyes narrowed as though daring the Slytherin Chasers forward. They didn't get far. Chapman and Lansing, the two Beaters, had the Chasers on their toes, or on their backsides.

Harry grinned as Ron made his sixth spectacular save, as Gryffindor scored its seventh goal, and as a tiny gold sparkle shimmered right below him.

As he flew down to take the snitch and guarantee Gryffindor the win, a distinct feeling of pride overcame him. They were going to take it. Finally, he and Ron would share this victory.

The instant his fingers closed around the snitch, with Malfoy at a distance behind him, the noise was almost thunderous as Ron collapsed into him, followed by Ginny, Katie and Wendy, and the rest of the team. The Gryffindors were pouring onto the field, screaming.

As the Gryffindor team sank hoarsly to the pitch, Harry turned to Ron with a grin. "You did it!"

"We did it!" Ron said excitedly, glancing around. "We really did it!"

- - - - -

"That was a fantastic match!" Tara gushed as the three women entered their suite, with both Faith and Cordelia in tow. "I have never seen anyone play so awesome."

"Ron was really good today, wasn't he?" Buffy asked, undoing her robes. "I think he made a lot of people proud."

"Like that girl," Faith said with a chuckle, hurling her leather jacket toward a sofa and not caring that it tumbled over the side. "They looked very..."

"Chummy," Willow said in a firm voice. Next to her, Tara grinned.

Cordelia seemed to be in mild shock as she sat down. "So that's Quidditch."

"One in the same," Tara said cheerfully as she took everyone's coats toward the hooks on the far wall. As she walked passed an old trunk, she noticed its door was ajar. "That's odd."

"What is?" Willow asked, about to set up the tea pot.

"Did you leave the door to your weapons chest open?" Tara asked Buffy over Willow's shoulder.

"No," Buffy said, shaking her head, a sudden realization hitting her. "Someone's been here."
She pushed forward and opened the door. "Looks like someone was searching for something."

"But what?" Willow asked, peering over Buffy's shoulder.

A loud clunk sounded from down the corridor.

"Oh God," Cordelia gasped as she stood up, backing up by Faith as Buffy stepped forward, handing a second stake toward Faith.

Buffy and Faith crept quietly down the hallway toward the bedrooms. Another loud noise sounded, closer and more ominous than before. Faith moved behind the handle, her hand closing over the cold metal while Buffy held the stake up in an attack position.

Faith ripped open the door.

"Hey!" a deep masculine voice shouted from within, cowering as two Slayers towered over him with their stakes raised.

There was a minor scuffle as Faith's stake spun out into the common room. A grunt. A low moan and the sound of someone hitting both a wall and a floor before Buffy's voice rang out, "Wait!"

Willow slowly crept into the corridor and her face relaxed when she saw four figures lying on the hardwood floors. One appeared to have come from one of the bedrooms and had flung Faith to the floor, which had tripped Buffy. Both Slayers were getting to their feet, unaware that two vampires were standing behind them.

Buffy stood up when a tingling sensation hit her stomach, the same sensation she'd noticed earlier at the Quidditch Cup. "Angel?"

"Hello, lover," his deep voice said cheerfully to her back.

"Spike?" she asked, her voice more hesitant.

"Hello, Slayer."

"Oh no," she moaned, her eyes widening, seeing their reflection in Willow, who looked just as confused and lost as she.

- - - - -

Angel and Spike are back for the end! And don't worry... not everyone is staying at the Slayer's suite... most visitors are heading back for the Ministry. Except Faith. And two said vampires.

Chapter 24 -- Willow and Tara spend a day alone together, Ginny and Dawn talk career planning.