Everyone's suspicious about everyone else... it's the perfect recipe for disaster!

I can't tell you how much your reviews mean to me. It's so awesome to know that I can actually write something that is both read and enjoyed. I just hope that someday my plot bunnies will harvest themselves and turn into stories as fun as this one has been.

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Chapter 25
The Hogwarts Conspiracy

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"Are you mad?" Harry asked in a low voice. He wanted to ask if she was actually smoking something really, really strong but desisted, seeing her sharp, eager eyes resemble those of her elder twin brothers.

"I'm serious, Harry," Ginny said, finally taking a breath and settling further back into her seat.

"Why?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"There's something about her," Ginny replied defensively. "Have you ever seen her in DA meetings? Or in class with Professor Summers? Professor Snape favors her to the rest of the Ravenclaws too..."

"Okay, so maybe they're soft," Harry replied, rubbing his eyes and stretching, "but that doesn't make her a Slayer."

"Harry, when that first vampire jumped out at us in that DA meeting, who jumped out and cut its head off before any of us had a second to react? And when Professor Summers had that flying demon brought in, who was the first to volunteer to take up the axe? And-"

"Enough," Harry said, putting up his hand. "All right, I believe you."

She looked visibly relaxed.

"The problem is now we have to tell Professor Summers."

Ginny's face fell slightly. "Maybe you should do it."

"Me?" Harry asked. "Oh, right. I'm the one thing she's trying to protect and now I'm doing detective work. The next thing you know, I'll be carving stakes out along side those Slytherin third years."

Ginny winced. "You have a point."

"Who has a point?" Hermione asked from behind them, arriving with Ron and Neville, all three looking exhausted after practicing Charms for the past few hours.

"Ginny thinks she's found the Hogwarts slayer," Harry said in a low voice. Unfortunately, Neville heard and it took Hermione, Ron and Ginny another quarter of an hour to explain to him what Slayers were and who the true Slayer really was. After Ron had fallen silent, Neville's eyes were large and very round.

"Oh," he said in a long tone. "That's why I keep seeing these women in navy robes around."

"They're all Slayers," Harry said, finally standing up and looking longingly at the landing. "Except now that..." his voice fell short as he turned to Neville. "When did you see all of the Slayers?"

"They were milling around a few hours ago," Neville said with a shrug. "They were talking about one named Angel and how she was going to join in the fighting. And they were saying an awful lot about a Hogwarts Slayer."

"Now that we have some idea of who it is," Ginny said in an exasperated tone, her eyes on Harry, "we can go to Professor Summers."

"Or just have Harry do it, since he's tight with her," Ron replied with a grin.

Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. I'll do whatever. I just want to get to bed."

And he walked out, Ginny at his heels. "Harry! Harry!"

"I'm going to bed, Ginny," he said softly. "I'm tired. And tomorrow Dumbledore wants to see me again. I'm really not looking to having another row."

"I don't want to fight," Ginny said, biting her lip. "I just wanted to say good night."

Harry was slightly surprised when she threw herself into his arms and bent up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Good night, Harry."

His hand touched the spot where she kissed him. "Yeah..." he said, watching as she walked away, a new bounce to her step. "'Night..."

- - - - -

When Angel and Spike returned late that night from the Ministry, Buffy was waiting for them.

"Have a good evening with tall, dark and evil?" Spike asked in a bitter voice as he helped Angel step over a large grate.

"What are you on about?" she asked innocently, holding out her wand and muttering "Lumos!"

The tip of the wand lit up, casting an eerie light over all of their faces.

"You and Severus," Angel said lightly as the three made their way up from the dungeons. "I don't know... are you tight?"

"Are you mad?" Buffy asked in an irritated tone as she pressed her ear to the entrance of the dungeons before pushing the door open. "I just had to speak with him about a Potion I needed for something."

"Right," Spike said.

"I don't know why you're so concerned with what's going on in my life anyway," Buffy said as they reached a second door and she gently pried it open. "From what I hear, you and Harmony were getting it on rather well."

Angel let out a triumphant snort as Spike muttered under his breath and looked away.

"And you're not so innocent either," Buffy said, pointing her wand at Angel as they stopped at the entrance hall. "I hear there's a devestated brunette just waiting for her knight in shining armor to come to her side. So if you two start rowing about my personal life, you two should be staked for carrying a torch."

"We can't help it," Angel said, licking his lips slightly as Buffy lead the way back toward her suite, "we want what we can't have."

"Speak for yourself, mate," Spike said desolately from behind him.

"Shut it," Angel said firmly, turning to Spike. Buffy paused as she heard the sounds of grunts and the sound of fist hitting bone.

"Will you two cut it out?" she hissed, spinning around. "I'd rather not do any magic... I'm not sure if it'll dust you both or not."

"You'd be heartbroken," said Spike, lowering his fists.

"Right," Buffy rolled her eyes before continuing up the steps.

"Where are we going?" Angel asked a few minutes later as they continued to climb staircases. Above them, the stairs seemed to be moving.

"To my suite," Buffy replied with a sigh, waiting for their next staircase up to move into position. "I keep forgetting they like to move around on nights with full moons."

"You forget?" Spike asked skeptically. "How can you forget, especially since you've only been here six months?"

Buffy sent him a scathing look before aiming her wand at him. "Just you tempt me," she muttered. "Just you tempt me."

"When do we get a wand?" Angel asked casually once they'd begun to climb again.

"Around the same time Xander gets appointed Minister of Magic," Buffy replied as they finally reached the corridor and followed it at length to her door.

"We saw Xander this afternoon, too," Angel said cheerfully as Buffy opened the suite door and lead them both inside. "He seems to be doing well, a little lonely maybe."

"We're all a little lonely, sometimes," Buffy said in a small voice as she retreated to a far corner of the room. The fire suddenly crackled to life as Buffy tucked her wand back inside her robes. "Willow and Tara are at the Ministry tonight," she continued, taking two small tubs from a corner table and handing one to each vampire. "For you."

"Fresh blood!" Spike said after opening his.

"The key to a man's heart," Angel agreed as he set the top aside. "You certainly know my vice, Buffy."

"I believe she gave me first draw," Spike said, each syllable pronounced carefully.

"Whatever," Angel retorted before they both turned away to drink.

"Vampires," Buffy scoffed behind them.

After they had finished, they retreated to the living area and sat on the chairs, looking rather uncomfortable. "Giles sends a message," Angel finally said as Buffy returned from her bedroom, wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe.

"More messages," Buffy yawned as she collapsed on the couch opposite them. "What does my Watcher have to say this time?"

"He says that all dark forces might be heading toward that gutted village," Spike replied, finding a bit of parchment in his pocket and handing it over.

Buffy read it over. "Are you serious?"

"There are more than just Prophecies in the Department of Mysteries."

"This had better not be another Initiative," Buffy said firmly, tossing the parchment on the table angrily.

Across from her, Spike gave an involuntary shudder.

"So, all this time, Xander has been working in a secret lab studying dark creatures and figuring out how they all click together," Buffy surmised, "while Giles and Wesley have been following Voldemort's tracks. And Andrew is still annoying the hell out of everyone he meets."

"Typical," Buffy said, playing with the hem of her robe. "How is Xander doing?"

"He's a bit down," Spike admitted. "I think seeing me again reminded him of Anya and the last battle."

Buffy let out a long breath. "I wish she were here right now," she said quietly. "I could use her sarcasm and humor now... and she could put more clarity into anything than anyone I know. I miss her."

"Me too," Spike said as he reached inside his coat and pulled out a bottle. "What?"

Angel and Buffy both stood up and exchanged an amused glance while Spike uncorked his bottle. He watched as Buffy went down the hall toward her bedroom, while Angel took the couch she'd vacated and removed his jacket.

"What?"

"I don't think it's wise for you to bring up Anya," Angel said politely as he laid down.

Spike grunted as he took a swig from his bottle. "Better her than you know how," he said, growling.

"Oh, is she going to flip when she finds out he's involved," Angel agreed as he rolled over. "You might want to sleep."

"We're creatures of night," Spike reminded him, but capped his bottle nonetheless.

"Yeah, but tomorrow, we're puppeteers of the Slayer," Angel reminded him, his voice muffled since his back was turned.

Spike rolled his eyes as he stretched out over his chair. "That's about all we are, too. Just her tools, her instruments."

Angel was rigid for a moment. "You still love her, don't you?"

"Look who's talking," Spike retorted, pulling his coat over him.

- - - - -

It was the first week of April and classes were back in full session. After one particularly harsh day at Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry decided to go for broke and pulled Professor Summers aside after a double session.

"Professor," he said kindly, "I have a question."

"Sure," she said, lifting up an armload of stakes. "We're still having a DA meeting tonight, right?"

"Yeah," he said, following her back inside to her office from the courtyard where they had been learning how to craft a stake. "I wanted to ask you about the Hogwarts Slayer."

"Oh?" she asked, setting the stakes in a large trunk, which was full of other weapons. She bent down to fix the mess.

"I was thinking it may be Dawn Harris."

She stood up quickly, the top of her head scraping the edge of her trunk. After moaning under her breath, she turned to him, rubbing her head. "Dawn Harris?"

"Have you seen the way she performs in your class?" he asked in disbelief. "I don't know if it can be anyone but her."

"Right," she said, finally drawing her hand from her head. "Right..." As she turned around, a bit of panic hit her. "I'll have my people investigate that."

"What are we doing tonight in DA?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"I was figuring we'd patrol the school," Buffy said cheerfully. "I have two friends I'm dying for you all to meet."

"More friends?" he echoed. "Are you sure it's safe to bring all of these Muggles into the fold?"

"They're not muggles," Buffy replied as she sat down behind her desk, her fingers probing her bruised skull. "They're vampires."

"Oh," he said, his eyes widening.

And that was exactly what he explained to his friends at dinner that night.

"Vampires?" Hermione gasped, nearly overturning her goblet of pumpkin juice. "Is she mad?"

"Quite," Harry said dryly as he tucked into his buttered peas. "Hasn't stopped her before, has it?"

Ron was shaking her head in awe. "How does she do it?"

"How does she do what?" Harry replied, accepting a bowl of carrots from Hermione.

"She's a vampire Slayer," Ron said, gesturing with his fork. "And yet she befriends them."

"Along with other creatures of darkness," said Ginny, joining the conversation. "She had that werewolf in one time."

"That's right!" Ron exclaimed, adding more chicken to his plate. "Maybe she'll have us stake her vampires."

"Her vampires?" Hermione asked, her voice testy as she propped her Arithmancy text against the dish full of grapes and bananas. "Highly unlikely."

"Why is that?" Harry asked thickly, his mouth full of food.

"You can't just bring a vampire back to life," Ginny pointed out.

Hermione grinned at Ginny before turning back to Harry and Ron. "That and if they're friends, there's only so much they'll do for her."

Across the Great Hall, Dawn was staring at her own Arithmancy essay and wondering the exact same thing. Rumors were abound that two vampires would be making a special appearance that night at the DA meeting. Dawn, of course, knew that Spike and Angel were most likely visiting and was openly curious about seeing them again. But then she had to squash that, because if they recognized her, her cover would be blown.

She let out a small sigh, slammed her book shut, and left the Great Hall to regroup. As she stepped out into the warm courtyard, she saw Draco behind her. "You didn't have to follow me."

"I wanted to," he said, reaching for her hand. "Are you all right?"

"I've been better," she admitted, taking a seat on a bench. "I'm just worried about the DA tonight."

"You're still going?" he asked, an edge to his voice. Dawn nodded. "I just assumed you'd want to stay out of it now..."

"No," Dawn said earnestly. "It's just something I have to do, you know? I feel a responsibility to protect against all evil. It's just my nature." She suddenly noticed a shadow and glanced over her shoulder to see Neville Longbottom hurrying away. "I wonder what his deal is..."

"No idea," Draco said, sitting next to her. "About tonight... just relax, okay? Be that girl I know my girl can be."

She smiled at him, but her thoughts were still miles away.

Inside, Neville was huffing when he sat down on the other side of Harry. "Harry! Harry!"

"What is it, Neville?" Harry asked curiously.

"I just... overheard... conversation... Draco and Dawn... she says... responsible for lives... fighting... enjoys it..."

"I knew it," Hermione said, snapping her own text shut, a new fire in her eyes. "I think something's going on that Professor Summers and Dawn aren't telling us."

"Dawn is the Hogwarts Slayer," Ginny realized with a tiny grin.

"And tonight," Hermione said triumphantly as she handed Neville the jug of iced pumpkin juice, "we will prove it to her. Once and for all."

- - - - -

"So we're not supposed to recognize Dawn," Spike said slowly as Buffy lead the two vampires into the Room of Requirement, where the meeting would start in just a quarter hour.

"Right," Buffy said.

"And we're supposed to act like she's not a Slayer," Angel reminded him.

"Yes," she said, not really paying attention to what they were saying.

"And afterwards, you dump us both into a fire to send back to the Ministry," Spike said in a wry tone.

"Yes... no, no, of course not," Buffy said hurriedly, a pink tint coloring her cheeks as she walked up to a painting and reached for a pear.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked curiously.

"Tickling the pear," she answered. After a moment, the pear stopped giggling and turned into a solid door handle, allowing Buffy to open the door and the three entered.

"Where are we?" Angel asked in wonder, glancing at the bookshelves crammed with books on defense and anti-jinxing. A large chest stood open, bearing weapons.

"Oh, bullocks," Spike muttered as he circled the room. "She's going to have the students chop off our heads."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed hastily, "because I don't need the two of you."

Silence.

Voices approached from outside the door and soon the room was full of bustling, chattering students. Both Angel and Spike picked out Dawn immediately, with a small group of giggling, critical girls.

Introductions were made, and the students seemed openly curious why two vampires were standing there alive. A red-haired boy next to Dawn kept touching his neck, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Buffy gave them each a task and began sending them out in groups of twos or threes.

"What happened to that red-haired one?" Angel finally asked Buffy after the last group had disappeared.

"He was attacked by a vampire," Buffy replied, picking up a large stake and handing it behind her, not knowing who grabbed it.

"Sucks to be him," Spike retorted as the three left the room.

"You two circle around... stay out of sight... if something moves that's living undead, stake it."

"You better watch your back, Spike," Angel said lightly as the two walked off, "I don't want to stake you by mistake."

Buffy shook her head in disbelief and made her way downstairs.

Down seven stories, a group of five tightly compacted Gryffindors moved behind the statue of the one-eyed witch. "Here," Ginny said, pointing to another staircase.

"Wait a minute," Harry said, realizing something as everyone stopped to stare at the statue.

"Doesn't this one lead to the outside world?" Hermione asked nervously.

"It does," Harry replied, his eyes widening in horror. "How have Professor Summers' vampires been getting around? If its through here, what's to stop other vampires from..."

A low growl sounded from behind them.

"Ron?" Hermione squeaked.

"Don't you feel like someone's not telling us something?" Ginny asked Harry quietly.

It wasn't Ron.

A figure emerged from the darkness, a body attached to its arm.

The four watched in horror as the vampire dumped a feminine figure at their feet, a girl in long, navy robes.

And as it bore down on them, Ginny screamed.

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Chapter 26 -- how real it all really is.