This is my last full chapter. *sniff* I love this story.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
That's to my reviewers... you keep me charging along.
Two quick questions.
Why was Ginny in Harry's dream?
She was in his dreams to start with. I think this signifies to him that she's not out of danger yet. And besides, she WAS unconscious during most of the final battle and only awoke once Harry was knocked out. It may show a deeper connection. Dun dun dun...
Who did you kill off?
A lot of Slayers. You heard the last chapter. As for Willow... you'll have to read this chapter. And then you'll understand why I "killed" her.
I'll answer any final questions you may have about this story in its epilogue.
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Chapter 34
Transitions
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There was still no change in Willow's condition that night.
Her parents had been notified, making everything seem even more real to Buffy, who watched over her best friend hour after hour.
Once Xander had recovered from his initial shock, he had joined Buffy in their nighttime vigil over the bedside of their dearest friend.
But the change was most important in Tara, who seemed to need to stay busy or else she wouldn't leave Willow's side.
Luckily, the news hadn't been all bad.
Harry Potter had awoken that evening, looking around and smiling. After Madam Pomfrey had poked and prodded at him, she had turned and beckoned his friends inside.
It had been a beautiful sight.
Ginny had practically launched herself into Harry's arms. He held her for a moment, looking as though something had occurred to him that hadn't before. After Ginny had stepped back, Hermione took her place. Ron and Harry had shaken hands, and then the rest of the Gryffindors pounced.
Dawn had also been pronounced in good health and was able to leave just a few hours ago. Before she left, she walked over to her sister, tears in her eyes. "You did it."
"We all did it," Buffy said, taking Dawn into a huge hug.
Dawn held on for a moment before stepping aside. She turned toward Willow, and pulled away quickly, leaving with the flock of Ravenclaws who had come to take her back to their common room.
Buffy watched her go solemnly before turning back to Willow's bed. "I'm going to see Angel."
If there was anything more heartbreaking than watching her best friend fight for her life, it was knowing that Angel had been hurt saving the life of a man he barely knew.
She walked down to the dungeons, feeling cold, as though she would never feel warmth again.
But when the door to the dungeon that Spike and Angel had been living opened, her eyes widened slightly.
Angel was sitting up on his cot next to a healer, who was mixing a smoking goblet before handing it over to him.
"Angel?"
"Buffy!"
She let out a small strangled cry before running toward him, pausing just inches out of reach. "You're alive."
"I feel so strange," he replied, touching his body, his eyes slightly glazed over.
She finally touched him, hugging him. Even though his body radiated no heat, she could feel the warmth of his touch as his arms encircled her.
"Thank God you're alive," she said, pulling back and beaming up at him. "I couldn't take it if one more person I loved..." She bit her lip and stepped back.
"You've made your choice?" he asked softly behind her.
"Give me time," she replied just as quietly, crossing her arms and turning back to him. "I just need some space and all with Willow..." She bit her lip, willing herself not to cry anymore. "I'm scared, Angel... we lost so many good Slayers, good girls... and I barely knew their names..."
"It isn't your fault," Angel said gently, putting a hand on her arm. "They did what they had to do. They had their fate, their job."
"I as good as killed them, Angel, and you know that," Buffy said, turning in his arms. "It doesn't make it any easier. I'm flying home dozens of bodies to go back to their families in wooden boxes. You saw mine, Angel... how did it make you feel?"
"Empty," he said honestly. "I felt like I'd lost my... entirety."
"That's how I felt when I killed... this is really morbid."
"You're telling me."
"I should get back upstairs."
"Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
Angel was sitting down on his cot again. "Spike and I are going to leave on a cargo plane heading out in two days. If you want me to stick around for any reason, to bring people back, to... finish things, let me know, okay?"
"I'm talking to the Slayers tomorrow night," Buffy replied. "I'd like you to be there."
"Certainly."
"And then you go can leave and go back to L.A... once I'm done here, I'll be going back there."
"No more England for you?"
"No more England. I'm surrendering the magic wand. I'm giving up the mojo..." She paused a moment. "I want to go home."
"You and me both," Angel said as Buffy walked back over and sat next to him on the cot, setting her head against his shoulder. "You and me both."
- - - - -
Harry was getting stir crazy. After Dumbledore had announced that all students were to report to the Great Hall for an announcement, Harry knew that he was going to be bored out of his mind.
The medical wing was eerily silent and oddly empty. The Slayer and all of her friends had gone to the Great Hall. The only one left behind was Willow, and she wasn't moving.
He leaned against his pillow. The events from the past few days came rushing back to him in the blink of an eye. The final battle. The Slayers giving their lives so that the school would stand. His own amulet being possessed by Voldemort...
It really had been overwhelming. He had been trapped in his own body, his scar searing, fighting with as much love as he could muster. But Voldemort had been powerful, angry... his army was turning away from him.
There would only be one more battle between the two of them, Harry realized. Because the next time they met, one of them would be delivered underground to a wooden box.
"Hard to imagine, isn't it?"
Harry nearly jumped when he saw a figure standing at the foot of his bed, arms crossed. "I... Willow?"
She beamed at him before moving to his side. "I was wondering if I'd ever get the chance to see you again."
Harry turned back toward the bed that Willow had occupied just a few short moments before. He did a double take when he realized that Willow was still on the bed. And yet she was standing before him. He turned to her in confusion. "Are you a ghost?"
"No," Willow said, pausing a moment. "More like... a memory."
Harry's blood chilled at these words. "What kind of memory?"
"Not the kind that comes out of diaries, no," Willow chuckled as she reached out for him with one glowing hand. "I'm more of an apparition. A shadow of myself."
"Are you dead?" Harry asked curiously.
"Not yet," Willow replied, pulling her hand back slightly. "The vampires will take me back to Los Angeles and they'll find I've regained consciousness. But the truth is, you must not tell anyone I have lived. For I too could have defeated your Dark Lord. If he knows that I am dead, he will not come for me or the rest of the Slayers. We have already lost too many. The Slayer and her friends will believe me to be comatose. Only you will know the truth. And it must be kept to yourself."
"You're doing this to save them?" Harry asked. "Why?"
"Because sometimes friendship is more than just hugs and time well spent..." Willow continued, sitting down next to him. "It's about sacrificing things that need to be. I know in my heart that if Voldemort knew another could kill him, he would do anything in his power to sacrifice the balance between magicks and muggles. This cannot be."
"How did you survive?"
Willow grinned and reached for him, putting her hand on his face. He felt his eyes close and suddenly the world was glowing pearly white.
In the vision, he saw figures in white gowns surrounding him until he saw Willow in the center, glowing, her long hair suddenly snowy white. "The guardians... they will watch over you now. And we will meet again, someday..." The voices seemed to fade as he opened his eyes.
"Willow?" he asked, looking around.
But the air was silent around him.
Yet it was comforting to know that Willow had shown him what she truly was. She had the power of a goddess. Her powers could transform potentials into Slayers and break the Dark Lord at the flicker of her hand.
But she had given that power to him. The power that he could destroy the Dark Lord with the powers that Voldemort had given him when he was only a year old.
It was a more powerful gift than any he could ever have asked for.
- - - - -
"That was pleasant," Buffy said an hour later as she and Xander were leaving the Great Hall. The Slayers were gathered in the dungeons to deliver Willow to Spike and Angel, who were leaving in just a short while.
"Completely," Xander replied. "You should have heard them cheering when you announced that all Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were cancelled this last week."
Buffy grinned as they took the steps. "It seems so surreal though... it's all ending."
"It feels strange," Xander agreed as the reached the corridor and Buffy lit the end of her wand tip. "In just a few days, we'll be gone again."
"I know you better than that, Xan..."
"All right... in a few days you'll be gone. I'm staying here until my contract with the Ministry is up in about a month."
Buffy beamed in the darkness as they reached Professor Snape's classroom and slipped inside.
The few Slayers that remained, with Cho Chang, gathered around the tables, waiting.
Buffy stood next to Faith, who had just debriefed them on the Hogwarts situation.
But as she spoke her speech, she knew in her heart that things had changed that couldn't be undone.
"Here we are. We just fought the battle of our lives. We won. It was a terrible price to pay, losing so many lives. And one still hangs in the balance. Tonight, I come before you to tell you all that it's over for us here. It's time we go home.
"Giles has agreed that we should start a new Watcher's Council. An American Watcher's Council. There will only be one institution for Slayers now. That'll be north of Los Angeles. While Angel, Cordelia and Wesley have been here, Angel's organization has secured us the use of old land and has constructed for us our own school. You'll train there. That's just the beginning of our new journey.
"Tara will remain in England until Dawn starts her seventh year at Hogwarts. She wants to stay. I can't say I blame her, considering all she's learned this year." As she spoke, Professor Snape slipped into the back of the classroom, lurking in the shadows.
"What happened here, the lives we lost, it matters. We have to go home now and pick up the pieces. Because we now have a new destiny. We are going to rid this world of evil no matter if its muggle or magic. We proved we can make a difference in any world we live in. We are still an army and we are the only army that the muggle world has to defend itself against magical evil. Tomorrow, we're going home. So let's start packing."
Everyone looked at each other and rose, leaving in groups of twos and threes. Cho took a few hesitant steps forward. "Um, Professor?"
"Call me Buffy, Cho," she replied, sitting down at Snape's desk. "I just received your documents that state you are returning with us."
"I would like to return with Xander if that's all right with you," Cho said shyly. "I would like to participate in my own commencement. And I still have to tell my parents that I'm a Slayer and all. I have no idea how they'll take it."
"Of course," Buffy smiled as Cho left.
The figure in the darkness moved up a bit. Buffy motioned for Angel, Faith and Xander to go.
They did, leaving Severus and Buffy alone in his office.
"Thank you," Buffy said, moving toward him. "Thank you for everything."
"It was my pleasure."
And for the first time in a long while, he didn't look sarcastic in saying that.
Buffy grinned up at him. "It's a start."
- - - - -
To be continued.. for the last time...
Here we are. The last feast, the award of the House Cup, the Slayers leave, etc. Chapter will be posted tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for being so awesome enough to review!