Something Strange
By Rose Williams.
Twisting the Hellmouth Fic-A-Thon for Norwegianne.
Rated PG.
Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling et al. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon et al. The West Wing belongs to Aaron Sorkin et al. This is not to be distributed for profit making purposes.
Fic-A-Thon:
Name: Norwegianne
Author's Request
Genre: Harry Potter, West Wing, X-Men, Stargate
Max Rating: NC-17
Characters: Hermione Granger, Daniel Osbourne, Samuel Seaborn, Donna Moss, Rogue, or anybody really.
Type: Romance, Supernatural
Want To See: A meeting in a library
Not Want To See:
Author's Notes: I didn't notice that Oz was there until it was too late to include him, sorry. I've found I can't write romance, so it's supernatural (a spell and people saying that things are strange), with hints of possible Wesley/Donna and Hermione/Andrew.
This takes place Post-Voldemort, Post-Chosen, Post-Damage (After Roger's visit to W&H). It is January 2004, Dawn is on 'holidays' cataloguing Giles's library.
I hope it serves.
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… … …
Donna appeared at Sam's office door and knocked quietly. Sam looked up and smiled gently.
"Something strange is going on," Donna said.
"Tell me about it," Sam said, rolling his eyes.
"What's yours?" Donna asked.
Sam blinked. "What's yours?"
"Will and Toby have stopped fighting."
Sam stopped to listen for a moment. It really was quiet.
"Well, mine's not that strange. Tierney threatened me."
He handed Donna piece of paper with a hand scribbled note.
"'Come the first sitting day, by the blood of Dagon, I will be the guide the wisdom, even if you hold the Key.' That's fairly obscure."
"It's Tierney. That's why C.J's going to get worried about it. Do you want to help me research it?"
Donna considered her options for a moment. She could stay here and deal with Josh trying to deal with the boredom of the break by teasing her about her latest romantic failure, or she could spend the next few days searching for nothing in the library.
She grabbed her coat on the way out.
But an hour later she wasn't so sure. They had wandered through the history section of the library, but nothing seemed to have 'the Blood of Dagon' emblazed on the spine.
"It's okay," Sam said. "We can ask Patricia."
Sam led Donna over to the reception desk. The woman there was indeed a Patricia. She looked about sixty, and smiled when Sam approached.
"Hi, Patty," Sam said.
The grin faded.
"We were wondering if you had any information on the 'Blood of Dagon,'" Sam said.
Donna was impressed by Patricia's equanimity. She merely typed 'Dagon' into her computer terminal and waited for it to spit out some results. She frowned.
"Do you have anything?" Donna asked.
"Oh, yes, just not in this branch," Patricia said. "You'll have to talk to Margot."
Donna shared a look with Sam. Patricia had pronounced the 't' on the end of the name. She didn't say anything, though, just gestured for them to follow her and turned away. With another look Sam and Donna followed Patricia behind the desk and through several doors and corridors.
At the end of the last there was a set of heavy double doors. Patricia pushed them both open and step aside to let Sam and Donna through. They entered another library. It was all dark wood and tall shelves filled with books.
"You should find what you're looking for here," Patricia said.
…
Hermione merely stared at Ron, unable to articulate how appalled she was. Something strange was happening in his head, but she had given up trying to work out what it was. Ron was looking at her equally incredulous at her outbreak. Hermione sighed.
"This is not about you Ron. This is about me and Harry and I'm going to Dumbledore."
Hermione stalked out the Burrow's kitchen and didn't care if Ron watched her leave. Ron was turning 24 in two months, and Voldemort was gone, but apparently that didn't make her life any easier. And Harry was still getting death threats. She stalked as far as the front gate before giving up and disapparating. She continued stalking from the front gates of Hogwarts to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore met her at the front doors with a quiet smile. Hermione suspected that he had been reading the Marauders map Sirius and Remus had made for him.
"How can I help you, Miss Granger?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head, grinning. The list of things she could ask for help about…
"We got another one of these," she said. She handed the letter over to Dumbledore, who pursed his lips.
"'Even with the Key of Dagon and a guide, you will never have the Courage to defeat us,'" he read. "Well, we have two advantages."
"What are they?" Hermione asked, following the Headmaster to his office.
"They've told us what is going. And they're waiting for something."
"Do you know what the Key of Dagon is? or what it does? I'm surprised I haven't head of it, I've read a lot since the Death Eaters re-gathered."
"I'm surprised they've heard of it," Dumbledore said. "But if you wanted more information you could tell Madam Pince I said you could talk to Margot."
Dumbledore handed the letter back and wandered away. Hermione traced the familiar path to the library and smiled warmly at the old woman who guarded the books. She repeated Dumbledore's message, and for the first time she saw Madam Pince smile. She led the way through the rows of shelves to a set of double doors.
She opened them with a flourish and Hermione stepped through. It was almost heaven, books upon books upon books, and she knew that there were some books here she hadn't heard of.
…
Dawn followed Andrew into Wolfram and Hart, trying to keep her head down. He'd come a long way in the months since the First, and she was prepared to trust him with this. Which was just as well, there was no she was going to have gone to Giles.
Wesley was startled to see them.
"Mr Wyndam-Pryce, how good to see you again," Andrew said.
"Mr Wells," Wesley said, dryly. "Dawn."
"We need your help," Dawn said.
"Despite the fact that I'm incompetent and untrustworthy," Wesley asked.
Dawn grimaced. "After Andrew you're the only one who doesn't know who the key of Dagon is."
"And that's a good reason to come and see me, why?"
"Before the first sitting day, which is in three days time," Andrew said. "The Blood of Dagon, or the Key, is going to be used in a ceremony with the guides of wisdom and courage."
"How do you know this?" Wesley asked.
"I found a prophecy," Dawn said. "I was cataloguing Giles's books and I always flipped through the pages, which I know shouldn't do. I can't understand most of them yet, but I saw the word Dagon. I took it to Andrew to see if he could read it, because he wouldn't wig over the Dagon reference. It was all last days, reign of toads and the cries of babies' kind of stuff. And a list of everything else that could happen, including this. We need to work out where it's happening so we can stop it."
"How do we know it's bad?" Wesley asked.
He was still trying to work out what was going on between Dawn and Andrew; it was difficult to see who was in charge.
"The Key of Dagon is used to thin the barriers between dimensions. In fact it destroys them, and everything gets sucked into hell. Only, it can't be that, because that happened three years ago, and it's a one in a thousand year thing."
Wesley could feel the tension between them and felt like sighing.
"Do we have access to the Key?"
"Yes," Andrew said.
"And we want to protect it?"
"Yes," Dawn said. There was fear in her eyes. The timeline clicked in Wesley's mind.
"We don't want to do this here. I can find the books we need at the local library. I have contacts there. You'll have to come with me."
He picked up his briefcase and led them out of the building.
…
Andrew sighed when he saw all the books in the library. Wesley just led his companions through the stacks. Dawn kept getting distracted by various titles. She ran backwards into Andrew's back. Wesley and Andrew were staring at a woman, who was pulling books off shelves.
"Excuse me?" Wesley asked.
The woman spun, gaping at them. She was wearing old-fashioned dress with a high collar and cuffed sleaves.
Andrew was staring at her with unabashed shock, and she seemed at little unnerved by it. Wesley locked into professional mode.
"May I ask what you are looking for, ma'am?"
The woman smiled. She was pretty, Dawn decided, curly dark hair and dark eyes. Andrew certainly seemed to think so.
She was also smart. "That depends on who you are," she said.
Wesley introduced himself, without saying that he was from Wolfram and Hart. The woman smiled.
"I've heard of you, Mr Wyndam-Pryce. I'm Hermione Granger. I work for the English Ministry of Magic."
She offered a hand to Wesley, who took it warmly.
Dawn raised one eyebrow, in an obvious 'yeah, right' gesture.
"Yeah, right," Andrew said.
Hermione sighed and handed over an ID card. It clearly stated that her name, her position in the Ministry and even had a groovy little flying bird one corner. Dawn handed it to Andrew.
"You're more beautiful than I thought you would be," he said.
Hermione blushed. Wesley sighed. Andrew looked sheepish.
"What are looking for, Ms Granger?" he asked.
"The Key of Dagon," she said, reading off a book.
"Why?" Andrew demanded, coldly.
Hermione was slightly taken aback by the sudden steel in his eyes.
"Harry received another death threat. The Death Eaters said that even with the Key of Dagon and a guide he wouldn't be able to defeat them. Dumbledore sent me here to find out about it. If it's something that can help Harry, I need to look into it."
"You Know Who is still around?" Andrew asked.
"Nah. Just the Death Eaters. They re-formed after Harry killed Voldemort."
Wesley flinched at the sound of the name.
"How did he do it?" Andrew asked eagerly.
"There are things I can't say," Hermione said. "He survived, which is just as well, or Dumbledore would have had to answer to Sirius, and he be a mean dog sometimes."
"But he died," Andrew said. "And you're a book character."
Dawn rolled her eyes. But she was interested now, too. Hermione sighed. She was getting good at explaining the particular deal the Minister had made have the books written.
"Sirius was pretty annoyed about being killed off," she said. "But Joanne couldn't possibly be allowed to write about everything that happened in the Department of Mysteries."
"So it was worse?" Dawn asked. She'd cried at Harry's reaction to Sirius's death, and didn't want to think about what might have been worse.
Hermione just nodded, accepting the sympathy, but she didn't elaborate. Wesley stepped in before Andrew could ask more questions.
"Do you think the incantation is a good thing?" Wesley asked.
"The Death Eaters don't want to happen. So I'm trying to find out what it is," Hermione said. "But the books aren't here."
"We have to find out who has them," Dawn said.
…
Having collected a pile of books, Donna and Sam retreated to a table. Most of the books were written in strange languages, seemingly made up of more squiggles than letters. They quickly separated all the English and Spanish texts so Donna could take notes while Sam translated.
Donna looked up and smiled politely as people approached. The group of four stopped at their table. The young woman and the younger of the two men were standing too close together; it was kind of cute. The girl, who couldn't have been twenty, looked extremely nervous.
Donna nudged Sam. He looked up, saw the people and leapt out of his seat.
"Who are you?" Sam demanded.
"Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," the older man said. "These are my colleagues, Andrew Wells and Dawn Summers," he added, indicating the other man and the girl.
He didn't introduce the bushy haired woman, and she didn't introduce herself.
Sam was still staring at the strangers suspiciously. He seemed to have taken Tierney's threat more personally since it had become obvious that it was leading nowhere. Donna held her hand out to Wesley.
"Donna Moss," she said. "And this is Sam Seaborn."
"I know who you are, Ms Moss," Wesley said.
His tone was both professional and polite. It seemed out of place, surrounded by strange and esoteric texts.
"How good are you with languages, Mr Wyndam-Pryce?" she asked.
She handed over the squiggly textbook. He scanned it quickly and grinned. Pulling up the seat next to her, he dropped his briefcase on the floor and started to read.
"He won't emerge until he's found it now," Andrew told Hermione. "He's a bit like you that way, I think."
Hermione smiled coyly, "Don't believe everything you read, Mr Wells."
Andrew raised a suggestive eyebrow.
"What is there to learn, Ms Granger?" he asked.
Dawn was surprised that he managed to sound interested and flirty but not geeky. Hermione giggled. Dawn kicked Andrew's ankle.
Wesley was frantically flipped through the book Donna had handed him, and grabbing others to leave open at strategic places on the table. Donna wanted to know why they were there, and why Dawn was so nervous.
"What's your relationship to Mr Wyndam-Pryce, Ms Granger?" Sam asked.
"I've heard of him, professionally, but we met just now."
"You've possibly heard of her," Andrew said.
Dawn shot him a dirty look. But Hermione looked amused at his enthusiasm, and Andrew chose to be pleased rather than affronted.
"Where from?" Donna asked.
Hermione took a seat at the table. "Have you ever read the Harry Potter books?" she asked.
Donna grinned as the bushy hair and name fitted together.
"I knew it," she said.
"What?" Sam asked.
"They're a cover, like an unofficial version of what happened?"
Hermione nodded, pleased that it was easy to explain this time. Mr Seaborn was still staring at her.
"Hermione Granger," she introduced herself. "I work for the Ministry of Magic in London. Harry Potter received a threat from, we believe, the remnant Death Eaters. I'm here, wherever here is, to find out the details."
"We're in DC," Sam said.
"Well, I was at Hogwarts," Hermione said.
"And we were in LA," Dawn said.
Sam rolled his eyes. But he decided that it was better not to argue.
"You can pass on greetings from the Minister, Mr Weasley, to the President."
"The President knows about this?" Sam demanded in a high-pitched voice.
Donna hit him lightly on the arm.
Wesley interrupted the ensuing argument by shouting "eureka" quite loudly. Everyone looked at him.
"It's an augmentation spell," he said, glancing at the shocked faces.
"Like Jonathon's?" Dawn asked.
"I wouldn't know. It lets the guides give the people they guide the qualities of Wisdom or Courage. We will need candles, chalk, sage and the blood of Dagon. And it needs to be completed in a place without time."
"What does that mean?" Donna asked.
"Here will do, won't it?" Hermione asked.
Wesley looked around the library.
"Yeah," he said. "I can't think of anywhere else that isn't anywhere."
"We're in DC," Sam said.
"Did your Librarian take you to see Margot? Because that's what they have to say to open the doors here. This is the Universal Library. I didn't want Wolfram and Hart to know that I was interested in the Key."
"Wolfram and Hart." Sam repeated. "They don't have a good reputation."
"Of course they don't," Dawn said. "They're evil and run by a bunch of dimension hoping demons."
Sam blinked. The entire day, beginning with the phone call from Marcus Tierney, was strange. He had left DC by walking through a doorway and now a girl wanted him to believe in demons and a man who apparently worked for them wanted him to perform a spell.
"Do we have everything we need for the spell?" he asked.
"Yes," Wesley said, re-reading the list. "I have candles sage and chalk in my briefcase."
"Dawn and I have the blood of Dagon," Andrew said.
"You brought it with you?" Wesley asked. "It's a highly volatile substance, and valuable. What if it's been stolen?"
"It's okay, Wesley. We'd know," Dawn said with a smirk.
Wesley visibly deflated with the statement. He went to back to reading the spell. Dawn wondered how many times he had had his ideas or concerns knocked down. Too often, because he was obviously much better what he did than he had seemed in Sunnydale. He regained his equilibrium fairly quickly.
Donna's 'kids!' smile might have had something to do with that.
"Who are the guides?" Wesley asked.
"Sam and Hermione?" Donna said. "They're the ones who have received the threats. I would assume that Hermione is guiding Harry, and Sam is Senior Counsel to the President."
Wesley nodded, but turned back to Dawn and Andrew, his 'colleagues.'
"Are you okay with that, Dawn?"
"I don't think I could actually be a guide," Dawn said.
"And nobody listens to me," Andrew said. "What about you?"
"I'm really shouldn't be relied upon," Wesley said. "I think Donna is right. The question then is whether to give the President Wisdom and Harry Courage, or the other way around?"
Hermione took the Death Eater's note out of her pocket and read it out loud.
"It seems to be implying that Harry will need Courage from this spell," she said.
"You're pretty wise," Andrew said.
"Thanks," Hermione said. "Anyway, I don't know much about Muggle politics, let along American, but it seems that the President doesn't lack the will to follow through with his policy initiatives, but might like to be able to see the issues more clearly at the moment."
Donna grinned slightly at the pun. Sam weighed Hermione's consideration for moment before nodding.
"Although if I told the President that Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter books said that, he'd laugh," he said.
"I doubt that," Wesley said, collecting the books he'd need. "It's a worthy compliment. If you could just push the table and the other books to side, we can perform the spell here. I'm sure Margot won't mind."
"We're going to do a spell in the middle of a library which doesn't really exist?" Sam asked.
"The library exists," Wesley said. "It was created to house the Library of Alexandria. It sits within a bubble of the time-space continuum, time protects the books, and space means that it can be accessed from any library in the world. In fact, from every library, even all at once."
"It's not a complex spell, that sort of entrance," Hermione said. "Tom has done something similar to set up a Leaky Cauldron in Edinburgh, to let witches and wizards visit Diagon Alley from there."
There was a pause. Donna stood up and began moving the chairs out of the way so they could move the table.
"We're going to do a spell in the middle of a library which isn't in any specific time or place."
"Yes," Wesley said.
Dawn and Andrew pushed the table out of the way. Hermione took her wand out and used a banishing charm on the chairs. Sam seemed to relax after that. He decided that how cleverly orchestrated the rest of the day could have been there was no way anyone could fake that.
…
Wesley had several jars of different coloured chalk in his briefcase. He uncorked the green and drew a circle in the now empty space, reading out loud from the book. He set the candles out as everyone else watched, wondering what to do. But it was Hermione who lit them, with another flick of her wand.
"We need to paint the leaves of the sage with the blood of Dagon."
"So we need to get the blood, Andrew," Dawn said.
"Ah, yes," Andrew said. "Okay, we can do this over here."
Wesley looked at them both. Andrew had answered too carefully. He led Dawn down another row of books. The others watched them leave, but no one was prepared to ask any questions.
Dawn and Andrew stood opposite each other for several moments in complete silence until Dawn took the Swiss Army Knife Buffy had bought her out of her pocket and pushed up her sleave. Andrew visibly paled.
"It's okay," Dawn said. "I've done this before."
"So have I," Andrew said. "And I didn't do to well."
"Just as well Willow makes me carry a mortar and pestle, can you grab it out of my bag."
She nodded to where she had dropped it at her feet. While Andrew rummaged around in it, shielding his view from her arm, Dawn tried to steady herself. She gripped the shelf hard with her left hand and brought the knife down to carefully, and therefore slowly, cut into the veins at her elbow. Andrew managed to hold the mortar up while keeping his eyes closed. Dawn rolled hers at him.
Once there was a coating of blood in the bottom of the bowl, Dawn took the prerequisite first aid bandage out of her case and wrapped it around her arm. She dragged Andrew and the blood back to the circle of waiting people.
"Okay, let's get this done," she said.
Wesley dipped his finger in the blood and smeared a line of it on each of twelve sage leaves. These he placed at the compass points around the circle.
"The guide of Courage sits East, facing West. And the guide of Wisdom sits north, facing south," he said, pointing.
Hermione and Sam took their places.
"Donna, if you could sit facing Sam, and Andrew opposite Hermione, as focuses."
"I can't do any magic," Donna said.
"None of you needs to," Wesley assured her. "Just sit still and stare at the candle opposite you."
That didn't seem too hard. The four settled themselves as Wesley began to read from his book, again, walking around the circle. The mystical wind that accompanied these sorts of spells rose quickly. It stirred Dawn's hair as well as the others'.
Wesley's words weren't in a language anyone could understand, although Dawn felt she should have. The wind grew stronger as the words grew harsher and Wesley's voice grew louder. Dawn shivered as the energy rose, but the four people in the circle were quivering.
Light from the candles ran together inside the circle, pulsed at the points where Hermione and Sam were sitting. With a crackle it leaped to the people opposite them before speeding away into the ether.
Wesley snapped the book shut with a snap. Donna fell backwards, and he rushed to catch her before she hit the floor. Sam shook himself out of the daze, but was unable to focus on anything. Hermione sat up straighter as the energy left and looked revitalised by the experience. She grinned across the circle at Andrew.
"We should do something like that again some time," she said.
Andrew managed a shaky grin in return.
"No way," Sam said. "I want to go back to the office, tell C.J that Tierney was just making things up and forget that this could ever happen."
Donna pushed herself up, but still leant into Wesley.
"Oh, no," she said. "We need to keep an eye on any other spells Tierney might be planning. And the effects of this one."
"She's right," Wesley said. "Both you and Mr Potter were threatened directly. Whatever is happening may be connected. And even if it isn't, this is a fairly obscure spell. The effects are bound to be manifold. You are guides now, and have effectively tied yourself to those you are guiding."
"What will that do?" Sam asked.
"I can't be sure," Wesley began.
Sam raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"But as far as mystical bonding's go, it's fairly weak. I should think enough for you to know how sure the President is about a statement he's just made. And for Hermione to know how confident Harry's feeling about a course of action."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Hermione said.
"Scary," Sam said.
"Yeah," Donna agreed weakly.
She seemed to be the most effected by the spell. But neither Dawn nor Hermione thought that she was going to get better too soon if she was leaning against Wesley's chest. Wesley didn't seem to notice that he had one hand supporting her around her waist.
Sam stood first, and stretched. Andrew pushed himself off the floor and offered a hand to Hermione, which earned him rolled eyes from both her and Dawn. Wesley gently helped Donna to her feet. She hobbled to a chair and sat down.
Dawn grimaced at everyone else just standing around dumbly and began to pull at one of the tables.
"Oh, I'll do that," Hermione offered.
She was able to replace the tables and all the chairs but Donna's with one wave of her wand and a muttered spell.
"I have to go, now," she said. "Dumbledore needs a full report as soon as possible. I should see Harry and work out how the spell works."
"Me, too. But without the fantastical references," Sam said.
"I'm coming with," Donna said, finally able to stand on her own.
"Call me if you have any queries," Wesley said, handing over a card.
"Sure, thanks," Donna said.
"Should we get together again to discuss what's happened?" Andrew asked, looking at Hermione.
"I think that's probably a good idea," Hermione said. "Do you want to say same time next week we all meet back here? It should be easier enough to get to."
Donna opened her bag and pulled out her diary to write down the appointment. Dawn borrowed her pen to scribble a note for herself and Andrew on her wrist. Wesley closed all the books and left them in a neat stack in the middle of the table. There was nothing else to do, so they stood around numbly for a moment.
"We were going to leave," Dawn said.
"Yes, indeed," Wesley said.
Sam shook hands with them all, so did Donna, although she held Wesley's hand a little too long, and seemed way too excited about shaking hands with Hermione. She also eyed Andrew warily.
Wesley and Sam both eyed each other warily as they shook hands, but nodded with the air of allies. Giles had drilled diplomatic relations into Dawn, so she shook hands with Sam, Donna and Hermione murmuring 'pleased to meet you's.
With a hurried "Owl me!" from Andrew, Hermione took her leave and walked towards the door. Andrew led Dawn and Wesley after her, while Sam drew Donna along with him behind them, shaking his head.
…
Hermione walked through the doors back into the Hogwarts Library. She wandered out of the Library, past Madam Pince's booth and ended up at the gargoyle to Dumbledore's office.
"Mint Humbugs," she said.
The gargoyle stepped aside and she took the revolving staircase to the Headmasters office. Dumbledore opened his door as she arrived. Sirius was sitting in one of the visitor's chairs and Harry was pacing around one half of the circular room.
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore, Sirius," Hermione said.
Harry stopped and stared at her.
"Hello, Harry," Hermione said.
An expression crossed his face. Hermione could read that he wanted to ask her a question, but was unsure of how she would react.
"How did your research go, Hermione?" Dumbledore asked.
"We did a spell," Hermione said, still watching Harry. "Harry has Courage, and I'm his guide."
"Good," Harry said, and Hermione could feel how sure he was, she smiled.
Sirius and Dumbledore made her sit down and explain the spell. Hermione couldn't help them very much. Most of what she knew about the spell was vague hints from the way Wesley, Dawn and Andrew had interacted. But it was obviously Old Magic. Dumbledore had a whole list of questions for her to ask them when they met up again.
"I don't think the Death Eaters really knew what this was. We need to find out what they're thinking," she said.
"We can do that," Harry said, quietly.
"And we will," Sirius said. "Thank you, Hermione. And thank those other people when you see them again."
"I will," Hermione smiled. She was looking forward to seeing Andrew again. He was very funny.
…
When Wesley, Dawn and Andrew walked back into the Los Angeles library Giles was waiting for them. Giles's expression hit Andrew like a brick. He stood stock still as the doorway closed behind them.
"Mr Giles," Wesley said.
"It's okay, Wesley. I'm glad you were here to keep an eye on these two."
Wesley stood up straighter from the praise. Andrew wilted with Giles's tone of voice.
"Dawn, why couldn't you have come to me?" Giles asked. He had managed to combine the disappointed father and offended supervisor tones of voice.
"You so totally would have wigged out," Dawn said, unaffected. "I found a spell about the blood of Dagon."
Giles pulled his glasses off and reached for the handkerchief in his pocket. Dawn snatched the handkerchief away and grinned impishly at him.
"No harm, no chicken, right? It was fine. I got to help the President and Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter was there?" Giles asked, scepticism evident.
"No, just Hermione. And she was only following up on a threat anyway," Andrew said. He tried to step out of Giles's way, but Giles moved as well.
"You didn't come to me," Giles said.
"I didn't know there was anything to come to you about," Andrew said, angrily. "Before I knew there was anything to worry about Dawn had taken me to Wesley and he'd taken us to a library that didn't exist and we got to meet the President's staff and a book character who's much more attractive than I thought she would be. So back off."
Dawn put a soothing hand on Giles's arm.
"He really didn't know, which is why I talked to him. Same goes for Wesley. We did a spell to help good people. And you can come with us next week to meet them if you want."
"You're meeting them again?" Giles asked, sounding better about that arrangement.
"Yes," Wesley said, smiling at the thought.
Giles sighed.
"I'm glad your all right, Dawn," he said. "If only because it means I won't have to tell your sister you're not. Take me to some tea and tell me about the spell."
"Gladly," Dawn said.
She linked her arm through Giles's and led him out of the Library. Wesley and Andrew shared an amused glace at their backs, but followed.
…
Donna was able to walk properly by the time Sam had led her back out onto the street. It was late afternoon, and Donna wondered if anyone had missed them.
"Can you walk?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. I don't think magic is really for me."
"Can we not say that word?" Sam asked, wrapping his scarf around his neck.
"Think?" Donna asked.
"What are we going to tell people at the office?"
"Is this a get ours stories straight conversation?"
"Yes."
"We tell Josh that he doesn't want to know, because he doesn't. We tell C.J that's it's taken care of. We tell Leo that we met from representatives of Wolfram and Hart, and it was to our advantage. We owe them nothing and there is no record of the meeting. We tell the President that Minister Weasley sends his regards."
"You really think so."
"Well, Hermione did send Mr Weasley's regards. I think it's only polite."
Sam shook his head, even though he agreed. As it was, the President was waiting for their return. Ginger was waiting in the Lobby for them to arrive so she could give them the message. Charlie was waiting at his desk to lead them into the Oval office and the President was waiting behind his desk to welcome them.
Sam was almost certain that the President knew exactly what was going on, and what to do about it. He was quite uncomfortable about that.
"Good afternoon, sir," Sam said.
"Sam, I strange thing happened to me not long ago."
"Indeed, sir."
"Several things, actually. C.J told me that Tierney had rung her and said it was our last chance to find the key. Josh told me that you had taken Donna to the library and everything suddenly made sense. So I would like to know which library you went to."
Despite Donna's earlier answer, Sam really didn't know what to say. He didn't want to look like a fool in front of the President again. Donna, however, had no such compunctions.
"The Universal Library," Donna said.
"And you found the key?" the President asked.
"Well we found Hermione Granger, a guy from Wolfram and Hart and two of his associates, one of whom is nineteen. But we did perform the spell Tierney seemed to have been alluding to."
The President visibly relaxed. He came around his desk to usher them into Leo's office.
"Tell Leo what you told me, and then take the rest of the day off."
"Thank you, sir," Donna said.
"Thank you, sir. And regards from Minister Weasley."
"Thank you, Sam. Perhaps I should write to him."
Donna gave Sam a smug smile as she walked through into Leo's office. The President gave Sam a sympathetic one as he turned back to his desk. Sam followed Donna, bewildered. But he was looking forward to teasing the others about what he knew.