Chapter 3

"Angel, I know you're here."

The words echoed throughout the surrounding area. The rest of the Scooby Gang were startled but relaxed their grip on their weapons. A moment later, two figures emerged from the darkness. One of them was Angel. The sight of the second person caused everyone's grips on their weapons to tighten again.

"Faith?" Willow's exclamation sounded more like a question.

It wasn't surprising that everyone was edgy around Faith, Buffy reflected. Most of them had been hurt by Faith at one time or another. However, that was a few years ago. Over these years, they had made their own mistakes and paid for them. Because of that, they now held a more charitable view of Faith. Instead of someone who had sold her services to the dark side, they now saw her as someone who had made a mistake and was now trying to make up for it.

Hmm... speaking of making up for it. . .

"Say Faith, aren't you supposed to be in jail?" Buffy asked suspiciously.

Faith shrugged. "Angel arranged for the charges to be dropped. Apparently there's another Big Bad out there and he needed my help to stop it."

Everyone looked towards Angel.

"She's right," Angel confirmed. "This time, the evil mastermind goes by the name of Voldemort. He's got all the local evils all upset because he poaching their demon employees."

"Why didn't you call me," Buffy asked quietly. "I could've come over to help."

Xander and Anya opened their mouths. Xander probably to fire off a sarcastic remark and Anya to say something typically blunt, but true. However, before either of them could say anything, Dawn's hand had clapped over Xander's mouth and Willow's hand was covering Anya's mouth. They understood that this was between Buffy and Angel. Tara and Faith understood it too and they remained silent while the exchange between the slayer and vampire went on.

Buffy's question had touched on one of Angel's most sensitive spots. Angel stared at Buffy, his eyes haunted. How could he tell her that he longed, more than anything, to have her fighting by his side. How much he wished he could just see her, to hear her voice, to touch her and reassure himself that she was safe.

And how he would never let himself do any of those things. How he knew that if she were by his side, the temptation would be too great. He could easily lose himself just by looking at her eyes. Even though he knew the consequences, he was tempted to take her in his arms again, to love her, and to be loved in return. It would have been all too easy to attain that one moment of true happiness and lose his soul. Even at this moment, when he looked at her, he could still feel the desire, the love he had for her. Even after three years, the torch he held for her had still not dampened the slightest. As a matter of fact, the flames were roaring brighter and hotter than before. It wasn't easy to keep her away from his thoughts even when he was in LA. Now, just looking at her brought back feelings he had locked away for three years.

For three long years, he had placed his feelings for Buffy in a compartment in his brain and then shut the door, locked it and threw away the key. A single look at her face had blasted the door to smithereens and his emotions were coming back to haunt him. How could he tell her that he couldn't be with her because he loved her? Loved her so much that it hurt?

As for Buffy, she looked up at Angel's eyes and saw the emotion in them. The depths of his desire and his love for her. The lengths at which he would go to in order to ensure her safety, even at the cost of his own happiness, no, his own life. And she understood it. How could she not understand, when she was feeling the exact same way?

When Angel left, she had tried to move on. With Riley, she thought she had moved on. But in the deepest recesses of her heart, it had always been Angel. That was why she and Riley broke up, no matter what excuses she may have made for herself at that time. Angel was the one she loved – and the one she could never be with. If they were together, they would not be able to resist the attraction between them and it would only end up in him losing his soul again. If that happened, she knew that she would have to kill him, and she didn't know if she could do it again. The first time she had sent him to hell, she almost broke. If she had to do it again, she did not think she could stand it.

That was why she didn't keep in touch with him. How many times had she just stared at the phone, itching to pick up the receiver and dialing a number that might as well be engraved into her brain? Too many to count, she acknowledged to herself. She knew that if she had just listened to his voice, even for a moment, she would have been on the next bus to LA. That was why she never dialed that fateful number, but the temptation had almost been too much to bear at times.

The rest of their friends stood there, silently observing the way Buffy and Angel were just looking at each other. The air was thick with emotions. Pain. Love. Anguish. Desire. Despair. Longing. No words were necessary between the two. Looking at each other's eyes was enough to tell them what the other thought.

And their friends understood it too. Dawn was weeping openly, but silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. Willow's eyes were moist and she was on the verge of crying. Tara was fighting back tears but not being very successful in doing so, as evidenced by the wiping of her eyes with her sleeve. Xander and Anya held one another tightly, realizing what they had in one another and how lucky they were. Faith had turned her face away from them but everyone could see her shoulders shaking.

Finally, Buffy broke the silence. "So, what are the two of you doing here?" she asked, attempting, without much success, to keep her voice level.

"Rumor has it that Voldemort is planning something for the wiccan meeting," Angel replied, his voice low and more tightly controlled than usual.

"We're heading there right now," Buffy said, a little startled. "If what you're saying is true, then its lucky that we brought weapons. But maybe Dawn should go back..."

"What!" Dawn screeched. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big girl now and I am able to take care of myself. In fact..."

"Okay, okay," Buffy responded, slightly amused. "I suppose its time you got to see some real action. You're going to need some real experience under your belt if you are to survive in this world."

Dawn nodded, slightly mollified as Willow spoke up. "You guys know that you need to have a wiccan vouch for you if you want to attend the meeting, right?"

"We were planning to find a wiccan and then follow her to the meeting," Faith replied. "We were planning on staying out of sight for the most part."

"Well, Tara and I can vouch for you so you needn't stay out of sight," Willow said firmly. "In fact, I insist on us staying together so that if something happens at the meeting, we'll be able to meet the situation together."

Faith and Angel were amenable to the suggestion and the whole group followed Willow and Tara, who, in turn, seem to be heading towards a location only they could see. On the way, Willow and Tara could see that Buffy and Angel obviously wanted to stay beside each other and yet, were afraid to do so. As such, Buffy was walking on the extreme left end of the group while Angel took the extreme right flank. Exchanging a glance, the two wiccans silently made a solemn vow to find a way to help the two lovers. They knew what it was like for two lovers to be separated. They themselves were almost separated permanently when Warren put the bullet into Tara. It was only through a very powerful and ancient spell that Willow happened to be experimenting with at that time that managed to bring Tara back from the cusp of death.

'Don't worry, guys,' the Willow thought.

'If there's a way to help you, we'll find it,' Tara promised herself.

On the grass, Harry, Ron and Hermoine were seated in the middle of the adults, surrounded on all sides by Dumbledore, Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape, Arthur Weasley, Mad Eye Moody, Remus Lupin and Laura Henderson. Nearby, a space was set up for those who wish to take up the challenge of dueling to be in the coven. Those who had no intentions of taking part in the duels were scattered around the clearing, talking amicably to one another. Those who were taking part in the duels, however, were silent, preferring to conserve their energy.

"Aren't you supposed to be over there, Miss Henderson?" Hermoine asked Laura, pointing towards the area where the dueling participants were preparing themselves.

"I'm already a member of the coven," Laura replied. "I'm going to have to take part in the duels no matter where I sit."

"Are all the wiccans in the world coming to this meeting?" Ron asked curiously.

"Of course not," Laura chuckled. "There are wiccans in all countries, you know. And many of them do not have the time or the money to purchase a plane ticket to travel thousands of miles. That's why the annual wiccan's meeting is held at a different country every year, so that as many wiccans as possible would be able to attend at least one meeting in their lifetime. The only exception is the coven. They have to be at the meeting, no matter where they might be living. Our treasury provides the money for the transportation of the coven."

They fell silent as another group approached the clearing. The redhead and the blonde who seemed to be leading the group stopped for a moment and glanced curiously at Dumbledore. Harry supposed that long, white beards were not very commonly seen. However, all of them were wearing muggle clothes, and Mad Eye Moody had an eyepatch to cover his magical eye so that they did not stick out like sore thumbs.

They watched as the other group settled down near them. They seemed to be content with just watching the surrounding area, although only Dumbledore could see that something was going on with the short, blonde girl and the tall, pale, handsome, dark-haired man. Both of them kept sneaking glances at one another.

'Hmm... that look in their eyes,' Dumbledore thought. 'I wonder what they must have gone through to earn that look.' Thoroughly intrigued now, Dumbledore leaned forward to ask Laura about the group.

"I've never seen them before," Laura said, after giving them a measuring glance. "But that's not surprising. Half the people here, I've never met before today. I can sense that only the redhead and the tall blonde are wiccans though. The rest of them are just humans."

Dumbledore nodded. He too, could sense the magic emanating from the two that Larua had pointed out. Even though wizardry and wiccan followed different paths, the common denominator connecting the two was magic. He was one of the best when it came to sensing magical energy. In fact, that was how he met Laura. He was taking a stroll through muggle London and he accidentally bumped into Laura, sending her to the floor. He had extended a hand to help her up and when their hands touched, each of them could sense the presence of another magic user, even though their magical abilities followed different disciplines. One conversation had led to another and Laura had offered the aid of the wiccans if she could convince the coven.

Even though he was not familiar with wiccan magic, he could sense the magical aura around the two wiccans. He wasn't sure of the rest of the group being just human, however. There was something about their auras that seemed to indicate that they were more than just human. However, he decided to put that aside for the moment and concentrate on the two wiccans. 'The redhead appears to be the stronger of the two,' he thought to himself. 'Considering her aura, she might even be slightly more powerful than Miss Henderson, although the blonde is no pushover as well and definitely stronger than most of the wiccans here. I wonder why they're not competing in the duels.' Then he remembered that Laura had told them that not all wiccans wanted to be in the coven. 'To each, his – or her – own, I suppose,' he mused. 'But maybe I could interest them in coming to Hogwarts next semester. They could provide security for the students.'

Laura stood up a second later. "Looks like its time for the meeting to start," she said calmly. She moved to the center of the clearing along with twelve other wiccans and raised her hand for silence. When she got it, she raised her voice.

"Let the meeting begin."

Willow had sensed a powerful aura emanating from the old man with the long beard. A glance at Tara confirmed that she had sensed it too. Speaking mind- to-mind with her friends, Willow informed them of the situation.

'Let's sit somewhere near them,' Buffy thought immediately. 'And for goodness sake, don't talk openly in front of them. Use mind-to-mind communication if you want to say anything.'

Faith and Angel were a little startled by the unorthodox means of communication but they soon got used to it. Once they got settled, Willow and Tara focused their senses on the small group with the old man. They sensed immediately that apart from the dark-haired woman, the magical vibes the rest of the group were giving out were unlike the vibes from wiccan magic. Still, it was undeniably magic of some sort and Willow was determined to figure it out later.

It was obvious that the old man was the most powerful among the group. The rest of the group each possessed considerable power as well. Even the three children among them had power, although it was less focused than the adults. As they were sharing the information with their friends, Willow suddenly felt a probe near her magical aura. The pressure on her hand, which was held by Tara, told her that Tara had felt it too.

It was apparent that the old man was the one initiating the probe, testing Tara's and her magical auras to determine how powerful they were. However, Willow was confident that he would not get the true measure of their power. Willow and Tara had mastered many ways to dampen their magical auras some time ago. Willow had learned it first out of necessity. Her magical abilities were growing so strong that her magical aura was acting as a magnet for every supernatural being within a radius of ten miles. A night spent in feverish research led to the discovery of spells that could dampen one's magical aura. A few days of refinement and modification of existing spells had led to the creation of an aura shielding spell that could be put up or removed instantly. Even better, it required no magical energy to remove. Later, as Tara had become stronger, Willow had taught her how to dampen and shield her magical aura as well. Now, Willow had eight layers of shields on her at all times unless she removed them when she wanted to cast a powerful spell. Tara had two layers of shields on her at all times.

The two wiccans did not give any sign that they knew they were being studied. In fact, Anya had told them once that no one would be able to know when someone was studying their magical aura since it was a passive spell and did not come into direct contact with the target. Willow did not agree, arguing that if a probe can sense auras, then the aura would be able to sense the probe as well. After a week of research and experimentation, Willow finally found a way for magical auras to sense probes – and lost no time in telling Anya so – thus shattering a long held, preconceived notion about magic.

A moment later, the probe receded and the two wiccans relaxed. They turned their eyes to the center of the clearing as thirteen people moved there. 'The coven,' Willow thought to herself, and settled back beside Tara. She saw one of the wiccans – the same one who had been with the group beside her – raise her hand for silence and when she got it, announced the start of the meeting.