Sorry for the long wait!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed:
BlondiGirl: I'm glad you like the idea; I wasn't sure if people would, so it's good to know.
VLD: Who says something's goona go wrong? [smiles innocently] Nothing ever goes wrong in fan fic!
Mademoiselle Morte: Poor old Giles! I feel sorry for him.
LaRoseMinuit: Glad you liked the chapter and thanks sooo much for reviewing!
matt: Thanks for reviewing, as always. I'm glad you're still reading the story!
buffy13-buffyspike4eva: I'm glad you like it. I'm thinking you've seen that Maccy D's ad to many times! :-)
A/N: Sorry about a) the poor songs and b) the poor grammar on the songs- I had to mould the words a bit for them to fit! Also, the first two songs are completely my own, but Harry's is a re-write of 'Standing in the way' (because I got stuck).
CHAPTER 18- PREPARATIONS
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap-tap, tap, tap, tap, tap-tap, tap-
"Buffy!" Giles finally cried.
Buffy stopped hitting the table with her pen and grinned around sheepishly. "Sorry."
Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander had all gone into major research mode. They were trying to figure out: a) more about Voldermort and his plan and b) how to put the best plan they had so far (the scythe energy transfer thing) into action. They hadn't got very far.
"Oh no!" Xander exclaimed suddenly, dropping his doughnut,
"What?" Willow asked, worried at her friends dismayed tone.
"It says that Dawn is going to be- oh wait...my bad! It doesn't say what I thought it said!"
"Xander!" Buffy groaned. "You've got to stop doing this! First it was the cookery book incident when you thought Dawn was going to be roasted; then you spilt coffee on an ancient Samarian text and now this!"
"So I've had a couple of mix ups!" Xander said defensively. "You were the one who threw out Willow's 'useful research pile' and then I had to search through all the bins until I found it!"
"Well at least it was still readable, unlike some peoples screw ups!" Buffy countered.
"Guys," Willow interrupted their little bickering session. "We've got to concentrate. Dawn's life literally depends on it!"
"She's right; sorry Buff."
"Me too. Giles, do you still want me to come to your dada class?"
Giles looked up from the book he was reading. "Hmm? Oh, yes; I think it will be very beneficial to the class to hear of some of your... escapades."
"Right, whatever. Then let's go!" She dragged Giles towards the door. "Hey, can I do the 'into each generation' speech? You always get to do it."
"That's because you never remember it." Giles said irritably as the portrait swung closed behind them.
Willow shook her head in amusement before frowning slightly. "Hey, have you seen Spike recently?"
Dawn was sitting in her potions class. She didn't really know why Giles and Buffy made her keep going to classes; there was a fifty -fifty chance that she wouldn't see her next birthday and surely there are better things to do with one's time that to be able to brew a potion that makes a rat sing!
As Dawn stirred her potion absentmindedly, a puff of green smoke erupted from Neville's cauldron, followed by a loud bang and several shrieks as the students near to poor Neville dived for cover.
She was feeling guilty. Or at least, that was the nearest emotion there was to what she felt. Dawn didn't want to die. But by that she was wishing that Harry would die over her. And if Harry died before destroying Voldermort then that would mean that hundreds more people would die at the hands of the wicked sorcerer. And on top of that, she didn't think she could cope if Harry was the one who died. Why did things have to be so hard?
Dawn blinked back the tears that were threatening. Is this what Buffy felt whenever she fought an apocalypse? After all, in the three apocalyptic battles that she had actually been real for she hadn't exactly played a major part (unless you count being bled at the top of a tower; and that happened to fast for her to register emotions).
Dawn, still stirring her potion, mused over her thoughts. She was so busy musing that she didn't read the label on the bottle she picked up and accidentally added basil to her potion (wizards often used herbs and spices in their potions). Needles to say the bubbling liquid exploded, as all potions do, and covered herself, Harry and Jade in the potion.
"Miss Summers! What did you do?" Snape roared from across the classroom where he was still mopping up Neville's mess.
"Nothing! I, oh..." Dawn picked up the small bottle lying next to the cauldron and peered at the label. "I added basil."
Snape thought for a moment and then smirked. "Who got the potion on them?"
Several hands went up. "I don't mean a few spots, Granger, I mean who was covered in the potion?" Snape snapped irritably.
Everyone stared at Harry, Jaden and Dawn and Professor Snape's smirk widened as he locked his eyes on Harry's green, smouldering robes. "You'll see the effects in approximately half an hour. Class dismissed!" He strode out the classroom, his cloak billowing out behind him leaving three very anxious students in his wake.
"Do you think we'll grow horns?"
"Or maybe we'll be covered in boils!"
"No, it could be a personality swap!"
Flick grinned. All three of the potion-covered-students had had a free period next, so they had retreated to the Scooby common room where they had bumped into Willow and Xander briefly before they left to look for Spike, much to Xander's dismay.
Flick had joined them also having a free and had watched in amusement as they three students counted down the minutes until they would feel the effects, each speculating on what might happen.
A beeping sound went off from the alarm Harry had rigged up. Everyone held their breath. After about a minute Dawn spoke.
"Well I don't feel any different. Do I look normal?"
Harry gave her the once over. "You look great."
"Thank God! Maybe Snape was exaggerating."
But then Jaden did something that had everyone frozen still. She started singing to a lilting melody; not to a tune any of them knew, she seemed to be making it up as she went along.
"Drawn to the darkness, away from the light;
Will I become what my friends would die to fight?
They say that I'm not evil, but that doesn't mean I'm good,
I just wanna be one of them and do what I should...
-
To fight away the demons;
To know deep in my heart,
That I have made a difference
And that I have played a part.
-
How can I fight it? How can I fight my dark?
Can I start afresh and try all this hero lark?
I know I want to do it, but can I truly be
A champion of the powers? Can that really be me?
-
The darkness may be coming,But I will stay with you.
There may be no power here,
But it's what I want to do.
-
I have to fight away MY demons,And look into my heart.
And I will make a difference;
I will play my part."
There was nothing but silence when Jade finished singing. Nobody moved; nobody spoke.
Flick cleared her throat. "Umm I don't suppose Xander has summoned any more singing demons?" She asked Dawn, having heard the story of Sweet many times.
Dawn shook her head slowly, still staring at Jade. Jaden started backing up until she reached the portrait hole and then turned and fled out of the common room.
"I'll go after her." Flick offered, already halfway to the exit.
When she had gone, Dawn turned to Harry. "Harry," she tried to say, but it came out as a song.
"I don't know what we should do?
I don't want to die, I want to exist.
I think that I've fallen in love with you
And I couldn't bear to keep living here,
Without you living too.
-
I don't want to have to deal
With this 'thing' right now; to choose if I live,
And I'm just energy; I'm not even real!
But you have changed all of that for me;
You can make me feel.
-
I can't do it, can't you see?
Only alive 'cause you had given your life.
Living in deaths shadow, not being free
My dreams forever haunted by your face.
I want it to be me."
-
"I'm not ready
For you or me to die.
I keep pretending,
But I just can't hide.
I know I said that I'd
Be standing by your side
But I
-
Our path's unbeaten,
And it's all uphill.
And we can meet it,
And we always will.
I just want to keep standing still
And I
-
I wish I could say, the right words,
To make this go away.
Wish I could play the hero,
And then we both could stay.
Wish I could stop this;
But all I can do is pray,
That we'll see another day.
-
One has to die and
There's nothing I can do.
But you know I'm here;
I'll stay with you.
Won't let you can't leave me;
I just wish it wasn't true.
And I
-
I wish we could,
Get this over;
Then we will rest at last.
Wish I could, Slay the demons
But now that time has passed.
Wish we could both live;
And that dream has gone to fast.
So now I want it to be me.
Yes I want it, to be me."
They both sat there; neither knowing how to react.
"I've gotta say, I'm kinda relieved." Dawn said breaking the silence. At Harry's quizzical expression she explained. "No horns, no spots, still the same colour. Definite plus points."
Harry offered her a smile. "Definitely. What I said...sung; I don't-"
"Shhh. It doesn't matter. We can't do anything about it."
"Anything about what?" A certain blond slayer bounded over having finished speaking to Giles' defence class.
"Nothing." Harry and Dawn said simultaineously.
Buffy raised one eyebrow and gave them a look that clearly said 'yeah right'. They were saved, or so they thought, by Willow rushing into the Scooby common room closely followed by Xander.
"Dawnie! Are you OK? Professor Snape said you had an accident with a potion!" She exclaimed.
"What? Are you aright?" Buffy asked concerned.
"We're fine." Dawn assured her.
"Are you sure?" Xander ran his good eye over Dawn and Harry. "Professor Snape said there would be a side effect...You haven't grown tails or swapped personality traits or anything, have you?"
"No; we're not on the hellmouth anymore, guys, people don't turn into demons here." Dawn said with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, not that much, anyway." Harry injected.
"Not helping!" Dawn muttered through the corner of her mouth.
"So what was the side effect?" Willow asked, amused by their actions.
Dawn and Harry shared a glance. "Well, the potion was to make a rat sing and, erm, you remember Sweet, right?" Xander flinched at the glares he received from Buffy and Willow. "I take it that you do then. The potion had the same affect on us as that did."
Buffy grinned. "So you all started singing? Has it worn off? What did you sing about?"
"Yes, yes and none of your damn business."
"What about you Harry, what did you sing about?" Buffy asked finding the whole thing highly entertaining.
"I, erm, I sang about the prophecy." He revealed quietly.
The mood sobered up immediately. "Me too." Dawn admitted.
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" Dawn snapped. "It's pretty much the main thing on our minds at the mind at the moment. I mean we've each got a fifty percent chance of surviving and both of us would rather it be ourselves than..."Dawn trailed off, realising what she had given away.
"What do you mean you want it to be you?" Buffy asked stonily.
"Nothing, forget I said it."
"I can't do that. What did you mean?"
Dawn stepped closer to Harry and slipped her hand in his. "We love each other." She said simply.
"What? No you don't, you're only 17!"
"I'll be 18 in the summer!"
"Dawn; it may feel like love, but it isn't. You're too young to be in love!" Buffy tried to reason.
"How can you say that? You were younger than us when you fell in love with Angel! Are you saying that's not real?" Dawn accused.
"That was different!"
"How? It was exactly the same and you know it!"
"Fine, maybe you do love him, but the prophecy has nothing to do with that! You can't choose who dies! It's foretold or something, right?" Buffy looked to Willow.
"Umm, yes." Willow said regrettably. "It's a prophecy; there's very little wiggle room in it."
Dawn slumped down in one of the sofas, pulling Harry down next to her. "We didn't say we want to choose. We said that neither one of us wants to die."
The tears that had been threatening to fall over the last couple of days finally spilt over. Buffy immediately gathered her sister into a hug and whispered soothingly to her.
Harry, feeling very awkward, shuffled towards the doorway. He paused on the way to speak to Xander.
"Tell Dawn-"
He cut Harry off with an understanding nod of his head. And the young wizard crept out the room leaving Dawn with her family. So who was he supposed to go to? His parents and Sirius were dead. There was no-one left.
Buffy was still holding Dawn close when she heard a muffled squeak.
"What was that sweetie?" She asked gently.
"I don't want to die." A tiny voice said.
"Hush, it'll be alright, everything will be ok." Buffy repeated over and over trying to calm her sister.
But it wouldn't be alright; how could it ever be alright again?
Another chapter done! Next time, lots of Jaden and what she's feeling.
I'll try to get it up quicker, but I've still got a few AS exams to do. (Is anyone else doing 14 exams?)
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