CHAPTER FOUR: THE WATCHER

Buffy sat in the swing seat, gently rocking back and forth, her feet scraping the dirt beneath her.  She heard a soft cough behind her and twisted the chains of the swing so that she was facing her new Watcher.

"Hey," she greeted softly.

He inclined his head to her and came to stand directly in front of her. 

"Have you given what I told you any more thought?" Dominic asked.

Buffy sighed and nodded.  "It's not like I really have a choice, is it?" she asked rhetorically.  "So…yeah, you've got yourself a Slayer."

Dominic sighed in relief.  He'd been somewhat worried about what he would tell the Council if she'd flat out refused to become a Slayer.  It had happened before, with Slayers who'd never been found when they were Potentials. 

"Excellent.  Well then, we'll have to discuss your uh…living arrangements, your training schedule and your patrol timetable," Dominic said, feeling slightly more confident now that he was back on ground he was familiar with.

Buffy's eyebrows furrowed together and she stopped the momentum of the swing completely, staring up at the Watcher with daggers in her eyes.

"What exactly do you mean by living arrangements?" she demanded angrily.

Dominic sighed.  He should have known that Buffy's capitulation wouldn't last very long.

"Well, you can't very well stay within the confines of your home.  Your parents must never find out about your duty.  I've already broken tradition and protocol by announcing your status as Slayer to the young man with you the other day," Dominic said, speaking slowly, as though the answer were completely obvious.

Buffy stood up, and even though she was a good foot shorter than Dominic, the man was smart enough to be intimidated by her.

"If you seriously think that I'm going to stop living my life, you've definitely got another thing coming," she said.

"Miss Summers…surely you must-"

"Surely I must keep going to school, and seeing my friends and my family.  Surely, I must be able to have some sort of a life outside of Slaying.  I've seen Council trained Slayers.  They die because they have nothing to live for, and I refuse to become like that," Buffy said firmly.

"Miss Summers, there is no point in continuing your schooling," Dominic said delicately.   "Anything that a school is going to teach you will become…irrelevant.  The Council has it's resources, we can teach you the skills that you will need."

Buffy smirked.  Obviously the Council had no idea that she was a student at Hogwarts.  They most likely hadn't figured out that she was the same girl that they'd trained several Aurors as Watcher's for. 

"Trust me, everything I learn at school I'll be able to use," she assured him.

Dominic looked completely sceptical.  "Such as?"

Buffy grinned.  With a loud crack, she disapparated, and apparated directly behind Dominic.  The Watcher turned, completely startled, his eyes-wide and his jaw open in shock.

"Good lord," he whispered.

"Now do you believe me?" she asked.

"You never mentioned that you were a witch," he accused.

"And I'm meant to what, advertise the fact that I'm hell powerful?  Please…you don't want me telling people I'm the Slayer, and the school doesn't want me telling people I'm a witch."

"This is…unprecedented," Dominic said.  "None of our Slayers have ever had training in magic.  Not in centuries."

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes.  Trust her to once again be special.  She was getting tired of being the only one who had been chosen for higher purposes.  That was probably why she and Harry got along so well, she mused.  They'd both been chosen for something, and had never been given any choices in the matter.

"Well, there you have it.  I'm a witch.  And a Slayer.  So, you don't have a hope in hell of dragging me away from Hogwarts," Buffy said defiantly.

Dominic nodded.  He mentally went over the plans he'd been making over the last few weeks for his charge.  At least now he wouldn't have to find a new apartment to accommodate another person living with him. 

"Very well.  But, how exactly do you plan to conduct nightly patrols?" he asked.

"I can apparate wherever I'm needed," Buffy replied simply.  "It's kind of a handy skill."

"Indeed," Dominic replied.  "I thought that the barriers at that school were, uh…impenetrable."

Buffy just shrugged.  "Apparently not to me."

Dominic didn't know how to reply to that, and settled on coughing uncomfortably.  He shifted his weight and Buffy took her seat on the swing once more, staring up at him.

"So…what about training and stuff?" Buffy asked.  "Cos, me and Faith had a sparring session yesterday and…well, I haven't had that much fun in a while.  Unless it was of a completely different nekkid variety."

Dominic flushed bright red, and Buffy grinned.  She could tell that making the man in front of her squirm was going to become a favourite activity very quickly.  Giles was far too used to her comments nowadays, so being able to ruffle her new Watcher's metaphorical feathers was good fun.

"Well, uh…I haven't found an adequate place to uh…train," Dominic admitted.  "But, I will begin looking into gymnasiums and the like that will allow us to hire out an entire room for large blocks of times."

Buffy frowned for a moment.  She suddenly grinned, and the look on her face had her new Watcher wondering what on earth the girl could be thinking.

"I think I know a place we can go," she said.  "I'll have to ask a few people, but…I'm pretty sure it'll be alright."

Dominic nodded, thankful at the thought of being spared the hassle of trying to locate an area where they could train without being interrupted or spied upon. 

"I'll be in touch two days after Christmas," Buffy said, standing once more.  "If you could contact Faith and Wes, you two Watcherly types can do whatever you do while me and Faith train."

Before Dominic could reply or protest, another loud crack sounded in the air, and Buffy was gone.  Dominic frowned and turned to eave the park, fairly certain that having to train a charge who could disappear at will was going to prove to be a challenge. 

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The chapters will get longer, honest!

As for House of Black, my apologies for the delay, but I'm having probs with the computer I wrote it on.  *sighs*  Soon, honest.

Many thanks for your feedback.

Toodles.

DKG.