CHAPTER SEVEN: THE GHOST
School started back, and neither Hermione nor Ron had been told about Buffy's new status as the Slayer. Buffy and Harry had had several discussions about telling them, but for now, Buffy wanted to keep it between them. Not even Draco knew. It wasn't something that she wanted to be passed around school just yet, and she knew that the more people who knew, the likelier it was to be passed around as rumour.
She already had enough people fearing her as it was. She didn't need more people thinking she was a psycho because she had started patrolling the Forbidden Forest at night.
The only other time she'd really been in the Forest had been the year before with Giles when the nest of vampires had been snacking on the centaurs. Apart from that incident, Buffy had kept away from the Forest and its beckoning darkness. Now that she was the Slayer though, she couldn't seem to stay away.
There was something incredibly beautiful about the darkness that rested within the trees, and Buffy could feel the Forest calling out to her to join its depths. Every night she gave in to the urge to hunt, wondering whether or not Faith did the same thing.
Back in Sunnydale, she'd never been too keen to actually patrol, but now that she was at Hogwarts, sometimes it was all she could think about. She wondered whether or not it had to do with the fact that she was finally the real Slayer, not just imbued with the strength of one. It was fascinating, discovering the differences between her old strength and the new power that she could feel running through her veins.
She was still having a certain amount of difficulty controlling the power of her magic, and she'd found that the less she thought about performing a spell, the better it worked. If she concentrated on making a spell happen, it usually would have four or fives times more fire-power behind it. And that was definitely a bad thing.
The only magic-orientated subject she'd found that she wasn't trying to reign herself in had been in Potions. And while Snape may still not have liked her all that much, she at least wasn't making things explode or accidentally transfiguring a rat into a tiger.
Her dreams had become darker, and more frequently, Buffy awoke from nightmares, sometimes of the past, sometimes of the future. She'd been having recurring dreams that she knew were meant to belong to Harry and Harry alone, but she'd been seeing things from his perspective. Sometimes it was the evening of his parents death, sometimes the horrors of growing up with the Dursleys. Other times it was the night Cedric had been killed and Voldemort had returned, and others had been Voldemort kidnapping Buffy and using the Cruciatus Curse on her.
Buffy hadn't mentioned the shared dreams to her boyfriend, preferring to keep it to herself for the moment. She'd had the problem earlier the previous year and Dumbledore had explained it was the connection between Harry and Voldemort that Voldemort had accidentally made when he'd left Harry the scar that would forever mar Harry's forehead.
Now, she was trying to work out why she was still having the dreams when the connection had been severed. Voldemort was dead, and in no way was he able to return. Dumbledore and several other Aurors had seen to it, and Buffy knew within her soul that her father would never haunt the wizarding world again. It was something she was infinitely thankful for.
Buffy sighed, and listened carefully to the gentle breathing coming from the other four girls in the room. She could tell that Hermione, Ginny, Lavender and Parvati were all asleep. She was thankful for that small relief.
She slipped out of bed and pulled her leather coat around her shoulders, having gone to bed in jeans and a sweatshirt, knowing that it would only be a matter of hours before she slipped out of the room to patrol. She grabbed her weapons, stashing them in the various hiding places that were easily accessible, and she quietly crept to the windowsill. She eased it open and perched on the ledge. She pushed herself off, freefalling in mid-air. She quickly apparated so that she was standing on the ground instead of falling.
When her feet hit the solid ground, she grinned in relief. It was a rush, falling from the window like that, and she'd been worried the first time she'd tried it that it wouldn't work. It had, and she'd done so every night after that, ensuring she wasn't in the Gryffindor dorms when she apparated, knowing that she'd wake them up with the loud crack that was the telltale sign of someone disapparating.
"That was risky," a voice said in the darkness.
Buffy gasped and spun to face the owner of the voice. Her eyes narrowed, and she tried placing the tall man with black hair and strangely familiar glasses.
"And?" she asked testily.
She didn't like the vibes she was getting off the mysterious British stranger at all. He reminded her of someone, and she could only hope that the person in front of her wasn't who she suspected it to be.
"Well, I'd really prefer it if my son's girlfriend didn't kill herself by jumping out a window twenty storeys high," he said.
Buffy sucked in a breath of air, her face going pale.
"James Potter," she whispered.
"Good guess," he replied. "I'm glad to finally meet you by the way."
Buffy swallowed hard.
"I'd say 'likewise', but…you're dead," Buffy said.
James chuckled heartily. "Yes I know. It's rather unfortunate really. I'd have liked to have seen my son grow up. Knowing that he grew up with the Dursley's is enough to make me turn over in my grave."
Buffy could feel bile rising in her throat. She was not liking this conversation at all, and she wanted very much to get as far away as possible.
"Look, uh…James. It was nice meeting you and all, but…I'd really rather not stand here and chat with a dead guy," Buffy said.
James shrugged and, as Buffy turned and walked away, he kept stride with her, his shadow melding into hers.
"Well, I'd rather my son didn't go out with the girl whose father murdered my wife and I, but…well, we can't have everything," James said.
Buffy stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at what she was suddenly very convinced wasn't a figment of her imagination.
"What did you just say?" Buffy asked angrily.
Within an instant, James' smile had vanished and his eyes lost their sparkle.
James looked down at her, his superior height making her feel suddenly very insignificant. While she may have been the Slayer, hearing her boyfriend's father, (his dead father at that) telling her that he didn't like the fact that she was dating his son was like a slap in the face.
"You heard me Elizabeth Riddle," James said coldly. "You should have been killed by the Ministry when they had the chance. Instead, you're…corrupting my son."
"No," Buffy whispered.
"Yes," James insisted. "You…you claim to love him, yet you continue to hurt him."
"I haven't," Buffy said quietly.
"Haven't you? You refused to let him comfort you when you became the Slayer. You won't let him tell his best friends about your new title. You dragged his name through the mud when everyone found out who you truly are," James said. He shook his head disapprovingly.
"You're not real," Buffy said, tears welling in her eyes.
James chuckled softly and stepped forward. "I am real Elizabeth," he whispered. "I'm real, and I'm here, and I want you to stay away from Harry."
Buffy shook her head. "It won't happen," she replied. "I'm not staying away."
James shook his head sadly. "Then you really don't love him," James said. "That's a pity. Because of everything I know about you Elizabeth, I do know that you genuinely love my son. But…you'll destroy him. And all of the wizarding world as well. You think you know…what you are? What's to come? You haven't even begun."
Buffy shook her head, her hands trembling. She didn't trust herself to speak, knowing that any words that came out would be too shaky to be understood.
"Trust me Elizabeth," James said. "You can't possibly believe that you'll ever be any good to him."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Buffy said.
"Yes I do," James replied firmly. "You were born to darkness and that is all you can ever bring. You'll ruin him. Break him beyond recognition. All because you were too selfish to let him go."
"I don't believe you," Buffy said weakly.
James sighed and stepped back.
"Believe it or don't, you're still going to be the ruin of my son. And I don't want to see that come to pass. He's suffered enough, don't you think?" James asked. "If you truly loved him, you'd let him go Elizabeth."
"Stop calling me that."
"It's who you are," James replied. "Who you'll always be. You try and you try, but you can never escape from your past, your future. Your destiny. It was written in the stars before you were born. You are Elizabeth. You forever shall be Elizabeth, and nothing you can say or do will make that any less true."
Buffy was shaking her head in denial, her entire body trembling as she listened to James Potter telling her the innermost thoughts she'd had since Giles had told her who she truly was.
"Stay away from Harry, Elizabeth. And prove that you really love him after all."
Buffy stared at James for a moment longer. She couldn't take another second of his presence, and she disappeared with a loud crack.
James Potter's lips twisted into a cruel and cold smile and he looked up at the castle of Hogwarts.
"This is going to be easier than I thought it would be."
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Good fun eh? Many thanks for your feedback and stuff. You guys rock the kasbah! (Whatever the hell that actually means)
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