CHAPTER TWENTY: THE LETTER
"Who sent you that?" Giles asked curiously, vaguely recognising the writing on the letter that Harry had been sent.
"It's just signed from 'a friend'," Harry said.
Giles recalled a conversation from long ago that Buffy had told him about.
"Who are you?"
"Let's just say…I'm a friend."
"Maybe I don't want a friend."
"I didn't say I was yours."
"Angel," Giles surmised. "He's in LA, and I recognise the handwriting somewhat. It makes sense."
Harry couldn't help but feel surprised that Buffy's ex-boyfriend would write to him and tell him of Buffy's whereabouts when the vampire could have swooped in to save the day himself. He wondered how tempted the vampire with a soul had been to save Buffy himself and try and convince her to stay away from Hogwarts completely.
"That's…really decent of him," Harry said quietly.
Hermione silently agreed, but didn't comment.
Harry was quickly filled in on the First Evil by Giles, Dumbledore and Hermione who explained that the ghosts that Buffy had been seeing hadn't been real. Hermione wasn't surprised to find that she'd been right in thinking that Harry had had James and Lily visit him earlier in the day. Harry couldn't help but feel half elated and half depressed about the fact that the ghosts weren't really his parents. On one hand, he was desperate for contact with his family, but on the other hand, he didn't want his parents telling him to stay away from Buffy. He couldn't believe that he had played into the First's hands by breaking up with the girl he loved. He felt like kicking himself.
"Can you apparate us to LA?" Harry asked. "We've got the exact address and everything."
Dumbledore shook his head. "The distance is too great for so many people," he explained.
Harry's face fell. He could almost hear Dumbledore's next sentence, suggesting for he and Hermione to leave retrieving Buffy to Dumbledore and Giles.
"If we were to use a Portkey however," Dumbledore said, trailing off at the end of the sentence.
Harry grinned, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
The elderly wizard removed a hairbrush from his robes and placed it on the desk before aiming his wand at it.
"Portus!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, wondering why on earth Dumbledore had a hairbrush in his robe pockets, but chose not to say anything. She noticed Harry's confusion at the chosen item as well and the two teens exchanged a glance, smirking at each other slightly.
Dumbledore walked back to his desk and removed something from the drawers, slipping it into his pocket before either Harry or Hermione could see what it was. Harry couldn't help but be concerned by it, but knew that the Headmaster would only do something drastic if it was a worst case scenario.
"Ready?" Dumbledore asked.
Giles, Harry and Hermione gathered around Dumbledore's desk, each f them ready to put their fingers on the brush.
"On the count of three. One…two…"
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As instantly as the group had disappeared form Dumbledore's office in Hogwarts, they reappeared just as quickly in the darkened back alley of a street in the poorer part of LA. Dumbledore cast a simple spell to give light to the alley, but all they could see was empty trashcans and flattened boxes lining the ground.
"She's not here," Harry said, disappointment seeping into his voice.
"Maybe it's the wrong street," Hermione suggested.
Giles thoughts were somewhat darker than Harry and Hermione's simple suggestions. He couldn't help but wonder if the letter had even come from Angel at all. He wondered if it had been some scheme to get them to travel all the way to LA as a trap of some wort.
He didn't have too much time to give it any more thought though. There was a sudden rush of noise as at least eight sets of footsteps came stampeding towards them.
First came a young woman with black hair and a terrified expression. Following her was six vampires, all in their game faces. And following them was the blonde girl they'd all been hoping to see, stake at the ready and jumping into the fray.
Buffy barely even had time to react to the sudden appearance of Harry, Hermione, Giles and Dumbledore, instead focussing on the fight in front of her. She didn't want to think about how they had managed to find her when she'd been sure that a locator spell wouldn't work across countries.
She placed herself between the black-haired woman and the group of hungry vampires, punching, kicking, dodging and ducking her way through a fight.
When one of the vampires slipped past Buffy's defences, Harry didn't even hesitate to rush forward with his wand raised.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
His aim was perfect, as he'd known that if he misfired the spell and accidentally hit Buffy, it would probably be the death of them all.
The vampire froze and fell to the ground, its arms and legs locking into position. He didn't have a stake on him though. He thought about transfiguring a nearby rock into a stake, but then realised that he was holding a sturdy enough piece of wood in his hands already.
He quickly thrust his wand into the heart of the vampire and watched in satisfaction as it turned to dust.
Within minutes, the six vampires had been defeated, and Buffy turned to face her friends, her 'father' and the Headmaster. Dumbledore touched the item in his pocket before muttering a quick spell that he knew would be needed.
When Buffy tried to apparate out of the alley, she was met with a very powerful barrier to stop her from doing so. She looked at the Headmaster, somewhat impressed by his forethought. Two months ago she may have been able to break through the Headmaster's barrier, but with everything that had been happening, she was no where near her full magical strength.
"Buffy…" Harry trailed off, not really knowing what to say. He wanted to apologise for breaking things off with her, but he knew that she had other things that were probably more important than their relationship to deal with. The First was trying to make her unstable enough to turn towards the darker side of life, and that wasn't something that Harry or anyone else wanted to see.
"You should have just stayed at Hogwarts," Buffy said. "Saved yourself the trouble."
"Buffy, you must come back with us," Dumbledore said gently. "You shouldn't be by yourself."
"It's harder to hurt people if there's no one here to hurt," Buffy replied coldly.
"This is exactly what the First wants," Giles said. "It wants you by yourself. Isolated from the rest of the world. You'd be playing right into its plans."
"And if I go back to Hogwarts, it'll just change its plans Giles," Buffy argued. "If I hurt anyone…if I killed anyone, I'd never be able to live with it. I was Chosen to protect people from things and if I can't even protect them from myself, then what kind of a Slayer am I?"
"You won't hurt anyone!" Harry yelled angrily. He didn't like the thought of losing his girlfriend, and now that he knew that the First had manipulated him into breaking up with Buffy he was mentally kicking himself for ever believing that his parents would want him to give up the one person who made him happiest.
Buffy shook her head and looked at the boy she loved with sad and guilty eyes. Her gaze strayed to Harry's shoulder and the still slightly visible bruise that marred his face.
"I already have Harry," Buffy replied quietly. "If I'm capable of hurting you of all people, what's to stop me from hurting others?"
"Buffy, if you stay away, you'll be fulfilling the First's wishes," Giles said softly. "The First wants you to stay away from Hogwarts. It wants you by yourself, and I'll be damned before I allow that to happen."
Buffy's eyes met Giles', and the DADA Professor could see that his young protégé was close to breaking point. He cursed himself for not having seen it before. The First had systematically broken through her defences by playing on her multiple insecurities, and Giles hadn't even seen the slightest hint that something had been wrong until it was far too late. Looking at the girl he considered a daughter, he couldn't help but wonder how he'd missed the signs.
"Buffy, we love you. Whatever happens, you will always have us. I once offered you my support and my respect, and I still hold to that promise," Giles said, his voice taking on a slightly desperate note. "But I must insist that you come back with us. We can research what's been happening more extensively, and we'll find a way to stop it. But we can't do that without you."
There was complete silence in the alley, save for the far off sounds of traffic several blocks over. A police siren echoed in the stillness of the evening, and Harry, Dumbledore and Giles waited with baited breath to see what the Slayer would say.
"Buffy please," Harry whispered. "Please, don't let this thing destroy us. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm not going to let some ancient evil take you away from me."
The Boy-Who-Lived inched forwards, his eyes never leaving Buffy's. He held out a cautious hand, moving as slowly as he possibly could, as though he was approaching a wounded animal. He saw Buffy's knees falter, and he barely managed to catch her before she collapsed to the ground.
As Buffy broke down sobbing, all Harry could do was hold onto the girl he loved more than life itself, and give her something to cling to.
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This chapter was the one that has caused me the most difficulty in writing, even though I wasn't entirely sure why when I managed to sit down and write it. This chapter was the main cause in my lack of updates, believe it or not. Hopefully from here I have kind of a clearer view of what the hell is going on. Huzzah!
Hope you enjoyed the triple update!! Many thanks for all your reviews and emails, you guys rock!
Toodles.
DKG.