This may be a little disjointed, it was written at odd times between revision. My descriptions of Hogwarts are pretty much made up by me. I've used the Harry Potter Lexicon for some facts but generally it's just made up. I figure it doesn't matter since the castle changes all the time anyway.
Review loads for this chapter, I only need 14 more reviews til I reach 400!
Thanks to:
ScruffyWes
Dreamer Child
Darla56
Hermione Malfoy – hey you're back! And with Pedro!
Renna
Lolly6 – I'm not a big reformed Draco fan so I see him being a DE. I don't see him being around much in this fic though.
Sabia
Wllw979
Lexinator – lol you're right, from now onwards things are going to slowly start to build up to something big. You'll soon see, maybe you'll even figure it out!
Kyra2
Silver Warrior- lol Hogwarts library will be referred to next chapter!
Chapter 25 – Dobby and Draco
Buffy, Faith
and Giles left the Great Hall and walked through the hallway outside. They were
able to fully appreciate their surroundings now, as it was empty of students.
The stone walls reached far above them, curving over to make an arched roof.
They crossed it and began to climb a wide sweeping marble staircase. Buffy ran
her hands over the banisters, the polished marble cool under her fingers.
"We should've got the Marauders Map,"
she murmured and Giles nodded. "Oh well, it's more exciting if there's the possibility
of getting lost." At the top of the staircase they turned right and walked down
a broad corridor lined with portraits that watched them pass.
"Weird," Faith commented, watching a
little girl play with her puppy. A few doors led off of the corridor but they
were all closed and they passed them. Another staircase was at the end of the
hallways and they ascended, Buffy first. She stepped onto the fourth step and
then nearly hit her head as her foot sunk through it.
"Ouch!" she yelped, looking down at her
leg, calf deep in the stair. Faith grabbed her arm and hauled her out the step.
Buffy looked down at it and poked an experimental finger through it.
"This place is freaky," she said,
looking around her. "I need to pay more attention." She avoided the step and
continued up the staircase. They reached another landing and Faith darted
across the hall to an open door. Giles and Buffy followed more cautiously and
they opened it and found an empty classroom.
"Boring," Faith declared and they moved
on. They climbed and descended the variety of staircases in the castle.
"We're lost," Buffy said finally and
Giles shrugged. They stood in a dingy stone corridor, in the basement part of
the castle with eerie torches lining the walls.
"Maybe we should ask," Faith suggested and
pushed open a dark wooden door, with heavy brass studs in it. As the three
entered the room, a class of students turned and stared at the newcomers. Faith
moved further in and Buffy followed.
Much to her disgust she saw Snape standing at the front of the classroom.
"You," he snarled when he clapped eyes
on her, but quickly he covered his disgust. "Come to see the class?" Faith
narrowed her eyes in dislike, remembering the one time she had met this man and
how he had cursed Buffy.
"Not exactly," she replied coolly. "We
got a bit lost as it goes." Snape smirked.
"Yes I understand that you might find
Hogwarts difficult to navigate," he said silkily and Buffy could see that he
was just about preventing himself from being openly rude. The presence of the
students made that impossible, he had to at least keep up the pretence of being
polite to Dumbledore's relatives. She looked over the class and saw with
surprise that Harry was present. She did not acknowledge him, as she knew many
students were looking at them but he, Ron and Hermione beamed at her, Giles and
Faith.
"So are you going to help us?" Faith
asked rudely. Snape stared at her frostily.
"If you insist," he said shortly and
turned to the class. "Potter, assist our guests in finding the Entrance Hall."
Harry nodded and got up. He led the three out of the dungeon and back out into
the corridor.
"How are you liking Hogwarts?" he asked
and Faith grinned.
"It's
weird," she said with a shrug. "Lots of weird stuff here." Harry nodded.
"Are you going to the Shrieking Shack
after dinner?" he asked Buffy, who nodded.
"I'm missing Padfoot already," she
confessed with a smile. They followed him through a complicated route of
passages and found themselves back in the entrance hall.
"I'd better get back," Harry said
hurriedly. "Or Snape'll poison me."
"Come by and visit us sometime," Faith
suggested. "We'll let you know where our rooms are and we can hang out
properly."
"That'd be great," Harry said with a grin and
disappeared down a nearby corridor.
"Well we're back where we started,"
Giles said speculatively. "What do you want to do now?"
"Not wander round the corridors," Faith said,
wrinkling her nose. "Being lost sucks."
"Let's check out where you guys are
gonna be resting your heads," Buffy suggested and as the others agreed she
snapped her fingers three times in succession. At once a tiny creature appeared
in front of them, only reaching the height of Buffy's belly button. He had
tennis ball sized green eyes and a long thin, pencil-like, nose.
"You wish to go to your rooms?" it squeaked in
a high pitched voice and Buffy nodded in surprise. "Follow Dobby, he will take
you!" Buffy, Faith and Giles walked quickly to keep up with the tiny creature
as he led them quickly through the corridors.
"If you don't mind me asking," Buffy
said, hurrying to keep up with him. "What are you?"
"Dobby doesn't mind miss asking," the creature said, looking up at her with large green eyes. "I is a house elf."
"Right," Buffy said uncertainly. She looked
around as they sped along, desperately trying to memorise the way back to the
entrance hall but failing miserably. They arrived at a portrait of a little
girl who looked at them interestedly, putting down the embroidery she had been
working on.
"Professor Dumbledore tells Dobby that
the password is Sunnydale," Dobby whispered to Buffy, casting a nervous look
around him. Buffy grinned.
"Thanks Dobby," she said and the house
elf beamed.
"If you are needing anymore help then
just click," Dobby announced before disappearing with a loud crack.
Buffy, Faith
and Giles faced the portrait.
"Password?" the little girl asked, and
Faith told her. The portrait swung forward revealing a small wooden door which
they pushed open and entered the adjoining room.
"Nice," Faith commented impressed. They
stood in a heavily carpeted room, decorated in shades of red with a large
roaring fire and four over-stuffed sofas. Bookshelves lined the walls with
enough books to keep Giles happy for a long time. Six doors led off of the
room, four to bedrooms and two to bathrooms. A door opened opposite them and
Xander and Anya appeared, looking distinctly rumpled. Faith raised a wicked
eyebrow.
"Having fun?" she smirked.
"Nice place huh?" Xander replied,
changing the subject neatly. "The bedrooms are even nicer." He pushed open
another door to reveal a bedroom, with a king sized bed, open fire and sofa,
decorated in red once again. Buffy opened another door to find a neatly
appointed bathroom, complete with thick towels and the biggest bath she had
ever seen.
"Bet you're pretty pissed you've got to
stay in the Shrieking Shack huh B?" Faith said, flopping down onto a sofa with
a loud sigh.
"It's not a palace but it's where I
spent the best part of a year," Buffy said, flopping down next to her. "It has
loads of memories, the first time Sirius and I kissed, the first time we were
together…."
"Yawn," Faith murmured with a grin and
Buffy swatted her arm. The door to the living room opened and Willow and Oz
entered.
"Nice," Oz said reflectively, looking
round.
"How was the lesson?" Giles asked and
Willow smiled.
"With the magical goodness," she said,
eyes shining. "We went to a Charms lesson, with that cute tiny guy, Professor
Flitwick. The students were doing basic levitation charms and while they
practiced the Professor and I talked. Turns out he's in the Order too, and h
knew who we were. I showed him some magic and stuff."
"We got lost," Faith cut in breezily.
"Ran into Buffy's friend."
"The kid that gave you the finger?"
Xander said, frowning.
"You saw that too?" Buffy said in
surprise. "What a little brat huh? I mean I'm a guest and –"
"Not that one," Faith cut in. "The guy
that cursed her a while back The one we wanted to kick the crap out of."
Xander's expression changed to anger.
"That jerk," he said with a snarl. "They
let him be a teacher?"
"Looks like," Faith drawled, lounging back on
the chair. "I think we should mess with him." Xander and Willow nodded.
"Definitely," Xander said firmly and
Giles looked mildly concerned.
"That's not a good idea," he insisted.
"We are Dumbledore's guests; I doubt he'd appreciate us 'messing with' his
staff."
"But Giles you didn't see this guy," Willow
implored. "I mean he totally laid into Buffy, said all this mean stuff and then
he cursed her and she hit the wall. Really hard."
"Be that as it may Willow, I'd like it if we could leave a good impression on
the people here," Giles said sternly. "The students have to think of us as
civilised magical people." No one replied and Giles began to rifle through the
books on the shelves. Buffy saw Faith, Willow and Xander exchange glances and
realised that what Giles had said had had no effect. Buffy grinned to herself,
deciding it was none of her business if they wanted to mess with Snape. She was
an innocent bystander.
"Wanna go get dinner?" Buffy said in a
while and they all left the rooms. The combination of their navigation skills
led them back to the entrance hall and they entered the Great hall to sit at
the top hall with Dumbledore.
Dinner
commenced immediately, Buffy once again sitting next to Dumbledore.
"Did you enjoy your afternoon at
Hogwarts?" he asked politely and Buffy nodded fervently.
"The castle is amazing!" Buffy exclaimed
excitedly. "Everything moves and changes. And the missing steps and the weird
doors! It's crazy!" Dumbledore's moustache twitched in amusement.
"I am glad you liked it," he commented.
"And the accommodation is suitable?"
"Perfect Uncle Alb," Faith said
comfortably. Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling.
"I take it you will be heading to see
Padfoot after dinner," Dumbledore asked Buffy who nodded. "Would you like me to
arrange a portkey or Floo?" Buffy shook her head.
"It's a nice night, I'll walk it," she
said cheerfully.
Consequently,
when she was finished with her food Buffy said her goodbyes to her friends and
left the hall. She had seen a door earlier which led to outside and would
provide a shortcut across the grounds. Predictably within a few moments she was
lost.
Buffy stood in the middle of a deserted corridor, turning back and forth to
decide whether to continue onwards or try to make her way back the way she had
come.
Loud footsteps sounded down the corridor and Buffy sighed in relief at the
chance to ask for directions.
However the footsteps came closer and Buffy saw that they belonged to the boy
with the white blonde hair. She took a deep breath and prepared to swallow her
pride.
"You," the boy said coldly as he laid
eyes on her. "Are you lost?"
"Something like that," Buffy said distractedly. "Can you help?"
"I can," the boy said, narrowing his eyes.
"Whether I will or not is another question."
"What's your name?" Buffy asked, trying
to be friendly. The boy stared at her superiorly.
"Malfoy," he said disdainfully. "Draco
Malfoy." Recognition dawned on Buffy but she kept it under disguise.
"Got a cool James Bond thing going
there," she commented lightly and Malfoy looked confused. Buffy had recognised
the name; she had heard Sirius mention it when he talked of death eaters, as
she recalled this boy's father was currently languishing in Azkaban prison. She
had also heard harry and Ron mention his name, Draco Malfoy, their arch enemy
at Hogwarts.
"Anyway so are you going to help me?" Buffy
asked brightly and the boy took a few steps towards her.
"You'd love that wouldn't you," he said
smoothly.
"Excuse me?" Buffy said, a little
confused.
"It was obvious when you saw me that you
wanted me," the boy replied with a self-assured smile. "Couldn't keep your eyes
off of me."
For a few moments Buffy was gob smacked and couldn't find the right words. Then
she began to laugh.
"I'm old enough to be your mother," she
chuckled. "Well maybe not quite but I'm twenty two and you must be seventeen.
Aren't I a little old for you kid?" Draco smirked.
"An older woman wanting a younger man,
not unheard of. Probably trying to recapture your lost youth," he commented,
stepping closer to her.
He was about an inch taller than her, despite their age difference. Buffy realised that he was trying to intimidate her, invading her personal space, and making her uncomfortable. He probably figured that as a new visitor she would be unsure, especially as a woman. Probably a trick he learned from his father, Buffy guessed correctly.
"Sorry kid, it's been fun but I've got to
split," Buffy said brightly. She turned to go but he brought up an arm in her
way. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Not a good idea," she warned him.
"You're out of your depth kid."
"I sincerely doubt that," he replied
coolly. "Not when facing an American mudblood." Buffy wanted to laugh but
instead she grabbed his arm and flipped up over, throwing him to the ground.
She was careful not to hurt him too much, just using a simple throw. He landed
sprawled on the stone floor, hair in disarray. He stood up carefully, pushing
back his hair.
"Freak," he spat at her, keeping his
distance this time.
"Save it for when your voice breaks,"
Buffy laughed, before turning and heading down the corridor she had come from.
Buffy
reached the Shrieking Shack in about twenty minutes and was surprised to see
the change in the place. Dumbledore had properly fixed the place up, replacing
all the furniture with clean, new things and cleaning the kitchen and bathroom
thoroughly. It also appeared that they had hot running water now and well as
wooden floors swept clean of dirt and dust and laid with thick rugs.
"This place looks great," Buffy said
after she entered through the kitchen door and greeted Sirius with a long kiss.
"Though I do kind of miss the old style. It was very retro." She squealed as
Sirius scooped her up and carried her into the living room, sitting down on the
clean, dust free sofa with her in his arms.
"How was your afternoon?" he asked,
nuzzling her neck.
"Pretty cool," Buffy said thoughtfully. "Me, Faith and Giles went on an adventure round Hogwarts and got lost."
"It happens," Sirius said matter-of-factly.
"Oh and I got sexually harassed," Buffy
said lightly, kissing his neck.
"You what?" Sirius asked hotly. "By who? I'll
kill them. Was it Snape?" Buffy giggled.
"You're cute when you're jealous," she
murmured. "Relax; it was by that Draco Malfoy kid." Sirius began to chuckle.
"But he's Harry's age," he commented.
"Apparently I'm trying to recapture my
lost youth through a younger man," Buffy said amusedly. "The little jerk
totally invaded my personal space."
"Probably like his father," Sirius said with a
frown. "Lucius Malfoy was two years above us at Hogwarts and he had a
reputation for being less than favourable of women. Used them as far as I can remember
and treated them like dirt."
"Looks lie his kids might have the same
bad habits," Buffy commented. "I taught him a lesson about testing unknown
opponents. He won't try that again in a hurry. Besides, I've always had a thing
for older men."
"Oh really?" Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. "You got anyone in mind?"
"Just looking at the moment," Buffy replied
nonchalantly. "In the meantime, let's the light the fire. I'm frozen!" Sirius
did some quick work with his wand while Buffy fetched a blanket and they curled
up together on the sofa.
"If I were to die," she said softly. "I
would want it to be at a time like this. If I were to die again I mean."
"I know what you mean," Sirius said
sleepily. "Moments like this, perfect happiness. If a Dementor were to show up
I'd create the brightest patronus. I don't want anything to change."
"Me neither," Buffy said, snuggling into his arms.
Kind of a smushy ending but I've got some plans which are going to shake them up quite a lot. I just want to get the Hogwarts thing done first so bear with me if you are waiting for some big action!
