Author's Note: I have no claim over Buffy and Co., nor over Harry and crew. They belong to Joss Whedon and JK Rowling, respectively. Please read and review!
Snape's attitude toward her didn't mellow noticeably in the weeks to come, until one day, it came to a head.
"That will be 100 points from Gryffindor for your insolence!" Professor Snape shouted at Buffy for standing up in Harry's defense. "And if you weren't here under Dumbledore's insistence, I would make sure you were expelled!" Spittle flew from Snape's mouth.
It had started out as a normal, if hostile potions lesson, but it had soon deteriorated into a shouting match. Snape had been vicious to Harry in his usual way, and he had started confronting Buffy directly as well. Buffy never rose to the bait, but she didn't back down either. Today, however, she'd lost her cool. The previous night had been particularly troubling. She'd gotten less sleep than usual and it was filled with especially vivid nightmares about her mom and Dawn. She'd awoken irritable and tense. She'd managed to keep it together until Snape had called both her and Harry belligerent and ungrateful fools who didn't deserve the privileges they enjoyed. At that point a fuse in Buffy's brain blew and she'd jumped out of her seat and started shouting back.
"How dare you call my ungrateful! How do you presume to know anything about me? You don't have the slightest idea what I've been through! You couldn't possibly understand. And you KNOW what Harry's been through and you still treat him like dirt. Well, I'm sorry you and his dad didn't like each other but that's no reason to be a complete ass!" yelled Buffy. Snape took a sharp breath and the vein in his forehead bulged dangerously. After he deducted one hundred points, he gave Harry a detention and threw them both out of class.
"I'm really sorry Harry, he's just such an awful creep I lost my temper, and now you have detention. I'll go talk to Dumbledore and see if he'll let you out of it. It wasn't your fault," Buffy said as they left the dungeon. She spoke with Dumbledore who agreed to let Harry off the hook. Later that evening, while Harry was working on his homework, Buffy took some time to write a letter to Dawn.
"Dear Dawnie,
Holy crap, you wouldn't believe this place! It's a giant castle with turrets and towers and everything. I can barely find my way around because the staircases change and move. There's nothing like being lost at two in the morning, getting bad directions from a ghost. And the painting and pictures move, like the people in them have something better to do.
Things are going ok here. Harry, the one I'm supposed to be protecting, kind of reminds me of you. Everyone here's been really nice. Well, almost everyone. Professor Snape, who teaches potions, is worse than Principal Snyder. I didn't think that was even possible. But all the classes are really interesting. It's too bad Willow never got to come to a place like this. Maybe things would have turned out differently.
I hope you're doing good in LA. I'm going to ask Dumbledore if you can visit for Christmas. Most of the students go home for the holidays, so we wouldn't have to worry about your muggle (non-witch) status. You'll really like it here. And we can go into Hogsmeade, a wizarding village, to do some shopping! There's no Neiman Marcus but there's lots of other cool shops. You wouldn't believe some of the things you can buy there. I'll see if I can work it out with the headmaster.
Love, Buffy"
That night was another bad one. After some training time in the dungeons, Buffy decided to go to bed. It was pointless to go patrolling. Nothing ever popped up and Dumbledore preferred it if she left the native creatures alone. As long as they weren't hurting anyone the ghoulies should be left to their own devices. The Forbidden Forest was off limits anyway, so the chances of someone being hurt were slim. The only reason she went at all was to give her something to do. Despite the size of the castle, Buffy sometimes felt claustrophobic and stifled. Itching for a fight with nothing to pummel left Buffy feeling tense. Most of all, she just wanted something normal in her life. Things had spun so far out of control, especially after her return from Heaven Buffy longed for something steady and dependable. After the forest, she went to her training room. The punching bag took a lot of abuse, but she felt slightly better by the time she was ready to leave. She hadn't gotten more than five feet with Professor Snape appeared in front of her. This was a good time to fall on her sword, metaphorically speaking.
"Professor Snape, I just want to apologize for my behavior during your class today. I didn't mean to undermine your authority, but I thought what you said was really unfair." Snape wouldn't be deflected.
"You think being the slayer somehow makes you special, that you can do anything you like. You're just like Potter. If it were up to me, you would be out of this school and back at your hellhole in California. Unfortunately, it isn't up to me. But if you ever put so much as a toe out of line, it won't matter what sort of heroine you are. Do you understand me?"
"Geez, I said I was sorry," she said as he stalked away. She began the arduous trek back to her room. She felt the first cold wave as she walked through the entrance hall. Buffy looked to her left, and down the corridor swept one of the tall, menacing Dementors. She turned to run down the opposite hall only to find another deathly figure gliding towards her. It was then her vision began to fuzz and she heard faint voices of her mother, Dawn, Angel…the tortured voices of the people she loved. With tears streaming down her face, and the Dementors closing in, Buffy backed her self into a corner of the room, trying to make herself as small as possible.
The voices in her head were getting louder and she heard screaming and crying. Scenes began flashing before her eyes; Her parents' divorce, finding her mother dead on the couch, the moment she sent Angel to hell, Dawn being taken away by Glory, and so much more. Buffy started to relive all of her horrible memories, over and over again. Completely lost in her own mind, Buffy was totally unaware of the booming voice that called "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" and she did not see the silvery light that drove the Dementors out of the castle. Dumbledore rushed to Buffy's side as Professor McGonagall ran down the hall.
"Albus, what happened?
"Dementors, Minerva. Somehow two of them entered the school and encountered Buffy. It looks as if they pushed her into some kind of trance." He was still examining the trembling girl.
"Will she be alright?"
"I don't know. With any luck she'll snap out of it herself. If not, we'll have to take more drastic steps. We need to get her to the hospital wing." He conjured a stretcher to carry her upstairs. Madam Pomfrey examined her more closely than Dumbledore had.
"Can you do anything for her, Poppy?" Professor McGonagall said.
"We'll start her on a hot fudge drip right away. Otherwise all we can do is wait and see if she can break out of it herself." Dumbledore sighed and began to pace.
"What is it Albus, do you know something?"
Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid conventional magics will not work. She is trapped inside her mind, but she's not physically hurt. No potion or charm can help her. Fortunately the Dementors were not able to perform the kiss, so her soul is still safe. There may be some chance to save her, but it will take powerful magic to do it."
"What do you mean there's a chance? What do you know? Is there something you're not telling us?" There was a pause as Dumbledore leaned over the bed, staring at the frail shaking body that lay there. He smoothed the bed covers as he said barely above a whisper, "This has happened to her before. Not the same, of course, there were no Dementors, but she was in a similar trance." McGonagall looked at him sharply as he continued.
"Last year, a hellgod named Glorificus abducted her sister Dawn and slaughtered dozens of men in a matter of seconds. It pushed Buffy into a state much like this. Her friend Willow, a powerful wicca, performed something like legilimency to bring her out of it. I'm afraid we're going to have to rest to something similar. Minerva, would you be so kind as to bring Severus here, please?" McGonagall nodded and left the room, to return several minutes later with Professor Snape, who looked harassed. Dumbledore asked the others to leave.
"You wanted to see me, headmaster?" He hadn't noticed Buffy yet.
"Yes, Severus. I'm sorry to say that Ms. Summers has had a rather bad encounter with a couple of Dementors." (Snape's scowl deepened as he saw her on the bed). "She appears to be stuck in a catatonic state."
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
"You are the most accomplished legilimens in the school. I'm asking you to go into her mind and bring her back."
"Headmaster, it's been so long since I've used legilimency, I'm not even sure I could do it anymore. And even if I could, it's too dangerous. Her state is such that I could potentially crush her mind, making it impossible to salvage anything. And even if she doesn't sustain any damage, she may see me as a foreign invader and lash out at me. The risk to both of us is just too great. Plus my reputation is bad enough without people saying that I destroyed Harry Potter's bodyguard," Snape said.
"You underestimate Buffy's strength. I do not believe she will break. She is trapped in horrors most people could not imagine and to leave her without trying is unacceptable. I know you have the reputation as something of a monster, but I also know that's not what you are. But to leave Buffy at the mercy of her memories would be truly monstrous. Please, Severus, I'm asking you to put aside your hostility and help this girl as only you can." The conflict was visible on Snape's face, and eventually mercy won out.
"Alright, I'll try headmaster, but I can't guarantee anything. There's no telling whether this will work or not."
"Of course, Severus. No one will blame you if this fails. Do you need anything?"
"Just quiet and privacy. I don't know how long this is going to take."
"I'll place an imperturbable charm around the bed so no one disturbs you." Dumbledore drew the curtain and left the hospital wing. Snape sighed and stared at the girl shaking on the bed. He didn't really want to do this but the sooner he tried, the sooner he could quit. He raised his wand. "Legilimens."
He was standing in some kind of courtyard. At the end of the room was a large statue that looked like a big ugly gargoyle. Snape could hear clashing sounds, like metal on metal and he turned to see Buffy sword-fighting with a large man. Buffy fought furiously but the man seemed to have the advantage of size and strength. They moved all around the room until he knocked the sword from Buffy's hand and her back was against the wall.
"Here you are, no friends, no weapon. What's left?" the man said and thrust his sword in her face. Buffy miraculously stopped the blade between her hands.
"Me." She pushed him back and found her sword again but Snape's attention was drawn back to the statue. Its mouth opened and a swirling vortex formed and grew. Now Buffy had the upper hand and they were in front of statue when she raised her sword to deal the final blow. But suddenly the man's eyes glowed and he fell to the ground. He was shivering when he looked up.
"Buffy?"
"Angel?" She lowered her weapon. Meanwhile the vortex was still growing.
"What's going on? I don't remember."
"Shh." She caressed his face and leaned in to kiss him passionately. "I love you," she said when they pulled apart.
"Buffy, what's going on?"
"Shh. Close your eyes." Then she took a step back and drove the sword through Angel into the statue behind him. She backed up looking horrified as the maelstrom swallowed Angel and then he was gone. Buffy fell to her knees sobbing. The scene shifted and now he was standing in a house. Buffy walked in the door.
"Mom, I'm home!" she yelled. She saw the vase of flowers by the door and oo'ed in glee. "At least some guys are still getting it right," she said. "Hey flower-getting lady!" She looked through him up the stairs. She turned into the living room where the body of a handsome middle-aged woman was lying awkwardly on the couch. "Hey mom, whatcha doin?" Silence. "Mom? Mom…mommy?"
Severus watched helplessly as Buffy rushed in over her mother's body. As he watched her panic he began to realize that Dumbledore was right. Neither he nor anyone else knew what she had been through. He walked into the room and put his hand on her shoulder. "Buffy," he said. "Leave me alone!" she screamed and pulled away from him. Then the scene changed again.
Now he was standing on a tower high above the ground. It was dark out but the sky flashed violently with an unholy light. Buffy was standing in front of a 14- or 15-year-old girl and Snape could just make out what she was saying.
"Dawnie, you have to listen to me. You have to take care of them now. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Live, Dawnie, for me." She kissed the girl's forehead and spun toward the end of the plank. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. As she rushed past him, Snape could feel every drop of fear, pain, hate and love and he knew their mind link was complete. Her memories flashed again and again until he knew them all and it almost broke his heart. They were in a muggle hospital standing over an unconscious boy and Buffy appeared to be a vampire. He had to get through to her.
"Buffy, you have to snap out of it! None of this is real, it's all because of the Dementors. We're still at Hogwarts!"
"You're lying!"
"No! Albus Dumbledore hired you to protect Harry Potter, remember? We have to get out of here."
"You're just trying to trick me. Just leave, that's what everyone else does." Snape grabbed her arm.
"I'm not going to leave you, don't you understand that? I saw everything, ok? I understand now and you're not alone. I'm not going to leave you." He tried to shake some sense into her. He could see the tears in her eyes.
"Everyone leaves me," she whispered.
"I won't." She was crying hard now and he held her close. And then they were back in the hospital wing. Buffy sat up slowly, looking disoriented. When she looked at Snape, her face contorted in pain and she sobbed into her hands. He moved from the chair and sat next to her on the bed, where he wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't believe this small girl had lived through so many horrors and had beaten death twice, once to her cost. Even the Dark Lord hadn't managed that. She was far more complicated than he ever would have though. He was touched, not only be her undeniable pain but her deep sense of devotion and loyalty. She was a far cry from the wet rags he had to teach. She inspired him.
"I won't leave you."
