Disclaimers, etc, see part one.
New Challenge conditions from Cutiepie:
Willow and Tara each making a wand, and given them to Dawn and Anya. Possibly Dawn's wand contains one of Willow's hairs.
Anya writing a book on vengeance demons to 'correct' the ones she found. Xander is weirded out, but supportive.
The only thing Buffy tells Snape while under the Veritaserum is that she was in heaven.
Giles explaining Willow that the Watcher's Council order him to keep her out of the Wizarding world.
Snape smartening himself up once he and Minerva get involved, and the entire school wondering if he is possessed.
… … …
The rest of the school awoke on Saturday in a fevered excitement. Dawn had begun to be worried for Ron over the previous few days, and be more suspicious of 'ferret boy.' Ron looked as bad at breakfast as Dawn had felt with Angelus on the loose.
Buffy leaned closer to Spike over her porridge.
"What's a game of Quidditch actually like?" she asked, eying the great hall.
"You'd have to ask Giles," Spike said. "I've never seen a game. Heard a lot about them. Slytherin and Gryffindor have been rivals forever, they're playing today."
"I can see that," Buffy said. The entire hall was wearing red and gold or green and silver, except most of the teachers.
Dawn had told her about the blood haired boy, Malfoy, who had been taunting Ron. She supposed that the houses were a good idea for a boarding school, but they seemed to produce rivalries that might not have otherwise existed.
The rivalries were well present during the games. Dawn was sitting with Hermione and Ginny in the Gryffindor section and Giles was sitting with the Ravenclaws, but the rest of them were sitting at the back of the teachers section with Hagrid, who was more than happy to explain the rules in between yelling abuse at the Slytherin players.
Xander and Spike were getting quite involved by the time Ron had missed his fourth goal.
"Don't worry," Hagrid said. "Harry's never lost a snitch, well, except that time he fell off his broom because the Dementors. He even caught it the time he was thrown off his broom."
He cheered loudly as Gryffindor scored their first goal of the game and Slytherin stopped singing for a moment.
"And if Harry gets the snitch they win right?" Xander yelled.
"Yeah," Spike told him. "Look! Here they go."
Draco and Harry were diving towards the ground. Buffy could see the small speck of silver and gold they were aiming for. She also saw the intense look of hate in Draco's eyes.
Spike, sitting beside her, winced as one of the black balls, a bludger, came across the field and knocked Harry off his broom. But he stood up, clutching the little winged ball in his fist.
Buffy, Willow and Tara cheered along with everyone else. Xander jumped up, waving his arms in the air. Spike was staring at Malfoy with a 'ha, got ya!' expression.
It turned out Malfoy wasn't a good loser, though. Something was happening down on the ground. Harry grabbed one of the Weasley twins, and the three chasers grabbed the other, all six of them yelling at Malfoy. Buffy leapt up.
"What's happening?" Willow asked.
"There's going to be a fight," she said, pointing.
Xander and Spike followed her out onto the grounds, but they were too late. By the time they arrived McGonagall had dragged Harry and George away and Draco was a lump on the ground with a annoyed looking Madam Hooch standing over him.
Xander took Fred off the Chasers and held him down.
"Where's your brother?"
Fred looked over his shoulder to where McGonagall was marching Harry and George towards the school.
"No, the other one, Ron."
Fred shrugged. "I think he went to change."
"Wise move," Xander said.
He headed off to the change rooms, too. Angelina, Katie and Alicia pulled Fred along behind him. Spike was behaving menacingly enough to stop the other Slytherins going after them.
Willow and Tara made it down to help Madam Hooch take Draco to the infirmary and Madam Pomfrey just as Giles marched past.
"Giles, where are you going?" Buffy demanded.
He raised a mocking eyebrow.
"I'm the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. I'd appreciate it if you didn't question my doing my job in public."
He turned his back on them to follow Willow and Tara.
The crowd had cleared from the stands and the ground, leaving only Hermione and Ginny behind with Buffy and Spike.
"He came here with you, didn't he?" Ginny asked, with an air of sympathy.
"We were never friends," Buffy replied, staring at the retreating back of the one person she should be able to trust above all others.
Spike gently took her hand and lead her back to their rooms.
Giles stalked through the school as quickly as you could stalk. He arrived at McGonagall's office to find her still lecturing the boys.
"Excuse me," he said.
The look she gave him was no more welcoming.
"Maybe I can help?" he said, with sugary pleasantries. He was pleased to see Harry tense at his tone.
"Help?" Minerva bit off. "I'm perfectly capable of assigning detentions, Mr Giles."
"I think detentions are relatively lenient in this case."
"That is not for you to decide."
"Actually it is," Giles said, still smiling. "My predecessor was quite upset that you overruled her previous decision regarding the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Sit down, Mr Potter!"
Harry had leapt to his feet, clutching his wand. But he slowly sat down. Mr Giles looked much more dangerous than Umbridge ever had.
"The Minister has since issued Educational Decree Number Twenty Six. '…the High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members. Signed Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, Order of Merlin First Class, etc.'"
The other three occupants of the room stared at him dumbly.
"I think you should both serve your detentions. Harry with Professor McGonagall, Mr Weasley here and his twin with me. On top of that I think all three of you should be banned from all Hogsmead visits for the remainder of the year."
"You can't do that," George said.
"I believe I just did, Mr Weasley. You are both dismissed, I suggest you change."
Both boys stood and slumped out of the room. Giles collapsed in a chair. He handed the parchment with the new decree on it across the desk to Minerva.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Family," he said. "Who'd have them?"
"Thankful for us that you do," Minerva said.
"Trying tell Harry that. I'll be much worse playing mean than Dolores could ever be actually trying."
"What about Buffy?"
Giles sighed, and took off her glasses to clean them.
"There is something she hasn't told me. I don't want to know what it is."
"Ripper," Minerva said.
Giles smiled. He's always admired Minerva, and she'd always been able to get him to do what he needed to.
"I was sorry about Harold," he said.
"So was I," she said. "But that was twenty years ago. I've had to come to terms with it. What's happened to you, Rupert? Your relationship with Fudge is useful, but the man I knew would never have abandoned his charges."
"She died."
"Buffy? I know. Xander told us. But you should have investigated formal schooling for Willow and Tara."
"That's not my fault," Giles said.
"The Ripper I knew wouldn't have blamed anyone else for the position he was in, or for anything he had or hadn't done."
"The Minerva I knew would have avenged her husband's death," Giles said, only mildly pleased when his barb hit home. He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. Minerva wouldn't accept an apology, now.
There was a stir of magic followed by the clink of china. He felt Minerva's hand on his shoulder and flinched.
"You're behind on a lot of news, Rupert," she chuckled.
"And we don't have a lot of time."
"You should at least tell me her name," she said, quietly.
Minerva poured tea and handed Giles his, just as he liked it. She took a quiet sip from her own and watched him. He seemed to have aged more than she had in the last twenty years.
"Jenny," he said. "Well, Jana, actually."
She didn't say anything as he began to tell her what had happened to him since she had found him the alley behind Ethan's house and sent him back to Oxford.
Eventually she was able to tell him the details surrounding James and Lily's deaths, the Longbottoms and the Prewets. Giles regretted that they had not kept in better contact. There were things you couldn't talk about with the people involved, but they didn't have a lot of time now, and he was supposed to play her enemy.
Her clock struck lunch and they both started.
"We should go down," Minerva suggested.
"We can't look pleased at having spent so long together," Giles said.
"That shouldn't be a problem, Ripper. I'm not happy."
Giles chuckled at the dryness of her tone, and Minerva barely managed to suppress her own smile. She punched him lightly and he quickly adopted a more sober expression.