Chapter 25
Rivalries

- - - - -

Buffy and Hermione were sitting in the Potions class late the following night, the necklace spread out on the table in front of them. Hermione was holding a tiny pin with which she had just punctured one of the shiny green bobbles. A thin stream of clear liquid oozed onto a small, flat glass plate. Hermione lifted the plate and handed it over to the other girl. "Hold this."

Ever since Buffy had had the dream the night before, she'd been openly curious as to what was in this necklace. She assumed it was something that was going to help them. She wished Willow were here, almost. Even though Willow had created this liquid, it seemed only fitting she would be able to divulge what this mysterious substance was.

Hermione lifted her wand and prodded the substance. Parts of it started turning different colors and separate ingredients were singled out. "This is interesting," she said, staring at the plate still in Buffy's hands. "These are synthesized chemicals."

"They're what?" Buffy asked blankly.

"Well, you know my parents are both dentists. They get to work with these things," Hermione said vaguely as she studied the potion a little bit more. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this was a drug."

Buffy's heart froze as she realized suddenly what it was. She set down the glass dish, her eyes wide. She managed to find a chair in time to sit, instead of sinking to the floor as reality because surreal.

"Buffy?" Hermione asked from somewhere above her.

"Oh, my God," Buffy whispered. "Oh, my..." She reached out with a trembling hand to touch the plate, which tinkered slightly as her shaking hand brushed the fragile plate. "I never thought I would see the day when they would offer this to me without question. This is the reason why I quit. This is..." She broke off, swallowing hard. "This is a drug that acts as a sedative. It's a combination of muscle relaxants and sedatives. It takes away my... powers..."

"You've had this drug before?" Hermione asked sharply.

Buffy nodded, not looking at her. "It's the reason why I quit the Council," she confessed. "I was drugged and these monsters took my mother... Joyce... and I couldn't..." she looked down at her shaking hands and folded them quickly. "Let's just say I'm not used to being the weak one."

"And now your friends from California have sent this to you," Hermione realized, turning back to the necklace and gently removing the punctured stone.

"Seems sort of thoughtless, doesn't it?" Buffy asked the younger girl, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears. "I mean... why would they intentionally try to hurt me?"

Hermione didn't have an answer for that. She just laid the necklace back in its box and handed it back to its owner, who took it hesitantly. "Maybe it's a worst-case scenario," she said softly.

"I can't ever use this," she said, staring woefully at the box. "If I did... then all of the pain will come back and I will once again be reminded of how I got here." She paused, staring hard at the other girl. "Have you ever done something just because you didn't want to do it and it was the hardest decision you've ever made in your life?"

Hermione shrugged. "I usually try to avoid those situations. The books do little to emphasize on them."

Buffy let out a short laugh that sounded more like a bark. "It's hard being a hero, Hermione. There are certain choices you have to make and there are sacrifices and consequences that come with the whole Slayer package. When I walked away from that, I gave up my right to protect this world... and now that my evil Council is after both Harry and me... it makes my decision even more bittersweet. And knowing what Harry's been going through, no matter how little I know... it's still..."

"It's different than you expected," Hermione finally said after observing the older girl for a moment. "You're not used to this world. I'm still getting used to it and I've been here for six years now. Harry found out about this world on his eleventh birthday. It sort of makes sense you'd find out about this around your eighteenth."

"You do have to admit though," Buffy said with a laugh, shaking her hair back, "that this world has its' perks."

"Do you mean a certain Quidditch player?" Hermione asked innocently.

Buffy swatted at her. Hermione managed to duck out of the way, laughing. "Oh, you!" Buffy giggled, feeling more lighthearted now. "I don't know. It could be him. It could be you guys."

"We've been a bad influence on you," Hermione realized. "You're even starting to talk like one of us."

For the third time, Buffy didn't look mortified. "Hey, when in Rome..."

"I'm glad you like this world," Hermione finally said, dropping into a chair next to Buffy. "I'm even glad I met you. I've never had any contact with Americans before and you certainly are one of the most unusual."

"Gee, thanks, Hermione," Buffy said, wrinkling her nose. A sudden thought occurred to her. "So, you going to tryout for Quidditch?"

Hermione started giggling again. "Oh, no, no... not I. Could you see me playing that sport fifty feet above the ground? I'd break my neck... twice!"

"It'd be fun to play," Buffy said with a firm nod. "All that reading I've done has given me ideas."

"Buffy," Hermione said gently, "you're dating a Quidditch player. It's bound to eclipse your interest somehow."

"I meant the sport," Buffy said with an odd look at the other girl. "Not just... him."

"You going to tryout then?" Hermione asked curiously.

"God, no," Buffy said with another laugh. "Could you imagine? I'd have no idea what I was doing. I've been on a broomstick twice. I'd break my neck. And I'm a seventh year! I'm supposed to know all of this rubbish."

"You definitely are turning into one of us," Hermione said with a hint of awe in her voice. "You really are English."

"Don't remind me," Buffy said, wincing. "I'm still getting used to it."

The plate and the box, which had been sitting on the table forgotten, suddenly came back to both of them.

"It's still a pretty necklace," Hermione finally said softly. "It'll probably make Oliver jealous if he were to see you wearing that."

"I've had enough jealous crap over the years," Buffy said darkly. "I'm not going to make him jealous. I'm not going to play hard-to-get. I've had enough..."

Buffy knew she was treading on dangerous territory. While she trusted the sixth-year Gryffindor, she felt a sense of foreboding. If she spilled her entire life on the table, she would be exposed. She had to hold something dear to herself. Although Hermione knew about Angel already, she didn't know all of the details.

"I like Oliver," Buffy finally said. "I really do. And those are my cards. He's got them now."

"He cares for you, too," Hermione said softly. "He wouldn't be sending you all those owls otherwise."

"He's probably just curious," Buffy said sadly. "I mean, look at the big picture. He'd be dating a Potter and my brother has got to be one of the most famous wizards in this generation. If that wasn't enough pressure, he knows about my other side too."

"You told him?" Hermione asked, surprised.

Buffy nodded. "See? Even when you're older, you still do stupid things just to play your cards."

"You must really like him," Hermione said, her voice still hushed.

"Yeah, I do," Buffy said with a fond smile. "I won't see him until Hogsmeade, which is like another four weeks plus away, so I can just pine away until then."

"What will happen when you next see him?" Hermione asked with a teasing smile.

"I'm going to make him remember me," Buffy said lightly. "After how I said goodbye to him at the station..."

"You... you...?" Hermione couldn't choke out the words, but her eyes were wide. Judging by Buffy's knowing smirk, the older girl had just realized Hermione had never been in a serious relationship.

"It was just one," Buffy said, leaning back against her chair. "And it was the most fabulous..." She closed her eyes as the memory of that one kiss came back to her. With a sigh, she turned back to the things sitting on the table in front of them. "We should probably get out of here before Snape comes back."

"I told him we were going to be in here," Hermione said, yet stood up and started putting things away all the same.

Buffy felt a familiar closeness with the other girl. It was almost as though she had a person resembling Willow back. "Thanks, Hermione."

"You're welcome," the younger girl said to her, tucking her wand back into the pockets of her robes. "And... Buffy?"

"Yeah?" Buffy asked, sticking the box back inside her book bag.

"If I ever have any questions about... dating..." Buffy snorted into her hand. "I know who I'll come to for advice. It's not like I can just go to Harry's ex."

"Right," Buffy said slowly, the memory of Cho Chang popping into her mind. The two girls left the dungeons and started walking back towards the Common Room. "Harry dated Cho Chang, didn't he? I saw her yesterday in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"He did," Hermione replied. "It wasn't the best move on his part, however..."

"Oh, my God," Buffy gasped, realizing something. "You like Harry."

"I don't like him like that," Hermione protested. "Honest!"

"Oh, you lie like a rug," Buffy said with a teasing grin, yet she held her tongue. The other girl obviously didn't want to talk about him. Well, that was even more information she could store away for later.

The two girls reached the portrait hole. Hermione gave the password and they both ducked inside. Since it was still early, the Common Room was full of chattering Gryffindors. Spying Laurel Wood and her friends by the stairs, Buffy waved to Hermione and went to join the younger group, who were bent over their Potions essays. Although Buffy preferred the company of Harry and his friends, whom she'd known longer, she knew she was growing friendly with the much younger crowd because they had the same magical experience.

Hermione watched as Buffy pulled out her parchment and began comparing notes on her essay with the other first years. "Now that's a funny sight."

"What is?" Ron asked, looking up from his Potions text.

"Watching Buffy hanging around all of those first years," Hermione replied. "She's so much older, and yet she's one of the shortest in the group."

"Don't remind her," Harry warned from beside Ron. "She'll probably attack you in your sleep."

"Yeah," Hermione said, grimacing as she turned back to her own studies. "You're probably right."

- - - - -

The next day was cool and clear. Harry was ecstatic to return to the Quidditch pitch that night and had spent an easy hour the night before pruning his broomstick lovingly. He was so diligent in his work that his sister was teasing him for being a picky person. Harry frowned on that. He'd really never considered himself to be picky at all.

Buffy sat with her roommates at breakfast and for this, Hermione was grateful. She was worried that Buffy would be teasing her endlessly about her little crush.

The only problem was, the seventh year girls were making so much noise that everyone in the Great Hall was suspicious. Eyes kept glancing in their general direction and Hermione buried her face between her hands, staring at her Arithmancy text.

"You study too much," Ron protested over his kippers.

Hermione just smiled patiently at him and turned back to her book.

Harry just rolled his eyes and glanced up at the sound of the owl post coming in. "Oh, look, the mail!"

Hermione's usual owl landed and she paid it, setting aside her copy of The Daily Prophet. Harry watched as a small black owl flew towards the other end of the table, landing on his sister's shoulder. She was laughing as she removed a package attached to its legs and the owl flew off again.

Onyx was the moodiest owl he had ever met. It was almost as if the bird was in sync with Buffy's sarcasm.

Another owl landed near her, as well, dropping a box on her plate before taking off in the air. To Harry's surprise, he noticed Onyx chase after the tawny owl a bit before both disappeared from sight.

"You got two packages?" Katie asked enviously as she studied her new roommate from across the table. "Who's it from?"

Buffy flushed slightly as she saw the familiar handwriting on the one smaller package. "I'll give you three guesses with this one, and, ooh..." She paused when she saw the scrawl on the box. She burst out laughing. "Oh, dear God..."

"It's from Diagon Alley," Emma said, taking the box from Buffy's hands. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Buffy said, wiping the tears from her eyes as Emma turned to open the box. Buffy slipped the package into her book bag, intending on looking at it later.

"Oh, it's from Fred and George," Emma said with an air of surprise as she handed Buffy the small card attached with the box. "I'll let you have this."

Katie and Tess, who was sitting next to her, leaned over and began inspecting the few items inside the box.

"Ooh, lollies," Tess said, grabbing a small bundle of brightly-colored bobs on the ends of thin white sticks. "But knowing those two, these are either poisoned or rigged to explode when sucking on them."

"Or else they flavored them something dreadful," Yasmine said from the other side of Emma, also curious as to what else was in the box. "Like blood or something worse..."

"Not much worse than blood," Emma said with a disgusted look on her face. "And... mice?"

Both Yasmine and Tess gasped as one of them leapt out of the box and began jogging in circles around the table.

"Oh, God, they sent me live mice?" Buffy asked in a hushed voice, bringing about another round of laughter.

"I think they're just charmed," Katie said, finally catching the small white bit by the tail. "I mean, look. It's probably full of toffee... or else a skiving snackbox."

"I heard about those," Buffy said conversationally. "What are they?"

"Something to make you dreadfully sick during class," Tess replied with a giggle. "And then you take the second half and you're miraculously cured from your ailment. They were brilliant last year with Umbridge. I wonder if we could get away with them with Pryce."

"I wouldn't count on it," Buffy said softly, opening the card. After a moment, she just started laughing.

Emma snatched the card from her hand and read it aloud to the small group of girls.

Teeny Tiny --

We hope you're enjoying your first week at Hogwarts. Enclosed are tokens of our affection.

All our affections,

the two BEST Weasleys

"Teeny Tiny?" Katie asked in a hushed voice. "Oh, I feel so sorry for you..."

Buffy just giggled harder and returned her attention to the box. "Any snacking skyboxes?" she asked in a barely audible voice.

"They're right here," Tess said, lifting a small cloth bag and opening it. Inside were six little chewing candies, one half of them orange and the other half purple. "If you really feel like vomiting through class, I recommend the orange end. It's a bit stale and it doesn't really taste like vomit. The purple half is the half I prefer. It's sweet and fruity and just sort of glides down your throat."

"What else is there?" Buffy asked, taking the few things that remained in the box and putting them on the table.

"Those look like quills," Katie said, pointing to two feather-like objects. "I bet they're tasty."

Buffy lifted one of them and nibbled on the end. "It's chocolate!"

"They made you chocolate sugar quills?" Emma asked in disbelief. "They must really like you."

Buffy smirked slightly as she tucked the first quill inside her bag. "They really are great."

Emma quickly stuck everything back in the box and handed it back to its owner. "If you ever feel like sharing..."

"I will share a great many things," Buffy said, finishing up her breakfast. "There are two things I will never share, however. My underwear, which I am certain will freak you out anyway. And my boy."

"We didn't expect you to share Oliver, Buffy," said Katie, snorting into her juice. "Just a few treats now and then will suffice."

Buffy reached out her hand and the younger girl shook it.

"We'd best be going," Emma said, standing up. "Defense Against the Dark Arts... how exciting."

Buffy stood up with the other girls. "I'm going to run this box to the Common Room quickly!"

"Buffy!" Tess gasped. "You don't have enough time."

"I run fast," Buffy said with a sweet smile, turning her back and disappearing.

She ran into class just before the bell rang, dropping next to Emma, breathing hard. "Did I make it?"

"Barely," Emma said, looking impressed. "You must not have had a single moment to catch your breath."

Buffy winced as she put her hand on her side. Without using her muscles and her reflexes often, she felt her body quiver when they were used to their fullest extent. "You're telling me," she breathed, sitting down and closing her mouth. Professor Pryce had just walked into the classroom.

"Good morning, seventh years," he said briskly, walking to stand in front of his desk. He crossed his arms as they all answered, "Good morning, Professor Pryce!" back.

They'd been trained by Umbridge well.

"I expect that you will have all done your reading and have studied up on the topics which we will discuss today," he said, staring out into the sea of faces before him. I will open our discussion with a question and I would really appreciate it, Miss Chang, if you would reply to it." He paused as the Ravenclaw girl sitting to his right glanced up, looking slightly put out about being the first picked the second time in a row.

"Where does history tell us is the original source of all things supernatural?" he asked her.

Cho glanced down at her notes for a moment before looking back up. "I think the source of something supernatural comes from the source, like an event that happened in which something was created from that oblivion."

Behind Buffy, Tess put her hand in the air. Professor Pryce turned to her. "Yes, Miss..."

"Austin, sir. Tess Ausin."

"Do you have a comment to make, Miss Austin?" Professor Pryce asked her gently.

She nodded. "I have to disagree with Cho Chang, sir. I believe that anything supernatural comes from the Earth. It's part of an existence of the exterior world outside of our own. It is not nearly as vague as Miss Chang tells us it is."

"Very well, Miss Austin. Anyone else?"

A seventh-year Slytherin put his hand up. "It's Warrington, sir. How can a supernatural creature like a unicorn come from the Earth? It is nothing but a horse with magical powers."

"There's more to the supernatural than just magical powers," Emma said suddenly, turning around to regard the Slytherin sitting two desks to their left and one behind. She turned back, looking apologetically at Professor Pryce. "It's Emma Vance, sir."

"Miss Vance, would you care to enlighten us on your comment?" Professor Pryce asked calmly, leaning back against his desk, as though he were enjoying this discussion.

"Supernatural powers have nothing to with magic," Emma said from her position right next to Buffy. "They are attributed to something that goes beyond natural forces. There's almost a sixth sense that occurs when one experiences the level of super-naturality that we're describing."

Cho put her hand back in the air. "Yes, Miss Chang?" Professor Pryce asked, turning back to the Ravenclaw girl. "A comment? A question?"

"Of course it has nothing to do with magic," Cho said, glancing back at Emma reproachfully. "Muggles can see the supernatural too, but they'll just admit it a poltergeist or a funny sound in the wind. They'll never admit what they see."

Buffy found her arm slowly reaching upwards. Next to her, Emma was glaring across the room towards Cho, her eyes narrowing.

"Miss Potter?" Professor Pryce asked.

"I think you've underestimated a lot of Muggles," Buffy said loudly, feeling irked and defensive. "And about this rubbish on finding an origin for supernatural things, there is no such stated date. Supernatural beings and occurrences exist because they exist. They just used a different power, whether it was given to them from the Earth or whether it was created through magic."

"That sort of supernatural force cannot be seen by Muggles," Cho argued, lifting her chin and staring at the Potter girl defiantly. "How can you say it can?"

"Do Wiccas not exist? Do they not draw power from the Earth to do their magic? There are dimensions and portals all around us and all we see is 'ooh, a ghost'. As for Muggles seeing the supernatural, need I remind you that there are plenty of Muggles in this class who can all attest to what they see and what they can't. Unless you feel like alienating a large group of the class, I suggest you generalize your answers."

Professor Pryce stepped in before Cho could reply angrily. The rest of the Ravenclaws were glaring at the Potter girl, who sat back in her chair with a satisfied smirk.

"All right, next question. Miss Vance, if you could handle this one... what sort of powers from the Earth can a supernatural force inherit?"

"Magic, of course," Emma said without blinking.

Cho snorted into her fist in the front end of the classroom.

"Miss Chang, a question?" Professor Pryce asked, turning to the Ravenclaw girl again.

"You cannot draw magic from the Earth," Cho replied in a tart voice. "How can you? The Muggles--"

"They can't see what they don't know," Buffy said, interrupting Cho's rant. "There's more to the Earth than just magic. There's a old, ancient power that resides in the soils. Not that you would know, since you just happened to alienate the rest of us."

Katie snickered behind her. Cho just tossed her head and glared back at Buffy. "Why don't you enlighten us with a story of inheriting power from the Earth, then?" she asked, crossing her arms, looking smug.

Professor Pryce sent her a warning glance, but Buffy chose to ignore it.

"There are emotions," Buffy said simply. "One can draw this from this planet or from oneself." She then launched into the story of how Willow had used the power of the gypsies to restore a soul. "I had a friend who was studying Wicca. I had another friend who, through a curse by his ancestors, had removed his soul. She managed to restore his soul by drawing the power of the gypsies, the power left hundreds of years ago. With the power combined with an orb known as Thessla, she was able to restore his soul. That is a power you can inherit. The knowledge of ancestors."

She turned back to look at Cho, who looked interested.

Buffy didn't say anything else. Nor did anyone.

"Next question," Professor Pryce said, drawing his eyes away from the one girl he knew had that power. As he continued calling on students and creating an open discussion, Buffy was deep in thought, occasionally writing down notes as the students around her started talking enthusiastically. They were obviously very interested in the subject.

If only they knew there was a supernatural being in front of them.

But before they could bring up the subject of the crossover between supernatural powers and their world of magic, the bell tolled. Professor Pryce assured them they would continue the discussion the next day. Buffy and Emma both stood up, looking at each other.

"That was intense," Emma said finally, pulling her bag over her shoulder. "You certainly know your lore, Miss Potter."

"We have to give you that much," Katie said, coming up between the two girls and wrapping her arms around both of them.

"Cho looked like she wanted to bite your head off," Tess said, coming up on Emma's other side.

"Oh!" Buffy gasped, turning to the others. She saw Cho stopping to talk to Professor Pryce. "Why don't you all go ahead? I'll be down to Hagrid's soon, I promise."

The three girls swept off with the three seventh-year Gryffindor boys who had joined them. As soon as they disappeared, she made a beeline for Cho. She'd been wanting to talk to Harry's ex-girlfriend for a while now and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Sort of.

"Cho! Hey, Cho!"

The pretty girl stopped and turned back to face her. "Oh, it's you," she said, making to brush past Buffy and leave the room. Professor Pryce took his briefcase and climbed the stairs to his office, granting them respectable privacy.

She was beginning to like the guy.

"I'm sorry for my comments in class," Buffy said, reaching out and taking the other's girl arm. "But I guess I just wanted to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Mostly from Harry, of course."

"H-He still talks about me?" Cho asked softly.

"He sometimes does, yes," Buffy said as both girls left the room and began walking through the corridors. Buffy knew she was going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures if she didn't start moving soon. Luckily both girls had the same class and they started walking quickly. "He didn't tell me how it ended between you two."

"It never really started," Cho confessed. "I had a crush on him since his second year and my third. I bet you don't understand."

"Believe me when I say I do," Buffy told her. "I had an older boyfriend, too. We broke up about a little over a year ago."

"Oh, really?" Cho asked as the two turned a corner. "What was he like?"

"He was the best thing that ever happened to me," Buffy confessed. "Before Harry, I mean. It was the best ten months of my life."

"Did you love him?" the younger girl asked.

Buffy nodded. "It's strange," she said as she pushed open the door, both of them starting downstairs. "When he died, I felt like I had died, too."

"Your boyfriend died?" Cho asked in disbelief as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, my... that's horrible!"

"You're telling me," Buffy sighed. "I haven't even told Harry about him yet."

"I still cannot believe you're his sister," Cho said. "I mean, you're definitely smart enough to be, as someone who was raised by Muggles."

"My adoptive Mother was awesome," Buffy said, grinning fondly as the two walked outside. "I would give just about anything to see her again."

Cho didn't ask her about it, because she knew it was a painful topic from just being around Harry. "For what it's worth," she said quietly, taking Buffy's arm again. "I liked your brother a lot. I didn't love him... but for awhile, he made the pain go away."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, feeling confused.

"You're not the only one who had a boyfriend die," Cho said, walking away. Buffy watched her go, suddenly feeling even more lost.

- - - - -

Harry had just been walking back from his last class of the day, which had been Double Potions. He was surprised to see Professor McGonagall waiting for him outside the door.

"Come with me, Potter."

"Am I in trouble, ma'am?" he asked in confusion as she led him to the gargoyles leading up to Professor Dumbledore's office.

She shook her head. "No, you are not in any trouble." She gazed at him over her spectacles. "He just has a matter he wishes to discuss with you."

"I should probably thank him for letting me back on the Quidditch team, too," Harry said, grinning.

She gave him a small smile before turning to the stone gargoyle. "Fizzing Whizbee," she said, lifting her hands to face the stone statue.

Instantly, the gargoyle began to twist. Harry quickly stepped up as the moving stairway lifted before coming to a stop outside a heavy wooden door. He walked over and knocked twice.

"Come in, Harry," Professor Dumbledore called from inside his office. "Come in."

Harry pushed open the door and walked inside. He was shocked to see how new and well put together everything looked. Had it only been a few months ago that the office had been destroyed and all of Dumbledores objects had been smashed and shattered by Harry himself?

Professor Dumbledore rose and gestured to a chair in front of his desk. As Harry sat, he smiled at a brilliant red and orange bird chirruping softly behind the Headmaster's desk. "Hello, Fawkes," he said with a gentle smile.

"Harry, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you," Professor Dumbledore said, seating himself again. "Last year, I do believe you may recall a secret group started by yourself and your two comrades, Mister Weasley and Miss Granger. If you remember back to last year, you will recall that the group was completely dismembered by the Ministry of Magic."

"I remember, sir," Harry said quietly. How could he forget? It was the night that Dumbledore had sacrificed himself in order to keep Harry in school.

"I have spoken with Cornelius and he has agreed that it would be for the best if the group was restarted," Professor Dumbledore continued, his eyes twinkling as he regarded Harry thoughtfully. "I would have thought of the group myself if those within in the Ministry had not been trying to discredit me or my work. It was a brilliant idea to have students learn to defend themselves in the face of catastrophe which you and I will both realize is now upon us."

"You... you're letting me start the D.A. again?" Harry asked incredulously. "But I thought... it's Dumbledore's Army!"

"Who came up with that ingenious name?" the Headmaster asked, his eyes twinkling. "The thought that you were all so thoughtful to consider me in the name of your illegal defense group was quite considerate, given the situation."

"I think it was Ginny Weasley, sir," Harry replied with a smile.

"Nevertheless," Professor Dumbledore continued quietly, "I think it be best if you do continue these lessons. The Room of Requirements is at your disposal. I will ask Professor Pryce to supervise your sessions so that your group will be on good terms with the Ministry of Magic." He paused. "I think we have spoken enough. I am feeling quite peckish and I do believe there will be turkey for dinner tonight. I shall see you downstairs."

"Oh!" Harry said, remembering the Quidditch meeting that night. "Sir, thank you for allowing me to play Quidditch again."

The Headmaster smiled at him. "You see, Harry... not everything in this world is against what you believe in the most. Sometimes people do surprise you. I only wish we could get your sister to play. I can imagine her reflexes would have been as good as your father's."

"I'll try to talk her into it, sir," Harry promised before backing out of his office. Grinning, Harry ran down to dinner, not even caring that Filch caught him and threatened to put him in detention. He burst into the Great Hall and grinned, seeing his sister sitting down with Hermione again.

Buffy looked up as Harry sat down across from her, breathing hard. He was beaming. "Dumbledore's letting us start up the D.A. again!" Harry said excitedly.

Both Ron and Hermione looked stunned.

"Is he off his rocker?" Ron asked incredulously. "Isn't that the reason why he was nearly carted off last year?"

Buffy looked between the three, hoping someone would be nice enough to explain what the D.A. was and why the Headmaster had been so dead-set against it.

But Harry didn't have time. He yelped when he saw the time on Ron's watch. "We only have twenty minutes until the meeting!" he gasped, pulling the platter of turkey faster. After forcing down a bit of dinner, he and Ron both stood up.

"You're welcome to come to the pitch," Ron said to Buffy. "I mean, you haven't seen it except through windows, I'm certain."

"Right," Buffy said slowly as she and Hermione rose to follow them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Katie saying goodbye to her friends as she joined the queue leaving the Great Hall.

Once outside, Harry glanced back and saw Hermione and Buffy deep in conversation. "Do you reckon we could talk her into trying out?" Harry muttered to Ron.

Ron looked back at Buffy and Hermione. "Which one?"

"Dumbledore said he wished he could see how Buffy's reflexes are out on the pitch. I'll bet anything he knows she's a Slayer," Harry whispered back.

Ginny joined them a short time later with the two replacement Beaters from the year before. They both nodded politely at Harry and Ron before settling on the grass.

"Right then," Katie said, moving to stand in front of the group. "I asked Professor McGonagall to choose someone else for Captain this year. I have a lot of studies ahead of me and I'm afraid I don't have Oliver nor Angelina's determination to stand out. Ron, would you care to join me up here?"

There was a smattering of applause as Ron stood on trembling legs to stand next to Katie, who gave him a brief, one-armed hug. "You deserve this, Ron," she said, her eyes shining.

Harry and Ginny both applauded for Ron. Hermione looked stunned beyond disbelief. Buffy just grinned and cheered loudly. Ron's face was easily the color of a tomato before he turned to look at the older girl.

"We'll start tryouts on Sunday then and keep to a three-day-a-week schedule for training," Katie concluded. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Harry said, looking up at her, his arms clasped easily around his knees. "Professor Dumbledore just gave me permission to restart the D.A. again."

Katie looked stunned. "Well, we'll have to figure this out between practices. And the practices for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, of course," she added.

"What about Slytherin?" Buffy asked. "Are they not invited?"

"Over my dead body," Harry said darkly. "The last thing I can see is Draco Malfoy agreeing to be in a group run by me."

"You run the D.A.?" Buffy asked. "What is it, anyway?"

The conversation had turned away from Quidditch.

"It's called Dumbledore's Army," Ginny replied eagerly. "We just shortened it to the D.A. because we didn't want certain people to know what we were talking about."

"Slytherins," Harry and Ron said together.

"There were twenty eight of us," Hermione said proudly. "And Harry taught us hexes and curses and how to protect ourselves from them. It was quite brilliant, really."

"And now I get to start it up again," Harry said happily. "You'll be joining, sister dear. You don't have a choice."

Buffy flushed slightly at Harry's faith in her, but she was just beginning to learn magic.

The meeting disbanded then and everyone started heading back towards the school. Harry pulled her aside suddenly.

"Listen," he said quietly into her ear, "I want you to try out on Sunday."

She let out a loud laugh, but quickly covered her mouth when Katie paused to turn around and look at her. "Are you mad?" she asked him in a hushed, awed voice.

"I think you'll be brilliant," Harry said with a grin. "Especially if you have the same skills as Dad did."

She had to consider this. "I don't know how to fly though! And I can't tell you the first thing about Quidditch except what the team colors are!"

"I'll show her the ropes," Katie offered, wrapping an arm around Buffy's shoulders. "You'll see. You're going to be brilliant at Quidditch and when you and Oliver get married, you'll have lots of Quidditch-playing kids..."

She was silenced when Buffy jumped onto her back. Katie squealed as the two disappeared giggling into the darkness.

Harry was pensive as he jogged to catch up to the others. He was now starting to get curious as to how Buffy would perform on a broomstick. He was almost willing to bet she'd be as good as he was, or even as good as their father. And she had her Slayer super strength. That had to count for something.

Katie and Buffy made plans to fly the following night, which was Friday.

Buffy couldn't believe that four days had passed since she'd started Hogwarts.

She blushed slightly, imagining playing Quidditch with Oliver. He had to be a good player if he'd signed on to an English team. Katie and Harry both held fierce pride in him. And Buffy realized that she was daydreaming when she could see Katie's vision coming true.

And then she began to panic. She'd been on a broomstick twice. She thought the large sticks up in the air looked like flossing instruments.

How on Earth was she going to try this without making a fool of herself? Trying one flight on a broomstick was one thing... but Quidditch?

This was going to be interesting.

- - - - -

Chapter 26... Buffy learns the ropes; Ginny has a talk.

Chapter 27... Quidditch tryouts; Percy visits.

To the Reviewers / Readers:

Gosh, that was fun to write. Buffy's going to have a lot of questions to ask our poor hero...

Well, the supernatural discussion was brought to us kindly from the internet. I really had no idea where to begin with a DADA lecture, so I chose that. As for her storytime thing, I took an artistic license for that! As for the Quidditch thing, our Buffy deserves to have some fun. Not everything can be hard on her now, can it?

CharmedChick -- Nope. The last episode I saw was "Disharmony", which I think was in Season 2 someplace. I just took Wesley's alcohol problem as a sign of weakness, which happened to Quentin in "Checkpoint". I have a feeling my beta knew what she was saying when she told me to keep the alcoholic part in, however.

StahChild -- Oh, I'll definitely be keeping my pairing. I like it now. I can always write something else to disgust you down the line, but hey... I want this fic to work. And it wouldn't work like that.

StarBella -- The "Joe" thing came from the episode "Earshot". I just thought it'd work well there. I'm sorry about your class! I added more Malfoy in in the future, along with more Snape. And PLENTY of Snape bashing.

Lightdemondarkangel -- I'm planning on between 45-50 chapters. There will be definite room for a sequel, but I might just leave it be. I know it's in the mid 20's already and we're in the first week of school. It'll move a little faster. Chapter 25 will definitely be the halfway point.

electric pancake -- She was good at keeping secrets before she met Willow, you mean. I think she and Willow confided in everything together. Without Willow there now, Buffy's exploding. Some things will be kept only to her closest friend. The ONLY reason she goes to someone is because she needs help.

mj -- Nope! Faith isn't Sirius' kid. She just thinks she is because she's dreaming of him. They have the same blood, but aren't daughter/father. And, for the moment, I'm not planning on making Faith a student. And she leaves the Hellmouth to fulfill her own personal thing. She'll be coming back.

I just finished the rewrites for the next chapter and just shipped off the Hogsmeade chapter to my beta. It's slated to come out either next Friday or the following Monday. I haven't decided if I'll do a double posting somewhere. Some chapters are longer than others. Some seem pointless but really aren't. I just finished my favorite chapter by far. I was really pleased by how Chapter 27, Chapter 28 and Chapter 29 turned out. They make the perfect trilogy chapter.

You guys are awesome! Just had to add this final note in! I don't know if I can love forever (probably can), but you guys made it worth it! This fic has reached its halfway point. So, ta da.

Three chapters to Oliverness... hee. Kel makes pretty word.