Chapter 36
Homecoming
x.0.x.0.x
Faith woke early the next morning, feeling cold and moody. Sitting up on the sofa she'd slept on, she ran a hand over her face. It was very dark inside the room since the fire had long died away. There were a few candles burning around the room, and a large oil lamp had been placed on the table in front of the sofa.
There was a noise behind her and Faith turned, lifting her fists instinctively, the blanket falling away.
It was only the Weasley boy. Or man. Whatever he was.
"It's all right," he said hastily, placing his hands up in the air. Faith relaxed slightly, but kept her cool gaze on him should he try anything. He glanced at a small pile of things sitting on the table next to the lamp. "You should get dressed. Breakfast starts in a few minutes."
"Breakfast?" Faith asked curiously. The word really never existed in her vocabulary. "What time is it?"
"Nearly seven thirty," Percy replied, fastening the clip on his long black cloak. "I think Buffy left you some clothes and a robe if you'd like."
Fifteen minutes later, Faith and Percy were walking into the Great Hall. Faith looked around, feeling somewhat in awe. There were beautiful armaments adorning the walls, along with large banners. He led her to a long table, where Buffy's brother was already sitting with a small group of people, all who looked at her curiously as Percy approached them.
"Who's your friend, Percy?" another red-headed boy asked in keen interest.
"She's actually a friend of Elizabeth's," Percy said with a frown, glancing up and down the table. "Is she not here?"
"No," another voice said from behind them. They had been followed in by a tall blonde-haired girl and a brunette, both looking slightly anxious. "She didn't come back last night."
"The last time I saw her, she was with Oliver," Harry replied. An awkward silence followed these words.
"We should have known," the blonde said, laughing. "Hi," she continued, noticing Faith. "I'm Katie Bell."
"Emma Vance," said the brunette behind her, sticking out her hand.
Faith ignored it. "I'm Faith," she said in a slightly cold voice.
"This is Ron and Hermione, Faith," Harry said, drawing her attention back to the table by introducing the two people sitting around him.
Faith was spared having to say anything else by the arrival of the other Slayer. She was running into the Great Hall, her book bag bouncing on her shoulder as she ran over to them, her blonde hair wild around her face. "Hi," she said breathlessly.
"Where were you last night?" Faith asked, arching one eyebrow.
Buffy suddenly started coughing as Katie wrapped an arm over the smaller girl's shoulders. "You were with Wood, weren't you?"
Harry looked like he was about to keel over when Buffy put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Nothing happened, Harry..."
"Nothing you'd tell your two good friends anyway," Emma teased as the two seventh year girls pushed Buffy down onto a bench and joined her. "Are you ready for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"Oh, sure," Buffy said darkly, adding cereal to a bowl and reaching for a platter of bananas. "I actually like that class."
Faith stared at the other girl a moment before moving to take the seat across from her, glaring at Percy as she sat. "What is going to happen to me now?"
"You're going to go... home..." Buffy said in a quiet voice, slicing bananas into her corn flakes. "I would gladly accompany you, except I have classes and... I really cannot miss them." She was blushing now, and Faith knew someone had said something to her.
"Am I going alone or am I... oh, damn!" Faith realized, seeing Percy's cool look. "I'm with you... again?"
"No," Buffy said, pouring milk into her cereal. "You'll be going with Lupin. He's been staying at Grimmauld Place. So you'll have a housemate for awhile."
"As long as it's not Peter," Faith snarled, reaching for the tray of cereals.
Ron snorted into his goblet as he set it down. Harry looked as though he were just dying to let out a laugh. Percy's ears turned pink as he glared at Faith, who glared right back at him. Katie just looked at Faith curiously.
"You're American, aren't you?"
"Not originally," Faith replied, selecting a bowl from the tray and setting it in front of her.
"You're like Buffy?" Emma asked, looking even more curious than Katie.
"No one knows about me?" Faith asked Buffy hopefully. Maybe this would be all right after all.
Buffy shook her head, still eating quickly. Faith realized that she should probably do the same and ate quickly. Once they finished, Buffy turned to Percy. "I'll take her to the good Headmaster's office, now, I think."
"Are you sure?" Percy asked her, concerned. Faith gave him a very cold look and he turned quickly back to the other girl. "O-Of course."
"Let's go," Buffy said, rising. Faith followed her. Harry watched them for a moment.
"Can I come, too?" he asked. Ever since he found how who Faith was, he wanted to get to know her more.
Buffy nodded and Harry rose, lifting his own book bag onto his shoulder. "I'll see you guys in Charms," he said, turning his back and following his sister and her friend out the door.
"How did you sleep?" Buffy was asking Faith as they walked briskly towards Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Like a log," Faith replied, yawning. "I could use more... but I guess I'll get it when I go home, huh?"
"I guess," Buffy said, giving Faith a curious look. "Did you have any more of the dreams?"
"If I did, I don't remember," Faith replied.
"Did you see anything about Sirius?" Harry asked. Faith paused and he nearly ran into her as she turned to look at him.
"Nothing," she said quietly, giving Harry a calculating look. "You knew my brother, didn't you? You knew him as a good man."
"He was one of the best men I have ever known," Harry said seriously. "I... I'll be happy to tell you about him."
Faith gave him her first genuine smile in England. "I'd really like that, Harry." Her face sobered. "When I found out who I was, I was terrified that I would be the same way. I guess there's one in every family."
"Or, in our case, two," Buffy said, wrapping an arm over Faith's shoulders. "We'd better hurry up. Harry and I both have classes starting in less than half an hour."
"Right," said Faith. They continued walking.
Saying goodbye wasn't as hard as it seemed, Harry thought. He barely knew Faith, yet Buffy gave her a great hug before pulling back. "Watch your back," Buffy said, releasing Faith, who gave them both a wary smile.
Professor Dumbledore handed her the Floo powder and she took a pinch.
"I'll see you soon?" Faith asked them in a shaking voice.
"We will," Buffy promised as Faith stepped into the fireplace, threw down the handful of powder, and shouted out, "Grimmauld Place!"
Then she was gone.
"Let's get to class," Buffy said, patting Harry's back as she turned, pulling her bag back onto her shoulder.
"Did you really stay with Oliver last night?" Harry asked her as they walked out of Dumbledore's office and downstairs.
Buffy grinned at him. "I did. And I slept on his floor. Honestly! What kind of girl do you think I am?"
"A smitten one," Harry admitted.
"Well, all I have to do is look at your face and know you feel the same freakin' way!" Buffy replied, grinning at the obvious blush creeping up Harry's neck.
"Kindly do shut up."
"Make me."
"Do you remember what you said about threatening a Potter? It works both ways, you know," Harry teased.
"We'll see about that."
x.0.x.0.x
Faith fell onto her stomach, groaning. There was a light flickering around her. "Oh, shit," she moaned, slowly getting to her feet. As she raised her eyes, she found that she was in a strange, yet familiar looking, dining room. "Whoa..."
She stepped around in a small circle, her eyes taking in the dimly lit room. There seemed to be snakes carved into the walls. Two large candlesticks shaped like the serpents. Their eyes seemed to glow red from the red flames dancing on their tilted tongues. Faith shivered involuntarily. It really was creepy standing in this dining room.
There was a footstep behind her and she turned, gasping as she saw a figure towering over her shoulder. There wasn't a lot of room to move, but she managed to wretch a chair from the table and position it in front of her and the other person.
And then the person stepped into the light.
"Whoa," she muttered, ducking her head slightly. "I'm sorry, yo. It's good to see you, Wolfy."
"Please do not call me that," Lupin said pleasantly, appraising the girl he knew to be Delita Black, or Faith, whatever she wanted to call herself now. "If you can't remember Remus or Lupin, try Moony."
"Moo-ny," she said with a chuckle. "I like it. It suits you."
"Well, you can thank your dearly departed brother for siccing me with it," he said, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. "Well, him and James."
"So you knew my brother, too," Faith said, pushing the chair back and sitting on it. "Were you close?"
"He was someone I considered to be a brother," Lupin said in the same expressionless tone as he moved to a chair on the other side of the table and sat down. The flickering lights of the fire highlighted his lined face, his tired eyes searching out the energetic young woman sitting in front of him. "I can tell you everything, but I'm not sure how much you'd like it. We were prats when we were younger, as much as he wouldn't admit it. There was James, too. James Potter, who would be Buffy's Father. And then there was Peter. Wormtail, we used to call him. Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs."
"Which one was Sirius?" Faith asked interestedly, leaning over the table on her elbows.
"Padfoot. See, Sirius could turn into a large black dog."
"What?" Faith asked, her voice even more shocked. "My brother was a dog. Oh, man!"
"Faith, please," Remus said, getting to his feet as Faith jumped to her own, pacing the dining room. "He could turn into one. There's a story behind it, but it'll take some time to tell."
"It's probably one of those stories reserved for a dark and stormy night," Faith said darkly, pausing and glancing around the dark room. "This doesn't look like it did when I saw it in my dreams."
"Your... dreams?" It was Lupin's turn for the questioning. Faith turned to him and offered a shaky smile.
"The Ministry gave me this goblet... I drank it... and poof! All the bad memories, all the horrible moments, everything... it just came back. This was one of the memories... my... Mother, I guess, was carrying me into this room. It was full of people, of life and laughter... it was Christmas, or at least I think it was. There was a man, Regulus... he said that Sirius wasn't there. And that I had been meant for a sacrifice. The memory changed. Regulus put some sort of a spell onto my mother, or the woman I thought was my mother... and then..." Her voice broke as the memory faded from her mind. She glanced around the room again. "Do you know if this house ever had that kind of life in it again?"
"It hasn't," Lupin said quietly. "Sirius was arrested for the murder of James and Lily Potter, and--"
"He was WHAT?" Faith thundered, turning around to look at Remus, horror-struck. "Oh, my God! I thought you said Sirius was a good man, but I--"
Lupin held up a hand. "He was wrongly accused, Faith. He was innocent. Harry rescued him from his fate a few years ago."
"Oh," said Faith, feeling herself relax. "Right. Well, go on then."
"After Sirius was sent to Azkaban, your... your Mother died, and this house was left dormant, except for the house-elf."
"The what?" Faith asked blankly.
"Come here," Lupin said, rising and leading her into the entryway. It was then she saw the long row of heads, all of them green and hideous, tacked to the wall. Faith remembered seeing these out of the corner of her eye during her dreams and smirked, touching the last one. "There was Kreacher left, and he was a despicable creature. And then Sirius returned home last year. The house once again had life in it."
"He lived alone with one of these?" Faith asked, gesturing to the wall of heads. They were starting to creep her out with all their unnecessary smiling and their adoring eyes. "Blech."
"There were a few of us, the Order of the Phoenix," Lupin explained patiently.
"The what?" Faith asked, sounding confused.
"These are older Witches and Wizards that fought you-know-who last time. You know, Sirius and myself. You haven't met any more yet, but you will, especially if you remain in the Potter's circle of friends."
"Where is everyone?" Faith asked, glancing up the stairs, where the dark halls looked ominous, to the dining room they had just left, which still creeped her out.
"Once the Ministry realized that Lord... Voldemort was back, the Order became more obsolete..."
"But I thought you just said--"
"Some things are more painful to discuss out in the open," Lupin said quickly. "Sirius was a big part of what the Order stood for. Using this house again would only serve as the painful reminder of what we've lost."
"Oh," Faith said, feeling slightly overwhelmed by this information. Sirius was someone she had never met, yet suddenly she could feel his presence in her very soul. Glancing at the wall of heads, she sighed and leaned against the wall. "What does the Order do now?"
"There's still a headquarters, but it's no longer here."
"What if the Order were to return here?" Faith asked slowly. "I mean, I'm no Sirius, but I wouldn't mind the company."
Lupin looked at her in the dim light, really looked at her. "You're serious, aren't you?"
Faith nodded. "If my brother was as integral to this whole save-the-world deal as you've been telling me he was, then I think it would be a great tribute to his memory if this house were to serve as headquarters." She suddenly made a face and started laughing. "Damn, I'm starting to sound like Giles. A week in this place will completely mess your culture. But I guess that's not a problem since I was British. Am British." She lifted her hand and smacked her palm onto her forehead. "Damn."
"You'll get used to it," Lupin said, eyeing her again.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" Faith asked with a tentative smile. "And... Remus... I was serious about opening the house for the Order again. I want it to be... just like I remembered. I want the life and laughter and joy back in this place. It has been so dark for too long."
"What do you have in mind?" Lupin asked curiously.
"No offense, but it looks like my folks worshipped snakes," Faith said as she sat back down in her dining room chair again. "I want to get rid of those elf heads, too. Oh, and this trim? So totally not me. Can you put me in contact with a bank or a loan office or something? And maybe a redecorator?"
"You could always hire a house-elf," Lupin suggested lightly.
"I want to hire a slave?" Faith asked incredulously. "No, thank you. I think I'll just... do it myself. Trust me, being all hidden identity girl, I'm going to have energy to burn. But... I want to put a training room in, just in case. Can you show me the rest of the house? I need to get ideas."
"Come on," he said, and they both stood up again. "I'll take you upstairs."
They climbed the staircase into the front hall. Faith glanced at the artwork darkly, until her eyes fell onto a curtained-off area. "What's that?"
"Do you really want to know?" Lupin asked her, his eyebrows raised.
"It's best to get it over with quickly," Faith replied, crossing her arms.
"Right," said Lupin, bending over and lifting up a large stick that looked like the leg from some poor, unfortunate creature. He kicked it over and a loud, dull thud sounded down the corridor, echoing back and forth, sounding endless, until...
"Filth! Scum! By products of dirt!"
"Oh," Faith said, a look of sheer disgust on her face as the curtains flew open, revealing a screaming woman behind them. It was one of those moving paintings, she realized, but it was the most realistic one she'd ever seen. The woman was also very familiar. It was the woman who had called herself her mother. It was her mother.
The painting had recognized her, too. Her jaw dropped and she continued, her voice even louder and more furious. "Demon daughter! Scourge of my flesh! How dare you foul the house of my--"
"Hi, Mom," Faith shouted, stepping straight in front of the portrait. The screaming woman clawed at her, eyes rolling and a bit of drool seeping out from the corner of her mouth. "It's great to see you again, too."
Without warning, she lifted her foot and kicked a hole right through the center of the canvas. As the shouts subsided, Faith ripped the canvas into long shreds, a manic gleam in her eye.
"Vicious bitch," she said, smirking as she glanced at the remains of her mother's canvas at her feet. "Uh, Lupin... you don't happen to have a lighter anywhere, do you?" She took the top of the frame and started to rip it off of the wall, the wood cracking in her hand as bits of frame joined the wreckage of the canvas on the floor.
"Do you realize that was your Mother?" Lupin asked her, not daring to believe what had just happened.
"Oh, yeah, I recognized her from my dreams," Faith said bitterly, gathering the remnants of Mrs. Black's portrait and setting it in a large pile. "On second thought, this would make a great fire. Nice, warm and roomy."
An hour later, the remnants of the portrait were burning merrily and Faith was happily going from bedroom to bedroom. She had stopped in a room where she recognized Phineas Nigellus' portrait. He was blinking at her, not moving very much, and definitely not speaking.
"You're some ancestor of mine, aren't you?" she asked, taking a seat on the bed and not breaking eye contact with the portrait.
"I would be your great-great-grandfather, yes," said the man in his snobbish, oily tone of voice.
"Why are you cooped up in this hellhole?" Faith asked, tilting her head, but not breaking contact.
"I suppose you could ask your brother that question, but since he's dead, I cannot presume to know the truth."
"Well, how about this then," she said, jumping to her feet. "I'll move you down to the front hall, so you can watch over the entire house. I think you deserve someplace a bit more cheerful, yeah?"
"I think I like this girl already," said Phineas as Faith left the room, grinning broadly. She was going to search for Lupin to let him know what she wanted to do.
She found Lupin in the Drawing room. He was standing and staring at a tapestry hanging on the wall. Faith paused when she saw it. Her eyes widened. "The noble and most ancient house of Black," she muttered under her breath.
"All of your family is here, except those your Mother considered unworthy of such a noble name," Lupin told her.
"Oh," Faith said, shrugging. "That's why Regulus was there. Coward."
"Had he not done what he did," Lupin said slowly, "you wouldn't be alive today."
There was a pause as Faith considered his words. "Oh, well... when you put it that way..."
x.0.x.0.x
Harry was exhausted as he entered his dormitory that night. After a long day of classes and then Quidditch practice, he found his brain was unfocused and cloudy, especially since the weekend had been as wild and chaotic as it had been.
But something had been bothering him. Before he could reach for his book bag and begin on his homework, his eyes fell onto his trunk. There was a key he had received from the Order for his birthday. It belonged to Sirius, he knew. But with Faith around, it really didn't belong to Harry. It belonged to Faith.
He scooped the key into the pocket of his robes and stood up. He then gathered his book bag and walked downstairs, eager to finish his Potions essay so he could finally go to sleep.
Buffy was sitting with Hermione, poring over a complicated-looking runes translation. She glanced up when Harry joined them. "Hey, little bro," she said, lowering her feet from the chair where they'd been propped on. She lifted a large stack of parchment containing her Ancient Runes notes and set them aside as Harry sat down.
Hermione didn't even look at them. She was glaring at her Arithmancy text, apparently deep in thought.
"Hey, Buffy," he said, pulling out the key and setting it on the table in front of her. She reached for it, staring at the simple golden key.
"What's this?" she asked him, looking confused.
"It is they key to Sirius's Gringotts vault," Harry replied. "I was thinking it should be returned to Faith, since she should inherit Sirius's fortune."
Buffy closed her hand around the key and transferred it to her book bag. "I'll give it to her the next time I see her." She turned her attention back to her Runes translation.
"How are you doing?" Harry asked her.
"Well, you know," she said, smiling up at him, "I'm getting along fine."
"You're getting better, you know," Harry assured her. "Professor Flitwick was amazed you could do such a good summoning charm."
"It only took me eight hours worth of extra lessons," Buffy said with a sigh. "I don't want to know how dismal I am at Potions. I think I'm managing an Acceptable in a first-year class. That's so sad."
The truth was, she was getting better at Potions. Since she and Draco had come to a truce of sorts, she had asked Professor Snape to allow the Malfoy boy to tutor her again. Their first lesson was scheduled for the following Sunday, and Buffy found herself looking forward to it. At least he wouldn't sneer at her and tell her how unbecoming of a Witch she was. Not that she really cared, anyway.
She had no idea that Harry had caught onto the exchanges between them. She also had no idea that before Quidditch practice that evening, Harry had teamed up with both Ron and Hermione and stopped a solo Malfoy alone in the hallway.
"Stay the hell away from my sister," Harry growled, seeing the malicious smirk on Draco's pale, pointed face. "Do you understand me?"
"You're not the boss of her," Malfoy had replied, grinning at Harry's discomfort. "She's a big girl. She can choose her friends herself."
As Harry lunged for the Slytherin, Ron and Hermione had restrained him. Cursing, Harry had been forced to go to practice, while Draco just laughed at them.
"I don't know why she even spends time with that arse," Harry had muttered darkly as he and Ron were in the changing room. Buffy had shown up then with Katie, both girls giggling madly, and that had been the end of that particular conversation.
Harry pulled out his essay and started working on it. He noticed that Hermione was still into her book, but he didn't realize that every time he pulled his concentration back to Snape's essay, her eyes would dart to his face.
It was nearly midnight when Harry finally heaved a great sigh and slipped his completed essay back into his book bag. Large stacks of books were cluttering the table. Buffy had gone to bed an hour before, saying she was more than tired. Harry stood up and reached to move a stack of books when he realized someone was sleeping on the table.
It was Hermione.
With a quiet smile, Harry moved to her side and bent down, gently nudging her. "Hermione," he whispered. "Hermione?"
She let out a soft moan and lifted her head, her brown eyes blinking and glancing searchingly up into his. "Harry?"
"I think it's time for you to go to bed," Harry said with a laugh as he glanced at all of her books surrounding her. "You fell asleep on your homework."
"Oh, no," she moaned as she ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes were full of concern as she stared at a huge stack of parchment with all of her Arithmancy notes on it. "Oh, no, no, no."
"Hermione, leave it," Harry said gently, offering her his hand. "I think it's time to get you up to bed."
Her eyes left her stack of books and moved to his eyes. They were full of exhaustion and... was there something else in them? Hermione gave him another searching look as she slipped her hand in his. "Right," she said slowly as she rose. They were now standing face to face, and she was suddenly feeling a warm glow in her stomach, as though something was flapping inside of it. "Right."
Harry gave her a gentle smile. "Good night, Hermione," he said, turning away.
She wasn't going to let this happen again. "Harry?" she asked, surprised by how much her voice was shaking.
He turned around to look at her. His eyes were reflecting the light from the fire. "Yeah?"
She moved to stand in front of him, feeling very nervous with what she really wanted to do, which was throw her arms around him and stay lost in that embrace. But, she found her feet were frozen once she stopped in front of him. She let out a nervous chuckle. "G-Good night," she said, lifting her blushing face to meet his gaze.
His eyes were on her again. He moved closer to her and Hermione felt her heart stop. No matter how much she knew about these things, about giving advice to others, she wished she could use it herself. Her nerves were causing her to shake and she felt her knees quiver as his hand lifted and touched her cheek. His face moved closer to hers. His lips touched her flushing skin, his lips brushing the cheek right next to her lips before he straightened. "Good night."
She watched as he disappeared into the darkness. Her hand reached up and felt the place where he'd kissed her. She stopped shaking as she smiled.
So, this was how it felt.
x.0.x.0.x
As November wore on, the weather grew colder. One morning two weeks later, the students at Hogwarts awoke to find the ground covered in a solid frost, bits of ice hanging off the trees as the students moved into the Great Hall for breakfast.
Buffy was one of the last to rush in, her hair wild as she ran, dropping into a seat next to Katie and across from Yasmine. "Sorry," she said, offering a muttered apology as she snatched one of the last remaining bowls of cereal and pouring milk on top, not even caring if it was something completely disgusting.
The past two weeks had been a revelation to her. Things had been so busy with her tutoring and Quidditch schedules that she hardly had any time at all to think about Faith. Or, she thought with a pang of guilt, Oliver.
She had seen him the night before, she recalled with a curving smile. They had met right after dinner and had gone out onto the grounds for a walk. It was quite cold outside, yet they walked, arm-in-arm. They talked about everything, since they hadn't seen each other in days. Oliver had gone home for a week, but had returned that day. Their reunion had been sappy, Buffy realized with a laugh. And it had been in the presence of everyone sitting down to dinner in the Great Hall.
As much as she was unwilling to admit it, and she really wasn't, she was falling for him. It was a hard fall, she thought. Oh, certainly, she was crushing seriously on him. But every time he gave her that incredulous look, or else that look he usually reserved for one of his siblings, she knew her heart would speed up just a little bit faster.
After their walk, she had gone back to his room. She really hadn't gotten into much trouble before when she'd stayed there, but was almost unwilling to push her good luck. But they hadn't seen each other in a week. She had fallen asleep in his arms on the rug in front of a roaring fire, feeling warm, content and... dare she believe it, complete.
As her friends left to get ready for class, Buffy turned her attention to a roll of parchment. It was a letter she had written to Giles, since she hadn't spoken to him in so long. Faith had sent her a letter two days before asking her to write to Giles to tell him and the rest of their gang that Faith had arrived in England safely.
Nearly a month ago.
Feeling guilty, Buffy unrolled the letter and read it quietly.
Dear Giles and Everyone,
I am sorry that it took me so long to write this to you, but my time has been limited as of late. I have been studying at a magical school and have been spending a lot of time in tutoring to catch up. I wanted to let you know that Faith arrived around Halloween and has been staying at her family's home since.
We have discovered that Faith is really the sister of Sirius Black and not his daughter. She was meant to become a sacrifice but her own brother saved her life and died because of it. I am speaking of her brother, Regulus Black. Faith's real name is Delita. Feel free to tease her with it, since it has become a favorite pastime of mine. She's living at the Black estate. The last I heard, she is remodeling.
Things have been so chaotic lately that it's becoming harder and harder to think about home. But the more I think about it, the more I realize I already am home. I miss Sunnydale, but I wasn't there long enough to really feel at home there. Sure, there was you, and Willow and Xander and everyone, but it only became home because I fought for it.
I have been spending a lot of time with a boy here. I think I'm starting to fall for him and it's scaring me. I miss talking to Joyce about a lot of things. I especially miss her advice about boys. I think she'd like him though. He's only about a year older than me, so he's much younger than Angel. He's so sweet and he's so strong about this world... he has such great faith in it. I really like him and I may even be falling for him. I had this feeling last night that I was complete, and I think maybe I am, except for one thing. I miss you guys so much now, thinking about you.
I want you to forward the following letters to both Angel and Joyce. I give my love to all of you, and I hope that someday we'll be together again.
All my love,
Buffy.
She rolled out the scroll a bit further.
Dearest Joyce,
I miss you so much. I've been sitting here for the past hour trying to remember the talk we had after you found out about my... first time. I reminded me of what I'll probably have to tell my brother. I really hope you two meet someday, because he is such a vicarious boy, he'd wear us both down the same day!
I've been thinking a lot about the mistakes I've made. I think I made one the day I accepted the package. Maybe it would have been better had you never said anything or had I never known. But now that I do, I feel like I've forgotten things. I forgot the way my bedroom looked in Sunnydale. I'm forgetting the art you used to have in your room. I even forgot the way you smelled. It's getting so hard now to remember the good instead of the dark, but it all comes down to the fact that you truly were my Mother. No matter what my blood is, you raised me a decent, hard-working and ethical child. I love you for that. I will always love you for that.
I know things have been hard for you. I hope to see you again, someday.
Love,
Buffy.
There was a hoot and an owl landed right on top of the letter to Angel. Buffy glanced up and saw Onyx glaring at her, a package attached to her legs.
"Well, hello there," Buffy said, gently removing the package. "You up for a long trip to the states?"
Onyx hooted.
"That's what I thought," she replied, watching as Onyx hopped aside so that Buffy could roll up the parchment and seal it carefully. "Can you take this to the Hogsmeade postal area thingy? They have owls that go to the states there."
Onyx hooted reproachfully, almost ignoring her. Buffy had to practically attack her own owl just to get the damned thing to stand still so she could attach the letter to her leg.
Once Onyx left, she felt an arm circle her shoulders. "Good morning."
"Hi," she said, turning to grin at Oliver. He sat down easily next to her, nodding at her package.
"What's that?" he asked as she began filling his plate.
"Open it," she told him, adding a few bits of bacon to his already-full plate and pushing it front of him.
He was pulling off the paper when she took it from him and he turned his attention to the plate. "Thanks, dear," he said, giving her a one-armed hug and turning to his breakfast.
"It's from Faith," Buffy said quietly. There were several catalogs inside, along with samples. "She's remodeling the new headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."
"Still?" Oliver asked. Buffy nodded. "That's intense."
"So is the time," Buffy said, checking her watch. She had less than ten minutes to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts. The Great Hall was mostly empty, which worried her. "See you tonight?"
"Of course," he said, grinning up at her. She pressed her lips to his forehead, seized her bag and Faith's package, and ran to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
It had become common practice for Emma, Tess and Katie to help Buffy looked through all of the things Faith kept sending her. Today was no different.
"I think this one," Emma said, tapping one long fingernail on the soft granite flooring sample that Buffy was holding up.
"The bloody house will be monochrome unless we add some color to it," Tess said cheerfully as she pulled out a sample of wooden panel. "How about this?"
"I like the tile," Katie said with a laugh.
"You guys are no help," Buffy said dramatically, shoving everything inside her bag as Professor Pryce called the class to order. He was beginning to teach them the Patronus, something Buffy was only too happy to learn.
The only problem was, her happiest ever moment wasn't the moment where she found she had a brother. Or a great boyfriend who adored her. Or even the circle of friends who respected and admired her.
It was her night with Angel.
Today they were going to test their Patronus against a Boggart. Buffy was ready as she pulled the wand from her robes. Tess had the misfortune of going first since she was the first of the alphabet. She stood in front of the wooden chest, her wand trembling in her hand. When the door opened, a Dementor emerged.
"Expecto Patronum!" she shouted out.
The Boggart had been rigged to flash a Dementor every time. They creeped Buffy out, reminding her of the gingerbread monster in a long black cloak.
Soon enough, it was her own turn. The trunk opened and the Dementor unveiled itself.
But instead of keeping her focus, there was a woman screaming in her mind.
Focus on Angel. Focus on that night. Focus, Buffy... focus...
The screaming began to fade away...
"Expecto Patronum!" she screamed suddenly, aiming her wand to the center of the Dementor. A large amount of silver vapor shot out, shaping itself into the form of a phoenix.
"Very good, Miss Potter. Very good."
Buffy sat down, feeling cold and shaken. Emma was still standing up at the end of the queue, waiting her turn.
Across the school, in his Charms classroom, Harry felt his scar prickle as he was practicing a conjuring charm. "Ouch," he muttered, dropping the saucer he had just conjured from nowhere. His hand reached up to touch his scar and he closed his eyes. As soon as the pain had hit him, it subsided.
Hermione was looking at him with some concern, but he averted his gaze. The last thing he needed was another lecture to convince him to go and visit Professor Dumbledore.
The past two weeks had been awkward, almost unnaturally, since the night when Harry had almost kissed her. He'd almost kissed his best friend. He had no idea what he'd been thinking! None whatsoever!
Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't thinking the same way. Her gaze to Harry was soft, and although her first instinct was to talk him into going to Dumbledore, she held her tongue. She reached out to grasp his hand at the same moment he dropped it into his lap. And since he could barely look at her for two seconds without wincing, there was no way she was going to reach down there.
And Ron seemed oblivious to this change in their friendship. Hermione wanted to talk about it, while Harry carefully avoided the topic. Ron was even busier than Harry, with his Prefect duties, Quidditch and the D.A. meetings which went on twice a week.
Harry was pleased that thirty seven people had been at the last meeting. He had a feeling that his sister was the cause of most of it. She was the sweetest girl, he realized. She really seemed to genuinely like Oliver Wood, and it was very obvious to anyone that knew either of them that Oliver adored her. Percy was always around and always seemed to be around Buffy, whether it was time spent in conversation or spent watching over her. Buffy had confided to Harry that Percy reminded her of her former Watcher and her male best friend from home. Harry accepted this explanation for now, considering that Buffy was truly happy here.
What really surprised him, however, was Draco Malfoy's reaction to Buffy's happiness. He'd asked Ron and Hermione what they thought was going on between his sister and Malfoy, completely forgetting he wasn't going to ask anything else of Hermione.
He had cornered Draco after Quidditch practice three days ago. Draco had been spotted twice that day talking to his sister.
"What are you playing at?" Harry growled as Draco turned to him, smirking.
"She's a grown woman, Potter. Let her pick her own enemies."
"I thought I told you to stay away from her," Harry snarled, causing Draco to laugh harder.
"Relax, you moron. I'm just tutoring her."
"I'm not blind, you prat," Harry retorted. "You look at her the same way Percy does."
Draco paled slightly and looked away. "She doesn't look at me like that," he said, his voice dropping. "She thinks of me as this person her brother hates, which gives her bias."
This made Harry slightly happier until he saw the look on Draco's face.
"I think she loves Wood," Draco said, a sad look on his face. "Which is honestly too bad, because even though she's a Potter, she would have made a fantastic Slytherin --"
He was cut off as Harry marched forward, grabbing the other boy by his lapels, not intimidated at all by the advantage in height that Draco had over him. "Say it," he growled, lifting his fist angrily. "Just say it. She would have made a great Slytherin whore for you. If you ever, ever look at my sister that way again, I'll let her kill you. And her friend will help."
Releasing Draco, Harry stalked away, bitterly throwing glances over his shoulder at the incredulous look on Draco's face.
The truth was, Draco really liked Buffy. She was something that he hadn't expected. He wanted her to be a daft airhead he could mock until he was blue in the face, but truth be told, she wasn't. She was very intelligent and worldly in matters concerning the heart and emotions. She was someone who could wear her heart proudly on her sleeve and not care that people could mock it or hurt it.
She was always surrounded by her giggling friends. Katie Bell and Emma Vance were always seen around Buffy. But her best friend appeared to be Weasley, the older prat. Percy, Draco scoffed. How Buffy could ever like Percy was beyond him. When he'd asked her about it, she just smiled and said they had a similar past.
Truth be told, he couldn't imagine Buffy ever being like Percy. It wasn't something he wanted to imagine.
He had placed her on a pedestal now.
The only problem was, she and Oliver Wood seemed to still be going strong. Whenever they were in public, they did cute, coupling things that made others smile warmly. They were always together and seemed to have some sort of radar detection. They could sense one another from across the Hogwarts grounds. They had something that was so special that Draco could feel it in his own cold, broken heart.
He knew he shouldn't care, that she was a Potter and therefore his enemy above all, but he couldn't. There was something about her. He could sense a hidden darkness but he didn't want to know anything about it. He wanted to know her. He wanted her to get to know him, too, but she wouldn't. Not when she was so smitten with another.
Draco knew he had to get over her and fast. If he kept moping over someone who wouldn't give him the time of day, he'd lose out on so much more.
He finally decided to confront her the following Sunday night at their last Potions tutorial for November.
"I like you," he said directly as she made a note on her Potions essay.
"Excuse me?" she asked, looking up at him with her confused, hazel eyes.
"I really, really like you," he said faintly, feeling his heart start to melt at the humanity shining brightly in those glowing hazel eyes. "I... I know that you love him though. Or..."
"Drake, stop," she said, reaching across and lying her hand on top of his. "I know how you feel. It's quite obvious, since all I really have to do is look at you."
He felt his face tint pink and took a deep breath. "I know I did a very rotten thing--"
But she cut him off again. "You wanted to use me against Harry and you did. That was probably a bad move on your part, but it helped us face the truth about each other's lives." She looked down at her parchment and smiled slightly. "Draco, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying these tutorials with you. You're a great guy, even if my brother hates you. But you were right about one thing. I'm with Oliver and I'm not going to do something stupid with that. I may even love him, but it's been a long time since I've loved anyone like that. I hope you understand and I hope that we can still do... this..." She gestured at the paperwork around them.
He nodded. "I'd like that. Or this... definitely this."
"It beats awkward and humiliating conversation," she said, giving him a tentative smile, which he felt himself return.
It was beyond bizarre, he realized. She was his worst enemy's sister, yet he still felt strongly towards her. He felt like he needed to protect her.
How wrong he'd soon become.
Buffy left the Potions classroom, stretching. She met Oliver at the Great Hall. He took her by the hand and pulled her inside the large room. "How was it?" he asked, wrapping an arm over her shoulders. They were getting those warm, understanding looks again.
"It was Potions," she said lightly as she sat down next to him. Katie and Emma joined them minutes later, and soon Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried over. It was beginning to be another perfect evening.
However, she didn't see Professor Pryce enter the Great Hall, glance around, and focus his attention on her. She didn't see the look of deepest concern on his face.
She didn't see it at all.
x.0.x.0.x
"There!" Faith said, backing away from the Drawing room. Gone were the depressing black curtains. Gone were the stupid paintings. Gone was everything she couldn't stand.
She had painted the room with a warm shade of taupe. The curtains were now a deep, vivacious shade of red, tied back with red ties. The furniture had been replaced with leather sofas and chairs in the same brilliant red color. The Black family chest had been burned, and the family tree had been relocated.
There were still moving paintings along the wall, many of whom would cover their eyes and glare at her whenever she drew open the curtains.
But still, it was mission accomplished. She nearly kicked over her bucket of soapy water in her haste to call for Lupin. He appeared from the Kitchen and the moment he walked into the room, his face changed.
"It looks... different," he commented, glancing around. "Better somehow."
"I like it," Faith said cheerfully. "It's not as though I'm going to go broke anytime soon, since there's so much bloody gold I can tear down this house and rebuild it a dozen times first... but... yeah. The Order needs a fun place to stay. This is a nice room where people can relax. See? I added a bar and some stools over there..."
So she had.
The past three weeks had been busy for Faith. She had automatically looked up as much Wizarding tools she could and had sourced them all. She hadn't asked for help, since Grimmauld Place was still supposed to be hidden. She was filling it with Muggle furniture, something Lupin assured her that her parents would have despised.
She had taken her Mother's bedroom for herself. One day three weeks ago, Lupin had taken her into Diagon Alley to get her own wand. Now that she had it and a complete collection of books from some bloke named Lockhart, she managed to tear half of the house apart. Her new bedroom looked absolutely beautiful. It had been decorated in various shades of red. A large bed with a matching nightstand and vanity dresser added color to the room, but her favorite part was the fact that all of her parents charms and dark arts were erased, virtually lost from the house which had fought so hard to claim them.
Faith had been waging a war on the house for weeks now, and she appeared to be winning it. Most of the bedrooms were simply empty, their walls all squeaky and moaning from the copious amounts of red paint and wallpaper she'd been adding to them. New furniture was arriving daily, floating through the Floo network through a secured channel from the Ministry. She had to enlarge it herself. Getting it upstairs and into the other rooms was another point entirely.
The dining room and entrance hall were the first to be redone. Since Lupin had moved out when she had moved in, she'd seen him only a few times a week and she had a sneaking suspicion he was on Buffy's orders to check up on her.
The truth was, she didn't have much time to even think about Buffy. She was busy enough with everything going on at Grimmauld Place. The entire kitchen had been replaced by the vivid shades of red and gold. The cabinets had been stripped and re-stained. Everything serpent had been ripped and thrown away. New dishes and real gold-ware had been added to the house. Two large, sparkling gold-and-ruby chandeliers now hung over the table.
The entrance hall looked fantastic, she thought. She had spent many hours trying to find portraits of likeable relatives. She had used her superior strength to rip off the candles along the wall and replace them with the same chandeliers she had used in the dining room. She had used wood paneling on the walls and had finally consented and used granite rock on the floor. Long red rugs filled out the rest of the hallway. Since the portrait of Mrs. Black had been destroyed, she replaced it with a wall full of the Black relatives. She'd moved the tapestry with the family tree to the hidden wall. The house-elf heads were gone, chopped down one by one with a small axe.
But she was perhaps the most proud of her training area. This is something she had really wanted in this house of her own. She had taken one of the closets, broken down the wall into an adjoining area full of dark arts supplies. After tossing everything, she painted and converted the room into a training area. That way, if B ever wanted to train, she and Faith had a place of their own.
There were bedrooms Faith supposed various members of the Order had used. But, worst of all, was the room that Lupin told her had belonged to Sirius.
She knew in her heart that she and Buffy could bring him back. It had been foretold in the Prophecy. Wanting to make her brother proud, she reflected on the stories Lupin had been telling her during their long afternoons painting or chopping the old furniture up for firewood.
While the house was mostly reflected in shades of red and gold, she made his room a deep, vivid green. His bed was large and round, and his new wardrobe and chest of drawers were light wood. She added a wall of mirrors. And, for some odd reason, a dog bed.
Faith was still standing at the Drawing room and turned to Lupin. "Have you seen the new dining room yet? I got the new china yesterday."
They made their way back downstairs just as a bell clanged. Her fireplace was active again. She moved into the dining room, smiling at the granite core she had added around the fireplace to at least make it look like the rest of the room.
Two wooden crates were floating through the fireplace. Faith bent down and opened the top one. Inside were real golden goblets with rubies encrusted at their bases.
"Those are gorgeous," Lupin said quietly, taking the goblet Faith had handed him. "Good choice."
The past few weeks had been wonderful for Faith. She was getting to know Lupin, who spent endless hours during their time together talking about Sirius and James. Faith was beginning to realize she could trust this man, although he was a werewolf. Faith even told him about Oz, which brought a hint of surprise to the older man's face. They traded stories and laughter, and Faith was beginning to realize that despite her reservations about making friends, she had found a new one.
"It was made by Buffy, the pure Gryffindor girl," Faith said, lifting the crate onto the table. She didn't notice a letter fly out of the fireplace and land neatly on top of the other crate; she was too busy unloading the other one. Soon, twelve goblets were sparkling on top of the new dining room table. It was a huge, ornate, ancient-looking table with nine chairs on each side, and one at each head of the table, easily seating twenty.
She turned to the other crate and lifted it, the letter falling to the table as she pried open the second top, while Lupin moved the goblets from the table to their new glass-covered cabinet. It was another twelve goblets, and they sparkled just as beautifully as the last set. Lifting up one of the goblets, she brushed past the table and towards the entrance hall, where she saw the portrait of Phineas Nigellus staring at her.
"How's this?" she asked cheerfully, showing him the bejeweled goblets.
"It's gold," the voice nagged. "Everything in this house has been turned from green to gold."
"That's the idea," Faith said with a cheerful smile, turning her heel when she heard someone calling her name from the other room. "Coming!"
Lupin was holding the letter out to her with a frown. They traded items and she ripped the letter open.
"I've been summoned to Hogwarts," she said, showing him the letter. He frowned slightly, the lines on his face showing up clearer than ever in the bright golden light in the room.
"It sounds like an emergency," he said, stepping back from the fireplace, which crackled warmly with the remains of the old furniture from Sirius's bedroom. "I'll take care of things here. Just... go."
Faith took the small pot of Floo powder from the mantle and collected a pinch. She tossed the powder into the flames and they turned a brilliant shade of green. She stepped inside, called, "Hogwarts!" and was gone.
x.0.x.0.x
"Miss Potter!" a voice called from behind her. Buffy turned, swallowing her ham pie hard as she saw the concerned look on Professor Pryce's face. Another figure appeared at the doorway and she froze, recognizing Faith.
People were starting to whisper as Buffy got to her feet. Oliver stood up behind her, a comforting hand on her shoulder. Faith hurried towards them, looking worried.
"What is it?" Buffy managed to choke out.
"It's the Watcher's Council," Professor Pryce said urgently, pulling both women aside slightly. "It has been destroyed."
x.0.x.0.x
Chapter 37... the Council goes boom.
Chapter 38... two Slayers went into a bar...
To the Readers / Reviewers:
Ooh, look! A cliffhanger!
You guys are SO awesome! I'm so excited to continue this thing you have no idea.
I've decided how I want to end this entire epic. Not the weird ending I'm planning ten chapters from now, but the ENTIRE end. I'm almost tempted to write it now so I know where I'm going. But, alas, I shall not. Unless my temptation kills me.
Pany -- Ooh, happy (belated) birthday! There's a lot of us twenty-fourthers on board! On a side note, I didn't know how many people shared the birthday till I looked at In Touch magazine. Oi. I like my story, too. Your description made me laugh. Mine is more like flaky Buffy comes to Hogwarts, is forced to be weak, and struggles to learn magic. Faith'll have it rougher. She's about to become the Black family squib! I promise I won't get Percy and Faith together. In fact, I'm pretty sure I won't be getting Faith together with anyone. Just wait for this to twist my mind though.. I can see it happening.
PrecariousPersonata -- I almost did the serious sibling talk with even more attitude than their first argument. I couldn't do it again though, so it went to the pile of unused fic. I am REALLY liking the Buffy and Oliver in this fic. But the one thing I've learned about falling hard for someone so quickly (even though it's been what, four months?) is that problems come up later. And didn't Buffy first experience snow in "Amends"? I wrote a really hilarious reaction to snow anyway, but I found that it made sense for her to see it once before, even if she and Angel didn't do the whole "I'm so tortured, love me" thing. And it's getting me excited for snow AND hockey season... joy joy joy! I sound like an overtired little kid... I so need my bed right now.
Kel-- Your name just made me go, "awwwwww!". Since you made two reviews, I just sort of erased the first note and will thus combine them here. I really want to do a Buffy/Draco now. And I actually have the perfect plot in mind. If I could ever discipline myself to sit down and write it... that's another story. I hope to have something written by the time I take my hiatus! I really like my version of Faith. She's probably the one character I'm proud of in this story. She can be as psycho as she wants, but in order to get the complicated, you have to work at it. It's fun coming up with storylines for her. And the ideas just keep on flowing. As for making THIS fic a Buffy/Draco, it ain't gonna happen. My beta reader would probably lynch me if I broke up the "cute" couple. I could toy with her a bit and make her squirm, but I won't. This fic will be a true couples fic all the way. Besides, twisting Draco is such delicious fun! And we're going to need a dictionary pretty durned soon to document all of these NEW words you keep coming up with!
Raclswt -- True, she isn't... but so soon? Even if she isn't, he probably is. Oh, hell. You're going to make me write my first sex scene, aren't you?
Laen-- Hmmmm. It seems like a bizarre triangle there... huh. I can't say what's going to happen, because you've probably just read what did.
Emba -- I never thought I'd like them as a couple either, but they work well together in this story. There's just enough to keep it cute.
StarBella-- 1: Already planning on it. Look for it next chapter. 2: all right, Draco will be vilified soon enough... 3: funny you should mention that... 4: Buffy will get her action groove back. 5: Chapter 39. I went ahead and wrote it before 38 so that the Weasleys could have a happy, err, sort-of reunion. 6: read 3. 7: I am being nice to Faith from now on. I just wanted you all to see where she was coming from! 8: I can promise warm and fluffy, but I also see angst and drama in the future. As for updating, I'm going to. But they'll be slow still. Sadly.
AnitaBlake/BuffyFan -- I never realized how big of a pain longer chapters are until I try to sit down and write one in one setting, like three hours. It just doesn't work. I'm just glad there's enough plot to make them longer chapters, or I could foretell the last chapter being around 500 words.
Des Felidra -- Harry Potter is hard to cross with a lot of things, sadly enough. I'm just trying to see it crossed over with Star Wars and I'm having a hard time! Anyway, I haven't seen much of Andromeda. The first person I collaborated with (we wrote our own really cheesy Star Trek series, sadly enough) was a Magnificent 7 fan... so that was technically my first crossover. Before The Slayer's Crusade, anyway. As for what you're saying about mixing stories up, yipes. I just started reading other crossovers. I started with "It's All In the Blood", and after looking at her favourites list, moved onto "A Murderer's Daughter" (an awesome trilogy) and "The Phoenix Child". I have gotten all their plots and stuff jumbled, so when I think I want to read something that I've read before, there's me going through all of the different stories. Yeesh. There is a FANTASTIC HP one I've read lately, though. It might not cleanse all, but it was certainly unique, the Alternative Adventure series. I have to plug those, because it took me around four work nights to get through them. And is the spelling a good thing or a bad thing? I usually do my own, but my lovely beta is usually there to help. This story features the lovely Canadian sweetheart Grace. She's more than just my spellchecker though. She's my idea bouncer AND editor. She tells me which scenes and whatnot flow and don't. I'll rewrite and she'll critique some more. Now that she's back in school, however, I'll probably end up doing a lot of it on my own. Otherwise chapters will be put up once every two weeks or so. And they're popping up quickly because of the October 11 wedding. So, that's the what. Another long note. Please don't hurt me!
LJoL -- Well, it's one of the many inconsistencies I have to clear up, and I thank you for pointing that out. I've made several plot holes, and you have found one I never even thought to uncover and recover myself. And I know what you mean by weird plot holes in JK-dom. Like, in Book 4, Harry has that dream. It holds a LOT of information. Yet he doesn't think to bring any of it up. Just something I've picked up listening to Goblet of Fire on disc at work for hours on end. As for this fic, I never intended it to be a romance. I'd like to say "it kind of just happened" but my beta kept telling me it'd be darkfic if I didn't add some fluff in. Thank you for reviewing :)
Adrie -- ooh, it's airplane material? I've been wondering how long it takes to read through one read-through. I remember printing off absurdity long stories for my travels and they were like... 2 hours of material. Thank you muchly for reviewing! And I hope you can continue to read more of this!
I have made my decision. I know, me, indecisive as a fault line. Anyway, not going to stop at 50 chapters. Considering that sequels are taking over my life (including graduate school apps and everything, which are sequels to undergraduate life), I may possible finish the story in one long shot. Yeah, it'll be like 80 chapters when it's done, but it spares me having to do another sequel, unless I really feel like it.
Many thanks to Grace, my everlasting Beta girl. Good luck in grad school sweetie!
I hope you all enjoy the rest of the fantastic weekend. I know not all of you celebrate Labour Day, but since I'm one of them and if you also get a freebie Monday, enjoy it! Next review comes sometime next week. I'm tempted to say Tuesday... or Weds. Sometime either of those two days.
Lastly, five hundred reviews? I'm going to die of shock... I know I am. I bow down to each and every one of you! Honestly! You guys made my fall! And probably my 2004, since this fic has occupied so much of it... oi, the sadness! THANK YOU!!!