Where Will You Go

by FallenStar2

Buffy Summers thought she was prepared for everything. She wasn't prepared to face the bombshell the Council dropped on her when she quit... that she wasn't meant for this life at all. BtVSHP.

43. Surprises

Surprise! Here's an extra-long chapter full of goodies.

- - - - -

Chapter 43

Surprises

- - - - -

"So, let me get this straight. You and Elizabeth--"

"It's Buffy."

"Right, so you and Eli - err - Buffy, what a ridiculous nickname, by the way, fought this demon in a pool of water."

"Actually, B did all the work. All I did was the follow-up."

Faith and Sirius were sitting in the drawing room a few days later, discussing one of the many adventures Faith had had in Slaying. She was talking about Balthazar, the weird demon she and Buffy had faced the year before.

"Really? How did she kill it?" Sirius inquired curiously.

"Oh, B's usual style is improv," Faith said, sitting back in her armchair and tipping a handful of peanuts into her mouth, crunching her way through her answer. "She electrocuted it. I just got a piece of shiny hardware out of the deal."

"You and your weapons," Sirius said, throwing her a look, but it wasn't dark or angry. It was a fond look. His sister's interest in weaponry was quite strange, but it was creating a fondness between them. She had more knowledge of weapons than he had, even though they'd been raised in two very different worlds.

"Yeah, I'm morbid like that," Faith agreed, reaching for the jar sitting between her feet. "But that's how I like my weapons. Shiny and pointy. The best for penetration and the maximum impact of stealth."

"If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you were a bloody spy," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and turning his attention to the trunk that sat on the other end of the room. "What's in there?"

Faith snapped to her feet and moved to the trunk, unlocking it with flourish. "I thought you'd never ask, big bro," she said, removing a handful of stakes, crosses and, to Sirius's surprise, some serious blades. "This is my baby." She whipped out a sword and held it to the light a moment before twirling it away. "It was the sword that slayed an unkillable demons a few millennia ago." She gave it a few well-practiced swings. "It's definitely my favorite."

"Right..." Sirius said slowly, walking over to the trunk and peering down into it. "If I didn't know you were Slayers, my next guess would be hired assassins."

"What, to bring about the end of the world and all that?" Faith asked mockingly as she replaced the sword in her trunk before pulling out two mid-sized curving knives. "We probably could be hired assassins. We probably are, since it was our destiny, blah blah blah."

"If you got that chip off of your shoulder, you'd probably be more effective at it," Sirius said in a quiet voice. Faith turned to him with such a dark look he burst into muffled laughter. "Would you relax? I was just teasing you."

"The sort of teasing I'm used to comes with blades at my throat and hollow threats," Faith growled protectively. "I'm not exactly one to just be teased like that."

"You let Elizabeth tease you," Sirius pointed out as Faith replaced the weapons and sealed the trunk.

"That's because she's my chosen half," Faith said quietly, staring at the trunk for a moment before rising. "You know, friends and all that. I don't really know you. I've known you maybe two weeks now, and it hasn't been under the best circumstances. And will you quit calling B Elizabeth? It's Buffy!"

"Who came up with that name in the first place?" Sirius asked, feeling slightly irked at Faith's defensive posturing.

"Her mother," Faith said, her eyes popping out incredulously. "And I happen to like her name, thank you very much!"

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Right," Faith said in a calmer voice. "It was Joyce, her adoptive Mother. I keep forgetting you knew B's real family."

"I did," Sirius said quietly. "Outstanding people, too. James was my best friend, as I'm sure you could've figured out by now."

"I don't think you've told me enough of your detention stories yet. I think you're as bad as I was when I was back in school last spring. Lots of trouble, not a lot of studying goin' on."

"Don't get me wrong, Faith... I studied my ass off," Sirius said with his resigned smile. "I just preferred trouble to order."

"So, structured chaos," Faith said cheerfully, sitting back down on her seat and curling her feet beneath her. "Do you have any fun stories out of detention or were you as much of a delinquent as I was?"

"Do you really want to know?" Sirius asked her carefully, opening his mouth to tell her about his and James' mutual enemy of Severus Snape.

"If you tell me about that," Faith said slowly, reaching for the jar of peanuts again, "I'll tell you about the wonderful times I had with the foster family from Hell. I think you'd like them. They reminded me of our Mother."

"That's something I haven't heard before either," Sirius said, frowning at her. "You keep referring to her as our Mother."

"She was Dementia, the woman who could do no good," Faith said in a booming voice not unlike that of James Earl Jones. "She was your mother, too, you moron. The only difference is, you knew her, I didn't and I'm grateful, because I would have kicked her ass from here to China if she tried anything with me right now."

"No wonder our dead relatives love you so much," Sirius deadpanned as Faith continued munching loudly. "You're ever so direct in your comments."

"Takes one to know one," Faith said, smiling as she popped in a peanut.

"All right, all right," Sirius said with a resigned sigh. "Pass over the nuts, Delita," he teased, watching as she scowled at the use of her given name. "And I'll tell you about this little shallow, greasy-haired git I couldn't stand at Hogwarts..."

- - - - -

Buffy ducked under the hot spray of water, feeling the steam and the heat relax away her muscles, sore from lack of use.

She'd had her first training session with Professor Pryce that evening. Two rigorous hours of kicking a punching bag, deflecting weapons thrown at her from every angle, and even being hexed a good half-dozen times until Buffy could finally figure out the counter-charms.

All in all, she wasn't in a good mood.

Hermione had shown up for the last hour and it had been at her suggestion that Professor Pryce hex her that made Buffy feel steamed.

No one would have dared hex her in Sunnydale, she thought with a scowl as she massaged shampoo onto her scalp, breathing in the invigorating vapor. She smirked as she thought back on Monday's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

Professor Pryce had certainly been creative in his methodology of getting her to speak with him in private.

He'd given her Detention. All week.

She had been sitting with Emma, as usual. Their discussion had turned to advanced curses and hexes, like the stunning spell that could keep you locked out of your own body for days. Buffy had been rather uncomfortable with that one.

She had opened her mouth and had given her own opinion on why using these curses wasn't safe. Her answer had been, "Because if the curse is deflected back at you and it hits you, you're as good as a sitting duck."

The rest of the class had been most surprised when Professor Pryce leveled his usual look at her and announced, "Well, while Miss Potter has a point, she used a really stupid pun to go along with it. Detention, Potter."

Emma had gasped and had vehemently defended her friend and roommate's position, with both Katie and Tess talking behind her. Professor Pryce had to hide a smile. Elizabeth Potter was too damn smart at this hexing business for her own good. Unless she said something really stupid, he couldn't give her detention at all.

She seemed to realize why he called her upon it, and when asking what sort of uses the curse would have, she automatically answered, "Revenge." That had given her an entire week's worth of detention.

Even the Slytherins looked stunned as they chanced a look back at the Gryffindor Golden Girl, who just sat there, looking amazed, stunned and a little bit flummoxed. They couldn't blame her; Professor Pryce rarely gave out detention.

After class, he'd asked her to come and arrange her detention.

"I just figured this was a good way for you to train and therefore keep down suspicions about your activities," Professor Pryce told her under the guise of marking down notes on a bit of parchment. "I'll give you the night off since it is your first night back, but tomorrow I want you in my office at eight. We'll discuss our training procedures. Wednesday night, we'll begin."

Buffy finished rinsing out her hair and turned the water to off, shivering slightly as the chill swept into the stone-covered walls. Wrapping herself in a thick, white bath sheet, she stepped out, wincing as her feet touched the cold, hard floor.

She soon changed into her pajamas and brushed out her hair dreamily, thinking about the conversation she and Oliver had had that morning before he'd left for the Ministry of Magic.

"The Department of Magical Games thinks they were unwise to cancel the Quidditch season so readily," he'd explained to her that morning at breakfast. "So they asked us to go back this afternoon. I'll probably be there for a few days until they decide what to do with the English Quidditch teams."

"Just as long as you're back by Sunday," Buffy said, giving him a threatening look.

"Oh, of course!" Oliver said, looking enthusiastic while his eyes were strangely blank. "What, exactly, is Sunday?"

Buffy just rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'm going to Charms," she announced, ruffling his longish brown hair. "I'll see you when you get back." At that, she'd walked out.

He turned inquiringly to Katie Bell sitting across the table from him. "What's Sunday?" he asked curiously.

"Her nineteenth," Katie replied with a giggle. "Oh, honestly, Wood! You remember the day you met her precisely, but you cannot remember her birthday?"

"She never told me when her damned birthday was!" Oliver had protested in his own defense.

Buffy wrapped herself in her red satin robe and grabbed her train case, skipping out of the bathroom and back upstairs into the room the seventh-year girls shared. It was oddly full, since everyone had come up for the night and was getting ready for bed.

However, she had heard voices and laughter on the other side of the door, but once she'd gone in, it was as though a shroud of silence had fallen. She looked inquiringly at Yasmine, who just shrugged and went back to fluffing her pillows.

Feeling suspicious now, Buffy dropped into bed, wincing as she stretched out her legs, both knees cracking painfully. She really had to get out and train more, because this was ridiculous. She was supposed to be a vampire Slayer, not just a lying corpse.

Rolling her eyes, she turned over and pulled the thick hangings around her four-poster bed shut around her, closing her eyes and wishing for sleep to come quickly.

Oliver, as it turned out, hadn't returned to Hogwarts as he'd anticipated the night before. Instead, he sent his owl with a letter for her that she received while eating breakfast.

Buffy --

Things at the Ministry are insane! I honestly don't know whether it's going to turn into an anarchy or not! The Ministry still won't let us play, but we're having a hearing today to decide if we should at least be allowed to practice. I should be back this evening,

Yours,

Oliver

Harry leaned over his sister's shoulder to read the letter and could tell by the disappointed look on her face that she wasn't happy with this news. "Don't worry about it," he assured her, patting her lightly on the back. "He'll be back soon enough."

"She just misses her snuggle buddy," Emma smirked from Buffy's right-side, leaning over the table to talk to Harry.

"Yeah, that's it," Buffy said uneasily, but she couldn't help feeling that something wasn't exactly right. She lowered her hand slightly and her ring caught the light. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that it was genuine love and respect between them, she couldn't help feel uneasy at times. Oliver was a wonderful, trusting man, not to mention almost indecently gorgeous, and many women would just love to sink their claws into him. She just hoped she mattered enough to sway all sorts of temptation that might try to lure him away.

She realized then that Emma and Yasmine were whispering again. "What's up, you two?" she asked casually, sipping her tea and making a face as usual.

"Oh, nothing," Emma said gaily. "We're just talking shop talk, you know, Potions."

"Oh," Buffy said, lowering her gaze. "Right."

Rising, she took her book bag and walked out of the Great Hall alone.

Harry glanced in concern after his sister before edging closer to Emma. "Do you think she suspects anything?"

"Of course she does," Katie said, sitting across the table from Yasmine. "Buffy's not an idiot. She's just trying to pretend she doesn't know what we're talking about."

"We're all set for Saturday night, then, right?" Harry asked as Hermione whipped out her own bit of parchment. "I said we'll take care of food and drink."

"Fred and George promised they would take care of favors," Hermione added with a laugh. "Knowing them, it'll be something extravagant."

"And we got decorations," Yasmine said, glancing curiously at Hermione's parchment. "You're a bit organized, aren't you?"

"I just want to keep things in perspective," Hermione replied, adding Yasmine's last note before tucking the parchment away again. "We should probably get to class."

Outside the Great Hall, Buffy was just walking towards the stairs when a voice held her back. She turned and saw Draco and his usual baboons walking out of the door leading down to the dungeons. He had spotted her and called out a greeting.

Buffy turned and offered him a tight smile. "Hey, Malfoy," she said uncertainly, glancing upstairs.

"You guys go on," Draco said to Crabbe and Goyle, who exchanged a bemused smirk before entering the Great Hall. He glanced up at Buffy, who looked troubled. "You all right there, Potter?"

"I've been better," she said lightly, crossing her arms. "What brings you to the civilized side of conversation, Drake? Or are you just trying to play I've-got-a-secret, too?"

He noticed the bitterness in her voice and chose to call her on it. "Your friends aren't playing nicey nice anymore, huh?" he asked dolefully.

Her eyebrows snapped up in surprise. "They're just busy," she said defensively.

It wasn't a denial, Draco thought triumphantly. "Where are you going?"

"Charms. I have class with the third-years, or didn't you forget?"

"I have Herbology," Draco said, making a face. "Double section with those moron Gryffindors. No offense."

"None taken," she said, casting another glance upstairs.

"Do you want some company?" he asked slowly, secretly crossing his fingers under his robes.

"I wouldn't mind it from Slytherin scum like you," she replied carefully, giving him a suspicious look. "What's in it for you?"

"I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you since you got back," Draco said honestly. "You're pretty much the one thing I missed over Break. There. Now you can mock me for all eternity."

"Or maybe beyond," Buffy said, with that pretty smile of hers.

"I'm just surprised tall, dark and broody isn't here to walk with you," Draco said casually, leaning against the banister.

"Yeah, well, he's at the Ministry," Buffy said with a sigh, shifting her feet. "You know the Quidditch spiel."

"I do," Draco said, trying in vain to sound sincere, because he didn't want to sound as though he were too overjoyed to find that Buffy's hunky protector wasn't there to watch her back. It was then he saw her hand on the railing and his eyes narrowed. The ring attached to her fourth finger looked suspiciously real. "Is that a gift?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

She looked surprised as he took her hand and held the ring to the light, the emerald sparkling magnificently. "It was just a gift," she replied as he looked up at her with his silver eyes. She felt something stir in her stomach and quickly pulled her hand away. "I really should be getting to class. And you have a long walk ahead of you outside."

"I can walk you to class," Draco offered in his slow drawl.

"That's really not necessary," Buffy replied with a half-smile. "I mean, thank you for offering. I'll see you later, okay?" Turning on her heel, Buffy climbed the rest of the stairs and disappeared out of sight.

"Well, well," a cold voice came from the hall. Draco turned and saw one of the elder, redheaded Weasleys glaring at him. "You certainly made yourself quite obvious."

Draco smiled triumphantly down at the Weasley idiot. "Since everyone else just doesn't care, who's to say I don't?" Draco asked, his silvery eyes gleaming.

Percy took two more steps towards Malfoy, looking livid. "You stay away from her," Percy said in a dark, low tone. "If I find you've gone anywhere near her..."

"What, you'll scowl at me?" Draco taunted. "You'll call me a bad little boy?"

"No," Percy said, crossing his arms. "I'll take the matter to Professor Pryce. You know how protective he is of his... err, charge."

"You know, Weasley," Draco said, noting the fiery look in the boy's stern blue-eyed gaze. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're more into her than you let on."

"She's my best friend," Percy snarled, taking one step up so that he and Draco were face-to-face. "I'll repeat this one last time. If you do anything to her, anything at all, I'll hurt you. And then I'll stick Faith on you."

Faith was a girl that he'd heard about from rumors, Draco recalled with a sneer. "Is that a threat, Weasley?" he asked.

"It's a promise," Percy said pompously, stepping away as the doors to the Great Hall opened back up and students started spilling out. "Stay away from Buffy if you know what's best for that pretty head of yours."

That said, he swept regally back into the hall.

"Who does he think he is?" Draco asked moodily as he watched Percy walk away. "Pesky wanker."

- - - - -

Faith yawned and stretched as she walked downstairs into the dining room on Wednesday morning. She had a lot to be thankful for, but these early mornings weren't one of them.

She and Sirius had been up late into the wee hours of the morning talking about a lot of things lately. Which had been getting her to think a bit more. Using her brain was once a harder thing to do, but she rather liked it now.

He had spent endless hours talking about himself, Lupin, Buffy's father James and this other prat, Peter. He had talked about how they had always been feared and admired. It sort of reminded Faith of how intimidated she was when she first arrived at Sunnydale and was face-to-face with the Slayer and two coupley pairs. Sure, Buffy had been a little hormone bomb from the downfall of the Angel affairs, but she really was a good girl once Faith got to know her.

But she wasn't about to believe that Sirius and James had hexed a boy they really didn't like upside down showing off his boxers.

This had nearly killed her. Faith wasn't one for laughing. She'd had precious little to laugh about for so long now.

"I take it you didn't like the guy," Faith said in an almost awed voice as she had been making popcorn, the good old-fashioned Muggle way. Unfortunately, a tin of popcorn really didn't appreciate being shoved into a roaring fire, so Sirius thankfully pulled out his wand and did some fast work before her precious dining room became a haven for burnt corn.

"He was a nasty, slimy-haired git," Sirius admitted as he handed her a bowl and a butterbeer. They both walked over to the table and sat down. "But, I tell you, those were some of the best times of my life; with James and Remus, anyway."

"I like Remus," Faith said nonchalantly, snacking quietly in her corner of the table. The chair she was sitting in was making some oddly cooing noises. Faith just giggled and wiggled slightly and the chair stopped.

Sirius was giving her a stern look and Faith felt herself tense before relaxing away. This was big-brother concern. This is what she had finally been looking for, for her godforsaken brother to show one tiny ounce and a spark of humanity.

"Don't you be getting any ideas," he said with a threatening glare.

"You were the one, dear bro, who told me I had dung for brains last night, did you not?"

Indeed, he had, Faith reminded herself with a smile as she started making breakfast. On the stovetop, she set a pot of tea. For some odd reason, she really liked it. Giles usually said it was soothing, but tea was bitter, sort of like she was. It made her tense. It thrilled her. There were so many adjectives stuck in her brain that Faith knew all of them could apply to her violent dislike for a beverage she had been forcing herself to endure - and enjoy - for the sake that her brother wouldn't mock her for being a Yankee girl anymore.

That was Buffy's nickname, after all.

Sirius joined her about a half hour later, looking as sleepy and disheveled as she felt; only he was fully dressed. She was wearing a long, plaid robe she'd managed to wangle off of Hermione. It was really nice having a girl, even if she was a few months younger, at nearly the same height.

She was sitting down to her toast and jam when he sat down across from her, yawning, and a mug of tea in hand.

"Sleep well?" he asked her.

"Not bad," Faith said, spreading jam across her toast. "I was just thinking, is all."

"About what?"

"About this weekend."

"What about it?" Sirius asked, reaching across and plucking a slice of toast from her plate. She eyed him warily for a moment before replying.

"B's birthday. They tend to not be of the happy. Are you planning on returning that any time soon?"

"I'll make you more," Sirius protested through a mouthful of wheat bread and jam.

"Sure you will," she said darkly, giving him a mock-glare as she picked up the other slice. "You're such a boy at heart. And a rightful pain in my ass."

"That hurt, Delita."

She winced and he chortled into his tea cup. She obviously wasn't too happy about being called by her proper name. "What about Buffy's birthday?" he asked, for once using her nickname instead of calling her Elizabeth all the bloody time.

"Harry and some others are throwing her a surprise party. She hates them, of course, but it'll do her well. She needs a little bit of cheer."

"I daresay she's had enough of it," Sirius said dryly. "I mean, there comes a rush with resurrection, right?"

"Since she's been dead before, yep," Faith replied cheerfully as she crammed the last bit of toast in her mouth. "Anyway, you're invited. If you want to appear as the Siri-dog, that is."

"Snuffles."

"Or by that ridiculous nickname. Who the hell named you Snuffles?" Faith asked, glancing at him oddly.

"Someone who actually liked me," Sirius said, adopting her sarcastic tone. He noticed there was a pensive, almost sad expression on her face. "There's something else, is there? You're wearing an expression Mother almost always wore."

"Oh, really?" she asked him in surprise. "You've actually accepted I'm a blood relative of yours now, is that it?" She frowned a moment, and then sighed. "I was thinking about the Marauders, you know? You and James and Moony... all tight and happy and such in your perfect little Scooby group."

Sirius didn't know what a 'scooby' group was, but he wasn't about to ask her. She was strange in using language that he didn't quite understand, but it was part of her charm. If she talked like he did, it would be even worse.

"She had a group like that back in California?" Sirius asked, rising to pour them both another cup of tea.

"Yeah, a boy and a girl," Faith replied with a slight giggle. "Not too much unlike what she has now. Except the boy is Percy and I'm probably the girl. Unless it's Hermione. It probably is." She attempted in vain not to make a face as Sirius handed her cup back to her, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

"What is it?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," he said, rising again and grasping his cup. "I'll be upstairs, all right?"

"I'll just... clean up down here like I always do," she grumbled as he swept out of the dining room and back upstairs. Rolling her eyes, she marched over to the sink and dumped her tea down the drain.

"I heard that, you Yank!" Sirius yelled down the stairs.

Faith rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure what she hated more; the tea or her brother's constant twittering about her heritage.

- - - - -

Oliver, it turned out, didn't return that evening either. By the time Buffy returned from training, her arm covered in a nasty bruise, she was dispirited to find another letter from Oliver waiting for her on her bed. Grumbling, she sat down and pulled off her robes and blouse, staring miserably at the large welts decorating her arm.

That's what she got when she decided to spar with her trainer, she thought angrily as she glared at the bruise, as though demanding to know why it was gracing her presence at all.

Thursday hadn't been much better than Wednesday, she decided. Oliver hadn't been around to cure her of her anger which he could do in his own special way, but her so-called friends and even her brother had been cheerfully ignoring her. While she knew she had her suspicions, they were acting far too obvious for par.

"They must be anti-Buffy," she grumbled as she replaced her blouse and searched around the trunk on the floor for her train case. She knew a hot shower was all she needed to cure all of her blahs.

Even Draco had avoided her that night at dinner when she'd thrown him a cheerful smile. He'd just returned it with a stone-cold look of his own before turning to talk to Crabbe. Buffy had looked down in disappointment, a look not lost on Harry.

"She looks like her pet ferret died," Ron said, catching the look on Buffy's face as she left to serve detention.

"Don't say that," Harry said, since Percy had told him that Draco had been spending time with his sister that morning. He cast a surly glance at Draco, who returned his look with a disgusted sneer of his own. "She'll get over it when she realizes that we're throwing her this fantastic party."

"Oh, right," Hermione said, looking at both of her best friends in disbelief. "Would you be so warm and welcoming at your own surprise party if the friends that threw it for you ignored you all the while? Seriously, are you two that mentally thick?" Rolling her eyes, she stood up and stalked after Buffy.

"Maybe we were talking this a little too far," Ron said, wincing. "After all, she has been pretty terrific to us."

"I know," Harry said with a sigh. "But after all this planning, I don't want to waste it. I want her to get the first surprise party ever in England, and I want it to be terrific!"

"Fred and George said they'll be here sometime Saturday afternoon," Ron continued, unwrapping the letter he'd received at breakfast. "We just have to find a way to keep Buffy out of the Common Room."

"I'll speak with Professor Pryce," Harry said with a slight frown. "Maybe he'll train her or something all day."

"She'll be a dead woman walking at her own party," said Ron, looking scandalized. "How about something not so strenuous."

"No," Harry said softly. "Training is the one thing that's keeping her anger in check now, or we'd all have broken backs from her beating us into submission because we've hid this from her."

"Talking about Buffy?" Katie asked as she and Emma dropped down next to Harry and Ron. "I think something's up with her besides us being all silent."

"Yeah," Harry said, realizing this. "It's Oliver."

"Those stupid Ministry people won't release them until their bargain is met," Emma said sympathetically. "They're really attached, those two, aren't they?"

"She loves him," Harry said simply. "I'm just hoping he feels the same way."

"Oh, he does," Katie said, waving that information aside. At seeing Ron's and Harry's faces, however, she chose to elaborate. "Oh, come on! You see the way he looks at her? He adores her!"

"It might not be love," Harry said softly. "I don't want my sister to get hurt because someone chose him career above her. She's had that happen once..."

"Tough break, that one," Ron said, who'd gotten most of the story from Faith. "Speaking of tough breaks, Faith said she'll be here, with, err... Snuffles... Saturday around six. She says she has a surprise, too."

"Oh, good," Harry muttered as he finished the last of his apple tart. "At least she won't be too disappointed in the fact we're not trying to cheer her up."

Buffy was doing her own work to cheer herself up. After sword fighting for nearly an hour and getting her arm sliced open, she turned to Hermione, who had come to her training session to quietly observe as usual.

The two walked back to Gryffindor Tower together near ten o'clock. Buffy was quite glad that Hermione was a Prefect and that her own roommate, no matter how silent she'd been of late, was Head Girl.

"Have you noticed anything different lately?" Buffy asked the girl curiously as the two walked back downstairs.

"Why do you ask?" Hermione asked her slowly.

"I just feel a change of pace, is all," Buffy replied carefully. "I mean, it's one thing to be back in the same pace and going through motions, but this is ridiculous! The only person I've managed to have a decent conversation with this week has been Malfoy."

Hermione's face revealed nothing of the secret she was hiding, but her eyes widened in surprise. "We have been really busy," she managed to utter out.

"Oh, come on, Hermione!" Buffy said, rolling her eyes. "I know you don't think I'm that stupid. I know it has something to do with the fact my birthday is three mere days away."

"It might," Hermione said lightly. "But Buffy, please understand--"

But she had just noticed Buffy's face, which had gone rather pale. "They're not doing a surprise party, are they?" she asked timidly.

"Um..." Hermione managed to choke out, "I'm not really in the know, you know?"

"I'm not one for surprise parties," she said in a shaking voice. "The last one I had I was almost killed."

Hermione didn't know how to react to that. Instead, she blurted out the one thing she knew would cheer the older girl up. "Fred and George are coming this weekend."

"They are?" Buffy asked, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Hermione. "Really? Oh..."

Buffy was practically dancing, although she was still in some agony from the injuries sustained in that night's training. Laurel decided to make a comment to Buffy, since the whole of Gryffindor house knew she was in detention.

"What does he make you do? Dangle from chains? That's totally barbaric."

Hermione instead made a beeline for Harry and Ron. They both looked up over their Potions essays and noticed her glum expression immediately.

"What's wrong, beautiful?" Harry teased, his arms encircling her waist as she was pulled into his lap.

"It's Buffy," Hermione said breathlessly. "She knows that we're planning something." She turned to Ron. "Do you think you could convince Fred and George to show up a day early? Maybe they'll take her into Hogsmeade or something Saturday. Because she's just too down as it is. She said the only person who will talk to her is Malfoy, and if she sees her favorite twins tomorrow night..."

"Yeah, I'll send them a letter," Ron said dismissively.

"Not to mention you'll be seeing your own hottie in a few nights," Harry said, glancing as Ron continued to work, his face continually reddening over the top of his robes.

"Shut it, you," Ron finally grunted, turning back to his homework.

Friday was another cold and snowy day. There seemed to be a lot of those, Buffy thought, staring out the window as she left Transfigurations and walked downstairs to go to lunch.

At least her birthday was only two days away. She hoped they were being quiet on account of wanting to surprise her. The last thing she wanted would be for people to keep their silence even after her supposed party. She really was getting rather attached to her friends here.

But what she saw in the Entrance Hall erased the bitterness of silence this past week. Oliver, huddled under a cloak, was standing near the entrance, talking to Percy, while a girl Buffy had never seen before in her life clung to her redheaded friend.

Buffy pushed past a few Slytherins in her haste to get within shouting distance. She felt warm laughter bubble like champagne in her stomach. For some odd reason, Oliver could make every ounce of teen angst within her just melt away.

She had reached the last few steps when Oliver spotted her. With eyes full of happiness, he stepped forward and she practically jumped into his arms from the last few stairs. Arms now tightly around his neck, she felt his tighten around hers.

"You're back," she said softly as they pulled out. "And you're so bloody cold!"

"It's a blizzard out there," he said with a teasing smile, taking her by the arm and pulling her back into their group. It was then that Buffy noticed that the girl who was still clutching Percy's hand wasn't alone. There was another girl, and it was the same one Buffy had seen all those months earlier when she'd first spied Oliver at the Ministry. She was looking daggers at her, but Buffy chose to ignore them, instead focusing her attention on a petite brunette now happily being introduced to Buffy by Percy.

"Penelope, this is Elizabeth Potter," Percy said, extending his hand to Buffy, who grinned, turning to Penelope. He'd told her about his old Hogwarts girlfriend, and from the excited look on her face, there may still have been something there.

"It's good to meet you, Penelope," Buffy said with a grin. "And please, ignore Percy the Proper and call me Buffy."

"Oh, likewise!" Penelope enthused, lifting her eyes in wonder as she glanced around. "Oh, how I've missed this place! I wish you would have talked me into coming back sooner!" she said, turning back to Percy and slapping his arm in mock indignation.

"Who's your entourage?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Oh, they're my teammates," Oliver said from behind her. "That's Cynthia Merritt and Jaron O'Connell. Both are Puddlemere United. Cynthia's Penelope's roommate in Surrey and Jaron and I shared a flat when we were en route."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Jaron said to Buffy with a smile. He turned to Cynthia, who eyed Buffy coolly.

"Charmed," she said in an icy voice.

"Excuse me, Potter," a voice said from behind them and Buffy turned to see Professor Pryce approaching her, looking somewhat curious, but troubled nonetheless. "I have to borrow her for a few moments, Wood, Weasley." He gave both men a respectable nod and took Buffy's arm, leading her away from the group.

"So," Cynthia said, slowly walking forward to take Buffy's place next to Oliver. "She's definitely perky."

"She's gorgeous," Jaron said, casting a furtive look in the direction where Professor Pryce had dragged her.

"And she's off-limits," Percy said dryly, casting a look at Oliver, who blushed slightly and looked away. "Honestly, don't get any ideas about her, or you might end up with missing body parts."

Penelope, still clutching his arm, giggled.

Professor Pryce had wanted to talk about, of all things, training.

"I think it would be best if we cancelled our session tonight," he said mildly. "I do believe you have friends visiting for the weekend." He glanced up and caught sight of Buffy's friends walking into the Great Hall for lunch. "We'll resume our training on Monday?"

"That works," Buffy said, checking her watch. "Crap! I told Professor Flitwick I'd meet him to discuss Charms tutorials. It looks like I'm missing out on lunch..." She cast a regretful look at the Great Hall and sighed. "I haven't seen him all week, either..."

"You'll have an entire weekend to spend together, I'm sure," Professor Pryce consoled her, causing the younger girl to brighten, flash him a bright smile, say goodbye, and dash off.

Hermione met up with her in front of their Ancient Runes classroom, clutching a huge dictionary. "Did you finish your translation?" she asked Buffy kindly.

"Yeah," Buffy said with a smile. "Took me a few hours, that one."

The two sat down together at the same table.

"You know," Hermione said slowly, "I happened to notice that your boyfriend was back and that you weren't at lunch."

"I was in Professor Flitwick's office," Buffy said regretfully. "Please don't tell me he hates me now."

"I wouldn't worry about him," Hermione said, choosing her words very carefully. "I'd worry about that other girl who's with him."

"Penelope or the other one?" Buffy asked in confusion, taking out her Runes translation and smoothing it across their table. "How does this one look?"

"The other one," Hermione said, biting her lip. She smiled when she saw how neatly Buffy had finished her translation. "That actually looks great."

"I'm thinking she likes him," Buffy said with a small smile. "Nothing I haven't handled before." There was a flash of darkness in her eyes and she turned away.

But, the truth of the matter was, she wasn't really worried. She trusted Oliver. She couldn't love him if she wasn't able to.

The class passed rather quickly and soon Buffy found herself walking back towards Gryffindor Tower while Hermione instead headed off for the Library.

But, on the way, Buffy changed her mind and decided she wanted to go and see Oliver instead. She was halfway down the corridor to his room when she heard a sly female chuckle and a dry, masculine retort. Turning around the corner, she saw Cynthia there. With Oliver.

"Oh, crap," she muttered, taking a step back, not wanting to spy, but not trusting herself to turn around, either.

She heard them moving closer and tried to conceal herself, until she saw the one thing she really wished she hadn't.

They were standing too close to be friends...

"I've liked you for the past two years, Oli," the girl was saying with a sweet, sugary voice. "I was hoping we could turn our friendship into something more."

"You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that."

Buffy gasped, the sound echoing out of her mouth. She forced herself to clamp a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, Oliver, truly?"

Buffy couldn't stand to hear another minute of it. She turned on her heel and stormed away, trying to ignore the sinking sensation. Her senses had told her something was wrong, and that had just been confirmed for her.

Oliver looked up and turned around, frowning slightly. Cynthia was slightly annoyed, but peered over his shoulder, looking for potential spies. She certainly wasn't expecting what came out of his mouth next.

"Buffy?"

"Buffy," Cynthia said, wrinkling her nose. "What's a Buffy? It sounds like a dog..."

Oliver turned to her so quickly Cynthia gasped. The look on his face would have scared a ghost, she realized, her blood turning to ice.

"You know Cynthia. I had been waiting for you to tell me you wanted to take our friendship to the next level for years. That was before I met her."

"You mean Elizabeth, right?" Cynthia asked sulkily.

"Yes, her. Also goes by the name of Buffy," Oliver snapped. "I don't know why you came here with me, but if you were looking for something with me, you're not going to find it here. So I suggest you just leave."

"What am I, just something you can toy around with?" Cynthia asked, feeling tears of rejection spring to her eyes. "You can't just play with my emotions like that!"

"There hasn't been anything between us," Oliver said in exasperation. "There never was and now there won't be. I love--"

"We'll see about that," Cynthia said, giving him a cold, hostile smile before lifting her nose and taking off in the other direction. Oliver just sighed and stared behind him again.

His own senses had alerted him that his girlfriend had been near. He could feel her presence anywhere, not to mention smell that swell vanilla lotion she always wore. His eyes narrowed and he sighed. She must have seen him with Cynthia. She wasn't the jealous type at all, or so he hoped...

But she was storming back into Gryffindor Tower, wondering when Oliver had turned into such a hypocrite. He had gone through a big scene at Christmas in front of his family with his jealous spite, and she had confirmed her beliefs that she truly wanted him and only him. And now he was hanging around another girl and telling her that he'd been waiting for her to say she wanted to be more than friends.

He was so infuriating!

She stormed up to her room, ignoring the gestures and hello's she received as she walked in. Throwing her bag onto her bed, she fell backwards across it.

For a week now, she'd wanted to see him again. She wanted him to tell her that everyone still liked her. But obviously it wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to be around a tall, athletic and quite pretty Quidditch player. Brushing angry tears aside, she pulled off her robe and glared at her reflection in the mirror. Angry splotches of red had appeared on her cheeks, and the hazel eyes Harry kept telling her belonged to their Father were glistening with tears.

She walked downstairs, feeling even more bummed now. She had barely gotten to the bottom when she suddenly gasped. There were two tall, identical people standing with their backs to her, and they were in deep conversation with Harry, who had just returned from his last lesson.

Buffy let out a shriek that could have awoken the dead.

The twins turned and caught her expression. Both of their faces cracked into identical grins as she ran towards them, throwing her arms around George.

"Oh, am I glad to see you two," she moaned as George lifted her off the ground in his haste to hug her.

"It's our Teeny Tiny's birthday," Fred said with a wink, bending down to hug her. It was much different than the hugs he usually gave, he realized as he straightened, smiling down at her face.

It was then he noticed something was wrong. Her eyes were shining with tears he knew weren't from happiness. And she was flushed, as though she was angry.

Something was up with her. He knew that her friends had been putting her off for a week now while trying to plan this party, but for all it was worth, he and George were going to make her forget her miserable week if it was the last thing they did!

- - - - -

"Oh, don't tell me..." Buffy said, musing with her forefinger prodding her chin thoughtfully as she spied Fred's weird face. "It's not like a lion tamer, is it?" she asked him playfully.

He shook his head, still able to maintain his silly face.

Buffy turned to George, who stood on her other side. "George, a little hint?"

He, too, shook his head, grinning.

"You twins are completely worthless," Buffy groaned.

Fred lost his face and winked behind Buffy's back. George snorted laughter as they followed her back into the entrance hall at Hogwarts.

It was Saturday and Buffy had just spent a fantastic morning and afternoon at Hogsmeade with the Weasley twins. As much as it pained her to say it, and it did hurt because her diaphragm was sore from all of her hysterical laughter, a double dose of the Weasley twins was exactly what she needed to cure her birthday blahs.

The laughter died in her throat when the door to the Great Hall opened and Oliver walked out with his teammates. Cynthia gave Buffy a grin of cold triumph as she stepped up to Oliver, her hand taking his arm possessively.

Oliver, however, was oblivious to her anger. His eyes were on the twins as they narrowed in cool envy. He was also well aware of the anger in both sets of eyes and shrugged it off before he turned to smile at his girlfriend.

What he saw in her eyes scared him. She looked betrayed. She looked hurt. It was an expression he had never seen on her beautiful face. There were tears in her eyes and she turned with an arrogant smile to Fred, who turned to look down at her, his own eyes flashing.

"Let's go," Fred said, taking her arm and pulling her upstairs. George gave Oliver a cold glare before following them.

"Damn it," Oliver said under his breath as he suddenly felt Cynthia's presence next to him. "Why did you do that for?"

"Did you see the look on her face?" Cynthia asked gleefully while Jaron's face turned incredulous as he stared at his only female teammate.

"I can't believe you just did that," Jaron said quietly, his eyes wide.

"Oh come on! She looks like such a wuss having all of these manly men protecting her."

"I don't think that was a smart thing to do," Jaron said, his tone still quiet.

"Oh? Why not?" Cynthia asked, batting her lashes to Oliver, who ignored her, still staring upstairs, regret, guilt and grief all reflecting in his eyes.

Oliver shook his arm away from Cynthia's grasp and glared at her as he stepped back. "I don't know what you're playing at, but stop it." He gazed upstairs and his eyes softened. "I didn't want to hurt her..."

"You mean... you and... and... her?" Cynthia asked, rage mixed in with her words of realization. "You and that Potter tramp?"

"Uh oh," Jaron said, spying someone else swooping down upon them, looking every bit as angry as he had ever seen him.

It was Percy Weasley.

"How dare you befoul her like that?" Percy seethed while Oliver turned on Cynthia.

"Don't you dare say that about her!" Oliver shouted.

Both boys cut off and gave each other an apologetic smile.

"Well, excuse me for caring about you," Cynthia said flippantly, tossing her shiny, dark head. "I just think you could do a whole lot better than... her..."

"Why don't you tell that to her face?" Percy asked in a deathly quiet tone. "I would love to see her reaction."

"As if she could hurt a fly," Cynthia said unconcernedly. "Oh, I'm so weak. Oh, I'm so delicate. Oh, I'm so... Oliver, stop that! You're hurting me!"

Oliver had just grabbed her arm and was dragging her away from Jaron and Percy.

"Look," he said in a dark voice. "Would you stop? Please?"

"I'll stop Oliver, surely," she said, lifting the corner of her mouth slyly. "I just want to know if she'll stop, too." Giving him a look of triumph, she stormed away.

Oliver wasn't prepared for what happened next. He turned to go back towards his other friends when a fist flew at him out of nowhere. He fell back, his hand clutching his face as he saw the dark-haired girl glaring at him. Her left arm dropped to her side and her look was vaguely of triumph. Cynthia stood right next to her, staring at the girl as though she'd never seen anything like her before.

"What'd you do that for?" Cynthia squealed as she ran towards Oliver. But Faith didn't relent as she reached out, grasping Cynthia's arm so tightly the other girl whimpered in pain.

"I've about had my bitch tolerance for the decade," Faith retorted as she swung Cynthia away from Oliver. "Would you please stay away from B's boy? I do not want a recap of two years ago! Or even last year!"

Faith finally released Cynthia and turned with her fiery gaze back to Oliver. "I thought you had more respect for her than this." Her eyes cut over to Cynthia and her lip curled, not unlike her brother's. "If you hurt B, I'll kill you. You get me?"

Turning on her heel, she marched away. When she was out of sight, she grinned.

Buffy was completely freaking out, so much so that she didn't even realize they weren't going towards Gryffindor Tower. Fred had his arm around her shoulders and was trying to comfort her, but it wasn't much good. George told Fred quietly that he was going to make a quick trip to drop off the favors in their common room.

This left Fred alone with a very distressed Slayer. It didn't help that she was practically coming apart at the seams.

"He's just a boy, Buffy," Fred said consolingly, leading her into his room.

"He's a jerk!" Buffy said, wiping her eyes miserably. "I should never... oh... when I fell in love with him, I just didn't... what was I thinking? Oh, my God..."

He watched helplessly as she threw herself across his bed, her shoulders heaving.

It really was an awkward moment. He wasn't good with all of this sensitive stuff. Hermione often told him he had the sensitivity of a toothpick. And seeing a girl in tears on his bed in his room was more troubling than he could imagine. He quite thought he had even less sensitivity than a tiny stick of wood at that point.

"Buffy," he said, sitting down next to her as she raised her face to look into his eyes. He found his breath catching and forced himself to say what he had intended to. "Oliver loves you, really, he does."

"Does he?" she asked with a bittersweet smile as she sat up, leaning against Fred, her face on his cloak, her tears soaking into his material. "Oh, Fred, I wish I believed you, and maybe I do, but it's just that... I've felt so alone this week, and usually he makes me feel so much better. I just wish he didn't make me feel any worse."

Now he truly was beginning to hate the bastard, he thought to himself as he patted her back awkwardly. It was the day before her birthday. And from the little Percy had told him, Buffy really hadn't had a pleasant birthday before. This surprise party was supposed to be wild, outlandish, fun and happy to show the girl how much they cared about her.

It wasn't supposed to be the most miserable day for her.

She raised her face to his again, their faces only a few inches apart.

He hadn't realized how truly close she was.

He reached out with a shaking hand to gently clear the tears from her eyes. She gave him a watery smile. "I ruined your cloak," she managed to choke out.

"It... doesn't matter," he managed to say, pulling his hand away. "I'm sorry about what this week has been like for you..."

Her hand reached out and touched his face and he felt as though his eyes were magnetically drawn back to hers. "It's not your fault," she said with a sweet smile. "You're the only one who hasn't treated me like I'm some alien with three heads..."

"Just doing what I can," Fred said, now insanely aware of how her body was pressed up against his. This was almost a little to close for comfort. He had to push her away now before he did something completely stupid. But he felt his resistance breaking down because for some odd reason, he couldn't break eye contact with her.

"It's so nice," she said, finally breaking eye contact and dropping her head onto his shoulder. "You guys really cheered me up today."

"Look," Fred said, feeling more in control of his own voice again. "Oliver's being a bastard... just forget about it. I know you love him, but I--"

She had glanced up at him, but this time her eyes were sparkling. Her hand touched his cheek again before she raised her lips and pressed them to it. "Thank you," she said, pulling back slightly.

He felt the control loosen again and gave her a tight smile. She lowered her eyes and was about to pull away when his hand developed a mind of its own and reached out to take hers. She glanced down at his hand in surprise before she glanced at him with confused eyes.

"Thank you," he said, his hand sliding up to her shoulder and pulling her closer. Their faces weren't more than an inch apart when he changed tactics and hugged her tightly, inhaling the sweet minty scent of her hair. For some odd reason, his impulses were going to make him do something incredibly stupid.

When she pulled back, she didn't step away. He forced himself to look at her.

And that's when it happened.

She had leaned over to kiss his cheek again when his face turned, their lips grazing instead. It didn't last for more than a second when she pulled away in surprise. It lasted a second.

He pulled her back, kissing her with as much as he could give of himself, and he felt her response.

And then his brain rushed back to him and he pulled away. "Oh, Merlin," he whispered, seeing the astonished look on her face. "Oh, Buffy... I don't... I don't know what came over me..."

He saw her face redden and she looked away, reaching a hand up to touch her lips. "Oh, God..."

"Buffy, I..."

But she backed up, standing and nearly tripping backwards. "Oh, my God..." But her eyes were oddly glistening when she gazed back at him.

For the life of him, he couldn't break eye contact. For one moment, she had been in his arms, something that he'd been dreaming about for months. But now that he'd done it, he couldn't help feeling disgusted with himself.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"It certainly puts things in perspective," she said with a shaky smile. She sat down again on a chair across the room, still looking at him. "I should be sorry. I was asking for it."

"You don't understand," said Fred, feeling his face turn pink. "I've liked you for ages, but I--"

"I get it, Fred, I really do," she said, smiling brightly at him. "It was just... it just happened. It's over, it's done and I... I..." She gave him a guilty smile. "It was nice."

"Did it make you feel better?" he asked as he heard his bedroom door open as George returned.

Her eyes widened as she turned around, looking as though she had just been caught stealing by the Minister of Magic himself.

"Consider it an early birthday present," Fred said, managing a smirk and a wink before George appeared, looking almost crestfallen. He was holding a blindfold in his hands and looking apologetically at Buffy.

"We're supposed to take you to Gryffindor Tower," George said, handing Fred the blindfold. "Do you want to put it on, or should I?"

"You do it," Fred said quickly. The less time he spent touching her, the better for his own impulses. The last thing he wanted to do was put her in that position again.

George shrugged and walked over, gently slipping the blindfold over her eyes.

"And just so we're clear, there's a heartbroken Scottish chap waiting for you outside the Tower."

"Oh," came Buffy's cool response as George pushed her towards the doorway. "Well, that's a relief."

Fred paused and stared at his shaking hands for a moment. Oliver and Buffy were obviously meant for each other, which meant he didn't have a prayer where Buffy's heart was concerned. But Oliver had hurt her, and Fred knew he had no right to take advantage of Buffy like that. He respected her and her power too damn much.

The first thing they noticed when they arrived at Gryffindor Tower was the fact that there were loud voices hushing down quickly on the other side. With a smirk toward his twin, they both paused when they saw Oliver standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking deeply guilty.

"Can you give us a minute?" he asked them, watching as his blindfolded girlfriend bristled at the sound of his voice.

"What do you want?" she asked defensively. "If you want to throw your new relationship in my face, I'll--"

Her words were cut off as Oliver suddenly hugged her, pulling her into his arms.

Fred felt something inside him break. He knew it was probably his control and it took all of it to not step forward and knock Oliver about the head.

"I am so sorry," he moaned into her hair. "I should have seen what she was trying to do... and it hurt you, and you had just had a bad week and, oh... Buffy... you know I love you, right?"

Buffy felt her body tense up and then relax as his arms tightened around her. "I know," she whispered. "I just wish I didn't have to fight for you, that's all."

He touched her face, knowing that even though it was hard for her to see more than just his shadow, his eyes truly did show affection only for her. "I should have seen it coming," he said gently, bending down and kissing her. "Now, let's get you inside."

He turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. "Fainting Fancy!"

The Fat Lady let out a wail as she swung open.

Buffy was led into the Common Room. She stopped, suddenly suspicious. "Is it just me, or is it a little too quiet in here?"

The blindfold was suddenly ripped off her eyes by a pair of warm, familiar hands. "Surprise!"

Buffy blinked as light returned and she gazed around. The whole of Gryffindor House, a few extra people and one shaggy black dog were all staring at her, warmth and respect in their eyes.

It was more than she could have hoped for.

Until she saw the pair of hands loitering around her neck. Turning, she let out a shriek that caused her person standing over her shoulder to cover his ears and scowl at her.

"Geez, Buff, have a cow?"

"Oh, Xander! Xander! Xander!" Buffy cried out, throwing her arms around him, nearly knocking him over. It was then she caught the eyes of the redhead standing next to him. "Willow? Oh, Willow!"

She threw her arms around her other best friend, tears in her eyes. Willow held her back, looking just as happy to see her best friend as Buffy was to see her.

After a few seconds, Xander just wrapped his arms around both girls and the old gang shared one last, long embrace before pulling back.

Oliver was stunned to see that Buffy, his stronger-than-night girlfriend, was crying. She was also looking at Faith. "Did you plan this?" she asked, dabbing at her eyes.

"It was actually you-know-who's idea," Faith said with a wink, giving the dog a meaningful look as Snuffles lapsed up to the group and Buffy bent down and gave the dog a huge, loving hug.

"Thank you so much," she whispered, hoping Sirius would be able to hear her as she straightened up. "Well, I have to say... this is the greatest shock... thank you guys."

Her eyes traveled around the warm, cozy Common Room. Although Gryffindors were present, it meant a lot to her for the twins to be there, even if things with Fred were slightly awkward at the moment. Oliver was there beside her, apologizing for his flirtations with the girl Buffy didn't know. Percy was there too, with Penelope.

Faith jumped to her feet and walked over. With a wry grin on her face, she kicked Buffy's shins. Buffy looked at Faith in surprise as she bent down to rub her sore leg. "That's just the first one," Faith said with a saucy wink. "I'll let black-eyed Olive over there spank the rest out of you..."

Buffy at least had the grace to blush.

"Well, it's a happy, birthday-girl Buffy!" Willow said, hugging Buffy from behind while eyeing the twins with great interest. "We've been introduced to the entire gang except for those two..."

"And let me tell you," Faith said, leaning into Buffy's side. "After Percy told me what that bitch had done, we had words. Oh, and Oliver, too." She let her gaze travel over to him, and he shivered under the power of her coldest stare.

"Fred, George, these are two of my best friends from home, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. Wil, Xan, these are two of the weirdest people you'll ever meet. Fred and George Weasley."

"They have enough for a brain between them," Faith commented as Fred glared at her, "but they are kind of cute."

"Kind of?" Willow asked Faith with a smirk.

Percy walked over, sticking his hand out pompously. "I know we've been introduced, but..."

Buffy laughed and threaded her arm through Percy's.

"You don't have to tell us, Buff," Xander said, giving Percy an appraising sort of look. "Giles gave us the deal. So you're Buffy's bestest bud in Britain, eh?"

"One of them, anyway," Buffy said, her face growing warm as she turned to Oliver, who took a bold step forward.

"Nice eye," Willow commented, sniggering. It was then that Buffy noticed that Oliver's right eye was starting to bruise and she turned suspiciously to look at Faith, who suddenly found her fingernails to be of interest.

There was a movement behind Oliver and Buffy felt herself bristling. She noticed that Percy's eyes had narrowed and while Penelope had walked over to collect him, she hung back a moment as Buffy and Cynthia faced off.

"Hello," Buffy said coolly as Faith stepped forward.

"I thought I told you to stay away," Faith said in a sharp, icy tone.

"What are you, her bodyguard?" Cynthia asked in a cold voice. "Little miss sissy can't defend herself."

"Oh, no," Xander muttered under his breath as Faith stepped aside. Cynthia's eyes widened in horror. While expecting to see Buffy's lovely face angry and bitchy, she wasn't expecting to find a full-blown rage.

"What did you just call me?" Buffy asked, trying not to smirk at the other girl.

"You need a bodyguard, Potter?"

"Actually, you know what, I really don't," Buffy said, putting her hands on her hips and appraising the girl. "Have you ever heard of the expression biting off more than you can chew?"

Oliver knew exactly where this was going and quickly grabbed his girlfriend by her waist and pulled her back. "Buffy, please... no violence."

"Oh, come on! Let everyone see the show!" Faith said, grinning. She was really finding a pissed-off Buffy to be pure entertainment. The girl had had a rough week. A little icing on the cake never hurt anything.

Buffy pulled away from Oliver and stood face-to-face with the taller Quidditch player. "You don't scare me. You can't scare me."

As the other girl lifted her arm to hit her, Buffy used her reflexes to duck out of the way and catch the girl's speedy arm in an iron grip. Cynthia tried to rip her arm free, but Buffy, whoever this girl was, had a grip like a vise.

"What the hell is this?" Cynthia grunted as Buffy finally released her arm, the other girl spilling to the floor. She turned angrily to look at Oliver. "And you're in love with her?"

"That's right," Oliver said, now taking Buffy's hand and pulling her away. "I am."

"I think you should leave now," Faith said quietly. "Unless you want her to beat the crap out of you."

"Think you should push her buttons?" Fred asked from behind Cynthia, who finally tossed her dark hair and glared spitefully at the younger woman.

"I don't think she should act like such a freak," Cynthia said, brushing herself off and glaring haughtily at the woman standing in front of her. "Even if she is... short."

"That's it," Buffy said, walking back over, her own fist in the air. "Now you've pissed me off."

"Bad, bad move," Faith said, turning her face and wincing at Cynthia's howl of pain.

"The next time you crash my birthday party, I'll put you in the hospital!" Buffy said as Cynthia held her cheek, glaring at the younger girl with tears of humiliation in her eyes.

It took the combined forces of both Xander, Percy and Oliver to pull Buffy away from her, although her strength was easily enough to completely subdue the both of them. But she was tired of fighting. This was, after all, her own birthday.

Cynthia left on her own accord, feeling battered and humiliated. She'd lost the one guy she'd had a crush on to a woman who could actually hit something decent. She was a lot more than met the eye, that was for certain.

She'd known Oliver since he signed onto Puddlemere United. She'd never known him to fall in love.

Until now. The way he had been looking at her, with respect, adoration and, if she could stomach it, joy, was more than she could handle.

Although she had returned to Hogwarts with Oliver to visit her roommate's ex-boyfriend, the Weasley boy, it was time she returned home. She had wanted Oliver to know how she felt about him, and he did. But he was so completely into this other girl, Cynthia knew she shouldn't have bothered.

It seemed he had already found his one perfect person. And Cynthia would just have to accept that the best woman had already won.

- - - - -

The party was winding down hours later. Buffy was exhausted as she was curled up between her boyfriend and Willow, who had been talking for hours about her own schooling in UC-Sunnydale and even announced she'd been accepted to study overseas at Oxford the following year.

"Really, Wil? That's fantastic!" Buffy cried, hugging Willow tightly.

She was feeling the effects of little sleep on top of nearly no food, except loads of birthday cake and even a chocolate cream George had given her. Expecting it to explode when she bit into it, she was surprised it had the opposite effect.

The one person who truly seemed uncomfortable around her was Fred. Buffy made a point to talk to him later. There was just far too much history between the two to have it be destroyed by one misunderstanding. Even if had been a pretty significant one.

It was nearing midnight when Professor McGonagall showed up. After she was introduced to the guests, she asked them to wind down the party, no matter who it was being thrown for.

Buffy only received a few gifts that night. Katie and Emma had given her a beautiful leather book bag, something she'd been eyeing their first weekend at Hogsmeade. Willow and Xander had brought themselves, which was one of the best birthday presents she could have hoped for. But they had also given her what Giles would probably describe as a doorknob, but Willow said it was a paperweight, containing the rock and some of the demon-y elements from her old stomping grounds.

But Willow had given her a few books on Wiccan and Druidic magic, something Buffy was now starting to interest herself in. Harry promised she would receive her gift the next day, as did Hermione. Oliver was being mysteriously quiet and she knew he had something on his mind.

It was when the twins announced they were leaving to the sounds of booing and mock-crying that Buffy sprang into action.

"Hey, wait up!" she shouted after them as they walked off.

"Both of us?" George asked with a bit of a smirk.

"Quiet you," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "I actually wondered... Fred, could I have a moment?"

"You're getting your present tomorrow, Teeny Tiny," George promised her with a quick hug. And then he disappeared into the darkness.

Buffy turned to Fred, not really quite sure what to say, except, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Fred assured her with that comforting smile of his. "It was my mistake. And, perhaps, partially yours, too."

"I kissed you first," she said with a guilty look in her eyes.

"Well, technically not," he argued.

"Oh, shut up!" she said, holding up her hand. "The point is... I don't want us to be all awkward around one another. You're one of the closest people I know, Fred. I don't want to lose that."

"I know, and I don't, either," Fred said with a shrug. "It's just... well..."

She put a hand on his face. "I know. Good night, Fred."

"Good night," he echoed, watching as she disappeared back towards the portrait hole.

Where Oliver was waiting for her.

"You okay?" he asked her as she glanced up, giving him a tired smile.

"I think so."

"Want to take a walk?"

"Why not."

He took her hand and they started walking.

"I feel so bad about what happened... and not to mention Faith has one vicious left hook."

"I'm sorry she hit your face," Buffy said, wincing when she saw the progression of his black eye. They stopped and she gingerly touched it. "It's a pretty purple color though."

"Yeah," he grumbled good-naturedly as she gently kissed the corner of his eye before they continued on. "You've got good people in your life, Buffy. I'm just glad I'm still one of them."

"Everyone makes mistakes," she said, a shadow passing over her face. "But hopefully, we can just forget this week ever happened, because being ignored by everyone sucks."

"I truly am sorry I didn't come back," he said, squeezing her hand slightly.

"I know," she said, giving him an apologetic smile. "And my bitchy moodiness probably didn't help either."

"Well... this is my stop."

They had reached his doorway.

"As much as I'd love to stay here tonight, I can't," she said, giving him another smile. "I have..."

"Yeah, your 'scooby' gang from home. I can see why they love you."

"We've got a lot of history between us," Buffy said proudly.

"I only hope someday we have what you did," Oliver said seriously. "I mean, not just me, but the rest of your friends, too."

"I think it'll happen," Buffy agreed as they kissed and hugged goodnight. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"I'll give you your present then. And maybe I can spend time with your group."

"You don't have to give me anything, Oli. This ring is beautiful."

"I know... but it needs something else," he said with a mysterious wink. "Good night."

She was grinning as she walked back in the portrait hole.

Faith was picking up the party hats and a few scattered canary feathers. "I was wondering if you were coming back or if you were going to spend the night with you know who."

"That was so two years ago," Buffy said with a careless grin as she spotted Willow and Xander by the fireplace, talking with Harry, Hermione and Ron. "Faith, you have got to be the bestest friend in the world right now. How did you know..."

"I just knew," Faith said wistfully. "I've been listening to big brother over there babble on and on and on about the Marauders and figured you could have your own two back, that's all."

"You've got a great brother," Buffy commented as she started picking up gift-wrap from the floor.

"He's a pain in the ass, but he's not bad," Faith said, smirking as the dog turned and barred its teeth at her. She just grinned and turned back to the garbage bag she was holding. "You should go and visit them. I'm almost done here. Just... go."

Buffy frowned at Faith, but finally gave in as she approached Xander and Willow. Xander reached up and pulled Buffy down on top of both him and Willow and she laughed. Harry watched his sister's face truly light up when she was in the company of the pretty redhead and the dashing, funny brunette.

"Willow and Xander have been telling us tall tales," Hermione said, her eyes sparkling as she threaded her hand through Harry's. "Perhaps you'd like to tell some of your own."

Buffy nearly burst into laughter. "Oh, the stories we could tell!"

"The people we've met..."

"The demons we slayed..."

"The world we saved..."

"How much time have you got?" Xander asked with a grin.

"All night," Ginny said, coming out of nowhere with Dean, who was surprisingly flushing given the fact that it was after midnight and the Common Room was freezing cold except right near the fire.

"Pull up a chair!" Buffy offered as she straightened up so that she was leaning against Xander, her legs propped up on top of Willow, who was also leaning into Xander. "Come one, come all, for tall scooby tales!"

Willow snorted her laughter. "Are you sure you don't want to go to bed, Buffy? I mean, it is your birthday after all."

"Oh, you could still crack my skull and break all my fingers and it'd still be the bestest Buffy birthday bash ever!" Buffy said in exhausted extravagance, lifting her arms and spreading them wide. "Or some such nonsense, anyhow."

Faith grinned as she onto the armrest of the couch where Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting. Ron grinned up at her and Faith smiled back, but her eyes were on Buffy. Even Sirius padded over and stretched, laying down on the worn hearth rug for what would surely be a night of awesome story telling.

- - - - -

Chapter 44... Buffy goes out to patrol...

Chapter 45... A new power rises! And it's victory is out of hand...

Countdown: 7 (or, if you wanna be picky, about 27).

To the Readers / Reviewers:

I had this nice long note telling you all this was the shorter version of the chapter. I decided to forego the niceness and give you the mega-long chapter. So, happy birthday to a Slayer who probably wasn't having very much fun, after getting abused by her evil Professor and her friends ignoring her and competition, which is never fun. I finally decided to add in the two scenes I'd cut out (the Faith/Sirius discussion on bringing Buffy's Marauders over and the scene where Faith and Oliver 'discuss' the situation).

Don't kill me for what I did. Every couple has its hiccups. This one was big, but you ain't seen nothing yet.

But I loved the way this chapter turned out. I really, really did. It got across Buffy's nineteenth birthday party (the birthday itself is sort of glanced over next chapter) and it showed that Buffy's relationship just took on a whole different meaning. Not to mention the fact that WILLOW and XANDER showed up out of nowhere. Great fun, I tell ya.

Kel -- Hmmmm. Okay, you want a cameo? Because, seriously, Malfoy is turning into a nice little slimey git if he can't get what he wants... so... heh. Angel probably won't be returning for awhile yet, but it had to be done. hanging head It's sad, but true.

Goddessa39 -- a fic wedding? Oh, my goodness, I bet that would be adorable. Ahem, not happening. No, it's quite real. I'll have my own to look forward to, but it's not the one in Jamaica. That honor belongs to my sister, who has chosen me to be her personal assistant, since I'm the one who's organized. Now that you mentioned it... a fic wedding would be perfect... hmmmmm.

Anne -- why, thank you! I wanted to go for funny instead of angst, because, well... yeah. Too much angst drives people batty. Buffy's not going to have a very good week is all I can say, and from what you may have just read. But, that's half of the fun! It's also like a chapter-and-a-half for me!

Story Oracle -- yeah, they are. And they'll keep doing it, too. I figure it's the comical relief, sort of, twisted thing. Maybe. You tell me because I honestly don't know whether or not to shut them in a freezer and make them talk or not.

Nobody -- You like tortured!Percy? I can offer more, really. Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't give the plot away, I won't give the plot away. Naughty, me. Okay, how about the severe lack of fluff leading to kickass action? I don't know. I just don't want kitty bones lingering.

Emba -- They'll get closer. These things take time. She's a Slayer and he was dead. I want it to be comical though, because if there's any more angst, these characters will be lynching themselves. Buffy's birthday was a fun chapter to read, right? It took forever to write, it's the longest ever, and I barely finished the rewrites and re-additions to it. I was also thinking of NOT including Dawn, considering she's a huge character in another series I wrote. So, no Dawn in WWYG. I was just hoping someone else would agree with me!

electric pancake -- gah, I don't care about getting critiqued. It's good so that I can improve my writing and stuff, and, yeah. Heh. I did the Rain Dance, because it's finally raining and cooling down here (it's warmer here now than it was all summer, or at least since the beginning of June - it's gorgeous!). And you agree that hard copies are good, too? Because yeah, Harry kind of did the whole "whoops" thing the last year around. One of these days, I'll try to surprise you, but I'm not sure what would.

And, to answer your second note, oops, I did it again. I fixed your name though. For some reason... I keep thinking of little electronic pancakes zooming around like frisbees. Honestly! And according to my spell checker, I spelled corruptable/corruptible right. Or maybe not. I have a lot of new words added to the dictionary because of my lovely soon-to-be niece. She may only be two, but she lurves the keyboard. Thank you for not holding your name against me. I should kick myself to remember that one. And, yeah, that's Buffy for you. Big heart, not always big on the thinking. That's sort of quoting Willow from 'Chosen'. I know, bad owl image! But, it's Buffy-humor. She's still the Slayer and can find even true beauty in the mating rituals of owls. I don't know. It seemed like a cute idea at the time! Oh, and I remember the nights where it'd be like three in the morning and it'd be me, my roommate and two other guys just sitting around trying to work on our computer programming assignment and we'd be completely braindead, making things up. My favorite was their version of yoga, which I won't name, because it's offensive. Why I chose to live with three males and one female is astonishingly stupid, but, alas it was pure entertainment. I miss those guys.

I openly encourage you to write your plot bunnies! I wish I had time for all of mine! I might have to pull out of my collaboration because I'm running out of it. Since I don't have to worry about grad school till next August, I'm basically home free!

Stella7 -- you've never seen owls mate? It was just a cute idea that came from nowhere... what if Pigwidgeon and Onyx, the sweet and wacky owl and the owl from hell actually mated. Eggs are due to hatch soon! Like, err... sometime in the near future? I like Faith/Sirius bonding, too. There was some cut out of this chapter, but I put it back in! They're great together!

Naitch/Drew -- I'm using your name you signed with, I hope you don't mind! As for Dawn, I probably won't include her in this story. She's a HUGE part in the Slayer's Crusade trilogy (and yeah, the last story will come back to haunt me). I'm quite honored that you consider me to be inspiration. And a little scared, slightly. And are you like entrapped inside my head? Honestly! I hope you read this and are smirking to yourself, because you can truly read my thoughts! Anyway, I had this chapter done three ways. This was the second choice. It flows better, or so I think. And Draco is still a little prat in my story. He'll get his soon enough. Killing Percy was too hard. Almost as hard as writing this chapter was, but not too hard. I don't know. To answer your Aurora Mirabilis question, Ron just suddenly quit drinking. I really need to go back and revamp some of those chapters and explain some things, because that wasn't explained at all. It'll give me something to do with Ron in ToD!

Alyson -- Introducing, my future sister! I'm so glad (and honored) you took the time to read this! I can assure you that I hope to keep going on with the mix, but I'm not saying there WON'T be a lot of bloodshed, because, innocence here. Buffy seriously needs to kick ass. She's had her ass kicked enough. She needs the offensive stuff. NOW!

StarBella -- I know they're too long. And they're going to get somewhat longer. I'm sorry! I just can't stop my fingers! Or else something won't make sense and two thousand words later, it still won't! I hope you liked the action smirking, now because it was your review that inspired it. There is Action to come in the next chapter, and I have plans for enough action to sustain a small naval air force base. Seriousness. Too many ideas, so little time!

Nikki -- I wasn't planning on bringing Dawn in; she just wouldn't fit into the story. I was just hoping no one else would mind if I didn't. As for me taking a break, I'm sorry about that. With the wedding and everything else coming it, it just seemed like a smart idea to set my writing aside. Or, at least, give my beta-reader, who is back in school, a break. As for fluffiness, there is some to be had. I will assure you of that. Except that this chapter was on the mildly-depressing side of fluffiness. It had cuteness, though.

AnitaBlake / BuffyFan -- I hope you enjoyed it... maybe. I tried to make it as non-depressing as possible, but it IS a Buffy birthday.

Sorrow1 -- I think they'd balance each other nicely. I was just thinking she'd learn enough magic to hone in her skills slightly, you know? It'll work... but it'll make patrolling even more fun. In the next chapter, anyway. And the things it'll do for her tracking ability.

Lady Mione -- Why, thank you! Malfoy's guts will be spilled in the next chapter. I promise. This chapter just had FAR too much going on to be taken lightly. I really hope you didn't have to go to sleep earlier tonight, because this chapter was about twenty percent longer than most.

Feely -- I'll consider it. And even if it isn't romantic, per se, it can be "cute". And I hope this chapter is what you meant. Buffy'll be returning to Sunnydale come summertime, but until then, I brought summertime closer to her!

CapriceAnn -- An engagement? Seriousness? That's a while away yet.. like... not even in this decade. Oh, who am I trying to kid? It'll happen someday. Maybe. I have not yet decided it... oddly.

I think most of these chapters are going to be huge like this or even longer. Take frequent ergonomic breaks because I won't be responsible for migranes or anything. I know it's not long reading, but there are a lot of words! I'm sorry! Really, truly, I am!

I want time for all my plot bunnies! I wish I had some more. Anyone want to donate a few days to me? I have this story I want to finish. I have a few others I'd love to start. And I'm getting ideas for a LOTR story (inspired by the evil muse Estelle, whom I adore dearly, but keeps giving me too many frickin' ideas!) which will probably also go crossover. So... so... sad. Crossovers have become my existance. I think, therefore I crossover.

Thank you to all the readers and those who have reviewed! You're making my wedding anxieties go slightly away when I read your encouraging words and your nice critiques! You're the best! Gracias! Caio!