CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: WILLING
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftaness Murcus has told us exactly what happened in the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions as follows."
The crowd was on the edge of their seats and the champions were fidgeting nervously. Fleur had been devastated and completely hysterical at the thought that her sister Gabrielle would be forever lost to the lake of Hogwarts because of her being attacked by the Grindylows. She'd kissed Ron and Harry's cheeks and hugged Buffy tightly, sobbing her thanks and then clutching at Gabrielle with a tight grip.
"Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head charm, was attached by Grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
"I deserved zero," Fleur said throatily.
"At least you tried," Buffy replied. "You'd only have failed if you didn't even attempt to go down there."
Fleur shrugged and still looked miserable.
"Mr Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was the first to return with his hostage. Murcus did however explain that it was not through his own initiative that he freed his hostage. We award him forty-four points."
There was applause from the crowd.
"Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect. Miss Eliza or Buffy Black or Potter or Summers or Potter-Summers - " the crowd roared in laughter and Buffy grinned sheepishly. George just kissed Buffy's cheek, making her go even redder. "- used a completely successful form of Transfiguration with tremendous success. Harry and Buffy returned at the same time, both of them well outside the hour of time. However, the Mer-chieftaness informs me that the delay in their returns was due to their determination to return all the hostages to safety, not merely their own."
The crowd laughed again.
"How were we supposed to know that that stupid riddle wasn't meant to be taken literally?" Buffy complained.
Harry nodded his agreement while Ron and Hermione just looked at them, half-exasperated, half-commiserating.
"Most of the judges-" Bagman paused to give a filthy look to Professor Karkaroff, "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However Mr Potter receives forty-four points and Miss Potter-Summers-Black receives forty-five points."
The cousins grinned at each other and exchanged a quick high-five. Harry was still tied with Viktor, but Buffy was ahead of both of them by one point.
"How come you got more?" Harry mock-complained.
"Cos you didn't have to kiss a merman," Buffy shot back.
George's jaw dropped in shock. "What? Which one? I'll bloody kick his arse!"
Buffy thought it would be safer not to actually answer, and instead turned her attention back to Bagman.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June. "The champions will be notified of what is coming, precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
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The week after the task proved to be an interesting one for the group of Gryffindors. Rita Skeeter published a new article about Harry's heartbreak over two-timing Hermione, and how the girl had been invited by Krum to visit him over the summer. Buffy, Harry, Ron and Hermione discovered that Minister Barty Crouch's son Barty Crouch Jr had been convicted as a Death-Eater and sent to Azkaban, where he had later died, and that Crouch Snr had been the one to convict Sirius without a trial.
The Fourth-Year trio plus Buffy, George and Fred had gone to visit the Black household, not only to get away from the gossip mills of Hogwarts, but to visit Joyce, who Buffy knew was aching from Sirius' arrest.
Joyce had explained all about Sirius' trial, even though she hadn't personally attended. Sirius had filled her in on all of it over the weeks that he and Joyce had been living at Grimmauld Place.
Back at school, Hermione suddenly started getting howlers hate mail and anonymous letters filtered through the halls of Hogwarts with random owls. After the poor girl had been sprayed by undiluted Buboter pus, which had an acidic effect, Hermione had stopped opening the letters and had taken to burning them.
Harry had then overhead Professor Snape speaking with Professor Karkaroff about something being 'stronger' and then showing Snape the crook of his elbow of his left arm. Harry hadn't understood it, but he knew that there was something going on that probably shouldn't have been.
The week after that, Hermione was still receiving Howlers and insulting letters.
"It'll die down though," Harry assured her. "If we just ignore it."
"I want to know how she's been listening in to private conversations if she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" Hermione said angrily.
"I wondered that as well," Buffy commented. "When she wrote that stuff about me being a Slayer and about my dad. If you work it out, will you let me know? I'd love to get Mosquito's ass fired for it. If it wasn't for her bloody article, my dad wouldn't be in prison."
Fred and George snickered and Buffy glared at them. "What?" she asked.
"Bloody nothing," Fred replied innocently.
"Not a bloody thing," George agreed.
Buffy rolled her eyes, and hit George's forearm. He whimpered in pain until Buffy gave in and rubbed the spot for him. He stole a kiss, and everyone just smiled indulgently. Hermione sighed, still annoyed at the whole Rita Skeeter issue.
"Maybe she had you bugged," Harry suggested.
Ron looked completely confused. "What? You mean she put fleas on her or something?"
Buffy snickered while Harry tried to explain the concept of recording equipment and hidden microphones.
"They wouldn't work in Hogwarts anyway," Buffy commented. "Any muggle sort of electricity or anything like that. It sucks, but…eh. The price you pay for using magic."
Hermione turned to look at Buffy in shock. "I was just about to explain that. Did you read it in Hogwarts: A History?"
Buffy shrugged and shook her head. The only thing in that book that she'd read had been about the magical creatures that lived on the grounds.
"Nah, I tried using my disc-man. It didn't work."
Hermione sighed in disappointment before racing to the library to try and figure out how on earth Rita Skeeter could have found out what she'd discovered if she hadn't been there. It was definitely a puzzle, and Hermione was going to figure it out.
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The weeks seemed to fly by, and thankfully for the group, it stayed fairly quiet. The letters from anonymous people who were outraged by Hermione's lack of concern for Harry's well-being died down as they had all predicted, but Hermione's pursuit to find out how Rita Skeeter had been getting her information had not.
On April first, the twins birthday, the loudest, most raucous birthday party was held in the Common Room. Not only were the twins excitable about it being their seventeenth birthdays, they were ecstatic about it being April-Fools-Day, a rather appropriate day for the mischievous Weasley twins to be born.
Water-bombs, trick fireworks, fake-wands, hexed sweets, and fake coins were littering not just the Gryffindor Tower, but most of the school as well. Anyone who by chance hadn't known about the Weasley twins birthdays had found out sooner rather than later.
Buffy had wandered through all of Hogsmeade looking for the perfect gift for both boys, but she'd found it incredibly hard. What did you buy two jokesters who knew every trick in the book? The answer had come to her fairly quickly and she'd dug out the key to her the family value. Her mother had made her promise to be 'good', and she had – relatively-. It wasn't her fault that she still wasn't entirely certain how much a galleon was when compared to the American currency she was used to.
She'd managed to get Harry and Ron to distract the twins and keep them in Honeydukes, the sweets store, while she purchased two beautiful cloaks that she knew the twins would love. She still needed something 'extra' for George though.
They'd been dating for nearly six weeks, and Buffy had loved every second of it. Instead of the tears and worry she'd always had with Angel, there was laughter and freedom. Instead of Angel's brooding silence, there was George's tendency to talk whenever the feeling struck him, which seemed to be a lot. Instead of the intense angst of being with Angel, there was the carefree happiness that came from being with George.
Buffy knew without a doubt that she had loved, and still did love Angel. But being with George lifted her heart and her spirits and gave her the taste of normalcy that she'd craved since being Called. It wasn't that George didn't respect the Slayer portion of her; it was just that he appreciated every part of her equally. He understood that she was the Protector, not the protected, as the second task had firmly shown. And Buffy was rapidly falling in love with the loving, caring and silly man that was George Weasley.
She'd ended up finding a perfect gift for him, and she'd had to pay a little extra to get it personalised. After dinner, the Gryffindor Tower was still incredibly loud. The twins finally sat still for more than three seconds, and were forced into chairs and given their gifts from their group.
Harry and Hermione had pooled together to but the twins a model Quidditch pitch, complete with tiny Quaffles, Bludgers and Snitches. Lee, Katie, Angelina and Alicia had bought the twins the newest joke kit from Zonko's that the twins hadn't been able to buy yet. Buffy then stepped forward and handed the twins the separate gifts.
They ripped open the paper and looked at the cloaks she'd given them. They were slightly confused by the serious nature of the gift. Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at the cloaks in shock, recognising it all too well.
"Try them on," Buffy urged.
The twins shrugged and complied, pulling the cloaks around their shoulders and then 'looking' at each other in shock. She'd bought them both invisibility cloaks. Buffy was suddenly wrapped in two sets of invisible arms and lifted off the ground. She laughed loudly and the Gryffindors cheered as Buffy was swung around in a circle by an invisible George Weasley.
The twins pulled the cloaks off, both of them grinning widely.
Ron recognised the grin instantly and groaned.
"Buffy, do you realise what you've just done?" he complained. "They get into enough mischief as it is!"
"What, and you don't?" Buffy shot back.
Ron paused before shrugging. "Touché."
"These are awesome Buff," Fred said enthusiastically.
"Thank you," George whispered, kissing his girlfriend softly.
"Only the best for my favourite non-cousin type guys," she replied.
For the rest of the evening as the party continued on, the twins would disappear beneath their cloaks and sneak up on people, scaring them out of their wits. They enjoyed messing around with flying food and being able to set off fireworks at random without anyone expecting the noise.
"Mrs Weasley might just kill you for buying them those," Hermione commented, half-smiling at the twins antics.
Buffy just shrugged. "S'okay. She'll adjust quickly. Or, y'know, confiscate the cloaks, whichever comes first."
Hermione laughed and the first of the Gryffindors began ascending the stairs to go to bed. The majority of students followed quickly, the excitement of the day having worn them out. Eventually, it was only ten Gryffindors that remained in the Common Room.
"Have you found anything else about Mosquito yet?" Buffy asked Hermione as the group sat lounging around on the couches nibbling at what remained of the food that Fred and George had pilfered from the kitchens.
Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Nothing," she admitted.
"Damn that sucks. That woman just bugs me," Buffy commented.
"What about you Buffy?" Ron asked. "Any idea how to prove your dad's not guilty."
"Besides time travel, no," Buffy replied. "The only way to prove it would be to get Pettigrew to own up to it, but I seriously doubt that that's gonna happen. And no doubt he's still working for Voldemort – guys, it's just a name! – so if I actually got lucky and found him, I'd probably be biting off more than I could chew."
"But you're a Slayer!" Lee cried. "You could take him."
Buffy laughed slightly. She was glad that her friends were confident about her skills, but she knew that she would never last in a fight with Voldemort. She didn't know enough offensive magic, only the defensive techniques that Moody had been teaching her.
"I think I'll leave that up to people who know a little more magic than I do," Buffy replied.
"You're learning quickly though," Hermione commented. "More quickly than most people would if they only started at your age."
Buffy just shrugged, not crazy about the idea of taking on Voldemort, even if he was still technically bodiless. She wondered if it would ever come down to that, and part of her wanted to never lay eyes on the disembodied wizard.
"Well with any luck he'll never actually come back," Buffy said.
"That'd be nice," Harry commented. For some reason nearly every year since he'd come to Hogwarts someone had been trying to help Voldemort come back to power. He couldn't help but wish that everyone would wise up to the fact that Voldemort's return would be a bad thing, and that they would stop trying. It was wishful thinking, but Harry couldn't help but hope.
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An hour later, the group finally decided to head up to bed. They walked up the stairs and said goodnight on the landing that separated the girls and boys dorms. Buffy grabbed hold of George before he could go up with Fred, Lee, Ron and Harry. The rest of the group grinned a little at the cuteness of the couple, but said nothing.
"I have something else for you," Buffy finally said when she could no longer hear the footsteps of the others.
"What? But…the invisibility cloak was more than enough," he protested. "I know how expensive they are. Fred and I have been eyeing them off for years."
"Well, it's not big," she admitted. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a leather cord with ten evenly spaced alternating red and gold oval beads on it, five of each colour. She handed it to him and George grinned.
"Gryffindor colours," he commented. He held it up to inspect it closer and then he saw it. On the red beads there were five different names engraved: George, Fred, Lee, Ron, Harry. On the gold beads were the names: Buffy, Angelina, Alicia, Hermione and Katie.
"It symbolises friendship," she said softly, echoing the words that George had said to her when he'd tried to give her the claddagh ring for Christmas.
"And everyone who's a couple, or should be are placed next to each other," George noticed. "You and me, Fred and Angelina, Lee and Alicia, Ron and Hermione…and…well, Harry might be a bit young for Katie."
"What, you don't think guys should date older women?" Buffy asked laughing.
"Not that much older," he replied. "She's a good year older than him."
"Uh, George, I'm about fifteen months older than you," Buffy pointed out.
"What? You are not!" he cried.
Buffy laughed softly and nodded. "I turned eighteen in January," she confessed.
"You never told any of us," he accused.
"I didn't want anyone making a big deal," she replied. "Me and birthdays are unmixy things."
George pouted annoyed that he hadn't known, or even asked when Buffy's birthday was. He took hold of Buffy's hand and slipped the leather-corded bracelet onto her small wrist.
"This is yours," Buffy protested.
George held up his pinkie finger, the claddagh ring still on it, heart facing inwards. "Just like this is yours. It's only fair," he replied.
Buffy rolled her eyes but held her wrist still to allow George to adjust the size of the band.
"Happy birthday," George whispered, kissing his girlfriend softly.
Buffy smiled into the kiss. "Happy birthday," she replied.
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Again, the weeks seemed to fly by for the two Hogwarts champions. Before either of them knew it was upon them, they were being summoned by Professor McGonagall one month before the third task so that they could receive instructions on what it was they would be doing.
Harry and Buffy walked down to the Quidditch stadium and through a gap in the stands to step onto the pitch. Harry's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"What've they done to it?" he cried in horror.
The Quidditch Pitch was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long-low walls all over it, twisting and criss-crossing in every direction.
"They're hedges!" Harry said, bending over to examine the closest one.
"Hello there!" Called a cheery voice. Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the pitch with Krum and Fleur. Harry and Buffy made their way towards them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at both Buffy and Harry as they approached.
"What d'you think?" Bagman asked. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month or two and Hargid'll have them twenty foot high. Don't worry, you'll have your Quidditch Pitch back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here."
No one spoke for a moment.
"Maze," Krum grunted.
"Exactly right. A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the very centre of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."
"We seemply 'ave to get through the maze?" Fleur asked.
"There will be obstacle," Bagman explained. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures…then there will be spells that have to be broken...that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze. Miss uhhh…"
"Black," Buffy replied with a grin.
"Miss Black, you'll be heading in first, followed by Mr Potter, then Mr Krum, and finally Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending on how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"
Harry was silently worrying about what types of creatures Hagrid would provide for the obstacles. Buffy didn't mind the creatures that much. She'd met most of the creatures that lived in the Forest, so she wasn't too worried about that. But this would require a lot of magic, and all she was really good at was Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"Well, if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly."
"Actually, I do have a question," Buffy said.
Bagman nodded, and the others shifted, eager to get back inside to the warmth of the castle.
"Are there any rules about how we navigate through the maze?" Buffy asked.
"Well, as long as you go through the maze on foot, there are no restrictions," Bagman said.
"Cool," Buffy said, and the group began walking up towards the castle. Bagman hovered close to Harry and Buffy, and Harry wondered whether the judge was going to try and offer him more help for the final task.
Harry still couldn't help but wonder why the judge was so eager to help him out. From what he knew of Ludo Bagman, he wasn't usually a generous person unless there was something to be gained by it.
Krum sidled up to Harry just as they stepped over the last hedge before they got out of the stadium, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Could I haff a vord?"
Harry looked surprised but shrugged. He didn't see why not. "Yeah all right," he replied.
"Vill you valk vith me?"
Harry had to admit to being curious. "Okay," he replied.
Bagman looked slightly perturbed, and Buffy actually agreed with the man. "I'll wait for you, Harry, shall I?" the judge asked.
"No, it's okay Mr Bagman," Harry replied suppressing a smile. "I'm sure between my cousin and I, we can find the castle."
Buffy smirked and Bagman looked a little relieved that Harry wouldn't be left on his own with Krum.
"I vas hoping to speak vith you in private," Krum said, glancing at Buffy.
"Hey, don't mind me," Buffy replied. "I won't even listen."
Krum looked disappointed that he wouldn't get the privacy he wanted, but he admitted defeat. Buffy stood looking back at the maze, tracing the different paths with her eyes, storing them in her memory. Not for the first time, Buffy thanked the Higher Powers that Slayers had an excellent sense of direction.
"I vant to know," Krum began, glowering and pulling himself up to his full height, "vot is between you and Hermy-own-ninny?"
"Nothing," Harry replied. "We're just friends. She's not my girlfriend, and she never has been. It's just that Skeeter woman making things up."
"Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often," Krum said suspiciously.
"Yeah, because we're friends," Harry stressed.
"You haff never…you haff not…"
"No," Harry said firmly.
Krum looked slightly happier. "Very vell. Thank you."
Harry nodded and watched as Krum wandered off in the direction of the Durmstrang ship. Buffy moved to stand beside her cousin, smirking slightly.
"That was weird," Harry commented.
"Proof that even famous people can be insecure about stuff," Buffy commented.
Harry nodded. He knew that all too well.
"Do you want to go visit Hagrid?" Harry asked. "With any luck he might accidentally tell us what creatures he'll be putting in the maze."
Buffy laughed and nodded, the two of them heading towards the tree line of the Forest to follow it towards Hagrid's cabin.
Just as they were close to the Beaubaxtons carriage where the students were from that school were staying, there was a rustling in the Forest. Buffy's hand strayed to the back of her jeans and she pulled out a stake, keeping her eyes sharp as she surveyed the darkness. She pulled Harry to stand behind her, but he refused to stay there, stepping up to stand beside her, his wand pointing towards the Forest.
There was silence, and the next moment, a man had staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, neither Harry nor Buffy recognised the man. Then they realised…it was Mr Crouch.
He looked as though he had been travelling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched, he was unshaven and grey with exhaustion. His neat hair and moustache were both in need of a wash and trim. He seemed to be talking to someone that couldn't be seen, gesturing wildly as he muttered beneath his breath.
Buffy and Harry exchanged a glance before walking cautiously towards Mr Crouch.
The official from the Ministry of Magic didn't seem to notice either of them, and continued his conversation with a nearby tree. "…and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore…do that Weatherby will you? Will you? Will…" He trailed off and mouthed soundless, before staggering sideways and falling to his knees.
Buffy and Harry raced to either side of him, helping him to his feet.
"Mr Crouch, are you alright?" Harry asked. Mr Crouch made no response and Harry looked to his cousin, wide-eyed and panicked. "We should go and get someone."
"We can't leave him out here like this," Buffy replied.
"Dumbledore!" Crouch suddenly gasped. He reached out and grabbed a handful of Harry's robes. "I need…see…Dumbledore. I've done…stupid…thing."
Buffy grabbed hold of Crouch and pulled one of his arms around her shoulder, hefting most of his weight so she could support him
"Harry, get his other side," Buffy instructed.
Harry did as he was told, and they began walking Crouch up to the castle, Crouch still muttering beneath his breath.
"Must warn…must tell…see Dumbledore…my fault…must warn…Bertha…dead…all my fault…my son…my fault…tell Dumbledore…Harry Potter…the Dark Lord…stronger…Harry Potter."
"I'm not liking the sound of this," Buffy commented quietly.
Harry silently agreed and they continued the slow trek up to the castle.
"It'll be faster if one of us runs and brings him down here," Harry suggested.
"Not a chance," Buffy replied. "If he's in this shape, it's gotta be for a reason. I don't wanna take any chances. When we get him closer to the castle maybe…"
Harry nodded and they continued up the lawn, Crouch's weight making the going incredibly slow. When they reached the area that was lit, rather than being on the dark path down to the Quidditch Pitch, Harry took off running towards Dumbledore's office, leaving Buffy trudging even ore slowly towards the castle.
Unfortunately Harry was met by a malicious Snape who refused to believe anything he said, and was only hindering him. Luckily Dumbledore came to the rescue fairly soon after Snape had distracted Harry from his quest.
"Is there a problem?" Dumbledore asked.
"Professor!" Harry yelled in relief. "Mr Crouch is here – down on the path coming towards the castle. He wants to speak to you!"
Harry expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but, to his relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort.
"Lead the way," the Headmaster said. Harry began leading, Dumbledore following swiftly behind him as the descended the marble stairs.
"What did Mr Crouch say Harry?"
"Said he wanted to warn you…said he's done something terrible…he mentioned his son…and Bertha Jorkins…and Voldemort…something about Voldemort getting stronger."
"Indeed," Dumbledore said, quickening their pace. He pushed open the doors leading outside and Harry froze on the spot. His eyes went wide and his breath caught in his throat.
"No!" he yelled, shoving past Dumbledore and jumping down the five steps that were between him and his fallen cousin. Harry dropped to his knees beside Buffy, Dumbledore following close behind. "Merlin no…Buffy, please…"
He rolled his cousin over onto her back, taking in her pale face. His one comfort was that Buffy's fingers were twitching. Dumbledore noticed too, and his eyes darkened considerably. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at the Slayer.
"Eneverate."
Buffy moaned softly and opened her eyes. She groaned in pain and slowly sat up. Her eyes began darting around.
"Crouch? Where is he?" she asked frantically.
"Calm Miss Black," Dumbledore said softly. "Do you remember what happened?"
Buffy thought for a moment. "Someone hit me with the Cruciatus," she murmured softly. Harry paled considerably, remembering the way that Professor Moody had tortured the spiders using the Cruciatus Curse. It had been horrifying. "Crouch must have got a dose of it too…we fell. I saw someone…I couldn't see properly though. He killed Crouch…right in front of me. He kept the Cruciatus on me the whole time."
Buffy's eyes watered, both with the remembered pain, and the trauma of watching someone die in front of her and not being able to do anything about it.
"Which direction did he go?" Dumbledore asked. "Did you see?"
"I'm sorry," Buffy whispered, closing her eyes in shame. "I…it hurt so much. Couldn't think…closed my eyes to try and stop it."
Harry hugged Buffy tightly and fought off the urge to throw up the contents of his stomach. If only Snape hadn't help him up in the corridor, they would have been there in time. His cousin wouldn't have been tortured. "It wasn't your fault Buffy," Harry murmured softly in her ear.
There was suddenly a telltale sound of Professor Moody approaching, a soft footstep followed by a wooden clunk on the floor. Giles was following after him at a rapid pace. Moody limped down the stairs and stood in front of Buffy. He pulled out a bar of chocolate and handed it to her.
"You'll feel better after you get some of that into you," he explained.
Buffy nodded absently and ripped open the packaging, taking a small bite. Giles dropped to his knees beside his Slayer, visually checking her over for any injuries that might have happened. He could tell by the dazed look in her eyes that she was having problems remaining conscious, and that she was battling a migraine.
"Snape said something about Crouch," Moody said, explaining his presence among them.
"I don't know where Barty Crouch's body is, but it is essential that we find whoever killed him," Dumbledore said.
"I'm onto it," Moody growled, pulling out his wand and limping off towards the Forest.
"Can you walk Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked.
Giles helped pull Buffy to her feet and while she was a little shaky, she seemed to be healing quickly. "I'll be fine," she replied.
"Good. Rupert, Harry, if you could take Buffy to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey examine her."
"Hey, woah," Buffy suddenly cried. "Hospital wing? That's a bit overboard."
Dumbledore looked at her in shock. "You were attacked by a very powerful curse Miss Black."
"It probably won't be the last time either," she replied. "I don't need to go to a hospital."
"Buffy," Giles implored softly.
Buffy turned to look at her Watcher, her eyes tear-filled and pained. She looked at him pleadingly. "Giles, please…I hate hospitals, you know I won't get any sleep."
Dumbledore saw Giles nod slightly and knew that if anyone could tell what Buffy would need to recover, it would be Giles. "Alright," Dumbledore acquiesced. "You should get back up to the Gryffindor Tower though. Get a good nights rest."
They nodded and made their way slowly up the seven flights of stairs, Buffy suddenly wishing that she'd been in a House that was closer to the Entrance Hall.
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Loooong update. Huzzah. I think they get longer the closer it gets to the end.
Thanks for the feedback! Hoping you guys are enjoying this. Ohhh, and…you may have read the latest update for Seduction by Darkness, but in case you're not following it, I'll put this here too. I'm doing a research project for uni about online writers, and, well, seeing as a stack of you guys both read and write fics, I'm hoping you'll take the time out to answer a few of these questions. If you're a writer, could you please, please please, answer these questions and either post in the review section, or email it to me. katterss hotmail . com (Just take out the spaces…but not the underscore.)
SURVEY:
1. How long have you been writing stories?
2. How long have you been posting stories?
3. Were you a reader before you became a writer?
4. Why did you first start writing stories?
5. Why did you first start posting stories?
6. Were you at all influenced by the idea of getting feedback?
7. Has feedback you've received played a part in why you still write?
8. Do you believe that feedback has influenced the way you write? For example, has your writing improved in any way?
9. Do you believe that is a sort of 'safe haven' for you to post stories?
10. Would you wish to become a published writer?
Seriously, as many of you that can, I'd really, really appreciate it. I might even be inspired to post sooner…(I'm not above blackmail…nooo, not at all.)
I'd really appreciate this guys!! Thanks!