Hey folks! Here is the LONG awaited part 14 to this fic. I will make sure
I never take nearly a year to finish a chapter again!! Thank you all for
your kind words of encouragement and patience.
SPECIAL NOTES!!! The idea for this chapter was sent to me last year by XANDUTCH. She's been a faithful reader for a long time and this chapter is dedicated to her.
Check out the proper grammar below! I finally found a beta! Erica worked diligently to get all my mistakes corrected and deserves major kudos. I love ya, Babe!
Part 14
Willow sighed as she shut down her computer for the night. It had only been a few days since Xander had left for England but the red head already missed her best friend terribly. She'd known Buffy was going away for the summer to spend some time with her dad and Willow had figured she and Xander would wile away the hot days together.
But Harry had appeared and with him brought a whole new life for Xander. It didn't seem quite fair that she had no one with whom she could share the boredom of summer. The only person that remained was Giles and he hardly wanted to deal with an angst-ridden teenaged girl during his vacation. Not that the hacker could blame him, she could barely stand herself at the moment.
After completing her nighttime rituals of teeth brushing, choosing clothes for tomorrow and combing any arrant tangles out of her hair, Willow slid beneath the covers and turned off her bedside lamp; hoping all the while she'd hear from Xander soon.
As she closed her eyes and was drifting off to sleep, a soft tapping at her window jolted her back into awareness. Willow climbed from her bed and crept to her backpack that still held a bottle of holy water and a stake. Taking out both, she cautiously made her way to the French doors that led out to the back yard. Slowly, Willow drew back the curtain to peer through the glass.
When she saw what had tapped on her door, she dropped the gauzy material and stumbled back until her legs hit the side of her bed. Sure that she had been mistaken, she ventured forth again, only to find the same sight before her.
Although she'd only ever seen an owl at the zoo and on the Discovery Channel, she was quite certain that this particular bird was not behaving the way an owl should.
"Shoo! Get away from here!" Willow made a 'shooing' motion with her hands to emphasize her words. When the bird continued to flap its wings and hoot at her, she did the only thing that she could think of. She dropped her vampire slaying gear, jumped back into her bed and pulled the covers over her head. Ignoring the tapping and hooting of the owl, Willow resolved to go see Giles in the morning thinking, perhaps, that he might have heard of a possessed owl.
Willow barely managed to hold back the shriek of fear that threatened to erupt as she ducked into a bookshop. She'd decided that Giles should know about the odd behavior of the owl that had come to her house last night and was on her way to his town house. The red head wished, not for the first time that morning that she had thought to get the Watcher's phone number in case of emergencies.
When she woke up, the first thing Willow had done was to make sure the owl was no longer posted at her door. Happy to see no signs of the bird, she quickly dressed and prepared for the day before grabbing a Pop Tart on her way out the door. She'd made it only a hundred yards before the demented owl seemed to appear from nowhere. Convinced that the thing was attempting to dive-bomb her, Willow ran as fast as she could to the nearest shop to hide never realizing that the bird followed her at a rather leisurely pace.
Much to Willow's aid, any Sunnydale residents who saw the teenager fleeing for her life from an owl decided to relocate the image to the overstuffed denial folder in their minds. After all, it wasn't nearly the strangest thing they'd ever seen, now was it?
Finally, after reluctantly leaving the sanctuary of the shop and turning down the street on which Rupert Giles lived, Willow spent her last bit of energy and sprinted to the door of his condo. She banged on the door until her knuckles ached and nearly fell into the Watcher's arms when he answered her panicked summons.
"W-Willow, what on Earth is the matter?" Then, remembering himself, offered, "Oh, do come in."
Rupert worried about the young girl as she shook and panted for air while he gently guided her to his sofa. He had no idea what could possibly have disturbed her so much on a morning as sunny as that one. While it was possible that a demon was afoot, it was rather unlikely to happen so soon after the defeat of the Master. History showed that demonic activity habitually slowed to a crawl following a battles of major proportions. And Buffy's fight with the Master could easily be considered major.
While Giles was getting lost in his own mind, Willow was calming down. Finally able to breathe and not shaking quite so much, she grabbed Giles' hand to bring him back to the present.
"Giles! We need to do some serious research! Do you have any books here? What am I saying?! Of course you have books here! We need books about birds! Big birds! Owls! There has to be some history somewhere about owls being possessed. I mean if a boy can be possessed by a hyena then an owl could be possessed by a demon, right? Giles? Are you listening? Where are your possessed bird books?!"
Shaking off the haze that had briefly settled over his mind at the pure babble he'd just listened to, Rupert tried to piece together what Willow had said so that it made sense. Try as he might, he couldn't do it.
"Willow, tell me what has happened. Slowly this time, alright? There was an owl? And it attacked you?"
"Yes!! First it kind of knocked on my door last night. Then it tried to get me on my way over here today!" Willow was deterred from explaining further by the tapping heard from the window. Try as she might, she could not hold in the frightened whimper that escaped.
Deciding that the only thing he could do was take a look at the supposedly possessed owl, Giles patted Willow in a vaguely calming gesture and headed for the window.
"Be careful, Giles! That thing won't give up!" A panicky Willow called after him.
He pulled back the curtain and took a good look at the beast that had been terrifying Willow . . . and he laughed.
And laughed.
And then he laughed some more.
Calming himself, Giles managed to open the latch to let the owl into his home. Willow immediately screamed and ran to hide in the guest bathroom.
"What are you doing?!" Came the muffled shriek.
Giles chuckled to himself and promised to write to Xander telling him the trouble he'd caused from so far away.
"Willow, do come back. I assure you there is nothing wrong. This owl is not possessed."
The bathroom door inched open. "Are – are you sure, Giles?"
"Quite sure. Come out and I will show you why this bird insisted on receiving your attention."
Willow slowly made her way back into the living room, making sure to stay as far away from the owl as possible.
"Look at its leg, child. Do you see anything odd?"
Looking carefully but still maintaining her distance, Willow noticed a ribbon, attached to a small roll of paper, was tied to its leg.
"I don't understand, Giles? Why would someone tie anything to an owl's leg?"
"I would hazard a guess that Xander has written to you from Hogwarts. Owls are the preferred method of posting letters in the wizarding world, Willow."
The girl's eyes lit up at this new knowledge. Of course she'd read about carrier pigeons but she'd never even imagined that anyone still used birds to carry their mail.
"But how did it find me?" she asked as she edged closer to the owl and ran a hand down its back.
"Owls are magical creatures. The have the ability to find anyone, anywhere, as long as that person wants to be found. Go ahead and remove the letter; it's quite safe I assure you. I'll go get some food and water for it.
As Giles left to find refreshments for the owl, Willow gingerly untied the ribbon and caught the scroll. She thanked the bird and sat down to read.
Dear Willow,
I have SO much to tell you and not a lot of time so I'll just give you the highlights this time. I met my dad and he seems really nice. His name is Severus Snape. I know it sounds kind of weird but once the paperwork is done, I'll be Alexander Josiah Snape. At least my middle name is better than it was!
Anyway, the school is in this HUGE castle! It's so cool, Wil! I wish you could see it. They teach potions, that's my dad's class, and charms and transfigurations and astronomy and flying! Flying Will! I'm going to fly on a broom!!!! How cool is that?!
There's a couple of really big things. Did you know that soul mates are real? I thought that was just a bunch of girly stuff. But it's real and it looks like mine was way over here. I don't want you to wig when I tell you though. Can you stay calm for me? It turns out that Harry is my soul mate. Yeah, the Harry that we all met the night I left. Weird, huh? I really hope you are okay with this, Willow. I don't want to lose my bestest bud. Please tell me we're okay??
The other big thing is that I am supposed to fight this big evil wizard called Voldemort. Apparently, he's the big bad around here and Harry has been fighting him for years. Dumbledore mentioned him that night, remember? Anyway, I guess Harry and I are destined to fight him.
Don't worry, they'll get me all trained up before I fight. In fact, tonight I am going to be put into some kind of learning sleep. I have to learn 5 years worth of stuff just to catch up to Harry. Then we'll both have some intense battle training. I'll tell you all about it when I wake up in about 20 days.
I gotta get going. My dad is taking me to lunch soon. I love you Will! And I miss you like crazy! Tell Buffy and Giles I said HI! and that I'll write to them when I can.
Always, Xander
P.S. I'm supposed to send this by owl post! Isn't that neat?!
Willow rolled up the parchment and looked at Giles, who had just come in with tea.
"Tell me all you know about Voldemort."
TBC
SPECIAL NOTES!!! The idea for this chapter was sent to me last year by XANDUTCH. She's been a faithful reader for a long time and this chapter is dedicated to her.
Check out the proper grammar below! I finally found a beta! Erica worked diligently to get all my mistakes corrected and deserves major kudos. I love ya, Babe!
Part 14
Willow sighed as she shut down her computer for the night. It had only been a few days since Xander had left for England but the red head already missed her best friend terribly. She'd known Buffy was going away for the summer to spend some time with her dad and Willow had figured she and Xander would wile away the hot days together.
But Harry had appeared and with him brought a whole new life for Xander. It didn't seem quite fair that she had no one with whom she could share the boredom of summer. The only person that remained was Giles and he hardly wanted to deal with an angst-ridden teenaged girl during his vacation. Not that the hacker could blame him, she could barely stand herself at the moment.
After completing her nighttime rituals of teeth brushing, choosing clothes for tomorrow and combing any arrant tangles out of her hair, Willow slid beneath the covers and turned off her bedside lamp; hoping all the while she'd hear from Xander soon.
As she closed her eyes and was drifting off to sleep, a soft tapping at her window jolted her back into awareness. Willow climbed from her bed and crept to her backpack that still held a bottle of holy water and a stake. Taking out both, she cautiously made her way to the French doors that led out to the back yard. Slowly, Willow drew back the curtain to peer through the glass.
When she saw what had tapped on her door, she dropped the gauzy material and stumbled back until her legs hit the side of her bed. Sure that she had been mistaken, she ventured forth again, only to find the same sight before her.
Although she'd only ever seen an owl at the zoo and on the Discovery Channel, she was quite certain that this particular bird was not behaving the way an owl should.
"Shoo! Get away from here!" Willow made a 'shooing' motion with her hands to emphasize her words. When the bird continued to flap its wings and hoot at her, she did the only thing that she could think of. She dropped her vampire slaying gear, jumped back into her bed and pulled the covers over her head. Ignoring the tapping and hooting of the owl, Willow resolved to go see Giles in the morning thinking, perhaps, that he might have heard of a possessed owl.
Willow barely managed to hold back the shriek of fear that threatened to erupt as she ducked into a bookshop. She'd decided that Giles should know about the odd behavior of the owl that had come to her house last night and was on her way to his town house. The red head wished, not for the first time that morning that she had thought to get the Watcher's phone number in case of emergencies.
When she woke up, the first thing Willow had done was to make sure the owl was no longer posted at her door. Happy to see no signs of the bird, she quickly dressed and prepared for the day before grabbing a Pop Tart on her way out the door. She'd made it only a hundred yards before the demented owl seemed to appear from nowhere. Convinced that the thing was attempting to dive-bomb her, Willow ran as fast as she could to the nearest shop to hide never realizing that the bird followed her at a rather leisurely pace.
Much to Willow's aid, any Sunnydale residents who saw the teenager fleeing for her life from an owl decided to relocate the image to the overstuffed denial folder in their minds. After all, it wasn't nearly the strangest thing they'd ever seen, now was it?
Finally, after reluctantly leaving the sanctuary of the shop and turning down the street on which Rupert Giles lived, Willow spent her last bit of energy and sprinted to the door of his condo. She banged on the door until her knuckles ached and nearly fell into the Watcher's arms when he answered her panicked summons.
"W-Willow, what on Earth is the matter?" Then, remembering himself, offered, "Oh, do come in."
Rupert worried about the young girl as she shook and panted for air while he gently guided her to his sofa. He had no idea what could possibly have disturbed her so much on a morning as sunny as that one. While it was possible that a demon was afoot, it was rather unlikely to happen so soon after the defeat of the Master. History showed that demonic activity habitually slowed to a crawl following a battles of major proportions. And Buffy's fight with the Master could easily be considered major.
While Giles was getting lost in his own mind, Willow was calming down. Finally able to breathe and not shaking quite so much, she grabbed Giles' hand to bring him back to the present.
"Giles! We need to do some serious research! Do you have any books here? What am I saying?! Of course you have books here! We need books about birds! Big birds! Owls! There has to be some history somewhere about owls being possessed. I mean if a boy can be possessed by a hyena then an owl could be possessed by a demon, right? Giles? Are you listening? Where are your possessed bird books?!"
Shaking off the haze that had briefly settled over his mind at the pure babble he'd just listened to, Rupert tried to piece together what Willow had said so that it made sense. Try as he might, he couldn't do it.
"Willow, tell me what has happened. Slowly this time, alright? There was an owl? And it attacked you?"
"Yes!! First it kind of knocked on my door last night. Then it tried to get me on my way over here today!" Willow was deterred from explaining further by the tapping heard from the window. Try as she might, she could not hold in the frightened whimper that escaped.
Deciding that the only thing he could do was take a look at the supposedly possessed owl, Giles patted Willow in a vaguely calming gesture and headed for the window.
"Be careful, Giles! That thing won't give up!" A panicky Willow called after him.
He pulled back the curtain and took a good look at the beast that had been terrifying Willow . . . and he laughed.
And laughed.
And then he laughed some more.
Calming himself, Giles managed to open the latch to let the owl into his home. Willow immediately screamed and ran to hide in the guest bathroom.
"What are you doing?!" Came the muffled shriek.
Giles chuckled to himself and promised to write to Xander telling him the trouble he'd caused from so far away.
"Willow, do come back. I assure you there is nothing wrong. This owl is not possessed."
The bathroom door inched open. "Are – are you sure, Giles?"
"Quite sure. Come out and I will show you why this bird insisted on receiving your attention."
Willow slowly made her way back into the living room, making sure to stay as far away from the owl as possible.
"Look at its leg, child. Do you see anything odd?"
Looking carefully but still maintaining her distance, Willow noticed a ribbon, attached to a small roll of paper, was tied to its leg.
"I don't understand, Giles? Why would someone tie anything to an owl's leg?"
"I would hazard a guess that Xander has written to you from Hogwarts. Owls are the preferred method of posting letters in the wizarding world, Willow."
The girl's eyes lit up at this new knowledge. Of course she'd read about carrier pigeons but she'd never even imagined that anyone still used birds to carry their mail.
"But how did it find me?" she asked as she edged closer to the owl and ran a hand down its back.
"Owls are magical creatures. The have the ability to find anyone, anywhere, as long as that person wants to be found. Go ahead and remove the letter; it's quite safe I assure you. I'll go get some food and water for it.
As Giles left to find refreshments for the owl, Willow gingerly untied the ribbon and caught the scroll. She thanked the bird and sat down to read.
Dear Willow,
I have SO much to tell you and not a lot of time so I'll just give you the highlights this time. I met my dad and he seems really nice. His name is Severus Snape. I know it sounds kind of weird but once the paperwork is done, I'll be Alexander Josiah Snape. At least my middle name is better than it was!
Anyway, the school is in this HUGE castle! It's so cool, Wil! I wish you could see it. They teach potions, that's my dad's class, and charms and transfigurations and astronomy and flying! Flying Will! I'm going to fly on a broom!!!! How cool is that?!
There's a couple of really big things. Did you know that soul mates are real? I thought that was just a bunch of girly stuff. But it's real and it looks like mine was way over here. I don't want you to wig when I tell you though. Can you stay calm for me? It turns out that Harry is my soul mate. Yeah, the Harry that we all met the night I left. Weird, huh? I really hope you are okay with this, Willow. I don't want to lose my bestest bud. Please tell me we're okay??
The other big thing is that I am supposed to fight this big evil wizard called Voldemort. Apparently, he's the big bad around here and Harry has been fighting him for years. Dumbledore mentioned him that night, remember? Anyway, I guess Harry and I are destined to fight him.
Don't worry, they'll get me all trained up before I fight. In fact, tonight I am going to be put into some kind of learning sleep. I have to learn 5 years worth of stuff just to catch up to Harry. Then we'll both have some intense battle training. I'll tell you all about it when I wake up in about 20 days.
I gotta get going. My dad is taking me to lunch soon. I love you Will! And I miss you like crazy! Tell Buffy and Giles I said HI! and that I'll write to them when I can.
Always, Xander
P.S. I'm supposed to send this by owl post! Isn't that neat?!
Willow rolled up the parchment and looked at Giles, who had just come in with tea.
"Tell me all you know about Voldemort."
TBC