Chapter four: Nightly encounters

Walking through the big halls, Buffy felt a chill running down her spine as she heard her steps echo back and forth between the walls. The sound was disproportional, and made it seem like she was a giant.

She couldn't for the life of her sleep. Everything around her was so new and exciting, she didn't want to sleep either. She wanted to explore. There were some really interesting things brewing beneath the calm surface of this gigantic old castle, she could tell. Whether it was good or evil, she didn't know. But it was definitely major. Energies surging, emotions fluttering, left behind centuries ago… old places always had history.

The paintings that hung on the walls were all very nicely drawn. There were landscapes, portrays of people, and different animals she couldn't name and had never even fantasised about.

The staircases had been a real conundrum. Eventually, she'd had to jump down from one staircase to another, just to get to the second floor. She couldn't understand the meaning of it all. Why would you want unreliable staircases? They were bad enough as they were, especially when you were drunk and couldn't walk straight. But then again, this was, after all, a school. Students were probably not allowed to drink, and the professors, they all seemed very responsible and full of morality. Much unlike the professors at Sunnydale high, she thought, and giggled quietly to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a loud noise. It seemed to be coming from about twenty metres ahead of her, where two corridors met and made a 'fork in the road'.
She reached for her stake almost automatically. She always carried one, of course, and although she didn't think there were a lot of vampires around the school, you could never be too careful. Besides, it was pointy – what more could you ask for in means of defence?

Slowly, Buffy walked forward. She'd kicked off her shoes as soon as she'd heard the noise; after all, high heels wasn't the best footwear when the situation required stealth. She was proud of how well she was handling this. Since she wasn't fully awake – the sleepiness had begun gaining on her – she could've done a hell of a lot worse.

"And what, if I may so inquire, are you doing out strolling in the corridors, little missy?"
Buffy recoiled at the sound of the harsh, brutal voice. She turned around to face whatever was behind her.
It turned out to be a middle-aged man, quite monstrous looking, with a lantern in his hand and a ragged cat by his side. The cat's eyes were aglow like fireflies. Buffy shuddered.
"I'm just looking 'round," she answered, sounding more confident than she was feeling at the moment. "And you?"
"Me?" The man chuckled coldly, swaying the lantern back and forth in his hand. "I have every reason to be here. You, on the other hand, do not." His eyes narrowed, peering suspiciously at her, as if he was somehow trying to see right through her. "Who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you before. Are you one of the students?"
"I'm a guest," Buffy retorted, lowering the stake somewhat, as a sign of good will. The man didn't seem to notice, though; his attitude was just as reserved and cold as before. "I'm here with mister Giles. Dumbledore invited us."
The man looked like he was thinking things through. Then, he lit up somewhat. He still looked awfully stupid, though. "Ah, you're one of them. Well then, my apologies, miss…?"
"Summers," she said. "Buffy Summers."
"… miss Summers. I thought you were a student. As you may or may not know, they're not allowed outside their dorms at night. We don't want them running 'round, disturbing the peace. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I'm mister Filch, and I patrol here at night to make sure the students are obeying the curfew."
"Yeah." She was raging inside. She knew the type pretty well. Stuffy, uptight old man, trying to prevent kids from having fun. She'd had enough of his sort back when she was in high school. "So what's with the cat? Didn't have enough money to buy an owl or some other cool animal?"
Oddly enough, the cat seemed to understand the insult. It hissed – most remarkable; Buffy had never heard a cat hiss before, she'd thought only snakes did that – and showed its teeth.

Filch didn't seem to pay any particular heed to Buffy's snappy one-liner. Instead, he bent down and picked up the cat into his arms. Clutching the furious animal tightly to his chest, he passed the Slayer, consequently ignoring her as he walked past. "Come now, Mrs Norris," he whispered almost inaudibly to the cat. "Let's see if we can find some naughty students on the next floor…"

Buffy stared at him as he walked away. "Well, that was peculiar," she muttered to herself. "Maybe I should get back to bed before I get attacked by a griffin or something equally unpleasant."
But the night proved to have more surprises in store for Buffy.

She hadn't gone more than ten metres from the spot where she had run into Filch, when she heard noises again. This time, they were coming from one of the doors on her right.
She inspected the door closely. It didn't lead to a classroom, that was for sure. Had to be one of those rooms that appeared and disappeared by themselves, like the ones Dumbledore had told her about earlier. She remembered the story about the room filled with chocolate frogs. It sounded absolutely delicious.
"I could really use some chocolate right about now," she mumbled, carefully placing her hand on the doorknob. "Here goes nothing…"
She flung the door open, not hesitating for a second.
What she saw, however, made her turn immediately, as quickly as she could.

"Okay. Those are positively not chocolate frogs!" she exclaimed, standing still in the doorway, back turned, not knowing exactly what to do. Eventually, she turned again, 'cause she had difficulty believing what she'd just seen.

It was a perfectly plain room. The walls were white, with no decoration, and there was no other doorway. However, there was a huge bed in the centre of the room, and in it, there were two naked boys, of whom Buffy only recognised one. It was Harry Potter, the dark-haired, seemingly plain boy she'd met earlier, upon the group's arrival. The scar was a dead give-away. Underneath him, another boy with bleached, blond hair was writhing in pleasure. They both seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were entangled in each other and in the thin silk sheets embedding them.
Midst all of this going on, Buffy couldn't help but feel like a terrible party-crasher.

Harry had noticed her now, and with a surprised look on his face, he tried to free himself of the blond boy's apparently quite firm embrace.
"Potter… what are you doing? Don't stop… hey!"
"Shut up, Malfoy!"
Ah. So this was Draco Malfoy, of whom Buffy had herd so many bad things from everyone, and Harry's friends in particular, before they'd all gone to bed. Buffy found herself utterly perplexed.

Draco had now finally noticed the uninvited guest, as well. His eyes wide-open, he rolled over and away from Harry, covering himself in one of the sheets. Harry had already done the same thing, and was now sitting on the bedside, looking at Buffy with a strange mixed expression of surprise, guilt and lasting pleasure on his face.

"Who are you," roared Malfoy, his voice trembling, "and what the hell are you doing here?"
"Well…" Buffy began, but clearly, Malfoy wasn't finished.
"How did you get in? We put a magic seal on that door!"
Buffy, still not knowing what to do with herself, looked down at the floor. She felt embarrassed, although she had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't the one in the worst predicament. "I'm… uh… my name is Buffy, and I'm the Slayer. I daresay you've heard of me…? No? Okay, maybe you don't have access to the Internet then… uh, I came here with mister Giles."
Draco frowned, his pretty face becoming a bit wrinkled. "Giles? The old geezer? The one with the James Bond complex and stupid accent?"
"That would be him, yes," Buffy nodded. She didn't know what else to do. In a desperate try to get everything right in her head, she turned to Harry, who was blushing even more violently than she was. "Hey, Scarboy! I don't understand! I thought you hated this guy?"
Harry looked away. "Yeah, well… I do. This is just… it isn't…"
"Look, Buffy or whatever the hell your name is, it's not like we're in love or anything," Draco broke off sarcastically. Apparently, he was the dominant of the two, and he was used to getting his way. He fixed his hair while he spoke. "This is just for fun. For the sport. Right, Potter?"
"Uh… yeah."

Buffy shook her head. "That's just… I mean, that's… it's not healthy. You understand? Sex without emotion, it's just unnecessary, and it always ends in someone getting hurt. Get it? It always… ends… badly. Furthermore, Harry… how the hell did you manage to sneak out of your bedroom without me noticing? I was right outside in the hallway for an hour, at least! And I'm the freakin' Slayer – I'm supposed to notice these things!"
Harry smiled sheepishly. He bent down and picked something up from the floor, that was lying underneath a pile of clothes. It was a fine piece of fabric, thin as butterfly wings. "Invisibility cloak," he said. "Got it from my father."
"Well, I'm sure he didn't intend for you to use it like this," Buffy stated decidedly. "Look, I'm all for the gay thing. On of my best friends is gay…"
"Hey, who're you calling gay?" grunted Draco. "Like I told you, this is just for fun."
"… but this is just wrong. Trust me, I know. Either you get a grip and allow yourselves to feel things, or you top with the… boinking. Got it?"
"And you're better yourself, then?" Malfoy asked, smirking. "'Cause I've heard otherwise."

Buffy stared at the boy. For a moment, she found herself speechless. What the hell is this about? she thought to herself. How could he know? He has to be bluffing. Better take a careful approach, though.

"Okay, that's it! What have you heard, you little maggot? And who told you?" That wasn't too careful. Great stuff, B. He'll start singing any minute now. She slapped herself mentally.
"Oh, nothing."
"Don't you dare lie to me! I… I'm the Slayer! The Chosen One! And hey, I'm the one with the stake here-" she raised it to prove she was serious, "- so you'd better start talking… or else!"
"Or else what? You'll drive that wooden stick through me? Jeez, Slayer, I'm not a vampire." His eyes glinted towards her. "But then again, maybe I remind you of someone." Malfoy stroked his blond hair, smiling crudely. "Maybe I have heard something about your attraction to the dark, yet very blond side."

Draco's smirk was getting on Buffy's nerves, and she was beginning to feel more and more frustrated. What is this? I'm letting some kid annoy me? Oh, come on Buffy!
"Okay." She tried to remain as calm as she could, even though all she wanted to do was pin the little sucker to the wall and beat the crap out of him. "What do you want?"
"I want you to shut the hell up with your moral speeches, and never tell anyone 'bout what you've seen. Got it? Then I won't play the part of the snitch, Buffy the Vampire… shagger."
"Why you little…!" Buffy took a giant step forward, but restrained herself in the nick of time. If she hadn't come to her senses, she might've strangled the boy, acting on pure instinct. She decided to shut up, like he'd told her to. She didn't fancy the idea of cross-examining a teenage boy the entire night, and besides, they were all going home in a few days. After that they'd never see each other again. So why bother?

Harry had now partially got dressed, and handed Draco his underwear as discretely as he could.
"Here you are, Malfoy."
"Yeah… thanks, Potter." He pulled them on, still covered by the sheets. Buffy thanked whoever was up there for that. "Same time next week?"
"Meet you at the usual place."
"That's fine, then."
"Yeah, great."

Malfoy pulled the rest of his clothes on while Buffy watched with big astonishment. It was like she was watching a play on stage. Every participating character had a given line, and she got the feeling that they'd been rehearsing for quite some time. It was scary. She could relate to it a lot more than she wanted to.
When she'd come to again from her moment of intense pondering, Draco had already left. He had evidently passed her going through the doorway, but she hadn't noticed; she'd been lost in her memories of recent meeting with… with…
Harry was still sitting on the bed, his head now hidden in his hands.

"He's using you. You know that, right?" she said softly, as she sat herself down beside him.
Harry didn't move. "Yeah," he whispered. "'Course. But you know what? I like it. I like it. Am I sick to love someone who's just using me?"
After a moment's thought, Buffy placed her hand on his shoulder in a comforting way, something she'd always found worked best in these types of situations. "No," she answered him. "No, you're not sick. Sometimes, the ones who hurt us the most are the ones we love with the greatest intensity. You know what? Malfoy was right. The dark side does attract me. And in my situation, I'm the one using my current… well, I wouldn't call him boyfriend. And he's not my lover either. Actually, it's kind of complicated. The point is, I'm using him. I'm being selfish. And he does love me, even though he knows I don't love him back. But that doesn't make him sick. He's… pretty wise, actually… in his own sick, twisted way."

Harry groaned. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do in a situation like this. "It's so hard! Not being able to tell your friends…"
Buffy felt a surge of guilt inside her. She had the same problems as this boy, only he was more true to his feelings, perhaps. But then again, he wasn't the Slayer. He didn't carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. If he made a mistake, it wouldn't be an apocalyptic disaster. She, on the other hand… "Yeah, that probably the hardest part. It feels like you're lying to them, right? And it hurts… hurt you so bad. But you know, there are things that people around you can't understand. And then… well, I'm just saying maybe it's better to wait until the opportune moment to tell them, and not be discouraged. Maybe they'll understand."
Harry lifted his head and glanced at her. "So you're saying we should keep at it, then?"
"No! No, that's not what I'm saying."
"Well, have you broken it off with your guy, then?"

He did have a point. Buffy cursed inside. Why couldn't she be a better role model than she was? It would've been so much easier telling the boy what was right and what was wrong if she'd known for certain herself. "Err… no. But that's different. I need…" She paused. "I need it. I need him."
Harry nodded, as he stood up and pulled on his shirt, the only piece of clothing he was still missing. "Well, I need Malfoy," he said decidedly. "More than you can ever imagine, and for reasons you could never understand."
Buffy nodded back at him, suddenly feeling very tired and insecure. Who was she to judge him? Wasn't she also right in the middle of a tiresome process, trying to figure out what she was to do next? She sympathised with the boy. They did have the same issues. And maybe – just maybe – it was support he needed, and not to be beaten up. "I do understand. Better than you think, anyway."

"I'm going to close this door now," said Harry, waving slightly as to make his point clearer, if she hadn't already understood that he wanted her to get up. "You'd better get out, or else you'll have to wait here until Malfoy's and my next encounter."
"Wouldn't want that," Buffy mumbled, and got up from the bed. As she exited the room, she let herself caress the boy's face as she walked him by. "You're gonna be just fine," she said, smiling at him. "Just don't let him make all decisions. Don't let him rule your life."
He looked back at her, and gave her a sombre smile back. "Right back at you," he said. And then, he disappeared beneath his invisibility cloak. She couldn't even hear his footsteps as he walked away.

Buffy was left standing alone in the dark corridor. She was surrounded by the darkness; for the first time since the arrival earlier the same day, she felt right at home.
"There's darkness everywhere I turn," she whispered to no one. "Maybe I do belong there."
Upon uttering those words, she started walking back down the hall from where she'd come before.
After all, she'd left her shoes somewhere back there, and she'd hate to see them go missing.