Chapter 48. All I Want For Christmas
Angel hurriedly pulled on some clothes, knocking over his bedside table in his hurry. He raced out of his room and hurried to Dumbledore's office, eager and anxious to tell Dumbledore what he had just seen. He knew that he had just found out one of the curses, and if that had happened, then Buffy must be alive.
He skidded to a halt outside the gargoyle and growled: "Let me in!"
"Password." It said.
"I need to go in now, its urgent!" Angel yelled, getting angrier by the second.
"Password."
"Just let me in!" Angel growled loudly, his face shifting into that of a demon.
The gargoyle swung open, but Dumbledore stood behind it, smiling in an unsurprised way. "I thought that would be you, Angel."
"Buffy's alive!" Angel said loudly. "My memory of the Cassandra's death came back to me. I know one of the curses."
Dumbledore held up his hand calmly, and Angel felt the need to be quiet. He paused, and then said: "I know." Dumbledore smiled.
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Buffy landed on the ground of a park barely conscious, blood streaming from her neck and matting in her hair and clothes. It was raining wherever she had turned up, and the rain mingled with the blood and dampening the rest of her body.
She heard people running towards her, shouts that belonged to Tonks and gruff words of calm that she recognized as Moody. She was shivering now, the cold turning her skin the faintest of blue. She heard Tonks gasp above her, and felt some material go to her neck, stopping the blood from flowing.
"Buffy, stay awake now, y' hear?" Tonks said desperately.
Buffy tried her best to nod, and Moody picked her up in his arms. "Let's take her back." Moody said gruffly, and Tonks nodded, brandishing an old boot. "Touch it now, Buffy." Moody said, almost gently, and Buffy lifted a weak hand, and as one, they all touched the boot.
They were immediately transported to what Buffy remembered as the park near Grimmauld Place. Moody wordlessly carried Buffy as she fought unconsciousness, Tonks hurrying behind them, sometimes tripping up on her robes. Soon, they arrived at the house, the door appearing as Buffy remembered it. She had never been so happy to see that house as she was now. Tonks opened the door for them, after a quick reminder from Moody to not ring the doorbell, and Buffy was brought in from the rain and cold, into the slightly warmer temperature of the Black house.
"Everyone is downstairs." Tonks warned to Moody quietly. Buffy could barely hear her voice. Her skin was turning white from the loss of blood, and the material stopping the blood was drenched with the red liquid.
"Molly and Lupin will be there." Moody said, as if that settled it. Tonks nodded and Moody led the way, Buffy still in his arms. They walked through the door and down the stairs, and the voices and laughter got louder.
"They're having a good time." Buffy commented quietly.
"It's Christmas soon." Tonks said quietly. They neared the doorway, from which loud noise was coming from behind. "Good luck." Tonks whispered, and Buffy managed to muster a smile, as Moody let her down slowly. Buffy legs trembled, from nervousness at facing everyone or from the blood she was loosing…she was not quite sure. But Moody pushed open the door; the hinges creaking from the weight, and Buffy took a deep breath, and with a slight push from Tonks from behind, managed to gingerly step into the kitchen, Moody supporting her from the back.
The voices stopped one by one as the occupants of the room looked towards the door. Buffy could see almost everyone in there, all the Scoobies, Molly and Arthur, Charlie, Giles, Faith, Hermione, Ron, Lupin, Ginny…Harry and Sirius.
Buffy tried to smile, and lifted up her hand in a weak attempt to wave hello. She opened her mouth, but couldn't seem to get the words out. Moody was behind her, holding her upright as the room descended into silence…their expressions of shock evident on their faces.
"Molly, she needs assistance." Moody said, breaking the silence. And, as one, the room came to its senses, and Willow rushed forwards, tears in her eyes, and gave her a hug.
For the next few minutes, Buffy was held in everyone's arms, welcomed home and her dirty cheeks were kissed. Faith was actually crying, something that shocked Buffy to no end and Xander held onto her as if he would never let go.
Finally, she is front of Harry, who was a bit taller than her. His eyes, Lily's eyes, shone with happiness and tears, and Buffy tried to smile. He hugged her tightly, and Buffy cried salty tears that burned its way down her cheeks.
"I think everyone should leave." Molly's voice called out over the excited voices. People groaned, but not many objected and they smiled at Buffy as they left the room. The only one's left were Willow, Giles, Harry, Lupin, Molly and Sirius…Sirius who hadn't moved from his seat the entire time Buffy had been in the room, Sirius whose face was a mixture of emotions that Buffy could not recognize.
Buffy was sat down on one of the chairs, and Molly bustled about, brandishing potions that helped Buffy's condition from seemingly nowhere. Giles tenderly washed the dirt off Buffy's arms and face with a white cloth; it was slowly turning brown and red.
"You cannot give her too many potions." Giles instructed quietly, "Buffy's slayer healing shall need to cope with this alone. She should be almost good as new tomorrow."
Molly nodded, and asked Buffy is she was in any pain. Buffy shook her head, saying no, but her eyes were threatening to close. Lupin saw this, and hurriedly ran upstairs to get a dreamless sleep potion. Buffy's hands were in Giles' and Harry's throughout the entire procedure, Harry was stroking Buffy's matted hair, it seemed that Harry was not mad at her anymore. And Buffy was thankful.
But Buffy's eyes were on Sirius' the entire time, Sirius who had not moved throughout the entire procedure, Sirius who stared at Buffy as if she was a miracle, an angel sent from heaven, Sirius who carried Buffy upstairs to his room when she fell asleep and proceeded to sleep on the uncomfortable wooden chair for the rest of the night, Sirius who, before he fell asleep whispered to Buffy "I love you".
Buffy woke the next morning with aches in her limbs, and a throbbing feeling in her neck. She was warm and comfortable in the bed she lay in, black covers drawn up to her chin. She gingerly lifted a hand up to the side of her neck where she had bitten, and found that it had been patched up. She threw back the covers and yawned, getting out of bed. She smiled as she saw a pile of clean clothes next to the bed on the chair, as well as a towel. She quickly and quietly washed her hair and body, rinsing herself of the blood and dirt that clung to it. She dressed herself in the simple clothes that had been lain out for her, and cautiously removed the bandage on the neck, smiling when she saw that it had almost healed.
Buffy walked down the steps slowly, making her way towards the kitchen, trying to distinguish what time it was. Thankfully, on one of the landings, she bumped into Hermione, who hugged her forcefully.
Buffy giggled, and Hermione let go, smiling. "I'm glad you're back." Hermione said.
"I figured, what with all the rib crushing." Buffy joked, taking the younger girls hand and leading her down the stairs. "What's the time?"
"About eight. Ron and Ginny won't be up for ages, they're both lazy. Harry should be downstairs though." Hermione informed.
"Good." Buffy said as they hurried down to the kitchen. As Hermione had predicted, Harry was there, enjoying toast with Remus, Sirius and Xander. At the sight of her, he pulled her into a hug, like Hermione had. "Happy to see me?" She asked, looking up at him. He grinned, and next to Buffy, Hermione smiled.
"He hasn't smiled for ages." Hermione whispered in Buffy's ear. Buffy grinned and was led over to the table by Harry. She sat next to Xander as he watched the two of them, his eyebrows raised.
"Someone's in a good mood." Xander said.
"My ribs have been crushed twice today, and I've only been awake for an hour." Buffy said. Xander smiled goofily and squeezed her hand.
"We're just glad you're back." He said softly. "I missed the Buffster."
"I missed my Xander shaped friend." Buffy said childishly. "So, what's new with you?"
"I'm a father!" Xander said loudly. "Again." He added after a moment.
"That's great!" Buffy squealed, hugging him.
"Her name is Anne, and she's incredible. Noisy, but incredible." Xander said.
Buffy laughed, and turned to Remus and Sirius, determined not to meet Sirius in the eye. "So what's up with you two?"
Remus glanced at Sirius, who sat back in his chair, his expression unreadable. "Things are fine." Remus said with a sigh. "I'm glad you're back."
Buffy smiled halfheartedly, and cleared her throat. "A-And you, S-Sirius." She stuttered nervously.
Their gazes met, and in that moment, Buffy felt all her old feelings flood back to her. Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of his eyes, but it was broken as he stood up abruptly. Her face fell as she thought that he was angry, but he said in a soft tone:
"I need to speak with you."
Buffy nodded and followed Sirius wordlessly up the stairs to his room. He was so close to her, she could practically feel sparks between them as they climbed the stairs. She felt herself longing for him, for his lips to be on hers once more, but the memory of what she had done a few months ago came flooding back and she felt her hope dwindle.
Sirius opened the door for her, and Buffy walked in, smiling at his politeness. The door closed and they were left in silence and darkness, the curtains only half drawn. Buffy turned back to Sirius, not quite sure what to say. It seemed that he felt the same way.
"So…this is awkward." Buffy commented absently.
Sirius smiled. "It's a situation I've never been in. I've never had to talk to a woman I was with after she died."
"I'm sorry."
"Why? What you did for Harry was…unbelievable. And apparently, you risk your life for your friends all the time, or so I've heard."
"Yeah, I must stop doing that." Buffy said quietly. Sirius smiled again. "But, that's not I meant."
"I don't want to talk about it." Sirius said sharply. Buffy's face fell. "I don't want to talk about it, because there is nothing to talk about. You did something, which I found incredibly disgusting, because it's Snape for Merlin's sake…but…I'm over it." Sirius said, inching towards her. "I don't care about it. And, this may sound incredibly corny, but I don't care about the kiss, because…all I care about is you. All I want is you."
He was inches apart from her, and Buffy broke into a smile and gently pressed her lips against his. She smiled into the kiss, and they broke apart and Buffy threw her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent, reveling in how comfortable it felt to be with him.
She smiled, and sung softly in his ear: "All I want for Christmas is you."
Sirius looked at her, puzzled. Buffy arched an eyebrow. "All I want for Christmas is you?" She said. "Mariah Carey? Cheesy song for Christmas of which you just quoted? You've never heard of it?!"
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Yay, fluff. The next couple of chapters of happy and fun, and then…well, you'll have to wait and see ;)
The update was quicker, as you can probably tell, and I think (hope) I can update once a week. Also, the chapters are longer, and they're getting longer as we near the end. Which is quite soon.
As always, thank you so much for your reviews! I'm really to know that you still like this and have hung around this long.
Elsawriter: Still waiting for that update!
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