Chapter 56. The Ritual
Time sped by at Hogwarts after that. Now that Harry had told Ron, he was offering to help in any way that he could, and Harry was very grateful. After a few weeks, Hermione was transferred to the hospital ward at Hogwarts, where she could remain under surveillance until she was well enough to resume her studies again. Ron and Harry spent as much time as they could with Hermione in the lonely hospital wing, talking and researching into the curse.
There were not many attacks on the wizarding population; however the attacks on the Muggles increased and they became even more aware that something was going wrong. Talks around the country were held and the Muggle Liaison Office decided to intervene and feed the Prime Minister a story for the reason of the attacks. What the story was, no one knew, but crisis seemed to be averted as the British population calmed.
However, sometime in March, another crisis rose. Darla escaped.
Everyone was so busy researching and finding a way to extract the curse from Angel's mind that hardly anyone was paying attention to Darla when she slipped out of the castle one night. No one doubted where she had gone. The urgency to find the curse in order to kill Voldemort increased. They knew how Voldemort would kill Harry but that was of no use to them. And if Darla knew of the curses, which she undoubtedly would, Voldemort could attack at anytime.
Late one night, in the suite where they all lived, Buffy, Faith, Willow, Sirius and Angel sat on sofas, chairs or on the floor, books spread out in front of them. It was how they spent most of their time, researching into ways to free the curse from Angel's mind but no one had found even a theory of how to get it out.
Buffy sighed, closing the book shut with a thump. Eyes flew to her and she shrugged. "It wasn't helping."
"None of these books are." Faith said, also closing hers. "This is hopeless. We've gone through pretty much every book in Hogwarts, there's not much else we can do." Faith complained.
Angel pulled out a stack of books from behind his sofa. "Here. Giles got them from his private collection at home. We can get started on that."
Buffy groaned. "Great, more books. If anybody hadn't noticed, I'm not research gal."
"Neither am I yo." Faith said, eying the new books with disdain. "I think I'm gonna turn in." She said, standing up and stretching.
"Wait." Willow said sharply, bent over a large book, with her nose in it. "I found something."
It was like a magic word-as one, everyone got up and gathered around Willow's table. A grin was forming on the red head's face as she read, her eyes scanning the page. "This is it." She whispered, but the words echoed around in the room like a spell. "This is it." She glanced up at Angel and Buffy, smiling. "This is it." She looked down at the page again, and suddenly her grin disappeared. "Oh."
"What is it Red, you're killing us here." Faith said desperately.
Willow looked up, locking eyes with Buffy. "It's dangerous."
"How dangerous?" Angel asked. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."
Next to Buffy, Sirius scoffed.
"For both of you. It says that the subject and someone else, someone strong like a slayer, has to be in some sort of trance. And their minds are transported to some place-it unclear where. But basically, the slayer will have to take a series of tests to get to the place where the knowledge is kept. If she passes the tests, she gets the knowledge, but if she doesn't pass the tests…both the subject and slayer will suffer…" Willow gulped and looked up to Angel. "Well, it won't be pretty."
Angel glanced at Buffy, and she nodded, knowing what he was asking of her. "We'll do it." Angel said.
"Wait, Buffy no." Sirius said apprehensively. "It's dangerous, you could die…can't Faith do it?"
"Hey!"
Sirius smirked. "Sorry, it's just that I like Buffy more than I like you."
"Favouritism." Faith muttered under her breath.
"I think Buffy should do it." Willow said. "Look Faith, you're strong and all, but-"
"I'm not as powerful as Buffy." Faith nodded in agreement. "I know. And while I hate to see you in danger Buff, I think you're the only one who can do it. And I'm kinda glad I won't die in the process of all this."
"Can we not have two people? Faith and I both go into Angel's mind?" Buffy asked and Willow, but the red head shook her head.
"No, it has to be one." Willow read from the book.
"Can I take any weapons with me?" Buffy asked, and Willow shrugged.
"I dunno. If your mind thinks you have weapons, then I guess you will-think of it like the Matrix Buffy."
"Whatever the mind believes, it seems real." Buffy whispered and Willow nodded. "And if I die in one of these tests-"
"You die here too. The body cannot live without the mind." Willow quoted and Buffy smiled. "Sorry." Willow blushed. "I love that film."
"So it's settled." Angel interrupted, smirking at Sirius who looked lost. "We'll do it?"
"We'll have to pitch it to Dumbledore and Giles, make sure its ok to do, but yeah, I guess we can do it." Buffy nodded, glancing at Angel.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Giles what's so wrong about it?" Buffy pleaded and Giles looked at her through his glasses.
"Many things. One being the fact that you could die, Angel also." Giles said sternly.
"Giles, it's our only chance." Willow said, pleading also.
"I'm sure it's not your only chance-"
"We've looked through all the books; this is the only thing there is." Buffy said.
"Even the books I brought yesterday?" Giles asked, curiously.
"Yes. Even those." Buffy lied and Giles glanced at her, his gaze penetrating. Finally he sighed and sank down onto a chair, giving up.
Willow grinned at Buffy, and Buffy placed a hand on Giles' shoulder. "I'll be careful, I promise." She said sincerely, and Giles nodded, looking thoroughly unhappy with the idea.
"When would you like to do this?" Dumbledore asked unsurely, glancing between Angel and Buffy.
"As soon as we can I guess." Buffy said, looking at Angel. He nodded and then looked at Willow who was reading over the book with Lupin.
"Is there anything that we can do to prepare or something?" He asked, and Willow shook her head.
"As long as Buffy is good with the fighting, then that's pretty much it. I'm not quite clear what you have to do Angel, but I'm sure you'll figure it out when it comes to it." Willow said, shooting an apologetic glance Buffy's way.
Buffy nodded, butterflies forming in her stomach. "And you don't know what kind of tests I should be expecting?"
"Physical, most likely." Willow replied and Buffy nodded.
"It's what I'm good at." She whispered.
Dumbledore looked between them, a frown forming on his face. He seemed torn, and the ache in his forehead was similar to Giles. They both watched Buffy as she bit her lower lip, Willow as she wrung her hands nervously and Angel as he looked out of the window, into the night sky. A battle was won inside of Dumbledore, and finally he spoke.
"The procedure should take place in your suite, Buffy. No more than five people should be in the room, and they must be silent so not to bother the two of you. I would in fact like to be present at this time, and I expect Willow, Rupert, Xander and Sirius would like to as well. Very well then. We shall convene at Buffy's suite at midnight. I suggest Angel and Buffy get some rest beforehand. The rest of you, do not be late."
He left, his midnight blue robes swishing out behind him and the portrait closed with a click. Buffy glanced at Sirius, who had an indifferent look on his face, his arms were folded across his chest and he stared dully at her. She glanced at Willow, who was chewing her lower lip and slipped out of the room.
Hours later, and Buffy lay on her bed, her eyes closed in an effort to sleep. But she couldn't, she was too nervous, but at the same time, excited. If the procedure worked, then it meant that Harry could finally defeat Voldemort. But if it didn't, and something went wrong-
Buffy shook her head mentally, forbidding herself to think about it any longer. She would have to concentrate on getting some rest, so she could be on full form when it came to the ritual.
She heard the door open slowly, and heavy footsteps on the floor alerted her to Sirius entering. The bed sank slowly to her left, and she opened her eyes to see him sitting there. She smiled at him, and he gave a small smile back. She sat up, her hands folded on her lap, a frown appearing on her face.
"Are you ready?" He asked, his voice calm and soothing to her.
She nodded, glancing at the time. There was two more hours until she had to start the ritual. "Are you?"
He glanced at her, his eyes dark and fathomless. When he spoke, in quiet, husky tones, it sent chills up her spine. "I'm almost ready."
She swallowed, and moved tentatively towards him, but the distance between them enough so they weren't touching. "I'll be fine." She said soothingly.
Sirius smirked, and glanced up at her, his black hair loose around his shoulders. "I know that. I heard you do this sort of thing all the time."
Buffy smirked, shrugging modestly. "I'm a slayer. It's my job."
Sirius nodded, taking her warm hand in his cold one. Buffy shivered at the feel of it. "I still can't get used to that. But I'm glad for you, and I know you'll be fine." Buffy smiled, leaning in to kiss Sirius. "But-" She groaned inwardly, as Sirius' voice interrupted her movements. "Don't die ok? I might be a little bit upset if you do. Harry too."
Buffy grinned playfully. "Only a little bit upset?"
Sirius nodded thoughtfully, mirth in his eyes. "Yes, only a little."
Buffy smirked, leaning in to kiss him, but missing his mouth and kissed his neck instead. "Only a little? Not a lot?"
Sirius paused. "Um, yes, would have to say a little."
Buffy smiled against his neck, and bit lightly into his earlobe. "Not a lot?"
The pause was longer now, as Sirius fought a mental battle with himself. "Um, yes, a bit more than a little."
Buffy's hand rose up to his neck, and she kissed him softly on his lips. Their bodies drew closer and she whispered in his ear: "Would you miss me a lot?"
"Merlin, yes." He said huskily, and Buffy grinned, kissing him passionately. She felt his arms wrap around her waist, pressing her against his body. Her hands tangled in his hair, and briefly, she thought to herself that what they were about to do would suck a lot of energy out of her. But the thought was gone from her mind as Sirius kissed her neck and laid her on the bed. Her top rose to her neck, and he deftly pulled it off, and she was fiddling with his, when,
"Buffy-" The door opened, the room flooded with light and Buffy groaned and glanced at the doorway, to see Harry standing in the frame, his face as a deep shade of red. His mouth opened and closed once or twice, making him resemble a fish. "I'll come back later." He said, his voice high pitched as he shut the door.
"Harry, don't worry, we weren't doing anything!" Buffy said, pushing Sirius off her and pulling on her top. Sirius gave an indignant cry as Buffy grinned and hurried to the door. "We'll finish this later." She said, before ducking out of the room.
Harry still had not returned to a normal colour, his face was bright red and he refused to look at Buffy. He appeared to be relaxed and unaffected by what he had just seen, but Buffy knew secretly that he was embarrassed to have walked in on them.
Buffy grinned. "You've had the sex talk right?"
Even though he wasn't facing her, Buffy could see the tips of his ears turn a darker red. "Uh, no-but I don't need one."
"Ah, so you're not sexually active." Buffy said knowingly, a grin on her face. She walked across to the other side of the room, so she could see Harry's face. If it was possible, he looked as if he was about to explode from embarrassment, and he glanced at the door, contemplating escape. "You know you have to use protection right?"
"I-I think I'm going to go." Harry stuttered, hurrying to the portrait door.
Buffy giggled, telling Harry to stop. "I was just playing with you." She said, in between giggles. Harry glared at her, but it wasn't heartfelt.
"Can we just talk about this life-threatening ritual you're going to do in two hours?" Harry said, sitting down on the red, plush chair. "It's a less painful topic of conversation for me."
Buffy laughed, but nodded, crossing her legs underneath her. "So, what's up?"
"Don't die." He said truthfully and abruptly. "I don't care if you don't get the curse, I don't want you to die. Again."
Buffy smiled softly at Harry's concern and placed a comforting hand on his knee. "Don't worry, I won't. And I'm sorry you can't be here for it." She said truthfully, and Harry shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. Hermione's going to go through my Potions essay with me, so I have a busy night." He said, with obvious lack of enthusiasm. "She's missed Potions for three months but she still manages to be top of the class and know what's going on." Harry said, completely baffled.
Buffy giggled. "She's like Willow. The brainy one."
Harry nodded. He sighed, standing up at brushing a hand through his hand. Buffy smiled wistfully, he reminded her so much of James when he did that. "Well, I better go. From what I can tell, I have a lot of mistakes in my Potions essay."
Buffy shrugged. "Just get Hermione to do it for you." She carelessly, and Harry raised an eyebrow. "I mean," She said hurriedly, standing up. "Do it yourself. Do everything yourself and don't copy from other people."
Harry grinned. "Good save."
"I thought it was alright."
Harry smirked. Then, without warning, his face contorted in an expression of pain and he clapped his hand to his forehead.
"Harry, are you ok?" Buffy asked concerned, but Harry smiled weakly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the scar, its prickling a bit. Nothing to worry about." Harry said, but Buffy wasn't convinced. "Well, I should go." He said casually, glancing back to Buffy's bedroom door. "I'm sure you want to…um…"
Buffy grinned and quickly ushered Harry to the door. "If you go now, Sirius and I could do it many times between now and midnight." She said, half seriously. Harry turned red again, and he looked as if he was going to be sick. Buffy laughed and after he shot her a glare, he stepped out of the room.
Buffy sat on a comfy purple cushion decorated with sparkly sequins. With their knees just touching, Angel sat on a matching cushion opposite her. Around them stood Sirius, Giles, Xander and Professor Dumbledore in various places around the room. Everyone was silent as Willow drew a circle around Buffy and Angel with red sand. She read out of the book words that Buffy could not understand, but she let the quiet and the dimly lit room scented with candles and incense wash over her, and slowly, she relaxed.
"This is it." Willow whispered, stopping as she finished the circle. "Start to mediate now."
Buffy nodded, and, sending a glance Sirius' way, closed her eyes and started to clear her mind. It was difficult at first, because Willow's words penetrated her mind, and every twitch Angel made, Buffy could feel, but soon, she let the calming atmosphere completely wash over her and her mind was perfectly clear.
She wasn't quite sure how long she was like that, but soon she found herself alone in a large cave, with a tall ceiling and narrow walls. In the middle was a round stone tablet, with a sword stuck in the middle and alight torches fixed around it.
Buffy frowned, waiting for a few moments before taking a step forward towards the tablet. Immediately, several demons stepped out from the wall, having just been camouflaged by the wall. They had large green heads and spiky horns and teeth, and wore heavy armour. Each one held a sword. And all were very pointy.
Buffy glanced around her, as the demons formed a circle around her, trapping her and preventing her from getting the sword in the stone tablet. The demon facing her swung his sword, and she had to lean back, the point of the sword barely missed her stomach.
The demon swung again, lower this time at her feet, and Buffy jumped and kicked her leg out at the demon, her foot impacting with its head. The demon stumbled backwards and Buffy turned her attention on another demon, whose sword was held up high, ready to strike down. Buffy ducked and kicked at the demon's chest, sending it stumbling backwards. She frowned, these demons, though they brandished swords and looked tough, were very slow and not very good fighters at all.
It was not before long that she pulled the sword out of the stone tablet and turned around the kill the demons, but the room had changed and a tunnel stretched out before her, and the light was a pinprick at the end. Buffy's hand immediately flew to her pocket, where she normally kept her wand, but she found it was empty. Her wand was gone. Sighing, Buffy started down the dark and intimidating tunnel, her sword in hand.
The alight torches around the stone tablet provided her with some light, but soon, the light had completely disappeared and she found that she was walking blindly in the dark, and the pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel was not getting any nearer. Her steps were fast but quiet, her instincts alert, her sword ready in her hand in case of a surprise attack.
Time crawled by, and soon she began to let her guard down, she had come across no one in the time she had spent walking down the pitch black tunnel, hugging the wall as she went. She stopped, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes, trying to get her energy back. She was starting to feel drained, even though she knew in real circumstances; she would be able to go on for hours.
And that was when she heard someone, or something kick a stone across the floor, and she stood up, alert and her sword raised high. She could hear someone breathing near her, throaty and low, and she could feel someone by her, her instincts were screaming out. She hugged the wall closer to herself, trying to calm her breathing and keep herself quiet. Her eyes darted about all over the place, but she knew it was hopeless because she could not see a thing.
She was given a moments warning, the sound of an axe slicing through the air, and Buffy ducked as the axe impacted with the stone where her head had just been. She swung her sword at where she thought the demon would be, and she felt her swing being blocked by the heavy axe. The demon pushed against the sword and Buffy stumbled backwards, trying to push back with all her might.
She felt her head bang into the wall as she found herself up against the stone wall. She could hear the demon grunting and breathing, as he pushed the axe against the sword. Buffy kicked out, her foot hitting the demon's calf, but the demon barely noticed and just pushed harder. She felt the demon push the sword up above her head, and with all her might, she kicked both her legs out at the demon. The demon grunted, releasing her sword and stumbling back, away from her. Buffy gasped and pulled the sword back into her, her ears and eyes open for any sign of the demon.
It was pitch black, and she could not hear anything, could not see anything and only felt the biting cold and the comforting sword in her hands. She could hear the demon breathing heavily near her, and she swung out at the air, the sword whistling through the air as she cut it.
But her sword did not strike anything, and she was left feeling even worse than before. She heard the demon chuckle throatily as she swung at the air again, and then she heard a whistling through the air as the axe cut through it, and cut her midriff. Buffy gasped in pain as the axe cut her skin and she put her hand to her stomach and felt warm blood seep through her hands and onto the ground below.
She swung angrily at the air, her stomach hurting her at every movement and finally, she hit something, and the demon yelled in pain. The next few moments were a blur to her as she felt its axe try to strike her, but she blocked it all, her strength almost matching the demon's as she blocked and tried to strike and the demon. She felt the axe's blade cut through her skin again, this time on her upper arm and moments later, lightly skim her cheek, narrowly missing her nose and eye.
She struck again, but every wound hurt her and she was becoming exhausted. She knew she had hurt him three times, and as the axe's blade met her upper thigh, her sword speared the demon's chest and the demon fell back, the axe stuck in her thigh.
Buffy gasped, almost crying from the pain. Her clothes were soaked with blood, her limbs aching and tired, and she dropped her sword and closed her eyes as her hands took hold of the axe's handle. With all her strength, Buffy pulled and she screamed in pain as the axe's blade came out of her body. She could feel blood trickle down her leg and she carelessly threw the axe away from her. She leant against the wall, closing her eyes, her cheeks wet with tears and blood, her hands on her stomach and leg wounds.
When she opened her eyes a few minutes later, the scenery was changed again, but unlike the places she was in before, she was in a large room. It was adorned with colourful furniture, purple sofas and flowery drapery. The room stank of incense, and there were crystal balls on shelves and dainty china cups on eloquently made tables.
A woman entered the room, her face lined with wrinkles and worry lines. She was dressed in a beautiful purple and gold robe, with jewels and gems sparkling from her fingers and hanging from her neck and wrists. Her hair was twisted up and clasped by a purple clip on the top of her head and she neatly bustled about the room, humming a tune and oblivious to Buffy who rested against the wall, blood pooling around her body.
"Help." Said Buffy desperately, her throat dry, her face twisted in pain. "Help me, please."
But the woman continued to hum and tidy things, oblivious to Buffy's calls for help.
And then the door opened again, and two people strode purposefully inside. The woman looked towards the door, and gasped at the sight of their horribly disfigured faces. A young, beautiful blonde woman stood at the door, in a flowing black dress and a tight black corset. She smiled cruelly at the older woman, showing large, pointed teeth. The man hung back at the doorway, long brown hair pulled back by a black ribbon. He wore a sharp black suit, and he seemed to be enjoying the woman's cries for help. Both newcomers' faces were horribly distorted and their eyes gleamed in the light.
"Cassandra, the great Seer." The blonde vampire drawled, daintily slipped across the room to the old woman, holding her hands by her sides, ignoring the screams.
"Did you forsee this?" Said the male vampire, walking slowly across the room. The female vampire let the woman go, and she backed away from the approaching vampire, until her back was pressed against the colourful tapestries.
"Please…" She begged, tears streaming from her tired eyes. "Don't hurt me."
"I'm not one for requests." The male vampire said, licking his lips, now inches away from the old woman.
"Don't…don't…" The woman whimpered, her dainty voice growing quieter. Buffy watched quietly, entranced as the woman slumped against the wall, her eyes staring at a point past the vampire. In a deep, throaty voice, unlike her own, she whispered "Two curses to kill two wizards, Aequus Lux to kill the wizard, Aequus Malus to kill the Dark Lord…"
The woman screamed as the vampire sunk his teeth into her neck, and the prophecy ended. The woman's arms were wrapped around the vampire, her futile efforts to beat him off as her hands weakly hit his back did not work, and soon her hands hung limply by her side as her body slid down the wall, a thin line of blood trailing the wall. The vampire licked its lips of blood, and grimaced at the female vampire who had been watching the procedure with undisguised interest.
"Does she taste nice darling?" She asked.
He grimaced again, glancing back at the now dead woman. "She's too old." He said, almost disappointed. "But her blood…"
The female vampire smiled and kissed him softly, taking some of the blood for herself. "It's powerful isn't it?" The male vampire smiled, exposing pointed and blood washed teeth. The female vampire grinned and pressed her body into his, and glanced at the dead woman against the wall. "You should clean this up."
He nodded, and for the first time, his eyes scanned the wall Buffy was leaning against, and stopped as his eyes met hers. Buffy gasped, but before the vampire could do anything, the scene dissolved around them and Buffy found herself back in her suite, thoroughly exhausted but without a scratch on her body. Her eyes met Angel's, his as exhausted as hers, and as one, they fainted and fell back on the plush cushions.
Thank you for the reviews, you're all awesome!
The next chapters' title is called 'The Beginning of the End'. I think that's the only clue you need to know about what's going to happen. :)
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