Chapter 4.
Making her way around the East London docks that night, Faith realised that the lack of sleep was definitely starting to catch up with her. Despite her threat to that Tonks woman, she'd still been followed round the galleries and parks all day, and she hadn't managed to get a moment's rest. Her senses were off, her reactions were slow and she was starting to feel majorly pissed off. Two out of the five vampires she'd fought so far had almost got away and she had a deep cut on her arm where one of them had caught her with it's claws. To top it all off, she realised that there was yet another one of Tonks' cronies watching her tonight. She tried in vain to see him, but he seemed to be more skilled or maybe just less clumsy than Tonks had been.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a strange sensation. The hairs on the back of her neck were tingling, but she knew there were no vampires nearby. For the first time in ages, Faith suddenly felt scared. She was surrounded by an evil presence. Without warning, two tall men appeared in front of her. They were dressed from head to toe in robes of black and hooded so that she couldn't see their faces. She felt inexplicably terrified by them and she wanted to run but she found herself rooted to the spot. They walked towards her and one of them began to speak in a voice that made her blood run cold.
"Slayer." he almost hissed. "We are emissaries from the Dark Lord. He has an offer that you cannot refuse."
"Dark Lord?" Faith tried to regain her composure and stop her voice from shaking. "You work for Voldemort?"
"Do not utter the Dark Lord's name, child!" snapped the man. "He has this message for you. If you will join him and cease this mindless slaying of innocent vampires, he will reward you beyond your wildest dreams. You will be a queen among mere mortals. Refuse, however, and you will die a slow, painful death. You will not see another dawn."
Faith couldn't believe her ears. Innocent vampires? This was enough to snap her out of her fear and she laughed.
"I'm sorry but, temping as your offer sounds, I've had enough 'Dark Lords' to last me a lifetime." she said boldly. "But if you wanna kill me, you have to catch me first."
Faster than lightening, one of the men drew out what looked like a thin stake and, pointing it at her, shouted,
"Crucio!"
A bolt of red light shot out from the end of the stick towards her and hit her in the face. A slight prickling sensation ran through her body and then faded away. She looked up at the man grinning.
"What was that supposed to be?" She asked, mockingly. "You gonna tickle me to death?"
The man tried again.
"Crucio!"
And the same thing happened. The other hooded figure joined in but to no avail.
"Much as I'd love to stand here and let you guys throw your crucios at me all night, I'm a busy girl. Those innocent vampires you mentioned? I gotta go mindlessly slay them." She turned to walk away from them.
"Avada Kedavra!" she heard and this time she felt as though she'd received a mild electric shock.
"Ok, now that could get annoying!" she said angrily, turning back to face the men, her eyes blazing.
They took a few steps backwards as she advanced towards them. They seemed unsure of what to do now that they'd realised their spells didn't work against her. She had no idea why they hadn't affected her but she didn't want to hang around to find out. But now it seemed the two men had changed tactics. Instead of directing their spells at her they were bewitching immobile objects around them and sending them hurtling in her direction. Ducking and dodging, she managed to avoid a stream of wooden crates and three empty oil drums that went sailing over her head. Desperately trying to reach the two men and break their wands in half, she lost concentration for a second which was all they needed. Working together they bewitched an enormous iron chain that came flying towards her and hit her squarely in the chest, knocking her onto her back as she felt three or four of her ribs crack. As she landed her head connected with one of the concrete breezeblocks that littered the docks. Her teeth clicked together over her tongue filling her mouth with blood She tried in vain to get up but her vision was blurred and she was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. Slowly slipping into unconsciousness she heard the sound of cold cruel laughter and saw the two figures standing over her triumphantly. Dimly aware that it was probably the last thing she would ever do, she managed to give them the finger before accepting defeat and allowing the darkness to wash over her in a wave of pain.
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Albus Dumbledore knelt over the broken and bleeding Slayer with tears in his eyes. It had all happened so quickly. One moment he'd been watching her in amazement, the unforgivable curses hurled at her by the pair of Death Eaters simply bouncing off her, the next he was running towards them as the Death Eaters decided to throw half of the docks at her. He had been too late to stop her getting injured, but as soon as the Death Eaters had seen him they had disapparated, he only hoped he wasn't too late to save her life. She was still breathing as her picked her up gently in his arms. he was amazed at how light and small she was for such a skilled warrior. He couldn't take her to St Mungo's Hospital because she was essentially a muggle, but neither could he take her to a muggle hospital, for how could he explain what had happened to her? Cradling her gently so as not to worsen her injuries, he closed his eyes and disapparated to Grimmauld Place. He whispered the address into her ear, and the headquarters of the Order, the Black family household, appeared in view. Pushing the door open he stepped inside and closed it behind him. As he did so, the house disappeared from the view of the outside world, as though it had never been there in the first place. It was around 2am and the house was still. Assuming everyone was in bed, Dumbledore walked straight past the stairs that led down to the kitchen and tried to find a spare room for the Slayer. He tried a door at the end of the hall and found the room that everyone had been cleaning the previous day. A four-post bed was situated against the back wall and the fireplace had recently been cleaned. Dumbledore laid Faith gently on the bed and with a flick of his wand, lit a fire in the grate. He went back down the hall and into the kitchen to find hot water and dressings for her wounds. He was surprised to find Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and, of all people, Severus Snape sitting around the table in silence, sharing a bottle of Firewhisky. At the sight of Dumbledore, Sirius jumped up, swaying slightly and began to shout.
"Dumbledore! You're s'posed to be watching her! Where is she? What's happened?"
"Sirius, please lower your voice." said Dumbledore calmly. "She is here. She was attacked by two Death Eaters by the docks."
"ATTACKED!" cried Sirius. "Those bastards attacked my little girl? I'll kill 'em! I'll kill 'em myself!"
He started towards the door but stopped sharply upon looking at Dumbledore, whose eyes were now blazing.
"You will stay here Sirius Black!" he said commandingly. "You are drunk, please get a hold of yourself. Severus, how much have you had to drink?"
"Just one shot of firewhiskey." replied Snape. "I only arrived a short while ago."
"Good." said Dumbledore. "I need you to make a soothing potion for me. The girl is quite badly injured. She has deep cuts and broken bones. I will do what I can now, but as quick as you can be with that potion."
"Yes, professor, at once." and with that Snape swept out of the room.
Dumbledore found the things he needed and was about to leave the kitchen when he was confronted by Sirius whose eyes were shining with tears.
"Albus, please, can I see her?" he pleaded. "She's my baby girl, I haven't seen her for seventeen years."
Dumbledore's face softened and he beckoned for Sirius to follow him to the spare room. In the hallway they met Harry, Ron and Hermione who had been woken by Sirius' shouting.
"What's going on, Professor Dumbledore? Sirius?" asked Harry, rubbing his eyes.
"You kids, hic, should go back to bed." said Sirius. "They brought my little girl in. She's, hic, hurt. So I have to go and look after her now. That's my job."
Hermione regarded Sirius with a slightly concerned expression, then she looked up at Dumbledore.
"Is she going to be ok, Professor? I read that the Slayer is supposed to have self-healing powers, but maybe that's just part of the myth."
Dumbledore smiled at the young girl. "I think I got to her just in time, and if what you've read is true, then she'll be just fine. But I must go and tend to her injuries."
He set off down the hall to the spare room and opened the door. Faith was still lying on the bed where he had left her. He went in and beckoned Sirius to follow him. He was accompanied by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Dumbledore sighed and admitted defeat, there was no way these children were going to go back to bed. He watched as Sirius cautiously approached the bed. The sight of his daughter seemed to have sobered him up completely. He knelt down beside her and took her hand in his, gently brushing the hair out of her face with the other. Dumbledore noticed with amazement that her breathing was more even now and that the cut on her arm had almost healed. He glanced at Hermione who smiled back knowingly.
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Looking at Faith's pale face as she lay so still on the bed, Sirius found his head was finally clearing. He'd been drinking Firewhisky all evening, after finally being convinced by Lupin to come downstairs and talk. He'd been so drunk he'd even confided in Snape, something he'd never thought he'd do. But then he'd never thought he'd ever see his daughter again, let alone that she would be the Slayer. He watched her breathing deeply and as he held her hand he could feel the power running through her veins, an ancient power, from the very earth. He was suddenly struck by her beauty and her presence and he put his arms gently around her and began to cry softly into her hair.
"I'm so sorry I left you, my little girl." he whispered in her ear. "Please forgive me."
He felt her stir slightly and she mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep. He held her closer, not wanting to ever let her go. He felt Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder.
"Sirius, Severus has brought a soothing potion for her broken ribs." said the old professor. "It should help her heal faster."
Sirius looked up to find Snape standing beside Dumbledore with a flask in his hand.
"Bathe them in this" he said, awkwardly, handing the flask to Sirius. "I hope it helps"
Snape looked at the sleeping Faith with an almost tender expression on his face. He reached down and gently brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. Sirius was astonished. He stared at Snape, who began to go red with embarrassment before sweeping out of the room.
Sirius stood up as he let Dumbledore wash and dress Faith's injuries. He wanted to do it himself but he felt completely helpless. He looked over at the three teenagers standing by the bed. He gave them a weak smile to which all three responded by coming over and putting their arms around him. He felt fresh tears well up in his eyes. Harry looked at him.
"It'll be ok, Sirius" he said. "She's here now, you've got a chance to make it all up to her."
"I'm scared, Harry" admitted Sirius for the first time. "I'm scared she's going to hate me, that she won't understand. Everyone who's been watching her says she's aggressive and wild. What if she won't even listen to me?"
"Don't worry about that." said Hermione, comfortingly. "One step at a time. She's here and she's safe, that's the main thing. I'm sure she'll hear you out. It won't be easy but you'll both get through it eventually."
"Sirius," came Dumbledore's voice. "I have dressed the wounds, which are healing faster than I would have ever believed. And I think she might be waking up."
Sirius rushed over and knelt beside the bed.
"Be careful Sirius." said Dumbledore. "Don't say too much. She is likely to be disorientated and confused. She might feel threatened, be gentle and make her feel at ease."
Sirius nodded as Faith moved a little and mumbled something else.
"Faith?" he ventured. "Faith, can you hear me?
The Slayer slowly opened her eyes and looked around.
"W.. where am I?" she said quietly, looking at everyone, her eyes finally resting on Dumbledore. "Who the hell are you?"
Dumbledore stepped forward. "My name is Albus Dumbledore my dear Faith. You are at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. We are here to help you. You have been badly injured by some wizards working for Lord Voldemort. I found you and brought you here. You should get some sleep and everything will be explained to you in the morning."
Faith smiled weakly at the old wizard.
"Jeez, D, that's a lot to take in for a girl who feels like she's just been hit by a truck" she coughed and winced a little as she did so. "Wizards huh? That what you guys are? Are you the ones who've been following me?"
Dumbledore nodded apologetically. She looked at Sirius for the first time and a confused expression passed over her face. She wrinkled her brow as if trying to remember something.
"Musta hit my head harder than I thought." she said as she lay back on the bed. "For some reason I completely trust you guys, I'm going soft."
She pulled the covers tightly over her and as she did so, Sirius reached across and tucked her in. He held her gaze for a few moments and in her eyes he could see a wisdom beyond her years marked with pain that ran deeper than he could see or even imagine. Even as he did so, his heart leapt as he saw sparks of recognition flash beneath her dark pupils. She turned away, clearly uncomfortable under his watchful eyes.
"My head hurts and I haven't slept properly in three days thanks to your stalking efforts." she said half-jokingly. "So I'm gonna take your advice big D. I'll kick your asses in the morning when I'm feeling better. Goodnight."
With that her head sank back onto the pillow and within seconds Sirius could tell she was asleep. He leaned across to once again brush one of her dark waves out of her face and kissed her softly on the forehead.
"Sleep well my little Faith" he whispered softly. "I'll be watching over you."
Dumbledore and the others left the room and Sirius sat back in an old armchair by the fire while his daughter slept peacefully at his side. Marveling at her beauty and her strength, he felt his heart swell with pride. Apprehensive as he was about the coming day, when she would realise who he was and maybe walk out of his life for good, he still couldn't help but feel like the luckiest man alive to have been given a second chance with his daughter. Smiling to himself contentedly, he watched her until the break of day, when he finally drifted off into what would turn out to be the best sleep he'd had in years.
