Author's Note: This chapter is going to start leading to the climax 'cos I have the end of this fic written out...and now I just need to get the middle of it done. I'm so odd. Enjoy! Also, on a second note, the title to this chapter is a song by The Ataris, which technically you wouldn't catch me listening to, but it was playing during our Senior slide show and I fell in love with it.
Btw... italics are a flashback or a letter. It's easy to tell which is which.
WARNING: This chapter is kinda Xander stream of consciousness. It's a bit dark and skips a few months in this story. So for anyone that wants to know, it takes place immediately after Chapter 17, page 367 (American hardcover version) through out Chapter 25, page 343. That's what's happened in the life of Harry Potter while Xander is off doin' his own thing.
In the Phoenix's Eyes
- - In This Diary - -
"Do you understand what I am asking of you?"
Xander understood clearly what Dumbledore had been silently asking. The Headmaster had no twinkle in his eyes and his voice was firm as he had said it. The words echoed in Xander's mind clearly as he lay sprawled in the game room of Giles' mansion. The sofa that he was taking up was surprisingly comfy despite it's ancient look. Pillows littered the floor at the foot of the sofa and the windows were thrown open.
It was a warm night and Anya had decided to go swimming after five minutes of watching her fiancee stare up at the ceiling in dead silence. So now he was alone in the giant mansion with his thoughts swirling on everything. Now it would be over two months since Xander had last seen Harry. He had meant to return to Hogwarts but he got caught up with other things that had been unavoidable. Not too long after Xander left, he got a short letter from Harry saying that "the evil bat" had thrown him off the Quidditch team for punching Malfoy. Xander had found the idea of Harry punching Draco to be quite amusing but his cousin apparently could not find the same amusement in it. Still, the cousins had left on good terms and wrote to each other every few days. Neither of them were planning on losing contact after just establishing that the other was family.
Christmas and the New Year had come and gone. Xander and Anya had spent both with Giles and his family in Bath. Xander found it unnerving that all these people could look so much like Giles and they all seemed to have the same stutter as well. Anya found it terribly amusing and found it necessary to point out to each of them which habits they had that resembled the ex-Watcher's. This included all the good habits as well as bad. Luckily British humour was big that night and the Giles family seemed to find Anya's ranting hilarious.
He had ended up sending Harry a gift certificate for fifty galleons at Quality Quidditch Supplies after getting the hint from a mysterious letter delivered by a toucan from some individual who signed his name as "Padfoot." Xander had written back with a thank-you and signed the letter "Nighthawk."
It was nearing February now and Valentine's Day. Xander was thinking about visiting Hogsmeade with Anya and hang out with Harry and his friends. Apparently Harry had been taking Occlumency lessons with Snape, Mr. I-miss-the-70's-when-it-was-popular-not-to-wash-your-hair-ever. Xander didn't envy him.
"Do you understand what I am asking of you?"
Xander pushed Dumbledore's voice into the back of his mind for a moment. He suddenly thought of his friends back in Sunnydale. He had sent Willow and e-mail a few days ago talking about what was going on she had written back sounding well although when Buffy had written back she informed Xander that Willow really missed Tara and seemed slightly off lately. He found that mentioning to Willow about meeting up with Tara in Hogsmeade was a good idea. Now he fully understood why the Malfoy daughter wanted to avoid the subject of her ex-girlfriend.
Dear Xander,
I see you've finally decided to write to us! I was getting almost scared that you had forgotten about your American friends. You're lucky you proved my thoughts wrong, mister. Otherwise you'd be in trouble!
So you asked what's new here. Well, Amy Madison is back. Yes. Rat girl. Willow somehow managed to bring her back. It's really strange but they've been hanging out lately. I don't know, it doesn't seem right but I'm just the over protective best friend here.
Anyway, it's been pretty quiet on the Troika front. The nerds are at large. Hm. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I also haven't any clue on what 'at large' means, but it makes me sound more sophisticated, dontcha think? Either way, Warren, Jonathan and that other one (Andrew?) Haven't been seen doing anything too incredibly stupid in a while. It seems like when you left, they also disappeared. Dawn says that when she was at the Bronze with a few friends that she saw the blonde one (again, Andrew?) talking to some girls in an English accent and carrying a black cane with a snake design on it. She also mentioned something about Spike and peroxide but at that point I lost interest. I don't think it was him, though. That wouldn't make sense for a good handful of reasons. I can't see him being suave enough to keep a girl's attention for one, and he doesn't have an English accent...not to mention, why would he be carrying around a cane? Maybe it's someone from the Watcher's Council or something. They're known for being strange. I'll have to check it out, but it's ridiculously calm with those three idiots not around
That's about it here. You haven't talked much about your cousin, so speak! I'll be waiting for more news from you on what's going down across the (really big) pond!
We miss you!
-Buffy
By the way, Dawnie says hi and to come back soon!
He smiled slightly. Yes, the blonde's name was Andrew. Buffy had always had a thing with names. After all, it was the slayer that called Acathala Alfalfa, wasn't it? Hm. He had the strangest vision of the nerd in his head suddenly with Draco Malfoy-esque style hair and carrying around the cane that Tara's dad had when he had-
Xander sat up suddenly on the sofa. Why would Andrew impersonate a Malfoy? Ron had expressed in very colorful words exactly what he thought of Malfoys. In simple terms there wasn't anything good about them in his eyes and the phrase, "evil bastards" came up pretty often. The boy had also mentioned the blinding hair color a few times. Xander agreed that it was impossible for hair to be that color, but that was because he knew Spike dyed it. He got the impression that neither Lucius nor Draco would dye their hair, though. Still, it was a very big coincidence that Andrew was imitating Lucius Malfoy. Then again, he didn't know all the details and Buffy said that it probably wasn't him...or Lucius Malfoy himself was for some reason, malevolent intent if anything, in Sunnydale. At the Bronze.
Xander laughed at that thought and settled back down on the floral patterned sofa with a goofy smile.
"Do you understand what I am asking of you?"
His smile disappeared. This was getting ridiculous. Had he not trusted Dumbledore, he probably would have already accused the old man of being telepathic and just bothering him in general by thinking the same question over and over at him.
Anya walked in dripping on the carpet with a towel wrapped around her mid section and showing off only the top of a bright green bathing suit. She smiled at Xander brightly. "Have you decided to come back to this world, dear?"
A house elf quietly ran in behind Anya looking slightly miffed. With a snap of his stubby fingers, Anya was suddenly dry and so was the original 17th century rug. The ex-demon didn't seem to notice but sat down next to Xander and cuddled up to him.
Xander smiled. "Sorry about that, An. I was just thinking."
"I think you ate too much Marmite."
"What?" he looked up at his fiancee with a befuddled expression.
Anya kissed him on the cheek and closed her eyes. "Marmite, Xander. That really nasty substance that you can't seem to get enough of ever since you found it in the kitchens? It's so disgusting and it's yeast extract!"
"It's...a good source of...uh, B12!" Xander defended.
"Yes, and it's repulsive!" Anya returned her eyes still closed. "I wouldn't be surprised if it came alive and ate you during the night."
Xander's smile appeared at that. "Yes, the Marmite is going to eat me."
"You'd be surprised by the things yeast can do," the girl reasoned. "It's downright evil."
"The Marmite...?"
Anya opened her eyes and smiled. She didn't bother replying and just looked across the room while Xander looked down at her and the dancing golden light that streaked through the window onto them. She shifted slightly to hug him and closed her eyes again.
The air blowing through the windows suddenly cooled dramatically and the curtains started to whip around in the wind. Neither of them noticed the foreboding feeling although the temperature drop was sudden. Anya shivered.
"I'm tired from that sight seeing trip Giles took us on today. I think I'm going to bed." She slowly stood up and looked down at him groggily. "Coming, Xander? It's getting dark."
Xander managed to shake his head and she pet his slightly mussed hair before disappearing up some stairs. He looked back up at the ceiling and reluctantly let some thoughts surface up.
---
"It's getting dark, my dear."
Xander, who had decided to join Harry and Ron in Divinations, looked up, startled slightly by the sudden appearance of a frazzled woman wearing giant glasses that gave him the impression of a fly's eyes. "You must be Professor Trelawney...I'm sorry, what did you say a second ago?"
"It is getting dark," the lady repeated in a misty voice. She leaned down towards Xander with wide eyes. "What you dread will come to pass. You have one chance to stop it, my dear. You must face it."
The class was dead still. No one spoke. A few minutes ago Trelawney had been storming around the room throwing copies of The Dream Oracle at everyone and as she got to where Harry, Ron and, Xander were sitting she had frozen still and an unusual look passed over her face.
Xander paled considerably as she spoke. All the students were looking back and forth from their professor to Harry Potter's cousin, who was liked immensely by the Gryffindors and especially the girls. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were wide-eyed, but whether is was because Trelawney was making a prediction or because a second before Xander had scratched his head and effectively put a few hairs out of place to make it look better than before, no one could tell. Not that anyone was really trying to figure it out at the moment, either.
Harry and Ron shared a look. Trelawney's predictions, although mostly bogus, didn't really have such an effect on anyone. Usually that was because they were obnoxiously vague. Obviously this one wasn't as vague to Xander as one would have thought.
"Dear boy!" Trelawney screeched suddenly and grasped his shoulder. Xander, already more spooked than he had been in years, pushed his chair back at contact. "You must stop this! Death lies everywhere in your path! It is getting dark..."
---
Xander gasped. Harry had told him that Professor Trelawney always made bizarre predictions, especially about Harry's death, but he wasn't expecting her topredict anything about him. While in all possibility the lady might have simply been trying to scare him off, her words hit him a bit harder than he had hoped. True, the words had been vague. He knew they were too vague to really take them seriously but his paranoia that he got from living in Sunnydale for so long was taking over. Just because the message was vague, that didn't mean that it wasn't true. Nothing like that could be taken lightly.
When Trelawney had got ahold of herself and went back to handing out the books, Xander had slumped down at the table. Harry and Ron had whispered something to him but it had been fuzzy. Coming to this class had been a bad idea...or was it? If what she had said was truly going to happen, he now vaguely knew that something was indeed going to happen. Although...that was still unattractively nebulous.
"What you dread will come to pass."
It had taken him a few moments to gather his thoughts then. What did he dread? He dreaded quote a few things, actually. Did that mean all of them were going to happen? No, it was one event. One event was going to happen and his paranoia taunted him. He knew what he most dreaded beyond anything else.
The ultimate loss.
The constant threat of losing his friends had always been in his mind. He had fought the forces of darkness with his friends since he was 15. He knew the risks everyone took daily to keep the world safe and Dumbledore had reminded him of what he already knew. In war there are casualties. He dreaded losing his friends. The people that mattered most to him.
The cold wind suddenly stopped and the remaining light that had been filtered into the room also was put out slowly. The dispiriting feeling that had surrounded Xander also started to vanish with the sudden darkness and he frowned.
The shadows had moved. There was no light, but the shadows had switched places.
Xander stood up slowly and quietly. Although years on the Hellmouth made him used to seeing magic and dabbling with it, he still wasn't a wizard. It was perhaps lucky that he wasn't a wizard because at that moment one of three dementors that had been circling the mansion flew past the window and disappeared silently with a small black cloud. It's companions did the same a second later and once again Xander's happy memories were freed.
He sighed and headed up the stairs slowly trying to think up something to brighten his mood. He found Anya in her bed and decided to let her sleep so he walked into his own room closing the door softly behind him. After taking off his shirt and falling into bed, he closed his eyes and snuggled into his covers.
"Do you understand what I am asking of you?"
"You want me to protect Harry." Xander replied, mostly to himself. "I need to protect all of my friends, though."
He could almost see Buffy's frown and her voice talking to him. "Slayer, Xander. Remember? I can take care of myself. I'm a big girl."
Xander opened his eyes and sighed before getting back out of bed and dropping into the chair behind a large desk. The candles suddenly lit up and paper appeared in front of him. He picked up a pen and with a little hesitancy started writing.
Mr. Dumbledore-
I think I finally understand what you meant with your parting words two months ago...
Shellie: You make Adventures With a Broomstick seem naughty. Quit it! It's just really funny but there are so many puns in it that it could rival Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet. I might end up posting it...
Russle: Draco really needs to be put down sometimes. I figure Xander's the guy to do it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Teri: No, Draco is still the Slytherin Prince. Just because his sister is friends with Xander doesn't mean he's going to be nice to him. Simply not how Draco is. It's kind of a brotherly thing that he's trying to protect her from this muggle. I don't know. It's an idea loosely based on my brother 'cos that's kinda what he's like.
GD: I'm glad you liked the part with the armor amusing! And thank you VERY much for tellin me how to make it into HTML! -huggle-
Calen: Don't count on Harry going to Sunnydale in this fic. Hope you enjoy it, anyway!
Can you guys imagine Andrew imitating Lucius Malfoy? Gosh, scary visual place. So cookies to whoever figures out what Xander is going to write about! I actually have the rest of this fanfic planned out so I'm happy, and you all should be too 'cos that means you'll probably get quicker updates. Especially 'cos I'm out of school now.
Anyway- feel free to tell me how this chapter turned out. Kinda moody and out there but there was point for it. Points to whoever finds one of the hidden clues of what's going to happen!