Hello all! The next chapter is all ready for you. The next one will be up on next Sunday, I promise.
Review Responses:
Hinomi, SPASH Panther, Draco-FutureBF, thank you guys for your reviews!
Mija, don't worry about it. I get confused with things too. I've been going back and forth between the movies and the books to decide what I wanted to use from each of them.
harmoni9, have no fear there is a little ME in this chapter, and there will be more from here on out. And yes I'm telling them to read your story, it's fabulous!
Pandoras Box1, I love Bend It Like Beckham! My husband kept complaining every time they said football, he kept correcting them. He's so weird sometimes, but I love him anyway.
John, I hope to bring Tilly back in later, maybe.
Tanydwr, thank you for the reviews with everything. I haven't had a chance to read yours yet, I've been busy with work, writing, auditioning, and I've been sick. And I can't really comment on killing Voldie just yet, you'll see why much farther down the line. And how is my British-speak? Just checking since I'm American.
My reviewers just kick ass! You guys are awesome!
Oh, I had problems naming this chapter and I'm still not happy with it. If any of you could give a suggestion, I would appreciate it!
Thanks to my beta PuNKyCoWGiRL!
Chapter Nine
Passing Time
The rest of September passed without an incident and by the beginning of October the students and the teachers fell into the dull tedium that was school life. So when Dumbledore called in the scooby gang, minus Dawn, they were surprised.
"What's wrong, Albus?" Spike asked as he petted Fawkes.
"I'm afraid Voldemort is up to something."
"When is he not?" Xander asked. "Isn't it the nature of bad guys to be 'up to something'?"
Dumbledore smiled faintly at him. "I have received word from Miss Zabini's parents. Voldemort has been concentrating his efforts on finding a talisman of power. One that could give him enough power to take over the world of magic, and quite possible the entire world."
"Did they say what talisman?" Willow asked.
"They're not high enough in the ranks to be privileged with that type of information. One night at a meeting he told his followers that he would soon be in possession of a talisman that would give him unlimited power," Dumbledore said sadly.
"Guess that means research, huh?" Xander asked with a heaving sigh. "Dumbledore, you need to get doughnuts here, 'cause research without doughnuts is not very enjoyable."
Anya rolled her eyes. "Xander, when is research enjoyable?"
"Point taken, but at least with doughnuts there's food."
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. "There is always food available."
"I know, I just miss the doughnuts."
"Can we move past the doughnuts?" Anya asked in exasperation. "There are all sorts of talismans out there that can give him that kind of power and none of them should be taken lightly."
"We'll let the kids know," Buffy said. "That way they can help."
"Is it necessary to involve the students?" Snape asked, speaking up for the first time.
"They'll find out eventually anyways," Buffy said. "They're not exactly idiots, they know the signs of major research."
"I'm well aware of that," Snape said slowly. "I just worry that we're taking away too much of their childhood."
"These kids gave up their childhood a long time ago. Harry especially since he never really had a choice." Spike said with a sad look. "I think they'd be offended if we didn't include them. I know the 'Bit would be."
Snape just nodded his head and said no more.
"Do the Zabini's know if Voldemort knows where the talisman is at?" Tara asked Dumbledore softly.
"From what they gathered, he does not."
"Then that means we still have time," Giles said. "That can be to our advantage."
"We'll get started right away," Buffy declared.
**********
"Hey Dawn," Ron said as he walked into the wiccan classroom. "What are you doing here tonight?"
"Willow and Tara asked me to join your session tonight."
"Did they say why?"
"They wanted us to test something together," Dawn answered simply.
Before he could question her further, Willow and Tara entered the room. "Good, you're both here," Willow said.
"Yeah, but why?" Ron asked.
"We've been teaching both of you telepathy. Since both of you can talk to Tara and I, we thought you guys should try talking to each other," Willow said cheerfully.
"So you've been forced to endure this torture, too, huh?" Dawn asked Ron dryly.
"I think it's pretty wicked," Ron said defensively.
"Ron, why don't you try talking to Dawn," Tara suggested.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. Willow and Tara's minds shone brightly because he'd talked with them many times. Ron steadied himself and reached out some more. He smiled slightly when he sensed a strong amount of energy beside him. ~Dawn?~
~Hey! You found me!~
"I take it you did it," Willow said as she took in their smiles.
Ron opened his eyes. "She wasn't that hard to find."
Tara looked at Dawn. "Your turn."
While connecting with Draco and Buffy had been easy right from the start, Dawn had been having lots of problems connecting telepathically with Willow and Tara. She took a deep breath and relaxed. She found the two women fairly easily, but couldn't find Ron.
After several minutes of trying, she sighed and opened her eyes. "I can't find him."
Willow pursed him lips in thought.
"Let's try something different," Tara suggested. "Ron, connect with her again."
He nodded and found her easier this time.
"Now Dawn, I want you to follow Ron's thought back to him," Tara instructed gently.
Dawn raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She did as she was asked and soon found herself in Ron's head instead of the other way around. "Ok, that worked."
"Now break the connection," Tara said and waited until Dawn nodded her head. "Try connecting again, only without Ron's help."
She sighed and nodded. Again, Willow and Tara were within easy reach. As she relaxed more she could sense Ron hovering on the fringes of her awareness. But it seemed as if every time she tried to grab it, it just slipped through her mental fingers.
The brunette relaxed some more and soon Ron became a stronger presence. Not trying as hard this time, she gently reached out and was able to connect.
~It's about bloody time.~ She said. ~Great, I've spent way too much time around you Brits.~
Ron just cheesily smiled at her.
************
"It feels so good to get away, even if it is just for one day," Dawn said as she stepped out of the carriage. It was the middle of October and the first Hogsmeade weekend. "I'm so tired of studying and researching. You'd think after all of these years I'd be used to it, but I'm not."
"Where to first?" Draco asked, holding out his arm.
"I don't care, I just want to spend a leisurely day of shopping."
"You know we can't do that," Harry said with a smile. "Something always comes up."
"Yes, but I'd like to think of it as a leisurely day of shopping. Don't spoil it," she ordered.
"Ok, ok!" Harry said.
"What do you guys have planned?" Dawn asked Ginny.
"Nothing much, but I need to go to Honeydukes first. Wanna come?"
"No, I still have plenty of sweets to last me a while, but thanks." Dawn looked at Ron and Hermione as Ginny and Harry left. "What about you guys?"
"I've got something special planned," Ron said hastily and dragged Hermione towards Three Broomsticks.
"That was kinda weird," Dawn said. "'Mione never mentioned any special plans."
"Because she didn't know," Draco said mysteriously, with a big smile on his face.
Dawn warily looked at him. "You know what's going on. What's up?"
"It'll be ok, Dawn. Ron actually came up with another good idea. There may be hope for him yet," Draco chuckled as he and Dawn started walking down the street.
***********
"Ron, why won't you tell me what's going on?" Hermione asked as he led her down the street. "First, you're acting strangely. Then you drag me to Three Broomsticks only to make me wait outside by myself while you go in."
"Hermione, just trust me."
She narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything more as Ron continued on. But her silence was ended when he started to lead her out into an open field.
"Ronald Weasley! Why are we out here?" She asked. She continued walking and looking around. She hadn't noticed that he had stopped and set a few things up behind her back. "What are we doing out here?" Hermione asked again.
"Hopefully having a picnic," he said with a smile.
Hermione turned around and noticed a large blanket laid out on the grass with food and a picnic basket. "A picnic?" She asked in surprised.
"Well, yeah. It's kind of to makeup for the fact that we didn't get to spend a lot of time alone together at my parents' house. Plus, the next to no time alone here. So I told Harry and Draco to make sure the girls stayed far away from us today."
"Oh Ron," she cried as she threw her arms around him. "This is the sweetest thing you have ever done for me."
A goofy smile appeared on his face. "I try."
"How did you set all of this up?"
"I owled Rosmerta earlier in the week asking about a picnic basket. That's why I had to go into Three Broomsticks alone, so I could pick it up."
"You planned this that far in advance?"
"Yeah. If I was going to do something for you, I wanted to make sure I did it right. How'd I do?"
She kissed him in way of answer.
*********
The next Saturday, Wayne Hopkins sat down between Dawn and Neville at the Gryffindor table during breakfast. "You excited about today's match?" The Hufflepuff asked.
"I guess so," Dawn said with a smile. "Ravenclaw's team wasn't that tough last year, and now that Cho's graduated I'm not sure how good their new seeker is. But it still should be a fun game."
"Are we having extra training tonight?" Wayne asked. He had started taking the extra session just the week before.
"Nah, they usually give us the night of a quidditch game off."
"Ok. Good luck today," Wayne said as he stood.
"Thanks," Dawn said as he headed back to his table.
"Do you really think it'll be an easy match?" Hermione asked.
Ron rolled his eyes. "When did the Ravenclaws ever give us much of a challenge?"
*********
Dawn smiled as the bludger she hit nearly knocked Stuart Ackerly off of his broom. She just loved playing this game.
Ravenclaw was giving them a bit more trouble than what they had originally thought, but they were still far in the lead point wise. Dawn knew it was only a matter of time before Harry caught the snitch.
She looked over at her best friend and saw the redhead had a huge grin on her face. She loved playing the game as much as Dawn did. But Dawn wondered if she would enjoy playing the game as much without her. For a brief moment, Dawn seriously considered the possibility of playing quidditch forever. Just so she could be paid to spend her time up in the air, feeling the wind on her face, the freedom of the sky.
Dawn noticed that Ravenclaw was setting up a play so she looked over a Ginny who flicked her braid off to the side. The brunette nodded and she dropped low to the ground. She raced to the end of the pitch and suddenly flew upwards, missing Orla, one of Ravenclaw's beaters, by a mere six inches. The move successfully distracted Orla and Dawn hit the bludger that the Ravenclaw had been going for. It caused Stuart to drop the quaffle once again.
Ginny shook her head. It seemed that Dawn was out to get Stuart that day. Everything that Dawn did seemed to be aimed at the poor boy.
She looked up in search of her boyfriend. Harry was calmly circling the field, looking for the snitch. Ravenclaw's new seeker, Justine, didn't seem to have Cho's skills. The third year seemed more interested in watching Harry than looking for the snitch. Ginny rolled her eyes. It seemed that even after all this time, some of the students couldn't get over the shell shock of seeing the-boy-who-lived.
The redhead was brought back to the present when she heard Ron's voice screaming in her head to duck. She instinctively followed it and a bludger whizzed right where her head was. "That was close," she muttered, then sent a funny look over at her brother. It seemed he had been keeping things from her. Since when could he talk in her head? They were going to have a long talk after the game was over. Which, judging by the announcement, it was since Harry just caught the snitch.
***********
Boromir peered into the darkness. There was something strange about the log that was floating down the Anduin River. He didn't hear Aragorn step up silently behind him.
"Gollum," Aragorn said quietly. "He has tracked us since Moria. I had hoped we would loose him on the river, but he's too clever a waterman."
The log came to a stop on the shore of the other side of the river. "If he alerts the enemy to our whereabouts, it will make the crossing even more dangerous."
They were unaware that Frodo, who listened with worry, overheard their conversation. But Sam drew his attention from the men.
"Have some food, Mr. Frodo."
"No, Sam."
"You haven't eaten anything all day," Sam protested as he set the plate down. He had watched his best friend for the past six days, ever since they had left Caras Galadhon. "You're not sleeping neither. Don't think I haven't noticed." He paused before crossing to him. "Mr. Frodo..."
"I'm all right," Frodo insisted.
"But you're not. I'm here to help you. I promised Gandalf that I would."
Frodo looked sadly at Sam and softly said, "You can't help me, Sam. Not this time. Get some sleep." As Sam walked away, Frodo's attention went back to the two men.
"Minas Tirith is the safer road," Boromir said, turning to Aragorn. "You know that. From there we can regroup, strike out for Mordor from a place of strength."
"There is no strength in Gondor that can avail us," Aragorn said evenly.
"You were quick enough to trust the elves. Have you so little faith in your own people? Yes, there is weakness. There is frailty. But there is courage also, and honor to be found in men, but you will not see that." Aragorn turned to walk away, but Boromir roughly grabbed his arm and turned him back around. His voice rose as he spoke. "You are afraid! All your life you have hidden in the shadows, scared of who you are, of what you are."
Aragorn shook him off and turned to walk away. At the last moment he whirled around and stepped in close. His voice was a harsh whisper. "I will not lead the ring within a hundred leagues of your city!"
************
Dawn sighed as she set the book she was reading down. She looked around the scooby common room and everybody was deep into the books. She sighed again. "Buffy, I'm going to take this back to my room. It'll be more comfortable."
"Ok," Buffy said absently, not looking up from her book. She never saw Dawn roll her eyes as she gathered her things.
Ginny peered over the edge of her book and watched Dawn leave the room. She noticed that she wasn't the only one watching. Draco waited all of two minutes before saying, "I think I'm going to bed, I'm kind of tired." Buffy just waved him off.
The redhead grinned. She had a feeling Dawn was going to research, it just wasn't going to happen in their room. She held her book up higher to hide the huge grin on her face, never knowing that Anya was doing the same thing.
Anya knew she wasn't exactly the smartest person in the room, but she was one of the more observant ones. She knew that the two teens were going off somewhere to snuggle, but who was she to ruin their fun? She, herself, was not getting enough alone time with Severus.
It amazed her how the man could be so cold and cruel in public, and yet so warm and caring when they were alone. It had taken her some time to get past his caustic comments, but once she did, she had found a perfect mate. Snape didn't try to change her, he liked her just the way she was. He was never telling her to be quiet or that she wasn't being tactful. As a matter of fact, he encouraged her to speak the truth and what was on her mind. For her, it was a refreshing change of pace.
Looking around, a mischievous grin appeared on her face. Not really needing an excuse to leave the research session, she closed her book and went off in search of her Sevie.