Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.
Through the Looking Glass
Chapter 20
Thanks and Giving
x x x x x
Cordelia blinked as a certain ray of sunshine kept following her. It didn't matter which way she turned; it always found a way back to her eyes. She had asked Poppy to close the window, but she said that sunlight would be good for all the patients in the Hospital Wing. Cordelia had seen the other patients - and from that, Cordelia had gathered that Poppy was insane.
One girl had swarms of 'Bat-Bogeys' whizzing around her head. The sunlight just made them attack more. And this one Ravenclaw boy, whom Cordelia knew as Bingham Colt, had accidentally been blasted by a shining spell of some sorts. His face would glow even brighter when the sunlight hit him. And, then there was Cordelia. She had had a few burns on her legs and her hands from some fire attack, but Poppy had given her a potion and the next day the pain had subsided, but the ugly scars were still there. Poppy said that it would take them about a week to heal up, and then finally disappear.
Cordelia was just happy that she wouldn't be scarred for life...
x x x x x
"The Letum Essum is in the dungeons, Minerva." Remus Lupin nodded his head at the Headmistress as she bustled around her office. She didn't say anything, but Remus knew that the wheels upstairs were cranking. "The piece of mirror that she had was smashed. So, it wasn't a piece of Rowena's."
"Thank you, Remus." McGonagall sat down at her desk and rubbed her temples. "Flitwick ran tests, I presume?"
"Yes, he did," Remus sat in one of McGonagall's many chairs and began to wring his hands. "Just a bewitched shard of glass."
McGonagall said nothing, allowing the silence to fill the room. A few of the previous Head's portraits in the room would whisper here and there to each other, breaking the silence only for a few moments.
"Will you deal with the girl?" McGonagall looked up and then glanced over at the orb lying in the corner. "I have to ... well ... fill in a few Order members."
"Yes-"
"And tell Severus to bind her to the castle so that she cannot leave," McGonagall interrupted with a wave of her hand.
"I will," Remus quickly left the Headmistress's office and hurried down to a secret passage that he knew led straight down to the dungeons. He tapped the middle of a green tapestry three times and the tapestry lifted up revealing a hidden pathway.
"Ah, Remus. How is my favorite... wolf?"
Turning around, Remus came face to face with Snape. Ignoring the last comment, Remus nodded his head, "There you are."
"Taking a shortcut are we?" Snape crossed his arms and then glanced over at the revealed passage.
"To see you," Remus nodded. "McGonagall wants you to bind the Letum Essum girl to the castle."
Snape looked surprised. "That's a particularly hard form... does she understand that it will take at least a day or two?"
"I'm assuming she does," Remus shook his head. "Well, must be off."
Remus turned quickly away and hurried into the passageway. With a quick flick of his wand he closed the opening behind him, knowing that Snape would have no idea how to open it again, even if he really wanted to.
"Lumos," Remus whispered as he took the darkened staircase to his left, instead of the rope to his right. The rope, he knew, would only give him rope burn... while the stairs were quicker and less painful. He finally came to the bottom of the stairs, nearly running straight into a wall. Pushing on the wall, Remus heard the cracking of stone as the wall broke apart.
There was a gasp from the room on the other side, as the wall crumbled and shifted.
"It's all right;" Remus called out as he held up his hands, to show that he meant no harm. A few Slytherin students stared at him in awe.
"Bloody brilliant!" One of the younger Slytherins called out. Some agreed, but a few just glared at Remus in disgust.
Quickly leaving the small room, he entered into one of the hallways that would lead him to the dungeons where the Letum Essum was held. As he pushed the heavy door open, there was a shriek of pain.
Remus looked quickly around and noticed that a cord was attached to the doorknob. Following the cord with his eyes, he saw that the other end of the cord was hooked into flesh.
"The man of the hour," a husky voice spoke from the far corner of the room. "Come to rescue me, have you?"
Remus shut the door behind him and twirled his wand in his hand. He tried not to look at the widening wound in her arm, where the hook had been placed. He figured it was there for a reason and that he had no right ro remove it.
"Oh, that's right... not a man entirely, are we?" There was a slight pause where her eyes flashed for only a moment. "Lupin?"
"I suppose you think that I would be flattered that you would know of me." Remus walked a few steps forward, his wand held at the ready.
"Oh, I know a lot about you," the girl whispered as if the walls were listening. "I've watched you. Studied you, even."
Remus didn't know what to say. He looked at her for a moment, daring her to speak again so that he could perhaps open the door. With a sudden jolt at his own thoughts, Remus looked down in shock at his readiness to harm her. Even though the girl in front of him probably deserved it, he didn't understand how hot anger had made him want to cause more bodily harm.
"You can be flattered now."
"Hardly," Remus found his wits and made sure that his wand was still ready for action. Just in case. "Since you obviously know a lot about me-"
"In fact," the girl carried on as if Remus hadn't spoke at all, "I know that you need only to release me and you will be rewarded beyond your dreams. No more scraping to get a job, because of those pesky half-breed laws. The world is waiting for you, if only you take these restraints off of me. Dolohov will give you everything you could ever desire."
Remus blinked. She was not serious? She was trying to get him to join Dolohov. Well, that was a laugh.
"You're asking me to release you?" Remus locked eyes with the girl.
"And lead me out of here, unscathed," the girl's head lowered, her eyes looking up from him in the darkness.
Remus smiled and shook his head, "You obviously got in here without any detection, I'm sure you could do it all again." He paused and poked her in the arm with his wand. "Without my help."
"Oh, Remus," the girl laughed again. "I can't go back the way I came. That little man... what was his name? Flee-mick? No... Fick-wit?" She shrugged. "His name is of little importance. He took my mirror away..."
"You came through a mirror?"
There was another pause where the girl smiled up at him and made a motion to show that she was not going to be speaking anymore. Remus sighed and turned on his heels. He looked back at the girl, and even though he knew he would make himself sick for doing this, he opened the door as far as it would go. Then he quickly walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
x x x x x
Remus could still hear the screams as he left the dungeons. As he walked, he decided that a visit to see Cordelia would calm him slightly. Before he knew it, Remus found himself in the Hospital Wing. Poppy bustled at his side and nodded her head to show that she noticed him.
"Remus!" A voice came from the back of the hall.
"Buffy." Remus moved slowly, the Letum Essum still on his mind.
Buffy stood up as he moved closer. "Looks like Cordy's gonna be okay."
Remus looked into her bright blue eyes and smiled, "Fantastic."
"Yep," Cordelia sat up in her bed and folded her bandaged hands in her lap. "I heard you were going down to the dungeons for some serious Order work."
Remus wished she hadn't mentioned the dungeons, but kept his thoughts to himself. Buffy and Cordelia did not need to be worried by such things.
"I hope that girl is in lots of pain," Cordelia muttered, interrupting his thoughts.
"Me too." Buffy's robes were a nice shade of purple today. Lilac, it looked like.
Remus still didn't feel like answering so he just nodded his head in agreement.
"So, did you get anything out of her?" Buffy continued, trying to keep the conversation going.
"Tried to get me to convert, I dare say." Remus shrugged.
"To the Tribe of Freak Nasty?" Cordelia's eyes widened as she squinted her nose.
"Er-" Remus had no idea what she had just said.
"She means... to the Death Eaters." Buffy laughed. It was such a beautiful laugh.
"Well, I just wanted to see how you were Cordelia," Remus huffed nervously. "And since you are doing quite well, I will head back to the lilac... er... office, I mean."
Remus nodded to them both, trying to keep his embarrassment hidden, and quickly hurried out of the Hospital Wing. He didn't know that you could go through two such huge emotions in the matter of minutes...
x x x x x
"He likes you," Cordelia settled back down into her pillow as soon as Lupin got out of earshot.
"No," Buffy shook her head. Sitting back down on Cordelia bed, she looked up hopefully, "Do you think so?"
"Uh, yeah." Cordelia smiled. "And... I think you're a little... taken... yourself."
Buffy inhaled and laughed uneasily.
"Mail!" Poppy bustled over to Cordelia and Buffy and handed them both a letter.
They both thanked her and ripped open the letter.
"It's from Xander," they said at the same time.
"He's invited us for Thanksgiving," Cordelia noticed. She looked at Buffy, then at Madame Pomfrey. "Don't think I'll be allowed to go."
"Sure you will. Watch." Buffy stood up and hurried over to Poppy.
Cordelia couldn't hear what they were saying, but by the smiles, she figured it was going to be okay. They were going to be having Thanksgiving in Godric's Hollow.
x x x x x
It had taken them a while to get to Godric's Hollow. Flitwick had given them a rather slow moving carriage to get them safely to where Xander had informed them the Thanksgiving celebrations would commence.
They stepped out of the carriage and noticed the two-story building in front of them. It wasn't old, but it sure did not look very welcoming.
"Should we knock?" Buffy looked at the eerily creaking sign that hung to her immediate left.
The Brewing Bog
Cordelia limped beside her friend. It only hurt slightly when she moved around a lot, but she was just glad to get out into the fresh air. "I dunno," she shrugged and sighed deeply. "Looks deserted."
"I know," Buffy raised her hand to the door to knock, but the door opened as if it had a mind of its own.
"Buffy!"
Cordelia watched as an orange-headed witch hopped out from behind the door, hugging Buffy.
"And you must be Cordelia!" Cordelia moved her sore hands out of the way quickly as the witch pounced on her next. "I'm Tonks."
"Nice to meet you," Cordelia beamed.
"Happy Thanksgiving!"
Cordelia and Buffy both looked up to see Xander wearing a gourd on his head. Cordelia giggled and Buffy laughed out loud.
"Oh, no," Buffy shook her head. "Fashion No-No."
"Too bad, I made you both one!" Xander exclaimed as he placed one on Cordelia and then another one on Buffy. "Tonks thought it was a good idea."
As Buffy and Cordelia stepped inside the building, they noticed that on the inside it was very nice and homey. They both couldn't help but smile as they saw all the great food laid out on a large round table.
"Look at all the food," Cordelia licked her lips hungrily.
Xander looked at Cordelia's bandaged hand, then noticed her limp and immediately came to her aid. "What happened?"
"Oh, pfft," Cordelia waved him away with her hand. "I'm fine."
"One of those Letum Essum came into Hogwarts and cast a fire spell on her." Buffy informed Xander.
"What?" Xander looked outraged. "And nobody could owl me? I would have... somehow... gotten there and beat this dude to a ... what?"
"Girl," Buffy corrected.
"Most Letum Essum are female," Tonks nodded her head. "Occasionally there are males."
"Is there a reason for that?" Xander helped Cordelia to her chair, and then took his seat at the head of the table. He didn't care that it was a round table - he was technically at the head.
"We think it's just a coincidence," Tonks also took her seat.
"Let's not talk about this war," Buffy interrupted quickly. She sat down and looked at the three people in front of her. "I don't want it to interfere with our thanks and giving."
"Is that why it's called Thanksgiving?" Tonks looked at the huge turkey in front of her. "Xander could never quite explain it to me. He kept talking about Native Americans and people from the Mayberry."
"Mayflower. Mayberry is where Andy Griffith and Barney Fife are from." Xander patted Tonks on the shoulder. "I thought I said that it's just a time of year to be thankful for what you have."
"Why didn't you just say that, then?" Tonks asked incredulously.
"Let's not argue," Cordelia huffed. "Let's go around the table and say what we're all thankful for."
"That's a good - owl?"
"Huh?" Buffy looked at Xander, who was looking at the window. A brown owl was sitting on the window sill and had a small package in its beak. It flew to Tonks, then dropped it down in her lap. The owl looked at them all, then looked at the food. Tonks gave it a piece of turkey and the owl hooted happily and took off again.
"It's for you, Xander." Tonks handed the parcel to Xander, who quickly opened it.
"Oh, my God." Xander stared at the sheet of paper. "It's from Willow."
"What does it say?" Buffy stood up quickly and hurried behind Xander.
Cordelia stood up then realized that her legs wouldn't allow her to move quick enough, so she sat back down. "Read it out loud!"
"I can't," Xander shook his head.
"I knew you were stupid, but I thought you could at least read," Cordelia shook her head disapprovingly.
"It's blank," Buffy showed Cordelia the front and back of the letter. "All it has is her signature."
"Looks like she just wanted to let you all know that she's okay and that she's thinking of you;" Tonks patted Xander on the back.
After a few seconds of silence, Buffy went back to her seat and they all decided it was high time to eat. "We can tell each other what we're thankful for, while we eat, can't we?"
"Yeah," Xander agreed. "No need to let the food get cold."
Right before they could dig in, a loud knock came at the door. Tonks stood up quickly muttering something about rude neighbors. They all watched her as she moved to the door. Before Tonks could reach the door, it burst open and a rather green witch came into view. She shrieked rather loud and pointed a green, gnarled hand at Xander.
"Fresh meat!"
Xander stood up, knocking his chair to the floor. He looked around quickly, not knowing what to do.
Why do they always want to eat me?
"Attack Monstrosity, attack!" The witch's shriek echoed in the room. A large black cat appeared at the witch's command and ran for Tonks, it's teeth were bared and its claws were a force to be reckoned with.
Tonks took out her wand and pointed it at the attacking cat, "Sars Incisordre!" A small ray of yellow light hit the cat and the cat began to hiss. The next second it was hopping around with over-sized bunny ears and bear claws attached to all four of its feet.
"Oh, dear," Tonks placed her hand to her mouth in shock. "I never was very good in Transfiguration."
"Monstrosity... the man... take the man!"
Xander, ripping his gaze away from the mutant rabbit, saw the green spectacle coming towards him. He grabbed the closest thing to him, a large pan of macaroni and cheese, and chunked it at the witch.
"Argh... cheese!" The witch screamed in agony and ran quickly out of the room, as the hot dish dripped all over her. The mutated rabbit barked at Xander, then ran out the door; but they could still hear the witch's screams. "CHEEEEEEEEESE!"
They all looked at each other in complete shock. Xander picked his chair up and sat down with a confused look on his face.
"Just a hag. They like to eat young men." Tonks said as she shut the door, as if what just happened was a normal occurrence. "Take it as a compliment, Xander."
There was no talking for the next couple of minutes as they all settled down and finally began to eat their Thanksgiving meal.
"Dammit Xander!" Cordelia placed her knife down with a clank.
"What?" Xander was slightly surprised at Cordelia's outburst and that she had broken the silence.
"Why didn't you throw the yams?"
Xander blinked. "What?"
"I was craving macaroni." Buffy huffed as she moved the turkey and dressing in her plate with her fork.
"Go lick it off the witch!" Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing. Surely it was all a joke. Either that... or PMS. "I'm sure she won't mind. You ungrateful ingrates!"
"We really must celebrate Thanksgiving every year, I rather enjoy it!" Tonks cheeriness made Xander forget his sudden anger.
It was - after all - Thanksgiving.
x chapter's end x
After Thoughts: Someone (AKA : My younger sister.) uploaded this chapter before it was finished. Thus, the skipping around with no real cause. So - this is the COMPLETED chapter. There wasn't a lot that needed to be fixed, but I hate the fact that something that wasn't my best found its way for someone to read. So, if you're reading this little paragraph, you have nothing to worry about, since you didn't see the bad version. If you reread chapter 20... yes, it's not a lot that was changed (mostly just the Lupin stuff)... but I think it flows better now.
Food for Your Thoughts: Ooh... you finally glimpse at the notorious Letum Essum. Crazy and evil, wasn't she? Fun stuff, I dare say. Oh, and the green hag was not a Death Eater or anything... just some random hag who could smell Xander and thought she might be in for a treat. Just in case anybody was wondering.
Thanks :
Slinky-and-the-BloodyWands : Yes - I am an evil author. And, YOU need to update The Necromancer soon, before I go bezerk and make every chapter end on a cliffhanger... so there! ;) But, yeah, thanks for the review and all the other ones as well!
IsiwaruOfCkaloatia : Yeah, robes on fire suck. Sucks more how exactly that L.E. got into the castle... ooh... (mysterious music) Thanks for all your reviews!
Hoosier Daddy : Oh the Cordy/Snape stuff... they might grow closer. Perhaps. But, let's just say that it's not all natural. And... I love Buffy and Remus together... I'm glad you are on the same page as I am. Thanks so much for your review!
Zantac the Barbarian : I'm glad you'd let me know if TLG ever went astray. In fact, I'd WANT someone to point that out to me. Thanks for keeping with the story... I was beginning to wonder where you had gone... Thanks for your reviews!
Anna, William Fakespeare, Mama T, Brutal2003, Morena Evensong, FrozenTearz1990, Vld, Tigerfanfrv, Tilly, WhiteWolf 3, SnowySilver, clcountry, Gylzgurl, Louie Pastiche...
And all the other readers out there that don't leave reviews. You know who you are... and I thank you all too.
Look forward to Ch. 21 entitled:
Let it Snow, Snow, Snow
Harry, Ron, and Hermione together again.
