((a/n: Yeah. I've decided to update before every test I think I'll do badly on, then. I have one tomorrow. Lucky for you. As it turns out, on my last test (when I posted this) I got my highest grade ever for that class. Usually I'd just think that it was my studying that did it, but I have a new view. This is how I figure it works. I write and post. You read and leave those reviews that leave me feeling all fuzzy and confident. And in my review-induced euphoria I'm fearless in the testing world, where I then proceed to kick ass. Thus...review, and help me pass Anthropology. Different subject, but I'm hoping that it doesn't really matter for that front...does it!
(This chapter is dedicated to the following people: IsiwaruOfCkaloatia (thank you for waiting patiently, and while I think your name is gorgeous, I don't think I'd ever be able to spell it on my own...woot for copy & paste. Oh...and please resume breathing if you haven't already), datajana, Pamie884 (I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry I made you cry? I swear I didn't mean to), Mama T, Laroseminuit (better advice I've ever heard), Enjael1, scifimimi, Nixinox, Linauri (as pleased as your review made me I blushed and everything! please don't ignore your schoolwork for my story. Especially midterms), ladyofthedragons1 (I updated as soon as I could! Hope you enjoy), carribeanprincess, Catsie Hunter, TallieCat, Vampyre Moon, Damia (who continues to be bad for my major, hee. I adore your reviews. I always do. I wish to give you a cookie.), Zork the Unbearable (rarely am I so amused by a review. Hee. Thank you for that laugh, I needed it. I hope you enjoy.), sweetypie15, DruWentToBermuda, Ridea, scamperdoodles14 (again, this was a review I enjoyed! Your name made me giggle!) Ezmerelda (Hiya! Glad to see you've stuck around. I hope that you like where I'm going and where I've been. And...just...everything! Enjoy the chapter!)
Once more Christar Larae who has a beautiful name deserves special mention for just being entirely wonderful to my story and me. Hee. I wish you a cookie as well and probably a hug or two. And lots of chocolate.
Thanks to Lady Lenny, who needs to read this before I cry. Thanks to my beautiful, very sexxeh wife Lady Nicole, who has my soul and who is a fellow lover of grape juice. Make sure you get your daily vitamins of l, o, v, and e. And...woot.))
(I'm sure you're all sick of my ramblings. Enjoy the chapter. And I own nothing but the idea. Don't touch it, it's mine. Mwahahaha.)
Unexpected Losses
Chapter Ten
Willow woke again with a splitting headache. She was getting used to and sick of this new habit even more quickly that it had evolved. She wasn't used to fainting spells. She wasn't so fragile as to be unable to handle herself. She had lived on the Hellmouth, damn it, and had re-souled a bloody vampire, and she was not going to be falling over at the slightest sign of something odd. Her eyes finally fluttered open, and realized that she was in her bedroom. Not the bed room she shared with Harry. But her own bedroom. The one she had in Sunnydale. Hers.
For a moment. A blissful moment she believed that she was back home again. Back safe. Where she had been reared. Where she belonged. But then she saw Giles. It wasn't his mere appearance that broke reality for her; it was the changes in it. He seemed...tired. Worried, though about more than Willow's immediate safety. He sat more stooped than he used to, as if the weight of his worries was literally on his back. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes and took a sip of tea. Rather than directly speak to him, Willow looked around her room.
Whoever had done it, Willow expected that Buffy and Xander were the main (if not only) contributors, they had done their research. Nothing was out of place. They had reconstructed her room. Perfectly. From her sheets to her desk, everything was in its proper place. It was a beautiful thing to see. As hazel eyes swept across the room, a wave of homesickness attacked her. She'd been busy...too busy. It had built up on her while she was so busy learning. And now all that pain descended on her. Stuffing back tears (Willow never was one to cry), she sat up.
Her movement drew Giles' attention to her, and she smiled wanly at him. "It's beautiful."
Giles knew instantaneously that she was speaking of the room around them. "I know that moving to another country is hard." Giles answered, and Willow nodded in agreement. To her own chagrin, she had forgotten that only a few years before Giles came from his homeland to be given a rather lukewarm reception in Sunnydale, California. He would understand what she was going through. Maybe he hadn't felt it as badly as she had (she had lost her parent and her friends and her home, whereas Giles lost only his home), but he could relate, and Willow appreciated it. "We were all hoping that if you had this, you'd feel less homesick."
"I'm sure I will. Maybe I could come here on the afternoons. I'm not sure Aunt Petunia would like me staying over too often, especially if she thinks I'm alone." Willow said this last with a spark of mischief and Giles decided that he didn't want to know what she was hinting at. He cleared his throat. Willow laughed at that, knowing that she had made her former-librarian uncomfortable. The door opened.
"I heard Willow-laughter." Xander reported as he and Buffy came into the room.
"I was just dragged here." Buffy tagged to the end of Xander's report. "I'm innocent."
"Lies." Willow giggled back, as her two best friends hopped onto her bed with her. Her bed, she realized, noting its familiarity. "How'd you guys manage to get this here? I mean...this isn't a little bit of stuff. This is like...my bedroom."
"Yes. Yes, it is." Buffy answered in a voice so serious, both of the girls cracked grins. "Well, we put it on a plane, moved it in, and then planned our vicious assault of the Willow when we finally got her here." The statement was dead serious. Willow's eyes widened and she scooted away. Xander took on the same expression as he had the night before. Buffy, with her entirely unfair use of Slayer abilities, managed to hold Willow down, knowing fingers deftly attacked every familiar spot. Willow shrieked in laughter.
"Giles! Help! Get them off of me!" Willow cried out in between peals of laughter, and the Watcher, finally taking pity on the witch, helped Xander and Willow revert the attack to Buffy. After a few minutes, though, their attack ceased as Buffy single-handedly managed to get all three off of her.
"Why can't I do that?" Willow complained in mock-depression.
"Because you are not the Chosen one." Buffy answered the same mocking attitude. "You were not given the power to"
"Blah, blah evil, blah, blah, vampires, blah, blah who wants pizza?" Xander interrupted to Giles' amusement. He himself had been interrupted similarly when dealing with Buffy for the first time. Buffy's eyes narrowed remembering her own attitude when she was dealing for the first time with her second watcher. "Pizza." Xander said again, insistently.
"Where do you plan on getting pizza on Christmas at this time?" Willow interrupted rationally.
"Don't care." Xander answered with a grin.
"I'm sure you don't." Giles smirked in return with a humor none of the teenagers understood. When Giles came to the realization that none of them were to share in his joke, he cleared his throat. "Why don't you make your own?"
"Make our own!" Xander repeated as if he was the one to come up with the idea. "Think you have all the stuff, G-Man?"
"How many times must I insist that you stop calling me that, Xander?" Giles asked in a hopeless tone that reduced Willow into giddy giggles that had been threatening to break loose since Xander had greeted her the day before.
"Couple hundred more." Xander answered mockingly, bowing slightly before the older man, who merely rolled his eyes.
"About time I get the respect I deserve around here." He said rather stuffily to the amusement of the three teenagers, before he left the room, presumably to check to see if he had the ingredients so that Xander could have his pizza. He was surprised that he had missed Willow as much as he had. She was like a daughter to him, but seeing her reminded him exactly how different Sunnydale was without her laughter and her babbles.
The kitchen was surprisingly stocked; Buffy and Xander had all but dragged him to the store to pick up every food Willow had ever liked. He knew that the chances were that among the lot of it, there would be proper ingredients for pizza, but he wanted to give the teenagers he considered his children a bit of time together. And he wanted his time with Willow, as well. But that could wait for a short while.
After rummaging around the cabinets a short while, Willow entered the room, alone. She watched as Giles cradled another cup of tea, his back to her. "Hi Giles." She greeted him. He put down his tea and opened his arms, inviting the redhead into another hug. She gladly complied. "How're you doing?"
"I believe that things are going well...or as well as things can be in Sunnydale, anyway." He answered her. "Are you doing alright here?"
"Yeah." Willow answered. "Harry and I get along well enough. He kind of found out about my being a Wicca."
"Willow, that's extremely dangerous—" Giles broke through her speaking in a somewhat worried tone.
"He practices your magic." Willow interrupted him. "I found his school books under a floorboard in our room. I've been practicing his magic, Giles, and I can do it."
"Willow!" Giles gasped in shock. "Practicing magic that is unsuited to you isn't a wise decision."
"But it is. It was easier than any Wiccan spell I've ever attempted to use. It told me the theory of magic as well as what the spells are. I'm already into the third-year books. And I'm not going to stop. I have a better handle on this kind of magic and there's absolutely no reason that I shouldn't use it."
"Except that it has an even greater chance of being miscast and causing problems. Without supervision, it's even more dangerous." Giles lectured her, and almost absently thought that he even missed lecturing the girl.
"Giles." Willow replied softly. "I'm not going to stop practicing this magic. My spells are stronger, and not one's gone wonky since I left the Hellmouth. Not even my usual Wiccan spells. I'm not weak. And I know what I'm doing. And I'm scared." The admission wasn't an easy one to make, but it was honest. Giles softened his rather hard demeanor at her words. "That man is still trying to find me. I need to be prepared to fight him."
"I understand your concern, Willow. But I just wish that I could make sure that you're safe doing this magic." Giles answered her.
"You know, or that I could just slay the oogy guy." Buffy added from the kitchen doorway.
"That'd be nice." Willow replied.
"Well, then. Pizza stuff, G-Man?" Xander questioned, throwing an arm around each Willow and Buffy.
"Xander, I swear..."
"Thatta yes?" Xander replied swiftly before looking into the refrigerator to find out the answer for himself.
"Yes, Xander." Giles answered, squeezing the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger, holding his glasses in the other hand.
"Yay, pizza." Xander answered, not looking at the older man, but rather speaking directly into a crisper, where several ingredients they needed resided. Pulling out everything that he knew he needed, he placed them on the counter. Giles sighed audibly at that, and sorted everything neatly so nothing would be damaged from the pile.
"So, that Aunt Flower lady seemed unpleasant, is she okay?"
"Petunia." Willow automatically corrected Xander, despite the fact that she knew he couldn't have cared less what the woman's name. "Aunt Petunia is fine. Vernon pretty much ignores me wholly. Dudley doesn't even seem to realize that I'm there half of the time. But Harry's great. We get along very well. It's nice to have an ally there."
"Do you need one?" Buffy asked suddenly, to Willow's surprise.
"I don't think that having an ally could hurt right now, and I'm not talking about the Dursleys. I'm talking about that guy."
"Yes, I'm actually going to attempt to speak to someone in the ministry about all of this." Giles answered his supervision of Xander's food adventure. "I'm going to see what's going on. I'm very disturbed by this man's attack, and I need to find out if the Ministry has any idea about what's going on with the situation."
"Thank you, Giles." Willow answered.
"I only wish that I'd seen him so I could aptly describe him." Giles replied. A scholarly interest laced his voice, and Willow easily recognized it, having used it many times in her own life.
"No you don't." Buffy interrupted, eyes glinting. "You do not wanna see this guy, and neither do I. Ever. But I have a feeling our oogies at seeing him aren't going to affect him very badly. If anything it'll please the guy. Much with the creepy."
"If it helps any, I concur." Willow answered.
"Thank you, Willow." Giles said dryly.
"Pizza." Xander interrupted the blooming argument with dead calm.
"Yes, Xander, you'll be fed." Willow giggled. "But I'm not cooking."
"I'm sure we're all glad to hear that one, Wills." Xander teased her, causing her to pout.
"Oh, be nice." She swatted at him, but he just grinned guilelessly at her in response to her amusement.
To Willow's surprise, Xander knew how to make pizza dough, and he mumbled something about flying dough before setting about making it. Giles, Buffy, and Willow began a stern argument about what, exactly, was going on their pizza while Xander watched on, mixing and kneading the ingredients as necessary. He knew, and all of them knew, exactly what would end up on the pizza. A quarter pineapple and ham for Buffy; a quarter pepperoni for Willow; peppers, onions, and olives for Giles; and pepperoni, sausage, ham and pineapple for Xander. They always argued for the entire pizza in their choice, but it never panned out. They always split it four ways.
It was a familiar argument, and in the cozy atmosphere of Giles's home, Willow felt very much at home. "When are you guys heading back?" Willow questioned after the pizza had been decorated and rested in the oven, heating quickly.
"Well, the Buffster and I are heading back tomorrow night. But G-Man is hanging around as long as he has to until talk to those ministry guys about the dude following you." Xander answered her.
"How long do you think—"
"Perhaps a week, but probably not much longer." Giles answered. "You're welcome to stay here with me for the duration, if you'd like to."
"Thank you, Giles, but I don't really want to leave Harry all buy himself with the Dursleys the whole time, but I'll definitely come and visit you...if you want me to." Willow added this last softly. She had grown far more confident over the last year, but a small bit of her old insecurities remained with her even with Giles.
"The company would be appreciated, Willow." Giles answered her honestly. "And Harry is welcome to visit if he'd like to. Perhaps I can see what you're doing with this magic. Besides, I'd like to talk to him with some magic matters that I don't want to discuss with the Ministry. Some of the questions that I have might not go over very well with them, and I'm not going to cause any stress if I can avoid it."
"That sounds like a good idea." Willow admitted.
OoOoOoOoOoO
Willow entered the front door of the Dursleys' home. Petunia was in the parlor, vacuuming. She looked up as Willow walked in, an older man on her heels. The woman smoothed out her dress and walked over to greet them. Petunia was never fond of uninvited guests, and this was Willow's second in three days.
"I'm sorry to bring someone uninvited." Willow spoke quickly, in a disturbing almost-echo of Petunia's thoughts. The man behind her smiled uncomfortably.
"It's not a problem, dear. It's nice to meet you, I'm Petunia Dursley."
"Rupert Giles, it's a pleasure. I was just dropping Willow off after her visit. I'm a friend from home." Giles explained, shaking her proffered hand.
"Would you like to stay for tea?" Petunia offered, though she had nothing prepared. It was only polite to ask.
"No, not at all. I appreciate the offer, but I have business to attend to, and I really do have to run." Giles's voice was warm, but something about this house unnerved him slightly. He felt like there was something around the entire house that just weighed on him. Something like a ward, most likely. "You'll be all right then, Willow?" He asked her, focusing the redhead in his gaze.
"Of course, Giles." Willow answered. "Please let me know if anything turns up." Willow ushered him to the door as she quietly spoke. He hugged her once more, before heading out to the car, which Xander had borrowed the day before to pick her up after Christmas brunch.
"Yes, of course." Were the last words that she heard from him before she shut the door behind him and turned to Petunia.
"How was your visit with your friend?" The woman asked politely.
"Everything went very well. As a surprise, another friend of mine was there, and seeing her was very nice. And Giles is staying for a week for further business. He's invited me to come over and help him work as I used to back in school. I told him that I'd ask you."
"I have no problem with it." Petunia answered.
"He also invited Harry along." Willow added to the woman's surprise. "There is some work going on that we think would really interest him. And he doesn't seem to know anyone around here because of his boarding school, and I thought that getting out might help him a little bit."
To argue would have seemed odd if Willow wasn't already aware of the situation, so Petunia did the only thing she could do, and she nodded stiffly. "I'm sure that something could be arranged, but I refuse to impose of Mr. Giles's time for the sake of my nephew."
"It's no imposition. I'm going to be there anyway, and I'm sure that I'll get bored if I'm just waiting for a great deal of the time." Willow insisted quickly.
"Well, you can go and speak with Harry about it if you want to." Petunia replied, and Willow nodded in her agreement before heading upstairs. Harry was in their shared room, doing work at his desk. Vernon didn't seem to be home and Dudley was soon to be leaving with his friends. Willow closed the door behind her to announce her presence; Harry turned at the invasion of his room.
"Hey Willow." He greeted her easily before turning back to his work.
"Hi Harry. What're you working on?" She leaned curiously over his shoulder to see his paper.
"History of Magic. Just about the most boring class of all time." He reported forlornly, an open book of dates and alliteration lay before him. Willow glanced over the page and ended up somewhere between amused and confused. "How was your visit?"
"It was interesting. Giles is going to talk to the ministry of magic, but he also wants to talk to you. He's the one that told me about your kind of magic. He's not been much in contact, and he wants you to tell him what's going on." Willow said all of this very quickly, so it took him several moments to decipher what she had meant.
"He knows about wizards?"
"He was one. I think he said something about getting expelled from his school."
"What did you say his name was?"
"Rupert Giles."
"I don't know him." Harry shrugged in response. "But I'd be glad to talk to him."
"I'll let him know!" Willow replied with a huge grin.
"So, why is he going to get in contact with the ministry if he got in trouble when he was still in school?" Harry asked curiously.
Willow looked to the left and right as if making sure that no one was in the vicinity. "This guy attacked me before I left Sunnydale." She admitted quietly. "He attacked me with a wand, and I told Giles about it, and he said that it was a wizard. We're trying to figure out why someone from the ministry would do it. And if he's not from the ministry, we're trying to figure out where he is from."
"Well, what does he look like?" Harry asked, wondering if he could match description to name, if he knew them.
"That's the thing. We don't know. He was wearing this mask."
Harry's eyes hardened and his fists clenched unconsciously at her words.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Willow questioned, concerned.
"Death Eaters.
(a/n: I'm either getting better or getting a lot worse at these cliffy thingies. Well. I have to run to bed. Seeing as I get up in five hours. I just really wanted to finish this before bed. I hope that all of you enjoy it. And please review! Cookies and hugs to all)