(a/n: I've been informed that there's been some grammatical stuff wrong with my story. –is embarrassed-. Unfortunately for me, I don't have a solid beta, so I do what I can. I miss stuff, reading my own work, seeing as my brain puts it right. Anyway, thanks for informing me, and I'll try to do better at catching it. I've had a beta-offer, and I'm going to take it, ASAP. Until then, I'll do my best.
(sweetypie15. I just wanted to say a quick something before I start the chapter. While I'm really pleased that you reviewed Better to Die than to Crawl, as far as I know, the muse who gave me that story idea came around, got me to chapter eight, and then informed me that I could merrily go screw myself before it ran away quickly. Very quickly. And laughing maniacally. So far as I know, that story is on a permanent hiatus. Depending on what's going on 'round my head, I may or not play with it a little more after I finish Unexpected Losses. Chances are…don't depend on it, but thank you for the kind words anyway.
(Internal Dragon: Over the year or so that I've been writing this, I've gotten a lot of reviews. I've gotten my fair share of death threats, threats of pain, and attempted bribery with cookies and other sweets including no-flour chocolate cake. Not that I really understand that, but there you have it. Never have I been offered a blood sacrifice. : That totally made my day when I got your review. Thanks.
(zayra: Loved the review, made me giggle like hell. There aren't anywhere near enough Willow-centric stories, under this section or any other ones. I adore her character. She's such fun to write! On top of my babble, you're my 400th reviewer. Congratulations. Chapter Twenty-One is dedicated to you. : Thanks so much! (Oh, and I love your name!).)
Chapter Twenty-One of Unexpected Losses
All five foot and some inches of Buffy Summers seemed to grow to magnificent heights as she stepped into the room, the heels of her boots clicking smartly on the stone. "Okay." She announced in an irritated tone. "Do you people have any idea what I've just been through? I have to sneak off a freaking airplane. Do I even get to go back through the gate? No. I get to jump out the end of the stupid terminal. I broke a nail doing it, too. Then there's the airport guy who tries to run me over with his…cart thing. And then I have to get to Giles's house, which, mind you, I don't know the address to.
"I only have normal money, so I have to try to explain to the taxi-guy why, exactly, he should let me go after I've hauled him around for ages looking for Giles's house. So, anyway, I give the guy fifty dollars, which sure as hell better be as much as I owed him, and then have to break into the stupid house. Sorry about that back window. Who's there when I get there? Nobody. Nobody and a big puddle of Harry's blood in the living room. You should really get that taken care of, Giles, 'cos…eww.
"Anyway, then the other one of you (Buffy gestured to Fred with a vague sweep of her arm) randomly appears in the living room. I nearly killed him. I mean…appearing randomly from nowhere with the Slayer? Not the smartest idea ever. Finally get him to tell me where you people are. First of all, it cost me another forty dollars to get in here.
"Then the tour guides were all 'people are missing', which was actually kind of helpful, seeing as how I know it'd be you guys. Then they started talking about what 'You-Know-Who' would do about it. Granted I wasn't exactly sure who that was, but I figured hey, they're running off on rescue missions, and if people needed the rescuing, there'd be someone to rescue them from. Which I assume is big ugly (This time, she gestured towards Voldemort, wearing a look of supreme distaste). Anyway –."
"Buffy." Giles cut her off sharply. Annoyed that her rant had been interrupted, she turned to meet the watcher's eyes. "This isn't the appropriate time for this."
"Well, Giles, maybe you should've thought of that before trying to tie me to the plane." Buffy snipped, annoyed. "Now. Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" She glared around the room. She blinked in shock at seeing Ron's body in Charlie's arms and the Ron's ghost. In such close proximity, it was obvious that they were the same person. "Oh." She muttered softly, understanding who he was.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" Ron questioned her, mouth agape.
Somewhat more quietly than her entrance, Buffy answered him, giving him her name, and noting that she knew who he was in turn. She glanced about the room once more before approaching Willow's side. Surprisingly, Buffy didn't say anything else; she merely stood and took a long look at Lord Voldemort, who was assumedly the "big ugly". He didn't seem amused by her entrance, and stared coldly at the American teenager.
Willow, however, was very confused in the given situation. With Harry's previous reactions, she assumed that he and Voldemort would long since have begun hurling hexes at one another. At the very least, they should've been arguing…or something. As it was, they had yet to do much more than glare at one another from across the room. Part of her was shocked at Buffy's arrival; the rest merely glad that she'd finally managed to get there.
Harry was mentally cursing himself. He had known that his wand would be ineffective against Voldemort's. What he hadn't considered, though, was what else he could do against the wizard in his wand's stead. Besides punching him square in the nose, despite how therapeutic it may have been in the long run, it was also slightly absurd. Standing there glaring at him, while somewhat soothing to his riled temper, was beyond useless. And yet he couldn't stop himself, nor could he think of a plan that would change the current situation whatsoever. And thus he stood. Glaring.
It was, somewhat unsurprisingly, Xander who was the first to speak, breaking the silence as he sidled up to his two best friends with his hands buried deeply in his pockets. "As much as I love these uncomfortable silences as much as the next guy, could somebody…you know…do something?"
"A Muggle with a solution that isn't entirely useless. Wonders shall truly never cease." Voldemort hissed, causing most in the room to shiver uncomfortably. Willow not the least among them. She watched with guarded attention as the tall, skeletal wizard before her reached into his robes with one hand, and drew out an obviously very, very old scroll.
Harry glanced at the object with a mix of incredulity and fear. Apparently, Voldemort had spent time thinking of how to overcome his inability to directly cause the boy's downfall. Apparently with a…piece of paper?
A somewhat more knowledgeable Giles stared at the paper in deep concern. There were a great number of things that the paper could represent. None of them pleasant, especially in the given circumstances. Most wizards knew nothing of the sheer number of types of magic that there were in the world. Having been a Watcher, he was supposed to know all of them. Many of them used the written word, and several were based off that practice alone.
The paper could've contained as many things as some of the books that were contained in the Restricted Section at Hogwarts held. He had been in the Restricted Section quite a few times over his years at the school. He was well aware of the dangers some of those books represented. Some that could leave the reader blind, deaf, or mute. Some would burst into unquenchable flames if opened; others spat acid in the face of the reader at a certain point. Some could affect the lives of the reader in irreparable ways. A single sheet of parchment could be more dangerous in as many ways as less.
Voldemort, though, didn't give the parchment to Harry as Giles thought for a moment he would. He held it before him, and started whispering quietly, but with a steady strength to his voice. While he usually seemed to hiss rather than speak normally when he spoke, there was no hint of such theatrics as he recited an incantation. Without the impractical tones on his presently clipped tenor, his voice was disturbingly almost pleasant.
The soft, lilted language that he was chanting, also, might've altered that affect. The scroll in his hands began to glow red after a moment, and he released it. Rather than fall (as gravitywould normallycompel it to do), it merely floated forward several yards before bursting into flames. That happening seemed to startle everyone, and Willow cautiously drew backwards several steps, making sure to drag Xander and Buffy with her. She wasn't aware of what the spell would do, but she wasn't precisely willing to find out first-hand.
After a few minutes, Buffy blanched, because it started forming a very familiar sight, and not one she was precisely willing to handle. Not in the face of everything else she'd been put through in the past few days. Not everything that'd happened to Willow. Sure, she'd been able to put it behind her. It still hurt. And it was still hard. Regardless if she was able to handle the current situation, though, it commenced without her permission.
The paper curled up as the flames consumed it before it became just more than a speck. The bright red speck unfurled itself forming a sight that Buffy never thought that she would have to face again. Part of her knew…she didn't know what part, but she knew what it was. Everyone in the room could tell that it was a portal. But Buffy knew that it wasn't just any portal. This was exactly the same as Acathla's portal. It led to the same dimension she'd banished Angel to. Sure, it was another place and another time. Not to mention, it was a bit of another colour, but Buffy knew it wasn't the portal that was important, but where it led.
A great portion of her mind longed to fling herself into that void in hopes that Angel would be on the other side. Rationality told her that it wasn't so, and that going anywhere near the portal was a bad idea. Then again, Buffy never put much stock in said rationality, and it was thus Willow's hand on her arm that kept her stilled.
Harry stared in shock at the growing portal, unsure of its purpose or how to make it go away. It hovered midair, and when it gained a diameter of about three feet or so, a powerful vacuum began at the core of the portal. Everyone immediately braced himself or herself, more as a reflex than a conscious assessment of the situation. Buffy stared blankly at the growing danger, every thought frozen half-thought. And the portal continued to grow.
The more the portal grew, the harder it was to get away from its grasp. Harry was the closest to its warp, but Voldemort wasn't much farther away. Willow wondered detachedly what it would take to close the portal. What kind of matter it would have to absorb. Every second it existed, it continued to grow, and if left for too long, it could cause irreversible damage on a worldwide scale.
Ron, surprisingly, was also drawn towards the portal. Without the ability to stop himself by planting himself to the ground, he was slipping far more quickly than anyone else…and he wasn't particularly interested to see if he would merely float through the portal. If the suction he was being pulled with was any indication…he wouldn't just float out through the other side. Ron immediately sought to pull away from the powerful pull. The going was slow, but he finally mentioned to get towards the outside of the room.
If he stopped moving, though, he was slowly dragged back. Working himself in a circle, an idea struck him as he surveyed all the people in the room. Most of them were bracing themselves against the wind, holding down articles of clothing or hair that was whipping dangerously about their faces. He slowly worked himself around until he was next to Charlie. The elder redhead met the ghost of his brother's eyes.
"Charlie. You need to throw me in."
(a/n: I'm so sorry this took so long and is so short on top of it. Everything is hectic, my computer's in the shop, my parents are home (and thus no computer for me) and my brain is somewhere else. So, so sorry. I should have the next chapter up in the next few days.)