CHAPTER 22: THE LONGBOTTOMS
Alice was breathing heavily and her eyes darted about the room, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"It's okay, calm down," a redhead beside her said.
"You're safe now," a different lady told her.
Alice was so confused. She had no idea what was happening. One minute she was at home with Frank and the next she was in a strange white room. Was it a hospital? Why couldn't she remember what happened? She thought back to the last thing she could remember...
She was at home. With Frank and Neville. Neville! Where was Neville? She tried to say something, but all that would come out was a little groan. She couldn't speak! Why couldn't she speak!
"Here's some water," the redhead said, holding out a glass to her.
Alice took it and greedily chugged it down. The cool liquid felt good against her throat. She handed back the empty glass and tried again.
"Ne... uh, Ne... uh," she said, getting very frustrated.
"Neville?" the blonde asked after a moment's thought. The woman nodded in relief. "He's safe. He's at Hogwarts."
Alice looked confused. Why would her baby boy be at Hogwarts? Maybe Dumbledore decided to take him there for protection. The Death Eaters could be com...
'The Death Eaters!' Alice thought suddenly. She remembered. They had come to her house and demanded the location of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They had threatened little Neville and the pain... oh the pain... Alice shuddered. It was overwhelming, all encompassing pain.
Alice's breathing was returning to normal and her worry was lessened. Someone must have arrived and saved them. They must have brought Neville back to Hogwarts while she was recovering. But recovering where? Her eyes began to roam around, trying to find clues of her location.
"We're at St. Mungo's," the blonde told her, as if she could read her mind.
Alice's eyes widened in astonishment. Was she really that badly injured? But then, she couldn't be at St. Mungo's because it was too... well, cosy. Not that it was anything special, but the room she was in was far nicer than other rooms she had stayed at. Being an Auror, she had been a resident of the hospital a couple of times, but this didn't look like it at all.
There were flowery curtains drawn up around them and there were dressers around her bed, several plants lining the top. Was that a mimbulus mimbletonia? Those are supposed to be very rare.
Alice's eyes continued on and noticed that she was wearing a rather flimsy nightgown of sorts. How long had she been here? And who were these people?
"Alice, I know you're disoriented and worried, but we don't have that much time here. We're only here to help you, okay?" the redhead told her gently.
"You were under a spell; dark magic," the blonde said, "and your husband is as well. We need you to sit with our friends out there while we help Frank in here, okay?"
'Frank? They got Frank too? Oh, please let him be okay! Please!' Alice thought, tears forming in her eyes. Why did they have to do this? What had they ever done?
Alice nodded numbly. She had to trust them; they had helped her and she'd do anything to make sure her husband was okay as well. Maybe they were new healers, although they looked out of place with their black robes.
"I'm Willow and this is B..."
"Sarah," the blonde said with a smile and a quick glance at the redhead, Willow.
They helped her up and led her out past the curtain. There were several people sitting around quietly, surrounding a bed with an older looking man on it. 'Frank?' Alice thought as she got closer. 'But it can't be! He's too old!'
Alice was frantic and looked at the two helping her along. Her muscles weren't all that strong for some reason and she seemed to only be able to shuffle her feet. What was going on?
"Wh... wha?" she tried to speak, becoming more frustrated with her sore throat. What was happening?
The redhead looked at Alice, trying to understand, then she looked at Frank on the bed and something seemed to click. "Oh," she said with wide eyes.
"What? Is everything okay?" the blonde, Sarah, asked.
"It's just... she doesn't know," Willow said quietly. "She doesn't know anything."
'Tell me!' Alice thought desperately. She saw the blonde's eyes widen in understanding and looked at her with something akin to pity in her eyes.
"Alice? I know this is going to be really hard, but you have to stay calm for me, okay?"
'Calm? Calm! I am calm, now would somebody please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?' Alice thought, although she nodded at the blonde.
"The Death Eaters came, do you remember that?" Alice nodded.
"And they tortured you, right?" Another nod. "They wanted information from you and you wouldn't give them any, right?" Nod. "Do remember what happened next?"
Alice thought back, trying to recall anything. She remembered a girl with long black hair, demanding information that they couldn't give. She had threatened them, tortured them, almost killed them, but decided that they should be punished.
She said... she said... Alice thought hard, willing the memories to come back. Alice could hear the woman's laugh as she said that death would be too pleasant for them, death would be a mercy. She was going to curse them so that... so that... they'd be trapped forever in their own mind.
Alice's eyes popped back open in surprise as the memories of that night came flooding back. She remembered the excruciating pain she'd been in while they held her under the Crucio curse. She didn't think the pain could get worse, but it did. Once they put the spell on her, it was like darkness had crawled inside her. She tried to fight it, she didn't want it to take her, but she was so weak; she didn't have any strength left.
How long had she been like that? How long had she been trapped inside her own mind, alive but not in control. On some level she had been coherent, allowing her body to move and do simple tasks. It didn't want her dead and it didn't want her to be free; it had kept a tight lease on her so as not to arouse suspicion or too much pity. It didn't want anyone to kill her to put her out of her misery, so she had to look alive and somewhat active.
Buffy was watching Alice carefully and she knew when Alice remembered everything that had happened. "You've been gone for awhile," she said.
Alice turned her head and looked anxiously at her; she wanted to know. "Fourteen years," Buffy said quietly.
Alice froze in shock. It couldn't be... fourteen years? No... no! Alice looked around frantically, trying to find something that would tell her the truth. This had to be some kind of trick. Her eyes landed on a calendar that was flipped to the month of September, a unicorn dancing around the year.
Alice backed away frantically as she tried to wrap her mind around all this new information. "Nah, nah, No!" Alice yelled, as tears welled up in her eyes. Her life was gone. Everything that had been hers was gone. Neville! Poor Neville! What had happened to him!
"Calm done, please," the blonde begged. "We can't have anyone coming in here!"
She wouldn't. She couldn't. How would she feel if fourteen years were taken from her? She would never be able to see her baby boy grow up! She'd missed watching over her precious child! All the things she should have been able to do were gone! Forever! She had wanted to give Neville a brother or sister to play with, she had wanted to watch as her children grew older, got their letters to Hogwarts, and developed their magic.
Now he was fifteen and she had missed it all!
Alice was growing more and more frantic, and Buffy could tell she was about to break out into loud sobs. They couldn't have anyone coming to investigate. They weren't done yet. Buffy pulled out her wand and pointed it at Alice. "Stupefy," she muttered. A red spark shot out of the wand and hit Alice in the chest, causing her to collapse suddenly.
"Buffy!" Willow cried. "Was that really necessary?"
"She's going to have to face what's happened sometime," Giles said. "Putting it off won't help anything."
"I know. I just need her to keep quiet so we can help Frank," Buffy said.
Giles looked at his charge, worried. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, you look awful," Anya said.
"I'm fine. I'm just tired," Buffy said. "That took a lot out of me. More than I thought."
"Are you sure you're up to it again?" Willow asked. "We can stop, we don't have to do this."
"Yes we do," Buffy said determinedly.
"Buffy," Giles said quietly in understanding. "You can't help everyone, you know that."
"We know we can help them, so let's do it."
"I agree, but you can't sacrifice yourself. If you're too tired, things can go awry."
"I'm fine. We have to do this now. Neville needs both his parents, not just one."
"Helping Neville won't bring back your own family, Buffy," Giles said softly.
"I know," Buffy said after a moment. "I know what it's like to lose almost everyone you care about, and I don't want that to happen to anyone else. If I can help them, I will." With that said, Buffy magically carried Frank to the bed on the opposite side of the curtain.
"Come on, Willow," she said while Xander put Alice on the now unoccupied bed.
Giles sighed and took off his glasses to clean them and Willow began the spell again.
Buffy was in the dark place again, only she was much more tired than before. How she did this the first time was beyond her.
Out of nowhere, a force shoved her from behind, causing her to fly across the plane and fall hard on the ground. "You really need to work on your manners; that's no way to welcome guests," Buffy said, frustrated and sore.
She knew fighting it would be pointless so she quickly tried to reach inside herself to find the light again. She was forced to roll over before she could, but she wasn't fast enough and a clawed hand swiped her back, causing her to cry out in pain.
Giles, Anya, and Xander all looked sharply up, upon hearing Buffy's yell. They rushed over to the curtain and pulled it back.
Buffy was sitting in her chair, one hand gripping Frank's, the other hand held in Willow's. There were three long marks down her back, dripping blood.
"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" Xander asked, worried for his friend.
"No, it's not," Giles said.
"It didn't do that before," he said.
"Buffy's tired and her strength is waning, causing her to be perceptible to the injuries."
"What?" Xander asked.
"Her strength is what kept the injuries in the plane that she's in; if she gets hurt there, it stays there, her body is unaffected. Now her mind and body are exhausted and the injuries will manifest onto her real body."
"Well, let's stop them. Wake them up."
"We can't," Anya said. "If you stop them or wake them up before they're ready something bad could happen."
"And this isn't bad?" Xander asked, pointing at Buffy's bloody back.
"I mean something worse. They're minds aren't with their bodies at the moment, should you wake them up, you'll disturb the entire spell, safety wards included. You just have to wait."
"I'm afraid she's right," Giles said. "There's no telling what could happen should we disturb the spell."
"What if it kills her in there?" Xander asked. "What will happen to her here?"
"She'll die."
This was not going too well.
Buffy was thrown once again, she flew through the air and landed none too gently, knocking the air out of her.
She had just seconds before it caught up to her again. It had already twisted her ankle and bitten her on the arm, driving its fangs through her skin and fracturing her bone. She couldn't take much more of this. She had to end it now.
She found her magical core, much less spectacular than the first time, and tried to shine some light. It wasn't nearly as powerful and bright as before, and the demon thing wasn't affected as much either. The darkness was still all around her as the light only lit up the immediate area instead of banishing the evil.
It was breaking apart, sure, but slowly. Ever so slowly. Small beams of light on its surface caused it's 'skin' to melt away, but it wasn't enough. Buffy tried to force more light, but she was exhausted. It would eventually melt away, but that was going to take time, hoping it won't do anything in the meantime.
The demon sensed its foe's waning strength and prepared to use it to its advantage. It came charging at Buffy, who was sitting up with some difficulty.
She saw the demon coming, but couldn't stop it, she couldn't move quickly enough. The closer the demon came to her, the more it broke apart, as the light was stronger near its source, but the light was fading.
It wasn't enough.
Buffy braced herself for the impact, but it never came.
The demon dove at her and instead of colliding with her, it went in her, throwing her backwards with the momentum of his run.
Sitting in the room, the gang could only watch as injuries began appearing on Buffy's body. They couldn't even touch her for fear of waking her up.
Her right forearm was a bloody mess; they didn't even know how she managed to stay hand in hand with Willow.
Suddenly, Buffy was thrown backwards, toppling over the chair and slamming into the curtain with great force, pulling it down around her. Frank sat up suddenly with a gasp of air and Willow's eyes snapped open at the sudden loss of contact.
"Buffy!" everyone yelled, rushing to help their fallen friend. They tried to untangle their blonde friend from the curtains but were having a lot of difficulty. Finally they managed to pull her free and help her up.
She didn't look good. She was very pale and her forehead was slick with sweat. "Buffy, are you okay? What happened?" Willow asked, up righting the chair and leading her over to sit down.
"I don't know... I'm really tired," Buffy said as her eyes became unfocused. She just wanted to sleep.
"Buffy, stay with us. We'll bring you back to Hogwarts, okay? You can get treated there," Giles said, remembering what she had told them about the Hospital Wing. "Can you make us a portkey?"
Buffy opened her eyes again. "No, I'm fine," she said thickly. "We're already at a hospital. I don't like hospitals."
"I think it would be a little weird for a visitor to be maimed in the hospital," Xander said. "Giles is right, we need you to get you to Hogwarts. We'll say a dog attacked you."
"A big dog," Buffy said deliriously. "A big, black scary dog. With fangs."
"Yes, that's right." Xander said. "Can you make us a portkey?"
"Uh huh," Buffy said, pulling out her wand and waving it around unsteadily.
"Or, how about I do that?" Willow said, taking the wand. "What are the words again?"
"You can't do it. Only me. My wand. Won't work for you."
"I'm sure it will, what are the words?"
"Pork? Porksus Nope. Not right," Buffy said shaking her head violently. "Can't think. Headache."
"Porksus?" Giles said thinking. "It's based in Latin, so it should be .. "
"Portus!" Willow said, pointing her wand at a bubblegum wrapper. "Here, touch this."
"I'll take her, it won't do well to have all of us show up. Plus, I'm the only British one here," Giles said.
"Okay," Willow said. "Hurry."
Giles grabbed Buffy's left arm and forced her to hold onto the wrapper while he grabbed on as well.
"I hope she's okay. It wouldn't be good if she lost her mind," Anya said.
"She'll be okay," Xander said, wrapping an arm around Anya and pulling her close, as much for his own comfort as for hers.
"Oh!" Willow said suddenly, looking wide eyed at Frank who had been staring at them the whole time. "Hello?" she offered feebly.
Giles and Buffy materialized right in the middle of a long hallway, which was thankfully empty. Willow had never been to Hogwarts and didn't know which place to think about, so she just thought about Hogwarts in general.
"Come on, Buffy," Giles said, picking her up. Her ankle was twisted and she couldn't stand anymore.
"Sarah. Not Buffy," she chided, pointing her finger at him like an adult would at a naughty child.
"Right, I'm sorry. Now, where is the hospital wing?" he asked her.
"Don't know. Haven't been in long time."
"Naturally," Giles said, frustrated with her fear of hospitals.
"I'm fine. Just wanna sleep."
"No. You probably have a concussion. You can't sleep."
"But I wanna," Buffy said, pouting.
"Do stop that," Giles said looking away. He began walking down the deserted hallway, hoping to run into someone when a ghost suddenly flew through one of the walls, startling him so much he almost dropped Buffy.
"Oh, hello," the ghost said pleasantly. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"Can you please tell me where the hospital wing is?" Giles said. He was glad that Buffy had told them all about Hogwarts, as he would probably be running away from the ghost otherwise.
"Oh, is she okay?" the ghost said, noticing the girl in his arms for the first time. "Is that the new professor?"
"Yes it is, now if you don't mind?" Giles asked impatiently.
"Of course, follow me. By the way, my name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington. I don't recall seeing you here before."
"I don't work here. I'm just here to drop her off. She got attacked by a big dog."
"A dog? That wouldn't be Fang would it?"
"Fang? He had big fangs," Buffy mumbled. "Big black bad dog. Bad."
"Oh, I guess it's not Fang. Good thing to, otherwise Hagrid would have been devastated."
"Where is everyone?" Giles asked, wondering why he had yet to see anyone.
"They're all at dinner," he answered. They wandered through several halls and up several staircases before Sir Nicholas stopped beside a door.
"Here we are. I hope she'll be okay."
"Thank you," Giles said, rushing into the room. "Hello? Hello?" he called.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" a woman asked, rushing out of her office. "Oh dear," she said upon seeing the battered professor. "What happened?"
"A dog attacked her."
"A big dog. Big dog," Buffy said as she was laid down on a bed. "No. No! No hospitals," she said, struggling.
"She has a fear of hospitals," Giles explained as he held her down, which was considerably easier than it should have been.
"I had a student years ago who was afraid of hospitals also. It was very strange," she said, rushing to get all the potions she needed.
"Here, make her drink this, it should calm her down."
Giles struggled to get her to drink something, which was complicated because she kept struggling. "Oh, do quite being difficult," he said harshly, causing her to stop and whimper.
"I'm sorry, but drink this," he said, handing over the potion. She accepted it without too much more of a struggle and began to calm down.
"Good," the nurse said, coming back into the room with a tray of different coloured bottles. She took her wand and pointed at the right arm and muttered an incantation, causing the bone to heal in seconds.
Giles could only stand back and watch as she worked, wistfully thinking how useful all these spells and potions would have been to them over the years.
"Well, that should do it," she said. "She still has a fever, but I gave her some dreamless sleep potion so she'll rest it off. I don't want her out of this bed yet."
Giles nodded his agreement and watched as she left them before turning his attention back on his young charge. "What happened to you?"
Buffy's pale face was not peaceful as she laid on the bed, twisting and turning every so often. He couldn't be certain, but it didn't look as if the dreamless sleep potion had worked.
A couple hours later, dinner was well over and kids were pretty much all in their dorms, as it was almost curfew.
The large front doors opened and revealed a fully clothed, less ragged and happier looking couple than what was found in St. Mungo's earlier. The quickly walked down the hall together, anxious looks on their faces.
The redhead, Willow, had filled them in on everything that she could. She told them were to find their son and helped them get dressed. They didn't want to make a big scene, not yet, and so they quietly escaped from St. Mungo's. They wanted to see Neville before the media had a riot over their miraculous recovery.
Willow had explained the situation that they didn't want to be hassled by the press, so they asked the two of them not to mention any names. At all. They had just wanted to help them out without any reward, although the Longbottoms were definitely grateful and would show their appreciation somehow.
They had basically saved their lives; they weren't about to go against their wishes.
The couple had taken showers and had taken a potion Willow brew up that would make them feel more revitalized. They weren't younger, they were just healthier; staying in a hospital for fourteen years doesn't do anything for one's looks. Now they looked as if they had aged gracefully, as opposed to suddenly.
Alice's hair was no longer limp and white; instead, it was shiny and blonde. Her muscles weren't as atrophied as they had been and she could now speak again. She had barely spoken in fourteen years and her throat was still a little sore.
The couple had thanked them over and over again, after they had gotten over the initial shock, which took a good amount of time.
Now the only thing they wanted to do was find their son. Everything else could wait. Unfortunately, all they knew was that he was in Gryffindor. They didn't even know what he looked like, but they hoped they'd be able to recognize them upon sight.
They were walking down the hallways, trying to reach the Gryffindor common room when Minerva McGonagall stepped around the corner and froze upon seeing them.
"Minerva!" Frank and Alice cried, rushing forward to greet their old professor. She may have aged in the fourteen years they'd been gone, but it was obvious who it was. The wand that was pointed in their direction stopped them.
"What do you think you're doing?" Professor McGonagall said furiously. "That has got to be the worst thing any of you could have done," she said. "How did you even get here?"
"We apparated to Hogsmeade and walked," Frank said slowly.
"And what did we do wrong?" Alice said.
"How could you?" she spat out. "Alice and Frank? That's just the most despicable... " She started, but couldn't finish. Tears were forming in her eyes, even though a look of hatred shot out from them.
"Minerva, please, just let us explain," Frank said. "It really is us."
Amazingly enough, another professor rounded the corner and stopped dead upon seeing the trio. "What is going on?" he asked, completely taken back.
"Severus, get Albus now."
Snape nodded and quickly rushed off. Normally he probably would have argued, but this situation was far more important...
"Minerva, really, I know this may seem a little strange, but it is us," Alice said. "We just want to see Neville."
"You won't get anywhere near him or any other student," McGonagall said. She couldn't bring herself to curse them because they didn't have their wands up and they looked too much like her students, who later became colleagues, in the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and friends.
"Please," Alice begged. She was so close to her son and yet she couldn't get to him. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she leaned into her husband's embrace.
"Stop that," McGonagall said. There was no way the couple in front of her could be the Longbottoms, they were just very convincing at their job.
"Fine, we'll just wait," Frank said calmly. He too wanted to see his son, but he knew that arguing wasn't going to help anything. He'd waited fourteen years, a couple more minutes was nothing.
Finally, after a lot more staring and silence, Albus Dumbledore arrived with Snape. And he was furious. "What do you think you're doing here?" he asked. "What do you want?"
"Look, Albus, it really is us," Alice said, even though she was a little frightened by the power emanating from the old man in front of her. "I know this is hard to believe, but we've been under a spell, dark magic for the past fourteen years."
"Really? And now you've just chosen to free yourself of it? I find that hard to believe," Snape sneered.
The couple shared a brief glance that didn't go unnoticed by anyone.
"Actually, we had some help, but they didn't want to be named so we promised them we wouldn't talk about them," Frank said.
"I think after saving our lives, it's the least we could do," Alice said.
"How did you know that you were under a spell?" McGonagall asked suspiciously. "They just suddenly showed up after fourteen years and decided to help you?"
The Longbottoms were speechless for a moment. In all the excitement they had forgot to ask why. The two shared a similar look of surprise and confusion before Alice answered, "I guess so. We really don't know who they are, why they helped us, or how they knew. At the moment, I really didn't care."
"Look, this has been fun and all, but can we please see Neville?" Frank asked.
"I'm still not sure Headmaster," Snape said.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were just heading up to bed when they overheard voices in the corridor; it didn't sound like anything good was happening. They immediately hugged the wall and tried to listen to what they were saying.
Harry looked around the corner and was stunned to see the two people standing there. "It can't be!" he whispered.
"What?" Hermione asked silently. It wouldn't do to get caught; Snape would flay them for sure.
"It's Neville's parents!"
"So, what's so weird about that?" Ron asked. "They probably just wanted to see their son."
"And have three wands pointed at them? I don't think so," Hermione said. "Are they evil?"
"No," Harry said, still shocked. He debated on telling them the news he had promised Dumbledore he wouldn't. It really wasn't their business and if Neville didn't want anyone to know, he wasn't going to tell. But the news was going to come out for sure when word of this situation ran around the school. "They're supposed to be at St. Mungo's. In the terminally ill section."
"So they got better. So what?" Ron asked, and had to control his shout when Hermione smacked him.
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.
"Dumbledore told me. I was in the Pensive last year and I saw the trial for Crouch and the Lestranges. They had tortured the Longbottoms to the point of insanity, trying to get information about Voldemort. Supposedly anyway," Harry said. He was getting angry with Dumbledore for lying to him, but then he calmed down as he realized that this situation probably backed his word. His wand was levelled at the couple and he didn't look too happy.
"So, that's not the Longbottoms?" Hermione asked. "Who is it?"
"Great, another case of Polyjuice potion," Ron said. "It's very difficult to tell who're the good guys and who're the bad guys if they keep using that stuff."
"I think that's the point, Ron," Hermione said, shushing him so they could hear again.
"Tell us something that only you would know," McGonagall suggested. "If you really are Frank and Alice, you can prove it."
"That's a fair suggestion," Dumbledore said evenly.
The Longbottoms looked at each other, trying to think about what they could say. "The woman who attacked us had long black hair," Alice suggested. "She was really crazy."
"Nothing about that night," Snape said. "No one was there but you; besides, everyone knows Bellatrix cursed you. She got sent to Azkaban for it."
"Good," Frank said.
Snape rolled his eyes and said, "Anything else?"
"The reason why we were targeted," Alice said suddenly, looking intently at Dumbledore. "We weren't sure who it would be; the..." she looked quickly at Snape and McGonagall but figured it was fourteen years ago, surely they had to know. "The prophecy wasn't specific. Neville was born at the end of July too."
Dumbledore looked at her long and hard before lowering his wand. No one else knew about the two potential candidates for the prophecy. The Longbottoms had just been punished because the Death Eaters wanted their master back, not because they knew Neville might have been chosen.
McGonagall and Snape looked at Dumbledore with shock. They were Order members, and even if they didn't know the full extent of the prophecy, they did know that it existed. No one but Dumbledore himself knew what the entire thing said.
"How is it possible?" Dumbledore asked, astonished.
"I told you, these people helped us," Alice said with relief. "I can't really tell you more than that."
"They didn't want any attention," Frank added.
McGonagall was crying in joy and amazement while she stepped forward and embraced Alice. "You're okay! You're back!"
"This is truly special, and I wish that I could thank your helpers personally, but if they wish to remain anonymous, so be it. I'm glad you're back."
"Prophecy?" Harry asked. "What prophecy?"
"I don't know," Hermione said. "I'm sure we could look something up, though."
"Oh great, more time at the library," Ron complained.
After the hugs and greetings were over, Alice looked up at Dumbledore. "Can we please see Neville now?" she asked.
"Of course," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Oh, he's such a wonderful young man, I'm sure you'd be proud of him," McGonagall said. "I'll just go and get him, shall I? He'll be so happy!"
Just as he was walking away, a horrible, gut-wrenching scream tore through the silent corridors of the castle, startling all its occupants and awakening the others that had been asleep. Everyone jumped, their hearts beating faster as another terrible scream pierced the night.
Buffy was tossing and turning in her bed as Giles looked worriedly over her. She hadn't been sleeping easily at all, and he hadn't left her side. Something was terribly wrong with his slayer.
Images ran through Buffy's head, disturbing her sleep. An evil presence was inside her and was trying to take over her and she was seemingly powerless to stop it. She tried, but it was too strong; she was too weak. It was the thing that had the Longbottoms captive; it was in her now.
She would fight it; there was no doubt. She still had Harry and Sirius and Remus, not to mention Giles, Xander, Anya, and Willow, whom she promised she wouldn't give up. But she was so tired...
Buffy watched helplessly as people fell down dead in a flash of green light, she saw people writhing on the floor as they screamed in pain. There were too many people, young and old, men and women, even little babies. Some fought, others didn't have time. There was so much pain. She could feel the pain as it tried to take over.
The potions she was given healed her and gave her a little more strength to fight back with. The demon thing was making her see things, making her feel things that she didn't want to feel. It was inside of her and it was so painful. Each little second that went by, each time it moved, got itself a stronger hold on her mind and body, a fresh wave of pain wracked her body.
More images came and she had to watch as she saw all her friends die one by one, starting with Willow and ending with Sirius. 'No,' she thought, 'Stop it!' But the evil would not stop its onslaught. She watched as Harry was murdered viciously, she watched as James and Lily were killed, trying to protect their son.
"Take Harry and go!"
'James!' Buffy tried to yell, trying to warn him, but she was unsuccessful and had to watch as her brother died in a flash of green. He had fought bravely, amazingly coming fairly close to getting away, but it wasn't enough.
'You should have been there,' a voice whispered in her head. 'He wouldn't have died if you were there.'
'Stop it!' Buffy yelled, bringing her hands up to her ears. It didn't want her to win; it just wanted to make her mad.
It was working.
The images kept coming, not very clearly, but coming nonetheless.
She saw a dark hooded man talking to a kneeling figure with a silver hand.
"Did you find it yet?" the high pitch voice asked.
"No, my lord," he said shakily. "They are guarding the prophecy. I am unable to get through the door."
"Not even in you're rat form?"
"N... no, the crack in the door is too small."
"Well, I need that prophecy," the voice said angrily. "Find another way in!"
"Y... yes, my lord."
Buffy tried desperately to hold on. It wouldn't take her. She wouldn't let it.
She was fighting a battle with herself and it wasn't turning out so good.
'Think about Sirius!' Buffy said, forcing herself to fight. It was a battle of will, and she had a strong will. But was it strong enough?
'Think about Sirius!' Buffy said again. 'And Harry. Remus. Willow. Giles. Xander. Anya.'
Buffy was gaining some ground; her will was becoming stronger and it's grip on her was receding the tinniest bit.
'Voldemort killed by family, I have to protect them!'
'Neither will live while the other survives,' a voice whispered in her head.
'Harry Potter,' something hissed.
"It's the girl," a voice whispered. "Elizabeth Potter."
"She's the one?"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Buffy yelled. She was on the ground on her knees, trying to get out of her own mind. "Wake up!" she screamed at herself.
"But, you're just a girl," a young man said.
"That's what I keep saying."
The demon's hold slipped again. It tried to send more images at her, trying to break her will, but it had miscalculated. It had underestimated her strength.
"Buffy!" It was James yelling for her, trying to get her.
"James! James!"
"GET OUT!" Buffy screamed, her hands over her head. The evil force was losing it's hold on her; it was almost gone. She just had to push a little more...
"I love you," Sirius whispered, a phoenix pendant around her neck.
Buffy threw her head and arms back and screamed, the pain overwhelming her to such a degree that her physical body reacted. The scream was pain-filled and heart wrenching, causing Giles to grip her arm for support and worry, and Madame Pomfrey to come running out of her office.
"Come on! Fight it!" Giles urged her, as she tossed even more violently.
"What is going on?" the nurse asked as she saw the state the young woman was in.
"Fight it!" Giles yelled at her.
It was almost gone, but Buffy couldn't wait. Her body was dying from the pain it was causing her as she resisted.
Images of her life flashed through her eyes: when she was playing around with James, kissing Sirius, being taken, accepting her calling, finding her friends, defeating the First Evil's army. Her own mind was trying to help her out, giving her power over the demon.
"Who are you?" a demon with a vicious club asked.
Buffy looked up at him and smiled, "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and you are?"
"You have no idea who you are, what's to come," Dracula's voice whispered.
"It has begun," Tara's voice said softly.
Buffy's eyes flashed golden as she kneeled, huddled in on herself. She screamed again, pushing with all her might, trying to rid herself of the evil presence within her.
Giles sat by her side as she screamed again, a sound even more horrific than before.
Only this time, her yell was interrupted as she began to cough violently.
Giles rolled her onto her side, thinking she might begin to heave. He watched in horror as a dark cloud began to emerge from her mouth.
Madame Pomfrey held her hand over her mouth to cover her scream. "Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed.
"Come on," Giles said to Buffy once more.
Buffy continued to gag until the dark cloud stopped emerging, and then she lay back exhausted and unconscious.
The cloud hovered in the air above Buffy, trying to find another victim. It began to creep towards Giles when a bubble of some sort surrounded it. Giles turned to look at Pomfrey and noticed she had her wand out and pointed at the cloud.
"Thanks," he said with relief.
Madame Pomfrey just nodded shakily. "What kind of a dog did that?"