CHAPTER 24: THE NEXT MORNING
The next morning, Buffy groaned softly in her bed and tossed gently, opening her eyes slowly, awakening from her deep slumber. She blinked rapidly, clearing her vision and tried to discern where she was, because she definitely wasn't in her bed.
The place felt vaguely familiar, but her brain wasn't extremely quick that morning. The curtains on the windows were drawn, Giles was sleeping peacefully in a chair beside her bed, and everything around her was white.
Buffy groaned louder this time and flopped her head back on the pillow. She could only be in a hospital of some kind; she couldn't remember how or why, but she felt utterly exhausted.
Giles woke up from the sudden noise and looked down and smiled. "Buffy," he said quietly. "How are you feeling?"
"Did you get the license plate on that bus?" she joked wearily.
Giles chuckled softly, remembering another time when that was said. "I think you'd have gotten new material," he said with a smile.
"Well, I have so many just floating around in here, and at the moment I can't remember which ones have been used by myself or other people."
"That was incredibly foolish what you did last night," Giles reprimanded.
Buffy was startled by the abrupt change of subject and it took a minute for her to answer. "What? What happened?"
"You don't remember?" Giles asked, startled.
"No," Buffy said, confused. "Did I get knocked out?" She began feeling her head, trying to tell if there were any noticeable bumps.
"Not in the strictest sense," Giles said. "What do you remember?"
"Not much," Buffy admitted after a minute. "It's all fuzzy. What happened?"
"We were at St. Mungo's with Alice and Frank; you insisted on helping them, endangering yourself in the process as you didn't stop when you clearly lacked the strength to continue."
"Oh," Buffy said, the memories coming back to her with the reminder. "Are they okay?" she asked anxiously. "Did we do it?"
Giles sighed at his slayer and her priorities; she was always more concerned about other people than herself, which would someday lead to her death. Again. Actually, thinking about it, he realized that she had always put other people first, not that there was anything wrong with that, it was just that she had a tendency to be a little reckless when she had a goal in mind. "We did it," Giles answered her softly. "They're awake and here, actually. I assume they met up with Neville last night."
"Good," Buffy said with a smile. "Good." Buffy lay back on the bed and closed her eyes briefly before answering Giles' next question.
Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office and noticed that her only patient was finally awake, and chatting quietly with Mr. Rayne. "Mr. Rayne!" she chastised. "Why did you not come to me immediately when she woke up?"
Buffy tensed up for a moment, thinking Ethan was somewhere close by. She looked around and noticed the chagrined face of Giles and was surprised when he answered.
'"I'm sorry, but she just woke up and I wanted to make sure she was feeling well."
Buffy's eyebrow raised slightly and her gaze seemed to ask the question 'Mr. Rayne?'
Madame Pomfrey left quickly and came back with a handful of multicoloured vials. "Here, drink this," she told the blonde. "You've been through quite a lot. I must be honest, after learning what really had a hold on you, I'm surprised that you had the strength to overcome that thing. I was so shocked, I didn't even realize that the Longbottoms were standing right in front of me, as if nothing had ever happened to them!"
Buffy choked slightly on the potion Madame Pomfrey was stuffing down her throat. The Longbottoms were in the hospital wing with her? Did they give her away? Buffy glanced at Giles and relaxed when he shook his head the tiniest bit.
"Now I want you to stay in bed for a couple of days. You've had a rough time of it and I want you to take it easy," she ordered.
"I don't think so," Buffy said, struggling to get up. "I don't do hospitals."
"Miss Fox, you will stay put until you're better," Madame Pomfrey said sternly. "I am the professional here and I will not tolerate any more nonsense!"
"Thank you," Buffy told her, freeing herself from her grasp. "But I'm fine. Really. And I refuse to stay in a hospital of any kind. I'm a grown woman and can decide for myself if I'm well enough to leave. And I am. So thank you and hopefully I won't see you anytime soon."
Buffy walked out, with Giles following behind, ignoring Madame Pomfrey's orders, pleas, and frustrated calls.
"Was that really necessary?" Giles asked, removing his glasses. "She was only trying to help."
"I know. I also know her, much better than you do at least, and she would have liked nothing more than to keep me there for a week with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Trust me, I've been there before."
"Are you sure you're alright?" Giles asked again.
"I'm fine. Especially after those potions; all my strength returned and most of my soreness gone!"
Giles nodded resignedly and listened while she told him the particulars of her struggle with the beast.
"It seems we have some research to do," Giles said, referring to Voldemort and the mentions of a prophecy.
"Yep. Why don't you get started on that while I teach here?" Buffy said slyly, trying to get out of more research.
Giles looked at her knowingly and Buffy decided to sweeten the deal. "I can give you a tour of this magical castle..." she tempted.
"Well, I should hope you have manners enough to do that anyway, as I am a guest," Giles said, making Buffy feel guilty.
"Fine," she relented, going back to her age-old tactic that had yet to fail.
"Stop that," Giles said, walking down the hallway. "I'm much older and wiser than you and will not be swayed by some silly little ploy of yours," he said. "Don't look at me like that," he said when Buffy only continued to follow him. "It won't work. Pouting will get you nowhere. I'm used to it by now..."
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Down at breakfast, everyone was chatting about the mysterious screams of the night before. By now, the entire school heard that it was their DADA professor that had been the source of the terrifying sounds and there were lots of mixed reactions. Plenty of people were snickering about their 'professors' nerves, or lack thereof. What was she supposed to teach them if she screams at every little thing? There were a couple of rumours going around that she had seen a spider, no, a bunch of snakes, no, a mouse, and that's what had caused her fit. Others were more disturbed by the screams that sounded awfully real, and noticed the absence of the blonde at the head table, as well as the absence of their distinguished Headmaster.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron as they sat to eat.
"I don't know," Harry said, "But I need to talk to him. I had another dream last night," he said quietly so as not to be overheard. He then shared the contents of the dream with his two best friends.
"Prophecy?" Hermione asked, picking up on something. "Last night the Longbottoms said something about a prophecy. Do you think it's the same one?"
"I think it might," Harry whispered. "I mean, prophecies can't be that common, although the prophecy the Longbottoms are talking about had to have been old, as they haven't heard any prophecies in fifteen years or so, right?"
"I think you should talk to Dumbledore, just don't tell him we were eavesdropping on his conversation," she said, a slight blush creeping up on her cheeks. Harry just grinned at her.
"Hey guys," Dean said, sitting down next to Ron, ending any conversation pertaining to the previous conversation.
"Momphin," Ron said through a mouthful of food.
"I think he means morning," Harry translated, earning himself a nod from Ron and a "That's disgusting, Ron," from Hermione.
"Have you guys seen Neville this morning? It didn't look like he came back to bed and I haven't seen him anywhere."
The trio exchanged quick looks, knowing what was happening but unwilling to share it, knowing it wasn't their place. Harry just shrugged noncommittally and Hermione shook her head.
"You don't think anything is seriously wrong, do you?" he asked, worried for his bunkmate.
"No, I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he got up early to do some work in the library," Hermione suggested.
"Not everyone's like you," Dean teased good-naturedly. "Besides, it's a Sunday, no work should be done on a Sunday."
"I'm sure he'll show up eventually," Harry said. "Maybe he just needed some time alone."
"Maybe," Dean said, unconvinced. He looked around once more then shrugged and started piling food on his plate.
"If he doesn't show up for lunch, we should send out a search party," Ron joked lightly. "No one should miss that much food."
"So where's Professor Dumbledore?" Dean asked, looking up at the head table. "It's not usual for him to miss breakfast. Do you think he's with Professor Fox?" Dean asked.
"It's possible," Hermione said with a thoughtful look. "Although, one would think Umbridge would be with her too, but she's still up there. Maybe he has other business," she said, thinking about the Longbottoms.
Just then, the mail arrived and a letter, accompanied by an exhausted owl, dropped down on Ron's plate, splattering the oatmeal everywhere.
"Errol!" Ron yelled annoyed. "Couldn't you have landed somewhere else?" He plucked his bird from the gravy and sat the dripping bird onto a clear piece of tablecloth. "Do you think the house elves will clean him up or throw him away?" Ron asked bitterly, looking at its rumpled and drenched feathers, missing Hermione's disappointed look and Harry's quick thinking in averting another bickering match.
"So, what's the letter about?" he asked.
"Don't know," Ron said, eyeing the letter suspiciously now. "I rarely get letters from home; it's usually bad news, for me anyway," he said. He carefully picked it up and opened the envelope. "At least it's not a Howler."
Ron quickly read through the contents of the letter, his eyes growing wider as he kept reading, before he finally erupted with an outraged, "WHAT?" The great hall became quiet as everyone turned to look at Ron for a minute before continuing on with their own conversations.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, fear gnawing at his heart. Was someone hurt? Did something horrible happen? Was everything okay?
Fred, George and Ginny all came up to Ron, seeing Errol drop and hearing Ron's outburst. "What's wrong?" Ginny asked.
Ron couldn't answer he was sputtering so bad, so Fred grabbed the paper out of Ron's clenched fist. Fred and George pursued the words carefully, making Ginny frustrated, as she wasn't as tall so she couldn't see.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"That git!" Ron finally said, startling everyone at the table.
"Percy," Fred said spitefully.
"He came to mum yesterday, apologizing for his behaviour," George continued.
"Said he didn't want to be on bad terms should anything happen to the family."
"Of course, mum welcomed him back with open arms, so happy to have her son back."
"Isn't that good?" Hermione ventured cautiously.
"No!" Ron nearly shouted. "He hasn't changed views at all; he's still Fudge's loyal lapdog."
"His loyalties don't lie with the family," George said.
"Why would he come back?" Ginny asked, outraged.
"I should think you'd be happy to have him back," Harry said, thinking about himself and Neville.
"What?" Ron asked surprised. "Harry, he basically told me not to be friends with you!"
"I'm not saying he's not the best person," Harry said, "But he is your brother, whatever he believes in."
"He's right," Hermione said quietly. "What if something did happen to your family, Merlin forbid? Wouldn't you rather have everyone together as a family, than separated due to spite or different beliefs? I'm not saying he's right by choosing the Minister over Dumbledore, but it seems like he won't be choosing the Minister over his family anymore."
"But that's what he's doing," Ginny defended. "By choosing the Minister, he's putting Fudge first, over his family. We can't trust him; we don't know if he'll turn us in if we're doing something 'wrong.'"
"You don't have to trust him," Hermione said. "Trust is earned, not freely given, even within a family. But you should love him and accept him; he's your blood whether you like it or not. Personally, I'm glad he apologized; I hated seeing your mum that upset. It was tearing your family apart."
"Me too," Harry agreed. He hated seeing the Weasley's splintered. He never had a family, per se, so he'd always relied on the Weaselys for support and guidance and the hope that one day he could have something that special, hopefully with Sirius.
"All families have problems," Hermione continued. "They don't all have to agree on everything, or believe in the same thing, but they should always be there when needed." Hermione decided she needed to leave them to themselves, so she gathered her books and left.
"Eight Weaselys aren't enough," Harry said quietly, then got up and left the table, following Hermione to class.
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Alice, Frank and Neville were walking along the lake; still talking and sharing different stories, from Alice and Frank's time at Hogwarts, to Neville's own stories. True, they had stayed up all night and were exhausted, but no one wanted to rest, afraid that it might not be true. It was a dream come true and they had a lot of catching up to do.
Finally, the talk died down and they just enjoyed one another's company.
"You should meet Professor Fox," Neville said suddenly. "She's been really nice to me and she's helped me loads, although I'm not supposed to say that," he said.
"Why not?" Frank asked curiously. He thought he remembered the blonde girl's name as Fox, although at St. Mungo's he could have sworn they called her Buffy. Maybe it was just a nickname.
"I'm not sure," Neville said. "I think its because she works at the ministry and no one's supposed to like the ministry people," he offered.
"That's strange," Alice said to herself. She was thinking along the same lines as her husband. It seemed that Miss Fox was hiding something from everyone, although what and why, she had no idea. But she wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to personally thank her savior, just because she was unsure of the woman. Besides, Neville seemed to like her.
"I'd love to meet her," she said. "When's a good time?"
"Um, I'm not sure," Neville admitted. "We don't have classes today, so I think we can just stop by her office."
"Lead the way," Frank said.
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"Professor Dumbledore, sir," a receptionist said, startled by his appearance. It wasn't often he came around; she had heard fantastic stories about him, the most powerful wizard. "Can I help you?"
"I certainly hope so," he said with a smile. "Were you the receptionist working last night, around sixish?"
"No, Hope was. She should be in around nine," the brown haired lady said, pointing to a clock that read 8:50.
"Thank you," he said and looked at the clock. Dumbledore took a seat and decided to wait patiently for the woman to arrive. The time went by quickly as Dumbledore once again sat quietly and mused over his findings. They may have thought they were being careful, but it was fairly obvious that Miss Fox had somehow gotten the parasite that had infected Frank and Alice. For one thing, the couple obviously had recognized Mr. Rayne, even though they shouldn't have met many people if they had just woken up. For another, it seemed fairly strange that two people are freed from a very strong curse, only to have a similar curse show up in another person. Especially seeing as how the curse was very seldom used, as it was so difficult to cast and control. If one was not careful, the spell would backfire on the caster.
"Miss Hope?" he asked politely as said lady sat behind the desk.
"Yes?" she said, looking up.
"I was wondering if you remembered if anyone came to see Frank and Alice Longbottom yesterday evening."
"Yes, they had some visitors," Hope said with a startled look as to where this was going. Why would Albus Dumbledore want to know the visitors of some patients?
"May I enquire as to who they were?"
"Well, there was a handsome, tall brown haired man who was with a brunette that kept glaring at me, a woman with the most vibrant red hair I've ever seen," she said, thinking back.
Dumbledore was slightly disappointed; he had thought for sure that it had been Miss Fox and this mysterious Mr. Rayne.
"And a distinguished older man with a younger blonde lady. Not with with," she clarified. "They didn't seem like they were a couple, they were all just in the same group. I would've thought the older man was a father to some of them, as the rest were all fairly young."
Dumbledore beamed at the helpful lady and thanked her for her help. He had been right. They had been there, along with some other unidentified friends. He had answered one question, but that only seemed to raise a dozen more. Why were they there? Why would they help the Longbottoms? How did they know that they were under a curse? How did they break the curse? Twice, nonetheless? What did they want? Most importantly, who were they?
"Oh, and by the way," he added as he left, "The Longbottoms have been checked out under my care," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
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"Professor Fox?" Neville asked, knocking on the door to her office. "Are you there?"
"Doesn't look like she's here yet," Frank said, his hand on his son's shoulder.
"Maybe we can come back later," Neville said hopefully.
"Or not," a voice from behind said.
The Longbottoms turned around quickly, surprised to see the young blonde behind them, the same young blonde that had been in their hospital room the night before, and in her own.
"Professor!" Neville said with a smile. "I was just coming to see you."
"I can see that," she said, walking towards them.
"You'll never believe what happened!" Neville said. "These are my parents," he introduced excitedly, "They got better, somebody helped them break the curse they were under!"
"Yes, some very thoughtful people helped us out," Alice said, extending her hand. "I don't know how we'll ever repay them."
"It's truly a pleasure to meet you," Frank said. "Neville has told us so many good things about you."
"I hope its not all bad," she joked. "This is my um..."
"Stepfather," Giles provided, extending his own hand in welcome. "Ethan Rayne."
"I was just giving him a tour of the castle; he's a muggle," Buffy explained. "So, why don't you come in and we can have some tea?" she suggested.
"That'd be lovely," Alice said thankfully while Neville's stomach rumbled.
"Why don't you run to the great hall for some breakfast, Neville?" Frank suggested.
Neville's face dropped slightly at the thought of leaving his parents, even for a little while.
"We'll just talk to your professor here and then we'll meet up with you again," Alice promised. "I just think it might be a little weird to talk about you as if you weren't there if you are."
Neville smiled at his parents, hugged them again, then rushed off to breakfast to quickly eat something before it was over. He didn't have much time left and he was too hungry to wait until lunch.
"He's a good kid," Buffy said quietly, watching him go.
"Yes he is. Thank you so much for doing this," Alice said again.
Instead of answering, Buffy opened the door and ushered them all inside before placing a silencing charm around the room.
"Why did you... no... how did you know?" Frank asked, his mind running a mile a minute with questions.
"Look, I saw Neville had some problems with Potions and confidence so I decided to help him out. I just gave him a couple of pointers. We got to talking and he told me about you two and I could relate. My own family is... well, it's complicated to say the least. The thing is, something just felt wrong about your situation and so I went with my friends to see for myself how you were. My friend, Willow, the red head, is a very powerful Wicca and we helped pull you out of the curse. I did it because it needed to be done."
"But you risked your life for us, how can you be so... well, not quite flippant, but... relaxed, about it?" Alice asked, amazed.
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "You needed help, I helped you, that's just the way things are. If I died, well, it was for a good cause." 'And I'd probably be brought back anyway,' Buffy thought. Sure, she wasn't wishing to die, but she wasn't afraid of it either. Too many things had happened, too many people she had loved were gone. Sirius and Remus were nowhere to be found, and not for lack of trying. Sure, she still had Harry, but he didn't even know her yet, and she wasn't fit to take care of someone else at the moment; she had to find her own answers. She didn't know what the questions were yet, but she had a feeling there was something else that needed to be done before she told everyone who she was. She had yet to doubt her instincts, she wasn't about to start now.
Besides, Harry was at Hogwarts, perfectly happy. Hopefully she'd figure something out before he left for summer break. One thing was for sure, he'd never go back to the Dursley again.
"Who are you?" Frank asked bluntly. "Your name isn't Ethan Rayne and yours isn't Sarah Fox, at least, that's not what your other friends called you last night. And why are you being so secretive about your dealings with Neville? And why don't you want anyone to know you helped us? I can never repay you for what you've done, but you should get some recognition for your outstanding act of selflessness."
"Frank," Alice said, trying to calm him down, although she really wanted to know the answers to these questions too.
"Look, I could be honest with you and tell you who I was, but you probably wouldn't believe me, or even remember. I'm not quite sure whom to trust right now, although to be perfectly honest, that's only part of it. I have this feeling that I shouldn't say anything yet, so I'm not going to. Things are complicated and you're so far behind with the times, although not as much as I am," Buffy said, muttering the last part to herself.
"Well, I can't say I'm happy," Frank said, as he desperately wanted answers to this enigma in front of him, "But you've saved our lives, so there's not much I can do but respect your wishes."
"I hope you find whatever you're looking for," Alice said, searching the eyes of the young woman in front of her. She was so young, but her eyes held so much pain and sadness, much more than anyone should ever have. She wondered who this girl really was and what she wanted.
"I hope so too," Buffy said softly, more to herself than to anyone else in the room.
Frank and Alice stood up to say their goodbyes. This time, Alice found it appropriate to hug the blonde in thanks. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask, even if it's just someone to talk to."
"Thank you again, for everything," Frank said. The couple walked out of the doors and headed towards the Great Hall where they hoped to find their son. Pretty soon it'd be around the school that they were back; kids would write their parents, and then the media would have a field day. They'd need to leave soon to sort things out before rumours abounded.
"Neville! There you are!" Ron cried as he left the Great Hall with Dean and his brothers in tow. "We've been looking for you! What happened with McGonagall?"
"She just wanted to let me know that my parents were back," Neville said happily. "I've been with them all night."
"Good for you, Neville," Ron said, knowing where his parents had been.
"This is good, right?" Dean asked, then let out a sigh at Neville's nod. "I thought something bad had happened! I'm glad you're alright!" He didn't know where his parents had been, now that they were back, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask. Neville only talked about his grandmother, so Dean thought his parents were dead, or had abandoned him. Neither was pleasing to think about.
"I'm better than ever," Neville said. "It's nice to have everyone back together again."
The Weaselys just looked at each other.
After his first class of the day, Harry had a free period, so he decided to use the time to go and see Professor Dumbledore about his dream. He walked to the gargoyle, trying to think of what the password might be, but upon reaching the entrance, he found it was already open.
He walked up the spiral staircase and knocked on the wooden door.
"Come in," Dumbledore's voice cried out from within.
Harry entered the room, much to Dumbledore's surprise. It almost seemed like he thought it was someone else.
"What can I do for you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. He was walking around to the chair behind his desk, almost as if he had just arrived at his office, which would account for why the entrance was already open. He sat in the desk, and much to Harry's chagrin, picked a point right over his left shoulder to stare at.
'Maybe I shouldn't have come here,' Harry thought angrily. 'He won't even look me in the eyes!'
"Harry?" Dumbledore prompted him.
Harry paused another moment before finally answering. "I had another dream."