Awesome! People reviewed! Thank y'all sooo much, I'm eternally grateful to all of you.
Anne: Yeah, that's mostly because I didn't like that dodging that everyone else was doing around getting to showing her real identity. It wasn't so much a stroke of genius as my impatience showing through at last. grin thanks for saying I'm doing a good job, praise is definitely welcome, and I'm trying to stay true to Malli, but yeah, I definitely need to add a bit of my own style in there. And here is the next chapter, whenever it may be posted.
manticore-gurl071134: thanks, I will keep it up!
Malaika Pyralis: aw, thanks, I'm trying to make it good for readers. Hahaha. hug I'm definitely finishing this version, I'm not procrastinating like I do on my own fic.
bobthetomato99: I'm definitely continuing on this, I'm glad you think I did a good job.
monkeybum21: yeah, I'm adding chapters, and I'll try to make it more enjoyable for you than the other versions have been. I agree, it is a great story that all should read. I'll try to keep the updates coming.
sissysara88: thanks, I tried to make it as good as I could. The next chapter is coming, and the one after that soon after, depends on my typing speed.
CharmingStar: aw, thanks. I'm uh, pretty much continuing now. Lol.
Saphrine: I'm glad you think that it's a good tribute that others are trying to continue. And no ma'am, I won't keep you in suspense!
ztacel: yup, that's basically it. Now what makes you think Umbridge is going to figure out what's going on? Or Fudge, for that matter? They don't seem that intelligent to me. Or maybe they are that intelligent. I guess we'll just have to see, right?
Dur'id the Druid: yeah, it is a little too easy. But after years, a spell would weaken. And even paranoid, why would he be looking for a memory charm? The way I think Finite Incantatem works is that you have to be trying to end a certain spell or charm. You have to be focusing on the jelly legs curse or on a memory charm to end it. That's just my interpretation. Otherwise, Hermione's used Finite on Harry before, so why didn't the protection spell or the spell that binds Harry and Voldemort end?
tenshikoneko03: sorry, I just felt the need. Lol. I'm continuing now, I swear I am. There's already 2 pages written as we speak. God, for a minute I thought you were calling me bad for continuing the fic.
Thanks to: Black Cat Gurl, sera, and Mama T.
And hey, Black Cat Gurl, thanks for beta'ing!
I'm glad that everyone likes this so far, I'll try to keep it up at everyone's standards. Hope you enjoy this bit as well!
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CHAPTER 38: REUNION
Buffy blinked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "S...Sirius?" She asked, unwrapping her arms from around Remus. She couldn't believe her eyes. 'I thought that black dog looked familiar,' she thought.
"Buffy..." Sirius suddenly didn't know what to say to her. "Good to see you again," he tried. He went to hug her, then changed his mind and held out his hand for a shake. She gave the hand an incredulous look, then jumped into his arms, kissing him on the cheek.
"I thought I'd never see you again, Padfoot," she whispered into his ear.
"You? I thought you were dead," he countered, kissing her lightly. He couldn't believe it. He never thought he'd see his girl again, and how there he was, holding her. 'All we need is James and Lily, and we're all set.' He sighed. He knew it would never happen. But there was still Harry. He winced. Buffy and everyone else looked questioningly at him. "Harry," he said by way of explanation. Most nodded their heads, knowing what he meant. Buffy, however, looked questioningly at him. "He...has a temper problem," Sirius explained.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "No kidding. We've been working on that this year. So what does the temper problem have to do with this?"
"Well...he doesn't like being kept out of the loop...on anything," Dumbledore said, looking out at the student in question, who was pacing like an angry lion, and looked ready to attack the minister. Or Professor Umbridge. Or both. He did notice that Hermione was staying with him, and seemed to be keeping him calm, soothing him with a hand on his back. 'Hmm...curious, very curious. Is there something there that I missed?' He shook it off, but filed it away in his mind to think on later. "It looks like your nephew may attack at any time, so let's not keep him in suspense, shall we?"
They all looked out of their little circle to see Harry looking like he wanted to kill something. They then saw the Minister's and Umbridge's mouths moving and assumed that that was why. "Now that man really needs to be taught a lesson," said Buffy, looking at Fudge. "I mean, he ordered the death of an innocent child just because he was afraid of her power? That's really wrong." Moody nodded.
"Buffy? Could you tell us everything that has happened?" Remus requested.
"Later, Remus. After we take care of the Minister and his little...lap dog," Buffy answered, scrunching her nose at Umbridge. I promise to tell you, though. For sure. But later." She motioned for Dumbledore to take the spell off of them.
Fudge immediately jumped. "Sirius Black! Shacklebolt, arrest him!" Fudge started shouting. "In fact, just kill him. He's a murderer, get what you give, I say." Fudge glared at Harry as the boy went for his wand, daring him to make a move. Kingsley stayed still. "Well? Get on with it, Auror Shacklebolt!"
The black man was torn. He couldn't kill Sirius, they were buddies in the order together. 'There's only one thing to do,' he decided. "No," he said clearly to the minister as he went over to Dumbledore's side. The people in the order smiled at him.
"What do you mean, 'No'?" asked fudge, turning a curious shade of pink. "I, sir, am the Minister of Magic, and your boss! How dare you refuse my orders?"
"When your orders, sir, are to kill an innocent being, then those orders should not be followed," said Buffy, interrupting Kingsley. "So, now that the charm is gone, is your memory jogged? Think real hard now, I know it's a strain for you, but you can do it, come on," she taunted him, talking to him like he was a baby taking it's first steps. The minister turned a color that rivaled the famous Weasley hair.
"I will not be mocked, ma'am!" he shouted, much to the delight of Umbridge. "Aurors! Arrest this woman as well, for controlling the Minister of Magic, and make sure she gets a nice long sentence in Azkaban."
"I think, Cornelius, that you will find your Aurors unfit to do anything," Dumbledore said, looking at the men with a shine in his eye, seeing that they were frozen with looks of fear in their eyes. "Yes, those are snakes. Poisonous, if I'm not mistaken. Don't worry, they are trained. However, they have not been feed today, so if I were you, gentlemen, I would suggest that you stay perfectly still." No one questioned how Dumbledore knew about them. Everyone just accepted it. Dumbledore smiled to himself. 'I knew that keeping those on me in that unbreakable jar was a good idea. I knew they'd come in handy sooner or later.' The old man was full of more tricks than people gave him credit for.
"Dumbledore, I demand that you tell me what is going on this instant!" Fudge roared, full of panic.
"Calm yourself, Cornelius. There is nothing going on that you are not aware of. Well, one thing, but the other you are fully aware of, even if you choose to not believe it's factuality," Dumbledore said, radiating power. He didn't appreciate Fudge threatening a woman that he had already tried to kill once.
"Well, miss? Who are you? And don't give me that 'Sarah Fox" nonsense, I know she doesn't exist," said Fudge, calming slightly at Dumbledore's tone.
"What? You don't remember me? You only ordered me dead when I was fifteen. Of course you wouldn't remember me!" Buffy snapped at the Minister, losing her temper at last. "I hope you're happy with the results of that, by the way. Because of that, my father and mother died, as did my brother and best friend/sister-in-law. And my nephew lost every relative that cared about him that had knowledge of him. All because you were afraid of a teenager with more power than you could ever dream of!" Buffy went off on a rant, watching the Minister's eyes get larger as he slowly realised who she was.
"Elisabeth Potter? No, impossible!" he gasped. "You died, I saw Moody carry your body back to your brother and his friends. I saw you! You're dead!" He started hyperventilating. "I ordered you dead because if you were to go over to the other side, you had the ability to destroy the world. My dear, it had nothing to do with fear of your power, just protecting the world, that's all." He smiled, trying to charm the woman, lying, of course. 'Damn, I thought she was truly dead. And how did she know my reasoning behind my orders? No one should have known. Damn that girl, she could very well be the end of my reign. I must finish what I started.'
"Like hell! That's a load of bull and you know it! You're scared of my power, you always were intimidated by those who had more than you!" Buffy growled at him, scaring the man a little. She didn't notice his hand slipping into his robes slowly.
"Avada Kedavra!" Fudge shouted, aiming the curse at Buffy. He smirked triumphantly, thinking that this time he had her dead. When the smoke from the spell cleared, he was shocked to find her still standing. She had done a back flip, knocked over the people in back of her so they didn't get hit, and avoided the killing curse. All in a matter of seconds! Everyone was shocked, they'd never seen anyone do that before.
"As the most senior Auror in this room, I order you right now to arrest the minister, strip him of his wand and title, and throw him in Azkaban prison with his assistant, Dolores Umbridge. Dolores, we have found, has spent the year attempting to get an innocent student thrown out of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because of a grudge the former Minister Fudge had against what the student was saying," demanded Kingsley in a deep, commanding voice. The aurors immediately captured Umbridge and Fudge, stripping them of their wands. They were escorted, fighting the whole way, to the outside of the school, then from there to the main gates where they would be apparated to Azkaban and put in a cell to await trial, if they got one at all.
"Well, now that that's done," said Dumbledore, rising to his feet. "Miss Potter, if you would kindly follow me to my office, along with all others present, I think you all have a right to know what is really going on here." With that, he led the way to his office, leaving everyone stunned for a minute. Everything had happened in less than two minutes. Those on the floor had no clue as to why they were there.
Eventually, Minerva looked at everyone. "Well? What are we waiting for? The Headmaster told us to go to his office, so let's." with that, Remus, Sirius, and Hermione got up off the floor, where they had been sitting for the past five minutes. They all followed her to the Head's office. Harry hung back to walk with Buffy, who was with Sirius, her head on his shoulder.
"Erm, Sirius? Who is this, exactly?" Harry asked hesitantly. He felt that he could trust her now. After all, she had just saved his godfather, best friend, and younger and even closer best friend from the killing curse. 'Ah, and I'm sure you're especially grateful that she saved Hermione,' said a voice at the back of his mind. 'Otherwise you'd never again see the curve of her face, the way her hair falls into her eyes when she's studying too hard to push it back. You would never again hold her hand or feel her warm skin against yours in a class.' 'Oh, shut up, I don't have time for this,' he thought back to himself, then winced internally at the thought that he was speaking to himself.
"This, Harry?" Sirius was giddy. He had just escaped death again, he had his girl back, and his godson finally got the chance to know his aunt. "This is your aunt, Elizabeth Potter. The one we thought was dead for all of these years." Sirius' arm came up around Buffy's shoulders and didn't leave.
Buffy choked slightly. "I hate the name Elizabeth. I've been Buffy ever since that night, Sirius. I'm used to it, so let's lose the Elizabeth, huh?" She grinned and leaned into Sirius more, holding out a hand to shake. "Hi, Harry. I guess we've met already, but now...um, I guess we're meeting officially?" She tried out, frowning at Sirius when he laughed. "What are you laughing at, Padfoot?" She asked, smacking him on the chest after Harry shook her hand.
"Nothing, Phoenix, absolutely nothing," he said, trying to keep a straight face. He failed, and started laughing as she hit him again.
"Phoenix? Why do you call her Phoenix?" Asked Harry, noticing the nickname.
"Oh, that. Well, like Sirius and my brother, I decided that I wanted to become an animagus, and I didn't want to do it through the ministry because they have way too many limits. So Sirius helped me with it after James refused," Buffy smirked at the memory, 'and I became a Phoenix. I can still do it, you know," she added to Sirius.
"Really?" He asked, intrigued.
"Yup. I tried it out a while ago, and I still turn into a phoenix." Sirius laughed at her. "Now what?" She growled at him. Which just made him laugh more, thinking that she was harmless.
"You never stop being a certain animal and change animal forms just because you haven't done it in a while," Sirius informed her, still laughing as she hit him.
They reached Dumbledore's office at last, and with the password (Starbursts) they all entered to find a serious looking Headmaster.
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I hope you all liked this. Judging by responses to the last chapter, I guess I'm doing something right. I'll try to get the next chapter finished tomorrow. Emphasis on TRY. My family's a bit of a nut job, I don't know what to expect from them. Until the next time!
Chris