Chapter 7 Two Steps Behind You

"Do you have a picture of the girl?" asked a hopeful Sirius.

"What?" replied Arthur, still eyeing his daughter sitting beside Draco Malfoy.

"The girl that was found in St. Mungo's," Sirius continued, "do you have a picture of her?"

"Yes I was lucky enough to get a copy of her picture, you would think that with features like that she could easily pass off as a Malfoy," and held out a picture of a sleeping blonde girl with bruises and cuts on her face. The picture was snatched out of his hands by one of the strangers in his house wearing spectacles who sighed in relief.

Giles beamed and almost cried with relief. He then hugged the red haired man and said, "Can we see her? Is she alright?"

Sirius then grabbed the picture out of Giles' hand and whooped with joy, "It's her, thank Merlin."

Arthur pried the clinging man off of him and gave him a strange look, "I demand an explanation now!"

Giles blushed and cleared his throat, "Um see, her name is Buffy Summers, she's my student who until recently was missing and…" before he could continue Draco Malfoy interrupted him and walked up to Arthur Weasley.

"It's alright Mr. Giles, he can be trusted." Draco took a deep breath and said, "Her name is Bethany Black Malfoy and she's my sister. I'd be happy to explain everything to you sir, but right now our number one priority is to see if my sister is well. You may come with us to St. Mungo's if you'd like and there you will get the full story."

Arthur reluctantly agreed and soon they all flooed to St. Mungo's.

WATCHER'S COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS, LONDON "Mr. Travers?" a brunette woman with large brown eyes cautiously peered her head around her boss's office.

Quentin Travers didn't reply, he merely glared at his secretary and said, "Rachel, you'd better have good news."

Rachel Bran made a small 'eel' sound before realising that Quentin was hidden in the shadows sitting in his armchair. "I'm afraid I don't have good news sir, but I do have a current update on the whereabouts of Mr. Wyndham-Pryce."

Travers sighed impatiently, "Where did the idiot go?"

Rachel braced herself and nervously coughed, "Well, sir his name on the tapestry in the hallway with all the active Watcher's names engraved on it, um it burned off sir."

"WHAT???" Travers practically leaped over his secretary and ran out of his office where just as Rachel had described, the name of Roger Wyndham-Pryce was nowhere to be seen on the tapestry.

He ran as fast as he could to the library and headed for restricted section where another tapestry much larger than the one outside his office hung on the wall. This was the tapestry that held the names of the deceased Watcher's, and sure enough, he found Roger's name right under Buffy Summer's previous Watcher, Merrick.

Quentin Travers screamed in frustration and huffed his way back to his office, when he saw Rachel he sat back down on his armchair and ran his fingers through his hair, "And what of the Summers' girl?"

Rachel wisely stepped back until she was close enough to the door and said, "They still can't locate her," and ran out of the door.

Quentin closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands and said to himself, "She is not worth all this trouble. That girl is going to be the death of me."

St. Mungo's…
Angel's POV

I see her, there she is. She looks so peaceful, I wish I could…no I can't, it wouldn't do any good. At least she's safe now, I just hope she'll be safe now. Maybe she should go back to Sunnydale, at least she'll be safe from the Watcher's Council. But then would she have found out about her family?

Thank God she's alive, I thought I'd never see her again. But I told her I'd stay away, it is for the best, isn't it?

If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have run away to England, if it weren't for me she'd be back in Sunnydale preparing for College and possibly living a somewhat normal life. If it wasn't for me she probably wouldn't have met that green-eyed boy with the cheap glasses and really messy hair, (Honestly, you'd think that with his powers he would be able to use a potion or a spell to tidy up his hair, hello? Ever heard of the wonderful invention called hair gel?)

Not that I'm jealous. Nope. Definitely not.

I swore I'd protect her, but I left her and now look at her, battered and bruised, looks as though she's gone through hell and back but I can still sense the fire in her, weak, but still burning. It's what I love about her, she never gives up, never.

If only it was just the two of us, I'd kiss you, I'd whisper sweet endearments and promises of love to you. If only I wasn't cursed this way, I'd make love to you and show you how you make me feel…alive. I love you Buffy Summers and I'd do anything for you, but we can't all live the lives we want. We're Champions of the Light, that is our only destiny, love is not in our cards, we fight, we'll save the world and die. Maybe not alone, but we'll never have each other the way we want. I'll always love you.

Forever…even if it kills me.

Maybe I should leave before she wakes up, yeah that's a good idea.

Giles' POV
Bless the Gods she's alive. My Slayer, my student, my daughter. We've been through the best and the worst, we've lived through it all. You gave me a piece of something that I thought I had lost forever, you taught me to care about the world and the people who live in it.
You've saved the world countless times and yet you've never received your just rewards. I know of what you seek, but the world we live in is not fair. The love you crave can't and won't be given to you, you'll have to fight for it, and when it comes to that I'll be there for you. I swear it. Draco's POV

She's alive. My sister's alive. Will she run away again if she sees me? Will she give me the love I so desperately miss? The love of a family?

She's a strong fighter, she has to be. What am I saying, she's a Slayer, she even dated this brooding Vampire who's hovering over her like a bloody love sick puppy. There's something seriously wrong with that sentence, a Vampire and a Slayer…in love?

And I thought my life was complicated.

This is all my fault, if I hadn't scared her off…please let her be alright. She won't have to face the world alone, I'm here for her now and I sure as Hell won't let anything happen to her. She was taken from us a long time ago, I won't let her leave me again.

I'm here for you Bethany, I won't let him take you away I promise.

Harry's POV

I'm afraid to go near her, if I see her I'd be tempted to stay by her side and never leave, but Angel's here. No doubt she still loves him, and most likely love him until forever. I can't deny that I'm not attracted to her, Merlin how I want her to look me in the eyes with those beautiful green orbs of hers and tell me that she'll love me forever and always. To kiss me with those luscious pink lips and make love to her all night long til the early morning.

I love her, but she'll never know. And after what's happened to her, I'm pretty sure Draco, Sirius, Remus, Angel, Giles and the Malfoy's will be guarding her like a hawk. Or if worst comes to worst, she'll go back to America and never set foot in England again. But I can't help how I feel, the Slayer Buffy Summers, a.k.a Bethany Black MALFOY has stolen my heart. Me the Boy Who Lived and her the Girl Who Died. Love is so bloody complicated.

"How long before she wakes up?" Sirius Black asked the Medi-Witch in charge over Buffy.

"I'd say a few hours, the injuries she has sustained, I'm afraid, have caused internal damage but she seems to be healing quite nicely."

Sirius smiled in relief and spread the good news around. After a brief explanation to Arthur Weasley, as requested (excluding details as to why his daughter was more than friendly towards Draco Malfoy, she promised to speak to him about it when they got home.), Draco Malfoy stayed behind to watch over his sister while the others went home, totally oblivious of the presence of two others who stayed behind. Giles and Doyle were offered a place to stay in 12 Grimmauld Place while Hermione and the Weasley's went back to the Burrow.

Malfoy Manor

"Lucius! She's here, we have to get to St. Mungo's!" Narcissa quickly grabbed her husband and apparated them both to the Wizarding Hospital. On the floor in the Manor where she they previously stood lay a picture of a sleeping blonde girl with cuts and bruises that marred her once flawless golden skin…

TBC