A Second Chance
Chapter 14 - Love and Pain
DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, and Harry Potter to J.K. Rowling. I don't own anything.
TIMELINE: AU. Set ten years before (Around 1988) "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone", during and after Harry Potter book 5, "Order of the Phoenix"(2003). During and after BTVS season 7, "Chosen". Pretend HP book one happened in 1999 during Buffy season three )
SUMMARY: BTVS/HP crossover. After James and Lily reappears, seemingly alive and well, mysterious things start to happen. New allies are made, prophecies revealed...and people keep rising from the dead. What's going on? And what has Voldemort got to do with it? Are the Scoobies and the Potter's second chance at life enough to stop the Dark Lord from spreading darkness across the country? Or is the world in need of more miracles?
PAIRINGS: Too many to count.
Thanks to my beta: Charmed Chick
"Hey."
Charlie looked up, and brightened when he saw who it was.
"Hi, Buffy."
She sat down beside him with a small smile.
"Umm...are you busy?" She asked, giving him a hestitant look.'Cause if you want to...I could leave...?"
"No, no," Charlie quickly assured her, shaking his head. Did you want something?"He asked, and watched as Buffy nodded.
"Yeah," she said. "If you've got the time. I thought that maybe you could help me with the magic-thingy again; I'm stuck," she admitted sheepishly.
Charlie smiled, and Buffy found herself blush under his sparkling eyes.
Lucius Malfoy walked down in Tara's cell, wearing a cruel smile on his aristocratic face.
"Get up," he said cooly. "The Dark Lord wishes to see you."
Tara sat up slowly, meeting Lucius' eyes with defiance.
"What does he want?"
Lucius smiled and pulled out his wand of his pocket, twirling it around his fingers.
"You are not the one asking the questions here, my dear lady," he said mockingly. "Now get up." He gave her a kick in the ribs, making Tara wince, but she didn't back down.
"And if I refuse?" She asked stubbornly. She was not going to do what they demanded freely. She had to be strong - for Willow. They would make it out of here.
Lucius just smiled in response, before pointing his wand at her chest.
"Crucio."
"Hey, Harry!" Dawn asked brightly, and the Boy-Who-Lived looked up from the 'Daily Prophet' he was reading.
"Hi," he said quietly.
"How does it feel? Being a year older?" Dawn asked, and sat down beside him. Harry shrugged in response.
"The same as being a year younger."
A beat.
"Oh."
They were quiet for awhile, until Dawn spoke up again.
"I've been thinking," she said."You know that Voldy has Tara hostage..."
"Yeah..." Harry asked slowly, looking on his guard. Dawn was up to something - he just knew it.
"If we could rescue her, he wouldn't have anything on Willow, she would turn good again, right?" Dawn continued.
"Yes..." Harry said slowly.
"So, what are we waiting for!" Dawn exclaimed and jumped up.
"Huh?" Harry was thoroughly confused.
"You and me," Dawn exclaimed patiently, seemingly not caring about Harry's lack of enthusiasm. "We should go save Tara. Nobody else seems to do anything, and I can't just sit around, doing nothing."
Harry sighed, and let his green eyes meet Dawn's blue.
"Dawn, as much as I would love to help, I don't think we can do anything," Harry said. "There are dozens of Death Eaters there, plus Voldemort, plus Willow. We wouldn't stand a chance."
Dawn opened her mouth in protest - apparentely, she hadn't counted on not having Harry's support to onehundredandten percent in this.
"But, we could be careful, and - "
" - We would be noticed," Harry interrupted."I've learnt my lesson. I tried to go on a rescue mission earlier this year, for Sirius, with no real back-up, and no plan. I almost got myself, and everyone else killed. I won't take that chance again. In the long round, It's not worth it," he said.
Dawnwent quiet for a moment, until she wispered with a voice so small, that Harry almost didn't hear it:
"I know...it's stupid...it's just...I wanna help," Dawn mumbled. "I'm never good for anything...I'm just trouble. But I need to do something...and I know going after Tara would be suicide, so I won't, but...I'm so tired of being useless," she finished, lowering her eyes to the floor.
Harry was shocked.
"Dawn!" He exclaimed."You're not useless! Don't ever believe that! You're a good person, a good friend, a good supporter. You're the heart. You may not have any special strenght, but you're still special," Harry told her."And I think that if you really want to help, you should stay here and help with the planning. Be what you're good at. Be the heart. Not the fighter. And I happen to know that a fighter is nothing without its heart. And you are it."
Dawn shook her head, even though a small smile had started to play around her lips at Harry's words.
"No, I'm not," she said, sounding close to tears."I'm not the heart either; Xander is the heart. I'm just the little sister who tags along and gets in danger."
"Dawn, that's not true!" Harry protested, suddenlylooking really unsure about himself. Hetruly hatedgirls that cried..."Okay, Xander may be the heart...but so are you - just a bigger one," he hurried to say, as he saw a tear trail down Dawn's cheek. "I may not know you so well; I haven't known you for long, but I do know that you are a great person, with a big heart. Don't ever doubt that."
The tears fell more freely down Dawn's face now, and Harry looked really nervous. Suddenly, Dawn took a step forwards, and huggedhim tight.
"Thank you," she wispered. "Thank you for making me feel better."
And then she kissed him. It was a brief, quick kiss, but it was a kiss.
Harry eyes widened in shock. He wasn't expecting that. And then it was over. Dawn got up, drying her face on the sleeve of her arm, blushing, and then she was gone.
Harry sat where he was, still in shock, his fingers touching the place on his lips where Dawn's had met his.
'Why is it that I always get kissed by a girl who's crying!' He thought dazedly.
"Have you had enough now?" Lucius asked lazily, and cast a look at Tara, who laid on the floor sobbing slightly. Her body shook with pain from the Cruciatuscurse. Lucius kicked her again. "Now, get up."
"Willow!" Tara cried out, and Lucius smiled.
"The witch?" He asked. "She's upstairs, with the Dark Lord. If you wish to see her, come with me," Lucius lied, andhis smile grew into a full-fledged grin asTara got up from the ground, her legs shaking slightly, buther tear-streaked facelooked determined, and her jaw was clenched.
"Take me to her."
"Hi, Wolfy!" Faith said happily, and jumped down in the seat beside Remus at the staff-table, making the werewolf almost choke on his food.
"Miss Faith. Out of the hospital-wing, I see?" Professor Dumbledore asked, sounding amused.
"Yup. As good as new," Faith said, spreading her arms wide as if to prove her point.
"I'm glad," Dumbledore said, lowering his head slightly in response."Now, I have some business to attend to, so if you'll excuse me." He got up and left, leaving Remus and Faith alone in the Great Hall.
"Slept well?" Remus asked, and Faith shrugged.
"Five by five" she answered, making Remus raise his eyebrows.
Faith laughed.
"Sorry. Habit. It was okay."
Remus smiled.
"Good, that's good..." he said slowly.
"How are you?" Faith asked quickly.She still felt slightly uncomfortable having areal conversation. She wasn't a person who talked a lot, unless it was about sex, or fighting, or eating, or anything else involving not so 'important' subjects. Even then, there wasn't much talking, it was more doing.
"Fine, considering the circumstances," Remus sighed, and Faith frowned.
"Circumstances?"
"It's afull moon soon," Remus explained. "Nothing I look forward to."
"Oh." Faith said, and looked Remus over an extra time. Nowas he mentionedit, he was slightly paler than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept well. And she could swear he had one more grey straw in his hair than yesterday.
"It's too bad, y'know," she said. Remus looked surprised.
"What is?"
Faith smirked.
"That it's always the good guys who has all the bad luck."
Remus smiled at this.
"True, but in the end, it's the good guy who wins."
"Really?" Faith asked, disbelievingly.
Remus shrugged.
"At least in all fairytales," he said, sounding apologetic, as if he wished that would be the truth in the real world.
Faith laughed, a wistful look suddenly gracing her expression, and to Remus, it looked as if her mind was somewhere completely different. She had never looked more beautiful, and Remus felt a sudden urge to reach forward and pull back a dark straw behind her ear.
"Yeah, the good guys beat the bad guys, and the princess gets her prince," Faith mumbled."Too bad that's not always what happens in reality."
Remus smiled sadly.
"Yes, wouldn't that be a blast?" He wondered out loud. Faith turned to stare at him, looking disbelieving for a few seconds, before she burst out laughing.
Remus looked confused. "What?" He asked, frowning slightly.
Faith just shook her head, still laughing.
"You said 'blast'," she said, as if that explained it all. For a moment, Remus looked even more confused, but then, slowly, his lips started to twitch and he joined Faith in her laugh.
"Yes," he chuckled. "I guess I did."
Faith patted his shoulder slightly, comforting him.
"You've been spending way too much time around me, Wolfy," she said, shaking her head sadly, but in her mind, she added: 'Not that I mind...'
Remus smiled. "I can't help I enjoy the company," he said, his eyes boring in to Faith's, and she turned her look away, mumbling something in apology before she got up and left. Remus' eyes followed her slowly, until the doors to the Great Hall closed behind her, and he sighed.
'Moony, you old fool,' he thought bitterly.'Face reality. She's not yours, and will never be...'
Tara stood in front of Voldemort, her haid raised in defiance.
"Where is she?" She demanded."I want to see her."
"See who?" Voldemort chuckled. "I guess you're talking about my dark witch. I'm afraid you won't see her again."
Tara's eyes suddenly became filled with fear. "What did you do?" She asked, her voice shaking with back held rage.
"Oh, nothing, nothing yet," Voldemort said. "I would never dream of hurting my trophy. You, on the other hand, is another story. You won't see your lover. In fact, you won't see anything again," he added cruelly, and gave a sign to some of his Death Eaters, and Tara suddenly found herself surrounded.
"Kill her." Voldemortordered. "Kill her painfully. Make it slow, and make it visible. Make sure it looks like a human kill; make sure it looks like a kill from a Slayer."
Tara's eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen, and she was about to scream, when she suddenly felt the first blade of a knife enter her body.
Hermione and Ron sat in the Gryffindor common room, snogging, when the portrait hole flew open, and Harry entered.
Ron groaned as he felt Hermione pull away from him. Typical.
"Harry..." He complained, but Harry just ignored him andslouched down in the sofa. Hermione looked at him, curiously.
"What is it, Harry? You look really shocked," she said, and Ron took a first look at his best friend, who looked like he was in some sort of a daze. And...was that lipstick?
"She...she kissed me. She kissed me," Harry mumbled.
"Who?" Ron said, now more interested, still eyeing the spot of glowing pink on his mate's lips.
"Was it Dawn?" Hermione asked conversationally.
Harry turned to look at her, clearly shocked.
"How did you...?"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Please, Harry, it's not like you have that many to choose from," she exclaimed. "The term hasn't started yet, so Dawn is the only girl here our age, unless you're talking about a slayer, and you barely hang out with any of them, so they aren't really an option. And I know it wasn't me, and I doubt it was one of the new professors."
Harry looked dumbfolded for a second, and Ron gave Hermione a lookof pure awe.
"Wow, 'Mione. You really are clever..." He said admiriably.
"- and you really are stupid, Ron," Hermione retorted, but she still looked pleased."It's just a bit of logic, even you must've been able to figure that out."
"So, what happened then?" Ron asked Harry.
"Then what?" Harry said, still in shock. This time, it was Ron who rolled his eyes.
"After she kissed you," he said flatly.
"She...oh...she...she left," Harry said, then blinked, as if it just him that she had left.
"She left!" Ron exclaimed in disbelief, and shook his head. "You really have a bad luck with women, first Cho, who was a crying fountain, and now Dawn..."
"Yeah..." Harry said, thinking it was probably best to leave out the part when Dawn had cried as well - Ron would never let him live it down if he told him.
"Oh, I'm sure there was a reason she left.Maybe she was in just as much shock as Harry is," Hermioned suggested.
"Why would she? If she wanted to kiss me...?" Harry looked even more confused, and Hermione sighed.
"Maybe she wasn't thinking. Maybe she got carried away. Strong feelings can make a person do such things," she explained patiently. Harry blinked stupidly.
"So you mean she didn't want to...?"
"No!" Hermione exclaimed, lookingfrustrated."How dense can you get? Honestly, Harry. She must have wanted it somewhere, deep inside, or else it wouldn't have happened, but at the same time, she didn't want it to."
"So you mean she wanted it, but didn't want it at the same time?" Harry asked slowly.
"Yes! Now you get it." Hermione exclaimed, smiling brightly. Her smile faltered, though, when she saw Harry's and Ron's looksof total confusion.She sighed. She had a feeling she would sit here a long time...
Tara was lying on the floor, bloodied and bruised. She was barely conscious, and everything was a blur around her.
"Shall we finish her off now, my Lord?" A Death Eater asked, sounding eager.
"No," Voldemort said coldly, and turned to another manwith platinum blonde hair that stood beside him."Lucius. I want you to leave her in the Forbidden Forest, so she will be found. She willperish there. It is closer to the Slayers."
"I understand, my Lord," Lucius bowed, lifted up Tara's body, and apparated out of there.
Voldemort turned to the rest of his followers, a cruel smile litting up his pale lips.
"Now, can you please ask our dear witch to come here?" He asked, swishing his wand, making all trails of blood and violence on the floor disappear.
The marauders sat in the Room of Requirement, laughing over old memories. Sirius felt his heart swell with happiness. They all were together again.
"So, Moony. What's up with you and Faith?" James asked, opening another bottle of Firewhuísky, and took a swig out of it, doing his best not to grimace too much.
'After all I'm a maaaaaaaaan. A macho-man. M. A. N. MAN!' He thought, then squeezed his eyes together. Were things becoming blurry?
"What are you talking about?" Remus asked innocently, although he felt the blush slowly rising on his cheeks.
"Oh, don't deny it!" Sirius laughed. "It's obvious you've got a thing for her."
Remus looked worried, as he broke a bar of chocolate in two pieces, giving one to Sirius, and popping the other one into his mouth.
"It is?" He asked.
"Well, it is to us,"Jamessluddered, taking another swig of the bottle."But that's because we. KNOW! You." He pointed the bottle at Remus. "I'm sure she doesn't...hic...know."
Remus groaned at Sirius, who looked amused at Remus' misery."Am I completely crazy?"
"No, no. Not crazy,"Sirius assured him."Only out of your mind," he added with a wide grin.
James laughed. "I think our dear Moony is in loooooove," he mooned, swaying slightly on the couch. Maybe he shouldn't have taken that lastsip of whisky...Lily was so going to kill him later...but for some reason, he couldn't seem to care...
"Oooh, Moony has a crush..." Sirius added teasingly, snickering.
"Stop it, you guys!" Remus protested."I'm serious!"
"No, I am." Sirius said. "You're Remus."
James burst out laughing, before hiccuping slightly, and Sirius grinned at his best friend, then turned back to Remus, who was banging his head against the wall, repeatedly.
"I'm doomed. What am I going to do?" He groaned.
Siriusgave James a look. "I think Remus' is serious about this,"hesaid. The only response he got from James was a glazed look. "I can't blame him," Sirius added to himself. "I mean, she's bloody gorgeous and all."
"Blooody goooogulous..." James mumbled, blinking slightly. "My Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiily..."
Sirius gave James a look of something between disgust and amusement, and then eyed the few empty bottles in front of James suspisciously.
"Okay..." he said slowly. "Apparantely, being dead has done something to you: You used to be able to hold yourbooze way better than this. Either that, or someone spiked your drink."
James burped, and Sirius rolled his eyes, giving James a slight push on the shoulder, and the stag-animagus fell down on the couch, snoring. Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"Well...that was fun," he muttered grumpily, but then lit up again, mischief visible in his eyes as he turned back to Remus, who suddenly felt really nervous.
"Back to you and Faith," Sirius said, leaning forwards, and Remus felt himself grew hot under the collar. He knew this 'marauders only'-evening had been a really bad idea...
"I can only see positive sides," Sirius continued. "After all, she can keep you in check under your transformations." A wicked smile started to grazehis lips. "I can almost see it. Faith and Moony wrestling in the woods..." He sighed dreamily. "What a thing."
Remus gave him a dirty look.
"Honstly, Padfoot. Grow up."
"Hey! I'm not the one in here with a teenager crush!" Sirius defended himself.
"It's not a crush!" Remus said.
"Well, what is it, then?"Sirius asked innocently, andto that, Remus didn't have an answer.
"Told you so. It's a crush." Sirius snickered. The only answer he got was a smack on his head.
At the same time as James was passed out, Sirius laughing, and Remus being in denying-mood,Vi, Rona and Buffy were out patrolling in the forest, when they suddenly saw something laying on the ground. They lifted their stakes, looking around suspisciously, senses hightened.
"What is it?" Vi wondered out loud, sounding hesitant.
"It looks like a body..." Rona whispered, eyes widening as she walked closer.
"Hey!" Buffy called. "Be careful!"
Rona, who had reached the body,kneeled down beside it, and turned it around so the face came upwards.
"It's a girl," she said. "Do you know who...?"
Buffy, who had caught up with them,stared at the body in disbelief.
"Oh, my God, it's Tara!"
"Tara?" Rona asked. "The Tara? Tara-'I-was-shot-and-killed-so-my-girlfriend-decided-to-end-the-world'-Tara?"
Buffy ignored the Slayer, and hastily kneeled down beside the bloodied and bruised form.
"Is she...is she dead?" Vi asked, eyes widened in horror.
Buffy checked for a pulse, and shook her head in response.
"No, she's alive...barely."
Willow stood in front of Voldemort.
"Willow, my dear, I am afraid I have bad news for you," he said. "Tara's dead."
Willow looked at him, not believing what he said. Her black eyes stared at him, and she felt a storm rage and sorrowsurge up through her body, overwhelming her.
Voldemort gave her a sad look.
"There was nothing we could do; the Slayers, I am not sure which ones, showed up. They were trying to get to you, and killed several death eaters in the process. Then they moved on to your lovers cell...they killed her," he explained slowly, as if he was talking with a child.
"What...why...what are you...?" Willow's voice were shaking with rage.
"I believe they thought they would get you back if they killed the one thing I used against you," Voldemort said,soundingtruly sorry. "So they killed her."
Willow didn't know what to believe. The light side in her tried to argue, that Buffy would never do such a thing, but the dark side was slowly convincing her otherwise.
"Where is...where is the body...?" She choked. Voldemort sighed.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but they took it."
Willow felt how the pain overwhelmed her and her hair once again turned black and blue veins appeared on her body. Blue sparks of power circled around her hands.
"What are you going to do about it, my dear?" Voldemort asked sadly.
Willow smiled cruelly.
"I'm going to kill them." And with a 'pop', she was gone, and Voldemort's sorrowfuls features immediately turned into ones of pure cruelty.
"Where's Madame Pomfrey!" Buffy screamed, running into the Great Hall, Tara in her arms.
All eyes in there turned to look at her.
"Oh, My God! Tara!" Dawn cried, while Xander and Anya just stared in shock.
The medi-witch hurried up to Buffy, and hastily checkedTara's condition. She shook her head sadly.
"It might be too late. We must hurry."
A/N: How do you like? Things are heating up a bit…poor Tara. And poor Willow, falling for Voldy's trick…is she going on another killing-spree in revenge? REVIEW!
/Ida