A/N: Hehe, to everyone reading this, you can thank the posting of this chapter to

Gryffindor Goddess, because I'd hate to make her get off her pedestal to kick my ass!

And thanks Chrios, I know I am the devil incarnate! ; ). But anyways, this chapter starts

off right where the other left off. I repeated a couple of paragraphs to refresh your

memory. As always thank you for all of your support, and review ASAP! Oh! Wait,

there will be a couple of different POV's, but so I don't ruin the story by telling you

whose they are, I'll tell you right before it changes. Like always it starts off with Buffy.

Now you can read on.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Breathing'

I am looking past the shadows

Of my mind into the truth and

I'm trying to identify the voices in my head

God, which one's you

Let me feel one more time

What it feels like to feel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 8: Getting Dates

"You were fighting because of me?"

"Yes. He was fighting because of you, I was more defending myself because I

had no idea what he was talking about. Not saying I'm not willing to fight for you, I

mean, um, er... You know what I mean, Draco started it."

"Oh. Well, don't go so hard on him anymore. That guy's had it tough, and

although right now, ya, I still think he's a bit of a jerk, he'll turn up ok in the end."

"Like I said, I'll believe it when I see it. I mean he hit you! Wow. I never

thought he'd slug a girl like that. But, anyways, Professor McGonnagle said she'd like to

see you in Dumbledore's office. Something about a visitor." Buffy was stunned. A

visitor?

"Where's his office at?"

"Down that corridor. Take a left at the white knight, and another one three

hallways down. Go a ways and it's right behind the gargoyle, you can't miss it. The

password's Butterbeer." he smiled at her, and watched as she left him to go seek out

Dumbledore.

*Ok, white knight, need to find a white knight.* she thought to herself as she ran

down the passage. Finally she came upon the decorative piece and took a left. Buffy

counted the hallways she passed and once she got to three she turned again. Soon she

found a large gargoyle resting in front of a spiral staircase that was built into the stone in

the wall.

"Butterbeer." she said, and it leaped aside, letting her pass. She had no idea who

the visitor was. Maybe it was Giles. No, he didn't even know where she was. Climbing

the stairs she heard three different voices coming from inside. She froze instantly. It

couldn't be. It was impossible. Wasn't it?

Buffy opened the door and her first guess had been right. Sitting there in a black

leather coat was her first love. Angel took one look at her and smiled. He smiled. But

the thing was, it wasn't Angelous's smile. It was Angel's. Angel was back. But how?

"Hi Buffy." he said, walking up to her slowly.

"How... how did you..." she stammered. Her throat was dry, and she couldn't talk

right. He was dead. She killed him.

"I did it." another voice piped up from behind Angel. Stepping aside, Angel

moved to reveal that Willow was standing behind him.

"How?"

"I resurrected him. I woke up two days ago, and after I made Angel came back

we flew straight here. According to Dumbledore and Giles I'm one of the few people in

history to resurrect a vampire. Mr. Dumbledore has invited me here so I could have

proper training and also have a bud. I'm officially a student here."

"Oh my gosh! How awesome is that!" Buffy grabbed Willow in a bone crunching

hug. Willow was there. She was going to be a student there. Buffy knew she already

had Tru, but Tru didn't know her past enough to understand all of it. Will knew.

Looking around, she noticed Dumbledore's large chair was turned away from them, and

there was a arm resting on the side.

"Professor Dumbledore, are they going to be sorted or what?" she asked, and the

chair swung around. There sitting in it was Xander with his hands folder in his lap.

"We already had the sorting Buff, and we have the results. Sad to say, unlike you

and Will, I'm in Gryffindor." Buffy squealed and ran up to Xander and hugged him

before sighing at the fact that he wasn't going to be in her house.

"That sucks. How have you guys been though? I haven't seen you in like three

weeks. I was missing you guys."

"Slayage could use some work in the ol' Sunnyhell without you, but we all know

about that. What's with this place? We went to some alley and got school supplies. Did

you know that there are broomsticks? You can fly on them and everything!" Willow

exclaimed.

After the reunion, one which Angel did not participate in, the gang talked to

Dumbledore who was hidden away in some second office and found the sleeping

arrangements. Everyone except the vampire was staying in Buffy's room that night, and

afterwards Will was going to sleep in the regular dorm for girls. Xander would be in the

normal Gryffindor dormitories, but Angel on the other hand was getting a room opposite

of the one that the Slytherin Common Room was hidden behind. Because of Buffy's

avoidance of him, Angel eventually stalked away to his room and left them all to make

their way to the Slyth Common Room where Buffy insisted on having them meet Tru.

They stopped right in front of the hidden Common Room.

"To get inside there's a password. It's Fatima Dai Bolar. Remember it, 'cause it

won't open unless you say it. Here, you do it Will." Buffy said, stepping back from the

wall to let Willow try to open it. She spoke the words perfectly and it slid open.

"Yay, Will you did it! Now can we get inside? I'm freezing my butt off!" Xander

yelled before hopping in the room and right in front of the fireplace.

"Geeze! Jump right in front of Tru why don't you Xander!" Buffy said, smiling at

her friends. Seeing that they weren't alone in the room, she added, "We definitely need

some intros. Let's go to my room so we can have some privacy." They all followed

Buffy to her room upstairs.

Once inside they all sat on the bed and talked about everything. Tru didn't know

how it was possible that Willow had resurrected something with no training at all, and

was amazed as Buffy, Xander, and Will told their stories from the hellmouth. Tru told

her story to the new people, and eventually the gang got tired out and went to bed.

The next morning they trooped off to breakfast, and Buffy was more than a little

perplexed at how it could be that she wasn't happy. She had her buddies there, which

was now a twisted sort of revolutionized Scooby Gang, but still there was a hole. No,

more than a hole, a sort of gigantic Grand Canyon that had her trapped on the wrong side.

She played up being happy still, and wondered to herself how long it would be until the

act finally became reality. Until then, she'd just act the same as always...

As they entered the Great Hall everyone seemed to be shocked at the fact that

three Slytherin girls were having a tickle fight with a Gryff guy. After a couple of pieces

of toast, Xander eventually left Buffy's table to go to his own, and as if by fate sat right in

between Hermione and Harry.

XANDER POV:

"Hey, I'm Xander." he said, introducing himself to the guy next to him.

"Oh, hello. I'm Harry. Are you from America too? Like Buffy?" Harry asked.

Xander was kind of thrown. He knew Buffy?

"Ya. Me, Will, and the Buffster hung out back in Sunny D. How do you know

her?" Xander asked.

"You know that she has a sister, right?" he was blown away. Buffy said she

hadn't told anyone about her secret sis, yet here this guy was asking about it in the open.

"Ya."

"Well her sister is one of my best friends. That's how we were introduced. I'm

surprised she told you, she's been trying to hide it from people."

"I know all of her deepest darkest secrets." Xander said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I guess you both were close then. Did you two ever..."

"No. I asked but... She was always busy with... school. And she had a boyfriend.

I wasn't really great with the badboy image, and that was what she was into. I mean,

here comes the depressing legend himself." Xander said, nodding at Angel who emerged

from the shadows into the Great Hall. Harry made a very visible gulp. Xander almost

laughed out loud. Buffy had been there for less than a month and already had groupies.

"You like her, don't you?" Xander asked.

"No! I've only known the girl for a while and plus she's in Slytherin!"

"Who care's if she's in Slytherin or not? She just in there because of the whole

Slaying thing, oh, I mean the laying thing. Ya, there was a whole laying thing back at

school, took a lot out of her." Xander couldn't believe he'd slipped up that much.

"She got laid and got in trouble for it?"

"Well, we had a very strict policy on that." The bell rang, and Xander jumped up

as high as humanly possible. He ran to Buffy and Willow to get away from Harry.

"You look spazed Xand, what's up?" Buffy asked him.

"Nothing, who said anything would be wrong? I never said anything was wrong,

no sir-y, I didn't." he said.

"Whatever, I gotta talk to Harry, meet you guys at the library." Buffy said.

Xander watched as she walked away chasing after the guy that had a major crush on her.

Why wouldn't she ever run to him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy POV:

"Harry!" she yelled, trying to catch up with him as he made his way outside.

Probably to spend the rest of his Saturday outside with his buds. He stopped and turned

around suddenly, and Buffy ran into his chest with a little squeak.

"Whoa! You ok?" he asked. She looked up into his eyes, a radiant emerald that

sparkled with hope and anticipation. She remembered when she had that spark...

"Ya, I'm fine," she said, regaining her thoughts, "I need to talk to you later. Like

when no one else is awake to interrupt."

She knew Harry must have understood because he said, "Where do you want to

meet? I'll use my invisibility cloak."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm getting a headache." Willow commented, rubbing her throbbing head. They

had been doing research for the last six hours. At about eight Harry and Xander met with

Tru, Will, and Buff in Buffy's room to find anything on the mysterious hints. So far they

hadn't gotten anything useful.

"I say we call it quits," Buffy agreed. They didn't have enough leads to go on,

and running on less than four hours of sleep didn't help.

"I say we all camp out here. It's just easier." Xander commented.

"Ok." Harry said, but also added, "Buffy, can I talk to you in private?" she

nodded, what could he possibly need to talk about in private? They went into the training

room and Buffy turned to him.

"What's up?"

"Would you...er... would you mind..." what was he trying to say?

"Do you wan to go out with me?" he finally blurted out. She was startled. What

would a relationship between them mean? That he would get hurt... Or worse. She

wasn't ready. Oh, screw it, she knew she was ready. Especially if it was going to be

him. He was already one of those annoying (but much needed) voices in her head telling

her to keep a cool head. He was already with her...

"I...I..." she stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"You don't have to say anything yet, take your time. I don't want to rush." he

said, and embarrassed, left the room.

...Two Days Later...

"Are you going to go to the dance?" Willow asked Buffy. Buffy remembered the

announcement the day before announcing that in one week there was going to be a sort of

'Fall Ball'. She almost said no, but then remembered Harry.

"I'm not sure." she decided she would go if Harry asked. She liked him, but had

avoided him since the other day, not sure yet what to say to his request for her to be his

girl. The whole thing had been weird. They weren't just friends, but she wasn't sure she

wanted them to be a couple.

"I will if someone cool asks." Will said, and Buffy looked behind them to see

Xander racing towards them.

"Where have you been? You were gone all day! You skipped classes!" she said,

looking down at her watch to see that it was already 3:15 p.m..

"I got myself a date to the dance." Xander said, very please with himself.

"Who!" both Willow and Buffy exclaimed.

"Tru." he said very plainly. What! How could he be going with Tru!?! This was

so... so... cool! Two of her best friends were hooking up! How awesome!

"Are you both going out?" she had to ask.

"I don't know. It's under debate. She wants to think about it first." he said shyly.

They walked in the common room and up into Buffy's room. They put down their books,

and Xander and Willow sat down on the bed, talking about the dance and what they

would be wearing. Buffy went over to the training room door to see it ajar. Silently she

creeped up to it, and as quick as possible jumped into it.

Buffy gasped in shock as she entered the hidden room. Rose petals covered the

floor in a blanket of crimson red, and a simple brown chair stood in the middle along

with a note and a single perfect vermilion rose. Buffy tread softly across the room to

read the letter, which said 'Please be my date to the dance. Harry.' Willow came in and

read the note over her shoulder and giggled.

"You so have to go!" Willow screamed, but Buffy was still in shock. How had he

set this up? That room was huge and not an inch was left uncovered. A slow smile

stared to come to her face, and she jetted out of the room. She ran straight to the library

and saw Harry sitting at a table with his friends (including Hermione).

She walked right up to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the chair and

to a private corner behind a bookshelf. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she crashed

her mouth on his. His eyes widened, not sure what was happening. His must have gotten

out of shock, because he put his arms around her, leaning into the kiss. She opened her

mouth and made the kiss more passionate, only to have him pull back because of his lack

of air.

"I guess that's a yes." he smiled, panting.

"To both questions." she said, and grabbed the back of his neck to pull him down

into another kiss. Running her hands through his hair, she held him to her. He pulled her

closer and once again she opened her mouth, but again he wouldn't open his. She

realized something, he didn't know how to French! That was why he wouldn't open his

mouth! She let go of him.

"No, see open your mouth," he looked at her skeptically, "Just do it." He

obediently opened his mouth, and she put her lips around his mouth, and shoved her

tongue inside. His eyes got wider. She inwardly smiled as their tongues dueled, his

unskilled and hers winning by a long shot.

They separated, and she said, "See you later." She turned around and left, not

wanting him to see the tears slowly falling from her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry POV

Harry sat in the library doing his Potions homework. He was nervous, but who

could blame him? He had just done one of the most embarrassing things he could have

done; sprinkled 200 rose petals on Buffy's floor and asked her to the dance. He was such

an idiot. The roses were to much. He wasn't proposing, why did he have to do that.

A slam knocked him out of his thoughts as he looked up to see a red faced Buffy

walk in the room, straight at him! He was expecting her to yell at him, to scream at him

for being so stupid. Instead she grabbed his arm and pulled him up, leading him into the

back. Where was she dragging him?

Then she kissed him. And goodness did it feel good. She smelt like the roses and

hunny, something that in itself was intoxicating. Then she opened her mouth. Why was

she opening her mouth? Was she trying to talk? Then air became an issue and he pulled

away.

"I guess that's a yes." he managed to say.

"To both questions." she said. Yes! She was his. Well, not really, but he felt like

she was. She was there, and at the moment she was grabbing his neck to pull him down

so they could kiss more. He wasn't used to this. He'd only been kissed one other time

and then Cho never opened her mouth. What was that all about?

"No, see open your mouth," he was going to say no, but she looked at him sweetly

and said, "Just do it." He opened his mouth, expecting her to laugh at him, but instead

she kissed him, only different. And good God her tongue was in his mouth! In his

mouth! That wasn't right, but yet he didn't want it to stop. She tasted sweet, oh, she

tasted so sweet. He almost groaned when she broke the kiss, and said she was going to

leave. He didn't want her to leave.

He grinned. *Note to self: Buy roses more often*

A/N: Sorry for the hold up, the last month has been hell so leave me alone. Pairings are

still under debate. Hope you liked this chapter. It's kinda strange, but bear with me

people! I had three more chapters done, but the pairings were so screwed up it was like a

horrible magical Dawson's Creek! Ugh! Read, Review, Pray that muses have sympathy

and help me out.