The good news is this chapter is in. The bad news is that I either broke or stoved (however you spell that) my left pinky finger and it has slightly slowed down my typing. It hurts a lot, but that's nothing pain killers won't fix. Oh and lots of reviews, that might help (hehe). Once again major gratitude to my reviewers.
matt: Oh god the terrible twos. He is a good boy though, I wasn't kidding when I called him an angel. Yeah, I liked Vi too, one of the only potentials I actually did like. She'll have bigger parts in the story including a possible romance with one of the Weasley twins. I hope you had a better week this week.
vampy the chosen one: Clever, I like that. Thanks. All I can say about Sirius is it's still on the drawing board. I'm sorta, well very, indecisive and my thoughts keep switching back and forth on that. And Andrew is a geek, but an adorable geek. And yes Xander getting a g/f will be a tricky thing to do. But he's still in grief mode so I get to put that off.
trunkstheslayer: Wow Matthew is that you? Gee I never woulda guessed (sarcasm by the way) lol. Mmmmmm Spike. Got a quarter I can use?
love_orthelack_thereof: First off I gotta commend you for the penname anonymous or not. That's just cool and clever. I'm flattered with the praise. And don't die, but if you do Xander will bring you back cuz that's what he does.
SPASH Panther: You'll see.
Arienna: Ah damn you made me blush and that's not good for my complexion. Thanks so much and I'm glad you like it and the Firewell twins. Hope to hear from you again.
ScruffyWes: Yeah Willow won't be making with the resurrection spells and you're right about the urn. My little brother Damien just started reading the fifth book and I just know how disappointed he'll be when he reads that part. I put myself in denial for a while of which my sister is still living in about Sirius. Like I said above I'm still undecided on that issue. Andrew rocks!
TriquetraWarrior: Yeah Spike was dead, but he came back on Angel. The way he came back in this fic is canon in fashion mostly, but a little different.
Thanks also to: gyver21, TTrunks, Silver Warrior, blondi gurl, Tiger Tiger2, and harmoni9.
I did the borrowing quotes thing again with the Series Finale, Chosen. So they're not mine.
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An eerie quiet had descended upon the Dining Hall and everyone, even those who did not comprehend what was happening did not say a word. Someone had silenced Faith's cd player to make the effect even more ominous. Buffy had not moved from her spot. Ginny and Harry looked at her anxiously watching a strange play of emotions run across her face and watching her breath slow down and then speed up erratically. Then their attention went back to the group that had just walked in.
"See you all had a welcome-back party planned and everything," Spike quipped breaking the awkward silence.
"Uh yeah, we thought we might just drop by and tell you one of your number is back from the dead," Lorne said laughing nervously.
Dawn had her hand clapped over her mouth after shouting Spike's name. She was afraid to say it again for fear of him disappearing. She slowly walked up to the entrance and faced him.
"Spike? Is it really you?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
The vampire looked down at himself and looked back at Dawn. "I hope so."
She launched herself into his arms and began sobbing. Spike seemed a little confused and didn't know what to do at first, but he relaxed and wrapped his arms around the girl.
"I'm kinda glad I joined this group now cuz it seems every time someone kicks it they come back," Faith remarked.
"Well, that's not true cuz-Ow!" Andrew yelped in pain and rubbed his arm where Jordan had grabbed it and squeezed to shut him up.
"Buffy? Are you okay?" Willow asked cautiously.
Buffy was still in a state of shock, but at the sound of her best friend's voice she snapped out of it. Summoning some courage she walked up to Spike. Dawn had disentangled herself from his arms and Xander had gently pulled her away so the renegade vampire stood right in front of the Slayer both their eyes locked on one another. Everyone in the hall held their breath as Buffy tentatively reached out to touch him. Her hand lightly brushed up against Spike's duster and she pulled it back assured that he was indeed solid and real.
"You son of a bitch," she whispered with a peculiar smile forming on her face and then she embraced him.
He closed his eyes as he held her. "Finally get you to hug me like this and all I needed to do was die."
Buffy let him go and laughed. "Shut up."
An awkward silence followed on everyone's part before Spike spoke up. "So, Peaches tells me you joined forces with the wand nutters. I've snacked on a few of them myself back in the day. Right tasty the magic makes their blood."
Revulsion shown on just about everyone's face and every witch and wizard in the room fidgeted nervously in their spots when he said that.
"Okay, one: don't talk about that in front of them and two: how did you get back?" Buffy said.
"It was that soddin trinket you gave me. Apparently Peaches was opening up a piece of mail in his shiny new CEO office in the law firm from hell and it fell out and then I came out of it," he explained matter-of-factly.
"Actually it was more like you were being rematerialized out of your ashes. Or like someone video-taped your fiery death and hit rewind oh and there was the screaming too," Lorne reminded before lifting a glass of butterbeer to his lips.
"I got that amulet from Angel. Who gave it to you?" Buffy turned to her former lover seeking for an answer.
The tall vampire would have blushed guiltily if that had been possible in his undead state. As it was he was only able to furrow his brow. "Some woman gave it to me saying it would be helpful to your fight in Sunnydale."
That was all he said and the stubborn slayer would have pressed for more of an answer, but right now she was more interested in Spike. She wanted to ask if he had been in...she couldn't even think it. Not after all he had suffered and sacrificed could she even fathom him suffering in hell like Angel had been. He looked sane enough and definitely not savage and animal-like such as Angel had been on his return from hell. Of course the middle of a Dining Hall amidst a party with almost complete strangers who probably were terribly confused by now was not the place to pursue that delicate subject.
"How long have you been back?" Dawn asked having gotten hold of her wayward emotions.
"Um....well...you see...I was a little unsure of how to confront you about this and..." Spike stammered.
Fred seeing that he had already given away that he had been back long enough to contact them before now stepped in. "He's been back for a couple of weeks, but he didn't know how to tell you guys and he didn't want us to tell you yet. I mean, put yourself in his place, it wouldn't have been easy for you either."
"Well, it woulda been nice of you to drop us a line though," Buffy muttered with her familiar pout forming on her face.
"I couldn't just call you up and say, 'Hey Buffy, guess what? I'm alive! Yeah, I'm not a pile of red dust at the bottom of the Hellmouth like you thought I was. Let's get lunch.'" His voice was laced with sarcasm and the familiar cockiness that was somewhat comforting to hear for Buffy.
By now Harry and his friends along with the other witches and wizards were lost and feeling a little out-of-place. Although Tonks seemed to be happily unaware of what was going on concerning the vampire as she was engaged in a conversation with Willow.
"I probably would have come soon even if they hadn't shone up toting the new slayers with them. Don't know how much longer I could have stood in the presence of the Poofter," Spike mumbled and Angel's already ingrained scowl deepened.
"Okay, will you cut that out already? It's not like I wanted you around either," he retorted.
They kept exchanging insults that were so commonplace to Fred, Gunn, and Lorne the three of them just sighed and rolled their eyes.
"They'll tire of it eventually," Gunn assured everyone else his voice full of exasperation.
"I don't know. You think we can get them to actual physical fighting? Possibly with oil or mud added to the mix? Or chocolate?" Faith suggested with a sinful grin upon her face.
Buffy and quite a few other girls couldn't help but smile and giggle at the visions that created. Others were not so happy to hear it, however; particularly Xander.
"Thank you Faith. I will never look at chocolate again as long as I live," he said as he disgustedly set down the piece of cake he had been eating.
"Yeah, I tried that once. Failed miserably," Jordan told him.
When it seemed like the insult trading was about to turn violent Buffy placed a calming hand on Spike's chest.
"If you guys are done acting like you're teenagers to which my god you guys are way way way too old for that; can we get back to Earth for a moment?" she said.
"Sorry," Spike and Angel mumbled simultaneously.
"So, if you're not staying at Wolfram and Hart where are you going to stay?" Dawn asked.
"I, uh, have no idea Nibblet. Wouldn't mind staying here in the mother country that is if Merlin over there will let me," he replied.
Dumbledore seemed to be deep in thought and didn't answer right away. His gaze rested on Buffy who made a gesture saying, "It's up to you."
"I believe that can be arranged."
"Professor you can't be serious! He's a vampire!" McGonagall protested.
"One of the Scourge of Europe no less," Lupin added although it was more of an informative statement than a means to dissuade Dumbledore from his choice.
"Hey! I won't snack on anyone! I have a soul now!" Spike retorted defensively.
"I do not believe he will harm anyone Minerva. If he does I am sure Miss Summers and Miss Faith will deal with him as they see fit since he is a vampire and they are the Vampire Slayers," the old man assured her his voice soft but holding that note of unquestioning finality.
The Transfiguration professor's lips tightened and her face became enflamed with anger, but she held her tongue and set her disapproving glare on the vampire. Spike dutifully returned her glare with a cheeky smirk which made lips thin even more. He scanned the room and noted the new and familiar faces. Some of the potentials he recognized like Rona, Vi, and Shannon. He saw that strange potential Jordan standing and talking beside the boy, Andrew, and another boy that looked so much like her he assumed it was her brother. He was a little surprised she had survived that battle because the last he saw of her she had been sporting quite a bit of stab wounds and looked like she had been about to keel over any minute. Then he frowned when he failed to see a certain person.
"Oi! Where's demon girl?" he asked the Scoobies.
"They didn't tell you?" Giles inquired.
Spike was quick to grasp the concept and hung his head. With their little "encounter" on the table in the Magic Box aside, Spike had never really been that close to the former vengeance demon, but her apparent death was still saddening. Plus she had always been a great form of comic relief and the humiliation she unwittingly dealt on Xander had been priceless.
"No." He slid an irritated frown at Angel.
"Well, she didn't make it," Buffy said softly.
To a lot of people's great surprise the vampire actually walked over to Xander, who was looking very forlorn at the mention of his ex-fiancé's demise, and patted him on the back in sympathy.
"Sorry mate. She was a right catch that one. At least she went out fightin," Spike offered as comfort.
Xander nodded grimly and slid a look at Andrew. "She went out a hero. Died saving Andrew."
Demon girl dies while that little ponce survives? Spike didn't bother pondering how he managed to survive even with Anya's help. He was slightly shamed for not asking about who survived back at Wolfram and Hart. All he had really cared about was Buffy and Dawn, but he did like Willow and Anya. Giles wasn't so bad either, and sometimes he could stand Xander. He also noticed that bint Kennedy wasn't apart of the group and another wave of guilt for actually feeling somewhat happy about that hit him. He noticed Red was busy talking to a girl with spiked purple hair. Guess Kennedy is out of the picture.
"So who's the party for?" he asked.
"Um, Harry mostly cuz it's his birthday, but a little bit for Ginny too cuz she was just made a prefect," Dawn answered before remembering that Spike probably had no idea who those people were.
They were quick to ramble through the introductions while pointing out the people. Spike was a little happy to note that those that didn't know him were slightly wary and afraid of him. The stern looking professor that had been so against his staying at Hogwarts a while was still giving him a death stare.
"So this is a school is it? For wee bitty wand nutters?" Spike asked.
Dumbledore chuckled at the nickname while most every other magical person took slight offense.
"You know, Dawn is one of us now," Jordan told him.
"Us? You mean you're a wand nutter too? And Nibblet?" Spike fixed an incredulous look on the youngest Summers woman.
"Isn't it cool? I shoulda been told earlier, but the Hellmouth bleeped out my signal so they didn't notice me. And Jordan was a witch the whole time, she just had to keep it secret and stuff," Dawn said her eyes sparkling with delight.
"Oh," Spike replied with a look of surprise on his face. "And what does big sis say about this?"
Buffy shrugged. "I'm okay with it. I get to train the girls here at Hogwarts so I get to stay close."
Spike drank in the sight of his lady love. Her blonde hair was pulled back but hung in messy, yet attractive strands around her heart-shaped face and he was relieved to see that she had put on a bit more weight as she had started to look a bit malnourished and much too thin for his tastes during the months preceding their last major fight. Her face seemed to glow with a fierce joy and the weariness that had sat upon her shoulders and endured within her blue-green eyes was lifted somewhat. The burden of being the world's sole defender had been lifted, but she was still the Slayer and ever a warrior at heart. He felt the desire to be alone with her burn within him. There were things that needed to be sorted out, like their last words to one another among others.
"I love you."
"No you don't, but thanks for saying it."
Had she meant it? He didn't know. He had only denied it because he was afraid that she might have stayed down there with him and had not been able to get out. That girl, he couldn't remember her name, but that girl that he had helped Buffy save from a bunch of demon summoning teenagers had said to him that she would one day tell him. Had that been what the girl meant? Of course Spike had been a little, well a lot, insane at the time. So it was a little hard to differentiate between reality and illusion at the time.
Buffy seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him as she had quietly excused herself from the area and made a motion towards Spike beckoning him to follow. Thankful (and not for the first time) that his heart no longer beat he followed her. Through torch-lit passageways adorned with gleaming suits of armor that made Spike feel as he had stepped into a time rip and ended up in the Middle Ages they walked until Buffy stopped before a portrait of a cemetery. After saying the password the portrait swung open and Buffy stepped in.
"Come on," she said to Spike. "These are the slayer's quarters."
He stepped in after her and beheld a gloomy hallway littered with doors in which a few here and there had some posters or stickers on them. He wondered which room was Buffy's, but his unasked question was quickly taken care of when she opened up the first door on the right.
"Faith and I share this one. It's actually two rooms connected to each other," she explained pointing to another door in her room.
"So this is your new bedroom?" he questioned trying not to sound sly or imply anything whatsoever.
"Yeah. It's pretty big and the fireplace thing is cool," she said casually.
"You going to stay at Hogwarts now or is it just for the school year?" he asked.
"Dawn and I are going to stay with Giles at his place in Bath. I'm not sure about Xander and Willow. I think they were talking about getting an apartment there so they could stay close. I mean, they're welcome to live with Giles of course, but his place isn't that big," she replied.
The room was furnished with a punching bag in one corner, a weapon's chest, a dark wooded wardrobe, a four poster bed with a navy blue bedspread, a large window with golden curtains that hid a cushioned sill for a person to sit and stare out at the world beyond the whitewashed walls. A dark green armchair and loveseat were set in front of the fireplace. Nothing from Sunnydale could have been salvaged so there were no little bits of memorabilia in the room. None of those photos of Buffy and her friends and family to stick on the mirror or frame and hand on the wall. It was a sad thought that all of those little things Buffy had treasured had been lost. On the mantle of the fireplace laid the mysterious scythe Buffy had effortlessly lifted from stone right before the sadistic preacher, Caleb.
"See you're still sportin the holy hand grenade," he commented dryly.
"Yeah. Actually Faith and I go back and forth with it, but she insisted I keep it in here with me since I was the one who went in the vineyard and got it. We use it with the slayers sometimes during training. Dawn stays in the Gryffindor dormitory with Jordan and the rest. When school starts back up she'll probably move to the Slytherin dorms. Slytherin and Gryffindor are two houses in Hogwarts that students get sorted into. I don't remember what the others are, but there are qualities that go to each house or something like that and they get sorted by a talking hat. At least that's what Xander and Will told me," she said.
"Speaking of Faith, is everything alright between you two?" he asked raising his scarred eyebrow.
"Actually we've been getting along pretty well. It's sorta like old times before she went temporarily evil. I would never be able to get through all this stuff without her and don't you dare tell her I said that." Buffy shot Spike a warning glower.
"Secret's safe with me love. So Nibblet's been doing some hocus pocus? How is she doing?" Spike asked.
"She's really good at it. I think her keyness might factor into it, but she's come really far in such a short time. Already studying at the third year level I hear. She does complain about that one class, History of Magic, quite a bit, which I get," Buffy said.
"Is she okay here? After all that's happened?" he inquired with concern.
"She's coping pretty well. Dawn is really happy here and I think she and Harry like each other and he seems like a nice boy," she said.
"What about you?" he murmured.
Buffy sighed deeply. "I'm...what can I say? Good, yeah. Great, sometimes. We come across this whole other world and a part of that world lived in my house for four months and I never really noticed. And now we got this new big bad, Voldemort and that kid Harry has got a lot riding on his shoulders not to mention he's been through hell the past year. There's this prophecy that says only he can kill Voldemort. So protecting him and preparing him is partly why we're here. Hermione is a friend of Harry's and a slayer now so we're training her. We finished one battle only to get sucked into another basically. But, that's my life. Can't fight it, might as well go with it. I know I'm not the only slayer anymore, but I'm the one with the most experience now and I can't just stop fighting you know."
Spike nodded in understanding. While he had occasionally fed on the foolish witch or wizard that happened to cross his path he didn't know much on the Voldemort story. All he could recall was: evil wizard then evil wizard go poof and disappear. He hadn't really cared at the time since that was back in his pre-soul days. He only lived for the hunt and Drusilla and the quest and eventual slaying of slayers.
"So, where were you? You don't seem like one who has been tortured for an inconceivable amount of time or are you just really British?" she asked softly.
Spike shrugged. "Truthfully, I have no idea. Last thing I remember was bein at the bottom of the bloody hellmouth and then the next moment I was in Peaches' office with his mates. Naturally I thought I was in hell, which was close apparently since it was Wolfram and Hart."
"Really?" Buffy said.
"If I was somewhere then I don't remember. Maybe that's a good thing," he said nonchalantly.
Buffy thought that that was something worth looking into, but since he didn't seem to be worried about it she let the issue drop for the moment. She had searched his blue eyes that were so colorfully contrasting to Angel's dark eyes, but were the same in intensity. The soul-searching thing through the eyes hadn't worked or Buffy didn't understand what she had seen. She was hoping that wherever he had been it had not been hell and if it was he would never regain his memory of it.
Spike cleared his throat to get her attention which had wavered for a moment. "What you said...before I..." he trailed off.
"I meant it. I do love you, just not like you love me," Buffy plainly responded, but her voice soon became soft and apologetic.
"Oh," he whispered sounding disappointed.
"I'm sorry Spike. I don't mean to...I mean...you're a great friend and I trust you...with my life. You were there for me when no one else was when even my friends had abandoned me. You gave me the strength to go back and face Caleb; you were my rock. So yeah, I do love you like I love Xander and Willow and I know that's not what you want to hear," she rambled until Spike cut her off.
"No, it's okay. I have your trust and friendship and I guess that's all I'll ever get. I guess that's good enough for me," he muttered making in plain it would never be good enough in his heart, but he was willing to accept it.
"God, when did it get so complicated? Whatever happened to the vampire-slayer hate-hate relationship? Love just complicates things," she mumbled bitterly.
"True, but why else do we keep fighting in this world? If it weren't for love we really would have no reason to live," he said.
At times Buffy thought Spike could be extremely crude, but there were times when he sounded remarkably wise and insightful. She watched him examine her room noticing that his usually slicked back platinum blonde hair was a little mussed up, which she thought suited him better.
"How did you guys get here?" she inquired.
"Um, that flooing bit. I thought Angel had lost his bleedin marbles when he told me to step in a fireplace after sprinkling some dusty stuff on it. I would only do it after Fred did it. I actually kinda like that girl, she reminds me of Red with the science rubbish and all," he remarked.
"Yeah, we'll probably be seeing more of her here," Buffy said.
"What for?" he asked.
"Did you see the major chemistry going on between her and Wes? He's staying here to instruct the slayers on demon lore and all that mumbo jumbo. And of course he's doing his other watcher duties to train the slayers. Giles is working on getting the Council headquarters rebuilt in London, but we're gonna set up bases all around the world," she informed him.
"Wesley and Fred," Spike said thoughtfully. "Gotta hand it to Watcher Junior, he's got a fair eye for the ladies."
"Speaking of ladies I should probably get those new girls settled. And I'm sure Dawn is going to want to pummel you with questions and talk about boys." She grinned when she saw Spike's wince.
"Oh bloody hell she better not still be into those ruddy boy bands," he groaned.
"Don't worry, while she might not listen to the Sex Pistols she's totally out of the whole pop thing, in Dawn's words that was so 1999," Buffy replied.
"Thank god," he said.
As they stepped out of the portrait and headed back to the Dining Hall, Spike gave a startled "What the hell?" and Buffy whirled around.
"What? What is it?" she demanded.
Spike's kept opening and closing his eyes and was waving his hands over the portrait.
"I'm not going mad am I? I swear that bloke wasn't there when we went it," he whispered. "Cripes he's moving!"
Buffy looked where he was pointing and sure enough there was a vampire standing in the cemetery licking his lips with his gleaming yellow eyes boring into the two outside of the portrait. Buffy just let out a breath of relief and pulled him along the passageway.
"It's a thing," she explained.
"People movin in portraits, a ceiling that looks like the outside sky, wand nutters galore; what else does this place got?" he asked sardonically as he and Buffy walked up a staircase.
His question was soon answered when his foot sunk into the third step from the top.
"Hey!" he yelped.
"Trick steps," Buffy said matter-of-factly.
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Coming up: It's the end of August and Fudge wants to evaluate the two slayer-witches attending Hogwarts in order to be sure of their stability. And he may just have other plans for them.