Letters

"Buffy, I need to tell you something…"

"What is it?" the Slayer asked, not slowing her pace even a fraction she was so intent on getting out of the hotel.

"I… Buffy, please, I need to be able to see your face when I tell you this." The blonde stopped and turned to face the dark man at her side. Most would describe this man as beautiful; that demon with an angel's face. Buffy saw pain, hope, love, and regret flashing through his dark eyes as he looked down at her. "I know you said you wanted to wait and… see who you would become before getting really close to anyone, but I love you. I never stopped, and I don't know how long I can deal with living only a floor above you, but never able to touch you."

"Angel, I told you I still love you. And you're right about me wanting to know who me is before adding someone else to the picture, but you're forgetting something." Buffy paused, looking at her surroundings, as if asking them for help with what she would say next. Angel closed his eyes, anticipating a rejection. "I still love you, too. I never stopped. If you think we can work this out, then who am I to say no?" The two smiled at one another, an understanding reached.

…

"Buffy! Faith took my Hot Pocket again! I told her not to this time, too!"

"Andrew, I'm really busy right now. Maybe Tara can help you?"

"But you're not doing anything. Just looking at a bunch of magazines with pictures of white dresses. Oh! Is someone else getting married? I want to be involved with this one, because Mr. Giles and Anya said I could be one of their groomsmen, but then they forgot to tell me what time they were getting married and where," Andrew whined.

"Yes I am. I know. Yes. You would have to talk to Angel, and that's not my problem."

"Who's getting married?"

"Her and Peaches. Don't you ever pay attention?" Spike grumbled as he took a packet of blood and a bowl of Jell-O out of the fridge.

"Please tell me you're not mixing those two items!" Buffy groaned. "If you do, you'll forever ruin Jell-O for me, and if I can't have Jell-O I'll never survive in a hospital!"

"Calm down, pet. Blood's for me; Jell-O's going to Xander."

"Oh good," the petite blonde breathed.

"Anyone else getting married soon?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Wanna know if it would be better to buy a suit or just keep renting."

"It would probably be more cost efficient for you if you just suck it up and buy one. I know it would ruin your wardrobe, but it must be done."

"Won't ruin it if the thing's black…"

"Whatever… And I think it'll be awhile before the next wedding after ours, but it's better to buy it just in case, and you can't outgrow it, so it'll be fine for decades."

…

"Buffy! Are you going somewhere?"

"Just for a walk. My last walk as Buffy Summers."

"As opposed to?"

"Buffy O'Conner."

"Point. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Sure. Don't wait up."

Buffy walked slowly down the street, watching as one by one the streetlights flickered on around her. She bought an ice cream at a small shop before it could close and headed to the park. She found a bench in the center of the park, a few feet from a stone fountain.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing out so late at night?" a man asked, walking slowly up to her.

"Just getting some air. And you?"

"I thought I might scare up some dinner before heading in. Then I saw you, sitting here all alone…"

"And you thought, 'Oh, wow! My lucky night! Dinner and dessert all in one!"

The man aimed a feral grin at her. "Something like that."

"Sorry," Buffy mock-pouted before dusting the vampire. "I'm really not in the mood right now." She shook her head and sat back down just as an owl swooped down and landed next to her, holding his leg up. Buffy looked down and gently removed the note from the owl's leg. The brown creature gently nipped her hand before taking off.

"Who are you from?" The girl mumbled to herself, pulling the letter open after breaking the seal. "Ah… Someone at Hogwarts. I wonder what they want." She slowly unrolled the letter and skimmed through, grinning when she reached the end. "Oh, Dawn's gonna be so jealous! I got a letter from Grandad!" She went back to the top, reading the flowing script carefully.

My Dearest Buffy,

How are you? I do hope this letter finds you well. It has been so long since I last heard from either you or Dawn. I hope nothing has happened like what did a few years ago. Your friends were well meaning, but there can be dire consequences to bringing back the dead. Alas, this is not a social letter, though I wish it were.

I have told you of the young boy, Harry Potter, on whose shoulders rests the fate of the wizarding world. He is again being plagued by visions and dreams of Voldemort. I know we have already discussed the fact that your place as the Slayer is in Sunnydale, protecting the Hellmouth, but I was hoping you may have some ideas as to how to protect young Harry from any more dangers he may be facing. I understand that you cannot leave Sunnydale, though perhaps one or two members of your group could take a yearlong 'sabbatical' in England, and watch over the boy during the school year?

If, however, you find yourself and your friends able to come, all of you will be welcome at Hogwarts. Please send me a response via Ares post haste. Thank you, my dear girl.

Your loving Grandfather,

Albus Dumbledore

Buffy immediately jumped up and ran back to the hotel, pushing past strangers who happened to be in her way. She didn't slow down even when she reached the hotel, brushing past her friends and fiancé to get to her room. Dawn walked by at that moment to see her sister tearing her room apart, obviously looking for something important.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"I can't find it!" Buffy huffed, lifting her mattress and checking under it.

"What are you looking for?"

"My wand! I know I packed it! I just can't remember where I left it!"

"I think you hid it under your jeans. Why do you need it?"

"I just got a letter from Grandad. Here, you read it," Buffy panted, tossing the letter to her sister.

Dawn read I through twice before looking up, stepping back as Buffy sat up from the upturned drawer that had once been in her dresser, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. "So are we going? You really aren't needed here anymore, and it might be fun to go to that school…"

"If you want, you and I will be going. I'm going to write him back and let him know that I will come and that I'll write him again when I found out how many others there will be."

"I'm betting seventeen."

"Why seventeen?"

"Everyone's going to want to come. Just watch. And why did you need your wand to write a letter? He accepts pen and pencil from us."

"I need to send the letter by Ares."

"Oh yeah."

The elder Summers rifled through her jewelry box until she found a necklace with a plain black rope and a very intricate marble carving of a owl hanging from it. Buffy swished her wand above it, muttering in Latin, and suddenly the necklace turned into a cream-colored owl with black feathers circling it's eyes. Buffy quickly wrote her response to her grandfather and tied it to her owl's leg.

"Hey Ares. I'm sorry I couldn't un-transform you in the last few years. Things have been really hectic lately. I tried to take good care of necklace you, though. And I promise that, no matter what happens next, I won't turn you back into that necklace." The owl blinked up at her slowly, then nibbled at her hair and took off out the door.

"Oops; forgot to open a window…"

… … … … …

A/N: Well? What do you think of that one? I tired to stay away from the relationships for this chapter, but they should be coming back later on in the story. Please review and let me know what you thought of this? There are still about eleven chapters to go. Yes, there is an end in sight. I just can't seem to write those LONG ones where, fifty chapters into it, they say that there may be an end in sight. BTW, I've written the past three chapters before posting a single one… shrugs

PS - Thanks to my reviewers! I don't have access to your names right now, but in the next chapter I will be sure to thank each of you indiviually. And... Kyra2 I think it was? No, you read correctly. I forgot to mention it in the summary (thanks for the reminder) but this will have some elements of slash (namely two couples). If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but that's just how this idea came to me...