Author's Note: Love to Grace, who inspired me in ways I never thought possible… by threatening something evil. Happy holidays to you all! This is the first story I chose to update because this was something I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. This is the private battle of wills between a distraught Willow and an irate, semi-psychotic Slayer Faith. Again, this is a longer chapter. A lot happens in this chapter, so be warned. There are a few Half-Blood Prince spoilers because of a few things that are starting to happen. Something old seems to reignite… something new seems to come out from beneath… and something darker begins to take form. Buckle up, because the ride is just beginning…

x-o-x

Chapter 17

Her Will Be Done

x-o-x

The sunlight was barely coming through the windows as Willow lifted her head warily off her pillow, staring behind her thick curtains to the beautiful November day beyond. "It's morning," she said unnecessarily, falling back onto the bed beside her best friend. Buffy Summers was lying on the bed next to her, soft hazel eyes boring into Willow's face. "We've been up all night."

"Looks like it," Buffy yawned, pushing herself up on her elbow and gazing outside. Willow glanced at her watch and saw that it was already ten past seven. "You feeling better?"

Willow, who had just spent the entire evening pouring her heart out to her friend, shrugged and tipped her head back onto Buffy's shoulder. "I miss having someone to talk to."

"What about that Keira girl you were telling me about?" Buffy frowned.

"It's different between us than between us," Willow emphasized. "No one could replace you."

It was true: no one could replace Buffy in Willow's eyes. Despite the fact that Faith had done some serious injury to the blonde Slayer, which apparently included splashing her face with some sort of acidic compound, Buffy still looked as strong as ever. Her hand and wrist had both been crushed when an anvil weighing close to two tons was dropped on her from above. The one thing that saved her life was the fact that Buffy had dove out of the way, but the cost was still high. Buffy still wore the sling, but Willow cringed whenever she saw the deep bruises still scarring Buffy's face and saw the same bruising on her best friend's arm. Beautiful as she was, it was still tragic.

And yet they had been talking all night long. She had flung herself into Buffy's arms the moment she had recognized her. After she had spent a few moments sobbing her heart out into Buffy's shoulder, she realized that there was another figure standing in the hallway hovering over the fallen form of her boyfriend. Collapsing against Buffy, Willow had watched as Harry, his hand covering his bloody nose, gaped at the two women. Xander Harris, massaging his left hand from his fierce hook, had politely stepped around Harry after cheerfully apologizing for hitting him. Harry just got to his feet, muttering. It unsettled him to see Willow sobbing into the stranger's shoulder. It made even less sense that someone that she obviously knew had just defended her honor by dealing him a vicious left hook. The guy hit pretty well for being all string bean-like.

Xander had then run and swept Willow into such a fierce hug that Harry seemed stunned by the emotion behind it all. It was clearly obvious these three had some sort of history. What made matters even more intriguing was the way Willow hugged him. It wasn't the hug of a lover; no… it was the hug of a true friend. Recalling Willow's fond stories of her best friends from California, Harry deduced that these were them. Which meant that the small blonde had to be the vampire Slayer Willow had told them about.

His eyes narrowed as he gazed at her. She was quite small and rather skinny. In fact, she looked like she wouldn't be able to hold her own against someone like Pansy Parkinson. She had an air of distinct dottiness about her that made Harry think she was more of an airhead than someone he could count on. But as he met her eyes, he saw something raw that scared the dickens out of him. There was bruising across her jaw and the left side of her face. Her left arm was in a sling. Though injured in some fierce battle, there was something remarkable about her.

It was then he turned away. Willow had just dragged both people back into her room and closed the door. The sound echoed through the hallway. He saw curious faces peering out from behind cracked-open doors, hoping to catch more drama. Cursing under his breath, he realized that their entire argument had just been witnessed by a large group of students he had once gone to Hogwarts with. Storming towards the stairwell, he felt his bruised nose and his eyes watered.

Inside her room, Willow glanced at Padma, who sat there staring curiously at the blonde woman and the dark-haired man. "Guys," she began nervously, "this is Padma Patil, my roommate. Padma, this is Buffy Summers and Xander Harris, two of my best friends from Sunnydale."

Padma's eyes lit up as she gazed at Xander, who was rather good looking in a scruffy sort of way. But her eyes positively gleamed as she gazed at Buffy. "You," she whispered, "you're… her?"

"I'm her what?" Buffy asked politely as she exchanged a quick look with Xander, who rolled his eyes.

"You… is she the one you told me about?" Padma asked Willow in a hushed voice.

Willow nodded twice, still dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.

"Blimey!" Padma gasped, jumping to her feet. "I… oh, wow!" She was trembling now as she gazed at Buffy with something like reverence in her eyes. "I'm sorry, you must think me a silly fangirl..." She took a deep breath. "I'll… I'll clear out and let you three… catch up."

"Actually," the one called Xander said, frowning as he gazed at the door. "I think I'll go figure out where the others went."

"Others?" Willow squealed.

"You know, Giles, Anya…" Her voice trailed off delicately. "Oz."

Willow suddenly froze, her eyes widening. "You brought Oz?" she asked softly.

"And this is when I clear out," Xander said quickly, practically running to the door and throwing it open. "You coming?"

Padma, who was still gazing rather fondly at Buffy, seemed to shake herself out of her reverie and quickly ducked through the door. Xander gave both girls a small wink and a half-wave before closing the door behind him.

The moment they were gone, Willow sat down, breathing hard.

"Willow, what's going on?" Buffy asked, sitting down on the other side of her best friend. "You look like crap."

Willow nodded miserably. "I think it started when Faith showed up and it kind of spiraled out of control from there."

Buffy's face seemed to harden as she pushed herself back against Willow's mountain of pillows and stuffed animals. "Well, that's why I'm here."

Willow turned to look at Buffy, her face fearful. "What are you talking about?"

"I've been given the Council's blessing to bring her down… dead or alive," Buffy said grimly. "Apparently they didn't take too kindly on the fact that Faith nearly killed her welcoming committee."

"She put you in the hospital, too," Willow echoed. "What did she do to you? You look terrible."

"We had a fight at one of those chemical plants just south of town," Buffy sighed, leaning her head against a large teddy bear. "It was brutal. She got the higher ground and I paid for it."

"But your healing…"

"I've healed as much as I could," Buffy replied. "Trust me… I looked a lot worse about a week ago. I had a cup-full of acid thrown in my face. I had an anvil used to crush stuff dropped on my head. I barely managed to get out of that but I still ended up with this." She indicated her arm in the sling. "It caught my hand. Guess two tons of solid metal can't really do much with the Slayer might behind it. As soon as I heard she was hitting up England, I made the call. The Council supported it and got us into this place for free. And speaking of this place…" She looked around, slightly bored. "What is this place?"

"It's school," Willow said carefully. "But I'm thinking it's becoming home."

"We've met some interesting people since we got here," Buffy replied, shifting over so Willow could join her on the bed. "Some of them sort of gave my senses the runaround. And one of them looks like a mini-Spike."

Willow's eyes widened. "You saw Draco already?"

"What kind of name is Draco?"

"It's Latin," Willow responded. "And that wasn't my question."

"Yeah, I ran into him. Didn't like the way he talked about you… and there was this girl with him. I was getting the weirdest vibe from her… like she's hiding something that she doesn't want anyone to know about. Do you know her? She's dark and little with a constipated look?"

Willow nearly choked at Buffy's description of Pansy Parkinson. "Yeah, her name's Pansy."

"Well, what do you know… irony strikes again," Buffy replied. Suddenly she started laughing. It became louder and more infectious. Despite Willow's current problems with Keira, Pansy, Draco, Harry and Faith, she started giggling as well. Soon, both were lying exhausted.

"I so needed that," Willow said softly.

"The entire gang wanted to come to help, you know," Buffy said, turning her head to look at her. "Oz said that wild horses or an Aerosmith opening couldn't keep him away. I don't care what happened between the two of you, but he wanted to do this. I wasn't going to tell him he couldn't. It's you, Will. No matter what, you're our Willow and if anything happens to you, it affects us all." She paused. "I'd like to meet this Keira person."

"How did you—?"

"Actually, I got a letter this morning from someone named… something with an H, anyway," Buffy shrugged. "She said that a girl named Keira Isley had been attacked by Faith and you were the one who confronted her." Leaning over, she patted Willow's arm. "I know you've got something going on, because I see it in your face. And if it has anything to do with that scar-head, well… we'll take care of him, too."

Willow sighed, recalling the horrified look on Harry's face as she had hugged Xander. Xander had apparently punched him for some odd reason. And then the reason struck her. "How long were you guys in the corridor?"

"We were there for every word of that fight you two had," Buffy replied. Then her gaze grew serious. "Will, what you said to him made sense. You don't want to risk his life because of what Faith could do to him. That's noble. But… from what I've been told and briefed on, he's been through a lot, too. Would it honestly be so bad if you met halfway? Because he is a hottie."

"He is, isn't he?" Willow giggled, nudging her best friend. "Well…" Her voice trailed off as her confusion mounted. She knew Harry liked her and she liked him, as well. But there was something underlying there, something that was purposely keeping them apart. It was their old lives and their past demons. Now that Oz was back though… he had come to England to make sure she was okay. He was in this country, in the school, possibly in this very building now… suddenly she felt comforted. Her friends were there. They were strongest working together. Their little fight with the Mayor had taught Willow that. And now they were there for her and that was far more comforting to her than anything Hermione Granger could come up with.

As they continued to talk through the night about everything from Willow's classes and friends to Buffy's new life at UC-Sunnydale, Willow noticed that Padma didn't come back. Nor did any of her other friends come by to say hi.

Now that it was morning, Willow sat up and began searching through her things for clothing. Buffy was still lying on her bed, watching her. "What's going on this morning?"

"Quidditch," Willow replied, finding her train case and pulling her clothing into her arms. "Um… it's a game played on broomsticks. Harry's team plays today, so I hope Xander didn't hit him too hard."

Buffy's face hardened. "He shouldn't have been such a jerk to you."

"He isn't," Willow affirmed quietly. "He was just being Harry."

Buffy shrugged as she sat up. In the light, her injuries looked less than they had been the night before. "I suppose I should find Anya… she has my suitcase. Where is this game at?"

"Why don't you meet me at the cafeteria in an hour," Willow suggested. "I'm sure someone could point you in the right direction. If not, it's right inside the double doors of that big building there." Pulling her curtains aside, she gestured to the building half-shrouded in fog.

Buffy nodded and stood up, watching as Willow padded to the door. She followed her best friend into the hallway. It was very quiet still as Willow walked a few doors down and pulled open the bathroom door. "If you need anything, you know where to find me," she said to Buffy.

"You bet," the Slayer replied, running a hand through her wild blonde hair and grimacing. "Now I really want my clothes."

Willow laughed as Buffy jogged off, feeling much more lighthearted than she had been the day before. Tucking inside the bathroom, she walked over to the showers. At least one of her problems was solved, she thought with vicious satisfaction. At least now Faith would get what was coming to her.

x-o-x

It was nearly nine o'clock when Buffy reappeared back at the cafeteria. Wearing a snug pair of jeans and a faux-fur vest that seemed to accentuate her rather striking figure, she presented a daring target for the many male eyes that followed her through the crowded breakfast area. Willow was sitting at the end of her usual table with Keira and Hermione. All three girls looked up as Buffy joined them.

"Buffy, this is Keira Isley and Hermione Granger," Willow said quickly by means of an introduction.

Buffy nodded at Hermione, but turned her eyes to Keira. "I think we need to have a little one-on-one talk."

Keira swallowed what little of her tea was left and stood up.

Willow glanced at what little remained of her breakfast and how tiny Buffy really looked. At least she had taken that sling off. "Aren't you going to eat?" she asked Buffy quickly before the other woman took off.

"I did," Buffy replied, smiling slightly. "And don't worry about showing me the Quidditch pitch or whatever it's called… you can do that, can't you?" she asked, turning her attention to Keira.

"The game doesn't begin till eleven," Keira replied quickly. "Surely this won't take that long?"

Buffy gave the dark-haired girl a strange look. "Okay. While we walk, I'll tell you about the concept of 'witness protection'."

As the two walked back out, Hermione turned to Willow. "That's her?"

"The one and only," Willow said proudly. "Buffy Anne Summers, Slayer extraordinaire and the answer to my problems."

Hermione was frowning at Willow's nonchalant expression. "What about Harry?"

"Harry?" Willow asked, frowning.

"He was in his room this morning. He didn't say anything, either," Hermione replied. "He just said that you two had another row and something about being hit in the face by someone claiming to be your friend."

Willow sighed heavily. "I totally screwed that up," she moaned miserably. "I really didn't mean to, but I guess I just snapped. It's really hard being the new girl here and learning about something you all did last year."

"I guess that's a problem when you're both trying to be heroes," Hermione said, a funny smile playing around the corners of her mouth.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, frowning.

"I just meant that you were hiding as much as he was."

"I've been almost completely open with him!"

"You didn't tell him about Faith until it was too late."

"I didn't even know about Faith until it was too late," Willow protested. "That wasn't my fault."

"Do you want to know what he said to me?" Hermione asked, glancing both ways before leaning closer to Willow. "He told me that you were what matters to him now. He fought his battles last year and won a war for us. And he watched people he loved die. He doesn't want that to happen to you. He's willing to do just about anything for you. But he also knows that this is a personal battle between you and Faith and he's willing to give you whatever space you need. But he's there, Will. We all are. Not all of us fought in great battles against Voldemort. Not all of us faced Death Eaters or the Dementors or the Inferi. We all faced different evils, but in the end he was the one who took the ultimate plunge."

Willow forced herself to nod. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have to know that he cares about you almost as much as he cares about himself, if not more," Hermione said earnestly. "This isn't beneath him, Willow. This isn't beneath any of us. We're willing to go the distance, but we're also willing to give you space. Don't worry about protecting us. Some of us can hex with the best of them. You just worry about what you have to do."

This was one of the best pep talks she'd had in a while, Willow thought wryly. If only Hermione knew about her other dilemmas. "Thank you," she whispered, reaching over and taking Hermione's hand. "Thank you so much."

Hermione leaned over and hugged her quickly. "Now," she said, a smile lighting up her face. "Let's get started on that Potions work."

x-o-x

It was quarter to eleven by the time Hermione and Willow finally reached the Quidditch pitch. They were met by Keira and Buffy, who were saving seats in the first row. Buffy was sitting on the aisle, her hand covering her eyes as brilliant November sunlight seemed to shine upon them all. This was the last game of the year and because all of the other teams wanted to know their place in the standings, nearly everyone in school would be attending this game today.

On their way to the pitch, Hermione had stopped Willow and nudged her in the direction of Harry's and Ron's Quidditch team. Willow just stood and watched as Hermione embraced Ron. Harry barely looked at her as he trudged on, his shoulders set and square. She wasn't going to be miserable about this. Not anymore… she couldn't afford the luxury of misery… not with Faith on the loose.

"You really should talk to him," Hermione told her as they continued up the steps into the stands. "I think you'd feel better if you got that out of the way."

"The last thing I want to do is fight with someone else."

"Will…"

"No, I mean it," Willow murmured, turning behind her to gaze reproachfully at Hermione. "Hasn't my life been hard enough without having to worry about what the great Harry Potter thinks?"

Hermione was quiet for a moment. "You didn't mean that."

Willow didn't answer her. She didn't know what she meant anymore. Having a brain to think about these details wasn't something she was willing to give herself.

Buffy and Keira were waiting in the stands already, near the front row. There were also three others present, and Willow felt her hard look split into a grin. "Oh my gosh, Oz!"

Hermione felt herself powerless as a short young man with bright orange hair literally threw himself into Willow's arms. She held him back, beaming. Hermione waited patiently until Keira cleared her throat and stepped over her own chair for the introductions.

"Seeing as I've just spent the morning with this motley crew," Keira said, highly amused, "I'll do the intros. That's Xander Harris and Anya… um… didn't catch your last name, love?"

"Jenkins," Anya muttered. "How hard is it to remember 'Jenkins'?"

"Right… Anya Jenkins," Keira said, shaking her head as Hermione stepped forward to shake Xander's outstretched hand. "You've met Buffy Summers. And that's Daniel Osbourne… otherwise known as Oz."

This was Oz… the man Willow had loved pre-Harry. The man who, with his arms still around the small redhead, still appeared to have feelings for her. There was a look of incredible calm on his face as he held Willow. Willow was making soft purring noises Hermione had never noticed before. "It's quite nice to meet you all," she said politely as Willow and Oz parted at last, sharing a relieved smile. "Thanks," she added to Keira, who grinned at her.

"Not a problem."

They all filed into the row where they were joined a short time later by Neville, Dean and Seamus as well as Padma and Parvati Patil and their giggling group of onlookers. The moment Xander came into view, however, Padma grabbed her twin and started whispering in her hair. As they filed into the row behind him, they both chanted, "Hello, Xander."

"Uh… hi?" Xander asked, turning around to see the two twin girls wearing identical mischievous grins. "Oh…"

"I'm Padma," the first said, placing her hand on her chest. "This is my twin, Parvati. You know… it really is good to see you again."

Anya, who was sitting opposite him, glanced over her shoulder and threw the twins a scathing look. "Go get your own orgasms," she spat, dragging Xander back into his seat and seizing him by the coat so he had no choice but to turn around. Padma and Parvati looked scandalized. Willow just gave Anya a familiar grin. Keira, meanwhile, choked into her coffee. Buffy just rolled her eyes and glanced at Oz sitting on her other side.

"It's nice to see things haven't changed," she whispered in the direction of his ear.

"They never do," Oz agreed.

Buffy opened her mouth to reply, but there was suddenly a great roar as seven blurred figures flew out of a door near the top of the opposite stands. "Oh," she whispered, seeing the seven blurs soaring around the stadium to the thunderous applause from a few stands on the opposite end.

"Damned dragon cult," a voice muttered from behind her.

Buffy leaned closer to the rail, her eyes scanning another seven figures shooting out from a door beneath their own stands. Almost immediately Hermione and Keira jumped to their feet, cheering. Willow half-heartedly followed, seated between Xander and Oz. When all were standing, she said something to Oz and they switched places so Willow could stand next to her best friend. "Harry's team," she breathed.

"I see," Buffy replied slowly, watching as Harry Potter flew on his broomstick before stopping. "So those are real… broomsticks?"

"Every last twig," Willow grinned. "Sweet, eh?"

"I am fascinated," Buffy replied, her eyes twinkling. Willow hooked her arm through Buffy's as the two sat down again. It was then that Willow noticed that Buffy was wearing a long black leather duster.

"Going for the Angel look?" she asked curiously.

"It was a gift," Buffy replied, sweeping her hands over the sweet-smelling leather. "I kinda like it."

"So where's Giles?"

"He's meeting with the Council. Now that we know that Faith's been lingering here, they're putting together a strike team to get her out of here in the actual event we find her," Buffy replied. "But I—"

Her next words were cut off by a roar; the game had begun. Falling silent, Buffy began to watch in utmost awe at the grace and speed of all players involved. Her eyes were drawn to both Harry Potter and to that rude blonde kid she'd run into the night before.

"What did you and Keira talk about?"

Buffy turned her attention to Willow, who was staring hard at her.

"Just security precautions," Buffy replied easily. "Why?"

"I hope you weren't grilling her," Willow warned ominously.

"I wasn't," Buffy replied, her eyes darkening. "I just wanted a first-hand account of what Faith did to her. She told me. And now I want to kill the psychotic bitch."

Willow swallowed hard. She still didn't know the entire truth about what happened to Keira. But she knew that Buffy now did and that was good enough for her. Because Buffy had murder in her eyes… and that alone was a very frightening concept.

It was then she noticed that Buffy was leaning forward again. "What's the score?"

"We're leading sixty to forty… why?"

"Hmm," Buffy sighed, leaning back. "I just feel… my spidey sense is going haywire."

"You've got a few hundred Wizards and Witches around you."

"Not that," Buffy frowned. "I'm sensing danger and it's close."

"Faith?"

"Not that… nothing near what she's got. I just sense…" She glanced down suddenly and moved her feet from the bottom of the stands. Another roar sounded around her as Willow's team scored again. Hermione was jumping up and down and waving her arms in the air. Keira stood at the end, shouting "Go Aura!"

"Aura?" Buffy asked, turning to Willow.

"Aura Starr… also in our house."

"A friend?"

"Definitely not an enemy."

"Hmm."

"Will you stop that?"

"No," Buffy replied. "I can't. Something's wrong and I don't know what it is."

"Your sixth sense picked something up?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied, staring hard at the ground. "Yeah…"

At that exact moment, two arrows were shot in quick succession into the Quidditch game. Buffy immediately stood up as a cold rush of wind lifted her blonde hair from her face. She heard the creaking before she felt it. Chaos seemed to erupt on the field as two players were struck by the arrows. One of the players was soon plummeting to the ground.

"RON!" Hermione shrieked, her hands clasping in horror over her mouth.

There was a rush of footsteps coming forward. "No," Buffy whispered, grasping the rail. "Don't move! It's unstable… don't move! Get out of here! Go! Go!"

But no one paid her any heed. As another player dropped from the sky, twelve Quidditch players abandoned the game, the Bludgers flying away harmlessly and the Quaffle dropped to the ground below. Realizing that there was a player speeding rapidly in her direction with a look of abject terror on his face, Buffy nearly dove out of the way just as a third arrow came whistling in front of her, catching the player at his side.

There was suddenly a crack and the Quidditch stand abruptly pitched forward. It took the students a moment to realize what was happening, but it was far too late. Willow gasped and leaned back as the stands jerked. Buffy was barely holding onto the rail and she saw a figure spiraling out of control straight towards them. "Buffy!"

"Get out of here," Buffy said, turning to look at Willow desperately. "Get the hell out of here."

"No, Buffy!" Willow cried, but Keira had already seized her by the arm and was dragging her to the exits. There was another resounding crack and the next thing she knew, the top row was breaking from the rest of the wooden structure and was pitching forward. There were other screams, too. "Look out!" "Watch it!" "Move!"

"We've gotta go," Keira breathed into her shoulder.

But it was too late.

Buffy had been holding onto the rail when the front rows broke off from the rear. As the wooden structure collapsed near the earth, she leapt forward, seizing the end of a spinning broomstick handle.

"What do you think—?" came an angry reply. She didn't have time to answer. A great banner suddenly came down upon them and with it several hundred pounds of wooden structure. She barely had time to react, much less cry out for help. All she could do was hold on as she, the broomstick and its rider fell to the ground and crashed through a series of wooden beams before she hit the ground with a hard thud. Then she saw debris collapsing and dove out of the way just as piles of rock and wooden splinters landed where she had been standing a moment before. Seeing the figure lying on his back and moaning, she flung herself over the rider and protected him, her back and neck taking the brunt of the debris still falling from the sky.

Willow glanced over her shoulder as she saw figures flying over the rails. Her feet were starting to move backwards. Keira was still above her, holding onto a seat, her face full of exhaustion. She couldn't see anyone else. People were screaming. The scene was completely surreal. It sure as hell didn't feel real. She was about to start running when she felt a great whoosh above her head and glanced up. There were two broomsticks above them.

"Grab my hand!" Harry shouted, reaching down towards Keira. She didn't hesitate as she released the seat and clutched his hand. "Willow!"

Willow turned from where students were still diving off of the structure to avoid being crushed to death. She spun around as Keira seized her arm painfully and then she felt a strange soaring sensation. Her only other view was of Aura hauling the others away. Students were still spilling onto the Quidditch pitch to rescue the dozens of students who had fallen.

She wasn't aware of being set down, but the moment her feet touched the earth, she nearly collapsed, instead falling into Keira. "It's okay," her friend murmured, looking around in shock as the dust and smoke began to clear. "We're alive. It's okay."

But Willow didn't know where anyone else was. Buffy had been at the front when the rail had fallen away. She had seen Xander, Anya and Oz running up with the Patil twins. She suddenly saw them and let out a strangled cry, rushing over splinters of wood and through a cloud of dust to fling herself into Xander's embrace.

"Willow!" Anya cried, rushing over to hug Willow with unnecessary flourish. "You're alive."

"Yeah," Willow sighed, looking around as Keira suddenly appeared. Hermione was standing behind her with Aura. Hermione looked terrified. Aura, however, wore a dark expression. "What was that?"

"Someone sabotaged the stands!" Aura thundered. "Someone who knew that a direct shift in weight would cause it to collapse!"

"Faith."

"Willow?"

"Someone fired those arrows!" Willow shrieked, turning to look at Keira and Hermione. "Someone knew what they were doing! She didn't want to kill anyone… not yet… not unless she could go for show!"

"Ron," Hermione moaned.

There was a sudden influx as bystanders from the other Quidditch stands arrived, looking horrified. There were screams coming from the pitch. Willow turned her head, her eyes tearing over as Oz stepped up beside her, a comforting hand moving to her neck. "Will… we need to go."

"I'm not going anywhere," Willow replied. "I'm not leaving until I know everyone's all right."

"Willow!"

"Harry," she murmured, turning to see Harry running towards her. He stopped cold when he saw the figure standing next to Willow, holding onto her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she said softly.

"She's in shock," Oz said, giving Harry a cool look. "Aren't you…"

"Yeah," Xander said, a hint of pride evident in his voice, "I hit him."

Oz turned back to glare at Harry. "Good."

"We need to figure out…" Hermione began, but just as she was about to start issuing orders, a flurry of Professors and school staff suddenly came upon them. Percy Weasley stopped the instant he recognized Harry and Hermione's faces.

"What happened?" Percy gasped as he stopped right in front of Harry.

"Someone sabotaged the game," Hermione whispered. "Someone fired arrows into the players, knowing that they would cause our stands to break."

"I don't understand," Percy said, glancing at her. "What happened?"

"The top of the stands broke off and fell onto the pitch," Keira said in a lifeless voice. "Some of us got away… but the others…"

"Get back up to the school and stick together," Percy ordered them, pulling out his wand and headed back towards the Quidditch pitch. There was now a smoky haze hovering just above the spot where their stands had collapsed.

"You didn't tell him about Ron."

Keira glanced at Hermione and saw that the girl was seconds from collapse. "He'll be okay." Seeing the look on Willow's face, she continued, "Let's get back to the school."

By now, there were dozens of groups like themselves standing on the periphery of the Quidditch stands. There was also the sound of screaming and crying from what remained. Feeling as though a dead weight had settled into her stomach, Willow gazed once at the stands, felt the ground pitch and fell face-first into the grounds.

x-o-x

"What… what happened?"

Buffy slowly got up on her hands and knees, realizing that the figure beneath her was stirring. "We fell… about two hundred feet by the looks of it. Your broomstick saved my life, by the way."

"Who the bloody hell do you think you are?" The weak voice was angry, but she found a pair of grey eyes blinking at her in the darkness.

"I saved your life, so a little thanks may be in order," Buffy retorted.

"I can't see anything."

"It's pitch black in here… of course you can't."

"Where… are we?"

"I think we're underground," Buffy replied, shifting her weight carefully off of him. She reached above her head and felt a solid weight of debris just a foot or so from where she was crouching. She glanced around, her superior Slayer vision seeing the utter destruction around her. "We fell right through the ground."

There was a cough and splutter before she heard the angry, "We?"

"Buffy Summers," she said, leaning over to examine him now.

"Draco Malfoy."

"There… now we're not strangers," she said, feeling him up and down. She heard him protest weakly, but she soon found what she was looking for. Digging out of his side was an arrow. "You've been shot."

"Is that why I can't see anything?"

"I don't know. It's dark in here."

"Wand…"

"What?" Buffy asked, glancing back down at him.

"Where's my wand? I kept it in my pocket."

"Can you get it?"

"I can't reach it," Draco replied softly. "My hands…"

Buffy quickly felt above his head and found that one of his hands was pinned underneath a bunch of debris just inches from where he'd landed. His other hand was lying awkwardly across his middle. "Can you feel this one?" she asked, gently touching his left arm.

He shook his head, grimacing. "I hurt everywhere. I just can't…" But his words were cut off as he choked and coughed. She winced as she saw a good amount of blood and fluid spurt out before his head fell back onto the earth. "Where's my wand?"

"Your pocket, right?"

"I didn't say I wanted you to get it… you're a Mudblood, aren't you?"

"Even if I was, you don't have much time to say whether I can help you or not," Buffy snapped irritably, feeling along his pockets until she came across a thin strip of wood. Reaching over, she gently pushed it into his bruised and swollen left hand. "It's on your hand."

"Lumos," he sighed. A brilliant blue light suddenly flickered right in front of him. His gaze was immediately drawn to one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen hovering over him. "Wow."

"Shut up," she replied, taking the wand from him hand despite his feeble protests. Sticking up above them in a small space, Draco was able to see that they were quite literally trapped. It cast a pale blue glow over their entire space, which wasn't much. It was also then that she noticed that there was a great deal of blood on the earth. Gasping, she moved aside, seeing that the arrow was quite possibly acting as a blood thinner, making it impossible for a clot to form. "You're bleeding."

"Really?" he asked, sounding vaguely interested. "It might explain the lightheadedness."

"Don't be a smartass," she replied. He winced as he felt a sharp pain ripple through his battered body. He then saw a black stick dangling in front of his blurred vision. "Does this look familiar? It was sticking right above your rear end."

"Ouch," he muttered, watching as she snapped the arrow in half and tossed it aside.

"It looks like it had a poisoned tip," she replied. He felt another surge of pain as well as a chill as she pressed her cold hand to his wound. There was a squelching sound and he sighed, feeling as though he could pass out at any time. "Do you hurt anywhere else?"

"Only every single orifice in my body," he moaned.

"You'll be okay," she told him, but her voice trembled. She just noticed that one of his legs was sitting at a very odd angle. The other was straight forward but his shins were a bloody mess. Slowly, she moved over to his opposite side, her movements as quick and light as a feline. Pulling off her brand-new leather jacket, she rolled it into a ball and placed it under his head. As she rested his head back down, he turned silver eyes to hers. "I want you to promise me something," she said softly, her eyes meeting him. "Promise me you won't fall asleep."

"I can't," he murmured, as her hand came up to cradle his. He felt renewed pressure on the wound against his hip. "I'm so tired…"

"Don't," she said. His eyes widened as he saw the panic flashing through them. "If you fall asleep, you could die."

There was a silence that passed between them. He then turned his gaze to his hovering wand. "Any chance you could blast a hole through there?"

"I don't do magic."

"So you are a Mudblood!"

"I don't care what I am," she snapped, turning back to look at him. "If I try to break through that, the whole pile's gonna come on top of us. It will kill us both. Chances are, some survived long enough to figure out we're missing."

Draco felt a cold weight settle in his stomach. He thought of Crabbe and Goyle who seemed to be too stupid to ask for directions, much less realize that he was missing. He had no real friends… there was no one out there who would miss him…

"No one's going to come for me."

"What?"

"I said no one is going to come for me," Draco snapped, glaring up at her.

"Well, luckily for you, I have friends that will," Buffy replied in a harsh tone. "Now I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we both get out of here alive. But I can't keep you alive if you're, say, unconscious."

"I'll try."

"Well, try hard," she replied, a slight pout coming to her face. "If I have to use my sex appeal, so be it."

Draco cracked a smirk, a thin trail of blood now emitting from the far corner of his mouth. "I really don't think I'm up for it."

She threw him a disgruntled look. "Never said I was going to pull anything on you now, did I?"

"I didn't know Mudbloods could be so pretty."

"What is a Mudblood, anyway?"

"Someone born to non-magical parents. Someone like you, apparently."

"Aww, how touching," Buffy replied sarcastically. "Lucky for you, I'm not exactly a Mudblood. I'm the—"

"Slayer, yes, we all know," Draco replied, rolling his eyes. "You're a bloody celebrity from where I'm sitting. Well… from where I'm lying, anyway. You kill vampires for a living and you have some sort of pre-destined timeline that kills you off before you're twenty, is that it?"

"Crude, but not quite so," came her dry reply. "I'm almost nineteen now and I've only died once. But that's beside my point. I'm boring… let's not talk about me. Let's talk about you."

"You're not so boring where I am," Draco told her.

"Well, I sort of want to know where the attitude came from. I'm not a bad person, you know, even if I am this Mudblood. So tell me why you're such a crab-ass and I'll leave you alone."

"I…" How could he tell her that he didn't want to be alone? They were trapped in a small space and the only light evident was shining from his wand above his head. He felt her hand on his skin and winced. She had risked her life to get him to safety. She was also doing something to keep him alive. He didn't know what it was yet, but she was doing something. "My parents aren't nice people. They've done bad things… they've killed people. And they tried to get me to kill someone."

There was a pause on her end. "I'm listening."

"How much do you know about he-who-must-not-be-named?"

"Just about nothing," she replied. "Maybe you can tell me that too."

"I would love to," Draco replied dryly. "As soon as I die from whatever I'm dying from. The point is, I'm not that person anymore. I want to change, but I don't know how."

"Now we're off topic," she said softly. "Just tell me why you are the way you are."

"I just did that…"

"No, you just gave me a vague answer to a question about why you're not like your parents. Tell me about he-who-must-not-be-named."

Draco closed his eyes for a moment before turning away. Talking about himself was painful because he had to admit he had done something so terrible… he couldn't look her in the eye as he spoke. She was this brave heroic person who was stuck in hell with a nothing like him… and he had no idea what to do if they were stuck here for any extended period of time.

x-o-x

A single, pale hand reached up and unsnapped the Velcro, peeling it off of a sleek black glove before the rubber fell to the ground. The same slim hand reached down to push shut a briefcase with four vials inside. Three of the vials were empty and a fourth was just waiting to be used.

Faith straightened up as she set her specialized arrows aside. She had known that the Quidditch stand was weak, even before she took out the support mounts. She had then used arrows to cause chaos by downing two or three players. Her aim was still perfect. She hadn't been going for the kill, but just enough to drive chaos into order.

She reached down and placed her bow into the corner. Straightening up, she smoothed her long, leather-clad body and glanced over her shoulder. Those stupid morons hadn't known what hit them. And the perfect crème de la crème was Buffy's appearance at the match. So far, Buffy Summers hadn't been accounted for. Faith wished that fate had finally given her a gift and had dropped Buffy off the face of the Earth, but she knew that it was too easy that way. If she was going to take care of things, it was going to start with Red. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

x-o-x

Willow sat on her bed, watching as medi-Wizards worked on Keira and Harry. She was still shaken over the events of that afternoon, but nothing compared to the number of students now coming in. Students were also jumping at the chance to go back onto the Quidditch pitch to find the missing students.

Buffy was still unaccounted for.

Oz hadn't left her side. Neither had Xander or Anya, but that was because Anya was afraid that Xander would be attacked by a crowd of female admirers. Keira was sitting on the bed next to Willow as she got her all clear to return to the pitch. Neville had turned up a few seconds earlier and quietly told her that they had found bodies.

Hermione, of course, had fainted dead away at that proclamation as Ronald Weasley was still missing, too.

Willow felt sick. Faith was twisted and sadistic and her cruelty surely knew no boundaries. She stood up numbly and followed her friends to the doorway when she felt an arm holding her back. "She's after you personally, Wil. She could kill you."

"Do you think any of that matters now?" Willow asked, turning to look at Xander incredulously. "She attacked one of my best friends. She tried to kill Buffy, who is your best friend, too. And some of my friends are still missing. If I can help find them, then that's what I'm going to do."

"Will, are you coming?" Keira asked softly from behind her.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Willow replied, turning and joining Keira as the two women left.

Xander sighed and walked back towards the school medi-Witch who was hurriedly filling a potions bottle with her wand. "Well… as we're not going anywhere fast… can you use a few more sets of hands?"

The medi-Witch glanced at him. "Do you have any experience in magic or medicine?"

"I don't."

"I do."

"Anya?" Xander turned around as Anya stood up on watery legs.

"I'm sorry, Xander, but I saw what that Slayer did today. My medical experience might have included chopping off body parts where they didn't belong, but at least I'm doing something instead of standing here feeling helpless when there's probably dead kids everywhere!"

"Anya…"

"No, you listen!" she snapped, turning on Xander with tears trickling out of her eyes. "I'm not going to stay here and wait while she takes us all out one by one. We lost the strong player, Xander! Buffy may be dead and if she is, we're royally screwed!"

"No… we're not."

They both turned to look at Oz. He was still sitting on the bed, staring at the place where Willow had been sitting a moment before.

"What?" Xander asked quietly.

"Willow. She'll see it done if Faith took out the good Slayer. She probably did."

"Yeah," Anya said quietly. "Willow… I think we keep forgetting who she really is… she's one powerful Wicca."

"Well, she's pissed if not powerful…"

The four girls were now walking out into the grounds. Night had fallen and great spotlights were still shining on the Quidditch pitch. From where they were standing, they could still hear screaming.

"Are you ready to go back there?" Hermione whispered in a mortified voice. "I mean… what will we find?"

"We'll find them," Keira replied. "Right Willow?"

Willow didn't reply. Her eyes looked strangely unfocused as she took the step forward, leading them over to the Quidditch pitch, still so bright in the distance.

x-o-x

To be continued…

x-o-x

I once thought that this would be two parts… silly me. I realize now that it'll be three. If it keeps you on your toes, you know…