Authors Note: For anyone new to this story, a wonderful writer originally wrote chapters 1-36 by the name Malli. Sadly she died, but there are a few continuations of her story out there. This is one of them. The other continuations can be found at the address below (just without the spaces).
http:crystal cheyenne. brave journal. com/ entry/ 6436
A/N 2: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. So thank you to Just Me (thanx), Kastia (thanx), goddessa39 (she's not his daughter. I thought I made it obvious but evidently not. Her father is/was Voldy's twin brother. I hope that clears it up), slaygal166 (thanx), CharmingStar (thanx and good luck), Anne (glad youre enjoying it), saarkneyfan2 (what a charmer), and Charmed-angel4 (I loved your review. It made my day. Heck, it made my week! Here's your update, enjoy). I hope you guys update again. It always cheers me up. Thanx also to Chris, my beta: You're the best! Also, I've used a Tara-quote in here but the person saying it is not Tara. All will be revealed in time, don't worry.
A/N 3: For all of you who read my fic "Hidden Agendas", I'm sorry to say but it's on hold indefinitely for the time being. Before I started typing it up I had about the first 10-15 chapters outlined from a while ago. Now I can't seem to find where that notebook is with all my notes in it and I don't remember what I was gonna do. So until I find it, remember, or come up with a new story line to continue it, it won't be updated. Sorry.
A/N 4: I am adding a trivia section at the end of each chapter from now on. At the end of the fic, whoever has the most points from answering the most correct questions, will receive a worlds supply of chocolate bunny ears. I would've included the bodies too but when Anya saw them she went a little crazy and hacked them up. From now on, every Easter, we're gonna make sure she is given many sleeping pills. She really scared all of the lil' kiddies.
A/N 5: Everyone who reviews, that isn't a flame, will receive one point and every correct trivia question answer will receive two points each unless otherwise stated. Enjoy and happy competiting. I wish you all many monsters in your travels through the Hellmouth. Good Luck!
Previously on Phoenix Child:
"I think it's time to call a meeting," Harry told Hermione and Ron quietly as they sat in their common room, careful not to let anyone else hear him. "We need to call another meeting and soon. I don't know who Professor Fox really is or what shes up to and I don't want to take any chances."
"Harry!" One of the sixth year girls yelled to him while handing him a folded letter. "I've got something for you. It's from Luna, not me. So don't get any ideas."
Once the girl had walked off Harry quickly read the letter aloud. It said for him to meet her outside the Great Hall before dinner. "What would Luna want with me?"
"Well, I," Ron started. "Ilikehermione!"
"That's bollocks and you know it," Harry told him. "Now what's up with you and Hermione?"
"Once again. And slower this time."
"I like Hermione."
"You're not my father!" Faith screamed again. "You're nothing like him."
"Oh, but aren't I?" Voldemort asked her. "After all we did share everything: a mother and father, blood, bedrooms, even our faces are identical. Everything he had and owned was mine as well. Surely that includes you, Faithy?"
Buffy paused for a minute, wondering if anyone really smart would figure it out. When all she received was blank and confused stares she continued on. "This would be so much easier if Giles were here. He loves doing this part. As I've told you the world didn't start out as a paradise. Well, it did, but for the demons that walked dominated the Earth. The side of good needed someone or something to fight, pushing the demons and evil back. So a group of three wise men put the essence and power of a demon into the body of a young girl, the Chosen One. Into each generation the Chosen One is called. She alone will have the power and skills to fight back the evil and forces of darkness. She is The Slayer. And she is me."
Chapter 43
Deep throughout the castle chills ran down Sirius back and a cold wind blew through his every fiber of being. Hogwarts was eerily silent for some apparent reason that was not apparent to him. Even though it was very early in the morning, just a little bit after midnight, the presence of the students and teachers in their rooms could be felt. The castle always had some fraction of happiness no matter where a person went in it; even in Severus dungeons it could be felt somewhat. But not now. Sirius didn'tt even see any of the house ghosts or Peeves as he made his way through the forlorn and vacant halls. But what made Sirius even more apprehensive were the paintings that adorned every wall. The paintings were still there but their occupants, however, were not. Sometimes the occupants would move from painting to painting, but at least they would still be in a painting. In these paintings, however, there was no one. Not a soul stirred in or out of the paintings. The atmosphere was one of great foreboding and immense bereavement. In whole, the grounds reminded Sirius of his time in Azkaban.
Sirius continued to walk and explore the castle grounds for any sign of life, any sign of happiness. As Sirius walked he noticed many corridors that weren'tt there before. In fact, he was positive they were never in the castle before, for he and his friends had discovered most of the secret passages in their time at Hogwarts. When he came upon one dark passage curiosity got the better of him and he started down its length, wondering where it led. There were paintings, statues, and carvings Sirius had never seen before in his life. Some of the artwork Sirius was glad he had never seen before and wished he hadn't now, for those images were sure to haunt him at every moment. He wasn't sure if he could ever get those vulgar images out of his head.
Soon enough Sirius came to a point where the corridor forked into two different directions, one right and one left. Sirius was about to take the slightly lit one when he thought he heard someone calling his name. He stopped for a moment and listened carefully to see if he could figure out where it was coming from. After a few minutes he heard it again and determined that the voice was coming from the other, murky corridor. Concluding that he could take care of himself if it came down to it, he started slowly walking down corridor number two.
Whenever it seemed that he was getting close to the whispering speaker the voice seemed to move further and further away. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Sirius came to a light at the end of the hallway. The light was not from a candle or torch; it was from the glow of a slightly hidden moon. The corridor had led him outside. Sirius followed the voice into the Forbidden Forest and hoped he didn't come across any of the larger evils while in there.
After what seemed like an endless amount of walking, the voice became closer and louder until it faded away all together. The voice had led him to a clearing deep in the forest where the moon shone brightly. Under a beam laid a small, still object. Sirius walked closer in order to see what the mysterious object was. The object was stone with writing on it, a head stone to be correct. Sirius brushed the fallen debris away with his hand so he could read what was written. Tears started cascading silently down his cheeks as he read the engraved inscription:
Elizabeth Anne Potter
1981-1986
A light in all hearts she met
She will be missed
This was her grave, Buffy's grave. If he was seeing her grave then how could he have seen her in his dreams, very much alive? Unless… unless that's all that they were: dreams. Sirius wanted so desperately for Buffy to be alive but evidently that wasn't the case. He just wished he knew why he had those dreams in the first place. Nothing made sense to him anymore. But then again, nothing did after she died.
Sirius was lost in his grieving until that same voice called out to him and spoke again, this time from behind him. Sirius turned and saw a young woman with strawberry blonde hair, pale skin, and crystal blue eyes. She stood not ten feet from where he was kneeled.
"Who are you?" Sirius asked her. "What do you want?"
"You think you know who you are, what's to come." the woman replied. "You haven't even begun."
Sirius woke up suddenly in a cold sweat with the remains of dried tears on his cheeks. Once Sirius seemed to have caught his breath he uttered one sentence to the empty room: "What the fuck!"
Meanwhile, in another part of England a lone dark haired figure laid bundled in the middle of a small, cold, stone floor. The body shivered from both the pain and the coldness of the murky room. The body, absent of clothing, was obviously female in nature with long dark hair and a tribal band tattooed around her upper right arm. Usually that-and maybe a hickey or two-was all that adorned her lightly tanned skin. Now, however, her beautiful skin was adorned with both fading and fresh cuts and bruises. She was marred with cuts, large and small, from her head to her toe. The woman, commonly known as Faith, was lying in a pool of her own blood. If she hadn't been a slayer she probably wouldn't be alive. Even now it was amazing that she still was, alive that is. The thing is, Faith didn't know whether to be thankful for that fact or scared to death. She just hope B and the gang would hurry up and save her before it was too late to be saved.
In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry, gasps and frantic whispers could be heard throughout. Since there was so much whispering everyone may as well have been shouting. Or at least to Buffy they may as well have been shouting. With her enhanced senses, both from being the Slayer and being in Heaven, all the whispering was starting to give her a headache. Without realizing it both of her hands had gone to cover her ears, attempting to block out the incessant noise.
Seeing this, Professor Dumbledore hastily quieted everyone down. Buffy removed her hands from her ears and gave the headmaster a thankful smile. Dumbledore in return returned the favor.
"Now," Dumbledore said to everyone, "if you have a question you would like answered, please raise your hand in the air and you will be called on shortly. Those of you who wish not to obey this rule will be escorted from the Great Hall until further notice. Do I make myself clear?"
All the students nodded their heads as hundreds of hands quickly shot in the air. Buffy gulped, glared at Dumbledore as he smirked at her, and randomly pointed to a student at the Ravenclaw table.
"How long have you been the slayer?" The student asked.
"For about eight years now, on and off," Buffy answered and pointed to another student, this one at the Hufflepuff table.
"What do you mean on and off?"
"Well, I died. Twice, actually. It's really not that big of a deal. For some reason I cant seem to stay dead," she answered while pointing to another student after another.
"So you what," a cocky voice asked, "Fell down the stairs or something?"
"No, Dragon-breath," Buffy replied. "The first time I died in a prophecy against a vampire known as the Master. The second time I died was to save your sorry ass. But then again if you hadn't gotten yourself kicked out of my class you would've known that already… Next?"
"What was the prophecy?" Harry asked her.
"The prophecy stated that the Master would kill me and walk the Earth. It said that once he killed me, blood would run through the streets like rivers and the vampires would once again rule the Earth."
"But the world's not like that," Hermione said. "So obviously that wasn't a true prophecy."
"Oh, but it was," Buffy told her. "You see, prophecies are tricky things. You never really know what one means until after it has already happened. The prophecy said that the Master would kill me, and he did. What the prophecy didn't say was that it was my blood that would allow the Master to be freed to walk the Earth. The part about the Master walking the Earth was only if he was allowed to walk it. My friends found me and revived me using CPR. I came back and killed the Master before anything else happened. So you see, prophecies only tell you one way something can work out. There is always room for improvement and change. They are never actually set in stone."
Buffy noticed that Harry seemed very relieved to hear what she had to say about Prophecies. It made her wonder what that was all about. She was about to point to another student when the double doors burst wide open. Buffy quickly went into a fighting stance, ready for what ever was going to come through the doors.
Instead of demons, vampires, or Death Eaters, a horde of people came into the Great Hall. A horde of people that Buffy knew.
"Buffy," the red head said. "We were attacked by a bunch of demons and Death Eaters and they took Faith. I did a quick scrying spell and found where they're holding her but there are too many of them. You need to come and we have to hurry. Come on."
Before another word could be said Buffy was through the doors, along with the group of strange people, leaving a stunned and confused gathering of staff and students behind.
T.B.C.
Next Chapter: What was up with Sirius' dream and who was the strange woman in it? What did she mean? Will Buffy and the gang get to Faith in time, or will they be too late? And just what does Luna want with Harry? Tune in next time to chapter 44 of Phoenix Child to find out. Dum dum dummmmmmmmm…
Trivia Questions:
1) The Hebrons Binding spell is a protection spell used to bind a demon. In what episode did Willow use it? Hint: it was in the third season
2) In "Hell's Bells" while practicing her wedding vows, what does Tara tell Anya she shouldn't say (in her vows)?
3) Who says the below quote and in what episode is it said? "Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?" Worth four points if correct
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