Author's Note: The answers for the previous set of trivia questions are:
1) "The Zeppo"
2) Sex poodle
3) Spike; "Bargaining"
A/N 2: I would like to thank Kastia (sorry, it's gonna be H/L. I hope you still read it tho), Anne (I agree), General Mac (don't worry, I will), Slays (aww…thanx! You made my day), Tilly (thanx), Just Me (thanx for your uplifting comments), Chrios (I already sent you my note and you got an extra point for being my beta), heather (thanx), Vld (I said in my notes that it is not Tara, but it's not D. or C. either. Good guess tho), Anna (I said it wasn't Tara and thanx for reviewing), mysticallove (cool name. Thanx and you got a point for the Angelus comment), Tiger Tiger02 (thanx), and Liza Girl (wow! 2 out of 3 correct, and the two hardest ones, too. Good job!) for reviewing. You guys ROCK! Keep it up.
Previously on Phoenix Child:
Sirius was lost in his grieving until that same voice that called him out there 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."
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 of 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.
Instead of demons, vampires, or Death Eaters, a horde of people came into the Great Hall. A horde of people the 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 out of the doors along the rest of the strange people, leaving a stunned and confused gathering of staff and students behind.
Chapter 44Once Buffy and the strange group of people left the Great Hall all the occupants of students and staff had nothing to do but to stare after them. The hall was completely silent except for the sounds of breathing and the slight swinging of the two double doors leading to the remainder of the castle. Everyone was so shocked they didn't know what to say. First their DADA professor was arrested by the Ministry of Magic, then they found out that Professor Sarah Fox was actually known by Buffy Summers and was the longest lived Slayer in all of history, and now said Slayer and DADA professor had just ran from the Great Hall with a group of people no one in the room had ever seen before. Everyone just sat there, with their mouths hanging open until the wisest of them all spoke:
"What the bloody hell was that!" Ron exclaimed…but then again Ron isn't the wisest of them all. Some students and faculty might consider him a wise ass, but not the wisest.
"Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall yelled while shooting out of her chair, astounded at the exclamation from one of the students...hers, no less. "If you do not desist this moment you will have detention for a week!"
"Now, now," Professor Dumbledore intervened, much to the relief of both Ron and Hermione for some strange reason. "It is obvious that no one will be finding out more about the incident that just transpired so I suggest that you all report to your common rooms until further notice. Normally I would say to go to your classes but I honestly do not believe that anything constructive will get done, so you may take your leave now."
Once the students and some of the professors had all evacuated the Great Hall, Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.
"Minnie," Dumbledore addresses Professor McGonagall first, "Please contact Sirius and Remus and have them come to my office immediately. Severus, the rest of the order should be cleaning up the mess at the manor. Please contact them and have them come immediately as well. I will meet you in my office in ten minutes. I do not like not knowing what is going on in my castle but I intend to find out."
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room nothing but whispers could be heard. And of course all whispers were, in one way or another, about Buffy Summers. There was so much talking going on that the light brigade couldn't even hear themselves think, much less each other talking. Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally found a quieter spot by the north windows, near the boys' dormitory.
"Is the duck still on for tonight or is the coconut not leaving the pond?" Ron asked his two friends.
"Ron," Harry asked. "What are you talking about? You know Hogwarts doesn't serve duck for dinner."
"Yes, Ron," Hermione agreed with Harry. "Besides, why would a coconut be in a pond?"
"No!" Ron quietly exclaimed, turning to Hermione. "You remember, it's what you were explaining to me before Professor Fo-Buffy Summers came into the Great Hall. You do remember, don't you? What with all the coins and the DA meeting and all."
At Ron's clarification of his earlier statement Harry and Hermione burst out laughing. They were laughing so hard that their sides hurt. Harry almost fell out of his seat on the windowsill, he was laughing so hard.
"Ron," Hermione addressed him once she had calmed down, "It was the duck leaving the pond, not the coconut. The coconut was code for the coin."
"Isn't that what I said?" Ron asked.
"Of course, Ron," Harry said. "Whatever you say. Just do us a favor?"
"What?"
"Don't talk in code anymore."
"Why?"
"It's just… never mind," Harry told him, changing the subject. "So, what do you think is going on with Prof-Buffy? Didn't that red-haired woman say something about a Death Eater attack and someone being kidnapped?"
"I don't know," Hermione answered.
Right after Hermione spoke Ron started furiously digging through his pockets.
"Ron," Hermione inquired. "What in Godric's name are you doing?"
"Looking for a quill."
"Whatever for?"
"So I can write this down before I forget," Ron answered.
"Write what down?" Harry asked his friend.
"Today's date," came another of Ron's short answer responses, which were quickly getting on the others nerves.
"What's so important about today's date?" Harry inquired, now a little more worried than curious.
"Because today is the day that Hermione didn't know something," he answered cheerfully. "Yes!" Ron exclaimed in joy when he pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill from his cloak pockets.
Hermione humphed, grabbed the parchment and quill from the redhead, and promptly hit him over the head with the objects.
"Ow!" Ron yelled loudly, calling attention to him. "Mione, What was that for?"
"If you have to ask then I'm not going to tell you," Hermione said to him before walking off into the girls' dormitory.
"Ron," Harry said.
"What?" Ron asked.
"When Hermione comes down…"
"Yeah?"
"Apologize."
In Dumbledore's office things were going more smoothly than they did with the light brigade (a.k.a. Ron, Hermione, and Harry). Unfortunately, things weren't going that much smoother. The only way that it could be considered smoother would be if one considered Sirius and Severus not killing each other as smoother.
"You bloody ponce! This is all your fault!"
"My fault! This is entirely your fault, you wanker! If you hadn't-"
"This is not MY bloody fault, you poofter!"
"I'm not a poof! If anyone's a poof here it's you!"
"That's rich, since the only female contact you ever get has been in your dreams!"
"Well at least they touch me in my dreams unlike you, you grease-ball!"
"Shove it up your arse, dog-breath!"
"Or what, you'll make me, you giant bat?"
"Go hump someone elses leg for a change, Fido!"
"That's enough!" Professor Dumbledore yelled at the two quarreling wizards. "If you two do not stop this instant, I do not care how old either of you are, you will both be scrubbing this castle from top to bottom with nothing but your tooth brushes. Is that clear?" Once Dumbledore was sure that Sirius and Snape weren't going to continue he began. "As you all know, as headmaster of Hogwarts, I make it my job, as all other headmasters before me, to know everything going on in this school and on the grounds surrounding it. Unfortunately, as of late, I have not had this pleasure. With Miss Summers' involvement this year I haven't known much of anything that has gone on here since term began. It seems that Miss Summers is quite the force to be reckoned with. Not only is she the longest lived, and most powerful slayer in history, but she is also the first slayer in all of history to be a witch as well."
"Are you saying you believe her, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"That is exactly what I am saying, Minerva," Dumbledore answered her. "And in order to win this war I believe we must have her fighting on our side."
"Do you believe she is not on our side?" Remus asked him. "I mean after all she is the Slayer."
"I believe that Miss Summers is on our side," Dumbledore answered the werewolf. "But it is not unknown for a slayer to switch sides; it has happened before and is nothing that says thatit can't happen again."
"But the Slayer fights for the side of good," Tonks told him. "Wouldn't that mean that the Slayer is good and not evil?"
"Not necessarily," Dumbledore informed her and everyone else. "The essence that makes a girl, or woman in our case, the Slayer, is pure evil. It is a demon essence that was first placed in a young girl that gave her the strength and the skill to fight the forces of evil. The Slayer walks the line of good and evil every night and slayers in the past have been known to fall off that line. And with the added power of being a witch, and an extremely powerful one at that… I just don't know."
"Then how can we tell if she will stay on our side through this war?" One of the Order members asked.
"With time," Dumbledore answered them. "Time is the only thing that will tell and it is also the only thing that we may not have enough of."
Before another word could be said the door to Dumbledore's office opened and in walked a woman no one except for Dumbledore himself had ever seen before. The woman had strawberry blonde hair, pale skin, and crystal blue eyes. She was extremely beautiful.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," the mystery woman said to Dumbledore. "There was horrible traffic."
"It's quite alright, my dear," Dumbledore told her. "I'm just glad you made it here safe."
The woman looked like she was going to reply but she was interrupted by a surprised yell from the other side of the room.
"You!" Sirius cried out, pointing at her. "You were in my dream."
In another, colder part of England, a group a people were following what looked like to be a blue firefly.
"Uh, Willow?" Xander asked the redheaded witch. "Are you sure Tinkerbell knows the was to where Faith is locked up?"
"Xander," Willow said, irritated. "For the last time this is not Tinkerbell, it is a conjuring orb used in certain locator spells and incantations. Tinkerbell is a made-up character in Peter Pan."
"But is it working?" Xander asked her. "'Cause this tree looks really familiar. I'm thinkin' of naming it Bob… or maybe Fred. I'm not sure."
"Yeah, Will," Buffy said. "No offense to you or anything, but I know I've seen this tree before. Are you sure you did this spell right?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Willow told her. "The only time it didn't work properly was when…" Willow's eyes widened with clarity as the reason for the wonky spell hit her.
In fact, Buffy seemed to be thinking the same thing because her eyes lit up shortly after Willow's. "Of course! How could we have been so stupid!"
"Um, guys," Xander said. "I'm not getting' it. Anyone care to explain this to those who aren't, you know, you?"
"Oh, sorry Xander," Willow apologized to her best friend since, well ever. "Remember when I tried to find where Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were hiding?"
"Who?"
"Buffy's old friends?"
"Oh, yeah!" Xander exclaimed. "Okay, continue."
"Well, do you remember why the spell wouldn't work?"
"Because…because…" Xander stammered. "Don't tell me, I know this. Because…oh! The spell didn't work because they had some sort of spell that hid them. Am I right?"
"Yes, Xander," Willow congratulated him with two thumbs up. "But since this spell at least did something, Faith should be in this general area."
"So we know where Faith is?"
"Yes and no," Willow answered him. "She's in this area, I'm just not sure exactly where."
"And that's where I come in," Buffy announced. "Since she's my sister slayer and I'm the most connected to her, don't even say it Xander, then I should be able to find her from here using my slayer senses."
"So you're gonna sniff her out?" Xander asked.
"Slayer senses, Xander," Buffy said, "Not smelling senses. I'm going to hone her out. So that means I'm gonna need complete concentration. And Xander?"
"Yeah?"
"Shush."
The Scooby Gang continued walking through the woods for what seemed like hours. In actuality it was only twenty minutes tops. Finally they came to a clearing, and in the clearing, cloaked by powerful magics, stood a mansion created before the downfall of the Roman Empire. Hidden from muggles and wizards alike, this manor presented itself as the order of operations for the Dark Lord and his followers. Inside the grand institution, Death Eaters from all over the globe gathered. And in that very building was where Faith could be found.
Buffy and the gang, thanks to a silencing charm from Willow, had not been heard yet. Now if they could only get into the building, find Faith, and rescue her without being caught by a Death Eater… well, that would be a miracle all in it's own. Unfortunately this wasn't 34th street; it was a forest somewhere in England. Just as they were about to sneak into the mansion they were surrounded on all sided by Death Eaters.
Death Eaters were attacking from all sides and the Scooby Gang was counter-attacking with everything they had. Spells were being thrown and axes were being swung. So far no one had died… well, no one of importance anyway. After the battle had gone on for a while, Willow was able to distract some of the Death Eaters long enough for Buffy to sneak in and find Faith.
The inside of the building was not that much different than the outside. The only difference was that it wasn't raining inside, a fact that Buffy was grateful for as she rounded yet another corner. After a few minutes she was able to assess where Faith was being kept and she was thankful that there were no guards guarding her.
Everyone must be fighting outside, she thought to herself as she made her way to the stone door.
The door was locked, no shock there, but that didn't stop Buffy; she just carefully tore the door off it's hinges. When she went inside she was assaulted by the stench of human feces and lots of blood. And in the pool of blood lay Faith, completely naked and covered with cuts and bruises. The sight made Buffy want to throw up.
"Oh, God," Buffy muttered, with a hand to her mouth. "What have they done to you Faith?"
Just as Buffy picked Faith up in her arms and planned to leave the cold, bloodied room, a malicious voice stopped her in her tracks.
"One more move and you're both dead," a Death Eater told them.
Buffy didn't know what to do. If she moved to escape then her and Faith were both dead. But if she stayed then it would probably be better if they were dead. At least they wouldn't have to feel the pain of torture. Buffy didn't know what the survival rate was for either option but she knew that neither one was good. Just as she was about to take a chance and run for it someone took the Death Eater out from behind, saving her and Faith.
Buffy expected to see the face of Willow, Xander, or another member of the gang. What she saw was someone she never expected to see ever again. With his bleach blonde hair and leather duster, she would know him anywhere.
"Spike?" Buffy croaked out.
"No time for questions, Luv," Spike told her, reaching out his hand. "We've got to go."
T.B.C.
In the Next & Upcoming Chapter(s): Will you finally find out what Luna wants with Harry? Will Ron get the guts to ask Hermione out? Will Angelus, decked out in leather pants, make an appearance? Just who really is this mystery woman from Sirius' dream? Will Buffy get back together with Sirius…or will she get back together with Spike? And what the hell is Spike doing here in the first place? All this and much more to be explained in future chapters. I guess you'll just have to read on to find out. Happy reading!
Trivia Questions:
1) Who says the below quote and when? "It's a big rock. I can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big." Worth 4 points
2) What disclaimer does Willow give to Riley in "The Initiative"?
3) What type of spell does Giles attempt to perform on Spike in "Something Blue"?