Disclaimer: Don't own anything! See earlier chapters for who does!
AN: Thanks a bunch to Hermione Potter and LeoLupin for submitting my first reviews ever! It's very exciting. umm...The next few chapters will have a lot of angst, but it needs to be in there for you to understand the feelings of the characters. If thats not your thing, oh well. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Saying Hello and Goodbye
The next day Buffy spent discussing how they were going to split up the slayers and their resources. Seeing as Giles was the only surviving member of the Watcher's Council, all assets immediately went to his name when it blew up. Buffy decided that Faith would head the slayer coalition at the Hellmouth in Cleveland and she would have a group of ten slayers in case of back up. The others would be spread over the globe in groups of two or three locating and helping the newly activated slayers. The Scoobies would all be heading to England to help Buffy set up the new Watchers' Council. Hermione said the Order would probably help with making a school for the slayers too young to actually patrol, but she could make no guarantees.
Hermione had to quit her job at the Beacon, saying that a family emergency had come up unexpectedly and she would be out of the country indefinitely. All her coworkers were sad to see her go and her boss had had no ill will towards her. He was just upset to see such a good reporter leave before her time. For all the tears and pleads to not go, she knew their lives would go on as they always had. Nobody knew of her real life, just the one she had created. This wasn't the world where she belonged, merely a limbo where she had escaped to until someone came back to tell it was time to move on.
The evening was spent in great camaraderie, as they swapped stories and ate a huge amount of pizza, a first for Draco. Nobody thought about the danger they were going into or the danger that they had escaped. They were simply living for the moment, that moment because they had nothing else. All the rest of their lives had been about fighting and surviving but this was just about doing something for themselves.
Hermione awoke the next day, bright and early, not by the sun or her alarm but by the knowledge that she was going home today. She was going to see her friends and her family. She was afraid of the people she had left behind, what they would think about her when she came back. Would they accept her? Would they accept her explanation for leaving? She was so nervous, she never noticed Willow joining her in the family room of her apartment. It was decided that those who were going to England would stay at Hermione's apartment, so they could all leave at the same time.
"Scared?" Willow asked as she next to her on the couch.
"I haven't been back there for five years. I never wrote or called or anything. When I left, it was like losing one more. How can I be forgiven for that? I deserted them when they needed me the most." Hermione looked imploringly at Willow, asking with her eyes to be forgiven.
Willow brought Hermione into a hug as the tears began. "Shh, don't cry; it will be alright. Listen, when my girlfriend was killed, I became angry and resentful. I killed someone and became engulfed in power. I nearly killed Dawn and would've ended the world if it hadn't been for Xander. When I left to get sorted out, I never really got the chance to apologize. So when I came back, I unconsciously made myself invisible to my friends and them invisible to me. I couldn't face them, not yet. In the end, they forgave me, even wanted me as a part of their lives. If they are your true friends, they'll forgive you."
Hermione, feeling much better, pulled away. "Yeah, you're right. If it was them, I would forgive them. People make mistakes. Come on we have to get ready to leave." Hermione, getting up off the couch, helped Willow up. As she turned to go into her room, she turned and said, "Thanks."
Everybody was in the living room, with their luggage. Buffy, Dawn and Xander occupied the couch while Willow and Kennedy commandeered the love seat. Draco was sitting in the chair, and Hermione, Giles and Andrew were standing about the room. Andrew had decided that he wanted to help, well that and he didn't want to be stuck with temperamental girls. At least here he had Xander for company.
"So how exactly are we getting to England, airplane?" Dawn enquired.
"Nope, portkey." Draco answered. "First off though, we need to shrink your luggage so we can carry it with us." He and Hermione went along the room and, to everyone's surprise, shrunk their luggage to the size of an orange.
"Nifty, now this is what I call carry-on luggage." Xander said. Everyone smirked while Draco just looked confused.
Hermione grabbed a broken clock from off her mantle. It was old and missing its face, but otherwise intact. "I was wondering when you were going to throw that away, totally clashed with the décor." Xander commented.
"I'm not throwing this out; this is our ticket to England." She muttered 'portus' and the clock turned a shimmering blue before reverting to its old look. "Now everyone needs to touch it, one finger will do." Everyone looked dubious but one by one they each pressed a hand to the clock.
The Scoobies looked at each other with disbelief, while Hermione looked down at her watch counting off the seconds. "…three, two, one." They all felt a sharp tug around their naval area. They were sent spinning through time and space, all bumping into the others beside them. Just when it seemed as if this crazy ride wouldn't end, land was quickly coming up to meet them. Hermione, Draco, Buffy and Kennedy were the only ones saved from playing kissy face with the ground. They helped the others to their feet, and they all got their first look around jolly ole England.
The group had landed in the middle of a run down square near midnight in London, England. It was littered with rubbish and the houses were all smothered with dirt and grime. There were very few lamp post and even fewer with working bulbs. Hermione looked up at houses eleven and thirteen and felt apprehension settle in the pit of her stomach. "C'mon. Someone will have heard that." Draco said pulling her from her thoughts.
Everyone assembled in front of the houses and Draco slipped each a piece of parchment with crisp, decisive writing. Hermione already knew the words by heart, 'The location of the Order of the Phoenix is number twelve Grimmauld Place.' Just as everyone had committed these words to memory, the parchments burst into flames and a house was appearing from thin air. It squeezed itself between the other two houses and looked as if it had always been there. Draco hurried everyone up the stairs to the front door.
"I flooed Molly earlier so she knows we're coming." As Draco said this the door opened and an older woman with light red hair peaked her head out of the house. "Oh Draco. When I got your message, I was so surprised. We weren't expecting you for a while and with so many people." Suddenly her eyes alighted upon Hermione and tears sprang to them. She stayed where she was, until Hermione walked up to her and was engulfed in a hug. She let the sobs shake her body as Mrs. Weasley rocked her back and forth. She kept repeating 'I'm sorry' over and over again.
Draco ushered the rest of their party into the house then turned back and said, "I hate to break this up, but…"
"That's alright." Hermione pulled back but still clung to her like a life line. The two women walked into the house. Seeing the party standing in the middle of the hall, Hermione immediately broke apart. "I'm so sorry. Let me show you to your rooms, and in the morning, you'll be able to meet everyone. Molly, the guest rooms?" After nodding her consent, Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchens with Draco to make a cup of tea.
Hermione showed everyone to their room on the second floor. "The rest of the Order staying here is one floor above. If you need me, don't hesitate to call." She turned to leave, then turned back. "Oh and be very quiet when you walk in the hall downstairs." Hermione returned to the kitchens where she knew that Mrs. Weasley awaited her.
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