Title: Bound By Loyalty

Notes: Okay, it has been a very long time, I know. But I just could not find the time or the energy to do this. Actually I was bored. But I sat at my computer today, and it came to me. So enjoy! Thanks to mysticallove, Renna, Just Me, FallenAngelLindsay, buffynangelforever, charmedslayers, IceBlueRose, ana, VaMpEdChik, The Dragon's Lady, Nitechick89, Lady Saffron of the Daggers, Caz92, me, JuliansGIrl, vampy the chosen one, GoddessofDestiny419, and kaziweirdo for reviewing!

The Dragon's Lady: I love long reviews! Keep up with the massive reviews, and I'll be happy.

Chapter 18: Fooling a Fool

'I will talk in riddles

I will talk like the symbolic fool I have always been

I will live in a world, a world lost here and again

I will talk with hope

Hope that may shatter in the end

I bring on the pain

The pain I know

I bring into view the hate

Let it flow

Let out the anger

Anger of insanity

Drive me out again

And hide in riddles

Underneath the skin

Bring forth the fear

The fear that masks the scent and. . .

Oh! bring it near

Bring out the rage

The rage I throw

Bring on the riddles

The riddles I only know

Bring on the symbols

Even the hateful ones that were built so true

Let out the riddles

The riddles that are so clear

Let out the poetry I write

While in trepidation and fear.'

-Ryan Wemmer "The Riddles"

Buffy stared into the fire, watching the dancing flames and feeling the warmth on her skin. She had changed out of her dirty clothes into something Voldemort had given her. It was a green, sleeveless dress with a silver chain wrapped around her waist, and it flowed to her ankles. Under any other circumstances, she would have enjoyed the softness of the cotton against her skin. However, considering where she was and who she was with, she felt as if she should always be on guard.

Turning her head when the Dark Lord entered the room, she watched as he silently glided to a stone table, where two beautiful goblets inlaid with jewels glittered. There was something almost compelling about the figure, clothed in dark robes and a hood covering his face as he poured wine into the cups. He handed one to Buffy, and she stared into it, not wanting to drink its contents. Voldemort raised it to his lips and took a big drink, then stared into the fire.

"You know what I hate?" He asked conversationally in a hissing voice.

"That you're so misunderstood?" Buffy asked, relaxing against her chair.

"Everybody thinks I'm a fool. I don't like being made a fool, Miss Summers. In fact, I hate it when I'm treated like a fool. I'm not a FOOL!" He roared, throwing his goblet into the fire, the wine making the flames shoot up.

"No, you're not a fool," Buffy said truthfully. And he wasn't. He was actually pretty smart. His whole idea to take over the world was actually well thought out.

"Then why do you persist in treating me like I am? I'm not an idiot. I know your plan!" Voldemort shouted, throwing back his hood, his eyes glittering coldly. He put a hand on each side of Buffy, blocking her in. Buffy tensed up, narrowing her eyes. "You think that you can fool me? You can't," he hissed.

"I guess not," Buffy replied, searching for a way to escape.

Voldemort suddenly laughed, straightening. He pulled out a wand and tapped it on his palm. "That's okay, though. Because I have a plan."

Buffy understood what he was talking about, so she surged to her feet and ran towards the door. It was too late, however, because Voldemort muttered a word and Buffy felt an urge to stop and go back to her chair and sit down. So she did, staring at the Dark Lord intently as words pervaded her mind.

Listen to me, Buffy. It's so easy.

But I don't want to.

Listen to me. You want to.

I do?

Yes. Now, I want you to do something for me.

Yes, Master. What is it?

I want you to go back to Hogwarts.

But why?

Because I want you to. I sent a group of vampires, and they should be there by now. I want you to go in after them and bring me Harry Potter.

Harry? But you hate him.

Exactly. Now go.

Yes, Master.

Buffy blinked and stood, heading towards the door. She followed the road down to the edge of the forest, knowing that the portal was open to transport her to the Forbidden Forest. Stepping in, she landed on the ground in dirt and leaves. Pushing herself up, she brushed herself off, not noticing the twigs in her hair or the scratches on her arms.

Shaking her head, she grinned. She was such a good actress.

(Monday, Oct. 5)

Harry stared into his bowl of porridge glumly. They still hadn't found Buffy, even though Aurors had been out searching for her all night. He felt as if it was his fault. Voldemort was after him, he knew that, and Buffy wouldn't even be involved with the whole mess if it wasn't for him.

The Great Hall was still quiet, occasionally punctuated by whispers from various students, mostly Slytherins. Draco was unusually silent, blinking at his breakfast with a blank face.

At the Professors table, they were talking quietly amongst themselves. Sirius had a lost expression on his face, and he looked exhausted, like he hadn't eaten or slept in a few days, which was probably true.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he opened them when the door was flung open with a bang. The student body glanced over excitedly, expecting to see Buffy. But it wasn't her. Frowning, Harry glanced at Dumbledore, who, along with the rest of the professors, had pulled out his wand.

"Get along the back of the room, students," he shouted in a commanding voice. The students complied without a word, huddling in the back.

A group of people had walked in. Except they weren't people. They had bumpy faces, and sharp teeth. Harry knew they were Vampires. A few had a student in their vice like grips. Where was Buffy when you needed her?

"Hello, students of Hogwarts!" One of them shouted, causing the others to laugh. "Now, Mr. Dumbledore, you don't want to use that wand on me, do you? After all, I'm sure you can't kill all of us before we get to the students, y'know?" He asked, gesturing to the terrified students still in their grips. "So, we're all going to sit here for a few minutes. We are waiting for a special guest." They started laughing, and Harry didn't like the sound at all.

Buffy entered Hogwarts, which was void of people, and headed towards the Great Hall. The door was closed, and through it, she could hear voices. They were students, though, so Buffy guessed that they were the Vampires.

She contemplated the door, squinting. Tilting her head from side to side, she shrugged, then kicked it in.

"Honey, I'm home," she said, grinning. Walking in, she glanced around to make sure the kids were alright. She saw the relieved look on Harry's face.

"Finally, you're here," one of the Vamps complained. "It took you long enough. Grab the Potter kid, will ya?"

Buffy saw Harry's face fall and saw the shocked expression on Sirius' face out of the corner of her eye.

She headed towards Harry.

Harry shrank back as Buffy walked to him. She was a bad guy? How did this happen? He had trusted her, told her things. He shook his head and stared at her in anger and disgust. That look changed to confusion when she stopped at a bench and turned to look back at the Vampires.

Giving the Vamps a small smile, Buffy brought her palm down on to the wooden bench, splintering it. Grabbing a piece of wood, she held it in her hand as a make-shift stake.

Sauntering towards the Vampires, who all had confused looks on their faces, she tapped the stake against her chin. "Now," she began, "I'm not going to grab the Potter kid until you let go of the students, ok?"

"Why?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Because the Dark Lord Voldemort said so," she said, hoping they would be so scared of their master that they wouldn't question her. It worked as they looked frightened and let go of the kids. The students ran towards the big group, and Buffy saw that Ginny Weasley had been one of them.

"What's the piece of wood for?" One of them asked stupidly.

"The better to kill you with, my dear," Buffy answered sweetly before springing into action. She did a series of back flips before reaching them. She staked one right off the bat, and the fight began.

Sirius stared at Buffy in sadness and anger. How could she do this? She seemed so real, so good. But she was a liar. She had been fooling them all along.

His anger switched to confusion when he saw her splinter the bench and pick up a stake. That confusion changed to happiness when he saw that she wasn't evil as she began to fight them. Running down from the dais the professors table was on, he jumped into the fray. He felt a back connect to his, and he looked over, surprised to see Snape fighting a Vampire. Shrugging, he used his wand as a stake and killed a Vamp.

The fight went on for a few minutes. Sirius turned around and saw a Vamp sneaking up on Snape. Deciding that a dead professor wasn't the best thing, he sighed and jumped in front of it, killing the thing. Turning back to Snape, he smiled at him, then his eyes widened when Snape shoved him out of the way and stabbed the Vamp that was right behind him with his wand.

"Thanks," they said at the same time. Nodding, they reverted back to glaring at each other and shooting the other one cold looks. Looking around, Snape saw that Buffy was in combat with the leader of the Vampires.

She punched him in the face, then dropped to the ground and swept his legs out from under him. The Vamp rolled when Buffy tried to bring her stake down on his heart, then kicked her in the face. She flew back and hit the wall, sliding down. Flipping herself up, she ran after the Vamp, who was going straight for Harry and the screaming students. Jumping onto the table, she followed him, before springing off and tackling the vampire, who had almost reached Harry. On the way down, she staked him, landing hard on the ground.

Sirius winced. That looked like it had hurt. Standing up, Buffy dusted herself off, and Sirius noticed that she was wearing a dress in green and silver. Slytherin colors.

Just then, he heard a noise at the door and turned.

"Well," Oz said, dropping his bags. The students looked over at him. "I missed something."

Buffy grinned at Oz, then crouched down next to Harry. "Are you okay?" She asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

He nodded, staring at her. Buffy was surprised when he enveloped her in a hug, so she fell back on her butt. "Don't scare me like that," Harry whispered, and Buffy gave him a small nod, unable to speak. He pulled back and gave her a lopsided grin. "That was some pretty awesome fighting."

Buffy laughed before ruffling his hair and standing up. "Yeah, you missed something," she said to Oz, walking over to him. "Breakfast," she explained, realizing she hadn't eaten since she was kidnapped. Her stomach growled.

Glancing over at the professors table and sighed when she saw Dumbledore with an expectant look on his face. Breakfast would have to wait. Scanning her eyes over to Sirius, she smiled at him, then "Oomphed," when he pulled her into a hug. "Nice to see you too," she said, laughing.

"You worried me."

"That seems to be the theme here."

They headed to the staff room, Buffy tugging Snape's arm to make him join them.

After explaining what had happened, which Buffy noticed was a recurring theme, she dug into a big breakfast.

"Y'know you're going to have to go speak to Willow," she told Oz.

He nodded in agreement. "I'll leave tomorrow," he said.

"Keep me updated, okay?" She asked.

He nodded once again.

Sometimes it was hard to go back home. Buffy understood that.

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Pointless question: What is your favorite holiday?