Disclaimer: I am not Joss, nor am I J.K. Rowlings or anything else, but me.
Author's Note: I am so pissed off! I had my entire story typed out! The entire thing, all of it! And the computer told me it didn't like me anymore and wouldn't read the file so I lost it! So I had to re-type everything! Grrrr!
I am looking for a beta. Mine has left me.. (little crying.. alright a lot of crying!).. So if anyone feels up to the job of correcting my horrible typing ability, contact me, please! alwaysanangelgurlyahoo.com
Chapter 18
Xander blurry opened his eyes, staring at the man in front of him. It took Xander a few seconds to realize that there was really a man there. Xander was about to ask him what he was doing there, when Xander noticed the glint as the man's arm moved and realized that the man was holding a knife. Rolling off the bed, Xander became entangled in his sheets.
"Oz!" Xander hollered out as he kicked the sheets away from him, struggling to put more distance between him and the man with the knife. "Wake up! There's a man in our room." Oz woke at the first sound of his name, rolling out of bed and on his feet in seconds. Grabbing Xander, the two boys rushed out of their room and towards the girls' room.
"Scoobies!" they hollered and ran into the room, slamming the door behind them. They leaned heavily against the closed portrait, as the two girls clutched their blankets to them, looking sleepily at the two boys who had invaded their room.
"Oz!" "Xander!" Willow and Buffy yelled at the same time, the confusion in their voices noticeable, before anxiety of what could have happened settled throughout the air. Buffy and Willow anxious at what would cause the boys to come into their room, while Xander and Oz anxious about what had just happened. "What are you doing?"
"Man.." pant "knife.." wheeze "our room.." panted Xander, trying to explain everything, but was too out of breath for anything else.
"Alright." Buffy commented, moving towards the portrait. After moving the boys, Buffy opened the portrait and started across the common room, before realizing the person could be in the room. Making sure to keep her back to the portrait, Buffy moved silently along the wall, checking all the cracks and cervices of the walls, before moving into the room. She checked under the sofas and tables and in some places that only a first year student would fit, but she found nothing. Eyeing the boys' portrait, she made her way towards the room, not making a sound. "Werewolf." The portrait swung open and Buffy entered the room.
Willow and Buffy's Room
"I don't think we should have let her go out there by herself." Willow stated, looking at the two boys who were sitting on her bed, "What if something happens to her?"
"She's the slayer." Xander replied, his belief that Buffy was a superhero, still installed. "She has the supernatural power kick and everything. She's a superhero."
"She's just a girl." Willow said sharply, she sometimes forgot that Buffy was just a girl. She remembered first meeting Buffy and how strong she was, but she also remembered the Buffy that cried and laughed and got hurt. She had looked up to Buffy for a long time, but when Buffy had gotten sick and put in the hospital, it had really hit home that Buffy was as human as the rest of them, although it didn't seem to have hit home for Xander. Oz had an easier time of making the connection, because of being a werewolf.
"She has strength and finesse and healing power." Xander shot right back, he didn't want to believe that Buffy could die or get hurt. He knew what the prophecy said about one girl in all the world, but not Buffy, she would live to a ripe old age, would retire from being the slayer.
"One girl in all the world." Oz said, "One dies and another is called." He waited for this to sink into Xander's head, "None of us want to admit it, but we all know it. We have all always known it."
"And we reacted accordingly," Willow replied, the boys looked at her in confusion, "We knew she went out every night, but we still expected her to do everything else, homework, have a social life, we wanted her to have a normal life. We forced her to be normal and it almost killed her. We haven't completely supported her. We watched her go out and we hoped she would come back, but we never asked her about the things she hunts and if she wants help. We let her fight everything and after it's done, we force her to do normal things. We are killing her by trying to make her normal and she is letting us do it."
"She's the slayer." Xander replied weakly.
"Exactly." Willow replied, "We should have supported her in her relationship with Angel, not criticized her every movement with it. She was hurt by all the comments you made, Xander, but she pushed it aside and remained your friend, choosing to hide that aspect of her life from you." Willow paused and let her words sink in, "she shouldn't have to hide anything from us, but she has. When she was sick or hurt, we didn't want to know, we just wanted to know when the evil was killed, so we could force her to be normal."
Oz and Xander's Room
Buffy waited until the door closed behind her, before making her way along the wall. She could see clearly into the darkness and didn't see anything that stood out. After checking all the cracks around the room, Buffy made her way to the beds. Starting with Xander's she could see the holes the knife left on his bed. Checking underneath she found nothing and moved on to Oz's. She didn't find anything wrong with Oz's bed and moved on towards the wardrobes.
Buffy and Willow's Room
"So," Xander said, "we shouldn't expect her to date someone with a pulse?"
"That's exactly the comments I'm talking about." Willow replied, "Do you know how cut up she was by those types of comments? Put yourself in her shoes. You are a fifteen year old girl and you have been called as a slayer. Your parents are fighting all the time and are getting a divorce. You were once the most popular girl in school, but because of being called, you have to give up your social life and train. You fight the big scary vampire and your watcher is killed. You burn down the school to save the students and get kicked out." She paused to catch her breath, letting Xander formulate everything in his head, "Your mom moves you to a new town, which sits on the mouth of Hell. You arrive, only to find a dead guy in a locker and your new watcher is the librarian. You meet a guy, who is nice and charming and already knows you are the slayer. You find out about a prophecy which says you are going to die. You die and come back. You date the said guy, who turns out to be a vampire. Your best friend makes cutting remarks about said guy, calling him deadboy and telling you that you should date someone with a pulse." Xander winced slightly, understanding now what point Willow had been trying to make and was still making to him, "Who makes you feel normal, like he won't break if you hug him too hard, who you can loose yourself in. You sleep with said vampire and he loses his soul. He kills your friends and watcher's girlfriend, your mother kicks you out of the house. Before you have to send the souled version to Hell, to save the world, and you have no place to go. And to top it all, your friends are trying to force you to fit into a certain social scheme. How would you react?"
Xander and Oz's room
Buffy opened the first wardrobe, wand in hand, only to find nothing but clothes and a moth or two. Making her way over to the other wardrobe, she opened it and found nothing in there either. Making her way back into the common room, she opened the portrait,
"Nothing," she said and eyed the people in the room, they looked in deep thought. "No reason to worry now. Looks like whoever it was, is long gone." She watched the people in front of them, they looked as though they were told a friend had died or that she wouldn't be coming back, "Why the long faces?" Willow rushed and hugged her, followed by Xander. Buffy looked to Oz, who was his usual stoic self, in question, he merely shrugged. "Uhm.. not that I'm not enjoying the moment, but we need to contact Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore's Room!" Buffy hollered throwing some Floo powder into the fireplace, before sticking her head through. "PROFESSOR!" she waited a heartbeat, listening for any sound, "PROFESSOR!" she heard him stumble and she thought she heard him curse, but brushed it off, it was Dumbledore after all.
"Yes?" he asked sleepily, tying his robe around him, his red and gold slippers peeking out.
'Guess that answers that question.' Buffy thought as she eyed the man, who had obviously been asleep. 'Hermione is gonna be so jealous.' Buffy had just answered the question that everyone had been wondering for years and she couldn't wait to tell Hermione and company.
"Sorry to interrupt your sleep," Buffy said sweetly, before getting down to business, "But someone got into our room tonight." Dumbledore looked at her sharply, nodding abruptly and Buffy pulled her head back through. Dumbledore sighed deeply, before Flooing into the common room.
"Alright," Dumbledore said, "what happened?" he listened as Xander went through his story, followed by Oz. "Stay here."
"I've already looked, Headmaster." Buffy told him and Dumbledore nodded. He trusted Buffy enough that if she hadn't found anything, than neither would he, but he wanted to look and see if any magic had been used on the room itself. "There's no one in there."
"Thank you, child," he told her and Buffy nodded, Dumbledore understood she was the slayer, but, like her father and watcher, wanted nothing more than to protect her from everything and anything dangerous, "but you should have waited to alert me."
"But the only fireplace hooked up the Floo network is the one in the common area," Buffy stated logically, although that hadn't been the reason she had checked earlier, but it gave Dumbledore paused at this, "I would have had to enter a dark, unlit room that anyone could be hidden in, anyways." Dumbledore nodded at this logic, but still managed to give her a disapproving glance. They, her father, watcher, and Dumbledore, had decided that the common area should be the only one hooked up to the Floo network and even that was protected, so that you had to be on the approved list in order to Floo in.
"I want to take a look and see if the person used any types of spells on the portraits or anything in the room."
"Like a portkey!" Willow exclaimed and Dumbledore nodded to her, the child really should have been in Ravenclaw. The group watched as Dumbledore entered the room, cautiously, as though he were expecting a magical attack and there might have been one waiting, none of them had been trained for that type of magic, although Buffy seemed to have a knack of sensing any type of magic.
"I need to contact Dad," Buffy said, knowing how much trouble she would be in if she didn't contact her father shortly, "and Giles." Ever since Wesley had shown up, her father and Giles had been around her constantly, one, if not both, present during any time she had to spend with Wesley.
"What about your watcher?" Willow asked and they laughed as Buffy made a face.
"If I need a guy to scream like a girl, I'll give him a call." (( I think that actually a line in a Buffy epi. Could be wrong though, but if it is, it isn't mine..) Buffy told them, as she grabbed more Floo. "Professor Snape's room!" she threw the Floo into the fireplace and stuck her head through, "Dad?" she called out hesitantly. She knew that her father would hear her if he was awake. She waited a second and was about to yell when Snape walked out of the bedroom, black robe pillowing behind him.
"Buffy?" he asked sleepily, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She said and he gave her the look that said he knew better, "Well I need you to come here," she told him and he nodded, "But I don't want Mom to worry," he looked sharply at her, Buffy never wanted her mother to worry, but was more adamant about it when something was going on, "Please, I'll explain when you get here." He nodded and went back into his room, as Buffy pulled her head back through.
"I'll get Giles." Willow said excitedly, she didn't want to wake Giles, but she was still getting used to the wizarding world and was excited about the Floo network. "GILES!" she screamed, knowing that there was no one in the room with Giles, or at least she hoped there wasn't.
"Son of a.." Giles muttered and Willow giggled as she heard a crash, Giles getting out of bed without his glasses on and finding that the step stool was closer than he actually thought it was, "Willow?"
"Hey," she said, "You need to come to our room, now." She pulled her head back through the fire, before Giles could say anything more. He nodded, even though she couldn't see him, and went to put clothes on.
"You evil child," Xander teased, causing Willow to blush. Snape was the first to arrive, followed closely by Giles.
"Would someone like to explain what is going on?" Snape asked, glaring at the Scoobies that were sitting around. Everyone looked to Buffy to explain the situation, because it was her father after all, him being scary and making everyone slightly afraid was just a side reason, really. She quickly explained everything she knew and when she was finished, Dumbledore had rejoined the group.
"Well," he said, "I found no evidence of portkey." Everyone knew that if he hadn't found anything, then there was nothing there. Everyone was relieved, but this still begged the question of how the person got in, weighing heavily on everyone's mind, no one wanted to ask the question, leaving it to sit in the dark.
"How did they get in, then?" Giles asked finally, knowing that with the question out in the open, they could begin the theories of how the person got into the room in the first place.
"Well," Willow said, "They could have been listening at our portrait, to get the common room password, but that doesn't explain how they got into the boys' room." The group nodded, because it was a plausible explanation, it had been done before. Giles and Ethan used to use that method to sneak into the other houses and prank them or meet a girl or two in their dorms during the night.
"So, how did they get in, then?" Buffy asked, "I would have felt them, even if they were invisible, if they were in the common room." The group shifted uncomfortably, ever since she had been turned into part of the key, she had become more powerful. Dumbledore speculated that Buffy was coming into being a full slayer, but also that she was tapping into the power of the key.
Flashback
"What do you mean a full slayer?" Buffy asked, "I've been the slayer for the past three years!" She had fought almost every night since her fifteenth birthday, growing stronger and more adamant about the cause with each passing night.
"Yes," Giles replied calmly while his slayer paced in front of him, he refused to acknowledge Wesley as Buffy's watcher, "And you've been growing in strength and power in those three years. A slayer has never made it to their full strength; they have died before this, by demon attack."
"Or the slayer test." Buffy replied bitterly and Giles nodded absently, he still couldn't believe that the Watcher's Council would simply kill a slayer like that. "What does it mean?"
"I'm sorry?" Giles replied, confused, because he had been lost in his thoughts about the council.
"Becoming a full slayer," Buffy said a little impatiently, "what does it mean? Do I finally get a cool pin?"
"No," Giles said, "I am not sure what it means, as I said no slayer has ever become a full slayer, at least not that I know of." He immediately realized that he would need to look further into the subject and with Hogwarts' library, he would be able to.
"Control." Snape said, he had been at every single training that Buffy had and it still amazed him the power that she commanded. The two other looked at him, "It's about control."
"Yes," Giles said thinking through everything, "as the slayer ages, the more they learn, and the less they would need the watcher's council. And if they power grows the more likely they are to survive."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Buffy asked confused, because a newbie slayer that needed to be trained would be more of a risk than a slayer who was already trained and could kick ass.
"Information." Giles repeated, "The slayers would learn more and become increasingly difficult to control. The council is afraid that the slayer would realize that they did not need their watcher or the council to do their job." Buffy cleared her throat and Giles smiled fondly, "you were never easily to control."
"Or ever." Buffy replied a huge smile on her face.
End Flashback
"Uhmm.." Xander became, shifting uncomfortably, knowing that soon everyone would be focused on him and not in a good way, "I might have written the passwords down."
"XANDER!" Willow and Buffy yelled at the same time, while Dumbledore simply looked at the boy and Giles and Snape glared, a glare that would send even a Death Eater running for cover.
"What," he said sheepishly, "there are a lot to remember."
"Where?" Dumbledore asked, drawing Snape and Giles' attention to the problem at hand, as opposed to ideas of how to torture the boy and still let him live.
"Gryffindor Tower, all of it, Sirius' room, your office, the training room." Xander said in a rush, as if he said it fast enough, then it wouldn't be as bad, "And I think that's it." Dumbledore nodded.
"That all needs to be changed." Dumbledore said, "Who could it have been, though?"
"Ask Hope." Buffy said and everyone looked at her blankly, "The portrait that guards our door?" Buffy gestured towards the door that lead out into the night and everyone got up. Dumbledore took the lead, leading them towards the portrait and opening it.
"Hope," Dumbledore began and the blonde little girl in the picture turned to face him, "did you let anyone in earlier this evening?" She played with her blonde hair for a moment, tying it back, her clothes magically changing from a nightdress to her normal robe as she eyed the headmaster.
"Well yes," Hope said finally, deciding that the headmaster was a trustworthy individual. She had met him, but she had never spoken with him, other portraits had, but not her and now she could brag and say she had. The others turned to glare at Xander, who shrunk a little bit, looking for some place to hide.
"Could you tell us what he looked like?" Buffy asked and Hope nodded vigorously.
"He was in black robes with a silver mask." Hope said causing everyone to shudder; they all realized what was being suggested with this. "His eyes were really silver though and his voice was very cultured and smooth. I didn't think that he belonged, but he had the password."
"It's okay, Hope." Dumbledore promised the picture, who was growing more upset with each passing moment. "You did nothing wrong." All of the other portraits would have done the same thing, a few may have left to find him, but they would have let the man in, because he knew the password. Dumbledore wondered if there was some way around that, to specialize each door to the person, to only open to them and the teachers. Shaking his thoughts off, Dumbledore came back to the matter at hand, who entered the tower and for what purpose.
"Malfoy." Buffy hissed, wondering, briefly, if Draco had known that his father was going to pay a visit. She felt hurt, because if he had known and not said anything, there had been no progress made and Draco really wasn't worth saving. She had been so sure that there was something to be saved, but.. Buffy quickly clamped down on those thoughts, she would go down that bridge when she got to it. "Thanks, Hope." She swung the portrait closed and turned to look at the rest of the group as they settled into the various chairs and sofas around the room, "Well, we know who the late night visitor is."
"Uhmm," Willow said, "I hate to be the bearer of bad thoughts, but what if he didn't come alone?"
"Shit!"
"Buffy!" Giles and Snape exclaimed at the same time, the tone one that would be considered fatherly by anyone who heard it.
"That is too freaky for words." Buffy told them, "But that is not the issue right now." Her father and watcher merely raised their eyebrows, "alright, I'm sorry it will happen again, but we have bigger fish to fry then my language."
"While the use of such profanity is not necessary," Dumbledore said and Buffy flushed. Dumbledore had the way of making anyone realize that vulgarity was not necessary and crude. "Ms. Snape does point out the essence of time."
"Dad and Giles will take Sirius' room, Headmaster will take his office and I will take Gryffindor tower." Buffy raised her hand before anyone could interrupt, "I move the quickest and would be the better fighter and the most logical place for attack would be a student's tower. Most likely they are after Harry." They nodded reluctantly, still unsure about letting Buffy go alone. "Also, the Headmaster would know if anything in his office had been taken or moved."
"The password for all the portraits is Teddy Bear." Dumbledore told her, "you will need it in order to change the passwords in the tower. It will override all of them and allow you to change the passwords. Change them all, even to individual dorms, and then tell the students tomorrow. Professor McGonagall and the Headgirl can change them tomorrow."
"Thanks, sir." Buffy said, "Everyone report back here when they are done." She ordered, like the general she had, had to be in previous experiences. Amazingly no one argued, they nodded preparing to go their separate ways, but Willow didn't want her friend out there by herself.
"I'll go with her," Willow suggested and Buffy shook her head negatively, while Giles and Snape nodded, Dumbledore stayed quiet.
"I need you to change the locks on this place." Buffy replied immediately, knowing that Willow would offer she had been doing this more and more. Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about it, but now was definitely not the time to think about it.
"The boys can do it." Willow argued, but the look Buffy shot her said that there would be no argument or if there was, Willow was more than likely to lose the argument.
"I would move faster without you." Buffy said truthfully, not wanting to hurt Willow's feeling by not taking the help, but time was of the essence at that moment, "Look, we need to go," turning away from the others, staring into the fire Buffy threw the Floo powder into the fire, briefly taking a last look at everyone before shouting, "Gryffindor tower." She stepped through before anyone else could argue.
"I know you meant well, dear girl," Giles told her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "But she's used to you guys not offering to fight, just doing the research."
"That's about to change." Willow replied, fierce determination lacing her voice. Giles nodded, before moving towards the fireplace, now was not the time to talk about these things. Willow made plans to look in the library for protection spells for the rest of the Scoobies and some other spells that might come in handy when defeating the Dark Lord.
"Sirius Black's room!" Giles yelled, followed quickly by Snape, who was glowering at having to go the mangy cures room.
"My Office!" Dumbledore stepped through, leaving Xander, Willow, and Oz to their own thoughts.
"Well," Willow said, "Xander fix your guys' room, Oz take Hope, and I will get our room."
"Aye-Aye, sir."
"That's ma'am!" They cracked up and the tension was broken for the moment.
Gryffindor Tower
Buffy stumbled over a party favor not picked up, as she came through the fireplace, deciding that the next time they had a party, they were picking up right afterwards. She looked around the room, quickly seeing the disarray that was still there. The common room was in shambles, there were half-filled cups, the food and drink were still out, but there was no one in the common room. Moving along the wall she quickly checked all the nooks and crannies, still finding nothing, not even a sleeping student.
Sirius Black's Room
Giles stumbled to a stop, still unused to using Floo once again. He sighed, he knew it would take a little bit longer to get used to, but he was glad that traveling was that much easier. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Snape ran into him.
"Bloody He--!"
"Shh!" Snape hissed, clamping a hand over his mouth and dragging him into a dark corner. Snape motioned Giles to one side, while he went the other way. They quickly found that there was no on waiting in the common area of this room. Moving as quietly as they could, they made their way to the bedroom portrait.
"Maybe one of us should change the password to the front portrait first," Giles suggested and Snape rolled his eyes, before nodding. Giles suppressed a snort, the man had clearly been hanging out with his daughter too much. Giles mentally slapped himself as he caught the slang that he was using. They both had been around Buffy way too much.
Gryffindor Tower: Girl's Dorms
Buffy gave the password to the girl's dormitory portrait and entered the corridor. She could clearly see that there was no one in the hallway with her, but the amount of people in the rooms was making her sense go haywire. She could tell that there was no one powerful, like Dumbledore, in the rooms, but other than that, she couldn't tell if the magic was asleep or not. She was hoping that going in there by herself was a good idea, but then remembered that she was impervious to most of the curses, so it was probably a safe bet.
Buffy quickly made her way through the dormitories, finding that some of the girls' were missing from their beds, but they had never made it to them in the first place. She hoped that when she got to the boys' dorms' that they wouldn't be together, but resigned herself to finding a several couples together. Changing the passwords to the girls' dorms she made the walk across the corridor to the boys' entrance.
Dumbledore's Office
"Lumos." Dumbledore said he didn't have the advantage of slayer eyesight. Dumbledore quickly entered his office and found nothing amiss; the place looked like it normally did. He searched diligently through everything, making sure that he was correct in assuming that there was nothing missing. He hoped that everything was where it was supposed to be and that there really was nothing wrong, when he noticed a cabinet opened. Moving towards it, he opened it and cursed, it was school records of all of the students, but also the staff.
Sirius Black's Room
Snape entered Sirius' room quickly, looking around the dark room; he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He could see a shape on the bed and could only hope that it was Sirius and that he was alone. Snape recalled that Sirius was a lady's man when they had been in school, so he was praying to whatever Gods were listening that Sirius was alone in that bed. Moving forward, he reached out a hand, when an arm shot up, wand pointed at him,
"Relax." Snape hissed drawing his own wand on the other wizard, but the arm did not waiver, "Black, it's just me. Professor Dumbledore sent me." He slightly lowered his wand, but Black's wand did not move an inch.
"What the bloody hell are you doing in my room?" Black asked and Snape resisted the urge of hexing the man, especially since he had just explained what he was doing there.
"Dumbledore sent me." Snape replied, wanting to hex him a couple of times, just for old times sake, of course.
"At four in the morning." Black asked dryly and Snape admitted that it did look a tad suspicious. Although, they were on the same side and his daughter had saved Black's life, so why couldn't Black be a tad bit reasonable?
"Look," Snape muttered, "I know it doesn't look good, but would you grow up and look at the facts? I am on your side."
"Me, grow up!" Sirius practically yelled, "What about you?"
"I have grown up quite nicely, thank you." Snape replied, "unlike the mangy dog that you have grown into."
"Why do you always.." Before Sirius could say anything else, Giles walked into the room, took one look at the situation and sighed.
"There has been a slight problem." Giles said from the doorway, causing both men to jump they hadn't noticed Giles come into the room, "if you would stop with the childish antics, we would explain it to you." Snape shot Black a look that clearly said he won that round, "Both of you." Snape's look died and he pouted briefly, before a look of indifference settled on his face. Giles then decided that Snape was spending way too much time with his daughter, because they had the same facial expressions.
Gryffindor Tower: Boys' Dorms
"Teddy Bear," Buffy gave the password to the portrait, who glowered at having to let a girl into the boys' dormitory at four in the morning. She shot the portrait a smug look, before stepping into the corridor and making her way to the first door. She quickly went through the rooms, waking up portraits along the way and changing the passwords as she went.
"Finally." She muttered to herself, coming to stand in front of the last door. "Wake up," the portrait opened one eye and looked at her disdainfully.
"You are in the wrong corridor, miss." The portrait told her, disparagement dripping from each word. "If you go now, I won't wake the entire house up."
"Dumbledore sent me." Buffy told the portrait, the same conversation growing tiring after the fiftieth time, "And before you say that he didn't, I have two words for you," the portrait looked at her, wondering what the two words could be, "Teddy Bear." The portrait glowered at her, but swung open. Buffy shot him a smug look, "Thank you kind, sir." The sarcasm could be detected on each word, but Buffy was already in the room and the door closed. As the blankness enveloped her, she searched the room and noticed that she was in Harry's room, if there was to be any attack it would be in this room. Looking around, she noticed that Harry was not in his bed. Moving forward, her senses on high alert, she could still feel Harry, but that was it, so she knew he was still there. As she reached the bed her senses began to go haywire, a hand fell onto her shoulder.
"What the Hell are you doing?" without thinking, Buffy grabbed the hand around the wrist and threw the person over her shoulder. The person landed in a heap on the floor, with a small moan of pain, Buffy planted her foot on the person, peering at them in the darkness, ready for any attack that may come from the person on the floor.
Scooby's Common Room
Willow, Oz, and Xander sat in front of the fire and waited for the rest of them to come back. They had changed the passwords quickly and efficiently, Xander even remembering the correct pronunciation and words needed to change the passwords. They had then sat down in front of the fire and waited and waited and waited.
"Do you remember Buffy's first day?" Willow asked suddenly not able to take the silence any more.
"Yea," Xander replied, "Jesse knew before anyone else that there was going to be a new girl. He went on about how hot she was supposed to be and then I ran into her, literally." He paused as he remembered the incident, "I fell for her, not even thinking twice when the stake fell out of her bag."
"I remember how hard a time Giles had getting her to even go to training and the such." Willow said, "Did you know she wasn't supposed to befriend us?"
"I was supposed to stop that." Giles said; Snape, Sirius, and him arriving back in the room.
"No visitor?" Oz asked and they shook their heads.
"Are we the first one's back?" Snape asked.
"Yea." Willow replied, "We were just talking about the first time we met Buffy."
"I met her in the library." Giles said, smiling fondly.
"Big surprise." Xander coughed and they all laughed.
"Well, I assumed that she was there for the book on vampire," he smiled wistfully, remembering all the hopes that he had, had for his slayer and each one had been thrown out the window when meeting her, "but she really wanted her books for school. She told me that she wasn't there to slay and left."
"She told me to take a hold of my life." Willow said, looking at Oz and smiling fondly. "Of course I followed that advice and wound up with a vampire, who tried to eat me." The group laughed again.
"I am the one that brought us to Hogwarts." Snape said and everyone really listened, because they hadn't heard how Buffy arrived, just how long she had been there. "I met her and thought she was the typical blonde, but she had an old aura, like she was aged beyond her years. Well, within thirty minutes of meeting with the Headmaster, she came down and announced that I was her father. I didn't take it well," everyone winced, because they could actually imagine it, "and she ran off. I followed and caught her outside. We talked and then we got jumped by a vampire, who knocked me around like I was nothing."
"I know how that feels." Giles muttered, rubbing the back of his head, where he was normally hit and the group laughed, again.
"I met Buffy when she went to Hogsmeade with Oliver." Sirius smiled when Willow gasped, because Buffy hadn't told her, "she changed me out of my dog form and demanded to know why I was following her."
"She made you change?" Willow asked, "What are you and how can you change?" Instead of answering, Sirius changed into the large black dog and back, causing Willow and Xander to gasp. "Oh."
"How did she change you back?" Giles asked, wondering how much power over other's actions that Buffy may have.
"I'm not sure." Sirius replied, "I asked her the same thing and she told me that she wasn't sure. We then talked and got to know each other. She brought me food after patrol each night and we would talk more. I was amazed that Snape could raise such a wonderful child," Sirius shot, "but the credit must go to the mother."
"About what?" Snape asked not taking the bait that had been laid before him, his daughter had mentioned anything to him and judging by Giles' face, she hadn't told him either.
"The past." Sirius said, "I told her about when we were in Hogwarts and about Harry's parents and about the war itself. She really absorbs the information."
"What did she ask about?" Snape asked, Buffy hadn't been acting any differently, but he wasn't sure if that actually meant anything.
"What you were like as a child." Sirius replied, "That type of thing."
"And I'm sure you had fun filling her in." Snape sneered.
"I told her that you were very studious, but I didn't really know you well enough, because you were from a different house and that she should just ask you or her mother." Sirius responded and Snape looked shocked. He would have expected Sirius to fill his daughter's head with all types of tales.
"She inspires all sorts of loyalty and trust, doesn't she?" Dumbledore said softly, stepping into the room from the fire place. "From everyone she meets, she doesn't even know that she is doing it, but by the time you leave, you would give your life to see her smile once more."
"Yes." Willow said immediately, noticing all the nods coming from around the room, "And?"
"I didn't find anyone in my office," Dumbledore told them and there was a collective sigh of relief, "But someone had been there."
"What did they take?" Snape asked quickly, knowing that it had to do with his daughter, he was sure of it.
"Nothing."
"But then why break into your office?" Xander asked curiously.
"They went through my student files."
"Your student files?" Xander asked in confusion, "Are those like who our parents are and that type of stuff?"
"That's exactly what it is." Dumbledore replied and he looked at Snape, "it seems that the gig is up."
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, confused, because they hadn't been informed about Snape's spying.
"I am a spy." Snape said and Willow nodded, she had known something was up, but hadn't been sure what it was, "and I haven't told the Dark Lord that I have a daughter, but apparently her record has been looked at, which means that he will soon know."
"What do we do?"
Gryffindor Tower: Boys' Dorms
"Ow." The lump on the floor, under Buffy's foot, exclaimed.
"I was about to ask where the hell you were!" Buffy said in a low tone, as she helped him to his feet. He stepped back cautiously, unsure of what Buffy's reaction to him would be, besides the bruise that he would now have on his arse. "What were you doing out of bed?"
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked confused. "Has something happened to Sirius? Professor Dumbledore?"
"No." Buffy said, putting the boy at ease, she wouldn't like to him, but she wouldn't tell him everything, it would only cause him more concern. "My room was broken into and Xander apparently left the passwords about, including to the tower, so I have to check and make sure that nothing was going on. This was the last room and I was scared, because you weren't in bed."
"Had to go to the loo." Harry replied, flushing slightly in embarrassment, it had been a long time since he had to explain where he was going to someone. "But your room?"
"Is fine." Buffy stated, "Everyone is fine, Dumbledore just wanted me to check." She moved back towards the door, "Good night Harry, we'll talk tomorrow."
Elsewhere
"Where is the child?" a raspy voice asked the bowed man in the dark black robes and silver mask.
"I was unable to obtain her." The man replied.
"So you failed me, Malfoy?" the raspy voice asked indecorously.
"No my Lord!" he replied, the other man gave him a disbelieving look, "well, yes, but I got information about her."
"And?"
"She is Snape's child."
"Impossible!" the Dark Lord responded, "Snape would have told me."
"It appears that he does not know." Malfoy replied, the records had only stated that she was his daughter and that she had no contact with him, but for school functions, Dumbledore's doing, that she didn't even know that Snape was her father.
"Than we shall have to enlighten him, than won't we?" the Dark Lord replied and smiled evilly, "Get him here."
Scooby's Common Room
"I made the records look as though Professor Snape had no idea that he had a daughter or that his daughter knew about him. They only have contact through school functions." Dumbledore told him, "I was afraid that this would happen when the news got out that there was girl who could withstand curses."
"So," Buffy said stepping through the fire and summing up the situation nicely, "Dad pretends he didn't know and follows the Dark Lord's lead, by trying to seduce me over to the power of dark."
"The tower?"
"Clean." She replied and everyone sighed, "so it sounds as though the Headmaster's office was the only thing hit."
"How do you know that's what Voldemort wants?"
"It makes sense." Buffy said, "if he isn't corporeal, then he needs a body." She paused for everyone, "so, why not one that is immune to almost all of the curses? Heals quickly and has super human strength?" Before they could say anything else, Snape let out a gasp of pain, grasping his left forearm, while he looked up with a haunted look in his eyes, announcing.
"I am being summoned."
Author's Note: I am so pissed off! I had my entire story typed out! The entire thing, all of it! And the computer told me it didn't like me anymore and wouldn't read the file so I lost it! So I had to re-type everything! Grrrr!
I am looking for a beta. Mine has left me.. (little crying.. alright a lot of crying!).. So if anyone feels up to the job of correcting my horrible typing ability, contact me, please! alwaysanangelgurlyahoo.com
Chapter 18
Xander blurry opened his eyes, staring at the man in front of him. It took Xander a few seconds to realize that there was really a man there. Xander was about to ask him what he was doing there, when Xander noticed the glint as the man's arm moved and realized that the man was holding a knife. Rolling off the bed, Xander became entangled in his sheets.
"Oz!" Xander hollered out as he kicked the sheets away from him, struggling to put more distance between him and the man with the knife. "Wake up! There's a man in our room." Oz woke at the first sound of his name, rolling out of bed and on his feet in seconds. Grabbing Xander, the two boys rushed out of their room and towards the girls' room.
"Scoobies!" they hollered and ran into the room, slamming the door behind them. They leaned heavily against the closed portrait, as the two girls clutched their blankets to them, looking sleepily at the two boys who had invaded their room.
"Oz!" "Xander!" Willow and Buffy yelled at the same time, the confusion in their voices noticeable, before anxiety of what could have happened settled throughout the air. Buffy and Willow anxious at what would cause the boys to come into their room, while Xander and Oz anxious about what had just happened. "What are you doing?"
"Man.." pant "knife.." wheeze "our room.." panted Xander, trying to explain everything, but was too out of breath for anything else.
"Alright." Buffy commented, moving towards the portrait. After moving the boys, Buffy opened the portrait and started across the common room, before realizing the person could be in the room. Making sure to keep her back to the portrait, Buffy moved silently along the wall, checking all the cracks and cervices of the walls, before moving into the room. She checked under the sofas and tables and in some places that only a first year student would fit, but she found nothing. Eyeing the boys' portrait, she made her way towards the room, not making a sound. "Werewolf." The portrait swung open and Buffy entered the room.
Willow and Buffy's Room
"I don't think we should have let her go out there by herself." Willow stated, looking at the two boys who were sitting on her bed, "What if something happens to her?"
"She's the slayer." Xander replied, his belief that Buffy was a superhero, still installed. "She has the supernatural power kick and everything. She's a superhero."
"She's just a girl." Willow said sharply, she sometimes forgot that Buffy was just a girl. She remembered first meeting Buffy and how strong she was, but she also remembered the Buffy that cried and laughed and got hurt. She had looked up to Buffy for a long time, but when Buffy had gotten sick and put in the hospital, it had really hit home that Buffy was as human as the rest of them, although it didn't seem to have hit home for Xander. Oz had an easier time of making the connection, because of being a werewolf.
"She has strength and finesse and healing power." Xander shot right back, he didn't want to believe that Buffy could die or get hurt. He knew what the prophecy said about one girl in all the world, but not Buffy, she would live to a ripe old age, would retire from being the slayer.
"One girl in all the world." Oz said, "One dies and another is called." He waited for this to sink into Xander's head, "None of us want to admit it, but we all know it. We have all always known it."
"And we reacted accordingly," Willow replied, the boys looked at her in confusion, "We knew she went out every night, but we still expected her to do everything else, homework, have a social life, we wanted her to have a normal life. We forced her to be normal and it almost killed her. We haven't completely supported her. We watched her go out and we hoped she would come back, but we never asked her about the things she hunts and if she wants help. We let her fight everything and after it's done, we force her to do normal things. We are killing her by trying to make her normal and she is letting us do it."
"She's the slayer." Xander replied weakly.
"Exactly." Willow replied, "We should have supported her in her relationship with Angel, not criticized her every movement with it. She was hurt by all the comments you made, Xander, but she pushed it aside and remained your friend, choosing to hide that aspect of her life from you." Willow paused and let her words sink in, "she shouldn't have to hide anything from us, but she has. When she was sick or hurt, we didn't want to know, we just wanted to know when the evil was killed, so we could force her to be normal."
Oz and Xander's Room
Buffy waited until the door closed behind her, before making her way along the wall. She could see clearly into the darkness and didn't see anything that stood out. After checking all the cracks around the room, Buffy made her way to the beds. Starting with Xander's she could see the holes the knife left on his bed. Checking underneath she found nothing and moved on to Oz's. She didn't find anything wrong with Oz's bed and moved on towards the wardrobes.
Buffy and Willow's Room
"So," Xander said, "we shouldn't expect her to date someone with a pulse?"
"That's exactly the comments I'm talking about." Willow replied, "Do you know how cut up she was by those types of comments? Put yourself in her shoes. You are a fifteen year old girl and you have been called as a slayer. Your parents are fighting all the time and are getting a divorce. You were once the most popular girl in school, but because of being called, you have to give up your social life and train. You fight the big scary vampire and your watcher is killed. You burn down the school to save the students and get kicked out." She paused to catch her breath, letting Xander formulate everything in his head, "Your mom moves you to a new town, which sits on the mouth of Hell. You arrive, only to find a dead guy in a locker and your new watcher is the librarian. You meet a guy, who is nice and charming and already knows you are the slayer. You find out about a prophecy which says you are going to die. You die and come back. You date the said guy, who turns out to be a vampire. Your best friend makes cutting remarks about said guy, calling him deadboy and telling you that you should date someone with a pulse." Xander winced slightly, understanding now what point Willow had been trying to make and was still making to him, "Who makes you feel normal, like he won't break if you hug him too hard, who you can loose yourself in. You sleep with said vampire and he loses his soul. He kills your friends and watcher's girlfriend, your mother kicks you out of the house. Before you have to send the souled version to Hell, to save the world, and you have no place to go. And to top it all, your friends are trying to force you to fit into a certain social scheme. How would you react?"
Xander and Oz's room
Buffy opened the first wardrobe, wand in hand, only to find nothing but clothes and a moth or two. Making her way over to the other wardrobe, she opened it and found nothing in there either. Making her way back into the common room, she opened the portrait,
"Nothing," she said and eyed the people in the room, they looked in deep thought. "No reason to worry now. Looks like whoever it was, is long gone." She watched the people in front of them, they looked as though they were told a friend had died or that she wouldn't be coming back, "Why the long faces?" Willow rushed and hugged her, followed by Xander. Buffy looked to Oz, who was his usual stoic self, in question, he merely shrugged. "Uhm.. not that I'm not enjoying the moment, but we need to contact Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore's Room!" Buffy hollered throwing some Floo powder into the fireplace, before sticking her head through. "PROFESSOR!" she waited a heartbeat, listening for any sound, "PROFESSOR!" she heard him stumble and she thought she heard him curse, but brushed it off, it was Dumbledore after all.
"Yes?" he asked sleepily, tying his robe around him, his red and gold slippers peeking out.
'Guess that answers that question.' Buffy thought as she eyed the man, who had obviously been asleep. 'Hermione is gonna be so jealous.' Buffy had just answered the question that everyone had been wondering for years and she couldn't wait to tell Hermione and company.
"Sorry to interrupt your sleep," Buffy said sweetly, before getting down to business, "But someone got into our room tonight." Dumbledore looked at her sharply, nodding abruptly and Buffy pulled her head back through. Dumbledore sighed deeply, before Flooing into the common room.
"Alright," Dumbledore said, "what happened?" he listened as Xander went through his story, followed by Oz. "Stay here."
"I've already looked, Headmaster." Buffy told him and Dumbledore nodded. He trusted Buffy enough that if she hadn't found anything, than neither would he, but he wanted to look and see if any magic had been used on the room itself. "There's no one in there."
"Thank you, child," he told her and Buffy nodded, Dumbledore understood she was the slayer, but, like her father and watcher, wanted nothing more than to protect her from everything and anything dangerous, "but you should have waited to alert me."
"But the only fireplace hooked up the Floo network is the one in the common area," Buffy stated logically, although that hadn't been the reason she had checked earlier, but it gave Dumbledore paused at this, "I would have had to enter a dark, unlit room that anyone could be hidden in, anyways." Dumbledore nodded at this logic, but still managed to give her a disapproving glance. They, her father, watcher, and Dumbledore, had decided that the common area should be the only one hooked up to the Floo network and even that was protected, so that you had to be on the approved list in order to Floo in.
"I want to take a look and see if the person used any types of spells on the portraits or anything in the room."
"Like a portkey!" Willow exclaimed and Dumbledore nodded to her, the child really should have been in Ravenclaw. The group watched as Dumbledore entered the room, cautiously, as though he were expecting a magical attack and there might have been one waiting, none of them had been trained for that type of magic, although Buffy seemed to have a knack of sensing any type of magic.
"I need to contact Dad," Buffy said, knowing how much trouble she would be in if she didn't contact her father shortly, "and Giles." Ever since Wesley had shown up, her father and Giles had been around her constantly, one, if not both, present during any time she had to spend with Wesley.
"What about your watcher?" Willow asked and they laughed as Buffy made a face.
"If I need a guy to scream like a girl, I'll give him a call." (( I think that actually a line in a Buffy epi. Could be wrong though, but if it is, it isn't mine..) Buffy told them, as she grabbed more Floo. "Professor Snape's room!" she threw the Floo into the fireplace and stuck her head through, "Dad?" she called out hesitantly. She knew that her father would hear her if he was awake. She waited a second and was about to yell when Snape walked out of the bedroom, black robe pillowing behind him.
"Buffy?" he asked sleepily, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She said and he gave her the look that said he knew better, "Well I need you to come here," she told him and he nodded, "But I don't want Mom to worry," he looked sharply at her, Buffy never wanted her mother to worry, but was more adamant about it when something was going on, "Please, I'll explain when you get here." He nodded and went back into his room, as Buffy pulled her head back through.
"I'll get Giles." Willow said excitedly, she didn't want to wake Giles, but she was still getting used to the wizarding world and was excited about the Floo network. "GILES!" she screamed, knowing that there was no one in the room with Giles, or at least she hoped there wasn't.
"Son of a.." Giles muttered and Willow giggled as she heard a crash, Giles getting out of bed without his glasses on and finding that the step stool was closer than he actually thought it was, "Willow?"
"Hey," she said, "You need to come to our room, now." She pulled her head back through the fire, before Giles could say anything more. He nodded, even though she couldn't see him, and went to put clothes on.
"You evil child," Xander teased, causing Willow to blush. Snape was the first to arrive, followed closely by Giles.
"Would someone like to explain what is going on?" Snape asked, glaring at the Scoobies that were sitting around. Everyone looked to Buffy to explain the situation, because it was her father after all, him being scary and making everyone slightly afraid was just a side reason, really. She quickly explained everything she knew and when she was finished, Dumbledore had rejoined the group.
"Well," he said, "I found no evidence of portkey." Everyone knew that if he hadn't found anything, then there was nothing there. Everyone was relieved, but this still begged the question of how the person got in, weighing heavily on everyone's mind, no one wanted to ask the question, leaving it to sit in the dark.
"How did they get in, then?" Giles asked finally, knowing that with the question out in the open, they could begin the theories of how the person got into the room in the first place.
"Well," Willow said, "They could have been listening at our portrait, to get the common room password, but that doesn't explain how they got into the boys' room." The group nodded, because it was a plausible explanation, it had been done before. Giles and Ethan used to use that method to sneak into the other houses and prank them or meet a girl or two in their dorms during the night.
"So, how did they get in, then?" Buffy asked, "I would have felt them, even if they were invisible, if they were in the common room." The group shifted uncomfortably, ever since she had been turned into part of the key, she had become more powerful. Dumbledore speculated that Buffy was coming into being a full slayer, but also that she was tapping into the power of the key.
Flashback
"What do you mean a full slayer?" Buffy asked, "I've been the slayer for the past three years!" She had fought almost every night since her fifteenth birthday, growing stronger and more adamant about the cause with each passing night.
"Yes," Giles replied calmly while his slayer paced in front of him, he refused to acknowledge Wesley as Buffy's watcher, "And you've been growing in strength and power in those three years. A slayer has never made it to their full strength; they have died before this, by demon attack."
"Or the slayer test." Buffy replied bitterly and Giles nodded absently, he still couldn't believe that the Watcher's Council would simply kill a slayer like that. "What does it mean?"
"I'm sorry?" Giles replied, confused, because he had been lost in his thoughts about the council.
"Becoming a full slayer," Buffy said a little impatiently, "what does it mean? Do I finally get a cool pin?"
"No," Giles said, "I am not sure what it means, as I said no slayer has ever become a full slayer, at least not that I know of." He immediately realized that he would need to look further into the subject and with Hogwarts' library, he would be able to.
"Control." Snape said, he had been at every single training that Buffy had and it still amazed him the power that she commanded. The two other looked at him, "It's about control."
"Yes," Giles said thinking through everything, "as the slayer ages, the more they learn, and the less they would need the watcher's council. And if they power grows the more likely they are to survive."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Buffy asked confused, because a newbie slayer that needed to be trained would be more of a risk than a slayer who was already trained and could kick ass.
"Information." Giles repeated, "The slayers would learn more and become increasingly difficult to control. The council is afraid that the slayer would realize that they did not need their watcher or the council to do their job." Buffy cleared her throat and Giles smiled fondly, "you were never easily to control."
"Or ever." Buffy replied a huge smile on her face.
End Flashback
"Uhmm.." Xander became, shifting uncomfortably, knowing that soon everyone would be focused on him and not in a good way, "I might have written the passwords down."
"XANDER!" Willow and Buffy yelled at the same time, while Dumbledore simply looked at the boy and Giles and Snape glared, a glare that would send even a Death Eater running for cover.
"What," he said sheepishly, "there are a lot to remember."
"Where?" Dumbledore asked, drawing Snape and Giles' attention to the problem at hand, as opposed to ideas of how to torture the boy and still let him live.
"Gryffindor Tower, all of it, Sirius' room, your office, the training room." Xander said in a rush, as if he said it fast enough, then it wouldn't be as bad, "And I think that's it." Dumbledore nodded.
"That all needs to be changed." Dumbledore said, "Who could it have been, though?"
"Ask Hope." Buffy said and everyone looked at her blankly, "The portrait that guards our door?" Buffy gestured towards the door that lead out into the night and everyone got up. Dumbledore took the lead, leading them towards the portrait and opening it.
"Hope," Dumbledore began and the blonde little girl in the picture turned to face him, "did you let anyone in earlier this evening?" She played with her blonde hair for a moment, tying it back, her clothes magically changing from a nightdress to her normal robe as she eyed the headmaster.
"Well yes," Hope said finally, deciding that the headmaster was a trustworthy individual. She had met him, but she had never spoken with him, other portraits had, but not her and now she could brag and say she had. The others turned to glare at Xander, who shrunk a little bit, looking for some place to hide.
"Could you tell us what he looked like?" Buffy asked and Hope nodded vigorously.
"He was in black robes with a silver mask." Hope said causing everyone to shudder; they all realized what was being suggested with this. "His eyes were really silver though and his voice was very cultured and smooth. I didn't think that he belonged, but he had the password."
"It's okay, Hope." Dumbledore promised the picture, who was growing more upset with each passing moment. "You did nothing wrong." All of the other portraits would have done the same thing, a few may have left to find him, but they would have let the man in, because he knew the password. Dumbledore wondered if there was some way around that, to specialize each door to the person, to only open to them and the teachers. Shaking his thoughts off, Dumbledore came back to the matter at hand, who entered the tower and for what purpose.
"Malfoy." Buffy hissed, wondering, briefly, if Draco had known that his father was going to pay a visit. She felt hurt, because if he had known and not said anything, there had been no progress made and Draco really wasn't worth saving. She had been so sure that there was something to be saved, but.. Buffy quickly clamped down on those thoughts, she would go down that bridge when she got to it. "Thanks, Hope." She swung the portrait closed and turned to look at the rest of the group as they settled into the various chairs and sofas around the room, "Well, we know who the late night visitor is."
"Uhmm," Willow said, "I hate to be the bearer of bad thoughts, but what if he didn't come alone?"
"Shit!"
"Buffy!" Giles and Snape exclaimed at the same time, the tone one that would be considered fatherly by anyone who heard it.
"That is too freaky for words." Buffy told them, "But that is not the issue right now." Her father and watcher merely raised their eyebrows, "alright, I'm sorry it will happen again, but we have bigger fish to fry then my language."
"While the use of such profanity is not necessary," Dumbledore said and Buffy flushed. Dumbledore had the way of making anyone realize that vulgarity was not necessary and crude. "Ms. Snape does point out the essence of time."
"Dad and Giles will take Sirius' room, Headmaster will take his office and I will take Gryffindor tower." Buffy raised her hand before anyone could interrupt, "I move the quickest and would be the better fighter and the most logical place for attack would be a student's tower. Most likely they are after Harry." They nodded reluctantly, still unsure about letting Buffy go alone. "Also, the Headmaster would know if anything in his office had been taken or moved."
"The password for all the portraits is Teddy Bear." Dumbledore told her, "you will need it in order to change the passwords in the tower. It will override all of them and allow you to change the passwords. Change them all, even to individual dorms, and then tell the students tomorrow. Professor McGonagall and the Headgirl can change them tomorrow."
"Thanks, sir." Buffy said, "Everyone report back here when they are done." She ordered, like the general she had, had to be in previous experiences. Amazingly no one argued, they nodded preparing to go their separate ways, but Willow didn't want her friend out there by herself.
"I'll go with her," Willow suggested and Buffy shook her head negatively, while Giles and Snape nodded, Dumbledore stayed quiet.
"I need you to change the locks on this place." Buffy replied immediately, knowing that Willow would offer she had been doing this more and more. Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about it, but now was definitely not the time to think about it.
"The boys can do it." Willow argued, but the look Buffy shot her said that there would be no argument or if there was, Willow was more than likely to lose the argument.
"I would move faster without you." Buffy said truthfully, not wanting to hurt Willow's feeling by not taking the help, but time was of the essence at that moment, "Look, we need to go," turning away from the others, staring into the fire Buffy threw the Floo powder into the fire, briefly taking a last look at everyone before shouting, "Gryffindor tower." She stepped through before anyone else could argue.
"I know you meant well, dear girl," Giles told her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "But she's used to you guys not offering to fight, just doing the research."
"That's about to change." Willow replied, fierce determination lacing her voice. Giles nodded, before moving towards the fireplace, now was not the time to talk about these things. Willow made plans to look in the library for protection spells for the rest of the Scoobies and some other spells that might come in handy when defeating the Dark Lord.
"Sirius Black's room!" Giles yelled, followed quickly by Snape, who was glowering at having to go the mangy cures room.
"My Office!" Dumbledore stepped through, leaving Xander, Willow, and Oz to their own thoughts.
"Well," Willow said, "Xander fix your guys' room, Oz take Hope, and I will get our room."
"Aye-Aye, sir."
"That's ma'am!" They cracked up and the tension was broken for the moment.
Gryffindor Tower
Buffy stumbled over a party favor not picked up, as she came through the fireplace, deciding that the next time they had a party, they were picking up right afterwards. She looked around the room, quickly seeing the disarray that was still there. The common room was in shambles, there were half-filled cups, the food and drink were still out, but there was no one in the common room. Moving along the wall she quickly checked all the nooks and crannies, still finding nothing, not even a sleeping student.
Sirius Black's Room
Giles stumbled to a stop, still unused to using Floo once again. He sighed, he knew it would take a little bit longer to get used to, but he was glad that traveling was that much easier. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Snape ran into him.
"Bloody He--!"
"Shh!" Snape hissed, clamping a hand over his mouth and dragging him into a dark corner. Snape motioned Giles to one side, while he went the other way. They quickly found that there was no on waiting in the common area of this room. Moving as quietly as they could, they made their way to the bedroom portrait.
"Maybe one of us should change the password to the front portrait first," Giles suggested and Snape rolled his eyes, before nodding. Giles suppressed a snort, the man had clearly been hanging out with his daughter too much. Giles mentally slapped himself as he caught the slang that he was using. They both had been around Buffy way too much.
Gryffindor Tower: Girl's Dorms
Buffy gave the password to the girl's dormitory portrait and entered the corridor. She could clearly see that there was no one in the hallway with her, but the amount of people in the rooms was making her sense go haywire. She could tell that there was no one powerful, like Dumbledore, in the rooms, but other than that, she couldn't tell if the magic was asleep or not. She was hoping that going in there by herself was a good idea, but then remembered that she was impervious to most of the curses, so it was probably a safe bet.
Buffy quickly made her way through the dormitories, finding that some of the girls' were missing from their beds, but they had never made it to them in the first place. She hoped that when she got to the boys' dorms' that they wouldn't be together, but resigned herself to finding a several couples together. Changing the passwords to the girls' dorms she made the walk across the corridor to the boys' entrance.
Dumbledore's Office
"Lumos." Dumbledore said he didn't have the advantage of slayer eyesight. Dumbledore quickly entered his office and found nothing amiss; the place looked like it normally did. He searched diligently through everything, making sure that he was correct in assuming that there was nothing missing. He hoped that everything was where it was supposed to be and that there really was nothing wrong, when he noticed a cabinet opened. Moving towards it, he opened it and cursed, it was school records of all of the students, but also the staff.
Sirius Black's Room
Snape entered Sirius' room quickly, looking around the dark room; he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He could see a shape on the bed and could only hope that it was Sirius and that he was alone. Snape recalled that Sirius was a lady's man when they had been in school, so he was praying to whatever Gods were listening that Sirius was alone in that bed. Moving forward, he reached out a hand, when an arm shot up, wand pointed at him,
"Relax." Snape hissed drawing his own wand on the other wizard, but the arm did not waiver, "Black, it's just me. Professor Dumbledore sent me." He slightly lowered his wand, but Black's wand did not move an inch.
"What the bloody hell are you doing in my room?" Black asked and Snape resisted the urge of hexing the man, especially since he had just explained what he was doing there.
"Dumbledore sent me." Snape replied, wanting to hex him a couple of times, just for old times sake, of course.
"At four in the morning." Black asked dryly and Snape admitted that it did look a tad suspicious. Although, they were on the same side and his daughter had saved Black's life, so why couldn't Black be a tad bit reasonable?
"Look," Snape muttered, "I know it doesn't look good, but would you grow up and look at the facts? I am on your side."
"Me, grow up!" Sirius practically yelled, "What about you?"
"I have grown up quite nicely, thank you." Snape replied, "unlike the mangy dog that you have grown into."
"Why do you always.." Before Sirius could say anything else, Giles walked into the room, took one look at the situation and sighed.
"There has been a slight problem." Giles said from the doorway, causing both men to jump they hadn't noticed Giles come into the room, "if you would stop with the childish antics, we would explain it to you." Snape shot Black a look that clearly said he won that round, "Both of you." Snape's look died and he pouted briefly, before a look of indifference settled on his face. Giles then decided that Snape was spending way too much time with his daughter, because they had the same facial expressions.
Gryffindor Tower: Boys' Dorms
"Teddy Bear," Buffy gave the password to the portrait, who glowered at having to let a girl into the boys' dormitory at four in the morning. She shot the portrait a smug look, before stepping into the corridor and making her way to the first door. She quickly went through the rooms, waking up portraits along the way and changing the passwords as she went.
"Finally." She muttered to herself, coming to stand in front of the last door. "Wake up," the portrait opened one eye and looked at her disdainfully.
"You are in the wrong corridor, miss." The portrait told her, disparagement dripping from each word. "If you go now, I won't wake the entire house up."
"Dumbledore sent me." Buffy told the portrait, the same conversation growing tiring after the fiftieth time, "And before you say that he didn't, I have two words for you," the portrait looked at her, wondering what the two words could be, "Teddy Bear." The portrait glowered at her, but swung open. Buffy shot him a smug look, "Thank you kind, sir." The sarcasm could be detected on each word, but Buffy was already in the room and the door closed. As the blankness enveloped her, she searched the room and noticed that she was in Harry's room, if there was to be any attack it would be in this room. Looking around, she noticed that Harry was not in his bed. Moving forward, her senses on high alert, she could still feel Harry, but that was it, so she knew he was still there. As she reached the bed her senses began to go haywire, a hand fell onto her shoulder.
"What the Hell are you doing?" without thinking, Buffy grabbed the hand around the wrist and threw the person over her shoulder. The person landed in a heap on the floor, with a small moan of pain, Buffy planted her foot on the person, peering at them in the darkness, ready for any attack that may come from the person on the floor.
Scooby's Common Room
Willow, Oz, and Xander sat in front of the fire and waited for the rest of them to come back. They had changed the passwords quickly and efficiently, Xander even remembering the correct pronunciation and words needed to change the passwords. They had then sat down in front of the fire and waited and waited and waited.
"Do you remember Buffy's first day?" Willow asked suddenly not able to take the silence any more.
"Yea," Xander replied, "Jesse knew before anyone else that there was going to be a new girl. He went on about how hot she was supposed to be and then I ran into her, literally." He paused as he remembered the incident, "I fell for her, not even thinking twice when the stake fell out of her bag."
"I remember how hard a time Giles had getting her to even go to training and the such." Willow said, "Did you know she wasn't supposed to befriend us?"
"I was supposed to stop that." Giles said; Snape, Sirius, and him arriving back in the room.
"No visitor?" Oz asked and they shook their heads.
"Are we the first one's back?" Snape asked.
"Yea." Willow replied, "We were just talking about the first time we met Buffy."
"I met her in the library." Giles said, smiling fondly.
"Big surprise." Xander coughed and they all laughed.
"Well, I assumed that she was there for the book on vampire," he smiled wistfully, remembering all the hopes that he had, had for his slayer and each one had been thrown out the window when meeting her, "but she really wanted her books for school. She told me that she wasn't there to slay and left."
"She told me to take a hold of my life." Willow said, looking at Oz and smiling fondly. "Of course I followed that advice and wound up with a vampire, who tried to eat me." The group laughed again.
"I am the one that brought us to Hogwarts." Snape said and everyone really listened, because they hadn't heard how Buffy arrived, just how long she had been there. "I met her and thought she was the typical blonde, but she had an old aura, like she was aged beyond her years. Well, within thirty minutes of meeting with the Headmaster, she came down and announced that I was her father. I didn't take it well," everyone winced, because they could actually imagine it, "and she ran off. I followed and caught her outside. We talked and then we got jumped by a vampire, who knocked me around like I was nothing."
"I know how that feels." Giles muttered, rubbing the back of his head, where he was normally hit and the group laughed, again.
"I met Buffy when she went to Hogsmeade with Oliver." Sirius smiled when Willow gasped, because Buffy hadn't told her, "she changed me out of my dog form and demanded to know why I was following her."
"She made you change?" Willow asked, "What are you and how can you change?" Instead of answering, Sirius changed into the large black dog and back, causing Willow and Xander to gasp. "Oh."
"How did she change you back?" Giles asked, wondering how much power over other's actions that Buffy may have.
"I'm not sure." Sirius replied, "I asked her the same thing and she told me that she wasn't sure. We then talked and got to know each other. She brought me food after patrol each night and we would talk more. I was amazed that Snape could raise such a wonderful child," Sirius shot, "but the credit must go to the mother."
"About what?" Snape asked not taking the bait that had been laid before him, his daughter had mentioned anything to him and judging by Giles' face, she hadn't told him either.
"The past." Sirius said, "I told her about when we were in Hogwarts and about Harry's parents and about the war itself. She really absorbs the information."
"What did she ask about?" Snape asked, Buffy hadn't been acting any differently, but he wasn't sure if that actually meant anything.
"What you were like as a child." Sirius replied, "That type of thing."
"And I'm sure you had fun filling her in." Snape sneered.
"I told her that you were very studious, but I didn't really know you well enough, because you were from a different house and that she should just ask you or her mother." Sirius responded and Snape looked shocked. He would have expected Sirius to fill his daughter's head with all types of tales.
"She inspires all sorts of loyalty and trust, doesn't she?" Dumbledore said softly, stepping into the room from the fire place. "From everyone she meets, she doesn't even know that she is doing it, but by the time you leave, you would give your life to see her smile once more."
"Yes." Willow said immediately, noticing all the nods coming from around the room, "And?"
"I didn't find anyone in my office," Dumbledore told them and there was a collective sigh of relief, "But someone had been there."
"What did they take?" Snape asked quickly, knowing that it had to do with his daughter, he was sure of it.
"Nothing."
"But then why break into your office?" Xander asked curiously.
"They went through my student files."
"Your student files?" Xander asked in confusion, "Are those like who our parents are and that type of stuff?"
"That's exactly what it is." Dumbledore replied and he looked at Snape, "it seems that the gig is up."
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, confused, because they hadn't been informed about Snape's spying.
"I am a spy." Snape said and Willow nodded, she had known something was up, but hadn't been sure what it was, "and I haven't told the Dark Lord that I have a daughter, but apparently her record has been looked at, which means that he will soon know."
"What do we do?"
Gryffindor Tower: Boys' Dorms
"Ow." The lump on the floor, under Buffy's foot, exclaimed.
"I was about to ask where the hell you were!" Buffy said in a low tone, as she helped him to his feet. He stepped back cautiously, unsure of what Buffy's reaction to him would be, besides the bruise that he would now have on his arse. "What were you doing out of bed?"
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked confused. "Has something happened to Sirius? Professor Dumbledore?"
"No." Buffy said, putting the boy at ease, she wouldn't like to him, but she wouldn't tell him everything, it would only cause him more concern. "My room was broken into and Xander apparently left the passwords about, including to the tower, so I have to check and make sure that nothing was going on. This was the last room and I was scared, because you weren't in bed."
"Had to go to the loo." Harry replied, flushing slightly in embarrassment, it had been a long time since he had to explain where he was going to someone. "But your room?"
"Is fine." Buffy stated, "Everyone is fine, Dumbledore just wanted me to check." She moved back towards the door, "Good night Harry, we'll talk tomorrow."
Elsewhere
"Where is the child?" a raspy voice asked the bowed man in the dark black robes and silver mask.
"I was unable to obtain her." The man replied.
"So you failed me, Malfoy?" the raspy voice asked indecorously.
"No my Lord!" he replied, the other man gave him a disbelieving look, "well, yes, but I got information about her."
"And?"
"She is Snape's child."
"Impossible!" the Dark Lord responded, "Snape would have told me."
"It appears that he does not know." Malfoy replied, the records had only stated that she was his daughter and that she had no contact with him, but for school functions, Dumbledore's doing, that she didn't even know that Snape was her father.
"Than we shall have to enlighten him, than won't we?" the Dark Lord replied and smiled evilly, "Get him here."
Scooby's Common Room
"I made the records look as though Professor Snape had no idea that he had a daughter or that his daughter knew about him. They only have contact through school functions." Dumbledore told him, "I was afraid that this would happen when the news got out that there was girl who could withstand curses."
"So," Buffy said stepping through the fire and summing up the situation nicely, "Dad pretends he didn't know and follows the Dark Lord's lead, by trying to seduce me over to the power of dark."
"The tower?"
"Clean." She replied and everyone sighed, "so it sounds as though the Headmaster's office was the only thing hit."
"How do you know that's what Voldemort wants?"
"It makes sense." Buffy said, "if he isn't corporeal, then he needs a body." She paused for everyone, "so, why not one that is immune to almost all of the curses? Heals quickly and has super human strength?" Before they could say anything else, Snape let out a gasp of pain, grasping his left forearm, while he looked up with a haunted look in his eyes, announcing.
"I am being summoned."