A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed for the last chapter!! I'm proud of myself for sitting down and writing it. Now I tied myself into this chapter and am making it a habit to write. I was a little disappointed at so little reviews considering I've had many people begging me to write!!! Anyway, just so you know I wont be on from February 12-21 so there will be no posting in between then. I will be on vacation!
Review!!!! It motivates meh!!
Goddessa39 - Yay! My buddy! I agree that the B/A thing would be extremley weird right now, considering the situation and all. But there will be a little B/A but the fic isn't going to be a BA. I kinda have an idea for a pairing, if you haven't noticed I brought in a new character. How many of you expected THAT one huh?! Hehe... I love Draco Malfoy!!! By the way, I don't find you annoying considering I'm annoying... guess we're even!
zayra - Exactly!!! I love the Draco/Buffy pairing... I've read a few and I think there should be more of them! I'm not completley sure if it's going to end up Draco/Buffy but right now...
Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's - Thanks for the review!! I'm trying to update as often as possible.
WOW I have a thing for the whole '...' thing. Dunno why, i just like it so excuse me if I do it a lot. Lol.
By the way, the title of this chapter is French for 'Black of Heart, Soul of Stone' I dunno if it's right cuz I used one of those translator things.
And the much awaited for....
Chapter 10: Noir du coeur, âme de pierre
Los Angeles
Angel was seriously pissed off. Why didn't Buffy come out of the portal?! Instead they ended up with this.. this wizard. Angel paced around Anne's office rubbing the back of his head every once in a while. Gunn watched Angel, afraid to say anything knowing it may set the vampire off.
In the opposite room, Sirius was sitting in a small wooden chair in what seemed like a lobby or front room. A pretty blonde and a British man, like himself, were questioning him about Buffy. He wasn't sure what to tell them or even if they were to be trusted.
"How did you find yourself in The Veil?" Asked the brown haired Brit once again.
Sirius sighed. How many times would he have to tell them without revealing too much? "I told you, I was in the middle of an arguement with an... an aquantience. She cast a--- Sorry. She uh, shoved me and I fell back and the next thing I knew I was in the world."
Anne frowned. "He's lying. I can tell. Now, if you don't tell us everything then that big guy with fangs in there, he's gonna bite you."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of him, why does he want Buffy so much? Why is she so important to him?"
Wesley closed his eyes. "Angel and Buffy have a history. He loves her. She loves him. He needs her right now."
Something clicked in Sirius' mind and he recalled Buffy mentioning briefly of an ex named Angel and that they were on bad terms at the moment. She cursed him out and muttered severe promises of stabbing with wood to herself. Sirius suddenly didn't like this vampire.
"Maybe she doesn't need him."
From the other room, Angel had stopped his pacing. His vampiric hearing allowed him to hear everything that was going on. If Sirius didn't have information Angel swore he would snap his neck.
Gunn saw the ferocity in his friend's eyes and stepped forward to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Angel shoved him away.
Gunn put his hands up in surrender. "Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's sayin'."
Angel frowned as realization hit him. "Maybe he does, Gunn. Maybe I'm just causing some more trouble. Maybe Buffy doesn't need me at all and I'm just holding on to the past."
"The past isn't always a bad thing, man."
"Mine is. Maybe my love for Buffy is holding me back from everything else. Everything else that I should be doing. It's my job to protect the world."
"Everything happens for a reason."
"Does it? Did Buffy die because the world didn't need saving anymore? Was Sirius stuck in the Veil because his world didn't need him? Am I still around after two hundred and some years just to dig up the past that the world has spent so many years trying to bury? Is that what I'm here for Gunn?"
Gunn shook his head. He wasn't exactly sure how to answer. "I couldn't tell you. The only thing I know is that you're trying to help her. You're trying to help, man, not do bad. Whatever happened... happens... isn't your fault."
"Yes. It is."
Before Gunn had a chance to reply Wesley stormed into the office with a furied face. "He won't tell us anything. He's lying through his teeth."
The three re-entered the lobby and stood in front of Sirius. Anne was still trying to threaten him into telling the truth. Gunn had to hold back a smile at the sight of this small blonde girl tossing threats and promises around like pleasantries.
"So, Sirius Black, tell me. Where are you from?" Angel asked, pushing Anne gently to the side of him. Sirius felt like he was a suspect for murder, and he knew what that was like.
"London."
"I'm not that thick. Where in London, exactly?"
Sirius thought for a minute and then sighed dejectedly. "Near Surrey."
Something struck Wesley and he butted in. "What school did you attend, Sirius?"
Sirius widened his eyes but quickly covered it, but not before Angel noticed. "I-I..."
Wesley quirked an eyebrow. "Hogwarts by any chance?"
"Why-- yes. How do you know---"
"I attended school there myself, several years ago. Know I realize why your name sounded oh so familiar. Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. Am I correct?"
"What's your name again?" Sirius pondered.
"Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. Graduated at the top of my class before attending the Watcher's Training Program. I graduated a year or so after you but I remember you and your friends. Troublemakers."
Angel, Anne, and Gunn all looked extremley perplexed. "Hogwarts? What the hell kind of name is Hogwarts?" Gunn asked stupidly.
Sirius sighed. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Sunnydale
Willow had tried numerous times to phone Wesley but there was no such luck. Nobody answered. This worried her, considering someone usually always answered. If it wasn't Wesley himself then it was that cute little brunette girl or the really big black guy... he kind of scared Willow.
Hermione chatted with Dawn about everything. They seemed to get along quite well considering Dawn wasn't interested in anything that Hermione was.
Harry and Ron just watched them in awe. Ron leaned over and whispered to Harry, "How is it that girls can talk like this? You'd think they'd run out of things to say."
Harry chuckled and patted Ron's shoulder. "It's something we'll never know, mate."
Just then, Willow re-entered the livingroom with a frustrated sigh. "Still no answer. It's starting to make me queazy."
"Queazy?" Ron asked.
"Yeah. Like that nervous-pit-in-my-stomach-that-feels-like-something-is-wrong kind of queazy."
Dawn immediatley looked up at Willow from her conversation with Hermione, worry etching her face. "You don't think something happened do you, Willow?"
The red head could only shrug. "I really don't know Dawnie."
Dawn stood up and dusted off the back of her pants. "Well I think we should go visit them and see what's up."
Willow shook her head. "They could call while we're on the road. Dawn, it takes a few hours to get to L.A."
Hermione shook her head. "No it won't."
Willow frowned. "Uh, yeah. It will. I've been there before, driving, believe me."
Hermione's shoulders rotated nonchalantly. "That's because you were driving. We won't be."
Willow was now becoming irritated. "And how do you plan to get to there, huh? Get on a broom and fly?"
Harry and Ron both stood up and smiled. "Well...."
Hermione waved a hand at the boys. "Oh shush up, we aren't taking your brooms. You don't even have them here with you. I don't like brooms anyway."
Dawn's eyes grew wide. "You mean... you can really ride brooms? Like, as in fly on them?!"
Harry nodded excitedly. "Haven't you ever heard of Quidditch?"
Hermione groaned. "Not NOW Harry!" She looked back at Willow and smiled. "We can floo, since you two can't apparate."
Dawn turned her head over her shoulder. "Bless you." She then returned to Harry, who was explaining Quidditch, Ron smiling eagerly at his side.
"Flu? I'd rather not get the flu, thanks." Willow took a step away from the brunette. Hermione laughed. "Not 'flu', floo. Ron, do you still carry that small bag of floo powder with you?"
Ron nodded and reached in his pocket. "Just in case."
"Good. We're going to need it."
The Malfoy Manor
Buffy stared in awe at the large mansion. Draco kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye, a small smirk appearing on his face. "I take it you like it?"
She didn't even look at him, almost as if her eyes were glued to the house. "It's beautiful."
He held out his hand to her and quirked an eyebrow. "Shall we go in, then? What use is this house to us if we're outside of it?"
Buffy rolled her eyes but smiled and took his hand. He led her through the front doors and into a front hall. It was large and decorated with what seemed to be millions of paintings that... talked? And moved? She shook her head to dispose of these hallucinations.
"I think I'm going crazy."
Draco chuckled. "You're not. The pictures are alive. Much is everything else around here. I suppose you'll get used to it."
Buffy's eyes narrowed and she furrowed her brow. "And how long do you expect to keep me here?"
He shrugged and pulled her forward once more and toward the stairs. "Until I find out what I need to know and until you're one-hundred percent better. Lollie! In the front hall!"
Almost as soon as he spoke the name, a small creature appeared. It had droopy ears and big, dopey eyes. The tea rag it wore was worn and haggard but it still held a smile. "Master Malfoy called, Sir?"
Buffy winced at the creepy little creatures voice. "Buffy, this is one of the house-elves, Lollie. Lollie, this is Buffy."
Lollie bowed her head a little. "Welcome, Mistress Buffy."
Buffy's green orbs widened at this... comment. Draco chuckled. Buffy passed a glance between him and the small elf but shrugged it off.
"Lollie, Buffy will be staying with us for a while, I need you to set up an appropriate room for her."
"Yes, Master Malfoy. Good evening, Mistress Buffy." Said the house-elf before vanishing into thin air.
Draco led Buffy down the hall ... many halls. The house was so big Buffy was afraid that if Draco wasn't with her at all times she might get lost! They finally emerged into a large kitchen. Buffy grinned.
"Food."
Draco nodded. "Usually what is stored in a kitchen."
"I like food." She mentally slapped herself for how stupid that sounded. "I mean... food is good...no that's not any better. I'm gonna shut up now."
Draco whistled slightly and six houselves ventured through what Buffy thought to be the pantry door. "Buffy, just tell them what you'd like and they'll make it."
The flaxen blonde then disappeared through a small passageway, leaving Buffy alone with the freakish little creatures. "Umm...what do you have?"
One of the elves chirped in perkily, "Everything! Anything!"
"What's your name?"
The houself froze and widened it's gaze. "I--I-- Mistress--"
"You do have a name, don't you?"
"Well, yes, ma'am. Beanie is my name, Mistress."
"Buffy." The blonde slayer filled in.
"Yes, Mistress Buffy."
Draco returned with two crystal champagne glasses filled with a blood coloured liquid. He handed one to Buffy who stood up and took it.
"I'm actually not that hungry."
Draco nodded and held out his hand once more, taking Buffy with him down the corridors. Each side of the hall was lined with brightly lit candles and chandeleirs overhead. The walls were stone and cold but Buffy wasn't surprised, it seemed to fit Draco. He may have been nice and caring with her, but Buffy had the impression that Draco wasn't always so perfect.
They stopped at a wooden door with a dark handle. Draco muttered something in Latin under his breath and the lock clicked back, allowing he and Buffy to enter.
She was astounded. It was a private library with shelves lined with books and artifacts. A leather, black couch sat in front of the most elegant fireplace she had ever seen.
Draco motioned for Buffy to sit on the couch. She did so and he followed. They were so close Buffy could feel his breath on her shoulder, her neck.
"Cold?" His voice was a husky whisper and Buffy shook her head. Not taking notice, he snapped his fingers and a fire erupted in the fireplace, blazing high and warm.
Was it suddenly getting hot in here? Maybe it was just the fire.
Buffy took a sip of the wine, too strong for her tastes, but it suited her.
She could feel his stormy grey eyes piercing her skin, her soul. When she turned to look at him, she was lost once more. His eyes captivated her like a hypnotizing angel. They stared long and hard at eachother, just relishing in the company of one another.
Buffy found her heartbeat quickening more than she would have liked and her breathing getting heavier. What was wrong with her?! She didn't even know him.
He must have put a spell on her! He did something!
No... she knew he didn't.
She knew, that this, all of this, was real.
To real for her to like.
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