DISCLAIMER:  The characters aren't mine.  I'm borrowing them from the esteemed Joss Whedon and J.K. Rawling.

      SPOILERS/BACKGROUND:  Everything from BtVS Season 1 to Season 6, AtS Seasons 1 to 3, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

      Reviews always welcome!  (Notes to previous reviewers at end!)

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      CHAPTER 14:

      ANOTHER PARTING

      The younger students started their introductory classes the day after Harry left.  There were enough first- and second-year students to make regular classes possible.  Only a handful of older students at each year had stayed, each working on their own projects, so Buffy and Willow's independent studying didn't particularly stand out.  However, once she began to see the pace at which most of the younger students were learning, she began to see that Hermione and Willow had not simply told her she was doing well to keep her spirits up.  By Friday night, with Willow pushing her, she had covered nearly enough material for an entire quarter.  Back at Sunnydale, her teachers would have dropped dead of surprise had she shown such progress, but for some reason, she felt no smarter than she did there—probably because, just as she always had, she found herself looking up to Willow.

      Buffy had other things on her mind, however, and as much as she found herself loving learning magic, she didn't have Willow's stamina for studying.  She began flying again after a few days, staying as far away from the school and as out of sight as possible.  She started working out, too, once she felt herself getting situated at Hogwarts and comfortable working back into her routine.  Hogwarts didn't have a gymnasium, but she was able to improvise.

      Then, on Saturday, Buffy came down to breakfast with Willow to see Millicent Bulstrode sitting at the head of the Slytherin table.  Draco was nowhere to be seen.  Buffy was surprised to feel a sense of loss at that; she had only spoken to him twice in the previous three days, but she had been used to seeing him at breakfast and was harboring vague notions about being able to talk and reconcile things between them eventually.  That was a lot harder if he was nowhere to be found.

      "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she whispered to Willow as they entered the hall.

      "Or not seeing what you're not seeing, you mean?"

      "Yeah."

      "Beats me.  Maybe he just overslept."

      "No one would take his seat if he were here."

      "Well, does it have his name on it?"

      Buffy looked at Willow.  The girl was a genius however you sliced it, but Buffy forgot that the politics of Slytherin were coming more easily to her than to her redheaded friend.  "Actually, it pretty much does," she said.  "I don't think Bulstrode would dare if Draco were about to come in."

      Willow shrugged.  "Beats me.  I don't really care where I sit, there's more than enough room."

      "I know, I know.  I just don't like not knowing what's been going on."

      "Well, we've both been pretty busy."

      "Still."

      "You could always just ask someone."

      "I'd rather not.  Who would I ask, anyway?  Bulstrode?"

      "Oh well.  We'll just have to sit around and wonder, then."

      It wasn't long after they sat down, however, that they realized that they were far from the only ones puzzled by Draco's disappearance.  Several of the younger Slytherins were openly discussing it, saying he hadn't been seen in the common room or anywhere else that morning.  One of them asked if anyone had asked Snape, and someone else replied that Snape wasn't talking, if he knew.

      "You think anyone's happened to him?" Willow asked.

      Buffy shook her head.  "No, look at the teachers.  They wouldn't be carrying on like nothing unusual was happening if anything really was."

      "Then he'll probably be back later."

      "Maybe," Buffy answered noncommittally.  She ate a few more morsels, then excused herself, telling Willow that she's meet her in the library later.

      She went back to the dorm and fetched her broom; she hadn't gotten a chance to fly that morning, as they'd gotten up late after a long and exhausting Transfiguration session the previous night.  She needed to clear her head, and flying seemed to do that as well as anything.

      She had not flown far, however, when her preternatural eyes picked up a familiar patch of flaxen hair near the foot of the stairs from the dorms down to the boathouse.  She moved in for a closer look.  It was Draco, and he was descending the steps toward the boathouse, awkwardly maneuvering three suitcases as he went; the stairs were not designed for rolling luggage.

      Before she even thought about it, she was pulling in to land next to him.  He didn't see her until she was within a hundred feet of him, and his expression on recognizing her was unreadable.  He stopped, positioning his suitcases on the stairs as best he could, and waited for her to land.

      "Miss Summers," he acknowledged as she dismounted.  His voice was cold.

      "Hey Draco," she said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.  "Didn't see you at breakfast.  Kind of a shock seeing Millicent in your chair."

      A wry grin split his features.  "Well, it's sturdy.  I think it can support her for a few weeks."

      "Weeks?  Where are you going?"

      "I've got business back at the manor," Draco answered, without meeting her eyes.  "Some unexpected things came up.  Mother can't handle it alone."

      "So you sneak out the back door without saying goodbye?"

      Draco looked at her strangely, as if trying to size her up.  "I'm not such a fan of sentimental send-offs."

      "Well, it doesn't have to be overly sentimental, but a little clue as to where you were going would have been nice—unless you were really into the thought of all the talk at breakfast about your mysterious disappearance."

      Draco laughed mirthlessly.  "I'm honestly past caring how most of those people talk about me by now."

      "Still, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me."

      The appraising look in his eyes sharpened.  "If I didn't know better, I'd say you came out here looking for me."

      "Well, you should know better.  I just happened to see you.  I'm in the air a lot, you know."

      "I've noticed."  He pulled out a pocket-watch and glanced at it.  "My boat leaves at nine-fifteen."

      "Well, here, let me give you a hand, at least," Buffy said, reaching over and picking up one of Draco's suitcases before he could object, seeing he was about to.  She was tempted to take two, but she didn't feel like showing off at the moment, and it would be more likely to occasion unwelcome questions at the moment than in the heat of their argument that past Sunday.

      Draco looked about to protest, then shrugged wordlessly and turned back down the stairs.

      "So what exactly came up at home?" Buffy asked.

      "Not something I can really talk about," he said.  Buffy looked at him askance.  She hadn't expected him to tell her, but that wasn't quite the hotheaded 'none-of-your-business' answer she'd been expecting.  He looked tired.

      "Do you know when you'll be back?"

      Draco hesitated, his eyes pensive.  "Not sure.  Hopefully in time for the Hogsmeade trip.  Two weeks.  Hard to say, though."

      "Well, for what it's worth, I hope you aren't gone too long."

      They had reached the boathouse.  Draco stopped and looked at her.

      "You mean that, Miss Summers?"

      "Of course I do.  And what's with the 'Miss Summers?'  Call me Buffy, please."

      Thoughts played behind his eyes, but Buffy couldn't read anything into them.  He was too good at hiding his thoughts; he did it almost instinctively.  "As you wish," he said formally, giving her a polite bow, then finishing, "Buffy."

      "Much better."

      Draco smiled, the first time she had seen him do that in a while, and continued.  "Well, I wouldn't want to be away too long.  Hogwarts is where all the action is, if nothing else."

      "And like I told you back on the train," she added as they came to the foot of the pier, "you have a great smile.  You ought to show it more often."

      Another round of thoughts passed behind his eyes again, but once again, whatever passed behind them stayed behind them.  He did give her another smile, however.

      They moved out onto the pier; a boat similar to the one Hagrid had been in that Monday was ready at the head, but Hagrid was not in it.  Instead, there was a tiny creature, barely as tall as Buffy's waist, with large eyes, large, pointed ears and purple skin.

      "What is that?" Buffy asked, her eyes narrowing.

      "What?  Oh, that's Deggle, one of our house-elves.  Family servants," he added, noting her look.

      "I … see," Buffy said at length.  At least the creature had seen them and made no move to attack, so that was something.

      "Deggle!" Draco called.  "Get these things on board, will you?"

      "Right away, master," the elf called, in a high-pitched voice that Buffy privately found rather annoying.  For that matter, Draco seemed to, too.  The elf snapped its fingers, and the suitcases floated out of Buffy and Draco's hands and stacked themselves at the stern of the boat.

      "Nifty," Buffy commented.

      "Handy," Draco added.  He turned back to face her.  "Do send an owl sometime, if you'd like."

      Buffy's eyes brightened.  "I'd like."

      Draco's eyes clouded again.  "Only be careful what you put in them.  Not sure how much you know, but they can be stopped and read or intercepted.  I have a feeling a lot of the mail to my estate is."

      Buffy was going to ask why, but decided it was probably a bad subject to pursue.  He had told her that his father had gotten into trouble, and she could come up with plenty of ideas on her own as to why someone would do that.

      "All right," she said simply.

      "And watch your back," he said, as he climbed into the boat.  "Unwelcome visitors have gotten into Hogwarts before, and even with more staff around, there's no reason it couldn't happen again.  Just because it's the safest place on Earth doesn't mean it's safe."

      "Well, thanks for that," she said dryly, though she was grateful for the warning; she had never believed that any place could be completely safe, but it was good to have someone else give a reminder every now and then.

      "You're welcome," he said simply.  He turned and looked about to give the order to Deggle to cast off, but checked himself just for a moment.  He turned back to Buffy.

      "About what you said …"

      "Look, Draco …"

      "Just listen.  Please.  I'm not going to start swearing, I just want to say this.  I still don't know what to say about all of that right now," he said, casting a gaze up at a random cloud.  "But I might in another week or two.  Take care of yourself.  I think we'll have some things to talk about when I get back."

      Buffy took a deep breath.  It was unlikely she was going to get any better out of him right now, and she wasn't going to help anything by forcing the issue.  She took another breath, and forced the tension out of her chest.  "You take care of yourself, too, Draco," she said.  "I'm looking forward to that talk."

      He smiled at her again, an even more winsome one than he had worn just moments earlier.  "I'll do that," he promised.  "Deggle!  Come on, we're off."

      "Yes, sir," the elf announced, and the boat turned and surged out across the lake.  Buffy's eyes widened.  Whatever magic the elf was using to move the boat, it was moving a lot faster than it had when Hagrid had brought Buffy, Willow, and the other students to Hogwarts.

      Buffy smiled until Draco was too far away to see, then turned and mounted her broom.  The smile vanished from her face, and her thoughts raced.  Draco had clearly been hiding something; his expression had been the most troubled when Buffy had been her nicest to him, and it was more than just him not ready to be friends again yet.  She couldn't read him well, but something deeper down told her that he had been worried about something.  Leaving so completely unannounced wasn't his style; it wasn't the kind of thing a boy who sat at the head of the Slytherin table would do.  And there had been that very thinly veiled warning about Hogwarts not being safe.

      There was a determined look on her face as she darted skyward and back toward Slytherin Tower.

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      COMING SOON: Chapter 15, "Exploring."  While Harry and Draco are away doing their own thing, Buffy and Willow have a chance to explore the castle a little bit, catch up on a little bit of wizarding world history, and pick up a few new tricks and a few new friends.

      SNEAK PREVIEW:

      Willow and Buffy's eyes widened together.  "You're a werewolf?" Willow asked curiously.

      Lupin smiled.  "Well, that's not the reaction I expected, but I guess that's a good thing.  Most people have certain … notions … about werewolves."

      AUTHOR'S NOTES:  Thanks again so much to everyone who reviewed!  I hope everyone had a merry Christmas/Kwanzaa/Chanukah/Winter Solstice/whatever!

      musicgirl141 … what indeed?  (I've said repeatedly that I'd be a Slytherin.  I'm all about the cruel and evil.  Besides, the bad guys always get all the good lines.)

      ShadowElfBard … patience, my friend. ;-)

      Also, thanks once again to DragonKatGal the Awesome Aussie for beta-reading … been forgetting to give you much-deserved props.

      Final note: for those readers who might have thought that this was taking a little while to develop, the first 15 chapters (so up until next time) of this are/were pretty much exposition.  From 16 on, things get a little faster.  I've got rough drafts of up to chapter 52 done, so this is going to be a long one.

      Ciao, and thanks for reading!