DISCLAIMER: The characters aren't mine. I'm borrowing them from the esteemed Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling.
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!
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CHAPTER 27:
MALFOY MANOR
Buffy could hardly wait for Friday evening.
She had spent the previous night and morning working on the Patronus Charm and studying dementoids … was that what they were called? … well, close enough … with Willow and Hermione, which proved a good way to while away the dull hours, and helped satisfy a little more of Hermione's insatiable curiosity. Sooner than Buffy expected, however, it was time to leave, as she needed to budget time to get across the lake and catch the afternoon train to Hogsmeade, as it was impossible to use the Floo network to get out of Hogwarts; the fireplaces could only transport people within the castle.
Willow accompanied her as far as the public fireplace at the Hogsmeade Station; it was as far as the redheaded wiccan could come, and only for a few moments, because the train didn't spend long at the station before heading back towards Hogwarts and London.
"Well, I guess this is where we say goodbye," Willow managed a wan half-smile.
Buffy grinned, and gave Willow a sisterly hug. "Don't worry, it's just for the weekend. Besides, you got your big day with your prefect."
Willow pulled away mock-exasperatedly. "I thought I told you …"
"You did," Buffy interrupted, her smile brightening.
"Well … OK, then."
"Wish me luck?"
Willow actually laughed. "Wish you luck? Shouldn't I be wishing him luck?"
Buffy grinned wickedly. "Hopefully," she said. "If all goes as planned."
"Oh, then I guess I had better wish you luck, then."
"OK, that was mean."
Willow grinned. "Did I not mention the evil?"
"Many times. But that was just evil."
The mirth faded from Willow's eyes momentarily. "Oh, and I shouldn't have to say this, but be careful. Bellatrix has her eyes on the Malfoy library, remember, if those wacky dreams mean anything. Keep your guard up."
"I'm always careful," Buffy reminded her pointedly.
"Right. And … what life are you at?"
Buffy flinched. "Hey!" That was so unfair.
"And … could you not tell Draco? I mean, anything that would make him ask about the dreams?"
"Of course not," Buffy assured her. "I won't even warn the tadpoles.
"Hey!"
"Payback's a bitca."
"Meanie."
Buffy grinned and shook her head. "Still, if I get a chance to look at them, I'm not going to pass it up."
"Well, I know this may be the first time I've said this, but don't let studying ruin your weekend."
Buffy's eyes widened appreciatively, and she smiled. "First time for everything. Oh, and … you, too."
Willow laughed. "Well, what else am I going to do when you're gone?"
"You can always hang out with Hermione."
"Good idea. Then we can study all weekend without ruining it."
"Oh, gosh, you're already ruined."
"Ruined?"
"Ruined!" Buffy said in her most expansive British accent.
The train whistle sounded behind them, and they both realized that it was time to part.
"Go for it," Willow said, motioning to the pocket of Buffy's robe where she was keeping the pouch of Floo powder they had bought from Ron that morning.
"Right," Buffy said with a deep breath as she stepped into the fireplace. She had seen the professors at Hogwarts do this all the time, but she had never had the occasion to try it herself, and she wondered if it would be different traveling outside of the castle. Nevertheless, she was not afraid. Everyone else was using it so matter-of-factly, and the wizarding world had had centuries to work out any kinks.
"Later, Will," she said, waving to Willow with one hand as she
"Have a safe trip," Willow said.
Buffy nodded, then enunciated, "Malfoy Lodge!" and tossed the grey powder at her feet. There was a burst of wind and a fiery green flash, though no heat, and Willow and the rest of Hogsmeade station were gone.
In their place, another room, almost as large, began to fade into view. It was a long, low room that seemed to be nearly the entire interior of a round-roofed wooden building, supported by two rows of simple wooden buttresses promenading down the center. The floor was smooth, polished wood save for the semicircle of brick around the fireplace. The floor in the middle had been lowered to give a little more headroom, and in the middle of that lowered space sat a familiar, flaxen-haired youth on a small cot.
"Buffy," Draco acknowledged with a light smile, though not the enthusiasm that Buffy had been secretly hoping. "Welcome. I'm glad you came."
"Me, too, so far," Buffy answered his smile. "Thanks for having me."
"The honor is all mine," Draco answered formally, though his tone was casual. He got to his feet. "Well, we ought not to keep Mother waiting." There was a note of hesitation of some kind in his voice as he said that, but he cleared it away quickly. "Have you traveled by Portkey before?"
"Can't say I have," Buffy admitted.
"I didn't think so," Draco said, reaching under the cot and drawing out a large wooden chessboard with an extremely decorative set of pieces. Buffy noticed that he took great care in handling it, holding it by the sides, which had been made unusually wide in order to be carried without touching the pieces.
"Um … I really don't play chess," Buffy demurred quickly.
Draco laughed. "Best game in the world, but we don't play with these ones."
"Oh?"
"Portkeys are everyday-looking objects that are enchanted to take you somewhere if you touch them. The object comes with you, too, so you can use it to return once it's had a minute or two to recharge."
"And that chessboard is one?"
Draco grinned. "Not the chessboard, no. But most of the pieces are."
Buffy's eyes widened. Somehow, she had always thought that something that sounded like a teleporter would look … well, flashier. She might have touched one of those pieces by accident if the board had just been lying around a room—if she had played chess, anyway.
"Wow," she said.
"It's a family specialty," Draco said, grinning. "Before I … well, before the rest of the family basically became financiers, we used to sell these to the other great families. The pieces are enchanted with counterparts at other boards around the world. The fact that Portkeys come with you makes moving multiple people difficult. You either need a lot of them, or a huge one. One of my ancestors designed Portkeys that change places with identical ones at the destination—and don't work if that counterpart is not at its proper place at the proper board. So the heads of the great families could set up ways to travel all over the world virtually undetected … but ones that could be shut off in ways that Floo networks can't, not without destroying the fireplace."
"Handy in Slytherin," Buffy noted dryly.
"Handy to whoever can make them," Draco grinned. "There's a lot more to them than that, I just don't want to talk about them all day. But a full board would sell for upwards of twelve thousand galleons—and a few families bought enough to make entire networks, thirty-two boards at a time. Even the lesser families would get eight or so each."
Buffy let out a low whistle. "That's one way to earn a living."
"We did more than sell chessboards," Draco clarified proudly, "but these have always had a certain mystique. They're just … well, they're just so us."
Buffy laughed. It did seem to go with the image of the Crown Prince of Slytherin, but she was more interested in the side of him that he didn't show so much. She wasn't sensing it much at the moment, but he had been away from Hogwarts—away from her—for a long time. She made a point to bring that other side out of him. It was a stiff goal for a weekend, but she had succeeded against worse odds before.
"Well, shall we?" Draco asked.
"This should be interesting," Buffy answered.
"The red king goes to the manor," Draco explained. He gestured to the piece. "Ladies first."
Buffy shrugged inwardly and reached out a tentative hand to touch the king. When she did, she felt a sudden pulling sensation behind her navel, and Draco and the lodge vanished just like Hogsmeade Station had vanished only minutes earlier. There was no flash or sound this time, however; one second, she was standing on the floor of the Malfoy hunting lodge, and the next, she was standing in an alcove off of a truly enormous marble-floored room.
There was a soft pop, and Buffy suddenly stumbled as Draco appeared right up against her back.
"Whoops," she said sheepishly.
Draco looked irritated for a moment, but quickly shrugged and smiled, taking a sweeping look around the grand hall. Buffy couldn't suppress a smile. She had always harbored an abiding dislike—she would never be envious, of course—of people so rich that they never knew the definition of want. However, she had to admit that Draco was in his element here. He seemed more confident, more relaxed, more at home. Well, technically, he was at home, but that was beside the point.
"Welcome to my humble home," he announced proudly. "Come on, the view is great this time of the evening."
Draco led Buffy out of the alcove, and Buffy got her first good look at the room, and her eyes widened further. The room was at least twice the size of the high school gymnasium, with a high, vaulted ceiling supported by two rows of Corinthian columns of green and silver marble. There was a large three-tiered dais at one end of the chamber and an imposing set of double doors at the other; numerous smaller doors opened in the other three walls. A balcony ran around the room halfway to the ceiling, with elegant, curved silver staircases leading up to it at the far corners of the room.
Draco led Buffy across the room and up the stairs to the balcony, stopping by a heavy curtain directly above the large double doors at the far end of the hall.
"Thought I should show you this," he said nonchalantly, "just in case you were starting to get the impression that Slytherins are just scheming serpents with no eye for beauty." With that, he raised his hand, and the curtain parted, revealing a wide marble balcony, and the land beyond bathed in sunset.
"Now why would I get an idea like that?" she joked as she let him lead her out onto the balcony. Her eyes widened again. "Oh … my … gosh …"
"Asmodeus Malfoy picked the spot because it was defensible, back before Hogwarts was even founded," Draco laughed. "The next fifty generations worked on making it a little easier on the eyes."
Asmodeus, whoever he was, had picked a good site, and his descendants had done their work, too. Buffy wondered if the Portkey had somehow taken her into a fairy tale.
The land fell away from Malfoy Manor in a series of seven terraces, with a wide stone staircase carved into the mountainside descending to the valley below from outside the great double doors beneath the balcony on which they now stood. A winding path paved with massive flagstones as smooth as glass wound its way back and forth up through the terraces to accommodate anything that couldn't make it up the stairs, with wide plazas wherever the stairs and path intersected. The topmost plaza, just outside the door of the manor, was the largest, sporting a wide circular driveway for vehicles to turn around, surrounding a wide fountain in the center of a crystal pool. A small, picturesque village lay at the bottom of the hill, but did nothing to disturb the tranquility of the landscape.
"I'm impressed," Buffy said simply.
Draco laughed. "I think it was meant to be impressive."
Buffy nodded, turning to look sideways and up at as much of the house itself as she could see. She quickly realized that 'Malfoy Manor' was not just alliterative, but an understatement. It wasn't a manor. It was a palace, dwarfing even the castle that had mysteriously appeared in Sunnydale when Dracula had come to visit.
"How in the world does this place not get found?" she asked.
"Magic," Draco said, as if it were obvious, which, Buffy supposed, it probably should have been. "No Muggles can see it at a distance, and even those who get through the woods on the other side of Salazar's Crossing," he indicated with a gesture towards the village at the foot of the slope, and the thick cloak of trees beyond it, "will remember just a dream, if they ever leave. I think Muggles write about them as 'faerie sightings' or some such hogwash."
"If they ever leave?" Buffy asked pointedly.
"Sometimes they stay, think they've stumbled on some kind of paradise. Sometimes they go mad, think they've gone crazy. Most just turn around and leave, though, and forget pretty much everything by the time they're out of the woods."
"I see."
Draco nodded, trying to gauge how she was taking this. She kept her face neutral. A moment later, he shrugged, and led her away from the balcony.
"So do I get the grand tour, now?"
Draco grinned. "Trust me, we're just getting started—though I thought you might like to change first."
Buffy looked down at her raiment; she had worn her Hogwarts robe because she didn't have any non-Muggle clothing. Draco had been wearing his as well, so she hadn't thought anything of it.
"I really didn't bring anything," she said. She knew a spell to clean the robe, so she had just packed underclothes and sort of planned on wearing the robe the whole weekend.
"That's quite all right," Draco said with a grin. "Come on."
Buffy suddenly had an image of herself dressed like some of the outlandish women she had seen in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and firmly decided that she was not going to be seen anywhere, by anyone, and certainly not Draco, in getup like that. "You—really don't need to," she demurred quietly.
Draco laughed. "At least have a look," he said mysteriously.
Buffy let out a breath, ruffling her bangs. "All right," she said, "but I must say that I'm not really much for—well, wizarding-world fashions."
Draco laughed again. "Trust me, the great families have slightly different tastes than the peasants you've probably seen so far."
While she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about Draco referring to other wizards—apparently most other wizards, from the sound of things—as peasants, she was curious. Seeing that she was not objecting any more, Draco turned and let her out, along the balcony around the great marble hall, then away through a kind of sitting room, and down a short hallway out of that lounge with doors opening to either side. He led Buffy to the closest of these.
"This is the Embassy guest suite," he said, with a knowing smile. "You're honorary nobility today," he said as he opened the door.
Buffy let out a low whistle as she got her first look at the quarters Draco had had prepared for her. It was the size of Buffy's entire house in Sunnydale, and exuded luxury of a level that Cordelia's wildest dreams could never conceive. It had a full three bedrooms, each with its own luxurious bath, as well as a parlor, private dining room, and study, in addition to the main sitting room. Another balcony opened from the master bedroom, offering a panoramic view of the mountains to the north, as well as the tapering expanse of valley below, dotted with orchards and vineyards.
"Thought you might like it," Draco chuckled, noting her speechlessness.
"Wow, I could just fall asleep right now and forget the whole grand tour thing," Buffy sighed, sprawling on the enormous canopied feather bed.
Draco laughed. "You're sleeping better than me tonight. Visiting members of other great families stayed here, so we always made it as impressive as possible."
"I'm so not complaining," Buffy practically purred.
"Anyway, see if any of these are more to your taste than the latest in Diagon Alley," Draco said.
Buffy sat up and turned to look. Her eyes bulged. Draco had opened the walk-in closet opening off the master bedroom, revealing rows of clothing that looked like it had been taken straight from a fairy tale.
"I need to go change, too," Draco said. "I figured I should probably wear my school things to meet you, but Mother would never even let me sit at the table dressed like this."
"Oh … OK," Buffy said, not really nervous about being left alone, especially to change, but not really wanting him to leave. At least, not to a whole different part of the house.
"I'll send a house-elf up to help you with anything with fitting or getting into anything."
"No!" Buffy answered reflexively. The thought of one of those little things that looked half-gremlin, half-Muppet seeing her changing was more than a little unsettling. She was taking everything as nonchalantly as possible, but that was pushing things a little too far.
"Er … Miss Su … er, Buffy, everything in there was last fitted for the Countess Marvolo. She had a few inches on you."
Taking another look, Buffy could see that Draco was right, but she was unfazed. She took a deep breath, and removed her wand from her robe.
"Aptaros," she intoned, sending her power out in a wave. There was a great rustling of fabric throughout the entire closet. It was Draco's turn to be surprised. His eyes widened in shock as the sleeves and hemlines of the nearest dresses shortened visibly, and the busts reshaped themselves. Buffy took the opportunity of his surprise to steady her breathing. Willow had explained the concept of radiating spells to her, but she had never had a real chance to practice it for more than five minutes, when they had jokingly practiced radiating Cheering Charms in Lupin's office and laughed about using it to liven up the Slytherin common room. It took a lot out of a person, however.
"That's … impressive," Draco breathed.
"I can handle changing myself," Buffy stated, her voice tight because of the effort of keeping it under control. She refused to sound tired, especially because she knew she would be better again in moments. Slayers recovered from exhaustion quickly.
He turned to look at her, giving her an openly reappraising look. "I knew there was some reason I liked you," he said wonderingly as he excused himself. Buffy's eyes narrowed. There had been a surprising note of authenticity in his voice, which, under the circumstances, Buffy actually resented. The whole keeping him company on the train when all of his friends were gone and standing up for him in front of the Gryffindor 'in crowd' wasn't enough?
She resolved not to dwell on it, as she returned her attention to the wardrobe. She quickly realized that she could spend hours ogling over some of the items on display. She didn't want to waste too much time, but she didn't want to pick the first thing that caught her eye, either—especially because about fifty things already had, so it was too late for that, anyway.
Her eyes eventually settled on a light, short-sleeved dress of green silk with silver accents that went well with her coloring. It was cut in a classical style, save that it stopped just below the knees to allow a little more freedom of movement. The torso looked to be fitted a little tight for her taste, but she had spent enough time goggling the Malfoy wardrobe, and it looked to be about as good as she was going to do. Everything else was either too frilly, too long, or not at all her color.
Buffy shrugged off her Hogwarts robe. "Apparelate," she whispered. The dress whisked out and settled itself around her and adjusted quickly, the laces pulling themselves tight across Buffy's back. The air rushed out of her lungs for a moment; she had underestimated how tight it was going to be around her waist and ribcage. There had been boning built into the dress that she hadn't actually seen before putting it on, and it had been invisible to the naked eye. Her breathing steadied a moment later, however, and once she got accustomed to it, it wasn't as bad. She added a pair of soft, fur-lined leather sandals to the ensemble; if Draco intended to show her the grounds, it was going to mean walking.
She stopped to give herself an approving glance in the full-length mirror in the bedroom on her way out of the suite. Draco was waiting for her down at the head of the stairs, a short distance down the balcony. He had donned a decidedly regal-looking robe of silver-on-black that emphasized the brilliant flax of his hair.
"Magnificent," he said as she approached, gazing at her with undisguised approval.
"Hey, you clean up pretty well yourself," Buffy noted.
"Well, thank you," he said, offering her his arm with polished courtesy. Buffy grinned as she took it.
They spent the next two hours touring the grounds; the landscaping behind the palace was even more spectacular than in the front, as there was no road there and the land had thus been sculpted purely for ornament. The lower six terraces of the manor hill were a terraced water garden with waterfalls pouring softly from one terrace to the next. A large formal garden graced the topmost terrace, just up against the back door of the palace. It was nearly eight by the time they returned to the manor. Draco had brought a small golden water bottle for each of them, but Buffy was still more than hungry by the time they returned to the manor.
"Think the inside tour can wait until after dinner?" Draco said as he held the door open to let her back inside.
"Definitely," Buffy agreed. It had been a long day, and they'd done a lot of walking.
Draco led her into a small formal dining room set just off the great hall, though 'small' was a relative term. A long, heavy wooden table with space for eight occupied the center of the room, and at the head of the table sat a woman that she guessed immediately was Draco's mother.
The woman rose formally as the two of them entered the hall. She was dressed in a loose but elegant style that somehow reminded Buffy of what she imagined people wearing in ancient Greece. "Miss Summers," the woman greeted. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Well … thanks, I think," Buffy answered, kicking herself inwardly for not thinking more about what she would say when she met Draco's mother.
"Did you enjoy the little tour of the grounds?"
"Well, it wasn't that little, but yeah, I enjoyed it," Buffy answered with a smile.
"I'm glad," Draco's mother announced. "Please, sit," she said, indicating a chair to her left. Buffy moved over to take the seat, and Draco moved over to take the seat to his mother's right.
"Thank you, Mother," Draco said as he sat. "And, so as not to be a horrible host, let me do the introductions. Mother, this is Miss Buffy Summers, whom you know all about by now. Buffy, this is my mother, the Lady Narcissa Malfoy."
That struck a chord somewhere in the back of Buffy's memory, but she couldn't immediately put her mind to where she had heard it before. For some reason, however, her instincts were telling her that it was important. Narcissa …
"Nice to meet you," she managed absently, her thoughts still racing.
"Is something wrong?" Narcissa asked.
"No, no, I'm fine," Buffy answered quickly.
"All right, then, let's eat," Draco said. If he noticed Buffy's uneasiness, he gave no sign. He clapped his hands twice, and a house-elf appeared from a small doorway in a corner of the room, a trail of trays of food hovering behind it.
"Thank you, Zog," Draco said with a polite smile as the elf gestured, and the trays set themselves down on the table. The elf vanished a moment later.
Buffy ogled appreciatively at the food. It looked like Thanksgiving had come early.
"How's Deggle, by the way?" she asked.
Draco laughed. "He's on vacation, actually. He should be back fairly soon, though."
Dinner was generally uneventful; Buffy, Draco, and Narcissa made small talk for the most part. Narcissa asked polite questions about where Buffy was from in America and Buffy tried to remember where she had seen or heard of Narcissa before while Draco took a bathroom break. When Draco returned, he offered to show her around the inside of the house.
"Sounds great," Buffy said, rising to her feet.
"Splendid, then. Mother," he acknowledged with a polite nod to Narcissa.
"Have fun," Narcissa answered.
Draco led Buffy back out into the great entrance hall, which had now been lit with a quartet of levitating crystal chandeliers, bathing the hall in a blue-white light that gave the impression of an underground sea as the light interplayed with the green veins in the marble.
"This is the Hall of Wisdom," Draco explained proudly. "Tiresias Malfoy was the vizier of Salazar Slytherin. This was his seat, and the seat of Salazar's power in Europe. Salazar himself lived in Alexandria."
"Um … where?"
"Egypt," Draco added patiently.
"Oh. Right."
They continued on through a few more rooms, Draco filling her in on a few more outstanding details of his family history.
"It used to be a lot more lively," he conceded as they walked through a small conservatory filled with all manner of strange herbs that Buffy had a sneaky suspicion didn't grow outside the wizarding world. "Before the war started."
"Yeah, but didn't you say your dad was on the wrong side, anyway?"
Draco stopped and looked at her. Buffy wondered if she'd said something wrong.
"I might have," he admitted after a moment.
"I'm pretty sure you did," she emphasized. "Death Eater, all-around bastard?"
"I … well, he's still my father," Draco finished meekly. Buffy got the distinct impression that was not what he was initially going to say, but she let it pass. It sounded like she had pushed a little too far as things were.
"Anyway, down there's the residential quarters," he said, retreating back into his tour-guide mode and pointing down a hallway to their right. "But in here," he said as he drew alongside a tall double wooden door of mahogany and gold, "is my favorite. This is the family library," he said, pushing open the doors to admit them.
Enchanted crystals set in the wall like torches began to glow dimly, then brighter, within the high, vaulted chamber, revealing three stories of shelves, and stairs leading up from there into what must have been an attic for overflow. The floor of the main chamber alone had to have covered at least half an acre.
"The Arcanum Malfi, it was called in elder days," Draco announced, pride and regret mingled in his voice. "I told you our family were viziers of Slytherin. We had lands, and servants, and money, but it was here that the true power of House Malfoy truly lay. Until Salazar combined his own library with those of Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Helga Hufflepuff to form Hogwarts, there was none better in all of Europe. Heads of other families used to pay us just to allow their children to spend some time in this room."
Buffy looked around again. It was definitely large, and if she'd never been to Hogwarts, it would have looked immense, but it didn't really look like it was truly on a par with Hogwarts.
"The Hogwarts Library has grown a lot since the school's founding," Draco continued, noting her look. "Donations and all."
Buffy laughed. "Don't worry, I'm still way impressed."
"I'm not trying to impress … oh, wait, I suppose I am," Draco concluded with a wry grin. "Though, unfortunately, I can't show you the really impressive stuff right now," he continued enticingly.
"Oh?" Buffy was instantly curious.
Draco sighed. "I believe I told you I've been kept here because of some unexpected things that came up, am I right?"
"Yeah, though you weren't much with the explanations beyond that," Buffy agreed.
Draco sighed again. "I certainly wasn't, and I hope you'll understand now that I am telling you: I think the treasury is haunted."
Buffy's eyes widened. "The treasury?"
Draco nodded. "And not by any kind of ghost, either. Something really strong and dark, some kind of demon. I think … I think Lucius might have let it in before he fled." Something inscrutable, almost as if he were kicking himself for some reason, passed across his face as he said that, but he continued. "I told you we've become financiers of late. If it got out that we had trouble getting to the vaults, you can imagine what would happen to a lot, if not most, of our investments."
"You don't use Gringott's?"
"We do," Draco admitted. "And Schwarzkobold's in Switzerland, too. But we kept a lot here. For the great players of the Great Game, it was always good to be cautious."
"But something slipped through?"
Draco nodded, clearly irritated at admitting it, even though Buffy realized that he was probably trusting her with something that probably only he and his mother knew.
She made up her mind quickly. "Let's go finish it off," she said.
Draco laughed grimly. "I like your enthusiasm, but … Mother and I couldn't do much against it. I know you're strong and all, but this is serious stuff. I don't want to see you get hurt."
That only solidified Buffy's decision. "Don't worry about me," she said flatly. "I can handle myself in a fight."
"I'm sure you can," Draco said placatingly. "But I didn't ask you up here to fight."
"I know," Buffy answered sweetly. "That's just a bonus."
Draco seemed to consider it for another long moment, then said, in a tone of acquiescence, "I'll go get Mother. Maybe with three of us together …"
"Fine," she said. She didn't usually think much of fighting alongside others, but that was usually because the others became liabilities; she hadn't minded fighting alongside Riley or Angel as much. She hoped that she wasn't overestimating Draco and Narcissa, but it sounded like they could handle themselves in a fight.
"Right, then … just hang out here, I'll be back in a few minutes," Draco said as he turned and strode from the room.
Buffy suddenly realized that she had a few minutes alone in the Malfoy library. It wouldn't be enough for anything serious, she realized, but she could at least look for a section on dreaming lore. She suddenly found herself wishing that she knew the spell Willow had used to absorb the knowledge in all the Dark Arts books at the Magic Box, but that was neither here nor there … not to mention it had basically overloaded Willow's brain.
Nevertheless, she took the opportunity to wander around, letting her thoughts wander as well. Thinking about dreams made her think about Lupin and his dreams again, and the dreams both she and Willow had been having since they had come to Hogwarts.
Suddenly, she stopped as though she had been struck. Thinking about dreams had sparked her memory. She remembered where she had heard the name Narcissa before. Willow had mentioned the name when describing a dream she had had. But that Narcissa had been killed, assuming that Willow's dreams showed actual events.
How had it gone? Voldemort had killed Narcissa with one of those three super-spells that weren't in any of the books in the library. Buffy's blood suddenly ran cold. He had killed her because she had "attempted to warn her son of Voldemort's plans for him." Draco. Assuming this Narcissa and that were the same. But could they be? Obviously, this one was alive. Could Willow's dreams have shown the future somehow? That didn't seem right, though.
"Buffy? You here?"
"I'm here," she called quickly, moving out from the shelves back into the open space in the middle of the main room. Draco was already there. His mother was with him, and they both had their wands.
"Miss Summers, are you sure about this?" Narcissa asked.
Buffy gave her a resolved stare.
"All right," Narcissa acceded, "I can see you're set on this. Just so you know you don't have to play the hero if things get rough. Draco and I have already failed twice. It doesn't leave the lower levels, so if you get back here, you should be safe."
"What is it? Do you know?"
"I have no idea," Narcissa answered. "Serpent-demon of some kind, perhaps." Buffy noticed that her voice trembled a little as she said that, as though it were somehow difficult to say.
Buffy's mind flashed back to when she and Cordelia had been captured by followers of the serpent-demon Machida. She had been younger then, however. She steeled herself.
"Let's go, then," she said tightly.
"I can't believe you're doing this," Draco said skeptically as he moved over to a bookcase against the far wall of the library from the main entrance. He pulled out an enormous leather tome; Buffy's lips compressed as she noticed the title, Avarice. Draco set the book on a special stand atop the mantel, and the back wall of the fireplace slid open.
He pulled out his wand again and took a deep breath. "Here we go," he said, disappearing into the dark.
Narcissa waited for a moment, then seeing that Buffy was waiting for her, she shrugged and strode through the fireplace. Buffy's mind was still racing with thoughts about what Willow had told her about her dream. Was this the same Narcissa? If so, how? It didn't seem possible—the Narcissa in Willow's dream was dead—but she had long since stopped believing in coincidence.
There was a wide, sloped passage leading down to the left on the far side of the fireplace. It was more rough-hewn than the rest of the manor, but the floor was smooth as polished obsidian and the ceiling was easily twice as high as Buffy's head. As the passage went down further, it started to become less polished, more cavernous; Buffy could almost sense the sheer weight of the earth and stone above her.
Gradually, another sense began to intrude on her awareness. A darker sense. She withdrew her wand from her dress. She had a feeling they were getting close.
A minute later, they rounded a corner and came to the apex of a wide semicircular chamber. Two small ledges ringed the chamber, one at shoulder height, the other twice that, each with a trench filled with a fluid that burned heatlessly with a brilliant mix of silver and green light. An enormous door lay in the wall opposite them. The sense of evil nearby got palpably closer as they entered the room. Buffy noticed Draco and Narcissa both tense visibly as they crossed the threshold as well.
"This is it," Narcissa breathed heavily, approaching the door. The room seemed to be affecting her somehow, or perhaps it was just the light.
Draco's mother approached the door and put her hand on the latch. There was a soft tone like a distant bell, and a web of light spread out across the door from her touch. "There's only one more thing you need to know," she added.
Buffy's eyes narrowed. "All right …"
Narcissa turned towards her then, and Buffy backed away a step.
"Miss Summers," she said formally, mockingly. "You are an idiot."
She pulled open the door with a loud metallic creak, and Buffy gasped.
A figure stood waiting for her on the far side of the door. He was human, but at the same time not, with baleful, red serpentine eyes and a flat, snakelike nose. He was clad in a robe that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. Buffy's eyes, however, centered on his wand; it could have been the twin of Willow's own, and Buffy remembered all too well who bore a lookalike of her friend's wand.
"Imperio," Lord Voldemort intoned triumphantly.
* * * * *
Author's Notes: Oops! 8-)
(Come on, folks, you didn't actually think that Buffy was ever going to get to have a smooth love life and a relaxing romantic getaway, did you? That would just be so out of character!)
musicgirl141: You were right about the other Slayers, I went back and changed that. Good catch.
To all my other loyal reviewers—Kandice, ShawThang, DragonStar, organized-chaos, Rosie W, Silver Warrior, ShadowElfBard—thanks again, as always, I love reading your feedback! Newer readers/reviewers—ChocolateKitten, Darkestmagick, jz, blondi gurl—welcome aboard, and you chose a good time to pick it up; things get just a little bit more … active … from here on out. Hope you stay and enjoy the ride!
To all the others with me on author-alert … good to see your numbers swelling! (I'll coax you out of the woodwork yet!) :- )
Coming Soon: Chapter 28, "The Vaults of Malfoy Manor." Plot summary? You'll finally find out why my beta reader compared me to Lisette on more than one occasion.
Sneak Preview: HA! Not this time, folks! See you next week! :-D