AN1
Sadly not much feedback on the last chapter. :-( Did you all hate it or something? Thank you to those who left a review. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
…...
chapter 80
"I'm Sticky Like Glue"
Gripping her wand tightly in one hand and a raised stake in the other, Buffy stepped out from behind the tree. A bright light shone into her eyes and she squinted, blinded after the darkness of the forest. Acting out of sheer instinct, she flung herself sideways – a bad move. Her shoulder slammed into the trunk of a large tree, she lost her grip on the wooden stake and fell awkwardly – straight into a bramble bush.
"Ugh!"
The bushes prickly fronds scratched at Buffy's face, dug their thorns into her clothing, wrapped themselves around her limbs and even hooked into her cap. She raised her head, her hair falling over her face, blocking her vision, getting into her eyes and sticking to her lipstick. She spat out strands of hair, causing something close by to let out an amused snort.
Buffy cringed. What happened to Slayer grace and elegance? Falling into brambles was such a rookie mistake. "Hey! Once I'm out of this bush, I'll show you I'm more mocker, than mockee!" she yelled.
Angry magic tinged the air and Buffy tucked her arms in and barrel-rolled – ignoring the scratches from the thorns and relying on her speed and strength to free her. For a moment, the bramble bush fought back.. there was a snapping sound and she rolled free. A Full Body-Bind hex hovering on her lips, Buffy raised her wand and... caught sight of her attacker. She almost dropped her wand.
"No freakin' way!"
The Unicorn reared, hooves pawing at the air above her head and screaming a challenge.
"Holy crap!" A peace-loving, tree-hugging, all-purity-and-light Unicorn wanted to kill her! Buffy rolled right and the hooves slammed down where she'd just lain. What was she going to do now? Slaying a Unicorn led to a cursed life. Why was it attacking her? Was it because... because she was a Slayer?
Staying low to the ground, she scrambled backwards across the forest floor, trying not to look like a predator. "Good horsey! Sorry for the scare-age. I thought you were a demon!"
Indignation tainted the air. The Unicorn laid back its ears and stamped an impatient hoof.
"Ugh!" The hole she'd dug for herself had just grown a whole lot deeper. "Sorry, sorry! That was kinda rude. You look nothing like a demon. It's just... you went all blindy and... a Unicorn was the last thing I expected."
The silver horse snaked forward, tossing his long, silver mane and pointing the spiralled horn close to her.
It doesn't believe me.
Buffy screwed her eyes tight shut. Professor Kettleburn said Unicorns were creatures of such purity that they could easily sense the darkness in others. That didn't bode well for her, not since the Slayer's essence originated from a demon. And not only that, but she'd failed a lot of people in her last life, and their deaths still hung heavy on her soul. Even if the Unicorn didn't take all that into account, Buffy knew she really wasn't a nice person at heart. She lied to family and friends, broke the rules constantly, and got annoyed with people like Lancelot Lockhart and Antonin Dolohov.
She was also stupid.
What kind of slayer didn't know the difference between magical vibes and Creeper prickles? Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could she have confused a creature made from pure joy and light, with one that reeked of evil and darkness? The Unicorn was probably right: she was too bad a person to live. Except... she didn't want to be known as the girl who'd been killed by a Unicorn. She had the opportunity to live here and she wasn't ready to die.
The Unicorn was quiet.
Buffy cracked an eyelid. The blinding light had faded to a soft glow and the Unicorn looked like a normal white horse. A very fine horse that sparkled with magic in the moonlight and had a golden horn in the centre of its forehead. It caught her spying on it and blew a loud raspberry before peeling back its lips and exposing long very equine teeth.
At least it had gone back to mocking rather than attacking. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry for leaping out like that. Slayers don't hunt Unicorns. Slayers hunt the bad things, the evil things, the stuff that goes bump in the night. Things that kill the innocent and the defenceless."
The Unicorn let out a little huff and took a step forward. Lowering its head, it sniffed at her hair.
Buffy didn't know if there was a special way of addressing Unicorns. She knew how to approach a Hippogriff as Professor Kettleburn had taught them. They could turn violent if you didn't show them instant respect.
Buffy reached toward the creature's face. "Good, horsey. Nice horsey," she soothed. When it didn't try to bite, she stroked the soft, velvety hair of its muzzle. The Unicorn lipped gently at her hair in return.
"Am I forgiven?"
The Unicorn's head jerked up and down, then let her pet it once more.
Buffy stroked its forelock. It breathed in deeply and flicked one ear towards her, listening as she began to speak. "You know," she said, "I'm really sorry for springing out like Rambo. I swear, I meant you no harm." She made a cross sign over her heart. "Slayer's honour."
Magic tingled in the air as she swore the oath, and the Unicorn nuzzled her face. Then it did something remarkable. It knelt and dropped onto the ground beside her. Buffy froze.
What...? What was it doing?
With a quick swish of its tail, it stretched out its neck and gently rested its head on her lap.
"Oh!"
Her grin grew until it stretched from ear to ear. The Unicorn likes me! It really likes me! Flingingher arms around its neck, she hugged it to her like a kid with a new kitten at Christmas.She couldn't believe it. This had to be the coolest, most surreal thing that had ever happened to her.
The Unicorn glowed softly in the moonlight. The weight of its head was heavy in her lap, and it watched her with a dark, intelligent eye. Some of the beast's natural serenity began to seep into her, and as its magic moved through her, Buffy felt taut muscles ease, her mind grow calmer and the pain that lay deep inside her soul begin to heal.
Buffy wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but when the Unicorn climbed to its feet and trotted off into the trees, she felt soothed. The gaping holes in her memory no longer felt as big and all those past life memories no longer felt as raw. It was almost as if they'd happened to someone else.
Her thoughts on the Unicorn's gift, Buffy continued on automatic pilot, barely registering the pathway beneath her feet. She was aware of small creatures moving in the bushes and that further off, staying just out of sight, something watched her, but nothing came near.
….
Finally, Buffy reached the edge of the forest and came to the lake. Over, in the distance, there were lights – Hogsmeade Village– and she began to walk across the moor in that direction. When she came to a winding lane she followed it, staying close to the straggly hedge that grew along one side of it and keeping a watch for any witches or wizards out late. The lane she was on was wet from recent rain and, when she accidentally stepped into a mucky puddle, dirty water sprayed up covering her leg with cold wet mud. She grimaced, knowing that she couldn't use a Scourgify Charm whilst so far from Hogwarts and mentally cursing Slughorn for taking her broomstick and not returning it. She didn't care if it came from a mystery father, not if it saved her wading through mud.
A prickle on her slayer senses brought her to a halt and she stepped closer to a stone wall that ran along this stretch of the road. Not demons, magic. The Wizarding kind... She searched the road ahead of her, trying to pinpoint them. There!
About three hundred yards away the lane branched into a 'T' junction and someone was walking down the left-hand branch. They carried a lantern; shuttered so that only the front section lit up the road ahead. Should she avoid them? She was hunting Dementors, not people. Yet there was something familiar about their magic, and after they'd crossed the junction she found herself hurrying after them.
A few minutes later, Buffy was close enough to see them. A man and a woman, heading towards Hogsmeade and, from the cut, and style of their robes, they were Aurors. The man, in particular, drew her attention.
"Sometimes," she heard him say, "I get the feeling Flint doesn't like me..."
That was Alastor Moody!
"...I'm thinking, he only said Vinda Rosier was in Hogsmeade to keep us – and when I say us, I mean me – away from London."
Buffy slowed her steps. She liked Roz's brother. He'd sent her uncle a message when she'd been stranded at Wools orphanage, but he might tell the Headmaster if he caught her out of Hogwarts.
"You're right," muttered the woman. "He doesn't like me either. I bet Rosier was never in Scotland, never mind Hogsmeade. I bet he did this to get us out the way whilst his favourites get the tastier cases. And if they capture Von Kendrick in London, we'll be well out the way."
"I was there, in July, when he destroyed the building and killed a lot of Muggles. He also got my partner." There was a moment of silence, the sound of someone blowing their nose, and Moody continued, "I want to know why Von Kendrick has gone back. An' he was in St Pancras for a good while. Long enough to be seen casting spells in the area and then be chased. You'd think, with my past history with him, Flint would have sent someone else up here and kept me down there."
The woman replied, "Isn't the girl up here, the one who was hit by one of his spells? The one everyone thought was a Muggle and she turned out to have magic? Do you think all this has anything to do with her?"
"Buffy? Aye, she's at Hogwarts with my sister – Rosalind. Hmm, that's a maybe. Though... what's Rosier got to do with her? Word has it Grindelwald and Von Kendrick are no longer seeing eye-to-eye. Went too far with his collecting of Squibs and their relatives, we heard."
"What he did to that school in Austria was a disgrace," murmured the woman. "Even Grindelwald thought it distasteful. Isn't Buffy's mother a Squib? Von Kendrick might have wanted them to experiment on." A pause, then she added, "They had a lucky escape there."
Moody grunted. "If Grindelwald sent Rosier after Von Kendrick, she either ended up in the wrong country or else he knows something we don't. Anyway, we've done our bit. We searched and if Rosier was ever here, she's long gone. This is all bollocks. I bet Mortimer and Fletcher are settled in at the Three Broomsticks with a pint a piece." He let out a warm laugh. "Unless a rogue Dementor got them."
"Ugh, I hate those things!" The woman shuddered. "Thank Merlin there's no sign of them either."
No Dementors? Buffy halted, standing in the shadows and watching their lantern light move further away.
Moody let out a huff of disgust. "Yeah, seen by a tipsy Witch and two pissed Wizards. Hardly the best of witnesses. C'mon, not only is it bloody freezing here, the place is like a graveyard. When I was at Hogwarts, Hogsmeade always seemed a fun place to live. Now it feels like the armpit of civilisation. Oh, and talking of armpits, did you know that Albus Dumbledore's brother owns the..." Moody's voice faded away as he moved further off.
Buffy decided that it wasn't worth following them if there were no Dementors in Hogsmeade. She'd need to look at a map of the area and expand her search on another night. Who was this Rosier they were talking about? Important enough for the Ministry to send four Aurors up here to investigate? More chilling was the news that Von Kendrick had been in London. Scotland was a long way from there, but the Lovegood's house in Devon was closer. She didn't like that. What if Von Kendrick wasn't looking for Squibs? What if he'd been sent to kill them by her real father's family? That would explain what he was doing outside her High School in America. If he'd found out that they weren't dead, he might have come back to finish the job.
She had to owl her mom and tell her. She'd need to say she'd overheard a conversation between two kids with Auror connections and had gotten worried. It was another lie again, and that made her feel uncomfortable, but it was almost true.
A horse neighed nearby. Buffy jerked her head in that direction. Was it... the Unicorn? Had it followed her? She eyed the narrow ditch and the stone wall separating the lane from the fields, measuring the distance and deciding it was an easy jump for a Slayer. After making sure that Moody and his companion were gone, Buffy backed up, ran, and jumped the obstacles with an easy leap. Her landing was less graceful. She landed ankle deep in mud, grimacing as she wiped off the worst of the mud onto a patch of grass. Her shoes were filthy!
The field she was in was surrounded by stone walls; a small flock of sheep were huddled in the far corner, but there was no sign of a horse. Over on the opposite side of the field was a thick patch of trees. Could the Unicorn be hiding in there? Using her Spidey senses, she reached out. It wasn't a Unicorn. This was a different kind of magic, old and kind of powerful, but not the demonic kind. Curious to see what it was, Buffy set off to locate the creature.
On the opposite side of the trees grazed a coal-black horse. When she rounded the corner of the bushes it raised its head to look at her, then went back to grazing; wandering a few steps closer to pluck at a patch of sweet grass the sheep had missed. Buffy examined it from a distance, trying to figure out what it was. Her Care of Magical Creatures books would tell her, but without referring to them she hadn't a clue. It wasn't a normal horse. Not only was magic radiating from it, but its deep golden eyes were another big giveaway.
"Whatcha doin' horsey?" she asked, creeping a little closer.
The horse threw up his head, chewing grass and eyeing her speculatively. Buffy thought he really was a gorgeous horse, with his small head, pricked ears, arched neck, and flowing bodylines. Not that she knew a lot about horses, but she'd had friends with horses and had spent time at the barn grooming them. Buffy blinked, realising that she'd just had a memory from this life.
Trying not to look like a predator – not after the fiasco with the Unicorn – Buffy held out a hand. "Nice horsey. Who are you? Wish I'd brought my books, but I didn't think to pack for a flora and fauna field trip." She really needed to study her Care of Magical Creatures' books more.
The horse stopped chewing and pricked his ears at her voice. To her surprise and delight, he trotted over and let her pet his nose. Maybe he was someone's tame, magical... whatever he was.
"Nice horse. You know I won't hurt you, don't you?" Buffy still felt bad about what happened with the Unicorn. She didn't want to be a Newt Scamander but she wasn't here to terrorise innocent magical beasts either – just freaky, evil, demons.
The horse nodded his head, making Buffy feel better. At least she hadn't scared this one. As if hearing her thoughts, the horse pushed at her chest with his nose.
"You're so sweet."
The horse's eyes gleamed, and then he knelt onto his forelegs and waited.
"You want me to ride you?"
The horse nodded, his golden eyes shining in the moonlight. Buffy stepped closer, laying a hand on the midnight black coat. Her slayer senses prickled in warning. Or was it? Was it just a prickle from his magic?
"I can't ride you. You belong to someone and that means I'd be stealing."
The horse shook his head. He stayed before her, forelegs bent and waiting.
Buffy thought of the muddy lane she had to walk along. "What about... I just ride you down to the lake?" The horse's eyes shone with eager excitement. "I can turn you loose there and you can come back to your field."
The horse nodded in agreement.
Feeling a little silly – she'd never been a great horseback rider – Buffy carefully mounted the horse. He rose up, and Buffy wove the fingers of her left hand through the hairs of his long mane as he set off at a sedate amble across the field towards an open gate. Since that was in the general direction of Hogwarts, Buffy didn't try to steer him. She simply sat on his back, trying not to grip too hard with her knees and enjoying the feeling of freedom the ride gave her. She'd forgotten how much fun horseback riding could be.
Once they were through the gateway, the horse picked up speed. He had smooth paces, the kind that hardly jarred a rider, and when he broke into a gentle, rocking canter, Buffy leaned forward. The wind blew into her face, whipping her long hair into the air, and beneath her the horse's hooves pounded into soft turf. The horse went faster, his hooves hitting puddles, sending mud flying and a terrified rabbit shot out from underfoot... The black horse snorted, shying to the side to avoid standing on the smaller creature. Buffy easily stayed onboard. Whatever move the horse made she felt safe and in no danger of falling off.
They galloped downhill, the Black Lake in front of them. Was that where the little boats had sailed from on that first night? Buffy leaned forward, peering into the darkness, the long black mane tossing into her face and the horse's ears flicking back to acknowledge her presence. He seemed to take her leaning forward as a sign to go even faster. Only one field lay between them and the lake now. One field... and a high stone wall.
"Hey! Watch out for the wall!" she called, leaning across the horse's neck and trying to get his attention. "Whoa!" Buffy pulled back on the mane, trying to slow him. The horse ignored her, stretching his neck and keeping up the breakneck pace.
The wall was coming up. They were going to hit it. They were approaching too fast. That was when Buffy realised that she was stuck. Literally, she was stuck. She couldn't pull her fingers out of the horse's mane, and her bottom was glued to the fur on its back. This was as bad, if not worse, as one of Tom's Sticking Charms.
What was this thing? What was she riding?
…...
AN2
Hoped you liked Buffy and the Unicorn?
Any guesses what it is and what is about to happen? Yes, this is a 'real' mythological beast and straight from the sources JKR would have used.
I got my inspiration for the horse from another book which I'll name next chapter.
