Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) own none of the characters from either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Harry Potter series. They belong to the geniuses, Joss Whedon and J.K Rowling. I am not trying to take credit for their works, I am just a poor college student amusing herself by writing some fan fiction!
For the timeline and changes I made to both the Buffy and HP fandoms, see Chapter 1!
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Sorry for the long period of time that it took me to write this update! I've been on vacation for the past week and didn't have access to the internet. I did, however, have a chance to see the fifth movie and finish the seventh book. I was a bit disappointed with both of them, but whatever, they were both pretty good overall.
I will not be using the plot from HP and the DH, but I might some of the spells, memories and other little things that I learned from the book. If there's anything that might give away any of its key points, I promise that I'll put up a huge, flashing SPOILERS sign before I use it.
I'm using the O.W.L. grading criteria for N.E.W.T.s, as I don't really know if they grade them the same. Also, I'm conveniently ignoring some of the stuff that the kids learned in previous years, so that Buffy and Lupin can teach it to them. Lastly, I'm using my artistic license and allowing the the protego spell to be cast onto someone else as protection, because I don't know of another spell that does this, and I'm too lazy to make one up. --
Thanks to PrInCeSsFBi, enchantedlight, MadBrilliant1880 (you were so sweet to review almost every chapter! ), and magdalene82 for your reviews!
Now, enough of that. On with what you guys were looking forward to!
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The next morning, Buffy sat at the staff table in between Giles and Lupin, barely able to eat anything. Despite her Watcher and co-professor constantly pushing various items of food onto her plate, she barely managed to force down a small piece of toast and jam, the nerves of having her first class in barely an hour making her slightly nauseous.
She pushed her plate away from her and stood up from the table, giving Giles and Lupin a smile to reassure them that she would to be okay, before crossing the hall, exiting out of the front doors, and making her way down to the lake. Flopping onto the grass, she gazed up at the cloud-filled sky, wondering what she had gotten herself into. I can't do this, she thought to herself, What was I thinking? Giles should be teaching. Or Willow. Anybody but me. I am so screwed. So lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice when someone walked up behind her.
"Hey." She sat up and turned around immediately when she heard the soft greeting, relaxing once she saw that it was only Harry.
"Hey yourself," she responded, giving him a smile and gesturing for him to sit down. "What're you doing up so early?" she asked once he had settled down in the grass beside her.
"Wanted to get some breakfast before everyone else came down. And my schedule." He pulled a small piece of parchment from his robes. "Ron and Hermione are still in there getting theirs from McGonagall. I saw you leave the hall, so I figured I'd catch up with you." Pause. "I've got DADA first period... with all the houses."
"Ugh," she said, flopping back down on the grass, sufficiently summing up everything that was running through her head in one word. Pause. "I am so not ready for this. I mean what was Dumbledore thinking? Hiring me? I'm eighteen-years-old for God's sake! I can't teach you guys!" She groaned, bringing up her hands to rub her face, before sitting up and turning toward Harry. He was looking at her with a strange expression, but quickly schooled his features into a reassuring smile once she was facing him.
"You'll do great." He placed his hand on her arm in a gesture of comfort. They both felt an odd tingling sensation at the place where their flesh had touched, and the broke apart, Harry clearing his throat slightly uncomfortably and Buffy turning her gaze back to the lake. "I mean, you have dealt with more dark creatures than all if us put together," he continued, attempting to gloss over the moment that they had just had. "And Remus. After all, he was the best DADA teacher we've ever had."
"Yeah, I guess..." she trailed off, still looking into the lake. "And I don't think Wandless Defense'll be that bad. That's more my think. Plus I still have Giles." She looked back over at Harry. He was smiling at her, and she easily flashed one back. "Thanks. What would I do without you?"
The two continued to talk about random, light-hearted things until Buffy glanced at her watch and noticed that twenty minutes had gone by. She stood up, raising her hands above her head and stretching out her back with a crack and closing her eyes, reveling in the sunshine warm on her face. Opening her eyes, she saw that Harry had also risen to his feet and was checking the time in his own watch. Without another word, the two re-entered the castle, Harry heading into the Great Hall to find Hermione and Ron, and Buffy started to climb the marble staircase leading to the first floor. Turning to the right at the top of the stairs, she wandered down the hallway for a ways, stopping in front of the door to her classroom. Opening the door and stepping into the room, she saw Lupin sitting at the desk with a stack of papers in front of him.
"Hey," she greeted, closing the door quietly and he looked up, offering her a smile.
"Oh, Buffy!" responded Lupin, gesturing her over to the desk. "Are you alright? I was quite worried about you."
"What?" she asked, stopping in front of the desk and hopping up, perching herself on the edge. "Oh, yeah, find. Peachy with a side of keen. Just needed to clear my head's all. So, whatcha doing?"
"Just looking over the student list." He gestured toward the paper he was reading, and she leaned forward to get a better look. She smiled when she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione's names on the list, as well as Neville and Luna's, but barely suppressed a groan when she noticed that Malfoy's name was also on the list. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the blond idiot so early in the morning. Clearly annoyed, she turned away from Lupin, who had resumed rustling through the papers, and pulled out her wand, intent on practicing a spell that Hermione had tried to teach her a few days ago.
"Reducto!" she muttered, pointing her wand at one of the student desks in front of her. Nothing happened. She frowned and glanced toward Lupin, who appeared to be paying her little attention. She tried again: nothing. "Reducto!" she muttered for the third time, this time a bit louder a bit louder, concentrating harder. To her immense surprise, the desk exploded with a bang, pelting her with fragments of wood and causing her to fall backwards off the desk with a small shriek. The blast had also startled Lupin; he nearly fell out of his chair, sending the papers on his desk flying before looking down at Buffy laying on the floor and burst out laughing.
"Ha, ha," she said sarcastically, pushing herself up off the floor and attempting to brush the dust and wood off of her. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to clean herself up without magic, she pointed her wand at herself and muttered tergeo, beaming at Lupin when her clothes became spotless once again. "Jerk. Would you mind..." she trailed off pointing, to the demolished desk in front of her. Still laughing, he conjured a new desk from thin air and got rid of the remaining pieces of the old one before bending down to retrieve his fallen papers. Joining in the laughter, she once again seated herself on the edge of Lupin's desk, looking toward the front of the room when the door opened. Buffy smiled as she caught a glimpse of Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the door and gestured them in, happy that they were the first to arrive.
"Hey, Buffy!" the three chorused, dropping their bags on a desk in the front of the classroom before making their way to where Buffy and Lupin sat.
"Hi, Professor," added Hermione with a glance over at Lupin; he merely smiled at her in greeting and turned back to the papers in front of him.
"Hey! I'm a professor too!" said Buffy indignantly, but smiled to show that she was joking. "Kidding." Pause. "If you call me Professor, I'll slay you. Anyways, check out what I can do!" She pointed her wand toward a glass paperweight and muttered reducto, concentrating as hard as she could on blowing it up. This time, it only took her one try and the paperweight exploded, sending a thin glass mist floating through the air. Buffy grinned, and the trio looked a bit surprised but ecstatic, but Lupin merely waved his wand and cleared away the mess without looking up from his desk.
"Oh my god!" squealed Hermione and rushed over to hug the Slayer. "Excellent! You're picking things up so fast!"
"Yeah, even better than 'Mione, here. Guess you got some competition after all," added Ron, earning him a withering look from Hermione and laughs from Harry and Buffy. The Slayer had already learned that he friend aspired to be the best in everything she attempted.
"Pff, don't worry 'Mione," reassured Buffy, giving Hermione a bright smile. "You're way better than me. Don't think you're going to have to worry 'bout me catching up."
"Oh! That's only because we're in seventh year!" Hermione always felt the need to encourage her when it came to using magic. "You musn't think like that!"
"Woah! Chill! I'm sure I'll do awesomely with an oh so brilliant teacher like yourself," responded Buffy, causing Hermione to blush at the compliment. However, before she could respond, the classroom door opened, and kids filed in, ready for their first DADA class of the year. At once, Buffy felt a rush of nervousness hit her and turned to the trio with her eyes wide."It's alright, you'll do fine. Just relax," reassured Hermione and she, Harry, and Ron each gave her an encouraging smile before returning to their desk. Looking around, Buffy realized that there were about fifteen kids in the class, and spotting Neville, gave him a little wave, which he easily returned before taking a seat at the trio's table. Within a few minutes, every table was filled with students, and they were all looking expectantly at both Buffy and Lupin.
"Good morning," started Lupin, which resulted in a "good morning" from the class which was particularly enthusiastic from the Gryffindors. "As you all know, N.E.W.T.s are subject-specific examinations taken by seventh years to help place them into positions at the Ministry. I'm sure you will be talking about these examinations in all of your classes, so I will not go into it any further, though we do expect an Outstanding from each and every one of you."
"Seriously, this stuff is way more interesting than the Math and English I had to suffer through," quipped Buffy, earning a smile from muggle borns and confused looks from those who had known they were witches and wizards their whole lives. "So you'd better pass. But yeah, anyways, since we decided not to bore you with a lecture on the N.E.W.T.s, we're gonna dive right into our lesson." A groan from the students. "Oh please," she gave them a withering look, "This'll be way more interesting. So hush. Yeah, so, who can tell me about vampires?"
"Miss Granger," said Lupin, as Hermione raised her hand, causing Buffy to suppress a smile.
"A vampire is a reanimated corpse who feeds by draining and consuming the blood of living beings, usually human," she answered right out of her textbook.
"Very good, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor," said Lupin, smiling at her. "Now, how are vampires created?" Hermione's hand shot into the air once again.
"Blood exchange is required to create a new vampire. Victims of vampire attacks do not turn into new vampires unless they consume the vampire's blood when near death. If the vampire drains all of the victim's blood, he or she will simply die."
"Good," Buffy smiled at Hermione. "Now, what are the four ways one can kill a vampire?" As usual, Hermione raised her hand, as did a sandy-haired boy who was dressed in Hufflepuff colors. "Yes, Mr..."
"Macmillan" he answered with a pompous tinge to his voice. Buffy raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, letting him continue with his answer. "One can kill a vampire by staking, sunlight, fire, or beheading."
"Good! Five points to Hufflepuff," responded Buffy, and turned toward Lupin for permission to go on. At his nod, she continued. "Okay, so, in this unit, we're going to concentrate on four specific vampires. The Scourge of Europe. Who were the four vampires that were part of this pack?" Hermione again raised her hand, in addition to, to Buffy's surprise, Draco Malfoy.
"Mr. Malfoy," said Lupin, pointing in Draco's direction.
"The Scourge of Europe consists of Darla, Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike. William the Bloody, if you prefer," he answered, looking straight into Buffy's eyes. She felt a strange jolt at the way he was looking at her, but remained still, refusing to remove her eyes from his.
"Excellent, Mr. Malfoy," replied Lupin, watching the interaction uneasily. "Five points. Now." He paused, causing both Draco and Buffy to turn in his direction. "A one foot essay on the Scourge of Europe will be due next class. You may start working on it now."
There was a collective groan and a shuffling of papers as the class pulled out their quills, books, and parchment in order to start their essays. Ignoring the rest of the class, Buffy moved toward Lupin, getting close enough that she could whisper to him without anyone else hearing.
"He knows something!" she said, whispering harshly. "You saw the way he was looking at me! What if Voldemort is using vamps? Is that possible?"
"It is quite possible... He did recruit the service of vampires during the last war..." Lupin trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. The two continued to whisper for the rest of class, and once the bell rang, the students clambered toward the door, Harry, Hermione, and Ron sending her a smile before exiting the classroom on the way to their next class.
The next few classes sailed by, Buffy still lost in thought about her encounter with Draco. After finishing up a class in which Buffy and Lupin taught third years how to deal with a hinkypunk, the she headed down to the Great Hall for lunch, needing a break before having her first Wandless Defense class. Since he had a free period next, Lupin had decided to remain in his office rather than go down for lunch. Walking through the hall and seeing the tables scattered with various students, she waved at the trio before heading up to the staff table to join Giles.
"Oh, Buffy!" he greeted, looking up from a book that he had propped up against a jug of pumpkin juice. "How were your classes this morning? Permanently scar any young children yet?"
"No," she said dryly, rolling her eyes at him. "It's actually been pretty good. Haven't really screwed up yet."
"Excellent..." he replied, pausing to take a turkey sandwich from a huge pile in the center of the table. Buffy helped herself to a chicken leg and dug in, waiting for Giles to continue. "I take it you are ready for our class this afternoon?"
"Yep," she said around her chicken leg, causing her Watcher to send her a withering look. "Should be cake. If I know anything, it'd be kicking the crap out of things." Finishing up her chicken leg, she grabbed an apple off of the table before turning to Giles who was once again immersed in his book. "Hey Giles?" He looked up. "I'm gonna go change, okay? Be back in a few minutes." At his nod, she exited the Great Hall and made her way up the stairs and through the corridors to her room. Stripping off her jeans, black camisole, and boots, she changed into a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt before pulling on sneakers and once again heading down to the Great Hall.
Once she arrived, she noticed that Giles had not moved from the spot she had left him at ten minutes ago, and walked over to him. Once she was standing next to him, Buffy glanced at her watch, seeing that their class was to start in twenty minutes. "We'd better go. Don't want to ruin your perfect attendance record, do we?" Giles payed her no attention; he was still emerged in the book in front of him. "Giles? Hellooooooooo?" Nothing. Buffy thought for a second and coming up with a plan, turned to Giles with a smirk. "AHHH! Giles look out! Vampire!"
Startled, he sprung into action, leaping out of his chair and spilling a glass of pumpkin juice across the table. Looking around, he realized that he was still in the Great Hall and had attracted quite a bit of attention from the students at the front of the tables. Looking down at Buffy, he saw that she was staring up at him, attempting to muffle her laughter by biting into her fist.
"Oh, ha, bloody, ha," he said sarcastically, sending her a glare which she ignored and continued laughing. "Was that necessary?"
"Sorry," she said, forcing herself to calm down. "You weren't responding. Class is in twenty minutes."
"Oh, yes, right, of course," Giles sputtered, gathering up his book and leading Buffy out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. Climbing a couple more staircases to the fourth floor, they turned right down the hallway, finally arriving at a dark, wooden door. Pushing the door open, Buffy felt her eyes widen; she had never seen this room before. The room was huge and covered wall to wall with blue pads. There was a display of various weapons of the wall which Giles assured her that only they could remove, and a doorway on the right side of the room led to what appeared to be a locker room.
"Woah..." she said, walking across the room toward the weapons.
"Indeed," agreed Giles. "Oh, we must remember to remind the children to wear more... er... appropriate attire for this class."
"Oh, right," said Buffy, taking her hand away from a particularly deadly looking axe and turning toward Giles. "Ew, yeah, I'd hate to fight in those robes they're forced to wear. That wouldn't turn out so good." A couple minutes passed in comfortable silence before the door opened and kids started filing in. Spotting Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she gave them a wave, which they eagerly returned, happy that they were in her first class. Having them there would make it much less nerve-wracking. Once everyone had entered the room, Buffy stepped forward, motioning for them to sit on the ground in front of her.
"Hey guys. So, Wandless Defense. Pretty self explanatory, right? We're going to teach you how to defend yourself without the use of your wand," Buffy said, looking toward Giles who gave her a reassuring smile. "Right, so-..."
"Why would we need to know that?" sneered Draco, causing Buffy to turn in his direction and give him a look that plainly said 'oh God, not you again.' The other Slytherins nodded in approval, and Buffy saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione glare back at the blond boy. "We'll always have our wands with us, so why do we need to know to fight like a muggle." He practically spit the last word, causing Buffy to narrow her eyes even more. Seeing that his Slayer glare at the boy and knowing that she would like nothing more than to jump over the group of students and tackle him, Giles responded for her.
"Mr. Malfoy is it? It is imperative to learn how to defend yourself physically in case you are forced into a situation where you have been separated from your wand by means of magic or physical force." When Draco didn't say anything in response, he continued. "Now, moving on. As you will be expected to perform the moves that Buffy and I aspire to teach you, we believe that it would not be practical for you to wear robes to this class."
"A t-shirt and sweats'll do it. Tennis shoes, too, if you got a pair," added Buffy, smiling at her Watcher's long-winded way of saying that the kids shouldn't wear robes to class. "Since you all are dressed in robes today, we'll just give you a demonstration of why it's important to be able to defend yourselves without magic."
"Oh, please. You don't look like you could hurt anyone, let alone someone who is the slightest bit proficient in magic," Draco interrupted once again. Buffy sent him a withering glare, but recovered quickly and flashed him a smile.
"Well then, Mr. Malfoy," she said sweetly, causing Giles to raise an eyebrow and wonder what she was up to. "You won't mind being my partner for our demonstration, then?" Not one to back down from a challenge, Draco rose to his feet to cheering from the other Slytherins. Walking toward Buffy, he stopped when he was about ten feet away from her. "Oh, you can use magic." The others watched as he pulled out his wand, taking aim at the petite blond in front of him.
"Stupefy," he shouted, and a red jet flew from his wand toward the Slayer. She easily dodged it, causing him to narrow his eyes and set off a series of spells, angry that he had not hit her. None of the spells made contact, as she dodged them easily, performing a series of flips and jumps so that she landed mere inches away from him. Giving him a wide smile, she snatched the wand out of his hand mid-spell, throwing it to Giles, who caught it easily, before backing a couple of inches back. Furious, he aimed a punch at her head, which she ducked, moving further out of reach. She caught his next punch in her hand and spun him around, giving him a small push so that he landed on the ground. Not giving him a chance to get back up, she straddled him and placed his arms above his head, effectively pinning him to the ground.
Reveling in the cheers of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws, she gave him a smile, which he returned with a glare, before pushing herself to her feet and offering him a hand up. He refused, instead getting up on his own, before snatching his wand back from Buffy. Regarding her with a look of fury at embarrassing him, he waited until her back was turned before pointing his wand at her and shouting "Furnunculus!"
"Buffy!" Fearing that the Slayer would not dodge the spell, Hermione called her name, pulling her wand from her robes. "Protego!" The spell bounced off the shield she had created and hit the wall, which crumbled a bit under the impact.
"What do you think you're doing?" snarled Giles, striding toward Draco and grabbing the wand from his hand, his protectiveness for his Slayer coming out full force. "I ought to snap your wand in two. If you ever go near her again, I'll bloody kill you." He then proceeded to grab the front of Draco's robes, drag him to the door, and throw him out, closing it with a slam when he was finished. He turned back to the class, who whipped their gaze away from him once the noticed he was looking in their direction, scared of what he might do.
"Uh...," started Buffy, causing all eyes to turn toward her. "Well... I don't see us getting any more work done today, so why don't you guys head out. We'll pick up here next time..." The students didn't have to be told twice; there was a loud shuffling as they hurried out of the room. However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind, wondering if they could do anything to help. "You guys go on," Buffy whispered, sending Giles a nervous glance. "I'll catch up with you later. And thanks... For, you know." The three nodded and left, not saying a word as they passed by the livid Watcher.
"Giles?" she asked softly, walking over to him and putting her hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay? I should be asking you that! That pillock could have hurt you!" he replied, obviously still upset at what had happened.
"Woah! Giles! It's okay! I'm fine!" Buffy replied, eyes widening a bit at his temper flared once again. Noticing that he was still clutching Draco's wand in his hand, she raised an eyebrow, taking it before he could do something rash like breaking it in half. The kid did need it after all. "C'mon let's go see what Dumbledore has to say about this." Without another word, he followed her out of the classroom, down the corridor, and down the stairs to the second floor, stopping in front of the large stone gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office. Buffy supplied the password, sugar quills, before stepping onto the stone staircase and riding it all the way to the top. She knocked once and upon hearing the Headmaster's "come in," opened the door and stepped through, Giles on her heels.
"Ah, Buffy, Rupert, what brings you here?" he asked serenely, motioning for them to take a seat in the chairs in front of his desk. Buffy complied, curling up in the plush chair, but Giles remained standing, too angry to seat himself.
"We had a... um... incident... in our Wandless Defense class..." she trailed off, unsure of how to proceed.
"What sort of incident?" asked Dumbledore.
"Well, it wasn't a big deal but-..." she started, only to be interrupted by Giles.
"Not a big deal!" said Giles, looking straight at Dumbledore and ignoring Buffy's peas for him to calm down. "It bloody well was a big deal! That Malfoy boy attacked my Slayer when her back was turned. If Miss Granger hadn't blocked it, she could have been seriously hurt!"
"Yeah, but..." Buffy started, but was gently interrupted by the Headmaster.
"I am inclined to agree with Rupert," said Dumbledore, looking away from Giles and toward Buffy. "It is completely unacceptable that a student perform magic on a teacher without his or her knowledge and acceptance. I assure you, he will be punished for his actions."
"I want him out of my class," added Giles, a bit calmer, now that he knew that Draco was going to be punished.
"No, Giles," said Buffy firmly, turning toward her Watcher. "This kid needs this class, even though he was a total jerk about it. We've got to make sure he's able to defend himself."
"Alas, I believe she has a point," said Dumbledore, peering at her over his half-moon spectacles. "Mr. Malfoy is to remain in your class, but I assure you that nothing like this will happen again. You have my word." Giles still looked upset at the prospect of having Draco in his class, but trusted the Headmaster that his Slayer would be safe.
"Oh," said Buffy, realizing that she still had Draco's wand. She pulled it out and handed it to Dumbledore, who took it graciously. "Here, kid uh... dropped his wand when he was fleeing the room. But yeah, I gotta get going. Snape won't be happy if I'm late for his Occlumency lesson..." She made a face, clearly showing that she'd rather be doing anything than taking these lessons. "I'll be back later, 'kay?" The two nodded and she left the room, descended the stairs toward the dungeons, opening the door to Snape's office without bothering to knock.
"Miss Summers," said Snape coolly, obviously annoyed that she had just burst into his room without any warning. "On time for once, I see."
"Yep," she said, popping the p, something that she knew irritated her fellow professor. "Didn't want to keep you waiting. You know how much I enjoy these cozy little get-togethers of ours."
"Of course," said Snape, getting up from his desk and walking over to where Buffy was standing. "Now, if you are finished with your incessant babbling, shall we begin our lesson?"
"Aye, aye captain!" replied Buffy, giving him a mock salute which Snape purposely ignored. Instead of responding, he took out his wand, and placing the tip to his head. When he withdrew his wand, so did a strand of silvery substance, which fell into a stone basin when he pulled his wand away from it. He repeated this quite a few times, Buffy looking from him to the basin in confusion. He did this every time they had a lesson together, but never bothered to explain what he was doing. Buffy made a mental note to ask Giles about it after she was done here.
"Now, Miss Summers, take out your wand," he said, pointing his own in her direction. "You may use it to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in away other way you can think of."
"Yeah, right," Buffy answered, already knowing the drill.
"Brace yourself now... Legilimens!"
Buffy was six, riding a bike down the street while her dad was holding onto the handlebars, steering her, and her mother was standing on the sidewalk taking pictures... She was fighting her first vampire, pinned to the ground and feeling its hot breath on her neck... Xander and Willow were laying in the grass next to her, all laughing at a joke Xander had just finished telling... She and the Scoobies were in the library, books piled high in front of them, looking for anything they could find about the Mayor and his ascension... She was laying on her back on the ground, Angel's fangs buried in her neck, feeling the blood seep from her wound and into his mouth...
"NO!"
There was a sharp pain at the back of her head; she had fallen to the floor and had knocked it against the stone tiling. Snape's office had come back into view and looking around, she saw that he was looking down at her with a strange expression. Starting to push herself to her feet, she accepted the hand he had offered her, coming to a standing position once again.
"You must remain focused. Clear your mind. Let go of all emotions," said Snape, handing her back her wand that he had picked up from the floor.
"No emotions, got it," muttered Buffy, once again falling into a fighting stance, wand clutched tightly in her hand.
"Ready? Legilimens!"
She was at the ice skating rink by her home in L.A., arms stretched over her head, reveling in the feeling of the wind whipping across her face... It was her first day at Sunnydale High, she was in the library for the first time, terror flooding through her as Giles pushed a book titled 'Vampyre' in front of her... She was at the Bronze, dancing with Willow and Xander...
Blinking her eyes, she realized that she was once again flat on her back on the floor, gasping for breath, sweat pouring off of her. She snatched up her wand before grabbing Shape's outstretched hand and pulling herself to her feet.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, clear my mind... go again," she said, frustrated that she couldn't seem to grasp the concept.
"Legilimens!"
She was three, baking cookies with her mother... She was sixteen, cold, and soaked from the rain, pressed against Angel and kissing him like she had never kissed anybody before...
No... that's private... she thought, attempting to force herself back into Snape's office and away from the memories. Nothing; she concentrated harder. Slowly, the office came back into view, things were becoming clearer; Snape was standing a few feet away, pointing his wand at her.
"No! Expelliarmus!" She saw his wand fly out of his hand, and immediately, she felt the haze from the spell lift. She stumbled back, panting, and grabbed onto a table for support.
"Much better, Miss Summers," said Snape, looking somewhat impressed. "You managed to stop me eventually, though the goal is to repel me with your mind, so that you will not to resort to your wand."
"Yeah, okay," she replied, taking a deep breath and stepping away from the table. "Okay, go again."
"Legilimens!"
She was in the hospital looking at Willow's unconscious body with Xander and Oz... She was in her living room talking to Dumbledore for the first time... She was in a flowing white dress, following a small child to the Master's lair...
Okay, concentrate... CONCENTRATE. She gathered all her energy in an attempt to force Snape out of her mind. She pushed with all her might, blinking in surprise when she felt the spell lift and realized that she was standing up right in Snape's office. Looking across the room, she saw the potions master sprawled on the floor, surrounded by broken jars; apparently he had knocked into on of the shelves living his office. He stood up and with a flick of his wand, the jars had mended themselves and soared back onto the shelf.
"Did I do that?" she asked, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Indeed, Miss Summers," he said with a smile; the non-glare, non-smirk smile she had ever seen him wear. "Well done. You have progressed grately over the last few weeks."
"Yay! Go me!" she said, obviously excited, both at her achievement and his pride in her.
"However, we are aiming for you to keep the Dark Lord out of your mind without him knowing, but we will save that for another lesson. You are dismissed."
"Right, see ya later, Snapey!" And with that, she turned on her heel, marching out of the office toward Dumbledore's office, shoving her wand in her back pocket as she went. Arriving at the entrance to the Headmaster's office, she knocked once, entering once she heard him call out for her to come in.
"Ah, Buffy, I take it your lesson with Severus went well?" asked Dumbledore, smiling at her as she entered the room.
"Yep! I did it! I got him out of my brain without using my wand!" she said excitedly, looking toward Giles. She frowned slightly when she noticed how tense he was, but he sent her an encouraging smile none the less.
"Ah, excellent, Severus did say that you had a natural ability for Occlumency..." He trailed off, beaming at Buffy before gesturing toward a man with his back turned to her that she had not noticed. "I believe you two have had the pleasure of meeting..." The man turned ans she gasped slightly, feeling her stomach drop and her heart start beating faster. The two continued to stare at each other for a few moments before Buffy found her voice.
"Angel?"
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Oooooh, cliffhanger. Heh, anyways. That wasn't my best chapter, but for some reason, my muse sort of hates this story now. I have all these ideas for what I want to do, but I can't seem to find a way to lead into them.
Oh well. Hope you enjoyed anyways! Drop me a review on the way out! Now you can leave a review anonymously if you'd like. I wasn't aware that they were turned off until someone mentioned it to me, but now you can!