AN: Thanks to reviewers! Haven't been getting too many though, should I continue? I've tried making this chapter a bit longer (and added a scene that wasn't in this story the first time around), so enjoy!
Chapter 3: Now Leaving Sunnydale
"What do you think, Buffy?" Giles asked Buffy. He had just explained to her that she was not needed in Sunnydale anymore, that a new Slayer was being sent and the Council did not want her here. And that he wanted her at a magic school. Hogwarts, specifically.
"Wow. That's a lot to take in, Giles. And, and I can't just up and leave. What about real school? What about mom? And me, magic? At an actual magic school? Those exist? Why wasn't I told about this? Giles! And I doubt my mom would be too keen on the idea of a magical boarding school," Buffy said. Giles hadn't given her many details on Hogwarts other than that it was a magic school for wizards. Buffy was the Slayer, not a wizard.
"I will tell your mother that you were accepted into a private boarding school in England. I have a friend who taught there once. He put in a good word for you and that's how you were accepted. It shouldn't be too hard to convince her," Giles assured. He was, after all, a teacher himself.
"What about everything else, Giles? The magic? The I'm-not-a-wizard thing? Will Mom be safe? What about my Slaying? I can't give that up."
"Your mom will be perfectly safe, Buffy." Safer, Giles added to himself, than she was with Buffy here. As long as vampires and demons could follow her home, they would know she was not a conventionally raised slayer, that she had people she cared about and they could be used as targets. Like Joyce. He would have to give Buffy a story to make up while at Hogwarts, in case Buffy gets involved in their troubles. Which would be typical of her. It would not do if they went after her family. He continued to Buffy, "Well, I am told there is a forbidden forest around the school that contains dark creatures. You can patrol there if you feel the need." He paused and cleaned his glasses, to Buffy's faint amusement. "As a slayer, you should be a natural at magic actually. The power of a slayer is very strong though. You will need to work hard to tap into it and control it. Control is of the utmost importance, and will be," he paused and continued, "will be very difficult for you. It is one of the many reasons why slayers generally are held away from the wizard community. Which, by the way, you must keep your secret identity a secret," he peered over his glasses a gave her a pointed look, "as some wizards who know slayers exist fear her or think her evil." Giles was surprised at Buffy's questions. Buffy had always complained about her destiny, being the Slayer. She had always tried to avoid it before. Now, she seemed like she was not only accepting her destiny, but relying on it. She needed it and it worried Giles. She was behaving a little better around her friends now, but she still wasn't perfect and Giles hoped this would all pass. Was it fair to ask her to be perfect though, on top of everything else the world asked of her? He cleaned his glasses one more time.
"I don't get it. Vampire Slayer," Buffy said emphasizing the word vampire. "Vampires are evil. I kill them. Hence, no evil here. Where do they get evil from? I am so not evil."
"A lot of the information they have on slayers comes from myth. Many wizards are simply misinformed," Giles said. Giles took a breath. Here's the part he didn't want to tell Buffy. "Right now, um, th-the wizarding world is in the mist of what one might call a war. As a muggle-"
"Muggle?" asked Buffy.
"A non-magical person. A normal person," Giles explained. He then continued, "As I was saying, as a muggle I am not aware of all the details. I do know the basics. There is an evil wizard whom they refer to as 'He who must not be named' because wizards fear him so much they dare not say his name. His name is Lord Voldemort."
"That's dumb. Huh. Must be a pretty big bad, huh?" Buffy again interrupted.
"Yes, quite. He was in power years ago and had followers called Death Eaters," Giles started. Buffy interrupted yet again though.
"Death eaters? Voldemort?" She laughed. "You've got to be kidding me! That is majorly lame."
Giles glared at his Slayer. "Voldemort's power came to an end one night when a curse he fired reflected off a baby and hit him. He was weakened, left without a body, and his reign ended. The caught Death Eaters either went to prison or convinced authorities they were under a curse and it wasn't their fault. Or bought their way out basically I am told," Giles took in Buffy's angry face at that comment. "Now he is back in power. Voldemort hates wizards who were not born into wizarding families. He only wants people with what he calls pure blood. He also dislikes muggles and certain creatures such as werewolves or half breeds. He kills people and tortures people. There is also talk that he might be converting demons to his side. This man, if you can even call him one, is extremely evil and dangerous. He is very powerful. If you go to Hogwarts in the midst of this war, you must be careful."
"Go figure. Right when I'm about to maybe start in this wizarding world whatever, a big evil bad guy comes along. This is so typical." Buffy pouted. Giles smiled. This was more like the Slayer he knew. But then she continued.
"I'll go. I need to get away and it sounds like this Doo-doo Mort guy or whatever they call him is in desperate need of slaying. Sounds like my kind of plan. I'm gotta go meet up with Willow and Xander in a bit. We're supposed to hang or whatever it is normal people do these days. When do I start packing?" Buffy asked.
"You would leave in three days. Are you sure this is what you want Buffy? I could arrange-"
"No. This can't be a coincidence." Buffy hadn't told Giles this, but she'd been dreaming again. Not just the normal nightmares either. She'd been having what by now she could easily recognize as Slayer Dreams. She could only remember flashes of them. She remembered a green light. She also remembered a castle, and Giles had told her earlier Hogwarts was a castle. And then she had the gut feeling, one she knew to trust. "I need to do this." Buffy sighed, all of a sudden looking very tired and older then her 16 years. "Besides, I get to learn magic. How cool is that?" she said weakly. "Maybe it'll give some extra oomph to my slay stuff. Who knows, then maybe I won't have to die again so soon," she said turning and walking off before Giles had a chance to reply.
"Hi," Buffy said walking up to Willow and Xander, who were waiting for her at the mall.
"Hey what took you so long?" Willow asked.
"Giles had to talk to me. Took longer then I thought it would," replied Buffy. She didn't want to explain to them yet that she was leaving. She hoped they wouldn't ask what Giles had been talking about...
"What'd Giles want?" asked Xander.
Crap. "The new Slayer is coming to Sunnydale," Buffy slowly said. She really didn't want to explain. As much as she wanted to go away, this was her home. It was hard, she had learned, moving to a new place not knowing anyone. At least at Hogwarts hopefully they wouldn't know about her burning down her gym or anything. She wanted to blend there. She sucked at blending though.
"A new slayer?" the red head asked curiously.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Xander spoke up. "What's this about another slayer? I thought there was only one. I knew this 'I'm the only one' was an attention grabber! You're just trying to make us think you're special. Not that you aren't. But ha! We're on to you!" Xander said.
Willow rolled her eyes. "There can't be another slayer Xander. Unless one dies..." Willow trailed off as realization dawned on her. "Oh. Oh! You. And, and then she! Oh, I get it now! Hey Buffy, now you don't have to be the only one this is fantastic, right?"
"I guess not," said Buffy. It wasn't true though. She was a slayer, she was always alone. But it did feel kinda good in a way knowing there was someone else out there who, while not having been through all she has, could at least on some level possibly relate. A sister in a way. She'd always wanted a sister. It would be nice if she could stay long enough to meet this new girl. She gave an inward sigh. Maybe it's for the better. As much as she complained, she wasn't sure if she'd enjoy having to share her slayerness with someone else. It made her special. Although one of two out a billions of people is still special. And she was the Senior Slayer.
"This is awesome, Buff!" Xander exclaimed. "Now you can hang out more and not worry about the evil undead. Make the new girl do it. You're Senior Slayer now."
Okay, Xander stole her dubbed title. Not cool, and weird. Had she spoken allowed? "As much fun as that sounds," Buffy said sarcastically, staring to revert into bitch mode again, "I think I'll go to England instead. Thanks anyways guys. It's been fun, really."
"Huh?" was all Xander said and was all he could think. Willow just looked startled. That one came out of left field.
"The new girl's taking over, my job here is done. There's no reason to stay." With that, Buffy walked off a second time today from someone (or someones in this case), her heals clicking behind her on the mall tiles.
"She can't do that Xander. Xander! Tell me she didn't say that." Willow was genuinely upset. Her other best friend was leaving to England of all places and apparently didn't give a crap about her.
"Come on Willow. Buffy in the land of many Gileses? How long do you really think she can last? She'll be back." Xander hoped so anyways. Who knows what this newer slayer would be like? Buffy was being selfish, he thought. It's all about Buffy. Although neither of them spoke their last thoughts out loud just then, Willow's thought echoed Xander's exactly.
Buffy was not going to be back, not that she planned, unless this slayer couldn't handle the hellmouth or something. She would push down her resentment and apologize to her friends the next day. They'd made Sunnydale bearable for her. She really would miss them but she wasn't being selfish, knowing they were both thinking that. Destiny was pulling at her again and this time it was pulling her into the wizarding world. She wouldn't resist it. Even if the Council changes their minds and tries to pull her out, she knew she had to do this, even if she didn't know what it was she was supposed to do. She silently wished that her friends, watcher, and mother would be taken care of. She knew they would be.
Flashback.
"Hey."
"Buffy." Angel looked at the young Slayer, surprised to see her, but happy to. He stepped towards her. She looked up at him. God, he was hot.
"I need you to do something."
"What?" Angel asked, aware of how close she was to him.
"Protect them." At his puzzled look, she sighed and sat down on the graveyard bench. Angel sat next to her. He noticed she was wearing his cross.
"I'm going away. I have to- I have to leave. I've been having dreams. Giles told me about this magic school, and I'm going to go. I'm needed there, I know it. And, you understand I have to leave right?" She stopped to look at him. He didn't quite understand, but as of right now he was accepting it. It encouraged her. "It's been so hard lately. Things have changed. I've changed. And I can't stay. A new slayer is coming. She's more Council-made-ready than I am, so she might not be that accepting of you. So don't let her kill you. I'm sure the others will explain to her that she can't attack you though, well Xander won't, but you know? I want you to help her. And I want you to keep Giles, Xander, Willow, and mom safe. Help the new girl too, even if she doesn't want it. You don't have to let her know. I know you can be sneaky. But-" Buffy's voice faltered here. "Keep them safe."
"They're safe," Angel promised. Then he held her as she leaned into him, closing her eyes.
"You know we'd never work," Buffy said.
"I know." Buffy didn't move though and just let him hold her. Angel would keep them safe.
"And call me, or contact me- Giles mentioned they didn't have phones- if something big is going down. I'll find a way to come and can help. They wouldn't even have to know."
"I can take care of it," Angel protested.
Buffy simply replied, "I'm the Slayer."
"So is she."
"I'm me," Buffy said looking up at him. Angel smiled the tiniest of smiles. He couldn't argue with that. He understood that while Buffy trusted her family and friends with him, that if an apocalypse was going down, she'd want to be there personally. It was the Slayer in her. He would keep them safe. He would protect them with his non-life. With that they kissed one last time, letting go of the love they knew was there but that would never get to grow.
End Flashback
Her trip was approved by her mother and Buffy said her final good byes. Giles' friend would pick her up at the airport and take her into London. There, she would stay at some place called The Leaky Cauldron, get her school supply list, and then buy her things. Within a week she'd be on a train to Hogwarts. Buffy's mom and Giles took her to the airport. Joyce appreciated Mr. Giles' company and faith in her daughter. As they drove out of town, Buffy looked out her car window. The sign they passed said 'Now leaving Sunnydale.' Buffy closed her eyes, feeling a lightness as they drove further away from the Sunnydale, and the Hell she could literally feel beneath it.
Review please and let me know what you think! Pairing suggestions are still welcome. BA is not a pairing though! I'm acknowledging what was there in canon, but it never had a chance to get really serious yet and if you take Buffy away from Sunnydale like I'm doing, this early in season 2 it would never have grown into what was. And on a PS note, I never liked Angel once he left after season four, and I started not liking Xander too much after what he did when Angel went bad and I hated later seasons Willow. Sorry! But I did NOT Scooby bash, I merely portrayed them as I felt they were at this point, and you gotta remember, they are all teenagers, subject to mood swings and world-revolves-around-them moments! They aren't perfect, but Buffy hasn't been either. Let me know how you feel!
