Chapter Eight
The next day, Tash made the effort to avoid Charlie. She even went so far as to get up early, have breakfast and Floo to Teddy's. She surprised Remus as he sat in his living room with a cup of tea and the Daily Prophet. "Sanna, hello. You're up early this morning."
"Sorry for not asking first, I just need to talk to Teddy. Is he up?"
"I think he's hiding under his blankets. And you know you don't have to ask anymore." Tash smiled at him and thanked him before trying to remember where Teddy had told her where his room was. Luckily for her, no one was around when she opened the doors to the linen closet or the bathroom. She opened the third door and sighed in relief when she saw a room that looked remarkably similar to Mick's, without all the guitars. It even contained it's own lump in the middle of the bed.
She closed the door behind her and approached the lump, watching as it rose and fell with shallow breaths. She poked it sharply and giggled as it grunted and rolled away. She poked it again.
"Sanna, go away."
"Sorry, wrong twin. Try again." She toed off her shoes and hopped onto the bed. "Come on, Teddy. I need to talk and Sanna'll be asleep. Get up." She bounced enough to get the bed rolling, laughing as Teddy tried to shuffle up to the head of the bed.
"Bloody hell, bugger off, would you?"
"Nope, sorry, not an option."
"Fine, fine, fine, just stop jumping," he said, flipping the top half of his covers down, glaring at her. Tash grinned at his bedhair and bounced down to sit next to him.
"That was not jumping. You've obviously never been on a trampoline."
He gave her a funny look and she gasped in shock.
"You've never been on a trampoline? Oh my Goddess, you've never lived."
"Are you always this energetic in the morning?"
"No, not usually but I went to bed early to avoid Charlie last night."
Teddy frowned and raised himself up on his elbows. "Why? What'd you do?"
Tash huffed. "Oh fine, just blame me."
"Well, what did you do?"
"He took me out to dinner last night with Veronica and-"
"Wait, Veronica?"
"Yes, yes, Veronica Aubrey, the ho. Anyway, I took a couple of not-so-subtle digs at her and he got grumpy at me so I got grumpy at him and he made me Floo home. I met Grandpa Arthur, by the way."
"So he's dating her again?"
Tash looked at him like he was especially slow. "Can't you keep up?"
He glared at her. "Well sorry but some annoying person just jumped on my bed to wake me up at," he glanced at his watch, "bloody hell, eight thirty? You expect me to function?"
Tash sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'll let you get dressed and eat, but that's all the leeway I'm giving you."
"How gracious," he muttered sarcastically.
"I know," she said over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her. She wandered to where she thought the kitchen was and was rewarded when she saw Dora cooking pancakes while dancing along to the Wireless Wizarding Network. "Morning, Dora!"
"Wotcher Sanna! How was camp?"
"It was really fun. I'm sure Teddy told you all about it?"
"Sort of, as much as boys talk about anything. It was mostly grunting."
Tash laughed. "Sounds like him. In fact, it sounded like him just then."
"Speaking of morning attitude, you're not usually up this early."
"I had a bit of a spat with Dad last night. I'm avoiding him this morning and he'll run away when the girls get to the Burrow for the sleepover."
Dora shook her head and flipped a pancake, grimacing when it caught the edge of the pan and stuck to it. "I don't know why I bother."
"Don't worry. It doesn't matter what they look like as long as they taste good."
"You tell me that every time but I have yet to believe you." Tash blinked. She got a warm feeling in her chest. It was just another reminder that she and Sanna had more in common than just appearance. She liked those reminders, it made this whole thing seem worth it.
Teddy chose that moment to shuffle into the kitchen and sit down at the table, head thumping down to try and resume his previous sleeping state. Dora and Tash traded glances and broke into huge grins.
"Teddy, pancakes."
Grunt.
"No, you have to come and get them yourself."
Whiny grunt.
"Don't take that tone of voice with me, mister. Get up."
He groaned and heaved his body up to shuffle some more over to his mother and take the plate handed to him, along with the maple syrup and shuffle back to the table.
"Would you like some pancakes, Sanna?"
"No, I had breakfast before I came, but thanks."
"That leaves more for me," Remus said, entering, the Prophet folded under his arm, and sliding his arms around his wife, kissing her cheek.
"Leave some for me."
"I suppose I will. You might have to fight Teddy for them. I think he's going to need all the fuel he can get for tonight."
"I find that offensive, Remus," Tash said, putting a hand over her heart. "Are you implying that it's a task to hang out with me?"
He seemed to think it over before nodding decisively. "Yes, I think that's exactly what I'm saying."
"Meanie."
He barked out a laugh, which caught Tash off guard. "You know me better than that, Sanna."
* * *
Tash fell back onto the grass with a groan, Teddy joining her a few moments later. After hiding out at the Lupin's for a few hours, the two had returned to the Burrow only to be asked by Grandma Molly to help with the de-gnoming. Up until that moment, Tash had never heard of de-gnoming and after this moment, she never wanted to hear those words ever again.
"Dear Goddess, what did I do to be punished like that?"
"You've got to stop it with that Goddess stuff. Remember: Merlin or blimey," Teddy said breathlessly.
"Teddy, I just spent the last two hours playing Ring a Ring O' Roses on crack with gnomes. I can use whoever's name in vain that I want to."
"Would now be a good time to tell you that this is a regular occurrence and we got off lucky with that group? That's rather small compared to the horde we usually get."
Tash stared at him in horror. "You're kidding."
"I wish I was."
"Even with that little psycho at the end that clung onto me?"
"There's usually more of those."
"I don't think I like England anymore. Take me home."
"Oh, stop whining. Don't forget you've got this ruddy sleepover to look forward to."
"Not looking forward to hanging with the girls?" Tash asked, smirking.
"Not particularly, no."
"I thought you and V..."
Teddy glared at her vehemently and she turned her head to see Victoire coming out from the kitchen with lemonade. Tash could have kissed her.
"I'm not letting this lie, T."
"Cease with the nicknames, wouldn't you?"
"No, I don't think I will."
"Have fun?" Victoire said with a sly smile as she drew nearer.
"Remind me again, fair cousin, why you couldn't join us?"
Tash could have sworn there was an evil glint in Victoire's eyes as she said, "I'm just not made for de-gnoming, fair cousin."
"And I am?!"
"Calm down, Sanna. Here, have some lemonade." She handed glasses to both of them before taking her own and sitting down next to them.
There was silence as each of the teenagers sipped on the refreshing drink. Tash finished her glass first and climbed laboriously to her feet. "I'm going to go get me another glass."
"I'll come with," Teddy said, about to get up but Tash nudged him back down.
"Don't be silly. I'll get some for you. Otherwise V would be here by herself. We wouldn't want that."
Teddy's eyes widened as he realised the situation Tash was putting him into. She grinned happily as she left them with a bounce in her step. She could almost feel the burn of Teddy's glare, which only made her happier.
She didn't come out with the lemonade for another ten minutes.
* * *
Sanna woke up the next morning, groggy and disorientated. It took her a few moments to realise that not only was definitely not morning - her alarm clock read 5:12am - but there was someone in her room with her. She stretched, hand reaching under her pillow for her wand and pulled a bit more theatrics before bolting up right and pointing her wand at the intruder.
A man sat on the wheely chair next to Tash's desk. He was tall, slightly foreboding and he wore product in his hair. He wore all black and didn't look a day over 25. He simply looked at her wand and she knew now that she'd lost the element of surprise. She probably never had it. If he wanted to, he could kill her before she said the first syllable to any spell she knew.
"I talked to Connor."
Sanna slowly lowered her wand. "So you're Angel."
"And you're Susanna."
"Is it really that obvious?"
"Not if you didn't know. If I was anything less than what I was, I wouldn't have picked it."
"Connor did and he's not a vampire."
The corners of Angel's mouth twitched and Sanna wondered at the sadness in it. "Connor's an exception to the rule."
"So Tash said."
Sanna studied the vampire and could see why the drama with Aunt Buffy happened. He was tall, dark and handsome. Just the thing to sweep a young cheerleader off her feet.
Angel stood up suddenly and Sanna aimed her wand at him without thinking. They both stared at her hand as she lowered it again and stashed it in its resting place under her pillow. "I'll try to help but I don't think I can do that much."
"It's all right. Tash and I have this covered."
Angel nodded and left silent. Sanna let out a breath and hid her shaking hands under her blankets. No matter how good he was or how tortured he was by a soul, she'd just met her first vampire. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and knew if Angel was still anywhere near her room, he'd be able to hear it too.
She glanced at her clock and felt shocked to see only a few minutes had passed. It had felt longer. She would never be able to sleep now. She threw the blankets and grabbed a baggy jumper from Tash's wardrobe, pulling it over head before heading downstairs.
Due to the nature of the Watcher's Council, there was hardly a time when someone was not awake and working. People were translating texts, sharpening weapons or arguing over meaningless things after being up for a few too many hours. Sanna padded over to what was considered Angel's office but in reality was the headquarters for the original Scoobies. She found Dawn asleep on top of her notes, pen still in hand. She knocked softly on the door and Dawn sat up with a start, eyes flying around and desperately trying to blink the sleep from her eyes. Sanna wondered if she knew she had ink on her nose.
"Tash, hey sweetie. What time is it?"
"Sometime after 5."
"In the morning?" At Sanna's nod, Dawn groaned. She wiped her hand over her face and smiled blearily at her daughter. "I guess I got a little caught up, huh?"
"Yeah Mom, just a little."
"What are you doing up? You're usually fast asleep until at least 10."
Sanna shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. Came down to stretch my legs."
"Well," Dawn said with a yawn. "I'm going to bed to catch a few more winks. Try not to get into mischief."
"Me? Mischief? Surely you're thinking of someone else."
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Of course. What was I thinking? I must have mistaken all those owls I got about duels during the term."
Sanna bit her lip because it was eerily similar to something Charlie would say. She smiled at Dawn and her mother ruffled her hair as she passed. "Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. Thanks for being here." Sanna had never had a mother figure, only Grandma Molly and so far, she was enjoying it.
"Where else would I be? I would never give you up." Sanna was barely able to hide the anger and pain in her eyes before the tired Dawn saw it. Dawn walked up the stairs, leaving Sanna to curl up on Angel's couch, tears streaming down her eyes.
She was shaking. She had never felt her emotions shift so quickly. She'd been so content and then... she'd been angry. So very angry. What was the difference between her and Tash? Had there been something wrong with her that she had been left with her father? Sanna shook her head and took a deep breath. Maybe Charlie was the one that left first. Maybe he'd taken Sanna and had left Tash with Dawn. Well, she wouldn't find out by sitting here feeling sorry for herself. She owed it to herself but most of all, she owed it to her sister. They'd both been robbed of each other and she was going to make it right, goddamnit!
She rubbed all the signs of crying from her cheeks and gave herself a moment to collect herself. Unfortunately for Sanna, it was in that moment that Mick decided to stalk into the room. There was no other word for it. He stalked.
"T, you all right?"
"Peachy fuzzy keen. Why?"
Mick studied her before shrugging, leaving it be. "I didn't think you'd be up."
"Couldn't sleep. What are you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep." Sanna's eyes narrowed and Mick smirked at her. He stalked over to her - she couldn't get over it - and sat down next to her on the couch, forcing her to lean against him or mould herself to the side of the couch. She chose the couch.
"How was patrolling?" She asked, not really caring but she didn't want any awkward silences. She hated awkward silences.
"Five by five. A couple of vampires. A Fyarl demon. Nothing me and Mom couldn't handle."
"Faith? You went patrolling with Faith?"
Mick gave her a strange look. "Yeah. Why?"
"What? No, nothing. No reason." Sanna wanted to hit her head against a wall. Repeatedly. Could she be anymore awkward around this boy?
"All right. Whatever. Listen, I get that you're jetlagged or whatever and you've been away for a couple of weeks but you've been acting real weird. I just wanted to know when I'm going to get my T back."
"Soon, I promise. I'm just... things are strange right now and I need to deal with it."
Mick growled in frustration. "No, T, you don't get it. That right there? That's weird. Since when do you keep stuff from me? Since when don't you let me in on your plans?"
Since I've never been more attracted to anyone in my life, Sanna thought sadly.
"Look, I need to deal with this by myself. It's a by myself thing, i.e. not you. You'll find out soon enough. I promise."
Mick ripped his eyes from her own and cast them to the floor but not before Sanna saw the hurt in them. Damn it.
"Mick, I'm sorry, I am, I really am but you have to trust me."
"I don't know, T. I'm not sure I can." He stood and left, without even a hesitation in his step or a glance over his shoulder.
Sanna groaned and dropped her head in her hands. She hadn't even been here a full day and she was already bollocksing up Tash's life. Crap.
She was also falling for her twin's best friend. Double crap.